It Looks Fantastic!

Writing Grief Without Romanticizing It

Grief is raw, messy, and deeply personal. It doesn’t follow a neat arc or fit into tidy narrative beats. While stories often use grief as a dramatic device, romanticizing it can cheapen the emotional reality. Writing grief authentically means embracing its discomfort and unpredictability, not sanitizing or idealizing it. 

What Romanticizing Grief Looks Like

Characters who seem emotionally wrecked but always manage to look graceful in their suffering.

Overly articulate monologues that sound more like a eulogy than a real moment of loss.

Depictions of grief as a singular, cathartic event instead of a long, jagged process.

Romanticized Grief:

“Every day without you is like a piece of me fading away into a tragic, beautiful void. I’ll carry this pain forever, for it’s all I have left of you.”

This might be poetic, but it lacks the authenticity of how most people actually process grief.

Realistic Grief:

“I forgot your birthday. I didn’t mean to, but when I remembered, it was already too late. And then I hated myself because forgetting felt like erasing you.”

Writing Grief Authentically

1. Show the Physical Toll

Grief isn’t just emotional—it’s physical. Insomnia, headaches, exhaustion, or even the inability to move can be part of the experience.

“She woke up in the middle of the night again, choking on the air. Her chest felt like a cinderblock had been wedged inside, heavy and unmoving. It was three days since the funeral, and she still hadn’t slept longer than an hour.”

2. Let Grief Be Messy

Grief isn’t a perfectly linear journey. There’s no logical progression from denial to acceptance—there are setbacks, breakdowns, and even moments of denial long after healing has started.

“He yelled at his mother for throwing out the cereal box. ‘It was his favorite,’ he said. She didn’t remind him that it had been expired for months. She just handed him the trash bag and walked away.”

3. Avoid Glossy Sentimentality

Sometimes grief isn’t poetic; it’s ugly, blunt, and devoid of grandeur. Characters might lash out, shut down, or isolate themselves.

Romanticized: “I’ll cry every day, but I’ll keep going because you’d want me to.”

Realistic: “They said time would heal it. But it didn’t. Time just put more space between me and the life I knew before.”

4. Let Grief Manifest in Small, Unexpected Ways

Grief isn’t always about sobbing—it can show up in mundane moments: hesitating to delete a voicemail, holding onto an old sweater, or instinctively setting the table for someone who’s gone.

“She turned to tell him the joke, the one about the broken lamp, and stopped halfway through. The silence hit harder than the punchline ever would.”

5. Highlight the Absurdity of It

Grief can be absurd and disorienting. Characters might laugh inappropriately, obsess over trivial details, or feel disconnected from reality.

“At the funeral, all she could focus on was how crooked the flowers were arranged. She kept wanting to fix them. If she didn’t, she thought, none of this would feel real.”

6. Explore How Grief Changes Relationships

Grief doesn’t happen in isolation—it affects relationships, often in unexpected ways. Some people pull closer, others drift apart.

“Her friends stopped asking how she was doing after the first few weeks. She didn’t blame them; she didn’t have an answer. ‘Fine’ wasn’t a lie—it was just easier than saying, ‘I still can’t breathe when I see his empty chair.’”

7. Show the Longevity of Grief

Grief doesn’t end when the funeral does. Let it linger in your story, showing how it ebbs and flows over time.

“It had been five years, but she still called his number when something exciting happened. She didn’t know why. Maybe it was just habit. Or maybe it was hope.”

8. Allow for Moments of Respite

Grief isn’t constant agony. People still laugh, find joy, and go about their lives—sometimes feeling guilty for it.

“She smiled for the first time in weeks, and then immediately hated herself for it. It felt like betrayal, like forgetting.”

This is gorgeous!

Definitely my new phone background <3

my fashionably late take on the darkstalker graphic novel cover redraw trend

also, just finished that darkstalker server i mentioned~

here's the invite:

WoF: Darkness

This server takes place in an AU where Darkstalker never ate the strawberry - instead, Darkstalker succeeds in taking over the continent, imprisoning those who would choose to oppose him and waging war against the tribes who would not submit to his rule. Not everything goes smoothly for him though - with skyfire and the copies of Qibli’s enchanted earring, dragons have tools against Darkstalker’s tyranny, and a rebellion is stirring beneath his feet.

In this server, we offer:

- An LGBTQ+ friendly community

- Two very cool co-owners (this is a totally unbiased statement)

- The opportunity to get your little hands on special abilities like animus magic

- Semi literate to literate roleplayers

- Many roleplay channels for your perusal

The server has just opened and so many roles need to be filled (from the princes and princesses to Darkstalker himself!), so perhaps consider joining to get your hands on one.

Discord

Join the Wings of Fire - Darkness Discord Server!

Check out the Wings of Fire - Darkness community on Discord – hang out with 12 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.

I can’t find this broken piece, what do you mean broken piece

It's a Puzzle!

I love these TCG card artworks

(also please ignore the broken piece)

The most recent chapters of DDVAU are driving me insane /pos.

DDVAU by the incredible @kitsuneisi and @xmaruu11

Hermit-A-Day May 4! My favourite alt hermit, Secret Life Scar!

Ignore how behind I am lol. Whether I ever actually catch up is a mystery. This one took me longer than I’m willing to admit. I’m very torn between both of Scar’s Secret Life skins for my favourite but it was also ridiculously hard to even pick an alt to draw. Anyway, hope this man is taking care of his sunflowers out there and maybe some other flowers too…

Love how the flowers turned out. Can you tell I’ve drawn lilacs and poppies a lot? Hehehe

THERE IS NO DELTARUNE

THERE IS NO SILKSONG

AND THERE IS NO QUEEN OF ENGLAND

Oh these are lovely!

I particularly love the designs for Scar and Bdubs <3

Felt randomly seized by the urge to cat-ify some Hermits while procrastinating an impending deadline.

Not sure how big the Hermits x Warriors cross section is, but here's my gift to the few in the middle lol. I know I'm not the first making this, so apologies if I've unintentionally copied a similar name/colour scheme.

I imagine they were all strays/house cats before they joined Hermitclan, which roams spending seasons at different places. Littlebird is an absolute menace, catching farmer's chickens and Mosspelt is fascinated by horses, using their hair to accessorise (and being teased for it).

I can see this one in a hall lined with paintings in the summer palace. This along with portraits of countless royals over the years. It just looks so old oil painting esque.

tsunami doodle

i need to reread these books they had such an impact on 5th grade me

- Ranchers in the rain -

A DDVAU fancomic ( ^-^)ノ∠※。.:*:・'°☆

I Love them sm aaaaaahhh

Its been raining all week where I live so I drew this <3

If you havent allready go read ddvau DoubleHearted by @kitsuneisi and @xmaruu11, they are so talented!