Friend, Swarm, Bug

this is a reminder, PSA, reassurance etc etc for anybody who is second guessing their plot.

just because you are writing a book that contains:

a school for magic users

witches, wizards, magical folk

a summer camp (or just camp) for “special” kids

gods/goddesses (Greek Norse etc etc)

people who control the elements

people who hunt demons and other supernatural creatures

people in a dystopian society who break away from the government

people who live in a weird paranormal town

a horror/mystery with terrifying supernatural creatures

a main character who is not female

a main character with dead or missing parents

a character who lives with an abusive parent, family member, or guardian

does not mean it is:

a rip off harry potter (you could probably do better than rowling anyway)

popular and already seen a thousand times

copying Camp Half-Blood or the Parent Trap

a badly written Percy Jackson

an avatar knock off

stolen from the plot of supernatural or shadow hunters

basic, unrealistic, overused

taken from Tim Burton movies or Gravity Falls

trying to be Stephen King or Dean Koontz

sexist, anti-women

stereotypical, a sympathy trap, a typical sob story

inappropriate for younger audiences, a knock version of the Dursley’s or Al Marsh

but it does make it:

magical, a new glimpse at a new magical world, most likely 500x better than rowling’s

witches, wizards and magic folk will never go out of style. magic is so fucking cool and has so much potential for new and different plots, characters etc

fun!! who doesn’t love summer camps in books?? au’s? actual plot settings?? summer camp settings are amazing, top notch, just *chefs kiss*

i mean, we all love loki, so why not give us stories about his kids?? not necessarily fan fic, but seriously, ancient gods and goddesses are so dope and really deserve more modern books written about them.

not used often, and so cool to see societies built around the elements! i don’t think we’ve gotten enough content of different worlds that have powers withdrawn from elements, it’s such a cool and untouched area of magic!!

never overused. i could read books about supernatural creature hunters for the rest of my life. you can make your own creatures!! and add cool human-monster hybrids. god, the possibilities are limitless

weird paranormal towns are just the best. who doesn’t love weird, run down, and low populated towns with a complex supernatural backstory that revolves is crazy shit happening all the time?? if you don’t, you have no taste. sorry but, i don’t make the rules. paranormal small towns always have been and always will be the shit so please keep writing more

BE THE NEXT BIG HORROR WRITER. horror is such a complex genre to write and i honestly admire everyone who can write horror. i don’t think there’s nearly enough horror content coming out these days. give me more, MORE. nothing in that genre is overrated, write about vampires for all i care, sure it’s been done a thousand times, but with your own twist added, you can make something never seen before

i am a female. i dont get offended by main character being anything but. yes, there are far more male mcs than female, (in more popular modern literature) (and don’t get me started about the unrepresentation for non-binary, gender fluid, trans etc in literature. i will never stop ranting about it) but that doesn’t mean not making your mc female a crime.

dead parents are a common way of portraying a mc’s loneliness, lack of affection, lack of restraint, lack of a good parental figure. but, it can also be a good way to represent other things like their relationship with and other family member/guardian, that you’re parental figure doesn’t need to be a blood related parent. honestly, keep the dead parents trope comin, those kids are always awesome anyway

extremely realistic. not everyone has a perfect home life, and it’s important to see that in literature as well. who knows, if your mc escapes their abusive guardian, friend, significant other, it opens up the possibility to helping other in similar situations.

and most important of all, every single wip out there is:

unique

amazing

special

appreciated

awesome

dope as fuck

deserving of awards, praise, and popularity

not to be given up on

important

different

unlike anything else

loved, wanted, and needed

please don’t give up on your wip. it’s all of the above, and really deserves to see the light of being completed, ravished, praised, appreciated. someone out there will love it, i’m sure of that. so keep writing, keeping being awesome, and keep fucking writing. :)

Today, November 20, is the Trans Day of Remembrance, a day to memorialize those who have been murdered as a result of transphobia.

We honor those who found the courage to be true to themselves in the face of transphobia.

Although I am not trans myself, day in and day out, your stories have given me the courage to live life to the fullest and not let adversity and homophobia be my downfall.

Those whose lives were taken shall never be forgotten for they are still among us. They are the very foundation of our community. We are not just a collection of random queer individuals. We have come together with a purpose. There is still a long way to go. We must look up to our trans siblings who were true to themselves despite being condemned, hated on, and taken away from us, and draw courage from them.

Violence and transphobia will never win. Community, truth, and acceptance shall prevail.

In your footsteps of truth and courage I shall follow. Now and always.

Thank you.

Rest in peace.

Writing Prompt #4

‘Bartender.’

To be frank, the only reason I was here was because the pay was good.

Almost too good, for such an easy job in my opinion. All I had to do was serve drinks - that were in labelled bottles, mind you - and to know when a person was red-faced enough to cut them off.

I didn’t even have to deal with the drunkards that often, they rarely came over to this particular establishment.

I guess I was just lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time. A poster on a lamp post, a chilly Wednesday morning, and a wallet that was only getting emptier. Then it was just a hop, skip and a twirl away to the club.

Well, they say club. It looks more like a cafe to me. Admittedly, most cafes don’t sell alcohol, but most clubs were loud and rowdy and wholly annoying.

Whoever designed this club had comfort in their mind; with large and lush armchairs, warm and rustic colours, and low-hanging dim lanterns. The atmosphere was almost always cozy - except of course for the times someone got too rowdy with the bottles.

There I was, minding my own business. Cleaning the glasses with a rag and nodding my head along to the tunes that floated out of the speakers.

Then she walked in.

I won’t be cliche. I won’t say that heads turned when she walked through the door. I won’t say that the speakers stuttered to a stop thanks to some magically timed malfunction. I won’t say her presence was magnetic, and that she’d be forever imprinted in the minds of the other people in the cafe.

Mostly because all that didn’t happen. Also because I’m not one for cliches.

But then she walked over to my counter. 

Ordered a drink.

Took out her phone.

I mean, all normal things, right? I thought so too. I paid her no mind.

I served her drink, talked about how it looked like it was going to rain, then went back to work.

Eventually, she finished her drink, left her pay - along with a tip that I appreciated - on the counter,  and walked out.

And that was it.

She didn’t even leave her number on the counter, so I filed that memory as insignificant and continued on with my life.

That was it.

It was, honest.

Though, while we’re on the subject of honesty-

I lied, she did leave her number on the counter.

Though, I’d dealt with lots of these before. I wasn’t exactly unattractive, if you’d catch my drift.

Most of the time, I’d ignore them. Throw them in the recycling, never look back.

This time though, I thought, what’s the worst that could happen?

Oh boy.

I have been fighting death ever since I was born and I’m not fucking dead yet so one can only assume that I’ve just kept winning

Hades

He missed his wife. The King, the God of the Dead, in all his power and glory felt like a miserable slob without his wife. Persephone, Bringer of Death, Bringer of Light in his life. She had gone to live with her mother up on the mortal realm. Such was their agreement. She’ll come back to him in a few months - but before that happened, he was to live in The Underworld by himself. At least, that was what he’d assume. Pompeii had been devastating. All those dead - all those people crowding his realm. All the extra work he’d been faced with.  All the pain. The Dead of Pompeii had not died peaceful deaths. He knew he should be back on his throne. He had other Dead to attend to. Other Dead to sort out. He was The King, The God - and he had a duty to fulfill. Yet he cannot help himself from enjoying this walk. The Child’s still bouncy steps beside him - despite what horrors she had faced. The way she constantly tried to meet his gaze; and he would meet hers. Her eyes. Reminded him of his dear Persephone. Perhaps that was why he found himself to be relaxed, despite the multitude of tasks that hung above his head. “To find your Mama,” Hades said, glancing down towards Agata’s wide eyes. “You’ll have to go through The Process.” Agata’s eyebrows furrowed just slightly. Her fear picked up, tinging the air with an unpleasant smell. “The...process?” she echoed. Her grip on his hand tightened slightly. “What process?” Hades glanced away, back towards their path. It occurred to him suddenly that she might not know... Should he tell her? Should he meet The Child’s gaze squarely, look at her, and tell her what had happened to her when Mount Vesuvius erupted? Or maybe, he ought to let her cling onto that Children’s Ignorance for just a little bit longer? What should The King do?

i know all eyes are on the presidential candidates for this election, and rightfully so, but some very wonderful and important things are happening statewide that should be celebrated and highlighted, so here’s a few:

Florida passed Amendment 2, which will raise minimum wage to $15/hour by 2026

South Dakota, Montana, Arizona and New Jersey all passed an amendment that legalized marijuana 

Utah will now be removing gendered language in the Utah Constitution and will replace it with gender-neutral language

California passed Prop 17, which restores voting rights to previously imprisoned citizens

Delaware elected the first ever openly trans state senator

Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones are the first ever openly gay black members of congress

Cori Bush is the first ever woman of color to win a seat in Congress in Missouri

Mauree Turner became the first non-binary state lawmaker in America and the first Muslim member of the Oklahoma state house

Oregon has become the first state to decriminalize all drugs (small amounts of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and other drugs will have lesser punishments, similar to traffic tickets, and no jail time.)

Kim Jackson is the first out LGBTQ+ state senator in Georgia

UPDATED WITH MORE GOOD NEWS:

Shevrin D. Jones is Florida’s first opnely LGBTQ+ state senator

Jabari Brisport became New York’s first gay Black member of the house

Arizona flipped blue for the first time in 24 years

Michele Rayner-Goolsby became the first Black LGBTQ woman in the Florida Legislature

Voters in Colorado overwhelmingly rejected Prop 115, a state ballot measure that would have banned abortions after a fetus reaches 22 weeks gestational age. In rejecting the initiative, Colorado remains one of the most progressive states in the country on reproductive rights

Arizona will now send two Democrats to the Senate for the first time since 1951, thanks to the win of ex-astronaut Captain Mark Kelly.

Democrats have flipped the senate seat in Colorado, with the win of former Gov. John Hickenlooper

Mississippi is removing the confederate flag from their symbology

Marie Newman, who has been titled ‘a leader of the pro-choice movement’, will now represent Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District in Congress

Nevada became the first state to protect same-sex marriage in it’s constitution

Immigrant rights activist and former public defender José Garza won the race for District Attorney of Travis County, Texas

“I didn’t see a Mandalorian when I found you…” Master Skywalker drifted off.

Grogu didn’t fill the silence.

Yep, ‘what he would’ve wanted’ has been updated and more pain has been whipped out on a silver platter. Plot happens in this chapter. Feelings happen in this chapter. 

Lots of things happen in this chapter.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28909794/chapters/71283183

Suddenly remembered this one dream I had when I was running a pretty bad fever.

Y’know that one Tom and Jerry episode where Tom dies and he goes to a train station in heaven? Yeah, I was there. And I was arguing with the train conductor. And I was going; “Let me in, you know who I am.”  But then the train conductor. They tipped their hat at me and shook their head. “I’m sorry, my friend, but it’s not your time.” And then I woke up.