this is a friendly reminder that we should support all artists, of all kinds, who are currently alive. this is because they need help and love for their art more than any other. just reading and sharing a book still not very famous or any new work of art and so on to warm the hearts of these emerging artists and encourage them to continue on their journey. the artists who are no longer alive have been fantastic, it’s true, but the artists who are alive now need more support and appreciation than the previous ones.
Reblog if you’ve ever read a fic that was better than published books
And the fact that these fics are free to read and enjoy online? These people write these great ass (sometimes long ass stories, not complaining ‘bout that though, I mean it’s amazing how much they can pump out of their brain?!) and all they ask in return is a review/reblog (or they don’t even ask for anything at all?). They spend a long time planning, writing, laying out the details, the flow (and their plot twists are just )
They deserve the freakin’ best!
Henlo to these beautiful people (in alphabetical order -I hope it’s alphabetical?- so I don’t forget anyone…I hope) I am sending some love all the way from across the globe and the international date/time line! (unless we are in the same time zone lol) and although I don’t know what you’re going through at the moment, I hope this makes your day a little bit better ❤
You may not know me because I myself am guilty that I was a silent reader before and I came across this particular post and I just have to say thank you, to both my newly found and followed authors and old fic writers I’ve followed waaay back in 2016 since starting this side blog, for your beautifully well-written pieces that have been keeping me company during my insomnia moments, (which tbh, are sometimes the cause of my sleepless nights because I can’t put my phone down when I’m in too deep binge-reading and rereading your works ), for making me hot and bothered at ungodly hours and most importantly, for inspiring me to start writing again and improve my English and expand my vocabulary! English is not my first language
As I am currently posting this, it’s 2:48AM where I’m at lmao
Please take care of yourselves! Mahal na mahal ko kayo! <3 (your fics have given me comfort during my bouts of down times and has kept me sane during the pandemic)
Italicized blogs - Tumblr staff suspended/deactivated/cannot be tagged but I’ll still link them their works, if they are still available, which you can also find on my Fic Recs post.
I’m sure there are still a lot more out there that I haven’t encountered yet, but I will soon! I also hope the writers that have deactivated are doing better than okay too, I miss you and your works
Awww! Thank you so much! You’re so sweet!!! I miss writing and really hope I can start up again soon!
And all you beautiful writers out there, keep writing! Don’t care about what anyone thinks, if you enjoy, do it! You’re talented and wonderful and so so special!!!
I’ve seen a bunch of people do these Fic recommend posts and I wanted to do it myself. I feel we need to show off and hype one another more. Having just a little push of attention is always a great feeling, so here are some of my favourite Fics I’ve read!!
Plus some beautiful people that write so much amazing content!!
Appreciate yourself and follow this account! Okay? It’s hard to imagine worlds nobody has ever dreamed of and put them to paper. You are amazing. You have talent! Even if it’s not something you can showcase like singing. You are still talented and every bit as important
hi everyone! today’s post is about creating sympathetic villains, because let’s be honest, the antagonist is the best part of any story /hj. a sympathetic villain is essentially one whose intentions are understandable, but whose actions are not. i hope this post helps!
disclaimer: i am not a professional writer and everything here is based on personal experience and opinion. i am always open to respectful discourse and constructive criticism!
give them reasons
and i don’t necessarily mean a tragic past. give them genuinely sympathetic reasons. maybe they want to save the world by burning it down. maybe they want to wage war on the politicians that have denied them life. maybe they want to secure peace for the people in their country, if they’re a ruler. or maybe they’ve been denied and ignored their entire life and just want to be recognised.
whatever your character’s motivation, it should be something that the reader can sympathise with.
give them a past
yes, we all love characters with a tragic backstory, but don’t stop at ‘their parents were killed when they were young’ or 'their girlfriend betrayed them and now they’re a bad person’ (yes this is me attacking the shadow and bone tv show no im not sorry). any character’s backstory should have depth and reason to it.
take loki from the first avengers movie, for example. he’s a sympathetic villain because we have seen him before in thor movies and we know his relationship with his adoptive father and brother. he was constantly pushed aside and watched his mother die in front of him, neither of which could have been fun. and his relationship with thor is a really strong dynamic that makes the viewer want him to get something out of the conflict.
his past gives him context and reason and the depth of it makes him seem like a character rather than a symbol, which made it easier for the viewer to sympathise.
give them humanity
make your antagonists funny. make them awkward. make them bad at flirting. make them walk into a grocery store and not understand how the self check-out works. i understand the appeal of having an all-powerful fantastical being be the villain, but if your aim is to create a sympathetic one, it’s important that they are shown to be human because that’s what allows the reader to relate to them.
i know i’m using all marvel examples, but if you take hela from thor: ragnarok - she is undoubtedly the evil antagonist, but she’s funny, for goodness sake. also cate blanchett is gorgeous but that’s unrelated, i just had to point it out.
they are not morally gray
there is a very important difference between a morally gray character and a sympathetic villain. a sympathetic villain is one who is, undoubtedly, a Bad Character - they just have understandable motives. they do the wrong things for the (arguably) right reasons - or their reasons have been corrupted by events and/or people, causing the reader to sympathise with them.
a morally gray character, on the other hand, often has the wrong reasons and justifies them anyway. they do a combination and Good and Bad things, unlike the villain who does solely Bad things.
helene aquila from an ember in the ashes is morally gray because she makes hard decisions in the face of crises and is often on the opposite side from laia and elias. she’s arguably a good person with hard luck, and circumstance drives her to make questionable decisions that play on her mind.
the darkling, however, is a sympathetic villain, and i’m going to elaborate on this much more now.
case study: the darkling
okay before we get started: i am NOT a darkling apologist and i do not think any of his actions are excusable. but the fact that so many people on this hellsite think he’s a good person just proves how well leigh bardugo created a sympathetic villain, and i’m going to explain how i think it worked. and yes, this has shadow and bone spoilers.
the darkling is grisha, and through his lifetime he was hunted and therefore hiding and living in perpetual fear (his past). he wanted to create a safe place for the grisha to live and thought the only way they could be safe was if they were feared (his reasons). he also supposedly fell in love with alina (although his is arguable) and that could be seen as his humanity.
rule of wolves spoilers: the end of the rule of wolves where he agrees to make a sacrifice for the good of ravka also gives him some amount of humanity.
all of the above make the reader sympathise with his intentions and are probably smitten with ben barnes’ face which makes it easier. however, literally none of his actions are excusable. he manipulated teenage girls, kissed alina pretending to be mal, literally bound her to his power with an amplifier that completely eliminated her agency, created creatures that blinded his own mother and cut off one of his students’ arms, and attempted to expand a physical darkness to take over the entire world. excusable? i think not.
his initial desire for safety is what the reader sympathises with. but the darkling uses that as a jumping-off point to go completely off the rails and essentially lose any sense of boundaries or limits on even his own power, which undoubtedly makes him the villain. not a single one of his actions are excusable.
I hate myself for this, I hate the whole thing, but things are pretty tight right now, the cars falling apart, my freezer just broke and I lost all my food, had to buy more, and a buy a new freezer, so when I start writing again, I’m gonna post my kofi link. I’m sorry in advance, and I don’t expect anything of anybody. So sorry. Its just there incase anyone wants to/can tip, cause every cent helps. So anyway, here’s my > Kofi < and sorry again
(Just to clarify, I know there are people worse off than me. I’m not asking for anyone to help me, I’m only putting out a way for my readers to tip)
I’m not trying to be an asshole by reblogging this, or seem needy. We’re just struggling a little bit, my dad had a stroke today and everything is a mess.
If you have the means and you want to ‘tip’ me for my content then I’d be beyond grateful but I do not expect anything and I don’t want you to feel obliged.
