Prompt From @lilithsaur: 

So I have to ask… What on earth made you feel so insecure that you felt the need to trash an innocent sophomore girl like that to keep your dignity? You know what? I bet I can guess. Your parents never loved you enough? Mommy never hung your artwork on the fridge? Daddy doesn’t come to your games? No, you didn’t grow enough hair on your dick in middle school and you were bullied for it. Whatever it is… I suggest you get over it.

Emma Mackey and Oliver Jackson-Cohen in EMILY (2022) dir. Frances O'Conner

fanfiction aesthetics ; walk the halls (climb up the walls) by @lachesisgrimm

take that ridiculous thing off

I adore lwaboc, I really admire how well you handled their relationship going from 100% antagonistic to the killer ust and sweet pining. Any advice on how to write slow burns? I hope you're having a great day ♡

Thank you for the kind words, dear, I hope you’re having a great day as well. 🤗

Regarding your question— *clears throat* IT’S MY TIME TO SHINE. Here are a few things I’ve picked up over the years!

First, you have to decide what kind of slow burn you want to write. The most common one that I’ve seen is the physical slow burn wherein the characters realize that they’re attracted to each other but take a while to act on it. Then there’s the emotional slow burn wherein the characters have a physical relationship but don’t realize they love each other because they’re idiots. It can also be a combination of the two! You have to determine what’s best suited to your plot and your characters’ personalities.

No matter which option you go with, it’s important to remember that slow burn is all about building the dynamic. Have your characters get to know each other, squabble over differences in opinions, and ultimately learn to trust and respect each other. This is where you can take a cue from the real world— whenever people are willing to share, I love listening to their stories about how they came to be with their partner and how they eventually had the epiphany that this person was The One. Whirlwind romances do happen in real life, but I think the more common experience is an acquaintance blossoming into a friendship blossoming into something more. It can be really fun, as a writer, to try and track the different ways that can go, and drawing upon those experiences can enhance your story and make it resonate with your readership.

Slow burn is also about never taking the easy way out, lol. Don’t let them snog or confess their feelings at the first opportunity— you want to draw out that tension, stretch it tight until something has just got to snap. Don’t be afraid to throw complications in the way of the ship— hell, go ahead and keep them separated for ages if that’s what the plot requires. It’s an agonizing process but it will make the payoff so much sweeter in the end. But don’t go overboard with this, either. Throw your characters (and your readers and yourself, lbr) a bone from time to time. For physical slow burn: Let the OTP hug or nuzzle or forehead kiss or whatever in a rare unguarded moment, let them Catch A Whiff Of Each Other’s Scent, let them shiver from unexpected touches, let them daydream about how it would feel like to jump Person B. For emotional slow burn: Let each of them gradually come to realizations about the other person, let them amass this mental catalogue of their partner’s quirks that are just So Endearing, let them confess something that’s not quite “I love you” yet but is pretty damn close in a moment of abject vulnerability (”You make me feel safe,” “I miss you,” “You’re, uh, you’re not so bad,” etc.)

Tension is a huge aspect of slow burn and you’re going to want to convey that in exquisite detail during the crucial moments. This includes the characters’ immediate environment— how sound suddenly seems to be coming from a long way off, how the person’s presence seems to eclipse everything else in the room, how the air is charged with static in the space between their bodies. As for the characters themselves— who’s blushing? Who’s biting their lip? Whose hands are balling into fists or clutching that coffee mug a bit too tight? Whose pupils are dilated, who suddenly trailed off in the middle of a sentence because they forgot what they were going to say… and then, once you’ve finished setting the stage, you can either pull the rug out from under them with a cockblock ex machina or have them go at it, depending on where you are in the story.

That’s all I’ve got for now. I hope this helps. Best of luck with your writing!

Grace and Megs (6/5 9:02PM CT, Austin, TX)

entelecheia — in the philosophy of Aristotle, the condition of a thing whose essence is fully realized [x]

what’s a comfort dish, either one you would make yourself or like someone to make for you?

My mother's yellow chicken adobo, which she makes by frying chicken in annatto-flavored oil, adding garlic and potatoes, some water, a dash of vinegar, a dash of soy sauce, and just the tiniest bit of cheddar cheese (a choice that's controversial yet brave).

It's amazing and so dear to me. I can almost taste it on my tongue.

Queen Cleopatra of Ancient Egypt was born closer to the invention of the iPhone than the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza

art