You're Just A Mammal. Let Yourself Act Like It. Your Brain Needs Enrichment. Your Body Needs Rest. You

No matter how far we go, how far we tread, the truth that stays hidden, shall never be said.

Todd watched Neil, his face soft and his eyes closed, asleep, peaceful, lovely. He reached down and brushed Neil’s hair out of his face. Neil shifted closer. Todd wondered how it was possible to love one person so much, but here he was.

It was late in the evening, most of the students had already retired. Neil had been working on some extra homework while Todd had sat on his bed, reading. At some point Neil had finished up and had climbed next to Todd. He’d looked tired but hesitant but Todd had been dating him long enough to know exactly what he wanted. Neil hadn’t grown up in an environment where he could seek comfort (though admittedly, neither had Todd (but Todd had Neil constantly proving that he could ask for what he wanted even before they’d started dating and that had made a world of difference)). Sometimes he’d want Todd but wouldn’t know how to phrase it. Todd had learned to pick up the cues. So he moved his book back and held his arms out and Neil didn’t hesitate further, simply sank into his embrace. It didn’t take him long to fall asleep, he head resting on Todd’s chest, Todd’s hand playing with his hair.

Neil and Todd hadn’t exchanged ‘I love you’s yet. They were always there, at the tip of Todd’s tongue. Sometimes when Neil looked at him, Todd thought they might be there, too, at the tip of Neil’s tongue. Todd knew he loved him, had known for a while. But they hadn’t been dating long so he held those words back. He didn’t think he’d hold out much longer, though, not when Neil was so lovable, so breathtakingly beautiful and sweet, so easy to want, so perfectly fit in his arms. Todd loved him so much he didn’t know what to do with himself half of the time.

Neil shifted again and Todd leaned down to press a kiss at the edge of his eyebrow.

'I love you’.

want that indie movie, rainy days, reading 4 fun, kate bush, tired smiles, i am not okay with this, music playing, cool girl, lipgloss, doc martens, thrifting, effortless beauty, wlw, mazzy star, chipped nail polish, doodling, dim lighting, end of the f***ing world, quiet, baggy clothes, wind blowing ur hair out of ur face, carolina by taylor swift, record shops, leather jackets, red, messy hair, sunset walks, polaroid photos, crystal rings, smudged eyeliner, fairy lights, playing guitar kind of life i think thats what i deserve

Got any tips for writing romantic slowburn fics?

Hello! I’ve done my research and I have plenty.

How To Write Slow Burn Romance

Firstly, here’s some helpful links to other tumblr posts and websites (where I got most of my information). They go more in depth than I will here. For the tumblr posts, I recommend having a scroll through the notes for extra tips.

Other helpful links:

Advice for writing slowburn romance [the960writers]

How to write slowburn [givethispromptatry]

Tips / prompts for writing slowburn [creativepromptsforwriting]

The art of writing slowburn romance

Here are the main points I gathered:

Slowburns don’t start with love/attraction at first sight. The attraction builds up throughout the story.

There are many tropes that apply to slowburn; Friends-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers, having to overcome something internal, having to overcome something external, etc.

To borrow a quote from @the960writers , “That’s why most romance stories have an exciting sideplot. It gives the characters a background to act against and it gives the writer time to develop the chemistry between the characters”

Your characters need believable chemistry, otherwise the reader has no reason to route for them.

At the same time, your characters need a reason to not get together right away. Otherwise, there’s no reason for the burning to be so slow. A few reasons for the characters to not get together right away include denial, societal taboo and them already being n a relationship.

When it comes to the characters starting to like each other, show don’t tell. It’s okay to occasionally have the characters go “Oh no! I’m developing feelings for B!” but for the most part, we shouldn’t be directly told that the characters are falling for each other. We should see them be nicer to each other, spending more time together, subtly flirting and showing other signs of attraction. It makes the relationship feel more real.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you want me to add more advice.

Leave requests for other oneliners and prompts!

“There are times when I am convinced I am unfit for any human relationship.”

-Franz Kafka

Joe Keery for WWD — August 2023

My wildest dream is to have a wild and untamed garden full of flowers and Vines and Pathways and hidden benches and alcoves like that Secret Garden

healing involves a lot more grieving than you’d expect. progress hurts. you’re moving on from things that happened but also things you wished would happen and never did. mourning does not mean you are not getting better.

— Arthur Miller, The Crucible

I've spent a life chasing stories to tell when I'm old