This may be confusing if you’re not used to Pinterest so feel free to ask follow up questions. I recommend starting from a simple search and adding the word ‘aesthetic’ to the end and scrolling to find an image that seems within the ballpark of what you’re looking for (adding descriptors like a color or light/dark can also help).

From there click on it and save it to a dedicated board (this is important for a future step). Then scroll down to the ‘more to explore’ below the image you picked and you should see similar images. Save any you like to the dedicated board (they don’t have to match, just save for the future step). ALSO if you scroll far enough, there is something that is super helpful which is Pinterest suggests popular searches that often name the aesthetic of the image. Click on those as well and save what you find while also noting what the aesthetics are for future searches. This may take several tries and variations of the search and you may end up clicking through several images and checking their ‘more to explore’ in a sort of nesting doll of searches. This is good. That means you are niching down.

After you’ve saved images you like, you may start to notice a pattern when you look back at your board that may give you a better understanding of what searches you like and what you’re looking for. Here’s where that important step comes in. At the bottom of the board (unless the board has been flagged) there should be an option for ‘more images’. This is where pinterest gives suggestions based on the images already in the board. They should match the vibe; though you may need to click out of it several times and edit the board in order to get a consistent result. On that note, for aesthetic boards, I would take out anything that removes from the aesthetic and move it somewhere else to make the suggested images more consistent (I.e fan site pics, outfit pics, stock images). I keep some skz images in the boards but keep it minimal and specific so it doesn’t clog up the board.

There, things should be more cohesive and make building a moodboard easier. It should also affect your algorithm and make the homefeed more atune to matching your aesthetics so future searches are easier. It will also make it so you can eventually find inspo by just scrolling on home. You can also add a Pinterest board to your home feed by using the ‘home feed tuner’ in settings. Turn off the boards with generic images and turn on the aesthetic boards. It’ll make a huge impact on your algorithm.

One more thing is. I save every image that evokes a story idea out of me. Usually my ideas for wips come from a compelling image I see on pinterest and build an idea from. Save pics you like ahead of time. I have a Pinterest board for settings that are interesting, one for random images that evoke ideas from me, and a skz board just for aesthetic images either of skz or ones that remind me of skz. When I make a new board, I scroll through those three boards first and add images from it to a new board dedicated to my fic idea to ease the process I listed above.

That was really long but I hope it made sense. Once again feel free to ask questions or get clarification 💗 hope this helps even a little

(ps. my fave search term to start with is southern gothic) *im gonna leave an example on twitter below this ask

Oooo normally this is where I’d throw in a classic religious theme but I immediately saw a lush forest in my mind so I’m thinking animal sanctuary. So this is somewhat inspired by a mission the Witcher 3 game. Jngn is a park ranger at a wildlife sanctuary. There’s reports of strange activity and people sneaking around where they’re not meant to be. Jngn is sent to an area with strange sightings to investigate but also retrieve mnho. Jngn finds mnho and doesn’t conceal his annoyance. Mnho is someone who normally gets in trouble for crossing safe boundaries in the sanctuary and staying past visitor hours. Jngn tries to get him to leave, but Mnho says some cryptic stuff in reply. Jngn dismisses him as a lunatic and keeps investigating the area. That’s when he catches a glimpse of hyvne and freezes. Hyvne is an eldritch creature like the ancient leshen from the Witcher with long deer like horns. Mnho wouldn’t leave jngn alone, determined to find what he’s looking for and sees it too. Mnho takes off after hyvne and jngn has to chase him deep into the woods. (Something something about getting lost and hearing strange noises) Turns out mnho is part of a cult that worships the leshen and they’ve just run into it’s lair.

favorite tropes to read or write:

I always get tropes, themes, and other stuff mixed up so sorry if this isn’t right but: I like writing corruption, grief, overcoming grief, and religious imagery. I especially love when the protagonist was missing something in their lives and has a sense of melancholy only for someone to come in and uproot everything and give them a new perspective on life.

where do I pull inspo from:

I make lots of pinterest boards and use personal experience. On pinterest, I specifically look for settings that make me feel nostalgic and imagery that evokes a scene. So for example: an attic full of boxes, an open window, a stained table cloth, cobwebs in the corner, a smashed cake on the floor, something on fire. They make me feel like there’s a story there. I then add in my own way of relating to it like growing up low income, growing up in the 00s, growing up in the Midwest and the rural south (US). It brings a myriad of experiences that I can place onto my protagonists.

how do I find time to write:

I’m unemployed

okay so I immediately thought of AHS hotel and X with the pornstars meet slasher theme in the 80s/90s (because mullet hyvne as a pornstar is a must). I see mnho as the director and cameraman, hyvnin as the actors.

They go to some location like an abandoned cabin at an abandoned summer camp with a past like camp crystal lake. It’s creepy in there and there’s spider webs (as hyvne complains, which totally freaks out jngn who has arachnophobia; of which, mnho keeps teasing him about by tickling the back of his neck).

The theme of the porn movie is inexperienced jngn and bad boy hyvne who corrupts him. They film on an obnoxiously creaky bunkbed and do all the cheesy sex noises. Though at one point they actually get turned on and stop listening to mnho and mnho finds that hot so he turns off the camera and joins them. Threesome commences.

Flash forward, it’s the middle of the night and hyvne wakes up first because he hears something outside. That’s when he realizes the power is out. He wakes up mnho who wakes up jngn and they all go to investigate the noise and get the power on (much to jngn’s chagrin).

Outside, they climb over roots and uneven ground to the breaker box behind the house but jngn trips over one. He moves his flashlight to see what he tripped over and screams.

There’s a body.

Hyvne helps him scramble to his feet. They don’t get to analyze the situation for a second before there’s movement in the darkness and rustling. There’s someone there. Possibly the killer.

They all look at each other. ‘Run’ says mnho. They clamber around the entire cabin and in through the front door. Mnho scrambles to lock it and block it with a chair. ‘What was that’ hyvne asks. He’s totally freaking out. Mnho has them find weapons. Jngn takes the camera (the person or thing outside could be the killer and they need proof so this isn’t pinned on them, he says).

As they plan and try to get their bearings, something bangs on the door and eventually breaks the window. They run out another way and get separated in the woods. From here they try to escape/survive and find each other again. They also find more bodies (maybe a murder mystery). At one point hyvne thinks he’s the final girl and gets his revenge maybe but it turns out jngn made it all the way to town to get help and mnho is badly injured but okay. Somehow (via pockets of calmness and convo and trauma bonding) they go from coworkers to admitting their hidden feelings for each other and have feelings realization. They all live.

This event makes them stars and makes their sex tapes insanely popular. The end.

I immediately thought of siren jsng. So bnchn are sailors or fishermen. Real hearty dudes with hearts of gold (who have explored each other’s bodies at sea before
iykyk) one day after a terrible season, chn decides to get up early and cast the net one last time. He catches what seems to be a large school. He’s excited and tries to reel it in but it almost sends him overboard.

Chngbn comes onto the deck half asleep and confused. He scolds chn for trying to pull in a catch on his own but joins him reeling it in. They pull and pull the crank but when the net comes above water, they’re frozen in awe. Chngbn smacks chn on the back of the neck and gets him to man the crank again. He tells him they caught someone and need to cut him loose. So they do. all they see are fins and flesh as they work relentlessly to rescue this person caught their net. chngbn prays the person is alive when they get him on deck. His skin hasn’t turned so they’re filled with false hope as they cut him free. There jsng lays with glistening green scales along his tail and warm tan skin along his torso. He’s beautiful. And breathing. And a mermaid. Chn and chngbn have a silent conversation. They’re not going to leave him there.

They bring him to their home and nurse him back to health in their bath tub while trying to keep him a secret and eventually fall in love. This would be a seaside town setting, mermaid in bathtub semi-realism vibe.

// homophobia, angst
This is a tough one. So this reminds me of childhood and being as ‘straight as a bendy straw’. I’ll set the scene in my mind:

“I’m as straight as a bendy straw.”

Flx said it with a laugh when they were in middle school. They were sitting at the oak tree waiting for their parents to finally show up to carpool after soccer practice.

Jngn didn’t get it, not really. He knew it was about homosexuality. Heard the term ‘straight’ in a tv show he saw once. Perhaps that’s where flx got the joke. But he’d never met one before.

His mom showed up eventually to pick them up in the van. Trash rolled out of the door with the wind.

Flx’s house is closer to school than theirs. Jngn didn’t say a word until flx got out of the car. He asked her what it meant to be gay. Told her what flx said.

She gave a stormy look in the rear view. The one she makes when she opens up the mail or dad’s out too late. She didn’t answer. All she said was ‘don’t tell your father.’

And jngn knew to listen to her. He didn’t mention it at dinner, but it didn’t leave his mind. If flx liked boys does that mean he could too? Why does it have to be a secret?

All he knew was that he hated the boys in his class. Flx is the only one he got along with. So if he liked a boy it would be him.

He never told his father but his father found out anyway. Everyone did because flx liked his joke too much.

Flx moved away over Christmas break. Didn’t get to say goodbye.

Jngn kept his secret. He never told anyone when he found out he was ‘straight as a bendy straw’ too. He knew not to make the same joke. He wished he told flx what his mother told him. Wished he could have kept him safe.

He doesnt see him again until college—a state school he almost didn’t go to and joined late. He dyed his hair, but jngn recognized his freckles and his smile. It was him.

They make eye contact but guilt takes over. So he goes the other way. (From here there’s be them seeing each other more and getting together but for now, angst)

I can think of these two having to be careful to not to cross boundaries in two ways. Perhaps as in a dangerous territorial boundary and a romantic one. I’m thinking mnchn are rival agents or assassins or mafia. So a fatal attraction type beat. I can hear chn saying ‘careful sweetheart, don’t get too close’ because mnho has him pinned against the wall. Mnho gets annoyed at his constant quips and brushes him off. He asks ‘what are you doing here anyway? This is our territory.’ Chan says, ‘I’m here to see you.’ Mnho is surprised for a moment, thrown off. Then chn starts to laugh and mnho rolls his eyes. Mnho says, ‘you’re lucky I don’t blow your cover.’ Chn scoffs ‘why don’t you, nothing’s stopping you.’ ‘You know why,’ Mnho says. Chn saved his life once and despite it all, mnho owes him.

//stalking, camboy, alcohol, smoking
Hmm this can go so many ways. I’m thinking of magnetism and the red string of fate but also stalker vibes and social media.

Maybe jsng is obsessed with mnho, his favorite camboy online. Jsng follows him on everything with notifs on, buys what he buys, and uses the same toys mnho uses when he watches his streams.

Jsng finds out they live in the same city by pure coincidence. He bumps into him when he’s working at the convenient store as a cashier. Mnho walks right in like an ethereal being and buys something meager. Pays for it at the counter without even looking at him, as if he hasn’t shaken jsng’s entire world. Jsng doesn’t mean to (or at least that what he tells himself), but he follows him outside, blaming it needing on a smoke break. He watches mnho take a right. He surprisingly doesn’t live too far away. This is a scary part of town and yet his favorite camboy with princely features lives a life as ‘low’ as his own. Mnho is closer to him than he thought.

Jsng bumps into mnho again but this time on the way home. He sees mnho drunk and leaning on the shoulders of his drinking buddies, laughing and stumbling to his apartment. Jsng doesn’t live on the right, but he follows anyway. He wants to make sure mnho gets home safe (or at least that’s what he tells himself). He’s a camboy, if anyone else recognizes him in this state, it could be dangerous. Jsng follows them into the building, sticks close when they buzz in, and gets to their floor.

Then he retreats. He dipped a toe in and it was exhilarating but he can’t risk diving in fully. Not yet. Mnho came to him for a reason. He can’t fuck it up too soon. Not before they’ve started. He’ll build his way up slowly instead until their lives intersect.

Pretty much, jsng forcing fate. Planets colliding metaphors and stars aligning themes. Gravity. Rv’s c0smic is a great parallel to this in a way.

I just finished the ep but hmmm the two of them…

This reminds me of the student x prof mnlx collecting dust in my docs nicknamed ‘one bad apple’. Flx seducing mnho slow and calculating for weeks to the point mnho can no longer write of his actions as coincidence. Flx leaves an apple on mnho’s desk—which is super old school but leaves an impression. He’s trying to send a message for mnho to take a bite of the forbidden fruit. Mnho doesn’t like apples, especially red ones but he likes the color red, especially on skin. Flx’s lips are red from the lollipop he brought to class that day (one he shouldn’t have while he takes his exam). He licks over the end and makes a sucking noise, interrupting the silence. Mnho’s mouth goes dry and he’s tempted mnho to quench his thirst by taking a bite of the juicy apple. It’s stupid but he picks it up and rubs it shiny on his white button up. He hesitates in contemplation, knows he’s accepting an invitation, but he opens his lips anyway to sink in his teeth.

A sheet of paper lands on his desk. Mnho sets down the apple and glances up. A white stick stained red falls into the wire receptacle at his side. The scent of vanilla wafts in his nose. A flash of blonde hair goes out of the door. Mnho shakes his head with a scoff and shuffles the paper neatly to the center of his desk. There he sees, written in red pen like a bad omen, a phone number. He picks up the apple again and takes a bite…