#<- don't think i've actually used that tag for like . a very long time oops

[sungtaro]

my mom got me an embroidered scrub jacket for my graduation but she had to show it to me early to make sure it fits bc if she waited the few more weeks she wouldn't be able to exchange the size . but anyways seeing My Name, RN literally almost made me cry u guys we are SO close ...

[madroxed]

Fic Writer Interview

i was tagged (ages ago, oops) by the wonderful @lafaerie to do this 💖

i'll tag @jamesandanthony, @lavellenchanted, @shanastoryteller, @coyotesuspect, @doreyg & @floating-in-the-blue but zero pressure.

How many works do you have on ao3?

96 on my main and 22 on my secondary, but i've orphaned at least another, idk, 60? over the years, and there's some fics lost to the chasm of time that is livejournal and prior out there to never be found again.

What’s your total word count?

351,946

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

then you'll wake up, your left hand man, pocketful of sunshine, only by chance, when there's no ground. all are shadowhunters/mortal instruments fic, which is a surprise to exactly no one.

Do you respond to comments? Why/why not?

i do initially, and then i am terrible for not replying after a certain time which is something i'm working on. it's entirely an anxiety thing, and very silly, but if i don't answer right away i feel like it's too late? idk, i'm trying to be better at it.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

i'm not known for my angst, let's be honest, so i'm going to put end of eras (haunting of hill house, luke & nell) here because it's hohh, angst is a given, and also mayyyyybe still my heart this moment and tell me you'll remember (both glee, sam/blaine) which also deal with character death but, like? in a not totally sad way? one's ghosts and one's immortality/reincarnation soooo. i think they count.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

as a happy ending truther, this could apply to practically all of them, but let's go with be in my book (bridgerton, penelope/benedict) which is about as fluffy a fic as they come.

Do you write crossovers?

i used to, back in the wild old days of comment ficathons and crossover comms on lj, but i haven't in years. definitely would, just would have to really think it through now.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

once that i can think of, which was very silly and obviously sent by someone who was deliberately reading fic they weren't going to enjoy.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

i have been known to, on very rare occasions. my most recently posted fic is actually 911 buck/tommy smut (find peace in the noise) which i wrote almost entirely because of the group chat. it's not necessarily my go-to, but if the mood strikes.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

yes.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes, a couple.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

not in years, but i used to co-write a lot with a friend in the lj days. i'm not fantastic at co-writing, if only because i am useless with time management.

What's your all-time favourite ship?

i'm not sure i have an answer to this. i sort of just collect ultimate otps and store them and they pile up, so i don't have just one. some i come back to more often than others, but i've definitely been in too many fandoms to have any less than a dozen.

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

oh boy, yeah, any? all? i am notoriously bad about this. if i don't write a fic to completion and then post it, the chance of it getting finished are nil. i have one wip on my ao3 (build it better (the second time around), the order, knights poly) that i started before the second season had aired, and every part of me wants to finish it but...we'll see. maybe one day. the part written docs on my computer for dozens of other fics though? coin toss.

What are your writing strengths?

i think i'm pretty good at characterisation. i like how i write dialogue. i think i'm able to say a lot in few words. other than that, who knows. i have a blast with it most the time? that's definitely a strength.

What are your writing weaknesses?

actually sitting down and writing, let's be honest. but otherwise, long fic and plotting are definitely not things i'm great at. i'm trying to get better at extending my word count, but detailed plots still largely elude me.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

i try not to, as i am - alas - a lazy english speaker who never picked up another language remotely fluently. and no one trusts online translation tools.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

either buffy or hp, i can't remember exactly.

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

i am currently working on some jack/kent (check please) fics (finally - they are one of the dozen that fits into that otp question), which feels terrifying because i love them so much. i also have a couple of stranger things fics i'm thinking about.

i'm notorious for dropping one fic in a fandom and then nothing else ever again, so i'll write for pretty much anything.

What's your favourite fic you've written?

though the truth may vary (shadowhunters, simon/raphael). (i actually started an author's favourites series on ao3 a while back which felt huge, and i've only put four fics in it, oops.)

[perfectlyvalid49]

Hello! Thank you so much for your patience in talking to and teaching people out here on this wild west internet. ❤️ As a poorly-informed goy, I've learned things! And I was hoping you could elaborate on one of those things, so I don't accidentally Do a Bad.

So, context: one of the things I love learning about the most is mythology, mysticism, esoterica, and religion, especially the history thereof. This generally isn't for the purpose of practicing anything in particular - magical or religious - but just because I love these topics. Lately I've been diving into the history of Christianity and Judaism, and I've noticed that one of the youtube channels I've been enjoying the most (Esoterica, which is run by a Jewish man) has videos on Kabbalah.

And therein lies the question - until I encountered your blog, I didn't even know that Kabbalah was an extant practice and had restrictions inside of Judaism itself, though I did know that Judaism is a closed religion. (Oops! I haven't gotten to the Middle Ages or Renaissance in my current studies yet.) So I guess what I want to ask is, is it only the practice of Kabbalah by unqualified people that is taboo, or is the knowledge of the practice also forbidden? Because while I would love to learn about it (it would be fascinating to see how it influenced Renaissance Alchemy!), it isn't something truly necessary to me in any way, and I don't want to be accessing knowledge that I oughtn't. Do you know the answer?

Thank you so much, and sorry for the long, weird question! I hope you're having a good day!

Hi! I’m glad you find what I have to say informative; it’s always nice when someone appreciates your work.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a good answer for your question. I don’t study kabbalah (I’m neither male nor over 40, nor would I consider myself a scholar in Torah and Talmud (nor do I actually have the time to devote to it)), and I’m unfamiliar with the youtube channel you mentioned. I’ll tell you what I do think in case that helps, and I’ll tag jumblr so that if someone who knows more than me feels like helping you out, they can see this ask too.

The first thing I want to be clear on is that whatever answer I give you, there will be Jews out there that disagree with it. That is true in part because Jews are not a monolith, but also because Judaism very much believes in healthy debate, so the phrase “two Jews, three answers” applies to pretty much ANY question.

Without knowing the youtube channel, I find it somewhat concerning that the guy running it doesn’t make it clear that Kabbalah is highly restricted as part of teaching about it. Maybe he assumes you have that knowledge already, or maybe it’s in a video you missed, but it seems like the sort of thing you would want to make clear in teaching about it. So if he didn’t do that, then I wonder about what else he might be leaving out.

My personal opinion is that it’s complicated. I do think that if your interest is academic (I want to learn about the thing for historical/cultural context) and not spiritual (I want to use this as a method of understanding/growing closer to G-d) then I don’t think that your desire is offensive. But that’s my opinion and others may disagree.

A lot of the problem comes down to the fact that part of practicing kabbalah is studying kabbalah. So, as an example, to learn about kabbalah, you may want to learn about the Zohar. But reading the Zohar (a great way to learn about it) is practicing kabbalah – a thing you should not do. It can be hard to know where the line is between learning *about* kabbalah and just learning kabbalah, and that makes this tricky.

I guess I would say that if you stick to studying things that are one step removed, you’re probably OK? So like if Rabbi X was a famous kabbalah scholar, you could learn about Rabbi X or read any published writings of his that aren’t considered part of kabbalah, that’s probably ok, but studying actual kabbalah itself would not be.

I will say that many Jews are prickly on this subject because many goyim like to take things that are Jewish and closed and insist that we share them anyway, with no respect toward our peoplehood or culture. That doesn’t seem to be what you’re doing though, and I appreciate that.

Anyway, I hope that this was helpful, or that someone else responds to this with something that is.

[oleander-nin]

Hi again, I'm that same person that sent that long ask earlier lol

Okay ESPECIALLY after the poll you put up, I wanna say again that WE ALL LOVE YOU STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP /p

I'm stuck between wanting to be heartfelt and encouraging or just shaking you by the shoulders and scream at you /aff /pos

Ollie, genuinely, don't push yourself too hard. Yeah we love what you write, but we understand that you're a person with a life. You do not owe us anything.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, or maybe looking too far into this, but I feel like you're a perfectionist? And that you feel you have to crank things out quickly and it all has to be perfect. Maybe you feel somehow indebted to give us things to read. and lemme tell you, it's very easy to get stuck in a loop of "do the creative thing for your followers or else". That is, if you aren't in that loop already. I'm sorry, know I'm assuming a lot, and I'm not meaning to pry.

I just say this because I recognize the way you talk in your tags or authors notes. I'm not an author, but I used to post art. I kept getting more frustrated with myself, (and I can definitely tell you are too). I lost motivation, and it stopped being fun pretty quickly because I kept thinking "it needs to be perfect" or "I need to create faster" all for the sake of an audience. So when you apologize, or seem to value your writing so little, it just makes me worry that you're in that same loop. Heck, I mean, I still don't make art often, I still have perfectionist issues and worry about how fast I can create. But it's becoming fun again, slowly.

I just hope that writing is still something you like to do. I would hate for your passion for writing to be squandered by the pressure and expectations of an audience. I know you have a lot going on right now, even if you try and act like you should be able to push through it and write, but please take care of yourself. If the February challenge is getting too difficult, please don't feel like there's any shame in limiting your workload. We'll be happy with whatever you make, and I'll be even happier if I know you actually enjoyed writing it. /gen

WOW this is long I'm sorry lmao. I've been at this for like half an hour. (Do asks have a word limit? Oops I hope not ahshjsk)

Oh also, don't worry about responding to this is an "appropriate" way. I know that this would be hard for me to respond to, so don't feel pressured to say anything at all. Even if you delete this, I'll be perfectly fine with it. /gen I just hope you read it and understand that we care about you. Please feel better <3

YOU TOOK THIRTY MINUTES FROM YOUR DAY TO WRITE ME THIS???? THE HONOR???? SOBBING THANK YOU

Breaking this down paragraph by paragraph cuz you deserve it💪(also I'm avoiding responsibilities rn shhh)

Okay first of all, thank you a lot. This entire thing kinda helped me realized just how bad I was letting myself get. In the back of my mind, I know I don't have to write, or that I shouldn't be doing it the way I am, but it felt like an obligation at some point, both from trying to repay you all in the only way I know how, and from trying to catch up with everyone else. Sometimes it feels like I'm falling behind, and if I don't keep going, I'm just going to lose everything.

I forgive you<3/lhj, but you're not technically wrong. While I'm not in the perfectionist in the sense I won't post something unless I deem it perfect and have checked over 8 times(what I used to do), I still tend to pick apart everything I've made and found every flaw. I realize this is a problem, and have been yelled at by many a teachers for it lol. But yeah, a lot of the time I do feel indebted, and I probably am stuck in that loop(Which is why I'm so bad at actually taking breaks). Don't feel bad for assuming, nothing you could say would really offend me, and you've been dead on this whole time.

I've been meaning to stop talking about how much I hate certain parts of what I write in the tags+A/N's, because I know listening to me whine and cry about something that doesn't matter gets annoying, but I'm not good at that either I guess lol.

I'm fairly certain that writing will always be fun for me, as I'm still looking forwards to doing a lot of the requests I got and one set of ideas I have, but finding the will to write it down seems impossible right now. It's like I'm stuck at the bottom of a sheer cliff and I can't start writing until I read the top. The main reason I'm so mad at myself for flopping so bad with this challenge is because I was able to do the Horrortober one just fine, as well as maintain a schedule for a while. It feels like I'm getting worse rather than getting better, and It's just making me frustrated with myself to the point of just wanting to quit(not that I think I'd be able to if I'm honest. I tried once, yet here I am, only 3 years later.)

Anyways, I'm just going to start putting more time into the writing instead of trying to force a deadline. I want to be able to make longer fics again, and to start TWOAL back up(I've been avoiding it because I want the chapters to start being 4000+ to mimic actual books). I want my writing to seem like it has care and quality, and not like it was produced by a factory. I have once headcanon style fic about the Vamp turts in the work I was spending days on to make sure it was decent, and it alone is better than a lot of stuff I've put out recently.

ANYWAYS

Thank you! I appreciate your words, sorry for the vent. I'll probably just delete this half later lol, but I needed to get some stress out.

[littleladymab]

Fic Authors Self-Rec!

Ahhhh thank you @fourteenfifteen for the tag! (You can find Hen's post over here!)

Rules: When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let's spread the self-love

Also I'm totally going to CHEAT, because I absolutely LOVE my two big series that are NOT popular at all LMAO

the scars that we're made of series! This is my "Star Wars Rebels S5" fic. This is my "did you hate the ahsoka show for yes girl giving us nothing??" this is my "do you also want to know what happens after rebels but don't want it to be EXCLUSIVELY thranto?" THIS IS MY FAVORITE SERIES I'VE WRITTEN like the whole thing top to bottom bangers imo It's not yet finished, I still have to write my Eli prequel but honestly, if you love Rebels, read this! Here's the tumblr post for main fic, far from the world that i made.

inside every open eye series! This is a fantasy Magnus Archives fic, in which Sasha steps in to take over the role of the Archivist after Jon goes missing during a ritual for the Beholding. I love a lot of the visuals from this, and I loved writing for Sasha -- plus there's a lot of fun side-stories. This one is complete! Here's tumblr post for the main fic, tiny cracks of light.

my place to land. What is UP SIGNET/ECHO NATION, ALL FIVE OF YOU! I wrote a novel for my rare pair because i am actually three bodyguard AUs in a trench coat captaining the good ship I made up. Twilight Mirage is still my favorite fatt season, because it is exactly my aesthetic and also, Signet is there. This is still one of my favorite fics, even though I can think of many things that i would change upon a rewrite. I got a lot of amazing gift art from friends when I was updating it, too, and I treasure everyone who came to read it!! It is currently still the longest fic in the fatt tag, but not for long it does look like there is someone rapidly catching up with 74k on a 6/14 chapter fic. It was fun while it lasted! Unfortunately, twitter moments went kaput so I will have to figure out some other way to put all the wonderful fanart everyone made for me!

'til my lungs burn bright. Affectionately called my "regency magic spies AU" for Ace Attorney, specifically this is for AA4/Klapollo!! This is a sequel to a fic I haven't finished yet! (Someone encourage me to finish the main fic! it's what i'm supposed to be working on this month!!) I love this setting SO much and I loved making all the little references to in-game moments. Here's the tumblr link to the fic ;) I had a hard time picking between this and my sleeping beauty klapollo au.... Also shout-outs to Joanie for doing the WONDERFUL art for it!!! (I should actually go put it in-line with the fic text too oops)

Theseus' Ship. The Anders Defender has LOGGED THE FUCK ON. That's it that's the post. No okay, it's an Anders character study and i think it absolutely slaps. Here's the tumblr link to the fic!

Bonus very short fic that I still enjoy, which you can also read even if you're not in the fandom, but Five Steps To Ensure Your Soulmate Becomes a Ghost from Rusty Quill Gaming.

Honestly I love everything I write because I am an audience of me first. The current version of my masterpost has links out to a lot of my fics from different fandoms -- like some of my other friends at the table content and my jgm labyrinth au and my lockwood fic! That's my best piece of advice: love what you write, and write for yourself first! And then the two little freaks in your group chat second 💞 I wouldn't have been able to do most of these fics without the besties, so thank you to everyone who has read my novel-length fics.

Tags: Scrambling to think of any of my fic writing friends let's goooo @luukeskywalker, @mariusperkins, @lesbianahsokatano, @redtailedhawk90, @bardicspiration, @krisseycrystal , @strangeharpy and there's so many of you i love you all, please go flaunt your writing and talk about your five favorite fics!! and tag me!!

[maester-of-spreadsheets]

Tagged by @vonlipvig and it's come around at a great time because I've actually been finishing media lately. Imagine that.

Last song/piece I listened to: Chor Bazari from Love Aaj Kal. AZAD HOON MAIN TUJHSE! AZAD HAI TU MUJHSE! wait i just noticed that the lyrics are saying "now i'm free from you, now you're free from me" but it's using the most informal 'you.' Which kinda implies they still have a degree of emotional intimacy despite being exes. Despite the whole song being about how they're exes who are handling this reunion super maturely even if they're bemused by it all lol. Interesting.

(also Deepika was still in her awkward rookie actress phase here but I can see the glimmers of the kind of stuff that would go on to make her really good at more naturalistic roles.)

(great now I want to rewatch it even though I remember it being the platonic ideal of a timepass hahah. If only to rewatch the sequence where early on they have a 'we're breaking up!' party because they dont want to do long distance and then later on she calls him from the airport and they have this lighthearted conversation talking about their gripes with one another that they never mentioned in the relationship in order to keep the peace.)

Last book I read: Diavola by Jennifer Thorne. Horror novel about the bisexual disaster black sheep of a family going to a family reunion in Italy and... oops [cocks gun] villa's haunted.

On one hand is it kind of a mess with weird pacing and some dropped plot threads and it has multiple themes that don't quite congeal? Yes.

On the other hand, did it FUCK MAJORLY?? Yep!! Probably my favorite book I've read this year so far. So cathartic.

Last film I watched: Piku, solely to look at several actors' faces and it delivered on that front.

Last TV series: I don't... know? I think it might have been that documentary series about Nickelodeon. And I'm glad survivors got to tell their stories, but like a lot of recent true crime documentaries about systemic crimes I felt like it didn't go deep enough. For every Dan Schneider, there are quite a few people above people him in the corporate ladder who have to sign off on their abuses. But that's all very bleak so let's move on. (Also it turned out I am still not far away enough from The Old Job to really be able to deal with this content.)

Last video game: Pentiment! I was playing a "choose the rudest option" round and was shocked every character hated me.

Last thing I googled: Diavola to remind myself of the author's name.

Last thing I ate: Pasta and broccoli.

Sweet, savory, or spicy: Spicy.

Amount of sleep: As usual I genuinely don't know how much was actual sleep and how much was lying around half awake.

Currently reading: Uhhhh so many things. My Lent resolution to only read things I own and/or have started didn't go too well (but better than I had been before because I actually finished some things.) I'm probably going to try and make an effort to return Emily Wilson's Iliad translation and/or the biography on J. Dilla.

Currently watching: Uhhh does watching the Murder on the Orient Express play all the way through every other night count?

Tagging @onetrueharem @ponydeathisland @amarguerite @invaders-forever @sickfreaksirkay aaaand honestly everyone who wants to do. And doesn't want to YOU LOT ESPECIALLY

[housewarningparty]

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @coraniaid and @isagrimorie. thanks!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

45 stories

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

361,583 words

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Actively? Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Life is Strange, Mass Effect, Avatar the Last Airbender, Warrior Nun. But i'd be down for other stuff!

Formerly: MTV Scream, She-Ra, Oxenfree

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

You Got Cool (She-Ra, 6,990 kudos)

Everybody Needs a Fence to Lean On (Life is Strange, 2,140 kudos)

Tear You Apart (Life is Strange, 1,918 kudos)

Every Other Freckle (Life is Strange, 1,579 kudos)

Dream Blue Haze (Life is Strange, 1,535 kudos)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I've been trying to more recently! But I'm not always great at it. At the very least when someone comments something detailed and thoughtful I try to reply - those comments always mean a lot to me.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Not fully intentionally but the place @holdsteady and I left our collaborative fic How to Live Here was basically right after a massive fight/breakup between characters that we fully planned to resolve and then just.... never did. Oops. Surprisingly, people are very rarely mean to us about this.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably Body Language? Very much intended to have that one wrapped up with a bow.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not in a long time. Last time I really did was on some of my Life is Strange fics (either homophobic hate or bc i was writing a ship people didn't like).

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yeah! Femslash only.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I sometimes joke about/hc elaborate crossovers when I'm watching stuff with my friends, but I don't really have any interest in writing any. Or reading any, really, for that matter.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yeah! Had one of my LiS fics translated to Vietnamese. That was cool.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yeah! I co-wrote How to Live Here with my best friend @holdsteady! That's the only one that's been published, at least. @nataliving adn @jewishsuperfam and i have worked on some stuff together too and that's been fun :)

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

I don't know if I actually can pick one but honest Buffy/Faith are all-timers and absolutely formative. Second to that would be Rachel/Max/Chloe from Life is Strange.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

God, How to Live Here absolutely haunts me. There's a few Mass Effect ones (Shepard/Liara arranged marriage AU and my Jack/Miranda series) that I would love to finish but probably never will. Those are the ones that probably have the most written for them that I just haven't wrapped up.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm good at a lot of it! I write pretty good smut, I'm good at character voice, I think my writing is pretty readable

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Actually writing lmao. I struggle with coming up with workable ideas. I intimidate myself out of projects a lot. I fall off stuff kinda easy too tbh. And I'm TERRIBLE at writing alone - for anything bigger than a oneshot I need someone to hype me up and hold my hand through it or else I get bored or lose confidence :?

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Generally in favor of skipping the google translate stuff. It's usually pretty whack

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Technically digimon when i was a little kid and before I even knew what fanfic was. First i posted was Danny Phantom

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I think Body Language is probably my best fic but for sentimental reasons I really love How to Live Here, since i wrote it with my best friend.

tagging @nataliving, @holdsteady, @shittinggold, @earthenterran, @lafgl, @aliceinwondrbra,, @strangesmallbard, @areweunderscoreweare, @jewishsuperfam, @morningsound15

[sunriseverse]

@vaynglories replied to your post “10, 14, 16, 17 for the writing q's!”:

I AM ASKING NOW. TELL ME ABOUT THE USES OF "BAD WRITING" (if you want to) (also hardcore agree on the first person thing. so many oft-hated-upon devices can be used to good effect, it's all about the manner in which they're used!)

​okay sorry to only get to this [checks timestamp] twelve hours later BUT i have so so many feelings about this so thank you for encouraging me.

for this post, i'll be talking about the generally hated styles/types of writing, the ones that people always so to NEVER DO, that i can remember off the top of my head. (if i miss one that you want to hear about, let me know!!! i love talking about this subject.) i'll list them off very quickly so you have a general idea what i'm talking about: second person pov, first person pov, "excessive" italicisation, stream-of-consciousness, lack of dialogue tags, grammatical errors, repetition, "overly" detailed/purple prose, and omission of information.

(this got long, oops. sticking it below the cut for readability.)

as a brief preface, i'll say this: i think that a lot of these things are hard to pull off in a way that works. it takes a lot of experience, skill, and understanding of both the medium you're working with, and what each of these things conveys. but so often i see people warning authors away from them entirely, which is, in my opinion, shortsighted at best, and stunting of creativity at worst. now i'll give an explanation for each of these, and how i've used them/how i think they can be used effectively.

second person pov: this is arguably the most "intimate" pov, because you're making the reader an implicit party to the narrative, moreso than usual. that doesn't mean the narrator is the reader, though! second person pov can also help to create, paradoxically, a distance from the actual narrator. you can see this in the harrow the ninth novel, for one example, and in another, i've used second person a couple times in my recent works; here's an example of it:

You didn’t bother trying to answer. You knew well enough that the best option in the battlefield of pain was silence. They, you thought, perhaps, were waiting for you to make a sound; to groan, or grunt, or moan, or wail. They forgot you were as Zhang as they were. This was not a smugness; this was a fact you knew as well as the length of your fingers had been burnt into you.

here, the second person pov blurs the lines between the reader's experience, and xiaoge's experience, but does not make the reader the narrator; not that that would be a bad thing, but in this case, that's not what i was going for; you can tell who the narrator is based on details that are given. the second person pov also makes the narration feel more factual—it is being experienced rather than being observed.

first person pov: very common in YA novels, but adult novels have first person povs as well! you just don't hear about them as much. i would say first person pov is one of the harder things on this list, because it can be hard to characterise the narrator without making them feel too much like a self insert/audience insert. that said, first person pov is a great way to convey mystery, suspense, and have an unreliable narrator! to keep with giving examples, the main dmbj novels are told in first person form; they, therefore, are necessarily filtered through what wu xie deems important, and as you go further along, it becomes clear that someones—maybe even often—he's bending the truth, giving a very biased account, or just straight out lying or forgetting things, not to mention that, necessarily, there are things he just doesn't know that you don't learn about until either a. someone else states them upfront, or b. npss writes a third person pov novel that mentions the fact. some other novels with first person povs: the tiger's daughter, the employees, the murderbot diaries. the first two are epistolary, and the second two have mystery elements; in both cases, the first person pov has a specific purpose, which it fulfils well.

"excessive" italicisation: this is a complaint i've heard less often, but i have heard it, so it's going on the list. oftentimes people tell you to reserve italics for special occasions, not much unlike the way older generations would have told you to restrict your exclamation mark usage. it's a matter of stylistic preference, i'll be blunt, and carries with it a lot of implication that are culturally specific. for example, if you're writing in chinese, you necessarily cannot italicise—but i digress. italicisation is good for drawing special, specific emphasis to things; i've used it in my writing to indicate altered mental states before, as i have personal experience with my mental state being altered by psychiatric episodes that cause me to give undue attention to seemingly "trivial" things, changed my speech patterns, etc. from a very old pacific rim fic, where the narrating character is still suffering under the effects of being possessed and having his mental state altered by it:

This time, the guards don’t protest as Hermann dismisses them—a quick jerk of his head and they’re gone. “They gave me thicker socks this time,” Newt says conversationally, part of him wanting to shift from foot to foot, but he remains still.

as you can see, the italicisation gives the dialogue a strange, almost jarring, artificial quality. it's as if it's being read off by an autogenerated voice, rather than a human—which, considering the fic touches upon the experience of humanity, is fitting.

stream-of-consciousness: not a very common thing, but in my opinion, good for showing altered mental states—be it due to extreme fear or stress, mental health issues, or tense situations. i've used this a couple times, in a sha hai fic where li cu is experiencing a sudden realisation of what, exactly, is sharing his body with him, and the conflicting thoughts between him and the parasite, and i've also used it in sunrise more recently, describing xiaoge's experience hiveside, in a place that cannot properly be comprehended by the human mind:

The stone scrapes against the wall. Li Cu breathes, and blinks, and you are not alone in this body the other has noticed you the other must not be allowed to Li Cu wants to run wants to drown himself until the sensation leaves the panicked sparrow in his chest the body will listen to you and you will return to It because that is the only way this can end one foot before the other move slowly move steadily don’t harm this body it is all you have until It do not let the other do as it wishes Li Cu wants to yell wants to scream Li Cu wants to flee Li Cu is a rabbit in a snare Li Cu is a deer’s neck snapping beneat the force of a tiger’s jaws Li Cu is a sparrow Li Cu is a mouse Li Cu is fucking done no he is not fucking letting this thing do whatever it wants with the body is no longer listening the other has grown too strong a flameburst a flash of fangs the other has noticed the other should have been excised Li Cu is not fucking letting this be his end Li Cu is not fucking dying down here Li Cu is not, Li Cu is not, fingers clumsy on the zippers, fumbling as they shift through the contents, tubes and papers and they’re heavy on the hands they fit so nicely isn’t it strange it’s never been thought of before that excision isn’t always cutting isn’t it strange that excision can be burning too that you can cauterise an infection can cauterise an interloper can cauterise

and

in this place in this space he will have no moment to breathe no moment to blink no moment to slow in this place he will have no self no other only IT and ALL ELSE because that will be the truth of IT that it will see not in terms of differentiation but in SELF and OTHER and he will be OTHER and he will fight it better than anything or anyone before because he will be the only one who has the memory of before the only one who won’t corrupt at its touch though it will burn though it will sing and oh it will be blinding oh it will be vibrant oh it will paint the hollow of his mind in beautiful beautiful colours no other will be able to comprehend in this moment he will for a second become not OTHER but rather IT become not OTHER but SELF and it will be this that he fights mostly this that he battles the longest SUBSUMATION INTO THE WHOLE that he dances away from will be the CONSUMPTION that he holds the walls against firm will be this that he will try and summon the memories of THEM and this that will succeed but not for yet not for now NOT JUST QUITE NO NOW IS NOW IS NOW IS NOW IS

lack of dialogue tags: as long as you know what you're doing, it's actually not that hard to make it clear who's speaking even if you're not using dialogue tags. i haven't seen this in a published novel, but i've both used and seen it before in character study-type fics, and in remembered conversations, where the focus is less on a conversation happening, and more on the experience of the conversation. it also, in my opinion, tends to add a surreal atmosphere to the section it's being used in—more like an image than text. there is, of course, also the lack of dialogue tags in speech when talking about telepathic communication, but i don't think that that's usually what's being talked about when it comes to this.

grammatical errors: while annoying when made because an author doesn't know better, in the hands of an experienced writer, these can be very effective at conveying altered mental states, giving a sense of foreboding or surrealism, or for characters that aren't human or for some reason have no experience or memory of being human. i forgot to add this to the list, but grammatical errors also blend a bit with formatting errors—formatting is a great way to build a certain atmosphere, be that ascetic, horror, etc.

repetition: can be annoying, but has genuine applications! if there's a truth that a character holds particularly firmly, that might show up in repetitive narration. on top of this, if there's something particularly strange, eye-catching, or an overwhelming emotion or experience, this can also show up in repetition. repetition pressed closer together can give the sense of a stifling, claustrophobic atmosphere, or that a character is experiencing something overwhelming, and spread out, it can be used to establish themes and characterisation.

"overly" detailed/purple prose: i am a purple prose defender until the day i die. just because some people who don't know what they're doing make purple prose a slog doesn't mean that it's inherently bad. prose that's "excessively detailed" can be a good way to establish character—they may pay particular attention to detail due to, for example, constantly needing to be aware of their surroundings for safety or political reasons, etc—, and a good way to establish dynamics between characters, convey emotion, and give the world of the writing a more "realistic", vibrant feel to it. i especially appreciate detailed prose for its ability to convey emotion—as someone who's a character writer, i rely a lot on the prose to convey the character's emotions, and thus, characterise them, and carry the narrative.

omission of information: sometimes the narrator won't tell you things and that is not only okay, but also good! it can be a great way to characterise a character—what do they focus on? what do they avoid? what does this say about them? are they omitting these things only from those around them, only the reader, or both? how does the reader's perspective change if/when they find out what's been omitted? in my opinion, a lot of great usages of omission come from them being only omitted in one or two ways—as in, there are hints as to the omission, that the reader could have pieced together, but they trusted the narrator, or just didn't notice them because they were paying more attention to what was being said directly rather than what was being alluded to by the other characters. omission is similar, in my opinion, to plot twists—it works best when the reader had enough tools to figure it out, but for whatever reason, didn't.

okay that's the end of my very long rant. i hope this makes sense!!! and if there's things i missed let me know and i'll talk about them :)

[sanchoyo]

Hi hi! (I didn't really know where to send this when I found your three blogs lol) But I came from your Shigaraki x Reader fic! "Warm Healer" :D I "devoured" it so quickly! I almost regret it, thinking I should've read slower but it was too good to not read it!! I really loved it, it's now my comfort fic <3 I honestly never thought I'd have a comfort fic one day because there are lots of good fics out there but yours? Damn it was good! I love how you write in general, It's so easy to read. And I don't mean it in a "baby easy" but I mean it as someone who's native language isn't English! I love imagining stuff in my head so you don't know how glad I was to be able to picture every scenes with so much ease! <3 I loved how you wrote MC-Chan/Reader, she's a lot like me to be honest and I could easily imagine myself in Warm Healer, even if she's braver than me lol I also love how you wrote Shigaraki, I don't know what else to say, it's just PERFECTION gdfghmjthnhgj Except the fact that I was picturing him with white hair oops xD But that's Horikoshi's fault lmao /joking

And I love how you wrote the other league members too, Dabi, Toga, Spinner, Compress, Twice, they're all so funny and/or cutie patooties! Himiko would be such a real bestie I know you wrote those AGES ago but I'd like to know if it's not too late to make fanart :3 There are two scenes that are engraved in my brain that I'd love to draw (+Tojiki!!) Tojiki seems to have a very cool design from the descriptions, so I would love to give it a try ^^ I would also like to know if I can keep some headcanons of Shiggy? Like, for example, the one where he likes jellyfishes, I really love that one it's so cute nvhgnhchcvbngv <3 Anywho! I loved it! Keep up the good work and thank you for making this fic! :D I really enjoyed it! Have a good day and take care! *Runs to read the other parts*

aaa sorry for any confusion with how many blogs I have (I have more than three actually lmao) its totally fine you sent it here!! my writing blog is @sanchoyowrites but I really only hop on there when I post something every few months so this is fine to send asks to, as well as over there :3

I'm so happy to hear that people can still enjoy it after all these years!! (I've been meaning to do a grammar correction sweep on it for years because I wrote it so long ago ;w;/ ) but I'm really relieved its an easy read despite any mistakes it might have ^_^ I never got overly descriptive with anything because I figured most people could fill in the blanks and imagine stuff about a scene in their mind so I love being right about that :D

MC-chan is braver than me too hahaha if I was in that situation I would've noped out and stayed at home (recluse reader/shigaraki when?? lmao) but I'm glad parts of her were still relatable!! she's a very 'do good recklessly' type character which I always enjoy writing <3

I like both him with dusty blue hair and the white hair. and the grey hair some people give him. all hair colors are Good hair colors on him because he is Cute <3

I'm happy you liked how I wrote the league too!! they get more screen time in the later parts of the series so I hope you continue to enjoy them :D

You can TOTALLY FOR SURE do any fanart omg!!! just tag me if you post it because I would LOVE to see any 🥺!! that would be so so cool but no pressure of course!

and yes anyone is free to yoink the little character details I added to shigaraki kjasdhfk that's very flattering, use those headcanons wherever you'd like (as far as i'm concerned the warm healer/ climats d'amour series is an open series anyone can use any parts of however they like!! anyone is free to carry those ideas over to other fics or art! I give everyone blanket permissions to do Whatever and treat it as you would public domain stuff <3)

Thank YOU so much for the kind message and letting me know you enjoyed it!! This was a really sweet message to wake up to, I appreciate you taking the time to write it out to me! I hope you also have a great day and enjoy the rest of the series!!!

[pinkomcranger]

Tagged by my lovely friend @wondrouswendy! Thank you for thinking of me. ❤️

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

21, but I could've sworn it was more than that but it turns out I just haven't imported all my old fics.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

42,143 

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Right now, just Alan Wake (2, to be specific). But I wrote for Sailor Moon, Power Rangers, Terminator: TSCC, Maximum Ride, Beverly Hills 90210, Nikita, the Originals, Charmed and a few other one-offs.

4. Top five fics by kudos

but don't ever give me up Klaus Mikaelson/Rebekah Mikaelson, the Originals 

we all bleed the same Klaus Mikaelson/Rebekah Mikaelson, the Originals

like we've done a thousand times before Klaus Mikaelson/Rebekah Mikaelson, the Originals

one way out and one way in Shane Walsh/Rick Grimes, the Walking Dead

strip me down (all of my defenses) Michael Bishop/Alexandra “Alex” Udinov

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try my best to! Comments are my favorite thing in the world, especially when they're long and detailed, so I always want my appreciation known. 

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

strip me down (all of my defenses) I think, simply because it doesn't end with the pairing together and things aren't solved.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

your heart matches mine. That one is fluff on top of fluff to the point where you might get diabetes. Sorry not sorry. 

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I mean, only on the incest ones, which I guess makes sense. It's never bothered me though, if you don't like the topic, don't read it, that simple!

9. Do you write smut?

I still haven't managed an E rating, but yes, especially recently with Andercase, oops.

10. Craziest crossover?

I don't do crossovers, but I did have an idea for a crossover with the Originals and the Borgias. It just never went anywhere.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of! Lemme knock on wood just in case.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Color me shocked when I was asked. 

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Literal decades ago with two of my besties, it was a Charmed fic that I bullied them into writing with me. And @hearts-are-connected and I certainly sob at each other about andercase enough that it should count at this point!

14. All time favourite ship?

Alex Casey/Saga Anderson 

15. What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Ahhhh, there's many, actually. I think the one I still want to finish is a Supernatural/ the Originals fusion fic. I go back to it every now and again, so we'll see.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and thought process. I'm very good at banter, it's genuinely my favorite thing to write. I love getting into the characters’ heads too.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Finishing stories. Action scenes. Trying not to be repetitive. Knowing when to just stop. 

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I love it if it works well. I used to do it myself when I was in my teens but I didn't exactly do it well!

19. First fandom you wrote in?

Sailor Moon

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Tagging my lovely pack mom @strictlybecca

This changes tbh, but right now it's those damn party kids because it's the first fic I've written and FINISHED after an 8 year hiatus. It was also more smutty than what I usually wrote. Very proud of the banter too.

[ilovedthestars]

thoughts on "Significant Other" and ambiguous relationships in fiction (they're great)

Some thoughts I was having in the tags on that elphaba post that got a little too long for tags, and then accidentally turned into basically a whole essay. Oops. Don't let the length fool you into thinking this won't be mostly a stream of consciousness ramble of my feelings.

One of my favorite types of relationship in media is two characters that love each other, and are clearly incredibly significant in each others' lives, but the type of love or relationship they're in is never specified. I feel like this about a lot of non-canon queer ships, actually, and there are times when I personally am very happy with those relationships remaining in the nebulous realm of non-canon, because becoming "canon" means becoming romantic. And one of the things that I've started to notice as I question more and more whether I might be somewhere on the aro (and/or ace) spectrum is that I vibe with this sort of undefined relationship a lot more than I vibe with a lot of fictional depictions of romance--and when I vibe with romance, it's because the romance also includes this feeling of significance, like the characters are actually deeply important to each others' lives.

Which brings me around to the other thought I had, because it occurred to me that using "significant other" as a term for "romantic partner" is...honestly very limited, and kind of makes me sad. Here's this phrase that could mean "person who is really important in my life," no matter what that relationship looks like. But it's become pretty much synonymous with romance. Absolutely no shade to anyone who uses it for their partner--it's sweet, and gender neutral, and it has a nice ambiguity about how serious or official the relationship is. But I think there could be even more room for ambiguity about what kind of relationship it refers to, including relationships that wouldn't necessarily be defined as "romantic" by the people involved. I'm not saying we should, or could, change the way we use it, but I just had a moment when I looked at the phrase "significant other" and thought "why do those words have to mean 'romantic partner'?" and the answer is, of course, amatonormativity. Sigh.

Anyway, to go back to relationships in media, I've noticed this pattern in stories that I identify with (although that might be too strong a word, but stories that I enjoy and have feelings about). I love the ambiguity of a "significant other" relationship in a less traditional sense of the phrase, especially as I'm still questioning where my own feelings and attractions fall. There's room for the relationship to be interpreted as romantic, but there's also room for platonic, or queerplatonic, or found family interpretations of those relationships, and there's also space for using none of those labels and simply letting it be love, without any extra boxes.

However, I've also noticed that often a lot of fans insist these kinds of relationships are romantic in a way that doesn't leave room for other interpretations. And at least in the online spaces I frequent, I see this especially with same-gender or otherwise not-straight-if-it-was-romantic pairings. And it makes me very sad, and often frustrated, when I see that ambiguity glossed over with the idea that significance must equal romance.

Look, there is no easy answer here. There is not enough explicit representation of queer relationships in media. There's also basically no explicit aro and/or ace representation in media, at least in mainstream media. So sometimes all we have are those characters who could be either, or both, or neither. And of course the people who are starving for representation of gay people in love want to claim those characters as their own. And of course the people who are starving for a-spec representation want to claim those characters as their own. And the former have louder voices, most of the time. And sometimes if you're starving for stories like yours, then it feels like other interpretations are trying to take that away.

I get it. I really get it. But also, this isn't a zero-sum game. There doesn't have to be a right answer. I think there's something really special about ambiguity, because it means that everyone can take what they want from it. People who want to see queer love, people who want to see intimate close friendship, people who want to see aros in a QPR, and people like me who are most comfortable outside of all the boxes can all see themselves reflected. And we absolutely need more representation of all kinds of relationships, so that people who want to see them explicitly spelled out on-screen or on-page don't have to make do with hints and possibilities. I want that to happen, and I think it's getting better, and will continue to. In the meantime, though, I wish there was less fighting over the scraps. "They're important to each other" can mean so many different things, and all of them can be true at once.

[knackfandomarchive]

Artists, writers, and assorted friends (alphabetical, not exhaustive alas):

Any link will just take you to my blog with the tag searched.

an0n-1o1 - One joke post about how Knack interacts with a goblin in the second game.

animegal19 - No posts of her own yet, but prompts chibifox2002 about their AU or asks questions through the ask box.

ari-draws-things - Several art pieces. Ohh I can't pinpoint my favorite thing, but if I look at them too long, I fear I will die. The shapes? and the style is so cute? I see lots of drawings of Gundahar, Rothari, Knack and Lucas being adorable.

at7outof10 - One post of digital art of Little Knack, along with some non-KNACK characters. And apparently, one post where they made a Knack Mii, like from the Wii?

bestbuybathroom - Shared a one-shot fic I really like, and made some image macros, jokes, and opinion posts. I like their sense of humor, but it is perhaps not for kids heheh.

bm13 - so far, a page of Little Knacks. So cute!

celiasvalley - I see an opinion post and possibly a joke.

chibifox2002 - Adorable digital art! This person has an AU and sometimes posts sibling shenanigans involving Knack, Lucas, and an OC named Penny.

chrisophur - Some screenshots of the ps4 game and I think of the sadly-discontinued Knack's Quest.

creamsodathe1st - So far, a cute digital piece of Robo Knack, aka Player 2 of KNACK 1, petting a beetle. Also some of their OCs.

crimmy10 - Super cute sketches and colored pieces! I'm noticing lots of art of Knack romantically paired with an OC.

dbnogaming-blog - One screenshot of Abominable Knack, aka Ice Knack.

discoknack - it me! I'm a chatterbox who rambles and complains a lot. Sometimes art.

doubleleaf - One drawing of Viktor propped up by one of his robots. Very technique; me gusta. Seems to be an art blog.

emmatheward - Probably one of the most ambitious pieces I've seen so far of Giant Knack's upper torso and right shoulder in meticulous detail.

frenchie-sottises - So far I've shared a post of theirs where Knack has a dinosaur tail, scales and also a bellybutton. So cool! And in full color, too.

gummiscr1bblez - Two art posts about their escapades playing the games.

hervygervy - looks like discord screenshots and memes mainly.

indoobs - One photo of a little crochet plush of Knack made as a present.

kyledahl - An animation cycle of Lucas skipping. This seems to be one of the creators, but I reblogged it on purpose because they deleted the original post and I'm under the impression they won't get notifications.

littlebomba - Uh oops, this person mentioned working at PlayStation,, Plus they shared what looks like a promotional image or poster or wallpaper of some kind, which I have reblogged. Also several more adverts which I have not. I hope they don't look in this direction O_o

thelivingrelic - I have in the queue what looks like a very old roleplay invitation that was never responded to? And the blog itself used to be an RP blog. Sadly this person seems to have deactivated, but I can occasionally find posts from deactivated users if someone still around had reblogged it.

majorpepperidge - some screenshots and cute sketches!

munchiemooz - one GIF of Knack in the trailer for KNACK 1 assembling for the first time.

mypunkpansexualtwin - shared some screenshots of Knack in a character appreciation post.

n-jay79 - Drew one very nice colorful sketchy Doctor Vargas and shared some in-game screenshots. Haven't seen any more KNACK stuff, but this person does draw other middle-aged men on the reg if that's your thing.

pepperishstudio-blog - One "warmup doodle" of Little Knack.

pit--rat - One short text post. If I say more about it I'll spoil it.

playstation - oh shit, the actual PlayStation? and not a fanblog pretending to be playstation? I may be stupid.

robertamew - Several posts of screenshots of Iron Knack, Metal Knack, however you'd like to call him. Also an art piece of Knack, and another of an OC.

sbb-thumbnails - SuperBeardBros apparently did a playthrough series and this person makes the channel's thumbnails.

sonicasura - Crossovers! Some art, mainly talk? I think they're neat, but I am not familiar with the other works being crossed with. A lot of idea stuff.

speedartist-skyliner - Drew two pieces of their version of Knack; one of him small and one of him around six-and-a-half feet tall.

stealthknack - Ugh such a cute but short-lived blog! Shared edited screenshots of the game.

totally-jammin-bridget - Shared some things on a post about how they liked Knack 2. They go by a different name now, so I'll update it soon.

thewizardlywyrm - Two (I think?) super cute digital pieces and one celebratory post about Knack 2.

woodenplankstudios - one comic about Knack, about 7 feet tall or so, breaking into the "mascot lounge" and being obnoxious for four panels. I have to admit, the art is well done.

[idle-brit]

10 Fandoms, 10 characters, 10 tags

Thank you @baepsrae for tagging me!! ♡( ◡‿◡ )

This is everyone's preemptive warning to skip past if you don't want to read a long and rambling post, I'm about to go wild lol. I'll also include the 5 people (not 10 oops) I'm tagging here at the top so they don't have to scroll; I'm interested to hear your answers but obviously there's no pressure to do it (･ω･)b

@koscheiy, @breitzbachbea, @runmild, @toffeeanddragons, and @yatzuaka!

1. Loki (Marvel)

My poor little meow meow. My silly rabbit. My sweet darling babygirl. Picking 9 other characters was honestly hard because there's few I truly consider a favourite like Loki. Between his 2011-2013 appearances in the MCU, the comics, and the pre-Thor high-fantasy-novel-esque fics on AO3, the ideal version of this character lives in my head rent free, and has done since 2012. I picked this gif from The Avengers because it was the moment that made me want to see the film again just for his scenes, and it remains the only film I've seen in cinemas twice. He's quite literally the reason I got Tumblr, for The Avengers fanart, and my very first post was some (bad) fanart of my own haha. While the rest of this list is in no particular order, Loki is absolutely my number one, for all time, always. I could talk about him forever.

2. Evy Carnahan (The Mummy)

I had to choose the scene I got my blog title from. While Loki might be my favourite character, The Mummy is my favourite film. I think I saw it at the exact right time of life when I was a kid in my Ancient Egypt phase, but also far younger than the recommended viewing age the film suggests lol. Ever since then I've rewatched this and the sequel (yes, sequel, singular. I said what I said) more times than I can count and further developed my interest in actual Egyptology. Evy is intelligent and an academic, kindhearted, a little bit clumsy, but uses her knowledge and quick thinking to be an absolute badass and save the day multiple times. I've always wanted to be at least half as cool as her and also marry Rick O'Connell.

3. L (Death Note)

Everyone here is lucky that I got Tumblr after the height of my weeb phase that started in 2008. Death Note was the first manga I ever read and I expected to enjoy it and move on, but as soon as I got to the Lind. L. Taylor event in volume 2 my young mind was blown and I was obsessed. One scene of L outsmarting Light kept me reading manga, got me into anime, introduced me to fanart, was the first fanart I ever drew, introduced me to fanfiction, and years later I would take Japanese classes at uni. L is an amazing example of a morally grey character, wanting justice to prevail but perhaps not for the right reasons, and no matter what it takes to get there.

4. Leon S. Kennedy (Resident Evil 4 Remake)

Okay I'll admit Leon is the first babygirl on the list who is mainly here for aesthetic reasons. I had a passing knowledge of the Resident Evil franchise but never took an interest because military-gun-shooting-series are boring as hell... Until RE4R came out last year and I saw this scene in a playthrough. Where do I sign up for him to do this to my neck. Then I learned Leon's backstory and actually appreciated his character too. He hates and distrusts the US government, he was blackmailed into service for them at 21, he's haunted by being used as their weapon, and he's the most cringe fail man who thinks he's suave when he says "Nighty night, knights" as he's killing sentient suits of armour. I need him.

5. Astarion Ancunín (Baldur's Gate 3)

Ah, a non-human in a high fantasy world, using knife skills and sharp wit to protect himself from a deeply traumatic past, but still good at heart and willing to open up to those who appreciate him for who he is, rather than living up to someone else's standards. Now where have I seen a similar character type before... When the game came out it shouldn't have been a surprise who my favourite would be lol. The whole cast does an amazing job, but the real draw of Astarion is the phenomenal work put in by Neil Newborn to really bring this character to life, and I don't think Astarion would be the same without him.

6. Kagome Higurashi (Inuyasha)

Inuyasha is one of my all time favourite anime/manga. It's got time travel, a historic setting, magic, action and adventure, and romance between a human girl and a supernatural being who's down bad. Basically all of the tropes I adore and still look for in new favourite series haha. And Kagome has been That Bitch from the start; arriving in a village that fears a half dog-demon, freeing him from his imprisonment to help her, and then ordering him to sit when he pisses her off, knowing he's wearing a magic necklace that forces him to obey. No one is doing it like her.

7. Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen)

Yes this is a basic bitch pick, I'm well aware. But no matter if it's the book by Jane Austen, the 1995 BBC production, or the 2005 film by Joe Wright, I love this story so much! There's just something so romantic about it that no modern romance book can capture, and that's not without my trying to find one (just follow my trail of 1 star ratings on Goodreads). Elizabeth and Mr Darcy just read as complete and real characters, and I love how much Elizabeth cares for her family, refusing Darcy's first proposal in part because he insulted them and tried to separate Jane from Mr Bingley.

8. Lin Sukai (The Drowning Empire Trilogy by Andrea Stewart)

Now we're getting into the realm of books without adaptations so I cant use gifs anymore, and I honestly couldn't find any fanart of Lin either. Which is a crime! My girl is out here being extremely intelligent and driven (and badass in some of the later scenes), using her familial magic as daughter of the Emperor to try and dismantle his tyranny despite craving his approval, and trying her best to gain allies even though she was raised within the walls of the palace and is slightly out of touch, and she doesn't have a fandom here on Tumblr? And that's only in book one of the trilogy!

9. FitzChivalry Farseer (The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb)

I haven't even finished The Realm of the Elderlings yet (16 thick ass books, nay, tomes) but I already know this is my favourite fantasy series of all time, and Robin Hobb is beyond doubt a master of her craft. One of her main talents is writing the ultimate poor little meow meow because good lord, Fitz just cannot catch a break no matter what he does or who he's trying to benefit. The pacing of these books can be quite slow but I promise it's always worth the emotionally devastating pay off. (It's also a tough call between Fitz and The Fool on who my favourite Hobb character is!)

10. Sancia Grado (The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett)

The final one is also my most recent addition to this list, seeing as I'm only just starting book two after finishing Foundryside late last year. While that shows how much I loved Sancia after just one book of her, I also hope the rest of the trilogy delivers! So often books will state characters are masters of their craft and just expect readers to take their word for it, but Sancia gets to show off her skills multiple times on page, so you get the impression she really exists and belongs in this world rather than just being a set piece for it. Not only that, she defies the usual lone-wolf-asshole stereotype that's so common in these gritty fantasy books, and it's heartwarming to see the found family she's gathered by the end of the story compared to where she began.

So uh, thank you all for coming to my TED talk about all my blorbos, see you later!

(￣▽￣)ノ

[honeyhotteoks]

Hi...I've not sent any asks before, so excuse me if I'm not quite sure how these things usually go.

You're honestly my fav fic writer and TNT is *chef's kiss* DELICIOUS. ~Also loved ITA and The Husbands series and….. really all of them lol~ I have gone back to re-read pretty much all of your stories *cough* The Husbands and TNT *cough* …wait do I just have a thing for getting tag teamed???? 👀 oop…learn something new every day I guess, damn😅

Anyways, thank you for taking your time to write these when you do. You're very talented, and writing something this long, with actual plot, side plots, world building, and character development takes time and energy(and planning). I think most of us are on the same page of not pressuring someone who is, in fact, providing us quality entertainment for free(or tip) and that you are doing this in your free time because you enjoy it, and not be it's a job or responsibility of yours. I totally get your decision to not tie money to updates or additional content. I hope no one is pushing you on it, it’s your life 🙄

~So say thank you to Chai for feeding us y'all~

Just felt like I needed to get that out.

Anyways....pls stop teasing us with *potentially* jealous/possessive yungi! (but pls don't stop l'm so fucking excited for this...do we all have a little jealous/possessive kink or is that just me??....is that toxic of me? 🤷🏻‍♀️ probably lol) I am waiting with bated breath for this next update 😭 ah this ask is so long now. Anyyywhooo, you’re amazing, so talented, and wonderful! okayloveyoubyee

~🖤🖤🖤(Does anyone have this Anon emoji??)

oh my gosh????? thank you so much for this message, also i don't have a 🖤 anon, so you got it!!

i really appreciate this though, it's really thoughtful of you to say and honestly i really do enjoy writing these fics and talking with everyone, but it is a lot of work. thankfully almost everyone i've talked to in this space has been so kind about it taking time sometimes to write, and everyone's really sweet when i do post, so there's not too much pressure. thank you though, i was really going back and forth on things with the server, but this feels like the best thing for now.

also as far as jealous/possessive yungi like...... it's coming. it's inevitable. it's just too fun to not write tbh.

click under the cut for a lil spoiler from a future chapter................. but like pretty sizeable spoiler here so be careful.

[mossy-thing]

15 Questions for 15 followers

Thank you @tathrin for tagging me! I know that it has been literal months, but I forgot I had screenshotted the questions and couldn't find them on your blog. Oops. Anyway!

1. Are you named after anyone?

Indeed I am! Alexander the Great, to be precise! Why would my mum name her child after a colonising murderer? I kept kicking her. Like, in uterus. I was a very agressive fetus. And also a very agressive baby, I just kept. Biting her. Like I was angry she gave me life. (Which on second thought, considering the people I've had to deal with so far... understandable, little me.)

2. When was the last time you cried?

Tonight! I had a recurring nigtmare of a zombie chasing me. I escaped, the thing that made it a nightmare was that I had locked it in with my family. And when I woke up, I was convinced I had killed them.

3. Do you have kids?

No, and I hopefully never will! Fun fact about 8 year old me, when a teacher told us that every girl would find a boy to settle down and have kids with one day in sex ed, I very confidently announced that I would never start a family because it would hold me back in my career. This is like one of those moments I should have realised I'm aroace, lol.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Kind of. The issue is that people often think I'm serious.

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

When I see them, what they look like. When I talk to them on the phone, it's their voice. Is there another option?

6. What's your eyecolour?

Green.

7. Scary movies or good endings?

Both, as long as I get to analyze the living hell out of them. (Example: when watching The Menu for the first time, I kept bothering my mum like: Look, she said she doesn't want an intellectually callenging dinner and he literally crushes meatballs that look like brains for her cheeseburger! Mum look! Mum isn't this amazing??) I also really love tortured characters, so scary movies or stuff with a lot of angst potential is what I usually gravitate towards, but I really like some happy movies too.

8. Any special talents?

First and foremost, I don't really believe in talents, and get irrationally angry when people tell me I must have a natural gift or something because to me, that implies I didn't work my ass off for years to get to a good point but that Fortuna just emptied a bucket of goods over my head as soon as I entered this world kicking, screaming and biting everyone. The only thing that I would count as a talent (in a very loose meaning of the word) is that I started reading whole books about 3 months after getting to school. I think that's hyperlexia? Might be wrong, I never really researched it.

9. Where were you born?

Not in switzerland, despite my elementary school certificate saying so.

10. What are your hobbies?

Reading, writing, drawing, playing the lyre, at the moment everything Tolkien, though that can change in like a day to something completely different.

11. Do you have any pets?

I do!! She is a cat, her name is Indira, she is very cuddly and sounds permanently pissed, to the point that a friend who was watching her while we were on vacation sent us a very concerned message because she had actually meowed like a normal cat for once. She hates other animals of all kinds, had to be kept in a seperate room in the shelter we picked her up from, was born on the same day as me (though two years later) and has a habit of sitting in a spot in the garden where she can be seen by the dogs on both sides of the fence and meowing very provocatively. The people in the shelter actually wanted to name her Diva because she is such a little bitch, but they decided on Indira since they thought people wouldn't take her in if her name was Diva. I love her very much.

12. What sports do you play/have you played?

I was forced to play batminton in 7th grade because of a stupid rule that said that all band kids had to do a sport thing too. I hated every second of it.

13. How tall are you?

1,63m. At my birth, people calcualted that I would never get over 1,45, and I was the shortest kid in everything until I was 16, when I grew 20 centimeters at once without warning. I very much enjoy telling people I am taller than them.

14. Favourite subject in school?

Art and English.

15. Dream job?

A published author. I am actually working on a trilogy right now! It might take a while until I actually get it done though. Does anyone know how cold it has to be that your fingers have to be amputated? Google is failing me.

Tagging (only if you want, also yay I have nearly enough followers to actually do this now!) @strawberriesinmoominvalley @dirtmuse @babybat98 @eight-ball-juice @liamwinters @harmoniousworld @hyperlexia-1 @daeron-the-flautist @mistergandalf @the-sewerrats @slowdeathhymn @suuzzzzzzannnnn otherwise this is an open tag.

[ranidspace]

Hello, sorry this is very long but I thought I wanted to maybe help with the laundry thing. It's kinda really broken down and I don't know if that's exactly what you were looking for but I hope it helps in some way

depending on how much work you wanna do there's a couple different options and things can be like mixed and matched if that makes sense in this moment and after you read this

most of the time it's recommended separating light colors and dark colors (growing up my parents had a third category as well that was things sort of in between) because colors can bleed into each other. I personally haven't had any issue in the time frame I've been doing my laundry on my own, however sometimes newer jeans or denim can have extra dye in them so I usually try and keep that in mind when I have newer jeans and shorts but if they're clothing. that's been washed multiple times before I don't think it'd be an issue. There's a product that is supposed to help with this that as far as I can tell is doing Something but I can't say with certainty it's saving anything, but if you'd like to try it, they're "shout color catcher"

so a first step I'd say is collect your laundry into one central area

divide into piles. maybe lights and darks (if youre worried about dyes bleeding), maybe heavier fabrics and light fabrics (heavier fabrics take longer to dry and some times people keep them separate so they can dry them on higher settings)

it also might be good to keep in mind if you have things with buttons and lace or holes (intention ones or added with age) and things with straps and keep some of those mingling to a minimum because the buttons and zippers and such can very easily get tangled and can lead to tearing the clothing

regardless of how your separate them, a good frame of mind if having them in groups that can be their own loads of laundry. it's super handy to have a basket of some sort to transport them from place to place if it's gotta be a ways away

pick a pile to wash and put them in your washing machine, if its a top loading machine and there's an agitater thing in the middle than load around that, if there isn't one it's recommended you still load it in a sort of doughnut shape. I know there's a reason for it but tbh I am unsure of why exactly

I'm not familiar with front loading machines so as far as im aware just shove that shit in there

determine what size load you have, small, medium, or large. I usually default to just filling it all the way up, but it can change based on the sized of the piles you've made and such

determine the water temp, I've heard cold water is less likely to cause clothes to bleed or shrink so I have been washing everything besides a couple things in cold water

You can also decide this based on your clothing care instructions on their tags

pick your detergent. I realize now that's maybe an earlier step, oops. I don't know a lot about this step, the pros and cons of different ones and kinds. I use a lot of gain growing up my parents used a lot of Tide

I find pods to be the easiest for me, my partner prefers liquid

it's recommended you not use a ton of it because it can gunk up the washing machine. It's something like 2 tablespoons. I'll be honest I usually throw in one pod and be done, with the assumption that's about right. I don't know exactly but that's how I do

pick what you wanna wash with and put that in it's place (i am unfamiliar with washers that have drawers to put it in, I've always just dumped it right on the clothes so I hope it's easy for you to know where it goes)

you can had fabric softener or scent beads bit those can be a bit tricky. Fabric softener causes clothes to feel softer because it coats the fibers and after a while it's builds up and actually makes your clothing Less soft. And I'm not certain if the beads do the same, but I've been told that some times the beads don't really melt or dissolve well if it's cold water so you may need it to be warmer or hot water for those to be added

close your lid

then set the setting for how clean you want it, I guess this could be done with the other settings, this is sort of the order I do it in so apologies if that makes it a bit confusing to follow

for the settings I usually default to the super setting or whatever is sort of the heaviest duty setting. If your load is full of more delicate, then that may be a better options. You can also reference the clothing tags for this step as well

then hit start if it's a start button or if it's one like mine then it it may be a part of the previous step, the dial sort of presses in and you turn it, there's a noise and you can only turn it the one direction, and then lift up on it and the water will start

check in on it occasionally to hear if it stops

once the washing machine is finished, you move them to the dryer or hang them up to dry. This is a personal preference and possibly clothing requirement lile things with rubber or melt-able parts to it. If you intend to hang anything up make sure you got the space and the hangers. Once you've determined what should go into the dryer, add it all in

I usually dry all my clothing on the low setting and it works out well enough. I heard once it helps prevent shrinking, I don't know if that's true or not but that's why it started. it could be an issue for heavier fabrics like towels so you may need to go up a setting. This can usually also be determines by checking the tags

Toss in a dryer sheet or those wool dryer balls (this is supposed to help with static and maybe something else but I am unsure)

be sure to check the lint trap, ideally the lint is removed between every load. This helps your clothes dry easier and also keeps your dryer from being a possible fire hazard. If it seems like your cloths are taking a particularly long time to dry the lint trap may be a part of the problem

then set how long to put them in there for. Besides needing items quickly, I've never had a reason not to put it for the longest setting hit the start button

then collect your clothes, a basket is super helpful here, and start again with the next pile until things are done

I hope that's coherent and not to fucked up cause I did it in a notes app and that doesn't always autocorrect me

so sorry for not responding to this earlier but yeah this has a lot of info