#[edit to add: if you know where the fandom I'm seeking is and it's on reddit

[pagodazz]

Emh fans when they're asked to stop sexualizing Evan Jennings and his characters because it makes him and his wife uncomfortable:

hope y'all are so happy with yourself for going against his wishes and being fucking freaks to him. You're all why he's barely online anymore. you cannot behave and you cannot be normal and you all have ruined what could be a very fun fandom.

Everyone in this fandom sees Evan as a piece of meat basically, you all only care about his character because Evan is a good looking guy. I mean!! let's be real here!!! let me quiz you on the lore!!! let me see just how fucking much you know about ALL the characters. let me see how much you ACTUALLY give a shit. Because all any of you do is post about how attractive you find Evan/habit and it's honestly so annoying.

I'm not saying you can't compliment him??? or appreciate his looks?? but drawing him in sexually compromising positions, writing in great detail about what you want him to do to you (PUBLICLY. no one gives a SHIT what you fucking do in private.) Or you're fucking mixing up habit and Evan, and just acting like you know his story when CLEARLY the most of you have watched habit compilations on YouTube and NOTHING else.

You cannot even convince me otherwise because I deal with people coming in my comments all the time asking about BASIC INFORMATION. like IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE PRINCETON TAPES ????? WHAT THE FUCK. WHAT THE FUCK????? YOU NEED THAT FOR THE SERIES. YOU CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND HALF THE THINGS WITHOUT IT???????

This isn't saying you can't write fanfiction or shit like that this is JUST SAYING BE RESPECTFUL?????? these slenderverse actors ARE NOT A LIST CELEBRITIES. they're not like fucking Oscar Isaac or whoever people are obsessed with right now. THEY'RE NOT FAMOUS. THIS IS NICHE. THIS IS NOT POPULAR MEDIA 😭😭😭😭

Emh literally made NO money from their series, they didn't create it to gain anything like that. they created something fun and NOW YOU ALL ARE THE REASON THEY HAVE NO PART IN THIS FANDOM ANYMORE.

you robbed them of being able to love their creation and I hope you're all happy about that honestly because it seems like this fandom is only gonna get worse in this area. and I'm deeply disappointed.

edit: I would like to add one thing, Vincent caffarello had to deal with situations of extreme sexualization as well, and his got to the point to where he had to leave. Vinnie used to be very involved with the fandom, he even used to read fanfic which he had to stop doing because people would be writing characters to SEXUALLY ASSAULT HIM or others and he just couldn't continue to read things like that. He delt with minors sending him explicit photos and messages and that's literally all kinds of FUCKED UP. He did NOT want to be involved with that stuff.

It's like when Evan had someone impersonate him to try to get with minors. THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT OBJECTS FOR YOU TO SEEK OUT PLEASURE WITH. THEY ARE PEOPLE.

they are HUMAN.

if they were women?? would you be doing this as much??? or would you realize how messed up it really is.

[starlight-bread-blog]

Why I No Longer Ship Zvtara

Warning: This is a very anti zvtara & pro kataang post. This is your chance to leave.

As some of you may know, I am (or rather was), a Zvtara shipper. But lately I've been shying away from the ship. A lot of the arguments I used to believe in, for me, don't hold water anymore. And given how vocal I was about shipping Zvtara, I feel like I owe you an explanation. In this post I will go through common pro Zvtara & anti kataang arguments and unpack why I can no longer support them in good faith. (I will kinda burn through them though, it's just that feel like I owe you this).

"Zvko and Katara's character arcs & characters are parallels"

This is interesting because I wrote an essay on this very subject, and I still stand by everything I said in the essay, but only as a platonic reading of it. See, A:TLA is full of parallels and symbolism. Zuko also has parallels with Aang, Katara has parallels with Azula, etc. In a show like this, the parallels between Zuko and Katara don't carry enough weight to justify some specialness. They have a great, incredibly well written relationship, but in my opinion, the extent of it can remain platonic without standing out.

"Tui and La represent Zvtara"

Tui and La are The Ocean and the Moon spirits and very explicitly represent Yin and Yang. I can't see Yin and Yang as Zutara for two reasons:

1) Yin is the moon, feminine and shade. The moon & feminine, that's Katara. But Yin is characterized by dark, wetness, cold, passivity, disintegration etc). Katara might have an edge, but she is not dark. Not to mention passive. And disintegration seems like the opposite of a waterbender. Katara fundamentally is not a Yin.

2) Yin and Yang is a dynamic. A self perpetuating dynamic of two opposites creating and controlling each other. Katara and Zuko never created each other. While you can argue that they control each other by being "capturing the avatar" vs "protecting the avatar", the only time this conflict of interest ever turned into a dynamic was in the north pole, and by then Zuko would go on a season long journey far away from Katara.

"Making Zvtara canon would be thematically cohesive"

I also wrote an essay on this subject, and just like my other essay, I still stand by a platonic reading of it. I even went back and edited it to make that reading more prominent. The thematic cohesion is already achieved through their platonic bond. In any show, naturally the relationships between characters are going to reflect the themes, that's just how writing works. It doesn't mean the relationship should be romantic. They already have a thematically cohesive relationship, making it a romantic one doesn't add anything.

"Aang idealizes Katara"

For context, there are some instances where Aang is dismissing Katara's anger. For example, in The Chase:

Toph: You're blaming me for this?

Katara tosses aside her sleeping bag and gestures with her hands, challenging Toph to move closer. Aang jumps in between the two.

Aang[Desperately.]: No! No, she's not blaming you.

Katara[Angrily.]: No, I'm blaming her!

Rather these instances reflect of idealization, or merely of Aang's peace seeking nature that's trying to de escalate the situation, is up to interpretation. I choose to interpret them as the latter, because of The Southern Raiders.

Katara: We're going to find the man who took my mother from me.

Sokka pauses and stands up, surprised.

Zuko: Sokka told me the story of what happened. I know who did it and I know how to find him.

Aang: Um ... and what exactly do you think this will accomplish?

A really common talking point in the Zvtara fandom is that Aang just assumes that Katara is going to murder her mother's killer, instead of simply confronting him. Either way, he knows\thinks she's talking about murder. If he'd idealized her, he'd make a different assumption.

"Kataang harms Aang's character arc"

This is referring to the dilemma presented to Aang in The Guru. He had to let go of his attachment to Katara in order to master the Avatar State. The assumption is that his chakra was blocked, therefore he didn't let go. I disagree. We see him open his seventh chakra right before Azula shoots lightning at him.

One might argue that nothing changed about Aang's relationship to Katara, so the dilemma rings hollow. But something did change, Aang was romantically braver than he was before. He got more confident. Compare his flirting from The Headbend (b3) to The Fortuneteller (b1). It's night and day. And if you ask me, this is the natural consequence of feeling less attached.

Furthermore, when he explains to the GAang why he couldn't master the Avatar State, he cites Azula's lightning as the reason:

Toph: So, what's your strategy for taking him down? Gonna get your glow on and hit him with a little Avatar State action? Aang: I can't. When Azula shot me with lightning, my seventh chakra was locked, cutting off my connection to all the cosmic energy in the universe.

He couldn't master the Avatar State because of Azula's lightning, not because of his attachment to Katara. (I heard some people say this was confirmed that Aang was still attached, but I'm a big believer in Death of the Author so I don't really care if it's true).

"Kataang was one sided"

The general consensus in the Zvtara fandom is that Kataang is framed from Aang's perspective, and while the show teases us about Katara's feelings to create a "will they get together or won't they" tension. But can all of these hints really be contextualized that way? Some can, others, not so much. For example, Katara is show to be jealous of Aang in The Headbend when he dances with On Ji, and when they dance she gives him a loving look; in The Cave of Two Lovers, Katara smiles when she suggested they should kiss, and she blushes at the end of the episode. All of these moments cannot be swept under the rug in favor of a reveal that Katara didn't love Aang.

"Katara passing herself as Aang's mom is maternal"

I never really understood this argument, if I'm being completely honest. For two reasons:

1) In Howl's Moving Castle, Sophie works as Howl assistant and falls in love with him, but she's cursed, looking like an old lady. There's a scene where she too has to pretend to be his mom, and it turns into her realizing her feelings towards him. She becomes young again, a girl Howl's age. It's a beautiful confession, while pretending to be his mom. No one criticized that, becuase pretending to be someone's mom for the sake of a mission isn't maternal.

2) Sokka is also there. I don't think it's controversial to say Sokka isn't at all a parental figure to Aang. That's because the point of this joke isn't that Katara actually is motherly towards Aang, it's that they aren't actually similar to [Aang]'s supposed parents and this entire situaton is very silly. The implication behind this joke isn't that Katara is maternal towards Aang, but that she isn't.

SO! That's all I'm covering. Now, I hope I can put this subject to rest and discuss the many other great aspects of A:TLA.

[thetiredstuff]

This is just mostly a handy little post for me but I asked people to rec me some destiel AU best friends to lovers fics and this is what I got:

Recs from ltleflrt:

okay, cupid. by orange_crushed On Air by wincechesters Just Turn Around and Go by @porcupine-girl Version 2.0 by Elizabeth1985 aka @cocklesheadboop Ignore the Butterflies: Best Friend Advice from Dean Winchester by impatient14 A Match Made (and Misunderstood) by surlybobbies More Views. More Money. by herbivoredinosaur Remember When by VioletHaze aka @scones-and-texting-and-murder When In Vegas by Dmsilvis & TobytheWise

Recs from doctorprofessorsong

One of my favorite fics of all time is Evangelist by @valleydean. It's really enemies to friends to lovers but the enemies part becomes friends pretty quickly because they are deeply obsessed with each other. One of the classics if you haven't read it is To Build a Home. Childhood friends who broke up and find themselves back in each other’s life. It is very angsty but they have a lifelong friendship so you get a lot of childhood and teenage friendship moments. If I may self recommend, I just wrote Can't Fight the Moonlight in which they are in this post canon partnership and both want to add sexual intimacy but the partnership is soft so you get some really fun platonic intimacy. It's not AU, obviously, but may have something of what you want. Seraph by @dothraki-shieldmaiden is a superhero au where they are friends and roommates to lovers. It has great world building. More than Kisses by @friendofcarlotta is a friends to lovers epistolary romance. Dean and Cas are pen pals and they share an absolutely gorgeous emotional intimacy. Tiamatv has a few that fit the bill. I'm gonna mention Marchen because I love the world built in that one. Dean Winchester is a prince locked in a tower. Feel free to also skim my fic recs. @riversrecs

Recs by castiellesbian:

tiamatv's "It's the End of the World (As We Know It)" is a friends to enemies to lovers if that counts? They were childhood best friends in that one "A Midterms Night's Dream" by Englandwouldfall is an au where they're roommates (oh my god they were rommates). "In Some Sacred Place" by schmerzerling is a good one where they're friends throughout most of the fic, but it's kind of depressing overall

Recs from porcupine-girl

Just Turn Around And Go (roommates-slash-best-friends): https://archiveofourown.org/works/4228830 Like four weddings and a funeral but without the funeral (Sam POV, Sam is clueless and doesn’t realize they’re together): https://archiveofourown.org/works/6225625 Go Down With This Ship (online fandom besties, don’t realize they know each other irl): https://archiveofourown.org/works/8023642

Rec by trampledundercas

#i thought of ‘ready to fall’ by lemonsorbae on ao3

A whole bunch of recs from dean-you-assbutt-cas-loves-you

A Tale of Two Tropes by Amelia_Clark (E, 7k) As You Walk On By by MercyBraavos (E, 23k) Are We Any Different? by LeviathanBlue, SerpentCountess (T, 41k) More Than Kisses by  FriendofCarlotta  (E, 29k) things i knew when i was young by stormwarnings  (T, 16k) Alright  by  turningthepages  (T, 46k) To Build a Home by intothesilentland  (M, 383k) When In Vegas  by  Dmsilvis, TobytheWise (E, 16k) The Ocean Between Us  by  noxsoulmate  (E, 27k) Room for Two (The Mattress AU) by  almaasi  (E, 14k) Honey-Baked  by  mishaminion69, sydkn3e (E,  89k) The Ones We Choose  by  lightmyway  (E, 82k)

EDIT: MORE:

Recs by bexfangirlforlife:

The Graveyard Shift by riseofthefallenone. PurgatoryJar Evangelist by embrancsxx0 Stay with me Sweetheart by Mandalarose We are what we pretend we are by tricia_16 Tricks of the Trade by Trenchcoat_Impala

Recs by impaledbeetle:

okay, cupid by orange_crushed Seek to Know You Better (E) by ahurston Après (E) by Imogenbynight Here's a couple aus that i really really enjoy that aren't necessarily best friends to lovers: spirit of the west (M) by teen_dean Parachutes (E) by chaoticdean (this one literally changed my life it is so good) And This, Your Living Kiss (M) by opal_bullets (again, this is life changing) Roll With It (E) by saltnhalo (this is a The Proposal (movie) au) Shut Up (Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is) (E) by kototyph

Recs by butch--dean:

spirit of the west by teen-dean (everyone should read this 90's horse girl dean au where he befriends cas, a local veterinarian) I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart) by unicornpoe (I am a sucker for all "cas using dean as a vessel" fics) Après by imogenbynight (surely everyone has read this? dean and cas in paris what more can you ask for) under the midnight sun by northernsparrow (dean is the caretaker of a research station in the arctic and cas is a mysterious bird researcher) (I also rec you can keep holding on by this author but be warned that it is very grief-driven - but it is an in-depth study of the way they care for each other) though the course may change by imogenbynight (fake dating AU at a couple's retreat - another one that everyone has probably read but is so worth mentioning in case you haven't) there's no cell service in the afterlife by screamsintothesun (cas gets back from the empty and his phone blows up with dean's voicemails & texts) Gold in the Edges of Our Vision by SewingNatural (dean and cas eat peaches together on a hot summer evening. The writing style on this one is really really lovely) these are just a few from my bookmarks but also there is a really good rec list here & here (this one has a link to a specific friends to lovers list here) that I refer to often when looking for new fics/authors to dig through!!

Recs by mercurialkitty for some reason tumblr won't allow me to add them to my post so just click on their name to go to their post!

These are all the ones i've gotten up til now but will def edit if I get any more. If you see this post and think of a Destiel AU best friend to lovers fic that isn't on here or just a Destiel AU (no abo) fic that isn't on here: PLEASEEEEEE GIVE ME ALL THE DESTIEL AU FIC RECS (no abo)

Also i didn't tag the people who recommended it cuz I don't wanna annoy them but I linked back to all of their original posts or comments!

A hugeeeeeeee thank you to everyone who replied to my annoying messages for fic recs cuz I really really appreciate it. thank you all so so so much!!!!

[kitkatopinions]

Hey guys, new RWBY season drops in like two days, so I just wanted to make a post because every time we get a new season, we also get A. An increase in people posting RWBY criticism. B. An increase in people complaining about seeing RWBY criticism. And C. An increase in people asking what RWDE is. So I thought I'd give some advice on how to avoid criticism (if you want to) and posting criticism (if you want to.)

This is one of the only times I'm using the main RWBY tag, I usually try to avoid it since I'm a RWBY critic. I'm using it now in an honest effort to help, please no one send me hate anons. :)

What is RWDE? RWDE is a tag used for any and all criticism of RWBY. The fact that it's a play on the word 'rude' doesn't actually mean the criticism must be mean spirited. Most people who post in the rwde tag were ordered to by other rwby fans who demanded we use the tag as a filterable (and not use the main rwby tag either,) so we didn't really choose the name, and use it as a courtesy to other fans. RWDE is used for anything from complaints saying the whole show is a wreck to the tiniest nitpick. Like any tag, people who use 'RWDE' range in opinions, there's no 'rwde hivemind,' I myself have been in fights with other RWDE posters in the past.

What to do if you don't want to see RWBY criticism? Filter out the 'rwde' tag, as well as 'anti rwby' and 'rwby criticism.' This is pretty simple. Just go to your settings, scroll down to the 'content you see' section, go to filtered tags and click the little edit icon, you'll get the option to add a tag to filter. If you do this, then Tumblr will hide posts tagged with 'rwde' from you, and you'll have to make an active choice to seek it out. If there are certain characters you'd like to avoid seeing criticism of, rwde posters frequently use anti character tags as well. I personally have 'anti Blake Belladonna' filtered out because I don't like to see too many posts complaining about her. Another trick is looking up rwby with a hashtag # at the front like #rwby, which I've heard helps avoid the 'this post mentions rwby and therefore appears when you search 'rwby' even if it isn't tagged' feature (which I know is a headache to deal with.) Also please don't avoid blocking out of some belief that it makes you a coward or a bad person, the block function is for everyone's benefit, and if you continuously see someone posting things that annoy you or are just taking up space or you just don't really wanna see, blocking them is a good way to get them out of your life without any fighting.

What to do if you want to criticize or critique RWBY? First off, criticizing RWBY at all in any way is something that does come with a risk. This fandom can be really toxic towards critics and defensive of the show to the point where even minor objective nitpicks will be called hysterical fits of rage. It's unfortunate, but if you want to post criticism, it's best to be aware of what you're getting into. I suggest using the rwde tag when you criticize despite the venom against it, because that's the most well known criticism tag and is the one most likely to have been filtered out by people that don't like seeing criticism. Not using the rwde tag might result in you getting people in your comments or ask box angry at you for the fact that they saw your posts. If you want to critique without being associated with 'rwde' and don't want to use that tag there's only so much you can do (popular RWBYtubers have been labeled rwde just for criticizing RT,) but you can use tags like 'crtq' and 'rwby criticism' and 'rwby critique' that might get less of a venomous response. Also I would again suggest that you be free with the block button.

If you heard something about how horrible rwde and rwby critics are... Please actually look into actual rwde posters and read actual rwde posts (in their entirety, not just screencapped parts of posts) before you believe anything from other people. Just because someone says 'rwde posters think X, Y, Z' doesn't mean it's true, and again there's a wide range of opinions you'll see from rwde posters. I'm not saying you have to like us or seek us out or anything (again, you've got the filter and block option and I suggest people who don't like criticism do so and we'll leave each other alone,) but don't buy into the 'htdm' stuff without even looking to see what's true and what isn't please and thank you!

Anyway, whether you're looking forward to the new RWBY season or dreading it, good luck on Saturday!

[slivensays]

🗣 + 📄

So, if I'm reading this right: Talk about your favourite WIP + What’s a WIP you never finished that you would like to go back and revisit?

Oh, this is just right up my alley.

So.

Ok.

My fav WIP right now is my current fanfic “Finding new words”, which ties right into the only fanfic (to date) that I never finished. Which I have been given (or taken) the opportunity to go back to, and which, by the general layout of storyline, I will finish this time around.

Right. So, starting the wrong way around, the WIP I never finished was “Lost dreams of Rohan”, a story in which I meant to dive into the past of Gríma Wormtongue to try to figure out why he became a man ready to betray his country and what his motivation was. I had a plan for a linear story, starting in childhood and leading up to a pompous, yet yearning sort of character that would evolve into the Wormtongue best known to the general audience.

I think I meant for the story to be somehow connected to dream sequences, as I wrote the first chapter as a kind of summary; Gríma recounting the people in his life to ever have had dreams (or hopes) for him;

“Coming back to my homeland after many years, finding it smaller, smellier, the wind more cold, the plains much less impressive… in my memory, it was never so. I nursed a dream then, of change and of glory. But dreams can be dangerous. Dreams deceive us. And, in the end, so few things manage to live up to our dreams.

I should know. I, who hardly ever lived up to anyone’s dreams. And there were those who held dreams and hopes for me, once. You may not believe it, but there were. As the first, and only son, there was a father’s dream. It spoke of legacy, of bravery and glory. Perhaps it was the hardest dream to live up to.

No, I tell a lie. There was a mother’s dream for me, it sang a soft song of affection, of a life full of love and acceptance. There were eyes resting on me once, asking nothing of me. And then those eyes were gone, forever closed, and the world asked everything of me, and I crumpled. This was the hardest dream to live up to.”

Ah. In fanfiction, writing in first person is a bit of a turn off for a lot of people. Dunno why. Anyway. One of the weaknesses in this storyline is that there is no conflict. Which may or may not be the reason I couldn’t finish it back when I started it, nor find the motivation to revisit it.

But.

But.

But.

But by the time I wrote “Lost dreams”, I had recently finished another fic (“Seeking Knowledge”) which I had left hanging because of life and stuff and what have ya (it has its strengths and weaknesses, but I’m proud to have finished it).

And I had written a fic for the Gríma/Éomer niche of the fandom (The King’s Mercy), which was in fact initiated as an iteration of the “Gríma lives”-branch of the fandom that I had found by then.

So. On to question no. 1: my favourite WIP: “Finding new words”

Gee. What to say. I’ve taken some of the premise of “Lost dreams” and reworked them into a “King’s mercy” storyline, and I think it’s working just fine.

It’s (selective parts of) Gríma’s childhood and youth. About what shaped him. About that vulnerability that Brad Dourif managed to bring to the character, and where it came from.

I had the urge to write a short piece as a sequel of “King’s mercy” and was asked about a detail in Gríma’s past. And there it was, as though “Lost dreams”, was urging to me; this. This is it. This is how it begins. And it was.

…I just needed to follow all the red flags down the road from there, honestly.   

I’ve had a real blast with the world building for this fic, though. I’ve developed a bit of a mania for Viking/Medieval board- or dice-games, so… feel free to add interesting links to such, if it so pleases you.

… If there is a discord for ancient board games, say hi!

Edited to say thanks for the ask! :D

[crooked-wasteland]

It's still bad character design and anyone can tell you that. The fundamentals are lost and the body types are identical leading to they all have identical personalities.

Variety is necessary when you are seeking for your characters to differentiate from each other. In Klaus, the titular character is designed big and blocky as a way of making him imposing, but it also says how stable and stubborn of a character he is. It's the same character type as Pacha from The Emperor's New Groove, but while Pacha is soft, his literal soft body reflecting his paternal nurturing persona, Klaus is hard and stiff like a rock to show how he has been jaded by tragedy.

Kuzco and Jesper are also parallels. Kuzco is spindly to show how pampered he is. He is physically weak while juxtaposed with his tyrannical abuse of power, and his entire design is littered with triangles. Jesper just is a triangle. His pudgy stomach shows how pampered HE is, while triangles are the visual tell of a character being untrustworthy. Kuzco and Jesper are both liars.

Having a few spindley characters for those like Alastor and Valentino work because the character design says they are more than what they seem. There is something perturbed and rotten about them like a corpse that literally refuses to die.

Visual design is a key component to character and stylized or not, every single character being given the same body type just adds to the lack of story, originality, planning and care. Have their design actually mean something and diversify your cast. You should conceptualize the story as you design your characters, instead we had OCs before we had a story.

Edit: I don't know why I'm so surprised by the vitriol of a fandom that allegedly bullied a child to suicide. However, I stand by what I said. The characters all are the same person. As in they feel like dolls being played with by a singular individual where all their "voices" or the internal sense of identity, feels the same. Aside from an immature sense of personality (this one is happy and bubbly, this one is ominous, this one is grouchy), they don't stand out from each other at all, and that additionally goes for their designs.

If I had silhouettes of all the characters and removed their heads and extenuating features (props, extra arms etc) you wouldn't be able to tell them apart. And they still all lack vital character design fundamentals that results in them being difficult. Even in their simplified form, they are a nightmare to animate. That all boils down to the creator prioritized a singular aesthetic over the character of their character design.

"Vivziepop's character's are too skinny!!! Where are their organs!" It's called an art style, dumbass. They're MEANT to look all spindley. It's a cartoon, body proportions aren't always going to be realistic. Artists like CottonValent also have spindley proportions for their characters so it's not just her. It's stylized, and deep down you know that.

[elizabethrobertajones]

Saw you've been sucked into the MMO life in the form of FFXIV and I was wondering if you had any input into the debate I've been having about what class archetypes tfw would play. I think Sam would be most likely to tank because it requires a reasonable amount of leadership and is also more of a quiet, backbone type role compared to dps. Dean seems more the type to be singularly focused on the big damage hits tbh. He also tends to take more of the charging in and fighting role in their normal life with Sam being the one reading up on everything more carefully and being his backup. Which leaves Cas as healer which may just be me projecting because I play healer/support at every opportunity but literal angel healing aside I think that sorta fits too, he cares a lot for them and tries to keep them safe and shield them as best he can in their adventures? Idk half formed thoughts please completely contradict me if you want I'm genuinely curious about other people's opinions here

Heyooo :D It is less sucked into and more like I’ve returned to the warm cushiony nest of MMOs lol

If you’d asked me back when I was a WoW player I’d have fully agreed because you could only have one class per character and these are definitely the snap decisions that the fam would make when on the character screen. Dean would grab the sexiest DPS, Sam the stoutest tank especially as he’s the one who has read into the classes and strats beforehand, and Cas would ask what to do and be given the healer role because the other two in this scenario would know better about the game and sort of lump it onto him like, oh, we need a healer and you can do this.

(In my own gaming journey, this is what my friends and brother did to me, as they needed a healer to round out their party... I took druid because it was spoopy, and discovered in WoW that while you can’t change classes you can pay gold to respec your character’s role within that class... Promptly re-specced to a melee dps/tank feral druid instead of the healer one, and had a lot more fun :D)  

In FFXIV you can take all the classes on your character (which I have done, natch) and it’s a much more interesting levelling approach, especially seeing how my friends playing the game have gone when it comes to taking classes as they level and why they claim to have tried and then rejected others. It’s an enormous personality test, even for peeps like me and my brother who have all the classes up at max level, which ones we prioritised and which ones we sort of struggled with or found a bit meh. 

Hm so in the scenario that Charlie comes bursting into the Bunker demanding that she needs some friends for dungeons and raids and they’re all sitting on their asses scrolling the internet between a case, they can bloody well play final fantasy with her for a bit, let’s go for some headcanons :D Long because FFXIV has become my current obsession and I have the same in-depth feels about it as I do about SPN but I just never get to write about them with anyone... 

First off, Sam of course has deep nerdery about it and will ask Charlie a ton of questions about what the right class to play is and do the same thing as we’ve already discussed and go for Paladin (which starts as gladiator), and also take all the crafting and gathering side classes because he’s a nerd and you learn nonsense lore while doing it. He’s also in the same starting zone as Thaumaturge which transitions to Black Mage and I BET he’d be tempted to have a little safe witch!Sam emotional release on the most un-Sam class. It’s the big unwieldy spell caster whose literal class quests and stuff make fun of how you’re small and squishy and will be standing in a very bad spot debating whether to finish a long-cast spell and get hit or stop DPS and run for safety. I think he could do with the perspective and learning to be selfish either way to blow off steam from tanking and also learn to prioritise himself IRL :’D Also the paladin quest is WEIRDLY pro-cop from 30 onwards for some reason until the writers saw sense and just. stopped. doing paladin stuff and went back to the Gladiator storyline for the class quests, so idk if he’d enjoy that or start to question other things. Whatever it is he’s getting challenged XD

At 60 he grabs Gunbreaker because it sounds more cool and is thankfully way less emotionally stressful tanking as it’s entirely about being a badass bodyguard and sick flips. This is far more aspirational for Sam, especially as he could just tie a knife to a sawn off shotgun and do these moves for real in his day job. He won’t, but like with black mage, the thought that he COULD is very emotionally satisfying to him.

He might also have decided to check out scholar to see how healing is but idk if he would be able to handle Dean teasing him for having a fairy follow him around so he’d only dabble with the nerd class on the side :P  

Now, Dean can’t take ninja until level 10 or machinist (gun shooty DPS class) until 50, so his start point as DPS would either be pugilist (eeeey brass knuckle class!) or the other DPS classes to start with are Thaumaturge/Black Mage, Arcanist/Summoner, Archer or Lancer. Now. He’d probably think the first two are sissy because magic is for girls/arcanists literally only have a book as a weapon. Archer becomes bard and I think is ultimately a place he’d be very happy as it is a very supportive class to the whole party and basically the mom friend class. But I would love if he went lancer/dragoon because the level 50 class weapon is (folklore inspired name) “Gae Bolg” and every time I equip it I can’t help giggling at the name even though I know it’s a real thing and I shouldn’t. But. Like. It’s the class about waving enormous lances around. It’s got Implications, and Dean is drawn to those. 

He’d probably, however, take rogue/ninja as soon as he could because stabbing things with knives, and the class trainer is the kinda guy who’d have wild gay tension with him while they both try to boast about women to each other, were they to meet irl. Ironically, the rogue trainer (a womanising charmer) and the ninja trainer (an intense, honourable guy bad at social cues even among his own people who ends up falling from grace and choosing to stay in the vicinity of said rogue trainer) are an interesting pair of NPCs to teach Dean about where to stick knives. :) 

He’d go back and power-level dragoon once he starts Heavensward though, because Aymeric is also super intense with messy dark hair and big blue eyes that see right through you. :D He’s getting that gae bolg for him, you know? 

If they’re going to bully Cas to be their healer, he’d probably get really dedicated to the discipline especially as he can stay up all night to play and doesn’t need to take breaks to pee so he’d probably level conjurer/white mage (nature healing) and scholar (ancient book lore with a class quest which mixes ancient curses on a whole people, family drama and a bit of interspeciesish love) and then also pick up astrologian, which is good because it’s spooky star and making your own fate magic. The storyline for that is garbage in the sense that it’s really weakly written, but my favourite character randomly picks up AST in the latest expansion, and has an absolutely fucking wild subtextual romance with another character, including SPN level adopting of a random child who matches Jack in many respects, with said character. And in many respects emotionally they’re Cas and Dean but without any of the personal baggage between them specifically so they really are just chill and married, whatever else they’re stressed about (I say, dreading the next patch is going to finally bring up some questions about what is going on with them as it’s getting weirdly conspicuous while still utterly unsaid). So I would hope if Cas started projecting onto an astrologian character it would be him :P 

Cas also would get into summoner as the other branch of scholar because honestly those two classes are about as close to the random sigil drawing and reading things from books etc analogy to his own occult magic, except you can summon cool dragons and elementals to fight for you. 

they’d buy Jack a boost to 60 and he’d pick up dark knight and white mage probably just to subtly fuck with Dean 

(I am still not over Dean trying to test him to see if he was evil or not by whether he chose devil or angel cake) 

[hergan416]

AO3 (Writer) Wrapped 2022

Not sure where others are getting this, but I'm just aggregating it myself because I should have all this data anyway. I know how to get it and I don't write that much.

Alright! So far in 2022 I've written 25,107 words of fanfiction and posted it on AO3.

I also archived 12,438 words of Dorian Gray analysis, originally posted here on tumblr on AO3. (I haven't advertised this yet, but if you want to see the full tag archive it's here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43362990/chapters/109003806)

I feel comfortable with this. Last year I posted 22,881 words of fanfic alone, so I'm up, and that doesn't include the fact I've gotten back into roleplay and have been having some SERIOUS word count a paragraph at a time, no-pressure, no editing fun between friends in the last two months. (Or at least it feels like it. I don't really want to dig through discord and/or tumblr to verify.)

(Did I mention 2021? Look at last year's metrics.)

I posted 6 new stories (2 One Piece and 4 Yugioh) and continued 2 stories from last year.

Of the WIPS I mentioned last year I added to Seek and Ye Shall Find, posted the smut addition to my kidlaw one shot Conquest, and posted 3/4 chapters of the fic that had been delayed due to my concussion (the only part that hasn't been posted is what I had started pre-concussion, actually). I didn't update "The Fic That Shall Not Be Named" but I do still plan to... When I have spoons to deal with the graphic design elements of writing it.

I participated in two Yugioh fandom gift exchanges, and had a blast. I absolutely adored my prompts this year, especially the Dark Valentines of Dimensions exchange which I hadn't participated in before. I hope to participate again in 2023, but have to get time to read the prompt list and sign up.

I've seen people put their top fics by kudos/hits/etc. on these, but that's not really what I want to focus on. I'm going to put my top fics by my own metrics, how I feel about them now, regardless of stats.

Heartsick Rated: G(eneral) Prideshipping (Yami Yugi | Atem/Seto Kaiba) When Kaiba finally manages to pull Atem out of Aaru, they come back ten years later, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was an absolute blast to write. I got to play with Sugoroku's character, write some playful banter, and add in some Mokuba angst on the side.

Chronology: A Case Study Rated: M(ature) Prideshipping (Yami Yugi | Atem/Seto Kaiba) This was meant to be Kaiba's birthday fic last year, and I had to abandon it due to getting a concussion. I'm so proud of myself for not only having an outline of what happened when, but sticking to and with it. Granted I don't have the last chapter posted, but I have a fair amount worked on, and expect this fic to be finished early next year. The fic bounces across space and time, but only ever occurs on Kaiba's birthday, October 25, which is where it gets the title. While the fic suffers some minor continuity issues, the fact that I even stuck with a multiple chapter fic, even a short one is such an accomplishment for me.

Seek and Ye Shall Find Rated: M(ature) Chapter fic with no "main" pairing. There is, however, Violetshipping (Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Seto Kaiba), Heartshipping (Ryou Bakura/Yugi Mouto) and unrequited Prideshipping (Yami Yugi | Atem/Seto Kaiba). This is my self-indulgent, Katakuri-centric Yugioh/One Piece crossover fic and honestly, I'm still super excited and stoked about it. It's the thing I have written the most for me of anything this year, even if it hasn't been updated in a minute. I do know how I'm pulling Katakuri out of Aaru and some of what I want to happen between him and Atem before I do. I just need to spend some time sitting down and writing it.

Thanks for reading, and for all the positive feedback on my writing. I feel so blessed to be a part of the fandom, especially the Dark Pride of Dimensions Prideshipping Discord server, the Truth or Dare Yugioh RP group, and a pair of small discord communities of One Piece fans. Thank you for being a part of my life.

[enderon]

Are Torchwood novels actually considered canon or fanon by the fandom? Personally I only consider the tv series, audiobooks and big finish radio dramas to be canon. Some of the novels are silly and quite contradictory and seem to be much of Gwen worship for my taste. Also the characterization of the characters are very off in some of the novels which is my biggest issue with them. I don’t recognize the characters sometimes. Do you consider the novels canon?

I personally consider them canon, but to an extent, and I feel like others in the fandom agree though I can hardly speak for everyone.

Basically, it comes down to my hierarchy of canon information: on top is the show itself, after that is the Big Finish Audio dramas and the radio plays on about the same level, then the audiobooks, then the novels, then the short stories and comics.

Going off of this hierarchy, I basically use the higher levels when determining what information is canon or contradictory to canon. So if the show says one thing but the audio dramas say something that's contradictory to that, then I go with what the show says rather than what the drama says, so on and so forth.

There are, of course, situations where contradictory information could be interpreted in a certain way that allows for both to be true. An example of this would be in 'Fragments' where we are told that Ianto was a Junior Researcher back at Torchwood One but are then shown that he was Yvonne's PA in 'Before the Fall'. While this information might otherwise be contradictory, with interpretation it actually makes a lot of sense and can add more depth to Ianto's story as a whole, with a person being able to believe that Ianto, desperate to get the job with Torchwood Three and knowing full well of Jack's notorious distaste for Yvonne Hartman, would doctor his own file before seeking out Jack.

Honestly it's all a matter of personal judgement and you in no way have to follow the same judgement as anyone else. If you don't want to view the novels as canon, that is completely and utterly fine and you should in no way be harrassed for it. We're all engaging in the media in our own ways and things do tend to get a bit complicated and confusing when 'extended universe' stuff starts getting created.

On the subject of my opinion on the novels though? Because I only have so much money, and by the very nature of how my brain's hyperfixations work, I literally only own and have read Torchwood Novels that have pretty a pretty substantial Ianto presence, so I am in no way an expert on the subject of the novels as a whole. I will give this though, about the amount of Gwen spotlight. Cause, tbf, she is technically the protagonist of the show, so I can't blame the novels for giving her the spotlight a lot. I will commiserate on the complete fuck up they did with her character and likability, but as I've said in other posts, I no longer blame that on her more that I blame it on bad writing by men.

EDIT: Also, there are some things that are canon that I just personally choose to ignore cause I don't like them, and if a canon is provided in another piece of media that I find I like and agree with more, I'll probably go with that, cause I'm just here to have a good time if I'm being completely honest.

[procyon-podcast-network]

Hi! This is just a general question for people who are already in the podcasting business: I'm someone who writes, and I have an idea for a podcast that I'm really excited about. But my skills are limited to writing and some sound editing. I have no experience with acting or directing or production, and I have no idea where to find people who know about those things. Do you have any advice on how to find such people? Thank you!

Hi there!

As it happens, we pretty much started out in the exact same boat -- except without any sound editing experience until we roped in our sound engineer Erin, which we did because we knew that was a gap in our collective skills.

It sounds like the best advice we can probably give you is to flesh out your idea a lot more before you even start looking for anyone to add to the project in any capacity. Identify the limits of what you can do, want to do, and are willing to do. “An idea for a podcast that [you’re] really excited about” suggests there’s still a lot of gray area and unspecified details there, and if you need to reach out to friends or other resources to find more people to help you get this thing off the ground, it will immensely benefit you and anyone you ask to join the project if you have a clear understanding of what the relevant boundaries and expectations are.

Ask yourself a lot of questions about every aspect of the project, and be honest with yourself in answering; not to cast doubt on it but instead to increase your own clarity.

Do you want to act in the podcast, or are you just assuming you’ll take a role because you may not get enough interest from actors? Do you want to find someone to be a director, or do you want to figure it out yourself? We didn’t really have directing experience previously -- to a certain extent you can figure it out as you go, even if all you can tell an actor at first is “this sounds wrong but I’m having a hard time putting into words why.”

Production-wise -- what do you want the show to sound like? What’s the structure going to be? How long will episodes be? How long will the show/season be? If you’re going to write everything yourself: who will beta/edit/review your scripts? (Note: ”Yourself 5 days later” is not a valid answer.) If you’re going to recruit one or more co-writers, what will the breakdown of work be? What will your release schedule look like? When are the key deadlines you’ll be working toward and what happens/what’s your plan when a deadline is missed? Are you good at time management and working to deadlines or do you need external motivation, such as someone else cracking the whip and telling you what to get done when?

The more you work out questions like this, the more you should start to see the shapes of the roles you need, and the more you’ll also have a compelling pitch when you do go out seeking people to fill them.

When you reach the point where you feel confident you have that understanding, then honestly, start with your friends and various social circles. Is there someone you’ve already been telling about this idea, who’s been your cheerleader for it? Do you want to bring them on as a co-creator/writer/director/whatever? If so, crucially: how much are you willing to share creative control? Are there people you regularly talk to and like who listen to the same kinds of podcasts you do? Do you think you’d like to work with them? Ask them! Is there someone whose work you admire that in your wildest dreams would get involved with your podcast? DEFINITELY ASK THEM.

There are enough audio drama fandoms out there that this should let you cast a fairly decent-sized net while avoiding some risk of pulling in some internet rando that you won’t be able to get along with at all, because you really do want to get along with the people you’re going to be working with.

And when it comes to actors specifically -- a lot of actors you might hear on shows you like are interested in other work. It’s worth reaching out to them on Twitter or through other social media just as you might to anyone else. Other options are places like @podcastingcalls and https://www.castingcall.club/.

Sorry this got super long without a lot of concrete tips, but we hope it helps! Good luck!

-Phoebe

[teatotally]

I've just been rereading some of your wonderful longfic and you write such good action i'm so envious, especially Don't Wait Up for Me. Someone said it was cinematic and I think thats a good description. Whenever I try to write action I just can't or it doesn't seem very good, and I wonder if you have any advice as a writer and editor about how to write action scenes, or just any writing advice in general.

First, I have to apologize for taking so long to respond; it’s been hard to get back in the swing of things after surgery. Second, thank you so much for the lovely compliment, and I’m so glad you liked Don’t Wait Up for Me, because that’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever done.

To your question: I sometimes feel like I could write a book, just based on the sheer volume of crap I read for my job and the way all these things pile up for me, but there are hundreds of writing advice books out there, and some of them are even actually good so no one needs another one. :-D But I think there are some specifics to writing action, and in particular action within fanfiction, that are fairly unique and not always addressed in tutorials.

When I’m copyediting fiction especially, I often find my attention wanders or my eyes glaze over because of flabby or weak writing, and that’s just death for a scene where people are supposed to be doing stuff and hooking the reader. The same mistakes kind of pile up and up, and this is pro published stuff. Fan readers are pretty forgiving mostly, but a lot of these issues have an unconscious effect on us, we forget fics that could be memorable because we skimmed over stuff that should engage us.

Years ago at Slate, I copyedited a book review that made me laugh, because it was a lot of these problems in a nutshell:

His writing is riddled with clichés that are daily struck down by conscientious high-school teachers. The characters always think “for a moment,” as if a sustained thought is impossible in the Wagnerian world. “Silence” plagues the pages, and it often “follows” speech. The thunder claps “Whrromp!” Every glance is recorded, for no discernable reason—everyone is “looking” or “focusing” all the time. The faces repeatedly “light up.” People don’t smile—they “start to smile"—and they do things “a little,” even if much happens “all of a sudden.” Here is a typical passage: “Liz started to smile, then started to say something, then thought better of it. Her smile faded for a moment, while she seemed to concentrate on a thought.”

That’s the kind of writing that can just utterly kill action scenes. So what would I tell you to avoid that kind of stuff? :

1. Use strong verbs. If you can do one thing, it’s to use strong verb forms and avoid constructions with lots of to be verbs and -ing forms. If you consistently use five words where you could use two, readers can tire or tune out without even understanding why they do that. I read a lot of otherwise good stuff that just wears me down with the “he was going to have to” and “she was starting to think” and “he’d been working in” and “I’ll be needing to” or what have you. It doesn’t seem like much, but pages of that can drag your prose down fast and tighter forms can help–”he had/wanted/would have to” and “she thought (ran, cried, etc.)” and “he’d worked in” “I need to” and so on. Even in this paragraph, you’ll notice I’ve used mostly stronger verbs, not many helper words.

A lot of fan writers don’t edit themselves after writing, and this is one area where it shows the most. We tend to want to share our stuff right away, get some fannish love, or we have to hit a challenge deadline. But if you want to write better action scenes, reading over your work to find those places where you could tighten the verbs can really help. (When we speak, we might say, “I’m going to be reading over my work and finding weak verbs.” Totally normal. But in actual writing, punchier forms like “I will read over my work to find the weak verbs” are livelier, and that really adds up in action.) I spend the bulk of my fic time looking for places where I can use one or two words where I wrote five or six in the initital stage of getting it all down.

2. Omit needless words. Most editors I know respect, but don’t use, Strunk & White’s Elements of Style, because it was written by prissy old white guys and pointlessly fussy. But this one is advice that many of us would agree is pretty useful, and in an action scene it can be the difference between eyes glazing over and a rapt reader. It’s heavily related to the first point. 

There are some writers I love but who frequently put me to sleep with that five or six words where one or two would do issue. But it’s not only verbs where you see it. Speech is less formal, not carefully constructed or edited, so in dialog it’s not as bad, but when describing movement or setting, the tighter the focus, the easier it is for your reader to get caught up in the action scene. You’ll often hear writers lament certain words they use a lot of–just, really, sort of, a little, etc. We all have those tics, and it’s worth it to search and replace, because those add flab to the writing. They’re not inherently bad, and I don’t like discouraging new or learning writers from perfectly fine words (I have a HUGE rant about the “never use adverbs” bullshit which I’ll spare you), but it’s always illuminating how much we can undercut the action with a lot of filler words. It took me years to break myself of the habit of using finally, for instance, and now when I notice it I always ask myself when I edit if I really need it. Is everyone doing things just “a little”? I slice it out.

3. Vary your sentence structure and length. This is another thing I see a lot of with newer writers, where their sentences are often constructed in the same way (”Steve walked into the machine. The doctor injected him with serum. Howard was turning his machine on. Then Steve screamed and Peggy was yelling to shut it down.”). That’s an overly simplified example, but it’s stultifying. Action scenes tend to require shorter, choppier sentences anyway to make them dynamic, but a steady diet of that will put you to sleep. Including some details, using different types of words, playing around with clauses and phrases and listening to the cadence of what you write can really enliven things. Where can you combine two sentences, or three? 

4. Punctuation is your friend. This isn’t (only) because people are picky about punctuation: you’d be amazed at how punctuation can affect the pace of an action scene. Like, I see writers frequently add commas where they don’t need them, which once or twice, no big deal, but sentence after sentence where you’re taking that comma pause as you read can really grind the pace down. Fanfic isn’t academic or severely formal writing, and there’s nothing wrong with people punctuating how they hear things in their heads, but it can leave the reader frustrated or confused, and with action that might not be the desired outcome. Missing punctuation, or using the wrong thing, can trip people up and throw them out of that big action set piece, or fatigue them. 

I see it a lot with commas around a little, just as an example, where you don’t need them, and if you’re a writer who qualifies every action with that (”Steve smiled, a little”) it’s amazing how fast those add up. Em dashes (aka long dashes, double dashes) are a wonderful tool, but if every sentence has them, that slight pause can get frustrating, particularly if it’s in the middle of something that should be fast-moving.

5. Blocking. Make a little movie in your head, block it out. Know where your characters are at any given moment, whose hand is where, that sort of thing. (You can do this after you write the scenes, so you won’t bog yourself down in self-censoring.) Many people suffer from White Room Syndrome, where they can’t see any details about their world and everything happens in a white room—I always told students that if they did, then watch movies or TV and steal details and world-building from them, or just use stuff in your own personal life. But try to imagine it and block it out once you’ve written down the basics, so that your reader can follow along with you and see where the action is taking them.

Those are the main things I can think of off the top of my head. Whenever people compliment my action scenes, I realize most of that’s probably due to my ruthless self-editing in fic: I edit the fuck out of action segments to tighten, tighten, and then tighten some more. There are a ton of good grammar and writing books out there; one of my favorites, especially for beginners or people who aren’t sure about things like English-language punctuation, is Diana Hacker’s A Writer’s Reference. And practicing, examining what the writers you admire are doing, looking at your own work and seeking out constructive comments, can be so helpful. Fandom’s got a really rich group of people involved in creating fanworks, and many of them are willing to help you learn stuff or share their knowledge.

[tanista]

...And that's that, save for final editing tweaks here and there.

Over 240,000 words, 36 chapters, 26 months start to finish.

I did it.

Wow.

I'm feeling kinda giddy. Or maybe I just need lunch.

(What follows is essentially the Author's Afterward in the next chapter from the posted story, but the sentiment still applies here.)

To the readers who have made it this far you have my most sincere thanks for indulging me in this OC-inclusive, canon-divergent, three-way crossover AU. This has truly been a labor of love, for the fantastic shows and their inspiring settings and characters that have been a part of my life for so long, as well as the entire sci-fi genre, both literary and on screen. The best thing about the Stargate fandom is the extensive scope of the series, and how it can allow for so many different approaches in an entertaining mashup of ancient mythology and science fiction, served with intelligence, humor, and heart. I hope that I've been able to convey some of that in my own fashion and allowed it to lighten your own lives.

Have you ever had inspiration come to you in a dream? The idea for the whole story's been in my mind as bits and pieces for the past twenty years (!!) and I'm glad I finally had the time, drive and wherewithal to start translating the images in my mind into words. And that I felt free enough to go as big and epic as it played out in my imagination. I'm also glad it's taken me this long to do so, since I'm not sure I would've been able to write the same story without the maturity and added experience that comes from just plain living.

To be honest I never expected my modest AU would turn out to be so big a project. The story's been my lifeline to sanity in these very trying times for our world, as I suspect writing and reading fanfic has been for you, dear readers. Long live fan fiction and all who enjoy it!

This is the end of this story, but not of the AU. There's plenty of room for more adventures, multichapters, one-shots and vignettes alike. And not only by myself.

I'm opening it up to anyone who wishes to play in my sandbox if inspired. Additions, remixes or creations of any kind are welcome, so long as due credit is given. Have fun, give a nod in my direction (or an "Inspired by" link on AO3), and please let me know in the comments there what you've done. Any point in the timeline listed is fair game so feel free to expand upon anything- John and Rodney's relationship in Alpha Base and Atlantis, Sam and Jack's or Mac and Janet's- even future fics are welcome featuring the next generation(s). In fact, any of my original characters listed in Ch. 2 of Timeline and Who's Who in Ad Astra and original concepts in A Linguist's Guide to New Earth can be used, with credit of course. Or add your own, the more the merrier as far as I'm concerned!

If there's interest I'll create a collection on AO3 called Stargate: The New Earth Chronicles and open it to any rating or pairing- or crossover, if you think it can fit. All I ask is to keep it in the same optimistic spirit of soft apocalypse with a glimmer of hope, because now more than ever we need those happy endings.

Okay, time for me to give credit where it's rightfully due.

None of this would've come to pass in the first place if not for a certain actor and the two leading roles he portrayed so brilliantly. So thanks first and foremost to Richard Dean Anderson for introducing me to the original Angus MacGyver and later on Jack (Two L's) O'Neill, sides of the same coin as far as I'm concerned. The inspiration for my OC Rebecca Grahme came out of a desire to give both of them more family, and a concrete reason for doing what they do.

Thanks also to Michael Shanks for his version of Daniel Jackson, the first character on TV I could truly relate to, and proof that even glasses-wearing geeks (like myself) can be heroes. Indeed (to quote Teal'c) my admiration for everyone in both series- cast and crew alike- knows no bounds, for bringing to life a truly epic universe and giving it heart and wit, adventure and excitement. They are the reason why I'm still a fan after all these years.

I carry a warm fondness in my heart for the original MacGyver and the invaluable lessons he taught me about applied nonviolence, seeking creative solutions to problems and the willingness to do the right thing and stand up for others in the face of overwhelming odds. Those are values I still admire and try to emulate even today.

Many thanks goes to Sourlander and her excellent Loyalties series, for letting me incorporate Dr. Alex Lorne and her children Nora, Grace and Caleb into my 'verse. More adventures with Evan and Alex and family are welcome from you anytime.

As stated earlier this epic story is a love letter to the sci-fi genre I've been reading all my life, which taught me to think big when it comes to worldbuilding. Story inspiration comes from far and wide, particularly tales of space colonies both failed and successful, accidental and planned: Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover Landfall, Anne McCaffrey's Dragonsdawn, Jack L. Chalker's The Birth of Flux & Anchor, and the anthology Star Colonies (Martin H. Greenburg and John Heffers, eds.). Ursula LeGuin's Ekumen in her Hainish Cycle series is the model for the Stargate Commonwealth. Other elements come from the Cyteen trilogy by C.J. Cherryh (council government) and the alternate history anthologies What Might Have Been Vol. I & II, edited by Gregory Benford and Martin H. Greenburg (Ascended Daniel and Oma Desala's discussion).

Inspiration for elements of Atlantis Colony in particular comes from some incredible SGA fanworks on AO3: Speranza's Written by the Victors, LtLJ's Retrograde and Retrograde Extras series, ArwenLune's Rock Happy 'verse and Atlantis Program for Essential Skills Training, Three Fates by auburn and eretria, Wild Card by GillianInOz, Domenika Marzione (domarzione)'s version of Atlantis with its extensive cast of OCs, and The Body Holographic by Leah (Taste_is_Sweet) and springwoof. All are absolutely fabulous and mind-blowing, I cannot recommend them enough.

Once again my profound thanks to you, dear readers, for taking a chance on this modest AU. I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I did writing it. Feedback is greatly appreciated, and will always be. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Peace to you all. May we treat each other kindly and with respect, and strive together to create a better future for everyone's sake.

Take care,

Tanista

April 2019-June 2021