#I can actually sign up for yuletide this year and it will be on my list

[incandescentflower]

I've already moped about this on the other hellsite (derogatory), this is hellsite (affectionate), so sorry if you have seen me be baby in multiple places, but I had taken three days off from work with a planned few days away and immediately on the first day off I got a sore throat and have felt crappy ever since.

Seems like just a regular old cold but I am so *pouty, stomps feet* about it.

The timing is perfectly terrible.

The only good thing to come out of this was that I decided to self-soothe by rewatching Old Fashion Cupcake and it did help. I really didn't spend enough time thinking about that drama. It's so good.

[antimony-medusa]

Is that— bells ringing? Keyboards clacking? The sound of two thousand stressed writers pancing furiously about the floor? Ah yes, Yuletide.

Hello. MCYTblr. I am back again.

You are looking fine today as we move towards the end of the year. Is that a new cologne you're trying? New shirt? New glasses? It's working for you. How have I been? Well.

Well.

*I smack the wall, curtains spring aside, revealing my flip chart presentation that I've had lying in wait*

It is time for me to talk to you about Yuletide again. I was here earlier during tag nominations, but it's sign-up time, and I want to make sure everybody has a change to participate in this if they want to.

What's Yuletide?

Yuletide is an annual mega-exchange for small and rare fandoms. It runs in the close of the year, with a 1000 word minimum for gifts, with gifts revealed anonymously on the 25th of December and de-anoned on the 1st of January. It is easily the biggest exchange in multi-fandom-exchange-world, and last year more than 1,350 people signed up.

Why does everyone sign up?

Well, it's tradition, for one. There are a lot of people that only do Yuletide as their big exchange every year. It's a big holiday spectacle, it's really fun to see it operate and see pinch hits come out and get nabbed in minutes, and people kind of put on their holiday outfits and turn out for it.

For another thing, if you are in a small fandom, it's the one exchange where you can actually have a shot of getting a gift for an obscure manga fandom, or an out-of-print book, or a tv show from the eighties. If your fandom has five people in it, the odds are higher than average that two of them are signing up for this exchange, and hey presto, suddenly you're matchable in your fandom for an obscure podcast.

For another, and this is the biggie, the fact that this is an exchange for small and rare fandoms has led to a certain tradition and vibe for the fandoms that people nominate. People bring their most obscure and fun ideas, going, "hehehehe wouldn't it be fun if someone wrote a story about this", and into the tag set it goes. There is SUCH a spectrum of fandoms in the tag set.

This year there are 4,263 fandoms and 16,735 characters in the tag set. Let me just skim through and look at some of them.

There are commercials, web sketches, art pieces, songs, music videos, board games, podcasts, a dizzying assortment of anthropomorphising different places, items, and ideas, and RPF from a marvelous variety of historical periods (so, y'know, historical fiction if it was published professionally). There are people who nominated tik tok sketches. Twitter threads. A bridge. Book binding techniques. You ever wanted to write a romance between Knitting and Crochet? That's in the tag set, and someone wants to prompt you to do that. Happy Yuletide.

So if you are at all the sort of person who likes a prompt challenge, BOY is this one just a MARVELOUS one. I know I personally am going to be signing up for Humans are Space Orcs (tumblr post) and Fandom Exchanges (Anthropomorphic) amid my more traditional fandoms.

And as for my more traditional fandoms, and the reason why this post has the tags it does (I would get to it eventually)— there is a lot of MCYT in the tag set! I put out a post saying GUYS, the smaller fandoms might apply for this, and BOY did people show up for it. I scanned through it, and the MCYT (and adjacent) that made it in is:

Karmaland SMP

Legacy SMP

Lifesteal SMP

Moonlight SMP

New Life SMP

Outsiders SMP

Rats SMP

SMPEarth

SMPLive

Witchcraft SMP

Pirates SMP

Mianite

Slimecicle Cinematic Universe

SBI Rust

Generation Loss

You could make an entire sign up, 3 minimum requests and 4 minimum requests, and only select MCYT fandoms. The wild thing is that you can only select a max of 10 fandoms to offer, so you actually couldn't offer all of the MCYT. ZombieCleo Witchraft SMP is in. Tommyinnit SMPEarth. Clownpierce Lifesteal. Tubbo SBI Rust. Oli Rats SMP. A wealth of options for the block folks.

So come, join me! What's that? You say this sounds excellent, you're in? You want to know how to sign up? Well this post is already long enough so I'm putting the rest below a cut.

You sign up on the collection here, using fandoms listed in the tagset here. Before you do so though, I'd recommend you check out the blog, especially their "how to sign up" post here, because even if you're used to exchanges, the way Yuletide works is a little bit different. Let me do a quick breakdown here.

Requests

# of Fandoms

You have to select a minimum of 3 fandoms that you are Requesting (a gift that you want made for you), up to a maximum of 6 fandoms. Each fandom has to be unique. For each fandom, you can request between 0 to 4 characters in that fandom, and 0 means "literally you can hit me with anybody", and the up-to-4 characters are the people you definately want to show up in the fic.

AND MATCHING

This is one of the things that Yuletide does differently, because most fandom exchanges do "or" matching, where they match you on either characer A OR character B, (maybe you only offered character B) and you can pick among any of the selected characters on the person's request to write for. Because Yuletide does AND matching, you will only be matched if you offered every single one of the characters the person has selected, and then you get to write for every single one they have listed in their fandom, unless they say differently in their letter. If they requested character A and Character B, you get to deliver a gift that includes them both, according to the rules.

Bu like, in practice, a lot of people are a bit more like "you can pick only one of these guys if you'd like", because that is how everyone is used to things running in most other exchanges, plus people don't want to be too picky, so you can specify in your letter if you definately 100% want characters A, B, and C, or if you're fine with just A, or just A and C, or whatever constellation of characters you're chill with.

This year they have added optional freeform tags you will click on, that will specify either A) use every single one of these guys I selected. B) I have specified in my letter which guys I need for sure and which ones you can swap, C) Dealer's Choice Of Guys Go Crazy.

DNW and Optional Details

Yuletide is an "Optional Details Are Optional" (ODAO) exchange, so technically you could request (or receive) an offer that just has the characters and then you get to go absolutely buckwild for the two month writing period. Most people, however, do not want to do that, so that is where you'll put in Do Not Wants (anything that would ruin the gift for you, from major archive warnings to kinks that you don't vibe with to headcanons you loathe), and some prompts and/or likes for your person to jump off of.

DNWs absolutely must be abided by, and breaking a person's DNW is grounds for getting turfed from the exchange. Following a person's prompts or lists of likes is technically optional, but definately best practice, and y'know, part of the whole spirit of the exchange. Most people are doing their best to adhere to both the DNW and the Optional Details when they do their gift.

You can just format your DNW and Optional Details on the Ao3 signup page (easy, fast), or you can link them offsite in a letter (fancy, you can do formatting, people do them in google docs or dreamwidth pages (the traditional and more accessible option)). There's a tradition of people posting their letter links here, so that people can get an idea for what sort of prompts and signups people are offering, and make sure they're matchable to people with especially fun ideas. Note: you do have to duplicate the data if you're doing a letter, cause if you put your DNW in your letter but NOT in your Ao3, the mods won't enforce it.

And while we're here, that last link is to a community blog that includes a place where you can promo your fandoms to lure people into signing up for your guys, or participate in mini-challenges within yuletide for people who specificially want poly relationships (Three Doves Challenge), or characters of colour (Chromatic Yuletide), or horror/darkfic (Crueltide), or smut (Yuleporn), or art (Wrapping Paper), or even more. There's even a poetry challenge!

Offers

# of Fandoms

You have to sign up with a minimum of 4 fandoms, to a maximum of 10, for fandoms you are Offering (a gift you are willing to make). You must offer at least 2 characters for each fandom, to a maximum of 20— but there's also an "any" tick box if you want to go full "hit me, I like a challenge" and you'll write anything (in the tag set) within a fandom. Each of your fandoms must be unique.

Writing Period:

Signups are open through the 21st, with assignments out by the 23rd, and then you have until the 18th of December to deliver your gift.

Important Notes

You must be 18 or over to participate in Yuletide (because you might be matched with someone who requests smut), and signups close on 9pm UTC on Saturday, 21 October.

There's a known issue where the safari browser isn't letting people sign up properly, (when you get an exchange this big sometimes things break), so they say to either sign up on mobile or use a different browser. So that will be fun for me.

--

And that's it! Yuletide! Just under a week left to sign up, and 351 people have signed up as I write this letter at 1:30am. I just refreshed it and now it's 352. You can sign up on the Ao3 page here!

JOIN ME EXCHANGES SUCH FUN LETS GO.

[transcendence-au]

9th Annual TAUathon!

Guess what everyone? It’s that time of year again:

We are holding another Transcendence AU ficathon!!!

(I know we didn’t have one last year shh)

Just like last time, any type of content is accepted! Fic? Heck yeah! Art? Just mess me up. Music? Please. It’s been so long. A full feature animated film? That’s very ambitious, but hey we have two whole months so mess us up!

Here’s how it’s going to work!

1. Prompts and Sign Ups!

From now on, we will be taking prompts and sign ups! You can do both by going to this spreadsheet here and submitting a prompt/signing up for a prompt. We recommend doing this as soon as possible, as the sooner you put your prompt in the more time someone has to work on it. In addition, everything under the fic open season and art open season tag is fair game as well!

2. Posting!

Once you have taken a prompt, please have it done by October 5th (the anniversary of the TAU blog)! That’s a whole two months from this post being made. In order to make this a big fun day full of fic and art (like Yuletide on AO3), if you’re done with your entry before the 5th, please schedule your post to go online on October 5th.

3. Questions!

Can we submit our fic/art for the thon to you?

Absolutely! Just let us know it’s for the TAUathon so we can schedule it for the right day!

Do we need to use any special tags if we post on our own blogs?

On Tumblr? Just the usual “transcendence au” and we’ll see it from there.

On AO3? Here’s some advice on how to tag TAU fics on AO3!

Are you going to call Mizar on us if we don’t finish our prompt on time?

Nope. While we encourage everyone who picks up a draft to finish it, we aren’t going to chase you around with the cult basher. Don’t get discouraged if you can’t finish your prompt in time – we still would love to see your content whenever it is ready.

You won’t even get banished eternally to the corner. That’s reserved for people who make super angsty stuff.

I want to participate but I don’t feel like doing any of the prompts? Can I just write/draw my own thing anyway?

ABSOLUTELY! We’re happy with however you choose to participate!

Did you seriously just copy and paste the whole post from the first ficathon?

No, I actually edited the post from the last ficathon. Nyeh!

We hope you enjoy and HAVE FUN! And again the prompt spreadsheet can be found here.

[misslavenderlady]

The Lost Boys - Holiday Headcanons 🎁

In honor of the season, I decided to give my own take on how the boys each celebrate their preferred holidays.

While they each have different preferences, they all celebrate together as a sign of respect and love.

Enjoy! ✨

David 🖤 - Saturnalia 🍷🍗🎉

He doesn't care for modern day Christmas. He thinks it's boring and commercial. What David likes to celebrate is Saturnalia. It's an old, roman celebration to honor the end of the harvest and rebirth. He loved reading about it in his human life and decided to celebrate it when he was turned into a vampire. He thinks it's much more fitting for him and his friends.

The boys already like to go a little wild, but for Saturnalia, they go CRAZY. True to the traditions, they feast on extravagant foods and wines, not settling for takeout or boardwalk food. They shout and sing and rev their motorcycles even louder than normal to bother the residents of Santa Carla. They also go out and dance for hours and hours.

One old practice is going to the houses of the wealthy and demanding to be served. Since he's a vampire, David likes to break in to the home of any random, rich asshole living in the wealthy neighborhood and "sacrificing" them so the boys can use their house as they please. It usually involves blasting music, breaking stuff and stealing any goodies that can be found.

Another tradition is crowning someone "king" and letting them make crazy decrees. Every year the boys take turns on who is the king. When Laddie joins, he's the go-to king since he's the youngest.

Even if he parties hard, David still feels generous during the holiday season. He's very good at finding gifts that come from the heart and giving them to his friends to make them smile. He loves them dearly and likes to use the season to treat them extra good. He's a bit of a softie at heart 🖤

~~~~~~

Marko 💚 - Hanukkah 🕎🕯️🫒

(I wanted to honor Alex Winter's faith and pick Hanukkah for Marko. I did my research but please correct me if something is wrong)

Now, Marko isn't a religious person considering he's a vampire and religious items are kinda dangerous (depending on what they are. Not all things from all faiths hurt them), but he still likes to share the story of Hanukkah to his friends in order to keep the spirit of the holiday alive.

He's usually a bit quieter, but during the 8 days of Hanukkah he's much more outspoken. He goes into detail about the story of the Jewish people fought back against the Greeks and their attempt to take away their faith and practices. Marko even has a menorah he lights each night, explaining how the small amount of oil that hadn't been destroyed by the Greeks managed to burn for 8 days. The boys always listen with wonder at how dedicated Marko is to the tale.

Marko also takes the opportunity to treat his friends with special foods traditionally eaten for Hanukkah. Since they're fried with oil, the boys think they're absolutely delicious. His favorite treat for Hanukkah are latkes.

When Laddie joins their family, he decides to teach him how to play the dreidel game so he can have some fun. He teaches him a little bit of Hebrew so he can pronounce the letters on the dreidel (nun, gimel, hei and shin). Laddie is naturally really good at the game and it always makes Marko smile to see the kid absolutely destroy the others and get the most goodies.

Marko is usually a little shy about singing, but faces his fears and does a little bit to share the music he likes most for the holiday. His personal favorite song is Havenu Shalom Aleichem and if he's feeling comfortable, he'll dance with his friends 💚

~~~~~~

Dwayne ❤️ - Yule ❄️🌲🔥

Dwayne actually gets a little blue this time of year because in his human life he had Seasonal Depression, and despised the cold, and bitterness of Winter. When he turned and made a home in Santa Carla, those feelings weren't as strong. But even with lingering sadness, he makes up for it with traditions from Yuletide.

He's still native, so the holiday isn't apart of his culture, but he likes the idea of taking parts of it and making them his own. One thing he loves about the holiday is the use of warmth and light to combat the winter blues. He likes collecting candles from different shops and stands and lighting them for decoration. For the holiday season he picks out colorful candles to add more life to the cave.

Dwayne also gets creative and puts together garlands and wreaths made of pine branches and holly berries. As his own twist he adds small trinkets he collects (beads, feathers, glass, shells). Since he can fly, he decorates the cave from top to bottom without the need for a ladder.

Also with the tradition instead of lighting fires in the barrels, he finds logs to burn as a makeshift Yule log fire. He likes it a lot more because it feels more intimate and homely. The others enjoy snuggling with him by the fire and even break out some marshmallows to roast. Sometimes Paul or Marko will try to tell ghost stories but Dwayne will shut it down so Laddie doesn't get scared.

Speaking of Laddie, Dwayne makes sure the boy is cozy, warm and happy this time of year. He buys desserts at local bakeries for him and reads stories by the fire while Laddie is wrapped up in a soft blanket. His go-to story is The Little Match Girl, but he alters the ending so that instead of dying, the girl is reborn as a vampire and lives forever with her grandmother by her side (he doesn't like to tell Laddie stories with a sad ending)

Dwayne just has a lot of love in his heart for his family, and takes this time to keep them all safe and warm. It's the least he can do for them all ❤️

~~~~~~

Paul 💙 - Christmas 🍪🎄🎁

Paul is already a kid at heart, but when Christmas comes around? Oh boy, he is a WILD CHILD. He's the picture of Christmas as we know it today (minus the religious stuff)

First thing he does on December 1st is bust down the door of Max's shop and get a bunch of Christmas movies to watch. He's a total sucker for Rankin Bass movies, his favorite being Year Without a Santa Claus since he loves the songs. He can sit in front of a tv and watch all the stop-motion characters for hours, especially after having a good smoke session.

He hoards Christmas decorations like a damn dragon. He has an artificial Christmas tree that he fills with so many ornaments, lights and tinsel that by the time he's done, you can barely see the tree underneath.

Can and will eat as much raw cookie dough as possible. Paul has a major sweet tooth, and will absolutely stock up on any candy canes, gum drops, taffy, cakes, cookies and pastries he can get his hands on. That boy has no self control.

Sings every holiday song he can think of. The good news is that Paul has a truly beautiful singing voice, so the others don't mind. There have even been years he's sung on the boardwalk and attracted a crowd of intrigued listeners (he also got quite bit of tips before the boardwalk cops made him leave. Paul hunted them later as payback).

Paul may be a bit goofy, but he's very sweet. He loves making gifts for his friends and putting together stockings for them all. When Laddie joins, he enthusiastically tells the boy to write a list for Santa and to leave out cookies on Christmas Eve. Something about Laddie brings out his paternal side during the holiday. He's even bribed Dwayne to dress up as Santa to add on to the fun for Laddie. It's chaos, but it comes from the heart 💙

[olderthannetfic]

it's yuletide sigh-ups day! any tips for a first-time participant, and any success/horror stories you'd like to share?

--

I've always had pretty good Yuletides. No horror stories.

Sign up only for things you're genuinely excited to request/offer. If you have enough to complete the form and there's another fandom you kind of like but not as much as your first 3 requests/4 offers, do not add it.

Write clearly about what you like and don't like. If someone's determined to be offended, they'll be offended no matter how vaguely you put things. Everyone else will thank you for being up front.

You don't have to write a letter, but they can be a fun way to expand on your thoughts on these canons or give more detailed prompts. Do not put your letter on tumblr if you're one of those clowns who thinks it's cool to rename. (Actually, don't rename. Ever. Why the fuck would you do that??? Same username for 40 years is the way! But I digress.) Basically, make sure whatever URL you use for your letter, if any, will remain the same throughout the Yuletide period.

If you hate your assignment, take your best shot at it and then move on to writing treats. Some idiots will tell you to default if you can't write your recipient's perfect fic, but all you owe them is 1k of a decent attempt at something they won't hate. Usually, I find inspiration eventually, but every once in a while, it's just a bad match or I have a terrible year, and my fic just isn't that great. Them's the breaks.

Some people are super mega hardcore about Yuletide. They will generally tell you a lot of fake rules and social mores that only apply to the most super mega hardcore people. Ignore all this. If you want to write 30k or a million treats or snoop through your recipient's entire online presence to write them the perfect fic, you can, but you really don't have to. If you want to give your writer a million options, you can, but if you really just want X/Y, you can ask for that. Most people are expecting 1k+ of moderately competent fic about the characters they requested and an assignment that's clear enough that they can tell what you're asking for.

[junemermaid]

Yuletide Letter 2024

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Lovely to see you! I hope your Yuletide has started swimmingly. As for me, I'm back in the game after a break of several years.

Please use this letter as it best serves you. My aim is to just give a few signposts and ideas for you to go off on. So, without further ado, here are a few rough guidelines to writing for me:

General Notes:

any rating from G to E is great

gen, het, slash, femslash and various poly configurations are all good in my book. More on shipping preferences in my sign-up.

porn is welcome! My preference is for sex scenes that come with character drama or some sort of relationship shift/revelation.

Do Not Wants:

hard-coded power dynamics (e.g. 24/7 D/s relationships, strict top/bottom or D/s roles)

omegaverse or any related worldbuilding

glorified or super graphic violence

on-page rape or non-con of any kind

kink related to body fluids, breathplay or painplay

underage

bestiality or animal harm

pregnancy or kidfic

alternative universe other than canon divergence (i.e. please stay in the canon setting)

curtainfic or fic whose only point is fluffy domesticity

non-canonical sex/gender changes

issuefic (i.e. where a moral lesson of some kind is the main point)

therapyfic (i.e. anything where a character's main role is to suffer so the others can comfort them or solve their issues to the exclusion of anything else)

focus on a character's mental health/neurodivergence/physical disability in the sense that I'm not looking for fic that delves deeply into these matters; if these exist in the canon, please feel free to include them but not centre the entire fic on them

Do Wants:

moments of domesticity and calm as a counterbalance to danger and conflict

canon-typical action violence is fine (and action scenes are adored!) for any of the fandoms I’ve requested

shades of grey, psychological horror, muddled morality, good characters making hard choices and struggling with their goodness, all of that. Don’t shy away from any sticky controversial subjects, just don’t exploit them. I like seeing characters react to horror and trauma as people do. Dark topics are excellent, but in general I need a dash of hope. Bittersweet endings are one of my favourite things

action/adventure, plot/casefic, capers, dungeon rescues, thrilling escapes, worldbuilding, backstory fic, mysteries, banter, friendly bickering

mellow description, revealing emotion through action, well-crafted vignettes, emotionally charged conversations, characters catching their breath amid chaos, characters being a mixture of vulnerable and confident, moments of revelation

AU of the canon divergence variety is excellent. However, I prefer stories set in the canon universe. In particular, mundane modern AUs are not my cup of tea

exploration of party dynamics and the various ways people come together are always interesting to me

relationship negotiation that feels like the characters, wary/suspicious characters forced to work together, established couples/friends facing a change in their bond, circumstances shaping character dynamics

I am particular to character voices and enjoy it when their personalities, issues and deep dark secrets shape the story

if you're doing porn, some things I enjoy there are: first times, mutual exploration, awkward(ish) sex, little moments of humour and humanity, body worship, light bondage, fucking against a wall, semi-public sex (not being caught but the thrill of possibly being caught), explicit role reversals (from whatever the usual dynamic is), "thank goodness we survived" sex but also "this might be our last night together" sex, reunion sex, sex that is actually about a completely different thing that the characters are processing; in general, sex that reveals character somehow

I hope these are helpful. I strongly believe that when a writer enjoys the process, that shines through in the story. So please write the story that speaks to you best. Have fun, and have a lovely Yuletide!

[cookinguptales]

So... the past few years, instead of signing up for Yuletide, I've let my followers send me requests that I endeavor to write as end-of-year presents. Some... end up getting kind of long, like Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, which was originally just supposed to involve Nandor being scared for Guillermo and caring for him while sick. lmao. Others stay short!

It's been really fun, though, and it's how I actually got into writing nandermo to start with! (Both the soulmark fic and the wingfic were also end-of-year fic requests.)

This year... I mean, I still want to do it. That said, it's been... difficult for me to write nandermo since s5. I won't make a whole thing about it, but you probably understand why I feel some frustration while thinking about my dumbass vampire OTP right now.

(I mean... I'm probably still gonna write some fun "that's his boss" spite porn in the coming days, once I'm a bit less tired, but...)

So... I guess I'll say this. If you would like to request a fic, please hit me up. Tell me what fandom, what pairing, what your likes/dislikes are, and maybe give me a VERY brief (1-2 sentence) prompt. The more open-ended, the better. I don't just want to write a prompt, though, but a gift, so let me know what kinds of things you like.

I'm not going to say you cannot request nandermo from me this year, but I will say that... like, I can't promise anything. I mean, I can never promise anything, but this year I really feel like I can't promise I'll get anything for that pairing done. I keep kind of going in and out of wanting to write for it, but I'll admit my feelings remain mixed. lmao

Other than that... yeah, I'm not going to write for media I don't like or for any pairings I don't ship, but feel free to request anything you know I'm familiar with. And yes, sometimes the very niche requests can be the most fun, so don't worry about going too weird.

You can also request origific! I probably won't write m/f but if you give me some other vague-ass origific prompt, I'll do my best.

[natrome]

ok now that i for real know what my writing commitments are going to be for the next, like, year, at least the majority of them, here is the actual for real i s2g hold me to this writing schedule

Fic in a Box - due 10/15

1 assignment of 2k words remains, write it this saturday

Five Figure Fanworks Exchange - check in 11/11, due 1/20

i expect this will take about a week to finish, and ideally i'll have it done prior to check-in.

Yuletide - works due 12/18

UNLESS i get an assignment that i want to go hogwild on, which i should be prevented from doing, i should be able to finish this the week of 11/26 and not work on it outside of that.

galactic santas - est. due 12/25

my fave event of the year lol, the logh secret santa exchange. uh anyway this one is usually due around christmas and also is the easiest thing on this list by a mile and a half. i'm 0% worried about this one.

tomorrow ye will get your pay - aka the whale novel. - first draft due 3/1, physical product due for display 4/1

this is an extremely short timeline, and while it's not "drop everything else" level short, it is going to have to be my #1 writing priority for a long time.

my plan is as follows

spend the remainder of october getting situated w/ the research i'm going to have to do, figuring out who i need to talk to, etc. as well as put together a detailed chapter-by-chapter outline

nov/dec i'm assuming will be eaten by SMST and other commitments, but get research done and essentially braindump into document

jan/feb, just write as much as possible, take time off of work/quit job if i need to

if possible confine edits to the first 2 weeks of march, get books printed; deliver final product by last week of march.

god this schedule is miserable. well i signed up for it! i did this entirely to myself! lmfao.

anyway i'm going to bracket in that it's a 20 chapter novel, which seems like a reasonable number of chapters. i essentially have ~10 weeks to write this book. this is totally normal and fine, i have written longer books with less of a solid outline in shorter amounts of time. if i can just sit my ass in a chair and hammer out 2.5k words/day i will EASILY make this deadline and have time for editing. the issue will be making myself do that. but having a deadline and like professional accountability should majorly help. esp if i quit my stupid fucking job lol

serpent's mouth, serpent's teeth - due 12/31

i have four chapters left on SMST. i do not think they will be EASY to write but I do think that I'm CAPABLE of getting them done before the end of the year. at the very least i've sworn until i was blue in the face that i would finish this book by the end of the year. i need this book to stop haunting my waking nightmares lmfao. i estimate ~50-60k words remain, but we'll see what it actually ends up shaking out as. hopefully it's not more than that.

anyway this is another just "ass in chair" moment. though if i could have made myself do that months ago, this book would have been finished sometime this summer lol

every link was freedom's name - aka the fucking. arle heinessen play. no due date.

this is my yay you finished all the obligations you had now you get to do something deeply deeply stupid and entertaining only to a tiny number of people project. lyric play about arle heinessen. book of exodus pastiche. probably not that long. estimate it'll take me as long as POD did, so a month and a half? but i won't stress it. aim to finish it mid may?

new constellations - aka the logh rarepairs exchange i run

I'm planning to run signups in late march, with works due mid may. this is slightly earlier than last year but due to my own personal schedule i don't want it to overlap with...

heart attack exchange - works due 6/2

yeah you literally only get 2 weeks to work on this one so it kinda is what it is lol.

life out of balance rewrite. no particular due date.

i expect this will take me 3-4 months to complete. finish by september?

lighting out for the territories augmentation. no particular due date.

i'd like to think that i can get this done in 2 months but i don't actually have a plan for what i need to do to it. so who tf knows lol. assume it'll take me the rest of the year.

every hateful instrument - no firm date

this will likely take between 6-8 months to finish, but it's another thing that i really want to stop having hanging over me. i'll either work on it before the LOFTT stuff or after

WIAW phezzan novella - ultimate TBD

to be completed immediately before starting LL/SS, probably

other misc nonsense

there are other small exchanges that i like to do (space swap, unsent letters, we die like fen) so as those pop up i probably will sign up for them. i'm not going to look up/prognosticate when they will happen at this moment in time

god i owe so many people gifts for birthdays and holidays and stuff >.> you may or may not get them. lean towards may not b/c what the fuck is this writing schedule. i'm so sorry lmao

i've now gotten back around to "oh this goes up to the end of the year again, so the end of the year exchanges (yuletide, fffx, fiab, galactic santas) should be on this schedule" but down that road lies only pain and horror lol

this list has gotten incredibly vague as things have gone on. the last part of this year and the first part of next year are pretty set in stone though, and i just need to like, get myself to the starting block and then start running

literally so funny that i was like "i should relax and take a break from writing before starting LL/SS" lmfao. lmfao.

obviously some of these things could be deleted from the schedule. i don't have to do a bunch of exchanges (but i liiiiiike them) and i don't have to write a stupid play (but i wannnnnnt to), and i don't have to do any rewrites to the early parts of WIAW (but they're a mess). so it's like. idk. maybe none of this is real and i'm just making lists b/c i like making lists lol

[icyday]

12, 13, 37, 50. 💜

From this post

12-13

Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you? Are there any tropes you used to like but don’t anymore?

I don't think I read enough (or write too many of the same things enough) to have any definitive answers to these.

I guess for 12, there was a point where I wasn't really into the concept of 'soulmates' or something similar. Mostly, I think because I like my ships with some kind of semblance of free-choice. But in retrospect, I like the idea of two people who are indelibly connected somehow. (Just think Raye and Mariah/Mara from my own OCs, or as a canon character pairing, a Yuna/Baralai concept from FFX-2 that I never quite got off the ground where they're experiencing lingering side effects from the whole Lenne/Shuyin thing ) so long as there's conflicting priorities or something else actually makes getting together a Bad Idea.

For 13…I used to be a lot more into (or at least tolerant of) het with some of the more traditional romance tropes. I remember re-reading "Those who Come Closest" last year and cringing a bit at the very het, kind of gender-essentialist treatment of the dynamic given in the Ifrit and Shiva chapters specifically.

37.

Promote one of your own “deep cut” fics (an underrated one, or one that never got as much traction as you think it deserves!). What do you like about it?

My Skyrim fic! The Final Confession of Shabhira Moons Stalker

It's not exactly the deepest of cuts, since it's a Yuletide fic. But I'm still really proud of this one. The intent of the story was to write something that could either be plausibly added to Skyrim (or another Elder Scrolls book) as an actual freeform quest, and I definitely feel like I pulled that off in how Shabhira's journey plays out. The worldbuilding still holds up, and the overarching plot of the silent saboteur is one that still captivates me.

50.

Answer any question of your choice, or talk about anything you want to talk about!

To expand bit more about NDKO (the Disco radio station that Raye listens to when Mariah leaves her alone) and the Disco scene in Hell in general:

DJ Magik Mik, the host of the morning show that's used in the story, keeps his Band nature a well-kept secret, even for a D-list celebrity, to the extent that anyone likely to encounter him is forced to sign a very, very strict NDA regarding his Band. That doesn't stop the radio station from advertisting 'Magik Mik' band reveals every few months or so, but something always seems to happen just at the point of reveal that keeps anyone from actually guessing. Balseraph and Shedite have mostly been ruled out, but there's still several running guesses, including a few brave souls who think he's actually an unfledged demonling. An actual Band reveal would dispel pretty much all of the mystery around Mik, so he's very keen to keep up the charade as long as he can.

More in general, the 1980s Disco scene in Hell is quite…fraught. Its popularity has spread out to quite a few Words including some that don't play well with Media, read Death and Fire specifically. This makes running events for NDKO listeners quite fraught, since any event actually worth attending is going to bring in demons who don't know how to (or don't care to) play nice. By the early 1980s, Disco isn't actually very popular among Media or Technology anymore, which makes Mariah's choice to play it in her work room a little weird and off-trend, which isn't suspicious because, well, Mariah's more than a little weird and off-trend.

[marquisguyun]

For the ship ask game: Jingsu!

Oh this is fun okay!! Thank you for the ask

I Ship It

1. What made you ship it?

This is actually really funny to me. I started watching the show and quickly got obsessed (not with jingsu yet). I was really enjoying the MCS/MNH dynamic! Which I still do, but now I'm in Jingsu hell so.

We were partway through the show when this year's Yuletide Exchange had sign ups, and I could tell the show would have too many fics to be eligible next year, so I wanted to go ahead and request it. I'd be done watching the show by the time reveals happened anyway!

The crazy thing about this is that it means my Yuletide letter is a kind of time capsule about my Jingsu feelings when I was halfway through the show. If you aren't familiar with Yuletide, you request characters, not ships, and your author has to incorporate all requested characters unless otherwise noted. I requested Mei Changsu & Xiao Jingyan--aka "the two characters whose relationship I'm currently the most invested in"--but at the time I "[did]n’t have super strong opinions about whether you write the two characters in a strictly platonic or more romantic relationship."

Lmao. I did get a fantastic Jingsu fic for Yuletide tho

I guess I continued getting more invested in their relationship in the latter half of the show, and tbh Nihuang wasn't around much. Still like her tho! And then once I wasn't going to terribly spoil myself I devoured the show's tag on AO3 and some really good fics cemented my interest in Jingsu as a ship!

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

Their canon relationship hits on a lot of elements that I enjoy, and I feel like as a ship I can explore these to the extreme! The stakes are a little different, and you can introduce other issues beyond the ones already present.

I love devotion, duty, and identity porn, among other things! I love the way Jingyan is just talking about Lin Shu all the time in front of Mei Changsu. In fics where they get together, I love having to deal with the fact that Jingyan is not a normal man, as a prince or emperor he can’t just marry whoever. And that’s before you get into your love interest being technically assumed dead/wanted for treason.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I don't think so? I'm not plugged into the fandom enough to know, I guess. Outside of Jingsu fans tho it might be unpopular in some circles to ship it at all? Since they're first cousins.

I guess I don’t have strong top/bottom opinions for this ship either, which may also be unpopular.

[clarktooncrossing]

Giraffe's Eye View | The Hobbit (1977) REVIEW)

Wondering why the sudden case of Deja Vu? It's because this was posted as one long review called 'BINGE WEEK', but I've decided to shorten it for the sake of your sanity and mine. If you're interested in my previous review, click here for my thoughts on 1956's The Ten Commandments! For now though, onwards to a grand adventure!

Let it be known throughout the land that I am not a worshiper of the Church of Tolkien. Before finally checking out Peter Jackson's beloved film trilogy last year, my only exposure to the classic British novelist's work had been Letters from Father Christmas, a collection of letters he wrote to his children as a version of Santa who dealt with a peculiar polar bear when not fighting off goblins.

Ha, wouldn't that have been amazing? Santa Claus vs David Bowie, what would even top that?

How is that not a Marvel comic already? Oh wait, I'm getting off track, let's get back to the point shall we!

As far as The Hobbit goes, any knowledge of that comes from the three-part comic review done by Linkara of @atopfourthwall fame. Any of you who haven't checked them out really should, the show is funny and he brings up a lot of good points in regards to the book and movies. If nothing they taught me about Tolkien's bedtime stories that served the basis for this 1977 animated feature directed by, of all peeps, Rankin and Bass!

For all you young wiper-snappers wondering who Rankin and Bass are, again you have my pity. Unlike VHS though, chances are you've seen the work of these two television icons. They're responsible for seasonal staples such as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, Nester, The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, and Nester, The Long Eared Christmas Donkey. Yesir, Nester, a sad rip-off of Dumbo where the mom actually dies! Merry Christmas! Like the tale of the donkey, most of these seasonal specials show their age, but still have timely yuletide messages at their core that ring true today. Combine that with memorable music, charming characters, and the occasional nostalgic nightmare fuel, and you have a lineup of seasonal staples that's as warm and comforting as a cup of hot coco. Still, those are just half-hour Christmas outings. How do Rankin and Bass fare adapting The Hobbit?

Our story focuses around Bilbo Baggins (Orson Bean), an unassuming hobbit content on living a contempt life in the Shire. That is until a wizard named Gandalf (John Huston) randomly comes a calling alongside twelve elves. Eleven of these elves might as well be set dressing considering how much they add to the story. Asides from giving Rankin and Bass regulars like Paul Frees something to do, their only purpose in the plot is to be captured, nearly eaten, then fight in the war of the five armies at the end. Before all that though, they approach Bilbo proclaiming he's a master burglar, asking him to help reclaim their gold from a greedy dragon named Smaug (Richard Boone). Bilbo reluctantly agrees, even going so far as to sign a contract agreeing to join the endeavor. Yes, Bilbo signs a legal piece of paper declaring he's being hired to something illegal. Along the way he encounters trolls, wolf-riding goblins, giant creepy spiders, and a mysterious ring formally owned by a sickly looking creature named Gollum.

Gollum here is far sicklier in appearance than in the Peter Jackson movies, looking like a mutated frog freak that lives exclusively in mud. Honestly I prefer this design and now wish we lived in the timeline where Andy Serkis had to mocap this to life. Other character designs can be off-putting at first, but overtime you get used to them. Two good examples are Bilbo and Smaug. The amount of details on Bilbo's face can come across as creepy at first, but Bean's performance really helps sell the character's sincerity. Smaug, on the other hand, looks more like a cat than a dragon. Maybe I'm just too used to the design made famous by WETA and Benedict Cumberbatch, but every time I saw Smaug in this I kept expecting him to ask me for lasagna before shoving Odie off the table.

Meow.

Joking aside, the movie is a perfectly serviceable adaptation of this fairy tale treasure hunt, though not without a few problems. The songs sprinkled throughout the feature are catchy but ultimately forgettable, there's some wonky animation every now and again, you could've cut out a few dwarves and lost nothing, it was super disappointing how they didn't help defeat Smaug near the end, and the battle of the five armies lacked the epic scope we'd later see in the Jackson movies. Still, if one were to forget the Tolkien retellings we've received since then, the Rankin and Bass take on The Hobbit is as good as gold! I just hope a cat-faced dragon doesn't come along and take my copy...

Assuming one won't, our next feature ironically comes to us from a company founded by the animators

Fun fact about this movie that my friend Alec brought up; it was animated by Topcraft, a studio that sadly went bankrupt in 1985 before three of its members reformed what remained into the company that gave us our next picture...

GIF by daughter-of-the-king-bc

CURIOUS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? CLICK HERE FOR MY THOUGHTS ON 1997'S PRINCESS MONONOKE! MAY THE GLASSES BE WITH YOU!

[smittenvixen13]

For that ask thing you just reblogged. All of them. Answer all the questions from 1 to 30+

Well! Didn't expect that lol, but will do.

what’s your Christmas aesthetic? Somwhere between "Tacky" Christmas (think 90s/early 00s look) and Nature took over inside and you're expecting a reindeer to somehow walk out into the livingroom.

good or naughty? Eh, Good for the most part.

what fictional character would you want to find under the mistletoe? There's a COUPLE but most likely Aizawa from BNHA, or Jason Todd from DC. I am fully aware of my type and know I have no chances lol

reindeers or polar bears? Reindeer, for sure!

opening the presents: Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Counter! Midnight! We used to always open presents at midnight between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, our parents would send us to bed around 8, of course we didn't sleep, and we'd be woken up around midnight, and then all 20-ish of us (more if people could travel) would go one by one and open presents all at once. We still keep the tradition going as much as we can, but we don't mind picking a day or doing both days and seeing the same people twice. Both sides of the family (dad and mom) would both come, my parents go lucky that the in-laws loved each other, and we all get together/visit one another whenever we want. it pays that all of us live in the same city.

what’s your favourite Christmas movie? I'm actually a sucker for those old school stop-motion movies like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Year without a Santa Clause, etc. I also love How the Grinch Stole Christmas (both versions, not with Benedict Cumbersalad) too! But one I haven't seen in FOREVER is The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause (2000s version), been a hot minute since I watched that on Disney Channel.

favourite Brooklyn Nine-Nine Christmas episode? I sadly never got into Brooklyn Nine-Nine :(((

what’s your favourite holiday/winter fics tropé? I think Snowed in alone together is a nice one, so long as no one creates angst there >.>

playing in the snow or drinking hot cocoa by the fire? Drinking Hot Cocoa by the fire! I have a fireplace in the den and whenever I can, I like to sit by it and just vibe.

who do you relate to the most, the Grinch or Buddy the Elf? Buddy the Elf, but make me go to the mall and the Grinch shall appear. I get all my shopping done in October.

knitted sweater or knitted scarf? Knitted Sweater! I can't do scarfs too much because i end up getting bugged by them, but I love sweaters!

what’s your favourite Holiday song? "My Grown Up Christmas Wish" sung by Kelly Clarkson. Always manages to make me cry but I do love it.

fairy lights or neon signs? Fairy Lights.

do you have any particular Holiday tradition in your family? Mostly that midnight one I mentioned in the earlier questions. Oh! And my Maternal Grandmother has an old baby Jesus doll from Mexico (actually 2, but we use the bigger one). We place the doll (made out of clay or ceramic i think, but I can't recall, it's painted over) gently on a blanket, lift it up, and we sing him to sleep as we gently rock the blanket back and forth. Once he's "rocked to sleep" each of us will kiss his forehead to wish him a good night, before he's placed in the 'manger'.

hot cocoa or hot cider? Hot Cocoa!

Michael Bublé or Mariah Carrey? Imma have to go with Michael, I'm happy Mariah got her bag but c'MON, It's too much by now.

do you celebrate Christmas? I do! I'm no longer a practicing Catholic and honor more Yuletide events instead, but I love to celebrate Christmas too, it's what i've known for a long time.

snowed in with your crush: yay or nay? Yay, but I currently don't have any haha, wish me luck in the wilds that are dating apps!

Christmas rom-coms or Christmas children movies? Christmas Children Movies, Rom-coms can be over done and too cheesy for my tastes, and I have a couple Xmas hallmark movies I like.

you’ve been visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas future. What did you find out? I found out that I can't allow my fear of the unknown to hold me back, it's sadly a truth i learned late in life. But I am learning.

spending Christmas with the whole family or just with your so? (hint: it can be your pet) With my family, again, not dating ATM, but I am getting some cute catches.

what’s the first thing that pops into your mind when you think about Christmas? The scent of pine. I love that smell and can get VERY addicted to wearing all those candles to nubs just to enjoy it.

Gingerbread or cookies? Gingerbread, they can have a bit of a bite to them and that's honestly very appealing to me. I can't handle too much sweet.

what’s a good book to read during the holidays? Whatever you like, honestly! I'm looking up my old Jr. High books from almost (oooof) fifteen years ago! I really loved "The Goblin Wood" though! It's by Hilari Bell.

Skiing or Ice-skating? Neither, my ass is not balanced enough to not eat snow/ice. I WILL break something.

where and would you spend the winter ideally? Ideally it would be in the UK, honestly, I'm planning go next year! But only for the beginning of December. I can't imagine a Christmas without my family, no matter how chaotic and loud we all get. (I'll have to answer the rest after I post this!)

[antimony-medusa]

HEY MCYTBLR HAVE YOU HEARD OF YULETIDE?

What's this? I have come once again to your dash to tell you about an exchange? Absolutely I have. And let me tell you, this one is a doozy.

Yuletide is The Big Multifandom Exchange. It is the king of exchanges. It happens every year, and the works reveal on December 25th, and de-anon on the 1st of January. Last year over 1,800 people took part in the exchange. A lot of people only do Yuletide from the roster of exchanges. It is literally so big that it's the reason we have the Ao3 matching algorithm, because the Ao3 algorithm was built to handle Yuletide, because you have to algorithm match that one, it is simply unfeasible to hand-match an exchange of this magnitude.

What makes Yuletide special is that it is an exchange for rare and tiny fandoms— specifically, fandoms with less than 1000 fics on the archive. So all these niche book fandoms that get 10 fics posted in them a year— these people sign up for Yuletide, and they get matched. And people sign up with SUCH small fandoms.

Commercials.

Tumblr posts.

Art.

Songs.

Reddit Posts.

TikTok skits.

Web comics.

Twitter threads.

Books published 30 years ago.

Anthropomorphic concepts.

Niche tv shows.

Video games.

You can look at the tag list last year to get an idea of the sort of fandoms that show up in it. I did it last year, and I signed up with two book fandoms, SMPEarth, anthropomorphic apple products, and the "humans are space orcs" tumblr post as my fandoms.

Wait, SMPearth? And yes, we have come to the point of why I am specifically talking to MCYTblr. I do the MCYT on Ao3 stats dive every month, so I happen to know that there are 35 canonized MCYT tags that are eligable, as they have less than 1000 fics.

Pirates SMP is eligable.

Ivorycello Prison Escapes is eligable.

Karmaland is eligable.

Rats SMP is eligable.

Witchcraft SMP is eligible.

New Life SMP is eligable.

SMPLive is eligable.

Mianite is eligable.

The list goes on.

So. Do you want to do Yuletide 2023 with me?

Please Please Please Please Please. It's just a 1k minimum and they give you six weeks to work on it. You don't even nead a canonical tag to nominate, you can nominated non-canon fandoms! Please Please Please so funnnnnnn.

They are in tag nominations now, so until 28 September, at 9am UTC, you can nominate the tags you want to match on. I just nominated SMPEarth Emduo and Worldbuilding. It's a fun time. Join Meeeee.

IMPORTANT TECHNICAL NOTES:

Yuletide is a BIG EXCHANGE and everyone there is very professional, but that also means that they have very specific rules for how things should be run. I would say read the rules, maybe twice, before you submit anything. If you have any questions, message me and I will do my best to answer them.

Yuletide blog here.

Yuletide collection here.

Nomination rules here.

(Especially take note of the stuff about disambiguation, and use mcyt best practice of using gamertag and not tax filing name, none of the | pipes and multiple names in there.)

Eligability rules here.

Nominate on the Tag Set here.

If there is something about your fandom that makes you think they might not accept it, you can explain your arguments here.

Note that people who have had over 1000 fics written about them in RPF are not eligable to be nominated in a RPF fandom, so depending on your guy, you may need to pop a message on that post to explain that Afterlife SMP is not actually Video Blogging RPF for example, and Smajor1995 (Afterlife SMP) is not the same as Smajor1995 (Empires SMP).

Go forth! Participate in a great exchange!

[avani008]

Hello there! Lucky here. I'm usually a silent viewer of yours, but I've been meaning to ask you this ever since I watched the Ponniyin Selvan trailer (hence the reason I rooted out my dead Tumblr), would you think about writing fic for it? I honestly don't mind whether it's about the novel or the upcoming movie.

I'm asking because I've been rereading the novels in anticipation of the movie (probably not the best idea whilst I have cardiovascular exams coming up next week), and I'm getting swamped in a tidal wave of nostalgia and FEELINGS. I've been thinking of writing fic for it as well, and it would be lovely if I could have other writer friends in the fandom!

I also just saw your Yuletide post, and I feel bad because I don't think I'll sign up for it this year (too many other exchanges and exams going on) but I can definitely write fic for/with you out of the exchange, if you're interested. I would personally recommend maybe adding Poonguzhali and Senthan Amudhan to your character noms, because they're my favourites and I love them. As far as I know, Poonguzhali does turn up in the movie (based on what I saw in the trailer), and if she does, I hope Amudhan gets a good appearance as well. Apart from that, maybe Azhwarkkadiyan or one of the Pazhuvettaraiyars? It really depends on what kind of fic you'd like to see!

[I just really need a fellow Kalki nerd and Tamil enthusiast :((]

Hi! *waves happily* Yes, I am absolutely looking forward to writing fic once it releases and also am looking forward to wanting more friends/fic!

(I mean, this is assuming it's not terrible, but given the source material, they're actually going to have to try to mess it up.)

Yes, absolutely Poonguzhali needs to be added--I assumed at first she wouldn't really have much of a role, but then she showed up in the trailer and it looks like her song is featured. And Amudhan too, though I don't think he got his own character poster, so I'm not sure how much room he's getting. But then it also looks like they're increasing Vanathi's presence (if my suspicion that "Rakshasa Maamaney" is combining the dance performance at Kundavai's palace and the separate Janmashtami play in the novel is right), so it's such a hard decision--one of the best things about the book is that honestly pretty much any of the characters could fuel fic by themselves.

(I'm so glad you'll be writing stuff too! I look forward to reading it:)

[transcendence-au]

7th Annual TAUathon!!

Happy October 5th, everyone! It was seven years ago today that this blog was created, and ever since that day we have lived lives filled with demons and found family and angst and fluff! To celebrate this joyous occasion:

We are holding another Transcendence AU ficathon!!!

Just like last year, any type of content is accepted! Fic? Heck yeah! Art? Just mess me up. Music? Please. It’s been so long. A full feature animated film? That’s very ambitious, but hey we have two whole months so mess us up!

Here’s how it’s going to work!

1. Prompts and Sign Ups!

From now on, we will be taking prompts and sign ups! You can do both by going to this spreadsheet here and submitting a prompt/signing up for a prompt. We recommend doing this as soon as possible, as the sooner you put your prompt in the more time someone has to work on it. In addition, everything under the fic open season and art open season tag is fair game as well!

2. Posting!

Once you have taken a prompt, please have it done by December 5th! That’s a whole two months from this post being made. In order to make this a big fun day full of fic and art (like Yuletide on AO3), if you’re done with your entry before the 5th, please schedule your post to go online on December 5th.

3. Questions!

Can we submit our fic/art for the thon to you?

Absolutely! Just let us know it’s for the TAUathon so we can schedule it for the right day!

Do we need to use any special tags if we post on our own blogs?

On Tumblr? Just the usual “transcendence au” and we’ll see it from there.

On AO3? Here’s some advice on how to tag TAU fics on AO3!

Are you going to call Mizar on us if we don’t finish our prompt on time?

Nope. While we encourage everyone who picks up a draft to finish it, we aren’t going to chase you around with the cult basher. Don’t get discouraged if you can’t finish your prompt in time – we still would love to see your content whenever it is ready.

You won’t even get banished eternally to the corner. That’s reserved for people who make super angsty stuff.

I want to participate but I don’t feel like doing any of the prompts? Can I just write/draw my own thing anyway?

ABSOLUTELY! We’re happy with however you choose to participate!

Did you seriously just copy and paste the whole post from the first ficathon?

No, I actually edited the post from the last ficathon. Nyeh!

We hope you enjoy and HAVE FUN! And again the prompt spreadsheet can be found here.

[prvtbugsbuggins]

Caboose and his ungodly amount of sisters.

A post for both my reference and for you all to enjoy.

The idea of Military Alphabet being used as names was inspired by Red Battalion, Blue Regiment by @tinfoil-jones. It's a great fic u guys plz.

More stuff under the cut.

Caboose and his sisters were all taken from a pool of war orphans during the great war. All of them had their homes glassed and barely escaped with their lives. The oldest at the time was little more than a small kid, so many of them don't remember having parents or a life before they were taken into the SPARTAN III program. For all they know, this was all normal to them.

Indiana was the oldest and was the one to remember what parental love was all about, so she was the one who kept an eye on everyone else and did her best to be sure that they had love while growing up. Their training was extremely harsh and she made sure it was as fair as it could be.

Here are the siblings, from oldest to youngest. Once they were old enough to leave the program, all of them chose their own names. Caboose was chosen as the last name, and all of them keep it as a sign of solidarity.

Name: Indiana ‘Indy’ Carnation Caboose

Rank: Lieutenant General

Armor Color: Dark brown and tan

Designation: INDIA

Description: Freckled pale skin with green eyes and red hair that she keeps short. Absolutely stacked. 9Ft tall even. Is missing a leg but has a cool cyborg one to replace it. Defacto ‘leader’ of the Spartan Siblings and tends to call the shots. Is high enough rank to make sure her siblings are treated well no matter where they end up.

Currently: Alive and still in active duty. Works mostly with Holly.

---

Name: Holiday ‘Holly’ Yuletide Caboose

Rank: Major General

Armor Color: Green and Red

Designation: HOTEL

Description: Tan skin with brown eyes and black hair that she keeps long. 8’11’’ tall. Is built more slender but can still break your neck. Is the one who usually keeps track of all the siblings and makes sure they are okay. Organizes the yearly get together.

Currently: Alive and still in active duty. Works mostly with Indiana.

---

Name: Winter Solstice Caboose

Rank: Chief Warrant Officer 5

Armor Color: White and Winter-mint Green

Designation: WHISKEY

Description: Pale skin with blue eyes and white-blonde hair that she keeps short. 7’9’’ tall. Is built more slender and is stupidly flexible, giving her a rep as an escape artist.

Currently: Alive and still in active duty. Works as a battlefield tactician and invents war-games for training purposes.

---

Name: Tango Rio Caboose

Rank: Second Lieutenant

Armor Color: Black and White

Designation: TANGO

Description: Tan skin with brown eyes and blonde hair that was kept short. Was more short and squat but absolutely stacked. 8 ft tall even. Used to bench press actual benches with people on it.

Currently: MIA. Was last seen on Reach.

---

Name: Vicky Ableton Caboose

Rank: First Lieutenant

Armor Color: Teal and Pink

Designation: VICTOR

Description: Pale skin with blue eyes and hair that’s always in a different color done in a ‘fluff hawk’ hairstyle. 8Ft tall even and built more slender. Is faster than the other siblings in terms of speed.

Currently: Alive and retired. Currently works as a DJ and plays for raves while making her own music.

---

Name: Sierra Nevada Caboose

Rank: Second Lieutenant

Armor Color: Tan and Gold

Designation: SIERRA

Description: Rust colored skin with black eyes and black hair kept long. 8’5’’ tall and was more focused on martial arts, so she was rather slender. Could one inch punch people across a room.

Currently: MIA. Was last seen on Reach.

---

Name: Charlie Beatrix Caboose

Rank: Sergeant Major

Armor Color: Green and Brown

Designation: CHARLIE

Description: Warm dark skin with brown eyes and black hair kept short. Built more chubby and squat at 8’6’’ tall. Can hug you to death though, so be careful. Used to be able to pick up cars so the wheels could get changed faster.

Currently: Alive and retired. Writes and illustrates children's books based off stories she told Caboose when he was little.

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Name: Luna Moonbeam Caboose

Rank: Sergeant Major

Armor Color: Black and Blue

Designation: LIMA

Description: Pale skin with pale blue eyes and pale blonde hair kept long. Just pale, lol. 7’11’’ tall and built slender and trim. Is really good at psychology and has a knack for motivating people without them realizing it. Takes active interest in troop morale and writes papers on how to improve it.

Currently: Alive and in active duty. Works as a drill sergeant and her teams perform better because she gives them all lollipops when they do a good job.

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Name: Juliet Romeo Caboose

Rank: First Lieutenant

Armor Color: Yellow and Green

Designation: JULIET

Description: Freckled pale skin with brown eyes and blonde hair kept long. Built like a muscular country farm-girl at 8’7’’ tall. Can pick up fully grown cattle and move them where they need to go.

Currently: Alive and retired. Works on a farm where she raises various livestock with her wife. Caboose gets to name all the baby animals born on said farm.

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Name: Fox (Foxy) Trot Caboose

Rank: First Lieutenant

Armor Color: Orange and Black

Designation: FOXTROT

Description: Tan skin with blue eyes and red hair kept short. More wiry and slender than most other sisters and stuck more to stealth tactics than outright assault. 7’10’’ tall.

Currently: MIA. Last seen on Reach.

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Name: Echo Echo Caboose

Rank: First Lieutenant

Armor Color: Dark Blue and light Blue

Designation: ECHO

Description: Dark skin with brown eyes and black hair kept short. Quite muscular and built at 8’6’’ tall. Usually specialized in hand to hand combat and liked to use knives and other bladed weapons.

Currently: MIA. Last seen scouting uncharted territory.

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Name: Ollie Oxenfree Caboose

Rank: Major

Armor Color: Pink and White

Designation: OSCAR

Description: Pale skin with brown eyes and black hair, kept short. Is more slender and built more for stealth and misdirection type of combat. 8’4’’ tall and can pluck your heart out of your rib-cage if need be.

Currently: Alive and retired. Works as a therapist and specializes in PTSD traumas.

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Name: November Showers Caboose

Rank: Lieutenant Colonel

Armor Color: Dark Red and Orange

Designation: NOVEMBER

Description: Tan skin with brown eyes and orange hair kept short. Is built like a bruiser at a good 8’10’’ tall and a body to put bodybuilders to shame. Likes to count how many teeth she can knock out of someone’s head with one punch.

Currently: MIA. Was last seen on Reach.

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Name: Kiki Piña Colada Caboose

Rank: Major

Armor Color: Light Pink and Light Yellow

Designation: KILO

Description: The smallest sister at 7’8’’ tall and slender. Pale skin with blue eyes and pink/blonde hair kept long. Enjoys looking pretty but is scarily good at assassinations. Likes to use her unassuming looks against people. Has beaten up selfish lovers.

Currently: Alive and in active duty. Trains special forces troops.

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Name: Bravo Blue Caboose

Rank: Lieutenant General

Armor Color: Blue and Black

Designation: BRAVO

Description: Pale skin with blue eyes and brown hair kept short in a buzz cut. Likes piercings and body mods. Has an unbelievable pain tolerance and likes to freak out her recruits using it. 8’10’’ tall and built like a linebacker. Sometimes will stand there and let people attack her and laugh at their attempts to hurt her. Will kill you if you make her siblings cry.

Currently: Alive and in active duty. Works on top secret things that are secret. It’s mostly boring stuff, like paperwork. She hates it.

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Name: Quinn Sable Caboose

Rank: Captain

Armor Color: Grey and Purple

Designation: QUEBEC

Description: Tan skin with green eyes and brown hair kept short. Tends to dye tips of hair purple. Is covered in tattoos. Is very muscular and big at 8’7’’ tall and can pop someone’s head off their body like a grape. Makes a newsletter for all her siblings so they know what’s going on with each other.

Currently: Alive and in active duty. Trains forces in how to work together as a team and not die.

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Name: Zelda Triforce Caboose

Rank: Captain

Armor Color: Dark green and Light Blue.

Designation: ZULU

Description: Dark skin with brown eyes and long dreads dyed in a wide range of colors. Built to be trim and slender. Could choke you out with her legs. Is 8ft tall even. Probably has ADHD and is very excitable.

Currently: Alive and retired. Currently makes VR video games and programs for a living.

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Name: Michael Jaybird Caboose

Rank: Major

Armor Color: Blue (the best blue)

Designation: MIKE

Description: It’s Caboose, our boy. 7Ft tall even with brown hair, blue eyes, and is built like a brick house. Gives the softest hugs, though.

Currently: Alive and in a mix of active duty and ‘retired’. Pets dinosaurs and plays ‘games’ with his squad.

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If possible they all try to meet up together at least once a year and they actively send letters to each other. They will call if close enough, but since everyone is doing something different, it's unlikely that two siblings would be on a planet together at the same time. All of them are extremely protective over each other, especially to Caboose since he is the baby. Despite some being retired, they still have and wear their armor because it's so ingrained in themselves. Eventually many more will decide to retire and pursue other interests once they figure out what they like.

Also all of them have a barcode tattooed on them somewhere. Not for evil purposes, but because it's easier to scan a code that can't be removed and make sure you aren't going to kill your Spartan by accidently giving them a medication they are allergic to.

Feel free to use if you like as well. I will be using this as a reference for my own works, lol.