#I wrote a whole thing on twitter about the inspirations and stuff

[floorpancakes]

somehow, beyond all human comprehension, circumstances and health be damned, i successfully submitted my first complete, on time project sekai design entry! i present to you… dashing daisy!

[horizon-verizon]

You’re a whole coon, of course Rhaenyra hates women, especially Black women, she tried to murder a 16 years-old Black girl, slut shamed her, called her racial slurs, and linked Nettles “ugliness/attractiveness” to her Blackness. Rhaenyra literally acted like a pathetic pick me in regard to Daemon and Nettles. If given the chance, Rhaenyra would have enslaved her. TB must truly despise Daenerys to compare her to Rhaenyra, they couldn’t be more different. (The way Rhaenyra is never mentioned in Dany’s chapters and GRRM has never discussed them in conjunction with the other, finally y’all can thanks HOTD for turning her into a progressive and flawless Mary Sue).

And really an insanely privileged white woman dying after putting a bounty on a lowborn Black’s girl head should be a good thing right ? We just gon have to celebrate Rhaenyra death with Nettles.

If you say so, anon, I guess I'm a straight up coon. 🤷🏿‍♀️

I suppose arguing how no one can be a feminist in a medieval world is coonish. I guess that pointing out how unconstructive it is to go "she wasn't a feminist so we shouldn't care about any possible effect her coming into power like the men before and after her have been able to will have an effect on other noble women's power to maybe implement some pro-women stuff in their own domains" to us analyzing why/how Rhaenyra is important to the history of Westeros and Daenerys is coonish.

I guess it's coonish of me to flout so many non-Nettles arguments of Rhaenyra's supposed bad leadership and amorality not once, but TWICE (that I remember), where it clearly just veers into straight up sexism: HERE and HERE....thus coming into why I even bother defending Rhaenyra (in some points).

It's not like I haven't already wrote several time in several posts how Rhaenyra's trying to get Nettles' head reveals much about the Targ-Andal paradigm she grows up in and tries to use to bolster herself through her going after Nettles to the end. It's not like I don't see how essentially different Daenerys and Rhaenyra are as people through the Nettles event as well as how they grow up and come into their positions of power and how/why they desire those roles:

It's not like I haven't already written about the Black Jezebel stereotype at least three times, including on Twitter and here. It's not like I have defended Nettles not just from "dettles" stans but also from people who call themselves Rhaenyra stans while bashing on Nettles and Mysaria, totally misunderstanding both characters and what even a supporting character is.

But sure, I'm a coon bc I don't want to ignore the journey of Rhaenyra's downfall and make distinct where she decided to destroy another woman vs her being the victim. Sure, I'm a whole coon.

And for the last fucking time, "compare" does not always or only mean "these two things are exactly alike and I will show you how"! "Comparison" analyses means that you will list out what traits or developments two things have, what inspirations, and see how they differ and how they don't. And through such a process, you will find out how many and how well/or not these two or more things are alike and how.

For Dany and Rhaenyra, I never said these girls/women were the same person. I said that both women, as women in male-designated positions of power, have to deal with people in world AND out of world must contend with misogynist feelings towards of their not deserving power or leadership on account of their gender, no matter what sort of characterization either had BECAUSE even with the main series not being like F&B, not being a history book, PEOPLE IN THE FANDOM STILL TEND TO MISREAD OR TWIST DANY'S ACTIONS AGAINST HER CHARACTER AND GRRM'S INTENT. Rhaenyra is meant to contextualize that very experience into a real event of catastrophe, she was set against ever since she was 10 bc she was female and another, older woman wanted power denied to her directly bc she was a woman. This is a fact, you nor I can change that. There is a difference between what we learn from the events to make the conclusions of who should rule ideally and what we should shoot for VERSUS thinking of the situation at hand for what it would have been like for the character.

F&B (having been written after the main series) continues even this "analysis" phenomenon; what do people choose to believe when it's a woman at the center of their stories?! No matter her real circumstances or their knowledge of things not present in their understanding of the world and of history?

I also mention, several times, how it is here, Rhaenyra's end, where the Targs lose their dragons because they have assimilated into the intenser patriarchal paradigm already mentioned to the point where they weakened their women's positions by denying them their autonomy and political powers...which plot sequence wise leads to the end of the dynasty as whole and Dany's exile. I'm must be a coon to not want Nettles, a 17 year old, to fuck a 50 year old, esp with her being his bio daughter. No, anon, I am too repulsed with direct vertical incest (parent-child, grandparent-grandchild, etc.).

Then there is how the Bloodstone Emperor and the Amethyst Empress and how the former usurped tha latter and plunged the entire world into mythological "darkness"--thus leading up to the importance of the Azor Ahai, aka Dany, directly seems to reflect how another brother--Aegon II--usurped his older sister--Rhaenrya--and thus the world loses a strong magical tool against darkness "dragons". An obvious link....

In fact, I tend to repeat how different they are as people! There's this whole thread talking abt the very thing I despise abt some critiques of Rhaenyra. I even say many times that Rhaenyra couldn't have the throne after the Nettles letter, that at that point, there needed a "refresh". Up until then, there was simply more reason for us to not think her a real terror except for maybe Addam and Alyn. But I have my misgivings there and it comes down to timing and grief.

No, Rosby and Stokeworth do not count and why? I already wrote why, but for someone who doesn't stan Rhaenyra or is not a fan of hers but actually stans just Daenerys--the previous ozymalek says:

I have myself said several times how I disliked how they rewrote show1Rhaenyra to make her a much less assertive version of herself, and I agree with others how they made her female-friendless. No matter how amoral or moral she was, similarly to Dany, people have written her sexistly in the show. I believe that this is CENTRAL to the point of F&B, how people refuse to see the point of it.

Finally, I really don't see how the hell show!Rhaenyra even is a Mary Sue or a NLOG, bc for the first, she displays no skill she excels over others at. A Mary Sue is:

Show!Rhaenyra, for some reason, seems "perfect" to some people. Esp with Luke saying so in epi 8. I never felt that way, I always thought she (older, not younger) was too meek and that is her great flaw---due to the sexist writing, but if kept at face value, that's the great flaw. Other definition: Who is inserting themselves into her character on the show? you got proof?

A NLOG (not like the other girls) is a Cersei like character who goes out of their way to destroy/diminish most women who are competitors for their power or destroy any semblance of socially-defined femininity and socially-coded feminine "weakness" so as to appeal to the male authority and get privileges. Problem is that EVERY SINGLE FEMALE MONARCH AND WOMAN IN SOME SORT OF AUTHORITY OVER MEN IN EVERY SINGLE PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY had to convince their male supporters that they were the one they should follow to some degree more than any male heir or candidate--during a time where they had to either fight for their "birthright" or they were planning coups (Catherine the Great), came into power through some accident, or whatnot--that their rule was in it for them. There is no pattern of woman-hating or self-hating to define Rhaenyra as a NLOG, where she consistently tries. NLOGs tend to hate women even in their own "race" or group for perceived acts of upheaval and destabilizing their positions of power. Alicent was and she uses misogyny to do so, so Alicent is not Rhaenyra's victim; other way around. Rhaenyra has all reason to despise Alicent, justified even. It's more than the positions, it's the whole targeting since 10 deal and trying to espouse Rhaenyra's inherent unworthiness for power.

So Rhaenyra deciding to do the Rosby/Stokeworth bit is her seeing how her greatest ally, a sexist man, has basically all her ships during wartime and insisting she does not give those girls their father's seats is Rhaenyra choosing wrongly, yes, but something I don't think that you or a small number of women would bow under considering the other shit she was going through. Yes, even black/PoC women. Again, this is not about Nettles but about women vs women (yes with them all being white or white-adjacent) bc I know that this will be the next thing some will say as a counterargument to what I'm saying here.

You are correct, however, in how similar Rhaenyra's behavior abt Nettles is pick-me-ish and NLOG concerning her intent to turn Daemon back to her and how this was her seeing Nettles as competition for "control" over Daemon, who was one of her principal military commands as well as her romantic partner...and like i said once before, this is a reflection on how this Andal-Targ patriarchal paradigm makes its own female "terrors" through misogyny. To ignore the process is to endanger its justified repetition. Yeah, Rhaenyra ends up becoming like Alicent in that way after the consistent losses, and I mean defaulting back to destroying another woman for a simulation of power. This doesn't mean that she was a feminist or that she didn't intend on using the Black Jezebel reasoning to get rid of "competition" to feel more in control. It does mean that her behavior reveals her enmeshment in the xenophobic, aristocratic, patriarchal Targ-Andal feudalist paradigm that she chooses to use to, again, construct more feelings of power at a time where she seemed to feel she was losing more and more--after the betrayals and the deaths of her sons in that moment. And yet if there is anything to be extracted from her narrative it is how that built-in classism (the companion and parent of racism) can become the thing these women default onto to retrieve/gain the agency & power denied to them. I believe this is also where you can draw a core similarity to Cersei, who is rather the starkest extreme example of that classism making up for her internalized misogyny through her Lannister Exceptionalism.

The discourse has to include how we, the readers, over-blame Rhaenyra for things she has either very little control over or what she had no control over and for trying to, again, assert herself (before Nettles). She's a reflection of her times and situation; doesn't mean she isn't still a victim. You don't need to like her. I never asked for people to do so. I don't care if you do or not, I've never needed that. Just don't lie or twist information or ignore clear patterns GRRM establishes that are also important, or try to erase the lines of harm done to her and undo the work GRRM is doing to point out this pattern of misogyny that contextualizes one very key aspect of Dany's journey: sexism doesn't care how good or classist you are, you are a woman so you will be subject to disenfranchisement, distortion of facts, and destruction...if you are not like Dany, who intuitively and "rationally" discovers lanes of power while reintegrating her being to the natural process and relationships between herself and her dragons for the ecological benefit of the entire world (the Others, again). Unlike Rhaenyra, Dany doesn't fall into the ideological "trap" or the noblewoman's save-grace of exploiting of lowborn people AND dragons but intelligently seeks other non-exploitative ways to use her dragons and those inspired by he bravery. This again, does not erase or override the sexism and specific elements of gender politics that tie these two together.

It's a paradox, not a contradiction.

[beltransadie]

Small tidbits about my Still Into You 2ha animatic

Coz it's April, exactly one year from now was when I started completing it and I'm in the mood now. + I don't think I made a proper one + it won the twitter poll

Check it out if you're interested... or not! I just want to dump my thoughts and fun facts that I thought of while making this.

To preface this, check them out if you haven't seen it yet: (Still Into You & Please Don't Leave Me)

If you've been hanging around my blog for a while, it's kinda evident that I did post a promo post for Still Into You back in January 2023. And that first part does have an in-depth explanation about what it covers (which is from the start to the first chorus).

If you're wondering why: TL;DR I can't work on An Act of Kindness coz I was back home from school for vacation and I thought of the idea during a trip.

Anyway, I ramble. Time to get to the actual discussion.

(spoilers!!) The Actual Discussion

Making the rest of Still Into You, unlike Mo Ran's feelings for CWN, was actually just straightforward. I already knew that it'd cover the rest of the book, given that I intentionally focused heavily on book 1 while making part 1.

Like part 1, part 2 was that type of animatic that just naturally flowed during the storyboarding and rough sketch process. The whole animatic is divided into three phases which covers the following: Book 1, Book 2 and 3, and lastly the Epilogue.

Book 1 I've already discussed in an earlier post here but I did find this interesting tidbit I wrote to my cousin:

Anyways the discussion:

Yeah I really wish I have a funny image to put here. I'm really enjoying looking back at my stuff and seeing my initial plans though.

Order at which I made each part.

One thing of note (and actually a common oversight I experience while doing storyboards coz I don't do timings) was that I storyboarded the frames when the vocals started and forgot the timings in between.

So I kinda had to fill the parts between part 1 and 2 last-ish? (don't really remember the proper timings).

Oh, oh! And another fun fact:

Still Into You Part 2 (Rough Draft)

Part 2 was initially done on my tablet in CSP so there's a whole different and rougher version of it. (pls lower the volume if you're wearing earphones)

Funnily enough, this took me like one sitting to finish and a whole lot of sessions to clean up. I do like this process though given that, around the time I drew this, I started leaning heavily into animation and prioritizing getting my thoughts across without care for cleanliness. (Something I felt held me back too much while making Please Don't Leave Me).

In fact, there are some obvious frames that I didn't really bother polishing up (mostly because they're too hard for me or they just flash by quickly). A glaring example is this frame from the third part:

Another fun fact about the scene where TXJ shows CWN the plant he's been raising is it's actually inspired off of a doodle I made for someone in the Two Lifetimes CSE back in April 16 2023.

I just really think that it's super adorable for them. Mo Ran in the the epilogue section alternates between TXJ and 2.0.

Aside from the plant, TXJ also appears in this frame which is inspired from one of the extras. Another silly intentional decision I did is to have him pour alcohol onto a cup and drink from the bottle.

Meanwhile 2.0 appears here:

The one on the left is also from (you guessed it) an extra! It's based from an offhand mention that CWN makes in one of them. (Let me know what your guesses are haha)

I kinda just jumped into the 3rd half of the song, huh? I hope my ramblings aren't too much! I just wanna let it flow naturally.

Returning to the topic of the storyboard, I really only had a rough idea of what I wanted for the 3rd half. The references to the extras and even Goutou's appearance just came when I was already putting it into frame. Like, this was what I initially had in mind for the 2nd chorus to the end.

I think one of the notable differences is that I initially planned on doing the half MR half CWN screen transition the same way i did with chorus 1 and 2 but decided against it. In retrospect, I think it fits a lot because both aren't divided anymore.

Something about the second verse + chorus of the song

Like in chorus 1 and chorus 3, this section of the song takes on a darker tone since it covers book 2 going into book 3. It's a lot to talk about so I'm gonna select a couple that I personally like that's worth mentioning and leave the rest to the viewers to guess.

Also sorry not sorry for those who got spoiled by the animatic lmao.

The confession scene

Another fun fact: The confession scene in Still Into You and Please Don't Leave Me are intentionally connected through the color palette.

It's just that Still Into You takes a dump at how it treats it. Yes, the stick figures are intentional. It adds to the funny and tbh Still Into You really is just a feel good animatic. The comedy also serves as a whiplash to the angst hell that is the chorus 🥰.

(Insert obligatory CWN running at a tree meme here)

My Favorite 2ha Moment

Gotta insert my favorite chapter here (ch 184) which I think is one of 2ha's peaks because it resolves CWN's doubts about MR's feelings all this times.

And I'm just soo glad I could incorporate it in an animatic because it's so important to me. AND Like, 'yknow, I think it echoes the song very well because guess what MR tells CWN then?

“It has always been you."

That one frame before the chorus

There's like this moment before the second chorus starts where MR tells CWN something. I wanted it to echo ch 207 where MR felt the pressure of having to reveal that he actually is reborn and has memories of his past life.

If this were animated I'd have had MR match the song and tell CWN "I'm still into you".

Anyways, here's the frame before it zooms in. Physically it's still at ch 207, but I wanted the shadows to imply what happens next which is the chorus.

Other Bonus stuff

Ran out of stuff I wanna gush about so Imma talk about cut content.

XM and the MHX twins are supposed to have more frames (I didn't include it because it felt like it had too much energy)

2. Ling'er and the village ranwan visits during farm arc is also supposed to make an appearance

3. I forgot to animate the butterflies

4. I was supposed to polish the sequence at 2:41 - 2:51 at one point.

5. Fuck ow

6. CWN was supposed to glomp MR at the reunion scene

7. You and I

anyways go watch it

[veeagainsttheday]

⭐️ for the directors commentary please!

I chose to talk about The World Beyond because I just flew from Denver to Las Vegas and back (with about 48 hours in between) and the view out the plane was a. amazing and b. covered a lot of the ground described in this fic.

Canyonlands National Park and the Colorado River

The great crime that is Lake Mead

The Colorado Rockies (with bonus ski area)

Ok enough vacation photos! I saw someone on ofmd twitter asking for a Mad Max AU and I thought, well, I might as well be the post-apocalyptic desert fic I want to see in the world and wrote this.

I listed a lot of inspirations in the original notes for the fic, but truthfully I have lived and worked in this area for a lot of my life and my work is environmental and involves thinking a lot about scarce water resources, so this felt like a natural thing to write about.

I had a great time including the Siete Gallos storyline, which I had convinced myself was going to play a role in s2 - I had this whole theory about what happened to Jim's brother and him appearing in s2 to continue Jim's storyline, but I actually love what they did with Jim in s2 so I am not disappointed that we never heard about the Siete Gallos again.

In fact, this was my first attempt to write an AU that was set in a hypothetical s2 - I'd written some canon era stuff that theorized what might happen in s2, but i felt interesting to write an AU that was aiming to hit the beats of s2. I'm not here to Monday morning quarterback how well I hit those beats (especially not after what the Las Vegas Raiders did to the Denver Broncos in this fic), but I feel like I had a good grasp of the characters.

I had a lot of fun writing what happened to each of the states visited in the story, especially Las Vegas and Colorado. Having just been to Las Vegas, I have absolutely no doubt that in a post-apocalyptic scenario, Las Vegas would have some wild plan to survive.

I haven't written too many Ed and Stede wedding scenes, but I don't think I'll ever top this one. That church is based on a building you can see south of Telluride on Colorado State Highway 145. The view from the "church" includes, depending on your definition of "glacier", the furthest south glaciers in the Rocky Mountains.

[mariyekos]

2024 Writing Count

Oh yeah! I've talked about it on Twitter, but I don't think I've mentioned it here: I'm keeping track of my fics/wordcount for 2024! I did it back in 2021, and then kept track of it for a few months in 2023, but this year I'm back at it again with more detail than ever.

Here's what it looks like. The further I get the more I add onto it as different things come to mind. I love color coding things, so I have a system: 0 word days get red, 1-99 word days get yellow, 100-499 word days get light green, 500-999 word days get medium green, and 1000+ word days get dark green. I also highlight the end of each month in blue to make it easy to see, and milestones (like hitting 50k in January!) are in blue!

More details, including a view of all days, beneath the cut!

Month-by-Month

January was my best month so far. That's when I started the longfic I'm currently plugging away at, which got me most of that word count. As in, it got me over 50k of that word count, because once I realized I was so close to 50k not just for the month but for a single fic, I powered through to the end. January was a month where my main focus was getting ideas down rather than shooting for top-of-the-line quality. You can't fix a fic that isn't written, so step 1 is to write! Right now I'm actually going through what I wrote and re-writing it, which is slow work but worth it.

February was okay. March was a bad month for me, and where I finally lost my "1 word a day" goal. You can tell how hard I was struggling in the middle there, which was from a combination of lack of sleep, lack of time (work and FFXIV prog were exhausting, plus I was trying hard to get through FFVII Rebirth before being spoiled (I failed)), and lack of motivation/inspiration. I got absolutely slammed by doubt and feelings of inadequacy, combined with some realizations about my longfic which means I had to do a MAJOR overhaul that I was absolutely dreading.

April was pretty good! I got slammed by motivation to finish a fic that I'd struggled with before and finally finished and published it. I'd been hesitating because I felt like I was getting that vibe out of another fic, but after struggling with that one I went back to the one I'd eventually publish and had a blast. It was very self-indulgent and I've realized that that's okay! I've rambled vaguely on this blog about it, but it was the fic where I knew I was diving deep into a fanon interpretation of a character that's not really seen in canon, and was worried about how it would be received.

In the end I decided whatever. I know it's fanon, but I love that fanon and clearly other people love that fanon too, so I decided I'd just post it. It has a lower kudos:hit ratio than my other fics but honestly? I don't care. I had so much fun writing it and I got two (2!!!!) whole comments on it so I'm over the moon. If my writing makes even one other person happy, that's fantastic. This fic I decided was ultimately for me in the end, and internalizing that it's okay to be self-indulgent has helped me a lot. When you're okay with self-indulgence, it frees you from a lot of worry and you just get to be happy writing the stuff you love.

Of course, I'm not completely over that. I still really want to get things right. I still do check over things to see how well they align in canon and to try to fix characterization and so on. I still want my fics to be good- it's just that I've changed my standards for what a good fic is to be more about quality than being an exact replica of canon. My current fic (the now 88k Time Travel Fic) is undergoing a massive overhaul right now as I not only improve micro-level things like grammar and phrasing, but also as I work to improve macro-level things like overall flow.

That's the sort of stuff that I think makes me a better writer. It might not always lead to very high word count, but I don't always need to have high word count. Sometimes a low wordcount day where I feel like I improved my craft is more than worth it.

Take these two days in April- ~250 words a day, lower than my monthly average of 1,050, that I'm perfectly fine with because I did more than 504 words worth of work that day, IMO. You can see on the second one that I finished Before the Nightmare, which is one of the DMC novels. That day I didn't get in many words because I spent my time researching instead, and that was worthwhile! On the day before it, I spent time revising the timeline and outlining things rather than adding to the main body of the fic itself, which again I think was more than worth the time! Having WCs is a good method of tracking things. I'm a numbers person. Seeing big numbers makes me happy. But there is more to writing than just working on the stuff readers are going to see! More that is important and improves your craft! Which is why I decided to include outline counts, for one. That and I'm the type of person who writes full sentences or even paragraphs into my outlines that I will take almost word-for-word into the fic itself so I might as well attribute it to the day I wrote it, rather than the day I copy-pasted it in, y'know?

How The Tracker Works

Some other stuff you might notice are the following:

My notes are a mix of me commenting on what I wrote in the fic and me commenting on whatever's going on in my life. For example, on January 17th I wrote "Went back 2 boys fighting convo" which is about what I wrote in the fic, whereas on January 25th I wrote "Super sleepy. Too late" and on March 2nd I wrote "FFVII Rebirth is amazing." which is instead about why I only wrote so much! Going back to my 2021 word count, I found my notes to be a really interesting snapshot into what was going on in my life at the time, so I don't mind making it a mix of both.

In the above, you can see that the Daily WC doesn't equal the Diff (End-Start WC), because in the comments section I mention that I wrote 3675 for another fic. (The 3675 is from the Fic in the Fic box there, while the 801 is from my Time Travel fic, which is the one with 80k words). But on days where I work on multiple fics I'm usually feeling active enough to be happy to do the very simple math of adding two things together, so I don't mind having to combine a few. If you check the picture above this one for March, you can see that the Daily WC = Diff. for every day that has a Start and End WC. The ones where there isn't a start or ending WC is because I just used the word count function in my document program since I wrote so little it was easy to figure things out.

There's also the Fic List section way back in my first picture, which just includes every fic or fic-adjacent (i.e. tumblr posts where I basically wrote a mini-fic that I will one day turn into a proper post) included in the main word count area. I also included the number of days I worked on each by occurrence. Given the way I track things it does mean that a few fics will be missing a few days because I can only mention one in the fic box (while having it function) so only one gets counted per day, even on days I work on two, but it's close enough that I think it's still a good way of keeping track! I copied the document Geryon partway through the year once I started some major restructuring so that one's split in two, but for the count I made the function count both Geryon and Copy of Geryon so it's just up in Geryon. The reason it's split is that I decided to automate that section rather than doing things manually, which means it include the - day and splits Geryon in two which I wouldn't do if I was doing it manually.

2021 Word count Document

As you can see, things were a lot simpler back in 2021. Both in terms of visuals and things I was keeping track of. One of the biggest changes from 2021->2024 was the addition of the Start and End word counts for each day. When I was doing 2023 I realized how much I hated doing the math in a separate tab, deleting it, fixing the formatting, and then putting the number into the daily total.

Then while talking to a friend (@/dithorba) about word counts, she showed me her document which had a start/end count on it and I felt like my eyes were open. So often I would get to the end of the day and realize I had math to do but would put it off, then do it again, then again, and then trying to figure out my word counts would result in a ton of going through document history, restoring documents, checking word count, restoring it to a different version, checking word count, etc. It became a chore that messed with my totals. (Which is funny because I actually love math! That specific math just was a sticking point for some reason). Then Monse/dithorba showed me the way and I decided I'd add that into my document, even if it "clutters" it up a bit by adding extra rows. I still kept Daily Wordcount separate from the total though, since sometimes I'll work on multiple fics so the start to end count on one fic doesn't represent all the writing I do in one day.

2024 Daily Totals So Far

I got so close to all greens for April and I'm really bummed about missing it because I just plain forgot to write more on my one yellow day. Yeah I was struggling a bit, but I could've written more and forgot to make sure I'd hit 100 before going to bed. Oh well. It was a really good month otherwise. I'll probably revise the color scheme in the bottom row later on so it's more evident which word counts had the most days per month, but for now it works as-is.

Last but not least, here's a link to the twitter thread where I go on about this year's writing. It technically starts in December of 2023 because I turned my thread about my longfic into my thread for all my fic writing in 2024, so whoops to that, but good enough.

This post could be longer but it's long enough as it is, so I'll leave it like this for now. Maybe I'll come back and edit it with more information later. I'll probably RB with additions a few times in the year too!

[hopetorun]

🛼📚🌿 (❤️)

🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis

alrighty ... 👨🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏼🏖🛑😬💕 ... ish

📚 ⇢ what’s the last thing you wrote down in your notes app?

i already told max that it was some details about the trajectory of my deaging wip. for you i will tell you that the last thing i wrote down in my google keep app was adding kale and aluminum foil to my grocery list and then checking off those things, as well as bananas, scouring sponges, frozen fruit, powdered sugar, sour cream, and butter, when i went to the grocery store earlier. thrilling stuff for sure

🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer’s block and low creativity

for low creativity, which i guess you could consider one type of writers block-- for me the first thing here is to remember that creativity isn't just a constant firehose of ideas and inspiration, so low creativity is part of the natural cycle. especially if you've just finished a big project, or don't have anything you're really excited about in a particular moment, it's normal to not really have any ideas scratching at your brain. if i'm dealing with low creativity right after finishing something or in the middle of a really stressful time or something, i'll usually just ... let it slide. it'll come back soon enough.

in terms of things to spark creativity, for me the best thing to do is to find something that excites me! even if it's something you don't like and want to fix or do better, the important thing is the passion. i'm absolutely at my least creative when i'm just not feeling excited about or engaged with anything. get your brain going! for me personally some of the ways i like to do this are: reading new books or fic, watching new shows or movies, doing prompt memes on twitter or tumblr, talking to my friends about ideas, talking to my friends about books/movies/shows, and generally actively practicing using the creativity muscles. don't try to like, force your way through writing a whole fic, but like with prompt memes, you can just find a basic prompt (scroll through one of the ao3 tag twitters or find a tag generator or whatever) and write a few sentences, or outline how a story might go. if you get stuck or it gets hard you can just stop! but it's a good way to build the habit of looking at things creatively.

being stuck creatively and lacking ideas can be such a hard thing to tackle and it can be so tricky to gauge whether you need to be patient with yourself or if you need to train your muscles a little bit or if there's an outside environmental cause that's not leaving you with enough juice to be creative. there can be a lot of trial and error! but it'll come back eventually!

[fallinginreversefanblog]

Ronnie Radke spitting facts about Motionless In White being a rip-off

On Sep 18th Ronnie Radke shared MIW's new Halloween poster on Twitter showing off the resemblance between the two monsters (the one from MIW's "Werewolf" and the FIR's "Popular Monster") and discussing the issue of MIW copying FIR for a while now.

He even added:

“I’m A popular popular Biter”

Last year on Oct 31st Motionless In White released the video for their song "Werewolf" directed by Jensen Noen, the same director Ronnie Radke works with constantly since "Popular Monster". The two videos ended up in resembling too much; not only the monsters, but the plot, the transformation movements, the filters and environment.

WATCH Motionless In White's "Werewolf":

And WATCH Falling In Reverse's "Popular Monster":

Ronnie expressed his disappointment on Twitter in a few lines, which continued in a beef, then in a few days the whole topic was forgotten.

Yesterday, after Ronnie renewing the topic and expressing his despise towards MIW about the new Halloween poster and the monster's image on it, a long argument unfolded between him + FIR fans and MIW fans defending Chris Motionless from accusations of plagiarism. At one moment Ronnie made a statement about the required honesty in general when it comes to inspirations:

In the mean time he showed the resemblance between FIR and MIW imagery on different album covers, posters and image sequences from the videos within the past few years.

He pointed out Bring Me The Horizon's video on the song "LosT", which was also made by Jensen Noen, but the resemblance with any of FIR's videos is not even close as strong as it is with "Werewolf". This is what Ronnie wrote about Oli Sykes and BMTH:

"oli Sykes went to the video director I use because he was inspired my mine, and guess what he told him “I like what you did but I don’t want to copy” he went out of his way to make a video that was his own, I gained so much respect for oli after I was told this, this is what I mean. Instead of just ripping he went out of his way to do his own thing. I RESPECT THAT SHIT, same with ice nine kills they do there OWN THING. this is what I mean."

WATCH Bring Me The Horizon's "LosT" on Vimeo, because YouTube made age restrictions on it and cannot be embeded in the post:

Finally Ronnie said he doesn't take the whole copy thing as an offense, and it's actually flattering to be the good example to be copied. Mind his words:

"Anyway, this copy cat stuff is so trivial, and at end of day will be forgotten, it’s trivial to get upset at, it should be flattering if anything. But sometimes I can’t help to express myself on these matters. like who cares at end of day"

He shared some more resembling promotion stuff and soon the beef was over from his side. Fans were continuing the argument on both sides for more hours long.

A Falling In Reverse fan made a very apt comment to this whole beef. He said: "I smell a new FIR song and music video 👀👀" Rightful, Ronnie most probably had a secret goal with stirring up the moods, as usual :))

[bonesandthebees]

If I can give my two cents on this (also obviously /nm, just from like a genuinely place of discussion):

I just think it's not that deep. Most of the people I've seen saying things like "they're my ocs now" are really not coming from any place of malice. There's a lot of serious stuff going on in the fandom with the content creators and it really does not hurt anyone to be like "they're mine now". It's a way for people to be like "I am not writing about the real people in any shape or form. I'm taking the base characters and writing them in aus and such. They're disconnected from what's going on."

People have been doing that for ages in fandom, even this fandom, and it's not some kind of like. crime. It's such a dumb thing to discourse about because like just let people do what they want.

Taking a character you love and writing them differently in a fic or something where they're not their canon counterpart is really really common. Not to mention the many times ccs like Wilbur have said that the characters "belong to the fandom". Also, c!Phil's wings, c!Quackity's scar, c!Wilbur's white hair streak, c!Wilbur's train limbo, c!Skephalo being c!Sapnap's parents, and so many other things in canon have come from the fans. A lot of these characters exist because people made animatics and art which inspired the ccs to keep making the story.

I think as long as you're respecting boundaries when writing them, you're pretty free to call them your oc. Like, within my own fics, I've completely rewritten c!Technoblade for one of my modern aus because of the life that he's lived in it. He's still the same base character at his core and thusly I'm respecting boundaries, but other than that, he could probably pass for an oc. Like I just don't think it's that deep to be like "these are my characters now because I don't like the people who made them."

And I detest the idea of "you hate the media so you have to leave the fandom". It's probably one of the worst takes I've seen time and time again. Like there's a difference between being negative about it every single day and being critical of how it is written. I really love this series even if I hated one part of it. I'm not leaving just because of that.

anyways if this is poorly phrased I am rather tired rn and I wrote this quickly but yeah my thoughts on the whole. I just don't think it's worth fighting over some teenagers wanting to emphasize the fact that their writing is separate from the ccs.

(this entire response is also /nm it's just a discussion)

I think we're just seeing different sides of twitter because I understand saying they're your ocs in a non-malicious way, but I've genuinely been seeing more intense takes on the situation in a way that just irks me. Also, I'm not referring to making them your ocs as in just putting them in different aus and keeping the core of their character, because I do that too! But they're not your ocs in that sense. You're still taking their characterization from canon. They still share the same names and aspects of their appearance with a cc. And again, I'm all for people just having fun in fandom don't get me wrong, I'm just seeing it phrased in certain ways on twitter that's really irking me.

Also of course you can be critical about a piece of media you're in a fandom for. I'm critical of a lot of writing choices in dsmp. That's not what I'm referring to. When I say if you're not having fun then leave, I'm referring to the people who literally hate every aspect of the media and fandom and that's all they talk about. Like, you're just making yourself miserable at that point, y'know?

Overall, I didn't mean to start a discussion on this, but that's my fault for not clarifying when I made my post. I just don't like the discussion going on on twitter right now because it just feels very weird and toxic in a way that's bugging me and I wanted to complain about it. But I'm not trying to attack teenagers for emphasizing their writing is separate from cc's, and that's not really what I was referring to. I can understand why my post might've sounded like that though so I totally get your point here.

Again this is /nm, but I'd rather not make this a whole thing so if anyone else sends me asks on this I'm not gonna answer them unless they have a really good point I wanna speak on.

[shadowshrike]

2022 in Review (Fandom Stuff)

This year was extra strange because I spent the first chunk of it extremely sick. However, I was still able to create a bunch of new fandom stuff (if slower than I used to), so I wanted to celebrate what I put out there in 2022 and share some links!

Fire Emblem: 3 Hopes

I did a lot of work with 3 Hopes behind the scenes this year, but the community's reaction to the game snuffed out most of my enthusiasm to go deep into lore analysis or to write any new fic.

The biggest thing I posted from this was all my meta about social perception per route as told by the NPCs, which can be found here on Tumblr.

Fire Emblem 3 Hopes Tag - https://www.tumblr.com/shadowshrike/tagged/fire%20emblem%203%20hopes

Fire Emblem: 3 Houses

It's been slow-going, but I finally posted two new chapters to Viridian Sky: Wyvern's Flight this year, my massive fic set in Almyra after a joint route between Claude and Dimitri. The series as a whole has been renamed to Kingmakers. There are only two chapters left, and then the series will be more or less complete!

Viridian Sky - Wyvern's Flight (incomplete) - https://archiveofourown.org/works/21289694

I also posted all my extra lore for the universe, previously compiled on Twitter and in my notes, to AO3. My biggest regret is not having a chance to explore Dedue's wife further in this verse because I love her character. At least she has a chapter in the 'lorebook'.

Constellations: The People and Places of Kingmakers- https://archiveofourown.org/works/43311937

In other FE news, I finished up an old Dimiclaude Beauty and the Beast oneshot after being inspired by writing for the game again.

Bookman and the Beast - https://archiveofourown.org/works/40847772

And in November, I transferred all my fe3h drabbles from Twitter and my notes to two compilations: one for Faerghus, and one specifically for Claude, Sylvain, and Dimitri.

Tales of the Frozen North (Rated M)- https://archiveofourown.org/works/43078971

Schemers, Kings, and Beasts (Rated M) - https://archiveofourown.org/works/43079442

Daiya no A / Ace of Diamond

Almost everything in here is Chrismiyu of various flavors. I wrote a lot of this pairing and tried out a bunch of new things as a writer since this whole series is way outside of my comfort zone. There are enough separate one-shots in 2022 that I'm just going to list them by month.

February

Risque Rewards (Rated M) - https://archiveofourown.org/works/36613144

The Truth in Writing - https://archiveofourown.org/works/37417759

March

Fathers and Sons - https://archiveofourown.org/works/37512598

Catcher's Paradise (Rated E) - https://archiveofourown.org/works/37533604

Friends, Rivals, and Baseball - https://archiveofourown.org/works/37861258

April

Burning - https://archiveofourown.org/works/38317438

May

The Long Road Home (incomplete) - https://archiveofourown.org/works/38606367

Sick Day - https://archiveofourown.org/works/39276561

June

A New Home - https://archiveofourown.org/works/39662358

July

Time to Rest - https://archiveofourown.org/works/40510533

September

Daemon verse comics and art - https://twitter.com/shadowshrike2/status/1565723803476496384?t=1xxysO3Rj9ctB6mrXH7v0Q&s=19

November

The Importance of Being Senpai - https://archiveofourown.org/works/43074588

Chris' Other Memo (Rated E; episodic, stylistic drabbles) - https://archiveofourown.org/works/38831124

December

A Baseball Carol - https://archiveofourown.org/works/43674198

Looking to 2023

For Fire Emblem, my hope is to finish Viridian Sky at long last. The final chapters are fully outlined but unwritten. I don't plan to buy Engage at the moment, so I doubt I'll be writing much more fic for FE in general unless the community chills out with its release or I hop back to Fates.

For Daiya, I have a truly crazy number of fic ideas ready to go. I tend to be slower writing them since the audience is small and I struggle with that genre, but it's good practice! The things I'm currently most interested in writing are:

Continuing the "growing up as friends" AU (Friends, Rivals, and Baseball and Sick Day)

Continuing the "dad as unlikely friends" AU (Fathers and Sons)

Continuing The Long Road Home to the point where he actually meets Chris

A Chrismiyu Xianxia AU from Sawamura's pov that I have something like 19 pages of notes written for

Picking up one of my shifter or daemon verses again. Although I have lots of 'canon' ideas, writing fuzzy things is always relaxing.

At least one more adult work. I have a couple things in mind, but mostly on the slightly comedic end of the spectrum. Apparently, that's my favorite flavor for M+ works in Daiya.

Happy new year and here's to a great 2023!

[musicarenagh]

Authenticity and Evolution: Inside the World of Drew and Badger So I just got the scoop on this new surf rock EP *Splash Royale* by “Fly Janet” (Drew and Badger), and honestly? It's kind of awesome. These guys are doing something totally different from their previous stuff - it's like they've decided to just have fun and not overthink everything. The whole EP basically came from this totally random inspiration. Drew's apparently a huge Sauce Walka fan, and they just decided to create something that feels good, no deep hidden meanings required. And yeah, that makes the music feel super authentic. Some of the tracks are really personal. Like, "Pipe Dream" was written right after Drew's niece was born, which is just such a cool backstory. And then they've got these wild instrumental tracks that basically throw genre rules out the window. What I'm loving is how they're just doing their thing. No trying to fit into what people expect from a surf rock band, just pure creativity. The track "Head of Cow" even has this whole visual tribute planned that sounds pretty intriguing. If you're into music that feels fresh and doesn't take itself too seriously, *Splash Royale* is definitely worth a listen. It's the kind of EP that just feels like two musicians having a blast and inviting you along for the ride. Listen to Splash Royale https://open.spotify.com/album/2gXVyPJkK7hi8yWDUNPq4o?si=kzbn-C2AROOuAh1UBWIv9w Follow Fly Janet on Facebook Twitter Spotify Soundcloud Bandcamp Youtube Instagram Tiktok   “Congratulations on your EP! Can you tell us about the inspiration behind Splash Royale? -Thanks so much! A lot of surf rock albums these days have a horror movie and rockabilly vibes. That isn't our thing. We don't actively seek any type of sound. These songs are a natural progression in our song writing. The title Splash Royale is intriguing. What’s the story behind the name? - We had been listening to a lot of Sauce Walka. Drew came up with the name. We loved the title. Didn't want to overthink it. How does this EP differ from your previous work in terms of style and themes? - It has a brighter happier sound compared to anything we've done before. We have been very happy with how much fun it has been to write and play in this band. The vibe came through on the recordings. [caption id="attachment_58176" align="alignnone" width="1170"] - It has a brighter happier sound compared to anything we've done before.[/caption] Did you collaborate with any other artists or producers for this project? If so, how did those collaborations influence the final sound? - We had 0 collaborations on this ep. This album is just Drew and me. Not that we are opposed to working with anyone. It just didn't happen this time. Is there a specific track on the EP that you feel is particularly personal or meaningful to you? Why? - Drew wrote pipe dream after the birth of his niece. It was special to see it finally make it on an album. Your fans love your unique sound. How do you balance staying true to your signature style while exploring new musical directions? - We don't think about them at all. We write music that we want to write, and that is how we stay true to ourselves. Authenticity is what our "fans" like to see/hear. If they don't enjoy it, that's fine, but we try to stay away from the thought of what would our fans like to hear. What themes or messages are you exploring in Splash Royale? - M.O.E. Money over everything. Nah lol, I'm just fucking with you. There is no message. We just wanted an album that sounded different, and sonically had the same vibe. https://open.spotify.com/artist/5gtFez03OZCSULAEcOCXkp?si=zCuhFoioQN-OWf5JePfLkA Are there any music videos or visual content planned for tracks from Splash Royale? - Our first music video is going to be head of cow. Right before we announced the release date of "Splash Royale" (Chris) Badger's mom passed away unexpectedly. The music video is going to be old 8mm home video footage of his mom from when she was a kid.

She grew up all over the world in places like Vietnam. The video is going to be a memorial to her life. She was an amazing woman who always supported her sons music endeavors. Badger's sister is an amazing artist and photographer. She did our album cover, and she is doing the music video as well. Looking back on the journey of creating Splash Royale, what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned? -Don't be afraid to be yourself, and just try new shit. These songs sound like nothing we would have written in the past. We are proud of it even if everyone ends up hating it. Is there anything else you’d like your fans to know about Splash Royale or your creative journey? -Fucking life is short dude. Don't be afraid to be yourself and do the shit you wanna do. We don't take life for granted. So while we have the time and ability to make music we are gonna have fun and take advantage of our time here on earth. Where can people find your music and keep up with your latest updates? - Spotify, Apple Music, all those sites. Our IG is where we tend to post all our latest updates. TikTok for all our thirst trap videos.

[ch3rripepsi]

The Party & The After Party

Summary: Austin Show and Will Neff are shitfaced as ever at the Streamer Awards. Things get heated when Will reveals that he has been wearing a buttplug the entire night

(Directly from the words of my twitter mutual: “this is so embarrassing but i’ve been wanting to write something about austin and will at the streamer awards after party where will gets shitfaced and revealed to austin that he’s been wearing a butt plug the whole time and they end up fucking in a bathroom stall somewhere in the venue lol. they’re gross and loud and everyone knows they’re in there and it’s horrible yahoooo” i wrote this for them :3)

Paring: Austin Show x Will Neff

Warnings:

Semi-public sex, vulgar language, drunk sex, will technically cheats on caroline, f slur usage! there might be grammatical errors even though i proofread it 3 times. real person fiction. (pls let me know if i missed any warnings!!)

Word count: 2,238 words

A/N: this literally my first fic i’ve ever written heavy apologies if it’s shity lol. Title is inspired by a song made by “The Weeknd”

I do not own Austin Show, Will Neff, or any other real person shown in this fic and I mean no harm by writing this.

The Streamer Awards ended a few hours ago, and everyone has a great time. But now it’s time to unwind, let go of all the class and manors that were presented before, and party. The venue isn’t too big only a single room with a bar. Most people here are in their mid twenties to early thirties, so that college kid mentality where you get drunk and high in whatever drugs without hesitation wasn’t in many people’s minds that night, except for two, These two were at the bar for most, if not the entirety of the night. “Wow, someone doesn’t know how to hold their liquor.” Austin jabs at will while giggling and taking another sip.

“Oh you’re one to talk.” Will jabs back. Austin and Will were drunk- maybe a little high too. They both knew they were gonna wake up with insane hangovers the next morning, but they didn’t give a fuck. They were having a great time, and that’s all that mattered. Austin and Will have been friends for years. They feel like they could tell each other anything. Especially under the influence. What’s the harm in telling a secret if you’re too shitfaced to remember it in the morning?

“Austin. Hey Austin. Hey babe-*belch* c’mere I got something to tell you.” Will leans in, Austin’s ear close to his mouth, Austin feels Wills hot breathe that smelled of Alcohol. “Dude, I’m wearing a butt plug so deep in my ass right now.” Austin pulls away from Will and looks at him shocked. “Wha-how long have you had that in?” Austin asks.

“The entire night, bro.” Will says, looking at Austin straight in the eyes. “Even when you gave that speech and presented that award?” “Yup.” Will smirks. “You’re fucking crazy dawg!” Austin laughs as he falls into Will’s shoulder. “I didn’t know Caroline was into that type of stuff-“ “Oh, no, she isn’t.”

Will cuts Austin off. “So…why do you have it in then?” Austin looks up at Will, still resting his head on his shoulder. “Cus I feel like it. Fuck it feels so good…gonna be a bitch to take out, though.” Will chuckles to himself. Austin raises his head and looks around. People are leaving the venue, he checks his phone.

“1:00, shit, it’s getting pretty late.” Austin thinks to himself. He turns to Will, who somehow ordered another drink while Austin wasn’t looking. “Hey, party’s wrapping up…do you…uh…need help?” Will looks at Austin, confused. “Hell with what?” “Getting the butt plug out.” Austin whispers. “…I mean…I guess i could use some help?”

Looking eager, Austin grabs Will’s hand and together, they rush to the bathroom, not without bumping into Hasan first. “Where are you to going?” The tall man asks. “Wills had like ten mimosas and now he’s gonna puke himself so I’m gonna hold his hair for him.” Austin says before immediately rushing off. Will looked drunk as fuck so it was enough for Hasan to believe it. In the bathroom, Austin pushes Will into the first stall he sees.

The stall in tiny, so the two are practically brushing up against each other. “Ok. Strip.” Austin demands. “Turn around first?” Will asks. “Cmon man you’re acting like I’ve never seen your cock before. Plus it’s huge so I don’t know what you’re embarrassed about.” Will shrugs in agreement and proceeds to take off the nice suit and tie he put on a couple hours before hand. He then slowly pulls down his pants and underwear to reveal that, indeed, he does have a butt plug in there.

Austin gets hard like a brick. He’s gotten hard watching Hasan and Will before, of course he has, but this time, he felt the arousal deep in his stomach. “You gonna keep admiring my pretty hole or are you gonna take the plug out?” Will turns around and asks. Snapping back to reality, Austin grabs Will by his hip. He takes his other hand and grabs the end of the plug. “…Do you, uhm, want me to take it out fast or..slow.” Austin shutters.

He’s trying to keep his cool but he’s clearly horny out of his mind. “Do whatever, babe.” Will says in a tone that he knows will drive Austin insane. Austin begins to slowly pull the plug out, mesmerized by how Will’s hole pulses as he does so. “Oh fuck.” Will moans, tilting his head back. Austin sighs, his jaw hanging low with each breath. Finally the plug comes out, as Will’s hole is gaping.

The two are panting frantically. Will gets up and turns around, he looks done and the plug then back up at Austin, who’s staring down and Will’s erection. Austin quickly looks back up. “Ok put your clothes back on-“ Will pulls Austin in for a sloppy, passionate kiss. Lined materials against bare skin, Will’s erection stays all throughout the kiss. The two men’s tongues slap against each other as they fight to take dominance over each other. When the two finally brake the kiss, a long trail of saliva is produced between the two lips. They both stare down at it in awe.

“Austin.” Austin looks back up at Will. “Fuck me.” Austin steps back a little because of the absurdness of the question. “B-but I-“ Aharon stutters. “Shhhh I know…” Will reassures Austin by caressing his cheek. Austin takes Will’s hand, detaching it from his face. “I’m not afraid to fuck you, man.” Austin clarified. he smirked chuckled at bit. “I’ll fuck you any day. It’s just that…there’s a like…a fun ton of people here. We’ll get caught for sure.” Austin’s right, in this ballroom, anyone who just casually comes to use the bathroom will see the two. “Don’t worry, the music will drown us out!” Will cheerfully suggests.

“Meh, I guess so.” Austin shrugs, his drunken state not making him think clearly. “So you wanna do anal or what-“ Will grabs Austin by the face and the two engage in a full on passionate makeout. Austin grabs Will’s dick and begins to jerk him off. Moans escape from Will’s mouth into Austin’s as their tounges clash together. Will frantically reaches for Austin’s wair and unbuckles his belt like his life depends on it. The sound of Austin’s zipper becoming loose increases the sexual tension in the room. Austin’s dock springs out of his pants, the 7 incher throbs rhythmically. “Holy shit dude.” Will’s eyes widen in shock. “It looks…bigger than the last time I saw it.” “Nah, you’re just used to Hasan, I’m not as big as him.”

“How do you know big Hasan is?” Will asks whole smirking. The two chuckle while Will proceeds to get on his knees. Austin doesn’t notice this and gets caught off guard by the tip of his dick being inserted into a wet, but warm mouth. He lets out a heavy sigh. “Oh fuck-“ Austin curses under his breath. He looks down and admires the sight of Will deepthroating his dick. Wills is also jerking himself off as he sucks. Short moans and hums of satisfaction come from Will as he desperately sucks Austin’s cock like a sucker.

Will grabs Austin’s hips and with both his hands. Austin’s cock is fully inserted down Will’s throat. “Jesus fuck dude.” Austin says almost instinctively, reacting to Will’s lack of a gag reflex. Will slowly takes the cock out of his mouth, leaving a long saliva trail that starts on Austin’s tip. Wills stands back up. “I don’t have any lube.” Austin faintly says in between breaths. “…And? Like you’ve never fucked a dude raw before.” Will scoffs, obviously more up to the challenge than Austin. “Alright man. but it’s gonna hurt.” Aharon fully takes off his pants, suit, and tie, and puts them on the toilet tank.

“Think of me like your average twink.” Will playfully suggests. Austin knows Will is gonna take more effort than some random street twink. He can’t keep himself waiting though, as his cock grows and throbs impatiently, Will’s hole puckers with anticipation, and Will looking back at him with this smug ass look on his face, drawing Austin in. Austin steadies himself and rams into Will, the ginger loudly grunted at the sudden penetration.

“JESUS FUCK-“ Will loudly swears before he remembers they’re trying to be quiet. “Keep it down, will ya?” That was just the tip.” Austin chuckles to himself, his confidence, and his dick, growing as he admires the absolutely priceless reaction on Will’s face. “You’re acting like some twink who’s bottoming for the first time.”

“Ok-first of all-“ Will says through short continuous breaths. “You could’ve gone..wat slower-“ Austin slowly begins to insert more of himself. “Second of all….!” Will continues, his body testing up and the tone in his voice going higher. “That comparison was a joke, don’t actually pound me like a twink-“

Austin rigorously thrusts himself back and forth. Short gaps come from Will’s mouth as if he’s drowning and trying to come up for a irl Austin clutches onto Will’s hips for support while tilting his head back. The lewd moaning and slapping noises are absolutely obscene, sounding like it’s coming from a 70s porno. Austin tries his best t focus on the task ar hand, but Will is wailing and whining like a sick puppy.

Having been broken out of his flow state, Austin bends over, covering the entirety of Will’s back. He squeezes at Will’s pectorals and gets up close to his ear. “Hey jackass, aren’t we supposed to be keeping quiet?” Austin half whispers-half scowls in Will’s ear. The vibrations of Austin’s deep voice trickle into Will’s ear and wrap around his brain, sending shivers down his spine.

Then the shivers goes down into his rectum. Or maybe that’s Austin plowing his hole, he isn’t sure. “Relax sweetheart,” Will mange’s to say, still drunk. “Everyone is leaving, anyways. There’s probably no one her-“ “Hello? Austin? Will? You two in there?”

A familiar voice calls outside the stall. It was Hasan. “Shit.” both the gay man and ginger man curse under their breath in unison. “Are you two ready to go?” Blaire and Caroline are.” Austin scrambles to come up with an excuse while Will’s mins wanders, thinking about how madly in love he is with his girlfriend at the mention of her name. “Uhh, yeah! Wills still puking his guts out!” Give us a sec!” Austin yells while looking down at the man he’s currently inside of, who is blankly staring at the toilet seat in front of him.

Austin lightly taps Wills bare side, bringing him back from spacing out. “Huh, oh- EUGHHHHHHHH.” Will imitates a puking sound, even spitting up a little in the toilet to add to the affect. “O…kay…well I’m gonna wash my hasan and head out, we’ll be waiting outside.” Hasan says, skeptical of what’s actually happening inside that stall. *We should probably stop.* Austin thinks to himself, frozen, still deciding what to do. *No, no. I’ve come this far. Let me finish what I’ve started.* Rather it’s a sober decision or not, Austin once again slowly starts to grind rhythmically into Will. “What the fuck are you doing?” Will sharply whispers.

“I need to finish.” Austin replies coldly, leaning back down to Will’s ear. This time, he takes his hand and completely covers Will’s mouth, catching Will by surprise as he continues to aggressively thrust. “He won’t hear us if we keep quiet.” Austin says, barely over a whisper. “Be a good boy and stay quiet, k?” Austin coos in a mocking tone, twirling Will’s hair. Will wants to moan, he wants to pant and whine, he wants to call Austin daddy, but he can’t. He does his best t stay quiet and tiny, exasperated noises slip from his mouth.

Austin is having the time of his life, feeling his climax coming with each thrust. Austin removes his hand from Will’s mouth, he lets out an exhausted gasp. Will sticks his tongue out and pants like a nasty dog. “Where do you want it?” Austin questions. “My mouth next, please!” Will sarcastically says in a goofy nerd-ish tone, “The come, jackass.” Austin growls, furiously pounding. “Inside is fine, long as you got no stds.” Will continues to joke. “Fuck YOU-!” Austin’s voice suddenly raises in tone as he reaches his climax. Will, who has also climaxed, positioned himself just right for the semen to land in the toilet.

“Oh fuck…double nut…nice!” Will chuckles to himself. Austin groans in annoyance as he pulls out. Probably the quickest he’s ever come down from post-nut clarity. Wills stands up, letting our a loud groan. “Alright f#g, put your clothes back on.” Austin says while shoving the suit back into Will’s hands.

The two make their way outside to the rest of the group. “There you two are. Finally, fuck, we’re tired, let’s go.” At loudly complains. “Babe, I heard you got sick, you ok?” Caroline gently places her hand on Will’s shoulder. “Year baby I’m ok,” Will slowly leans into Caroline giving her quick pecks all over hee face and a hug. “had WAY too much to drink and now i’m sore in all the wrong places. Let’s get outta here.” Everyone laughs at Will’s “joke”. Austin laughs too, but awkwardly looks to the side, knowing the true meaning behind his words.

[bisluthq]

Wasn't Sam the one who cheated on her? The picture to burn muse?

But yeah Joe J is known as the guy who broke with her on the phone and then dated someone else. How dare he? But things weren't exactly like that (or atleast it doesn't seem like he was as much as an asshole as he was made to be) lol

it makes you think how much Taylor creates this worse than reality narrative sometimes, people run with it as truth cause you often don't hear the other side, but then things weren't exactly like that. Like we are made out to think all the guys she dated were trash and she mostly suffered with them until the one came along (the one always being the guy she is seeing atm).

Just look at all the revisionist history people are doing now with Joe A. Suddenly their whole relationship was horrible and poor her she stayed because she loved him too much. He got advantage of her being low and then manipulated her the rest of the years, until she realized her worth because of her fans and escaped his claws. No joke, I see people saying this kind of stuff.

no Sam isn’t the guy from picture to burn lol that’s a whole other guy that came before Our Song Drew. Sam is the guy from should’ve said no. Sam and her dated after our song Drew and her and when she went on tour he cheated on her so she wrote should’ve said no. Sam SUCKS guys like he’s self-owned on Twitter multiple times because he brags he dated her even tho he cheated on her and he went on tv and to the media and just all round is a shitty man.

re the rest of your point idk that’s what makes her human and relatable? And she always reflects on other stuff too like she’s self-aware tbh. I love that her story changes over time because that’s what makes her a person. I love that she doesn’t say “eh this was okay but it could’ve been a bit better” that often because that’s how I feel a lot of the time and I don’t need an artist to tell me that. I want feelings and emotions and like vibes.

I have two playlists that are very sekrit and I won’t show even you but they’re my playlists for my boyfriend (he hasn’t seen them either). One is songs for when I’m very in love with him and it’s called ++++ and one is songs for when I’m very pissed off with him and it’s called ————. There are a couple of Taylor songs that are on both and that’s idk testament to her lyricism. Ultimately it’s not about her or her guy problems or her personal life, it’s that when I’m having a problem with someone False God hits hard and when I’m not having a problem with that same someone False God also hits hard in a different way lol.

Her fans are annoying. They are not very interesting to me. Now, fundamentally, fans aside - Taylor’s biography is deeply interesting to me. I’d legit love to write it tbh lol and put all this useless trivia in my head to good use and do more research even. I also love the fact that she’s not a dick powered jukebox and like her songs are often inspired by other stuff or whatnot. But what I love most about Taylor is her music and what it means to ME. And her music - more than any other artist’s - has applied to me in different situations and with different people because she is a GENIUS. That’s also why it can mean different things to her as well??? Because those are her words and they’re gorgeous and shit 💀💀💀

Her fandom is very annoying and boring for me personally and that’s why I’d not work at Buzzfeed because fandom coverage is just idk very annoying and boring.

[kristenbrady]

Want To Experience Hypergrowth of Your Substack Newsletter? Try These Tactics.

The global email marketing industry as a whole is expected to grow to nearly $18 billion by 2027. Social media is a rented audience, but newsletters are an owned audience.

Wanna be the next Lenny Rachitsky who earns millions with his Substack newsletter, simply called “Lenny’s Newsletter”? There are some proven ways to grow your Substack newsletter. Let’s focus on some used by the best creators below:

Reply to Tweets

One of the most effective ways to grow is by replying to tweets on Twitter. If you see a tweet about the subject you write, or anything even close, be in the comments section. From the day you start your newsletter, do it constantly.

Why Does This Work?

There are numerous reasons why this works, but the following are some that stand out:

Brand awareness — in plugging the newsletter under other whatever your subject is-type news, you are getting in front of audiences who’ll likely be interested in your content.

More touchpoints — readers have to see your newsletter many times before subscribing. This technique gets you in front of similar audiences several times a day.

It’ll get folks talking — a lot of people do not do this. You need to unapologetically plug your newsletter until people think, “There goes (Kristen) again!” 🙂

However, it should be relevant and tastefully done.

Do not simply say, “I wrote about this subject; here is the article,” because it’d be more self-promotional. Instead, get involved, be natural, and then subtly drop links to your newsletter after engaging for a while with the community.

Start a Referral Program

It’s recommended to start a referral program at least a week into launch. It’s not enough to say, “Here’s a link to share.”

You should really put some time and effort into saying something thoughtful and the reason why it would benefit others. Add pictures; they always help.

To say that you will get a 3-month comp on a paid subscription is not enough of a reason to share. You gotta spice it up a bit. People love merch. Offer a free tote bag, stickers, clothing, something they can physically touch and see. It’ll feel like Christmas to them when they open it, and they’ll be more inspired to share more and receive more merch (stuff).

Paid Ads

Don’t be shy about running a few paid ads to grow your newsletter.

There’s a stigma within the community that states, “organic growth is king;” I am not sure I agree with that.

Don’t try to start a newsletter with only paid advertisements. However, if it’s possible to grow the newsletter and get in front of the right audience from the beginning, why not amplify this expansion with a little spending behind it?

Twitter ads are good.

Use Tools and Build a Community

Create tools and doo-dads like digital downloads your audience can get lots of value from.

Get on Discord and create a Discord community for your audience. That’s just one example. Try to build a Twitter community, etc. There are many ways to create a community. Get creative.

Lead Magnet Ideas for Non-Profits

Seven lead magnet ideas for non-profits

medium.com

Move Things Around

Don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things. Add new sections to the newsletter, add a podcast, add videos, experiment with the format.

Don’t be afraid to move things around, test new sections, and see what happens. Once you have all of the information to back up if they were good ideas (replies, clicks, etc.), it’s possible to always return to the prior version.

Get Sponsors

Openly discuss this on Twitter.

If you attempt something or are successful with an experiment, share that on Twitter.

Customize your pitches.

Sponsors are lurking everywhere, you never know who’ll reach out.

Try Reletter.com. Agencies, sponsors, advertisers, and others use Reletter on a daily basis to contact, qualify, and discover newsletters of all types.

Trying one or all of the above tips will help to kickstart your newsletter into high gear! Good luck!

Originally posted on Medium

[kaceypink]

From: https://pinkkacey.itch.io/modern-aeon/devlog/657382/post-mortum-i-sorta-regret-writing-a-trans-lesbian-elongated-muskrat

When I first started working on this story (I think back in 2021) I approached it with a desire solely to chase the themes present in the first part. The small dom with a lot of attitude, big dog service top who likes to get pulled around (a real masochist emotionally and physically). The bodyguard and her dark evil ceo lover. I followed a desire to write something inspired by the roaring 20s and the evil but thrilling wonder if an industrialists life. Paying people to have ideas for you, is a very old industrial capitalist thing. I wanted to show the glamor and the luxury of shinny leather, designer watches, tailored suits, and flowing dresses all on rough, beautiful lesbians. I think to an extent that first part really does convey that pretty well.

I have been thinking a lot about how Flur, even though she isn't as evil or manipulative as she wants people to think she is, is a capitalist in a way that I might never write again. My stomach has been so churned by Twitter falling apart. I wanted to write Flur sorta as a response too, ya know, what would a "good" person like this look like to me. What sorts of things would make up her mindset, how would she be radicalized away from great man theory and towards equity and labor rights. But you know, for all the good she has done in the story, she's still stolen people's wages and been a land lord and stuff. I know she's fictional, but I also I don't really believe there really can be such a thing as a "good industrialist" or "good capitalist" anymore. I guess that was my radicalization journey.

I wouldn't blame people for not connecting or even understanding the choice of character I wrote here. Ultimately though, her character is one of flipping people off and grabbing a failing world by the throat to right it for the better. Murdering your r*pist half brother in front of your family so you can steal the factory out from under him and keep the family from immolating in male chauvinist related debt does feel pretty wild. But whatever, I had fun. We can be wild ass from time to time. It's fine.

The novel opens with a peak at Flur's desire for equity for dragonkind, something that's not hidden but does grow in the background across the story to the point where it's implied she's selling weapons to a liberation movement in the southern part of the country. Flur actively lobbies against removing subways in the capital where she lives and does lots of her business. It would be more profitable to force everyone to buy a car with the engines she designed, but she still makes hand over fist selling them to train, subway, plane, and boat companies. By the end of the book she asks her workers to run her company for themselves, effectively becoming nothing more than a figure head a loud mouth piece. The story conveys a lot of that in the margins however, mostly because this isn't a story about Flur's company or her political actions.

The second part is where the story turns away from what was presented in the first part. The story isn't really about these two characters as bodyguard and CEO either, it's about their relationship and dealing with history. Things coming back to get you, litterally or emotionally. I think my favorite part of the whole novel is that masquerade, the way in which Tempest comes into her own and how she proves her love. I really like these two characters, I think about them a lot still.

The last couple parts I really struggled with, particularly the train part. I really wanted to write it well, and I think for the most part it's a strong bit of story with some weak areas. I really like the intro of family in there. The ending is a favorite, particularly the last chunk of these two living together and having a family feels very special to me. If you've read it, or it sounds interesting, I hope you feel the same.

I feel like if I were to ever come back to this story I would refine it to solely be based around that masquerade. I'd revise how the antagonist and the demon stuff works. It gets a big shonin anime, but that's fine. I'd also make it more clear how Flur's an anticapitalist disguised as a capitalist. I'd make the focus solely on the power of Tempest and Flur's love, though it is in this novel as well.

[smartzelda]

For the ask game

🌞🤭🎃🍦 I know this is asking a bit much, but I love seeing you gush about making fics so-

*GASP* Thank you best frien🥺🙏💖💖

ㅤ

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

Not really!😂

Although I think my body's preferred time of day is sometime between 10pm and 9am so...not day at all😂

ㅤ

🤭 Do you have a favorite tag to use when posting your works?

Not really

I try to use my blog name as a tag and "my writing" for sorting purposes, but with the tumblr search being the way it is it doesn't help all that much😂😅

Other than that I don't have any special or fun tags when posting tbh

On ao3 though I do have some funny tags. I think my favorites I've used more than once are "Happy April fool's day and a new year's crackship", and variations of "It'll look like smut but it's just kissing guys I promise"😂😂

ㅤ

🎃 Do you write fics for certain holidays? Which is your favorite holiday inspired fic?

Okay, so picture me, reading this, running thoughts in my head like "Have I ever written a Christmas fic or Halloween fic" or "Have I ever written a fic for Valentine's day?"

And then it hits me

April 1st

The fool's day

So to answer your question (which I know you put this emoji for the purpose of this most likely 😂) yes. Yes I do write fic for holidays, but for one holiday in particular

For those of you who aren't aware, every year, Xion and I choose a "crackship". Crackship (affectionate), mind you. We think up a pairing, often including characters from different (or wildly different) properties (and sometimes from the same property), that most people wouldn't just consider, and for a whole day we pretend to be number one stans of it (making memes, brainrot posting, posting fic and fanart, the like)

Of course, I don't think I have to say that it backfires each and every time, and that by this point we're well aware that making content is a pipeline to liking the thing, but the point is that every year I write up a fic for a "crackship" I've never or rarely heard about

As for my favorite, I don't think anything can beat the lusid fic for me. 2021, the year of Luxu x Yen Sid was the very first time we tried this, and I don't think I've ever written kissing the same after that (and it was probably the best job I did at this annual game of ours, being that I posted a lot and did it for tumblr and twitter). I think, as funny as the concept of that fic is, it's more dear to me than you'd expect😂

ㅤ

🍦 What's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

Ah that's...really hard

I don't write a lot of fluff, but I wrote a surprising amount of fics with that tag last year.

My initial thought was "A Free Day", the last soriku fic I wrote, but when I think of Soriku I think of how intimately sweet "Alone Time" was despite it being smut first and foremost, and from there I think about "Yozora's Birthday", which has so much sweetness in it. Of course from there I cross the title thread with the opening scenes of "A Free Day" and I think about "Mikleo's Birthday", which (despite being an angst with a happy ending type fic) had such a sweetly domestic opening scene, with Mikleo waking up in bed and Sorey making him french toast

Idk, if I had to designate it by pure fluff factor, "A Free Day" would win, simply because it's one of the few I wrote to be purely fluffy, and the best written of those few. But without that factor I don't think I could choose, because there are so many fic scenes I have (posted and unposted) that tug at my heartstrings to this day

ㅤ

Anyways, thank you again for the ask, dear friend! I'm glad you love seeing me gush because I love having the chance to gush😂💖

(No seriously. I think if anyone started asking me about my writing and my wips it would take a lot out of me to not just let everything slip out, even stuff I have yet to post😂

...that's not discouragement by any means though 😳)

[shakirawastaken]

dsmp if..you were a famous singer!

okay i liteally read @/beeindaclouds stuff ALL THE TIME and got inspired so here it is :D

my official comeback (and it isnt a taylor swift song fic!!! whaaaat) 

dream: - in love with ur music even if wasnt his vibe - bro would learn to like it LMFAOOO - learns all the words instantly its an instant thing - even before u know the words he knows them - is willing to help you write music cause he has some minimal experience! can give feedback but its not that technical - please collab with him and make him release trust issues - now that he’s face revealed hed BUMP at your concerts - hed tweet about ur music, and his spotify twitter account thing would report hes listening to it but i feel like he wouldnt do more than that publicly - wants you to have your own thing  - huge and major fan

george: - more a lowkey fan - obv still supports you hes like that - listens to ur music but not on stream - also tweets about it but its like “go listen to my s/o’s new music:) they worked hard on it” - wants ur effort and talent to be recognized - listens to it and when asked for feedback just goes “it sounds good darling” - hes just like “alr its good like always”

sapnap: - okay he’d either be really similar to george OR hes go HARD - tweeting snapping instagramming streaming whatever social you name hes THERE - “GUYS OMG [ARTIST NAME] RELEASED MORE MUSIC ITS SO GOOD” - would beg george and karl to get you on banter just to talk about your music - and if you write a song about him?? - suddenly his whole world is perfect - “ABOUT ME? OH DOLL THIS IS AMAZING YOUR BEST WORK YET” - buys ur merch even tho ur his s/o - offers his input even if he knows it might not be the best  - would dance to it with you - your NUMBER ONE BIGGEST FAN 

karl: - he’d be so sweet about it - “this is AMAZING? oh my god you’re amazing??!?” - has it as an intro to his streams  - *streaming* “guys that songs is by my s/o btw” - makes mr beast listen to it  - tweets about it. alot - posts one (1) picture on his instargam of the both of you in the studio from when u were recording - loves you loves you loves you

quackity: - covers it on stream and makes it cursed - “HAHAHAH no guys but its actually good go listen to it nOW” - keeps up his joker persona but tells you how hes proud of you in private - vERY supportive - will stay up when ur trying to write (cause hes also up doing lawyer shit) - begs u to do a song in spanish  - if you know spanish pls make it about him - if not dont ask him for help he will ruin it - if you wrote a song like getaway car or like shutdown or mooo hed DEF listen to it in the car  - he loved to listen to ur song while driving it brings him joy - two things he loves together

punz: - listens while playing val LMFAO - would VIBE if u did like indie rap or soemthing - and if it wasnt his vibe? hed still listen cause he wants to support you - maybe not as much as he would have but its fine - cause he likes you a lot - would send you beats randomly be like “lol use this” - “no i dont want too” “babe :((”

wilbur: - POWER . COUPLE - WRITE A SONG WIHT LOVEJOY? WORLD GOES CRAZY - will help you write music. hes good at it too he knows what to do and like what to say - listens to ur music, no matter what it is - wouldnt promotw in much he knows how important it is to build ur own following and + if ur famous u dont need it - u could feature him tbh maybe background vocals or guitar if he was kinda skeptical - or just duet it - its cold outside type beat yk - he loves you and supports you tremendously

LET ME KNOW WHAT ELSE YOU GUYS WANNA SEE :D reqs are open