#The server is also kind of a wip but it's only for some channels

[ace-detectiv3]

Psst, you- yes, you ! You ever just wish there are Cells at Work! themed Discord server you can hang out at? Well you're in luck !! I just opened up a brand new server !! (woah ! ) Here's the link !

It may be small and, well, inactive but I believe it will grow as time passes !

[spnfanficpond]

Weekly Pond Newsletter

If April showers bring May flowers, then please send me more allergy meds because I'm gonna die of a runny nose next month!

Old Business:

The Monthly Prompt(s) - Admin Marie was channeling her inner Trickster and posted this for the prompt on the first day of the month:

(I was kinda digging it but she insisted it was a joke! 🤣)

In all seriousness, though, here's the link to the actual prompt for April. Flowers!!

The Angel Fish Awards - The post for March went up, and this month we had a crack fic get TWO nominations!! Definitely click here to see the list and check it out!

Fishing For Treasures - This weekend is Omegaverse weekend over at the @fanficocean! Head over there for some non-SPN fic recs!

Last week's #TweetFicTues prompts were:

New Business:

Manta Rays in the Discord server - It's going to be a busy week in the Discord server this week! Later today, Manta Ray Arthur will be there, and then Admin Marie will be there on Friday!

SPN Rewatch: Fanfic Edition - Next weekend, we will be discussing episodes 2.03 Bloodlust and 2.04 Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things. If you want to see the kinds of things we've been discussing in our rewatch chats so far, check out The Archive!

Competitive Writing Sprints - Next weekend, Admin Michelle will be hosting some competitive writing sprints! Add words to your WIP and win fabulous prizes! Note: Admin Michelle would be open to making this a special session of sprints by making this a follow-up to the rewatch chat and having everyone write something based on the discussions from Saturday. If so, she would also offer prizes for more than just word count. What do you think?

(Divider by @glygriffe!)

That's all for this week! To see all Pond events, and also other SPN-related things like conventions and online concerts, check out our Google calendar! Click here for a static view in Eastern US/Canada time (desktop only, no mobile app access, sadly), and click here to add our calendar to your own Google calendar! We try to keep it as up-to-date as possible. If there's something you want to see on the calendar that's not there (maybe a convention we missed, cast birthdays, or something similar), send us an ASK and let us know!

Hope you have a great week! - From your Admins and Manta Rays, @manawhaat, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @mariekoukie6661, @thoughtslikeaminefield, and @heavenssexiestangel!

[reserved-system]

Love is Blind [HSBB]

You know that moment when you've known someone for so long that it feels like you've own them forever? That how this fic reads :D It's so light, and fluffy. In this AU Grian is blind and has a massive crush on Scar, whom he shares an apartment building with. How does the rest unfold? You'll have to read the fic and find out yourself!

[Link here!]

Maggiee did such a wonderful job, and was our biggest supporter during this! So let's go show them some love! Another huge shout out to the mods and specifically Dux for putting this event together! Check out the #hsbb 2023 tag for more works and fics like this!

Extras under cut - Wips, rambles, the whole nine yards

Over the course of 2 months, this piece took us nearly 16 and a half HOURS. Up until switching to Procreate I never had an art program that timed how long I worked on something. If CSP has this feature I must've not been able to find it.

The amount of time is pretty stunning to me. I'd say 16 hours isn't that bad! At least by my own standards.

Absolutely shocked by the amount of strokes btw. That's fucking insane.

So for once I actually went at this with a few thumbnail sketches and this was the winner out of the 3 and I blew it up to size and started the finalized sketch.

The funniest thing is I started this right before my art style decided to change so I hope you enjoy the old art style :P <3

So, I did something interesting here. In the past when we would do full pieces we would do a lineless background, so everything besides the characters were painted lineless.

THIS time we decided to line the background with maroon instead of black to help break up the characters from the background so they pop! more and I really like how it turned out and we're happy to say this has carried over into other pieces. :]

I want you to pay attention to Scar's wheelchair in these shots, it's the only thing that changes. I remember doing the shading on the background and main color on the characters all in one night because I was having a bad bout of insomnia and I posted my progress in the artist wip-sharing channel on our event server and looked back at it the next morning and was SO embarrassed I had to fix it. This is also when I changed references.

For some reason I didn't capture any in progress shots of the shading but we did manage to get a few shots of Grumbot. :] He's modeled after a labadoodle! While working on this the team and I discovered that's what they were originally bred for, to be hypoallergenic guide dogs! Isn't that cool!?

[With the source we found here]

My partner and I own a poodle and he was kind enough to be my reference/model. He was well compensated with treats don't worry.

Anyways, thank you for reading our rambles! Whether you're here from a reblog, from the fic itself, or were already following us. I hope you enjoyed! Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the rest of our pieces for the event.

From the Reserved System, Happy HSBB everyone!! <3 <3 <3

[deepestbluesky]

Fic Writer Q&A

i was tagged by @eghfeithrean! thank you, i am going to use this hopefully motivate myself to actually write lol

How many wips do you have currently?

ha.... .haha....... am i even a writer at this point??? okay now that is overdramatic and untrue but i don't think i've seriously worked on any wip that wasn't for an event/exchange in about a year. i'll say somewhere around 10, based on looking at my docs and seeing which ones i still have Ideas about.

Which one are you finding the hardest to finish?

see above... all of them.... idk my motivation to write fic that isn't for events of some kind is basically gone, and i haven't had great luck trying to trick myself into it. however that's depressing as hell, so han ying genders has continued to be hard to finish for years now and that's my answer

What does it usually look like when inspiration strikes for you?

lately i've been yeeting messages into discord! if i have a buddy or a server that it's appropriate for, i'll yeet there (thank you and i'm sorry to minna who gets many of my inspiration yeets) , and if not, i'll yeet into my personal server that is basically just a playground for me (there are. so many one phrase stranger things ideas in a channel there lol)

Do you curate playlists for each fic or is your process different?

i don't curate playlists for each fic!! i will often search for other people's playlists for a vibe or a character or a pairing, or listen to a playlist i have that has the right Feeling for what i'm going for as i write, but i've only made playlists to work on fic to a handful of times (and at least once i outsourced it to remi lmao). but honeslty usually i just listen to whatever i'm already listening to - most music won't distract me from writing.

Do you go balls to the wall and write as you go or are you more organized?

uhhhhhh it depends on how long the story is? i usually have a decent idea about what the story is overall if it's more than one or two scenes, so in that case i'll usually have a quick bullet point summary (or i'll make one if i'm having trouble figuring out what the whole things might be). if it's a shorter fic, i often have a place or idea i'm starting with and then i just Go

Tagging (if you haven’t done it yet and you want to!): @minnarr @rainsfalling @antique-forvalaka @aiyexayen @enter-remiges also anyone else who sees this and wants to participate, do it! you can say i tagged you or you can just do it for fun, up to you!

[horizon-events]

The Horizon Creation Celebration is a celebration of our fandom! Participants will create some type of creative work (fanfiction, illustrations, edits, virtual photography, fanmixes, the possibilities are endless!) to this end. All creations will be posted starting October 15th.

Please read the following rules in their entirety, including the rules for the roles you’re not signing up for!

General Participant Rules

As we will be allowing explicit fanworks for this Big Bang, all participants must be 18+ years of age, without exception.

Participants must be willing to join an invitation-only Event Discord server. Here you will have ready access to mods, other participants, and inspiration activities. When you are accepted into the challenge, you will receive an invitation to the Discord.

All participants are required to treat one another with kindness and respect! No harassment, name-calling, bullying, or ship- or character-bashing will be tolerated. When in doubt, use the Golden Rule. Let’s all be groovy to one another. 

Writer Rules

If you choose to write a fic, the word count minimum is 8,000 words.

The posting platform for fic will be Archive of Our Own. If you do not have an account, a mod will be able to provide you with a code. 

You may not reuse or repurpose fic you have posted before, but you may use WIPs that you have discussed as a starting point.

Please utilize all applicable Archive warnings and choose an appropriate rating for your story’s content, without exception. If you have questions or concerns about warnings and ratings, please contact a mod. Please see our Warnings Policy at the conclusion of the rules.

The challenge is open to canon, canon divergence, alternate universe, and crossover fic. Sequels to previous fics are also allowed, as long as they can be read as standalone stories and adhere to the rest of the guidelines.

Stories may contain romantic elements/pairings/relationships, or none! Both ship fics and gen fics are welcome and equally-celebrated. 

Fics are not required to be posted in their entirety, but you are encouraged to have your story at least 90% finished by your posting date.

If you wish to submit multiple creations, please cap that at two.

Other Creation Rules

There are no limits as to what you can choose to create, as long as the artwork can be submitted electronically. Consider illustration, animatic, mood boards, original music compositions, fanmixes, virtual photography, cosplay, edits, jewelry, and textiles. Get creative!

Graphic or NSFW art will be allowed as part of the HCC. However, if you are collaborating with another user, please check with them to make sure this is welcome. Unsolicited graphic/NSFW art will not be tolerated. All graphic/NSFW art will be posted on tumblr with the good old Modesty Crop.

You must create new art for this challenge–we will not allow reusing or repurposing art that you have posted before, however as with writers, you may be inspired by an unshared WIP.

Creations will be shared on your preferred twitter, tumblr, and/or AO3 - yes you can post other mediums besides fic to AO3!

If you wish to submit multiple creations, please cap that at two.

Beta Reader Rules

Written works are not required to be beta read, though we do encourage you to give any fic a thorough review prior to sharing.

Please respect the time and energy of your beta readers. If they offer edits you do not like or understand, please communicate this with them and try to clarify.

There will be a channel where you can request a beta reader if you would like one. Those agreeing to be a beta reader should cap their particpation at two written works.

Collaboration Rules

You may absolutely collaborate with another creator, whether you do art for a fic, or create something together. Mods will not be facilitating a match process, and you will be required to maintain communication independently from the event. If your partner ceases to communicate with you, please let the mods know so we can adjust your participation status to “solo”.

Check-In Deadline Policy

Check-ins for this event will be used to see how you are progressing. Missing one will only result in a moderator reaching out to you one on one to see if you are still participating.

Dropping Out

Life happens. If you would like to drop out of the challenge, you can do so at any time.

To drop out, send us a Discord message or email horizonbigbang@gmail.com with your intent.

Ghosting is not polite, but we understand it happens. Please do not worry about needing to leave the event.

If you have chosen to collaborate with someone, please be respectful of your partner and let them know you will not be able to continue. If your partner has dropped off and hasn’t let us know, please just shoot us a message!

Warnings Policy

Authors add warnings to fanfiction to let the readers know its content before they make the choice to read. Some content is very triggering for certain readers. Some subject matter simply falls outside of the content a reader enjoys or feels comfortable reading. 

For the Horizon Big Bang, we will require warnings for the following content:

Major Character Death (AO3 Archive Warning) (If the fic contains the Major Character Death)

Underage (AO3 Archive Warning)

Rape/Non-Con (AO3 Archive Warning)

Graphic Depictions of Violence (AO3 Archive Warning)

Child abuse (physical, emotional, or sexual)

Domestic abuse

Incest

Dubious consent

Suicide/suicidal ideation/self-harm

If your fic contains this content and you do not provide a warning, you will be given the opportunity to change your header. If you do not, it will be removed.

We strongly encourage clear tags for the following content:

Kinks (BDSM, A/B/O, breathplay, bloodplay, watersports, scat, etc.–prepare/excite your readers for what they’re going to read!)

Drug/alcohol/substance use

Mental health issues

We also urge writers to tag any romantic pairings that appear in the fic, even those that appear in the background.

Let’s keep the Horizon Creation Celebration a safe space for all to enjoy!

[s-bean200]

NQD fan server/ relisten group!

Hello!!

Have you listened to NQD?

Has the most recent episode left you with the need to scream?

Would you like other people to scream with?

If yes, then do I have the discord server for you!

The NQD relisten group, not only relistens to every new episode, but we also do so much screaming! We share WIPs for art and fanfiction. We scream about theories both in voice chat and text. We brain storm fun headcanons. Whether you join to lurk or to scream along, all are welcome <3!

Some fun details and sneak peeks to tempt you:

Every new member gets to be a stem cell until they know what kind of cell they'd like to be!

We regularly do writing sprints! Whether fic or original work, we all get to help one other work on creative projects!

I plan lots of fun fandom things! I am hoping to start movie nights, gaming, more writing collaboration! (There may even be plans for an NQD Big Bang in the works!). I have plans for a relisten of the whole series once this season ends!

A channel just for the absolutely unhinged shit we all say out of context! A few lovely examples of quotes from me: "Just chew on Neige's existence as a whole. I would also like Eira's brain." // "Let him be a little squishy" // "cicen." // [about fic writing] "it's gonna be mean. and awful. and I'm very excited" and many more!

If you'd like to join, DM me! I promise, I don't bite! (most of the time!)

[andithiel]

Hi, I love your stories so much. Are you writing at the moment? If so, would you like to share a little sneak peek? I love everything you do !

Oh my gosh Nonnie, this ask made me so frikkin' happy you have no idea! I've been feeling a bit down lately with real life (work) and also that I'm constantly doubting my writing abilities and how I haven't been able to write longer stuff for over a year ("longer" in huge quotation marks since my loingest work to date is 28k iirc).

I currently have way too many WIPs (like 20+ I think?) and I'm writing here and there on several of them, because my brain can't focus on one thing at a time right now. But the thing I've been working most on lately, except for my Candy Hearts submissions, is a silly story about Draco getting a vibrator stuck in his arse and Harry being forced to help him get it out. I don't know if you're on the Drarry discord server, but I recently posted a snippet of it there, but I'll post another little sneak peek of it here as well, just for you Nonnie ❤️ (also if you want to come out of anonymity so I can give you a hug feel free to DM me!)

After a moment, Harry had decided he only had one option. “I’ll need to cast an Accio.”

Malfoy immediately tensed up, accidentally clenching around Harry’s fingers, making Harry bite his lip so he wouldn’t start thrusting them. “I absolutely forbid you to poke your wand up my arse, Potter! It’s bad enough that—”

“I’ll do it wandlessly, of course,” Harry snapped. “I’m not stupid. Or a pervert.”

Malfoy’s body didn’t ease the tension the way Harry had thought it would, rather, it was another kind of tension. “You’ll… You’ll do it wandlessly,” he said, sounding a bit breathless, or perhaps that was Harry’s imagination. “Of course you’d know how to do that wandlessly.”

“Unless you have a better option?”

“No it’s—” Malfoy exhaled slowly, shivering a bit, his arse clenching again, forcing Harry to stifle a moan. “I guess beggars can’t be choosers.”

Ignoring him in favour of focusing on the task, Harry tried channelling the spell as forcefully but at the same time as gently as he could, gasping in delight as he felt the vibrator inching closer to his fingers. Malfoy gasped as well, but Harry suspected it was for a different reason than excitement over the spell working.

Hope you like this, Nonnie! Not sure it'll be done anytime soon since I'm very time challenged, but some day, hopefully.

[pink-booty-butts]

🥮 🍘 🍙 (also ur great thank u for ur time)

Omg anon thank you so much for responding!! And omg you're the sweetest!! You're great too anon!! I bet you're amazing and wonderful!! <33

🥮 Do you have any writing milestones you're working toward?

Ooh this is such a great question!! When I first started writing fanfiction for this blog, my goal was to post one fic a week. I've definitely slacked on that, especially since I got discouraged a while ago and haven't written in a hot minute (i'm so sorry guys!!). But one of my goals is to hopefully get back to that! I'm going to attempt to ease back into that so I don't burn myself out, but watch me post like 5 billion fics over spring break lmao

One of my other goals, I suppose this is more short term, is to hopefully post a fic for each of the boys I haven't written for once I finish the requests in my inbox! I'm hoping maybe this will make things more interesting for you guys, or maybe encourage a bit more interaction? Not to sound like an attention whore but highkey I LOVE talking to you guys cos you're all awesome!! So I'm really hoping if I add more variety to my content, you guys will enjoy it more and maybe feel more comfortable saying stuff!

🍘 Is there a fic or idea for a fic that you've abandoned?

Yeah definitely!! I wouldn't say they're abandoned necessarily because I do intend to go back and finish all of them at some point, but currently I have like 3 Ariel fics in my WIP folder where I kinda wrote myself into a corner and I abandoned them because I didn't know how to keep the story going haha. I also have one for Jamie and a chronically ill reader which I wrote before Lying in Laundry, but at the time I thought it was a little awkwardly written so I ended up scrapping it and writing that fic instead. After re-reading it honestly I think it's not that bad and I kinda wanna post it, but I probably need to change some bits I ended up using in Lying in Laundry so they're more different!

As for fic ideas, probably the only one that comes to mind is one on my ideas list about the Reader sending Jamie articles about having a massive dick (lmao hear me out before you judge me!!). That idea was born from seeing articles that literally had titles like "my dick is too big and it ruined my life". There's also a tv special on Channel 4 called "my massive cock" and it's about guys who have dicks that are too big and it causes problems like finding a job and that kind of stuff (i actually haven't watched it, but tbh i probably will to get inspo for this fic lmao).

I still really wanna write something for it because I think it'd be hilarious, but I probably need to think of a bit more substance/a scenario to add to it because as it stands right now it'd probably be a super short fic if I wrote it haha. Also in the Baynton Babes server we always talk about how Jamie has the biggest dick so it seems really fitting for him :p

🍙 Is there a fic you wish had gotten more attention?

I answered this one here! But I would say the fic in the #2 spot is probably Lying in Laundry.

I assume it could be because that fic was too similar to some of the other Jamie fics I've written. I mentioned this in the other post answering these questions but I do try to re-read my fics to avoid this. I think when I was writing this one and re-reading the others I was worried it was too similar/boring, so that's probably part of why it didn't do so great haha

Also I think it probably didn't get that much attention because mentioning "chronically ill reader" in the title probably turned some people off haha. I knew that would probably happen even before I posted it, but I did try to make the reader's chronic illness not a major focal point (i think it's mentioned like once and that's it haha) so it would still be relatable to those without one so it lowkey hurt my feelings lmao </3

But I'm chronically ill and I know there's a few other people in this fandom who are as well, so even if they don't get as much attention as my other fics I will probably still post chronically ill reader fics every now and then because it's important to me for the chronic illness gang to get some representation, even if it's just on my little baby corner of the internet :p

Thank you again for your questions anon!! I appreciate you!! <3

[ussjellyfish]

Ooh! You'll have to excuse my enthusiam becasue I'd love to hear your answers for 💖 (What do you like most about your own writing?),😐 (What embarrasses you most about your own writing?), 😈 (Is there anything you enjoy doing that you think your readers hate?), and *of course* 🖊 (Post a snippet from a current WIP).

I'm going to start with 😐 (What embarrasses you most about your own writing?) because the rest will follow from that I think.

I live in a perpetual state of embarrassment and mild shame that I only write one thing. I am a one trick pony, and even if I've become pretty good at that trick. (perhaps excellent, I do like my ability to do it). (this is sad somewhat sarcastically) I can really only do one thing and it's not a serious thing. It's an embarrassing thing.

I really like to write pregnancy fic. I checked the tags and it's about 20% if I go by number of fics. My long fics (with very small exceptions) are about pregnancy, so really it's like 1.5 million words of my 2.5 million word count. (about 60%) That's embarrassing! So embarrassing. I should write real things that are important. (like plotty dark fic or slow burn and sex).

So I am embarrassed about that often, I'll get a new idea and its inevitably a babyfic idea, but I shouldn't writee it I already have all these babyfics and I should...

but writing is fun and if this is what I want to write, I can let myself be happy. Even if it's embarrassing.

I teach middle school and one of my *very* determined students found my AO3 and he asked me if I felt bad about it and...really it's very tame. It's not something HR would bring me in about. I write pretty vanilla mostly f/f babyfics. So also embarrassing but not really?

😈 (Is there anything you enjoy doing that you think your readers hate?)

I am inevitably writing the *wrong* thing. I've written many different pairings and I kind of go through phases. There's a Stargate Atlantis phase, a Star Trek TNG and Voyager phase, Once Upon a Time phase, Agents of Shield phase, Once Upon a Time again, Star Trek Discovery, Agents of Shield again, and Star Trek Discovery again. (this is where we are now).

Sometimes someone will very politely ask me to write something I haven't written in awhile, and...it's gone. At some point, I really enjoyed that pairing, and now it's just out of my head.

Some readers really hate pregnancy to and I do it a lot. Some people don't want to read about that, which is totally fine!

I was on a discord server where I had to spoil pregnancy and it absolutely was not the intent of the request, but it was such a shame thing. This is bad, you can't talk about it anywhere. Not even the NSFW channels. Most things had a place you could talk abut triggering topics but that one had to be spoiled on the whole server and it just took the fun out of it. I think that's more of a shame than an embarrassment, but they're connected.

I used to write Swan Queen (which is the big pairing in Once Upon a Time) and then I wrote Dragon Queen, which is tiny, and then I had some friends who liked Dragon Outlaw Queeen, and I wrote that, and that was a big thing. That got hate. (not my readers so much but)...that was messy.

I'm getting better at just doing what I want. (My current long fic is a Michael/Laira, so it's a tiny pairing, it's a pregnancy fic, so it's tiny tiny tiny and I love it, so that's what counts.).

💖 (What do you like most about your own writing?)

It made sense to do this one last. I love vulnerability. Frequently, I will see a character and I can't wait to see how she deals with vulnerability. Laira was like that. I was in love with her from the beginning of the season, and then she and Michael where working together, and I kept hoping she'd get injured in the last couple episodes (this was not what it was about and I'm not mad about it, but if it had been Laira gets injured on the bridge I would have been there for it) Episode 10 where she's SO vulnerable emotionally was what made me realize I wanted to write her and Michael, and then @aleksandrachaev wrote them together and damn.

I like exploring vulnerability. Sometimes it's intentional (rare, it's hard to offer to be vulnerable), often it is forced (injuries, illnesses, pregnancy). One of my favorite fics about (former emperor) Philippa, Michael and Tilly has Philippa injured, and balancing how much she cares about Michael and Tilly, how much she hates having them care about her (and actually, they all love each other very much it's just hard to talk about).

I don't know if I'm good at it, but it's what I love the most. Those are the fics of mine I reread. Certain parts of Quantum are my favorites, the fic where Laira's sick on Andoria...little things, and I love them.

(Laira is much easier to look after than Philippa.)

Someone needing to be taken care of and getting it, especially from a village of people who love them is one of my most favorite things about my own writing, and whenever I can do that. I'm happy.

Thank you so much for asking!

fanfic ask game

[terraliensvent]

reblogging this because i really agree with the points this anon made

to be specific to terraliens, the staff has always been terrible with criticism, theyre only just now taking the steps to have more member feedback on decisions through the google forms which i will give points for

but for as long as i can remember with the species, its a very “youre with us or against us” mentality; either you have criticism (and a brain) or you whiteknight for the mods (and there is a LOT of whiteknighting) and the people with criticism usually got dogpiled

remember when the architechals situation first dropped and nobody was allowed to talk about it? when imvibez (the main person who basically said “sooo are we gonna just sweep this under the rug?”) was shut down and even muted in the server for daring to “ruin the positive vibe” like???

as for my personal opinion (yall might hate me for this) i think the terraliens staff and community are just way too sensitive. if you ever have some sort of issue with the way things are run, its “why dont you make a ticket, this shouldnt be discussed here” or “wow this is getting a little heated, we should cut this off,” but frankly i dont think that all criticism should be some quiet thing that happens in the backrooms of the server. if you ever say anything negative about how slow approvals are, or how staff should really be working on the base foundations of the species instead of posting personal art in the staff-wip channel (seriously go check it out, the only real species related stuff theyve posted is just concepts for more dumb forageables nobody asked for), you have SEVERAL people who will leap down your throat at a moments notice: “but they work so harrrrddddd you have no idea how difficulttttt it isssss we love the mods theyre doing such a great jobbbbb,” listen, if you cant handle doing the work required to handle a community like this, then you shouldnt be doing it. running a species is a thing you CHOOSE to do voluntarily, at some point you need to suck it up and accept that shit needs to get done. its like those parents that have a kid and act surprised when a baby is hard work. people need to stop cutting off any sort of critique and stop derailing to suck mod dick, it’s infuriating and just silences people and it means that nothing will ever get better because youre too stuck in your echo chamber to let someone get criticized for once.

its like if you went to your job and you and all your coworkers said “hey i think we should be paid more,” then your boss responds “whoa whoa were kind of getting heated here, why dont you come to my office one by one,” then they can just say no. thats why critiques and discussions should be had out loud and in the open, so others can agree and build on your suggestion, and maybe for those who are too afraid to speak up alone (because lets be fr, terra staff are extremely petty and passive aggressive) will be able to voice their opinion if they know they wont be immediately ostracized

yk, apes together strong and all that

also, another thing that’s tangentially related, gotta love how FAST they quietly took away the suggestion threads that were fought so hard for. just another way they can silence criticism because now, nobody else will see the suggestions besides mods. if someone suggests the perfect solution to a problem, but mods think its too much work to lift their damn fingers and fix it, they can just throw it away and pretend it never existed. fucking amazing.

The main common denominator between species with dedicated vent blogs are staff and owners who shut down any and all feedback and criticism. Another commonality is being ban-happy against members for minor slights.

Wyngro isn’t as relevant now but in my opinion is a perfectly clear example of this. They made major decisions that upset the majority of their community, and instead of listening or compromising, they banned everyone who spoke out. This happened multiple times until the species inevitably lost its community entirely.

I see this echoed with Succubuns and Terraliens most, which are also the CS with the most active dedicated vent blogs.

If you run a species, and you’re afraid of having it come up on vent blogs? The biggest thing you can do is learn to take criticism well. Someone saying they think your species could use more FTO-friendly mechanics isn’t personally attacking you. Someone saying that MYO approvals are too nitpicky and inconsistent isn’t trying to insult you.

Obviously, sometimes, even species that do their best will end up on vent blogs if they piss off the wrong person, but in the end, pissing off one person who posts one vent or leaves your species individually is better than pissing off an entire community to the point where they make a whole dedicated blog to let out the criticism you refuse to accept face-to-face.

🌸

[spnfanficpond]

Weekly Pond Newsletter

We're almost half way through February, which means it's time to celebrate the love we have with our friends on Galentine's Day! Make sure to send your friends only the best fic recs to show them that you care!

Old Business:

The Pond and the Ocean were featured on a podcast! Pond Admin Emeritus @manawhaat, Pond Admin @mrswhozeewhatsis, and @fanficocean Admin @buckys-zomdoll all sat down and chatted with @talltalesandbedtimestories and her cohost, Karlee, at the Idling In The Impala podcast! We talked about how the Pond started, how the Ocean expanded the idea into other fandoms, the kinds of things we do and have to offer, and what we want to do in the future. Click here to check out the podcast and give our episode a listen! Idling is a great podcast that discusses fan fiction and fandom, and even posts podfics! In fact, turning one of your fics into a podfic is now a prize in the Pond Prize Pool!

Admin changes at the Pond. As some of you may have read, @fictionalabyss has stepped down as admin of the Pond for personal reasons. We wish her well and the door is always open for her to return to her position with us. As one door closes, though, another opens in the form of @princessmisery666 becoming an admin! There will be some time while we get her up and running, but be sure to reach out and let her know you're glad she's with us!

The second Competitive Writing Sprints event was a success! All total, 2961 words were written in 40 minutes by three writers, all added to current WIPs! (In spite of kids, cats, and other real life distractions. lol) So far, this format seems to be working, so we're going to keep going like this, for now. We're hoping to schedule these twice a month, at least! Keep your eyes on the Pond's Google calendar to see when the next event is scheduled.

Last week's #TweetFicTues prompt from @writerswritecompany was:

New business:

Louden Swain concert on stageit on Friday! Louden Swain, the band headed by Rob Benedict, aka Chuck Shurley on SPN, and also known as the house band for Creation SPN conventions, will be performing on stageit to kick off the weekend. Click here to learn more and buy a ticket!

Fishing for Treasures weekend at the Pond is next weekend! This month, we're celebrating your smuttiest fics. Send us the smuttiest of the smutty from your masterlist and we'll reblog them all weekend long! To submit, you can either use the ask/submit buttons, or drop a link in the #fishing-for-treasures channel in the discord server. The deadline to have hem to us is midnight Friday, Eastern US/Canada time.

Steve Carlson concert on stageit next Sunday! Steve is also known as the other half of Radio Company, the band our Jensen Ackles formed a few years ago and performed with back in December in Nashville. Steve is wildly talented, playing dozens of instruments and writing all of his own songs, as well as writing with Jensen for Radio Company. Click here to learn more and buy a ticket to the show!

Evaluating your place in the Pond. Have you been a member for a while and you can't remember if you're a Guppy or a Jelly Fish? Or maybe you're a Jelly Fish thinking you'd like to take on some responsibility and become a Manta Ray? If you think maybe you're up for a change, you can check our our member list here to see where you are, then read this post about our different categories, and decide if you're ready to move up. If you are, simply send us an ask, or DM an admin (@mrswhozeewhatsis, @mariekoukie6661, or @princessmisery666) and let us know!

(Divider by @glygriffe!)

That's all for this week! To see all Pond events, and also other SPN-related things like conventions and online concerts, check out our Google calendar! We try to keep it as up to date as possible. If there's something you want to see on the calendar that's not there (maybe a convention we missed, or cast birthdays, or something similar), send us an ASK and let us know!

Hope you have a great week! - From your admins, @manawhaat, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @mariekoukie6661, @princessmisery666, and @thoughtslikeaminefield!

[hkblack]

Where to Find a Beta Reader

Happy Sunday! A few people reached out about this topic, and happily it was already on my list! Here's my list of resources on where to go to find a beta-reader

Fandom Discord Servers

This is my favorite. Almost every fandom discord server I am currently in has a beta readers role that folks can opt into, or a channel specifically meant for finding beta readers. I only beta read fandoms I am in, because for me it’s part of the hobby/joy. So, I tend to only take requests from these servers. This also helps me cheat in a way, because if there’s any kind of WIP sharing channel, I can peek to see what kind of style of writing a person has before committing to their fic (remember how I said I’m bad about asking before volunteering? Sneaking a peek at works in other channels is usually why I skip that part). I lurk in the majority of servers I’m in, but when a beta request goes out, I’ve got my notifications set up so that I see those fast. If you’re in a server—use that built in community of people who already have said they like doing beta-reading! And if you have opted-in to that beta-reading role in your server—start responding! Even if someone else has already volunteered, offer a second look. Beta-readers are like therapists—not every match is made in Heaven, and it can take a few tries to find the right reader for you/your fic. Even if the writer says “no, I’m actually good with this person, thanks though!” you’ve just let everyone else know that there is more than one person available, so that if they also need a beta-reader, they can speak up and snag you.

On Tumblr

@needabeta has an excellent giant searchable Google Sheet. If you are a reader you can fill out their form and get added to the sheet (and I encourage you all to do so!)

As a test for this post I searched Tumblr for "beta reader" and a variety of fandoms. Most of the posts that populated were folks looking for beta readers, some posts were people praising their beta readers (and oh does that make my heart happy), but a few of those posts were folks who had free time opening up and were actively looking for things to beta. So it might be worth a shot if you're out of other options.

I was recommending @betareaderwanted for a while, but it appears their last post was in October 2020, so if anyone knows what's going on with that resource send a line! There's no such thing as too many beta-reading resources.

Off Tumblr

Tumblr seems to be the better place to go if you're looking for fandom-specific beta readers. Twitter and other sites tend to skew more towards original writing, which if that's your thing, go forth! I only do fandom-beta-reading, so for now that's what this post will focus on. (but if you've got good resources, send them along)

That said, I also really recommend r/FanFiction on Reddit. They have a weekly Beta-Reader bartering thread. Fun fact, when I was getting my toes back into fandom, my first few beta-readers were from this bartering thread, and they were both excellent. Because of them I was able to take my time in exploring what fandom looks like in this, the year 2022, compared to what I left back in—well. A while ago. 😉 I think only one of the beta-readers had any knowledge of the fandom I was writing in, so it will be hit or miss on what they are able to help you with outside of SPAG, but it helped me take my time exploring the right fandom Discord servers and other fandom spaces for me.

Finally, and this is on Tumblr, but I’m pulling this out in its own special section:

The 2022 Fandom Trumps Hate fanworks auction is coming up.

Creator signups run from Jan. 31 to Feb 13, and Bidding beginnings Feb 23 and runs through Feb 27th. This auction supports some really amazing charities and I have to admit, I got unreasonably excited when I found out about it.

One of the categories is “fan labor” which includes beta-ing, region-picking, and other experts offering advice. Personally, I will be signing up this year in that fan labor category for beta-reading.

You can learn more about @fandomtrumpshate by visiting their tumblr, and/or this FAQ post for the 2022 Auction.

If you’re looking for a beta-reader, especially for that really big giant work you forgot to grab someone to start reading before it grew into a beast (excuse me while I hide my shame), it might be worth checking out who else signs up and what services they’re offering! You should also consider signing up in a category you feel comfortable in to help support some organizations that need it!

If you have more resources to add to this list, or topics/questions you'd like to see answered on this blog, the ask box is always open!!

[drv3giftexchangeclub]

About the Exchange

Welcome to the Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony gift exchange! This is a fandom event for fans DRV3 to exchange anonymous gifts. New exchanges are ran at the discretion of the head admin, so keep an eye out for updates!

- - GENERAL EVENT GUIDELINES - -

This event is for DRV3. While you are allowed to request crossover content with other Danganronpa games and other pieces of media in general, please keep keep the focus on DRV3.

Works don't necessarily need to stick to the theme of the exchange. Feel free to get creative!

Be respectful of others' ships and headcanons. You do not have to make anything you are uncomfortable with, but please be kind about others' preferences.

Please do not share who you are matched with, and be careful who you share WIPs with. If you do choose to share WIPs, share them privately and not with your match. This is a surprise gift exchange!

If you want to clarify certain details with your match, or have any other concerns, please contact the mods either here or on discord. Do not contact your match directly.

Joining the discord server is mandatory. You do not have to be active or chat with others. As long as you have joined, given yourself the appropriate roles, and watch for announcements/check-ins, that is enough!

- - HOW DO I JOIN? - -

This event is free for anyone to join, as long as you fill out the matching form before the deadline. Once the form has been processed, you will be emailed an invite to the discord server with the other participants.

- - CREATION GUIDELINES - -

All pieces created must be SFW. No NSFW is allowed for this exchange.

Artists: Pieces must be fully polished creations, though some exceptions can be made for complicated works.

Writers: Pieces must be at least 1000 words in length.

These are only minimum expectations. Please create longer and/or more elaborate works if you can within the time frame!

- - HOW WILL MATCHING WORK? - -

Participants will be matched based on what they would like to create and what they would like to receive. We will try our best to make sure that the preferences for what you would like to create line up as closely as possible with your match’s preferences for what they would like to receive.

- - WHEN CAN I SHARE MY WORK? - -

Your gifts can be shared publicly starting on the Exchange Day for the given period of time, which will vary depending on the schedule. Check the guidelines for the most recent event for more specifics on the schedule.

Please post your gifts on tumblr and tag us (@drv3giftexchange) and use the tag #drv3giftexchange so we can find and reblog your work! A channel will also open on the discord server to share your works there as well.

If you post your work to AO3, you can also add it to the collection for that exchange. More info will be in the guidelines for the most recent event.

- - WHAT IF I NEED TO DROP OUT? - -

It's totally understandable if you need to drop out of this event! Life gets in the way, and we all have other things going on. That said, if you need to drop out, please let us know as soon as possible so we have time to reorganize.

[cemitadepollo]

Don't worry dude, I believe you, you don't gotta prove yourself to me because I was there too and I am also upset by it. /gen

I am very openly proship and I don't care what people do with fiction as long as it stays that way, but what bothers me with Geuse's actions is mostly the harassment (proshippers are literally against harassment) and my take on minors and nsfw artwork is kind of complicated, but I still think that Geuse shouldn't have encouraged certain types of artwork. /srs

The intent of the following part of this post is nothing but my own experience with Geuse.

A group of people that I met in Geuse's second server and I made a separate group for NSFW art. I remember sending some art I did there with the confidence that none of the people there were underage, since the nature of the server made me think it was 18+ only. Turns out that one of them was a young minor much to my horror, I was almost 18 back then and you can imagine my absolute horror. That's how I found out that the rumours about minors roaming his nsfw channels were true. I still don't know how many other minors were there, both in the server, in the NSFW art chat, or how many of the people I chatted with in my DMs with were minors (nothing of interpersonal sexual nature happened there, but some people sent me WIPs of NSFW fanfics they were writing for me to review. To the date of today, I still don't know the age of those people), I swear I didn't know and I trusted Geuse's good judgement too much, but fuck do I feel like shit about it. The way Geuse spoke about the situation made me think he was a reasonable guy and that he didn't allow minors in the server, but well, now we know that's a lie. /srs

Much like you, I regret having trusted his management of the people he kept in the server, and I regret having believed that he was actually defending himself against Pinecat due to the lack of information I had managed to find. I feel guilty and honestly angry for having been so dumb and for having trusted him. /gen

If anyone wants me to provide any proof or evidence of what I've said, I'm more than willing to cooperate. To anyone interested, my Discord is hollyander and I'm willing to chat and talk this out.

I was thinking about doing some sort of video essay about the puritanism problem inside the Warrior Cats community, especially after the whole Geuse issue.

Don't get me wrong, I know Geuse didn't handle some things well. I want to touch the subject because this was just a single manifestation of a whole annoying problem the fandom has, and a lot of things about that situation would have been avoided if antis had kept their hands off content that they knew would anger them.

I don't know if I should make it though. It's not my reputation what worries me, I'd be more than glad to get the point across of where my stance on this issues is out there. It's more of a "I don't want to get fucking doxxed" thing, you know??

[vendetta-if]

WHAT? I always thought I was the only one from Indonesia who played games like this, so surprised to see that the authors of some of my favorite games are from the same country.

If I may ask, does you know where to find other Indonesians? I thought it would be fun to share experiences and game recommendations together regardless of grammar :)

I also didn’t expect so much of my readers are from Indonesia 🥰

As for authors, the only Indonesian ones I know so far are the authors of “Breach: The Archangel Job” and “Mage Reborn”. And I’m sorry, but I don’t really know where to find other Indonesians or whether there is some kind of group chat where Indonesian members of the IF community can gather and discuss stuff.

Although, I’m currently planning to make a discord server for “Vendetta” after I publish Chapter 2 (still gotta research on how to make one properly since I still don’t understand discord that much 😂). I’ll certainly make a channel in the server where readers will be able to discuss and talk about other IFs and WIPs, so hopefully, you’ll be able to find some more Indonesians in the community there? And if there are enough, I can maybe make a separate channel there if you guys want to discuss stuff in Bahasa Indonesia 💖

[paradoxlemonade]

Made up fic name? Mayhaps "It takes one to know one"? :D

Ooo, definitely getting the vibes of bonding here.

I'm an angst writer, so my thought is a character with deep-seated trauma hiding their past, and a different traumatized character seeing through their facade with ease.

I'm a whore for Joe Hills Super Hostile: Legendary trauma so he's definitely involved.

The easy thing to do for the timeline would be watcher Grian angst *Side eyes one of my wips* but I have an alternative concept!

A *lot* of hermits have played super hostile back in the day, but for this I'm picking Xisuma for his friendship with Joe :]

If you go back and check the first super hostile upload on Joe's channel, it was uploaded approximately 11 years ago. The first super hostile upload on Xisuma's channel was 10 years ago.

Unless a different AU requires alternative world building, my interpretation of vex and super hostile in the context of a Minecraft fantasy world is that Veches (pronounced "Vex", unless you are Joe Hills, who pronounces it Vetch-iz) is a trickster god who either kidnaps or lures players in to his death games for his own amusement. Respawn is infinite and painful unless the player gives up. One must actually reach the goal provided to escape. It is never impossible, but also never kind. There is no glory in it—only the painful unwillingness to lay down and die.

So Joe gets invited to a brand new world an amount of time not too big or small after his tangle with Veches and Super Hostile: Legendary. It's been enough time that he doesn't use dying and respawning as a cornerstone of his survival strategy anymore, but still jumps and pulls a sword on anyone who startles him.

He meets the admin of the new world he was wary to join—a man now-since gone—and a soft-spoken man with a kind demeanor despite the intimidating appearance. It's Hermitcraft season one, and everything is novel.

Joe and Xisuma grow closer as server mates and then friends, but Joe notices some peculiar traits in his new friend: the man is jumpy and easily frightened, but quick on the draw. He appears to crave closeness while also not knowing what to do with it. Xisuma and Joe fall into line with each other, echoing and reflecting the other's mannerisms.

Joe wonders if they've both met Veches.

He doesn't ask.

Not until he discovers Xisuma having a panic attack.

Joe helps calm him down (working himself up in the process) until he's able to get coherent sentences from his friend. Xisuma mentions super hostile in his ramblings and Joe Hills' stomach drops.

They're the same. Joe wouldn't wish Super Hostile on his enemies, let alone a kind friend like X.

Something something hurt/comfort, something something bonding over shared trauma. Something something hopeful ending that implies they get better and recover from their trauma together during their years with Hermitcraft server.