#Those scenes are too good to limit it to 6 or 7 scenes in one gifset

[ladykailitha]

Well Met By Moonlight Part 20

When I first started this story a year ago the only goal in mind was to get a sexy blood drinking scene between Steve and Eddie. Which yay! I achieved TWICE!

But then the story began to grow and twist and things kept getting more and more interesting. Plot deepened, twists turned sharper and characters began to take shape.

I'm grateful to everyone who held on this one even as interest for it waned. I'm happy that it started to gain more interest again at the end, because that's what kept me going all the way to the end.

I'm currently having someone read it (not in the ST fandom) to see if they think it has the potential to be an original fiction that could be published. I know she loved the story, but I have gotten back all her notes yet. So we'll see.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19

~

“It’s good thing that worked,” Brian said scratching the back his neck sheepishly. “I wasn’t sure my song worked on werewolves.”

“It doesn’t work on selkies?” Nancy asked.

Brian just shrugged.

“We were under water,” Barb explained, “we didn’t hear the song.”

Nancy eyed her suspiciously, but wisely said nothing to her friend.

“So now that everyone’s lives are no longer in danger,” Wayne said dryly. “You want to explain the whole ‘they don’t belong here’ statement?”

Nancy jumped at suddenly be addressed. “Oh, right! I knew there had to be more to the story than what the newspaper and the VHS report said.”

“Video Home System?” Jeff asked in confusion.

Wayne snorted and Eddie badly hid his grin.

“That’s what I said!” Eddie crowed.

Nancy rolled her eyes and decided to ignore the idiot vampires. “Van Helsing Society. They’re a secret police force that investigates these types of things.”

Alexei slowly inched out of the boathouse and everyone kept their eye on him.

“Dr. Brenner was doing a lot of experiments and not just on werewolves. He was looking into other dimensions as well.”

“What was the point of it all?” Steve asked.

Chrissy landed on the beach and said, “He was trying to create the perfect supernatural being. One without any limitations at all. But he didn’t want keep using people from our world to do it because it would raise too many questions. So he was opening worlds and pulling out test subjects. But always werewolves.”

“That’s insane!” Steve cried. “You have to see how insane that is, right?”

Chrissy nodded. “When the cat sìth arrived at the Creel House to tell us of our Dominus’s death, I started looking into the previous Dominus’s experiments thinking it had answers to what was going on in this town. I was right and disgusted.”

Nancy nodded. “They,” she jutted her chin at Alexei and Murray, “are the ones that survived because at the same time they were brought over, Dr. Brenner was being investigated by VHS and had to stop temporarily, so they slipped into the wide world accidentally. This world’s Dr. Oborin killed those kids because they were teasing this world’s Mr. Bauman’s baldness. But when they saw the two that looked exactly them, they hatched a plan to use them as scapegoats and are currently on the run in Mexico.”

“Who told you all this?” Jonathan asked, speaking for the first time.

“I did,” and final person emerged from the tree line.

“Sam...” Wayne said warningly. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“That’s actually a funny story,” Sam said sheepishly. “So apparently our investigations did overlap?”

“Sam...”

“Right,” Sam said with a grimace. “Do you mind if I take over the story from here?” he asked Nancy.

She waved her hand at him. “Go ahead. I’m interested to hear what more you may have gleaned.”

“So my original investigation was whether or not there was a descendant of the original Karl Van Helsing from the female line was in the Harrington pack,” he said with a wince.

Steve frowned. “What does ‘female line’ mean?”

“There is the male line,” Sam explained, “where you keep the last name. Harrington for example. You are a descendant of the original pack leader, Clarence Harrington. That is the male line. The female line is when, let’s continue using Harrington as an example, say Clarence had two sons and a daughter. The daughter marries and has children. Those children are still related to Clarence but their last name has changed.”

“You think Greta had children?” Wayne asked incredulously. “Because like hell she did.”

Sam shook his head. “No, not Greta. Her aunt Vanessa, who married Peter Kincade.”

Dread pooled in Wayne’s stomach. He knew that name because he had been trying to find out why Murray would murder a non-werewolf. Not that he knew it was Murray at the time. Peter Kincade was Allison Harrington’s great, great, great, great, great however many it was grandfather.

“When Benjamin Kincade was murdered and subsequently his daughter and husband,” Sam continued, “the blood was sent to our lab by an anonymous source, a source we now believe to Dr. Alexei Oborin.”

The assembled turned to the doctor who was now cradling his mate to his chest. He stroked Murray’s head. “I didn’t like all the murder. I found a neater way to get Harrington out of the pack. Show the VHS that he was their missing link and he’d be whisked away and have experiments done on him so they can strengthen their ranks. Then you’d be alpha, my love.”

Murray whimpered.

“I’m sorry,” Alexei whispered back. “They didn’t move fast enough.”

“So that’s how it intersects,” Eddie said. “If Murray hadn’t killed the Harringtons and Mr. Kincade, you’d never had been in town looking for Steve.”

“It would have been easier,” Sam agreed, “but there is some really power magic on Steve that prevents VHS agents from being able to detect him. And it is absolutely due to his Van Helsing blood. They were purported to have all sorts of abilities and immunities that made them perfect watchmen of the supernatural communities. The blood magic used to create the spells that will protect an agent makes it impossible to mate with supernatural creatures.” Wayne bristled, but Sam held up his hand. “Note I said mate, not couple. It’s the act of producing a child that is disastrous.”

“Why’s that?” Barb asked from the dock, still the only part of her that was human was her head. “Supernatural creatures mate with humans all the time. I mean some times it can have some pretty strange results, but no one would call them disastrous.”

“It’s the anti-magic of the spells used and the innate magic of the supernatural being mixing and slowly driving the poor child insane,” Sam said, looking side-long at Steve. “We actually had long suspected Steve might have some connection to the Helsings because–”

“Because he should have gone crazy twice!” Eddie said with a gasp. “The first time was when he changed for the first time at age eighteen. The Franklins were banking on him going off the rails so they could paint him some rabid beast that needed to be put down. But he was lucid.”

“And then again when the Hunters tried to kill him,” Nancy finished. “He should have gone mad from the amount of silver he had on him. Even for that short a time. Being alpha would have only protected him so much.”

Steve pointed to himself in shock. “What? Me? There’s no way, there has to be another explanation.”

Wayne shook his head. “Nope. You’re the descendant of two very powerful lines, Steve.”

“Back to the problem of Murray and Alexei,” Brian said, raising his hand. “Because Steve is cool and all, but all this new information doesn’t really change that. It just confirms what smart people have known for years.”

Steve blushed.

“They can’t be in this world anymore,” Sam said, sadly. “Their very presence is what’s causing the sharp increase in supernatural suspicion in the normal populous. The whole being just out of step is sending out shock waves across the world that they’re dangerous.”

“I understand,” Alexei said, “I always knew there was no place for us anywhere.” He leaned over to kiss Murray.

“Maybe we can–” Nancy began when two gunshots went off in quick succession.

Then Alexei slumped over Murray’s body. There was no doubt what had happened. Alexei must have picked up the gun when Chrissy landed. Then he shot Murray, finishing the job that Robin had started then turned the gun on himself.

BA-DUM! BA! DUM!

“Oh,” Robin said softly. “Now that they’re dead you can actually feel the difference.”

Nancy let out a frustrated whine and stomped her foot. “I was going to suggest finding a way to send them home. Not for them to die.”

Sam came over and put his hand on her shoulder. “This is was the best. Even though they were innocent of the original crime of killing the kids, Dr. Alexei Oborin killed the Hunters in his own universe and then all the deaths on Murray Bauman’s hands are far too many. To merely send them back would be a grave miscarriage of justice.”

Her lip quivered, but she nodded. It galled her. If they hadn’t been pulled here by Dr. Brenner than they would be lauded as heroes in their home world, only to be branded villains in this one. But they had caused so much harm.

Sam turned to Steve. “So about that linage...you are wasted here as a mere alpha. You could head the entire Van Helsing Society. You would be incandescent there.”

Steve shook his head. “No. This is where I want to be.”

Eddie let out a little whine of relief and even the golden wolf that was Robin looked relieved.

“I am making Robin Buckley my female alpha,” he continued. Nancy let out a breath of relief of her own. “I’m changing the name of the pack to the Roane County pack. No more Harrington crap. I am the last and it will end with me. Same goes with the Van Helsing line.”

Sam’s eyes nearly burst out of his head with that. “You can’t mean that, surely!”

Steve shook his head. “I can. I will donate a single vial of my blood to the Society and allow you to test the limits of my abilities for one week a year, but the rest of the time I will be here. Taking care of the people who matter most to me. On one condition.”

Sam’s hands were clenched in rage. “You dare to make even more demands?!”

“Yes,” Steve said coolly. “The Society will come out of the shadows. You lot being a secret society is precisely why there is rise in Hunters. If people knew there was an actual policing body that would bring rogue cryptids to heel, they would be less likely to want to take matters into their own hands.”

Wayne and Sam shared a look of shock between them.

“Oh.” Sam gulped heavily. “Deal.”

Steve shook his hand, then he turned to Chrissy. “I’m assuming you’re the new Dominus.”

Chrissy blinked. “Oh shit. I guess I am.”

“Good,” he said primly. “We’ll meet later in the week to find you a new home and to lay out a new treaty between the Coven and Pack.”

She nodded gravely. “It will be done, Alpha.” She turned to Jeff. “Come, we need to find places for our Coven in the mean time.”

Jeff nodded and they both transformed and flew off into the air.

“Robin,” Steve said, turning to his new alpha female. “Take the rest of the pack back to the compound and explain everything that has gone on. Let them know I will be back shortly to reassure them. I will mete out Tommy’s punishment when I get there.”

The golden wolf nodded solemnly. Nancy and Hopper changed back into wolves. Tommy climbed back on Hopper’s back and then looked behind him at Steve. He had misjudged everything and no he must pay the price. Then they followed her back to the compound, Jonathan bringing up the rear.

Steve walked up to Barb and Brian. “The Roane County Pack owes the sirens and selkies a debt of gratitude. Name it and if it’s in the power of this alpha it will be yours.”

Brian and Barb looked at each other and then they both shook their heads.

“You continuing to advocate for us will be a far great boon then any other thing you could do for us, alpha,” Barb said sternly.

Steve nodded.

Brian reach out and took Barb’s flipper in his hand. “Plus, there’s this, too.”

Gareth and Eddie let out wolf whistles.

Brian blushed, but Barb smiled softly.

“Yes, this is a good reward as well,” she murmured. She removed her hand from her skin and took his hand.

Brian smiled up at her. They both transformed again. She slipped under the water as Brian flew over it, humming to himself.

Steve turned back to the remaining four. He walked up to Gareth.

“What is it the gwyllgi want?” Steve asked, getting down on one knee so he could look the large black dog in the eye. No preamble. Just straight to the point. He knew the Graveyard dogs had a lot of grievances against his pack and he was going to change that starting now.

“Agree to meet with my father to work out restitution for our pack,” Gareth said seriously.

“Done,” Steve said, bowing his head. “I will make sure Robin contacts him for a meeting.”

Gareth shuffled forward and hugged Steve with his neck. “You’re a good alpha and a better man.”

Steve pinched his nose and then rubbed the end. “Thank you, Gareth.”

Gareth loped over to Eddie. “You take good care of him, won’t you? He tends to get caught up in his head sometimes.”

Eddie nodded, giving a watery chuckle. “Just whose friend are you, mine or his?”

Gareth tilted his head to the side.

“Both.”

The dog turned and vanished into the tree line.

Wayne turned to Steve. “I’m thinking of retiring from this whole supernatural guardianship. I’m going to let Eddie take over. I’m getting too old for this shit.”

Sam let out a sound that was combination between a whine and clearing his throat. “If I–I mean, if I haven’t completely ruined things between us. I–”

“Just spit it out, Sam,” Wayne growled.

“This was my last investigation for the Society,” Sam said, looking down at his feet. “I told them after our last meeting. I hate lying to you. It kills me every time. So I want to spend my time with you. If you’ll have me.”

Wayne huffed and then grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him in close. “You’ve got a lot grovelling to do. And I have a long list of ways you can start making it up to me.”

Sam eyes went wide at the low sultry tone. “Oh. I am very willing.”

Wayne transformed and flew off with his arm securely around his waist.

“Gross,” Eddie sniffed.

Steve pulled him into his embrace. “I too have a list of things, but mine is more about the lovely things I want you to do me.”

“Ooh, I do like the sound of that, big boy,” Eddie said with a feral grin. “And I’m pretty sure my uncle won’t be at the trailer for awhile.”

“I like the way you think,” Steve pulled him in for a long kiss. “I’ll meet you there. I just have make sure Robin hasn’t set the compound on fire and then I’ll be right there.”

“Are you sure you want her as your alpha?” Eddie asked with a chuckle.

“Yeah, she’ll be fine once she gets over her nerves,” he said with a smile. “Plus no one will be asking if we are going to mate. Having a lesbian best friend really does have its perks. You don't have to come with.”

Eddie through his head back and laughed. “Nah, I’ll come with. I want to see their faces.”

Steve smiled and took Eddie’s hand.

They walked past Lucas, who was on guard duty, hand in hand, a werewolf and a vampire. Both once outcasts even in their own communities, now leaders in their own right.

Steve smiled.

The future never looked brighter.

~

Tag List: COMPLETE

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @goodolefashionedloverboi

3- @fullpoetrybread @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @bookworm0690 @littlewildflowerkitten @just-a-tiny-void @potato-of-the-lord @thelittleclare

5- @goosesister @tinyplanet95 @she-collects-smut @irregular-child @y4r3luv

6- @fairytalesreality @anaibis @papergrenade @ravenfrog @blondie1006

7- @thedragonsaunt @sadisticaltarts @kultiras @blackpanzy @disrespectedgoatman

8- @kal-ology @w1ll0wtr33 @townseleven @dreamercec

[buf309]

Pose Reference Resources

I promised Dia (aka aerequets) that I will make a collection of pose references in the reply of one of her art posts, and then I completely forgot about it. Until now. I'm sorry for my bad memory.

So, yeah, better late than never I guess?

The pose collection I use the most is no longer free. They used to let you download a whole album (more than 8GB worth of data) to use offline, but now you have to pay $40/package or $200 for full sets. I still have the zip file for a very old version of theirs, but I can't legally share it. So, let's skip to the other options.

1/ First, you heard of those 3D dolls program that let you model your own reference pose? This one is an online one and for free, the whole ordeal. Of course since it's online and free, you can't save your model for next time, and it costs quite a lot of time to set the model up. So, you should take as much screenshots in as many tricky angles as you need once you done with the setting. Best using for complicated scenes where those below don't have what you need already available.

2/ This one is free and in 3D, you can rotate the model to any angle that you need. The only set back is the numbers of poses are quite limited. This one is best for using as a basic blocks then build up what you want to draw, or just as a practice to improve your understanding of human anatomy.

3/ This one is free for personal uses and the pose collection is massive. The setbacks are the language barrier (it's in Japanese, English is sometimes tag-a-long) and you have to search through their pages for what you need. The pics for each pose is static but they are in different angle in almost 360 degrees. There are many 2-person and 3-person poses too. Great for illustration inspiration.

4/ This one will only show reference photos of human head, at whatever angle you rotate the model. The web interface is easy to use. There are options like searching based on gender, ages, emotions, glasses, facial hair or not, etc. Good for practicing face drawing.

5/ This one will show reference photos for human body parts, at whatever angle you rotate the model, read the instructions for how to do it. The web interface is quite hard to use at first, just tinkering around for a bit, and you will be fine. There are options like searching based on gender and which particular parts that you need refs for. Good for that moment when you go "huh? how is this <body part> will look in this <situation>????"

6/ This one will only show reference photos of animal heads, and only the head, at whatever angle you rotate the model. The accurate skull refencence list is their best point. There are enough common species in the drop down list. Tbh, I don't use this much because I often need refs for the whole animal most of the time. But it's best for furry artists, I guess?

7/ Real model photos. They sell pose reference in themed packs, but there are enough free packs to use as drawing practice too.

8/ This is the best for general background reference. Lots of options. Not really good for very specific location results, but good for random background in drawings.

9/ Lastly, for specific objects or background references at strange angles, I often search for 3D models on this site then take screenshots of whatever I need.

That's all, folks. Hope this list can help ease some of the struggles that we will encounter on our quest of learning the art of drawing things 😂

[campgender]

i was scrolling your “life is in your home too” tag, which I love btw, and saw a post about how you learned to be a good dom from experienced expert doms by reading how they dom and some of their best scenes, do you think you could point me in the direction of some resources for me to study that too? thanks in advance, if not, thanks anyway!

(post referenced is here - link 1)

first of all tysm for this ask (+ your incredibly kind follow-up), it was a delight to receive + i’ve been wanting an excuse to talk about a lot of this for a while so i very much appreciate the interest!

as always please keep in mind that i am Just Some Fem, nothing is universal including when it comes to D/s & i can only speak to what works for me. i try to focus on starting points rather than specifics but ultimately my advice will always be limited by what i needed to hear & wasn’t told, which may not be what’s helpful for a different person. with that being said, here’s some suggestions!

i’ve posted a previous reading list (link 2) with relevant recs; particularly the practicality + sex writing sections have the kind of thing you’re looking for. specifically, The New Topping Book (2003) is a solid starting point; i definitely have my issues with it (haven’t read it recently enough to recall many specifics but i have the sense of general pervasive racism & ableism) but it did a good job at making me think & i appreciate the supportive tone they were going for

another book added to my tbr since then is Coming to Power (link 3), released by SAMOIS in 1983

other authors whose sex writing has been influential in my life: Sandra Cisneros, Natalie Diaz, Joan Nestle, Judy Grahn

the fic At The End of His Rope by Letterblade (link 4) is genuinely some of my favorite sex writing of all time & accomplishes the incredibly impressive feat of representing a broad array of dom styles & changes over time in the same piece

my “impurity culture” tag (link 5) houses the building blocks of my sexual ethic

i’ve found many of those foundations by poking around the incredible bodies of work original & archived @newsmutproject @woman-loving @gatheringbones

for me, studying sex is the same as studying poetry – reading for craft is a different process than for pleasure (not that there isn’t a great deal of pleasure to be found in such practice, especially for sadists – perhaps that’s why as a child i never resonated with Billy Collins’ “Introduction to Poetry,” like i love tying poems to chairs & beating them idk what to tell you). so, keeping in mind that these are suggestions not requirements, here’s how i read for + work on craft:

there is no such thing as too much journaling. this can take whatever form you prefer – voice memo, discord message to yourself, the noble notes app, your own personal sexy red string corkboard, a vast & stunning array of other approaches i can’t even begin to imagine. i personally have an elaborate web of spreadsheets & google docs lmao. what matters is developing a collection of ideas you want to play with + a practice of continually reflecting on past experiences.

pay attention to structure, not just content. find a scene you think is disjointed and pick at the seams, brainstorm better transitions. then find a scene that flows so smoothly it carries you with it and figure out what makes it work.

rewrite a scene you’re drawn to or affected by to suit your own preferences. i first did this when i couldn’t shake “Interlude 3” (link 6) from my head after reading The New Topping Book; you can read my variation on the theme here (link 7) if you’re interested.

write or think through a scene fantasy you have from negotiation to aftercare. obviously it’s very difficult if not impossible to fully script a scene in advance; the purpose isn’t planning something you’ll later do but rather getting used to coming up with ideas to get from one disparate moment / act to the next.

revisit a scene you’ve read, written, thought about, etc and list the physical & mental acts that are required / expected of the sub (eg, kneeling for 10 minutes; making eye contact; counting to 30, etc). then rework the scene for a sub who has the same interests & goals who cannot do 20% (or 50%, or any) of these acts.

revisit a previous scene and list the places where you think a sub might safeword & why. then rework it with the sub safewording somewhere that isn’t any of these places.

i also recommend keeping in mind that like… for me, reading about ethical sex can often be a very distressing process for the same reason that it’s liberating: because it proves that things i’ve experienced are not the way sex has to be. i’ll tell this story in its fullness one day but the first time i read S/HE by Minnie Bruce Pratt i literally had a flashback to events i’d repressed for years, it was devastating, i’m so grateful for it. hell, in the process of compiling resources for this post i cried twice editing this quote (link 8) because between reading that book the first time & now someone did “respond with scorn or ridicule” when i safeworded. so i would really encourage folks to approach this kind of work with as much grace & comfort for yourself as you can muster or borrow – if it’s really fucking hard, you’re not alone in that, & it’s okay to take your time + pace yourself + seek support.

your + others’ interest is definitely motivating me to actually write posts i’ve been tossing around for months so thank you again & feel free to keep an eye out for more shut-in sex tips in my new “tomorrow sexting will be good again” tag. would love to hear your thoughts on any of this post / these or other books / whatever really lol. wishing you all the best & i hope today is kind to you! 💓

[eybefioro]

have a tshirt

Thank you Arthur!!!

I do feel like I deserved the shirt. We survived. We won. WE WON.

Things that I learned in the fandom birth:

1) Tumblr has a daily limit for reblogs, and a limit for comments. If you hit them you get a time out.

2) My English is still too rubbish to understand Shakespeare. Even the funny ones.

3) Shakespeare is actually fun. I have to look for some plays adaptations in Portuguese.

4) Your blogs and side blogs share the same reblog and comments limits.

5) When you reach those limits, you have to actually CREATE A WHOLE NEW TUMBLR ACCOUNT WITH A NEW EMAIL.

6) Everyone is so fun. I talked with so many fun people. We sang together (WAHOO for the Off Key recorders!!) We danced together (WAHOO for the disco Tonys and Gavotte angels!!). We acted in plays. We made memes. We shared cat pics. THERE WAS JUST SO MUCH. IT WAS SO FUN.

7) the daily reblog limit is a little over 250.

8) the comment spam limit is around 70, and the timeout is a few hours.

9) I know more Good Omens quotes and scenes than I thought I knew. I'm scared. I discovered that I know the lines from the final fifteen by heart. Gomens broke me.

I already love this fandom so much 💛 and I love you Arthur and Asmi 💛

@weirdly-specific-but-ok

[skygemspeaks]

thoughts on episode 7 of opla!

given that arlong park is supposed to be the climax of the east blue saga, i'm a little tiny bit disappointed with how this episode played out, especially given how standout episode 6 was. some of the disappointment comes from me not liking some of the creative choices they made with it, but some of it is also just the limitations of the medium

emily rudd's performance of nami, especially during the scene where she's stabbing her arlong tattoo, was absolutely phenomenal. all the actors in this show have been doing such an awesome job so far, but at the end of the day, there's no way it can really stand up to the manga and anime versions of this same scene. oda is a masterful artist, and the way he's able to depict such raw despair and grief has always been one of my favourite things about his art. and one of the things about animation is that they're able to exaggerate certain expressions and body language to give more of an emotional impact, in a way that real humans can't really do, so i feel like in some ways, live action is always gonna fall short. so far the live action has been doing a good job of adapting the story in a way that plays to the medium's strengths, but i do feel like this was a rare L for them. and that's not to say the episode wasn't well done! because it really was. i think that in this case it suffers from having to try and live up to the source material.

i'm not sure how i feel about them having nojiko not knowing about nami's plans. i think one thing that i really liked about this arc in the manga was how all the villagers knew nami was trying to buy back the village, but they were being hostile to her because they knew how hard it was to do what she was doing, and if it ever got to be too much for her, they wanted her to be able to turn her back on them without feeling bad. they didn't want her to feel obligated to save them. that's neither here nor there though, and it did open up a chance for them to have a heartfelt conversation and make up.

i've seen some people upset that Hachi wasn't part of the arlong park arc, and i was a little sad we didn't get to see him too, but i do also think that it makes sense as a creative choice. so far when you look at the storytelling choices they've made with this series, a lot of their decisions seem to come from the mindset of "don't assume we're going to get more seasons, but lay down a bit of subtle groundwork just in case we do" and this seems to be one of those choices. in the event that we ever do make it to the sabaody archipelago, hachi is going to become a friend, and it's going to be easier to get the audience on his side if he wasn't one of the antagonists that was enslaving nami's village. in the event that we do get to sabaody, i'm assuming we're gonna get some flashbacks to nami's childhood when he WAS with arlong, but then he left before the canon timeline because he couldn't deal with how awful arlong is? i don't know, but that's just a guess. the manga had the leisure of slowly winning the audience over to his side by the simple fact that we were able to spend so much time with him, he was around for many chapters and we were slowly able to get attached. but the live action is going to have a much more limited run time, so we won't have the time to do it that way. this decision is just a bit of a shortcut. that's my reasoning at least

the flashbacks were well done! i like how sweet genzo seems, and bellemere's actress did a good job. she had big mom vibes. i am a bit surprised that they did actually show bellemere slapping nami. i would've thought they'd cut that out. glad they didn't though!

the prosthetics for the fishmen were AWESOME! i'm so so so glad they decided to go practical effects instead of doing it all with cgi, they look fantastic

i LOVE how they gave arlong park more of a waterpark/amusement park vibe. it calls back to the fact that it's heavily inspired by sabaody park, and that, paired with arlong being very defensive when he perceives that he's being looked down on by humans because he's a fishman, work together to show that all of arlong's behaviour is stemming from a place of hurt, and a lifetime of alienation.

i like seeing helmeppo and koby slowly becoming friends! i was really surprised when helmeppo bought a drink for koby, and then it was pretty funny when koby just couldn't help but blurt out that luffy is garp's grandson. they're growing to become pretty good partners

zeff and garp's conversation was good! loved the mention of jaya, and also i think the two of them make good parallels. both grand/parents to some upstart pirates - one of them trying desperately to cling on to his grandson, the other one having to practically push his son out of the nest. zeff tries to convince garp that sometimes you just gotta let go and let your kid tread his own path, but garp still isn't ready to hear that, and maybe he won't ever be ready to hear that.

[caffstrink]

do you have any tips on how to live off as artist professionally?

First of all art isn't always a viable option depending where you live. The only reason ive been able to live off art is because the american dollar is worth 5x more than the brazilian real so even if i didn't get many comms i could still get by with the few i had. and if that wasn't the case I'd pretty much be eating breadcrumbs off the floor like a pigeon.

1. Whore yourself out and draw fanart of every popular or trending thing to gather attention to youe art

2. Learn your platforms: learn how each websites algorithm works, learn what are the best hours to post, etc

3. I cannot stress enough how important it is to find your niche

4. Everyone is fake no one wants to be your friend, other popular artists will start following you the moment your following becomes good enough. They'll start to interact with you too and want to become mutuals in order to share followings/traction. If you can play into that you can get them to share your stuff as well, but honestly don't fall for it bc most of them shittalk other artists on their privs or personal servers and the stress isnt worth it

5. Draw nsfw if possible/if you're comfortable with. People who commission porn pay well and they often have very few options when commissioning stuff bc most artists don't accept porn commissions.

6. Accept being an artist is a hard job that doesn't pay really well. If you're freelancing on comms life's always going to be a tightrope, so i suggest trying to do professional work once in a while so you can at least have the security of a salary. Draw backgrounds, gestures, scenes, studies, and the likes, bc those are what companies will want in your portfolio

7. Depending where you live it's extremely hard to live off as an artist, and being an artist is often means a very difficult struggle with finances. It's a job that requires passion, and more often than not turning art in a job causes creative burnout and complete loss of spark for it. Ask yourself: why do you want to be a professional artist? Isn't it better to keep it as a hobby? Maybe a side gig if you need money? You can still pursue art even if you don't do it to earn money, and it doesn't make you any less of an artist. It's a difficult job, and you need to understand its not going to be viable at all times and sometimes you'll have to throw in the towel and do something else to survive and there's 0 shame in that.

8. Be professional and courteous with your clients. Don't be a doormat, but don't go around ghosting people or being passive aggressive or taking them for granted and never deliver any product. Doing art for money is a JOB. Treat it like such. Inform your clients about delays, or any issues that may come up.

9. Take care of yourself and by that i mean eat decent food, exercise your arms, get 8 hours of sleep and get some sun (or take vitamin D periodically if youre a basement dweller). This isn't some self care uwu shit, it's actual science that your body is a machine and not providing what it needs to function leads to issues, and some of those issues include affecting your mental health, and mental health issues include and are not limited to: anxiety, depression, burnout, loneliness, feeling like your art sucks, feeling unmotivated, feeling like you're a failure, etc. Same with physical: for the love of GOD you DON'T want wrist issues. You dont want carpal or ulnar nerve entrapment. Don't draw 24/7. Don't push yourself either. If youre feeling shitty its time to STOP. Just picture a shitty graphics card trying to run minecraft with 5 shaders and 10 mods at once on fullscreen with 60 fps. Thats you. Youre the graphics card

10. Don't be a bitch, don't get involved with drama. Can't be an internet artist if you get cancelled so don't try to start shit at any point in time. Don't be a shit person.

And from the top of my head thats it, hope you like eating plain bread 🍞

[sir-adamus]

So for curiosity, how do you feel about how Cait and Vi's reconciliation was handled? Is there anything you wish they'd had more time for or do you think it was handled as close to perfect as they could?

i didn't have a problem with it, i thought it was fine

i feel like - and i have to speak about this season in general, you can feel the constraints holding things back through this season. my overall enjoyment isn't affected but it's clear that they had to sacrifice a lot of stuff to fit in the limited runtime

season 1 is primarily centered around like 6 or 7 characters with only 2 or 3 narrative through-lines because until Jinx fires Jawbones in the finale, the story is contained primarily to those characters, but with the looming threat that it was going to spill out onto a wider scale. so season 1 ends with the event that's going to cause things to start rapidly escalating which season 2 had to deal with pretty much hitting the ground running

and the problem with the story no longer being contained to this small cast of characters but to an escalating conflict spanning both cities with outside actors also making their play is that a lot of scenes that would have helped convey internal character conflicts and fleshed things out as they progress either didn't happen or were instead inferred through the means of a music video as a bit of a narrative cheat to get a point across because there's only so much runtime that can be dedicated to it

because if you look at the soundtrack of this season compared to season 1, there's twice as many songs, and a lot of those were used for precisely that - because unlike with season 1 we didn't have enough runtime to get all the meat out of it because there's so many more moving parts (this is why episode 7 is one of the best ones because it's contained to three characters and completely removed from the main conflict - and even then, Heimerdinger's character arc feels inconclusive), and i think the final two episodes are where this is most noticeable because Jinx is at her lowest point, then Ekko shows up to talk her down and next we see her she's leading the Zaunites alongside him with a new look and seemingly in a better place (as her attempted sacrifice wasn't something she planned)

but the problem is you have to infer a lot about how we got from point A to point C because point B happened entirely offscreen to the point that it felt like they were really struggling to pack everything in and because you can make those inferences it was one of the easier things to cut, when those scenes would've done a lot to show that turning point for Jinx, and using her position as Zaun's symbol (could even use a music video sequence there to show Ekko sharing his experiences in the other timeline to set up a potential future reconciliation of Piltover and Zaun cos now he knows it's possible, as well as show Jinx and Sevika commiserating over Isha), and set up her choice to get the airship and leave without letting anyone know she's alive (again, inference, Caitlyn is holding the head of the same monkey bomb that Jinx used in her final scene, so you can conclude that when they got down there to try and recover her body they didn't find her or Warwick, and Cait's trying to figure out how she might've survived)

this season would've really benefited just from having an extra episode in each act to pace things out more and let us sit in those moments that had to be montaged past - like overall i had a good time, this is going to be a show i come back to over and over, it's the kinda show where it being bittersweet and open-ended makes sense, but i can see the holes that had they been filled would have elevated it from good to great, and that like a lot of good shows, it's an ending ultimately held back by the limitations of the run time, the structure (three episodes per act across three acts), and possibly budget limitations too

[meeblo]

favorite..AND least fav arknights operators?

Favorites gameplay-wise are probably Muelsyse and Jessica the Liberated. Their kits are both very dynamic and fun to use, with a focus on smart positioning I find to be quite engaging, with optimizing the adjacent tiles for Muelsyse's ranged clone to split to or adjacent tiles to use Jessica's shield to allow her to change direction with.

Story-wise, there's too many to really narrow it down, so I'll pick some favorites by storyline. Amiya deserves a mention from the main story, she's a very interesting take on a paragon protagonist with distinct moments of fallibility and an allowance in the narrative for her to be wrong and then change as a result. Kal'tsit and Doctor are both fascinating as well, which is why it's such a shame that Kal'tsit is so maligned for talking too much in the story (she really doesn't) and Doctor is often just boiled down to a self insert (they really aren't). Ch'en wins "most improved" in the main story, I disliked her on her first introduction but really came around as the main story progressed with learning her backstory and scenes such as the end of episode 6/beginning of episode 7 (Dossoles Holiday Ch'en is still lame though). Mudrock is a very interesting figure, especially with how she fits with Big Bob as having chosen to leave Reunion behind and the differing lives they chose to lead afterwards; I'd love if we could get a flashback eventually of Mudrock speaking with Patriot before she left reunion, it would be a fascinating conversation for sure. From the Rhine Lab storyline, Muelsyse and Saria are my two favorites, with Silence earning an honorable mention as well; Muelsyse I wrote an analysis post up about a while ago (pre lone trail but it still mostly holds up). It's hard to boil down why I like Mumu and Saria most of the Rhine Lab storyline in a few sentences, can't think of how to make it succinct. Kroos and Saga are the standouts of the Sui storyline, with Who is Real in particular being the most interesting Sui event in my opinion with the subject matter it covers about morality as related to perception and the nature of value within art. Kroos is possibly my favorite alter in the game with how her files and story in events gives you enough to read between the lines about what changed her to bring her to who she became and what elements of the younger Kroos remain. Goldenglow is a standout lead for one of the best vignette events, it's very interesting structurally with how it nonlinearly shifts PoVs and timeframes by vignette. Texas, Penance, and Lappland all are phenomenal in Il Siracusano, which is in contention for being my favorite event story; it's hard to sum up exactly why other than that Il Siracusano is simply just that good. Jessica in Come Catastrophes or Wakes of Vultures is phenomenal; it's the best event they've released recently (though I was too busy to ready Zwillingsturme so I can't judge there). Exusiai deserves a mention as well; she was my first six star, but she also has a lot of interesting story connections buried beneath the surface despite never truly headlining an event story.

As for least favorites, I don't really have much I outright dislike. I suppose Ch'en alter, if only because it means Ch'en will likely never get a (narratively) good alter now and thus will never be the focus of a story again because that slot was already taken up with a waste of a summer alter. I wish we could have had a main story Ch'en alter instead. In general I hate whenever a limited operator is meta on principle, because the limited operator system is inherently predatory and hostile to people especially those who haven't been playing since year 1, though if I must pick one I'd say Skadi the Corrupting Heart annoys me most because the roles she fills are highly effective and simply cannot be approximated by any other operators. Thank god for the 5th anniversary free character finally alleviating that.

[whentommymetalfie]

Tagged by @bouncydragon. Thank you for giving me a chance to ramble!

20 questions for fan fiction writers

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

53

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

642 307 (!)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently only Peaky Blinders

4. Top five fics by kudos

Breathe again, Kiss with a fist, Family is family, Little talks, Shattered and hollow

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to always do that for my WIPs but sometimes I forget to when I get a comment on an older fic. But that doesn't mean I don't read and appreciate them!

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

I was about to say that I never write angsty endings, because I can't handle them, but then I remembered about whumptober where I dabbled in that, sort of. I think it's a tie between Aversion and Confinement, and even those have a glimpse of hope at the end because I'm just like that.

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh that's a tough one, since happy endings are my jam, so I've got plenty. But I think that To live a life, an installment in my first AU has a very happy ending, considering the angst that comes before.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I recall getting like... one really nasty comment once, years ago, but I've completely forgotten what it said, because I just deleted it and was sad about it for a few days and now it's gone from my mind, I just remember it happening because it's so rare.

And I've gotten a comment or two where a reader has disapproved of something in a fic, or where it's clear that they've interpreted something an entirely different way than I intended, and where they've chosen to express that in a not entirely nice way. I think when that's happened, I've left the comment, but haven't responded to it, because I just don't feel like going into discussions or spending my energy of that. But mostly all my readers are incredibly kind, which is a huge reason why I keep posting my work.

9. Do you write smut?

I have on occasion written a fic or two mostly focused on smut, upon request, and I incorporate sex-scenes into fics when I feel they serve a purpose.

10. Craziest crossover?

I've never written one, but I'm not opposed to them

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, a few!

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

Nope

14. All time favorite ship?

Well got to be Tommy/Alfie right? Just look at all my... stuff.

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

I have plenty of shorter unpublished wips where I've just wanted to 'try' an idea, or get something out of my head. Or be especially self indulgent. Those never get past the draft stage. But anything I truly want to finish and post, I usually do finish. Eventually.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I honestly think that one of my writing strengths is keeping at it, even when everything feels impossible, because without that stubbornness, many of my fics would've gotten finished. Cheesy as it may sound.

On a more technical note, I think -hope- that I'm good finding a good pace in my stories, at least my latest ones. And... describing emotions maybe.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

The first thing that comes to mind, and that often feel the most limited by, is that English is my second language. That always adds a layer of insecurity. And I'm not great at writing action, or scenes with many characters (I always feel like I'm trying to juggle with way too many balls)

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I think it can work great when it serves a purpose, but with my lacking language skills I just incorporate into the text that a character isn't speaking English, rather than typing the dialogue out in the actual language.

19. First fandom you wrote in?

My first ever fanfic I posted was for True Blood. Ten years ago now, which feels crazy.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Tough one... If I'm only allowed finished fics, I'd have to say Breathe Again, because it's my first truly long, multi-chaptered project and I grew a lot as a writer -I think- while writing that. But I do want to give Home to you it's own shoutout (even if I have yet to finish that last chapter that's haunting me because I'm so afraid to mess it up) because it's so intrinsically connected to Breathe again.

tagging (with no pressure of course, and apologies if you've already been tagged) @abusivelittlebunny @100dabbo @andtherewerefireworks @elskiee

[respectthepetty]

Let Me Introduce Myself

I’m Respect the Petty, and I love colors. I’m on my own little mission to annoy all of y’all about how colors, lighting, barriers, clothing, and other visuals enhance QLs and add depth to the story.

For those of you who keep asking me for a “Master List” (bleh!) since apparently it takes too much time to scroll through my insane amount of posts because I don't know how to stfu, here it is! Plenty of posts didn't make the cut simply because there is a limit, so I included the ones that delivered the most features from above, and if you search my tags by the series' titles, other posts regarding the show's colors should be able to be found.

The goods are below the cut 👇🏿

A quick overview of what I do and what the colors mean

Key:

Color Coding shows the main colors associated with the characters <- most of you are here for these

Barriers examine the physical barriers that separate characters in a scene and what they represent (emotions, miscommunication, etc.)

The Clothing Tells the Plot looks at a specific clothing item in a scene  

Background Noise includes various elements like barriers, clothing telling the plot, lighting showing feelings, and general details for the show

Episode Reviews cover all of the above for each episode plus my unhinged ramblings

Series (alphabetical order)

*If you don't know where to start, I suggest Big Dragon, Semantic Error, or Between Us

180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us

Background Noise

Background Noise (chopsticks)

Background Noise (puzzle pieces)

609 Bedtime Story

Color Coding

Barriers

Episode 4

All the Liquors

Color Coding

Bed Friend

Color Coding

Color Coding (Jade)

Background Noise (lighting and reflections)

Between Us

Color Coding

Color Coding (Negative Blue)

Color Coding (Cups)

Big Dragon

Color Coding and Episode 1

Background Noise [Where the Sun and Moon Meet]

Episode 8 (Finale)

A Boss & A Babe

Color Coding

Candy Color Paradox/Ameiro Paradox

Color Coding

Catch Me Baby

Color Coding

Chains of Heart

Background Noise

Cherry Magic

Color Coding

Cutie Pie

Color Coding

Dark Blue Kiss

Color Coding

Background Noise

Destiny Seeker

Color Coding

The Director Who Buys Me Dinner

Background Noise (lighting)

Barriers (lighting)

The Eclipse

Color Coding

Color Coding (Teacher Sani and Teacher Waree)

Background Noise (sun & moon symbolism)

Background Noise (wealth and class)

The Eighth Sense

Color Coding

GAP

Color Coding

Color Coding (finale)

Ghost Host, Ghost House

Barriers (brief)

God's Own Country

Color Coding (brief)

Happy Ending Romance

Barriers

I Will Knock You

Background Noise (lotus)

Individual Circumstances

Color Coding

KinnPorsche

Color Coding

Background Noise (parallels)

Background Noise (VegasPete parallels)

Light on Me

Color Coding

Color Coding (Color Exchange)

Love Mechanics

Color Coding

Made on the Rooftop

Color Coding

Manner of Death

Color Coding & Barriers

Moonlight Chicken

Color Coding

Color Coding (exchange)

Background Noise

Background Noise (Alan)

My Beautiful Man/Utsukushii Kare

Color Coding (Pending)

Background Noise & Barriers

Background Noise & Barriers (ep. 2, 3)

Background Noise & Barriers (ep. 4)

My Love Mix-Up/Kieta Hatsukoi

Color Coding

My School President

Color Coding

Color Coding (Parents)

Barriers

The Clothing Tells the Plot

Naughty Babe

Color Coding

The New Employee

Barriers

Never Let Me Go

Color Coding

Color Coding (Nueng x Palm)

Color Coding (Chopper)

Background Noise (Positions)

Background Noise

Barriers (Nueng)

Oh! My Assistant

Color Coding (brief)

Old Fashion Cupcake

Background Noise (brief)

Our Dating Sim

Color Coding

Color Coding (Orange)

Background Noise

Episode 3 & 4

Episode 5 & 6

Episode 7 & 8

La Pluie

Color Coding

The Promise

Color Coding

Color Coding (Pink)

Secret Crush on You

Color Coding

Background Noise

Semantic Error

Color Coding

Background Noise

Smiley

Color Coding

A Tale of Thousand Stars

Color Coding

We Best Love

Color Coding

What Did You Eat Yesterday?

Color Coding

Young Royals

Color Coding

General Posts

Cinematographers

Joy Maneerat Srinakarin (The Warp Effect, I Told Sunset About You, KinnPorsche, Great Men Academy)

Ratchanon Kaeosaart (I Promised You The Moon, Big Dragon)

Rath Roongrueangtantisook (Never Let Me Go, Mama Gogo, He's Coming To Me, A Tale of Thousand Stars, 3 Will Be Free)

Suthipong Teerasakul (Chains of Heart, The Eclipse, 609 Bedtime Story)

Language

Lost in Translation

Language as a Weapon

Hostage Posts

Japan’s Use of Space

Why QLs?

Notes:

If a link doesn't work or goes to the wrong post, let me know

If you have an ask or a request, feel free to send me a message, but be warned that I really don't shut the fuck up about colors, so you could get a ten-page report back in response

If you write a post about colors, lighting, barriers, clothing, or other visuals, feel free to tag me

I'll update this post at the end of each month depending on what discoveries I've made during that month (Updated: 4/15)

Now that you know who I am, remember that a world without colors is a world devoid of emotions and feelings, so embrace the magic and follow me down this chaotic path of visual rhetoric.

[chonidale]

what are your top 5 choni scenes and why

was cleaning out my inbox and found this from 6 years ago lmao back when this would have been a lot easier to answer because they had a LOT less scenes. i really tried to sit and narrow it down to just 5 scenes, even if i couldn’t rank them, but it was really hard without setting some limits, so i’m going to make myself only pick one scene per season and list them in chronological order.

season 2: first kiss. just iconic, perfectly set up and executed. best first kiss on the show, hands down, was never topped. cinematic. honorable mentions to the scene at the bijou and their almost kiss.

season 3: their reunion in the finale. it’s a short scene, but so sweet. toni gathering the cavalry to save cheryl, the ‘baby?!’, the running hug and kiss, the sheer relief and emotion in toni’s voice, so good. honorable mentions to the 3.12 bed scene purely for how cozy it is and cheryl sacrificing herself to save toni at the farm, also so cinematic.

season 4: the couch cuddling scene post thanksgiving dinner. so comfy and sweet. i love a good cuddling moment, but add in a cute i love you exchange and a kiss? i’m happy. honorable mentions to the 4.08 pops scene and cheryl telling toni about nick, so much better than the garbage suicide attempt convo from s3 that was all about archie.

season 5: the pops convo from 5.05, nobody could ever make me hate that scene, the emotion and history and understanding and love there, just so good. forever mourning the excellent angst of those first two time jump episodes. what could have been if the rest of the season kept that tone. honorable mentions to the whole flashback sequence in 5.04 and the convo in 5.18. i do like their break up scene too but i’ll always be bitter about how much better it could have and should have been. deserved a last kiss or cuddle at the very least.

season 7: the music room convo in 7.10 is just so perfect, absolutely no notes. really sweet and mature and well written as a stand alone resolution to the plot in that episode, but even more satisfying and meaningful from a larger stand point, showing their growth from s3 and how they’re doing things right this time, etc. honorable mentions to the scene outside the school in 7.08 for some reason and the photoshoot, i think, but there’s so many i really love.

(no scene selection for s6 since i had to cut a season to narrow it down to 5 and most of the choni content in s6 is thabigail, but the bed scene from the finale is very excellent and bittersweet, even if i retroactively wish they had given us more since it ended up being the last interaction in the og timeline and there was a lot of opportunity for more closure there than what we got. and i think if they’d known they weren’t going back to the og timeline back then, we would have gotten more, but alas.)

[fyonahmacnally]

20 Questions More

This is a deeper and more detailed version of the 20 questions for AO3 fanfic writers. Thanks to @casualsavant for the tag. I'm not even sure I did the first 20 Questions round, but rules be damned.

1) How do you keep getting ideas for your ship/fandom?

Well, like anything I write, I get ideas from everything around me - they come to me from dreams, something I see, from random prompts, etc. As most writers know, we are simply the vessel, it's the brain goblins that tell us what to do.

2) Which authors inspire you in your fandom, and why are they so freakishly good?

Geez, we have so many in the Supercorp/Supergirl fandom. I'm not even sure that's a fair question. HA. I will inevitably leave someone out, but here are a few of my favorites @searidings, @jazzfordshire, @chaotic-super, @lovesastateofmind1, @innamorament0, @someoneyouloved93, @lostariels, @luthordamnvers, @thornedrose44, and @fazedlight. I read such a variety of genres, tags, and tropes that I will give almost anything a chance so the authors I read will vary. There's oh so many to choose from in this fandom and the vast talent is beyond imagination!

3) Aside from the characters of your main ship, who are the characters you love to write?

Hmmm, I like writing Sam, Andrea, and Jack. The rest of the main cast is fun too, but those three characters are fun to explore in fics. The shenanigans they get into together makes it easy to play with.

4) Are there pairings or tropes you know for sure you'd never write about? Which ones?

Karamel, Lames, and Kalex. I am pretty open-minded, but those are my hard limit ships. To each their own. It's not my thing at all. I'm pretty open to tropes, too. Haven't had a chance to explore too many yet.

5) What is your writing process and why is it cursed?

I'm not sure how to answer this one, really. It can vary depending on what's going on in my life and how the idea came about.

Generally speaking, I get an idea, outline the basic premise of the story (usually in a word or google doc), do whatever research is needed (longer fics), and just start writing (or staring at the outline and empty doc). That's writing too, ask any writer. LOL

One shots tend to be more like: get idea, sit at desk thinking while blank doc stares back at me tauntingly, look out window, turn back to blank doc, write three sentences, back space all three sentences, look out window again, write three more sentences, repeat previous steps, then the brain goblins take over and suddenly it's 4 hours later, somehow there's several thousand words staring back at me.

6) What is your favorite part of your writing process?

Because I am a huge nerd, the research. I love to research the things I write. Not all of my stories require it, but when they do, I dive right in. Completing the story is a big one too. The anxiety and excitement that comes with yeeting something into the ether is indescribable.

7) What’s the weirdest thing you’ve had to research for a fic?

Weirdest thing...pagan rituals and ancient runes or bondage/fetish clubs in Amsterdam. There is some really interesting things out there. I learned a lot during that time.

8) Is there a particular writing rule you struggle with (grammar, spelling, tense, reality in general)?

I think tense is one that slips on me. I try to catch them all during rereads and edits, but those little bastards are sneaky.

9) What was your hardest scene to write so far and why?

The panic attacks and abuse scenes relating to Lena in Carterhaugh-Wood Academy (CWA). Lena is my absolute favorite character and writing anything that causes her harm hurts my soul.

10) Have your characters ever done something you didn’t expect, changing your plot completely?

Is water wet? My characters always do what the brain goblins want despite my initial protest. I am just here to convey the message, after all.

11) If you could converse with any of the characters, who would it be and why?

Oh, hands down, Lena. I wouldn't pass up a chance to speak with any of them, let's be real, but Lena would be #1.

12) What are some of the tropes or themes that you find yourself returning to in your writing?

I am by nature a fluff and happy-ending writer. However, I am working on an angst with a happy ending fic at the moment. The tropes I have written so far have been limited to friends to lovers and a little light angst with happy ending. I'm still exploring other things. Hopefully 2024 will be the year I can flex my writing muscles and expand into new territory.

13) What's your most important resource as a writer?

Friends and other writers. Nothing beats a good brainstorming session with writer pals. I also like to do improv writing to boost creativity. You never know where a story will go when that happens.

14) Can you share some of your strategies for editing and revising your work?

The strategy depends on the story. For longer fics, I have a few writer friends that help with reading over it and helping with typos, grammar errors, and helping fluff up the places that need it. For one shots or shorter fics, I will let it sit for a bit, go back and read it again to do the editing and rewrite the places that my brain doesn't like.

15) Which is worse: making the summary, picking the tags, or the anxiety when you post your fic?

Oooof, definitely the posting anxiety. I usually immediately find something else to do so I don't obsess over it.

16) How do you define success for your fanfic - hits? Kudos? Comments? Bookmarks? Or just if you like it?

Hits, kudos, and comments are always fun and rewarding, but I write for my own enjoyment and sanity. I have plenty of fics that barely get any love, but I enjoy writing them. It's therapeutic for me. The rest is just noise. Also, like any writer, I love to hear from readers and try to respond to all my comments because they mean a lot to me.

17) Do you have a playlist for your favorite character/ship?

Sometimes, yes. It depends on what I am writing and how I am feeling. Most of the time it is instrumental piano and/or cello music because I will start accidentally typing the lyrics of a regular playlist. If I am going for a specific vibe or writing because of a specific song, I will have the song on repeat or at least an album by the artist.

18) If fan art was going to be made from your work, which fic would you pick and which fan artist would you like to create it?

SCBB delivered that on a platter for me. CWA got art from the multi-talented @bigmammallama5. If you haven't seen it, you can check it out here.

19) How many WIPs do you currently have?

13 total with another one that is in the planning stages.

20) What's your advice to new fanfic writers?

Write for yourself. If you love it, it brings you enjoyment, and adds to your life, continue doing it. You're not going to please everyone and there will be people who are less than kind about something you publish. Those voices don't matter. There is someone out there that has read or will read your work and it will stick with them for the rest of their lives. Always do it for you.

Tagging but no pressure: @lovesastateofmind1 @casualkoalatea @fabulousglitch and @sssammich

[aaronstveit]

20 questions for 20 writers!

tagged by the bestie @afaramir abby thank you so much for giving me an excuse to avoid writing tonight <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 45!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 492,078 and literally a solid quarter of that is from c&b oh i'm laughing.

3. What fandoms do you write for? right now only for les mis but most of my works are trc and in 2019/2020 i wrote a bit for soc and aftg.....

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? oh i'm laughing these aren't even GOOD.... 1. [redacted soc fic] 2. makes me feel a little bit closer to you - pynch clothes sharing fic 3. c&b (my most beloved this is the only valid entry on this list) 4. i ain't gotta tell him (i think he knows) - pynch ithk songfic 5. all the time, all the time (i think of you all the time) - pynch fic where ronan is tutoring adam in art

5. Do you respond to comments? mostly yes! for like a solid 2 years i didn't but now i do again <3

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? ummm i think the only actually angsty ending i have is all too well adansey fic? i'm such a happy ending girlie that's the only one i can think of that doesn't end happily. for obvious reasons.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? i like to think pretty much everything i write ends happily but c&b proposal fic is what comes to mind since i finally finished it THREE ENTIRE YEARS LATER very recently

8. Do you get hate on fics? no i have been very lucky so far actually!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? no because i am afraid

10. Do you write crossovers? i do not!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? not that i know of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? nope not yet!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? only the theoretical AUs that coco and i like to talk about but never commit to writing <3 although really you could consider coco my cowriter on most of my fics (especially c&b) like so much of them comes from her fr. love you coco <3333

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? oh i can't pick. that's like asking a mother to pick her favorite child. right now those dead gay french revolutionaries have my heart but tomorrow, who knows?

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? ugh i hate admitting defeat but. but. i am aware that beloved beloved pynch band fic will probably never be finished. which is a SHAME because i have soooooooo much of it planned out i mean like. i've got full albums designed. most of the beats are mapped out. i've got fake tweets written up, i've got chapter titles and scene drafts. like the entire concept is there and i'm so obsessed with it. but i just. after all these years it is extremely unlikely that i am going to actually, you know. write it.

16. What are your writing strengths? beginnings. i am so good at beginnings. that's why i have so many wips. also i like to think i'm good at dialogue. i try to write conversationally even when it's not actually a conversation and i think that translates well to actual dialogue it's fun.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? endings. i can't end anything to save my LIFE. also just plots in general escape me. and i always end up writing 10k more words than i meant to.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? um other people who can do it definitely should! i however cannot do that. i did however use my extremely limited knowledge of the french language for the section headings in my most recent fic and i like the effect it produced i think.

19. First fandom you wrote for? all evidence of their existence has been wiped from the face of the earth but my very first fics were one star wars fic and one agents of shield fic circa like. 2015.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? legally i'm obligated to say c&b but right now actually i'm still very very happy with how exr rooftop fic turned out. literally the entire time i was writing it i was just having a blast. i love writing angst and stuff it's like chewing on a polly pocket toy. now that i'm evil i never wanna write fluff again. i'm torturing those fictional guys fr.

tagging besties @television-bodies @gingerpeachtea and anyone else who wants to do it! ♡

[rwbyuser24]

Why we need novel focused on Atlas

Look, there is too much that couldn't be told nor explored in the Atlas arc due to time constraints and budget. But, in a novel, there aren't some of those limitations.

1.The White fang

Something we could explore in this novel would be the White fang branch of Atlas. We never saw them, but that doesn't mean they never existed. Atlas is the most racist kingdom, where most of the faunus live in the slums and is the where the SDC had its HQ.

"My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear; board members executed; an entire train car full of Dust, stolen."

The White fang executed members of the board, probably in Atlas. And family friends of Weiss, probably in Atlas.

We can get a plot focused on the White fang and how it was in Atlas. How can flourish a terrorist organization under the most powerful military in the world? How it ended? Why it isn't in Atlas anymore?

2.Ace ops

Tortuga replaced Marrow. How was her/him/they? How was Tortuga? How Tortuga died?

There are many mysteries and questions we can have about the character. We can see the character's relationship with others, about how fought till the end and its personality.

About Marrow, it's the thing about how he was chosen. What he did to be chosen as an ace ops. When he was a normal military huntsman, one of the few faunus huntsmen of the kingdom.

This also might be an opportunity to show Marrow's loyalty to the kingdom. How he was able to fight even against his own kind (White fang) to protect the kingdom.

Do you remember "the hare and the tortoise", it is probably that Harriet and Tortuga used to be closed with each other. We could see the soft side of Harriet.

About Clover, we can have his captain America moments. You know, the writers compared him with the cap.

And in general we can see their political and social opinions. I mean, yes, of course they would be against the White fang. But, what do they think about the faunus in general? Maybe they don't like the racist people of the kingdom. What do they think of the SDC? They like it or not?

3.Ironwood

This experience might help develop into the paranoia he have. About how this situation makes him distrustful towards others.

Imagine a scene where Ironwood goes full dictator and decides to execute all White fang members. Someone could say that it will ruin Ironwood's descend into villainy. But, think that it is part of the morally questionable things that Ironwood would be able to do even pre volume 7.

Also, the executions of the whole White fang could explain why we never saw them during volume 7.

4.Happy Huntresses

Something that was criticized about volume 7 was that we lacked to see Robyn Hill doing things for Mantle. She says she worry about them, but we lacked her fighting against Grimm.

This could be a good opportunity to show the HH doing good for Mantle.

Robyn and her friends care about the faunus, but, how will they fill fighting against terrorist faunus? The White fang fight for the sake of the faunus. This could generate moral conflicts. "What moral authority have Robyn Hill to oppose the faunus?" That's what some might think.

5.The council

They used to trust Ironwood. Ironwood would be trying to solve the problem militarily. But, how will the council solve the problem politically? We barely know about them, if they are good or if they are bad.

6. World building

The Vacuo novels gave us worldbuilding of Vacuo kingdom.

Roman Holiday gave us content about Vale and Mistral in the criminal underworld.

This novel could show us more about Atlas in general.

7. Conclusions

In general, this novel could be good opportunity to develop a lot of elements of the world and the characters. I mean, despite we know where they are ending, doesn't mean we can't learn more about them.

Roman Holiday show us about Neo and Roman. This novel could show us about the Atlas team.

[my-mt-heart]

We Have a Future?

I bring this over to you from Twitter as well as a long thread I made about a potential future for Caryl. 

I’m taking the rumors of their spinoff as *rumors* for now, but it feels like a good time to talk about what I’d love to see if it’s true and more importantly, what I would subscribe to AMC+ plus for: 

1. An Explicit Caryl Romance

The “will they, won’t they” trope is supposed to be resolved by the series finale and we are now past that. We can take the “I love you’s” as canon or not, but it comes across as intentionally straddling the fence and for what? Caryl is one of the biggest ships on television. They have the support of the general audience, casual viewers, the writers, cast, and crew, so there’s no need to keep pandering to the least common denominators. Caryl’s relationship also aids representation, reminding viewers that people over 50 can fall in love, that a female love interest can have gray hair, and that a male love interest can display lower levels of sexual behavior. But that’s only effective if AMC shows they’re willing to commit. After 12 years, it’s time to go big or go home. 

2. Open Conversation about Caryl’s Romance 

There’s a reason the Caryl fandom thinks so highly of LaToya Morgan. She validates our perspective, she’s openly passionate about the ship, and she gets us hyped. Imagine how many fans would come running if more people associated with the show were allowed to do the same instead of having to toe the company line in the media, which only furthers the problematic viewpoint that Caryl couldn’t possibly be more than friends. 

3. A Daryl AND Carol Show 

Anything more than a cameo in the upcoming six episodes may be “logistically untenable,” but if Carol really is going to appear in the end, it should amount to something big like a reunion that tops No Sanctuary and it should set up the alleged next season for Norman AND Melissa to co-lead.

4. Equal Screentime 

One of S11’s worst crimes was minimizing Carol’s arc. She’s one of TWD’s strongest characters and she shouldn’t have to live in the shadows of every other character’s story or remain on kitchen duty. She can be a weapon of mass destruction, sure, but I want to see emotional growth for her too and not just retroactively.

5. Shared Screentime 

They may not be each other’s appendages, but Caryl do have insane amounts of chemistry that fans tune in for, so it should go without saying they need to share scenes together and more specifically, they need to share an arc that allows them to grow together as a couple. 

6. Meaningful Interactions 

Caryl’s relationship is so deep, they often don’t need words, but in no way should that limit their interactions to lingering stares. I want them to engage in conversation with each other, and I want those conversations to deepen their relationship even more. 

7. No. More. Shipbaiting.

It’s tiresome, it insults the characters, actors, and the audience, and it’s not worth paying money for. If I’m going to be pulled in, it’ll be by something I love, not something I don’t. 

8. Strong Leadership 

Representation offscreen matters too and if Caryl’s story is going to continue, then they need a showrunner who knows how to write character-driven narratives and specifically understands Daryl’s and Carol’s characters/relationship. An upper class white man who’s too focused on his own lore would not be the right fit . 

9. Story Integrity 

Norman, Melissa, and the writers spent years developing a beautiful narrative for Caryl, and I don’t want to see any of it retconned in service of the lore. 

10. Payoff

To be clear, I don’t think this was “the writers’” fault at all, but S11 and the spinoff debacle have left so many holes in Caryl’s story that many fans have come to expect disappointment at every turn and nobody wants to pay to be let down. If AMC delivers on the promises they set up on or offscreen, I will be there, but not a second sooner.

Thank you again to everyone participating in the blitz! :) 

[ittlebitz]

10 QL People That I Want Carnally

I was tagged by @sunshinesanctuary

Thank you, bebe, this was fun! I know the original call is for 10, but I never saw a limit I didn't want to challenge. Whatever, whatever, I do what I want. So, in no particular order:

1. Inspector M - Manner of Death (Great Sapol)

Look at him. LOOK. AT. HIM. Absolutely adorable and also hot as hell. He can slap those cuffs on me any time he pleases. If he stands still long enough I will most definitely climb him like a tree (and that goes double for Great himself tbh).

2. Jang Jaeyoung - Semantic Error (Park Seoham)

Yeah, yeah, he's cocky and a bit of a slacker, but he is also smart, talented, and let's be real, a grade A simp. Don't get me started on that lip piercing...

3. Choi Jun - Jun & Jun (Ki Hyun Woo)

Like, they gave me this man's bare back within the first 30 seconds of the first episode, was I not supposed to get thirsty?

4. Yi Phayak Chatdecha Chen - Naughty Babe (Max Kornthas)

Ah, Hia Yi. Wealthy, handsome, super overprotective of his beloved. Bit of a control freak but not ashamed of giving up control in the bedroom. Love that for him (me).

5. Phaya - The Sign (Billy Patchanon)

Look, I am a simple woman. I just want him to put his hand around my throat, pin me, and call me a good girl. I don't think that's asking for too much.

6. Patts - La Pluie (Pee Peerawich)

My beloved. He was just so good, you know? He has a good job and loves animals. He dresses nicely and charms the parents. And then a total lover in between the sheets. Let the rain come down.

7. Payu - Love In The Air (Boss Chaikamon)

I'm pretty sure this man was singularly responsible for the meltdown of several of my brain cells. His looks, his demeanor, his dominance, his *gestures vaguely* everything, you know?

8. Jeng Kittiphong - Step By Step (Man Trisanu)

I know for a fact that I was not the only one who had their brain short circuit during this scene. I am willing to hold a towel for him and even help him wipe down after working out. I am also willing to work him out (wink wonk).

9. Fighter - Why R U (Zee Pruk)

Oh my god but he was so cute. The hot guy everybody wanted who had no idea how to act when he had a crush on a pretty boy. You just KNOW he kisses like an absolute dream. Also, when he was crying during the breakup scene I was ready to fly to Thailand and start throwing hands, I don't even care.

10. Bai Zongyi - Kiseki: Dear To Me (Taro Lin)

My guilty pleasure entry. Yes, I know he's a young'un and I should be ashamed but he has those giant yaoi paws (that scene where he is holding both of Zherui's hands with just one of his absolutely makes my teeth sweat) and obviously likes manhandling his crush/lover at any given opportunity. Plus he is a professional baker? Sign me UP.

11. Pisaeng- Be My Favorite (Gawin Caskey)

This is a guy who will cherish you with everything he has and will be a romantic sap about it. (I knew Gawin would be on this list, I just had to determine which role I chose...honestly he could have been on here multiple times)

12. Maya - Laws of Attraction (Silvy Pavida)

She can sing, she can dance, she can be a double agent performing espionage, and she is sooooooo hot it almost hurts to look at her. All I am saying is she can step on me and I will thank her profusely.

13. Neur - Cutie Pie (Tutor Koraphat)

This man showed up fully intending to Cause Problems On Purpose and ended up simping for the quiet, shy, devout member of the friend group he inserted himself into, and we were all of us better for it. Satu. 🙏

14. Babe - Pit Babe (Pavel Phoom)

He's the top (ha!) racer, an alpha, and also 100% babygirl. One smirk from him and I am on my knees. Don't worry about me, though, I'm doing just fine. (I will say that I never thought I would see omegaverse on my screen and yet here we are in this year of our lord)

15. Vegas Theerapanyakul - KinnPorsche (Bible Wichapas)

My problematic meow meow. He's a gangster. He's a killer. He's a sadist into whips, chains, and torture, not necessarily in that order. He's got a bit of a case of little brother syndrome. And I adore him, faults and all.

Aaaaannnddd okay! So, I could likely absolutely keep going, but I think I am going to tap out while I still have at least some dignity left after exposing myself as the thirsty bitch that I am. I've lost track of who all has already done this, so I am not tagging anyone in particular. If you decide to do this, tag me and let me know so we can thirst together!