#break the cycle (of fanfic writers having too much fun coming up with stuff and not finishing them to the level they���re happy with)

[wisteriagoesvroom]

😵‍💫 snippet pls 🙏🙏

omg sorry this took me a while to reply anon. i thought this was in reference to the “lestappen bondgirl au without the genderbend” wip but it was actually the “landoscar-literally-fuck-around-and-find-out” fic aksjsksks. there’s a snippet here but here’s another one if you care… idk that i’ll ever get round to publishing this one cus it feels weirdly ooc rn, but anyway.

————

“Sotter volchay.” Lando says.

“What’s that?”

“Like, quiet. Like you.”

Oscar stifles a laugh, and runs his hand through Lando’s hair. Lando practically purrs.

“Sotto voce, Lando.” Oscar says. Back to this. The formal name, as if nothing has happened between them, as if both of them didn’t have their mouths stuffed full of each other mere minutes ago, whimpering and needy and pathetic in a way they aren’t with anyone else.

“You–” Oscar starts, before he shakes his head, and Lando gets the signal. He scoots down the sofa, under him, and a latent part of Oscar’s logical brain that is behind the sex fog goes that’s gonna fuck your back.

But then Lando’s glorious mouth is on his again, possessive and pressing, and the thought completely disappears.

————

from that “guess my wips” game from a few days back, like so far back i don’t even think i could find the post because clearly i post way too much on here 😭

[juuls]

Hi Reylo community!

Latest edit: First of all! —I am more than happy to help people who want to give podficcing a try, just send me a message and we can work out details, figure out answers to your questions, etc. I would just love to see more people recording podfics!

It’s easy to be a podficcer; nothing special is needed and I’m happy to provide tips for simple podficcing! In fact I sorta ramble about my process here in this Answered Ask and include 3 basic tutorials.

To the Reylo community at large (writers, artists, readers, lurkers, everyone!): If you could pick one of your, preferably, complete (or at least a fair number of chapters in and being updated) fanfics that you would like to have a podfic made out of... which would it be?

I’d love to create a list of works where authors have given permission to podfic their fics, whether short or long, and to contribute to the new Reylo Podfic Collection!

But I’d love to use this tumblr thread as a.... thought exercises, I suppose, and permission, too, for people to podfic your work.

While I do do podficcing for Marvel... it just makes me want to do so much more Reylo stuff! There’s so few pieces out there compared to the bevy of Marvel stuff, but honestly, every time there’s a new (Reylo) podfic—it breathes new life back into the fic, the author, the ship, the fandom..... plus you personally feel awesome for the performance high and for bringing a smile to the writer’s face. That’s the best thing ever and I adore doing it, no matter how ‘simple’ the podfic may be.

So, AUTHORS, which of your fics would you like to see podficced? Blanket permission for any?

And READERS!!!—which of your favourite fics, short or long, G or T or M or E... would you love to listen to, or think deserves the verbal treatment? :D

Old, new. Canon-Compliant, Modern AU. Canon-Adjacent or Post-Canon. Post-movie Fix-It or forget-the-movie Fix-It. Gen, Teen, Unrated, Mature, or Explicit. A/B/O or Soulmates. Bendemption or Renperor. Senator Ben or Jedi Ben. Fuck-Jakku Rey or Must-Return Rey. Hopeful Rey or Antagonistic Rey. Blocked Force Bond or Open. Good or evil. Take his hand or don’t. Pre-Canon, post-TFA, post-TLJ, or TroS—I don’t know her.

Come one, come any, come all! What would you pick to podfic?

Pod together with us!

I’ll keep the list of approved fics updated if we get enough replies! I do so hope we do! I love Reylo, you love Reylo, who doesn’t want their fic put to voice? And also, let’s breathe some new forms of life into this fandom! Celebrate it with me!

(Sometimes there are already podfics done for a particular fic but you can always 1, welcome another for your own fic, and 2, request of an author to see if you can perform an additional reading of their fic—each podfic is different and special in their own way.)

Do you feel how awesome this could be?

They do.

Blanket permission for any of these user’s fics: *

Nymja

TheOriginalSuki [[“Maybe skip the Welsh epitaphs, ha!”]]

Politicalmamaduck [[Tall Tales of the Western Wilds has previously been podficced by @luminoustico and @quickficradio 🧡!]]

Perry_Downing [[Devotion has already been podficced, and Powerless, Thwarted, He Knows, and Unbidden claimed.]]

Crossingwinter

EllieCarina [[In My Bloodstream has been claimed.]]

DragonWhiskers [[any completed works]]

PalenDrome (nerdherderette) [[any and all fics, ships, fandoms]]

🌟

Podfics welcome for specific fics (permission given): *

Delicious Ambiguity by Juulna (~24.8k)

Shadowed by Juulna (~5.6k)

Little Earthquakes by LochTayBoatSong (~5.3k)

the breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you by LochTayBoatSong (~36.1k)

Asking Price by SouthsideStory and ReyloTrashCompactor (~33.2k, 13/15 chapters)

Things Not Seen by SouthSideStory (~13.8k)

Chains by Veggieheist @veggieheist (~295.5k, 67/? chapters) [[contact author as they wish to re-edit the beginning of the fic]]

Dream House by sleepyowlet @sleepyowlet (~11k) [[“I read it out loud to myself and because I wrote it with the Dreamlands cycle as background noise, it has the same kind of feel to it. You just need to find a podficcer who can read consentacles without cracking up.”]]

Camera Shy by Sophia Ravencrest @sophiaravencrest (~23.8k)

Blades Crossed by the-reylo-void @the-reylo-void (~27.1k)

enemies-to-lovers by the-reylo-void (~59.6k) **

Within Monsters by AnonymousMink (~132.6k)

Hiraeth by TheOriginalSuki @theoriginalsuki (~47.9k)

Blood is Thicker Than Whatever This Is... by DragonWhiskers @belovedunderwing (~1.5k)

Siren’s Song by DragonWhiskers (~22.5k)

✨

Specific fics we’d love to see in podfic form and currently awaiting permission from their authors: [[fics granted permission moved to ‘Podfics Welcome’ list]]

Ashes of the Empire by Skyelo_Ren @dancingpenguin57 (~128.4k)

The Moon, the Sun, and the Star Inbetween. by Silvershine @silvershiner (~120.1k)

can’t turn off what turns me on by audreyii_fic @audreyii-fic (~26.1k)

Tactical Surrender by destinies @destiniesfic (~155.8k)

🌙

Claimed with permission:

landscape with a blur of conquerors by diasterisms @kylorenvevo (~362.9k) and To Kingdom Come (~145.7k) [[claimed by @isitcoolthatisaidallthat18]]

In My Bloodstream by EllieCarina @jackpotgirl (~103k) [[Claimed by @juuls — awaiting pre-production edits, recording will begin, soon followed by posting, in a handful of months]]

connected in the deep and Split Soul by Juulna (~2.5k and ~1.3k each) [[short ficlets currently claimed for practice by @lochtayboatsong]]

Powerless by Perry_Downing @perrydowning (~213k) [[claimed by @juuls and will begin work on it in early- to mid-January]]

Sky Marked Souls by AnonymousMink @anonymousmink (~22.3k) [[claimed by @isitcoolthatisaidallthat18]]

Thwarted (~358k), He Knows He Needs To Stop (~140.5k) and Unbidden by Perry_Downing (~183.8k) @perrydowning [[claimed by @isitcoolthatisaidallthat18]]

* “Please claim” even if just replying to this post or sending me an Ask or DM so I can edit the post. Mutiple podfics are flattering to the author but some podficcers really don’t like to be ‘one of many’. Absolutely valid. You can even create a placeholder AO3 ‘podfic’ and link it as inspired by said fic, so people can see that it’s being worked on... as long as permission has been granted first, or course, sillies! :)

** Although an unconventional fic format, this fic can certainly be podficced by using (1) different tones of voice for thoughts, fic summaries, different sorts of text, and/or (2) different tones of pings/chimes/whatever for the text messages from different characters, and/or (3) adding in an extra line of, for example: *ping* “text message from thekyloren reads as follows…” OR (4), if you want to get fancy, you could have some friends assist you by recording any of the messages from ‘their’ character. That would be a lot of fun, in fact! Another option is (5) where you would split your recordings and give an audible indication to read the message, followed again by a new audio file, etc. Only problem with this approach is if there are too many breaks in the audio and you end up going from one to the other too many times in a row.

💫

And please, reblog and spread the word for this project! No project can operate by its lonesome; it needs help from the community it belongs to. ❤️ Here’s another link to the Reylo Podfics Collection!

Thank you so much!

[snackhobi]

Hi! I read your fic “catch your drift” a while ago and I absolutely adored it! One thing that really stuck out to me was the way you really seemed to know what you were talking about, the amount of research you probably did was insane!

I was wondering, with a niche subject like that, how did you do your research for that? What kind of media did you watch/read to learn more about it? I’ve been thinking of writing a story like that myself, but I have no idea where to start. It’s writers like you that inspire me to put extra care into my stories, because it always shows at the end! You’re an amazing writer, I can’t wait to see what else you put out in the future <3

hi lovely! okay, first of all, I want to say thank you so much for enjoying cyd but also for noticing all the details!! I did do quite a bit of research (I fell down a rabbit hole, really) and it’s nice to know that it makes the world feel realistic/makes it seem that I knew what I was talking about 💕

for me, when it comes to doing research for subjects I’m not familiar with, I sort of have two overarching segments: 1) the technical details, and 2) the visual details. I’ll break down exactly what I mean by those, using examples from cyd (though I wrote the story over a year ago so I might miss some bits and pieces, hopefully it should help to give you an idea 🥰) (under a cut because WHOO did I go on for a bit) -

1) the technical details

I’m not a drift racer, so honestly, I did a lot of googling and digging around for things! my first stop was wikipedia, which gave me a general idea of what drifting was like/involved, and then I delved deeper from there (because it only really talks about the official drifting competitions, which is obviously different to an underground community). I found articles from car magazines that spoke about the underground tweaking/drifting community in south korea and japan, so I knew they were reputable sources (or that they at least knew what they were talking about!). that’s how I got my details on the types of car they use in that community, on what it’s like to be a drifter over there. I found websites that broke down drifting jargon so I had a dictionary to refer to. I also watched youtube videos of people who’d visited the underground meets, so I got a feel of what it was like/they would often talk about the specs of each car, which helped as well.

I remember I got details of the area around seoul/the main drifting areas from the articles I mentioned, but I also looked at a map and did some googling for areas that seemed to work for what I already had in mind (like the meet in yongsan, which has a US military base, hence why the driver there had a mustang - another american car).

stuff like this does take time to research but I like to write about subjects I enjoy/find interesting so it’s fun to read up on it!!

the reason why I think of these as the technical details is because they’re facts related to the subject I’m talking about (drifting/life in south korea/the car community there etc). it’s the nitty gritty stuff. not only do I try to find relevant terminology, I also try to read around the subject enough to know how that terminology is then used; if I’m not sure, then I avoid using it. (it’s sort of like in movies when you see someone playing a video game, and they’re using the wrong controller for the wrong console and the game on screen doesn’t match up with what the person is doing - it’s like you have all the relevant parts, but when you put them together, it’s clear that you don’t know what you’re talking about. you know? if in doubt, leave it out.)

the visual details are a bit different.

2) the visual details

this is a bit more of a vague thing and I might not describe it very well, but visual details are usually visual references/things that give me an idea of how to describe how something looks/feels, rather than the actual moving parts inside it. I’ve never watched fast and furious or need for speed, BUT I already knew that they existed, so I looked up videos of races in them for an idea of how everything looked/felt. (sort of related to the videos I mentioned above of the car meets, but, yes.) I also watched other drifting videos from competitions, and I looked up images/videos of the cars I mentioned in the story, so I could describe them in a way that would feel accessible but also interesting? for example the sentence “2007 Solstice GXP” probably doesn’t mean anything to someone who doesn’t know about cars, but if you then describe it being shorter than other cars and how it drifts around corners, that’s the focal point of the scene. it’s all in the visual description vs the technical name. a visual detail is immediately accessible because you’re describing what someone can see, which doesn’t require any foreknowledge of the subject.

obviously a lot of this will vary dependant on what your personal style is like, but if I drop in specific terminology that I think a reader might not know, I’ll then explain it, too. so it’s mixing the visual with the technical. here’s an example: “he throws you off when he slings himself out of a turn and slides into a choku-dori, the zig-zagging motion of his car catching you off guard” - choku-dori is the name of a specific drifting move, but I don’t expect people to know that, which is why I then describe the zig-zagging motion; it relates a visual detail (accessible) to a technical one (probably not as accessible).

(pinterest can be fantastic for reference pictures, dependent on your topic. I’ll save visual references for quick refs if I find ones I like!)

so, for me, with any subject, it’s about researching what you need to know about the topic you’re writing about, and researching how to then make it come across in your story in a way that’s interesting, and accessible, and makes sense. honestly, a lot of my research is googling, and reading, and learning key terms from that reading, which then means I can research more effectively, which is an ongoing cycle for each story I have going on. sometimes you’ll do far more research than comes up in the final product, but it’s better to have too much than not enough! I know it can feel daunting to start with, coming at a subject that you might not know anything about, but for the most part googling things is enough to trick people into thinking you’re an expert 🤭 (although if there are any drifting experts out there who are laughing at my newbie slip ups or whatever then I apologise and also you will be forever cooler than me 🤧)

one other source of references which I think might not occur to people is other fanfic. obviously don’t plagiarise, but if you wanted to write a drifting story, you could use places/terminology/cars from catch your drift as a springboard for your own research, for example! (you said you’ve been thinking about “writing a story like that” and if you mean a drifting one, feel free to drop me another message because I’ve still saved a bunch of the links I used to reference from! I didn’t save all of them bc I’m a clown but I have at least enough to give you an idea of what it’s like ✨)

I hope that made sense!! and if you need me to clarify something or explain it in a way that’s not garbled and rambly, honestly please drop into my inbox any time! good luck!

[i-write-shakespeare-not-disney]

You know how everyone’s always like “Fanfiction is so much better than most published stuff, fanfiction should be published more!” I have thoughts on that after interning at a literary agency for the last 7ish weeks (and another before that) 

Idk who will actually click that read more, but if you did, hi! 

Anyway, I’ve been interning at literary agencies all throughout 2021. First at a smaller one that wasn’t super organized, and now at one that’s much bigger and full of accomplished agents. These people have represented people like Ransom Riggs, John Green, Adam Silvera, Stephenie Meyer, Isabel Allende, and a whole bunch more. I really only gave a shoutout to like two agents in those names lol. 

If you’re wondering, a literary agent is kind of the first step in getting published. You send your story to them, they read it and give you feedback. If they offer to represent you, they help you revise your story until it’s more or less polished and then they do the selling for you by reaching out to editors and saying “Hey, you’ll like this and it’ll make you money, so you should edit this and move it up to your publisher boss to print it” Then it goes on to editors who duke out all the fancy paperwork with the agent and then it gets published, yay! 

Anyway. After interning there and learning the ins and outs of all of it, I’ve come to the conclusion that fanfiction should stay as it is. It sounds wack, right? Like... someone put all this work into a story and now I’m saying they should keep it on their forum of choice instead of changing names and sending it out for publication? The hell? 

But listen. 

There is actually so many rules within published works. You don’t get to have the fluffy filler chapters, you don’t get to have that one side plot that doesn’t really matter to the main story but you like anyway because you like the characters, you don’t get to have the domestic days between the major events. Not when you’re trying to publish. 

In publishing, there’s a lot of shaving down. Know where the story starts, know where it ends, and maintain a cycle of goals, obstacles, action, and revelations that push the story. You don’t get to establish the fantasy world in 10 chapters if you’re not George RR Martin (?). You snip those ten chapters, you get to the first goal your character has, and you develop the world through the problems that come up in the story. 

You don’t get to have a slowburn of 180k, because that’s too long for a contemporary romance in the publishing world. You’re gonna have to get rid of half of those pining moments until you fit the given range for a romance (YA/contemporary/literary/historical- these all vary). 

And what we all love about fanfiction are those smaller things. The tiny details that make the fic. So when it moves to get published, all that goes away or gets changed to make better narrative sense and make for a sellable book. I’m not saying all published work is capitalist trash obviously, but fanfiction has a special oomph to it that just isn’t in published fiction. And there’s a reason for that. 

In other cases, your favorite 20k-30k fanfics? Waaaayyyyy too short to be published under any genre. YA is typically the shortest, and those have an expected range of 40-60k words. 

There’s these genre expectations in the publishing world that just don’t exist online. Fanfiction is fanfiction because it doesn’t follow rules, and it should stay that way. 

Idk if you’ve read my Lovesick series, but based off of what I’ve learned, so much of that would be cut to fit the genre. The chapters of them just lounging around the house and catching a break, the chapters of playful days out with friends (the bar scene), would be cut. It would probably be trimmed down to “meeting, chasing, trauma, getting together” and end when they’re officially dating. And that kinda sucks because it’s nice to see your favorite couple just having a TV day before listing what they love about each other, and you wanna know what happens after they start dating, right? 

Trust me, I know how hard fanfic writers work, and I’d love nothing more than for them to get rightful compensation, but tbh publishing takes away the magic that makes fanfiction what it is. It’s creative freedom and no rules and fun. 

[ravencyclebigbang]

Raven Cycle Big Bang 2020 Masterlist

The 2020 Raven Cycle/Call Down The Hawk Big Bang has come to a close! 

Twenty-six teams (and some…) created a ton of great fanfic and fanart over the course of the event. When we started this event we couldn’t have known what 2020 would end up being, so our appreciation goes to all participants for being so resilient and marvellous and sticking with us until the very end.

A Big Bang is traditionally a fandom event that produces 10k+ words fan fictions and associated art, all fully complete. That’s all the reading and looking your art might desire!!!

Please make sure to show your love to all creators by commenting, kudosing and sending loving pigeons!  And stay tuned, because we might have a little Post-Bang Giveaway ready for you…

We have an Ao3 collection in case you want to filter by tags and ratings and the like. Below the cut is a full master list of the various contributions to the TRC Big Bang, so they can be browsed with ease.

Team #1: that perilous stuff (which weighs upon the heart)

Fanfic: AO3 Art: Tumblr

Writer: @saywhatjessie (tumblr)/JessJesstheBest (AO3)

Artist: @pygmypouter (tumblr)

Beta: @rroguess (tumblr)

Synopsis: “Uh, Mr. Parrish? You’d like to read for Lady Macbeth?” Adam felt his eye twitch, even while he nodded. It was true that even at an all boy’s school where boys would have had to read the female parts, Adam probably wouldn’t have normally volunteered to read Lady Macbeth. But Ronan had called him a nerd. So he was prepared to be the biggest nerd Ronan had seen. “I know what I’m about, ma’am.” Or Ronan and Adam volunteer to read for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in class. Shenanigans ensue.

Team #2: Uncanny Omens

Fanfic: AO3 | gthechangeling Art: Tumblr | drawfulneutral Art: Tumblr

Writer: @yesterdarling (tumblr)/YesterDarling (AO3)

Artist: @gthechangeling (tumblr)

Artist: @drawfulneutral (tumblr)

Beta: ghostangel (AO3)

Synopsis: The Forces of Heaven and Hell have always assumed that the world would end. More specifically, they always assumed the world would precisely end on a Saturday evening, just a few days after the Antichrist’s birthday. The Armies are forming, the Four Horsemen have been drawn out, and the Antichrist is coming into his full power. Yet not everyone longs for Armageddon. Adam and Ronan - an Angel and Demon living in rural Virginia - most certainly don’t want it to; not when Earth has so many libations that they’ve come to enjoy. Besides, Armageddon without humans having a say in the matter wouldn’t be fair, would it? With their livelihoods and the lives of Mankind on the line, they plot to throw a wrench in the Divine Plan. It’d go far easier if anyone knew where the Antichrist was, though.

Team #3: We seek someone to sew sutures in the places where we’re torn

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @blueseyforthesoul (tumblr)/kirani (AO3)

Artist: @thecorvidrotation (tumblr)

Synopsis: Gansey isn’t the half of his soulmate pair with a name, and Blue hasn’t said anything so he doesn’t think she has his name either. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a huge crush on the cute bassist of his roommate’s band. Shenanigans ensue.

Team #4: You Better Shape Up

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: stop_whining (AO3)

Artist: @attentionhoard (tumblr)

Synopsis: A Pynch fic inspired by the classic 1978 movie/musical Grease for TRC Big Bang 2020.

Team #6: Pranks and Pups!

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Instagram

Writer: @comfy-spot (tumblr)/RandyKorn (AO3)

Artist: manao.ri (instagram)

Synopsis: The end of winter break rolls around, and Ronan finds himself stuck in a depressive episode despite the miracle of having his friends all together once again. Blue and Henry bully him into a Platonic Date Night Extraordinaire (which isn’t so platonic on Henry’s part). There’s gelato, misdemeanors, dog piles, a duck, dance parties, and even a car chase - everything necessary to force one Ronan Lynch into admitting that he’s just as deserving of love and care as the rest of them.

Team #7: In gardens all wet with rain

Fanfic: AO3 | forestgeitart Art: Tumblr | purrsnicket Art: Tumblr

Writer: @magicienetreveur (tumblr)/hollyanneg (AO3)

Artist: @forestgeitart (tumblr)

Artist: @purrsnicket (tumblr)

Beta: @semicolonsandsimiles (tumblr)

Synopsis: In a land where magic is real, Ronan spends most of his time hiding from it in the palace gardens, where he’d once met a boy who could tell the future. There’s love letters, a masquerade ball, and an evil plot to be foiled.

Team #8: The Waiting Game

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @inoctavo (tumblr)/inoctavo (AO3)

Artist: @lenaisanerd (tumblr)

Beta: @emjenenla (tumblr)

Synopsis: When all they can do is wait, Declan’s mind catastrophizes… then tries to plan for them. It’s a good recipe to make more problems when everyone’s gone around the emotional ringer. Featuring existential crises, denial, tough decisions, Declan meeting Opal for the first time, and Jordan painting Declan like one of her French girls.

Team #9: if love is just a game (then how come it’s no fun)

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @toast-the-unknowing (tumblr)/shinealightonme (AO3)

Artist: @rroguess (tumblr)

Synopsis: Ronan probably shouldn’t have sworn at the stranger he runs into leaving Gansey’s favorite hipster coffee shop. Blue probably shouldn’t have tracked down Adam’s soulmate without his permission. But they did, and now all four of their lives are tangled up together, whether they like it or not.

Team #10: Strange as Angels

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @skyermirth (tumblr)/skyermirth (AO3)

Artist: @squash1-squash2 (tumblr)

Beta: @galwaygremlin (tumblr)

Synopsis: Adam takes a job for the summer as Caretaker of the Barns, which local legend says is haunted. Adam soon finds out this is true when he meets the resident “ghost,” who isn’t very scary with his mohawk and grouchy demeanor but romantic heart. Falling in love with a ghost was not what Adam had planned for his summer. (Loosely based on the 1947 movie “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir”.)

Team #11: Dream Killer

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @attentionhoard (tumblr)/mvsic_bxxks_stvdy (AO3)

Artist: @sinplaytheartist (tumblr)

Synopsis: Ronan Lynch is a man with extraordinary talents. If he can bring a living, breathing bird from a dream, what’s stopping him from bringing his best friend back from the grave? But some challenges are too great for one dreamer alone.

Team #12: Bread & Circuses

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Instagram

Writer: @galwaygremlin (tumblr)/okay_pretender (AO3)

Artist: crystaline_art (instagram)

Beta: @inoctavo (tumblr)

Team #14: Ag iarraidh forais i bhfodhomhain

Fanfic: AO3 | forestgeit Art: Tumblr | homunculiii Art: Tumblr

Writer: @semicolonsandsimiles (tumblr)/semicolonsandsimiles (AO3)

Artist: @forestgeitart (tumblr)

Artist: @homunculiii (tumblr)

Beta: @g-reywaren (tumblr)/applepi314 (AO3)

Synopsis: Adam is more surprised that he came to Ireland at all than he is to find a doorway to the Otherworld. When Persephone gives you cryptic predictions about your future, you’re almost certainly about to stumble into some magic. And for all his exterior bluster, Ronan seems almost relieved to have someone to visit Tír na nÓg with. But things turn complicated quickly when, during what was supposed to be a quick trip through the doorway, they encounter Ronan’s little brother - who is definitely human and definitely in New York. When Adam ends up back in Ireland long term, he finds himself increasingly entangled in the magic of the Lynch bookshop, the Lynch family lore, and one Lynch in particular.

Team #15: See You Later Alligator

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Instagram

Writer: @crostiina (tumblr)/crostiina (AO3)

Artist: fricklefracklefloof (instagram)

Beta: @creativefiend19 (tumblr)

Synopsis: “Adam.” he read out loud, because he didn’t know what else to do, because he was bad at conversation yet he definitely felt the need to say something.

He thought Adam was going to be even more annoyed and tell him off for being there and close and talking to him. He didn’t know why he did, maybe it was just that night messing with him, maybe it was just him never feeling right anywhere he went. Adam just shrugged.

“Told you I wasn’t Janine.”

Graduation year, Ronan Lynch is wasting his time with horrible friends and too many vices. Things change when he meets Adam Parrish, local (apparently) sane person and ambitious soul working the graveyard shift at a gas station’s market as he waits for acceptance letters to come. Somehow, they both happen to become the best part of the other person’s day.

Team #17: weekends are for the dogs

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @royai (tumblr)/rizahawkaye (AO3)

Artist: @cheeriosnuggles (tumblr)

Synopsis: Ronan Lynch - fresh off the loss of his father, the truth of his Dreams - has so much to learn about himself, about Dreamers, about Niall, and about the black-coated wolf that tears its way through Henrietta.

Team #18: primavera

Fanfic: AO3 | Tumblr: Art

Writer: @manonblaccbeak (tumblr)/Imnotweirdjustwriting (AO3)

Artist: @gthechangeling (tumblr)

Beta: @pnrrish (tumblr)

Synopsis: the rebirth of Adam through art

OR: a renaissance AU featuring the gangsey

Team #19: trouble is (i don’t wanna let go)

Fanfic: AO3 | gouachemole Art: Tumblr | ladvy Art: Tumblr

Writer: @adverbialstarlight (tumblr)/adverbialstarlight (AO3)

Artist: @gouachemole (tumblr)

Artist: @ladvy (tumblr)

Beta: @violettfemme (tumblr)

Synopsis: It’s been two years since Henrietta’s infamous supervillain, Apothecary, disappeared from the streets and left the beloved hero Greywaren alone without his nemesis – and former secret lover. But now he’s back and determined, this time to team up and save the city from an even larger threat.

aka a pynch superhero au

Team #21: Love in the Time of Socialism

Fanfic: AO3 | Art 1: Tumblr | Art 2: Tumblr

Writer: @oldkingyounggod (tumblr)/aurumdalseni (AO3)

Artist: @effwit (tumblr)

Beta: @crostiina (tumblr)

Synopsis: This is a story about a magician with a terrible history. The death of Adam Parrish’s father after he leaves for college means a chance at closure with that part of his life, but he’s not on the journey alone. At his side is a king, whose loyalty never faltered, no matter how much the world threw at them, or how many times they couldn’t agree on how to live their lives. This is also the story of a dreamer, who loved his best friends so much that he didn’t dare risk losing them by asking for something they couldn’t give. So kisses that could have been became kisses that never were, and Ronan Lynch tells himself he’ll make his home a place they can return to. They’ll all come together again for Adam, even fierce little Blue Sargent, so he doesn’t have to face his past alone. And while he works at closing those doors, he’ll make his way into places where all the love Adam, Ronan and Gansey have built up over the years will finally have the space to bloom.

Team #22: we will raze this earth together

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @teddylupin (tumblr)/perfect-porcelain (AO3)

Artist: @kojotei (tumblr)

Synopsis: Ronan is the heir to the Cabeswater throne, a mythical place that was thought to be lost to time. He is the only one of the late King Niall’s son to inherit the royal ability to shift into a dragon. He doesn’t want the throne. In his attempt to escape, he is captured and brought to the kingdom of Henrietta where the court magician, Adam is tasked with attempting to communicate with him, only Adam doesn’t know he has a human form. All Adam sees is the beautiful monstrosity that is Ronan.

Team #24: Heavy lies the head

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @tinyarmedtrex (tumblr)/tinyarmedtrex (AO3)

Artist: @non-platonic-murphamy (tumblr)

Beta: @waywardsoul-s (tumblr)

Synopsis: Adam can’t stand the court magician, Ronan, but when his King sends the two of them on a quest Adam has no choice but to learn to work with the other man.

Team #25: A voice inside me sang your name

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @maskingfragility (tumblr)/Fata_Morgana (AO3)

Artist: @pank0 (tumblr)

Beta: @campbraceyourself (tumblr)

Synopsis: Adam Parrish has recently gotten engaged, he works for a prestigious law firm in DC and he is about to be made partner. His life is millions miles away from the trailer park in Henrietta, he has accomplished all he has ever wanted, so when the call of an ancient, magical forest starts resonating inside him he is faced not just with his past, but with the possibility that his present is not what he really wants.

Team #27: Life is a Fucking Nightmare

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @sterlynwrites (tumblr)/sterlynsilverrose (AO3)

Artist: @sinplaytheartist (tumblr)

Synopsis: We’ve All Read “Dream Thieves” at this point.

All the reader sees is the end of the nightmare of Joseph Kavinsky. But, what we don’t really see is exactly what leads up to that. This is an unapologetic look at Joseph Kavinsky and his daily life. It gives weight to the words:

“Life is a fucking nightmare.”

Team #31: The Creation of Adam

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @pynches (tumblr)/clawsnbeak (AO3)

Artist: @purrsnicket (tumblr)

Beta: glam_reaper2 (AO3)

Synopsis: When Ronan Lynch enrolled in art school just to mess with his brother, he never thought he would actually be good at it. Now, with only a few months left before he is supposed to graduate, he has to turn in one of the biggest art pieces yet. Enter Adam Parrish, a poor student who wouldn’t say no to some extra money. When he saw an advertisement on Craigslist looking for a model to help with an art project, he didn’t hesitate to react. Working together seemed easy enough but there might be more between them than they bargained for.

Team #34: The Royal Treatment

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @oldguybones (tumblr/Oldguybones (AO3)

Artist: @the-ronan-cycle (tumblr)

Synopsis: When Adam Parrish turned eighteen, he became the rightful heir to rule his home country of Henrietta. For years, he looked forward to taking over the nightmarish reign of his father and make the changes he wanted to see. But there was a huge problem. To officially hold the title, he first must wed and his foul mouthed, farm hand boyfriend, Ronan Lynch, knew nothing about royalty. Adam knew though, that there was no one better to rule by his side. So he must teach Ronan how to behave in the face of royalty without changing what he loved so dearly about him.

With time running out, will he be able to do that in time to gain the current King’s approval?

Team #38: and could you carry me through no man’s land

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @mletart (tumblr)/mletart (AO3)

Artist: @wy-mackk (tumblr)

Beta: @stadamparrish (tumblr)

Synopsis: For The Raven Cycle 2020 Big Bang

In which Ronan Lynch gets himself into trouble with the High Council and Adam Parrish ends up taking Ronan on as his familiar. Adam learns the secrets of the Lynch family, and they both learn about magic and about each other. It goes a lot better than either of them would have expected at the start.

Team #39: Weirdos’ Voices

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @flyde (tumblr)/parttimehuman (AO3)

Artist: @shamanda-lie (tumblr)

Synopsis: Without ever having seen the guy, Ronan is crushing hard on one of the construction workers renovating his building. Sitting against the door to his apartment, listening to the beautiful voice and oddly entertaining ramblings of a certain Ganseyboy, Ronan wonders what it would be like if they ever met. It happens when he least expects it…

Team #40: the first problem was putting us in charge of a kingdom

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr 

Writer: @bipolarronanlynchevangelist (tumblr)/elliptical (AO3)

Artist: @turqidoodles (tumblr)/Turq_I (AO3)

Synopsis: Ronan Lynch loses control of his magic, which is the catalyst for a lot of shit, because he’s the first proven user of chaos magic in… basically ever. Gansey’s trying to be a good king despite his fears that there may be no such thing. Adam Parrish works beside him, earning his terrifying reputation through psychic study and occasional gray morality. Blue Sargent can’t leave her home or she’ll sicken and die, and her wanderlust is driving her to seek less-than-sensible solutions. Noah Czerny knows a lot about healing, but he’s not omnipotent, and he’s a little tired of being asked to clean up everyone else’s messes. Declan Lynch doesn’t trust the crown. He especially doesn’t trust the crown with his little brother. Mysteriously, all of this leads to rather a lot of conflict.

[flying-elliska]

Shadow and Bone Season 1 Review

Ok so I got distracted by a need to watch all of Ben Barnes' filmography (lmao) but here is my review : It was really fun to watch and it was clearly made with love which is already the main thing with YA fantasy, which is often turned into a soulless moneygrab when put on screen. The actors were GREAT. I did think that the Crows suffered from being mashed up with the Shadow and Bone story, but they were still a highlight. I also think it was a bit rushed, esp. when it came to Alina's training. The costumes were beautiful, I want a kefta now. Plus the crossover fanfic interactions btw the SaB characters and the Crows were just pure joy. Also Milo, obviously <3 I'm in hyperfixation mode so here, have an essay :

The "Shadow and Bone" Characters :

- Jessie Mei Li !!!!!! She really made me like Alina so much more than in the books, she absolutely is the 'human embodiment of literal sunshine' and she was a joy to watch. Her character's arc is cliché but her acting is so expressive and endearing, I really felt for her all the way through. (maybe I'm biased bc Jessie talking about her ADHD and seeing her thrive at the same time is like!!! i love them they deserve all the best.) I like that they made Alina more proactive - even though she does make some stupid decisions... but I just don't understand people who put that down as bad writing, like ??? have you ever met a real person who only makes wise, good decisions ?? a character like that would either be at the end of their story or just in the background because that makes them static. The things with the maps in the beginning does a good job of illustrating how she is just this one girl making rash, erratic decisions out of fear and loyalty and doesn't have a sense of the bigger picture, caught in the tide of bigger events. It works for her character. When it comes to the choice of making her half-Shu, I do think it really makes sense re: her character feeling like an outsider but I do understand the criticisms that the microaggressions felt too relentless and one-note. I am really looking forward to them introducing Tamar and Tolya and hopefully connecting to them over her heritage in a more positive way.

- Mal in the books was one of the most annoying YA characters I've ever come across, so I really liked that they made him much more of a loyal, devoted friend. I found his relationship with Alina cute, it really gives us the sense that these are two orphans who found a home in each other, childhood best friends (and potential sweethearts) separated by war, two army grunts and ordinary people caught up in the wheels of power and war that usually crushes people like them, it's a great way to introduce the dynamics of their world and it's a trope that always makes me emo. It felt a bit too one note to me, though, and too heavily on the nose, like Mal's only personality was his attachment to Alina (and his resentment towards the Grisha) and too much of her emotional arc also relied on him. Them hitting us over the head with the meadow scenes felt like pure telling instead of showing and it ended up being super repetitive and kind of annoying. I am willing to like this pairing, but I wanted more scenes of them just having conversations about things and really understanding why they like each other beyond the whole childhood friends bond that we're asked to accept exists at the beginning. So I hope there's more depth there in next seasons.

- Ben Barnes!!!! Just jksdfhgkdjghdf. I'm not a big villain stan usually and I hated the Darkling in the books but DAMN his performance is just amazing. They managed to make him more sympathetic and human while at the same time making clear the stuff he does is deeply horrible. There's the Magneto-aspect of 'well clearly his methods are fucked up but he's addressing a terrible injustice nobody is doing anything about' that makes it very tempting to root for him ; and again, well, like, Ben Barnes is so hot and charismatic it feels uncomfortable (which I guess is part of the point lol). His loss of humanity is, up to a point, understandable, brought about by despair, loneliness, grief and a sense of powerlessness - living so long he starts to see other people as disposable, losing so many people he stops caring, seeing over and over how hate never seems to stop, etc. It's a logical explanation for going insane.

But the hunger for power is also very much present as a motivation and this ambiguity is there constantly. Does he maybe come to genuinely care for Alina or is it totally bullshit ? I think he does, he's just so fucked up that it comes out as possessiveness and a need to control her. He wants Alina to be his equal but he's incapable of treating her that way. It's tragic, in a sense, but the show doesn't excuse his actions either. Like his monstrosity is a product of this world full of injustice, yes, and that warrants some compassion, monsters are always a symptom of their environment in some ways and dehumanizing them completely is an excuse ; but at the same time, he sabotaged his own cause anyway the moment he started to treat other people like things, as he does with Alina, because that just perpetuates the cycle of violence and hate. At some point he started feeling like he was the only solution and he was owed power for his sacrifices, and he's using his cause as an excuse. When Alina came to him, there was a possibility for redemption, taking down the Fold, and it's a test because there is finally someone on his level of power. But instead of seeking to remedy the power imbalance between them, he made it worse, by lying to her, manipulating her, etc, and the antler collar is the ultimate sign of this.

I love those scenes towards the end (the antler-based body horror has big Hannibal vibes, so messed up). I like Alina telling him they could have had this, that she had compassion for him and his cause, that they could have worked together, and he's the one responsible for screwing it up and this time his claim that he's the misunderstood victim ("Make me your villain") appears delusional and self-serving instead of somewhat justified. The almost-lovers to enemies vibes, the sense of lost potential, and the angst of the whole 'oh you could finally have been loved by people, too bad you fucked it up !', very juicy. There is this fundamental idea that power/respect/love is not something you are owed no matter how good your intentions are or because you're strong or you have suffered or you're willing to commit horrible drastic actions, you have to keep proving you deserve it, and trying to claim power without responsibility of care turns you into a monster. The thing with the stag was an excellent metaphor of the fact that there's things you can't take, they have to be given to you, and the wonderful power there is in understanding that is what allows Alina to harness the stag amplifier's power. This is really when she escapes his grim utilitarian outlook and a different way forward and owns her own power fully on her own terms.

Anyway I hope Alina gets to beat the shit out of him at some point that would be very sexy but I'm also looking forward to see how their arcs parallel and diverge from each other as Alina starts to grapple more with the implications of her power and the harsh dilemmas of war and her own dark side. I want to see him become scared of her, and I feel it will be more visible than in the books where he just has this cold aggressive facade all the time. This one feels a lot more openly emotional which is just a lot more interesting.

- As for the other characters ; Zoya mostly made me sad. The actress has the perfect vibes but I'm not sure I love their take on her character so far, it does make sense in terms of the later books - that she has internalized prejudice regarding her mixed-race heritage, that she is jealous of Alina because of how hard she's fought to get where she is and Alina kind of takes it away from her, etc. But I would have liked to see a bit more of her being badass and sharp-tongued in a clever (even if mean) way instead of spending most of her time being rejected by men and being racist towards Alina. I did like the ending though, of her actually seeing the monstrosity of the Darkling in action and the mention of her aunt. And her brief bonding with Inej was great, just because it was badass but also maybe because it could be a part of Zoya learning to accept her Suli heritage in turn, maybe not right away but in time, when thinking of that part of herself, she won't only think of her parents' ruined marriage and all the pain it caused, but also of that badass and brave acrobat girl who went toe to toe with these really scary monsters without even having any powers and !!!!!

- Also Leigh's cameo was so cute and as an aspiring writer this is just such wish fulfillment

- I honestly think that having the Crows there actually made the S&B story better ? Not only in terms of the much needed levity breaks but also in terms of themes. For instance, Matthias and Nina's story gave us a really raw and visceral view of how the Grisha are hunted. And Inej's relationship to Alina really gave us a sense of what Alina actually means to people who believe in the Saints in a way that doesn't feel just like 'ugh those superstitious people' because we know that Inej's faith is part of what makes her who she is and a person with morals, and something that saw her through the worst moments of her life. It feels so special that she got to meet Alina and given a sign that maybe the world is not completely shitty. And Alina's kindness towards Inej really gives you a sense that she might be, or become worthy of that belief in time, or at least that she wants to, that she's figuring out her power to really touch people's lives might be a good thing, and that she's starting to accept this responsibility more fully. And her arming Inej is a nice parallel to that. I'm very emotional about this scene, because one of the first things we see of young Alina is her taking out a knife to defend Mal from the bullies, because she's protective and brave, but she's also aware the world is a shitty place, and so her giving that knife to Inej is a sort of spiritual transmission and recognition of sorts, that she trusts Inej with that fighting power, that she'll use this knife to defend herself and her loved ones and not abuse it. It's so interesting. And a counter point to the Darkling's fucked up relationship to power that Alina might at some point get afraid she'll replicate. That you could see Alina trying to gather followers and using people's admiration for her like he did but instead she sets them free and empowers them. It's great. And I feel that when Inej takes to the seas, she'll think about Alina. (I do hope somebody tells her Alina's not dead at some point though god). Girls giving each other knives is my spirituality, honestly.

- And I also noticed an interesting parallel between Kaz and the Darkling in terms of being two emo dudes who like to wear black, are prone to violence and have a thing for two very powerful women they think are special and want to have at their side, but of course, they go about it in very different ways. The Darkling comes at it from a place of power while Kaz comes from a place of utter powerlessness, first of all, and he understands why it's important to set Inej free. Him spending the entire season trying to earn enough money to pay off Inej's indenture is the opposite to the Darkling putting that collar on Alina and while I do have issues with how the show portrays him, I do love that. Love is about setting the person you love free !!!! And that confrontation scene was so powerful, when Kaz tells the Darkling Alina was tired of being a captive ! Drag him !

- As for Genya, I liked the actress and her chemistry with Alina, but I'm not sure they did a great job of making her arc very clear, for instance what it means for her to get that red kefta, her relationship with the other Grisha, etc. Her and David are already very cute though. Also very much looking forward to see where that goes.

So yeah I think they did a great job with this bit actually, I enjoyed a lot more than I think I would and even though it is a very tropey story, there's plenty of depth there too.

The Crows :

- I'm a bit more nitpicky about this because I care about these characters so much. I think overall the problem is that the SaB story in the books happens on this massive scale with enormous stakes, and that next to that the Crows' issues feel less important ; it's like their impact is distorted by the gravity of the much larger story. Like for instance, Kaz in the books is very much at the center of everything, this larger than life trickster figure who knows and controls almost everything by sheer cleverness, and he has this sense of allure and mystique that can't happen here, and so his aura just shrinks. On top of that they're not on their home turf. Being introduced to these characters before they've reached their full levels of badass is weird - there is a reason why prequels generally happen after the main stuff, because they count on the love you have for these characters at their full potential to make you interested in their story when they were less badass and interesting. So I had several moments where I was like 'oh this feels wrong'. Tbh the idea that they would even volunteer to kidnap Alina in the first place, what with Inej's backstory, feels kind of wrong, esp since they had no idea of what would happen to her if they succeeded.

- But I still enjoyed a lot of it though, especially the fact that they were this force of chaos in the midst of this bigger narrative that's a lot more self-serious. The bits with the train, or the circus acts were very clever. A lot of the best moments in the show happen when they come to disturb the other plot in unexpected ways. I'm still dead over the whole 'Alina jumps into their carriage' scene, that was fucking gold. The team up at the end !!!! Alina and Kaz making a deal ! Inej stabbing the Darkling !!!! Them stealing the Darkling's carriage !!! They don't give a shit that the story is supposed to be super dramatic it's great.

- Jesper is the one character they completely nailed from start to finish and he's probably my favorite part of the whole show. He's very funny without being reduced to the role of comic relief ; he's just so! damn! cool!!!!!!! I honestly feel this is a thing they actually did even better than in the books, or at least Six of Crows where I felt Jasper kind of disappeared behind Kaz and they insist a lot on his flaws and issues. So before we dig more into those problems I love that they gave him time to be this ultra badass who saves the day several times ; while at the same time, hinting at further developments like his powers or his gambling issues. Kit Young is just perfect, confident without being arrogant, a bit cold when it comes to crime while at the same time being so obviously caring with Inej - I loved their friendship, that was so sweet. My main criticism is that they should have made it clearer he was bi because there are already people calling him gay and that's very annoying. I know some people had a problem with his hookup and like...I can see it's a bit of a cliché...the charming badass bisexual adventurer....it's a trope I kind of love though lmao and the scene itself felt kind of cute and fun. He's not the only person who is shown to have an active sexuality and he's also not the only queer person around and we know he's going to have a more substantial romantic arc later so eh. On a larger note I loved the little casual hints of completely normalized queerness - Nadia thirsting over Zoya, Fedyor and Ivan, Poppy, etc. Having grown up with fantasy where queerness was either completely erased or very tormented and problematic, this was refreshing as hell.

- Inej and Kaz...my faves... They have a kind of relationship which feels so rare and unique in terms of what exists on TV and while I don't feel they entirely replicated it, the core is still there - the mutual respect and building of trust, the longing, the repression, the trauma, etc. One thing I really like is their arc around faith - in the books, Kaz is dismissive of Inej's faith in ways that often feel really shitty and I like that he learns to be more respectful of it. It's very much linked to hope/survival ; Inej keeps this token from her parents and she hopes to find them again ; Kaz tells her it's no use and she'll survive better if she gives up. He believes Alina is a fake, while Inej wants to believe that myths can come true and there is hope for good things in the world. Kaz comes to accept that Alina is the real deal and, out of respect for Inej's faith, to stop pursuing her. I loved the bit about Inej struggling to kill as well - it's the dilemma of what her survival and that of the people she really cares about are worth in such a shitty world - her compassion is a good part of her but so is her survival instinct, and that's the part Kaz represents - that even after she's been through hell, broken in unfathomable ways, even if she gave up all hope and faith in the world, even she becomes dangerous and ruthless to survive, she will still deserve dignity, and to be treated better. And meanwhile she is willing to break her principles, which she holds so dearly, to save him, when he's never had anyone who cared for him like that - enough to keep him alive. That bit in the church !!!!! God !!!!!! Bye !!!!!!! And then him basically calling her his own version of a Saint, that he doesn't believe in miracles but he does believe in her !!! It's very emblematic of their whole arc ; he empowers her to survive in a ruthless world and loves her at her most dangerous ; but he loves her laugh too, he finds her a ship and her parents, he honors her capacity for love and hope even when he can't share it. And she sees that he's capable of doing better, that he's worth caring for. This whole thing kills me honestly and I can't wait to see where they take this next. I'm not mad they're a bit more soft and obvious than in the books, Kaz would just have come across as an an asshole otherwise.

- That said, there are bits of how they introduced their backstories I don't like. I get that making it so Inej was still tied to the Menagerie gave them a very powerful reason to want to kidnap Alina beyond greed so that they wouldn't look like very shitty people. But in the books Inej is terrified by the idea of simply seeing Heleen or the Menagerie and the way they have her interact with her feels weirdly casual and dismissive of her trauma. Also, in the books, the fact that Kaz had to convince Per Haskell to buy Inej's contract through a lot of effort, that he wasn't the one holding that above her head either, made the power dynamics more palatable. I especially disliked the scene where Kaz says he won't free other girls because just Inej is special, it makes him look like he has the power but he's just too much of a callous asshole to do it, and that he just freed Inej because he liked her which is absolutely not what their relationship is about at the start, it's a lot more about seeing Inej's dangerous side behind a facade of powerlessness and relating to her, in a sense, and this scene made it all feel cheap.

- Also, what was that about Inej having a brother ? Not a fan of that either. I'm afraid they're going to make her story all about finding what happened to him, and that's 1) too on the nose similar to Kaz's story and 2) it kind of cheapens her own arc, a female character realizing that what was done to her was wrong, reclaiming her own power and dignity and then making sure it doesn't happen to anybody else, harnessing her personal experience to save strangers, that's so powerful - making it about a family member at first, especially if it's about revenge, it's so much more simplistic and unoriginal and the perspective really annoys me.

- Also not a fan of Per Haskell not being there because he's a very important part of Kaz's evolution, so I hope he shows up eventually - and the way they introduced Pekka Rollins was kind of like...weird and out of place. I just found the Crows' introduction scenes stilted and not as cool as they should have been - well, Jesper and Inej were very cool, but we needed to see Kaz in action first, we needed to see why he's such a menace before we see him flounder later, and I just...I don't know exactly but it didn't work for me. Also this is a very petty thing but I wasn't crazy about the Ketterdam sets, I know this is probably a budget thing but in my head it looked like this incredible mix of Amsterdam and Venice - specific locations in the book directly remind me of parts of Amsterdam I know very well - and instead what we got felt like this very generic London-ish fantasy setting....so boring. Also a lot of scenes that felt to exposition-y. I don't mind that Kaz was a bit softer than in the books, like many people have said some things work in books and don't work on a screen, and you need to make the character's inner dynamics more explicit. But I do agree that, at the same time, he should have been more ruthless towards people outside of his group. Loved that scene where he faces the Inferni though, and how well they illustrated his disability and aversion to touch.

- I don't have that much to say about Nina and Matthias ; I'm still not super sold on the whole 'haha misogyny!' thing and I dislike that so much of Matthias' change of heart relies on the fact that he finds Nina hot. But I did think that the actors had enough chemistry to make their scenes together interesting and cute ; I loved the waffle scene. Even though it's disappointing that they didn't find an actress who was more clearly plus size for Nina, I still think Danielle does a good job bringing her bold, unapologetic energy. I'm really looking forward to seeing the Crows as a whole team.

So yeah, even though the season didn't feel like a perfect, coherent whole, it was just a lot of fun and I really hope they get renewed. In particular I feel like tying the first trilogy to the Crows' story could create such interesting parallels in terms of themes, about power, the cost of survival, hope, trauma, etc etc

[deliriumsdelight7]

Fic meme shamelessly stolen from @amuseoffyre .  These WIPs aren’t gonna procrastinate themselves!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

14 so far.  Desperately fighting off several more until after I finish a few.  You know in the cartoons, when a kid is told to clean their room so they jam everything into the closet and then have to lean against the closet door while it threatens to burst open, revealing their laziness?  That’s me holding off at least 7 WIPs I haven’t started yet.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

490,989.  

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

I mean... all of them are OUaT, but some are crossovers... so I guess three.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

What You’d Thought Lost. etc.: my Rumbelling of The Holiday which I swear I’m gonna finish once the seasonal depression hits!

Tattercloak: Rumbelling of Allerleirauh/Sapsorrow

Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat: Rumbelle Assassin AU set in the John Wick verse

The Language of Flowers: My first ever gift exchange fic.  Enemies to lovers flower shop AU

Masters of Destiny: Dark One Belle fic that I really might need to restart because the ideas just aren’t coming together

5. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Almost always. Sometimes I’m too busy, or I can’t think of anything to say.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Hahahahahaha this implies that I finish things!  Seriously though I’ve only finished two things so far and they both have happy endings.  I’m considering writing a oneshot of the events of The Crocodile from Milah’s POV - specifically the part where she runs away with Hook.  That will probably not be popular with my readers but the idea intrigues me.  That one won’t be happy I guess.

7. Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I am Anyelle trash.  Any Bobby character that I can pair with a Belle (with a few obvious exceptions), I want.  So far the craziest one is one I just started, “Finding a Cure.”  It pairs virologist!Belle with Infected!Don.  I’m still trying to figure out how much of the science my STEM-averse butt can get away with making up.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Outright hate?  No.  But in one fic, I really needed a character to do a thing, and I sort of had to force it.  Someone pointed out (maybe not in the nicest way) that my characterization was inconsistent.  Which... yeah, it was.  They made a fair point.  I always criticize writers for making a character do something OOC to force the plot they want to see, and I pretty much did the same thing.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

My smut is mostly straightforward, with the exception of threesome smut in Trinity, my Mad Rumbelle fic.  I’m toying with some spicier ideas, but I really can’t start another WIP til I finish something.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I didn’t even realize this was a thing that could happen, so no.  Before last year I’d never gotten involved in fandom.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

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

I honestly can’t.  I don’t work well with others.  As soon as I have to work with other people, my creativity sort of dries up.

13. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I mean, if we’re going “of all time,” I’ve been an SS/HG shipper for probably 20 years, give or take.  But nothing has inspired me to frantically write the way Rumbelle does.

14. What’s a WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Masters of Destiny.  I started that fic without having any idea where it was going, and I’m thoroughly stuck.  I have a few vague ideas of scenes and twists I want to include, but no overarching plot to speak of.  I might start over eventually and come up with a more fitting title.

15. What are your writing strengths?

I’ve been told I write good action scenes.  Which is funny because when I read, I usually glaze over them a bit to get back to the plot.  Maybe that’s the key - keeping them simple so I can get back to the good stuff.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Pretty sure I use the past participle way too much in my writing.  Oh!  And I can’t write fluff to save my life.  Angst always creeps in.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think you need to think about who your audience is and what you’re trying to convey before you decide one way or another.  Are you writing for people who know this language?  Or at least for people who you’re fairly confident will immediately plug it into Google translate?  Cool, you do you.  If not, then I’d say either just write the words translated, or make sure the person isn’t saying anything that’s vital to plot or character development.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

God.  Self-insert Sailor Moon fic back in middle school.  My friend introduced me to the concept of fanfic, which made my nerdy face light up as I realized that I could pair myself with the angsty anime boy of my dreams.

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I love most of my fics, when Impostor Syndrome isn’t kicking my ass.  They’re made with my own tastes in mind, after all.  If I had to choose, I’d go with Breaking Cycles.  I can’t bring myself to reread what I’ve got so far, because it was the first thing I’d written for fun in about fifteen years, and the prose and dialogue are clumsy.  But it’s close to my heart, and I apparently have a weakness for sad/angry alcoholics in fiction.

[themanicgalaxy]

SPN 4X19 Jump the Shark

Oh hey is this the illegitimate brother plotline

boy I love me some sweet sweet ANGST

whelp she's fucking dead

picture of JOHN?

Sam's peacefully brushing his teeth and Dean's Not a Morning Person

boy he's having a bad morning

to be fair, living out of the car is kinda not fun either

"I'm his son" Dean: I'm gonna fUCKING KIL-

he's..premed?

they're going to ruin his life too aren't they, Aren't The-

Dean is taking this really well

I mean he did get the brunt of John's Issues, so I get it, yike

ASDFPIHP them discussing their dad's ~sex life~ is very funny though

Dean was...preteen? when this kid was born? Sam was under ten definitely

Dean Please

No that's your Actual Brother guys PLEASE

hunting accident "ah fair enough"

"who is a nuclear family these days" FEELS SO LOADED

Dean...Dean please don't fUCKING KILL HIM DEAN

THE IMPALA NOOO

"he took you to a baseball game" IDSFHAPF

He's Trying not to CRY OH MY GOD NO WAIT

Sam resonates with the away from college thing oh NO

Dean is trying SO HARD not to snap

at least he's...trying..to keep adam out

corpse snatching => HEY LOOK IT's THE BONE STEALING WIT-

I think I need to stop being online jesus christ

the [both sigh] was so good

well...that's a lot of blood

How the hell do you break it to your illegitimate brother that you're ~technically Wanted by the FBI

at least he's not an idiot

HE'S SO MUCH YOUNGER THAN THEY ARE

I mean obligatory dead mom

"do i get a say in this?" "NO!"

no..no SAM DEAN HAS A POINT

Middle sibling + younger sibling gang up on elder

"have u thought about eternity" "bro i've literally been to hell Idk what to tell u"

Dean doing it solo but Sad is...:(

Oh he worked the old case, that's neat

"so it's over for you" welllllll

OO THE TRUCK SHOT WAS COOL

dean + long dark coat truthing tonight HE LOOKS G O O D

it wants revenge

YOU FUCKERS AND YOUR REVENGE BELA WAS R I G H T

and Adam Instantly wants revenge, you sir are definitely a Winchester

"it's life" WELL IT SHOULDn'T BE

the stupid isolationism I hate it

NO GO CONNECT WITH PEOPLE KRIPKE WHY

Sam's becoming his dad, and Dean isn't

...SAM WHAT THE FUCK

DAD MOST CERTAINLY DID NOT DO RIGHT BY YOU

HIS GODDAMN GRIEF SPIRAL GOT BOTH OF YOU

LET HIM BE NORMAL! HAPPY! IT IS TOO LATE FOR YOU RIGHT NOW(NOT ALWAYS)(Also very close to the thing with zachariah in placement(eye emojis) BUT LEAVE HIM ALONE!

I do appreciate Dean Eldest Sibling'ed it up even if he didn't like the kid/was jealous. Goddammit I wish we got connection in this stupid show

I was expecting a jump scare but somehow the squish is worse

sOn oF aBitcH

Ah FUCK NOT ADAM TOO

I do like the little angel Icon though, that's what's Dean's way out

Ghouls is a racist term?what????

no john winchester was 100% a monster

ah it was their father

yada yada father killing circle idk

YAY! DEAN'S INGENUITY IS BACK!

Ghoul!mom is really really good. I liked Scared Adam better though

the slicing sam scene is BRUTAL jesus christ

So...John got his own son killed in the end...

SERIOUSLY HE WAS TERRIBLE

Dean JESUS CHRIST

awww caring Dean is nice

AWW HUNTER'S FUNERAL

"Adam's in a better place" :(

Dean tried to fit himself into the Dad box, Sam's actually him

"you take it any way you want" oh for FUC- HE- I-

he looked so Sad, so like...he's stopped idolizing him

jesus christ.

boy there's gonna be overlap ok here we go.

1. poor dean. Ok couple things: 1) he elder sibling'ed it SO HARd! he didn't even like Adam, but he still tried to keep him safe(I think). he gave him a hunter's funeral! I just. It was nice to see. It was also INCREDIBLY painful to hear the realization of "you were always like dad, I never could be" and the fact that he didn't even see it as a good thing anymore? fUCK man, that huRT me. Dean tried so hard to be something he wasn't, he got probably the brunt of the abuse(because he didn't measure up to that metric like Sam always would), and in the end all it got him was...just. so much pain. Like it felt like John left his Broken children behind to get a new one, and just turned them into his quest for revenge. It was SO So fucked

Hey actually speaking of

2. AM I SUPPOSED TO LIKE BEING A HUNTER/JOHN? WHAT HTE FUCK?

YALL ALREADY MARTYRED HIM BUT UR MAKING HIM WORSE?

LIKE ok listen. John's kinda set up as the ideal of hunting. They martyred him! And I was halfway sold provided they didn't mention him again. Then! he did this thing where he abandoned his kids, seeing them only as tools to fulfill his quest for revenge, literally broke them(that too late thing+zachariah saying "it's in your blood" when really it was just trained from a young age), got a NEW family he treated a lot better. I just. I have...NO idea how I'm supposed to see him as a good guy here. Maybe I just kin Dean, or his plight is WAY more sympathetic(it is, Sam is kinda pissing me off), but John's just...coming off worse and worse and they KEEP doing it!

Also! this whole cycle of revenge thing! about how if you keep taking an eye for an eye, everyone ends up blind! they barely escaped this time, and I think this was the second revenge plot that I can think of with MONSTERS alone! it was a BIG theme! Like!! hunting sucks! revenge makes you end up in worse places! it's like this one episode was made to show how SHIT hunting was!

wait who wrote this

Dabb+lofflin. The hunting sucks always comes from-

this GODDAMN INCONSISTE-

3. Fuck John Winchester

4. Individualism. Ok this is a big one. Alongside the whole revenge plot thing(which is BIG, and a hunting sucks), this one drove home the sheer individuality of hunting. But while some of the writers see that as Badass, this one made it seem lonely, and painful. Like the flip side to American Individualism is American Chronic Loneliness. I know this one was used to process the ennui of the post recession/post 9/11 time, and it's doing very well for that, but it kinda ends up like this show is EVERYONE'S therapy all at once! the gang's all here! and we're gonna traumatize you in the process as well.

EDIT: and yeah yeah yada yada american individualism is King and then so is it’s accompanying loneliness in the post 9/11 post war in iraq post recession world(we were not having fun in 08/09)

and I get that this show is the writer’s therapy and whatever

(I just thing this is phrased better)

5. bring him back. Connect! Look. I know it breaks the core ethos of this episode. But having Weird Esoteric Hunter siblings would have been SO FUNNY!

give me more sibling content! Sam+Adam teaming up against the Eldest Sibling Dean WAS SO FUNNY! I WANT MORE OF THAT

6. SAM WHAT THE FU-. Look. I hate John. I very much hate John. They set up the Sam/Dean dichotomy in regards to John first episode, and Sam acting more like an ass+like his dad is. Not making me like him. Also I feel like this was written to sympathize with Dean. Which makes the finale even more ironic, I feel.

7. Listen. Listen. One of you has to keep track of continuity. Like I know this becomes a WAY bigger problem later in the series, but if a certain writer wants to process/examine a certain part of the Life/Story(and they should, they set up a lot of interesting stuff), they have to keep track! Because then the show becomes everything all at once.

Like this show has ALREADY started feeling like fanfic of itself, where it just kinda does whatever it wants with its own concepts. And the concepts are GREAT! but you can TELL how inconsistent it is, even in the kripke era

like it ends up being Study of X, Riff on X! and I think that's where the inconsistency comes from. It's also why it's so fucking Excellent in places.

whelp this was a lot holy hell.

OH AND ONE MORE THING!

Bela didn't fit the narrative. That's why they didn't like her. I said at the beginning that an Int'l art thief does NOT fit the vibe of "grungy Angsty American Midwestern gothic" and I was right. With the lucifer story and the vibe she didn't fit, and so they just killed her as foreshadowing, and only used her like that. God I wish they'd riffed on her, especially because her callouts were all completely correct

we're Bela Salting again

listen she was preppy Jack Sparrow with some spiritualism, how dare you tell me not to like her.

[opaquestrategies]

2020 in review

tagged by @7rc --thank you, I love doing these kinds of things. and since i always write too much for them, the list is under the cut.

Top 5 movies I saw this year:

Emma. (last film I saw in a theater!)

Roman Holiday (hOW did it take me this long to watch this. how is roman holiday not more embedded as a fanfic au plot trope? a pure delight.) 

The Host (went through all the Bong Joon Ho movies I could find after seeing Parasite and this one was my favorite. B-movie but make it art!)

Naussica of the Valley of the Wind / The Castle of Cagliostro / Porco Rosso (As of this year, I’ve watched every Miyazaki movie! all three of the ones I caught up with are great, and I can’t bring myself to choose between them.)

The Hateful Eight (we hooked our laptop up to our stereo to watch this after Liminal Election Week and it was so cathartic to live in a world with different, more visceral problems and to see people in lockdown for a different reason)

Top 5 TV shows I watched this year:

Halt and Catch Fire (I didn’t post much about this show at all when I watched it in June because it was so good that I watched all four seasons in one weekend. Stick with it thru the first season where it’s still just “diet 80s Mad Men and Lee Pace and MacKenzie Davis are there” and you’ll get a show that’s also a stunning mediation on how people you’ve grown apart from can still be part of you even after time changes both of you several times over and what it means to be able to forgive and be forgiven. you’ll feel like you lived a lifetime after finishing this.)

The Simpsons (first nine seasons! this is what I watched over the summer when packing up the apartment I’d lived in for four years)

What We Do in the Shadows (the first season was a great time, but somewhere around the Jackie Daytona episode was when I realized I was watching a masterclass sitcom)

Derry Girls (this was the perfect stress-barricading watch for the first week of quarantine! absolutely sublime.)

Simone Giertz’s youtube channel (loved the consistent experience of being able to watch a cute, talented woman follow the inscrutable exhortations of her soul, especially when those exhortations were things like “make a coffee table out of matches and then light those matches,” “build a robot deer I can hunt with a compound bow” and “build a scissor lamp.” her whole spirit of “yeah, fuck it, I’m just gonna manifest this thing because I want to” is infectious and brought a lot of joy back into covid summer)

Top 5 Songs:

Choose literally any Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters track and insert it here

Fleetwood Mac - “Angel”

Throwing Muses - “Not Too Soon”

Adrienne Lenker - “Anything” 

Haim - “Don’t Wanna” 

Top 5 Books I Read This Year:

The first four Earthsea books by Ursula Le Guin, with special mentions to The Tombs of Atuan and Tehanu which both gave me the delightful “I am spending a week just living in this book and lapping it down as if it’s water” experience. #tenarhive. 

The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I was going to describe this novel where pretentious students form a Greek cult and then murder the weak link of the squad as “fun” which seems a little incongruous but like...it’s a taut, perfectly paced thriller and I got to understand the Greek allusions in it and there was some delicious dramatic irony in how the book’s narrated. so yeah, i did have fun with it. it’s fun.

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. Baldwin can write epigrammatically and that’s how I first encountered him, as a quotation. But the reason he gets quoted is because he makes sure to never simplify his ideas or reduce the world to something less complex than it really is, even when he’s also going for pith and wit. And of course, like all writers, he improves all the more with context. As a Christian, I found his critique of how the church has let itself be used as a tool of white supremacy particularly lucid and helpful.

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. “Fictional oral history” is such a fun and breezy conceit for a novel and I tore through this one in a day during the first week of quarantine. a lovely little pastiche of some very familiar tropes if you happen to love the archetypes and mythology of popular music and/or are a boomer. this is what is responsible for the Fleetwood Mac.

Pyrrhus and Cineas by Simone de Beauvoir. I leaned on this little essay A LOT for the honors thesis I spent this year writing and reread it three times. It’s such a clever and intriguing discussion of why we bother doing anything at all or why we should choose one goal over another when it all just ends in us dying anyway, which are themes that really hit this year. The last paragraph of the first part always gives me chills. 

Top 5 positive things that happened to me in 2020:

this was back in the part of 2020 that isn’t part of 2020, but I had one really fantastic 48 hours back in February where I helped host the speakers my job invited to a philosophy of religion conference, went to two really nice dinners, talked about so many interesting things, and then went on a impromptu outing with an art history major to see a pop art exhibit.

I participated in several different classes and reading groups, mostly organized by two of our professors, that gave me something to do over the year other than doomscroll and vegetate. I read Kafka, Nietzsche, Toni Morrison, Camus, Philip K. Dick, and Foucault for the first time over the course of these and it was a precious gift to have a built-in venue for social interaction when I was stuck in an apartment by myself.

I moved to an apartment in another city with one of my best friends to ride out quarantine together and that decision has been such a boon for my mental health in the back half of this year. finding the place was a nightmare, but it’s in a nice neighborhood that has a beautiful park and a sculpture garden in walking distance and it was wonderful to put up art and make the place our own. it was a refreshing and much needed change in a year when change was hard to come by.

I used online school to go home for thanksgiving for the first time since I moved away and then just stayed for the rest of the holidays. I usually only get three weeks down here on winter break, so it was nice to have a month and a half instead. 

I graduated from college! and one silver lining of having no idea what 2021 is going to look like is that I’m forced to take at least a semester break to heal from the burn out instead of automatically starting the application cycle for grad school (although the “oh I have no idea what I’m going to do about grad school” is dawning on me and figuring that out will be a huge part of whatever happens next year).

i feel weird tagging people to think back about this last year now that we’re safely out of it? like don’t go back into 2020, that’s where the 2020 is! but, if you want to, i’m tagging @justthatspiffy @aahsoka @theraisincouncil @cosm-i @letsoulswander and you, if you also wanna revisit this kind of stuff.

[crowsent]

👶,⭐,💘, and💻. Love you!!

thank you for ask anon! writer ask game is here if yall wanna send in something. still taking asks for these btw

👶- advice for new writers =

yall this is hella fucking generic but PRACTISE. theres a reason almost literally every writer on tumblr gives the advise of “practise practise practise” and that reason is it works. practise doesnt mean ‘oh just write bc youll automatically get better over time’ it means ‘write bc if you dont, you wont figure out what you need to improve.’ did yall know that i literally had no sentence variation in the past? i started every sentence with [character name] or [character pronoun] and i didnt realise until i was 15/16 and i only realised bc i started writing a lot.

i think there’s a fear of failure with new writers. there’s this lingering doubt of  “what if its not good?” and boy howdy i will answer that question right fucking now. it wont be good. when i compare my current work to my earlier work, my earlier work sucked fucking shit. i spelled soldier with a fucking ‘j’ and i had no idea what the hell a point of view was. and thats okay. whoever tells you that youre going to perfect writing is a fucking liar. there is no perfecting writing. 20 years from now, imma look at the writing from today and im gonna think it sucks shit. writing is a process. its a craft. you get better and better over time and the way you get better is by experimenting w different styles, different genres, different ways of writing.

and the only way you can experiment and improve is through practise. in video games, especially rpgs (which are my favourite kind of video games), you struggle in the early game. youre at a low level, you dont have good equipment, you have a hard time moving to the next area. but the only way you progress is by grinding, gaining levels, and getting stronger. same w writing. if youre a level 1 writer, just starting out, no idea what to do, just experiment. fuck around a bit. write crackships, write rarepairs, write niche self-indulgent reader/character fics. at the end of the day, you should write for yourself. its good and cool if other people like your stuff and validate all your hard work, but at the end of the day, the one who should enjoy your writing the most is yourself.

you WILL mess up and you WILL struggle, but thats the only way you can improve. i struggle with pacing the most. still do. but others might have pacing down pat and struggle instead with word choice or pov or something else. cant figure out where you need to improve if you dont write, so just practise and worry about all the fine print later

⭐️- how do you get your inspiration? =

this is definitely not universal, but i just sit on my bed, close my eyes, and meditate. cycle through all my emotions and thoughts and filter them out. then i just toss everything out the damn window. like. id just meditate for a while, focus on breathing, on experiencing the present, picture a field and a tree and myself and breathe. thoughts fly by and i let them happen but dont focus on it.

meditating gives me some semblance of emotional control bc i normally have none, and it gives me kind of this space. this safe space that only exists for me and me alone. so i use that space to let the world drift away. just me and my thoughts and sometimes, those thoughts end up being good writing ideas. but i usually meditate for a set amount of time. like 15 minutes or 30 minutes so i dont write until i finish meditating.

then when i get out of my headspace, i open up my laptop and see what i remember. thinking too hard about something causes it to muddy up. same with art. in digital art, artists flip the canvas to refresh their eyes, see if there’s anything weird or wonky about the illustration that they normally dont see bc theyve gotten used to it. flipping the canvas is like giving our eyes a jumpstart and lets us see what we could do better. in traditional art, its turning the canvas this way and that or repositioning yourself. meditating is like that. a break. a cleanse. a kind of pause where you dont think about anything and just try to process what you already have. you relax and kind of let yourself float down a river of thoughts and sometimes, a fish would jump out of that river and youd go “hey, thats a good idea. i should try that” so when you get out of the river, youre refreshed and ready to go.

same principle with showers. more ideas come to you in the shower when you dont have anything to write with bc youre not thinking about it. youre not focusing on finding inspiration or motivation so ideas naturally flow through you. you know that feeling when you want to do x then someone comes along and says “hey you should do x” and suddenly all motivation to do x leaves? same w your brain. focus too much on “i should be writing” or “i want inspiration” and its never gonna come. just let things happen. at least, thats how i do it. some people might get inspiration by reading or watching tv. everyones different so if thats not what works out for you, dont feel pressured to try my method

💘- what’s your favorite AU? Least favorite? =

magic au. specifically fantasy au set in like a pre-modern era. shows like avatar where theres all this magic and fantastical beasts and so on and so forth. semi-modern like six of crows and nevernight are great too. i want that magic to be woven into people’s lives. harry potter is okay but there’s like this separation between magic and muggle. there’s this feeling of “magic” but like as a tool. like a spoon or a gun or a shovel. i want magic au’s that are INTEGRATED with the world its set in.

like in atla, earth kingdom people have trains they move with bending while fire nation people have machines powered by heat and steam. both correspond to their bending and makes sense for the world they live in. but if your plot is like harry potter and its less worldbuilding and more action, then there’s this book series called seasons rising (read it. so good) where there’s a bunch of spells but the spells have character. the people using the spells GIVE it character and it feels much more intimate. pokemon does the whole fantasy mixed w reality better. give two trainers the exact same pokemon and by the time that pokemon reaches lvl 50, its gonna have a different moveset, different fight style, etc bc it was shaped by the world and people around it. i like harry potter but tbh it could have been so much better

for the least favourite au, it’s A/B/O i dont like the whole “omegas are only good for breeding hurr durr” and “alphas are violent and aggressive and cant control themselves around omegas” thing and it squicks me out. major squick. i read the original harry potter squick (THAT one. yeah. you know the one) and i still hate a/b/o more. i get why people like it, and there are one or two fics set in a/b/o au that i enjoy reading, but as a whole, i severely dislike a/b/o fics.

the themes are squick, the character dynamics get so messed up, and shipping dynamics (bc a/b/o fics usually have shipping) just get so blown out of proportion. there are so many a/b/o fics that turn ooc or the character interpretations radically change or something else. no hate against a/b/o fans bc yall are amazing for writing/drawing yalls au. there are things that you can only do in this setting and exploring those things can be incredibly fun for people, but for me personally, its not an au i like to visit.

💻- three works of yours that are must reads =

i. dont know what fandom youre in anon or your genre preferences. so ill just rec you one fic for a different fandom each with kind of different genres. ts masterlist is on my side @hufflepuff-deceit and regular fanfic masterlist is on my writing blog @crownonymous 

(BNHA) Viper. its my first serious attempt at fanfic in YEARS and its my baby. currently has 7 chapters, i havent updated it in a while bc im hyperfocused on ts rn, but i love it to bits. its just all of my fav bnha fics crammed into one fic. quirkless kind of villain izuku with stain as a mentor as they work together to bring light to the injustices of hero society and where bakugos bullying has visible and long-lasting repercussions? sign me the fuck up. you can read it on ao3 HERE bc its not on tumblr. kind of fast-paced, has a lot more action scenes than anything else ive written. heavy plot-wise but has a lot of humour and comedy to break things up

(Kimetsu no Yaiba) I Pray To God He Hears You. not related to my other kny fic oleander which is a multichap retelling au. iptghhy is a standalone one-shot and kind of a character study on one giyuu tomioka. i love him so much. giyuu is my baby and i adore him. so of course i wrote a sad fic focusing on him. well technically, the fic focuses on giyuu AND his relationships.  SPOILERS for chapters 130 and 131 of the manga. focuses mostly on giyuu and sabito, but there’s a fair bit of giyuu and tanjiro and urokodaki.  you can read it HERE bc this is also not on tumblr. also deals with heavy things but more emotion-wise since it doesnt have that much of a plot. loss. grief. moving on. survivors guilt. that kind of stuff.  very sad. hurt but with comfort, especially at the end.

(Sanders Sides) Logan’s Birthday Fic: Logicality. just what the title says. i wrote 5 different fics and published them all on logans bday but the logicality one received the most feedback and honestly? the cutest of the bunch. its gonna be crossposted onto ao3 but for now, you can read it HERE on my ts sideblog. theres no plot since its literally just domestic and relationship fluff. and puns. patton is in the fic, theres gonna be puns. nothing but good things and warm feelings bc logan deserves it.

-

thank you so much for such interesting asks anon! i enjoyed answering these. have a lovely day!

[richardsikens]

Tagged By technically no one fdjghrfd but i saw @amyabbotts do it on the dash and it looked fun ! ! !

Author Name: cosmicwritings

Fandom You Write For: harry potter mostly ! but my most recent stuff has been spiderman and gilmore girls and the raven cycle

Where You Post: ao3

Most Popular One-Shot: definitely got my heartbeat (skipping down sixteenth avenue) - petermj dating fic where mj doesn’t know they’re dating fdfguhrdi

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: bold to assume i have the attention span to write a multichaptered fic

Favorite Story You Wrote: uhhh i actually rlly like my roryjess cruel summer au fic - don’t want to keep secrets (just to keep you) ! but i stand by that my jameslily brooklyn nine nine au is the best idea i’ve ever had - you can leave (my heart alone) ! and a honourable mention to my ronanadam the song of achilles au - know him in death (at the end of the world) !

Story You Were Nervous to Post: oh my mj character study fic, i was SHITTING myself when i posted it bc 1) i hate marvel so i don’t actually know much about the fandom and 2) i was very Particular about my mj

How Do You Choose Your Titles: i use fic titles to Out my music taste

How Many of Your Stories Are:

Complete: i have posted 24 on my ao3 account, but i am Known for never finishing fics so i have too many in my drafts on my laptop dfkghdfkjgh

In-Progress: i think the only one in progress is my weasleys’ character studies series ! i’ve posted bill’s - up and down and barely made it over - and need to post charlie’s !

Coming Soon: like i said, the rest of my weasleys character studies - charlie’s is up next, i’m hoping to do it chronologically ! i also have 5k of a petermj break up fic written already that i need to finish, another 5k of a dracopansy love rosie au i’ve been writing for Years but i actually want to post, and two lucasmaya fics i’ve also been working on for Ages but want to eventually post even tho the girl meets world has Died (life as we know it au and another break up fic jfdghjfh)

Upcoming Story You’re Most Excited to Write: i’m rlly excited about my weasleys series !!!

Do You Accept Prompts: uh? yes? i’m not rlly a popular fic writer so i don’t dfjkghd get prompts but also i rarely actually finish Writing so they probably wouldn’t be answered anyway until years later dkfugdfj

Tag Ten Fanfic Authors: i rlly didn’t even get tagged to do this so fsgurjhsd if u wanna do it as well, say i tagged u ! ! !

[eddtober]

Eddtober Masterpost: About, Rules, Boundries and Prompt Lists.

I hadn’t done anything about it until now due to no response - however the wonderful @ldhenzel​ suggested that I do it this way for mobile users. 

About Eddtober

Eddtober is a list of prompts made in an effort to encourage the Eddsworld Fandom to spread their wings of creativity beyond the norms that they are used to, during the month of October.

It is all without harming others or causing drama, a neutral ground for all fans of Eddsworld to come and have fun, no matter what side of a discourse they’re in.

It hopes to promote inspiration beyond the usual angsty and over-dramatised content, to revive a spirit in Eddsworld that hasn’t been seen in many years, and to stretch the invitation to all who can create.

Eddtober calls not only the artists who have a talent for drawing, painting and so forth, but also: the authors (fanfics, journalists, essayists, diarists, poets, ramblers), the cosplayers, the video-makers (animators, video essays, memers, youtubers) and all those who want to be inspired with unconventional creativity.

Eddtober’s motto for the fandom it came from is this: To come forth, be inspired and break from the old and the mold!

With that out the way, buckle up. This post is gonna be a long one under the cut.

RULES 

Base Rules need to be set so everyone can participate in Eddtober safely and in a fun way. Please read them carefully!

Always tag it with #eddtober. Gore and related NSFW is allowed in the challenge, but please tag it as #Eddtober gore, etc. Also, no shortenings or reimaginings of those tags, so the minors on this site don’t find it on accident. Though many of us may be over 18, please keep these things in mind.  

Be Sensitive and Respectful to Others. I know many of us here in this fandom can take easy offence to certain types of art, so please consider and think on your creative piece before you post.

Credit Where Due. This should be blatantly obvious right now, but please, please don’t steal other’s creative fanwork or post it without credit. Always have permission from the creator to post something of their’s, and always have their username when you post it, not just ‘credit to the artist’. If you do not follow this, actions will be taken for your consequences.

Keep yourself chill. You can do one prompt for Eddtober, some of the prompts or all of them - up to you! It’s understandable if life gets in the way. The goal of Eddtober is not to do every prompt, but to be inspired to create fan-content in a way you usually wouldn’t have.

Spread the word. This is less of a rule and more of a personal request from Admin Panda, but since she doesn’t have many social media accounts you’d expect, spreading word of Eddtober would mean a LOT, so they can join in the fun too!

Sharing is caring. Reblogging and sharing from your fellow creators doing Eddtober would be great to give them a motivation and confidence boost!

Go Beyond the Boundries of Your Imagination. The whole purpose of Eddtober is to promote new, fresh things to come up in the Eddsworld fandom and break a cycle of the same old that’s been there for a while. Take a leap, spread your wings, do your best, and go have fun.

BOUNDRIES

Most of this list will be related to Rule Two of Eddtober:

Be Sensitive and Respectful to Others.

Quote:

‘I know many of us here in this fandom can take easy offence to certain types of art, so please consider and think on your creative piece before you post.‘

Whilst Eddtober is a fun, neutral place to spread our creative wings, there are boundries that need to be taken in order to keep everyone safe. Which means certain parts that are usually seen as ‘common’ within the Eddsworld Fandom will not be acceptable in the challenge.

Edd Gould’s death. Admin Panda wishes to make it clear that creative pieces that draws clear lines to Edd’s passing IS NOT okay. This includes Edd in hospital for cancer, Angel Edd or any AU that depicts him as a divine being of any sort (including Blessworld) unless Tom, Matt and/or Tord are also similar divine beings in the AU. Here at Eddtober, Edd's life is something to be celebrated, not his death. While Admin Panda isn’t 100% offended by this, many others are and it should be more recognised as such.

Sinsworld. Believe it or not, the sinsworld tag was specifically made back in the day to keep the porn out of the main. But due to a certain in-fandom event, this intended action has been long-lost. Because of all of these events, any sinsworld (porn, lewds and related NSFW) that’s Sinspired by the Eddtober prompts WILL NOT be accepted into the event by any means. This is because many in this fandom are minors/underage and more who are 18+ are repulsed to porn and such (Admin Panda is part of the latter group). So please, it is fine to be sexually inspired by the prompts, PLEASE keep your Sinsworld content away from the Eddtober tag - don’t put both tags into that post, essentially.

Abusive/Self-Harm Creative Content. No. Just. No. Death or pain like this isn’t allowed to be depicted in the challenge and should never be romanticised or supported. Eddtober aims to be a safe and uplifting space for all creative people, no matter what their space is at the moment.

More sensitivities and boundries will be added onto this list as Admin Panda recieves questions and requests for this area through the askbox here.

PROMPT LIST

Quick reminder: when this list says ‘create something for’, it’s not just referring to fanart - it refers to any medium, digital, traditional or unconventional, that can be used. The challenge here is to be creative as possible, not to stay conventional.

The List features Admin Panda’s Commentary. Some useless, some useful.

Create something for Edd. (Not his real-life counterpart, but the character. That needed some clearing up based on 2017’s results.)

Create something for Tom.

Create something for Matt

Create something for any pre-legacy season episode, except WTFuture. (You can do WTFuture if you want, but seeing that much of this fandom is currently made of people who came in after The End… It’d be worth having a crack at pre-legacy episodes.)

Create something for the crew’s symbols.

Create something for Superhero Alter Egos! (It doesn’t have to stop at PowerEdd’s canon either! Go nuts! Give Edd and his friends new superhero alibis and outfits!)

Create something for Supervillain Alter Egos! (Reminder that it doesn’t have to stop at the ‘Green/Blue/Purple/Red Leader scenario! Again, go nuts! Get wacky if you must!)

Create something for Minor characters of the show. (Except the Neighbours - they already have their own prompt.)

Create something for descendants of the main four guys. (Sure, you can make it about the love children of your favourite ships, but the point of this prompt specifically is to not be ship-related. See if you can come up with descendant characters from the bloodlines of the main four.)

Create something for Tord. (He’s late in this list for a reason. Trust me.)

Create something for the neighbours of 29 Dirdum Lane. Are Kim and Katya still there, or are there newbies in the street?

Create something for the neighbours of 25 Dirdum Lane.

Create something for unlucky things happening to the guys, or one of them. Feel free to go as dark or as humourous as you like!

Create something for genderbends of the guys, maybe as if the Ellsworld we know never existed. Or you can stick to canon, up to you.

This prompt is a wild card. Do with it as you wish. (In 2017 everyone was told to quote: ‘go whole hog on this’. The next thing we all knew, everybody literally drew pigs with the guys. That wasn’t supposed to be literally taken, but by god it was hilarious.)

Create something for your crew. Whether you’re the main character with your friends or have OCs taking that place or a mix of both is up to you.

Create something for an AU of Eddsworld. You can make one up on the spot, or even fan content for an AU that already exists is cool too. (As of rule number two of Eddtober, the Blessworld AU will not be accepted for this prompt. I know it is a popular AU, but if you have any issues with this, please contact me in the blog asks myself.)

Create something for Eddsworld as a video game. Whether it’s concepts and covers for your own ideas or fanart for games in the making such as Eddsworld Armageddon, up to you.

Create something for Todd, or whoever the ‘Tord’ figure is of 25 Dirdum Lane.

Create something for a Saloonatics-WTFuture Crossover. (What? Shenanigans could be made here, guys. Just take it!)

Create something for the future selves of the guys. Or if you want to take it up a notch, make your own versions of them! Have them all be hobos (#HoBrosforlife), or have cola not be banned in the future… up to you!

The End who? Create and elaborate on how you would finish off the Eddsworld Legacy season. (For the purposes of this prompt, I can accept an angsty end for this, but I personally do not recommend it. The Eddsworld fandom has had enough unnecessary angst already.)

Create something for Zanta. (I guess you could call him a Nightmare Before Christmas, then.)

Create something for an Eddsworld movie. Whether it’s stuff for the Eddsworld Fan Movie or your own ideas, up to you!

Create something for the deal with Tom’s eyes. If you want to call them that.

Pick a song, any song, and put that on repeat. Use it as inspiration to create something in relation to Eddsworld.

Create something for Edd Gould himself. Not his character in Eddsworld, the real-life person.

An obligatory prompt without Eddtober in the beginning: create something for Edd’s birthday. (This was made into a prompt and will permanently remain as one as Edd’s birthday shouldn’t be taken away from today.)

Create something for someone/multiple someones in the fandom who inspire you - even the small artists and writers and such who are just starting out!

Are you afraid of the dark? Are you getting goosebumps? Create scary/monstrous/terrifying things happening to the guys. Interpretation and how far you go with it is up to you.

Happy Halloween! Create something about the guys on this special spooky day. Interpretation is up to you.

If you have any questions, concerns or queries as to all of this, don’t be hesitant to come shoot an ask through this blog. Have fun and a safe Eddtober!

[shxrirogers]

hello! I’ve been considering writing stuff for Steve/Chris x reader and Seb/Bucky x reader for a while, but I enjoy reading them a lot. That’s how the interest started. I love writing too, but I hardly have any followers so idk if anyone will read it and I was scared in case me writing it as a hobby would take the enjoyment out of me reading it if that makes sense! So I come to you to seek an experts opinion haha. Sorry to bother you!

Hi, love! First of all, you’re not bothering me and NEVER will. Secondly, I in no way consider myself an expert on writing fics (or writing in general) but I’m very flattered that you came to me regardless! It’s so nice knowing that there are people who love reading my work and consider me worthy of giving advice :)

Here are some tips/pointers/encouragement I have for you, some of which I’ve figured out on my own writing fics on different platforms, some of which I’ve learned while being in my writing program at school:

If you want to post your writing, do it. It does not matter how many followers you have. Obviously, we writers post for people to read, so it’s not selfish to say that you want the followers and the validation that comes from people reading your work and giving it notes. It’s interesting because I transitioned over to Tumblr from writing on Wattpad and I’ve had to adjust to the stark difference in follower count/interaction count. On Wattpad I had hits and readers in the hundreds of thousands and now on Tumblr, I can barely get 50 notes a fic. I’d absolutely be lying to you if I said that that difference didn’t frustrate me, but the feedback I do get on my fics makes me want to keep pushing and writing and posting because I know that the only way I’m going to get my writing to more people is to keep. writing. There’s no other way around it.

If you want to grow your follower account once you start writing, there are several ways to do it! ALWAYS make sure you have a tagging system on your blog, especially when it comes to your fics. Tags are a writer’s best friend! Some of the best fics I’ve ever read on here have come from me searching tags. Also, don’t be afraid to submit your fics to your favorite writers and writers with big followings! Ask them for advice and direction! See if they would be willing to advertise one of your fics if you do the same with one of theirs! People on this site like to act like it’s the fucking Hunger Games out here regarding fics, fighting to the death to see who can get the most attention, which is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen and heard. Writing is hard enough as it is and takes so much time and effort that we should be building up a supportive community, not tearing each other down. Oh, and try to participate in writing challenges if you have the time! That’s a great way to get exposure.

AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, IF YOU LIKE A FIC, REBLOG IT AND GIVE FEEDBACK. LIKES, WHILE WE APPRECIATE THEM, DON’T DO SHIT FOR US, REGARDING BOTH FEEDBACK FROM OUR READERS AND GETTING OUR WRITING MORE EXPOSURE. NEVER HAS THAT BEEN MORE IMPORTANT TO DO THAN WHEN YOU’RE A WRITER WISHING SOMEONE ELSE WOULD DO THE SAME FOR YOU. REBLOG FICS YOU LIKED. GIVE THE AUTHORS FEEDBACK ON WHY YOU LIKED IT. Ok, that is all on that.

I can see why you’d be afraid that writing would take the fun out of reading, but I have to say that in my personal experience, the opposite has been true for me. Once I started writing fics, I became so engrossed and in awe of the fanfic world because it was only then that I realized how much work and passion doing something like this takes. I NERD OUT when I feel like I’ve really nailed a fic or when I feel like I’ve developed a fantastic concept (ask @bicaptain​, she’s my beta reader for every fic I write and every story I develop, fic or otherwise), so I tend to do the same when I recognize the level of effort another author has put in to entertain their readers and make their story come to life. PLUS, writing fanfiction allows me to act out fantasies that I have or live vicariously through another character, which in turn, I’ve found, has actually turned me into a better writer altogether because I’m practicing flexing my creative brain muscles, which are stronger for the next fic I write. Then, the positive cycle just continues, if that makes sense! And, if you ever find yourself experiencing burnout, take! a! break! from! writing! As hard as it is for some readers to believe this, you don’t owe them anything. If you try your hand in it and enjoy it for a while, but then find that the pressure of it is doing more harm than good, stop. Take a break. Read your favorite fics that inspired you to start writing in the first place. Find the books/authors/stories that made you originally fall in love with reading and storytelling. Then, when you’re ready, take a deep breath and try again.

I hope some of these tips helped! If you want more advice, please don’t be afraid to message me or send me an ask to get more help! Also, if/when you do decide to write, PLEASE send me your finished work. I want to read it and give it all the love I can. Xx.

[graciecatfamilyband]

Be Gone, KFKD

The other day, @lajulie24 made a post about that radio station that plays in creator's ears and talks sh*t about them, termed KFKD by Anne Lamott in one of her classic books on writing). You can and should read @lajulie24 's beautiful post on this and plea for fellow fanfic writers to continue to write through the radio noise here. Here is a relevant excerpt, however:

KFKD (yes, that’s short for K-Fucked) is a concept from Anne Lamott in her book on writing, Bird by Bird. (It’s a great book, incidentally.) It’s an imaginary radio station that plays in every writer’s—nay, every artist’s—ears. In one ear: concertos and symphonies about how insanely talented and special and misunderstood and gifted one is and all the accolades and talk show appearances and words of praise that will be coming one’s way; in the other, the greatest hits of every mistake one has made over a lifetime, songs of doubt, hymns of self-loathing, warning tones that soon the jig will be up and everyone will find out what an utter worthless fraud one is.

...sometimes it just wants to play and play and play and make us simultaneously doubt ourselves and feel underappreciated and unseen.

I wanted to share some strategies I myself use to help turn down KFCK, just in case they could benefit anyone else. I’d also love other people to comment or reblog with their strategies!

I also tried to stick to “I” language more than “you” language since this is just what works for me. Sorry if I bore you with too much detail about my writing process or come off as self-centered as a result D: (and for the self-talk that calls me a “we”  not crazy, I promise. Or am I....?).

Some Strategies I Find Helpful for Turning Down KFCK:

1. Tapping In To Why I Write

Maybe this is because I see myself as a "new" writer- I don't know that I've written fiction on the page in the last 10 years, and even then, it was very rare for me (although I have years of 'in my head' practice) but every story I write begins with a question: "Can I do this?"

Sometimes I'm more confident as I sit down to type my first brainstorm or draft ("Yeah, i totally can") sometimes less, but I have to confess, I'm never totally sure.

And I really do genuinely want to find out.

There are even times I truly feel like the answer is, "No, I can't do this."

Then I tell myself, "Well, it feels that way, but we did this much and it's not finished yet. I bet we can at least finish it even if it's not what we want. Even if it's so far from what we want that we think it's a failure. Actually, that's a really interesting question- if I can't actually do this, what WILL it look like when it's finished? Will it be a failure? What does that even mean, if it's finished? That's at least worth finding out, because I'm really curious."

So far, this approach has helped me finish, and at the end I haven't failed by any of my own personal standards!

2. Knowing My Writing Process

At some point- usually at least at two point- I will hate whatever I'm writing. This is not linked to whatever is on the page; sometimes it happens when my draft is still very weak, but just as often it happens when there's a lot of great stuff going on and there are some fixable problems. It's not really about what's on the page; it's usually about where I'm at. The draft is looking different than I imagined (LITERALLY ALWAYS), or I'm not sure if I can do the next step well, or I've been working too much on it at once and need a break, or my brain is just Doing The Thing.

I have learned this by watching myself and noticing that I cycle, kind of like this:

IDEA. --> BRAINSTORM/FREEWRITING. THIS IS GONNA BE KILLLLEEER YAS. --> Omg wait. Is this great or terribly stupid? I literally can't tell. Omg. If I can't tell, it's stupid. It's stupid. But I kind of like it? No, it's terrible. --> okay, well, we're gonna keep working and see what happens --> Not bad not bad --> OMG ITS STUPID --> OMG IM ON FIRE I LOVE IT --> Not bad Not bad --> I HATE THIS PIECE I WILL NEVER LIKE IT --> Nice job, self, really nice job.

It varies a lot, but that's a good gist.

The great thing about knowing this cycle is that- while the emotions are always there- they have much less power. "Oh, hello, Hatred. You were bound to show up eventually. Why don't you sit in this corner and have some tea while Mommy works, huh?" Hating what I'm writing (at least in this short-term way I'm describing) DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING IS UNUSUALLY WRONG WITH THE PIECE AT WHATEVER STAGE I'M IN. Its just my brain's roadblock it tries to throw up. Which means I can ignore it rather than engage with it. "Shhh, Hatred, play quietly, Mommy's working."

For those of you who have seen How I Met Your Mother, it's like the tape jammed into Marshall's car that only plays The Proclaimer’s 500 Miles. On road trips the characters love it and jam to it, they hate it and despair, they love it and jam to it, and hate it and despair, in an endless cycle.

Hating the song right now? As Marshall says, “Don’t worry… it comes around again”.

3. I Find a Friend - or Two - or Five

We hear this all the time, right? Find a beta who you trust to help you improve your work, blah blah blah, and while I can't emphasize the enough the truth and wisdom of that, it's not quite what I mean here.

I'm talking about cheerleaders and partners-in-crime. This can be the same person as a critical beta (although if so *I* let them know I don't need that part of them right now, I need them in a different, supportive role) or another person. The OMG YES friend. The person you can go to who will whisper DEW IT when you need it most.

"I was going to participate in this fandom thing, but I'm nervous. Let's do it together?" (This one works extra well if it's someone you want to read more from, muwahaha.)

"I have this idea. Do you think I should write it or nah?"

"I'm halfway through this story and I'm not sure if it's worth finishing. What do you think?"

My favorite kind of writing friend is the one who can tell me what I'm doing *well* as much as poorly, especially in an early draft when I'm not sure if the story has legs. "No, keep going, I really like what you're doing with X and I really want to know what happens with Y." "Omg that's such a funny bit. I'd love more of that." Etc.

4. What Do I Want, As A Reader? / What Would I Tell Another Author? 

This one is pretty self-evident: If another writer came to me with the concerns I’m having, what would I say to them? If another writer were considering giving up on a piece because other writers had done something similar, what would I tell them? 

I think most of us would note the reasons that we WOULD want a piece from another author! Most of us want to see that one trope in a new way for the 10th time because we love it, most of us love to see all the different creative takes on an idea, etc. Most of us are able to see this so clearly as readers, and struggle to see it as writers. 

(I literally pretend I’m talking to another author / tell myself whatever I would tell them.)

4. How Might Another Author Feel If They Heard Me Talking This Way?

The flip side of the above thing is, what would someone who both a) wants to write themselves, and b) genuinely likes my writing, think if they heard me talking like this? 

I know when I hear writers that I respect get down on themselves- especially really get down on themselves- it makes me feel like I shouldn’t be writing at all. If So-and-So’s stuff isn’t good enough, how could mine ever be? 

I would never want to make someone feel that way if they were trying to write, so why would I say that kind of stuff to myself? 

5. The There’s Always Someone Principal

I may think what I write is vastly inferior to So-and-So’s piece, but usually I find that for every two pieces that are similar or have similar themes, someone likes each of those pieces better than the other. It’s incredibly likely that someone out there may actually like mine better, insane though it might sound. There are all sorts of tastes out there! And really, usually: both pieces have significant things to offer.  

(Also worth noting: Its possible- likely even- that that other author you feel intimidated by might feel intimidated by YOU.)

6. Telling Jokes to Myself (Sometimes About Myself)

If you ever see my posts apparently despairing about my writing process (like this one here), fear not! I'm just engaging in my tactic of making fun of myself while I write. LOL. Its not as toxic as it sounds (for me at least- if its toxic for you, DON’T DO IT)! I find that, for whatever reason, making fun of myself takes the pressure off 100% and lets me enjoy the writing process more. So if you see me doing it, feel free to like, feel free to ignore. Send encouragement if you literally can’t help it, but “haha, lol, writing is so weird” is a totally fine response! 

[bsinoranges]

B, d for nowhere in the sea, f, I, j for nowhere in the sea, k, m, n , r , v and z (for the fanfic ask game thing)

Wow. This is long. I’m putting it under a cut because I went overboard.

B: Any of your stories inspired by personalexperience?

Yeah, I did have a sweeping and lovingly mundane love that ended with marriage by the time I turned 18.

Seriously though, Nowhere in the Sea has some stuff that might have come out because of my subconscious.

D: Is there a song or a playlist to associatewith [insert fic]?

No? But I listened to my sad music playlist and the OST for KimiUso while writing.

F: Share a snippet from one of your favoritedialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

I went searching for something I was proud of. Hahaha. In the end, I just ended up rediscovering stuff I’ve written before.

This is from LDL.

Takumi starts playing with magic at six years old. The younger Sugawara tumbles around the dried leaves, sending withered remains skyward. It looked like ash as it rose the cold blue expanse of the sky.

Magic suited Takumi just as much as magic wanted to kill Koushi.

Koushi watches from the open window of his room. The frigid air whispers against the worn pages of his book, his fingers on the paper are flushed red. He can see the inky mana pool at his brother’s fingertips. They ebb and flow like water pulling at the sand.

“Takumi,” Koushi leans over his desk and onto the sill, “have fun for me too.”

His brother stops, and the leaves hang static in the air. “Can’t you do magic too?”

Koushi smiles a facsimile of a smile. “I have to sleep if I do.”

“Does that mean I have to sleep too?”

“No, it’s just me.” Koushi shakes his head.

I liked the imagery in this one, and I liked how the atmosphere just complemented Suga’s despair over his situation. Also I was legit shocked because I did not realize that I wrote the I have to sleep if I do line. It has some impact for me, especially that I’m rediscovering it.

This next one isn’t from a fic, but it’s from an ask. But I’m so proud of it. 

“You have to stop this.”

Kyoutani bites into his fries and tastes iron. Fuck this. Iwaizumi shouldn’t be butting into his problems.

He sucks on his thumb before stuffing it along with his fries in his pockets.

“Shit.” Iwaizumi’s eyebrows furrow deeper, and he pulls Kyoutani’s arm out of his pockets and into the light, “Are you bleeding?!”

He yanks his hand away. “Fuck no, and it’s none of your business.”

“Stop being such a dumbass and show me.”

Kyoutani turns and starts walking before Iwaizumi could fuss some more. If it were any other time, he would have listened – appreciated it even. But he’s not going to deal with this now. Not now.

The park was empty. As empty a park can be at twelve midnight. An empty midnight park was not somewhere Iwaizumi should be.

“Kyoutani.”

“I’m not going to die from something like this.”

He hears his senior click his tongue. “Not from that, no.”

Even with his back turned Kyoutani knows that Iwaizumi is staring him down with the steady ferocity that made him ace.

Kyoutani stops in his tracks and turns to look at him. The gravel shuffles at the movement. “Then I don’t see what’s the problem.”

His wound begins to sting,

“I’m doing this because I have to, not for some fucked up sense of pride. Not for that glory shit they sell, Iwaizumi.”

“That’s not all there is. You don’t need to do this-”

“You can’t protect me. You won’t always be there.”

His heart races. A shadow passes over them, it hides the thinly veiled shock on Iwaizumi’s face.  “You can’t always protect yourself, Hajime.”

I’m sorry I went overboard and just posted the whole thing. But it just feels so intense, and agitated. The exchange doesn’t seem to lag and everything just goes bam! And the last line feels like a great ending. Haha.

I: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (readingor writing)?

Domestic fluff and many forms of hand holding.

J: Write or describe an alternative ending to[insert fic].

You co-wrote this senpai. But the ending for Nowhere in the Sea was supposed to end with Yamaguchi and Yachi skipping school in the winter to go on an extended roadtrip to find her dad. Tracking magic wasn’t a thing. They would find incriminating evidence that he was dead. And it ends on a sad note with Yama pulling Yachi in for a hug in the snowy winter mountain.

My how different it turned out to be.

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come upwith? 

It’s about this character that severely injures a very important limb. They use magic to keep said limb more functional than it is now until they can find a better cure. But in the end the cure is not found, they lose all function in that limb, but have found a certain kind of peace with themselves.

L: How many times do you usually revise yourfic/chapter before posting? 

Hrm. It varies, but usually I redo the piece more than five times, then I do it once more and post that one unedited. It’s a brutal cycle that usually requires external influences to break.

M: Got any premises on the back burner thatyou’d care to share?

OH! I have a DaiSuga fic planned. It’s a one-shot similar to the Lights in the Sky are Stars, except that it’s moments set while they’re travelling to destinations and shit.

N: Is there a fic you wish someone else wouldwrite (or finish) for you?

I wish someone would write  my just kiss fills  LDL for me. Because that is a monster. At the same time, I don’t want anyone to write it for me.

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise)you consider an influence?

Maggie Stiefvater is basically my ideal writing style before I even knew about her and it.

The amount of times I’ve reread Harry Potter is obscene. So I might’ve gotten stuff from J.K. Rowling.

I also love the writing style of Khaled Hosseini. 

Just agh. I am doing them an injustice by not explaining why, but god.

V: If you could write the sequel (or prequel) toany fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

Hrm. I’d really rather write my own fics than others. It feels wrong, and I probs won’t do them justice

Z: Major character death–do you ever write/readit? Is there a character whose death you can’t tolerate?

I plan to write them and I have read them. Many of what I’ve read are misses rather than hits, because they seem cheap.

Hmm. I probs can’t take it if any of my 4 top 1 Haikyuu faves die, but I could be persuaded if the story rightfully calls for it.

[littlepanduh-writes-365]

Opinion of RPF

tw// mentions of depression and anxiety

howdy doo everyone~

I’ve been writing and rewriting this letter for the past few days. There are many thoughts that I wanted to include, but I’m constantly worried about the longevity and potential curtness of some topics. I’m also worried that my opinions are going to backlash on me, but I came to the conclusion that in order for me to be a better person and a better writer, I need to accept criticism. I just ask that if you do send me criticism or questions, please be patient and understanding with the response time. I try to handle things sensitively which means I put a lot of thought into my answer and writing. I also admit that I get rattled easily and I want to give you answers when my head is clearer. 

This has been something that’s been on my mind for many years actually. It’s caused me to stop reading and writing many times. At this point, it’s becoming a vicious cycle and I don’t know whether I want to continue it anymore or just give it up and find something else to do. If you’re reading this, I hope you can at least gain insight and understanding because some other authors may have felt this way and if you have the time, I’d appreciate some feedback. I know this document is long, so I’m really thankful if you can bear through it. 

I have been reading and writing fanfiction for about 11 years. I have been writing for k-pop on and off for 7 years now. Although writing has been a great hobby and outlet and the k-pop writing community has proven to be a safe space for me, I still tend to have internal conflicts about the ethics of Real Person Fanfiction (RPF). I have a very long explanation of my philosophy of writing, which I encourage you to read if you read many of my fics, but to break it down, I acknowledge that there’s a lot of responsibility when writing for the k-pop fandom. 

I know these are real-life people and it’s possible that readers might get the wrong idea when reading my fics. I want you to know that when I write my fics, I’m not exactly thinking of that specific person. This sounds kinda horrible because it’s blunt, but when it all boils down, I’m basically just using them as a face claim. It’s easier for me, especially since I write a lot of shorter fics and drabbles, because I don’t have to spend a whole page describing a character, like how authors of books normally do. A lot of what I write comes from personal experiences so I usually think of a plot and then decide which person fits my character. I admit that I do choose characters based off of the idols’ personalities/personas, but I’m not going to hold it against them in real life. I sometimes adjust my character to the “real” personality of the idol, but not so much. I’m pretty sure a lot of k-pop fanfic writers feel this way (and I can imagine readers feel that way too), which is why I encourage you to read the extension of this memo which digs into specific topics, like writing idolverse/”canon” and smut. 

If you are a writer, I hope you have a similar philosophy that respects the people we write about and also reflects on a potential cultural impact you can make. If you are a reader, I hope you take an author’s intentions into account when you are reading. It’s not just writing out a fantasy, but there are thoughts and emotions writers want to express or a lesson to teach. Sometimes people do write just for fun and it’s normally okay, but it varies case by case on whether the intention is appropriate.

Sometimes it is hard to see those intentions, especially when it’s not explicitly written out like this or authors chose to be vague about endings or “what happened last summer” or something like that. Depending on the situation, the uncertainty is a key factor in their style or storytelling, but if you’re uncomfortable about it, you have the right to voice it out. This is why it’s so important to communicate with authors by the means of commenting. Jumping to conclusions is very disrespectful to a writer and that’s not fair for fanfic writers who are doing this for free. Conversations like, “where do you get this idea from?” or “did you mean this when you said that?” clarify the intentions of the author. (If you have a strong opinion or interpretation, you may want to preface in your comment that because you might just come off as rude and taking control over the story.) Many authors might say, “it’s up for any interpretation”, but will give their own insight. In my opinion, if authors don’t give you the time of day or completely shut down your opinions, I understand if you start forming your own opinions. (I don’t believe social media slander is the way to go but maybe appropriate if they ignore the problem.) Depending on the writer, they are busy, so please be considerate of their own personal schedules. Don’t demand a quick response time or a public apology. Reading and writing are supposed to be cathartic and empathy-inducing and distracting and fun. Your opinions are valid. (I have to add on that if you chose to ignore things like trigger warnings and tags, that is on you.)    

You may be wondering, why am I writing this letter? I seem to know my limits. I try not to be a problematic person. It doesn’t seem like my writing is problematic either. I’d like to believe these things, but I recognize that these are all subjective. I am not necessarily going to be completely transparent with you because that’s a whole lot of layers and I don’t want to just force all of that on you, but I will be open with you about things that I’ve already put out. 

I’m predicting that the people who are reading this memo have only been reading my recent works/works I’ve posted on AO3. If you don’t know this, I am also on AFF and tumblr. Although a lot of my stuff (especially the one-shots on tumblr) is pretty lighthearted and surficial, I have written about deeper and darker topics: character death and mourning, cheating, panic attacks, and a pole dancer. I have also included themes of drinking, swearing, and implied sex. These range from passive mentions to having the whole story revolve around that topic. I recognize that these can be uncomfortable themes, which is why I try to relay my intentions and sensitivity through Extended Author’s Notes, content warnings per chapter and tags, taking forever to edit, and writing long responses to comments. I choose to write about these topics because I personally get tired of seeing similar fics and, again, I just need an outlet.

Allow me to address a… hyena in the room (yeah, not an elephant). I don’t usually flash this card, nor do I feel 100% comfortable talking about this, but I’m just going to come clean and say that I suffer from depression and anxiety. No, you don’t need to feel sympathetic or look at my writing differently. Please don’t do that. That’s not why I’m telling you this. I mostly want to say that, yes, I have these mental illnesses, but I also acknowledge that it doesn’t excuse any toxic behavior. I have written when my anxiety-induced insomnia gets to me or when I’m having a particularly low week. I try to edit when I’m more stable, but again, that’s pretty subjective. I try so hard to cope properly and I do use other methods besides writing. I talk to my friends to make sure I don’t isolate too much. I’ve ventured into music and dance. Admittedly, things have been harder with this pandemic. I’m not a perfect person and I admit that I slip up every once in a while. You might see it in my writing. Sometimes, I’m rereading a paragraph for the 12th time and I’ll be completely jaded over the intensity of the emotions I wrote 3 months ago because it comes to the point that I’m just looking at words. The words that I wrote at 2AM after a self-loathing day seem completely different two weeks later after a deep talk with my best friend. One day, it’ll hurt me, and the next, it’ll mean nothing. I’m not sure how it’ll affect you. I acknowledge that my readers come from different walks of life and different experiences. I want to respect that. If something bothers you, please do not hesitate to communicate with me. 

I know I don’t act like it all the time, especially on Twitter, but I am an adult and I’m trying to handle at least my mental health like an adult. I write about mature topics and as a writer, I recognize that I need to handle the reception maturely as well.

The “best woman of this generation” once said this about her group. “Even if there are good times, there could also be times when you feel disappointed or feel regret or get angry or annoyed… Just do things that you like. Resolve your mood, then come back to Red Velvet… It’s not “always like Red Velvet”. I’d like for your guys to find many, many diverse things to enjoy… I do really want you all to be happy.” I am in no way in the same league as Red Velvet or Ms. Bae Joohyun, but I’d like to keep that humble mentality. You don’t have to support every fic I write. You don’t have to support my entire story. You don’t have to approve of every topic I write about or the messages I relay. (I would like to hear your thoughts, but you are not obligated to do so.) The beauty of these sites is that you can come and go whenever you would like. I get it. Life happens. Things change. Opinions change. You’re valid. If ever you want to come back to my story or maybe finish one that you never continued, you are always welcome to do so.   

I, myself, have stopped reading fics, even if they were good. I’m not just talking about ongoing fics that lost its flare. I’m also talking about completed fics or fics that have over 500 Kudos or were Featured on AFF. Sometimes the topics are too deep. Sometimes, I just need to emotionally prepare myself for an update. Sometimes I lose interest. I’m sure the author might feel a little hurt, but that’s just how life is. I don’t spend a lot of my time reading and writing fics. In the end, I’m going to finish the fics that kept me interested.

Alright, if you’ve made it this far, congratulations. Serious conversation is over (for now). Thank you for your tolerance, patience, and understanding. If you are someone that reads my stories, thank you for your support. If you are someone who enjoys my stories, thank you for your love. With the time that I have, I’m working hard to be a better writer, but most importantly, I’m working harder to be a better person. The k-pop community has been a safe place for me and I want to continue letting it be that way. 

Stay safe and healthy everyone <3 Until next update

Click here to read my in-depth opinions about writing. (Skip to page 4.)