#but i did it in under a week

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Hey now, Let her cook!

[filurig]

instructional booklet for basal and listless ceteceans feeling like looking for porpoise

[aroaceleovaldez]

What is the PR disaster in question that made Rick announce TSATS? I wasn’t active in the online fandom at that point

Of course! This was awhile ago so it figures people don't remember it/aren't familiar:

Basically a couple years back (2020) the fandom had some posts circulate discussing the ways different characters in the Riordanverse were written poorly or offensively. There was a masterpost that went around tumblr but the two major points people were particularly focusing on were Piper and Samirah (particularly because Piper had featured prominently again in Trials of Apollo recently and the third MCGA book had further emphasized and discussed Samirah being Muslim, since it was supposed to take place during Ramadan). Basically each had multiple posts breaking down the ways they were depicted incorrectly or offensively. The entire fandom for a little bit was VERY intensely discussing this (and it's around this time the "RR crit" tag got very popularized on tumblr - it did exist before, but suddenly was being used VERY frequently - cause it was that wide-spread - though the discussion took over basically every side of Riordaverse social media on different platforms). People really wanted Rick to respond to these criticisms, so he did!

He made two blog posts, one about Piper and one about Samirah. He has since deleted both so the links are to archived versions. The short version: he essentially tried to justify his poor research and double-down that he hadn't written them offensively, actually, people were just being mean to him. The fandom, of course, reacted poorly to this.

[Further elaborated events under the cut since this got a bit lengthy]

(Fun fact, this all happened within a month or so of the time i posted an open letter on aphobic tropes in the Riordanverse that Rick replied to, and then he immediately followed with announcing that Reyna was intended to be ace-coded [which cause a LOT of fandom debate] before Rick dipped for a couple of weeks, and then came back to post the blog posts in response to Piper and Sam stuff. So I like to jokingly refer to this as "The time I imploded the fandom/drove Rick off of twitter." Twas I that set the house ablaze.)

Rick fully left social media after this and the LT Musical social media manager became Rick's social media manager for the time being.

So this all happened June/July of 2020. Tower of Nero would end up being published in October of 2020 and a few months after that Rick would state that he was done with the series and wouldn't be writing any more series installments involving Percy, and also that he wouldn't be writing a Nico quest following Tower of Nero as it "wasn't his place to" and encouraged the community to write their own versions of Nico's story.

The community continued to circulate the tumblr posts and discuss the topics of Rick's offensive character depictions, and this is also where we see the dramatic shift in how the fandom depicts Piper in fanwork (though in most cases it is admittedly not an improvement 😬) because of all this discussion. This is also around the time when the fandom brought Viria under scrutiny claiming that she was whitewashing Piper as part of the same discussions, through the justification that she was drawing Annabeth as having tan skin (which she does canonically), and if Annabeth has tanner skin then Piper then that's whitewashing Piper? Except they were using completely separate images of not fully rendered Piper art versus Annabeth in dramatic lighting, so it's all very awkward and poor logic, and did actually get kind of racist. A lot of people were calling it "Tannabeth Blackchase" (yeah, i know) or similar and a common sentiment you'd see repeated is "Don't draw Annabeth as having darker skin than Piper, because that's offensive/racist/whitewashing." (Note: it was not phrased "don't draw Piper as having lighter skin than Annabeth" - we also won't get into certain offensive depictions of Native Americans, but I digress). But yeah, the Annabeth stuff in all that did not age well at all.

Anyways, in October of 2021 however Rick would announce that he was co-writing The Sun And The Star - with a lot of heavy emphasis on how Mark Oshiro works as a sensitivity reader, and some false advertising from the official social media that Mark Oshiro was the first time a non-Riordan author would be collaborating on the series (disregarding the ghostwriters completely). One of the big criticisms in the breaking down of issues in Rick's writing was his lack of ever seeking a sensitivity reader, and fans claiming that a sensitivity reader could solve a lot of the problems. This was basically Rick's "look! I totally listened!!!!" (though it did little to actually improve things, based on the book) and in TSATS as well Piper gets a large cameo at the end where the text very directly addresses a lot of points made in criticism of Rick's writing of her.

We also then of course got the CoTG trilogy later, explicitly stated to be for advertising purposes for the show.

So basically, short version: Rick came under scrutiny for a lot of offensive writing within the span of two months, made some bad blog posts doubling down about it, left social media. TOA ends. Rick says he wasn't going to continue the series/write what would become TSATS. Community celebrates the end of of the franchise but also continues to discuss Rick's poor writing and the blog posts at length. Rick suddenly announces TSATS and Mark Oshiro's involvement. Everybody gets distracted from being mad. Show announcement stuff also happens and the discussions peter out.

[alkalinetrios]

my first fanart of käärijä! [reference]

[astaroth1357]

Bon Voyage Event Spoilers!

God Solomon's lies by omission are really getting out of hand.

"Oh MC, I'm so sorry! I was just testing out this magic pillow to go into dreams and somehow accidentally fell asleep! So sorry we spent the night together in dreamland. I am not sorry in the slightest"

"Oh, by the way, would you like to try the pillow to go into my dreams? You would?? Great! Well we'll have to sleep together tonight even though I just used the pillow totally fine when we were in different rooms. No backsies"

"Hm? Having trouble sleeping? Take a whiff of this! It's not chloroform if it's magic"

"And now we're in my dreams! What fun! We are going on a cutesy, cliche human world date where not a damn soul can disturb us or so help me-!!"

How are you Solo-lovers not just constantly-

[kiwim7]

alan ross watching the ocean from the lyric and such

heres the ref i used for the main pic

[parkercore-69]

i HATE that stupid twink

[magicicephoenix]

i love the idea of her wearing an alice angel cutout to cover the ruined side of her face…

youtube link (and thumbnail too since you can’t see it up there) below the cut!

[ladystoneboobs]

House of the Dragon s01e05 We Light the Way // Game of Thrones s02e06 The Old Gods and the New // House of the Dragon s01e05 We Light the Way // A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin, Chapter LVI, Theon V // House of the Dragon s01e07 Driftmark // Game of Thrones s02e03 What Is Dead May Never Die // House of the Dragon s01e07 Driftmark // Game of Thrones s02e07 A Man Without Honor // House of the Dragon s01e07 Driftmark // A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin, Chapter LVI, Theon V // House of the Dragon s01e07 Driftmark // A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin, Chapter XXXVII, Theon III // A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin, Chapter LVI, Theon V // House of the Dragon s01e07 Driftmark // Game of Thrones s02e06 The Old Gods and the New // House of the Dragon s01e09 The Green Council // Game of Thrones s01e04 Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things // House of the Dragon s01e09 The Green Council // A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin, Chapter LXVI, Theon VI // House of the Dragon s01e09 The Green Council // A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin, Chapter XLVI, Bran VI // House of the Dragon s01e09 The Green Council // Game of Thrones s02e03 What Is Dead May Never Die //

[quibbs126]

I’m noticing that the Decepticons in g1 are actually pretty intelligent, at least when it comes to engineering feats

Like they’re constantly building new bases, temporary or otherwise, unlike the Autobots who don’t even build out from the Ark’s place in the volcano. They make so many elaborate machines to extract energy, of which need to harness countless different energy sources, and they almost always successfully create Energon from them, the Energon only being unstable when the source itself is, not their process

And on top of energy machines, they build other impressive machines to hinder the Autobots in whatever way, and it’s not just one person who makes them, they all do. Like, Megatron on his own created a machine that successfully clones other Transformers, outside of having a working brain. And he’s made other things too, that’s just the one I remember. I know Starscream’s had his own scientific contributions, but I can’t remember them at the moment other than rigging an experimental energy source to explode the planet for infinite energy

Edit: I actually do now have an example for Starscream, namely the episode where they accidentally time travel to King Arthur times, in which Starscream invents a working electricity generator to power him and the other stranded Decepticons with technology and materials from the 500s, and creates gunpowder at least 300 years or so before it’s invented in China. I know Transformers technology is far past that, but the fact that he knew how to do this and was able to with incredibly archaic technology by their standards is a feat all on its own

Like their machines almost always work, it’s just that the Autobots destroy them or they tap into an energy source they didn’t fully understand the consequences of (or just didn’t care)

And you can’t even say the Autobots have the leg up by creating new Transformers, because I’m pretty sure the Decepticons made the Constructicons as well, who are also fairly skilled builders. And also have the ability to combine, and were the first I know of capable of doing so

Like I guess the Decepticons just all have degrees in STEM or something. Shame that seems to be where all their intelligence points went

[curly4830]

Finished ISAT last night, this game was an emotional rollercoaster from start to end, tbh. I've got a lot of thoughts about the game and they're all pretty short, but I'd like to list some of them here.

The coin is interesting! I think mechanically it's a good way to check Siffrin's internal monologue of the same thing, regardless of area/party status. But story wise, it's a whole other thing to me. Loop and Siffrin have their own kind of Heads/Tails duality, and Odile's coin flip makes me think that it could have/might have been Loop in our Siffrin's place instead, if things had gone just a little differently. Siffrin's forgetfulness being both a foreshadow to his home country AND the potential years worth of time stuck in the loops. and the player's forgetfulness, that too. Another angle I'd like to explore in the future is Siffrin's sprites, and the (possibly intended) idea of taking the growing space covered in shadow on his face as a loss of humanity/the concept of self. It helps take the idea of Siffrin seeing himself as an actor to the next level for me. You could extend this to the Mal Du Pays/Bigfrin sequences being the total loss of self, Siffrin being sent over the edge(and subsequently grounded by his party members). But he made it back! and that's really what matters, isn't it. It's very in line with the literal context of the scenes but I appreciate that the lines are there to be read between, even if not everybody cares to. i definitely think about faces/the self a normal amount, you can trust me i swear. Siffrin clearly did not have enough problems on his own so I had to push my whole faces/sense of self thing on him too. Loop. oh god Loop. I have a lot of thoughts about Loop and their Identity, and it's going to take a while to figure out! but i'm totally fine with that. is it morally wrong to feel a deep kinship to loop?? i don't know!!! i'm gonna find out though. i was actually just recently thinking about how i don't like using the term kinning for characters because it feels very intimate and I can't say i've felt the same thing other people who kin characters feel. BUT. i think loop gave me some kind of disease i think i'm not well I just couldn't do most of the Dagger dialogue. It was too much for me personally. I did it once and it made me feel bad enough to return it and swear off the idea. until i go back to finish achievements, that is. Fucked up, though!! The loops and their infinite catharsis started to mean nothing at all until they make the even more fucked up mega catharsis. I thought Signalis and it's ending hit me hard but this game reduced me to a crying mess by the end. And lastly I'm very appreciative of @usefulnt0409 for being there to help me through the entire game. I like sharing my first playthroughs of things with people that enjoy them. Having them around to help with mechanical stuff I'd never pick up on(Loop dialogues and the conditions associated with most of them) and when I'd accidentally skip a dialogue just made the experience very special. I don't think I'll soon forget this game, it was an incredible experience even through the gas leak 5am vcs. I think they made it better.

[sonadow4life]

Wait a minute….

Hang on a sec…

I GET IT NOW OMFG IT TOOK ME THIS LONG TO REALISE IM A FUCKING IDIOT

[jasminepaolini]

YOU GOTTA PROMISE NOT TO STOP WHEN I SAY WHEN

Just a few weeks before the 2029 season, Holger Rune shocks the tennis world by announcing a new head coach: recently-retired Jannik Sinner. [a social media au]

read now on ao3.

"Any pairing possible: Social Media fic the relationship is completely shown through social media posts like insta posts and comments, tweets, tumblr text posts, transcripts from videos, interviews and articles." + "Either f/f or m/m, inspired by laver and novak/andy, a retired player is, if not the coach, in the team of a player. they could be dating or not, but the feelings and the attraction are there."

[froidefille]

Day 9: a WIP

I have not anticipated I will break my one-fic-per-day rule on a WIP because I do not usually read WIPs unless they are from my fav authors. THEN @tackytigerfic have decided to give us an early Christmas present so I have two recs for you today! Recs under the cut <3

📚 First Watch of Night by @tackytigerfic

Draco/Harry, 54k out of the promised 275k (!), cat E

Chapters: 4/21

Summary:

Harry Potter defeated Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts on May 2nd, 1998. But what if he didn't?

📚 These Words of Mine by @dodgerkedavra

Draco/Harry, cat M

Chapters: 10/?

Summary:

The enchanted journals were supposed to be a bit of entertainment. A way to pass the time on tedious Auror missions. Neither one of them is supposed to disappear for two years and counting. But then, Harry never did anything according to plan.

Okay, that’s it for today, thank you for the prompt @hprecfest, @tackytigerfic and @dodgerkedavra for your amazing works and see you next time!

📚 First Watch of Night by @tackytigerfic

Well the answer to this question is easy – then we receive one of the best what if!stories out there. Guys, we got background Wolfstar! And I didn’t even ship it until like, a week ago. We get Sirius calling Harry his pup!! 😭 We got the whole new universe set up! One thing that worries me is that Wolfstar = no Teddy. But alas, there is the multiverse tag so I don’t lose hope xd

Just one little quote for you because I cannot get over what might have been:

Draco picked up his cup again. His hand was trembling, his face white and wretched. He didn’t meet Harry’s eyes. Harry didn’t want him to—didn’t want to have to look at him, still so familiar, so distinctive. Even now, it was hard to think of a time when they were friends; in Harry’s memory, it felt unreal, like a Muggle film he had once seen. It had started the summer after Sixth Year—long hazy days, a wet June leading into a wet July, and Draco coming round to Grimmauld Place with Andromeda while his mum was in Order custody. He and Harry had not one but two fistfights in the back garden, both of them panting and enraged, Draco’s mouth bleeding a little the first time, and then the second time wrestling each other viciously to the ground and struggling until they just gave up and ended up lying on their backs in the muddy grass, both of them defeated. And then, a tentative truce. Making endless cups of tea for Andromeda, sharing a compartment on the train back to school, the silence awkward until it wasn’t. Tedious days hiding out doing research in the Hogwarts library while Voldemort staged attack after attack after attack on the Ministry. Nights spent studying frantically, and then the two of them together, that whole long night of the Battle. Friendship. For whatever that had been worth.

😭😭😭

📚 These Words of Mine by @dodgerkedavra

Yet another one by @dodgerkedavra! I am on a personal mission to make them fandom famous. Their works are my fandom revelation of the year. Well, those and the existance of podfics in general 😅.

One thing that is super special about the fic (which is also the reason why there’s no wordcount provided) is its format. The story is about enchanted journals and the author made them come to life! Just take a look:

On that note I wouldn’t presume you can get emotional over written notes that are not even words but here we are:

It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger so I get a minor heart attack everytime I see AO3 notification ^^

[nymerias-heart]

My first ASOIAF animatic!!!

TWOW - Arya and Catelyn (Lady Stoneheart) reunion.

[arctic-reptile]

some physical and digital sketchbook pages from a few weeks ago :)