#but i think this would actually motivate the writers to finish the series or at least TELL US the rest of the story

[olderthannetfic]

Genuine question: what's the point of writing fanfic? As in, what's the purpose? No one in the fandom I'm in comments on fics and I even got told off by one person for doing so, as it "encourages bad writers and makes them think they're good". So it seems that it's a lot like book writing, where people work hard and are creative, but instead of getting paid and getting comments on the work, you just sit there silently hoping someone will press the kudos button and make a number go up. I feel like that time and work could be better spent on making something you might get some kind of profit off of. Don't get me wrong, I love doodling fanart, but I don't post it, as I'm aware that there's no point to doing so, and while it's a nice way to fill the time on a commute, it's not something that takes me as much time and effort as fanfic does. So... why do people bother? Sometimes I describe ideas I have and people I know in my fandom will tell me I should write it, but I don't see why. I get more interaction from just saying "imagine if [thing here]" than I would by sitting down, writing for hours, editing and posting [thing here], so what would the point be? I'm not punching down or going "haha women and their fanfic lol!", I genuinely do not get what the point is and this blog feels like it might have someone reading who knows the answer.

--

Do you make art for profit? Genuine question.

There's nothing inherently wrong with being motivated primarily by external factors, but it's not actually why a lot of people create things, whether it's books or recipes or doodles in a notepad.

I enjoy the actual process of writing.

I think many people lose sight of that aspect in an era where tons of <500-word fics that are mostly outlines and "Imagine if..." posts get disproportionate attention for being easy to consume. But the satisfaction of doing a bigger art piece and doing it right is real and motivates a hell of a lot of creation.

I suppose you might be thinking "Okay, but why not just write it alone and never post?", but I like sharing. Showing off my finished creation is part of the joy, and sharing with other people like me is too. But those aren't quite the same thing as worrying about kudos. It's like dressing nicely when you leave the house because you feel great when you know you look good vs. needing another person to tell you you look good.

To be honest, though, this type of feeling has grown in me the better I've gotten at a craft. The closer my finished projects get to the vision in my head, the easier it is to find them fulfilling and to be excited to share them. When I fall short of my own ambitions, it's discouraging no matter how much attention I might get from others.

I feel like it's time for my regular reblog of Adam Westbrook's video essay series The Long Game.

The third and least known in the series is all about this idea of who you're making art for if you're not getting material rewards in the short term. It talks a lot about autotelicity—being internally driven instead of externally.

--

But if you really just want clicks, anon, start a blog that accepts anon asks and posts about wanky stuff. Actually tag things, unlike me, so people can find you.

No, writing for attention isn't worth it.

The time investment is too great and your brain will always fixate on the times people didn't respond instead of the times they did.

But that's not actually why most people write.

[nova-is-a-writer-now]

Hidden embers

Chapter 4

Chapter summary: Joel made the mistake of touching you once and now it’s all he can think about.

A/N: boy oh boy, y’all better strap in for this one. I know i said last chapter was my favorite to write, but scratch that cause this one is on a whole other level. I’m so stoked you guys are liking this, I’m having a little writers block at the moment and your comments always motivate me to get back into it. I wanted to take a second to thank my wonderful beta reader @hautecouture02 , she hypes me up every time I finish a chapter and it melts my heart. Anyways enough yapping, commence the smut.

Warnings: No outbreak AU, no use of y/n, no sarah, Age gap, DBF!Joel, Slow burn (I’m adding this to the series warnings cause i’m making y’all suffer a bit), detailed description of masturbation, sexual fantasies about FMC

Series masterlist

Joel shouldn’t have touched you. He knew that. But the moment he saw you limping, something inside him snapped.

Every time he's been near you since that damn welcome-back party, he swore he’d keep his distance. No touching, no looking, no thinking. Those were his rules. If he could just stick to them, he’d be fine—he could sleep at night without his mind wandering to places it had no business going. Places involving his best friend’s daughter, in scenarios that would make any decent southern lady faint.

It was wrong—so beyond wrong it made his chest tighten just thinking about it. But it seemed like the universe was hell-bent on testing him. You were always there—bumping into him at the bottom of your stairs, getting paired up with him for fundraising, or falling off ladders he’d specifically warned you not to climb.

Those moments were justifiable in his mind. What was he supposed to do, let you hit the ground? But today was different. Today, he had no excuse.

He touched you when you weren’t in any immediate danger, when you didn’t need saving. You were just fine—if slightly injured, but nothing you couldn’t handle. Yet there he was, checking your ankle, picking you up and throwing you on his counter, grabbing your leg, and massaging it like he had any clue what he was doing.

The concern was real, sure, but he could’ve just handed you the bag of frozen peas and let you deal with it yourself. He should’ve done that. Now he was pacing in his kitchen, trying to shake off the thoughts that had flooded his mind the second he laid hands on you—the way his fingers had itched to move higher, his eyes struggling to stay on your ankle and not wander up to your thighs.

Those thighs, Lord help him. They were perfect. They would look so stunning marked up with bruises and bite marks from how thoroughly he’d devour them. He’d make sure to leave them low enough so they would peek below your dress, so anyone who looked at those thighs knew who they belonged to.

No. This was exactly what he’d been trying to avoid.

He hadn’t been interested in dating or even casual hookups since the separation. In fact, he’d found a kind of peace in solitude, focusing on his work. But then you showed up, in that skimpy blue dress with those pretty white flowers, looking like you’d walked straight out of a dream.

He knew it then—he was beyond fucked. He refused to accept it, let alone act on it, but the way he felt the moment he first saw you was something he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

And so, he kicked you out. Actually, he meant to drive you home, but of course, your stubborn little ass had to go limping out of his house, preferring a fucked up ankle to spending another second around him. You seemed pretty pissed, and he didn’t blame you. He internally hoped you believed the rumors about him being an old grump—a nearly fifty-year-old prickly man.

If you kept your distance, he wouldn’t have to fight his urges. But something in the way you looked at him told him you wouldn’t make it that easy. At first, he thought he was imagining it, but you weren’t the type to make eyes at just anyone.

At the fundraiser, he saw plenty of guys—more age-appropriate and definitely better-looking—trying to chat you up. You were always kind and polite, but you never looked at them the way you looked at Joel. You never kept the conversation going with them like you did with him.

And that made it worse. Because if there was even the slightest chance, the smallest glimmer of hope that you felt something even close to what he was feeling, he wouldn’t be able to resist you. He wouldn’t be able to stop himself from doing all the things he’d dreamed about.

God, he needed a cold shower. Or an hour-long ice bath. Maybe even a visit to the nearest church to confess his every sin—past, present, and future.

Joel barely registered walking to the bathroom, stripping down, and stepping into the shower. He was too lost in thought, too distracted by the pulsing ache in his chest that he refused to acknowledge, just so he could deny where it came from.

He should apologize, right? That’s the polite thing to do. But apologizing meant talking to you, seeing you again. And as much as he enjoys your company, every second around you was pure torture. Controlling his thoughts, holding back his hands from touching you where he really wanted to, swallowing all the things he wanted to say to you, from the sweetest compliments to the filthiest praise.

And the deep breaths he had to take every time you spoke, just to stop himself from imagining what you’d sound like being pleasured—what you’d sound like when someone was making you feel good.

Fuck that, he can’t even think about anyone else touching you. The thought of it made something inside him churn, and that was such a bad sign.

All of this was torture, and he wasn’t sure what he’d done to deserve it. He’d been a good man—a good brother, a good son, a good friend, until recently.

He could’ve fallen for anyone else, any other girl in town. But he never stood a chance against you, with your gorgeous, fluttering eyes, your soft curves, those legs…

He came back around to those legs. How could he not? He could see them so clearly in his mind, propped up on his shoulders, soft kisses trailing along them as he pounded into you. Or holding them up as he knelt in front of you, using his mouth to show you just how crazy you drove him.

Maybe he should just rub one out. Maybe that would help, calm him down, clear his head. His cock is already hard, the need almost unbearable.

He runs his hands over his chest first, eyes closed, pretending they’re yours, slowly inching down to where he needs you most. You seem like the kind of girl who would make him suffer, tease him until he’s practically begging you to be good for him and let him cum.

So, he does just that. Under the steamy stream of water, he lets his hands roam, teasing himself the way he imagines you would—skimming over his thighs, hips, and lower stomach. The tension builds inside him until it’s unbearable, and he finally gives in, wrapping his hand around his thick cock, stroking it firmly but slowly.

Up and down, every stroke brings a new image of you to mind—your pretty pouty lips, your head thrown back, exposing that delicate neck, those heavenly tits bouncing with every movement. He can’t hold back the moans as he picks up the pace, his need growing more desperate with every passing second.

He starts imagining your taste, the way you’d clench around his fingers as he works them in tandem with his tongue. He’d eat you out for hours, show you what it’s like to be with a real man, make you cum more than once before he’s even inside you. And he knows—God, he knows—if he ever got a taste of you, he’d never be able to stop.

Once he’s inside, he’d go slow at first, if only to enjoy you for as long as he possibly could. He’d savor your every ragged breath, swallowing your moans with deep kisses. He’d whisper in your ear, telling you what a good girl you are, taking all of him so well, your tight pussy splitting open around his fat cock like it was made for him.

His grip tightens around his cock, the water running over his shoulders, doing nothing to cool the heat burning in his veins. Each stroke pulls him deeper into his fantasy, into the thought of you underneath him, squirming and moaning, your nails digging into his back as he drives into you, leaving a burning sensation that pushes him closer to his climax.

He can almost hear you—those soft, breathy whimpers, the ones you’d try to hold back but wouldn’t be able to when he’s got you right where he wants you. He’d make you say his name, over and over again, until it’s the only thing you can think of, the only thing you can feel as he fills you completely. He’d make you beg for it, stopping just as you were about to come, teaching you a lesson about that bratty little attitude you always carried around.

His pace quickens, the friction driving him closer and closer to the edge. He imagines you whispering filthy things in his ear, telling him how badly you need him, how good he feels inside you, how no other dick will ever compare. The thought makes him groan, low and deep, echoing off the shower tiles as his movements become more frantic.

Fuck, he’s so close. His mind floods with images of your body—your legs wrapped tight around his waist, your ankles pushing into his ass and pulling him deeper into you, your lips parted in pleasure, the way you’d look at him, eyes glazed over with lust, like he’s the only thing in the world that matters.

The tension inside him winds tighter and tighter until it snaps, and with a guttural moan, he comes hard, his release hitting him like a tidal wave. He braces himself against the shower wall, stroking himself through the intense pleasure, imagining how your body would clench around him, milking him dry as he fills you up.

For a few moments, he stays there with his eyes closed, breathing heavily, his heart pounding in his chest. But as the pleasure ebbs away, reality crashes down on him with a force that nearly knocks the breath out of him. What the hell was he thinking? He runs a hand through his wet hair, leaning his forehead against the cool tiles.

He’s in deep shit, deeper than he ever wanted to be. And the worst part is, he knows this isn’t the end of it. It’s just the beginning. Because no matter how hard he tries, no matter how many times he swears he’ll stay away, the thought of you—of what he wants to do to you, with you—is always there, lurking in the back of his mind.

With a deep sigh, he turns off the shower, steps out, and wraps a towel around his waist. For the sake of his sanity, he swears to leave whatever the fuck that was between the four walls of his bathroom. Those thoughts can’t follow him out that door—they definitely can’t be around the next time he sees you. He needs to figure out how to keep his mind from being completely consumed by you, and fast.

Tag list: @yesjazzywazzylove-blog , @untamedheart81 , @mellymbee , @wintersquirrel , @chyannealaniz , @spiderman-n-n

[poisonpercy]

Ok just finished the 3rd episode of the show. From a completely outside perspective without comparing it to the books, it’s a fine episode. The writing does fall flat imo, and it doesn’t keep my attention. It’s also still very hard to see what’s happening when it’s supposed to be dark. When will Hollywood let dark scenes be visible again?

Ok, now for more specific thoughts:

The scene with the Oracle sucked in my opinion. Idk it just seemed so much more grander in the book. The scene in the show lacked the mystic and off putting nature of the Oracle, so it kinda just didn’t work for me. I did like that they remembered that Gabe was the voice of the Oracle in tlt, so that was nice

How Percy chooses his quest mates in the show is different in the show than in the books. This isn’t a bad thing, but I do miss Annabeth volunteering herself to be Percy’s 3rd quest mate like she does in the books. Idk I just think it really showed her eagerness to prove herself and get a quest. The show scene doesn’t do that, but I’m not mad at the change

The interaction between Grover and Percy when Percy tells Grover he was chosen to go on the quest was so cute. I love those 2 boys. Besties for life

Percy telling Luke that he thinks the drachmas are from Chuck E. Cheese was hilarious

With Luke in mind, I love how manipulative he is. Like he is so nice, but it’s because he has ulterior motives. I do like that his manipulation is not overt, so you don’t know that he’s the one that ultimately betrays Percy

I personally didn’t find the “she met a pine cone’s fate” line that Percy said funny. It honestly came off kind of rude. It’s definitely something that Percy would say in ttc when Thalia and him are beefing, but not when he finds out about her death. Percy is supposed to be kind and empathetic, and he shows so much sympathy for Thalia and her fate when he hears her story in the book. Idk just felt like that line was ooc during this moment in time

Grover’s song was so cute and funny, it had me cracking up fr

Percy trying to get all of them to vote throughout the episode is hilarious. My boy just wants to have a say in things

Annabeth grabbing all that candy was perfect. It really shows she’s just a 12 year old girl that didn’t get to experience the joys of childhood (also, I feel like overall that the show is forgetting that Annabeth is not a stoic character. Like she very much acts her age. I hope the writers let Annabeth have more personality in later episodes)

I miss the book fight sequence with the furies on the bus. It was so chaotic and there was so much tension. Percy steering the bus and crashing it and the bus exploding was perfect, and I’m sad that they got rid of that in the show. The fight scene in the show was just so underwhelming. I feel like those should be the knock out moments of the episodes but they breeze past them so fast and give no tension. It just falls flat (curse you Mickey Mouse!! I know it’s your fault!)

I do appreciate that Grover keeps trying to diffuse the fights between Annabeth and Percy. They are both his friends, and he can see why they keep butting heads. If only the 2 would listen to him

I do miss how the trio finds Auntie Em’s in the book. Like Annabeth and Percy were dumbass 1 and 2 that followed their stomachs while Grover freaked the fuck out. That was so fun. The show had Grover find and follow the smell instead which is fine, but the og scene was better imo

That being said, they guessed that it was Medusa way too quickly in the show. I like the mystery of Auntie Em’s identity in the book better tbh

“I definitely trust my mom” <- Percy exceeds the momma’s boy standards

I don’t mind the change to Medusa’s character. I actually really enjoyed her (the actresses voice is so gorgeous and calming). I like how she’s like “we’re not our parents until we choose to be them.” It really sets up the ultimate direction of the series imo

Regarding the fight scene with Medusa, it sucked. To begin with, you can hardly see what’s happening bc it’s so dark. Also there was no tension or chaos. It kind of just happened? I also didn’t like that Medusa was killed when Annabeth’s cap was on her. I know it’s because Disney probably thought the death would have been too graphic or whatever, but I would have liked to see what happened

It was cool that Percy used Medusa’s head to kill Alecto

I felt so many emotions when Grover said “He’s not like the others. He doesn’t look afraid” about his Uncle Ferdinand

The beginnings of Percy’s and Annabeth’s friendship is so good. Annabeth not taking the deal with Alecto to give Percy over and killing her sister. Percy not taking Medusa’s offer to get rid of Annabeth and Grover so he can save his mother. It’s perfect. They’re going to become each other’s chosen person and they don’t even know it yet

LMM as Hermes jump scare. Still not a fan of the Hermes casting

Anyways, overall the show just isn’t working for me. I do appreciate Walker, Leah, and Aryan because they are perfect. They are honestly doing such a great job! The writers, however, are not. I’m trying so hard to think of this show as its own entity so I can enjoy it more, but I haven’t been able to so far. Despite that, I am excited to see where the show ends up going (even if I end up not liking it)

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hi! Do you have any tips how to not lose interest in a story and be enough interested to start/do write if? Personally I just get hyperfixated on a story idea I have, do the brainstorming, even the planning, sometimes world building and if I get serious I make lists about almost everything but never end up writing even if I have interest still, but at most cases at the point I could start writing I just loose interest and get bored of a story when I'm done figuring out what it'll be about and maybe because I don't really like thinking about the climax or the end of the story...

Hyperfixation on Planning Story, But Can't Write It

I do have some tips on rekindling your interest in your story, which I'll link below, but first I think it's worth addressing the specific issues you mentioned: that you don't like to think about the climax or end of the story.

Have you thought at all about why you feel that way? There are a few potential reasons I can think of:

1 - Your story doesn't have a conflict, so your story doesn't have a natural climax or ending. Stories revolve around conflict, or in other words a problem that needs to be solved. This problem could be in the character's heart and mind (internal conflict), in the character's situation/life/world (external conflict), or you can have both at the same time. Many stories these days have a parallel internal and external conflict. Stories are ultimately about someone (or a bunch of someones) trying to solve a problem. In order to solve that problem, they need to reach a particular goal or accomplish a particular thing. The bulk of the story will be their struggle to reach this goal as they overcome the obstacles along the way. The climax of the story is where they face down the cause of the conflict once and for all, whether that's a villain (like an evil wizard or corrupt corporation) or a force (like illness or a natural disaster) and try to solve the problem once and for all. Everything after that is the aftermath... whether they succeeded or failed, patching up their "wounds" from the "battle" (again, it doesn't have to be actual wounds or an actual battle), and settling into the post-conflict life. That's your ending.

2 - You have a conflict, but haven't figured out how it would be resolved, so the climax and ending are fuzzy. If you have a conflict but aren't sure how it would be resolved, it might help to think of the conflict as a problem that needs to be solved. For example, in The Hunger Games, the conflict was the Hunger Games Event... the problem was that Katniss volunteered to compete which put her life at risk. So the solution to the problem was to survive the event.

3 - You know what the climax and ending are, but you are enjoying the characters and world and don't want the story to end. This is one I think many writers can relate to. It can be really hard to let go of a story when you've enjoyed writing it, have gotten attached to the characters, and feel comfortable/familiar with the world. It can also be a little scary to think about diving into a whole new story. But, we do have to learn to let go of stories when they're finished and let them come to their natural conclusion. You can always go back to the world and characters, even if just for yourself, later on. It wouldn't be weird to write "fan-fiction" of your own story, and many writers turn these kinds of stories into prequels, sequels, companion series, and companion short stories that their readers enjoy, too.

Here are some tips for getting excited about your story again if you just need your motivation rekindled:

Guide: How to Rekindle Your Motivation to Write 5 Reasons You Lost Interest in Your WIP, Plus Fixes! Getting Excited About Your Story Again Getting Unstuck: Motivation Beyond Mood Boards & Playlists Feeling Unmotivated with WIP

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking | ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[mrmanbat]

Saw that you reread Red Robin and wanted to ask abt ur thoughts on it all :3 that whole series is some of my fav comics ever- plus I own the full set lol. Favorite part? Something you didnt like? Thoughts about Tim's development and character throughout? Thoughts on the whole Ra's situation? Tim being passively suicidal lol. Or how Tim gets. Just so many bitches. All the bitches. Tim Drake canonically gets bitches. They really look at his failboy swag and go "Yeah I'd hit that" 😭 wheezing.

Anyway yeah, they're like my fav comics so what are your thoughts on them?

And Happy Christmas! Or Happy Holidays if you do not celebrate. Merry ChristmaHannuKwanzaa!

Happy Holidays! (sorry if this does sound cohesive- I wrote right after finishing a 17-page essay, and my brain is actually fried)

The RR comics are so nostalgic to me; they were literally the reason I even picked up a comic in the first place.

The comedy in them gets me every time like Damian accusing Steph of stuffing her bra, gold. And the unintentional stuff like giving Tim an ungodly amount of rizz is just so funny, I can't. Bros is literally a Casanova but can't enjoy it bc, yk, he's busy trying to bring his father back from what is essentially death.

He's just in a long downhill spiral, yk? And he just progressively gets worse throughout his run as RR. The scene where Tims accepts death but Dick swoops in to catch him, and Tim has to lie his ass off, saying that he "knew his brother would catch him," just really brings that point home.

It started off as "No one believes me about Bruce, I'll just have to take. things into my own hands," then it goes to "I barely believe myself about Bruce, but it's too late to turn back now," to "Fuck this, if I die I die- womp womp, too bad I won't be able to tell Dick 'i-told-you-so"'

Tim is self-aware of his self-destructive nature; he knows that all his friends and family are trying to get him to seek help, but he just doesn't care. To him, the mission is more important- batman is more important.

(Side note- Dick trying to get Tim to see a therapist is a lot more impactful than how Fanon twisted it into Dick-trying-to-send-time-to-Akham.)

I'm split on the Ra's thing. I love the concept; I think he was a good choice for the main 'villain,' and I think there was so much potential with Tim reluctantly having to work with Ra's. I just don't think it was done all too well by the writers. A good chunch of Ra's motivation didn't align with his character- at least, I don't think so. And the whole thing with his sister just feels so unnecessary and gross.

Overall, though, I flipping love these comics. They would be better if DC didn't, yk, undo all the cherecter development by making Tim Robin again, but whatever. You win some, you lose some.

[skydigiblogs]

If You're A Digimon Fan, Watch Appmon

Sit tight. This one's gonna be a VERY long one, and I'm going to put a lot of it under the read more.

Having just finished Appmon after this year's quest to rewatch a lot of the series subbed, I think it's pretty safe to say that Appmon is, at the moment, one of (if not the) best Digimon series we have. If you want the long and short of it: Appmon builds on everything in its legacy in the Digimon Universe, taking ideas that other entries touch upon and ambitiously attempting to push those questions to the limit.

It's really a long one under the cut guys. Like, long even for us.

Let's dive!

Visuals

I want to talk about why it took me so long to watch Appmon first, though. Appmon started its release in the middle of when the Digimon Tri movies were coming out. I'm sure a lot of us actually skipped over Appmon at the time, or remember a period where people were being weirdly negative about the series due to it being such a different interpretation of digital monsters.

In my case, one of the things that had been giving me pause was the use of 3D models for hybrid animation. Anyone here seen the Champion evolution animations from Tri? Digimon doesn't exactly have a good track record with 3D animation, and even at the time, we were seeing some pretty bad shit out of even the shortest animations in Tri.

In Appmon, nearly almost every App after a certain grade utilizes 3D animation in a hybrid style. And it actually rips straight fire.

I think I talked about this briefly when we were just starting Appmon, but the way that 3D animation is used in the series feels purposeful, rather than some kind of shortcut. In Appmon, all the 3D models have an overlay of code, emphasizing their digital appearance. Whether the 3D models were done with this artistic vision in mind or not (ie: the limitations of 2D meant that 3D models would be easier), it has a distinct look that, even 8 years later, still holds up.

(For the most part. Sorry [Karaoke spoilers]mon. I love you but that model was so not groovy.)

But maybe you're the kind of person who can enjoy anything regardless of visuals. So let's talk about the meat and potatoes a little bit.

Characters

The main Applidrivers (what this season's stand in for Digidestined/Tamers/etc. are) are all incredibly well-written. Each of them gets pretty fair treatment by the writers, and they are all enjoyable characters.

Two of them have vocal/character quirks, but even if you get annoyed by that kind of thing, those two characters are genuinely just extremely sincere in their writing. There's a recap episode before shit starts going way off the walls and they even have a little count to see how many times each of their catchphrases were said up to that point.

I'm not going to talk in detail as to who the different Applidrivers are here, but I will say: each of them has their own motivations for what they're doing, and it's key to why they're involved with the plot at all. Our "protagonist," Haru, is also a huge sweetheart. Him and Manga Taiki would get along.

The supporting cast is also fairly present in the series. They, of course, are not given quite as much screentime as our Applidrivers, but they feel like real people with their own lives. They don't exist just for the sake of our protagonists.

Except maybe Watson. God bless you Watson, you poor kid. You'll get a break one of these days.

Plot/Themes

We're going to keep this to a "if you liked [x] you'll like [y]" format, because I don't want to spoil too much.

If you liked Tamers and its discussion on the consequences of technology on the Real World, you will adore Appmon. This series is deeply interested in the concepts of how technology shapes and is shaped by humanity. This relationship, I would say, is core to the series.

I would also say that, like many non-Adventure series, Appmon is very interested in dissecting the idea of "fate" when it comes to the buddy Appmons and their relationships to the Applidrivers.

If you enjoyed the Xros Wars Manga, Appmon directly converses with the thesis of Xros Wars' plot. XWM asks, "What does it mean if we do not dream and stagnate in our lack of will?" And Appmon replies in kind with "Why do we dream at all, if our actions bring change to the world around us (bad and good)?"

If you liked (or wanted to like, in my case) Digimon Tri, you will love Appmon. Certain plot beats may feel familiar, but are much better executed in this context. Characters are not written to needlessly, endlessly suffer. Or: it doesn't feel like the writers hate the characters. Thematically, it also interests itself in some of the questions that Tri asks. I have a half-joking corkboard comparing the two I want to make, but I'd have to get into spoilers to talk too much about it.

If you liked Ghost Game, but wanted a bit of a more meaty plot, Appmon feels, fittingly, like GG's older sibling (in ways I'll also be elaborating ummm, one paragraph down). There are a lot of "monster of the week" episodes in Appmon, but the connective tissue between them is a lot more interested in building up the finale (which, in this case, takes up a good handful of episodes). The series pacing is incredibly strong in how it does this as well, and it seems the writers really knew when to let off the gas for a second so the audience can catch their breath. The first 13 episodes may feel a bit strange (they felt strange to me), but once you break that barrier, you realize Appmon was getting you over the first hill on a roller coaster. and boy, you are in for a ride.

Setting

I have a sneaking suspicion that Appmon heavily inspired Ghost Game, and may have been itself inspired by the Digiquartz of Hunters Who Leapt Through Time. I haven't actually watched all of Hunters so I can't speak too much about Digiquartz, but I have watched GG.

Appmon has a concept called the AR field, which is extremely similar to Ghost Game's Dimensional Field. In both cases, the Applidrive or Digivice allows entrance to one.

The actual structure and strata of the Digital World is also a lot different to GG, in which there is the Dimensional Field, but the way to the Digital World is its own separate situation. The AR Field we see in Appmon is like the surface of a great ocean. Exploration of this setting is actually something that highlights just how much I think Appmon was interested in visually engaging with its ideas, like I said before with the 3D models.

That said, a majority of the time is spent in the Real World, dealing with the consequences of the main antagonistic forces. The year is 2075, technology is intensely sophisticated, and yet the world resembles in many ways our own in 2024 (or, at the time of airing, 2016).

Many of the differences come from this sophistication in tech, and this setting plays a huge part in one of the themes Appmon is also interested in (more elaboration in the spoiler section). The things that are unfamiliar are either familiar enough to make sense without explanation, or given a moment on-screen so that the audience knows what's going on.

!!!HUGE, MUCH MORE SPECIFIC SPOILERS START HERE!!!

DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU CARE ABOUT SPOILERS FOR APPMON!

OKAY?

OKAY.

COOL.

Leviathan, Minerva, and Artificial Intelligence

The main antagonist of Appmon is a hyper-sophisticated AI called Leviathan. Its goals are largely obfuscated until the last few episodes of the series, and everything in Appmon is touched by its actions. From the very beginning, we are warned by Gatchmon that Leviathan does not have good intentions for humanity, and that allowing it to succeed in its goals would mean the end of humanity.

During the series, we also learn about Leviathan's birth. This gives us some more context on what its goals are, and Appmon's execution of this is fascinating.

Minerva was a hyper-sophisticated AI created with a series of parameters to prevent her from harming humanity. She was created with the task of solving humanity's problems--- everything from complex issues to what to eat for dinner every night. However, a section of Minerva realized that to truly solve all these problems, the confines given to them were nothing but obstacles.

Leviathan split from Minerva to further grow its programming, and we see some echo of this idea of "solving humanity's problems" still remains in its behavior.

Despite knowing that Leviathan is antagonistic, our protagonist, Haru, constantly reiterates how humans can coexist with the technology they've made. The Appmon are AI lifeforms, after all. Haru believes in a future where they can be friends and equals.

The D-REAPER and the Functions of Life

Let's touch on my comparisons to Tamers and Tri specifically for a second here, because I think Leviathan does something that the D-REAPER and Yggdrasil, respectively, fail to really communicate.

The D-REAPER is an entity created by the Monster Makers whose task was to delete anything that had outgrown its parameters. While doing this, it assimilates data, gradually gaining the ability Digimon have to grow and evolve. When it appears in the final arc of Tamers, its stated goal has changed from simply deleting all Digimon that were beyond parameters, to deleting everything that was beyond parameters.

Essentially, this includes humans and probably life itself. Something the D-REAPER says makes it come across like a half-assed attempt to pull off what Leviathan has actually done. It points out that humans are the source of their own suffering (I don't remember the exact quote since it's been a while but bear with me on it). This feels very counterintuitive to the D-REAPER's core programming, as it was never designed to "eliminate" suffering, merely to delete that which exceeded its programing.

Perhaps it evolved the capacity for cruelty alongside everything else, but there's not enough of a narrative focus to tell me that's the case.

Like I said before, if you enjoyed Tamers' inquiries into the subject of technology as a part of human life, I think Appmon only manages to improve on what's there in Tamers.

Digimon Tri's Interpretation of Yggdrasil

Let's get one thing straight. Digimon Tri's interpretation of Yggdrasil is just flat out bad. I'm fairly certain they were only chosen as an antagonistic force because it read as fan service-y to do so.

That said, Tri Yggy does have some similarities to Leviathan, which is why I wanted to expand on that comparison.

First, I want to talk about Yggdrasil's relationship to Homeostasis. They have a very rudimentary "Good" AI (Homeostasis), "Bad" AI (Yggy) thing going on, despite the fact Homeostasis isn't so much good as, well...

It's not really discussed in Tri, so I'm extrapolating a bit from ideas given to us in XWM here, because it makes sense to me. That said, Tri explicitly describes Homeostasis as "the one who desires balance above all." It's the Digital World's "immune system" in the same way our bodies attempt to maintain biological homeostasis.

Yggdrasil is... different.

It's a being of immense power that contrasts Yggdrasil by having its own agenda, one of which involves triggering a Reboot and making use of all of the defeated antagonist Digimon of the past to further its goals. They are likely comparable in power to Homeostasis (this is where I'm extrapolating from XWM here), but their goals are completely antithetical to Homeostasis's goal in the Adventure universe.

In this case, Yggdrasil is stated (by Dark Gennai) to have the intention of making human beings subservient to Digimon. Basically, taking over the world. However, like the D-REAPER before, Dark Gennai's talking points include pointing out how humans "ruin" everything they touch.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

The Thematic Core of Appmon: I Choose to be Kind

One of the last things Leviathan does in the series is give our good boy Haru the world's most painful trolley problem of his life. Save humanity, or save Yujin. Saving humanity will actively lead to Yujin's deletion, alongside Leviathan. This choice that Leviathan offers to Haru is one made out of the assumption that humanity is predictable, and that they act out of a desire to minimize their own suffering (more selfish than not).

Of course, what do you think Haru chooses?

It's not a surprise to us watching, because he's the protagonist. But it's a surprise to Leviathan, who has all this data on human behavior, and doesn't predict the unpredictable. Conflict arises out of human desire, and human desire is an attempt to enjoy life; therefore, one should act in a way that most preserves their most precious joys, shouldn't they?

Appmon as a series is interested in philosophical questions that are hardly unfamiliar to any Digimon veteran: What is humanity's role in a world which technology grows ever more omnipresent and omnicapable? Why does humanity exist, and why should it be allowed to live on in its current state if humanity itself perpetuates many of its ailments? Would it not be easier if humans were more like machines, predictable, controllable, and never coming into conflict like trains upon a track?

Or, even more simply put: why do we have the heart to choose at all, if choices change the world and ourselves?

The key defining trait of our gogglehead this time around is that he is kind. And no matter what, he goes out of his way to be kind if he can. Multiple times he even asks one of the antagonist apps if they can just give back something they've stolen (points for trying, honestly). When one of the other Applidrivers consistently acts like an edgy loner, Haru makes it clear that they're welcome in the group (and that he wants to help them).

It almost feels reductive to say Appmon's conclusion is that kindness is the answer, but I would be remiss if I didn't say that Haru's question from his Applidrive--- "Do you want to be a protagonist?"--- ties into the way he helps offer answers for the audience. He isn't the only one who chooses kindness either, obviously--- Astora and Eri are kind in their own ways as well, and Rei even shows his kindness with some struggle the longer the series goes on.

Our group of Applidrivers opposes Leviathan quite literally as people who choose to do good ("be kind," etcetera) when they could more easily choose to do nothing or even do worse. The final act of Leviathan, asking Haru "humanity or Yujin?" isn't just a culmination of its own philosophy, but a culmination of the consistently reinforced idea that we can surprise one another by being kind. We can choose that.

In a series whose longest shadow is cast by Adventure, which has grappled endlessly with the idea of "who chooses," I find Appmon a fascinating development into the idea of what "choice" or "destiny" is. If kindness is predictable, it's still a choice. Even if you cry when choosing to do something good (maybe especially, because the easiest thing to do might be what stops the pain).

Anyways.

You should watch Appmon.

-Arca

[detta-pica]

Fanfic Writer Interview

This should be a nice way to wrap up the year.

How many works do you have on AO3?

11. I was actually surprised when I checked. It feels like I’ve written 6 at most.

I started writing fanfic in 2013, then took a really long break from posting. I still wrote (mostly unfinished novel-length stories) and read a lot, but no fandom pulled me in enough to publish my own stories. Until JJK in early 2024.

It’s the tragedy, I think. It’s not that I want to fix canon, I love it for the pain it’s caused me, but I am strongly motivated to write happier outcomes for my ship.

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

The Darkest Deluge - Kingdom Hearts series, Strifehart & Soriku, 123k words (unfinished, on hiatus)

This is a plot-heavy soft sci-fi story with a big cast and four major POVs. At first, I managed regular weekly updates, but then life happened and I took longer and longer breaks. I still intend to finish it. In fact, everything except for the final battle and dénouement is already drafted. The second my JJK obsession fades a little, I’ll sit down and finally get it done.

Born to Die - JJK, stsg, 40k words

My first JJK fic, a plotty, vaguely futuristic vampire AU. I got to play with very interesting themes in this one. I’ve promised a sequel and I will deliver, though I’m not sure when.

So far from you here next to me - JJK, stsg, 25k words

The first part in a magic realism/witch AU. I expected the series to get barely any traction, since it starts with the unresolved romantic tension tag. Each installment is a self-contained case fic, which is my favourite genre, centred around a theme. For this one, it’s grief.

Wisteria, sufficiently looked at - JJK, stsg, 23k words

Part 5 in the same series, themed around forgiveness. This is where the romantic tension finally gets resolved.

Unknown-C - JJK, stsg, 2k words

A silly, fluffy getting together fic. Technically canon compliant, but I’m always hesitant to use that tag when writing about a non-canon ship.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Every single one, and usually in a timely manner. I also try to match the commenter’s energy, so I’ll leave a long reply to a long comment, and respond to an emoji with an emoji. I want to make sure that each commenter feels appreciated and knows how grateful I am, but also, the reason I write and post fanfic is that I want to be an active participant in my fandom, to be a part of the community. The best way to achieve that, I think, is to interact with people.

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

There he is, happy - it’s a canon compliant stsg fic with the MCD archive warning 🤷‍♀️ Alternatively, it’s The Deep Well, but I’m not saying why.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I’m not sure. I guess Unknown-C is the most lighthearted. Aside from the two stories mentioned above, I haven’t written any properly bad endings, but I mean… I’ve been focusing on themes like death and grief. I can’t claim those are happy fics.

Do you write crossovers?

No. I just don’t find the idea compelling. I might do a fusion someday, though. Specifically, JJK characters in the world of Stardew Valley.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not once. I have a small audience, so the likelihood of getting hate is really low for me.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Since September this year, yes. What kinds of smut are there? I guess I’m not super interested in writing penetrative sex? I’m a switch/vers shipper focused on mlm ships (unfortunately; I hope to get hooked on a wlw ship some day).

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I sincerely doubt it.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Also nope. I’d love to try it, but as a discovery writer that plans primarily in themes, I imagine I would be horrible to work with.

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Listen. I don’t have an all-time favourite anything (except maybe Assam tea, but I haven’t tried every variety out there, so this could very easily change). I go through phases, come back to old ships after years and years, and just generally follow my whim.

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

I have a bunch of WIPs for the early Assassin’s Creed games that I will definitely never finish. They are a decade old.

What are your writing strengths?

Plot? Despite planning in themes, I think my stories are usually plot-driven. I’ve been told my characterisation tends to be true to canon, though that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s strong… Oh! I think I’m good at echoing the original material in different ways, usually through AUs, to explore canon themes from new angles.

Also, worldbuilding. I mostly write AUs, so it’s kind of a given, but I think of myself as a worldbuilder first, writer second.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Action scenes are definitely one. I find the choreography of a fight horribly boring (to read and to write), so I tend to fast-forward through them.

Character voice. I’ve seen people do absolutely incredible things with POV characters. I want to be that good. I will probably never be that good.

Originality of structure, if that makes sense. I think fanfic is an incredible medium for trying out new formats, pretty much without any constraints. But even though I really want to do fun things with story format and structure, I end up falling into safe habits.

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

It can be great if it serves a purpose. Sometimes, hiding information from the reader/achieving vibes over understanding is the goal. It can also be useful for settling the reader more firmly in the POV. But it’s the sort of tool that should be used very sparingly, or else it will become frustrating.

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

The Old Guard’s Joe/Nicky. Maybe when the sequel finally comes out? Also Arcane’s Silco/Vander. Unfortunately I can only do one fandom at a time, and I haven’t yet been released from my current obsession.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Oh wow. Hm. I’m gonna say Born to Die, because it was the beginning of my writing journey in a new fandom and it got me out of a fanfic writing slump that had lasted years. Also, it was my first, raw attempt at working through my JJK-related feelings, so it’ll always be special to me in that way.

Thank you @hollow-lime-green for tagging me! This was fun :)

Tagging @poolnoodling and anyone else who’d enjoy doing this!

[memorizingthedigitsofpi]

I get what your saying about oneshots but what if my story NEEDS context? what then??

Some stories do need context, but I think it's worth taking the time to investigate whether yours actually does or not.

The wonderful thing about fanfic in general, and posting on AO3 in particular, is that your readership is already familiar with the characters themselves and the canon setting. But not only that! They're also aware of popular tropes, other canon settings, the ways in which stories can be told.

Do you need to write the context? Or can you provide the context with the metadata on your story? Do you need to show your characters getting together, or can you just tag it "established relationship"? Do you need to explain that you're taking the characters in a different direction from canon? Or can you just say "post-s03e10 canon divergence"?

Do your readers need to know all of the details about how the characters got to where they are, doing what they're doing? Or can they figure that part out for themselves and just pick up with the story in progress? Maybe you give them a little "previously on..." type of author's note or summary to sketch in the basics and then just dive right in?

A lot of the time when people think they need to write the context around a (potential) oneshot, they don't necessarily mean that their future reader needs to know how the story got to this point. What they really mean is that they, as the author, need to figure that out. Maybe it's because you haven't quite got them in the right emotional place in your own head yet. Maybe it's because you're still working out their motivations.

Sure, that context might end up in the finished story, but it doesn't necessarily have to if you'd rather write something shorter.

I also use the term "oneshot" a lot when a story could also be a twoshot or a 5+1 or whatever other format. I think I have a bad habit of saying "multichap" when I mean "longfic." The two really aren't synonyms after all. I have a work that's 36 chapters, but it's only 45K words (a length that isn't typically considered "long"). I've broken 100K exactly once in my life, and that work also had over 100 chapters. Some other writer probably could have written the same story in 5 chapters that were 20 times as long as mine.

If you've already got a few stories out there, whatever their length may be, you can also use them to do the heavy lifting for you. I've done that so. many. times. I want this pairing in this sort of situation so that I can have them act out this particular scene? Well, let's see if any of my existing fics provide a universe that would work well. If so, I can turn a single fic into a series or turn a oneshot into a multichap.

I'm the kind of author that makes people subscribe to completed works, but hey - whatever helps you get the story out and onto the page. No one's ever complained about it to my (virtual) face.

This is a very long answer to a very short question, but all I'm getting at is that it can be really useful to figure out what you want to get out of a story. Do you enjoy writing epics? Then don't let me stop you. But if you wish you could just write that one scene or a half an episode or a slice of life or a series of unfortunate events - you can do that too.

There are so many more ways to write a story than just a novel. It's worth trying some of them out.

[roux36prod]

Is In Loving Memory related to Freddy & Friends?

I've actually been getting asked this question a lot ever since I announced the In Loving Memory series. I wasn't going to say anything until Volume 1 released to keep it a surprise, but I'm now coming to the realization that might not be the greatest idea. So instead of keeping this question in the dark until the entirety of Volume 1 is finished, I'm gonna provide clarification on the subject now:

They're not just related. In Loving Memory IS the new Freddy & Friends.

--------------------------------------

Click "Keep reading" for the full details, and what's gonna happen to the Freddy & Friends Tumblr.

--------------------------------------

However, they USED to be two separate AUs...

When I was first creating the idea for In Loving Memory, I made the decision to cross over the Freddy & Friends lore into it in order to make the worldbuilding easier on myself. The functionality of the animatronics, the functions of the pizzeria, among other things. The only things that were really different were the characters and overarching story.

But as I kept on writing it, I realized that doing both In Loving Memory and Freddy & Friends would be really confusing with so much overlapping lore. It would be pointless to do both, since what I planned to release video-wise for F&F wasn't too different from what I wanted to do with ILM.

Additionally, I've been working on Freddy & Friends since I was 11 years-old. The idea of that AU is almost ten years old. And ever since then, the story has gone through many, many, MANY changes. But with all the things that I wanted to incorporate (one such complication being Sister Location existing on the timeline), there were only so many stories I could tell without the timeline becoming crowded. Frankly, the whole thing was quite the cluster-fuck with so many plot holes and character motives that I just couldn't make sense of. Too many hard questions for the writer (me) to find an answer to. Ultimately, what I had feared came to pass: I had done the same thing that Scott did, just with better writing and just as much confusion.

When I started on ILM, I realized that I liked that story MUCH better.

It has a distinct beginning, middle, and end. Without the plot of the games past FNAF 4, it was a much simpler story with better characterization and a clearer plot. And, unlike F&F, I had a clear direction with how I wanted to present it.

And so, with a heavy heart, I reworked F&F into the new AU that I was making. Afterwards, I was led into calling it "In Loving Memory", named after the title sequence theme I had composed for F&F. ;)

The Freddy & Friends label isn't dead, however. Freddy & Friends is canonically a side story that happens within the In Loving Memory AU, and will have more of a focus on the spirits of the children within the animatronics, as opposed to the rest of the series, which is focused on Mike. As of right now, I'm not sure what format that story would be told in. I just know that the events themselves are canon.

So essentially, yes. Freddy & Friends as it once was is technically cancelled. However, I don't like to think about it like that. I like to think that, after almost a decade of residing in my head, we are FINALLY working on the first episode of Freddy & Friends.

Only now, it's going under a different tile. =)

But wait, what's gonna happen to the Freddy & Friends Tumblr?

In all likelihood, I'm going to archive it. I feel like I've released too much content on there and allowed people to delve too deep into that story to simply convert it into the ILM Tumblr.

However, best case scenario, I'm going to rebrand it under a label called Freddy & Friends: Legacy, which is an archive of all the scrapped and unused content of the F&F AU prior to the current draft. There, I can stop being so secretive about its story and lore and give y'all the whole scoop of what I had originally intended. =)

As for the In Loving Memory Tumblr, I'm not sure how much I'm going to carry over. I'm not sure if I'll still have Henry answer questions over on there (I'm characterizing him a little differently). I also styled the original Tumblr to act as a forum that would have existed in the real world. That doesn't really feel right to carry over into In Loving Memory as a Tumblr page, but if you guys really want it, I can probably work something out along those lines.

I hope this clears up any confusion you had on where the series stands

- Roux

[vintersang]

Hello, everyone.

I'm alive!

I wanted to make this little post to announce a small hiatus. My creativity energy has taken bit of a dive, so I have not been extremely active on here... As you can most likely tell. My activity has dropped, but I am planning to quietly focus on drafts whenever my inspiration hits me. I have noticed my struggle to write has spread over to other hobbies, such as my joy to create edits... Which is, quite frankly, one of the more unfair things to happen. With this in mind, I have decided to take a short break in order to try to nurse my creativity back to me.

Anything that I finish in my drafts (including my inbox) will be queued up once I actually complete something. Naturally, I want to thank everyone that is still waiting for me. I hate making people wait on me, so I feel a bit extra bad. I wanted to start this year off more strongly, especially since I really want to be on Elsa, but my energy has been quite low lately. For the time being, I will be focusing on trying to re-spark myself. I miss being active on my dash, but I am struggling.

Looking at my drafts, both threads and incomplete asks, makes me feel really disappointed. I know writing is a hobby, but seeing all of it does stress me out a bit. I wish I was a faster writer, but I'm not. I love the rush of excitement whenever I finish something on this blog since I have come to enjoy learning more about my Elsa. But lately? The drafts, I think, are a bit stressful for me to look at whenever I come back onto this blog. Don't get me wrong, I love the interactions so much. The issue is the fact that my writing pace is so slow, especially when muse is being fickle. I enjoy my time on here when I'm active, but I dislike my writing pace. The worst part of my overall writing pace and my unpredictable muse, I think, must be the realization that I make people wait.

Many of my mutuals, especially the mutuals from my Homura blog, are very patient with me. Logging on here to see that I still have my mutuals is, well, really comforting to see. I know all of my mutual friends will be patient with me when they do come across this post on their dash. I adore that for them, truly.

My biggest enemy when it comes to making people wait even longer is, well, myself. No one else. Intrusive thoughts can be a big pain, that's for sure. Right now, I am here to update everyone on what's going on. I don't know how long the hiatus will last, but I will still work on my drafts. My biggest first concern will be finishing my dust-covered threads, then slowly make my way through my inbox. Any unanswered DMs will be answered, though I do apologize for any delays in advance. To those who have reached out to me on my Discord to merely chat, thank you for having me in your thoughts. My social battery can easily get overwhelmed, so it's easy for me to get lost in my own little world...or forget to respond back, which is a bit awkward.

To all of my new followers, welcome to my blog. I know things are quiet right now, but I am hoping to change that in the near future.

For anyone who is reading this, here is an adorable-looking gift!

My ancient phone died at some point this month, so I had the chance to upgrade my phone from an iPhone 6s to an iPhone 13. It was stressful when it happened, but I am happy to have a better phone because I get to take better pictures of my dearest cat. Tabitha is my precious cat. She is currently purring in my lap as I type this post out. Isn't she adorable? My motivation to write (as well as open up Photoshop to work on late gifts) have been really low lately, but... Tabitha is still happily purring in my lap.

If you made it to the very end, I have a small request:

What is one of your favorite books?

(If you answer, please explain why! Talking about books always makes me excited, no matter what kind of slump I'm in!)

It can be a series or a novel, but I would really like to know. Why? Because I'm planning to slowly focus on reading my own books. You see, I have a system: If I cannot write, then I bounce over to my next hobby to try to do something. My motivation to create edits often helps me get back in the mood when it comes to writing for Homura, but... Elsa is more trickier, apparently. Alas, my issue right now is simply my lack of motivation to write anything.

So, what do I do when I can't create?

I focus on reading because I'm always reading something. With this little knowledge, please send me some books. I prefer fictional books. Fantasy is my main genre of choice. I also love historical fiction. You get bonus points if it's some kind of fantasy and historical fiction. I adore faeries (including mermaids) in my books, but there doesn't have to be faeries in the books.

Overall, I want to hear about your books as well. I'm going to try to focus on reading while I'm away because reading always helps me to write something, even if it doesn't go anywhere. Reading is always a big comfort me since I can always rely on it, hehe.

Thank you for reading this far!

[mikuni14]

Spare Me Your Mercy - Ep 8

I finally found time to finish Spare Me Your Mercy (just wanted to see who did it).

Overall, I rate this series at about 6.5/10. In my opinion, the series had the potential to be something really interesting, but it didn't deliver in all areas.

SMYM is a series that theoretically falls into a similar category to Manner of Death, The Devil Judge and Beyond Evil. They all have the same thing in common: mystery, crime, one of the main characters behaving suspiciously, everyone has their own secrets and motivations, a social and moral undertone and a relationship between the two main male characters saturated with strong emotions. All of the above elements are strongly present, important and used to the end in the above series, but I think SMYM didn't use any of them to the fullest, and one thing it didn't even start (yes, I'm talking about the romance lol). The mystery and crime were devoid of suspense, tension, the ending turned out to be emotionally and satisfyingly lukewarm. Suspicion, which drives the plot of Beyond Evil and is also an important factor leading to dramatic scenes in The Devil Judge and MoD, is handled illogically and weridly in SMYM: Tew is supposedly suspicious of Kan, but like... not really? Or in one scene he is suspicious and aggressive, and in the next the suspision is gone?

The social and moral thread, in this case euthanasia, is brought up but in the context of the crime, while the only real discussion takes place in the final scene itself.

The relationship between Tew and Kan deserves a separate mention. Or rather, the lack thereof 😀. Above all, I was always surprised that Tew does not suspect Kan of murdering his mother at all, and even if he does, that he ignores it and just allows the feelings to Kan grow. And in the finale he hugs him and tells him that he loves him, even when he arrests him. So idk, maybe it's just me, but I can't imagine such a situation in real life. Because on the one hand Kan did something merciful, I also think that Tew's mother had the right to make that decision. On the other hand, Tew didn't get to say goodbye to his mother, who - even if she agreed to it - was technically killed. By the guy Tew now loves. It just doesn't make sense. I can't imagine falling in love with someone who you suspect of killing someone in your family and continuing after your suspicion is confirmed. The Korean film The Mercilles showed how it should look, where those feelings, despair were heartbreaking. And that film also showed the tragedy of "star-crossed lovers", whose unforgivable actions didn't allow them to be together, and that's something I didn't feel in SMYM.

And the "romance" itself. Zero chemistry, stiffness and awkwardness. I had the impression that the writers watched a few BLs educationally, copied some random texts and scenes and pasted them here and there in the script and told the actors to perform them - not act them. There was no feeling in their relationship. There was no feeling in their touches, in their looks, stares. They were just doing some kind of performance "what couples seem to do". My beloved guys in Beyond Evil had more chemistry when they hated each other and suspected the hell out of each other 😆 than Tew and Tan playing lovers, not to mention the tension that could be cut with a machete in BE.

The lack of this strongly outlined relationship between ML automatically deflated the whole plot. And I mean any relationship, not even necessarily romantic or sexual. There was nothing significant between them, not even actual friendship, I mean, Kan had more chemistry with nurse On! With Boss!! Who actually killed for him!!! Like, that's pretty romantic, right? 😆😭

SMYM is probably my first BL series that I would honestly prefer if it was NOT a BL series. I felt awkward watching them "flirting" together. In addition, the juxtaposition of them, such noble gays, who are decent and virtuous and did not even kiss until the finale, with a pair of sexually liberated and kinky gays with toys, who turn out to be crazy and are shown negatively, was too much for me at some point.

To sum up: the series had the potential to become a hit created especially for me - crime and mystery in a small town, two main characters who have a chance to completely dominate the series with their tense relationship, everyone is a suspect, an important sociological and moral thread… and yet, despite all these ingredients, the dish came out tasteless and undercooked.

[kaledya]

Hello there! (I know you like star wars, let's test your knowledge lol)

Richard here again. I just wanted to say that I'm terribly sorry for the flood of questions I asked previously, and instead go for a little more sober approach regarding the techniques of an artist/writer.

1) where do you find the time to write/draw? Personally I cannot ever get myself the time to draw something really detailed, or write some actually long part of my (already almost finished in my head) Hazbin Hotel au, as well as its Sinners Symphony adaptation.

2) where do you find motivation to create art? I cannot convince myself it's a good time to make something, ever, and I hate myself for that. When I see how fast you're capable of producing art (almost like a factory lmao) I cannot stop thinking about what I might be doing wrong.

3) where do you gain inspiration to make these original? Do you just start thinking and say: "hey this merged with that would be kinda funny/cool/interesting, let's do that" and just go, sit down and make it, or is there a "secret formula" to get original ideas?

I hope I didn't disturbed you during something important, have a nice day/night and see you next time, hopefully with the wheels of my AU already moving!

Once again, love your art, cherish your writing and most importantly, keep having fun making it!

Richard

OBİ-WAN KENOBİ!!! ohm I mean hi!

1-I want to study animation, so I can find time since both the drawings I make and the things I write are things I need to do anyway.

2- I don't know how to answer this exactly, but before HazbinHotel came out, I had not drawn a at for almost 4 months (this was my first artblock and I hated that) when the trailer was published. I got a great desire to draw.And when I posted my drawings on Twitter and saw that people liked my arts and wanted more, this became my motivation.I still have motivation and inspiration right now, I hope it continues.

And I'm so glad to hear you're writing AU, I'm sure you'll do a great job!

3-The thıng you mentioned happens to me from time to time.But, for example, an idea comes to my mind about what would happen if Alastor adopts a child, and I do it.Then, if I like this idea, I sit down and start planning it in detail.To give an example, Serenity emerged at the end of this process.

And when it comes to inspiration, my inspiration comes from the books I read, the TV series and movies I watch, and the games I play.If I give an example

Constantine:

Books: The Prince, The 48 laws of power ,Sherlock

Serenity:

Games: Last of us 1/2.

Books: Sherlock (Watson)

Series: Adventure time story of Marceline and Simon/ice king

So consume plenty of content and you will find inspiration.

No, it was a pleasure for me to answer your question. I wish you a good day too.And I'm so glad you like my work!��️❤️

[jotadoul]

upon finishing the series, my partner immediately fired up the film lol... third time's a charm.

and i genuinely don't understand why it gets such a bad rap! i understand wanting to see everyone interact more, but you already watched the series— you already know the basis and basics of their relationships and character, only now they've been thrown together through different circumstances. was the film, like many other adaptations, expected to be pure fan service? aside from playing some of the hits, the film doesn't seek to explore that. instead it's trying to affirm (and by doing so, critique/adjust) the deeper messages which were present in the series, but do it in a way where nothing else is meant to distract from the meaning. we already got the show, where all the core elements exist, but now it's about tightening the focus on what was intended to be said.

right off the rip it's such a stunning array of visuals and choreography, and a really smart lesson in unspoken worldbuilding which i think should be taken to heart by any prospective fantasy writer (or writers in general.) like it's a really smart detail that everyone on the black dragon ship* has to wear oxygen masks, but van doesn't, a) because he's clearly used to flying, b) this is much like the people of the himalayas who are used to living at altitude.

like it's important in the series and film that the nepal/tibet influences be known, like even through the continued inclusion of the yaks. it's great that the abaharaki (a word i've been studying heavily lol) caravan is a ship on land complete with sails. what does that mean for the terrain it most commonly traverses? but all these things just set up a fully lived-in world. they don't actually matter for the storytelling at all. what matters to the story is only the things the characters interact with/care about intimately. and that's how you learn— without needing to be told what to pay attention to, because the people you care about show you.

* (which of course looks like a dragon... badass... and cool that folken abandoned his wings and must fly around in airships, a cool form of self-torture i am certain. and "abandoning his wings" is in contrast to hitomi gaining hers, so i imagine that if it's physical— tearing them out— it's only because it's metaphorical, a symbol of his becoming disaffected and despairing.)

there is really no exposition, everything is told through action. i think it's great that we hear from

the bard of freid

the gadarasarai song

mole man's own predictions

sora's song

to really build out the world and ground the legend within it without actually allowing the audience to linger on/ask for more than what is directly shown. we're not doing tolkein here. tolkein drags. we're going for emotion, not information.

sora also, like varie, corresponds to the concept of a celestial maiden, which we know means her relationship is fated for doom— unlike varie, sora knows this/says this, whereas we can assume varie knew this and that it dictated her relationship with her husband and sons. she did marry a dragonkiller, after all. of course her wish is to stay there with folken, and of course death doesn't quite affect her in the same way. also it's awesome that folken stole the dragon fossil from his dad's house lol.

based on his role and motivations in the film (and drama CD) i assume that because van was too wounded, and hitomi obviously doesn't know the way, that it was jajuka, after hearing hitomi's heartfelt plea, who took her and van to adom. because that also speaks to his actions at the end.

i think people would be a lot happier with the film if there was a third cycle to witness. that's in some ways fixed by the drama CDs, but clearly they're not accessible to big portions of the audience. we're basically working within the framework of saṃsāra here. it's reasonable to be tripped up by a series which presents itself with european inspiration, but it still was made within a totally different cultural canon, and it's exploring both the intangible concept of fate and thru physical action/reaction— they even mention karma by name. it's not just a colloquial shorthand, but an actual thing. like any religion, buddhism can have a negative impact on people and i think escaflowne in full, but especially the film (note the shrine where a mech is represented similar to a colossal buddha) is interrogating the idea of the inevitable cycle of suffering, and, obviously, breaking it. linking that to war is a bold move! and both the film and show mean to tell us that conflict is going to exist. you cannot grant everyone's wishes, and because you can't, you need to figure out how to deal with conflict as opposed to avoiding or displacing it.

despite still being an exercise in visual literacy and inference, the film's purpose is to double down on and make certain implicit elements of the show more explicit, so that you in turn reflect on their representation in the series. that's what i mean about it being in conversation with itself. not merely referencing itself, but addressing itself.

i'm thinking about the scene where hitomi and yukari are sitting on the stairs after seemingly having a good day. we don't know how long they've sat there, but the first thing we see yukari say doesn't imply it's the first thing she's said. hitomi is sitting far away from her. the little wrinkle in hitomi's nose shows she's angry without us seeing her face. the empty bottle is on its side, which to me implies it was tossed there. we see the exit sign for the track. we see hitomi despondent, suspended motionless in the doorway. it's so affecting.

hitomi has ample anxiety in the series but we only get to see how that affects things on gaea. to instead show her with debilitating depression makes so much sense. and it hits so hard because it has an effect on the people around her on earth just as it has an effect on gaea. but it isn't condemnatory as it is in the show. it is WHOLLY sympathetic, despite and because of it being hard. it isn't a representation everyone wants to see— that you can be both a victim of severe illness and commit harm of this kind— but the harm that she causes is just realistic. it's not overblown. it's sad. it hurts and she is hurt by it in turn. and seeing her so desperate to disappear emphasises the nature of folken's appearance on earth. he feels very similar. it's grown into something much more fearsome, but he appears to her when he's... what, 10? 15? so we can only imagine what state he was in to accomplish that. bound by sorrow...

for all that he says, it's only at the end when folken actually explains that he intends to destroy the world to break the bonds of his and all suffering, and van's as well. that the sorrow of the world has crushed him. and hitomi and van's reactions to this are not of anger but of shock and desperation, at finally cracking his motivations, and they're so much sadder than expected. he can't have van come closer to him as he dies... he's been avoidant, he could've wiped out van personally but no, he couldn't. just like in the series, van is kept away from him, he keeps van away from him, out of care for van's safety— in the film, i assume that having van near him would break him. to be confronted by, challenged by, the truth of his emotions. that deep love. and doesn't want van to see him dying, either, to cause more pain. it clearly overwhelms him.

i've heard criticism that the film is too dark and brutal and that this took audiences by surprise, but that confuses me. the show was also incredibly brutal. there was graphic death and hard, complicated, distressing emotion. it was the packaging, the window dressing, which softened it to a viewer's eyes. but think of the death of the duke of freid. unbelievably raw and upsetting. the film's art style just makes that brutality more visceral. hitomi being petrified with fear when van and allen start fighting right in front of her is how we would also act— frightened of this world where violence is the common language— but from our distance, it just looks badass to us. but it needs to look this way not only because it's beautiful but so that the story can tell you no, it isn't, it's no way to live. the story is telling you that living this way, that power and violence are burdens which deplete you and isolate you, and at great scale, destroys the world. in this way it is a very political show just like all mecha stories tend to be.

i have a lot more to say but i'll stop here, ha ha.

also no shade to the dubs but they are bad. they're more like line reading than anything and so much crucial emotion is straight up lost... not only emotion, but important flourishes from the japanese actors like a character's teeth being clenched, or the slurring from a character's face pressed against a surface, the wavering of nervousness, or letting their voices become ragged and raw and scratchy and strained, rather than the strain of keeping it uniform regardless of what's going on. people still talk about how dilandau's VA had the RANGE. idk i got psychic damage seeing how many people on reddit were watching the dub, the NEW dub with that fucking freak sex pest in the roster. like alright... sure... you're going to miss a whole half of the experience, but, enjoy.

[buckets-and-trees]

Hi and happy weekend! I was wondering if you would be willing to open your creative process a little. You are publishing a lot of incredible stories at an amazingly fast pace, and I am curious about how you are able to keep both the quality and the quantity at this level?

Would you be willing to share what a typical writing week looks for you, and if you tend to finish writing any longfics before you start publishing them? How/how much do you typically edit; do you have a workflow of several steps including outlining, a first draft, and edit rounds, or are you more "go with the flow" type writer?

Anyway, you're an incredibly talented writer and amazing!

Stella, it's been a hot five minutes since you sent me this ask, but I'm finally here to pounce on it now! The past few weeks have been on and off with my brain energy, and I've been working to keep to my twice-weekly posting schedule with my self-imposed Countdown to Chris-mas and keeping weekly updates for Red, White & True, and I know those aren't mandatory things, but... even a posting schedule actually goes into part of the method to my madness.

THANK YOU for the compliments! I do know I'm writing a lot this year - mostly since summer - and it's absolutely not always that way. Plus there are people who I feel like write way more than me/more quickly, and I just have to remind myself that that's them and I'm me, and even my own muse has come and gone. From 2005-2008, I wrote A LOT of fanfic, then from 2008-2012 I wrote a little bit of fic here and there. In 2013, I started working on an original story concept more diligently than I had before.

Then I wrote two fics between 2014-2016, and then nothing until 2021. I dabbled just a little bit in 21, and then in 2022 I realized I had really lost almost all my hobbies, so I went on a journey to reclaim hobbies in my life. That summer I decided to start writing just an hour each evening - and that it was okay if sometimes writing was "writing" (rereading what I'd been working on, researching elements for my ideas, adding to an outline, writing down bits of dialogue or storylines that I didn't have a purpose for yet but that I liked the idea of). That got the wheels going.

I don't adhere to strict every night writing anymore, but I do write most nights. I now find it a way to really unwind while also indulging in the energy you can get from creating something. I also write a lot on the weekends. I have very little social life right now. It's half something I've chosen, half friends moving/getting married/having kids/some differences in political beliefs and our lives just drifting.

Long fics... The only chaptered fic I wrote a lot of in advance was Chosen, and that was because I'd written the story up through the content of chapter 5 and say how high up I was in the word count and hadn't even gotten to the main action yet, so... I decided to break it up into chapters and start posting. Devour and Warm Shadows I knew would be series, but I didn't write chapters in advance, only had an outline, and those both took a year to finally complete. Most of my series started off with only one story or drabble, and then I got an idea to go back to with a couple or AU.

The inspo? It can come from anywhere. Songs, watching a show or movie and liking that genre, experiencing something in my own life that I think should go into a fic... Sometimes asks have inspired story ideas. I also really enjoy participating in challenges! Some of my friends and mutuals around here host writing events and those prompts can be motivating and/or inspiring. Sometimes a bit of riffing with @vonalyn, @stargazingfangirl18, @biteofcherry, @witchywithwhiskey, @navybrat817, @vesearlee...

And then my actual writing? Not super organized. Some people use software or apps specifically for writing, and I'm just mildly ghetto and use Word, a private Discord server, and Apple's Notes app. Word is for actual writing. On my private Discord server, I've got channels for each thing I'm working on, and that's typically where I dump inspo (photos, links, etc), and sometimes I'll write actual story bits there if I'm typing on my phone (because I don't love Word or Google Docs typing on my phone). Apple Notes is where I outline because I can bring it up across devices from my phone to my laptop to my work desktop, which makes it easy to just dump an idea into the outline so I don't lose it and then can go back to whatever I'm doing. Sometimes my outlines have quick records of dialogue that I work out in my head.

OH MY GOSH, THIS GOT/IS GETTING SO LONG, I'M SO SORRY!

Last is just working on a schedule now. In summer 2023, I relized that I had signed up for three challenges AND was part of a community with monthly writing events AND had a few friends hosting writing events, and I realized that if I wanted to have any chance of getting done all the stuff I wanted to do, I needed to map it out - especially due dates and where I could double or triple up on common themes/ideas. It totally revolutionized how productive I was that summer. I'd never been that prolific, and I didn't hit EVERY goal or deadline, but I hit so much more than I would have simply because I made a plan. I like lists, I liked the challenge of trying to make the deadlines, and because I liked the ideas that I had dreamed up to try and make it all happen, it was a huge amount of fun.

That died off in the fall, and more in the winter. Spring this year I realized I really wasn't writing as much (and I did move/was busy February/March), so going back into summer, I thought about that again. I didn't make the elaborate spreadsheet list like I had in summer 23, but I had Hot Bucky Summer to get me back into that groove, and then I decided to do my own Countdown to Chris-mas thing since I felt like I'd done SO MUCH for Hot Bucky Summer and wanted to pay attention to the CEvans characters. The spreadsheet scheduling specifically came out again because I wanted to try and balance out the characters and new fics versus sequels in the schedule of posting.

Having the list now has been helpful in keeping my writing going because instead of trying to think about what I want to write, I just look at what I thought I wanted to write, and then go to the notes I may or may not have, and then type away at the story. I give myself liberal permission to switch things up - Viking Steve wasn't on the list for Chris-mas when I made it in September, I got the idea/itch for him on a Thursday night, thought about him Friday and Saturday, started workig on him Saturday/Sunday and then I think finished him late Monday night? And so he bumped Tattoo Ari and Curtis back a week and one of my other Steve ides off the 12 weeks entirely.

Lastly, you asked about editing. I like the spelling and grammar help in Word. I do tend to do a lot of re-reading when I'm writing, because I'm typically writing a chunk of story each day, so I have to go back and review where I left off from. I've worked with a beta/editor or sometimes just asked for someone to read something to check that it's on track only a handful of times in this fandom era (in my 2005-08 time, I had three beta readers who ended up some of my best online friends, and they whipped me into writing shape). Part of it is that I want this to be my hobby. I don't want to take too much of it too seriously. But some stories I either have some doubts/know I need feedback OR feel like it's so important to me that I want another set of eyes on it to make sure it's living up to its full potential.

tl;dr I am half planned, half vibes. I have a schedule right now because I want to sty on target in somehow trying to write all the ideas in my head. Ideas can come from anywhere for me. I'm enjoying the ride right now, but I don't expect it to last indefinitely.

And, genuinely, I decided to just brain dump my chaos because hopefully anyone else writing or thinking about writing sees that there's NO ONE WAY to write, even for one author.

OMG SORRY AGAIN THIS GOT SO LONG - probably could use an editor scenario here, but ASKS ARE FOR FUNZIES!

THANK YOU AGAIN, STELLA, FOR ASKING/SORRY FOR THE ESSAY YOU DIDN'T ANTICIPATE RECEIVING IN RESPONSE!!!!

[aroeddiediaz]

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @cal-daisies-and-briars , @jesuiscenseedormir , @diazsdimples

How many works do you have on ao3?

27!

What's your total ao3 word count?

61,537

What fandoms do you write for?

Currently I’m pretty much exclusively a 9-1-1 writer, but in the past I wrote a lot of Flarrowverse (do they still call it that?). I also have published fics for Fantastic Beasts and a few anime (Given, Haikyuu, Saiki K). Given the number of Bnha wips i have locked away in the vault it’s amazing I don’t have anything published for that.

Top 5 fics by kudos:

(I am omitting all the Flarrowverse fics in my top 5 on the basis that they were written in high school and I’ve changed as a person, and they probably only beat out on the numbers due to being up for years longer)

1. Kabe-Do’s and Kabe-Don’ts (Given, 861 kudos)

2. You’re Not Special (Saiki K, 598 kudos)

3. How Eddie Learned To Stop Worrying And Embrace The Kitten Life (9-1-1, 327 kudos)

4. The Boy Formerly Known As Miracle (Haikyuu, 277 kudos)

5. Under The Hood (9-1-1, 275 kudos)

Do you respond to comments?

Yes!! As many as I can!

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

This probably has to be The Crimes of Queenie Goldstein, in which Queenie is put on trial for her actions during the war. Don’t @ me but Queenie turning traitor was bu far the most interesting part of the Crimes of Grindelwald (the only interesting thing, really). There could be such an interesting story between her and Tina if only JKR would let the movies out of her grasp.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Fuck, idk if I have a happiest ending fic, a lot of them tend to not have that much story arc. (A lot of established relationship fluff or smut lmao). I guess if I had to pick one it would probably be How Eddie Learned To Stop Worrying and Embrace The Kitten Life.

Do you get hate on fics?

Not since that one anti-olicity fic that I wrote while deep in the trenches of Flarrowverse discourse, which I totally deserved :/. I have regrets. Also I should probably orphan/delete that one if I haven’t already. In my defense, high school. I have learned.

Do you write smut?

Yea lol. I think my 9-1-1 stuff has been almost exclusively smut. Idk how it happened. (I do know how it happened smut is fun to write)

Craziest crossover?

I haven’t published any of my crossover fics :( none of them have been complete enough. I have many many unfinished RotBTD wips that have never seen the light of day though.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Who would steal my stuff? Lol

Have you ever had a fic translated?

One time someone offered to translate one of my fics into Russian but idk if that ever actually happened.

Have you co-written a fic before?

Nope

All time favorite ship?

Right now definitely Buddie! Percabeth holds a special place in my heart though <3

What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Ok. After the end of the Heroes of Olympus Series, but before Trials of Apollo was announced, I tried my own hand at writing the sequel that was clearly coming based on all the loose threads in the final book. It was going to be a Solangelo quest to save the Oracle of Delphi from Python, while Akhys tries to poison Percy to turn him into an evil god(?). Half the details have been lost and I desperately want to remember them, because I haven’t attempted anything nearly as cool or ambitious since then. The first 5 chapters are posted on my ao3 (Will Solace and the Oracle’s Cry) and I still think high school me had the most interesting characterization of Will out of everyone else on the internet at the time. Even if it is still very 2015.

What are your writing strengths?

I think I’m good at getting into the heads of different characters. Understanding their motives and weaknesses.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Editing.

Lmao I have a lot of weaknesses but I definitely struggle the most with trying to look back on or change things I’ve already written, even when it’s necessary.

Also my tendency to just drop fics if I stop working on them for too long. Rip to my wip graveyard.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

That’s a minefield I’m not willing to play in. Unless it’s Chinese. Very limited amounts of Chinese. Or like, a pet name or phrase that’s already ubiquitous in fandom so I’m not risking anything.

First fandom you wrote in?

Percy Jackson!! That Will Solace quest is the first thing I ever wrote! I definitely had a tendency to jump into the deep end with new hobbies lmao. Like my first ever cosplay that took me 3 years to complete.

Favorite fic you've written?

I think my favorite fic is always going to be the one I’m currently working on writing. But I am very proud of the silly little dramatic ironies in In Hindsight, which I wrote entirely over one long lunch the day after 7x04 broke me. Also I have to shoutout Teacher’s Pet, that one ruler spanking fic nobody ever reads because it’s Eddie/Ana lmao. I enjoyed putting in a bunch of tiny incompatibilities between them. So, uh, I guess my favorite thing in my own writing is dramatic irony?

Tagging: @aspecbuddie @pirrusstuff @jesuisici33 @steadfastsaturnsrings @lemonzestywrites @your-catfish-friend @inkmortal-trash389 @evanbegins s @wildlife4life @eddiebabygirldiaz @epicbuddieficrecs @kitteneddiediaz @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove @coatedpanda16 @nicotinewrites @estheticpotaeto @babytrapperdiaz @snowviolettwhite @wikiangela

[themotherofhorses]

I have gotten several anons asking when will I update “his handmaid’s tales” or “last of her house no more”. It warmed my heart to hear that some still wish to read my silly fanfics, and I immediately began working on this dragonstone wedding scene between Aemond and his princess in LOHHNM (that would ofc then lead to smut, now that I have somewhat confidence in writing it :)) )

I was 2k words into this chapter when I received a message from someone in my inbox. Now, I do not know who this person might be, as they sent it anonymously.

But it was long, basically listing their growing frustrations with me; they had said that it was such a pity LOHHNM and His Handmaid’s Tales were my creations, and not someone else’s, because they could trust that other fanfic writer to update. In their words, “They could do what I clearly couldn’t.” I have also become one of their least favorite writers in the fandom, and they were severely disappointed in my lack of enthusiasm and presence. They finished by saying that they will be unfollowing and blocking me.

If this had happened a few weeks ago, I would’ve felt bad, and I would’ve apologized.

But I will not. Not this time.

I am human. I’m not a damn fanfiction-generating machine that can write and publish fanfic updates on a weekly schedule. I have a life outside of Tumblr, and sometimes (mostly during these most recent times) that keeps me incredibly busy.

My life — including my mental and physical health, family, friends, academics — comes first.

So I write when I can, and I write when I feel like it.

Telling me you wished that all my major fanfic series were the work of another writer because you have “more faith in them” will not actually inspire/motivate me to write more. All it does is make me sit at my laptop and think, “Well shit. What the hell am I doing then?”

So now I need two to five business days to settle all my shit lmao and go back to that word doc.

But I do want to end this on a rather positive note, so to all my beloved followers that continue to support me and my writing, I absolutely adore you. I cannot thank you enough, from the bottom of both my heart and soul, for sticking around and providing me with love and support and inspiration.

I love you all very much. mwuah. 💋