#but i'm not entirely sure it's not relevant

[zanarkandfayth]

I'm just answering these because I want to, and skipping the ones that wouldn't be relevant or I don't feel like answering lmao

01. How many fics have you worked on since January? Hmm, five? I finished the Noct & Gladio one, I've been working on the rewrite of the aftermath one, I started the one inspired by @quartzguts fic Lost Signal (go fucking read this if you haven't), I did some more backstory for the college au, and I edited the secret one.

02. What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year? I've been trying to do a sliiiightly closer POV than before. I think it came out nicely enough in the Noct & Gladio fic. Definitely a challenge for me though.

05. What ships captured your heart? Ignoct still has my heart forever and always, but I've definitely had a growing fondness for Gladnoct. More platonic than romantic but I don't mind the romantic.

07. Did you write for any new fandoms or ships this year? I mean I guess the Noct & Gladio fic is the first time I've written a fic centered on the two of them. I thought about writing a fic for Sword AF, and for Breath of the Wild, but I didn't. I'm unlikely to for either fandom, tbh. Too many for ffxv to focus on.

08. What fic meant the most to you to write? Aftermath fic, even though I'm not finished with it. I've been basically writing it since 2019 and it's the most in-depth fic I've ever written and I've put so much fucking work into it and it's over 600K I'm super proud of it even if it's slowly killing me and the fandom will be 100% dead by the time I'm done.

09. What fic made you feel the happiest to work on? college au, my self-indulgent beloved. I have no idea if I'll ever successfully write you, but I love you nonetheless.

10. What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing? lmao I only finished the Noct & Gladio one so I guess that by default.

11. What fic was the most difficult to write? the one inspired by Lost Signal. I have it all plotted out and I'm excited to write it but fuuuuck when I tried back in the summer it was not cooperating. and then writer's block just came knocking in general. I've got one finished chapter and I low-key hate it so I'm trying to ease back into things with working on my rewrite of aftermath fic before I attempt this fic again.

12. What fic was the easiest to write? I mean the Noct & Gladio one was pretty easy to write once I kicked my own ass and stopped procrastinating on the battle scene lol.

14. What were your go-to writing songs? I like to listen to a lot of EDM stuff. Especially Industrial but other stuff too. KMFDM, Assemblage 23, Lost Signal, Neuroticfish, Rotersand, Seabound, Lionhearts, Covenant, Wolfsheim, Acretongue, Michael FK... I also listened to Linkin Park and the Ori and the Blind Forest soundtrack.

15. What was the hardest fic to title? only two fics got titled this year... the secret one I ain't sharing lmao and the Noct & Gladio one, which was actually hard to title. Ameliorate. It fits but I kinda hate it ngl. I couldn't think of anything better. I still can't. It's whatever.

16. What's your favorite title of the year? the secret one. I'm so mean for it but as soon as I was done editing I knew I HAD to make that the title. I'm sorry my beloved blorbo. it was just too perfect lmao. one of my mutuals knows what I'm talking about XD it's all good.

21. What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story? my ass in 2019: I already wrote a lot of Noct dissociating in Under Grey Skies, I don't need to do it in aftermath fic. my ass in 2024: huh, Noct doesn't dissociate enough in this fic. soooo I guess now that's gonna be a thing. it has very much changed the story, several scenes have been changed/added for it and I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with it yet but that's why I'm writing without posting for now. wasn't expecting to do it but we'll see what happens.

22. What writing programs did you use? Did you write by hand? no to by hand, I only sometimes do that for notes/plotting. I use scrivener <3333 I bit the bullet at the start of this year and used the money I had left from selling my car/after buying a freezer to upgrade to scrivener 3 and though I miss some things from scrivener 1, I mostly like it. I've gotten a lot more into the organisational features and it's been a godsend for making the rewrite of aftermath manageable.

25. How did you recharge between fics? Killed myself 100%ing breath of the wild. including all 900 fucking korok seeds. and then started playing tears of the kingdom with the intention of 100%ing that too but fuck me upgrading the armour was such a fucking slog even with duping diamonds for rupees and I still don't even have all of the sets collected and the koroks are more annoying this time and hhhhhhh I went back to fic to recharge from that fucking game.

28. If this were an awards show, who would you thank? @ivorydice for letting me endlessly ramble about my fics and helping me with plotting some of them. @quartzguts for writing an amazing fic that has inspired me with one of my own that I will write and finish eventually hrgh. @smallest-turtle for also letting me ramble that one time and for stabbing me in the heart with painful headcanons that made me think more about my own. literally anyone who's read my fics regardless of whether they've left kudos or comments or bookmarked them. anyone who talks to me. anyone who likes my venting as support. all my mutuals for being my mutuals even if we've never had a single interaction.

29. What's left on your to-do list for 2024? to just keep pecking away at the rewrite of aftermath fic. by the end of today I should have 38 of 62 chapters rewritten... send help T^T

30. What would you like to write next year? I just wanna finish aftermath fic for the love of god. pls. also the fic inspired by Lost Signal, and I'd like to maaaaaaaybe (big maybe) write a companion fic to the Noct & Gladio fic, showing Ignis & Prompto's hunt, but I don't actually have any ideas for it rn. so we'll see.

A slightly revised version of last year's questions! Two ways to play: Reblog and have your followers send you numbers, or answer the whole list!

How many fics have you worked on since January?

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year?

What piece of media inspired you the most? (This can be the fandom you wrote the most for, the one that spawned the most ideas, the one you thought about the most, etc.)

How many fandoms did you write for this year?

What ships captured your heart?

What characters captured your heart?

Did you write for any new fandoms or ships this year?

What fic meant the most to you to write?

What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing?

What fic was the most difficult to write?

What fic was the easiest to write?

What were your shortest and longest fics posted this year?

What were your go-to writing songs?

What was the hardest fic to title?

What's your favorite title of the year?

Share your favorite opening line

Share your favorite ending line

Share your favorite piece of dialogue

Share your funniest line

What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

What writing programs did you use? Did you write by hand?

If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?

Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic?

How did you recharge between fics?

Did you create fanworks other than fic?

How many events did you take part in? (bangs, exchanges, ship weeks, zines, prompt memes, they all count!)

If this were an awards show, who would you thank?

What's left on your to-do list for 2024?

What would you like to write next year?

[svtellify]

the ultimate link click meta theory

contrary to what narrative exposition has given us so far, this story starts with qiao ling and the photo studio. it's awfully nice of her dad to rent the studio out to cheng xiaoshi under the condition that he run the studio while he waits for his parents to return, but (and this is me assuming based on what we've been told so far) it's a little weird that her dad doesn't just. take cheng xiaoshi in? it's my understanding that cheng xiaoshi lives alone either in the photo studio or his parents' home and qiao ling checks up on him as best as she can.

which is, admittedly, off? why agree to give a kid a 10,000 debt under the condition that the debt can be paid off by running a photo studio of all things?

we don't know when cheng xiaoshi's ability was first triggered but if we assume that trauma is the trigger, like it appears to be with li tianxi, there are 2 possibilities:

1. cheng xiaoshi's parents leaving is the trauma that triggers his ability. specifically, that moment where he's panicking about the earthquake with qiao ling.

2. there's something else that's traumatizing that happened between the events of him meeting lu guang and his parents leaving that triggered his ability.

either way, something traumatic would've triggered this ability and while qiao ling doesn't directly know what it is, her dad has possibly sent her to monitor the photo studio for some reason. she's likely unaware in the scheme that i'm projecting:

her dad and these other scientists are all in on this scientific experiment to test these abilities and see what can be done. cheng xiaoshi's parents' disappearance could have even been a part of this experiment with them being involved as scientists as well.

this would definitely explain the kid from the water fountain who li tianchen is kinda just in awe of - it's cheng xiaoshi. the speaking mannerisms sound a lot like adult cheng xiaoshi and on top of that, the outfit is definitely cheng xiaoshi coded. the impulsive nature of diving into a fountain for a ball? cheng xiaoshi. lu guang's reaction to li tianchen telling this story definitely has me thinking that if there's anything i've gotten right so far, it's this.

it makes me wonder if the siblings got out of the experiment/found out the truth and sought out qiao jin to exact their revenge on cheng xiaoshi for "choosing" to stay in the experiment. it's also possible that qiao jin got them out himself for his own agenda and vendetta against the police force and this whole thing with lu guang and cheng xiaoshi is just to get them on his side (even forcefully) if it means that he can get what he wants.

(no but seriously, how were cheng xiaoshi's parents not even reported missing? it feels more important than just parental trauma that shapes his identity - it's definitely a part of the plot.)

as for where lu guang plays into all this:

i see the time travel theory. but i also think it involves all three of them - qiao ling as the one who either 1. rewinded time without any recollection of the future (only lu guang and the li siblings remember what's to come) or 2. sent lu guang back to the past to fix things that went really wrong in the future

considering their abilities and how well established they are, i'm almost against anyone with previously introduced abilities from developing more advanced abilities for the plot - and it would definitely explain why the siblings target lu guang and qiao ling.

this sets up the following:

the original timeline that we haven't seen: lu guang and cheng xiaoshi become friends and they play basketball together occasionally, but they're not as close as they are in the timeline that we see. they go their separate ways and remain acquaintances in college, but not as close friends. he walks by the photo studio after just saying hi, but doesn't stop to help paint. cheng xiaoshi runs the photo studio alone and tries to go into the pictures himself after he accidentally does it once. qiao ling finds out later when he gets himself involved in a Much more serious case. at a college reunion or sometime briefly in the future, lu guang comes across a photo and when he looks through what happened, it's catastrophic in more ways than one. it involves cheng xiaoshi's death (which triggers qiao ling's time travel ability) and he likely sees himself there too, trying to help qiao ling before disappearing. aka, he sees himself time traveling.

the present timeline that we see: he changes it all by staying to help paint. hence the emphasis on lu guang being a lucky coincidence in their lives. and he's actively working to prevent that tragedy and prevent cheng xiaoshi's death from happening. this would mean that qiao ling never unlocks her time travel ability, but it would lock in this present as reality.

(the orv of it all, truly. lu guang regressing to see cheng xiaoshi again and qiao ling rewriting their reality just to save cheng xiaoshi.)

there's my long winded take on it! i'd love to hear what other people think (and feel free to send me all the link click and orv asks bc i'm mentally just stuck between both of those rn) but i hope this made some sense!

[will-pilled]

Cringe culture ruined being a kid.

I keep seeing the idea that teen members of Gen Z are the last generation to experience an actual childhood and honestly? I agree.

We as a society have made being a child so hostile, so miserable, that kids aren't interested in being young anymore.

How children are constantly told to grow up, how the color has been sucked out of the world, how because of cringe culture children will be fucking torn apart by grown adults all over the internet, how children are experiencing crisis after crisis. Children are shamed for their interests and hobbies and style by grown ass adults and teens who are far too old to be doing this. How kids aren't allowed to be anywhere without being made fun of by adults who are miserable.

Being a child is fucking hostile now, and I don't blame this generation of kids for trying too hard to be mature/grown. Because people treat children like shit, so who would want to be one?

[stump-not-found]

i <3 creepy hallway

creepy hallway number one <3

alright time for more home life stuff . the bedroom scene came up as a way of trying to reintegrate the gold statue from earlier, since i just really love trying to find old elements and tie them in as plot relevant as time goes on . not usually planned, but it comes through during the editing stage, which is a fun game of deciding what scenes to keep, and which to get rid of . i wasn't so certain about this one, but i loved the idea of baby ford interacting with mabel, who's slightly older... i need to draw art of it, honestly . they're cute

it's really gratifying seeing people pick up on what i've been setting up as part of ford and the statue, the fact i was able to effectively communicate something going on means the world to me . the rest of the story is gonna dig into it more so i won't lay it all out here, but it really is so much fun . makes the whole writing process feel so communicative when people share thoughts and interpretations . especially when the scenes are meant to be read into !

we also get the closet yay . sure that's not gonna be important at all

writing the kids big blow up fight was a trip and a half . the original vision was a pretty shallow "we're stressed out and out grunkles should stop being mean to each other :(", just as a way to try and push forward the dynamics between ford and stan . that still exists, it's just a lot more focus being put onto the kids themselves . they're tertiary characters for sure, but i like thinking about their home life, and how that impacts them

one of the challenges is trying to have the fight feel fairly balanced between the two of them . shoutouts to my brother and wife for the full ass socratic seminar we had about threading that needle . how do you get a conversation where a young trans boy is trying to discuss his fears about his life and his body, and keeps getting shut down ? how do you balance that with a little girl who feels like it's her job to be the sweet, happy, emotionally intellegent adult in the room ? i'm happy with the end result but boy was it stressful

bill also wasn't gonna be here but i wanted more bill so . he got to come back . i really liked tying in nick with the spit to the little chats their having in the paradox dimension . love the lil hand pinch that was just a treat for meeeee, i get to be indulgent in my fics as much as i want . i also like the fact that ford is under some indescribable pain that entire time . they got a dynamic in this story that makes me laugh .

you know whats funny is i didn't even realize ship of theseus was a paradox writing a lot of the stuff about paradoxes . for some reason i just stumbled into that one . very funny . or, no wait -- i totally knew the entire time my brain is the size of three (3) whole apples

oh man and the entire lab scene i just loved writing . i love including bathroom breaks . i love dipper's poor hygiene . i love the fact the kids traded gold for soda, they're such perfect lil con men in training . and again the whole talk about star trek was so indulgent and fun

the brothers grew up queer in the 60's/70's and that's a major part of their arc . i hope to get across the ways they both hurt each other both as kids and adults . they still got so much to work on, and i just don't know if they've got the time

anyways creepy hallway bill time

favorite part:

“Clark.” Ford stiffens, stops. Looks up. “What?” “That, uh, captain guy. The one with the, he had the big, you know–” Stan gestures over his chest, puffing his pecs out a bit more. “Always had em out, shirt cut off or whatever. Got all hot and sweaty. Great hair.” “...Kirk?” Ford turns in his seat, slightly, to get a better look at his brother. Stan clicks his tongue, points his index finger in recollection. “ Kirk .” He repeats, and the image of the guy blooms in Stan’s head. Ford had a magazine with him on the cover, about as disheveled and beat up as a guy could look, shirt torn open. That particular mag went ‘missing’ into Stan’s stash, and he laughs at that old memory getting drudged up. “I, uh. Was a fan , back then.”

i just love how neither one of them can say what they're talking about out loud lol

Stan and Ford have a conversation, Mabel and Dipper get a bit absurd, and something gold is given meaning.

If you don't look, you won't see it fading.

[wonder-worker]

“Studies of Elizabeth Woodville […] have been hampered by the continuing fascination with her brother-in-law, Richard III. The Ricardian [and Yorkist] apologetic is now largely dependent upon the argument that the Woodville family posed such a threat to Richard of Gloucester, and the kingdom as a whole, that Gloucester had little option but to take the throne from his Woodville-dominated nephew. Although this argument has [irregularly] been contested, a reassessment of the queen's role in 1483 has not yet been attempted. Michael Bennett, in his 1987 account [...] still dismissed her as `an inveterate intriguer, capable in her vanity and fecklessness of some remarkable shifts and turns'. But more often she is scarcely mentioned in general histories of the period.”

-J.L. Laynesmith, “English Queenship 1445-1503” (thesis for the degree of DPhil in Medieval Studies, University of York, Centre for Medieval Studies, April 1999)

[yuseirra]

Aratate Shrine is dedicated to the two kami deities, Ame no Uzume no Mikoto and Sarutahiko no Mikoto, and celebrates their marriage to each other. Ame no Uzume is known as a deity of song, dance, and the performing arts. Sarutahiko is known as a deity of guidance in travel and education, among other things. Together, they are kami deities of matrimonial happiness and fulfilled wishes.

The nature of this shrine draws followers with creative aspirations, including some well-known actors and actresses. Many who seek guidance in their careers or love life come here to pray and consult the priest.

So this is the description of the Aratate Shrine that makes an appearance in the story(that everyone goes to pray, it's going to be there in anime S2 soon too!)

Oh.. Okay?? Okay?? Didn't Kamiki mention about wishes when he talked to Ruby and Aqua??(147,153?) About fulfilling them?? Didn't he congratulate Aqua about it? What's with him?? Is he really some sort of god? Actually, I'm pretty positive about the entire Hoshino family being "gods who don't realize they are gods"..(144)They really have to start discussing what they're going to do about those random ideas about gods they've been throwing out there. It's about time, it's the final arc!!

If the guy is about "guidance", it's going to be really bad if he gets corrupted. The songs imply someone being given a "flaw", isn't that about him? I had this thought going for awhile. I really hope they tackle this whole idea of gods being there soon if that's supposed to be important. And if so, saltwater could really have some purifying effects. Sarutahiko has to do with Misogi and I looked into a little bit, it does involve both salt and water. I'm half serious. It really may help him if he gets dunked into the sea then. Have him fall. He won't die. Rather, I feel he CAN'T die. Something is making him suffer but I feel it's also preventing him from death too. I feel like he would have followed Ai long ago if he didn't have any hope of meeting her or such.

[scarletfish]

listen I HATE endeavor but I LOVE the way mha portrays his character arc. (note: character arc, not redemption arc - I don't think redemption was the intention or result).

I don't get the vibes that the show wants me to forgive him or take his POV as absolution. even at his lowest points, enji still has flawed thought patterns that lead him to commodify his family and keep him from realizing WHY his behavior was wrong.

mha isn't cramming some redemption narrative down my throat, they're showing me a shitty guy who's the product of the society he grew up in, with realistic goals and opinions born of that structure, trying to figure out how to do right by a family he irrevocably fucked up.

let's be clear: I Personally Do Not Like this guy.

but god is it real to watch his family come to terms with his place in their lives.

like, sometimes you grow up and you cut your abuser out of your life for good and you never forgive them (natsuo).

sometimes you have to reckon with the fact that your own trauma led you to perpetuate the cycle of abuse, and that isn't your fault, but it IS now your responsibility (rei).

sometimes you grieve what you could have had and play peacemaker at your own expense (fumuki).

sometimes you face the impossible puzzle of fitting your abuser back into your life - setting boundaries, having painful discussions, and deciding which compromises you can bear (shouto).

.....and sometimes you fake your death, get some sick piercings, and dedicate your life to setting your piece of shit father and every sanctimonious thing he stands for on fire.

I JUST THINK all of these responses are very valid and realistic 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

love a good "cut them out forever and don't forgive them" narrative, but as someone who had a more complex journey I LOVE seeing that reflected on screen.

[tenojan-in-tevinter]

hilarious how much my hawke goes on and on about how blood magic is evil and blood mages suck and there's never a good enough reason to use blood magic. My guy. What was all that shit you did back in Kirkwall then huh? What did you do when you ran out of magic? I guess every time you pulled the blood up from corpses to keep yourself alive was just nothing then huh. Every time your enemies' blood boiled in their veins was just the wind I guess.

[anderstrevelyan]

Hi tumblr, I'm back!

Spent the past month glaring at people in bg3 and it was glorious

[baekuras]

Veilguard thinks its funny having me choose between 2 of my favourite companions/their factions/cities smh

Other things I've found slightly amusing is pre-launch people who had their eyes set on Lucanis, aka Mage Killer galore, ready to make mage rooks and it turns out he is actually super chill with anyone not his target or who hasn't wronged him/his

Other thing I've found bemusing looking back is people looking at Taash and going "omg butch lesbian" and rn that's very much on the brink of shifting at least from what Taash just told my Rook in a cutscene

[astradyke]

i love dan and phil so much but the sheer stress i have experienced trying to figure out these terrible influence tour tickets makes me want to beat them or someone else to death with hammers

[faradaykay]

i love to come up with a new p3 headcanon and tell it to my friends who have not played the game yet so they can instantly agree with it and adopt it as their personal canon, completely biasing their experience for when they do play

[scorndotexe]

I hate fake freaks, why the hell are people freaking out about the grave scene in Saltburn? I haven’t even seen the fucking movie and even I know it’s supposed to be symbolic/thematic/representative WHATEVER

nah anon you've got it wrong i need it to be about 30-75% more intense. there should have been actual necrophilia. cannibalism too actually. also no shitty twist at the end so the symbolism of the acts remains relevant. i know you havent seen it but jesus christ it was such a bad film

anyway people are freaking out because they don't actually care about the themes or symbolism of saltburn they just want to be like "ooooh this film is sooo fucked up oh my god emerald fennell is a sick sick woman."

[supercantaloupe]

also i swear to gd i Need to get less weird and anxious about the mere concept of talking to maestro. i have known and played with him for seven years and in that time he has been literally nothing but kind and friendly and helpful and supportive. and yet every single time i have to ask him a question (or if he comes to talk to ME or like sends me an email or something) i swear to gd my heart starts racing like i’m about to get banned from every orchestra ever or something

[unproduciblesmackdown]

maybe bsol is that time jen tepper mentions when she was so upset about a review of a show of joe's that she broke a glass (&/or threw it out a window)

[gender-euphowrya]

motherfucker