#but if anyone WANTS their art permanently attached to the fic - make a post and tag me!

[moonyinpisces]

finished ch 11 and now it's just permanently lodged in my brain... especially this scene so i had to draw something ahhh

AHHHHHHHHH BENTLEY SEX BENTLEY SEX BENTLEY SEX!!!!!!!!

i’m so so so obsessed with this, thank you!! that’s them that’s literally them!! ive been staring at this for 5 hours now. i am not going to be able to get work done today because all i’m going to care about is this art of them fucking pathetic style in the bentley. my crops are watered and the light has been turned ON

[evelhak]

[requests closed]

Okay, my KnB mutuals, friends and strangers alike, the day has come.

I'll tag some people off the top of my head, because then I don't get to secretly wish no one saw this, so I would be off the hook. @lylakoi @vespersposts @active-mind-15 @ni-kol-koru @misfitmiska @myndless88 @kurokonobrainrot @japeneselunchtimerush @shutokushintaro @kucho04 @deargravity @raspberrylix

Whether you're tagged or not is actually inconsequential for the rest of the post.

I never thought of doing events for hitting any follower count, EXCEPT I told myself a long time ago that

once I have 1111 followers (only because I will realistically never have 11 111) I will do something stupid in the spirit of this string of numbers.

In other words

✨I welcome you all to torture me✨

(if you want.)

Now is your chance to ask someone to do anything you want.

To write any fic, draw any fan art, or create any other type of fan content you want (edits and AMVs count too, in fact, if you tell me to bake a cake or knit a scarf with your idea, I will do it) and you may be as mean about it as you wish. Complete disregard for my feelings is encouraged.

I'm not saying you have to be intentionally sadistic about it, that's not the point, the point is that you get to do what you please, whether it makes me suffer or not.

Do you have an idea you wanted to make but didn't dare because you feared fandom hate? I'll take the hit.

Want me to write about a ship I love cheating on each other? I'll do it.

Want me to draw a ship I hate, doing something shippy? Name the ship.

Is there an AU you want to see? There's a good chance I will squirm through it, but squirm I shall.

Have a particularly gross headcanon you've wanted to see but didn't dare to make it?

You get the idea.

(Of course, how much you know about my likes and dislikes depends on how long you've known me, but since the point isn't really to ask me to do what I hate, it's for you to get the total freedom of not caring about the preferences of the person you're requesting something from, don't get hung up on that.)

For this one time, and one time only, I am your daredevil, I am your genie in the bottle.

Your rules are simple:

if you want, ask me to create anything you wish, give me your most selfish or egotistical KnB desire

you can be as vague or as detailed as you want

don't go easy on me, don't tone it down because you want to spare me

if you're wondering if you can request something the answer is yes

however if your most selfish desire is a sketch of some characters on a picnic then that is exactly right, you don't need to shock anyone on purpose, you can ask for anything that is true to you

My rules are:

I am not allowed to complete a request I hate in the easiest way I can imagine, my goal is to transform that hate into love

I must approach everyone's ships and headcanons and visions as seriously and with as much love as I would my own

the only occasion I will not do something is if it significantly impacts my mental health for the worse

My brain is ridiculously one track, and super attached to my own headcanons, my one vision for everything, so believe me when I say this could easily get hard for me. That's the point. Obviously I'm doing this for shits and giggles, but the underlying drive is also to give myself some tough love and Spartan treatment, for character building. Let's smash my One True Headcanon brain (for a moment, before I go right back to my preferences, hopefully taking something valuable and more permanent with me from the experience).

I will keep this open for three days. If I get too many requests, I will draw five out of a hat, or something. : D I'll finish them during 2024.

Like I said, I didn't tag anyone on purpose or leave anyone out on purpose so no matter how you pass by this post you're free to do as you please with it or ignore it, obviously. Anons are also fine, by the way.

(If you feel like inviting more chances for me to potentially cry, reblogging is fine too.)

[bleachbleachbleach]

Fanfic origin story

I was going to reblog that fanfic ask meme, but I realized I actually did not have good answers to too many of the prompts. So I’m going to forego the meme and simply tell a fandom origin story unprompted, ahahaha.

I posted my very first fic to FFN when I was 13. It was an amalgamation of “things I’ve seen happen in other fics on this website” + a weird tangent about airplanes and it received exactly one review.

The review said something like “no plot, OOC, bad fic.” Like, that’s not a summary--that’s just how it read verbatim, a collection of negative phrases. 

13-year me had basically no personal attachment to her writing (which is probably healthier than what it is now, LOL). My primary interest at the time was webdesign, not fanfic. I was just trying out writing what I thought fanfic was, having not yet learned that fanfic was whatever I wanted it to be. So it’s not like I was permanently scarred by this review or anything; it was funny in its incredible brevity and even 13-year old me could allow that it was probably true. 

The part that makes this memorable, though, was that it was from someone who was TWENTY-ONE YEARS OLD and was fandom famous enough to get double, triple-digit review counts on her fics and had people like, drawing fan art for her fanfic and the whole nine. So when I read her profile and learned all this I was like lol??????????? And the older I get the funnier it gets because a grown human took time out of their day to dunk on a middle schooler’s harmlessly bad 500-word fluff fic when they literally could have simply rolled around naked in their own fic reviews and adoring fans. Where did this damage even come from.

Of course, as it happened, we ended up sharing a fandom more than once, off and on, because the Internet can be a very small place. It’s not like she remembered me (not to mention by that point I was going by a different name--that FFN account was a joint account with my co-blogger, like this one is), but of course I. remembered. her. XD 

We never interacted again, but completely 100% vindictively, I would check up on her fics from time to time to be like do I even think these are good? or Am I better than her yet?? Which is also totally silly behavior, yes. And I’m not sure what “better” here would mean, since I think fanfic is primarily a matter of personal taste. But I am still the winner in this story because: 

Never once have I left a mean comment on anyone’s fic!

I am still writing fanfic!

[naysaltysalmon]

I’m back!

Upon my return from China, I noticed there were a lot of things weighing me down... that I can just throw the fuck out.

I could expound upon all of these in great detail, but it really would be pointless. And I wouldn’t be able to cover it all anyway. So instead I’ve decided to make a post of every icon I’ve used for my online persona over the years.

The reason for this is... at the end of the program I attended, we had an entire week of silent meditation. We weren’t allowed to talk or communicate with anyone in any way, including gestures, eye contact, or physical touch. So, during this time I had the realization that the stories I’ve been interested in have been my main source of comfort over the years. No person, place, or thing has felt more permanent to me than this.

However, permanence is an illusion, as the Buddhists say (I stayed in a Buddhist monastery in China, in case you’re wondering). My interests have changed over the years -- from the first fandoms I got obsessed with, to my interests now. I may still adore the series that I enjoyed as a child, but definitely not in the same way.

Coming home, I realized... I no longer want to attach my identity to one character or series. That’s why I’ve decided to make this post. I want to reflect on all the egos of my past, on what they have meant to me, so that I can let them go. I’ve been clinging to a folder of them for too long.

To anyone who’s been here since the very start of my blog, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. This is an acknowledgement of my transformation from then until now.

And so:

Breadward Elric. My first Internet icon, which I had for 2 and a half years from May 2011 -- 2013. My blog was originally entirely FMAB content, created in January of 2012, and while this format didn’t last the entire time that I had this icon, Breadward saw me through the majority of my early anime and video game obsessions. He jump-started my personality on the Internet as a fanfic author, a blogger, and an artist. I will never forget him... ;~;

Comrade Führer Tamama. I had this icon for 8 months in early 2013 -- early 2014. What can I say? Tamama’s passionate personality resonated with me, especially when he was finally able to be in control (in the episode this particular screenshot is from). Gotta get those cola oceans pronto!

Yokoso waga tainai e [Welcome to my Womb ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]. I had a phase during the summer of 2014, okay. But I still love this maniacal snake’s crusty ass, fite me. I admire KagePro immensely for the popularity and development it gave characters in song format. Of course, favorite of those characters was Kuroha, a snake whose only desire was to keep granting wishes so that he could survive. Add a touch of murderous intent and you have the complete package -- I won’t deny he appealed(appeals) to my wild side -- okay moving on.

KeroTama hugge 👀. I had this icon for about 4-6 months in 2014 before the Hunter x Hunter phase hit. God, I shipped them so hard *facepalms* It was funny though, it’s like KagePro hit me like a hurricane during this summer and then I went right back to being KeroTama trash. Amazing.

Softly Smiling Pika. I kept this icon for at least 9-10 months at the end of 2014 -- early 2015, until I found Owari no Seraph. Kurapika was definitely my bae at the start of my HxH phase -- and in many ways he still is. The current arc gives me this sense of nostalgia of being a 15-year-old again, deeply in love but too in denial to see it. Watching him as a young adult, I see how far I’ve come, how I could have ended up... since I believed myself to be most closely alike with Kurapika at the time. And now I know that’s not the case... I remember debating between many other Kurapika icons and finally choosing this one because I dearly wanted to believe I too could find my happiness in the friends around me, even if it seemed all was hopeless behind the scenes.

Yuu babe. I had this icon for 4 months in the middle of 2015, I remember. Yuichiro Hyakuya was an underappreciated dorky genius at the time, much like how Gon is in HxH now, except... Now in the series... *deep sighs* *clenches fist* I still love his piercing citrine eyes and the dynamism of this icon/pose though.

Cuties T^T (MikaYuu edition). Mmm I kept this icon for a while, something like most of 2016, at least 6-8 months, probably more like 9 or 10. Looking back, I still wonder how/why the author was a fucking coward and didn’t make MikaYuu happen. We coulda had it aaallllll...... Anyway, this is when I was writing Ebony & Ivory, my most popular fic to date, so I was reveling in the reputation I gained from that. This icon was me accepting that while I was no longer friends with my best friend from middle school to 11th grade, I would still pursue my own happiness in the perfect relationship that I saw in MikaYuu. *nods* It’s fitting.

Caught Child². I shared this and the next couple of icons with a friend that I met online, who used the Gon equivalent. I think we shared this one for about 3 months of 2016. This is when I became re-obsessed with Hunter x Hunter and realized how much I had changed between 2014 and 2016. It’s an obsession that’s more or less carried onto now, and redefined my adulthood, as I see my progression as I refer back to HxH for guidance to this day.

Content Chompy Boye. I love this icon. I kept this icon for a long time, something like 5-6 months in December 2016 -- mid-2017. The colors of the background contrast with Killua’s white hair, pale skin, and dark muscle shirt... I still used this icon on other websites until just a few days ago (when I most recently changed my icon) because I thought it looked the best backdropped against the format of other websites. I love this scene in the series, though; while (human) Palm is chattering on about her worry that Gon and Killua will be able to defeat Knuckle and Shoot in time, Killua continues to eat without a care in the world. It’s a mood I feel at least once a day, whether while eating or getting a back massage -- as if that ever happens -- 11/10.

Pizza Devil Brat. I like this icon a lot and kept it on a few websites for longer too, but with the way I edited it, the green background becomes a little too headache-inducing if you stare at it too long, so 8/10 -- okay no more out of 10 ratings, this isn’t that kind of post. I believe I kept this icon for about 3-4 months in 2017 and possibly early 2018 as well. From the same scene the previous Kurapika icon came from, this remains one of my favorite scenes in the entire series for its serious undertones over the light happiness that underlies Gon’s, Killua’s, and Kurapika’s (and Leorio’s -- but he’s not in this scene) interactions with each other throughout the series.

Grumpy Gem Gremlin. I was sharing the last three icons with that friend, including this one, with the Phos equivalent (more or less). I think we only kept it for about a month or month and a half in 2017 or beginning of 2018 before switching to the next one. Cinnabar’s desire for a purpose and closeness to others despite her poisonous nature... is definitely something I can understand and relate to.

Sad Gem Child. Damn, I think we’re all still waiting for the day Gormie realizes Aechmea’s a creepy sugar daddy and dropkicks his ass into the ocean where the Admirabilis can decompose his cloudy body like he doesn’t deserve. When will Land of the Lustrous return from the war? I’m still waiting, Ichikawa. Anyway I think we kept this icon for about a month or maybe two in 2018, not long at all.

Gay Childe™. Look, this is one of the gayest scenes in the entire series and it’s right after my favorite episode(s)/scene(s) in the entire series (so far) and it’s not even acknowledged by anyone. Just. Holy Fuck. Anyway I think I kept this icon for about 6-8 months to cap off 2018. And this is where the Big Breakup happened, where my friend decided to choose an icon that deviated from mine, but I kept this icon for a lot longer due to what this scene means to me, placed after/during my favorite episode. ;v;

And finally, BoMH (Blood on My Hands) Pika. I used this icon for 8 months from the start of 2019 until just a few days ago (approx. 8 months). This icon was originally the cover for a Kurapika fic that I started back in 2015 and ended up discontinuing because it was pretty slow-paced, and thus unpopular, which made it become difficult for me to write. But I got all the way up to 97k words before I quit, simply because of the freedom and joy I felt in creating all the OCs that I fit into Kurapika’s journey as he searched for the Kurta eyes after the Yorknew City Arc. Looking back, I’m proud of the planning and commitment that I succeeded in undertaking with this fic -- it was about halfway done by the time I stopped writing it -- and I feel I want to return to this concept one day. Even if the arcs were pretty formulaic at times and, well, boring, I wanted this icon at the start of 2019 to be a new person separate from my recent past matching icons; a representation of my ability to reconnect with my past, but to no longer be afraid of it; to be proud of it, but still recognizing the not-so-good parts, laying it to rest by no longer avoiding it.

My icon now, as I’m sure you can see... is nothing like those I’ve used thus far. I definitely have no intention of moving away from anime or my past. I simply wish to redefine who I am in relation to them, rather than being defined by them.

...I’ve discovered a lot about myself over the past 2 years since college started, more than I ever thought possible. I discovered a lot while in China, too. And I need my online persona to reflect that in every form, as I’ve done every time there was a change.

Thank you all for being with me on this journey: for following me, for reading my posts, for liking my art, for talking with me and blowing up my notifications on every platform...

I’ll be pursuing the next chapter(s) of Human, TIDU, and other works soon. ^.^

[lostinthewinterwood]

FFFX Letter

Hey there friend!  Thanks for creating something for me, especially something so long! :D

 I hope you have fun with this—if you want more ideas, my other exchange letters are here, and you can find fandom-specific tags below.  If you’re looking to make treats I’d be delighted to receive them in any medium.

  General DNW

non-con/dub-con; non-canonical permanent major character death; heavy angst; hurt no comfort; on-page deliberate self-harm*; on-page suicide; smut; gore; grimdark; complete downer endings; character bashing; incest; cringe comedy; a/b/o; mpreg; graphic eye trauma; graphic hand trauma; issuefic; unrequested full-setting aus; unrequested identity headcanons; unrequested romance as the main plot.

*I don’t include things like, say, punching a wall in a fit of emotion under this. however, something like cutting would not be appreciated.

  General Likes

– I really like plotty fics

– Secret identity and disguise shenanigans, the more layers to them and more absurdity the better.

– Crossdressing for whatever reason and gender disguises, also for whatever reason, though not as a fetish thing—that I enjoy less.

– Time travel and time loops are always fun, especially as a fix-it.  I have a general preference for Peggy Sue style (aka, an older character getting put back in their younger body at an earlier point in the timeline) over the character’s physical body stepping back in time, but either one is good.

– A focus on family and/or friendship, especially characters realizing they’re not nearly as alone as they think they are, and just generally characters who like each other and enjoy spending time together

– Found family; families of choice

– Character studies

– Worldbuilding

– Canon-divergence AUs and missing scenes; things set pre- or post-canon; wriggling into canon and poking at it to see what it spits back at you, if that description makes any sense at all.

  On Art/Comics

I don’t really have any strong opinions on how art should be—you do you in your art style—and idk, I don’t have anything specific to say here, my general prompts should probably be enough to go off of for creating comics too?  I hope so, at least.

   Original Work  

Tags

·        Group: Adolescent Superhero with a Secret ID & Adolescent Supervillain with a Secret ID (OW)

·        Group: Archmage & Apprentice (OW)

·        Group: Child Superhero & Their Concerned Supervillain Nemesis (OW)

·        Group: Consummate Duelist Who Always Duels Over Others' Honor & Their Long-Suffering Second (OW)

·        Group: Dangerous Mercenary & Street Kid Who Tries To Pickpocket Them (OW)

·        Group: Fugitive Prince/Exiled Alchemist (OW)

·        Group: Male Student Mage Disguised as a Girl & His Older Female Mentor (OW)

·        Princess Heir in Exile for Political Reasons (OW)

·        Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic

 fandom-specific notes: I'd rather have the Fugitive Prince and the Alchemist be at least 15 or 16, and not have an age gap of more than 5 years or so if one is under 20. I would also ask that characters not react to the student mage disguised as a girl (or anyone, really, but he seems the most likely target) in transphobia-reminiscent ways.  Additionally, my “major character permadeath” dnw here refers to characters named in the tag, and a story with romance as the main plot is absolutely acceptable in the case of the Prince and the Alchemist.

For any of these prompts I’d be super down for worldbuilding work and all that that entails.

 Superheroes—for the kids with the secret identities, do they know each other as their civilian selves? As their cape selves? Both? Do they like each other, dislike each other, is this a rivalry thing… with stories that have this dynamic, I always end up spending half my time cackling internally and the other half of the time going children no when they’re friends as civilians and enemies in masks, but honestly I’d be here for any dynamic they could have. For the child hero and concerned nemesis, I absolutely adore the dynamic of the kid going “I’m here to defeat you!” and the villain being like “…okay I may be a criminal and a villain but you are a literal child what are you doing where are your parents,” and it going from there.

 Student Mage & Mentor—ngl this is at least 85% inspired by all the “girl disguises herself as boy to become warrior” books I read as a kid, and I always wanted a gender-flipped version—so tell me! Why is he disguised as a girl? Does his mentor know? If she does, is she actively helping him, or begrudgingly accepting, or something else? Anything around this would be great, and ruse/identity reveals are always delicious if you want something more specific as a prompt.  Also, if you want to introduce a romance element for the student here, I have some prompts for that here.  Absolutely not necessary, of course, but if that’s where you want to go I’m here for it.

 Archmage & Apprentice—love me some mentorship dynamics. Tell me about who these people are, what their world is like… what does it mean to be an archmage?  Is the student on their way to becoming an archmage too, or are they not quite at that kind of level?  How does their magic work; is this a hard magic system or a soft one?

 Consummate Duelist & Second—is there some deeper reason our duelist won’t stop dueling with people?  Are they dueling with swords, or guns, or maybe magic?  Where do they live, and how does their society think about and relate to dueling—is it common? Uncommon?  State-sanctioned, or illegal, or technically illegal but no one would ever enforce that?

 Mercenary & Street Kid—other things I’m a sucker for include grumpy reluctant mentor/parental figures who don’t want a kid, they don’t, but this one has attached to them and they can’t get rid of them—so obviously they can’t just not take care of them.  Does the kid give the merc a brighter outlook on life? Prompt them to change the way they’re living their life?

 Fugitive Prince/Exiled Alchemist—why is the prince a fugitive?  Is it for some crime he’s done, or because of political turmoil, or something else? And the alchemist—are they exiled from the prince’s country, or from a different country, and how come they’ve been exiled?  How do these two meet; how to they clash or get on with each other?

 Princess Heir—what are the political reasons that led to her exile? What world is she in—is this medieval, pre-medieval, renaissance, any of the above but in an alternate world, any of the above but with magic, or maybe she’s a modern princess from a modern country—what does her exile look like?  Does she want to go home, is she trying to get back home—who’s in charge while she’s off being exiled?

   ---

   幻影ヲ駆ケル太陽 il sole penetra le illusioni | Day Break Illusion  

Tags

·        Etia Visconti (Day Break Illusion)

·        Ariel Valtiel Westcott (Day Break Illusion)

·        Group: Etia Visconti & Ariel Valtiel Westcott (Day Break Illusion)

·        Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic

·        Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic

 No fandom-specific dnws, but to be clear I’m perfectly open to an Ariel/Etia romance, as long as it’s not the main plot of whatever you write. Additionally, deaths of Daemonia characters—canonical or original—are perfectly fine, even if they’re major characters in the story you write.  Canon-typical violence etc is also acceptable.

 These two don’t have much backstory given in canon—I’d love something exploring one or both of their characters!  How did they become Tarot card holders; what was it like when they began; how about when Akari’s mom held the Sun?

I'm also fascinated by the restrictions they have on them, and how it's not totally clear how much of it is their desires and how much of it is imposed on them by the Leguzario. They're very powerful—especially together—and while the Leguzario hold the key they don't seem too keen on using their powers even when they're unlocked; I'd love something exploring that. Alternately, again, just anything exploring their lives—maybe about how long have they been running this chapter of Sefiro Fiore, maybe anything else.

  ---   

Mother of Learning - nobody103  

Tags

·        Raynie (Mother of Learning)

·        Neoluma-Manu Iljatir (Mother of Learning)

·        Group: Kirielle Kazinski & Zorian Kazinski (Mother of Learning)

·        Group: Kirielle Kazinski & Nochka Sashal (Mother of Learning)

·        Kirielle Kazinski (Mother of Learning)

·        Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic

·        Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic

 fandom-specific dnw: romantic and/or sexual Zach/Zorian; physical parental abuse within the Kazinski family; significant exaggeration of canonical emotional neglect/abuse/general family dysfunction; Raynie or her tribe being written as being wholly in the right and the other side wholly in the wrong.  Please consider my “unrequested full-setting aus” dnw from the general section to be adjusted to “mundane aus” for this fandom. If you change who the time travelers are, please either do not address the end of the time loop or let them escape from it—escaping as Zorian does, and in so doing killing the original, is okay.

 If you want to write an AU, you can consider any AU requested for AUEx for Mother of Learning, as listed here, to be requested in this exchange as well (although the character requests do not perfectly line up) as long as it isn’t purely mundane.

 Raynie—I love Raynie, and I love the little glimpses we get into her character and her past in canon!

For her I was thinking maybe something after the invasion, maybe her going home again.  I’d love to see a reconciliation between her and her tribe, and a settling of the issues and problems that led to her being sent away.

If I’ve got my timeline right, her brother should be old enough to have reasonable interactions with; I’d really enjoy something dealing with the tension between them, letting them reconcile and build a better sibling relationship.

Alternatively, if we’re going for pre-canon, I’d really enjoy something dealing with her initial arrival in Cyoria and befriending Kiana.

 Neolu—If we’re working within the time loop, then maybe something from before Zorian got looped in—maybe one of the iterations where Zach and Neolu just went off across the country having fun the whole month? Otherwise, there could be something about her life pre-loop and what led her to come to Cyoria, or after the invasion—what does she do then?

 Kirielle et al—I’ve written far too many words in prompts about Kirielle already; if you want to see me going off about her, please see the Mother of Learning section of my Gen Freeform Ex letter here.  If you don’t want to click through, though, here’s a bit of things.  For Kirielle and Nochka, they’re adorable and I’d love a further development of their friendship, especially getting to see it grow and develop over the months and years after the invasion.  For Kirielle and Zorian, I love their dynamic!  And again here I’d really enjoy seeing their relationship developing in real time, rather than a constantly looping world.  I think it would be great to see either of them defending the other to their parents—and maybe Zorian ends up with custody of Kiri, there’s definitely things to explore there.

For Kirielle by herself, I’d love some sort of character study—what does she do now that the time loop is over?  She’s growing up into a war; will she be a mage?  An artist?  Something else?  Alternatively—what if she got pulled into the loop; what would it be like to grow older while still looking nine?

  ---

  Tortall - Tamora Pierce  

Tags

·        Group: Varice Kingsford & Stiloit Tasikhe (Tortall)

·        Stiloit Tasikhe (Tortall)

·        Varice Kingsford (Tortall)

·        Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic

·        Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic

 No strict fandom-specific dnws here, though I would rather not see a Stiloit/Varice ship if we’re doing a story set in the time of Tempests and Slaughter.

 For Varice—kitchen magic!  How does that work?  What does she do, exactly, to food that changes it/the process of creating it? Is it commonly looked down upon, or is it unusual that Varice’s family doesn’t really want her to pursue it? What did her life look like before; why did she go to mage school?  And what happens later—we all know that our lovely wholesome trio is going to fall apart; how does that happen, and why does she stay?

 As for Stiloit, and him together with Varice—he seems so… calm, and level-headed, especially when compared with Ozorne who is not.  And he clearly finds Varice interesting, and her company valuable.  So maybe tell me something about that—what does he think of her?  She of him?  What if, perhaps, he didn’t die when he does?

Honestly, one of the biggest AU ideas I have/want to see for Tempests and Slaughter is overall—what if Stiloit lived?  Because, given how Ozorne turns out—given how it all goes—I feel like that has the potential for a massive ripple effect on the timeline.  Or maybe tell me how his life was pre-canon!

  ---

  Hanging Out with a Gamer Girl (Manga)  

Tags

·        Group: Amakawa Miruku & Terazaki Kaoru (HOwaGG)

·        Group: Amakawa Miruku & Ousaka Nanami & Terazaki Kaoru (HOwaGG)

·        Group: Amakawa Miruku & Ousaka Nanami (HOwaGG)

·        Group: Terazaki Kaoru & Ousaka Shouko (HOwaGG)

·        Group: Terazaki Kaoru & Ousaka Nanami (HOwaGG)

·        Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic

·        Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic

 fandom-specific dnw: sexualization of Kaoru's crossdressing; full realization of Kaoru's fears re:Nanami's dad.

Also, this isn’t strictly prohibited I suppose? But I’d really rather prefer that relationships nominated as platonic remain platonic, except where otherwise indicated (e.g. certain aus).

For this request, my “setting aus” dnw is completely waived; if you want some ideas check out my AUEx letter.  Please consider any identity headcanon laid out in my AUEx letter to be requested for this exchange as well.

 So! We now have three gamer kids with cute friendships instead of just two—tell me about them!  Tell me about just Kaoru and Nanami, or tell me about how Miruku fits into their dynamic, how it changes—how is it for Nanami, having more than one real-world friend her own age who likes her for who she is?

 As for Kaoru & Shouko—I love how mom-like Shouko feels around Kaoru, and I’d love a deeper look into their dynamic. Half of me thinks she already knows or at least suspects that “Kaori” isn’t really a girl, or at least isn’t a cis girl, but I rather suspect she’d just not say anything, at least for the time being—“Kaori” is her daughter’s only friend, after all, and has been pulling Nanami out of her shell, and she wouldn’t want to disturb that.

[criscura]

Hmmmmmm did you ask permission to post someone else's art because how you posted that feels shady af

I’m going to answer as upfront and thoroughly as I can, and not the snarky way you asked this. There will be no cut--this is long and you have to read it.

I did not, for many reasons, some practical and some selfish.

Tumbling Down is a lot of things, but part of it is a thank you to all the awesome artists in OPM. I find prompts and pictures that are massively inspiring and make something around them as a way of giving back to the people who give a lot. 

The problem is, when I first started writing this, it was hard to track reblogs on art that you reblogged. That meant that if I just tagged on a chapter as part of a reblog, I couldn’t easily respond to people as they commented/shared/tagged/etc. and I’d end up ignoring them. (Though I’ll admit it, I’ve fallen off the bandwagon with answering. I never thought that this fic would get as much attention as it did and it’s hard to answer everyone the way they deserve. I do still look through every tag, comment, and reblog on each post, which would be VERY difficult if I’d reblogged someone else’s post, especially considering that much of the work that inspired me has thousands of notes).

The next obvious answer would be to reblog things without a picture, right? And just give a link to the inspiration and shout-out to the artist in the introduction to the chapter. The problem with that is that I never want someone to think that I created an inspired scene from scratch. I want the artist to get their credit. And I know that many times people don’t pay attention to forewords and jump right in, or if they do go to the original post they may only like and share my fic without doing so to the inspiration. That wasn’t okay either. The original needed to be permanently attached to my fic so that no one could ever ignore it.

So the next idea would be to download the image and put it at the start of every chapter with links to the original work and a shout-out to the artist. I didn’t like that though--it felt too much like I was presenting something that I had made, and then something written for it underneath it, and that’s gross. That’s unacceptable. 

SO. What I do is take a screenshot of the original piece so that at a glance you can tell that it is not my own piece, and use that as the image I share. In the screenshot I make sure you can see the artists/users’ icon, some part of their page, their blurb, and/or their tags so you could find them based on that alone. Then I tag the artist in the post so they get a notification of it, and post a link to the original piece immediately after so that people can more easily find it if they would like. This means that I’m putting up a post that I can follow, while making sure that it is very apparent that I drew inspiration from someone else’s work and providing links to it.

Now for the selfish part. No, I do not ask them beforehand if they are alright that I do it, because some artists aren’t on for months at a time and I cannot wait that long to post something. And no, I will not not post it. 

This fic is a thank you, but it’s also my own project, and I will work on it on my own time. Additionally, I will not just use other prompts that I’ve gotten the “okay” on. 

This has been mostly planned for about a year, with certain prompts and artworks as contenders for milestone events, but that I won’t know which ones are absolutely the right choice until I’ve gotten to writing them....and since my timeline is fluid, I have absolutely no idea if or when I’ll be using those prompts. For example, the last chapter I just posted? I had that saved as inspiration since February...of 2016. I badly wanted to write that in somehow, but I’m not going to ham-fist a scene into the story just because I happen to like it a lot. Had ket3′s picture not worked with the rest of the chapter, I would’ve gone with something else, but I wouldn’t know if it would work until I had the chapter almost entirely written out. To explain why I don’t want to wait to post chapters or edit them once they’re done, you have to understand the amount of work that goes into each one. 

One chapter is anywhere from 10,000 to 16,000 words. That’s....what, about 30 pages to 50 pages written. It takes me roughly a week/week and a half to write that, with the many many many hours of research that goes into each chapter. I reread each draft at least a dozen times (but probably far more than that) between short edits (rereading what I just did to center myself), long edits (combing through the entire chapter for tone/repetition/etc.), and hard edits (printing out a copy and physically editing so I can see the draft with a fresh set of eyes). Once it’s completed, I need to go into my phone to find the screenshot of the original piece and track down the artist/user as well as a link to the work itself. If the original screenshot didn’t give me enough information to easily find the artist, I take a new one that will show their icon/page/tags/etc. Then I use that to post the chapter, with all the links included. If I can’t track down the artist, then and only then will I change what I was going to write so that I don’t step on any toes. (Yes, I’ve had to do it. I have also realized I drew inspiration from something after the fact, and updated the fic/contacted the artist once I realized it.) By the time you see a chapter come up, I’ve already spent anywhere from two to three weeks on it. I am not going to wait months, potentially, to hear back from someone on whether or not it can go up, and then need to rewrite it all.

NOW. While I could physically go through my inspiration folder to track down, contact, and wait for a response from every artist that has ever inspired me in the chance that I choose to write for their piece, it would take an ENORMOUS amount of time and effort due to the sheer quantity of things I have saved. I would spend more time preparing for scenes I may never write than writing the fic itself, and I am not willing to do that. 

That’s not to say I don’t take the artist’s personal preferences into account when I’m writing. I am, for instance, incredibly inspired by cinensis’ work, but I won’t let myself use any of his work due to my fic’s (highly) sexual nature. It would be disrespectful. When I look at a piece of art, I try to take into consideration the feel, tone, and setting, and apply it to my fic as best I can. I am not going to rip something from an artist out of context and just plop it into my own art--I will spend a year working up to something if that’s the only way I can do a piece of art justice (I’ve done it several times and I will continue to do it until the fic is done).

Should an artist ever reach out to me and say, “Please remove my picture from this, I don’t like that,” I would apologize and fix it as best as I could, which--again, selfishly--would not included editing the scene out. I would, though, remove their picture from it and include a MASSIVE disclaimer at the start saying that I’d messed up, explaining why I’m reposting my chapter without the art, and ask that everyone who reads it respects the artist’s wishes. I understand that that’s cruel. I’m taking a big risk doing it that way. However....

I have been writing this for over a year and a half, and that has never happened. I take a HUGE amount of precautions to make sure I don’t offend/bother/irritate anyone, and that if I use someone else’s work as inspiration, it’s shown in a respectful and positive light that will (hopefully) help others appreciate it just as much as I do, and lead them to thinking more about the art/artist. And before you ask, I have actually drawn from ket3 before--twice. They were thankful/flattered/glad both times. 

I am sure this answer is unsatisfactory to you. I’m sorry to have bothered you, but I’m at peace with how I manage this fic and I will be the one to decide if and when I need to change the way I share it.

[paladin-pile]

Ok guys, major nerd-out post here regarding Shiro's arm!

As a student in their 4th year of undergrad for a degree in prosthetics, I’m absolutely SMITTEN with Shiro’s bionic arm (and the guy it’s attached to, obviously). But as much as I adore all the art and fics, there are a few things that are driving me nuts that I’d like to share in a few points here, just for reference if anyone wants it. I’ve seen very few fanworks with a proper presentation of artificial limbs, so here goes! 

 #1. Under NO circumstances does anyone sleep with their prosthetic limb on. 

You read that right: under NO circumstances! This also goes for taking a shower. It might look sexy until you get shocked with however many volts he’s got in that thing, But even if it’s waterproof, what is the purpose?? of having it in the shower? when your supposed to be washing the residual limb as well??

“But Wait!” I hear someone say. “Isn’t it implied that Shiro’s arm is permanently attached somehow, and he can’t or doesn’t know how to take it off?”

To answer your question, yes, it is implied. And I’m here to tell you how that is ABSOLUTELY NOT POSSIBLE.

Prosthetic limbs HAVE to be taken off regularly. No matter how advanced that Galra tech is, Shiro’s arm would literally rot off of his body if the prosthetic socket was never removed from his skin. That’s basic human biology that no super druid tech can overcome without completely building a new bionic body for him, which we can all agree didn’t happen.

I would at first think it’s implied he can’t remove it simply because we get the impression that Shiro would have ditched that thing ASAP if he could have. But let’s think about it a bit more, shall we? 

As much as he seems to hate the arm, Shiro must have realized it was his only weapon and means of protection while escaping the Galra, and then as a paladin he doesn’t have a bayard and needs to make up the slack somehow. He knows how to use this thing and really needs a weapon in order to fight. Also the weapon is, ya know, his ARM, and missing an arm would probably be really inconvenient as a paladin, especially since he probably never learned how to live with just one arm, as it is also implied he went right from flesh to robo. Shiro is pragmatic and logical to a fault. The pro’s outweigh the cons, it’s a necessary evil at this point. I believe he can take it off, he just chooses to keep using it. Moving forward with this assumption…

#2. Amputees need to wear compression socks on the residual limb for a good amount of the time they do not wear their prosthesis.

This is not as crucial to fanworks as the first point, but still important. A compression sock is kind of like a super thick pantyhose-tube-sock-looking deal that fits really tight on the limb to, well, compress it. Residual limbs tend to swell and change a lot and it’s important for health of the limb and to try to help the prosthesis fit better for more of the time. This brings us to point three.

#3. Prosthetic limbs never fit all the time. Ever. 

Our bodies change a lot. Even more so when something is drastically altered so that the body cannot function as a whole like it’s used too. Residual limbs swell and change shape and do all kinds of crazy things sometimes on a daily basis, and every amputee has had the experience where their prosthesis doesn’t fit any more and has to get it adjusted. Even over the course of the day it could fluctuate from too tight to falling off. Add health problems, shock, phantom pains, sweating profusely, high levels of activity (all stuff Shiro deals with)? Multiply complications by about 100. Again, basic biology. 

#4. Shiro’s arm is amputated at or below the elbow.

I know this goes against pretty much every fanart out there, but I am 100% sure of this for mainly two reasons. (1) Sockets have to be very long/deep to deal with all the leverage needed to move the limb, and all above the elbow prostheses go all the way up to top the persons shoulder. Shiro’s arm is not that way.

We can see that the top edge of the prosthesis ends near the middle of his bicep. (Most of the fanart I see shows his arm ending around that exact spot, but measure that on yourself and you’ll realize that that leaves not nearly enough room to keep that thing attached to him.) If there was a motor or something for the elbow joint, the leverage of the tiny socket would never be able to keep the arm on. 

Realistically, the part above his elbow would have to be all socket for the arm even to stay on. This is one of the reasons I believe he still has his elbow. The black parts we see on the outer and inner elbow area I am inclined to believe is some sort of flexible material covering his skin. 

Still have doubts? Let’s go to reason 2. Throughout the show we see others on the team + Slav referring to Shiro’s arm: “They took your arm,” “Robot arm,” etc., but the only time Shiro himself refers to it, he says this:

also in the episode Crystal Venom, Sendak refers to Shiro’s prosthetic as “hand”

interesting…

I’m gonna end this here, but feel free to discuss with me! Anything I might have missed? Any ideas how Haggar could have gotten around these points?

Related posts:

More about cyborgs and osseointegration

Technology, magic, and sci-fi

You can check out more of my meta posts (mainly about Shiro’s scar and white hair) on my pal meta tag.