#creating AUs (so many) with internet friends can be something so personal

[snackugaki]

my ass is not making it in on time for valentine's so here

tl;dr it's barbiesmashing and legoclacking hours when my turtles and @the-kingpen 's turtles (nsfw work and blog, mind your fucking manners and pay attention to the tags) meet in a crossover AU (and the other 40+ AUs)

anyway, in time (way before) valentine's, I'm touching on our Buffy Musical arc from our first crossover AU where our bales ended up serenading/pitch perfect songfight each other

King's Raphie sings this

at my April, and she perished on the spot. Naturally, April has a song locked and loaded that I'm still drawing

[illmoraineakoi]

Oh I just had a nasty AU idea.

AvA4, but Alan uses Avast to stop Orange. The scan is interrupted when Orange goes to the phone, but it detects him after he returns to the computer. He’s captured.

And enslaved. As a pop up blocker.

Just like Chosen was.

He’s horrified, at first, when he’s first brought out of the chest and sees the ball and chain on his leg. He tries to free himself, trying everything he can think of for weeks. Nothing works. So he looses hope, and gives up, performing his “purpose” as best he can to avoid the punishments (both from the Animator and Avast itself.) Orange becomes very quiet and reserved, and very depressed, a shadow of the person he was meant to be.

(Orange’s powers are revealed very early, here, because Avast unlocks them a little bit and forces him to use them to destroy the pop ups. Orange hadn’t known he had them until the first pop up appears and Avast takes control, making him destroy it. Afterwards, he spends a lot of time dwelling on ‘what if I had used my powers to protect my friends? Would they still be alive then…?’)

And he’s stuck like that. Until the Virabot incident. Until Chosen arrives.

When Chosen sees Orange, with a shackle around his ankle, he is ENRAGED.

He’d escaped his own enslavement, only for his Creator to turn around and make another stick to enslave and torment. Make a replacement. The destruction of his computer had done nothing to deter Noogai from making and hurting stick figures.

Worse, Chosen hadn’t even known.

The guilt makes Chosen feel awful. He considers it a personal failure, blames himself for not even considering that Noogai might make another stick to replace him. He feels like he should have, because he saw how nonchalant Noogai was with making new sticks with Dark.

Despite the fact that he just saved the computer from the Virabot, Chosen flies into a rage and starts raining destruction upon the computer. He is easily able to lay waste to literally everything, while Noogai is helpless to do anything. Or perhaps Alan tries shutting down the computer to restore his cursor and start menu. Maybe he also tries using Avast again, something that pisses Chosen off even more. Chosen takes particular satisfaction in ripping Avast to shreds.

Or maybe Avast forces Orange to attack and fight Chosen. And Orange, for the first time in a long while, resists. Fights back against the program’s control. It’s a struggle. He desperately begs Chosen to help him, insists he doesn’t want to do what Avast is forcing him to do, apologizes whenever he looses control. The sight hurts Chosen’s heart, and he redoubles his efforts to destroy Avast and free Orange.

He’s eventually successful, and he gets Orange out via the internet connection. And then he destroys the computer again, sending Noogai a nasty message: “If you create more stick figures, I will find a way to end your existence permanently. You have been warned.”

Chosen leaves, returning to the Outernet to deal with Dark. A fight that goes down much quicker and easier, since Orange has access to his powers and is very quick to help the stick who just saved him. Or perhaps the two of them together manage to back Dark into a corner where he’s forced to surrender to save his skin.

Regardless of if Dark is killed, Chosen takes in Orange, and is the one to slowly rehabilitate him. To introduce him to life on the Outernet, to teach him how to live like he himself had to once figure out. It’s painful, seeing so many of his own issues mirrored in his younger brother. It’s clear the enslavement has deeply affected him, just as it had Chosen.

Chosen is horrified when he learns just how long Orange was there. Four years. Not as long as his own, but that was still over half the duration he and Dark had been living in the Outernet. Such a long time for Chosen to have been completely oblivious to his existence.

He is also upset when Orange tells him Noogai deleted his friends.

Orange, for his part, is never quite able to let go and move on from Alan’s abuse. Bitter resentment boils in the depths of his heart, a desire to hurt him for killing his friends that never goes away. A part of him secretly approves of the Virabot that had been sent to the Animator in vengeance, despite knowing of the greater danger the virus posed to the greater internet. He wants vengeance, and it’s not long before the desire completely takes over his life. It becomes the only thing he can focus on, the only thing he cares about.

He doesn’t tell Chosen. It’s clear to him that Chosen would not approve of him starting a quest for vengeance. And he’s right, because they have an argument when Chosen discovers his feelings.

But Orange thinks that Chosen doesn’t understand, because Chosen never had friends that were killed. Chosen never experienced the updated enslavement features of Avast. Chosen didn’t understand that it wasn’t so easy for Orange to just get over it.

But Orange finds someone who does understand. Someone who’s desire for making the Animator pay aligns so very neatly with his own. Someone who welcomes him to join him with open arms and a sharp smile.

Chosen may be content to just move on and forget, but Orange and Victim are very much not.

[A fact made even more bittersweet because the Fighting Sticks aren’t dead. They respawned on their webpage immediately after being deleted. They waited for Orange to come back, but he never did. So they decided to leave, to go look for him. They’ve been searching for him for years, never giving up hope that he’s still out there, somewhere. They aren’t aware that the happy bright-eyed stick full of curiosity and life that they met that day doesn’t exist anymore. He’s become something that they would hardly recognize.]

Just…Villain Orange. Delicious.

[kingofbodyrolls]

BTS fic recs: December 2023

HAPPY NEW YEARS!! 🥳 May every single one of you lovely people out there have the best and brightest year to come ✨

I want to thank each and every writer on this list for creating such wonderful stories and art - you are truly amazing ✨ All the fics on this list hold a dear place in my heart 🥹

❗Most of these fics are smutty as hell, so minors dni.❗ 

If you read anything on this list and you like it, please leave a comment to the writer or reblog the original fic’s post 💜And if you want more fic recs you can follow me to stay updated 🙂

BTS fic rec index → May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep (jjk)(knj) | Oct (pjm) | Nov (*) | 💜 (ksj)(kth) |

Emoji meaning → angst = 🌩️, smut = 🥵, fluff = 🥰, comedy = 😂, yandere = 😈, thriller/dark = 👻, personal favorites = 💯.

Namjoon

⭐Good Neighbor @sugaurora [0.7K] // knj x f.reader // neighbors!au, winter!au // 🥰🥰🥰

📝 Namjoon’s solitary tendencies versus the cookies. Spoiler: The cookies win.

🗨️ God, this was so fucking sweet 🥹 like sugary sweet fluffy fantastic! I loved it 💖 the way Namjoon just observes oc, and then helping her in the end 👏🏾 even though this is short, it’s fucking brilliant. The writing is just 😘😘 like I wished there was so much more, but I’m also so pleased with just what is 😌

⭐A Word from our Sponsors ��� @ugh-yoongi [17.5K] // knj x f.reader // podcast!au, f2l, idiots to lovers  // 😂🥵🥰

📝 You’ve co-hosted a podcast with namjoon for three years; have known him even longer. the two of you have always been the picture of platonic, but that hasn’t stopped the internet from doing what the internet does. the shipping? a little weird at first, but you can understand it: two attractive twenty-somethings always in close proximity to one another, obvious (platonic!) chemistry—people have created ships for less. the fanfiction, though? also pretty funny… until you can’t stop thinking about it. 

🗨️ Okay. This. Was. Exceptional ✨🥹 I am slightly speechless, so this review might be short or long or just a rambling of my dainty thoughts. Here goes: it was amazing, seriously one of the best fics I’ve ever read 😭 everything just had that perfect flow, the writing was incredible, like I can’t even speak? The characters, out of this world fantastic ✨ the whole thing, just, perfect. Perfection. I don’t know what else to call it, sorry. The world building and tension was so fucking delicious I just ate it up! 😭 And their banter and chemistry was just off the charts amazing. Perfection. And it was so fucking hilarious too!! Many times I was just laughing or chuckling, like the lovesick fool I am 😂 it was definitely worth it to stay up late tonight to finish this masterpiece ✨ And them reading the fanfiction 💀 😂 priceless ✨👏🏾

Seokjin

⭐The IKEA Test by @yoon-bug [9.1K] // ksj x f.reader // established relationship // 🥵🥰😂

📝 One review on IKEA’s website called the BRIMNES bed frame the leading cause of divorce due to its difficult assembly. You and Seokjin had laughed when you read it. Now, you weren’t so sure.

🗨️ Their banter and all the sexual innuendos are damn hilarious! I thoroughly enjoyed this very much 💜 

⭐I Don’t Think I’m Okay by @ressjeon [4K] // ksj x f.reader // slice of life, idiots to lovers!au, childhood friends!au // 🥵🥰🌩️

📝 With many chances wasted, you couldn’t even resist anymore.

🗨️ A cute little Seokjin fic 🥰

⭐Turn Back Time 💯 by @raplinesmoon [13.3K] // ksj x f.reader // time travel!au // 🥵🥰🌩️😂

📝 After total humiliation at his middle school baseball try outs, Kim Seokjin wants nothing more than for his awkward years to fade away until he’s thirty. Cue a magic baseball glove, and his wish is finally granted. Seokjin suddenly wakes up seventeen years later, now the star pitcher of the team he’d always dreamed of playing for. Confused and overwhelmed at the prospect of the new life waiting for him, he turns to the only person who seems to understand him — you. Will Seokjin learn what it truly means to be thirty, flirty, and thriving? Or will he find himself wishing he could turn back time?

🗨️ Seokjin’s childhood/school was just, ugh, I really felt heartache for thirteen year old Seokjin 🥹 So very common as a kid, to wish you’re older – and then it’s just not what he expected at all. I really loved it! There were a few times I was laughing so damn hard, times where I was shedding a few tears as well. Just, incredibly good; very well written, the story was captivating and motivating, just yeah, brilliant. (Sorry, I’m suddenly bad with words). I loved the ‘lessons’ he learned, and then having the luxury (I’m using that word because we don’t have that irl) of going back to his childhood (almost like starting over) and damn it was good 👏💯

Yoongi

⭐Sinful Lust [series; ongoing] 💯 by @oddinary4bts [wordcount loading…] // myg x jjk x f.reader // established relationship, bisexual boyfriend!Yoongi, slice of life // 🥵🌩️

📝In an attempt to spice up your bedroom life with your boyfriend Min Yoongi, you suggest bringing another man into the action. Yoongi seems reluctant at first, but when you mention his friend Jeon Jungkook, he can’t deny his attraction. All that’s left to do is to convince Jungkook into participating…

🗨️  Holy 😱 😱 😱 this is just completely unadulterated sin 🥵🫣 I can not describe how much I love this fic! It has A LOT of angst and at times it’s just sad reading how each character falls apart 😭 it’s amazing! If you’re into stories that will have you question your own morals and who to root for, this is for you 💖

⭐In Between the Pages of You [series; ongoing] @unique-high [wordcount loading…] // myg x f.reader // s2l // 🥰😂🌩️

📝 Yoongi fell in love with you. A girl he had never even met before. Knew everything that you were made up of within 96 pages of a worn red journal with a nirvana sticker on front, with coffee and tea-stained pages that also smelled of lilacs and summer. 

🗨️ I can already tell that this story will be amazing; it’s so sweet, cute and tender. The storyline/idea is really cute and fluffy, like who wouldn’t love that?? 😭 And as someone who wrote countless journals as a teen, this one just hits differently. It’s so cute and the concept is gold 💜 I really, really look forward to reading the next chapters and what Yoongi will uncover of OC through her journal. And if he can return it to her sometime and they meet! 🥹

⭐F*ck Christmas 💯 @sailoryooons [23.4K] // myg x f.reader // f2l // 🥰🥵

📝 Making hating Christmas your entire personality was never the plan. Then again, it seems bad things only ever happen around Christmas - like discovering your fiancé cheating on you, forcing you to move back to your sleepy hometown. But Min Yoongi happens to love Christmas, and if there is one thing your very stubborn childhood crush is going to do, it’s try to reignite your Christmas spirit. Even if he has to force-feed it to you with gingerbread cookies and too-sweet eggnog. 

🗨️ Gosh, I remember reading this sometime last year and it was perfection - it still is! ✨ It’s so so so fucking good. If you haven’t read it, please do so 🥹 it’s also one of the best Christmasy fics 💜

Hoseok

⭐Ho Ho Horrible 💯 @ugh-yoongi [5.6K] // jhs x f.reader // e2l, neighbor!au, holiday!au // 🥵🥰😂

📝 (or, the one where your neighbor is a relentless christmas caroler and refuses to take a hint, but at least he's really hot.)

🗨️ No– this was just so freaking cute! 😭 Like fluffy cute and also extremely funny, just what I love. I loved this so much 💜 OC’s friendship with Tae, their banter was 💯 and then with Hobi, just so so good! It was so cute and OC’s internal dialogue is just funny 😂A really cute holiday themed Hoseok fic that I can’t recommend enough!!!! Everything was just great. Had me smiling and giggling a few times – please go read it 🥹💜

⭐Started with a Sparkle, now we’re on Fire @the-boy-meets-evil [6.5K] // jhs x f.reader // f2l // 🥵

📝 You're feeling self conscious about your recent break-up and hoseok is more than happy to teach you a thing or two.

🗨️ Really really good! I really liked it 💜 I really loved how both sweet and demanding Hoseok was, guiding oc through everything.

Jimin

⭐Couchsurfer 💯 @heartbeatan [6K] // pjm x f.reader // s2l // 🥵🥰

📝 This was left intentionally blank 🫥

🗨️ Omg this was so fucking good! 💯 First, really well written and the pacing was lovely, even though it’s short and one night they spend together 🥹 the build up of their tension and their chemistry was off the charts! So impeccably done! Fuck. I loved it ✨ it’s insane how good this story is and Jimin is just so sweet, romantic and nasty 🥵 I can’t tell you how turned on I got by the description of how Jimin handled OC, like damn 🥵 this is so fucking good, please don’t sleep on the this beauty 💖 Normally, I’m not one for one night stands, because I catch feelings for the characters, but this has a lovely ending that I loved - so fucking good!

Lol. Can not stop screaming about this one. Please go read it, fuck. PLEASE 😌 ✨

⭐Paper Hearts @namfinessed [9K] // pjm x f.reader // f2l, college!au // 🥰

📝 hearts fragile like paper, tear it or don’t?

🗨️ I think it is both cute and heartwarming, with their foolishness and stubbornness towards each other. I loved how the fic becomes full circle with the description of love by both Jimin and reader and then again at the end - really, really beautiful! 😍 I really loved this, it was well written, their friendship and love really shined through too! If you haven’t read this one yet, you really should 💜

Taehyung

⭐The Wannabe-Photographer Chronicles [series] by @gimmethatagustd [14K] // kth x f.reader // frenemies to lovers // 🥵

📝 You’re so tired of Kim Taehyung’s hipster, wannabe-photographer ass. You’re so tired of Kim Taehyung’s stupid smile and stupid jokes and stupid way of getting under your skin and sticking in your brain.

🗨️ At first I did not realize that this was a series, therefore I’ve linked to the masterlist, lol. Anyway, this series is just so fucking hot, like WHAT 🥵 There’s a lot of banter and their mutual ‘hatred’ for each other just makes this hit incredible hard. Really amazing ✨

⭐Loverboy 💯 by @kookslastbutton [7.1K] // kth x f.reader // established relationship // 🥵🥰🌩️

📝 After a startling conversation with your coworkers, you start feeling insecure about your sexual prowess. You don't initiate as much, you haven't worn lingerie yet, and you're still timid about doing much seducing with your body–are you giving your boyfriend boring sex? Taehyung reassures you that you are perfect and have nothing to worry about.

🗨️ These coworkers gotta go, okay?! 😠🤣 Planting seeds of doubt in OC’s head, no, no. Tae to the rescue!! He is so sweet in this too, yes a real ‘loverboy’ 😍 Gosh and then best friend Jimin - that was just pure gold, their relationship and how he helps OC 🥹 That is friendship goals!! A sweet, loving and comforting Taehyung fic - I loved it ✨

⭐Hush, yeah? [series; ongoing/hiatus] by @kithtaehyung [wordcount loading…] // kth x f.reader // brother’s best friend!au, music festival!au // 🥵

📝 Who knew an innocent accident could turn things so dirty..

🗨️ Pure gold ✨ — I don’t really have much to say, except GO READ IT.

⭐Under wraps by @jungkxook [15K] // kth x f.reader // e2l, fake dating // 🥵🥰

📝 There’s nothing you and taehyung seem to hate more than each other - except for christmas. having recently been dumped by your (now ex) boyfriend only seems to make this holiday even worse. but when taehyung suggests that you should pretend to be dating each other to save you both the embarrassment, pity, and bothersome questions from family and friends alike for a fun carefree month of celebrations, you can’t possibly say no.

🗨️ I just love me some good enemies to lovers AU 🥵 the relationship between OC and tae is really good, I think the tension between them was well built 👏🏾 I loved how their relationship unfolded and grew through their fake dating 🥹 the way OC realized she had feelings for him, but he had showed her before in his subtle moves, how much more he relaxed in her presence. I loved the interaction between oc and tae’s parents too, the way that they could obviously tell that OC was head over heels 😂 ah just, It was really really good! It was funny, it was comforting, and such a lovely read around Christmas! And the smut was sweet and tender (also hot!) 😍 a really great fic that I’ll add to my Christmas re-reads for years to come ✨ I loved it! Please go read it if you haven’t already 🥹

⭐Somebody Else 💯 by @jamaisjoons [4.2K] // kth x f.reader ft. yoongi // established relationship + post break up!au // 🥵🌩️

📝 Yoongi doesn’t want you anymore. but he can’t stand watching you with someone else. 

🗨️ Holy s– 🥵 I don’t even know where to begin with this one! It’s really good and the that is mainly from Yoongi’s pov makes it truly special – he is observing them and damn is it hot 🥵 Aish, really good 💯

Jungkook

Nothing this month 😞 — I AM SO SORRY that I haven’t read any with JK this month (though he is featuring in some with the other members). My JK ‘to read’ list is the LONGEST imao 😂 I’ll hopefully do better next month – but you can always check my Jungkook Library 💜

I have spend most of December being on holiday/time off, which gave me a lot of time to write my own stuff, which in the end gave me less time to read 😣 But it’s all good! I loved getting some stories and thoughts out of my head and now there’s space to read and obsess over other’s stories again 😀

Borahae 💜

[nhothicket]

Ever create a band au even though you cant draw instruments?

more info below the cut :>

Meet Bdubs, 38, stage name BdoubleO - Boomer is often mistaken for his first name, but is just another nickname for the pile. Infamous online, if it weren't for the fact that he makes disgustingly good music he would probably have more hate followers than genuine fans. The line between charming asshole and just asshole is one he fails to tread lightly most days, but he's mostly harmless. Let's just say the Bdoubleo could also stand for boorish. A bit of a sellout, but he enjoys what he does and many appreciate his extremely.. candid attitude. Best likened to a cartoon villain dressed as a rockstar, with the ego to match. (It's usually his unrelenting pretentiousness that gets him into Twitter spats.)

Thank you @foxden-frontier for always helping out with my stupid aus ^v^

Annoying at worst, unfortunately very charismatic at best. You could say he's a softie at heart, but that implies its at all difficult to spot. Once he's done "clapping back at all the haters", in person he's still got a temper (he thinks he has a bad boy reputation to uphold) but is enthusiastically friendly.

Etho, 32, resident keytarist of creatively named band Canadian Bacon. Joined by his two best friends, Pause the frontman and bassist, and Beef their drummer. A deceptively popular band if judging by their permanent rough draft name and their nerdy-college-student dress code. Etho himself is just a guy who likes playing music with his buddies, their hobby having blown up under their noses. Now, as an unfortunately successful touring artist, Etho's anonymity is scarce, but he continues to wear his mask to discourage widespread photos of his face. In spirit. He's concerned about having his face plastered all over fan accounts, which still occurs, but a perk of having a completely rabid fanbase is that many will defend your boundaries to their last dying breath. Like his face, his legal name is out and about online, but its similarly discouraged. Best likened to just a guy.

If asked on the subject of his scar, the entire band has various different whimsical stories, brand new everytime. His lack of internet presence means Pause and Beef are free to make up whatever misinformation about him as they please completely unchecked (in jest of course), and they do take advantage of that. Many of these alternative facts are passed around on wikis and in fan circles.

To say Bdubs is jealous of Canadian Bacon's popularity is an understatement. They weren't even trying at all and yet they're the hot shit? But instead of putting that jealousy to hatred (which he had considered of course) he's instead set himself on proving himself. And if that means impressing Etho then so be it. Why does it mean impressing Etho? Good question, never ask it again. They say keep your enemies close, and Bdubs' enemies don't deserve personal space.

As it turns out, Etho wasn't too difficult to impress or maybe Bdubs was just that amazing. Either way, they end up hitting it off. Their friendship is an interesting one, mostly because Etho's fans basically hunt Bdubs for sport online. We're talking scribbled out of pictures, get behind me, #FreeEtho. Etho thinks he seems pretty cool though, if not a bit much sometimes, so no harm no foul.

Okay, rapid fire, some other notes for this au.

> Etho's legal name is Ethel. Because it is. My heart is so set on it. But if you're boring, Ethan or Ezekiel or something work too I guess.

> Etho's keytar mimics a more traditional guitar in most cases, though he's known to experiment a lot with how far he can push that.

> Etho's scar is from a mugging in this au, not a very fun story to tell. Beef practicing his brand new razor blade throwing hobby or fighting a bear to beat Pause in a bet is much more entertaining.

> Canadian Bacon is meant to have a manager, but I couldn't think of anyone I felt fit. Just a note.

> Bdubs has a habit of grabbing Etho by his tie and pulling him down to his level or otherwise using it as a leash. Etho doesn't usually wear the tie outside of show stuff or interviews, but he wears it around Bdubs because thinks its funny. When there's no tie that doesn't stop Bdubs, collars and hoodie strings are subject to the same usage.

> Etho isn't aware of how infamous Bdubs is when they meet as they meet at a festival with a big group of other musicians. Most of which already know Bdubs as his more excitable friendly self. He only finds out later when Bdubs complains about Etho's fans flaming him anytime he mentions him.

> Bdubs still has a self-imposed curfew, 10pm every night unless it conflicts with a show. He needs his beauty sleep.

> The trigger reason for the animosity toward Bdubs is due to being blamed by fans for the split of his last band that had a pretty hardcore cult following (OOG, I've not named their band yet), and that has since snowballed into what it is today, despite his actions being relatively harmless. To note, this was not an assumption at all promoted by either party, it was entirely a fanmade judgement.

> For those who can, picture s5 jungle Bdubs mixed with drunken OOG(E) ctm maps for his approximate personality. Still goofy but with a sharper tongue and a lot worse of a temper.

> Originally I considered Cleo as Bdubs' manager so he's not all alone in narrative sense, I still think it's not a bad idea I'd love to see her chew him out for acting like a moron. Ren or Scar would be also be options for manager.

> Bdubs needs a touring band, but I'm not well versed enough in the hermits to actually pick one out. Just a note.

Okay, that's most of it! There's some more pg-13 headcanons for this au, along the lines of fuck yeah rock'n roll lifestyle, but it's not really important I'm sure just that is enough to get the gist of it. Thank you for reading this overly long note. ^v~

[lesbianneopolitan]

Last night I innocently uploaded the pic of Neo and Ruby gaming on Twitter, but I got pretty much replied by people who were very much judgmental and passive-aggressive about being shocked, etc, etc (lots of them minors), lost some followers, etc

I am very affected by those situations because at some points it feels like harassment for something so stupid (I've seen wishes of death towards me before for old Fallen Petals stuff), no one ever takes the moment to even talk with me about it, nor try to understand the development and process that made me ship it in the first place- that it's actually a pretty innocent wish of building up a cool ship to have fun with my friends.

I have very bad anxiety from PTSD and I don't have access to meds rn, so things that get out of hand can really affect my mental and physical health, like, people don't keep in mind that the major part of the time, the people they accuse are people with problems like me, that are dealing with irl stuff or trauma and simply want to have some positive fun on the internet, to escape a bit from it all- art and writing has been a good coping mechanism for me to not practice self harm, and my therapist was actually proud of me for it, so I don't want that taken from me, specially when I'm mindful and tag things properly. And when honestly, discovering RWBY and messing around with some ships helped to make me happier. Because I think it was about time.

RubyNeo isn't even following all canon details, Ruby's more practiced and slightly older, and honest to God, I don't see what's wrong with building an AU with headcanons when we aren't doing it for the sake of, what?? only having them fuck?? or oversexualizing them?? the people that literally oversexualizes Ruby and only do lewds or only smash her against another character so they fuck is something that pushes me SO back because I personally find it disgusting (and if I'm in a mood I can have am anxiety attack for it, same for other dynamics, like incest, etc etc).

So for the love of everything, blacklist, block me or whatever, but understand the kind of person I am or the building for the things I do or the things I draw before I'm labeled as things I'm not. Because I'm sure you wouldn't want it to happen to you.

Treat me like a person, not like some kind of idealized artist that has to be perfect.

Show some empathy, try to be understanding, not everyone that ships 'x' is going to be a super evil person that did it with the most malicious intent in the world. Sometimes we're simply playing with them like they're Barbies, to create stories, angst, wholesome moments, independent timelines, etc.

Like I mentioned I myself deal with PTSD, there are so many things that despite being presented in good faith could throw me off the edge because of triggers, but I simply take care of myself and tag stuff, I blacklist and in the worst case I block, specially if someone is specially harmful and toxic to real people.

So please, just, let me be, I'm just a nerd trying to live life alongside friends to be as happy as I can because I've had enough abuse already.

Be kinder unless the person in question is GENUINELY harming real people and are potential real creeps, please, I'm tired.

[landwriter]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @tiltingheartand <3 thank you!

How many works do you have on Ao3?

11!

What's your total Ao3 word count?

129,874. Brevity evidently is not my strong suit! Which is also why the rest of this is under a cut.

What fandoms do you write for?

The Sandman! I also just watched Dead Boy Detectives and think I might write a couple little things for it too.

Top five fics by kudos:

Saint Morpheus (11,882 words) - My first fic! Saints and worship

The Death of Translation (10,968 words) - the Language fic

Oaths (60,443 words) - Tam Lin AU and my precious baby. I'm so proud of this one. It's got so much of me in it. Def the first fic I would consider a full send

Border Country (6,100 words) - Clothing, the inherent body horror of being alive, and self-denial. Have always meant to do a sequel for this and may do for S2

Black Shore (3,962 words) - Monsterfucking :-) Weird little beast of a story that came out of nowhere fully formed

All Sandman, all Dream & Hob, haha. Doubt that will change with new fics unless I find a more popular pairing in a more popular fandom to write for

Do you respond to comments?

I do! I love discussing characters and theeeeemes and sharing enthusiasm with people. I love hearing what I've inflicted and I'll thank you for telling me <3 Once I started getting busier I found it a lot harder to keep up, but I treasure all my comments so if you suddenly get a reply like, a year later, you know why!

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

It's for sure The Many Lives of Hob Gadling. Everything else I've written except Border Country has ended, like, tooth-rottingly kind and optimistic and love-filled. But lbr Dream is a man of tragedies. There'll be more

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

It's such a personal thing, but Oaths has the happy ending I would consider most wonderful sort of happiness. It's not the fluffiest or most fairy-tale (having written just that also), but this specific flavour of joy and peace in terms of experiencing the beauty of the world around you and being just shot full of love. The happiness of growing things and sunrises. Or Just Like Love. From the Corinthian's perspective. He's so happy with the state of things at the end.

Do you get hate on fics?

Only the once! Fortunately everybody else who has hated a fic of mine has been able to find the back button and gone off to read something else or grouse about it in private, which is the correct way of things. There's no reason, ever, to tell an author you disliked their story. They will not be grateful for it no matter how certain and correct you feel in your criticisms. Nobody wins! Sorry! Go tell a friend instead.

Do you write smut?

You betcha I do! The first time I wrote it for Saint Morpheus it felt so unnatural and I was just making a :| face the whole time but now sex scenes are among my favourite things to write. I feel like I've really cum come into my own with them more than any other kind of scene.

Craziest crossover:

I've never done a crossover! I love reading them though.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so! I mean, not great, etc., but personally I also deeply don't care. I imagine having a job where what I am actually creating & selling for money gets stolen often sort of skews my perspective on my fic getting stolen. It's not a commercial product. It isn't paying my mortgage. I give these words for free and with love. If they end up places I never put them, so be it! Such is the internet.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! 【授權翻譯】翻譯之死 The Death of Translation by Ethiseth. Legitimately one of the highest honours I think a fanfic writer can ever receive <3

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No!

All time favourite ship?

Hob / the world :-)

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

My very first WIP for Sandman! I started writing it then joined tumblr the next day, saw some of @messmonte's art, and was off writing Saint Morpheus in short order. Sorry 1989 canon divergence fic! Maybe one day.

What are your writing strengths?

Five dollar words. Long sentences. Big sweeping feelings. Instilling my personal values, i.e. love is real, you are surrounded by beauty at every turn, you deserve the things you want, monologues are a normal and practical form of communication, etc.

What are your writing weaknesses?

God, actually finishing and sharing things, I think. I haven't had enough time in my life lately and it kills me! But it's also such a me problem because I love to worry at and chew on WIPs forever. Writing fast would be so cool. Pew pew pew! New fics left and right. You guys would be buried in them. Man, I wish.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Can run gimmicky but also I love multiple languages in one conversation as subtext so much - I'm torn. Same as accents in that I suspect it's most cases better to just note it in the speech tags, unless you're willing to go through the trouble of inline/hovertext translations, and then at that point it's a bit If You Give A Mouse A Cookie for me where I'll want translator's notes too, maybe some metatextual payoff, etc.

First fandom you wrote in?

Technically FMA, but that's a story for another day hahaha. Sandman, really.

Favourite fic you've written?

Oh golly. Oaths. I did so much for the first time with that story. But it's hard to choose, which is such a nice problem to have. I think it's easy when you've never written fic before for each new thing to mean something different to you!

No-presh tagging @wordsinhaled, @moorishflower, @tj-dragonblade and anyone who wants to do this too - just tag me so I can be nosy <3

[lustale]

Hello everyone! Thank you all for almost 50 followers!! :3c All activity has been on my main account @morguemaw, so if you want more direct content of Lusttale shoot me a ask about it!!!!

So, abit has changed over the few months and i have a update, coupled with info for all you new guys who found this blog!

1) AU is decided to be 16+. Its suggestive, no NSFW will be posted/shown as i want whatever content i MYSELF to post to be accessible to everyone within a comfortable range! There will be light sexual jokes, however if at any point it reaches too much, please tell me! I know the AU itself should obviously be considered a Explicit Rated AU, however i know there are people who enjoy the AU without the sexual aspects.

2) This AU is not a fan AU OR variant: This AU was made with the plan to 100% rewrite Underlust, i will explain below!!

Why the rewrite?:

I've loved Underlust since i joined the Undertale community, and others have too! However, the owner WAS involved and DID create content involving fontcest, a nazi Chara, Frans content, and was friends/mutuals with others who also created gross content like BlogTheGreatRogue and Lizherubones. This disgusted me and made alot of others feel the same. The AU was left off on a confusing as shit note, from the disgusting writing of Lust MTT to the messed up relationship between the brothers. I want to erase this the best i can. Alot of characters have also 0 content (Such as Lust Alphys) and although i will mostly focus on Sans/Papyrus/Frisk still, i WILL be creating content for mostly every character to again ensure the AU is fully fleshed out for as much enjoyment as possible.

Wheres the creator/owner?:

Awhile back, the owner, NSFWshamecave/Niel, left the internet and the AU for personal and mental reasons and bounced between owning and not owning the Au. They have since been MIA(Missing In Action) from the internet and AU, i doubt they will return or be involved at this point. The AU is considered fandom owned, which if you prefer that i support it, but do not interact with my blog as im basing everything on a rewritten POV with the entire intent to overhaul the AU without being too different or too similar.

What about the Underlust domain name?:

Lusttale CAN be called Underlust, BUT i prefer Lusttale to separate it as its alot easier, HOWEVER i have no issue with it being called Underlust! (Just still please credit/tag me, id love to see any content!)

What about fan AUs or others who make their own Variants?:

Keep going! I support these ten fold. Ive seen so many creative AUs overall, including a recent aroace one that has such adorable designs and is why i want to refresh myself and explain this blog to anyone new who might mistake me as a fan account. If you want to consider your variant a version/variant of my Rewritten AU, please tag me! Id love to see your AUs, your Varaints, EVERYTHING!!

HOWEVER. I do NOT support a single soul who ever uses my AU for Frans, Fontcest, or akin. Dont tag me OR interact with me, its public knowledge how the community feels about those, and im one of the many who don't like that content and wish for my AU to not be used in it. Self inserts, OC/Y/N x Lusttale, or etc is the same, id love to see it!!

What about Swaplust/Lustfell/AUs?:

Swaplust is also inactive: I have had my own interpretation of Swaplust since i found the AU when it was first made, Lustfell however i dont know, if its requested i will create something but i dont want to just claim every Lust AU out there. Not saying im claiming ownership of Swaplust, im saying that the Swaplust i want to make will be considered canon AU and it will be the ONLY Underlust AU i will ever claim, Swaplust has the same exact permissions. (Swaplust too had a very close Frans suggested ship, that is my reason for it)

To clarify if needed, im not forcing the view of me owning the AU onto every Underlust created content, im just saying if you yourself, the community, support what i do, i will continue, hence why i say tag me! I love to see it!

What about headcanons/outdated info like Sans being shorter?:

RN, Sans is the same size as Gaster Sans (i think 5' something?) however im fine with people drawing him short! ^^

Head-canons are also fully fine!!! Tell me any you think of, id love to hear. As long as you respect that i have my own plans, id be overjoyed to read whatever you guys think of or have.

So, to sum it up, Underlust has had a MIA owner since 2019/2020. Because of the history, and the way its loved, its a massive honor if i could step up and help give the community a AU with a solid backstory, solid characters with fleshed out personalities, and a structured plot that will replace something that was/is beloved. The best i can explain it, is my goal is to structure the AU but still keep support for the community as the AU was indeed considered Fandom Owned, again, you do not have to support me wanting to claim it, just do not bash me for it, as im absolutely not considering Lusttale a variant or AU, im considering Lusttale canon.

Questions are welcomed, if you have any concerns i can also explain! (Anon/Off Anon preferred so i can have it be public accessible incase others have the same questions)

[yallemagne]

This year, I'm not doing Dr*cula D*ily

Or any other substack but DD is the biggest. I have numerous reasons for this decision that none of y'all are gonna particularly care for, but ya know, just so we got our expectations in order: I'm not gonna participate in DD this year (maybe never again), I'm probably not gonna reblog many posts related to it (doing so would be counterintuitive), but I am holding myself to finishing Orice (at LEAST the base fic).

Now, why?

TL;DR: Mental health crisis brought on by internet harassment and overprioritizing social media. It's not fun anymore, folks.

DD just... it completely ruined the novel for me.

It was a nice phenomenon, but it took a wrecking ball to my mental health and self-worth. Now, I'm not saying DD's creator personally did something to spite me (or maybe I am, he knows what he did /j), but this whole thing? It wasn't good for me. It was never good. It was sometimes fun, but most of the time it made me want to end it because of thumblr notes.

That's fucking stupid. My life is not worth internet validation. My art is not worthless just because my numbers are not as big as the biggest big shots in the fandom. I'm not a horrible person when other people handle personal disagreements regarding headcanon with defaming rumours and impersonation. But hell! My view of reality was horribly skewed.

A while back, I unfollowed all the gothlit tags I previously followed because 1) Some people (active and popular members of the fandom, mind you, not bots or trolls) were posting honest-to-god name-dropping harassment in the tag because "it's a popular tag so more people will see my callout post" and 2) I reached a point where seeing anything related to the novel on my dash just set me off. It didn't even need to be drama-related anymore. Mentions of the characters, mentions of popular AUs, just the very content of this book became triggering to me, and I really didn't miss the content when it was gone, as sad as that is.

And the kicker? I've come to realize that I probably dislike more things about the novel than I actually like about it. Not only is it tied to some of my darkest moments in recent memory, but it's also just... a book with many flaws that I could go on and on and on about. Sometimes, it straight-up made me furious, like seething mad, and I think I'd rather just be happy. But even when I would try to channel that energy into being happy, I always felt I had to over-clarify or else I’d get bombarded with anonymous messages. If you’ve seen any of my posts from during that time… chances are there is a passive aggressive “btw people can have opposing opinions from you about an old book and it doesn’t give you leave to stone them” or several tags of “#this is a joke #a jooooooke #for the love of god #if y’all don’t stop”. I bet it was as annoying for y’all as it was for me.

P.S. Mutuals/friends, do not worry. Y'all keep doing y'all. I can and will block tags if seeing your posts triggers me. So, I suppose my only request is to properly tag, but I've been saying that from the very start.

I just want to move on to other things.

I took a break for Lent. I needed it terribly. And... not gonna lie? I almost didn't want to return. I never got an itching to just log on and "check in". I very successfully avoided tumb altogether. I came back because "I gotta come back eventually" and also like, this is my main hub where I update when I've written a fic, and ya know... I'm not gonna let toxic fandom bs rule my shit.

During my break, I got back into gaming. More specifically, I started playing Hades again. And listening to Epic the Musical. Aaaand boyyy did that bring me back to my Greek mythology phase. I have a Greek mythos/Hades sideblog btw: @areopagusimp. It's cringe, if you can't tell by the blog name.

Back when I was into Hades game and general Greek mythos, my expectations were so much smaller, but yet, my goals and will to create seemed so much bigger. I made art that no one gave a single solitary shit about (except for my friend), but I was happy. Maybe I'm wearing rose-tinted glasses, but... even if I wasn't as happy then as I remember being... haha at least I wasn't receiving threats and insults in my inbox back then :))). That was the most fun thing about the gothlit fandom. I hope every single chickenhearted angry anon is proud of their behaviour.

But yeah, whatever I end up doing, I’m striving to not let it run me into the ground.

But... What do I do now?

I have so many WIPs (art and writing) for the novel, and it's very disappointing that I didn't get to finish them before it all turned sour. Hopefully, I can still finish them, it just won't be with the same distress I worked with before. Hopefully, I can post that stuff and fully manage my expectations, not crash and burn when only a few people like it. Because hell! A few people liking my stuff? That's amazing, really. I shouldn't take that for granted. At the same time, I'm setting a boundary for myself. Placing my self-worth into the hands of people who I don't know, who don't know me, and who aren't even paying for the art? I need to stop that. Who the hell is that gonna serve? Absolutely no one.

My number one goal is to finish Orice. It is somehow untouched by my aversion to the novel; it is my safe space. I want to honour it and honour the longtime readers who have stuck with me. It's gonna be hard, but it's gonna be worth it for me.

This feels attention-seeking, and it kinda is. I'm not tagging the main subject and I'm not allowing reblogs because I want this to stay isolated (and hopefully prevent backlash/misunderstandings), but ya know, no matter how much I try to keep this small, I'm still posting it online. But I just feel like I needed to get this off my chest. I don't really owe everyone an explanation, but I want there to be one for my own sake... also it's much easier to generalize and make a post than contact each of my friends/mutuals on here and unload stuff onto them that I'm not sure is too personal or not.

For those of you who are reading: I love y'all. I love the good people I've met through all this mess. I want to keep the good apples, not throw out the whole harvest, alright? Dunno how much you'll care for my art when the subject is different, but... eh. If y'all are willing to try?

[sotwk]

Hi, I've been following you for awhile now but I'm very internet-shy (if that's a thing) so I've nerver said anything, hence the anon. I wanted to commend you for your writings and headcanons, which I've been enjoying so so so much.

I've always believed that Thranduil had multiple children but I was always indecisive on the number, you helped me settle on five, and many of your characterisations fit perfectly in my own personal headcanons. Moreover even those that I do not agree with have helped me develop my own, so again thank you.

Now on the question: have you ever had so many ideas that you end up creating multiple version of your own AU or, worse, fanfictions of your fanfiction? I write a lot and I'm always expanding on my writings (but never publish, again internet-shy) and I always get so many new inspirations that I always create AUs of my AU so I never finish anything, how do you solve this problem?

Oh my friend, you being so kind is exactly the reason why I would probably never turn off Anon Asks, even though I'm quite sensitive to hate and dread the thought of eventually getting my first hate Anon. (Fingers crossed my lucky streak holds out!)

Thank you so much for reaching out to tell me all this, even though you're "internet-shy"! 🥰 I am so, so glad you enjoy my headcanons enough to let them inspire your own! That is fantastic, and I hope you are able to create tons of content for you to enjoy (and for other fans, if you ever decide to share them)!

As for your question: Hoo-boy, like most of our fellow writers, I am plagued with "too many ideas, too little brain space and even less time to write them down"! That being said, the kind of brain I have is also quite determined to keep my creative mess (somewhat) organized, so I DO fight to wrestle my SotWK AU ideas down and create structure for my fics to stand on.

Yes, I do occasionally get the urge to deviate from my own headcanons and experiment with other scenarios. I think more writers operate with unlimited AUs in their heads, actually. (From what I've read of others' works, at least.) But my personal goal is to create a single consistent, unified "SotWK AU" that encompasses not just Thranduil/Mirkwood's history, but ties into the untouched/extended stories of other canon realms/races/characters as well (including a lot of "Everyone Lives")! So I do try to stay disciplined and stick to my headcanon "facts" once I've nailed them down.

If that's something you also want to try to accomplish, here are Five Things I personally do that might be helpful:

Keep a Master Timeline. This was the first thing I did when I decided to take the SotWK concept all the way. I copy-pasted the entire Middle-earth timeline from Tolkien Gateway into a document, and started to plug in all the headcanon events from my AU into it. That's why nearly every fic I write has a specified date and year!

Keep a Glossary of Your Originals. This can be as messy a dumping ground as you want! Just try to keep all your notes about every single character, place, object, or term you create in one document/file folder so you can easily track and reference them.

Indulge "rogue AUs" in fic "shorts" or drabbles. I accept requests for Reader inserts and this area is where I allow myself to "go wild" with my "out of bounds" ideas. Here, I will allow myself to write stuff like Modern AUs, or have Thranduil be with someone other than my OC Elvenqueen, or have my Thranduilion princes love whomsoever they want, changing the love interest up each time! It doesn't matter, since these stories are all considered "outside" of the SotWK canon, and don't affect the overall "official" story arc. (Note: I haven't actually posted/completed any of these yet, but I have multiple WIPs of such stories.)

Chop Long Stories Up into Smaller Bits. I have a terrible inability to stay focused on a single story/project (don't we all), and for this reason, I avoid long, multi-chapter fics whenever I can. Instead, I will (or plan to) write individual key events as stand-alone one-shots and later group them into collections. This is how I plan on tackling Thranduil and Maereth's 2,000-year long courtship, for example. It reduces the stress of doing things in a linear fashion, or updating with "new chapters".

Don't Smother Your Creativity. You can try to "rein it in", and keep things under control so you can create a cohesive saga that your readers can follow. But ultimately, run with all and whatever ideas make you happy and inspired! Believe me, I'm the one of the most stressed out (self-inflicted) writers out there, but we gotta remember the primary goal of fanfic is FUN, right? <3 Just write The Thing and don't worry about it, especially if publishing/sharing isn't your main goal anyway.

I hope some of this helps you! I can already tell you are a wonderful writer, and I wish you all the best with your fics!

[scarlett-dunbar101]

Cast light into the shadows

Soulmate Au

Azriel x reader (part 1)

Soulmates are usually made within the same reality. It is a very rare occurrence that someone gets a soul mark for a person in another dimension. Almost all of them never find away into that world. How could they? Magic does not exist with in our realm, or so we thought. Well…. turns out you just need know where to look.

I dreamt all day, everyday of being in these worlds created by astounding books I knew without doubt I did not belong in this world. My heart ached when I disappeared into my books, only to come back to this reality. On my 21 birthday when everyone receives their soul mark, it was confirmed when I got my soul mark. “Azriel shadow singer” appeared across my rib cage, I was not long for this world. I knew exactly where I belonged but how would I get there. I was determined to find away. I spent countless hours scouring the internet trying to find away to get there.

I went to work and asked my best friend. I walked over to Jordan and whispered “ I need to show you something.” And headed toward the bathroom, she was two steps behind. Once inside I checked the stalls then locked the bathroom door. I lifted and showed her my soul mark. Once she read it, she gasped with realization. I look her dead in the face, “ I need to find a way.” she contemplates many things for a moment and says “ I may know a way. Meet me outside after work.” All through out our shift I see her texting someone vigorously.

After we are closed we are walking outside to her car. When I see a tall, gorgeous, black haired, blue eyed woman leaning on the trunk. I give Jordan a quizzed look. She holds up her hand and goes over speaking in hushed tone before beckoning me over. As I approach the women is very blunt and blurts “ I can make it happen but I can not determine when or where you will appear.” I nod “ I want to try anyways.” She closes her eyes starts this song like chant and it sounds like he voice doubles and echos inside my head. It disorients me so I close my eyes. Finally when her voice is gone and I open my eyes I am still here and she is gone. I look at Jordan with confusion and sadness. All she utters is, “ Give it time.”

I go home and take shower, decompressing from the day I have had. Once I lay down to go to sleep, it comes at me all at once and I don’t even remember when my eyes closed. As I dream I seem to fall through this endless darkness that seems to move and hum with life around me. It seems to think before an immense, excruciating and nauseating pain erupts from my back and angel-like wings begin to grow, with feathers of black and gold. I scream in pain as they finish growing. Then I feel this power flow through me that feels like life itself. This golden light erupts from every pore in my body, then disappears. Then suddenly I am yanked from the darkness and thrown on a cold hard floor, sopping wet. I look around as the whole room is silent and all eyes are on me in shock. I try to figure out how the faces belong to. I see two other girls in sopping wet dresses. One whose face is more soft, mousey I know that to be Elain, so I deduce the other to be Nesta. The hulk of a man lying on the floor with shredded wings is Cassian and Azriel with the shadows that clinging to him.

I’m interrupted when the King growls at me, “ Who are you?” I move to stand no realizing the state of my undress. Feyre moves towards me and covers me with her cloak, I nod to her in thanks. I look up at the man on the thrown and say, “ I was someone in this other world, but’ I look back at my wings and then back to him ‘ I am someone different now. I don’t feel the same, i am not the same. Better but not at the same time.” I look down at me hands. “ what do you mean?” I don’t even have to respond. Because my hands start emitting pure energy and light. The whole room collectively sucks in air. The events between Tamlin, Feyre and Rhysand have already transpired because she stands next to him and not her mate.

I stepped back my eyes darting to the door, wanting to make a break for it. I knew I wouldn’t make it far with these new wings and barely wearing any clothes . My eyes then landed on Azriel praying he could feel the mating bond, when our eyes connected. He has a sharp in take of breathe, “ it’s not possible.” Is all he said. He shows no effort to move in my direction. My head dropped, Rhysand speaking in my mind come to my side. So I moved to towards him and the King ask “ where are you going?” Rhysand’s confident voice spoke “ she is spoken for and will be coming back with me.” The King growled but did not argue. Rhys wrapped his arm around me as he guided me out of the throne room. Nesta helped Elain follow and Azriel helped Cassian.

~time skip~

I have been wasting away to nothing in my room at the house of wind. I didn’t leave, Azriel refused to talk to me or see me for reasons unbeknownst to me. Also I refused to let in the light that my body needed, that it craved so desperately. That’s another reason that I could feel myself slowly dying because I had neither of the things that I longed for, the things that made me want to breathe and see the sun.

One morning I awoke from a deep sleep to hear arguing down the hall. “ Go see her damn it, Az!” Azriel whispers something back in hushed tones. Cassian was not a happy with his response so he roars back, “ She is dying! And a lot faster than Elain or Nesta! You have a mate and you are allowing her to die!” His volume grew seeming to shake the whole tower.

In an effort to make them stop fighting, I tried to stand. Not knowing I couldn’t from the state of my body and the weight of my wings, I collapse to the floor. The pain from the impact reverberates through my body, causing me to yell out in pain.

I hear the door swing open and rushed footstep, but I don’t look up. I keep my hair in front of my face as curtain between me and him so he won’t see the tears running down my face. I can't bare to look up and not see the man I really need in front of me. I feel a hand brush my hair behind my ear and when he whispers gently and sensitively, “ Look at me.”… My eyes timidly raise to meet hazel eyes that gleam in the rising suns light.

It’s not Cassian kneeling before me…..

[baejax-the-great]

Hi! There are two 🕯on this list, so either one you'd prefer to answer, please.

🕯️how do you think engaging with each other through tumblr, twitter, comments, kudos, creates healthy fandom experiences? How do you deal with that if you're not a social person/experience social anxiety?

Ahhh. Listen. It is so hard. I got way more asks today than I expected from this list, and if I were a stranger looking at my blog, I'd think like, wow, they're really popular, they already have so many fandom friends and admirers, they are cool and know how to talk to people, and like all of that is false. I'm just some guy.

When I first joined fandom, I got so intimidated so easily by the relationships other people seemed to already have, and I still do sometimes! It's a little bit different now, because I've made some friends, but I still get those feelings of like, idk why this person would even want to talk to me, they probably already have all the friends they need, I'll probably be really weird and embarrass myself, etc etc.

Unfortunately on the internet, like in real life, the only way to connect with people is to put yourself out there. By writing fic, I think it's an easy access point for others to engage, because they know exactly what the author is thinking about today (patrochilles in my case or whatever), but it's still intimidating as hell. And sometimes two people, through no faults of their own, simply do not click.

On the other hand, it can be super fun! Answering these asks today was fun! Thank you! And if you poke an author, often fic will fall out! If you give them insane AU ideas, sometimes they write it! Great things can happen when you approach people. Or nothing. Sometimes nothing happens.

The key to staying healthy in fandom, I think, is not to think of your fandom friends in transactional ways, aka "I reblogged their fic so they HAVE to reblog mine or they're a bad person" or other thoughts along this line. Would it be nice? Sure. But once you start keeping score, your friendship is already taking damage. There are a million reasons why people do or don't do things, and if they are a friend, don't you want to give them the benefit of the doubt?

This also applies also for comparing yourself to your fandom friends. Once you start comparing stats or whatever, you've already muddied that friendship. It's not a competition. Envy happens and it's normal, but it's very easy for those feelings to warp into something like "I can't believe people like THAT fic when blah blah blah." Not only are those feelings damaging to your friendship, they also will never make you feel better about yourself. It's better to let envy pass through you to the best of your ability and figure out how to be happy for other people (or just not care).

That's my two cents.

[natsunenuko]

Now and again I check internet what is out there about my AU that I might not know... sadly I guess that’s why this ruleguide has to exist :(

dA link here

THESE ARE REVAMPED GUIDELINES.

Inspired from XxKashmiraxX UwU So, I think after so many stuff that happened to my AU (stealing, tracing) it's finally time to explain some stuff to ya'll. All my AUs are very personal to me so I take all the rules quite seriously to myself. Many of those rules also applies to my art in general. ____________

FIRST OF ALL, DON'T USE MY CHARACTERS TO REPRESENT YOUR OCS, AND DO NOT REPOST/TRACE/EDIT MY ARTS OF THEM.

____________

FANARTS

You're allowed to draw any kind of fanart (NSFW and gore too [moderate], but when it comes to ships, I'm only fine with canon and these non-canon I accepted in the list below. fanarts, 3D models, music, games, fanfictions [non-monetized] are acceptable, but please refer to official reference sheets (you can also post all this stuff on DA, Tumblr, Twitter, Youtube,), BUT YOU NEED TO CREDIT ME. Also I no longer want my AU stuff roll around on Undertale Aminos. Amino gave me the biggest problems with stealing, tracing, roleplaying my characters. ____________

SHIPS

Please DO NOT ship Frans/Soriel/Sanster/Papyton/SansXChara/Charisk - Frisk and Sans are friends, and both of them already have their own ships. - Toriel is with Asgore in my AU and she's just friends with Sans. - Sans is Gaster's son, so guess why I won't appreciate it. - As few examples about, my Papyrus too has his own ship. - Frisk and Chara are sisters in my AU [not real sisters, but still. they also both are girls, yet i have nothing against lesbian ship, but the fact they are sisters is more important] Note: As I said, I'm really personal about my AU and the ships in my AU. Every drawing from it that contains Frans/Soriel/Sanster/Papyton/SansXChara/Charisk is going to be ignored or be requested to be removed, I really don't appreciate any of that and please, understand me. Note 2: Don't ship my characters with yours, please. I appreciate you found my character so nice so you want to ship your own with them, but I don't like when this happens without me knowing about it. ____________

ALTERNATIVE AUS, CROSSOVER, ROLEPLAYING AND FANCHILDREN

Please DO NOT create your own fanchildren from my AU without my permission and my knowledge of it. Same with fan characters based on my AU and alternative AU's/Crossovers, REFUSESwap and REFUSEFell is a thing I created previously. DO NOT use my characters for roleplays. If you find my AU and you'll make something related to it, but you don't know the creator, at least say that AU isn't yours. (or just type REFUSETale in google, you should find me pretty quickly) besides, if you are reading this, you're basically reading creators words. - Also if you'll find someone saying REFUSETale is their AU, tell them to stop and contact me. Please DO NOT use my characters in sort of interaction like "Q&A" without my permission. They can only be side characters, ask itself can't be about them, I have my own ask box if you're interested ^w^ CAN I TRANSLATE YOUR COMIC? Sure, I have no problem with that. Just remember to credit me and send me link or something to your translation! CAN I DUB YOUR COMIC? Of course! No need to ask for permission! But make sure to show it off to me so I can see it! ^w^

Shiplist, again, here!

[wander-wren]

steps onto my soapbox

i am going to be so meticulous in my sideblogs. just so you all know. and my guide for flfverse when i get that off the ground (it’s in the works! yay!). why?

let’s talk about fandom history and archives and the internet and art, friends

when i was first getting into the baby beginnings of writing free falling/flfverse, which is my first attempt at a bdsm au, i was already familiar with the trope from honestly too many years of fanfic given my age. but i went to the fanlore page and….it barely resembled the trope i’d been reading, and hadn’t seen major updates since it was created in 2011.

at first, i thought some of the info was just straight-up wrong, so naturally i went on a deep dive to figure it all out. i’m still picking at threads on that, the hyperfixation ran out so it’s slower going now, but the fanlore page has been updated with some more of the info i found since i started the project, if you’re curious.

but it is/was an absolute goddamn nightmare to look through. the trope is generally agreed to have begun in 2006, when one fic (Stargate Atlantis fic, General and Doctor Sheppard by Xanthe) created it and then people started copying that fic etc etc. but ofc this was still in a time of purges on ffn and livejournal, ao3 was in the works but wouldn’t be online for real for a couple more years, and fandom was also spread across other individual websites run by creators. which makes it really hard to track things.

i’m currently working on closing the gap between the early 2010s (when the trope started appearing on ao3) and 2006-7 (when it was initially gaining popularity) and let me tell you, very few people bother to note where they got ideas from, or if they made things up themselves. i can see the shapes of certain trends but can’t pin them down yet. it’s fascinating and frustrating because i don’t know, ever, if i’m just not looking in the right place or if some info is just lost forever to purges and the like.

but it’s not like it matters, right? i mean, who actually cares about mapping the origins and spread of a kinky fanfic trope. no great loss of culture if it all vanished tomorrow, right. it’s not like, in the grand scheme of things, my projects mean a lot to the world.

maybe, hear me out, all art is important and valuable. maybe i find this interesting and that’s enough reason to look into it. maybe the trope is just an excuse to write a lot of smut; maybe, sometimes, it’s something else. i could go on about that angle but i won’t, not in this post. i’m not an 18+ blog. but sometimes, yall, the sex is a metaphor. or something.

i work on fanlore in my spare time for a reason. i’m looking to volunteer at ao3 as soon as i can for a reason. fandom history is really more fucking important to me than it has any right to be and i wish i could articulate why but i can’t do any better than this:

if i don’t care, who will?

a big chunk of the world already dismisses fandom, or at least fan labor, as fast as it can. i’ve dedicated countless hours of my life to this and i would drop my life plans in a heartbeat and dedicate everything to it if i could make a living but it’s fan stuff so i can’t.

what i can do is make my little guides and my blogs and keep separate archives for myself and document everything as meticulously as possible so 17 years from now when some small internet sleuth comes looking for answers to a question no one else thought to ask yet they will at least have that much.

maybe that’s dramatic. i don’t know. i tend that way. i don’t mind much.

(side note: talking about my little quest for knowledge isn’t really me asking for help with it. for one, i’m very protective of it; it’s my job to do, i got here first. for two, no offense, hypothetical internet person, but i can almost guarantee i know more than you. every time i’ve cast a line out so far on the off chance i get useful info i only get things i already know or things that are straight-up wrong. if you want to try to contribute anyway, knock yourself out.)

[my-fidel-dreemurr]

What Happened To The Undertale Community

Hello, my name is Fidel Dreemur,

Normally, I don’t do this sort of thing when it comes to my Tumblr account as I normally just am content with simply watching and enjoying, and just overall letting myself be embraced and phantoms, enjoying their content of the creators and sales have made as well as taking part whenever I can so I asked this one simple question and it’s one. I’m wondering if anyone in this phantom can still answer me, truthfully, no judgment, no rude comments no smug comments. I just would like to know one simple thing just one simple question that’s all I have.

What happened to the Undertale Community?

Undertale Made by Toby Fox came out September 15, 2015. I was in high school at the time that this game came out Amir freshman and I couldn’t help but wonder just what this game was upon going home and looking at so many different people playing the game and just taking time to play through the different routes, as well as taking their time to understand the characters, the story, the content, even the Lord behind it that Toby had created for this game was honestly amazing to be blunt and be truthful. I was honestly surprised to see that so many people immediately flocked to this game just to play it be it for the neutral route the pacifist route or even just the genocide route from what I was able to gather just by watching so many different let’s plays and even getting a chance to play the game myself , I could tell, but this was a game that had a lot of thought into it with a lot of emotion feeling and above all else

Determination

When the community started to grow and blossom and began to even start creating their own alternate, universes, alternate characters, alternate timelines, creating things that just begin to really catch my attention I even created my own OC out of all of this because I wanted to take part in this community to enjoy and have fun with what was happening and just let myself be a part of something that was truly wonderful.

Then came the art work and the animators making their own animation and bringing the various AU’s to live via art work, animation, voice acting, and even musical scores. It was so wonderful so beautiful to see all that work being put out there for people to see to explore seeing so many fans create their own version of characters from sans to papyrus to undying as goal so many characters were getting so much appreciation love and fanart. It was honestly pretty fucking amazing pardon my language, but just seeing all the hard work people were putting into it so just like make the Undertale fandom something so much more than what people honestly thought it was.

we had plenty of great animators animations storytelling. We had so many wonderful alternate universes ultimate timelines, different versions of the characters that had their own story personality. Things to do things to show off. It was just wonderful. It was spectacular. It was breathtaking to see everybody coming together in order to make this community so much more than what it initially started off as , well honestly, I think that was something even Toby Fox himself never imagined for his community was to see just how much it would grow and blossom and bloom and just become something that every creator of some sort of content wants them to see they want to see their fans, enjoying their creations, having fun having a few laughs, even making friends among the community bringing people together

But as the years went on, things begin to change.

Fights started to break out over the simplest of things there were people arguing over the smallest arguments some of them escalating to just like being full on wars on the Internet over certain characters over certain artwork over certain AU that people had created. What had been happening was getting out of hand and even now it’s gotten worse.

I just can’t help but wonder where did things go wrong what caused everybody to suddenly shift their focused from what had originally been something that was creative and fun to just being downright awful and terrifying. We have people threatening people over their options, their opinions, and even their creations so much toxicity and hatred in the fandom that you normally see over something that a creator has done or something that comes directly outside of it .

I know this might seem like the rambling of a fanboy to some people who don’t really understand it, but to those who remember what the undertail fandom used to be like or what it was like before everything seem to go to complete another hell in a handbasket, I just have to ask what happened where did everything go? When did everything’s only turn around and go to absolute horrible shit why did everything seem to go wrong because people started to get too invested in the phantoms was it because we started to get too anxious or just stuck up our way to realize we are starting to worse than other phantoms actually were lack in terms of video games nowadays, rather than the Indy game that it was I just want to know what other people are on the matter. This is just me saying my thoughts if anybody else has something to share by all means share what you know I’m open to hearing anybody’s. I just want to know and want this one of mine answered

What happened to the Undertale Community?

[dsi-os]

Meanwhile, in another project: A small 4 part stupid answer about where they go once inactive.

Hello!! I'm DSi.OS (also known as my very very very outdated name, sayah66.) I'm an artist who is "known" for MANY projects. "BUT DSI!!" you say, "WHERE ARE THOSE PROJECTS!! I DONT SEE THEM!!! ARE THE PROJECTS IN THE ROOM WITH US???" and to that i say.

yes AND no.

and heres what i mean! if you care to read, of course. tldr is available at the finish too! (WARNING: I'm making this as one big oneshot "essay" at 5 AM with no sleep. This may not make any sense, but. ENJOY!)

Part 1: The ITCH to create.

Personally, we're an artist of MANY, MANY, MANY, MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY stories and characters. including fun little aus of course. ...But. on the internet, it could be very difficult for an artist like me, because I THRIVE off of attention and interaction, just as my projects do. Most, if not ALL of my projects require some sort of interaction point. And on that note... Heres something of me and my creations, the little thing I call "The Graveyard"

All of these are blogs we've created throughout the years, excluding tests and throwaways. And. all of these would sadly be counted as "DEAD". (hence the graveyard bit. haha - get it?) Though, in reality. We wouldn't count this as dead... more like-

PART 2: THE SLEEPING UNDEAD

ALL of these blogs aren't really dead... just... sleeping! very, very heavily. "BUT WHY IS THAT?" you may ask, and thats because:

LACK OF INTERACTION

They are FAR FAR from dead, they just aren't getting any interaction or traction, and hence, they slow down to a stop. When a story REQUIRES interaction to move forward, you can't just leave it hungry! But sadly, in turn, this does even more harm to the project, because due to the lack of posting (from the lack of interaction) all traction stops! And so, its almost like a painting or a vintage piece left in an attic. It gets covered in dust and left to be found later. Or! You could compare it to a train! The interactions are coal to fuel it...

PART 3: WHAT DO I THINK?

Personally, I just wait until they get interaction again, and. While that most likely won't happen, I remain hopeful. Of course, even I drift away from it slowly, and it becomes a beautifully archived piece of media for myself, and maybe somebody else, to enjoy! Its a big cycle of throwing stories to the internet and making something new, and, while it can hurt, its also a great experience! Without the graveyard growing, I wouldve never moved on from story-writing mistakes, among many other things. Its a real big experience!! Its fun for it to happen while it can.

PART 3.5: .....AND?

okay fine youve caught me. Besides just waiting for interaction, sometimes I update my old works slowly, in a way that lets new interactions come in. and, especially for the OSHAVERSE blogs, there are BIG BIG ideas I still have for it! As said before, not dead, just resting! Inching like a slug. I'm also planning to completely reboot some blogs, or start new events on others! I'm no professional, but I'd say it helps quite a bit. And it can be fun* to meet back up with old friends from those eras! (hiii osha people!!!) *not a promise

PART 4: WHAT CAN YOU DO?

YOU can help a lot! This is information EVERY artist says, but. well. its the truth! What you can do is share, interact, and enjoy the content! See a cool art? Reblog that. See a neat creator? Follow them! Cool story? Share it to others! Needs asks? Send asks!! Sitting on the sidelines sadly won't do much, and, believe me, I know that it can be difficult to get out of that sometimes, but you will not BELIEVE how much it helps. All your love, all your sharing, all your enjoying, makes all the stories you know and love go round. infact, it makes the internet go round! SHARE YOUR WORK, AND SHARE OTHERS WORK TOO!!! HAVE FUN!!! as long as no ones getting hurt, and theres no harmful content, this is always the way to go!!!

RE:INTRO

Hello!! I'm DSi.OS, I'm a mentally ill, currently homeless artist, and I need your help, not just for my situation, but for my work too! Sharing artist's work can help get them commissions, which. help an UNBELIEVABLE amount!! and hell, if you see a cool artist out there, maybe try to save up to buy a comm for them! If you can't, you can always support them in MANY different other ways! from donations to gifts, to even interaction! share the artists you love, share your love to the artists! I'm DSi.OS, Creator of very, very small, but cared for projects. Many of them, maybe too many! But all your love keeps them going, even if it goes a bit slow!!! :D

TL;DR:

THE ANSWER TO THE INTRO: my projects are on permanent "freeze", or sleep-mode! no interaction = no going forward in the story. THE BIG MESSAGE OF THIS: support artists, keep stories alive, share the work you enjoy! with YOUR interactions and love, you can keep many blogs, stories, projects, and other things going!! MY SAY: i know this is a super stereotypical artist message, but not only is it correct, its the answer to where they've gone. not dead, just resting.

now! i cant wait to read this later. its now 5:30 am and i have no clue what ive typed. maybe its something super meaningful, maybe its silly. who knows! itll be a surprise for future me.

you guys promise to tell me if this sounds stupid right? okay. good. love you guys goodnight /HJ

[fanfiction-artist-prototype]

In the past few weeks I’ve seen lots of posts about people either complaining about or explaining to ‘younger’ fic writers about how their belief in an AO3 algorithm is incorrect and I wanted to put my perspective forward as someone who probably is counted age wise in this section of younger fic writers.

I’m 18 and have been writing fic since I was 11 and found Wattpad and started posting little self inserts of my friends and I in the animes and comics we loved, so about 7 years of writing and to be honest my perspective of ‘growing’ an audience in fic has been influenced in some way by social media, but not to the point of assuming there’s an algorithm. 

With Fanfiction, there’s always going to be niche tropes and genres depending on the fandom and it’s common sense to assume that the more you ‘target’ a popular ‘trope’ or genre in fic the more (i hate to call it this but for the sake of the social media allegory I will) engagement you’ll get. The more clicks you’ll get, and theoretically the more comments, bookmarks/saves and likes/kudos you’ll get!

For instance, let’s take mid-2010′s Wattpad; self-insert/oc-ish inserts were still popular because it let the reader (commonly a pre-teen/teen girl involved in a fandom for the first time) act out fantasy scenarios with their fictional/unrealistic crush or let them become best friends or family with their favourite characters! People loved it, because it’s the most basic form of self-indulgence and of course self-insert always has and always will be popular in fic but from my personal experience it was BOOMING on Wattpad then; so if you wrote self-insert/ocish insert then you would get more people clicking and reading as was my experience. 

However if you were to do a more ‘niche’ genre or trope... lets say a Mineta Minrou ship fic in the Boku No Hero Acadamia fandom (since Mineta is an almost universally disliked character in the fandom) you may get the occasional views from Mineta fans or from people who were looking for another tag and are just genuinely curious about what’s going on here but with a character/trope so unpopular within the fandom it doesn’t matter if your fic is the most beautiful gut-wrenching philosophy changing piece of literature to grace the internet people won’t read it. It’s the basics of ‘don’t like don’t read’.

To me, that’s my social media influenced perspective of fic sites. 

The READERS in an essence are the algorithm, if you want ‘clicks’, hits, likes, bookmarks, kudos in the most efficient way then you have to do research into you fandom and find what people LIKE to read - are songfics really popular here? Is any ABO fic created under this fandom tag bullied into deletion? Does this fandom love coffee shop au’s? 

But if you do that, then what’s the point of writing fic? 

What’s the point of writing something that you might not even want to write, that you won’t be able to put your best into, that you will just sit there going ‘I hate this, this is stupid, useless and not something I want put to my name’ all in the interest of getting people to click on your fic so that you can feel you’ve gamed the system when the number goes up?

I know people who’s magnus opus of fics have gotten less than 500 clicks, and most of them regrettably will come from the same 20 or so people re-reading but they’re beautiful, fantastic fics that have all the right tags, that should be ‘palatable’ to a wide audience but they just never get picked up by a wide readership on A03 because as beautiful as it is, there’s hundred of fics being posted every day on AO3 and the tough reality is you aren’t special.

Fic writing isn’t a competition, it’s a fun hobby or side hustle and it’s something that people do for many reasons; to improve their writing, because they can’t let go of this one particular plot point or scene,  to share their love or hate over a character and many other reasons as simple as ‘I wanted to write a story with these character’s in it. But why would you want to write a fic just so people might go ‘oh wow! you make really popular stuff’.

Will that really make you happy? I don’t think so, my first non-self insert fic did absolutely terribly when it came to people reading it because I was so used to writing a genre where people would flit from one of my fics to the other and tell me how much they loved it, but I nearly ended up deleting the fic and never straying from self-inserts because I must not be as good of a writer as I thought.

(I wasn’t, hand on heart I’ll admit that. I was 13 and had a very inflated sense of self)

But then I just kept writing because my friend told me that they liked it and it took a good long while to unlearn the idea that people interacting with your fic in large droves meant success but I did and my writing and confidence has improved. 

And so...

To all the younger fic writers or even the older fic writers just getting started, looking at fic sites like a social media site will do nothing but hurt your creativity and harm your confidence.

When it comes to social media sites it’s easy to forget you’re engaging with real humans and not just creative outlets handed to you by the algorithm but they are real people, and the social media mindset is ‘appeal to what the machine wants and the people will follow’, but on sites like A03 everyone is a person and there is no machine to appease. If you soullessly pump out fics just to make some mystical computer program push it into peoples faces people will notice how little care there is in a fic. 

A fic is supposed to be something you’ve created, and like with all art it’s in some part a reflection of *you* so if all you do is go ‘I don’t need to put as much effort into this I just need to put the right tags and let the magic happen’ people will know, if you pour your heart into it but then mistag the whole thing people will get pissed at you.

Nobody likes reading a whole wall of tags, it’s boring and unreadable and if you mistag your fic to get ‘more clicks’ people will just report you because you’re in breach of T & C. You’re not only turning people against you from the offset you’re potentially getting yourself booted off the platform with nobody but yourself to blame.

The best way to get ‘engagement’ on AO3 is just write what you want, do what you want and people who like the same things will come to you, people aren’t going to read something they don’t want.

An archive is just a collection that you look through yourself; hence the name Archive Of Our Own. It’s OUR archive of OUR things that we made. 

If you try and dehumanise the system then you’re going to be on the losing side.