#czargasm yaps

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nothing will make me close a fic faster than someone being referred to by their nationality or hair color

WHY😭 I can’t call them by their names the entire time, what is wrong with ‘the brunette said’😭

BECAUSE THEY’RE ALL BRUNET /j

Idk I fundamentally disagree that you can’t call them by their names the entire time. The names disappear into the background whereas epithets usually stand out and can be very jarring. If it happens once or twice it’s one thing, but the lengths some people go to not use a character’s name is something.

ALSO epithets usually require you to know something about the character that hasn’t been previously mentioned in the story. Like “the taller” means you know the heights of every person in the scene even though they haven’t been specified. Unless you’ve specifically mentioned a person’s hair color, you shouldn’t use that as a descriptor. It’s easier to get away with in fanfic where we can assume the reader knows some things, but even that isn’t a certainty.

This is also just a very specific thing I feel unreasonably strongly about so 🤷🏻‍♀️ It is my hill to die on but it doesn’t have to be yours.

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Gonna start sharing snippets and stuff from my fairytale once I get back from vacation.

✨🦑🗡️

Just a reminder to all writers and artists, you are now allowed to post snippets and sneak peeks of your own works, if you wish to do so!!

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The part where we read about what happened with dnf on K2 always literally shatters my heart like George went through almost dying and bearing his soul to dream and Dream left 😭😭😭 how did he even get up like

I feel like it’s been long enough that stuff like this no longer counts as a spoiler so I can post this kind of ask. SORRY if you still haven’t read this fic from MAY (please read it).

RIGHT??????? George is so strong! He went through the most capital T traumatic day of his life and still found the strength and courage to get up and climb down a mountain? (Believe me, climbing down K2 is not easy.) And then to make the decision that not only does he want to keep climbing these mountains, but he wants to help keep people safe while they’re climbing them.

Some people were upset that George completely shut Dream out of his life after that, but honestly? How else could he make it through? He funneled all of the trauma of that one little day into the Dream Situation so he could survive the rest and move on with his life.

I just really love this version of George. (Tbf I love all versions of George.)

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God, now I can’t stop thinking about my mountain climbing DNF AU and fic in general and how much I miss writing it, so I thought I’d give you an update.

1) I got a new job and the first few weeks were INSANE like 12 hour days and then wrapping up freelance work on weekends. I actually STILL have freelance work that I contracted before I got the job that I have to finish. Adulthood is super hard guys. Do not recommend.

2) To go along with this, I am so amazingly behind on comments. If you left me a comment in the past month, please know that I saw it and appreciated it so so much and I am going to reply to it soon. Like soon! Not Soon™️.

3) The final chapter of The Glow Squid Hunter is coming THIS WEEK. I promise. @scoops404 specifically requested it and I am not letting my scoopsie down.

4) I don’t have time to do (unbranded) NaNo this year, so I’ve pledged to post two new fics in November. One will be DNF and I think it will be fun. The other will be Dan and Phil, which I know most of you aren’t here for. But maybe some of you are?

5) Maybe a DNF multichap in late December or January but it is dangerous to make promises at this point. I am super excited about getting back into things, I just have to adjust my own expectations about how much and how fast I can write right now.

If you have any questions, feel free to hit up my ask box.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

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i’m subbed to you on ao3 and the email i got looked like this: “definitelynotczargasm posted here kitty, kitty”

i thought ao3 was trying to lure me in. like “new post, here kitty kitty!” 😭

thought you’d enjoy that lol

I LOVE that!!! It’s me, trying to get people to come read my new fic.

“Here kitty, kitty. Pspspspsps. Come on. New fic for you.”

Thanks for sharing!

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Hi, @scoops404 found me in her comments and forced me to be her friend (this is a joke, but it is also the truth). Then we found out we live in the same city. Later we realized we live a mile apart. Now she’s the first person I tell when I have an idea for a story, and she’s my biggest cheerleader. I only started writing fic again because she told me to.

Sometimes we get coffee and breakfast sandwiches and work on our stories together at a local coffee shop. The internet is weird.

hi scoops!! love your fics!!

question for you: how’d you find such amazing beta readers/writing friends? did you meet them over time as you posted your fics? curious as someone who has zero friends interested in writing, let alone dnf… :/

Hi there!!

The best way to make friends interested in writing is to comment on people's fics who are actively writing, follow them here or on twitter, and ask questions about their fics. Let them know you're interested in writing too and then see what develops. My friends have fluctuated and people leave for other fandoms but I'm always making new friends :D A good place to start is to ask someone to beta your fics. Try to get someone you admire and respect because they're going to be seeing your writing at its most vulnerable.

First and foremost, I'm a fan of my friends' writing. I love to squeal over what they're writing and either help as a beta, be a shoulder or ear for them, or sometimes they've leaned on other friends and i'm completely surprised when I get to read their fic, and that's just as lovely.

I'll admit, it's much easier to make writing friends when you already have some, or when you're well established as a writer in a fandom. But I suggest, if you haven't already, have some fics published (even something small) so that people who know you are interested in writing can go read your stuff right away when you meet them.

Additionally, my pride has never let me do this, but you could make a post saying you're looking for writing friends and see who responds.

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7. your preferred writing fonts

8. if you had to write a sequel to a fic, you’d write one for… (I know the answer to this, just wanted to give you a chance to gush about your brokeback mountaineering fic because i love it so much)

7. Boring, but I mostly just write in arial. I used to write in Trebuchet, but got tired of it. When I was at the beach I word vomited 1000 words of omegaverse mpreg (it will never see the light of day) in Optima and I really liked that. Maybe I will switch to that for a while. Some enrichment in my enclosure Scrivener folder.

8. You know this because I literally talked about it at the coffeeshop on Saturday, but yes, a sequel to Brokeback Mountaineers. NOT because I have a plot or an idea in any shape or form, but just because I love that universe and those characters so much and I’m sad to see them go. If did, though, it probably wouldn’t be a full fic, though. Just a short little story about one of their post-Everest adventures, or even just a soft slice of life set in that universe.

(Go read Every Mountain Tells A Story now if you haven’t. The final chapter is posting on Monday.)

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Really looking forward to that fic ngl... Poor Sapnap though 😭 just wants to eat in peace

He’s got to be used to it by now, right?

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Oh my gosh, I just realized the parallels between the first time where dream saves George on the mountain and they’re in their sleeping bags and they confess to each other when George saves his dream on the mountain they have their confessions again and I just realize that that’s so parallel and I also can’t imagine the way that George must’ve fell thinking. This is the exact same thing happened last time And he’s telling him he loves him again! Like they’re confessing again and then of course he says tell me this after we get off the mountain, which makes sense because how could you trust it? Oh my gosh, I’m like reeling and everything after I reread the story. 

YES EXACTLY! Those scenes are parallel on purpose. As angry as George is at Dream, he still deep inside loves him and WANTS for the things Dream is saying to be true. He’s wanted it for three years! But he doesn’t for a second believe or trust any of it. In that moment he’s just assuming it’s another one of Dream’s adrenaline-fueled impulsive confessions post near-death experience (if I had a nickel for every time etc etc). He’s completely closed off from Dream in that moment, just trying to protect his heart, which is why he’s so cold. (I mean he’s also freezing on top of a mountain but that part’s normal for him.) He really only starts believing Dream might be telling the truth when they’re far removed from danger and Dream’s had time to reflect on the things he’s said and NOT walk away.

There’s another similar parallel that’s smaller/less noticeable, but that I love. In chapter 2, the note that Dream leaves in George’s tent asking him to talk is the exact same format and the same number of words as the note he leaves for George at the K2 base camp. Dream hasn’t seen that note in years and doesn’t realize how similar they are, but for George (who spent hours staring at that original note), it’s like ripping an old wound open and stabbing it a few extra times. That’s part of why he reacts so strongly to it and yells at Dream (and has his moment with Austin). He just for one second wants Dream to hurt like he does, not realizing that Dream’s been hurting all this time too.

Thanks for all the asks today! It’s been so fun thinking about this story and remembering all the little details.

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You reminded me of your mountain climbing fic and now I must reread it

YAY!!! It means so much to me that I have a fic that people like so much they are willing to reread it. Life is so busy and there’s so much to do but you’re willing to use some of that precious time to read about MY little mountain climbing dnfies? What an honor!!!

Thank you for letting me know!

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19 for the writer ask!!

19. the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic

I know everyone expects me to answer something about mountaineering, since Brokeback Mountaineers was such a research heavy fic. But I already knew a lot of what was in there. I’ve been obsessed with high-altitude mountaineering for a decade. Most of my research for that was just double-checking facts, staring at route maps, figuring out climbing windows. It was still fun, but nothing new.

Right now I think the most interesting topic I’ve researched for a fic is North American fire lookout towers. I’ve done so much research on this in the past few months and it’s super interesting.

Yes, you will all have the opportunity to read that fic soon enough. But not soon soon. More like Soon™️ if you know what I mean.

ask game

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I love your writing so so much. I’ve been a fan since I first read your time travel George fic ! I think you scoops and dizzy are my favs I hope you never leave 😭

omg this is so sweet 😭 I have such a soft spot for people who have been here since my time travel AU, when I was brand new to writing in this fandom and just getting back into fanfic. Thank you so much. And Scoops and Dizzy are two of my favorite people and two of the very best writers I know, so to be lumped in with them is a huge honor. 💜

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I saw on twitter you are a Dragon Age fan. I am an Egg anti (😂) and I hope Dorian kicks his ass all the way through Tevinter

Fr though I did that romance once and I was like nope I'm not strong enough for this and went back to cycling between the relative safety of Cullen and Dorian like the basic bitch I am. The Solas romance plotline (& his character writing in general) was so so good but so heartbreaking especially at the end of the DLC

Hahah we are the exact opposite on that because my first play-through I romanced Cullen (finally!) and then when I saw what happened with Solas I IMMEDIATELY played again and romanced him. I needed to know what it was like. I just enjoy pain. I consider my second Solas romance to be my “canon” play-through, but I’ve also romanced Iron Bull (I had to) and Dorian. I’ve sunk… hundreds of hours of my life into DA:I. I fear it will be the same with Veilguard.

I will absolutely take the opportunity to make a scramble out of that Egg though. Fuck that Dread Wolf!

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I’m sorry it took me a little while to do this and uhm… don’t ask me why I’m doing this on tumblr now, I feel a little more comfortable doing this here I suppose. Anyway…

What a banger fic Every Mountain Tells A Story is! I’m gonna say it, I feel like with every new fic you write you outdo yourself. All your fics are amazing, but every time they’re even better than the last one. I love this AU you came up with so much it has everything, suspense, cliffhangers, pain (chapter 4 my beloved), humor,  romance and well, hot sex haha!

“I would have waited forever, Georgie. There’s no point to any of it without you.”

This might be my new favorite sentence in a fic. This whole story went straight to being one of my favorites and I am so rereading it and making up little stories about their next adventures and life together in my head!

Also while I was reading I couldn’t help thinking there’s definitely a movie in this, the story has all the ingredients for it (I prefer books, but you know sometimes it’s nice to see a movie based on your favorite book just because you literally can’t get enough of the story).

Do you think maybe you’d write a sequel at some point? Or is the story all wrapped up for you?

I felt so bad for George throughout, he was so hurt and I was really curious to see how you’d fix things between them.

I loved the happy ending you gave them, they deserved that.

They love each other more than anything! And I think that’s just beautiful.

Thank you for sharing this story with us! Looking forward to the next one

Hiiii Alize!! 👋🏻

Thank you for all the nice things you said here. I definitely put a lot of love into Every Mountain and it's so fun hearing about everyone's favorite scenes. The idea of it as a movie is completely insane to me, but I can also see it. It's definitely a very visual fic--someone told me that scenes from it were showing up in their dreams. Crazy!

I've talked to @scoops404 a lot about the idea of what I would do if I revisited this universe. I don't think I'd write a strict sequel, as I think the story I wanted to tell is complete. That doesn't mean I wouldn't do a oneshot someday with another adventure of theirs. It wouldn't have the same magic as Every Mountain, but it would be fun to revisit that universe someday.

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did you ever know that you're... one of my favorite writers. i'm gonna throw the same thing at you i just threw at scoops. tell me an idea for a fic you've had, whether you think you'll end up writing it or not. i just want a peek into your brain.

Oh my dizzy, this is such high praise from you, you who are one of MY favorite writers.

I will tell you about the tragedy of the fire lookout tower fic. I planned to write a fic about George and Dream meeting as two fire lookouts in neighboring (but separated) fire lookout towers one summer in Montana. It was vaguely Firewatch (the game) inspired, but the idea initially came from George playing the fire lookout tower game with Austin last year (the fic would NOT be spooky). It was about two strangers falling in love over their little radios and also about someone (George) recovering from a bad relationship and trying to find himself again.

I wrote about 5k but then got distracted by Brokeback Mountaineers and bingo fics. Then in June I found out that there's already a DNF fire lookout fic that is actively updating and it kind of killed my enthusiasm and I haven't written more (or anything actually) since.

Maybe one day I will return to the idea.

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I finally finished your Everest story today and it was just so so so good! Really enjoyed reading every second of it and I am so happy they got their happy end 🥲 the way you described all the places was simply amazing, you were really able to catch that rough environment so so well ahhh I am in love with this story!! 💚

Ahhhhh I'm so happy you liked it! I love that fic so much and it's always exciting when someone else likes it too. Thank you so much for your nice words and for letting me know!! You made my day!