#decided to limit myself this time to only the stories that i've actually started a file with SOME amount of writing in

[griseldabanks]

WIP Game

Thanks, @general-illyrin; I've done this game before, and I love it!

Rules: Make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

I'll separate these into fanfics:

7

Staron proposal + wedding + honeymoon

waves of darkness

See Through My Eyes

burning

Rosie Runs to Rivendell

Cosmic Eclipse - chap7

And original stories:

The Ambassadors

The Family

The Arcblade

bartender story

The Four

[As My Own Soul] (not actually the title of the file, but the placeholder title gives away the big plot twist, so thanks to this game, this story now has a title XD)

Pretty sure I don't know that many writers on here, but if anyone wants to do this, feel free! I'll tag @rainintheevening, @bunnyscar, @sailforvalinor, @thetreasurechest, @captaingondor, and @x-i-l-verify for starters, if this looks like fun to you.

[idiopathicsmile]

School Gymnastics: A Tragicomedy

So one day when we were in third grade, our P.E. teacher divided us into girls and boys. (I don’t remember what the boys had to do. Wrestling? Tackle football? I don’t know, probably not at age nine, but that’s not the point. Gladiatorial combat? I still don’t really understand kids’ sports.)

What matters for this story is that all the girls had to do gymnastics. Now—and I suspect this won’t surprise you if you know literally anything about me—I was always terrible at any form of school athletics. I am intensely, almost impressively uncoordinated. This doesn’t affect my life much at 36, but it was often a miserable way to be a kid. The only playground game I liked was playing pretend, because when you are playing pretend, you don’t have a bunch of people ostensibly on your side screaming in your ear, “Pretend faster! Pretend over there! Pretend with greater accuracy!”

Anyway, gymnastics and my clumsy, doughy little body. I couldn’t do a cartwheel. I couldn’t do a backwards somersault. I couldn't do any of it. We had an entire unit on this business and I literally did not learn how to even safely attempt a single move besides the log roll (lie flat and roll sideways on your belly). In retrospect, this seems like maybe it was in part a teaching problem, not a me problem, but that’s actually not the point either.

The point is, at the end of the unit, we were told to divide ourselves into little teams and choreograph a group gymnastics routine. My group, faced with my long list of limitations (more limitation than girl, really) decide my role will be to just forwards-somersault around the rest of the group as they do their moves. (This is itself kind of embarrassing but trust me, it is but the appetizer.) My friend Ashley has the Lion King soundtrack and we all agree that it is a great choice. The movie has only come out a couple of years earlier, and it of course features some funny, peppy options. 'Hakuna Matata'? 'I Just Can't Wait to Be King'? It's all coming together.

Carried on a wave of youthful enthusiasm, none of us even think to double-check which track Ashley has picked. Foreshadowing!

So the day of the performance comes. Another group goes right before us. They had picked “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls, which was a huge hit at the time. I mean, it still is because it’s a classic, but then it was big and new. They step onto the mat and immediately begin to do choreographed dance moves, which they have worked into their routine. We had not thought of this. Oops. Dance moves, of course! So they incorporate the necessary gymnastics, it goes over really well, the energy is high, and now it’s my group’s turn.

I take my place at the edge of the mat, the mat we are required to stay on for the length of the piece. Ashley cues up the track she’d chosen.

A song starts up. Instantly, I recognize it from the movie. It is the very slow instrumental music that plays when Simba realizes his dad is dead.

‘Well, this is not optimal,’ I think. I've been on this planet for nine years; I can see that much. But it’s too late to change the track, and so I tell myself, ‘It’s okay. I’m a performer. I can sell this.’ I put on an extremely solemn face and begin to execute a series of the world’s saddest somersaults.

Friends, when I say “sad” I mean it, in every possible sense of the word. Picture a nine year old with the gravest possible affect, determinedly doing somersaults to the slowest, most serious music she can imagine, in a careful ring around her friends who have actually learned any gymnastics whatsoever. Okay, now as the music starts to pick up and get more hopeful, imagine she gets real dizzy and in front of everyone, she rolls all the way directly off the mat, careening dangerously towards the assembled students.

Somehow, I roll myself back onto the mat, we survive what feels like hours of humiliation, we stagger away, and I blessedly avoid adding “puking my guts out in front of all of my peers” to my very short list of gymnastics tricks.

Later, I asked Ashley what in the world possessed her to choose that song.

“It didn’t have any words,” she said.

(There was absolutely no rule against using songs that had lyrics.)

Anyway, that’s why being an adult is better than being a kid.

I may have to do laundry and make my own dinner and wrestle with more complex existential angst, but you know what I haven’t been asked to do in like 26 years? Somersault for three minutes straight to the musical shorthand for “this cartoon lion cub has no choice but to process the weight of unimaginable grief for his dead dad.” And you know what? If I live another 50 years, I can be pretty confident nobody will ask me to do it then, either.

[power-handmaiden]

Chuck Tingle interview

OK, here is the FINAL 2024 Tingles My Butt post, which I've been pretty hyped for. I still kind of can't believe this. While I was figuring out how I'd move on from 2024, @drchucktingle generously offered to answer some questions of mine to commemorate the end of my tingler project! Here they are!

-Considering that your process for tinglers is just to write it out and not stress about proofreading and editing, was it weird for you to see someone decide to go back, examine, and contemplate every single tingler published in the past decade?

the whole dang project was really wonderful for me, for exactly the reason you have just said. tinglers are very STREAM OF CONSCIOUS and only edited with one quick pass so while i think this adds to their honesty and rawness it also means that my time with them is limited. really watching someone go back through them at this depth was like reading a diary that i have not opened for many years, and it jumps around through time in a very beautiful way. it was very moving

-I love tingler character names. I personally admire how many great ones you come up with. (I never know what to name my ttrpg characters.) You just come up with all these great names that seemingly spring from nowhere, how do you do it?

DANG great question cant believe i have not been asked this before but yes there is a type of name that shows up in the tingleverse that is unusual and has a certain feeling and cadence that is very specific. if i am trotting along with sweet barbara and there is a name of a product or a place or something that has this tone we will say ‘oh thats a tingleverse name.’ the reason i wanted to do this in the books was as a very subtle way of saying these stories exist on a timeline that is RIGHT next to ours, so in some ways it is exactly the same as our world but there are these little cultural differences with things like chocolate milk and spaghetti and then with the names. you will have buckaroos like justin and sarah trotting along next to buckaroos named corb torbins-quill or borto lart.

-So, as a reader, reading from 2014 to now, old tinglers and new tinglers feel different to me. I believe you when you say tinglers have always been sincere, but they feel MORE sincere than they used to be. Like, I feel like there was some self-consciousness and irony in some of the early tinglers that you've since let go of and embraced the Chuck Tingle voice more. I don't know, am I imagining this, or does this square with your tingler writing journey? If it does, what has that process been like for you?

i think you are absolutely correct. the intention with tinglers was always to be a place for me to express myself with complete sincerity, but the practical way of HOW to trot like this took a bit of an evolution to arrive at. in other words i knew the basics, but actually refining the best way to express yourself and perform your art takes time. maybe in the same way goin back and watching season one of a tv show can feel very different from season three, even though they are part of the same expression. 

similar thing happened with in my chuck PRESENTATION as well, where my main focus was to stay anonymous so the metaphors i used to talk about my life were still true but laid on much thicker. even my attire was a large gi so that you would not even be able to see my shape, which has obviously changed now because i wear suits these days. all of this was a process of starting in a place i knew was important to me and then peeling off the parts that were not helping the message or expression over time

-Is there anything you could tell us about the significance of Borson Reems? I feel like he's more than just another Buck Trungle/Chuck Tangle/etc but I'm not sure what exactly...

yes borson reems is god. not that i believe in GOD in the way that most buckaroos talk about god (i am agnostic) but within the tingleverse, borson reems is an avatar for the creator of that world. technically i am borson reems, because i am writing the books. the question is: are we all the gods of our own little worlds that we create? i do not know, but when i look around at my buds and the joy and love they bring to various timelines they sure seem like gods to me

-A lot of no-sex tinglers (especially ones that aren't romance-focused) vary in terms of plot and structure a lot more than erotic tinglers. Is your writing process for these stories any different?

same process actually, but the sex scenes in tinglers are about 1500 to 2000 words long, and total tingler length is 4000 words which means if you are not including that portion you are going to have to come up with some creative way to fill that space in the story and a new axis for story to turn on. so the variety comes from me getting creative and trying out different axis points

-In "Not Pounded By My Book "Pounded In The Butt By My Non-Fungible Tingler That Is Literally This NFT" Because Of The Current Catastrophic Environmental And Ethical Impact" there are references to an earlier draft of the story that was never released because you ended up disagreeing with the message. Are there any other tinglers that never got finished and/or published, if you'd be willing to talk about any of them?

oh this is a VERY good question. the story of the NFT tingler is that when buckaroos were first talkin on nfts online and nobody really knew what they were, my first thoughts were just ‘oh this is interesting what the heck is this?’ this is my way with most CURRENT EVENTS. and i thought ‘this would be an interesting tingler, i suppose maybe i should make the tingler an ACTUAL nft’. this was in VERY early days so i did not really even understand what an nft was (neither did 99 percent of buckaroos yet honestly). so i looked into it just enough to actually MAKE a nft tingler that was a real nft and put it out. lasted for about thirty seconds before buckaroos were messaging saying ‘oh this is bad chuck you should look into what this is’ and i DID look into it and thought’ oh yeah this is terrible nevermind’. i took down the original and thought ‘well THIS is what art is all about. this is where i thrive in a world of moving living art that is in communication with itself’. so i dove into the research and actually started to understand NFTS and then i repurposed the story into a strongly anti-nft tingler and put that on out instead.

as far as OTHER tinglers that kind of move and breathe and live like this, in communication with the audience, GAY T-REX LAW FIRM is another very good example. that one i wrote early on and i think it was kind of in the model of something like fifty shade of grey, where issues of kink and consent and communication are not really handled well. i think at the time it came out the story was okay, but as time went on it always kind of bothered me and finally i thought ‘i love art that exists in the REAL WORLD and changes and evolves, so lets rewrite that story and fix some of these mistakes.’ honestly it is something i wish more artists would be open to. its okay to let something hold strong against a changing timeline, but it is also okay to explore what its like to take the notes that time gives us

-This one is about Chuck Tingle that exists in deeper layers of the Tingleverse that operate on tingler logic: what does the location inside his/your butt look like?

probably a nice mid-century modern home up in laurel canyon neighborhood of los angeles. kind of quiet and small like a cabin but also very cozy, like the kind of place where you would put on a crosby stills nash and young record on vinyl and gaze out into the woods for a while then walk down the hill for dinner at a little cafe where you spot some actor from a 60s tv show also having dinner in the corner booth. this basically sounds like the start of a tingler and in that tingler i will say the actor would be a bigfoot.

-OK this one is very self-indulgent but if you could help settle this frequent point of discussion I have with my wife- where do the following fit in the Tingleverse bigfoot/dinosaur/unicorn/living object(/human/does not apply?) taxonomy?

-a ghost of a regular human

-a regular human vampire

-a human/fish mermaid

-a sentient winged horse

-a sentient centipede large enough to wrap around a mountain several times (she is handsome)

alright lets trot through these. a GHOST is not one of the four tingle types so you can have a ghost racecar or a ghost unicorn or a ghost bigfoot. ghosts are outside of the four types and do not have a classification

a VAMPIRE is also outside of the four types. so you can have a vampire bigfoot or, of course, a vampire night bus. does not strictly fall into any of the four main categories

MERMAIDS are technically a long lost species of unicorn I DONT MAKE THE RULES I JUST EXPLAIN THEM. this makes the MERMOPED tingler a little confusing but i had to pick a category and that one went into living object. now that i mention it possibly the only tingler that is technically a double category of unicorn/living object.

WINGED HORSE is easy, thats a pegasus which is a species of unicorn just like a mermaid

a SENTIENT CENTIPEDE LARGE ENOUGH TO WRAP AROUND A MOUNTAIN is an ancient creature, therefore dinosaur tingler

-My other self-indulgent question: do you have a favorite bug? (Or second-favorite if you count Mothman as a bug)

i love finding spiders in the house and giving them a pet because they are doing a good job livin their lives doin their thing. close second would be a pretty ladybug

-Any thoughts on what tinglers will be like in 2025? Do you expect to be writing a lot of political tinglers again, like post-2016?

honestly i really do not like writing specifically political tinglers anymore, and the amount that i write has gradually dropped over time (i think ALL tinglers are political but in a different way). so honestly i think i will write a few political tinglers but not many. my hypothesis on this is that my HORROR NOVELS are very very political and so maybe i get a lot of these ideas out of my system that way now. when it comes to tinglers i just wanna explore my OWN mind and heart and butt more

THANK YOU for these wonderful questions and thank you for your tingler-a-day project it was so moving and powerful. what a treat it was an honor to be a part of something so beautiful. THIS PROVES LOVE IS REAL

[bittycmd]

It's already have been over a week since ch1 post, huh?

Thank you all so much for kind words about OSC! as this project will be a beginning of my hobbyist 'carrier' (read as: passion project) that will probably take my free time from work whenever I'm not playing video games (I am afflicted by a curse that makes me do 100% achievements) or studying or doing any other passion or hobby projects.

here is a cover page that would have started the au; if not for a surprise that tumblr actually has an image limit of 30! (I got lucky huh?)

(tumblr refusing to upload this to my chapter 1 post is actually the reason why this post exists, so you guys get a lot of info now lol.)

Thank you again for supporting me on this journey! Below is just more info and plans and all that, for you who love reading that.

The first chapter changed and grew, firstly from a much different point of origin, having other chapter names and growing from a just 10-15 page chapter to a 30 one, and from planned 1 month to taking 3 months!

So what's next? Well... Chapter 2 which I'll probably not post as a whole chapter, but in parts. It will provide me probably more motivation and you all more frequent posting of story. (if you love getting whole chapter drops, dw, there probably will be chapters that I'd prefer to post as a whole)

ok, let's try a fun format of Q&A!

Have you started work on chapter 2?

yes. for the whole week i've managed to make...

check notes — 1 page...

oh god...

What? One page!? In over a week?!? Are you lazy???

I actually have been drawing like crazy and it's just i don't put that work on comic pages. Instead I've put it on sketches based on MD RP with my friends, that I have not posted here, because posting rp stuff without context is like trying to make drone drink water without dying.

Will you post the MD RP stuff you talk about??

... maybe... if you ask nicely (￣y▽￣)╭ ..... (it's some good stuff)

why are you talking about MD RP you do with your friends in OSC au info post?!?

no reason... -v-

will OSC au be outside the tumblr? Or you have any other social media?

maybe on bluesky? i should post more on bluesky, i haven't posted a single art there, instead i posted about mickey 17 there... and escape from pork belly. god i should post more there.

twitter is out of question, i'm not going back there. I no longer post on reddit and i don't even have a tiktok or other social media. I'm mainly tumblr boy (I love it here) with bluesky side that I should post on more often.

I should also learn how to AO3, so it's archived and easily searchable!

What is estimated time of work on chapter 2?

I cannot estimate that, unfortunately. I work when I can, and when my body allows me. And it usually refuses when I want to work on the comic, which frustrates me too often.

Will the au be easily readable???

there is a plan to set-up a master post that will list, (and link to,) all the chapters/parts of them, and it'll be always reachable from any chapter post and from the pinned post. Also each chapter will have standard links for first, prev and next post. This, of course, is for convenience of reading! (fueled by spite to one of my fav au's not doing that bare minimum.)

I miss OSC random skit comics, will there be any more? :(

Most of those skit comics i had to cut because my brain decided they were perfect for the overarching plot so now I basically soft locked myself from making more.

BUT! With more chapters uploaded I'll be free to create more outside of plot OSC au skit comics.

THE OSC AU SUCKS THE AA AU IS BETTER WHEN CHAPTER 1 OF MD&AA AU WILL COME OUT!?

woah there! The md&aa au will actually have much different plans. they are only plans and nothing has been set in stone yet. But when I'd start putting it into place you guys will know :3 and I hope it'll be awesome.

will you monetize it in the future?

uhhh probably not. I see art as something that should be free to experience (even if it's some fanart au webcomic based on existing series). but that's also a weak excuse! Because the real one is setting up patreon or ko-fi is terrifying to me! I'd be so lost, and then paying self employment taxes! oh god the horror!

don't even get me started on commissions! ',⊙﹏⊙'∥

(i'd love to make comms or set up tip jar one day but without a super detailed step by step guide for dummies, i'd probably be lost with doing all that)

all those general questioned sucked! i want a very specific question answered!

well those are what asks are for! I am also trying to be active in comment section but I get bad anxiety, so unfortunately no promises.

Also my inbox is filled with mostly drawing requests, which I will need to state now, that I'll no longer will prioritize them, and I'm not promising to do them, maybe even ever.

[mirai-e-jump]

TV Guide Dan, LDH Special Issue dan the Girls ft. Yuzuki Hirakawa Interview (translation below)

Publication December 1, 2023

-RESOLUTION-

"Hirakawa-san, you entered the entertainment industry after winning the Grand Prix in the vocal and dance category of LDH's, "LDH Presents THE GIRLS AUDITION" held in 2018. Please tell us why you took part in the audition."

Hirakawa: I've always liked LDH artists. I would go and see their live performances, and I watched "Weekly EXILE," a music information program that was being broadcast at the time. Then, I heard the announcement that they'd be holding an audition for female artists for the first time in a while. Before that, auditions had been limited to singing and dancing, but the auditions I attended included various categories, including singing and dancing, as well as acting and modeling. At the time, I wasn't interested in the entertainment world, but my parents and those around me recommended I do it, so I did it partially out of curiosity. However, as judging progressed, before I knew it, I won the Grand Prix…is how it felt. I like singing, but I didn't have any dreams of becoming a singer. After joining the agency, I took singing, dancing and acting lessons equally, and during those lessons, I decided to pursue acting.

"Winning the Grand Prix helped you in deciding to pursue a career in the entertainment industry."

Hirakawa: I was in my second year of high school when I won the Grand Prix, and I had to move from Kumamoto to Tokyo by myself, so I was determined, or rather, I felt I had no choice but to do it. The final stage of the audition was a training camp exam, where about 10 finalists spent a week together. While there, I met other kids who were seriously working hard to pursue their dreams, and I realized that I could no longer be half hearted in my efforts just because I had been chosen. However, when I made my debut as an actor in the stage play of "Moryo no Hako," I didn't know what to do or what was expected of me on the stage, so I just went along with things. It was only last year when I was cast as the role of Rita Kaniska (PapillonOhger) in "Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger" that I was able to proudly say, "My profession is an actor. Actually, before I was cast for the role…there was a time when I was wondering if it was okay to continue down this path, or if I should look for another one. That's why I was so happy when I was chosen to play the role, and thought I could continue as an actor. However, I was alittle anxious before the broadcast started. Rita is the king of Gokkan and the Chief Justice of the International Court of Justice, but their gender isn't clearly stated, and their face is almost invisible, being hidden behind their collar and hair. Since this type of character hasn't been seen in the Super Sentai series before, I couldn't predict what kind of reaction we'd get from the viewers. But thankfully, the positive feedback I've received since airing started has made me enjoy filming even more.

"We feel that characters who don't specify their gender are appropriate in the current era."

Hirakawa: I'm grateful to have been given such a role. I've always thought that my appearance, personality and voice were (gender) neutral, so I was happy to have landed the role of Rita. At first, Rita was a calm and quiet character who didn't say much, but as the story progressed, they're able to rely on others, and gradually become able to express their feelings in public. Slowly, their humanity and cuteness is showing, and I hope that my performance will make the character even more beloved.

"We feel like it's more difficult to express a character that changes gradually, rather than one that changes drastically, but do you find it difficult?"

Hirakawa: I'm not sure…personally, I don't find it that difficult. More than the changes of Rita in the story, I think the relationship between me and all the cast members were the biggest change. As filming progressed, the relationship between the cast members deepened, and I feel that we're able to understand each other. I think this naturally led me to express myself in the role. The atmosphere when Rita and their retainer, Morfonia (Hasegawa Kasumi), are together has also changed. Of course, this happened after the halfway point of the story, but it also reflects the fact that the cast members have become closer to each other.

"And now, "Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger Character Book: The Bonds Connected by Moffun and Racules?!" featuring Rita, Morfonia, and Hymeno Ran (played by Murakami Erica) is on sale. Please tell us your thoughts after looking back on the photo shoot and interview."

Hirakawa: In the TV series, Rita and Hymeno, and Rita and Morfonia are sometimes filmed together, but this is probably the first time that Hymeno, Rita, and Morfonia are together. This was the first time doing an interview with the three of us, so it was very refreshing. Rita is called the "Immovable King," a character with very few movements. So, there aren't that many posing variations, but Hymeno and Morfonia moved alot to add variety, so I felt thankful for that (laughs).

"In episodes 32 and 33 of the TV series, there was a collaboration with "Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger." You co starred with Shiono Akihisa-kun, playing the role of Souji Rippukan (Kyoryu Green), who also belongs to LDH."

Hirakawa: The day after it was decided that I'd be appearing in King-Ohger, I had work to do with Shiono-san, and when I told him, "I'm going to be your junior in Super Sentai," he said to me, "I know it'll be a tough year, but please do your best." He also said, "I hope we can work together again somewhere." At that time, I never imagined that I'd be able to work with Shiono-san in King-Ohger, so I was really happy when the collaboration episodes were announced. We only had one day of filming, but I was able to hear stories about the "Kyoryuger" days, and I was deeply moved by being able to appear in the same scenes for the first time. The collaboration episodes were directed by Sakamoto Koichi, who's famous for his action direction, and although we had to fight more enemies without transforming than usual, since I like action, it didn't bother me, and it was a valuable experience. I'm also working with Amano Kousei-san, another senior at LDH, who plays Grodie Leucodium starting from episode 30. Since Grodie is Rita's enemy, they have many scenes together. Amano-san is very considerate, lending us things to cool our necks when we were on location during the hot season. Also, he gets involved with me on Twitter, and is a really funny and friendly person. However, once he gets into his role, he completely changes, which I think is amazing.

"Since our magazine mainly features men, we'd like to ask what kind of men Hirakawa-san likes."

Hirakawa: Someone who's firm and flexible. When he messes around, he'll completely mess around, and when he talks about serious matters, he's serious. I'm the type of person who gets excited when I'm having fun, so ideally, I'd like someone who has the same enthusiasm as me, and to take the initiative and have fun doing whatever it takes, instead of being drawn away from me (laughs). Also, I think it's wonderful if he can say, "Thank you" and, "I'm sorry" for even the smallest of things, and if he cares about family.

"If you could be reborn, would you prefer to be male or female?"

Hirakawa: I'd like to be male. I used to play with my brother, who's 5 years older than me, and his friends, and I wanted to be a boy too.

"Well then, if you could be a man for one day, what would you like to do?"

Hirakawa: I wonder…(taking time to think), I guess I'd do some muscle training. If I can become a muscular man like Kaku So-san, my co star in King-Ohger, I'd like to go to the gym and train my muscles until he admits defeat! Kaku-san said he can bench press 120 kg (265 lbs), so I'd like to aim for that too and show off my muscles to everyone (laughs).

[sheeezu]

Can’t fall asleep right now, i’ve been thinking.

I am losing my faith in reality shifting, and i do not really trust pretty much any success story.

However, i still consider possibility of it being true.

So…

You previously mentioned that it is possible to convince yourself that reality shifting / manifestation is true, by achieving void state and such.

Can you dive a little deeper into that?

How can i prove to myself that it is true?

I became depressed at some point and feeling like i don’t even want anything, and based on that "consciousness theory"… i am the one making myself depressed. So i want to know that (this theory) is actually true, and i am able to change reality.

I am not necessarily interested in shifting reality currently, i want my motivation back and only then to shift.

If you know something about the nature of reality that i can prove to myself, please, share it with me.

Thanks for the answer.

And please be considerate, who knows, maybe you will shift and i won’t have the chance to ask anything again.

OK, it's difficult to answer your question, since you seem like you don't want any flaws pointed out.

Of course you're not doing anything wrong, but why are you so dead set on doubting it first? I understand the lack of will, I've dealt with depression and I understand its limiting nature, but for anything to work regardless we have to push ourselves in that direction.

First of all, you'll need to realise creation of reality is an ordinary task, like any other process, similar to taking care of your bodily needs.

Second, disassociation with your self identity of who you are in the current moment is must, when you decide you want to change reality, you have to realise you have to quite literally give up the parts of reality you want to get rid of.

Your question on how to prove reality to yourself and the void state question are interlinked

I'm not sure if you're unaware of the void state, but anyways, pick a mundane night, lay down, nothing spectacular is happening, in practice you're doing this grand task but in actuality its common, your reality is bending and molding at all times.

Now start distracting yourself away from your body, your thoughts, your identity and struggles as human being, because you're not that, you have many forms, but the main root of it all is your consciousness.

You could daydream, count, affirm, stare into the darkness, meditate, be nothing in particular, allow yourself to let go of the bond between yourself and the reality you used to perceive.

There are many guides on how to enter the void state, unfortunately I'm not able to present a detailed one, but on Tumblr you'd find good and comprehensive ones.

There are also gateway tapes you could listen to.

[milky-rozen]

Hello 🤗, I’ve kind been following your project for months now and I have to say I’m glad people are still acknowledging Egyptian Mythology. I know it doesn’t really have all the drama and pizzaz I suppose Greek or Roman mythos does which is why people like it more, however I find your work refreshing because it seems like you actually care about Egyptian Mythos. I’ve been obsessed with it for years and I’ve even done my own research over the years myself and could never fully understood why people didn’t care for it as much. Even after watching Hollywood Blockbuster films like “Gods of Egypt” the movie frustrated me in so many ways but the biggest one being that it felt like a knockoff of Clash of the Titans. So I’m done with my little rant but I was curious on what sparked your interest in making this project? How often are you taking creative liberties with your story? Also how do you come up with such creative designs for your characters will also keeping the historical consistency of Ancient Egypt?

P.S. Hope this all made sense 😀

Heya!

So, first of all, thank you so much for your kind words, they really made my day!

Second of all, let me reply to all of your questions in order so I don't forget anything lol

Ok so, as for what sparked my interest in making this project, It all started with me playing a mythology-themed video game called Dislyte. I've always been into Egyptian Mythology since I can remember, but when I was a kid, things were a bit different from now and I didn't have access to the Internet as I have now as my father would set up a limited screen time for me and my sister on the computer, and also at that time, I just didn't know how to research things properly lol. So, nostalgia led me to explore new and old media about Egyptian mythology and do some proper academic research to get to know the main and minor myths better. During this "research phase" I discovered the Korean manhwa Ennead, which inspired me and my character designs a lot. Afterwards, as I realized how little material exists about this mythology in particular, I decided to create something myself that could help fill that gap, something that could bring people together and spark their interest so that I could have someone to talk to about Egyptian Mythology lmaooo. But also, I always wanted to work on an original comic series and so I thought that this could have been the best time to start! And so, House of the Sun was born!

Now, talking about artistic liberty, it really depends on the comic we're talking about. In Thoth's Library, I try to be as accurate as possible to the actual myths, only taking some artistic liberty when I need to link some facts that would otherwise sound a bit random and incohesive to the narration, adding some motivations and sub-plots to link all the stories together while trying to stay true to the original sources. Although, this might change in some future arcs. In Young Horus, although some connections are accurate, I decided to fill all the gaps I could with an original coming-of-age story for Horus the Younger to create something new and have fun with it, so the majority of the things happening in the comic are purely fictional. Of course, I always make sure to put a disclaimer for that in every episode just in case ahahah

As for the inspiration behind the character designs, I wanted to create something very personal and somewhat accurate in terms of clothing and overall presentation without including those classic elements we all know, like the animal heads or masks we often see in other media. I was especially inspired by something I noticed in Ancient Egyptian art, like the fact that some gods like Ra have both a human and animal form, and so I was like, you know what? I'm leaving the animal iconography to other contexts, I'm going full human this time lmao. Well, kind of, since I still wanted to include some animal traits that are very iconic to Egyptian art, like the tails (often used in classic Egyptian iconography to depict power and royalty), the ears and sometimes the paws too because, why not? 😂

Man, this was a very long reply lol I tried to be as brief as possible but I'm not good at it honestly ahah soooo, thanks for sticking with me so far! 😂 and, oh! Before I forget , Happy New Year!

[gigidragonbbxxx]

working with limits, a story

disclaimer: we are limitless. anything can be achieved with the power of the mind. this is to help people who overthink.

if a limit of yours shows up somewhere along the journey of manifesting a certain goal:

acknowledge it. do not repress. use it to pivot into your new story.

eg. I used think ____, but I know that's not true anymore. I am now ____.

my own story

my desired body is typically obtained in the gym with years of hard work and a dedicated focus on nutrition. I'm currently in grad school so I don't have time to workout like an IG influencer but I want to look like one.

Ordinary people would WEEP and stay in the same story of "its not obtainable!" while master manifesters smirk and say "LOL, ITS MY BODY NOWWWW"

I know that waking up with your perfect body is 100% POSSIBLE. Overnight subs/aff tapes + living in the end state + saturation to the max = fast asf results

so why wasn't I achieving it?

why was I manifesting money, attention, material things, etc. but for some reason my body was not changing?

I was meditating and doing some inner work when I realized that I had a serious weird rooted limited belief that

I had bad genetics and every woman in my family (both sides) have never achieved a flat tummy or a super toned body. So I was unconsciously always affirming that I could "never" look like that.

I thought great bodies could ONLY be achieved with hard work - which we know is soooooo untrue!

Instead of forcing myself to do a method I realized - I could work with my limit.

I was never truly "athletic" but I did run cross country/track in high school for 3 years. I fell off once I went to college and mostly did weird sporadic workouts but was never consistent.

Now that I've discovered the law and am freed from my old way of thinking, I said - okay let me play a little psychology game with myself, a little placebo.

my new placebo has been:

No matter what workout I do, the moment I step into the gym, I am losing my belly fat and getting super fast results every day.

Why do you do this Gigi instead of just sitting at home and affirming for your body?

Because I realized it would be easier for me to stay saturated/in the wish fulfilled/end state of having my perfect body just by physically forcing myself to be in a gym.

Let me clarify: I mostly walk on the treadmill, lift very very light weights, minimal sets, etc.

aka: most people would say I'm not doing enough.

But I'm a master manifester so I know that just deciding is enough.

I realized it was easier to visualize people saying "Wow she changed her body, it's because she goes to the gym now! She must've done a lot of work cause she got those results fast!" instead of "Wow she changed her body, idk how!"

Ever since I started going consistently and doing very bare minimum workouts - my body has changed way more drastically than normal limits allow.

I basically look like I've been working out for 6 months versus just the 2 I've actually been going.

My personal goal was fast results but gradual. If you want instant, please be my guest I am not limiting, I'm just sharing what worked for me.

I robotically affirm that lil placebo and it's changed my entire approach to manifesting.

I will see if I can post pictures of myself that will ensure privacy. Until then, just my words and encouragement.

Let me finish this lil post by saying: you do not need to do what I do. You can go ahead and do everything instantly. Everyone is different. I'm just sharing what worked for me, what helped me ease into being firm with what I wanted the 3D to reflect to me.

xx, gigi

[thefluffyrailway-official]

Fluff's toxic friendship on the tight rope YAY!!!

Alr to understand this, we must understand the beggining...

Remember that chaotic birthday i had last year? Where one of my friends kept saying i was getting hørny because i visited the railway museum after years?

Well, that person who we're calling "H", kept making me unable to talk about my troubles.

I must say they live in a terrible familiar and social ambient. But that's no excuse to victimize yourself and make the one who tries to help you (me) insecure of her troubles because you always tell her you're in a worse situation than her. Unconciously telling her she has no right to be upset.

So, one day for no reason, they said i was a terrible friend and only an interested bratt who just wanted him for the few gifts they made me for what he said was being always for him. I never asked for them but always appreciated them.

So, i tried to understand because they always did things like that when they were stressed or going through a bad moment. (Stupid me)

Then they came back begging for me to forgive them.

I did (Stupid me #2)

It all seemed to be good. We spent some days together with some friends and had much fun!

But today...

I haven't answered their messages for a while due to being rlly stressed with exams. And most of you will know.

But another one having troubles for them means:

1-They're faking it just to not talk to them

2-They hate them

3-They have severe troubles and are thinking about sūīcīdē.

Spoiler: Neither of them was me. I was just goimg through a bad moment.

Today i tried to explain it, but they kept trying to act like the hero on a story that's not his. Because i didn't want help. And kept repeating not to insist on my own troubles because i will solve them myself.

They asked me what was i gonna do instead, cry? satanism?, pray?, cut myself?

My patience ended there. I told him my situation isn't bad enough to make me even think about that and please stop talking about it or i would be actually mad at them.

They started saying the same as always. That i was a terrible person...that i never cared about them...That i didn't deserve anyone if i was gona treat them like that... Blah blah blah.

I told them i was just putting limits to them and if they didn't want it then go cry or get mad or whatever.

They started victimizing suddenly, like if they were following a premade patron of "how to make the other person feel like the villain".

It would usually work cuz i'm usually a weak minded, easily manipulative person, saddly.

But not this time. This time i was done with all this stuff that's been through nearly 5 years.

And told them i've had enough of their victimization and i would cut all contact with them if they didn't stop being toxic with me.

Because yeah! They are actually toxic! They got jealous if i hang out with anyone else than them, tried to show affection in ways they knew that made us look like a couple and they knew i didn't like with the excuse of "i just love you so much sorry", they get angry if i don't answer for more than 1 day, and again, DIDN'T LET ME HAVE MY OWN TROUBLES!!

After that, they started being verbally aggressive for a while i didn't pay attention to my phone actually. I was too busy drawing lol.

And when i decide to check one last time just to see what they said to me, i find some messages begging me to forgive again and a smiley face.

A FUCKING SMILEY FACE???

I mean. I love smileys. I use them all the time :)

But rlly? after insulting me multiple times you just say:

"oh sorry i was just a bit tired and didn't think. Pls forgive me :)"

I just ignored it. I'm thinking of answering tomorrow. But...

Did i went too far?

[foxyaries]

My Manifestations

Hi Again! Foxy here :)

Now keep in mind these aren't manifestations I have gotten YET but they have been my main focus throughout all these years that I've been part this community. I know a lot of you would rather hear about things I have actually manifested but the reason I'm gonna talk about them a bit is because these are the ones that actually kept me motivated despite my lack of results or current circumstances.

As for how my journey began? It was subliminals :) Probably as for most people in this community at first I didn't really understand it. I didn't try to look into it or understand it. Because of course as most people I assumed that it was just music. It's funny to think about it, knowing what I know now. It was a first limiting belief that I realized that I noticed I had. Since we were kids we were always conditioned to believe that we had to work hard to achieve things we want and success. But that's not true. And that's what I realized when one day subliminals came across my feed once again and I realized why not look into it? The more I read about it the more I realized that maybe it is possible. I mean we only use very small part of our brain so why wouldn't it be a possibility? Like I like to say "If there's an idea, there is a possibility of it being true". And that's how I discovered it.

What did I want to manifest first?

Unfortunately back then I was very insecure. And I'd brutally pick on any flaws I thought I had, so my first subliminals were appearance related. However at that time I also was very unhappy not just with my looks but also my life. Mainly my family. As some of you may relate I had (and still have but maybe not as much because I am older) very strict parents and especially because I am a girl it felt like my only goal in life was to study but going out and having fun with friends out of question. And it got especially worse because we had just moved to a different country and I needed to learn a new language and find new friends (you can imagine how that felt for my introvert incredibly social awkward self😂). And because of that reason alone one day I thought "If there are so many subliminals appearance related? I wonder if there's different kind". First thing that came up was "Wake up in desired family" subliminal. And you guys don't even understand. Back then our community was pretty small so all it had was maybe 15k views but at that time it looked like a lot. There were even that many comments or success stories because everyone were considerably new to the idea. But on this specific subliminal there were maybe 5 success stories. All very similar. One day they went to sleep, felt like they went flying and then woke up in their desired family. Again at that time I didn't really understand the concept but those 5 success stories made me so full of hope?? Each of those people said it took them like 2-3 months so that's the time I set for myself in my head too and guess what :) I indeed achieved certain crazy results I'm gonna talk about in a separate post.

Unfortunately for me... as I mentioned before I was insecure. So those couple months I was focusing on leaving and waking up in my desired life (again I didn't know much about the whole shifting idea or exactly what it was but maybe that's what helped :) The less we know the better). Aaaaand of course I got insecure and decided to start listening to appearances subliminals at the same time and that set some kind of mental block that I'm only now starting to get out of. I dont think me listening to those subliminals is what stopped me from getting any results. It was my mindset. However once I realized that it was too late and I had no motivation to restart the journey :( Such a shame now because I was so so close but it's okay now.

Before anyone asks I did try looking for that subliminal channel and those subliminals. Unfortunately I believe the whole account got deleted.

Now onto the 2nd thing. Once I realized my mistake I stopped listening to appearance subliminals and decided to try something else. I came up to a "Manifest a fairy" subliminal :) Yes, say what you want. Like I said "if there's an idea, there's a possibility". For all I care, unicorns could be real and I am open to it :). And yes, my fairy would have been and will be a wish granting fairy. I saw her as a solution to all of my problems. Not only mine but my best friends. And thanks to my best friend and her spiritual companion I was told that it would actually happen! That I'd one day see my fairy :). However, how soon it'd happen depended on me. It could have taken days, weeks, months or even years but it all depended on my mindset. And here we are 6 years later because I went through another dark episode of my life. But it's gonna happen soon I feel it! More about my best friend and future life time fairy friend on a separate post! Because yes, I had certain results even with that👀

I do hope someone will be interested in some of this cause this does boost my motivation somehow haha

That's all for now tho! I'll try to make a post later tonight about my tape results the other night! Next attempt is tonight😌 And whether anyone is interested or not I shall make another about my first insane shifting results too! 👀👋🏻

[lomappreciationblog]

Living, loving and loved.

It's been a while but here's proper art of LOM's Heroine again! Her official name is Serafina, the manga calls her Imu, I always named her Terra after Terra from FF6.

I also drew this with aroace themes in mind, using the aroace colors in the flowers and as an overlay over the background field. The LOM protagonist's personality is up to the player to decide, being a mostly silent hero - but I still think of them as their own character, not a self-insert of mine. Still - I did realize only recently I gave them a quality of mine in being aroace and I've never actually shipped either the male or female protagonist to any character in the game?

And you know what, I'll roll with that, the game versions of Shiloh and Serafina/Terra are aroace to me now. And even if Terra is disinterested in a romantic relationship, she's still an incredibly loving and loved heroine with a tender heart!

As for why I made an aroace themed art, well, it's a long story I'll put in the read below, but fair warning that the reason why was because I saw a really big name being aphobic. Finding out I am aroace is incredibly important to me, so I kinda just want to put it all down here, with the game I celebrate the most and whose themes include the power of love, not limited to romantic, and being true to one's self. Again, this will be long:

To start it all off, I heard from a asexual/graysexual friend that a big name author hijacked a post celebrating asexuality, on on International Asexuality Day, to say, specifically, it was "fake oppression day." Now this author has already used their platform to greatly harm the trans community (I'm sure it's obvious who it is now) and apparently she's decided to include targeting aces too. And just...on the day that's supposed to celebrating this community, too.

Now, like I mentioned, I am aroace. And it is one thing I am of sure of in myself and held fast to - even before I found out the term. Growing up, I didn't find myself interested in pursuing crushes - my definition of a crush was to admire a character's personality or character design, but ask me then, and ask me now, if I would date any of the characters I had a crush on, I'd say no. I just never saw myself being in a relationship, ever.

Apparently, that is weirdo behavior, as a friend told me bluntly in high school, and I had to quickly pretend I had a crush on someone in another class until the matter dropped. I didn't know about being aroace back then, so that's what that way of thinking was. Weird. Abnormal. Is something wrong with you?...with me?

Then I came to college and was exposed to a lot more of the queer community. Learned a lot more about the lgbtqia+ struggles, realized the internalized homophobia I was carrying around (thanks and no thanks Catholic Christian upbringing) and found out that asexuality was a thing and oh my god things made so much sense now. It wasn't me being weird/broken, there was a name for it, and people do experience it, and - people will challenge it because being an allosexual is the norm. And they'll do so in the guise of concern, because surely everyone wants to have a romantic and sexual relationship, and to ask otherwise is just acting for attention, like a certain author seemed to have been implying.

That would never happen, right? But it does. Twice, in fact - a great aunt comes up to me and pointedly asks me all the things an aroace never wants to hear. When are you going to get married, oh my, having kids is great, you're getting older you know (I was 22 at the time, go figure) you should have kids soon, I'm sure they will be beautiful? And I try to say I'm not interested in any of that, and the curious tone becomes pity and condescension. Oh, but you will be so lonely, and whatever will you do without kids in your old age? Don't you want to be happy?

And both times we had that one-sided conversation I'm wanting to tear my skin off with just how hugely uncomfortable I was. My family knows, but I never had explained the full extent of it, my parents are just aware I don't want to marry and have kids, and I think they might be a little concerned about it, but at least they don't tell me to do something I don't want to. It was with a circle of queer friends I felt most comfortable speaking about it, and I found out some friends were on the asexual spectrum as well, and those who weren't kindly asked me if I was sex-repulsed in case the topic shifted there.

And - that's what I'm asking for here, as an aroace. To have the world accept it as one is, and never feel like I owe an explanation for why I don't have an allosexual's mindset. True, I'm lucky enough as it is and can't really complain. The worst I had were uncomfortably nosy conversations and a really persistent guy flirting with me who I eventually managed to ghost, thank goodness. But that's not the case for so many others who are also aromantic, asexual, or both, who could be forced into situations that are highly uncomfortable if not dangerous and all because the world at large operates on the basis all people must want romantic, sexual fulfillment. And that big name author, with her wide reach, made that conversation a lot harder with her words on the matter. I am so angry and disgusted with her.

But - I can't let her win like this. I can't stay unhappy and fearful of sharing who I am all because so many others agree with her. I want to celebrate the joys one has in their life as an aroace, because one can still be loving and loved, even if one does not want to pursue romance and sexual fulfillment.

So why choose Legend of Mana to carry my thoughts for this? Well, aside from what I said up top about me accidentally playing Terra as an asexual all this time - Legend of Mana is a beloved game of mine, my most favorite game of all time, even, enough to dedicate another blog to it.

And - Legend of Mana is a game all about love and acts of love, and not always necessarily having to be of the romantic kind. The love between the friends Capella and Diddle, saving a friend from depressive thoughts and a desire to die. The love between brother and sister Bud and Lisa, bickering and fighting, but when one sibling is stricken the other does their best to save the other. A love that's literally described as transcending societal boundaries just to overturn the fate of a dying race.

As Pokiehl says in what is probably the most powerful quote of the game:

And the nature of that love doesn't have to be romantic, as the quests of the game has proved - love is still power, nonetheless. And love for the self counts, too.

Speaking of which, staying true to one's self is another recurring theme in the game, and one of my personal favorite quotes on the matter comes from my most favorite character, Monique:

The people of this world will tell one many things, enough to cage the self, but it doesn't have to be that way. The cage can be rejected - the world itself has room for everyone. After all...

"The humans who live in this world come in different forms, but they are all humans."

Something to keep in mind when it feels like every day treats one lesser than human.

That got rather long - but what I want to say in words that maybe my art can't express, in that in this world where it's so very easy to spread something hateful and demeaning, it can feel like one can't do anything back - but even if. Even if huge voices out there are telling you down, you can celebrate life, still. I hope you find joy, I hope you feel loved, and will be able to love.

[just-jae]

I would like to PARTIALLY retract an earlier statement on AI

In relaIation to generative AI, it CAN effect professional artists, but it's not all or nothing like many people keep treating it.

I feel like the people who want AI art are people who sweat at the prices and wait time of human-made art. AI art is likely going to be the go-to tool for companies who just need promotional material made for their products or people who want art of their own ideas. Things for ads, PFPs, backgrounds, coloring, rendering etc.

For professional artists, the effect on their job opportunities may be as mere as shifting from getting paid to make something for someone else to getting paid to continue making personally driven work. Basically, artists aren't going to be getting paid to portray other people's ideas anymore, people are going to pay to see an artist's original works, their own comics, paintings, stories, songs, etc. Many artists already do this, creating their own projects and then setting up a means of financial support for their work, whether it's Ko-Fi, Patreon, ad revenue/sponsors etc.

I'm saying this bc I'm an artist myself and I did dabble in using AI after several commissions from other artists went pretty unsuccessfully- as in, I waited weeks to months for a product that I didn't even like, one guy straight up scammed me. And then artists that I genuinely would have wanted to commission were usually unavailable, bc most of the time the artists with mastered skill get the most demand and either close commissions entirely after being hired for a project, or their availability burns up, or their prices go through the roof as their audience grows just bc statistically there's going to be more people willing to pay a higher price-- some artist charge insane prices that only 1% of their audience actually buy, but bc their audience is so massive, that 1% still makes them a decent amount of money.

I only used the AI to gage what it was actually capable of and if it could actually make what I wanted it to-- it still spat out slop, and the one I used was relatively juvenile so it was limited in its training-- but the fact that it was so quick and cheap to use, yet effectively served the same purpose, was almost relieving as a consumer. I still think it's a pretty shitty invention with its demands on the environment and the unethical plagiarism of non-consenting sources, but to a corporation or company that wants to save money or time and simply doesn't care how an image is made (which is most companies) it's a godsend. Bc, lets face it, do you actually look at corperate art work and apreciate it the same way? No one's watching an animated ad thinking 'This art is so meaningful' bc the next moment you're deciding whether you're going to buy their product, not thinking about the art in the ad.

I can understand as an artist why a freelance artist sets their work up this way-- after all they have to pay their bills and eat and actually live their lives instead of spending every waking moment on commissions; but as a consumer, especially one who also needs money, I'm often sweating at the prices thinking if it's financially responsible to spend so much on an image, and if it's worth paying so much more just for slightly more detail or a slightly broader scope of work, like paying 50 more bucks to add a small cat to an illustration.

On top of that some artists will literally create lower quality work than their personal art just because they don't have the personal investment in the subject that motivates higher quality works. I've experienced this myself when drawing other people's characters, even though I try to make it look good, after a handful of works I start looking for shortcuts, I stop caring about details, the poses become pretty random and generic, etc. The art stops having meaning to the artist. Meanwhile in my own works I'm intrinsically invested in the work and push it to be refined just because I want to spend that time and effort to bring it to life and have meaning.

That's the flaw in the argument of human artwork being inherently more special, sometimes, even from a human, it's just a product to meet an end and leads to lower quality, relatively uninspired and meaningless work that feels less like art and more like an image spat out. Wildly enough the one commission I did order that made me really happy and inspired my own work, was by an artist who intrinsically found my characters interesting and just ran away with it, and was finishing the work before I could even properly ask for details or anything. They finished it in mere hours (I don't even remember if I paid first or not :<D it was a blurr). The work from that artists literally revitalized my own, I was simply amazed.

This isn't an argument that AI is good or that artist's work isn't valuable, but that there are some reasonable motivations for the preference of AI art by certain kinds of would-be consumers. It's only really a specific kind of consumer and a specific kind of professional art that's going to be affected, being prompt-based commissions where the consumer is the one with the idea and the artist is just the laborer. It won't wipe out creative professions as a whole, and I think those who think it will are severely lacking in their awareness of what motivates artists to begin with as well as the MANY different forms of professional art out there beyond just digital images of someone else's idea.

The art "industry" is already nutorious for being a terrible and volitile environment for professional artists. To get amazing works like Spirder-man Into the Spiderverse, and visually stunning games or designs, artists suffered to make it, laid off, forced to overwork, and potentially not even getting paid proportionally to the hours they spend working on it but by how much of their work makes it into the final product. Movies like Prince of Egypt and Sinbad aren't being made anymore BECAUSE they were too labor intensive and didn't make enough money to properly support it.

Klaus, the movie that amazingly pulled up a 3-d/ painted look on 2-d animation used AI assistance to perform the shading after their short Proof of Concept/Pilot proved too labor intensive to do by hand.

They would either need to magic up more money to hire more artists, take forever to produce the film and hope they break even, or push the artists to destroy themselves to make this movie.

Or, they could use an AI program to help with the shading.

I think that's one of the only examples I've seen where AI was good for both the artists and the producers, that was ethically trained, and didn't subtract from the intrinsic value of the movie itself.

We unfortunately don't have the collective sense to do this throughout the industry, so while it may not be necessary to pack your bags if you rely on art for income, getting paid to produce other people's ideas may start to be a thing of the past especially considering how rocky the foundations are even without AI. I used to want to work professionally as an animator or character designer, but I just kept reading stories about artists being abused and overworked, all to produce someone else's vision. Many more artists are independent these days for that exact reason.

[fox-quills]

do you have any recommendations for writing a fic? i have so many ideas but never can get pass writing even 1 paragraph of my idea. I guess maybe it’s because i have ADHD but it sucks!!! I’ve such great ideas for mha / erasermicdeku fics but never can get far. Any recommendations that helped you out? Or helped you be more productive?

Okay this is about to get long-winded because I have a LOT of thoughts on this topic. I'll drop a tl;dr at the end lol. So! First some background. I have ADHD too anon, and I'm struggling my way through life unmedicated, so I absolutely get where you're coming from. I've been writing fanfiction a long time. To give you an idea, my oldest posted fic is actually older than my current beta, so you know. Fandom ancient or whatever. But, for a long long LONG time, I really struggled with consistency. I have a list of unfinished fics behind me a mile long, because as much as I loved writing, and as much as I wanted to do it, I just couldn't seem to manage it around all that ADHD brain fog. So I wrote sporadically, only ever finished one long fic in probably twenty years, and generally felt pretty bad about myself all around. And then about a year and a half ago, I decided that I wanted to try writing consistently. Again. For the fifty bajillionth time. But I also knew everything I had ever tried didn't work, so if I wanted it to happen, I needed to do something different. So I started getting up two hours before work every weekday, and I regret to inform you that it worked beautifully. I think a large part of it is hedging your bets against ADHD brain. First thing in the morning, you're going to be more alert, and you haven't already used up all your limited thinky spoons on work or school or whatever else. You get your best, fresh morning brain! Let me give you some stats. Here's my total word count for the last five years:

I started my morning writing in June of 2023, which is probably pretty obvious. When I first started, my daily word counts weren't anything crazy, but I was making consistent, daily progress and I was super happy with it!

And here's my daily word count for the last few days:

And this is not me going crazy. Just my two hours in the morning, which is closer to an hour and a half because I gotta get up, make coffee, etc. I have a few things that helped make the transition easier. I work from home, so I can write up until the moment I gotta boot my laptop for work. My husband also happens to get up for work at the same time I get up for writing, so that helps too. But even without these things? I'd do it. If I had to drag my ass outta bed at 4am, I would, because it just works that well. I'll never go back to doing anything else. I have one other piece of advice that really helps keep me motivated, and that's to find a circle of people to talk to about your writing. Talk about your fic with your friends, join a discord server, something! I absolutely CANNOT overstate how motivating it is to have people excited for your story, people to talk to about your ideas, people who care about this silly little thing you've created. There's this idea that writing is a solitary thing, but I don't think that's true. At least, it doesn't have to be. And I don't know about you, anon, but I'll write an entire novel for one friend who wants to know how it ends. I write because I love it, but I also write because I love other people too, and I like making them happy. tl;dr - Get up early to write. Yes, I know it sucks, but it really does work. - Find someone to talk about your stories with. A friend, a beta, a fellow fan. Shared enthusiasm is a wonderful motivator. I'm not going to guarantee what works for me will work for everyone. I do strongly encourage you to give it a try though, because you never know! It took me a long time to get where I'm at. Part of that was not knowing I had ADHD till I was 30, so I was stuck fighting an invisible enemy. And then I had to learn how to work around it, which wasn't an easy thing to do. The most important thing is to be kind to yourself, and to do what you can. If you're lucky it won't take you quite as long as it took me, but if writing is something you enjoy, then you'll be able to carve out a place for it. It just might take some trial and error to get there. I believe in you ❤

[artist-issues]

Hello hello I have very big and complicated questions that started out broad and complex but got more and more specific and more and more personal like my questions to my family and friends always do. Whoops lol. Buckle up.

I wanted to ask about fanfiction. I've really been thinking about that post you made about how a lot of fanfiction can be just used as a form of escapism, and not in a good way like Tolkien described it, but as a 'I hate life so I'm gonna read and write extensively about fictional characters rather than working hard/trying to improve my own life' Which I really want to avoid and not do. In the past I've certainly fallen into that trap- I would get so caught up in writing Marvel or Percy Jackson or Harry Potter fanfiction (not to toot my own horn, but was objectively good and I do think grew my skills a lot as a writer and character analyzer) that I would spend every free moment and many of ones when I really should've been working on school or chores or spending time with my actual family reading and writing it. I was probably doing that 5-8 hours a day when I was 11/12. (Yikes) Thankfully, my parents smacked some sense into me lol. It really just goes to show you how, for lack of a better term, soul-consuming, that these kind of fantasy pursuits can really be. Thankfully, I don't do that any more. I actively limit myself to a max of 3 hours of reading and writing fanfiction over the course of a week, which is a big improvement.

So yay! Now I have a definte separation from writing fanfiction to improve my writing and writing it to waste time because all of my energy is focused on it to the point where it is in my every thought. Good! Growth!

But now my new thing is this- I want to make sure that any and all fanfiction I write has a definite point. I want it to point to good things and have clear messages and blue flowers and point to Jesus, even if it isn't specifically a 'Christian' fanfiction.

For example, let's just point at that Voice in the Dark one shot I wrote, which is one of, if not the, best singular fiction piece that I've written. I think the reasons why it was so good was that A) I expanded on the story in a way that was intriguing, and got inside my characters heads and accurately depicted their thought processes through it B) Made it pleasant to read with details and action and emotion and everything, C) set everything up for a part 2 conclusion of Sam and Five really connecting and talking about what they both said/thought, and becoming friends (which after procrastinating for months, I'm finally working on), but most importantly, D) Had clear themes of hope, perseverance, connection, trust, and encouragement. Which is really what I think made it so much more excellent than other fanfiction pieces I've written. I had a clear point and intention going into it that was more than just 'Have it be something I love and just for my entertainment' although that was one of the reasons I did decide to write it I will say- you do have to love what you want to write in order to write it well after all. But this is absolutely what I want the point of all my fanfiction writing to be like from here on out, being morally great, as well as well-written.

So now, because I really enjoy ZR and its really is kinda perfect for a fanfiction format, I want to turn it into more of an ongoing piece with my favorite missions and Five's relationships with the characters. But how do I go about this trying to intentionally bring in blue flowers and good messages and beautiful themes, and not just only write it for my entertainment because its a piece of media I love? How to I make sure to firstly know what themes I can bring in, and then do it in such a way that's well-written, while also being able to have those fun moments and situations that are both in the game and I've thought up?

And finally, last thing, is I'm wrestling through if I should continue writing fanfiction to 'fix' a story (which is why I started a Percy Jackson and Marvel fanfictions, I wanted to take the parts of each story I didn't like and were poorly done and make them better) rather than make my own point with it. For most of the fanfiction writing I've ever done, my goal was to improve it, to act like a ghostwriting editor the author hired to fix their fundamentally flawed story. But now I'm realizing that I was spending so much time and effort (which don't get me wrong, I do not fully regret, I really do think that I've gotten far better at fiction writing through this) and I didn't even add any more goodness or morals to the story in a way that made it more soul-sustaining and truly good. I wanted to add a lot of bits that made be as a reader squeal and get happy over which... I don't think is bad per say, but its not what I want my fanfiction to be like any more. With my writing, I absolutely do want to improve on the source material, yes, but I also want to figure out what sort of themes and goodness I'm going for with it. So should I continue writing these large projects (cause each piece covers several books/movies) for improvement and also try to expand on the good ideas and themes the authors had, even bringing in my own, or should I just set it aside as that was great, but now I need to focus on making writing morally good and not just for entertainment?

I know a big part of this is wisdom and descretion- things that God has blessed me with but I know I always can pursue more of. So I know a absolute perfect answer to this question will require time and experience. But after sorting through my word-vomiting (sorry lol), what would you say to all of this? Thank you!! <3

Hey! First of all, I love getting questions from you, and I especially love it because you take enough time to read the previous things I say that we can have a very level conversation, and a deep back-and-forth, which is not always the case with everybody who sends me questions (I like those questions too, I’m just saying.) So thanks for typing all that up!

Second of all, I’m no expert on fanfiction writing. You’ve read what I have to say about making sure the “Tone & Style” and “Themes” of any “Continued Work” stay true to their source material when it comes to like, sequels and expansions? Well, I guess I would apply that philosophy, generally, to fanfiction, too.

But the point of my “second of all” is actually, there are better people to ask about this than me. I can answer you in a broad “here’s how I apply my storytelling philosophy to this hypothetical scenario” sense, but other people have more experience actually doing what you’re talking about with fanfiction. Specifically, @doverstar, who, if you don’t follow her or read her stuff, I seriously think you’re missing out.

So in summary, talk to Doverstar. She’ll answer this better. But if I had to try and succinctly respond, I’d say: “Intentionality is always better than doing something by accident. But if you genuinely value goodness, beauty, and truth, in your own personal worldview, in a way that is genuine, and you cultivate that…it’ll come out in your writing on accident.” So in a way, even when you’re being intentional, as long as you remember that, you don’t have to be too militant whether you’re writing fanfiction or fiction.

(That’s a thought I’m still learning to put into practice, myself. I err on the side of “control everything to a T, outline everything, everything has to have a tie-in to the theme—if it doesn’t you’re failing—“ and I don’t recommend that mindset 😅) That’s the “short” answer to your ask. I’ve got a deep-dive below the cut if you’re interested, though.

How do I make sure to firstly know what themes I can bring in?

This has to do with knowing the source-story.

ZR unfortunately gets very political and social in further seasons, but to do it credit, the main, recurring, broad theme of Zombies, Run continues to be “Something greater than yourself is all that’s worth living and dying for.”

They keep coming back to it with literally every villain, and every hero, from multiple angles. You’ll see. They say, “the pursuit of pure happiness alone is bad because it’s selfish—the pursuit of immortality is bad because it’s selfish—the pursuit of everyone’s affections is bad because it’s selfish; but sacrificing for others is the real happiness, the real immortality, the real love, etc.”

So any fanfiction—even if, surface-read, it appears to be about Five falling in love with Sam or Janine learning to communicate, etc—that comes back to “Something greater than yourself is all that’s worth living and dying for.” is a success. Because it carried on the Main Point of ZR. Or it carried on a point that could be tied to the main point, whatevs.

But your question (for other fandoms) is “How do I know what themes I can bring in?”

Okay, well, that’s actually not so hard. Lots of “sub-themes” fit under the umbrella of the main theme. “Something greater than yourself,” well, that entails “self-sacrifice, gaining a broader perspective, finding empathy,” etc. (something you can see they do with sheltered characters or brittle, mission-focused miopic characters like Janine.)

But how did I find the main theme to begin with? This post. In summary:

Take in the Story, With the Single Expectation that They’re Trying to Tell You Something.

Take Note of Where You Felt Something. Then Figure Out Why You Felt It.

Figure Out What Each Character Wants, and If They Have a Moment of Change.

Look at What Decisions the Storytellers Reward, and What Decisions They Punish.

You can apply this to Marvel, to Percy Jackson, to anything. Once you figure out the main theme, it’s not so hard to break that down into little supporting ideas. And inject those into your own story. And you can even figure out where the storytellers dropped the ball, or lost their theme and did something totally out-of-character, and then fix that with your fanfiction.

Or, galaxy-brain, is when you figure out what the story was trying to say—and it was saying something bad or wrong, but you liked some of the setting or characterizations, you can fix that. Like I’ve always wanted to do with A Streetcar Named Desire.

What you don’t want to do is try to make the story about a theme that has nothing to do with any good or true thing—it’s just gratuitous. For example, I see about sixty fanfics for Twisters (one of my new favorite movies, you may recall) and they’re all about Tyler (the main guy) needing to be defended from his abusive alcoholic dad.

There is no mention of his dad, or alcohol, or Tyler having any emotional trauma, at all, in Twisters. Because the point of the movie Twisters is the girl character’s trauma (and her best friend’s,) and Tyler’s role in all of that is to be the guy who pushes her past that. Because he’s lived a lifestyle of “you ride your fears, you don’t run from them, you don’t even just face them.”

So why would a character who’s whole conception, who was created to say that, be curled up in a sad little miserable ball because his out-of-nowhere made-up father is back in town? He wouldn’t do that. His lifestyle is “ride your fears.” He’d be the guy reaching out and inviting his dad to lunch to see if something he does can make the outcome different, even though his dad never shows up, or always makes a scene, or whatever, because that would be “riding his fears.” That’s Tyler’s character. So why would you have him curl into a little ball and need his 126-lb girlfriend to defend him?

I’ll tell you why, it’s because the point of your story was not the point of Twisters, or anything good. The point of your story was, “I have a thing for emotional scenes where a man gets all weak and vulnerable and needs his love interest to take care of him,” and it shows. So you just hung skin-puppets and names of established characters on “your thing” and that’s trash storytelling. The characters are supposed to serve the story, and the story is supposed to serve the audience, not serve you.

That would be an extreme example of what not to do.

And then do it in such a way that's well-written, while also being able to have those fun moments and situations that are both in the game and I've thought up?

If my fanfic is all about Sam and Five coming clean about their feelings together, that’s fine—but they should be driven to do that because not doing that is selfish. And selfishness is the opposite of “something greater than yourself is all that’s worth living and dying for.” So I’d have Sam avoid admitting to himself that Five means so much to him because if he does, he opens himself up to crippling worry after what happened to Alice. So out of fear, which is ultimately self-protection, he doesn’t admit that he has feelings for her. But then eventually he comes to realize that caring about someone else actually drives him to work harder for the Greater Good, etc.

See what I mean? Your fanfic can be a string of scenes of will-they-won’t-they, romcom popcorn, as long as the thread holding them together is that character arc that points back to the game’s main theme.

To make it well-written, you just have to be genuine. I know everyone has lots of good tips like “show don’t tell” but books like Jane Eyre tell much more than they show. Some people say, “break up the pace with dialogue,” or “cut the tension with comedy, then ramp it back up,” etc., but there’s no cut to the tension in Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. There’s breaks to every rule. There’s an audience for every style. Just do what C. S. Lewis says and “tell the truth, without caring two pence if it’s original.”

If you know your source material and love the loveable parts for what it is, and then you marry that with what you really believe and value in the real world, you’ll get it.

Know what you’re trying to say, love what you’re trying to say, and sacrifice to say it.

I think now that you’re thinking about this stuff, you’re going to have a hard time not writing something morally good, with entertainment as a supporting pillar.

[theluckywizard]

For the ask thing:

🤗

🛠

Thank you for the questions, Caitlam 🥰

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

This is a great question! I still feel pretty new to it myself having only written fan fiction for a little over two years, but I've written 700k-800k words in that time and have learned many valuable lessons!

Don't worry about pissing people off. Be brave with the story you want to tell-- are you compromising your story because you're afraid someone might be annoyed with a choice you made? Don't do it!

Find some writing buddies. Fan fic audiences ebb and flow but writing buddies are forever.

The Valley of Despair is so real. There will be times you hate what you're writing and can only compare yourself to others. You might read someone's work and just despair because it's so good. But really it's just that you're recognizing that your work is imperfect and that if you choose to, you can grow! Every time I have been in the Valley of Despair (this whole damn winter for me) I've come out of it and written my finest work yet (this time it was my Alistair x Hawke fic for Templartations). I'm guessing that some people get to that Valley of Despair and actually stop writing but I would suggest pushing through. It won't last forever!

I decided to throw myself headfirst into a DA:I long fic out of ignorance. Nobody told me "hey you know have you heard of a one shot?" because I was not yet a fandom participant. I didn't know any other fan fic writers etc. I mean, I'm deep into it so I can't say don't do a long fic, but I will say to explore lots of different formats! Needless to say this will be my only 500k + fic 🤣

This might seem contradictory since I just said not to worry about pissing people off, but it's ok to write for yourself AND an audience. You want to consider the reader's experience as you write (not their opinions) but like-- what lore are they bringing with them coming into it? What scenes might I be able to smash cut past because everyone knows them? (I really, really wish I'd had this advice when I was first starting). And I don't mean to do this at the expense of your own enjoyment, it's just something to be aware of as you write.

You don't have to write anything you don't want to write. Is there a canon event that's giving you dread? Don't write it! You can cut past it and refer to how it went through dialogue or exposition. Nothing will burn you out more than writing stuff that feels like a chore. Write the good stuff that excites you.

If you're writing Dragon Age stuff? Join prompt writing events like: Dragon Age Drunk Writing Circle (Friday event) or Thedas Weekend (week long event). I hope that helps! 🥰

🛠 What tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

I do most of my writing in Scrivener, but for smaller works I will use Google Docs. I found the character limit of Google Docs some 40 chapters into In the Shattering of Things and it was sloowwwww. Scrivener is just lovely (but there are other options out there that people love!) I also use Literature and Latte's Scapple for visual plotting (see below-- I used it to plot my most recent complete fic using a romance plot template)

I also have my notes app on my phone full of half baked thoughts that i have on the fly (one for each fic) and i set calendar reminders to record my thoughts while I'm driving 😅

[runwayrunway]

No. 50 - All Nippon Airways Airbus A380 "Flying Honu" Livery

Happy 50th Runway Runway post! I had a bit of a hard time deciding what to do for it - after all, it's a pretty significant number. I already sort of know what I want to do for the 100th post, but I hadn't put much thought into the 50th, and I had to scuttle any plans for something long and interesting after a rather stressful week. Instead I decided to do something both fun and requested!

source: ANA Stories

One (well, three!) of the most beloved special liveries out there, All Nippon Airways' turtle-themed "Flying Honu" Airbus A380. These three friendly giants fly from Japan to Honolulu, delighting anyone lucky enough to see them.

Actually, I love the Flying Honu so much I have one myself.

I would describe myself as a bit of a magpie. I collect useless things, be they historical ephemera, horror movie memorabilia, old books, pretty rocks, or way too many fountain pen inks given I mostly use them to take notes. I even have a bunch of my old teeth in a pillbox. Surprisingly, though, the things my talons have lodged in don't include many model airplanes. I have...a few. I've actually, though serendipity, gotten two more since I started this blog, expanding my collection to a startling five. Maybe seven if you count my Starscream and Brainstorm figures, but I don't think I even remember how to put either of them in their alt modes. The fact is that while they aren't a fortune or anything plane figures are expensive enough that it's a commitment to buy one, and I usually only do when I stumble on a good deal for a model I really want. And one of the few times I've actually decided that I just needed a model of a specific livery was the "Flying Honu" A380. Specifically, the one I have is the airframe registered JA382A, Kai. (She's the 1:500 JC Wings diecast model and is around the size of my hand.)

I just needed to be able to gently tap her nose in person, okay? She can't fit up on the shelf with a lot of my other miscellaneous trinkets so she sits on my desk and sometimes I explain things to her while trying to figure them out, like a coding rubber duck. She makes me happy.

All Nippon Airways (全日本空輸) is a major Japanese airline. In fact, in terms of both fleet size and number of destinations they're bigger than flag carrier JAL. They're consistently described as being among the best airlines in the world for the discerning well-to-do business traveler, and let's just say that's not me, but what I am is a reviewer of airline liveries, and ANA sure has those! In addition to their standard Triton Blue livery they do all sorts of special designs, particularly crossovers with properties like Pokémon and Star Wars. All of these are something I would like to someday feature, but none of them matter at all to me when compared to the Flying Honu, introduced with the A380 fleet in 2019.

A couple of times when I've told people I know about this livery they asked me if 'honu' is Japanese for 'turtle'. That's a reasonable question, but the Japanese word for turtle is 'kame'. 'Honu' is the word for turtle, though - in Hawaiian.

image: ANA

In fact, Honolulu is the A380s' only destination. ANA didn't really want A380s to begin with, but ended up stuck with them while acquiring another airline. The thing about the A380, and the reason it failed commercially and so few were ever built, is that the use-case for a massive plane is pretty limited. It goes as such: you have a passengerbase of people who have to travel from one giant hub that can land an A380 to another frequently enough that you can actually make money on a plane with four entire engines.

Okay, so the use-case is that you're Emirates. ANA might be expensive, but they don't really have the central location or sheer amount of regular business travelers that Dubai does. 'Three' also isn't really that many A380s, which creates a bit of a question of reliability. So instead they fixed the problem in a way that's honestly pretty genius: they made it turtles.

image: ANA

ANA seems to be generally invested in Hawaii, with a fair amount of partnerships with local organizations. A lot of Hawaiian real estate is owned by Japanese companies, and those of Japanese descent are the second-larget ethnic group in Hawaii at 16.7%, so it makes sense that a lot of people would want to travel there. Tokyo to Honolulu is a nice 9-hour flight with no possibility for a stopover of any kind (unless they invent civilian aircraft carriers for A380s), so it's the perfect route for precisely three really huge planes.

images: ANA

They can fit 520 passengers across four classes on one flight, seated across both decks of the massive planes. There is also a section of seats which convert to couches, marketed for families. Those who fly this route get to enjoy rainbow lighting and the ability to buy a duty-free 1:500 model of the plane (not the same model I have, though, I'm pretty sure) or a set of Flying Honu plushes.

Ra looks like she's plotting something. Lani looks like she's never had a single thought in her life.

And they do make money off this, because people absolutely love these planes. People have apparently had their weddings on these planes, and I would too! They make ten weekly flights right now, but in December that will be increasing to fourteen weekly, or two daily.

Okay, so, the actual liveries.

Here's Kai in full-size! The light in my room make her look way cooler toned in the photographs, but in real life she's this color. It's frequently described as 'green' or 'emerald green', but I think it's definitely turquoise and would go so far as to call it blue. Whatever the case, it's meant to represent the color of the sea near Hawaii. Kai is also distinct from the others because of her eyes, which are closed as she smiles from ear to ear. That's why she's my favorite - she just looks so happy!

...a bit weirder looking from upfront, but look how even the ventral fairing is painted! That's part of the flippers where they curl around, tucked into the shell. Unlike the Transocean Air Jinbei Jets, the cockpit windows blend in with the 'scales' of the Flying Honu, looking rather natural.

'Ra' is a beautiful orange, meant to represent the Hawaiian sunset. She has a bit of a peach undertone if you look closely, but her details are done in an extremely vivid reddish orange. Her distinguishing feature are those gigantic eyelashes, similar to Sakura Jinbei's. The actual mouth shape on all three planes appears to be the same, but I find that the eyes still give them distinct 'personalities'. Ra has always looked very thoughtful to me.

Just look at her in flight! I've never understood why people call the 747 stately or graceful, and same for the A380 - double-decker planes are just inherently goofy-looking, and that's great, but ANA managed to make one look pretty elegant. I think it's because turtles are already regarded as large and slow creatures, so fitting like for like just makes it seem as natural for this absolutely gigantic aircraft to be flying as it is for a turtle to swim.

Finally, Lani, the turtle everyone agrees to be blue, represents the Hawaiian sky during its brightest color in daylight. If you look closely, you can see her blue 'eyeshadow', which I've always thought made her look relaxed.

This picture gives a good angle of my only real critique of the Flying Honu, which is that the shells and heads don't entirely look aligned, as if the head is in the process of being retracted. That said, I think that's just a fact of working with the shape of an airplane. There's just no more space below to fit any more shell.

Rather than being just one turtle, though, each "Flying Honu" has two fully rendered baby turtles following behind their 'mother'.

I think this is adorable, and beyond that it solves a crucial problem - the tail. Turtles do have those, but not in a way that maps onto a standard empennage. Instead, ANA makes the smart choice to end the shell at a certain point and add these two extra turtles make-way-for-ducklings-ing their way across the fuselage for more visual interest, leaving the tail empty for an ANA logo without making it jarring. This is a huge improvement over the Jinbei Jets, which again serve as a point of comparison as the other major Japanese marine life planes. (Amakusa Airlines is way smaller and thus not going to get caught up in this.)

I mean, it's hard to find too much to say about these that isn't just "oh my gosh, look at them". The Flying Honu are vividly colored, with clever shapes used to make them immediately recognizable as turtles. I smile every time I see one, including the little one on my desk!

And in case you weren't already delighted, there's two extra bonus turtles!

I think it's pretty obvious I'm giving these an A+. Come on, just...just look at them. The fact that ANA bothered to make three distinct ones with their own names and faces is just icing on the cake for me, but I do love that they did.

I can't believe I didn't find a way to fit this in earlier into the post, but I really love turtles. If you have an aquarium near you, and that aquarium has turtles, I really recommend stopping by to see them. My local New England Aquarium has had Myrtle for more than 50 years. As they describe her, 'the 550-lb Queen of the Giant Ocean Tank is large, in charge, and ready to receive your adoration'.

True to form, although a lot larger and dealing in a different type of fluid dynamics, the Flying Honu jets get plenty of my adoration too.