#don't click expand in tags this is long

[shirecorn]

Shirecorn's Ponyverse Masterpost

So for the last 2 months I've fixated on doing redesigns based somewhat loosely on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I've had so much fun filling in the gaps and extrapolating until my version is less of a redesign and more of an AU.

"Ponies" are three species of sentient hoofed creatures that populate Equestria. They worship giant goddesses that fill the sky and ferry the moon and sun across the world.

Tag navigation

#Shire draws mlp - drawings only. Leaves out the lore

#Skyscraper gods lore - drawings, posts, and asks that expand on the world. Talks about biology, genetics, ritual, society, politics, religion, but mostly creature design and magic.

#Skyscraper Gods - Art, asks, posts, and fanart! Everything to do with both my little pony canon and my version of things. Includes drawings without lore, and lore without drawings. This is the tag to browse to make sure you see it all

Characters

In progress: Discord

○ The Mane Six ○ All Alicorns,

○ Rarity ○ Fluttershy ○ Flutterbat ○ Applejack ○ Pinkie Pie ○ Pinkie Pie Pegasus ○ Rainbow Dash ○ Twilight Sparkle ○ Raritwi ○ Spike

○ Princess Celestia + Princess Luna ○ Princess Cadance + Shining Armor + Flurry Heart ○ Sunset Shimmer ○ Sunburst ○ Apple Bloom + Scootaloo + Sweetie Belle (Cutie Mark Crusaders) ○ Big Macintosh/Ochard Blossom (she is a woman) ○ Granny Smith ○ Mr & Mrs Cake + Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake ○ Maud Pie + Mudbriar ○ Trixie Lulamoon + Starlight Glimmer ○ Cozy Glow ○ Zephyr Breeze ○ Escape Room Guy + Dusty Pages ○ Berry Punch/Berryshine ○ Vapor Trail ○ Bulk Biceps ○ Tempest Shadow ○ Flim and Flam ○ Queen Chrysalis + Thorax + Ocellus (Changelings) ○ Autumn Blaze (kirin) ○ Rain Shine (kirin leader) ○ Sky Beak (hippogriff) ○ Starcatcher and Skywishes (G3)

Lore

○ The 3 pony species ○ Breeding/genetics ○ The 4 Alicorns stories ○ Gods of non-pony species? Seapony god? ○ Unicorn Horns: Starlight physics, Different shapes, Alicorn horns, Horn colors, ○ Where did Spike come from? (1) (2) ○ Your daughter has won the favor of God (fic) ○ Nightmare moon playlist ○ Cutie marks are cultural not physical: (1) (2) ○ Starlight Glimmer's hometown and her cult ○ Alicorns don't fit inside buildings ○ Discord is a headache to behold ○ Government in the world of gods ○ Gender and matriarchy ○ Scootaloo's flightless disability ○ Equestria Girls Vs Skyscraper Gods, existential horror ○ Pinkie Pie breaks the forth wall because she hopped worlds once ○ Vampire fruit bat ecology and virus ○ How ponies caught it

Meta

○ Using Skyscraper Gods as inspiration (2) ○ Why I like expanding on MLP: its simplicity ○ MLP Creature designs are already good ○ If you don't like my designs ○ I'm just having fun: (1) (2) ○ Mane 6 doodle to finished design ○ After ponies ○ Designing based on birds and animals ○ Starcatcher dove

Shitposts and Doodles

○ My fursona in mlp style ○ Daytime! Nighttime! ○ Baby god ○ Local horse fistfights the sun ○ Shining armor alicorn ○ Sunset shimmer becomes god (2) ○ Poodle rarity ○ Zephyr Breeze thinks RD is a man ○ Season 9 ○ Why is EQ an hour long ○ Being held at gunpoint to watch Equestria Girls ○ World's gayest dash ○ 18 pounds of crake

Fanart by others

○ Fanart tag

Commissions

○ People request a lot and that normal ○ Prices are low because I'm already fixated

Ko-fi requests || Classic commissions

Shirecorn Discord

Join any tier of my patreon to access my art discord

○ See WIPs, discussion, the occasional meltdown, and more ○ The content is all done through discord, so if the patreon looks dead it's all just on the server instead.

I hope you enjoy seeing my MLP creations as much as I enjoy making them!

[seaweedstarshine]

Tags by @transmasc-rose

#DOCTOR: Because she's forgotten. She's got over four thousand living minds chatting away inside her head. It must be like being#well#me.#yeah yeah yeah#I feel like we gets bits and pieces that something is going on with the Doctor#that isn't shown so much in the show#but gets expanded on (inconsistently) in eu material#and is also stronger in Moffat's run#one bit I think about sometimes is this bit from Forest of the Dead#which not-so-coincidentally was also written by Moffat#I've seen people interpret this as about being psychic#but with what we see of the Doctor#and his relationship with his self#and his regenerations#and at times hallucinations (visual or auditory)#well.

Oh, you're spot on! This reblog is me recording that line in my tag, because how hadn't I thought of it before? Incidentally, in the time since my original tags where I said I didn't read ten as psychotic — okay, ever since imbibing The Waters of Mars Novelization — I have completely changed my opinion on psychotic Tenth Doctor, because,

⚠️ This is now a The Waters of Mars Novelization appreciation post! ⚠️

Time Lord Victorious as a grandiose delusion:

(with notes of paranoia)

A delusion — not because he thinks he's a god (it’s not like there’s not a family in Rome actively worshiping him) — it’s the way the fact of it becomes so irrefutable to him he can’t fathom how anyone could see it differently:

He may be vain, but the Doctor explaining what snow is isn't vanity:

Anyway, the main point is his pressured speech that slips into clang associations he works to focus. It reads to me as a psychotic episode, and probably one connected to mania, even outside the novelization:

So I see the Tenth Doctor's psychosis specifically as being (usually) more connected to mood episodes, and for an incarnation with a lot of depression ever since losing Rose — it clicks with Forest of the Dead (“is ‘alright’ special Time Lord code for ‘really not alright at all’?”) — hell yes is Ten in his Season 4 psychotic depression era. “She's got over four thousand living minds chatting away inside her head. It must be like being, well, me.” yes!

Mister Speeches trying to find the words:

*I actually want to go through all of Time Lord Victorious books/audios/comics/etc sometime so I can talk about this (I only ever listened to like, The Minds of Magnox and some of the audios which were good but super confusing out of the context).

I love Amy's Choice and I love The Day of the Doctor Novelization, but something that only clicked for me recently — is that the reason the Eleventh Doctor is able to instantly recognize and brush past the Dream Lord when he appears — is because for as long as he's had this body, he's been hallucinating the War Doctor’s voice taunting him in a very similar way (minus all the jokes).

Similar like this:

Of course at the end of Amy's Choice, the Doctor sees the Dream Lord reflected in the console, looks distressed, and says nothing, and I just. I love how Moffat used that novelization to flesh out so many different elements he included in his run.

[elexuscal]

The "Top" fics in fandom are not the "Best"

I've seen a couple of posts here in there implying that the ways to find the best fics in fandoms are just to go to ao3, and sort by 'Most Kudoses', 'Most Bookmarks', 'Most Comments', etc. I've also seen some folks say they feel like their fics are failures if they don't make it to the front page(s), or at least near there.

But the simple fact: this is not true.

Now, I'm not saying that the top-rated fics in a fandom are bad.

Far from it! They're often very popular for a reason. Well written, fun dynamics, cool plots, etc. A lot of my own favourite fics have made it to the first page when you sort by "Most Kudos"-- but then, a lot of mine also haven't.

Why?

Because those selections are inherently biased.

What do I mean by that? Just that there are other factors influencing what stories accumulate the most comments/kudoses/etc in a fandom, meaning none of these serve as a neutral metric of quality.

I'm going to explain some of these biases briefly, just so folks get a sense of what I mean:

Age Bias This, I think, is the easiest to grasp. A fic that is three years old just has had more time to gain views than a fic that's three days old. Also, consider that pretty much any fandom needs time to grow. If you're in the first days/weeks/months of a fandom, there probably just isn't that much content being made. If there's only 10 fics on the archive, then 11th one stands out. It'll get a lot of attention. But if that same fic were to come out a couple years later, when there were 11 fics published in a single day, well, people are more likely to miss it. If you doubt me, take a look at the front page of 'Most Kudos' for a fandom of your choice. You'll probably see a lot of the stories there are on the older side- and this is exactly why.

Multi-Chapter Bias There are a lot of ways people find new fics to read, and one of the most basic is just: look at the front page of the most recent updates. Now, this way of sorting fics is exactly what it sounds like. A list of fics in order of when they were most recently posted/updated. But, obviously, if a fic has multiple chapters, it's going to appear on that front page way more often. A 50 chapter epic has 49 more chances to get seen this way than a one-shot. This issue becomes even more intense when you consider the Most Comments sort option. For a one shot, a person is probably likely to only comment once. Maybe if they really love the story and revisit, they'll leave a second or third. But multi-factor fics? By design, people come back every update. And that means a lot of people leave comments every single time. (Or at the very least, after big plot developments and twists!) This is what leads to long-running multi-chapter epics dominating the 'Most Comments' rankings in most fandoms.

Popular Pairing Bias Again, this is just obvious. Some pairings are more popular than others. A rare-pair fic can be just as soulful, hot, and well-written as a story featuring the fandom's powerhouse fic, but if only 30 people are interested, well... [shrug] Less people will click on it, kudos it, and leave a comment. To a lesser extent, you can expand this to any trope. 'Coffee Shop AUs' just seem to be more popular than, say, '1930s Mobster AUs'. That effects what tags people search, and what fics they find. But shipping is such an important element of many fandom cultures I thought it would be the most illustrative.

Positive Feedback Loop Bias And honestly, this is maybe the real clincher. Because I've established some of the things that can cause a story to start gathering lots of kudos, comments, and bookmarks in a first place. But once that starts, you get a positive feedback loop going. Because what's one of the first things a person does when they're looking for good stories in a fandom? They sort by 'Most Kudos'. And then they select the first story on the list, and they like it. So they leave a comment and kudos and... Yeaaaah.

So... What do we do about it?

Well. Nothing really. This isn't really a problem. It's just something to be aware of.

Any attempt to put metrics on something as subjective as art is going to fall short. So don't go rating the quality of your own stories about how well it performs, and don't go chasing those coveted top spots. You'll have a lot more fun if you just write stuff that you enjoy, make some friends, and recognise a lot of factors influence fanfic statistics beyond just quality.

Searching via most comments/kudoses/bookmarks remains one of the easiest and quickest ways to start diving into a new fandom. It's often the first things I do, and found stories I love that way.

That said: I highly encourage you to search for fics beyond just that method. Here are some of my suggestions if you want to figure out ways to get started:

Search up Fanfic Rec Lists. Lots of people put them on their blogs, and websites like TVTropes even have that as a whole feature

Ask for fic recs! Seriously! Post about it in the fandom's tumblr tag, join Discord communities, etc, and just say, "Hey, I'd love to read a story where... [insert the general themes, characters, or plot points you like". People will be EXCITED to share.

Search by specific tags Like, do you really, really love time loops? Search the 'Time Loop' tag in your favourite fandoms. A lot of specific tropes, AUs, etc. are canonized, so you can find a lot of stuff up your alley that way

Browse the most recently updated fics Yeah, I know, it's old school. But seriously, you can find some awesome stuff there-- including stories from new authors just starting out, who could really use a boost!

And hey... if you find some stories you like... Consider writing some fic recommendation lists of your own. Spread the love!

[russo-woso]

No, you don’t get to do this | Leah Williamson

Summary Leah drunken mistakes lead to the worst consequences

It had started out as a normal day.

You had woken up with the strong arms of your girlfriend, Leah, wrapped around you.

Knowing she had a long day full of training, you slipped out of her embrace and made your way downstairs to make her breakfast.

The connection you both had was so strong, that as soon as you had finished making it, she walked down the stairs.

You had both met when you were 16, and Leah 17. She had walked into you whilst walking round the local park, and to make it up to you, she offered to buy you a drink at the cafe near by.

You went on several dates after that, before finally, you shared a kiss and Leah asked you to be her girlfriend.

Since then, you've only expanded your love day by day and the love you felt seemed that it would never die out.

That was only how it felt for you though.

Whilst Leah was at training, you had gone out shopping, buying all the essentials you'd need for the next week.

Once you arrived back home, you made yourself some lunch before sitting down and grabbing your phone, for the first time that day.

You caught up on everything there was to see before finally clicking on Instagram.

There was one specific notification on instagram that caught your attention.

You and Leah liked to keep your relationship private, you always had.

But people liked to investigate you, and your relationship with Leah. I mean, of course they would, you were in a relationship with England's captain.

Because of this, the fans knew you just as much as they did Leah.

So, when you were tagged in videos, you thought nothing of them.

Sometimes you clicked on them because you thought why not. Sometimes you didn't.

But as soon as you clicked on the latest notification, your heart shattered.

In front of your eyes, lay a picture of Leah, your Leah, kissing another girl.

It had been taken from last Friday. Leah went out with a close friend of hers, Alex Scott, and decided to wear a new suit she had bought, the exact suit she was wearing in the picture.

Almost immediately after realising what the picture was telling you, tears started to run down your face.

Leah had kissed a girl, a girl that wasn't you.

You put your lunch down on the table, there was no way you could eat now, your appetite had gone.

You felt disgusted. Disgusted by Leah's actions.

You ran up the stairs before collapsing onto the bed.

You buried your head in the pillow, soaking it with your tears.

Your eyelids started falling and with the exhaustion from crying, they finally gave way and you fell into a deep sleep.

You only awoke again once you heard the sound of keys.

"Baby, I'm home." Leah's voice filled the house.

The memories of the picture flooded your head and once again, tears escaped your eyes.

"Baby? Where are you?" Leah asked, confusion clear in her voice.

The sound of footsteps became louder before finally, the door to your shared bedroom opened.

"Oh, my love, why are you crying? Come here." Leah stepped closer, ushering you into a hug.

"No."

"What? What's wrong? You can tell me anything, baby. I'm here." Leah once again tried to hug you, but this time you pushed her away.

"No, you don't get to do this. You don't get to come in here, into our house, Leah, and act like nothings wrong." You tried to shout at her, but your voice was hoarse from the crying and exhaustion.

"What are you talking about?"

"How could you, Leah? I thought you were mine and I was yours. Clearly not anymore. I can't believe you." Your voice broke as tears continued to stream down your face.

"Listen, my love, I'm so sorry. I was so drunk and so was she. It was a regret as soon as I pulled away. You've got to believe me, Y/N. I love you, only you." Leah said, coming to realisation about what you were on about.

"Get out." You managed to say, full of pain.

You never imagined yourself and Leah in this situation.

And here you were, watching Leah pack a bag with her essentials in.

"I'm so sorry, Y/N. I love you so much, I'll only ever love you. I was so fucking stupid." Leah apologised again, and you shook your head in response, you couldn't deal with any more of this, not tonight anyway.

It had started as a normal day, waking with Leah beside you, and now you were falling asleep, feeling cold and empty, with no Leah in bed.

The following day, you stayed in bed.

You physically couldn't move. The only thing that clouded your mind was the picture of Leah and that woman.

You had never experienced a break up before.

Leah was your first everything.

Your first relationship, your first kiss, your first time.

Which is why this break up was even harder for you. It had always been you and Leah, and now it wasn't.

You were cuddled up in the duvet, but yet, you still felt cold.

And you only felt colder when you finally left the bed because the doorbell had gone off.

You left your bedroom, and the sound of silence filled your ears.

You reached the door and opened it to find a big bouquet of flowers.

You picked them up, walking back inside and put them on the kitchen counter.

Buried inside them was a single note.

I'm so sorry, baby.

- your L

You burst into tears. You didn't know what to do.

On one hand, you never wanted to speak to Leah again. But on the other, you just wanted your Leah back.

Your want for Leah back expanded again when you were laying in bed that night.

You couldn't fall asleep. Your bed was empty without Leah beside you.

Over the next few days, Leah had messaged to say sorry, and at 2 o'clock everyday, the doorbell went off.

Every time you opened the door, you were met with a small gift.

On the first day, it was flowers, the second day, it was chocolate, today, it was a hot chocolate.

To anyone else, a cup of hot chocolate would have been a random things to give to someone when trying to say sorry.

But to you, it was a thoughtful gift that happened to be an inside joke for you and Leah.

On your first date with Leah, when she took you to the local cafe, you had asked for a hot chocolate, in a take away cup.

You hated the taste of coffee but wanted to look sophisticated and so asked for a hot chocolate in a to go cup so you could make out that it was coffee.

When Leah found out, she fell into a laughing fit and has never forgotten since.

Once you bought the hot chocolate inside, you chuckled to yourself, before tears welled in your eyes.

Later on that night, you settled yourself on the sofa and put on a movie that you hadn't watched in a while.

Midway through, the doorbell went again.

You hesitantly got up, not knowing who it was and the fact that it was 9:30.

You opened it cautiously to be met with Leah's face.

"Can we talk?" She asked and you nodded.

"I don't know if you've gotten the message or not, but I am so sorry. I regret kissing that woman, I regret going out that night, I regret everything about that night. I drank so much that night and something came over me, but I love you Y/N/N. Only you. I will do whatever it takes to get you back. I just — I can't lose you. And I know I probably already have, but I'll try my hardest. I can't fall asleep at night because you're not there. I can't close my eyes because all I see is you, and it kills me knowing that I can't be with you. It's always been Leah and Y/N. I can't be just Leah." Leah explains, her voice breaking towards the end.

"Le, I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. It's unfair that I just came here. I'm sorry." Leah turned around quickly, walking towards the door.

"Leah, wait." You call out. She turns around again, hope in her eyes. "You promise you won't do anything like that again?"

"I promise. God, I was so stupid. I won't do anything like that again. You're the only one I want to kiss." Leah says, tears falling from her eyes.

"Good, because you're the only one I want to kiss too." You say and rest both your hands on her face, your thumbs wiping her tears away.

"I'm so sorry, baby. I'm so so sorry." Leah sobs and rests her forehead on yours.

"Ssh, I know you are. I know." You coo and press a light kiss to her head.

"Can I kiss you?" Leah asks and without answering, you plant your lips on hers.

It was a slow kiss, but a kiss where all of the love you felt for one another was poured into it.

As the kiss came to an end, you felt Leah smile against your lips, before burying her head in your neck.

"Thank you so much for giving me another chance." Leah mumbled into your neck

"You've still got a lot of making up to do, missy."

"I know, and I will."

"I know you will." You smile and reconnected your lips.

[jovial-thunder]

Pre-alpha Lancer Tactics changelog

(cross-posting the full gif changelog here because folks seemed to like it last time I did)

We're aiming for getting the first public alpha for backers by the end of this month! Carpenter and I scoped out mechanics that can wait until after the alpha (e.g. grappling, hiding) in favor of tying up the hundred loose threads that are needed for something that approaches a playable game. So this is mostly a big ol changelog of an update from doing that.

But I also gave a talent talk at a local Portland Indie Game Squad event about engine architecture! It'll sound familiar if you've been reading these updates; I laid out the basic idea for this talk almost a year ago, back in the June 2023 update.

We've also signed contracts & had a kickoff meeting with our writers to start on the campaigns. While I've enjoyed like a year of engine-work, it'll be so so nice to start getting to tell stories. Data structures don't mean anything beyond how they affect humans & other life.

New Content

Implemented flying as a status; unit counts as +3 spaces above the current ground level and ignores terrain and elevation extra movement costs. Added hover + takeoff/land animations.

Gave deployables the ability to have 3D meshes instead of 2D sprites; we'll probably use this mostly when the deployable in question is climbable.

Related, I fixed a bug where after terrain destruction, all units recheck the ground height under them so they'll move down if the ground is shot out from under them. When the Jerichos do that, they say "oh heck, the ground is taller! I better move up to stand on it!" — not realizing that the taller ground they're seeing came from themselves.

Fixed by locking some units' rendering to the ground level; this means no stacking climbable things, which is a call I'm comfortable making. We ain't making minecraft here (I whisper to myself, gazing at the bottom of my tea mug). 

Block sizes are currently 1x1x0.5 — half as tall as they are wide. Since that was a size I pulled out of nowhere for convenience, we did some art tests for different block heights and camera angles. TLDR that size works great and we're leaving it.

Added Cone AOE pattern, courtesy of an algorithm NMcCoy sent me that guarantees the correct number of tiles are picked at the correct distance from the origin.

pick your aim angle

for each distance step N of your cone, make a list ("ring") of all the cells at that distance from your origin

sort those cells by angular distance from your aim angle, and include the N closest cells in that ring in the cone's area

Here's a gif they made of it in Bitsy:

Units face where you're planning on moving/targeting them.

Got Walking Armory's Shock option working. Added subtle (too subtle, now that I look at it) electricity effect.

Other things we've added but I don't have gifs for or failed to upload. You'll have to trust me. :)

disengage action

overcharge action

Improved Armament core bonus

basic mine explosion fx

explosion fx on character dying

Increase map elevation cap to 10. It's nice but definitely is risky with increasing the voxel space, gonna have to keep an eye on performance.

Added Structured + Stress event and the associated popups. Also added meltdown status (and hidden countdown), but there's not animation for this yet so your guy just abruptly disappears and leaves huge crater.

UI Improvements

Rearranged the portrait maker. Auto-expand the color picker so you don't have to keep clicking into a submenu.

Added topdown camera mode by pressing R for handling getting mechs out of tight spaces.

The action tooltips have been bothering me for a while; they extend up and cover prime play-area real estate in the center of the screen. So I redesigned them to be shorter and have a max height by putting long descriptions in a scrollable box. This sounds simple, but the redesign, pulling in all the correct data for the tags, and wiring up the tooltips took like seven hours. Game dev is hard, yo.

Put the unit inspect popups in lockable tooltips + added a bunch of tooltips to them.

Implemented the rest of Carpenter's cool hex-y action and end turn readout. I'm a big fan of whenever we can make the game look more like a game and less like a website (though he balances out my impulse for that for the sake of legibility).

Added a JANKY talent/frame picker. I swear we have designs for a better one, but sometimes you gotta just get it working. Also seen briefly here are basic level up/down and HASE buttons.

Other no-picture things:

Negated the map-scaling effect that happens when the window resizes to prevent bad pixel scaling of mechs at different resolutions; making the window bigger now just lets you see more play area instead of making things bigger.

WIP Objectives Bullets panel to give the current sitrep info

Wired up a buncha tooltips throughout the character sheet.

Under the Hood

Serialization: can save/load games! This is the payoff for sticking with that engine architecture I've been going on about. I had to add a serialization function to everything in the center layer which took a while, but it was fairly straightforward work with few curveballs.

Finished replacement of the kit/unit/reinforcement group/sitrep pickers with a new standardized system that can pull from stock data and user-saved data.

Updated to Godot 4.2.2; the game (and editor) has been crashing on exit for a LONG time and for the life of me I couldn't track down why, but this minor update in Godot completely fixed the bug. I still have no idea what was happening, but it's so cool to be working in an engine that's this active bugfixing-wise! 

Other Bugfixes

Pulled straight from the internal changelog, no edits for public parseability:

calculate cover for fliers correctly

no overwatch when outside of vertical threat

fixed skirmisher triggering for each attack in an AOE

fixed jumpjets boost-available detection

fixed mines not triggering when you step right on top of them // at a different elevation but still adjacent

weapon mods not a valid target for destruction

made camera pan less jumpy and adjust to the terrain height

better Buff name/desc localization

Fixed compcon planner letting you both boost and attack with one quick action.

Fix displayed movement points not updating

Prevent wrecks from going prone

fix berserkers not moving if they were exactly one tile away

hex mine uses deployer's save target instead of 0

restrict weapon mod selection if you don't have the SP to pay

fix deployable previews not going away

fix impaired not showing up in the unit inspector (its status code is 0 so there was a check that was like "looks like there's no status here")

fix skirmisher letting you move to a tile that should cost two movement if it's only one space away

fix hit percent calculation

fix rangefinder grid shader corner issues (this was like a full day to rewrite the shader to be better)

Teleporting costs the max(spaces traveled, elevation change) instead of always 1

So um, yeah, that's my talk, any questions? (I had a professor once tell us to never end a talk like this, so now of course it's the phrase that first comes to mind whenever I end a talk)

[bonesbuckleup]

Hi, random q. I saw in your tags that you swear by Scrivener for original fic. I’m still plugging away in ye olde Word and now I’m intrigued to know what about Scrivener you like so much. I’ve def heard about it but never used it, so I’m curious :)

YES I would love to tell you about my lord and savior software Scrivener. I hope you don't mind I published this long, long answer publicly.

So. The main issue I have with Word and Google Docs is that you hit a certain length/word count, and it starts to lag and load kind of jerkily. You know? Also, navigating chapter to chapter or scene to scene is awkward for me--you either have to have a whole bunch of individual documents and multiple windows open, or you have to use headers and the table of contents...which is fine for quickly finding chapters but less so for scenes within those chapters.

Messy, basically. Does not spark joy for me.

Enter Scrivener.

Now, before I evangelize a bit, I will say that Windows Scrivener and Mac Scrivener are not 100% created equal. They are both better, I think, than Word or Google docs, but the Mac version is a bit slicker and a little nicer to look at. I only say that for if you're using Windows, because if so my screencaps below won't exactly match what you see if/when you download the program.

ONWARD.

So, the #1 thing that Scrivener has over Word is that it's a one time fee, not a subscription. So while it is a little pricey (Just went and looked, $59.99 USD), it's only the one payment. All updates and such are covered and available as free downloads. I will also say that Scrivener gives you a 30 day free trial. That's not 30 consecutive days, but 30 days of use--if you only use it every other day, you'll have the trial for 60 days. They make it really easy to figure out if it's for you or not.

This is also going to feel like a lot, but there are built in tutorials and it's actually pretty intuitive, depending on how your brain works. Anyway! The basic gist of Scrivener is that it's a digital binder. You can keep all your book stuff in one place:

As you can see, there's the manuscript (aka my book), notes, research, more. Tbh, I mostly just use notes and Manuscript, but if it floats your boat, you can store maps, place names, worldbuilding, playlist links, moodboards, a whole ton of stuff, all in one menu that's easy to access and in a single window. You can organize it however itches your brain the best way.

But like I said, for me, the best is that Manuscript part, which I'm going to go into now. I use a three act structure for books (but break the big ol' middle act into two pieces because it makes my brain happy), so each act gets a folder.

When I click and expand that act, each chapter has it's own folder. However, it also shows quick-reference index cards, so I can have an at-a-glance at what's going down in each chapter. (I'm using a outline system called Save the Cat for this book, which is why all my chapters have titles like 'Catalyst', feel free to ignore those...I also have a very compact timeline, so to help me stay organized, I labeled each chapter with when it happens.)

You can do the same with each individual chapter and the scenes, where when you click on the chapter folder, each scene gets a card. If you don't type in a summary, it'll just auto-populate the start of whatever content you were writing. You can see this in the 'Copper's Candids NEW' card.

And, of course, it is writing software. When you click on the individual scene, it opens the blank document, and you can get cracking.

So. This system is nice for a few reasons. My favorite is that it makes navigating, reorganizing, and/or rewriting scenes extremely easy. It's just point and click, drag and drop. You can also open two docs in the same window at once, like this:

Which is a nice feature for several reasons--you can work on a new version of a scene with the old one pulled up next to it, or if there's something you wrote earlier or that comes later that's important to what you're working on now, you can have them both up for quick referencing.

Another slick thing is each doc has a notes section off to the right side of the screen--which is optional! I use it for future revision notes/descriptions of how I want the scene to go:

My other favorite part of Scrivener is that it makes it very easy to hoard your deleted scenes like a deranged dragon in case you want them later. My garbage looks like this:

There are SO MANY FILES hanging out in my trash, and you know what? I so rarely actually need them, but my god am I glad they're there on the rare occasion that I do. Word, again, can make it more difficult. I always had a massive 'cut' document that was longer than the actual project and again, awful to navigate. This just makes it easier.

Scrivener also makes it easy to compile the manuscript into other doc types--pdf, doc, docx, etc--for easy printing and sharing.

ANYWAY. I'm sure there are approximately 1 million other things I'm missing, but basically Scrivener takes all your book/long project bits, puts them in one centralized file, and makes it super easy to navigate. I've also found that outlining is easier, because I can just make the folders and scenes and drag them around while I noodle through the plot.

10/10, would recommend to any long-form writer. If you have any other questions, please let me know! If anyone has read this far and has a thing about Scrivener to add, please do! I love Scrivener, and a lot of my writing buddies love Scrivener, and it really kinda has revolutionized the way I write original fiction. I'm always happy to yell about how great it is.

[duckchu]

Hi!

Could you please write for the following for Kayn;

Reader has media studies, and got an internship under Yone's guidance (as much as I love him, strictly platonic😭)

Kayn falls for reader along the way she is there to work with Yone, maybe even gets a little jealous until he gets himself to finally make a move and stop being dramatic about it 💀

Can have tags, im down for anything 👀🗿

Thank you ❤️

Ooooh I love this idea thank youuu

But I've got no idea how media studies work (I have expanded history and English, so pretty different directions sorry) so if I make stupid mistakes lmk so I can correct them

Also Kayn is kinda mean in the beginning but it's Kayn

"Ok no worries it's just an internship with one of the biggest producers you've heard of, no biggie" You thought to yourself as you walked into the studio. Yone, the supervisor of your internship, was already waiting for you. At the beginning, your relationship was very stiff. Neither of you knew how to approach it, since it was the first internship both of you have done. While you liked working under him since you were always given clear instructions and his critique was rooted in wanting to help you better your work and not mean spirited at all. After a week, you both warmed up to eachother, sharing some small talk and finally you met his bandmates. Don't get me wrong, he didn't mean to put off your meeting, but they were all busy with their own schedules while he was mentoring you. But then, one day you walked into the studio and saw the other 5 members of HEARTSTEEL, goofing around. Yone must have noticed how surprised you were, so he introduced you to all the guys. Aphelios only gave you a nod, busy with his own work and Kayn seemed not too pleased at meeting you, but Ezreal, Sett and K'Sante seemed more excited about meeting you. After getting to know most of the guys, you got to work, working on a song for HEARTSTEEL'S new album, which seemed to annoy Kayn

- Are we really letting her produce our songs?-

After that Yone seemed to precisely time your work so you wouldn't be in the studio with Kayn as often as the rest, though it surprisingly seemed to annoy the pink headed menace, who went behind Yone's back in order to find you during your break and talk you up. While being as annoying as he always is. While you entertained him for some time, you quickly got back to work and that was that. Or so you thought. You intrigued him. So he spend his sweet time bugging Yone about you, sometimes even suggesting the older man was in a relationship with you to test how he'll react.

Finally, after a long time, when your internship was coming to an end he decided that he's done feeling jealous of how much time you spent with Yone. Or how many times you went to grab dinner with Ezreal. Even how you and Alune seemed to click instantly when she came to see how the progress on the album was going. When you went to take your break, he grabbed you and pulled you in an old supply closet. From the unamused look on your face he figured there were better ways to do this, but whatever.

- So...Wanna go out? - god, why is he so...himself? But might as well, a little date wouldn't hurt

- Sure. - You couldn't believe you agreed, but what's the worst that could happen?

An annoying boyfriend could happen.

[kpop-stories-21]

Sci-fi Section | Among The Stars

Group: ATEEZ

Pairing: Yunho x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 3.4k

Rating: 18-21+

Genres + AUs: Non-Idol AU, Space AU, Aliens, Smut

Content & Trigger Warnings: Alien!Yunho, Space Pirate!Reader, explosions, injuries, reader & crew are presumed dead, unprotected sex(wrap that shit up kids), size kink, pet names, dirty talk, fisting, oral sex(f receiving), double penetration, orgasm denial

Summary: You just wanted this job to go down without a hitch so you could take a long overdue vacation. You weren't planning to end up in bed with a hot alien dead-set on making you scream his name for the whole planet to hear.

Tags: @kpop---scenarios @stardragongalaxy @jeonrose @skittlez-area512 @mybiasisexo @skeletor-ify @biaswreckingfics @anyamaris @liliesofdreamsskz @rdiamond2727 @naturalogre @thelargefrye @yoonguurt @bxffietheblxxdy

If you want to be added to my taglist, click here

Network pings: @cacaokpop-fics | @kdiarynet

MDNI banner courtesy of @cafekitsune

Event Masterlist | Main Masterlist

When you entered the Sci-fi section you were surprised to find the glowing book right away. Taking a moment to collect yourself, you pulled the book from the shelf and opened it. White light filled your vision before fading to black.

"Y/N, wake up! We're here!"

Sitting up with a start, it took you a moment to remember that you were in the captain's quarters of your beloved little ship Desire. You'd been having a strange dream about a library and some kind of trial you were supposed to complete. Shaking your head to clear it, you dressed and exited your room.

Yeonjun was waiting for you in the cockpit with the rest of your crew. You smiled at them, a sense of relief filling you as you gazed at the large blue planet Azerulas. Once this shipment was delivered, you would have the money to expand both your clientele and the reach of your travels. All six of you were praying to whomever might be listening that everything would go over without a hitch.

Taking your place in the pilot's seat, you turned off the autopilot and expertly steered the ship into the queue to await your turn at the security gate that hovered above the planet.

You'd never been to this planet, but many of the foods and drinks you enjoyed on Earth originated from here, so you hoped you'd have time to enjoy the sights and tastes.

When you reached the gate, you were surprised to see a human officer instead of an Azerulan. The exhausted-looking female gave your phoney information a mere cursory glance after discovering the credits embedded in the code of the documents. A quick tap had the money landing in her personal account without trace and she waved you on through.

The grin on your face was wide as you docked in the designated hangar and turned to your crew.

"We've been planning this for months now, everyone knows where they're going and what they're doing. Don't forget, if things look suspicious, say the codeword through our private comm line and we'll retreat back here. Any questions?"

Five pairs of eager eyes watched you excitedly, but none voiced any concerns.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road."

As you disembarked the bright silver of Azerulas' three moons lit the hangar bay like it was daytime. Gazing around in awe, it took mere seconds for you to realise that most of the things you'd heard about this planet's inhabitants were the results of misinformation.

The Azerulans were far less humanoid than you'd been told, each alien bearing two extra arms and glowing multi-coloured eyes. They sported a variety of different skin colours and wore minimal clothing. Mouthfuls of sharp needle-like teeth flashed around you in conversation or laughter, and long forked tongues darted out to moisten dry lips. They were also incredibly tall, the shortest in your immediate sight measuring a good seven feet.

Taking a deep breath, you locked down your ship and activated the theft alarms. Then you set out, your crew falling in behind you as you exited the hangar bay and entered the city.

Your senses were immediately assailed with bright flashing lights and an overwhelming mix of smells that made your eyes water. This had not been at all what you were expecting of the calm-looking blue planet, and it caught you off guard slightly.

Recovering quickly, you turned and spoke to the others in a low voice.

"This place is far busier than we were planning for, so make sure you stay with your partner at all times. We can't afford for anyone to get lost, especially if we have to make a hasty retreat. Got it?"

Everyone nodded and you smiled. "Now, let's get this show on the road!"

The others dispersed as blonde-haired Soobin fell in beside you. You smiled at him but neither of you spoke, fully focused on the task at hand.

After a good half-mile trek through the massive city, you reached your destination: a bar named Star 1117. Taking a deep breath, you pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The bar was surprisingly empty for this hour of the evening, you'd thought the place would be bustling. Perhaps your client was rich enough to buy the place out for the night and keep your transaction completely private.

You could almost feel the tension radiating off of Soobin and knew that he was just as uneasy as you. Something about all this just didn't feel right, like you were walking into a trap. So you both kept a hand on your guns, ready to pull them out at a moment's notice.

"There you are!" A familiar voice declared as you stepped into the bar's expansive storage room. "I was wondering if you were actually going to show up."

The masked face of your client, who had only ever given his name as JK, greeted you with a sharp smile. His dark eyes glittered with some indiscernible emotion.

"My apologies." You and Soobin bowed smoothly in greeting. "There was quite a line at the security gate."

JK chuckled. "Understandable. Azerulas is approaching peak tourist season, so traffic is picking up. Now, do you have what I asked for?"

You nodded. "I do. My crew has it ready to bring in as soon as I see you've brought the money."

"Pretty AND smart! I'm looking forward to doing more business with you."

JK motioned to one of the men behind him who stepped forward and opened the digipak on the table. The pak's holoscreen lit up, showing that it did indeed hold the promised three thousand credits.

"Satisfied?" JK asked, running a hand through his vivid purple hair.

You smiled. "I am." Tapping the watch on your wrist, you opened the private comm line and called for Yeonjun and Huening Kai to bring the package.

A few moments later the duo arrived, a large steel crate swinging between them.

"Two shock guns, a dozen untraceable bombs, and a sniper laser gun. It's all here, just as you requested."

"Very good. You've given me such good service, I almost hate to do this…." JK's voice trailed off as a metal door slid down in front of him.

Before any of you could even think of moving, an explosion sounded immediately in front of you, followed by another to your left, a third to your right, and a fourth from behind you. Heat blossomed everywhere, rapidly filling the room with fire, and you dazedly felt yourself fall to the concrete. Your ears rang as the flames steadily grew, and smoke began to gather in your lungs. You coughed dryly, trying to find your crew as you felt your consciousness begin to fade. You saw Soobin and Yeonjun lying together in a heap, with an arm sticking out from beneath them that you desperately hoped belonged to Huening Kai. Spots danced before your eyes, blending together into a dark curtain that shrouded your vision as you passed out.

You were brought back to wakefulness by a hand pressing gently against your forehead. Your eyes slowly fluttered open, vision blurry until you blinked a few times. You were greeted by the startling sight of an Azerulan male’s face mere inches from your own and jerked back slightly, a hoarse cry scraping your raw throat. The male looked at you apologetically, leaning back to give you space.

“Wh-Where am I?” You asked, afraid that the alien was an associate of JK. “Where’s my crew?”

"They are safe. Do not worry, my friends are tending them as we speak." The Azerulan smiled and continued. "My name is Yunho. My friends and I saw you go in before the explosions, so when they went off and none of you had come back out we grew concerned and ran to see if you needed assistance."

Gratitude filled you as you smiled back at him. "Thank you Yunho. My name is Y/N, and it seems my crew and I owe our lives to you and your friends."

Yunho stood from his seat, all four hands raised in protest. "Nonsense, we were simply doing what any respectable citizens would do. Though I will say, it's not every day I get to rescue a pretty little human."

You blushed, not used to such compliments. Yunho excused himself to go see how his friends were faring with your crew, leaving you alone to process the recent chain of events.

It was clear now JK had set you up from the start, probably itching to get his hands on the bounties for the six of you. Space pirates were a scourge across all the universes, but you and your crew were the most notorious ones to ever exist. This was mainly due to the fact that the government could never catch you no matter how hard they tried, and so the rewards for proof of your death had skyrocketed the longer you evaded capture.

Unbidden, your thoughts suddenly turned to Yunho, and you wondered if his friends were as attractive as he was. You'd be lying if you said you hadn't fleetingly considered jumping his bones once you got over your initial shock of seeing him.

At six feet tall Yunho was the shortest Azerulan you'd seen so far, but he was by far the best looking in your opinion. His skin was a rich forest green with lighter green undertones and hints of brown in shadowed places. His eyes were a mix of blue and yellow with slit pupils and he wore only a long moss-green loincloth, leaving his sculpted torso bare. Elegant gold tattoos sprawled across his chest, arms and legs; an indicator that he held a fairly high position in Azerulas' society.

You shook your head, trying to clear it of the not-so-innocent thoughts floating through it. Yunho had saved you and your crew from death, tended your injuries and given you a place to stay. It would be incredibly inappropriate to repay those kindnesses by trying to get with him. Besides, he probably already had a girlfriend. There was no way a hottie like him was still single.

The next day Yeonjun and Huening Kai both woke up, and you were able to go visit them. That same morning Taehyun and Beomgyu had run into one of Yunho's friends and were brought back to the place you were staying. You were beyond thrilled to see them, relieved that they'd been unharmed. It was during reunion visit that Yunho came to inform you what was going on in the aftermath of the explosions.

JK had slipped from the burning building unseen, then went around telling everyone he'd dispatched the most infamous pirates. He'd even somehow managed to come up with some convincing photographic proof and ran off to some distant planet with the reward money.

You weren't quite sure how you felt, being presumed dead and all. None of you were actually, and it seemed Yunho could tell this, as he said the six of you could stay until you figured out what was next.

You never imagined you'd want to give up pirating so easily, but all of you had just been handed fresh starts on a golden platter and you would all be fools not to take them. So when Soobin woke up a few days later, you all sat down to figure out what to do.

Huening Kai had never gotten to fulfil his dream of going to college, so he decided that he'd like to finally go through with it. Beomgyu liked this idea as well, and said that he'd tag along.

Yeonjun and Soobin, who'd been dancing around their feelings for each other for an unbearably long time, finally decided to take the plunge and start dating. They weren't quite sure where they would go, but said they'd figure it out together.

Taehyun wanted to go back and visit his family, then travel to some of the places he'd always wanted to see.

As for you, you had no clue at all what you wanted to do with your life. You had no family to speak of, and no real ambitions that had been put on hold. Yunho, ever the gracious host, allowed you to continue staying even after the boys had all left.

In the silent days that followed, your initial attraction to Yunho grew stronger. And though you were no expert on alien behaviours, you started seeing some signs that maybe he was starting to feel something for you too.

It all came to a head one day when you accidentally left the bathroom door unlocked while you were taking a shower. You were taking your time under the steamy water, letting your thoughts run wild, when you heard a gasp from the doorway.

Your head whipped around, realising your mistake as soon as you saw Yunho frozen in surprise, a dark blush colouring his cheeks. Your hands flew to cover your private areas, silently cursing yourself for not double-checking that the door was locked.

You could clearly see the conflicting emotions in Yunho's eyes as he tried to figure out how to handle the situation. From somewhere deep inside of you came the mental image of him taking you in the shower, and it had your thighs pressing together.

Movement pulled your attention back to Yunho and you felt your heart lurch at the sight of him stalking towards you, yellow-blue eyes darkened with lust. He ripped his loincloth off in one smooth motion, the action sending a wave of heat straight to your core.

He flung the shower door open so violently it snapped off its hinges and clattered to the floor. Yunho's bulk filled the shower, pressing you against the back wall. You looked up, feeling incredibly small as he towered over you. One hand came up to caress your cheek as he began to speak.

"I've tried to hold back my feelings, you are a guest in my house and I do not wish to disrespect you. It became harder when it seemed that you reciprocated those feelings. But this…this was the final straw. If you are amenable, allow me to express my feelings to you."

You could feel your body practically vibrating with want. You'd never craved for anyone as much as you did for Yunho in this moment. And so you spoke the words he waited to hear.

"Please, Yunho, make me yours."

The Azerulan needed no further provocation, two of his arms immediately lifting you off your feet so he could claim your mouth in a searing kiss. Your arms wrapped around his neck as you kissed back, a thrill fluttering through you when his sharp teeth grazed your lower lip.

"The shower is not an appropriate place for such activities, little one. You will get sick when the water turns cold. Come, let me take you somewhere more suitable."

You nodded your assent, and he began to carry you out of the bathroom. As he walked, his other two hands began exploring your body. One cupped your breast, tweaking and pinching your nipple. The other slipped two fingers inside you, punching a moan from your lungs as your head flew back.

Yunho chuckled. "Your moans are as cute as the rest of you. Don't hold back, let me hear all of them."

His mouth found yours again as he pushed into his room and laid you on the bed. A forked tongue poked at your lips and you parted them, allowing him in.

After a bit you had to part for air, a string of saliva extending between the two of you.

"May I taste you, sweet one?"

"Yes, p-please!" You begged, desperate to know how his tongue would feel.

A smirk crossed his face and two hands gripped your thighs, spreading your legs and kneeling on the floor. As you looked on, you saw him do something you'd had no idea he could do: His tongue, which was far longer than any human's, suddenly split down its centre, effectively creating two tongues.

A gasp fell from your lips as you felt one slip into each of your holes, going further than any fingers ever could. You could feel your high rapidly approaching and choked out a warning to Yunho, who immediately stopped eating you out.

You opened your mouth to complain, but he shushed you.

"Surely you're stronger than that. You can be a good human and hold out till I cum, can't you?"

You'd never held back your orgasm before, but for Yunho you would catch the moon if he asked, so you were certainly going to try.

"Yes, I'll h-hold it! Please I need you inside me!"

"As you wish, little one."

Without further preamble, Yunho began to slowly slide into you. The cry that left you was akin to a scream, his girth bigger than anything you'd taken before. The skin of his length was covered with bumps and ridges that offered extra pleasure as he began to thrust into you at a steady pace.

"Oh g-god, you're so big, gonna break me."

Yunho leaned over, engulfing your smaller frame as he did so. One half of his tongue slid out to curl around the shell of your ear.

"You love being stuffed full like this, don't you? You'd love to be split open on my dick, wouldn't you?"

Goosebumps rose all over your body and you felt your high rushing forward once more.

"Harder Yunho, please. Want you to ruin me!"

At your words Yunho let out a growl that would have been utterly terrifying in any other situation, but in this instance only served to pull a loud moan from you as he began pounding into you so hard the bed started to bang against the wall.

In the midst of all this, you felt something prodding your other hole and realised it was one of his hands slipping inside. One finger went in, then another and another, until finally his entire fist was shoved inside you and began to move. At this you did scream, eyes rolling back as your mind went blank and all remaining thoughts turned fuzzy.

By the time Yunho's hips began to stutter, you had been reduced to a babbling mess incapable of producing any kind of coherent sentence. Once more he leaned over you and whispered into your ear.

"You can cum now, little one. Cum all over my cock for me."

Your mouth stretched wide in a silent scream, your body locking up as the world went white and the most intense orgasm you'd ever had washed over you. You barely registered the sound of Yunho cursing and the feeling of his seed spreading inside you, too lost in the post-orgasmic bliss.

When you came back to yourself you found Yunho lying beside you, gently rubbing your side where a strange mark now rested.

"Wha's that?" You asked, words slurring as though you were drunk.

Yunho smiled softly. "It is a special symbol among our people, a sign of our love-bond to each other. It is very similar to the human concept of marriage, though we do not hold such grand ceremonies to celebrate it."

Your smile mirrored his as you curled into him and felt all four arms wrap around you.

"I think I like this better." You murmured sleepily. "Who needs some expensive ceremony anyway?"

Yunho laughed quietly, pressing a kiss to the top of your head before joining you in blissful slumber.

Jolting awake you bolted into a sitting position, eyes darting about wildly. Where were you? What had happened to Yunho? Why were you in a library?

Then reality came rushing back and the fear left your body. Seonghwa had spoken rightly when he said you would forget what was real the deeper you went. Even now, a part of you wanted to dive right back into the book and find Yunho.

Shaking your head, you lifted the key that had appeared in your palm. It was gold, decorated with deep green emeralds. It joined the first two and you stood, catching your breath as you pondered your next move.

Perhaps it would be best to get the worst over with before you were fully sucked into the false realities. Yes, you decided, the Horror section would be next.

Let's get this over with.

[holly-poly]

Nominations Open

Nominations are open, and they'll stay open through 11:00am UTC on 2 November - you can see a countdown timer at this link. You're allowed to nominate up to 10 fandoms, with up to 10 relationships per fandom. This year we have imported a subset of the tagset from Holly Poly 2023 via our pre-nominations phase to try and reduce the workload for us mods - please make sure to check the tagset before you nominate a ship to see if it is already included in the tagset. We recommend expanding all tagset categories before searching the page for any ships since some fandoms may not be in the section you expect due to us using slightly different fandom tags in some cases.

The tag set is located here: https://archiveofourown.org/tag_sets/21262

You can also view this year's tagset on AO3 Automagic app at the link below to more easily search for ships included in it already, but it needs a re-scrape requested periodically to ensure it's up to date: https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/holly_poly_2024/tagset

In order to nominate a relationship, simply click the Nominate button located in the top right-hand corner of the tag set. If you do not have an account on the AO3, please let us know, and we should be able to get you an invite. On a similar note, if you have any questions, or if you're nominating something that you think might be confusing, please either post a comment to this post or send an e-mail to holly.poly.exchange@gmail.com if you'd rather keep it private.

For relationships that do not already have canonical tags, please nominate them in alphabetical order by last name (and, if they don't have a last name or multiple characters share a last name, then by first name). For example: Anders/Fenris/Bethany Hawke/Carver Hawke/Isabela/Merrill/Varric Tethras/Aveline Vallen, or Astrid Beck/Eadwulf Grieve/Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast, or Sirius Black/Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks.

Please don't panic if we add some type of disambiguation to relationships that you nominate. Especially for ones where the same characters fall under different fandoms (various comic fandoms, movie/TV show vs. book fandoms, etc.), as doing so helps keeps tags from wandering to fandoms where they don't belong.

This is an exchange for romantic and/or sexual relationships, not friendships, so make certain to nominate relationships that use a "/" rather than a "&". If you want to request that a relationship be asexual/queerplatonic/etc., then that's something to include in your optional details when signing up.

Please make sure to read through the extra information below as some fandom disambiguations have changed since last year. In general, when nominating a fandom or ship consider whether there are multiple sources/versions and how to nominate in a way that makes it clearest which version you want.

Please nominate original works under Original Work for the fandom.

Please nominate crossovers under Crossover - Fandom for the fandom. List characters in alphabetical order by last name (and, if they don't have a last name or multiple characters share a last name, then by first name), and please put the fandom or a clear abbreviation of it after the character name. For example: Thirteenth Doctor (Doctor Who)/Ms. Frizzle (Magic School Bus)/Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins), or Female Hawke (Dragon Age)/Male Hawke (Dragon Age)/Female Shepard (Mass Effect)/Male Shepard (Mass Effect), or Hal Jordan (Green Lantern 2011)/Ryan Reynolds (RPF)/Wade Wilson (Deadpool Movieverse). If you have any crossover ships that hit the 100 character tag length limit, you can abbreviate the fandom names or leave out surnames to condense it down so long as it will still be clear which characters in the fandom and which fandoms you mean. If there's any ships that are still difficult to do that for or you're not sure if it will be clear to us/others, do let us know the ship by either commenting here or emailing us and we'll try to figure out a way to condense it.

Please nominate all relationships involving characters from the MCU movies, Agents of SHIELD, Agent Carter, Hulu Marvel series, Netflix Marvel series, and/or Disney+ Marvel series under Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you nominate a ship with Peter Parker in for MCU we will assume you mean Tom Holland's Peter Parker unless stated otherwise. If you want to nominate a ship with one of the other Peter Parkers in for the MCU please use "Peter Parker (SM 2002 Tobey Maguire)" or "Peter Parker (TASM 2012 Andrew Garfield)" - you can shorten the fandom disambiguation in the brackets if you run out of character limit but it still needs to be obvious which Peter Parker you mean. For Peter Parker ships in crossover - Fandom you will need to state which Peter you mean in each instance, identified by the specific film or comicsverse, with Tom Holland's version as Peter Parker (MCU).

Please nominate all of the X-Men movies under X-Men (Original Timeline Movies), X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), and Deadpool (Movieverse). The Wolverine movies go in Original Timeline. Any relationships featuring characters from movies that fall under different categories should be nominated as a Crossover.

Please nominate Marvel comics under the universe they belong to: Marvel 616, Marvel Adventures, MC2, X-Men Evolution (Comics), etc. If you feel the specific title they're from is complicated enough that it should be listed separately, please either leave a comment or send an e-mail with more information. Characters like America Chavez who are originally from another universe but canonically spend time in a different one can be included as part of relationships requested for either universe.

Please nominate standalone Marvel movies/TV shows such as Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes or X-Men Evolution (Cartoon) separately under the name of the specific movie/show.

Please nominate DC films set in the current movie universe (Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Justice League, Aquaman, Shazam!, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman 1984, and The Suicide Squad) under DC Extended Universe.

Please nominate relationships from various DC comics under DCU (Comics). If you feel the specific title they're from is complicated enough that it should be listed separately, please either leave a comment or send an e-mail with more information.

Please nominate standalone DC movies/TV shows such as Birds of Prey (TV), Gotham, and Smallville separately as individual fandoms.

Please nominate the various DC shows on The CW (Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, Batwoman, and Superman & Lois) under DC's Arrowverse. Relationships including characters from The Arrowverse as well as from other DC shows like Birds of Prey or Smallville who appear due to crossover events can be nominated under this umbrella fandom, while relationships solely from Birds of Prey, Smallville, and the like should be nominated separately under the name of the show they're from. Crossover relationships featuring characters from other DC shows who do not canonically appear in The Arrowverse, even if other characters from that show do, should still be nominated under Crossovers. If nominating ships where the canonical tag uses "Behrad Tomaz | Behrad Tarazi" please change the character name to one or the other to specify which timeline Behrad you mean.

Please nominate the various cartoons considered part of the DCAU (Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond, Static Shock, The Zeta Project, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited) under DC Animated Universe (Timmverse).

Please nominate everything set in the Doctor Who universe under Doctor Who (including Big Finish Audios, Class, Sarah Jane Adventures, and Torchwood). For characters that have multiple incarnations, please specify which you mean by number or actor, e.g. "First Doctor" or "The Master (Simm)". If you don't mind which version, please add "(any)" after the character name, e.g. "The Doctor (any)".

Please nominate The Good Wife and The Good Fight under The Good Wife & Related Fandoms.

Please nominate Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD and Chicago Justice under One Chicago.

Please nominate Tolkien fandoms under Middle Earth – J.R.R. Tolkien or Middle Earth (Movies) or The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (TV 2022), depending on whether you want bookverse, movieverse or the new showverse. The Silmarillion would fall under the books. Any relationships featuring a mixture of movie, book or show canon (which would include anything set in the movies but with characters who aren't in them, such as Elladan, Elrohir, Glorfindel, etc.) should be nominated as a Crossover; please specify which characterization you want for any characters who are in more than one of the bookverse, movieverse or showverse, ie. Aragorn (movies)/Elladan/Elrohir.

Please nominate One Piece (TV) separately from One Piece (Anime & Manga).

Please nominate The Wheel of Time (TV) separately from the book fandom Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan.

Please nominate Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021) separately from League of Legends (Video Games).

Please nominate Percy Jackson and the Olympians (TV) separately from Percy Jackson & The Olympians (Movies) and the book fandom of Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan. If you want to nominate a ship from a specific book series please add the series acronym after the ship details, e.g. (PJO Books), (THOO Books) etc.

Please nominate the Star Trek TV shows (live action or animated) under Star Trek: Classic Timeline and AOS under Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)‎. For ships that include characters that are in both Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds or Star Trek: Discovery, we will assume the TOS version is meant by default - if you want to specify the SNW version please add "(SNW)" after the character name(s) to differentiate from TOS version, e.g. "Christine Chapel (SNW)/Spock (SNW)/T'Pring (SNW)" and for Discovery please add "(Disco)" after the character name. If the ship has a mix of TOS and SNW/Discovery character versions, please add SNW or Disco or TOS in brackets after each of the character names that need clarification. Any relationships featuring characters from both the original timeline and AOS (other than those who canonically are in both of them like Spock) should be nominated under Crossover - Fandom

Please nominate Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, and Stargate Universe under Stargate - All Media Types.

Please nominate Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel: The Series, and the assorted spinoffs (including Fray and other comics) under Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Related Fandoms.

Please nominate all of the Dragon Age video games and books under Dragon Age - All Media Types.

Please nominate all of the Mass Effect video games and books under Mass Affect - All Media Types.

Please nominate anything Star Wars related under Star Wars - All Media Types.

Please nominate Game of Thrones (TV) and A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin and House of the Dragon (TV) as separate fandoms.

Please nominate Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), The Witcher (TV), and Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski as separate fandoms. Use the appropriate names for characters based on the source rather than the longer canonical tags that include multiple names (ie, for the TV show it would be Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier/Yennefer of Vengerberg rather than the canonical tag of Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg or for the video games it would be Dandelion/Eskel/Geralt of Rivia rather than the canonical tag of Eskel/Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion).

Please nominate anything related to Once Upon a Time or Once Upon a Time in Wonderland under Once Upon a Time (TV).

Please separate anything related to the Power Rangers television shows under Power Rangers (TV), the comics under Power Rangers (Comics), and the more recent(ish) movie under Power Rangers (2017).

Please nominate anything set in Exandria under Critical Role (Web Series), including Exandria Unlimited and one shots such as The Screw Job or The Darrington Brigade. Non-Exandria one shots such as Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Crystal Palace should be nominated under their own names. The Legend of Vox Machina (Cartoon) should also be nominated separately.

Please nominate Yu-Gi-Oh! fandoms under their individual series names, unless you have ships that cross several series in which case you can nominate under Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types.

Please nominate relationships featuring characters from various Disney/Pixar animated titles (ie, Jasmine/Megara/Mulan or Jafar/Maleficent/Ursula) under Disney - All Media Types. Relationships featuring characters from a single Disney and/or Pixar movie can be nominated under the specific movie/movie series name (ie, Cobra Bubbles/David Kawena/Nani Pelekai would be nominated under Lilo & Stitch (2002)).

Please nominate Teen Wolf (TV) or Teen Wolf: The Movie (2023) under Teen Wolf (Jeff Davis) - if you don't want the movie events mentioned for your gift please mention it as Do Not Want in request details when signing up. Other Teen Wolf movie ships should be nominated under Teen Wolf (1980s Movies). Anything crossing over the Jeff Davis verse with the original movies should be nominated under Crossover - Fandom. 

Please nominate both original movie and book Harry Potter ships under Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling but ships from the Fantastic Beasts movie series should be nominated separately under Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies). Anything crossing over both should be nominated under Crossover - Fandom. Please nominate both Leverage (2008) and Leverage: Redemption (2021) under Leverage (US TV) and Leverage (2019) under Leverage (Korea).

For what was previously Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, this has now been separated out into the following three fandoms in our tagset. Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth (Video Games 2020-2024), and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Anything crossing over two or more Final Fantasy fandoms should be nominated under Crossover - Fandom.

For what was previously Mortal Kombat (Video Games) this has now been separated out into Mortal Kombat (Video Games 1992-2020) and Mortal Kombat (Video Games 2023-). Please nominate the Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon, as well as the related ATLA comics, under Avatar: The Last Airbender (Cartoon 2005), the new live action TV series under Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix) and the live action movie under The Last Airbender (2010).

Please note that while [Specific Character]/[Specific Group of Characters] is acceptable as a nomination, [Specific Character]/Everyone is too broad.

For example: Lex Luthor/Lionel Luthor's Board Members is acceptable because "Lionel Luthor's Board Members" involves a finite group of people. The same goes for Voldemort/Death Eaters, Shipwrecked Sailor/Mermaids, and Peter Pan/Lost Boys. While Carol Danvers/Anyone and Everyone or Jack Harkness/Everyone He's Ever Met are understandable, they're too broad because it could essentially involve an infinite number of people.

If you have any questions about a relationship you want to nominate that might potentially be too broad, leave a comment or send an e-mail.

RPF characters must be 18+ at the time of nomination. Significant others/children/etc. of public figures are not permitted unless they are public figures in their own right. For smaller RPF fandoms, providing information/links to help us verify the characters are eligible would be appreciated and will speed up RPF noms.

If you have any questions about what fandom to use when making nominations, or any other questions in general - or if you find any errors in the tagset - please feel free to leave a comment on this post. You can also send an e-mail to holly.poly.exchange@gmail.com.

Collection: https://ao3.org/collections/holly_poly_2024 Tag Set: https://archiveofourown.org/tag_sets/21262 Tumblr: https://holly-poly.tumblr.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/holly_poly_ex Google Groups - Holly Poly Updates: https://groups.google.com/g/holly-poly-updates Google Groups - Holly Poly Pinchhits: https://groups.google.com/g/holly-poly-pinchhits

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Personality through quote

Thanks to @elsie-writes here and here and @leahnardo-da-veggie here!

Rules: have your OCs respond to a given prompt then give the people you tagged a prompt

Got long, below the cut :)

[A quote about feelings]

Lexi: "I have a lot of feelings...they all are pretty intense. Every emotion is like that for me. When I'm happy, I'm ecstatic, exhilarated. When I'm sad, it's like I'm depressed. I get just a little stressed and my anxiety flares up, and I start crying. It's a lot, honestly."

Maddie: "Feelings are fine and cool, I guess. I like my feelings toward Lexi and Kelsey. Don't really like my feelings toward someone like Brycen. Not sure how I feel for others, though. They like me, which is cool. I dunno. Feelings are super weird."

Ash: "I think I'm starting to understand feelings of others better now that I've discovered my telepathy. It's interesting, seeing how I experience other's emotions. It gets a little metaphorical. Fascinating stuff."

Gwen: "I mean, Lexi was once upset and I was sent to comfort her because I was apparently the most empathetic there. I'd say I'm in touch with my emotions. I get a little too emotional at times. I hold back a lot more than people think, though."

Robbie: "Dude, feelings are kinda dope. Like our brain just feels sad and our chest physically hurts. Doctors can't explain it. [Pause] Okay, both of my parents are doctors and they kinda can, but it's cool regardless."

Akash: "Huh. Well, it's important to feel feelings, and it took me a while to face them. I'm good now, though. I think it's important to face them."

Jedi: [silent for too long] "Well, *rubs back of neck* "I like to...think of myself as someone in touch with his own emotions...."...*nods*

Carmen: "No."

[A quote about their thoughts on NFTs and/or cryptocurrency]

None of these guys would like it but this is a fun prompt!

Lexi: "Isn't crypto a scam? I don't like the idea of that. Just stick to regular money."

Maddie: "NFTs don't make any sense. Just right-click the image. Downloaded."

Ash: "Honestly, I feel like owning an image sounds fun in a silly way, but I'm not that reckless with my money. Would rather spend it on tangible things."

Gwen: "I'm uncomfortable with the idea of people charging you to own an image, fake money or not. I mean, why not make actual art?"

Robbie: "Oh my God did you see the NFT ape movie? Dude, it's so bad. I can't believe there are people this stupid."

Akash: "Not only is it unethical, it literally makes no sense. The money isn't real? Why would you do that? Like, have you looked at the value of crypto?"

Jedi: [intently listening to someone explain crypto and NFTs] "Well, now that is just ridiculous. How in the world do they expect to regulate that?" [A few more minutes of baffled rambling]

Carmen: [also had to have someone explain it to her, but she interrupted more] "Are you kidding me?! Is stupidity a common genetic trait among Ceters?!" [More ranting]

[A quote about remembering the ones they lost]

Well uh I'm not gonna go into any major spoilers so I'm gonna expand the meaning to more than just death.

Um, gradually gets sadder because my first few have not experienced their main trauma yet >:)

Lexi: "Oh, I had so many friends in elementary school! I mean, I still have a lot of friends, but I miss those who went off to different intermediate schools. It's okay, though! I found them on social media, and a couple had phones by fifth grade. I should totally hook up with them again! Thanks for asking!!"

Maddie: "I guess Brycen. He was my friend before he became a jerk. I would like to be friends with him again. Like, then him before he was a jerk."

Ash: "I miss the friendship I had with Shelby. I don't know why, it was literally only for a week or two. But there was...something about her friendship that sucked me in. I still have Lexi, so I think I'll be okay. Then there's my ex-stepdad, Frank. He was sometimes fun. Toward the end he became rude. Before that, though. I miss when I felt like he was a dad, I guess."

Gwen: "My grandfather died when I was very young. He was amazing, though, and I am just glad I remember him. He read stories to me and played with me. And then there's my cat, who we lost a few months ago. She was really sick. I still miss her."

Robbie: "God, I miss Lalika, Akash's mom. She was basically a second mom to me. I talked so fast around her as a kid. She was just starting to learn English when we met, so I don't know if she got everything, but she would always smile and laugh when I did, paying attention to my emotions so she could respond appropriately. But I also loved to read aloud my favorite books to her, so I helped in that regard I guess. She went to all my plays. She made sure to get something for my birthday, and Sam's, separate from Akash's gift. She was amazing."

Akash: "My mom. Every day, I miss her. It's...hard to move past it, I guess. She would listen to you. I still remember her songs that she'd sing, and I still listen to them. She loved taking pictures and filming everything, which I am so grateful for now. She fought for me, when the school district dug their heels in about something. Made sure I had everything I needed to succeed. She was the best."

Jedi: "My mother fought for me my entire life. She pushed to get me an accelerated academic program, fought to drag me and my sister to a better place where I could thrive. Fought my father when he...let us say, went too far. She was fiercely protective. I owe her my life. I just wish I could have repaid her."

Carmen: *scoffs* "I knew Atsila my whole life. Why wouldn't I miss her?" [Yeah sorry that's all you're getting out of her]

Tagging @dyrewrites @ceph-the-ghost-writer @elsie-writes @mk-writes-stuff @aalinaaaaaa @sam-glade @thebejeweledwatercat @winterandwords @mysticstarlightduck @somethingclevermahogony + anyone else ;)

Prompt: A quote about a weird habit they/someone else has.

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

[powerfultenderness]

thank you for the tag @seancekitsch​ 🧜‍♂️

Relationship Status: single (and definitely not ready to mingle! 😰)

Favorite color(s): black to wear, otherwise purples

Song stuck in my head: Ghost- Year Zero

Last song I listened to: Amon Amarth- Tock’s Taunt

Last thing I googled: the correct spelling of “immediately“ bc that is a word i’ll never be able to spell on my own.

Dream trip(s): México, a Monterrey y CDMX

Tagging:..uhm. idk...

Rules : tag 10 people you want to get to know better

Thank you for the tag @lazymeriadoc @lady-of-imladris I just finished my morning meal, and see this notification, so I'll try it 🤣👋

Relationship status : Single, since I was born

Favourite colour : dark green, dark blue, black

Song stuck in my head :

Last song I listened to : I am the the period drama girl 💅

Three favourite foods : spicy korean noodles, pizza, and turkish kebab

Last thing(s) I googled : some old fanfictions, from m.fanfiction from the early 2000s

Dream trip : england, especially edinburgh, scotland, and new zealand

@emythemess @legoriel-fan @quickslvxr @laneynoir @sotwk @elronds-pointy-ears @elrondscalaquendi @elrondthinker @oldmanwithashield @ringsofpowerfans @viggosbrokentoe

I think that's it. Byeeee 👋

[sanguith]

Not defending ai art, genuinely asking: does the "If you don't make it with your own hands it doesn't count" argument equally apply to photography, in your opinion? The exact same criticism was leveled against it when cameras started to become widespread, which made me start to think more closely about where I draw the line and why.

(From a Baltimore Sun article:

As early as 1842, a magazine writer was complaining that “the artist cannot compete with the minute accuracy of the Daguerreotype.” By 1859, essayist Charles Baudelaire was denouncing photography as “the mortal enemy of art.”

“If photography is allowed to stand in for art in some of its functions,” Baudelaire fumed, “it will soon supplant or corrupt it completely.”

And a few years later, the writer Hippolyte Fandrin lamented: “I greatly fear that photography has dealt a death blow to art.”)

Again, this is a genuine question. I'm not an AI fan I'm just trying to figure out why people (including myself) treat it differently from other image generation or manipulation methods.

Oh! Thanks for the ask! It prompted a lot of thoughts, actually. This got kinda long, but as a philosophy nerd I like this stuff so buckle up! (I'm purely freestyling this btw, consider it more of a philosophical discussion rather than something based on empirical evidence - nearly impossible to do while discussing what defines "art"):

Yeah photography is real art as much as any other kind of art. I should not have limited it to art only being art if it's produced using hands, but rather mainly involving the creative process of a human consciousness somehow. I think my comment in the tags was more of a way to express the opinion that "AI art will never be human in the same intrinsically valuable way that human-made art is". In my opinion, humanity is intrinsically valuable and therefore the human creative component is integral to art. This creative component can of course look very different depending on the medium.

One could however argue that AI art does involve human intention. It is the human that picks the prompts and evaluates the finished image, after all. As with photography, the human picks an object, frames it, clicks the button and then evaluates and perhaps edits/develops the image. The absolute greatest problem I have with AI art however, which the original post focuses a lot on, is the art theft and the fact that many companies are actually using AI art as a direct replacement for human art.

And AI art can imitate a wide range of styles taken from huge datasets of existing images and create something that looks like an oil painting, a photo, watercolour, digital art, graphite, or written works like poems, articles, etc! So AI art can be everything, with much the same creation process behind it. Photography might have replaced a lot of demand for portrait art and photo-realistic art in society, but that is only one single quite small branch of the overall ocean of genres within art (it perhaps rather expanded on it!) and eventually became a whole branch of its own with many different subgenres.

Some questions that popped up in my head while writing this that I realize might actually be quite difficult to answer (these are for thinking about & discussing only, don't read these questions as me trying to justify anything):

Is the process of writing in prompts for an AI work art? Why/why not?

Is non-human art less valuable than human art? Why/why not?

If AI art is theft, does it disqualify it from being art? If so, what makes it different from human-made art that is directly plagiarizing another person's art?

Is the human process of programming an AI considered art?

How could AI art be produced and used ethically?

My own conclusion from this is that Art is a difficult concept to accurately assign one single universal definition to, and just as with everything in human society, it is constantly evolving. Whether or not it does qualify as art or not at the end of the day, however, it does not change the fact that AI art is currently being used in an unethical way that is having complex and direct real life repercussions on artists.

Again, thanks for the ask!! I love stuff like this and I try to think about it as critically as possible. My own opinion is probably still mostly "AI art bad" but mainly because of the negative effects and the unethical practice.

(Asking "why/why not" is so valuable btw, it allows one to continue asking and answering questions almost endlessly and eventually either arrive at some sort of "root" answer or go around in circles)

[nobodysdaydreams]

20 Questions for Writers

@myfairkatiecat Thanks for the tag, sorry this took so long. (@sophieswundergarten thanks for the reminder 💕)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

8 so far. It's not a lot, but I make up for it in length.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

417,645 💀

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Exclusively tmbs so far, but I plan on doing some Wolf359 fics when I (finally) finish the podcast. Sadly all my ideas are long. I'm sorry.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Since I have so few fics I'll just give the list:

S.O.S., by a lot. I'd like to thank the show's cancellation for my unexpected success.

The Oldest Siblings , mainly due to it's association with SOS (it's the prequel in the series)

Treat Them With(out) Mercy

Who You Were Meant To Be

A Joy To Obey and It Should Have Been Us are tied

The Boys Who Waited

Sirens of the Sea and Sky: dead last with 3 modest kudos. This fic is the equivalent of having a kid in a school recital who screams the whole time and knocks down the set. He might be a disaster, but he's my kid and I'm proud. This fic is ridiculous, but it makes me laugh anyway. I don't know how burnt out finals Bods came up with this, but by golly...she did.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Of course! I think I've responded to every comment I've ever gotten (if not I'm so sorry please let me know). I appreciate every one of them, and I love talking about the ideas in my idea and the fics I write, so please know that every comment you leave totally brightens my day! 🥰

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hm. Right now "The Boys Who Waited" probably has the angstiest and most ominous ending, but we'll see what happens.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably "A Joy To Obey" since it's my main fluff fic with a nice ending. A great read if you like lighter stuff.

8. Do you get hate on your fic?

Not yet. If I did, I'm not even sure what I'd do. Depends on the hate. I might cry. I might laugh, honestly. I don't think I'm nearly important, good, or noticeable enough for that so I might be a little flattered ngl (unless it was something vulgar or hateful towards a certain group of people then I'd delete and block the person). I'm sure people have read my writing and not liked it, but I think they just click away.

9. Do you write smut?

No, that's not for me. Especially because I'm writing for a children's fandom, I just don't think that's appropriate.

10. Do you write crossovers?

No, but I've done some AU's on tumblr.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. Also this is a small fandom so if a fic of mine DID get stolen, it would be pretty awkward and obvious. Don't plagiarize kids.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but I'd be honored if anyone wanted to do that!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

No, but that could be fun!

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Why the MV Shortcut, of course! /jk

I don't really have a lot of ships I get super invested in, I prefer platonic relationships. If I think of one I'll let you guys know.

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

You'll find out. (Don't worry about SOS. I promised I'd finish it and I intend to keep my word).

16. What are your writing strengths?

According to my readers, dialogue, characterization, themes, weaving multiple storylines together, and plot twists.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I can't write a short fic to save my life, and I can't edit to save my life. I also just publish my first drafts because I have no impulse control (sorry).

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Funny enough I’ve done this, but only canon MBS dialogue where I've translated it directly from the show's subtitles. If I made an error, please let me know.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Mbs, and so far just mbs. Hoping to expand someday when I magically have more time (and finish Wolf359).

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

SOS, just because of what a fun journey it's been.

Tags: @phtalogreenpoison @oflightningandstars @mvshortcut @sqenthusiast @itsgoghtime @amphibious-entity @mysteriouseggsbenedict and anyone who hasn't been tagged yet but wants to do it (sorry if I accidently double tagged)

[kimmiessimmies]

Simblr's New Year Resolutions of 2024

I was tagged by lovely Lana, @eljeebee. Thank you, my dear. ❤️

Now, I already did a post on plans yesterday, but that was only for the coming few months or so, plus way too long for anyone to properly read, so let's give this one a go (which will probably also be long, because let's face it, I'm simply not a woman of few words).

What's your resolution for your simblr?

I'm not actually sure? Sometimes, I envy the people who are able to keep their Simblr clean and organised by just posting actual relevant things. I often write rambles (I don't always think anyone truly reads), so the story might get a bit lost. But do I really want to change that? I don't know. Maybe my resolution for my Simblr could be to make things easier to find? But then again, if you want easy reading of my story and everything involved, one click takes you to my WordPress, which actually is a lot more organised.

I do have resolutions for the story itself and my writing, though! In 2024, I hope to expand my writing skills. Even though I write easily in English, the fact that it's not my native language still feels limiting at times. I often feel I could make a narrative or a dialogue richer if this was my mothertongue. I've been contemplating focussing solely on dialogue and image (like I did with the AU), but I find I sometimes want and need the narrative. I really do feel the need to sometimes give words to what a character is feeling or experiencing without them actually voicing it to another character. And precisely in that type of narrative, I see room for improvement.

As for ATOH, I hope to be able to do some other characters justice, too, aside from the ones I've been so focused on recently. Although, maybe it'll only get confusing if I bring too many characters in. So, balance will be the challenge, I guess. And, I hope to be able to bring everything together properly and in a way that makes sense. Especially now that I've changed my timeline for a third time...

What do you want from the Sims franchise?

I just hope TS3 remains playable at this point. My worst fear is my gaming laptop breaking down (I do everything on that thing, as there's no place in my house for an actual pc) and any new one being unsuitable to run TS3 with its very specific demands...

Other than that, I think it would be highly unrealistic to expect EA to develop or do anything specifically for TS3 at this point, and I have absolutely zero interest in straining my laptop even more by putting TS4 on it, which I know I won't play.

Any other new year's resolutions?

Oof... Umm... Well, I already wrote about how I'm struggling a lot at the moment (I'm at a very, very low point right now...) and as much as what I want for 2024 is to find my happy again, that seems like a huge ask at the moment. So I shall stick to the quote the Pinterest game brought up: "Never give up on the things that make you smile" and try to focus on the few things they do bring me joy. Which takes me back to the story, and now we've come full circle.

Tagging a few people who maybe haven't done this yet and might like to, @simsaralove , @sircesimblr, @sushiikinsss. Feel free to pass.

[helielune]

Pls tell me about the perfect app that lives in your head rent free

hello!!!! ok!!!!! i am here to dump all my brain sludge right here now!!

to preface i know there's like a bajillion productivity apps out there with varying degrees of quality so the likelihood of this already existing is very much nonzero BUT i think the possibility of it not existing yet is also very nonzero so here it is!!

essentially, the main premise is that one post, which said 'if thinking naruto would be proud of you for brushing your teeth, then grab that toothbrush dattebayo' or something along those lines.

it's an app that gives you a character to motivate you and work alongside you and celebrate your successes with you and encourage you to get up when you're. currently not up

mockup images!

is this miku? maybe.

anyways so the basic user workflow is that you would open the app (perhaps through a morning notification, if you're into that) and be greeted by your beautiful and supportive character, as well as your daily tasks. then you get to work!

each task or work session you complete will earn you currency! and with that currency you can deck out your character in the shop! think of a picrew. you can change their hair. their clothes. their body type. you can turn them into naruto if that helps you. you can make a whole new character if you want! and then you'll have two supporting characters!! this will all cost you 'work' though.

notes about the to-do list area:

morning routine section. this would hopefully be sort of a built-in feature. it would give you a morning notification to do all this stuff and include an animation of your character doing routine stuff with you so you feel like you have a friend brushing ur teeth with you lol

the tasks all have a label attached but i guess you don't really need one if you don't want one

the little tag that says '25m' on laundry means that you think doing the laundry will take 25 minutes of focus time. if you click on the hourglass icon next to it, it'll take you to a timer for 25 minutes automatically.

if you don't set time it'll just give you the default pomodoro timer sessions, which you can change in your settings. i'm a freak for settings so if this actually gets made you can rest assured there will be enough minute settings to go around

it lets you do 'counter' type tasks too, see 'apply to jobs'. thanks to habitica for that idea

notes about the timer page:

basically it tells you to focus on a single task. if you clicked the timer button for a single task in your list on the homepage that will be the highlighted one. if you clicked the general timer button then it'll just pull the first or a random one or something. but it only shows you one.

unless you click the expand button because i'm not gonna lock you out of viewing your own todo list

you can also 'quick' add a new task! like y'know when you suddenly realize you need to do that extra thing on the side just WRITE IT DOWN instead of getting sidetracked. maybe if i feel like it i'll let you take photos for tasks or speech to text or y'know. just make it easy and quick

during the breaks it plays a little break animation to remind u to drink water or eat something or whatever

i think i need to move some buttons around and stuff but generally this is what so many hours of my life (like years of turning it around in my mind plus the past few days of making these images) has turned into. some other features i would ideally have are screen time checkers so your character pops in when you've been on your phone for too long and says Hey. plus other stuff but this is already long

am i ever actually going to make this? probably i'd only get to a super basic version of it. at least a todo list. but those apps already exist...

there are some super limiting/challenging problems that i haven't really been able to solve. like 1. the picrew. god damn i want to make a picrew so badly but i just do Not have the time or energy. and if i use animations inside this thing to make it cuter than i would essentially be making a whole picrew like FIVE TIMES (FOR THE FRAMES).

and it leads into the next issue 2. the continuous motivation. it's easy to be motivated when you're using a brand new cutesy app and have like a hundred things to buy but what if you run out?? how many things do i have to draw to keep up with the demand and keep it motivating?? especially if the items in the store are hit or miss (which is. inevitable, because no store can be 100% only things that you want to buy) then the pickings get slim REALLY fast.

3. the personalities of the characters. it's one thing to provide a character and make its personality myself (i would do that anyway, a small handful of default characters, because you do need to get started somewhere) but it's another thing entirely to make a billion different lines of text to minutely capture the possible words of encouragement that every fictional character you ever liked would say. so you can have an accurate replica of them in your motivational app for maximum motivational affect. is this actually important to people? idk but i feel like if ur productivity app said smth weird and u went like 'he would not fucking say that' it might break the spell. so

thats the basic rundown if u have any questions OR FEEDBACK (!!!!!!!) hmu if you want to use this app also hmu but maybe don't depend on me making it in full... so some alternatives i found while looking for inspo are

habitica (classic gamification, does a lot of similar stuff including personalization!)

finch (just a supportive buddy, mostly for habits and self care)

otto (it's really cute and basically you take care of a Creature by focusing, but it's only a browser extension i think)

someone on a reddit thread made a feature-heavy gamified habit/productivity browser extension here and it seems very useful!!!

also other resources:

Magic ToDo - GoblinTools breaks tasks down into subtasks for you! it's not always 100% accurate but can be a start :) especially since you can decide how many parts you want

forest (i used this a lot before, it's more of a screen time stopper but it's got a sort of fatal flaw in that you have to actively begin using it each time. sometimes i just need someone to kick me out of a scrolling loop.) (also after they started monetizing the prizes it got boring :( )

my friends used opal before for screen time reasons but it's paid. if u have money that's probably a good choice

'amazing marvin' is another productivity/habit browser extension which is also paid. if you're into paying. heard it's good and super customizable to you too

i once tried cold turkey to break my screen habits and at least i can say it is VERY effective at what it says it does. just be careful with what you block lol

if u made it this far here's an extra miku for ur troubles. i drew it bc. i was gonna make a sprite and then got lost in the sauce. these mockups are gonna singlehandedly make me a master at ms paint mouse/trackpad drawing

btw it's not wednesday september 11 right now unless it is for you in which case how is it living in the Future? or the Past. i don't make the time rules