#everyone go check out all that wonderful fanart!! :D

[sherlock-is-ace]

For the Holmes ask game

12. Headcanon about Watson? (And do you have any favourites?)

16. Favourite piece of Sherlock Holmes fanart? (Either by yourself or another fanartist)

Thank you!! <3

12. Headcanon about Watson? (And do you have any favourites?)

Main one being he's a bisexual king. At least one of his multiple wives named Mary knew about his relationship to Holmes <3

16. Favourite piece of Sherlock Holmes fanart? (Either by yourself or another fanartist)

You can't make me pick just one, are you crazy?! dkfjgdfg Here, have a million of them:

This one. Such gorgeous art, the most handsome of boys and an incredible idea. I need it to happen yesterday! I haven't stopped thinking about it since I saw it years ago kdjfhfg

This one. So tender and so sweet <3

This cute one. My partner @tabelschnasse drew this one for me so of course I'm listing it here!

This one. I love Anna's art style and this piece is so so beautiful!

This one. Gorgeous! Simply gorgeous!

Surprisingly, I haven't drawn that much Sherlock Holmes fanart but there is this silly little thing from 2020...

Go give all those fantastic artists some love! :'D But bear in mind, some of these pieces are from like 7 years ago so they might no longer be in the fandom lol

Sherlock Holmes Asks

[sofasoap]

Love at first sight - what if?

Pairing: Rodolfo “Rudy” Parra x F!reader ( aka Mini MacTavish)

Summary: AU to my Love at first sight series.

What if Mini was the one that fell for Rudy first?

Prompt :

- You are stunning

- Look at what you do to me

- You know I want you

- Did I do this

Warning: E Rating. Smutty smut. Alcohol usage. unprotected sex ( wrap it up people and use all sorts of protection!) p in v sex.

A/N: LET'S GO RUDY FEST! Thank you @glitterypirateduck the wonderful CoD fanfic and fanart curator for organising another festival :D you are awesome.

Thanks to my midnight crew @siilvan and @jynxmirage for putting up with my constant complain of brain cells burnt out. :)

Rudy masterlist

Masterlist

A voice in your brain begrudgingly admitted the cliché of time stops when you met his beautiful brown eyes the moment you stepped off the helicopter.

“Sergent Major Rodolfo Parra. Welcome to Las Almas.”

Your heart may or may not flutter a bit when he quietly introduces himself with his soft tenor voice. 

You soon knew why he was a second in command and trusted by Colonel Alejandro Vargas and the Los Vaqueros. This is a man who exudes calmness and composure. And  after witnessing him on the battlefield? Precision, efficiency, bravery and most important thing of all, compassion.  It just makes you admire him even more.

You bury that admiration inside your heart. Happy just to keep the relationship professional. Besides, from all the gossip and talks, he doesn’t seem to be lacking in admirers around the base, nor be interested in relationships. You are only here for the short term. Better not get yourself too deep into it.Last thing you want is leaving with a broken heart. Why would he be interested in a little medic like you anyway? 

“Ah Doc, my second in command has something to ask you. Don’t you Rudy?” 

Everyone else sees it differently otherwise. Your brother gives you the quizzical look every time you start to ramble on about the Sergeant major, Gaz’s subtle jab about how you couldn’t take your eyes off him, Ghost staring at you (you could almost see that little bit of frown between his brows), and Price mumbles on how the two of you should just get your eyes checked. 

Alejandro suddenly called out to you one morning when you were dropping off some medical files into his office.  The colonel, not being subtle at all, pushes the sergeant major towards you, trying to get his hermano to ask you out on a date. 

“Only.. only if you want to. I just thought I want to show you the local festival and culture…” Rudy hesitated as he shuffled on his feet, his usual confidence all but disappeared. 

Well now here you are, at his family home, his sister Camila and mother ( with his mother half sobbing and mumbling what seems to be word of holy praises ) eagerly pushing you into the bedroom, getting you all dolled up with the traditional garments. 

You can see his jaw drop slightly as you step out of the room, and twirl around to show off your skirt. 

“Like it??” You asked as you flash him a shy smile. You absolutely love the dress. You were also amazed how well it fitted you.  “Someone may or may not let out what size dress you wear and told my brother…” Camila winked at you, letting out a bit of a secret. 

“Or not wearing?” You winked at him, His cheek instantly darkens. You just can’t help but tease him a little as you feel a bit brave ( or maybe it’s that two liqueur shots your fellow medics made you scull down before you came did the trick), and it’s fun to see his calm façade crumble. 

A soft smile appeared on his face after he blinked his eyes a few times, snapping himself out of a daze ,“You look stunning, Whatever you wear.” Oh, he is a sweet talker. You like that.

“Oh can’t forget this!” Camila rushed out from the room, placing the flower crown on your head. Rudy gently holds it in place as his sister clips it on with hair clips. After giving everything a final check, one of his hands slides down and ghosts your cheek before grasping your hand.

“Ready to go?”

Oh dear, you can already feel your body burning up, and you are pretty sure it's not from the alcohol.

It has been a fun night, the music, the drinking and the dancing. 

Oh the dancing. The want and lust that he had carefully hidden slowly slips out as the night progresses. How he caresses your knuckles with his thumb, the hand always on the small of your back, guiding you away from the rowdy crowds. How you shiver when his lip brushes your ear as he whispers into your ear when the music gets too loud. Feeling the heat emitting through layers of clothing when his body presses against your during the dance, how he fails to disguise the sharp inhale of air when you slide your hand around his waist, hooking your thumbs between the gap of his pants. 

You can’t hold onto the urge anymore. Your glossy eyes peer into his darken orbs, wanting the affirmation that it isn’t not just you who wants something more. More than just shy touches and polite words. His eyes flicker towards your lips and lower briefly, before meeting your eyes again, nodding slightly, Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed hard. 

And that is all the confirmation you need. 

Half dragging Rudy across the festival ground, around the back of the building and the little green area beside it, your body is burning with uncontrollable lust and fire. 

Once you make sure you are hidden away from prying eyes, you pull him down for a deep kiss. He responded immediately with one hand cupping your face and the other gently but firmly holding onto the back of your head. 

Two of you only parted when you pulled back slightly, gasping for air. He leaned forward slightly, chasing for a few more kisses before resting his forehead against yours. 

It’s all getting too much. You want him. Right there, right now.

Hitching your skirt up as you lift your right leg up, you hook it around his waist. “Look at what you do to me…” you whispered into his ear, grabbing his hand, guiding it towards your wet underwear.. “I want you Rudy. here. now. “

“He…here???”  he stuttered slightly, not expecting you to be this bold. He looked around, checking the surroundings again. The two of you are still close to the festival ground, but private enough that you are sure no one will be coming towards this side nor hear you both over the loud music. 

“No one is going to come this way.” You reassure him as you bring your hands up , looping it around his neck, grinding against his slowly aroused cock. You can feel his body shivering as you gently nipping his ear lobe.

 “Make me feel good Rudy. Please.” you cooed.  

How could he deny a request from you? Especially with those pleading watery eyes, voice full of need and lust. 

He only realised how enamoured with you when he saw you stepping out of the room in the traditional garb, the woman of his dream, he thought. The moment he realises his little hidden crush on you is now a full blown desire. 

Looking into your eyes again, “Are you sure this is what you want?” he asked again in a husky voice, giving you a chance to back out. 

You gasped as he sank his fingers deeper into you, curling it up slightly. Your head rolls back, leaning into the tree as you let out a satisfying moan. He leans down, licks a stripe up the valley of your breasts, up your neck, until he reaches your chin. He peppered kisses on your cheek as he sped up his ministration, muttering praises as he grabbed hold of your waist tight, knowing your orgasm is going to hit soon.

“You know I want you. And you want me too, right?” You move your hip slightly, hoping to get a bit of friction with his hand that is still cupping your sex.  That gave him the last bit of reassurance as he pushed the fabric to the side to play with your clit, eliciting a loud moan from you.

How wonderful those thick fingers of his feel on you. You have always wondered what his fingers will feel like when you sit quietly in the corner in the mess hall after dinners, him playing the guitar with his deft fingers while the soldiers around him sing the stress away, celebrating living on for another day, as the fight with the cartel and corruption continues.  

“Cariño.” 

Your hazy eyes open up, mouth slightly agape, everything seems so muffle, so hot, so … good. 

“Look at you, so beautiful. Such an angel.” he whispered in a husky tone.  “Look at me, I want you to look at my eyes when you come.” he commanded as your eyes drifted close again, feeling that coil about to snap at any time. 

“Don’t hold back, just let it out…come for me mi vida… ” with those words, your orgasm hits you with a full force. You are sure if it’s not for the loud music, everyone in the festival ground would probably have heard you. But you couldn’t care less at this point as he slows down his finger thrusting, letting you ride out the rest of your bless high.

Your head fell forward into his shoulder, panting away as you tried to reorientated yourself as  he slowly pulled his fingers out, gliding it up towards your clit, making you tremble with overstimulation. Gently letting your leg down, making sure you are steady before he pulls you in for a tight embrace, you can feel his now fully erected cock straining against his pants. 

Pushing yourself off from him, you reach down towards his pants, carefully unbuckling his belt with your trembling hands. He let out a shuddered breath as you tug his trousers and underwear down, exposing his beautiful girth. 

“Did I do this? Did I make you hard Rudy?” you murmured as you slide your hand up and down the length, Rudy couldn’t hold back an unrestrained groan.  

“I want you inside me.. And make me come with your cock..please make me come again, please.”  You pleaded as you speed up the pumping, clenching your thigh with the need rising again, ready to take him in. 

Slowly but surely he pumps his delicious length in and out of you, each thrust and praise of words elicits more whimpers and moans out of your mouth, begging him to push you over the edge again.

Rudy grabbed your wrist to stop the ministration, and pushed you back gently until your back was against a tree, and leaned down to capture your mouth with his. Teasing your lip apart with his tongue, he hitches your skirt up and moves it to the side, hand finding your sex again. Taking his cock into his hand, he lowered himself slightly to aim his cock towards your slit, teasing it a little with the head before slowly pushing it in.

Both of you let out a contented sigh as the finally seated in you. It feels so good, so fulfilling with him stretching you nicely with his wide girth. You wouldn’t mind if he is buried inside you forever. 

He lifts your leg up and shifts your body slightly to get a better angle, thrusting even impossibly deeper than you imagined. You grabbed onto his shoulder tight, as you felt the familiar sensation building up again. With a few final hard thrust, you screamed out loud as you came for the second time,  he followed not long after with a loud moan as your pussy spasming around his cock, filling you up with his hot cum. He buried his face into the crook of your neck as both of you slowly rode out the rest of your orgasm. 

The two of you stayed in that position for a little while, eyes closed, with only the sounds of shuddering breathing from your post-orgasm highs heard between the two of you." You bite your lip, barely containing the sound of whimper as he pulls out from you, secretly wanting him to stay in there for a bit longer. He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and gently wiped you over and himself as well, before smoothing down your wrinkle top and skirt. You did the same for him as you buckled his belt back on, straightening his shirt. 

He leans into your forehead as you reach up and run your hand to smooth out his now sweat drenched hair, both of you burst out laughing. 

“ We look like we've been running a marathon. Or being chased by a group of bandits.” you quipped. 

“But it was a very good marathon.” he puffed out. Holding your face and kissing you gently on the lip, he murmured, “I would do it again any day.”

“Against a tree??” you giggled. 

“Preferably in bed next time” he chuckled. “Or anytime. Only if.. if you want.” his voice drops down to a whisper, suddenly all shy.

“I would never say no to that, Rudy.” you reassure him as you pull him in for another kiss. 

“Finally.”

“About time.”

“Sick of the two of you dancing around each other.”

“Good job Sergeant major and doc! Wohooooo” 

“Don’t too loud at night, you two.”

“What the..” “ YOU GUYS!!!!” 

tag list:

@jynxmirage, @siilvan,@glitterypirateduck, @homicidal-slvt,@sprout-fics,@cumikering,@preciouslittlecreature,@crazymela

@iwannabeinthesequalmrghostface

@liyanahelena, @abbeyrjm-blog,@alypink,@devcica,@nrdmssgs

@okayyadriana, @caramlizedtomatoes, @random-thot-generator, @random0lover

@nightingal3-tales, @deakyspuff,

@deadbranch, @roosterr, @gamergirlbones, @b1rds3ye, @writeforfandoms @a-small-writer-in-a-big-world,

[karaokebearwithal]

Mutuals Mutuals Come one COME ALL!!!

Put your various sona's and appendages together for the unveiling of a lil' something I've been working on while being distracted from animating Dame Aylin's wings (Its long, hard, fun as all hell but the concentration required to do so seems physically impossible for a beast of my genus)

I drew all my moots tavs/pseudo-companions!!! It took a bit, but it was well worth it! Everyone's design is so unique and fun to figure out. (10 is a big number of moots)((which I am very grateful to have :3)) So without Further Ado!!! (there will be so much more Ado):

(page break cuz the images are 400x400 each but 10 times, I also go on for a bit about how much I like each Tav/pseudo-companion character) ((if anyone can give me tips on how to size pieces in a normal style digitally i'd be very grateful))

First of all is Sivvus the Fey Prince (he/him)! This elusive Eladrin Tav belongs to @thedomesticanthropologist! A gorgeous yet seemingly cold-hearted druid who tends to keep his cards close to his chest. Though if you want the challenge you can see for yourself if you can try and get close to him to see if Sivvus is as closed off as he seems to be. To be quite honest, Sivvus really grew on me. A very fancy Eladrin with a high society (fey society) upbringing ( with very good looking mood boards to match) and the like only for him to be thrust into the bg3 world with a worm to boot. He is charming! Also his backstory? <3 Defienetly go read it! 10/10 would draw the snob again :)

Second off we have Gum (He/They)! A Githyanki Cleric of Mystra. Being @piipaw's Tav you'd find this charming fruit lover trying to live a peaceful life after escaping from the creche that raised them. I like Gum a lot as the concept of a githyanki trying to find their own way in Faerun while also having no idea about any of the social customs is very gripping to me. I recommend greatly to check out the blog for Gum fics, fanart and a very cool moot . :)

Next is H'rayn of Verkos (she/her)! Now different from all the character's I drew, H'rayn is not a Tav! She's actually a pseudo-companion character with a lotta lore and history! She even has her own quest, party banter, approval and disapproval things. It's the whole deal!! @githkisser made an amazing post all about H'rayn . If you want a ton of indepth and fun info that's really really well documented, I cannot overstate how much you should it check out! I find myself going back to learn more about H'rayn as she really is as well thought out as in game companions! It's quite fun thinking up of ways tavs can interact with her and the art is mwah!!! very good indeed :3

4th! Tavern (Tav) the Bard! (they/them) This darling bard ran away from the circus.....from birth! Created by @avocado-writing, Tavern plays their way into your heart with their silly antics, warm heart and eldritch pocket dimension in their chest!

Tavern is a doll to doodle and I am amped to draw them even more in the future. The heterochromia and the inclusion of instruments does make them a fun challenge (i will draw instruments accuratley with these paws eventually). Go check them out!! :D

5th! Hvinidyr the Barbarian (he/him)! @star-bear-art (I just realised after all this we aren't actually mutuals. Which is funny since we kinda have the same name and theme with the bear thing XD) If you wanna see wonderous art of Hvinidyr as well as the other companions, go look right over here!

Winnie (Hvinidyr) has a lot of forms depending on the time period you wanna look at. The one I chose was the most recent with the large scar tissue all over the left (right? I'm horrible at directions, my paws don't make an L shape for me to tell). He was really fun to sketch out (and probably later colour in) and has a really unique design that I appreciate :)

6th Vierlin the Enchantment Wizard (and a lil' bit rouge)!!!(she/her) @sybaritick's Tav!!! Now!! This classic drow has a keen intrest in enchantment magic, teaching her crafts to nobles in Amn. After the whole tadpole fiasco, she also finds another use for her multitude of arcane skills. Most notabley depicted with a local wizard.

Now I won't get ahead of myself here but the fics that Sybaritick wrote about Vierlin are like....licking a warm pan of thickened maple syrup or a fancy meat meal with so much demi-glaze you're left smacking your lips for at least 20 mins after eating. Its indulgent. And I couldn't recommend it enough!! Read it!! (it took me a good 8 times to get the 'ie' part of Vierlin's name right, the letters look the same to me)

7th Fink the Spores Druid (they/them) belonging to @causticcontemplation! They're a pretty short Tav a 2.5ft and have a whole modern AU fic about them!!! You can read all about it here! (the pun name is amazing!)

I found it cool to use the fic to figure out how to colour them in, I ended up sending an anon ask instead and it helped great! Lovely Tav 10/10!

8th Korydass the Druid!! (She/her)!!! Conjured by @cfcreative, this seemingly non-emotive bronze dragonborn lights a spark in viewers as her tail and love for nature portrays otherwise. Art of Kory is many and also very good. Reading through her lore is fun watching her dynamics with the different origin characters change as she opens up to the party.

Now I do have slight bias, I like drawing Kory the most since her head shape is less humanoid. It's just so satifying, also her design is crazy awesome to work with so all around its great recommend I like her a lot :3

9th Asheera the Paladin (she/her) produced by @optiwashere.

To be quite honest I wouldn't even have a blog if it wasn't for Asheera's fics. They are EXCELLENT. If you want to go through a journey of a half orcs struggles, successes and gripping romance with Shadowheart, VAULT YOURSELF into Opti's A03 page and devour. You will have negative regrets about it just like I! Asheera is great I love her a lot I am the most normal about her.

(I'll keep it brief since this post is long enough to cross a river)

10th Quin the Bard (he/him) composed by @quinthebard (who'd have known?)

This darling plucky bard is the star of an ongoing comic that is very dynamic and very gripping. (My fave panel is this one). Despite being 100, Quin still maintains his joyful and kind nature when traveling with the tadpole gang.

Definetly one of the most friendlies Tavs out of all the ones i've drawn. (he was also the first i drew out of all of these!) He's a delight!! Go check him out! Thanks to all my moots for giving permission, having such great characters and being such lovely moots! <3 <3 <3

(Any pronouns or other changes that want be changed, feel free to DM about it. I love those! )

[alchemicaladarna]

I've had a little more time to gather my thoughts after today's events, and while I do still feel sad and upset that this particular chapter has come to an end, I'm still very grateful that it happened.

I'm so grateful to all the good it has brought so many people. Helping many communities around the world unite and be able to talk to each other, breaking down language and cultural barriers just to freak out about their favorite cubitos.

I'm grateful for all the memories we made. The good and the bad. The sad and the happy. The ones where we all laughed at the silly moments and cried in the tragic ones. I'll look back on them very fondly, and I'm so glad to have been a part of the journey for most of the way.

I never thought I'd get back to watching another SMP after the dsmp ended to be honest. I was just kind of there for that server because I joined at the very end and only watched clip compilations and stuff. So when I heard Quackity was launching a server with Spanish and English speakers with some CC's who I already knew previously, I thought, huh. That's a neat concept I guess. I might not stick around for very long, but I'll check it out I think.

So I began to watch Phil's pov and vods, and I'll never forget the first time I saw an egg live- and just how their characters and stories completely captured my heart in a way that I can't even begin to explain. After that, I decided you know, I might have to stick around for a little while longer. And lo and behold, a year later, here we are.

I also admittedly didn't watch every streamer's pov so I'm not knowledgeable in every character's story, but because of you guys here on qsmpblr, I really felt like I was a part of every community when I read everyone's posts, theories, admire art, or fics people would write too.

I've switched povs a lot throughout the year and I just wanna say thank you to the Crows, Doozers, Jaiden fans (I forgot what you guys are called I'm sorry D':) and especially the Ghosties <3 for keeping me company. I genuinely feel so blessed to have interacted with all of you. Thank you for having me.

And yeah Ghosties, because of your streamer, I'm permanently stuck in that bell now so thanks a lot /j XD

To every fan, on tumblr and elsewhere, thanks for keeping this project- the characters and all the memories we made of it- alive in the fanart and fanfiction. You guys all work so hard and are so very talented too!

To every admin who was part of the project. Thank you for pouring so much love and contributing so much of yourself to the server. It wouldn't have been the same without you. Regardless of if you were a builder, an actor, a writer, etc. you made this project beyond amazing. If it weren't for you, I doubt this project would have reached the same heights that it did. Thank you for all the love, the memories, passion, and care you gave to the qsmp. You all are the best <33

A special thank you to my fellow ghosties here as well. Bad has genuinely become like, my comfort streamer this last year, and I wouldn't have discovered him if it weren't for you guys going crazy over his lore on the dash XD

Thank you everyone. Thank you admins. Thank you CC's . Thank you everybody. This was a wonderful experience and I hope this won't be the last.

This place will always hold a special place in my heart but for now...obrigada, merci, gracias, and buenas noches everyone <333

[hamiathesgiftexchange]

Hamiathes’s Gift Exchange sign ups are open!

If you've done a Yuletide-style exchange on AO3 before, the process should be similar. If you haven't, have a look at the explanation and examples below, check out the FAQ and rules on AO3 and let me know if you have questions!

Also, please spread the word—the more, the merrier. Both fanfic writers and fanartists are welcome to participate!

The signup link is here!

Quick points:

The tagset is big! Consider taking some time to go through it if you want. @jhawkgirl made a wonderful spreadsheet with all the available tags.

Signups are open until Friday, August 11 @ 8pm ET. See what time that is for you!

You'll need an AO3 account to sign up. You can request one here if you don't already have one. We have some extra codes if the wait list is too long so please ping me if that’s the case! 

Please read the rules before signing up so you know what you're agreeing to do

You can see what other people have requested/offered within the exchange itself, as well as on the AO3 Automagic App — group by "character" instead of "fandom" for best results. Note that you may have to re-scrape in order to see the most up to date signups.

Check below the “read more” for more info on how signups work, the “optional details” field, and how to submit your Do Not Wants. And as always, please reach out here or in the QT discord if you have questions! 

How signups work:

Each of us will use a form on AO3 to make requests and offers.

You must make at least two requests, each of which specifies a character or from the tag set and indicates that you’re requesting fanfiction, fanart, or both. You may make up to eight requests. Each request can also include optional details about your preferences, ideas for prompts, etc. More about that below. Your assigned writer or artist is responsible for creating a fanwork featuring the character or relationship in any one of your requests.

Offers are simple—you’ll just list the characters, relationships, or worldbuilding elements from the tag set about whom you’re willing to write or illustrate, specifying whether you’re offering fanart, fanfiction, or both

An important note on relationships--if characters are connected by &, this refers to a platonic relationship. If they are connected by an /, this refers to a romantic or sexual relationship. For example, if you want a story or artwork featuring Irene, request Attolia | Irene. If you want a story or artwork featuring Irene and Relius as friends, request Relationship: Attolia | Irene & Relius. If you want a story or artwork featuring Irene and Relius in a non-platonic, request Relationship: Attolia | Irene/Relius.

Optional details:

When you're making requests, it can be helpful to give your author/artist a little more detail than just the characters you're requesting. Remember that your author or artist is only required to create a work featuring your specified characters. If you ask for a specific story prompt or for art in a particular style, they may not be able to meet that request, and they aren't required to. Try not to be too proscriptive here—think of it as a way to explain why you like these characters and why you're interested in getting fanwork about them, and a way to kickstart your author/artist's creativity if they need it.

You can include either a link to a letter hosted on your journal or type directly in the optional details box in the signup form. If you're linking to your journal, please make sure it isn't friends-locked, or your creator won't be able to see it!

Do Not Want list:

If there's anything you specifically don't want to receive in your gift, you can include a Do Not Want (DNW) list in the optional details section. Examples might be things that squick or trigger you or 'ships you aren't interested in. This isn't about making value judgments, just about indicating your comfort level and making this a good experience for everyone.

Authors and artists must respect this list. When you're specifying Do Not Wants, please include them in the optional details text box in your signup, not in the letter, so I as the mod can be aware of them. If they are not in the optional details box, I cannot enforce them.

Examples of DNWs: sexual content, kidfic, violence, character death. Treats

tl;dr: if you're open to receiving gifts, make sure your AO3 is set to receive gifts and consider indicating in your letter/optional details that you're open to receiving treats! In February 2022, AO3 released a new setting that allows users to choose whether or not they can receive extra gifts. If a person has the setting "Allow anyone to gift me works" selected in their preferences, then AO3 users can give extra gifts to that person, including Hamiathes's Gift Exchange treats. If this setting is not checked, only a user who has an exchange assignment for that person, or who has claimed their prompts in a prompt meme, can give them gifts.

Because of this setting, we have encouraged people to state in their sign-up or profile page if they're open to treats. Mods can also check who's able to receive treats (especially because users could choose to change this setting during the event). If you're not sure if someone would like treats, you are very welcome to ask the mods.

Please also double-check your own settings if you would like to receive gifts! If you created your account after February 2022, you may need to change your settings from the default.

Happy prompting! 

[fuck-off-im-ace]

Warrior Nun Update │ January 10th edition

First of all, last i checked we reached at least 5,5 millions #SaveWarriorNun tweets! With the speed we’re going, we might be real close to 6M by the time i post this. To give yall an idea, i’ve heard that the Manifest fandom, who managed to get their show saved after a cancellation, did 10M in a year? Not sure how true that is, but it is what i heard! 

They were also big on signing the petition, which reached 100K signatures. We reached that goal at the end of december, we’re now at 104K last i checked. 

We’re also borrowing the Billboards strategy from the Wynonna Earp fandom. A Go Fund Me is still taking donations, the more we are the bigger the billboards will be! For legal reasons, we need fanart for them, so if you’re interested in getting your art out there or know someone who would do great representation, go to the Discord to get the specs! 

A lot of people all over the world are getting together with fellow fans that live near them to put up posters to publicise the effort. An Instagram account has been made to share WN things (such as art, memes, stories and more), i think there’s a tiktok account too, so go follow if you’re into that

If Twitter is more your thing, the wonderful team behind the Discord made a little game to get some quotes trending! Each day got its own sentence to get trending along with the general hashtag, like “For all nunkind”, “Just your job?” or “And my pleasure”. That last one was used by Simon himself on a tweet about keeping up the effort to get the show to a new home, so don’t give up hope! They know we’re still there, and they are working on this too. We have some fun ones for the next days, like “Lemon drop”, “Warrior Nun New Home” and “Love you Alba”, cause she deserves all the love. 

The admin team is giving a big effort in the general organisation of the fandom this week. They’re looking for artists for the billboards, video editors for publicity, but also for a ton of other skills! They need coders, tiktokers, data analysts, graphic designers, musicians and people that are real good with management. All the info is on the Discord, as usual.

Some good news, to make this less tedious: We won some shits! As i said in a previous post, Warrior Nun won “Show of the year” on the SpoilerTV poll! KTY won the performer of the month for december, and Alba the performer of the month for november. That puts them both in the “Performer of the year” poll! They are up against some really good and popular actors, so be sure to go vote for them both.

For the next weeks, the admin team is putting together more watch parties, fanfiction events, WN themed D&D, trivia nights, all sorts of fun! Not too late to join on the action if you’re not already in the Discord Server!

It is very important to know that tweets and other ways to publicise the show will not get us a renewal. Netflix doesnt care about a bunch of fans tweeting about it. What matters is views. All this is just to get the show noticed, cause Netflix sure as hell didnt spent a dollar on getting the show out there. So be sure to stream it, suggest it to friends, family and colleagues, and always always finish a season! What Netflix pays attention to is if people watch the show, and if they finish both season. 

To close this big ass post, i just want to remind everyone that Warrior Nun got cancelled less than a month ago. How incredible it is, that we managed to get all that done in a month. Couldn’t be prouder of us. 

[genavere]

Hi there, Genavere speaking to you about Flame's Desire, a Fairy Tail fanfic set in an AU world with dark themes and a slower-than-lava-on-a-flat-surface slow burn.

What can help grab your attention to it? One, have you heard of @theguildawards? A blog that helps show case Fairy Tail content twice a year by holding nominations and voting for fanfictions and fanart. This story has won the Guild Awards 2022, Term One: Best Dark Fiction Award. Lucy knew she was going to die. - First sentence of the first paragraph of the first chapter. Why does she think that will happen? Guess you will need to read it to find out!

Here are some stats for you: Chapters: 28/Ongoing Upload rate: Currently scheduled to update twice a month! The latest chapter just dropped! Word Count: 150,229 - Nice, big, sexy number that will only get BIGGER! If you do the math, this fic is now over 600 pages in a novel! Rating: M for Mature - You have blood and violence, dark fantasy topics, epic battles, and a well developed story that builds on itself and the characters. Have I mentioned how slow of the slow burn it is? Those who love to read 200k+ fics where the love interests just touch hands will think this is too fast! As someone who adores established relationships in my stories, this is killing me Ships to Look for: Nalu, some Mira/Laxus, Jellal/Erza Troupes: Reincarnation, Sun/Moon, Nomadic Culture represented, Draconic people, Found Family, Protective Natsu, Protective Lucy

What others say about this story: Wow, this is really good. I can't wait for more. I love the world you've set up, it's rugged and beautiful. =D You write the characters very well, too. I'd love to see more from you! - GentleTouchGinger What a rip roaring start. I forgot how intense it was. Don't mind me while I reread this - alainehope EEP! I absolutely LOVE this story! I haven't come across a fairy tail story anything like it, and it's absolutely amazing! I cannot wait for the 5th chapter to come out! Everything about it is wonderful, minimal grammar/spelling mistakes, great story concept, and everyone's personalities match up with the fairy tail versions. anyway, keep up the good work and i will make sure to keep checking in on this story :) - Ellie Oh my gosh please continue this story, I love how you don’t portray Natsu as TOO dense and innocent as some other stories. - Kotorro I'm so glad they finally sorted things out! I'm foaming at the mouth waiting for the courting dances though - and wishing Lucy was wearing the garland Natsu made for her! Wonderful chapter! &lt;3 - SleeplessSagittarius Oh my gosh I'm SCREAMING this is just so full of suspense and you're descriptions of everyone's magic are beautiful! - smol_warrior_1258 What an exhilarating chapter! Loved it! - ottermadness

In the end, only YOU can allow yourself to read an amazing story that is full of heart, characterization, great story points, and depth. Only YOU can allow yourself a simple click and check out one of the best stories in the fandom (in my opinion). This story is Written, Edited by @kiliinstinct, then Beta'ed by @phoenix-before-the-flame, gone over again by Kili, and then posted for our enjoyment... ...and all for free. Don't be a smuck and ask, "wHy sHouLd i?" Just allow yourself the awesomeness and free entertainment.

And don't forget to leave a Kudo and a comment!

do i really wanna read it tho? U beta'd it but whats so good about it? I wanna know

I have good taste in things. Ask any of my online comrades, i scarcely reccomend bad things.

Good characterization all around for both major and minor characters. I'm particularly fond of how Natsu is written in the fic.

Ever expanding lore. The world in the storys constantly bein built and expounded on.

Good pacing. Lives up to the slow burn tag (though im evil and think it could be slower, but alas, Rougie thinks thatd be too evil to do.)

Great action. Might be graphic to some but its an M rated fic for a reason.

Theres romance there but it isnt slapped on, its actually something that progresses and slowly grows instead of bein like, speedran.

I did another post here before on this a while back

You won't know if you'll like it if you don't give it a shot for yourself :]

[destielfanfic]

Destiel Fic Starter Pack

Never watched Supernatural but wondering what all the hype is about? Then this is the post for you. If you have been on tumblr for some time or just from November 5, 2020, you may have seen a gif set or two or a hundred with destiel aka Dean and Castiel from Supernatural. @fandom​ even made a Destiel Is Canon post with short overview of basic facts! Are you interested but have no idea where to start? We know, we know. Life is hectic, 2020 is taxing and Supernatural has too many episodes to watch. 15 seasons and 327 episodes to be precise but who’s counting? Say no more, we got your back, fam!  You don’t need to have ever watched SPN to enjoy the fics on this rec post.

For fans who have never watched SPN, some basic facts - 1x01 starts with Dean Winchester (26 yo) professional monster hunter, picking up his brother Sam (22 yo), student at Stanford, and going on a one off monster hunt. For the next 3 seasons they travel around the country in their black Impala 67 hunting monsters, saving people. Castiel, Angel of the Lord and the multidimensional wavelength of celestial intent, arrives in 4x01.The rest is shipping history. Check this 36 min YT video, The Story of Dean and Castiel  by deansbansee with all the best destiel scenes from S4-15. And now, fics!

All title links go to our fully tagged reviews.

1. If you want to read fics that are set in Supernatural universe but are not canon specific, your best bet is pre season 4 (our tag) and solo hunter Dean (our tag) fics where young Dean meets Castiel differently from the show, and fics that are very loosely tied to a specific season. And, if you’ll decide to watch the show later, you still won’t be spoiled!

A Distant Mirror by zatnikatel [NC-17, 14,700 word count, time travel, humor, smut, posted 2013]

Ad Astra - latin; “to the stars” by nhixxie [T, 17,400 word count, Castiel is a Star, posted 2013]

Broadway Musical by Griftings [M, 12,400 word count, humor, Heavenly Host, posted 2014]

Carnival Oasis series by violue [NC-17, 47,000 word count, 10 works, creature!cas, posted 2016-20]

Convenient Husbands by Annie D (scaramouche) [NC-17, 39,000 word count, garuda!cas, hurt comfort, posted 2012]

Do What Feels Good by catchclaw & cymbalism [NC-17, 12,500 word count, smut smut smut, posted 2014]

Everyone Is Trying to Get to the Bar by balder12 [NC-17, 8,400 word count, true form!cas, posted 2012]

Good One’s Gonna Be by remmyme [NC-17, 37,000 word count, professor Cas, posted 2017]

Kiss You When It’s Dangerous by zoemathemata [NC-17, 58,000 word count, FBI agent Cas, posted 2012]

Professional Couple Only by saltyfeathers [M, 37,000 word count, pretend boyfriends on a case, posted 2015]

The Request by cloudyjenn [T, 36,000 word count, wing!fic, posted 2012]

Some Assembly Required by narrow_staircase [M, 47,000 word count, student Cas, posted 2016]

Unknown Quantities by xylodemon [NC-17, 8,600 word count, fluff, posted 2014]

2. If you don’t want to bother with Supernatural canon at all, then you are still in for a treat. With 92,500 fics (December 12, 2020) and counting, destiel is currently the biggest ship on AO3. Destiel fics cover a lot of popular tropes and kinks but some are more popular than others among destiel fans. Angst, miscommunication, exploration of Dean’s low self esteem, Cas’s rusty people skills and general otherness are a staple of AU fics. But also exploration of one’s sexuality - internalized homophobia, coming out, bisexuality and asexuality are common themes.

All the Way by cadignan [NC-17, 81,000 word count, college AU, posted 2013]

Cinderwings by bendingsignpost [M, 182,000 word count, wing!fic, masquerade ball, posted 2017]

Kiss the Baker by ltleflrt [NC-17, 111,000 word count, rom com, posted 2015]

Not Part of the Plan by Annie D (scaramouche) [NC-17, 338,000 word count, 8 works, arranged marriage, posted 2013-18]

Oh What A Beautiful City by moosefeels [M, 27,200, a/b/o, omega Cas, arranged marriage, posted  2014]

Passing Ships by quiettewandering [M, 78,000 word count, not traditional soulmate AU, posted 2017]

Peace and Good Luck To All Men by kismetjeska [T, 32,400 word count, humor, Xmas fic, posted 2013]

The Return Policy by castielrisingabove [M, 32,500 word count, incubus!dean, ace witch!cas, posted 2018]

The Sawdust Men by linoresearch [NC-17, 123,000 word count, dystopian angst, posted 2014]

Scars by lemonsorbae [NC-17, 148,000 word count, young adults - punk!dean, nerd!cas, posted 2018]

Three Funerals and a Wedding by engaldnwouldfall [M, 25,300 word count, friends to lovers, LARPing, posted 2016]

True as It Can Be by whelvenwings [NC-17, 72,000 word count, modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast, posted 2016]

Unsolicited verse by dangerousnotbroken [NC-17, 68,700 word count, 5 works, posted 2016-18, smut smut smut]

Unwritten by porcupinegirl [NC-17, 75,800 word count, a/b/o, alpha/alpha pairing, posted 2015]

3. Lastly, for all fans who watched SPN finale and were left with a raging wtf was that? feeling, here’s 4 fics where Dean and Cas did a better job at restoring Heaven and 2 fics where living with disability was not the end of the world.

The Dance of Inanna by peppermintwind [NC-17, 106,000 word count, humor and adventures, posted 2012]

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by amarillogrande [M, 22,200 word count, Dean arrives in Heaven and meets his loved ones, posted  2014]

Holy!Dean Verse by bunnycaccool [NC-17, 120,300 word count, 5 works, very Dean centric, posted 2011-15]

These Are Not Real Problems by Annie D (scaramouche) [NC-17, 30,500 word count, post godstiel Cas arrives in Heaven, posted 2011]

The Breath Of All Things by kismetjeska [T, 65,400 word count, Dean in a wheelchair, posted 2013]

Kingdom Come by cheesewithmy [M/NC-17, 97,700 word count, Dean has a prosthetic arm, posted 2014]

4. Other fun things to check out. Destielfanfic has been a part of destiel community since 2012, and while we used to be much more active (see this post), we are still kicking around. Please visit our Tags Page and explore all the goodies there. We even have separate tags for every season so you can avoid spoilers when necessary. Some useful links:

Tags Page 

ask about iconic destiel fics for folks who just joined fandom

thematic fic rec lists with art (college, creatures, a/b/o, Hogwarts, Christmas - you name it, we have it)

check out our Pride posts for more fics that explore sexuality  - Pride 2017, Pride 2018, Pride 2019 and Pride 2020.

Still can’t decide which destiel fic to read? Try this brand new random fic generator created by @deanwinchestergender​  (not affiliated with DFF) or try Random button on our blog - top right corner and the sidebar (see this post )

also, check out the latest destiel fanart at our sister blog  @destielfanworks​ - Cas with rainbow wings can be found on #cas with wings tag and fanart that was created after 15x18 can be found on #destiel 2020 and #theysilencedyou tags, we also have a general #season 15 tag.

and here’s another destiel fic rec list for new fans by a destiel fic writer and a long time contributor to our blog, our friend  @no-gorms​ aka Annie D (scaramouche)

And last but not least. Thank you, Elena, @purgatory-jar​, for letting us to use your beautiful art! Link to the original art post. 

If you enjoyed the fic, please drop by the archive (AO3) and let the author know with your comments and/or kudos!  Please support artists by Liking and Reblogging their art posts! And if you found our recs useful, let us know by Liking and/or Reblogging our posts!

To our new followers - our anon is switched off for good but we are happy to answer your fic related asks privately. Don’t be shy and tell us which destiel fic made you into a shipper. We may even make a rec post if we get enough fic suggestions!

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E111 (Redux! Oct. 13, 2020)

Gooooood evening good evening good evening, all! I started the VOD late for this recap and somehow the first four or so minutes of the show have a Twitch audio copyright claim, so I am reduced to only reading Brian's lips when he asks if we're on the internet. Hilariously, Marisha's background room is a comfy-looking blue/gold fabric wall with a ceramic colorful abstract lamp and a yellow silk scarf over the lampshade, and Taliesin's is an industrial looking games room in grey and black with multiple monitors, overhead speakers, and mysterious metal fixtures behind him. What a treasure this group is, honestly.

Tonight's guests: Marisha Ray & Taliesin Jaffe, discussing episodes 110 and 111 again. I wildly speculate once more about what might have caused their absence: jury duty? Sam appearing on The Masked Singer? Something to do with the animated show? One day, we’ll know, one day... (One day this “copyrighted audio” section will come back from the wars, too. Ugh!) Finally! The audio comes back to reveal Brian discussing the endless reality of digital meetings and Marisha talking about (I think) her glare-reducing glasses she’s wearing. Welcome to the New Age (welcome to the New Age, to the New Age).

Announcements: Marisha suggests checking out Dimension20, another live tabletop gaming group, which premieres live on Wednesdays at 4pm (CollegeHumor). 

Brian immediately wants to know how they feel about the revelation that Molly is alive. Taliesin’s personal reaction: he “knows some things” he can’t talk about and is aware of several possibilities that might be going on, but had a sneaking suspicion that there would not be a body for them to find. He says it’s almost all there for anyone to see in past material. Marisha’s personal reaction: she just wants to know how she’s doing with her theories, & was trying to block Tal’s face out deliberately as she was going off on her theories in the last episode. Taliesin says he thought her ideas were pretty good!

Cad has no clue what to think - it’s like listening to your friends talk about Buffy. Marisha thought it was a 50/50 Molly would still be there, but Beau had no idea. Not that it mattered, because as soon as Matt went through with it the reveal still blew their minds. Tal laid out his plans for the character with Matt during Campaign One (towards the end) after they all got their VM tattoos.

It is a “horrifying and gross” thing to dig up a body, and Beau was pretty reluctant to do it. Tal, as Cad: “Sometimes dead’s better.” The moral quandary of trying to speak with a dead friend was very different here than the frequent occasions they used the spell in C1.

Taliesin says his poker face is very bad, so it’s easier for him to over-react and let it all play out. The only other player he can see very easily from his place in their current setup is Travis, and because he knows Travis doesn’t watch TM, tweet, or participate in social media, he admits he thoroughly enjoyed watching Travis freak out at his freaking out. He says he only knew about 20% of what Matt described at the end of that episode. He was picking things to mug to increase Travis’s surprise. I love this so much.

Taliesin provided the table left leg shake; Travis provided table right. Ha!

Beau is really accepting her role in the Cobalt Soul. It’s good when “as a person, you feel like you can settle into your calling. Sometimes you can do more from the inside than fighting from the outside.” It’s a mirrored but opposite path of Keyleth from C1; Beau felt like she was too good for her duty, while Keyleth thought she wasn’t good enough.

Caduceus is not a big believer in jumping to conclusions. He does have an idea/notion of the “city of the undead” and thinks all this necrotic energy must come from somewhere, and wonders if this is the “capital of anti-death.” He’s willing to believe whatever he sees. This is one of the few things that trigger a bit of loathing and disgust in him. It was terrifying that the Wildmother didn’t know anything.

Beau is pretty confident in her Charlie Day impression laying-out-the-research last episode. She enjoyed taking the things that were known & extrapolating around them; this is a huge facet of Marisha’s own personality and she really enjoys it, so she built a character this time that would allow that kind of puzzle-solving. It’s also why she repeatedly notes when Beau journals, so she can avoid metagaming. Trent’s mention of Vess Durogna’s tomb raiding was completely circumstantial, and the only reason she’d made the connection to the Tombtakers was because she’d recently reviewed those notes for a separate unannounced project. Sometimes she tries to make connections and Matt is like, “It was...just descriptive. Just flavor. The curtains were red...” and she has to discard a paragraph of notes. She feels like it’s still something they have to do because of “look at what he does! Look! It’s totally valid!”

Cosplay of the Week: @kitsunstudios with a gorgeous Caduceus with a very intricate silk vest.

Caduceus’s takedown of Trent! One of my favorite moments in the entirety of C2. Taliesin felt Trent was an asshole; Caduceus felt sorry for him because of how dumb he thought he was. Caduceus’s response was "this is the dumbest man I’ve ever met in my life. He’s so dumb! Is nobody going to tell this guy how dumb he is? Oh, they’re all freaked out. Somebody needs to tell this guy he’s an idiot before somebody gets hurt.” (Marisha: “Before?”) Tal says it was the product of several years of therapy and many drunk conversations with Whitney Moore. It was from a genuine place of concern from Caduceus. “How are you allowed to have this much power and be that dumb?”

Brian loved how funny it was to watch everyone tiptoe around Trent and then Caduceus bulldoze through the end of the meal.

Taliesin: “Damage doesn’t make you interesting or better. It’s not what makes you good. Character isn’t found in damage. Just recovery.”

Brian & Marisha commiserate going through the stage where believing surviving something automatically made you a stronger person, better for the pain; instead it just meant you had to pick up the pieces after. Marisha talks about how strength through survival may be true for some people, but it shouldn’t be considered a necessity. Taliesin talks about how he used to think he had to be miserable to write. Brian talks about how believing he liked reading and writing miserable things only limited him for years.

Marisha feels it’s a C2 theme that almost all the PCs have someone trying to handwave or take credit for their accomplishments or explain their pain as being for their own good (Trent, Beau’s dad, Obann). She thinks it’s interesting to see all the various ways people try to take credit for your work/delegitimize you as a person. She loves that RPGs allow you to explore these odd moralities in interesting ways. The only way to fight it is to have a sense of your own self-worth, which is a problem a lot of the M9 started with.

Caduceus likes everyone, and really likes people who appear to need role models (Eodwulf). “With the right friends and the right bar and the right attitude, I think he’d be okay. Come over here where it’s so much better. That seems like an exhausting friendship that you have there.”

Marisha loves the mix of personalities in the M9; Veth, Cad, & Jester were all “we kind of like them!” after the dinner, and she immediately made eye contact with Travis and they both shook their heads. She knows Beau has to go along with it for Caleb’s sake for now, but she & Fjord are pretty sus of Trent’s proteges.

Beau is less concerned about Artagan’s relationship to Jester because “he showed his ass--she’s less worried about Jester now because a little of the magic is gone.” It’s a little like becoming an adult and realizing your parents are also just adults & human. Caduceus wasn’t suspicious of the Traveler for a long time until they got to the island. Aside: Taliesin loves the pantheon in D&D. “The notion of attempting to apply common Western conceptions of religion to a world where you have a pantheon of interventionist gods as baseline makes no sense to me. Everyone admits that every other god is there and doing shit; it has more in common with ancient Rome than anything else.” Now that he knows it was a con, he feels the wind had been taken out of it. He does have a sense that Jester’s gotten back together with an ex: “I hope that I’m really happy for you.” They’re both interested to see how Jester navigates the new relationship.

My internet goes out, of course. I panic for a second, thinking I’ve lost everything above, but all is well! Thanks, Form History Control addon!

Marisha loved punching Artagan, but regretting rolling so poorly. “I miss violence.” Dani lets us know it’s been about four episodes since the last battle.

There’s no way the Cobalt Reserve doesn’t have a single document on the Eyes of Nine. Beau believes “there are no real secrets” because people are just bad at not writing things down. For there to be no information at all seems really suspicious for her.

Fanart of the Week: @oddalchemist on twitter with some awesome Beau conspiracy red-thread boards overlaid a distant shadowy Molly walking away.

Caduceus feels a little guilty for really enjoying his time right now with the M9 and not wanting to go home. He’s starting to suspect that he’s going to go home very different than when he left. “He has the softest problems. I don’t know if I want to move back in with Mom & Dad.”

Beau is trying to get comfortable with the idea of being happy. Jester is probably Beau’s first real best friend & one of the first healthy female friendships she’s ever had. As long as she still has Jester in her life, she doesn’t care. For Yasha... “At the end of the day, Beau is a lonely person and has always been a lonely person. And I think you kinda reach this point where once you’re not lonely anymore, you can kind of come out of the fog and realize that was horrible! And terrifying! And is even more terrifying now that I know what I could have, and I don’t want to go back to that. At the end of the day Beau doesn’t want to be lonely anymore. There’s always been that flirtation with Yasha, but everyone had to figure their own shit out. And now it feels like it’s coming out a little bit of that haze, maybe this actually could be...” There are a lot of ways they complement each other & are good-different from each other. Marisha believes people can be attracted to more than person at once.

Caduceus doesn’t think nature turned against him on Rumblecusp, it was just a reality of nature being dangerous and violent. “He has a complex relationship with nature.” He doesn’t expect special treatment.

Thoughts on the mansion: “Man, it’s nice to be seen.” Marisha: “I don’t know how I ended up becoming the Scanlan of this campaign, but I’m living for it.” It felt like an echo of “I’m better for having known you.” They compare Marisha taking specific notes on the campaign to Liam taking specific notes on people’s favorite tapestries, comics, etc.

They talk about missing theme parks and daydream a park version of the mansion in CritRoleLand. It’s lovely.

Taliesin never expected Divine Intervention to work; he just wanted to roll some dice. He’s still processing what he saw/heard. They all agree it was very useful in the Vokodo fight.

Vilya! Marisha: “Ah! Ah! Ah!” As a player, Marisha was so deep in Beau’s eyes she didn’t pick up it was Vilya at first (especially since Matt really emphasized they should not be looking for C1 NPCs). Marisha’s brain melted. She bawled her eyes out on the ride home after that episode. Right after it ended, Laura told Marisha “Keyleth finally gets her happy ending,” and it makes Marisha emotional again since Keyleth’s story ended so bittersweetly. She talks about the very real feelings of “just wanting them to be happy, though!” She went back and listened to all her old Keyleth playlists. Everyone was teary after the episode. “Everyone has these 100% real memories of being these characters and having these good times.”

And that’s that for that! Thanks for your patience, all, and is it Thursday yet?

[bob-events]

Band of Brothers Friendship Bonanza 2021: Sign-ups are open!

Hello everyone! The day is here, and the sign-ups for this year’s Friendship Bonanza fest is open!

If you wanna skip straight to the signup form, the link is here! Under the Keep Reading we’re just gonna list some good-to-know info about the event and how it will work, so if you have any questions, check that out first! :)

EVENT TIMELINE:

May 11 - Signups open

May 25 - Signups close

Jun 1 - Assignments go out

June 29-July 1st - Check-in via email

Jul 16 - Default Deadline/AO3 collection opens

Jul 23 - Deadline to turn in works

July 30 - All works go live

August 6 - Author reveals

Under-the-Keep-Reading tl;dr: 1. This is a gift exchange 2. The theme is friendship! 3. All types of fandom creations are welcome in this event 4. Canon characters, OCs and xReader works are all welcome 5. Defaulting and pinch hits A note on the Anonymous Week

The minimum requirements for works are: Fanfics: 1000 words Fanart, gifs, videos, etc: A clearly finished piece

If you have any questions, message us! We’re available here, on discord and on our email, bandofboyfriends@gmail.com. There are three of us, and we’re in different timezones, so keep that in mind! :)

LINK TO THE SIGN-UP FORM

And as always,

Come hang out on our BoB Discord! (16+)

Currahee! <3

1. This is a gift exchange It’s why there’s a signup form. After the signup period ends, we will pair everyone up, and send out the prompts given by every person to their match, who will then create a work based off of those prompts. For example, it could look like: A writes for B, B writes for D, D writes for C, C writes for A. Everyone makes a gift, everyone receives a gift!

2. The theme is friendship! There is no ban on (background) romantic relationships, but please do keep in mind that the main focus of your prompts should be friendships or/and other types of platonic relationships! (If you personally do not want any kind of romantic element to your gift, just write it in the Do Not Want section!)

3. All types of fandom creations are welcome in this event Because this is a gift exchange and we need to ensure that every person will be able to be matched up to someone, every participant is required to be willing to make either a fanfic or a piece of fanart. However, we gladly welcome other types of media in this event too! Gifsets, videos, photo sets, fanmixes, anything that you might be a creator of is welcome in this event!

4. Canon characters, OCs and xReader works are all welcome The only existing caveat is that your work must be understandable for a person who has consumed nothing except the original show. This, of course, goes for any work, but we are aware that a big part of OC creation is their often amazingly wonderful backstories and past events who shaped who they are. These stories are incredibly welcome, but keep in mind that the person you are matched with might not have read or seen your earlier work, so make sure your creation is understandable to someone who has only seen the base show!

5. Defaulting and pinch hits “To default” is basically the term for dropping out of the event and not creating your work within the deadline. There are a lot of reasons why someone might default, and we will never question or judge someone for doing so, but if you think you might have to default, please let us know as soon as possible! After a default, we will put out the prompts given to the person who defaulted as a “pinch hit”. This means they will be put up with a request for a fill, to make sure every participant gets a gift. It’s called a pinch hit because they often have a much tighter timeframe than is originally allotted to the fest.

A note on the Anonymous Week All works have to be published to AO3 by the deadline to not be considered abandoned. This goes for fics, art, gifsets, any kind of creation for the event, and it’s in order for the mods to be able to keep track of how everyone is doing, who has finished and submitted their work, etc. For the first week of the works going public, they will be marked as “anonymous,” meaning you won’t be able to see the author. Here’s a screenshot from the Discord server with some info on why:

Image Description:

maria: sobel stan 4ever “so basically, just to explain the mechanics first for anyone who might not know: AO3 has a function where works within a collection can be labeled as anonymous for a period of time. We’ve just taken inspo from Heavy Artillery, who by tradition have all their works anon for the first week. 

This is for two main reasons as far as i know; first, to kind of level the playing field in a sense, basically giving the work the right to stand on their own legs and to make sure people don’t just read (for example) the works from people they already know and like and ignore the others. Since we have creators here who are incredibly good but maybe haven’t had the time to build up that exposure, we figured it could be a nice option. Second is that it gives the option for trying to guess who made what, and that can be kinda fun! Trying to suss out who wrote what fic etc.”

However, we are aware that for non-writers, AO3 might not be the best place to share a work, so non-writers are exempt from the anonymity rule!

This means that from July 30th, if you’re (for example) an artist, you are free to post your artwork on tumblr, instagram or whatever platform you’re most comfortable with!

[everydayescapeartist]

I’m much too late in sharing this (I think? Did I post it before? My tired brain needs help, lol) but @hillaryschu did such an amazing job and was really sweet and wonderful to make this L’il Oathkeeper gift for me above and beyond her awesome Bug Juice fic.  So, you all need to go check out this lovely JB art please and give the accolades it deserves.  Happy weekend, everyone!  Hope we all get to enjoy some JB fics/fanart during it!  :-D

[break-slash]

Puzzleship JP & KR Fancomic Recommendation List

UPDATE (19-12-2020): Added two more artists and two more titles on the Japanese lists!

I don’t consider myself as someone very tidy and organized, but I just like making lists of the things I love, somehow. Hence this post. I haven’t been in the fandom for long but I thought I’d share some of my favorites primarily from two sites: pixiv and postype. Most of the postype ones are behind paywall, and I will mark them differently.

Some of my favorites come from the same artists, so I’ll also link their pixiv profile on top of my favorite work of them.

(I actually bookmarked a lot and picking them isn’t an easy task, so I will update this step by step. If you see only a link of an artist, that’s the reason, but I can guarantee you will love their works! Feel free to recommend me yours through reblogs or DM as well!)

Japanese

Artist: CYHGM

She is a Chinese and is more active on Weibo (she posted tons of puzzleship there, but my Mandarin is beyond rusty so I could only cry in despair lmao), but she has two fancomics that I absolutely adore of. Those two mentioned fancomics are:

The Past and The Future. You can check my translation for this one here. It tells about Atem who gets transported to 3000 years later before his coronation, and that’s where he met post-canon!Yugi. Just... everything about this comic is so wonderful. I teared up at the last page, not gonna lie ;_;

The Pharaoh and The Fairy: An Ancient Egypt-slash-fantasy AU featuring the S0/TOEI casts. The fairy Yugi was saved by Atem, and it’s an obligatory for fairies to grant their savior’s wishes. However, Atem doesn’t exactly have something he wants of, and this confuses Yugi on how he should repay him back. Pure undiluted sugar, and fairy!Yugi is just so cute.

Artist: Fushitas

Arguably one of the most popular Puzzleship fanartists in the JP fandom (look at their number of followers on Twitter, man), but maybe it’s also due to the fact they were in AoT fandom too. They’re mostly active on Twitter, and if you also watch Zexal, they draw tons of Yuma-centric pairings too. They have released lots of books, and their prices on the reseller sites are... well, let’s just say, unbelievable. Just to show how famous they are. 

From everlasting to everlasting: Set after DSOD. A mysterious figure appears in front of Atem, claiming to be his queen. Everyone in the after life somehow acknowledges this person, which makes him even more confused because he’s the only one unaware of this. On the living realm, Yugi who is on the way to his home got hit by a truck (isekai much??) and when he woke up, he suddenly plays the role of Atem’s queen. I’ve always adored Fushitas’ drawing, and this is no exception. The story is pretty simple, but is still good! The ending of this comic is everything I’ve always wanted from the canon lol. 

The King’s Guest: Ancient Egypt AU. The councils are starting to get worried because Atem shows no interest in marrying someone, so Shimon opens up a “chance” sort of for civilians to become “someone for the Pharaoh to talk with”. The civilian Yugi takes this chance right off the bat, and stuff happens? This one is just so sweet and the misunderstanding later in the story kinda cracks me up. I really love the way they build the two’s chemistry in here.

Artist: usi 

They only draw two puzzleship fancomics, but both are so good and explores the themes I’ve loved from the pairing.

The Lotus’ Devil: Set post-canon with a flashback. It tells about Yugi’s regret in the past where he wanted to show Atem a small pool supposed to be full of lotus flower only to arrive seeing them not blooming. Fast forward to the post-canon, he found out that there’s actually a monster residing on that pool. I really, really loved the ending scene of this one.

Who’s The Detestable, Fortunate Guy Here: I think this is set sometime in the canon story, although the exact timing is unclear. It’s a short comic of Yugi asking Atem to pretend to be his date and go on a “dating practice”. A very pleasant hurt-and-comfort kind of story, and who doesn’t love a story of them dating anyways? :”D

Artist: Houzuki Anzu

She doesn’t draw much YGO, but she has some Arc-V and 5D’s fanarts too if you watch the series! 

Hourglass: Sets after the Memory World arc. Yugi keeps hearing a strange sound inside his mind, and he finds out there’s a huge hourglass standing there, guarded by the will of Millenium Puzzle. Apparently, the hourglass is linked to Atem’s remaining time in the living realm? Anyways, the ending of this comic might look like a cliffhanger, but I personally think it isn’t. I love the theme this comic picks to explore and the way it is presented.

Present: Same setting with Hourglass, but this one focuses more on Atem sorting out his feelings about the Ceremonial Duel and what he has learned from Yugi in general. It’s a very nice extra detail that the canon slightly lacks of, and I just love... bittersweet stuff in general haha.

Artist: Chiriko

Are you the type who wants puzzleship to be full of happiness and fluff and nothing else? Well, she has a number of comics to fill that need! I actually love all of her works, but if I have to pick, these two are my favorite:

...Don’t Ever Leave Me Again: A short story about Yugi having a nightmare of where he was stuck in the fire accident at Otogi’s store. Well... this isn’t a fluff sort of, but it’s... a happy ending still? /shot

[Untitled]: A dialogue-less comic, but this is the sort of post-canon what-if that I really, really like. Atem stroking Yugi’s face while sleeping is just... so soft man....

Artist: Komori Nea

Their art style was one of those that’s very noticeable and has a certain charm on it. They are pretty active on Twitter, and even draws puzzle comics once in a while that haven’t been uploaded to pixiv (which is why I recommend you to check their twitter gallery too haha)

The Soul Stays Awake: Post!DSOD. Atem comes back from afterlife in hoping that Yugi would be as happy as he is, but months after, Atem’s existence still hasn’t been registered on Yugi’s life just yet. Another post!DSOD take that I like which involves the fear of another farewell and uncertainty, but this is a good hurt-and-comfort. I swear, it’ll hurt you just... for a while. :”)

The Attack’s Aim: Set during the canon series. A short comic mostly portraying Yugi’s hidden strength but also the tenacity of duelist that is not only targeted toward the opponent, but also to Atem, without the person actually noticing it. The last page of this one is so... soft and gentle I had to put it into this list.

Artist: caf

Often draw with S0/TOEI style, characters and characterization in mind. Their coloring in illustrations is so soft, plus artists who specialize in S0/TOEI style can’t be found so easily. Their comic style is not a manga-like one and they write the dialogues with handwriting, but if you can read hiragana and write and understand how kanji works (so you can write it on translation machine), their comics are easy to understand!

magenta: S0/TOEI AU where Yugi and Atem are two separate person. A short comic of Yugi lying under the rain as Atem searches for his whereabouts. I really love the way they portray the rain and the atmosphere surrounding the scene. Or maybe I’m just biased with rains in general, ahahaha.

Yuugi and Mao’s Stay Home: Same AU as above. Our two boys has to face the same shit we do IRL in this comic, which is quarantine. Atem offers to cook something for Yugi since he can’t eat outside. You love seeing Yugi eating stuff? This is a perfect comic for y’all. 

Artist: Kkyut

Artist: Kayu(i)

Others:

Gemini: As Atem comes back to the living world, Yugi faces the dilemma of having being separated by “his other self” physically and mentally. A short comic, but the lines the artist used are so... beautiful. Like, the way they describe Yugi’s loneliness?? Just hits the park so much. 

Until The Hourglass Runs Out: Set after the Memory World Arc. As their farewell day goes closer, Yugi decides to give Atem a full control of his body at school so he could spend his time with Jounouchi and the gang more. However, things don’t go as smooth as Yugi had expected. If you like that little teeny weeny pain before the Ceremonial Duel, this comic perfectly suits the taste. 

see you sometime: Post-canon. Mahaad offers Atem a chance to meet Yugi in the living realm one more time, but with several conditions. Firstly, he could only stay for a day at maximum. Secondly, Yugi won’t be able to remember who he spent his time with after Atem hangs out with him. Thirdly, Yugi will not be able to “recognize” this Atem; he will only be registered in Yugi’s mind as a new classmate. A bittersweet comic in whole, but seeing the two having fun like a normal teenager would just makes me grin.

After The Rain: A dialogue-less comic, so everyone would be able to read this right away. A short comic of the two, but still very cute and wholesome!

The Tropics of Horus: Post!DSOD, Atem has to chase Kisara who lingers around Kaiba’s soul and he needs Yugi’s help to bring Kisara back to afterlife, but he has his own ulterior motive. This manga is so dialogue-heavy and might be hard to dissect especially if you don’t understand JP grammar and context, but the time spent trying to understand the meaning behind every words will be worth it. That much I guarantee. Just... everything about this comic, and how Atem’s “ulterior motive” connects to our boys’ adventure in canon series are so well planned. You can also purchase the R18 version in a form of the book here (toranoana)

Christmas Day: S0/TOEI puzzleship hint (dark puzzle???). There’s something in store for Yugi in Christmas, but this one might surprise Yugi a lot. It’s not that the prompt of “Atem gets separated from Yugi temporarily” is uncommon, but it is still a sweet one and makes you smile throughout the pages. 

Korean

All titles mentioned here are not free unless mentioned otherwise. Also I don’t understand Korean except being able to read Yugi and Atem’s name, so my story interpretation might be wrong. If you understand Korean, I’d really love for you input! ;_; 

You can check out on how to buy comics from postype here

Yugi’s 2020 Birthday Anthology: Rain and After End

This is an anthology consisting of four titles, but they share the same (or similar) setting where Atem is reincarnated, but he doesn’t remember his past (or has not yet, depending on how the story portrays it). Some are age-gap (adult!Yugi and high school student!Atem), so you might want to consider that if it’s not your cup of tea.

To Like Someone is to...: Age-gap setting. Mostly tells about how Yugi deals with his feeling as the reincarnated Atem in front of him turns out to have a feeling on him. I like how the story’s conclusion is that Yugi will sort it out slowly while also teasing Atem how he’s “too early” to date Yugi w.

In A Circle: A story about how the two met through an online chess game. Iirc Yugi works in a game company and Atem is sort of a famous e-sports player in this setting. There’s a lot of dialogue in this one and the app sometimes can’t process them very well, but I liked what I can understand from it! not very convincing is it haha i’m sorry i shouldn’t have done this

Familiarity: Age-gap setting, where Yugi becomes Atem’s caretaker. The comic mostly focuses on how Atem notices how kind (or too kind) Yugi is sometimes, but there are times where he feels distant. The plot where Atem gets into a fight with the other kid in his school because the kid mocks Yugi, and how Yugi just... accepts it even when Atem doesn’t want to say his reason of punching the kid is just.... god... I love this kind of age-gap setting like this I guess ;_;

Touchdown: Age-gap setting, but Atem is older in here (university student). The two goes to Atem’s university festival and they think about their own feeling when they got separated. On their way to drop Atem off, he confesses to Yugi, but Yugi is still unsure on his overlapping feeling between the reincarnated Atem and the Atem he knows. Make sure you play Motohiro Hata’s Rain and Aimer’s After Rain during the car scene to make the “rain” mood works even better :”)

Others:

Try For Point: A continuation of Touchdown, where Atem (like, the one from the past) visits Yugi in his dream and helps Yugi in sorting out is his feeling toward his reincarnated self. Atem’s advice is so sweet and there’s one certain line from this comic that I remember very deeply - there’s a part where he says, “If you don’t pull out the card, you won’t know what card it is, right?” to help Yugi clearing out his hesitancy ;w; at this point, I curse myself for not being able to understand Korean

[gumnut-logic]

Thunderfam Appreciation Post

I’m giving this a new post to prevent scroll city, but the original and several reblogs can be found by clicking the above link. Also, it’s an excuse to post a piccy of Virg cos any excuse, really :D

Many thanks to @willow-salix for writing this question list :D

Before I start, I just want to say that I value every member of this fandom. I’m often hopeless at communicating in group settings so I don’t speak to many peeps, but that is my failing, not anyone else’s. You are an amazing group and you have supported me and each other just brilliantly over the last nearly three years that I have been hanging with you guys. Thank you ever so much for all your wonderful support and encouragement. I’ve had so much fun and created so much stuff…you guys are amazing. Thunderfam rock!

Please note that my memory is pathetic and I will fail to mention everyone. Please do not take any offence if you aren’t listed below. That does not mean I don’t value you, I do, it just means I have swiss cheese between my ears.

-o-o-o-

Your favourite writer of your favourite boy.

@i-am-chidorixblossom  You are a whumper and comforter after my soul. You speak the Virg :D @vegetacide I adore your turn of phrase and your description is to die for.

The person who's stories you will always read.

I try to read most fics that come across my dash, but there are a few that have me jumping up and down. @i-am-chidorixblossom , @vegetacide , @tsarinatorment , @scribbles97 , @the-lady-razorsharp , @janetm74 Of course, I regularly fail at this as some of you write a huge amount of fic and I am often playing catch up, but fic!

Who wrote the first fic you read in this fandom.

I landed on FF.net back in May 2018. I immediately ran into @the-lady-razorsharp who I knew from another fandom ten years prior and she was absolutely wonderful, drawing me in and introducing me around. I gobbled up several of her fics in the process.

Person you can talk to for the longest without a break.

I am hard to get started, persistence is required, but once started, it is usually hard to shut me up. @scribbles97 @vegetacide and @tsarinatorment have all discovered that. Dangle a Virg, a plotline and stand back.

Person you can't be trusted to be left alone with.

Um, @vegetacide and I have plotted out the entirety of Warm Rain together…poor Virg. Add @the-lady-razorsharp into the equation and Virgil ends up with a beard, dressed in leather and riding a Harley – that was a hilarious evening.  Between @tsarinatorment and @janetm74 Virgil gets grey hairs and has to go rescue Scott – because Scott inevitably ends up in the story :D  @scribbles97 gets the blame for Gentle Rain – expand your horizons she said ::headdesk:: But then there was the time I left one random line about Eos visiting Virgil in the shower and went to bed. I woke up to hilarity and chaos as Thunderfam took the idea and ran with it! Love you guys :D

Person whose fic made you cry the most.

I know there were at least two fics that made me cry, but for the life of me I can’t identify them. I did cry writing my own fic – Flannel – and don’t tend to reread it for that reason. Purupuss traumatised me with A Quiet Day to the point I had to put it down and walk away for a bit ::wails::

Person whose fic made you laugh the most.

I have no idea. I know there are fic out there and I know I’ve read it, but without a complete list of everything I’ve read, I don’t have a clue.

Person whose fic made you think the most.

Aaaargh, I don’t have a master list so can’t remember everything. Staring at my paltry favourites list on FF.net (which was mostly gathered three years ago and never maintained), Purupuss’ ‘Brothers in Arms’ and her whole Quiet series has me wanting to write a Scott-Virgil telepathic fic (and she has given me permission to run with the idea, I just haven’t actioned it yet). Counterpoint by Swallow and Amazon is amazing and likely contributed to Sotto Voce.

Person you have laughed with the most.

I’m really not liking this ultimate one person idea. I’ve laughed with a lot of people in this fandom. I’ve candy cannoned a bunch of you as well :P There has been mad plot cackling, evil conspiring, fic written to stir pots and delight on purpose. Hell, I’ve even written fic that was purposefully a giant virtual hug because I’m so far away that even if half the world wasn’t in isolation, I couldn’t hug most of you. Sure, I talk with some of you more than others, and there is laughter in those chats…oh, god, so much cackling, poor, poor Tracy boys. But then there are also so many smiles both vocalised and not. Thunderfam is one of my happy places. Bring on the belly laughs :D

Your comfort fic that you'll go back and read again on a bad day.

I will often resort to my own fic when I’m really down simply because it helps me get to sleep :D and it is kinda tailored to me ::grins::  (and my memory is that bad I often forget what I wrote anyway – yes, it is that bad) But there are also a few on my FF.net favourites list. Mostly hurt/comfort in a Virg flavour. Cheesycheese, nhsweetcherry, A Small Rescue by Nalina, Breathe Easy and Under the Weather by @loopstagirl – several of hers, in fact – the Virg ones :D Pretty much anything that has Virg fainting and being looked after apparently :D Chiddi and Veggie fic, of course.

Favourite piece of fan art.

I have never been so honoured by artists before. This fandom has some amazing skills and I have been gifted some beautiful works. You guys are amazing (I keep saying it like a broken record, but you are).

Again, I’m stuck on having to list one and I can’t. I think Fanart Appreciation Month in January pretty much summed up my opinion.

Who have you known the longest in the fandom.

@the-lady-razorsharp followed by @vegetacide both wonderful peeps. I can’t miss out on @weirdburketeer either for her amazing support almost from day one.

Favourite OC.

I have to say that I really enjoy reading about Ray from @i-am-chidorixblossom ‘s fics :D He is so gentle and kind and just ::sigh:: Virg likes him lots :D Selene by @willow-salix is, of course, a major presence in the fandom and amazingly written. @hedwigstalons ‘ Claire is lovely.

Person who supports your work the most.

The Thunderfam? There have been some wonderful people who support all the time. @hedwigstalons  @cg29 @janetm74 @weirdburketeer in particular have been amazing support liking and commenting on just about everything I write. I honestly don’t know how they do it. Plus several peeps over on FF.net and Ao3 who support me over there.

And then there are the poor souls who put up with me in chat and listen to my wibblies and whining and character checks and field random chunks of writing that get thrown their way. @scribbles97 @vegetacide @the-lady-razorsharp  @tsarinatorment @i-am-chidorixblossom @onereyofstarlight @godsliltippy  @willow-salix @janetm74 all have had random passages thrown at them at all times of the day and night by a crazy me begging for feedback. Does this work? Is this in character? Am I insane? What the hell is Scott doing? Is this John??? I give up, tell me what to do? Virgil is driving me insane! So, um, yeah

Person who's progress you are the most proud of.

I love those peeps who appear in fandom who start off poking around commenting and generally being lovely and then all of a sudden get out their own pens and start writing and they are frickin’ amazing! Both @janetm74 and @hedwigstalons come to mind in this department. Like holy cow – ‘here is my first fic and I’m not sure’ ::reads it:: Omigod! Where did you come from? That was amazing. Sit down here now, keep doing that writing thing, bloody hell! I think being brave enough to pick up a pen and join in is a major thing :D

Person who's story you think is underrated and should be read by more people.

If I find fic I like, I reblog it and shout about it. What I like is definitely skewed in a Virgil direction and this dictates often what I’m going to read first. I can’t reblog what I haven’t read. So, this equation will always be skewed by ‘reasons I haven’t read a fic’ which mostly involves either Virgil or the fact I’m juggling RL. So, my answer to this is if I think a fic needs to be shouted about, I shout about it.

Something you think people would say about you.

She’s nutty.

Silliest 'thing' you do with someone.

I’ve been known to write fic on the fly directly into chat windows to try and distract peeps going through shitty times.

Favourite pairing you now Stan because of someone's fic.

Virgil/Kayo because of @vegetacide for reasons I have blamed her for multiple times. @the-lady-razorsharp and @weirdburketeer were accessories to the fact.

Favourite headcanon from someone's fic.

Um, Virgil and coffee? I got that from somewhere and it has infiltrated my fic…a lot.

Ultimately, though, I feel most people I interact with contribute to my fic and how I’m feeling. This has been a wonderful experience. I try to return the support as much as I can, but sometimes it is a juggle between writing more, my stupid fluctuating mood, the demands of RL and my own creative drive. I hope I’ve helped a few peeps, because you guys have certainly helped me ::major group hug::

And yes, I hug a lot, because to be honest, I have no other descriptor to communicate how I feel, so you get buckets of hugs :D

Tagging the Thunderfam. Feel free to grab these questions and run with them. You’re all part of the gang whether you write, read, art, gif, screenshot, chat, babble, stare at Virgil all day...I know I do a lot of staring.

Nutty

(Thunderfam rocks!)

[sqsupernova]

How to Post your Works to the SQSupernova Collection!

That’s right - it’s almost time for Authors and Artists to put their beautiful works on display! We’ve made our beautiful, wonderful guide to help you post your work successfully - please read it THOROUGHLY before asking questions! We promise we’ve covered almost anything that could cause issues.

The posting deadline for all works is midnight EST on August 30th!

(What time is that for me? Or, check out our Countdown Timer!)

For those of you with experience posting to the Swan Queen Supernova collection from previous years, this year’s collection can be found HERE - just hit the ‘post to collection’ button and away you go!

Quick reminder - don’t forget to click POST when you are done formatting your work, NOT ‘save as draft’! We will not be able to see or reveal your work if you save it as a draft, and it will not count as being submitted!

For those of you who need more assistance as you prepare to post, read on for more specific instructions:

All right! For those of you who would like further clarification, your first step will still be to go to THIS LINK and click ‘Post to Collection,’ as seen below.

On this next page, you will enter all of the information about your fic/art - starting with rating, warnings, fandom, category, relationships, and characters. A sample page would look like this:

Please make sure your rating and warnings are accurate to your fic/art. If you think a warning might spoil something for the plot, you can select ‘Choose Not to Use Archive Warnings.’ Do NOT select ‘No Archive Warnings Apply’ unless your fic/art truly does not have any of the warning elements present in it.

The Additional Tags section is a place to put anything else you feel should be indicated about your story/art. Is it a historical au? Does it take place on a spaceship? Is it fluff? angst? crack? These tags are optional, but many people do use them to organize their fic/art or to find new fics to read and art to appreciate.

Next up is the preface section - this is how you introduce your fic or art!

Authors - you’ve already sent us a title and summary, so if those still work for you, go ahead and just copy them right in there! If you’ve changed some things up since that submission, go ahead and put your final version in here.

Artists - whatever title you use, it’s probably a good idea to add [Fanart] or [Art] to the end of your title, and to tag it as such in the additional tags as well - this will help people find art specifically!

Notes can be posted at the beginning of the fic - like if you are thanking a beta, or blaming someone for making you do this, or giving introductory notes to the readers about setting, etc - or at the end of the fic, if your notes might spoil part of the plot. You can also check both boxes and put notes in both places!

Now for the fiddly bits:

The first, and most important, thing to check is that under Post to Collections / Challenges, ‘SQSupernova6′ is selected. This should automatically show up, since you used the ‘Post to Collection’ button, but please check anyway!

You can also choose to gift your fic to someone - authors may choose to gift their fic to their artist, or vice versa. You should have their AO3 name from your match-up email!

‘This work is a remix, a translation, a podfic, or was inspired by another work’ - this will be a handy section to connect your fic to your artist’s art, but you won’t be able to use it until after reveals. Skip it for now and come back to it later, once your partner’s work has been revealed!

‘This work is part of a series’ - if your SQSN was part of a series that you have already begun, you can link it to the previous parts here. Otherwise, skip it.

‘This work has multiple chapters’ - If you’d like to split your work up into chapters, select this option. Once you post the first chapter, you will be able to add additional chapters from the first chapter of your fic/art.

‘Set a different publication date’ - DON’T DO ANYTHING WITH THIS NOW. LEAVE IT ALONE. You will receive instructions in your reveal date email about how to change this date later, to help ensure that it shows up at the top of the Swan Queen tag, so you get the most eyes on it. You cannot change the date BEFORE the date of your reveal, so leave this field alone for now.

You’re almost there! First up are some privacy questions:

These are all options that can make it harder for people to leave mean or abusive comments - but they also make it harder for commenters without accounts to leave feedback, so consider the pros and cons before selecting!

And finally, it’s time to input your fic or art!

For fic - if you are comfortable with html coding, feel free to use the HTML editor button in the top right to switch editing boxes. Otherwise, the Rich Text editor will let you do most basic word editing functions, and will maintain bolding, italics, etc pasted in from Word or Google Docs.

For art, you will need some words in the post itself in order to post, so be sure to add a sentence or two about your work, then select the insert/edit image button:

It will bring up this menu:

Source - this is where you should paste in the url of the image you are hosting on another private site - so don’t publicly post it to your Tumblr! Use a PRIVATE post, at least until reveals are over. For a list of recommended sites, check out AO3′s helpful article on the subject!

Remember that your image URL needs to end in a filetype, like .jpg, .png, .gif, etc etc.!!! IT WILL NOT WORK IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A FILETYPE AT THE END OF YOUR URL. Your image will NOT appear if your link ends in .html, /, or any random numbers or letters.

Image description - this is very important for people who use screen readers because of vision impairments. Please describe your image as best you can, for example: this is a four-panel cartoon of Emma Swan, a barista, tripping over a chair and spilling hot chocolate down Regina Mills’ shirt. Regina is in a fancy blouse and skirt, and looks very, very pissed off.

Dimensions - if your source image is very, very big, it is recommended that you shrink it down a bit here. You can always come back and play around with the size once you post, so be sure to check that your image isn’t so big it’s hard to see all of it on a normal computer screen.

Aaaaaand, you’re done! If you’re confident everything is correct, you can click ‘Post Without Preview’ (you daredevil, you), but otherwise, click ‘Preview’ and give your story a quick glance over to make sure everything’s in the right place.

Then, once you’re satisfied, just make sure you click POST on the next screen - this is the only way to submit it to us for the collection!

If you don’t click ‘Post,’ your work will stay as a draft and will NOT be counted as submitted! Please make sure to hit POST once you have everything ready.

Once you post your work to the collection, it immediately becomes an unrevealed work. This means that its details are hidden from everyone but you and your beloved mods! Unfortunately, this also makes it a liiiiittle harder to find.

To locate your work once you post it to the collection, go to ‘My Dashboard’ by clicking on the menu that appears when you click on your username in the top right corner of the page, then click on ‘Works’ on the left-hand side.

From here, you can access your hidden work in one of two ways:

Click ‘Edit Works’ on the upper right side of the page. This will let you view all of your works, sorted by fandom, including the one you just submitted to the collection. Click on the title of that work to continue editing it!

Once your work is approved and added to the collection, you can also click ‘Works in Collections’ on the upper right side of the page. This will display all of your works that are currently in collections, sorted chronologically. Your SQSN work should be at the top, with “Unrevealed:” in front of the title. Click on the title of that work to continue editing it!

The URL of your work will also not change once you’ve clicked ‘post,’ so you can also bookmark or save it to come back to at any time.

If you need to add additional chapters to your work, you can do it by going to that URL or locating your fic again as described above, and clicking this link on the first chapter:

Just make sure to press POST on each additional chapter as well! ;D

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Congratulations! You’ve just Supernova’d! What a rush, eh? Now just lean back, relax, and wait for reveals. Thank you for participating!

Each creator will get an email letting them know the reveal date for each work they have submitted, at least a few days before the date, so that they can prepare and get their friends hyped up for the reveal! If you hear other people getting their emails and you haven’t yet, don’t panic. There are WEEKS of reveals, so some people get emails very early and some people get emails weeks later. We PROMISE everyone will get an email with their reveal date by the time all is said and done!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at @SQSupernova on Twitter, or at sqsupernova@gmail.com !

[inkwell-attitude]

Liebster Award

The ever-wonderful @ettawritesnstudies nominated me for this! Thank you so much, it means so much to me that you would consider me for it! I always love any way to spread some positivity and encouragement through the community :D

Etta explained the award as “similar to a writeblr tag game meant to introduce you to new blogs and get to know the authors behind them!” She was the one who brought it to tumblr, since it originated in blogs/writer’s websites.

Rules: 1. Thank the blogger that nominated you 2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you 3. Nominate 11 bloggers 4. Ask your nominees 11 questions 5. Notify your 11 nominees

Questions: 1. What’s your favourite part about the writing community?

I love the support everyone always gives to everyone else! Everyone I’ve seen has given nothing but support and enthusiasm for both their writing and others writing, and it really makes me happy to see such a wonderful community. 

2. Do you prefer writing dialogue or description, and why?

I prefer description because I love the whimsy I can add to it. Being able to concoct a scene and describe things in ways other than “the sky was blue, the grass was green” is lots of fun. I’m also kind of bad at conversations irl (between my ADD and my minor stutter, I don’t tend to finish a lot of sentences lol) and I think that rolls over into my writing a little bit and makes dialogue a bit harder for me to figure out.

3. Do you have any creative hobbies outside of writing, and how did you get into them?

I am a self-proclaimed proud jack of all trades because I see a craft or activity and MUST try it out. My brain sees a tactile hobby and goes feral. I just really enjoy learning new things :D The recurring hobbies are drawing and very minor animations, but I also have been into embroidery, polymer clay, woodworking (miniatures eeeyyy) and cake decorating? 

4. When was the last time you had a good night’s sleep?

Two nights ago? I usually get 7.5-8.5 hours of sleep because I just can’t function without sleep. Idk if you can call it a good nights sleep because I tend to wake up several times during the night (how many times is too many?) but I don’t usually have trouble falling asleep.

5. Are you reading/watching/listening to anything right now that you’re excited about?

I’m watching Ann with an E with my mom right now and it’s delightful! it’s a very very lovely show and it’s made me want to re-read the book.

I’m also keeping up with the Dream SMP minecraft series, and lemme tell you I have not been this emotionally invested in a story for a LONG time. Sure, I’ve been excited about some things in the last few months, but I don’t think I’ve really been attached to a story and characters like this for a while. (Plus, every single fanart and fan animation I’ve seen has been tremendously well done and more often than not gets me emotional lmao)

6. What’s your favourite YouTube channel?

I don’t know if I have a favourite? Because I hop around between interests so often I tend to change up my subscriptions a lot, too. Currently, I really like Cheyenne Barton, Technoblade, GeminiTay, and Annika’s leaf

7. What writing advice would you give your younger self?

DO WRITING SPRINTS! This is one of my favourite things now and it’s helped break the habit of “write one sentence, edit it, write another sentence, edit it, delete the first and re-write it” habit. Plus, it’s just a really good exercise to stretch your creativity.

8. What’s your opinion on color coding?

top notch! I think sometimes it can be overdone (throwback to jr. high me color coding everything in my notes to the extent that it was detrimental to my studying) but it really helps me out with things. I color-code vocab words and important persons in my class notes now :D

9. Is there a specific theme or aesthetic that underlies all your stories?

If there is, I haven’t seen it. I think it’s funny that Odds & Ends and The Paths That Bind are actually kind of similar (so far) except one is lighthearted feel-good comedy, and one is corruption and angst and trauma :’) Maybe there will be similar themes, but they’re both in the beginning stages so it hasn’t shown up yet.

10. How many WIPs do you have?

I actually only have two WIPs! I have a few other concepts I’d like to explore in the future, but they’re currently sitting as one-sentence explanations in my notes folder and will probably stay that way until I figure out a more solid plan for Odds & Ends and The Paths That Bind. My irl schedule is very hectic and I’m an inherently tired person, so I’m trying to be more intentional with creative projects and realistic on which ones I want to be able to dedicate my time to.

11. What’s your wildest dream as a creator? (For example, do you want to see fanart of your ocs, have a movie made of your book, etc.)

I adore the idea of someone making an animatic or one of those lyric comic things (idk what they’re called) for The Paths That Bind. So much of it is inspired by music and I’d love to see other people’s takes on the history and events of the story and which songs they would associate with it.

Questions for my wonderful nominees!

1. What’s the earliest story you remember writing? How old were you? 2. Are any of your characters “comfort characters” for yourself? 3. What’s your go-to snack? 4. How do you visualize your wips? Movie-format? Animatic? Comic? 5. What’s your favorite part of each season? 6. Would you rather one (or all) of your wips be made into a movie/tv show or a graphic novel series? 7. Is there a particular form of imagery or symbolism that recurs a lot in your stories? 8. What’s a book (or book series) that you absolutely adore and wish everyone would read? 9. Tell us about your favorite video game and why you love it! (If you don’t game, tell us about another hobby you adore!) 10. What’s the last dream you remember having? 11. How has your writing changed from when you first started? (We all get better, but have you noticed any distinct changes? More/less dialogue, different kind of descriptions, different narrative styles?)

Here are 11 wonderful, talented writers I’ve met here, and everyone should absolutely check out their blogs!

@aelenko 

@uraniumwriting

@hueynomure

@writingamongthecoloredroses

@musings-and-writings

@stardustspiral

@druidx73

@eurydice-is-gone 

@atomic-insomnia 

@chloeswords 

@hannahs-creations

[sadviper]

2020 Creator Wrap: Favorite Works

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

Succumbing to peer pressure, haha, thank you @rain-hat, @smylealong, @ibelongtomousse, @macgyver-sheriff, @avauntus for tagging me~

It seems the common refrain is that this was the year everyone exploded into massive creative productivity after years of nothing, which is the exact same story for myself. I had read all the strategies of course: write 5 min a day, 1 sketch a day, don’t think about quality, do *something* just to keep the spark alive, etc etc, but it just got worse and worse. Honestly, I had been feeling so dire about it that I had made up my mind to stop trying anymore, because it was so depressing to try and fail so many times that it was much better to not hope at all.

Buuuuut.....then quarantine and telework happened, and woooah, guess what, all I needed was LOTS of time and space to myself where I’m not wasting it in an office checking emails and doing random training to fill all the downtime!!!

Much thanks to the serendipity that had me stumbling into @rain-hat , reading her early JY/KSR fics, and her encouraging me to go ahead and write that office yearly budget oneshot for TKEM (who writes BUDGET fics?? Who reads them???? lol). That’s not in my list here because it was very new and awkward, it was definitely the ball that got everything rolling.

Cut for super long-winded rambling:

1) Before There Was Zero (TKEM)

This was my first big fanfic in my life, and my most popular, and it absolutely gushed out of me in this massive torrent of *I MUST WRITE* where I would walk around at lunchtime giggling to myself, and type on my phone as I went, or wake up at 1am to scrawl something in a notebook in the dark because I couldn’t stop the words from coming. (How I miss that feeling now! ;__;) Actually, it also is the 2nd fully complete long-form story I had ever completed as well, so...lots of milestones here.

Looking back, it clearly was the product of my years of bottled up silence, where I stewed and dragged myself to the office every day wondering if I was going to calcify in a bureaucracy for the rest of my life (yes). But even as an office drone, I learned a lot of valuable lessons in how to manage, what leadership actually is at the worker bee level, the types of games white-collar workers play, and how to be a decent co-worker (and by extension, a decent human being--I don’t believe it’s possible to separate work life and private life. All your personas are you). It wasn’t all a waste after all!

Somehow I connected my day-to-day to the faceless, long-suffering Royal guardsmen in TKEM, headed by the utterly gorgeous, devastating, thoroughly underutilized, comedic prop military action star Jo Yeong, and thought--yeah! :D

2) Nil Desperandum (TKEM)

My biggest fic by far, full novel length at this point, massive in scope, I don’t even know how I came up with it based on the 10 collective seconds of screen time that Jeong Tae-ra and tyrant Jin got as a joke, but I was clearly still on that dam-gushing-pent-up-creative-high because this idea was fighting me when I was in the middle of writing “Before There Was Zero”.

I actually figured out the title while watching “Call the Midwives” where one of the peppy, indefatigable British nurses said to never despair, and I thought, yes, that’s it. All the horrible things I put my tyrantverse characters through, it was only so that when I save them at the end, it will be completely worth it. It’s a bit more violent (nothing beyond My Country levels tho) and quite emotionally dark, but I also tried to inject a lot of friendship, humor, and love into it as well, because there must always be hope.

For My Country fandom friends who didn’t realize, the tyrant!Yeong in this fic is essentially modernAU!Seon-ho, and I lifted Sung-rok entirely from My Country to be tyrant!Yeong’s second-in-command and loyal-superstar-extraordinaire. Writing them in this modern AU, and seeing the positive reception to Sung-rok’s grouchy, dogged devotion was the start of my love spiral for Sung-rok. <3 <3

3) The Veritable Records of King Taejo (My Country)

Going to cheat and lump 3 fics (soon to be 4) into one link. I rested a little bit after “Nil Desperandum” because I had completely emptied myself out at that point, just a husk of an author shell. Then I started poking out oneshots! Each one got progressively harder to write, lol, the creative gas tank was running out of juice, so I had to really start figuring out new strategies as a writer to keep going. One magic tool was coercing recruiting @rain-hat to beta for me, and WOW, THE BEST???? Who would’ve thought it’d be FUN to be edited!!! <3 Due to her efforts, I could avoid the “no beta we die like Liaodong” tag, hahaha.

I grew up watching cop shows, lawyer shows, monster-of-the-day shows, endless procedurals-- so I was super miffed that the drama would imply that Seon-ho spent YEARS just single-mindedly chasing private armies??! No! I want more family and friends development for this sad, dramatic whump child! I want him to be smarter than the show, inherently brilliant despite the stupid he descends into, and be recognized as such by the people who do recognize his value! And I want them all to be happy with no pointless death!

Also, the 4th WIP is now a Sung-rok lovefest written as an ode to his awesomeness, has stretched to 47K+ words, and is being an absolute royal pain to finish. ;__; All the ease and creative fervor from earlier? GONE. I’m a lone salmon flopping upstream on a ladder. I might get eaten before I finish laying my eggs. Any one have tips to get over this?

4) First Translation of Woo Do Hwan Japanese Interviews

More firsts! So much thanks to @ibelongtomousse to inspiring and encouraging me to do some real translating after talking to her about her sublime TKEM fics and translations thereof, and @staidwaters from emerging from the Internet depths to boost/correct my neophyte efforts! I’m now chomping at the bit to do more, even though I may ultimately discover that these interviews have absolutely nothing interesting to say, lol. But my first priority is simply to get better at the language, and 2nd priority is to soak in the words (and photos) of Woo Do Hwan, hahahah. Also, as far as I can tell, no one is filling this niche, so I guess I’ll keep going??

5) Fanart!

I started drawing again! As a procrastination tactic from writing oneshots, but it still was really nice to see that I hadn’t lost the touch entirely. I feel like I’ve mentioned this here and there, but writing wasn’t my first interest--drawing was. Animals first, then people once I discovered anime/manga. I went all into drawing comics, only to face the hard reality that I didn’t know how to tell a story end-to-end. Hence how I started trying to write. Along the way, things happened--I got RSI and had to stop drawing/writing for awhile. I discovered that pictures are NOT worth a thousand words, esp when it comes to long-form comics; my preferred tools of trade (dip pens) ended up exacerbating my RSI problems; then once I got a handle on my RSI, I found I could type faster than I can ever draw, and so here I am. I saw what @convenientalias was doing with their My Country werewolf fic though, so I am excited to try that for my Sung-rok WIP? :D

I think I’m the last hold out among artist/writer friends in answering this wrap-up, hope you enjoyed reading!