#i had such a fun time making art of other's blorbo and getting our blorbos drawn

[ds-anon-art]

artfight was so fucking fun chat

[stranger-opinions]

maybe it's not a writers-block; maybe you just need a break

creativity is a muscle, right?

you need to exercise it to keep it in good shape, to have it ready when you need it and don't we all love those hyperfocused sprints of writing where the words just spill out of our fingertips...

but muscles get sore when you overuse them, will strain when you force them past their limits, they need nourishment to stay healthy and in shape

fandom today has a competitive atmosphere. many wouldn't admit that; it's supposed to be fun after all. just vibing with our mutuals, playing with the blorbos having a fun time online to scratch a few itches.

but the truth is that it can become a lot of pressure rather fast.

putting out several k of (edited) writing a month, setting up painstakingly formatted posts with the right tags and a fun header we spent hours on to look effortlessly cool and eye-catching just to hit post and then feel... nervous. excited too, sure...

but damn, when will the next chapter be finished? or the next one shot? will there be enough time to put a few blubs in between so that the few people who actually seem to care won't forget about us and move on?

writing for writing's sake is a nice notion. the myth of the self-sustaining artist who needs nothing more than a passion and their tools of choice.

but shit isn't just created out of nothing.

what has that all to do with the title of this post do you ask?

very few people can just keep going and going making art like that without needing any breaks and a good portion of those people very likely have very different conditions than most of us have with full-time jobs, families, school and so on.

For many of us writing is a main outlet, an important hobby and a safe space but that still doesn't change that it is a creative hobby, an outlet that demands energy: emotional, mental and physical (typing for hours is hard work if you want to believe it or not) and that sometimes makes it impossible to accept that we just need a fucking break.

"writers-block", in my own experience, is my brain telling me that something is off and that it's on strike until I fucking fix that.

and sometimes it's just that I need a break.

that I need to recharge my creative batteries, take in things that inspire me, that make me happy and get me excited without having to make anything myself. to just be. take some walks amongst trees, watch a new series, read a new book, go into a deep dive of some random topic on wikipedia until I don't know where the fuck I started from.

sometimes I just need to log out, cut the overstimulation of a never ending dashboard, turn off what everybody else on tumblr is doing, how much everbody is putting out, get away from my frustration about "my flopped fic" or the latest fandom drama and reconnect with the real reason I am doing this.

the love for stories and the source material.

for some people those breaks can be as short as two days, for other is might be weeks or months and that is not only okay but totally normal.

sometimes you might realize that the reason you are not writing is that you actually don't want to. sometimes you just want to daydream without the extra work sometimes you're just not in a writing mood and it's not much deeper than that.

that doesn't have to mean you're done with your blorbos. it just means that there are more valid and fun ways to play with them.

don't worry, the fandom will still be there when you decide to pick up the keyboard again. maybe with less people, maybe with many different people but you will always find someone who cares. those who have moved on to different things not come back wouldn't likely have stayed if you had powered through.

fandom shouldn't be a you're in or you're out thing but a place you come to when you want to.

contentification of fandom has had a lot of negative effects on the way we create and so many people fade from their hobby because they simply burn themselves out to a point where it leaves a scar.

so. find something that makes you happy that does not require you to invest too much creational energy. rest those muscles as long as it takes.

nothing you can get on tumblr or ao3 is worth the sore brain, the frustration with yourself and the stress you add onto your mental health ontop of everything else in your life.

recharge, reevaluate, reconnect

have fun

[focusontheheart]

Meet the Team Lead - Campbell

Brimming with enthusiasm to match the Captain of the Vanguard, it's @maybirdie, Lead for the Erend route! You can find her on Twitter @ereloymb and AO3 as maybirdie!

Hi everyone, I’m Campbell! I had been out of the fandom world for YEARS until April of 2022, when Horizon (and Ereloy) pulled me in hard. I discovered the games completely by accident when I borrowed my friend’s PS4 to help her break her RDR2 addiction. I was brand new to gaming and did not intend to get so sucked in, but this wonderful game and its incredible characters didn’t give me much of a choice! Since HFW came out, I have found the most delightful community of people, made some amazing friends, and been more inspired creatively than ever in my life—particularly when it comes to writing and virtual photography. I’m especially inspired by the wonderful and talented people in both the Two Minutes and Everybody Loves Aloy servers! The writing, art, discussions, and ideas that swirl around nonstop have kept me engaged and inspired to create far more than I would have otherwise! I’m so thrilled to be involved in this exciting project, collaborating with so many lovely folks has been massively inspiring and I can’t wait to see the finished product!

Q&A with Campbell below the cut!

What is a favorite piece of work you've done (completed/ working on/ in-concept)? 

This is such a tough choice but my most recent fic, Kindling, is currently nearest and dearest to my heart. It was super interesting to explore demi Aloy’s reaction to having romantic feelings for the first time, and even though the angst just about killed me, it made the happy ending even more fun to write.

What are some of your favorite tropes (to read/ write/ draw)? 

Hurt/comfort, Fluff, There Was Only One Bed, honestly anything that gives my blorbos an excuse to kiss

What is an unexpected thing or fun fact about you?

I’m generally pretty boring, but I DO own an incredibly orange spoiled loaf named Gus

What has been your favorite thing about working on this project so far?

It has been so lovely to make friends across ship lines and find common ground with so many wonderful people I might not have interacted with otherwise! It’s been an amazing demonstration of how healthy, positive, and inspiring fandom can be when we come together to lift each other up and put our energy into something constructive. There’s room for all headcanons and POVs in this community, and this project has truly proved that to me.

[mad-scientist-showdown]

Information masterpost

The Mad Scientist Showdown is an interfandom tournament gathering the most iconic (and underrated) fictional mad scientists! ⚡️

32 competitors; polls last 24 hours.

This goes without saying, but although I understand and encourage getting invested for fun, please do not seriously get mad over this. Rather, get 'mad' in a silly way! Like our scientists.

Reminder! Before sending me an ask around the type “was x character submitted”, check if I haven’t answered your question already by searching the name of the media they come from on my blog! (if it’s a long title, try with the abbreviation too. ex. hlvrai)

Propaganda: Propaganda, fanart etc. is happily accepted. Either send it to me in an ask, or (preferably) make a post and tag me in it so I can see and reblog it :)

Useful tags (most are featured tags):

#mad scientist showdown -> every post regarding the competition in general (kinda gave up this. didn't expect to have so many posts)

#showdown info -> posts i made that give current info about the competition

#not scientist showdown -> posts that aren’t either info or the polls directly (=> mostly asks) (for filtering)

#mad scientist polls -> all polls; except the ones for round 1 because I hadn’t made that tag yet. you can therefore find them using the #round 1 tag

#[round x] -> polls that are part of a certain round x (ex. #round 2, #semi finals)

#showdown art -> art people made for the showdown (thank you <3)

#batshit scientist squad -> every post about the donatello/doofenshmirtz/megamind/bubblegum mad scientist found family

#mad scientist propaganda -> posts (reblogs or asks) that are propaganda for a certain character, by fans of that character

#mad scientist shoutout -> posts that are about — usually relatively niche or underrated — characters (and their media) who were not nominated enough times to get into the tournament

#other competitions -> reblogs of other competitions to promote them

“Why are there 3 PEOPLE against Donnie in the final???"

In this tournament, when there is a tie, both contestants advance to the next round as a duo. Megamind and Princess Bubblegum tied so they went on as a duo, and then they tied again with Doofenshmirtz in the semi-finals. The bracket's image in my pinned post should be a good visualization. This last tie was intentional as a joke about how teaming up would be the only way to defeat Donatello.

“Why are Henry Jekyll and Victor Frankenstein, the ogs, not here?”

After much thought, I decided not to include them, precisely because they are blueprints. It wouldn’t feel right to have them be pitted against characters who are inspired by or even based on them. They just don’t belong in the same category, and that’s not what I had in mind when I started this competition.

“[complaint about the matchups] >:(”

Seeding a bracket is… complicated. Putting the fan favorites against each other will obviously make people unhappy, but putting the fan favorites against obviously less popular characters will make it unfair to the latter. Do you see the problem. I tried to make it fair without thinking about it too much either. Please don’t be mad for real. There are tons of beloved characters, and half of the contestants are going to the shadow realm by the 1st round! I assure you I have nothing against your blorbo in particular.

(every masterpost is available from my pinned post)

[shannonsketches]

Hello friends, today I would like to hold myself accountable and address the other side of my PSA, which is to say that I complain about things All The Time, and call myself a hater of many things.

I don’t legitimately Hate the things I complain about. I work in entertainment, and I know that it all has value, and it all has cool things to love. More importantly, I know everything has an intended audience, and sometimes I scream when that audience is not me. Which is selfish. And fun. And good! Because it challenges me to write my thoughts and come up with the story I would rather have, which I then get to come and share here!

I got into this fandom when I was a kid, and I maintain that kids in fandom (especially fandom for kids media) should be allowed to play and enjoy and explore their own stories without feeling guilty for having an interest, and I don’t ever want a kid -- or anyone! -- to come here and feel like a stranger being mad about their interest on the internet means they’re a bad person. They're not! You're not! It's okay to have different ideas!

And because I talk an awful lot of shit about games, I'm gonna repost an older thing I had on another blog, because I stand by it:

My grumpy gamer takes should always be taken with a grain of salt asjkld  I’m a whole adult who has (for the most part, still making an active effort) grown out of  the ways of fandom elitism, and while my opinions might be screaming at the top of my lungs, I promise it’s just me letting myself be a kid and get mad about fiction for the catharsis of it.  Your gaming preferences and favored blorbos are never going to be used as a value judgement here. If I’m being a butt as a fan, as a person I definitely understand there’s a reason we love the things that we do, and I love that art can do that for us! Most likely if you see me yelling about something fictional, I am just having fun yelling, and you’re allowed, if not encouraged, to ignore me lol

#even stuff I don't like is an opportunity to ask myself what I would've done differently like. #it's all beneficial out here. #SS is not for me but it might be your favorite game in the whole world and that's totally fine! !#You're right! I'm right! Because art is subjective and that's the point. #anyway I just klasjd. #please know I'm just being a butt and it's not serious in any way

Anyway I am kissing you all on the forehead and reminding you to please not take fandom too seriously. Even if our little castles look different, we're all playing in the same sand ykwim? Be excellent to each other, and ignore or blacklist the stuff you don't vibe with, including my stuff! It's fandom! You're allowed to curate your experience, and you're allowed to be happy on purpose. Thanks for reading!

[bokutosmochi]

status: CLOSED

A DATE WITH U

greetings from bokutosmochi!

as head confectioner of bokutosmochi, i would like to give thanks to all seven hundred followers of our beloved company as well as every person who supports our content by liking, commenting, and reblogging our works.

a time for celebration

in order to celebrate this wonderful milestone, we have decided to hold the A DATE WITH U event where you are given a chance to go on a date with your beloved blorbo.

tagging the moots: @rxmera​ @sandwichbokuroo​ @jxbsbokuto​ @semisgroupie​ @falloutkeiji @rosesandtoshi @krystalgaia @kemakoshume @jotatetsuken @roses-flyingin-sky @lushiyo @munsonsins @yuujispinkhair @r-oronoa @romiyaro @sukunastoy @xshinigamikittenx @utahimeow @portfolio-of-dreams @tetsuswhores @boyfrwenz @alterbubs @tiddieluvr @toji-bunny-girl @nyaaaaanma @evanescentlight @margoswrld @jujutsukatsuki @aizumie @keigosmelody 

click read more if interested

MECHANICS:

send in a character of your choice from the following fandoms: haikyuu!!, jujutsu kaisen, and obey me!, as well as a treat of your choice and i will write a drabble based on your input.

i will accept fourteen requests, and hopefully will post them from february first to the fourteenth aka valentine's day

in order to join, submit your request through my ask box. request must include blorbo of your choice, an icy treat, whether sfw (excluding angst/no comfort) or nsfw [if none is chosen, i'll just go with what i think would be best], whether fem or gn reader, and triggers you would want me to avoid (although i am not writing any dark content for this event)

request template: hi mochi! can i please join your a date with u event? i think ice cream bites with gojo satoru would be fun. sfw + gn!reader, no trigger to be mindful of, but please make it fluffy, thank you!

one request per person!

icy treat can only be repeated twice [i'll inform you if what you chose has already been requested twice], but there are no character repeat limits.

WHO DO I WRITE FOR?

HAIKYUU!!: hinata shoyo, kageyama tobio, oikawa toru, iwaizumi hajime, wakatoshi ushijima, tendo satori, semi eita, bokuto kotaro, kuroo tetsuro, kozume kenma, miya atsumu, suna rintaro

JUJUTSU KAISEN: itadori yuji, kugisaki nobara, maki zenin, gojo satoru, geto suguru, nanami kento, fushiguro toji

OBEY ME!: mammon (i don't have a good grip on the other characters yet, and i had to uninstall it 😭😭)

MENU:

ICE CREAM BITES: ice cream shop date

ROOT BEER FLOAT: arcade date

ICE CREAM SANDWICH: park date

ICE CREAM CREPE: art gallery date

TAIYAKI: pottery class date

ROLLED ICE CREAM: painting date

DRINKABLE ICE CREAM: aquarium date

PIE ALA MODE: dinner date

ASTRONAUT ICE CREAM: movie date

GIANT DIPPIN DOTS: baking date

MASTERLIST:

day one: THE JELLYFISH AND THE PIRANHA drinkable ice cream for miya atsumu

day two: CREAMY STICKY ice cream bites for fushiguro toji

day three: MEMENTO MORI ice cream crepe for zenin maki

day four: A HEART MADE OF CLAY taiyaki for tendo satori

day five: PUT YOUR HEAD ON MY SHOULDER astronaut ice cream for mammon

day six: UNDENIABLY YOURS ice cream bites for kozume kenma

day seven: GET INTO IT YUH root beer float for geto suguru

day eight: I'M LOOKING RIGHT AT OTHER HALF OF ME ice cream sandwich for bokuto kotaro

day nine: PAINT ME LIKE ONE OF YOUR FRENCH GIRLS rolled ice cream with gojo satoru

day ten: HOW TO: HAVE MAMMON COOK FOR YOU pie ala mode for mammon

day eleven: THE CINEMA'S EMOTIONAL IMPACT astronaut ice cream with itadori yuji

day twelve: MILES UP SHORE WITH A PADDLE root beer float with gojo satoru

day thirteen: TEASE pie ala mode for nanami kento

day fourteen: SNOW FROSTED BLONDE HAIR giant dippin dots for nanami kento

[katyspersonal]

Ogay now your turn, who was your blorbo(s) before???

Damn... This is a harder question than it seems, because it is... hard to remember? My brain got SO rotted with Soulsborne world that I legit am forgetting how things used to be before that? It doesn't help that my feelings about the character and how much I talk about them / do for them do not always match! As a result, I have three types of blorbos:

1) The 'real' blorbo: The one that evokes the most feelings and I actively fantasize about being with, one that sparks yearning and attraction and consumes the most of my thoughts, but I won't do enough with

2) The 'productive' blorbo: The one which I practically breathe life in and create entire story and world for when canon didn't provide much and/or this character is unpopular. They often become crucial part of my online identity, or JUST my identity o_o'

3) The 'fanmade' blorbo: It is either an AU version of the character, an interpretation so unfitting and far from canon vibe that it almost works as an OC, or JUST an OC. I actually love/hate this one, because this is the asshole that will always make me stray from working on canon!! They will make me focus so much on them that depending on the nature of the character, I will forget the canon vibe in my love for this version or will forsaken general source material to join an AU/RP where this character is. Let me focus on canon-palatable creativity and stop wasting my time, dipshits!!

So, to give you the idea, in Bloodborne, type one would be, of course, Micolash, Edgar and Maria (but mostly Micolash)! Type two would be Rom and Izzy. And since recently my Laurence is between 1 and 2 because he is really S E X Y but also I have to create everything for him xD. Type three would be... uh...

My previous "fandom" was UTDR, but that stay was a little short-lasting, since Deltarune is work in progress and Undertale did not have the same grip on me. In there, my type one blorbo were Rouxls Kaard and Mettaton! You can tell I love the flamboyant sexy man with fake depth, fair level of depravity but not evilness, and intelligence of a brick dshhfdsdds My art never felt good enough to capture Mettaton's confident energy, however, I'd like to show this fanart of Rouxls:

Type two blorbo were Mad MewMew, Catti, and Diamond King! The latter two were sort of underdeveloped in canon at the time, and for MewMew I actually had a bunch of things, and even RPed as her for some time! Developing Diamond King was quite fun, though he was dangerously close to type 3 because of AU stuff where HE was the bad guy and not Spade King (and Catti was the 'monster' of the prophesy). Besides, we did give him a wife who is not getting used in canon but exists in the cards deck that WAS used for the 'cards'.

(EDIT: I made these sprites and I forgot that I made them and not Val o_o" Because it's been a few years ago + I am scatter-brained. Oh jeez)

And type three happened when I delved into helping to work on an AU for Deltarune, a project a passionate person started in hunger for completion of Deltarune, following after Chapter 1 and ignoring everything. Basically, attempt to finish the game that had AMAZING story and characters! I lended many designs, ideas and characters for it, improving it very significantly. I no longer work on that project and gave all rights to my designs and creative solutions to the developer, but it was FUN. And like I said, distracted me from the canon-palatable creativity. And helped me to finally come to terms with the fact that I am way better at nurturing, supporting, editing and improving someone else's projects than creating my own. It was a long time coming realisation considering how half of my drawings for any fandom used to be fanart of other people's ideas and OCs or fanart for our RP plots. Not something that can happen in this fandom because... you know. But yeah, I've always been the guy that would draw a pile of everyone's OCs/interpretations in the community, or help someone with no coherent design idea to GET that design down!

...ak-hem, where was I? Right, blorbos. So, the 'fanmade' blorbos were, of course, our version of Diamond Queen and... this BITCH:

This is Ace of Hearts! And Insight joke is actually something I just made up, since I made this guy before I knew anything about Bloodborne! It aged like fucking milk, hahahahaha!! To give you the idea of what I had to do to design the Aces, here are the cards by Kanotynes that Toby was using:

These are the face cards ( x )! If you saw Deltarune's chapter one, you can see how and which designs were used, and which changed.

And this is the only image of all cards I can reliably find ( x ). You can see that number cards were de-personalised and are just various things. So what I did was combining the face card look and find a way to "fuck it up", since Aces learned A LOT of 'Chaos' and not only part of it like Jevil (and now Spamton)! Here are the rest of them:

You can tell, even in healthy forms, they'd still be a bit... 'strange' compared with face cards. Ace of Clubs in healthy form would have only one head and one horn, and his 99 Insight Chaos version has 11 heads each with one peace of their body or face... And Ace of Diamonds would be a snake with 'umbrella' skin, which is nothing like other Diamond suits!

I was the one to insist that we have Aces in the project, conceptualised them, designed them, wrote them lore etc. And Ace of Hearts was my favourite, and also the scariest one. (of course I like the most creepy one -_-) It was also the first situation where I got obsessed with my OWN non-canon stuff... although, technically, they are no longer mine, since I passed the designs and right to write and use to the owner completely. Maybe it is to the better, as I moved closer towards enjoying my own content more!

(Idle sprites I've made back then!)

___________

Thank you for listening and giving me nostalgia, lol xD

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

I vibe with hyperfixating w/ characters. To varying degrees I’ve fixated on: Armin from AOT for a while, 1D had a DEATH GRIP on me for a few years, (SEVEAL book characters through my teen years)I had an Alucard from castlevania fixation for maybe 3 ish years (‘ending’ only recently) and now Hobes lives in my head rent free ngl.

I get the “being sad cuz you can’t meet them” part, I’ve felt it. I try to not daydream TOO much cuz otherwise it takes over my life and I’m doing a considerable effort to live OUT of my own head, but BOI do I LOVE just daydreaming about my blorbos of choice.

I don’t speak too much about it (mostly the daydreaming) cuz to an extent it feels like a “me thing” (like something I don’t wanna share with anyone cuz it’s special to me), but if given the chance I DO info dump on my fixations.

I don’t think it’s cringe, not at all. These things are stuff that helps us process the world and our experiences with it. I believe everyone has sensitive weird shit that they don’t talk about, but if there’s something Ive learned is that we hardly ever have completely unique experiences. Most people just hide their oddness. Fandom being a prime example of how much our blorbos can mean to us. I think it’s okay and normal. (Until it goes overboard and people send idk violent messages to others because they headcanon something differently idk, the unreasonable stuff imo)

Can’t believe our of everything people would dare to make JOY and INTEREST the things with negative connotations. Being mean should be cringe, being a bully should be embarrassing. But unashamedly enjoying stuff?? That’s wonderful.

Anyone too embarrassed of their own vulnerability that they deal with it by making others feel bad about their interests are the most immature out if all of us.

Joy is everything that’s good with the world.

Even just seeing the letter 1D makes me wanna scream (in a good way!!) cause it takes me back to high school lol 1D was a bit older than me so my grade had Mindless Behaviour (does anyone remember them, where they even popular) but I remember the days where 1D was like the definition of summer songs

And I can totally understand the 'me thing'. Like I never really spoke about it but I felt like I knew my daydreams were more substantial or vivid than the 'average person' so to say.

Or when I spoke about characters to other people, I understood that neurotypicals likes characters, but they often didn't see them as fully formed 'persons' in the way I do - as to say, they didn't speculate or see emotional backstory, connections, or their behavior the way I did.

I never really shared any of my daydreams because like - I can't even get into it that's like asking someone to explain Star Wars to someone who doesn't even know space travel exists.

I grew up in a time on the internet where self-inserts and OC were seen as cringe, and someone would be very quick to call out 'Mary-Sue's (or flawless OCs) whenever they could.

It's not like that now - but in juxtaposition to canon x canon shipping, that bias is still there I feel like. Like it, as a work of fandom art has less 'value' that art or fics of canon only characters

It kinda bums me out still.

I think OC and daydreams and self-indulgent inserts are all the best part of fandom because it's the purest way of fans connecting with content on a personal level.

I'm happy that I see more people pushing back on that lately. Like after years of seeing people viciously hate furries when most of them seem like very nice, fun people, it's refreshing for people to be like 'nah, actually this thing is cool. and im gonna spend of time and/or money on this thing cause i makes me happy;

like you remember when the new Star Wars movie trailers came out and that dude reacted to it and he was moved to tears and people made fun of him??

yeah fuck everyone else that dude knows whats up.

Like yes, openly cry to your faves. Fantasize deep meaningful daydreams that help you process your feelings. Draw your OC with them, or learn every single thing their is to know about them.

That's why I wanted to talk about this. Because I've never heard it spoken about before. Maladaptive daydreaming, yes - and that can be harmful. But I hardly ever hear people talk about the basic mundane experience of it - or even how it can enrich our lives and help us emotionally develop of neurodivergent people.

When I think of it that way, it's something that makes me happy. I don't think I'll ever be able to describe it fully, and that's the point. Our stories are private to us, not because theyre embarrassing, but because they're so us that to even describe it would like describing a new world top to bottom

I love it. It's what makes humans humans.

[lilliths-httyd-blog]

Hi I have an odd question I’ve recently decided to get back into my old personal Viggo lives comic: “Beyond the Horizon” after seeing/reading other’s rtte art, theories, fics, and head canons on it (tbh your VLAU fic was definitely the kicker that made me want to get back into my comic) but I don’t want to seem like I’m copying or stealing ideas so I was wondering if you had any alternate names for Viggo’s Skrill (also some writing tips would be very helpful since I’m very rusty ;-;)

i mean

this is how i named viggo's skrill to begin with. just a random fucking chapter of a fic i started in early 2022 and abandoned until recently. i justified my choice of name because this bitch from black butler is also called beast and i think she's hot

in VLAU that story viggo referenced liking as a child about the boy with the magic eye was a reference to black butler i shit you not. i don't even like black butler anymore i haven't watched it in years and don't plan on watching it again any time soon.

i find using the Wings of Fire format of names really helps when naming dragons. lets look at the character names in WoF: Clay, Sunny, Starflight, Tsunami, Glory, Moonwatcher, Kinkajou, Deathbringer, Winter, Peril, Quibli and Turtle are some of the significant ones. go for something weather/sky/space themed for a skrill. just like that. combine weirder shit for the viking feel like hookfang or stormfly. but then you've also got like skullcrusher and cloudjumper so it's good. and then just words like barf, belch, toothless and grump so that works. steal the name Thunder from NR out of spite.

you can also search for old norse words that we're aware of and just find one that sounds like a name with a nice meaning if you want to be fancy and preppy.

another way i like to do it is steal species names from the httyd books like i'll just open up my copy of the incomplete book of dragons until i find something nice like... stickyworm? no... vorpent? no... toxic nightshade... NIGHTSHADE that would be a good name for a skrill you can use that if you want. doomfang seems like more of a dagur name than a viggo name but thats still a bangin skrill name.

and uhhh writing tips uhhhhh. i mean i don't got nothing tbh. be as self indulgent as you want. not everything has to live up to the standards of Scholars Mate and Choosing to Forget not everything has to be that good. my VLAU is genuinely just 17+(?) chapters of fluff and angst and vigcup being adorable and its just me projecting a bunch of my stupid little OOC headcanons onto my stupid little adhd blorbos. my other fics were either me being angsty, me listening a little too much to the httyd soundtrack, me just fucking daydreaming about random shit, or me going HAHAHAHAHAHA LETS MAKE VIGGO'S LIFE A LIVING HEL. i find inspiration from the most random shit. i took a bath once and when i hopped in my cold little toes burned like fire in the hot water and then i tried this coconut shampoo and now i have an entire WIP based on that one experience. there's no fancy thought or writing process behind it there's no "first drafts" (probably cuz i edit as i go lmao) there's no immaculate planning every little detail of the fic. it's just little magpie me going "oh shiny oh shiny oh shiny oh shiny" and then making a mosaic out of all the shitty pieces of glass i've found and somehow a couple people find the mosaic pretty so i am proud because i worked hard on it. and lemme tell you, writing self indulgent fanfiction where im not trying to please anyone except myself is so much fun like i've literally written about viggo being the twin's cousin and i literally made viggo a soft poetry boi and its just fun. i know some people aren't into that or aren't interested and thats fine they don t have to read it. write for yourself you don't even have to be good at it just do it who cares. thats the best advice i can give. just do whatever the fuck you fucking want

[mathcat7]

Morgana’s 2022 Year in Review

So, another year comes to a close. Lots of interesting developments, as always, and I like looking back and seeing what's changed and what I've succeeded with, and what I want to do over the next year.

The Successes

So for starters, I think the biggest boon has been me getting to spend shy of a month with my girlfriend over the course of the year. I love her so much, and I'm so glad we got to spend so much time together, and that we reached our first anniversary together.

Secondly, I closed the year off getting promoted to a full time position, a big step towards achieving self-sufficiency down the line. This was a big goal of mine for this year, and I'm very glad I was both able to achieve it, and that I've been able to use that for pushing forwards other things I enjoy.

The Surprises

This summer kicked off an FGC arc for me, where I used P4U2's rollback announcement and implementation to finally learn how to play fighting games. I didn't become impressive, by any means, but I had a lot of fun, and I was honestly satisfied with how quickly I was able to catch on. As a bonus, this also resurged my interest in making and editing videos, which eventually culminated in my clip compilation, A Very S'okay Persona.

Unfortunately, this was cut short by my going full-time, but I still cherish what I learned and how it's shaped my creative process going forward.

I commissioned quite a bunch of art pieces this year. Most of them were Fire Emblem fanart, especially for beloved best girl Mozu, but I also some original pieces for my recently designed online persona. Writing design docs for sending to commission artists was a nice process for clearing the rust from some of my writing skills, especially where descriptions are concerned.

My transition is still going smoothly. Medicine-wise I switched to needle monotherapy earlier this year and it's been generally better for me, at least from my perspective. (A lot less awkward planning to take pills around mealtime, a lot less in the way of unwanted side effects.) I got really into my voice training, to the point where I was consistently passing over phone calls!

I’ve been bouncing around a few of the modding sub-communities and ended up becoming a server blorbo. Okay I jest, but in all seriousness I’m glad I’ve been able to make some new friends online without it being predicated upon someone else’s preexisting dynamics. I’m glad to not be a friend of a friend this time! (Now if only that could extend to irl)

Of course, it's not all sunny. I've still been struggling with the transition not being properly acknowledged by the family, with those feelings being further exacerbated by attempts of doing an official coming out seemingly falling on deaf ears. I still have hangups about this iust becoming my cross to bear, but it's clear that there isn't much else I can do/say at this point. It sucks, but it's whatever, and at least now I can put my energy elsewhere.

The Plans

As for my goals for 2023, I'm still sticking to not making full on resolutions and instead keeping on general directions I want to work towards, as such:

- I wanna continue making videos. Maybe not FGC related, but I do wanna pivot my focus back to FE. I like Excelblem's format of video style, but I'm not someone with challenge run smarts. I think I'd rather do summations that would appeal more to casual players, and talk about the little parts of the games that I love. I'm hoping that Engage's release in 3 weeks is a good catalyst for this idea, although I'll have an uphill battle with my job.

- I want to devote more time to writing Royals of the Tempest. My writer's block has finally broken again, and I want to use the time I'm not actively working (or making videos) towards trying to get as much done with RotT as possible. There's a lot to get done, so I'm unsure if a manuscript would be ready in one year, but I'm hopeful about having most of it done down the line.

- I don't think moving out is something that'll happen soon, especially since I'm waiting on my girlfriend to finish up college, so my hope is to keep building up my nest egg so when that time comes, we can be prepared. I know I'm not in the best living space mentally speaking, but I think I can bide my time until then.

- Of course, I will make an exception towards commissions. I love commissioning art, and I do want to keep that up. I'm hoping to get to do some bigger ideas this time around, especially now that I have better integrated myself with some artist schedules.

- And lastly, I want to be bolder about myself. I've joked with some of my friends about the start of the slut arc, and while I'm not so inclined to cross the en-ess-eff-double-u line just yet, I am feeling more and more confident that I could try doing saucier stuff, or at the very least stop tip-toeing around stuff I've been holding back on. What that looks like remains to be seen, but I will let my friends now when and if that happens.

So, that’s all I had to ponder on. Hope you all have a wonderful 2023 and I hope to see you all again.

(Enjoy this pic of me trying to clear out the twists in my hair lmaoooooo)

[oathena11-writes]

Hi everyone! I'm Athena, pronouns they/he/she, I don't particularly care which one you use as I'm gender apathetic on top of being agender.

I'm married and a parent of two kids I adore, plus I have a cat.

I spend most of my time writing or thinking about writing. I have other hobbies too. 

This is my writing sideblog. It is primarily for writing, so I will be reblogging posts about writing or making my own about writing, or thoughts I have about fandoms. I may or may not post links to my fics there, I'm not very consistent about that. 

I have a Ko-Fi here. As a stay at home parent, any extra little bit helps. My current goal is to save up enough for a new laptop that I will be comfortable writing on. My current one is ten years old and struggling to keep up with my usual writing habits. Recently, we had some car trouble, so our savings are a bit lower than we're comfortable with for this time of year, so it would be a HUGE help if people could donate. But only do so if you'd like to support me and my writing endeavors and you have the money for it.

I help run an event for creatives- not just writing, but people who are into art, crafting, or just need the incentive to get things done. Bingos are a part of the event, as so some of the bingos I do are for the event. We're over in the Castle Cafe discord server. 

My main fandom at the moment is Star Wars, and all you need to know there is: I am extremely pro-Jedi. If you are Jedi critical or anti Jedi, stay away. I will not hesitate to block. I am here to vibe with my blorbos and have fun writing and connecting with others who share the same interests. I am not here to engage in debates or be told I'm wrong. Don't like? Go right ahead and block me. We'll both be happier that way. 

[lassieposting]

Oof excellent post i have feelings about this

I grew up in the early 2000s, constantly hearing older people bitch and moan about how kids were always on the computer, or plugged in to the mp3 player, or on the phone. And I get it I guess, because most of the kids I grew up with were exactly like that.

I wasn't.

We couldn't afford a computer until I was 8. I didn't get a mobile phone until I was 16. We had VHS tapes and VHS tapes only until long after VHS tapes had been replaced with DVDs and then blu-rays. I didn't have access to all that shit because we were poor, so we had to make our own fun. At the time, I didn't know any different, but looking back, holy shit am I glad about that.

As a little kid, I played with cardboard boxes and cheap-shit plastic toys. I was always out playing make-believe in the woods, drenched up to the shoulders in rivers, covered in mud, stuck up trees. I grew up making mud pies and potions out of every liquid in the house. And I did all that shit because even though I had an overworked, exhausted single mother who couldn't afford any of the must-haves, she wanted me to have the childhood she never got to have herself. So she read to me, and taught me to use my imagination, and let me go out and get filthy or soaked because it would wash out or dry, and encouraged me to Be A Kid.

The other kids at my school didn't have that. They had parents who would be annoyed or angry if they came home dripping with muck. They had parents who bought them the new gadget the instant it came out, but rarely spent any time with them. They had parents who never taught them to make their own fun out of their imagination, a cardboard box and some legos, because their parents' sense of fun had atrophied to nothing years back.

It is 100% on parents that kids are always on technology, and it's only getting worse. Now they're on instagram by 10, trying to look like 25yo influencers. The high school era of "bright orange foundation, clumpy mascara, pale pink lipstick", where all the year nine to year eleven girls just look like horror shows for three years because they don't know how to put makeup on right, has died out - kids now often have flawless contour in high school already. Childhoods like mine are a dying breed and it makes me so sad for the children of the future.

Those of you intending to inflict this shitty-ass world on children for some godforsaken reason, it is so important that y'all revive the lost art of Being A Damn Child. Teach them to go outside. Teach them to climb trees and play in rivers and ride dirtbikes and skateboards. Teach them to read for fun, not just for school. Teach them to use their imaginations, to be horses and superheroes and warrior cats and blorbos and whatever else they want to be.

Fill your child's childhood with magic and wonder, because they'll have an entire miserable unfulfilling adulthood to sit on their asses and doomscroll or compare themselves unfavourably to models on instagram.

They're only ever going to learn how to have fun from you. Society does not prize or encourage authentic enjoyment. Society wants you and your kids addicted, miserable, and enraged, and click click clicking on even more sponsored content to make you even more miserable and enraged in an endless fucking loop. Society will not give your children the childhood they deserve. It's all on you.

You're the ones having them. You're the ones forcing life - an all-too-brief childhood and then sixty years of struggle and graft in the capitalist hellscape we call a society - on them, for your own selfish desires. The least you can do is put down your phone for an hour and take them to make a damn potion.

Anyway this was not meant to get quite this ranty or emotional but here we are. Good post op

im so done with seeing articles about kids and screen time that doesnt mention parent behaviors even once. “kids are always on their phones” so are the parents! which the kids look to for how they should behave! ipad babies didn’t chose to only play on their ipads, thats what their parents gave them!

an anecdotal example: when i was a kid, all my parents would do in their minimal free time was watch tv and then they would be surprised when in my sister and i’s minimal free time we would also only watch tv/play video games. they scolded us for not reading books, but they never read books. they scolded us for not going outside but they never went outside.

“kids are always on their damn phones” my mom is in her 60s and opens up candy crush anytime she’s sitting — it isnt just the kids

[blashdafish]

Hey so I hope I'm not bothering you by doing this but I've been waiting for a person to infodump to about my blorbos so here we are!

There is a kingdom called Ecit at war with another, Antomaa. Ecit is surrounded by the Pasdi Forest, full of creatures and cyptids, few have come back from there alive. There is a war with another kingdom, and Ecit is losing, badly. Their armies were depleting, soldiers falling like ants under their enemies foot. And so the king turned to where no one has survived, where humans dare not go, and said:

This will be my army. This is what will let us live.

But the creatures that lived in the forest hated the king that had hunted them for so long, and the king realized he had to create other soldiers. Ones with their extraordinary powers, but more willing. more obedient. And this king had a daughter.

He started small in his experiments, insects, mostly, slowly working up to bigger animals. Arachnids, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals- Until all that was left were the ones from the forest.

He sent out the people who had survived in the past, and they brought back the animals in cages and chains. The Loch Ness monster, a wyrm, a wendigo. More came each month, the kings experiments successful, and by the time he had amassed an army-

It was too late. The other kingdom took over, Ecit becoming a name only heard in history books, however they weren't very good explorers, as the basement of Ecit's castle was left untouched and undiscovered for years.

Eventually, the hybrid inhabitants died of starvation, lack of water, old age. Until nothing but their ghosts remained, haunting the castle.

These ghosts had varying degrees of memory, some knowing everything that happened, some none at all. Our main character is Polaris, one of the kidnapped cryptids who is still alive due to his... peculiar eating habits (it eats light). He seeks to discover who the mutilated body in the basement is, along with Ness and Ruin, also both ghosts. Ruin remembers. Ness does not. One person didn't become a ghost. This changes everything.

I have more about Ness and Ruin's backstory and side characters, along with art I made, but this ask is already too long and I don't want to waste moe of your time lol. but yeah i have a problem with making too much worldbuilding.

-🧵

HI I LOVE THIS SO MUCH THANK YOU FOR TELLING ME ABT IT??????

getting a forest of cool mythic creatures and shoving them into hybrids is SOO fun i love thattt, and the mc sounds so interesting!!!

if you ever want to I'd LOVEEE to hear more abt Ness and Ruin's stories and see your art!!!!

[floralcrematorium]

Blorbo Bingo Russia?

Oh boy... What can I say about Russia.

This might turn more into a trauma-dump than my opinions on the character because of how... latched I was to him when I was 14. Skip the next three paragraphs if you don't wanna read that

I generally don't like to think about him because of the way I acted when I was in 7th and 8th grade. I guess I could say I was a Russia-kinnie???? It was entirely based in the fact that I had this Brand New Funky Thing developing called ✧*̥˚ Depression *̥˚✧ and needed a coping mechanism. It was very much a Bad Time

I really related to his not having friends growing up because historically I haven't had a lot of friends. Granted in my case it's the being socially awkward and anxious. I got bullied and taken advantage a lot in elementary and middle school

You know how your middle school friend group assigns everyone a Hetalia character? Yeah, mine was Russia. We had a minecraft faction on a public server and despite it being very space and celestial themed, we assigned everyone who joined a Hetalia character. I think we had upwards of fourteen people??? It extended beyond the faction and to our other minecraft friends

ANYWAY

As a result of this, I have zero thoughts on Ivan other than regret. I think the fandom seems to have two very different opinions on him as a character and I can't choose where my personal opinions lie because my embarrassed feelings get in the way. People seem to either make him BabyGirl or A Monster? Unsure, I don't interact much with the Russia content the way I do FACE and Nordics content

For my Ivan Character Playlist, I leaned into a mix of songs that had themes of self doubt, the desire for power/self-reclamation, how good things don't last, and hopelessness

All in all, I wouldn't be able to really tell you who he is as a person in the way I could for France or America. I do not know who this guy is. I'm sorry if this wasn't the answer you're looking for!!

Given more time I'd be more willing to try Perceiving Him again if y'all have any fic recommendations in the meantime! I'll get to them one day (I'm dragging my hand dramatically across the sky and looking wistfully into the distance)

floralcrematorium Fun Facts! I uh. Straight up did TWO. TWO. art projects in school using him in the 7th grade. I also wrote a self insert fic where the protagonist was Moscow and it was something to do with all of the nations' capitals and they were the nations' kids?? I named her Chantal or something. The word document was so large it got corrupted. I really can't give you an explanation other than that was 13

[direwombat]

That anon again. Thank you for listening to my rambling. And if it matters any, Joseph gets plenty of chances to Suffer during my dep's canon. Because we're (plural because this is all from an RP verse my best friend and I have where she plays Joseph and a 'John fucker' GFH while I play my dep and John) bitches like that and can't let the Seed boys get away with being the worst without suffering for it. (1/?)

A major theme of Joe and Dep's relationship is 'be careful what you wish for' since he spends a good early portion of things wanting to change her to fit his whims (for her 'own good' of course), but oops, he gets attached to who she is but by the time he realizes it, his actions are already responsible for her having begun to change for the worse. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes, Joseph. Now suffer. And I'm rambling again, but I had another question to ask. Two actually.

First: how did you first get comfortable with sharing Syb with the rest of tumblr? I ask because part of me is tempted to do this with my Dep, but the other part of me is scared of being perceived and judged for my dep, my interpretations of characters, etc. Two: With Augustine becoming Faith, did Joseph specifically pull this to punish Syb? Because I'm getting big 'you took my family member, now I take yours' vibes. And it sounds about right and petty and fucked up enough for Joe. (3/3)

f;lakdjfaldfkj that's TOTALLY FAIR i sure as hell don't let jacob off easy either fal;dfjkadf

and OOF well...to answer question 1: i've been shouting about my ocs into the void of the internet for the past several years (got started in the dragon age fandom, moved to the general dnd fandom, and ended up here) having friends already on tumblr/in the fandom space to share ideas and bounce off of certainly helps. it's for sure scary!, but tbh? the more you talk about them the more curious people will get. at least that's been my experience. and then of course, engaging with other people who have their own ocs, rb-ing their art/fic/sending asks for ask games and prompt lists are a great way to kind of find your place in the fandom/community and make friends! And to address your fear of being judged for your dep/interpretations of characters, i'll just say this: fandom would be boring if everyone had the exact same interpretation of the characters and it's ok to disagree with an interpretation as long as you're not a dick about it, yk? And, just like people irl, everyone's deputy is different and adds to the fandom!

my advice: do whatever you feel most comfortable doing. make your characters in picrews and do those uquizes! I normally open tag, so if you see one from me that you like! tag me! this includes wip wednesdays/whenevers too if you ever feel brave enough to share any writing you have! BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, you are your oc's number one fan! if (god forbid, and i've never seen this happen personally) someone doesn't like them and has the gall, the sheer audacity to say that to your face? block them. have fun with your oc is what i'm getting at. they're your little barbie/bratz/whatever doll that inspires the most nostalgia for you. we're all just playing little games, telling little stories and dressing up our personal blorbos however we want. :)

as for question 2:

ahh.. poor sweet Augustine. So, Augustine is a park ranger who was on duty at the Whitetails Ranger Station the night of the Reaping and was injured in a pretty nasty fall. One of his coworkers (another oc, Shaw) is one of Jacob's Chosen (who spent a lot of time undercover as a civilian), and after hearing that the Deputy escaped, he essentially lets Jacob know that they have a piece of leverage against her. He's sent to Joseph to heal, where he's very subtley and slowly indoctrinated into the cult. He keeps Augustine hidden from Syb and he also keeps it secret that Syb is the one causing misery to the Cult/newfound family Augustine has found himself welcomed into (as much as he and syb love each other, they're not perfect and uh...there are some abandonment issues there). anyway, i'm still kind of ironing out the details of it all, but essentially, after john and faith are neutralized (john dead and faith/rachel safe and getting clean) jacob and joseph are like, "alright, time to use our secret weapon." Syb knows they have Augustine at this point, but she's under the impression that he's a prisoner, not a member of the cult.

So they meet up on neutral ground (i'm thinking tanami island) only instead of a loving and wholesome reunion, Syb finds out that her brother drank the kool-aid and Augustine finds out that his sister is the one causing the "unnecessary" violence plaguing the Project (which also, Joseph is very careful to shield Augustine from the actual violence, and paints the Project as a much more peaceful organization than it actually is). Anyway, cult tactics win over in Augustine's head and he turns against Syb, and given the power vacuum in the Henbane and his *ahem* closeness to Joseph, he's offered the mantle of Herald/Brother Faith. And. Yeah. It's definitely a method to punish/break Syb, and it's also a way to reward Augustine for his loyalty. Even she wouldn't kill or arrest her own brother. That reunion with her brother is the beginning of Syb's breaking point, and everything after that is just her slipping into misery, helplessness, and despair. everything about this is exploitative as hell :)

[cheese-ception]

1. What creation or accomplishment from 2022 are you most proud of?

From the sketches, definitely this one

https://cheese-ception.tumblr.com/post/699462104827199488/general-alatus-nuttytani-for-you

As for fics... hmm...

Probably

https://cheese-ception.tumblr.com/post/701377394779521024/j%C4%ABn-ch%C3%AC

2. Cut and paste some of your favorite reader/viewer comments on your work. We’re celebrating, people, and comments on your work is your champagne. It’s New Year’s, live a little.

Let's go with these three:

I said it once, and I’ll say it again. THIS IS THE CUTEST THING EVER, CHISA! Your love for him is immeasurable and it shows in every little piece you write for the little birdie ♥

(a reblog tag) You're my favorite xiao writer i hope you know this.

*inhale* This still looks amazing 8 hours later, Chisa!! I don’t know what led you to combine merman & barista into one prompt, I daresay no one has ever come up with such a pairing before, but please allow me to thank your wonderful mind for spawning this idea ? It just works out so well. When can I start making reservations at his cafe? Because I’d like to put my name down for every single day (and invite all the Twilight Visitors along, of course!) Love the smooth lines and his expression and his sweet little earing ^^ I hope you had a fun time putting it together, and thank you again for this!!!!

I’ve never been particularly good at accepting compliments, but each and every heartfelt comment means the whole world to me.

I hoard them like little treasures.

(´꒳`)♡

3. What stretched you creatively?

Honestly, I think mostly the fact that I somehow convinced myself to create again.

I tend to deny myself nice things at times, but this year I've indulged without any regrets.

4. What was the most difficult thing you created and how did you get through it?

Definitely all of my sketches.

The satisfaction gained from finishing them is always immeasurable, even if they make my tendons ache. They're my blorbos. Totally worth the struggle.

5. What’s one thing you’ve never tried to create that you might challenge yourself to create in the next year?

I really need to try to write more eloquently.

And give digital art another shot.

And perhaps not give up this time, lol.

6. What new fandoms did you discover over the past year?

New? Probably none tbh.

But the old ones still go hard.

7. What fan-works created by someone else inspired/excited you?

Here is where I will say what anyone who follows me was already thinking:

Pretty much all the fics written by my darling @venulus

A whole bunch of stories by my sweet @lorei-writes

But also all the gorgeous creations from the members of our @flash-exchange

Visit any of these to fall in love instantly.

8. What did you read or see that made you go, “I wish I had written/painted/created that.”

What a curious thing to ask.

I think I prefer to appreciate other people's works than to wish I made them myself, if that makes sense.

9. Who did you discover?

There's a whole lot of great people and their blogs that I have stumbled upon this year.

I wish I could plug everyone, but allow me to pick three again (it's a nice number after all):

@ikemendaniel

@scorchieart

@ladyofthemorningstar

(and ofc also you, @the12thnightproject - but that's bending things a little tho, since technically we already got acquainted in 2021, eheh <3)

10. Spread the fandom love – who makes you smile? [Yes, it is totally valid to write “everybody” in this space]

Everyone who takes the time of their day to look at my silly little posts, reacts or even just tags me in tagging games.

I am very grateful for you all, you utterly magnificent human beings.

♡＼(￣▽￣)／♡

If you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged ♡

Content Creators...

Thinking about 2022 as we wave it goodbye and send it into the past. Let’s do a little bit of navel-gazing and patting ourselves and each other on the back and realize just how much we’ve accomplished over the past year.

So, for your blog, please answer (all or some) of the following questions. I’ll be working on my own answers over the next day or so.

What creation or accomplishment from 2022 are you most proud of?

Cut and paste some of your favorite reader/viewer comments on your work. We’re celebrating, people, and comments on your work is your champagne. It’s New Year’s, live a little.

What stretched you creatively?

What was the most difficult thing you created and how did you get through it?

What’s one thing you’ve never tried to create that you might challenge yourself to create in the next year?

What new fandoms did you discover over the past year?

What fan-works created by someone else inspired/excited you?

What did you read or see that made you go, “I wish I had written/painted/created that.”

Who did you discover?

Spread the fandom love – who makes you smile? [Yes, it is totally valid to write “everybody” in this space]

Tag yourselves in! Share the love! Party! Toast! Hugs! Rainbows! Unicorns! And a box of kittens!