#i had this as like a list format in my drafts and thought why not just make it a fr list lol

[wavesmp3]

masterlist - insp list!

a masterlist of sorts, sorted by whatever might've inspired it if something did inspire it heavily eurydice + the sea is yours to take + 8000 layers of inyun + are you happy? + ode to you → have all been posted for both the boyz and for seventeen

MOVIES/MUSICALS/SHOWS → one day → hadestown → before sunrise → minari → eternal sunshine of the spotless mind → past lives → daisy jones and the six → psych

BOOKS → harrow the ninth by tamysn muir → fire by kristen cashore ➤ the general vibe of the the sea is yours to take especially the love story is very much inspired by fire and brigan's romance in the book → the children of blood and bone by tomi adeyemi ➤the magic system in oasis is very much inspired by the magic in this book → chemistry by weike wang ➤ was very much trying to emulate chemistry's style in today i want to burst into flames → nothing to see here by kevin wilson ➤ the whole idea of bursting into flames in today i want to burst into flames was basically taken from this novel → i'll give you the sun by jandy nelson ➤ was again very much trying to emulate jandy nelson's beautiful writing in lie to me and again in this unfinished fic let’s make a trade: the sun for the stars → mexican gothic by silvia moreno-garcia → the hundred thousand kingdoms by n.k. jeminson

SONGS → ok well i guess that’s it then by cimorelli → boredom has a new best friend by tyler the creator → vertigo by khalid → back to you by selena gomez → mr. hollywood by joji → tujh mein rab dikhta hai from rab ne bana di jodi → ribs by lorde → dance to this by ariana grande and troye sivan → i don't care by ed sheeran → it runs deep by trisha mohring → yeh kya hua sung by shreya ghoshal → dynasty by rina sawayama → limbo unreleased song by billie eilish → here goes nothing by dpr live → rain song from minari → how can i pretend? by waisa project → used to be young by miley cryus → sliver of time by sarah kinsley → not a lot, just forever by adrianne lenker → oh no darling! by sarah kinsley → the giver by sarah kinsley

THE SEA! → the sea is yours to take (wjh) + the sea is yours to take(ljh) → a story about us → summers & shots → only us and the ocean → taking chances (special mentions: geronimo, scene in ode to you, scene in love you until the golden hours, scene in clouds, before the bucket falls, dreamscapes)

[markrosewater]

I think your article today did a good job laying out why Play Boosters had to come about, but I'm still feeling mildly apprehensive about the change. I reread your articles "Project Booster Fun" and "Set Boosters" and one of the throughlines in those articles was player agency. I liked that Set Boosters and Draft Boosters filled different niches and purchased both types of boosters depending on my needs. Play Boosters feel like a compromise that is going to leave both parties less satisfied.

As a drafter, I don't like the idea of a draft pool being warped by the List slot. If you continue to do premier set Universe Beyond tie-ins (like the Transformers and Jurassic World cards), I don't look forward to drafting those (even if I can appreciate them design-wise). The "extra value" that you mention doesn't matter as much to a drafter if they are passing that value to the left (although, I guess in fairness, they could also be passed value, but it does exacerbate the age-old dilemma of do you draft for value or do you draft for your deck?).

As a collector, it's disappointing to see the loss of a guaranteed art card (although I'm sure I'm the minority in that). The odds of opening a card from the List also seem a lot lower and the List taking over a common slot instead of the Token/Ad slot feels worse. The List in the Token slot was always a bonus, even if it was only a common or uncommon. If you continue to do premier set Universe Beyond tie-ins (like the Transformers and Jurassic World cards), I'm worried that the designs will be limited by keeping Limited in mind rather than making the best design for the IP.

That's just my two cents on the matter. I'm sure you folks have thought about it a lot more than I have and we'll have to wait until Markov Manor to see how Play Boosters...play out.

The market didn't want two core booster packs. It turns out more Magic players enjoyed having a fun booster opening experience than enjoyed playing limited formats, so set boosters were edging out draft boosters.

Our move to play boosters is us trying to keep player agency. We want players who want to play limited formats to continue to have the opportunity, but we wanted players who enjoyed a more exciting booster pack opening to keep having access to that as well, so we basically changed the set booster such that it also allowed limited play.

This is not us trying to lessen Magic for anyone. We're adapting to the needs of the players while staying true to the needs of the market. The history of Magic is constant evolution, and this is just the next step in the game being the product that makes the greatest number of players happy with it because it lets them have the greatest options of how to interact with it. If we were shrinking agency, we'd just make set boosters and stop having limited be part of the game.

[ipleadbritney]

Directors cut: anything you wanna share from “scenes from a social media admin” or “love you, bye” because I’d love to hear about your process writing social media AUs! You make them flow together so well 😊

Thank you for this!! More info on director’s cut here

I’m so incredibly awed by the support my social media aus have gotten. I love writing them, and I’m super happy people love reading them, too. Funnily enough, writing love you, bye and scenes from a social media admin are SUCH different experiences. This is mostly me yapping, btw.

love you, bye

initial concept

fic started from another wip of mine

i really wanted lando to say “i love you” absentmindedly to oscar on the phone then proceeds to panic about it

i was sort of lurking actively on f1twt (i’m not anymore) during this time so i thought hey, why not just do a smau

writing/draft

speedran this in like 2 or 3 hours, which is the SHORTEST i’ve written anything ever (apart from drabbles)

i draft mostly everything in bullet points (like how i’m writing this)

i knew i wanted the following: news article, tweets, emails, tumblr post

the texting part i was unsure of, but i’m happy with how they turned out

i have placeholder names/handles for the accountz then go back to look at my recent bookmarks to see which fics i’ve loved recently. my brain got wiped thinking of handles so i just got inspired by other fics (AND THERE’S SO MUCH TO BE INSPIRED FROM IN LANDOSCAR FICS)

i wrote the beginning, middle, and ending of this in one-go and they mostly stayed the same

structure

in terms of structure, i didn’t follow much for this love you, bye. it’s a fairly short fic

but i did know i wanted the tweets to carry most of the narrative

we see posts chronologically

first, we see the news article for the info-dump, then everything else follows

specific inspiration

here’s my list of fic references

special shoutout to this tweet, which was inspired by nyoomfruit’s love you with the lights on (olivia’s the name of oscar’s kid. in the tweets, she goes from being a brocedes child of divorce to two loving dads)

fun facts

in the fic, the tumblr post is by “time-in-the-tangerine”. i didn’t have a tumblr back then. life imitates art

scenes from a social media admin

initial concept

it was supposed to be a third pov, some random pr dude who suffers bc of landoscar antics

the first part i ever wrote was the to do list

but the idea wouldn’t take flight

i only started grinding for this after seeing how much people loved love you, bye and how much i loved writing it

i knew i wanted it to have something love you, bye didn’t: pictures, more unconventional formatting, MICROSOFT TEAMS CALENDARS???

turned the random pr dude to lando himself

writing

from writing to publishing, it took me 2 months

i wanted to sprinkle some tropes in this one but gave up halfway through (their first meeting being a whole oh-god-there’s-only-one-bed)

i collected a bunch of initial pics i wanted to put, then wrote scenes around them. i mostly wrote around pictures, which is. not optimal. but hey!! finished it, didn’t i?

this took me so long to write because i didn’t know how i wanted their relationship to progress

all i knew was that our perspective is lando’s phone. like. HIS ACTUAL PHONE

structure

i definitely made a more conscious decision to break up different formats in between each other

every few tweets you get something new

unlike love you, bye this one took place across months. i had a rough time conveying time passing. suspension of disbelief is needed, so sorry

specific inspiration

here’s my list of fic references

david malukas got dropped from mclaren so i wrote him being a quadrant athlete. pato's also there as this bundle of bright energy. an ode to "canon" landoscar. because pato and lando really are just. look at their podium shots. golden boys for a reason.

i wanted lando and oscar to pass around that white mclaren hat like they can't just buy another one.

random pictures i think that capture the fic's essence (wag lando during bahrain testing in his beanie and osc merch, probably)

characters

ooooh so for this one, i knew i wanted lando to leave mclaren at the end. he has quadrant, he still has all that passion and creativity. he would always leave, and being with oscar both complicates and simplifies it. also, he's a “conflict of interest”.

also how can he live his full wag-lifestyle if he's under zak brown's payroll????

most of lando and oscar's development happens off-screen, which is deliberate. we see lando's phone, but we're skipping through milestones with him and oscar. they're happening off-screen, off-phone. trust.

imagining oscar falling in love with a media staff is. something. it all hinges on that first meeting, that late-night conversation. daniel and him have a wildly different dynamic from him and lando (“canon”), and i think talking with someone young and driven is good for oscar's soul.

In conclusion, I don't write SMAUs. The demons write SMAUs through me. I think of one good scene then write everything else around them. In love you, bye, it's the phone call that triggers everything else. In scenes from a social media admin, it's the pictures.

I love args (in theory, I rarely follow along with any of them because I get overwhelmed) so I love playing around with unconventional formats. More often than not, I CUT content from my drafts. Less explaining, more theorizing. I look at smaus as snapshots, where most of the story happens outside the readers’ reach. Part of it is laziness, though. Formatting shaves years off of my life.

Thank you for letting me yap through the director's cut. If any of you have any more specific questions about my smaus or fics, the ask box is open 😉

[pricemarshfield]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love ❤️

thank you for the ask, neutral!! time to show my deeply multifandom roots and not have any of these share the same fandom 🫡 below the cut because i’m chatty as hell

number one on the list is a recent one but absolutely my all-time favorite thing i’ve ever written: talk, a bg3/raphtav-and-also-haarlep-is-there smut oneshot

i don’t use this tweet here because it’s smut, but because no fic has EVER gripped me by the brain and haunted me for months until i wrote it like this one did and also because the devil’s hot. i laid awake at night in a cold sweat thinking about this even before i’d finished house of hope for the first time. i’m not even being hyperbolic here, this fic GOT me. also this fic converted me from haarlep-neutral to haarlep’s personal cheerleader. they’re so fun

my beloved darling tav already had a very strong characterization to me but i still feel like i Learned her through writing this, and certainly learned a lot about her dynamics with raphael and haarlep. enough that i’m braving actually writing a longfic for them, and feel free to hold me to this because otherwise it’ll languish in my drafts for another six months. but i’m actually formatting the first chapter for ao3, it’s Genuinely almost done !! promise

fun story about this is i cheerfully told my mom i’d finished writing something after i posted this and she asked to read it. i was like haha. well i’ll do that after work! and then i didn’t ♥️

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number two on the list is what i’d have confidently said was the best thing i’ve ever writtennbefore talk, and that’s one of my dimension 20 big bang 2021 fics: plant a garden in the yard, then, a fantasy high/aelwyn & ayda friendship fic where they explore the deeply haunted tunnels beneath aelwyn’s deeply haunted house

it’s hard to overstate how personal this fic ended up being to me, enough that i hold it as close to my heart as my other d21bb fic which i wrote about grief while Actively grieving. both fics for that event ended up being a good deal more melancholic and introspective than i thought they would at the start, but this one Feels more intimate (for lack of a better word)

aelwyn & ayda are both characters that mean a lot to me on their own, and figuring out their friendship—prickly and uncomfortable as it starts—was honestly healing. there’s something really cathartic about writing a character who’s gone through such extraordinary circumstances in their canon finding a path Towards genuine connection and happiness, even if they don’t find it and Especially if things still aren’t perfect.

also the only time i’ve ever actually hit ao3’s comment length limit was on a reply to an absolutely lovely comment my friend shark left on it so :) the response to this fic was also really nice!

-

number three on the list is my queen b magnum opus even though i have one that’s like 8 times longer than it: teeth, the book 1 mc/poppy romance i craved/theoretically a smut oneshot that became something more.

this is a remix of another fic i wrote, so it feels weird to prop it up higher than the original, but i’m just so fond of this one. queen b is a very silly game and poppy min-sinclair can be a VERY silly character but my bea for this fic is another oc i grew deeply attached to, and i think the sheer self-indulgence of the fic shines through, in a good way.

also, i think the characterization in this is strong enough that i’ve been able to recommend it to friends with better taste who haven’t played queen b, and they’ve still enjoyed it! which is just IMMENSELY validating as a writer :’)

-

number four and five on the list are my niche oneshots which i wrote for a target audience of me, myself, and i, and i think that’s part of why they work as well as they do!

four is a session with dr. martin whitly, a prodigal son fic which focused on ainsley & martin, namely ainsley relying really heavily on her father, despite the fact he’s a serial killer that she Knows he’s manipulative and terrible.

the fact that i wrote this before the season 1 finale is astounding to me. i have never called characterization beats harder than this, and i feel comfortable saying that even though the actual plot points are quite different, and also even though ainsley isn’t canonically gay. that’s okay because i know and perceive the truth <3

prodigal son’s cancellation is something i’m hard-pressed to say i’m Upset about this far out, but i wish every day that the episode where some ainsley issues got addressed had lived to see the light of day.

this fic i Cannot recommend to people who haven’t watched prodigal son because it’s me extrapolating and picking at lines of dialogue that Suggest a lot without confirming much, but that’s also really fun, in its own way. some of the best fics i’ve ever read are enjoyable specifically as transformative media.

-

five is walk with the devil, a the martian/ares3some noir au which was honestly 90% a style experiment but like i fucking nailed it?? there was a stretch of a couple years where some of my best work were from smashing together whatever pairing i wanted to write with a bunch of prompts and seeing what i could make from it (werewolf au caitvi was also one, and a runner-up on this list)

this fic has a lot of hallmarks that i know people aren’t usually a fan of, but i love it. non-linear narrative. major character death but also maybe not, you won’t get closure and neither will the characters. actively avoiding concrete details in favor of a strong, hopeless tone. bringing in a ton of the cast for no reason. LOTS of 1940s slang. and because of that it’s my baby. weirdly i feel like my johanssen characterization is better in this than in either of my two canonverse fics?

i don’t know that i’d write fic for the martian like this again—a lot of what i like about it is really different from the more transformative fandom approach for the things that compel me to write—but i’m glad i did, because this fic is my darling. more people should be experimental in their fics because some of the weirdest stuff will almost always be some of the best !!!

anyway answering this made me so very hyped to write more once i’m off work !!!

[mysticsparklewings]

Obscutober 2024 Day 4: Apricate ☀️

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Apricate (v.)

to bask in the sun; to expose to sunlight

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Hope you’re all feeling as good as a cat sleeping in the window on this 4th day of Inktober 😉

I’m not really because it’s a traveling day & those wear me out, but hey could be worse! 🤷‍♀️

Click the "Keep Reading" and we'll talk more about my thoughts/process for this piece ✨

(Apologizes in advance for any formatting issues; I wasn’t able to draft the Tumblr post before we got on the road and I am so not used to doing this on mobile. 😅)

⭐️ Like My Art and Want to see more of it? Here's All My Links! ⭐️

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I apologize for the lack of my normal description today, Sparklers. As I mentioned yesterday, I've got on my plate today and I just don't have the time to get into the details right now! I'll see if I can come back in the evening and flesh things out more, but for now I'll leave you with just some bullet point thoughts:

My primary inspiration was kitty cats basking in "puddles" of sunshine they find on the floor, or sitting in sunny windows, etc. Hence the cat-window-silhouette thing happen as sort of the main focus of the mandala.

I also thought of sunflowers, and coincidentally sunflowers are non-toxic to cats, so it would be acceptable for a kitty to sit in a patch of sunflowers while both flowers and feline face the sun.

More obscurely, to help fill space and add contrast, I thought of these things.

I tried to go for a little bit of an effect with the background like the sun is actually shining through the windows, but I'm not sure I pulled it off correctly.

I was 95% done with this piece when I realize it looked much more washed out on screens that were not my iPad, so I had to back track a bit and try to fix it. Now I think it looks too dark with how low I keep the brightness on a lot of my device screens, but I think a lot of people keep their screens brighter than I do by default (at least during the day) so I'm sticking with it.

I'm still not really happy with the "red" for the curtains. I was going for a kind of desaturated dark coral, but it kept coming out either too pink or too dark. Ultimately I settled for too dark because it went better with the sun-through-windows idea, where the curtains would be more shadowed anyway.

White might have been the more natural choice for the lines, but then you probably couldn't see the cat silhouette and I could not be bothered going back and changing it to outlines. [And it looked kinda weird as outlines when I first started drawing it, which is largely why I ended up filling it in the first place.

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See the Prompt List

Artwork © me, MysticSparklewings

Obscutober Concept Inspired by nikolas_tower

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⭐️ Like My Art and Want to see more of it? Here's All My Links! ⭐️

[blackbird-brewster]

Friday Fic Recs

What I've Read:

Criminal Minds, JJ/Tara/Emily, Tara/Rebecca

Rated: E || WC: 218,576

Why I Love It: I just finished my first read through of Part 3 since I finished it back in December. Let me tell you, it was SUCH a delight. I had forgotten so many little details, I was constantly gasping and sharing parts of it with my partner in utter delight. If you want a light-hearted polyamorous rom-com AU, this is the series for you! Reading Part 3 instantly inspired me to start Part 1 over again. I'll never get tired of this series.

Criminal Minds, JJ/Emily

(Unrated) || WC: 1512

Author: villainousunsub

Why I Love It: I've been reading some of my old Jemily faves again. This is such a great one-shot. This is such a beautifully written one-shot. Lots of fluff and fun with the whole team.

Criminal Minds, JJ/Emily

Rated: G || WC: 1944

Author: velutluna_ithil (@velutluna )

Why I Love It: The weather is getting colder where I live and this is the perfect winter fic. Domestic Jemily will always hold a special spot in my heart and reading Emily with Henry is so delightful. This is just a soft, fluffy, fic that ticks all the boxes for me.

WIP I'm Excited About:

Criminal Minds, Emily x Reader

Rated: E || WC: TBD

Author: kattwyllie (@storiesofsvu )

* Read on Tumblr [here]

Why I Love It: As soon as I heard 'Emily as a Sugar Mama' I was intrigued. The set-up in this first chapter is already amazing and I am highly looking forward to reading more. I never thought I'd be reading reader insert fics and I definitely never thought I'd be hyped about a reader series, but Katt single-handedly changed my mind and all my preconceived notions. The way she writes is so magnificent, you can't help but get drawn in. This story is sure to be an exhilarating read.

What I'm Writing:

Criminal Minds, JJ/Tara

Rated: E || WC: 88,000

Updates: I have been working on this for what seems like three years (it's probably been a month). Compiling all of the drafts, outlines, and cut scenes into one full version of this fic has proved to be a monumental task. I know this fic was already niche because it's JJ/Tara, but I hope my handful of Jara readers will enjoy this extended cut and the look at what the writing process was like for such a difficult fic format.

More Fic Recs Under the Cut

Other Recommendations:

Past Friday Fic Recs:  [Friday Fic Recs - Tumblr] || [CM Fic Recs - AO3 Collection]

Rec Lists: [JJ/Emily] || [Tara/Emily] || [CM Femslash]

My Fics: [Jemily] || [Temily] || [Jara] || [Smut] ||  [All]

[bciwasinlove]

Found this post in my drafts when cleaning them out and @thoughtsthatarehardtoexpress told me I shouldn't delete and I should post this one so...

In one of Z newest interviews, he mentioned 1D and going solo. Honestly feel like the main quote that was going around when this was fresh news was just phrased poorly and his new PR team didn't make the best idea having Z just say "well a certain someone was already planning on leaving the label" when talking about his decision to leave 1D and go solo. It makes it sound like a dig at one specific member who was planning to "ditch" the band to go solo, and he just decided to "beat them" to it by leaving first.

It would have been better had they made it clear the issue was no one in the band really wanted to or was planning to resign with their toxic management/label so Z just left before that time came and 1D had to deal with the drama that came with not resigning with their toxic label. Though 1D could have been looking for a new label and not planning to disband bc louis did say no one [of OT4] was thinking about disbanding UNTIL Z decided to leave the band.

How it was phrased caused toxic solos for some reason to think Z was making a dig at either Louis or H [main suspects for wanting to "ditch" the band]. Thus either saying "of course fake ass louis wanted to ditch his so called friends" or "of course H wanted to go solo he's so full of himself" depending on what branch of the toxic 1D solo tree they are apart of.

Louis has talked about how he didn't originally see himself doing solo music or having a solo career and that once 1D was over, he would just write music for other artists and how in his doc showed how sad he was the band was coming to an end. H loved 1D more than anything. Still to this day, he sings WMYB when he has many solo songs to pick from even when it's a small set list for x event H still sings WMYB. So that along with louis telling us prior that they weren't thinking of disbanding tells me L&H weren't trying to dip and this was a poorly worded thought and badly done PR from Z new team.

Even though former directioners know L&H weren't planning on leaving early, this poorly worded 1D portion of one of Z solo interviews it caused solos who hate L or H to think he meant L or H was planning to ditch 1D to go solo AND it caused radio stations to talk about it like it's fact Z was saying H wanted to leave quickly to go solo. This erks me knowing how much L&H loved 1D and still do !!

It makes sense [to me] that Z was the biggest contender for member who didn't mind leaving early *to go solo* not bc he hated the boys or "1D itself" but bc he talked about his distate for boybands prior to 1D formation, auditioned with an R&B song [which more then likley means he wanted to be an R&B artist], had songs he wrote for 1D albums that were passed on [songs he later put on his debut solo album showing how much he loved them and wanted to sing them] and was working on a solo album not long after leaving 1D. Solo R&B just seems like what he always wanted. Sadly, due to his health issues at the time, it seemed things didn't go as planned for him, thus why he had many canceled interviews and concerts back then. I just really wish bad PR that makes it seem like L&H negatively liked/hated 1D when they don't wasn't done.

[televinita]

Books Read in 2023: The Why

That's right, just because it's much closer to 2025 than 2023 doesn't mean I can't still pull out this out! Mostly because I found in my Tumblr drafts that I had already done the work of putting the cover collages together, and what am I gonna do, waste that?

ANYWAY, BOILERPLATE EXPLANATION TIME: In a tradition I accidentally started for myself in 2016, at the end of the year I look back at my reading list and answer the question, why did you read this particular book? Books are arranged in chronological order of read date (unless it made more sense to put series books together), split into groups by target readership age, plus nonfiction at the end. As best I can tell, anyway; choosing between YA & middle grade for older books is often a trip. I'll toss in "how I heard of it" if I can still remember...

ADULT FICTION

(split into two parts because there are a lot)

Run Rose Run - Dolly Parton & James Patterson. 2022.

Half the promise of a companion album, half just because “girl runs away to become a country star” sounds like the only-slightly-older version of my beloved Somebody Everybody Listens To.

How I heard of it: a book blog

Treasure State - C.J. Box. 2022.

Read & enjoyed the whole Cassie DeWell series so far (this is #6).

The Pink House - Louise Platt Hauck. 1933. Family Matters - Louise Platt Hauck. 1934.

See this post.

These Silent Woods - Kimi Cunningham-Graham. 2021.

Recommended by a Goodreads friend + father-daughter bonds* + self-sufficient life off the grid. (*the PLAN was to picture Owen + Maisie but then this gifset from Big Sky happened)

The Siren of Sussex - Mimi Matthews. 2022.

The Belle of Belgrave Square - Mimi Matthews. 2022.

Don't know what Past Me was doing with the collage order here, but I read Belle first -- originally checked out because beautiful cover + horses + Beauty and the Beast retelling for the latter. But on this particular day? I started with the second one because I was on day 2 of my Tom Hiddleston Spiral and omg look who just so happens to have a romance on deck featuring a British love interest.

And then I cycled back to the first book, now even more enthusiastic about my plan to cast Dev Patel as the love interest.

How I heard of it: book blogs

The Santa Suit - Mary Kay Andrews. 2021.

Picked it up for the cute cover, and then the first page was so much like the start of Arnie and a House Full of Company (woman driving up with her pets to a beautiful but decidedly overgrown/neglected old house she’s about to move into) that I got immediately sucked in.

How I heard of it: used book sale

Twenty-One Truths About Love - Matthew Green. 2019.

List format, bookstore owner, and mainly: it’s so flippin’ rare to find books about married couples in love whose only conflict is external, let alone such books from the man’s perspective.

How I heard of it: Barnes & Noble

The Bookshop of Secrets - Mollie Rushmeyer. 2022.

Beautiful cover + MN setting + antiquarian bookshop + hunting for a lost local treasure??

How I heard of it: can't remember :[

A Different Blue - Amy Harmon. 2013.

A mostly-age-appropriate student/teacher romance which I have saved for a billion years to get the casting right, only to throw that plan to the wind when I decided I could use Hiddleston for this too (plan quickly abandoned as he does not fit at all beyond sharing a nationality)

How I heard of it: Goodreads, a full decade ago

This Bird Has Flown - Susanna Hoffs. 2023.

I MAY have been googling keywords trying to find a novel that reminded me of Hiddleswift, and instead I got a way better option for casting him in (this one worked beautifully).

The Escape - Lisa Harris. 2020.

Bought cheap at a book sale because thriller (marshalls hunting an escaped fugitive) in the woods/mountains!

A Thing of Beauty - Lisa Samson. 2018.

Thought it would be a romance plus an element of cleaning out a hoarder’s house. "Former child star" sounded cool too.

How I heard of it: used book sale

Love For Beginners - Jill Shalvis. 2021.

Bought cheap because beautiful cover + a summery romance including dogs.

How I heard of it: used book sale

Bellman & Black - Diane Setterfield. 2013.

Jack Davenport narrates the audiobook and literally no other reasons.

How I heard of it: Libby (the app)

Smothered - Autumn Chiklis. 2018.

It me! (I’ve never seen another book about a college grad who immediately moves back home with her parents and struggles to find a job.)

How I heard of it: Dollar store

Doctor Who: Autonomy - Daniel Blythe. 2009.

Tie-in novels featuring Ten are always quick/fun/easy fare, and this one is set in a mall (!), but mostly, the audiobook is narrated by Georgia Tennant.

How I heard of it: Libby

Something Wilder - Christina Lauren. 2022.

A romance featuring an overnight trip on horseback AND searching for treasure?? Sold.

How I heard of it: Book blogs or YouTube

Famous For a Living - Melissa Ferguson. 2023.

A romance featuring an Instagram Influencer detoxing (fleeing the backlash of a scandal) via a job in a National Park? Sign me all the way up.

How I heard of it: Once Upon a Book Club

Dr. Laurie's Conquest - Berta LaVan Barker. 1980.

Bought cheap because romance about a vet, w/ specific mention of a horse. Read now for the Mount TBR challenge because it’s short.

How I heard of it: Goodwill

Something Wild & Wonderful - Anita Kelly. 2023.

Pacific Crest Trail = hiking inspiration! (and a side of romance never hurts)

How I heard of it: a book blog

Tin Camp Road - Ellen Airgood. 2021.

Loved her middle grade novels and wanted more of her writing; this plot looked more exciting than her adult debut.

How I heard of it: Goodreads/author's back catalog

The Grim Reader - Kate Carlisle. 2020.

Cute cover, and cozy mysteries make great audiobooks, especially when book-centric.

How I heard of it: Goodwill

Lady Sunshine - Amy Mason Doan. 2021.

Beautiful cover, I loved her debut, 70s music scene in one timeline, and inheriting an estate in the other? Sold.

How I heard of it: Barnes & Noble

The Small Room - May Sarton. 1961.

Small, compact size + an intriguing setting and premise perfect for the fall season (young English instructor’s first teaching job at a New England liberal arts college; the publication date added to the intrigue).

How I heard of it: used book sale

The Study of Animal Languages - Lindsay Stern. 2019.

It is not very often you find novels about two college professors married to each other. Also, the title topic intrigued me.

How I heard of it: used book sale

Two Rogues Make a Right - Cat Sebastian. 2020.

Good Omens Season 2 briefly awoke the slash urge in me, and then this happened. Reviews calling this an indulgent, plotless pile of hurt/comfort fluff (positive) sealed the deal.

How I heard of it: Reddit

Home Before Dark - Riley Sager. 2020.

Hype convinced me to try one of his books; a woman restoring a supposedly haunted house definitely looked like the best one.

How I heard of it: book blogs, originally, I think

Lock Every Door - Riley Sager. 2019.

The House Across The Lake - Riley Sager. 2022.

I LOVED the above and immediately wanted more, and since the waitlist for his new one was too long I went for the next-best-sounding ones because they had the coolest settings (and THEN I was finally satiated for a while).

The Paris Apartment - Lucy Foley. 2022.

I had such a good time with Lock Every Door that obviously, it was time for another apartment mystery I’d been vaguely thinking about reading for a while, again due to its cool setting.

How I heard of it: book blogs

The Apartment - S.L. Grey. 2016.

When I searched the above in my library catalog, this title came up in relation. Absolutely I want to read a horror book set in a Paris apartment! (especially as the age difference between the MC and his wife maybe made me think about Michael Sheen & Anna. don’t judge me)

A Paris Apartment - Michelle Gable. 2014.

This ALSO came up in the search results and HELL YEAH I would like to read a novel based on one of the most fascinating news stories I’ve ever heard. (I actually had two options for this, but went with this one first because it seemed more literary; I wasn’t really in the mood for a romance)

Dead To Me - Cath Staincliffe. 2012. Bleed Like Me - Cath Staincliffe. 2013. Ruthless - Cath Staincliffe. 2014.

Catching up the Scott & Bailey TV series, learned they have tie-in novels?? IMMEDIATELY checked the first one out of my library and had such a good time with it that I rounded up the remaining ones ASAP.

How I heard of it: library catalog

The Good Turn - Dervla McTiernan. 2020.

Still in the mood for detective fiction from across the pond so time to finish out this trilogy.

When The Reckoning Comes - LaTanya McQueen. 2021.

This had some good reviews and I was intrigued by the prospect of a horror novel featuring a wedding at a haunted plantation. Maybe a mob of ghostly former slaves bringing a bloodbath? (no. it’s not that graphic. But it’s really good)

How I heard of it: a book blog

Plain Bad Heroines - Emily Danforth. 2020.

Her debut exceeded expectations so I was vaguely curious about this very different book, since she’s only published the two in over a decade, but my interest was solidified when I found an ARC copy with a promotional fake-newspaper insert inside. Wanted context for appreciating that.

How I heard of it: Goodreads/author's back catalog

Fair As A Star - Mimi Matthews. 2020.

Watching The Essex Serpent means I’m back on my stan train following a summer break, and what’s that? My new favorite romance author has one featuring a vicar?

How I heard of it: Goodreads/author's back catalog

You Look Something - Jessica Mehta. 2020.

Random library shelf pull because short read, interesting cover and premise (first-in-her-family college student, but written for an adult audience), and immediately intriguing writing style.

A Haunting on the Hill - Elizabeth Hand. 2023.

Cool cover + “officially licensed return to the setting of Shirley Jackson’s novel”?? The setting was the best part of that book so I hoped this would be the actually-scary version of what I wanted that one to be.

How I heard of it: ooh...can't remember if Goodreads, book blog or YouTube

Daughter of No Worlds - Carissa Broadbent. 2020. Children of Fallen Gods - Carissa Broadbent. 2021.

This random tumblr post about a series I'd never heard of before immediately sparked a vague hope to make this Loki/Sylvie-shaped; liked the first book enough to throw myself into the second, though I got burned out and have yet to finish the trilogy.

The Missing Treasures of Amy Ashton - Eleanor Ray. 2021.

“It's easier to love things than people. Things are safe. Things will never leave you.” I've never identified harder with a line from a book summary in my life.

How I heard of it: ...Goodreads? maybe? COME ON SELF this was literally only 10 months ago.

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone - Audrey Burges. 2023.

A (magic) dollhouse and a 30-something reclusive blogger? It me! Add an implied romance with a guy who (somehow) owns the real-life version of the mansion and this sounds tailor-made for me.

How I heard of it: BookOutlet

Forgotten Trail - Claire Kells. 2023.

Read & enjoyed the first two in this National Parks mystery series, new November tradition unlocked.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Thornyhold - Mary Stewart. 1988.

Saw a cool illustration in a Readers Digest Condensed and wanted full context because I always love a Cool Mysterious Overgrown Inherited House.

How I heard of it: did I count this as "in another book" or "used book sale" when I made my graphs last year, I wonder.

The Last Ranger - Peter Heller. 2023.

I really like the way he writes both nature and men. (I also may have been fully immersed in my Jensen-Ackles-in-Big-Sky era.)

How I heard of it: Barnes & Noble

Just Like Magic - Sarah Hogle. 2022.

Loved her previous romance, and though skeptical about this one, I trusted the 5-star rec of a blogger with very similar reading tastes (she was CORRECT).

How I heard of it: a book blog

========

YOUNG ADULT / TEEN

(again broken into two segments because there are a lot)

The Little Woods - McCormick Templeman. 2012.

Bought cheap because pretty cover + boarding school murder mystery

How I heard of it: used-book section of Barnes & Noble

Lawless Spaces - Corey Ann Haydu. 2022.

Mostly the beautiful cover, a little bit the promise of stories from multiple generations of women in one family.

How I heard of it: book blog

Friends Like These - Jennifer Lynn Alvarez. 2022.

Loved her first YA thriller.

How I heard of it: Goodreads/author's back catalog

Scattered Showers: Stories - Rainbow Rowell. 2022.

I love her but not all of her writing styles; after waiting One Eternity (9 years) for more contemporary writing from her I did not hesitate.

How I heard of it: book blog

We Walked the Sky - Lisa Fiedler. 2019.

Dual timelines: one teen a circus performer, the other her granddaughter who’s just inherited a Box of Memorabilia?? Two things I adore.

How I heard of it: dollar store

Butterfly Yellow - Thanhhà Lại. 2019.

Mostly intrigued by the working-on-a-ranch aspect.

How I heard of it: book blog

Five Survive - Holly Jackson. 2022.

Liked the whole AGGGTM trilogy, was excited to try a different and more thriller-y flavor from her.

How I heard of it: book blogs or YouTube?

Texas Gothic - Rosemary Clement-Moore. 2011.

A google result while trying to find a lost book for someone, and: Ranch-sitting? Ghosts? Kitchen-witch type magic in an otherwise real-world setting? That beautiful cover? SOLD.

Maybe One Day - Melissa Kantor. 2014.

Cancer novel + best friends have both been reliable staples for me in YA.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

The Last Secret You'll Ever Keep - Laurie Faria Stolarz. 2021.

Sequel (or really companion novel) to a book that impressed me 2 years ago.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

If You Find Me - Emily Murdoch. 2013.

Intense curiosity about how a girl who'd been hidden away in a trailer in the woods with her little sister by their neglectful mom for almost a decade would cope with a return to society and her bio dad.

How I heard of it: used book sale

Coming Back Alive - Dennis J. Reader. 1981.

70s teens running away to live off the land is one of my favorite tropes.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

The Final Gambit - Jennifer Lynn Barnes. 2022.

Love this series!

A Wild Thing - Jean Renvoize. 1970.

Another 70s teen running away to live off the land. This time in Scotland!

How I heard of it: lost-book forum on either Reddit or Goodreads

Beloved Monster - Helen Markley Miller. 1968.

18-year-old girl inherits a sprawling mansion? LET’S GO! Especially if it’s also vintage.

How I heard of it: ooh, it's been 5+ years, can't remember. Maybe a Goodreads friend?

The Perfect Place to Die - Bryan Moore. 2019.

Oh I ABSOLUTELY want to read a YA novel set in Chicago’s infamous murder mansion.

How I heard of it: Goodreads (via a staff rec post)

Song of the Shaggy Canary - Phyllis Anderson Wood. 1974.

A slow-burn romance between a divorced teen mom and a 20-year-old recently discharged soldier? Sign me up.

How I heard of it: pretty sure it was one of the Speaking for Ourselves volumes.

Loki: Where Mischief Lies - Mackenzie Lee. 2019.

Step 1: watch the Loki series as a result of your newfound actor stanning + an influential gifset, fall in love with the character and the seemingly-canon ship.

Step 2: immediately google for YA novels with this dynamic.

Step 3: have officially licensed YA fanfic fall straight into your lap.

I Tell A Lie Every So Often - Bruce Clements. 1974.

Found at a book sale, vaguely wanted to read ever since reading an essay about it in Lost Masterworks of Young Adult Literature.

Losing Gabriel - Lurlene McDaniel. 2016. Somebody's Baby - Lurlene McDaniel. 2017.

Books 3 and 4 in a series I love that the library doesn’t have; I already owned the latter and was glad to be able to continue after buying the third at a book sale.

The Last Exit to Normal - Michael Harmon. 2008.

Got it in a blind bag and thought it would be interesting to read about a teen (in Montana!) coming to terms with his fairly-newly-out gay dad’s relationship. (narrator: it wasn’t)

Camper Girl - Glenn Erick Miller. 2020.

Inherited camper-van + road trip!

How I heard of it: Goodreads

The Year of the Rat - Clare Furniss. 2014.

Bought cheap because unusual premise in YA (mom dies giving birth to second child) + pretty cover.

How I heard of it: used-book section of Barnes & Noble

You Look Different In Real Life - Jennifer Castle. 2013.

Needed an audiobook, unusual premise for YA (reality/documentary series checking in every 5 years with teens they first filmed in kindergarten).

How I heard of it: Libby

Thief of Happy Endings - Kristen Chandler. 2018.

Love this author, plus horses. Specifically, mustangs!

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Summer of Sloane - Erin L. Schneider. 2016.

Pretty cover and just looked like a solid, summery contemporary YA novel.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

The Lake House - Sarah Beth Durst. 2023.

WHAT IN THE AWESOME SPOOK COVER (also, stuck on an island with an obviously and very unexpectedly abandoned/destroyed summer camp?? Spoooook!)

How I heard of it: YouTube, and I even specifically remember where -- GabbyReads

The Foreseeable Future - Emily Adrian. 2018.

Beautiful cover + unusual post-grad life plans (working as a CNA instead of college) always interest me

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Don’t Slam The Door When You Go - Barbara Corcoran. 1972.

I love this author...and yes, we have yet another round of runaways trying to live off the land. :D But this time in a ghost town!

How I heard of it: OpenLibrary

The Last Beautiful Girl - Nina Laurin. 2021.

Beautiful cover + Influencer + creepy historic maybe-haunted house, sold.

How I heard of it: Barnes & Noble

The Island - Natasha Preston. 2023.

Reliable (if mid) genre author + an empty amusement park setting? also, Influencers being lured to creepy islands for Murder Reasons never gets old.

How I heard of it: YouTube

Mermaid Park - Beth Mayall. 2005.

A google result while looking for a lost book title, idea of a girl training as a “mermaid” swimmer at a theme park sounded intriguing.

Everything Beautiful Is Not Ruined - Danielle Younge-Ullman. 2017.

I’ll read basically anything you have about teens being sent to Wilderness Struggle therapy, so this was on my TBR, but was particularly motivated after reading Paris Hilton's memoir and not being able to (cheaply) get my hands on Sarah Stusek's book.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

The Body of Christopher Creed - Carol Plum-Ucci. 2000.

Loved her second novel, have been curious about this one due to its acclaim for a while and then I found it at a book sale – read quickly to send it on its way again.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Creep: A Love Story - Lygia Day Penaflor. 2022.

Teen girl rationalizes stalking to enhance the experience of shipping her very-accessible real-life OTP? Sounds like the less-legal, IRL form of what we do every day with our favorite celebrity couples on social media and I was curious to see it play out. A little bit because I also made personal celebrities out of some classmates in school, so I recognize the thrill of seeing them in person, though I did not stalk them.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Silver: Return to Treasure Island - Andrew Motion. 2012.

90% because the audiobook is narrated by David Tennant and for once it’s not part of an obnoxiously silly children’s series. 10% because adventure and treasure-hunting.

How I heard of it: Libby

Game Change - Joseph Monninger. 2017.

I like this author and have a soft spot for high school football (further enhanced by the football-player character on the new Goosebumps series).

How I heard of it: used book sale

The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone - Adele Griffin. 2014.

Mixed media formatting! Such a cool and unusual way to tell a narrative.

How I heard of it: I thiiink, many years ago, I was specifically googling for books with unusual formatting.

Heartwood Box - Ann Aguirre. 2019.

"When Araceli Flores Harper is sent to live with her great-aunt Ottilie in her ramshackle Victorian home--" literally sold. (combined with how it looked like a horror book w/ the possibility of ghosts)

How I heard of it: used book sale

Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous - Suzanne Park. 2021.

Cute cover and title, YouTuber in need of social media detox, FARM IN IOWA SETTING?? Sold.

How I heard of it: library browsing

Nobody Else Can Walk It For You - P.J. Petersen. 1982.

Found on the “free” cart shortly after hearing about it on Goodreads' lost-book forum and thinking it sounded like a cool thriller.

Dream to Me - Megan Paasch. 2023.

Haunting cover similar to my beloved Amelia Unabridged, sisters, inheriting a mildly creepy old house

How I heard of it: library browsing

These Things I've Done - Rebecca Phillips

Bought cheap at the dollar store for the girl-dating-late-best-friend’s-brother aspect (shared grief ftw!). Read now to confirm I could unhaul it.

=========

CHILDREN'S / MIDDLE GRADE

Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave - Jen White. 2015.

Bought cheap at the dollar store because cool cover + sisters fending for themselves when abandoned by dad.

Polo Cowboy - G. Neri. 2021.

Sequel to a surprising hit I read last year.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

The Diddakoi - Rumer Godden. 1972.

Recommended by a Goodreads friend because horse! + Traveler girl + reliable classic author.

Stella - McCall Hoyle. 2021. Just Gus - McCall Hoyle. 2023.

Dog book! recommended by a Goodreads friend. Loved it so much I read the companion novel ASAP.

Grand National - John R. Tunis. 1973.

Bought cheap at Goodwill because vintage horse book; read now to see if I could get rid of it (yes).

Running Out of Time - Margaret Peterson Haddix. 1995. Falling Out of Time - Margaret Peterson Haddix. 2023.

Reread of a childhood classic in anticipation of the new sequel.

Ten Miles Past Normal - Frances O'Roark Dowell. 2011.

I wanted to read about a girl growing up on a goat farm.

How I heard of it: OpenLibrary

Sweet Home Alaska - Carole Etsby Dagg. 2016.

I liked her previous book and was excited to learn about another part of American history that was new to me.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Thornbush Jungle - Rutherford G. Montgomery. 1966.

I will read anything he writes about animals.

How I heard of it: antiquarian bookstore

Maisie Lockwood Adventures no. 2: The Yosemite Six - Tess Sharpe. 2022.

Loved the first book, finally bought the second when I couldn't borrow it from anywhere.

The Eagle's Shadow - Nora Martin. 1997.

Reminded me of my favorite childhood movie, Journey to Spirit Island (at least in terms of setting and a similar culture).

How I heard of it: used book sale

Lila and Hadley - Kody Keplinger. 2020.

Girl + dog story, with a photographic cover (is the only thing that overcame my author grudge).

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Me, The Beef and the Bum - Charles Hammer. 1984.

50% funny title, 50% I love cows

How I heard of it: a book about teen books

Sardines - Sashi Kaufman. 2022.

Pleasantly surprised by her ability to write boys in YA, waited a million years for a third release from her (even if it was middle grade).

How I heard of it: Goodreads

The Vandals of Treason House - Nancy Veglahn. 1974.

Vintage book about cleaning up & learning about a historic house? Neato.

How I heard of it: Goodreads/lost book forum

Sire Unknown - Marjorie Reynolds. 1968.

“Read because…” Vintage horse book, next question. (as to why I read it NOW, working on the Mount TBR challenge and randomly pulled this from the shelf)

How I heard of it: used book sale

The Explorer - Katherine Rundell. 2017.

Liked a previous book of hers, always love “crashed and got lost in the jungle” stories.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

The Gallery - Laura Marx Fitzgerald. 2016.

STUNNING cover + excited to read about a girl working as a maid in a fancy 1920s mansion

How I heard of it: a book blog

NONFICTION

A $500 House in Detroit: Rebuilding an Abandoned Home and an American City - Drew Philp. 2019.

Available audiobook + always interested in old-house renovation.

How I heard of it: Libby

Wildflower - Drew Barrymore. 2015.

A People magazine cover story on her reminded me I had meant to read this, since she’s always been a favorite actress.

How I heard of it: ONTD

The Zoo on the Road to Nablus - Amelia Thomas. 2008.

Bought cheap because beautiful cover + always interested in reading about specific zoos, especially those affected by war in the Middle East.

How I heard of it: used-book section of Barnes & Noble

Gizelle's Bucket List: My Life With a Very Large Dog - Lauren Fern Watt. 2017.

Reminded me of Boomer’s Bucket List, but also I will read most pet memoirs

How I heard of it: Goodreads

My Bookstore - ed. Ronald Rice. 2012.

What could be better than a bunch of authors writing short essays about their favorite bookstore?

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Animals Welcome - Peg Kehret. 2012.

Who can say no to a short memoir aimed at kids about animal rescue, especially by a prolific children’s book author from my youth.

How I heard of it: used book sale

Open Book - Jessica Simpson. 2020.

I’ve always liked her despite not knowing much about her work; seeing this at Goodwill finally inspired a read.

How I heard of it: ONTD

The House of Spirits and Whispers - Annie Wilder. 2005.

Saw it at a garage sale, definitely here for a spooky haunted house of relatively local interest.

The Actor's Life: A Survival Guide - Jenna Fischer. 2017.

I LOVE HER.

How I heard of it: ...hm, can't remember! maybe ONTD, maybe just Office fandom in general?

This Is Not a Pity Memoir - Abi Morgan. 2022.

While in another acute round of stanning Mr. & Mrs. Tennant via the latter's social media, I was trying to figure out what kind of novel would most satisfyingly represent the vibes of their relationship and concluded it’s not the falling in love so much with them as it is the steadfast endurance, so maybe hurt/comfort in the form of illness? A bit of googling later and this was so wildly, absurdly on the nose despite being nonfiction (a British actor and a wife on the writing/production side of the industry, with kids) that I had to read it immediately.

Paris: The Memoir - Paris Hilton. 2023.

I don’t have strong feelings about her as a person, so I was mostly just curious – especially the part about being sent to abusive juvenile behavioral rehab facilities, a topic I’ve always found fascinating.

How I heard of it: ONTD

The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter - Russell T. Davies & Benjamin Cook. 2010 edition.

Good Omens sends me directly into a Doctor Who renaissance, time to finally read this tome I’ve been saving since the last time that happened! (four years ago) This is the only era of Doctor Who I care about so the more detail, the better.

How I heard of it: Half Price Books. Like back when it was relatively new, and I was a fool who didn't get it because it was pricey.

The Last Bookseller: A Life in the Rare Book Trade - Gary Goodman. 2021.

The subject latter alone would have gotten my attention, but this was actually my favorite bookstore until it closed.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Lessons from Tara: Life Advice from the World’s Most Brilliant Dog - Andy Rosenfelt. 2015.

Read & loved his first book about big fluffy rescue dogs, wanted more. Read now because a Goodreads friend just read it and reminded me of that fact.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

The Office BFFs - Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey. 2022.

I LOVE THEM AND THEIR FRIENDSHIP AND THEIR PODCAST.

She Memes Well - Quinta Brunson. 2021.

Love Abbott Elementary; had completely forgotten this existed until I was looking at Goodreads Choice Awards nominees of years past and then read on a whim.

Tell Me Everything - Minka Kelly. 2023.

Speaking of things I found out about via Goodreads Choice, I don’t know much about her as a person, but she’s really pretty and this sounded compelling and harrowing.

Sold to the Lady in the Green Hat - Emma Bailey. 1962.

I love auctions (well, estate sales, but same principle), I love old books, and I LOVED the illustrations and charming humor of vintage domestic memoirs I saw immediately at a glance.

How I heard of it: sale corner of the library

The Woman in Me - Britney Spears. 2023.

Mild curiosity due to inescapable hype, but mostly just determination to publicly confirm it wasn’t any better than her sister’s book, which I read the year before.

How I heard of it: ONTD

=========

Whew!! Done. I'd like to tell you and myself that I'm keeping up with 2024's log, but I actually got bogged down in trying to log every detail (cover thoughts, where it's set, why I was drawn to it, why I read it now, where I got it from), and burned out around early June because this is also the year I'm going to read 200 books apparently.

And this post already feels pretty messy. So. I guess we'll just see if it is in fact the last one or not..

[infiniteimaginings]

Introducing, me! The author!

note**: This isn’t that organized because I just got back from the lake and I’m actually exhausted. I just had to post it now since it’s been in my drafts for forever and if I didn’t do it today, I wouldn’t do it at all.

Name: You can just call me Space or Infinite, or anything space related!

Pronouns: I go by any pronouns, I don’t mind what you refer to me as. I’m AFAB and people typically use she/her for me, but I really don’t care, female, male, non-binary, I just don’t have labels on anything me wise. (it just doesn’t bother me, you can use they/he/she, literally anything and I promise, i’ll be okay.)

Writing info about me!:

I apparently get sick easily (recent months) if I take a prolonged break (with no scheduled fics out), I probably just got sick, couldn’t write, and I’m trying to recover [in my bio there’s a question of ‘am I sick?’ This is how I update you guys if I’m actually sick.]

I’m in a lot of fandoms, it’s just that I forget. So I write for more fandoms than listed, and for more characters than listed, I’m just forgetful. (You can just send an ask or message me if you want to know if I write for something)

I love writing and I take the stories I write seriously! I spend a good amount of time on them :) I’ve been writing stories since I was very little and I’ve even been writing a book.

I write on ao3 (I post these stories there along with others, don’t get on me too much though because I haven’t been transferring the stories over, I will soon lol)

I was a wattpad kid before ao3 and here (what an era 💀, no i will not talk about the horrors I wrote there that will never leave my mind)

My favorite character at the moment to write for (out of the ones I’ve written so far) is Max Thunderman because he’s fun and he was my favorite as a kid.

I have a million ideas a day, so if you see me yapping about god knows what (i’m so serious about god knows what, because i don’t know what i’m talking about half the time) and then I don’t post for three days (just of me being silly, not fic wise) it’s because I’m writing everything down into my notes and planning them out for when I have time for writing.

I swear I also write for what I enjoy not just requests, but I love answering requests! Even on the list of fics coming out, some of them are stories I just really really wanted to write and requested for myself (not like through the inbox, just in my head)

The reason I always make any of my fics neutral for the reader (unless gender is specified in the request), is because of experience. I’m black, so to be honest as I grew reading fanfiction, it wasn’t very thought of to include black reader descriptions within x readers. It always had to be specified “x black!reader”. If it didn’t, it always said pale skin, long flowing hair, etc, etc. I don’t have pale skin and I have short coily hair unless it’s in braids, so it never resonated with me and I didn’t really get to connect with them, unfortunately.

So, I automatically do gender neutral but also, if you haven’t noticed I don’t specify skin color, eye color, height (but sometimes i make characters put their head on the readers, just depends on the placement, but i try to consider it), nothing of the sorts. It’s completely neutral so that everyone can enjoy it and not feel left out. I try my best to be all inclusive in my fics, because the fics I read for my favorite characters weren’t.

Random things about me:

My favorite color is green (dark forest green) (yes, I know I’m specific)

I play instruments (Piano, ukulele, drums) and I also sing. I was in chorus, theatre, and plenty of clubs growing up.

Studying is something I enjoy which is why I research for the fics I write! If you see anything specifically accurate I either already knew it or decided to research for it. Don’t be surprised if someone asks for where I found information and i put it in mla format as a response.

I genuinely enjoy conversation with everyone, so I encourage you guys to message me for anything.

- You have a question about my blog? I’ll answer it quickly since I have notifs on (for messaging only).

- You’re wondering if I write for something specific since it’s not in my listings? I’ll tell you if i’ve watched it, and if I haven’t i’ll watch it myself and then ask for details on your request.

- You want to ask how I do something? I’ll give you a step by step with links.

- You want to ask about me in general? Go for it!

- You just want to talk? I’m a professional talker, and also a professional listener!!

I’m currently studying psychology 🌝, as a major

I watch anime and read plenty of manga

I always fill my time doing something. I read, write, sing, draw, craft, build, clean, etc. I do anything and everything because I personally believe if I don’t, I’ll just rot away in bed and I hate the idea of that.

I cant do a single thing in the same spot for over two hours, not even that. If i’m writing, I’m constantly taking a break to watch tv, dance break to music, chores, planning for something else, or moving to a different project. (I get uninterested so quickly)

Trust me when I say I actually sleep a lot lmao. Some of you guys go into my messages saying you’re worried I don’t get enough sleep. The latest I’ve stayed up to write has been to like 12:30 in the morning, and I wake up at like 7:30-8:00 in the morning every time. Then I take a nap if I get tired in the slightest.

Most of the time though, I stop writing by 10:30, and go to sleep at 11. If I don’t, me staying up to two in the morning is because of my own poor choices (webcomics, manga, fanfiction, reading my own writings multiple times). Please don’t worry about me, I’m big on sleep so I’m never deprived of it. If I complain it’s just because I’m tired and can’t go to sleep because I’ll end up even more tired.

I have 3 piercings in each of my ears, one on my nose. I have 0 tattoos, because ironically, I’m terrified of needles.

I genuinely love literature more than the average person. I also just love reading and stories in a general sense. I ache to read every book I ever see, even though people say it’s impossible I will try to fulfill my dream until my death. To the point where I can whisper the words of poets who died centuries before my existence has come to mind. Only to keep their spirits alive for a little while longer, to tell the world that these authors are still desired and that the words paint pictures society should be craving to see.

**Any images are from a board I’ve been saving to on Pinterest for the past two years. Images I think reflect how I act majority of the time.

I can’t think of any other useless information about me, so I’ll stop here! I’ll probably add more stuff since I’m a talker lololol! Thank you for reading, love you bunches!

[kuleana--does-anyone-care]

capstone update #1

TO REITERATE: I'm planning to produce a 30-min documentary film.

Hello, I'm finally here to update my blog! I meant to do this last week, but didn't... I was struggling to wrap my head around this project and what I'll be doing this semester.

I think I'm a little crazy for taking this on. Sometimes it feels like too much, but I certainly won't be quitting.

My first reality check was trying to populate the workback plan. It was a necessary step, but so difficult. I had to come back to it a few times to get it sorted out. I always feel like I'm overlooking something when I'm planning out a project, and I've never tried to produce something of this magnitude before. But I sat down with my workback plan again tonight and finally have it in good shape. Coming back to it has helped me process what I'll need to do, and I feel pretty certain now that I'm not forgetting anything. I also recreated my workback plan in Notion, because I don't think I'll be able to stay on track if I only look at it on Google Sheets. (The formatting... the lack of color-coding and other viewing modes... Nah, homie, I can't. TwT) I also gave myself dates to complete things by. I know I can work to a deadline, and now I have a ton of them. Isn't that fantastic!

Anyway, I'm really happy with my organization on this project now that I have all my tasks thought out, written down, and with dates. The tricky part now will be keeping the Google Sheet updated according to the Notion.

Right now I have a bunch of tasks marked as "in progress." There's so much I need to do in the next two weeks, mostly making lists of people and Instagram accounts to reach out to. I already follow a lot of accounts but I have not created a master list for myself to keep track of them all. Once I have my list, I can start drafting up messages to send to them, asking if they might want to participate in my doc, or could put me in connection with people who would. I'm kind of worried that I don't have much to show for myself, a presence, or a reason why they should trust me, that kind of thing. But I'll try it anyway.

I also need to draft emails/ send texts/ make phone calls to people I know, who said in one way or another that they might be able to lend a voice to my project. Cast out a bunch of lines and see if I get any bites. 🎣

Another thing is, I want to find videos on YouTube and Vimeo of the ʻOnipaʻa Peace March that happened a couple weeks ago. I wasn't able to go myself, but I'd really like to incorporate footage of it into my film. Maybe someone would be willing to let me use a few of their shots. If not a person, maybe one of the local news outlets. I also need to do some research. I have a playlist of some news clips about the Red Hill water crisis from when I made my 5-minute piece about it in Fall '22. But there have been updates since then, and I need to collect even more. I'm not 100% sure what or how much I'll do with it yet. But my creative process is 'collect all the stuff, look at and absorb it all, ???, get vision, create the vision'... so step one is gathering more things. :)

Also want to find more PDFs. Last semester, I found some studies and national news articles about Red Hill, pollution by the Navy/ issues similar to what's happening here, but my research topic was persuasion, so I spent the vast majority of my time on that. There's definitely more out there, and I want to find it because I'm thinking of using scans/ screenshots in my film.

Oh, and I'm planning to request titles from ʻUluʻulu by 2.16. Gonna try my absolute best to stay on top of the deadlines I've set for myself. LONG POST: FINITO!!!

[derpycat02]

Hot Take

Okay so now that I've been on the website instead of the app for a few days I have things to say I think.

The app is better (for me) than the website hands down. Easy. No competition. And no, this is not just because I am used to the app version. I actually thought this out.

Things the website does better than the app (to satisfy you long term tumblees):

I can delete a poll from my post if I accidentally click it thinking it is the listing format option. I do this a lot because listing is different than font type in every document editor ever, and there is no way to remove polls from drafted posts on mobile that I have found. The website puts a big fat red X in the top corner of the poll. This is helpful

Bigger screen = less overwhelm. The information to screen ratio is smaller which is less overwhelming for my skrunkly little brain. Also, since I have the pride theme activated (which was a bitch to try and find) all the extra space is pink!

More customization options. I haven't actually played with this, but it seems to be the thing that most Tumblr users use to say the website is better than the app. I did notice there were more options for themes when I finally figured out how to do that, which was cool. (On mobile, I'm pretty sure there are just 4 themes: light mode, dark mode, tumblr classic, and pride. I could be wrong though)

No push notifications. I have notifs turned on on mobile for all of the polls I follow, so I get like over 30 notifications from Tumblr alone overnight. It's very stressful, but I put up with it because it keeps me from missing voting times and ensures that I can go through and like every post that comes out from accounts that I am invested in. I know liking does nothing algorithm wise. I just like showing support and likes are a nice, quick, easy way to do that. Anyway, without the push notifications, I'm pretty much confined to me my feed, which I've never HAD to scroll before. The way I am now consuming content has become (mostly) more relaxed and less stress inducing.

Text formatting. I like that it's a drop down menu. In the app, It's just a button, and you have to press it repeatedly to get the format you want (this is fonts and listing specific).

Things mobile does better that the website

Navigation. Oh my gosh the app is SO much easier to navigate than the website. It took me less time comparatively to figure out how the app worked than it did for me to figure out how to do most things on the website. The website has been around longer, and therefore has the opportunity to be more complicated. The whole point of mobile apps is to be a simple, accessible way to go about navigating whatever the app is for. It's just easier to use.

Typing in posts. The amount of times my laptop has just randomly stopped typing in the middle of the post is ridiculous. It tends to happen when the "draft saved" bubble pops up, which makes me think it may be a glitch with the website rather than my computer. My computer also does not have this problem literally anywhere else. Also, the "draft saved" bubble, while cute and reassuring, obstructs my vision just a bit. There is so much dead space to either side. Why is this bubble not off to a side instead of right in the middle of where I am typing? It was also difficult for me to find the text formatting option, but this is mostly because I was not used to it.

GIFs. I do lots of propaganda, and to save space on my device I use gifs instead of going on the internet and downloading pictures and finding video links. I'm not always very good with words, and find that images tend to be more convincing anyway. On the mobile app, when I search something in the GIF search bar, it stays there even after I've made a selection. Not having to re-type my search 10 times makes it a lot easier and less monotonous to look for propaganda and fill up a post. This is not the case on the website. As I learned after attempting "Kitbull" propaganda, you have to re-type your search each time you add a new GIF. That got annoying really fast, and I only wound up putting two GIFs when I would normally use all image spaces (10).

Push Notifications. But I thought you said the website not doing this made consuming content less stressful??? I know what I said, and yes, for the most part, it does. However there are a lot more areas where the lack of push notifs on the website make my Tumblr experience a lot more stressful. For one thing, I am missing out on ALL of those polls. I follow SO MANY polls, because I was able to keep up with all of them as long as I had push notifications. I have not been able to vote in many polls this last week because I would have to go through and search every single one of their usernames exactly correct to find their pages and vote in my regular fashion. I simply do not have the time, energy, or memory to be able to do this. I also do not get notified when I am sent a message. I learned recently that most Tumblr users don't use the "share" function on posts, (via) however my girlfriend and I use it all the time. Our feeds consist of different interests that we like sharing with one another, so we share posts and polls back and forth just for funsies. To show that we love each other. Etc. etc. The website does not notify me when I get these messages unless I am actively in the tab, so I don't know when she's sent me something. Same goes for any interaction with my account or on my posts. I cannot see if someone has made a comment or a silly reblog with funny tags unless I am in the app. You know what the website DOES show me? How many new posts have been made. This is CONSTATLY refreshing even while I am actively scrolling and not only shows up in the app but also in the tab information. This is why I have such a problem with this. I understand that computers in general just don't do push notifications, but usually with social media, you can see how many notifications you have by checking the tab above the search bar. There's usually a little number in parenthesis next to the title or name of the social media you are using. This is very helpful for me, since my computer doesn't always give a little sound when I get any kind of notification, so I can just look over and see what I've missed while I was queuing up Spotify or playing Minesweeper or Solitaire. With Tumblr, this number only factors in the number of posts that I haven't seen yet. This number stressed me out, has me constantly refreshing the page even before I am done scrolling, and is not actually helpful in any capacity.

Page Jumping. Both the website and the app are dogwater at not jumping around the page while you scroll. However, the app is slightly less so. Page jumps in the mobile app only happen when an ad loads in where it wasn't before. This is pretty consistent with how any webpage, crappy mobile game, or social media app works on a phone (on my phone at least). When I'm scrolling anything I have to be careful to wait until all ads have loaded before I try pressing a button or I'll accidentally hit something I'm not supposed to. On the website on my computer, Tumblr page jumps every time I reblog. EVERY. TIME. Reblogging is, like, the currency of the realm. It is how things are meant to be done. I don't have the energy for a page jump every time I try to reblog something. That's gross.

Screenshots. This is admittedly more of a device difference than a Tumblr format difference, but it is affecting how I interact with Tumblr, so I thought I should put it on here. If you actually follow me and try to keep up with what I post (which isn't much) you know about my Untitled Bots threads. Essentially when I see a bot follow me, and their name is either blank or "Untitled" I screenshot it, crop it to the word "Untitled" and add it to the thread with a silly quip or lament or goofy photo. However, to make sure I don't miss any, I don't block and report these bots until after I've gotten a screenshot of their profile. Because it is so difficult to take and edit screenshots on my laptop specifically, I have not updated this thread even after being able to access Tumblr via the website.

For these reasons, I have decided the app is better than the website. Thank you. Have a nice day.

[wisteria-lodge]

lion primary (badger morality) + badger secondary (un-Burning) (bird model)

I really liked your sort me submission wish list so if it's okay I'm going to submit my answers! When I was a kid I resolved a bullying incident by pretending to not notice I was being teased. I would be silly/make jokes to cheer up friends who were sad. If teachers picked on my friends, I'd be the mouthy rude one (and they'd kick me out of class). I knew all the material so they'd make me tutor other kids, I'd come up with jokes/mnemonics to help them remember the material. 

Okay, I've definitely got some hints here. First thing is we've got some loyalist-sounding motivations, and a lot of collective nouns "friends" "my friends" "other kids." We've got you protecting the community - from bully teachers, from bad grades, from being sad. It's more Badger primary (Snake primary would be more laser-focused on a couple of people, although it's still possible that you have a really *expansive* Snake primary.)

As for problem solving strategies... you like that multi-player for sure. You're probably a prep-work secondary (or model one) constructing mnemonics like that. I could see Courtier Badger, I could see Actor Bird. Need more data.

One time I ended up causing two people to get into a nasty fight. So I went to each of them separately and engaged them in conversation with stuff they were concerned about, and then once their mood had softened I said you know I think the other person feels bad about what happened but is embarrassed to apologize. And then they made up!

Now that sounds super Courtier Badger.

When I played D&D (something I don't do that much) my weakness is that I have a strong tendency to munchkin, I will look up optimal skill point allocation

*Definitely* prep-work secondary.

and then have to zipper my lips about teammates allocating skill points blindly and ending up being less combat effective.

Because you do in fact want to *help the group.* That's a fairly consistent though-line, and heck - we know that Badger primaries often run the risk of going authoritarian (which you seem to know... enough to actively combat.)

I enjoy coming up with somewhat more silly improv stuff, in D&D it feels more fun to solve things sideways than straight on.

Because you know the *real* way to help the group at a D&D table is contribute too and boost the overall mood.

I tried doing some interview prep for job interviews, but it was boring/too much/I ran out of time. I just went in being confident that I know my stuff, that they'd be lucky to have me, that as long as I can explain my thinking process it would be fine. And indeed it was fine and I got several offers.

This also feels Badger secondary in that 'build-yourself-into-the-correct-tool-for-the-job' + 'let go' sort of way.'

At work I generally speaking struggle with pre-planning. It's much, much easier for me to do rough draft working concept followed by many refinements in later stages -

The way you've phrased this sounds Badger secondary. I can't really picture a Bird saying "I struggle with pre-planning" - Birds LOVE pre planning, they love understanding every piece of the puzzle individually, and then just snapping everything in place. It's very Badger to say 'I'm doing to start with something, and then improve it in tiny increments, over time."

I'm very good at seeing how to make things refined later, once I've actually gotten my hands dirty and have a good overall vision of the problem (very hard for me to do in advance). (People also used to ask me to edit their papers - line edits are boring but I'm very good at structural edits).

Structural edits are *fun*

(this ask was originally structured in an ask/answer format, as per my wish list. And I reformatted it into what I thought would be the best order. It was great.)

I don't know exactly why I attribute "Loving Structural Edits" to Badger secondary. But I do know that the Bird secondaries I know are brilliant at line edits, better than me, but don't enjoy turning a whole work around in their heads the way I do.

When I have a difficult decision to make I do too much research, talk to too many people, agonize endlessly. Finally snap and choose something. Leaving things up in the air exacerbates my anxiety so I'll reach for a conclusion just to make that tension go away. I've also found it helpful to reduce the scope of the question as much as possible - I don't need to decide a ten year plan, I can focus on deciding a one year plan. 

Good problem solving solutions. I would normally attribute "do too much research" - especially with an adjective like "agonize" to a Bird secondary model that you're a little conflicted about, and "talk to too many people" as a Badger secondary model that you're kind of conflicted about. Unless that's angst that's coming more from your primary? Like "talking to too many people" = "trying to please all my different communities [when that isn't actually possible.]"

To whatever extent I can keep my options open, I'll do that also. This is how I ended up doing essentially four degrees at once - to avoid having to commit to any of them in advance. And then I was able to choose based on which one had work I enjoyed best.

That is a... very Badger secondary solution. "I know! I'll just do a TON of work, and then decide which KIND of work I like doing best."

And I had you pegged for a Badger primary... but I'm starting to get more Internal primary energy. There's a conflict between what the community wants and what you want, and the way you choose is really going inward, and seeing how you feel about things. Feeling good about making a snap decision - any decision - is a Lion primary thing, *feeling* out your ideal major is Lion primary, and getting stressed out by talking to too many people is also Lion Primary.

But often it's a lot of vacillating until I'm sort of pushed into it. The decision to quit my job, I tentatively mentioned being open to job offers, immediately got several, realized I was excited about the newness of it all, and had to basically bite the bullet and tell my boss (quickly, because having it hanging over my head as this unspoken thing between us was killing me). The decision to move in with my partner was basically me agonizing about it (including in therapy) up until and including moving day and then once I'd actually moved just being totally fine with it. 

I'm actually going more Lion primary for you. Like, a Lion primary that *feels* Badger and *has* Badger morality a lot of the time. But when it really comes down to it, you make decisions based on what feels right, and all the other considerations come in second and third.

My fantasy would be to have the money and free time and lack of obligations to travel the world. Not just one day tourist blitzes, I want to do month-long stays and volunteer locally. I want to get to know people in depth, do interviews, and just experience new places and sensations and experiences, and the common underlying themes of humanity. I have done one or two travels abroad but I want so much more, and ideally, again, paired with a human element-- a personal relationship with a tour guide, hearing history from someone affected by it... And also seeing a fuckton of beautiful nature and eating so many types of fruit that aren't sold globally and you can only eat locally. That and setting up a giant seven story library for people to borrow physical copies of books.

I'm absolutely fascinated by this fantasy, because on one hand, it is ABSOLUTELY group focused. You like groups, you're interested in groups, you want to be in and around groups. But... you're talking about lots of different groups. Travel to new places, meet new people. Have people come to your library wizard-tower, but then leave. You love being part of communities, but in your fantasy *you* remain solo, free, independent. And that is absolutely a Lion primary fantasy.

It makes me fell powerful when someone comes to me with a problem and walks away with a solution.

The "wizard in their tower" fantasy.

Occasionally, I will take inspiration from a character in a "what would X do", if X deals with problems with dignity, poise, compassion, self-respect, and confidence.

Usually this is an Actor Bird thing. Maybe you model it? (especially with that qualifier "occasionally.")

The most difficult time in my life was a period of clinical depression, so I had to just force myself through every single day. Exercise, good for depression, so I'd have to fucking drag myself off to do some. Therapy, thing you're supposed to do, so I'd drag myself to that also. Just trying to get through the motions of being a functional human being day after day after day after day and looking into a future where every single day was just going to be that endlessly exhausting grey grind, forever. And I knew the whole thing was in my head, that my life was actually fine except for the part where everything *felt* miserable and I couldn't remember what happiness felt like, and that part drove me nuts.

Brutal. Just Burnt secondary (everything is a chore, a grind.) I'm glad you made it out.

My therapist kept telling me I had to accept my feelings and I kept arguing with her that the entire problem was that my feelings were, demonstrably, bullshit. Just totally disconnected from reality. Anyway I spent years avoiding medication because I was too scared and also thought my problems weren't real enough and that I wasn't trying hard enough with all the exercise and the therapy,

That Badger secondary curse "I could just work harder." Yeah. Also, if you're a Lion primary... obviously you were clinically depressed, but in the terms of this system, this is a description of burning. Burning though a chemical imbalance, but - you need your feeling, but you don't have your feelings. Very possibly you did the Burnt Lion thing and tried your best to model something else (likely Badger primary.)

but eventually things got bad enough I tried it, and I was very lucky and it was a magical pill that literally made all my problems go away (unless I forget to take it) which made me feel very vindicated that I was right and the therapist was wrong, the problem WAS that my feelings were broken and once they were fixed everything was better again.

I am so, so, so happy for you. And I am doubling down on Lion primary, because I don't think another primary would have described this process in quite this way: 'my feelings got fixed.'

I'm very different from my mother, but I adore and respect her. She's very patient, very compassionate, very wise, very logical and very grounded. As i got older I realized how much my value system was just absorbed from her.

Ah, that makes sense why you read as so Badger primary. Your mom sounds like either a Double Badger, or a Badger Bird.

My dad is more similar to me (more creative, more emotional, more sentimental) and our relationship is more tumultuous - sometimes close, sometimes it's too much, I don't have patience for him always.

... and I'd bet that your dad is a Lion primary, like you. That's a pretty good description of the type of relationship two intense Lions tend to have.

I adore my partner. I feel lucky every day for them. They are a significantly better person than me, so I just try to keep up as best I can and remember to not be too selfish and make space for them to have their needs and wants addressed, because for me that's a conscious effort whereas for them, addressing my needs and wants is kind of automatic. Also they're the kind of person to have a savior complex where if someone needs help they can't say no,

Your partner is a REALLY loud Badger primary.

and I'm the kind of person to say "no, fuck that", and I sort of have to balance giving them free reign to follow their nice impulses vs setting boundaries over what we can reasonably handle.

I hope you know how important that is, and how important you are to your partner's well being. Expansive Badger primaries really, really struggle with "fuck that" and "sounds like a Them Problem." Healthy Lion primaries bring that energy.

Thank you very much! Super curious to hear the conclusion.

You're a Lion primary who *loves* Badgers, and is surrounded by some very loud ones. So most of the time, you probably look Badger yourself. But when it really comes down to a big decision, it really is all about how you feel about it - and that's not selfish, that's necessary and strong. You're a Badger secondary, who occasionally models Bird, and who had a period when they burnt their secondary pretty badly, which made the Badger problem solving that you usually like feel anxious and agonizing. But luckily, you're doing well now.

[inventors-fair]

Death-Defying: Sac Ability Runners-Up ~

Congratulations to our runners-up: @hiygamer, @nine-effing-hells, and @squeezyboi!

@hiygamer — Svogthir, Eternal Parun

Out of all the cards submitted this week, this one feels the most printable—as in, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see this in one of the Ravnican expansions, and not just because of the art choice, heh. This card’s not necessarily ‘safe’ per se, but it’s pretty much exactly what I’d expect from a decent-but-not-format-warping mythic. The return is great, and I like the fact that you have to sacrifice a nontoken creature to return Svogthir to the battlefield. It fuels the ETB as well as the future attacks. Yeah, no, this one’s definitely a draft mythic.

Is that bad? Not at all. Is someone thinking of making a commander deck with it? Sure! This card feels absolutely made to be open and loved without the intent to be impactful outside of that because it’s doing everything expected of it. It’s a nuanced feeling that you’ve captured that doesn’t make me want to pull up the best possible list for it—because that list already exists. This card fits in without demanding change warped around it. Perhaps that’s less eye-catchingly mind-bogglingly brain-meltingly out-of-this-world, but dammit, it’s GOOD.

@nine-effing-hells — Rigged to Explode

Once in a blue moon, cards make me laugh. That makes contests where I ask for something humorous to be a little harder to design for because I’m a fickle creature, but regardless. This card made me laugh! I like the Boompile feeling, and especially the goblinesque (goblinsesque?) component. It makes you force thought into your play, which is probably the hardest part about it, but secretly choosing numbers? Amazingly fun. Write it down, slip it under, and wait for something to happen.

I wonder: did you choose the feeling you wanted to capture first, or did you have a mechanical idea in mind? I can’t imagine that cards like Boompile weren’t inspiration for this sort of thing for a number of reasons. A secret number of reasons! Anyway, choosing new numbers with some sort of loop feels so fun to me, but that’s not what this card wants, and that’s okay. Playing around with a whole bunch of silly feelings at the table means that I’d love to see this in limited, but I know that it’s more Commander-oriented—or actually, Conspiracy-oriented. Can you imagine? I guess my only hard criticism is that, in Commander, it would be partially known that you’d choose a number with mana value equal to someone’s commander, which puts a target on you. Is that still funny? To me, yes.

@squeezyboi — Heltimus, Diabolical Patron 

So...wow. Okay! I’d like to point out that I didn’t notice that this guy was seven feet tall until after I chose the winners/runners, so don’t judge me. The looks in hims eyes is reflective of many things, not the least of which is the gilding of his species and the kind of Hell-kin deck you want to run with him. Obviously this card is a) begging for the limited archetype to throw down some amazing cheap ramping things with the species deck, or b) begging to be a commander. Both are good and both work!

I wonder why it’s the creature dying that causes the damage to trigger off of themselves, and not Heltimus pinging himself? If there’s a statement to be made there about art, I wouldn’t know. Do you think it could’ve also pinged off of artifacts as well for a slightly wider net? You might’ve had to tone down the stats a bit in that case, but we’re in tinker-ville and none of that matters much. The point is, tone = wonderful, card = powerful, westernly feeling = oddly reminiscent of people I know IRL? I’ve frequented a couple American west art exhibitions, and honestly, having that mood lovingly parodied/remodeled here is super resonant in a way that feels specific to me. I think I’m experiencing human connection here. Quick, ping me before I get sentimental!

There’s lots of commentary to do, so you know what? I’m gonna do that. Here we go... @abelzumi​

[amewinterswriting]

🦋 tell us about your current wip

🍄 name a song that represents your mc

My current blurb for Magic's Servant is:

A dark rural fantasy set in modern day Wales, featuring Talli, a teenager who is in way over her head. There's also a talking cat with a secret, shadowy manipulative demons, and immortal figures from Arthurian mythology locked into a vicious stalemate over the centuries.

On a more personal note, the way I approached writing this is a list of my least favorite ways to write anything ever, and as such, this has been a thorn in my side for years. I started off with the idea of a mysterious magic cat and an abandoned church. To explore who the cat was and why he lived in an abandoned church, I pantsed a whole film script over the course of a month (Script Frenzy, NaNoWriMo's forgotten and abandoned sister), which gave me a vague outline of a story, introduced a lot of main elements and scenes but also introduced a lot of loose plot threads, characters and sideplots that didn't really go anywhere. Worse, I really didn't feel like there was anything interesting or notable about my MC (which as we all know is utterly unforgivable in writing).

So over the course of the next few years, I wrote a lot of backstory, sidestory, continuation of the story and notes. I also rewrote some key scenes of the script. Some of which was in first person prose, some of which was also in script format and some of which was in third person. If this already sounds like a mess...well, it was. Which is why I procrastinated on doing anything else with it for years. (To be entirely fair, I still thought about it a lot, and thought about the themes I wanted to explore and other characters in that world and more directions I could take the plot in. But I procrastinated actually getting all my various drafts together into one readable manuscript in a single tense and narrative.) I also developed a lot as a writer, practicing longform fiction on entirely different work and finding a more coherent voice.

The main reason I'm actually working on it now is my wife. I realised while talking with her about it that there were interesting things about the story that I don't want just relegated to a hard drive somewhere, and I want it in a form that other real human people can read. Or as she said: you need to write the thing. So I spent an absolute age on Scrivener importing all the documents I had, even the scripts and notes and scenes I had three different versions of. Then I plotted out a coherent outline - where would it make sense for backstory to be placed between chapters? What backstory would make more impact just implied instead of outright text? What order do things need to happen in? Can I actually fit this subplot in this book or is this going to be better as a sequel? Scrivener was especially useful for the notecard feature - you can write up a quick sentence or two describing the chapter and move it around within the project, so I could play around with placement and get a feel for the flow of the plot. I also love the notes I can make for each chapter - since it can get complicated very quickly. I use them to make a note of what knowledge each character has by the end of a scene - especially because in the earlier drafts, characters (and thus, the reader) learnt far too much, far too quickly, so this refining draft has been about slowing down the rate of information and introducing more emotion. That means I need to know what characters know what information at an glance, since it's usually a lot less than I think it is!

Of course, the most important thing is that I now actually like my main character. I think this is something only time could fix - when I first wrote the first draft, I was an insecure teenager who felt like I wasn't notable or interesting, and I was writing a teenager in a similar situation. With time, I've grown and had life experiences and can also treasure the abnormal that seemed so normal to me at the time. In many ways, this is a collaboration with my teenage self and a love letter to myself.

Which neatly leads to the song that represents Talli, the MC. I have a few, but the one I've settled on is One Day by Kodaline. I think it sums up the experience of undergoing big changes that can seem overwhelming, the awkward self-consciousness of teenage years and not necessarily having the right help and support available to you. As the song asks: "how are you still holding on?" and that feels like a large part of Talli's struggle throughout the plot; barely holding on while powerful beings try to use her for their own convenience.

[gerardwayissexah]

Fic writer asks

See below the cut for my answers! :) Also, I did away with the numbering because formatting numbered lists is a pain in the butt.

How old were you when you started writing fic?

I was 12-13 when I first started typing them out and posting them online. When I discovered the world of fanfiction, something just...clicked for me. I've liked imagining scenarios for my favorite characters and worlds since I can remember having conscious thoughts. So, I was like: wow, there's an actual word for that imagination thing I do! And I'm not the only one who does it!

Where did you first post your fics?

Fanfiction.net.

What was your first fandom?

The Hunger Games.

What fandoms have you written for?

A bunch that I can't immediately recall, but here's an abbreviated list: Naruto, Harry Potter, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Attack on Titan, Percy Jackson, Kung Fu Panda, Kane Chronicles, The Hunger Games

Romantic or gen?

I enjoy writing romance more, and that's what I tend to gravitate toward as a reader of fics. But I can still appreciate an emotional family drama or a worldbuilding-centric fic. I'd say around 1/3 of my fics are gen.

Fluff or angst?

Angst with a fluff chaser. Otherwise, the fluff feels unearned. Without any fluffiness, the angst gets too heavy.

A fic of yours you think is underrated?

I totally understand why the audience for this fic is limited, but I'd submit my Hiashi Hyuga x Kurenai fic for consideration here. If that makes you curious, here's a link: Wildflowers for Hinata

What's the best summary you've come up with?

Hm, I have trouble deciding on one. I do like the summary I ultimately settled on for Bird in a Gilded Cage, after I went through a few iterations. Naruto was full of lies. Yet Neji wanted to believe him. And for years, he did. Desperate to marry Ten-ten, Neji discovers one bar in his cage will never bend - Hyuga only marry their own. Forced into loveless marriage with a stranger, he fights to free himself from the clan's gilded cage. But Neji learns people remain caged for a reason - because the price of freedom is often too high to pay.

What's the best title you've come up with?

Neji needs glasses - it's concise, and direct. The fic is about...Neji needing glasses but being a stubborn asshole who won't admit it.

Do you read your own fics for fun?

For sure! I've gotten so attached to some of my characters that I can't help revisiting their stories again and again. I think one mark of my improvement as a writer is that I willingly reread my work again and again, rather than avoiding it out of fear that I'll cringe.

What's an idea for a fic you've had that you'll probably never write?

Sasuke Uchiha and Arya Stark helping one another on their quests for vengeance and power. The parallels between these characters is so interesting to me, and calls out for exploration. Not by me, though. I don't have enough confidence in my Song of Ice and Fire knowledge to flesh this one out.

Post a sentence from your current WIP

This one's from the final chapter of Freefall:

The edge in Neji’s voice didn’t appear to faze Tenten, who rolled her brown eyes sidelong. Brown eyes that were the color of chocolate and just as intoxicating, bittersweet and forbidden. Strange – he’d never noticed that similarity before.

Do you post WIPs or wait until you're finished writing to post?

I lean toward waiting until I'm almost finished - around 80% through a first draft if it's a longer multichapter fic. I value having completed stories for my personal satisfaction, and for the sake of any readers who might get invested in one of my fics.

One-shots or chaptered fic?

Both! I've written both, and think each one offers its own rewards. I do have more oneshots posted, though - just because they're faster to write and complete.

What are some of your favorite tropes to write?

Forbidden love, arranged marriage, dysfunctional family, love triangles, infidelity, accidental baby acquisition, secret lovechild

What are you favorite characters to write?

Neji, Tenten, Rock Lee, Chiyo, my OCs - Risa Hyuga (branch Hyuga) and Jiro Sato (Neji/Tenten's child)

Have you ever or would you ever write a fic in first person POV?

I think it's odd that first person gets a bad rap in fanfic circles when so much original fiction is in first person. I enjoy reading first person and third person about equally, and I've written first person in fics. Second person, too, because the source material was written in second person.

Is there some headcanon you've included in more than one fic?

More than I can write out here, that's for sure! A short list: Hyuga clan only marries the extended family in most cases, Tenten hates radish pickles, Tenten's parents own a grocery store, Suna has cisterns carved in the cliffs to store water, the average branch Hyuga is loyal not only out of fear - but out of sincere conviction or love of family

What's the longest fic you've written?

Bird in a Gilded Cage - A Neji x Branch Hyuga OC fanfic with a Neji x Tenten vs. Neji x OC love triangle. Clocked in at 167k words including the three epilogue chapters.

What's the shortest fic you've written?

Hm, probably my first one, about Foxface from the Hunger Games reflecting on her death. I thought it was a novel at the time, when the entire thing was less than 300 words.

Do you have an abandoned WIP?

I have a bunch of fics in the graveyard on my Fanfiction.net profile. Younger me was terrible about following through on all the awesome fics I wanted to write, and most of my old multichapter fics never made it past a few chapters if that.

Pick out a random line from a fic you're really proud of

From Bird in a Gilded Cage:

A promise passed between them. Amaya would live with her head unbowed, free of the gilded bars that bound generations of Hyugas. So would her long-suffering mother and father.

What's the most personal fic you've ever written?

Tough question. I'd say Your Heart Beats On, because of the subject matter and emotional intensity.

What's the cringiest (affectionate) fic you've ever written?

My first fic, honestly. I was so proud of that thing, too.

What's your most popular fic?

Depends on how you define popularity. Bird in a Gilded Cage has the greatest number of kudos, views, comments and bookmarks. But it's also 50+ chapters, and is twice as long as my next longest fic. I think looking at raw numbers hardly offers a fair comparison to my other fics. My most viewed oneshot is Rising Waters - a Hunger Games smut fic written years after I'd last been active in the fandom as a teenager. Last I checked, my most kudosed oneshot was Walk You Home, a genin-era SasuSaku fic.

What fic are you proudest of?

Definitely Bird in a Gilded Cage. It was my first completed longfic, and the most challenging fic I've managed to finish.

Fic writer asks

How old were you when you started writing fic?

Where did you first post your fics?

What was your first fandom?

What fandoms have you written for?

Romantic or gen?

Fluff or angst?

A fic of yours you think is underrated?

What's the best summary you've come up with?

What's the best title you've come up with?

Do you read your own fics for fun?

What's an idea for a fic you've had that you'll probably never write?

Post a sentence from your current WIP

Do you post WIPs or wait until you're finished writing to post?

One-shots or chaptered fic?

What are some of your favorite tropes to write?

What are you favorite characters to write?

Have you ever or would you ever write a fic in first person POV?

Is there some headcanon you've included in more than one fic?

What's the longest fic you've written?

What's the shortest fic you've written?

Do you have an abandoned WIP?

Pick out a random line from a fic you're really proud of

What's the most personal fic you've ever written?

What's the cringiest (affectionate) fic you've ever written?

What's your most popular fic?

What fic are you proudest of?

[kafkaoftherubble]

终于来照顾下这瓦砾中的花园。

I can't believe Tumblr just ate the stuff I wrote just now. I thought you'd auto-save a draft. But it was completely unsaved! Urgh.

Anyway, I don't know why people can just visit their social media accounts whenever they have the time or feel like they want to kill some time. Because I need to schedule a time for it. Had to make it like it's a to-do list item. I can't just... show up.

Why? Because...

I just don't differentiate between online and physical socialization.

It takes effort to hang out with friends. It needs preparation—and heedfulness throughout the whole event. It's not like I'm trying to put on a facade, though. It's more like there are simply a range of standards, principles, and attitudes I need to adhere to during socialization. It's not like I'm perfect whenever I'm socializing because of these rules, either; it's that I don't think I'm genuinely good at it. I have to be mindful of my conduct!

So it's the same with social media, especially when you're using it to socialize. There are genuine friends here. So I need to put in effort too.

---

Since I haven't received any new project lately, the you of this time tried drawing again! And man, I suck. Honestly, the most recent versions of Lyndis including me just forgot how to draw already. It's a bit demoralizing because drawing is seriously very hard.

On the other hand, I started to read a book. It sounds like an attempt... because it is. It's called

The Enigma of Reason: A New Theory of Human Understanding

by Hugo Mercier and Dan Spencer.

The premises are absolutely riveting—and we of this time had only read the prologue and some parts of Chapter 1.

Honestly, the you of yesterday and today (that's me!) are nursing the idea of writing notes about this in this garden. But it's also kinda 麻烦 because we'll write in Commonest, the commonplace book, and on the book margins. Putting our study notes here just means we're writing a bunch of essays again. Essays no one other than ourselves might want to see. Maybe they would find it interesting? We already wrote about the prologue on Discord yesterday.

It will justify the cognitive cost, though, if people will find such notes of use. After all, it's not like we like to be online.

Testing out the gradient system! Hee hee. There's a reason for this. New formatting for rambles now, Rigless Prince! You know what this is for... though it's probably only relevant next year.

Finally, the "Kafka" color is back! You took our yellow away, Tumblr... But now, I've learned something new.