#idk if someone has posted this here came up on my recommended

[rinseveryday]

Idk why, but i always imagine rin with like… gigant horns, but i never cam think HOW they would like(like, sheep, goat, "generic demon"…)

Thanks for the ask!

I've seen my friends draw them in different ways! Usually they're kinda longer versions of his little nubs, kind of on the skinny side. Deer Antler! Rin seems to be a niche but really cool choice (I gotta go find those to reblog again later). Since Rin is a generic Shonen Protag Guy design, I'd say he'd get a Generic Demon Lord horn design in the shape of his flames with more flames floating around them yeahhhh get all the flames.

Personally I've always really liked the idea of his ethereal flame horns so I never really thought too hard on what kinda physical horns I'd like to see on him, besides ofc the idea that he would inherit Satan's look. BUT since I love Rin SO MUCH, I'll do a little deep dive just for you anon.

Spoilers under the cut for Post-ch 98 of the manga and Post-Season 5 of the anime. Just in case.

Kato seems to have gone the "generic demon" route if we look at the shape of his flame horns. They have a round base and curve out and up. And you're right, if they were material, they'd be pretty dang big!

I really like how the tips can be wiggly cuz they're just flames. They'd be so mesmerizing to stare at OwO

Ahem, back to theorizing about physical horns. There was a Q&A in one of the extras from one of the Of One Cloth volumes I believe, but I can't check right now because I know if I do I'll just start rereading them all and crying so here's a redrawing of what that Q&A was about.

Basically someone asked why Rin got little tiny nubbins and Rin was like "yea wtf give me something cooler! something bigger!" and then Kato went "be careful what you wish for" and gave him huge horns that would probably break his poor little neck.

Of course, Kato never gave a straight answer to the asker and we barely even get to see his nubbins anymore, but I think these silly horns came back in the form of whatever tf is atop Satan's noggin. I'm sure Kato never gave Rin these because can you imagine having to draw the main protagonist with these for more than like, two chapters? At one point there was a panel that looked like he had weird fingers with claw nails on his head :/

Rin also has a second horn form for when he goes Sicko Mode. I have no idea what they're supposed to be other than his normal horns merged into a V-shape, but I like to think of them as a crown. I drew them floating above his head, kinda like how Hellboy's full horns look, but smaller cuz he's just a bby demon.

As an artist... those horns just look like a lot of work to draw. But if you haven't seen Hellboy 1 or 2 yet, I'd really recommend it! It's got a lot of stuff an AoEx fan would like, especially Hellboy's cool horns that he shaves down because they're a lot of work to draw I MEAN a pain in the neck to have.

[tinamybeloved]

Full dc droncert x

[awsugar]

speaking of questions that exercise very mcr specific muscles in your brain. i was perusing mychem tumblr the other day and came across a masterpost about the SS/mayo blog frerard lore (i��m aware frerard is not PC these days thanks obama). i’ve been a dedicated fan for over a decade now and my brain is an mcr lore bank but i had literally never heard of this. do you know about it and if you do what are your thoughts

omg yea. ss/mayo is crazy. and unfortunately a lot of it has been lost to time and its not even saved on wayback. theres some stuff thats convincing, theres some stuff thats not.

so like lets preface this by saying that the ft willz myspace? confirmed to be frank. and obviously the stuff posted on skeleton crew, those screenshots of ft willz works that look like theyre on burnt paper? yea so those are confirmed and those are real fully frank no questions.

i personally am a skeptic of other accounts that claim to be ft willz. like the tumblr? i do not think thats frank. and i think that came at a time when people had already really speculated or figured out that ft willz WAS frank. so like i think the tumblr is honestly just someone who was pretending to be frank and managed to sort of emulate his style but yea i don't think it's him. i think the reason some of the stuff hits so hard in a frerard sense is because that was intentional by the person writing it. you know.

anyway ss and mayo. there were two blogs on blogspot started in 2007 i believe that fans thought were frank and gerard. well it started with mayo (its-mayonaise.blogspot.com). that blog is still up and so are a lot of the posts but i think a lot of them have been deleted as well, and not saved anywhere on wayback. im sure theyre on someones hard drive out there but i haven't seen them. then a blog appeared called iamthemodernprometheus.blogspot.com. some of those posts are still up but most are gone. that was ss/sss/shitsubou shita/frank (allegedly). ss started interacting in the comments on mayo's blog. and i think i may have read some mayo blog posts back in the day but i haven't been able to find them to answer this one. i just remember when i joined the fandom most people thought it was gerard.

now here's a couple things of evidence. THIS is a blogspot comment thread where people who have saved some of ss' blog posts put them in the comments. and yes obviously it could be an elaborate hoax by two fans who were invested in frerard. but like these things were being posted as it HAPPENED. you know? idk i wasnt there in 2007. but 2007 was when the fanfic took off and we really informed a lot of our perception of what happened with frerard on things like ft willz/stuff that happened on stage/and a lot of these posts really fit into the timeline. i would recommend reading that because its kind of hard to believe its like. a teenager pretending to be frank. it really just SOUNDS like frank. and he's really writing blog posts. basically to gerard lol. it gives the impression that they were on tour together (projekt rev) and doing the Thing but like there was def tension going on behind the scenes and we already know that thats true. frank didn't like eliza and thought gerard was moving too fast, the imnotokay.net post came from someone in mcr's camp that ppl thought was frank (or maybe brian) and then tbh its happening again?? just months later? it makes complete sense that if frank thought gerard was moving too fast with eliza that he DEFINITELY thought he was moving too fast with lynz getting MARRIED to her backstage just a couple months? after breaking off his engagement with eliza. anyway just read the comments. its very easy to believe its frank.

and then the other peice of evidece i found in this reddit thread: x comment in particular by u/ReallyKapu. they say that they have always gone by Kapunua online and that they met frank at a lm show, gave him a hat with the inscription 'sss' inside and later on he thanked them for it on the blog.

sure enough:

from what i've read it seems like the blog was actually a community. there were people who followed it and made friends in the comment section. and it does seem implausible but it looks to me like frank saved all of his gifts from tour and then made this post specifically thanking people for them. the person who claims this is them also says that they don't think mayo is actually gerard but that frank thought it was.

and i've seen stuff saying that if it wasn't gerard it was probably someone close to the band because they had like information that was posted on the blog that wouldn't come readily available (or make sense) until the show the next day.

anyway, i wasn't there for this. i was on the forums and twitter and tumblr for a LOT of mcr history but this was a little before my time and i think if i had been there OR if the blogs had actually been preserved in some way that i might be able to form a better opinion. i think theres a lot of evidence for frank, not sure about gerard. but i won't claim that it's true either bc we really don't know and this one i don't think we ever will!

[dervampireprince]

Hii Prince!

I wanted to ask why you started to post asmr roleplay audios, idk if you explained it in old post or on twitch lives, in that case I'm sorry to bother with the same question .

I really appreciate your work and it really helps me throughout hard times (especially this period)so thank you so so so much.

i have been asked this a lot on various places, though the only post about it i can find in my faq tag doesn't go into much detail and is years old so buckle up because this got long and i'm sorry if you wanted a shorter answer. i'm going to actually tag creators that inspired me and i'm sorry if that's annoying to those creators, but i want to be able to shout them out and link them in the hope that you guys go and check out their audios! they're really talented and really deserve the support!

when i was a teen i didn't really have any friends and i was mentally ill and didn't have anyone to turn too. i fixated on fictional characters for comfort, and the main one was loki from marvel. i can't remember how i came across @tomhiddlestonsoundalike but i did and honestly his audios really helped me a lot. not only did a crazy accurate impression of tom hiddleston's loki, but he had comfort audios for crying and panic attacks that i would listen to probably hundreds of times. i didn't know what asmr was and i never went searching to see if anyone did anything similar at that time, but these audios will always mean so much to me and while the creator of that blog went on to make audios on youtube and reddit, he hasn't been active in years on any of his accounts but i will always be so grateful for him providing me with a little light in the darkness.

cut to me being an adult at university and struggling once again with my mental health and sleeping and somehow youtube starts recommending me asmr. i get into sound effect tapping ones at first, and then find roleplays, and then find audio only roleplays of people doing impressions of different characters.

around the same time on tumblr i discovered @kinkradio and really enjoyed his guzma audios, and soon i was listening to every audio he put out regardless of if i was familiar with the fandom. he started voicing more characters that i already liked from marvel and the arcana and i found a new place of comfort, as well as discovering nsfw fandom audios for the first time. i still hadn't figured out i was trans yet, but these were the first audios i felt comfortable listening too and surprise it's because they're gender neutral and all the audios from other creators i'd listened too before were aimed at female listeners. being able to imagine myself as whatever when listening to k's audios was really helpful and comforting as i figured myself out and i still love listening to his audios now (and sidenote it's always a comfort after coming out as trans to find that creators who's work you love are supportive of trans people). k is still making audios and posts here as well as youtube and has a patreon with exclusive audios (as someone who's been a patreon member of his on and off over the years i can say it's well worth supporting, you won't be disappointed by the bonus audios on there) and i'd so recommend his works. honestly he's probably my biggest inspiration in voice acting, both from his acting and accents, and from his care he takes when approaching comfort audios.

another big inspiration of mine that i discovered around this time is @darkandtwistedasmr who unlike everyone else i'd been listening to so far, doesn't focus on voicing fandom characters but his own original characters. i adore so many of them (if i had to pick favourites i really love jaspar (for someone usually uncomfortable with alcohol boy i sure have been relistening to jaspar's audio every night for the last few days again /lh), prim, blue, soleil, the rainbow serpent, alden, seki, the shepard, currently still crying over the fallen angel and merman from this years halloweek... okay so i struggled limiting my favourites to a few and i'm sure i've missed some out). anyway, that's the first time i'd gotten invested in characters through just hearing their voices, and of course the art of all the talented artists, and it really made me realise how asmr and audios can be used to tell stories as much as any other medium. when i'm really struggling to calm down enough to be able to sleep, i often turn to twisted's audios. he's able to make each character distinct and unique, even if he's using the same accent they always sound like separate characters and i'm always so drawn into their stories. and the character designs are always so beautiful and it really inspires me to designs more of my own original characters. again twisted posts here and youtube and also has a patreon with sfw and nsfw audios and again as someone who's been in the patreon it's well worth it.

by this point i'd listened to a few other different voice actors on youtube who primarily made anime character audios and was always a little disappointed as i didn't watch much anime anymore and wanted to see characters from fandoms i enjoyed. i thought hey if others can do it, and i already like writing fanfic... maybe i could write scripts? and try and voice them? i bought my first microphone in 2018 with the intention of recording asmrs, i even wrote scripts for napstblook from undertale, sidon from legend of zelda, rouxls from deltarune and venom from marvel. i even recorded the napstablook one and made a youtube channel to put asmr on... but i never posted it. i was too scared. i hated the sound of my voice and didn't know why (spoilers, it was gender dysphoria). and so i just tucked the idea of doing asmr voice acting away in the back of my mind to maybe try again in the future.

in 2021 i was having to consider what i was doing with my work. i'd graduated with a degree in illustration in 2019 and then lockdown happened and i couldn't get a job. honestly university hadn't prepared or taught me how to get a job in the industry anyway. i still had my etsy shop i'd started in 2017 and kept that going, though could no longer work in person at artist alleys at comic cons due to lockdown and then my local cons never reopening after lockdown. etsy picked up during 2020 but by the end of 2021 it was going down. and i said to myself if i wasn't earning enough from etsy and my art by the end of 2022 i would have to just go out and get any job i could find, regardless of if it was in the art industry.

and then i watched this new show that just came out recently: arcane. i had latched onto viktor so tightly and had against my own will started vocal stimming by just talking in his accent to myself. and then i remembered about trying to make audios and do voice acting. and i thought you know this is really the last chance. if i want to be able to work from home i have to try everything. (at the time i wanted to work from home due to mental illness and how difficult i'd found it trying to work an in-person job in the past, at this point i hadn't developed my chronic hip/leg pain so i'm glad i set my sights on working from home before it became increasingly more difficult to go out to work. clearly i kinned viktor a little too close to the sun /j)

by this point i'd figured out i was a boy and been out as a trans man for years and while i did still have voice dysphoria, i figured i could learn to talk deeper and even edit my voice lower in post if needed (and indeed i did edit my voice deeper in post at first, but i'm proud to say now not all my audios have pitch editing as i've worked really hard on lowering my voice with t and every time someone points out how much deeper my voice sounds in audios now compared to ones from 2-3 years ago it makes me so happy). and i couldn't find anyone making audios for male listeners that were with fandom characters (apart from an occasional from kinkradio), and no fandom character audios for trans men, or trans people in general. i found it really hard to write and work with scripts, i couldn't predict how long it would take me to read one page, and i stumbled over my words too much when reading them. and then i thought hey i daydream all the time, i make up stories in my head all the time, can't i just... do that live and out loud? so i tried improvising and still improvise all of my audios.

i tried to be brave, posted some snippets here on tumblr where i was lucky enough to have already built up some following due to my nsfw writings. people were supportive and i finally started posting videos to that youtube channel i'd made years ago. started with only posting viktor audios and then expanded out into more characters. including getting to introduce you guys to some of my original characters.

what i wanted to achieve with making audios was to voice characters that were more obscure or that no one else had ever voiced just because i wanted to show my love for these characters, and to create an audio space that was a safe space and had audios focused on trans listeners and neurodivergency. as an autistic trans man, i wanted to be able to make the kind of audios i wished i could hear, and just hoped there were other people out there like me.

december 28th this year will mark 3 years since i posted that first arcane viktor asmr video on youtube. and i've gone from worrying about trying to find a job to this being my fulltime job. i still run my etsy shop, but the majority of my income is from my patreon where i post exclusive nsfw audios, and where my discord is that has gone from 5 to 200+ members and we chat and have watch parties and i love being in there. and i am so grateful to you guys, whether you are a patreon member or just watch my audios on youtube, however you show support means the world.

i couldn't have dreamed of this. i never planned on being a voice actor. but i did always dream of others caring about my original characters. and through starting out voicing fandom characters that people already knew, i was able to make original character audios and have people get to know my characters and sell merch?? of my ocs?? that people wanted to buy?? and did?? and people send me fanart they draw of them?? i have over 500 pieces of fanart that people have sent me?? (yes i save and treasure all of them, i have a fanart showcase slideshow that plays on my twitch starting soon, brb, and thanks for watching screens on stream). it's a dream come true and i honestly can't put into words how grateful i am.

i have some bigger plans a-brewing i hope you guys will enjoy. i really want to try and make more artwork of my original characters for my audios, and perhaps... try and make some more series of audios that have storylines, and maybe at least one of those won't have a listener character which i hope won't be off putting, it's more you're listening to a story happening between two characters that are voiced. i want to focus on working out backstories for characters, and finally giving you guys the long awaited names and designs for the villain and visiting king. and i'd love to make more new ocs more frequently, have more non-human looking ocs, and have more fun and detailed designs for my ocs.

that got long, i did warn you it would. but now the answer is actually written out for anyone curious. i hope again i haven't bothered any creators by tagging them, i just wanted to tag them so you guys can easily click on their names and see what wonderful things they create and voice! thank you so much anon for the kind words, i hope this all answered your question. /gen

[ar3s-r4t-qu33n]

Idfc if he's real or not, he's still worse written than Eddie. Also the problem is in his fans that are making him no guilty, innocent baby and always refering that Coyle/Eddie/Everybody else im outlast are the same. And if you think it'll work, try to compare Walker (with PTSD after war) with Franco (who is just a sicko). Anyway Barbi's simps are way more agressive than any other fans when you say something bad, what's a fact, about a grown ass man. I feel like those people are just little kids who are getting upset after school and shouldn't play the game ;) When I see all those comments with "He'S mY PoOkIE" I'm getting sick... Ya'll should get a brain

Guys look!! I got one!!

You don't deserve a response, because if you were old enough to be playing Outlast, you would be able to figure out that shaming people for (checks notes) liking a fictional character in a horror series? Is plain stupid.

It would also serve you well to maybe do some spell check before you come into my asks like this. I'd take you more seriously if you maybe drafted this one more time, but here we go:

First of all, you don't know me. You can check out my like, five posts and see that only two of em are Franco related and none of them baby him. In fact, I don't think I've seen a post yet by anyone who says "Franco is a sweet, innocent baby who did no wrong" because... That's the point. He's interesting BECAUSE he's done shit wrong. We are playing Outlast. Everyone is complex and awful and interesting. Just because not every post is marked with a little footnote that says "oh by the way everyone, Franco is a bad, bad man 🥺 I don't support his actions, I'm not a Franco defender, I just wanted to draw him being silly 🥺" doesn't mean we're all out here claiming he's a saint. The fact that he's a fucked up lil guy is why we like him. I feel like that's a given with all Outlast characters? But that's just me after being a fan of this franchise for years now, idk, being able to step back and analyse a community to see what they enjoy about something is quite a fun and easy task, I recommend giving it a try instead of coming into "loser nobody who has been on Tumblr for like a week's" asks to complain to me like I can put all the Franco fans in the corner until they learn to interpret characters the way you have decided is objectively correct.

But even if they are "babying" him and apparently ignoring that this is the Outlast series and Franco is a character from Outlast... Oh no! What horror! Someone is misinterpreting a VIDEO GAME CHARACTER what a terrible and unique crime!

Franco "just a sicko" Barbi was abused and neglected by his father, his mother was murdered, and he only ever received affection after he killed someone. But yeah, he was just born fucked up whereas every other Outlast character earned their trauma and the right to kill the player. What a senseless and just untrue take and I'm sure you know that, you just want to complain because that's all you people like to do. You want to feel morally superior over someone because you don't understand why they feel the way they do instead of just moving on and ignoring them like any other sensible adult would. Because who's actually getting hurt if some people think Franco is their lil Pookie? Is it you? Does it cause you psychic damage? Because last I checked, this is the internet. We are responsible for ourselves, so unless somebody is actually hurting anyone...

Block the Franco tag. You are brave enough to type out this whole message to a stranger online and act morally superior because comparing which video game character deserves the right to kill you is THE most mature thing in the world, so you're definitely brave enough to block the tag and move on.

You are responsible for what you see online, but ESPECIALLY on Tumblr, it is so so easy to hide content you don't want to see, and mind your own business. Quite frankly, I don't care if I come across as aggressive here. You came into my asks about a tag/fandom you clearly aren't in trying to act like you're better than the rest of us. That's pretty damn aggressive, wouldn't you say?

This is Outlast. A game about fucked up guys doing fucked up shit, and we love them for it. If that is too much for you, if the mommy issues gangster is too crazy for you but Eddie and Trager and Knoth and Coyle are completely fine, no questions asked? I don't think this series is for you. Sexual horror is a staple of Outlast. Childhood trauma is a staple of Outlast. You can't be shocked when people respond to a new character in a video game they like.

YOU are not better than me because you like Chris Walker and I like Franco Barbi. I can't believe you need to be told this, we are all in the same uncomfortable freakshow cesspit that is The Outlast Fandom, no one is morally good. No one is better than anyone else. You cannot claim moral superiority over any character because at the end of the day, I can point to Wernicke and say with my full chest that he is objectively the worst because he's a literal nazi, and what then? Are you going to tell me that Franco is worse than a nazi? The debate is over, in the list of "who is the worst of these awful people", Wernicke wins hands DOWN. The point is null because EVERYONE SUCKS HERE!!! THAT'S THE POINT!!!!

Is that enough for you? Or are you gonna keep harassing people through your alts or getting your friends to do it? I can go alllllll day, baby, you ain't making me feel bad about my interests in the O U T L A S T fandom, dear GOD, this is ridiculous. Don't fucking condescend me, telling me to "get a brain" you don't KNOW ME, I am a stranger to you, why do you feel comfortable coming onto my blog harassing me about a video game character? That's not a good look for you and now it is immortalised here. Anonymous or not, you still did this. Whoever you are, you typed that out and sent it to a random person you do not know and felt comfortable enough to do so.

That's weird.

[kanmom51]

This needs to stop

I really contemplated if to put these words down, but I am so angry and disappointed and sad at this point that I felt I had to vent.

Disappointed. I think that's the key word for what I am feeling right now.

I understand that people are upset/angry/enraged by the shit that followed JM's release of his first solo album Face. I understand because I am enraged as well.

I have no doubt in my mind that he was wronged.

He succeeded beyond anyone's dreams and probably kind of ruined certain dreams some of these people had of their own.

But to take that anger and to turn it on the one person that supported and supports JM beyond any of us is infuriating to me.

Turning on JK?

Because of what? A shithead called Scooter Braun, who has his own personal agenda and history shows us has zero real interest or care in the actual artists he is pushing?

Do people forget who JK is?

Do they need a reminder course here?

I guess I will have to give them one.

JK is JM's favourite person in the whole world.

And a full masterlist to show it:

JK is JM's number 1 fan and showing it to us whenever he just can, with or without the company's permission.

JK is one of the most artistic and creative people there are.

Suga about JK

And maybe read what one of the stylists working on the Seven concept had to say about JK and the concept.

JK's concept. He came ready to the table. He knew what he wanted to show, what message he wanted to send.

He was given option, other concepts, other ideas, and he chose what he chose.

JK didn't steal JM's ideas. He didn't utilize them for the lack of coming up with original ideas of his own. Don't believe me, believe JK's talent, his artistry.

JK CHOSE this. This is what he wanted us to see.

It's not about copying. It's about showing us who inspires him.

It's about showing us, not only telling us, who his catalyst is.

He CHOSE the EXACT same leather pants that JM wore.

Do you see the scribble at the bottom of the jeans?

JK CHOSE the jeans with the mud.

He CHOSE.

He did not copy or plagiarize.

He took artistic liberty to mirror JM's photoshoot to an extent.

Sending us all I'd say more than one message.

First one is what I mentioned above. JM is his inspiration.

Second is connecting himself to JM, to Face, to Like crazy.

Perhaps his way of showing us he's that person that stood by JM's side when he was struggling. The one that tread mud with him. The one that tried to wake him up, save him, but JM wasn't ready for that just yet at the time. The one that let JM embrace him while trying to escape reality.

And instead of seeing what JK is trying to tell us, his fans, Jikookers as well, are turning on him?

Making JK out to be someone that doesn't have an original idea and goes and steals JM's is disrespectful to both JK and JM, btw.

This coming from people that supposedly love and know JM and JK?

JM is a 27 strong willed young man. And evidently, JM has no issues with JK of late.

JK is a 25 yo creative artistic young man, who adores and admires and lives for JM, and would NEVER steal something from JM, never take something of JM's and pass it on as his own.

Do they not understand that JM is joking when he calls JK his copycat? Has been for years now.

Did they not see the joy and love in his eyes when JK said "I'm hyung's copycat"?

He knows that JK looks up to him.

He knows that JK is inspired by him.

He lives for that.

And to go and to make it into something ugly it's just so infuriating.

JM was wronged. We can agree on that. The COMPANY could have and should have done better.

THE COMPANY.

Not the other members.

Not JK.

I get the anger and frustration. But do we take it out on the one person that did right by JM? Do we take it out on the one person JM loves more than anything? The person that JM will stand by and support and root for to succeed? How is that loving JM?

Since when did two wrongs make a right?

Don't go around saying you won't support JK's single.

Support him all while continuing to support JM's songs.

[howly]

do you ever worry you're too old to be a fangirl? idk someone i know said i should outgrow my interest in twilight and it made me feel sad.

short answer? no. but i thought for a while what my long answer would be. here goes:

ever since 2009, i've always been the only person from my friend group who's ever felt so intensely about twilight. i've also been mocked about liking the series since i was 13. so why should i feel any different about my love for it at 27, when i'm still the biggest twihard in my social circle, and considering i keep it down to making text posts on tumblr or reddit and gushing in front of my closest friends?

also, back in the day when, let's say, i was at an acceptable age to be a fangirl, and when the movie hype was in full force (i.e. while i was on tumblr in 2010-2012), nobody in the twilight fandom seemed to care about twilight itself and it was all about the cast, and specifically - i get war flashbacks as i type this - robsten. oof.

additionally in 2013 i stepped away from the fandom and from twilight in general, and that lasted 7 years. but then the first lockdown happened, then youtube started recommending me synthetic rose's videos, then midnight sun was announced. and it was like a dam broke. it was a time of big changes in my personal life, and for the first time in 7 years i jumped into my old feels for twilight and found so much comfort. i went to reddit, i came back to tumblr, i was amazed by how many people are here to talk about twilight's characters again - and not the movie cast, but the characters and all their feral decision-making!

the fanbase had aged and matured, and was drawn back in by nostalgia just like i was. my own skills for articulating myself, analyzing and critiquing had improved so much since i was 15 and participating in online discussions was so much more fulfilling. so i found myself sticking around for 4 years now, and doing so makes me genuinely happy.

and lastly, we're in that good moment of pop culture where everyone has an "oh, twilight is cool again!" kinda tongue-in-cheek demeanor. so even if i slip up and get a little bit insane about twilight on main, oh i'm just going along with the trend. it's hoa hoa hoa szn.

and that's why i don't think that, being a grown woman with a fully developed brain, i should have any issues with being judged for my love for twilight. it's my little island of comfort and brings me too much joy to bother beating myself up over it.

[24hrsoda]

hey hi hello 24hrsoda!!!!!! i sent an adk a while ago basically saying that ur like The Ra's Blog™ to me and i am back again but to thank you this time!!!! to thank you for basically kick-starting my appreciation and general love for ra's!!!!!!

i found your blog through those drawings u made of the bats as. well. as bats and ive rlly just tuned in since!!! and then i got recommended your drawings with ra's and the bat bats (haha) and kid talia and just generally being a good guy and it was intriguing to me at the beginning!!!! since back then i was still following the general (unfortunately) popular fanon interpretation of ra's as an evil scummy irredeemable bad guy and from those drawings i just kept checking out your ra's content and slowly getting invested in him outside of the bad guy fanon ra's view i knew

and like. idk i phrased this differently in my head BUT!!!!! those drawings of you really did shift my interpretation of him and has gotten me interested in like saving up to read his comics and because of those drawings i enjoy taking a scroll (haha. get it.) thru his tag on here (so much filtered out tim posts. not fun.) and i just like thinking about him in general!!!! i like to doodle him and see posts about him!!!!!!! and it was all because of those drawings you made!!!!!!

to you it may just be rather insignificant or unimportant when you post those drawings of a ra's that is good and loves his family and is more than the fanon interpretation that he's stuck with!!!!!! to you it may just be regular fun sharing your interpretations of ra's!!!!!!! but idk i just find it really important for you to know that i do deeply appreciate all the posts you make about him and it's important to me that you know that it was genuinely impactful for me!!!!!! i am not kidding at all!!!!!!!! i gained a genuine appreciation for ra's in general and that appreciation of him has led me to being just generally happy because having characters i like thinking about a lot makes me happy!!!!!!!!! you have impacted me very positively with just that!!!!!!!!

i know we may just be strangers on the internet and me growing to like a character just because of your fanart may be insignificant on the grand scheme but i dnt care!!!!!!!!! thank you genuinely from the bottom of my heart!!!!!!!!!! peace and love on planet tumblr forever fr!!!!!!!!

awww thank you! i really appreciate it! it’s fun that someone out there thinks of the as the ra’s al ghul guy. he totally just captivated me, i got sooo fixated on him, and it’s honestly been kind of fun to read about him.

i don’t think it’s insignificant either! i stumbled upon ghost-maker by accident while looking at someone else’s blog, (they’re now a mutual of mine <3) and was interested in him and then i fell so in love with him now that i have tattoos and made merch and cosplayed him because i came to adore him so much. sometimes a small little spike of interest can lead to something so much more.

also, i read so many of Ra’s al Ghul’s comics online using free sites! comics can get so expensive and trying to collect physical copies can be hard! don’t ever feel bad for reading stuff online for free :)

usually i read stuff online and if i really like it i’ll go buy the physical copy in a store or order it online

[tsukimefuku]

spreading positivity for yourself and for others: what are some fanfics you've written that you're proud of? who are your favorite writers in the fic community?

Hi Anon! Sorry for the delay, it’s been taking me a while to tackle asks 🫂

My fanfics I’m most proud of:

First off, one that is absolutely EVERYTHING I wanted it to be, and had me proving for myself that I absolutely could improve my writing in English was Blunt Trauma. I am OBSESSED with villain Nanami to an unhealthy degree (I’ve been slowly chipping away at the sequel to this and a higunana villain AU) and I’m really proud at how I captured his main character traits while twisting them into villainy. It still feels like Nanami to me, but a broken *what if everything went wrong* version.

The second one, for completely different reasons, is Higuruma Sensei. This is my comfort fic which means the world to me. I came up with the idea when I decided to leave my crim attorney career to teach crim law proced in 2025, and I write it to navigate my own feelings related to this. I wanted to write my fav going through what I’m going through.

The bonus about this fic though was two things: first, that someone literally made an OC for it and wants to make a comic about one of the scenes (I damn near cried when this person showed me their OC), and when this same reader came up to me and told me they’re starting LAW SCHOOL next year, and that the fic was one of their sources of inspiration for doing so (this ACTUALLY had me crying, I’m not joking).

Not in a MILLION YEARS would I think a fanfiction pet project I’m writing to basically soothe myself would… idk, inspire someone that way? So yeah, it’s definitely one of my proudest achievements, hands down.

I have so many writers I like, and so many I recommend. I apologize if I forgor anyone. HERE GOES THE SHOUTOUTS, from people I’ve read at least one story from already, fandom related or original content

@rahuratna @redlikerozez @quinnyundertow @cmdrfupa @wibben @screampied @nanaslutt @actuallysaiyan @pmpmyread @seireiteihellbutterfly @theoxenfree @kentocalls @mysteria157 @courtneedsatoru @kentocalls @kusakabesimp @dreamingkitsunewrites @seiwas

And on AO3:

@/slutsenpai (their prof higu smut has me IN A CHOKEHOLD)

[enniewritesathing]

Discussion Post #4? (I lost count)

more like I talk to myself

The other half of the big update. Let's talk about.

First, some meta, I guess:

You may have noticed that the pics look different. Much more vibrant and all of that. I was brainstorming with @pink-chevalier (once again, thank you 👏) and she pointed me towards some PS actions.

Shout-outs to PhotoMosh Pro for existing. I had some visual ideas and I was able to pull it off this time around.

Shout-outs to Internet Air by AT&T. I went from having rural ass DSL to 5G internet averaging 400mbps. That's a major reason why I was able to pull off my visual ideas via gifs. Wouldn't have worked otherwise and I would've had to do just images.

Shoutout to my ADHD. (derogatory)

The posts with the lab scene(s), I've noticed, uhhhh, isn't viewed as much. I have a feeling that it's gonna be like that for a while. I'm doing cool and unique things over here... idk, it feels bad when there's a clear asterisk to it. let me put it this way, if I try to make it ~pleasing~ and it gets more attention than anything else... 🙃🙃🙃

I don't ask for much but please RB and/or comment, anything!! recommend! my pinned post has a lot of things you can read! Anon's on! It feels bad and desperate when I'm on my hands and knees like this lol... I feel like there's something wrong with me and this story but everyone's being polite...

((btw thank you @99simproblems and @changingplumbob))

Now that's out of the way:

(leans into the mic) JOHN'S DEAD. More on that later.

Are we all in agreement that Daniel ain't shit? He is 0 for 2 on rising up against someone and just be like 'ok guess i'll do it 🥺'. You're been given so many outs my guy, holy shit. Just hit the bricks, man! What are you waiting for?!?

I'll say this -- he one ups himself on that. Maybe twice. No, I won't elaborate but if you've read The Incident you probably have a good idea.

(actually, I think maybe two people have read it and I wish I were joking on that... I did a RB of it around that year's halloween and I lost 10 followers LMAO. It's really criminal. still my fav story but anyway. )

Charles being the manipulative bitch that he is but he had to make it very slight. Notice that he doesn't report his monitoring... no one caught it because of John.

I was gonna try and see if I could find something for the machine screen but it didn't look right... but I am saving the idea for something else.

You will not believe how many swatches I made for the vital monitor on the wall. I know I've said it earlier, but it's from an actual simulator that I had to use two laptops with (one for settings, one for capture.)

I almost forgot about Mark but especially Thomas. We'll see them again. :)

Mark saying that he's gonna resign after this trial. I mean, he can walk out too, but he's too polite for that so he's just gonna wait. :)

Thomas has an inexplicable Brooklyn accent and Bernard is a Southerner. Don't as me why.

I love how the gifs of Charles looking at Daniel and Bernard with the faux camera focus came out. Sinister.

Another note on Thomas -- so he's there (or rather got voluntold) to be "security". Security for who?? The fuck he's gonna do? Anyway.

I really, truly thought about showing John getting stabbed with that big ass needle but I think we got enough of that. Or at least being implicit. Truly though, that was a big fuck-off needle. I ain't scared of 'em but eesh.

now let's pivot to John and The Werewolf:

You may have noticed in the dialogue somewhere but this is not their first time meeting each other that wasn't a fight. Perhaps we'll circle back to that.

One of the first things that The Werewolf tells John is that he has zero intention of harming him. He's true to his word. In fact, I'd argue that his general behavior changes the context of things from The Incident. He's actually pretty calm all things considering! He stands his ground when John's being a dipshit.

Love how John picks the absolute worst time to be arguing with The Werewolf. My dude, you're literally being tortured and dying and yet you don't want the only person to save your life to take over.

You may think, damn John's naive and you're right. Charles did a number on making him think that The Werewolf is that dangerous. Maybe there were points that John didn't believe that... ?

For the visual effect of the toxins, I did the same thing when he made his declaration. This time, it's harder because of his chest hair and complete tats so naturally, I did the S4S shuffle and doubling them up.

I didn't have much action words for John because... well, he's doin nothin' but screaming and there's only so many ways to write that. The expressions speak for themselves. I am very proud of how they came out! He fought for his goddamn life and he made it count.

After much deliberation, I left the post of John's death wordless. I don't know what he and The Werewolf talking about at this point, and if I do, I'm not sure if I want to elaborate! Aside from The Werewolf telling him it'll be okay to let go...

It's a surprisingly soft moment.

The breathing effect I found out messing around in PM. That's all John could do until his heart stopped.

Oh! So, I decided to make something distinguishing about John's eyes in all of this. Blank, aka just a solid color, means he's mostly not there. White = flat out unconscious; his body is on autopilot/reacting. So! Couldn't use the blank for death so I went and found some pupil overlays and such by Pralinesims and used it over the blank.

John dies with his eyes open so ofc his pupils needed to be fixed and dilated so you know he's actually dead.

Even in death, he has a chilling gaze...

...but not as much as The Werewolf's gaze in the last two shots. This was one of the shots I wanted to keep from The Incident -- but I left the one of him baring his teeth... I'll save that I think for later. With his sclera being black, he absolutely looks terrifying. Monstrous, even.

I had the idea of the gif when I first did The Incident but I couldn't quite put it together (among other things). If you really look at it, a lot of ideas are there but I didn't have the skillset that I do now...

I can't wait for the next update to see what I have in mind. There's a reason why I haven't made many WIPs this time around >:)

I might as well drop this now, the back half of this story? Loads of CWs. How many? I'll list them at the top of the post many. At least six.

Idk about yall, I said it already; the context has changed, I think. I like to think that The Incident is John's version of what happened (bits and pieces of it) and he ofc, 'told' it first and you'd think wow The Werewolf is scary. This? He's way more than reasonable given the situation. He thanked John.

but I see this as "thank you for permission for me to wild the fuck out and kill my torturers"... but, he is grateful fr.

...not saying that John's an asshole for what he may or may not have done but...

This may be a very ambitious thing I wanna do in the next update but, I kinda want to see if I can animate an effect. If not, I'll try and get close to it.

[earthtooz]

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. Let’s spread the self-love ❤

omfg i got tagged in this forever ago by @/sipsteainanxiety, thank you shay :,) i luv u forever, but here i go..!

OVERWHELMING w/ bakugou katsuki

everything i wrote for bakugou, i wrote with my SOUL, and as much as i am reluctant to admit it, i don't think i'll ever be able to write for another character like i do him. i genuinely adore everything i had for him because it was so... poetic. idk how did i did it for boom boom blasty boy, but i did, and that's crazy. what's crazier was the amount of people that ate it up every time, so all of my fics for bakugou i associate with very positive things. i wish i could recommend more, but i want other characters to shine too :>

in all seriousness, this piece for bkg i think stands out for me especially, i loved the progression of the 'overwhelming'... 'motif', there is just unmatched neediness that intersects with love here. writing for bakugou allowed me to pursue this destructive, desperate kind of love that i absolutely adore exploring, the kind of love that you hang onto despite knowing that you don't deserve it. you know that moment when you have such a gut-wrenching thought but can never find the right words to voice it? i never had any of those moments with bakugou. every thought that came to mind was written onto paper so effortlessly that i genuinely don't know what i was on when writing for him.

maybe one day i'll write for bakugou again. ha. let me finish the most recent season first.

BAD IDEA ! w/ suna rintarou

suna my absolute babie, some of you might have never heard of this, but this was truly my magnum opus, one of the first anime fics i've ever posted and it received such positive reactions that i couldn't help but continue writing for anime!

i adore the dialogue in this, the relationship between kuroo and reader is my favourite, ever, but do also just love flop!readers panicking over a cute guy before realising that said guy is also into them the same way. i recommend this fic to see where earthtooz began, and that was with suna rintarou carrying my anime beginnings LOL

SAFE w/ gojo satoru

my treasure... def one of the earlier pieces i've written, but still a goodie. back when i was still lost in trying to figure out a writing style HAHA but this is truly one of my favourite gojo fics. just- the desperation and devastation of potentially losing someone you care about is such a vulnerable topic, especially for gojo satoru, that this trope made me crumble when i wrote it. just him being so broken over the possibility of losing you and turning into a puddle at your feet at the thought of it- RAGHH

DON'T GO w/ blade

just... this. please read this.

WITH(OUT) w/ itoshi sae

somehow one of my personal favourites of all time is for my blue lock ult bias' brother (whom i despise), but i do love this one. it's pretty clear that everyone else thought so too with how many sae reqs i got after this, not that i was complaining, but there is something so thigh-gripping about the intimacy i wrote in this one. no, it's not the most brightest i could come up with in terms of literature, but it was vulnerable, it characterised sae kind of well, and it was just a fic with a trope i love.

no pressure tags: @aanobrain, @hyomagiri, @ode2rin, @shiinleaf, @dnheng

[science-lings]

what’s some of your favorite loz/Lu fics of all time? :)

Most of my favorite LU fics are here

but what you guys may not know is that I'm also a big fan of botw and modern au Zelink fics, however, take heed, most of these get a little spicy

Like Real People Do by ScarlettStorm: one of the best post-botw fics out there, lots of pining, I absolutely adore how Link's experience with Gender is portrayed, how he and Zelda are both treated as equally traumatized, as sometimes it feels like there's always one troubled one and one caregiver and I can get that for shorter fics but this one is long and beautifully balanced in that aspect. It also gets real horny at the end and in my opinion, it's very tasteful.

Alone With You by @deiliamedlini: honestly this author has a bunch of bangers, I'm waiting for their pirate au to finish so I can binge it all and I reread their Zelink oneshot collection all the time, this one is their modern high school au where Link is kind of a bad boy who is secretly Fucked Up, and Zelda is a popular girl and surprise surprise, they both get along really well. Normally I hate anything that reminds me of high school but this is the only exception. I love how previous characters are included, like how Link knows ASL bc he's friends with Pipit who is deaf and how Revali is a bitch and I still want to strangle him. Also big sister Aryll is a treasure and this fic does such a good job portraying Link's mental struggles and PTSD and how Zelda is being neglected and I'm also a big fan of the overarching plot of medical issues and trauma.

The Calamity of Link's Cargo Shorts by @zeldaseyebrows: I don't understand how someone can make smut so funny and so focused on Zelda's own self-hatred. Seriously though, there's a lot to love with this fic and I adore Zelda's pov. Sometimes you have to have sex before opening up emotionally and that's okay. Also, it's a modern au too, I just realized how many of these are modern aus.

Strangers in the Night by @zeldaelmo: Another modern au, this time Zelda has a kid from a ons with Link and he doesn't know about it for a bit, I just love Link being a dad and how they both work for a museum and there's just something about the courtroom scene that makes me want to reread it over and over again. Sometimes it's hit or miss with family ocs but Tetra is my favorite zelink child ever. All the fics on this list are ones I reread a lot but this one is the one I'm currently rereading bc it's been a few months lol. I love the domestic but also a little dysfunctional vibes, it's definitely not the normal romcom type of thing but I think I like this more.

K.K. Love Song by @airplanned: Again, modern au, pandemic edition. This one in particular has a certain unexplainable soft vibe, like there's some long-distance, Animal Crossing online romance and idk why I like it so much, I guess I was one of the suckers that got pulled in by new horizons when it came out so there's some strange kind of covid nostalgia and it's nice to see how a functional government would deal with the pandemic. Also, Link's grandma is a treasure and there's something sweet about crown princess Zelda meeting some guy on animal crossing and accidentally making him a public figure by dating him. Honestly, this author has a lot of great fics that I reread a lot lmao.

Farore's Day and Windvane Lane by Jenseits_der_Sterne: modern thanksgiving au, Zelda is a quirky scientist single mom and Link is her neighbor. I love Link being a nerd and Zelda being a bit of a disaster. Like she accidentally almost blows up her kitchen and he's just looking on with heart-eyes, after helping her put out the fires of course.

tbh, I'm probably not the best person to go for fic recs as I just find a few really good ones and then reread them till the end of time and rely on other people to recommend me things to read lmao, I hope this was at least a little helpful anyway.

[danpuff-ao3]

@hprecfest 3/3: Days 21-31

Day 21: a thought-provoking fic

When the Rose and the Fire Are One

by perverse_idyll (@perverse-idyll). Harry/Severus. Rated: E. Words: 81,618. Dysfunctional relationships. Minor Harry/George. Dubious consent. Sex magic. Secondary character death.

Harry’s haunted by guilt. Snape’s warded by roses. Each must free the other in order to free himself.

This is the fic that has ingrained itself in my brain more than any other, I think. PI is so clever and this whole world is well considered and fleshed out. 

This story features probably the best original character I’ve seen in fic (Odile, my love). The magic in this story is phenomenal and I’m actually obsessed with it. The magic and history of Spinner’s End, and Severus, and Eileen, has fully become canonized in my brain, I swear to god. The characterizations of Harry and Severus are top tier. The sex is scorching. The emotions are a rollercoaster both exhilarating and terrifying. And the end!!!! Oh god, this is the fic that I think about for days after I read it, wondering what comes after. 

While another of PI’s fics has captured my heart more, this is a close second and captured my mind more. It’s truly a masterwork and I cannot recommend this fic enough to people.

Niemöller, or Four Times When Harry Didn’t Speak Up and then When He Finally Did

by Leela. Harry/Severus. Rated: E. Words: 7,904. 

They came, and they came, and one day Harry noticed.

When I posted the original version of Masquerade (new version on AO3 | old version on FFN) years ago, someone commented that it reminded them of Niemöller. So of course, I had to look it up and read it, and I fell in love! It really makes you consider an alternate way the world could have gone in the wake of Voldemort’s demise, and veering too hard in the opposite direction of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. It’s all the more real as time goes on and we see how prone our society is to extremes, and how our natural inclinations may be to “over-correct.” 

In the notes Leela linked to this poetic version of a confessional prose from Martin Niemöler, from who this fic gets its name:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—      Because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—      Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—      Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Day 22: an unfinished fic

The Release of Sisyphus

by starcrossed. Harry/Severus. Rated: E. Words: idk. LJ link.

The epilogue to Nights of Gethsemane and Invictus.

I've been waiting for TEN YEARS. TEN YEARS!!!! And I'll keep waiting cuz I've still not given up hope 🥲

This is the follow-up to NoG and Invictus that takes place years after the fact. Post-war, adult Harry, reconnecting with Severus. The last posted chapter is the worst place to leave off on, only because it was so close smut!!!! You just KNOW that's where chapter 16 would have gone if it had updated.

It hurts my soul a bit because I love this series so much, and so my soul will always be waiting for closure with this story. You know, until the author comes back in a year or two or ten with updates!! (Rec for NoG here.)

Day 23: a soulmate fic

Corresponding Shapes

by bleedcolor (@bleedcolor). Harry/Severus. Rated: T. Words: 5,516. Soulmate identifying marks.

For a very long time he hadn’t known what the names meant. He’d woken up the morning of his 7th birthday and there they were; red as blood, one more thing to brand him as a freak in the eyes of his aunt and uncle.

I love the idea of this one, Harry marked by two fates. I’m forever a sucker for soulmate-identifying marks, but the idea of this one is too neat, and Harry not knowing which name is which right away! It’s so sweet and lovely

Day 24: a holiday fic

The Christmas Hate List

by lizzy0305 (@lizzy0305). Harry/Severus. Rated: E. Words: 11,465. Humor. Romance. Fluff.

Most people have a wishlist for Christmas, but Severus Snape is not most people - he has a hate list. There are five things Severus hates about the season, but with Harry Potter’s help, he gets reminded of the one thing he still loves about the Holidays.

GOD, Severus is such a HATER and I LOVE IT. But also, Mr. Grinch over here falls in love and we get a good laugh out of it. What a good time this is!

Gratia Plena

by Femme (@femmequixotic). Harry/Severus. Rated: E. Words: 18,972. 

Memories of a drunken kiss lead two lonely souls together at Christmas.

One of the more serious and angsty Christmas fics I love, but love it I do! I can’t help but love Femme’s work. This is right up my alley in general, even outside of the holiday season, as it features 2 difficult men with a hell of a lot of chemistry (and history). This suits just right when you’re in the mood for something less merry and bright.

The Nutcracker’s Delight

by perverse_idyll, rinsbane (@perverse-idyll). Harry/Severus. Rated: E. Words: 17,119. 

Severus Snape meets the Nutcracker. 

A fun holiday crackfic! It’s such a good time, full of whimsy and festivity, and written by 2 creators I’ve long admired. It’s such a good time and will for sure get you in the holiday spirit!

Day 25: a fic rated T

a scratch for every itch

by bleedcolor (@bleedcolor). Harry/Severus. Rated: T. Words: 11,478. Magical maladies. Pining. Humor. Idiots to lovers. Fluff.

Severus Snape is an itch that Harry just can’t scratch.

This one can also work for the “comfort fic” prompt. It’s a lighthearted, feel-good Snarry with a lot to love! The magical malady here is so whimsical and cute and so fitting for the HP-verse.

The Sleeping Prince

by who_la_hoop. Harry/Severus. Rated: T. Words: 42,758. Postwar. Hogwarts 8th year. Deaging. 

It’s hard to ignore your past — and impossible to do so when you can’t remember your future. But a meddlesome portrait, a dragon with an ancient grudge and true love’s kiss teach an unlikely Prince that a regrettable past doesn’t have to mean an unhappy ending.

This is one of my favorite fics. I don’t generally care for de-aging fics, but this one is exactly what I would hope for. Lots of cute, awkward teenage romance. I love seeing how distrustful and angsty teenage Severus is. And how sweet and dorky Harry is!

Day 26: a fic with an ending you can't stop thinking about

Penance is the Play

by Maeglin_Yedi (@maeglinyedi). Harry/Severus. Rated: E. Words: 66,439. Underage. Student/teacher. Dysfunctional relationship. Manipulation. Coercion. Humor & angst. 

Harry wants revenge. Harry has a plan. But is Harry Slytherin enough to avoid his own trap?

Yet another fic I read way too many times back in the day. And still do. But it’s so good!!!! And that ending still haunts me to this day, I swear to god.

And Mine the Gall

by perverse_idyll (@perverse-idyll). Rated: E. Words: 5,505. Sequel to In Infinite Remorse of Soul (Albus/Severus, Harry/Severus). 

It’s one thing to deny oneself; it’s another to be denied. In which Albus learns (again) that sins of omission have consequences, even unto the next generation; and that what he denied to Severus shall be visited upon Harry.

These 2 fics are dark and delicious and AMAZING AND PERFECT AND I’m obsessed and will think about them forever. It also features a line that has lived rent free in my head fOR YEARS. 

“Severus,” he sobs, an explosion of defeat, because the love that will poison his life has a name.

Day 27: a Muggle AU

Marks

by florahart. Harry/Severus. Rated: G. Words: 5,136. College/university. Student/professor. Podfic available.

Harry's a computer science student, but he needs a writing credit to qualify for an internship. All the writing classes are full, so he ends up in Snape's lit class as a substitute. Snape has a reputation as a hardass, but it can be said that no one passes his class without learning to write, so that meets the requirement, and then, once Harry starts working on that, it turns out they have something else in common.

I nearly recced this fic a handful of times already, for podfic day (JocundaSykes did a terrific narration of this!), comfort fic, and a fic rated G. So when it came time to choose a Muggle AU, I finally had to choose this one! There is still the essence of what I love about Snarry here: a bit of student/teacher (though as unproblematic as can be), with Snape as the mean teacher with a bad reputation, and Harry as the student who is smart and competent in some areas, but not Severus' area. It's a feel good fic that I often return to when I need something light and easy.

Day 28: an underrated fic

A Series of Events

by babygray (@babygray). Harry/Severus. Rated: M. Words: 67,251. Mpreg. Miscarriage. Underage. Student/teacher. Angst.

In January, the impossible occurred. It took Severus until April to realize just what that was, and to believe.

Not gonna lie, I don’t know how to gauge what’s “underrated” or “overrated” or “appropriately rated” but I do know that this is a fic I love too much to have no one to talk to about it. It’s like…idk how to explain this fic. It’s niche. It’s unique. It itches.

Okay “it itches” might sound weird, but like…this fic crawled under my skin and randomly reminds me of its presence. It’s not a happy fic, there are no easy answers, it’s all gray and complicated and sad and so real in a way that I’m obsessed with.

Molly’s Advice

by Arrisha (@arrisha-ao3). Harry/Severus. Rated: M. Words: 7,189. Postwar. Angst. Infidelity. 

Snape used to have a secret; Harry only now begins to realise his own.

Okay, Arrisha’s work is all amazing, but this one is my favorite and no one talks about it???? Or at least, I’ve not seen anyone talk about it, WHICH IS A SHAME, YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED, THIS FIC IS WONDERFUL, PLEASE READ IT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.

Day 29: a post-canon fic

The Beating of This Fragile Heart

by Writcraft (@writcraft). Harry/Severus. Rated: E. Words: 33,146. Fluff & angst. Hurt/comfort.

After the war, the last thing Severus Snape needs is the memory of a fleeting wartime kiss and a very persistent Harry Potter thwarting his plans to live a peaceful and solitary life. It’s only when Harry’s life is endangered that Severus is finally forced to confront his feelings head on.

This is one of my favorite fics and it does my heart so good! It’s such a lovely love story featuring a Harry who knows what he wants, and a Severus too scared and insecure for his (or Harry’s) own good. Their love here brings me so much joy.

Day 30: a pre-canon fic

Buried Roots

by yletylyf (@yletylyf). Severus-centric. Evan/Severus. Rated: M. Words: 19,036. First Wizarding War. Violence. Romance. Tragedy.

Severus Snape and Evan Rosier nurture their shared love of the Dark Arts, and find themselves drawn into Voldemort’s world. Severus is sure he can navigate anything in life, with Evan by his side.

I so thoroughly enjoyed this fic, as a well considered look at how Severus might have come to the Death Eaters. It does my heart good how impressed others were by Severus and his gifts, and how those gifts drew the Dark Lord’s eye. It was good to see his friendship/relationship with Evan Rosier, as well as the other connections Severus makes. There is no real goal to “excuse/forgive” Severus’ choices, but also makes his journey understandable and very real. I really appreciate Lety’s grasp of various characters and showing them in the best and worst ways, which is exactly what I love to see! 

Day 31: a fav amongst favs

The White Road

by perverse_idyll (@perverse-idyll). Harry/Severus. Rated: E. Words: 47,887. Lily POV. Romance. Redemption. Afterlife. 

One day, comfortably set up in the afterlife, Lily Evans Potter switches on the telly and gets hooked on the Harry Potter show.

I’m pretty sure this is the fic I’ve read more than any other, except maybe some of my shorter faves. Maybe. I first read this fic around the time it was first posted, and I’ve reread it at least once a year ever since. It’s TRULY one of the best stories I’ve ever read. Seeing Snarry’s romance unfold from Lily’s POV is incredible, and PI is so masterful in making us feel their great love when we’re not in either of their heads. 

Not to mention Lily’s character here is incredible. She’s spunky and vivacious, but has moments of meanness and vanity. She’s no saintly vision of Lily, but a very human Lily, for all that she’s dead. This is the story that really made me love and appreciate what Lily could be, as more than just Harry’s perfect martyred mother. 

Also this is the fic that gave me a voyeurism kink. 

[not-poignant]

hey pia! i love your work, hi!!! im a young writer interested in posting some of my big projects online (not that i really expect them to get any traction lol). i was wondering how you protect your work from plagiarism, or how you deal with people plagiarizing your work. it seems like the internet is kind of the wild west, and that’s only sometimes a good thing :/ im probably a bit too poor to afford any sort of copyright or whatever online authors do, but maybe i can save up? 🙏🙏

PS - i didn’t actually care whether or not this ask was anonymous, but from my experience on tumblr it seems like an unspoken rule🤨 so i guess i’ll turn it on🫡

Hi anon!

Tbh the only real difference between anon and attaching your name is that I have the choice to reply to you privately if you send an ask under your name (which is sometimes preferrable if the question is personal or really niche!) and that gives me more options. Anon forces me to only answer publicly (which is probably why you're seeing that so much!!), but the downside is that sometimes I have to delete anon messages when I don't want the responses or even the ask/s on my public blog.

Anyway! This is something I'd respond to publicly anyway, because I think this is a fear a lot of new and young writers have. The tl;dr is that copyright is often assumed on the internet, provenance makes it easy to send DMCA takedowns, and letting a fear of piracy stop you from putting your work up is one of the biggest ways I see new authors handicap themselves on the web currently (idk if it's confirmation bias or what but it seems like I see this several times each month atm from specifically new authors), and it's like...not a thing...to be hampering yourself with.

Okay, now for the longer explanation:

The first thing with copyright is that it by and large depends on your country and what you want to do with the story. In Australia, every created work by default has legal copyright protection simply by being created by someone. We don't need to pay to apply for copyright on creative works, we automatically have it and if we can prove provenance (i.e. if we can demonstrate we created it first, with like a document date etc.) we are legally protected.

So I can't answer for the country you're in, anon, but honestly, this is how it works on most of the internet where you're likely to put a project online. AO3 will respect that a work is yours if it gets stolen, if you can prove you came up with it or published it before another person did (literally all you need is a screenshot or a link). In the Properties or Details of most of your documents, the 'date created' is your best friend.

I've had my work stolen quite a few times over the years. It's been stolen the most from AO3 over to Wattpad (it's almost like Wattpad authors don't realise that sometimes we look lol).

In one case, blanket commenting on one of the fics that the original fic was on AO3 *and complete and not stolen* was enough for the author themselves to take it down. x.x Otherwise what you generally do is send a DMCA takedown notice, which almost all creative sites give you access to when reporting theft (your readers cannot do this for you, you must do it.)

Similarly, on AO3, if this happens, you can just report it. The big downside here is that it can take the volunteers there some time - sometimes up to two weeks or more - to get on top of that, so it might feel like nothing at all is happening. Patience is recommended.

Look, theft happens, you can't avoid it. It is a normal part of putting your work out there in the world. And I can't tell you how many new authors I know who kind of shoot themselves in the foot trying to prevent the acts of thieves, while not realising they're hampering themselves in the process.

Pirating is the worst, but so is never putting your work out there, or waiting for a magical protection from piracy. It doesn't exist - and there's a general rule where the more steps you introduce to stop or reduce piracy, the more you actually alienate your general readers - think about how having right-click disabled on a website can feel, for example. It's considered hostile internet architecture that is often very inaccessible.

(There's also a phenomenon where the authors most scared of theft are the ones least likely to encounter it, because their works are new, and they'll need a lot of time to build up readers and engagement in the first place. Most of the time, those who plagiarise don't want to take the works of new/young authors over the works of experienced authors who just won't think to check the sites they're using. By the time you're popular enough for that to be an issue, you'll probably have more confidence in yourself and your ability to handle this. I will say theft of ebooks on sites like Amazon etc. is way more common than theft of original stories and fanfics on AO3, but both happen more often than they used to, that's just...sadly a part of life.)

Also, applying for copyright doesn't mean your work won't get stolen. You'll still have to send DMCA takedowns, and you'll still have to get in contact with websites. A lot of the time websites have a form you can fill out. You still have to do all that labour and pay to register copyright. The filing of copyright is sadly not a magical shield against theft of a creative work. It does make it easier to take someone to court, but that's expensive, often not worth it, and the labour someone can spend chasing down thieves is often better spent amongst the readers who actually give a shit (they're the ones who often notice the theft in the first place when it comes to serials).

If you plan on publishing ebooks, there's software and organisations you can pay a monthly fee to, who just exist to issue takedown notices to piracy sites so you don't have to. I've never used these personally, but from what I've read on Facebook writing groups, they're often not worth it compared to the past, because new sites spring up all the time. But different authors have different experiences with online theft (and different levels of income to combat it) so you'll hear different things on that front.

I'm...pretty zen about it. To me, it's only a worry when I have to send someone a notice about it, which I don't actually have to do all that often. Like, it sucks, but almost always it never happens as much as a new author like yourself fears it will. That doesn't mean you won't hate it when it happens, but you'll live, and your works will keep finding readers, and it won't be what you're likely imagining it will be. It's for most authors, just an occasional giant pain in the ass that we forget about a day or two later sdakfjdsa

[jenevawashere]

Writers Truth & Dare Ask Game

🎱 ⇢ post your AO3 total stats: how about no

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction?  I wanted Wanda Maximoff in the X-men movies. I had a vision for it and I might revisit it someday...

🌵 ⇢ share the link to a playlist you love: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6mwovYLQUxzDlP3bR1L5GS?si=baa885e9c42c4fc9

🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that? seven. It has become more enjoyably as my writing style has changed. I edit as I go because I write in chunks, then go back and edit when I hit a metaphorical wall.

🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis: ok! good luck decoding this shit: 📍🛑🔩👁️🍫

🥑 ⇢ you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help? none of them are on here that I know of but Q and S. Maybe G depending on who...

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love: I have a whole list. So instead, here's a shit ton of my bookmarks. https://archiveofourown.org/users/FriendofthePhoenix1234/bookmarks

💌 ⇢ how many unread emails do you have right now?  5 in the main

🌻 ⇢ tag someone you appreciate but don't talk to on a regular basis: How do you tag on here? Seriously, not a joke I have yet to learn that skill.

🐇 ⇢ do you prefer writing original characters, reader inserts, or a mix of both? Original or existing characters.

🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before: I'm allergic to watermelon. No idea how the fuck that is possible but it happens.

🎲 ⇢ what stops you from writing more in your free time? Short answer? Life. Long answer? Also life. And procrastination.

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favorite ships or pairings: uhhhhhhhhh NEXT!

🧸 ⇢ what's the fastest way to become your mutual? shit if I know. Just hang out and say hi every once in a while. If we share fandoms, then cool! *shrugs in idk*

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now: finally having a job, a few projects to switch through, and my cat.

📚 ⇢ what's the last thing you wrote down in your notes app? fic notes. See previous wip related question to try and figure that out

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character: I'm gonna have to come back to this one. Brain overloaded when this question came up

🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project? recently? (more on a personal level in terms of weirdness) a bunch of information on science related topics. I was the arts kid in a stem class so you can imagine how weird searching for that stuff is.

🦷 ⇢ share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on: "Be the kool aid man."

❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best? My doctor who fics and literally anyone else that isn't me and has a much better understanding of the whoniverse.

🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity: there's no advice from me. It happens, sometimes for months on end and it sucks.

🥐 ⇢ name one internet reference that will always make you laugh: Oh boy! We have another list! "Burn it. Burn the jacket." "A fire? At the sea parks?!" "Hamburger (the H is silent in this context)" "Surprise harmonica" and I'm going to stop listing things now...

🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work? ANY! Seriously, even if it's a single emoji, please say something. Kudos can only do so much, and that's assuming I count them.

🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate: I just spent a good five minutes trying to remember what character I hate. I think I've blocked them out in all honesty.

🥝 ⇢ do you lie a lot? what's the most recent lie you told? I have the memory of a goldfish, you expect me to remember that?

🦋 ⇢ share something that has been on your heart and mind lately: I hate Hate HATE gathering basting stitches SO MUCH 

🦴 ⇢ is there a piece of media that inspires your writing? Music.

🍅 ⇢ give yourself some constructive criticism on your own writing: what you think is bad, someone else will think is good. What you think is good, someone else will think is bad.

🐚 ⇢ do you like or dislike surprises? depends on a lot of factors here. Need more specifics.

🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here: *panics* Have 58 instead! *awkward jazz hands*

Lars had forgotten his keys at work. He had made it all the way to the door before he realized he couldn’t get into his flat - apartment according to Americans. He still called it the “wrong thing,” no matter how many times he was corrected. 

“Of fucking course.” He rolled his eyes as his shoulders slumped in defeat.

☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username? X-men fan. Jean Grey is a favorite. That's where all the Phoenix stuff in my original username came from. The one on here is a pseudonym.

🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them: I ask again. HOW DOES ONE TAG?

🌸 ⇢ do you have any pets? if you do, post some pictures of them: Cat and no. You don't deserve picture of my baby floof.

🎨 ⇢ link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it: ...am I allowed to say a whole book? If yes, then the Scarland Art Book that was literally just announced.

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately? Stuff I don't like.

[willbyersabyss]

The Upside Down is Multiple Mindscapes

Are there multiple Upside Downs? Is Brenner the Mind Flayer? Does Will’s connection to the Upside Down start in 1979? Follow me off the deep end. TFS spoilers below.

Before I start, all of my information on The First Shadow is from other people, not my own viewing of the play, so take it with a grain of salt! If you’ve seen the play and see things that are wrong or have more evidence, let me know!

Okay! So I’ve already made many posts theorizing about the possibility of the Upside Down being Will’s mind (highly recommend reading those first here and here), but after the play came out, this theory seemed to fall off. In the play, they reveal that the Upside Down (one of them at least) existed as far back as 1943. Here is my revised version of this theory: the Upside Down is not only Will’s mind, but a mix of minds, namely Henry’s and maybe even… Brenner’s?

The first victim of the Upside Down was in 1943: Brenner’s father, who entered and came back “wrong” after involvement in Project Rainbow (we’ll come back to this). Then Henry also stumbled upon the dimension for a few hours and returned with powers, just like Brenner’s dad. This is why Brenner pursues Henry.

I don’t know what the dimension looked like before 1979, but just the 1979 appearance is suspicious and indicates the possibility of multiple dimensions. Not to mention how Henry didn’t recognize the dimension El banished him to that he supposedly had already visited many years prior. If Henry slash Vecna ends up in yellow dimension via El, how did he end up in the blue dimension we see past 1983? The simple explanation would be the yellow is day and the blue is night, but I don’t think the writers like simple explanations so: the yellow dimension is someone’s mind that eventually connects with the blue dimension. I think the blue dimension is Will’s mind, red is Henry’s, and the yellow might be Brenner’s. We see Max stumble into Vecna’s mind when she’s in her own, so I imagine the Upside Down is functioning in the same way. These different minds are connected, but may not always be visible within the dimension. 

Wait let’s back up… why do I even think the Upside Down is a mind of some sorts? Well let’s listen to Becky here:

So the main goal of the lab was to expand the boundaries of the mind. Hm. Didn’t the play indicate that the real goal was to open a gate to another dimension? Okay but Brenner already opened a gate, the one Henry went through that gave him his powers. So if Brenner already has the solution for a gate, why does he keep pushing El to open them? And how did El open a gate to another dimension, something no one knew how to do, with her mind? How would the mind even open a damn gate if the first gate opened because of electromagnetic energy? Yeah. That shit is a mind. 

More questions: Why does the Mind Flayer want to control other people anyways? It’s just a random smoke monster from another dimension… right? Well no!

So if Henry was possessed by the Mind Flayer this entire time, what was the point of showing him controlling the smoke, alluding to him being the big bad? It’s not like this is something the characters pick up on to later be disproven. Dustin literally states that Vecna is working for the Mind Flayer, not the other way around. This was for us. Maybe they wanted to plant the idea that the Mind Flayer is controlled by someone, just not Vecna… but who?

(Vecna voice) Dr. Martin Brenner. Papa. 

There’s a lot of strange (yes) similarities between Brenner and the Mind Flayer. In the play, the Mind Flayer is possessing Henry and forcing him to kill others. At the same time, Henry is being told by Brenner that he should be killing animals and people to increase his power threshold. Now Brenner… how exactly do you know the same things the Mind Flayer knows? Very weird.  

Take it away ladies:

Exactly! It was all because of HIM. He took them, he killed them. HE DID IT!

Idk it’s just very convenient how the two seasons where the Mind Flayer is the focus, Brenner is nowhere to be found, but when the Mind Flayer isn’t the main villain of the season, Brenner comes back.

More Brenner Flayer weirdness: the Papa nickname. So we know the Mind Flayer is the source of the powers, the father if you will. Brenner is the one who gives all the lab children blood transfusions to gain their powers. In a way, he becomes another “parent” to the source of the powers since he is controlling who gets them, much like the Mind Flayer does with Henry and Will. He’s literally the papa of their powers.

What’s the likelihood of Brenner not attempting to give himself powers via Henry blood? Quite low. So maybe he found a way to control the Mind Flayer…

I find it quite interesting how Brenner woke up after being knocked out RIGHT as El began banishing Henry to the yellow dimension. Did Henry being banished to his section of the mind dimension wake him up? Hmm?

Well there you have it. Brenner felt that Henry was still alive, just like the feeling Will gets when the Mind Flayer is meddling with him.

Maybe the scene of Henry controlling the Mind Flayer particles is not only hinting at a human controller, but symbolic of Henry regaining his authority over Brenner. After Henry disappears, Brenner spends all of his time training El to open a gate again to find him, so Henry is really controlling Brenner’s life now.

But wouldn’t Brenner being the Mind Flayer kind of detract from Brenner’s whole “seeking greatness in others” deal? Not exactly. That’s pretty much what the Mind Flayer does. If the Mind Flayer could use its powers the way its power babies do, why doesn’t it? Why does it need to give others powers to do its dirty work? It flays others because it can’t do it alone. It’s seeking greatness in others the same way Brenner is described to by Henry.

Alright let's move on from Brenner Flayer and onto Will’s connection with the mind dimension. 

Will’s connection started in 1979. I already discussed in my previous Will’s mind theory post how Will got Vecna’s curse symptoms the (possible) night Vecna was banished by El. We all know how Will drew a rainbow spaceship thanks to Joyce’s speech. A rainbow ship? Very convenient how the original contact with the upside down was called Project Rainbow and involved a ship disappearing. Henry began drawing the Mind Flayer shape because he saw it in the other dimension. That memory plagued his mind. The same thing may have happened to Will. Perhaps Will heard rumors of a different rainbow ship and it got miscommunicated along the way. Maybe his mind connected with Brenner’s and he absorbed some of his memories of the project: aliens, rainbows, ships and combined them in his own way. A rainbow spaceship. 

I've said before that I think the Upside Down is stuck in 1983 because Will was trying to travel to a happy memory like Max did, transforming his section of the mind dimension into Hawkins. Henry's mind is stuck in the Creel house memory. Maybe in his possession, he tried to do the same thing, but the memory was already corrupted, creating a broken recreation of his house. The blank yellow parts of the dimension may be the minds of people who haven't attempted memory travel yet.

“All this time, we’ve been building it.” Building what exactly? The flesh monster? “All this time” and the time in question is a week. Unless that’s not what he’s talking about. The Upside Down? 

So we know that when Vecna kills, he absorbs his victims. The thing they’re building isn’t a big monster, it’s a collection of minds to gain more power. Every person that’s killed or kidnapped to the Upside Down is helping it be built, it’s shaping it, completing it. They’re taking other minds to build a larger dimension. This is why the current Upside Down looks so different from the one Henry was banished to, it wasn’t built upon yet.

What is the function of these vines? Why does he need them? What if the vines connect all of the different minds that make up the Upside Down. Each vine could be a mind he’s seeking out. With so many different minds, the dimension is likely vast and it would be ridiculous to travel across it all, so the vines are there as a shortcut. That’s what he was doing in that attic! He was physically attaching himself to their minds so he could remote kill. Why wouldn’t the Mind Flayer do remote killings before? Why bother sending the demogorgons to make tunnels? Maybe it couldn’t! It needs physical contact like the vines to actually complete a remote kill.

These vines follow Vecna in his visions. When Max travels to the Snow Ball, it begins to be corrupted with rotting vines. Clearly these vines have something to do with minds. Memories? Other minds? Who knows!

Wrapping this up here… this post was very unorganized, I just wanted to get all of my thoughts out. I really think the Upside Down is a collection of mindscapes merging together and Will's mind is the main source beneath Hawkins. Brenner's involvement may be questionable honestly, but that dimension has to be a mind. It makes too much sense to me!