#if you see an original fandom post for me before then (longer than like 2 lines) please shoot on sight

[yuri-puppies]

disaster alert: autistic aroace-spec dyke is trying to explain the eroticism of an implied handholding scene instead of working on her conference abstract or sorting the absolute mess she's made of next month's calendar

[clarenecessities]

He-man.org will close in 5 days.

He-man.org has been a staple of the Masters of the Universe community since the early days, originating as an email list that worked to document episodes before anything (not footage, not lists, nothing) was available online. It grew into a sprawling, multi-faceted beast of a thing, including an encyclopedia (an in-house wiki), merch lists, a marketplace, forums, anything you could think of.

Several years ago now, the main site went down for updates/maintenance. For a few weeks, we were told, maybe months. The forums remained open for fans to communicate, and barring a period of downtime earlier this year things were going smoothly.

Yesterday, the owner of the site, Val Staples, announced the site would be closed on November 14th, 2023. Six days later. We are currently attempting to contact him, to see if he’s interested in selling, and if he means closed as in “no new posts” or closed as in deleted entirely. Regardless of its eventual fate, the archiving of these forums is essential to preserving the history of the franchise, the fandom, and the brand.

TO SHE-RA (and MotU) FANS SPECIFICALLY: I have personally used these forums to answer questions that could be answered nowhere else. Had I not had access to them, I would never have been able to prove that Purrsia was fake, or found so much unpublished concept art, or discovered that Scott “Toyguru” Neitlich personally wrote Catra’s MOTUC bio (even if he’s put off answering my questions about it for over a year now). Forum members have conducted interviews with the likes of Jon Seisa, Cathy Larson, Janice Varney-Hamlin—essential figures in the very foundations of POP, and those interviews revealed and recorded priceless information for future generations (me! you! us!) to find. Did you know Cathy Larson named Adora? That she originally pushed for “Dorian”, after her own daughter? We cannot let this treasure trove disappear into the ether(ia).

TO THE UNAFFILIATED: Please help. Pretty please. If you’ve ever liked my art or my writing or my haphazard blogging, ever, at all, consider archiving just one board. Just one page. Literally anything helps. I am spiraling into madness & this is my library of Alexandria. The mythical one that was totally unique and persevered nowhere else and was destroyed in a single cataclysmic event. Pretty pretty please help.

HOW TO HELP:

Archive.org has several ways to upload shit but most of them are longer term than “a few days” so we’re focusing on two (which can be run simultaneously): Save Page Now, and browser extensions. From their help page:

1. Save Page Now

Put a URL into the form, press the button, and we save the page. You will instantly have a permanent URL for your page. Please note, this method only saves a single page, not the whole site.

We want to keep outlinks and screenshots wherever possible. The Archive does not keep your IP address, so your submission is anonymous.

2. Browser extensions and add-ons

Install the Wayback Machine Chrome extension in your browser. Go to a page you want to archive, click the icon in your toolbar, and select Save Page Now. We will save the page and give you a permanent URL.

One plus to installing the extension is that as you surf around, when you run into a missing page they will alert you if we have a saved copy.

More extensions, apps, and add-ons:

Firefox add-on

Safari Extension

iOS app

Android app

I strongly encourage you to use these tools even if you aren’t helping with this project/after it ends. Documenting and preserving information is essential in this day and age & The Internet Archive is at the heart of it. Please support them however you can.

I’m serious about paying you, though I may need more communication with folks I don’t know so we can coordinate/verify shit gets done. I think this is a worthwhile pursuit in itself but I recognize your time is valuable & like, people gotta eat. DM me if you’re interested and we’ll talk. I may need to adjust pay depending how many people bite but I’ll do what I can

[hey-u-weird]

Yaelokre, boundaries and superfans

I didn’t actually want to reactivate this account, but as I watched the whole Yaelokre thing unfold I just wanted to say my 2 cents

Stating that you don’t want people to make nsfw of your characters is a completely fair thing to say, and it sucks that people aren’t respecting your feelings

but ultimately you can’t control what people do with your own characters and how they will interpret your work, you can’t control thoughts, feelings, triggers and boundaries other than your own

which brings me to the next bit: boundaries. What are they? They’re something for you to set up and control. A very valid boundary is saying things like “I’m extremely uncomfortable with erotic works of my characters, please don’t send it to me”

But that is not what Keath (Yaelokre) has done

Yaelokre has asked their majorly underage fans to go out of their way to send and to report them “inappropriate, offensive material and or misinfo” about their work.

This is incredibly unprofessional and dangerous, as they’re sending minors into adult spaces to report nsfw and to play vigilante and go “pedo hunting”, as if this is a fun thing minors can do as a hobby.

Sure, the artist most likely didn’t intend this to happen, and they didn’t specifically say minors should report nsfw media, but the post was seen by more than 90.000 people, so of course minors will take it as a call to action to “hunt” for it, bringing themselves in danger.

What’s worse, not only is Yaelokre abusing copyright laws (even if they registered their characters for copyright, other people can still create fan works of their characters under “fair use”), they have been completely silent about their fans’ behavior, essentially greenlighting harassment, violent and graphic threats being sent to anyone who is or might be upsetting Kaeth

TW // disturbing threats , mention of violence and genitalia mutilation

it’s really interesting, Yaelokre wants control over the fandom and people who make art, yet it is superfans who accuse people who made those (currently 6) erotic artworks and those who defend the right to make such art as unable to control themselves.

this begs the question, why isn’t the creator saying anything? Because they’re currently blocking everyone who even mentions those threats. This confirms Yaelokre is aware of what is happening, but they will not control their violent fan base because they’re helping them take control of their boundaries like “vigilantes”

And while these toxic superfans have only gone after the artworks of erotic nature which exist in the fandom, since the artist has stated that “misinfo and offensive material” also upsets them, it will only be a matter of time before even genuine, sfw only fans are going to feel the wrath of them eventually

Because as long as something exist that could make someone uncomfortable, it’s bad, which also raises the question why art is made at all then since any art can make someone uncomfortable

I would also like to mention that this is an incredibly toxic way of handling your own work. Original characters might be your own, but they are merely an extension of yourself and not you, nor your “children”. Yaelokre has implied that this mistreatment of their OCs is akin to actual child abuse. This will absolutely lead to people sending “offensive” art to child protection organizations too, hindering their job

And I completely understand how upsetting it is to see material you don’t like, many big and small artists have voiced their feelings about it, but this attempt to coercively control people who make art the or an artist doesn’t like will only lead to them crashing and burning out.

It is far easier to avoid nsfw, fanart/fanfics and pretend it doesn’t exist because you really can’t fight against it, once you make art for others, once your work is “famous” enough that it accumulates millions of subscribers and fans all over the world and go on tours, then it’s no longer your own little project

And if you can’t handle the responsibility of being tactful with your fandom (stop treating total strangers in the fandom like they’re your friends, they are NOT) and attempt to control them because your feelings were hurt, then maybe you should step back from social media, let someone else take care of it and focus on creating what you like away from all the triggering things that can upset you

and really though, was it really necessary to go nuclear over 6 pieces of erotic artwork?

needless to say however, please leave the artist alone. We can’t force them to see how damaging this behavior is to themselves and to the existence of (their) fandom as a whole, they’ll have to come to this realization themselves.

once you, as creator, attempt to sue someone for an idea, headcanons, theories or art you don’t like, then there will be no fandom left

[hinamie]

wanted 2 make a bit of an update post to get a few things off my chest bc i feel like i've been a bit quiet on here compared 2 normal and for that i apologize gsdhjgfdsj I promise I will do better at being chronically online

in all seriousness though, ever since the jjk manga ended, I've started experiencing th dilemma where I am feeling less inspired but also twice as pressured to continue living up to the standard I set for myself by being so active while the manga was ongoing. i'm finding it's taking longer than it should to finish pieces that are not challenging enough to warrant the extra hours, it's harder to come up with what I think are original concepts, and overall i'm just anxious that the high i've been riding since april has finally begun its descent.

I know logically tht these expectations i'm worried about being unable to meet are entirely self-imposed. I /know/ that not every piece needs to be a profound character tribute packed with symbolism and hidden meanings, but tht doesn't change the fact that it still feels really disappointing when I try to dig for that emotional component that I was really loving in the art that was inspired by later manga chapters, only to come up short. I'm feeling myself defaulting back to drawing My Ship Posed Cutely, or Character Lineup In Cute Outfits, whereas before I was really feeling like my art was touching something beyond just surface-level aesthetic. This isn't to say that I don't think I can ever get back to creating those harder-hitting pieces, or that I /dislike/ my more lighthearted aesthetically-driven work, I'm just frustrated at myself for feeling like I have to now dig for what used to be so readily available.

there's no conclusion to this story gfhjsgd this is rly just a vent post. i've been doing this long enough to know that this is just part of what happens with any creative hobby. periods of feeling uninspired unfortunately come with the territory, n it makes sense that those feelings wld be exacerbated now that the series i take my main inspiration from has come to a standstill for the time being. but I don't feel burnt out on jjk yet, which is reassuring in that it means I know I still Want to draw the characters, no matter how boring or overdone all of my current ideas feel. i'm in no rush to move on from jjk as my main fandom either, although I do see myself sprinkling in more art for other series to pass the time n keep me Inspired while I wait for s3. so for those of you who found me through my art (probably most of u), i guess also pls take this as both warning and reassurance that you most likely Will see me start drawing for other fandoms in the coming months, but don't take it as meaning I've abandoned drawing for jjk

and as always, thank u all for sticking with me and for all the support and lovely words on my art, it rly does make my days brighter <3

[wings-of-fire-confessions]

Okay, imma be real? I think this fandom gets way too upset over characterization differences between books (this'll be a long one just let me explain).

I see a lot of posts in the WOF fandom about how certain characters got ruined in the next books or how their characterizations were completely screwed over. A lot of posts also are like, "Oh, Tui messed up X character in this book so badly!" Or "All their personality has changed in this book, what happened to my favorite character?" and so on like that.

This kind of thing, ESPECIALLY after rereading the series recently, then coming back to the fandom, pisses me off to NO END for a couple of reasons.

1. Tui wasn't "ruining" your favorite characters personality in the next book, because the focus of the next book wasn't the character in question. The spotlight is on another character entirely, and trying to micromanage THAT many personalities to their truest form is INCREDIBLY difficult.

2. Plotting out character personalities is a GRUELING process, coming from someone who does a lot of writing. ESPECIALLY if it's original characters, because then you can't just pull from fandom or canon, you gotta do that shit yourself. And over the course of the canon, their personality is gonna change!

This brings me to my last point and probably the biggest reason:

3. EVERY BOOK IS FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE.

This has been a STAPLE of the Wings of Fire books from the VERY BEGINNING. With every new book, we as readers are jumping from one dragon's mental space to the next, learning about their traits and quirks and how they perceive the world around them, every single time we pick up the next book in the series. It's what helps give us those deeper insights into the characters that yall get so angry about when they aren't immediately represented in the next book, when that dragon is no longer our spotlight.

Also, when we are learning about the other dragons before we jump to their perspectives, the character that we are reading about is already making assumptions and assigning traits that they think correlate with the character in question! We are seeing the world through their eyes and thoughts, so when we move to another perspective, that dragon is doing the exact same thing, even though now we know more about one of the other characters!

And then the fandom gets hissy when the first character gets relegated into the background and assigned some base personality traits, even though that's exactly what happened before.

Personally, I think the ones who suffer from this the MOST are Clay in Arc 1 and Moon in Arc 2. Clay, according to fans, gets boiled down to nothing but his love for food, even though we see in his, Sunny's, and Peril's perspectives that he's more than that. His behaviors also directly correlate to why he gets that kind of background trait (although that's a whole other rant), and every time I see someone saying that Clay got screwed over by characterization, I take psychic damage.

And Moon. God, yall, Moon gets it THE WORST FROM YOU. I've seen SO MANY POSTS about how she got boiled down to nothing but a love triangle piece in the later arcs, which is only partly true, but we also see from ALL OF THOSE PERSPECTIVES (Qibli and Winter specifically) that the traits they're assigning her are both different aspects of how her character worked in the first book and what two lovestruck, moons-blinded dumbasses are seeing and choosing to view her as.

Her book even SHOWS how much of a NIGHTMARE it would be to have every character be deep and know their inner thoughts at all times. Moon herself gets mentally and physically overwhelmed near CONSTANTLY during the majority of her book, and I'm not even technically factoring in Darkstalkers' influence.

All of that to say, Wings of Fire fandom, is to stop losing your SHIT over how your characters might seem flat or not like they were in their books. All of these perspectives are different, and if you motherfuckers actually took some time to reread the books while actively LOOKING for those hints of your silly guys being the same silly guys, just from another dragon's POV, then maybe yall wouldn't be so pissed off about characterization in the books nearly HALF as often.

I don't even care how much discourse this is gonna spark I just felt the incredible urge to tell yall to use those skills you learned in English class and chill the FUCK OUT on this topic.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. Now go use your eyes :>

.

[peachi-blossom]

My thoughts on Hazbin Hotel as a non HH fan

Originally, I was just here to watch people criticizing Hazbin Hotel. But when the recent controversies came in, I feel like I have to step into the fandom rabbit hole.

As a non Hazbin Hotel fan, I've watched the pilot, read the prequel comics, watched the ADDICT music video, and finally the show itself. (I've watched the show on March 15th.)

NOTE: I didn't watch the show on TV so I watched it on a pirated website instead and read the transcript because no way am I watching this in front of my parents, my siblings, or Grandma. This is my personal opinion on the show.

Pilot: So Hell is basically Earth except it's painted red and inhabited by demons. The background has too much red, but not as bad that it makes my eyes bleed. I don't like how the female characters have the same color scheme except Vaggie and Niffty (pilot only). For example, Charlie, Katie Killjoy, and Cherri Bomb. The only two funny parts of the pilot is when the top hat demon says "Wow! That was s***!" after Charlie sings Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow and when Angel pokes his head in as Vaggie is giving Alastor a warning. I didn't like the daddy joke. It just sounded bad. Also, why is there a joke about harlequin babies?

Prequel comics that are no longer canon: Basically the prequel comics focuses on Angel Dust and Alastor.

For Dirty Healings, it shows how Angel Dust first met Charlie and Vaggie. I knew that Vaggie's name was named after a uh, you know. Ugh… Why did Vivienne Medrano had to name her that? Also I hate Valentino.

As for A Day In The After Life, it just shows why Alastor is the most feared demon in Hell. Also he swears after seeing Vox.

ADDICT music video: I genuinely have no thoughts on this music video. I think this was just bait for the SA and CSA victims. Sorry for those who like the MV.

Episode 1: This is worse than the pilot. I did NOT like the beginning part. It's biblically inaccurate for multiple reasons, but I feel like a few people only talk about this one thing. Sin didn't exist until Adam and Eve ate the fruit of knowledge of good and evil. Not only that, but it's also misogynistic too because it was just Eve who ate it. What makes it misogynistic is that it implies that all women would have to bear the sins of Eve ALONE. There's rampant swearing and sex jokes. Also, isn't Archangel Michael supposed to be the leader of the Army of God? Anyways I'm siding with the angels.

Episode 2: The red is so bright that it hurts my eyes. It doesn't help the fact that Alastor blends in the background. Oh yeah, when Vox tells Sir Pentious to kill himself, it made me feel sad because it reminded me of the Shay incident. The time when the stans drove Shay to kill themself because they were uncomfortable with the large age gap of HuskerDust.

Episode 3: Why? Why is there a BDSM sex dungeon?! I know that was Angel's idea, but still. Why?! I seriously have no words. When Zestial says "What troubles thou?" I was like "Huh?". It should be "What troubles thee?". I think his Old English has grammatical errors. The Egg Boiz, Carmilla, and Zestial are bearable because they never said a swear word. Off topic, but Velvette's swirl streaks on her hair makes me think of a swirl ice cream.

Episode 4: Before the show came out, I saw SlayQueenArt's post on Twitter (X) that says Vivienne Medrano hired Raphielle II, aka R2ninjaturtle, who has a rape fetish and isn't a SA victim. As someone who is formerly addicted to porn, this episode is insulting on so many levels. I didn't watch the whole Poison sequence because of that. And don't get me started on Loser Baby. I hate this song so much. It felt like it is blaming on SA and CSA victims for being SA'd. Like it is blaming me for being addicted to porn on and off when I was EIGHT. I know there are some victims who like episode 4 so I will leave them alone. I seriously hate how Charlie behaves like a toddler at the end. No grown adult should behave like a toddler like she did because being raped isn't a silly thing to cry over. Like, hello? She is the supposed to be the main character. Oh yeah, there was NO warning for the episode when the show premiered and it triggered the victims who watched it. SA and CSA victims are not losers. Former porn addicts are not losers. Nobody is a loser. I am NOT a loser.

Episode 5: Wow, Vivienne Medrano really turned Lucifer into King George from Veggietales. I guess this is what happens when King George gave in into his obsession with rubber ducks. I didn't like Hell's Greatest Dad because of the unnecessary rivalry between Lucifer and Alastor, but at least Mimzy ended the song. Oh boy, this is where I hate Alastor now. No really, he is Vivienne Medrano's first edgelord oc. He has gone full edgelord and is basically a Bill Cipher wannabe now. His full demon form is not even scary compared to Bill's final form. He no longer stands out from the main cast even if he rarely swears. Mimzy is basically the embodiment of the hooked nose stereotype. Wow, the embodiment of a Jew stereotype. How racist.

Episode 6: That was an absolute slap in the face at SA and CSA victims and me when Sir Pentious got SA'd! Seriously, Vivienne Medrano doesn't even care for the victims at this point! What's worse is that he is based off of her old ex-friend, DollCreep. Why did she whitewashed St. Peter?! I know there are white Jews, but he was born in ancient Israel so I wouldn't think he'll be looking like a white man with blonde hair and blue eyes. How come angels don't know how souls get to Heaven?! We got the Ten Commandments! We got Jesus Christ who took our place to die for our sins so we wouldn't have to bear these sins! Emily and Sera are bearable because you know. I hate how Niffty is being treated like a child when she's NOT. What's worse is that Niffty is supposed to be Japanese because of how people INFANTILIZED Asian people, especially women.

Episode 7: My issue with Out for Love is that when Carmilla tells Vaggie that she should fight for love and not for vengeance. Well, Vaggie always fight for love and never for vengeance. In Whatever it Takes, she literally says that she'll always protect Charlie. Where is the vengeance in that? That is poor character writing. Rosie is basically the blood libel stereotype where the Jews are cannibals. Again, that's just racist against Jews.

Episode 8: I thought the finale was pointless because there were no stakes and Sir Pentious' heroic sacrifice was comically anti-climatic. Like, why did Sir Pentious's so called friends cared about him when they didn't help him at ALL in episode 6?! I'm not a fan of the CherriSnake ship because Cherri only becomes interested in him because he has two "joysticks". Not to mention he kissed her without consent and she thinks it's hot after that. The problem with More Than Anything (Reprise) is that Vaggie reassures Charlie that she changed many lives, but she only changed one. I'm so glad Adam defeated Alastor first. There is absolutely no way Lucifer slept with Eve. Oof for Lute and Adam. You both fought well until the end.

The character designs are awful. Every male character basically looks like The Once-ler from The Lorax 2012 movie except for Adam (I know Alastor doesn't have a top hat, but still gives off the vibes. Zestial is more Burtonesque.). Not to mention they are all skinny twigs except for Adam (I think). The female characters in Hell have the same color scheme except Vaggie (again). For example, Charlie, Katie Killjoy, Mimzy (though her dress is a little darker), Cherri Bomb, and Niffty (show only). They have too much pinks, reds, yellows, whites, and blacks. I love pink, but this is too much. What's worse is that they blend in the background and again it hurts my eyes. There is NO color variety and I feel like my eyes are burning.

That's my thoughts on the show.

[onnoffwrites]

This was a short convo in server (but also included me asking my friend Es bc they've been in the fandom for longer and have access to official Thai translation). BUT, here's another tale of mistranslations of hakuba!

In the chapter where saguru used his family's lab, depending on when u joined the fandom and read the magic kaito manga, u might remember him as saying "my uncle's laboratory" OR "my grandfather's laboratory". Now, why would this be the case?

Let's clear things up properly first. The original wording of this line was "uncle's laboratory" specifically the kanji used is one used for "younger brother of father" (well according to my friend who has the Thai books but also the jp books bc she knows the mistranslation and she reads jp).

So where did the "grandfather" bit come from? As you may suspect from me mentioning it twice now, the official Thai translation.

Now some of you might go "hold up, but I read the eng fan translation, what does this have to do with Thai?" You see, my guys, my dudes, my girly pops, from the server convo I gained insights into the past of mk fandom, and learnt, that the OG eng fan translator of mk was non other than a Thai fan herself, Jane. This honestly explains so much. Bc before the great crash and burn and rebirth of mangadex, there was like 3? 2? Diff translations for mk. And one of them is like has Thai sfx texts all over instead of the usual jp sfx or even eng sfx. SO! Depending on when you get into mk, u might have been reading Janes translations, which was based off of the official Thai translation. WHICH, mistakenly translated "uncle" to "grandfather". Bc apparently those two kanji looks very similar. Whoops

That is all. I just found fandom history interesting, especially when it's the fandom I'm in and I wasn't around for any of this stuff. And now a lot of the things that confused me makes sense. (Shout out to icka for bringing this up that one time. I just realized I didn't post this finding, which would fit right along with that other mistranslation post I made lmao.)

[jaime-brienne-fic-exchange]

The Handy Dandy Posting Guide

Posting Guide

As hard as it is to believe, we are here: the opening of the Jaime x Brienne 2024 Fic Exchange collection! I know, I know, it feels like prompts went out yesterday. But it's okay if you aren't quite done yet--the posting window is two weeks, so there's still time!

However, if you do know you cannot complete a fic please reach out to me as soon as possible so a knight writer can be arranged. Life happens and there’s no shame in needing a little help.

Now with the collection opening soon, here’s some FAQ on posting!

How does posting work?

There are two options: (1) Go to the collection here, and in the top right there will be a ‘Post to Collection’ button (2) Upload your fic to ao3 as usual, and make sure you enter JaimeBrienneFicExchange2024 in the collection field. From here, the process is the same. Fill in the relevant details and ensure you put your recipient’s AO3 name in the ‘Gift this work to’ field. Double check your original prompt to ensure you have the correct name. A few people have different tumblr/AO3 names and we don’t want any fics to go astray. If you’ve already made an AO3 draft before the today, make sure you add it to the collection and put in your recipient’s username in the fields mentioned above, and make sure you change the date when posting (or your fic will be buried). Be aware it can cause some shenanigans where the fic may not appear at the top of the page.  After that, it’s as simple as clicking post! Your fic will be submitted to the exchange and automatically be made anonymous. 

I can see my name, something went wrong!

Deep breath. As the author, when you open your own fic (posted or in a draft), it will say ‘Anonymous [YourUsername]’, but to other users it will simply say ‘Anonymous’. If that is not how it appears, double check that it is added to the correct collection and reach out if you still have a problem. Author’s names will not be revealed until October 7th, when I click the button to reveal them. Feel free to reply to comments during that week. As long as you are logged into the account that posted the fic, all of your comments will also be anonymised. 

What about Lil’ Oathkeepers?

I’m glad you asked, imaginary exchange participant that’s totally not me talking to myself! A Lil’ Oathkeeper is a gift that can be any size and shape. It can be art! A video edit! A moodboard! A fic shorter than 1000 words! Or… a fic longer than a 1000 words, but you probably know that. Anyone (you don’t even have to be signed up to the exchange) can make and gift a Lil’ Oathkeeper. I’ll be releasing the prompt spreadsheet and posting instructions once all gifts are posted.

Can I thank my beta in the notes of my story?

Absolutely you can! The betas of the fandom work HARD, they definitely deserve recognition. Just be mindful of including anything in your notes that might reveal who you are. You could choose to name your beta, or just thank them generally and add their name after authors have been revealed.

What if I don’t receive a story?

Everyone gets a story. Authors have until September 30th to post a complete fic, so chances are they just haven’t posted yet. It also might be because your fic needed a knight writer to write it. If this is the case, know that your knight is probably working very diligently to complete it, but might not be able to complete it within the posting window. If it looks like your fic will be significantly delayed (like until after authors are revealed) we will contact you directly to let you know what’s up.

What’s the etiquette around thanking my author? 

It can be hard to know what to say when you get a gift fic. Maybe it takes the prompts somewhere you hadn't imagined, or maybe you love it so much high-pitched pterodactyl noises are all you can manage. Maybe it's both. But it is good manners to leave a kudos and a comment. It doesn't have to be a long comment, and length does not equal love, but your author worked hard and deserves to have that effort recognised. And if you don't quite have time to read your gift right now? Please pop in and say so if you can!

Can I promote my story?

Please don’t do this until authors have been revealed through the collection. Once they have, go wild!

Can I rec my gift story?

Absolutely! Share the love! You can choose to rec it while it’s still anonymous, or wait until the authors are revealed. It’s up to you.

Have another question that hasn’t been answered in the FAQs? Just reach out! I can be reached via Tumblr, Discord, or jbficexchange@gmail.com and will get back to you ASAP!

I'm sure the panic is kicking in, but I promise you have time to create and share something wonderful. Keep calm and have fun, I can't wait to see what you have written!

[lola-andheruniverse]

Anon who asked me about "sides" in the caryl fandom and which one I place myself on because you believe I "switched sides"/changed my opinions:

I'm not posting your ask because you named people and that's not something I do on my blog or generally agree with. The only instance you'll find me naming or tagging people is in fic recs posts, so that caryl authors who are on Tumblr can read them and be found by readers who'd like to reach out.

If you have a problem with the opinions, feelings and/or behaviors of a particular individual/blog, I ask you to 1) please reach out to them directly so you can express your disagreement or 2) use your block button, so you no longer see content you don't like. I believe that our fandom is big enough to hold every single caryler out there who wants to join in, regardless of their opinions, posts or feelings. People should feel free and safe to post whatever they want, either 'positive' or 'negative'. I have no problem with anyone in the fandom and I respect everyone's opinions, even when I disagree with some stuff I read.

Please, I ask you to not use my ask box to indirectly badmouth, bully or attack any caryler.

That said, the answer to your question is after the cut.

I'm not on either "side" and never have been. I'm just another enthusiastic fan that loves Carol and Daryl. Since joining the Tumblr fandom just before the pandemic (I was a lurker for many years), I've been using my own critical thinking skills and knowledge of AMC's shenanigans to form my own opinions.

I'm confident in TBOC because I believe there are concrete reasons that support how I'm feeling, from Melissa's return, to filming spoilers and rumors, to Tribeca and SDCC. You're free to agree or disagree with my interpretation of these facts, and to feel positive or negative about it.

I also continue to believe that AMC/Gimple hijacked the original caryl spinoff to highlight the richonne spinoff because it follows similar decisions made before to give Rick more screen time at the expense of all the other TWD characters. I believe Melissa had no choice but to opt out of the original spin-off and negotiate new terms to ensure that Carol's (and therefore Caryl's) story was respected and told with integrity. To me, that's why there were things to be sorted out, as she said, and why she lengthily discussed Carol with Zabel and co. even before scripts for the France spinoff were written. She was involved since the beginning, yes, but she only signed on when she got what she wanted. There is no greater supporter of Carol than Melissa and we have known this for years. I'm glad she's back in her own terms. I believe it was a pretty difficult time for her, as she expressed it by basically refusing to promote 11C or the series finale, and by not saying anything about the whole mess on SM, while other cast members/friends such as Laurie Holden and Khary Payton spoke out in her behalf.

I believe AMC tried to make money off just Daryl because he's their original character and it backfired in their faces. They also made a mistake using Norman to save face as he should have been protected from the SM backlash. Norman has never been a reliable narrator and I always take every thing he says with a grain of salt, but I don't think he's intentionally malicious. I appreciate how much he loves Daryl and is considerate of his fans, even when I don't approve of his behavior. I just wish he would keep his frustrating mouth shut. I believe Norman had lots of input in S1 and that he initially thought he could pull it off without Melissa. But there's no Daryl without Carol and no Carol without Daryl. It's crystal clear how much Norman's happy for having Melissa by his side, and how much they love each other and are excited for S2. I'm glad they are reunited, both for them and for us, but I believe everything worked out in the end because Melissa didn't give up on getting what she wanted. I believe she had lots of inputs in S2 and is satisfied and happy with the final result.

So, that's how I believe things have gone these last two years. Again, feel free to agree or disagree with my interpretation of facts. None of us will ever know exactly what happened, but each of us can decide what to believe based on our own judgment of the facts. That's what I do and will continue to do.

In the end, for me, the important thing is that Melissa and Norman are happy and that Carol and Daryl get their hard-earned happy ending. It's everything I ever wanted and I'm going to enjoy it. I hope you enjoy it too.

That's it. Caryl on!

[tatertato]

life series smp winners playlists part 1

okay so i've been just absolutely brainrotting over this for like weeks now and its time to finally post it!

i've basically just been compiling songs that i think fit each of the life series winners, and they're either songs i've seen work really really well in animatics already or songs that would probably work really well, but are less popular or not associated with this fandom (yet)

i'll be linking+listing them here as well as providing little snippets of explanation for why i think the song fits, but i don't feel like making actual spotify playlists or smth, so if anyone else wants to do that, be my guest.

ofc i still had trouble finding good songs for some of them- if anyone seeing this has a good idea that i missed, lmk and i'll update these posts (no promises tho)

i was originally gonna put all of them into one post, but fortunately i have come to my senses, so this is part 1. here we go!

update:

pt 2 (LL!scott)

pt 3 (DL!pearl)

3rd Life: Grian

Eighth Wonder - Lemon Demon: this song gives major Watcher!Grian vibes imo

Extra clever Earth-bound spirit Ghost in the form Of a mongoose (watcher in the form of a player)

Hello, I'm here I'm living in the wall I know I might be small (common headcanons of short grian, also living surrounded by cactus walls!)

Jim, let me go I watch like Hell (self-explanatory)

2. A Big Day for Grimley - AJJ: this one is because of this animatic, and also the lyrics fit the characters almost too well

I went back to the desert, little Midwest in me And now I am colder than I used to be (it feels like him reflecting on his experiences in 3L)

I came back to the desert, and the desert came into me And now there’s a quietness, and it’s deafening (returned to the desert for the final duel, and now that he's the only one left, the absence of his partner is deafening)

i could go on much longer about this song, but i feel like the animatic sums it up really well so GO WATCH THAT GO GO GO

3. Take Me to War - The Crane Wives: i know that everyone and their mother has done desertduo crane wives, but i've yet to see anyone use this song, which is a shame since its one of my favorites!

I've earned myself a reputation That my bark is much worse than my bite But I keep snapping at Goliath's hands With all of my tiny might (technically, he's not red, and also his traps keep failing, so the threats are pretty empty, but that will not stop him from being a menace)

Take me to war Honey, I dare you I'll be the sweetest thing To ever scare you Give me a fight I can't resist Give me something to break with my fists Take me to war Honey, I dare you (same thing as the last one, but i had to put the chorus in this post, it's just too perfect)

So I will leave it where it's standing And instead I will find me a match I'll turn it all to kindling I'll burn it all down to ash (we love a bit of arson in this fandom)

4. Community Gardens - The Scary Jokes: this is watcher!grian again, sorry not sorry- i do have a really vivid image in my head of an animatic for this song tho (the brainrot goes deep, i cannot escape)

Full disclosure, I am a monster A creature of despair, not that that should be a cause for concern (its so watcher coded im gnawing on the walls)

You'll be fine, you honeycomb Who could ever hurt you? Who could be so cold? You'll be fine, oh, honey pie Who could ever hurt you? Who could be so unkind? (ok so remember when i said i had an animatic idea about two sentences ago? ya. so i imagine this part as watcher!grian going through and causing the final deaths of all the winners (except scar we'll get there i promise) for instance, smiting scott at the end of LL, severing pearl's soulmate string in DL, and checking the time left before killing martyn in LimL)

The culmination of man's mistakes came the day The sun ran so hot, it turned the desert to glass (this is the whole "hail mary" thing where they blew up the whole desert and still didn't kill anyone)

If there's something to be learned from all these losers It's that the price that you pay For arrogance and a false sense of immunity Is to face the wrath of a dying star (false sense of immunity is scar's no kill passes, reputation points, etc., which really didn't mean all that much in the end (see: Bdubs))

5. Passerine - The Oh Hellos: aside from the obvious bird symbolism (passerine are songbirds), the overall theme of this song fits the character pretty well! (i think it could also apply to DL jimmy if you squint)

You were the song that I'd always sing You were the light that the fire would bring But I can't shake this feeling that I was only Pushing the spear into your side again (3L typical desert/light/sun/fire imagery, with a bonus helping this time of 3L typical self doubt and/or survivor's guilt! you love to see it)

My palms and fingers still reek of gasoline From throwing fuel to the fire of that Greco-Roman dream Purifying the holy rock to melt the gilded seams It don't bring me relief, no it don't bring me nothing (more arson what can i say- also the hollow existentialism that comes with killing your friends)

When he comes a knocking at my door What am I to do, What am I to do, oh lord (ok i like to imagine this line as grian realizing that scar's SL win means he goes to hang out with the winners now, meaning uhoh reunion time! that's about to be awkward!)

6. Do It All The Time - IDKHBTFM: yeah i know it doesn't seem like it fits at first, but i think parts of it captures the spontaneous silliness of 3L pretty well

No reason why I'm only doing anything I want to do Because I do it all the time We're taking over the world A little victim-less crime (making monopolies (or trying to) really just because)

Now we're so young But we're probably gonna die It's so fun We're so good at selling lies (this one's pretty on the nose, but you get the idea)

and that's all for grian! stay tuned for LL!scott next!

[thecoolerliauditore]

It might be a point of priviledge on my part, but I haven't really noticed the colorism.... situation? Does it qualify as a problem? Before. Like. C!Scar is very much white to me but he's just tan like a surfer dude to me. He's a california dude and spends a lot of time in the sun. Maybe he has a hispanic grandpa, who knows.

I guess it is a good thing to stay mindful about. Even if it does scare me away a little from drawing poc characters because I as a white cracker don't wanna misrepresent ethnicities

So this ask is interesting to me and I want to make it very clear here that I'm not trying to make fun of anon, as much as point out some things here that I find worth pulling apart:

(it might help to read this reblog)

One is that while this may not be a direct response to my post, I remember making doubly sure when I made it that I made it as clear as possible I didn't want to frame it as a "fandom issue" as much as a consequence of colorism that I've noticed pop up in a fandom context.

I think culturally we're so fixated on making ourselves perfectly inoffensive, that pointing out any implication of any "-ism" in our art comes with an expectation that it's always going to be followed up with a rallying for "fixing" it or a shaming for it existing in the first place, that it may be having the opposite effect where people no longer want to discuss or interact with these things in the long run at all. As you have mentioned with the discouragement of drawing non-white characters.

This is an attitude that I find. A little troubling of recent, one of the few times I blocked someone over a fandom take was when I found a very passive aggressively worded post telling beginner artists to not share their Bigb art if they don't know how to draw black people well enough. That is ludicrous to me, how good is good enough? How will you ever get feedback if your art never sees the light of day? Why are you actively discouraging people from celebrating a black creator? etc.

It's interesting to me that every other hallmark of beginner artists are seen as endearing if not a little "cringe" but struggling with certain ethnic features that have been historically left out of or portrayed offensively in media for years is seen as some sort of moral failing on the artist's part.

So to answer your question of "does it qualify as a problem?" I answer: that's up for you to decide. I'm simply pointing out a trend I've noticed and hinting at its roots in colorism.

Second is the description of Scar, specifically "maybe he has a hispanic grandpa" because I'm not sure if you're aware, anon, but that is more or less Bdubs' genetic makeup if we believe what he says in that one stream clip and his Assyrian roots are the entire reason people take Bdubs whitewashing much more seriously than Joel/Skizz/Scar whitewashing.

It's partially what I hinted at in the original post as well, that Skizz for example is White by modern standards (probably. afaik) but his skintone is visibly more olive irl, hence why I believe the language we use for race is flawed in general.

So the questions I'm proposing are: why is it offensive to whitewash Bdubs, but not Skizz, when the only big difference between the two is 1. a pfp and 2. OUR views on what "counts" as white (not theirs, as demonstrated by Bdubs himself and his mid-stream race crisis)? Does whiteness make one immune to the effects of colorism? What is "whiteness", how do we define it? Does that definition change when it comes to interpreting characters?

These are all questions that I believe are unnecessary, but good to ponder.

For those uninitiated though, I think it might be better for now to simply draw as you see fit and look into the concept of white guilt, as well as its counter-productivity when it comes to working towards racial harmony. And please, for the love of god, keep making imperfect art.

[anoctoberpepper]

So a quick update: Over these next two months I’m going to be putting effort into original fiction so my AO3 posting will likely be slowing down. Disappearing off the face of the planet is pretty normal for me (I’m a chronic Discord ghoster 😭), but I will do my best to stay active here.

Please continue to hit me up with any of your favorite DnDads headcanons and ideas! I still definitely want to talk and write in this fandom! 

Sappy love under the cut. TL;DR I’m insane and you all have made me feel seen. 

So I’ve had a weird five years, the middle of which involved being hospitalized for the first (and god willing only) time, for mental health issues. I had a major depressive disorder that turned into a late in life diagnosis of “Schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type with mixed features” (I was actively delusional for 8 months, fun times). I have frilly diagnoses around that including generalized anxiety disorder, and an unspecified personality disorder. I say this because I don’t get to say it all that often. In my day-to-day life I have to keep that part of me tucked away so deep down that bringing it out to see the light of day hurts. Even though it’s a big part of how I relate to the world and it genuinely affects every day of my life. 

My closest friends barely understand my diagnosis. It’s hard to talk about. I either feel embarrassed or I’m worried that giving details will make people uncomfortable. Or maybe they’ll pity me, or worse they might not trust me anymore. Schizophrenia and Bipolar have hefty stigmas. So I don’t talk about it in any detail. 

But I need to talk about it. 

I was reading an original fiction piece I wrote before my diagnosis and realized that the main character, who was under the thrall of some violent magic at the time, was feeling exactly like how I would describe mixed mania now. It told me two things, 1) I was feeling horrible for a lot longer than I thought, and 2) I’ve been trying to describe it through my writing for just as long. 

I’ve written a lot over the last ten-ish years, and as all writers do I’ve tossed some of that writing into the void of agents' inboxes hoping for a bite. (I have received half a bite, one time). I write because I want to understand myself and because I love stories, but there’s something unique about having someone validate what you put on the page. Like “yeah. I get it, I feel that too.” 

I want to be able to yell my words to the world so someone will yell back. 

You all have yelled back. 

Genuinely and truly with all of my heart I could not have asked for a better gift this last year than having people feel seen by my writing.

I’m finally pulling my way back up from a really deep pile of crap and part of that journey was being able to write about Lark and Grant and Terry. Them learning to ask for what they need, and taking care of themselves and letting themselves be taken care of has taught me how to do it. 

I’ve found words to describe the mumbling voices I hear when I forget to take my meds, and the crawling-skin feeling of mania. I learned how to ask for things even if it’s as stupid as “can you walk to the kitchen with me so I don’t have to go through the process of making a bagel by myself.” Having characters take care of themselves has trained me to take care of myself. Utterly ridiculous, but absolutely profound. 

Another part of that journey I must mention is having people say, “yeah, that’s what it’s like for me too. I hear you. I see you. We’re in this together.” 

It is a gift I didn’t know I needed. People don’t usually talk about their mental health issues and when they do it’s generally not in a way I can relate to. I’m not really textbook anything, but I am some of everything. Being able to describe the pain of random mental health things and having other people say they’ve felt that way too has made me feel less alone. 

I don’t know how to end this rant, only that I would be remiss if I didn’t say I sincerely appreciated every comment and interaction I’ve had over the last year with you all. I feel comforted in a way I never thought I would. I feel joy in participating in this community, and a deep feeling of hope that things will keep getting better (and then worse and then better again). 

I love you all. Thank you for everything, and I hope to be back up posting as soon as I get some original fictioning done. 

(Or maybe I’ll get sick of trying to write my own stuff and I’ll be back here in a week. Who knows.) 

P.S. I’m still planning to work on Picking up the Pieces, it just might be slower than my usual pace

[despairforme]

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

[ Oh man this post got long (and surprisingly serious) fjfjfjffjjf I wrote this 2 days ahead of time because I was so excited about it ahahaha --- I'm wishing you all a wonderful 2024!!!!!

2023 was a year of surprising development for me. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, or if I'm simply moving into a different mindset. I loved this year! It was awesome, and I'm so happy to see that I've written MORE for Nnoitra this year than I did in 2022 ( even though my overall word-count went down from 290 000 to 280 000 ). I can't say I completed many of my goals ( or any of them LOL ). I had lots of goals for 2023, but I was unable to complete them. The past few months, especially, have brought forth big changes in my creative flow and focus.

I've realized that I need to change my priorities, to better fit my new mindset.

Roleplaying is no longer going to be my main focus. In the past, whenever I've wanted to write, I've always focused on finishing drafts, asks ect. I've mostly written on here, since that's what I prefer. Or, rather - what I used to prefer. This is not to say I don't have muse for Nnoitra, because I always feel inspired for him. What's changed are my priorities. I've come to the conclusion that what's important to me is creating stories. Since Nnoitra's story ( main verse ) has become so stagnant, it feels less important to me. I know I can drive the story on, push it forward and thus find it important once more, but - I don't want to do that. I want to create my own, original stories instead. Becoming a professional writer has always been my dream, and that's simply not possible to do when I'm prioritizing rping. Roleplaying is going to have to take the backseat.

--- That being said, I'm absolutely not quitting! I can't imagine myself not writing for Nnoitra, so I'll be writing on here like before, and I'll even try to be more consistent. An enemy of mine in 2023 has been procrastination. One of my goals for 2024 is to conquer this, so that I can be more efficient with my time. I think that by dedicating less time to roleplay, I'll be more efficient when I do sit down and write for my muses. My activity the past few months have been spotty, so I'd love to get into a better flow.

2024 GOALS:

FOCUS ON PERSONAL PROJECTS. I have a lot of them. Two (three?) book projects, two long OC-centered fanfictions.

WRITE FANDOM PROJECTS. I have a lot of ideas for fanfictions, and I want to make the time to write them. Some are long, some are short. Getting feedback on my stories has always been a great feeling, and fanfiction is the best way to get that serotonin.

CHANGE MY WRITING HABITS. My habits are bad. They lead to a ton of procrastination and wasted time. I want to be more structured when it comes to my writing time (and my time in general, but especially my writing time). I want to stick to schedules, word-count goals, page goals ect. Conquering procrastination is going to be key.

CONSISTENT RP POSTING. Even though I won't be focusing on roleplaying, I still intend to do it regularly and get replies and asks out in a more timely manner. I'll probably set off some time in the evening to get replies done, and have some fun on the dash when others are online. I'll try to be consistent across my blogs, not just on Nnoitra.

CREATE THINGS THAT ARE PHYSICAL. I've come to realize that I love things that translate to the real world. Not just words on a screen, or a digital artwork, but things that you can touch. It's why I've absolutely fallen in love with watercolor painting. I'm going to try to print some of my writing work so that I have physical copies. I'm also going to print my art so that I can hold it in real life.

FIND A SHIP FOR NNOITRA. It's been so long since I wrote a ship for him, and I need it back in my life. I've been looking for a ship for him the whole time, but I need to put more effort in, and let him interact with more characters, as well as continue to develop the relationships he does have ( in case one of them turns romantic? ). I'd love for 2024 to be the year Nnoitra falls in love again.

I am SUPER excited for 2024! I love new years and fresh starts, and I feel so incredibly inspired by the changes in my mindset. I feel like I've been stuck for a good while with rping. Don't get me wrong, I've loved every second of it, and I've learnt so much about writing - and met the most amazing people. It's just that it's time for a change. Time for me to create other kinds of stories. I thought that things were aligned for me to write books last year, but I really didn't have the right mindset - but now I do! I'm hyped!! Hope you're ALL going to have the most amazing 2024 guys!! ]

[who-is-page]

Me, getting to be the Little Guy that edits the Otherkin Fandom Wiki page on A Field Guide to Otherkin to inform everyone that Lupa sucks, actually: ✨🐺✨

For those unaware, Lupa lied about why she took the Field Guide out of print: she originally claimed it was because she felt the book was outdated and because she was no longer a therian. She confessed later in an interview with Dr. Devin Proctor that it was actually because she disapproved that "people [were] trying to literally prove that Otherkin exist in a literal manner in the same way that for example transgender people exist," and because she didn't believe even before writing the Field Guide in otherkin as a form of legitimate nonhuman identification. She took it out of print with the goal of making it inaccessible, and making it harder for otherkin to legitimize themselves and for scholars to engage in research into the otherkin communities. She's done active, intentional harm to otherkin and the otherkin community, and she's openly admitted that that was the point.

(Locking this because it's getting a lot of reblogs and it was meant to be more of a vent post than anything; for full context of these quotes, see Dr. Proctor's dissertation On Being Non-Human: Otherkin Identification and Virtual Space on pg. 117-118!)

(Edit #2: Apparently some folks from a will-be-politely-unnamed-so-as-not-to-invite-shit-upon-them Discord want me to apologize and retract my statements, because they have been told by Lupa that Lupa was specifically referring to transspecies folks and not otherkin in the context of this interview. To that I say: What??? What??? That makes things even worse! That not only begs the question as to why she would use the term "otherkin" if she meant "transspecies," especially in an interview explicitly about otherkin for a dissertation explicitly about otherkin, but also one of my systemmates has been transspecies for literal years. I know greymuzzles who are transspecies. I have transspecies friends! Fucking hell, my partner system even did a lecture and a survey on the term transspecies in the alterhuman community. Wow. Fucking wow. I never delete posts where I make a mistake; I own up to them and apologize. But with this added information, I feel like I'm going to need to sit and digest that for a minute before I do anything else, because there's obviously WAY MORE TO UNPACK HERE IN THIS SILLY LITTLE VENT POST THAN I INITIALLY REALIZED. If she did this interview and gave answers that do not reflect her beliefs (or if she worded something so poorly that they do not accurately reflect her belief to the average reader), then she has altered the accuracy of Proctor's doctoral dissertation... if he did a dissertation and did not accurately explain her beliefs, then that calls into question the validity of the other interviews and sources he used as well, which is... well. You can imagine the terrifying individual academic consequences of that. Either way, given the initial reading of the interview in the paper made a lot of people, greymuzzles and folks who have been around longer than me included, come to the same conclusion I did, this is one hell of a bombshell to drop. Especially given how much more significant of a transhumanist and gender lean the transspecies community had at the time this interview was conducted; radqueer TransID stuff hadn't yet hit the scene (transspecies as a term predates it by quite a lot if I remember correctly), so this is full-fledged "anti-species dysphoria" and "anti-body modification" type attitudes we're likely talking about here (possibly with "anti-neopronouns" depending on the flavor of perspective). Oof. Goddamn. Alright. I'm gonna get with my transspecies friends and talk to them on this one, especially the people who were in the community at that time. Yikes on fucking bikes.)

[coralpolyp]

The Complete Works Vol 1: Finding the Flow

Wide version of the book cover I threw together in Procreate for this fic at the time - there's another version which is arranged to fit a Wattpad cover

Welcome to The Complete Works! This is a two-part archival project I'm doing, where I gather together every piece of unreleased Splatoon writing I've ever done that does not pertain to an ongoing project, and put it all up publicly on AO3, alongside my own personal reflection on it, both over there and over here - what worked, what didn't, why I didn't finish it, and how it influenced what came after it. And I mean everything - full multi-chapter sequences, half-written chapters, plot outlines, one-sentence headcanons, and French revision, it's all here.

Finding the Flow

Started: 9th October 2022 (Earliest dated work in private)/20th December 2022 (First chapter posted to AO3)

Abandoned: 14th February 2023 (Last AO3 update)/29th June 2023 (Final attempt to work on it in private)

The fic itself: AO3

Unused content/Complete Works: AO3

It feels like it's been much longer than it actually has been, but this is the first piece of fanfiction I ever wrote - and the first one I ever gave up on too! I had original writing experience outside of school prior to this, but it was my first time working in a fandom, and my first time posting anything online.

This one was supposed to be a prequel/origin story with Marina as the protagonist, beginning at the end of Splatoon and ending with the beginning of Splatoon 2. I got the urge to start this not long after having watched the absolutely phenomenal Takotsubo Heartbeat, and also having just finished Better Call Saul. It goes without saying that I was in love with the ethos that both stories shared - that of taking intriguing but underdeveloped characters from an existing story, and building an unexpected and compelling backstory for them, which sheds new light on the source material without ever retconning or contradicting it - you never would have imagined that these characters had suffered so much when looking at the source material, because not even the people who created it imagined that - but once you see it it makes too much sense to look away.

Finding the Flow was a flawed, if noble, attempt at picking up what Takotsubo Heartbeat was putting down, and exploring Marina's life as an illegal refugee just trying to have a music career. Maybe I would have succeeded if I finished this one, but when I look back on what I wrote I find it rather hard to read, it's just not very good.

I had a very hard time writing the opening to this one, given how tricky the tone was to nail down - lesbian fluff, xenophobia, break ups, and killing someone don't usually need to occupy the same story, but here we are. I had this one fully plotted, and to this day I can somewhat applaud myself for the overall flow of it when I look back - there was some quite bold and satisfying payoffs, such as the police station scene, the breakup, and the big fight, but even at the time I was acutely aware of the sheer lack of meaningful character arcs outside of Marina herself. I feel like this was before I actually enjoyed writing, and it was more fun to daydream about it in lessons than it was to actually write it. It took me a long time to realise that being an "idea guy" isn't good enough - anyone can do that, the people that get remembered are the people who put in the work to make it real themselves - which still isn't quite as applicable to myself as I'd like it to be.

Once the daydreaming ended, and I burned myself out on caring about Off the Hook, this fic was as good as dead. One of the few subplots this fic actually had ended up being expanded into its own thing, All My Favourite Songs, which I also never finished! I feel like I still occasionally pic plot ideas from this thing's corpse whenever I'm going near similar subject material, and in my head I still treat most of what I had planned for Marina as canonical - not that that matters because she's only had one speaking role in my work since then.

What happens in it:

Marina narrowly escapes from Octo Valley, getting wounded in the process. She journeys aimlessly, (as did I as an author) in search of where the Inklings live, infatuated with the Squid Sisters and their song. To keep herself company (and asa bandaid solution to the fact that there is not a single other character for like 8 chapters), she makes the Squid Sisters her imaginary friends, albeit with their personalities completely wrong as she has never heard them speak before - it is then revealed in a flashback that this tendency towards imaginary friends and other such childlike behaviour is a result of military recruitment at an early age, and premature repression of such tendencies.

She spots the Inkopolis skyline from atop Mount Nantai, but has to hide when an Inkling Girl (Pearl) climbs up, screams a whole bunch, and then leaves.

Marina is fascinated, and regrets not confronting her. She decides to camp out near the observation deck until the girl returns, during which time she records the Ebb and Flow demo on a beat-up keyboard - the only thing she took with her, revealed to have been a gift from her Sergeant - a woman fiercely loyal to the regime, albeit with a more sympathetic and supportive approach to leadership, which brings with it a misguided and self-righteous sense of knowing what's best for everyone, better than they know themselves.

The Octarian forces catch up to Marina, and a firefight breaks out at dusk. She fends them off and retreats down the mountain, accidentally bumping into Pearl again - literally.

What would have happened next:

(This is abridged, the full version is here)

Feeling guilty about her usual abrasive tendencies, Pearl takes the paranoid and distressed person with weird hair speaking a different language home with her to try and help her out, not knowing what Octarians are. Marina plays her the Ebb and Flow tape, and they form a band.

Later, when her Inklish is much better and they're working on their debut album, Marina sees a wanted poster of her own likeness in downtown Inkopolis, put up by someone who is apparently wary of the "Octarian menace". Knowing she is now being hunted down by both her former allies and the people of Inkopolis she is trying to assimilate with causes her a great deal of distress, which Pearl notices, but never gets an adequate or truthful explanation for. She processes her emotions through writing more personal songs and going for long walks at dusk.

During their debut gig in a small lounge, Marina impulsively sings in Octarian on the last song, which gives her a deeper connection to the lyrics and makes her performance incredibly moving. From then on she always sings in Octarian.

The next morning, Marina is arrested, and has a humiliating experience at the police station at the hands of Octarian-hating police officers. The man pressing charges interrogates her personally, and identifies himself as the author of the wanted poster and an audience member of the gig - Craig Cuttlefish. The interrogation is interrupted by his grand-daughter Marie barging in and urging him to drop the case, saying that he's taking his NSS duties way too far. He does so upon learning that Marina likes the Inkantation. Marie sponsors Marina's residency in Inkadia, and they are both given a mountain of paperwork to do.

Marie and Callie take Marina out of for coffee, and offer to kickstart Off the Hook's career - pushing for them to be signed to the same record label as them, recommending them to their producer, Shy-Ho-Shy, and letting them open for their next concert, where they perform their debut single Ebb and Flow, which is released the same day.

While preparing for said concert, Marina discovers a homeless community of Octarian refugees one night - they had followed in Marina's footsteps, but received no support from Inkling Society on arrival. Marina realises that she has nothing to give them, despite her life of luxury, as all of it actually belongs to Pearl - they warn her that she is no better off than them, but she does not understand. When she gets home, Pearl and Marina begin dating. As the relationship goes on, Pearl becomes more uneasy with Marina's inability to tell her who she is and where she comes from.

The relationship is not made public until their second concert. Pearl tries to kiss Marina on the lips on stage, without her prior consent to the stunt, which angers her greatly.

Later, Pearl discovers Marina's paperwork, which includes mention of her having been arrested at one point. Marina still fails to explain anything, and they agree to break up, with the band going on hiatus and Marina leaving the house with nowhere to go.

She returns to the homeless community, which she discovers has been completely wiped out by her former sergeant, who is disgusted by her betrayal of the Octarian regime. Penniless and alone in a individualist society which doesn't want her and has little to no welfare provisions, she almost accepts, but ultimately refuses, doing battle with the sergeant and killing her when left no other choice.

Marina goes on to live a meagre life in hiding, DJing under a pseudonym, producing for Harmony, and crashing at Marie's apartment every night, sleeping in a room that used to belong to Callie, who has now gone missing.

Dissatisfied with her creative output without Marina, and aware of the ggrowing legend around the band's sudden disappearance, Pearl tracks Marina down and Off the Hook is reformed. Together they complete and release their debut album, and are hired to host Inkopolis News.

For more, read Finding the Flow or The Complete Works

[maribat-menagerie]

Adribat October '24 Light Mode ver.

Welcome everyone once again to the first year of Adribat October!

As stated in the previous and original post, Adribat is a subsection of the larger Maribat fandom that focuses on Adrien x DC rather than Marinette x DC.

While this calendar was posted before, down below is a newer version with slightly more bolded lettering upon the original black background. Featured below it will be a light mode version for those who would like to print it out!

(Clicking on the images will give a clearer view of the prompts)

These prompts are set up as themed days for those who would like the extra challenge. However, you do not have to make them with the theme. (Aka day 7 does not have to be a Mystery)

The theme days are: Bloody Sunday - Angst/MCD Mystery Monday - Mysteries & Conspiracies Trick Tuesday - Tricks, Plot Twists, Messing with the Audience Sleepover Wednesday - Crossovers or Location change Thriller Thursday - Thrillers & Suspense Freaky Friday - Swap AUs Treat Saturday - Fluff/Slice of Life

The prompts themselves for each day of the week have themes of their prompts. Wednesday and Friday are explained above, but the rest are a fun bonus challenge to decipher in the comments/reblogs.

These prompts are also rearranged into two bingo boards to give a more self-paced option. Feel free to use whichever form of prompts you like and remember to tag us here with @maribat-menagerie.

Tags: #AdribatOctober #Adribat #Maribat #MaribatHalloween

Finally, feel free to reblog and share this out as well as the original dark mode boards (found here)! The more eyes that see this, the more we may get to participate, which means more to create!

Happy Creating Everyone!

P.S. Prompt List can be found under the line!

Adribat October Prompt List Written Out

1st: Mirror(s) 2nd: Hex Girling 3rd: "Life's no fun without a good scare." 4th: Miraculous Swap 5th: Jack O' Lanterns

6th: Kill All Your Friends 7th: "Our lives are one masked ball." 8th: Rabbit 9th: Sigil Writing 10th: "Take a breath and look around, a lot of folks deserve to die." 11th: Origin Swap 12th: Autumn Leaves

13th: Radioactive 14th: "To me they have always been matters of riddle and admiration." 15th: Playing Cards 16th: Cipher Hunting 17th: "Don't Wish. Don't Start. Wishing only wounds the heart." 18th: Body Swap 19th: Flannels & Sweaters

20th: For Whom the Bell Tolls 21st: "Good and evil are so close as to be chained together in the soul." 22nd: Fox 23rd: Going Nowhere 24th: "It's a full moon tonight. That's why all the weirdos are out." 25th: Partner Swap 26th: Hot Beverage

27th: Children of the Grave 28th: "Death is a mystery, and burial is a secret." 29th: Crowbar 30th: Grim Adverturing 31st: "Please, they're dead."

Bingo Board Bonus 1: Ghosts of the Past Bingo Board Bonus 2: Restoring the Balance Bingo Board Bonus 3: No Longer You

Color Chart: Bloody Sunday Mystery Monday Trick Tuesday Sleepover Wednesday Thriller Thursday Freaky Friday Treat Saturday