#it also makes for good fanfic fodder

[mysteriousxmidnight]

Having wild theories about how Stranger Things will end and just thinking about how interesting it is that, at the beginning of the first episode, Will tells Mike “the demogorgon. It got me.” And then it really does….

…And then in season 4, the big bad in Eddie’s campaign is Vecna, and then who do they end up going up against…? Vecna.

Hmmmm…..

[tallochar]

One of the quickest ways I can tell whether someone American has written a fic about UK key workers / government workers is if they have someone say that they "used up all their sick days".

[yandere-daydreams]

Can we get a rec list for shojo? I've been picking up shows you write for (like jjk) but I enjoy shojo too and I think I would enjoy similar shows to you. If not thats okay too!

uhhh i only have a few that i would actively recommend but!!! i feel very passionately about all of them. not all shows have to be fanfic fodder. some can just be fun.

♥ horimiya. it's a classic and has literally no flaws to speak of. never before has a heterosexual romance been so queer-coded and never will it be again.

 ♥ ouran high school host club - the anime AND the manga!!! i know everyone's already seen the anime half a dozen times, but if you liked it, i'd really recommend picking up the manga. it's aged pretty well (all things considered) and does in fact have an actual plot with a real and satisfying ending, something that i can tragically not say for the anime.

♥ jibaku shounen hanako-kun/toilet bound hanako-kun. it is vaguely shounen coded but don't let the occasional fight scene fool you, this one is for the girls <3 i'd recommend watching the anime and picking up the manga from there, since both have a really unique and charismatic art style and are very good in their own right. there are ghosts. there are gay people. the heroine is trying to brute force her reality into becoming a rom/com and repeatedly turns into a fish. what's not to love.

♥ i'm in love with the villainess!!! i would STRONGLY recommend this if you are both gay and have been repeatedly abused by just,,, so many early 2010s dating sims. the animation is a little rough at times but overall it's very enjoyable and has a surprising amount of lore. i'd also very strongly recommend watching the english dub. the mc is just,,, yeah. that's a woman who's been in the trenches y'know.

♥ the ancient magnus bride. it has aged contentiously but if you can get past the 'sixteen year old x immortal eldritch being' thing then it WILL emotionally wreck you. the ost is also just,,,, delectable. they should really pull out the lute more often that shit goes hard.

♥ welcome to demon school! irumu-kun! people will tell you that this is a shounen and those people are WRONG!!! never before has an anime been so deeply concerned with love and friendship and putting everybody's favorite little guys in situations that make you wonder if it truly is gay to kiss the homies goodnight. the animation is very rough but in a very charming way, and mc has a very cute, very prominent romance with a woman who could snap him over her knee like a twig. then english dub cast is doing the goddamn most too, but feel free to consume it however you see fit.

[proshippers-against-censorship]

I’m gonna be completely honest I’m a little baked so apologies if I make no sense

I would just like to start with I am a very big fan of dark fiction. My favorite movies are Silence of the Lambs and Midsommar. My favorite fanfiction at one time contained a violent rape scene. I have no issues with murder, torture, brainwashing, rape, or any flavor of violent/sexual depravity in my fiction, fan-created or otherwise. But the thing is, there’s a reason for it to occur within the narrative the writer is trying to tell. Characters don’t kill and die for no narrative reason, that’s just bad writing. If there is a torture scene, or a rape scene, or incest or pedophilia or whatever depraved shit you wanna put here, you can analyze that piece of fiction as a whole and deduce why the writer might’ve put it there. Media analysis. There is media to analyze. It’s a huge leap in logic to assume that the director included Buffalo Bill’s obsession with skinning women because they had fantasies about skinning women. It is also a huge leap in logic to assume that Vladimir Nabokov wrote Lolita because he is a pedophile. When you read the book or watch the movie and think about it critically for more than ten seconds, it becomes very evident that that isn’t true, even with an unreliable narrator like in Lolita.

However, the (fan)fiction I take issue with isn’t like that. There isn’t much to analyze when the only part being posted (or written at all) IS the rape scene, or the incest scene, or the necrophilia scene, especially when that particular author/artist exclusively posts about that one thing. Fetish content is pretty easy to spot in my opinion, and if you aren’t turned on by that particular fetish, it doesn’t provide you much in the way of storytelling. That kind of fiction was created to feed someone’s fetish, whether that’s the author’s themselves, a friend’s, or a random requester who asked them to write it. (You can also only deduce what is and is not fetish content via media analysis).

The issue isn’t that the writer had the gall to include these topics in their fiction, the issue is that someone is way too into those crimes they’re writing about and it shows. People who are also way too into violent fantasies are just as big of an issue. The comparison shouldn’t be Adult/Child PWP Oneshot Fanfic to Call of Duty, it should be Adult/Child PWP Oneshot Fanfic to that kid in the back of class scribbling in his notebook about school shootings but with different names than his real teachers and classmates. Compare Call of Duty to Lolita (example), and compare sexual fantasy fodder to violent fantasy fodder.

I think it is immoral to fantasize about harming another person. Whether that harm would be sexual in nature or not is completely irrelevant. If someone believes that having certain fantasies is morally objectionable, the fiction they create to stroke that fantasy is also morally objectionable. Obviously I can’t stop anyone from creating whatever kind of fiction they want for whatever reasons they want, even if I find them immoral. That’s censorship. But I don’t think anyone, antis or proshippers, have been taking into account the full nuance of the topic at hand.

TL;DR: You can portray acts of violent or sexual crime in your fiction with all the gorey details you want, without it feeding into a fetish or a fantasy. The fantasy is the thing I take issue with, not the fiction. This is true of both violent and sexual fantasies. Everyone oversimplifies it as “good/okay in fiction” or “bad/wrong in fiction” and that isn’t a conducive discussion to be having.

Anyway. I have the munchies, I’m gonna order a pizza now I think

-🐜👔

Fair enough.

There's still nothing wrong with finding fetish/fantasy/for-fun content gross or highly immoral.

So long as you just block the creator and move on with your day.

[willothewispwisteriadawn]

Charles is both an abuser and a victim, and I think this is important for reading the other characters.

I think sometimes when I talk about Francis and Charles as characters it comes across like I think Francis was the worst one and that Charles did nothing wrong, and that’s really not the case. It’s more that I feel that fandom tendencies make the discussions about them just inaccurate? And my thoughts here are not about memes and silly posts purposely woobifying characters. It’s like based on… legit theories and fanfics that weirdly depict the characters.

I think my issue with the Charles discourse is how much Charles is seemingly held up as a scapegoat so people can safely adore other characters in the book. And it’s all just inaccurate to what happened. For example, the concept that Henry was benevolently trying to swoop in to rescue Camilla from Charles is something I see framed a lot. And that phrasing of it seems more intended to be ship fodder than anything because that’s honestly a really watered concept of what happened, in my reading. Charles did wrong, but that doesn’t mean Henry was just the good guy in the situation. He definitely had selfish motives; he wanted Camilla, and it wasn’t pure saviorhood. If it were, he wouldn’t have antagonized/pressured Charles into insanity and kept him drunk on purpose. Camilla wanted Charles to get better— she said so. But Henry convinced Francis and Richard to keep Charles intoxicated. And he didn’t tell Camilla that Charles was still drinking.

(Side thing, this also indicates Francis could be wrong that Charles is faking memory loss— either by genuine mistake or because he’s wants Richard to feel sorry for him. I guess we can’t know for sure, but we have it presented as valid by Camilla and not by Francis).

Anyway, this isn’t exactly honest, helpful behavior on Henry’s part. And Camilla definitely wasn’t ok with everything he was doing. He lied, at least by omission, to her.

It’s very likely Henry intimidated Francis when he visited Camilla (Francis seemed rattled and said Henry wouldn’t leave the room), and I suspect he said things to Francis when they were alone before Richard called about finding Charles in the snail. This is why Francis echoed Henry’s bullshittery about detoxing being bad. I do think Camilla wanted to date Henry and that she asked him for help— their relationship had been going on the whole book— but it’s also highly implied she was wary of some of his behaviors and that she wouldn’t have wanted her brother to get murdered. I think Henry did help Camilla. But I also think his manipulative actions show that his motives were self-serving and that, by the end of the book, he’s using violence as his modus operandi. Henry is a pretty horrible guy. He has a sort of joking coldness about Bunny’s death as well as the death of the dog he killed, and he openly admits to not caring much for others. He’s a super incredible character, and I do find him charming and fascinating. But I feel like I’ve seen this whole situation with Charles become about how Henry just adored Camilla so much and was willing to protect her from evil. I’ve even seen it insinuated that everything Henry did from the start of the novel was really just to liberate Camilla. As if he isn’t a selfish bastard who did the bacchanal as means to rid himself of his conscience so he can do what he wants (again, from his own mouth).

Henry himself was clearly— and by his own intention, I argue— a factor in Charles’s insanity and using Charles’s sins to his advantage. Just because Charles was rotten doesn’t mean he’s at fault for the entirety of what happened. It doesn’t mean that he wasn’t used too. He was bad but also really sick. Henry and Francis both knew this and manipulated it. Again, it’s not that he’s innocent, it’s more that the conversation around him often becomes about acquitting other, more beloved characters by invoking the name of Charles for everything. But Henry’s motives for the bacchanal were selfish and Francis was a spineless manipulator at points.

(Hopefully I’m not strawmanning people here!!! I think it’s easy to find fake groups of people to argue with in posts like these. And I admit fault if I’ve been taking theories and posts I see too seriously, but this is my issue with a few specific theories I have seen that seem to depict Francis as too inculpable and Henry as too selflessly in love)

[pixelatedraindrops]

RAINCODE SICKFIC FINALE (SPOILERS)

My awaited finale to my RainCode Sickfics of the Heart Series is finally done at last!! This took me a couple of months to put together but I figured since I mentioned it months before and delayed it, I had to get it done as my next project. It's the MakoYuma sickfic where Yuma takes care of a seriously ill Makoto.

This fanfic is officially my longest RainCode fic to date, even beating HIWTHI's word length, so make sure to read it only if you have time! It's the final sequel to that fic as well.

Be Warned: This fic is on the angsty/extreme side with a few trigger warnings. Such as Vomiting, Psychological Trauma and Implied Suicide. Please take caution/care if you read!

__

Also yes! This is the second commission I received from FTAngel! (if I'm gonna commission someone for official looking work, then I'll ask for both my targets getting cared for hehe :3) This illustrates a scene toward the end of Chapter 7 (the fic will feature it as well)

There are actually a few people I'd like to shout out/credit for this fanfic's creation. So thank you all for unknowingly inspiring me ^-^

@gardenofskeletonss

Your art and thoughts of Makoto's past as a test subject were very helpful fodder to make this fic super angsty and tie to how much this poor thing has likely suffered. Helped me write down some good dialogue for the hallucinations and freakouts in the delirium stage. So Thank you for that!

@alfiely-art

Your small fic where Makoto age regresses when he got stressed gave me some good thoughts for writing Makoto's delirious behavior. Although I'm not a huge fan of age regression, reducing Makoto to a vulnerable and needy child-like state when super ill was a lot of fun! I love the idea of him being reduced to that since he never could be a child (and he is 3 freaking years old lmao)

@shiut

Those sprite edits you made really fueled my juices to continue wiring this fic. Having a picture in my head of what a vulnerable Makoto looked like was such an inspiration boost so thank you for taking the time to make those edits! I hope you don't mind me using some of them in the fic's 5th Chapter. Also your theory and thoughts of homunculi not being able to die from illness was briefly mentioned as well.

@draconicsparkle

Thank you for being my beta reader. I usually don't trust others to read my work but given how well your reading does with the community and in general, as well as you being a Makoto superfan, your encouragement really helped me feel more confident in continuing and getting this done. Thank you so much again.

With that out of the way, I hope you all enjoy the story!! I will still write more sickfics for RainCode, but this is the final one that I consider to be canon/post canon.

So I hope it delivers well!

Eat up RainCode and MakoYuma fans!

Hope the meal is to your liking~ ^-^ ♡

[writing-for-life]

Hi! So I've just finished watching the whole of Season 1 of The Sandman and the history that's hinted at between Dream and Calliope is pretty much living rent-free in my head. I read your meta on their relationship as well as how Dream sees/receives love. I wanted to ask, if you think they could ever reconcile (perhaps heal from the mutual hurt), how would they do that?

The fodder for many a fanfic 😉 Thanks so much for the ask.

In canon, there is probably no way he would ever be happy with anyone, even if he wanted to, because it is essentially in his being/nature to be the unreal. Relationships that move past the romantic ideal are, in ways, at odds with who and what he is.

But spinning the thought further and beyond that, I think that Calliope in the show had the right idea, and that the biggest chance to get back together would be to grieve together and possibly (!) reconnect through that. Because the loss is mutual, and no one understands better what that means than someone who is going through the same. Grief has the potential to separate, but also to unite. And I think allowing it (which he doesn’t at this stage), and processing it together, might be a step in the right direction.

We simply can’t know if after that, they would still have enough in common, but they used to. In fact, of all his relationships, they were conceptually closest. They are basically made of the same stuff, if you will, at least to a degree: They are both closely linked to inspiration, creativity, dreams, story (unfortunately, Calliope as a muse/goddess has strong ties to tragedy, but that’s a whole ‘nother topic. Maybe he would’ve been better off with Thalia. I know he would’ve [insider joke 🤣]). So the potential for remembering that, and finding it again, is always there.

But he needs to allow that vulnerability, and we all know he’s not very good at that. And when he finally does, it basically destroys him. Because making yourself vulnerable is part of accepting reality. You can see where this is going—how long can you be [a] D/dream before you turn into something else?

So I guess the topic of grief is so central to his whole being, and also his relationship to Calliope, that supporting while also allowing himself to be supported, would be the only way through?

Canonically, I don’t see it. There is no one in canon, it’s all rigged against him from the start. You know when they say, “He/she was made wrong”? And he was in a way, from his parents to everyone around him, even if some of them tried to help. I know you’ve not read everything yet and don’t know certain things that are absolutely integral to understanding why Morpheus is the way he is, and how he could never be any other way, and how his story could never be other than it is. So I’ll stop here, but you’re welcome to ask more questions if you want to know more 🙂

@inastarlesssky ask answered

[azuresins]

The first thing I noticed in the chapter 204 cover art was both Finny's thorns and, the way his hairclips are arranged like Roman Numeral Eleven. (XI)... This is also a reference to Jesus Christ, which. Seemed like Yana wanted us all to know for absolute certain, that this thorn crown is specifically a Christian reference and wants us to really notice, and for us to compare Finny to Jesus. Which is interesting to me, because in the picture Finny is dressed like a vampire... I can't help but wonder, if Christ's resurrection, is meant to enter our mind, too. ...? The dead can't come back to life that we know of in the context of the manga so far, but there are Bizarre Dolls (I forgot no one calls them Weird Barbies except me and I almost typed that and left it in), and there are Death Gods, both of these are beings that were human, once and have died (more or less). We don't know anything about vampires, but now I have to wonder what Yana has in mind for Finny's fate...

Is he... fated to be die, and come back...?... is that too good (or terrible??) to be true...? Finnian is my favorite, and I know I'm actively trying to talk myself out of the hope that he's not just going to die, and thats it. But, still. That seemed a highly specific choice. There's nothing to suggest any human character will be a Grim Reaper definitively and I certainly can't make that claim off of one thing she's drawn, but Finnian in particular, always kind of gave me pause simply because. He's the gardener. He uses garden tools every day. What if that was some kind of foreshadowing, since all the grim reapers in Kuroshitsuji use a variety of garden tools and not just typical scythes ... is it possible? The only others we've seen garden to that degree, are Grelle (...lol) and Sebastian. For a human character we've known for a long time, to undergo that human to death god transformation, in real time? Before our eyes? We haven't seen that, yet. That could be interesting... but would she do that, and would she choose someone like Finnian (or any of the other servants) for that part? I don't know, but. I am looking directly at this art and I am suspicious of it. If nothing else, it's scratched my brain. Is it possible fanfic fodder, if nothing else? Yes. I feel like I'm repeating myself a lot, but I stand by that I think Finnian is extremely important and paramount to this story, there's more to him than most think... It's also worth mentioning by contrast, Snake, is dressed as a Hogwarts Wizard, right. Except... Snake, really DOES actually TALK to snakes. In that context, this frames that reference a bit interestingly... because to talk to snakes, would mark someone as a respected, feared, and powerful wizard in the context of the series he's making reference to. Our snake isn't a powerful wizard (I mean, that we know of, we really don't know much about snake yet), but that's not the point I'm trying to make. In that series talking to snakes isn't a good thing, but, it still makes his outfit interesting-- because he can actually do that. Talk to snakes. What does Finny, then, have in common with a vampire with a Jesus complex? "Super human" quality? Abused by humans? Guilt? Unwavering loyalty, to the point of martyrdom? ... is that all? Is there anything else? ???

[correctproseka]

Ok but- and I am saying this with respect for your point of view bc I think you are correct on a wider societal level- I keep seeing this argument of 'There is more m/m fanfic therefore this fandom is lesbiphobic and misogynistic' and it has bothered me for a long time. As a queer girl myself, asexual and somwehere on the aro spectrum, who has many wlw ships and enjoys looking at art for them... I don't enjoy reading wlw or straight fics bc I subconsciously project myself into the relationships too much (this is also why i generally avoid reading straight romance books lol). When I read mlm fic, there's a degree of separation from me that means I can enjoy it without getting anxious about imagining myself in that position.

I'm not trying to be like 'oh woe is me i cant read yuri', im just explaining my own reasons, and trying to get across that other people have their own reasons for what they enjoy- ranging from long winded explanations like mine to 'idk I'm attracted to guys and I like writing about them'. People have preferences, and that comes across in most fandoms, even in heavily female casts like prsk. Like I mentioned, lack of wlw content IS an issue.... when it comes to mainstream media. But when it comes to fanfic... the majority of writers are queer, many are women, hell, some of the most prolific writers of mlm fic I know are lesbians. People have their own reasons for writing what they like, and they do it for FREE. I think it's silly to say a fandom is misogynistic when most of these fandoms are full of queer female writers writing what they want to write.

And again I say this with respect because I do see where you're coming from- instead of saying 'write less mlm', because absolutely one will listen to that.... say 'write more wlw'. Write what you want to see in the world! More fics are always a good thing!! And if you don't want to read about guys, that's what the ao3 filters are for lol.

If you actually read all this, thank you, I really appreciate it. Sorry for yapping in your ask box LOL I just wanted to express my opinion on this topic bc it's something that I care about a lot. Also, like I said, while I don't read fic for it I still love wlw ships so..... ANHANE YURI FOREVER 🌈🌈🌈🌈

See, the thing is, i agree with you, but is that really the only reason for A LOT of people?

What im advocating is not for people to write less mlm, is for they to look at themselves and wonder why they like it more, i know a lot of people who claim to like the boys more for this reason or that, then turn around and act completely misogynistic 5 seconds later, some of them in this fandom, even.

Im just saying that in a fandom with way more girls than boys, it makes not much sense how much more content of the boys there is.

The ao3 filters exist, yes, but they dont stop me from having barely any content even on bigger wlw shipps, from rereading the same fics over and over again because that's all I have for days/weeks, months even on the leoni/mmj side of fandom.

Sincerely, I have myself over 50 prsk fics, only one includes mlm and that one is a multi, focused mainly on platonic ships, and is still somehow my most famous fic.

I see your point, really, and I agree with it, but it only comes so far in a fandom like prsk where there's way more girls, or Alien Stage, that my friend got me into and the girls have been canon for so long but the boys have nearly always been more famous, even before they became "canon". As a wlw enjoyer its tiring to see this over and over again in every fandom im in, you know?

Plus, its not just not writing girls, its how the fandom ACTS with them. Saki as just a fodder for Tsukasa angst, Honami might as well not even exist, Mizuki themselves exist only to be a friend to Rui to a lot of people, An and Kohane? They're only backgrounds on Akitouya, that is when An doesn't get in between the ship, of course. Emu can't even be shipped with one of the boys, because she's a child obviously, but she can be shipped with Nene, just leave her to the side its alright.

Its a lot of double standards, and not only "not writing fics", the fics are just a quick way of showing what I mean.

[queenaeducan]

met a cameo character in a minrathous pub

i was prepared to be let down by thora's reappearance but like. damn.

there were shades of her. i didn't expect her to be as close to solas as i write her to be, but it sucks that i had to hear her say "i considered solas a friend. i wanted to save him, but it's too late now." i guess if my theory about varric is right it might make sense but even then. even THEN. bleh.

i know i can't expect bioware writers to write her exactly as i've written her, i've been writing her for 10 years. but knowing that romanced lavellans have a chance to have solas's importance to them reaffirmed and i don't... it just kinda sucks that i may have to make ian (a non-inquisitor oc) my inquisitor in replays.

also i can see them resetting the board big time with the kinda clunky plot exposition lmao. i guess it's good fanfic fodder. i am looking forward to seeing what people write with that information.

i still feel like the best board reset would be the veil coming down but i am doubting that'll happen now that we have this info.

[solarmorrigan]

Hey, good (?) news; you inspired me to start writing my first fanfic :) cuz you’re inspiring :)

Bad (?) news; this, uh, this shit is hard. Those writers memes weren’t lying. How dare you make me do this (/j, it’s fun, but dam)

How do you stop feeling like you’re moving around cardboard cutouts???

That's very exciting! My condolences on the new hobby. I think "it's fun, but damn" just about sums it up

There are a bunch of different methods for starting to feel like your characters are a little more real, and I'm sure you'll get a different answer from every writer you ask, but here are a few of the things I tend towards:

Sit with your characters. Just hang out with them. Write them having inconsequential conversations. Write them in little slice-of-life pieces. Write about them going to the grocery store, making breakfast, trying to decide whose turn it is to wash the dishes. This takes away the stress of having to make them act in The Plot and instead just lets you focus on who they are how they act as people (which will later help you figure out how to make them act in The Plot)

Ground yourself in little moments. Small details can really make a character feel more real. Take a second to draw attention to a character's preference for or dislike of something, to their quick little reaction to something that's just happened, to a nervous tick or weird little habit. This is like the writing equivalent of zooming in on what that one character is doing in the background; it adds dimension

Look for scenes in TV and movies that make you feel something. Anger, sadness, joy, hope - whatever, as long as it really made you feel. Now basically... copy it. Take what made that scene hit for you and apply it to your characters; have them play out that same emotional scene in their own words. This isn't anything you'd want to post, but it's a bit like using a photo reference as an artist. Copying scenes from other media will help you figure out how to apply those big emotions to your characters, and it'll help you start to move them around a little more fluidly

In the same vein as the above, find things in your own life that make you angry, or sad, or joyful, or whatever, and try to write about the way your characters would feel those emotions. This is a little harder to do, because you're in the middle of living life as it happens, and you're not really looking for experiences that might make good writing fodder, but just try to keep it in mind. You don't have to give the characters your specific life experience, but you can use your own feelings as a jumping off point. Maybe you've never gone through what the character has gone through, but you've probably felt a similar emotion before, and remembering that can help you write a character's emotions and reactions much more vividly (this is also known as "Free Therapy")

(I'm kidding)

(mostly)

Ultimately, though, the thing that's going to give you the most confidence is just... practice. The more you write, the more you start to feel like you know what you're doing, and the more you realize that you're not playing with cardboard cutouts but that you are actually A Wizard and words mean something simply because you say they do, so there.

I do hope you have fun, and if you feel comfortable sharing, I'd be excited to see what you come up with! (If not, that's also understandable, no pressure and please have nice day <3)

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2024: #18

18. SAN MARINO Megara - "11:11" 33rd place

Decade Ranking: 66/153 [Above Aiko, below Hooverphonic]

Soy "Otra Gente".

Yes, ~Megara & Aiko~ back-to-back as a tribute to the blossoming new relationship. (how cute that these are the two LAST EVER entrants for both of those countries ♥). Star-crossed pansexuals forever tethered side-by-side in this ranked afterlife. THIS is how you do serendipitous running orders, Christer, fucking take notes. (Another fragment of my neurodivergent soul destoyed when he decided to put Megara 10th in the r/o and make 11:11 the 12th overall song to be performed that night).

But Aiko and Megara also represent the duality of modern day NQs. While Aiko delivered a good vocal, glammed-up to a 7.5/10 and still died (lol though luck fighting those bookmakers, girl), Kenzie delivered an ABSOLUTELY ROTTEN VOCAL, downgraded to a 7.5/10 and logically died because it's San Fucking Marino. 😍

Like, idk how to break it to you, but for once, San Marino actually earned the Ironic Standom label. Let's start with the fact that they're repped by my fave act from last year's Benifest with a song about how unfairly robbed "Arcadia" was. ♥

M E

P E L A

M E P E L A

Y si tú no me quieres otra gente me quierian

This year's line-up was so up my alley even the fanfiction was fucking me-coded.

And a fanfic it fucking was because in order to rep Scam Marino, Megara had to beat the following at Una Voce:

Jalisse, Italy's 97's reps (and erstwhile BubbleFaves) who TVSM found in a dusty retirement home somewhere in Italy, recruited as a Big Name, and who reportedly stormed out of the venue as soon as they were eliminated by the jury. (😍)

David Bowie's former flame Dana Gillespie, who sang an AI-written composition about climate change called "The last polar bear" (sample lyrics:" I'm just a polar bear trying to survive :old:" // "Is there someone out there who has mercy on a polar bear?" :old:) (and they HAD to admit this in the final because Una Voce's main sponsor was the company that wrote the AI script which composed the song lmfaooo ♥)

Nusa Derenda's son, who was part of a three-himbot boyband and was absolutely HORRIBLE (the other two did ALL of the lifting ♥), only for them to be completely omited from the first recap of the night (WILL THE BULLYING OF SLOVENIA EVER END?!)

Loredana Bertè, Mia Martini's estranged blue-haired sister who crossed over from San Remo for the sole purpose of terrorizing her ex-husband Björn Borg, and performed in her usual style: dressed as a schoolgirl (she's over 70 btw), hands in her pockets, fully disassociated, sounding like she was halfway through her fourth bottle of Disaronno.

How is ANY of this a waking reality?! Megara beating Loredana last-minute was the icing on the cake because while the notion of Pazza is funny enough (it rhymes "artifice" with "toothpaste" <3), Megara at least had... a concept? an Idea? A song?

And then we got to the contest itself. The preview comes in and has THE EXACT SAME IMPACT ON ME as Bambie's did in the first semi - STOP ALL THE PRESSES, I WANT TO SEE THIS IN FULL IDGAF ABOUT ANY OF THE OTHERS OR MY PERSONAL HEALTH AND RESPONSIBLIITIES!!!! you know, the usual hinged eurofan stuff.

When we finally got to the full live omg ♥ A fantastic act completely PULVERIZED into death by Kenzie's inability to perform ♥ From actually WALKING OFF THE SCREEN

to having her own small Emily Roberts moment in the second chorus

Shittastic. it worked because, thankfully, the song WAS fodder to begin with (no losses there) and the staging -conceptually at least- was visionary. This is probably the best San Marino have ever staged.

The delectable Dias De Muertos flamengo break ♥

the haphazard trigger happy hazbin hotel fuschia fiesta freakshow aesthetics ♥

the silly overlays that actually WORKED BETTER THAN LUX'S ♥

THE DEMON RABBIT INTO DEMON CORPSES DANCERS ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

This (metaphorical) shit was masterfully staged and Kenzy still served LOOKS AND ENERGY despite failing at everything else.

If you're going to be hopeless, then be hilariously bad at giving hope, is what I say.

11:11 was pure chaos on a black-and-pink demon barber pole, which for experimental art rock serving as a middle finger to Spain's lack of taste, is a pretty good medium of expression. The way Megara were guaranteed double digit points because the Mericones (this year's honorary name for Cigarillos/Spanish Fags btw..x) were casting votes in this semi (♥) allowed them to give zero fucks. ♥

Of course, if Megara (and specifically Kenzie) had been in any way competent, then 11:11 could have qualified with that act, and that would have been ICONIC. But they weren't and we missed out on another SF2 epic turnaround, which is probably why I'm not ranking them amongst the very good entries this year. (also, if I did I'd be compelled to rank 'em 11th and LOL @ bumping Aiko up to 12th place). I'm accepting of 11:11's shortcomings, but also acknowledge that it has them. The quality standards were surprisingly high this year, and I enjoy the remaining entries sufficiently that I don't need to cling to Megara as hard as I normally would. Fun filler it is, and that's the perfect endpoint for San Marino's journey.

THE RANKING

[according2thelore]

Hi same anon as ur last post here to say that actually nevermind I think I just don't like a/b/o except when you specifically write it bcoz I just read the swesson fic you linked and oh my god. oh my goddddd. It's so good. Like so, so good. I truly cannot emphasise enough.

Ur writing made me like not only swesson (which I truly just had not cared about at all before now) and a/b/o. You have rewritten my brain.

Writer op I hope your pillow is always cold your water is always fresh and you see a cool bird this week.

omg hello again, anon! :)

oh my!!!!!! thank you SO MUCH!!!!!!!

one of the greatest compliments fanfic writers can get is "hey you made me like this weird trope/kink/concept" so i'm grateful for this ask, haha!

swesson is so fun to me (and so is normal!chesters/non hunter winchesters, as evidenced by my halloween fic) because it's taking just two normal guys and being like...hm...let's make them fucked up instead? which i think is very fun.

not even to mention the fact that J2/wincest literally CREATED a/b/o, sam and dean are the perfect a/b/o fodder because they just ARE that weird about each other, lol!

EEE i'm so glad you liked!!!! i am planning a sequel for them, so i hope you give that a shot when it comes out! and i hope you thought the excerpts from my collar fic were also fun :) thank you for this ask, anon, truly, it made me giggle and kick my feet and twirl my hair.

ps: my pillow has been a little extra chilly lately so i guess i have you to thank, lol! :)

-lizzy

(this is the fic in question for anyone interested!) (and here is the post anon is talking about!)

[prouvaireafterdark]

hi! i absolutely LOVE all of your writing- especially how you write smut. it’s filthy nasty but also very tender and loving and true to the characters. as someone who’s getting into fanfic writing, do you have any tips on writing good smut? how do you create that balance? thanks xx

Aww, that's so sweet, thank you! And yeah totally!

My first piece of advice is the advice I gave to myself the first time I ever wrote smut: Go big or go home. That isn't meant to like talk down on people who don't want to write really filthy stuff btw, that's just what helped me get over my anxiety about whether I was writing something "too filthy" for the beautiful degenerates on AO3 bc I'd never written anything like that before and didn't know if I was going "too far." I decided to just throw that line of thinking away and write what I wanted. If people don't want to read explicit fic, they won't. If they click on explicit fic, they probably will enjoy it if it's filthy nasty, so, be free. Write the filth you wanna see in the world.

That brings me to my second tip: Write what you think is hot. There may be moments where you're like "are other people gonna like this?" but I'm telling you, don't worry about what other people will enjoy because everyone enjoys different things and you'll never please everyone, especially if you're writing fetish content. If you enjoy the idea, you'll be motivated to finish it and you'll write a better fic because of it. It might take some workshopping and editing until it's where you want it to be, but if you're reading your work and you like it and think it's hot, other people will too.

Those are my two big tips for getting started. When it comes to creating balance between filth and tenderness, I would say my one big tip I have is to try to focus on what the POV character would be feeling and thinking in the scene. Tab A goes into Slot B is a fine way to begin constructing or plotting out a scene, but it would be a pretty boring thing to read if it just ended there without anything else added in there to give it emotional dimension.

I try to break up mechanical descriptions about positions or movements with descriptions of physical sensations or emotional responses to physical stimuli. I also like to add in a healthy amount of dialogue.

Let's take Armand and Daniel for an example: When Daniel is squirming beneath Armand and begging for a taste of his blood, is he begging with words or with the desperation in his eyes or his hands as they grip at Armand's clothes? How does that make Armand feel? Physically, does the movement of his body against his feel good? Can he feel how hard Daniel is where he's rubbing up against him? Emotionally, does Daniel's submission and begging make him feel powerful? Or is he overcome with devotion, like he'll give Daniel anything he wants just to make him stay?

Taking the time to ask and answer these types of questions can reveal a lot about the characters and also give you a lot of fodder for description in a scene. It can also help you set the tone you're going for. Maybe this fic is just pure smut, PWP, with a bit of a hate sex vibe, so Armand is really getting off on the power play and denial. Or, maybe it's a more angsty smut fic where you want to explore how Armand is dominant, but also deeply insecure and feeds Daniel's blood addiction to keep him coming back. It all really depends on the vibe of the fic and what character traits you want to explore through the smut.

Another good tip is to try to engage all five senses when possible. Ex: What does Daniel feel like beneath him? (ex: warm, soft, hot, hard) What does he smell like? (ex: cigarettes, sweat, the expensive cologne Armand bought him) What does he taste like? (ex: martinis, smoke, blood that's welling up from a split lip from one of Armand's fangs) What does he sound like? (ex: desperate, like a whore, his voice high and thready with need) How does he look, spread out beneath him? (ex: flushed cheeks, messy curls, pink lips open and gasping). You can have a lot of fun with all five senses.

I could go on, but I'll leave you with this last bit of general writing advice: If you get stuck, don't be afraid to write out of order. Who cares if you start at the end? You can always edit it all seamlessly together, and then you haven't wasted hours trying to brute force your way through a scene when you had a different idea for a later part floating around in your head practically begging to be written. You make the rules!

Okay, that's all for now. I hope it helps!

[thedeadparrot]

Wout/Christophe Fanfic Recs

for @wtfanworkclassification TDF Rest Day 2

What is there to say about Wout/Christophe as a pairing? It's about starting anew with a different team and finding your confidence because you can keep up with one of the best riders in the world. It's about working in service for someone else and finding your own glory in it. It's about selflessness, giving back what you've been given. It's about your own private breakaway enduring to the finish line.

It's about your own weird, insular team that doesn't like making friends outside of itself. It's about competing against each other in international competition, your goals and motives no longer aligned.

As a pairing, it's not quite as fraught as Wout/Mathieu or as gentle as Wout/Jonas. It exists in an in between state. The same and yet different. I still love it anyway.

Anyway, here's the recs. (Yes, this is all of the ones in English on AO3. No, I'm not sorry.)

Another Night, Another Town - by superSepia (@flourbray) - a lovely little collection of drabbles, little glimpses into their relationship over the years, leaving you wanting more. Technically a WIP, but I think it stands alone as it is.

So much wine and The long and winding road - by and_nobody_noticed (@interdisciplinary-disaster) - the first is a brutal gutpuch after the European Championships, a kind of falling out of love because it can't survive the real competition; the second is a healing story about them after they've figured it out and are enjoying training camp in Tignes. Both lovely in their own ways. I love reconciliation fic, stories about figuring out how to put things back together after they've been broken, and I think there's something especially powerful about reading them when you get to see how things were broken in the first place.

Never have I ever - by F_FT (@fftifft) - I love some good poly fic, and I especially love addressing the existence of real life partners. This is mostly super hot foursome fic about Wout discovering that he is way more into kissing his teammate than he thought he was originally. Still hoping for a sequel one day, but it also ends in the perfect place.

Cadeu - by Anonymous - Oh, this is such a beautiful alternate take from and_nobody_noticed's on the European Championships. Christophe's feelings feel so achingly real. Both his love and his uncertainty. Love wins in the end, okay?

its own kind of blasphemy - by curious_bibliophile (@inbetweenpages) - a vivid drabble about devotion and loyalty and also religion. Just everything I want out of the pairing.

breathe out - by @leadouttrain - a moment in time from the first stage of Paris-Nice, capturing Christophe's uncertainty with a new team and his joy at the win. The image of Christophe and Wout huddled underneath a team-branded comforter will stick with me.

all i can do is watch - by curious_bibliophile (@inbetweenpages) - sorry not sorry that I brainwormed curious_bibliophile into thinking about spy!Wout and handler!Christophe, which produced this tense little moment full of messy feelings and unvoiced yearning. Not a secret that I love miserable pining, and this has it in spades.

Extra Wout/Jonas/Christophe Recs

So much of the interesting team dynamics of Wout/Christophe and Wout/Jonas, now in a poly beehive form.

hold you tight (like the moon in the arms of the sky) and lining's silver, grass is greener (i'm on my way) - by @etapereine - these are small, quiet, intimate stories about the three of them navigating their relationships and supporting each other. I love the quiet mood and how lightly and yet how vividly their interactions are drawn.

work on it - by @leadouttrain - Tignes training camp (pictured above) was such perfect fodder for this trio. This is super hot and full of interesting dynamics. (did I mention it's hot?)

[mira--image]

Meet Vrek (rottmnt oc)

Vrek's playlist

Mystical ability:

Internal— he can temporarily boost his strength and senses, which is represented physically with a sharper and more feral transformation (same as Gus).

External— none, he does not know any witchcraft.

Vrek works as medic in the Battle Nexus. He's aware of the brutality, and tries to help fighters in need. In Big Mama's Nexus, if you're not a champion, you're fodder, and many are sent out for back-to-back fights that they are less and less likely to overcome. When Vrek fears a fighter is too wounded to survive their next fight, he volunteers to fight in their place.

This can have dangerous long-term consequences, as his success in the arena inspires Big Mama to deliberately put fighters he is close with at risk.

Read more about my ideas for the events at the nexus below the cut 👀

The final member of the main cast appears!

Fun fact, Vrek was actually the first character I designed for this project!

The Battle Nexus is such an interesting place to me. How can such a place be a business? What does yokai culture have to be like for that to be okay? Well, it's the same culture that allows the existence of the perilous Minotaur Maze in a pizza restaurant, so perhaps fighting and death in battle are just part of the norm.

I adore how different fanfics I've read have portrayed the Nexus, from the non-lethal games nights in my favorite fic, @danzinora-switch's Mind Over Matter series, to the brutal bloodbath that is the Nexus in a_platypus' Mutant Ninja Midlife Crisis (@mutantninjamidlifecrisis). For my iteration, I imagine that there is a wide variety of events at the Nexus that cover both sides of the spectrum.

Allow me to introduce you to all my Nexus has to offer:

🥊 In addition to the main arena, there are smaller fighting rooms in a bar-like setting with platforms like wrestling rings for brawls. These can be for impulsive fights to test strength, settle a dispute, or cash in bets (organized by Big Mama's people of course). This is a good spot for casual fighting, burn off some steam, or dip your toe in the scene.

⚽️ If you don't want to watch a fight, the Nexus also hosts different yokai sports events, played by both professionals and the general public. You can sign up and pay for a spot in the public group games, which can range from elimination-style fights (either knock-out or steal-the-flag depending on the level of intensity) to group sports like the yokai equivalent of football or gladiator jousting. Paired with a trip to the Mystic Market, this is the usual itinerary for a fun day out among young yokai friends.

🏹 You could attend demonstrations of weapons masteries that don't involve fighting, like target practice or choreographed fighting. This is appealing to older, traditional yokai.

⚔️ But if you do want to see a fight, there are options. Yokai can fight against yokai in similar weight classes with similar skills, or battle against massive monsters. You can opt to see non-lethal fights, or fights where the loser is 'ripped limb from limbitty limb!' There are different kinds of people who participate in these fights: those who are there willingly, and those who are not. This includes glory-seekers, masters in training, desperate people hoping to make money fast, criminals serving their sentence, or people in debt to Big Mama or who have upset her. All these fights are usually scheduled over a few days, and people can buy day passes or tickets to specific fights.

💎 The crown jewels of fights are those fought by the Nexus champions. Their fights are seasonal and expensive, with advertisements, promotional events, opening shows— everything to hype up the battle and get butts in seats. Nexus champions are usually there willingly, having signed a contract and living a life of luxury and fame. A popular champion can stay on top for a decade, earning them a stone statue to immortalize their skills. Less popular champions tend to fall in battle before falling out of the public eye. Big Mama has to keep up the esteem, after all.

This is my last meet-the-character page, next up will be some bonus content for this series as i work on my next drawing for The Apprentice ;D