#just a little disheartened that i still am not writing more days than i am writing and still missing it more

[blue-scorpion-king]

RWBY is not dead, just on uncertain waters at the moment.

I am getting this out there for you all in this fandom who are feeling uncertain and scared for RWBY right now.

And maybe in the near future this fall and winter.

Or maybe even next year, in 2024.

And spoilers for RWBY up ahead.

RWBY is not dead.

Rooster Teeth did not cancel it or else, everyone would have been talking about it and I would , even at an later date from that hypothetical, disheartening announcement.

I ain't all that worried from V10 from getting greenlight at RTX this year, which was last month from this post being made.

Why? Crunchyroll might have made a deal with RT on V10 being greenlit AFTER the RWBY X DC crossover movie's 2nd part get released.

I know that it is speculation right now, but that is a high possibility.

Alongside that Red Vs Blue is still going, Let's Play is still up, and they are still being talked about.

By both fans, non-fans, and haters.

Even with their failings and all that. They still have to make money at the end of the day and go for supply and demand, even with having to make compromises.

But, as it stands right now, as we are in yet another RWBY hiatus, as it is the norm, just a little more uncertain than the other hiatuses-

We don't really know.

But, I don't think we should be really be worried about RWBY being 'dead' just because

Do keep going at it at trying to convince RT to finish RWBY by releasing V10 and onwards, which could be finished in 2 to 3 volumes. 2 to 3 years I think.

And always remember what the message of Ruby Rose to all of the world in V8 did to its people, which got shown at the end of V9.

She brought hope to all of

Even in this uncertain time of fear, despair, anger and bitterness of 'what could have been' for this fandom, especially with the massively uncertain time when Monty Oum died 8 years ago (R.I.P. always), and business happenings that we don't know, that are not being said online, all of that-

Don't give up hope.

Even if in a decade or two, when RWBY continues after an hypothetical hiatus that spanned sooo long.

And perhaps the writing on the wall of RWBY being 'dead' or 'dying' was written by those who have given up and not given hope to those who want to watch RWBY and enjoy it for what it is.

Even when they have left the series.

Even with those who think hope is a dangerous thing and can drive someone insane.

And get an man's project finished for all to experience. I don't know the full vision of Monty Oum and I wouldn't pretend that I do.

But, his story getting out there and being understood and cherished, even with life's ups and downs, even with him being dead, is what I think he would want as he was making it.

And that's all I have to say on this matter.

So, we will continue to wait for the day we all have been waiting for and the revolution that Team RWBY and friends bring to Remnant against the walking *cancer* witch, that is Salem.

When that days does come-

~Hades-Hando~

[nightghoul381]

For the writing request, can you perhaps make a reader x William fic? Prompt: hurt and comfort. The reader got reminded of painful memories when she encountered her toxic ex and William noticed it and he comforted her.

Thank you for the request @themiscarnival! William is a very comforting character so I really enjoyed writing this. I hope you enjoy!

Genre: Angst/ Fluff Prompt: Hurt/ Comfort after a run-in with a toxic ex Warnings: Story contains negative self-talk and negative comments toward reader WC: ~1.3k

You know you’re worthless without me right?

I am the only one who thinks you’re worth caring about, do you really want to risk that by making me angry?

Are you trying to humiliate me?

Negative thoughts have been swirling through your head all day, ever since you ran into him. You typically try to avoid going to places that your ex frequents, but you had really wanted to get a special jam to have Ellis try and it was only sold in one shop that you knew of.

He’d seen you before you had noticed him, his approach caught you completely off guard.

“Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in.” His voice sent shivers down your spine and you felt your stomach drop as he grabbed your chin, turning you to face him the same way he always had.

“Crawling back to me already? I knew you wouldn’t be able to handle life without me. You always were far too stupid for your own good. Let me guess, you’re drowning in debt, living alone in the streets, right? I know I’m right.”

He never let you even get one word in.

“Well too bad for you I have a woman who actually has value. Not much, but certainly more than you ever did. You look awful, what are you trying to chase business away for this poor shop? You do realize that no one actually wants you around right?”

Your jaw was trembling at this point and you were fighting hard to hold back your tears so that he wouldn’t get the satisfaction of seeing you cry. You swore to yourself you would never let him get to you again, and yet all it took was a few harsh words and your self-esteem plummeted.

After several more disheartening comments, he finally left you alone, but at that point, you were too shaken to finish shopping. You went straight back home, not bothering to respond to Liam or Ellis when they greeted you. If you opened your mouth, you knew nothing but sobs would spill out.

You kept your head down and locked yourself in your room, curling into a ball on your bed and finally letting the tears free.

It had been likely hours since the whole ordeal but you were still just as upset as you had been while it was happening. The sun was beginning to disappear below the horizon and you felt that it was darkly suited to how your own heart felt, all light slipping away, leaving only darkness. It had always been a worry in the back of your mind that no one actually wanted you around; that they were just putting up with you out of pity. But now no matter what you tried to tell yourself, there was no way to convince yourself that you may truly be wanted.

A loud knocking at your door startled you, causing you to bolt upright.

“Could you unlock to door for me, my dear?”  

The sound of your lover’s voice had a lump forming in your throat. You sat there in silence, fresh tears brimming at the thought of having to explain your situation to him.

“If I need to, little robin, I’ll request Victor give me the key.” William warned.

Reluctantly, you rolled to the edge of the bed and weakly made your way to the door, legs trembling and vision blurry, unlocking it before throwing yourself back to the bed.

You had your face buried in a pillow when William entered your room. You heard the sound of the lock clicking on the door behind him. A brief moment passed as you waited for the inevitable question.

“What happened darling?” His voice sounded very close and you could faintly smell the rich, warm scent of leather wreathing around you.

The comfort of that smell urged you to go to him, but your shame commanded that you stay put.

He probably wouldn’t want me to touch him, not really. Your thoughts continue to flow down this turbulent river of despair until you feel William’s hand stroking your hair.

A broken whimper finally escaped you as you tossed aside the pillow and buried your face instead in William’s chest, clinging to him as though he were the only thing keeping you from succumbing to the emotions threatening to pull you under.

You can no longer hold back anything, sobs wracking your body, tears streaming down your face, hands trembling where they clutched at William’s shirt.

He said nothing, tenderly rubbing your back in soothing circles and caressing your hair. The sound of his strong heartbeat and his even breathing soon calmed you enough to lean back, looking up into his crimson eyes.

“My lovely little robin, what happened to make you so upset?” He asks, stroking your cheek with his thumb. His eyebrows are furrowed into a deep frown as you try to string together words to explain why you’re such a mess.

“Um… I was out shopping…” You began, surprising yourself with how raspy your voice was. “I ran into somebody, from before…. We used to date… he said some things that got to me…”

William pressed a light kiss to your forehead as you took a shuddering breath.

“Will you tell me what he said to you?” he whispered, holding your face close to his.

“Umm… just some things he used to say… he was a cruel man.” You managed, lowering your gaze to look at your hands,

“The words of a cruel man hold no value.”

“Just like me,” You whisper miserably, hugging your arms tightly to your chest.

William’s face is soon looking up at you. He had contorted himself to be able to look into your eyes.

“Is that the sort of lie he’s told you? That you have no value?”

Closing your eyes, you gently nod your head, wanting to curl up and disappear.

Soon you feel yourself being lifted into William’s lap, his arms wrapping around you like a cocoon, holding you snugly against his chest.

“I truly hope you can understand just how much value you have through my eyes. Allow me to paint the picture. Your smile is the sun beaming light into my life, your laugh the sweetest melody I’ve ever heard. The way you brush your hair back while you’re reading, the frustrated face you make when you get embarrassed, and the way you greet me with a hug after I return from a mission; all these things are so incredibly precious to me. Each time I get to spend a quiet moment with you in my arms is a priceless treasure. You bring me so much joy and I will be forever grateful that you’ve become a part of my life. Your love is intoxicating, I can’t seem to keep my mind straight without it. You’ve become so integral to my world that there is absolutely nothing I value more than you.”

As he murmurs these words of love in your ear, you can feel the tension slowly unravelling from your body. Once he finishes talking, he continues to hold you tightly, laying his head against your hair and rocking gently. The motion is so soothing, and your body and mind so weary from the day’s events that within minutes, you’ve fallen asleep in his arms.

William smiles to himself, gazing down at you with such affection, he feels as though his heart may burst.

“You truly are the most precious thing to me, my dear robin.” He whispers these last words as he leans back onto the bed to join you in your peaceful slumber, his arms remaining steadfast around your body as he continues to hold you through the night.

[theweedisasterxoxo]

Hi, hon! I saw your recent post you just made, and just wanted to say a few things!

First off, I’m so sorry to hear you’re going through a rough time right now. I can’t say I understand specifically what you’re going through, but I do know what it’s like to be in those rough episodes, and I will say it’s not great. I really hope you’re taking the time to take care of yourself. You are your number one priority🩶

Second, low engagement truly can be very disappointing, and I’m sorry it’s not hitting where you’d like it to be at. Tumblr is honestly so weird. A while back, I don’t know what or why, but they started limiting how many blogs you could tag? This started when I was first writing, and oh my goodness. My engagement took a while to build. Idk if the tag limit is true still, but I’ve still been experiencing that tagging doesn’t even send notifications anymore. There’s so many posts that I end up scrolling past only to find out that I was tagged all along (oh gosh especially in tag games, I’m either always so late to those or I don’t even see them😭)! I don’t understand!! But if my time on tumblr has taught me anything, and I wish I was told this when I first started out, I feel like (for my personal experience) tag lists might be the least helpful way to truly boosting any posts out there for a much wider audience to see. What’s worked for me though is focusing what actual hashtags at the very bottom of the post that I use, and also posting at a consistent time (I always post around 12pm my local time🤣 - I literally don’t know why I chose that time, but the consistency has worked wonders for me!!!) 🙂‍↕️

Also - and this is just me personally - but I limit my time on this app crazily now. I’ve also turned off mobile notifications. This isn’t because of anyone or anything in regards to tumblr, but it is simply for the sake of my own mental health🩶 I fully understand your anxieties about people being annoyed and whatnot, but it is truly nothing personal with me if I tend to overlook a post🩶 and I hope that can ease your mind a little bit because I know just how persistent those voices in our head can be.

Lastly, just wanted to mention that you are so so so interactive and one of the sweetest that this community has (and needs a bit more of if we’re being honest). Your comments and the rocks 🪨 you give me truly brighten up my day.🫶 I think I can happily speak for several when I say we appreciate you more than you know.🩶

Some rocks for u, fren🩶🪨🪨🪨🪨🪨

Hi, my love! I am SO sorry for how long it has taken to reply to this ask. My notifications on Tumblr for likes and asks have been so dodgy; I wasn’t ignoring you, pinky promise!

Firstly, rough episodes are awful and I’m sorry that someone as lovely as you has to go through them too. It can be disheartening to experience especially if you’re alone or don’t have a good support system in place. That being said, you are so sweet and I’m eternally grateful to be on the receiving end of it.

Secondly, I didn’t realise that tagging for other people wasn’t working either! I also still have some Tag Games to post, holy moly. But in terms of the lack of engagement, while I do feel a little disheartened sometimes that people don’t really interact with my stuff, I realise that it’s more to do with me knowing that I don’t have a super wide reach over this platform. I think that a lot of it is because I don’t write graphic smut, and I’ve definitely noticed that there are different levels of interaction between smut fics and more ‘tame’ fics, whether they’re angst or fluff. I will most likely never branch into writing that style because I read most of my works to my mum and I am absolutely not reading Joel getting diddly with the reader to my sweet, Christian mother. Though, to reference another point you made, I will definitely keep it in my mind to expand my hashtags and make a more strict posting time!

Third, I absolutely get the reason for limiting your time on this app and the notifications on it due to how overwhelming it can be to be on Tumblr, especially with the level of interaction you get! I’m barely on this app at this point — partly due to a lack of motivation to post anything, partly because of how negative and triggering the community on here has been recently — so I promise I don’t take it as a personal offence if you don’t interact!

Lastly, but not really because I still have other stuff to say, I try hard to show people the appreciation and love on the things they post that they deserve! After being on Fanfiction sites for almost nine years now, starting on Fanfic.net and then moving over to Quotev, Wattpad, AO3, and now on Tumblr, I’ve always strived to leave a positive comment on what I’ve read and interacted with because I’m a firm believer that if you like something you should leave a little positive comment behind to tell the writer that you like it! I know I get giddy when the few people who read what I post leave a comment or reblog so I enjoy to spread that same joy to other people!!

I appreciate your loveliness way more than I can hope to explain, L, and I’m grateful for the reminder that other people appreciate me because it’s felt like the world has been sitting on my face with no signs of standing up any time soon. Now, I’m not religious but to be known and spoken to by you fills me with such light that it’s like receiving a revelation by the most loving deity. You have a gorgeous soul, my love.

Here are some rocks for you too!! 🪨🪨🪨🪨🪨🪨🪨🪨🪨🪨

[muutosarchive]

hi! little update, on @avemaria

so, i am talking with nova now and she's decided that she wants to let you all know what happened. nova, on monday april 29th, suffered a pretty sizeable stroke due to a blood clot. the language center of the brain was effected and it was a left side stroke, which means she has right-side (her dominant side) weakness. her coordination is effected, her motor skills, her walking and her speech. she has expressive aphasia as of now. she transferred to rehab last week &. has been inpatient there, working with OT, PT, and ST.

she is miles ahead of where she was almost three weeks ago. it still feels insane, and the government/world seems so cruel sometimes. but watching her, and how well she's doing makes it as bright as i need it to be.

she of course wants me to tell you how well she's doing and let you all know she's trying so hard for all of you to get back to what she loves to do as soon as possible. <3 she's starting to eat with her right hand and can write some, and she says so much more now - even if her words are jumbled sometimes. but to all those who have reached out to her, she appreciates it more than you know. she just hasn't quite learned how to type again yet, but rest assured she's been lurking the dash and can see all of your messages to her. she is disheartened she cannot answer herself, but one day soon she will be! she'll eventually make a full recovery but the process is going to be a long one.

i saw her walk today with no walker - pretty much on her own two feet, and considering she couldn't even take a step the first two days, i'm blown away by how well she's doing.

she's honestly the strongest woman in the world, and although she has to go on a semi-hiatus until she can write again, she really hopes her friends will stick by her &. she misses you all so much. she's still the same old nova, just as funny and sassy as ever.

[my-writings-and-musings]

Hello!! Um, if it’s okay, could I ask for a RB Chase x reader? I’ve been drowning in college assignments lately and I barely have time to rest/eat :(( It’d be nice if it included some comforting <3

I hope this was okay, have a good day/night :> 🫶

I know that experience well, anon, so have this and good luck on your assignments!!

For those who don't know: if you like my writing style, you can always commission me, and please reblog to help spread my work! Thank you!

The light of your desk lamp was nearly blinding at maximum brightness, but you didn't dare turn it down, and even made a point to keep it right over your notes for the most pronounced effect. For all the pain it caused your eyes, it was well worth it to stay awake. You didn't dare drift off with so much more to do...

Alone in the bunker for privacy, you occasionally paused to check the time and found it increasingly disheartening, the late evening turning to early morning with so little progress to show for it. Between assignments that were presently due and studying for those that would be due layer, you weren't sure you'd ever be finished with your work. Your primary comfort was in knowing that you'd be able to sleep once it was done, and even if you only got a few minutes before you were needed for something else, you considered that more than enough. Just imagining closing your eyes for fifteen minutes sounded like heaven.

Between the exhaustion and your focus, you were very easily snuck up on, even by someone over fifteen feet tall who made no attempt to actually sneak.

"Y/N? Why are you-?"

Jumping like a startled cat and sending multiple papers flying, you turned to find Chase behind you, servos up in a disarming gesture. Letting out a sigh of relief, you felt your blood pressure drop as you sat back down. Your exhaustion must have made you jumpier than expected, as surprises from the bots had never frightened you so intently before. 

"Apologies. My intent was not to frighten you." Chase said with as much sincere guilt as his monotone could carry. Feeling guilty yourself, you massaged your tired eyes to try and meet his gaze without looking like a sleepless zombie, almost able to feel the bags forming beneath them.

"It's not you, Chase, I'm sorry I jumped." you replied as he kneeled down to speak at a more even level. Looking into his optics brought you a significant amount of comfort, which almost made you feel worse about how little time you had for this conversation. There was nothing you wanted more than to just relax and converse with the mech you loved, but you simply didn't have enough energy to split between him and all the work you still needed to get done. It didn't help that your traitorous brain was reminding you of how comfy it was in his arms...

"You appear... exhausted." he said plainly, hesitating before he settled on his usual bluntness. You'd have smiled if your body wasn't struggling just to sit up.

"I've got a lot of assignments to get done, so I've been pushing my bedtime back a bit." you explained, trying to play down your exhaustion while steering the conversation in a way that would allow you to politely get back to work. It was far too tempting to just forget everything and chat with the assignments being so incredibly boring, and with his presence being so wonderfully calming... you had to pinch yourself just to keep your head from dipping under its own weight. You must have been less convincing than you thought, because even Chase had to slightly lift a brow at your obvious underselling.

"It is three eleven AM, that is more than could reasonably be defined as a "bit", by any acceptable definition." he countered, gentle but firm in his refusal to back down. You wilted a little at how quickly you were seen through, but your dedication to your work refused to allow you a chance to surrender. There was a part of you that just didn't like being helped.

"Well... yeah." you conceded as your fried brain scrambled to think of what you could say. Of course Chase was worried, it was in his nature to fret, but you were determined not to admit you needed any kind of help when you were so confident no one else in your position would have needed it. Not meeting his gaze, you tried to smile in a manner you hoped would read as reassuring. "I'll get some sleep once this is done, I promise."

Chase bent down a little lower, getting more on your level and not bothering to hide he was looking you over. "You appear to need it most urgently right now." he said in summation, pushing you into more arguing even as a growing urge within you wanted nothing more than to submit. 

"Fair enough, but I just don't have the time. If any of these assignments are late-"

"Can you not request an extension on the deadline?" he interrupted, concern growing more evident as you leaned against your desk to stay upright. He hovered a hand by your side, and you took it instinctively for support, an act you immediately regretted once you felt the warmth of his armor against you. There was nothing you wanted more than to lean into him and let his considerable strength support you...

"I... I wouldn't want..." you couldn't even manage a rebuttal through the fog in your mind, and worse still, you didn't even have the energy to be upset about it any longer. The pages of notes and the spread of open books on your desk turned to a blur as you held on to the cruiser's arm, head resting against him as your eyelids grew heavier than stone.

"Could it be requested on your behalf?" he pressed further, offering his other hand to tilt up your chin. Like a cat, your neck went limp and you allowed him to support the weight of your head, your tired eyes meeting his optics as you managed a single word.

"Maybe?"

Softening his gaze, Chase let out a tiny sigh, speaking with a level of inflection that more fully conveyed his concern. "You need sleep, Y/N."

"Probably..." you conceded at long last, worn down more by his efforts in five minutes than you'd been by hours of your body demanding what it needed. There was no denying you'd pushed yourself to your limit, but you just couldn't bring yourself to go any further with his presence being so comfortable and your desk being so hard and unwelcoming. You thought fondly of the time you'd fallen asleep in his backseat during a long drive, and how safe you'd felt and how deeply you'd slept... There was nothing you wanted more.

"Definitely." he said to finish the argument. You actually helped him pull you to your feet, but when your tired legs wobbled under your weight he simply scooped you up and pulled you to his chassis, flicking off your lamp with remarkable dexterity. Being cradled in his arms drew a sigh of absolute relief past your lips, and it was almost impossible to stay awake as you felt his warm embrace all around you. Chase moved away from your little workstation and moved quietly through the bunker, his voice a distant but pleasant echo that barely reached you. "I cannot access your bedroom, but the couch has blankets and pillows."

You felt the plush fabric of the couch meet your body like a cloud, and when you instinctively reached to tuck yourself in the cruiser beat You to it, delicately pulling a blanket over your body before he slipped a pillow under your head. A final burst of stubborn independence compelled you to assure him the extra effort was unnecessary. "You don't have to do this, Chase."

"I know." he confirmed softly. There wasn't enough in you to reply, but before the bliss of long overdue sleep took you away you were aware of being tucked in and the blurry image of a rare smile, his words reminding you there was nothing you needed to face on your own.

"But I want to."

[esprei]

have recently learned there's a bit more hate around trainwreckshipping than i was aware of so i guess i just wanted to talk about it a bit and give my two cents on the ship, how i see it and i guess my perspective on things. i've kind of always wanted to talk about it, but i just haven't been brave enough until now haha (sorry, i am not super eloquent when it comes to writing things like this so my apologies) ((also throwing it under a cut because it may get long and might also include some slightly sad-ish things so i don't want to just throw that in everyone's face you know))

----

i think i'll just preface things by saying i've always totally understood why trainwreckshipping has gotten so much flack since its inception. or hate, because maybe flack just isn't strong enough of a word. but i do understand. there were mischaracterizations of emmet by portraying him as violent to volo because it was assumed that volo was directly responsible for ingo's disappearance. i was guilty of it. suuuuuper guilty. and i can understand why that put the ship in such a position for many people. toxic, unhealthy, etc. but... i think what i'm a bit confused on i guess is the fact that it's still viewed so much this way to this day. viewed as one of the worst ships because of how toxic it is. how unhealthy it is. all because it started that way in fanon only. but you know, from a canon standpoint, it has nothing. nothing at all. so really, this ship could be anything because it's based in fanon only. no canon interactions of emmet and volo exist yet. there is no official basis on how these characters would interact with each other. and yes, while there were misunderstandings of both characters early on, that certainly doesn't mean it's still that way today. that doesn't mean that people haven't studied and looked at these two characters a little closer to understand them better and to try and make them more realistic to their canon portrayals. to make more accurate depictions of these characters and how that fits in to a healthier perspective with them. i dunno. it just kinda baffles me that with the variety of trainwreckshipping content out there now, some still call it toxic and unhealthy as if we're perpetually stuck in that time period of when it was. like it's not allowed to be anything but that ever just because it started that way. and what makes me the saddest about it all is now seeing so many friends and people in the community of the ship start to get disheartened and discouraged from enjoying something they really actually enjoy because there's still such a bad stigma to the ship. personally for a long time i've just ignored that stigma because i try not to let that stuff drag me down. but i will admit that yes, it has made me more reluctant to post any art i do of it. i've definitely had my periods where i've questioned uploading my emmet/volo art, usually as wholesome as it is, because it does have such a dark cloud around it fandom wise. it's why i made my side blog, in fact. because i just didn't feel very comfortable uploading mostly emmet/volo art here to my main because so many people dislike it or outright hate it.

and in regards to the ship itself, i think i've always thought of it in a slightly different way than most. not so much enemies to lovers but rather through the lens of how volo might could change, be redeemed, see the how his actions in the past inadvertently affected others (and by that I mean his involvement in opening the rift... like yes, that could be what caused ingo to be sent to hisui, but we don't know that for sure... and even if that was the case, volo didn't do it specifically to target ingo. volo was only ever interested in trying to get to arceus and build a better world in his vision).

or how volo could look at emmet after getting to know him and potentially see the beauty and value of the current world through him. you know, seeing someone like emmet and admiring that he can still find a reason to smile and be kind despite all of the pain and suffering he must have gone through since ingo's disappearance. volo starting to see a different perspective than he did before (aka wanting to build a new world because the current one was too full of pain and suffering) because of emmet. i dunno. that's just me personally. because since actually looking more at volo's character and his dialogue in game i've been real interested in redemption paths for him. exploring those possibilities. i just enjoy exploring said possibilities mostly through the dynamic i have in my head for him and emmet because it's fun. it interests me. i see cool potential in it. i enjoy it a lot. and while i don't think i ever portray volo super accurately, or even emmet for that matter, i still think i've come a long way since first finishing pla and ever looking at emmet/volo interactions. but regardless of all of that, that's the beauty of a ship of this nature. a ship that has absolutely no basis in canon. because it really can be anything you want it to be. it can be enemies to lovers, it can be more wholesome, it can be whatever. it's not locked into a specific dynamic because the characters have never officially met each other, let alone had a conversation. and even if that were the case... AUs are still a thing. :D

anyway that's pretty much all i had. just wanted to talk about it a bit because i've seen a recent uptick in people mentioning all of the hate and dislike for the ship etc and i dunno. i enjoy the ship a lot. it's just sad to see that there's still so much hate around it even though a lot of the content now is not like how it originally started. not from what i've seen, at least.

and while i don't expect anyone who hates it to ever warm up to it, i just wish it could be understood that the more toxic, unhealthy dynamic is not the basis of anymore. there are healthier portrayals of it now.

[handyowlet]

I’ve seen a lot of discourse lately about the newer parts of this (and other) fandoms. Some of it is just calling out people for bad behavior, but some of it seems downright hostile to people just for being new, and that seems unfair to me. Anyone who is being a dick to others should ABSOLUTELY be dragged for that, whether they’ve been around for 6 months or 6 years. Common decency should be the baseline.

But we can’t control when we became aware of a fandom, or when a new world was opened up to us. And trying to lock people out, devalue their opinions, or refuse to engage with them at all simply because you were here first is just mean.

For example, I was obsessed with My Little Pony back when I watched The Glass Princess (1986) on VHS multiple times a day. But it’s been a long time since then, and while Friendship is Magic is not the same, I don’t begrudge anyone loving it and I don’t think I would be a more important fan or that my opinions would be more valid just because cause I loved it before a newer fan did, especially because I am (probably much) older than a lot of those fans. I only got there first because I was born first and my mom bought that tape. This isn’t exactly the same as some of you because I’m not into MLP any more, but my daughter’s starting to love it, and I’m not going to keep her from watching the new stuff just because it isn’t the old stuff.

I was only 5 when GO was published, so of course there are people who read it and fell in love with it before I did, because I was a child and didn’t know it existed. I didn’t know about a lot of things- I didn’t know anything about Star Wars, Star Trek, LOTR, etc. until college because my parents didn’t let me. I only learned about Rocky Horror, Eddie Izzard, RENT, Queer as Folk, etc. because of the people I met in Creative Writing and drama club in high school, because they had been given access to those things and shared them with me. Drag Race was several years old before someone introduced me to that.

I am relatively new to this fandom, even though I did read the book many years before the show came out. I didn’t even know there was going to be a show until suddenly there was, and I loved S1, but circumstances in my life kept me from becoming obsessed. I also had no idea S2 was coming until right before it came out, and by then I was in a place where the brain rot was able to take hold. I thought Tumblr was like Tindr until around then as well, and I had no idea AO3 even existed. No one else I known IRL knows what these things are either, except for what I’ve told them. I don’t think my participation in this fandom should be any less valid just because I didn’t have access to it before now.

I have dived into this fandom headfirst and unabashedly. I still don’t understand all of how Tumblr and AO3 work, but now that I’m here, I participate as much as I can (sometimes I don’t respond to those tagging posts because I haven’t figured it out yet). I post on Tumblr when I think I have something to say, and try to boost others who say things I think might enrich someone else’s life too. I devour fanfic on a daily basis, leaving kudos and comments and recommending anything I’ve liked to anyone who will listen because I want to support the amazing artists in this community and spread the happiness they’ve brought to me. I try to engage with anyone who engages with me, and I’d like to think I’ve been respectful to you all (but I know I can be blunt too, so if ever I am a twat waffle, feel free to drag my ass for that).

I guess my bottom line is, while I’ve mostly felt very safe, loved, and accepted jn this fandom, the anti-newbie discourse is disheartening. I will absolutely join you in blasting anyone who chooses to be an asshole, but I’m never going to support the unnecessary gatekeeping. I don’t think Aziraphale, Crowley, Michael, David, Terry, or Neil would either.

Thank you to all of you who have shown love and acceptance to me. I’ll strive to return it and pay it forward to every chance I get.

[snorlaxlovesme]

this is called giving Live Action Avatar a fair chance

the Netflix live action Avatar has always been a strange beast. it's a thing no one wanted after the disastrous 2010 movie. public perception of it was extremely low after Bryke walked out on it because of creative differences (disheartening as well as concerning). people tore apart the teaser stills and completely thrashed the early trailers. the news that Sokka's sexism plot was being altered had fans frothing at the mouth. the show seemed to be caught in this limbo where it had an incredibly low bar to rise above, in terms of trouncing The Last Airbender Movie, and infinitely high bar it would be impossible to reach, in terms of the original A:TLA.

now. if i can't go into a live action adaptation with an open mind, i will not watch it. live action Yu Yu Hakusho came out several months ago, and the vibes I got from trailer were not what I wanted, so I shelved it. if I'm going to sit down and watch a re-telling of one of my favorite pieces of media, I'm going to do my damnedest to go in with as open of a mind as a I can bear, because I like to have a good time and I can't do that constantly dogging on something.

so. my rule of thumb is generally this: treat any live action adaptation as fanfiction. if i can recognize the characters and recognize the plot, that's fine. i'm not looking for anything crazy, just interesting fanfiction. that's the level of closeness to canon i'm expecting. bar is on the floor.

and in terms of Good Television, my expectations are also incredibly low. good TV has 1. good writing 2. good acting 3. good action/SFX. for adaptations the best i'm looking for is ONE out of three. the lower my expectations, the more fun i get to have.

i'm explaining all of this because, while I have not seen reviews of Netlix Avatar yet, I know just how brainless the masses can be and i need you to know that THESEEE are the expectations you should be having when going into these things. Avatar: The Last Airbender is hailed as an example of a nearly PERFECT show. if you are expecting that kind of excellence from an adaptation you are simply deranged and I will not be reading your bad faith interpretations of the show.

with these expectations in mind, it's easy to see why i'm loving Netflix Avatar so much. why? because it cleared one of my very low expectations. the bending in the show looks pretty good! the writing of the show is average! some of the actors are quite charming! i am pleased!

i have seen 3 episodes so far ("Aang" through "Omashu", and yes these episode titles DO suck, I'll concede to that)

so, now that i've gotten that little manifesto out of the way, let's get into some actual Thoughts So Far:

-the way the first episode was structured was very cool. i like that they didn't throw us in at the same spot we started in A:TLA. and to avoid the horrible exposition dump the movie gave us, instead they just showed us the start of the war. i like the tactical inclusion that Sozin let word get out that the Fire Nation would attack the Earth Kingdom first to throw the Air Nomads off his scent. i also thought it was cool so show us a day in the life at the Easter Air Temple. the setting was gorgeous and I loved seeing all the monks doing their own thing. it made you feel so attached to the Air Nomads and their kindness and gentleness, so when they were attacked you truly felt for them.

-Monk Giatso's actor was fantastic. i was gagged that they had my crying less than 20 min into the first episode, what the fuck

-Gran Gran reciting Katara's opening speech line by line was funny, hokey, and exactly what I wanted. loved that for her and loved that for ME

-i like the change that Katara has to waterbend in secret for her own safety, not simply because she doesn't have a master

-it felt appropriate that they made Sokka take his warrior/protector role more seriously. the "i gotta go potty" bit from that like 6 year old in the original is hilarious but I don't think that sort of humor would have translated well to live action. i like that Sokka really was a leader to the ragtag group of kiddos and like one teenage boy. and him asking Zuko to duel with him one and one!! a very sweet early act of bravery

-in general i'm just really liking how they're approaching Sokka's character. all the fuss over "they're taking out Sokka's sexism" arc felt idiotic to me for weeks because like of course they did?? let's be SO real here, if you have never seen the original and are watching Netflix Avatar blind for the first time, are you going to rock with the protagonist who makes "girls' only jobs are cooking and sewing" jokes? in 2024? in this sociopolitical climate that shit would NOT fly and people would drop the show for stuff like that. no one would wait to see his character growth, people's attention spans aren't long enough for that these days. plus, for all the naysayers boohooing because that's Sokka's whole character arc, it's literally not! that nasty personality trait sticks with Sokka for FOUR episodes. having his character arc revolve around his identity as a warrior is much more in-line with Sokka's ACTUAL arc. he can skip the "sew my pants" jokes so we can get to his real root of his conflict, being a non-bender and a novice warrior in a world of extreme violence and feeling inferior because of it

-i don't mind that they made Zuko less aggressive. again, with the bar of the original A:TLA being SO fucking high, ESPECIALLY because of Zuko, Netflix was never going to reach that level of excellence. so I'm okay with this Zuko being a little more level-headed and more of a mindless Fire Nation Greatness truther because it's a decent interpretation of his character, for fanfiction. consider everybody on planet earth know that Zuko will eventually be a Good Guy, we don't have to go out of our way to show that he's a giant asshole. we already know he's a good boy.

-on that note I love the bait and switch with the Jet introduction. seeing a cute boy flirting with Katara, I couldn't immediately tell if that merchant boy was just a one-off kind character, or maybe Haru because of his clothing and the way his hair was styled. to have him turn out to be Jet was FUN because it showed me that despite knowing the original canon forwards and backwards, this show can still find ways to surprise me. i had been talking with my sister about whether or not they were going to include Bumi (and his shenanigans) because that's a plot twist that worked when the show originally aired, but wouldn't hit at all in an adaptation where we all know who Bumi is already. where I'm currently at in the show I'm still not sure if we'll see his inclusion or not, but i still appreciated that new bait and switches are possible.

-this meant basically all the Omashu episode was very fun. they way they wove the Freedom Fighters and Mechanist's stories together was very interesting and i liked how fresh it felt

-Suki's actor is incredibly gorgeous. with and without the make-up. that needed to be it's own point because oh my god

-i love that she gave Sokka and fan and i'm DYINGGG to see him use it in a battle

-THEY INCLUDED KYOSHI NOVEL LORE AND I SCREAMED

-they included AVATAR KYOSHI FIGHT SEQUENCES AND I SCREAMED

-i probably should have mentioned this way sooner but Aang's actor is such a little cutie. he's doing such a great job capturing Aang's energy. both wise and playful and so so sweet. i love him

-i found it hilarious that they waited three episodes for Katara to bring up her dead mom. we all know that the super generic and boring critiques of Katara are 1. too much dead mom talk 2. too much hope talk 3. too motherly. i feel like the show intentionally waited two and a half episodes for Katara to bring up Kya and that's so funny to me. they also have only let her mention hope like twice lol. my girl is being STIFLED

-special effects are honestly really good? some of aang's flying is a little wonky but the firebending and waterbending so far as looked fantastic. i haven't seen much earthbending so far besides that opening sequence but i was impressed by that too. and Aang and Zuko fighting in Omashu with Zuko not using his bending? SO much fun. the choreo was awesome, i loved the set piece of fighting amongst all those scarves.

-building off that, Appa and Momo are very cute. the creatures al look pretty good too. ostrich horses look great

all in all, lots of really good stuff so far. i only have minor criticisms, and they're mostly things I can deal with. Iroh's acting is weird to me. it sounds like it's putting on a silly voice instead of speaking how he normally would, so it scans as off-putting. also in terms of costuming, Iroh's wig is WIGGING so much more than other cast members. it looks so glued on and shaped with hairspray. Mai and Ty Lee (one seen them for a moment so far) also just look like random cosplayers who wandered on set. and i guess both Monk Giatso's reveal of Aang being the avatar, as well as Gran-Gran's immediate understanding that Aang is the avatar, both happened extremely fast.

but yeah! those are my thoughts so far. again, I have no idea what public perception of this show is. i'm trying to avoid reviews and probably won't be back on tumblr until i've at least made it to episode 6. then maybe i'll come back and write more if my opinion drastically changes or I think the world will need another stern talking to about what to expect from an adaptation

[the-blind-assassin-12]

Happy 2024, everyone!

I hope everyone reading this had a fantastic holiday season, and that they got to celebrate and enjoy it exactly how they wanted to. I hope old memories were remembered fondly and that new ones were made to add to the collection. And most of all, I hope the next 366 days (we’re leaping this year, friends!) are so incredibly good to you. 🤍

& now for the annual year end wrap up / new year intentions post

Out with the old…

Woof. I know I was nowhere near alone in having a rough time in 2023. It seemed like so many of us were struggling for various reasons, and I hate that for us. I truly hope that the new year is kinder to everyone.

Personally, it was one of my lowest years all around. Despite there being some really fun high points, I struggled in literally every aspect from creatively to mentally, and at times it was nearly impossible to string two or more good days together. If it weren’t for the love and support of my friends and (some of) my family, I honestly don’t know how I would have gotten through it. Things haven’t changed much just because the calendar flipped, but I’m doing my best to stay afloat and hopeful that things can start to get a little bit better.

Creatively, I let myself down in 2023. Last January I came up with a list of some writing goals that I wanted to accomplish, and friends, I barely made a dent. It was so disheartening that halfway through the year I stopped posting my updates because there basically were none, and focusing on my flops was not doing it for me. Yes, engagement was down and that was a bummer (let’s all scream and shout at each other a lot more this year, deal?), but my main hurdles came from stress and anxiety related to regular life things - and I did a terrible job at cutting myself slack for that. All I did was add pressure to something that has always been fun, and that was absolutely not cool of me.

Especially because there were things I wrote this year that I was actually quite proud of, failed goal list be damned. So this year…

… In with the new!

This year my goal is just to write: What I want, when I want, as much as I want, and as much as I can. I’m going to try to finish as many things as possible while still indulging any new sparks of inspiration. And I’m gonna try to do better at being cool to myself while I’m at it 💁🏻‍♀️

Oh! And! I’m going to try my best to do my part in reviving the engagement level with more reblogs and comments and visits to inboxes.

With all that said, I’m going to try to work on some specific things to start the year, mainly: Recall, Survivor Blues, Unfinished & Aphelion. But with no pressure or time limits or anything like that.

So that’s that on that. A year of lower expectations might be just the thing to get things kicking again. As always, I am so thankful to every single person who supported my writing (and in turn, me) over the past year more than you can possibly know. Wishing everyone lots of luck, love, strength, health and happiness in 2024!!

🤍✨

[thirdeyeblue]

Hey I just read your recent post The one about the fandom hyper fixation and then your entry in the tags. And I'm not sure if this helps anything, But I feel like it needs to be said, I am so sorry that you are feeling under confident right now, and I hope dearly and truly that it's just a dark cloud overhead. Because I'm someone who does not know you personally, I am truly disheartened to hear you're having a rough time with something you love You spend time and energy and emotions writing these fics for free—not only just you but dozens of authors in this specific fandom we call doctor who— and it must be rough seeing the discourse, (I'm only assuming it's about the purpose of a reprose if I'm wrong just ignore this little rant. That I honestly find a bit annoying because if you don't like the fic do to the ship, back out. If you do, don't use it as an excuse to be toxic and harsh. It's petty and childish.) And the campaign falling through (quite frankly I wish I could punch whoever made Ninex"the doctor's wife" a "canonical" thing, I find the actual shipname a curse in this house and you know who I mean. Like even if you couldn't get Billie back, Just make cool Nine adventures! Also tell us what the heck Mia comes from, I love it I do, but context!) and anything else you might be going through personally. I'm sorry that you're not exactly feeling the motivation right that you use too.

I hope that you know however long this break last, you're an amazing writer and more than likely there is someone jumping into this fandom who—like me— fell in love with tentoo based on your Fics. Even if it might not seem like much books like your brighten up someone's day, and that's one of the best things you can do in the world. Make someone happy. So take your time, ride this wave out, and I hope you have something out there brightening up your life like to do ours!

Jesus, I'm sorry that I'm only just now responding to this lovely ask! It's been buried beneath someone else's novel-length piece of nonsense I've neglected to read for ages/only just now got around to deleting.

I actually quite needed to see something like this today, so even though you sent it months ago, it's serendipitous to have found it again now!

(See below for my long af reply-turned-diary-entry, I'm sorry—I just drank a C4 Smart Energy and my brain is a-going)

I appreciate you for reaching out with all of this love! It's difficult to concentrate when you're already not particularly kind to yourself, but I'm trying—and good god, stuff like this is so helpful.

I'm also so honored and happy to have changed your opinion of Tentoo AND to have brightened up your life in ANY way. You're wonderful 🥹💖

As for the Repose stuff, thank you, fam. Of course that discourse is annoying, but I've recovered from it by now (I'm also close to updating that fic again soon)!

To be honest, it's more upsetting that some people I consider(ed) friends started treating me differently because of shipping (including one not-so-stealthy ""anon"")—but I've made my peace with that. The real ones+incredible readers+actual friends will be with you no matter what.

(Honestly, with the amount of critical thinking that led me to appreciate that ship in a nuanced way [while still actively shipping TentooRose, mind], it's silly for anyone to lump me in with all of the worst opinions present in the T/M fandom—that'd be like lumping me in with the people who think Ten and Rose were fucking (we are not the same)—but people are insane. Still, I've since made separate accounts for my T/M stuff to improve my quality of life as an unpaid content creator. And it's been great! But people can still be weird. Suppose that's the price of engaging with fandom in the first place.)

Regarding the campaign thing: I'm not too concerned about that! I'm the one who made the terrible decision to try and get a petition going around the 60th... It didn't occur to me until after the fact (AKA after RTD obliterated my faith) that I should have based the entire petition around Big Finish/Titan Comics/etc to begin with. I've since come up with a way better idea, I just haven't deployed it yet — but keep an eye out if you're interested! It's going to be the last attempt I make, but I've discussed it with several like-minded friends, and I think it'll be brilliant 💖

But yes. Dear god. That shit they pulled with River and Nine... I don't even wanna talk about it. Hopefully this plan I'm working on will make up for it. Maybe. Who knows.

And thank you again for being lovely. Sorry for the wall of text!

[lavenoon]

16, 25, 27 for the fanfic writer asks! :D

16. (guilty pleasure tropes) covered here!

25. Have you ever daydreamed about side adventures/spin-offs from your fic? Tell us about them!

I mean. GFDHSJ Y'all see the AU AU AU and alternate reveals and non canon scenarios I come up with, those definitely fall into this category! There's also that one anon asking about promotions that I simply don't want to spoil yet but it's a whole spin-off basically that I'll just drop after exploring it for a bit! I also couldn't stand the angst yesterday after all, so I came up with a little fix it scenario (because yes, I'm fixing death now, I needed them to be happy)

I'm hoping the screenshots are easier to ignore than a whole wall of text, for anyone who does enjoy angst without any comfort! I do actually think that worst case scenario stands well on its own, it isn't supposed to be happy, but turns out death is just a bit too rough for me still and I wanted a happy ending, actually. And, not quite a side story, but no clue when I'll get to it and I am thinking about it an unreasonable amount, post-reveal when HQ finds out that they all know each other's identity, they get a shared mission that kicks off their team of three where Robin poses as someone important with Dusk/ Dawn as their bodyguard, and you just know the tension will be SO tasty. Lingering touches, teases they can't rebuke without blowing their cover, protectiveness upped to the max... For some reason, whenever I think about it, this mission happens on a cruise, but no clue if I'll actually use that FGHDJSK

27. What’s the nicest comment you’ve ever received?

God I am. I am such a sucker for any and all comments, especially those that mention a line I'm particularly proud of, and y'all are spoiling me with those!! Settling on one is pretty much impossible if I go with that standard - so I'm going with an entirely different fandom. I've mentioned my slow burn long fic before, which is currently on hiatus since the hyperfixation on fnaf is too strong rn for other projects, and, well, the entire niche I found myself in before just was much less interactive or even engaging. This longfic has been up almost two years - and within not even three weeks, Accidentally Undercover has gotten more views, comments, kudos, bookmarks, anything - you name it, there's more. I was really disheartened and partly stopped writing because, well, I have my outline to read, and if barely anyone (if anyone) even reads it, then why write more? But a couple months ago, I got a comment - after about a year of hiatus, someone told me they binge-read 113K words in one day, that they love my world-building and character dynamics, and that they would love it if/when I decide to write more again. It was just so nice without being pushy that I sat down and wrote 1.5K words of the next chapter right then. It's still far from done, and the fic itself is in arc 2 of 5 - but that was more than I wrote for it in months at the time! I think of that commenter fondly because for that fic, they were a rarity. For AU y'all are SO good to me, all the comments and interaction really are fueling me, and anyone who gets to listen to me yell on discord knows I'll melt at the positive attention at any given time fghjdks

[grogusmum]

Could you do a din djarin x reader story? It would be cool if it involved reader being the daughter of Obi-wan Kenobi and Satine Kryze!

Hey there,

I kind of wondered if I'd receive one of these asks...

While this isn't the exact same ask that was going around yesterday, it follows the same form. So I am assuming you are the same anon. Which is disheartening as writer after writer, in varying degrees of patience has tried to explain that a fic request like this is really very rude.

Here is what I am going to do, I am going to assume you are just new to all this and just don't know.

Welcome! We are glad you are here. Please enjoy all we have to offer.

There are written rules and unwritten rules, some for all of tumblr and some for specific blogs I will focus on some of the unwritten rules and etiquette between readers and writers that seem a little shaky.

(written rules for tumblr can be found tumblr help and staff blogs and for specific blogs either in the blog bio or in a pinned post- this includes if that person takes requests and if they are accepting them currently)

Look to see if someone is accepting requests. If they are go for it (but include please, thank you, and a little positive feedback on their writing etc, we are people not automatons) If they are not, but you really, really love their writing and you think this idea is so perfect for them, tell them that. "I know you don't usually take requests, and no pressure at all, but I love your writing, especially (insert favorite fic and why) and I had this idea..." Tell them your idea and and don't forget to say please and thank you. They may still not accept your request but they will not think you are rude.

Now you might be thinking this is confusing, what if their blog doesn't indicate taking requests but you've seen that they have, you've read fics or headcanons that come from asks to that writer- it could be that they were doing a special event like a follower milestone celebration that allowed for requests, or they put up a one day prompt list and said gimme a character and a prompt I am in a mood! It could be that the ask was from someone they have a relationship with that it would make the request appropriate (just as I am sure you know there are favors we can make of some people irl that we wouldn't make of others- like we might as our siblings/close friends to help us move but not the coworkers we have lunch with) just be polite and complementary- no need to over do it or be untruthful, just why you chosing to ask that writer. If you come at any writer, whether they accept requests or not, with only- would you write a fic with this, this and this- it is not going to be well received.

Do not make multiple asks for the same request (I suppose you could try another writer AFTER the first one declines) because here is the problem- if you are asking someone (especially if they don't usually take requests) and they find out you just copy/pasted the ask into a bunch of fic writer mailboxes they go from feeling kind of complemented, to not so much.

But more importantly, if you sent out, say, 10 of these asks and 3 writers actually started writing this same idea and posted them, they could start getting accused of stealing ideas, being subjected to unflattering comparisons to the other writers and being on the receiving end of anon hate. And that is no fun at all.

You see, we are in an engagement drought right now, we spend a lot of time writing, edititng, formatting, and tagging... and then begging readers for reblogs, feedback and interaction. w

When the only interaction is "when is the next update" for a fic series or an ask with nothing but a specific fic request. It feels like a demand. That we are are seen as nothing more than content factories for consumption instead of a community. We are a community.

Take your requests, (they really are neat and interesting, I like them very much) to a writer you enjoy who is taking requests, tell them why you like their writing, ask them to consider your request and thank them very sweetly.

As I am assuming you meant no real disrespect, I hope you see my answer the same way. I hope this helps at least see where the writers are coming from, and how to better engage with them.

💚hazel

[signalhill-if]

Btw I'm sorry that thing I tried to do yesterday didn't work out, after the technical difficulties I got kind of exhausted about the whole thing and there wasn't really enough interest to justify to myself to keep going. I took down the things I did put up kind of on a whim because it felt weird to leave it up without knowing if I was going to continue. In retrospect maybe I should have just left them and then continued the next day or whatever, but y'know. It is what it is. I may put something like that back up soon, just not right this instant.

Woe, discussion of creative endeavours and audience interaction lie below. Turn back, all ye who do not want to read my thoughts about insecurities with sharing stories.

I think to be honest I was a little disheartened by the results of that poll, because if there's anything I don't want Signal Hill to be it's the kind of game where you play along with a story you don't really care about so you can obtain romance scenes with a generic tropey love interest? Not that that's a bad way for a story to be if that's what the author wants it to be, but I know there are a lot of authors who have their work treated like that when it's not intended to be that, and it's obviously kind of hurtful. That's part of why I've resisted having any kind of romantic relationships in my games, and why I want to stress over and over that the relationships in Signal Hill are not going to be "traditional" or particularly tropey in any way.

It's not that I'm not happy to have people be interested in my characters, and of course I'm well aware that the light-skinned skinny gender conforming male character is going to wind up being the most popular in an IF (though I am not remotely happy about that fact, but that's another discussion entirely), but more that I'm just a little overwhelmed by the disparity. Obviously I love all of these characters, but Doc just isn't very important to the main plot? So the sheer difference between him and all of the characters you're expected to spend most of your time with just makes me feel weird. Have I not done a good job of "promoting" the other characters? Have I not made their stories sound interesting enough? That's something I've historically struggled with a good deal. I have to hope that folks will still be interested in pursuing the story even if they aren't interested in playing out a romantic scene with the characters they're siding with.

The thing I'm trying not to do is change the story because of outside influence like this. I don't want to make any characters more or less important because they're more or less well liked, and I don't want to change them to pander to an audience who otherwise wouldn't be interested. That also means not changing characters like Doc or the plans I have for him out of concern that some people are going to treat the actual game as secondary. Just like I don't want to pander to an audience that wouldn't otherwise be interested, I can't go around changing things out of a reactive fear that I'm unintentionally pandering to those people.

It's difficult, though, because from a practical perspective, does that mean the time I spend writing a scene with Doc in it is inherently more valuable than the time spent writing a scene with KC in it? Is there a point where few enough players will be playing those scenes that it becomes wasted time to write them? When I write variations into those scenes, how likely is it that nobody's ever going to read that string of 200 words? I'm not sure, but it is something I think about, especially when cutting down on wasted work in gave development is something I'm actively learning about in college.

Sorry, wow, this has been longer than I expected! I'm going to try to do a good amount of writing tonight and just focus on making progress. I'm trying to avoid feature creep, but I've just come up with a fun little collectible mission that I couldn't not add, and I need to do a little bit of coding to finish it up. Thank you for putting up with my rambling, if you've read this far.

[damelucyjo]

Not to be morbid, dramatic, over-the-top or whatever... but I'm actually proud of myself for making it to the end of the year.

There has been more than a few occasions when I really didn't want to be here anymore. But I also didn't want to just give up! (Think this more so has to do with the fact I have major FOMO and don't want to miss anything if it's within my control.) Working on my mental health has been an on-going battle the last couple of years, and whilst it's sometimes better, I do still have really hard days. I know it's something I'll be working on for the rest of my life, possibly. But I'm getting there...very slowly!

The last few years have been hard, this past year especially as my physical health appears to be on the decline, but I'm determined to try and make 2023 a better year all round!

I think my first mission is going to be to not be so shy and actually talk to people. I have 0 friends in real life and only talk to a small handful of people face to face and I'm very lonely because of it.

Thanks to the Ted Lasso fandom I have kind of met many wonderful people, but due to me being the way I am I refrain from talking a lot of the time and have missed out on time where I could be making friends. So that stops now. Pull up your big girl knickers Lucy and talk to people! You don't have to be disheartened when they ignore you. At least you tried!

But it's also down to this silly little football show that I made myself start writing again. And I've thoroughly enjoyed it! And getting absolutely wonderful comments from readers has always put a smile on my face and I will never be able to thank any of you enough!!

Anyway, Happy New Year to you if you've read this post and made it this far! Hope 2023 is absolutely amazing for you too!!

[redux-iterum]

Alright a bit of a weird question about RUNNING Iterum vs the iterum itself. was wondering as an online ‘creator’ (I hate that word but you know what I’m getting at), especially in a fandom such as warriors, how do you avoid the whole ‘pedastaling’ thing, overfamiliarity, and parasocial interaction? I’ve noticed it sooooo much in the warriors community, so I’ve been hesitant to try and out myself out there out of fear LOL.

Don’t feel obligated to answer! Also sending off anon if you’d rather keep it private. Thank you for your time, I hope your day is going excellent!

Well, truthfully, I didn't manage to avoid any of that! I can't tell you any cure-all way to escape them entirely, but I can give you my experiences in dealing with these things and my overall philosophy when it comes to putting out things online.

Firstly, the original Redux was held on a VERY high pedestal - people proclaiming it to be the true canon, at least one person trying to get the actual Erin Hunter team to read it and "take notes", little makeshift books being printed out for it, etc. - and, in the fashion of anything Tumblr held on a high pedestal in that era, it inevitably crashed and burned and led to a lot of drama and disheartening conflict. I won't say people were worshiping the ground I walked on, but they certainly gave me more credit than anyone should give a writer as inexperienced as I was. I think it's just the nature of fandom to get extremely excited about something even mildly good and the cumulative effect of thousands of people getting excited with each other causes a herd mentality that gets only more extreme over time before someone pipes up to the contrary and is actually listened to, whether or not their argument is legitimate, and then THAT becomes the most popular idea. It's way better now than it was back then, believe me - people seem to register when I make mistakes or have flaws without hating me for them, and it's been an overall very healthy perspective from readers and fans on who I am as a person.

To a degree. That's where we'll get into the other two.

Over-familiarity, as well, I certainly have had to deal with, and still do, and this kind of bleeds into parasocial relationships, so I'll tackle them both here. People nowadays seem to have forgotten the most important rule of being online, which is that you need to assume that the stranger you're talking to does not have your best interests at heart and you need to exercise a bit of caution before you get to personal stuff. I've had at least four separate people jump at me with their problems, troubled backstories and traumas (one incident being so severe I don't even want to describe it, and that was their opening line). There are some folk who genuinely want to start a dialog with me and exchange thoughts on things or ask questions about my writing, which is totally fine! That's how I met a great deal of my friends and have a friendly relationship with plenty of fans. I won't say that's invalid. But there are people who seem to think I'm a free therapist or that I know them like they're my buddy, when neither is true. I just recently put up a warning on the About page of this blog that I'm no longer tolerating that shit and will block if one pushes those boundaries. Which I should have done earlier, but I have a bad habit of being too passive and sensitive to strangers.

So those things do exist and can happen to anybody. I won't even try to convince you otherwise. However, they're a really small part of an overall great time I've had putting out fanfics and comics and general creative work. I've made amazing friends (and if it wasn't for me meeting Lynx via the Redux, this whole rewrite would never have happened), I've learned a lot about myself and how and why I create, and, most importantly, I've had people come to me and tell me I've inspired them to do their own thing and give it their all. My effect on the fandom was sizable, whether it was White!Scourge or rewrites as a whole, and it's been a great deal of fun to check my inbox and see enthusiastic messages or questions about lore or even seeking advice, like your ask. I can't give you any sure-fire road to success - I only have a very small idea of why I did as well as I did - but I can vouch for being brave enough to start creating and sharing it with people. If for nothing else, to prove to yourself that your work has worth and can brighten someone's day, even if they don't comment on it (and a lot of people who love stuff, including me, don't say a single thing ever to the creator!).

The piece of advice I would give, if I am to give one, is to establish boundaries. Block whoever makes you uncomfortable or is making your life and enjoyment of your stuff harder. Tell anons when they're being inappropriate or offensive. Delete asks that are probing or trying to get a rise out of you. Put a notice somewhere on your blog if you need to that you're not tolerating whatever it is you're willing to block over. It doesn't have to be some deep-seated trauma of yours. It could be talking about beagles, for all I care. You don't have to discuss shit if you don't want to. Be firm and assertive, especially with aggressively friendly strangers. You don't owe them a god damn thing, whether they think otherwise.

That's about all I can think of to say right now. I hope this answer helped! I encourage you to start posting stuff and just focus on enjoying yourself, rather than any ambiguous problems that could theoretically show up (and they may not ever!). Good luck!

[ethernetmeep]

i go home the long route this time— extra long, different specific road home twice. think of many different people as i do so. remember a man i would call uncle danny. old, smoker. died of some form of cancer. quite sweet, from what i can remember. lived next to those two girls whom are on my bus, matching blondes. remembered a girl named bella (now another bella, as i write this— only writing about those whom appeared in my life physically nearby, though.) who likely moved. kept her hair in a bubble sort of bun or braid which was very circular. short & rotund… nice, until she wasn’t. remembered another girl, although i forgot her name— truly disheartening. had a sleepover with her, once. family lived in a huge house— remember asking how her family could afford such a thing, or something along those lines. sounded like an insult— it was a genuine question. didn’t realize those who had better economic income (her family, in this case) didn’t have to share houses. long hair, dark skin. quite nice, very… feminine in nature. was very young when we were friends. memory had faded; until i went that route, that is. its quite jarring how people can come in and out of your life, fade in and out of memory.

[CROW OR RAVEN?] a thought interjects my introspection down memory lane. no warning, no context. i try to wonder what fits with this. i realize only one possible logical thought— facepalm internally. really? you could be doing anything else, thinking of other people you met, lives lived, conversations had, and its this?

…of course, i responded with crow; more accurate. still foreboding, to some. i like crows— i don’t find them creepy, only interesting.

remember a question asked by my friend earlier today and my lack of having a prepared answer. at the time, i didn’t think it made much sense— well, why wouldn’t i? until, well… i realized my life experiences aren’t always the same as others. have a friend who ive long forgived for many things; they’ve changed, done their own thinking, yadda yadda. friends since young quote, tweens. i forgive easily and hold little to no grudges. i see the best in people and see them for their positive traits, more than anything— hence why i was so confused as to why this was a question being asked. of course, i realized in this moment i was the idiot. nonetheless, i still hold the sentiment. i am more than happy to restart and try again, always.

what else… testing, more testing. two essays. quite personal. one where it was a girl stuck in a space vessel, having the narrator go down to earth and do things just so she could see them or feel them again. her yearning for simple nature was so visceral it almost made me sick— i saw two people in her character. lunch after testing. cried, cried a lot. personal details, will leave out for yknow… a bit of privacy? will say i had a conversation with a friend. gave him his gifts i had in store. stayed long after lunch to finish a discussion. been in this side room twice in a row, now— [remember those other times you cried in there?] my brain asks. shut up, i reply internally. anyway… today was much better— mainly because of conversation and clarity. had a nutri-grain bar for lunch. continued a test, although didn’t get to finish it. teacher didn’t know i had state testing; informed her of this. bell rang, next class.

spanish— culture day. sat and sketched in my mini notebook. used lineofaction.com for references. some poses, then facial expressions. drew about 3/4 before i got to my last one. squinted, curious as to why the visual looked familiar. looked up to reference photo, looked down. the hair, seemingly. i wondered what to do about it. rolled with it, in the end. not as if it inherently means anything, anyway. made a shitty recreation of a memory which is not my own. bursted into a fit of silent giggles, heavily amused by my stick figure of sort. after our discussion, i feel less saddened and more genuinely content with certain happenings. i am happy others are happy, truly!

i feel… much, much better than yesterday.