#like I'd be amazed if any of the original artists are still working on it

[madamemachikonew]

"Go to hell" is basic. "Hope your favourite anime movie sequel gets cancelled after seven years in production AND getting an animated teaser." is smart. It's possible. It's terrifying. It's happened.

[beyondfabric]

Introducing: Mr. Archive

What better way to kickstart 2024 than with one the most beautifully curated, styled and fair-priced vintage stores out there?

Mr. Archive has been one of my go-to places the last few months, be it for visual inspiration on their instagram profile or the browse some of the most interesting pieces around. To be fair, after 15 years of working in this industry is getting more and more difficult for me to find garments and brands that are truly exciting and fresh. If on top of that we take into account the price point of some of these labels, many of which produce in Portugal with accessible costs, my enthusiasm dims even further.

I’ve always been passionate about the universe of vintage and pre worn garments, but this love has been fueled in recent years by the appearance of highly specialized shops that seem to be perfectly in tune with my personal style. I’ve had the chance to chat with Matteo, the mastermind behind Mr. Archive to learn more about this outstanding project.

BF: I came across Mr. Archive fairly recently and I must say that it definitely hit a soft spot within the range of vintage providers currently on my radar. How long have you been in business? What drove you to create it?

Matteo: I'm passionate about my job, believe I have a somewhat general knowledge of the fashion world, but about 4 years ago, I got fascinated by this industry, even though I already knew it. I come from a family that has always worked in the clothing industry.

BF: For me, your selection is perfectly curated, bringing a mix of military and navy-inspired garments, with a twist of Americana. Is this an extension of your own style and taste, or is it more business-oriented?

Matteo: What I propose is all based on my personal taste; I create outfits on the spot, drawing inspiration from magazines, newspapers, etc., and then I elaborate and create. My mom is an artist, and I think I took inspiration from her.

BF: Vintage has always inspired me ever since I got into fashion roughly 15 years ago. There's just something distinctive about the fabrics and the history behind each garment that you can not replicate with new items. How/where do you source your amazing selection?

Matteo: My pieces come from warehouses worldwide; I'm constantly looking for new things, and that's the wonderful thing about my job! I have strong trust in my suppliers!

BF: With sustainability being the word of order when it comes to fashion, have you noticed an increase in demand for pre-owned garments? Do you think part of the solution can be provided by vintage?

Matteo: Recently, there has been an increase in the purchase of vintage and second-hand clothing items. To be honest, I believe that a few years ago, not many people knew about this world, but now it's expanding and captivating even those who knew little about it.

BF: I noticed you have a small capsule of garments carrying your own label, namely selvedge denim and accessories. What's the story behind those? Can we expect more designs in the future?

Matteo: I won't deny that creating my own clothing line would be a great personal satisfaction, a significant growth. I recently created a small line, "MRARCHIVE," currently composed of jackets, pants, and hats. One day, I'd like to expand, but I still have much to learn and study.

BF: Any tips or advice you wish to leave for those more reluctant to explore the world of previously owned items? It's still somewhat taboo for some people.

For many people, this world is still a taboo; they're still stuck in the thought of "they're used clothes." What I think is that one should see the story and originality behind each piece to appreciate its value, both from a historical and an aesthetic perspective. Sometimes, I compare some clothing items to paintings—they should be framed.

You can find Mr. Archive here.

[ateez-himari]

Hi bb!!! I missed you so much :(((( I've been busy with exams so I haven't been active alot, I just hop in every once in a while to check if you posted anything💓

How have you been? I hope work and uni aren't too tiring

I had some questionssss as usualll

First question is kinda emotional cause i did cry over this, what was hima's reaction of yeontan's passing I honestly love yeontan so much and the bond he had with tae was literally so cute, I hope tae's coping well it's not easy to lose a beloved pet

How does mingi's relationship smell like, I really hope this makes sense or else I'd sound stupid

Now after mingri went public are there any couple choreography that was originally with san that became with mingi?

You know when hongjoong is spitting bars and jongho be hitting his amazing highnotes? I was wondering if it's the same thing for mimi

Are there any companies that hima regularly produces for? Not signed under jusr regualr clients

Can we get some mimi and mr and mrs song interactions I love their bond they're so cute🤭😭

That's it bb have a great day/night keep yourself warm, ily💓💓💓

Also saw these and Immediately thought of hima in the ephemeral collection

Hi sweet!! I missed you too, I was wondering where you went 🥺 (I figured you had your own stuff going on). I've been extremely busy with work and exams (I had 2 so far and 3 more to go!) but I'm also working on a side project for Hima (you won't expect a certain part of this trust me hehe). I'll give you a hint because I'm so excited; It involves someone she's never been seen interacting with, all they have in common is knowing a specific someone

• Hima often brings the group's pets over to her dorm when she has some rest days and basically helped raise Yeontan & Bam so when Taehyung first delivered her the news (in person) it didn't register in her mind. Yeontan had severe health issues so she figured it was going to happen, but it didn't make it easier on her. Since the grief from the accident quite literally destroyed her (as she didn't know how to deal with it) she's trying to see the bright side of it; even though he had health problems he still stayed alive for 7 years and brought light into their lives. She did put all the pictures with him in a separate locked folder for now to help with the grieving process

We literally watched Yeontan and Taehyung grow alongside each other, he was even the first dog idol ever! Hopefully he's getting the time and space he needs to grieve on his own terms

• Their relationship smells like an early spring morning after light rain fell during the night, no humidity, low heat, with the slightest warm breeze. There's hints of freshly bloomed flowers and small notes of cotton perfume

• They didn't make any changes to the pre-existing choreographies or units since some things are rooted in lore (i.e. nyang-teez partner work), but they've been creating more interactions between the couple! (So the next comebacks will have a lot more MinAri choreography hehe)

• It is! At times she's harmonizing with Jongho but there's also many instances where she hits high notes while Mingi is rapping (due to the contrast in their voices). There was only one song where she did the background vocals completely by herself (Halazia) while performing

• Most artists who she produces for come to her on their own (since they're mainly soloists) but the few companies who can be considered regular clients are H1GHR MUSIC, KOZ Entertainment and HYBE Corporation. Her current contracts are with KQ ENTERTAINMENT, RCA Records and Taemin (not BPM Ent.)

• I'll try to write some when I get the time! I'll give you a little now though hehe; When they visited his parents on their time off, the two were bickering in the kitchen about the best way to cook fish - which the mom heard once she came back with groceries - and she immediately defended her future daughter in law. She scolded her son about listening to the woman of the house and when he complained to his dad, he simply shrugged and praised the young woman's cooking, saying (jokingly) that he would adopt her to be his own daughter if Mingi wasn't dating her

• These designs are so pretty! They would fit right into the collection too. I kind of imagined the clothes to be really flowy to replicate the way a butterfly flaps its wings but the jewelry to be really fragile looking (kind of like glass) to represent the Ephemeral nature of them. That top is so beautiful though wow-

I hope you're taking good care of yourself and get some rest between your exams 😘 Don't overwork yourself and remember to take breaks! As usual thank you so much for your questions Mina, love you!!! 🩷🩷

[fleurdelouvemonth]

And thus, we bring to an official close the fourth Fleur De Louve Month, event 2024! 🦾🛥👩🏿‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻Thank you so much to all the authors and artists who took part in or read or reblogged all the amazing art that was created!

But wait! I hear you ask: what do we do with all the love we have left behind?

Fear not! Any additional works or recs related to this month can still be submitted and we will be happy to reblog it and update the list to include them.

The admins thoroughly enjoyed interacting with everyone and appreciate you all for helping this ship grow! Please stay tuned for what comes next and, always, keep creating for the good ship Fleur De Louve!

You can find the full AO3 collection here!

🦃🥧🍁🍠🦌❄️🍂☃️🎄🎁🕎🍪🌬🍎🧣🎁

1. Checking in… by NefertiriJones 

(Tumblr fic link with artwork @tllgrrl)

Bingo boxes: Free space

Chapters 1/1 - Rated: T

It’s almost Christmas, Bucky Barnes is in the field, and has to make a quick phone call home. Unfortunately, he has a…captive audience.

Other characters: Alexi Shostakov-Red Guardian, Yelena Belova-Black Widow, John Walker-US Agent, Ava Starr-Ghost

Additional Tags: Ficlet, Wordcount: 100-500

2. It’s All Greek To Me by NefertiriJones

(Tumblr fic link with artwork @tllgrrl)

Bingo boxes: Dusk/Free space

Chapters 1/1 - Rated: T

Just another one of the many languages running around in Bucky Barnes’ brain. A language Sarah had a passing...encounter…with.

Other characters: N/A

Additional Tags: Fluff, Romance, no jealousy here, Kissing, Light Petting, PolyglottalShenanigans, Wordcount: 100-500

3. Seasonings by NefertiriJones

(Tumblr fic link @tllgrrl)

Bingo boxes: Seasoning/Dusk/Free space

Chapters 1/1 - Rated: G

Bucky calls in a last minute favor, gets a package from Home, and a phone-call from a Princess.

Other characters: Shuri

Additional Tags: Bucky Living His Best Life

4. The Vampire on Prytania Street by Sarifinasnightmare

(Tumblr fic link @sarifinasnightmare)

Bingo boxes: Fairytale/ “Never Scare Me Like That Again”/Farmer’s Market/Masquerade Ball/“Darling, you’re already in my veins”

Vampire AU - Chapters 10/10 - Rated: M

The large manor on Prytania Street had belong to the Barnes for as long as the neighbors could remember. Besides the gardening men, no one had seen anyone around it, until one day the widow Darlene Wilson climbed up the steps to reunite with an old friend. The vampire AU I swore I'd never write. Oh well.

Other characters: Sarah Wilson's Husband, Sam Wilson, Darlene Wilson, Cass Wilson, AJ Wilson, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov, Wanda Maximoff, Peggy Carter, Original Female Character(s) of Color, Original Male Character(s) of Color

Additional Tags: Drama & Romance, Family Drama, Attempt at Humor, Human/Vampire Relationship, Breaking vampire stereotypes, Idiots in Love Sort Of, Post-Divorce, Hurt/Comfort, Shameless Smut, Bisexual Bucky Barnes, Angst and Fluff and Smut

Thank you again for all of the amazing content you created to make this event possible! You're the one who keeps this ship alive and kicking! We wouldn't be here without you!

Feel free to bookmark this post and come back to enjoy Fleur De Louve art again and again!

Don't forget to send your thanks to the authors and share the art!

(Divider credits go to @firefly-graphics)

[cactiired]

I can't find any of your old Grahamscott art pieces, did you delete 'em by any chance? I see works by you on the internet but I can't seem to find them anywhere on your blog

Hi! I get this question quite a lot still which I understand because of the reposts and I should probably issue a disclaimer in a pinned post or something.

Yes I've deleted and archived most of my old grahamscott works because:

A) I'm tired of being seen as the (insert a fandom here) artist. Quite a long time ago I did fanart for things I was passionate about. Since I was like 14 fanart was my creative outlet and source of joy at the time and I just felt like posting them online. People liked the stuff I drew which was amazing! And obviously I still am happy to hear that people liked the way I drew well known characters.

But by now I have been drawing my own characters for years. It's not that I don't still have a soft spot for the video games and books I was into but that they're no longer the thing I spend hours thinking about and drawing.

B) I would like people to follow me not because of an expectation for new fanart about a thing they like but because my original art and stories would be enough on their own. If they're not interested that's fine and I'd rather have people not follow me if life is strange or other fanart is the main thing they wish to see because that's not what I do anymore.

It's also just personally frustrating to have my old work being brought up again and again. While I understand that it's easier to connect with fictional characters that are well known and fanart is an awesome medium in that sense that it brings people together. But I've worked hard to improve in art technically and am proud of where I am today. My old art is okay but my goals in style were much different back then so I don't even see myself in any of it anymore. It's kind of like seeing old pictures of myself at 15 still finding myself. Same happens artistically.

I know I can't really control others finding my stuff since a lot of my works have been reposted to the point I have no authority on who sees it and who does not. And that's the internet I suppose 🤷 whatever you post stays there forever. But maybe some can find me through my old art and stay for the stuff I create now. Because I found my artistic voice. I love what I do. I love my silly little characters and their stories. I love sharing them with the world and seeing people still finding something valuable in the pieces even when they're not of already known characters.

[phaerlax]

Looking back at 2024 writings~ ✍️

Thought I'd have my own go at those "a year in art" things that artists do! I wrote something every month this year! Usually multiple somethings. There were a lot of fan events, huh. Here are the highlights... (The underlined things are links btw)

January: 🧪🌈🐍 supervised sex for science

This fic was way more popular than my average! The perks of not writing about GaruKaru... but evidently that allure did not hold me back for the rest of the year lmao I wrote this for a 2023 secret santa, but the deadline was until January and I only started in January, so it counts. I had fun with the fic, even though it's a bit outside of the 'written for sexual gratification' zone I usually go for.

February: 🐺🦈🎁🐺 Blade b-day bonanza

For the Blade birthday fanweek, I wrote this story wherein Garu and Karu give him a cute present. Then they fuck (unrelated). The main thing I like about this in retrospect is how I depicted Karu somehow failing to top someone who is clearly ok with doing whatever he says. さすがカイルくん...

March: 🐺❄️🐺 c'est le pupcest

I wrote it in response to a prompt in the Kink Meme, but also gifted it to Sungel because Sungel had been asking for something like this for a while and I would feel really smug if they were the anon who submitted the prompt but alas that they were not. Anyway. Garu's separation anxiety in Frozen Echoes sure was something, huh? Kink-wise, I love the 'wrestling for dominance' trope and I love the idea of Garu going along with it just to humor Karu but somehow winning.

April: 🌈😈🐺 Morvay madness

One of my Morvay week contributions! I also did one for Karu/Morvay but that was less popular. I'm very fond of both anyway. Morvaru, my beloved...! I will continue to be your only prophet. Really hoping 2025 will bring us more Morvay content in general. Anyway, Garu gets to stick his little thing in someone again in this story and that's neat. Have I made Garu top more frequently than Karu lol

April was also a month in which I wrote quite a lot of my problematic original spanking-focused fics, hm. There was the bunny boys story, the mechanical boy, a new chapter of Smitten, and the prince/slaves fic!

May: 🌈🐺/🦊🐺 good master bad master

This is one of my Kuyaru Week pieces! Hugely inspired by that Ray drawing of Karu getting a hairbrush hiding from Kuya (which was in turn inspired by me of course, our relationship is beautiful). I thought it would be fun to compare Eiden brushing Garu's tail to Kuya 'brushing' Karu's tail. I was right, it was fun. Karu getting spanked will always do it for me. I also had Kuya turn him into a bunny that month, which was darker but also fun. A bit of strangulation for my good friend and editor who deserves such treats (do you see how beautiful our relationship is).

June: 🌈🪦 he died as he lived,

The first of many drabbles I'd submit to nuflashfic's Drabbles for the Birthday Boy(s) challenges. Writing these drabbles is quite fun. I get to make something really quick and dirty but still feel a sense of accomplishment. I think they're also a good creative exercise in figuring out which words actually matter. I managed to fit so many characters in this first one!

July: 🧪🐺 guilt-ridden medicinal dogfucking

This was written for the Rei zine! I knew that I wanted to write Reiaru for that project (see here), but Rei and GaruKaru's backstory was still nebulous when it began. I waited and waited, hoping that we'd get some elaboration, and boy did we! I ended up leaning into Rei's sense of duty in taking care of Garu, even though that kind of sentimentalism isn't much my cup of tea. This story inspired a very talented Chinese artist to draw this amazing piece, which is still crazy to me.

July is also the month of Human Quality, and Kuya/Quincy/GaruKaru which might be my best work.

August: 🐺☀️🐺🦀 can't meme this any harder

For the Dante zine, Sunkissed! Turns out that pairing the least popular characters in a not very evocative scenario doesn't go over so well, hits-wise. Whatever man, I got a crab fight scene. There's even art of it in the zine, drawn by contacthigh, whose dantaru pitches led me to the whole concept actually. I enjoy the instances of "Karu gets irrationally annoyed at Dante's use of magic to solve problems" in this story. Also the dogs being cluelessly sexy.

August is also when we started the Everyone/Garu anthology! I wrote the Dante chapter, then the Blade chapter, then the Morvay chapter, and edited all of the others. I'm very proud of that fic; three minds turned to a singular purpose... dogfucking 😌 we accomplished much.

September: 🦊🐺♀️ lesbian yaoi...?!

I had to see if I could... it seems that I can. My preferred flavor of humiliation transcends gender barriers to some extent, apparently. This year I lowkey found some latent bisexuality within me; I blame the gyaru bratty uke in that "Fucked by my best friend" manga.

October: ☀️🦇🏖️ bikini Aster, your honor

For Daster Week! I know that people are generally more interested in getting their bottom Dante / subverted expectations fix from daster, but I like bottom Aster too. I enjoy the dynamic of Aster being very manipulative and weaponizing his cuteness to push Dante around. This fic was inspired by that incredible fanart I'm happy to have boosted. Not enough people are sexualizing the cute boys to my taste in this game and I will continue working to change that. That sounded wrong but tbh it's meant that way.

November: 🦇🐺🍣🥢forever snacking on Karu

November was a busy, busy month with Wolves Week 2024! Apparently I only have a couple drabbles, since most of my effort went into writing the Morvay chapter and editing the Karu chapter of Project F.T.D. But I had to put out at least a little something for astaru! And continue consolidating my paralysis fetish...

December: 🐺🐍🌡️ shivering snake shenanigans

My contribution to this year's Advent Calendar, finally some proper yakaru from me! I love Karu being fussy (and failing to top, of course). Yakumo disastrously losing control of his urges is always good too. Though funnily enough, I'd rather see both of them be dommed and frustrated at the same time. Neither of these boys should top. Kuya please--

Closing thoughts

This was a year in which I got more "serious" about writing, starting around September or so. I don't want to be a professional writer (being forced to 'create' is something that I dread and the main reason I decided to quit academia this year!), but I'm starting to make a career out of editing/proofreading, in addition to my translation work. And it's kind of crazy how much fic-writing and beta reading have helped me hone essential skills for that field!

It has also been a year of liberation, in the sense that I started out still quite nervous about exposing the depths of my particular depravities. As the new year approaches, I realize I'm quite different now; I have no problem listing out the specific things that most appeal to me in smut, or shamelessly hitting those same buttons over and over and over in my writing. I'm fueled and encouraged by the kudos and comments from people who are almost always there for it 💛 Thank you for always being in my morning AO3 e-mails.

For 2025, I want to go back through my older fics and give them minor makeovers; fixing some jank, standardizing punctuation, that kind of stuff. I also want to give closure to the non-oneshot fics that aren't finished. But mostly I want to keep joining fan events and giving myself anxiety over deadlines, because I love looking back at everything later and seeing some impact on the fandom. It's neat. It's kind of like having a social life.

I might branch out into Noctilucent and Jock Studio fics in 2025 too, in addition to my sporadic and, uh, specialized original work.

Mucho texto, end post

[kishibedefender]

Hello Tumblr gods, I kindly ask that you bless this post to go to who it needs to.

This. Is vile.

For several reasons but let's start with the obvious.

This person is (seemingly) defending the use of AI to generate fanfiction, and is posting it as their own work rather than disclosing that it's AI. Now I've been on TikTok since 2019, I know what ragebait looks like. But this is just one little sliver of an issue I am PASSIONATE about because of my degree.

AI in creative spaces.

Not only is AI extremely harmful to the environment, but it is extremely harmful to artistic industry, and is inherently unethical when it comes to fan-creation. Lemme break it down.

Fan works, like my own, are transformative. We take an existing story, characters, setting, etc., and change it using our own creativity. This can be as minor as adding an original character in, and as major as reworking an entire ending. However, the work is transformed, and completely original, while still being dependent on source material.

AI generated fan works, especially fanfiction I would like to argue, is not original.

How AI works, is it mines data from the internet to train itself, and learn how certain prompts should be answered. It takes every piece of data submitted for that keyword, and molds it into the perfect, most streamlined response, eliminating any diversification of thought to an idea. It takes the creativity out of creating.

While this could employ practical use in, say, medical fields, as a creative algorithm this will do 1 of 2, if not both of these things:

1. It will generate fanfiction, train itself on the fanfiction, and we will see the gradual disappearance of different types of format or content because the AI does not generate it anymore. (Think: all fanfics streamline to a few genres with little differentiation, repeated lines and paragraphs, disappearance of some fandoms as niches get saturated)

This mimics how corporate art style had become very similar across the board. It was the most effective, and designed to be as such, so now things are oversaturated with it. Same with the Steven Universe art style-pocalypse. It was an easily replicated style that worked, and so so many people used it that eventually there was a drought of different illustration styles (not to discredit artists that used or still use the style, art is subjective). Now artists have diversified again and it's amazing, but for a long time there was an issue where that art style was insanely dominant.

Now, we see the rise of the AI art style, that has people who employ the style naturally having to include a disclaimer that they do nor make AI generated work, and show their process to prove it. I'd also like to point out that AI also has replicated other art styles, with Jojo's Bizarre Adventure author Hirohiko Araki literally having to put out a statement saying he straight up didn't want people using AI to replicate his style.

All of these diverse art styles are feeding the AI, which in turn will churn out more and more "art" and start to streamline the digital art space, with AI generated artwork being easily made by typing in a few words. More and more is generated, less and less is actually drawn, and we see everything begin to bottleneck.

2. AI will destroy the desire to create transformative works, because it will take away the motivation to create the work.

You, a first time fanfic author, slaved over a computer for hours, writing an absolute masterpiece of a oneshot of your favorite ship. You title it, tag it, and throw it to the winds of AO3, a nervous wreck but excited to see what happens.

Only for an AI generated work to get more kudos and comments than yours ever will.

How does it feel? Not good right? Those kudos you do get mean a lot, but a fanfic written by a robot in 5 minutes was better received by the community than your all-nighter piece. So you never post again, because you lose all motivation. The use of AI to generate fanfiction in this sense will discourage new authors, because it diverts attention away from their own work in favor of a corporate, built to be perfect, story.

There is already a lot of desire to present a perfect product on the internet, because the internet has such a tightly-controlled idea of what should and should not occur. In today's internet, perfection is valued above all, because a lot of spaces are hyper critical of their perception. The internet killed 'cringe', and therefore no one wants to be labeled as something or bullied or hated on, because their work was not well received by a niche. Thanks, Tik Tok.

So, why risk being put in a situation where your own work is torn apart by people with an inability to move on, when instead you can use a machine to generate a fanfic that will be received well, because it is trained on other fanfictions that did well?

Foolproof idea, right?

Wrong. Now that work isn't yours.

Let's get to the meat and potatoes here.

AI FANFICTION RIDES THE EDGE OF PLAGIARISM

You are using a system that sources every fan work created by people on the internet, that in turn, is being spat back out with the most common themes and writing.

"I spent so long prompting it."

Prompting. Is not. Writing.

You did not write that. Do not claim it as your work. You entered keywords. That is not transformative, your work is not original, from your brain.

There is a lot of room here to say that fanworks themselves are not original because they rely heavy on source material, however, as a fanfic author myself, a lot of work goes into fan creation.

I write for canon-compliance with an OC insert. I have to keep the story happening, make my character not completely passive, make them fit into the world around them, and make sure they contribute without derailing the story. It's very hard. Some authors take characters and throw them into completely different situations, worlds, power-systems-

You get the picture. It's hard to write fanfiction, and yet we do it because we are passionate and excited to tell the story our own brain thought up.

And to address the accessibility argument, I would actually like to argue that AI is not good for accessibility in fan creation because it assumes that people who may have disabilities are incapable of generating their own fanworks without substantial help. I myself do not have any disabilities, though, so I would actually love to see someone weigh in on this with more experience than I, perhaps we have different opinions!

Anyway rant over, I think AI is a blight on society with few practical uses, have a good Friday y'all 🩷

[monodramatic-cannibal]

Renegade au world information

All this info is subject to change.

This is just some info on undertale (Sans) au I've been working on. I don't mind questions about the world, but bear with me I'm not that good at world building lmaoo. So if things don't make sense just let me know and I will try to fix it or explain it lol.

This au is also self indulguent, orignally I was going to keep it to myself, but since I've made a ut blog, may as well share the utau content I'm making since I don't know how much of my ut art is gonna be the renegade au.

Also Characters won't be following their canon personalities, there will be a lot of fandom interpritations and my own head canons.

Also a bit of info on the name, originally the au was going to be something different (plot/world wise) its originally name was "Reject/|Renegade", which then got shortened to Renedage. Then I changed the plot/world and since I was so used to calling it the Renegade au I never changed the name. So the name might not make sense for this world, but thats why lol.

Asks about the world/characters will be open, or just doodle ideas/requests for them too. I'd also love to hear peoples thoughts/interpretations on this au lol.

Also when sending asks for the characters: The asks will be like voices that can't directly/physically interact with characters. (Thought maybe on special occasions I may let askers appear as animals or something else to interact physically with characters) If your going to send in an ask make sure to specify that its for the Renegade au somewhere in the ask and also make sure to specify which character the ask is for.

(there's also sans shippings in this au, so if thats not something you like this au may not be for you.)

More info under the cut

World inspo (just so u know when I reference things in me trying to explain my aus setting): -Obviously undertale and all of its au's is an inspo for me lol -Stray (Cat game), For the world and its environments. As well as the horror inspo. -The artist Simon Stålenhag (https://www.instagram.com/simon_stalenhag/), Specifically their work on the artbooks “The eclectic state”, “The tales from the loop” and “The Labyrinth”. The world design is amazing and a huge inspo. (the inspo for me comes from the world not so much the story) -The game Wuthering Waves, specifically it’s world design. -Also some inspo came from me hearing about the place Kowloon city. (There's more inspo, but I'll save that unless I'm asked lmaoo)

-----

World/au takes place on the surface. The tree of emotions is in this world (tree from Dream and Nightmare's story).

Where it takes place:

The story also takes place in a world sort of like our own, in terms of there's a ton of wars of counties going on, and most likely a lot of conflict with monsters/humans as well. Leading to the incident which put the world into an apocalypse, which the au takes place a little bit after that situation, so weaker buildings are starting to crumble, and some plant life is starting to over grow in places.

The tree of emotions is also in this world, due to it being around for a long time (it’s older than Dream/Nightmare) its roots are deep, it’s a giant tree (It’s around the size of the giant tree in Wuthering Waves that's in the Violet Banyan area).

The tree of emotions is so in tune with the world, that if there were to be any problems with it, it can affect the world and the laws of the world. The tree still does have apples (both the golden and obsidian apples) on it, but it doesn’t look like an apple tree it looks like a mix of a weeping willow tree and wisteria tree (with both purple and yellow flowers yellow on Dream’s side, purple on Nightmare’s side). The tree on both sides also has little nooks and places for the twins to be, either it be a place in the tree to hide or sit, or places in the middle of the tree for both of them. The tree can grow and shift to fit the twin's needs.

The world has been deeply effected by the tree of emotions (see the paragraph above). When the apocalypse hit it wasn’t long before the land/environment itself was effected, things started appearing where they shouldn’t be e.g. trains in the middle of fields, or a patch of a flower field being placed into the 3rd floor of a large building. It started to affect the gravity of things as well, leaving cars suspended in the air, not really floating away but not coming down either. Roads and buildings been pulled up into the sky left floating. Glowing orbs of all colours randomly (normally its only one or two just randomly around theres never really a lot of them). Impossible machinery just placed at random (look at Simon Stålenhag art books “The eclectic state”, “The tales from the loop” and “The Labyrinth” for inspo, though the renegade world doesn’t have things nearly as drastic in them.) The rapid growth and decay of plant-life. Either plants taking a hold of buildings within a year, or whole forests dying leaving barren lands. Cracks forming in the earth revealing cave systems that weren’t there before, showing extensive environments that shouldn’t exist, like a portal to another world almost. (e.g. these environments can look like undertale underground, as the underground doesn’t exist in this world. Or can even look like other things like bioluminescent caves). Or glowing white cracks in the earth that decay the world around them turning the ground black becoming spawn points for Wraiths.

The specific area the story takes place in is a big city area, the group have made a small settlement within the higher floors of buildings that have bridges connecting them together. They've cut off most of the lower floors of the buildings to keep the Wraiths away from their living spaces. But have kept a few exits to get up and down from the buildings. They often use roofs for gardens and stuff, and fire escapes for movement around floors as well. Each character has a different mental map of both the living area and the city around. E.g. Night’s view of the city is going down all the nooks or walking along places that the average sized person cannot or using underground tunnels that he squeezed into. Where as someone like Error has a different view of the city, mainly viewing it from above, being able to use his strings to swing around to to launch himself building to building. This is to say each character has a different story when it comes to the city and their view of it. (Inspo for this is when people talk about “Kowloon city”)

The group try to give out roles to everyone, trying to cater to everyone's skills, but some people hang around without doing too much for the group, just as long as the rest of the group can rely on them when they need it then they're fine with it.

Wraiths:

The Wraiths look both human and monsters, they look like the Amalgamates (from UT), but come across as slightly more blob like, these creatures sort of look like tar. They're beings of negativity. They're often violent towards anything that isn't a Wraith, though they do tend to leave most animals alone, but do attack when they get too close. They possess a bit of magic abilities, some maybe more than others.

They can travel alone or in large groups. For people with no magic or limited magic, it's best to stay away from them.

People can't really turn into Wraiths (only the tree can turn people). But the Wraiths can spawn back after a while, often 'spawn points' will be littered amongst the land, being hot spots for Wraiths to be. Though on rare occasions the tree may turn people to Wraiths, mainly it’s when some is abusing the fact the world is in an apocalypse with no rules to do bad things, due to the build up of negative energy around them, it can cause them to get turned into a Wraith.

Wraiths aren't really that intelligent, some may have the intelligence of animals, but the most intelligent tend to have the brains of 7-year-olds. So they are capable of makings some sort of attack plans, but often lack the knowledge to fully cooperate with one another effectively. Though some rare few may have more intelligence than others.

Some Wraiths have been show to be evolving in ways, e.g. if someone specifically kills the same Wraith over and over, the Wraith may start developing features to combat that person's attack style. Some people think the Wraiths may be getting more intelligent, when in reality it may be a Wraith having a moment of clarity, as they did use to be a sentient being, they may try to do things that they used to do in life, e.g. returning to a building where they lived or worked. Wraiths magic is partly based on what they were before, either that be human or monster, and what magic capabilities they had, or could grow to have. Some Wraiths are a lot stronger than others, able to use their magic effectively.

Wraith growths are normally found around ‘spawn points’ for the Wraiths. It’s like a mold looking flesh that covers the ground and buildings (think of the sort of things in Stray ((the cat game))). Though it’s started to spread out past the spawn points. The ‘mold’ itself isn’t much of a threat, but Wraiths camp out in areas that have these Wraith growths covering them. Which can lead to dangerous situations if effort isn’t taken to make sure the growth doesn't spread any further.

Cause of apocalypse:

The tree of emotions is in this world (tree from Dream and Nm's story), and is the cause of the apocalypse. Due to all the negativity in the world, the tree without the input from its guardians (Nm and Dream) decided to cause a 'world reset'. The tree corrupted half of the population in the world (think of the Thanos snap but instead of disappearing it turns people to Wraiths). Due to all the negative emotions, the tree saw it best fit to start completely over in terms of the world's creatures that are capable of emotions. Most of the beings left alive blamed Nightmare for what happened, thinking this came from his side of the tree. When in reality it was a sort of man made issue that a higher being decided to sort out. The tree until it sees more of a balance of the negative/positive emotions will continue to keep the Wraiths around, either that means society finding a way of living in this world peacefully or everyone dies out from the Wraiths. Due to the build up of negative energy people would have thought Night would have gotten more powerful, but instead his power manifested in an alter self which looks a lot like the Wraiths but less drippy goo like, though he still looks like tar and such.

Powers/Magic:

In this au a lot of the powers/magic is a lot more toned down. Monsters are closer to humans in terms of the fact they don’t have a lot of magic. Monsters magic has dulled over time with being on the surface with humans, leading to monsters having more convenient powers that might help in day to day life, rather than having combat magic. Some monsters still have combat magic and some monsters may be born with more magic than others. Humans can also learn magic due to spending a lot of time with the monsters. But humans don’t have a lot of magic, and can only do basic things, sort of like the monsters of the modern-day.

When talking about the Skele's: When it comes to teleporting they can only do it very small distances, normally the length of a bus, but a few can train themselves to teleport a little bit further than that. They can also only teleport to places they’ve either already stood or straight ahead (almost like a dash when they do it ahead of themselves) (they can’t teleport through walls unless they’ve already been on the other side)

Being able to summon bones is a lot more limited in this au compared to the game. (They can still summon quite a lot of them, but they can’t spam it compared to the games).

They still have gaster blasters but they’re a lot smaller. A few may have slightly bigger gaster blasters, but normally they’re the side of a large dog.

They’re able to assign weapons to themselves, which allows them to summon/dismiss their weapons at will, they can have up to 4 weapons they can summon. (Their magic doesn’t count towards their weapons, it’s more of a physical weapon, such as Horror’s axe)

Some of them can have specific abilities that only they (or a few others) can use. E.g. Ink being able to use paint as his magic/power ability, or Error and his strings.

Original team/group and what order people joined it after that:

Og group: -Ink -Blue -Outer -Sci

What order the rest joined the group (same point = joined at the same time): -Horror / Error (Joined around 3 weeks into the apocalypse) -Fell (Joined just over a month) -Dream / Nightmare (Joined 3 months into the apocalypse) -Dust / Killer (Joined 4 and a half months into the apocalypse) -Lust (Joined 6 months into the apocalypse) -Geno / Echo / Edge (Joined 7 and a half months into the apocalypse) -Cross (Joined 9 months into the apocalypse) -Death (? didn't exactly join, followed Geno) -Fresh (? didn't exactly join, appeared shortly after Lust joined)

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Ships that are in this Au: (will be adding more ships as it goes along)(also even thou I say these ships are in here, feel free to ship what you want lol)

-Crossmare (Nightmare X Cross) (Both Night and Mare are apart of this)

-Afterdeath (Geno X Reaper)

-Horrorlust (? idk what it's called) (Horror X Lust)

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As mentioned a lot of this is subject to change. So Will be adding to this as I go along. I will try to let people know as I update this and whats changed so people don't have to read through all of it again. I'm looking to improve the world building, so if you have any suggestions I'm open to listen lol.

Some extra stuff :D :

When I talk about things like "living area" it means the collections of buildings/etc that the group is living in. And when I call something someones "room" it actually means a whole apartment, or in the case of Echo's (Radio room) and Error's (Storage room) rooms its an office floor that has been cleared out.

playlist I made with a few inspo videos for renegade, has world building shit, trailers, and music. Will be adding to this whenever I can be assed too.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsOp1NNY64Q34UJs-FRLTbqoqhLymApfI&si=VN3GkrjQyF8yawOr

Some more info on the character designs

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Links to character refs:

Nightmare (Night and Mare's ref)

Dream

Cross

Blue

Ink

Dust

Horror

Killer

Error

Lust

Fell/Edge

Geno

Outer

Sci

Reaper/Death

Fresh

Gans/Echo

Chief

(The refs posted in bulk with no info)

Refs 1

Refs 2

---------

Credits:

Nightmare/Dream belong to Jokublog Cross belongs to Jakei95 Blue (underswap!Sans) belongs to P0pcornPr1nce Ink belongs to Myebi/comyet Dust (Dusttale!Sans?) belongs to ask-dusttale Horror (Horrortale!Sans) belongs to sour-apple-studios Killer belongs to rahafwabas Error/Fresh/Geno belong to loverofpiggies Lust (Lusttale!Sans) belongs to NSFWShamecave Fell (Underfell!Sans) belongs to underfell/Fella/Vic (???) Outer (Outertale!Sans) belongs to 2mi127 Sci belongs to (???) Reaper (Reapertale!Sans?) belongs to renrink Gans (Echotale!Sans?) belongs to Yoralim (???) Chief (Swapfell Purple) belongs to (???) (Let me know if I need to change any of these, cuz a few I was unsure about)

[crimsoncold]

Current thoughts on HOTD

(i.e. the disappointment, the choice not to hate watch the show, and my continued appreciation for the fandom itself)

So I'm admittedly done with the show itself... I can tolerate quite a bit of lackluster writing when I love the concept or certain characters enough- seriously I watched all of the original 9 seasons of the x files (+ the films) even when it had pretty much abandoned the monster of the week format I loved, got extremely convoluted in terms of its plot/conspiracies, and most of the original cast wasn't even around anymore- but sometimes a show declines in quality so much I'm too discouraged to want to continue watching.

S1 already had issues but the inconsistencies in plot/messages/characterization and the strange changes writer's have made to the source material in S2 all sort of converged to make a show that is ultimately not just generally disappointing but now is outright unimpressive and unwatchable (side note i feel so bad for the cast they're working their ass off and the writer's are just giving them literal garbage).

I'm just not a person who really enjoys hate watching stuff? Like no judgement if you want to continue watching or if you do choose to hate watch- do what makes you happy- it's just not something I personally would choose to spend my time on- if a show doesn't even interest me to begin with or nothing about a show makes me happy anymore I'm not going to watch it. (With many of the better shows out there getting unfortunately canceled so quickly I'd rather spend my time watching enjoyable shows while they are still around- I know I'm just one viewer and likely I make zero difference in the scheme of things but I just don't want to be part of a viewership that encourages studios to cancel well written but less popular shows and continue with the poorer quality shows because hate/outrage inspired so much viewership... I think it's just that this business practice pisses me off enough that I don't want to be a part of it or reminded of it)

So for HOTD I'm not personally continuing with the show I'm just going to rely on the braver souls in this fandom to show me how crazy things get - at this point it feels like for my sanity there is nothing left to do but laugh at how bad these showrunners are ruining their story/characters and otherwise just move on and watch other things.

When it comes to fandom side of things well I'll quote myself from a different hotd post for a moment..."disappointing or poorly written shows are not without their appeal for participating in fandom (i.e. making, viewing, or sharing the art, writing, metas, or other content inspired by the show) particularly when there is a handful of interesting characters (looking at you book/S1 HOTD's team green) that fans want to rescue from the terrible writing/butchering by the showrunners ... sometimes it is even one of the most appealing sort of set ups for fandom to take over and fix things."

So I will absolutely continue to appreciate the general efforts of HOTD fandom (writers, artists, gif makers, etc.) and I will continue to seek out/like/reblog/comment on fan works as well as the many well thought out/eloquent metas and write ups fans put out about this show.

To paraphrase once again from one of my other hotd post "The juxtaposition between how underwhelming and juvenile the showrunner's storytelling choices are compared to how eloquently fans interpret, analyze, deconstruct, criticize or even defend the show and it's characters is absolutely wild...a not insignificant amount of hotd fandom puts in more time, effort, and thought into hotd than ANY of the showrunners/writers."

While I was admittedly intrigued by select characters of hotd my desire and decision to participate in hotd fandom really came down to the amazing efforts of fans who analyzed the show, wrote incredible metas on it's characters, and who made their own transformative stories and art based on hotd.

So in conclusion I'm done with watching the show, I hate everything the showrunners are choosing to do (the audience deserved a better story/show), I feel so bad for the cast and wish the characters hadn't been massacred by these writers (Alicent, Aemond, Helaena, Aegon, and the rest of team green all deserved better writing, i.e. consistent and coherent characterization or you know getting time on screen/together in general, all characters deserved better than being reduced to props for this strange pro targ/pro Rhaenyra storyline the showrunners have made up, hell even Rhaenyra herself deserved better writing),

I will continue to think about the "what ifs" that come up around this ... (what this story and these characters could have become in the hands of better writers) and I will always still appreciate/comment on and reblog fandom efforts themselves (whether you continue to participate in hotd fandom or are done with it just know that even though the writer's suck and the show has just gotten worse and worse, and the few character's we liked are getting destroyed by the writing, I still admire everybody I encountered in the little niche of the hotd fandom I have participated and appreciate what you all contribute to hotd fandom.

AND I will continue my own little additions to said fandom-i still have hotd inspired art coming soon and while I'm done with the show itself I intend to steal away the shiny things I liked from hotd (certain intriguing characters and the possibilities that could have existed if this had been adapated better) and continue to enjoy them while I ignore the rest of the nonsense the showrunners have created.

- Crimson Cold

[lorddeathofmurdermountain]

I'm slowly starting to hate shounen bc if it's good it runs for a long time and if it runs for a long time it inevitably escalates to the point where it's no longer what you initially liked. Maybe you end up liking this new thing too but it's never actually what you initially fell in love with. OG Naruto was fucking cool, the Jutsu's could be pretty powerful and awesome but took time and the vast majority of combat was based on cunning and skill. Later that shit got so powercrept that the show basically became ninja flavored DBZ. Snake thing with Bleach, same thing with HxH it's all the fucking same.

Like, BNHA/MHA? Fuck, man, All Might giving a literal 101% of what he's supposed to be able to physically achieve, literally running his muscles at more than their maximum capacity, slowly killing himself in the process in order to do what's right was great. It meant something. Aaaand Deku's throwing 1000% powered Smashes. Okay. Sure. Numbers are all fake anyway.

It doesn't matter if the story can explain it and make it consistent, I don't fucking care about the lore of why he can do that, my point is that this shit isn't what I signed up for. And eventually the writers get so lost in all the powerscaling that they can't even actually finish the story the way they want to because everything got so escalated that the original idea doesn't even work any more. "This is how I became the greatest hero ever" turns into an ending where (SPOILERS) Deku actually loses his powers, becomes Quirkless again and quits being a hero so he can take on the noble and honorable job of... A highschool teacher. Bc the powerscaling went so out of whack that the story changed fundamentally, that the characters changed so drastically that the initial end envisioned for them no longer made sense.

I just. Really hate this ceaseless escalation. Of the stakes, of the powers, of fucking everything. Again and again and again cool ideas get turned into something barely recognizable, if even that, and if you go examine ANYTHING with even a smidge of attention you'll STILL find plot holes, Deus ex machina moments and contrivances that would make Rings of Power blush. Hell, some shounen series that start out amazing eventually become basically Contrivance Generators where the author has to constantly course correct the story because the industry demands shounen to be so fucking stupidly structured that people can't even engage with their passion like they want, can't tell the story they want.

That's fucking right folks, this whole time I was shitting on the industry at large, not the artists! Shueisha, I'm talking about you mother fuckers. If I had a genie first thing I'd wish for is for you bastards to go bankrupt and for every issue of Shounen Jump to be swallowed by an Elder God that feeds on cursed artifacts, because every issue HAS to be cursed with how much crunch time artists spend spilling their blood sweat and tears to fulfil your stinking quotas just so the story they wanna tell can get out, only for your shitty business model to force them to change the story into something they themselves may not even recognize. Weekly Shounen Jump is an affront to art and should be classified as the byproduct of crimes against humanity. Shinichi Hirono should stand down from the position of CEO and Kermit sudoku on live TV. In fact, don't give him the honor, instead he should be given the lethal injection or whatever else the Japanese use (they still have the death penalty over there and unlike in America your due date CAN arrive before any court appeal hearing)

[hermitpostzine]

Hi, I was invited to participate in the extended digital zine and I was wondering if there are any plans to allow us into the discord? I'd like to be able to coordinate with fellow artists to make sure there are no repeats and that the zine comes together as a cohesive final product, and have the ability to ask questions and get feedback. Though I appreciate and understand that this is coming from a place of including more people to participate in the zine, it feels exclusive still when we are directly separated from the "primary" participants and not allowed into the planning of what our pieces will even look like in the final zine.

Hi! We currently only have one dedicated discord moderator and don’t feel we could safely moderate a larger server than our current contributors for the physical zine, but this is something we would love to do in future projects! The digital zine will be open for anyone who would like to submit a postcard, even those who didn’t originally apply for HPZ during our application period. It is not our intent to make it feel exclusionary - just a way for us to showcase people’s work even though we could only accept a small fraction of our applicants for the physical print copy. We encourage anyone who would like to participate in the digital zine to post about and collaborate on their work--as ever, our goal is to create a community project to showcase the amazing creativity of MCYT fans. Every submission following our guidelines will be included in the digital zine, stylized like a collector’s book of postcards. This is something new we're trying for this project, and we appreciate the feedback!

[not-poignant]

Hi!! I hope you’re enjoying spring! And I hope that the warmer weather and the blooming flowers bring about comfort and rejuvenation (if they have indeed started blooming, I have no idea how and when spring springs in your part of the world at this time). 🌷

How do you feel about fanfics of your original fiction? I’ve read most of your works on ao3 and have been following your tumblr for a while so I know (or at least it seems like) you are very encouraging toward any type of interpretation and writing.

I’ve seen there are a number of works people have written that either use your original characters or your worlds and I’m wondering how that feels on a personal level. Have you read them all? I imagine it’s quite flattering. But what if things seem a bit out of character or not exactly how you imagined? And what if those out of character moments or out of world moments seem like misinterpretations rather than reimaginings?

Basically this is all coming from a place of uncertainty. I’ve written some Ice Plague fanfic that I am personally proud of but it’s scary 😳. It’s still a draft and has been sitting as an open window on my computer for months now.

I have so much respect for any artist who puts their art out into the world. You’re so amazing Pia!!

I meant to reply to this and then Life did it's lifening thing SO HERE I AM NOW

Firstly I have a blanket 'omg yes please I love fanfics of my stuff' - there's even a fandom tag wrangled for it on AO3 (it might not stay there forever, and idk how it happened, but it's amazing and I'm forever 'omg thank' to the person who did that, though I wish it happened for more original fandoms over at AO3 which are very fandom friendly and have lots of fanfiction).

But you know that, I just figured I'd say it again. :D

Now to the nitty gritty of it all:

Philosophically I think it's fantastic in general. Every author feels like they've 'made it' as a 'real author' at different points in their career. For some it's their first paycheck or royalties. For others it's their first published novel. For others it's their first positive review from a stranger.

For me, it was the first time I got fanart, and then the first time I got fanfic. That for me was the marker of realising I'd 'made it.' Everything else is incredible too, don't get me wrong, that was just my metric. I didn't know it was until I got there, and I was like 'oh, this must be the feeling other people were talking about.'

Have you read them all?

So, no I haven't. I have a rule that I don't read any fics for a universe I'm still actively writing in. This applies to fanfiction for works I'm writing right now (so I haven't read any transformative works like fanfiction for the Underline series), and it also applies to fanfiction for works I'm writing fanfiction for (I stopped reading BG3 fic the moment I started writing Palmarosa, and I don't read Stardew Valley fanfic either).

This is mostly a 'liability' rule so that people can't say 'hey you copied this idea of mine give me money.' That's not highly likely to happen, but it does happen, and I think occasionally people forget that if I set up enough foreshadowing in a story that's not finished, and other people unconsciously write the 'logical end' of that foreshadowing, and then I write it myself, I didn't copy them, I followed the logic of my own story, lol.

I do read everything once I've finished writing in a particular original world! Back in the day I used to leave a lot more comments and engagement and then realised that might not be wanted or might be strange, or even might be seen as playing favourites if I do that to some people and not others, so now I try to keep some distance so people don't feel like I'm breathing over their shoulder basically, judging them.

There was a period of people trying to check in with me about their fics to be canon compliant, and I sort of disliked it, because to me that's the opposite of what fanfiction is - they're not writing my version of a story - I'm doing that, they're writing their version. And as with everything else, just like you have to make up what's not present in say...The X-Files, I like it better when people invent their own solutions or change rules based on what they want to see. Now I'm a lot firmer about encouraging people to remember that fanfiction is 'anything goes' and it's really not at all about how I feel about their ideas or how "correctly" those ideas apply in my own mind about my universe.

That leads me to answering your next question:

But what if things seem a bit out of character or not exactly how you imagined?

GOOD!!! That's what fanfiction is! Anyone expecting anything different is like...wildly out of touch with the purpose of transformative works which are meant to transform characters, canon, plot points, and scenarios. If people want to take my characters and put them on a spaceship, they can. If people want Temsen and Gwyn to fuck and have a happy ending, they can write it and I'm happy for them.

I literally am extremely happy about this, even if it's so wildly not what I'd write it's actually a trigger for me and I can't read it lmao. That's what fanfiction is for.

Fanfiction isn't for me, fanfiction is for fandom, for the people in it, for the people transforming the original thing. I'm extremely lucky I get to participate in it, but do you think I'm out here worrying about whether ConcernedApe/Eric Barone (creator of Stardew Valley) thinks my version of Alex or Sebastian in my Stardew Valley fic are like the most 'in character' version? Nope. I don't want him to know about my fic at all, I'm doing terrible things to his characters lmao.

And what if those out of character moments or out of world moments seem like misinterpretations rather than reimaginings?

That has nothing to do with me, and it's not my business. It's wrong to even pretend to make it my business. I don't want to be flippant and say 'so what?' - So it's more like - that's literally the point of fanfiction. Or again - good!

People can make characters into self-inserts. They can turn a character into pure wish fulfillment. They can take a world they love (the Underline universe) and then put themselves in there and make Gwyn super femme and I'm not really going to want to read that and that's great, because ultimately it has nothing to do with me and it shouldn't have anything to do with me. They can make every character experience mpreg, if they love mpreg, I'm so happy for them lmao.

Tbh, I also feel this way about fanfiction for other fandoms too. Do I stumble into Dragon Age fics with characterisations so wild and offputting I'm like 'OH GOD NO' and want to throw my phone across the room? Of course! And what do I do? I close the tab and find someone who's not doing that. It's so free and easy to just make different choices and find (or write!) the fics I want to see in the world without judging other authors for living their best lives.

I want fanfic authors to live their best lives, and that includes me as a fanfic author. I don't want to - as a creator of some original universes - have attitudes that would go against that.

So yeah, I'm...what I would call pretty zen about people 'misinterpreting' my characters (it's not really a misinterpretation, because that assumes that the goal of fanfiction is to always write characters 'in character' and it's not - there are many many goals in fanfiction, being canon compliant is only one of very many).

I'm less zen about people trying to get me to approve their ideas for fics or headcanons they have about my stuff. First, that's not really my job in the sense that...this is their responsibility if they want to write a fic, and also it's not great for me to interfere with their creative process (and not really fair on me to expect me to do creative work for them outside of the creative work I already write - asking me to have thoughts on their headcanons usually ends badly if they're unrealistic lmao). Like, it's not really fandom 'normal' to just go up to the show creators of Teen Wolf and go 'hey do you think my headcanon would happen? What about if they all got pregnant?'

And second, it implies that this is an area I should have input into and it's not. Even if I said 'I hate fanfiction don't write it' like a hypocrite, people can still write it. That's how much I don't matter to the process of writing fanfiction for an original work I've created. If people make getting my approval for their headcanons my 'problem' by putting it in my inbox, I will reply from the perspective of someone who writes the canon (which can sometimes lead to headcanon shattering, which I don't want to do! So tread lightly, folks), if people don't want me to shatter their headcanons before they write the fic, don't share 'em with me - they're not my business. :D

This can get confusing because sometimes people are asking me genuine worldbuilding questions and hypotheticals in good faith about my writing, and sometimes they're kind of trying to ask about their writing and get me to do some of the hard work for them, and I can usually tell those folks by how many anons they send me and if they seem strangely fixated on a particular subject I clearly have no interest in writing about, like mpreg (mpreg anons, you know who you are). In those cases it's like *I hand the pad and pen to you, and now it's your turn to answer these questions - if I wanted this to be part of my imaginative landscape, I'd be imagining it, and I don't want to.*

I get to be here and share other people's fanfiction and fanart, that's a privilege I get to enjoy, but I don't sort of have to be here to validate what other people are doing or thinking or writing or drawing etc. It's something I get to be a part of when people choose to share it with me in a way that I can then share it with more people, but I'm not an arbiter of it.

It can exist not only in my absence, but also in the face of my active disapproval (bless all you Anne Rice fanfiction writers who said 'fuck you' to Anne Rice being extremely litigious about people writing fic for her works and doing it anyway, bless every single one of you).

Thankfully I don't disapprove of it at all, no matter how batshit triggery wild OOC the headcanons are, it's like looking at something happening in a building I don't live in and am not supposed to live in. My response is like: 'Well, I don't live there, so...that has nothing to do with me, but hey, maybe other people want to live in that building so I'll share the address to folks who know me too.'

[crowns-of-violets-and-roses]

Do you have any good sci-fi recs? I haven't read anything written in the last decade except Murderbot I think.

Oh I have so many. I'll skip the series and books that have been deluged with big American SF awards (although Embassytown, the Teixcalaan duology, The Broken Earth trilogy, and The Locked Tomb series are all more than worth a read to name a few) and list a few other things here that have been published in the last decade or so that I loved.

Ada Palmer's Terra Ignota series is amazing. Set in the 25th century where nation states have been replaced by voluntarily joined polities called Hives. The books are framed as a history (the author herself is a historian as a day job) written by an infamous criminal aping the style of the eighteenth century. Lots of fun and a deeply ambitious set of books. They sometimes stumble and fail to realise their ambition but still a great series.

Deep Wheel Orcadia is a verse novel written in the Orcadian dialect of Scots by Harry Josephine Giles. English translations are provided but I found it best read by reading each section in the Orcaidan first and then the English after. Depending on your dialect of English you may often be able to understand a lot of what's happening before moving into the English translation. It follows an artist Astrid returning to her home and an heiress Darling who has run away from her life. They both come to the space station Orcadia and the novel focuses on them and the ordinary people of the station. There's lines of it still lodged in my mind years after reading it.

In Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky a runaway project to terraform a planet and accelerate evolution leads to the inadvertent creation of sentient spiders. It focuses on the development of the spider society, a generation ship of humans and eventually the two of them meeting. A great work of xenofiction. It has two sequels - I've read and enjoyed one and have heard good things about the other - but was originally a standalone and can be read as such.

It wasn't published in the last ten years but Yōko Ogawa's The Memory Police was only translated into English in 2019 so I'm including it here. Set on an island where people periodically forget about different objects and concept and they're removal is then enforced by the titular Memory Police. I'm generally suspicious of literary authors writing SF (I often find it's worse than their usual writing and not good SF) but this book is brilliant and the best I've read by Ogawa.

Isabel J. Kim is one of the best SF short story writers currently writing. While she's best known on tumblr for Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid In the Omelas Hole many of her other stories are better than it. For sci-fi specifically Zeta-Epsilon is a good intro to her work. If you're into SF and fantasy her entire bibliography is worth reading and is nearly all available for free online.

Ted Chiang had a new short story collection Exhalation released in 2019. Chiang is always thought provoking and unlike many SF authors focused on exploring the implications of an idea or concept he knows how to imbue human emotion into his work. The story the collection takes it's title from is available online and is one of my favorites by him if you're looking to get a sense of his work.

Porpentine is best known for her brilliant interactive fiction (IF) . She has a very distinct voice and it should be noted her work is often extremely dark. Usually I'd recommend With Those We Love Alive as an intro to her IF but it's more fantasy than SF, Howling Dogs might be a better entry point if you're into SF specifically and if you're interested in her work she has a collection Eczema Angel Orifice which collects much of her early work. She's also written more experimental work like Foldscape a game made exclusively of folders.

If you aren't into IF Mall school was an early "rare venture into linear storytelling" that I'm fond of. She's written more linear writing in recent years and has released a bunch of short stories, novellas and an amazing novel Serious Weakness (though other than being set five minutes in the future there aren't many SF elements in it).

[detailtilted]

Somebody saaaave me! (I need opinions about colors.)

I'm working on the Comic-Con 2008 enhanced edition videos. This one has presented some new sorts of challenges. One challenge is that a lot of the videos I'm working with have wonky (I think) colors.

The video editing software I'm using has some color correction capabilities, but I'm really bad with colors. I know we have some amazing artists here, and I think pretty much anyone, artist or not, will have better judgment on this than I do. I once had to Google what colors went with gray because I'd bought some gray jeans and then after I brought them home I was convinced nothing in my closet went with them. Yes, gray.

I've made some attempts to improve the video colors, but I don't have a clue what I'm doing so it's mostly trial and error. I've also been looking at them for so long that I'm not sure if I've made them better or worse. I'm pretty sure the first set is at least a little better, but I'm not sure if it's only better in that it will make people only want to claw out one eye instead of both. I don't want anyone to claw any eyes out watching my videos!

Below are the examples I'm currently working with, including my settings in case that means anything to anyone. Just don't laugh too hard if my settings are idiotic! I'd be happy for any suggestions or opinions, good or bad, regardless of whether you think you're good with colors or not. However you want to communicate is fine, including private messages if you prefer that.

Set #1

This set of videos will be the main set people see, so it's especially important to me that this one not look horrible. It has the most stable and consistent focus on Jared and Jensen and there's coverage for most of the event.

In addition to color issues, I adjusted the aspect ratio because the original video was squished. I noticed it in their faces first, but you can also tell pretty clearly when you compare the Comic-Con logos in the background with other video sets. This is the one where I feel pretty sure I made it better -- I'm just not sure if it's better enough.

Example video link.

Set #2

This set of videos will never be the main full-screen video, but it will be my first choice for the talking head bubbles (not sure that's the right term, I'll explain at the end of this post) for the other guests when possible. It has the most stable coverage when focusing on the other guests. It covers less than 30% of the panel though.

I truly don't know if I've made this one better or worse. My initial reaction of the original was that it was way too green, but I've tweaked this one so much and nothing looks quite right to me. I think the tablecloth is supposed to be black, but tweaking the colors enough to make it more black makes the rest of it look worse to me. Similarly, I think their faces might be a little too pale, but adding in a little more red doesn't seem to affect their faces, it just makes the other parts look worse to me. The main pieces of this video that people will see is just the heads. (The example at the bottom of this post uses this video for Eric's head.)

Example video link.

Set #3

This set of videos will only be the main full-screen video for very short segments of time, to cover gaps in set #1. It will mostly be used for talking head bubbles. This set covers most of the event, but it has much less coverage of Jared and Jensen and it's very jittery.

I actually thought the colors on this one looked very good though, so I didn't tweak them at all. I just upscaled the videos as normal and left it alone. Every time I look at this video, it makes me doubt the above changes even more because the colors in those really don't look like this one and I haven't been able to get them anywhere close.

Example video link.

"Talking Head Bubbles"

Here's an example of what I mean by that. I'm trying to create a best-of-both worlds scenario where we can feast our eyes on Jared and Jensen the whole time, but also still see who's talking sometimes when one of the videos had coverage of it. It's taking quite a bit of effort to make that watchable -- the main video (Set #1) bobs around randomly, and the insert videos (Sets 2 and 3) bob around randomly in different directions, so it's been quite a challenge to make it look stable enough that people won't think I'm trying to hypnotize them with Eric's head or something as it swings back and forth like a pendulum! 🤣

[not-quite-there-myself]

helloooo, if thats ok, id like to request something with square mutton fish/male reader! could be anything :)!!!! i rarely see any content of him ^^ love your writing btw!!!!

PORTRAIT PAINTING

After telling him that you wanted to see original art instead of his forgeries for once, Square Mutton Fish ends up painting a portrait of you. He does, and... he ends up liking it a little too much. The painting, of course. Definitely not because the subject was you. Totally not.

A/N: Aww anon I'm happy to hear that (seriously, that made my day)! Square Mutton Fish is definitely underrated, and he actually happens to be a favourite of mine. Made this silly drabble with him because of that, though it ended up being different than I originally intended (please help me I didn't mean for this to be 1k words).

Reblogs are greatly appreciated!

"What?!" Square Mutton Fish yelled, stepping back in a rather dramatic manner. "You're telling me you, my amazing master attendant of all people, have never had your portrait painted?!"

It was another day when you and your Food Soul, Square Mutton Fish, had been talking about his... unique, shall we say, line of work. As you came to learn, he was a skilled artist—that was the only thing the two of you could agree upon with 100% certainty. Square Mutton Fish would have honestly been happy if the two of you left the conversation at just that: his artistic talent. Unfortunately for him, you also happened to pick up on the fact that he didn't always use that talent of his for good.

Forgery was something you weren't exactly fond of, so it was no surprise that you chastised him when he reluctantly admitted to his scamming side hustles. No matter how much he tried to convince you it was honest work, you shut him down immediately. It didn't help that he often got into trouble with scammed victims he couldn't run from. Whenever he came back from one, you were like a parent punishing their kid from stealing from a candy store, hands on your hips and making him work double time on chores around the restaurant. But he wasn't just going to give up doing it just because you told him to.

You sighed. "Honestly, with all the trouble you get yourself into, you really oughta use that art talent for original work, not forgeries." Square Mutton Fish suddenly perked up when you added, "I'd like to see some of your own art for once..."

A grin appeared on the Food Soul's face. "Well, why don't I make one just for you?"

And that's where the two of you stand now.

He'd suggested painting a portrait of you, because what better model to have other than his dear attendant? Surely you'd like a painting of yourself, right? Especially with how you mentioned his creative talents and all... But you shook your head, declining his offer. You told him that you probably wouldn't be the best muse—you've never had yourself painted before, actually. You weren't sure if you'd be able to sit still for so long, nevermind keep the same position.

Incredulous by your nonchalant reply, he decided that that just wouldn't do. "Come now, Master Attendant. Why don't I do the honours of painting you?" He seemed all the more eager now, and claimed to be up for a challenge. With a bit more pushing and prodding, you gave in and agreed to his request.

Who knew it would end up backfiring on him?

Gathering all his supplies, you and Square Mutton Fish agreed on a time in the afternoon where you both would be available, and away from all the hustle and bustle of the busy restaurant and the even busier streets. You went out to a grassy clearing nearby, and, making sure there weren't any Fallen Angels near by, met with Square Mutton Fish.

He had already made himself a little area to put his paints and brushes, plus a wooden chair in front of an easel for you to sit on. He waved to you as you came over, carrying a blank canvas under his arm. From the way he peered at you, he could tell that you were probably regretting your decision to agree to his silly request. He seemed adamant on keeping you seated though, a cheeky grin on his face as he put a hand on your shoulder.

"Having second thoughts, Master Attendant? You better not! You agreed to this and I've already set up everything."

Well, it's not like you were gonna back down now.

As the sun gradually went down, you watched as Square Mutton Fish's eyes alternated from the canvas to you. He worked swiftly, mixing paints and switching brushes, but you couldn't help but think that after all this time, he'd been staring at you for a little longer than necessary. It got to a point where you worried he was spacing out or tired and questioned him about it.

"Huh? N-nope! Nothing's wrong, Master Attendant! Don't worry, you look great!" He'd shake it off and tell you it was just an artist at work, to not worry your little head about it and trust the process! It takes time to create perfection, you know. And it's definitely not taking longer than normal because it's difficult for a skilled artist like him to paint someone he finds attractive. Wait, what?

At some point, he let it slip, a frown on his face as he struggled with finding the right colour for your clothes.

"Tsk-tsk, if only he wasn't so handsome, this wouldn't be as complicated..."

"What was that?"

"Wh-what was what? Just keep still, Master Attendant. I'm almost done~"

The relief that washed over you when he told you you could move after so long was astounding. Stretching felt amazing, and you swore that if anyone ever asked to have you pose for a portrait painting again, you'd never agree. You went over to look at the finished product and was pleasantly surprised with what you saw.

"Oh, this looks wonderful!" You complimented, taking the painting off the easel with great care. You made sure not to touch the paint as it was still in the middle of drying. The colours and the proportions were perfect, and the way the paints blended in together seemed almost effortless. It looked so real that if you didn't know any better, you'd think you were looking in a mirror. He really was talented.

Square Mutton Fish had a hand under his chin the whole time, an indiscernible expression on his face. It honestly surprised you that he could get so quiet. You grimaced at the thought that he might not be happy with it. You held up the painting for a side by side comparison. "You're not going to make me sit back down, are you?" You asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Ah, no! Not after you've sat for so long. I wouldn't make my master attendant suffer like that." He seemed to trail off despite that, drifting back into his mind's space once more. Your brows furrowed in confusion until a realization dawned on you. There was a prominent dust of pink on his cheeks that only seemed to grow the longer you stared at him, and his expression seemed almost soft.

"Are you having second thoughts, Square Mutton Fish?" You smiled slightly. His mouth struggled to come up with a reply. "You seem to like staring at me. You already have a painting right here, surely that will last longer than the real thing." You teased, "Unless you want to keep looking?"

The Food Soul let out a forced laugh, trying to buy some time to think of an excuse. "Master Attendant, you're really..." He cleared his throat, dismissing what he originally wanted to say. Instead he explained, "It's, uh... it just turned out way better than I expected it to! Yes, that's it!"

With a swift hand, Square Mutton Fish yoinked the canvas from your hands and fled the scene, leaving you, the easel, the paints, and the paint brushes alone. You also caught him say he forgot to put a seal somewhere or something. As you watched him leave, you couldn't help the small chuckle that left your lips.

It's not everyday you get to see Square Mutton Fish so flustered. Thank your lucky stars that today you managed to catch the look on his face today: incomparable to any work of art, original or forged. It was absolutely priceless.

[foggieststars]

A little bit scared so sending this on anon. I really do think that writing is a skill and most of the amazing fic comes from years of practice and hard work but I also want to say, it's never to late to start! I have only started writing fic in the last year (I'm in my 30s) before that I last did creative writing in high school english class, never for fun. I've always been an avid reader but my uni degree and job are science based and I never thought of myself as creative or artistic. I just decided to try my best and start small with low expectations and then build up. I was much more reliant on my very kind beta than a more practiced writer (dialogue tags are the bane on my life). But people have seemingly enjoyed my work, I've had lovely comments and even a few 'inspired by' fics come out of it! I don't think I'm a 'skilled writer' but I do think that people can 'get into writing fanfic' without feeling like they already need years of experience. They can have a nice experience (though maybe shouldn't expect to see their first work become a fandom classic!). I just don't want anyone thinking of starting to be discouraged, which I'm sure wasn't your intention, it was just how I felt for many years hearing of people who had been writing since they were children. But then I thought, I'm only gonna get older, might as well start now! I really hope this doesn't come off as a dick of an ask (do feel free to ignore it if it does), I suppose I just wanted to share a different experience of writing as a newbie.

glad to hear you're enjoying writing !! :) apologies if what i said discouraged you, it wasn't my intention to do so - i think writing is like any skill, you can pick it up and start practicing at any time in your life. i think perhaps there's some confusion about the two separate points i was making in my responses to the asks - one of which being, i personally have been writing since i was a kid, and the second being that i think practicing is very key to learning how to write and is something that is generally undervalued when people discuss writing - specifically here i'm thinking of writing spaces i used to frequent on reddit lol

i wasn't saying 'you must have been writing for years to write well' - i just meant it's about practice. the original ask in question was 'how do people just write fics like that even new writers write bangers straight away', i was pointing out that a) lots of people remake accounts and might not be new at writing fic and i myself have been writing for a long old time and b) even if they are new, it still takes practice and trial and error when you're new to a hobby, like anything. if i was to try and draw something right now it wouldn't be very good because i've not put time/effort into trying to learn how to draw. if i was to put 100 hours into practicing drawing, i would probably draw something better!

i completely agree with you that you're never too old to learn any skill and i'm really glad your fics have been well-received, and i'd never want to discourage anybody from picking up writing, there is literally no time like the present! but i was also trying to say that writing is a skill that needs practicing, like with any hobby, and i don't think those two things are mutually exclusive ideas :)