#not me drawing fanart for a fic posted in 2019 I first read in 2020 in the year 2023 hh

[copper-skulls]

did you know that the bodyguard au by @silverskye13 is very good. anyways

[katyobsesses]

Sam Evans and "Fearless" (2008)

Sam Evans is obviously the biggest Swiftie in the New Directions (and I will forever be salty that he never sung one of her songs) so I've tasked myself to go through her discography and relate her songs to Sam in someway (an AU idea, when he could sing it in Canon, or when someone else could sing it to or about him)

Feel free to use any of these as prompts for fanart/fanfic and let me know if you do!

Albums: Taylor Swift (2006) | Fearless (2008) | Speak Now (2010) | Red (2012) | 1989 (2014) | Reputation (2017) | Lover (2019) | Folklore (2020) | Evermore (2020) | Fearless tv vault songs (2021) | Red tv vault songs (2021) | ALL POSTS

Here's Fearless (2008) to continue our journey (lyrics linked)

"Fearless" (2008)

Jump Then Fall

Samcedes feels 😍

Like just after Prom Queen as they're just getting together. I can imagine Sam singing it as a way to tell her that it's okay to fall for him. I have a huge headcanon that he and Mercedes spent a lot of That Summer on the bank of the Lake in a little hidden place. Mercedes reading, Sam drawing, both jamming out and singing together to Sam's guitar - this is one of his go to songs.

'Cause every time you smile, I smile // And every time you shine, I'll shine for you

(so many of these are going to be Samcedes based I just know it)

Untouchable

Samcedes again

basically I can see this in S3 when they're kind of skirting around each other and not together but not not together, you know? and especially this line

Like a million little stars // Spelling out your name

makes me think of them, because of Human Nature and Mercedes' names up in lights.

Here is a gif set I made to the song 🥰

Sam just wants to get back together with Mercedes, but she feels untouchable in that moment and being around her so close after missing her so much is just so hard when she won't let him in again

Also Hevans would be perfect for this song too.

Come on, come on // Little taste of Heaven Hevans

Come In With The Rain

and once again, Samcedes.

This time from Mercedes' POV though, after Sam leaves for Kentucky, just wishing he'll be back.

Just know I'm right here hopin' // That you'll come in with the rain

Superstar

Samcedes AU where Mercedes was a youtube singer in High School and Sam was a huge fan of her from the start, one of the first commenters. She gets a record contract after highschool and starts touring and finally Sam is able to see one of her live shows and go to a meet and greet. She smiles at him and talks to him and he's totally freaking out and trying not to show it because he's kind of watched her grow into this Superstar of a singer for years now and he's finally meeting her and he blurts out that he's been subscribed to her from the very start and she remembers his goofy screen name (SamIAm) and the comment he left on her first video and he's totally freaking out now but in a good way because she's everything he though she would be. obviously they get together somehow but idk how

Give me a photograph to hang on my wall, superstar

The Other Side Of The Door

I can kind of only think of an angsty little hevans fic from Kurt's POV after an argument for this one

Me and my stupid pride are sitting here alone // Going through the photographs, staring at the phone

Fearless

Samcedes First Kiss after getting caught in the rain

Well, you stood there with me in the doorway // My hands shake // I'm not usually this way // But you pull me in and I'm a little more brave // It's the first kiss // It's flawless // Really something // It's fearless

Fifteen

I'm just going to base this on these lyrics

'Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you // You're gonna believe them

This just feels so much like Sam and how quickly he fell for Quinn it's ridiculous, especially since he's 15 in S2 (turns 16 in Rumours/before Prom Queen)

Love Story

There's something very Sam about this one, but I'm not sure what ship i would go with.

I think it's the whole—

He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring

—thing that reminds me of Sam the most, like the scene with Quinn and the promise ring, and him "marrying" Brittany. Sam is definitely not scared of commitment. He also wouldn't be scared of having a star-crossed lovers sort of relationship, he'd stand up for his relationship no matter who was in opposition.

I'm thinking a M/M ship simply for the more taboo nature of it, maybe a Blam AU?

Hey Stephen

Samcedes Mercedes POV

Of all the girls tossing rocks at your window // I'll be the one waiting there even when it's cold // Hey, Stephen // Boy, you might have me believing // I don't always have to be alone

White Horse

Sam POV after Quinn cheats on him with Finn. He totally had this song on repeat for like a week after that.

This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town // I was a dreamer before you went and let me down

You Belong With Me

Hevans

this song is such a hevans song for me, Kurt pining over Sam while he's with Quinn. The writers were cowards for not having Kurt sing this song while looking longingly at Sam, It's too perfect.

Breathe

She's cheer captain // And I'm on the bleachers // Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find // That what you're looking for has been here the whole time

It has come to my attention that this also works really well for s4 Blam. Like so perfectly well it's insane. Even better than Hevans.

Here's a video by @daltonblaine

Sam leaving Mercedes when he goes to Kentucky

Never wanted this, never wanna see you hurt // Every little bump in the road, I tried to swerve // But people are people and sometimes it doesn't work out // Nothing we say is gonna save us from the fall out

Tell Me Why

Fabrevans breakup again. Another song Sam totally had on repeat

You tell me that you love me, then cut me down // And I need you like a heartbeat // But you know you got a mean streak // That makes me run for cover when you're around

You're Not Sorry

This is yet another song Sam had on repeat after the fabrevans break up

This is the last straw // Don't wanna hurt anymore // And you can tell me that you're sorry // But I don't believe you baby

The Way I Loved You

Samcedes Mercedes POV about Sam when she's with Shane

It's a roller coaster kind of rush // And I never knew I could feel that much // And that's the way I loved you

Forever & Always

Samcedes from Mercedes POV after Sam moves to Kentucky and just stops communicating with anyone from McKinley

It rains when you're here and it rains when you're gone // 'Cause I was there when you said forever and always

The Best Day

This is a hard one because it has such a story to it. But I'm thinking maybe from Stevie or Stacey's POV and how good of a brother Sam is? That would be cute I think. Just ignore the last couple of verses that make it obvious that this song is about a mom and a child and it would make a really cute little song fic 🥰

There is a video I found from back when I was three // You set up a paint set in the kitchen and you're talking to me

Change

Sam sings this in Comeback as an 'Anthem' instead of Baby and then the whole episode is just Taylor themed instead of Bieber.

and obviously the episode ends with Mean.

Here is a link to a post where I outline this very idea for the gleeful-painbox-project prompt 5: previously unaired

So we've been outnumbered // Raided and now cornered // It's hard to fight when the fight ain't fair // We're getting stronger now // Find things they never found // They might be bigger // But we're faster and never scared

[sysig]

2020 Art Purge

I had quite a few doodles that I didn’t end up posting ‘cause I ran out of room or they didn’t fit the theme or any number of reasons, so here they are now with a little ramble about what I remember about them

I had a few leftover Camp Camp doodles, especially from earlier on, thus why David can look a little funny and off-model. I very much wanted to see how he’d look in a suit, I got a few different chances to draw him so! I wanted to post the “Break the Cycle” one but never found the opportunity, it was something along the lines of breaking the cycle of abuse, from his relationship with Campbell and Max’s with his parents. And then a moody Max as well hehe, that one was in October so it was the most recent! Just wanted to draw an angry lad

Mostly fanfic or random ZEX doodles leftoever from SCII - DAX’s intimidating figure in one of the fics really stood out to me but I don’t know I fully captured just how freaked out he’d be. I remembering wanting to be very emotive with his pupil, both panicked and high off adrenaline and still maintaining just a bit of his aloofness, it’s hard! And the first draft of YIK throwing down a rope for ZEX from the pirate fic, I liked this one but it wasn’t energetic enough! A quick Captain from the sword fight (still so cool!), and a silly interaction of if Hayes shamed an openly xenophilic Captain lol. I really need to design a Captain myself so I can wander around being obnoxiously alien-loving on main lol

Around the same time smol and I made this beautiful idiot, she proposed the idea of trauma and generational traits affecting bending, which I was all for, and I made a cute little non-bender family with different dominant and recessive traits. They both live in the Earth kingdom, she’s a refugee and he’s been a resident for generations, and they met and fell in love, aw ♥ And then one more Mac n’ Cheese for the road because I drew him once in reaction to drawing the Solitaire crew and then never again

Unposted sona stuff mostly from the beginning of the year and then I posted the rest of it! Sometimes it was just a bad style day, sometimes it didn’t fit or would be very late (cough cough the Valentines’ Day one) or came off as weird (the spare murder was in reference to reading edgy stuff lol - considering I had just come off Put That Kid Down and the Vargas update hadn’t come out yet - phewf! I did get exactly what I asked for, that’s for sure) The daily pages one is especially funny to be because a) it’s true I still do but b) it was immediately before Bar’s redesign and his whole Deal™ changing, so it had to be left out for being too whimsical lol. The last one still makes me laugh, a happy version of “please anticipate my upcoming response”

More sonas! Oh and a Coffee, since he was the only other Just Desserts character to get left out. Well, I guess I had one of Kaiein too, but does he count? Ehh

It was a silly one at least lol.

There wasn’t a whole lot of unpublished AGE this year, or in general, but it’s a shame because they really turned out cute. I remember I was practicing PigPen when I made that Adara, and I just wanted to draw some pretty Zis while I was still working on the animation meme draft. What pretty ladies!

And a couple little doodles of the fantasy duo! They weren’t actually designed as a pair but I can’t stop, so hey why not have them live in the same world. Opal eyes still doesn’t have a name whoops, but their cute little tail pokes out the back of their robe! Lily is a good head and a half shorter, probably about to rib-height on an average human haha

Lots of little and/or original doodles! A lot of these are either original characters, random designs, or brainstorming - there’s the first ever doodle of Marionette! Nice. I also made that lady with the scars and cut sometime around Feb. 2019 but never posted her or her daughter, they are cute tho. The little night and day one was based on a little Insect-based RPG class system I was working on at the time, Butterflies and Moths being Paladins and Warlocks respectively

I’m so sad I didn’t get to post the wives earlier! I love my angels lads, they’re so cute. I went on a bit of an axolotl tangent, the scary one’s name is “J” lol. Lots of silly little things

I also made a bunch of extremely random fanart over the year lol, from Wilbur Soot to Smokey the Bear but On Fire which is a reference to something but I no longer remember what. There’s also Chiffon from Sir Fluff, a Wooper, Barold from the Villager makeover series, CORPSE Husband, ENA from Joel G, and some little Among Us blobs. Fun designs abound!

[minijenn]

Universe Falls turns 5 years old this week

I was 19 when I started it and still in college, in the throes of depression bc I hated college and wanted out even during the start of my sophomore year. I was homesick and had only a handful of friends bc I was shy as fuck back then and terrified of rejection (and had gone from a small pond back in high school where I was fairly popular to being an absolute nobody in college). I really, really fucking hated it during my freshman year and in particular and begged my dad to let me come home and go to college there instead of thousands of miles away. But for better or worse he made me stick it out even though I was absolutely miserable. But if there was anything that got me through that horrible freshman year it was my discovery of two shows: 

Steven Universe and Gravity Falls

I binged SU first, having seen it when it first aired back in 2013 but then got back on the bandwagon for it around the time its first season ended, which was when I became a devout fan. GF was something I discovered through tumblr, I watched it not long after Not What He Seems premiered and fell in love hard and fast. I would spend hours watching and rewatching these episodes, reading fics and fan theories, speculating on what was going to happen next. Never before in my life had I ever discovered two shows that brought be so much joy and comfort until these two came into my life. I loved these characters, felt like they were the friends I knew I was lacking even though they were fictional. But they felt real, they felt alive to me. 

So fast forward to August/September 2015. I had just started my sophomore year and so far wasn’t having any better of a time than I had when I was a freshman. I still clung onto GF and SU as new, very exciting episodes were airing for both (that was the month we got the Last Mabelcorn and Catch and Release, for reference’s sake). And then, one night, while I was falling asleep in my cramp dorm room I shared with a roommate I couldn’t stand, the thought occurred to me: 

What if you brought these two things you loved so much... together?

It was a random thought, almost insignificant, but in the days that followed, I just couldn’t shake it. And the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to see these characters interact, the more I wanted to see their plots intertwine, the more I knew I was the one who had to write this since GF and SU crossovers were pretty scarce back then (unlike they are now in the new wave of SUF and GF crossovers that I don’t much care for). 

I was in the midst of a writing funk at the time, my ongoing Zelda fics all on hitaus while I began a new year at college. I had more or less lost passion for most of them, with the majority of them except my HW fic receiving low numbers of reviews and feedback (back then I didn’t really know how to promote my fics like I do now). Even so, I started planning on this new project, but not without a bit of hesitation since I’d never really worked with GF or SU characters before. But I began plotting out a chapter list (the original UF chapter list has been lost to the ages, I wrote it in an old homework planner during class), and I had decided that I wanted to try my hand at making this thing a comic. A hand drawn comic. And given that my drawing abilities were... subpar at best, yeaaaaah it wasn’t the best idea....

Still, I got through two parts of UF’s “first chapter” and posted them on here (they’re still up somewhere if you wanna go back and cringe hardcore at my bad old art). Still, it had taken me a loooooong ass time to draw them and even more crazy was the fact that my laptop had crashed during that span of time, leaving me with only my shitty iPad to work with. Frustrated, I decided to forego the stupid comic altogether and write the damn thing as a fanfic, knowing I could get chapters out way faster than I ever would have by drawing it. 

So I wrote the prologue and posted it on September 29, 2015. And let’s just say right off the bat people were excited. I’d never seen so many reviews on the first chapter of one of my fics before and those numbers only started to go up the more I posted. I was jazzed up to work on this fic, pushed on by this encouragement as I decided to build my relatively reblogging-heavy blog up around it. Toward the end of the year, when I was nearing the end of arc 1, I decided to get myself a drawing tablet and download Sai so I could begin drawing my own art for the fic, leading to me first passes of character designs and UF’s old fugly cover lol

Still, I kept going with it into 2016, getting through both arcs 2 and 3 as the fic only began to grow more and more with more engagement from its fans. AUs were made, fanfics and fanarts of my fic were created, it was a glorious time to be alive, even going into 2017, 2018, 2019, and now. And all the while I kept at it, coming up with sequel plans, taking breaks every now and then to refresh and recoup, and to give the new pet project I started in 2019 (Keys to the Kingdom) some time to shine. But I’ve still never truly lost passion for UF. It’s something I tend to see through to completion, no matter how long it takes.

Fast forward again and now its 2020. I’m 24 years old and still going strong with it, having just completed RMD, an arc ender that I always hoped would be my magnum opus for this fic (and I’m so incredibly proud of how it turned out). Both GF and SU have ended, their stories both told and their endings inspiring me in so many different ways. And while those stories are over, I still strive to keep these characters, or perhaps, my own unique takes on them, living on to tell new stories, to have new adventures right alongside the canon ones. To keep their flames going in the same spirit and hopefully try to follow, even in some small way, in the footsteps of Rebecca Sugar and Alex Hirsch, two of my absolute heroes in the animation world. 

So UF turns 5 this week. It’s half a decade old and it’s nearing its 100th chapter. Its passed the 1 million word mark quite some time ago and I’m sure it’ll pass 2 million before its all said and done. It’s accumulated thousands of reviews, hundreds of followers/favorites, plenty of incredible fan interactions across the board. It’s 9th arc is about to begin, leading the way into 2 more before its all said and done. And from there it’ll only grow when I eventually write UF2 and UFF sometime way down the line. All things I could have never imagined doing as a lonely college sophomore back in 2015 when I was just starting this fun little experiment off. But as for where we are with it no, well, I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

So here we are in the future. And, well, for UF at least, I’d say it’s pretty bright. 

[the-yearning-astronaut]

It occured to me tonight that it has been literal years since I was last super active in more than one fandom at a time. It's been Star Wars for all of 2020. The better part of 2019 was Good Omens. 2018 was Star Trek. 2016-2017 was almost exclusively Marvel with a dash of Mass Effect. And while I did a fair bit of cross posting during these years, I wasn't an active content producer for more than one at a time. It was even rare for me to jump between fandoms when reading fic.

2011-2016 were some glorious years. I was reading and drawing and posting for so many things all the time. I swung wildly between Star Trek and Supernatural, Doctor Who and Sherlock, Marvel and Harry Potter. A so many other fandoms, just in smaller doses.

Idk what it was about those years that made my fandom engagement different. Was it because I was 18-23 -- Younger with more energy and time and enthusiasm? Was it because juggling my various mental illnesses and disabilities didn't require so many spoons all the time? I'm pretty sure I didn't have my current level of chronic pain at the very least.... Was it because everything seemed to start collapsing in 2016 with a certain election? I also graduated from college for the first time that year-- I was suddenly set free in the world, all on my own, and finding fulfilling work was impossible.

Is it because I'm pickier now and have higher standards? More cynical? More tired, weary, wary, and beaten? Is it because I'm more centered and confident in who I am and no longer need to grasp desperately to anything and everything I might catch a glimpse of myself in?

I don't know. I don't think the last four years are better or worse than those other five tho -- just different.

I do, however, know that right now? As 2020 is drawing to a close and this last month has been as insane as the rest of the year but with an entirely different energy, I'm finding myself....almost overwhelmed? With everything I'm wanting to do. I'm actively writing Star Wars fanfic and making fanart. Supernatural is dragging me back to hell and I'm SO READY to go dig up old fav fanfics to read. I have Star Trek Discovery and Lower Decks to catch up on, as well as The Expanse. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition comes out next spring and I'm so ready to replay those again.

It's exhilarating and overwhelming and I don't know what to think if it because it's been SO LONG since I've had so many things pulling at me at the same time. Not to mention being in my last year and a half of college for the second time!

It's wild.

And I'm gonna bask in the craziness while I'm here. Enjoy it.

Thrive on it.

[chibinoyume]

Feb 15th - International fanworks day

So today I found out via this post that today is international fanworks day. As such, I thought I’d reminisce about how fandom & fanworks have changed my life, little by little. While I’ve been a fan of many things, to me, a level of love/obsession (and most likely, a ship) must be present in order for me to engage more in a fandom, read fic, make fanart, try to write, etc. Still, I’ll only mention the 4 most significant here, with drawings to match.

The oldest - Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai X)

My first fandom, Rurouni Kenshin, made me interested in trying to draw (by copying what I saw), especially as it was an anime/manga, I had (and still have) the comics and so the source material was right there. Here is my favorite character from that series, and possibly one of the oldest scans I have from any fanart. Fandom was hard to navigate because I was limited by the glitchy websites that were the norm back then and I was barely starting to learn really basic english at age 12 (my first language is spanish).

The one that kept me sane - InuYasha

As I fell more and more in love with a different show, InuYasha, I still felt most comfortable copying what I saw (above is one of my favorites from that time, copied from a page of the manga), and sometimes, with a ton of detail. It was a hard time in my life because personal things, family problems, depression, school problems... focusing on something I loved deeply at 13 -and weirdly for a fantasy story, identified with- was really helpful. I felt limited because the difference in results when I copied an image vs when I made it up was staggering, but I still tried.

I joined a forum, made friends online (some of which I’m still very close to today -some of them I’d definitely credit with helping me not... take drastic measures back then), ventured to write fic in spanish and, something I’ll always thank my obsessive brain for, I forced myself to learn english so I could keep up with the new releases (it was either english or japanese, easy choice which one was easier). 

It was literally trying to figure out via context what the english subtitles meant, sometimes pausing every 5-10 seconds in a 20 minute episode because sometimes I didn’t understand a single word and had to look it up on the dictionary (google translate was kinda trash back then). My english wasn’t great but I tried. I couldn’t read fic in english yet, though.

This era lasted for a long while, I don’t know how many years. While I never stopped being more comfortable copying stuff, I did venture into doing my own little drawings and comics from my own head, based mostly on things I liked, stuff that happened in real life and my love for chibis has never stopped.

The “taking a leap of faith” fandom - The Mentalist

There were quite a few years where I went fandom-less (at least to a significant degree), I don’t know why. I found The Mentalist relatively early on, but since it clearly involves real people and actors, I couldn’t quite copy anything since realistic portraits have never been a huge interest or my strong suit. I started using pictures as references instead. I joined a forum once again, they had a lot of activities and I got to interact with people I admired, especially fic writers (by this point, I could read if in english, which was great because the ratio between spanish fics and english fics is... like 1:100. Also the source material in this case is in english, so...).

I didn’t know if my very anime-y style would be well received in the fandom, especially as I was probably one of the youngest people there and one of the only ones that came from the anime world. I tried regardless, I felt accepted, and eventually ventured into making my mostly pencil-only drawings snazzier with some digital editing. 

I dipped my toe in writing fic, in spanish and (gasp) in english, even if I was slightly terrified even with a beta reader. I also became very active in my deviantart profile (an art sharing website) since I hada lot of material to show and the fandom was also active there and probably joined Tumblr around this time.

I stayed in that fandom for years, through universities, made a lot of fandom friends over the years (from my late teens to my early twenties), mostly from the forum and ffnet, and because of tl;dr reasons, I had the opportunity to travel eventually and I had the good fortune of meeting a bunch of them in person. A couple of them we’ve met irl more than once even if we’re from different countries, and we talk online very often ♥ 

Also I started experimenting with watercolor, just a little bit, encouraged also by university. I did a ton of fanart comics, mostly humor. All the constant interactions with my fellow fangirls helped me improve my english a great deal, especially when it came to slang, and ever since then, most of my online life is in english now. 

There was this blog that did episode recaps of the show, I was somewhat popular in this fandom by then because I did a lot of fanart, and the person in charge of the blog commissioned me to make a drawing or comic per episode. I had deadlines and this was the first time I considered making drawings to supplement income, the opportunity meant a lot to me because I had free reign to let my fanart ideas run wild. I mostly used colored pencils. I think it was the most creative period of my life, I had so many ideas I never did, some because I didn’t feel good enough, lack of time/energy, etc. Still, some of them I’m still pretty fond of.

The current one - Blindspot

Again, it was a few years between fandom/a show I deeply connected with/a ship I fell in love with. But I stumbled into Blindspot (and Jeller) around July 2019, and you all know I love it here ♥ I wish I had found it earlier on, but eh, I’ll take what I can get!

I now run my own tiny business where I make stationery and apparel goods with my own original illustrations (and making commissions sometimes), mostly working in watercolor, and while it’s not yet at the point where I can fully support myself with just my income, it’s been a very long ride to get here. Of course it took a lot more than just fandom love, but I can’t say it wasn’t a big part of it.

Blindspot will end in 2020 but I still hope I can keep it and the friendships I’ve already made from it close to my heart, and that the fandom lives on. I certainly have lots of ideas pending, and as opposed to my previous fandom, I don’t want to leave any just as a scribbled down idea on a notebook.

[radical-rad1986]

ESS sign-ups

Mmm... maybe sideblogs don’t show up in tag searches?? Because my key chain post does?

So the Escaflowne Secret Santa (ESS) is a gift exchange that’s going into its fifth year. If you love Escaflowne you should join! We love new blood people. Please follow the @esca-ss​ blog for information and updates!

Thanks @drkstars-art for reminding me! Omg it is almost the end of October isn’t it? :/

Yes I’mma still use this sideblog for sign-ups bc it functions. Sign-ups end 11/16, partners will go out 11/20. Please post gifts by 1/11/2020. (Cannot type ‘2019′ for that ha.)

Sign-up form is here, send your info to icm.9302014 [@] gmail.com to sign up. FAQ is here, if you can’t find the answer holla at me.

Remember that I ignore time zones; if your time zone is right then you’re good!!

Anyone who loves Esca and wants to participate is welcome!!! Reblog and tag!!

-----

If the blog doesn’t work, here’s the FAQ/Information and the Sign-up form:

- 

Don’t see your question here? Just contact Rad via any method (email: icm.9302014 [@] gmail.com). [Heeeey, that’s a different email…. Yeah I don’t mind that the internet can see it. Responses will come from my primary email.]

What is the ESS?

The Escaflowne Secret Santa (ESS for short) is a fan-created holiday gift exchange to promote friendship between those who enjoy Escaflowne and to create new works for the fandom.

Who runs the ESS?

radicalrad-1986, call her Rad, hosts the ESS exchange. So far we’ve got four! wonderful years under the belt!

Do you need help organizing/running the ESS or working the Tumblr site?

At this time, no. If help is needed there’s already a list going. If there arises a situation in the future where Rad needs help she’ll ask. Thank you!

Who can join/participate?

Anyone and everyone who loves Escaflowne! You don’t need to be a part of the location we hang at or our little usual group on Tumblr. If you love Esca then come have fun, meet new people, make stuff for the fandom! It does not matter how old you are* or how old a fan you are; come join! (* = Please be 18+/local age of consent to participate in the NSFW exchange.)

How does this work?

1) Sign up by filling out this form and emailing it to icm.9302014 [@] gmail.com.

2) Receive your recipient’s name. 3) Create! (Keep it a secret!) 4) Check in at the requested times. 5) Post! 6) Have fun!! – Each year there will be someone helping Rad give out a set of names - including hers! Please check in with Rad, not the secondary person. Generic questions about the ESS should be directed at Rad. If you receive Rad’s name and have a question about her gift please contact the secondary person OR if you directly ask Rad be sure you’re anonymous.

When are the sign-up dates / posting dates?

These dates will change as the years go by so they’re not set in stone. If Rad is on top of things (haha) sign-ups will begin early October and posting week is mid/late December or early January. For the posting week you have the entire week, you’re not late if you post on Wednesday or Saturday instead of Sunday! :)

What can I do as a gift for my recipient? What quality does it have to be? How much time should I spend on it?

Whatever you want! If you’re a writer, write! If you’re an artist, draw! If you like making animated images, animate away! Music videos, fan soundtracks, manips, whatever your talent is. Please make something for your recipient to enjoy; if they don’t like Dornkirk don’t draw or write something elaborate based on him. Quality and time spent are hard to quantify. No one expects you to spend years on it or break yourself over it. “Please spend more than five minutes and don’t gift a rush job,” goes without saying. Surely no one will give a rushed gift but so it’s been said. Don’t compare yourself to another gifter and feel bad; know that your gift will be loved by the recipient and the fandom for the care and time you put into it.

Can I gift something NSFW or state that I’m fine with receiving it?

Yes! There is a secondary swap for those who are alright with NSFW. If you’re not into NSFW no worries! Must I gift something NSFW if I’m in that group? No; if your inspiration does not lead down that road that’s alright. It’s a way for people who are comfortable in the area to give/receive NSFW while those who are uncomfortable don’t have to worry.

Can I do BOTH swaps if there are two swaps?

Sure! The point is to have fun, so why not double it?

How/where should I post my gift?

Wherever you want; Rad is primarily linking to things on AO3 due to Tumblr’s 12/2018 stupidity.

– NSFW entries that are SFW: Please comment in the post that they are SFW as Rad will tag them that way for the filtering/block systems.

– NSFW entries that are NSFW MUST be under a cut!

– Tagging: Please @-tag this blog, esca-ss. In the tags section please tag it “ESS(space)[year]”. For example, “ESS 2017.” For the NSFW please tag it “NSFW(space)ESS(space)[year]”. Example, “NSFW ESS 2017”. Rad uses the Tumblr Search function to make sure she doesn’t miss postings. If this blog, esca-ss, doesn’t reglog your post within 48 hours please contact either this blog or RadicalRad1986 and nudge me.

Where do I sign up?? How much information should I provide? May I ask for an extra personalized gift?

Please email your form toicm.9302014 [@] gmail.com.

You can provide as much information as you want! Don’t write a book but don’t submit a single sentence either. :) — An ‘extra personalized gift’ means you’d like something based on fic you’ve written or art you’ve drawn or if you really like someone’s headcanon and you want your gift based on that. A generic request is alright but not specific (example of specific: fic A, chapter 2, lines 12-54). You must also include at least three generic likes as well. [If its longfic you can point to a chapter or two because yeah we may not have time to read 500,000 words.] Etc; it is not limited to fic, art, or headcanon. —— Example: “So I’d really like art based on this fic (URL link) that I/someone else wrote.” Or “I’d love to see a story based on this art (URL link) that I/someone else drew.” Or “Xyz posted this headcanon and I’d love to see this explored.“ As well as “I enjoy the VH dynamic, Folken intrigues me, and what the heck was Dryden doing for his five years abroad I mean how did he build his merchant empire-ish thing?” — URLs MUST be included, not just links. Links disappear as things are copied/pasted.

Can/should I message my recipient before the posting date? Can I post a teaser of some sort?

If you want, certainly! Remember though, it’s a secret! Don’t let your recipient know who you are or exactly what you’re making! If you’re having fun that’s the goal! (Example: Message your recipient as anonymous or Submit/send Rad or the ESS a teaser and she’ll post it, that way the original creator is temporarily disconnected from the teaser.)

What if I can’t post my gift on time or I have to duck out due to real life?

This is alright and totally understandable. There is a week’s time in which you can post your gift so don’t feel rushed. No one will look down on you because life happened. You have to take care of yourself first. Being a little late is obviously undesirable but understandable. If you’re going to be late or sadly must duck out please let Rad know asap. There are back-up gifters in place for this reason.

Deadlines and time zones

I try very hard to ignore timezone s. I live in Michigan, USA, so when I say a date/deadline I’m referring to my time zone of Eastern Standard. However, I try to allow twenty-four hours to go by before no longer accepting sign-ups or calling deadlines. If it’s the stated date in your timezone, you’re on time. :)

You sure link to your personal blog a lot… Just sayin’.

While I have notifications turned on for the ESS blog, Tumblr conspires against me and I don’t get the notifications. Notifications usually DO work for my personal blog. Therefore you’re more likely to get a faster response if you contact my personal blog. (Blame Tumblr.)

-

The form must be emailed to icm.9302014 [@] gmail.com. This form is to indicate what you want to receive as a gift; NOT what you don’t want to gift to someone else.

.

1) Screenname: 2) Places on the internet with URLs**: 3) Likes: – Esca universe: – Genre/topics/etc: 4) Dislikes: – Esca universe: – Genre/topics/etc: 5) SFW, NSFW, or both? 6) Does #3 and/or #4 change in SFW vs NSFW exchange? Is something alright with you in one exchange but not alright with you in the other? 7) If needed, are you available as a back-up gifter?

**: Please copy/paste or type out the URL on the form. For example: (radicalrad-1986.tumblr.com). When Rad receives sign-ups and their information she copies and pastes them into a Word/GDrive document. Text links usually don’t/sometimes carry over and thus your locations are lost! (This is an example of a text link.)

——

EXAMPLE:

1) Screenname: Rad (variations apply) 2) Places on the internet with URLs: http://www.radical-rad1986.tumblr.com https://archiveofourown.org/users/rad http://www.deviantart.com/rad1986 http://www.deviantart.com/rad-destiny-arcs http://www.fanfiction.net/~rad

3) Likes: – Esca universe: If you know me at all you know that the Series is my only focus and Eries and the Astons and Dryden are my peeps. I’d LOVE to see more Marlene/Mahad! Love the girls x their men too. ^.^ I do love the Movie and if you want to do my gift in another universe, any universe, that’s totally fine. The usual/standard is also enjoyed but it’s nice to have a larger variety. I’d love to see more of minor characters or pairings. I can be tempted with rairpares if they’re not terribly OOC. :D I would super enjoy fanart of anything I’ve written too, iffn you feel like it. Fanart of anything I’ve written would be wonderful! (My Aston girls fic is in the reworks but the gist is the same.) – Genre/topic/etc: I don’t follow really in-depth things well (like murder/mystery or politics) but pretty much anything. While clearly there won’t be any long-haul in a Christmas gift I am all for the in-depth, long journey instead of the immediate dessert. 4) Dislikes: – Esca universe: Not a fan of Dornkirk. That’s pretty much it! – Genre/topics/etc: Whump, infidelity, gore/extreme violence, unnecessary/extreme ragging on a character/topic. 5) SFW, NSFW, or both? SFW 6) Does #4 and/or #5 change in SFW vs NSFW exchange? Is something alright with you in one exchange but not alright with you in the other? I’m not a fan of Dornkirk but in a NSFW gift his thought process could be explored and while I dislike detailed violence, test subjects could be shown with minor details. 7) If needed, are you available as a back-up gifter? Yup!