#now posted to ao3 also for archive reasons etc

[bizarrelittlemew]

going down (with the ship)

[ explicit, s1e4 canon-divergent, Ed/Stede, ao3 ]

"It's September 1st, boss." "What's that, mate?" "It's September the 1st." "Dickfuck, no it's not."

Turns out it is. Dickfucking damnit.

And now Ed is lying spread out on the sofa in the captain's cabin, drinking brandy straight from the bottle and waiting for the sea to take him. At least it's some damn smooth brandy. All things considered, not the worst thing to be the last thing to taste on this Earth.

Unless—

Well. Ever since seeing him naked when they switched clothes earlier, Ed had kinda started to hope that he'd get a taste of Stede Bonnet at some point. Hadn't planned on bringing it up this early, though. He hasn't even had time to plan how he'd go about that. And he likes a good plan.

But plans have already betrayed him tonight, and if they're going down with the ship anyway, what's the harm in asking?

Now he just needs a smooth opener.

"Have you ever tried fellatio?"

Or, like, dive right in.

Stede looks up. Looks somewhere between surprised, bemused, and curious, but not horrified. That's something.

"You mean sucking dick?"

"Whuh—" Ed nearly chokes on that, like he'd like to choke on—anyway, he clears his throat. Did not expect that from this fancy man. Promising, though. "I mean, yeah. Yep. Or like, getting your dick sucked."

"Can't say I have, no. Unfortunately."

"Unfortunately?"

"Unfortunately."

They let that hang in the air for a bit, just looking at each other.

"Well... uhm. Do you wanna?" Real smooth, Teach.

Stede's lips curl into a slightly nervous but mostly excited smile.

"I guess there's no time like the present."

"Not much time at all, mate."

And the nervousness completely dissipates, replaced by sheer eagerness as Stede nearly trips over himself in his haste to get out of his arm chair, falls to the floor, walks on his knees to Ed's side, and starts unbuttoning the fall front on his breeches before Ed can catch up to what is happening.

"Wow, hey, I meant—you know what, never mind." Ed is not going to protest if Stede really wants to suck his dick, even if he imagined it the other way around, and damn, it seems that Stede really, really wants to suck his dick. He wonders if all fancy, rich lads are this hungry for cock. Maybe that's why they're like that.

Maybe not. Ed gets a feeling that Stede is different.

Different from anyone else who has ever touched Ed's dick before, too, and oh god, Stede is touching—licking his dick, sucking the head into his mouth and moaning, going at it as if Ed's cock contains the secret that might save them all if only Stede can suck it out.

Ed groans and buries his fingers into Stede's hair just as he starts bobbing his head, making up for any lack of finesse with pure enthusiasm, and okay, Ed is more than a bit bitter about this being his last night alive, because if this is Stede's baseline, Ed would've liked to be along for the ride while Stede developed his skill to its full potential.

Too bad that it will all be ending too soon—their lives, and the glorious experience of stuffing Stede's face full of his cock, because the way Stede closes his eyes and sucks around him is rapidly drawing Ed closer to the edge.

He only just manages to warn Stede before he comes, tries tugging at his hair to let him know he might want to pull off, but Stede just hums with encouragement and takes him deeper.

If this is to be his last orgasm, he might have found peace with his fate.

"Jesus fucking Christ." Ed slumps, staring up at the ceiling, then takes a swig of the bottle still in the hand he isn't using to pet Stede's head. He is just about ready for the sea to swallow him up like Stede just swallowed him down.

And yet.

Ed got a good look at Stede's equipment earlier, and he's still determined to get the close-up experience. Also, there is a sizeable bulge at the front of Stede's—Ed's—pants, and if Stede comes in his leathers, it will sort of suck to clean them up later. In case there is a 'later', if they somehow miraculously escape this.

"Alright, c'mere." Ed pats his chest.

"What?"

"Come up here, fuck my face."

"Are you—what?" Stede looks like one big question mark, but despite that, he is already climbing onto the sofa above Ed, knees on either side of his shoulders.

"C'mon, we don't have much time."

Stede opens the fall front, letting his cock spring free. Ed licks his lips.

"Maybe I can choke to death on cock before the Spanish get me."

"Let's try to avoid that, shall we?"

Ed is not sure he agrees, and shows it by grabbing Stede's hips and shoving him forward, taking in as much as he can of it in one go, which turns out to be half of it. Stede's yelp turns into a groan, and he quickly gets the picture, soon thrusting into Ed's mouth with rough abandon. He turns out to be even more of a natural at face-fucking than cock-sucking.

Yup, this is a much better last thing to taste (and fill his throat). Only surpassed by the last last thing, the taste of Stede as he coats his tongue with come. Ed doesn't even get emotional over the sweet things Stede babbles as he comes, all while stroking Ed's cheek with his thumb.

Okay, maybe he gets a little emotional. Mostly sad that he doesn't have time to do this, like, five hundred times more. At least.

As Stede sits heavily on Ed's chest, catching his breath, still mumbling something, Ed blinks and turns his head to the side. Catches sight of the thing Stede had been sitting with in the chair, the thing he dropped in his rush to get on his knees by Ed's side.

"What's that painting?"

[elexuscal]

The "Top" fics in fandom are not the "Best"

I've seen a couple of posts here in there implying that the ways to find the best fics in fandoms are just to go to ao3, and sort by 'Most Kudoses', 'Most Bookmarks', 'Most Comments', etc. I've also seen some folks say they feel like their fics are failures if they don't make it to the front page(s), or at least near there.

But the simple fact: this is not true.

Now, I'm not saying that the top-rated fics in a fandom are bad.

Far from it! They're often very popular for a reason. Well written, fun dynamics, cool plots, etc. A lot of my own favourite fics have made it to the first page when you sort by "Most Kudos"-- but then, a lot of mine also haven't.

Why?

Because those selections are inherently biased.

What do I mean by that? Just that there are other factors influencing what stories accumulate the most comments/kudoses/etc in a fandom, meaning none of these serve as a neutral metric of quality.

I'm going to explain some of these biases briefly, just so folks get a sense of what I mean:

Age Bias This, I think, is the easiest to grasp. A fic that is three years old just has had more time to gain views than a fic that's three days old. Also, consider that pretty much any fandom needs time to grow. If you're in the first days/weeks/months of a fandom, there probably just isn't that much content being made. If there's only 10 fics on the archive, then 11th one stands out. It'll get a lot of attention. But if that same fic were to come out a couple years later, when there were 11 fics published in a single day, well, people are more likely to miss it. If you doubt me, take a look at the front page of 'Most Kudos' for a fandom of your choice. You'll probably see a lot of the stories there are on the older side- and this is exactly why.

Multi-Chapter Bias There are a lot of ways people find new fics to read, and one of the most basic is just: look at the front page of the most recent updates. Now, this way of sorting fics is exactly what it sounds like. A list of fics in order of when they were most recently posted/updated. But, obviously, if a fic has multiple chapters, it's going to appear on that front page way more often. A 50 chapter epic has 49 more chances to get seen this way than a one-shot. This issue becomes even more intense when you consider the Most Comments sort option. For a one shot, a person is probably likely to only comment once. Maybe if they really love the story and revisit, they'll leave a second or third. But multi-factor fics? By design, people come back every update. And that means a lot of people leave comments every single time. (Or at the very least, after big plot developments and twists!) This is what leads to long-running multi-chapter epics dominating the 'Most Comments' rankings in most fandoms.

Popular Pairing Bias Again, this is just obvious. Some pairings are more popular than others. A rare-pair fic can be just as soulful, hot, and well-written as a story featuring the fandom's powerhouse fic, but if only 30 people are interested, well... [shrug] Less people will click on it, kudos it, and leave a comment. To a lesser extent, you can expand this to any trope. 'Coffee Shop AUs' just seem to be more popular than, say, '1930s Mobster AUs'. That effects what tags people search, and what fics they find. But shipping is such an important element of many fandom cultures I thought it would be the most illustrative.

Positive Feedback Loop Bias And honestly, this is maybe the real clincher. Because I've established some of the things that can cause a story to start gathering lots of kudos, comments, and bookmarks in a first place. But once that starts, you get a positive feedback loop going. Because what's one of the first things a person does when they're looking for good stories in a fandom? They sort by 'Most Kudos'. And then they select the first story on the list, and they like it. So they leave a comment and kudos and... Yeaaaah.

So... What do we do about it?

Well. Nothing really. This isn't really a problem. It's just something to be aware of.

Any attempt to put metrics on something as subjective as art is going to fall short. So don't go rating the quality of your own stories about how well it performs, and don't go chasing those coveted top spots. You'll have a lot more fun if you just write stuff that you enjoy, make some friends, and recognise a lot of factors influence fanfic statistics beyond just quality.

Searching via most comments/kudoses/bookmarks remains one of the easiest and quickest ways to start diving into a new fandom. It's often the first things I do, and found stories I love that way.

That said: I highly encourage you to search for fics beyond just that method. Here are some of my suggestions if you want to figure out ways to get started:

Search up Fanfic Rec Lists. Lots of people put them on their blogs, and websites like TVTropes even have that as a whole feature

Ask for fic recs! Seriously! Post about it in the fandom's tumblr tag, join Discord communities, etc, and just say, "Hey, I'd love to read a story where... [insert the general themes, characters, or plot points you like". People will be EXCITED to share.

Search by specific tags Like, do you really, really love time loops? Search the 'Time Loop' tag in your favourite fandoms. A lot of specific tropes, AUs, etc. are canonized, so you can find a lot of stuff up your alley that way

Browse the most recently updated fics Yeah, I know, it's old school. But seriously, you can find some awesome stuff there-- including stories from new authors just starting out, who could really use a boost!

And hey... if you find some stories you like... Consider writing some fic recommendation lists of your own. Spread the love!

[redmelawashere]

Alright I got woken up at like 3 AM with FORBIDDEN MEMORIES™️ and remember that MelloNear literally had a fandom video game. What other fucking fandom has SHIPPING VIDEO GAMES.

I think it just hit me since recently I've been thinking a lot about how fandom spaces shift over time (especially as we have re-boots, live-actions, or other media that helps reinvigorate fandoms like currently with A:TLA) and honestly, MelloNear has had so many ups and downs and like…as someone who was in this fandom WAY too young and grew up with it I want to see how many people on tumblr, who were there in ye olden wild west days, remember the stuff I do and also for those of you who weren’t around back then but are big now, here’s the insane history that I remember:

1 - LiveJournal (LJ) and the LOST FICS LJ was initially one of the better places to find fics – but a lot of authors jumped ship when FF.NET started to take over and for other reasons that were before my time. Finding fics on LJ that haven’t been deleted was/is hard and their UI is trash I never could get a grasp on it. (The irony of FF.NET now being dead and people jumping ship to AO3 and Tumblr lol.) Astyzia_ii used to write really fucking good MelloNear stuff there. She was one of the first people I ever read that had insanely good Near characterization. Unfortunately, her account no longer exists. But some of the things she wrote were things like:

Near being a total brat (at the time, no one else was really writing Near like that. Including Near lying to Mello about being assaulted by other children at Whammy's, just generally putting him in his place, etc.)

Mello painting Near’s nails black (then this trope just went off on FF.NET and everyone was writing fics like that - I really like when stuff like this comes out of fandom)

Mello finding out that Near, despite being in love with him, thought Mello was so unapproachable he had sex with someone else (implied Giovanni) and Mello is basically confronting Near about it at a time when Near was treated as a prudish virgin in fandom

Finding each other in the apocalypse AU

Mello and Near being like high school sweethearts (salthearts?) and Mello wanting to go to a University in the BIG CITY but would ignore the offer if it meant staying with Near (and super tragic fic too. They pull over on a freeway after an argument about it and then Near just straight up gets hit by a car after pushing Mello out of the way 💀 and you don't know if Near survived)

And obviously, many more really creative AUs

2 - KurosakiAkane and VIDEO GAMES Akane, as Spanish artist and the original “cursed moons” drew some of the most viral and prolific MelloXNear doujinshis and EVEN MADE FANDOM VIDEO GAMES. Like I can’t believe I forgot about this. Akane literally made fandom yaoi video games and they were SO GOOD. What other fandom has shipping video games you’d think it’d be the norm I can barley wrap my head around it

Pretty sure her website (www.cursedmoons.com) is down so you can’t download them directly from there or see her full doujinshis anymore

Her DeviantArt account is still live so you can see some stills and teasers from her doujinshis.

Her LJ account is also still live but more so as an archive.

Her first game “D.nD Poisoned” can be downloaded here if you scroll to the bottom (but I haven’t checked the link so be wary…) but it was basically taking place during Whammy’s days, and yes, Mello has a knife cause he’s unhinged since those were just the times ig.

“D.nD Infection” was her second, unfinished game, which would have been when they were mid-Kira investigation post Mello blowing up the base. I found a website that hosts the short demo she released.

Her games literally inspired a new wave of AUs for the fandom in the fic department and she was just a titan who kept everyone together on all corners of the internet. When she decided to leave the fandom in like 2011 after 2010’s great FF.NET purge of M rated fics it kind of felt like the beginning of the end.  

3 - Doujinshis (fandom comics) Most doujinshi artists had their own websites and MANY were Japanese / Chinese translated into English (pretty sure Akane was the first one to create them exclusively in English...). There are so many archived on YouTube that I used to watch all the time. You can even still find some of Akane’s doujinshi’s on Youtube like:

January

Lost Innocence

The Last Birthday

Game Over

Chocolate Kiss

One of the ones that was most impactful on me was this one that I cannot remember the name of, and it wasn't by Akane, but basically Mello, freshly 16 trying to stay alive, resorts to prostitution, and the big revealer at the end is he’s just kind of left there, alone, opens up his hand and there’s a little white puzzle piece he stole from Near and pretty sure the last line was something along the lines of “no one else” and I just 😭

4 - Lost Art and the Famous Water Colours

A lot of that water-colour MN art you see floating around was from, if I'm not mistaken, a Chinese MelloNear artist and their website I think was just "w" or something and she had created 100s of MN art.

5 - ForbiddenSoul562 and FF.NET Beef and Fan Fic Rap Battles

Soul was one of the BIGGEST creators on FF.NET (and luckily, she’s still active both on FF.Net and here on tumblr!) I remember when she had like a fic battle with another creator FragilePuzzle (who is also on tumblr and active – but they post M-ll-M-tt stuff now and pretty sure they deleted all their MelloNear fics... Their active handle on tumblr is mizzmellos I think? Anyways, they’ve also switched from writing to art and its really good!) And there was like a whole “vote who you think wrote the better fic” and it was like Clash of the Titans. Shame that Fragile, as they used to go by, doesn’t like MN anymore since they also wrote a lot of really good stuff. When Fragile stopped posting and Soul went on an extended hiatus that also felt like another beginning of the end loooooool (pretty sure Soul and Mzz had an interaction here on tumblr reminding each other of each other and I had so much social anxiety I was like headbanging watching this interaction go down and if I'm remembering correctly it started cordial but didn't really end well but I could be 100% misremembering the tone of the interaction but if you dig through Soul's tumblr you can probably find it or mzzs for that matter.) 6 - Kids Writing Dark Tropes

I feel like I should make another post and just…describe how Mello and Near were portrayed individually and in a relationship during that time since it was honestly insane. Very toxic, very star-crossed lovers who revolve around each other but are devastating together and are healthier a part, and so much more. I’m much happier with where their characterization and how the fandom has evolved currently from those times lol. But I think over the years I’ve also realized how fucking young all of us were (I was literally like…13 consuming all this media which retroactively, I’m like YIKES 18+ is 18+ for a reason and I even realized some of my favourite authors / creators who I thought were way older than me or like “cool teenagers” were also close to my age and not that much older so no wonder we were all writing crazy unstable relationship shit like that - which can be fun! - but this was literally all. the. time.).

Honestly that’s all I can remember for now but what a wild ride. I know FF.NET is like, a super hard platform to use now (and just gets worse every day 🙃) but if anyone wants some MN fic recs from the vault lmk and I’ll make a post about it.

-Redmela

[just-zander]

Next

Nearly four years ago, I had a plan to draw a Treasure Planet and Breath of the Wild crossover comic, combining two of my favorite universes. I'd been daydreaming a plot for 6 months by the time I started to actually write down and organize the story, and then I wrote for another 6 months before I ever shared the first chapter on AO3.

I kept promising here that I would start drawing it, but then I gave in to imposter syndrome and convinced myself that I couldn't do it; the story was too big, I wasn't a good enough artist, people wouldn't even read it, etc etc.

Well... I wrote it and posted the story. It wasn't the best story I've ever written, but it was mine and I loved it and even if no one read it, I at least could say that I did it and that was something to be proud of. Even if I didn't draw it, it was still done and I thought that would be the end of my fanfict career.

The funny thing is, I made a friend who loved my story and urged me to keep writing and who said I inspired then to begin writing again. I was blown away. Ngl, I cried. I never thought of my writing as inspiring or worth reading, and here someone was telling me that I gave them a reason to be creative again.

We wrote a story together.

And then another.

And another.

Dozens of stories written and shared and now I finally feel confident enough to share my art.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that even though I'm still nervous about messing this up, even though it scares me to put my art out there, even though I don't think my art is worthy of a comic, I'm doing this and I'm going to see it through.

So thank you for checking this out.

Note:

I've linked the original story below, but I'm currently in the process of rewriting it, so the plot will vary and will pull from both new and original versions.

The cover is also based on the cover art for BotW, with Treasure Planet aspects tied into it to bring them together.

Lastly, everything is over on AO3 as well, including all tags giving warnings for what's to come. There are adult themes, but nothing explicitly NSFW will be included in the comic.

Updates are every Tuesday. Early access on Patreon (link to come soon).

Finally,

Happy 21st anniversary Treasure Planet! ❤️

[unforth]

I started to write this as a reply to @vex-verlain but realized it should be it's own post.

To be clear, this is about @end-otw-racism and why I support this movement (even if I don't agree with all their proposals).

I am profoundly anti-censorship. It has been one of my biggest personal issues my entire adult life. I will absolutely defend the speech rights even of people I think are utterly reprehensible, even the rights of people who want me and my family dead. I think their speech has a right to exist, full stop.

But.

Being anti-censorship in no way means being anti-moderation. I often see people who are pro-ship, anti-anti, or "too old to use a name for telling yall you're clowning" say that AO3 is supposed to be a safe space for WRITERS, not READERS, and that to me is one of the big ways that the current harassment and moderation policies are badly failing writers of color. There's no way to 100% protect all writers, period, on AO3, and to me it seems like a no-brainer that if the goal is "protect all speech, avoid all censorship, minimize harm to real people," the only way to accomplish all those goals it to have a really robust, well-moderated system that prioritizes reducing harassment - ALL harassment - without looking the other way on certain topics just because they're harder and thornier to sort through. A way to section the groups that are oil and water away from each other, through blocking, powerful filters, comment options, etc (some strategies we do have now, btw! They HAVE been adding functionality in this direction, but it's clearly not enough.)

Currently, protecting people who write bigoted shit is causing active harm to fans of color. We see the impacts of this harm constantly; I personally have seen many, many Chinese and Chinese diaspora fans driven out of white danmei fandom circles for all sorts of reasons, and if yall are in fandoms that often have bipoc in them I'm sure you've seen the same (and if you are in a fandom that doesn't have many bipoc it might be wise to take a moment and consider why it doesn't.)

I just really want more people to take a step back and ask themselves why they think an anti-censorship position necessitates an anti-moderation stance, and also why they think being pro-moderation is the same as being pro-censorship.

I defend the rights of bigoted shit to exist.

What I don't defend is the right of the people who create that stuff to weaponize it against vulnerable people.

Regarding AO3, I personally support a solution that involves some way of sectioning off the bigoted shit. I'm not sure exactly how that would work but I think some kind of major archive warning is a solid start. Also maybe a way of flagging authors who are frequent offenders. And to be clear...it's not my job or responsibility to know exactly how to accomplish this. I'm no expert. That's why I'm supporting a movement that explicitly says AO3/OTW SHOULD HIRE AN EXPERT. And I know it would be expensive...and I know many, many of us would donate to a funds drive to raise the money to cover that expense.

I've seen too many friends get profoundly hurt, and I'm so tired of (overwhelmingly white) fandom circles pearl clutching over this not being an issue, that the real problem is that this will lead to censorship of (checks notes) Nazi shit, spitefic, and the other dregs of fanfiction (which, again, has a right to exist! But God why are so many of y'all favoring IT over ALL THE FIC THAT WILL NOW NEVER EXIST BECAUSE BIPOC GET BULLIED OUT OF WRITING IT.)

It's clearly an issue.

And we have to speak up and demand better or it will continue to be an issue.

Please, please listen to the bipoc who've managed to not be driven out of fandom and understand that *things need to change,* which means, for us white folks:

1. A lot of listening to the people who've been harmed

2. Using our voices to amplify theirs

3. Standing up to bigotry we see in our fandom communities

4. Shutting up when they ask us to shut up

5. Checking our own behavior and doing our best not to be part of the problem, and, if and when we go awry, owning it with maturity and apologizing and doing our best to make amends and not repeat our mistakes

...and probably more but those are the first things to come to mind.

Please stop siding with people who've decided they are entitled to spew vile shit, stop prioritizing their writerly protection over the safety of equally valid writers who also deserve protection and are being targeted and hurt. All you do by siding with the assholes is amplify their voices while silencing bipoc and create a space that protects bigots. Is that REALLY the hill you want to fight on?

None of us know it all. We can all learn to do better. I'm personally here to learn, and listen, and improve.

And I'm here to shout from the rooftops that we can be anti-censorship and pro-moderation.

I am, and you should be too.

[fandom-trash-goblin]

relevant links!

daily clicks for palestine

donate to feed refugees in rafah

spreadsheet of gofundmes to evacuate families

fundraiser for esims for gaza

orgs to donate to

if you still feel hesitant about where to donate, consider donating to Mohammed Alanqer, husband to Enas Majed and father to 4 children, one of them newborn.

As of 23/8/24, they've reached €57,305 of €58,000 goal. they're very close!!

NOW, onto other things->

HI, I go by Isaac! Welcome to fandom-trash-goblin, where i do my best to tag stuff. You'll find many, many, many fandoms here <3. Including, but not limited to SVSSS, MDZS, ORV, other Danmei, some random books i'm reading, BBC Merlin, ASOIAF, HOTD and tonnes of other fandoms that come on my dashboard, i really can't recall.

Tell me if you need something tagged, usually i tag triggering stuff like sexual abuse, rape, child abuse etc. I don't believe in censoring these words, sorry. FORMAT-> #tw (stuff to be warned for)

If you're having a not so nice day, check out #advice for a bad day. people on tumblr can be really wise sometimes. somewhere between ao3 worship and slash shipping.

Few other of my favourite tags here -> 1. #lovely stuff, #funny stuff 2. #stories 3. #fave 4. #tumblr ; #how to tumblr ; #tumblr archive 5. #internet; #firefox; #tech stuff.

Here, I should tell you that you will come across posts that preach about our lord and saviour Firefox. I am a firm believer.

I have a tendency to like, and put reblog posts in my queue, so unless you have a message declaring not to do so on your blog, you will find me in your notifications, most of which will be queued instead of immediately reblogged unless there's like a poll, or fundraiser and the like.

As a rule, I don't reblog personal posts unless they've got more than 25 notes, and if i really, really need to, I'll send an ask or a message. After 25 notes, it's free game.

Still, feel free to tell me not to browse further, and also if you want me to delete any posts, i promise to do so if it's reasonable.

I also immediately follow any/all gimmick blogs, people with interesting (fandom or otherwise) URLs, and also people who comprehensively tag everything, which is how i find blogs and posts I'd never come across otherwise.

Adding to that i follow people who have pretty tags and cool commentary!

Again, feel free to reach out to me and ask me not to, because i often don't see DNIs in a spree.

If you're here for the webweaves, check out the tag #*mine: graphics. I don't post them often, but eh.

If you're here from AO3, go to @yitzvah, it's where you'll get update if any !!!

LAYOUT: ICON Credit to @/nemfrog, on this post, and Header Credit to @/girasois, from this post

BIGOTS, RACISTS, SUPREMACISTS, XENOPHOBES, (Gender/Sex)-PHOBES really not welcome. Feel free to turn back, and especially don't tag/comment your rhetoric on posts reblogged/written by me, I WILL AND I ALREADY HAVE BLOCKED & REPORTED SEVERAL PEOPLE.

cheers, have a nice day <3

[thelaurenshippen]

I'm just a starting writer, I did a little nanowrimo this year and wrote 39k words about a vampire gamer, I've always been a vampire girl, but here's the thing I don't know what to do with it.

Currently I'm unemployed for a variety of reasons but I'm lucky enough to have a partner who has a salary that can support us both.

But also I love writing, all my life I just wanted to write and being unemployed this year during nano gave me the opportunity to try and do that.

And now I'm curious is there a way to get paid to be a writer? Not as a marketing copy writer but a fiction writer, or essayist?

So what does one do?

Should I just publish whatever I wrote on a blog and put up a donation button?

Should I just publish on Tumblr?

Should I do it on AO3/Wattpad?

I'm at a loss.

I also don't have social media only use Tumblr and a little BlueSky after twitter exploded, and I really don't want to go and "build an audience on TikTok and booktok" (please gods no).

ah, yes, the eternal question: "how do I make money as a writer?"

I wish I had a good answer. I wish I had any answer. and I would love for other writers on here to chime in with their perspectives, because I am constantly struggling to answer this question for myself!

to answer the specific questions first: there are websites that post jobs for writing gigs - fiction, essays, etc. the one I'm most familiar with is upwork, though I've never gotten a job myself through there so can't speak to the experience. I will say that writing jobs tend to be in high demand and writing in general can be quite competitive, so working on your resume and improving your craft is an important thing to do whether you're just starting out or have been writing professionally for years.

self-publishing is absolutely an option! if you do, I would recommend getting a beta reader (or just a few friends) to read through your manuscript before you publish - it's always good to get feedback and to get other eyes on your work, no matter how complete or polished, for typos/grammar/formatting/etc. I'd also recommend reading about the best ways to self-publish - again, I can't personally speak to this as my three novels were traditionally published, but I know that folks publish through Amazon a lot and there certainly have been successfully novels (and especially graphic novels!) that have started out as blog posts/blogs. I don't recommend publishing an original story to ao3 or Wattpad if you're hoping to make money (if you're publishing for fun, go for it!) - ao3, my beloved, is an archive and therefore does not allow you to link to any kind of patreon/kofi/etc., so can be difficult to monetize. I'm less familiar with Wattpad, but I do know that they are actively trying to get into the publishing game themselves and sometimes pluck stories from their site to bring up to trad publishing, which I've heard can be....a mixed bag.

but there are a lot of authors on here and on their personal websites writing about self-publishing, so there's definitely better info out there about how to do it and how lucrative it can be!

a very good rule for self-publishing imo - whether that's through a site like amazon, your own blog, a podcast, a webcomic, whatever - is always give people the option to pay you. so, yes, put that donation button up. it doesn't matter if no one has read or listened to your thing yet, just making sure the option is there from the start is a good thing!

that's about the extent of the straightforward answer I can give you. if I were to give you a step-by-step guide of how I got to a place where most of my income comes from fiction writing, it would look like this:

write your own fiction podcast, get some actors from acting class to come over to your apartment and record for free, and produce the whole thing yourself

publish said podcast and then spend the next 2 years spending as much time on social media, at conventions, conferences - anywhere there are fiction podcast fans and creators - as you can talking about your show, all while writing and producing the show for free

get lucky and have the show take off. start to get some ad money that allows you to pay your collaborators. watch the show get better as a result. see the show take off even more. keep grinding away at social media

get a cold email from a book agent who wants to talk to you. convince that book agent to represent the YA novel you want to write in the world of your podcast

expend whatever leftover energy you have on ensuring that when people think of fiction podcasting, they think of you, even if other names are coming first. be everywhere. talk to everyone. keep grinding away at social media.

get a cold email from a fiction producer in England who wants you to write on his show. convince him to let you co-showrun it with him.

use your growing network of audio friends to get an agent and manager. use those people to get a pitch to marvel. convince marvel to let you write a podcast for them.

finally quit your day job, after doing 4 seasons of a successful podcast and selling spin-offs to a tech company, getting a 3-book deal with a major publisher, being hired to co-showrun a big budget mystery, and selling a show idea to marvel. then make all of those shows.

finish the podcast you started with, now seven seasons long. try to pitch out other ideas to all the people who wanted to buy that podcast off of you. watch them say no to anything new.

get lucky and sit next to a netflix exec at a dinner. convince her to let you write a stranger things show.

keep pitching. use the money from your other jobs to fund your indie shows. sell one show. lose another halfway through development. have your ideas optioned for television over and over and get used to hearing no's when you go out to pitch. produce and direct as much as you can to pay the bills. keep grinding away at social media.

????????

profit

that's obviously a simplification of my journey but I'm currently in that ???? stage. I don't say all of this to freak you - or anyone else - out. being a creative is hard. it gets easier in some ways and stays just as hard in others. I'm better at my job than I used to, so making shows is easier, but getting jobs and getting audience feels as hard as ever, even if I am several steps ahead than where I started. I thought I could build off the success of @thebrightsessions to make my other originals instant successes and that's just not how it works at all. you're building from the next step up after every success, not the top of the staircase.

but, like I said, I'm not trying to scare you - the thing that's positive in my weird crazy journey is the reality that there is no one right way to do something. there's a million different ways to make a creative career, especially in the age of the internet. which means that my advice to anyone who asks me how to start a career in audio fiction specifically is: just do it. don't wait for someone to give you a budget, don't try to cater to what you think the AD audience wants, just tell your story as you want to and get it out there. the best job application is being able to point to your own original work that's already garnered an audience.

I have no idea if that could as readily apply to prose writing/publishing. that is definitely beyond my knowledge base, but I'd say if you want to get a taste for what it's like to be a freelance creative, apply to jobs on upwork or similar sites, work on your original work, and find a platform that works for you on which you could potentially build an audience. and then get to know as many people as you can in your given field - I would not be where I am at all without folks like Gabriel Urbina, or Jeffrey Cranor, or Jenny Turner Hall. making friends in audio drama from the start who could recommend me for jobs - and being sure that I do the same now that I have more power - is vital. make friends with your peers (also bc they're great and you'll learn so much from them).

finally, I want to pass on advice that my uncles gave me when I was a teenager wanting to go to broadway--both of them work in musical theater (one conductor, one musical director, they are quite the power couple and my heroes) and when I was growing up, they told me "if you can think of anything else that will make you just as happy, do that instead". it sounds like harsh advice, but it's good advice. people don't pick creative careers because it's easy and stable--if there's anything else you're equally passionate about that could make you money and be more stable, there is absolutely nothing wrong in pursuing that and then writing for the love and joy of it, without the pressure of making a living. and that doesn't mean that that won't eventually lead to you being a successful full-time writer! but choosing to pursue writing full-time because it's what you want to do with your life is a very particular kind of path.

anyway, I've gone on way too long. I hope some of this was helpful - the last-last thing I'll say is that a) I obviously have a very limited perspective so nothing I say here is the be-all-end-all way of viewing things b) I had a very stable data entry job while I was making my first show that was very flexible and work-from-home (oh, to be able to get that job back now...since the pandemic, those types of jobs are obviously in high demand) and c) I got lucky. luck and timing are, unfortunately, a huge part of success in creative careers. if anyone tries to sell you on the idea that there's a guaranteed path to success that you can control if you work hard enough, they are lying to you and probably want you to buy something.

finally-finally, a vampire gamer story sounds so fun!! I love that idea!

[lofisteddie]

Submissions Open - Lo-Fi Steddie Zine Project

Link to Submissions

About this Project

The goal of this project is more to collect than to create. 

One of the ways I got so into Steddie was through engaging with community online through Twitter and Tumblr. But even though the internet is forever, some ideas get lost. 

The goal of this zine to collect snippets of Steddie fanlore and preserve it in zine form for future enjoyment. 

The current open categories for works are:

Canon Threads

Alternate Universes

Omegaverse

BDSM

Contribute vs. Create

As stated about the goal of this is to collect not create. 

What that means is that all content submitted should already be published on your timeline. This is for two reasons:

As creators of fic, drabbles, threads, and art, we don't need another project to do

Keep the project cost low - basically the cost of printing and postage. 

Creators deserve to be compensated so their work so this zine is entirely voluntary and a labor of love. I will not be taking tweets and Tumblr posts from anyone that did not give permission.

What Can I Contribute?

For all zines the following items can be contributed:

Tweets and Twitter threads

Tumblr posts

Discord screengrabs

The parameters for the first zines are as follows:

Canon Threads

Anything and everything as long as it fits within the following "canon" - (1) Everyone lives and nobody dies ala pre-vol 2; (2) Steve and Eddie are aware of each others existence; and (3) No alternate universes that aren't plausible within the Stranger Things universe as it stands. 

Examples of this include - characterizations, future plans, how they get together, upside down interactions, babysitting the kids, coping after the upside down, reunited in the future, etc. 

Alternate Universes

Any sort of AU that is outside of ST canon

Any sort of AU that isn't A/B/O

Omegaverse

Anything in the realm of omegaverse is fair game

BDSM

These boys are spicy and we are too! Submit all your bdsm headcanons, flagging theories, and top/bottom thoughts. 

If you aren't sure feel free to ask or submit whatever and see what sticks. 

Rating wise we're going to stick with the E rating on AO3, and there will be SFW and NSFW options for purchase if there is high demand. 

Please avoid DDDNE and Dark themes as the editor is a sensitive bean. Angst is fine.  

Submission Lengths

About 2500 words

This includes thread fics (that are about 15-20 tweets) and tumblr posts. 

If that thread went on to become a fic later in time, link it too so I can share that with readers.

All usernames will be kept on the contributing posts. You do not have to be active on twitter right now to submit, so archived and private tweets can be submitted, just allowed the @lofi_steddie account access.

Some examples of thread fics and headcanons are below

Example 1

Example 2

What Will It Look Like?

Lo-fi. Very lo-fi.

This is going to be me, taking screenshots of tweets and posts, gluing them on a page, and then copying it on a Xerox

It will not be in color. It will look DIY. 

If you want to contribute art it will also be black and white.

The goal is to keep costs low and color ink is pricey

Do Contributors Get Copies?

Yes! You'll be the first to get them. If you contribute I'll do my best to make them free to you. If you are outside of the US a PDF version will be made available. 

Interested in submitting? Go here

[abitoflavender]

undertale reset is a comic/story I've been planning since 2016. my hope is to actually begin making some headway on it this year, and so I wanted to throw out a bit of information about the series, and what sort of things you can all expect!

reset will be about frisk and the monsters' lives after being freed from the underground, after a countless amount of resets, different routes, etc. they all finally have their "happily ever after", because, for whatever reason, frisk has been both freed from the soulless ghost of chara; who's pleasantries over all of their runs had grown into impatience, and a desire for something more than just mercy, as well as...something else, being gone.

after living on the surface, with monsters being integrated into humankind, for a year, frisk lives with toriel in ebott. one day, sans and frisk take an innocent trip to the mountain, and down to snowdin--once a month, frisk would go use a save within the underground, just in case something were to go awry. they find that they're unable to access their save, and them and sans go and investigate.

within the ruins, the two find something truly, truly puzzling--the first fallen human, chara themself, lying unconscious--but alive--on the bed of golden flowers.

---

I have drawings and note sheets from over the past few years I'd love to post soon, but I also have some recent character designs and even more note sheets, of which I've made in the past month. I don't have those drawings with me atm, so whenever I do, I'll post them here!!!

for now, I'll try and hype up the series as I work on it, as well as having 2 jobs and being a college student.

simply due to wanting to get this story out there--and this fun little thing called tendonitis that makes drawing hard sometimes--I'll most likely write the story first, and throw it up here and/or on my ao3 account, which is linked on this post! (I have a really, really angsty and well-written aruani/attack on titan fic on there that I wrote a while back, if anybody wanted to see some of my writing, aside from the one-shot I've posted here inspired by reset)

anyway...yeah! let me know if anybody has any questions about the series, or whatever! I'm excited to dive into it. thanks! 💜

[fountainpenguin]

Fanfic Schedule News - 2024

You can find this post later in my Pinned Post links

Overview

- Fairly OddParents - On hiatus while buffer building. Weekly Friday updates when ready, probably in summer. Origin and Knots are planned to alternate to show both sides of the war, but can be read independently. - WordGirl - On hiatus while buffer building. Weekly updates when ready, but lower priority than FOP. I'd like to post a few one-shots in spring and summer. - MCYT - Weekly Tuesday updates (Dog's Life until Chapter 30, then other 'fics while Dog's Life is on break). I'm also posting on Friday, but am moving towards posting on Sunday. - Total Drama - I'm not writing new content for the TD fandom, but I have 40+ 'fics I posted on FFN, but not AO3. Now that many are 10 years old, I'd like to archive some on AO3. - Every year I say I want to post my Mario drafts, but... I don't think 2024 will be that year. We will see.

Fandom-Specific Series

I post 'fics under my AO3 account, FountainPenguin.

If you'd like to get notifications for new works but don't want to follow me as a user, consider subscribing to some fandom-specific series:

Fairly OddParents

130 Station - All pieces in the 130 Reasons Why I'm Fairy Trash series.

These are further broken down into "Trains" (Ex: Main cast, Anti-Fairies, Pixies, shippy stuff, etc.) - Find info HERE

Notable pieces that are not 130 Prompts include Origin of the Pixies, Frayed Knots, Come What May, and Reedfilter Rules, which may be best subscribed to individually- They do not have a series at this time.

WordGirl

Heroes' Journey - Stuff about WordGirl and Huggy learning to share Fair City with Kid Math

28 Million Degrees - Character studies

MCYT - Not RPF, but the 4th Wall is very thin

Pixels Imperfect - Pixel people (who are all mob hybrids) live in a server hub and roleplay with their friends. Lots of interpersonal and social drama mixed with humor.

Neighborhood Watch AU - A serious take on the Life series lore and mechanics, ft. a semi-medieval world where the first 5 Life seasons take place in a single timeline.

Roundabout - Misc. MCYT content

These pages also have links to character relationship series.

Total Drama

Riddle's Drama - Total Drama 'fics I wrote 2013-2016.

These are also on my FFN, where I cross-post my FOP and WordGirl content as well.

-------

Fairly OddParents

I'm working on a buffer for Origin of the Pixies and Frayed Knots chapters so they can alternate during the war. At the moment I'm posting content for other fandoms, but once the buffer is ready, these will roll out weekly. Hopefully by summer.

- Origin is caught up and ready for the war meeting next chapter, so we're just wrapping up Anti-Cosmo's school and relationship drama in Knots :) - We're in the era of 2016 draft chapters, so it's a combo of "Lots of stuff is already written" and "Lots of stuff needs to be updated."

Origin and Knots will update on Fridays when the time is right (alternating weeks).

The 130 Prompts wrapped up Arc 2 in December and is on hiatus.

If you missed the Arc 2 finale, check out "Grudge"- It's about Happy Peppy Gary and Crocker striking a dangerous deal and I think it's cute :)

Ideally, I'd like to finish the whole Come What May draft before I post more chapters (so we don't have more of these long lurches between chapters), and Reedfilter Rules is in a similar boat.

Origin and Knots are my priority, but once Come What May starts, I'd like to do weekly or bi-weekly updates until it's done.

WordGirl

Factor It In - I'm very happy with how the story has come out so far. It's fully outlined, but this is a "serious and fluffy" story and I've been on a "silly and angsty" streak lately, so the mood isn't there.

- I'd like to circle back to it soon, but don't want to post more chapters until I have a nice buffer. - I'd like to post again in autumn 2024 and keep up weekly updates for several months. Origin and Knots are higher priority, but I really like this story and look forward to more.

I have some WordGirl one-shot drafts I've been sitting on for months. I haven't been satisfied with them enough to post, but you might see them soon as I finalize them. There's no schedule for these, but they include:

- Local alien girl is SO brave about Rex's problems while they lie in the grass discussing love and culture - Local alien boy loses his fawn spots, comes of age, and hits up Hal Hardbargain for alien-strength deodorant - Character study for Victor Best (My horrible son) - Character study for pre-series Rex living on Hexagon (My somehow more horrible son) - Other drafts from 2018 that need polish

I so desperately want to show the world my "Hopelessly romantic life planner since he was born" x "She can't commit to anything including this" marriage of convenience superhero drama... He's oblivious... She's dying inside... He is so embarrassing... Do u understand my vision?

MCYT

- Dog's Life Session 2 will end with Chapter 30. I've finished up to Chapter 28 and just need to tweak the remaining chapters. It will then be on hiatus for a few months while I work on the Session 3 buffer and other projects.

Edit - Session 2 will actually be 37 chapters, so another month

Expecting 4 to 5 months of hiatus from regular updates with some intermission chapters a few weeks apart (Full moon arc, my beloved). I have 'fics I look forward to posting (including new multi-chapters that already have nice buffers and will post weekly), so there will be plenty of MCYT content, but it seemed wise to leave Dog's Life on break to avoid burnout. I hope you enjoy these new stories! When Dog's Life returns, it'll be with weekly updates for several months as per usual :)

My "first half of 2024" goal is to close out as many of my existing MCYT multi-chapters as I can. Thank you for your patience with multi-chapters that have slow updates- I plan to finish them soon :)

I recently completed For Sale: Bird Wings (Never Worn) with weekly updates and am on track to finish One and a Half Birds with weekly Friday updates.

After this, I would like to finish the last 2 to 3 chapters of Criminal Experience (which has always had Friday updates as well). I don't want to post the next chapter until I nail down the story's end, so there's been a delay, but I'm glad I've wrapped up other multi-chapters and I look forward to finishing this soon.

After this, I plan to post MCYT content Tuesdays and Sundays, leaving Fridays for my other fandoms.

What's on Tuesdays?

At the moment, Dog's Life for 7 more weeks. Session 2 ends with Chapter 30 on April 9th.

Edit: Chapter 37 on May 28th

I've started new multi-chapters while chasing inspiration bursts, but I held back from posting them, so now I have buffers for those. I look forward to sharing them throughout 2024. Two notable ones are:

- Chalaza - Quick story about Martyn arriving in New Star Station. Bdubs voice study, some practice writing short scenes, and this is the story that helped me nail down pixel person anatomy. ^ Highlights include Bdubs trotting around with Martyn's dissolved soul in a fishbowl and regaling Etho with tales of how the Phantom Dragon carries phantom hybrids in her mouth. Also, Martyn hides under Etho's couch for 4 days. - Herobrine's Guide to the Between Dimension - A meta story about my Between lore, hybrid anatomy, and hybrid culture. No plot, but I think it's fun.

These are expected to post Tuesdays while Dog's Life is on break :)

What's on Sundays?

At the moment, nothing- I'm posting on Fridays (weekly updates to One and a Half Birds for the next several weeks).

I've also got a draft called "Scar's Castle" that's about Grian doing chores during 3rd Life... we'll see if that turns out nice.

Now that Secret Life is over, I've been able to do more worldbuilding and story planning for Neighborhood Watch AU. I plan to post some one-shots soon. Highlights include:

"Goodchild Oscar" - Oscar Goodchild's lovely parents put out a hit on his soulmate. He drags Grian around the Hearts Club Ball in his attempts to thwart it. Title's subject to change, but this is a fun one :) "They Never Found the Desert" - Local Green Life parrot can't get Red Life soulmate motivated for anything. Desperate times call for desperate measures. "Ethograms, Etho Slab, and Something About Ethics (Probably)" - Joel studies wolves... and the single(?) dad who keeps coming around with his kids.

I've also been working on the big multi-chapter for this universe, which centers around the Clocker family: Arsenic Waltz. It's fully outlined and I'm 5 chapters into the buffer, but it doesn't feel "fun" to read yet, so... Hmm.

- If anyone wants to beta read the first 10k words where Martyn arrives at the Clocker residence and meets his soulmate Cleo for the first time, lmk? Been struggling with the pacing of action vs. world lore for months and it'd be nice to get outside thoughts. - My plan was to start posting in April after Dog's Life ends, but it might need more time. With weekly updates, it should finish in December or January, but I'd like a nice buffer first. Possibly, this story will start in the summer and end in early 2025.

EDIT - I ended up killing all these darlings and moving them to a separate story, which will be released at a later time. The pacing was just not working :)

Additional multi-chapters to wrap up:

Closed Door Policy - Can't finish until Criminal Experience is done. Will post Tuesdays or Sundays as appropriate (Expecting 2 or 3 more chapters).

Dear Future Captain - Waiting for Dog's Life to catch up to this part of the timeline (Between Sessions 4 and 5?) - I like my draft for Chapter 3, but I'd rather wrap up other stories first.

With Acid In Your Eyes - Outlined and expecting 10 chapters. This is a high-tension story I was excited for, but it's on the backburner while finalizing lore, social dynamics, and plot points. It was ambitious to post this one before things were solid, but I look forward to returning when I'm ready :)

If you're interested in being a beta reader for any of my work, you can get in touch. I've not worked with beta readers in fanfic before, but if you're interested, we can talk about it!

Thanks for reading! Happy 2024!

[erstwhilesparrow]

I just saw that post you reblogged about archiving MCYT stuff - is there a particular reason stuff disappears so often? (That's very cool people are putting in so much effort to preserve it, though; big respect to that tbh)

reyni! :D okay i should be clear upfront that some of my information may be incomplete here because (1) i don't have twitter and (2) i'm not directly involved in any mcyt archival efforts. also putting this under a cut because it's long and i do need to reference recent events involving abuse and sexual assault:

despite mcyt = minecraft youtube(r), a lot of stuff relevant to mcyt happens like. exclusively on stream? really, really ~plot-critical or deeply characterizing stuff happens on stream sometimes and never makes it into a youtube video! and on twitch at least, unless you explicitly set it to save your vods, twitch will just delete them after a certain number of days. i don't know exactly how this works if you stream on youtube but also my impression is that a significant majority of people are not streaming on youtube anyway. since fairly early in my time in mcyt fandoms, there's been concern about creators not saving their own vods, and on top of that, sometimes you save a vod and it gets taken down anyway for copyright infringement (playing copyrighted music, the creator themself asked for it to be removed, etc). so like. as baseline, there's a sense of inherent ephemerality to the medium. that post i reblogged is explicitly pushing back against the description of mcyt vods as "a constantly burning library of alexandria," and in light of the evidence that follows i agree (and also am a little weepy about the efforts people make to save these things), but that sense doesn't come from nowhere, you know?

speaking of that post though, i suspect this archival stuff is coming up More now because it's been a rough couple of weeks in mcyt fandom. several really influential creators in the space were recently outed as being abusive or predatory in a way that's caught a lot of attention, and many people in response have been (understandably!) deleting their fanworks or otherwise distancing or removing themselves from mcyt fandom. i want to be clear, i know stuff gets deleted all the time in fanspaces -- the internet is kind of just Like That in terms of how easy it is to lose things -- and it's incredibly fair to go "no, even if there was a strong distinction between character and creator this leaves a sour taste in my mouth and i'm not doing this anymore." i don't want to pretend that no one has ever deleted a fanwork outside of mcyt spaces, and i don't want to insinuate that it's bad to vocally revoke your support of those creators -- those people have done awful things and generally failed to meaningfully apologize or take accountability, and it is worth remembering and saying so. but to give you a sense of numbers: antimony-medusa does monthly stats on mcyt fic on ao3, and dsmp, which even after it's kind of died off has seen monthly increases in the range of hundreds of new fic per month, saw a decrease of roughly 800 fics. other fandoms have similarly seen decreases, and video blogging rpf, which ao3 treats as an umbrella for basically all mcyt stuff, saw an increase of 51, as compared to last month's increase of (approximately) 3500. and that's just fic -- there's also a rich trove of animatics, fanvids, fanart, etc that i don't have any numbers for, but i've seen people talking about deleting those, too, you know? you see how people might be worried about what we are losing.

at this point i think your question is answered, but if you'll forgive some baseless speculation here, i wonder to what extent mcyt is also. complicated by how closely character and creator can sit? i don't know how other people feel, but there is a difference to me between "i've written fic about This Person Specifically (or, arguably, their streamer persona which may be somewhat divorced from the Real Life Human Being Behind The Screen)" and "i've written fic about a character this person plays." i dunno, there's a sense to me of the flimsiness of the line between creator and character and then also of the line between creator and fandom that i think makes it harder to be like "okay, i am doing my own thing, separate from the creator, so i'm going to keep my stuff public even if i don't stand by it 100% anymore." i remember when i first joined mcyt fandom, there was a period of time people were really worried that the creators were actively on ao3, or that fans would try to send their fanfic directly to the creators. i thought to myself, "well, if anyone Tries Shit with my work, i will simply delete all my relevant accounts and disappear." that's... not really a back-up plan that i feel good about these days, but. you know. it's been a thing, if not always for the same reasons, and i do understand the impulse.

[lady-astras]

Introbo ✨🌙

Hi y’all, I’m Astra. Probably should have done this already :L. I’m a writer, a beginner digital artist, Hermitcraft fan, Ethogirl, and a HARDCORE (hehe get it?) Kolanii fan (my sister has huge regrets).

I’m a minor so please keep that in mind when interacting. Also, I have a sensory disability, and am Desi (and Tamilian! Viva Tamil Nadu!) (though American-born) which I am very proud of and will mention ;D.

I also cannot contribute financially to anyone, so if you send me an ask for monetary help I won’t be able to do anything but pass along the message. although… if you’re sending a plea for monetary help to a Minecraft fan blog? I’m gonna assume it’s a scam unless you can prove you’ve been vetted.

Notices ~

None!

Fandoms:

Hermitcraft SMP

Empires SMP

Traffic life

Kolanii

Wifies (a tiny bit, pre-Covid)

ACOTAR

Crescent City

Ao3: Lady_Astras, Asteri-Arnica

I’m a mainly Hermitcraft/Empires blog though - my random stuff is @queen-astras (writing, disability awareness, and memes) and @astra-the-assassin (responding to the nonsense my friend @princess--kira says). @silver-flames-47 for my ACOTAR stuff, which right now is… mostly reblogged Azriel x Reader fic. Also I have the blog @bodytemperaturestew for whatever reason…

DNI:

Racists/sexists/queerphobes/ableists/etc

Wilbur Soot/DTeam supporters, which are unlikely since this is a Hermitcraft blog

Hardcore Swifties, or Swifties in general

uh

thats kinda it

this is a PG13 blog

Secret Life Update Post (so you can see what’s out)

Secret Life - Scarian Superhero AU Fanfic

Tags:

Random thoughts: #starspoken words

Art: #astra’s art

Writing: #astra writes yo what?

Astra being an Ethogirl (ahem, Etho fanart that I find hot /J /J): #etho though

Rarepair Ship Propaganda: #propaganda: astra edition

PFP: https://picrew.me/share?cd=Pyi2pliOYx #Picrew #_elf_taking_over_the_world

Dividers by @saradika-graphics !

[gallavichthings]

Writer’s Spotlight - Mhunter10

Be honest, y’all thought I had abandoned this series, didn’t you? But I hadn’t! In fact, this interview was done a long time ago, but posting was delayed for several reasons. It’s finally here though, and I’m very excited for you to read this one, because the writer we’re spotlighting today is a fandom veteran and one of our most prolific writers. Enter: Malenah, aka @mhunter10​!

GT: Ok, first of all, I've got to say, I'm so happy you agreed to talk to me! I missed you! How have you been?

M: Been up and down and dealing with some stuff, but I think I'm okay. I definitely miss writing.

GT: And we miss your writing. Is that why you stopped for a while, life just got in the way?

M: Yes, but also the fandom and show wasn't fun anymore. Tumblr policies got annoying and people weren't finding my stuff....people actively stealing my work and reposting without asking.

GT: Oh, that sucks. 😔 When did you join the fandom? And what made you want to? What was it about Shameless (or Gallavich) that captivated you?

M: Oof maybe 2013ish? 2015ish? Whenever Shameless first season was on. I actually didn't even have Showtime, I would literally sit on Tumblr and wait for someone to recap the episode or link a bootleg clip. I've always been into good queer stories as a queer, and Cam and Noel's dynamic was interesting and the sort of cute that makes you squeal like a little girl. 

GT: They've always had a lot of chemistry. Did you start writing fics right away? What made you want to start?

M: I was actually writing for another fandom/couple for a while way before Shameless. For Gallavich I was mainly just making headcanons that sometimes turned into drabbles. Eventually I wrote longer fics and started posting to AO3. I'd respond to someone else's headcanon or idea with a short fic.

GT: A lot of people still do that nowadays. That was one of my favorite things about your fics, actually, the fact that most of them were short and I could get my quick Gallavich fix without compromising my lack of a long attention span. 😅

M: Haha I was the queen of the drabble.

GT: What fandom were you writing for before, if you don't mind me asking? Was it the first you wrote fics for?

M: A soap opera called As the World Turns😅. I was writing fic when it was still airing new episodes in the middle of the day on CBS. I wrote for Luke and Noah and the fics are archived somewhere on the internet forever.

GT: Was it also the first fandom you read fics for?

M: I think so? Lol that sounds right. I also wrote some fics for Eyewitness, the US version.

GT: Let me backtrack, because we went straight into your experience with fandom, but I want to also know a bit about you. Please tell us a bit about yourself. 

M: Oh Haha well I'm 30. Black, bi, live in Maryland. Have a bachelor's and currently getting my master's. Write, paint, sculpt, collect, read, work… mostly work. Work work work. Fall is my favorite season. Libra. Currently have 8 tattoos. Live with my partner, 3 years together. Umm...I've got arthritis and hip dysplasia so lol....anyone wanting to murder me now has everything they need to know and opportunity.

GT: Hahahaha That was very in-depth, indeed! What's your masters about?

M: Organizational Sciences.

GT: I don't know what that is, but it feels like something I should study. 😅 What is it? And do you already work in that field or are branching out?

M: It's akin to industrial psychology...basically, how workplaces work and how to improve the work environment. Definitely has a lot of intangible skills everyone should have an understanding of if you work. It's very meta sometimes lol. Leadership, communications, change management, negotiation, etc.

GT: Oh, that's interesting! You mention you also paint and sculpt? Talk about a well-rounded artist! What got you into those?

M: I've just always been artsy fartsy crafty.....schmafty. Fun fact: walked out of my pottery class first day cuz the professor rubbed me the wrong way....took ballet instead. I'm mostly a painter but I have a lot of little things I've made out of clay just for fun.

GT: Like what? 

M: Mostly small food 😆. I paint whatever. I was an instructor for about 2 years.

GT: If you feel comfortable, could you maybe share a pic or two?

GT: They're all beautiful, but the one with the blue-haired woman is GORGEOUS! 😍

GT: Let's talk about Shameless. Do you have a favorite season and/or episode? 

M: Yikes, I honestly don't remember much but definitely before the whole show went off the rails. I think 1-4 are standouts, maybe 5 or 6. I only really stayed for Gallavich. 

GT: I feel you, I actually stopped watching after S5.

M: Trevor was the worst.

GT: Why do you say that?

M: Not the actor ,obviously, but the whole storyline was not done right at all, imo. The whole jesus stuff was stupid. Frank continuing to live was stupid. All the stupid and inconsistent decisions compounded into me not giving a shit anymore.

GT: Did you actually watch all the seasons? Because I myself skipped S6 to S9. What did you think of the ending?

M: The ending I saw was the wedding stuff, but I haven't watched anything after.

GT: Do you intend to or will you just consider the wedding the end and that's it? Either way, what did you think of the wedding? Or the fact that there was one. The early-seasons fan in me was in shock it even happened. Once Mickey came back for 9x06, I figured that was as good as it was going to ever get.

M: I knew they would do it. They baited us, kept us on the hook and reeled us back in with the Gallavich crap. I thought the wedding was fine, didn't understand half the people there. Oh wait I also watched some of the stuff with them in the apartment and trying to adjust to that which was actually pretty interesting. I didn't really keep up after that, just saw some gifs here and there. I think they had sex in an ambulance with a dead person? I don't really understand why they have to keep doing illegal stuff. I refuse to believe Fiona would not even show up or call or check in, but I understand why Emmy wanted to cut full ties with the show

GT: I agree, I never understood why not have Fiona keep in touch, or just have one of them mentioned she called. But it's the same thing they did with Mickey at the end of season 5. Instead of cutting Noel from the show, but still having Mickey be somewhat present through mentions, they decided he'd be arrested AND Ian would break up with him. And then they mentioned things about him that weren't true. That made no sense at all. How would you have written their ending if you got to choose?

M: I've written their ending lol; just a short fic reimagining the day after the wedding. I liked the apartment stuff. I would've written them trying to find Mandy eventually leaving the show due to a positive sign she wanted to reconnect. They need to leave the Southside. But during their search, Mickey goes to school. Maybe some shenanigans ensue, but ultimately he does well enough to graduate. I'd see Ian writing a book.

GT: Ian writing a book? That's something I never thought of. A biography or fiction?

M: Maybe a memoir.

GT: What about other moments of the show? If you could change one thing the show did with them, what would it be? 

M: Everything. Anything I ever had an issue with, I usually turned into some sort of fic in retaliation. I did a fic rewriting their meeting at the docks, and also one where Ian finds Mickey in Mexico. I did one of when Ian came home from the hospital and Mickey is taking care of him, but ends up helping Fiona with some chores. 

GT: Ok, but if you could only choose one? Sophie's choice, I know. Well, reverse Sophie's choice. 😅

M: Idk I'd redo all the stuff with Yevgeny and not make Mickey forget all about him.

GT: Great point. Just one more thing that doesn't make sense in this show. Ok, now let's talk fanfiction. What kind of fics do you write the most? I mean, I know you're the drabble queen, but what else?

M: My fics range from absolute crack fucking with the readers, to gut wrenching, to smut, to whatever passion project I think 2 people will read. I've written some lengthy stuff. Two wips I'm ashamed to admit I forgot where I was going with them as the reason I haven't updated them are White Coats and, by far my most popular fic, The Sugar Daddy. I also have several series going with trans Mickey, fratboy Mickey, geek Mickey, etc.

GT: I can relate, I also have a WIP I don't know how to continue. I have the plot planned, but... I don't quite know how to get there. Do you have a personal favorite among your fics, one that you were especially proud to write?

M: Definitely The Sugar Daddy, but they're all my babies to some extent, even the less popular and early ones. I liked writing pregnant Mickey. And I like some of my fantasy spins, like Mickey meeting Santa lol, and Ian in Oz.

GT: If you had to rewrite a fic you wrote, which one would you choose and how would you change it?

M: I have over 400 fics so I know I myself am forgetting a lot of them lol.

GT: I have way less and I forget mine too, so I can only imagine. 😁

M: When I come across an oldy it's always fun to read it with fresh eyes haha. I don't think I would rewrite any.

GT:  No regrets, huh?

M: Pretty much.

GT: Fair enough. Now, you said it yourself, you have A LOT of fics out there. Where do you get your ideas from?

M: I tend to write in a zone so whatever I put out there is what I wanted out there in the moment. I have an idea and just go with it and see how it comes together

GT: You said you write in a zone. How do you get in that zone? (asking for a friend)

M: I've had somewhere I just could not figure out how to get it out of my head in a way that makes sense so those just never see the light of day or they find their way magically into something else. It's probably an undiagnosed adhd thing but I hit a groove and can keep going as long as I'm excited. That excitement is generated by how much I think what I've written is going to make people shit their pants. I have a fic titled Ian Snaps Mickey's Neck. 

GT: Lol that sounds like a good motivator. So I'm assuming you don't plan your fics much?

M: Not like pages and pages of details before I even begin, but I know major points and how I want to lead up to some of them. That's not to say I'm not just winging it most of the time. Sometimes I'll come up with something better or different based on reactions if it's a multichap. Prompts are a little tricky sometimes cuz the person is expecting the thing so you need to do the thing. 

GT: What about research? Do you do any before or during writing?

M: A little if I want to make sure I'm saying something correctly, either words or phrases. Places sometimes, or if I want to actually describe something specific. For example, in the Sugar Daddy I have a few links to items Ian gets Mickey just to add to the visuals but I'm not expecting everyone reading to care enough about the minutiae of how much it costs to take a bus in Chicago. I stick with what's relevant and if I think people will get the point without me turning in a research paper. 

GT: Do you have a preference for writing from Ian's or Mickey's pov?

M: No preference just whatever the story calls for [whose pov do I write more, it's definitely Mickey].

GT: Do you write other characters aside from Ian and Mickey?

M: I've written a couple fics that include other Shameless characters and definitely some original characters. 

GT: Which Shameless characters do you write more often? Do you write fics just about them or only include them in your Gallavich fics?

M: Ian and Mickey for sure, others as needed for the story but I know I've done a fic from Debbie's perspective a long time ago? Or Carl....

GT: You mentioned you sometimes include OCs. How do you create them? Do you base them on real people?

M: No, definitely not. I mean, if there is any originality in an original character anymore ie. typical archetypes. I at least try to make them their own character and not just an npc.

GT: You write a good deal of mpreg, a trope that a lot of people don't like. What attracts you to it?

M: Hahaha a good deal? I wrote 2 at the most. To me it's just another way of writing something. I've read some weird shit that I definitely would never write myself.

GT: Really? It was more in my mind. 😅 What are some tropes you enjoy writing?

M: I like writing scenarios that actually happen to me sometimes. Makes things feel more real. I guess I subscribe to the usual angsty stuff. But I genuinely like writing fun and sweet, sexy and loving, intimate.

GT: Is there anything you think you could never write?

M: Incest, child stuff, dom/sub, animals.

GT: Do your preferences apply when reading as well? What kind of things do you enjoy reading about?

M: Haha I've stumbled into some fics where I'm not sure if the subject or the writing turned me off more.

GT: Like what? What makes you quickly hit the back button?

M: If it's great writing, I might skip around some bits. Otherwise yeah, I'm not reading anything that I'd have to announce to a room at gunpoint. But that's for my own peace, some things just should not be written.

GT: One more thing, out of curiosity: where does your url come from? I get the M from your name, but why hunter10?

M:  It's my last name and birth month and username for everything because I'm a basic and terrible person 😆.

GT: What are you currently reading?

M: The one where Ian is the reading tutor and has a cat, Paragraphs by @palepinkgoat​. I also like their other stuff and am always extremely jealous, feel free to mention that haha.  Jealous and supportive, but still… lol. And I really do want to finish The Sugar Daddy but for now I'm going to get back into writing slowly with updating some of my series. Before that I was reading Deaf Group by @thevioletjones​, another fav. Unfortunately a lot of my list is orphaned, deleted or no updates since 2015.

GT: Yeah, a lot of people left the fandom around the time, which is sad, but understandable. I understand orphaning your fics, and of course shit happens, so abandoned WIPs are normal, but I don't get the reasoning behind just deleting something you created, unless you later realized it was in poor taste. But well, to each their own. Ok, so I was going to ask you about your plans for more, but you've already said you want to finish The Sugar Daddy. Any other plans? 

M: No other plans really. I always think I'm going to write this idea I've had but I'm not skilled enough to do it

GT: And finally, leave a message for those reading this interview, please.

M: Ehh....hi,this is Malenah and you're watching Disney channel.

Idk. Be careful, be safe, be aware of your surroundings. I love you.

Drink some water and keep going.

[wsdanon]

For Requests: i'll write povs of any of the favela5 (cellbit, tazercraft, felps, bagi) although i'm admittedly strongest with the fuga4. I’m also willing to write fit’s pov! feel free to request pairings/characters/topics/etc - put as much info in as you'd like and i'll try my best to work with it. non-pov characters don't have to be those favela5 guys but preferably people who interact with them a lot

if you just suggest names with no scenario it might be a little difficult to get the request done but if i have a wip that works for it i'll prioritise that. so for eg: "write something with pac" and i'll prioritise a wip with pac

final notes: i can be either a very fast writer or a slow writer, and generally i'm quite busy so it could more often fall into the latter. check my pinned post to see if requests are open before requesting please

Won't Do:

-firstly i might not write stuff for just very simple reasons like i couldn't figure out how to work with the prompt. or maybe i don't like the ship idk. i'm generally a pretty big rarepair fan though

-anything that will make me click an archive warning when posting to ao3. "major character death" is okay if it's with respawn mechanics though

-child death or animal death

-anything involving sex lol i'm struggling just to write kiss scenes. very aroace here

-not writing anything with forever right now. will update if this changes

[not-poignant]

I don't know if this is happening to any other patrons but my mail service has started marking all patron emails as junk and I have to manually check. Just an FYI for any others who might not have gotten updates.

Unfortunately Patreon has sadly been hinky with different people in different ways for like the last 2-3 months (other folks have had problems for longer, but it's hitting more people now). I'm sorry you're now experiencing this too! That really sucks, and I really appreciate you reaching out and telling me, and also giving other people a heads up!

it's one of the reasons I actually started mirroring my updates on Ream, because for a start, some people just couldn't sign up at all, and if some banks are like 'mmmHHHH' (Patreon is now using the same payment processor as Etsy - i.e. tax haven crap in Ireland) then it makes sense that eventually some emails are going to be too.

Some emails will let you whitelist an address in settings which can help! In Gmail, starring and marking an email as 'important' etc. can also help. Opening an email before archiving it can help, even if you don't click on the link!

One of the reasons I update like, here on Tumblr and also on Discord (and Twitter) is because sometimes you never know which notification people are using. I thought no one was using the Twitter links until I accidentally posted the wrong chapter and someone told me. I don't have metrics on my end for who is using what, but I try and keep options open (and of course nothing beats subscribing to my stories on AO3 for just direct emails - but even they can be delayed!)

I really hope things with Patreon smooth out soon. They've released a bunch of creator-side changes, and I'm hoping on the other side of things they get a bit more reliable from a bank and

(Patreon is still safe - but if they suddenly switch all their banking processes and don't tell any of the big banks they're doing this, the big banks go 'did you know you're using a tax haven and also all these micropayments seem dodgy' without really looking too deeply into it).

Anyway, whitelisting might help in the meantime. I've had AO3 emails start going to spam before, which was like 'WHYYYYY.' (Meanwhile Gmail keeps thinking I want Facebook out of spam and it's like 'no, Gmail, I have never wanted anything less' lol)

[dawnfelagund]

Independent Archive Survey

What concerns about OTW/AO3 do you have?

Check all that apply.

the organization is slow to respond to fandom concerns: 59% consolidation of most fandoms and fanworks onto AO3 increases the risk of a mass loss of fanworks: 57% volunteer safety is not taken seriously enough: 45% concerns about racism within the organization and AO3 are not being adequately addressed: 38% the organization is slow to respond to individual fans who need their help: 28% moderation of potentially harmful content is inadequate: 27% the organization is not transparent enough about decisions: 22% AO3 users' safety is not taken seriously enough: 18% the AO3 code is not properly documented and maintained: 18% organization leadership (e.g., Board members, Legal, committee chairs) wield too much power: 17% I don't have any concerns about OTW/AO3 archives: 12% (note: 2 of the 10 respondents who chose this did select concerns from the list; eliminating these responses, 10% of respondents had no concerns) I don't know: 2% Responses in the "other" field:

Other projects besides AO3 seem to fall by the wayside (e.g. fanlore); AO3 is hostile to outside fixes for code problems; volunteers are burned through quickly; volunteers must go through an intensive onboarding process that weeds out people who actually want to help; functions of AO3 don't work as intended/advertised (the exchange interface, the prompt meme, tagsets)

I have concerns as noted but I also hope and want Ao3 to improve and succeed (while also supporting the existence of more archives!)

Moderation of illegal content is inadequate

My main concern with OTW is that it has grown too large as an organization/project to continue operating solely on volunteer labor. To be honest, most of their issues stem out from that main problem or are exacerbated by it, in my opinion. But it isn't some simple thing to start bringing on paid staff either. Anyway, in short, the org has outgrown its model, but switching to a new model will also take time and there will be more growing pains as a result before things improve.

Not enough moderation in general. Hard to remove/report harassing comments, spam fics, etc.

for how long it's been around, the feature set is surprisingly immature (e.g., blocking/muting is just now being added, the time-based posting bug)

No sense of community

The size makes for a lack of community; the weight placed on quantitative measures (work stats)

I use it too little to personally experience the negative effects, however I'll support people I know and trust who do.

administration of the site feels to far from the individual user

Responses: 82

Analysis

I hesitated to include this item at all. I really do not want this to become a small archive vs. AO3 issue or to be presented as an either-or. We can and should have both, and for the 999th time, I want the OTW and AO3 to succeed for a variety of reasons. However, getting a sense of concerns seemed important as we move forward into crafting next-generation small archives that meet the needs of their creators, visitors, and fandoms. So the question went in.

Not surprisingly, fewer people overall are concerned about OTW/AO3 than small archives. About one in ten respondents did not have concerns at all, and no single concern was selected as often as the top ones in the corresponding dataset for small archives. Again, this is not a surprise. Despite the past few months, many of the concerns on the OTW/AO3 list remain hypotheticals, whereas concerns about small archives have happened at one time or another (if only because there have been thousands of small archives and just one AO3!) Furthermore, many of the concerns on this list were in response to some of the whistleblowing of recent months, and it's possible not all respondents were even aware of what was going on.

What were the concerns? Two dominated. The organization's slow response to fandom concerns, was top—also not a surprise. It's nearly cliche to point out that the wheels of large bureaucracies grind slowly, and one needn't be versed in the latest discussions around the OTW to have likely seen this at some point in its almost fifteen-year history. I will note that this is an area where smaller archives can succeed ... but aren't guaranteed, of course. On the SWG, it has always been a policy to take no longer than twenty-four hours to respond to a task, question, or issue, and most of the time we are significantly quicker than that. (Sometimes actually fixing the issue takes longer, but even that is rare.) However, you have to commit to doing this. The potential is there (where I'd argue it's really never going to be for an organization the size of the OTW), but it needs to be realized.

Secondmost was the worry about consolidation and the possibility of the mass loss of fanworks. I have been yelling about this for years, so I'll admit that it felt pretty good to see that those words haven't gone entirely unheeded. Is this unlikely? Yep. Is it possible? It is. Sorry, sweet summer children, it really is, and if it does happen, it is devastating in a way that the closure of a small archive never will be. And for the last dataset about small archive concerns, I made the case that the data around archive closures possibly reflected the Tolkien fandom's "collective trauma" about the unannounced transfer of ownership or closure of small archives. (And I imagine most respondents participate in the Tolkien fandom; my signal boost wasn't passed that widely around.) Of course, this happens against a backdrop of Fandom's collective trauma around unannounced content purges. Point being, these possibilities are on our mind.

There are a couple responses that pair naturally between the small archive and OTW/AO3 datasets. There is much more worry about the technical stability of small archives than AO3. Again, we've seen small archives fail and degrade due to tech issues, so this isn't hypothetical in the way it is for AO3, for all that's been said about spaghetti code. On leadership and the power given to a site's leaders, the two sets are remarkably even. This does surprise me! For all that's been revealed about the OTW's governance in recent months, they do have a process of governance that is more transparent than most archives, and they do offer points of democratic input, whereas many small sites do not.

The "Other" option was also more used for the OTW/AO3 dataset than the small archive dataset and includes some interesting responses that elaborate on the concerns from the list and identify some new ones. A couple mentions of "community" jump out at me here—and again, this is what small archives have to offer (potentially! again, "potential" and "actual" can be quite starkly divided) and what AO3 really cannot in most circumstances (and I'd further add was not intended to. I've argued before that a universal archive cannot offer the community features many people want and need by definition.)

What is the independent archive survey?

The independent archive survey ran from 23 June through 7 July 2023. Eighty-two respondents took the survey during that time. The survey asked about interest in independent archives and included a section for participants interested in building or volunteering for an independent archive. The survey was open to all creators and readers/viewers of fanworks.

What is an independent archive?

The survey defined an independent archive as "a website where creators can share their fanworks. What makes it 'independent' is that it is run by fans but unaffiliated with any for-profit or nonprofit corporations or organizations. Historically, independent archives have grown out of fan communities that create fanworks."

Follow the tag #independent archives for more survey results and ongoing work to restore independent archives to fandoms that want them.

Independent Archives Survey Masterpost