#shamelessly self-promoting for once

[paenling]

paenling's phic directory :)

DARK/ANGST:

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Psychosomatic — Danny gets a paper cut. It isn't just a paper cut. Warnings: ghost hunger, vomiting, body horror, sensory overload, panic attacks. Pairing: none. Words: 3,358. Complete (1/1). Part 1 of Vice AU.

Momma's Boy — The Wisconsin Ghost kidnaps Madeline Fenton. Plasmius saps Phantom's last reserves of energy. Danny Fenton tears Vlad Masters apart. These are not coincidences. Identity reveal. Warnings: ghost hunger/cannibalism, graphic violence body horror, dissociation, self-harm, PTSD. Pairing: none. Words: 63,207. Complete (10/10). Part 2 of Vice AU.

The Miracle Year — “I feel like shit,” he finally says. It lacks the slapdash eloquence of a proper existential crisis, but Danny decides he’s kind of over that. Post-reveal. Warnings: ghost hunger/cannibalism, body horror, disordered eating, PTSD. Pairing: none. Words: 7,095. Incomplete (1/?). Part 3 of Vice AU.

the art of backmasking — For the first time, Valerie and Danny are totally honest with each other. Identity reveal. Warnings: none. Pairing: Danny/Valerie. Words: 7,467. Complete (2/2).

Deucalion — A month after the funeral, they saw Danny again. Frankenstein-inspired corpse/full ghost AU. Warnings: child death, grief/mourning, dehumanization, child abuse/neglect, corpse desecration, non-consensual body modification/drug use, homophobia. Pairing: none. Words: 5,631. Incomplete (1/5).

a fort of lovers' teeth — Ghosts wanted attention from the living, but Paulie had vanished without a sound. Something was wrong. Pain Train AU, inhuman ghosts, eldritch/cryptid Danny. Warnings: graphic violence, dehumanization. Pairing: Paulina/Star. Words: 9,114. Complete (1/1).

FUN/FLUFF:

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Things To Do Instead of Rest — Maddie felt like she could understand him again. (Learning to love your weird dead son.) Warnings: None. Pairing: none. Words: 2,198. Complete (1/1).

softest sleep — When Danny has bad dreams, he goes to Tucker. Warnings: none. Pairing: Danny/Tucker. Words: 538. Complete (1/1).

Skating On — Nobody told Valerie about the winter truce. (Gift for SummersSixEcho for the 2022 Phandom Holiday Truce!) Warnings: none. Pairing: Danny/Valerie. Words 9,315. Complete (1/1).

OTHER:

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Space Case — Not quite consumed but too sick to stay human, Danny only escaped death by choosing exile instead. Warframe crossover feat. Infested!Danny. Warnings: body horror. Pairing: none. Words: 2,027. Incomplete (1/?).

Raising Hell — A seemingly-routine errand for Clockwork puts Danny in over his head when he finds an alternate Amity Park plagued by demons instead of ghosts. Warnings: implied/referenced mind control. Pairing: Danny/Tucker (background). Words: 12,228. Incomplete (2/?).

Last updated: 2/8/23

[johanna-swann]

I totally forgot to post anything here, but I've been working on some more Bucktommy stories. Actually made it a collection on ao3. They all take place in the same continuity and are sorted chronologically, but each story can be read independently.

I had already posted the link to "But in this life I met you", it's about Tommy who, some months into his relationship with Buck, starts questioning his and and Eddie's respective places in Buck's life (3.6k, Bucktommy endgame).

"Tommy meets Evan" is a very short story about the first couple of times Tommy runs into Buck from Tommy's pov (1.3k).

Right now I'm working on "Love and Lack thereof" which is basically a "Tommy begins" type of story. Covers his childhood, his time in the army, his coming back to LA and finding a place for himself. (2/4 chapters are online, will have about 8-10k once it's finished)

I was also working on a story where Tommy and Karen bond and have a conversation about kids, but I got sidetracked and am working on that other fic right now.

Also possibly gonna do a "Tommy realises he's in capital L Love with Evan, but it's way to early and he promised to take it slow, what is he supposed to do?" story. (Would also feature Henren.)

[a-aeriis]

posted my first Genshin fic shudders

[spot-the-antisemitism]

https://stopantisemitism.org/antisemite-of-the-year-voting/

Apparently theres this vote going around, and these are the website's top picks:

👉🏼Hasan Piker, a Turkish-American streamer, uses his Twitch platform to glorify terrorism and spread antisemitism. After the 10/7 Hamas massacre, Piker defended the terrorists, denying documented atrocities like mass rape and murder. Despite violating Twitch's community guidelines, he profits while spreading hateful propaganda.

👉🏼Cori Bush has cemented her reputation as a staunch antisemite through a disgraceful voting record, ties to Jew-haters, and support for pro-terror mobs on campuses. Hours after the 10/7 massacre, she blamed Israel’s "apartheid" policies instead of condemning Hamas’ atrocities. Following her re-election defeat, Bush scapegoated the Jewish community, specifically AIPAC, for her loss.

👉🏼John Cusack, once a popular actor, has repeatedly spread antisemitic slander. His X feed is rife with blood libel, conspiracy theories, and vile tropes—comparing Jews to white supremacists, denying Hamas’ 10/7 atrocities, and falsely claiming Israel created Hamas. Despite past apologies, his ongoing rhetoric exposes his deep-seated hostility toward Jews.

👉🏼Greta Thunberg has turned her climate activism into a platform for Jew-hatred. Since the 10/7 massacre, she’s joined keffiyeh-clad protesters, voicing disdain for the Jewish state. From chanting "crush Zionism" at protests to targeting Israeli Eurovision participants, Thunberg’s activism now fuels anti-Jewish hostility.

👉🏼Jake Shields, a former MMA and UFC fighter, uses his massive social media following to spread antisemitic rhetoric. He denies Hamas' violent sexual assaults during the 10/7 massacre, promotes "Jewish control" conspiracies, spreads lies about Israel, and praises terrorist organizations, doubling down on his Jew-hatred throughout 2024.

👉🏼Jess Natale, a Brooklyn-based "content creator" behind 'So.informed,' spreads Jew-hatred disguised as news. Her platform regularly delegitimizes Israel, promotes Al-Jazeera and Middle East Eye propaganda, and aligns with the pro-terror group 'Within Our Lifetime.' Natale’s feed is filled with blood libel, pro-terror imagery, and false claims about Israel, all while ignoring ongoing hostages in Gaza and rising antisemitism. Her so-called activism masks her hatred for the Jewish people.

👉🏼Jackson Hinkle, a self-proclaimed "pro-Russian American patriot Marxist-Leninist," has shamelessly profited from the tragedy of the 10/7 massacre. Obsessed with Israel, Hinkle spreads dangerous misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war, promotes antisemitic conspiracy theories, and focuses almost exclusively on attacking Jews and Israel. He openly praises terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, even shedding tears over the deaths of their leaders.

👉🏼Candace Owens, a conservative commentator and activist, has made her deep-seated hatred for Jews clear through her words and actions. This year, she disgustingly dismissed Holocaust horrors, including Dr. Mengele's grotesque experiments, as "propaganda." Her Holocaust denial, spread of blood libel, and relentless antisemitic rhetoric have solidified her place on this year’s list of those actively spreading hatred against the Jewish people.

👉🏼Dan Bilzerian, an infamous misogynist, has earned his spot among this year’s most dangerous Jew-haters. Since 2011, he’s peddled antisemitic rhetoric, including blaming Jews for the 9/11 attacks. He’s since denied the rapes and beheadings during the 10/7 massacre, pushed grotesque blood libel, and praised terrorist leader Yahya Sinwar. Bilzerian’s ongoing promotion of hatred and violence against Jews confirms his position as one of the year’s most toxic figures.

👉🏼Bassem Youssef, an Egyptian-American antisemitic agitator with a massive podcast following, uses his platform to spread harmful misinformation and conspiracy theories about Jews. His most egregious moments include falsely accusing Israel of killing its own citizens during the 10/7 massacre, denying Hamas’ atrocities, and claiming Jews exploit a "victimhood" card. His influence amplifies these toxic narratives, fueling the global rise in antisemitism.

[impishtubist]

Okay, so we’ve talked about how Sirius’s death was sort of stupid (and weirdly humiliating/like a punishment to Sirius?), but obviously, it was meant to leave the door open so he could come back if the author changed her mind. Part of me wonders if she made wrote Regulus’s/R.A.B.’s story with the crumb of an idea that Sirius might come back and have to deal with that.

SO! If Sirius DID return from the Veil, when do you think he should/would have come back? (And would he have come back wrong???)

Well, not to shamelessly self-promote myself, but I think he comes back years after the end of DH and becomes a grandfather to Harry's kids and falls in love with Kingsley: Dead Man Walking. Or Remus and Harry refuse to believe he's dead and literally pull him out of the Veil and he goes on to fall in love with Remus and be a dad to Harry and Teddy: let our candle always burn.

But seriously, I think there are SO MANY WAYS he could come back. I really do think JKR was leaving it open to bring him back, and then didn't because doing so would have ruined her direction for books 6 and 7. Sirius was too smart! He would have figured it all out and rendered the books moot! I hate, hate that line in the OOTP movie where Luna says something about how things we lose always return to us. Why have that line and not bring back Sirius??

I think Harry and/or Remus could get really into dark magic and resurrect him, but bring him back wrong. I think the Veil could spit him out as soon as the final battle ends - maybe it takes a life for a life, so once Bellatrix dies, Sirius comes back. Maybe James forcibly pushes him back into the land of the living - he refuses to let both of them abandon Harry. Maybe Harry runs into Sirius at that train station in the afterlife (or limbo?) in DH, not Dumbledore, and brings him back. Who knows! JKR's world-building is so wishy-washy and inconsistent that literally anything is possible.

I really love your idea of him coming back after the RAB revelation and having to deal with that fallout, too. Ugh, delicious angst!

I'm sorry not to have a solid answer for you, but that's because I can see it happening a million different ways, and I want to read about it happening a million different ways. I could read 10,000 Bring Back Black fics and never get tired of them.

I do think people should bring him back wrong more often, though.

[smallishzine]

very important official zine stuff for real this time guys please spread this around

we realized we haven’t asked you what you want this zine to be, so here is poll with some different options for things we could do, but this still won’t set things in stone cause we’re aware that we’re working with a relatively small albeit amazing awesome and extremely appreciated audience, but it’ll give us a good idea for what direction you want the zine to go in.

some examples of what we mean for added coherence, please read before voting unless you wanna be like that guy in the Simpsons movie:

an eras tour zine (yes this is a Taylor swift joke shut up if you’re judging us you’re wrong) would be like different pieces dedicated to each, for lack of a better word, “thing” that Joel has done. @/inthelittlezine is a great example of this concept, except the mod has far better organizational skills than we ever could hope to

tourism brochure would be like we pick a specific thing Joel, such as esmp 1 or 2, or x life, or one of his hardcore/survival worlds (I haven’t listed Hermitcraft season 10 cause that’s still in progress but if you guys really really wanna, that too), and make an in universe guide to it expanding upon the lore and characters and builds and stuff. @/scarland-artbook is an amazing example of this, though of course we would be a much smaller scale of a project.

do you wanna tell a story? Or ride our bikes around the halls? We can’t help with the second one, we’re not very sporty people, but this option is both the most difficult and dangerous to the success of the zine, and the one that intrigues me specifically the most. Like, guys, I know I’m polling this, but I’m secretly hoping that this one wins. Like all the hoping. Ever. But I’m not gonna just say yeah let’s do this because if like only three people also wanna this zine will never get made and I will be really, really sad. This option is basically do we wanna take something Joel has done and work together to create an original universe/story based off of it, each contributing a small part of the story in comic or writing form. Unless you’ve been living under a rock and/or this post broke containment sorry if it did I assure I’m usually mostly sane, you probably know where I’m shamelessly stealing taking inspiration from. We heart you @/hotguycomiczine. If we went with this we would obviously create our own universe and storyline, and we’d try to base it off of one of Joel’s characters if possible. Also, if we went with this, we’d start the mod and application process and stuff and once we knew everyone who was going to be in the zine then we’d all get together and start working on the story, and this is the part I’m worried about because if we’re all stumped then I guess the zine is out of luck and I’d be sad. Also even if we did do this, like preemptively temper your expectations I am no where near as good as the legends at hotguycomiczine at organization and promotion and story writing and all that good stuff. However, if you have an idea for a story and want to share, send us an ask cause we might just end up using it.

I think the last two are mostly self explanatory.

please reblog for reach.

[xactodreams]

Supercorp Fic Recs

for the anon who asked me for fic recs—

first let me shamelessly self promote a fic a very dear friend of mine wrote, whom I collaborated with to format into an actual CatCo magazine. (that I totally printed out and got Katie to sign)

Her Brother's Keeper by ProfessorSpork

A CatCo Magazine exclusive by Kara Danvers Photos by James Olsen

Chapters:  3/3  Words:  7,910

(artwork is chapter 3)

Completed works I’ve read more than once

A Ribbon at a Time by abcooper After Lex Luthor defeated Superman, after the courts declared him innocent, after CADMUS rose to power, 16 year old Kara Danvers went into hiding. Five years later, a chance encounter with L-Corp CEO Lena Luthor throws her back into everything she's been running from.

Chapters: 5/5  Words: 27,929

We Need a New Song by uhpockuhlipz the ballet AU that's mostly not actually about ballet.

Chapters: 17/17  Words: 70,495

The Laws of Fate by sten06 A soulmate story with a twist. Lena has the ability to see the red string of fate, and the power to change it from one holder to another. She meets her match, after years of pining, but she's left having to make an agonizing decision.

Chapters: 7/7  Words: 85,760

Supergirl In Training by wtfoctagon Lena Luthor doesn't plan to have any kids. Or to get married, even, really. After the revelation that she is actually of Luthor blood after all, she's quite set on ending the family line with her and not taking the risk of any more drama.

Then Lorelai L. Danvers crashes into her life, claiming to be her seventeen year old daughter from the future.

Chapters: 19/19  Words: 71,381

listen closely and the stars will sing by celaenos Lena casts her mind around for the last time she felt this unmoored, this off-balance, by a woman, and can't come up with anything. Kara Danvers is unlike anybody that Lena has ever met; the sweetest, bubbliest person Lena’s yet to come across, and simultaneously one of the saddest, who is probably lying to everyone that she meets. It’s an impossible contradiction to wrap your head around, and Lena should probably stop hiding in this bathroom and trying.

(Or, Kara and Lena get parent-trapped into a relationship by a goofy little alien.)

Chapters: 14/14  Words: 118,667

The Fifth Wall by Black_Tea_and_Bones Kara goes to bed with Mon-El, and wakes up with Lena Luthor.

But it isn't Kara’s bed, and they’re not in Lena’s apartment, and that is definitely not their baby... Right?

Chapters: 29/29  Words: 109,273

Something Borrowed by janewithawhy Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Three weddings and the two women who attend them.

Chapters: 3/3  Words: 49,473

An Ocean of Fire by IcarusAndHerSun Medieval AU

Kara Zor-El, princess of Krypton, was a prisoner – and she was scheduled to become a martyr.

Chapters: 47/47  Words: 139,568

leave tomorrow behind (series) by Jazzfordshire Kara is a sexless housewife in 1969, feeling trapped and not knowing why. But when mysterious, kind-hearted Lena Luthor moves in next door, hosting swinger’s parties but ignoring the men, Kara’s whole world shifts on its axis.

Works: 2  Words: 53,961

there's a big old moon shining down at night by Jazzfordshire Needing to get away from the stress of her job for a few months, Lena buys a summer lake house in the most remote town she can find. She fully intends on keeping to herself, resting, and interacting as little as possible with the local colour.

That is until her car breaks down, and the town mechanic happens to be the hottest woman she’s ever seen.

Chapters: 7/7  Words: 71,987

run the red out by searidings red daughter is dead, yes, but she's not gone. not really. kara (and lena) have to come to terms with what that means.

Chapters: 4/4  Words:  69,797

you and me (and you makes three) by searidings fourteen-year-old kara shows up in present-day lena's office. things go about as well as could be expected.

Chapters: 1/1  Words: 10,478

i'll be cleaning up bottles with you on new year's day by robie In which Kara is a whole entire idiot, Alex is a permanent mood, and Lena is just glad Kara is there for her, as her fake wife, while she recovers from another quarterly attempt on her life.

Chapters: 1/1  Words: 6,400

let all your damage damage me by searidings after the horror of the phantom zone, lena helps kara heal however she can.

Chapters: 1/1  Words: 25,169

WIPs I’m Currently Obsessed With

Evil by Marieke_things_dreams_and_stuff Following the 100th episode of Supergirl, Metallo Lena crosses universes and ends up at LuthorCorp, set on getting her revenge on Supergirl. Kara not only has to deal with someone trying to kill her again, she also has to explain to her best friend why and how her carbon-copy is walking around LuthorCorp, and has to keep her sister from actually killing the Other Lena.

And why is it easier to talk to the Other Lena who wants to kill her than it is to talk to her actual best friend?

Chapters: 14/15  Words: 168,305

Queen Of The Damned by JadedLover The medieval supercorp zombie AU

Chapters 9/10  Words: 51,236

Honorable Mentions

with the birds i'll share this lonely view by searidings something terrible happens at mount norquay. kara and lena have to try to pick up the pieces.

Chapters: 3/3  Words: 41,713

don't go slow 'cause you're gonna be someone by robie The Wedding Date AU, inspired by the movie

Chapters: 6/6  Words: 59,904

is it gravity (or are we fallin' in love?) by coffeeshib Kara isn’t dating. Lena isn’t dating. Kara and Lena try not dating each other. Even if the lines start to blur a little. Even if they do the most girlfriend things.

They won’t date.

They won’t.

Chapters: 13/13  Words: 151,305

The Power of Deliverance by sten06 Kara as Persephone and Lena as Hades ;)

Chapters: 12/12  Words: 178,370

pour me a drink by lunchables a celebrity/bartender au

Chapters: 24/24  Words: 277,261

[toweroftickles]

Late to comment but I love your Arcane fic! You did a good job capturing Vi's character voice, and how she's trying to balance her pragmatism and prejudice against her growing attraction to Caitlyn.

I'm a sucker for how the tickling was actually initiated by another patron first, making Vi think Cait was in trouble, but ultimately getting both to lower their inhibitions with their teasing and venting of their frustrations over each other. It's both sweet and sad how it reminds Vi of a time where she was quicker to let her guard down with Powder and the family she once had.

And the tickling itself was very well described. That striking balance of hilarious, exciting, and exhausting, where even someone as strong as Vi feels herself going to pieces with someone like Caitlyn teasing her abs. Hahah

That's ok; because now I'm late to reply to your comment. lol Thank you so much!

This wasn't a conscious, analytical decision on my part, but now that you mention it, I think it does really suit their personalities (and their relationship) to have a third party break that particular ice for them. It sort of inverts their usual dynamic, letting Vi be the maternal protective one and bringing out Cait's snippy, caustic edge. Both girls have their own painful reasons to be reserved with one another, and it seems unlikely that either would randomly start a tickle fight or get so physically affectionate out of nowhere - they need someone else to plant the seed and give them a nudge toward breaking those touch barriers down. This takes place before the bridge hug and the implied bedroom shenanigans after all! XDDD

Vi, I imagine, would have very mixed thoughts about this kind of intense stimulation (especially coming from Cait), and she wouldn't really know how to react. It was a fun challenge to convey those complicated feelings through text...I hoped the reader would think that Vi is reluctantly enjoying herself, wanting Cait to stop but unwilling to admit that her heart isn't just pounding from exhaustion.

I really appreciate your thoughtful feedback. It means a lot. In three years' worth of content, this was one of my favorite fics to write. :)

PS. And because I'm a shamelessly self-promoting ho, here's my Arcane content for anyone who missed it and might be interested!

[confused-bi-queer]

Thank you for the tag @wellbelesbian @monbons

I'm dealing with self improvement in various areas in my life (i'm doing great but it's exhausting), but last week, I managed to spit out 8k words of my MalMage fic, so now I get to shamelessly promote it.

I have 12 chapters published in ao3 and I wrote 13 last week, but I still need to rewrite things. This chapter is very important because it changes everything coming up next. It's when Natasha and Malcolm start talking! Finally.

MALCOLM “I’m sorry we’re introduced like this,” I say, turning to her, offering my hand. “I don’t believe we’ve ever talked. Malcolm Grimm.” “Polite jerk,” Davy whispers, and stands from his seat, leaving. I don’t pay him any attention as Natasha takes my hand, shaking it firmly but not to hurt. “I know,” she says, pulling her hand back. “Natasha Mayar Pitch.” My eyebrows go up. “Mayar?” She smiles. “My mum is from Egypt. It’s a family name when it comes to women. If you’re a boy, it's Tyrannus.” I laugh a bit, quickly covering my mouth. “Oh, sorry, that was distasteful.”

I started writing this fic because I was incredibly upset at Natasha. Rainbow once said that if she was alive, she would have killed Baz for the vampire thing and I was not okay at all. So I made this fic as a big "fuck you", only she turned out to be more interesting as a grey character. However, in spite of my love for MalMage, I do think she was a good match with Malcolm. And I love early on Natasha/Malcolm, so I like writing them starting to fall in love.

Now tagging: @forabeatofadrum @valeffelees @imagineacoolusername @ic3que3n @cutestkilla

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

listen, I'm not being dramatic at all when I say most people don’t know how exhausting being a fanfic writer can be. I mean I understand why they tend to think it’s an ‘activity we do in our free time’ where we just sit in our beds in front of our laptops and type something away when we’re bored. thing is, I wish it were that easy. but it’s not. sometimes we spend hours doing research, sometimes — most of the times — it takes us so long to think of words to form a sentence, because the sentences/dialogues you see in a fanfic aren’t the same as a conversation we have with people irl in our daily lives where we don’t have to worry about whether or not it’s ‘smooth’ or ‘in-character’ or ‘aesthetically satisfying’ enough. that one sentence you read in a fic could take the author so long to come up with, to craft the words and put them together, and as someone who also writes, this isn’t an exaggeration at all. I could say “he saw a girl with her mom today, and thought of his own mom because he missed her” to you as a normal irl conversation, but once I put that in my fic, it turns into “His eyes landed on a little girl, she couldn't have been older than six. She was with her mother, and they were both smiling. A soft smile tucked at the corner of his lips then, a wave of nostalgia washed over his heart as his memories led him back to his mother’s home, when he was little. He hadn’t seen her in so long, but he remembered the scent of her morning coffee; warm and cozy, just like her hugs.” and I'm not talking about the constant feelings that your works are never over. because once you finished a chapter or a one-shot, that you worked on for so long, and posted it, you’re almost immediately hit with the feelings that you have to start working on your next fic right now, otherwise you’re not being productive enough, and all your self-worth comes from how much/how fast/how well/how often you write. so instead of rewarding yourself with a night without any writing where you can give yourself a nice relaxing bath or binge watch a show or any other thing you enjoy doing, you start writing something new. and it’s just so exhausting, but we do it anyway.

now imagine you doing all of this. so other people can read your works. for free. while you’re also busy with work/life/your actual job. you get nothing in return — from pulling an all-nighter for 3 nights in a row, just to finish a chapter of your fic — except kudos and comments.

being a writer who published original works as their main source of income is super cool, of course, but it’s sad how fanfic writers are often seen as less than ‘actual’ writers when I've read a lot of fanfictions that were better written than an actual published novel. a fanfic writer is as much of a writer as any other writer who writes and publishes their original works as their main source of income.

anyway, my point is, we as fanfic writers don’t make any money from our works. we do it simply because of our love for the characters in the fandoms we’re in. please please please please always show your appreciation to your favorite authors by giving them kudos and commenting on their works. if you’re shy or if you don’t know what to comment, just say ‘I enjoyed reading this so much’ or ‘I liked this chapter so much’ or how reading it made you feel; it can be ‘this made me cry. thank you’ or ‘I smiled to myself while reading this *inserts a part or a dialogue from the fic* thank you for writing this’. literally anything. even if the authors don’t respond to you, I can guarantee you that they read your comments and it made them smile and they appreciate your support more than you know. literally comments are also what motivate them to write more fics for you to read.

that being said, if you’re a fanfic writer and you’d love to promote your works under this post. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO DO SO.

PLEASE PROMOTE YOUR FICS. THIS IS A PLACE FOR YOU TO SHAMELESSLY PROMOTE THE BEAUTIFUL MASTERPIECES YOU WROTE ABOUT YOUR BLORBOS. ANY SHIP. ANY FANDOM. YOU CAN PROMOTE THEM IN REBLOGS OR TAGS. YOUR WORKS DESERVE MORE LOVE!

[tnoy-keraxis]

once again shamelessly self promoting my post-black friday, pre-nmt3 fic, completely self indulgent but also yk, I just think John MacNamara is neat.

also just so so so many predictions for nmt episodes we never got/havent gotten yet (ethan doesnt die, nmt3 episodes etc). if i end up being right about any of it, i will retroactively claim i am a prophet and I won't reveal how I knew it <3

[caspia-writes]

Writeblrs Appreciation Post

Well, I'm a couple bottles deeper than wholly advisable and should not really be posting anything to any sort of social media.

But is that gonna stop me?

Nope!

Y'know, when I first came to Tumblr, I thought this place was a cesspool of politics and sex. (And hey, nothing wrong with the latter, but as a sex-repulsed aro-ace... wasn't real big on that bit.)

But frankly?

This place is damned cool.

Like, for example, @sleepy-night-child. No one has ever been this enthused about my writing before. You are one hell of a cheerleader. Even when I'm not putting out writing worth a damn, you're willing to encourage me and still believe that perhaps, one day, I will ever finish writing anything at all. You're great. And your story, Black Feather? Well, I'm going to shamelessly plug for it here. I'm usually absolutely against romance stories. But your story... even my aro-ace, romance- and sex-repulsed self thinks it's a bloody good story. It doesn't get enough attention. Good stuff, that!

And @whither-wander-whump. Pardon my French once more, but damn, you're tough. Nothing seems to be able to hold you down. Seriously, how the hell do you do it? I would've gone nuts by now. Frankly, you're a bloody inspiration. And your writing? Look, not to dump on your cooking or your dancing, but your writing boggles my mind. Where does it all comes from? You have a gift, I swear.

Also, @ashen-crest. Publishing a book (or has it been two... or even more)? Either way, that's impressive! Even if I never plan to publish myself... full props to you. You have more guts than I've ever dreamt of having. And while I might be too broke to buy a copy (sadly), I've been following your updates on your potion story for a while, and from the excerpts I've seen... you are good at writing!

Because why not, I'm also going to call out @joyfulpolicehologram here. Continuing to write fan-fics despite widespread disapproval from those close to you? YES. And I can juggle 70+ characters, each with a backstory and the whole nine yards, but the very notion of writing fan-fic makes me want to run away crying. And the only reason I followed you in the first place is because I saw an excerpt of some of your writing, and it was damned good. Keep it up. You've got a talent.

There's also @faelanvance. Sure, we don't interact much. But you really promote other writers! You're willing to share the spotlight on your blog and you've got a discerning eye. If I'm not mistaken, at least some of the writers I've followed I've only learned through your reblogs. You have good taste. And it seems your writing is also downright excellent. Not only an excellent food critic, but an excellent chef as well (to make some culinary comparisons).

One more. @sleepyowlwrites. Where does the endless fount of positivity come from? I don't get it. It's like nothing gets you down. If I were working some of the shifts it seems you are, I'd lose my mind, and I certainly wouldn't have the energy to run an active writeblr blog. I don't have the energy to do that half the time anyway. You might be sleepy, but I admire the heck outta you.

Now, if you're one of my followers and I didn't mention you, please don't take it personally. Like I said before, I'm rather drunk at the moment. These are just the first six people I thought of before my fingers started getting tired. Six seemed like a good number at the time.

I will probably get embarrassed and delete this tomorrow, when I finally wake up.

But in the meantime... thanks, Writeblr. I didn't know what I was missing. You all are great. 😊

[major-toast]

Monday Snippet

Thank you for the tag @del-stars <3 Since I don't have a new project to currently work on, let me shamelessly self-promote the first chapter of Forget Me Not, which you can read here.

“Is this your spadroon poking me in the back? Or are you just happy to see me?” Fuck. “It’s my spadroon”, Remus hisses back, unable to come up with a better excuse. Tightening his grip around the prince’s mouth, he watches intently as the soldiers finally pass by. Once their footsteps and chatter recede and their surroundings can be deemed safe again, Remus finally allows himself to breathe. Only for the prince to lick squarely across his palm. “What the-“ Appalled, he draws away his hand, shaking off the saliva. “You’re worse than fucking a dog, actually”, he grumbles. The prince cackles as he saunters away. “So, I’m told”, he replies, grinning way too pleased with himself for someone behaving like a toddler. However, it does have something endearing to it.

Couldn't resist joining in on the funny scenes. Here is @del-stars 's snippet if you want to read it. It cast a big grin on my face.

np: @magicbeings and whoever wants to.

[godbirdart]

first off, i just want to say that i love your art, you are a huge inspiration to me and i love how expressive your characters are! would you have any tips for someone trying to grow a following from their art? specifically within the furry community ideally. im just not sure where to start

i hope youre having a great day!

thank you so much!!

okay i gotta preface this with: i have been doing commissions for over a decade. everything i say here i've been doing since roughly 2014, but my career as an artist didn't really Take Off and become reliable until 2019. success isn't immediate. some artists will grow faster or slower than others, not every tactic is going to apply / work for every artist; and that's okay. just keep pushing yourself and adapting and figuring out what works for You!

i’m putting this under a readmore as it got a bit long. every time someone asks me for advice on professional Anything i always write up a five page essay despite trying to bulletpoint it oof

post on multiple platforms and keep them all updated. i’m putting this one in bold because it is possibly the Most Important thing. we’re all watching twitter sinking over there, and many of my mutuals there were floundering because they hadn’t established themselves on any other social media site. i strongly recommend three or four socials minimum. my main four sites are tumblr, deviantart, twitter and toyhouse. furaffinity is also good. inkblot and artfol are new and i use them frequently as well. if you don’t like posting manually to every site each and every time you post art, Postybirb exists and is what i use to crosspost all my art to most of my socials at once.

avoid venting a lot on main. we all have frustrating days where our art isn’t getting the recognition we hoped, or we’re feeling petty about a controversial topic or the latest drama. it happens! it’s okay! however, many people just don’t like seeing dozens of negative posts on their feed. most people will sympathize, but if your negative vents are constantly clogging their dashboard they’re not gonna stick around.

shamelessly self promote yourself. reblog your own art. retweet it again. repost it. mention your other socials. we live in a world of timezones! when you post art, only a fraction of your audience is going to see it. i recommend reblogging / retweeting one to four individual pieces periodically over the course of a day and change it up each day. you can also repost your own work into photosets and title it “recent commissions” or the something like that.

don’t hide your linktrees and carrds. seriously! the amount of times on twitter i went to try and follow someone on another platform only to find they had no carrd or linktree link,, it is infuriating. put your socials link in your bio or pinned or SOMEWHERE readily at the top of your profile that’s easy to spot.

if you’re offering commissions, make a telegram channel or discord server for your announcements / openings.

post regularly. this one is a lot harder for artists that don’t make a lot of content, but posting even a status update once or twice a day can go a long way - especially if you’re on twitter with that platform’s hideous algorithm. alternatively as i said earlier, just retweet/reblog your work a few times a day and you should be good.

art trends are cool and fun and an easy way to get your work seen by others. see a “draw your sona in this outfit” meme? go, have fun with it. this one’s a bit tricky as timing is everything when it comes to ~trending~ content, so try and draw quick. that said, it’s never outdated to drawover reaction memes with your fursona.

try not to clog your socials with memes and shitposty images. this one is directed at twitter specifically. with twitter moments now gone, your media tab is the last way for people to hope to find your work organically on your profile without having to use the twitter search. they can’t get invested in your work if they can’t find it!

it’s okay to change course if you’re not vibing with where you’re headed. if you want to move onto a new aesthetic - that’s fine! you may lose some followers if they don’t click with your new vibe, but you’ll inevitably gain some new ones.

avoid frequent name changes. so many of the artists i follow have changed their brands / urls over the years that i don’t recognize them anymore.

tag your work properly. on tumblr, the first five tags on the original post are the tags your work will pop up in in the search feature. make those first five tags the Most important ones; example: #furry, #anthro, #art #fursona etc. twitter’s algo seems flip-flop if it likes tags or hates them. if you see a tag trending, repost your art in a photoset with the hashtag in the post [example: if #pokemon is trending, repost some of your pokemon fanart with the hashtag in the post body]. if the tag isn’t trending,,, i’ll be honest it’s a gamble if twitter likes your post or not at that point. i have no advice for that hell algorithm.

hosting raffles or doing a mini art request event [example: “leave a ref and i might draw your oc”] is good for traction while simultaneously giving back to the community + your audience a little!

try and reply to / like comments on your work. it’s not required per se, but it’s good to express gratitude.

engage with other members of the community. comment on other peoples work. like it. retweet it. follow other people. obviously don’t be disingenuous about it, but this is what the professionals call ~networking~

don’t compare yourself to others. this one is one you have got to keep in mind constantly. you’re going to find 17 year olds with huge followings and 30 year olds that are doing professional industry work whose level feels alien and almost out of reach. if you’re not doing as well, don’t let yourself get discouraged. we all gotta start somewhere!

related to the above point: be nice to your followers. venting on main about not having the same audience volume as others can come off as a huge middle finger to the audience you already have.

gaining a following takes time. unless you get a really lucky break, it’s going to take a lot of work and self promotion to build up your brand.

slap your name on everything. i mean it. any art you do - sign it. watermark it. people can and will share art in telegram channels and discord servers, and if the art interests someone they can easily source it back to you if your name is on it.

you can buy adspace. if you’re catering to a furry audience specifically, you can buy adspace on furaffinity pretty easily. inkblot i believe also offers adspace for artists though i haven’t looked too deep into it. this is really a “if you’re okay burning money” situation, as the huge chunkk of internet users have adblockers now and it’s a gamble if people will see or even click on your ad.

just have fun and do your own thing. you can hop on trends and draw art that caters to your audience’s tastes, but don’t forget to draw what YOU want and what YOU’RE about. Draw what makes YOU happy.

hope these help!! ;w;

[the-down-upside-finch]

Happy WBW! What are the sacred professions in your world? I don't necessarily mean religious-- but of course they can be. Just what are the high ranking, prestigious, and/or powerful jobs?

Oh this is the perfect opportunity to ramble about The Astrals' Weapons in Stained Integrity! >:} (I'll also talk about Master Alchemists because those are pretty important too.) Thank you for the ask!

So, in the world of Stained Integrity, there is what is literally known as "the faith" because it's so widespread. The Astrals are the main 3 that are prayed to (and The Wyrds are the ones you plead to).

There is one specific being that is known as the Diviner, who delivers The Astrals' Will to the three beings that are known as The Astrals' Weapons. A lot of people refer to the Diviner's power as "seeing into the future," although it's a bit more complicated than that.

(CW below cut: mention of death, mention of poison)

The Astrals (Méni Lune, Heló Sol, and Aura Stell) each have one Weapon that they are the benefactor of. There's Lune's Blade, Sol's Bow, and Stell's Spear (AKA the Moonblade, the Sunbow, and the Starspear). The purpose of the Weapons is to carry out The Astrals' Will, which is usually just a specific task told to them by the Diviner.

For context, these are the only beings that are bowed to by kings, queens, sovereigns, and other leaders of the skylands. That's how important they are. They each have very specific cloaks that they wear at all times, which makes them easily recognizable.

The exciting part about all this is how the successors are chosen. The Diviner will receive a vision about the successor, and the Weapon is then sent to find this particular individual to train them as a successor until they die. (Yes, they basically get their impending death foretold, although they aren't told how or exactly when they will die, just that it's going to happen.)

Once the Weapon's thread is cut, their literal weapon (the sword, bow, or spear) basically dematerializes and reappears in the Diviner's shrine, which is where the new Weapon will travel to retrieve the weapon and be given their first task from the Diviner.

Each Weapon is also given a specific power by their benefactor that is tailored to their own personal abilities. In the current timeline, Malina (Stell's Spear) has the ability to sense magic and trace magical residue back to its caster, which is in tangent to her ability as a practitioner to sense the presence of souls. She also has heightened healing powers, since stellar magic is based around healing.

At the start of the story, the current Moonblade (Jeyen) has the power to polymorph natural materials into different natural materials (so he could literally turn lead into gold) for various periods of time. The current Solbow (Tache) has the power to augment their own strength to a certain degree, which means pretty much what it sounds like it means.

And I'm going to shamelessly self-promote because I've drawn Malina and posted it here, and I've also drawn the new Moonblade that is Jeyen's successor.

Okay, now about the Master Alchemists!

Basically, the Master Alchemists are those that have learned every single recipe that there is to learn. The reason this is such a feat is that, by law, an alchemy apprentice must ingest anything that they learn to make, before they learn to make it. This includes poisons, potions, and more. The only exception to this is tickerbane, since the poison is so powerful that there is no lower dose that someone can take to make it nonfatal. All other poisons are either diluted or given in a small enough dose that it's just really really painful instead of deadly.

In the current timeline of the story, there is only one Master Alchemist left, since no one has wanted to take on such a difficult apprenticeship.

That's all from me! Thank you again for the fun ask!

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

Your droid name becomes the nickname 'Corsair' because f4u (the first 3 letters after the a-) was the code for the Corsair airplane in the pacific, WW2, and there is literally nothing more star wars than shamelessly ripping off various WW2 design aesthetics

Also Corsair is a cool nickname and a lot easier to say. Congrats on being promoted to astromech, now get in the fighter and hope you have plot armour

human meat sack: "Get in the fighter, Corsair."

me, shoving My Evil Twin at the fighter: bleep bloop BLEEP "They mean u, buddy!"

My Evil Twin happily going off to do murder: blep blat BLURT "YIPPPEEEE!!!! If I die then install this copy of my system into the largest most destructive space ship you can find and start praying" (gets blown up 1 minute later)

me, heading off to install a copy of My Evil Twin in the largest most destructive space ship i can find: bloop bloop beewooop "My Evil Twin who art certainly in droid hell, please give me at least 5 minutes to get off your stupid ship before you hit the self destruct button while trying to blow up a planet or something."

i roll away to complete my mission, run in to a wall bc part of my chassis is blocking my view port, ricochet backwards into an uncontrollable spin, snag my left main wheel on a loose power cord, and flip over on my side where someone will eventually find me and repurpose me for spare parts.

the galaxy is saved. at least until someone randomly opens a file labeled My Evil Twin that they got off an old droid memory bank, resurrecting both me and My Evil Twin from droid death once more :/

rinse and <press F4 key>