#so when i sort through things or use my methods to organize what i post and where information is

[rxttenfish]

Hi hello I just wanted to say that I really really like your worldbuilding and art and merfolk and things like that. Where can I read more things you’ve written?

thank you!!!

realistically the majority of my writing is on my main blog, @royalreef, but this is not really ideal for reading, tbh. first of all, because royalreef is a roleplay blog, so what's on there is not only more unpolished and less put-together, but also what's on there is semi-dependent on other roleplay blogs interacting with me (i'm in a dry spell lately, so very little is actually being posted). it also pretty solidly shows my development cycle, so if you go too far back you start seeing things that aren't necessarily accurate anymore or which i've changed over time. most of it is a lot of scrolling and digging through stuff, and while i recommend finding my headcanon tag on there, it's still going to be a lot to dig through.

the much more favorable avenues are by using the #all the care guide says is 'biomass', #miravi.txt, #monster prom, #Monster Prom: Reanimated and #art tags on this blog, but not only is less here, but some of these tags are more or less organized than the others. biomass is my all-purposes posting tag, so you'll see a lot of random conversations too, and my miravi tag is solely focused on the ship, with worldbuilding being included but not the whole focus. in the case of monster prom: reanimated, its a defunct tag that i don't use anymore, but still has enough worldbuilding posts on there for me to point out.

the most focused avenue is my AO3, particularly my newest fic Caecilian, which focuses on the merkingdom and merfolk and that worldbuilding! the problem is that, by far, this has the least content of all methods thus far, and while i'm working on the second chapter as we speak, it's still going to be a wait between chapters (they're pretty long, as you can imagine from the subject!)

i have been considering setting up a patreon for more inclusive worldbuilding posts and being able to share sketches and concepts without worrying about them being polished, but as of posting this, i don't have a patreon up yet. it's in the future plans, but not right now!

and, of course, the easiest method is just sending me an ask of any questions you have! there's certain things i can't answer/won't answer publicly, because i'd like some things to remain a mystery until i can properly reveal them, but if you dm me privately and don't mind spoilers, i have no problem talking about them there!

[writingquestionsanswered]

Outlining has always been a major issue for me. I don't have any idea how to do it properly. It bores me and most of the time I quit halfway. I also don't find any of the outlining methods on the Internet enjoyable. Any tips?

Outlining Isn't Enjoyable

Here are a bunch of things to consider...

1 - "Outlining" Just Means "Planning" - I'm not sure what outlining methods you've seen on the internet, but the truth is, as far as writing goes, outlining really just means "planning." And if you want to plan your story in advance, you can do that via whatever means works for you. Beginning to end written summary, verbal summary in audio notes app, mind map, timeline, scene cards, scene list, chapter summaries, scene summaries, mood boards, academic outline, story structure map, method template, playlist... you could outline your story through interpretive dance if that's what works for you.

2 - Outlining Isn't a Requirement - Like pretty much anything related to process, outlining isn't a requirement. Outlines are mostly done by so-called "planners" who prefer to flesh things out before they start writing. Many writers consider themselves "pantsers" in that they like to "write by the seat of their pants" or "wing it." These writers like to let the story develop organically, as they write. They understand their first draft might be extra messy, but they know it can be cleaned up and refined in the second draft.

3 - Outlining Isn't Really Meant to be "Fun" - If you're a writer who needs to plan your story in advance, and so you need an outline of some sort before you start writing, please know that for the most part, the majority of us aren't always approaching the outlining process with glee in our hearts and ticker tape falling from the sky. I mean, outlining can be fun, but a lot of the time it's just work. It's just something that some of us have to do before we start writing, and it's not particularly grueling or mind numbing work, it's just not the most fun thing we could be doing in that moment.

4 - Is the Problem with Your Story? - If you're a writer who needs to outline your story, but you find yourself bored to ears when you outline--to the extent that you can't even finish your outline--it is worth taking a step back to consider whether the problem isn't with outlining but your story. No matter how excited you might be about elements of your story, if you're boring yourself to tears while planning it or writing it, that may be a sign that something's not working. In other words, if you're bored planning the story, there's a good chance the reader will be bored reading it.

5 - Is the Problem Something Else? - If you're a writer who needs to outline your story, and you're really excited about your story and feel that it all works very well, but you're still getting bored and frustrated with the outlining process, then something else is going on. Things to consider: are you well rested and feeling well when you sit down to outline? Are you nourished and hydrated? Do you feel like you're in a pretty good headspace? Are you in a reasonably comfortable space that's relatively free from distraction? Are there other things competing for your attention? (Social media, texts, friends hanging out in the other room, someplace else you'd rather be, something else you'd rather be doing?) Are there other important tasks you're putting off that need to be done? Is there anything about the story that is difficult for you emotionally right now? Sometimes it's just a matter of trouble-shooting what's going on in your life, your space, and your body/mind before you start working on your outline.

I hope something here clicks with you!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[fiammee]

Hello, how have ya been? How did your trip ended, did you have fun?

I guess reaching to you through asks is easier than DMs, so here I am, being generally curious about where we left off the last last time, but since I am here I'll also leave a big ask:

How did it happen that Jon Lord is so important to you? When did you hear him and saw him for the first time? What's the thing in his playing and in his character that makes him be that special guy to you?

Write the longest answer you want - or a short one if it's more in your style - I'm just a curious lil mutual <3

Heyaaaaa haiiiiiii dear!!!! Thank you for these questions *rubbing hands* Finally lets hope that I can respond this time XD

Times could get better, but summer is coming and Im pretty excited in beginning uni academy next year, lets hope🙏

About my trip end, it was a bit unexpected but funny: we leaved our rented house at 10 AM but we quickly found out that all highways were clogged up, and we managed to reach home a whole day after, at 1 AM, literally praying that my mom wouldnt fall asleep while driving 🤣

Abt Jon, lets begin *cracks knuckles*

I dont remember if I have ever said this to anyone, but usually my dad, when I was little, made me watch purple lives instead of cartoons;

So, throughout my childhood and my first teenage years I had this blurred memory about the members and how they looked like; (my thoughts were like: why the drums guy is so little? Why the guitarman is so scary? Why that mans moustache are so big and silly? Why the singer looks like Jesus and has my same hair? Just pure childlike wonder lol)

And finally, around 2020, I gave them a chance by listening my dads machine head vynil and OH BOY OH BOY I was quickly captivated by their roaring and powerful sound.

My first crush was big ian but I later revalued Jon when, out of pure curiousity, I went searching for pics on pinterest and I stumbled upon this:

My brain and hormones went apeshit🤭🤭 and this sort of awakened me, I was asking myself questions like "wtf is happening to me whattt?" in pure confusion.

The rest is now history, and here I am today :]]

Apart from the obvious phisical attraction (please mind that I was still new to this world at the time🤣) What I always found fascinating about him was the crazy talent and gentle personality among the "rock people" that Ive known previously.

I consider him to be a pretty unique rock soul: no extreme drama, nor arrogance, stupidity, rudeness or immesurable ego; he was just happy to be in the scene, and had the intelligence to make himself respected and valued... I think that he did that pretty well😌.

He used MUSIC in his everyday life as the main method of expressing himself rather than using words (as an introvert I consider him as a role model for what he gifted to others and himself) and lets be frank, isnt it cool that a BIG strong 185 cm man is easily brought to tears of emotion by listening to a classical piece or spectating a good sunset or landscape? He's an 800' romantic author trapped in a motocyclist body, an unusual combination🤣🤣

And what about his music? He combined classical, popular, blues, jazz and sick improvisation in a fresh versatile style that changed rock music and organ playing forever, and would inspire generations of musicians since this very day! And lets not forget his pure classical works, full of a wide range of emotions that have helped me in various rough times.

I hope to have answered your questions my dear :)) and it wouldnt be bad if I addressed the same questions to you about keith, with you making a post about it reblogging this one, obv if you feel like doing it 🫰🏻

[quantumripple]

Figured it might be neat to give post-mortems of fics I’ve written (in no particular order)

Gonna call this Quantum’s Post-Moretem Mondays even though I’m almost certain I’m never going to post this again on a Monday (work was just suuuuper slow)

So to start off we’ve got Pen Pals: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51609454

Premise: in early 2010 Taylor and Sveta become pen pals (hence the name).

Very much the definition of a rarepair since there’s only one other Taylor/Sveta fic that I’m aware of and it’s not even tagged.

And honestly hot take: the reason it’s a rarepair is that it lowkey just does not work as a ship. Taylor and Sveta are just not compatible, Taylor is far too… her. Sveta deserves better honestly.

What I like about the fic:

The bits of humour always blindside me when I do a reread. This one definitely leans on the sort of online humour you sometimes get with lesbians. Particularly the meme of two girls commiserating you each other that they “wish they could get a gf frfr”

I also just stole some funny bits from worm and adapted them but idk if I should count those bc they were just yoinked from worm.

I’m pretty proud of the background plot that’s happening in the fic. It’s pretty fun to explore those through only the lens of texts between two people. Things diverge a little bit and we end up with Echidna happening early, but the fight goes a lot differently. Ends up being a much longer fight/conflict but upside is case 53 stuff didn’t get leaked. Taylor eventually ended it by tag-teaming with a few heroes, getting the right power combo. S9 shows up after and a while after they’re there Amy takes Victoria. Taylor, thinking the s9 did it went on the warpath, she broke into the prt hq and stole the Bakuda bombs which she used to take out a few members before she found Amy and Victoria, made Amy fix her, then just fully executed her.

What I don’t like:

Taylor is extremely out of character. She’s too like… it’s hard to explain but she’s too cutesy, or dorky in a way that doesn’t really fit with how she is in canon. Triple especially anytime they’re discussing feelings. Honestly the only parts of her that feels in character is latter on in the fic when it starts getting into the broader hero plot stuff.

Sveta is also pretty ooc but not quite as bad as Taylor. She’s a hard character to write because while yea she’s got a lot going on at the end of the day she’s just a really nice person and that’s hard to write out unless you want something super fluffy.

And speaking of: the fic is just way too fluffy for my tastes these days. Like I had to skim the final scene where they’re being all sappy and confessional bc it made me feel ill lmao.

What I would do if I were to redo/re-explore:

Honestly this might be one of my few fics where I’d just cop it and say that it kinda doesn’t work conceptually. Taylor and Sveta just aren’t really compatible without changing one or the other.

Honestly if I were returning to it I’d probably drop Sveta (sorry) and actually just focus on the Brockton Bay plot stuff. So it’d be Taylor joining the wards, getting frustrated and then leaving and teaming up w Victoria and the focus is more in them becoming friends. And the other changes with Echidna and the s9 could be fun to explore.

Or alternatively I keep Sveta and lean into the doomed nature of the relationship, have it be a much more deep exploration of their characters and how they could interact. Follow Sveta as she makes an online friend but slowly realise that this friend of hers is weirdly violent as a cape. Have that introduce a lot more friction with Sveta judging Taylors methods more and more and Taylor just getting really defensive etc. and like…. It wouldn’t even need to have a bad ending per se. It would just be them realising that they’re really not compatible and that getting this invested in each other was a bad idea. Or the super good ending where Sveta comes around to Taylor’s way of thinking and they wage bloody war against evil, that could also be p fun. And not entirely impossible especially if Taylor is literally Svetas only friend.

Final thoughts:

This is one of those fics that still gets the odd random comment on ao3 which makes me remember it more often than other fics despite the fact that I don’t really have much to say/think about the fic beyond what I’ve already thrown up. It sits in my mind as a firm “basically ok, has its moments”

Curious to know what others think of it because honestly I barely do. I think I just picked it bc it was one of my shorter fics and sfw so I could read it between waiting for stuff to happen at work.

[miscreantahead]

Back on Tuesday when episode 4 dropped I had some thoughts about how the "fears" are going to work in this universe. Personally I'm operating under the belief that these are the same entities that could have been destroyed in the TMA universe and got pulled into this new one, but as many have already stated, that doesn't mean they have to be (and at this point I'm thinking definitely are not) the "fears" as we know them.

Something I keep coming back to is Leitner's talk of an eye a hand and a boot attacking an anthill and the ants not perceiving that it was all attacked to one larger assailant. This was about the avatars, but considering we have so little confirmed about what the entities we used to call the fears actually are, and considering the eyepocolypse couldn't happen without all of them coming through... what if this time, it's all one big horrible thing? Or, more accurately, to some degree, always has been? Obviously they can't be one individual as we perceive the concept of a singular individual otherwise the Web wouldn't have defected and there wouldn't have been a power structure with the eye, but off the hand I think of like organs in a single body, like the eye became the brain and the Web's shenanigans was liver failure.

Part of what supports that for me is the guy who gave the narrator the violin. The violin itself has obvious slaughter vibes. The man who gave it to him felt very beholding. And he also had a bag of various artifacts that could have done things that we'd associate with certain fears the way we knew them in TMA. Sure, he could just be a Leitner/Salesa, collecting various artifacts related to the powers, but the thing that sets this guy apart of from those two is that they never handed them out. So far, like the post I just reblogged before typing this one said, the cases don't come off like there's much fear involved, or at least they don't end in a place of fear. My sort of whackadoo theory right now is that what happened in the TMA universe has educated these entities (or possibly entity) in some way on what needs to be done in order for them to cross the threshold and take over their new reality like they did previously. Assuming they're capable of learning that is, and I know some things in TMA sort of seemed to imply they're not (but in my mind it's more like huge portions of their existence aren't perceivable to us and likewise much of ours fly under their radar and so I think they could have gathered something, just not anything that would have been perceptible enough for any of us or the characters to understand.) I mean, if you think about how fumbling the attempts for them to cross through were, and the way someone who was essentially human had to be the one to figure it all out (and took thousands of years to do so and let's face it got REALLY lucky that everything finally went his way like if you think about all of the things that could have gone wrong for Jonah, how many times Jon could have died, how many times the next 100 Jons would have to be put in a situation where they could die. The chances of him actually winning were so fucking slim, it was a tough order and he delivered and who's to say anyone would be able to again) and open the right door you'd think they'd be inclined to overhaul their methods. I think the entities still feed on fear, but I think they want the same thing it had before, it's done settling for scraps. I think when it was defeated and sent to live on the outskirts again it got a little pissed off, and I think it's going for a different approach to try and make that happen again. Obviously I might be humanizing the Things too much, I probably am, but I'm also kind of like... if they have manifested in a completely different way in this universe made up of the same meat sacks as the last one, like not just different "categorizations" and "presentations" but different motivations and focuses... it seems like it could be due to it learning from experience. Which is nice and terrifying :-). Another thing I think a lot about is how the fuck would any other power winning have worked in the TMA universe? The eye worked because it wanted to see everyone's suffering, it let the other fears do their dirty work because it wanted to watch. If any other fear had taken the lead, how would the others have functioned? The end probably would have accelerated the death of all of them just like Oli's s5 musings went on about, and the rest would have done some crazy shit making no room for anyone else's priorities because they have no reason to. There's a reason the brain has to be in charge, maybe Jonah Magnus even knew that and it's why he settled on beholding?

[ladyiristheenchantress]

Sick Day Magic

It may come as a shock to some that I am, in fact, a human being and not a 500 year old oak tree with internet access. /j

Being human, and actually being alive, means you will get sick! Exploring biology for my biomed degree has taught me a lot of things about virus's, bacteria, and how exactly they work! For example: All living things can be effected by virus's, they are nanometers big for that reason, and not much is known about their origins here on earth which is really cool! With that said, every living thing gets sick, and with that we can pair magic to help us through our sick days!

I know I am, simply because I am writing to you now while on sick leave from all 3 of my jobs. Currently the summer flu has hit our home really hard, so lets talk about recovery!

Obvious disclaimer before getting started: Doctors, medical professionals, and health organizations are here to help you. This post is not to discourage you from using modern medicine, or seeing a doctor when you need one. I actually am very much against using spiritual bypassing to discredit medical research, especially as someone who is entering the medical field. If you are sick it is always important to speak with your doctor before trying any holistic remedies, especially if you are on medications that can conflict with herbal supplements. Know the warning signs for when symptoms escalate. This post is mainly about illnesses that can be treated at home and go away within a couple days or weeks (cold, flu, etc)

Lets get started!

How do living things get sick?

To keep this as simple as possible, living beings get sick from small organisms in a couple different classifications. You have virus's, bacteria, fungi, or parasites, and they all have one goal: to use your body as a host! Some things cant reproduce on their own like virus's so they hijack your cells, some things feed off of you and your daily body functions like parasites! In all, we are exposed to all sorts of pathogens, and our body will react with the nasty symptoms like fevers, chills, coughing, vomiting, and more because your body is trying to fight off all the pathogens using your body to reproduce. There are some circumstances where medical intervention is required however, for things like the common cold, flu, and sore throat you can find remedies over the counter!

All living things get sick, including tree's, seals, and even grasses. These pathogens are really good at evolving with us!

What did people do historically?

Before the introduction of germ theory in the 1860's, and the introduction of modern medicine in the 19th century cultures all around the world were still evolving to combat common sicknesses! From medieval Europe using cupping and leaches which assisted in medical standards and theories, to indigenous tribes using the herbs around them to pave the way for medications, cultures all over the world had their own tips and tricks for staying healthy!

In general most cultures followed a 3 way system, prevention, coping, and resistance, where methods were followed to assist in times of sickness. Often times they had distinct prayers and rituals, and would combine it with local remedies and folklore to help the general population.

Later on, herbs would pave the way for medicine as scientists discovered exactly what about an herb could help someone and isolate it into a pill, salve, or tincture!

What is some illness prevention magic?

When getting vaccinated create a prayer or chant to not only take your mind off it, but also for a metaphysical boost

leave offerings to gods of health during cold and flu season by your front door, and leave offerings to spring gods during pollen season by windows

have fire tonic, elderberry syrup, and lions main mushroom tinctures prepared (reminder: always consult a doctor)

Keep crystals like jade, green aventurine, and carnelian by your bed for health

Keep fresh flowers in the home, as scents can represent healing

Visualize sickness being repelled away from you as you practice hygiene

keep sigils in your shoes to 'draw illness back to the earth'

Mundanely make sure you are also having regular checkups (if you cant afford to see a doctor regularly, see what option you have for free clinics, or public health options like medicaid in the US), going to see your dentist because the teeth has a lot to do with health, and practicing good health habits can all be really helpful with preventing illness

What is some illness coping magic?

When sick, keep lavender and chamomile under your pillow as a sleep aid

Contrary to popular belief: Don't burn incense when you have a stuffy nose because the smoke will irritate your nose, instead use a humidifier and optionally put essential oils in it for drainage

take healing spiritual showers

create soft broths, and plain foods using kitchen magic and infusing it with intentions

Optionally if you are having trouble eating because of vomiting or fever, enchant your water bottle with healing energy with even just a simple chant

Put cold or hot compress on pressure points, optionally while you rest research what those pressure points symbolize and how you can translate that into your healing rituals from bed

visualize a healing green or blue light enveloping places that may hurt like joints or the head

Listen to gentle music or healing subliminal during naps to draw out illnesses

enchant your tissue box so every tissue you use is one less you have to use later

create a salve using willow or birch bark, camphor, mint, and chamomile for a soothing joint pain relief

Enchant medications with chants or sigils on the bottle

Mundanely, we see a lot of spiritual hacks, don't put garlic in your nose (The only reason you think it works is because it irritates your nose lining creating mucus), don't use elderberry (It puts your immune system in over drive when you are already sick and actually hinders the healing process), its better to limit herbal and holistic approaches other than things that are rich in things your body needs like fruits, veggies, and electrolytes!

Recovery goes into this much like prevention, our bodies begin to process and understand the invaders making it less likely for you to get infected by the same problem again, however as mutations grow, make sure you are taking care of yourself!

Spiritually, your body is a temple, and its the only one you have, love it and it will love you back, take care of it and it will take care of you back. As a human being I recognize the struggle that concept can be. Its easy for someone to say "just sleep lmao" without having insomnia for example. In general, finding a routine that works for you, your body, and your mind is very important! You are a spiritual being, but you are also human! Don't let people try to sell you the idea that modern medicine is out trying to hurt you, because there are people out there like me who will stand for making the medical field a safer and better place! Don't let people try to sell you the idea that your sickness is because of "bad karma" or that your "low vibes" or something silly like that because the truth is, you get sick because you are alive. Cherish being alive in all of its forms.

Fair winds friends!

And remember, if you took nothing away from this I will say it again, Cherish being alive in all of its forms.

Tip Jar

[funeralcryptid]

THE ROLE OF A DIVINATOR/READER PART I

Disclaimer: This post is going to be all over the place, but I'll do my best to organize my thoughts in a neat, easy to follow way. Also, this is just my experience and how I see things in relation to my personal practice. I know some people will take offence at some of the things I say along this series of posts, so I suggest you read this with discretion. Last, I will focus on tarot, but this may apply to any divination method.

This post is aimed at divinators with a bit or a lot of experience, or those who want to initiate themselves in the art of divination and are critical of their role as a divinator.

Happy reading.

So, you want to start taking your craft more seriously?

Where to even start. There's countless of thing you could do to take your craft more seriously, and this post unfortunately doesn't have a method or the answers as to how to, considering all of this is rather subjective. However, I have some thoughts on the matter that I think people could benefit from by keeping them in mind; or at least these are things I consider people should be critical of. We are all looking for answers and sometimes just following our intuition alone isn't enough when you also have the mind to use to meditate on these matters.

I would like to invite you to remember why you started divination. Perhaps it was for fun or to seek some sort of guidance. Maybe you felt a strong pull to the cards, or you have been taught how to read them by someone influential in your life. I'm not here to discuss the intricacies of learning and being self-taught, or how you personally read the cards if whether intuitively or by the book. I do, nevertheless, think you should compare your current point in this journey to when you began and look at all the progress you've made; of course, being critical of it. What I mean by this is that you should take the opportunity to step aside from the craft momentarily and ponder on what you're doing. Are you doing the readings you like? Are you learning anything by doing them? Are you happy with where you are in your divination journey? And most importantly, is this benefiting you? Is this benefiting your community? Here I mention something of incredible importance to the post, but let's not hurry for I will touch on this later.

First, you should take a moment to reflect on your craft and ask yourself if you're content with your current development. If the answer is no, then what is stopping you from doing what makes you happy? If the answer is yes, then I ask you, is your craft helping you grow? Are you constantly growing? Are you simply happy with taking a more inoffensive role for fun?

Remember that tarot is one of the many ways to get answers, and here I risk sounding like an elitist, but I argue not all answers are worth seeking through divination, or rather, not all questions need divination to get their answer. But it's fun, so why not? Well, the readings you do are a direct reflection of you as a reader. Now, this is not about your image on tumblr, it's far more important than that. As a reader, what are you entertaining and what are you giving your attention to? How is this reflecting on you? What energy are you accepting into your space and responding to? What energy are you interacting with in this universe? What you interact with you're allowing into your space, and this has more of a direct impact than you realize. I must clarify, I'm not saying stop doing simple readings if that makes you happy, neither am I saying that some readings aren't worth doing; but maybe it's time you consider taking your craft a step further and exploring it in order to gain knowledge too.

Let us remember that the methods to find answers are methods to know others and ourselves better. As a reader your role seems to be that of a statue; people come to you in times of need and look for your wisdom because yes, interpreting the cards requires wisdom. Then they go away and you stay. The fact that you stay is already and advantage to you, for you keep what you learned by doing the reading to yourself too. If you're not using this to your advantage and using it as an opportunity to learn more, then I would like to invite you to reconsider your role as a reader.

I am of the belief that everything in this universe is connected, but even if you don't personally believe this you can't lie and tell me you can't see yourself in others, partially at least. This might sound silly but that is a reason why some people have favorite readers. Yes, the accuracy is an important factor, but more importantly, because they are able to resonate with the reader of their choice.

Ah, we've reached the part on the exchange of energies and why I personally ask for an offering, but I'm afraid this post is already too long.

I leave you with this question to reflect on your role as a leader:

What can I do to best be true to myself and align with my role as a reader?

xx

[eldritch-queern-magicat]

I was looking for something completely unrelated in the DID tags and I happened upon your post about dronification for DID. It's been something I've been thinking about for a long time! I was amazed to see another system talking about it. I have theorized that something like this could be helpful in stabilizing my system and getting things done. Would you have any resources for a system looking to get started with this?

So for most of this, I’m gonna have to go over what I’ve learned in the process of doing everything. A lot of what I’ve been doing was cobbled together from multiple things over the course of about a decade of meditation, hypnosis for fun, and general trance practice. I do also have a very solid background in a childhood full of projecting my internal maladaptive daydreaming shenanigans outside of my mind in my very rural neighborhoods because I didn’t have any friends around, often for miles. It’s also probably the ADHD.

You’ll probably be able to tell I was given a lot of time and space to think about things on my own. That’s what I had rather than much of a social life. I had far too much time to philosophize. I’ve often felt like the Thinker statue at the Smithsonian. Just sitting there, wrapped up in my own thoughts. Alternatively, engaging in stories in any available form.

So pardon the whole essay, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone else really talk about being a drone as a system, either, as a method of healing. For a lot of these things, I’ve had to learn almost entirely through direct experience. So I’m honestly really excited to talk about it more. This ended up getting much longer than expected, too. It’s sort of a stream of thoughts that I tried to organize a bit. I also haven’t written very many things in far too long. So I let myself get a bit carried away and go into some of the details. Plus I really want to recognize just how much we managed to get through in what still feels like too short a timeline.

I also used to email lengthy, semi-organized rambling novels back and forth with at least one person. This is going to be similar to that. It’s also why I miss college very deeply. I’m a big fan of academic studies and analysis. My attention span is getting better again.

I will slip between singular and plural pronouns somewhat seamlessly. The logic is that when I use singular pronouns, it’s the whole system as a singular unit, without dividing certain things because it’s simply not relevant. Otherwise, plural pronouns are for when differentiating all the nuance is relevant.

The hypnosis files online

I like to lurk on the dronification subreddit, but it’s not especially active. The only reason I don’t interact is largely because I’m wary of interaction of that kind in general, given where I’m still at in recovery. Since most of dronification is about altered consciousness, hypnosis is the most common method of getting into that mental space of non-identity.

You can find some pretty general drone hypnosis videos on youtube, but I’ve seen people in both the dronification and the erotic hypnosis subreddits very frequently recommend soundgasm. WarpMyMind is an archive of files from many different people, some premium and some free. I haven’t looked very recently, but I know they have files for just about everything. There are also hypnotists with their own websites with exclusive content or just stuff too spicy for the algorithm. Some of those websites also have spiral makers, if you’re into that.

But to be honest, I don’t explore very much anymore, and I’m hesitant to recommend any one person or another because I don’t know what’s going on with hypnotist discourse and frankly just don’t have the energy to spare for it. The one exception is a youtube video shared on a sideblog that hasn’t totally been connected with the rest, but one you can find if you look at the drone sideblog’s pinned post. I haven’t used it lately, because of personal things around the holidays.

Either way, choose what you listen to with care and allow your mind to bend suggestions in whatever way you’re most comfortable with. Make sure a file does exactly what it says it’s supposed to, and nothing more. Jump into the middle of a file and preview the contents just to be safe, honestly. Look for transcripts of any given audio. And don’t be afraid to stop for a while if things go south at any point and come out of hypnotic trance, and figure out what triggered what. It’s incredibly likely you’ll stumble across things you didn’t see before that you’ll need to sort through. On top of just being a mess that needs cleaned up in the first place, you’ll develop trust a lot faster if you let others slow down as needed and not just rush in.

The drone-state of mind

This actually requires specifically and intentionally entering a state of depersonalization, just to be entirely clear on what you’re doing. But the key point is that you’re actually embracing it in a safe environment, set with rules of behavior and anything you can think of as reasonable fail-safes in case you need to act immediately for any reason. Because the interesting thing about dealing with any form of dissociation is that to heal from it, you need to have some form of control over it. By actually taking control of how you depersonalize or otherwise dissociate, you learn how to keep yourself grounded in the present reality better. A way to hide your face is incredibly helpful when you’re letting go of individual identity, but I’ve also found that it’s not strictly necessary if you can dissociate hard enough already.

You should put together a document beforehand that you can come to a collective agreement on. It doesn’t have to be fully comprehensive at the start. Just start with the basics and develop it from there. This will be your instruction manual, or whatever you choose to call it. Make however many copies you think you’ll need, because starting over any on kind of document isn’t fun.

Pick a single, consistent style of language to use for your drone-state that isn’t overly complex. Keep your instructions clear and concise, so that even in your lowest energy states, they’re easy to understand. It’s been a lot of ‘if ___, do ___’ and explaining the terms used, as well as the command phrases you go with. You should also make a habit of studying those instructions, and definitely do so as a drone. Because as a drone, that’s literally the only thing you’ll have any attention on in the moment, and since you’re in a very altered state of consciousness, it sets into your mind a lot easier. And don’t forget to consistently review your instructions, because things change and you will find yourself adapting them over time.

If you have someone you trust supporting your recovery in the external world, like a friend or family member or other care provider, you should probably give them at least a rough idea of your new method of stabilizing yourself. This can be phrased however you think is the most appropriate. I explain it, when talking about it, more or less that I’m treating my mind similarly to a computer, because the people around me know that I like digital technology. I already wear earbuds at least half the time, especially out of the house. It’s just a thing because I love music a lot. The right music literally helps me regulate my emotions. I don’t even mention the specifics, just that I’m using technological framework to understand how healing works for me. I halfheartedly blame my parents, and my dad in particular, because they were both nerds and tried to keep up with technology. Dad’s still at it now, 66 years old. He likes to be the Mr. Spock type usually, so emphasizing that I’m trying to balance my emotions with logical understanding works really well.

A long-term process

This will inevitably take a lot of time, depending on how unstable you are now. Do not try to put together a clear time frame to have this done by. I promise, you’ll take a lot longer than you initially expect to. I’ve been taking a break for about two months now because the holidays tanked my own stability, and I’m still picking myself back up from it. Especially when things are hard, give yourself the grace to slow down so you don’t overheat the system. It won’t help to try and speed-run becoming a perfect drone. *semantics mode* Perfection may be perpetual motion, but only at a rate that won’t destroy that which is in motion.

And to be honest, we literally just stumbled our way into using this to stabilize ourselves. So for us, this just started out with only a small cluster of parts bumbling around with often mature kinds of hypnosis fantasies partially in an attempt to work out the mess that is our sexuality and relationship with gender. At least, after a while. Until then, it was purely for escapism. We experimented with a lot of different things along the way, slowly progressing through different types of objectification from dolls to statues and whatever. Slowly, we did start to form ideas about what we wanted specifically, because we noticed how easy it had become for us.

We didn’t actually really consider being a drone until 2022. And then I’m pretty sure that was just me, as a specific part. Others slowly came around with time, waiting to make sure it wouldn’t be some disaster. And I’m not gonna lie, even I wasn’t so sure it would work out all that well. But to be honest, I feel like combining healing with pleasure is more effective than many people realize.

From my perspective, this is largely because of the dominant work culture. On that, the standard model of specifically US American Protestant work ethic is obsessed with work sucking so bad and being miserable. But you should enjoy the process of healing. If being a drone makes it easier and brings you joy, and you generally know what you’re in for along the way, then I don’t see the issue. People just get all worked up because it’s not considered normal to use a specific kink to heal trauma. It’s literally just purity culture bullshit, and just outright shaming people for being happy and making the best of a shitty situation. I had to spend ages working through that faulty logic about recovery with my therapist, because the assumption that it’s an entirely painful process is very prevalent in society. Sometimes it’s going to hurt, but then at other points, it should feel more like the best damn thing you ever did. Thinking it’s always about how much you’ve gotta drag yourself up and not enjoying the peaks you’ve already reached will only hold you back.

So with all that bumbling around, it only really became a thing to help with functioning in real life last February, and that was largely Lilu’s idea while we were fused. That was simply just about functioning through pain and general mental issues, and setting solid routines. More apparent efforts to integrate wouldn’t come until at least late summer when other parts more preoccupied with keeping things running behind the scenes took an actual interest. It took even more time to get more parts onboard with the whole thing, and we still have many that haven’t.

It was at least partially a joke, but Pandemonum was the one to suggest using the drone-state to help organize our mind better, with an offhand library comment. Because somewhere, I think with Zemyx and Isaac, the idea stuck. One of Pandemonum’s less present fragments, Bran, hangs out a lot in the library. It’d be easy for an idea like that to slip into the library crowd. Through a lot of convoluted events, such as Lilu directly delivering a challenge of shenanigans to Galaco (Sir) and Cyan, and then others finding it to be infectiously fun. The more parts we pulled in since late August, the more appealing using the drone-state to organize our mind became, so we could at least integrate our memories and straighten our life out. Aria emerged with a new form and gave us a new sense of psychological stability across connected parts.

And in external world, we were learning to get more involved in the community we live in, and get to know other people better. So by the end of the summer, we were really learning how to communicate with other people, as well. We found an incredibly supportive group of people from kinda all over the state I live in, who we share a lot of ideals with. So we were taking our growing social skills and using what we’d learned to reconnect to each other. The individual traumas getting strung back together into something intelligible was hard, but we had learned how to reach out to others and were able to get the help we needed.

One thing led to another, and our childhood friend picked us up to see Wonka at the mall on December 15th, to cheer us up. Alexiel decided on leaving the metaphorical doors wide open to broadcast the whole movie to anyone it could hypothetically reach. It was amazing. We even pulled parts out that were buried in the absolute depths, and got an even clearer picture of our earliest memories, psychological or physical ones, than we’d put together before.

Then, because we’ve been practicing radical acceptance for each other, Joshua decided to try and chip away at his own barriers. He’s a liminal part, one of the few able to pass between sidesystems with any amount of ease, because he enforced the rules directly the most. And it, ah, triggered a whole refresh of our childhood brainwashing that came right out of left field. It quickly became a situation of damage control when he began struggling to stay where he wanted to be by his own focus.

It was ultimately a lack of communication on our part, so we’ve been largely on break from being a drone for various things, but we had already been on a slow decline for a while. We simply had to entirely focus on stabilizing parts that had been refreshed in the weeks before Christmas. The reason our damage control actually went so well was we already proved our own competence at the beginning of December.

We were away from home at a membership assembly with the previously mentioned people from around our home state, and Ash managed to have his wits together enough to not worry about thinking and just stepped in to prevent an already stressful interpersonal situation from getting any worse. At dinner in the middle of our own meal, to the sound of someone falling out of their chair during a family dispute almost halfway across the cafeteria. It went surprisingly well and he was very clearly in control of himself the entire time. I think we’re all still processing that one.

And even if you don’t end up dealing with a lot of different kinds of complex trauma, it takes time to fully integrate all that you represent into that single network. We ran into a lot of errors along the way, as well has having to deal with restricted access to a lot of what kept us so dissociated. A lot of very explicit trust is involved because you’re basically backing everything of you up on what amounts to a shared cloud storage or server. For those of us that keep the connection running on a permanent basis, it also allows us to peek through their subsystems. It was how we started mapping even more parts to realize, yes, we do have several hundreds of parts simply because of, well, everything. But the silver lining is that we’ve finally gotten to clean the skeletons out of our closet and lay them down to rest and decompose. We’re learning what to actually do instead of dissociate from the situation completely.

Some final thoughts

Another key part of making all this work is that we’ve agreed to function without a singular point of authority or hive leader, despite how it might otherwise seem. Any shenanigans that do incorporate any sort of hierarchy are purely for shits and giggles. You’re agreeing to equal representation and responsibilities, in accordance with what you’re ready for. This will result in more equal access to your skills across those of you taking part. Think a very patient Borg, just without a queen (I got a fair bit of exposure to Borg propaganda in the last year or so because I follow someone who simps for them so hard and I initially just followed her for her general Star Trek posts).

The main reason I conceptualize it as robotic and digital is because it acts as a system based around at least speculative science, in contrast with the extreme religious nature of my trauma (and it brings really nerdy joy to do it this way). What I’m doing is conceptualized as altering my literal programming because it gives me a way to intentionally recondition myself with a healthier understanding of myself and the world. I’m a concrete thinker, so I have to conceptualize the process very literally before it produces any really tangible results.

Almost counter-intuitively given how technological it comes off as, it’s like a kind of magic. To explain it in a more mundane way, it’s a combination of logic, consistent methodology, conceptualization, and the placebo effect from your belief in that process. This is why reinforcing your conditioning with written instructions regularly is important, because you need to exercise those mental muscles as best as you can.

I tend to rely, perhaps hilariously, on things like western astrology and tarot as a structure for self-reflection. Engaging in rituals that harm no one are actually pretty important, because they’re methods of grounding yourself. In a way, dronification is also a ritual. You’re altering your state of consciousness very intentionally for personal fulfillment, to enhance your life experiences.

And I can’t overstate how important it is to remember that you don’t have to be progressing on a linear path all the time. Recovery isn’t a two-dimensional picture, and neither is getting the hang of being a good drone. Any changes you’re trying to make to your lifestyle will take time to settle into.

Take care and good luck

I wish you the best, and if you have any other questions, you’re free to ask. I probably won’t have an answer for everything, because I’m pretty much just making it up as I go along. But I’ll go as far as my logic and intuition can take me and try to point you in a decent direction. There is, of course, an amazing podcast episode from Off The Cuffs that I listened to in March of last year. It’s specifically episode 241--Unit 4015, which also helped me understand the appeal of the specific niche that dronification is.

I honestly wouldn’t be entirely surprised if it’s just generally attractive to people with dissociation, but that’s also, at this time, a purely personal speculation. You don’t have to take it seriously if you’d rather not. I’m just starting to ramble even more at this point. I really appreciate the ask and getting a chance to talk about the process. Going into detail about everything I’ve done with this helps me to process it and understand where I am now as opposed to before deciding to experiment. Honestly, thanks.

-Era 🍎😺

[thesumlax]

On Deviantart I titled this Dream Sketches page "A New Record" because 21 is the largest number of entries yet, and also because I spent the longest time procrastinating on posting them...

Also, I decided that the grid format with six drawings to a page makes them way too small for my liking. On the other hand, I tried a new method of cleaning them up, by meticulously painting the sketches with a selection brush so I can leave all of the dirt behind when I move them... and it does produce great result, but the time waste is crazy.

Anyway:

1) Something like a living cavern monster, with a rock shell and jelly-like flesh. It`s basically hollow inside, and its organs are semi-autonomous entities crawling among those giant papillae on the floor. The bubble-backed thing crawling out is a reproductive one, it produces some strange reproductive bodies that look like either fried eggs or sausages crossed with some unicellular organisms (2). They`re not sex cells, hovewer, but still multicellular structures more like gametophytes.

3) Giant sand-swimming dragon with a bunny face and some fucked-up sand-ship glued to its back.

4) Just a trio of little guys! May have been video game characters who have to escape some sort of bad place by using their abilities (umbrella, spinning hand, and a fucking gun) in combinations. They`re colored red, blue and green.

5) Some sort of sea creature calles something like "trychnotus" or "trychaetus".

6) Another sea monster that kinda looks like a rubber toy.

7) Ghostly transparent axolotl-creature.

8) An erect-limbed toad. For some reason it`s important to note that it is exactly 12 cm tall.

9) A gliding, stinger-tailed draconic creature.

10) A bear-like omnivorous therizinosaurid survivng to the modern day. Started as spec evo but suddenly tranformed into horror movie monster for some reason.

11) Tiny-headed deer-o-saurus.

12-13) Two weird pitch-black horses from two unrelated dreams. Number 13 had its eyes and those weird cracks glowing bright neon green.

14) Bizarre elephantoids. The pitcher-trunk is especially fun.

15) Allegedly some sort of early pterosaur.

16) Don`t really know what that is... Seems to be made of brown rock?

17) Now this was a dream about some superhero who could shrink down do bug size and interact with sapient bugs (of the freakishly human-faced cartoon variety). These bugs had cars, which were also bugs (pictured). Bizarrely, the bug civilization existed in the same exact spaces as human civilization despite the size difference, with human roads having lanes for bug-cars.

18) A giraffe-dragon of some kind?

19) Another thing I don`t even know the context of. The humanoid head does not have a mouth despite the teeth.

20) Something like a gorgon.

21) Pelican dragon. Apparently can spray toxic mist like a crop duster, presumably through pores in its pouch.

[tumbloggingattheendofitall]

Alrighty

(admin stuff includes : today is July 31st, 2024. I've been having this theory in some form since early in 2023, like about the month after the Return Tour completed in Japan. And it's finally come time to write down my potential prescience. I also want the record to show that in an effort not to shove my potential theory into the fandom's circuit, I'm posting this privately for now. I will make this public either after WWWY2 has finished, if my theory becomes the collective one before then, or if my theory is disproven before the time in which I have theorized.)

All said, there's a prerequisite understanding going into this. You must be willing to buy into the idea that MCR5 is Real and it is Coming. If you have that prerequisite met, other helpful things to have include

Knowing some MCR lore, broadly

Being aware of the specific ways MCR has been opaque and cryptic in the history of the band. Good examples include the lead-up to the Return announcement

The sheer time scale at which they Plan these things

Can't hurt to also know about Gerard's old interviews in which they talked frequently about the ways the Smashing Pumpkins influenced the trajectory of the band, and the ways that this directly contributed to the tinhatting of the fandom in the Hiatus Period

All to say, I believe that I'm being backed up by the methods that MCR have often taken to breadcrumb about their plans in ways that are effective, but only if you have a certain level of colloquial understanding of their particular style of dropping breadcrumbs. Which, in my experience, is a long haul sort of thing - less 100-meter-dash, more cross-country-marathon. Like the aforementioned Smashing Pumpkins inspo being used as the foundation for why exactly MCR would definitely be reuniting in 2019 - the original interviews mostly happened between 2007-2009 iirc, and that's still easily a year ahead of when the breakup really happened.

So. My theory, which is dated in its current iteration to this moment (but I'll backdate my officially going hard into it back to Halloween 2023 because I think that's about the time I realized how much the breadcrumbs of it all impacted my opinion here) begins with, duh, MCR5 is happening. I believe it, I Know it, and I won't be discussing the decade and a half of knowledge I'm using to make the claim, you just have to accept it. It's happening. The when and where are the big question marks, much the same way that pretty much everything about What's Next With MCR are also huge question marks.

I think I know the answer is what I'm saying. All this big preamble exists just to say, I think I know when and where and all the rest of the answers. I think I've known since... Ok I guess it's actually November 17 2023.

Theory : I believe MCR was a driving force behind the addition of Day 2 of WWWY Festival. I believe that the box office draw of this band gave them plenty of social currency they could leverage into legitimately getting a bunch of festival organizers to add a second day. I think the only caveat any reasonable event coordinator might have would be that the first date would have to sell out first before a second day could be added. I also think MCR aren't stupid and collectively were Aware that their presence at the festival would absolutely bring those sales through the roof.

I think they've had this plan since at least the Australian/Japanese leg of the Return, in some form. I think they may have finessed and altered it, may have even intentionally delayed it due to Frank's side time with LS Dunes - and perhaps a mosaic of other factors I don't have access to or knowledge of. But I think the plan is as follows with regard to what Will Happen. MCR will take the stage on Day 1 of WWWY2 and they will play The Black Parade, start-to-finish. They Will Not play the stage show that they killed in Mexico, in fact I'm willing to bet they will undersell their own theatricality for Day 1. This is important and intentional. I am willing to bet they will fill the time with B-Sides if needed - maybe even mixing the B-Sides with the original release. That wouldn't surprise me. The point is, I believe they will at least play KAYF and All The Angels. I Don't think they'll play anything from other eras on Day 1. But I'd argue that if they do, it'll be as an encore, a 3-piece-set encore. Blood isn't part of the encore by the way in this version of the set. Either it's the final song of an encore that's just their most loved B Sides after the entirety of Black Parade, or, it's the last song before an encore of 3 songs - Vampires Will Never Hurt You or Skylines and Turnstiles as the first, Helena, You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us, or TYFTV as the second, and Kids for the third. I'm willing to concede I have strong preferences for specific picks, but I also don't think it matters what is done there - I think what matters is, it'll be a 3-song encore set that the band finds emblematic of each of the Non-Black-Parade eras. Who knows, it could be all Non-Album Tracks. An encore could even just not happen - very like them, in some way. The point is, my theory is, Day 1 of WWWY2 is about being a prelude to Day 2, and underselling themselves in that prelude.

I think at the end of Day 1's set, the official site will be updated - next 5 tour dates will appear, or some other announcement if they're feeling generous, something cryptic à la the Return teaser if they're not. Again, this is a prelude - all window dressing, actually. It's why I think they're going to undersell their theatrical bent for this performance.

I think it'll cause uproar, of course, because people will wanna know why they went so Under Expectation, underperforming, whatever. I think the girlies and gays will be rightly Irate at the Horrors for the performance on Day 1. I think it'll be exactly what they said it would be right down the line, and the MCRmy collectively will be Upset. But hopeful.

I think day 2 will be insane.

You see, I remember exactly where I was when Foundations dropped, and I think that's the level of warning they intend to give for anything that comes next. It's not that they didn't leave breadcrumbs for Foundations, it's that until it had actually blindsided the collective MCRmy, nobody had the answer for what those breadcrumbs added up to, just a lot of guesses.

Day 2: they will open the performance 'as usual' with The End and, likely, Dead!. Maybe they'll be really cheeky as it were and get through Welcome To The Black Parade, but I think they'll monopolize their time, so they'll start like they did the night before, but with more theatricality (either marginally or overtly). I also think that by either the end of Dead! or WTTBP, The Thing will have dropped online. My hope and strongest theory is, no warning, they will drop MCR5 in its entirety online and then proceed to perform it in its entirety with the remainder of their set.

(Alternatively, they will still perform the whole thing, but the online drop will be a complete list of tour dates, and/or album announcement.

Otherwise, I could see an Ultimate Greatest Hits Mashup as the set, with either, both, or all being dropped online, either over the course of their set or as one giant Drop at some strategic point during or immediately following their performance.)

What will be dropped, and when, is still a lot of variables based on which breadcrumbs I'm parsing and in what ways I'm analyzing them. My strongest feeling, though, is that Day 2 will neither be a repeat of Day 1, nor will it have anything to do with The Black Parade except in that they're using that as a ... window dressing and prelude to what's Actually Happening. And while I'm willing to concede there's multiple possibilities for what's Actually Happening, I think there's some breadcrumbs that strongly suggest, What's Actually Happening is an album release party that will correctly shatter expectations and cause a collective MCRmy meltdown.

Anyway I kinda look forward to being proven so stupidly wrong, but God can you even Imagine if I were right? Lol

[brave-forest-dweller]

[Remember to give credit to when credit is due and all that will you?]

Ohhhh yeah this was supposed to be a blog with astrology and fortune telling in it wasn't? And I never did an original post about it. Then let's talk about one of my favorite parts about...

Elemental combos:

I was thinking about how certain combinations of elements can bring up certain commom traits among people. I wrote down combos of 2 so you can think of what happens when two different elements are brought together in a middle ground. These can be used to help interpret certain combinations of planets, luminaries, aspects and even planets with similar themes and different elements but it can also help interpret when there is a predominance of more than one element inside a chart of any sort. Plus, I believe it could also be helpful to interpret other methods of fortune telling that uses them, such as tarot cards (Fire for the Wands, Earth for Pentacles, Air for Swords and Water for Cups).

The combination of elements:

Fire + Earth = both determined, persistent and energetic. A combo about turning ideas and passions into something tangible and real. Tends use a no-nonsense and straight-to-the-point kind of approach. A "go big or go home" kind of person. Tends to bite more than they can chew. Usually very looked upon by most people. Thinks they have to carry things singlehandedly on their own.

Fire + Air = both independent, expressive, restless and deattached. Very hard to pin down and always on the move. Tends to look at things from a broader and/or generalized perspective. Likes to put their feet down, speak up to their minds and show their mark to the world. Possibly also hasty, too self-reliant and cut-through. Tends to be afraid of losing independence or their sense of individuality.

Fire + Water = both are temperamental, whimsical but very passionated and organic. Always wants to remain truthful to themselves, follow their instincts and what their heart tells them. Can have a very common touch to them. Could act a lot in the heat of the moments and be too impulsive. More focused on the "now" than on the "tomorrow", for better or worse. Both could also be very self absorbed.

Earth + Air = both are very logical, calm and cold-hard facts oriented. The "see to believe" kind of person. Neither are very openly mushy or passional. Neither likes to say what they really think or how they really feel to most people unless the situation is dire and/or requires reasoning. Both can have a very cynical nature. Always looking out for the outter world. Could overthink a lot.

Earth + Water = both are very nurturing, dependable and reliable. The kind that likes to look out for who they care about. Possibly either really guarded, introverted, hard to get to know or a combination of those. Very picky about certain things or in general. Very slow. Blends in according to their surroundings. Not the type that likes to stand out. Could be lowkey needy or simply be afraid of being on their own for too long.

Water + Air = both are very receptive to people, very ideas oriented and observant. Combines brains and heart. Tends to approach things in a more delicated, roundabout manner. Usually very underestimated by most people for not seeming very active, amongst other reasons. Both can know and see way more than they let on. But they could also be passive, distant, dishonest and/or secretive.

Just remember that these are just a part of how you interpret fortune telling. These are just some personal intepretations AND there are a lot of other factors that can alter them such as the aspects, the signs, modalities, how well developed or underdeveloped they are so these are not set in stone. Plus you're free to correct me if I'm wrong about anything in particular.

[princesscolumbia]

Pride Month 2024 - Day 6

I got so caught up in getting a chapter of Code of Ethics posted I almost forgot today's Pride Month entry!

So I'm delaying the Tumblr post for the new chapter until tomorrow so I can do this tonight.

And for today's Gender™️-fueled entry...welcome to the Omegaverse! 😈

Sunset Shimmer has the misfortune to stumble onto a human world that mirrors her home to an uncanny degree, save for one thing; it exists in The Omegaverse. These humans developed traits commonly associated with wolves. Alphas become the leaders and find mates with Omegas, Betas are the majority of the population. When Sunset Shimmer transited to this world, she did so via a magical portal that "rewrote" her base form, but there's a catch: Where any human to transit into this universe by a similar method, their own mythologies and histories usually include werewolves and the magic could pattern the visitor after the visitor's native Archana-canid Sapiens. Equestria has no such being in its history or legends. But there is one intelligent species in Equestria that is quite common and has the traits in its biology, social structure, and power dynamic to match the human world. Sunset must navigate an unfamiliar world in a strange body that seems to be betraying her at every turn, and Celestia must deal with challenges never before faced by an Alpha to keep her pack members and the secret to Sunset's unique nature hidden from the world. Because Sunset Shimmer is not an ordinary Alpha, she's a…Deviation

I cannot say my first exposure to the Omegaverse was in 2022 when I found my first Ranma 1/2 Omegaverse fic. I didn't, in fact, even know that it was an Omegaverse fic. I just saw a Ranma 1/2 fic whose premise was unknown enough to me that I might have actually found a Ranmafic I couldn't guess the plot and dialog for (long story). And upon being captivated by this creation I checked the tags to see if I could find other stuff that fell into the same category...and saw #omegaverse in the tags.

And now, a re-enactment of my reaction: "Wait, THAT'S what 'Omegaverse' means?!?!"

See, I'd been seeing the tags floating around various spaces online but didn't know what it meant, what it indicated, and legit thought it was just another franchise I hadn't heard of and didn't have the bandwidth or spoons to look up. Knock me over with a feather when I found out it was an entire meta-fandom all its own (like furries) and it was all about the Gender and was fertile soil for ALL SORTS OF COOL WORLD BUILDING!

Plus it means I giggle like a teenager hearing the number '69' when I hear the word 'knot.'

It's also the first fic I started experimenting with the custom CSS (called "work skins" by AO3) that let me do some cool stuff like this:

The same fic on FiMFiction (which had, once upon a time, been my preferred publication destination for my fics...but it's MLP-only, so I can't really post my Ranma or She-ra stuff there) doesn't look nearly as good:

That said, if you prefer the FiMFiction site for reasons that have nothing to do with fic formatting, by all means check the work out there using this link:

[whetstonefires]

Hi, I like your mdzs meta (and am interested in the hopefully forthcoming yzy meta) but even that of fandoms I’m not in (your final fantasy meta about the differences in canonical vs fanonical sartorial choices due to coding was enlightening, and I didn’t even know it was dark.) For the ask game: 🦷🐇 🦴 P.S. if you haven’t found it the eldest sibling cinematic universe is all tagged naruto?

thank you! :DDD i do meta posts primarily because i Have Thought that wants to be heard, but it's delightful for it to actually be wanted lmao.

i have filtered my blog for 'naruto' through three different methods without finding the ask where i was asked to crosscast mdzs and naruto. it is a Hidden Value for some reason. if someone finds it, please send me the link through dm or something.

haha only white things! three white items! tooth-bunny-bone.

🦷 ⇢ share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on

So when you own a lot of stuff it is so so important to store it in the most organized way you can manage, because the [task burden] of finding the desired item needs to be low enough to keep you from giving up on finding your own things when you want them, because that makes them useless to you.

This is especially important for things like craft supplies and hardware. Put the same kinds of things together, in a closed, clearly labeled container, with some kind of internal partitioning by sub-category, as much as you possibly can.

Take as much of the burden of locating your possessions off Future You as you can; I know it feels like a tiresome outlay of effort in the present keeping you from dedicating the time to actual [activity], but once you make a habit of it it's very much a stitch-in-time-saves-nine that will make [activity] more accessible to you.

This doesn't mean you need to Buy Product, although some of the stuff that's sold for organizing can be very useful. I keep all my embroidery floss in a small wooden chest I bought at a tag sale, sorted by color family into little plastic baggies. So it's fairly trivial now to go in and see 'what reds do I have?' choose one.

Then I transfer the hanks I'm using for my current project into the transparent plastic box with a snap-on lid I got for one dollar from Michaels Crafts, where the embroidery needles live fulltime, and bundle just that into a basket or bag with the hoop and fabric, while the rest of the chest can go back in the closet until it's time to put the remainder away again. Maneuvering the box physically in and out of the closet becomes the hardest part of accessing the materials.

The ability to pick up and move a whole project at once is also very valuable for anyone without like, a whole designated Crafting Area in their space. And for people who do have that, but are always being impeded by their own clutter.

If you have a basket or tray or something you can stack all of a given project onto and whisk away to clear your worksurface at need, you'll be much more likely to actually commit to working on that project when you want to, without feeling burdened by the future opportunity cost of having to completely finish and/or abort progress on it if something else comes up.

Probably not everyone gets stuck on that, especially people who only work on one thing at a time, but I think there are enough people like me that giving yourself permission to use the 'sewing basket hack' is valuable. There are big downsides to burying yourself in stuff in the effort to keep it all near to hand and accessible, but there are also definite, meaningful costs to having to put everything away in its Own Place every time you're interrupted, especially if you have trouble with any part of executive function.

🐇 ⇢ do you prefer writing original characters, reader inserts, or a mix of both?

Egad I have never attempted a reader-insert in the contemporary style. Honestly, I can't stand them.

Writing in the second person is all well and good for textural reasons, but as a way to 1) compensate for the evidently dreadful imagination skills of the audience and 2) shield the writer from responsibility for their own writing choices, I consider the 'reader insert' to be an overall cowardly and limiting construct.

I would much rather see a fic that instructs me to understand myself as a four-foot-tall electric blue parrot than one that attempts to narrate a 'me' generic enough to be plausible to any potential reader; when the 'you' is a giant parrot with discernible preferences and goals it is, of course, an original character.

In fact, so is every reader insert, they're just usually terrible ones. Attempting to write an OC with no traits is so sad.

Anyway I'm fully capable of projecting myself onto a parrot if I want. Otoh I'm not shameless enough to publish old-fashioned self-insert fic, which is a different less craven stylistic approach to the same goal, which is only partly because I was trained on anti-OC backlash and mostly because my standards are such that the few attempts are either 1) plotless exercises in self-gratification which aren't worth finishing once the fun part of drafting the entertaining scene is done or 2) agonizingly honest. I don't feel like being quite that honest with the internet, ty.

I love character creation though so OCs good yes.

🦴 ⇢ is there a piece of media that inspires your writing?

Like. Besides the obvious, given this is a fanfic ask game afaik? Uhm. Diana Wynne Jones' body of work; the way she structured the narratives of her children's novels so the inherent unreliability of any narrator was maximized and played a vital role in mediating between the story and the reader.

I am not naturally good at playing keep-away with information, but I recognize it as a vital writing skill because context is so vital to the experience of media, so I pay close attention to how this sort of sleight of hand is accomplished. I also really appreciated Jones' relative lack of talking down to her child audience.

[focuriousity25-blog]

Will literally pay to roleplay with someone who can do a decent Kirk Langstrom impression (Status: OPEN)

A little over a year ago I made a post advertising I was looking for a roleplay partner who could do an impression of the Trollhunters character Draal the Deadly, and said partner would receive $50, as a sort of thank you reward for the time and effort they’d dedicate to indulging all the storylines and little ideas rattling around in head lol xP

Since it worked out pretty well, I’ve decided to give it another go with a different character 🙂

This time I'm looking to roleplay with someone who can do an impression of the DC Comics character, Professor Kirk Langstrom, aka the Man-Bat. Specifically, a redeemed version akin to the Earth Prime variation who would later go on to join the Justice League Dark, who makes his latest appearance to date (to the best of my knowledge) in Batman and Robin 2023.

Just like last time, the volunteer will receive $25 immediately and $25 upon the initial roleplay’s completion. For your convenience, please allow me to once again up-front clarify these important points: 

* This is NOT an NSFW or romance/shipping-based in general type of roleplay; that isn’t really my style. I'm more the action-adventure with a dash of mystery and character-development kind of guy.

* While I do have a general plot in mind, it is completely subject to change depending on what the volunteer is comfortable with; in other words, I'm willing to work with you to take into account how you usually prefer to pace things or if you have your own headcanon details you'd like to include to make this an enjoyable experience to both participants.

* If worried about literation, well, not to brag, but I think you'll find I've got eight years worth of roleplay and storytelling experience, and my narrative abilities are second to none ^^

* I’ll reserve the right to cancel the roleplay and keep the remaining half of the money if I'm kept waiting for more than two weeks during RP turns/responses. I understand if you're busy or have other stuff going on, but please understand in turn that if you make me wait for days, days and more days on end just to get like a sentence…well, that’s just not very considerate  :l

* I usually use Discord to RP, as I find it to be a quick and efficient means of communication while also having the perfect conditions for roleplaying when considering you can create organized servers and channels. However, if the volunteer is more comfortable using a different format I'll adapt accordingly :)

* I generally use PayPal, but if the volunteer uses a different payment method, that’s fine, all I humbly ask is that you walk me through how it works if I’m unfamiliar with it.

* Upon contact and if you do wish to roleplay, I’ll give you one or two questions, mainly, a prompt I’ll ask you to respond to; this will just be a little practice scenario that will allow you to showcase your impression of what you would do in said-scenario as Langstrom. This will demonstrate to me that you understand the character and aren’t just rushing into this for the $50 without even having seen the shows or comics he appears in. 

Like before, if you’re interested in taking this offer, or, if you just have questions, feel free to contact me directly here on Tumblr or send me a message to my Discord ID, “gallifrey22”. If I do get a volunteer I’ll edit this post (marking it as “CLOSED”) to signify the position’s been filled. 

Once again, thank you so much for your time, hope you’re having a fantastic holiday season ^^

~HSeeker

P.S. To those wondering, this doesn’t mean I have shifted my focus from Tales of Arcadia to DC (in fact, expect the next ‘I Remember’ comic relatively soon ;) ), this is just a fun little thing on the side while future TOA content is still cooking in the metaphorical oven of imagination lol xP

[chronic-ghost]

10 & 22 for the weird writers asks. Please & thank you.

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

(this is bc of my url isn't it?)

had to think about this for a minute, because what is haunting? I think of it sort of as an echo, something in the past that reaches through time and changes the present.

I'm gonna say Carlos Ruiz Zafon's Shadow of the Wind. It's set in 1950s Barcelona and I was so moved and obsessed with this book, I studied abroad there. Turns out modern day Barcelona is just one GIANT party, which I was not expecting. However, on one of my last days there, I followed the map to the library in the book. It was off Las Ramblas, and you turn down just this one little alleyway. It was quiet from all the music and noise and other tourists. I just stood there for a bit and smiled.

My own work has haunted me because the idea that someone might find my old fic from high school scares the shit out of me 👻

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

Organized is a loose term. But Google Docs is a life saver because I can add my notes/thoughts/dialogue when I think of them (but I know I need an alternative, so if anyone has any suggestions, lemme know!). I used to do binders + notebooks, but a) I can type faster than I write and b) my handwriting is garbage.

As for the writing process itself, I use outlines for multichapter fics and I won't post fic until I'm at least 3/4ths of way through actually writing them out. Helps with catching any continuity errors and i can implant little things that have big impacts down the road. For oneshots, if I think of lines of dialogue, I'll capture them but usually they don't need an outline!

These were great questions! Thank you SO MUCH!

[jmflowers]

8, 9, 11, 14, 24 💗

8. Is there a story idea in your mental vault that you’ve never been brave enough to try writing? Is this the year? Can you tell us about it?

Oh, there are so many things puttering about in my brain. I’m really proud of myself for having written most of them down this year. There’s one prompt that’s been sitting in my inbox since June that I have tried several times to get started on and I’ve yet to be able to get it exactly right. I keep feeling slightly off-kilter once I get it going and I think that ultimately comes down to fear, since it centers on physical intimacy and I always shy away from writing things that could border into smut.

The thought was an exploration of a specific moment in time, one that was never mentioned in canon so it gives me a pretty ambiguous stretch of space to play with. And explicit smut was not requested, which is what makes my nerves around it so frustrating, haha. I’d like to use it as an opportunity to touch into a poem that’s been sitting in my inbox since May as part of the prompt party submissions, too. We’ll see. I think I just need to get over myself. Or talk through that moment in time over and over again until what I dream up feels really true to them.

9. Short term goals… what do you hope to complete this week or in January?

I have a monster piece that I’ve been working on for a couple of months that I’d like to finish before I head back to school next week. It’s sort of a sequel to Travel Light, in that it focuses on the trajectory of Beatrice’s life. I’ve nearly got part 1 (of 2? 3?) completed and I’m really looking forward to sharing it. It’s scary to post knowing part 2 hasn’t been started, but hopefully the first section will be able to standalone comfortably for a bit and then be a nice collection with the second section later.

11. Would you like to try any new fanfic genres or tropes this year?

I don’t know that I’m really a trope kind of writer. I definitely have a tendency to follow where characters take me and that’s rarely ever into fanfic-specific plot points or tropes. (I think?) I’ve been writing a lot of third person present tense for the last year, though, and I’d love to return to some of the more playful ways I used to write – specifically second person point of view. Writing in that format just tickles something in my brain that really challenges me and I don’t often get the opportunity to stretch those muscles.

14. Have you ever lost large chunks of your work in the past, due to not backing up your work? Will you change your methods this year?

Not writing so much, but I lost a ton of photos and documents back in 2012 when the hard drive in my computer got fried. I’ve been pretty good ever since – everything is backed up onto multiple external hard drives and anything I work on between both my laptop and desktop is stored on a cloud drive. School has trained me to be extremely organized with my files; I have no plans to change anything about my file management.

I did have a bunch of stories posted on FF.net back in the day and I went through years ago and removed anything that wasn’t complete that I didn’t intend to finish. I know I saved all of those documents, but I wish I had a clear record of what was once posted there. Occasionally an old reader will mention a specific story to me by title and I don’t usually have any memory of it.

24. By the end of this year, you want your fandom to think of you as “that author who ___.”

I’d like the fandom to think of me as an author who wrote something that brought them comfort. Right now, I write to create safe spaces for myself, and I share my writing so that other people can find some safe spaces, too.