#sophieakatz

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: How to Leave a Comment on Fanfiction

From the title of this blog post, you might expect what follows to be sarcastic: “Just type the comment and click submit!” But we all know it’s not as simple as that.

We – and by “we” I mean anyone who has ever read a fanfiction story on a website like Archive Of Our Own or Fanfiction Dot Net – we all know that moment when you’re on one of those websites, and you get to the end of the story, having loved that story very much, and your brain goes blank.

You, the reader, are paralyzed. You don’t know what to say. You don’t want to bother the writer! What could you possibly say that would mean something to the person who created this story that meant something to you?

So you don’t leave a comment. You click “kudos” or “bookmark” and make a hasty retreat, back into the anonymity of the internet.

But leaving comments on fanfiction is important. Comments let the writer know that there’s someone out there – someone for whom their work means something. And that’s the biggest, most effective way that you can get more fanfiction in the world – by letting writers know that what they’re doing matters. Sure, most writers get started because they like to write. But the thing that keeps them writing, and that keeps them sharing their writing in places where you get to read it, is knowing that it matters to someone other than themselves.

So that’s why I made a video series on TikTok (@sophieakatz) titled “how to leave a comment on fanfiction,” which I will now summarize for you in this week’s Thursday Thoughts. There are different techniques to writing comments, with different effects, and they’re all fantastic. Let’s go over three of them now.

1. Simple Praise and Gratitude

Here are some examples:

“Great fic! I loved it!”

“This story made my day.”

“Thank you for writing.”

“Thanks for the update, I really enjoyed it”

“Good work, writer!”

“Thank you for sharing this with us”

[thumbs up emojis]

[many different emojis including hearts and crying faces and just plain screaming AAAAAA]

Why is this a good kind of comment to leave on a fanfiction?

Praise and Gratitude comments are simple and get right to the point. They tell the writer, “Hey, there’s someone out here! I’m here! I liked your story!” They don’t take a lot of time or thought. They don’t need a lot of time or thought. But they make a BIG impact on the writer.

If something put a smile on your face, let the writer know, and you’ll return the favor. And then they might write more!

2. Quoting

Here are some examples:

“Oh my gosh, this fic was so funny! Here’s the line that made me laugh the hardest: [insert quote here]”

“When you wrote [quote here], I nearly cried”

“You write these characters so well! Like when this character said [quote here], it really sounded like they do in the show!”

“I don’t really know what to say so here are my favorite moments in this chapter: [example] [example] [example]”

Why is this a good kind of comment to leave on a fanfiction?

The specificity of a quote lets the reader know what kind of experience you had with the story. It allows both you the reader and the writer to relive some of the best moments in the chapter together. It lets the writer know that you were really paying attention to the words they chose. Best of all, it’s as simple as “copy and paste.”

If there’s a line in a fanfic that really stuck with you, let the writer know. It might make them write more!

3. Tell About Yourself

This is a broad category. Here are some examples:

“When I saw that this fic had updated, it totally made my day”

“I was almost late clocking into work because I was reading your fic in the breakroom!”

“This character you’re writing about is my favorite character ever”

“I can really relate to the way that you write this character”

“This is my favorite fic and I reread it whenever I need a pick-me-up”

“This fic helped me figure out that I was queer”

“I shared this fic with my friends, and they loved it too!”

Now, this kind of comment is harder to write. It’s more uncomfortable, more revealing. But as a result, it means that much more to the writer!

Writing is an act of vulnerability. The writer has put themselves out there for you. If you give some of that vulnerability back, it can mean the world.

I love writing fanfiction, but I would not have written so much of it over the years if not for people telling me how much it meant to them that I did it. Every example in this article comes from personal experience, sometimes as the writer and sometimes as the reader. “Thank you for sharing this with us” is my personal favorite comment to give – the best workaround to a blank brain. But when someone reveals something about themself and their experience with my story to me, that’s when writing fanfiction goes beyond something I do for fun and becomes something fulfilling and truly wonderful. A little communication goes a long way.

[ohthewhomanity]

Putting together some notes for the next few chapters of “And You Were There”

[wherethestoryhasimagination]

1. What made you write your WIP? 8. When creating the characters for your WIP, what came first to you? 14. Tell us about an upcoming scene in your WIP, that you’re excited about. 27. What is the best writing advice?

1. I started writing it because all the bits and pieces I’ve cobbled together into an idealized Fictional reality of Possibility Finally took shape as something undeniably my own… I know there’s the whole thing about authenticity vs Originality, but Still… Originality can be given an authentic story alongside it.

8. this might seem a bit backwards for ‘character writing’, but when first creating a character, I think of what I want to have happen eventually in the Story, and then try to figure out what kind of Person could have the motivations, the knowledge, the skills, the experiences, and so on, that could lead to them facilitating the eventual outcome of that event.

I especially do this for ‘antagonists’. what possible sequence of experiences, understandings, and desires could possibly lead to someone choosing to do this?

And, by proceeding backwards through how others may react to eachother, I end up with the root of my characters; all spread out, but eventually gathering together to support something incredible.

14. hoooo-boy! an ‘upcoming’ scene in my story that is a work in progress. this one is a real doozy, and I’m real excited for when it eventually comes to be…

3 scientists, gathered together, thinking they’ll make the world a better place… only, they have different definitions of a better place… when the 2 that the 1 gathered discover what is really going on, it is to late. The World is torn asunder. an absolute Ragnarok, as it splits, one half undergoing Blueshift, the other, Redshift; both having fundamentally permanent effects on the Worlds ‘beside’ them.

One Scientist follows with the half that Redshifts… This was not the reaction they had expected… and their Utopian Country atop a monolithic airship is taken beyond their reach. they are left with only the world they had tried to destroy.

the second tries to do all they can from the controls upon said ship, but it is all they can manage to limit the incredible damages to the living things within The World… to prevent everyone from being torn as the World is torn…

and the Third… they don’t make it. they neither Redshift or Blueshift… They bear witness to The World as Light and colour leaves it, and they see how that Light and Colour was the World… Is there anything… ANYTHING, that can be done, to preserve some part of their place here? they will try…

27. best advice… I think it is good to come up with a way that something in your story is supposed to work, and, find a way to make the extraordinary contain a recognizable amount of ordinary. The people in your Story have had this be a part of reality since reality existed. people will have tried and tested all kinds of things, as people do… you have some sort of violent beast that bizarrely has the power to help heal things that enter its shadow? people will try and see what part of the beast holds this power. they will see if they could string up some of the beast’s hairs around a light source, and get the healing effect that way. they’ll try shining different colors of light across it, and see if that changes anything. they’ll shine light upon the place it casts its shadow, and see if it still functions.

every conceivable way that people could try and use whatever they can get from this beast without being required to consistently try and get near it will be tried.

and then it will become ordinary to those who have jobs synthesizing flash-patches that function as magical bandaids… to people who harvest honey from bees that they managed to integrate the healing shadow ‘genes’ into… to the people who don’t even know that their medicine was once only obtainable via proximity to a violent beast…

of course, people don’t discover everything all at once… there are plenty of things that people may not have learned yet… and plenty of ways that other cultures might have learned differently…

But so long as the framework for discovery is there, you’ve left yourself Plenty for you and your characters to find along the way…

that is, If you WANT to write a story where the existence of a healing shadow monster is something you want people to think might have been important at some point in the world… If not, then…

It is perfectly fine for you to not have a reason for every last detail.

it is ok for magic to work because, ‘magic’. you can blanket your magic in one or two relevant restrictions that cover the needs of your story. reasons why your characters have to, or think they have to do something a certain way.

Not all Stories revolve around the World. in fact, last I checked, most Stories are made up of Main Characters.

Whatever you want to focus on, use everything else to enhance that focus.

‘When Rose gave up her physical form, The World had her become Steven because STEVEN needed to be Steven. Not because some preexisting, precise calculations on the nature of Gemkind as a whole said, yea, if this exact thing happened, you’d end up with a whole new person.’

‘When Aang froze himself in ice for years, he emerged just fine because Aang was supposed to be able to suddenly find himself in a whole new world. not because Avatar powers, or air bending, or such determined, yea, this is exactly how this would happen. you’re free to write it like that.’

Most stories have The World revolve around their Characters. Is this selfish? for the very physics of Reality to have been predetermined by some key interactions that some people that just so happen to live in the World would have?

Does it matter if it’s Selfish? No. No it does not. Consistency can be nice, but it is typically far more important for your characters to be Consistent than for the World to be.

Coming to understand something new about a Character has catalyzed far more hypothetical interactions and thoughts and fiction and art than coming to understand something about The World that facilitates Character interaction ever has. Even when something new about the world is given focus, it is usually under the lens of, ‘how could this affect The Characters’.

And when your Characters reach the Point where they have the ability to make some kind of change to the World… Well that’s just where things get interesting.

…

I hope this whole spiel that ended up longer than I thought it’d be is of some help in developing a Focus, and that it can help in getting a fresh perspective on Characters & World building. Thanks for sticking through to the end :3

[ducktaleslgbtquaranzine]

Calling all Duck fans!

We're pleased to announce that Because We're Family is officially available for download starting today!

This zine has been a true labor of love, and we're so excited to finally share it with the world. It's 82 pages of completely new work done by fandom artists and authors. Featuring:

Tumblr:

@nblenasabrewing, @spooky-crows-in-your-area, @trans-hueyduck, @webby-vanderslap, @pizzahorse, @azkre, @sophieakatz, @finkquacker, @fan-art-ic, @cuttlegear, @ravesinthesky, @analyticamethyst, @pearldefiance, @quetzzall, @snartled

Instagram:

pinkfluffylion, awphooey, phobohobo, straw_terry, Hotel.Detective

The zine is pay what you want, with all proceeds going to DirectRelief, a charity organization that has spent the past year giving critical support to countries and communities that have been struggling to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. This idea was born from an idle thought on how to make a zine, and then a later thought on how to give back to the community, and we're so proud of the result. We hope you enjoy it.

Get your copy here!

[arowrimo]

AroWriMo 2021 Roundup

Here is the compilation of all 48 works submitted to AroWriMo 2021!

We have a lot of variety this year - short stories, poetry, non-fiction, a play, song lyrics, a zine, flash fiction and some novel/novellas! Check out the impressive writing collected here and support the writers themselves - links to their other sites/accounts are included where possible. Give them a look/follow, and share the works you really enjoy!

Thanks to all who submitted and shared for a wonderful AroWriMo 2021, and I look forward to doing it again in 2022!

Play/Script

Leaving: A (very) Unfinished Stage Play by charcharcharace (blogspot)

Post, direct link (blogspot) Summary: A fractured personal narrative on entering and leaving an unhealthy relationship and the pain of being aromantic without that knowledge. Word Count: 1200 Theme: Humanity Language: English Genre: Personal CW: Depression, manipulation, unhealthy romantic relationship, processing self-blame

Novels/Novellas

Syrinxian Diamond: Chapter One by charcharcharace (blogspot)

Post, Direct link (blogspot) Summary: After a heist gone wrong, our hero is caught up in an interdimensional prophecy that just may bring them answers to the questions they don't know how to put into words, a feeling of difference, of not feeling right acting how they're supposed to act - but what other way is there to be? Follow our hero through desert ruins, the Wild West, a royal ball, and of course, a midnight trip to the library. Word Count: 2539 Prompt: Hope Theme: Fantasy, Ancient World Language: English Genre: Portal Fantasy, Heist CW: Unsupportive sibling, chapter one features the absence of knowledge of aromanticism, and doesn't feature aromanticism directly.

Oh, the truth shall set you free by @amanita-cynth

Summary: “I know exactly four things about Alway.” She said wryly. “She’s 23, a genius, she keeps at least three feet between her and other people at all times, and she can root out the truth like nobody else.” Of course, coming from another profiler, such an assessment carried a lot of weight. Eden Alway, the newest member of an FBI profiling unit, is odd even by their standards. But as they begin to pry more into her life and struggle with some of what they find, her past is racing to catch up with her and drag them into the storm that was her life. Featuring misunderstandings, odd behaviour, the constant problems of amatonormativity, and a rapidly escalating series of bizarre problems that they are in no way qualified for but definitely isn’t magic. Word Count: 11000 Prompt: Non-romantic Relationships, Self-reliance Theme: Fantasy Language: English Genre: Crime, portal fantasy CW: Romance, Violence, Gore, amatonormativity, religious imagery, mild body horror later on, currently a WIP

Lyrics

Embers by @clad-in-sunshine​ (Wordpress, Twitter)

Post, Direct link (tumblr), Direct link (wordpress) Summary: I’m terrible at picking titles. But I have been enjoying writing songs, and this is one I wrote for AroWriMo and the Valentines theme of ‘Love, Romance and Friendship’ at my local folk club. The middle part is entirely uninteresting to me, so this is more about love and friendship than anything else, and the various forms that can take. The tune is called 'Midnight on The Water'. Word Count: 479 Prompt: Non-romantic Relationships, Self-reliance Language: English Genre: Singer/songwriter, Folk

Games/Interactive Media

Superheroes Inc. by charcharcharace (blogspot)

Post, Direct link (blogspot) Summary: It's time for your first day as the Supervising Hero Response Manager at Superhero Incorporated, the largest collection of super heroes on the US West Coast. It's a big step up from your last job managing a team of five up-and-comers out of Chicago to supervising a nearly a hundred teams. Your priority, of course, is choosing which of the 12 big league heroes to have Shadow teleport to high crisis events. Word Count: 3000 Prompt: Future Theme: Sci-Fi Language: English Genre: Sci-Fi CW: Death, Bigotry

Comics/Zine

My Aro Heart: A Zine by charcharcharace (blogspot)

Post, Direct link (blogspot) Summary:   A short zine about loving the aro community. Word Count: 50 Language: English Genre: Zine CW: Love (non-romantic)

Flash Fiction

#3 by @fuckin-fudge-nutter

Post link, Direct link (google docs) Word Count: 304 Prompt: Future Theme: Defying Expectations Language: English Genre: Realistic Fiction CW: Mild internalized arophobia

A Moth And No Flames by @voidpunk.kenku on Instagram

Post, Direct link (toyhou.se) Word Count: 337 Category: Flash Fiction Prompt: Hope Language: English Genre: gaslamp fantasy CW: insects

Future by 27twinsister on Ao3

Post, Direct link (Ao3) Summary: Hikari would be alone forever. He liked that idea. The note contains my headcanons for Hikari and what the words mean. Word Count: 146 Prompt: Future Language: English Fandom: Ressha Sentai ToQger, Nonomura Hikari Genre: Character study CW: None

Loveless by 27twinsister on Ao3

Post, Direct link (Ao3) Summary: Takeru and Akari love each other (not like that, this is genfic). Mentions “ love potions or something” in one line. The note contains my headcanons for Takeru and what the words mean. Word Count: 231 Prompt: Romo/loveless Language: English Fandom: Kamen Rider Ghost Genre: Fantasy/Supernatural, hurt/comfort CW: None given

Music by 27twinsister

Post, direct link (Ao3) Summary: Shinnosuke didn’t like silence. He liked being in an environment with other people, or with background noise. That only caused a bit of trouble at home once he lived with Kiriko. Word Count: 223 Category: Flash Fiction Prompt: Music Language: English Fandom: Kamen Rider Drive Genre: Character study CW: None

Freedom by 27twinsister

Post, direct link (Ao3) Summary: Eiji likes his freedom. The note contains my headcanons for Eiji and what the words mean. Word Count: 140 Category: Flash Fiction Prompt: Freedom Language: English Fandom: Kamen Rider OOO Genre: Character study CW: None

Mirror by 27twinsister

Post, direct link (Ao3) Summary: Tsukasa doesn’t dwell in any world. He just stays for as long as he needs. The note contains my headcanons for Tsukasa and what the words mean. Word Count: 223 Category: Flash Fiction Prompt: Music Language: English Fandom: Kamen Rider Decade Genre: Character study CW: None

Hope by 27twinsister

Post, Direct link (Ao3) Summary: Haruto is nervous about coming out. Word Count: 150 Category: Flash Fiction Prompt: Hope Language: English Fandom: Kamen Rider Wizard Genre: Character study CW: None

Self-Reliance by 27twinsister (Ao3)

Post, direct link (Ao3) Summary: Tsubasa likes to be alone. The note contains my headcanons for Tsubasa and what the words mean.   Word Count: 161 Prompt: Self-reliance Language: English Fandom: Mahou Sentai Magiranger             Genre: Character study CW: None

Non-Romantic Relationships by 27twinsister (Ao3)

Post, Direct link (Ao3) Summary:   Jiro doesn’t know if his relationship with Yuki is romantic. But it’s special to him. The note contains my headcanons for Jiro and what the words mean   Word Count: 209 Prompt: Non-Romantic Relationships Language: English Fandom: Dogengers Genre: Character study CW: Romance mention

Non-fiction

Thursday Thoughts: AroWriMo Week 1: Romo/Loveless & Future by @sophieakatz​

Post, Direct link Word Count: 562 Prompt: Romo/Loveless, Future Language: English CW: Romance mention

The Future Is Arospec by aceofarrows

Post, Direct link Summary: This blog post talks about the nature of romantic attraction, why getting rid of amatonormativity is a worthwhile project, and how arospec people can help bring this about by getting involved in political activism and queer liberation. Word Count: 800 Category: Non-fiction Prompt: Romo/loveless, Future Language: English CW: None

Freedom and Music by @nzcienif

Post, direct link Word Count: 488 Prompt: Freedom, Music Theme: Defying Expectations Language: English Genre: Non Fiction CW: None Link: https://nzcienif.tumblr.com/post/642572547990421504/arowrimo-week-2-freedom-and-music Promo: https://nzcienif.tumblr.com/

The Demand for Freedom to Be Oneself  by @graces-of-luck​

Post, direct link Word Count: 363 Prompt: Freedom Theme: Defying Expectations Language: English Genre: Narrative CW: None

Thursday Thoughts: AroWriMo Week 2: Freedom & Music by @sophieakatz​

Post, direct link Word Count: 647 Prompt: Freedom, Music Language: English Genre: Non Fiction CW: None

Defying expectations by @aallotarenunelma

Post, direct link Word Count: 986 Prompt: Hope, Mirror Theme: Defying Expectations Language: English Genre: Essay CW: Romance, Amatonormativity

Aro Visions and Hopes by @penandquillcafe ( @aroacechillzone )

Post, Direct link Word Count: 729 Prompt: Hope, Mirror Language: English Genre: Nonfiction CW: amatonormativity, arophobia, loneliness (metaphor)

Thursday Thoughts: AroWriMo Week 3: Hope & Mirror by @sophieakatz

Post, Direct link Word count: 201 Prompt: Hope, Mirror Language: English Genre: Non-fiction CW: Romance mention, Sex mention

Relationship Anarchy and Hugs by charcharcharace (blogspot)

Post, Direct link (blogspot) Summary: Applying relationship anarchy to family relationships and hugs. Word Count: 522 Prompt: Non-romantic Relationships Theme: Defying Expectations Language: English Genre: Non-Fiction CW: consent issues, boundary breaking

Thursday Thoughts: AroWriMo Week 4: Non-Romantic Relationships & Self-Reliance by @sophieakatz

Post, Direct link (tumblr) Word Count: Prompt: Non-romantic Relationships, Self-reliance Language: English Genre: Non-fiction CW: Romance mention

Poetry

Untitled by @brilliantsnafu

Post, Direct link Word Count: 38 Prompt: Romo/loveless, Future Language: English Genre: Nonfiction CW: Bigotry, arophobia; amatonormativity

Little Boxes by anon

Post, Direct link (Google docs) Word Count: 456 Prompt: Freedom Theme: Choosing to be Yourself Language: English Genre: Poem/non-fiction

To My Dear and Loving... by @writingthingsilike​

Post, Direct link (tumblr) Summary: A poem about being aromantic but still wanting a life partner Word Count: 165 Prompt: Non-romantic Relationships Theme: Choosing to be Yourself Language: English Genre: Non-fiction CW: None

AroAce by Catolica (Ao3)

Post, Direct link (Ao3) Word Count: 254 Language: English CW: Choose not to use warnings

icarus' stone by @franzimaya  (@witchreyna on Twitter)

Post, direct link Word Count: 199 Prompt: Freedom Theme: Choosing to be Yourself Language: English Genre: Poetry CW: Grief

The End of the Rouse Family Tree by @turnovers-and-coke (@arbys-chocolate-turnover, Wattpad)

Post, Direct link Word Count: 144 Prompt: Mirror Theme: Choosing to be Yourself Language: English Genre: poetry CW: None

Care, uncoupled by @graces-of-luck

Post, Direct link (tumblr) Word Count: 149 Prompt: Non-romantic Relationships Theme: Humanity Language: English Genre: Free Verse CW: Romance

Human = ( X - Y ) / Z by charcharcharace (blogspot)

Post, Direct link (blogspot) Summary: A poem about human essentialism Word Count: 129 Theme: Humanity Language: English Genre: Poetry CW: Mentions of essentialism and touches on dehumanizing ideas

Short Stories

Chasing Shadows by @secret-arrow-man

Post, Direct link Summary:  A questioning aro discusses relationship problems with an old friend. Word Count: 660 Theme: Choosing to be Yourself Language: English Genre: Fiction CW: Romance, Alcohol mention

My Valentine by @bimboztown on twitter

Post, Direct link (Google docs) Word Count: 305 Category: Short Stories Theme: Choosing to be Yourself Language: English Genre: Coming of Age CW: Suicide attempt mention

Made on the Shore by @clad-in-sunshine 

Post, Direct link Summary:  Cora had never had much interest in people, and had chosen to live alone on the shore for years by this point. When a ship sails close, she has to deal with both her interest in it and the Captain’s interest in her. Based on the song ‘Fair Maid on The Shore’. Word Count: 2129 Prompt: Romo/loveless, Future Theme: Choosing to be Yourself Language: English Genre: Fiction, Ambiguous historical fiction CW: Romance, Guns, Alcohol

What is given by @amanita-cynth (Ao3)

Post, direct link Summary: A short exploration of a woman helping a traumatised, adopted girl come to terms with her newfound freedom. Word Count: 5645 Category: Short Stories Prompt: Freedom, Music Theme: Choosing to be Yourself Language: English Genre: Mildly Science Fiction CW: mentions of human experimentation

Lady in the Mirror by @amanita-cynth (Ao3)

Post, direct link (Ao3) Summary: Everyone knows the story of the lady in the mirror. How she picks those she appears to is unknown. What she offers and why it is offered is similarly a mystery; those few that have interacted with her and speak of it are reluctant to share details. Maybe that is why the stories are so well-known, so far-travelled. The mystery calls to people and they want to believe they can solve it. Word Count: 1799 Prompt: Hope, Mirror Theme: Choosing to be Yourself Language: English Genre: Fantasy CW: None

Lights, Camera, Aro! by charcharcharace (blogspot)

Post, Direct link (blogspot) Summary: An aromantic actress is conflicted over how to engage with a romantically coded improv challenge. Word Count: 1885 Theme: Choosing to be Yourself Language: English Genre: Literary CW: a ghost, pressure.

Dark secret love by @aallotarenunelma

Post, Direct link (part a), Direct link (part b) Summary:  What if an aspec Wicked Lawless Love MC was paired with the incubus Sascha? Word Count: 6941 Language: English Fandom: Wicked Lawless Love (Lovestruck app), Sascha Orosco x MC (Suna) Genre: Fantasy CW: Death, Romance, Sexual content

Thought That Cupid Shot Me With Love But It Was Only An Aro by @entity9silvergen (Ao3, FF.net)

Post, Direct link (Tumblr), Direct link (Ao3) Summary:  Soulmates were supposed to be the other half of your soul. Your one true love. Ino always dreamed of finding her soulmate. Sai never wanted one. Still, they cared for each other so they were going to make it work. Somehow.

Word Count: 10000 Prompt: Romo/loveless, Future Language: English Fandom: Naruto. Characters: Sai, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi Genre: Friendship/ Relationships CW: Mentioned Canon Death, Minor Aphobia

Mosaic by @entity9silvergen​ (Ao3, FF.net)

Post, Direct link (tumblr), Direct link (Ao3) Summary:  We are just mosaics of everyone we love and that mosaic shows everyone we love how beautiful they are. Bean doesn’t think she can love like everyone else but maybe that’s okay. Word Count: 2000 Language: English Fandom: Disenchantment. Characters: Bean Genre: Friendship, Self-Reflection CW: Internalized arophobia,  some self-deprecation, sex mention, drug mention, mention of canon interspecies relationships in fantasy setting Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29230041 Promo: entity9silvergen on Ao3, FFN, and tumblr

We Dance To Fast Music by @entity9silvergen​ (Ao3, FF.net)

Post, direct link (tumblr), direct link (Ao3) Summary: Zuko didn’t like to dance. Neither did Mai. But Ty Lee did and they’d do it for her. Fortunately for them, Ty Lee cared about how they felt and wanted to show them just how wonderful music could be. All Zuko and Mai knew were slow dances, the things of ballrooms and romance. Ty Lee only knew the dances of friendship, freedom, and fun. Word Count: 8000 Prompt: Freedom, Music Language: English Fandom: Avatar The Last Airbender. Characters: Zuko, Mai, Ty Lee, Sokka, Suki, Aang, Katara, Toph Genre: Friendship CW: None

Oblique  by @entity9silvergen (Ao3, FF.net)

Post, Direct link (Ao3) Summary: Unable to experience romantic attraction, Remus feels incomplete. Unable to feel sexual attraction, Roman feels less than. Maybe as the King, they decide, they will feel whole again. Their partners and friends, however, know this isn’t the solution and seek to help them realize there’s nothing broken about them before it’s too late. Word Count: 12000 Prompt: Mirror Theme: None Language: English Fandom: Sanders Sides. Characters: Logan, Patton, Roman, Virgil, Nate, Remy, Emile, Seth, Toby, Janus, Remus, Unnamed Orange Side, Romulus, Dragon Witch Genre: Friendship, Hurt/ Comfort CW: Romance, Sexual content, Violence

He Is Mild And He Is Meek by @entity9silvergen (Ao3, FFN)

Post, Direct link (Ao3) Summary: He is mild and he is meek, he is Momo and he is what I seek. Suki always wanted three things in life. One was to become a professional soccer player. The second was to live in a cute apartment filled with succulents. The third was to get a cat. Momo probably wasn’t anyone’s first pick as a pet but Suki was determined to get this cat to love her as much as she loved him. If only he’d accept he had a home now. Word Count: 6500 Prompt: Non-romantic Relationships Language: English Fandom: Avatar the Last Airbender. Characters: Suki, Momo, Sokka, Aang Genre: Friendship, Hurt/ Comfort CW: Mention of sex, non-excessive swearing

sick of all those love songs (sing to me about my friend on the moon). by nwhrs

Post, Direct link (Ao3) Summary: Johnny has always tried to follow the game, Ten has always stood out like a sore thumb, Chenle has always been quite vocal about himself, and Jisung really has absolutely no idea just what is going on (or does he?). And this is just a little part of their story. Word Count: 16413 Prompt: Non-romantic Relationships Theme: Choosing to be Yourself Language: English Fandom: NCT // Park Jisung, Zhong Chen Le, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten, Suh Youngho | Johnny Genre: Slice of Life CW: Romance, Discussions of romance & amatonormativity

he loves you (he loves you not) by @ternaryflower53

Summary:   "Who's your companion?" the man asks.   "This is Jango," he says, not adding his last name. They have a false one, a name Jango sometimes uses in undercover missions when he doesn’t  want to risk being recognized as the Mand’alor’s son, but better if they can avoid using it. "He's my husband."   The man frowns down at his datapad, then looks up to study Jango. "I wasn't expecting you to come with a partner, Master Jedi."   or, jangobi fake dating au, but make it aromantic. Word Count: 6270 Prompt: Non-romantic Relationships Language: English Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jango Fett) Genre: Fanfic CW: Romance, fake/pretend relationship, request to be in a romantic relationship that gets shut down

[wallecalendarproject]

Hi! The year's almost over and I'm really going to miss my daily dose of WALL-E screenshots! Your project has brought me so much joy! Do you have any plans for what you're going to do next? Also, would you be able to recommend any other WALL-E blogs that I could follow? the fandom is so small, any blog that still posts about it nowadays makes me happy:)

Hi again!

Well, I have to give a shoutout to @walleandeve who has reblogged every single one of these calendar posts all year. Props to them.

I don’t have any calendar or screenshot-based plans at the moment... This whole thing came from a whim I had long before I knew how difficult this year was going to be, and I queued everything up well in advance, so seeing it pop up on my dashboad has been a source of joy for ME as well. That’s really how it should be for any project, though, you know? It should bring you joy for making it. And then if it brings someone else joy, too, well, that’s all the better. It makes me think of WALL-E, now that I type it out. Everything he did, he did because it gave him joy. Not because he had any idea that it would impact other people at all. But it did. It really did.

If you want to keep tabs on me, my personal blog for random fandom stuff is @ohthewhomanity and my writing blog is @sophieakatz . I’ll probably do something WALL-E related again on one of those blogs in the future. It’s been my favorite movie since I first saw it in 2008. I talk about Disney movies quite a bit on my writing blog.

[throuthewindow]

This week, we spoke with our very own host Sophie Katz who loves Fairytale Adaptations! You can click the link to listen. We're also on Apple and Spotify podcasts. You can follow Sophie on her social pages, Twitter @StoryKatz, Instagram @sophieakatz, Tumblr @sophieakatz​ 

*The author Sophie references is Rafe Martin, who is the author of Birdwing.* 

Don't forget to the hashtag #LoveThisThingCast to tell us about the things you love 

[ohthewhomanity]

The stuff I reblog is here (hi), the stuff I post is @sophieakatz

writeblr seeking writeblrs

welp, the people i followed two years ago have long since moved on. hi everyone, i’m max and i write about working class people in fake universes!

if you post:

original fiction

fantasy or sci-fi

scripts, webcomics, screenplays, or poetry

philosophy or mathematics

writeblr or bookblr Content

reblog this and let’s become mutuals! and tell me about your current projects in the comments so i can check them out!

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: Moving On With Toy Story 4

My intention was to polish this out but I’ve been in a funk all day, so have some raw and rambling Thursday Thoughts.

Let’s start with a brief spoiler-free review. I’ll get into spoilers below the cut.

Every step of the way, Toy Story 4 did not do what I expected it to do. It repeatedly chose new directions over old trends, and I came away feeling both grateful and impressed.

At the same time, this story kept continuity with the previous films very well. The characters and world felt comfortable and consistent.

While I like the direction the movie ultimately took, I don’t think I’m ever going to be completely behind “character continually tries to throw self in garbage as comedy” as a concept. Especially given how the Toy Story franchise previously established extremely negative connotations for “trash” and being “thrown away.” This movie raises some uncomfortable philosophical questions about the Toy Story world which I would expect to be played with in the realms of fanfiction and Reddit threads, but which don’t seem appropriate to me to be grappled with in the actual canon content.

That said, I was pleasantly surprised by the way that this movie, in a brief line of dialogue, redefines the concept of trash, taking one of those new directions that I alluded to before. It felt like too little too late for me to entirely like the concept, but it is a positive note. Similarly, Bo Peep is beyond awesome in this film, and the sheer number of incidental female non-villainous characters in this film blows ordinary standards for male-to-female film ratios out of the water, but it all feels like too little too late to call the franchise as a whole “feminist.”

Another pleasant surprise was the ending of the film. Toy Story 4 delivers a concluding note to the overarching Toy Story franchise that is just as cathartic and satisfying as the ending of Toy Story 3, albeit with a much different message. So now we have a franchise with two endings. This irks my inner writer – I’m a firm believer that stories should have a solid beginning and end, and then we should move on to other stories. A story that ends twice is awkward. But I also really like both endings, viewed separately from each other, for different reasons.

There will be a picture here (of the Toy Story 4 movie poster), and a “read more” cut, and then spoilers!

I said earlier that the Toy Story franchise is not as a whole feminist. That said, Toy Story 4 on its own is a feminist film.

Toy Story 4 is the story of a man realizing that the world does not revolve around him anymore, and that it might never really have revolved around him, and that that is absolutely a good thing. Where Toy Story 3 defined Woody’s emotional journey as growing to let go of Andy, Toy Story 4 transforms his journey into letting go of his purpose (as a toy who supports and is loved by a specific kid) and finding a new one. And that new purpose he finds is making sure that other people – primarily women – get what they want and find their own purposes.

At the end of the flashback that opens the film, which explains how Bo Peep was given away, I turned to my boyfriend and said, “Wow.” Not because of the stunning animation, or the fantastic music, or the nostalgia inherent to seeing the gang in Andy’s room once again – but because Bo asks Woody to come with her. Up to this point, Bo Peep did not have a personality outside of Woody. She was exactly what Andy imagined her to be – his damsel in distress. Every single line of dialogue she had in the first two films were either to Woody or about Woody. She had no desires, no independence.

The opening of Toy Story 4 makes it crystal clear that Bo is her own person. She’s quickly established as the leader of Molly’s room, just like Woody is the leader in Andy’s, and she’s an equal participant to Woody in the rescue of RC. Plenty of films would leave it at that, making Bo a female equivalent to Woody. But Toy Story 4 has Bo take things one step further. When Woody tells her to hide and stay with him, she tells him no. Molly and Andy don’t need her anymore, so she’s going to move on to the next kid who does need her. And then she asks Woody to come with her. He doesn’t go – he’s still too attached to Andy, and to Andy’s need for him. But the fact that Bo asks at all, rather than putting Woody’s wishes first, is a big deal.

Fast forward to the end of the film, and once again Bo doesn’t want to stay with Woody and his kid, and once again Bo asks Woody to come with her. This time, she gets what she wants. She remains a “lost toy,” she gets to see the world, and she gets to have Woody there with her.

Bo isn’t the only female character whose desires drive the plot of the film. Woody’s motivation for most of the film is to keep Bonnie happy. This means sitting in the closet when she doesn’t want to play with him (side note – I smiled when Bonnie took the sheriff badge off of Woody and put it on Jessie instead. I used to do the same sort of thing with my toys, taking the hair off of the Playmobil princess and using it to turn the knight into a girl. Where we don’t have representation, we make our own). This also means keeping Forky around.

Forky. Oh, Forky. I don’t really have much else to say about him besides what I said in the spoiler-free part of this review. I did really like his and Woody’s conversation while walking along the highway. In Toy Story 2, “trash” was a zombie-hand hellscape. In Toy Story 3, the garbage dump was a Holocaust-style death camp. Toy Story 4 puts “trash” in a more positive light – “you’ve fulfilled your purpose.” It’s said once, and passed over very quickly – from that point onward, Forky seems 100% on board with being a toy, and the word “trash” is hardly used again. I wish they’d established this concept earlier in the series somehow, but I’m not sure where I would have put it.

The point is, Forky doesn’t get what he wants, either (unless we assume that he wants a female companion, which… really, post-credits-scene? Really?). Woody wins him over to the cause of making sure Bonnie gets what she wants.

And then there’s Gabby Gabby. She was another pleasant surprise. At first she seemed cut from the same cloth as other animated villains – Lotso Huggin’ Bear from Toy Story 3 is a good example. She wants what the hero has, and is apparently willing to kill in order to get what she wants (that scene where the dummies are ripping Woody apart – dark stuff!). I actually laughed a lot during her scenes, because of how the movie overly plays into villainous tropes in her early characterization, and horror tropes for the dummies. I sighed and rolled my eyes when it became clear that Bo and Gabby already hated each other – girls just aren’t supposed to get along in movies, are they. Gabby uses Forky to learn enough about Woody to convince him to give her his voicebox, but she gets rejected by the child she’s been idolizing regardless.

And I waited for Gabby to snap, to turn monstrous, to try to destroy Forky and Woody, and for the film to summarily punish this woman for daring to take something away from the male hero by trapping her in a shelf or sticking her with a kid who likes to torture toys or something.

But none of that happened. Gabby isn’t evil. She genuinely does want what Woody’s been so fortunate to have – a loving relationship with a kid – and Woody recognizes this, and decides to help her. Gabby Gabby gets a happy ending, with a new child, a new voice, and a new life.

This film could have ended with Woody getting everything he wanted. He could have kept his voicebox. Bo and the other “lost toys” could have come home to stay with Bonnie. For a while, it looked like these things might happen. But they didn’t.

Instead, Woody changed what he wanted. He rededicated his life to making sure that other toys and kids would get what they wanted. He goes on to help the other carnival toys find kids of their own, if they want them, and lives happily with the “lost toys” who don’t want them.

If there’s a villain in this film, it’s Woody’s single-mindedness – that’s what keeps getting other people and himself hurt as he pursues his goals in the first two-thirds of the film. Things start to go right when Woody starts to give up pieces of himself and his identity. Him giving his voicebox to Gabby, and later giving the sheriff’s badge to Jessie, are symbols of someone who has had success recognizing that it’s time to pass the torch to someone else, recognizing that what was once “his” world no longer needs him, and accepting that that is alright.

Where Toy Story 3 closed the circle, Toy Story 4 steps forward into a new world. Both are satisfying to my writer brain, albeit for different reasons. My inner social justice warrior is a bigger fan of the latter.

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: A Part Of A Whole

I spent the past few months stage managing a play. Throughout the run, when I told people that I was involved in a production, they nearly always asked one of two questions: would I be performing on stage in this show, and did I plan on auditioning to perform on stage in future productions.

My answer to both of those questions was always “no,” leading to the inevitable follow-up question, “Why not?”

At first I was confused about why people kept asking me this, because I really don’t think of myself as an actress.

I have acted in the past – in elementary and middle school plays, and a musical freshman year of high school. And I’m definitely not a victim of “stage fright” – I’ve been performing in band and orchestra concerts, summer camp talent shows, and reading at open mikes for basically my entire life if you count the little “plays” that my siblings and cousins and I put on for our parents.

Upon thinking about it, I can see why people might look at me and think “actress.” My love of theatre is obvious; most of the songs saved on my phone are from musicals. I write plays and love to go see them. I’ve been stage crew, production assistant, and stage manager of many shows through schools and community theatres. I enjoy storytelling and thinking about characters. At work, I’m a bit of a clown, with jokes and shtick I’ve developed to entertain both kids and adults in the theme parks.

I could be an actress. And when I was little, I thought I would be – the word “actor” is in that first email address I ever created, which I still use sometimes.

But I don’t want to be. I haven’t for a long time now.

“Why not?”

Let me ask a question right back – why do you assume that because I love theatre, I should want to act?

I know the answer – because acting is the most visible part of theatre. Actors are quite literally in the spotlight. Actors get the cheers, the flowers, and the bows. You wait by the stage door for the actors. “Best Actor” and “Best Actress” are the most-talked-about Oscars besides “Best Film.”

So of course, when most people hear “theatre,” they think “actor.” It’s the most obvious thing to be. And unless you’re involved in theatre, it can be easy to forget that it isn’t all about the actors.

Theatre is an inherently communal activity. It cannot be done alone, not even if it’s a one-man show. A theatrical production involves writers, directors, designers, builders, artists, technicians, stage crew, house managers, and stage managers – and those are just the first nine categories to come to my mind, all important and essential. I was shocked when the script for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was released in book form, because there was no way that simply reading the script was going to provide a complete experience.

The communal nature of theatre is one of my favorite things about it, if not the thing I love most about it. Theatre is people from a multitude of disciplines coming together to bring a story to life. At its best, theatre is supportive, welcoming, and collaborative. When you are involved in a production, you are a part of a whole. And I love being a part of a whole.

I love being able to see my place in a system. I love knowing how my work enables other people to do their work. I love being an extra set of eyes and ears for the director and actors, and I love having other people – designers, technicians, and stage crew – to be an extra set of eyes and ears for me. I love handing my script to other people and seeing how they use their individual experiences and skills to bring it to life in ways I could never have imagined on my own, and I love watching other people’s performances and giving them suggestions on ways to change it that they had never imagined before. I love that give and take, that interconnectedness, that feeling that everyone is lifting each other up instead of trying to grab fame for oneself alone.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m a proud person. I want to be important, essential, and valued. But I don’t need to be the center of attention to have those things.

I don’t need to be the star; I need to be a part of a whole.

If I am a star, then I am a part of constellations, not someone who shines alone.

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: Why “I Don’t Care What You Are” Is Less Than Supportive

“I’m not racist; you could be purple for all I care.”

“Gay, straight – I don’t care what you are, as long as you’re a good person.”

“Be whatever religion you want; it doesn’t matter to me. You do you, and I’ll do me.”

You’ve probably heard another person say one of these lines, or something like them. You may have even said them yourself. I know I said them, before I started thinking about how lines like these made me feel.

These “I don’t care” lines are a common way to express a lack of bigotry. I most often hear a line like this when I talk about asexuality, especially if I mention my experiences with people telling me that they don’t think asexuality is real. “I don’t care what you are,” my friend/coworker/family member says with a smile.

Now, I know that the intent of an “I don’t care” line is to show support for another person. The intent is to indicate that a certain trait that that other person has does not bother the speaker.

But I’m not talking about intent here. I rarely do. I’m talking about impact.

Here’s the problem with you telling me that you “don’t care” what I am: I care what I am. I care very much. The various “whats” that I am affect the way I experience the world. They shape my values, and they have a significant impact on my place in society. It matters that I am aspec, that I am Jewish, that I have white skin. It matters to me, and it matters to the world.

Saying that you don’t care does not help me. It tells me that you don’t want to think about the ways that we are different. It erases the importance of the things that make me, me.

I don’t want our differences to bother you, but neither do I want you to pretend that our differences do not exist. I want to be able to celebrate my heritage with you. I want to be able to compare experiences with you, and gain a more complete, multifaceted view of the world as a result. I want to know that you understand that our society has unjustly hurt me for some of the things that I am, and unfairly boosted me for others. I don’t want to be seen as a blank slate – I want to be seen for all the “whats” that I am.

I want you to care, because I have no choice but to care.

After first posting this Thursday Thoughts, a reader asked, “What is an appropriate alternative comment that would have a better impact?”

This of course will vary based on the conversation that you are having, but a good starting point is, “I love you for who you are.”

Other useful comments are “I hear you,” “I believe you,” or “I’m sorry they did that to you; how can I help?”

The important thing is to 1) acknowledge that their experience exists and 2) express that you are there for them, not there in spite of them.

[lenka-mok]

Oh wow, this is beautiful!

Thank YOU for all of your incredible work!!! As someone who also shares this dream, I’m so excited and glad that we were able to help you achieve your first (of many, I’m sure!!) taste of it. Starcruiser has been a huge source of creative inspiration for me, and you should absolutely take credit for that. I’ve had so much fun creating fan content - from fanfiction to tiktoks to cursed memes alike - and I’m so happy to hear it brings you as much joy as it brings me.

To get personal for a sec, I actually know what it’s like to write on a story that isn’t yours. A couple years ago, I was assigned to the writers room of a film project at my university. The story was created by someone else, and it was my (and two others’) job to help her flesh out the story. I completely understand those complicated feelings of semi-ownership, and of things you created living and evolving past your original concept. I wrote lines that made it all the way to the final film. I had scenes I worked on rewritten to the point that only the bare bones premise remained. I gave characters new traits that they didn’t have before. I watched characters’ personalities and demeanors completely shift when our cast picked up their scripts. That was my first time experiencing something like that, and it was a roller coaster that I’ve learned a lot from.

But the point is: I get the feeling of ownership-but-not, because I exited that experience with the hope that the next time my university did a project like that, it would be my story, one that I created, that got the same treatment. Unfortunately, as of a couple weeks ago, I can now confirm that’s not how things panned out. But just because it hasn’t happened doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Getting the chance to pursue my story with my university may no longer be an option, but there’s a whole world beyond that where I could receive a similar opportunity in the future.

But for now, I will just continue to work on my Senior-level Fiction class, for which I have somehow managed to finesse my way into not only writing a script (it’s a prose class), but also into writing a speculative Raithe and Gaya Disney+ show pilot. Dual purpose assignments kids, I was gonna write that story anyway, might as well get a grade for it lol

You’re so cool and I’m so honored to be able to say that I know you @sophieakatz 💕

Thursday Thoughts: Fanfiction Feelings - Reflecting on the Starcruiser

I’ve written here before about how I don’t really like making “five-year vision” kind of statements. But I do have certain scenarios I imagine for my future – experiences I dream of that will let me know I’m doing the right thing, that I’ve “made it” (for lack of a better phrase) as a writer and a storyteller, and that I’m living the kind of life I want for myself.

For example, there’s the scenario of me standing in a crowd in front of a stage, surrounded by people who don’t even know I’m there, but they’re all super excited about the show that’s happening on that stage – a show that I wrote. I’ve lived that scenario a couple times now, and I can’t get enough of it.

But there’s a scenario I’ve been looking forward to even more than that, and I got a little taste of it the other day.

Keep reading

[sophieakatz]

I’ve been too busy to write this week - I’m stage managing a play, and we’ve been in tech! So tonight we have a throwback Thursday Thoughts to my Odyssey days. Expect some longer Thoughts about Toy Story 4 next week!

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: The Sun

Do you think the Sun knows what it’s doing?

Is it aware that it is at the perfect temperature, and the perfect distance away, to warm our planet?

Does it know that that warmth gives life to millions of species, billions of individual creatures?

Can the Sun tell that its light enables sight, or creates color?

Has it heard that its solar flares can disrupt electronic devices, and might one day destroy the planet?

Does it see that as it appears to move across our sky, its many phases – sunsets, eclipses – are a source of wonder?

Has it wondered whether its rays can cause cancer and burns?

Can it perceive that its very presence in the sky has inspired mythology and song, that it has been worshiped and revered, that its absence is associated with loss and fear?

Does the Sun know? Or are all these things, both good and bad and so significant to us, outside the awareness of a gas giant almost ninety-three million miles away?

What I’m saying is, even if you can’t see the impact your existence has on the universe, why assume that it does not exist?

[sophieakatz]

This week’s excerpt from my novel-in-progress, When Tali’s Flowers Grow.

Transcription below the cut.

“We’ll be alright,” she said. “I believe it. Dying happens to everyone, basar and emtza and nefesh alike, so it can’t be a bad thing, right? It’s just a sad thing, sometimes. It’s just sad.”

Her sleeve was damp against Ora’s face.

[sophieakatz]

unidentified-flying-sparrow replied to your post: Thursday Thoughts: Why “I Don’t Care What You Are”...

What is an appropriate alternative comment that would have a better impact?

Thank you for asking! This of course will vary based on the conversation that you are having, but a good starting point is, “I love you for who you are.”

Other useful comments are “I hear you,” “I believe you,” or “I’m sorry they did that to you; how can I help?”

The important thing is to 1) acknowledge that their experience exists and 2) express that you are there for them, not there in spite of them.