#thank you to everyone involved in the original post for your contributions to making this idea refuse to leave my brain

[xjulixred45x]

I just need to say that I LOVE your work, especially the ones that can be read as platonic.

So as an inverse of the parent Yuu post, let me suggest a child!Yuu, you can decide the age, but I was thinking like under 10 because

1. It is very funny to imagine a kid being involved in all the teenager drama.

The way that thing would go is just so funny. I am a pacifist, guilty, fan of Papa Crowley, but imagine him as a person who still would give Kid!Yuu the tasks as the original one is hilarious.

3. Platonic twist boys, my beloveds.

And I think that Kid!Yuu could be those kids who are a little up on the time; ngl, I like neglect Reader/Mc/Yuu content a lot so lets put a little a bit of it too.

I guess this is it; it sounds more like me divagating than anything else, but okay. Remember to eat something, stay hydrated, and keep up the good work.

-🐦‍⬛✨

Aww, thank you so much! I love the platonic content in any series, but especially in Twisted Wonderland because I relate to many of the characters' struggles (I had a really difficult period of depression as a teenager, among other things), so part of me just wants to go and give them a hug.

Technically, I already have a series of posts as Child! Yuu, but I understand what you're saying and I like it!

Probably Child! Yuu did something rash like letting go of their parents' hands while crossing the street and was hit by the black carriage and transported to TWST. Either way, at first they didn't see the gravity of the situation, precisely because of the childlike mentality of now being in their own version of Alice in Wonderland (not in those exact words, but definitely with that train of thought).

In this way, they quickly becomes friends with Ace, Deuce, and Grim. After all, there isn't much to do while Crowley tries to "bring them back home." So they tries to have fun however they wants, without worrying about anything until the incident with the monster in the mine (perhaps it happens slightly differently here, but with the same essence and result). It's from this point on that Child! Yuu is generally more protected by Deuce, Ace and Grim.

Crowley lets Yuu live within the institution instead of Ramshackle, and is surprisingly present when it comes to the little child from another world. It's not uncommon to see Yuu sleeping in his office, stealing his hat, or even tucked into his coat when there's nothing else to do. When they ask Crowley about it, he simply says he allows them this kind of closeness because he's "very kind," but the truth is everyone can see the clear favoritism (which is why, if any student breaks something, they blame Yuu directly, knowing it will simply be swept under the rug. If it were any other student, it would be an instant detention).

Riddle is sincerely concerned that Ace and Deuce will be bad influences on Yuu, so he lets them know that he won't tolerate any out-of-character behavior with such a young child present (things like rude gestures, swearing, obscene signs, as he says, will be severely punished even without Yuu's presence). However, he also has his restrictions for Yuu, such as a limited amount of candy (he doesn't want the kid to get cavities so early in life), they can only play with the hedgehogs for the same amount of time they studies/reads a book, etc.

Riddle post-Overblot is much softer on Yuu as a child, especially if Yuu themself has a history of neglect from their family in their world. Riddle himself has fresh childhood wounds, so he doesn't want this GOOD child to end up swallowed up by pain and trauma the same way he was. If he can contribute to making Yuu's childhood happier, then he'll gladly do so.

Leona doesn't like children; I think we can consider that a universal truth. At least not loud and nosy children, and Yuu initially counted as loud and nosy, though one thing Leona found funny about them was that the child acted much older than they actually was, as if they could do something to him. Yuu isn't scary, not one bit, but they're not afraid of anything, so Leona respects their courage.

There are some things Yuu says that show they didn't have a good upbringing in their world, and that leads to something new: sympathy. Leona isn't easy on the kid, obviously, but he doesn't leave them to fate (whether it's sending Jack to make sure the kid stays alive or Ruggie to bring em something extra). Let's just say that Yuu and Leona, in a weird way, understand each other.

Azul definitely tries to take advantage of Crowley's favoritism toward Yuu to get him to make a deal with him, but fortunately Yuu understands the concept of "stranger danger" and avoids him at all costs. After Book 3, however, Yuu started stopping by Octavinelle if he wanted something better than cafeteria food (or the food Crowley gave them). Floyd especially loves to play (non-lethal way) with Yuu; it's not uncommon to see him running around campus with Yuu on his shoulders (usually screaming, either from happiness or fear, that is the question).

I don't think Child!Yuu can join the first-year classes for obvious reasons, but Azul is quite willing to give them private lessons so they doesn't stagnate in their education (with a small fee that Crowley has to pay, of course). Though sometimes it seems like it's just an excuse for Yuu to come to Octavinelle when they're too overwhelmed by Crowley's disasters.

Kalim finds Yuu adorable! He has some trouble taking his hands off them—he just wants to squeeze their face, hug them, and GHAAAAA! He totally has bouts of cute aggression. With Kalim's massive amount of siblings, you can expect him to be especially empathetic and protective of younger Yuu; he can't help but see them as his little sibilings.

Kalim gets really sad whenever Yuu mentions anything that implies they didn't have loving parents or a happy childhood in general, which can lead to a cuddle session on his part, assuring Yuu that they'll never want for anything while in Scarabia (and Kalim makes sure he lives up to that promise). If it weren't for Crowley (and his age), Kalim would have already adopted Yuu as a little sibiling.

By the events of Book 5, Yuu is already showing more signs of nostalgia and missing their world than before, even to the point of changing attitude. Vil is probably one of the people who notices this change when he sees them interacting with Ace and Deuce (during their time in Ramshackle). Vil isn't gentle with anyone under any circumstances, but it worries him a little to see this normally cheerful and energetic child suddenly so downcast and sad. That doesn't look good, honey. No child should look so broken.

Vil is probably the only one of the dorm leaders who goes directly to Crowley with his concerns. Even if he takes the director's promises with a grain of salt, he does make it his mission to make sure Yuu is okay, both physically and psychologically. This includes using an outing or event as an excuse for Yuu to have fun, or even turning a blind eye to things he normally wouldn't allow (eating sweets or junk food, getting dirty while playing, etc.).

Idia knew about Yuu from the rumors surrounding them, but he didn't really think they'd ever really interact until the events of Book 6. After that, there's a good chance Ortho and Yuu became good friends (being the closest in age to Yuu), so Idia went from never seeing Yuu to seeing them a few times on an average day. Sometimes the older brother instinct extends to Yuu too (maybe because they reminds him of Ortho in a way), in things like keeping Yuu from touching things they shouldn't, patting them on the head when they gets an answer right, etc.

Idia is...awkward for comfort, but he tries, genuinely tries. Besides, it's very likely that he himself is looking for a way to get Yuu back home, not only because he KNOWS Crowley isn't doing shit, but because there are surely people going crazy looking for Yuu in their world (maybe not the parents, but another family member must surely be very worried about them).

Malleus was always curious about the human child who unexpectedly arrived in his life. Not only was they not afraid of him, but they saw him in a way that Malleus could only describe as fascination and curiosity, something truly incredible to him. For this reason, Malleus constantly followed Yuu, whether to prevent the kid from hurting themself or being hurt by others, but he also ended up enjoying their company, their simple way of seeing the world, even seeing him.

For this reason, Malleus quickly noticed when his young friend began to become more discouraged, struggling to keep up with the tasks the adults assigned them (quite irresponsibly, he could say). Malleus understands to a certain extent (he compares this to how he used to miss Lilia when he went on trips), so if Yuu needs someone to listen to them the way they listens to others, Malleus has his arms open.

________

(ESPAÑOL)

Awwww muchas gracias! Amo el contenido platónico de cualquier serie, pero especialmente en Twisted Wonderland porque me identifico con muchas de las luchas de los personajes (tuve una etapa depresiva muy difícil en la adolescencia, entre otras cosas), por lo que una parte de mí solo quiere ir y darles un abrazo.

Ya tengo técnicamente una serie de posts como Child! Yuu, pero entiendo lo que dices ¡y me gusta!

Probablemente Child!Yuu hizo algo precipitado como soltarse de la mano de sus padres al cruzar la calle y fue golpeado por el carruaje negro y transportado a TWST. De cualquier manera, al principio no veían la gravedad de la situación, justamente por la mentalidad infantil de ahora estar en su propia versión de Alicia en el país de las maravillas (no con esas palabras exactas, pero definitivamente con ese tren de pensamiento).

De esa forma se hace amigo de Ace, Deuce y Grim bastante rápido, después de todo no hay mucho que hacer mientras Crowley trata de “regresarlo a casa”, asi que trata de divertirse como quiera, sin preocuparse por nada hasta el incidente con el monstruo en la mina (talvez aquí pasa de forma ligeramente diferente, pero con la misma esencia y resultado). Es a partir de aquí que Child!Yuu es mas resguardado por Adeuce y Grim en general.

Crowley deja que Yuu viva dentro de la institución en vez de ramshackle, y es sorprendentemente presente cuando se trata del pequeño niño de otro mundo. No es raro ver a Yuu durmiendo en su oficina, robando su sombrero o incluso metido en su abrigo cuando no hay nada que hacer. Cuando le preguntan a Crowley al respecto, el simplemente dice que le permite este tipo de cercanía porque es “muy amable” pero la verdad todos pueden ver que hay un claro favoritismo (por lo mismo, si algún estudiante rompe algo, directamente culpan a Yuu, porque saben que entonces simplemente será barrido bajo la alfombra. Si fuera cualquier otro estudiante seria detención instantánea).

Riddle sinceramente está preocupado de que Ace y Deuce sean unas malas influencias en Yuu, por lo que les hace saber que no va a tolerar ningún comportamiento fuera de lugar con un niño tan joven presente (cosas como gestos groseros, malas palabras, signos obscenos, como él dice, serán severamente castigados incluso sin la presencia de Yuu), sin embargo, también tiene sus restricciones para Yuu, como un número limitado de dulces (no quiere que el nene tenga caries tan temprano en la vida), solo puede jugar con los erizos el mismo tiempo que estudio/leyó un lbro, etc.

Riddle post Overblot es mucho más blando con Yuu niño y más si el propio Yuu tiene un historial de negligencia por parte de su familia en su mundo. Riddle mismo tiene heridas de la infancia frescas, por lo que no quiere que este niño BUENO termine absorbido por el dolor y trauma de la misma forma que él lo hizo, si él puede contribuir que la infancia de Yuu sea más feliz, entonces lo hará encantado.

Leona no le gustan los niños, creo que podemos considerar eso una verdad universal. Al menos los niños ruidosos y entrometidos, y Yuu al principio contaba como ruidoso y entrometido, aunque algo que Leona encontraba gracioso de él es que el niño actuaba como si fuera mucho más grande de lo que realmente era, como si pudiera hacer algo contra EL. Yuu no asusta, ni un poco, pero no le tiene miedo a nada, por lo que Leona respeta sus agallas.

Hay algunas cosas que Yuu dice que dejan ver que no tuvo una buena crianza en su mundo, y eso lleva a algo nuevo, simpatía. Leona no es suave con el niño, obviamente, pero no lo deja a su suerte (ya sea mandando a Jack para asegurarse de que el niño siga vivo o Ruggie para llevarle algo extra). Digamos que Yuu y Leona, de una forma rara, se entienden.

Azul definitivamente trata de aprovecharse del favoritismo de Crowley hacia Yuu para que asi haga un trato con él, pero afortunadamente Yuu conoce el concepto de “peligro extraño” y lo evitaba a cualquier costa. Después del libro 3, sin embargo, Yuu empezó a pasar por Octavinelle si quería algo mejor que la comida de la cafetería (o la comida que le daba Crowley). Floyd especialmente le encanta jugar (de forma no letal) con Yuu, no es raro verlo correr por el campus con Yuu en sus hombros (normalmente gritando, de felicidad o de miedo, esa es la cuestión).

No creo que Child!Yuu pueda unirse a las clases de los de primer año por obvias razones, pero Azul esta bastante dispuesto a darle clases particulares para que no se estanque en su educación (con una pequeña cuota que Crowley tiene que pagar por supuesto). Aunque a veces parece que es solo una excusa para que Yuu venga a Octavinelle cuando esta muy sobrecargado de los desastres de Crowley.

Kalim encuentra a Yuu adorable! Tiene ciertos problemas en quitarle las manos encima ¡simplemente quiere apretarle la cara, abrazarlo y GHAAAAA! Completamente tiene ataques de cute agression. Con la cantidad masiva de hermanos que tiene Kalim, puedes esperar que sea especialmente empático y protector con un Yuu más joven, no puede evitar ver en ellos a sus hermanos pequeños.

Kalim se siente muy mal cada vez que Yuu menciona algo que denota que no tuvo padres amorosos o una infancia feliz en general, lo que puede llevar a una sesión de abrazos por su parte y asegurarle a Yuu que nunca le faltara nada estando en Scarabia (y vaya que Kalim se asegura de cumplir esa parte). Si no fuera por Crowley (y su edad), Kalim ya habría adoptado a Yuu como hermanito.

Para los eventos del libro 5, Yuu ya empieza a tener mas signos de nostalgia y de extrañar su mundo que antes, incluso llegando a cambiar de actitud, y probablemente una de las personas que se da cuenta de este cambio es Vil cuando le ve interactuar con Ace y Deuce (durante el tiempo que estuvieron en ramshackle). Vil no es suave con nadie bajo ninguna circunstancia, pero le preocupa un poco mucho ver a este niño normalmente alegre y enérgico, de la nada, tan desplomado y triste. Eso no se ve bien, cariño, ningún niño debería verse tan acabado.

Vil es probablemente el único de los líderes de dormitorio que va directamente con Crowley con sus preocupaciones, aun si toma con un gran gramo de sal las promesas del director, lo toma en sus manos asegurarse de que Yuu esté bien, tanto física como psicológicamente, ya sea usando de excusa alguna salida o evento para que Yuu se divierta, incluso haciendo la vista gorda de cosas que normalmente no le permitiría (comer dulces o comida chatarra, ensuciarse al jugar, etc.)

Idia sabia de Yuu por los rumores que había a su alrededor, pero realmente no pensó que llegarían a interactuar de verdad hasta los eventos del libro 6. Después de eso, hay una buena posibilidad de que Ortho y Yuu se hicieran buenos amigos (al ser lo más cercano en edad a Yuu), por lo que Idia paso de no ver nunca a Yuu a verle unas cuantas veces en un dia promedio. a veces el instinto de hermano mayor también se extiende a Yuu (talvez porque le recuerda de cierta forma a Ortho), en cosas como evitar que Yuu toque cosas que no debe, darle palmadas en la cabeza cuando dice bien una respuesta, etc.

Idia es…incómodo para el confort, pero lo intenta, genuinamente lo intenta. Además, es muy probable que el mismo este buscando una forma de regresar a Yuu a su casa no solo porque él SABE que Crowley no hace una mierda, sino porque de seguro hay gente que está perdiendo la cabeza buscando a Yuu en su mundo (talvez no sus padres, pero otra familia de seguro debe estar muy preocupada por ellos).

Malleus siempre sintió curiosidad por el niño humano que llego de forma inesperada a su vida, no solo no le tenía miedo, sino que lo veía de una forma que Malleus solo podía decir que era fascinación y curiosidad, algo verdaderamente increíble para él. Por lo mismo, Malleus seguía constantemente a Yuu, ya fuera para evitar que el niño se lastimara o que lo lastimaran, pero también termino disfrutando de su compañía, de su forma simple de ver el mundo, de verlo a él incluso.

Por lo mismo, Malleus noto rápidamente cuando su joven amigo empezó a estar más desanimado, a tener problemas para estar a la altura de las tareas que le dejaban los adultos (de forma bastante irresponsable, podía decir). Malleus entiende hasta cierto punto (compara esto con como el solia extrañar a Lilia cuando se iba de viaje), por lo que, si Yuu necesita a alguien que le escuche de la misma forma que el escucha a los demás, Malleus tiene los brazos abiertos.

Shares, reblogs and comments are very welcome!

[keriarentikai]

Fandom permission statements

Hello, I am here with yet another pitch for writers to add a permission statement to their AO3 bio! Posts about permission statements tend to circulate among the podfic community, which is really preaching to the choir, so I would really love it if some writer-types also reblog this. ❤️

(While permission statements can and do address multiple types of transformative work, this post very podfic-centric.)

What is a permission statement?

A permission statement tells people who create works based on fanfics (e.g. podfic, art, remixes) whether or not you're okay with people making stuff based on your writing and in what circumstances.

Even if you're not up for giving everyone permission for everything, having a statement we can read is SO appreciated!

What is blanket permission?

Blanket permission is a term podficcers use for permissions that let us create and post podfic without having to contact the author. We love this!

What other kinds of permission statements are there and why would I still want to use one?

If you don't want to give blanket permission, having a permission statement telling folks what you are and aren't okay with helps a lot!

If an author doesn't want to give blanket permission, a statement encouraging podfic but asking a podficcer to ask first still tells us you're interested and that we can expect to receive a friendly (even if not always a 'yes') response.

If you don't want podfic made of your work at all, then telling us this saves us time and saves you from getting repeated messages from different podficcers!

Do you have an example?

Sure do! Here's the statement I currently have in my AO3 profile:

I grant blanket permission for podfics, art and translations, and any other transformative work as long as it involves absolutely no monetary profit or monetary exchange of any kind, or contribution to or use of generative AI. Please link back to the original so I can be thrilled you did it!

Why consider blanket permission?

If you do want podfic made of your work, blanket permission makes it a whole lot more likely a podficcer will choose your work! Because:

Especially for events with quick turnaround times and that include recommendations made to other podficcers for projects, it's often the only way we can get permission in time

It means we can start working on a project as soon as we decide to, rather than having to wait to hear back

Some people are less comfortable reaching out to ask and so will be less willing to podfic works without blanket permission

It can also feel awkward to ask for permission and then not do the podfic for a while (or ever), which can be a mental barrier to reaching out

Blanket permission is so helpful that we even have a whole database of people who have blanket permission so we can find them more easily and an extension that highlights their names in green for 'full speed ahead!'

Podfic makes a writer's work more accessible to audiences that aren't always able to engage with written text, and I personally love it when someone cares about my writing to put in the effort to podfic it. So I want to encourage its creation as much as I can!

No matter what kind of permission you end up being comfortable with, I hope you will consider adding a statement to your AO3 profile, and thanks for reading this pitch!

More resources:

Fanworks permission statement builder by flamingwell Directory of creators with blanket permission (FPS list)

[vtm-nightcity]

Hi all: I've been away for a very long time (and this is not my normal V:tM post), but I'd like to share an announcement from the Cyberpunk 2077 modding community (which I'm also simultaneously actively involved as well). One of the modders (goes by DBRV) well-known in the modding community is fighting brain cancer and is in desperate need of funds for two emergency surgeries. His letter to the community is below and attached is a screenshot of the original announcement from the Cyberpunk 2077 Modding discord server. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, please reblog <3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [From Erebus Equity] Hello everyone - I apologise for the ping but unfortunately we have run out of options when it comes to this subject, this relates to the message I am replying to. I will let DBRV explain the situation:

[From DBRV/Andrew] Dear friends, As many of you know, I’ve been battling glioblastoma — an aggressive form of brain cancer. Over the past year, I underwent 12 months of chemotherapy, hoping it would stop the tumor’s growth. Unfortunately, it hasn’t helped. The situation has become critical. The location of the tumor in the brain makes the tumor almost inoperable, because of the high risk of being paralyzed — but now my condition has worsened, and emergency brain surgery must be done very soon, likely next week, here in Ukraine to address the immediate threat. This surgery won’t heal me, but it’s necessary to stabilize my condition. After that, I must travel to Germany for more advanced treatment and another surgery, which may allow doctors to remove a larger portion of the tumor and offer a better chance at extending my life.

These next steps are urgent and extremely costly. I’m doing everything I can, but I can’t do it alone. I’m asking for your support to help cover the cost of surgery, treatment, travel, and recovery. Unfortunately, I’m unable to create a GoFundMe due to restrictions in my country, so I’m relying on direct help and sharing.

Any contribution, no matter the size, makes a difference. Thank you for being part of this fight with me.

With heartfelt gratitude, Andrew

[From Erebus Equity] If you have anything you can spare to help him with this emergency surgery it would be greatly appreciated.

Due to his location in Ukraine, he was unable to set up a GoFundMe for himself - so has asked me to set one up for him, all funds go directly to him via a shared account. More info about his situation is on the GoFundMe page. Thank you for reading -------------------------------------------------------

GoFundme:

Paypal: denezhka05@gmail.com

This is his Ukrainian monobank jar: https://send.monobank.ua/jar/A4hvFJdRvG

[arom-antix]

So, with the main part of this whole thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai (Samurai from here on) situation having blown over, I thought I'd make a final-for-now summary post that outlines the key points in this situation so that I can cap this for the time being. It's also for the people who've stumbled upon one of the many posts about this and have no clue where to start or don't understand the context, because yeah, there's a lot. I've had multiple people reach out who were in that situation, so here's the summary for anyone who's interested.

Links to all the posts in this situation:

Initial posts: 1. Samurai's answer w/ my response 2. Samurai's response to me

Main threads: 3. Culture and fandom thread 4. Screenshots thread

Other threads: 5. Initial receipts 6. First ask 7. First anon ask, rebuttal 8. Second anon ask 9. Third anon ask 10. Fourth anon ask 11. Fifth anon ask 12. Sixth anon ask, thread 13. Disclaimer to not misuse my posts 14. Follow-up regarding Samurai's continued hypocrisy

I will be referring back to these post in the normat "no. #".

There are multiple key players in this whole thing but seeing as this post contains primarily my words and take on things (and the others involved have honestly had enough stress about this for one month) I've elected not to tag them. You can find them in the posts I linked to. However, I will note the abscence of any real response from Samurai. I'll get into that further down.

A big thank you to everyone who's contributed to this discussion. It's been wonderful finally getting all this stuff out in the open.

Break for those who want a usable dash or don't care. But I encourage you to do so because this does matter for your fandom experience going forward.

So first, what happened? Well, the first thing to understand is that this whole thing started a long time ago, and the reason it's becoming a big thing now is pure chance. It was going to happen eventually. It happening now is just how it went. But for the sake of cohesion, I'll approach it from where the situation itself arose, especially since it displays some of the behaviours I'll be highlighting later pretty well.

The way this all kicked off was that Samurai posted no. 1 in response to an ask about the canon vs. fanon spelling of Yuuri and Viktor's names. In this response Samurai was pretty rude and demeaning towards Japanese name translation inconsistencies. There was also a minor spelling error. I pointed these things out in a reblog of Samurai's post which can also be found in no. 1. Now, Samurai did respond to this, but not in the way you'd think. She didn't reblog my post. Instead, she quietly edited the spelling error in her original post (just became incorrect in a different way), and then reblogged that new version of her own post and tagged me in it. Strange, but okay, I guess. In her response she apologised for the cultural insensitivity and explained that English was not her first language which, sure, that's fair. However, she also went on to explain the spelling error was actually just a misunderstanding, and then was even more wrong about Japanese in her explanation of that. Go to no. 3 to get an explanation as to why she was doubly wrong. I couldn't be bothered to start anything about this poor response, so I reblogged it so people could see it, said "sorry if I was harsh, have a good day", and went on my way.

Later that same day I then got an ask (no. 3 and 4) about that last reblog which said that I shouldn't have apologised for being right, and explained that Samurai was not a stranger to poor behaviour and bad takes. I was already tired of Samurai and had been for a while, so I answered the ask by explaining that I just apologised to keep the peace, but I was over trying to do that anymore.

And this is where the situation took off from. People started reblogging my post with their own grievances about Samurai, including bad experiences from interacting with her, and I began getting asks where people corroborated these claims and shared their own frustrations. I won't explain those asks and reblogs here since they're in the links at the beginning, and their main points can be boiled down to the following:

Avoiding accountability Samurai has a knack for worming their way out of taking accountability for their actions. She'll divert attention from the issue at hand, she'll use whataboutism to point fingers back in your face, she'll fabricate a sympathetic angle of her actions and use your natural tendency to want to see the good in people against you, she'll make sure you know just how sad and insecure she is, and she'll do it all while talking like she's an expert. Like when she responded to my post but didn't actually admit that the spelling mistake was just that. A mistake. She didn't have some advanced knowledge that she proceeded to explain. She was just wrong. Twice. And she couldn't even just say "Ah sorry, my finger slipped."

Victim complex She's also always the victim. She doesn't get enough engagement? The fandom doesn't understand her. She's trying so hard, why are worse posts getting attention when she makes such high quality stuff? The fandom must be rotting from the inside with no academics left to admire her supreme intellect. Someone posts an anylisis similar to hers? Plagiarism! Thievery! Piracy! It could never be because there are only so many scenes and conclusions to draw about said scene in a show that people have been analysing for eight years. Someone disagrees with a conclusion of hers? Well they're an acephobe, of course! A bigoted Karen who's trying to erase the real academics in the fandom! God forbid someone criticises her? Blocked, blocked, blocked, the fandom is so toxic, omg, she needs to get better at recognising fake friends, smh.

Manipulating the narrative As you might not be surprised, she also loves being in control of what her audience sees of the discourse she gets into. See: her not reblogging my post and instead making a separate post when that was more work than just responding directly. She's also notorious for editing her posts so when people criticise them she can feign ignorance and claim she never said that. And in terms of the individuals who've been intimidated into silence by Samurai and her entourage, if their stories got out, that would be a catastrophe, right? It would hurt her precious reputation after all.

General Manipulation and Gaslighting And yeah, that leads us to the big one. Now, these are hefty accusations and I'm especially bringing up the latter a bit dubiously. However, I think it needs to be said that many of the tactics she uses are manipulation strategies. I'm saying that as someone who's been at the receiving end of these methods. They get you to shut up. They get you to doubt your own judgement. They get you to think things you wouldn't have otherwise. And, most importantly, they get you to forgive things you never would. They worm themselves into your brain and get you to question your own ability to make decisions and understand the world. And that right there where it becomes gaslighting. Again, I'm not saying Samurai is being all that extreme but I am saying that she's leading people down the slippery slope of accepting this type of behaviour by convincing them that it's actually okay because she said so.

Insincerity This overlaps a good amount with manipulation, but I thought it was necessary to point out separately, because she's notorious for it. As was mentioned in no. 12, she has repeatedly displayed disingenuous behaviour across social medias and has used those different behaviours to twist the story into what she wants it to be, so she comes out of it looking either like a victim or like an underdog and saviour of the fandom. Is it a crime to want to look good online? Of course not. Does she use that liberty to fabricate a benevolent image of herself despite repeatedly not living up to said image? Very much so.

Bullying and Namecalling This goes back to how I mentioned her accusing people of being acephobes for not agreeing with her very important and perfectly correct analyses. Beyond this, she has also called people illiterate for not agreeing with her analyses as if these "academic" takes of hers are so obviously right that only someone incapable of accessing the source material would disagree, has called someone a Nazi for using the actual current DSM-5 medical term for autism (as far as I've been informed in private, see no. 3, 4, and 5 for partial context), and has recently become very fond of calling people dicks.

Superiority complex This all of course comes down to the actual issue at the bottom of all of this: Samurai thinks she's better than the rest of us. She thinks she's more academic, more literate, more intellectual, and laments the lack of people who can match her frea- I mean, level. No weird takes on her blog as she says (no. 4). This is a "dick" move to use her own vocabulary but is even worse when you realise that she's not all that academic or intellectual herself. Which, by the way, is completely fine! You don't need a PhD to discuss anime men. However, she makes it sound like that. She belittles posts that aren't as "academic" as hers simply because they upset her or have more interactions. She belittles the entire fandom simply because other people don't subscribe to her lonely intellectual narrative and enjoy fandom casually. She insists that her analyses are better than other metas when the academia she's so proud of isn't even really there in a lot of them. And she will absolutely make you feel worthless for thinking you can contribute to the fandom on her level because no one is as good as her.

Do I really care much about some arrogant loser on the Internet? No. Do I care that she's belittling her entire community by ridiculing their contributions and positioning herself as the one true deliverer of gospel? Absolutely. See, the issue isn't just that she's arrogant. It's that that's not enough for her. She pushes the rest of the community down so that she can feel even more superior. She also routinely complains about her lack of engagement which, wow, what a mystery, what might be scaring them away? But secondly, she's indirectly belittling the support the fans of her content are giving her. No. 11 is from one such fan who experienced this. Let it be made clear that Samurai might genuinely want to form a community and be social, but she does not see herself like the rest of us when it comes down to it. She sees herself as better. Or, at the very least, she posts as if she does.

Okay, that's all well and good, but Arom, why does this matter? Isn't it just petty fandom drama? Why should we care? Well, you should care because the people who've been hurt by this behaviour and those who've left the fandom to be free of it are your peers. They're not random Internet strangers. The next one could be your close fandom friend. The one after that could be you. The reason I'm making this post is so that you can understand how Samurai operates and not fall for her tactics. They're incredibly easy to start forgiving. I've been there. You have to catch this stuff before it turns into something legitimately damaging. I also want you guys to be able to take this situation with you and apply what you've learned to other actually dangerous people. I don't consider Samurai dangerous. To be frank, I consider her an immature embarrassment. Can she hurt you? Of course, but the scope will be limited. However, there are plenty of people of there who are much better at doing these things and do them far more insidiously with far worse goals. I want you all to be able to realise before it's too late. I was in one of those much more insidious friendships once even if the goals weren't any worse than Samurai's. They sneak up on you so damn fast.

And now, because I know some of Samurai's entourage might be itching to hit me back with this: Why is this public? Shouldn't stuff like this be kept private? Isn't this just us bullying Samurai in the hallway where everyone can watch?

Now, if you're a specific person, you'll likely recognise these coming points because yes, they're lifted directly from your ask. However, seeing as this ask was not sent to me (I'll leave you guys to ponder why that is considering all other asks were) and has not been published because the recipient didn't want to spend their energy on it, I'm not going to say who the asker is nor am I going to be speaking to them directly in this part. Rebutting a statement no one but me and a few others have even read wouldn't be fair to the asker. However, the ask brings up some very common points in discussions like this that I want to catch right now before anyone starts thinking those points are good.

So first: Why is this public? Now, on the surface this seems quite reasonable to ask, right? I personally agree that private beef should stay private and that there's no need making a bigger scene out of things than necessary. But this beef isn't private. It's not a one-off thing, and it's not new. It's been happening for at the very least months and has been happening both publicly and privately on different social medias. Oh, also, it has already been attempted to be handled privately. Doing so did diddly squat. People have actually been scared into silence by attempting to handle it like that. Some things just cannot be handled one on one because one party is entering it with malicious intent.

Allegedly Samurai has also been called out in a Discord server before (no. 12) which I can't confirm but wouldn't surprise me. Guess how much that did. Nothing. Nada. Nul og niks. But then you might be asking why a second call-out is supposed to do anything, and that's where I get to the real point of this whole thing: Getting the word out. This and all the previous posts aren't about actually getting through to Samurai because I'm acutely aware that she won't actually change by being told off. She's demonstrated time and time again that she'll simply wait the situation out and then vaguepost about how much of a victim she is and how toxic her ex-friends are.

So, instead of getting her to own up, we're trying to reach everyone else. If we can make people aware of her tactics so that they can avoid her or at the very least be wary around her, I consider that a success. If we can limit her access to victims, we'll have done what we set out to do.

Second: What about Samurai's mental health? Aren't we hurting her by destroying her reputation? Well, dear reader, what about everyone she's hurt? Do they not deserve to talk about this stuff simply because it'll make Samurai upset? This might be a kind of wild suggestion, but there's a very easy way to not be publicly called out for being an arse: just don't be an arse. No one made her do these things. Like mentioned in no. 12, she destroyed her reputation all by herself. If stating aloud what someone has done ruins their reputation, then the person who did said things is at fault. Spare the messenger. They've already been hurt enough. If Samurai had simply owned up to her behaviour and apologised and made a change when people had called her out in the past, we wouldn't be here. She made this necessary. Don't feel bad for her that she's getting what was always coming to her.

Third: Why are we digging up old posts? Isn't it unfair to hold Samurai's past against them? Now, I want you to notice what this whole situation is actually about. Is it about a single incident? No. Is it about a set of repeated behaviours which are harmful and manipulative? Now you're onto something. I agree that digging up unrelated dirt on someone just to slander them for their past when it has no or an at best flimsy relation to what's actually being discussed is mean and unnecessary and should not be done.

However, the point of showing those older posts is to make it clear that this isn't a new thing, and it's repeated and unchanging. Bringing up their posts about being insecure and being sad about not getting traction isn't about those posts, it's about showing how much Samurai clearly cares about interaction and to point out a repeated behaviour of deflecting criticism by hiding behind insecurity and making their own fans feel bad about not being good enough. It's not about the posts. It's about explaining why Samurai is uncomfortable to be around.

Oh and fourth because this is the funniest thing: What about the new fans? They'll think we're all mean and negative! Okay so first of all, and please excuse my French, absolutely dogshit take. "What about the new fans?" Dude, what about the ones who are already here and are being driven away by Samurai's awful and demeaning behaviour? What about the people who've been hurt and are finally being heard? What about when the new fans see Samurai calling others acephobes and Nazis for disagreeing with her? Is that not driving them away? Is that not projecting negativity?

Now, yes, that was targeted towards the asker because oh my fucking stars, I haven't seen a take that bad in a while. If you want to ignore or criticise this point of mine, go ahead because I can't source it and the asker's full statement isn't publicly available so I'm aware that this is a weak argument. But I want everyone to know that if you've been ignored and demeaned and called names for simply trying to assert yourself, you're allowed to be negative publicly. You're allowed to publicly make it clear that someone isn't listening privately and so you're speaking in the only place they can't ignore. You're allowed to not be peachy and positive at all times just because a new fan might come across your post. You don't have to treat every post and word you make public as an exhaustive representation of the entire fandom.

And so, with all of this outlined, I have a personal message for Samurai and Co.: Do. Better. I know you can because I've seen you interact amicably with the fanbase multiple times. I'm not here to tell you to get off the Internet and I'm not here to get you to stop participating in fandom. What I am here for is to get you to treat the fanbase with the respect it deserves. You're not better than people just because you're queer. It's the Yuri!!! On Ice fandom. Basically everyone is queer. Get over yourselves. Develop some maturity and accept that you can be contradicted. Accept that not everyone will agree with you. Accept that just because you point really hard at canon, your analyses will still just be theories. And that's okay. You don't need to be an academic to be part of fandom. You don't even need to be right. You can be straight up wrong and still be allowed to be here. However, you also have to let others do all that stuff too. You can't tell people to be nice and then not be so yourself. Fandom is collaboration which means that sometimes you have to just accept that some members of the group have takes you disagree with or find straight up stupid. However, that does not give you the right to tell them they're doing fandom wrong or claim that your way of doing it is better. Because that's how you come across. Whether intentionally or not, that's the message you're sending. Stop acting suprior. It's actually very easy and frankly embarrasing that you haven't figured out how to not be insufferable yet. You're adults. Act. Like. It.

Finally, and I promise this will he the last thing: What do we do now? Samurai has been exposed, hasn't responded, and will probably just wait for this to blow over. What are we supposed to do with all this information? Well, you're free to choose of course, but my suggestion is to simply keep an eye on her and her entourage. They've so far showed no sign of wanting to change, and if you see them misbehaving, don't be afraid to hold them accountable, or, if you'd rather not be mixed up in this, feel free to shoot me a DM or even an anonymous ask. If I get enough reports or the reports are egregious enough, I might make a follow-up post just to keep people updated.

And if keeping a 40+ year old (yes, Samurai is really that old, I was shocked too) on an Internet leash seems extreme, just remember that she made it necessary. She clearly won't listen when people tell her directly how she's hurt them. In my opinion, some social pressure to behave is in order. All she has to do is be nice and nothing more will come of this. It's up to her. It takes a village and sometimes the entire fanbase.

So, it's up to you, Samurai. Your behaviour will be the direct catalyst for whatever I and others choose to do or not do. All you need to do is behave. If you can do that, we'll get to go our separate ways. If you can't, well, you've seen what that results in. But if you do legitimately make a visible effort to change, I'll gladly make a post about that too. I'm all for a redemption, but you're the one who has to put in the effort. Not your friends, not your fans, not your victims, not me.

Your choice. I'll be waiting.

And to anyone who's dying to tear my head off: Please read all the posts linked to at the top before responding. I'm not naming any names. You know who you are.

[vorchagirl]

First of all, I've loved your Kaidan and Reyes stories for ages, but I wanted to tell you that I genuinely love Untouchable and I'm checking daily for updates and teasers. Thank you for blessing us with your Rookanis work and for writing something for Dragon Age.

Second, and the point of this ask, I'm wondering what your thoughts are on Mary Kirby's revelation that Lucanis is demi, pan, and a virgin? And are you planning to carry this across into your story?

Hello anon!

Thank you so much for your lovely compliment on my Rookanis fic - I was really nervous about posting Untouchable, but the support and friendly comments have really made me happy! Lucanis and Spite are so much fun, and I fell in love with them even before I played Veilguard. The fact that anyone from the DA fandom is reading my story is still incredible to me 😅 so thank you.

In regards to Mary Kirby, I'll preface my response by saying that I love the little tidbits that she has been contributing to the fandom. It adds some fun flavour and insight to his character that we otherwise wouldn't know. Buuuut, I dont think she has the final say in Lucanis and his character - she wasn't the character's only writer, she was fired a year before the game released, and the Lucanis we got in Veilguard + stories seems to have gone through some changes. Mary herself originally called him a 'bisexual disaster', which has a very specific online meaning, and this doesn't entirely gel with her later comments that he is demi and a virgin. Plus, we have dialogue lines where he talks about previous lovers, so not everything lines up perfectly. I take her tidbits with a grain of salt - they're fun but not necessarily canon.

I think fandom writers and artists should feel free to perceive his character in Veilguard any way they want to - as long as its respectful to what is established in game (and even then, if you're writing an AU I think you have the freedom be flexible!). If Lucanis being a demi virgin makes you happy, then you should absolutely celebrate that aspect in your fic and art. If you see him as more seductive and experienced, then that's equally valid, and you should write your sexy Crow. Fandom should be about having fun and being creative with your HC, not about feeling pressured to change your HC to fit with other people's.

Personally, I absolutely read Lucanis as being demisexual in the game and someone who needs that emotional connection, but not a virgin. I can't see a highly trained Crow assassin as not having been trained in the art of seduction and sex. So, in my fic I'm writing him as being experienced with sex, but not experienced with relationships, love, or any of that emotional stuff.

However, that's just my reading of his character and that doesn't mean I don't respect other readings of his character. I don't want anyone to feel disappointed by my story - it's very a very slow burn romance, but my Lucanis isn't a virgin and there will be smut in my fic involving Lucanis, Rook & Spite. I hope that I'll be able to show that connection and desire building between them in a way everyone likes!

I hope I've answered your question respectfully and kindly. I really love writing my story and the arc I've come up with for Lucanis, Rook & Spite.

*edit* please feel free to reach out or msg if you have more questions!

[hotwaterandmilk]

Hi! I love your content and was wondering if you have any tips for those who might want to post their own scanned manga stuff on here?

I have some furoku, postcards, magazine clippings, etc and I enjoy scanning and cataloguing stuff, but I'm a bit shy about posting it online. I'm worried there might be some kind of etiquette regarding all of this that I'm unaware of. Like are publication dates important to disclose? should I try and find it for every scan I upload or can I just give some basic details about it? Oh and if someone else has already scanned something I own should I refrain from posting my own scans of that item? Hope these questions aren't too dumb, I just don't want to accidentally step on anyone's toes.

Hi, thank you for your kind words. I can only really share with you my opinion on sharing scans, as there are no real "rules" about doing this hobby that I'm aware of. I feel that things boil down to courtesy, like so many elements of fandom, and asking those involved when unsure.

I personally won't share something I'm aware someone else has shared before, unless I feel I can provide a better quality scan or additional context to make the effort worthwhile. For example, people have shared plenty of old Hana to Yume calendar scans in the past on sites like Minitokyo, but as they're not in 1200 dpi I feel like my effort in rescanning and sharing these images is "worth it".

If someone else is committed to scanning monthly furoku for a particular series, I won't double up by sharing scans of the same furoku - I'm wasting my own time by scanning/editing these items when someone else is doing them already, but I'm also potentially making the existing contributer uncomfortable.

However, we can't all be expected to keep track of every scanner on every website or through every fandom - sometimes there is overlap or there are multiple people passionate about a work. In that case, or in any case where unsure, I don't think it hurts to reach out to someone and ask "Hey, do you mind if I also share ____" ?

People can say no, but ultimately none of us involved in sharing scans/scanlating/fan works/etc. owns the original property and these are widely published titles. We can say "Hey I'd prefer it if you don't share ____ when I'm already sharing ____" but it is down to the other party if they wish to cease doing so.

In terms of things like publication information, that's very much a personal choice. My opinion on this is that it is respectful to include artist information wherever possible and publication details when you can so that others can find the original item for themselves. It's extra work, but it means I don't get messages asking "Where is ____ from?" as that information is already available.

The caveat to this, for me, is that sometimes we simply don't know all the details. Goodness knows I've got hundreds of postcards from 80s shoujo magazines that I've been gifted or received in bulk aucions without any information on the issue they were included with and at best I can narrow down the year they were released... right now I'm not sharing that content because I really do want to attribute that information if possible. But not everyone cares about things like that and that's OK, sometimes people just include an artist and the series and that's all.

I want to be clear that I'm not here to prescribe what you should and should not do when sharing your treasure trove. I'm just one person with a singular experience. So much of sharing scans as a hobby will boil down to what is important to you and how much time you have on your hands. And plenty comes from trial and error, along with feedback that others provide.

I feel it's important to convey that not everyone will like what you share or how you share it, while some will lift what you share wholesale to try and profit from it on other sites. I've had to develop a pretty thick skin regarding what people say about me online, despite being a nobody. I'd be lying if I said this didn't get to me sometimes, but for the moment my love of sharing has won out.

What I think is key, overall, is just that you want to share things with others and are willing to put the work into doing so. Missteps around doubling up on sharing may happen, but are more often than not resolved through communication.

I hope you can find a way of sharing the things that are important to you that best fits with your needs and schedule. ^^

[mae-i-scribble]

Hi, I hope you're having a nice day - in your author's notes for chapter 2 of The Long Way Home, you mentioned the idea that the story HSY wrote is different from the ORV that we know. I wanted to ask if you've ever written any posts expanding on that? I would love to read more about your thoughts on this (KDJ in your story's last memory being about reading that instead of WoS. Gutted me.)

Hello there! I have unfortunately not written a post detailing this (if you are the very nice anon who has asked me to elaborate on this i am very sorry, if you're not anon i am still very sorry), in large part because doing so in a way that I would be happy with would involve combing through the last 1/3rd or so of the novel. Since the major thematics about authors and characters and readers as one aren't really gotten into until that point. To be honest, I just haven't had the energy for that.

The idea that the novel HSY wrote not being ORV is one that I've always had since first finishing ORV- I can't say where exactly it originated from. Now to be clear, it's an undisputed fact that HSY and kimcom *are* writing about the events they lived through, and I do 100% both understand how and why HSY writing ORV is the more widely accepted theory (them including lines from early orv scenes, the way that it loops right back around into ORV's very meta theming, the way it would match up with the ideas of loop of fate, etc.) I just don't agree with it.

One of the greatest takeaways for me on the author/character theming in ORV is that an author will never fully understand a character they write. HSY and YJH live this out in real time, alongside HSY learning the origins of WoS vs the YJH she has come to know as a companion. In writing WoS she straight up admits that she fudges her memories of him because it isn't as if she could know everything about him- she just wrote the story she thought KDJ needed to hear. (I swear I have a point I promise). HSY as intimate knowledge in how while writing someone, you both grow to understand them intimately while simultaneously remaining clueless. With the experiences she goes through, combined with the fact that KDJ's narration in ORV is so specifically *him* with all its unreliability and the glimpses we get into his past/bits of him on his own without kimcom around, I just don't think ORV is something HSY would have written. To me, she wouldn't have tried to write from KDJ's perspective, already having far too much entanglement in obscuring people and characters with KDJ (and possily from that one scenario where she's almost taken over by the character she's incarnated into, but again, i would need to reread).

Then we reach the point where she writes this novel for the KDJ's across worldlines- or rather, kimcom does. Which I think is another very relevant point, HSY is compiling and spinning this into a narrative, but *everyone* is contributing to it and writing bits and pieces. Now that I type it out, I think that might be part of what makes me so happy with the thought that instead of ORV, HSY is writing that same story but told from kimcom's perspective, not KDJ's like ORV is. The image of everyone coming together to give their own perspective and accounts while HSY compiles and sorts those varying viewpoints into a narrative with KDJ as the focus just warms my heart. In a post I made about the epilogues, I brought up that with this interpretation, you can see it as kimcom writing KDJ as they see him, so that he can understand just why they love him so dearly- which I think is especially poignant considering this novel's true purpose isn't even to bring KDJ back, its to help everyone else heal from the trauma of losing him.

So basically, I can't really give you much of a textual basis for my argument besides for the fact that ORV doesn't straight up say HSY is writing ORV, it's more just was my first takeaway that has forever stuck with me as my preferred interpretation.

(P.S. thank you for taking the time to read my fic, I also loved writing the bit where KDJ remembers that story.)

[thelastraigeki]

Please Help My Mom!

It has been an EXTREMELY long time since I posted a journal entry on Tumblr. But right now, I am posting here to reach out and see if I can depend on the kindness of strangers who can help me and my Mother after we survived a serious car crash.

As of 3/23/25, we were caught in a severe car accident in which we weren't even originally a part of. A woman in a Black Rogue cut off a woman in a Silver Hyundai who had the right of way. We immediately saw the accident which occurred 3 lanes away from us and within seconds, the woman in the Silver Hyundai had somehow turned left (as she lost control) and ended up T-boning our SUV as we did not have enough time escape the impact.

The impact crushed my mother’s side of the car causing the air bags to be deployed. The windshield cracked and we saw smoke coming from somewhere in front of the car. My mother was unable to get out of the car, but she never panicked. Although injured, she managed to crawl out of the car through the passenger door on her back. Luckily, the woman who caused the accident and the woman who hit us (with 2 children in the car) were all okay. My mother suffered the most injury of everyone involved. I just suffered from a bruised elbow.

My mother had just retired 3 weeks ago, and she was perfectly healthy. Now she has to wear a leg brace and use crutches. We are both still traumatized by the accident.

The Police and Firemen showed up along with 2 ambulances. When the Police approached my mother, they told her that her car would probably be a total loss. Since then, the insurance company has confirmed that. So, now, we don’t have a vehicle, and we don’t have money to buy one.

Our SUV was going to be paid off in about a year and my mother was looking forward to paying it off to keep it because she knew she would never be able to afford another car. However, because it is a 7-year-old car that got refinanced so that we could afford a mortgage, she was upside down. It is very likely that once the finance company gets paid off, there will be nothing left for us.

The loss of our vehicle has affected our lives significantly, as it is the only vehicle which we have for transportation. We are now relying on a rental provided to us by Enterprise through our insurance, but they can only cover us for 14 days, so we don’t know what we are going to do after that. The accident has affected us mentally, physically and most of all, financially.

With my mother now retired and with my job at risk due to my company closing all its stores, I've decided to start a campaign to help raise funds for her to get a reliable car. The money raised will go toward a down payment so that we can get our lives back to normal.

If you could spare any kindness from your heart, any contribution to this campaign, no matter the amount, would be greatly appreciated and make a difference.

Thank you for your time and donation.

[curio-queries]

Hi I'm reaching out re. your post on the bts-polls blog, since you redirected people to contact you here. I'm not the same anon who sent the other ask. I understand your reasoning for personally choosing to continue engaging with HP fandom, that's your choice and it's fine as long as you don't contribute to JKR financially. I guess I'm just adding one more trans ARMY voice to say that seeing casual references to HP and other Rowling works immediately gives me a bad feeling and makes me feel unsafe and alienated in the community. I'm also Jewish, so JKR's recent holocaust denial and her support of neo-nazis like Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshul add to this feeling exponentially. This issue is related to so much trauma and ongoing abuse that it's honestly triggering to see 'fun' references to that material as if nothing's happening.

I know it's probably 'not that deep' to most people, but small things like this mean there's one more space where the majority can be comfortable, but I automatically can't take part... in the end it's your choice, but since that blog seems to be aiming to be somewhat of a 'community' space rather than a personal blog I thought it might be relevant for you to hear how people feel.

You seem like a thoughtful person, and I appreciate the arguments you made in your other post. I hope this doesn't come across as attacking you or trying to stir up drama, these are just my honest feelings. Also I'm not saying you should personally cut HP out of your life, I understand there are ways of engaging in a fandom that don't involve supporting the original creator. Thanks for listening!

Hello Anon,

I apologize that this has taken me ages to answer. I haven't been able to spend much time in tumblr-land recently but this topic deserves more than an off-the-cuff response.

For any of you that are not familiar, anon is referencing this post. I'll put the rest of my response below a cut so that anyone not up for further discussion on this topic can bypass:

First, I want to thank you for reaching out. The only way most of us learn how deeply affected by events is if we share, but I know it can be a very difficult thing to do. I don't know if I'm the right person to really do anything specifically on this topic, but I can absolutely share a little bit more about my thoughts.

So, professionally, I'm a technical systems subject matter expert. And it's impossible for me to hear about something without trying to narrow it down to the root cause to resolve there. Yes, there are also actions to be taken to fix the immediate problem, but if the source is left alone, it's going to continue happening.

So, if that won't resolve the problem, what will? In my mind there are two possibilities:

To me, the root cause of the issue isn't this specific woman, it's much bigger than that. Because if we were to remove her specifically as an issue, there would just be someone else spouting the same junk, maybe with less of a following, maybe more.

1. Not allowing people to form and share their own opinions on issues like this. After all, if we HAD to comply to a collective moral standing, then we'd all be on the same page and there wouldn't be all this suffering, right? Hopefully everyone reading this knows why that would be a BAD IDEA even if was possible. I'm not going to go into detail here but if anyone reading this has any doubts, we definitely can!

2. Stop giving power to the words of people that have no authority. This is honestly one of my biggest issues with celebrity culture. Period. Why on earth do the opinions of someone who has absolutely no expertise on an issue carry so much weight in our society?

I'll give y'all an example: Let's say BTS states that they enjoyed seeing the purple streetlights so now we should repave all roads everywhere in the world purple. Not only would this be a logistical nightmare there would be significant ramifications regarding safety and economically. BTS has no expertise in city planning or road safety. 'But they've been all over the world and seen how happy people are when they're surrounded by purple, we should listen to them!' No, we shouldn't correlation is not causation. If there is to be any benefit gained from such a change, it would need to be researched and trialed by actual subject matter experts. Idk, this example is pretty convoluted but hopefully you get my point?

Anyway, now that we've established that fame is not a good enough reason to give weight to someone's opinion, it just becomes a skill issue of recognizing when to listen/disregard and how to implement it on a large scale. Let's face it, both are difficult issues to tackle. The lines definitely get blurry about who has valuable contributions vs who is just the loudest voice. Especially with the ease that anyone can have access to a platform, there's very little threshold to finding countless individuals sharing 'facts' about issues of which they have absolutely no knowledge. I think all of us have seen that first hand in the BTS fandom so I won't list any examples.

So, the first challenge is how we discern the value from the noise. I am personally a huge believer in non-traditional education, so you can't just rely on the alphabet soup of degrees list after people's names either. The next hurdle is getting the majority to start doing this as well so that value is attributed to the correct people and not those who have no business with it. And that is what SHOULD be society's goal overall (in my opinion).

I truly believe that everyone is entitled to have and share their views and opinions but that doesn't mean we have to continue to listen or give value to what they say once we've realized they don't align with what is actually good for us.

To finally circle back to this before-named woman and the hateful ideas she shares, I genuinely don't understand why anyone continues to listen to what she's spouting, with one exception. When a creator shares a viewpoint that is malicious of intent, I think the created work should be evaluated to determine if there is an ulterior influence that can be gleaned from new audiences. Like I said in my post before, personally the effect that the Harry Potter world has had on me and the people in my immediate circles has done far more to foster overall inclusion and understanding of marginalized groups than pretty much anything. It was one of the few things to get past the heavily conservative religious viewpoints in the community that became a gathering point for those of us who didn't conform to the norms.

The great irony in all of this is the parallel that can be drawn between the author and the main villain who literally went insane breaking his soul apart for the gain of power. Perhaps she should spend more time reading her own work?

Anyway anons, I hope both of you are able to find some healing from the trauma these issues keep bringing up. I'm grateful you've entrusted me to share your concerns. I do think it's important to keep learning and growing from each other's experiences in a positive way rather than the heavy handed 'how dare you not comply to my specific viewpoint and conclusions on a nuanced issue' approach.

[saintgreenz-fanfics]

Welcome to SaintGreenz-Fanfics – A Journey into Naruto Fanfiction

Hello, fellow fans and storytellers!Welcome to SaintGreenz-Fanfics, your new favorite place for all things fanfiction! Whether you're here for a deep dive into the rich worlds of Naruto or just exploring new takes on your favorite characters, you're in the right place.

What You’ll Find Here

At SaintGreenz-Fanfics, we’re all about celebrating creativity in fandom. Here’s what you can expect from this blog:

Fanfiction Recommendations

Looking for your next read? I’ve got you covered. I’ll be sharing some of the best fanfics from various authors, along with my personal reviews and why I think they stand out.

Original Fanfiction Stories

As a writer of fanfiction, I’ll be sharing my own works right here. From epic multi-chapter sagas to quick, heartfelt drabbles, there’s something for everyone. I always aim to honor the source material while adding my unique twist to the characters and worlds we all love.

Writing Tips & Tricks

For those of you who want to start writing or just improve your craft, I’ll be posting tips on character development, world-building, and how to stay motivated on long writing projects.

Community Engagement

This blog is as much about you as it is about fanfiction. I’ll be hosting prompts, challenges, and discussion threads where we can all geek out together. Feel free to share your work, ask questions, or just hang out with other fans who share your love for Naruto.

Why Fanfiction?

Fanfiction is more than just stories – it’s a way to dive deeper into the characters and worlds that have left an imprint on our imaginations. It’s a creative outlet for those “what if” scenarios, a playground for new ideas, and a means of connection between fans. For me, it’s been a way to express my love for Naruto and to connect with others who share that passion.

Over the years, I’ve seen how fanfiction has evolved, and the talent within the community is astounding. This blog is my way of giving back, providing a space where writers and readers alike can explore, create, and celebrate these beloved stories.

Get Involved

If you're interested in contributing to the blog or joining in on our events, here's how you can get involved:

Submit your fanfics for a feature! I love showcasing new voices, and I’m always open to reading work from the community.

Follow me for updates on the latest posts, prompts, and fanfic recommendations.

Comment & Engage – I love hearing from you! Whether you have a suggestion, a critique, or just want to share your thoughts, your feedback makes this space even more vibrant.

Thank you for being part of this amazing community! I’m excited to share this journey with you all.

Let’s write some stories together!— SaintGreenz

[somedaynotsoon]

Super-Small Stardust Saga, Prologue

Hey there! You're reading an archived, imperfect version of a post originally from my Cohost!! Rest in peace to the best website. This version of the story will be missing some essential formatting aspects. Otherwise, I'll do my best to archive everything textwise and image-wise. Anyway, the text originally read:

~~~

I'm hosting chapters on this second page so as to avoid clogging up my main page with chapters AND allow folks to follow specifically the CYOA if they're so inclined!

This will be a unique Interactive fiction project in my micro-oriented sci-fi kink setting, the Punyverse! I'm going to be hosting it here on Cohost, and taking advantage of css and Cohost's unique page layout in order to try and create something that I couldn't really fit on other sites like Twitter or Tumblr or what have you.

Most importantly, while I'm certainly planning to be writing most of it myself, I'm going to leave "unwritten" paths and branches down the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure path as "open" slots, so that collaborators can contribute in a way similar to Writing.com Interactives (though obviously with a stronger grip on quality control than WDC!) I encourage folks to reach out and DM me in the future if you're interested. You can reach me on Twitter, Discord, and Tumblr.

Before we start, be aware that while this prologue is tame, future chapters can and will contain kink/fetish content, including but not limited to macro/micro, nano/giga, furry, anthro, non-anthro (quadrupedal, serpentine, etc), genitals/sexual content, situations of ambiguous consent, feet/paws, butt, vore, dom/sub, humiliation, boobs, peril/destruction, and more.

As with all stories of mine involving non-human characters, all parties pass the Harkness test, being of human-level intelligence, 18+ or equivalent sexual & mental maturity for their species, and involving themselves of their own free will.

This first part is simple scene-setting. As always, if you notice a formatting error, typo, or other problem, please let me know!

Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!

Year 2212. Also known as Collective Calendar 3-42-15-8999.

With the Earth giving out in terms of resources, humanity decided to leave its nest into the wider universe. That’s the simple version of that bit of history. The fleet, carrying just over 9 billion people, made quick tracks out of the solar system. Once past the Kuiper Belt, the ESS Bifrost activated the wormhole gate, and humanity entered, to be taken faster than light to the next place they would call home.

In retrospect, they could probably have remained on Earth a few more decades to test wormholes with some extra rigor.

Humanity emerged on the opposite side of their galactic neighborhood with no viable route back, no idea where they were, and, of course, lest any of us forget: pulled through a pocket of spatial compression that effectively reduced the size of their entire fleet and everyone in it to 1/12000th scale. Humans that were once 5 foot 11 inches were now 5 thou and 11 subthou tall, .15mm tall. Paltry. Microscopic. Blissfully Ignorant of just how small and in need they all now were. The fleet would rapidly have depleted all of its power and resources in no time at all, had it not immediately been intercepted by the Interstellar Collective.

Integration was tough those first few years.1 But eventually, humanity was able to carve out some small – very small – niche within the pangalactic community. And despite all the new difficulties of this new frontier, at this new size, humanity climbs ever further.

That’s where You come in. You’ve spent the last several years achieving the credentials necessary to become a ship captain. It wasn’t easy – especially making boot camp at the size of a fleck. Even getting approval to pursue a spot aboard Academy Station took a few favors. But today, at last, is the day you graduate and become one of only four or six-ish human captains of a multi-member vessel to exist!

Your itinerary for today is quite simple. First, you need to meet with Academy Station’s Director, to complete the final steps of ceremony and receive your badge (very important!). Second, a Lieutenant-Captain whose name eludes you (temporarily!) wanted to meet to requisition your leadership aboard a cruiser. Third, you would then have to go down to the Large Vessels Lot and introduce yourself to the crew and vessel, and then presumably tomorrow morning you would leave on that vessel for a grand adventure through the galaxy.

You look over your graduation documentation once more to verify that everything is in order. At the top is your basic personal information. It reads…

Option 1: Fem Captain At the top, in neat print, the document reads:

Name: Justine Sieva Skylor Species: Human (Sellan) Dimorphism: Female DOB: 3-38-04-9001. (1/29/2217) Mass: 0.2 micrograms* (See Addendum) Height: .144mm* (See Addendum)

Followed by copies of that same information in a few other formats. Near the bottom of the page are a few addendums and notes explaining the conditions of humanity's size issues.

Since this information is accurate, you decide to head off to go visit the Director and get yourself recognized! Yup, this is me! {To Prologue Part 2.}

At the top, in neat print, the document reads:

Name: Septem Vel Septendecim Lis (Preferred Name: Sep) Species: Viable Hybrid (Human / Soldrakanoid) Dimorphism: Male DOB: 3-38-04-9001. (1/29/2217) Mass: 0.24 micrograms* (See Addendum) Height: .150mm* (See Addendum)

Followed by copies of that same information in a few other formats. Near the bottom of the page are a few addendums and notes explaining the conditions of humanity's size issues.

...Yup, looks correct, you think. You decide to head off to go visit the Director and get yourself your badge.

{Note: This chapter wasn't written/complete yet at time of Cohost's shutdown}

Footnotes

Joining the Collective was easy enough – their extraterrestrial neighbors were more than happy to offer humans shelter and assistance. A lot more than happy, to put it gently. Aliens meeting each other in groups tend to experience a wave of social and emotional euphoria – that is to say, aliens naturally develop crushes on other species at first sight. And humanity, as the smallest species in space and the newest member of the Collective, was quite a hot topic for months. Many, many species met humanity during that initial acclimation to the cosmic lifestyle – and almost as many saw humanity as playmates, toys, objects of affection, pets... and so on. To this day, the wormhole research project that is the primary lead on possibly fixing humanity’s size drags at a snail’s pace due to just how much the other species assisting the project ‘love’ their human coworkers. To say nothing of the Collective’s nickname for humanity – the Sellans – or the numerous “research projects” with massive embarrassment for mankind as primary consequence. Many new prospective city-type colonies have been relocated to humiliating circumstances in the care of relative giants.

[tonydaddingham]

Longwinded anon again (thanks for the kind words!): You've brought out a few things in your last posts that crystalized some of my thoughts about the hole I complained about in one of my first posts here, left by the decision to never acknowledge that Crowley successfully tempts Aziraphale to try to kill the Antichrist. After S1 aired, Gaiman commented in an interview that Crowley does not have an actual character arc in S1. He is at the end what he was at the beginning. And my response at the time was, well, wait, he does have a transformative moment in the novel, this is strange. I think S2 in fact explores that lack of arc in an interesting way, and it /does/ think about the larger moral issues involved in the Antichrist temptation without referencing it directly.

Both S1 and S2 rely heavily on mirroring, included warped mirroring, to approach narrative structure and character development. In S1, after Aziraphale's discorporation, Crowley tries to reconstruct their normal dynamic--Crowley plays the white knight, Aziraphale the damsel in distress--on his arrival at the airfield, when he swaggers over from the burning Bentley and assures Aziraphale that he'll take care of the soldier ("Leave it to me"). Then the script /literally/ blows up the dynamic when the Bentley explodes, Crowley gets distracted, and Aziraphale has to take care of the soldier himself. And, of course, at the end the dynamic has been altered, because they save each other in the bodyswap. This looks like the relationship is now on a mutual egalitarian footing! Hooray!

...except S2 demonstrates that Crowley /liked/ the original dynamic, and he spends the season trying to manhandle (demonhandle?) Aziraphale back into it. Aziraphale asks for help with Gabriel, but Crowley interprets "help" as an excuse to play the strong protector again, through a combination of forced innocence (Crowley spends this season /not/ telling Aziraphale some important things about Gabriel and Heaven that Aziraphale needed and deserved to know) and, in the lead-up to the demon attack, outright dismissiveness of Aziraphale's ability to handle the situation. You referenced the dialogue there, which mirrors the "Leave it to me" of S1. But in S1, Aziraphale /was/ willing to leave it to Crowley, whereas here Aziraphale tries to assert his own capability and Crowley brushes it off. Nina, the character self-aware about being trapped in an abusive situation, temporarily stops the plot to call this out, and while Aziraphale cheerfully admits to being aware of what's going on (something left ambiguous in S1), unlike Nina he doesn't admit or doesn't see that what makes Crowley "happy" rests on perceiving Aziraphale as less capable and less powerful. Both physically (Aziraphale needs Crowley to fight for him) and psychologically (Aziraphale needs Crowley to protect him from full knowledge of his execution and from any knowledge that Heaven might murder him for helping Gabriel). I know that the fanfic community has quickly glommed onto "Aziraphale must apologize to the poor wronged demon" plots, but Crowley's inability to think himself out of this inegalitarian dynamic contributes directly to the break-up at the end of ep6, not least because we see him /help/ maintain Aziraphale's innocence about the extent of Heaven's malice.

good morning (well, it was morning when i started) LWA!!!✨ no problem at all, you're very welcome!!!

(further ask screenshots under the cut).

oh gosh yes i remember the ask you mean (everyone else, i believe it's this one). stating the obvious, if my previous posts criticising him are anything to go by, but the whole scene where crowley tempts aziraphale re: antichrist really does unnerve me, and was one of the key reasons why I think - although I do genuinely think crowley is a very empathetic character - i've always gravitated to aziraphale more. the parallel narrative of nina, with her story of surviving and escaping psychological and emotional abuse, really puts the spotlight on the level of aziraphale's naivety and indoctrination with anyone or anything that he believes confers any kind of worth onto him.

trauma from abuse does not stop when one escapes it, because it truly does alter your brain chemistry and emotional make-up into being more susceptible to finding any alternative that will give you a sense of value again. others have clearly remarked on it, but that is the most revelatory moment as concerns nina, for me; her knowledge of self and that she knows her own value, despite her recent abusive experience, is what diverts her parallel storyline with maggie into an adjacent position to aziraphale and crowley's.

and that's a really powerful point; i know that many people have remarked on the correlation between aziraphale and religious brainwashing (especially as concerns its relationship to queer identity, which is very, very valid), but i think what some may be refusing to also see is that aziraphale, in a very unique and particular way, is potentially experiencing some small, or large depending on your perspective, level of similar abusive behaviour (bracing myself for impact re: that statement).

i despair for aziraphale throughout most of the show, in that i interpret him as not only feeling that he's not enough ("that's okay, as long as i'm enough for crowley to see any worth in me") but also because he can't seem to see that anyone that wholly cares about him should be making him feel that he is more than enough, and accepting of every part of him - even his shortcomings. he shouldn't need to be manipulated into anything; he is by large an inherently good and loving person (as far as we've been shown), is shown to gravitate towards those that might need his help (*cough* crowley), and that the fact that he can't seem to see that if others do not trust or like him enough to be honest and vulnerable with him, when he hasn't really done anything to make them believe that they can't, that is entirely their issue/failing, not his.

such, to me, is why his decision to break away and follow his own path to heaven, following an opportunity to do something not only largely altruistic but also something that might help him develop a sense of value entirely on his own, is exactly the right decision for him to make when taking all of this emotional and psychological context into consideration.

as discussed in the last ask, crowley does appear to have a tendency for making aziraphale seem or feel lesser than him, by way of the dance (humiliation), disingenuous apologies (gaslighting), keeping secrets (imbalanced power dynamic) and constantly saving him and dismissing his ability to save himself (removing agency). crowley in contrast to aziraphale has his own brand of insecurity but that is in my opinion not rooted in a lack of self-worth. it is rooted in knowing that he had and has much to give, but it being rejected.

i hate to defer to psychological terminology that is innately human when referring to supernatural beings, but for lack of a better option; crowley's cognitive dissonance in ep6 of his belief ("helping to improve heaven is useless and they'll never change") and his action (manipulates aziraphale into trying to stay with him, ignoring aziraphale's own wants and aspirations) result in his choosing to believe that aziraphale doesn't love him for who he is - choosing the rejection narrative - rather than choosing to trust in aziraphale that they have the ability, together, to make a change that will benefit them as much as everyone else (which is what aziraphale is inviting him to).

the fact that this is rooted in rejection is key. i think it's fairly clear that crowley thinks himself to be of a higher status than aziraphale, harking back to his angel era (or at least purposefully tries to maintain the illusion that he is, rather than accept that they're - you know - equal). the overwhelming need, it seems, to plough on ahead and force aziraphale to keep pace with him whether he likes it or not, speaks to me of his committing to a 'failsafe' action that will protect him from being rejected, regardless of whatever good or clever thing he does, and this will naturally originate from the fall. as you say, aziraphale is similarly wrapped up in asserting his own superiority, especially where morality is concerned and thinking that he knows best for crowley in offering him restoration, but again - I feel like this stems from insecurity, especially in the face of a demon that is, to him, utterly brilliant and smart and sly, but also good and kind and brave.

neither are in the right - both are very much in the wrong - for even entertaining this mindset, but i do feel that once again crowley tips the scale on the morality front here. both were made to suffer from various trauma at the hands of heaven and hell, but the fact that crowley seems to perpetuate it with aziraphale (however much with original good intention, and perhaps without malicious intention) and so successfully to the point that aziraphale a) doesn't even really see it until ep6, and b) if aziraphale does see it, he possibly feels that it all that he deserves, is incredibly alarming.

in terms of a resolution, LWA✨, you've beaten me to the point i was going to make when your first ask came in! we are seeing two characters that were originally conceptualised as one, and now broken apart (both literally by way of the character design as well as in the narrative). i therefore find that the body swap in s1 was indeed the big hint to the audience (and should have been a big hint to aziraphale and crowley) that they are reflections of each other, and that is by extension the solution.

them simply forgiving each other and having meaningful communication is not going to be the Big Solution that makes them connect again. to me, there needs to be - after an actual, heartfelt apology and subsequent communication - a full, complete acceptance of each other, of their individual and conflicting minds, fears, wants, and ideologies, and understanding that they do not need, in fact, to be in conflict with each other, but instead are literally built as being complementary halves of the same coin✨

edit because i didn't address it: in my mind, my own personal, metaphorical jury is out on why the joint miracle had the result that it did, but the concept of it being literally because it's aziraphale and crowley working in harmony together is really intriguing!!!

[junkdrawerthoughts]

Thank you for making the post about people misusing and abusing the x reader tags in the ACOTAR fandom.

I’ve quietly messaged people about this, and while some have been gracious, others have been incredibly immature and rude in their responses.

I feel like a lot of it intentional and coming from the desire to drive engagement with their posts (some have unapologetically said as much).

In these instances, it really highlights that person’s immaturity, narcissism and lack of desire to meaningfully contribute to the fandom (other than to gain more followers etc.).

I absolutely think the rise of social media influencers, booktok, etc. in general have contributed to this mindset.

I get what you said about deleting your post because you don’t want to clog the tags yourself, but I hope you leave it up in the hopes it might educate or convince some people to rethink how they use the tags.

I’m so fed up with this selfish nonsense and just about ready to start naming and shaming.

More of us need to call out the accounts who are abusing the tags. That kind of behaviour is not in the spirit of fandom and we shouldn’t just accept it.

I’ve been involved in various fandoms for a long, long time (I’m probably at least twice the age of most people here), but I’ve never come across such selfishness and lack of regard for the experience of others as I have in the tumblr ACOTAR fandom.

First of all, thank you so much for sending this ask. I can’t tell you how many times over the last couple of years I’ve written and rewritten and then decided not to make that post, because I was a little worried about pissing everyone off, so it’s nice to know that I’m not alone.

Fandom has become such a weird space to navigate. I’ve been on Tumblr since 2012 and I’ve also spent time in a million different fandoms on other platforms over the years, but the mess the space in general has turned into recently seems to be a cross platform issue—and from what I hear, a cross fandom issue.

I totally agree that social media has fucked up how we interact with other humans, and it’s also sort of created this widespread “pandemic”, if you will, of people in constant need of attention and validation.

I’ve been lucky enough—in this fandom, at least—to have not yet had a bad interaction personally with a writer on the x reader side of things, but I 100% believe that there are a few who have absolutely no problem putting themselves over common courtesy.

On the flip side of that, I’ve also had some people respond super well and tell me that the idea that non-fic posts might be clogging up the tags just genuinely didn’t even cross their mind, and they were super sweet about the whole thing.

But I totally agree that there’s a lot of, as you put it, “selfish nonsense” going around—by both writers and readers. Some readers are very demanding and get upset when a writer doesn’t do what they want them to or post on a regular basis, and some writers are very demanding that they get the kind of or the amount of interaction they deem acceptable.

This is my side blog, because I don’t like posting a bunch of stuff on my writing blog that isn’t specifically fics I’ve written, so as someone who sits on both sides of the reader/writer dynamic, this behavior confuses the hell out of me.

In fandom, we’re all here for the same reason—to enjoy this piece of media we really like and want more of. So, why can’t we just do that? Why can’t we just be chill and be kind and have a good time?

Fandom isn’t the fun little escape it’s meant to be if we can’t even be kind and courteous to one another.

Anyway, I’m so sorry for the novel-length response—lmao, I’m a wordy bitch with raging ADHD and a lot of shit to say 😂—but in regards to my original post, I think I will leave it up. With you and a couple other people expressing similar sentiments, I feel better knowing that I’m not the only one frustrated by the misuse of the x reader tags.

P.S. If you’d like to name and shame writers in this fandom who’ve been mean to you in my inbox, feel free so that I can block them. I’d prefer not to continue to give my support to people who are out here being assholes for literally no reason.

[pentition]

Hi, I think I might have been the one to draw you in with the ask about the doc. Just wanted to clear up that I meant very little with it besides giving you a heads up about a development with something you reblogged to hear all side and wanted to make sure you saw the reply. That's all I mean. As for staying neutral, I get it and I support it 100%. No need to answer this out in the open, just wanted to let you know. I wasn't setting a trap or anything. I'm just shit at setting the right tone sometimes. I hope everyone involved is able to move on and find some peace.

i'm deciding to post this because i do genuinely believe you meant well and mean well. i privated the original ask of you informing me, so i have it still. i didn't like that i felt that it could have been potentially trapping, which sat with me ever since i answered it. so i reflected why i felt that way. especially when, as i described, i had so little involvement. i think that's just the curse of stuff like this that happens in communities. it's easy to focus on the negative, even if logically you know someone means well.

i appreciate you messaging me. i'm sorry if my tone was harsh. i take full accountability for that. hearing you explain your thought process now pretty much is similar to the conclusion i came to, too.

tbh, i've gotten way more positive and silly anons than i have negative ones. usually i just delete the negative ones to not give them a platform. so i think i knew you didn't mean harm but my brain just didn't catch up fully in processing it. otherwise, i would have either sat on the ask or deleted it. so i think i subconsciously knew but my instinct was to stay guarded while tackling the topic objectively - since that's stuff i'm trained to do and it has been a struggle to unlearn the 'guarded' part.

i've been told i sound indifferent a lot of the time. whether it's text tone or irl. i don't mean anything by it and there is a whole ass explanation for it. so again, i'm sorry if i was harsh at all in tone or commentary. yours was fine. i think a contributing factor was just that i had deleted some anon hate right before your message came in and it sent off 'trap' alarms and my wires got crossed with *motions to above*. i wanted to take replying seriously and be objective, but i also know how i can sound regardless if it's accurate or not to how i feel. so it wasn't you, don't worry.

you're completely fine. i respect and i appreciate you informing me, just like i respect and appreciate you sending this. you're very kind, anon. thank you for communicating with me. i share the same sentiment in hoping everyone can move on and find peace. everyone deserves to.

big virutal hug. thank you. <3

[blackandwhiteandrose]

Trivia Tuesday -> What-the-fact Wednesday

Creators: give a “behind the scenes” look at one of your works. This could be things that got removed or changed, the origins of ideas/details, whatever you like!

thanks for the tags @mostlyinthemorning and @hippolotamus!

In the past, I’ve seen/gotten comments about how many people I thank/acknowledge in my author’s notes. I guess some people think it’s excessive or something. If you can make it through the entire writing/posting process alone, you are a far stronger person than I am. 

Being creative is awesome, but it’s also exhausting. I’m a good writer, but I also really appreciate having a group (team?) of people that I know make me better.

So, this is my explanation:

When I thank someone in my author’s notes, it’s because they’ve contributed in some way and I’m big on giving credit where it’s due. Whether it was a line or an idea or answering some weirdo questions I asked them - whatever it may be - I’m grateful that person was involved.

I have my CFOs (chief flailing officials) who are legit necessary to my accomplishing anything ever. Like most of the characters I love, I have a praise kink that can be seen from space. At various intervals or when I get stuck, I need someone to get in the doc, take a look around and go “this doesn’t suck, please proceed”, give me a headpat, and send me on my way to make more words.

I love to get opinions from someone who looks at stuff/processes differently than I do because they’re going to notice things that would never occur to me. As much as I need validation, I also need someone to tell me something isn’t working/sounds weird/feels out of place. 

And a grammar wrangler. I’ll be the first to admit I’ve never met a comma I didn’t want to stick somewhere unnecessary and you can try to pry my em dashes out of my cold, dead hands. I finally (basically) trained myself out of ellipses (you’re welcome). I’ve even gone back and removed probably thousands of them from my earliest fics. So I’m thankful to have someone who actually understands punctuation and is willing to wade through all of my extraneous commas. 

Very honestly, I would encourage everyone who writes to find someone (or several someones) that you trust to be collaborators. More eyeballs and brains produce better results and I’m so glad there are people who are willing to be my  creative process partners in crime. 

[riverlethe]

(via Sailor Moon Usagi GIF - Sailor Moon Usagi Balancing Pen - Discover & Share GIFs)

Fic Authors Self Rec

When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love! 💖

Thanks to @areptiledysfunction1107 for the tag!

Here are mine, in no particular order.

1. Once More, with Feeling! This is my ongoing WiP, a re-write of the Dark Kingdom arc in which Usagi and Mamoru begin dating before learning each other’s alter egos, and then navigating a relationship in secret afterwards. It’s mostly Manga-canon from Mamoru’s perspective, and I took some liberties with Mamoru’s psychometry and plot. There’s angst-galore (who doesn’t love angst?) but also plenty of tenderness and romance.

I purposely didn’t age them up because I am a sucker for the “high school sweethearts thing” (yes, she is in Jr High, but you know what I mean) so while their relationship is very physical, (as teens tend to be), there is nothing explicit.

This was my foray into writing, if you will, because I needed a mental distraction from my health care worker job during COVID back in 2021. OMwF! has changed so much since I originally started posting it, and I just couldn’t be prouder of it considering it is my very first fanfiction, even if a few of my other stories were posted first.

Rated M

2. Home My Day 2 Contribution to UsaMamo week 2021 was supposed to be about Post-Stars Usa and Mamoru while he is at Harvard for his Study Abroad 2.0, but the story took itself in another direction. What was originally intended as a sweet story about how Usagi is “Home” for Mamoru, instead transformed into an emotional Usagi-centric introspection about the events of Stars.

And I just love it. All aboard the Feels Bus!

Rated T

3. Interlude Full discloser, this story was written for 2 reasons: 1. Because of a discussion on the Moonlight Legends Discord back in August or Sept of 2021 in which we lamented the lack of Dark Endymion and Usagi/Sailor Moon fics, and 2. Because I wanted to push myself out of my M-rated comfort zone and write some actual smut for the first time.

Now, for some, the smut-level of this story is still pretty low (I referred to it as “Diet Smut” when I originally posted it), as it wasn’t overly explicit. But when I reworked it a bit for @dendyweek, I did make it a tad more explicit. I also made the story a better a companion for another I wrote later called Consequences, a Princess D Masquerade fic inspired by @areptiledysfunction1107′s Deja Vu (and posted with her approval) that became an unintended prequel to “Interlude” (funny how that happens)

Rated E

4. What Dwells Within My Day 4 contribution for @dendyweek 2022. I really wanted to try my hand at a psychological horror inspired piece, and I had so much fun writing it. As we move further and further away from Dendy Week I find myself wishing I had done even more with this concept, perhaps even a short multi-fic, but I am so very proud of this story as it is.

Rated T

5. The Morning and Evening Star My Day 1 contribution to @sailormoonrarepairweek is all about Sailor Venus!

SilMil Venus makes an interesting proposal to Kunzite to blow off some steam, and the rest is history. While I don’t have anything against any ships involving the senshi, I just don’t really ship them with anyone. But if I did have to choose one SenShi pairing, it would be Venus/Kunzite.

This could very well be the only non-UsaMamo story I write, and I love how it turned out.

Rated E

Tagging @goddessalthena @moonchildoh8 as many others I know have already been tagged, but please feel free to share your own favs! This is open tagging! I don’t know everyone who writes, so please introduce yourself and your works!