#the amount of WIPs I have for them is insane like it’s genuinely a very good chunk of my google docs

[right-there-ride-on]

Mayhaps it’s time to translate another diejoni fic…

[amemenojaku]

Shinmyoumaru for the character ask prompt

I got several asks about her... thank you everyone for allowing me to go completely batshit insane

General opinion/How much I care about them: GAHHH I love her SO MUCH it's unbearable!!!! I think nowadays I wouldn't be able to say who's my number 1 favorite touhou character between her and Seija... There is a very special place in my heart for Shinmyoumaru Sukuna T_T I love the play on a classic otogizoshi (making the descendant of Issun Boushi a princess AND the ally of a horned demon at the same time is sooo good) and I love that she has this brave and regal aspect to her personality while still being a little bastard and I love her design and the atmosphere of her fight scene in DDC and her heart and everything else!!! She is cool and cute and funny god I wish Shinmyoumaru were real I have so much affection for this silly little character

A ship I love: (puts on my clown makeup) I made myself known here as a seishin artist many years ago and I'm happy to say they're still my absolute favorite pairing in the series! toxic yuri wins!! The way I see them has changed a lot over the years and thanks to the surprisingly big amount of material we got in the spinoffs and the books but at its core it's still the same... Lonely people who created unforgettable memories together and changed each other forever... And you can go so many different ways with them... But I guess my all-time favorite seishin flavor is best summed up in this unrelated quote (more people should read Fafoo):

seishin fans also manifested grimoire of usami into existence which I think is incredible enough on its own to mention

A non-romantic relationship that I love: With Reimu!!! I think we all agree that their interactions in Forbidden Scrollery were perfect and that Shinmyoumaru is an excellent addition to the Reimu solar system. There's something so touhou-ish about them living together after DDC and Shinmyoumaru sewing that small kimono as a gift for Reimu and then later hijacking the danmaku festival so bad that Reimu has to step in. Literally textbook case of Reimu dealing with another little rascal yet befriending them in the process. Speaking of I think they genuinely are good friends, not just danmaku or drinking buddies... I love to imagine their daily life together when Shinmyoumaru stayed at the shrine......

The NOTP: For better or for worse she's almost exclusively shipped with Seija which is fine by me!! I've never liked seeing her with anyone else (save for a onesided Shinmyoumaru -> Reimu crush).

My biggest headcanon about them: THERE'S TOO MANY TO LIST..... I have pages upon pages of Shinmyoumaru & kobito-related headcanons because she is constantly rotating somewhere inside my brain but I can share a few ones: her family is not only a descendant of Issun Boushi but also a descendant of Sukunahikona; none of the kobito have last names except the ruling family who takes on the most sacred one - Sukuna; there's actually a little bit of Issun Boushi's spirit remaining in the miracle mallet, he doesn't exist there anymore or anything but it's like a warmth that Shinmyoumaru can feel when she wields it.

An idea for a fanwork I would like to make/see about them: I have a lot of wips that I probably won't ever finish sadly... But I -would- love to draw some kind of comic or writing/art mix where I could include all those headcanons someday, with her past and especially a study of her relationship with the mallet

Something that makes me think of them: Hedgehogs :) and forget-me-nots!

[explosionshark]

For the character game: Ava Silva

General opinion/How much I care about them: I genuinely and sincerely think if you watch Warrior Nun and don't walk away from it with Ava being at least one of your favorite characters you fucked up. You watched it wrong. Go back and do it over. Anyway yeah she's great, she's got an amazing arc, she's so goofy and heartbreaking and brave and GOOD and I love her so much.

A ship I love: well. Avatrice OTP obviously. And, as you well know, Bea/Ava/Lilith makes me remarkably insane. Ava and Lilith have this insane dynamic that you can really only get between two characters that have spent a considerable amount of time both trying to kill each other and also saving each other. I'm only human.

A non-romantic relationship that I love: SO MANY ACTUALLY. I love Michael and Ava's relationship and I love Mary and Ava too. Ava and Mother Superion also have that great mentor/parental kind of thing going on together. And it's very brief but I still love it so much but Ava and Chanel's s1 scenes are so sweet and beautiful! I go insane!

The NOTP: God idk. Do people actually ship her with anyone besides Bea and occasionally Lilith?

My biggest headcanon about them: I like the idea of Ava being into houseplants. I think she's the type of person that would fish half-dead plants out of the dumpster behind nurseries and other stores and take them home to rehab them. The metaphor is obvious but I still really like it 💚

An idea for a fanfiction I would like to write/read about them: (if I have none in my WIPs I'll make one up on the spot!) I mean 👀 - what if you went to hell for a while and when you finally escaped you found out the girl you were in love with has been hooking up with the girl you had insane foe-yay with and you're honestly not even mad about it as long as they let you join in haha jk.... unless...?

Something that makes me think of them: (a song, a character in another fandom, an animal): there's this one character in a fandom I grew up in and fell off of in my teens. A lot of parallels - some recurring iconography, got the whole tragic sacrifice-for-the-good-of-humanity thing going on. Has unique abilities, rallies a group of supporters who are loyal but weathers intense betrayal. I mean. You've probably guessed by now. That's right. Claudio Kilgannon

Character Asks

[superfluouskeys]

Oh no these asks are GREAT I want to ask like ten of them ummmmmmmm having Restraint: 3 (vibe check) 4 ( 👀 ) 17 (especially curious abt your editing process?? I am so greedy for your tradecraft secrets) aaaaand 19 (I recently researched….. doormats. that made me feel very sane about my choices please tell me about yours)

GOOD EVENING i have finally returned to what is truly important, my tumblr ask box.

3. how you feel about your current WIP

JNSDKJFSDKNJ NOT THE VIBE CHECK but you know, I had a smol breakthrough like two? nights ago that i have yet to actually follow up on LOL. I had this transition section where i was like i need to impart some Vibes and some Character Arc but i'm literally boring myself rn, and I think I have figured out in a vague sense how to make the transition do a lot more work for me, so that's good!

In general I'm extremely excited about some Major Points of the thing, just currently have to do an inordinate amount of sowing seeds for those major points in a way that's like subtle enough that I'm not hitting the reader over the head but also exists enough that the careful reader will pick up on it you feel?

4. a story idea you haven’t written yet

Side note before I even start answering...sometimes I think about how many of my """"""story ideas""""""""""" are just glorified weather metaphors. I am genuinely not sure what happened in my brain to make me like this. What has the weather EVER done to me.

Uhm so anyway since I'm thinking about Stormchaser, definitely a story idea and not just a weather metaphor in a trench coat, why don't I tell you a little bit about my characters because I'm very normal about them.

The first person [main character we are tentatively naming Emily] meets in the city is Nolan, who owns a small bar and restaurant that she won in a messy divorce. She puts on an act of tough-and-wry-and-world-weary, but she's very soft-hearted and has a bit of a savior complex, a bit of that 'i don't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else' vibe.

She has taken in Asher and Aislynn, siblings from a prominent and wealthy family who have had a [very mysterious] falling out with their parents and are thus in need of a place to stay. Asher is guarded and protective, while Aislynn is very open and warm. People often perceive her as naive, but Aislynn actively chooses to see the best in others.

Aislynn has magic, which is the source of many of her problems. (This is like kind of a reveal but the foreshadowing is painfully obvious LOL) Back when I was thinking about Stormchaser as a multi-path story, one major decision point was going to be, in a moment where the player character is hurt (not gravely, but still not in great shape), choosing whether to allow Aislynn to use magic to heal her. It would have a huge impact on the MC's relationships with most of the other major characters, since most of them have very strong opinions either about magic or about Aislynn herself. Aislynn is also the reason I ended up wanting to write the story--I had an overarching idea for the plot, but I got soooo attached to her so quickly!

17. talk about your writing and editing process

as we all know my writing process is just getting possessed by some sort of weather-related entity and then not sleeping until well after the sun has risen, so I think that's pretty clear and doesn't raise any sort of questions or concerns.

if no weather entity possession, my strategy has become "just force yourself to write the painful and clunky sentences at the speed of molasses and then look at it again tomorrow" -- because most of the time the next day I can fix what was clunky really easily bc I made space in my brain by getting the ideas down, and sometimes, extra special treat, I reread what I wrote and it's literally not even bad I was just in a mood LOL.

I feel like a very large percentage of my editing is just being extremely insane about word choice. Sometimes I go back and forth on word choice/word order/very very minor sentence structure things literally long after the thing is published and I am trying to tell myself to let it go. But tbh I don't really have a process for this, it's just what jumps out at me when I reread it as being awkward or not quite what I was going for. I'm probably like this because I used to be such an insufferable snob (used to be!!!!) and needlessly chose so many ten dollar words that I think I have a better-than-average sense of when simpler language is better vs. when you need a more complex word to describe the thing. So it sort of depends on the character whether I do a lot of deleting or adding of extra fluff and filler words LOL.

I'm alllll about limited POV and creating a headspace/thought pattern for characters, so I do a lot of thinking about what the specific character knows, how the specific character would express something, or whether she even has the language for what she's experiencing. I really love finding ways of conveying an emotion that the reader will recognize but the character doesn't!!

On a more macro scale I think I do a lot of, like, "this section is boring me. why?" In a story you really don't want anything that's doing nothing, and you definitely don't want a whole section that's not doing much. Sometimes because I try to make my dialogue as natural as possible the conversation starts to kind of wander LOL, and so I have to be like okay hold up what are we talking about what needs to be established here. And then usually jump back a bit and figure out how to lead the conversation in a more pointed direction.

And a lot of the time idk how much transitional stuff to include, so I'll be off on some rambling journey like uhmmmm do I need this??? when do we get to the fun part???? Which, like, not to say the fun part will be easier to write or anything, but a lot of time that feeling of boredom is bc what I'm doing either isn't necessary and can be accomplished in a way that's more fun for me personally OR it's fine it just needs to be pulling a lot more weight in what it's telling the reader. I find I sometimes get caught up in, like, a story beat that would "make sense here" as opposed to a story beat I personally like.

Like, as an example, I've been thinking (for soooo long yes i know) about how to continue the chance you take, and I remember I put in my notes that like a sparring scene would make sense, where you know it's all a metaphor and there's some quippy dialogue or w/e. And ik a lot of people like that kind of scene! And idk, sometimes I do too! But like........I don't want to do that lol! And in fact I think it doesn't actually fit with the vibe of the story, which is so much less about the violence surrounding it and so much more about the quiet moments in between. But I'm literally just thinking this now as I'm typing this. Like I didn't have a good reason for why I didn't want to progress the story that way until literally right now.

Which I guess leads me to another very important editing tool: pacing my kitchen like a crazy person explaining the problem I'm having to myself so I can try to talk through why it's bothering me LOL! as you can see it's extremely efficient and time-sensitive. six to ten business days turnaround for sure.

19. the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic

chickens :)

I'm genuinely drawing a blank LOL, I've definitely looked into a few things I can vividly remember (boats/ships and how crews and shifts work for TCYT, horse riding/cart pulling for scorched earth, how animal testing works for uhmmm that one moicy fic, oh and I remember i looked a lot into bird symbolism for the prisoner LOL) but I think mostly what I do is intensely study the source material, and I haven't run into that many situations where I felt like I needed to make sure I knew about something in the actual world and not the fictional one LOL! Wow I'm boring! I want to know about doormats!!!!!

fic writer asks!

[glamorouspixels]

WIP Wednesday 💌🪴

Good evening! I wasn't tagged by anyone, but I've been very absent as of late and I know I ignored some tag games while I was busy drowning under the weight of an inhuman amount of uni tasks. I've withdrawn from a big upcoming assessment because I was going a little insane, and I wanted to work on being a bit more active and participating in community things again.

So here's a fic snippet because it just so happens to be Wednesday and that seemed like a good excuse to tag the people whose tag games I ignored, to show them that I appreciate it and to ask them not to take me off their mental lists of people to tag in things, pretty please. Small snippet today (by my standards at least lmao), from a smutfic that will be up later this week!

“Have I told you that I love you today?” she asked casually.

Jack looked down at her naked body, its languid lines betraying a degree of genuine relaxation not many people ever got to see. Her eyes were a kaleidoscope of emotions and he wondered if she knew just how much of her was on display tonight.

“Only about a hundred times, in a hundred different ways,” he broke it to her gently. He fought to keep a straight face, but laughter threatened to burst forth when several seconds passed and she remained silent. “What, you didn’t really think I’d just let you get away with it, did you?”

“Hmpf.” She rolled onto her back and crossed her arms over her chest, but not before he could see the blush on her cheeks. God, she was adorable.

I tag @aimmyarrowshigh, @laiqualaurelote, @galadriel1010, and @floating-in-the-blue if y'all have your own WIP snippets you want to share!

[lesbianlotties]

20 questions for fic writers

thanks for tagging me @lilolilyr !! ily <33

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

120 works!

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

oh i didn't want to be outed on this but... 1,262,993

3. What fandoms do you write for?

i have written for 18 fandoms! currently i'm only writing for yellowjackets. but i might write more for ronance, i could update the warrior nun fic. and who knows, maybe a new season/movie will get me writing wednesday and the old guard again!

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Aftermath Kudos: 3,605 - aka "holy shit a lot of people were reading wednesday fanfic huh??"

make my menace into someone you'd adore Kudos: 2,179 - ronance coworkers enemies to lovers my beloved!

through the grief can't fight the feeling of relief Kudos: 1,381 - very soft warrior nun fic

five times Deena and Sam met in secret (and one time they didn’t)  Kudos: 1,154 - ngl i didn't think fear street fics got these many kudos but this was a lovely time!

Elvis cloned by aliens (you never know...) Kudos: 912 - it's literally insane to me that a one shot got this many kudos! (let's get it to 1k? 👀)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

yes!! i think like 99% of the time. i just love it so much. i love saying thank u because i'm genuinely SO thankful for every comment. and i have a feeling if i reply it might inspire people to leave more comments. and also sometimes it's a chance to just talk more about the fic! which i love doing, there's nothing like getting to talk about it

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

hmmm i don't love writing angsty endings, as you'll see by the fact that i wrote these two super angsty endings and then i went and wrote a sequel/alternate ending for both ghsjfdghkdfjg but anyway there's:

I'm sorry (it should've been me) - nancy tells robin she loves her but she's too late (in the rain)

If I could hold you for a minute (darling, I'd go through it again) - laura lee reincarnated as the bear and you know what happened to it

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

oh most of them lmao hmm i think i’m going to go for these “everyone survived post canon and they move in together to be happy and heal as a family” Extremely Uneventful Subject for tog and Who would I be without you, without them? for yellowjackets

8. Do you get hate on fic?

hmmm no i think that’s never happened! the closest thing might have been someone suggesting i always killed certain character when it’s the entire opposite. or the funny alternative, when someone literally only mentioned the men in the background of the story in every single comment they left lol but even those were mostly nice comments!

9. Do you write smut?

i do yes! not much and i only yielded and started writing it recently but i’ve loved it so far lol four of my most popular yj fics are smut, one of them is one of my favorites ever, and there’s that one ronance fic i posted on anon first… iykyk

10. Do you write crossovers?

i’ve done two! Immortals and Librarians for tog and gunpowder milkshake and (Red) Room For 8 for ocean’s 8 and hill house

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of!! hopefuly not

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes! 【翻译】Being with you (Makes the flame burn good) by R_H_Felidae_Athena

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

i have tried but they haven’t been posted/finished yet :(

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

okay so that’s a Tough question. judging by amount of fic written it’s robin and nancy, my current favorite is lottie and laura lee, but i also just rewatched bly manor and let me tell you, there’s no one at the level of dani and jamie <3

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but probably won’t?

there’s too many 😭 going as far back as the ocean’s 8 days there's the haunted house one, then fear street enemies to lovers, my warrior nun fic, yellowjackets coffee shop au, and all the ideas i haven’t even started ghsjfdghjf

16. What are your writing strengths?

oh don't do this to me. i literally never know what to reply to this. i... well i'd like to think i'm good at characterization and maybe dialogue!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

hmm i think i have a serious lack of discipline that means i only write when the mood is right and i will never stick to a schedule or plan or routine lol and okay i'll admit it, i might be too lazy to do the research necessary to write certain things/stories so i just avoid them 😭 but in my defense it's because too much research for academic reasons made me allergic to it

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

hm. i did this somewhat regularly with the old guard and in one ronance fic but looking back i don’t love it very much, it’s just okay i guess. this is just for me personally!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

ocean’s 8 hgsjdfghjf closely followed by the haunting of hill house

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

VERY very tough question!! they’re all my babies and i couldn’t possibly pick any fav- actually i have a few! but i’ll keep it to 3 special ones that funnily enough are far from being my most popular ones (pls read them i worked so so hard on them)

God's very simple and love shouldn't burn - aka my lottielee manifesto! 

If you rewrite your life, may I still play a part? - stranger things, nancy wheeler choose your own adventure fic!

my heart (is like a haunted house) - tog, andy falls in love with quynh’s ghost

tagging: @natscatorrcio @dufrau @eskawrites @scorchedhearth @sapphicscience @yee-hawlw @reesesfastbreak (if you want to! no pressure!) and pls pls anyone that sees this and wants to share say i tagged u!

[euphor1a]

💘💫🎀🎈💌 for the ask thing <3

Thank you for sending thru <3

💘 Is there any posted fic you want to rework/re-edit/re-write?

→ Nope. If you asked me this question on my old blogs, I’d probably say yes. But since then I’ve moved blogs and am in the process of rewriting pretty much everything I had 😭, so no. Maybe 2 years later I’ll say yes to this question again (as I post more new stuff) but it’s a very big no for now.

💫 what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

→ Just so you know, I’ll take everything and anything from long essay to a paragraph to a single sentence or even emojis as feedback!!!!! But, if we’re talking about favorites, I must say reviews that quote certain dialogues or paragraphs or some random sentences and proceed to gush about that specific part are very, extremely dear to my heart 😭! I haven’t received feedback like that since forever sjdhjfhj but previously, I used to be part of this small fandom and reblogs with such comments were the norm there. I genuinely cannot tell you how much it means to an author when you pin-point something you liked and go ham over it ahgdgkjsfjkdfjksfjk it’s so 😭😭😭😭 wholesome and endearing </3 !!! And p.s: a comment or some sort of feedback can NEVER be annoying to a writer as long as it’s positive!

🎀 give yourself a compliment about your own writing

→ I think I’m pretty good at writing emotions and how a character is feeling in different circumstances. Also, my style is relatively simple but I guess that’s not necessarily a bad thing? My grip on the english language isn’t so good that I can be super poetic or something, but I have my moments!!!

🎈 describe your style as a writer; is it fixed? does it change?

→ I don’t exactly have a way to describe my style as a writer because it’s literally never the same (specifically the actual writing process). I am genuinely more of a daydreamer than writer 😭! My imagination has no bounds and I can spend days picturing a novelworthy fic but the moment I try to write it.... 🤕😣😵 It’s a massive reason why my progress is so slow and why I’m never satisfied with what I end up typing. It’s like... the whole thing is SO GOOD in my head. But when I try to type it down it just never turns out the way I want to :( ?! This is also why you guys don’t see longer fics from me often. Ahgdgkjsfjkdfjksfjk it’s SO FREAKING annoying 😔!

💌 share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

→ You know what, the amount of longer fics I have in my wips is insane. If only I could EVER finish them n share with you guys :( ... All sorts of aus and pairings and genres are in there. And it’s all so exciting but 😭😭 sigh... If you want some tea on for sure upcoming stuff though, I only have bf chronicles’ next part to talk about as I’ve been focusing on it entirely as of late. Let me just say that it’s painful to work on. Cause bfc!mingyu is way too much for my own mental well being and it’s extremely hard to work on it without going through a manic episode of a delulu kpop stan. Yes, I said it. If you’re asking for something entirely brand new though,,,, I’ll be posting something no one expects from me. (Read a fic for a group I don’t write for; also, misc. masterlist coming soon)

— let’s get real! fic writer asks ✉️ ( inbox )

[astroboots]

hiya! i just finished reading your homecoming series and it was so amazing! it was incredibly fleshed out and so, so detailed, so it was a joy to read. the way the three of them fit together so well and the way they compliment each other was like sickeningly charming. and the way you write smut is phenomenal!!!! equal parts dirty and soft, and the dirty talk is perfect. comfort me was easily my favorite drabble (other than coming home, part one and two obviously). it was the sweetest thing i have ever read and it genuinely gave me chills. it’s the way they can understand each other so well, even without speaking. like it’s never mentioned in the drabble, but i felt like frankie and the female character (y/n? oc?) didn’t even need to speak about the plan for that evening. they just saw santiago in pain and knew exactly what he needed and knew he would refuse to ask for it. so the plan just naturally unfolded. they are just the sweetest lil trio and i could not get enough of them. i hope you keep writing them for as long they inspire you. and shout out to the other author’s who wrote drabbles for your universe! they understood the assignment and did not hold back. i appreciate them as well!!! thank you for sharing such an amazing story with us! have a great day ☺️

Hello lovely!!!

Sorry it's taken me a while to answer this as I've been offline all day and just had a moment's pause to sit down and re-read this for the umpteenth time, and am just hearteyes and warm and buzzing all over from this.

This is one of the loveliest messages I've ever received, and it made me all teary eyed just to read it. Homecoming is n so many ways my happy place, and my escape as a writer, and it's where I also run back to when I encounter writer's block or exhaustion in other parts of my life, and I honestly believe the legal authorities will have to pry it out of my dead-stiff-frostbitten-boney-hands before I'll ever stop writing the characters.

It's the place where I can just let go of any hang-ups, or fears as a writer and just have fun, and to see that others enjoyed it, that it brings joy for others to read always makes me so damn happy, because this story universe has been such a place of growth for me as a writer.

Can I also take a moment to just thank you for also giving a shout-out to my friends who have so kindly written mini-stories in this universe. I was in absolute tears seeing that you thanked them too because they are so talented and so deserving.

I feel that often I'm a bit rubbish at giving them the due credit they deserve. I don't talk about this enough, but those very friends are so uplifting, so kind and they are often in my DMs behind the screen throwing the most insane, hilarious and heartfelt little ideas and headcanons. @jazzelsaur and I have an entire extended universe featuring Jason Mamoa as Eugene, reader's best friend. @frannyzooey often sends me little inspo asks to get me to write them when I'm stuck. @radiowallet always listens to my insanity. @thirstworldproblemss jesus where do I even begin, she's basically my co-creator of this universe.

This story also means so much to me because I have been insanely fortunate enough to have my friends dip in and enjoy this universe with me and play in my sandbox. @radiowallet @frannyzooey @jazzelsaur @prolix-yuy are absolute fucking madhouses of talent and to have people like that play in your sandbox is the greatest honour that I can't even fathom how to start describing.

@thirstworldproblemss who has helped me from day one when this was just an angsty little oneshot about Santiago watching Frankie doing woodwork in the garden. She more than anyone understands these characters and I would say, often she understands them better than I do. The amount of WIPS she has hiding away, with these three that are better than anything I could dream of writing is insane.

"Comfort Me" has a very special place for me because it was more or less a prompt from @jazzelsaur in our early days of friendship, she came into my DM with her deranged thoughts about massages, and wine and loving care and even more loving blowjobs, and I knew then that that crazy lady was going to be one of my closest friends in the fandom.

Sorry this turned into an essay, but thank you once again, from the bottom of my heart for sending this in.

[jxthics]

howd you get started with commissions? i’m starting college soon and need the extra income but i don’t know how to start building a “presence” online

hi! this is a really good question but it requires a very, very long answer. i will do my best to split it up into sections and break it down to the best of my ability, but i am not a very articulate person. so if anyone reads this and has any further (specific) questions please feel free to ask!! thank you!!

to answer the question directly: i got into commissions in a really stupid way and no one should get started with commissions the way i did. i'm not going to go into detail, but i was in a really bad situation and i had to pick up work so that i would stop doing different things for money. i was underprepared, and i made a lot of mistakes, some of which i'm still trying to unlearn to this day. i didn't have any better options, but damn.

that's why i'm going to split up some things i wish i knew at the start of taking commissions For You! i've been taking them steadily for a little over 5 years now, a little over a year and a half fulltime if my math is right, and it's been a long series of trial and error. hopefully some of these tips will help you avoid those same mistakes and prepare you for starting commissions!

-

SOME HARD QUESTIONS: so commissions are a really great way to make money off of your art but it is a job. especially in the current hustle culture model and the way that art is undervalued, i feel like this gets really overlooked. it's not a side gig, it's a full job with a ton of demands, and a really, really taxing one at times. i've seen a lot of people - myself included - underestimate the amount of work that comms take and end up eating the cost later. a lot of the "scams" you see online are genuine people who are just insanely overwhelmed and unable to fulfill the demands of the job, and end up just taking money and ghosting people. you don't want to be that person, i don't want to be that person. so don't be that person.

but like pretty much any job it has requirements. especially because you're self-managing, it has a lot of very unique ones. i am not listing these to discourage anyone from taking commissions; this list is to make sure you are actually ready for this job. note that art skill is not on this list - anyone at any level of ability can take commissions. these are soft skills you need for this job, how good you draw is not one of them.

some questions for you, before you start commissions. these are for you to think about and answer to yourself honestly: - can i make myself available to people? i consistently reply to messages? will i avoid messages, or hide from people when overwhelmed? am i able to make my work schedule and turnaround time known to people (i.e. a visible queue), and stick to that? can i send messages regularly enough for progress check-ins, wips? if people ask me unexpected questions, will i be willing to answer them? can i respond to messages in a sober and clear-headed way that will make sense to other people? will i resent people for contacting me, especially when i'm overwhelmed? if i have delays or unexpected hiccups, will i be able to communicate those without shame? - can i maintain a professional relationship with clients? what about if they're pushy, or verbally abusive? what if someone develops a parasocial relationship with me and will pay me for friendship via commissions? (this happens a lot.) if someone breaks my rules, can i tell people "no" without being aggressive to them? am i able to enforce boundaries to be respected, or am i a bit of a doormat? can i keep up boundaries when money is involved? what if i really, really need that money?* *i will admit this gets.... really hard, especially if you need to pay bills, but it's easier after you've taken commissions for a while. sometimes you don't know the answer to this question until you're in this situation. - can i manage a reasonable workload? you are setting your own hours. can i organize, and be aware of how much work i have? can i keep a slow and steady pace without eating into my other responsibilities? do i have enough time to set aside for this amount of work? if i do commissions, can i still find enough time for college/work/sleep/chores? can i consistently set aside that amount of time without overworking myself or burning out? are commissions going to be a strain on my body (i.e. wrist issues)? can i pace myself while still getting commissions done within a reasonable timeframe? again, what if i really, really need the money? - is my art consistent? if i'm having art block, will i still be able to fulfill commissions? am i comfortable at my skill level to produce art that may be somewhat out of my creative comfort zone, or is the type of work i can do severely limited? (note that i mean things that may be challenging to draw, not things that make you actually uncomfortable. do not take a commission that makes you uncomfortable.) does my style change a lot, or will people generally know what they're getting from me? can i make my work around the same quality almost every time? will things like frustration with clients, overworking, stress, etc make my work worse?

think of this as a list of challenges that you need to be able to overcome - if you take a good, honest look at this list and realize you can't do one or more of these things, try to figure out ways around it! for example, i have pretty severe ADHD and i didn't start getting medicated for that ADHD until this month, which means i struggled with meeting deadlines without burning out. when i started taking commissions seriously, i had to learn how to manage my workload through a shit ton of scheduling and planners so that i don't do too much. i would not take commissions if you can't meet the requirements for these questions - you're going to run into glaring problems fulfilling commissions if you can't do the things on that list, because that is what doing commissions requires of you, every time.

if you can't do these things yet, but you still want to do commissions, that's ok! that just means that's not for you right now. i'd heavily encourage you to save this ask for when you know you're ready. all of the things above are things that can be worked around - like i said, i jumped into this unprepared. i have failed in some way or another at almost all of these, or seen people i'm close to who are also artists fail at these. these are obstacles that can be accommodated or worked around. come back to this later!

if you're good to do commissions though, let's move onto actually getting commissions.

-

TRACTION: i'm using this as a catchall term for getting people to see your work, getting people who will buy commissions from you, advertising. these are different things! sometimes really good advertising doesn't hit your target audience, sometimes people with tons of social media traction who get tons of attention on their art do not get many buyers, sometimes people with very few followers get a lot of buyers. ideally you'd have all of these things going really well for you, but especially if you're starting out with no online presence, you probably do not have any of these things. i'll try to break them into the three different things and what works for me.

social media traction (getting people to see your work): i'm gonna be honest, this part does not matter. don't worry about algorithms, don't worry about posting times, do not pander to an audience. DON'T WORRY ABOUT NUMBERS. if you're putting out work that is only for the sake of getting seen and getting money, other people will be able to tell. the only thing i'd say that matters is posting finished work consistently and frequently - if people can see that you can complete a lot of work, people will be more likely to commission you. but like... i make enough off of commissions to pay my bills, and i post whateverthefuck whenever i want, which is usually "shirtless guys that i find hot because i'm gay." most of what i do right now is OC art that i straight up refuse to explain, and i post as soon as i finish stuff, which is pretty often in the middle of the night. i also don't have a lot of followers - as i post this i'm hovering right around the 2,000 mark on tumblr, around 1,900 on instagram, and 2,500 on twitter. most of my recent art doesn't break 200 notes, and i can count on two hands how many times i've broken 1,000 notes on a post this year despite posting near daily. like... i am not someone you'd probably look at and think "damn this guy has enough of a following to pay his bills with his art" and that is because it means So little. when it comes to social media attention, fall in love with your art and then make a lot of it. do things that you're passionate about. be extremely self-indulgent. you WILL find your niche of people so long as you are doing it consistently and authentically. trust me.

advertising: this comes down to the advertising posts themselves. you need the posts to be clear and legible - avoid handwritten things, find a good font that is clear and stick to it. i heavily recommend fonts that video games use for their text because it's made to be readable while usually adhering to a certain aesthetic. you can have the prettiest post in the world but if it's hard to IMMEDIATELY read, you're going to lose people's attention - think about how long you actually spend looking at posts if they don't immediately draw you in, especially with current social media. you are trying to be a very loud voice in a lot of other loud voices and you need to make sure yours makes sense. inversely, you want your posts to reflect the type of work you do in a way that is nice to look at - this isn't a resume! make it look good, clean it up, make it clear that you are an artist. trying to strike this balance is really hard and it took me a while to hit a point where i was happy with it. contact friends to look at it who will give you honest feedback, especially if you know any graphic designers. if you have a specific style you tend towards in your art (like gritty or gloomy or soft), having the colors and text kind of reflect that also helps in my opinion and looks more like you have your shit together. i make my commission posts generally reflect my carrd info so that it feels cohesive. don't overload too much information in your post - make an extended page with do's and don'ts and any other important information, and link back to that. this is just a blurb to get people to Look at it.

client traction (getting people who will buy commissions from you): so i'm putting this one as a different bubble from advertising and social media traction because even though both of those things HELP, you need some other stuff. like i said earlier, having a lot of attention doesn't mean you're getting comms, and having your advertisements take off doesn't mean you're getting comms either! in my experience at least, something like 1/4-1/3 of your commissions are going to be from people who come back and repeatedly commission you, and the other 3/4-2/3 are people who haven't commissioned you before. sometimes these people don't even follow you and just thought your art was cool! these come up a lot especially if you're doing stuff like flash sales. so with this in mind, client traction is partially showing that you are a reliable and consistent person through social media, and partially showing that you can do good work through doing the work for them! good commission work is usually ones where you have clear communication, you're flexible to the client's needs, maintain a professional relationship, and the work you give them is good! when it comes to reliability and consistency through social media, having easy to find commission information is going to help. try to keep your social media usernames the same across all of your platforms - that way when youre on something like insta or tiktok where advertising is discouraged, they can find your twt/tumblr/whatever and look into your commission information there! also, keep your prices posted. my prices are readily available on my extended commission information -- its the same image i post when i'm advertising commissions! -- so that when i put up advertisements, people already know what they're getting. this is important especially if you want people to buy higher priced commissions from you, as people aren't going to drop $100+ on your work on a whim. posting times when you're going to open commissions also helps a ton! basically just being easy to find and easy to anticipate. s'professional.

-

PRICING

i swear i'm almost done but a lot of people underprice their work. not only is this awful for your health and time, but it's also going to make it harder for you to sell comms. even if you don't have a large following, if your work is too underpriced, people will not buy it from you. it's a concept known as paradoxical value or the paradox of value - when it comes to things that are luxury items (fancy food, arts, crafts), if it doesn't cost a certain amount, MOST* people won't buy it. think of it like $2 gas station sushi -- even if you do buy and eat it, you're probably not going to be surprised if it's not quality, and you're probably going to at least buy it from the grocery store for $12+ if you're looking for something quality.

*i say most because you will get clients because you're underpriced but a lot of them aren't going to be good ones. people who are attracted to work just for it being low are most often really pushy or difficult people. this is where you end up with bad clients who are hard to work with. i used to get treated like shit by people who commed me whenever i posted cheap commissions and ever since i raised my prices people have been treating me better. bad self worth attracts people who will take advantage of it.

so like.... you need to be pricing for reasonable wage. look up what retail jobs are paying hourly in your area (because the minimum wage is usually less, we're ignoring min wage) and use that as your basis. for every type of commission you take (flat bust, flat half, flat full.... etc etc etc), draw about three of that one type by varying complexity, minimum, and time them. take the average time of all of those three and multiply it by your minimum wage. that's your minimum price.

formula is:

(minimum wage) x ([ {commission type one} + {commission type 2} + {commission type 3} ]/3) = your minimum price

that minimum price might seem like a lot, but it is the amount you would make at an hourly retail job. if you price under this you are making less than in a standard job for something that is a specialized luxury field. that's bad.

adjust your prices every 6 months based on your ability, your experience, your demand! i had to bump my prices recently because i have to work slower due to an arm injury, which means my average time is way longer.

-

i tried to keep this as short as possible and ended up writing for almost two hours i'm so sorry.

if y'all have any specific questions related to this, want solutions for better ways to manage commission problems, or just want to know something about the commission side of things, don't hesitate to ask! i'll get back to it as soon as i've got a minute. i actually need to go back to doing comms right now lmao.

stay safe, take care of yourself!

[watchmegetobsessed]

Never Have I Ever - Harry Styles (part 3)

i did not expect this to turn into more than just a oneshot, but here i am, posting a part 3?? and there’s more to come??? lmao, im a mess, having a million wips at a time, whatever. enjoy this DIRTY piece in the world of Harry and Actress!Y/N hehe!

pairing: Harry x actress!reader

word count: 3k

warning: NSFW content (we are taking a dirty turn in this part babes)

SERIES MASTERPOST

masterlist

“But are you really sure you’re fine?” Florence asks for the millionth time over the phone. “You know, I could come over anytime, have a few drinks and forget about the idiots who decided you don’t deserve that Emmy.”

“I’m very sure,” you chuckle, sinking further down on your couch, kicking your heels off your feet. “It’s not a big deal.” “Oh it is, but you are trying to act all tough, though I know it bothers you.”

“I didn’t say it doesn’t bother me, but there’s nothing I can do about it,” you tell her truthfully.

“You know, sometimes I forget that you are this wise ass bitch, not some petty loser that I usually am.”

You snort at her words laughing loudly. Florence is by far one of the funniest people you know, she never fails to make you laugh, no matter what’s the situation.

“It’s sad that I didn’t win, but I’m fine. Really. Maybe next time it will be me,” you say, genuinely hoping this wasn’t your first nomination.

“Okay, I’ll stop bugging you, but call me if you change your mind and want company.”

“Thank you, Flo. Talk to you later.”

Once you end the call you let a long, heavy breath out that feels like you’ve been keeping in all night. Walking into your closet you stop in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror, taking a look at yourself, still wearing the burgundy pant suit you wore for the award show. You were the only woman in pants all evening and you felt more powerful than ever. You’ve always loved to make a statement with your fashion choices and tonight you feel like you definitely succeeded in getting the message through: you are a bad bitch.

Stripping out of the outfit you hang it carefully before putting on some sweats and an oversized vintage t-shirt, feeling so much more comfortable already. Your hair is still in loose waves and you kind of like the texture, so you just leave it like that, moving into your bedroom to check up on some emails.

Cozied up under your duvet, laptop resting on your thighs, you start replying to some emails, updating your schedule for the next week. You almost don’t notice the text you get, barely catching the lit up screen from the corner of your eyes. Grabbing the device from the night stand you smile down at the series of messages from Harry.

“Bunch of idiots,” the first one reads.

“I’m suing them. All of them.”

“You looked fucking unreal by the way. Couldn’t take my eyes off you.”

Biting down on your bottom lip you read the last one over and over again. It’s been weeks since your number landed in Harry’s phone and you’ve been texting nonstop since then. Whenever you pulled your phone out to check if someone had tried to reach you, there was always a text rom him waiting for you, making you smile most of the time.

“Thanks Xx,” you reply shortly, not sure how to react to his heated words of calling the whole Television Academy a bunch of idiots, though it surely warmed your heart.

“Enjoying the after party?” his next text comes fast.

“Nope, I’m home already. Didn’t feel like partying.”

“What?! You not winning is not an excuse to skip celebrating. You still got nominated!”

“Already celebrated that, so I’m out of occasions.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that. Text me your address, I’m going over with wine and takeout.”

His bluntness in flirting and shooting his shot has been amusing to you since the moment he sat next to you on The Ellen Show. Harry Styles doesn’t shy away to try and show his attraction, or at least not towards you.

You hesitate a little, not sure if you want him here, but something deep down in your guts is telling you that you definitely want him to come over, some dirty thoughts already popping into your mind, but you are quick to get rid of them.

You send him your address and he tells you he’ll be over in twenty. You use that time to clean up a little around your apartment. You left in kind of a rush earlier, being a little late with your glam team, so you didn’t bother to leave the place in a decent state. It doesn’t take long though to clean up the mess and checking the time you see that you still have a little time until Harry arrives. As you walk past one of the mirrors in your hallway, you take a look at yourself, debating whether you should change or stay in your comfy homey outfit. At last you drop the idea to put on a different outfit, not wanting to look desperate when Harry arrives.

Not long later you get a notification from downstairs that a so called Mr. Styles has entered the building and is heading up to your floor. Running a hand through your hair you walk over to the front door and opening it you stand there, waiting for the elevator to arrive. When the familiar ding hits your ear you notice how your heart skips a beat upon seeing him walk out.

“Hi,” you smile at him holding the door open for him. He looks amazing, as always, wearing a pair of brown high-waisted pants with a loose white shirt tugged into it, a teal denim jacket topping the outfit. He looks comfortable, but still well put together, something you have always admired in his style.

“Hello, Love,” he smiles back at you and pulls you in for a short, one armed hug before walking fully inside. “Didn’t know what stuff you fancy, so I got a bunch,” he admits with a chuckle, holding up two plastic bags completely stuffed.

“You really shouldn’t have,” you shake your head at him smiling as you lock the front door and lead him into your open concept kitchen.

“But I should have,” he argues, setting the bags down to the counter, packing out everything he brought.

Three bottles of wine, all of them different kinds, snacks, both sweet and salty, topped with an insane amount of Chinese takeout that could feed a whole family, not just two people. You put the wines into the fridge though you know they won’t get chilly enough by the time you open it. Turning to Harry you smile at him shyly, only just now realizing that he is in your home for the first time.

“Want a tour?” you ask, pulling your shoulders up to your ears.

“Would love that,” he smirks and lets you lead the way.

The modern apartment in Manhattan has been your home for a little over a year now. One of the first things you invested into once you started earning like an A-list celebrity. It’s spacious, you did the interior over once you bought it, formed it a little more to your taste. You walk Harry through the living room, the three bedrooms from which one is yours, the others function as a guest room whenever a family member of one of your friends needs a place to stay. There are three bathrooms in total, a study room that’s always a mess, your desk filled with scripts and books most of the time, but Harry tells you it suits your vibe.

“And this here is my wardrobe,” you end the tour, flicking the lights on in the walk in closet, probably your favorite part of the place. It’s bigger than your bedroom, but it’s exactly what you and your passion for fashion needs.

Harry curiously walks inside, his eyes immediately stopping on the burgundy pant suit you wore earlier that night.

“This, Darling, was an excellent choice,” he smirks over at you, his fingers dancing over the soft fabric of the pants.

“Felt amazing in it,” you nod smiling.

“I bet you did,” he chuckles softly.

The two of you head back to the kitchen and sit at the kitchen island, roaming through all the food Harry has brought. A short silence comes over the room that’s broken by Harry first.

“So how are you really feeling about tonight?”

“I’m fine,” you shrug, but then feel his hand on your knee that’s closer to him and your eyes flicker over to him, his gaze burning down on you intently.

“No, I’m asking fo’ real. You don’t have to mask your disappointment.”

Licking your lips you look back at your plate filled with dumplings and you start to just poke them around with the chopsticks in your hand.

“Of course I’m disappointed. Who wouldn’t want to win? But there’s not much I can do about it, right?”

“Still, you shouldn’t push it all down.”

“I’m not the type to rage very publicly, if you haven’t realized that,” you chuckle, diverting your eyes back at him, catching a soft smile on his lips.

“That I know of. Miss No Beef,” he teases you, even though you could pretty much say the same thing about him. “I was properly screaming at the screen when they said someone else’s name over yours.”

“Yeah?” you chuckle.

“Mhm. I was rooting for you big time.”

“Well,” you sigh turning back to your plate. “Sorry to disappoint.”

“Nah-ah, none of that crap, Y/N,” he protests right away, dropping his chopsticks to his plate as he slides off his stool, stepping closer to you, one hand lying flat on the counter, while the other one finds the underside of your stool and he easily turns you so you are facing him, your knees involuntarily parting so he could stand between them. “I’m not letting you think of any less of yourself because of some stupid award.”

“The Emmys are not stupid,” you correct him, but it seems like he doesn’t even hear you, staring down at you with a smug grin, his hand moving from the stool to your waist.

“Mhm, they are. They made the most talented and beautiful woman think she is not the best of all.”

You can’t push down the smile that tugs on your lips as you watch him slowly lean closer. Heart beating faster, you let him do whatever he has on his mind, not finding the will to push him away. Not that you want to do that, you’d be stupid to say no to this man.

“Who’s this woman we are talking about?” you breathe out with a teasing smile. Harry smirks back at you, his hand squeezing your waist gently as his other hand moves up to the base of your neck, his thumb running along your jawline.

“The woman I’ve been fantasizing about lately.”

A desperate whimper tries to escape your lips, but you bite it back in time, feeling so lost how much effect he has on you with just a simple sentence.

“What are these fantasies about?” you find yourself asking as he leans closer, his nose brushing against yours.

You’re aching for his lips, to feel him touch you everywhere. You want to come undone under his hands and the breaking point where you won’t be able to mask up your desperate feelings is threateningly close.

“I’ve been thinking about making her feel real good. Watch her fall apart under my touch,” he murmurs lowly and this time, you can’t hold that moan back. Your lips brush against his, but he pulls back smirking, not kissing you.

“Fuck,” you breathe out when you feel his hand move from your waist to your stomach, cheekily teasing you as he is drawing circles around your belly button over the soft fabric of your shirt.

“Can I touch you, Y/N? I really want to make you feel appreciated and good. Will you let me do that?”

Not able to find your voice you whimper out something that’s close to being a yes, but it’s not enough for him and while you are losing touch with what’s really going on, Harry is very much enjoying seeing you like this, all for himself.

“Use your words, Love. I wanna hear you say it.”

“Yes!” you choke out and luckily, he doesn’t waste any more time.

You feel his lips connect with your neck as both his hands work on the waistband of your sweats, pushing them further down a little before his right hand taps on the top of your lacy underwear, the one you wore under your suit tonight, the one Harry definitely thought about when he first saw you through his screen.

You gasp when his hand slides into your underwear, fingers finding your sensitive bud of nerves, pressing down on them softly. You desperately turn your face, eager to meet his lips, but he pulls back for your dismay.

“Not now, Love,” he tells you and though the words sting a little, you don’t have much time to dwell on them when you feel his fingers slide back and forth between your soaking wet folds. “So wet for me, aren’t you?” he smirks while you’re trying to breath evenly, though it’s quite the challenge.

His lips return to your neck and your hands fly up to grab onto the back of his neck and shoulders, his fingers teasing you around your hole, not entering just yet. You start buckling your hips, desperate to get him take the next step and he is surely enjoying the show you are putting on for him.

“Ready to feel good?”

“Yes,” you breathe out, hands grabbing onto his hair roughly and a loud moan escapes your lips when he pushes two of his fingers inside you.

“Fuck, this feels so nice,” he groans, lips nipping on the soft skin under your ear. He is quick to take up on a pace, moving his digits in and out, his thumb circling on your clit, adding that extra magic most men always forget about. But not Harry, he is eager to please you the best he can and if you weren’t sitting, you’d be on your knees for him by now.

“Yeah, tug on my hair, Darling,” he growls, his voice sending chills down your spine as you tighten your grip in his hair just as he asked, while you feel your climax building up.

He picks up his pace, curling his fingers inside you every time he thrusts them in, making you almost see stars. Your legs fly around his waist, ankles crossing above his bum as you bring him closer, and a whimpered groan bursts out of him, probably because his erection just got squeezed against his hand by your action, his nonstop moving hand now stuck between your heated core and his throbbing member. When his head pulls back you quickly look at him, about to ask if he is alright, but he just presses a soft, lingering kiss to the corner of your mouth as his unsaid answer that he is perfectly fine.

His forehead comes to rest against yours as he adds a third finger, making you moan his name in ecstasy. Your mind is starting to completely shut down, the sensation of utter pleasure taking over your whole body as you can feel your orgasm just a few thrusts away.

“C’mon, Love. Let it go for me,” he mumbles, his free hand sliding to your back so he keeps you flushed against him, your heaving chest touching his upper body with each drawn breath.

“Fuck, I’m so close,” you pant, eyes screwed shut, tipping over the edge of your climax. “Please don’t stop!” you beg whining.

“Never, Darling.”

And he keeps his words. He keeps going and going until your walls close up around his slick fingers and your thighs tremble around his waist. You tug on his hair once again, pulling his head back just enough so your eyes meet right when you come undone. His fingers keep moving a little longer, bringing you down from your high before the last wave of your orgasm dies down and you are brought back to reality.

When his fingers slide out of you, the feeling of emptiness makes you breathe out in dismay and it brings a smile to his lips as he licks his fingers clean and you swear that’s the hottest thing you’ve ever seen, watch him taste your pleasure on his own fingers.

Glancing down you see the very visible bulge in his pants and you reach down to return the favor you just had the pleasure to get, but his hands wrap around your wrists stopping you, your eyes snapping up to meet his.

“Not now, Love. This was all about you. I’ll be fine.”

“But—“ “No,” he cuts you off shaking his head gently. “Seeing you like this was more than enough for me.”

Biting down on your bottom lip you feel yourself blushing at his words, the whole situation that just went down dawning on you just now. Harry really did just finger you on one of your kitchen stools and it was one hell of an experience for sure.

When your gaze wanders over to his lips you remember how he refused to kiss you and now you actually have the chance to pay more attention to this tiny detail.

“Why didn’t you kiss me?” you ask him, legs falling from his waist as he goes to sit back on his stool. He glances at you, a soft smile on the lips that never touched yours.

“I wasn’t planning to do this, but I just couldn’t stop myself. However, I’m still trying to be a gentleman, so I won’t kiss you until I’ve taken you out on a proper date.”

“I can’t believe you,” you chuckle shaking your head at the absurdity of what he just said. “So you are fine fingering me shamelessly, but you won’t kiss me without a date?” you ask, rephrasing his words.

“That’s right,” he nods, his smile growing into a smirk now. Shaking your head you turn back to your probably cold plate of food, chuckling to yourself.

“Harry Styles, you are… something else.”

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[refusethyname28]

WHEN YOU SEE THIS POST A SNIPPET OF YOUR WIP - Hymn To The Sea

Thank you @zanniscaramouche​ for the tag. I definitely saw this so I have to do it now. This fanfic is something that I haven’t worked on since July. My main priority is TMWYB and this was simply just something on the side. I have always been insanely fascinated and intrigued by anything that has something to do with the Titanic, hence why I picked the Titanic storyline as an AU for my Larry fanfic.

Tagging library: @hershelsue @onlyforbrave @bluecolouredlou @momrryrights  @skipperxao3 @beckydoesthings @allwaswell16 @thestylinsons @thelouistiti @larrysballetslippers @sadaveniren @local-troubled-writer @alwayshazandlou @juliusschmidt @haztobegood @mizzhydes @jacaranda-bloom @beelou @larry-hiatus @paranormalbabydoll @justmybeautifulthings @larryyouknow @daffodilwine @louisandtheaquarian @loulovehome @parmahamlarrie @neondiamond @almondtreeflower @cyantific @larrysballetslippers @stylesthebrave and @allmylcnnon @eliassuswood

Also please do not repost my manips on any other platform!

Hymn To The Sea

How he did it, Louis Tomlinson did not know. He managed to get his hands on a ticket to board the Titanic in a game of Bridge. He was lucky, he truly was. Louis had wished to visit the United States of America but never had he ever thought he would be able to go. Especially not sailing on a ship as grand and luxurious as the Titanic.

The male hurried to the harbour to board the ship. There were a lot of people present, and all had come to see the Unsinkable ship sail off. It was a magical sight, one that Louis only dared to dream. But he was living it now, he was genuinely experiencing an event such as magical as this one. He was running around making sure to get to the vast ship in time. After all, the vessel was about to leave in less than thirty minutes. Louis had a ticket for the third-class, he would be sharing his compartment with three other people, and honestly, he couldn’t care less. All he ever wanted was to see the land of dreams with his own eyes. The young male was awestruck as he approached the large ship. He had found his way to the line and waited until he was allowed to board. It was extremely crowded, people were pushing and pulling at each other. Most were trying to get on board as soon as possible, but not Louis. He was already lucky enough to be able to sail on the gigantic ship, he could definitely wait his turn. It was a good day at the haven after all.

Cars were honking and Louis looked up to see a few gorgeous automobiles arrive. The rich. They would be travelling first-class, something that Louis could only ever dream of—and at times he didn’t even dare to dream it. He didn’t know what it was like to be rich, or even to have a stable amount of money. Louis made his way selling his poems, writing for papers, and occasionally he sketched a few drawings. He watched as the rich stepped out of the car, they had servants unpacking their bags for them as they moved towards the ship with their heads high. Louis watched as more elitist people waited until they could board the ship, and his eyes fell on one very particular soul. It was a male with long brown curls. Louis couldn’t see much, only the male’s silhouette, but he knew in his heart that the other was gorgeous. A poem started forming in his head, the words just came to him and he wanted to write them down, but he couldn’t. Not with this many people around. Louis watched the tall male with the brown curls, behind the seemingly young Adonis stood a slightly older chap—gentleman, apologies—he had his arms on the curly-haired’s waist, holding him almost possessively. It kind of disgusted Louis, the way the older gentleman was holding the young god-like male. Louis tried to study the green-eyed’s face, he couldn’t properly read the other as the two of them were distanced from each other and the sun shining in his eyes really did not make it any easier. But Louis thought to recognise agony and despair, like the curly-haired needed a way to escape. He looked like he was suffocating and Louis wanted to help him. But he could never. They would not allow him even near the first-class passengers.

The hierarchy in the world made Louis mad. It was unfair, life was unfair. Why was his life worth less than the life of someone rich? He had never felt sorry for himself, he had felt unlucky at times, that was most certain, but he had never seen someone look as unhappy as the male with the brown and curly locks. Louis was still watching the rich as they boarded, but he was being cut off when he felt a push in his back.

    ‘Keep on walking, will you lad?’ A voice behind him sounded. Louis looked over his shoulder and muttered a soft apology. He kept on moving, not looking back. He was ready to start this new chapter of his life, and before he knew it, he was in line to officially board R.M.S. Titanic. When he looked up the gorgeous male and his seemingly possessive companion had disappeared.

[andiinaraethtash]

1, 2, 9, 10, 20, 23, 31 aaaaand 40! <3

Okay, so I write on two different platforms: Zenwriter and Google docs. I do the first draft on Zenwriter, in comic sans, and then copy it to google docs, where I edit it. I don't care what font it's in there.

2) I could do it, my productivity would be way down, but I could do it. As it is, I do little outlines of future chapters in one of my many, many, many notebooks by hand.

9) I don't, actually. I joke about there being a ghost in my house occasionally, but I don't believe there actually is. It's just a funny way of explaining why the floor boards are creaking above us when no one's upstairs.

10) Hmm... I read. A lot. More than I write, honestly. So when I say that multiple works live rent-free in my head, I mean it. But really haunting me? No, not really. Of my own works, the one that haunts me the most is probably my really big Clone Wars/Rebels crossover, because I made mistakes, mistakes that I can't take back, especially because everyone I've talked to really enjoyed reading it, and I can't change what happened in it now. And that has, on occasion, kept me up at night.

20) Oh, I would chose the second one, hands down. I have so many ideas for fics and multiple WIPs, but the one I would probably pick is like, a seven part series with each part being multi chapter. It's the first Star Wars fanfic I ever started, but I never finished it, even though I know exactly how it'll end (Star Wars was my main fandom before I made the move to Empires, for those of you that don't know). But it had multiple characters that I fell in love with, a overarching theme that really resonated with me, and some serious twists and turns. I really want to release it someday, I'm just not sure I'll ever be happy with it because it's my baby and I want it to be perfect.

23) So! So. I still live with my parents, I'm about to be starting college in the fall. But that means I live in a relatively spacious suburban home. It has a game room upstairs that has become the unofficial homework/work/computer room. That's where I do the majority of my writing. I don't want to describe too much because at least one of my siblings has a blog on this hellsite and there's a chance they might see this and put the pieces together about who I am, but there's a couch in front of one window that has lots of natural light, where I usually sit and write. I also have a desk space, but I usually only use it if I'm gaming. But there's always activity in the room. The dogs are up here, my dad's up here, my siblings are studying... it's very comfortable and lived in, but clean and quiet... when the dogs aren't barking, at least.

31) Dear reader, We've come such a long way, haven't we. From the highest highs to the lowest lows, we've been through it all. Stars, the number of times one or both of us have almost quit hoping is insane, you know that? But we haven't. We've always pushed through. And I don't know how you do it. I honestly don't. You come in with such enthusiasm and--and love, and it just blows my mind.

You're incredible, you know that? The amount of joy you bring into my life with your upbeat attitudes, your encouragement, your endless support of what started out as a silly little way to pass the time... it has honestly, genuinely saved my life.

I don't know if you know this--and you might, I've been pretty open about it--but I got to a low point a couple years back. I got lonely. I got desperate. And I almost ended it all. But I didn't, and one thought from that time still echoes in my head. If I'm not around to tell this story, who will? Because someone out there will love this, does love this, and I can't let them down.

So in your own way, you've saved my life. I hope you understand how incredible that is--how incredible you are. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, and I love you. More than words. More than life. I love you.

--Andiine

40) I hope you understand I am no poet, but here goes:

small

unnoticeable

Just a speck in the plane of existence

but precious to someone, somewhere

Here, now

you're just a dewdrop

bending a leaf under your fragile weight

But oh, how I wish you knew how important you are

You nourish the ground

From which grow the flowers

that will one day decorate my grave.

Thank you so much for the ask, and sorry if this got long (or sappy. I am known to be sappy on occasion.) Hope you enjoyed this look into a writer's mind!

[jenivi7]

writing tag game!

Thank you @clyde-side and @bdeblueyes for the tag!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

22 plus a small handful on ff.net that I still intend to move over to AO3.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

30,445!  I’m surprised it’s that much considering how short most of those stories are. (And it’s a little deceptive since it doesn’t include the 80k monstrosity that is Ryou and the Thief. That one’s probably going to stay on ff.net though.)

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Those Things He Keeps for Himself (Total agreement. Personally I think this is the best thing I’ve written so far.)

Human (Was at #1 until very recently! I attribute this entirely to the story being on @shinayashipper’s Rivalshipping Rec List. Thank you Red! <3 )

Black (From when I wandered into Homestuck fanfic for a brief time! I’m still stupid proud of this one though.)

Ghosts, Goths and Other Anxieties (original short story) (I swear I’ll get back to posting the big bang version soon)

Finality (This one’s so old but I guess people still like their tendershipping! I mean, same~)

4. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I do try to respond to everything! I so appreciate when other authors respond to me and do my best to return that good good energy. Also I genuinely like chatting with people (especially about something I wrote lol) even if I get overwhelmed sometimes and can be slow ^^; 

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

This is a tough one cause when I start a story, it’s usually with the goal of giving the characters a happy end but it’s probably Coffee and Cigarettes. It was for a pairings competition where the random pairing was Mana/TK Bakura and I gave them a weird little break in the middle of canon where they both know what’s about to happen and it just came out sad.  NO WAIT I’M WRONG. Lol I just gave my story list another look and it’s definitely Crazy for You! That was an insane asylum AU that’s ABOUT everything going straight to shit.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Oh goodness, almost all of them! I love a happy ending. Like, the story doesn’t have to be all fluff, it can have an impossible looking problem or be about two people who just don’t go well together but I love a good, satisfying resolution. Most recent happy ending is No Betting, just a bit of adorable, domestic, peachshipping fluff. Favorite happy end is probably A Million Missed Chances, Mai/Valon. I feel like Mai is a challenging character to give a happy ending to. She’s just stubborn like that <3

7. Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

So, I haven’t written a crossover yet by myself but @miss-moberg and I will often throw around ideas for ones where we will use YGO characters or parts of the world building or magic system to fix things we don’t like in other canons. Right now we have a RP that’s a BNHA/YGO crossover where… oh, spoilers for BNHA: instead of going crazy and faking his own death, Toya grabs both his brothers and just fucking leaves. They run away to Domino, get picked up by Ryou and Akeifa (TK Bakura) and it quickly becomes the found family story I didn’t know I needed. We do some wild things blending the two canons. Domino is this little pocket where shadow magic keeps the hero and villain nonsense out and the citizens are pretty ok with it. Yugi and Atem are the city’s guardians. Ryou and Akeifa are not allowed to use shadow magic though they have access to it. I think Ryou and Yugi had proper quirks that they sacrificed to the shadows at some point, each for something different thing that they wanted or needed. Oh! We have quirks being derived from shadow magic at some point in the distant past and the shadows are always happy to take a quirk back to fulfill a wish or desire. They’re tricky though and usually corrupting. Very classic fairytale where it’s a thing you don’t want to make a deal with. Seto is quirkless and basically runs the city behind the scenes. He can’t deny the existence of heroes and villains but still refuses to believe in magic. This always gives Atem a headache when they have to coordinate to protect the city. Which is often.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

A couple criticisms but no outright hate I don’t think. Or if I have it was so long ago I don’t remember. I was on ff.net at the worst times too and somehow all the hate just passed me by.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I love smut so much but I rarely write it. For stories I just usually end up with one or two erotic sentences. RPs are the exceptions to that though and are where all the good stuff happens. >.>

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope. Haven’t had one stolen, haven’t had one taken down. I’ve stayed small enough to fly under the radar for both things luckily enough!

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I wish! Man that would be amazing <3

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! Ryou and the Thief is a cleaned up version of @miss-moberg and my very first RP. (And the only RP of ours to ever hit an actual ending.)

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Puzzle with Gemshipping very close behind though I ship many, many things.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Phoenix. It was one of my very first fanfics started almost 15 years ago and while I’d love to finish everything, that one’s just not going to happen. It’s been too long and I’ve grown way too much as a writer to go back to it now.

15. What are your writing strengths?

I think it’s dialogue. And maybe the ability to be amusing. Not funny-funny but like, lightly humorous when setting scenes or winding up to something.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

RUN ON SENTENCES. Sometimes they get away from me a bit XD

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Haaaa, actually when I first started writing fanfic I would throw in Japanese phrases and honorifics and looking back, it’s pretty cringe. BUT I can appreciate it as it was originally intended: learning and practicing a new language. If it makes sense for the character or situation though it’s really cute, like in Allargando by Slaycinder where Atem uses Arabic endearments for Seto. (Have I gushed about that fic on my blog yet? It’s so good.) Ancient Egyptian is the exception to everything I just said. I absolutely LOVE when someone takes a stab at putting ancient Egyptian in their fic. I go a little feral for it and it was the hardest but the most fulfilling thing about writing Ryou and the Thief was doing all the research write actual AE dialogue for Akeifa early in the fic.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Yu-Gi-Oh. I’ve done a handful of things for other fandoms but Ygo is the one I keep coming back to and definitely the one I’ve written the vast majority for.

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Oh no this is hard! They’re all my babies and I love them! Probably my favorites have been listed in previous questions already. Ryou and the Thief because of the sheer amount of work that went into it and the fact that we ran the boys through a whole ass adventure, Coffee and Cigarettes because it’s such a fun, quirky little thing with a great atmosphere and Those Things He Keeps For Himself because I feel like I was able to really capture the idea in my head effectively and there’s some great imagery in it.

TAGGING:  Oh my god this took me so long to finally sit down and complete that probably everyone I would tag has done it already!  So not tagging anyone this time but please do it if it seems fun!

[prettyboykatsuki]

omfg all the ppl talking ab their adhd,, hard same 😞 i’ve had the same katsuki hurt/comfort fic in my notes for like a year but not a Single line has been added </3 ((also sorry for the random influx in asks to u??? idk what’s goin on but i’ll probably disappear again for a good long while so i’ll get the annoying u out of the way now lmao))

(I DONT MIND THEM!! sorry im getting to this late my brain is mean to me and very sleepy)

adhd is so rough lol it like so genuinely inhibits the most random elements of your life and you just have to.. go with it. i have an insane amount of WIPS that i want to complete eventually but the thought of getting back to them makes my head hurt

[elytrafemme]

you know i’ve said this in the past but like, revisiting the idea. these past few months with vaccinations being given frequently in my area as well as schools and whatnot reopening, which in turn allowed me to see my friends, and in turn gave me some space to actually process a lot of what happened to me in 2020-early 2021, my actual worldview changed a little. and like, i have become so incredibly attached and loving of everything that happens. like every experience i have is something that i really really adore even if it is an upsetting one. some of my worst recent memories are still ones i cling onto because it makes me feel human, a bit, which is something i really desperately need?

and i think that comes through in cough syrup, too, while writing it because. so many ‘teen experiences’ are things that i’m quite literally obsessed with. i want to do these things and have someone who is important to me, who i can do all these things with. i want to do all of these things and see all of these places and live through so many things. and that’s why i project so much of myself onto every single one of those characters, and i do things like make the characters unwravel the whole queerplatonic puzzle on their own, or try to learn how to cope, or show people in varying stages of recovery. because it’s all something that i’m trying to sort through in real life, too. 

and so many of my recent memories have made it, in some way, to something i want to write in cough syrup. and you could argue that this is disconnecting me from the real world, but, more than anything, i think it’s helping me retain these pieces of memories. reframe some of the sour parts of it into something better. and get to share it with other people, because i know that i have found many high school aus as a manner of escapism, and that’s something i hope cough syrup can be too.

which is why i’m like. so incredibly appreciative that people like cough syrup, and get excited for it, and make art for it, and talk to me about it. because to me, cough syrup is this genuine sign of hope. because it’s my first true shot at writing a long form fanfiction that weren’t all the ones created in traumatic times for me, and it’s my chance to project and express and let my characters hurt and recover and heal and live, and give myself some way to connect to other people when i struggle to reach out or join servers or really do much like that. it just means a lot to me and i hope that people don’t get sick of hearing about it because it’s just. 

i think i tie all of my wips to certain different personal things for me, beyond just the detailed projections and whatnot. my 30 day SMP wip is sort of an intellectual exploration for me, which will make a little more sense once i get writing it, and is sort of helping me logically sort things out. and the horror wip, to me, is an exploration of morality. cough syrup is an exploration of recovery and love, and it’s something that brings me hope. and i’m so very attached to it.

this whole post really derailed and i need to go like immediately after this to get in the car, but. all of this is just to sort of say, cough syrup means a lot, i’m really excited for you all to see it, and i try to remind myself that even when i feel like chapters aren’t very good (like chapter 8 and chapter 11, right now), that they still mean something important, and there was still care and love put into them (chapter 8 reminds me of my friend holly and chapter 11 is attached to a memory of the last time i went to my favorite park with my old friend group and is translating that bittersweet memory into something that captures the happiness of that day better). 

and it’s also just to thank you all. seriously. a little over 400 people have left kudos on cough syrup, and that’s fucking insane to me. i can’t even conceptualize that number, i genuinely thought i was going to have ten times less that amount maximum. but there are 400 people who enjoy the fic, and it is only really getting started. 

love you guys. hope you’re well. hope you’re loving life a little today. and i’m going to get ready to actually leave the house because shit man i did not prepare enough for this 

[lovesbitca8]

Reactions to the Final Chapter of The Auction (1/?)

@abitchytrashcan​ said: Thank you so much to the alphabet team and you for creating this beautiful masterpiece, You somehow managed to make me cry while I was reading the ending. You broke my heart into pieces and somehow managed to fix it in record time, A perfect end to a painfully beautiful story, I shall now reread and go back to the canon of TRRTD and ATWT to cope with this empty hole where my heart should be. 👏👏👏

Anonymous said: First of all: Congrats on finishing the wonderful piece of art that is TA!!!! But Juls. How. could. you. do. this. I neeeeeed to know what is going to happen nooooooow?? Are they siblings? Is this magical incest now? Will that stop them? Will Panville happen in this universe? Gaaah! Even if those questions will never be answered - thank you again for sharing this with us. I feel truly blessed.

Anonymous said: I have no words. I really cannot thank you for your brilliance enough. I have been on such a journey with this story for over a year and you have truly ruined me forever in the best ways possible. That said, how could you not give us the reunion sex and Hermione saying I love you!?!??!!!?!?!? (I’m joking but also heartbroken) 💔💔😰😭😭😭😳🤯😠🥺🥺🥺🥺 hoping that appears in all right at some point but still thank you always I will be returning to this fic for years to come 🧡

Anonymous said: You legitimately changed my life with this story. Not me being able to HEAR Draco’s commentary in my head at the very end because you allowed us to know your Draco so personal in all the wrong things. Girl I know he was thinking look at me. 🤭 I am blown away my brain will be repeating this ending for days on end. I will probably reread the entire SERIES this week even though it’s my college finals and I am already suffering. At least let my heart and soul suffer too

Anonymous said: I’ve been reading you’re “Rights and Wrongs” series on ao3 and all I can think about is how much I would love a Hogwarts Era addition. Anything Hogwarts Era—an altered house or an earlier Dramione or even a no Voldemort AU. I’m just so in love with you’re characterization and your dialogue and really just your writing in general! Hope you’re well!!

I’ve written some Hogwarts Era fics (you can find them on my Ao3), but I won’t be doing anything specifically from the Rights and Wrongs universe in a Hogwarts Era AU. <3

Anonymous said: I never want to come across as the demanding or entitled reader forcing you to do anything bc I am genuinely so appreciated that you share any of your writing with us at all. I would literally pay you to write an epilogue or another chapter either in the auction or as part of all right bc I cannot survive without knowing where Draco has been and what he’s been up to, Hermione finally being able to tell him she loves him in person, and that reunion sex BOTH the night before he goes to Azkaban and immediately when he gets out LMAO. I’m sorry as much as I love Draco, YOU, JULES, HAVE BEWITCHED ME BODY AND SOUL AND HEART AND MIND AND I’m permanently incapable of recovering from this 🧡

Anonymous said: Will we get to know what Draco was up to when he was away? Also, I died a little after the grand finale of the auction. Thank you so much for everything and I love you so much.

Lol just kidding. No further stories/epilogues are planned. The story ends there with the intention that the timelines converge with The Right Thing To Do. The HEA is implied. We talked in more depth about where Draco was on the podcast, but essentially he was at an uncharted Malfoy estate with Kreacher. 

Anonymous said: SPOILER WARNING HELLO please..... my soft little heart at the nod to pansy x neville....... i literally teared up i adore them so 😭😭😭 the ending trials were wonderful and sad in all the right ways, you’re brilliant at writing tension! and the bittersweet moment with ron, ugh, perfect. the end of an era!! i almost don’t want it to be so!!!

user062900 said: I’m crying I’m actually crying what a journey wow. I just have no words I’m i just it’s so beautifully written and perfect. Thank you so much for writing the series it gave me an insane amount of joy to look forward to every chapter❤️❤️❤️

Anonymous said: I can't believe that the Auction is over. I started to read it after you updated to chapter 19, first WIP I ever read, and I just finished chapter 41. Your writing is utterly gorgeous and I 'm so happy I competed to reading literally all of your writing. The last chapter was like a punch in the gut, in the best way. There was a happy ending without any sacrifices of plot or character development. But I still really want to know what Draco was up to in his boxers, and where he got his clothes.

Anonymous said: I've finished reading TA (beautiful btw 100/10) & decided to spend the whole night catching up on TRTTD & the pinning - ugh ✨immaculate✨ i love the way you write draco love for hermione & vice versa, to be willing to sacrifice everything for a person without expecting ANYTHING in return nor knowing if the feelings are mutual but that doesn't matter b/c you love them so much.😭😭Sorry for the long ask but TA & TRTTD had me on an emotional rollercoaster that I had to show my love for them. I hope you're doing well!💖

docmartinis said: ahh the final chapter made me cry :( i loved it tho, amazing work !!

mxstyassasxin said: Ahskfhagafskdhshk!!!!!!! I LOVED IT! Thank you so so much for writing such brilliance. The links with TRTTD were perfect 💖 I'm so damn happy right now!!

Anonymous said: I’M CRYING!!!! That ending killed me. This story will haunt me for years

Anonymous said: I love that you had it end at Cornerstone. The dance allusion. Full circle indeed. I am speechless.

puresteph said: Just want to say, I loved the ending! You all did fabulous and although I will miss it, I hope you all have a lovely rest, drink some beverage of your preference, your world has been a big part of my 2020 and has been there when I truly needed it. I will be forever grateful to you for that. I’m totally doing a reread in the New Year! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 💚

Anonymous said: The ending was beautiful. I was at the edge of my seat waiting for when they would be reunited and it was perfect. The threads and knots that you have woven through the entire universe all met up at a single place. It was fitting in a way of taking a breathe and releasing it! This entire project was filled with soo much noise that the quietness of the ending is truly fitting. It’s like when the background music of a movie quiets out slowly after being loud throughout the whole movie.