#this is about several characters in several fandoms but I don't feel like tagging them and getting harrassed over this lmao

[fic-writer-confessions]

I've always disliked x reader fic--not, like, hate, but you know the attitude. The "y/n" jokes, thinking of them as sort of cringey, being annoyed by them in the fandom tags... and so on and so forth.

But on the other hand, I've been writing fanfic for 15 years now. I know that my work is good--and that's not a confidence thing, it's just that creative writing is my literal full-time job, and has been for years.

I've written for so many different fandoms, both large and small, in so many capacities: fluff fics, angst fics, long multi-chapter fics, one shots, NSFW, ye olde "holy grail" fics (M or E rated one-shots spanning about 15k with the lowercase lyrics titles), slash, femslash, straight pairings, gen fics, you name it.

Without fail, over the past five years or so, the amount of engagement I get is just... disappointing, most of the time. I appreciate every comment I get, and I have made genuine friendships and relationships with people who appreciated my work. I'm also writing for myself more than anyone else. But it's still disheartening when a fic I've spent weeks working on gets maybe 3 comments. I know it's just the new fandom etiquette not to comment, but still.

But a few weeks ago, I was scrolling through a fandom tag and saw someone wishing there were more x reader fics for a particular character--and they way they worded it was just so genuine I immediately wanted to write something for them, so I figured "what the hell" and cranked something fairly low-effort out pretty quickly.

I have never received feedback on a fic like this. This was a small blog for a small-to-midsized fandom, but the ratio of hits to comments and kudos was insane. I even had several people personally reach out to me on tumblr to thank me for the fic or ask if there was ever any possibility of me writing more x reader fic. And I did some research into other x reader fics for my other fandoms--same thing, much higher ratio of engagement.

I'm still not going to read or write much more of it myself (I'm aromantic), but damn. I get why there is so much x reader fic now--these fans engage. If they like something, they don't hesitate to say it, and if they're not sure the message has gotten across, they track you down on other platforms to make sure you know just how much they like what you do. It is so incredibly refreshing. Having only just dipped my toes in, the amount of respect I have for this community has skyrocketed. And with the research I have started doing into x reader fics--there is so much more here on a genre-convention level than I ever knew.

Not saying every fanfic writer needs to become an x reader fic author, but like... first, my god, the jokes really aren't that funny anymore when you compare them to the reality of the community. (I haven't even seen many fics use the "y/n" thing for example.) But secondly, if you're feeling discouraged about writing... just give it a shot. It doesn't have to be that long, you don't have to completely change your style for it. But give it a chance, and get a little more appreciation for your fellow fans in the process.

.

[egophiliac]

Hi it's just to let you know that the official romanization of Revaan's name is Raverne ! Also they have romanized Baul's name to Baur !

Twst coming back at us again with the least expected romanization! thank you everybody (oh god my inbox) (no it's great, I literally asked for this and the reactions have been INCREDIBLE, thank you all!)

I do like Raverne though, I think it's got a nice fancy sound to it! (I had kinda suspected it was going to be an R instead of an L, so the fact that it's SO close to Laverne except for that is hilarious to me personally.) and Dragoneye Duke is honestly probably the best translation for his title, I wasn't envying the localizers that one. :') Baur instead of Baul I was NOT expecting, but in retrospect I think his name's supposed to be a reference to the Bauru crocodile, so that actually makes way more sense!

someone else also said Meleanor has become Maleanor, which is the REALLY weird one to me, because I was so surprised it was written as Mel instead of Mal in the first place?! oh god no I can't decide which one I like better. 😭 (I wonder if they might change it to Mal...they have made romanization changes before) (like I remember House of Distraction being corrected to House of Destruction in Playful Land) (I did check and she's still Mel for now, but I dunno, they might Mal her up and some point and save me from having to make a decision about which one to use) (HECK I CAN'T DECIDE)

uhhhh thank you for letting me ramble about anime names, let's just say MONOGRAMMED SWEATERS FOR EVERYONE

[anonyanonymouse]

🙈

[optiwashere]

I liked doing this last week, but it will get kinda repetitive in the coming weeks. So I'm not sure if I'll do it often while I'm posting the modern/band AU, but oh well!

It's another Saturday morning in a blanket with new music. Truly all I could ever need to write.

Here's what I've been working on...

Modern/band AU is fit and ready to start posting this upcoming week. Chapter [redacted] is complete, and I'm now far enough ahead that even a few weeks of busy life won't stop a regular posting schedule. And if I keep up writing then I'll be able to post around Xmas without needing a break!

Chapter [redacted+1] has an opening sentence, which is often the hardest part.

The outline for the AU has been modified a little. Combined three chapters into one, split out another chapter into two. Probably lots of consolidation to be done otherwise. There's a weird bit in the outline that's kinda fuzzy, but I'm sure I'll knuckle my way through it since it's not thematically deep. Might even be another chapter consolidation. This fic is definitely going to be longer than the 40k I was hoping it would top out at...

Editing the previous chapters has been a fun exercise in trimming the fat! I still want there to be scenes that are just ~vibes~ but I axed 1k words and the whole thing is cleaner for it.

More Minthara/Lae'zel is in the works, but it's mostly only the skeleton of an idea as I've had to rework it multiple times. I've a little under 1k actually written, and I'm not too convinced of what it is at the moment either. Quite frustrating.

Another seedling of an idea for non-smutty Asheera/Shadowheart fics. But it's really just "Shadowheart meets Asheera's parents" and boy I'm not ready for the mixed emotions Shadowheart's going to feel in that one. You know it's not just going to be fluff.

The Gauntlet/Nightsong segment for my core Shadowheart/Asheera series has a skeleton of an outline now. The POVs have been picked, the core beats are there, and I know it's going to hurt like a motherfucker to write some of this.

[rainybraindays]

I don't think I understand the obsession some fandoms have with stripping interesting complex characters down to their barest bits and throwithe rest away, especially when they either lean into only the negatives or postives of them.

Like personally I don't want a character thats shown as endlessly compassionate selfless and kind, who can't take or face any consequences and only ever has the purest of intentions. I also don't really want a character who's just entirely selfish, who has not patience and cares for no one in their life, not caring if they hurt those around them.

I'm not saying those are necessarily bad characters, hell there are a few I like, but they're so...bland most of the time? And incredibly hard to get right I feel like because they don't really have a broad range of characteristics to work with.

I LOVE characters who only have so much patience, but stretch it to its absolute limit for those they love. Who do things not just to help others but because it can also benefit themselves. Characters who don't mean to hurt people they love but they do, and now they're being forced to deal with what that means for their relationships. Characters who misspeak, or word things wrong, characters who make mistakes, and are actively being set up to grow and learn from said mistakes.

It's just wild to me that we have characters like that, but fanon interpretations always turn then into these hollow shells.

Hes fully evil, everything he does is for himself and no one else, they'll say about a male character who has trauma and is clearly just trying to survive by whatever means necessary, gaining more trauma for himself.

Shes wholly good, and she has the purest intentions, no one understands her they'll cry about a character who is actively hurting people unintentionally through their actions because they're young and dumb, and trying their best but ultimately stumbling.

Its just so boring and I don't understand the obsession with all but ruining interesting characters to make them idk, more palatable maybe???

[incorrect-ironwidow]

LETS TALK ABOUT THE AO3 TAGS

Note: this post contains a small spoiler, without context or detail, from Heavenly Tyrant.

So, it came to my attention (and I know many of you have already noticed too), that Iron Widow has several incorrect tags on AO3. I will leave some of the main examples in a print below for those who haven't seen it yet, but in short, the tags in the drop-down menu and those suggested as "official" when you are going to post a new fic appear giving titles to the characters or relating their names in the books to the real names of Chinese historical figures.

@xiranjayzhao, more than once (and even in the Heavenly Tyrant acknowledgments), talked about how the characters, despite having similar names, are not made as a historical reinterpretation, their characters do not seek to be a new, realistic or faithful version of their historical names. Rather, they are inspired by that historical essence, being completely original to the books in which they appear. In other words, it is not right to give them historical titles or relate them to real historical names (as happens with the tags for Qin Zheng and Sima Yi) as if they were new faithful versions of those people.

I opened a ticket with AO3 support to explain the situation. Because, despite knowing that the tags are written by the fandom, just the fact that they are in the drop-down menu and are suggested when posting a new work already makes people feel influenced to use them (it shows that they have more views/are commonly searched/used). I am not sure how long it will take or if they can solve the situation (in fact, please, if there is any volunteer who works with AO3 I would be extremely grateful to hear from you about how we can solve the issue and what the site can do), but I know that avoiding the continued use of these tags can help.

And, that is why I am writing this long post, to talk to you; creators in our fandom!

To ensure that your work has the correct tags and so that our creations do not reinforce a misconception about the books, which the author has said many times was not their intention when writing the characters, we need to change (and start to not use) the tags in the drop-down menu and in the suggestions when the characters have titles and names that were never presented in the books. In other words, for the Iron Triangle tag that reads "Gao Yizhi/Emperor Taizong of Tang | Li Shimin/Empress Tianhou of Zhou | Wu Zetian" change it to "Gao Yizhi|Zhang Yizhi / Li Shimin / Wu Zetian", for the tag that reads "Empress Tianhou of Zhou | Wu Zetian/First Emperor of Qin | Qin Shihuang | Ying Zheng" change it to "Wu Zetian / Qin Zheng", and so on. The same goes for individual tags with character names, choose to write only the name of the character that appears in the book or, if you feel it needs more context, add "(Iron Widow)" after the name (like write "Sima Yi (Iron Widow)" if Sima Yi is a character at your work).

With time and use, I believe this may even influence the correct tags to be suggested and appear in the drop-down menu, making it easier to search for works from our fandom on AO3.

Anyway, if you have any questions about the issue or how to correctly tag your work, don't hesitate to ask, I'm here to help. And, if you want to add more to this discussion, please feel free to use the comments or reblogs!

That's it for now, I can't wait to see all the future content you'll create for Iron Widow/Heavenly Tyrant (especially with our little Valentine's event starting tomorrow)… <3

[angelltheninth]

Hey I saw your different types of love confessions, I’m not sure if you wanted specific ones for each character or one type of confession for each character… but nonetheless it would be cute to see them if the Batboys, however you feel like!

Don't worry, I have an idea of what to do with this one.

Pairing: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne x Reader

Tags: fluff, developing relationship, love confession, first kiss, cuddles, flirting, realization of feelings

Ko-Fi | Rules | Fandoms and Characters | Commissions

A/N: Love the Batboys letting themselves feel love and be loved. They need that a whole lot in canon.

Dick writes you a note confessing his feelings, it takes him several days but he's trying to get it just right. There are a lot of feelings that he has about you so rather than just one piece of paper it ends up as several. By the time he's done it's not so much a note as it is an essay. Might be easier to just tell you his feelings instead. And he would if his brothers didn't rat him out and pushed him to give you the... love essay since he spent so much time writing it.

Jason acts like it's no big deal that he has feelings for you. A crush is a passing thing and he thought it would leave him after you've been fooling around for a few months, but it only caused his feelings to increase. It's fine, no big deal, he just, you know, really cares about you and he wants you to know that in case he dies again and doesn't get to say it. But don't blow this confession out of proportion, it's not the first time he's fallen in love, might be the last though.

Tim didn't mind getting all cuddly with you on the couch when you asked him to stay the night. The two of you have been flirting back and forth for some time, but neither really voices your feelings out loud. It was a comfortable state that you were both in, but on the couch and in the relationship. But he was tired, he was cozy, he was all warm and happy with you holding him and so he turned to you, looked you in the eyes and told you he loved you.

Damian kisses you unexpectedly and refuses to elaborate further for weeks. The relationship between you two is left in absolute limbo because he is stubborn and refuses to talk about his feelings. It was up to you to literally trap him and confront him about it and even then he pretended not to know what you were talking about. When he heard that you were asked out by someone else he demanded to know who was flirting with his beloved.

[aromanticofficial]

shocking news, The aroallo guy is here to talk abt being aroallo. everybody gasp

anyways. i wanted to explain why aroallos are so "sensitive" about our identity and place in the aspec community.

the aspec community has a sex negativity problem. this is obvious. the amount of "sex bad" takes that are boldly labelled "aspec experiences" instead of what they actually are (puritan culture) is enough to make anyone who actually experiences sexual attraction feel more than unwelcome in the aspec community.

aside from that, there's also the erasure. aromanticism is always treated as a subcategory of asexuality. there's this constant underline to every mainstream-ish discussion of aromanticism that basically comes down to the inherently aroallophobic idea that "not all aces are aro, but all aros are ace". it's not that anyone says this out loud; it's that everyone seems to imply it subtly, everyone seems to believe it without even thinking twice about it.

aside from that, there's the lack of representation. name an aromantic character. chances are, you've just named an aroace character. and even in the very very rare case of a character being canonically aromantic but not canonically asexual (e.g. carpenter from the silt verses), the fandom still treats them being asexual as canon. fandom treats aromanticism as something that must only exist within asexuality, not as its own separate identity.

our fellow aspecs spew aroallophobia at us in a misguided attempt at humor (i've gotten several asks from aroaces telling me i "should" be aroace), our posts are mistagged as asexual when we make it extremely clear they're just about being aromantic (and when we point out that we don't like that, we get called control freaks. true story), the aromantic tag is filled with posts just about asexuality, allos either call us emotional abusers and imply we objectify people by simply experiencing sexual attraction, or imply that we're just afraid of attachment and that they can "fix" us.

the absolutely jarring truth of being an aroallo on tumblr dot com is making a post about being aroallo and immediately getting ten anons telling me i'm "no better than a straight man", "an aroace in denial", "an emotionally abusive predator", or just a slut, while at the same time someone comments on my post "you're making up an issue that doesn't exist" "why are you so mad about this" "you wanna be a victim so bad"

whew. okii that's all. hope that clears stuff up for non-aroallos out there /gen

what they said

[justtheclippy]

Tips and FAQ for Asks

Hello beautiful humans, I want to do my best to get to everyone's asks so here are a few things you can do to help make that happen! (if you're looking for the cast stream master list, skip to the bottom)

Please don't spam the same question repeatedly. I will get to you eventually, I promise! But when you submit the exact same thing multiple times, it just slows me down. I've got one single brain cell, please have mercy.

No spoiler requests. I cannot tell you anything about future episodes, when they will come out, what will happen to certain characters, how the story ends etc. We're limited on what we can say in general until more episodes release. The entire cast has signed NDAs (non disclosure agreement) preventing us from revealing anything, but more than that, we wouldn't want to ruin your experience of watching and engaging with the show organically! Trust me, just enjoy the ride, it's better that way.

Don't take anything too seriously. Please keep in mind most of these answers will just be for fun. My thoughts and opinions on the character, both for silly things like favorite dessert and more serious things like character analysis, are not hard and fast canon. Same goes for any of the actors. We can speculate about our characters, we know and understand them well, but when in doubt, assume its allllllllllllll non-canonical haha

Read through previous asks. This will help prevent asking things I've already answered. I'm going to be tagging (i swear I'll do it fr) my answers with #amanda asks and #tadc asks so you can find them more easily. If you do ask a question I've already answered IT'S OK DON'T PANIC I won't be upset haha

Even though I'll be tagging my answers so you can easily find them, here are a few frequently asked questions just to get them out of the way. If you decide to ask me something I've already answered, or something that goes against the guidelines above, I'll probably skip it, you silly geese.

Q: I've seen people use several different pronouns for you, what are your preferred pronouns? A: They/them and I prefer masc leaning terms generally! I'm queer, NB and very open about my identity. But people will sometimes use she/her because they don't know. I will never get upset with someone for not knowing- it's ok. But now that you've read this, you know! So you can go forth educated. You're welcome to correct anyone who doesn't know, but please be kind to each other. We've all been the person who didn't know before.

Q: What do you think of X ship? A: I love and support all the ships! Ships are part of a healthy fandom, keep creating content that makes you feel seen and that YOU want to see, that's the foundation of creativity. And if anyone disagrees with you, remind them that a lot of classics are just fanfiction about the gods at the time. It's always been here.

Q: What is your favorite ship? A: Bunnydoll and Buttonblossom, because the dynamics are so much fun.

Q: Do you like X AU? A: Yes. It doesn't matter what it is, yes. I love the AUs and if it's a new one, you better include a link so I can find it. I want all of them, thank you so muuuuuuuuch~

Q: Have you seen or played X game/show/movie/meme etc.? A: Always happy to chat about other media! But if you wanna ask about something specific, please include a link or explanation because lets be just so very honest, half the time my brain is off in adhd land so there's a good chance I'll have no idea what you're talking about at first.

Q: Have you watched Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure? A: Not yet! But due to VERY POPULAR REQUEST I will be putting together a watch stream to watch it live with yall. Once that's happened, I'll put the link here.

Q: Have you seen Queen's second game and will you be playing it? A: Yes, we've all seen the trailer and we're very excited! We will be playing it as a full cast, just like last time, as soon as the game is finished. For now, please go enjoy the demo and support the team! Once it's out and we're ready to stream it, I'll post the link here.

Q: Can you come to X convention? A: I will come to any convention that yall want to see me at!

BUT

In order for that to happen, you have to request me directly with the convention. Most will have either a request form on their site or a specific email for requests. Just write in that you would like to see me at their event, and then they will get in touch with my agent to book me!

Q: Can I request a song for you to sing? A: Of course! I promise yall I'll do my best to put out more songs this year. If there's a cover you want me to consider doing, or an artist/composer you'd like to hear me work with, let me know!

Outside of that, if you just want a little clip, you can drop requests in the asks and if I know the song I might record a bit. This is COMPLETELY dependent on time, especially if I'm busy. Please understand ��️

You can also make requests during stream signings, which is easier to accommodate in the moment. Just put the request in the order notes, and I'll sing a little bit for you while I sign IF I know the song. So choose wisely.

Q: I want to be a voice actor! How do I get started? A: The best advice I can give on this subject is to

Join the Voice Acting Club Discord

It is one of the best resources available for anyone interested in getting started. Tons of articles and information on equipment, treating your space, what demos are and how to know when you're ready for one, tips on auditioning, workshops and classes, Q&As with industry professionals, plus casting calls.

Q: Can I write an ask just to show you cool stuff or tell you you're awesome? A: Of course you can! You can also tag me in stuff, that's ok too. I appreciate all the love and support yall have shown for me, Ragatha and the show in general. Yall are truly incredible. ❤️

Q: Do you have a PO Box so we can send you stuff? A: I'm setting it up THIS WEEK. I will post it here when it's ready.

Q: Where can I find X stream that the cast did? A: Moving forward, I will keep a master list of our group streams in order of date aired, to the best of my ability. If I miss one, let me know and I'll get it on here!

Saberspark TADC Cast Interview

Streamily Signing #1 (Amanda, Michael, Alex, Marissa)

Streamily Signing #2 (Amanda and Michael)

Streamily Signing #3 (Amanda and Sean)

Streamily Signing #4 (Amanda, Sean, Alex, Michael, Marissa, Vera, Hamish)

TADC Fan Game Stream: Game 1

Streamily Signing #5 (Amanda, Alex, Ashley, Sean, Michael, Marissa, Vera, Hamish, Wiz)

Fast Food Simulator Charity Stream (Amanda, Lizzie, Marissa, Michael, Ashley)

Marissa's Streamily Signing CRASHED by Amanda, Alex, Michael, Max (RU Caine/Jax), Julian (DE Jax), Adam (NL Jax), and Philip (NL Chad/Max)

[pidgefudge]

HUZZAH AT LONG LAST ANOTHER SONIC MUTUAL i am a normal amount of excited about this development

WAIT are you a sonic fan 👁️👁️

I AM !!!! in fact its a Huge interest of mine i just dont post about it :((

[archiewantsheetmetal]

First Official Hello From Archie!

HELLO Layton Nation! Welcome to my Layton blog. My name is Archie, and I go by he/him. I am a minor!

DNI if you:

- Are a pedophile

- Ship any minors with any adult characters. This is also pedophilia

- Are a zoophile

- Are a strictly 18+ blog

- Are homophobic, transphobic, racist, or xenophobic I just post Layton stuff here and interact with the fandom. This is my only Tumblr blog. I really like Professor Layton. I don't tag triggers or spoilers unless it's something major, like if it's very mild blood or if it regards a Layton reveal, but if anyone has an issue, they can come to me through dms or asks! I am not a scary person. Like at all. I love interacting with the Layton fandom and to be honest I am probably just as scared of you as you are of me. So don't be afraid to be friends! I love getting questions and requests! I just won't respond to anything NSFW. I do not reblog NSFW content. On Archive of Our Own, my username is Archierot! You can find any fics I may post there. Currently, there are only three published works on my page, but there will be more to come. My askbox is almost always open! I just may be a little slower to get to some of them, or if you say something very nice or funny, I might just keep it in there so I can look at it when I need to.

Taglist and friends below!

LIST OF MY FRIENDS!! MY LOVELY FRIENDS THAT I LOVE FOREVER!!

@casualfr1days!! My best friend DREWWW!!!!! ! ! ! ! ^^ AMAZING person all around and very very pretty art. THEY ARE THE REASON. I am in the Professor Layton fandom. drew it is ALL your fault. Wonderful to be around and I feel like I can talk to you about my bugs forever.

@justkillingthyme MY LOVELY BEST FRIEND THYME!! ^^ FRIENDLY KIND FOREVER!! I love their art and their writing!! It's very distinct and has inspired several of my own creations. I'm very lucky to be friends with them. Very funny person and joy to be around.

@jesterday00 MY BEST FRIEND SKEETER!! HI SKEETER ^^ I LOVE this person, their art, and their writing. Very very kind and very funny. I'm glad to have met you! Gives you a BIG fist bump.

@hotsaucewmilk BEST FRIEND HOTSAUCE!! !HLELO ^^ FUNNY GUY ALERT!!! GREAT ARTIST ALERT!! And he's also british so maybe he knows layton. idk. were investigating the matter

@toonypow BEST FRIEND BEE!!! HI BEE HI BEE ^^ GREAT writer. Has made me cry on Bsky. Wonderful art that I've seen.

@mysterysnail APPEL. OLIVE. YOU. ^^ shares a similar sense of humor to me. thank you. SSHAKES your hand. VERY FUNNY PERSON AND I'VE SEEN SOME OF THEIR ART!! VERY GOOD!!

@speedygoreman speedy... ^^ I AM still scared of you KIND OF. a little bit. BUT I THINK YOU'RE COOL. AND I LOVE READING THE STUFF YOU POST. KLG. UGH. UURGH. @huevobuevo you/. i remember you. ^^ you're realy fuckin funny man. best first impression. i miss you heuevo............. @constantpan1c ^^ hi!! friend!! yay!! funny kind nice. not part of the layton fandom but i listed them here too. giggle If I didn't include you on here, I'm probably scared of you and I'm not sure if you consider us friends !!

TAGS!

#archiereblogs - what it sounds like !! these are just reblogged posts. #important - probably important ! #archiesfavs - MY MOST FAAAVORITE POSTS!! HIGHEST HONOR I CAN BESTOW!! They go here so i can look at them later. #phantom railway au - the 1930s-esque depression au i created for professor layton! #askarchie - just stuff from my askbox #archiesart - all of my art!! I'm trying to do more of it. #inbox thyme - all of or most of thyme's asks. because theyre in there a lot! #archiestupid - shitposts. this might be considered art too but if its too stupid it goes in there. #archierants - me talking. probably includes all analyses ive ever done. #pl creature au - my mythical creature/monster au i created for professor layton! #archierot - ALL of my fics and fic related content! #archiedoodles - doodle request answers! #pl/professor layton - professor laytong stuff! THAT'S ALL I CAN FIND!! Some tags may not have any posts in them! That's because, moving forward, I want to keep my account organized. That's what the empty tags are there for! So I can use them from now on. I'll try to edit existing posts to include these tags if I see them. I'll tag the taglist so you can use it to like. find stuff. if you need to.

I hope you guys like my stuff! -Archie!

[himluv]

I agree with you on the Solavellan ending. I love the angst and tragedy and I'm eating the idea of Solas and Lavellan having a lot to unpack once in the fade. Dramatic confrontations, tears, breakdowns and a slow road to forgiveness,. Delicious food. But I'm really annoyed with a portion of the fandom that seems to just gloss over the fact that Solas killed Varric, someone who was always kind to Lavellan and was even her friend. And even if you don't like Varric personally he is in canon a relatively decent person who tried to reach out to Solas on a compassionate level. Then he used a blood magic puppet of him to manipulate Rook... IDK the way that seems to mean little to nothing to a lot of Solavellans kind of bothers me. I'm not here to tell anyone how they can or can't play but the takes have been so bad. The infantilization, excuses and woobification of our boy are so egregious. Solas is complex and morally gray. Why would we be going through the effort of redeeming him if he wasn't doing things that would require redemption in the first place? I've felt really disconnected from the rest of the fandom because of all of the softening of his character people have been doing and it's refreshing to hear a take from someone who loves Solas but doesn't want to defang him.

Thanks for this thoughtful reply to this post! Sorry this took awhile, but I've been thinking of what I wanted to say. Long and spoiler-riddled reply below, and I don't even know how relevant it is to your reply, Nonny. Sorry!

I think A Lot of folks have spent the last 10 years rotating him in their heads like one throws a clay pot, molding him into something he could be based on what we knew about him. But, we didn't necessarily account for the other forms he could take. And some folks are very resistant to who he's canonically become by Veilguard. Because it's not a good form, he got Worse™ in his decade away from friends and love (shocker!), and it's hard to reconcile this version of him with the ones we may have made.

I get all of that. But I also LOVE that. It means he could still surprise me, and I got to experience this weird duality of love/hate I didn't expect to feel toward him. I got to see his lies in real time, know he was lying because I KNOW HIM, and go, "oh, you little shit (affectionate)". Like, that's just FUN! Which, last time I checked was in fact the point of video games.

I love that he is unpredictable and dangerous in this game. That we finally see him go all out, and use every skill and trick he has. That is THRILLING, especially because he's more dangerous and lethal and ruthless than I personally expected. Which... Is my fault. I should have expected it, because look what he did to Felassan. Look how he so easily killed all those Qunari in Trespasser. Look what he did with those spirits of chaos and disruption. Look what he did to the Titans! I should have known better, the games and books showed me time and again what he was capable of. I just didn't want to believe it.

I've seen some posts talking about how Lavellan approaches Solas at the very last confrontation. How carefully she goes up the stairs towards him. I've seen several interpretations of it, but there's one I haven't seen (which could be because I'm not hanging out in the Solavellan tag much these days).

She takes those stairs slowly, as if approaching a spooked horse, because the last time someone climbed a set of stairs to talk him down from his ritual, he killed them. And I don't think for one second Lavellan believes, if she handles this poorly, he won't do the same to her.

And I think she is 100% right. He would, perhaps on "accident" as he claims to Neve was the case with Varric (debatable - seemed pretty intentional if maybe a bit impulsive from here). But I firmly believe there is a world where Solas would stab his vhenan if he had to and certain conditions hadn't been met (and yes that would utterly destroy him).

She walks up those stairs to him, her vhenan, knowing this is it. Their final stand. She will save him from himself, whatever it takes, and she is prepared to die at his hands if it comes to that. And it so easily COULD HAVE.

I don't know. I just think that Veilguard gave us SO MUCH more insight into Solas and there's so much there to chew on. I think we're going to be able to go back through all the games and codices and so many little details are going to fit together and complete a puzzle we didn't even know we were making.

After all of this, I still have so much to think on 😂. I'm going to be living in Thedas for another decade at this rate!

Good. I don't ever want to leave.

[fiabex]

FIAB: Sign-ups open!

Sign-ups are now open for Fic In A Box, a 10k fandom gift exchange, and it's time to officially join the event!

What Is FIAB?

A gift exchange is an fandom event where participants create fanworks to gift to each other. Fic In A Box is a fanwork exchange with a large minimum gifting requirement and several unique features. Participants have 6 weeks to create their gifts, and gifts can include fic, art, audio, video— and much much more— aiming for a minimum of 10k of fic or equivalent to give to their assigned recipient.

This sounds enticing but you have questions? More under the cut!

Signups? What's that?

To officially join the event and be matched— so that you are assigned someone to make a gift for, and someone is assigned to you— you have to sign up on Ao3. It is the "sign up" button in the sidebar on the left-hand side of the Ao3 page. You have until signups close on September 7th (10pm EST), to get your signup filled out. You can edit your signup after you submit it, so feel free to get a minimum signup done and then tinker with it during signups.

To sign up you fill out your Requests (what you are saying you'd be okay for people to give you as a gift), and your Offers (what you are saying you'd be able to make to give someone else as a gift), and submit it. You use tags from a special event tag set to fill out your offers and requests, and you'll only be able to use the tags in the tag set for the event. The tag set contains fandoms, ships, characters, worldbuilding tags, and gift types ("mediums"), all of which you use to refine your requests and offers to make sure you are signing up with exactly the type of gift you want to get or make in mind (with a bit of mystery still, part of the fun of the exchange is the challenge and surprise of it all).

Tag set?

Hopefully you heard about FIAB early enough that you were part of the nomination process where we built the tag set, where anyone could nominate their ships or worldbuilding ideas or fandoms. But maybe you just heard about it and you didn't nominate any tags— can you still participate? Yes! There are two options! First one: check out the tag set here, and if there are any ships that you like, smack those into a signup and you're good to go!

Second option: FIAB accepts late nominations if they are tags that you imminently intend to use in your signup. You need to format them in such a way that we can batch load them into the tag set, and you need to submit them through a comment on the designated Dreamwidth Blog Post— check out this post for more information and an example in the comments of what a submission would look like. You do not need a dreamwidth account to comment on the post, you can comment anonymously! Late nominations closes 6 days before signups close.

What if I only like one ship in the tag set, or at all? What if I like several ships, but only one fandom?

If you only like one tag in the tag set you still have a minimum viable signup, and you can sign up with just the one fandom, one ship! However, there are two points of order for that.

The first point is about your offers. You must be matchable to at least one person to get an assignment and stay in the exchange. If we can't give you an assignment, we'll contact you to ask about adding more offers, and if it ends up we cannot match you to anyone, your sign up will be deleted. So you need to be offering something that at least one person is requesting when the exchange closes and locks. You can look at all current signups here to see if there's anyone you can add an offer to, to make yourself matchable! It's best practice to offer at least three different fandoms to make yourself matchable— but if you have only one fandom you main you can still sign up, as long as you're matchable! (And pro tip, even if it comes down to the last few hours and you're not matchable, don't delete your signup! There's always a flurry of signups in the last few hours of the exchange, and someone from your fandom might still sign up.)

The second point is about your requests. If your original gifter drops out (life happens! People's lives blow up, computers break, people leave fandoms, etc.), the mods will put your assignment up for a Pinch Hit on the blog. That way people who want to take on an extra assignment can claim it and still write you a gift! If you have three or more unique fandoms in your requests, the mods will hold the entire exchange until someone has turned in a gift for you— nobody gets their gift until everybody gets a gift. However, if you have less than three requests you are still welcome to sign up, and you will still be posted as a pinch hit if something happens to your original gifter, but the mods won't hold the exchange for you if you only have one or two fandoms, so you might not get a gift. There is a dedicated group of pinch hitters who will do their best to make sure that everyone gets a gift, but you do run the risk of no gift if you sign up with a restricted list of offers.

I can't write 10k of fic, but I could do 10k's worth of art— what do I do?

The standard assumption is that everyone gets 10k of fic by default, and everyone signs up to make 10k of fic by default. But this is a special unique exchange, and we love to have people participating who are not fic writers. How does that work? You do not specify that you are a non-fic-writer in your signup, because that would break Ao3's matching. The mods match you manually— as long as they know that they have to do that. So you have to let them know that you want to give a non-fic gift.

If you want to work in a medium that is not fic, contact the mods by email (ficinaboxmod@gmail.com), and tell them

The username you are signing up with.

A list of usernames of participants who are requesting something you can make, and what relationship/character/WB: tag and medium tag(s) you are aiming for.

It will look something like:

Hi mods, My username is RanbooLive, and I'm a podficcer who just signed up. I would like to be matched to either CarthagoDelendaEst (for the tags Chara & Flowey & Toriel (Undertale), and Medium Opt-In: Audio - Podfic of any of my fics that match this request's fandom/relationships), or Clif_Bar (for the tags Padme Amidala & Royal Handmaidens (SWPT) or WB: Prequels-Era Jedi Culture (SWPT) and Medium Opt-In: Audio - Podfic), or ThingsForgotten (for the tags Billy Brennan/Alan Grant (Jurassic Park OT) or WB: Effect of Dinosaur Reveal on Careers of Academics (Jurassic Park OT), and Medium Opt-In: Audio - Podfic). Thanks, let me know if there are any issues!

We need the info about relationship-field tags and medium tags not because you will be obligated to create that exact thing, but because we will double check during matching that the recipient we’re matching you to hasn’t, for example, removed the medium you said you can create from their request. We do not want to give you an assignment you cannot actually complete.

You do not need to have multiple options on the list you send the mods— as long as there's one person you're matchable to, you're matchable and we can assign you! It is a somewhat safer idea to have multiple options so you know you're still matchable even if someone changes their signup at the last minute, but technically one option is all you need.

And how do you get the information to put in the letter about who you're matchable to? That would be searching through the automagic app, which is a searchable database of everyone who's signed up, which lets you sort by medium tags and fandoms! Check there to find people requesting podfic/poetry/art/spreadsheets/fibercraft/cocktail instructions/video/whatever your art form is!

Honestly I'm still baffled/I'm staring at this Ao3 box and it is swimming in front of my eyes/What on Earth is a medium tag and how many do I need:

The system for signing up is pretty complex, especially if you haven't done it before. That's why we set up a discord server with a bunch of experienced people who are happy to answer questions! If you join the server, look for the #event-questions channel and we would be happy to explain anything you need, from "how do I sign up for an Ao3 account" to "why is my signup yelling at me when I save it" to "what's the difference between these two medium tags and do I need them both"? We are all standing ready to answer questions, hit us up!

If you do not want to talk to people, there is extensive documentation on the dreamwidth blog, and there might be an answer to your question there!

Or if all else fails— shoot us an ask here or email the mods!

Note: FIAB is not an all-ages exchange. You must be 18 or older to join FIAB.

Links

Email: ficinaboxmod@gmail.com

Ao3 Collection

Automatic Ao3 App (contains the signups for everyone who's signed up so far, sortable by fandom or by tag, allowing you to see who you're matchable to)

Tag Set

Dreamwidth Blog

Discord (includes question channel)

[sneezemonster15]

When I had started writing this blog, I was told by other SNS to tag my Sakura and Hinata posts as anti Sakura and anti Hinata so I wouldn't be hounded by their crazy ass stans. Well that didn't work. Lol. Anyway, I began to tag my posts as Haruno Sakura and Hyuuga Hinata, because even if I don't like them, my analysis of them is based on their characters, I am rock solid secure about it and I don't care who reads it and cries about it.

My suggestion to SNS fans would be, take the antis head on if you wish so. Take any anti SNS head on. Any single one of them. Confront them if you want, without hesitation or doubt. No need to be afraid.

As a SNS shipper, just know you are in the right. I am ready to sign it on a bond paper. Just know that they are ALL CATEGORICALLY WRONG, and you SNS stans are right, as long as you have sincerely read and understood the manga.

Know that you are backed by the author of the manga, media experts and aficionados and several casual fans who value accountability and have a mature outlook towards storytelling and life. Say it with arrogance and conceit even, because sometimes intimidation works just as well. Don't waste your energy on things that don't deserve it. But if you do choose to confront, never be meek, never surrender. Be cool about it or aggressive, your choice but don't feel disheartened at their takes, they don't know what they are talking about. Laugh at them if you want, that's what their theories are good for anyway.

Enough of this homophobic caterwauling. This is 2024, and this is a global fandom with many fans who are impressionable and naive. Let them have the advantage of understanding the true meaning of this manga. You are the torchbearers of Naruto's legacy, like I have said before, SNS fans are true Naruto fans, the rest are just posers and bigoted dumbfucks. No more bigotry, no more prejudice, no more bullshit. It's high time. Enough time has passed and all the 'they are just friends waaah' or 'they are just brothers waaah' or 'It is unintentional waaah' type of takes need to GO! Naruto fandom is your space to explore, take advantage and have your fun and thrill too. YOU own it. Go crazy. Saturate the fandom, open up the discussion, destroy the prejudice and dumbfuckery, confront whothefuckever you wish, and do it with relish because you are right and they are wrong. Period.

Do it. Be bold, be strong, be proud. You have the fandom's support, passionate support too because that's what this story engenders in responsible fans. Confront them without hesitation if that's your vibe and smack them in the face with panels from the manga and explain them too, they are quite easy to decode. Just know you can do it because that's what the story is supposed to be, you can't miss it. High time to change this heteronormative narrative. Naruto is a gay love story and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

[noblehouseofgay]

Marauders Fandom Red Flags

So in my time here (almost a year wow), I've gotten more familiar with this fandom than any other. And I love it here- but there's some issues I've seen. So- this is my list of red flags. Some are personal, some are simple fandom etiquette. Read at your own risk

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

1. Hating on ships/characters too much. If you follow me yk I will post my dislike from time to time, but people who almost exclusively post that are just annoying. Find something you enjoy instead. There's enough hatred in the world, is this really how you wanna spend time?

2. "I hate jegulus but their writers are so good" no. Fuck off. You don't deserve our work if you hate what we write about.

3. Openly bashing/rating/etc fics and other works. People do this for free. If you don't like it keep it private. I've read several fics I've disliked and I only tell my friends, if even then.

4. Liking only straight ships and canon ships. This is just a personal ick. And most of the time it feels a bit homophobic that in a fandom full of mostly queer ships- you only like the straight ones. Kinda weird man

5. Sending anon hate is RARELY okay. I say rarely because I've experienced a few instances where I'll defend it, but over a character? Or s ship? Especially when you call someone a fascist over it. Seriously? Fuck off. There's actually fucking fascists taking over and you're calling out people who like a gay ship? Yikes

6. Being rude under someone's post because you don't like it. Fuck that. I get even I've gotten a little worked up before but I do try to contain myself. I've since chosen to block tags and blogs I don't like. It's much better on my sanity. The block button is free, use it.

7. If you don't like any of the marauders era girls. Ick. What the fuck? They don't have to be your favorites, but they deserve appreciation. They're great characters when they're written well.

8. Let trans people headcannon characters as trans. This fandom is practically founded on saying fuck you to JK. Let us claim these characters in our eyes. Trans regulus means a lot to me. You don't have to like it, but you can simply let me enjoy it.

9. Similar to the last one, but if you say shit like "they cant all be gay" then you're fucking stupid. Shut the fuck up. For one it was the seventies, for two queer people tend to flock together so it makes perfect sense most of the group would be queer. And again- our whole thing is shitting on the terf. Make them queer. Spit on everything she stands for.

10. And last but not least- jegulus hate. There I said it. The amount of hate is ridiculous. You don't have to like it, but attacking us for it is actually insane.

[pixiedurango]

New Dragon Age (Veilguard) Fan-Fun just dropped: Pixie's Antivan Postal Service (askbox-letter game)

Requests are open!

Inspired from several ask- and tag games and the fun I had writing letters for my Rooks and actually making them look like letters sparked this idea to make my askbox into the Antivan Postal Services. Find previous APS letters here to see what's possible I'm opening my askbox for requests to write more of those letters and I'm making it a crow centered fandom event. Starting from now. Of course, you can send on anon if you are shy, but my answer will find you easier, when I can "@" you. Every post will contain a digitally crafted letter as you see in the examples and a transcript for optimized accessibility. I'm a sucker for the Antivan Crows, everybody who has interacted with me, knows that. Therefor, I make it a rule, that at least one - either the writer or the recipient - should be an Antivan Crow. (I just have most experience in writing them and my OCs, thus they are kind of my comfort characters)

What I am ready and able to write:

For now, I am super OK with - general topics - family - friendship - love letters (pre- and established Relationship), - flirty stuff - fluff -business/formal stuff - I'm open to do more of this "hijacking someone else's letter and adding notes" thing, which I did for Viago and Teia. - trope wise I have a wide range, also darker and angsty stuff is cool with me. But I will also accept any kind of fluff and fun. I'm not comfortable with writing smutty, spicy, kinky and very sexual topics atm - this may change over time, but for now it's a nono for me Options:

Ask for a letter to or from my Rooks Cara de Riva (Human warrior, Lucanismancer) and Leyla de Riva (Dwarven Rogue, Lucanismancer) - those will be influenced by their individual backstory. My Rooks will also send letters to your OCs if you want them to interact. (will need some basic info about them in this case) You can send a letter from your Rook/OC/any NPC you want into my askbox and I my Rooks will write back Ask for a letter for YOUR Rooks (I will need a bit of information in order to successfully do so.) -Name -Gender -pronouns -faction -LI - a general topic/trope/vibe you wanna see - Who writes the letter?

(If you want, you can send a screenshot or artwork of your Rook/OC to post along with the letter, you should be able to send it with your prompt) Letters between canon Crows of your choice I'll need - a general topic/trope/vibe you wish to read about - who writes to who? (I might add fitting screenshots of my own if I happen to have them, or you add one in your ask)

If you are happy about your letter, and you feel like writing me the sender back (into my askbox), we they might end up having some back and forth correspondence. Please note: I might put some of the letters up in Ao3. Of course, properly tagged and everything. In case you don't want that for your letter, plz tell me and I will respect your wish.

tl;dr: Come into my askbox and I will write you a letter, as long as somewhere there is an Antivan Crow involved.