#this was a bigger piece and I struggled a bit but overall I'm happy with the result

[nekrosmos]

Nik would take Price on vacation everywhere, you know he has a photo album full of pictures of them travelling <3

[sunskate]

Livvy Shilling & Lèo Baeten of Team Belgium and IAMO interviewed by Absolute Skating

nice interview with them, and some good stuff about the coaches and training environment at IAMO - this part:

There was a lot of learning that occurred last year. The struggles we had inspired us to make a change," Livvy shares.

Livvy described the change as revitalizing. "I love it here [at IAMO]," she says. "I feel like I'm thriving. I love the coaching, their understanding of skating, technique, and the sport itself, but also the way they understand the athletes and their psychology. It's a very nurturing environment. They also have high expectations for athletes, both in performance and behavior. Everything is well organized. At first, it didn't feel like much of an adjustment, but as we got deeper into the work and programs, the adjustment felt bigger. Still, it was one I was eager to take on. It's really improved how we communicate on the ice and how we approach practice and competition." She also emphasized how the move reignited her passion for training. "It's been a long time since I've come into the rink every day looking forward to training."

For Léo, the adjustment was more complex. "I knew I wanted to change quite a bit in how I approached skating, my partnership and my relationship with the coaches," he explains. "The coaches in I.AM helped me figure out what I wanted and even some things I didn't necessarily want but knew I needed." Despite the challenges, Léo fully embraces the new environment, adding, "I'm really happy with our coaches. It's been nice to know them as people too. It was a good decision [to move here]."

Creating programs that inspire

The theme set by the International Skating Union for this season's rhythm dance is social dances and styles of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. "I heard that many teams this year were excited to skate to disco, but together with our coaches we decided against it to avoid being too common. While we still chose a popular piece by James Brown, it's something that we really love. I personally love funky and bluesy music," Livvy explains.

"I wanted to make sure we found something that allowed us to focus on the dancing aspect, a piece that would feel more natural for us. This way, we could rely on our dancing while continuing to improve our technique, rather than struggling to connect to a song and feel limited in our performance," Léo adds.

Their free dance, on the other hand, is a more emotional and personal journey. They chose "It's all Coming Back to Me Now" by Celine Dion, a decision rooted in sentimentality for Livvy. "Celine Dion was the first singer I ever saw at a concert, for my grandma's birthday," she shared. The choice felt serendipitous as the team first connected with the music while they were in Italy (due to visa issues), preparing for Worlds in Japan in the group of Matteo Zanni, where a spontaneous music listening session at their airbnb sparked a thought of creating a program to this piece one day. "We just started dancing and thought, this would be fun to have a program to," Léo reminisces. "It was a full-circle moment when we chose this music, and it's inspiring for us to skate to every day," Livvy adds.

Adrian Diaz and Madison Hubbell spearheaded the choreography for the team's rhythm dance. For the free dance, Cara Moir played the leading role, not only overseeing the choreography but also helping refine the quality and execution of the program. Scott Moir's contribution is centered on elevating the overall quality, be it in transitions or crossovers, or improving technical precision in critical moments of the programs. Additionally, guest coaches and choreographers such as Sam Chouinard and Sarah Steben provided valuable input to enhance various aspects of their programs.

Learning from the best

Training in a vibrant environment at I.AM London Campus, Léo and Livvy have the opportunity to skate alongside some of the sport's top athletes. "Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko are spectacular role models," Livvy says, "not just for their skating but for the energy and professionalism they bring to the camp. It's something we all try to embody." Léo adds that watching his fellow skaters has been eye-opening: "There's such a calmness in their approach, something I wasn't used to. It's a great atmosphere to be part of. And all of the teams I observe have qualities that I want to learn from."

The team also draws inspiration from their coaches who were competitive skaters up until recently. Livvy shares, "I was always a big fan of Madison Hubbell. I thought she had the best edge work among female ice dancers and a strong command. If I could have a fraction of that when I leave this sport, I would feel that I achieved something beyond just results." Leo adds, "When you watch Scott [Moir] do some choreography, it leaves me in awe. Our coaches would still kick all our butts."

[did-i-do-this-write]

Hey! I just stumbled upon your blog and I'm in love. I am a complete newbie writer, as in I have never written creatively in my life, but I have suddenly found the passion. I seem to be able to come up with good ideas, but when it comes to articulating them I am struggling a bit. I seem to overuse cliches and seem to just be writing lists of actions beats and dialogue and things just feel a bit repetitive. Do you have any tips for me? Much love 💞

Hello, anon! Thank you for your kind words and I'm sorry that it took me so long to get back to you! I was sick for a bit and I was struggling to recover and then I just got super busy, but that's awesome that you've decided to take up creative writing! Welcome to this wonderful, treacherous, and often bizarre adventure that we are all taking together :)

As for advice, I apologize if it is not exactly what you are looking for or if it turns out to be unhelpful, but i'd be happy to share what has helped me in my years as a writer! Maybe you'll find some of it helpful, too 🤗

Here are my tips for beginners!

Study, study, study!

Read other people's writings, especially in genres that you hope to write in! Seeing how other writers work in their action, add poetic elements, vary their sentences, and overall structure their story can do wonders for helping you break out of using the same list-like style! When you see what other writers can do, it can help build up your own skills and ideas!

Do what's best for your story

You will see a lot of advice that starts with phrases like "ALWAYS do-" or "NEVER do-"

My advice? Ignore that shit! Sometimes you need to break one of those "always rules" to make your story work. And there is no magic arbitrator of writing that will strike you down for using a "forbidden phrase" or "overused tropes." If it works, do it!

This applies to cliches, too!! Cliches aren't inherently bad! Writers use them because readers like them and they can serve a narrative purpose! The question isn't "how do I avoid cliches" it's "how do I use the cliches I like effectively?"

Write badly, write slowly, write short things, write unfinished things, as long as you write!

Every piece of writing you ever produce (finished or unfinished) will teach you something about your writing process! I found that, for me, one-shots and short pieces helped me find my voice before I could tackle bigger, more complicated narratives. I would not be as confident in my abilities as a writer without fluffy, silly, self indulgent fanfiction one-shots.

Keep writing, and don't be afraid to analyze what you've written and ask yourself "what worked in this piece and what didn't?"

And, finally,

Be proud of your writing!!!!

It's okay to love your own work! You wrote it for you, it'd be weird if you didn't love it! Re-read it, enjoy it, look back on it fondly. And I encourage every writer to add the phrase "I could do better now, but I'm still proud of where I was at the time" to their brain!

You are allowed to recognize flaws in your writing while also still appreciating it! You can't learn if you don't start somewhere.

I hope you find something useful in all this! Sorry it got so long. Good luck on your writing journey!

This ask motivated me to write 285 words for Home is Where Your Light Shines Brightest.

Experiment Total: 97,871

[abandonedpie]

Little bit of a vent, not that serious but slightly heavier than you'd expect from the subject.

TL;DR designing an ACNH island is suffering and I took that personally

So my island has been in a WIP state since its creation. Got fairly far with implementing my plans, and I've worked on pieces of it here and there, but recently, I was inspired to redesign the whole thing (again). No longer liked all the ideas I had liked before, and overall felt it was lacking. With some struggle, I started coming up with new ideas that I felt good about.

But the thing that has slowed me down the most? That has me already doubting or even hating my brand new ideas?

Paths. It always comes down to the paths.

Custom paths? Default paths? Both have pros and cons to consider. Fellow ACNH players are likely familiar with these issues: loss of footstep sounds, limited design slots to work with (is it worth using 12+ slots for a single path border?), having to make every design from scratch (no Online for me), lines of grass left between paths/inclines/buildings...

And I can't decide. I can't find an answer. Whatever I try, whatever I imagine, I don't like the result. I've hit a wall, and that wall is my own perfectionism. Clearly there is no perfect solution, and I have to compromise to progress—"finished, not perfect" and all that—but I don't want to compromise the vision I have for my island, even though I know that vision is unattainable.

I just want to have an island I'm happy with. And it feels like no matter what I do with it, I'll never be satisfied. I've seen such beautiful pictures and videos of other people's islands, and while they inspire me and fuel my creativity, they also raise my standards for my own island because I know it could be so much better.

I want to be able to settle for "good enough." But it feels like trying to paint a rainbow with one or two colors missing or not quite the right shade. Maybe I can make something pretty, but it's not what I envisioned or want.

So I think, let's just come up with something different. There are plenty of designs I would like just as much or more, right? I'm already struggling because I like multiple exclusive aesthetics/layouts/etc. and I can't fit them all on one island. But...paths are kinda omnipresent, and that means I have to accept them being substandard. Unless? I've considered using minimal to no paths, but I can't imagine that working for me. I'm not going for full-on natural forestcore or whatever (and even that wouldn't look its best without dirt paths, right?).

I guess I might've made this into a bigger deal than it needs to be. At this point, I feel tired and stuck and hopeless, and part of me wants to let it go. It's just a game. But I don't want to give up and leave my island a mess again. For a short while, I was excited to create, thinking I could shape my little land into something great, something I could walk through with a smile and maybe feel proud of. And now I wonder if that's really possible. There must be something I can do, something I'd like, but I don't know how to find it. I'm honestly having trouble focusing on it right now.

Seeking inspiration is a double-edged sword. As nice as other people's islands look, I know a lot of pictures are shared with filters, and even those that aren't...well, seeing images and videos is different than walking through your own island day after day.

I could go into the game's flaws and limitations, but this is what we've got. And it's not all bad. There's potential. The problem is my own inner critic, and I don't know how to get past it.

The best part is that I've been trying to fight this perfectionism with the game from the beginning, when I last restarted my island and named it Wabisabia after the term wabi-sabi, the Japanese ideal/aesthetic centered on transience and imperfection. You can see how well that's going for me ha ha ha! Even if I want to embrace it in theory, it's not so easy to break through the perfectionism cemented inside me.

Anyway, yeah. Back to agonizing over my island I guess. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[haeroniel-doliet]

Bonus content: heres the super speed summary of how I struggled through the dinluke big bang piece I started over 80 days ago! More thoughts and details on my process below to cut

- Overall wanna post this with all the flaws galore for my future self, not at all because I've just left the record function on, forgot about it and now I have this!

- Good reminder that the worst thing is blank paper and just getting something down okay, rough simple lines convey ideas its all good!

- Drawing on an airplane produces questionable results (the first more refined lines, not NEARLY enough references in use)

- Speaking of, never regretted following a reference over trying to improvise. I feel like it always looks better (that smoke is one good example!)

- Redrawing and redrawing sometimes is so worth it, other times you should just let it be and move on (those first trees before the yellow dotting were kinda okay honestly!)

- Less all sorts of different brushes is better, for consistency :')

- Theres many parts I'd forgotten that in hindsight maybe look better than the end result (like overall composition being bigger and with better feeling of space) but choices were made and I gotta choose to be happy with and proud of the completed piece, afterall its better than all the dusty never finished wips.

- Definitely didn't quite follow the big bang deadlines, I'm sorry :') in general I'd consider that greyscale to be 20% sure (proof of idea and a layout figured out!) But hilariously after what I posted for even 80% I went and redid all that work. (Maybe its not actually totally redoing if you're making the same just improved! All the ground work took its own time and I wasn't starting from scratch at all.)

- At the very end it gets abruptly cut off, despite asking the program to leave on the last frame for a bit... Then I remembered the panic I had just yesterday, because the file for these screenshots took up too much disk space and caused Krita to crash, losing all the progress of like good bit of little adjustments and corrections. I guess I never turned the recording back on, so the very final few hours are missing, but thats okay! This is not professional! (Spot the absolutely tiny differences with the final image posted :p)

-Also realizing after many a rewatch, there's been some glitch with it not recording me recolouring the characters entirely!! How sad, but you can see the difference from when they pop up around the time I'm redoing the trees and at 02.53 and when they return all redone at 03.07

- Theres a lot I don't love, theres a lot that could be better if done differently, but I really have to start being okay with being done rather than perfect!

- Really proud of myself for dedicating to doing a more involved and detailed background/scene than i've ever done before digitally. I've pushed beyond my comfort zone of just characters with a hint of a background, it will get better from here!

- Did I need to post this with all sorts of bits missing? No, definitely not, but hopefully someone will find this interesting, and my future self feels that this was helpful!

[independentartistbuzz]

INDIE 5:0 - 5 Q'S WITH BEN KILLEN

Few artists pour themselves into their work quite like Ben Killen, whose debut solo track "Singing River Blues" is a deeply personal journey.

It is a tribute to the great W.C. Handy, the ever-flowing currents of the Tennessee River, and the timeless traditions that shape the music we love.

For his first official music video, Ben took on the ambitious roles of director, producer, and star, creating a visually rich and symbolically layered piece that blends personal storytelling with historical homage.

From syncing every frame to the beat of the music to weaving in hidden sonic and visual easter eggs, he has left no detail untouched.

In this interview, Ben opens up about the challenges of DIY filmmaking, the deeper meaning behind the imagery and the emotions of re-visiting personal loss through his art.

He also reflects on what this experience has taught him about music, creativity, and the modern struggles of getting heard in an oversaturated digital world.

This video to "Singing River Blues" is a truly personal project, as you not only directed and produced it, but also starred in it. What was the most challenging aspect of taking on so many roles, and how did you manage to bring your vision to life on a tight budget?

The most challenging (but also most rewarding) aspect of this project was cutting everything together in-time with the beat of the music.  This is something I've seen on music videos for some of my musical heroes, and while probably not appropriate for every song, it might 'hit different' on a ballad, but I think it can really add a lot in terms of cohesiveness, amplifying the overall audio, visual, sensory effect.  I think this approach can also heighten the immersion both musically, and visually for the viewer.

The video is filled with rich imagery, including the symbolic steamboat. Can you share the deeper meaning behind this symbol and how it ties into the themes of your song and album?

YES!  Of course I'm happy to!  For me, the steamboat is a metaphor for the longstanding traditions of music that have brought us here to where we are today, regardless of genre or form. Without them we would have nothing, but yet, to stay fresh and sound current, we're always constantly evolving, so nothing ever stays the same, like the waters shifting under the boat, or tumbling over the big wheel on the back.  

On the album art for my song, it's really just nothing more than a totally imaginary scene I dreamt up, but in it I imagine a more youthful Mr. William Christoper Handy than we often see, standing before the Tennessee River, just on the precipice of departing for his first big break up in St. Louis, somewhere around 1893.  I imagined he lucked-upon a steamboat passing by where on the front deck stood none-other than, the original Jazz trumpet legend, Buddy Bolden stood blaring his signature brash and bold immutable tone through his horn.  In answer, the "Spirit of the Singing River" responds with a magical flourish amplifying and enlarging this man whose magnificently gigantic legend lives on to this day, but from whom NOT ONE known recording exists nor has survived.  Buddy Bolden, like his legendary iconic sound, is larger than life, bigger than the boat itself.  Handy stands, watching this allegorical apparition, inspired and enthralled for the long journey ahead, whereupon he eventually becomes the Father of the Blues!  

Given that the song itself was born out of a year of intense personal loss, how did you channel that emotion into your performance for the video, and what was it like revisiting those feelings through the lens of the camera?

Honestly, I think I was perhaps a bit too distracted by the voluminous technical element involved with not only operating the camera, filming, and simultaneously trying to deliver a heartfelt and honest performance of a song I'm so very proud of but also that deals with some pretty meaty subject matter.  Also, somewhat humorously now, trying my damdest to sync my lips up to the (bedroom) studio vocals I'd recorded a handful of years prior. (That is NOT NEARLY as easy as I thought it would be!!). Also, I was dealing with a ton of auto-focus 'racking' or 'searching' on my entry-level DSLR, but hey, I got enough footage to cover what I needed, so it's all good in the end.  I almost can't watch it though without noticing all the flaws I still see.  Like, WHY did I not trim up my mustache better before going on camera!?!?!  It's honestly all I can see, LOL.  That and the fact that I'm most often looking just slightly "off camera" monitoring the swing-out LCD, not looking dead-center on the lens as any tru pro like Taylor Swift would know to do.  But hey, it's my first official video.  It's supposed to be a little sloppy, right?  TBH, in spite of all the "mistakes" I still can't stop looking at, I'm really happy and really proud of the end result!  It was a LONG journey, but I'm so glad I stuck it out!!

You mentioned that the video is full of hidden metaphors. For viewers watching closely, what are some of the visual clues they should look out for that connect the video’s imagery to your musical influences and personal experiences?

I did say that!  and it starts with the very first, opening shot, at the beach.  Can't anyone guess whose very famous album this visual might be an allusion to!?!  (peeping my old defunct Twitter account might offer inquiring minds an unmistakable hint)  But I think I may've also been thinking about the song itself, which has MANY sonic easter-eggs.  TBH it's possible there are more sonic easter-eggs than visual ones, most of which no-one has (seemingly) noticed or even asked about. 

Which IMO is GOOD!!  Because I wanted them by definition to be subtle, and not overtake the song itself, which to me is of the utmost importance.  I guess every songwriter says something like this about their newest song, but as a boy from the banks of the Tennessee River, I honestly can't imagine writing a song about anything more important than 'Father of the Blues,' W.C. Handy.  He brought the music I love most, to the masses.  And I'm honestly so honored to be asked for this interview, I'll actually offer a few tiny little hints about what I think are probably the two biggest sonic easter-eggs in my song. 

The first and probably more subtle one I always called the "HEMSI" which at the time I thought was a more universal rather than regional term, but alas that is from 2:22-2:27 (in this official music video) and 1:47-1:52 (album version) it announces the impending arrival of 'hard times' not unlike a real HEMSI arriving at your door, thank God for heroes like those!!

The next, and IMO, most important one is 3:02-3:07 (in this official music video), 2:27-2:32 (album version).  But it is a very soft and subtle twelve-note allusion or 'quotation' of an old traditional folk song (so popular I thought anyone would recognize) that dovetails with the lyrics, subject matter and motif, of the song, and here's the real spoiler-alert:  it's another hidden tribute to my late Father.  Earlier in the arrangement phase I'd had it being voiced on the bagpipes, but that was far too shrill and away too noticeable.  In this the final version, its voiced ever-so softly by a fiddle, or classical violin.

I think as far as any visual easter-eggs in the video, I guess maybe I got a bit cheeky.  We already talked about the opening shot, and the steamboat, which is a metaphor from the album cover art, that obviously carries through here.  TBH, if I had it my way I would've made the whole video about steamboats, even ON a steamboat, but maybe that's something I can achieve at a later date with the help of CGI.  I'm still not letting that dream die! But the another early visual easter-egg or little giggle is to do with the establishing side-view shot of the sound mixing console and someone's beautiful red fingernails, turning up the volume on the track.  Whose beautiful fingernails could those be?  (They ain't mine!!).  And whose they are, I'm not tellin'. 

Also I feel it's worth mentioning what I probably though obvious, that Water in the video, is a metaphor not only for life, the lived experience, but also the ever churning river of time we're all riding afloat upon.  It shifts and swirls, but there's no other pathway for us.  This metaphor, I believe holds as much truth in music, as in life.

This is your debut solo track and your first official music video. Looking back on the process, what have you learned about yourself as an artist, and what are you most excited to explore in future projects based on what you’ve discovered in this experience?

Oh wow, what an amazing question!  That one requires marination!! 

To be honest, I think more than anything I'm walking away with the realization of just how hard it is to release new music in the present day!  I mean, I knew it was hard, but there are so many more obstacles and (seemingly endless amounts of both large and small) jobs-to-be-done than I ever realized.  And this is only my first (DIY) rodeo!  I've done SO many things wrong already!  What have I learned about myself?  This correlates, and TBH it's something I already knew, and it clearly borrows from the iconic verses of Muddy Waters: "I could never be satisfied!"  

Even though I've made it my goal to 'pull-out-all-the-stops' in the promotion of my song honoring W.C. Handy.  I can't escape the feeling that in some way maybe I've let him down, by not getting the song as widely known as I might've otherwise be able to, if I knew more, or had better marketing techniques, or more budget to devote to letting people know about it.  But in the end, I think I'm learning (still learning) that maybe all that stuff isn't as important as I'd always thought it was, don't get me wrong, of course marketing and ad spend and viral campaigns and all that stuff are important (to a degree) but they are just not ALL important, as they would covet us to believe they are.  Social media only SEEMS important because of its incredible "freshness" but the quality of what you find there isn't always all that great, albeit fresh! 

As a result, I've chosen to divert my financial and mental assets away from social media toward avenues that produce a more lucrative return on the time invested into them.  It's not that I won't ever be on social media.  That's just being put back where it belongs, on the back burner.  This is coming from someone whose just oh so reluctantly ended a 5+ year hiatus from socmed after deleting all FB/Meta/IG accounts 5+ years ago.  My apologies but I digress.  I very much dislike socmed.  As for projects that I'm working on and excited about, WOW, there are SOOOO MANY!!  I hope you already know about CowgirlRadio.com (my almost 1 year-old female-focused internet radio station!). This labor of love was started last year on International Women's Day and it has been one of the most fun and most rewarding projects I have ever set about upon!  Also, sneak preview, I can tease / announce my forthcoming single  (a cover song) from an artist I have only become aware of as a result of my Cowgirl Radio project.  I hope to be releasing this new single VERY SOON!  And yours is the first media outlet I've mentioned it to!!  How exciting!  I'm happy to offer more info, even some type of an exclusive if you have any interest! 

Additionally I have one other cover song written by ICONIC Americana artists currently in production that one is getting very near to the final stages!  But it has also sort of expanded in scope from one song into 3-possibly-4 individual songs all meant to be played consecutively, more of as it is morphing into more of an EP perhaps, than a single.  Additionally I want to continue to explore the possibility of historical / restorative / revivalist Blues projects that I might undertake that not only keep the Blues alive forever, but also help expand its audience to include wider more modern listeners and audiences. 

I want always to honor the traditions that came before me, while also pushing the sonic boundaries of what is possible with Blues music.

Keep up to date with Ben Killen on his Website

[kathy-rah]

As someone who is slowly learning how to do digital art alone, I may have some advices to give to those who want to start and don't have time/resources to spend a lot of time trying and testing out drawing processes.

These are some things that I've found useful but Boi, it got me a lot of time to get to it. Of course, this is just what I think can be a good advice for who is a newbie like me, you can try it as a way to start your coloring process but it's not something professional t.t so take it with a bit of salt

First advice I wanna give is to do like I did during this drawing process: while I keep everything on different layers (skin tone / armor / hair /detail / background), don't just start with one layer and then start another one after rendering the first one.

Multiple times I've noticed how the different tones didn't match to each other, or the colors were simply horrible to see next to each other. I've spent a lot of time fixing this type of issues in my old drawing, always deleting the layers (fully rendered) or trying to change the tone with horrible results.

Instead, if you too happen to have this problem, I'd advice you to first coloring everything with the base color. As you see in the video, as first thing I simply filled the lineart with base colors. It's not clear but I assure you I've changed his skin tone multiple times because it didn't match the armor. Same with the mask and the red details.

This is something you can easily do at the beginning to see if the colors match and are nice to see all together in the bigger picture.

It's really something easy and I'm 100% sure they teach you this literally at the beginning of art school but Boi I'm stupid. I only learn when I do things myself t.t

Change colors as much as you want until you've reached your desired tones. Be careful of saturation levels. To make everything more balanced, play with the hue level for every base color you've used. You don't like how the red is in contrast with the blue? Change the red layer' hue/saturation values a bit and you'll find the perfect type of red you need.

After you are happy with the overall results, start with the rendering.

This is something I recommend to do if you still aren't used to the use of tones/saturation.

If you need some examples of the pieces where I struggled, here you go: this one is probably my fav one even now that I draw from pc.

Before:

As you can see there isn't balance in the colors. Fulgrim's skin is too much out of everything and in general there is too much differences between the colors. It just doesn't look harmonious. Then:

I assure you I haven't re-drawn anything here, just fixed the saturation, tones and hue levels (and added a bit more of shadows), yet now everything matches. (i also have changed the color of the lineart in a few places, look at the hair for example).

This might looks obvious to others, but I've spent a lot of time on this piece with the only focus on making those colors look nicely together and with time I've learned from my mistakes.

Another example: the commission I did a few weeks ago. I had to draw an Imperial fist, so you'd expect to see a yellow armor. Considering that I painted the background with red colors, bright yellow would have been quite a shock to see: that's why the base color is not yellow but orange. Same thing the clothes aren't white anymore but a light pink.

On a white background it looks weird for an IF armor, yet this is the result at the end:

Yellow is only for the parts hit by the light, where the shadow are more on the red tones. (don't mind the light blue for now)

Of course, you have to take in consideration many things before changing the hues of the original colors, but I hope this could help c:

[the--sound--of--rain]

2022 Writers' Review

It's already two months into the year, but I'm still going to do this, because I think it's such a nice thing. I was tagged by @lavandulacosmos and @natures-marvel thank you! 💕

1. What is your AO3 account?

brownest_goldfish

2. How many words did you write total in 2022?

34'481, according to AO3 stats

It's not a lot of words, but I feel like this was the year I've developed most as a writer so far, especially writing the first chapter of Lamb and the last chapter of my spooktober fic and I'm very proud of that ✨

3. How many fics did you publish in 2022? How many multichapters vs oneshots?

12 fics, 3 multichaptered and 9 oneshots (and of the 3 multichaptered ones only one is finished so you can see that this is not where my strength lies agajsks but i'm trying to do it more and i actually love it!)

4. What was your longest fic? Your shortest fic?

"A Lover in the story" (finished) is the longest at 9987 words but I published 5000 of those in 2023. Otherwise the longest is "A Lamb for Our Love" at 8618 words so far (one of two chapters)

The shortest is "With a smile" at 412 words. The shortness is owed to it being only one scene, more of a picture I imagined after reading Cry Wolf by @roccinan – and since I can't draw, I decide to write it down 🥰

5. What was your most popular fic? Your least popular fic?

I find this so hard to say, because numbers can never really encapsulate this, and every piece of appreciation from anyone for any fic is a gem in itself. But just for simplicity I'll go for Kudos and Hits here:

The one with most Kudos and Hits is funnily one I didn't write for Berlermo, but for "Arcane" as a birthday gift for @stilljustbitten: "Ice blue" got 113 Kudos and 842 Hits, probably owed to the fact that this fandom is just a bit bigger. My most popular Berlermo fic in 2022 in numbers is "Art and Attraction" at 83 Kudos and 755 Hits.

The least popular in numbers is "Love wins" at 16 Kudos and 146 Hits.

6. What fic didn’t perform as well as you thought it would?

I didn't expect a specific amount of reaction on any of them, so I'd say none of them. Every interaction with on of my fics just made me go "oh!🥰"

7. What fic performed way better than you thought it would?

I'd say "Like the Painting of a sorrow" because it was this oneshot I came up with, wrote and posted within 24 hours, a random idea after reading Dorian Gray. That being said, I am very proud and fond of it, so it made me so happy that it was appreciated!

And also "Love wins", I struggled getting the first chapter together and was worried it was too chaotic, and I was so happy it got good feedback.

8. What was your favorite fic you wrote from 2022?

I'm most proud of and currently most emotionally attached to "A Lover in the story". I'm especially proud of the last chapter, mostly because I managed to write it at all and make something I really like of it.

A Lamb for our Love stands right next to it though – although it's still not finished. (Not because I neglected it, but just because the second chapter is so hard to write) and I'm so excited for what it will become <3

9. What was your favorite fic that somebody else wrote in 2022?

Reducing this to one would be a shame, so I'll list a few 😊

and that was the moment i knew by @alfredo-kesmann

Andrés has Hanahaki disease and coughs up red roses. Whose favourite flowers could those be?

It had started with inconspicuous coughing, a few weeks ago. Soon followed the shaky breaths, the trouble breathing normally at random times. Then, came the shaking fingers, half a week later, creating unavoidable unsteady black lines in the painting he had been working on, the jawline of his self portrait now ruined.

A beautiful take on the trope, with all the drama befitting Berlermo, and overall an extremely romantic and enjoyable read.

Chimera 키메라 by @signorin-anarchia

A sort of crossover of Money Heist Korea and La casa de papel. Andrés is in the concentration camp Korean Berlin was in. Martín joins him there.

His mother's arms are a cradle, a safe haven.

A shelter from all that is evil on earth.

He can remember the faded feeling of bones colliding, rubbing, which nevertheless feels as comfortable as nothing in the world.

Nothing in the whole world.

But there's never much more than anything in the world.

And now his mother's arms are pincers, stealing his life, locking his way.

A very interesting concept with beautiful execution, and very poetic prose that aches just right when you read it.

The Swan's Symphony by @nharidy

Martín plans another and executes heist after the gold heist, and a rescue mission for Andrés on the side – who is alive but asuffering <3. All the old members of the gang are there, and also a lot of new additions.

“Is this true?” Estocolmo asked, turning to El Professor. Mirko, however, was looking at Palermo. It doesn't matter whether it's true or not , he realized. Palermo wasn’t there because one night in the future he might get killed in his bed. 

No, he was there for the one and only reason he's ever done anything since Mirko knew him.

El Profesor sighed.

This genuinely feels like a continuation of lcdp. It gives all the vibes of the show, the characters, their interactions and the action, flashbacks and execution of the heist are spot on. Just overall extremely fun to read.

Remember what your old pal said by @roccinan

La casa de papel Toy Story AU. Andrés is a bullfighter doll, and he finds Martín in the collection he belongs to. But what is Martín really up to?

Andrés is beautiful. And he doesn’t need a mirror to tell him what he already knows. Because he can stare at anything that bounces back light for a wonderful view of himself from head to toe: sunglasses, helmet visors, watches, or even the window on a bright spring day.

He has a slim, well-proportioned frame, a statuesque figure that expertly hides a body of incredible might and power within its wires.

This is genuinely just hilarious, and Andrés is perfectly delusional in it. And the Berlermo romance is so sweet – with an added element of darkness, of course.

10. Tag your friends to do this year-end fic review as well!

I think everyone has already been tagged and done this agajsks but I'll tag the ones I haven't seen doing it, please just ignore this if you have ✌🏼💕 @dormarunt @liz @signorin-anarchia @oreo @lammaducks ✨