#we're doing all the accountability writing things today folks

[eusuntgratie]

six sentences on wednesday for seven sentence sunday bc progress is progress <3

thank you for the tag @onward--upward 🥰

Alex lets him run his hands all over his thighs, his chest, his neck, his hair. He feels frantic with the need to touch Alex everywhere, to let himself take and touch and taste something he didn’t think he’d ever be able to have, like something will come and snatch him out of Alex’s bed before he gets a chance to touch him everywhere he wants.  He’s dizzy with the force of Alex’s kisses, the way his hand spans his head, his neck, his waist as he grips him tight and kisses him hungrily. Alex makes a beautiful noise when he trails kisses down his jaw and his throat, pulling down the neck of shirt to expose more skin to his lips. He looks a little dazed when he looks up at him, but then that beautiful smile is back and he’s pulling Henry up to kiss him some more.  “Alex,” he pants, determined to get his mouth on him, “I need to- can I-”

tagging anyone who has words to share but doesn't want to commit to the wip wednesday game!

[chirpsythismorning]

This is everything the Stranger Things writers have posted publicly about the WGA strike:

TIMELINE

May 3rd:

Stranger Things writer Caitlin Schneiderhan tweets picture from personal Twitter account of sign from the strike that reads 'Pay us or Steve Harrington is toast'

May 6th:

Official Stranger Writers Twitter account makes post on behalf of the Duffers Brothers. They have since pinned this tweet to their profile. "Duffers here. Writing does not stop when filming begins. While we're excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then -- over and out. #wgastrong

Bonus:

May 12th:

Stranger Things writer Kate Trefry posts picture from personal Tumblr account of sign that reads, 'Byler won’t write itself'

As far as I know, the two writers that posted on their personal socials are the only writers from ST that even have personal accounts that are public, whereas the rest of the writers do not.

What does make me take a pause though, is that, while yes they did post these pictures from their personal accounts, which is about as official as it gets, they also cryptically did not include themselves in said pictures...

This just got me thinking about how Stranger Things is quite literally Netflix and vise versa. They are practically one in the same, where one without the other just doesn't make sense.

While this conflict of interest might run deep for many writers out there fearing to speak out against their employer, for us, the consumers, the fans, we as a collective have so much more power than we realize.

In contrast to the writers, streamers can't just fire their consumer base sometime down the line, out of spite for speaking out. Without consumers, neither Stranger Things nor Netflix would be what it is today.

We have the affordance of being able to speak up the loudest of anyone. And so why wouldn't we take advantage of that?

There are so many people out there protesting: writers, actors, others in the industry and even outside of it who are also taking a stand, many who need support so that they can continue to fight in the upcoming days, weeks, months, without being deterred by corporations that are making them feel greedy for demanding a contract that at most, asks that they be paid fairly.

And so I want to encourage anyone that is reading this, but fellow fans of Stranger Things especially, who have so much power in this strike when it comes to getting Netflix's attention, to consider taking the time to do whatever you can individually + with the masses as a community in order to best support the strike.

Follow the Strike! If you're active on various social media already, please be sure to follow the official accounts advocating for the strike via Instagram (@writersguildwest/@wgaeast), via Twitter (@WGAWest/@WGAEast). Engage with posts from folks that are out there daily, many with whom you can find by following tags like #WGAStrong, #WGAStrike and #WritersStrike. Although most fans are not able to join in picketing themselves, we can at least recognize all of those out there's individual efforts and do our best to show that we're paying attention and listening!

Spread the word! Show support any way you can by sharing posts and articles about the strike, or even fun memes to inform others in a more engaging way. This is the official site for the WGA strike if you want to learn more about what’s going on before diving in! And make sure to stay up-to-date here as things continue to unfold!

Donate! The Entertainment Community Fund is endorsed by the WGA for anyone that wants to support those affected by the strike financially. And this thread on Twitter is an incredible resourse, as it provides an ‘easy, one-click, stress-free, accessible-to-all-budgets’ ways you can support folks on the front lines.

Also! Consider donating through this link for the Entertainment Community Fund, where the money donated still goes directly to that fund, this is just an organizing page for Stranger Things fans specifically! By allowing fans to see how much of an impact we make as a collective, in real time, this could encourage even more ST fans to want to contribute. In a best case scenario, if this GoFundMe were to reach impressive proportions of donations from fans, that could lead to news outlets reporting on it, which could allow an opportunity for even more eyes on the strike, while also even more importantly being able to provide financial support to those that need it.

Trend! On social media, use #StrangerFansforWGA to trend or even just to reach other fans also looking to come together to support the strike!

While I know this post probably wont reach anywhere outside of Tumblr, I want to make a point to encourage those of you that are on other platforms to inform fans in those spaces about the strike and what they can do to help!

We might not all agree on everything, but I think we can agree on at least one thing... @Netflix & all major streamers and networks out there, who are still refusing to make a fair deal: PAY YOUR WRITERS!

In the mean time, if you're interested in working on different ideas for initiates we can carry out as a fandom, please reach out to me! I might only one person and I might not have all the answers and solutions, but I do know that with more of us working together, our odds of making an impact are much greater!

Over and out!

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

01/20/2024 Crew Recap

TLDR; David Jenkins Message on IG; How you can help; Contacting Netflix, Prime, AppleTV; General Guidelines for Wooing Networks; New Hashtags; UK Crew Updates; Petition/Fundraiser Status; Articles; Extras; Rhys' Stiddy

=== Chaos Dad's Message ===

David Jenkins messaged us FRIENDS and gave us a new heading to steer the ship for the crew. Truly an amazing and sweet message, and helping give @renewasacrew a good place to start on new networks.

== How you can help ==

So based on Chaos Dad's tweet, what the folks over at @renewasacrew have recommended is we focus our efforts on Netflix, AmazonStudios, and Apple TV. We'll be polite menacing but also doing some more specific wooing this time so please see below for more information.

= Reach out to Netflix =

You can reach out to Netflix Here.

= Reach out to Apple TV =

You can reach out to apple tv by going here.

= Amazon Prime: Thank you @mermaid-stede for this write up: =

1) if you have an Amazon account, go to My Stuff > Settings > Help & Feedback > Provide Feedback

2) If you don't, write here

3) might as well try their customer service 888 280-4331, using the same strategy from above (though you might need an Amazon account)

4) and here's an email! complaints@amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com: AIV Website Feedback Form

DIGPRJSURVEY.AMAZON.COM

You can see more of their write ups here

=New Hashtags=

#AdoptOurCrew #RenewAsACrew #SaveOFMD

Things to remember:

Only Message 1 of the 3 networks at once. We are wooing them, they want to be enticed, not included in a crowd. If you are reaching out to one, make sure to reach out to all three (just separately)

Be Polite, this is a bit of a different strategy from max, we WANT these people to pick us up, we're not grumpy at them.

Yes you can use season 3 and beyond, use the same terminology David Jenkins did.

More specific info from folks regarding the things to remember:

=== UK Crew ===

Great job everyone! Your efforts made a difference! Thanks for the update @lamentus1!

Something else to mention for our UK and International Friends that are reaching out via social networks or email/phone:

=Daily Engagement Reminder!=

Our Flag Means Death Wikipedia Page

Google Search for Our Flag Means Death

Google UK Search for Our Flag Means Death

Our Flag Means Death IMDB

=== Petition / Fundraiser Status ===

Petition: ALMOST at 75K!

Renew as a Crew - Benefiting Rainbow Youth is fully funded at $17K!

OFFP Care for Gaza - HITS $10K!!!! Great job all!

=== New Articles ===

Fans Declare War Against Warner Bros., Light Up Times Square for Beloved Show

Our Flag Means Death’s Renewal Campaign Lands Times Square Billboard

=== Other Stuff ===

Some BTS from Vico's IG reels

=Wanna help out our fellow cancelees?=

Sign the Petition for Rap Sh!t!

-------------------------------------------------------------

So Dad's message kind of blew everything else out of the water today, there were some sightings of various crew on the web but most of them were reactions to David's reel so I figured it probably wasn't worth adding today. Thank you as usual to the @renewasacrew team, and @TheCozyPirate for all their steering and insight and helping make these pivots possible each day!

-------------------------------------------------------------

Side note: I saw a lot of really great stuff today-- people focused more on action with the renewal and starting to discuss fun things more and more, less dealing with trolls. I hope that means you all are getting some rest and avoiding some of the crazy shit going on.

Seriously, you're doing amazing. David sees it, the cast sees it, the crew sees it, we all see it. You should all feel super proud of yourself for all the hard work you're doing, whether it's just enjoying the show, being active in the renewal efforts, or just being you.

Please continue to make art, and fics, and goofy memes, and silly videos, and everything. Your creativity is so inspiring and fun and it keeps us all sane! (Also please share them with me I love them.)

On that note, here's Rhys grabbing one of those Stiddies.

Gif courtesy of ofmd-ann's post here

[hanleiacelebration]

One week left before the deadline!

Hello, writers! This post is just to remind you that the posting deadline is exactly in one week, Monday 15.

We’re glad to report that all of you have replied to our check-ins and kept us updated - good job! We hope all of you are doing great and not feeling as out of sorts as Leia 😉

Now, a few more things to keep in mind:

The Ao3 collection is now open! If you finished early and are feeling good about your fic, you can go ahead and post it by going to the “My Assignments” tab in your Ao3 account and clicking “Fulfill”.

Your fic won't be visible in the collection or anywhere else until the deadline.

The posting date your fic will show up as will be the date you posted it on, not the date it will be made visible on. This means that your fic could potentially get buried under newer works in the Search by the time it’s set to visible. If this is something that worries you, you should be able to fix this by choosing a different posting date set in the future.

Today is also the deadline to request a beta reader from us! If you desperately need us to help later on, we’re not likely to turn you away—just keep in mind that folks might not be available on short notice.

If you're worried about making the deadline, please talk to us asap!

That’s about it! 😊 If you have any other questions, please send us an ask or reach out to one of the mods, we're here to help. Otherwise... happy writing!

[axolotluv]

(A stereotypical gameshow intro jingle plays as the lights turn on on a set with one host who's just some middle aged white guy you've never heard of and a curtain obscuring a small area. the host waves his cane sporadically in the air) Who's ready for our favorite game! GUESS. THAT. MUTUAL!!!!! That's right folks, today we have a special little tumblrite for your eyes. This mutual of yours has pestered you multiple times, has supported your other mutuals lunacy on several occasions, and most importantly, has 100 percented Moster Prom yet never talked about it online. You get ONE guess in order to see who we're talking about. Take all the time you need!

First thing to take into account is WHICH mutual would do this and then narrow it down based on the critera

Probably not Limi because Monster Prom feels like a red herring ALSO the fact that I don't think Limi has pestered me multiple times nor supported my mutuals lunacy on several occasions

Use of the word "tumblrite" probably not Elm

A lot of mutuals are eliminated because we don't interact enough

Now there's a few contenders left, some of which aren't technically mutuals but I still count them <3 love you guys

If you interact with a lot of my mutuals, you were 100% in the DCA fandom which already narrows it down

I know two people who were in the DCA fandom

Supported my other mutuals lunacy on several occasions?

I know two people who support people like crazy and are literally everywhere

100%ed Monster Prom yet never talked about it online?

I know two people who'd check my account enough to know I recently reblogged Monster Prom art who'd know to even bring that up

Now, there are only a few people who I've seen enough to count it as "pestering me multiple times" and out of those few people there are only two that remain in the fighting ring

BittySteam vs BoxOfCreamPuffs

Both of you have a strong game going, it's really REALLY difficult deciding which one of you it is

I think literally either of you could be this mysterious anon, and it's very difficult discerning which one of you it is

The more I think about this the harder it becomes

Both Bitty and Puffs would send an ask like this, both Bitty and Puffs support people like bananas, and both Bitty and Puffs haven't posted about 100%ing monster prom (I assume)

I wrote a whole 3 paragraphs on the word "pester" being used but then I realized literally both of you make fun of me and/or pop into my inbox threatening(?) violence(?), so I think that counts

DAAMMNN IITTT THIS IS DIFFICULT

Yknow what we're balling because I have genuinely been writing this for like 45 minutes

I'm guessing Bitty from bittysteam!!!!!!!!!!

[spnfanficpond]

Weekly Pond Newsletter

Halloween is almost here! Do you have your costume ready? Are you or have you ever dressed up as an SPN character? Share pics if you've got 'em!

Old Business:

Manta Ray chat postponed. Admin MJ had to postpone her scheduled chat due to adulting. Please keep her in your thoughts as she continues to brave the real world as an adult who adults very adultly. Adulting sucks but is necessary, sometimes.

The New Member Spotlight post is late due to some technical difficulties. We're working through them and trying to rebuild! Hopefully, it will be posted soon!

Last week's #TweetFicTues prompts were:

New Business:

SPN Rewatch: Fanfic Edition - 1x03 and 1x04. We had a good chat yesterday in the Discord server about the episodes Dead In The Water and Phantom Traveler. We decided to add thematic docs to the Archives in addition to the docs for each episode. These docs are listed at the bottom of the masterlist doc after all the episodes. So far, we have added, John's Parenting, Dean's trauma - mutism, Sam's trauma - anger, Sam underestimating Dean, and Dean is Smart™. Some of these are still under construction, but keep checking back for updates! Click here to access the masterlist and find links to the new docs!

Fishing for Treasures at the @fanficocean is next weekend. November's theme is Gen fics! No romance here! If you're in other fandoms and you're looking for fics that don't include smut or focus on relationships that are not romantic, check out the Ocean's blog next weekend. If you write gen fics for other fandoms, submit links to your fics for the Ocean to reblog by midnight Friday, Eastern US/Canadian time!

#SPNJAX is next weekend! If you're going to the con and want to find fellow Pondies to meet up with, head into our Discord server and the channel we have created for the con. Arrange meetups, find a roommate, or share ideas for photo ops and autographs. You can even ask questions and get answers from con veterans!

Manta Ray in the Discord server. On Saturday, Admin Michelle will be in the discord server just hanging out! Feel free to come on in and get help with fic ideas (she breeds plot bunnies in her backyard), vent about editing, or ask questions about the Pond.

Paul Carella on Lounges.tv later today. Paul is trying out a new platform, so head on over, create a free account, and enjoy some fun and good music! Click here for more information and to get tickets.

Jason Manns on UrsaLive for another Tuesday Tunesday! This week, it's going to be extra early for the US folks, but more accessible for those in Europe and further east. Click here for more information and to participate!

Daylight Savings Time ends in the US next weekend! For some in other parts of the world, it ended this weekend. For others, they don't mess with this shit and never have to worry about changing all of their clocks, the lazy bastards. 🤣 No matter what, be sure to double-check time zones and DST specifications when making plans with your international friends! (We use TimeZoneConverter to make our posts, which tells us about national holidays and DST and other cool stuff that helps us schedule things!)

(Divider by @glygriffe!)

That's all for this week! To see all Pond events, and also other SPN-related things like conventions and online concerts, check out our Google calendar! Click here for a static view in Eastern US/Canada time (desktop only, no mobile app access, sadly), and click here to add our calendar to your own Google calendar! We try to keep it as up to date as possible. If there's something you want to see on the calendar that's not there (maybe a convention we missed, or cast birthdays, or something similar), send us an ASK and let us know!

Hope you have a great week! - From your Admins and Manta Rays, @manawhaat, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @mariekoukie6661, @thoughtslikeaminefield, @katbratsupernaturalwhore and @heavenssexiestangel!

[sheydim]

NOTICE as of 2/22/24: i have been posting a lot of Palestine stuff. it's not consistently tagged as Palestine. there is occasional graphic content, and i DO reliably tag that as "graphic tw" / "graphic cw", "graphic description of violence" or in some cases "child death". such content may include body bags and, very rarely, the deceased themselves if not particularly graphic. i reblog this kind of thing to keep some accountability in circulation -- and because we cannot look away. we must be ruffled from our complacency. HOWEVER. please take care of yourself. use a blacklist if you will find this triggering. there are other ways to bear witness. there are abundant resources on my blog and all over tumblr. much love to you, my friends.

uhhh i've been putting this off for like years but. pinned post?

you can call me any of the things people on the internet have through the years. sheyd, tepsul, corv, any of my actual names if we're in the DMs, whatever you like.

about me...?

i don't always tag things consistently. and i talk to myself a LOT in the tags.

i have been on tumblr since 2012ish? i took a hiatus from posting for a few years, but still lurked and managed my archives on my sideblogs. now i'm back! i can't tell who anyone is now, but if we interacted, i still miss you and think of you. (srry tho, i kind of sucked then.)

i work in Book World in various ways. which is to say: the creation of texts, the various stages of production of what will become books, and their distribution. i have to interface with trad pub a lot, but my heart is more oriented towards indie and DIY and small press. working on it! <3

i have multiple sideblogs that may reblog from you. i'm not usually willing to confirm those usernames to you tho because this is my personal anonymous-ish corner of the web! in all honesty, this blog feels less like my main than the others. if i could change it, i would.

i suspect no one who would fit my DNI would even linger here for very long. so i don't really need one. just don't suck, okay? i think we can handle that!! :P and if i follow you or interact and you don't want me there, feel free to block me; you have a right to your space!

about me?? but personal this time

my pronouns are they/them. i'm bi but also... it's complicated. i'm polyam and very sex positive. y'know, ethical slut stuff. i'm seeing a few folks right now. do people care about anything else?...

if you're trans, i love you. thank you. i hope you are pleasantly surprised by something today.

some tags i use a lot:

writing

life stuff

jew tag

trans tag

feelgood

book world

some other tags i'm slowly building:

taking action

the world to come

[gigakoops]

More About Our System!

I've made a post in the past about it, but we're a plural system, consisting of over 70 other folks! For more info on what that means, read the original post here.

Today we thought we'd introduce a few of ourselves at least, as some of whom may post here every once in a while! While we're still figuring out who all wants to post regularly (and how regularly), we've decided to talk a tiny bit about ourselves! Perhaps some of us will write more in the future.

The vast majority of us are fictives. Most of my headmates resemble fictional characters, but have their own identities, memories, morals and sense of self. We are not roleplayers. My headmates are unique individuals, separate from any work of fiction. They've also asked me to mention that they are not interested in seeking out sourcemates.

Below is a list of our names, descriptions we've each written of ourselves, and pictures I (Gigakoops) have drawn of the others. Feel free to send us any asks if you'd like to learn more about us, or want to learn more about how our system works!

🎵 Gigakoops -- The host of our system, and the main one using this account. Musician, rhythm game enthusiast and note charter for several games, and fan of very weird media. Also a supporter of human rights, and vocally supportive of all marginalized people. (She/Her) (No need to do a portrait, y'all can already see my fursona in my PFP 😛). ______________________________________________________________

📖 Tiff -- The one always offering advice to the others, and always a friendly shoulder to lean on. Also into reading and learning new things, as well as rhythm games like Rock Band! (She/Her) ______________________________________________________________

🐺 Wolfy -- I'm Tiff's sibling! I used to be a protective headmate of sorts, though nowdays I mostly just chill with everyone else. I have a no-nonsense approach to things, and can still be protective if needed. (Any pronouns, use interchangeably) ______________________________________________________________

🦇 Fidget -- I can be a bit of a goofball, but I'm also always sincere, and also like being there for others. (She/Her) ______________________________________________________________

🦊 Rita -- I'm very anti-authority, and also very prone to shitpost. I'm Danish, but speak a lot of Norwegian instead of Danish, and in fact have been helping Giga with hers. This fox bites fascists. (She/Her) ______________________________________________________________

🔧 Tails -- I'm really interested in technology, computers, and video games, and would also like to learn more about tech of all sorts. I'm overall sort of geeky, but also laid-back and chill. (She/Her) ______________________________________________________________

🍪 Chip -- A fun-loving little doofus who enjoys sweets. I'll likely post about being queer, and about my in-system husband, Phil. (He/Him) ______________________________________________________________

🦚 Phil - If there's one thing you've gotta know about me, it's that I'm here to spice things up every once in a while. Oh, also, I'm hella gay! (He/Him) ______________________________________________________________

🍎 CJ7 -- I'm relatively care-free, and like to goof off. That said, when someone's going through something, I want to be there to help them through it. (Xey/Xem) ______________________________________________________________

🌹 Roze -- I'm here to support my friend CJ7, and to assist in any way I can to others who need a philosophical point of view on things. I'm also interested in science and the cosmos! (Ze/Zem/Zer & She/Her) ______________________________________________________________

🎤 Retsuko -- I'm typically calm, cool, and collected, focusing on finding new ways to relax and help others calm down if needed. I'm also really into metal, in case you couldn't tell. :P (She/Her)

[iightbringer]

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀𝓲. ︱ introduction.

hello all, thank you for taking the time to read this silly little blog intro!  my name is lucifer and you may use any pronouns you feel fit for me, i’m not picky in the least. i am twenty this year and a proud virgin— i mean .. virgo. i’m terrible at writing bio’s, so here’s just a few things to know about me — i come from a land down unda, i sow chaos, confusion and mild amounts of concern in the hearts of everyone i meet and oh, did i mention how much i fucking love frogs? like, i can’t get enough of those funky little guys. that muppet has inexplicably and irreparably ruined me. and now, moving right along with a word from our sponsor, who just so happens to be the most beautiful, amazing girl in the entire world — my darling girlfriend! love you, boo <3

❝⠀⠀ hi. i'm lucifer's 𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖉 &. today i'm here 2 talk abt the one nd the only: lucifer. first, they vvv friendly. it's almost scary bc who tf is that nice. well i have news for u. they are. i'm still shy to approach them even if we're tgt bc they like. rly talented. they modest asf but they're rly good at everything they do. esp writing. nd art. like girl i can't even begin to tell u. u hve to see for yourself. also: charming. so playful but in endearing way. and. that dumbass never fails to make me smile. 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭: so. protective. their loyalty is absolutely. shocking. nd they dn't just give that away. next slide: observant. and so focused on details &. ideas. constantly thinking abt smth. seeing them brainstorm or voice their opinion will never not be fascinating. furthermore: they genuine &. best believe they'll keep it 𝟏𝟎𝟎 w u. they dn't play w bs yk. it took a lot for me to understand they hve good intentions. they're good to me, &. they treat me so well. but now ik it's bc they truly love me. to close: i'm not the type to say sappy things. even tho that's all i did. but meeting them would be so worth it. it was for me. but u better not hurt them. or i'll hve a nice chat with u. anyway. ty for reading this far. if u need me, i'll be busy planning lucifer's demise. farewell.⠀⠀❞

⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀— ⠀⠀⠀ signed, 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖙𝖎𝖈𝖎𝖆. ⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀𝓲𝓲. ︱ interests.

  ⠀⠀⠀these are the things i enjoy doing⠀…

★ ⠀⠀writing. cosplaying. crafting. roleplaying. drawing. gardening. painting. gaming. singing (badly).

  ⠀⠀⠀and these are a few of my favourite things⠀…

★ ⠀⠀horror movies. fizzy drinks. the colour white. jensen ackles. stuffed animals. religious imagery. vintage music. zombies. andrew scott. musical theatre. mod fashion. imagine dragons. aussie representation. theology. gore. trixie mattel. rainbows. mental stability. pokemon. cats. shopping. crime shows.

  ⠀⠀⠀shows i’m into ⠀…

★ ⠀⠀house m.d. supernatural. the walking dead⁺. banshee. you. hannibal. dexter. sherlock. american horror story⁺. criminal minds. scream queens. lucifer. squid game. the boys. the last of us. hazbin hotel. fallout.

  ⠀⠀⠀games i’ve played ⠀…

★ ⠀⠀bioshock⁺. mass effect. resident evil⁺. outlast. beyond: two souls. telltales the walking dead⁺. undertale. alice: madness returns. the quarry. detroit: become human. baldurs gate 3. batman: the telltale series⁺. heavy rain. alien: isolation. we happy few⁺. the last of us. until dawn. death stranding. corpse party.

and for a comprehensive list of horror & marvel movies i’ve seen, click here. 

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀𝓲𝓲𝓲. ︱ information.

if you’re interested in a roleplay with me, please do feel free to send me a message and i’ll try to get back to you as soon as possible. i do not & will not roleplay with anyone under the age of eighteen.

  ⠀⠀⠀ do not follow this account if you ⠀…

⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀— ⠀⠀⠀ are sexist, any sort of phobic, racist, etc. 

⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀— ⠀⠀⠀ promote/post about drugs, alcohol or smoking oorp.

⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀— ⠀⠀⠀ are a nsfw blog or frequently post nsfw content.

and i think that’s all, folks. thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day, wherever you are. peace!

[spearheadrampancy]

So... if you don't mind me asking how've you been?

hoo boy. yeah. tldr: alive!

quite a fair chunk of shit happened i think. when i redownloaded the app i weighed up if i was gonna make a post abt what's happened, but ultimately decided against it bc i wasnt sure how active i was gonna be. looks like the answer is very, so i might as well for anyone who's curious (:

on with the details in no particular order!

just before we stopped posting, we mentioned how the company we worked for announced big profits, an expenses-paid trip for the top employees, and also the tiny small news that the team we were on was getting downsized from 20 ppl total to about 3 (6 to 1 for my role specifically). well, we did end up losing our job completely because the company was unwilling to make reasonable adjustments so we could move to the same role in a different team (we don't have any legal grounds to take action unfortunately). but this was fine for us bc we grew jaded with how management was doing shit anyway. they also laid off about 700 people from across the company a few months later.

we spent months trying to find a job, and eventually applied to university on a whim. we got in! we're studying game design and are currently in foundation year (level 0) of the course. we were pretty worried about "fitting in" and suff but honestly we made friends instantly and it turns out a lot of lgbt autistic folks are studying game design foundation year. strange! (/s). its a little weird being part of the popular clique now.

we built a site. a real one! with colours and scripts and all that! a couple sites, actually, but only one is what we're comfortable sharing publicly (other site is sys member info for friends to reference). the site is on neocities, available here. we got really into coding for realsies around the time that we stopped posting. we also got into something called choicescript, but the site took priority as we use it as a digital portfolio. we also started practicing API work by making little tools for the discord bot pluralkit, but they are. uh. far from finished

we got an rgb bulb that actually works with shortcuts, so it inspired us to actually code shortcuts again. they're pretty advanced now; we have a series of them dedicated to forcing us to sleep (it obviously isnt working given i'm still awake at 4am !!), but they're really smooth and helpful

we started drawing properly again (i know we've posted a lot of art on here but most of it is low effort memes. and also none of it was trad art, which we got back into), in order to prep for being asked for a portfolio for uni. which we eventually didnt even get asked for. we opened an instagram account to post it to while we work on getting our art on our actual site, and recently a deviantart account for crossposting.

i stopped writing. i also largely stopped building on my ideas for games and comics and such. this was more because i had More Pressing Things to be writing about, like our CV, and our applications, but i havent really picked it back up. in a bit of a plateau of inspiration rn. wanna fix that though.

we started playing hotline miami, which we'd been meaning to do for years. completed the first, got halfway into the second before a TERRIBLE AWFUL THUMB INJURY (dramatic. didnt even need glue) rendered us entirely unable to use a controller. it healed but we havent finished the second yet. today's actually the first time since august that we've even touched a controller, let alone played any games.

we got back into making music. we decided the system was going to start releasing music as a collective, so we set up a whole youtube channel and stuff for it. videos'll start january 1st, we hope.

i convinced two people to watch red vs blue. my token cishet guy friend who was my colleague at Shitty Workplace (i sent him slutty locus from earlier and his only response was "amazing") and one of my new uni friends (very autistic i think they will go feral for it). token cishet just finished season 8 and uni friend is in season 3 i believe.

health wise has been. a ride... our normal gp stopped practicing entirely, and we dont trust the other gp's at our clinic, so we've been entirely unmedicated and unchecked since november of last year, barring OTC stuff. except for the part where at the end of october we finally saw a rheumatologist (after being referred in 2019!) who said we probably had fibromyalgia. earlier this month we also caught some Mystery Illness that lasted two weeks and nobody knew what it was. our voice still hasnt recovered fully and the whole experience was weird, but the hospital nurse wasnt concerned and it didnt come back as positive for That One Illness That Got Really Popular In The Last Three Years so its honestly likely that it was just the regular old flu, which we werent used to after only really suffering from Disabled Person Sicknesses for the best part of the last 15 years.

we met steve downes and jen taylor, the voice actors of halo's master chief and cortana! got photos & signatures (: steve complimented my jacket and jen Really Wanted A Nap.

WE GOT THE GRIFBALL PLUSH (: i would make this bigger if i could. it's just one of those Material Gains that has a lot of sentimental value to us. and i found my glow in the dark ring which i cried about. again: material gains of high personal significance.

so yeah! a lot. im probably missing something because i have the brain of a sieve. but we're alive and thats the important part.

[habizuh-studios]

How Do Xie Lian's (Immortal) Cursed Shackles Work?

That is what we're going to answer today, folks. (This is all guesswork and head cannons) Starting off: Xie Lian's shackle grants him immortality, we know that much. We know that it cannot be taken off and that it allows the person wearing it to heal from both major and minor injuries. But that raises three questions: 1) How does Xie Lian's time in the coffin work?

2) How is it powered? 3) What would happen if he got beheaded/Can he get beheaded? - Ok, so to answer question one, we need to do question two. How is it powered? Well, I have a theory. Jun Wu is the one who placed the shackle on him, and it takes spiritual power to put it on... so what if immortality is granted using spiritual power? Let's assume it's more efficient for Jun Wu to use the recipient's spiritual power; especially Xie Lian's considering he has a LOT of it (It's not taken, it only makes it so that Xie Lian cannot access it)! That also answers the question of how Xie Lian's time in the coffin happened considering he can't produce blood that well (look into how blood is made to understand that better, but I'm using 7th grade science here)! Whether it uses Jun Wu or Xie Lian's power is up for debate, but I'll say Xie Lian's just because I think that's something Jun Wu would do. So. What about number three..?

Well, let's see. Based on arbitrary facts in both fics and canon, we can assume that Xie Lian heals from death using regenerative properties. (see being trampled, stabbed, and the coffin) So if he gets beheaded, would that make it so that he clones himself? Does he grow his head back? As fun as it would be to have Xie Lian look at his own beheaded head, to stop any questions and logistics from happening, I'm just going to say he CAN'T be beheaded. Why? Well, first: Cursed shackles are shackles. They are spiritual shackles that make magic. If Xie Lian were to get cut there in the neck, the object would have to cut through that shackle. Which... won't be easy, that's for sure. Jun Wu totally made sure that those things were UNBREAKABLE just in case! And because Xie Lian also has abysmal luck and would probably get cut right above or below, causing him to die... Well, if the head was close enough, I think it would like... attract like a magnet and reattach, you know? But since this accounts for everything, we need to consider what would happen if it was like 10 feet away. WOULD IT BE PLAUSIBLE FOR XIE LIAN TO GET BEHEADED?! Short Answer: Depends on your purposes. For angst, make it so he can. Otherwise, your choice. For the angst, it would be super traumatizing to see your own head dripping blood and having matted hair right in front of you + identity crisis + flashbacks + since it's him he'd probably wonder if he deserved it. --- Writing this while I'm supposed to be sleeping so I'll end it here and edit it tomorrow.

[syn4k]

hello folks! happy april fools day!

for april fools this year, we have decided that we're finally going to delete our ao3 account and pursue a career as an FBI agent instead. we've been looking into it and it looks really interesting and we've decided that there's no better thing than serving ones country for the greater g

no seriously this year we've just changed our url to throw a bunch of people off and scheduled a lot of april fools posts, the first of which should be showing up on y'alls dashes in about 4 minutes! all will be tagged with "the keys speedrun april fools day 2023" and there are no jumpscares or screamers in there /srs

now we Will be busy today but we will also try to stream the new minecraft snapshot with a sliiiiiight twist. also amys promised to write something for april fools like a few months ago and i have to do that now so that should be happening today as well

have fun! :)

[if-whats-new]

What's New In IF? Issue 3 (2024)

By Erika, Marjorie, Axelle and Noi

Now Available!

Itch.io - Keep Reading below

This is a repost of Issue 3 (this see notice). The original post was not salvageable. We have removed the tags so not to inconvenience creators with notifications. You can still download the original version on itch.io.

EDITORIAL

A proper (re-)introduction

As mentioned in our first edition, this zine became a thing after a 2am- fuelled frustrated rant. We were just so excited with the idea that we ran with it without thinking properly about a format or rules or even…

Doing a proper introduction.

So, two issues later, we're hoping to remedy that…

Hi! We are Erika, Marjorie, Axelle, and Noi. A tiny group of IF fanatics wanting to bring something to the community, and hoping to help it connect more together.

We're not authors (this is as far as you will read our writing) or coders (except Noi, but not IF) or illustrators. We're just avid readers/players wanting to talk about what's out there. A big dream, a lot of will, and a bit of sillyness.

If you want to know more facts about us, check out this post!

We hope you enjoy this issue!

ERIKA, MARJORIE, AXELLE AND NOI

ADDENDUM

The game mentioned as Midnight Market is actually Night Market. Apologies to @/night-market-if.

31st March, midnight was not made in Ren’Py, but in Unity. Apologies to Prof. Lily.

It was also pointed out to us that we have been writing Ren’Py wrong all this time…

REWIND

BECAUSE WE MISSED SOME THINGS LAST WEEK

"THE TORTURE AUDIENCE IS NOT SERVED IN TODAY'S ECONOMY" is a recent interview with Porpentine, formatted in Twine.

Phantasmagoria: Nightmare’s End (CScript) released Chapter 5 and part of Chapter 6 (Forum).

Wayfarer (Twine) released a new Route for its Alpha Build (announcement). @/idrellegames

Spotlight on: The Text Adventure Literacy Jam

VERB + NOUN makes the world go round!

The TALJ is a yearly parser-based text-adventure competition, where participants have to create a text-adventure suitable for players with no or little prior experience. It is part of the TAL project.

The goal of this competition, and the project as a whole, is to encourage authors to create games targetted at beginners, be more inclusive in game-making, teach new generations the skills needed to play text-adventure games (and potentially inspire them to create their own!).

Each game submitted to the competition must be a parser text-adventure, with clear instruction on how to play the game, include a tutorial, have at least five puzzles, and should not lead to a losing ending. Some games will go even further, including a hint system, a walkthrough or other type of help.

This year, the optional theme was “Fairy Tales”, which was followed by more of the 10 entries submitted to the jam, ranging from old folk tales, mythology, and, of course… fairy tales!

You can play the entries and vote for them with an itch.io account until the end of May. The competition is looking for beginner players!

CONFERENCE

You can now register for the Narrascope! It is happening June 21-23, in hybrid. They've also released the schedule of talks!

ONGOING (VOTING)

Only one week left to vote for your favourite games of the Spring Thing! Since the votes are still pretty tight, they are looking for players and voters to help determine the winners!

[And the Text Adventure Literacy Jam too!]

ONGOING (SUBMITTING)

On the Choice of Game Forum, the Diversity Jam is running. They accept any CScript game… as long at is not in ENGLISH! The deadline is already tomorrow!

As well, the deadline for the BITSY JAM, is coming up in a few days! The theme is No Dialogue!

The Really Bad IF Jam has just started. For if you're tired of always making great games. Come make a terrible one instead! The worst you can!

If Spanish is in your wheelhouse, the Spanish IFComp (Rayuela) also started this week! You can submit a game until the end of June, with the themes Es un sólo botón and/or Conexión.

Also started this week is the ParserComp, which are looking for parser games, both with a classic feel or a more experimental approach.

If you are looking to make a Visual Novel, the Otome Jam will be looking for entries for the next two months.

🔥 Fuck Capitalism Jam 2024 🔥 is also a fun jam to participate in, where you can submit stories critiquing capitalism (as a whole/aspects of). (We know it's not technically IF, but they took IF entries before)

ENDED

The annual Grand Prix has announced its winner. Congratulations to all participants!

The Dialogue Jam by the Neo-Interactives (@/neointeractives) group ended just a few days ago. Check out the three dozen entries released!

Another jam that ended this week was the Amare Games Festival 2024, with 34 entries all about love!

OTHER

The Interactive Fiction Showcase is still running, with new submissions, since last week! It is happening on itch!

GAMES

NEW RELEASE

009 Lives (Ren’Py) is a short VN about how far we can go to save a friend. (@/lavendeerstudios).

Offseason 7.75 (Twine) is an interactive piece set around a collection of lost reports (@/rogercheetoofficial).

The Tulip Field (Twine) is a calming slice-of-life short story, with maybe just a hint of something is not all right there (@/shytulipghost).

NEW RELEASE (WIP)

ATLAS (Twine) is a sci-fi game about succession science, where your goal is to restore a planet to a natural state. (@/if-30x30).

Velocity: The Race Begins (CScript) is a YA slice-of-life project about street racing.

The Underdog (CScript) is a slice-of-life project about highschool.

Halls of Sorcery (CScript) is a high-fantasy project where you play as a young mage, with great power at your fingertips.

HBreaker Hub (Twine) is project about internet communities, interactions and relationships.

A Hero's Start (Twine) is a slice-of-life project (@/beanmochiii).

GAMES UPDATES

Children of Iseir - Book One (CScript) has added three new scenes.

Speck (CScript) has added five chapters.

Chains of Destiny (CScript) added an update with 27k new words (@/chains-of-destiny).

Voiceless: A Siren's Song (CScript) has included its first chapter to the demo.

Agents of Lucifer (CScript) has added chapter 6 and 7 to the demo (@/aprismaticodyssey).

The Bureau (CScript) has completed its Fourth chapter (@/morbethgames).

Summer of Love (Twine) added one chapter, of 86k new words (@/summeroflove-if).

Wings of Ink (Twine)'s demo was updated with the release of Chapter 3 (@/wings-of-ink).

The Story of Sin (Twine) completed its most recent chapter (@/devilishmango).

Vice Virtue (Twine)'s demo has has new content added (@/dam-peace).

Signal Hill (Twine) is back from hiatus, releasing 4 new routes (@/signalhill-if).

OTHER

Dragon of Steelthorne (CScript) is now officially released through Hosted Games.

THE SPIRITED: ORIGINS (Twine) is back, with a public relaunch of the demo (@/yuveim)

In Game-Making related news, Golmac (@/golmac) is continuing his Inform7 for beginners article series. You can find all the tips and tricks for Inform 7, with the # I7 for beginners.

We apologize if we missed an update or a release. We are but volunteers trying to find as much info as possible, but sometimes news pass through the cracks.

Please, let us know if something should have been added to the zine, and we will shout it out next week!

HIGHLIGHT ON...

A couple of games that we thought were cool.

Sweetpea by Sophia de Augustine (Twine) @/thesophiades

“A true Twine hidden gem. Simple but freaky. Sweet and super sad. The contrast between the rude reality and the surreal dreams gave me a whiplash, but I couldn't take my eyes away from the screen. Outstanding horror indeed!”

submitted by [anonymous]

Lesson in Fear by @/epykslion and @/junibu-art (RenP’y)

A twist on the take of the yandere trope, this short VN mixes different kinds of horror, from psychological to body, showcasing the true potential of unreality. It crawls through your skin.

recommended by [anonymous]

The Familiar by @/groggydog (Adventuron)

A short and sweet parser where you can play as a witch's crow familiar, on a quest to save your ailing master, a terrible hex having been cast upon her.

Aside from the cute story, it has amazing pixel art!

recommended by Clark

Your favourite game here?

Do you have a favourite game that deserve some highlighting? Tell us about it! A old or recent game that wowed you so much you want to spam it to everyone? Tell us about it!

We'll add it to the page!

FINAL WORD

Before we end this issue, we would like to thank:

Clark, @/kris-mage-fics, @/manonamora-if, Sola, Vik, and all you six anonymous posters!

Your shared news, helpful tips, cool links, filled form, written Sheet line, sent emails… all these little attentions toward the Zine has helped us tremendously!

We also would like to thank all of you who told us of cool recs that didn't appear this edition. We'll try out best to fit them in next week!

And a final thank to all of you who not only read our zine, but liked it, shared it with others, left a little sweet reply or dm, or even rated it on itch! Those little bits of support really help us so much!! Thank you for cheering us on this journey!

~

As a final parting word, we have a little challenge for you all. If you enjoy a game or project, or find an author cool, why not send them a little message of appreciation? or leave a nice comment on their page?

A little kindness goes a long way! It is the best motivator!!

See you again next week!

ERIKA, MARJORIE, AXELLE, AND NOI

WHAT'S NEW IN IF? 2024-ISSUE 3

[thinkerbellsramblings333]

"Today I had a thought..." about loneliness

I've written poems about it, sung songs to help battle it. Surely we've ALLL been there. My question is Why? What good comes from loneliness? Why must we feel it? Is there even a purpose to it? Is it something unavoidable that tags along with us from the day we're born, or is it rather a pesky feeling/emotion that we pick up along the way as we trudge on through life.

I'm not sure it is avoidable and either way we shouldn't run from it. Sometimes the more we run is the more we're chased. So, this is usually the part where I give suggestions on how to combat it, if you even can and, OF COURSE you can! Loneliness and ("Boredom") are two things that I'll never quite understand but anyway, best shoo away the boredom thought because this is loneliness' hour.

Maybe we experience loner vibes because it's our bodies way of reminding us that we must spend time doing things and with people we care about and vice versa. I can't write about this topic and not acknowledge the fact that many people often undergo loneliness when in a room FULL of People. What might that mean? Worse yet if it's people that know you AND care about you, yet you couldn't feel more foreign. Now sure there are mental illness' that could explain these sensations, these experiences. But that cannot account for everyone. SO what then?

I believe that we're all a little bit lonely inside and that you can feel that way when even in the presence of your loved ones, whether you're married with children, whether you have a beloved pet and the most spectacular friends and job etc. This being one of many instances of this nature, it begs the question of if it ever really leaves us. The most we can do every day is find love in the little things, big things, people. There's so much to love and like about life. Sometimes it does involve getting off our butts and leaving the good ol' sofa/bed/kitchen floor, wherever is your designated hang spot.

Being with ourselves, in our own company isn't always the easiest thing to do and you know, that might be the thing we need most at times. Giving ourselves the things we need is with the sole intention of helping to better us in the long run.

Life is consistently propelling itself forward, whether we want to recognise that or not. The least we can do is recognise it and progress forward with it. Life's too short to be stuck inside your house feeling lonely when your neighbour has that cool television set that you enjoy more than your laptop screen. I'm not at all suggesting that you endanger yourselves in the process of combatting this loneliness thing, but, spending time with people who matter, surely makes a world of difference. And worse case scenario, if absolutely nothing can be done to repel the dreaded L word, then maybe you and everyone else can just feel lonely together.

Take Care Folks. Until next time.

──────･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.─────

Enjoy tonight's Pick!

[jadeeskara]

Kinnikuman NanoWriMo

I made a throwaway account teasing a 50k+ Kinnikuman Nisei au. We all grew up on not-even half finished Ultimate Muscle fanfics. The worldbuilding and characters were always so good; you knew the author had more but never posted it. So much of it has been taken down. As a young queer kid, I found representation of myself for the first time in those stories and I miss them. Some of it was like really problematic and scarred me because I was too young to be reading porn. But some of it was really soft and sweet. Like I remember one fic where they snuck out to a bar or something and the one who informed them ("Them" being Mars (and possibly Kevin?)) was Jade. Jade took one sip of his beer, pushed it aside, and snuggled into Mars. I loved that. It was like two sentences in a moderate-sized drabble but it literally affected my life. That is who I am, and it's so nice to have someone else in this world even if they are fictional to look back on and say, yes. I can be a snuggly gay boy who goes out to bars he doesn't like with people who don't speak his language just to spend the evening wrapped up in his love's arms.

The world made me forget that that life is possible. It's not just a dream. Anyway, I have been working on the character analysis (lol that's my snobby way of saying ridiculously long fanfic), but uh... that was a rough year, huh?

It's based on my Love Torn series, exploring Jade's relationship with Mars. I want to be clear that I'm trying to explore a difficult topic responsibly but with the entertainment (porn? humor?) of fanfic. Sometimes I might overstep or whatever, so let me know if something bothers you or I miss a trigger I should have tagged. I'm new to posting stuff and it's a bit too overwhelming sometimes. I have always had a hot/cold relationship with Jade/Mars because I could never get ahold of the volumes that showed them together after the initial Gen Ex saga. I've gleaned that the manga doesn't really explain how Jade forgave Mars and I want to know more. The more I explore my interpretation of Jade's character (which is I'm sure largely inaccurate due to his minimal appearances), the less I can see their relationship NOT being romantic. Maybe it's the gay in me idk. The story itself, however, was inspired by coworkers once I moved back to my hometown after college. I'm from a rural place, so most LGBTQ+ folks haven't come out yet. Or haven't found out yet. We have high rates of domestic violence, abuse, depression, alcohol abuse, etc. The Chojin were also raised in environments like ours because they interbred with humans like us. Imagine dealing with the easily accessible drugs today in a 250lb body that is pure muscle just naturally. Plus they make a living (idk is it conscription? do they get paid? Slave soldiers? I really don't understand their world) as a wrestler, so they work out. As a gay man, I don't love what puberty did to me. I was raised Christian so my sexuality has been a struggle for me. So the puberty of a Chojin? No thank you. We're gonna explore some problematic things but I hope we can have some fun along the way. The sex scenes that I have written (mostly thus far unposted), I've written with one hand over my eyes. I struggle to write porn. If you'd like to write porn within my universe, I for one would be happy to see it so like tag LoveTorn or whatever! It's exciting that the fandom is started to grow again after things disappeared. EDIT: Due to recent events, I do want to specify that if you want to play within my universe, I do ask that you credit me wherever you post it, and please send me a link so I can enjoy too :) JadeEskara on Archive of our Own. I'm starting to drop bits of world-building pieces. I guess I'll figure out how to open asks so you can ask about any explanations you need or thoughts if you have any.

[spnfanficpond]

LiveChat Recap - We have a Twitter!

Our talk was short and sweet, but informative!

In case you hadn't noticed us talking about this before, we have a Twitter account! (Click here to check us out and give us a follow!) To go along with that account, we have brought on @coffee-obsessed-writer, aka Jen, aka @rambleon_writer, to run things over there. Jen knows WAY more about Twitter and tweeting and interacting than any of us other admins, since she has run successful fan accounts on Twitter in the past. With her help, we hope to expand our community on both platforms!

A rundown of everything that's happening is below the cut!

Some of our goals include:

Attracting more ship writers, both Destiel AND Wincest among others, to the Pond (since we're mostly made up of reader insert writers, at the moment)

Support even more writers wherever they may be

Become a source for readers on Twitter to find SPN fanfiction

Inspire more writers to write in different ways with new challenges

To those ends, we're trying to find and follow as many SPN fic writers as we can find, and RT their fic tweets when they announce new chapters and such. Hopefully, this will help us bring in new writers, as well as supply fics for new readers! If you're on Twitter, tag us in your fic announcement tweets and we'll RT them!

We're also starting something called #TweetFicsTues! Every week, Jen will post some kind of a prompt and the challenge will be to write a story in 280 characters. It encourages us as writers to find all of the fat in a story that we can possibly cut while still painting a compelling picture. (Just remember to use the hashtag and tag the Pond in a reply or QT so we can RT your submission!) This will be posted only on Twitter, not cross-posted here on Tumblr, though anyone who wants to post their submission on Tumblr is definitely welcome to do that! (And tag us so we can reblog it here, too!)

Some FAQ (Well, we asked them, so figured you would, too!):

Can a Twitter person join the Pond if they don't have a Tumblr blog?

Yes!! We're hoping we can expand our reach and support as many writers as possible, so there will be no requirement to have a Tumblr blog moving forward!

Will all Twitter content be cross-posted to Tumblr and vice versa?

No. There will be similar content, sometimes, like reblogs/RTs from accounts that have a presence on both platforms, but not everything will be cross-posted. To see absolutely everything, you will have to follow on both platforms!

Will there be Twitter-specific activities?

Yes! We're starting with #TweetFicsTues! (As said above, if you want to cross-post your submissions to Tumblr, tag us here, and we'll reblog your submissions from here, as well.)

Will Tumblr-only folks lose any of the activities we've enjoying doing over the past seven years?

Nope! We're still doing Angel Fish Awards, and the New Member Spotlight, and Pond Diving, and everything else. That's why we brought on Jen to help out with Twitter, because we're already pretty busy over here on Tumblr, and we don't want to stop providing the supportive and creative community we've developed here!

That's everything we got to talk about today, and a little more, about this expansion. If you have any questions, or suggestions about what you'd like to see us do in the future (either on Tumblr or on Twitter), send us an ASK or send a message to any of the admins: @mrswhozeewhatsis, @fictionalabyss, @mariekoukie6661, and @coffee-obsessed-writer! We want to hear from you!