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coolcattime · 7 months

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Home and Free: Chapter Ten - If I Can't Love Her

Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Jeriah, Lady Ianite (mentioned)

Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)

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It took three days for the moment to arrive, for Capsize to be sure that Fox had left the West Wing. She’d been tempted to explore it at certain moments before, when she had thought she’d heard footsteps retreating to different parts of the castle, but she had never been completely sure before this moment that the West Wing was actually empty. She’d seen her through a window, retreating off somewhere into the castle’s grounds, and that meant her opportunity had finally come. She was going to find out what secrets were being kept from her. She just needed to get in and out quietly, a task that seemed like it was going to be much more difficult than she anticipated as Tom had decided to follow her.

“I’m telling you, there’s nothing interesting up there,” He said as he hopped after her as she got ever closer to the West Wing. He’d honestly hoped she’d forgotten about it, or just decided it wasn’t worth her time, as she hadn’t mentioned the place since her first night, but obviously that had been optimistic. What had he been thinking? No one was going to forget a mysterious, forbidden wing of a magical castle. He needed to distract her, and he needed to do so quickly, but he’d already shown her the most interesting parts of the castle. All the obviously magical stuff was in the West Wing, so he couldn’t suggest any of that. But he needed something that would actually impress her, rather than making him seem like he was just trying to distract her. After all, he liked her, he didn’t want to seem like he was taking the Beast’s side over hers, but he needed to keep her out of trouble. How on earth was he meant to do that?

“Well, if there’s nothing interesting then I won’t be in there for very long,” She said, having thought over that point over quite a bit over the past few days. If there was truly nothing interesting, then she wouldn’t spend more time than required to just give the rooms a quick once over. Of course, she knew there must be something up there. No one would forbid entry to a place for no reason, especially not after staying the whole place is free reign. And perhaps it was just what Martha had said that it was Fox’s living quarters, and she wanted her privacy, but she didn’t understand why that wouldn’t have just been said rather than the harsh yelling. Well, she supposed it wouldn’t be out of character for the Beast to just be aggressive for no reason, but still she wanted to see the place for herself. She just hoped that Tom would be quiet if he continued to follow her, or that he wouldn’t tell anyone where she’d gone if he didn’t.

“I just don’t think it’s worth trekking through all the dust,” He said, kind of shrugging but not quite having the ability to do so in his current form. Despite his best attempt to sound convincing, Capsize lightly shook her head. She wasn’t going to be dissuaded by anything. She wasn’t even put off by the possible danger at this point. She could see the West Wing now, which was worryingly close for Tom as he was very quickly running out of time to move her attention and person elsewhere. He racked his brain as he hopped after her. There had to be something – anything – that would be more interesting to her than a secret forbidden area. Why was his life so hard? “Why don’t we go look around the gardens or… the gallery or…”

He desperately tried to think of anything that would draw her attention as she was steps away from entering the West Wing. He’d interacted with her enough over the past few days to get a basic grasp on her interests, though it was hard to actually think when she was seconds away from trouble. However, something did spring to mind, he just hoped that it’ll be good enough.

“What about the library?” He asked, genuinely unsure if she was even listening at this point. Capsize paused. She turned.

“There’s a library?” She asked, thoroughly distracted as her thoughts almost completely shifted. Books had been her lifeline for so long, something she had found joy in even when she’d felt at her worst. The idea of there being more here than the one she’d brought with her was more than intriguing. Her right leg bounced a little as she thought about it, about the sort of library this place could have, and Tom smiled. Honestly it took him a lot for him to not sigh in relief that he’d managed to distract her, but he was pretty sure that’d give the game away. And Martha said he never listened to anyone.

“Yes! A giant library stuffed to the brim with books! Any book you can think of, it’s probably in there! Come on I’ll show you!” He said, a little too loud though he was certainly enthusiastic. He gestured for her to follow him before hopping off down the hall.

And Capsize almost did follow him. She almost left behind the mysterious forbidden West Wing. She could so easily follow him, her cane was half off the floor, but she hesitated. She could see the library anytime, but she had no idea when her next opportunity to enter the West Wing would be, especially when right now she could enter completely alone. No matter how much she wanted to see the library, she couldn’t give up her current chance to explore.

Mentally apologising to Tom, she turned back around and began to walk into the darkened wing. There was not an immediate change in atmosphere, though she guessed such a thing wasn’t something that happened in real life. Though she did always have the lingering sense of unease whether she was alone in the castle. A feeling that she had no idea if she should attribute to the very real possibility of running into Fox or just the fact that she felt the same sense of not belonging she had felt even prior to being stuck in this place. Though it was not the trapping feeling of unease that she felt as she entered the West Wing. Rather she felt the sort of curiosity that made her chest feel light and caused a small smile on her face despite the weariness she still had. She knew she had to be careful. Even if she’d seen Fox outside, she could so easily return at any point, and the last thing she wanted was to be caught in a place that she had been directly told not to go to. Mostly though she felt her heart beating, as there was an undeniable excitement to be properly exploring someplace new.

The further she walked, the more obvious it became that this was where Fox spent most of her time. While the castle as a whole had been in a state of abandonment, none of it had seemed any worse for wear. It was just that it seemed unlived in and had a sense of coldness. The corridor she was currently exploring, however, looked far more how she had expected the castle to look from the state of the grounds. The walls and floor were covered with claw marks, and most of the furniture looked at the very least splintered if not completely broken. The floor was covered with shreds of fabrics and, most notably, shards of shattered mirrors. Several frames on the walls had broken shards left in the frames, the rest of the glass on the floor. Most of it had been pushed to the side out of the way of, but some still crunched under her foot and others she brushed away with her cane. It was a mess, more so than any part of the castle she had been to thus far, and perhaps she should just a little scared by that fact, but her eyes couldn’t stop searching around for anything hidden from her.

While the rooms were in disrepair, they weren’t abandoned. They felt lived in. A lot of the damage looked old, but it was something real done by someone alive. And there wasn’t just damage. Well, she supposed it was technically still damage, but among the claw marks that looked like the typical kind made by an animal lashing out or just scratching in general, there were carvings that looked like magical runes. Some were on their own, some were carved in long strings, but they all looked like they had been scratched into the wall with some desperation. She ran her hand across one of them, it flickered a little, glowing with magic, but the glow died away after mere seconds. What were they meant to do? They must’ve been for something important as despite the rough carvings the lines were clear and distinct, and they were carved with such desperation.

Further down the hall she walked, and the damage to her surroundings only grew worse. It was also getting darker as night was drawing in, and she’d left herself without a light source. It was still light enough to see, but details were certainly getting lost in shadows. She ran her hand along more of the runes to light up the corridor just a little more. The dim light didn’t bother her too much, but she did manage to scare herself when a pair of eyes came into view, mildly chastising herself when she realised that she’d jumped at a portrait. Though, oddly, the realisation of the eyes being painted didn’t stop her from staring at them. Why did they seem familiar?

She approached the ripped-up painting, attempting to figure out where she could’ve seen the eyes before. She didn’t have any clues from the image as it had been torn and clawed apart, with the eyes the only part intact of the subject’s face. They were a bright green, which contrasted with how bored they looked, though she supposed that was likely down to the painter more than the subject. Did she know anyone with green eyes? One of Red’s eyes was green, but this obviously wasn’t a portrait of him. She placed her hand on the portrait, lifting one of the tears of hanging off canvas to reveal a little more of the face. A woman. A pretty woman yes, but definitely not one that she recognised. Except she still couldn’t stop looking at the eyes. Maybe it was just the way that they were painted, but they looked almost like—

“Capsize…!”

“Ia--!” She whipped around at the sudden whisper that was so close she was sure had felt breath on her ear. That voice, the one she hadn’t heard in months, had been right next to her. But no one was there. Of course no one was there. Why would she be? Yet in the direction she'd turned, there was a door slightly ajar. From beyond it there was a pink glow. So, there was something here. With a small smile forming on her face, she walked towards the room.

🌹 🌹 🌹

The Beast slogged through the halls back towards her room, less than entertained by the snuff box following her. Was there something wrong with her wanting to be left alone? It had never been a problem before, especially not since the curse began, but apparently the woman being here meant she needed to be social or a good host or something. He was acting like her making appearances would help matters rather than hurt them.

“I’m not going to see her. She wants to be left alone, so I’m leaving her alone,” She said in an annoyed tone that came across harsher than she intended as she growled. She didn’t miss his exhausted look that only annoyed her more. She got it, this woman was their chance to break the curse, but the disaster that had been trying to have dinner had made it beyond clear that that wasn’t going to happen. She was rude and stubborn, she was a follower of the goddess that had cursed them all, and she… she was too good for her. No one was going to fall in love with her while she looked like this, let alone someone who had so selflessly given up her freedom for someone else’s sake. So, what was the point in even trying? For his part, Mot hadn’t wished to smoke so much in years.

“She doesn’t want to be alone. She’s been hanging around with Tom non-stop and frankly seems happy with any company she can get,” He said, voice gruff but he was still trying to be gentle. He’d seen Capsize a few times over the past few days, most of the time with Tom seeming far happier than she had on that first night, but he’d also seen her alone. She still seemed uncomfortable when she wasn’t with someone, a feeling he had to admit was reasonable. He knew it was likely due to the Beast’s presence in the castle rather than her absence, but still. Still, her not wanting to interact with her wasn’t going to change if the two just kept avoiding each other. And, even if she really didn’t want to, it was very much on the Beast to make the first move, not the woman. Sure, them not interacting was technically better than them yelling at each other, but not in terms of getting the curse broken.

“Good, I’m glad that she’s making herself at home,” She said, trying not to sound frustrated that other people had been able to interact with her. She wasn’t frustrated, she definitely wasn’t jealous that she’d seen through the mirror her being delighted in the company of Tom. She’d been mopping over the past few days, stuck lingering in the feelings of incompetence she felt. She wanted to interact with her, to get to know her in the way that seemed so easy for Tom, but she was also completely sure that it just wasn’t going to happen. She’d never really had friends, let alone anything more, how was she meant to create such a bond now? “It’s just easier this way. If I avoid her then she’ll actually be happy. She’s never going to like me.”

“Don’t talk like that. She’s not going to be ordered into anything, but if you just talk with her, you might find something you both connect with,” He said, hoping she would listen to him. He had no idea of the chance he actually had of getting through to her. She had listened to him once, back when she was a kid, but he supposed back then she had had little choice. He wasn’t her parent, but he’d very much been left in charge of raising her. So maybe he should’ve pushed harder when she first started not to listen, but he’d written it off as her just growing up until it was far too late to try and fix the attitude she’d developed. If he’d tried to push at that point he’d have been out of a job. Ironically despite how he’d been quite desperate to avoid that probably would’ve worked out with him less cursed in the long run. But as long as he was still very much stuck in this mess, he was going to try and fix the part of it he’d created, for the sake of making sure the curse got broken if nothing else. “She’s lonely. She’d probably appreciate another friend.”

“There’s no way she’ll want to be friends with me, and even if she did, just being friends isn’t enough anyway, is it? I should just let her be,” She wished that she hadn’t let her remain in the castle. Not that she wished she had kept the man instead, just that didn’t want to run into the woman who she knew had more than good enough a reason to dislike her. Yet she also couldn’t bring herself to let her go. As much as she already felt defeated by the curse, she couldn’t bring herself to let go of her one single chance to break it. Was that wrong of her? Was it wrong to want to cling to the chance of being human again even if she doubted that such a reality would come to pass? To want to fix the mistake that got everyone around her punished and doomed alongside her? She needed to fall in love, to make the woman love her, but… but it was cruel. The woman didn’t want to see her, it was cruel to force her. “I… I just want to be alone, Mot.”

“I can’t force you to interact with her, but you have to know that it won’t get any easier if you don’t. I know you want to talk to her, so you should try,” He said softly. She looked at him, a small box that bore absolutely no resemblance to a person anymore. A box literally marked with her crest as if to mock the way she’d treated him leading up to the curse. Yet despite everything, she could still see him like he was staring back with his actual face. An ever-tired face that she never managed to stop disappointing. She looked away from him.

“Okay, I’ll try,” She said weakly before trudging off towards the West Wing to continue hiding from the world, wanting more than anything to just disappear forever. Both of them knew she didn’t truly mean her words. Mot looked on as she disappeared from view and just sighed. He knew he couldn’t force the two to interact, that such a thing would be as futile as it would likely be harmful in the long run, but that didn’t make it any easier to see the situation so close to a possible solution but so completely and utterly far from it actually being fixed.

He hopped off, hoping to see if he could find Tom and Capsize. As much as he didn’t want to put the first move on her, he thought he had a chance of persuading her to talk to the Beast. Maybe if she did, the Beast would see how much the two had in common, she might actually open up to her. It was worth a shot at least.

He would realise when he arrived in the library to find a very panicked Tom completely alone where Capsize was, and that another encounter was going to happen between the two. All he could hope was that it wouldn’t be nearly as much as a disaster as he was imagining.

🌹 🌹 🌹

The oddly glowing room made Capsize’s eyes light up as she found herself in what looked like an old study or workshop with odd trinkets, tools, and tomes covering nearly every usable surface. Research no longer seemed to be the actual use of the room, as the majority of the surfaces had at least a thin layer of dust. In the corner was a large mess of fabrics that seemed almost like a nest, and she assumed it likely was. This was very likely Fox’s den, the place she’d return to once she was done outside, but while that knowledge made her cautious, it couldn’t dull the curiosity within her. The room was so full of trinkets, like the ones she’d restore and repair, all just gathering dust.

As she wandered inside, she picked up the first item she could reach. A small snow globe. It reacted to her touch, a smile growing on her face as she saw the effect of the scene inside coming to life. It was simple, a tiny snowman moving around a forest as snow rained from the top of the globe. Maybe it shouldn’t give her such delight. After all this place was full of talking trinkets with full personalities. Whatever magic had brought them to life was clearly more impressive than whatever was powering the snow globe, but she could so clearly see the work put into the piece she was holding. The stand was absolutely covered by carved runes, all glowing at her touch, that were clearly controlling the movement and the snow. The scene on the inside might not be insanely detailed, but it was handcrafted, and still she could tell the effort put in. So much effort was put in and now it was just gathering dust… and it seemed the whole room was filled with similar items.

It baffled her. Why had Fox wanted to keep this place hidden from her? Sure, it was clearly in disrepair and felt a lot more like the home of a beast than the rest of the castle, but these trinkets were beautiful. She couldn’t imagine wanting to hide such things away. And there was still the glow. In her distraction of the number of items in the room, she had almost written it off as just an unusual light source. But now her eyes actually focused on the source, and she almost laughed.

In the middle of the room on a table, or rather flowing slightly above a table, was a glowing rose. Of course, she’d been led in here by a rose. Was the flower never going to stop showing up as if to tease her? Though obviously this wasn’t an ordinary rose. Even beyond the obvious magic, which this place had in abundance, the flower was clearly special. It was protected, covered by a bell jar.

She approached it, questions on her tongue that no one was around to actually answer. It was the only thing she had seen protected in the whole place, which posed the question as to why. What was so special about it? She looked over her shoulder, once again checking that she was alone before lifting the bell jar from the flower. Just to investigate a little closer. She’d be careful, she just wanted to see.

The glow seemed to grow brighter as she removed the cover and placed it to the side. The flower was obviously real. That was confirmed by her gently brushing her finger against the petals which were clearly natural, they had a feel that couldn’t be replicated by fabric. The flower had begun to wilt, a number of petals had fallen to the table under it, and both the flower and its leaves had begun to droop. She couldn’t help but think it was a shame. She wasn’t exactly fond of roses, but the flower in front of her was clearly special. It was glowing and beautiful, and she couldn’t imagine how it must’ve looked in full bloom. And, on looking at it trying to figure out what was causing the magical effects, she saw something impossible on each of the petals. A symbol was on each one, as if drawn onto them. She realised that to get a good look, she’d end up pulling one of the petals out, which she would rather avoid. So, she picked one of the fallen petals from the table, just to see if the design was still there or if it was faded. And it was still there, but that wasn’t the part that shocked her when she got a proper look.

“Ia…? Why?” The symbol wasn’t some unknown magical glyph as she had assumed it would be. It was a set of scales, drawn in such a particular way that it was unmistakable. It was the symbol of Lady Ianite. She couldn’t stop staring at it, the petal feeling like some impossible weight. Why would her symbol be here of all places? It was in this position, in front of the rose clutching a petal, that the Beast found her.

Immediately there was a growl, low and intimidating as every wrong and worst assumption the Beast had had about the man originally had returned to her head now about the woman. Capsize tensed at the noise, realising that she’d been caught, and stumbled back as she was bounded past by Fox. She had a few seconds to make her decision. Perhaps against her better judgement, she didn’t try to flee, though she did take a good few steps back from the table as Fox replaced the bell jar over the rose, clinging to it as she stared her down.

“You’re not meant to be here,” She said, her voice low. She was forcing herself to hold back, not very well as she had already assumed the situation in her head. How could she not know the situation? The woman still had a petal in hand. She’d taken days from them. Was it just the one? She quickly scanned the space under the rose, attempting to figure out if there were more petals present. She swore there were less, but that didn’t make any sense. The only thought in her mind was the horror at knowing that she’d lost some of the little time she had left. “Do you know what you’ve done?! Why did you come in here!”

“I’m sorry, I—” Capsize tried to come up with some excuse for her presence, but that had never been her strong suit and being stared down by a Beast wasn’t making the task any easier. Her mouth felt dry, and she knew if she tried to lie that her body would betray her. It wasn’t as if she could just say that she was lost. She tried to come up with words, any words, to explain. “I just wanted to see what was up here.”

“No! No, she told you to come here!” She yelled and Capsize stumbled back a few more steps. She had no idea what Fox meant and that made her feel all the more vulnerable. She’d known, or rather she had rightly assumed, that she’d be in trouble if she was caught in here. But Fox’s words, the idea that someone had suggested she came here, just confused her. This only compounded with her fear. What was she meant to say? How could she get out of this situation?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” She said, trying to figure out if she should edge her way towards the door. Fox’s glare on her felt more intimidating than it ever had before, and she certainly had no way to escape it, but it wasn’t just anger. There was something that she couldn’t read. She knew logically she should try to escape, but she had no idea if she could safely. The Beast didn’t believe her, even if she sounded confused, even if she was backing away. The goddess had told her to come in here, she must have done. Just cursing them hadn’t been enough, she needed to ruin whatever chance she had left of fixing things. “No one sent me in here. I came in of my own accord because I wanted to look around.”

“I heard you talking to her! What did she tell you?!” She advanced on her. The Beast bearing down as she demanded answers. Capsize had no idea what she was being yelled at about. She wanted to run, to get out of the room, to get anywhere she wouldn’t be followed, but she didn’t. As scared as she was, she still wanted to stand her ground, to question exactly why she was so convinced that someone had sent her here. So, she did, she stood her ground rather than fleeing, hoping she looked braver than she actually felt.

“I haven’t been told anything but to stay away from this wing. Who do you think I’ve talked to?” She said, trying beyond anything to just keep her voice steady. She was frankly terrified, but she couldn’t let that stop her. She couldn’t waver, no matter how much she wanted to shake looking at the anger in Fox’s eyes.

“Was it not good enough for her to ruin everything once?” The Beast didn’t answer nor really listen to her words at all. She was sure the goddess was the reason she had been looking at the rose, why she had taken a petal. She needed to know why. Why couldn’t she just be left in peace? She took another step towards the woman, who this time didn’t take any back. Capsize wanted to, she wasn’t exactly feeling confident at this point in her ability to calm the situation, but she couldn’t back down. What kind of life was she going to lead if she lived in fear? She needed to stand tall, to at least pretend she wasn’t scared, because if she didn’t, what did she have in this place? However, as she looked at her, the Beast saw defiance, saw the goddess’ cold anger from that night. Her thoughts could never escape that night.

“Who’s she—”

“You know who she is!” She yelled, lashing an arm out. She was far enough away that she knew she wouldn’t hit her, but her claws caught onto an already damaged piece of furniture. She tossed it across the room with force. It shattered a few feet away from the two. The sound of smashing wood echoed in Capsize’s head. Despite how not a single shard of wood or any part of the Beast had come close to touching her, her entire body went rigid as she felt a terrible pain across her left side.

She knew it wasn’t real, but it was. It was far too real. She could hear her heart pounding, the yelling, the rain falling around her so loud that it was deafening. She felt the terrible pain that marked her entire life changing. She stumbled back with a choked breath, unable to remind herself that she was out of danger because she wasn’t. Just because she wasn’t in that moment didn’t mean she was safe. How close had she been to being hit? It was one thing to know in theory how someone could tear you apart, and another thing to see such clear proof of that fact.

The Beast saw her eyes suddenly widen, her body stiffen as she shifted backwards, and it was as if she suddenly realised reality. The look on the woman’s face was one she hadn’t worn yet, she looked terrified. In that moment, seeing that look, she realised that she’d ruined everything. She reached out towards her, to try and figure out any words that might somehow fix and excuse the mess she’d created but Capsize moved back. Her movement was shaky, and she shook her head as she backed away.

“Stay away from me,” She said, just trying to keep her distance. She couldn’t do this. She had really thought that she could, that she could keep her word and stay here in Red’s place, but the reality had been made clear now. How close had she been to being hurt? She had no idea, but she knew that she couldn’t stay here any longer. Fox’s arm dropped, something about her expression changing, but Capsize didn’t pay attention to that. She instead took off, just running as fast as she could, ignoring everything with the only thought in her mind being that she had to leave.

The Beast fell to her knees. It was over. She’d ruined everything. She’d terrified her. There wasn’t any coming back from it. Sure, she could chase after her, either try to explain and apologise or just stop her from leaving by any means, but what good would that really do? She’d just be forcing her to stay for the principal of the matter, because she agreed to remain here. Maybe it was better that the woman disappeared before she really got her hopes up of anything happening, before anyone here really believed that she could change. If any had been made clear to her at this moment it was that she couldn’t change.

By some miracle, someone had come to this cursed place that didn’t look at her like a complete monster. By another, that person had been willing to give up her freedom to remain in here. And what did she do with that opportunity? Completely ruined any chance she possibly had to bond with her. She’d treated her terribly, caused her to run off in fear, and for what? Not listening to her? For following the goddess that cursed them with no proof of anything more? For not knowing not to touch something she hadn’t mentioned, let alone mentioned the consequences of messing around with it? For those frankly pathetic reasons she’d chased off the one person who had brought even a ray of light into the castle in years. Maybe she did deserve this fate. Maybe the goddess was right that she was heartless and better off forgotten.

But why had she doomed everyone else too? That was the question that ate away at her. Had they deserved punishment for her mistake, or was it just some way to motivate her to actually try and break the curse? Why was it that they were left in such a state and their only chance at salvation was her? No matter the reason it felt cruel, and just made her feel all the worse that their only chance was definitely fleeing the grounds as she made no actions to stop her. She needed to find a solution, for their sakes if not her own. She had to; they didn’t deserve to be doomed because she didn’t make an effort. But how?

She was sure that she’d already wasted her one chance at doing this the way the goddess had presented. Every other method she had tried had resulted in just more failure. So, what was she meant to do to help them? She could only think of one method beyond the intended one that might still work, begging the goddess to at least reverse the curse on the others. Maybe if she accepted her own fate it would be good enough. How could she even get her attention to try though? She’d simply shown up the first time and then disappeared just as quickly.

She sighed and slumped fully to the floor. It all just felt hopeless. The instructions had been clear: fall in love and be loved in return. Yet when someone was in front of her who she had wanted to get to know, had been brave and beautiful and curious, she hadn’t even tried. If someone like her hadn’t moved her to try and act decently, then could anyone? So maybe she deserved to be forgotten by the world, stuck in this monstrous state. She’d figure out a way to help the others, to make sure they were doomed for her mistakes, but herself? She guessed this was exactly what she deserved. After all, if she couldn’t love someone like her, what chance did she really have?

#mianite #mianite fanfiction #cat's fanfiction #sonja firefoxx #sonja firefoxx/captain capsize #captain capsize #mianite batb au #foxxsize #tom syndicate #mot screziato #i'm published so much fanfic over the last week

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mcytblraufest · 3 months

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MCYTBLR AU Fest: General Rules and FAQ

TIMELINE:

May 4: Discord opens at 0:00, Artist creation starts. May 30-31: Artists with a finished piece of Art can sign up, submitting their work for claims. May 31: Artist creation period ends at midnight. June 2-4: Writers can claim art and be assigned to Teams. June 6-7: Writers who wish to be assigned a Beta Reader can sign up (this is optional) June 9-10: Beta Writers can claim writers/art and be assigned to Teams June 29-30: Check-in #1 July 26: Writer creation period ends at midnight. Unless you have an extension, you must be fully ready to post at this point. July 27: Posting period begins at 0:00 August 2: Extension period ends. Unless you are a pinch hitter, you must be fully ready to post at this point. August 9: Posting Period ends. All work must be completely posted by midnight.

ABOUT:

MCYTBLR AU Fest is a mini reverse-big-bang event where artists and writers work together in teams to make stories and art inspired by MCYT and set in an Alternate Universe.

EXPECTATION:

Artists must make a completed Art piece. Writers must deliver a story of at least 5k words, inspired by the art they signed up for. Dark or triggering topics or themes must be tagged for.

RULES:

You must be a member of the discord, for team matching.

Because of Tumblr, Ao3 and Discord TOS, you must be 13 to participate.

Respect your fellow participants, even when you disagree on fandom matters

You agree to work together with your teammate(s) to make a piece of art and a fic together, and link to each other's works.

All works must be MCYT-centric and set in an AU— no canon-compliance.

No AI-Generated content.

LINKS:

Discord: Here Ao3 Collection: Here

FAQ:

What is MCYTBLR AU Fest? MCYTBLR AU Fest is a reverse minibang-type event where writers and artists come together to create fanworks centred on MCYT and set in an alternate universe from canon.

How does it work? Artists will have a month to complete an art piece. After a month, once the art is complete, they will submit the art, with information about server, characters, relationships, and any warnings they are opting into, which will be posted anonymously for writers to view and claim, first-come-first-serve. Teams are assigned by mods, and then writers will have two months of creation time to make a pice inspired by the work (minimum 5k words).

What type of MCYT is included? We welcome creations based on any SMP, whether or not they have a canon tag on Ao3. Mianite, DSMP, QSMP, Hermitcraft, 3rd Life, Lifesteal, Witchcraft SMP— it’s all welcome.

Can I join if my Art is a Game/Web Weave? We welcome all types of art— web weave, game, traditional art, original songs, videos, etc. While the list is not exhaustive, we have outlined some of the baseline expectations for an art piece below.

What are the requirements for art? It is difficult to define precise expectations for art pieces, especially given the broad realm of things that could count as art. We are primarily looking for art that is complete to a level that you would normally post as "finished", ready to inspire a fic piece of 5k or more, containing an audio or visual component beyond the confines of the written word, that does not take more than an hour to consume. While you will have the opportunity to include your understanding of the world in things such as if the relationships depicted are romantic or not, the art piece must stand alone without explanatory text or extra worldbuilding.

The defined requirements for different forms of art are:

Digital or Traditional art: one piece, completed to whatever you would normally post as "finished", ready to inspire a fanfic.

Web Weaves: a web weave of at least ten elements, original or properly credited.

Video/animatic: a video at least 30 seconds long.

Other Art Form: other art forms such as fan games or original songs would fall under this category. If you wanted to sign up with an Other art form, you need to contact the mod team and work out what minimum expectations would be for your art.

Is shipping allowed? Yes. Because there is no broad fandom-wide consensus about how Creator boundaries are to be enforced in specific cases (whether it's okay to write beeduo as /r or /p is an obvious one, or whether it’s permitted to ship Joel Smallishbeans) or between specific fandoms (Lifesteal approach to shipping and boundaries is different from HBG is different from DSMP), the mods will not be policing any specific understanding of boundaries across the event. The event's motivating ethos is Don't Like Don't Read, in that artists will be able to specify for themselves if a given relationship is to be interpreted as romantic or platonic, and writers will choose to opt into that, and NSFW will have to be specifically opted into on both sides.

Is NSFW allowed? Yes. NSFW works are allowed, but must be opted into, both in terms of viewing art and in terms of creating fic. No one under 18 is permitted to opt into NSFW and attempts to do so will be grounds for a ban from this event and anywhere else the mod team touches. For the comfort of the greatest number of participants, and to conform with Tumblr TOS, anything with the tags Underage or Incest will not be permitted to be part of the event.

Are major archive warnings (noncon/graphic depictions of violence/MCD) allowed? Aside from the content rules governing NSFW (no underage or incest, for the comfort of the greatest number of participants), major archive warnings are allowed. Depictions of real life horrors such as genocide and slavery are not-uncommon motifs in MCYT fics, and the mod team is not interested in legislating which types of horrors, griefs or abuses are inherently worse than others and are therefore off-limits. Because holding writing to a quality standard or saying only survivors can write atrocities is unworkable from a moderation standpoint, the three mentioned major archive warnings (MCD, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Noncon), are permitted to be included.

However, Major Archive Warnings must be explicitly opted into by the artist, and writers are free to not include Major Archive Warnings that their artist has permitted. Delivering un-asked for major archive warnings is grounds for a ban from this event. The mod team reserves the right to warn other mod teams on both the MCYT and Multi-fandom side about your bad behaviour.

What kind of an information will I provide as an Artist? How long or detailed? Artists will be able to specify

the server their art takes place on

the characters in the work

whether the relationships in the work are romantic, platonic, or could be interpreted either way

if they are okay with NSFW work

what age group of people they are okay working with

the type of AU it is

any content warnings present in the work already (i.e. gore, eyestrain, child death)

if the work is nsfw

any major archive warnings they are okay with happening in the story

common fandom themes and/or triggering content that they are okay with happening in the story.

A DNW

What sort of fandom themes will I specify? While this will not be an exhaustive list of every possible triggering concept, the mods want artists to be able to specify if they are okay with dynamics that circulate in the fandom that may be triggering or people simply may have strong opinions on, and for writers to be able to sort by that. Some of the themes include domestic abuse, alcoholism, family dynamics, pregnancy, dubcon, torture, body horror, dehumanization, child death, non-consensual touching, drugging, etc.

What is a DNW?

Artists will have the opportunity to fill out a DNW, which stands for Do Not Want. This is anything that has the potential to ruin a fic for you, and is where you opt out of content that would trigger, squick, or just render the gift unreadable for you. DNWs must be phrased politely, (so no "No foster aus because they suck and you suck if you like them"), and they must be reasonable, (so no "no blood/injury" if the art depicted shows injury, and no attempting to box someone into a specific gift beyond what is depicted in the art, so no "dnw anything that isn't a modern au where scar is a theatre teacher and grian is a biology teacher and they live in a city named hermitopia and grian has a situationship with mumbo and scarian has a rivalry at a coffee shop for the half-price muffins and jellie has psychic powers she's manipulating the muffin market with" if that is not clear from the art), and they must be specific and clear, (so no “no triggering content"), but they can be as petty (disliking 1st person) or as broad-reaching (no modern aus, no specific ships not depicted, no crossovers with specific servers or fics) as you like. Deliberately breaking someone's DNW is grounds for a ban from the exchange.

Is Dark/Violent content allowed? As long as it is something that the artist has not opted out of, yes. For many of us, the source material that originally drew us to the fandom includes major character death, torture, murder-for-hire, death games, public executions, child death and more. The fanfiction that arose from the source material follows in that trend. We will allow dark content to be part of the event, but it must be tagged for.

We also ask that participants use best judgement in delivering commonly triggering topics un-asked for. We reserve the right to ban people at mod's discretion for delivering unrequested triggering content, under the "do not be an asshole" rule.

Moreover, if your fic is rated E for any reason, (including violence or gore) your entire team must be 18+.

How can I get involved? You can participate in this event as a:

Author

Artist

Pinch Hitter

Beta Reader

You can even sign up for multiple roles, as long as you’re very sure you can make your deadlines!

What is a Pinch Hitter? A pinch hitter is a person who saves the day and steps in when the original creator is unable to deliver their work for whatever reason, making a new work on an accelerated timeline. You must reach the minimum word count of 5k. .

When do I have to join the discord? You have the option to join the dicord and hang out as soon as creation starts on May 4, and if you are an artist, you must join before sign-ups close on May 31. If you are a writer, you must join the discord before claims begin on June 1st. If you are a Beta Reader, we'd ask that you join before claims begin on June 9th.

How does team assignment/claims work? We will release a document with all the art pieces linked in it, and 24 hours afterwards we will release a sign-up form. Writers will be expected to list out out a top-five of artists they want to work with, and mods will match writers with art on a first-come-first-served basis.

How does Beta Reader assignment work? Shortly after writer sign-ups end, writers who wish to sign up for Beta Readers will be able to do so. In a similar way to how writers claimed art, beta readers will be given a list of summaries and then, 24 hours later, will be able to submit a short list of fics they want to help work on. Beta readers will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.

What happens if there are more artists than authors, or more authors than artists? If there are more writers, some artists will be assigned multiple writers. If there are more artists, we will put in place a question where writers can specify that they’d be willing to make multiple pieces, and a (hopefully small) number of writers would be assigned multiple teams.

What if all the artists I list have already been assigned? If every artist you wish to opt into has already been assigned, mods will contact you and ask if you wish to be matched to people who have not yet been claimed. You will then be able to choose if you wish to claim other teams, or wait and hope that there will be more writers than artists, and multiple writers on a team will be opened up. If that happens, you can re-submit your list and be assigned as a writer to one of your original artists.

I’m in [insert time zone here]. What if I’m not awake when claims open? There will be a spot to input your time zone in the discord. Mods will try to open the claims at a time that works for as many writers as possible. The art pieces will also be available for 24 hours before claims so that everyone can view them and pick out the ones that are the most interesting to them. We will aim for claims to open between 7 a.m. and 1 a.m. for as many writers as possible across all time zones. If claims fall outside that zone for you, you’ll be able to contact a mod and we’ll work out an alternative method for claims for you.

I don’t know what time zone I’m in? Go to timeanddate.com and enter the nearest major city, and it will tell you your current time zone.

What’s a check-in and how do they work? Check-ins are there to make sure everyone is on track to finish their piece in time, and to communicate any issues with the mods! If you know that you won’t be able to check in on a specific date (lack of internet, etc), please contact the mods in advance.

How long should my fic be? The minimum word count is 5,000 words! There is no maximum word count, but we ask you to be mindful of how much you can actually create in these two months.

If I wrote a multi-chapter work, do I have to have it all posted by the end of Posting Period? You must post your work in its entirety by the end of the two-week posting period.

What does AU mean in this context? AU stands for Alternate Universe and in this case means anything that would make the work not able to be tagged as canon compliant. Alternate endings, role reversals, complete setting or plot swaps, and crossovers all count. As this is a fest specifically to celebrate AUs, we ask that the AU be a significant and celebrated part of the work, not something that could be skipped if you aren’t paying attention.

Can I create two fics for my artist? Absolutely! There is no maximum for number of fics you want to create, but again, be mindful of not biting off more than you can chew two months of creation time.

Can I sign up with two pieces of art? You are welcome to sign up as part of the fest with multiple art pieces. However, if you do so, we will ask that you prioritize which art piece you want to be matched on first, and you will only receive a match to your secondary art piece after everyone else has an writer. We’re going to proritize every particpant getting a team before we prioritize every art piece getting a team.

Can I sign up with a multi-piece art piece? If you want to sign up with a web weave that features multiple panels, a long video, a long comic, a series of connected art pieces, a song cycle, or any other more complex/more ornate work, you are welcome to. We just ask that you make sure you can complete your art piece during the month of artist creation time, and keep in mind that if your piece is sufficiently complex, that might restrict the writers who are able to sign up for your piece. But if you think you can pull it off, then go for it.

Can I sign up with a writing buddy— as part of a collab team? You are welcome to sign up as a collaborative team, either an art team or a writing team! We ask that you make sure you work together well, and when you sign up for an team, you must declare that you’re a duo, so people know that they’ll be getting multiple team members and not one.

Can I submit an art piece that is part of a larger AU? All art pieces must stand alone, so you can't have it that your writer has to consider other art pieces to make a work. The art must also be made specifically for the event. We ask that you not submit an art piece that was made prior to the event, or one that is part of an au you've posted about so often that it will effectively de-anon you. Brainstorming or sketching early is fine.

Once my art piece is done, when can I post it? Art and fic should be posted together, during the Posting Period at the beginning of August. Once you have your art done, you'll have to hold onto it for another two months, while your writer is working.

What if I need to drop out? It is your responsibility to communicate with us if you need to drop out of the event for any reason, and we do need that communication. We know that life is no respecter of fic and art deadlines, so no hard feelings if something happens. However, we would hate for any artist to end up having no fic for their art, so please think about this if you are thinking of dropping out close to reveals. Dropping out after the last check-in without informing the mods will result in not being permitted to take part in further events run by this mod team.

I have a question not answered here? Send us an ask on tumblr, contact @antimony-medusa on tumblr or discord!

#mcytblrsource #dsmp #hermitcraft #traffic series #qsmp #reverse big bang #faq

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