fivedollarfred

[fivedollarfred]

Hi, I saw your announcement of removing the accents from your work and I want to say it's sad since those accents were part of the experience for many, they didn't even affect the readability of your work and had their own charm. In any case I respect whatever choice you deem fit and I want to know if you're planning to do the same to the FF version

Yeah, the decision to remove the accents would always be a mixed bag. On one hand, I do like accents in written works, that's why I did them in the first place, but on the other, doing them well is incredibly hard, because it's very easy to make a character seem less intelligent than they are and/or not accurately portray said accent, and when rereading the story I got that impression during some parts. ICWTR was my first published story and so the accents were rough. And keeping them consistent was difficult; I kept finding places where they weren't there when a character was speaking.

So yeah, while it was a more stylistic choice to have them in the first place, I wasn't happy with it the longer time's gone by. But worry not about the FF version; I plan to keep that as is, accents, typos, and all. I considered changing it, but that site is far too much of a hassle. Editing anything on there is stupidly long and convoluted so it will be kept the same, if only due to my laziness :P

#anon #anon ask #answered #fanfiction

[fivedollarfred]

After near five whole months(maybe, i'm bad at math) I've finally gotten the chapter I've been working on complete!

Thank goodness! It is done!

onto the next one lol

#fanfiction #finally #after eons of waiting #after the countless edits and staring at the unfinished document #I have the completed work #which is less than 10 #thousand #words. #dang

[fivedollarfred]

Boop!!

BOOP!!

#why is my inbox sending me asks so late??? #boop!

[fivedollarfred]

How's the booping going?

Couldn't figure out what booping was and only found out around noon during work so my output was unfortunately subpar for my liking, but it was fun! Don't know why I was only able to see the notif for this now but still, it was nice to smack my friends with kitty paws! Thanks for asking!

#anon #anon ask #answered #boop

[fivedollarfred]

4 and 5?

(sorry, my finger slipped and posted without explaining anything :p) Let's see...

4 was a improved tf2 fanfic document where I didn't have a plan, and just let myself write whatever came to mind really. I thought about making it a whole fic, but I decided against it because it seemed to get a bit too grim too fast. But since I don't think it'll ever be finished or posted, I'm fine with sharing a couple paragraphs from the story:

"A barrage of frantic mumbles filled the kitchen and dragged Scout out of his mind. Blinking from the sudden setting shift, he looked over to find Pyro at the entrance acting distressed. The masked merc was looking at Scout and whining with the noises the runner learned to associate with concern, and was pointing at the counter. He cocked an eyebrow, what was wrong with the counter? Scout looked down.

There was a fork in both of his hands. One was holding it in a white knuckled grip, the other had the fork digging into its back. Blood was oozing from punctures at a steady pace.

“S**T!” Scout hissed as he twisted the fork free. Pyro was just as horrified, as she was at his side instantly, tapping a light wet towel on his hand. It stung but not nearly as bad as the actual fork. Scout looked at the bloody utensil in his hand. When had he grabbed it? He didn’t mean to-"

As for 5, that is one of my own original ideas. I got inspired by a game called Deep Rock Galactic, at least when it came from dwarves with guns instead of axes and hammers, and thought up a post-apolitical fantasy world where the "elves" of this universe are basically these otherwordly being who conquer planets and are obsessed with "True Perfection", where they change and warp landscapes and the planets occupants into lifeless crystalline objects. The only remaining race standing against the elves are the dwarves who live beneath the barren earth. Once in tune with nature and could connect with the trees themselves, the dwarves were forced underground for their survival, having to adapt their ability to see through the roots of plants to the ores in stone to find precious metals that can slay the foul elves who've destroyed their once luscious world.

#anon ask #answered #tf2 #plus some original story ideas

[fivedollarfred]

Hi!! I found your tumblr through your ao3 (Which I LOVE) and I'm a big fan of your art and fics! Seriously, your drawing and doodles have brought a smile to my face and I love the notes you write with them!!

(My favorite fics of yours are definitely the ICWTR series. They are so well written and fun to read! And had me on the edge of my seat, lol)

Sorry for the long ask- I just wanted to throw out some encouragement/positivity and let you know how much I appreciate what you do for the TF2 community. 😁

Aww, thank you! Any encouragement is welcomed considering I've found my fixation on TF2 fading a bit. Not enough to stop writing or drawing, but enough to where a certain cartoon from my middle school years has grabbed me and dragged me back to drawing the characters and reading old fanfics.

But still, thank you! It's always great to hear how my work can still give people joy!

#anon ask #answered #tf2

[fivedollarfred]

I saw the ask post with all your wips and two of them had me curious; Tornado Warning and Psychosis!

(Tbh, all of them intrigue me, but I don't want to ask too many questions lol)

Thanks for the ask! I would have answered it yesterday but it was sent right when I had to go to bed.

First, I'll say that the ones you asked about are tf2 fanfic WIPs, so bear that in mind. But I'm glad someone asked about them, since I like talking about the ideas I have! Tornado Warning is the WIP I'm currently working on and is the direct sequel to my first published fanfic It Came With The Rain that takes places a few months after the first story, and could be seen as this fic/AU's version of MvM(Mann Vs. Machine). Don't know if I should go into spoilers because I'd have to spoil ICWTR's main plot points and reveals, but if you want me to go in depth of TW's plot and how it relates to ICWTR, I'd be more than happy to. It's definitely more of a drama than the first story, as the first is a mix between a thriller mystery and drama with a lot of horror elements(which were really fun to write)

Here's a paragraph from the chapter I'm currently working on:

"The second Scout silently stepped through the door frame, a sharp, chilling feeling shot through his system like a blaring siren. The feeling that he shouldn’t be here. That whatever he’d been planning on doing could wait another day. That he had stumbled into no man’s land; a minefield where one wrong move would set things in motion the runner couldn’t hope to alleviate. 

He took another step."

As for Psychosis, that is a placeholder name for what would be a crossover between Silent Hill and tf2 if I ever get the time to write it. I got inspired by an already existing crossover fic about tf2 and Silent Hill, and while I liked it well enough, it was more based around the first Silent Hill's lore and not the second's, and the second is the one with all the symbolism and psychology in play. So I spent around a week or two thinking about what each merc's own SH experience, and their own "Pyramid Head", would be. I can't go over all my notes and thoughts and ideas, otherwise I would be here typing for hours, so I'll just mention who has a clear environment and personal monster and who doesn't, and if you're interested in the details, I can talk more in depth when I get the time. Scout: has both a clear monster and environment to deal with. Soldier: has a clear environment, not so much a clear monster, but I have some ideas. Pyro: clear environment and monster, but I think they could be more fine tuned. Demo: clear monster, but no environment yet. Heavy: clear monster, had environment that needs fine tuning. Engie: very clear environment, can very much picture where he'd be located, but monster not so much. Medic: neither but that's more intentional as he'll experience things different than the others. Sniper: Very clear environment, and the clearest monster. Couldn't imagine him dealing with anything else. Spy: clear environment, monster is slightly foggy and needs more thought. That's about all I can say for now. Like I said, if you want more details I'd be happy to give them, I just don't have a lot of time to get them all out right now. And don't worry about asking too many questions; I like getting them and answering!

#anon ask #fanfiction #my wips #current wip #tf2 fanfiction #silent hill #but mostly as a setting #hope this is enough info for now #it's fun to talk about my wips

[fivedollarfred]

woah mama, that is dark

So, that Twitch wip of yours has me curious. And the Fantasizin' one too, but either one, I'm intrigued

What they be?

Twitch is an FullMetal Alchemist fic that's about Martel and Alphonse, and Martel's death. Alphonse is a boy lost his physical body after an attempt to bring his mother back from the dead. His soul is now bound to a suit of armor, which is now his body. He's about 12? 13? and he can no longer smell, taste, or feel heat or softness, or anything much beyond physical vibration and things touching him. He's a sweet guy who loves cats and is more optimistic than his brother. Martel's a chimera, a woman who was combined with a snake through alchemy. She's got stretchy limbs. She sneaks into Al's armor and hijacks his body at one point in the story, but.. oh geez spoilers below.

She gets stabbed by their mutal enemy while inside Al's armor and dies.

According to my blog, I apparently bawled when she died because I felt so bad for her and Al, Al because oh no this poor guy had a person die right inside his armor and that must have been mentally scarring.

However, Martel's death isn't given much focus, certainly nowhere near as much as the two most infamous deaths in the series, and there's no attention given as to how her death felt for Al. How the physical sensation of her death could affect him.

The fic is an AU where they have some time to form a almost-friendship and make a deal where Martel communicates how she wants him to move by tapping him, giving Al some agency, though not much.

When she eventually dies, her tapping becomes random nonsense messages, her body seizing in its death throes, her blood dripping down the inside of Al's armor. Whenever he moves, he feels her limp arms bump along his insides, and feels her dead weight at all times.

I'm basically making her death even more traumatic for Al :)

[fivedollarfred]

Number 9?

That's a tf2 fic idea based on the trope "5 times person A helps others, and 1 time they're helped back". It's centered around Scout(because with me, it always is :P) who decides to try and earn a few favors from the rest of the team by helping them with various different long-term things, emphasis on the tasks being an overarching, basically daily thing. Problem is, he ends up taking on too many tasks and it all becomes too much to handle for our favorite motormouth. Something happens because of taking on the tasks, and being as vague as possible since I would like to write this at some point, and it's so serious that the team all collectively band together to help, which is just as overarching as Scout's favors for them. Just really want to see a fic that plays up the 5-1 trope in a more long term way and with a good dose of team comradery

Here's the quick hook I wrote for it:

"The team isn’t known to be thoughtful of their fellow mercs, but Scout decides to help out those knuckleheads anyway. It’s always good to have a few favors up your sleeve for a rainy day.

Though that rainy day might come sooner than expected."

#asks #my wips #fanfiction #tf2 #tf2 scout

[fivedollarfred]

Tagged by my best bud @gonturan0

Rules: In a new post, post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it!

Tornado Warning (document 4)

Soft fantasy universe

The first day began with a soft breeze, a pink sky, and a firm, quiet curse

Bad Days are for Chumps

Stonecutters lore

Smissmas Miracles

Psychosis

High above, along the frosted ridge

5 times(8 times) and one time back

I have far too many documents that are filled with outright gibberish undecipherable to anyone but myself, and countless Untitled Documents in my folders so these are just the ones I have the clearest memory of and have actual titles.

@chicoryblast if you feel comfortable/want to hop in on this too!

#my wips #wip stuff #these are mostly potential fanfics #there's only two of my own original stuff listed

[fivedollarfred]

@racmune Exactly! Exactly that, that's exactly what I'm talking about! They are equals but in different ways! Miss P has the planning/diplomacy and brains, Scout had the brawn/speed and improv skills! Miss P knows exactly how to defuse or make a bomb and Scout's the guy who distracts and messes up anyone who would try and stop her!

They'd be such a cool combo-making team! I just also really like the idea that, even though Scout is basically a glass cannon, he's still the one who can take more hits than Miss P, so whenever she's in a pickle, he's the one who tries tanking the blows so she can finish what's she's doing LIKE imagine she takes Scout along to one of her "employee assessments" from The Administrator(AKA, fighting for her life for some sick reason) and because she's done it so many times, she gets cocky and doesn't take it as seriously, maybe even having fun this time. And Scout's taking everything far more seriously, because he doesn't have much experience with literal ambushes, and holy crap, is this what Miss P has to deal with every time!!? So badabing-badaboom, he ends up taking a lot of damage that would have gotten Miss P killed if she hadn't been so reckless and Scout hadn't made sure to shield her from, and that knocks some sense into her(because this isn't like EXP Date, there are people shooting at them and they can die instantly) so once she patches Scout up enough, they team up to take all of The Admin's goons down as fast as possible so Scout doesn't bleed out, and in the process end up a near untouchable killing duo. Man, that would make a good fic, I'll have to save that idea for later

A sketch that I hope to polish into a complete illustration, but if not, then at least you guys get to see the second draft! I really just wanted to make something that does a few different things:

Include Scout's scattergun. That thing is hefty, it's like half the size of his freakin' torso! I just wanna see more art with him having/using it; makes him look dangerous and I love it.

felt like making another scoutpauling pic, even if it's lowkey.

I kinda hope to be the person who adds a different flavor to their dynamic, cause most of what I see is the whole "girlboss and her guyfail bf" dynamic. And while I like that dynamic, I like imagining them both being super competent just in different ways, like a Yin/Yang sorta deal. When one has a shortcoming, the other can pick up the slack.

And what better way to show that then them on a reconnaissance mission together!

#I just love they're dynamic so much #wish more people could see the potential

[fivedollarfred]

A sketch that I hope to polish into a complete illustration, but if not, then at least you guys get to see the second draft! I really just wanted to make something that does a few different things:

Include Scout's scattergun. That thing is hefty, it's like half the size of his freakin' torso! I just wanna see more art with him having/using it; makes him look dangerous and I love it.

felt like making another scoutpauling pic, even if it's lowkey.

I kinda hope to be the person who adds a different flavor to their dynamic, cause most of what I see is the whole "girlboss and her guyfail bf" dynamic. And while I like that dynamic, I like imagining them both being super competent just in different ways, like a Yin/Yang sorta deal. When one has a shortcoming, the other can pick up the slack.

And what better way to show that then them on a reconnaissance mission together!

#team fortress 2 #fanart #digital art #team fortress two #sketch #krita #tf2 scout #tf2 miss pauling #scoutpauling #i just think they're neat #and cool #and cute

[fivedollarfred]

If I ever start posting politics/anything vaguely political on this blog, I give everyone permission to lob tomatoes at me like ye' olden times. I wish to be known as the five dollar bill who posts fanart, my ocs, or anything weird and/or funny that's happened in my life.

Fandom Problem #4463:

If you're a fandom or genre blog and start posting political things the followers you lose may not be the "evil trash" you make them out to be. Some just want fan content and its not as deep as you think it is. Them unfollowing or blocking you isn't always indicative of their beliefs, and you making a big deal out of random non mutual strangers taking their leave says it's more about your ego than the cause.

#discorse #fandom problem 4463

[fivedollarfred]

Hihi!! Sorry for suddenly reblogging a bunch of your posts (/ _ ; ) Your art is really amazing and I’m living for it!!

I’m glad to find someone who isn’t too huge on ships with the mercs haha,, I like people’s art of the ships but I just like the bromance they all have (＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ Just a bunch of idiots with guns and weapons!!

Keep up the great work!! Sending lots of hugs!! And Merry Christmas!! 🎄

Weird coworker mercs who care for each other but also thinks everyone else are idiots and they themselves are the sole sane one is my favorite dynamics, and I’m glad I could help fuel your merc friendship love!

I mean, I do like some ships personally, but there’s really only three and they all have some canonical basis so…

But yeah, glad to hear you like my art, and I hope you have a good Christmas too! Thanks for the ask and hugs!☺️

#anon ask #ask #merry Christmas everyone!

[fivedollarfred]

This is good! A short piece but made my heart hurt all the same!

the spy had seen many dead bodies in his line of work. it came with the territory and he found it easiest to see them as concepts rather than people. he had shot many fathers, stabbed sons and strangled aunts, he had taken from many families and as the years went on, though it never got easier, he never stopped all the same.

you need to do chest compressions, medic had told him over the comms. wait until im there to take over, but in the meantime, steady compressions, dont stop until im there. ill be five minutes.

five minutes.

five minutes.

spy did not know one could lose so much in such a short amount of time.

he saw scouts unmoving chest and imagined bringing his hands down on top of it, pressing up and down until his clumsy hands cracked through the rib cage and was elbow deep in viscera. he would shatter the fragile rib cage and it would be more than was fixable, broken beyond repair. the spy was not used to his hands being used to heal, he only knew how to hurt, it was all he ever did. his hands did not know how to be gentle with scout. instead he stayed rooted into the ground, fearing what he would do if he got closer, what he would stumble into doing. the spy had seen many dead bodies in his line of work.

the scouts body was laying on the ground with wide eyes staring up into the sky, glazed over as though lost in particular thought. it was ridiculous to think of scout lost in any kind of thought so intensely, but in that moment the spy wished the boy had anything to think about, any thought in his head, something to keep him aware and alive. something that made the wound in his stomach not so serious. he wished scout would call him a name or insult him, wished this was a practical joke. he wished today they all overslept their alarms and missed work and instead had to do clerical work where scout would bemoan the tedious tasks instead of the adrenaline of combat. he wished he was there to help scout against the bots, that he had his back and saw the stray machine coming up from behind with a jagged saw as an arm before it sliced into his own flesh and blood, a part of him. he wished he told scout he remembered his birthday and he wished he told him that every year he would call his mother to see how he was, one year older than the last, growing up.

most of all, he wished scout was laying on his stomach; spy remembers the night he left boston, he checked on his son one last time and got a peak of him in his crib, snoring softly on his back with arms splayed to his sides, warm and safe and loved. he never loved anything like he loved jeremy.

he thought of the phone call he would have to make after all of this. hello mon amour, i hope you are well. our son is dead.

he looked at the clock. the medic would arrive in four minutes.

[fivedollarfred]

hate the "[ship name] if you squint" tag. It's shippy or it's not shippy! Don't make it ambiguous; I want the shippy stuff far away from me unless I'm seeking it out!

[fivedollarfred]

Hi hello! I really like your artwork! I was scrolling through your blog and read your post about seeing weird stuff in your vision, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to see an optometrist—flashing lights in your vision like that could mean retinal detachment. Sorry to give you medical advice you did not ask for! I hope all is well and that your retinas are fine!

Ah it's fine, I've talked to some friends about it, and since one works at an eye clinic and the other has some eye issues, they said that as long as it isn't a regular thing, then I'll be fine. I was also told that it's caused by focusing too hard on something and considering that's what I was doing right before it happened, I'm leaning on that being the cause.

Think it's also a sign to not stare at screens so hard in the future :p

But thanks for the concern!