#back to the original reason i wrote the post though lol

[pynkhues]

I recently read an article in which Quentin Tarantino stated that fewer movie stars exist as a result of "Marvel movies in Hollywood." I think Jennifer Aniston made a similar argument before saying that there are no longer any movie stars. I'm not sure what that means. I can think of a lot of movie stars right now, such as Zendaya, Timothee Chalamet, and Zoey Deutch etc. what do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this and Quentin's comments.

QuillBot's

Months ago, when you sent me this ask, anon, I wrote out a really long reply and as soon as I hit post, my laptop crashed and ate the answer, and I was so annoyed at myself for not saving my reply, that I couldn't bring myself to try and re-write an answer. I'm really sorry for that, especially because I think this is such an interesting ask (or well, two asks, because I think the death of the movie star and the impact Marvel's had on the broader concept of a movie star, are kinda two different things).

I've been thinking about it a bit again recently though, particularly as the Oscar race gears up, and Jacob Elordi and Charles Melton''s respective stars are rising in an industry currently desperate to find the new young Hollywood male 'talent', and I've been thinking about it again because honestly?

I agree with Jennifer Aniston, I think the movie star is dead.

We are a long, long way from Golden Age Hollywood where actors like Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe could captivate a public imagination in a way that translated to big box office effect, after all. Hell, we're even out of New Hollywood, an era dominated by names like Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, and Jane Fonda, and the Blockbuster era with Tom Cruise, Sylvester Stallone and Harrison Ford.

My original reply went into a lot of the different reasoning as to why this is (like with many things, I don't think there's any one reason for it), in particular how the advent of streaming has changed our relationship with films and TV shows, how the saturation of the market has diluted the staying power of celebrities, how social media and the perceived accessibility of celebrities removes personal mystique which in turn removes intrigue and increases a sense of entitlement, and the fact that so many people having stopped going to the cinema means that the experiential element of seeing a film in a setting larger than life has been diminished.

I think call out culture plays a role too, with any actor on the rise being torn down by tweets they made eight, nine or ten years ago impacting how their star rises, I think the dismantling of the studio system (which is a good thing!) also harmed actors in the long run as studios stopped investing the same resources into making and training stars (they used to be able to sing, dance and act! Now some can barely even act!), and I think, of course, the rise of prestige TV changed the industry substantially (after all, movie stars were movie stars - they traditionally did not, and would not, do TV, which created a clear class structure in terms of screen-based storytelling).

And yeah, I think the language shift from film and TV to content has done irrepairable damage to the artistry of filmmaking and the consideration of a movie star as an actor at the top of their field instead of an actor with the most Insta followers or YouTube subscribers (after all, if everything's content, isn't it the same thing? [no lol]).

Which I guess is kind of where Quentin Tarantino's argument comes in, right? What he's saying is that Marvel's made it so that the IP - the content itself - is the star, not the actor, and I'd say he's probably right with that.

Think of it this way - back in the New Hollywood/Blockbuster era, Harrison Ford was the movie star - he was leading new franchises left-right-and-centre between Star Wars and Indiana Jones, sci fi epics like Blade Runner, leading action thrillers like Patriot Games, The Fugitive and Clear and Present Danger and getting nominated for Oscars for Witness.

He was a movie star in every sense of the word because you could hinge a film - one with a new concept, not just remakes or sequels - on him and be virtually guaranteed a success. He was what sold the tickets, the director just hopefully had to make something good enough people would leave the cinema glad they saw.

Tarantino's argument is the Marvel model - - hell, even the new Star Wars properties, turned the franchise into the star, for better or worse, which means original films can't compete because nobody knows the IP. Back when Harrison Ford was at the top of his game, his name was what helped original films including smaller, standalone works like Witness find an audience, but the studios have changed that. Capitalism has changed that.

Properties with existing audiences and deep pockets for merch were prioritised, only now those franchises are faltering and you've got a generation trained that 'cinematic events' are reserved for blockbusters in established universes, instead of taking a risk on a new film because you know you love an actor who's in it.

Do I think we could go back?

Maybe, but probably not.

I think the place we are now in the history of cinema / TV / 'content' means you can't make a movie star anymore because I think the industry is simply so different that no actor can break through in the same way that even Leonardo DiCaprio could 30 years ago. That industry doesn't exist anymore, actors aren't guaranteed draws (Bones and All proved that for Timothee Chalamet, and Wonka I think could go a similar way), or they have to heavily rely on other industries to become household names which I think dilutes them as a pure 'movie star' (Zendaya's a great example of this - I like her a lot, but how many movies has she even been in? They built her career up in peripheral industries long before they tried to sell her as a movie star, and frankly, I'd question her even as a leading actress yet given she's typically only either been in ensemble casts or clear supporting).

It's a whole new world, and yeah, I think the movie star is dead.

#i hope this makes sense haha #it's an interesting topic #and a shame really #i also think there's a difference between being famous online and a movie star #like zoey deutch i really like and i know film twitter likes her #but she's b-list at best and i doubt she has any broader name recognition unfortunately #whereas timmy and zendaya defs do #but even their star power isn't working #dune did well because of tarantino's argument #the ip is the star #challengers will be the real test for zendaya #and wonka will be timmy's biggest one #because bones and all tanked but is a) genre and b) indie #don't look up french dispatch and little women were all ensemble #so yeah #wonka will defs be interesting to see #film asks #welcome to my ama

[knightotoc]

Just finished IWTV book, so now I can say the differences between the book, movie, and show. The movie is quite accurate to the book, while the show is more original. I love them all quite a lot, but I think the show is my favorite since it's the most romantic. Long post with spoilers below the cut.

book:

The depth of Louis' interiority, especially his thoughts about religion, can only be found in the book. I am also ex-Catholic so this is high-key my shit. Especially knowing Anne Rice went back and forth later in life. I can relate. Louis wants to talk about his feelings with other vampires, but Lestat and Claudia aren't interested, which is the main reason Louis is attracted to Armand. Where is the Brideshead Revisited crossover?? Louis get in a bisexual love triangle with the Flytes for me🙏

I learned in the Matt Baume video on Anne Rice that she wrote IWTV while grieving her daughter, who died of leukemia just before her sixth birthday. This feeling of grief, reflected so clearly in Claudia, is the most moving and unique aspect of the book, far more than anything between the adult characters.

One reason this feeling is watered-down in both adaptations is that in the book, Claudia is only 5/6, the age of Anne's real daughter. In the movie she is 10 and in the show 14. Of course it would be impossible to find a 6 year old actress who could act with the maturity of an 80-year-old woman. But the character is even more pitiful and bizarre as a little child than as one nearing puberty.

In the book, Lestat is shown to have survived the murder attempt pretty early on, and he keeps jump-scaring Louis and Claudia on their adventures. I prefer the movie's version where they hold off on this reveal. Though of course I always love to see him, lol

In the book, I got the impression that Lestat and Louis are both bi, but Lestat prefers men and Louis prefers women. Still, their motivations aren't driven by sexuality in a straightforward way. For example, Lestat's ideal prey is a young man, because he loves to destroy their potential. Louis feels something like love for a few women characters, because he feels empathy for their misfortunes.

The adaptations soften/change Louis' status as a slave-owner; in the movie, he frees his slaves, and in the book he just flees. As much as Louis is a soft-hearted quasi-feminist, defined by his guilt and regret, he is still racist and close-minded in most ways. This seems realistic to me.

I did think it was interesting and cool that the enslaved people can tell Louis and Lestat aren't human, while the other plantation owners and even Lestat's dad have no idea. But we don't get their perspective, just Louis' racist assumptions.

Yeah in the book Lestat has a dad! It is rather confusing since Lestat explains nothing, but it creates some great melodrama. I guess I have to read the next one and hope for a backstory reveal.

Fun spooky detour into Eastern Europe! I hope the show goes there in season 2.

Louis and Armand's discussions are really cool. I especially loved Louis' monologues after Claudia's death. There wasn't room for these discussions in the movie, but I feel like it'll be a main focus in season 2 of the show.

movie:

Like I said, the movie is impressively accurate, and a beautiful work of art on its own. The best innovation is holding off on the Lestat reveal until almost the very end. This makes it look like their murder attempt really did a number on him, and it took decades and decades of rat-eating to even drag himself out of the swamp. I like that.

The movie also has a more exciting and ridiculous ending, in which Lestat attacks the reporter in his car and drives away to Guns N' Roses. The book ends with the reporter hurrying off to find Lestat himself. It's funnier and more awesome if Lestat is the one driving the plot and the car. Pleased to meet you :D

"How avant-garde." Best line in the movie, and it's not from the book!

Since the movie cut out most of the minor characters, there isn't as much evidence for Louis' bisexuality. Louis seems more like, gay but closeted. And Lestat seems more like, gay but misogynist, so he'll prey on women just for sport lol.

I'm a Fight Club guy so I love that this is, like, a reverse companion movie (this time, Brad Pitt is the pushover in a dangerous gay duo)

show:

This is the only version that is clearly gay. But this dynamic is the same: Louis wants to talk about things, and Lestat does not. In this case, the focus of these discussions is not vampirism or religion but their relationship. Louis points out that he is gay and Lestat is bi. Perhaps it's just because I saw this version first, but this is my favorite version of their sexualities. The show simply spends more time with this dynamic, and how it affects everything, including their interracial relationship and openness in society.

In the book, Lestat is a talented but soulless musician. He can play anything, but without heart. In the show, music is Lestat's one genuine connection to humanity (even if this connection just leads him to kill musicians who don't impress him). I believe later books go more into Lestat as a musician, so I'll have more thoughts on this later.

Since the reporter is cynical, old, and dying, this creates a much more compelling conversation within the framing device. He holds Louis to task with a forcefulness that rivals Lestat. It is a clever way of modernizing the story, since Daniel references their last interview in the 70s (when the book was published), and you are meant to wonder which version is more truthful.

Since Claudia is 14, she can pass as an adult, and she is able to go on her own rather disastrous adventure. It is exciting, terrifying, and sad, and a welcome addition for this character, though it is much different than the book's helpless, heartless Claudia.

The Catholicism in the show is flashier, but not as interesting as the book. For example, in the book, Louis is haunted not just by Paul's death, but Louis' failure to meet Paul's faith-driven monetary demands. In the show, Paul's ideas seem like more of an annoyance. Maybe there will be more religious doubt in season 2, but I don't really expect it.

In the book, it seems like Louis and Claudia throw Lestat in the swamp since it's faster and more thorough than fire. In the show, the oven they use is a major plot point, and Louis can't bear to put Lestat's body in it because he still loves him. Instead they throw Lestat in the trash, which is one of my favorite tropes (see: Maul in The Clone Wars, Soldier 1998). This is just one of the many ways the show complicates and deepens Louis and Lestat's bond.

I feel like the show is more believable and has more deepness in general, since it's a smart retrospective on an old franchise and a response to decades of vampire fun in pop culture. For example, in the show Louis has volunteer humans to feast upon, and it's very "safe, sane, and consensual," versus the universally predatory relationships in the book and movie. Because we all know now that if vampires were real, and they were hot and rich, they could get all the blood they want without hurting anyone. An ethical vampire like Louis isn't impossible anymore. Compared to other billionaires, he's a pretty decent guy.

So, I'd say the book has the most profound perspective on grief, the movie has better structure, and the show has the most complex romance.

#interview with the vampire #iwtv #iwtv 1976 #iwtv 1994 #iwtv 2022

[another-lost-mc]

JES YOU UPDATED, the kids miss you/j

I've been busy doing a lot of nothing, if that makes sense. Well, maybe not nothing - a random assortment of rl and blog odds-and-ends that don't seem very productive but I'm going to call it self-care. lol

(read more cause this got longer than I thought it would.)

I don't usually take March Break off work, but my empty schedule this year surprised me and I didn't really know what to do with myself. I spent the first few days fending off a persistent headache, then I spent some time re-watching Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel while I worked on some crossover/fusion potential with OM. Today the headache is back and I'm dog-sitting which shouldn't be as distracting as it is. (She's only a little Boston Terrier but my cats get all worked up about it even though they're the ones stalking her around the house for no reason.)

I've also been playing Honkai Star Rail. I have no idea what I'm doing but it's kind of fun. I want to give Genshin Impact a try too, but I'm not sure I want to play both. (I know dailies are optional blah blah blah but if I'm going to spend time doing busywork like that, I might as well go back to playing WoW.)

Someone sent me another ask about my current WIPs so I think I'll just ramble about them here.

The canon cast and OC post for surgery!anon. I'm trying to balance fluff and angst and realism and make it comforting at the same time (aka what I would've wanted to read before mine). There's some overlap with a post about Solomon's humanity that's it's own separate WIP.

Naming conventions in the Devildom and CR. These are my worldbuilding ideas to explain how Solomon has an established pact with Bathin (my OC for Mephisto's younger brother) since he's part of the Ars Goetia. This also discusses how those same ideas apply to Luke.

Fleshing out the angel OC stuff with Gabriel and Uriel. They're situated in the AU where MC is sent to the CR for the exchange program and not the Devildom which is why I haven't talked about them much. I have the fem!angel OC as well but I don't know what to name her (I want her to be like Zee where she's an "ordinary" angel). To be fair, she's probably not going to show up much outside of the story I originally wrote for her.

Genderbending-the-OCs anon, you have no idea what this is doing to me. It changes their kinks and their dynamics and how they would approach MC and I am mentally screaming into a pillow right now.

I've been writing directly in my Tumblr drafts lately, but I found a holiday fic for Solomon in my google docs. I thought it was a WIP but then I re-read it and it turns out I actually finished it and somehow forgot about it? Like...how does someone even do that. Anyway, do we want a smutty Solomon Xmas-in-March fic? (It's only holiday-ish because of a corny mistletoe joke on his part.)

On a random note, part of me regrets not making separate blogs for AT and my OCs (for organizational purposes) and I'm lowkey tempted to do it anyway.

If you read all this, you get a prize! Enjoy some chibis that I've been collecting like they're for my OC Pokedex. These are by sempa and ocha respectively.

#jes.replies

[zepskies]

Writer Tag

Thank you so much for tagging me @venus-haze! As always, your responses on this were really interesting and got me thinking about my answers. (Here's the original post.)

So these first questions are geared toward Ao3 stories.

How many works do you have on AO3? 48 and counting.

What's your total AO3 word count? Aw geez. According to the statistics page, 1,022,400.

(But I have more fics listed in Tumblr thanks to headcanons and things not yet posted in Ao3.)

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Every Loyalty - (Jon Snow x OC)

And So It Goes - (Butcher x OC)

Never Say Goodbye - (Dean Winchester x Reader)

Break Me Down - (OC Version | Soldier Boy x OC)

Checkerboard - (Soldier Boy x Reader)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes! Always. I love getting feedback and engaging with the people who take the time to read my work. 💜

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending? Ooh, it's gotta be this imagine in SPN fandom: "Sam crosses the line." In which he's in love with Dean's girlfriend.

(Sequel to "You are Dean's one exception.")

What the fic you've written with the happiest ending? Well, most of my stories have happy endings. But probably Never Say Goodbye (Dean W. x Reader). It's a soulmate AU, so very rom-com and fluffy, despite all the drama they went through.

Though I could also say the same of the last story in the Midnight Espresso-verse: In Bad Weather.

Do you write crossovers? No, I don't. I've enjoyed reading a few though.

Have you ever received hate on a fic? Yes, unfortunately lol. It's inevitable for as long as I've been writing though.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Oh yes lol. I'm a romantic though, so it's often a mix of fluff, straight up romance, occasionally dashed with angst and/or hurt/comfort.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not to my knowledge. (I hope not!)

Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope, but I've received solicitations lol.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yeah, when I was a teenager just starting out writing, I used to write with one of my best friends growing up. (We're still good friends to this day.)

What's your all-time favorite ship? That's pretty much impossible. 🤣 It depends on the fandom! Nowadays I tend to write for OCs or reader inserts though.

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will? Ooof, nothing recent. But I finally finished And So It Goes, which took me 3 years for some reason. 🙃

Though I do have both a Jason Teague x OC series and a Smallville Clark Kent x OC series outlined that realistically, I probably won't get to. 💔

What are your writing strengths? I've been told I'm good at dialogue and keeping canon characters in character, which is always amazing to hear! I try my best.

What are your writing weaknesses? Action scenes and smut scenes are my biggest writing challenges, though I've been told I do a decent job at them. I know I tend to use adverbs a lot lol (I'm trying to curb that).

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? So I try to minimize use of this, but, I've gotten critiqued (putting it mildly) on this before for two reasons. Admittedly, I've had to revise myself in certain use cases, but also, there are slang words and phrases in certain Spanish cultures that wouldn't make sense to another Hispanic/Latino culture that doesn't use the word/phrase. So sometimes, it's not that it's wrong grammatically, but that it's slang.

What was the first fandom you wrote for? Oh jeezus, probably Chronicles of Narnia fandom when I was like, 10 and brand new to writing. 😂

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to? Ooh a tough one. I feel like there are so many! I do have a story I had outline years ago now for Steve Rogers/Captain America back in the MCU fandom (which I've written in before). But that fandom is a bit intimidating. 😂

What's your favorite fic you've written? Also really tough for me. I think it's a tie between two series:

Break Me Down (Soldier Boy x Reader)

Midnight Espresso (Dean W. x Plus-Sized Latina!Reader)

One totally took me by surprise by how much I enjoyed writing the series and the characters (and figuring out how to write Soldier Boy/Ben 😂).

While the other allowed me to be a little more indulgent with myself, writing from my personal experience and my culture.

The responses on both stories have been amazing and incredibly heartwarming. 💗

No pressure tags:

@thatonewriter15 @waywardxwords @impala-dreamer @dean-winchester-is-a-warrior @deanwritings @deanwinchesterswitch @deanbrainrotwritings @kaleldobrev -- and whoever else wants to join! 💜

#writer tag game #Ao3 #Supernatural #spn #the boys #game of thrones #jon snow #billy butcher #soldier boy #dean winchester #jason teague #sam winchester #clark kent #dean winchester x reader #smallville #soldier boy x reader #soldier boy x oc #butcher x oc #jon snow x oc #dean winchester x you #soldier boy x you #favorite fics #getting feedback #on writing #writers who tumblr #writers on ao3 #writing strengths and weaknesses

[slice-0f-anime]

Young RinHaru is everything

I know this is my first post on this blog but it isn't my first time ranting, so buckle up and hear me out!

Also, disclaimer: my ships are my ships, and your ships are yours. If you're a MakoHaru or SouRin or basically anything but a RinHaru shipper, I respect you, and hope that you'll respect me in turn, so please don't attack me for my opinions ty!

Genuinely. What. Is up with Haru and Rin in the Free! movie about their youth??? "High Speed! Free! Starting Days!"????

Guys, it took me the longest time ever to even bring myself to watch that movie for 2 different reasons: 1) Rin was not in it, and 2) Someone on Reddit said it was very MakoHaru coded.

It's pretty obvious by the name of the post but I don't ship MakoHaru. Yes they have cute moments sometimes that melt my heart, but overall Haru takes Makoto for granted pretty often, and it only really hit him that he might lose his friend when Makoto said he was going to uni in Tokyo. Anyways, that's unrelated since I'm trying to talk about the movie, but yeah I really only see them as best friends that support each other.

Getting back to the main point, I really wasn't interested in watching a movie that not only didn't have my favorite shark in it, but also heavily featured a ship I didn't like. Then I decided those were pathetic reasons not to watch it, and the prospect of seeing young Makoto won me over.

And then I watched it. And.

Why didn't anybody tell me that despite the fact that Rin isn't even in this movie, the fact that he isn't there is driving the entire main conflict for Haru??? It was actually a crazy surprise, I wasn't expecting that at all and I was genuinely shook by it. Nearly the whole movie, Haru is plagued by loneliness and doesn't even realize he's lonely until Ikuya breaks down. And then he acknowledges that without Rin there, he was literally struggling. So much to the point that he hallucinated Rin being there and swimming with him. Nevermind the fact that Rin was in the same school as him for maybe 3 months, he had this big of an impact and it shows. Basically a lot of the movie was Haru being sad that Rin was gone, and he still angsts over him until episode 1 when Rin is back from Australia.

Also, his reaction to Rin's letter was so cute, and the letter itself killed me because it's so clearly a confession, one that Haru basically reciprocated. I know Japan likes censorship but oh my god Sousuke was trying to say it was a confession letter without saying it, because he said stuff like "you can see where Rin originally wrote you" and "it was one-sided like he wasn't expecting a response" (don't hold me to these, I'm a bit lazy to get the exact quotes).

You know when people do that? In CONFESSION LETTERS. And then Haru was like I want to be like you too Rin. And then I hear that this is MakoHaru coded? I mean the pool scene was cute but I wouldn't file this under the Makoharu folder just yet. I think it's one of those that goes under into the Undecided, along with Eternal Summer. I do think it's pretty obvious that the creators endgame was RinHaru though, considering what unfolded in The Final Stroke movie. I'm glad too, they finally stopped teasing millions of different ships for the sake of the fanbase, and just stuck to one.

It's pretty clear that people's ships definitely color their summary of events, seeing as the Reddit person told me this was MakoHaru without at all mentioning Rin. I do that often too, it's hard to not do so when you have an opinion, so the next best thing is to respect opinions :)

Thanks for listening to me rant about a ship I like lol, and if you wanna scream with me about RinHaru or other anime related things, feel free to hit up the dm!

#rinharu #rin matsuoka #haruka nanase #free! #free! iwatobi swim club #free! the final stroke #free! high speed #rin and haru are literally so in love idk what to do

[misc-obeyme]

OKAY I’m back on my theory bullshit. Spoilers for all the things below.

I was thinking about this post I wrote forever ago about how I thought we were dealing with past!Solomon rather than present!Solomon.

I also had a theory that there were two Solomons since he seemed to be inexplicably changing his outfits for no reason. (I didn't put that one in the masterlist and I admit that I didn't go looking for it lol. It's on my blog somewhere, possibly in one of my lesson related rants.)

And THEN I was thinking nah it has to be that these are all the same characters from the present & they’ve just had their memories erased.

Barbatos knows what’s going on. That seems plain enough to me.

Isn’t it possible that being eighth on the list was just an excuse? Because he can’t tell MC the true reason for his anger. So he's doing it for MC's sake and to keep up appearances? It doesn't really matter, though, 'cause this post ain't about him lol.

I still think my original theory about Solomon might be right, but there are a couple other things I think might be happening.

MASSIVE DISCLAIMER: I love Solomon. I always have, I always will. I don't mind if other people don't like him, I totally get it. We all have characters we don't like. But I just wanted to be clear, it's all good either way and I think everyone's opinion is valid. <3

Scenario One: We really did go back in time and this really is a past version of all the characters. Events are now being changed due to MC's presence.

Scenario Two: We're in a simulation of the past, these are all the same present characters, but with their memories wiped. This is why events are happening differently than how they did before.

Scenario Three: None of the characters are real and the whole thing is a simulation and MC has been in a coma all along.

I don't really think it's that last one, but man if that turns out to be it, I will be so angry.

Anyway, I think we're either dealing with past!Solomon who knows stuff because he knows Nightbringer and/or because he used Barb's powers to look into the future to learn about MC (see my original post for more about that) OR we're dealing with someone disguising themselves as Solomon part of the time (thus the changing outfits).

There has to be a reason why they showed us that hard lesson where Michael took on Raphael's entire appearance to travel to the Devildom himself. (Though I admit the reason could just have been about Michael and nothing to do with trying to showcase how identities can be misleading.)

If characters can do that, who's to say that isn't what Nightbringer's been doing all along?

And I can't imagine who Nightbringer would pretend to be other than Solomon, the one who knows the most about what's happening, the one who's currently closest to MC, the one who could actually influence how things go at this point.

I'M JUST SAYING.

This nonsense has been stewing in my brain since April. I'm so annoyed, I just wanna know what happens so I don't have to think about it anymore, even if it's a terrible resolution that I hate lol.

Anyway, that's it. I just needed to rant about it for a minute. I'm gonna go back to fic writing now. It's much healthier for my mental state.

#it's been a minute since I wrote a theory post #but for some reason this has been on my mind again #I just want the answers already I'm so tired #obey me #obey me nightbringer #obey me nightbringer theory #misc rambles #misc might also be going slightly insane but that is unrelated I swear

[boncottontail]

Just a little announcement.

In light of the recent screenshots that resurfaced on Twitter, I’ve decided to remove 4ever from Along Came A Spider. Thor will still remain as he’s an original member of the Avengers but will be played a different QSMP character.

Even though said tweets were posted way back in 2016, I am not comfortable with how a grown ass man (21) met up with a 14 year old girl and wrote some really weird tweets about her afterwards. Even though 14 is the legal age in Brazil, it still feels really disgusting to me.

(I dropped 🟩 for the very same reason and just because 4ever is from the QSMP doesn’t mean I won’t do the same)

Good news is: since Thor is only a minor character in ACAS, all I need to do is the edit the previous chapters and replace him with Elotes (who I chose to play Thor this time around). This will take a while but I will NOT put ACAS on hiatus. I will continue to update without mentioning him (before I finish editing).

I’ll probably start editing after I finish Chapter 9.

Do know that even though this replacement will change a lot of character dynamics, it won’t affect the overarching story! So you guys don’t have to worry about the plot getting all messed up :]

I understand that some people may be disappointed by this but do take into account that is my personal decision, as seeing the tweets made me extremely uncomfortable (especially as a woman myself) and I did not struggle with the decision to remove him. I actually got stuck on which character will replace him lol but I ultimately decided on Elotes!

That’s all, beijos xxx

#along came a spider #discourse #not tagging main tags #bonnie’s fics

[notthatalex]

What are the origins of Augustus and the Chosen respectively, when did they first meet each other and what is their dynamic?

Ok so

The Chosen:

His first appearance was in a smosh Vegas episode. 'Playing Blackjack in Viva Smosh Vegas' (Sept. 2020)

How Shayne came up with the character is kinda interesting. Because he was supposed to play Aunt carolyn in that episode, but they didn't have her wig on hand. So he had to come up with something on the fly. He had a vague idea that he wanted to play a character like this already tho. He didn't have a name however, and like he came up with the name "Spencer Agnew" on the fly while being asked the question in the video. That's why a bunch of people think he was supposed to he a parody of Spencer when that was actually never the case. I think that is also the reason they don't bring up that name a lot anymore and just use "The Chosen".

Augustus:

Augustus is a actually a lot older as a character than The Chosen. But he is in a lot less videos.

His first video was 'DAMIEN KNOWS DA WAE' (Jan. 2018). A vr chat video.

After that he appeared in a bunch of maricraft videos. A minecraft let's play series on smosh games back in the day. There bunch of stuff got established about the Character and a bunch people think he got created there because they don't know about the vr chat video . He didn't get a look till 2020 though. Until then he was just a voice and name.

Augustus full name is Augustus St. Cloud and he definitely got heavily inspired by the Venture Bros Character with the exact same name. Damien never talked about it but it is a very strong educated "guess". They got the same first and last same, as well as the same voice and a couple of character traits.

Nintendogs:

Two only videos they interact in.

'POV: You entered a Gamestop'

'The Chosen vs Augustus: Bakugan'

They got posted only one day apart as well. In Nov. 2021. The ship name nintendogs came to be because in the Gamestop Video they play nintendogs together

I love their dynamic so much because they are both insufferable nerds. Also the competitive nature of their relationship. My favorite awful guys.

My hopes to ever get then in a video together again are not that high. Honestly I thought Augustus wasn't even going to show up again till the TNTL appearance a couple of days ago.

But a boy can dream.

If you want to know more and want to check out all their appearances in smosh content I wrote wiki articles for them.

The Augustus one I wrote entirely myself. So if anyone wants to add to it, fact check something or especially if I missed an appearance, I would appreciate an edit. Or tell me and I do it.

The Chosen one was already there, but it was a big mess. And I am still working on it. I edited a big chunk of it already but there is still stuff missing.

Both of them have videos that were exclusive to other platforms btw! (Facebook, Instagram). So if anyone wants more content for them, there is a chance you missed those. I listed them on their wiki pages.

I am thinking about making a wiki page for Nintendogs but I am not sure if the wiki administrators would like that lol. I fear that it would just be deleted. There is stuff about shipping on it, but it is very old and the only ship that has a page is Iananothy. Maybe I am going to ask them if I can. Idk yet haha.

Thanks for the ask hehe. I will take every chance to infodump about this I can get

#smosh #smosh the chosen #smosh augustus #smosh nintendogs #smosh games #shayne topp #damien haas

[sarandipitywrites]

Happy WBW, Saran!

Please pretend it's Wednesday, because I just found a single spoon on the floor and am gonna use it before it's gone: So your DRDW is based on a video game I know absolutely nothing about. How much of the game did you keep? Is it the same setting, same world, or something new?

Happy WBW, Elli!

"I found a single spoon on the floor" is such a mood though (I'll get to your other asks at some point, I promise - this just looked like one I actually had the brainpower to answer lol)

The quick answer to this is that the essentials (characters, setting, magic system, some plot beats) are there, but very heavily changed and expanded upon, to the point that I don't actually think you'd need to know anything about the games to understand what's going on in DRDW. The long answer is... a lot longer lol

(Putting the rest of this under a read more for spoilers for a 20-year-old game and because infodump mode was activated)

The Jak & Daxter game series is - and i say this with all the love in my heart - completely fucking bonkers. In summary: in the first game, Daxter (a human) falls into a pool of Evil Magic (dark eco) and turns into an orange otter-weasel-thing, which sends Jak on a quest to change him back. While they don't succeed at changing Daxter back, they do find a time machine (?!) which they take into the future, where Jak is promptly arrested and subjected to magical mad science experiments and injected with dark eco (this is the start of the second game). This does not, notably, turn him into an orange otter-weasel-thing, but does give him the ability to turn into a demon (and anger issues. It also gives him anger issues). He then uses these powers to overthrow the dystopian future government and save a kid who's destined to save the world because the kid is also Jak (because Jak's originally from the future, of course). He then sends the kid back to the past to repeat the cycle.

I won't get too into the third game (except for how you find out that the otter-weasel-things are actually a race of spacefaring gods, and Daxter has technically been a god all this time because Reasons?!) because DRDW doesn't cover that, but i can assure you that it is also a trip.

DRDW was originally meant to follow the canon a lot closer than it actually does. As it stands, though, I've scrapped pretty much all the events of the first game (Daxter in DRDW does not turn into a weasel god, although he did get to keep a bit of magic-ability-worldbuilding i gave him as an explanation for why dark eco would turn him into a rodent instead of a rage monster), including the time travel.

For the setting, this means that I smashed together the settings from two different time periods into one map, as well as moving things around and adding new locations where it made sense. As far as time period goes, I went for the Jak 2 time period (a little bit of 'recovered ancient tech,' but mostly modern-futuristic tech).

Without the time travel, the kid being young Jak doesn't make sense, so his story got completely changed. A couple characters didn't have anything to do, anymore, so they've been excluded (although I'm considering bringing them in for other roles in another story). This also affected how the main characters (Jak, Daxter, and Keira) grew up a lot more significantly than I expected, so while the core of their characters is similar, there are significant differences from the canon (plus i wrote them as being more explicitly neurodivergent than they are in the games [although in the games they're already pretty heavily ND-coded, in my opinion]).

In this version, Daxter also takes a bit longer to find and rescue Jak (because. Look. You give me an excuse for prison/experiment/post-whump, I am going to run that shit as far as I can, ok) - because of this, Jak is pretty much stuck in magic demon mode. So plot-wise, there are a lot of parallels to the plot line of the first game as they try to find a way to change Jak back (but it's complicated, because of course it is).

The magic system got a total overhaul - in the game, magic (eco) is very... well, video-gamey. Green heals you, blue makes you go fast, dark turns you into a monster/orange rat, etc. I put a frankly unnecessary amount of work into figuring out what eco *is* - where it comes from, how it forms in different environments, how it interacts with people, how it's used in connection with technology, etc. Tbh I spent so much time on this part that it made me consider spinning this whole story into original fiction. But when I tried, it just Felt Wrong so I put it back 😂 Really though, I think the magic system rewrite is one of the bigger factors in making this fic actually kind of comprehensible without knowledge of the games - I'm really proud of it 😊

Thank you so much for the ask (and the chance to infodump about my favorite games and favorite project 💜)

#writeblr #fanfic #jak and daxter #worldbuilding wednesday #wbw #saran answers #dead roots dark water #i can even burn salad

[rocketturtle4]

Be My Favorite - Final clowning before the finale - building on the themes of the show

Look I know I already posted after ep 11 but I have less than 24 hours before I get to watch the finale and my brain is whirling

Okay so I wrote this and in writing this the end did not go where I was expecting it to go so I'm 1 tagging more people in case y'all want to read and 2 telling you to feel free to skip down to 'so what do I think is going to happen' because I was kind of getting my brain in order before that.

(Added in at the end, this went way further than I thought so I'm tagging people based off my own interactions and @twig-tea's posts @grapejuicegay @lurkingshan @dribs-and-drabbles @williamrikers @waitmyturtles @stuffnonsenseandotherthings @pandasmagorica @benkaaoi @thegalwhorants @telomeke @ginnymoonbeam @he-is-lightning-in-a-bottle I'm not really building on a lot of other peoples meta specifically so I was unsure about tagging people, sorry if I didn't tag you and you wanted to be or I did and you didn't want to be)

Back after episode 5 I put forth the following hypothesis:

My Original Hypothesis: Kawi is going to be faced with the ultimate choice of remaining in the past or the present when the crystal ball runs out of charge and he will choose to remain in the past where he must face his uncertain future.

I also posited that the time travel was a metaphor for being unable to skip ahead in life without consequences. and that

Kawi and the people around him freeze in their character development whenever he jumps forward, so maybe his present is actually in the past.

Last episode

Now a lot of this has already played out, and Kawi kind of ultimately decided to stay in the past Last episode before that future got erased (if it did, there has been some compelling speculation around this please see @twig-tea's meta round up) I'm going off it got erased.

The difference last episode was that the future that got erased was one that was actually lived out (like Kawi's OG future) rather than one that got jumped ahead too.

This by the way is why I still feel reasonably strongly that Kawi and Piseang are only similar levels now despite Piseangs future knowledge (provided the timeline is significantly altered which my current thoughts say it will be).

Now what I actually want to talk about is that I still firmly believe that the crystal balls own limits will come into play. (okay so I do believe this but my thoughts kind of wandered in a different direction)

Choosing our Present

This show has been incredibly smart, and the emphasis on Kawi choosing his own present is something I still feel will come into play, even if it's a combined choice between Kawi and Piseang in Ep 12

[Images of Old Guy saying: Think less about the future...make the most of the present...but first you should be sure where your present is]

Now half the reason I made my original long post (after ep 5) was because lots of people were speculating about Kawi eventually choosing to live on in uncertainty in the future and I honestly think with Piseang on equal grounds this is more likely than I thought it was back in ep 5. Even though it's still not my preferred theory.

(honestly there is so many good ways this show could end that I wasn't going to bother to make a post but thoughts were whirling so here we are)

Also we do not know if the Crystal Ball allows TWO PEOPLE TO TRAVEL - if it did I feel like this would be more okay??

(Just to be clear I don't know if anyone has speculated about them travelling together but it's something I'd been speculating about to myself lol)

So if Kawi and Piseang do go the route of staying in the future ONE OF THEM WILL HAVE TO TAKE THE LONG ROAD.

Now that they are both aware and have come back, once Piseang tells Kawi the truth (which I believe he will do early in the Ep) if they do decide to go forward WHAT does this mean for the frozenness/consciousness implications???

this is a key reason I think the past may be the ultimate choice, they both had to live forward slowly once and jump back, If Piseang were to jump forward with Kawi KNOWING of this jump, I just don't think it would ever be the same.

I am aware jumping forward had memory fill in but I just feel like the show, to me, has made it pretty clear that jumping forward is like skipping ahead and the time's in between are only half remembered and beyond your control.

Even if Piseang has already lived them...he won't ACTUALLY HAVE LIVED THEM...to me anyway.

So what do I think is going to happen?

there may be one more jump forward (&back in my opinion) by Piseang as he tries to go the route of fixing the future

If he jumps back to the future IT WILL BE MEANINGFULLY DIFFERENT (Maybe he and Kawi won't be together anymore) so he'll go back again

as for the rest, I'm sticking with my original post-ep11 prediction, but I also expand on it more below

Fighting for our Future by Fighting in the Present

Like maybe they've both had a chance to live to the future, and now they have to fight for a better one? Our adorable relationship montage didn't include much fighting and given we had the LGBTQIA+ POWER Episode a few weeks ago that got everyone up and writing, I feel like the message in the last episode could focus back in on these themes in a way that would be INCREDIBLY satisfying. Especially now they've BOTH been to the future and come back.

I can see how thematically Piseang staying in the past now may feel unfulfilling, like he only got a do-over because of magic, but personally, the message that I have felt most strongly through the show is about the dangers of being passive so let me explain:

None of our characters were fighting for what they wanted in the OG future:

Max had given up and gone overseas

Piseang had given up and was marrying Pear

Who knows how Pear felt but Piseang didn't actually love her so she may have felt like she was settling even if it wasn't conscious

Kawi has just given up entirely

(Kwan and Not were probably in a horribly unfulfilling one sided friends with benefits arrangement but who knows)

We have seen that Kawi coming back and choosing not to be passive has had a huge impact on everyone's lives.

When Kawi and Piseang get together they sort of move back into passivity

@bengiyo in particular has pointed out that Kawi doesn't seem to be doing a whole lot in his domestic bliss, now there's nothing wrong with that but this show has SO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT FIGHTING FOR QUEER RIGHTS I just feel like the happy montage is meant to feel off because they've stopped fighting

Piseang and Kawi have achieved their personal goals but what about the goals of all queers?

And then what happens? Kawi get's seriously sick and Piseang is not considered his family because outside their perfect bubble of calm the world hasn't agreed that they're equal

There was an unrelated tumblr post that circled through my dash this week about how the priorities of queer people changed with the AIDS epidemic and the death of a lot of people. The voices of the minority stopped saying: take us as we are, and started saying: we'll be whatever you want.

I feel like epiosde 11 was kind of accidently tied into this. Kawi and Piseang have got their bliss and live in it. Yet when push comes to shove their bliss is shattered by not being considered each others family because in a way, they kind of stopped fighting.

There is a lot of division right now, and things seem to be going backwards in some places, most prominantly the USA, People from the queer community thinking they've got what they wanted so they can stop fighting and while yes, everybody has to live their own exhausting lives already and it sucks that everyday is a struggle just because you weren't born as some sort of norm. But the fact of the matter is, change is only going to happen and keep happening if we never give in, celebrate the victories yes...but stop because our personal goal has been reached?

So ultimately I think Ep12 is about how everyone, everywhere, will keep being affected by the inequality unless we all keep fighting. that descending into passivity, (whether it be sad or blissful), will have consequences, even if those consequences are many years down the line.

That is why I think it will be satisfying if they stay in the past

That is what I think the takeaway of the show will be.

If this isn't the goal of the show then the ending will for sure be different!! I'm honestly looking forward to what it is even if I'm totally off base.

Mostly this has been the first show that I've been engaged in here on tumblr from nearly the start. It has been an absolute blast clowning with you all.

#be my favorite #be my favorite meta #be my favorite the series #be my favorite time travel #rturts is wondering #long post

[iheartgod175]

Some MORE Thoughts…

—I’ve actually had the hankering to do some art again after like a month, haha ^^ Taking a month hiatus from creating to refill my creative well has done me some wonders, because now I feel a lot more inspired and ready to write and draw!

—An idea that I’ve had for the last couple of days was including Dragon Tales into SRBA. My childhood lives! I love how at this point, the remastered SRBA is kinda becoming the MCU, lol—after all, I kinda have it set that the Super Readers would meet WordGirl and the characters from Santiago of the Seas, so why the heck not XD That means I’m gonna have to go back and fix the timeline again to include this.

—And in case anybody was wondering what other shows would be featured in this AU, it’s currently Santiago of the Seas, WordGirl, Dragon Tales and (possibly) Arthur. The later I put in brackets because I’m not sure how it’d work yet ^^;

—I am still working on that KonoSuba/Star Fox story, but most of it is just brainstorming fifty million ideas. I do have some cool ideas for a potential sequel starring either Slippy or Beltino. Why? Well, I wanted to challenge myself writing a character that I eventually grew to appreciate—as I wrote in the original post, Fox and Falco would fit in with KonoSuba perfectly, but it’s too obvious a choice. Putting in a happy-go-lucky mechanic with no sense of flying in a world like KonoSuba’s would be hilarious—or a mild-mannered scientist like Beltino. All I know is that either one of them would end up in Kazuma’s party, and Slippy and Aqua would butt heads because of her hatred for toads, LOL.

—2024 is not being kind to Love Livers thus far. I still think the whole “Love Live disappears but Revue Starlight is eternal” meme compilation is hilarious, though. Power creep and insane rates will not stop this game, I swear. Oh, and speaking of Revue Starlight, it’s been loving me again?? I’ve had better luck getting the 5-stars recently than I have had getting the birthday cards the last few years?! Which is good news for me, because my Wind, Moon and Space teams SUCK and I needed some better cards in order to prep for both Star Arena matches and future Trophy Roads.

—Kinda hopped back onto my Multo/Zeeter mood again, so I’ve been working on Love Language in between working on that StarFox/KonoSuba idea. I’m trying out a new writing routine, and hopefully, I can finish the first chapter sometime this year!

—Speaking of them, I was rereading my notes for that Revue Starlight inspired AU and I need to write out a post yelling about that. I literally have like six to seven pages of notes!

—Started Atelier Resleriana and it’s kinda cute! I’ve heard of the Atelier series, but never got a chance to play any of the games. But I’m liking it so far.

—Racing to get to the next few chapters of HI3rd. I’m kinda stoked for Part 2!

—And since I also got hit with the mood for it a few days ago, I’m going to be doing some in-depth notes about the Cerulean Avenger story, namely regarding the characters and what all to expect. The reason for that? It relates to the art I’m going to drop after making this post! 😁

#hanna-barbera #super why #the zula patrol #dragon tales #atelier resleriana #sif2 #konosuba #star fox #shojo kageki revue starlight #honkaimpact3rd #ramblings

[ygiroadrift]

Marinated Doodles: Eastern Mind Humanization edition

Second draft! and this one is more oriented towards my attempt of humanizing them, including the first time I drew Tou gyou humanized:

This had been posted on twitter a long time ago; I just haven't posted it now lol. This is the first time I tried drawing old people blindly (haha get it? I did't use any references, and Tougyou's main eyes are missing; therefore he's blind... Okay I'll stop myself there.)

Aside from that, I was wondering what my humanizations could have looked like if it's more "time accurate". IN other words, what they would have looked like if their clothes are adjusted to their time period:

I would say that I was exploring blindly in that doodle, as certain clothes and attributes may not be correct, so please don't take this one seriously. I like to think that the four kings would have fancy attributes, while Tou gyou would be more humble / not as fancy as ther others, maybe. King gyou... would have been the one most open towards western influence (in my opinion), so his attribute is more mixed up.

Anywways, more of the other kings (and Sha, and Jin, for some reason)

Sha was originally going to have pointy nails, but I later completely forgot about it. oops

Moku gyou was the hardest for me to figure out what his human appearance would look like. Like I can see it directly for the other Kings, but Moku gyou was hard as hell for some reason... I DONT EVEN REMEMBER WHY

(btw, you may notice that the left doodle of Moku-gyou has the writing "Hassel insp?" - the ref that I used when I was trying to figure out his hair was a Pokemon character name Hassel LMAO)

Also I think it would be funny if Jin is like. bald LMAO.

NOTE: It's a mystery on what the lives of Rin's reincarnations were like before they lost their souls, but this is my jab on Jin lol. Jin has the energy of a middle aged men who had succumbed to his greed and was reborn in Tongnou with such a pitiful life. He's the fool that believed wealthiness; symbolised with gold; was the solution to everything perhaps.... His greed for gold (and possibly lack of gratitude) heavily weighted down his karma and so he was reborn in Tongnou that way perhaps.... His dedication for gold was the reason why his reborn body was too weak for Rin's soul perhaps.... Though I will admit that this entire thing; I wrote this off of memory and I haven't looked back to his actual bio again. So I might have missed some stuff in there, my bad.

Rambling aside, have some digital ones.

#ygiromadethis #ygirorambles #digital art #artists on tumblr #eastern mind #traditional art #osamu sato #humanization #gijinka

[stars-and-darkness]

20 questions for fic writers!

many many thanks to @garglyswoof for tagging m

How many works do you have on ao3? 63. i need to calm down.

What's your total ao3 word count? 747 502. i need to calm down.

What fandoms do you write for? the vampire diaries, shadow & bone, avatar: the last airbender, star wars, marvel. also, that one suez canal x ever given fic, and that one goncharov fic.

Top five fics by kudos: A Queen's Gamble (you know it's an old one if the title is capitalised lmao), make them bow., the fate makes for a lousy poet., where the heart moves the stones, nyctophilia.

Do you respond to comments? i try. i am not very good at it, but every now and then i sit down, crack my knuckles, and go about emptying my poor inbox.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? the end. is like ... the only fic i ever wrote that ended unhappily.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? see above, lol, literally everything else. i'm a wuss.

Do you get hate on fics? i mean ... not really? i would mostly classify the rude things i got as entitlement rather than hate. the impression i usually got was that those people liked my writing style, or the plot, or characterisation, or whatever--there was just one thing or several that they wanted to happen differently, and they felt the need to tell me that.

Do you write smut? looooooo, no, my ace ass would probably spontaneously combust.

Craziest crossover: i don't suppose i've ever written an actual crossover, but today i put dracula-the-historical-figure into the vampire diaries universe, so ....

Have you ever had a fic stolen? ... maybe? okay, strap yourselves: a few years ago someone asked if they could translate a fic of mine into spanish and post it on wattpad, and i said yes. (THIS is one of the reasons why i don't allow translations anywhere but ao3 anymore). they did, and they sent me the link. i linked the translation to my fic, the usual. then, a lot later, i actually went to check their post, and i realised that i wasn't credited though the person said they would. yaaaaay.

Have you ever had a fic translated? well, other than the fiasco up there, the incredible @winterandmistletoe, who made the edit that graces the beginning of make them bow., has two chapters of the russian translation of that fic up on ao3. there's also been an offer to translate The Manifesto of a Last Love into russian, but that one hasn't been posted yet.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? i have not! and honestly, i don't think i'd be very good at it. i'm a bit of a tyrant, so in an effort NOT to be perceived as such i'd probably be super lenient of whatever the other people came up with even if i didn't necessarily like it. i'm pretty particular in my tastes, and one of the things i love about writing fic is that i have nobody but myself to answer to.

All time favorite ship? ehhhhh, nooo, i can't choose between my children!

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? considering that tvd has had me in its claws for two years now, it feels unlikely i'll ever go back to my wips in other fandoms. you never know of course, but it feels that way. i mean. those unfinished wips don't exactly haunt me, but sometimes i remember them and feel awful about it, lmao.

What are your writing strengths? i'm told i do dialogue and humour well!

What are your writing weaknesses? ughhhhh probably action? it's so hard. oh! and my tendency to describe how a character's eyes look in every other sentence.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language? SO fun fact that dracula fic that i posted today? the one where half the dialogue is in french? i had originally written it all IN FRENCH, and then decided to take mercy on my readers and just put the english translation into italics. yeah. anyway, rule of thumb, ig: if the pov character understands what's being said, then english in italics (or if it's just a sentence or two the spoken language with a footnote). if they can hear individual words, then the language that's being spoken, without translation. if they hear only gibberish--maybe they're super unfamiliar with the language, maybe it's being spoken very fast or with an accent--then just 'character x says something in z'.

First fandom you wrote in? marvel, for my own peace of mind. star wars is the first one i actually posted for.

Favorite fic you've written? again, you can't ask me to pick between my children.

tagging: @morningstargirl666 @kirythestitchwitch @helpless-in-sleep @marxandangels @purplesigebert @darkestgrays @averseunhinged

#tag game #ella originals

[skyfallscotland]

So I’m looking for some advice. My therapist has suggested I find a hobby to help keep me productive instead of sitting in my depression. So, I decided to start writing again. This has led me to start my own fic for Fourth Wing. It has definitely brought me more joy than I was expecting, however I’m also having a lot of doubts on my own talent.

I’m afraid I’m getting too stuck in the details! I’m getting frustrated trying to keep to the original story while expanding my own character within it. Then there’s the whole other issue of being grammatically correct surrounding dialogue and details and I guess just general sentence structure (anyone else can relate?).

Do you have any advice or suggestions on writing? Anything to keep me from hitting a wall? I admire your writing and honestly feel that you’d understand the mental struggle I’m having, soley based on how you fleshed out Remi’s mental health in your brilliant fic.

Thank you if you decide to answer!!

🖤🖤

That's so good that you're getting enjoyment out of it though! It really helped me too. What kind of fic are you writing? Is it with an original character? I find that a lot easier because you're not confined to the characterisation of the canon characters.

In what way do you feel stuck? With the plot? Because you can always change aspects of it if you're not feeling it, it's still fun to read and that's what fanfiction is all about.

For me personally, some of this is why I don't post as I write, because I need the time to go back over things. I also write non-linearly sometimes. So what that looks like for me is that I write what I feel like writing - if I feel like writing the first kiss scene even though it's five chapters in the future, I write that and put it aside to come back to, then go back and fill in the blanks. Things like that tend to help keep me from hitting a wall.

If you're not feeling it right now too, try and write something else! I'm stuck at a section of Truth & Talon right now, for no particular reason, my brain is just finding it boring and doesn't want to initiate, so I'm writing something else today to give it a break and then I'll come back to it.

I also tend to just write how I want to write and then I'll come back and edit things over and over. For Truth & Talon I wrote like twelve chapters and I was happy with the story but then I felt like Xaden was too out of character, so I went back and edited again and again. It kind of helps me to do that rather than worry about getting things like that 'right' the first time.

When I go back and edit like that I often change a lot of thing for grammar and structure as well. I always find it best to just write when you're feeling it, pour your soul (and grievances lol) out onto the page and then come back and do the finishing touches later. I google a lot of grammatical questions.

Also, remember the characters and plot in the original text are a certain way, yes, but whoever you're writing can be a catalyst for change. They influence the people and events around them, so don't be afraid to change what 'should' happen or how people 'should' be. Canon-Xaden would never open up to Violet the way he does to Remi, but that's because she's taught him how to.

Lastly, if there's something you want to write and you're stuck, read a little and see how other people handle it. For smut for example there's heaps of smut thesaurus' out there that I use, but if I'm stuck with a specific type of scene, I'll search out one-shots with that theme and see how other people do it, that can make it easier for your brain to come up with 'your way' of it, if that makes sense?

Try not to feel too hard on yourself, it really is just a 'practice makes perfect' situation.

I am the least concise person ever, so if any other writers can chime in, feel free! 🖤

#writer things

[seven-stars-in-his-palm]

okay but hold me like you scared to sounds so good already (they all sound so good tbh but this one piqued my interest lol) what's it about? and for the fanfic questions 32, 50 and J :))

@frappe-the-peppermint WE GOT ONE 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 ahem oh wow who said that. anyway ill do the questions first then get into fic discussion…

32) Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you?

i listen to SO MUCH MUSIC!!!!! it depends on what im wrting tbh but i just queue up a bunch of songs in my liked playlist and write and write until it ends or im no longer on that flow. and well my music taste is an absolute mess so there isnt any one definitive band or genre that does it for me (i only pay attention Sometimes) but i suppose artists like mitski and queen would be a decent summary of my taste 😅

50) How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction?

gravity falls, no stop. the first one that ever piqued my interest was versability (originally on ff.net me thinks) and god damn it HOOKED ME!!!! gravity falls was already getting me up but wow that just got me SO MUCH HIGHER. i have a few authors i started binge reading like thesnadger and pinesinthewoods, i started extracting fics from reccs from tumblr artists, soon discovered ao3, and never looked back. and as for writing fic,,,,, well frankly it was the search for the cure’s original form that got me GOING!!!! it originally had crappy ocs as the forefronters but i soon changed that lmao (im definitely not saying theyre bad in general, just those… no) and i wrote So Much For It on my notes app. i didnt realize i culd actually show people until way later, in which i did, and realized that it could actually be better. thats why i reversed back to part one, made the story a part two, scapped the ocs, and…now we’re here. i still love it and gravity falls, i dont really show it here anymore. i really should, man. i need to write for them again!!!! it still excites me!!!! and the prose that im weaving now,,,, id DEMOLISH THE GAME!!!!!!! :)

J) what your favorite fanfic trope? have you written it?

honestly i think just showing you my favorted ao3 tags will paint a very detailed picture. here:

though i suppose if i had to pick one here…god its between time loop and presumed dead (and grief/moruning but idk if thats a trope so much as it is a theme). MMMMMMMM. mmmmm. just YES. the psychological affects of both being a time loop and thinking someone you love is dead but they arent actually are DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!! they are a MUST HAVE. i daydream constantly, but i havent written time loop yet because while i love it, i havent hadthe motive to write such a thing myself. reading is chill ✊ and presumed dead well i try to throw it is as much as i can, the most recent ive used being a west end town and my favorite being that one kid from jersey ! i need to do more of these fr. its just so GOOD!!!!!!

okay. its finally time for the brainwashing discussing of the fic ! i can tell you alllll about that story and it will be my pleasure sonny 🫡 its a very long story. but short verison in case you dont want to go on: its a Titanic epic . april 1912. iceberg. ive read a few that are AMAZING, but i wanted to write one that catered it allll to Me. it has lesbians, heaven sucking ass, flood parallels, and a king of the world AND draw me like one of your french girls scene. very nice 🔥

okay now its time for the long story. so a super super long time ago for a post i cant even remember (i really wanna find it 😭😭) i for someone reason went on a tangent about the titanic. i had just read this fic called sinking into the sea which was tbh VERY GOOD (and i would read it again fr fr ) but at the time, i was kinda bummed that aziraphale and crowley never actually Interacted when i had expected. aziraphale didnt even know crowley was there!!! it left me feeling melancholy, and realizing that all of the titanic fics ive ate up to that point didnt HIT hit the spot (i didnt find this after this realization, but again, theyre not even on the boat 🤧) so i was feeling a bit incomplete. i started ranting and ranting it was a wholeee wall of a text of what I would do with a titanic story and i realized oh wait i can Do Something with this because i haev free will and actual (somewhat) coherent skill. pepper jumped on the wagon, REALLY REALLY encouraged which i cant thank enough for, and….we’re here. its brewing. i had a very large interest in the titanic for a long time before this tbh, so being able to insert it into The Interest just JUMPSTARTED my brain and it still does to this day. now for the plot….

its 2020, a year after the apocalypse (no pandemic). anathema, newt, brian, crowley, and aziraphale have been assigned to plan adam’s 12th birthday party—they shenanigan, as you do. on the day of the party (adam’s birthday) anathema and newt find a chest in jasmine cottage’s attic full of titanic relics, including a pack of polaroid photos (handheld cameras did indeed exist in 1912, i checked !) which kinda might sort of have a photo of aziraphale and crowley!?!?! it was sent to them about six months before. but after the whole Second Volume fiasco, anathema just sort of wrote it off in that way and Hid It. but newt was curious, he found it, and god it was writtent his way wasnt it. (well, not by the nutter they were thinking of actually). anathema confronts them about itsoon after, and they all sit down to hear the story of the titanic in a sort of rose dawson beat. then its 1912—50ish years since the holy water incident and almost a century since the resurrectionists disaster. aziraphale has been assigned to take this trip to new york for Some Reason (we found out why later) and happened to invite crowley to come along to attempt to make amends after Allat (he really does feel bad, but he will NOT do the holy water thing yet </3) shit occurs, but history atlarge will not be rewritten. it does change their story, though. adding a sprinkle of interest in the device family line. agnes prophec(y)(ies), dancing on deck under the stars, playing cards with humans and winning by a Lot, aziraphale’s artistic skills are put to use at one point—ughghgufhits just so DEAR TO ME!!!!! and of course the conflict will come later, especially considering the religious connections to the titanic sinking—“not even God can sink this ship” type conversation 🥰 aziraphale can and will be made uncomfortable. its for the character development dont worry about it. i even have a playlist for this fic (it sorted by the way the tone shifts thru the story, some songs are silly but they had to stay). pep has also made some song covers to some of the songs that ive heavily connected to the fic and I REALLY FUCKING LIKED. LIKE A LOT. THEYRE AMAZING YOU SHOULD LISTEN IF YOU WANT TO!!!!

the point of all this is that i like titanic fics and im trying to throw my hat in the ring even if its just for me and my friend 🔥🔥 because while others have fed me, i havent seen ones that have documented like Every Single Day on the titanic that aziraphale and crowley would theoretically have as well as developing aziraphale and crowley’s relationship while taking into account whats happened before (insert the story into a part of the timeline seamlessly i think thats how i’d describe) AS WELL AS connecting the reason why the titanic was such a freak tragedy and how the world is not fucking fair instead of just “oh whoops the thing sank 😞” i want NITTY GRITTY DETAIL!!!!!! I WANT GUILT!!!!!!! I WANT CHAOS!!!!!!!! I WANT TALKING ABOUT GOD!!!!!!! I WANT AZIRAPHALE IN A MENTAL CRISIS!!!!! I WANT CROWLEY JUST WANTING TO FUCKING LIVE FUCKING PEACEFULLY!!!!!!! I WANT LESBIANS!!!!!! i need to get on this,,,, so much to do. i love it all and TY FOR THE ASK!!!!

#ask game #iceburg adventures #hath are perceived

[bigskydreaming]

Bit of a vent post, bit of a housekeeping post, bit of a 'so that's what's been happening in Kalen-land' post:

So I have officially done everything that can be done to prepare for our relocation to a different site while they do construction on this one for the next year, which should be....any day now. Since it was originally supposed to happen on October 2nd, lol. Oh, bureaucracy.

If I wrote a memoir of the last two years specifically, 'Oh, Bureaucracy' would be the title, actually. So obviously its no secret that Moukie & I have been struggling for a long time, even after my surgery back in December 2021. But pretty much all of that has to do with our struggles to hack through bureaucracy to secure some actual stability and longterm living situation, since....oh, January 2022. We've finally secured a five year lease to stay in this place (with the exception of the next year, at a different site during construction, as I mentioned), but like....we only JUST got that agreement officially in writing, signed & notarized & all that...last week.

After being told it was basically a done deal but they couldn't finalize anything or put anything in writing until the building sold and the property changed hands and one city service took over oversight of this particular property from another one....pretty much every month since November of last year. They changed dates and timelines on us so many times it was like every three week we'd have a completely new timeline we were looking at for when we could expect to have everything finalized or for the relocation to happen, etc. Most recently, we were told with complete certainty that everyone HAD to be out October 2nd, that construction would be starting immediately after that, nobody would be allowed to stay in the building.

October 31st, and we're still here, lol.

So that's been a fun non-stop rollercoaster ride of stress, lol. The problem, of course, is that before my surgery (12/2021), I'd quite literally been homeless for at least the five years prior to that. Fortunately I never quite made it to the point of having to sleep outside, though there were plenty of times it got close, and spent most of that time living out of cheap motels & extended stay housing while working towards getting enough money together for my surgery, but as far as any landlord or potential renter is concerned, I was for all intents & purposes homeless during that time, and that's....not great when trying to secure housing in the middle of a pandemic right after basically starting your life over from scratch after the surgery to fix the problem that basically derailed your entire life, lol. Not to mention my credit score was practically nonexistent, all my credit cards were maxed out to pay for the surgery & insurance, my driver's license had been expired for years due to not being even able to drive while I had my issues w/my jaw & everything related to that, and getting it back was easier said than done because I'd had like, two unpaid parking tickets at the time of my medical issues beginning & they kinda completely dropped out of sight, out of mind, only to multiply w/fees that were fucking ridiculous to contemplate & going down to the DMV or traffic court to try and argue them down, while my medical issues were still ongoing, was a nonstarter due to how little travel I was capable of in that state....

LOL. Not a great starting point when rebooting for Kalen 2.0 - and of course I'm not going to get into why we had to use my ID & everything for renting & all that, instead of Moukie's, just trust that there were Reasons.

And of course there are programs to help people out with these kinds of circumstances, which is basically what we've been doing since January 2022....navigating that labyrinth of red tape, because actually ACCESSING those programs, proving eligibility, meeting all requirements, keeping consistent with all requirements throughout the months of waiting on a verdict from higher-ups your file's been passed up the chain to....MUCH easier said than done. The hoops are just. The stuff of legends. Especially when you're still having trouble consistently staying stocked on the meds you need to be productive & functional, or even just keeping your phone active. Oof. All of that was very Not Fun.

Which segues into a bit of that venting I was talking about, because over & over the past couple years we've had well-meaning (and not so well-meaning & largely just obnoxious) people asking us in response to our donation posts like, well why don't we just move to a cheaper city? LOL. I just. I wish people would stop to think that maybe if there's such an obvious solution that someone hasn't availed themselves to yet, there's probably a REASON for that.

We actually had several. For starters, there's the fact that I still have stuff related to my jaw to deal with....I still have no teeth, lol, and haven't really been able to even START getting the bone grafts I need to be able to get implants at some point, so I'm not stuck with dentures for the next fifty years....and it took me literal years to find dentists familiar with my situation, willing to work with me on payment plans & longterm strategizing, etc.....not that easy to just start over with all of that in another, smaller city. Not to mention if I do have any problems with my prosthetic, LA's one of the only places that has ANY surgeons that deal with this specific kind of jaw replacement surgery, so I'd always have to come back here for any further medical related stuff.

But then there's additionally the fact that all those programs meant to help people like us who are literally trying to restart their lives after medical issues, homelessness, etc.....they're pretty much all specific to their own city. They're all contingent on each individual city's resources, services, populations and a million other details.....so moving to a different city basically means having to start all over again with applying to THAT city's housing aid programs & navigating THAT city's bureaucracy from its beginning & forfeiting however much time or progress you've put in already in the city you're currently in. And frankly, most cities don't HAVE as good of aid programs as LA does....its just...it takes fucking forever to actually make full USE of such programs, as evident from the fact that after almost two years, we're only FINALLY to the point where one of those programs has been able to actionably help us secure longterm housing.

(And also there's the fact that when we don't even have enough money for groceries, how cheap do people thinking picking up and moving to another city actually IS? Like. You need starter money to even GET there & get on your feet or you wind up in an even worse situation than we were in).

But honestly, we didn't have it so bad, we have been able to stay housed & working various odd jobs for the past two years....its just been long, and stressful, never actually knowing when or even IF we'd get to the point where we stopped worrying about being kicked out at any given moment, and there were times that looking for housing or trying to deal with bureaucratic red tape was the equivalent of a full time job, in terms of hours required.

All of which is to say....be aware when assuming the worst of various donation posts & their posters, that except in the case of actual scammers, no matter what you may think of how a particular donation request was worded or described their situation, its almost always VASTLY more complicated than can be summed up in a couple of easy to read paragraphs that might actually get people to help. I promise you, if super obvious solutions seem evident to you, they've occurred to the people living with that situation 24/7, and there's a reason that they haven't tried that solution or maybe they even did & for whatever reason it didn't actually work out.

And that said, all of this is also to say just....thank you again for everyone who's helped us out over the years. I know it often seems unending or like we're never getting our acts together, lol, but trust me, it feels that way to us too, times a million, and like....we're working on it. Its just. Much easier said than done. For every hurdle cleared, there's usually another one waiting to pop up like a fucking whack-a-mole game from Hell. Since January 2022 we've been consistently working towards a longterm, stable housing situation and this is it, this is what we were working towards.....we've been fully approved for relocation to the other site for the next year & then returning to this one after construction/renovation, w/a lease agreement for the next five years.....and that's the dream, honestly.

Genuine stability, not having to worry about whether we'll have to move at any given moment, actual housing security....allowing us to FINALLY focus on building our lives back up, instead of constantly grinding just to keep a roof over our head & make sure nobody's about to kick us out....and having the room to breathe & for the first time in literal years (in my case, almost seven at this point) actually prioritize something OTHER than figuring out where we stand on paperwork, filing, tracking down various liaisons to bug them yet again about an accurate timeline for when we'd be notified of whether or not we'd been approved for this program or that one, when we'd actually be relocating, when we had to make x payment by to ensure we didn't lose our qualified status, etc.

And I, for one, definitely can not WAIT to give more of a shit about the absolute stupidest shit imaginable instead of like....warily checking the hall to see if new eviction notices popped up overnight. LMAO.

Anyway. Like I said, we finally have our agreement in writing, we know where we're relocating to, and as soon as that actually happens - which they keep insisting should be any day now, sigh - we'll finally be in a much better place. As part of the relocation program we landed in, our rent at the other site is covered during the year this site is under construction, so already just from that alone we'll be much better off financially.

Moukie's been sending around a donation post this month, and we'll probably keep it circulating up until the day the movers arrive and they finally pull the trigger on us leaving this site, because for the last three months they've been insisting that October 2nd was absolutely going to be our last day here, and we planned around that timetable....meaning that since October 2nd came and went with us still here, our only jobs at the moment are whatever freelance ones we can scrounge up, since the new place is far enough away a commute to & from a workplace around HERE wouldn't be viable, so I can't even go look for a new one to replace the last one until we're actually in the area we'll be spending next year in, lol. So in the meanwhile we've basically been surviving off donations since freelance work is painfully dry at the moment, and as it is, the company Moukie does editing work for still hasn't paid them for their last job yet, which was back in September, I believe? Its ridiculous, but it is what it is.

So yeah, we'll keep that post circulating a bit longer til we're out of here for good, basically just for food money until we're settled in the new place & can grab a new 9-5 and I would say something about that damn patreon I'm always claiming I'll make except I am a Proven Liar Not To Be Trusted On That Subject at this point, but hey, once we're in the new place, maybe that will finally change.

That's basically everything I set out to ramble about, I think, so....I'm done. Wait. Lemme check - yeah, no, that's it, I'm good. I've said it before but it'll never stop being true: we would not have survived if it weren't for the kindness of strangers & the help of mutuals & followers & we really are so much more appreciative of it than I can ever adequately express. I know that can come across as lip service, but genuinely, people here have done more for us and to help us and to see us succeed than our families ever did and we've been reduced to ugly-crying more than once as a result. Its gotten bad, guys. Like. When I go all out, it's not a pretty sight. I've got that pale Irish skin that gets all splotchy when I'm emotional, my nose gets all stopped up, I make scrunchy faces like a baby that KNOWS its not as pretty as its parents keep trying to pretend and is out to prove it....its a whole mess.

And on that note - and imagery - I'm officially done here. Thanks for reading!