#is this more than one sentence? yes. yes it is. because tumblr deleted this post once and pissed me off. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

009720kakashi · 5 months

Text

Rules Update

Please read the rules before interacting

Hey all! I go by Mhiyah and rp for 15 + years meaning yes, I’m an adult and so is the character.

I do not want to interact with minors and I do not want them to follow the blog. I’m dead serious on that. No exception. It makes me uncomfortable. Please respect that.

Please note the following rules:

1. I’m not a native speaker in English. I do my best but there will be mistakes. Please be lenient.

2. No godmodding and don’t force your headcanons about my character on me. I’m very willing to adapt to the things you have created for your own character but not when it comes to my character. Also please note that if I make mistakes with your headcanons it’s not on purpose. I do my best but for many characters there are a lot of headcanons. Usually I try to check them again before replying. This is not possible if I reply on a mobile device though. Just tell me and I change the reply.

2. No pairings with minors obviously.

3. No exclusives.

4. No trigger warnings. I don’t do them. I just write with adults (as stated above) and I’m not responsible to curate other peoples internet experience. This is a public platform and naturally I won’t write gore or explicit sexual stuff on an open platform. However I do write an adult Shinobi. They are killers. People tend to forget that. So blood, wounds, fighting etc. comes with the source material.

5. No stress please. I’m a relaxed person and I do this for fun. It’s strictly character here. You won’t find me post all that much completely unrelated to the character or rp on this blog. If I do it will be deleted after a short period of time. I refuse to participate in any tumblr animosities. If people have problems with each other don’t drag me into it. I won’t take sides. I will block the person who pressures me into this stuff.

6. No hate of any kind. If I see any hate (be it homophobic, transphobic, racist or whatever) on your blog I block you immediately without any comment. I don’t want to interact with stupid hateful people. It’s as easy as that.

7. If a rp blog posts too much ooc stuff I will unfollow it. I don’t automatically follow back. I also unfollow if I get the idea that you were not all that interested in writing with me after all which is totally fine. However then it’s pretty futile to have a thread in the future. If I unfollowed you but you are in fact interested in writing with me just drop me a note. I really am here to write. I barely ever read other people's threads. So I follow who I write with or want to write with. I’m also mutuals only. The exception is of course ‘ask’ which I will reply in character.

8. I won’t necessarily reply to threads in order. That is because sometimes I need to think about some replies longer than others and thus need a moment before replying. Some threads are also longer and take more time to reply to simply due to the length of them. It has nothing to do with you, your character or your reply. I just want to give you a decent answer because that is what you deserve for taking the time and effort to write. I also schedule replies to keep the blog active.

9. I don’t expect anyone to match the length of my replies. I sure tend to babble sometimes. However if I constantly just receive one or two sentence replies to a long paragraph I will get the feeling that you are not awfully interested in the thread and then I’ll probably drop it. It’s just no fun for me then. It’s the same if everything I write is ignored. I usually do quite some research especially when it comes to fighting scenes and the jutsus used in these scenes. Fights are very difficult to write. So if a jutsu, attack or block fails (which they should at times of course) please tell me why so I know what to do with it. Usually there is enough room for interpretation after all. Also keep in mind that with battle stuff we eventually will have to go for exits and end the thread otherwise one character ends up dead :D

10. Relationships: Yeah well, that’s a difficult issue. I do not see Kakashi enter into a relationship. He sure has sex but definitely has issues committing to someone. He does not easily open up. Someone would have to be very understanding and persistent I suppose. As for sexual relationships. I think he does have those but no strings attached.

11. I also tend to write him a bit more ‘serious’. There are two sides to him. One being rather goofy and the other being very serious. I think to a certain degree he tends to hide behind the goofy side. Though it definitely is a part of his character too. However he has had a very rough life and lost almost everyone dear to him. 10 years of ANBU sure did not help his mental health either. Caring for Team 7 pulled him out of that darkness a bit but that also was not exactly a win for him considering he did not manage to keep the team together. Sasuke lost to Orochimaru, Naruto went with Jiraiya and Sakura with Tsunade. It was quite a short lived experience. Kakashi has to deal with a lot of guilt and self-doubt and has a very low opinion of himself. That shines through in his dark moments in the anime and manga. I don’t think he ever overcame that really. He maybe can accept that others do not think that about him. It does not change that he thinks himself to be a fraud. He avoids the topic to the best of his abilities.

12. The mask thing: I don’t think there is much depth to this really. Honestly he does reveal his face for instance while eating in the anime and it is absolutely impossible to hide your face constantly. Especially on missions. Also in the anime he is clearly sitting without the mask while Rin tends to his wounds. This is probably the one headcanon I have since it has never been confirmed. For me he started wearing the mask as a kid because he has a heightened sense of smell. To deal with that the mask helped and that’s it. Additionally he does have a pretty face but never gave the impression to enjoy attention. For that the mask also helps. Now he is just used to it and it still has it’s merits. However he will pull it down and not make a fuss about it. Just with Team 7 a bit for the sake of it.

13. I have a job.

14. Profile pic by and used with the permission of kpc-usagisan.tumblr.com

15. I also cosplay

#kakashi #hatake kakashi #roleplay #kakashi hatake

4 notes · View notes

fortanreviews · 11 months

Text

Big Bad Fortrant: Twitter (Part 1)

When I first joined Internet 13 years ago (”joined” as in made my first online account in anything, I had lurked for few years before that), Twitter was a boring website whose character limit was a stupid gimmick. Most people around me thought the site was terrible and mainly served as a place where celebrities could make an update about taking a shit. Just like Facebook, I avoided it because I didn’t want to post my real face under any circumstances.

I created my first twitter account in 2012 because I wanted to smear the name of my rival at the time, G0ATFAC3. I mainly ended up sending angry replies to wrestlers and Barack Obama, and then I got banned.

I made another twitter account in 2013, this time using my real name, I can’t remember why. I suppose it was because I wanted to spread my online presence I guess? I remember there were some finnish comedians that I wanted to follow. Yes, back then Twitter was quite different. It was more of a chill site where people often made jokes and provided insightful anecdotes about recent events of their lives. I thought it’d be a nice break amidst all the drama and stupidity that rest of my Internet life was full of. That sentence is insanely ironic in hindsight. My biggest highlight during that time was getting a finnish life improvement guru Jari Sarasvuo to respond to me after I posted “Jari Sarasvuo scares me”. It was actually an inside joke that originated from one of my gag dubs of Dingo Pictures’s “Lion and the King”. I was not expecting a response and somehow it drove 17 year old me bananas.

I continued to post on twitter, putting out my silly thoughts. And then in 2016, Orange Man came to power and Twitter changed forever.

Twitter became a much more political site than it previously was, even in non-America parts of the world. I believe I abandoned my twitter around this time, but I wouldn’t delete it until 2020 or so.

Twitter’s culture was mostly mainstream, there were not that many big fandom spaces, many of them were instead on tumblr. And all of that changed when this site commited the biggest fuckup in the history of big fuckups, that is right, the porn ban.

Porn ban could be considered the beginning of when Twitter started taking strangehold of internet culture. Many porn artists moved there, but also people who complained about the existence of porn, because they had nobody to bully and harass. These people created a subculture of their own, the Yikes Sweeties.

Yikes Sweetie is a person who is looking for things to get offended at, many of the things they get offended at however are either trivial or related to big issues, but so insignificant in the scale of the big issue, that resolving or getting rid of the offense would not change the big issue one bit. The name “Yikes sweetie” is short for a sentence that is often used when parodying “Twitter checkmarks”, “Yikes sweetie let’s unpack this”. Sometimes it’s also “yikes sweaty” but I’ve never seen anyone use “sweaty” unironically.

The reaction to trivial bullshit of Yikes Sweeties is emphasized in their name, at least when tumblr was at it’s peak, most tumblr users addressed people they were offended by with “shitlord” or something to that effect. There was a genuine sense of offense in that response. However in Twitter, people adapted the passive-aggressive politeness of tumblr, missed the point completely and as such people often use words like “oof” and “yikes” to respond to things that are either super offensive or not offensive at all. This weird playground speak is so impossible to take seriously, which just increases their trivialiness. “Sweetie” is probably short for “you sweet summer child”, which was often used in negative connotations.

Unfortunately, Yikes Sweeties are not harmless. They often gang up on people they see as their enemies, they smear them with a bunch of labels, they will likely doxx them and possibly try to get them to commit suicide. This is often assumed to be part of a larger phenomenon known as “cancel culture”, but I say “yikes culture” and “cancel culture” are two different things with some overlap.

“Cancel culture”, much like many words that have become popular in the internet, has lost its meaning. Some people say “oh it’s just accountability”, but often times cancel culture targets those who have done jokes in the past that aged badly, like what happened with James Gunn. I don’t want to dwell too much in anglosphere politics but i feel ‘cancel culture’ just means when people get mad at twitter at a famous person for fucking up.

“Yikes culture” leaves out the ‘famous’ and ‘person’ parts, and they get mad at anyone AND anything for expressing something that is problematic. This ranges from works of fictional media with no limit on release date to randos online. Probably the best example of Yikes Sweetieism is the Space Buns incident. For those of you who don’t know, an user on Twitter posted an image of her character having a hairstyle called “Space buns”. Instantly she was flooded with angry messages calling her a racist, colonialist, fascist and a pedophile for wearing a “black-only” hair. It even led to Nintendo themselves commenting that hair isn’t limited to one skin color. While the controversy eventually calmed down, the person in question still gets harassed to this day for having Space Buns by terminally online weirdos, the Yikes Sweeties.

Yeah, being terminally online is a key part of Yikes Sweetie’s identity. These people don’t go outside that often, rarely exit their comfort zone, and quite honestly have very few actual hardships in their lives. They spend their time all day on Twitter, doomscrolling to their heart’s content. The minute there is potential for an outrage or controversy, they pile up on anything they see. They pile up on a person for enjoying “irredeemable media”, they pile up on a popular content creator for doing a stupid joke 5, 10 or 30 years ago and so forth. Anything to make themselves look superior, “I’m glad I’m a good person” they tell themselves. They don’t want redemption, they don’t want apologies, they want the person who did the mistake to kill themselves. And nothing proved this more than Alec Holowka’s suicide.

Alec Holowka was the creator of “Night in The Woods” a popular indie game. He was baselessly accused of sexual harassment by an attention-hungry gaming personality known as Zoe Quinn. Many Yikes Sweeties saw this as an opportunity to cancel him and boycott his work, as well as harass anyone who defended him. What they didn’t anticipiate was a devastating consequence of their actions. Alec Holowka ended up taking his own life. There were a lot of people that were shocked by this, but many Yikes Sweeties celebrated his death, because he would never harm anyone else. Other Yikes Sweeties, including Zoe Quinn, were upset Alec rather took his own life rather than face consequences. Now, his company is actually making a sequel to “Night in the Woods” without his involvement, which is just the top of the scumminess in all accounts.

Yikes Sweeties thrive on the power of tearing other people down, it is all based on their messiah complex, their desire for “moral justice” in the form of harassment, doxxing and abuse. They are no different from christians calling everything “satanic” or high school mean girls spreading rumors about the weird kid in their class and ruining their lives as a result. Yikes Sweeties don’t have empathy and believe that every mistake, no matter how trivial and insignificant, should be met with the most extreme punishment.

Twitter plays a huge role in encouraging Yikes Sweetie behaviour. Back in the days of Tumblr, even the biggest social justice warriors didn’t support mindless harassment. In Twitter however, Yikes Sweeties have the platform to spread their toxic behaviour and attack others. And you can’t fight back against them without being labeled every word in the Yikes Sweetie’s handbook. The platform’s character limit contributes to the rise of Yikes Sweeties, as it allows for accusatory and attacking responses without room for thought.

Nobody wants to call the Yikes Sweeties out in fear of being labeled by them. Those who have tried have either fallen into the other extreme, or disappeared completely. Let me end this rant on a cautionary tale about a Yikes Sweetie named Bruce Mitchell.

Sorry about the jumpscare.

Bruce was a wrestling journalist working for PWTorch, a pro wrestling news website. He had been with the company for nearly three decades and was a trusted name in the industry. Bruce Mitchell was often calling out mainstream wrestling companies such as WWE for angles that he considered racist. These includes matches where one side of wrestlers was white and other side was black, or a scene where black wrestlers did literally anything. He considered everything black person did on TV besides wrestling racist, as he often claimed it was based on an obscure minstrel era stereotype or imitation of “ghetto” culture.

Bruce got flack when he posted this tweet when he learned that pro wrestler Keith Lee was using a finisher called “Big Bang Catastrophe”, initials BBC.

Bruce was lecturing a black man for a joke they wanted to do. Understandably Twitter got upset at him for his high horse behaviour, only for Mitchell to double down and claim that he was the biggest expert on black issues and he compared himself to white people who ended slavery. The truth is, Mitchell’s own claim of credentials to understanding black culture was having two black roommates while he was in college and going to black-only strip clubs with them. Yes, seriously.

A lot of people pointed out the irony of Bruce acting like a person from that “crowd of black people worshipping a white woman” meme when he lived in Greensboro, a city with a long history of racism and segregation, and Mitchell's comments seemed to reflect that ignorance.

However that wasn’t the end of Mitchell, in December 2020. Wrestler Brody Lee tragically passed away. Mitchell posted an article few days later claiming that Brody Lee died from COVID-19, and AEW was covering it up. This earned the ire of Brody Lee’s widow who blasted Bruce, and this led to an internet-wide backlash against Mitchell’s comments. Wade Keller, Bruce’s co-worker who was in charge of approving the article, dodged all responsibility to save his skin and fired Mitchell. The Yikes Sweetie had been eaten by other Yikes Sweeties.

Bruce tried to have brief internet presence but whenever he showed up people would call him out for writing the article, despite apologizing for it. He ultimately ended up disappearing forever from the internet. While I think the reaction to the article was blown out of proportion, Bruce was faced with karma for being an overreacting fool who was obsessed with being morally superior and talking on behalf of black people.

When I talk about Yikes Sweeties, I don’t talk about actual activists who are fighting for their rights to survive. Yikes Sweeties are often sitting in their ivory towers, looking for any way to make themselves feel superior and act like a good person. They have rarely, if ever, faced any kind of hardships, and if they have, they often use those hardships as a weapon to protect themselves from criticism.

However, Yikes Sweeties are only a small part of what makes Twitter a horrible place. While they’re easily the biggest problem I have with the site’s community, they’re certainly not the only ones. I will talk about them another time, hence “Part 1″ in the title.

#big bad fortrant

3 notes · View notes

pashminalamb · 1 year

Note

Uh hi. I've never done something like this before but all I wanted to do is that I wanted to tell you how incredible your works are. It's amazing and tbh it makes me inspired to try make works of my own which probably won't go well since I lack the courage and motivation. I'm sorry for what happened to you earlier with that person being so quick to assume but overall I just hope you're all cooled down from what happened earlier. That's all, I just came here to tell you that. I hope you're doing okay and healthy both physically and mentally/emotionally? . Also as a reminder, pls remember to stay hydrated and eat at least something don't starve ahaha. Uh yeah anyways hope you for the best. 💕💗

-Anon 💙 (uh I've never done this before so pls don't uh mention my mistakes if there's any. I didn't reread this—)

Hi hi pretty! ٩꒰｡•◡•｡꒱۶

Tags : talks abt depression, mentions of coping mechanisms, and basically the reason why i started writing here

Thank you so much for reading my works! You have no idea how much it means to me to know that i inspired someone to write; even if my image isn't looking the best rn- but that's one of the faces of being a writer of any kind.

As for the writing part. So, I've been on tumblr for over four years, reading for the first three and posting things in the past one. The first post i made was a post regarding a Bakugou work and it was nsfw. I was really scared cause it was the first time i had done something so bold and i lacked the courage for it but i really wanted to get my work out there. and cause i was determined to, i decided that i was gonna do it. it wasn't the best back then cause i had no sense of a writing style- and now that i think about it my writing style was cringe. i have the mind to take those works down, but that is a sign of how much i worked to get here. from barely making a 100 likes, i made 200, crossed 300 and so on and have a lot of followers as well.

but for me it was never about the likes or followers i got, it was all about what i wanted to do and there is a whole list of that - some of them being that i wanted to make something self indulgent (yes i still read my tears, your comfort esp aiku's part before sleeping on bad days and i'm making more works) or could be because i wanted to get an opinion out here as a way of expressing myself; but most of all it was creating content for you guys. Cause i know a lot of people comfort on tumblr. and when i wasn't doing so well in my later teen years, i took to tumblr to comfort cause it was healthy coping mechanism - and reading things here had always made my day. and i wanted to do that for someone.

I know that the first move always seems scary, there will be trips and stumbles along the way, there will be times when you feel sad about not getting likes or the drop in followers or have a rivaling author/ writer, times when you have your idea stolen- as it has happened with me before. but that shouldn't stop you; now my writing is purely for the purpose of self satisfaction and the itch of writing an idea that can make someone's day.

That's my motivation and rather than forcing an idea, it is best to let it come to you naturally and taking your time with it. Enjoy writing the fic and it really shows in your work. don't sweat the details, that comes with the more you practice. and if you need advice or writing tips come over to my side blog or ask away here. I'd be happy to help! (๑•͈ᴗ•͈)

As for how i'm doing? kinda sleepy. Happens when i'm emotionally stressed out or having my blood boil from something someone said. As for the anon, i got one sentence : jumped to conclusions too early and even tried to interrogate me And since i wasn't having any of it, cause i don't have to prove myself to anyone, i deleted it - like this person doesn't even know me and were quick to assume things abt me; and decided to sleep over the fic and move onto the next best thing - making more fics and enjoying it cause i am not gonna let someone behind an anon affect me ꒰✿ˊᗜˋ ꒱ ‹3

I had a sub sandwich with water and listened to ice cream by heiakim to cheer myself up ૮ ෆ ´ ˕ ` ෆ ა

i know this thing isn't permanent and it shall pass- but thanks for dropping in! Do you want an anon in case you want to come back an just rant or talk? whatever you want really ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ♡

#Belle.☏#.lost sheep : anon

5 notes · View notes

steepedwonders · 14 days

Note

Yeah, but twitter is more public than tumblr. To me tumblr feels like a safer space to share your thoughts since it's not as popular like twitter. Just my thoughts on it though.

YES! Someone mentioned on OU how much people will avoid you on twitter or start problems with for something as dumb as following someone them have labeled as “problematic” when in reality items just someone who’s opinion they don’t agree with whereas on Tumblr that shit isn’t public and everyone can hide your likes so it doesn’t feel like people are keeping tabs on your etiquette of association with people they don’t like. Also there isn’t a character limit like twitter and for the most part people enjoy reading longer posts so people are able to engage in more nuanced conversation rather than a few sentence and then someone else taking that and filling it in with shit you didn’t say and now you got a whole hate mob quote tweeting you and filling up your mentions. So many differences.

Absolutely agree. The only twitter account I have is the one I created for this blog. Otherwise, I deleted my personal one a couple years ago because twitter just seems like a hostile place overall. Lol

0 notes

joanna-lannister · 5 months

Note

💘🌿🎈💞🕯️

THANK YOU SO MUCH NONNIE! ☺️❤️

💘Is there any posted fic you want to rework/re-edit/re-write?

Yes, I have 2 fics I would actually want to rework on; the Teen Pregnancy AU and the first fic I have ever posted on AO3 😭

For "i'll kidnap all the stars and i will keep them in your eyes", I wish my chapters were more lengthy, consistent and had more development. I'm planning to re-edit it some day, and try to make it better. Fingers crossed it will happen 🤞🏻

And for "sweetest devotion", my first fic ever in English, oh God it was disaster! Like SEND HELP tbh. Not gonna lie, a few times I thought about deleting it, but since AO3 is an archive, well I decided to let it there in the end. But I think it need to be rewritten and polished a lot. I think now switching from baby!Joanna POV to Jaime POV and back to baby!Joanna was a bad idea (I don't do that anymore). Also chosing to write the thoughts from a 4 years old little girl who was a blank canvas was more of a challenge and a struggle for a first fic in my non-native language than anything else.

🌿how does creating make you feel?

Def better, and alive. I struggle a lot with depression, and I often feel empty, but when I write (or make gifsets), I use it as an outlet to make me feel like I have some kind of purpose, if that makes sense? Like, I know some of my creations will make people happy, so it brings me joy to read the tags or the comments people leave. It's an exchange between people in the fandom, and I love it.

🎈describe your style as a writer; is it fixed? does it change?

Ouch, the one question I was scared to get because I'm not sure how to describe my writing style 😅 I think it has evolved for the better, but it's pretty much fixed. I have some sentences I overuse like "a smile bloomed on her/his face", "her/his eyes flickered wide open", "tangled together", etc... I wish I could get better at description, but I fear my lack of vocabulary because I'm French is showing. I try to be poetic (I love reading poems while I'm scrolling Tumblr, and I save my faves [+ fave quotes] in a file on google docs), and I focus a lot on the characters' psychology. What they think, what they fear... I try to capture the struggles of human emotions. Yes, I think that would be my writing style.

💞what's the most important part of a story for you? the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff (grammar etc), the figurative language

Hands down the characters. And the technical stuff, because I want my fics to be readable, I'm not sure if I'm the best because ✨ French ✨ but I'm trying. I spend a lot of time making sure the words I use are properly spelled, and making sure it's the right meaning I want to convey. As for the characters, as I said above, I'm focusing a lot on the psychology so, it def comes first.

🕯️was there a fic that was really hard on you to write, or took you to a place you didn't think it would take you?

Oh, def "grieving for the living". Killing Jaime while Cersei was still living was such a struggle. I was in such a bad place mentally because of work, and I had to convey all those emotions of loss, grief, tragedy, with a glint of hope toward the end, on the paper. I'm lowkey even impressed I could actually finish to write that fic. Yes, that fic was really hard to write, but I'm pretty proud of it 🤧

#anon #answered #ask game

0 notes

mittensmorgul · 3 years

Text

For anyone interested in long-term residence in the supernatural fandom, please have some observations I’ve made over the decade I’ve been here. Take it or leave it as you will, but I’ve found all of this info useful over the years I’ve been here.

I wrote this yesterday, and it achieved its mission of identifying the sort of folks who would react negatively to it (i.e. a lot of block lists have been updated), so now that it’s been edited for content, it’s going under a cut (because that is how we do things on tumblr in general, unless we have a deliberate purpose for annoying readers with excessively long text posts) for the sake of people who actually do care about the fandom and its history. If that’s not you or your reason for being here, then keep on keeping on with your own thing, I guess. For those who are interested, there’s a lot of fandom resources some of us have been building for years that you might enjoy knowing about.

First off, I’ve been informed by a few friends who’ve read through this for coherency’s sake that it sort of reads like a *shakes cane from porch* fandom grandma complaint, but honestly... I earned this rocking chair and goshdangit imma rock now. So apologies for any “back in my day” vibes or faint aroma of tiger balm this post might give off. Then again, it’s loosely based on a similar post from 2012 so like... time is a flat circle anyway I guess.

1. There is no such thing as “tumblr famous,” unless you’re referring to the hilarious and delightful fic of the same name (please go read it, you will cackle). Posting Hot Takes for imaginary Clout™ on this site is kind of pointless in the long run. Sure you can post solely for the sake of stirring shit and getting notes, but the majority of the folks who do aren’t long term residents of the fandom. They’re just tourists moving through our little beach town for spring break. If you’re actually intent on moving to this corner of the fandom for an extended stay, please bother to really feel out the permanent residents and understand the culture and general mood of the neighborhood. It bears no resemblance to whatever’s going on across town where all the bars and beach parities are happening, and those loud, drunken revelers are, again, gonna disappear back to their regular lives or on to the next party eventually. That doesn’t mean the fandom is dying, it’s just evolving.

(funny how I had several comments implying that I’m just trying to keep the fandom from evolving with this post, because I sincerely do want the fandom to continue on for years to come, and that is impossible without evolution. We can evolve without self-immolating, though. mostly i included point 1 for an excuse to push ancient but hilarious fanfic on you.)

2. Once you post something here, it’s been unleashed to the fandom winds. You never know where it will end up, or who will comment on it or add to it. Remember that time Misha tweeted the link to the Epic Cockles Love Story post? No? It was wild. That was 2012. They all know we’re here, and how to find us if they want to. Please don’t take it to their doorsteps.

Obviously if someone is being a dick on your posts, please feel free to block them, but the whole entire point of this site is to engage people with your posts. Being big mad that someone reblogged your post with comments or supporting evidence, or happy headcanons or “HECK THIS IS GREAT BECAUSE (insert personal story about their experience or whatever else made them Feel Things about your post)” is frankly ridiculous. If your goal is to avoid any sort of engagement with your posts, then maybe try instagram instead. From what I understand, there is a SPN fandom presence there, and nobody can tarnish your original posts with unwanted commentary. But the ability to reblog with additional commentary is a FEATURE of tumblr that builds community through conversation. Otherwise we’re all just talking to ourselves in a vacuum, and that’s what actually kills fandoms.

(and for the folks who just want to blog how they want to blog and don’t want people to engage on their posts at all, please feel free to block anyone you want, as well... nobody wants to step on your toes, but most of us also don’t want to walk on eggshells wondering if this post is one of the “do not add comments for any reason” sorts of posts, either. This is a huge fandom and most people can’t even begin to keep track of every creator and their url du jour, and what their personal rules might be regarding interaction with their content. Including a “please don’t add comments” note at the bottom of your posts-- and not in your tags that won’t even show up on reblogs, but in the actual body of the post-- would sincerely help avoid any awkward or unwanted interactions, too. At the end of the day, you are in control of your own fandom experience and the block button exists.

For the record, I block zero fandom blogs (which is why I posted this, I wanted it to reach a wide scope... refer to the opening paragraphs as to why).

3. Since this post was partly inspired by a tag I left on that post going around about how “previous tags” mean fuckall on this site (which you can read here), just a reminder that if you like someone’s tags or feel they add value to the post, part of the Peer Review structure of tumblr encourages you to PASTE THEM INTO A REBLOG. If you do this, then at least credit the person who actually wrote the tags! Don’t just copy someone else’s tags into your tags on your reblog of the post without credit either. They were not YOUR tags. (I have had this happen to tag rambles I wrote and someone else got credited with them on a subsequent reblog and it is FRUSTRATING). Just... don’t even bother to write “previous tags” because WHAT PREVIOUS TAGS?! Nobody is gonna bother to chase back the chain of reblogs trying to find where the mystery tags came from, friendos. That way lies madness.

(for the record, since some folks seemed to focus on this point solely, writing “previous tags” on a post isn’t inherently a BAD thing, but for anyone who actually is here for more than one-off shitposting, then it’s sort of a pointless thing in the long run. This wasn’t intended to suggest people who ARE here for one-off shitposting are bad or “doing it wrong,” but for people who might actually want to preserve that hilarious joke or insightful comment. People delete posts and entire blogs all the time around here. Links break. I get that the upcoming generation just shrugs at that and moves on with their lives, but heck... you don’t have to accept that all entertainment is disposable if you don’t want to. There’s a bizarre sort of nihilism plaguing us all about the impermanence of pretty much everything that feels like something we should be fighting against rather than buying into wholesale, even in our escapist entertainment. I’m just exhausted by the complete loss of joy in community.

*shouts from the peanut gallery* IT AIN’T THAT DEEP, JUST GET SOME FRESH AIR AND LOOK AT A PUPPY OR SOMETHING

Yes... yes it isn’t really that deep, but bigger picture in the state of reality we’re all entirely disillusioned with, are we supposed to just give up on everything, including the things we cling to because they bring us a tiny spark of hope that we’re not all just trapped in this dystopian nightmare and things might actually be worth living for?

*peanut gallery clinging to burnt husks of peanuts in a barren peanut field* but this is how we have chosen to cope

Okay... you do you... I feel bad for you but if that’s the case then this post is NOT FOR YOU. AND THAT’S FINE. I honestly do not care if you don’t care! I mean, I’m sorry anyone has to live in a world that drives them to that mindset, but I understand. This post is for anyone who might look at their lives and their choices and think “no wait, I unironically enjoy this and want more from the experience of that enjoyment than I’m currently feeling.” Everyone else can continue with their lives as usual.)

4. CONTENT THEFT IS NEVER OKAY. PERIOD. Things like “credit to the artist” or tagging gifs or images you found on pinterest as “not mine” isn’t actually credit. If you can’t source an image or gif set, DO NOT POST IT! We don’t REPOST (i.e. save an image and then create a new post with it as if it was our own creation). We REBLOG (click the little square arrows and reblog from the actual creator). That goes for gif sets, fanvids, screencaps, meta, fic... everything.

(hopefully everyone here already understands this one, but I felt compelled to include some “these are stupidly obvious” reminders anyway, since this is ostensibly some sort of advice column. This is the equivalent of the warning label on your toaster reminding you not to use it in the bath. Like... duh...)

5. Close kin of item 4 is SOURCE YOUR SHIT.

(for 100% disclosure purposes, I specifically discussed this one in this specific way because of an influx of anon ask messages I received in the wake of the finale. Literally the inciting incident for creating this entire post was what I can only assume was a joking ask about a comment Misha made at a con years ago. Someone actually bothered to take the time to type out those sentences to me. I have no idea what they were expecting in reply, or what could possibly motivate them to send this comment about something so entirely random from, again, several years ago. Just a joke? No idea, but whatever... it got me thinking that there might actually be people who are new to the fandom who MIGHT actually care about the fandom history, and maybe they just don’t know where to go for that info, or how to even begin searching through 16 years of history for things they might actually find enjoyment in, rather than just hauling random out of context garbage out on main and pointing and laughing about it now. People are actually allowed to care about things. It’s not cringeworthy to actually care about things, and you are not alone in actually caring, and there’s this whole big room over here full of people who are thrilled to share in that with you. This post is intended FOR THOSE PEOPLE SPECIFICALLY, so if that is not you, please just continue walking by.)

Yes, I know lots of y’all are new around here right now, but dredging up stuff from years ago that fandom has completely debunked and presenting it as TRU FAX again is just exhausting. We’re not trying to be party poopers, but seriously, we have seen it all and are mostly done with extinguishing bags of flaming dog poop on our front porches for the umpteenth year in a row. I’ve seen a lot of posts that have the same tone as “I saw Goody Proctor dancing with the devil” or “I heard kylo ren has an eight pack” and just... the information is there for anyone who cares enough to find it.

This goes double for “why is nobody talking about this thing I just discovered while watching the show for the first time?!” And, oh hon, we have talked it all into the ground over the last fifteen years. We’re happy you’re discovering it again, but I promise we talked about it plenty when the episodes originally aired. We have such a rich meta history that lots of us have worked really hard to preserve. I encourage you to seek it out, if nothing else than as historical artifacts. The way we have discussed the show has been a 16-year evolution. People have written literal doctoral dissertations on this show. Your shitposts are fun! We love reliving our own experience through fresh eyes, and seeing your wonder at experiencing it all again for the first time! But y’all didn’t invent this fandom in the last six months, either.

Meta Sources and Minerals provided by our friendly neighborhood fandom archivist, @lets-steal-an-archive

Academic books and articles about SPN

A collection of Meta Essays going back to s1 and organized by topic (all of this has happened before, all of it will happen again)

SPN Heavy Meta Archive (s1-3)

Mel’s Dreamwidth archive of meta (s1-12)

Oranges8hands Dreamwidth archive of meta (s1-15, with many similar entries to Mel’s... though ymmv on viewpoint in a lot of these too)

Anyone remember Fandom Wank? Not the concept but the actual LJ... No? Okay have a link to SPN topics that ended up there. Through 2013. We have seen so much... including several fandom containment breaches.

for all your art sourcing needs, please see @theroadsofararchive, the repository for so much fandom art.

need to find a gif of something? canonspngifs is a vast repository of gifsets of the entire series. If the gif you want to use in your post happens to be the first gif in the gifset, in the tumblr gif finder thingy just paste the permalink to that post from canonspngifs (which is easily searchable by episode, character, location, situation, quotes, and sometimes even color and clothing items the actors are wearing... it’s really well organized, especially for tumblr >.>) and the first gif will be automatically linked with credit to the gif creator attached. It makes life easy that way. It’s also convenient when trying to remember something specific but can’t remember what episode it’s from. I’ve used the site to jog my memory before going to the superwiki armed with more specific search results to find episode quotes and references. Or sometimes I just scroll through all the nice gifs for fun, too.

Need a screencap of something and know exactly which episode it’s from? Try Home of the Nutty. You might not find the exact screencap you’re looking for, but they have a complete set of caps of every episode, and it’s an incredibly useful resource for quick reference checks and the like. Just give pages a chance to fully load before clicking on the next one. The site is easily overloaded, but it’s still free to use (and again, with credit... Pretty much every screencap on my entire blog is from HotN unless otherwise credited).

As you can see, this is a fandom built on preserving our history. You absolutely are not required to engage with any of this if that’s not of interest to you, but I can only assume that there are people who would be interested in it if only they knew it existed and how to find it. Well, now they do.

6. A few more notes on tags, and how they work on tumblr. The first 20 tags on your ORIGINAL posts are searchable sitewide, so if you want to be able to find something again, tag that thing first before going on general tag rambles. The only place tags on reblogs are searchable is on your own blog. So you don’t have to put 50 tags trying to get a post seen if it’s a reblog. You’re just spitting into the wind at that point. If you have a filing system for finding things again, then by all means add those tags (again, in the first 20, so they’re searchable), but you don’t need to tag a reblog “destiel” and “deancas” and “dean” and “cas” and “dean x cas” or whatever. Pick one for your personal blog’s filing system, that’s all you need.

(this was only added because tagging and searching on this site is so very broken... I get that a lot of folks don’t care about ever searching their own blogs again for anything, so this one only really applies if you do often find yourself trying to find old posts. If not, then it’s not really relevant. It took me years to work out a decent tagging system, and at the beginning of my time here I never thought I’d end up camping out here for a decade and falling this deep into the fandom, and I regretted my lack of consistent tags only years later when I realized I actually wanted to be able to go back and find specific old posts again. So... for anyone who wants to err on the side of caution, working out a sensible tagging system really helps if you’re here for the long term. I personally tag content by episode, because some of my other general tags are so large as to be practically useless as a search term. But whatever system you choose to file stuff on your own blog, it really only has to make sense to you. And again, if this is pointless advice for someone who has no intention of settling here for the long term. Please feel free to ignore it. I just wish someone had explained it this way to me ten years ago and saved me the hassle of retroactively tagging something like 30k posts... especially now that using the mass tag replacer is the fastest way to get your entire blog deleted... oops? so yeah, don’t use the mass tag replacer either >.>)

7. Tags on Tumblr DO NOT WORK LIKE TAGS ON TWITTER. If you @ someone in the body of the post, it will show up in their notifications (if they’re the sort of person who even checks their notifications... not all of us do. For the record, I generally don’t...), but putting actor or ship names in the tags on a tumblr post does absolutely nothing. It’s not the same as tagging the actor’s twitter account in a tweet. Nobody’s getting notifications about you tagging a post about Jensen here as “Jensen Ackles.” There is a difference. Please learn it. (and don’t take headcanons and ESPECIALLY RPF or otherwise explicit art or fic from tumblr to twitter and tag the actors in it. That’s just... not okay.)

(I have seen the pearl clutchers getting all in a huff about the mere existence of RPF or even explicit content of fictional characters if it doesn’t meet their purity standards, but tagging those things allows people who don’t want to see it to actively avoid that content here. Nobody has a right to tell people their fictional content shouldn’t exist at all, or that creators of that fictional content somehow deserve harassment or threats for having dared to create such “immoral” content, won’t somebody PLEASE think of the children... and no... you do not do that here. Don’t be the problematic behavior you wish to ban from the world. Learn to use tags to protect yourself from, as i have attempted to emphasize here, fictional content you are personally upset by. That’s a you problem, not a problem for the creators of potentially upsetting content that they tag appropriately for.)

8. General formatting stuff: If you’re writing long text posts, visually break them up so people aren’t faced with one long wall of text. The enter key is your friend. Also, if you put long text posts under a Read More break and send people to your blog to finish reading, please ensure that your blog is actually visually accessible (tiny text, or light grey text on a dark grey background, or a visually busy background might be aesthetically pleasing to you but nobody can actually read it. Loads of folks won’t even try. Which is great if you don’t actually care whether people are able to appreciate your content or not, but something to at least consider if you *do* actively want to encourage engagement with your work. Confirm how your blog looks on both mobile and desktop and make sure it’s actually functional in both, too).

And since I mentioned that most of my experience on fandom tumblr has been in the SPN fandom, here’s a bit of a reminder for folks who are new around here. With the reminder that I have been here more than a decade and still feel like a newbie myself sometimes...

This is an OLD FANDOM. There are many, many people who have been at this longer than some of you have been alive. The average age for creators in this fandom is older than you think (I think of my friends in their 30′s as young’ins okay? okay). With that understood, you are responsible for the content you consume and are exposed to. Curate your experience. Ship and let ship. YKINMKATOK. Don’t deliberately expose yourself to content you find upsetting for whatever reason. Tags and warnings are your friends, not targets for you to attack in some sort of purity war. People will ship things you do not like (or in specific ways you do not like), will say things you do not agree with, and will find their happiness in things you abhor. That is not your concern. Find what you do like, and support and engage with it, and ignore (or block, or unfollow) the rest. Tumblr has a feature that lets you blacklist tags so the content you’re trying to avoid won’t appear on your dash.

Remember the paradox of tolerance.

It is not your job in fandom to police how other people enjoy the fandom. It’s not *my* job to police how *you* enjoy the fandom, UNLESS your enjoyment is in actively harming other real human beings in the fandom. If you don’t like their take on the character or the show or the plotlines or their ships or anything else, you don’t need to engage with their posts at all! The necessary corollary to this is that clarifying misunderstandings or correcting factual misinformation is not “policing.”

(this is where the peanut gallery reminds me it ain’t that deep, and I plead with them to put down the social media and find just one (1) thing to actually believe in in this godforsaken life, find something other than disdain and cynicism and spite to live for. If those things motivate you to find a larger cause for yourself, then great, use them to your advantage, but use them to find something that makes you a better person or brings you a modicum of joy and connection to your fellow human beings despite living in a dystopian hellscape of a world)

I have seen a lot of posts lately that are founded on the sort of authority that comes with “I watched through tumblr for a few months and then watched the last three episodes of the series” and as such are just... missing the larger context of the entire show, and are unfounded entirely in canon. I 100% appreciate the new enthusiasm for the fandom that we’ve been living in here for years, and it’s wonderful to see new people enjoying the thing we love. Your headcanons are valid, you are valid, but recognize that your headcanons aren’t canon. All of us finale denialists have accepted this in some measure, so we feel you. We truly, truly feel you. But regarding actual canon, we have a resource for that: the Superwiki. Learn it, live it, love it, as Metatron would say.

(which you could discover he said in 10.17 Inside Man, thanks to the superwiki! accept no substitutes!)

(and again, there have been people who have been involved in fandom for years who haven’t engaged with canon in years, either! You can play in this universe however you choose, BUT FOR PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT CANON AT ALL, WHICH I AM AGAIN POINTEDLY SAYING MIGHT NOT BE YOU, READER, AND I’M NOT SUGGESTING YOU ARE WRONG FOR NOT WANTING TO ACTUALLY ENGAGE WITH CANON, but if you DO want to engage with canon, please have some useful resources. Why do people feel personally attacked by being presented a list of helpful resources? Absolutely baffling.)

(also: words have definitions. “Canon” is a specific thing, meaning in this case “the finished media product that aired on television.” Anything beyond those limits is secondary canon (think: john’s journal, which is not canon but canon adjacent at best...), word of god (i.e stuff said by the writers and showrunners), or headcanon (which includes actor commentary-- they may have helped create the show with their acting choices and whatever, but they are not in control of the story overall). If there’s something you dislike about actual canon, you can reject it and supplement it with your own theories or preferred outcomes-- that’s basically what fanfic is-- but that doesn’t make your theories canon (much to all our dismay, that’s just not how any of this works. This is not to invalidate how anyone engages with the show or the fandom, just trying to clarify what seems to have been a source of unintentional misunderstandings. Your theories do not have to be “canon” to be legitimate interpretations.)

***I am setting this section apart, and did make a separate post of just this following information, because this is where we go from being relatively chill about different parts of fandom choosing to interact in different ways and you do you and blog however you want, to “hey can everybody please understand that the way you are interacting with this specific material might be harmful for specific legal reasons, and stating that you do not care about the consequences of your actions does actively make you the asshole here...” Okay, now that we have that understood:

The spnscripthunt collective has been steadily acquiring new scripts (which are posted in full on the superwiki for everyone to enjoy, for free). The language around how some folks are talking about these scripts is... concerning. For very real legal reasons, actually, and not because we’re feeling precious about the collection and don’t wike it when meanies use them in shitposts.

-First off, these scripts are not “leaks.” They are all verified and legally purchased (or gifted, in some cases, but still acquired entirely above board. we didn’t whack anyone over the head in a back alley for these scripts, or swipe them out of someone’s trailer on set).

(in case anyone was unaware, these scripts are the copywritten protected property of Warner Brothers. So yes, how we use them and share them with the fandom could have legal repercussions. We present them as a collected resource of fandom history which SHOULD fall under Fair Use doctrine, but this is untested legal water. Insinuating that the scripts are somehow not entirely legally obtained, or that posting them for public access involved less than 100% transparent and entirely legal transactions is incredibly concerning.

Once again for the peanut gallery, if you don’t care about any of that and are just having a good time with it, at least be mindful of the work and expense a large group of people have gone through to acquire and present the content you’re all too eager to exploit for cheap thrills. Some of us do actually care and are not exactly comfortable with the fact that others don’t seem to care about burning it all to the ground. We can’t force you to listen or behave as we’d hope you might, but at least be aware of the potential consequences of your actions. All we’re asking is for you to not be the douchebag who sets the whole neighborhood on fire with your illegal fireworks display. Is that too much to ask for? more on that in a second, first... a psa)

-If you see a script for sale and are unsure if it’s legit (or believe it might already be freely available in our collection), please feel free to ask us for advice. Our goal is to make as much of our fandom history available to the entire fandom, and we absolutely do not want anyone shelling out money for stuff you can already find for free.

(seriously, we’ve seen a bunch of resellers cropping up selling printed versions of the scripts we bought and uploaded for everyone to enjoy free of charge, or scripts that are otherwise of dubious origin. We’ve been at this for years now and know what’s actually out there. We don’t want anyone to fall for a scam if we can help it)

-Also, the usual reminder that the scripts we acquire ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE FINAL SHOOTING DRAFTS. In fact, the majority of scripts in our collection are NOT. Changes are made daily to scripts, even during filming. Comparing a Production Draft (white pages, effectively the first “final draft” of what usually becomes a series of drafts before filming wraps) to a much later revision (say... green or goldenrod revisions, several of which we DO have in our collection for comparison) and how those earlier drafts often differ wildly from the aired version versus how similar a much later green draft is to the aired version, for example, can teach you a lot about the television writing process. The link above to the superwiki scripts page has a nice little explainer about how this process works.

Differences between our posted scripts (many of which are white drafts, aka FIRST complete drafts, which will likely go through multiple rounds of revisions before filming even begins) and the aired version of the show are not all “acting choices” or a director or editor just cutting whole scenes on a whim. It’s insulting to everyone involved in production to suggest that’s the case.

(and yeah, fine... whatever, make any sort of posts you like regarding how those changes came about, but at the very least understand that it’s not actually the truth about how any of this works. Don’t care that that’s not the truth and want to make the posts anyway because shitposting is fun and that’s the extent of your sense of humor? FINE! You’re entitled to do that! But at least you DO know the truth now, and hopefully so do the people who engage with your posts. Deliberate ignorance isn’t cute, smooth lions notwithstanding)

There’s probably a whole other post to be made on fandom tagging etiquette, but again I don’t really use the tags enough to know what’s going on with that whole situation. I’ve also probably left a lot of stuff out, so please feel free to add things I’ve overlooked.

Thanks also to @trisscar368 and @thayerkerbasy for help compiling this, too. They were kind enough to escort me through the park to feed these pigeons. Now I need to take them out for ice cream. :’D

So I guess welcome to the neighborhood. Make yourself at home, but like... try not to trash the place while you’re here. Some of us live here by choice, lol.

#this blue hellsite (affectionate)#fandom problems #kinda wish i'd made this post six months ago but here we are i guess lol #long post #now edited for the people who are actually personally invested in the fandom #thanks for participating in this little experiment and I hope this version is actually informative to those who are interested #meaning there's a lot more links to stuff and explainers and whatnot...#and one last reminder that for folks just swinging through for laughs absolutely none of this applies to you #if you are legit interested in fandom history and preservation as we move to the post-canon world then hopefully this is useful to you

381 notes · View notes

itsclydebitches · 3 years

Note

Hey there! Admittedly I'm a little bit nervous since this is my first ask, but I'll try to not be too rambly.

So, recently the main subreddit, r/RWBY, made a ban on active users of the r/RWBYcritics subreddit. As a result there's been discussion around bad-faith criticism in the latter subreddit. What are your takes on bad-faith criticism?

For me personally, I think a bunch of people are misusing the term "bad-faith" and using it as a way to shut down criticism, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it.

Hey there, everyone! We woke up to some drama this morning, huh? And hello to you too, Tortoise! I'm so glad you decided to send in an ask, even if it's following some pretty tumultuous events...

Right, I'd like to start with a story. The story of how I personally don't spend time on Reddit, but I have plenty of friends who will occasionally cross-post something for me to see. Yesterday (or the day before? Idk time is meaningless) a friend told me about a post — which, significantly, I'm now having trouble finding — that covers RWBY's inconsistent writing and the fandom's tendency to try and explain away those missteps. They'd thought I'd be interested because I'd just had a conversation here on tumblr where I made that exact point to someone who, also significantly, vehemently disagreed with me, but in a very civil fashion. Given everything going on, I feel like this side point needs emphasis: we debated, we did so in a sometimes heated, but nevertheless respectful manner, it was clear neither of us was going to sway the other, and the conversation ended. The two "sides" of the community interacted without Armageddon coming about.

But back to the purpose of this tale. I went to take a look at this point and found that it no longer exists. There's just some vague message about it not obeying the subreddit's rules. "What happened?" I asked. "Why'd they take the post down?" "People were getting too heated in the comments," my friend replies. So, given that the comments were still visible, I proceeded to read through them, expecting personal attacks, slurs, harassment, etc. Any number of things that would justify deleting the post itself to put an end to such behavior. Instead, I found a thread of people having a conversation. Was the conversation heated at times? Sure. Did one or two individual posters edge into the realm of petulant, "No. You're wrong and stupid" responses? Yes. Was any of this remotely what I was expecting given the post's removal? NOPE.

"This isn't allowed?" I said. "Well then what is? People were being civil! Or at least as civil as hundreds of strangers ever get when discussing a series they're passionate about online."

Then, this morning, I hear that the entire critic subreddit has been banned.

So to answer your question, Tortoise, I don't actually think that "good faith" criticism exists. Meaning, it's not just that fans are misusing the term "bad faith criticism," but rather that there is no unified, agreed up method of writing criticism that will meet their standards. It's not possible and we know it's not possible because fans have been trying to meet those elusive standards for years:

A fan posts nothing but praise for RWBY until changes make them criticize the show as it is now. Their entire body of work is dismissed as the product of a "hater," despite the overwhelming gap between positive and negative reviews.

A fan posts a review that's a pretty balanced mix between praise and criticism. They're dismissed because it's still too much criticism.

A fan posts a review that's 99% praise with 1% criticism. That's still too much, with fans focusing on the single problem they had with the work and using it as an excuse to dismiss the entire review out of hand.

(As an aside, the argument that critics are "obsessed" with only saying negative things and that the only problem here is that they're "too" negative ignores the argument that... RWBY has a lot of flaws nowadays. Few are willing to acknowledge the possibility that it's not fans insisting on making things up to be mad about/ignoring the good parts of the show, it's the that show is, as of now, legitimately more of a mess than it is a praise-worthy product. If I'd been writing recaps in the Volumes 1-4 days, my work would have been skewed far more towards the positive. The critics' stance is that RWBY has gotten worse, which yes, results a higher volume of critical posts. To say nothing of how criticism takes far longer to explain, likewise resulting in posts focused primarily on that side of the divide. I really enjoyed the image of a crying Jaune reflected in his sword. I did not enjoy that moment's context. Saying that you liked an animation choice is a one sentence thing. Explaining the complexities of Jaune securing emotional moments, the problems with Penny's second death, the hurt many fans experienced watching an assisted suicide, etc. takes a whooole lot longer. Hence, you get massive, multiple posts about these nuanced topics and fewer, smaller posts about the details that are working well.)

A fan talks about a topic that has been metaphorically banned by the fandom as a whole. They have something good to say about Ironwood. They dislike something about Blake/Yang. They enjoyed Adam as a character. They have a problem with Ruby's leadership, etc. There's a whole list of topics nowadays that will result in an automatic dismissal, regardless of the point the fan is trying to make or how well they make it.

A fan talks about the minority representation of RWBY — its black characters, its queer characters, its disabled characters, etc. — and as a result has something to say about the biases and missteps of those writing these characters. This is considered an attack on the writers and, therefore, automatically bad.

A fan talks about how they enjoyed RWBY as it was years ago and is having trouble reconciling the dark, complicated story with the simple, hopeful one we started out with. This is seen as an attack on Monty's vision and an unwillingness to accept that "everything is planned."

A fan does as asked and ensures that their post is meeting all the requirements of "real" criticism. They have an argument to make. They have a point. They provide evidence. They recommend a solution. They keep their tone respectful. They don't attack the creators. They provide disclaimers in every single paragraph about how they do not hate RWBY. It doesn't matter. They're considered too negative.

I have, quite literally, seen every one of the above examples on multiple occasions. I have had many of the above accusations leveled at my own work. When fans say that they're fine with criticism provided it's not "bad faith" criticism, they don't actually have a specific post-type in mind; a checklist of behaviors another fan can emulate and, provided they do that, no hate will come their way. Or, if an individual fan does actually go, "Yeah. That criticism I'm fine with" that response is in no way universal. One person's "They make a good, civil point" is another person's, "Omg stop bashing the show!" Because "bashing" has come to mean everything from curse-laden insults towards everything RWBY has ever done, to posts that just happen to say something other fans don't agree with.

It's a rigged game. There is no way to post criticism about RWBY in an agreed-upon, appropriate manner. This recent ban is proof of that. I think it's incredibly telling that almost immediately after I was going, "Wow. A pretty calm debate about the flaws of RWBY in the main sub. That's great to see," all posters from the criticism subreddit were banned. The main sub literally just had the sort of criticism that they claim to accept — people respectfully posting analysis-based arguments resulting in calm debate — and yet they implemented the ban anyway. I'm not going to pretend that I've never gotten too heated on my own posts, never made snarky comments when I'm frustrated, never used exaggerated reaction GIFs that can come across as insulting... but I'd say on the whole my RWBY work is precisely the sort of "good faith" criticism that other fans are supposedly looking for. I never make an argument I don't think I can back up with evidence. I try to allow for the nuance and differing opinions of complicated topics. I try — even if I don't always succeed — to write in a clear, respectful manner. Yet none of that work has stopped people from telling me I'm a "bitter... raging asshole," a "deranged, delusional psychopath," telling me to set myself on fire, threatening to smash my head in, or just messages to straight up kill myself. If someone like me who legitimately works hard to create fair, defendable criticism and who only ever posts on a personal blog that people can easily block, who never engages in debate until someone else starts it first, never seeks out other fans I disagree with to harass them about what they like... if someone like me is still a "bad faith" critic who "deserves" that kind of hate mail... then what kind of criticism do people want?

Nothing. That's the answer. No criticism whatsoever, of any kind, no matter if it's delivered respectfully, is making a good point, whatever. That's why "RWDE" was created. That's why the critic subreddit was created. The community at large has demanded a complete separation between Praise and Anything That's Not 100% Praise, which has now resulted in this ban. Any other explanations we see are excuses, which becomes glaringly obvious when you look at the mods' supposed reasons for implementing the ban:

"Constant arguments with r/RWBY users" - As opposed to the arguments surrounding things like shipping that never, ever happen?

"Vote manipulation and comment brigades" - The subreddit with 3,000 participants, with around 200 on at a time, is manipulating the votes of a subreddit with 155,000 participants, with over 1,000 on at a time? Those numbers just do not check out. If a positive post is downvoted, or a critical post upvoted, maybe that's because large swaths of the community actually agree/disagree with that assessment, not because the incredibly smaller group is somehow manipulating things.

"Attacking and harassing those they disagree with" — Again, as opposed to those non-critics that never, ever harass people? This is an individual problem, not a community problem. Both critics and non-critics have their sub-groups acting in ways they shouldn't. If anything, the main sub will have more individuals harassing other fans, simply by virtue of being so much larger. As the above examples attest, it's not other critics who have told me to light myself on fire and, just to be clear, the asks I've responded to are a miniscule number compared to the amount I've received. I delete the lion's share for my own sanity and to save my followers from reading the really graphic threats.

"Months-long NSFL spam brigades" — I am, admittedly, not sure what this is referring to. Spamming of NSFW content? If so, that's also an individual problem.

"Homophobic, transphobic, and racist attacks towards our users" — See the above points. Again. If someone is being homophobic, transphobic, or racist, then yes please, ban them. Don't ban an entire community for the actions of a few. It's like walking into a store and banning a customer for causing a scene... but then also banning everyone else who happened to be shopping at the same time. It's guilt by association.

The silver lining to all this? The community as a whole isn't pleased. At least according to the main subreddit comments and a few individual voices like MurderofBirds. Despite the increase (from my perspective anyway) of critical voices post-Volume 8, criticism of RWBY is still very much seen as taboo. As this ban showcases. But it's really reassuring to see so many fans, critics and non-critics alike, going, "This was a mistake." A community is meant to include all aspects of engagement: praise, criticism, and the gray area between. If anything, fans like the mods of the main subreddit should be creating a separate subreddit that is specifically for praise. In the same way that there should have been a tag for RWBY praise, rather than trying to eliminate any and all criticism from the main "RWBY" tag. The majority of fans, even those who claim to hate critics and all they (presumably) stand for, recognize that a blanket ban of all criticism is not the way to go, especially when "criticism" has come to have such a staggeringly broad definition. If you want your RWBY experience to be nothing but sunshine and roses (ha), then cultivate your own internet experience to reflect that. Create your own pockets with rules about how this is the space for praise and if you're not up for praising RWBY right now, don't interact with us in this particular space. Don't try to make the entire community — the main tools used to discuss the show online — conform to your preferences. As established, there is no "good" criticism that everyone in the fandom will accept, which just leaves a fandom with no criticism at all. I'm glad to see I'm far from the only one who, when presented with that extreme, is going, "Nope. No thank you."

#rwby #mymetas #suicide tw #rwde

49 notes · View notes

deiliamedlini · 2 years

Text

WIP Wednesday! Two WIPS in one

SO over the past few days I’ve had a WIP crisis, and you may be aware because I haven’t shut up about it on here 😅! I sent the first two chapters of my fic “One Knight” to my friend to help me either spice it up or tone it down. We’ll see how that goes lol.

BUT IN THE MEANTIME, I’ve been working on my other favorite option, which has no name, but it’s a modern BOTW AU that I also keep harassing Tumblr with (seriously, in my last post I had 5 WIP Wednesdays for this one fic going back over a year 😬! Now it’s 6 posts!)

1st WIP: She starts off reading the news, which is what the italics are. Just for context. And they’re still highly antagonistic at this point, not friends.

(Scroll for 2nd): And the second one is Zelda and the Court Poet named Fen. BUT It’s trashy poetry that was about to dissolve into wayyy too much because I don’t know how to write legit poetry! Istill had fun, so it’s going here because I would probably delete it if I don’t do that.

~~~

First (Link and Zelda)

Hyrule’s Hero Spotted With Princess: Is This A Business Arrangement, Or Something More?

Precious Princess Seen In Castle Town With A New Bodyguard: The Hero Of Hyrule Himself

Watch Out, Link Forester’s Newest Lady May Surprise You

Zelda glanced up off her phone to look at Link as she exited her room, packed and ready to go for the day. “Did you know we’re news?”

He turned to her, uncharacteristic surprise on his face as he crossed the hall to stand beside her. “No, I didn’t.”

She tilted her phone so he could see the headlines.

“Oh, fuck,” he muttered before glancing up at her. “Sorry, Princess.”

“It’s not as if I’ve never said ‘fuck’ before, Link. No need to be a prude.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. Who else is apologizing for cursing?”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “It’s out of respect for you that I watch my language, not out of some moral compass.”

“It’s annoying.” Zelda tapped the phone. “Is this stuff true?”

“That you and I are in Hyrule Castle together? Yes, it is.”

“Watch your tongue,” she snapped. “You claim to respect me, and then in the next breath, you’re sarcastic?”

Link, though below ‘Princess’ in the grand scheme of royal titles, was just about level with her as Goddess Chosen. He didn’t fear for his life when he made an ill-advised comment, though that didn’t mean the Princess couldn’t bring down her wrath in other ways.

“Forgive me, Majesty,” he said, bowing as low as he could. The ultimate respect tainted with his own snarky ire.

“I need to go to Robbie’s lab. He’ll have something that I need. You’ll accompany me. It’s just west of the castle.”

He shifted uncomfortably. “Majesty…”

She wasn’t supposed to leave the castle. Here was her wrath.

Did Link disobey a direct order to her, or did he disobey the word of the King?

Frankly—and though he’d never admit it—he feared Zelda’s retribution more than the sitting monarch. For one, he had to deal with Zelda almost every day of the week. And two, her seething hatred of him and everything he stood for was so blatant that it had seeped over the side and onto him.

This girl was intent on testing him far more than the Yiga ever did. More than moblins. He’d faced Hinoxes less frightening than her. Because she had one huge advantage over those creatures, one thing that set her apart.

She was smart.

“Link?” she prodded, her eyes sharp, challenging. What was his choice?

Goddess, they were going to be spotted by the press. They were going to be in the news. There’d be no hiding this trip.

They were both going to be in a great deal of trouble when they returned, and she knew it. Was she doing this on purpose?

She had to be.

“Yes, Majesty,” he said, swallowing down his nerves, keeping his uncaring, stone mask over his features.

“Fine, then you’ll drive. Go get your whatever you’ll need. I’d like to leave now.”

“I’m ready now, Princess.”

She brushed past him, listening to the click of his shiny black shoes against the marble floors. Him punctuating every sentence with a title of hers was getting tiresome as well.

They stood in the back lot of the castle where several of the cars were kept. Link unbuttoned his cuff and stretched his arm as he headed down the steps, giving himself some breathing room. He needed it with her around.

He chose a car with tinted windows. Bulletproof glass, black, sleek. It wasn’t inconspicuous, but there was no way they were going to maintain that today. No, today was going to be a test of their ability to work professionally for once. Inside the castle, there was rarely an issue, since his job was essentially guarding doors. At Zelda’s classes, everyone had been vetted, they knew her, he kept alert, but the danger was minimal now with other guards surrounding the building, wandering the halls, and all around evading Zelda’s oddly unobservant notice.

But outside? This was all him.

He took a deep breath as he watched her descend the steps and slide into the back.

She slid in, slammed the door, and buckled her seatbelt before sulking against the glass, a rare, true sigh escaping her. Link glanced behind him before pulling away. “All set?”.

“Are you ever sick of it? I want to go somewhere and not be hounded. I don’t want to deal with flashing lights just to grab a part from Robbie’s.”

He turned out of the lot and nodded. “I do get sick of it.”

The reaction was immediate. Someone had been scouting the lot, and grabbed a camera to take a picture of the darkened car. Another hurried to their van to follow them, riding so close on their tail that Link kept tapping the breaks to make them nervous enough to slow down a bit.

“You know how to do some evasive driving, right?” Zelda asked, watching another car pull up beside them, someone hanging out the window with a camera. They were one car from being boxed in.

Link glanced at her in the mirror and smirked. “I’m Royal Guard trained, Princess. I could outmaneuver these assholes with my eyes closed.”

She grinned, much to her own annoyance. She didn’t mind when he was cocky or confident about things that others could do. She had several Royal Guard trained soldiers. Unlike when someone called him Hero, this title was something he shared with others.

~~~

Second (Zelda and Court Poet)

“How about another?” Fen asked, grinning. “An original. A good one.”

Zelda leaned her hand on her cheek. “I’d never say no to that.”

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“I see a princess so soft and serene. She stares back at nothing, for there’s nothing to be seen. A princess so wise, so smart, so sure; she has my soul forevermore.”

Zelda chuckled lightly. He was making it up on the spot.

He winked. “Walk this way, my heart dare sinks; for I am the one who sulks and slinks. She looks my way, I swell with pride; for I am the one who can see inside. For years I lay in the castle cold, wondering if I should be ever bold? Or long I wait, a hundred years pass, ere surely begin to feel like such an ass.”

A real laugh burst from Zelda’s lips, and she crossed her arms, raising her eyebrow. He made a face, one that said he wasn’t done. “Oh Princess, I say, wouldst thou be mine? Or have I just run out of time? ‘Oh, no, dear sir!’ my love exclaims, ‘my heart has no other aims!’ So I gather my courage and take her to wed! Then gather my bride and take her to bed.”

“Fen!” Zelda laughed harder. “Goddess above, please say that’s where the song ends!”

“Hardly,” he snorted, still playing the tune as he smiled. “Against her sweetest lips, my mouth cannot abstain. ‘Oh love’, she moans, ‘please do that again!’”

“Oh Goddess!” Zelda cried, covering her mouth to stop her laughter. She got up and stilled his hands. “No! No more verses! We are in public! Lovely song, but no, this is not going in a harmless direction!”

Setting the accordion aside, Fen stood up. Now, Zelda was tall, but Fen towered over her. “I should be going, unfortunately, Princess. I’m returning to Kakariko for my sister’s birthday tomorrow. And if I stay here with you, I’d be too tempted to sing you another song.”

“Get out of here, then!” she laughed, shooing him. “Oh, wait!”

Zelda perched up on her tip toes and gently puled Fen’s neck, urging him to bend. She pressed her lips softly against his cheek and ran her hand along a strand of loose hair. “Payment for the smile,” she whispered before backing away.

Fen was exceptionally red. “That’s free, Princess. We’ll call that a tip. And in exchange for said tip, I will finish these lyrics—”

“—Oh, no, no, no!”

“—And I will slide them under your door for your eyes only upon my return, fair Princess.”

Zelda covered her face, feeling it heat up. “Fine. But they better be worth the embarrassment of trying to sneak them by my bodyguard. Whatever would he think if he read one of these?”

“He’d see our love for what it truly is, of course!” Fen laughed, grabbing his things. “Good day, Your Majesty. And may that smile remain on your face long after I’ve left.”

“Say happy birthday to Selma for me.”

“I will,” he grinned, and then bowed, leaving without another word.

#WIP Wednesday #legend of zelda #breath of the wild #botw au #zelda #link #court poet #zelink #writing #they swear if that puts you off #poetry #but it's definitely not #Zelda is a flirt #the court poet is a flirt #link is a flirt #everyone in this fic is a flirt

9 notes · View notes

kalimagik · 4 years

Text

You Are My Home

Ron Weasley x Reader

Word Count: 3.8k

Warnings: Abusive father, alcoholism

A/N: This lil fic was requested by @obsessedwithrandomthings <3 Congrats on 300 love! The prompts were “kiss me” and “you make me feel safe.” My requests are OPEN! and there is a prompt list somewhere on my dash if you’d like to request something. I was planning on posting this 2 hours ago, but tumblr got annoying and deleted it from my queue. So reblog, comment, like, all that fun stuff pleasssse! Feedback always welcome! Happy reading!

Not my GIF - credit to owner

Summers at the Burrow were always crazy, but relaxing at the same time. Molly gave her children chores each day, but there was plenty of time for playing quidditch, pranking, and roaming around the muggle village nearby.

While Hogwarts brought excitement and adventure, the Burrow brought time for rejuvenation, well that was when the twins weren’t picking on Ron. But, it was home. It was where he felt the most comfortable, especially when Harry and Hermione were around. Yep, summers at the Burrow were the best place for a kid to grow up.

*Knock, knock, knock*

Being the last one awake, Ron slid off the couch and crept to the door. Ron glanced at the real clock on his way through the kitchen, which read 11:30. Who could be knocking this late at night?

Ron swung the door open to come face to face with Y/N L/N. She was definitely more Ginny’s friend than his, but she was always kind to him and vice versa. And, if he was being honest, he always did have a crush on her. She was so full of life and brightened the lives of everyone who knew her.

“Uhhh, hi. I’m sorry. I was hoping to catch Ginny. But now that I’m realizing what time it is, I realize that that was a silly notion.”

Y/N wouldn’t meet Ron’s eyes, but he could hear the shakiness and uneven vibrato in her voice. When she sniffled, he knew that she had been crying.

“I should go,” she whispered, turning from Ron.

“No, wait. Why don’t you come in. It’s late. I don’t even know how you got here, but it probably wasn’t easy.”

Y/N just nodded and stepped through the doorway. She stood in the kitchen, looking like she didn’t really know what to do, but Ron watched as she timidly wiped her eyes. He knew she was trying to hide whatever she was feeling.

“Are you okay?” Ron blurted out. He couldn’t stand seeing her hear like this.

“I don’t want to bother you with it. Would it be okay if I just waited down here for Ginny? You don’t have to wait up with me, I can just sleep on the couch.”

“No, you can sleep in my room. I’ll sleep on the couch.” If she didn’t want to talk to him, that was fine, but there was no way that he was letting her sleep on that lumpy couch in the living room.

“I don’t want to put you out.” This was not her, not at all.

“You won’t be. I’m sure of it. You may just have to mind the ghoul in the attic,” Ron warned with an airy chuckle. “I’m the room on the top floor. You can’t go any further. Go ahead up. There are t-shirts in the top drawer, you can use one of those for bed.”

Y/N just nodded before turning to walk up the stairs. Before she could get out of Ron’s sight, she paused and looked back at him. “Thank you, Ron,” she said quietly. Even though there weren’t many words, Ron knew that his actions meant the world to her, he could just feel it.

Once he was sure that Y/N was in bed, Ron got comfortable on the couch or as comfortable as he could. He stared at the ceiling wondering why Y/N had just shown up like that. Molly would have no problem with her being there, but it was still strange.

Ron woke up to Ginny, Fred, and George standing over him.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Fred grinned.

“Fall asleep dreaming about a mermaid?” George teased.

“Shove off,” Ron groaned as he rolled over.

“Why are you down here anyways?” Ginny questioned.

At that, Ron shot up, Y/N. “Gin, I think you might want to go up to my room.”

“I’m NOT dealing with the Ghoul again, Ronald.”

“No, no, no. I didn’t sleep down here because of a ghoul. Y/N showed up late last night. She seemed upset. I told her to sleep in my room.” Ginny was out of the room before Ron could even finish his sentence. Her footsteps pounded loudly on the steps. If anyone was still sleeping in the house, they weren’t anymore.

“What do you think that was about?” George wondered out loud.

“Girls are strange beings…” Fred followed, shaking his head.

Ron followed the twins into the kitchen for breakfast, constantly looking at the stairs for Ginny and Y/N’s feet. Breakfast was filled with jokes from the twins and Percy telling them off.

“MUUUUM!” Ginny called from up the stairs, maybe about halfway up.

Ron watched intently for any sign as Molly rushed up the stairs. She didn’t even question it. She had to know that Y/N was in the house by now. Why was he feeling so uneasy about this? Playing with his eggs until Molly emerged again.

“Well dears, it seems that we will be having a guest for the next few weeks,” Molly smiled as she pulled out another plate and set of utensils. “Ronald, you could have woken me up when she arrived last night,” Molly informed him.

“Sorry. You went up so long before she got here,” Ron tried to explain.

“Wittle Ronnikins gave his room up to the pretty girl,” Fred mocked.

“She needed it. You don’t get it.” Ron spat back at him. Ron didn’t know why, but he felt the need to protect her. He needed to pave the path for everything to be alright with her.

“Good morning again,” Ginny said, announcing her re-arrival downstairs.

Ron whipped around fast enough to see Y/N coming down the stairs behind Ginny, smiling timidly at the family she knew so well. This just so wasn’t like her.

“How’d you sleep?” he found himself asking in spite of himself. Maybe he should have just kept quiet.

“Well, thank you. But you can have your bed back. I’m going to stay in with Ginny.” She smiled at him, well what seemed like a genuine smile. Maybe last night was just a fluke and she would be her normal self by this afternoon.

“Y/N, dear. Have some breakfast. I will send an owl to Arthur and tell him to pick up your things.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Weasley.” Something still seemed off about her. Ron looked up slightly, but not enough for his brothers to catch him. He watched her slowly eat the food placed in front of her. He watched the twinge of pain shoot across her face when she turned too quickly to respond to something Percy said. He watched her.

He watched and noticed things in the weeks following the night of her arrival too. She was happier each day, growing more comfortable and relaxed in a way that someone could only do at the Burrow. Ron started spending more time with her too. She would offer to help them all with their chores and some days Ron got lucky. She’d help him all day. She was her playful self. Spraying water at him while they tended to the garden, keeping the clippers out of his reach. It was all the Y/N he was used too.

Ron even got to spend some late nights talking to her. Like him, she was a night owl. She’d stay up until she was practically falling asleep next to him on the couch or outside on the grass. She was at her cutest when she was tired, giggling and trying to keep her eyes open for as long as possible. Ron just adored it.

It was another one of those nights when just Ron and Y/N were still awake with everyone else asleep. Ron sat with his back against the couch and bum on the floor. Y/N had been sitting next to him until she became more tired. She slid towards the floor and laid her head on Ron’s lap, looking up at him.

“You’re beautiful,” he blurted out before he knew what had possessed him. It was just those eyes…Those sleepy, sparkling, beautiful eyes.

“Thank you, Ronald,” Y/N smiled, not really processing what he said.

“Can I ask you something?” Ron continued, not minding that she hadn’t said anything more.

“If you want to ask if you can have a rematch on the quidditch pitch tomorrow, the answer is yes,” she giggled.

“I will take you up on that,” Ron grinned, “but that wasn’t what I was going to ask.”

“Okay, shoot,” Y/N responded as she adjusted on his lap.

“I’ve been wondering this for a while, but when you came here a month or so ago, you were crying. You weren’t yourself. I don’t want to pry or push you, but what was wrong?” Ron felt the confidence leave him as he asked the question. Maybe he should let the reason stay her secret.

Y/N tensed, he could feel it. She was thinking and then sat up, criss cross applesauce, now facing Ron. “I guess I do owe you an explanation, you were so kind to not push me then. I would still be wondering too if I was you.” She rambled. She was still beautiful when she rambled.

“I knew that the Burrow was a safe place. Ginny has always been like a sister to me. I couldn’t be at home anymore. M-my, my dad, he- he drinks…a lot. It’s just me and him at home usually. Mum died when I was little, but I-I think you knew that. Anyways, that’s too much information.”

Y/N took a deep breath before she continued. “So, he drinks. And it just got out of hand that night. I hide it well, bu-but he can hurt me. He doesn’t always use his hands. Sometimes it's with magic, but I was hiding in my room that night. I swear he loves me. He’s my father. I just remind him of mum and it sets him off- I guess? I don’t know. I shouldn’t defend him.” She shook her head as she looked at her hands in her lap.

Ron just took in her words and the grace that she had while telling him her story. How could she be so calm? He felt the rage begin to rise in his chest. No one- No One, should ever want to do anything to harm Y/N. His fists clenched against his sides, but he tried to hide it, even though it could be read clearly across his face.

“But, I managed to get away and grabbed a broom and this is the first place I thought of. Before I knew it, I was at your door and knocking.”

Ron nodded to show he understood and was listening, but he was boiling over.

“I told Ginny the next morning and insisted I tell your mum, even though I didn’t want to. When your mum found out the basis of my situation, she essentially ordered me to stay with you all. I couldn��t say no, but I’m happy she did. This has been one of the best summer holidays I have ever had.” A smile crossed her lips as she thought of the weeks that she had spent in the Burrow.

“You can stay here as long as you want.” Ron told her, straight faced. He didn’t want that man coming anywhere near her again, whether or not he was her father.

“Thanks, Ron. Your mum said the same thing. I like it here…a lot.”

“You can stay here forever even. All school holidays, summer holidays, all of them.”

“I have to go back at some point, Ron.”

“No you don’t,” Ron argued. “You never have too.”

“Okay.” Her words didn’t seem like an agreement, but an understanding. “I’m going to go to bed now, okay? Thank you for listening.” As she stood up, she leaned down to kiss Ron’s cheek. “Good night,” she said softly as she made her way upstairs to Ginny’s room.

Ron sat in the stillness of the living room. He slowly lifted his hand to his cheek. It burned with the blush left from her kiss.

Growing used to the routine with Y/N at the house, Ron adjusted his own to spend even more time with her. Some would even argue that she was starting to spend more time with Ron than with Ginny. They were growing closer and closer and Ron felt like he may combust if his feelings for her grew any larger. He was falling, falling harder than he could ever imagine. His crush was so much more than a crush on the happy, free-spirited girl that was friends with Ginny. He loved that version of her, but also the her he got to know in the evenings and the her that could let loose like no one was watching. He loved all of her.

Then, one morning he woke up later than usual. He’d been kept awake by the soft explosions from the twins’ room and the thoughts about Y/N swirling in his head. When he came down the stairs, Y/N’s bags were all packed at the door.

“What’s going on? Are we going somewhere?” Ron asked as he rubbed his eyes.

“Y/N’s going home.” Ginny replied with a straight face and angry eyes watching the front door closely.

“She’s what? Where is she?”

“Her dad showed up early this morning demanding to see her.” Ginny spit out. Ron could tell she was infuriated.

“Where is she?”

“Outside. He wanted to talk to her.”

“Did anything seem off about him?” Ron’s mind began racing. What if he did something to her? Ron had to be there to protect her.

He flew through the door that Ginny had been watching so intently. He ignored his sister as she called saying that Y/N’s father said not to follow. He tore through the garden that he had tended to so many times with her and past the Weasley’s makeshift quidditch pitch. He ran all the way to the edge of the trees on the property. The moment Y/N spoke, he could pick her voice out of the normal outside noises.

“No. I want to stay here, Dad. Please!”

“You’re coming home. I need your help around the house. You cannot just skirt your responsibilities.” He growled at her.

“I don’t understand. You don’t have to worry about me when I’m here. They’ll take care of me…” she tried to explain.

“I can take care of you just fine. You don’t need to be playing make believe here.”

“Dad. No.” She was standing her ground and Ron was proud of her, he thought maybe he could just watch from a distance just in case. But when he looked at Y/N’s father, something seemed off. He was staggering and stumbling at only 11 o’clock in the morning.

“You are coming home with me, Y/N.” Her dad grabbed her arm harshly.

“Okay, fine, fine,” she conceded. Even from a distance, Ron could see the confidence fade in her eyes just to be replaced by fear. “Just let me go get my stuff.”

“No, we are going now. You humiliated me by having Arthur Weasley show up at MY house to collect your things.”

“Please, dad. My school things are in there. I need them to do my summer work.” Her words became more urgent as though she was trying to calm him down and be reasonable.

“WE ARE GOING NOW!” Y/N tried to pull away, but his grasp was too tight on her wrist. Ron couldn’t take it anymore.

“Let her go!” he yelled.

“This doesn’t concern you,” Y/N’s dad spat in Ron’s direction.

“Ron, it’s really okay,” Y/N said, but her eyes pleaded for help.

“I said, let her go.” Ron repeated, closing the distance between him and Y/N.

“She’s my daughter, under the age of 17, and I can do with her as I please.”

Ron’s eyes flickered to where Y/N’s father held her arm. It seemed to be getting tighter. His nails were practically breaking her flesh.

“Dad, that hurts,” she spoke softly to him, but his grip didn’t loosen. Ron could see the pain emanating in her eyes.

“She said she wants to stay here.” Ron gritted through his teeth, losing his cool.

“Let’s go, Y/N.” Her father yanked her arm so hard that Ron was sure her arm would pop out of her socket.

The tears swelled up in her eyes as she held back her audible cries. “Let her go.” Ron was giving her dad one last chance before…

Once Ron spoke, Y/N’s dad only pulled harder. Ron leaped forward, fist aimed at the man holding onto Y/N. He hit him square in the jaw. When Y/N’s dad recoiled, he lost his grip on Y/N, allowing her to break free.

“Are you okay?” he asked, rushing to her side.

“Yeah, just a little sore,” she lied. Ron stood up beside her to face her dad. The man stood a few inches shorter than Ron, so he had to look up to meet Ron’s fiery stare.

“You need to leave now.” Ron spoke as calmly as he could.

By this point, the commotion had drawn the attention of his family inside. Fred, George, and Arthur Weasley were all running to where Ron stood, Ginny running next to Y/N, helping her up.

“Take Y/N back inside, Gin.” Ron said, not breaking eye contact with her father.

“You can’t just hide my daughter from me.” He dared to speak.

“I’m not hiding her. I’m keeping her safe from you now.” Ron was determined to win this one.

“Mr. L/N. Please leave our property,” Mr. Weasley spoke sternly.

Realizing he was outnumbered, Y/N’s father apparated on the spot. Ron turned instantly to go back to the house and check on her. She had been hurt and he just knew it.

“Gin? Ginny?!” Ron called once he was in the house.

He could hear her soft sniffles and Ginny calmly repeating that she would be okay. He turned into the living room to see Y/N on the couch with Ginny holding her arm and his mum fussing over her. As annoying as her fussing could be to him sometimes, he was never more grateful to have her here taking care of Y/N.

Ron could see the silent tears streaming down her face. His heart ached at the sight, she should never ever cry.

“Y/N? Are you okay?” Ron kept his distance, wanting to be respectful of the people buzzing around her.

“She will be alright,” Molly smiled at the girl, standing up. “Just needs some rest, that’s all.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Weasley,” Y/N whispered, not really making eye contact with anyone around her. Ron could tell that she was embarrassed by the whole situation even though she didn’t need to be.

“Why don’t you come rest in my room,” Ginny offered, being the type of friend that knew Y/N wouldn’t want to be the center of attention all day because of this.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

Ron couldn’t stop pacing around the ground floor. Not even the twins could bring themselves to tease him over his concern, they were concerned too. Y/N took her meals in Ginny’s room with Ginny and Arthur watched the yard, making sure that her father didn’t return.

The family went up to bed with an uneasiness in the air. Ron walked so slowly past Ginny’s room, hoping to maybe catch Y/N going to the bathroom or something, but he didn’t. So, now he lied awake in his bed, listening to the ghoul make a ruckus in the attic.

When the soft knock echoed off his door, Ron flew to answer it. Y/N stood there, small and shivering. “Can I come in?” she asked quietly.

“Yes, yes, of course.” Ron opened the door wider when he realized she hadn’t been up here since the first night she arrived. Y/N stood in the middle of the room, looking utterly unsure about what to do now.

“You want to sit down?” Ron asked motioning to his bed as he took a seat on the floor.

“I don’t want to put you out.” How was she still so polite and thoughtful?

“Sit, Y/N.” Ron offered softly, not wanting to push too hard.

“I just wanted to thank you, for coming out earlier to help me.”

Ron couldn’t stop himself as he grabbed her hand to reassure her that he was there. “You don’t have to go home ever again…”

“I’ve been home, Ron. For months. A home is a place where you are supposed to feel safe and loved and warm.” She looked up from the floor to look at him for the first time since she entered the room. Oh, how beautiful she was. “You make me feel safe, you are my home. And somehow when I was out there today, I just knew you would come…”

She sank onto the floor next to him and all Ron wanted to do was close the space, but he wanted to make sure that she was comfortable above all else. “The Burrow was a safe haven for me,” she continued, “but you, you made every second here amazing. And it may be silly, but I’ve had this crush on you forever.” Y/N broke eye contact as she spoke the words, slightly embarrassed to be telling him this way, but nevertheless she kept going. She wasn’t going to be scared of this anymore. “But, I can’t help but feel like it’s become more than a crush. I-I think I love you, Ron and I just have this feeling that you might feel that same way?”

The words evaded him. How could he express just how much she meant to him?

“Kiss me” was all he managed. The most beautiful smile he had ever seen spread across her face as she leaned forward into him. Ron couldn’t stop himself from pulling her lips to his to close the space faster. He swore he felt sparks as the kiss deepened and became more passionate. This was it. Ron knew that she was it for him.

When they finally pulled apart for air, he studied her beautiful face so closely that he could see every freckle, every line, and every blemish, but even those were beautiful. “I can be your home as long as you need me too,” he spoke against her lips.

“How does forever sound?” she whispered, closing the gap one more time.

Y/N never did have to go back to her father, Ron made sure of that. Ginny was more than happy to let her best friend share her room and keep her things there, but really she snuck up to Ron’s room almost every time they were back at the Burrow.

Forever can seem like an awfully long time, but whenever Ron held her in his arms, forever felt like something he could definitely do, especially for her.

562 notes · View notes

dreaming-about-fanfictions · 4 years

Text

The Balcony - Geralt of Rivia x Reader

Summary: Of playing games with each other and meeting in your favorite spot in the castle at midnight. 18+

A/N: So tumblr decided to delete my story the last time I posted this -.- So here I go again. Also, fyi, this is my first time writing smut :D Enjoy <3

Words: 3481 Pairing: Geralt of Rivia x female!Reader Warnings: smut smut smut. Princess!Reader (again, lol).

You see him first.

He is standing on the balcony, looking out into the night. His arms are propped up on the balustrade, a glass of wine resting next to him. His composure is relaxed and he seems to feel at ease. An unusual sight.

You know who he is. Everyone does. The Witcher, people had whispered in the corridors, the Witcher is coming. To you, he was nothing more than a myth up until three days ago. Childhood stories, the handmaiden told you, to keep you from running into the woods alone. When you grew to be a woman, you forgot about them, thinking they were a mixture of exaggeration and fear. However, when he walked into the great hall with long strides and planted a kiss on your hand, your impression changed. He is everything they say.

You observe him, wondering what brings him out here this summer night. The chamber is far away from the guest wing and hasn’t been used in years. You are the only one who still comes up occasionally to sit on the balcony, listening to the howling of the wind and the rustling of leaves from the nearby forest. It comforts you in a strange way, makes you forget your life at court with all its intrigues, politics and bloodshed.

A soft breeze wafts through the room, moving the old heavy curtains ever so slightly. You shiver as your nipple harden against the soft fabric of your nightgown. It is the only thing you wearing. After all, you didn’t expect others to see you.

In this moment, the bell from the high tower sounds. Midnight. It takes you off guard and causes you to breath in sharply. He hears you and tilts his head almost inconceivably. Almost.

You bite your lip, contemplating your next move. The well-behaved royal daughter inside you tells you to leave. Turn around and go back to your room. Fall asleep and wonder if this encounter has only been a dream. The other daughter, the one who sneaks around the castle at midnight, wonders what will happen if you approach him. You decide to listen to her.

It takes you another three seconds to muster up the courage before you start walking towards the balcony, your bare feet making no sound on the cold stone. Outside the wind blows softly and goosebumps appear on your arms – a cloak would have been a good idea. You stand next to him, nervously fidgeting with the cloth of your gown. “Witcher.”

He does not acknowledge your presence, keeping his eyes fixated on the woods. You ask yourself if he sees something out there that stays hidden from you. After a moment, he grabs his wine and takes a sip and carefully places it back on the balustrade. “Princess Y/N.”

You nearly shudder by the way your name rolls of his tongue.

“How did you find this chamber?”

Again, he takes his time to answer. “Couldn’t sleep,” he finally says.

“Doesn’t answer my question,” you respond.

“Hmm.” The Witcher takes another sip of the dark wine.

Disappointment and confusion dwells up inside of you. He irritates you, as you are not used to people talking to you like in that manner. Or not talking, in his case. Almost pouting you try a third time: “Why did you choose to come up here? There are other balconies, closer to your chambers.”

For the first time since you stepped outside, he looks at you. He’s beautiful. It is impossible to read his expression as he is eyeing you up, his gaze lingering just a moment too long on your chest. Suddenly, you become aware of the transparency of your nightgown and your cheeks flush. You clear your throat nervously and cross your arms.

The corners of his lips move upwards a little and he meets your eyes again. “You’re a curious one, aren’t you?”

“I am,” you reply a little louder than necessary to chase away the nervousness. “More than that, I’m the princess of this kingdom so I can order you to answer me if you choose to stay silent.” In your head, this sentence had sounded strong and confident. In reality however, it has more resemblance with a spoiled, overreacting, defiant child.

The Witcher seemingly has the same impression and raises his eyebrows.

You keep staring at him. It is too late to take the statement back so you might as well go with it.

“Do it then.”

“What?” A little bewildered you uncrossed your arms.

“Order me,” Geralt demands.

“You want me to order you?”

“That is what I said, yes,” he shrugs.

He’s playing with me, the thought shoots through your mind. “Alright then,” you straighten your composure and he mimics it. Now, Geralt of Rivia towers over you. You have to look up to him and the same feeling of irritation that you felt just moments before resurfaces. “I demand to know how you found this place and why you’re here.”

His lips twitch again and you realize, he’s suppressing another smile. “I’m here because I had a hard time falling asleep. In moments like this, I enjoy taking a walk. Instead of going outside, I decided to come here.”

You ponder shortly about the reason for his restlessness. Is it the full moon, shining too brightly, or simply nightmares? Does the Witcher, the Butcher of Blaviken, even experience such a mundane thing as nightmares? Do the monsters and people he kills on his way through the continent haunt him sometimes?

He continues to talk and pulls you out of your thoughts. “As to why I’m here, it’s a more … delicate story,” for a reason unknown, his voice becomes even lower.

You are intrigued. “Try me.”

“I saw this balcony while walking through the forest two nights ago.” A smirk appears on his face.

It clicks right away with you. Oh. Your cheeks flush, embarrassment taking over. You know what he is hinting at and close your eyes to gather your thoughts. Oh no. When you open them again, the smirk was still plastered on his face.

“You don’t know what you saw, Witcher.”

He chuckles. “Oh, I think I do, Y/N.”

There it is again – the shiver running down your spine as he pronounces your name with his sharp rivian accent. Absent-minded, you lick over your lips.

“How dare you watch –“

“I didn’t. Not for long anyways.”

You are doubtful whether to believe him. “You can hang for this.” Factually true. What he did was worthy of the death sentence.

“Princess,” Geralt takes a step towards you. Firewood and leather, you smell and it makes you feel dizzy. He lowers his head, mere inches separating you. “If you want to see me hang, you have to give reason to the king.” Factually true as well. “Please allow me to witness that particular conversation.”

“Fucking jerk,” you blurt out. How does he do it? How does he make you feel like a sixteen-year-old girl who has never talked to a boy before? You are a princess, damn beautiful and even more powerful. No man has the right to take your control away like this and leave you breathless, desperately looking for words. Especially not a Witcher.

He smiles and lowers his head a little further. “I know.”

His lips are now so close to yours they would probably touch when you said another word. You can sense the warmth radiating from his body and his eyes watching you intensly, observing every movement of your face. You are blissfully aware of what he wants in this moment, what he craves. Quickly you become aware that there might be certain things he still has in common with other men and now you are the one with the smirk on your lips. The Witcher notices it, yet reads your reaction wrong and faintly brushes his fingers against the side of your body. It’s all your body needs. A tingling sensation and your breath hitches. He takes it as a another sign and parts his lips and …

… you take a step backwards. As if someone woke him up from a daydream, he regains his composure, a hint of bewilderment running over his face.

“Careful, Witcher,” you reprimand him. “Don’t forget who’s standing in front of you.”

Having the control of the situation was what you wanted – now you have it. Not without shooting him a last mocking smile, you turn around and walk away with your head held high. Left on the balcony in a chilly summer night is a dumbfounded Witcher, watching you exit the room and disappear into the dark corridor.

***

Over the next day, Geralt of Rivia leaves the castle with his bard. He is looking for the reason he traveled to the kingdom in the first time – a beast that already slaughtered half a dozen villagers.

He leaves early in the morning and as you pass him in the hall, you do not look at him. The back of your hand brushes against his, quickly, teasingly, as if you accidentally walked by too close. You feel his eyes on you and smile when he is out of sight.

When he returns in the evening, he announces his success. The monster is dead and the king and queen want to celebrate, so they order the staff to cook the finest dishes and bring out the best wine. He declines but four hours pass and the festivities start. People are dancing, drinking, and his companion sings of the Witchers latest victory.

At one point, Geralt is leaning against a pillar, drink in hand. He watches the crowd, seemingly bored, when his eyes trail in your direction and meet yours. This time, you don’t look away. The music and chatter around you start to blur as the two of you keep watching each other. Your fingers play with the heavy necklace resting against your bosom and he follows them as though he is captivated by the sight.

A glass falling, shattering and spilling its content all over the ground ultimately brings you back to reality. You break the eye contact and abruptly stand up.

“I’m tired, please excuse me,” you mumble, unsure if someone hears you.

***

One hour later, you are standing on the balcony again.

When you had left the party you were honest in wanting to go to sleep. So back in your chambers, you changed out of your dress into your nightgown, undid your hair and laid down. However, something keeps you awake and it is not possible to fall asleep. You toss and turn and for whatever reason finally decide to come back up here.

It is not as quiet tonight as you are used to. People from the party keep coming out for a breath of fresh air and guards are patrolling the gardens. You watch them silently.

“Figured I’d find you here.”

You don’t flinch or wince at the low voice sounding from the dark room behind you, having expected him to come here.

The door falls shut and a sense of excitement flows through you. His steps come closer until you feel him standing directly behind you. His hot breath touches the skin of your neck and a shiver runs down your spine.

“Why did you choose to come up here? There are other balconies closer to your chamber,” Geralts voice is nothing more than a whisper.

You smile softly. “Couldn’t sleep,” you murmur, repeating his words from last night.

“Hmm…”

His hand is resting on your hip now, only the thin fabric of your gown separating him from your skin. The touch makes your heart pound faster and the same tingling sensation, you had felt before, appears.

“Y/N,” he whispers in your ear. “Tell me, I’m not reading this wrong …”

“This?”

With a swift movement he spins you around and presses you up against the balustrade. You draw a sharp breath of air in surprise and are not sure if it’s the cold metal from his belt that causes your nipples to get hard or the way his hands hug your hips.

“This,” he repeated himself, his voice hoarse and his eyes as dark as the night sky.

Maybe it was the way your lips parted or that you tilted your head or how you moved your hips forward slightly – either way, Geralt realizes that he is not reading anything wrong at all and kisses you.

Finally.

The kiss is rough and demanding and you feel the need to grab him by his jacket to hold on to him. One of his hands cups your face and his tongue slips in your mouth. He is possessive and you feel as if he tries to claim you, tries to make him his. Suddenly Geralt lifts you up onto the balustrade and you immediately wrap your legs around his hips, pulling him even closer. The ground is thirty feet beneath you and you do not care for dying this way.

“I got you,” he whispers and groans when you grind your hips against his. “I won’t let you fall.”

He begins kissing down your neck, sucking on the soft skin. It will leave marks, you are sure of it, yet it doesn’t matter. One of his hand reaches your breasts, his thumb flicking over your hard nipples, and you sigh heavily as he plays with them.

“This gown,” he is out of breath when he speaks, “… it drives me crazy.”

You chuckle. “I know…”

A gasp leaves your lips when you hear the loud sound of fabric tearing and feel the wind on your bare skin. He kisses your collarbone and travels down further, his tongue reaching the delicate skin of your breasts, caressing your nipple playfully before closing his mouth around it.

You moan and your head falls back, eyes closed, and then you start pushing his jacket from his shoulders. You want to feel his skin too, touch it, kiss it. When it falls to the ground, you tug at his shirt, your hands sliding underneath it. It’s not enough, you think or maybe you say it out lout because you feel Geralt smiling against your skin.

You grab his belt, opening it, breathing heavily and letting out soft whimpers as he bites and sucks on your skin. When the pants finally spring open, they free his impressive length and the sight of him, hard and dripping for you, makes you shudder. You reach for it, enclosing it, slowly moving your hand up and down. Geralt groans deeply and pulls away to meet your lips. He holds you tightly as the kiss hastens together with the movements of your hands. Your insides twirl at the sounds he makes.

“I need you…” The expression on his face is pure bliss. Eyes closed, mouth opened slightly.

He is a sight for the gods.

“Then take me, Witcher.”

He doesn’t ask a second time and positions himself in front of your wet and throbbing cunt. His hot shaft against your skin, he curses when he feels how wet you are, and every fiber of your body wants him – wants him deep inside of you, filling you completely, fucking you until you forget your own name.

When he finally does, he is not gentle. He enters you with one hard trust and a loud moan escapes your lips. He stretches you far, so far, it almost pains you – and yet it is the most delicious pain you ever felt. You pull him in for another kiss, swallowing another curse from his lips. The moment he starts moving, pleasure overcomes you like a wave and you bite down on his lips so hard you are scared it draws blood. Geralt slides in and out of you, pressing your leg, forcing it to spread open even wider. You gasp at the new angle and your muscle clench around him. The two of you are panting heavily, groaning and curses fill the silence of the night.

It doesn’t take long and you feel a familiar heat start arousing in your body. Spots appear in front of your eyes and you scratch his back in an attempt to feel him closer to you.

“Oh, fuck – you fill me so good!” You are so close, so damn close –

The Witcher stops moving abruptly and you whimper, demanding to know what he think he’s doing. He doesn’t give you an answer and instead places a hand over your mouth.

“Quiet,” he murmurs into your ear between heavy breathing. “There are people outside.”

Only now you hear them talking, merely a few feet beneath. Guests from the festivities, you figure. Frustrated, you try to bite his calloused fingers covering your lips.

“Ah, Princess,” his hoarse voice in your ear makes you twitch and as you roll your hips against him, his breath hitches. “You don’t want them to see you like this, do you? Hot, sweaty, filled by my thick cock –“

You moan against his fingers.

He looks at you in surprise, a teasing smile on his lips. “Or maybe you do?” Slowly, he begins to move again. The pace is pure torture and your hips rock up, begging him to take you. He moans in your ear. “Does it turn you on, Princess? Letting me fuck you like this, making you beg and quiver underneath me and for the whole world to see?” Every other word is punctuated by hard thrusts and your whimpers.

“Is this why I saw you touching yourself three nights ago?” Geralt fucks you harder and faster, the sound of naked bodies smacking against each other filling the air. You don’t think it’s possible but his words make you even wetter, your slick juices running down your leg.

“Who was the man you thought about when I saw you, Y/N?” Now it’s not a simple question anymore, it’s a demand. “Who made you cum like that?” He is ordering you to answer him and it turns you on beyond imagination.

He removes his hand to steady himself on the balustrade and you moan so loudly that if anyone is still standing underneath the balcony, they definitely heard you now. However, your mind isn’t occupied with that particular concern.

“You,” you admit breathlessly. “I thought about you … touching me … taking me …” It’s the truth. It was the day you met him for the first time and the handsome Witcher wouldn’t leave your mind. So you came up here, unaware someone was watching you. When you touched yourself that night, you thought about what he would do to you. How he would take you, where he would kiss you. Yet, your imagination did not even come close to the way he feels inside you right now.

“Gods,” he groans, losing all control, fucking you violently, taking you as he pleases. You repeat his name over and over again, begging him not to stop, to never ever stop. Then your legs start shaking and you hear him calling out your name before you come all over his cock, muscles clenching around him. A wave of heat and pleasure hits you, taking over your body and mind and you cling onto him desperately, his name still on your lips. He follows shortly after, cursing and releasing himself inside of you.

Your breath trembles as you ride out the last waves of your orgasm and he keeps holding you close and safe in his arms.

After a few seconds or minutes, you truly are not sure, you plant a soft kiss on his shoulder. Geralt looks up, his breathing slowing down, and he pushes a strand of hair out of your face. A smile appears on his face. “I must say, I’ve come to understand what you like about this balcony.”

You snort. “It’s still my balcony,” you claim cheekily.

“Maybe the princess is kind enough to let me visit some times.”

“Maybe,” you lean in for a last kiss. It is sweet this time. Sweet and – in a way – loving. “If you behave yourself.”

“I’ll do my best,” he promises. Then he carefully pulls out of you and you sigh softly before you slide down the balustrade.

Geralt dresses himself, picking his jacket up from the ground, but when you attempt to do the same you see what is left of your dress. It isn’t much. “How am I supposed to get to my chambers now? Naked?”, you propose sarcastically.

His eyes travel up and down your bare skin at the question as he buttons up his pants and he licks his lips. “Maybe not at all,” he suggests seductively, a teasing smirk on his lips and you both laugh when he lifts you up and carries you inside the chamber.

Nearby, the old bell in the high tower sounds. Midnight.

***

For the sake of the story, imagine the balustrade of the balcony to be rather wide :D

My Masterlist

My Tag list: @just-antiyou , @sarah-midnight , @aspiring-ginger , @seb-owns-these-tatas

If you want to be added to my tag list, just message me! <3

1K notes · View notes

the-laridian · 2 years

Text

Fic Writer Survey

I saw this recently on @jackalgirl's tumblr and thought I'd give it a go.

How many works do you have on AO3?

51, but a bunch of 'em are really, really long.

What’s your total AO3 word count?

546,858

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Bad Trip (The Outer Worlds) - almost completed!

Art Therapy (Fallout 76) (WIP)

Drafted (Team Fortress 2, possibly the oldest one I have on AO3) (Completed)

A Gun for Barns, Part 3 (Fallout New Vegas) (Completed)

A Gun for Barns, Part 4 (Fallout New Vegas) (Completed)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I attempt to as much as possible - someone went to the effort to comment to me, I want to acknowledge that! Plus I've made some good friends who started out as commenters. :)

(This does mean that sometimes I miss comments, and I feel bad when I rediscover that later. I'm OK with someone nudging me to respond to something.)

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

That's not something I generally do, but I'd have to guess the Legion Courier ending.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Most of them have happy endings.

Do you write crossovers?

Not usually. If I do, it's a one-off for fun, but usually I'll just do "this is a Such-and-such-flavored AU" rather than "this is a crossover with This Other Media IP". I do have a couple of them in there, though.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

No, thank goodness, but I did get someone who tried to argue with me, saying I had written my OC's dialog wrong. Block and delete!

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes, and I'm sure it's very vanilla

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I'm aware of.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, mostly original works (Artisent Chronicles) or things that don't get posted to AO3, but there are a few.

What’s your all time favourite ship?

I don't like "of all time" questions because people change over time, their tastes change, and I'm no exception. I still enjoy Gunnar/Arcade very much.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish, but don’t think you ever will?

I have more of those than I care to count (though I did count them recently).

What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue. Worldbuilding.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Description. Fanfic is nice in that respect, as you know the reader's already familiar with the characters and setting. But it's something I do need to work on more.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I'd need a translation handy, or some means of knowing what's going on, if it happens more than a couple sentences. Otherwise I skip past it and move on. (The exception being the only other language I can actually parse out, but that's slow and breaks the immersion I'd like to have on a fic.)

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Uh, jeez. It was a long, long, long time ago, let's put it that way.

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet, but want to?

Usually if I want to write for something, I do so, even if it's just to test the waters and decide whether I want to continue.

What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

I honestly love most of them - I wouldn't post them if I didn't. At the moment I'm still very in love with A Gun for Barns and Bad Trip, and their assorted side stories and extras.

#laridian writes #ao3 #writer life #fanfic #fanfiction

2 notes · View notes

specs-and-capelets · 3 years

Text

i’ve posted this before on my other account, but i deleted it and— well, i was just too lazy to put it out again. so— why not i put this here for content?

uhh this is on ao3 too, so if u stumble upon it, it’s published by my account :)

prompt: logan’s an idiot at writing love letters and asked janus for his help

—

It was just another usual day at the Mind Palace. Well, slightly unusual, perhaps, Janus concluded. It is rare of him to be so deep into reading while being outside of his room.

The air was crisp and his current spot was perfectly warm, located on the couch at the Commons, where sunlight shone from the opened window, a mercy and reward from the cold morning Janus went through earlier. It was the perfect time to read outside of his room. There’s no disturbance from the other sides on this time around. Roman and Remus were deep in the Imagination now, probably at each other’s throats, Virgil’s alone in his room, most definitely on Tumblr, and Patton’s outside in the garden, enjoying the day. Yes, it’s certainly the best time of the day to read right here, Janus thought with a slight smile in his lips.

Anyway, it was a just a slightly different day than usual, but still a usual day nonetheless.

Footsteps suddenly emerged from the hallway, slightly disturbing the quietness of the Commons. Janus’ eyes teared away from the words of the book, tensing, like a predator sensing an enemy approaching. Tap, tap, tap, the footsteps sounded. It’s a familiar rhythm, Janus realized, relaxing, his eyes going back to the book.

Logic came into his view not a moment later, most of his body obscured by the book in Janus’ hand. The logical side stopped when he saw him, eyes perking up at the sight of the lying side. Oh? Janus half-expected Logan to greet him or say something first, but he seemed to be hesitating, the words uncharacteristically stuck in Logan’s throat.

“Janus,” Logan greeted after a moment, hands subconsciously playing with the edge of his tie.

Janus lowered his book, meeting Logan’s eyes. “Ah, Logan.” The smirk on his lips was automatic. “Greetings. I definitely did not see you there.”

The tension melted slightly from Logan’s body, the logical side shaking his head at Janus obvious lie. “Of course you didn’t,” He replied sarcastically, but the tone immediately died as he spoke again, “Are you-“ Logan cleared his throat, looking at the floor. “Are you, perhaps, busy at the current moment?”

Janus noted the nervous energy Logan seemed to be radiating, his eyebrow raising up in silent acknowledgment. The snake was intrigued, what is this all about? “I’m sure this book could wait.”

“Ah, if that’s the case then-“ He paused shortly. “I need your— input. Regarding a certain matter.” Logan looked slightly uncomfortable and fidgety as he forced the words out, anxiously waiting for Janus’ reply.

It’s unusual to see Logan so nervous, Janus thought inside his head, not sure wether to be delighted at the sight, or be also be anxious himself about the impending question, because Logan and nervous rarely went together. Well, the most nervous Janus had ever witnessed, anyway.

“Ah, of course,” Janus answered coolly, setting down the book he was unconsciously gripping. “Certainly do not ask away, Logan.”

There’s a slight hesitance in his voice, a pause, a flicker of doubt in his eyes before the logical side started talking again, “What is, in your opinion, the best way to write a love letter?”

What?

“Pardon me, a love letter?” Janus asked, incredulous. Had he he misheard him earlier? Surely that must be the case. Logan couldn’t possibly be asking him about love letters.

“Yes,” Logan clarified as he looked at Janus straight in the eye. “A love letter, that is correct.”

“You’re asking me-“ Janus pointed at himself, still incredulous. “On how to write a love letter?”

“That’s right,” Logan answered again, mouth twisting, his expression falling grim as he looked away. “If you’re uncomfortable on answering, then that is fine-“

“No,” Janus cut him off before he could finish the sentence. He sent Logan an apologetic look, not even bothering at all to hide his look of surprise and bewilderment at the question. “Apologies, I just— I’m definitely not surprised you decided to ask me about that.”

Logan huffed out a laugh at that, which also caused Janus grin slightly. “I, too, am surprised at myself as well.”

“This is more of Patton’s field pf expertise,” Janus continued, looking up at Logan, expression still displaying his look of surprise. “Why not ask him? Or Roman, both of them are better at this than I’ll ever be.”

“I already asked them both about this,” Logan answered, then he made a look. “Patton’s suggestions are not... terrible, per se. He told me to write, I quote, ‘my heart out.’ Write it my own way and avoid holding back any details, especially regarding my— ah- feelings. Do not filter my ‘feelings of love’ for the recipient. But it is far too emotional for my taste.” Logan then rolled his eyes fondly as he continued, “As for Roman, his approach is more fanciful. He suggested that I should write a love poem or a sonnet or something else in a similar fashion. He told me to— woo the recipient.”

Janus snorted at that. Logan and love sonnets? Maybe, but really out of character. “I definitely can’t see how that doesn’t suit you.”

“Yes, exactly.” Logan made an appreciative gesture, smiling slightly at Janus. The snake side found himself smiling back, and oh, what a nice smile he had there. Logan continued, “I also asked Virgil for his opinion on the matter. His answer is, and I quote, ‘Ya should just wing it, Lo, we both know we’re terrible at this.’”

Janus found himself laughing at Logan’s impression. Oh god, isn’t Logan adorable, he thought fondly. It’s not like he’s going to say it out loud, of course. “How about Remus?”

Logan only gave Janus a look.

Janus cringed at his mistake. Of course. Asking Remus would be a disaster. “Yes, you’re right. Terrible idea.”

“And that leaves you, Janus,” Logan continued. “I actually believe you’ll give the best advice out of all of them here, as I see you’re not too emotional nor too dramatic in things like this.”

But aren’t things like this are always emotional and dramatic? “I am certainly not flattered you’d think that my advice’ll be the best, but I.. do not doubt that I can give you something- satisfying,” Deceit replies quietly, giving Logan a weak grin.

Logan sighed softly, something flashing in his eyes that Janus couldn’t quite decipher. “Janus, for this past year, I believe we have gotten quite close. You’re more than capable of giving people good advices, and I’m confident to say that since I experienced it firsthand.” He trailed off, something soft blooming in his eyes. “Please, don’t be too hard on yourself.”

The snake side blinked, surprised and touched at Logan’s statement, and he hoped to god he’s not blushing right now.

“Do not blame me if it’s not satisfactory,” He hissed, adjusting his position as he think. “Patton told you to write it in your way, correct? That may be good, but I think you should try writing what the- ah— recipient would like to read.

“Present the letter in the way the recipient would like best,” He explained. “That way, in my opinion, at least, they’ll notice the thought and effort you put for going out of your comfortable zone and write the letter in a manner you’re unfamiliar with.”

Logan nodded, absorbing Deceit’s explanation. “I see.”

“Be humble. Be sentimental. Try to flatter the recipient while also being true and sincere,” Janus added.

Logan hummed, seemingly pondering about something, eyes flickering back to Janus. “If you— hypothetically receive a love letter from someone, what do you wish to find in the letter?”

Janus snorted. “An explanation to why that person deemed me worthy of love, that’s for certain.”

“Are you being serious?” Logan asked, eyebrows furrowed. “Janus, you know that you are, in fact, worthy of love, right? Everyone else here and I love you and care about you, you shouldn’t hesitate to ask us for clarification whenever you’re feeling-“ He pulled out his flash cards from seemingly out of nowhere, picking out one from the pile and reading it. “—not so gucci with yourself.”

“Of course I know that, Lo,” Janus answered, his voice a tad bit louder than earlier. “I just- uh- I’d definitely appreciate if the hypothetical person explained it in the hypothetical letter,” He explained, out of breath for some reason.

Logan gave him a look, but thankfully, he dropped it off, nodding gratefully at Janus. “I think I have enough information to start writing on my own.” He smiled at him. “Thank you for your input, Janus.”

“Yeah,“ Deceit croaked out, feeling faint. “Of course.”

He watched Logan leave, watched as his back disappeared again into the hallway, making sure the other was completely out of sight before slumping his body further in the couch, covering his face with a hand. He sighed deeply, feeling sadness, bitterness, and regret overtaking him in one big wave.

It’s over, he thought. He had his chance, but he never took it.

Logan’s in love with someone else.

—

Janus liked Logan.

He really, really liked him. He couldn’t pin point exactly when it started, but he remembered it being somewhere when Thomas was in college, back when people called him Deceit, where Janus would find Logan up in the latest of nights and earliest of days as he studied alongside Thomas. The times when Janus witnessed Logan finally getting a break, in a form of passing out on the couch in the Commons, relaxed and so, so soft for someone so rigid. As Janus stared at the sleeping side one night, he realized just how much he had done for Thomas, for them. Janus was extremely grateful for that, and he couldn’t help but to fall in love a little deeper.

He may not show it, pressing his feelings down on his chest and continued on his Disney villain charade, but from the start, he cared deeply for the other sides and had an.. extremely fond feelings for the logical side.

Logan, who’s fierce and passionate about facts and knowledge, who won’t hesitate to correct what is wrong and prove what is right, who constantly seek to improve himself. Logan, who’s also kind and caring and understanding in his own way, softer under that hard, stubborn shell of his. Logan, who’s intelligent, who glowed brightly as he mused about the secrets of the universe and talked on and on about biology, philosophy, astronomy, practically every piece of knowledge he studied, and anything and everything in between.

Janus had always been attracted to intelligence, and god, Logan was absolutely gorgeous.

As the years past, Janus’ attraction to the logical side only grew along with their interactions. Polite smiles and curt nods as they walked pass each other turned into greetings and small talks. Small talks about jams and books turned into debates on philosophy and society. And then, they became closer, sharing tea and thoughts together inside the privacy of Logan’s room. Slowly, as their fondness for each other grew, Logan let his guard down around Deceit. He witnessed his private smiles, witnessed his soft laughs, witnessed his tears.

And as the years past, in silence, Janus liked him more and more.

He didn’t pursue it, ultimately pressing down his romantic feelings towards the other side securely in his chest, hoping that it won’t see the light of day. He thought, at first, that maybe if he just ignored it all, the feelings would all go away. Truly a classic way to not deal with anything, really. He didn’t want to cause Logan more problems than he already had, seeing as the nerd wasn’t entirely attuning to his own emotions. He’s also a liar, a deceitful snake, a bad guy in their host’s eyes. Would Logan want that to be his partner? Sure, they may hang out a lot, but would Logan let him in that far?

But then Virgil got accepted, and then him and Remus followed right after. The tension that grew between Light and Dark, as Roman dubbed it, finally subsided. Everything’s better now. Perhaps not perfect, but clearly a lot more better than before. Still, Janus never confessed. He’s still afraid. Afraid of rejection. Afraid of pain. Afraid to destroy the friendship that they had.

So Janus kept quiet, kept going through his days as he silently pined. And now? It’s too late. Logan now had his eyes on someone, and it’s definitely not Janus who’s going to be at the receiving end of the love letter.

It hurt, knowing someone you loved so much for a long time was going to confess to someone else.

At least, Janus concluded, Logan’s happy. And that’s all that truly matters in the end, isn’t it?

—

“Janus!”

It was the day after Logan asked him about love letters. Janus still half expected it to be a dream or some kind of vivid image his brain came up when he spaced out. But no, it really did happened, and it still haven’t failed to baffle him.

Janus was just heading to the kitchen to get something to drink as he waited for breakfast, but Logan’s voice calling out to him stopped him in his tracks, his head looking back automatically to see Logan walking up from behind.

“Logan,” Janus greeted, his mismatched eyes scanning the logical side. He looked— messier than usual. His hair uncharacteristically ruffled in a careless manner, slightly dark circles around his eyes and he looked... not very awake at the moment, which was highly unlike him. “You look positively good, Logan, it looks like you slept well earlier.”

Logan flushed slightly at Janus words. “I was rather occupied the entire night.”

Janus raised an eyebrow. “Love letter?”

Logan nodded slightly. “Yes, that is correct.” He cleared his throat. “I have a question to ask you again, if you do not mind answering.”

He’s still on about that? Janus mentally asked, feeling a twinge of annoyance, and maybe a tad jealous. Maybe. It’s not finished? Who is he writing to? What’s taking him so long?

But instead of voicing all that, Deceit only put on a grin, as usual. “Of course, Specs-tacularly Nerdy.” He internally cringed at the nickname. He blamed Roman and his tendency to give everyone ridiculous nicknames.

Logan only rolled his eyes at Janus’ nickname for him. “Various sources suggested to use terms of endearment in addressing the recipient,” Logan said, tilting his head slightly. “Such as ‘My Dearest’ or ‘Beloved’ and other similar to that.”

Janus automatically faked gagged, his hands giving a disapproving gesture. “That definitely does suit you perfectly. You sound perfectly in character using that, Logan. If it were for me, I wouldn’t feel unsettled.”

“Ah, is that so?” Logan grinned at him, and something inside Janus’ chest swelled with affection. Shit. “Fantastic. Thank you again for your opinion, Janus.”

And with that, Logan turn around and ran back to his room, blissfully oblivious about Janus’ internal turmoil, the snake side letting out the breath he was holding as a blush spread on his face.

—

It kept Janus up at night, tossing and turning on his bed, wondering who the hell caught Logan’s affection.

Is it Patton? They both do have some sort of opposites attract kind of dynamic between them. The Heart and The Brain; Patton and Logan. Patton quite obviously adored Logan and the logical side, not so obviously, cared about the fatherly side as well. But wether it’s romantic or merely platonic, Janus was not sure which was true. They hug, they sometimes cuddle on the couch at movie nights, but it’s not enough for him to know that they’re into each-other, or at least, he couldn’t see if Logan was into Patton.

Is it Roman? They had this rivalry dynamic and tension between them. Janus knew better, himself had heard both sides of their opinions towards one another, both holding the other in high regard, respect, and admiration. Because in the end, they both only wanted what’s best for Thomas, and after setting aside their arguments and making some sort of truce, they worked extremely well together. Past all the bickering and arguing and disagreements, they’re very compatible.

Is it Virgil, our resident stormy cloud? They shared many moments together in peaceful quietness as they enjoy each other’s company. When Virgil had his episodes of panic, he’d fall to Logan as the logical side knew the best way to calm him down. They both had deep trust in each other that Janus was honestly jealous of. The left brains of the group. The storm and the grounding earth.

Janus suddenly sat up, realizition whacking him on his head, but Logan had asked them all for advice. Who asks their own love interest advice on how to ask them out? That’s ridiculous. So, the only side Logan didn’t ask was—

Remus. Remus ‘Creativity’ Sanders himself. Janus-

Janus could see them working out. The brain cell and the chaotic madman together. After Remus’ first debut to Thomas, they started talking more, as Remus finally found someone new to grace his presence with and annoy the hell out of. Logan battled Remus’ morbidity with deadpans and indifference, and in the end, they ended up as friends. He was glad that he was spared a little from Remus’ chaos, and that he found someone new to hang out with other than Janus.

It could be Remus, Janus solemnly concluded. With a sigh, he laid back on his bed, thinking why in all hell he’s worked up about this.

Whoever it is, Janus was happy if Logan’s happy. Yeah. He’s totally not sad about that, not at all. And if they broke Logan’s heart? He’s going to strangle them to death.

—

It had been a week since Logan’s last question and nothing noticeable happened ever since.

Sure, they meet up at every once in a while, but Logan never told him his progress regarding the love letter. Did Logan gave the letter already? Was he planning to keep quiet about his new partner? Or was the letter still unfinished?

Janus got his answer late at night.

He was just getting out to get some midnight snacks; a habit he and Virgil seemed to share, apparently. When he entered the Commons to get to the kitchen, he’s surprised to find the television on, illuminating the dark room. The volume was very small, almost muted. There’s a figure slumped on the couch, seemingly watching the documentary show on the tv.

“Logan?” Janus called out, surprised to find the logical trait and not Virgil.

Logan’s head snapped towards Janus’ direction, eyes wide in surprise. “Jan?”

“You shouldn’t be sleeping,” Janus scolded quietly, making his way towards the other side. “What would Thomas do without his logic in maximum condition?”

Logan didn’t answer, choosing only to stare at Janus in silence. The snake side raised an eyebrow at his stare.

“How can I make sure that my letter are going to be receive well?” Logan suddenly asked.

Of course. Perhaps that’s why he’s been postponing to send the letter. He’s afraid.

Janus quietly made his way and sat down next to Logan, making himself comfortable as the other watched him. He made a soft sigh before finally meetinh Logan’s gaze, and in the dark, he could see the fear and uncertainty in his eyes, making Janus’ chest swelled with sympathy.

“There’s no magic formula for this matter,” Janus answered quietly. “Or, scientific formula. Or any formula at all. All you can do is be sincere with your feelings and— Well- hope that whoever it is reciprocates.”

Logan pursed his lips, eyes downcast. “I’m insane aren’t I to ask again and hope that I’ll get a different answer?”

“Perhaps.”

They fell quiet after that, Janus’ quest for a midnight snack long forgotten in favor of spending time with Logan in the darkness of the room, and in the darkness of the night.

In the morning, the others found them on the couch, asleep, with their legs tangled together, Janus’ arm behind Logan’s back and the logical side’s head resting on the deceitful side’s chest. Their backs and limbs may hurt when they woke up, but the warm feeling of waking up next to Logan was definitely worth it for Janus.

—

There’s a blue envelope sitting on Janus doorstep one morning.

The first thing Janus felt after he registered what he’s seeing was indeed there, was utter disbelief and bewilderment that the letter was intended to him. On his doorstep. Then he thought that maybe his twisted brain decided to play tricks on him and present him with this sick hallucination.

But when Janus bent down and picked up the envelope, it’s solid and real between his gloved fingers, so he’s not hallucinating, that means it’s really there. On the other side of the letter, written neat and precise, was his name, Janus.

So it really was for him.

He brought himself and the letter inside his room, still in disbelief that the letter— Logan’s letter was for him. Him. He marched towards his bed, his eyes still glued at the letter as he sat down on his bed.

Janus opened the letter gingerly, taking his time and mentally preparing himself. He could hear the beating of his heart in his ears, his chest filled with anticipation and a sense of disbelief when he finally pulled the paper out of the envelope. He took a deep breath before bringing the paper into eye level, and finally, reading it.

Janus,

I am writing to you this letter in hopes to convey my feelings for you that I couldn’t bear myself to do face-to-face. It may be cliche of me, but the idea of using a love letter seemed perfect at the time and far less daunting than the idea of stating it directly and verbally.

I believe I started to realize my feelings for you was when we increased the number of times we would ‘hang out,’ as the others would say. I was rather busy at that time, but I found myself that I didn’t mind to cut my work time in order to spend more time with you. It baffled me at first. I’m not the kind to pick interacting rather than working, but I find that you are the only exception. Then I started to think deeper about this.

I found that I am unaccountably fond of your smile, your laugh, your presence, and I wish to see you and be with you everyday. I fell in love with your intelligence, with your wit and your snark, with your sarcasm and your charm. And as we got even closer, I fell in love with your passion for psychology and equal passion for arts, I fell in love with your private, softer, caring nature, I fell in love with your touch.

I am utterly and hopelessly in love with you, and it is entirely illogical for me to be so. But with you, I find myself that I do not mind in the slightest.

I would like to keep debating with you. I would like to bring you flowers. I would like to hold your hand. I would even like to kiss you. And in the mornings, I wish to see your face every time I wake up for the rest of my existence.

Sincerely yours,

Logan

Janus calmly folded the letter back into the envelope, setting it down on his bead while millions of thoughts swirled inside his head.

Then he bolted right out of his room. He had to see Logan now.

Finally arriving in front of Logan’s door, he didn’t waste time and started knocking frantically, anticipation practically killing him inside.

The door opened, revealing Logan’s confused face. “Yes-?”

Janus pushed him inside and slammed the door shut behind him before Logan could even compute that it’s Janus. “You buffoon.”

Logan’s eyes widened in confusion. “What?”

“You absolute moron.” Janus repeated his statement more heatedly, jabbing a finger to the other side’s chest. A fierce, hot blush spread on his face as he asked, “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“What- what are you--?” The utter bafflement was thick in his tone and features, the side stopping mid sentence. It took Logan a few long seconds to realize what in all hell was Janus talking about. A similar blush glowed on Logan’s cheeks as realization hit him. “Ah. The letter.”

“We wasted so much time,” Janus said more calmly, his tone softer than earlier. “I could’ve been kissing you stupid from a long time ago.”

“I apologize it took me so long to realize my— feelings.” Logan looked genuinely apologetic, and before Janus could tell him not to apologize about that, he continued, “And how long it took me to finish the letter.”

A relieved huff of air left Janus’ mouth followed by a smile forming on his lips. Logan loved him. Logan truly loved him.

The logical side looked away, still blushing. With a surge of confidence, Janus took the opportunity to hold his hand, causing Logan to look back at him with wide eyes, the blush burning brighter.

“I can’t believe you used a love letter to confess,” Janus commented playfully, teasingly, as he took in Logan’s red face. God, Janus felt so happy. So very happy that this absolutely wonderful nerd loved him back. After all the waiting, all the pining, all the the things his heart yearned to do with him was all in his reach now. “Why not face to face? You’re usually straightforward when it comes to communicating.”

“I can’t- I cannot bear to see the look on your face if you-“ His voice cracked. “Reject me,” Logan answered quietly, vulnerably honest. There’s a wave of doubt in his eyes as Janus gaze into them.

“Oh, Logan,” Janus said so, so softly, smiling, leaning in. “I love you, too.”

Then Janus pulled Logan by the hand, yanking him down, his other hand firmly holding the other’s face as he pushed himself forward and crashed their lips together.

Logan made a startled sound muffled by the lips that was against his own, but Janus kept kissing him and kissing him, one hand fisted in Logan’s collar and the other cupping his face, overjoyed to know that this wonderful, beautiful nerd was his. The logical side obviously didn’t know what to do with his hands, opting to just rest them on both of Janus’ shoulder.

Janus pulled away, staring at Logan’s eyes, gaze full of adoration. “I love you,” He claimed again, emotional and sincere, so uncharacteristically soft and tender. He rested his head on the other’s shoulder, pulling him into a hug. “I love you.”

Logan, teary-eyed and still blushing, smiled back with equal love and affection for the other. And softly, he said the words back,

“I love you, too.”

#loceit #logan sanders #janus sanders #sanders sides #AHSSJJSH THE GRAMMAR HERE IS MOST LIKELY ATROCIOUS IM SO SORRY

124 notes · View notes

portiaofbelmont · 3 years

Text

How to Preptober

So.

It's October. Spooky season, pumpkin spice...and frantically attempting to create and organize character sheets and/or scene cards and/or series bibles and/or nano survival kits. You know the drill. (And if you don't, in fact, know the drill, allow me to redirect you to nanowrimo.org, because I highly suggest you learn the drill.)

Whether you're going for the traditional 50k, joining me in the 100k club, or editing the seventh draft of your latest manuscript, (or any other way of approaching Nano,) prepping is an essential step of getting there. Yes, even for pantsers -- Nano is 10x easier once you have at least a beginning, middle, and end. I myself have started to go to ridiculous amounts of plotting, but how do we get from the general bleh of story ideas to a beautifully constructed story bible?

While the Nano website has great resources, here is my self-constructed step-by-step for lazy people. As long as you do the first three steps, I'd say you're prepared for Nano, and you can continue on as many steps as you'd like.

Story idea (arguably the easiest part. and the one that requires the least explanation.)

Brief shitty synopsis (seriously. be shitty. i write a sentence for my set up and beginning, a sentence for my middle, and a sentence for my resolution. that's all you need. if you'd like, you can also make a title, writing playlist, pinterest board, etc..)

At least name the characters (this is not a prescription for character sheets. they're great, but unwelcome here. write a list of characters you're probably going to include - this might (will) end up being added to or deleted from - and maybe a few words describing their role. go further than "side character" and "antagonist". I personally like "bitchy bff" and "snarky child with a large hammer".)

Plot (this is where it gets fun. fun obviously meaning "grueling and easy to procrastinate". I'm currently stuck in this step right now. the easiest way to do this, at least for me, is to choose a formula -- save the cat, seven act structure, katytastic's outlining method (which is the one I use), etc. etc.. fill in the formula, change it where necessary, and voila, you're a plotter.)

Now actually flesh out your characters (this may or may not be where character sheets come in. of course, I'm quirky and don't use character sheets. I write a paragraph of biography for each character and find a picture to represent them.)

Scene cards (scene cards always seem mysterious to me, although I've used them before. they're a great tool and make writing much faster and much easier, so why wouldn't you use them? I don't have a specific method for making scene cards; I really just go through my outline and write a paragraph or two about each scene. then, later when I'm writing that scene, I make that paragraph visible to me and write. it keeps me from having to write on a blank page.)

Worldbuilding (for me, this happens as I outline, but you might want to do it after you plot. that's good and well, just please please please don't do it before you plot. do not fit your story to your world. story and characters come first!!! I'll do a separate post on worldbuilding - it's a complicated topic - but for now just know that everyone worldbuilds differently.)

And there you go! Go through all of this and you are just as (if not more) prepared for Nano as I am. I will see you in November! (No, I won't, because no tumblr during Nano. This rule applies to both me and you, alright? Tough love.)

Happy writing!

#god damn it i need to be doing psych homework #writing #am writing #nanowrimo #preptober #im back bitches #someone write a snarky child with a large hammer please and thank you

6 notes · View notes

alexseanchai · 3 years

Text

Fanfic 2020 in Review

I got tagged by @kasienda @noirshitsuji and @marvelousmsmol and I am tagging whoever wants to play!

1) List of fics completed this year in the order they were finished:

*filters own works to complete and updated in 2020*

1 - 20 of 57 Works by AlexSeanchai

nope. *adds filter to include only works of at least 1000 words*

unless otherwise indicated, these are all Miraculous Ladybug:

“don’t bake it lying down”, post-reveal Marichat vs Felix Graham de Vanily

“veracity”, canon divergence from “Ladybug” featuring Mister Bug and Verity Queen (so also Marichat, I guess)

“(no request is too extreme, if) your heart is in your dream”, in which Hawkmoth wins, for the thirty seconds or so before Emilie saves Ladybug and Chat Noir’s lives

“tell me you love me and make me believe it”, in which trans girl Chatonne Noire ropes Ladybug into helping plan her civilian self’s escape slash social transition

“kingmaker, oathbreaker”, in which Hawkmoth wins and Emilie watches her son remove himself from the family

“stay and let me watch you break it down” (Twelve Dancing Princesses), a modern setting

“set a course for winds of fortune”, in which trans girl Chatonne Noire has already escaped and Gabriel and Nathalie are trying to bring Gabriel’s son home

“we ground love in a hopeless place”, in which post-reveal Marinette’s attempt to remain resolutely not in love with her partner dissolves like sugar in coffee when they start a pun war

“ring the bells that still can ring”, in which Alya is deeply confused about why Adrien and Marinette are planning a wedding when last night both were single

“burning wishes at both ends (the cold wind and long loud wail remix)”, in which Gabriel made a monkey’s paw wish and Emilie makes another

“words cannot espresso”, in which Marinette’s OC roommate is justifiably worried for Marinette’s safety, and meanwhile Adrien takes care of Marinette

“the compromise of truth” (the chronologically second-earliest part posted to date of nine lives, snake’s eyes), in which Adrien tells his friends how he won some freedom and respect from his father

“At The Present Time”, the Ladrien/Ladynoir marriage proposal follow-up to @art-deco-shrimp‘s “Your Presents Required”

“j'ai rêvé (so I don't have to dream alone)”, in which the events of canon must just have been a series of dream sequences, Marinette and Adrien both think, until they both arrive at Chloe’s Halloween masquerade dressed as themselves from the dreams

2) Number of words written:

ahahaha no. I am not counting all my scattered fic drafts and trying to figure out what I did and didn’t write in 2020. I refuse.

AO3 says I posted 162K in 2020. it is counting all of keeps you guessing (like any real love), which (a) I started posting in 2019 (b) is co-written by @galahadwilder; it is counting all of my meta snippets collection, much of which was written in 2019; it is counting the Vimeo passwords for my vids. but I probably cleared 150K by a safe margin.

3) Your most popular fic:

“veracity” has a four-digit kudos count, wow, when’d that happen? this is also the 2020 work with the most hits and the most bookmarks, but “tell me you love me�� has four-thirds as many comments as its nearest competitor.

4) Your personal fav:

“cannot break us, not with a thousand swords”, no question about it. this is the one in which Ladybug proposes marriage to Chat Noir via Princess Bride meme on Tumblr. (if you intend to download the work or otherwise to consume it with creator style off, you want the accessible version instead of the primary version.)

5) Your fav scene:

aaaaaaaaa

—okay so this is cheating and I know it, since Uncertain Humors (the one where Marinette/Adrien is both Orpheus/Eurydice and Theseus/Ariadne) is nowhere near finished, never mind posted (maybe I'll get “Sanguine” done to post on my birthday?)

but it is still my favorite of the year. as you might guess from that description of the story, this scene has content notes for character death:

Hell is a maze. Marinette walks.

This acrid passage has little to see but damp stone, seeming blood-stained in the dim carmine light. At about the height of her heart, the faintly glowing thread cuts through the not-clammy air; it ought to be pulsing at the same rate as the heart it's bound to. She might be able to see her own reflection if she looked down at the open sewage pipe, or at one of the puddles that now and again she splashes through, dampening the canvas of her shoes. She might see reflected what's behind her.

She remembers Mme. Mendeleiev lecturing on human physiology. In healthy humans old enough to have learned how, urination is a voluntary action: one may not know which muscles one tenses and relaxes in order to do so, and probably isn't paying attention to those details when one is doing, but one has conscious control over whether one does. Usually. Stress and anxiety mean some people are unable to relax the relevant sphincter muscle and others are unable to stop themselves. It's voluntary for cats, too: it's one way they mark their territories. Cat-boys have other ways.

There is a moment in every human life when all one's muscles relax at once. Some Parisians have had several such moments.

The thread is braided with itself around her left fourth finger, rows of tiny red half-hitch knots, and falls loosely over the back of her hand to loop twice around her wrist. She holds it wrapped between the fingers of her right hand to keep it at a constant tension, as though knitting with this insubstantial thread, so fragile for something two (two dozen, two million) lives hang from—too thin to sew with, no thicker than one strand of his hair. As she walks, she winds it around and around and around her wrist.

Between her ring finger and her right hand, it loops twice.

Marinette's shoe lands in a puddle she didn't see. The rainwater splashes soundlessly onto her bare ankle and on the stone.

(With cat-like tread, upon our prey we steal— It's a very loud song.)

She walks on.

6) A fic or scene that challenged you:

where the firelight fades, no contest. this is the second story I’ve ever been able to stick with more than a couple hundred words past the 20K mark, but it’s easily the twentieth novel-length I’ve begun. (though also, you know that kedreeva post? well, 90K later, I’m less than 15K from completing this 10K fic! I think.) and I have been learning so much about long-form fiction.

there has also been a lot of weeping and tearing my hair. case in point: I just trashed the chapter 15 draft because I figured out the reason it wasn’t going anywhere! I can probably keep the first few hundred words of that draft without any editing, and another few hundred with some revision...

7) A line of writing you’re proud of:

from “j'ai rêvé (so I don't have to dream alone)”:

Everything about their partnership is fragments of sentences in the dream diary Adrien writes in ultraviolet pen. Disjointed flickers of thought even when examined under the black light he hides in the snack cabinet under packets of Super Yoyo sandwich cookies and bags of cheesy Monster Munch potato chips and boxes of petit écolier butter cookies (chocolat noir)—none of which explains the gym-socks smell. All fleeting incoherent flashes, invisible between the mundane lines of La Modification shelved at his bedside between Leroux and Dumas. None of it is solid. Adrien has more proof his room's haunted.

okay let me break this down for you!

* Adrien started a dream diary to make sense of the memories

* in invisible ink, in a book that (according to Wikipedia) is thematically appropriate and won’t (if Gabriel sees it) look like anything other than Adrien developing an interest in French literature

* shelved between Phantom of the Opera and The Three Musketeers

* look I didn’t come up with the name “black light”

* or “chocolat noir” for what English speakers call “dark chocolate”, or “petit écolier” (that is, “little schoolboy”) for that sort of butter cookie

* also not my fault that “chocolat noir” sounds remarkably like “Chat Noir”, which, attentive readers may have noticed, is not a name that appears in the story after the header and before Miraculous Cure

* I found the website of a store in Boston, Massachusetts that caters to French expats, and the yo-yo cookies and the monster chips were right there in the photos, y’all

* the snack stash and the black light live in the cabinet where, in canon, the Camembert lives; yes, that cheese smells in the real world like gym socks

* this story’s akuma was not able to affect anything but squishy human memory: nobody affected remembers anything about Ladybug or Chat Noir or Hawkmoth, not in any solid way, not even when they read news articles about the subject, and this includes Marinette and Adrien not being able to see or hear or remember their own kwamis—but you know what Adrien’s Insta post about his poltergeist and Adrien’s Insta post with the floating sock don’t show and don’t explicitly refer to?

* I love this paragraph so much (my housemates may have been lovingly mocking me over it)

8) A comment that touched you:

there are people (y’all know who you are) who said y’all are studying my style. I ded of blush.

9) Something that inspired your writing:

by volume of fic drafts that can be blamed on any particular person, the winner is probably @norakwami

10) Your proudest accomplishment (that one scene; finally finishing that one fic; posting your first fic; etc):

so that longest-story-ever-written record I set in 2007 with the 89.5K story that, till where the firelight fades, was the only story I’d gotten much past 20K?

I broke that fucking record!

and then I deleted the draft of firelight chapter 15 😭

11) Do you have any writing goals for the next year?

I’m starting work on a fantasy novel, a Sleeping Beauty retelling in which I explore (among other things) the economic consequences of the king’s ordering all the spinning wheels burned, and I want to make significant progress on that. and I want to not make my hands any worse; I kind of need those!

(breaking news alert: bodies fucking suck. so does giving yourself repetitive stress injuries in doing one and a half to two people’s worth of work for an organization that was never ever going to pay you more than one person’s worth of pay.)

#by alexseanchai #miraculous ladybug #tag game

37 notes · View notes

upstartcrow42 · 3 years

Text

Fic Writer Interview

Thanks for the tag, @chelsfic!

How many works do you have on AO3?

What’s your total AO3 word count?

201,056 👀

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

If we’re just counting AO3, then it’s just one. What We Do in the Shadows. I’ve only had this username for a year. Under different names in different places I have other fics for other fandoms. That would bring the grand total up to 5. I tend to have huge fic dry spells.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

66 - Especially For You - Nandor/Guillermo. Gen - Gift fic for @jujubeas. Guillermo is injured (very minor) and Nandor cares for him by buying him food from Panera Bread.

44 - Tell Me Things Will Be Okay - Nandor/Guillermo. Gen - Gift fic for @riskylatte and a collaboration with @andyandnormski. Nandor tries to calm Guillermo’s frayed nerves after they arrive home from the theater massacre.

35 - The Protocols of Revenge - Nandor/Nadja that leads to Nandor/Nadja/Laszlo. NSFW - My first fic for the fandom. Laszlo makes Nadja made, so Nandor proposes revenge. Nadja eventual relents but on the condition that Laszlo watch.

33 - Just Right - Nandor/Guillermo. Gen. Gift fic for @andyandnormski. A seasonal storm spooks Guillermo, so Nandor takes matters into his own hands as far as his relaxation goes. Naturally, things go awry.

32- He Demands Satisfaction. - Nandor/Guillermo Gen. Tumblr Prompt request for @andyandnormski. Nandor and Guillermo are taking their relationship to new levels post theater massacre, but the threat of sunlight puts a damper on things.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I get so few comments on my fics these days, so I reply to them all. I understand why people don’t comment on fics, especially NSFW ones, but I love hearing from readers, even if the comment is super short. I love getting replies back from authors when I comment, so I try to do the same for anyone who comments on my fics. I like engaging with the readers.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Rooftop Reflections. Nandor/Nadja. She’s been missing Laszlo since he want on the run and tries to escape by sitting on the roof. Nandor joins her and then leaves her be. She is really bummed out at the end after Nandor leaves and has to be alone with her thoughts about Laszlo.

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I have not yet, but I’m not against.

I’ve been wanting do a weird one with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/What We Do in the Shadows. They’re both in NYC, and they both have to keep to the shadows, so it makes sense that they’d run into each other. Leonardo vs. Nandor as leaders, lol. Donatello and Colin Robinson getting into technical details about topics. Raphael and Nadja being just the rudest. Micaelangelo and Laszlo straight up chillin’. And Master Splinter and Guillermo shaking their head at their charges acting like such fools.

I’ve also thought about them running away to Canada and meeting the crew from Letterkenny.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

When I was writing HP, yes. It was mainly about how I was ending my chapters, and to be fair, the endings were not great for what I was trying to achieve (setting up some context - kind of omncient). I’m pretty sure I’ve deleted all of those from existence now.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Most definitely. I’ve written mainly mlw and wlw with reference to mlm. I’ve also written OT3 situations with mmw.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I’m aware of. How does that even happen?

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have not.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes.

I mentioned Tell Me Things will be okay earlier. Andy and I were very equal partners on that one and it was fun take their lead and then run with it and then see what they came up with next.

Nandor the Relentless: Conqueror of Courting. Nandor/Guillermo. A round robin fic where ideas were thrown out and shaped as a team. Nandor tries to court Guillermo in one-sided fake dating scenarios to protect him. I contributed to the last chapter of this gem of a fic series. I’m really proud that Nandor’s lament of the Windsor name was kept in.

Shoot Your Shot. Fendermo. Another round robin known by the writers as the Basketball AU. Nandor is a WNBA pro and Guillermo is her assistant. They’re even stupider in this story than in the show. It’s not complete, but one day we’ll finish it. I’m really proud of the text chain I wrote in the first chapter.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

I know nearly all the stories I’ve talked about are Nandermo, but that’s not my all time favorite ship. I don’t know if I can really pick a favorite. It’s just Nandor/Anyone really.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

A Chance Encounter. Nandor/Silvia de la Cruz (Guillermo’s mom). NSFW. I’m only afraid I won’t finish it because I’m stuck on the next part for how the story should flow now that the smut is out of the way.

What are your writing strengths?

I’ve been told that I’m good and smooth dialogue.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I think I use the same descriptive language too much. The same facial expressions and dialogue reactions. I also need to work on differentiating my imagery and adding more figurative language to my stories. I love seeing that in other people’s works, but suddenly forget to do it in my own.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I love to see it, or even incorporating English language learning sentence structures into fics for characters whose primary language is not English. When I write in another language, I have had a friend who can speak that language check my work and phrasing to make it sound realistic. There was a lot of that in A Chance Encounter and @theoceanismyinkwell was immensely helpful with the Spanish dialogue and the Spanish Speaker in speaking in English lines too.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

The first one I ever published on a fic site was Gundam Wing. I really hope that is not floating around still as I can’t even remember the site it was pubished on. It was peak cringe.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

It’s not complete, but Written in the Stars has consumed an epic amount of my time. The word count alone is two novels worth. It’s been fun to look into Nandor’s past, but also make him somewhat of a softie at that time too for a fic that could be otherwise very dark (there are defintely some mildly dark elements, but it’s generally just regular flavor NSFW). And it’s fun to take a semi-canon character who has one trait and flesh her out into a full person. At least I hope she comes across that way.

Tagging: @safetyhazardfics

@walkwithursus

@andyandnormski

@mapnerdbloodbag

@satincowboys

@nandoor

#Tag Games

3 notes · View notes