#there's a lot more for the characters these are just some random things

[dcxdpdabbles]

DCxDP Fanfic idea: Rude Kryptonian

Danny Fenton is prepared for a lot of things when Vlad calls his parents and asks to take his godson for a summer. Things would have gone differently if Danny's hero business hadn't made him a "troubled" kid. He was failing a lot of his classes, sleeping or ditching most classes and not to mention all the random injuries.

They were worried he was becoming some kind of gang member. (It hurt a little they assumed the worst of him and not worried that something bad was happening).

His dad was convinced that Vlad could somehow set him on the correct path.

Now Vlad had moved on from trying to be his stepdad and forced Danny to be his son, but that didn't mean Danny liked him. Or that he could forget what he put him through.

So he was less than happy to pack his bags and be driven to the airport to board Vlad's private jet. His parents lectured him the whole time, warning him to not be a bother to his uncle Vlad, and to behave. Jazz just looked anxious, practically begging her parents to change their mind.

They did not listen, and Danny was thrown onto the jet after getting past security. He was not surprised the plane went off course due to "mysterious" wealther a hour into the trip.

It was like they purposely flew into a thunderstorm, complete with harsh winds and rain. His plane crashed landed in the middle of nowhere thirty minutes later.

He was less surprised he was the only human on board - Vlad had tricked him once before with a ghost pilot. Why not again?- But at least no one, but Danny was hurt.

Jeez, couldn't Vlad think of anything more original? Then again, the definition of insanity is doing something over and over again, expecting different results.

Danny sat in his chair, having escaped the crash with only a few scrapes thanks to his powers, fuming at his parents and Vlad. He was so distracted he did not notice the hurried rescue team that surrounded the broken metal.

He did however notice the man who ripped off the top part of the jet, floating in the air in the most ridiculous outfit he's ever seen.

"Are you alright, son?"

"Are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Look at you. Look at what you're wearing." Danny gestures to the stranger. He ignores how the stranger's blue eyes start to glow. "You can't honestly tell me you're alright in the head looking like that. "

The man frowns "You're not human"

"How dare you! I have rights!"

The stranger fumbles, looking suprised "no. No, I meant you're like me- a alien"

"I'm not illegal! I have papers!"

"Not that kind of alien-! I'm Kryptonian!" The man floats down to Stanford beside Danny's seat. He reaches out to carefully ripe away the metal trapping him. "I think you may be as well, based on your biology"

Danny squints "How do you know my biology?"

"I used my x-ray vision to-!" Danny gasps, reaching out to slap the man across the face before covering his body with his hands. The man seems more startled by the fact that he was able to push his face to the side and then the actual slap.

"Stanger danger! Creep! Fruit loop!" Danny cries, turning intangible and flying out of the wreckage. "Stay away from me!"

He flies at his top speed, ignoring the call from the man. He can feel him following, and yes, he may be faster than Danny, but he's also solid and visible. Danny uses his powers to his advantage, losing him after a twenty minute chase.

It's only after three days of trying to get home that Danny realizes he's futher away from home than he originally planned. As in an entirely different world? It feels like it since Amity Park doesn't exist, much less, his friends and family.

Thankfully, he finds a nice little city that reminds him of the ghost zone for him to rest in. His new neighbor is filled with colorful characters, and there always seems to ve something happening keeping him on his toes.

Maybe this summer won't be so bad after all.

Meanwhile, Clark is panicking that a new Kryptonian had fallen from the sky, crashing landing near Ma and Pa's place only to have the boy disrespect him and escape. Now it's a race against time to find him before it's too late.

Also he was a little mean.

But where would he go?

Gotham. Danny is in Gotham, and he's yelling at people who keep trying to spray chemicals at him. He's having the time of his life.

#dcxdpdabbles #dc x dp crossover #Rude Kryptonian #part 1 #dimension travel #Danny is nothing but sass and spite #Clark is not used to being bullied as Superman

[a-book-of-creatures]

Posting this because I reblogged something about Usborne Books and apparently most people seem to associate Usborne with lift-the-flap books for preschoolers.

Which is weird because to me as a child Usborne books were some of the spookiest books I could get my hands on. They filled the same place as Dorling Kindersley - colorful, creative, informative books that were educational as well as fun to read. And their approach to myths and legends was, not going to lie, very formative for me. If it wasnt' for Usborne, there might not have been ABC.

And much like Dorling Kindersley, Usborne went through a phase of extreme creative experimentation before stagnating into safer forms of publishing. But for a while, Usborne books were mindblowing.

So what has Usborne done then that aren't lift-the-flap books for preschoolers? Well, a lot. Puzzle Adventures. Extreme map and code puzzles. How to Draw Books. Cut-out and build houses, Trojan horses, and dinosaurs (by Luis Rey no less). How to Be A Detective. Nature spotter's guides. Nature Search books. Facts and Lists books that instilled cosmic horror in me years before I knew what cosmic horror was. I could go on forever.

There was a series of excellent myths and legends books which I posted about before.

These were illustrated by Rodney Matthews and were every bit as metal as you'd expect from something by Rodney frickin' Matthews.

Then there were the Quest books which were Where's Waldo-esque books that followed a storyline in a fantasy world.

In this case, they showcased lush art by Nick Harris in which you find various items or characters to make the story progress, as well as other random things (find 10 rats, find 8 clownfishes, etc).

The Tabloid Histories books, oh my gosh.

Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Medieval, etc. history told through tabloid articles and ads.

More about monsters though! There were books about folktales and legends illustrated by Stephen Cartwright.

For me it was my first time hearing of a lot of them, such as the Lambton Worm!

The Haunted World, now that was spooky! With lots of colorful, dripping art by Graham Humphreys.

Introduced me to a lot of ghosts, vampires, and monsters from around the world. Such as the story of Arnold Paole!

And there were maps and diagrams...

... and lindorns [sic] and mokele-mbembes!

The Supernatural Guides had denser text but sadly have not been reprinted anytime recently.

The World of the Unknown series, though... ohohoho those were good.

Of course (no offense to fans of ghosts and UFOs), I had eyes only for the Monsters book. With such gems as the Velue...

... the Lambton Worm...

... and cryptozoological rubbish such as the Monongahela sea serpent (below), the Loch Ness Monster, the Abominable Snowman, and their ilk.

You know, the sort of thing that would keep a 7-year-old fascinated (and perhaps scared under the blankets) for weeks.

Anyway, yeah I just really love Usborne books. Or at least what they used to be.

#creatures #monsters #ghosts #usborne #spiders #dragons #books

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for initiating pvp in my d&d game?

[tw: fictional cannibalism]

so, this is kind of about something that i ALMOST did but backed out of, but i regret not doing it because i think it couldve been good both strategically and for roleplay fodder, but the reason i backed out was because i was worried it would be an asshole move. there's been other similar stuff that i did actually commit to, so i'll talk about that too.

for context, I'm playing Curse of Strahd with an internet group who i dont really know very well outside of dnd. ive played with all the people in the group before, but just in oneshots. we dont really chat much outside the game.

my character is a dhampir barabarian who is chaotic evil because she. uh. well she eats people. she's the only evil PC in the party, and i've been very conscious of that fact because i dont want to be That Player that completely ruins everyone else's fun by being a rampaging murderhobo. (for those who dont know CoS is a horror campaign that has a lot of fucked up violent stuff in it, so this is not extremely out of place for the setting. one of the other party members is also undead, but hes good-aligned.)

some of the stuff that has actually happened has included my character sneaking away from the party to feed on a random villager (she was followed by another party member) and also trying to eat the corpse of a guy we let die in order to save ourselves. i dont think this was assholey of me because the "pvp" in those situations amounted to slapfights and ic arguing, which i think was good roleplay. i also recently attacked a party member during combat, because my character was raging (heightened emotional state) and he basically triggered her while they were fighting side by side so she lashed out at him. the attack was a bite (potential max damage of like 6) rather than with her weapon (potential max damage of 14) but it missed anyway.

which brings me to the thing i didnt do, but wish i did.

basically, we were fighting some vampire spawn and it wasnt looking good for us. our frontline fighters (myself included) were low on hp, our cleric was being menaced by Strahd himself, and our warlock was unconscious. iirc there were two spawn left to kill when i realized i could do something beneficial to myself with no MECHANICAL cost to the party, but i was worried (ooc) that doing this would have unexpected consequences or make the other players not want to play with me anymore.

our unconscious warlock had been stabilized with Spare the Dying, so he was unconscious but not making death saving throws. being a dhampir, my character has the ability to bite a humanoid and regain hp equal to the damage caused. i hadnt been able to use this ability on these enemies, because it doesnt work on undead. but our warlock is laid out all unconscious and looking like a snack... if i had bitten him, it would have automatically been a critical hit and done double damage, therefore also healing me more, and although it would have caused him to lose two death saving throws, he was technically stable at that point. idk. the dm might have ruled that taking new damage would have restarted death saving throws, but i dont know that for sure. it seemed like a very slim chance that doing this would have resulted in the character's death, but i didnt want to take the chance because i KNOW that would have for sure made me the asshole.

tell me, tumblr. did i do the right thing by choosing not to attack my fallen camrade even though it would have healed my character? would i have been the asshole for initiating that kind of pvp without asking the other player first?

#aita #am i the asshole

[nunalastor]

Appleradio secret marriage au part 5:

(Let me just thank firebreathingduck for your support with reblogs cause you are most of my motivation to make the next parts!)

Angel dust didn't know what was happening, he was investigating. Having to work with that sonofabitch Valentino made it easy to tell people's intentions and moods – in the same yet different way from Husk. While Husk looked at everything overall except actions (he didn't believe you could tell if a person is kind by how they act), Angel looked at body language, how they carried themselves compared to usual and slight hanges in the pitch of their tone of voice. It was difficult, but he had to do this to survive.

But if there was something that brightened up his dull life – except drugs – it was investigating possible relationships. It was admittedly strange, but he loved being in on the secret, especially so when it was a healthy relationship.

And that was why he made sure to get off work early (don't ask how he did it, he would like not to say), and he made sure not to drink or do anything that might stop him from studying the two. Yes, he already knew something was going on between Alastor and Lucifer. They'd literally stare into eachothers eyes, for gods sake!

So he'd sit in the bar, drinking a non-alcoholic drink and chatting with Husk while he waited for the two main characters to enter the room – they always went to the bar at some point, even when they didn't drink anything at all.

When he would hear their steps, he'd make an excuse to go somewhere else when in actuality he would just hide to listen in. This, obviously, didn't go very well since the spider was the worst for hiding – he was literally made for the spotlight. So all he would get are spats and arguments.

He'd decide on different approaches to this. Husk knew something, so maybe a bribe would work? Maybe Charlie would help, she seemed a bit oblivious to it though (but she was also a good liar, so...). Or maybe he could keep hiding and one day be successfull with it.

And there was one thing he never expected, for them not to even notice him! Lucifer was already too drunk and Alastor was too focused on helping Lucifer to notice him. It really was a stroke of luck, cause he got to see it.

Lucifer was calling him every sweet name in the book, constantly complimenting Alastor on things Angel didn't even know could be complimented – an example, "The way your hands curl around a mug is so satisfying and elegant, I love it." – and multiple other things like that. And even funnier is that Alastor didn't seem to hate it, rather, he just wanted to calm Lucifer down from his random outburst of giggles that would happen unexpectedly.

Angel could even see how Lucifer would caress Alastor, making him freeze in place in a fluster. He also saw the slight clench of Husk's fists, how he would speak through gritted teeth as he watched the two interact.

He also heard a few lust-filled whispers from Lucifer as he'd fondle Alastor's tail with familiarity. It was a fun show, but he knew when to leave so he'd left before seeing anything else.

But since that time, every little thing with Alastor and Lucifer held different meaning to Angel. Their spats, rather than sounding hateful, were more of a fond remark to the other. Lucifer's every glance at Alastor's ears were not because he wanted to rip them off but because he wanted to stroke them, run his fingers through the fluff and listen to Alastor's gasps.

And it was undeniable that Angel also felt the urge to do so, but moreso to just see how soft they were. Especially the tail he glimpsed that one day.

Angel was almost envious of both Lucifer and Alastor.

(Please don't mind mischaracterisations of characters. I haven't really seen a lot of Hazbin Hotel so I don't know how the characters are outside of fanfics and theories! Ideas are appreciated and please comment your own thoughts on this since I love motivation.)

(Clarification with Angel. Angel only would flirt with Alastor to see Lucifer's reactions. In his eyes, the jealousy of Lucifer outweighs the chance of being flattened by the deer. Angel and Husk are only close friends but if you want you can choose for them to be in a relationship. Angel is somewhere on the asexual spectrum (yes, ace people can have sex) and doesn't really broadcast the fact that he is ace for everyone to know. That is why Lucifer feels threatened by Angel, because he believes Angel actually has sexual interest in Alastor and knows that Angel can be enticing. Angel hopes that their relationship stays strong, and it will.)

👀

#hazbin hotel #alastor #nunalastor asks #radioapple #lucifer #secret marriage

[amysgiantbees]

Dead Boy Spoilers

Things I'd like to see in Dead Boy Detectives Season 2

Tragic Mick and Monty form an Animals with Complicated Feelings About Being Human at Some Point support group. Maybe the Cat King is there too.

Monty takes on Tragic Mick's "curse" and get's to be human again and Mick get's to be a walrus or at least get's to not be human anymore and is a crow. Monty could even take over his store!

Monty and the Cat King dealing with loneliness together. The Cat King has all the loneliness of being an immortal that Edwin's making him unpack (in particular he hangs out with cats all day like fuck they have even shorter life spans than people god he must have lost a lot of loved ones) and Monty deals with loosing his owner/master/mother/weird aunt figure who's probably been his whole world for better and worse up until he got turned human.

Whoever Monty is hanging out with I want to see him far too earnestly doing their star charts.

Boys and Crystal solving just fun random MOTW cases

The Night Nurse and Jenny tearing their hair out trying to keep the teens in check.

Night Nurse in particular having an aneurism every time the boys refuse to fill out a form, brake a rule, or run off without her.

Although alternatively Edwin getting VERY into the forms and learning how Hell and the afterlife works, and instead pestering her about it.

Jenny focusing more on Crystal - and Niko when she comes back.

Jenny learning she can care a bit more. The Night Nurse learning to relax and care a little less.

Jenny getting a good date. Loving her ship with Death but also I like the idea of them meeting a Cat Queen and her little comment about everyone in town being spinsters with cats comes round to instead be this ancient being who is a cat.

Crystal researching her ancestors and finding out more about them.

Crystal dealing with the demon in her brain hopefully before he does something irreparable to her tree.

Maybe they end up interrogating David about the "something worse" Edwin was sold to.

Crystal learning about her powers!

Crystal trying to repair some of her old friendships. Make amends to a couple of people.

Niko reforming the dandelion sprites and learning to lead/work with them. Helping them all find a way to feed without murdering people.

Nico dealing with needing attention to eat and live despite her coping mechanism when she's sad or scared specifically being avoiding people and hiding from others.

Niko figuring out her dandelion god powers. Doing god like things like blessing people who love, care for, and harvest dandelions. Granting wishes when dandelions are blown!

Niko marriage counseling Kingham & Litty (the dandelion sprites).

Either Crystal and Charles giving being together another shot now that David has been "dealt" with for the time being or Charles figuring out that maybe he's attracted to Edwin too. Or both!

I love that since Edwin is "living" through the modern day he can explore his sexuality finally. In a similar vein a lot of people also see him as autistic, and autism awareness has certainly come a long way from the Edwardian period and now could be a good time for his character to explore this too. Charles in turn could help him by talking about their shared neurodivergent experience as I firmly believe he has ADHD.

Charles opening up more about his parents.

Learning Edwin's family backstory

Cat King having Desire as a sort of absentee parental figure so literally the whole gang can have parental issues. Night Nurse I assume does not have parents so get's to be the mentally stable one in this regard and (try to) help everyone through it.

Niko checking in on her mum. Seeing how she's coping.

Edwin and Crystal bonding over doing magic and getting closer as friends. He maybe even initiates a hug!

Edwin getting to initiate a kiss with someone

Scooby Do episode! (I vote Charles is Daphney, Edwin is Velma, Niko is Shaggy and Cyrstal is Fred, maybe the Cat King or Monty is Scoob).

Despair shows up again.

Maybe now that the boys don't need to run from death they reverse it and actively try to seek her out and talk to her.

Crystal seeing her little ghost friend Emma from the first episode again.

Edwin reading Niko's yaoi. It could even be really funny and bittersweet where when they still think she's dead he's reading it and getting emotional and saying to himself "she really did love love" or "I wish I could read this with her" or something emotional like that and then he flicks to the next page and it's something explicit and he suddenly shuts the book and is like "Enough of that for now" XD

Either Edwin and the Cat King get together. Or become friends. Or Thomas makes friends or something with some other kind of immortal so he's not so lonely. I'm leaning towards them being friends because he would have no issues being the friend that explains what hand jobs and molly is to Edwin. Also since he presents himself in a very ambiguously gendered way I feel like he could get him to talk about why he likes disguising himself as a woman so much. Whether than be introducing him to concepts like gender queerness or drag. It's just honestly both Charles and Edwin are pretty repressed and I think now that the Cat King has started to grow he could continue to really push them in a less intense, healthier way.

Monty and Edwin staying friends. Monty and Charles actually getting to properly vibe.

Jenny figuring out now that the shop is dead if butchering is truly what she wants. Since she did it because she inherited the shop she can really explore her wants without any feeling of obligation to her dad. I love that she's a butcher but I just think it'd be interesting to explore her passion for it without so much baggage.

#dead boy detectives spoilers #dead boy detective agency #dead boy detectives #dbd #the sandman universe #myanalysis

[another-lost-mc]

you are so real with being disappointed on nightbringer cause i feel the same way

Oh, I have complicated feelings about Nightbringer.

(I’ll use a Read More link here because of vague OG S4 discussion.)

I didn’t whale in OG but I was much more willing to spend extra money chasing cards I wanted. I was really motivated to catch up on all the story content too since I didn’t start playing until the later part of the pandemic. I know S3 and S4 aren’t the greatest bits of story-telling ever written but I had hopes for more Celestial Realm content (a visit and maybe Michael appearance) in S5 based on where Simeon’s storyline was heading.

(I usually picture MC traveling to the CR to see Michael in S5, and maybe another visit of new angels to the Devildom in S6 once tensions are resolved.)

Overall I really liked getting involved with the fandom and I started posting fanfics here. I was so happy with my curated little card collection of favs — Lucifer was my original favourite, followed by Simeon, Barbatos, Solomon and Asmo — and exploring the game with my writing.

And then Nightbringer was announced.

After I spent probably too much money collecting all the HDD cards I wanted not long before that.

And the cards weren’t going to be transferable to the new game! ISN’T THAT FUN?! (Solmare logic, probably.)

I mean, I get it. It’s the nature of gacha games and the motivation is to grow the player base and revenue potential.

Sure, whatever.

And some parts of Nightbringer are fine, while other parts leave me desperately wanting more. Detailed lore that ties into the OG game and characters I care about, more in-depth characterization. Another slow burn love interest would be nice too since NB completely changed the direction of Barb’s development compared to OG S4 (side-eyes Mephisto and Raphael as new potentials). Also, as time goes on, I find myself not really caring who Nightbringer is. Does it even matter anymore? Like…whatever, you do you, buddy. lol

My face if they reveal it’s Barbatos/Solomon/Michael all along:

Oh, and more ROMANCE? Hello??? The babysitter role and goofy family dynamics are satisfying to a point but then it gets stale. Some of the Devilgrams are boring too, and don’t get me started on the EVENTS. I enjoyed the vampire one last year that sparked a random writing frenzy of vampire AU fics, but so many of the events fall flat for me. Anyone else just use S or A Rank skips to breeze past the story bits because 90% of it is boring as hell? Yeah, same.

It sounds like a lot of complaints, but there’s still more about the game I love or I wouldn’t be here: my favs, most of the artwork, the music! The new Dateables song is so goofy - what are those lyrics? - but they didn’t autotune Simeon to death and he sounds so much better than he did in Question Love (the only song whose remix I like better than the original).

I love the people I’ve met in this fandom and being able to share story ideas and headcanons. It’s so exciting when new lessons and cards are announced because the player base gets invigorated again (even if things fall a little flat upon arrival). I’ve splurged on some merch (official and fan-made) and I love being self-indulgent and commissioning artwork of my favs and MC together.

Oh, and I love my OCs. 😚 @ them all.

#jes.replies #sleep deprived rambling lol

[dreamchasernina]

Do you think katara playing with her hair when zuko sit next to her in EIP was ship baiting or was random

Wow I never really payed attention to that moment. I think she actually looks unbothered, like she doesn’t care who sits next to her. She doesn't look flushed or anything. That’s not the way Katara plays with her hair when she’s nervous (Like in the Headband). I feel like Zuko sits next to her to setup Aang’s jealousy over the moment between the actors. Just sets up his insecurity more.

I know ATLA is a show that deals with a lot of mature topics but at the end of the day, it’s still a kids show on Nickelodeon. It knows exactly how to show when someone is romantically interested in another character - blushing. And neither Katara or Zuko blush when they’re next to each other, that’s why I don’t think the show ever baited them. Maybe the writers did, I was too young to follow all the lore outside of the show as it was airing. Maybe they did interviews or something, I’m not sure how the writers baited them exactly, I never really followed all that noise surrounding the shipping discourse before. But I know the show's narrative never showed Katara show romantic interest in any boy other than Aang and Jet. You can interpret a fews scenes however you like but if you post things like that to pass them off as canon, be prepared that people will disagree with you, because some things are just not open to interpretations, some things the show is just literally spelling out for you.

The show itself never shows Katara have interest in Zuko. Or the other way around. Say you don't agree with certain writing choices and create your own head canons, all power to you. Just don’t try to present certain moments as something they’re not just to fit your interests.

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #avatar #kataang #aang #katara #zuko #anti zuatara #anti-zutara #its not even anti zutara I just don't wanna piss anyone off #pro kataang

[kimmiessimmies]

The Mighty Excel Timeline

Well, part of it...

Because some people seemed interested in my Excel timeline after yesterday's SQOTD, I took that as a cue to tell you all more about it! What do you mean no one asked? 🤔

This is part of the Excel timeline, blurred because of MAJOR spoilers.

Most of the columns are pretty self-explanatory.

In the "Story" column, I type up the basic outline of that chapter. What is this one about?

In the "Scenes" column, I make notes about specific scenes I definitely want to include in this chapter. Usually, these are either random ideas that popped into my head, a line of text, or full-on detailed scenes I already conjured up while lying in bed or going somewhere on my bike (my main means of transportation).

In the " Title" column, I jot down possible titles, but these are not always set in stone yet. Wistfulness, for instance, had five other titles first. Other titles are definite immediately, like Release. There was no title more fitted than that one for that chapter.

The "Events" column is usually empty, but when a particular event is taking place, like a graduation, a wedding, or a festivity, I note it because I might want to incorporate it into the chapter.

The "Age Up" column exists because everyone in Honeycomb is created by me, and even though most of them are now background characters, I still like them to grow and age with the passing of time, so I make a note of who to age up when

The "Other" column is for noting things I wish to remember but that don't fit anywhere else.

I use colours to track my progress: green is finished; written, shot and published. Blue is written and shot but not yet published. Usually I only have one chapter in this stage, but I'm a bit behind on updating my timeline and the chapters both in blue here are Wistfulness and Bestseller. I've had Bestseller ready to go for ages, but other things took priority. I also use pink (not this pink, a much more muted colour, lol) to indicate written but not yet shot.

This timeline goes a loooooooong way down; this is really just a fraction of it. I add to it and adapt it constantly. I've completely redone a large chunk of it recently because of two stupid idiots in my story who messed everything up. And it's a butterfly effect, too. Changing something in this part of the timeline affects other things taking place much later, so sometimes there's a lot of adapting to do.

That concludes the essay no one asked for. 😊 Questions? Please ask!

#about the process #atoh timeline #non sims #but sim related

[ultrainfinitepit]

Hello!! I return with more pin making questions :]

In my first ask you mentioned that you'd be willing to go into detail about your favorite social medias, and as I have basically only used Tumblr that would be super useful!

It would also be wonderful if you'd be willing to talk about your experiences with the different shopfronts that you've used, but I understand if you can't due to partnership stuff.

And the last question for now, Newsletters! How did you go about setting one up/what program you use/how long does it take to write an update/etc.

Thank you so much!! You're awesome!!!

Hi again :)) sure I can answer this, this is going to be a very long post so I'll put my answers under the cut.

Same disclaimer as last time that all this is just what has worked for me or what I've personally observed, that doesn't mean this is all objectively correct or factual. Others will have different mileage or find other things that work even better.

Social Media

The three platforms I prefer the most are Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter.

General recommendations:

Respond to people's comments, even with something as simple as a "thank you" for a compliment. This will help build engagement and foster a good relationship with your audience.

Take nice product photos: keep your pin in focus with a nice background and good lighting. Often you only get one chance for your product to leave a good impression!

Pick only a few social media profiles to manage. Don't stretch yourself too thin such that you can't engage with your audience on all your social media.

Tumblr

Posts have a long but sporadic lifespan thanks to the queue (sporadic means, they will exhibit random bursts of activity). And you can post large image sets and long text posts with links, for this reason it is my favorite platform.

Getting a following on Tumblr is largely luck-based. Users rebel against posts being pushed into their feed by the recommendation algorithm or boosts. Users find posts via other users and not so much the tags, although the tagging system is leagues better than Instagram's (which no longer shows most recent posts and only shows popular posts).

On Tumblr I get the most traffic from:

Responses to user submissions - for example, drawing people's angel requests.

Tag yourself posts

Silly or cute doodles and comics - especially if people can overlay their fandom darlings onto these posts.

Compilations of Pride-related designs, particularly of popular flags

I have noticed over the years, people do not reblog as much as in the past, so it's harder to get your posts noticed.

Instagram

In my opinion this is the easiest platform to grow an audience on. Instagram has a very predictable set of criteria for showing your posts to other users, through personal experience it is something like this:

Post once a day.

Post one Reel a day.

No more than three Story shares.

If you deviate from this for too long, or post too many times in a day, Instagram will deprioritize showing your posts to other users. This schedule can be a lot, so if possible I recommend having a buffer of saved up posts and Reels.

Instagram users are pickier about what they like to see. I recommend keeping your profile looking neat and professional; WIPs don't seem to do well there. Instagram users like illustrations and heavily-visual posts; they do not respond well to slides with text on them unless it is a tutorial or tag-yourself post.

Some users like to put memes or other silly images at the end of their posts. I personally don't do this, but I've been told the reason for it is: people share the silly images and that gains more traffic for the post even if they are not sharing the main content.

On Instagram I get the most traffic from:

Fanart of recently popular characters

Tag yourself posts

Pride-related art for popular flags

Cute, colorful illustrated creatures

Anything that asks for audience feedback in the comments. More comments means more engagement, which means it's bumped up in the algorithm.

Hosting monthly art challenges such as Angeltober

Bare chested men

And I have noticed DTIYS challenges are popular and a great way for people to find your profile, although I haven't hosted one of these yet.

Tags on Instagram appear to matter less than in the past, but I still think they are worth using. Try to tag for the content in your post (such as "#biblically accurate angel") instead of using tags for artists or small businesses (such as "#smallbusinessstrong"). Everyone else is using these tags so you have lots of competition, but no one is trawling through those tags so you have less engagement from them. Users are looking for specifically the content they like, they don't care who is posting it.

Twitter

The most arcane out of these three platforms. Getting noticed on Twitter seems to be largely luck-based as well. I had my Twitter profile for a while with little traffic on it until I started posting the new Pride Angels, then it blew up. Hashtags are pretty useless on Twitter and I didn't have many followers before then so I'm not sure why those got popular at that time.

On Twitter I get the most traffic from:

Pride-related art for popular flags

Other relatable art such as for astrological signs

Dishonorable Mention: TikTok

I have a TikTok but I just use it to crosspost my Instagram Reels. I do not have many followers on TikTok, I do not put effort into it, and I dislike the interface. That being said, I have heard from other creators it is way easier than Instagram to grow on if you are willing to make videos and post every day.

A note on blacklisted words

On Twitter, Instagram, and possibly Tumblr too: words like "shop" "link" "commission" etc. may cause your post to be deprioritized. This is because social media platforms do not want you going off of them to some other site to spend money elsewhere. That's why you'll notice people censoring these words ("shop" to "sh0p").

Personally I dislike doing this, it just makes me feel silly, so I don't bother. But I will admit, it hurts my posts. So this is something to keep in mind if you want to do shop promotion on social media.

Shops

The shops I run are, in the order of making them:

Redbubble

The lowest possible barrier to entry for a merch artist: they literally do everything from production to shipping for you, and all you do is provide the artwork. The trade-off is that it's very hard to make any significant money from Redbubble (I make maybe a few cents at most from each sale), and you have no control over the quality of the products.

Etsy

My referral link here.

While Etsy can be imposing at first, it is probably the easiest out of all the marketplaces to start out on. There is a lot of information to fill out to get started, so take it slow so you don't get overwhelmed. It does get easier after the first listing. Once you make one listing you can just keep duplicating and changing it a little so you don't have to keep making listings from scratch.

Etsy claims you need ten listings in your shop before you open it, but you can ignore that.

Once you've gotten started, there's lots of little tricks to learn such as letter mail shipping, all about VAT, improving listings, sections, and so on that I could go into more detail on if anyone is interested. For now I'll just focus on the platform itself.

I like that Etsy has a marketplace search, as a customer it is really nice to use. I like that it has one big cart for all the items I am looking at, and that it has a favorites system. I also like as a customer how each shop is uniform; I know exactly how to search through each shop and what format to expect. I do enjoy artists' custom shops but, sometimes their interfaces are tough to navigate.

Etsy is reasonably good at showing your items to people, which is the number one reason I recommend it for beginners. Just make sure to put effort into your listings such as tagging them, adding nice photos, and videos.

They have protection features built-in such as covering refunds if an item is delivered but the customer claims to not have received it. Etsy also enables international shipping with VAT which is great for EU/UK customers. My biggest gripe with Etsy is the fees, which I've already complained about.

Gumroad

Not much to say about Gumroad really. I only use it to list digital items such as PDFs of my lineart. I think it's saved me a few inquiries from people looking for my art for tattoos. Since all that art is for free on social media anyway, I don't charge for purchases on Gumroad. That's just a personal choice though.

Mercari

Not much to say about Mercari either. I use it to list pins from my personal collection, though I've seen a handful of pin makers use it for the pins they've created. I think the Mercari listing creation is atrocious: they like to recommend titles for your items when you upload new images, and will overwrite existing titles.

I've been considering moving away from Mercari, they recently switched their fee model so now buyers pay fees instead of sellers. This means while sellers can lower their prices, buyers get sticker shock and then ask for discounts on top of already-discounted items. I'm only on there because it's the most popular place for second-hand pin selling.

Shopify

So far I've really enjoyed Shopify. The setup was nightmarishly hard, not to turn anyone off of it but it took me literal months. You can import your listings from Etsy to Shopify but then you have to redo all the SKUs, link up photos to variants, and so on. If you have a ton of listings like me it takes a while. If you only have a few it is more worth it or, might even be worth starting out on if you can do sufficient promotion.

The major advantage of Etsy over Shopify is the marketplace feature: if you don't need the help of Etsy to promote your items then Shopify might be the better option to start out on.

I like that Shopify has significantly lower fees vs. Etsy. However, they do payouts differently and in a way I dislike. Etsy will deduct your shipping fees before calculating your payout balance, while Shopify will payout your balance and then charge you for shipping as part of your monthly bill. So you need to make sure to set aside some of your funds always to cover the Shopify shipping charge.

Additionally, to enable certain integrations or features you will need to pay for them monthly, which can add up. To sync my inventory between Shopify, Etsy, and Faire I use Trunk Inventory, which charges me a monthly $60 fee. That's in addition to the monthly Shopify fee.

Faire

I actually hate Faire despite using it. I was going to use Tundra but Faire drove them out of business (lawsuit pending). Now Faire is the only game in town for wholesale so I'm forced to use them, not that it's done me much good since I haven't had any sales there.

I can rant for ages about Faire's horrendous fees and outdated product import. But if you're a beginner you don't have to worry about wholesale selling, so I'll leave that discussion for another time. If anyone wants to hear more from me about Faire they can send another ask.

My stockists

It's quite hard to give honest reviews of my stockists here, since they might see them so, I'll just share my Linktree for them and you all can investigate on your own and inquire privately.

Newsletter

I used to use Tinyletter but it shut down, so now I use Email Octopus. Here's a referral link, and you can check out my newsletter sign up page here.

Email Octopus doesn't have a newsletter archive, and the interface is more complicated than Tinyletter's, which I dislike; but I like it better than Tinyletter's replacement Mailchimp.

You can try these out for yourself and see which you like better, it really is personal preference. All newsletter services are essentially the same: all you need is a sign up page, a way to store emails, and an ability to send a newsletter to them.

To get people to sign up for your newsletter, I personally recommend always offering it as a choice. For example, if you run a pin campaign, send an update where you share a link to your newsletter to your backers so they have the option to sign up. Do not export their emails and add them to your newsletter without a choice. I have been on the receiving end of this as a backer/customer and it makes me feel bad: it's extra emails in my inbox I didn't agree to and it feels like the creator misusing my information even if technically they are not. As a fellow creator I totally get why others might do this, it's an effective way to get lots of new newsletter signups at once. I just don't personally like it.

Shopify has a built-in newsletter feature you can use as well if you make a Shopify storefront. From your dashboard you can go to Marketing > Create campaign.

I like to send out a shortened newsletter via Shopify. Usually what I do is copy my full newsletter from Email Octopus to Shopify, and remove any bits not directly related to my Shopify, such as news on crowdfunding campaigns.

Writing your newsletter

Writing a newsletter doesn't take much time, and I think it should be a low effort task. In fact, if you make it too long people will not read it.

Throughout the month leading up to a shop update I will update my newsletter with whatever new items are ready, taking only a few minutes here and there. I include a few photos and I make sure to link to the items once they are listed (truncated example below).

I will also alert people to any sales or other special offers, news about stockists, and crowdfunding campaigns: anything a potential buyer would be interested in.

I have seen other artists share much longer newsletters with impressive graphics, sections on their art process, personal updates - but for myself I usually skip over that stuff in my inbox, so I don't do it as a creator. For others it might be worth the effort!

Final Thoughts

If you read all this, thank you! I know this was a very long post. I hope it helps at least one of you. I won't keep you much longer: you can find links to everything I mentioned in my Linktree and if you have more questions you can send an ask.

One day I'd like to make a tutorial series for making and selling merch, so this was useful as a draft for that. I would also include manufacturer reviews. If that's something you'd like to see someday you can let me know.

#ask #tutorial

[choicesficwriterscreations]

May Creator of the Month: Saibug1022

Each month, CFWC highlights one of our talented fanfic writers or artists, and this month’s creator of the month is @saibug1022! The writer is selected at random. More info can be found on the navigation page. Past COTM's can be found here.

Quick Links:

Tumblr Blog Masterlist

How do you want to be known on Tumblr? 

Salem, Sai, or saibug are all good! They/he pronouns

1- When did you start playing Choices? What was the first book you played? 

I started playing Choices in 2017-ish, I don’t remember what my first book was for sure but I remember the first book I played that really drew me in and got me into the app was The Elementalists.

2- When and why did you join Choices fandom?

I don’t think I really joined the fandom until…a few weeks after that mass cancellation announcement where they announced they’d cancelled It Lives 3, Elementalists 2, Nightbound 2, Hero 2, and RoD 2.

3- How did you pick your blog name? 

Originally it was a mashup of my dead name and a sweet nickname from my childhood, so when I came out I just changed it to incorporate my new name instead :)

4- Pull up the first post in your archive, and tell us about it!  

It was a repost of this screenshot and honestly I was right and should say it. Also this question taught me the archive feature existed so thank you that’ll come in handy lmao

5- Do you write fanfiction, create fan art, or are you one of those really gifted people who do both? 

I write fanfiction! I am trying to learn and practice art so who knows what could happen in the future. Oh and I also do lots of edits :)

6- How long have you been creating for Choices and for any other fandoms?

If we’re talking my true origins I actually started writing by writing Supernatural x reader fics in like 2017, but I didn’t start writing the fics I write now until Sanders Sides in 2019 and then I finally got around to Choices in about 2022 lmao. 7- What is your favorite Choices book, and what is your favorite Choices book to create for?

My favorite book is probably ILITW which is probably obvious, but as for my favorite book to CREATE for that’s tied between It Lives Within and BOLAS.

8- Share your first Choices fanfic or fan art that you posted with us. Do you still like it, or would you change it if you were creating it today?

My first fic was for Nightbound, called The Wrong Engagement. I still like it overall but I think I’d definitely change some things. When I first started writing for Choices I was so so focused on trying to keep MC as vague as possible while still giving them some character, so the stories often came across as bland or even boring.

9- What is your favorite piece of fiction or art that you created? 

My absolute favorite fic is actually something I don’t think I ever posted, but my favorite I’ve posted has probably gotta be a classic which is Val’s Resurrection. There are definitely some things I’d probably change now but it’s the longest fic I’ve written, still really holds up, and I’m really proud of the characterizations in it.

10- Do you have a fic/art that you didn’t expect to be well received, but it was? What about one you expected to do well but found it could use a little more love?

Walls of Regret is probably my biggest fic ever and let me tell you when I posted and wrote it I did not expect it to do as well as it did but I’m so glad it did. I can definitely think of some fics I think people would really like that didn’t get much love, including pretty much everything from the Windverse, but I gotta say Let The Shadows Fall Behind You, which is a fic/scene from my personal ongoing project, a Hero and Endless Summer Crossover

11- If you could write only angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why? 

Angst, wholeheartedly, no hesitation. Angst is not only my talent but kind of what I’m known for. I actually kind of struggle to write fluff and ESPECIALLY smut. I’ve only done it a few times and it took days of me staring at the page for days and getting out maybe one sentence an hour.

12 - Do you ever recognize yourself in any of your MCs or in your writing?

Oh all of them. Every single MC has a little piece of me, whether it’s my experiences or my personality or my style or my interests or even the way I talk. 

13 - What element of writing/art do you struggle with most?

With smut at least I get ideas. I struggle so much with even getting ideas for fluff. My favorite things is to dive into the emotions and pain and trauma PB dance around, and finding the beauty in the dark things. I defer to the other amazing writers on this app for the fluff and I consume their fluff fics like a drowning man

14 - Do you have any neglected work you really want to finish?

Two things off the top of my head. My concept for a Hero sequel which includes an Endless Summer crossover. I mentioned that earlier. The second is something fondly called Into the Rowan-verse which was where my two ILW MCs, Castor and Julian, get stuck hopping through the multiverse and meeting a bunch of other people’s MCs.

15 - If someone you know in real life (who isn’t involved in fandoms) asked to see your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you show them first? 

It highly depends on the person and then from there I think I’d just show them my edits or character profiles because my fics you tend to need either full contextual knowledge or at least basic knowledge of the book.

16 - Are there any writers (published authors and/or fanfic writers) who influenced your writing or art? Are there any artists that influence you?

Published writers definitely Rick Riordan, he’s seriously influenced how I use character voices. But from the fandom my biggest inspirations right now are usually @aces-and-angels and @oh-so-you’re-a-nerd 

17- Which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series? 

If I saw Into the Windverse does that count as cheating? But otherwise I’d die for my version of the It Lives Anthology (including ILW and Into the Rowanverse) to be made into a tv show with my headcanons, changes, and MCs.

18- Do you write original fiction or create non-fandom art? 

I do! I have an entire book trilogy fully plotted out that I’m working on writing, plus just writing a bunch with my own OCs.

19 -  What other hobbies do you have?

Pretty much just OC related things tbh. I watch tv a lot and YouTube, I play video games sometimes, and I listen to music ALL the time

#cfwc creator of the month #creator of the month #choices fic writers creations #saibug1022 #playchoices #choices stories you play

[bunn-iiii]

some killjoy hcs for my like... versions of them? or maybe AU of them? I'm not sure-

FABULOUS FOUR:

Jet Star: she/her, he/him, xae/xaer. Was born inside the city but he and his mom fled to the Zones when he was really little (like 3 or 4). She is definitely a boygirl, girlboy, girlfriendboyfriend, and that boyfriend who looks like a girlfriend that the Killers were talking about. Absolutely has both a mom voice and a dad voice xae can do. Eye patch is star shaped for aesthetic reasons. Only writes letters in glitter gel pens. Father figure goth girl (no you don't get any context). Tired a lot and probably has a sleep disorder but it's not confirmed since she lives out in the Zones. Usually seems stoic or angry to others but the 'joys that know xaer know that's just xaer resting bitch face, though xae can be quite mean at times if need be. Has the most medical experience but can't really help much outside of stitching wounds up, disinfecting, and bandaging. Often looks very disheveled for no particular reason. 19 years old.

Party Poison: they/them ... just a bit of a enbywhore, just a little bit. Hides their feelings a lot since they view themself as the leader, "makes up for it" by being overdramatic to annoy people. Sassy. Has nightmares a lot due to the trauma of making it into the Zones in their early teen years. If you ask them to turn down the music and don't give an actual reason as to why they should (like overstimulated or have a headache) then they'll just respond with "LINE?? SORRY I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER HOW SHINEY THIS MUSIC IS!". Found family sucker, made their own out of the Fab 4 (and also sort of the 109 radio crew). Unlabeled. Has definitely kissed a 'crow just to catch them off guard so they could dust them. Or kissed a crow for fun just because they could. Kobra Kid is their brother. Would be the unreliable narrator. They have dyscalculia, which doesn't come into play very often in the zones but is why Jet is the one who handles all money transactions. Supposedly a prophet? their night terrors turn out to be sort of prophetic. 18 years old.

Fun Ghoul: Uses all the pronouns, every neopronoun, every binary pronoun, doesn't really have a preference. Completely Zone kid, born and raised. Feral little guy. Has a bit of a sweet tooth (a nack for explosives). Running away from the consequences of xer actions. Burnt off their fingerprints on one of their experiments. Really smart but acts dumb because it's fun to trick people (they are a little dumb though). Cartoon character energy. Sniffs people??? Nearly goes cage mad every other week due to understimulation (which is why her finger prints are burnt off). Sharp teeth that they shaved to be that way after they got bored of blowing up things one week. Sometimes Jet will take them driving or racing to keep cake entertained. Possibly bisexual?? Bites people as a love language. Somewhat violent and is prone to throwing bombs to let off steam instead of yelling at people. Gets into fights every so often that Party has to break up. Probably has a fair amount of hearing loss due to being dumb and exploding things without ear protection. Around 17 years old (clouds exact age is unknown since xei never kept track and don't really have paperwork due to being born in the Zones).

Kobra Kid: he/him, they/them, ve/ven/vens/venom. Silent violence type. Either non verbal half the time or just doesn't want to talk. Left blood in your Valentino white bag. Has memory problems which is why the Fab 4 often take a lot of photos so ve can remember. Just a little bit crazy, but more so protective. AUTISM. Special interest is snakes currently since he found a book on them. Got the vodka taken away from them after they tried to chug it on a dare from Ghoul. Mood swings, often rages out and joins Ghoul in blowing things up with bombs. Has a hard time crying though, it's really tough to get them to cry which they both love and hate. Cat energy. Owns a katakana cause why not and also ven is super cool so of course. Has Pathological Demand Avoidance (or what some people with it call Pervasive Drive for Autonomy which honestly I like better) and isn't aware of it, Party has found quite a few work arounds from trial and error from living with him as his primary caretaker for a while. 16 years old.

109 RADIO CREW:

Dr Death Defying: he/him, but has grown to not care as much what is used for him. Keeps insisting that he's fucked up from the war and that he's dangerous but really he's like a dad for everyone. Wears silly patterned socks a lot. PINK GUN! Has lived through a lot including multiple assassination attempts. Pan, but is extremely defensive??? Pro-respect women fr "It's okay to murder but it's not okay to disrespect women.". Raised Show Pony and Cherri Cola for the most part, being the two's biological uncle. Way too avid music listener, when he's not running the radio station he's finding new music (and sending Show out to get said music). Hasn't actually lived through a lot, he's died multiple times but he's friends with the Witch, her being an old friend he knew before she became the Witch, so he ends up getting revived. Iron deficiency, which eating the food that they can get out in Zones has not helped in any way, is the main reason he uses a wheelchair (along with joint pain and such). He has a couple different wheelchairs, including one that is all terrain which he can pop a wheelie on but he refuses to go out as much so it doesn't get much use. Taught the 109 radio crew and the Fab 4 sign language and holds classes for 'joys wanting to learn it. Around 36-38.

Show Pony: they/them primarily but uses a few neopronouns (which I've yet to decide on). Weirdly obsessed with water for some reason, any safe (or even not safe) body of water they've probably jumped in. Definitely has danced in the rain like a crazy person. Memory problems and often forgets things they've said more than things they've done. When they were younger they were a fairly shy kid, after a while they had a sort of personality change. Paints their nails a lot, sometimes paints others as well. Feminine in the way a gay guy is feminine but also they're enby. Pushes their heart shaped sunglasses down their nose so they can look over them like an annoyed librarian. Has probably been deficient in a lot of things before and sometimes just lays on the ground when they feel sick because it's the only thing that seems to help. "The power of friends and GUNS!". Likes to tease people, especially cis guys, because they find it funny when they get angry and frustrated. Does the exact same thing to 'crows because seeing a crow lose control and try to kill them while they do barely anything to dust them is entertaining. Also a bit of an enbywhore like Party. They got given their first pair of roller skates by Dr D when they were 10 and now barely take them off. When they aren't wearing their skates they sometimes trip over their own feet because they still have the motor memory of skating. 19 years old.

Cherri Cola: he/him, they/them. They pirated their gender from BL/ind, they call themself illegally male. Mixed emotions kinda of person, looks angry when they're not. Definitely get angry while also appreciative, tough love-ish. Also prone to just… crying for no reason? can also fake cry really well which he uses to confuse 'crows. Pathetic little dude, coughing blood and then asking if he looks good. Kind of a bitch but that's okay. Punched a wall once because he was "full of love". Eating ibuprofen like it's a snack (much to the dismay and concern of Show and Doc who often try to hide ibuprofen bottles so they won't take them as often). Gets mad and slams his fists against a table or punches a wall and doesn't think about how much it would hurt until after he's done it. 17 years old.

#also yes some of these are collected from other people- #there's a lot more for the characters these are just some random things #i also tried not to describe physical stuff just yet because i haven't decided on a lot for their designs #besides Jet's eyepatch being a star because yes #ttlotfk #danger days #fabulous four #party poison #jet star #fun ghoul #kobra kid #dr death defying #show pony #cherri cola #i really need to write more for cherri cause they're the most work in progress out of all of them

[lyxchen]

Something I also love about Heartbreak High is how the main character is just so silly <33 Like Amerie doesn't try to be cool or fit in or anything. She's silly and weird and she knows that and she's confident in that and that makes her such a lovely and amazing main character <333

#like seriously #often the main character is kinda boring #because they always have to be this misunderstood outcast who just wants to have friends #but not amerie #she cares and she loves and she protects with all her heart and she is so fun and silly goofy and sometimes she fucks up and she's amazing #i love her so so dang much!!!! #heartbreak high #amerie wadia #lea's random thoughts #i also love how heartbreak high comes much closer to actual social relationships between sudents than a lot of other highschool shows do #like nit everybody hates everybody actually #and sometimes people become accidentally and unexpectedly close friends #like amerie with darren and quinni #that happens #and things pass #like you won't actually be forever knows for that one embarassing thing you did one time #nobody calls amerie map bitch anymore #because people move on #anyways #i'm too tired to write more about this but maybe some other time

[mel-loly]

-I'm back, my dear people! Did you miss me? :]

(I hope so, because it took a while for me to find time to come back- also.. sorry for the bad art😃👍)

#hey everyone!! I'm alive :DD #are you all okay? I hope so! and if not. I hope you be better soon❤️ #(I basically took this time off because because I wasn't well.. I was really and really bad... #with several anxiety attacks and depression problems again.. thank god it got better and now I feel okay ^^ #also- a lot of things changed in my life and I still haven't managed to organize everything.. as well as the drawings... #I have just a “few” drawings to post.. but I hope you still like it and bear with me :'] #I promise to do more and answer you guys when I have time! <33) #a little spoiler: there will be some new things coming to this blog- hope you guys like it :D <33 #i'm back! #i'm mel and this is my blog✌️ #my art blog #art #my art #my art <3 #art mel #my art style #mel designer #mel loly #my oc character #tw vent #? #random vent

[galadrielspeaks]

just thinking about thranduil and how he categorises his life and how the events of his life affects the way he rules his kingdom…. how so much of his development was defined by huge cataclysmic tragedies… thinking about how his youth is defined as before Doriath and his adulthood is defined as After Doriath… how when he became a prince he probably held on to his more idealistic beliefs only to be sternly reminded of the fickleness of life during war….. how the entire kingdom of the woodland realm probably has a Before Dagorlad and an After. how could you not after losing your king and the majority of your people? it is incredibly telling how these events of Thranduil’s past has affected his rule and everything about him down to his parenting. he understands he’s alone. that’s tragic. but he also understands his kingdom is alone. he’s a lonely king. there's no one higher than him, no one to seek advice from. he understands he is the final defender of a kingdom and he is fighting an inherited war, he has first hand witnessed the tragedies of this war and has been directly critically affected by it, he is just as much a victim of Sauron as his people. his nobility offers him zero protection, at any point he could lose everything, and yet he remains empathetic. he remains kind. he remains generous. he obviously sees the worth in fighting, he refuses to give up fully. he is (reasonably!) incredibly cautious which some call him an isolationist or consider him fickle for, during events like his refusal of gandalf’s invitation to the White Council but it becomes incredibly clear why he is like this when it’s put into context of his past. he has trusted allies before, he has seen what has happened. to join an organisation full of ring bearer’s as the sole leader of a nation with no ring to protect his people is almost an insult. they would not and do not understand what it takes to lead in that situation. Thranduil and all of his people are living in the after of the war of the last alliance. why would they join another? Thranduil has put his people first. He recognises that they themselves are the only ones who understand just how at risk they are. and yet with all of this in mind it should noted that he allies himself with men (who historically have experienced and understand the dangerous climate of their respective nations) and creates trade routes with them to provide for his people and also provides aid to them. and it is noted in the text that Legolas has been raised incredibly happily, and he is well-adjusted. throughout fighting a seemingly losing war thranduil found it implicitly important to raise his son with joy and hope. i like to believe he understands the importance of childhood whimsy and enchantment and worked to instill and maintain his child’s innocence. he raised his son as trauma-free as he could (saying this bc we do not know if his mother is dead or sailed or not but either way to be without the mother is traumatic but besides that Legolas appears to be generally mentally healthy). despite knowing first hand just how cruel and painful life is he did not feel the need to raise his child to be prepared and worried about very real threats. rather he raised his child happily, and simply worked to give his son the skills he needed to survive and to defend himself. usually military father's who have expreienced a great deal of trauma and haven't processed it correctly tend to succumb to the urge to raise their children to understand the cruelty of the world, and loathe their children for their innocence. i think that in thranduil not doing this with legolas, we can infer that he has taken time to healthily process his experiences. I believe that Thranduil is an incredibly important figure in the Lord of the Rings because he is truly an incredible example of someone who learns from their mistakes, learns from tradegy, who learns from life. i think that Thranduil never wanted to be a King, it is a responsibility that fell into his lap unwillingly and that is why he is a successful and well-loved ruler.

#didn’t really get into the war of five army’s bc i just don’t know enough about it #but yeah #just some random thoughts i had inbetween lectures today #also the military thing comes from experience i am a military brat i Know #i can write soooo much on how Legolas’ behaviour is a direct representation of Thranduil’s character like it’s just so telling #also i personally believe that thranduil’s wife died but since that isn’t canon i didn’t include it in this but yeah i think that has a lot #to do with a Lot about him #but that’s more headcanony so i held off on diving too into it #also sorry if any of this is a bad take this is off the top of my head inbetween classes i’m not double checking things rn #thranduil #woodland realm #mirkwood #greenwood #long post #meta

[stevethehairington]

i am once again thinking of a good omens wicked au, but this time instead of the obvious crowley as elphaba and aziraphale and glinda, im thinking of the OPPOSITE.

im thinking of how AZIRAPHALE fits elphaba's character in that he is an outsider amongst his peers and he's a little bit awkward and he's got so much faith in the almighty/the wizard. he's got "parents" (read: god) who expect so much from him and siblings who are ashamed of him. and he's got dreams! he wants to do big things! he wants to work hand in hand with and make the almighty/the wizard proud!

and im thinking about how CROWLEY fits glindas character in the sense that he's suave and charming and people are drawn to him. he knows how to talk to them and how to get them to do what he wants, and he's the one that teaches aziraphale things about the world (a la popular, like tempting aziraphale into eating meat and drinking wine and all these very human things he never would have thought to do without crowleys influence).

im thinking of how the two of them start out absolutely loathing each other, as mortal enemies, one could say... but how over time and as they bond more and more, as they see different sides of one another, that loathing turns into something else. something just as strong, just as passionate, but softer. gentler. sweeter. it turns into love.

and of course everything gets shattered when upon meeting his idol, aziraphale learns that god isn't what he thought she was. it turns out god is just a pipe dream. all there is is a floating head, the metatron, posing as god. and not at all the great and powerful entity aziraphale believed. and the metatron CANT help aziraphale, can't fix him. and thus the downfall of aziraphale begins.

#good omens #ineffable husbands #crowley #aziraphale #wicked #go wicked au #i am ALWAYS thinking about a go wicked au #ALSO thinking about how in this version of the au muriel could be nessa #and honestly gabriel would make a decent fiyero but like if you took out the romance part LOL bc i cannot see CROWLEY esp falling for him #i can't see aziraphale either but like i could see him as more likely than crowley certainly #but anyways someone random as fiyero and then its like aziraphale thinks hes jealous bc he likes fiyero #but ACTUALLY its fiyero hes jealous OF bc fiyero is the one that has crowley fawning all over him #but then crowley doesn't ACTUALLY like fiyero like he thinks he does. hes just using him as a distraction from his REAL feelings #(cough aziraphale) #HONESTLY this all works BETTER for their characters imo than the og roles we automatically think for them #EXCEPT for the fact that like OBVIOUSLY the whole hell being the bad witch and heaven being the good witch makes more sense #PLUS if crowley was elphaba then when she goes Full Wicked Witch at the end that is very much The Fall coded #so like THAT works better that way #BUT you could always turn things on its head and make AZIRAPHALE fall in the end #idk theres a lot of logistics that would have to be worked out and some stuff that would have to be changed to fit these characters ofc #if an au were to be written anyways #BUT YEAH I AM THINKIN™️

[optiwashere]

How do you manage to write smut that's like, actually arousing? What's the secret?

Well, first of all thank you! I'm glad you enjoy it, I really am. Happy to hear from you here as well 💜

Also, I'll let you in on my secret — I can't stand almost anything I write after it's posted. I see nothing but the flaws, grammatical choices, and technical foibles. This extends triple, quadruple, to smut. So if you're feeling the same kinda way, that your writing feels somehow off, then just know you're not alone.

I could give some pointers, but I don't really know how much benefit anyone will get hearing these from me of all people. But in my opinion it's a lot of the non-smut aspects that highlight the smut and make it shine. So here ya go.

Keep it in-character. I'm not out here talking as an authority on anyone's characterization, nor am I saying I'm some master of it and there are plenty of people out there with differing opinions, so take this with a colossal mountain of salt. But you should focus on making the voices, internal thoughts, and prose in keeping with the POV character. This is something called "POV control" and it's a very useful skill. Be able to flow in and out of a character's POV as the need arises. How Shadowheart interacts with sex is very different from Karlach is different from Orin, for example.

Strong focus on dialogue. This is a sorta addendum to the first point. Characters shouldn't suddenly turn silent when they're having sex. That is, unless that's the point of the story! They should also be speaking in-character even (or especially) during sex. Also, "porn dialogue" is something that gets brought up a lot in writing, and I think we all know it when we read it. That being said, people in the real world do say things during sex that, out of context, are hilarious. So it's a balancing act.

Fitting descriptions. This is actually one of the more important ones! If a scene is very romantic and meant to be light and fluffy, maybe avoid words for genitals altogether and focus entirely on simple visual aesthetics (how moonlight plays on a body, to give an example). If it's meant to be rough and focused on bodies or the mechanics of the scene, ham it up on those words. This also isn't a binary. Things flow back and forth all the time.

Firm language. I don't mean, like, power dynamics "firm." I'm talking about a willingness to use the words that fit the descriptions and sticking to it. Some people despise certain words, but other people will find the alternatives hilarious and completely tone-breaking. Find the words you like and stick to them; consistency gives your voice strength.

Don't try to appease everybody. You just can't. You have to write what you personally enjoy reading/writing/doing/thinking about, and go with it. If you try to cater to everyone's whims with any of the above, you'll wind up with a beige platter of nothingness. That doesn't mean you can't explore other tones or flavors, but don't try to do too much in one story.

Focus on emotions. Emotions could mean anything from love to lust to anxiety to fear to uncertainty and so on and so forth. My strategy is to center a fic on a theme/emotion that resonates with the characters involved and then I explore the smut around that central point. Revisit the idea between the action. Show how the characters' feelings around the theme change or how they're reaffirmed.

#hey you can ask me things! #random rambling about writing #i just write a lot i'm not the queen of anything (re: an anon that I fear answering calling me the queen of shadowheart smut) #everyone's voice will be different #so just remember this is My Style and not a Universal Constant #that bit in the “keep it in-character” bullet point is not a call for comments on my characterization #it's just a note on what I've noticed and the people I've spoken to OUTSIDE OF this very curated space #a space that is obviously much more likely to enjoy my characterization #so I'm also not saying I don't appreciate folks' comments on the matter! I love hearing that y'all enjoy my characterizations 💜 #I had some more Tips 'n' Tricks but they wound up being personal quirks more than anything else tbh