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Closure Announcement

After several months away from the magazine, those of us still left felt we were in a place, emotionally and mentally, where we could discuss its closure.

To start, we’re going to be very frank. We left in large part to the bullying we received from fandom members and previous employees of the magazine. We’ve all experienced strong-arming BNFs (Big Name Fans) in fandom at one time or another, but as we were an organization, it seemed that the targeted harassments by several felt much more extreme and long-lasting. And it began before the magazine ever published an issue. 

It was founded by someone who is a screenwriter and a novelist, and has a decade and a half of experience in those industries. While she did not, at that time, have direct experience with running a digital fandom magazine, her mentorships for writing in general run upwards of $200/hour for screenwriting and $0.08 a word for developmental editing only on a full-length young adult, new adult, and adult manuscript. However, several felt that did not qualify her to hand out free writing mentorships to fandom members simply for their volunteering for the position. It also didn’t seem to matter that it was always stated that this was an unpaid internship, which is very common in this industry. Several insisted on her being a liar and a cheat, though she never requested money from anyone in exchange for her expertise and time. Despite never having met this person before, our founder was told she was even lying about her identity and was constantly mocked and ridiculed on Tumblr via anon asks that still continue to this day.  Nevertheless, the editor-in-chief, at the time, persisted. 

Throughout her tenure, she came in contact with other BNFs that felt as if her way of doing things was harsh and severe. To be clear, she required one to two articles a month, of which you were often allowed to pick your own topic so long as it was approved beforehand to go with that month’s theme, and to attend one (1) one-hour meeting a month so everyone could be on the same page for the upcoming issues. She did also require a style guide be followed to maintain consistency, but all of this information was told to the potential intern upfront. However, each and every employee that left did so in a manner that was immature and unprofessional. However, she never wavered in her thinking that fandom could and should be a much more open, honest, and accepting place for all who wish to be there. 

As time continued, and after our first editor-in-chief stepped down and another took her place, the bullying never ceased. This time, however, it come from outside the magazine in the form of the authors, artists, and cosplayers who were tapped for interviews. Regularly, interviews that took an hour or more to craft were never completed with no reason given and often ghosting of our magazine done by those individuals. While we understand things come up, people get busy, and life gets in the way, this was often not what occurred in the instances to which we are referring. Also, if we got behind due to our dwindling staff, those being interviewed would become belligerent in our DMs demanding updated information on new release dates. 

With only two of us left, and neither of us being those who actually founded or were around when it started, we cannot see a way in which we can continue. We sincerely apologize to those who had outstanding interviews who won’t be posted, but you do have the capability to post the interviews yourself on your own blogs as you’ve always had access to the Google Doc, if that’s something you decide to do. However, for the sake of our sanity, this magazine is being digitally archived and this Tumblr will be deleted in the weeks to come. 

Thank you to all who offered actual support of our endeavors. We wish you all the best. 

#closure #magazine closure #lemon the magazine #the citrus scale

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How To Write Campy Horror

Sometimes you don’t want to be terrified, and that’s okay. When you need to laugh instead, horror can still have your back. We’re all familiar with that lovely genre of campy horror that can still be delightfully scary and gory, but is mostly aimed at having fun. Think Hocus Pocus. Think Casper. Think Scream. Think The Evil Dead. Think when they tear the mask off of the silly adult at the end of every single episode of Scooby-Doo. This kind of horror is vastly entertaining. So how do you write it?

For starters, campy horror is perfect for fanfiction because it’s always a little off-kilter, a little tongue-in-cheek. It’s the stuff that crack fics, a term that refers to stories that are just ridiculously absurd, are made of, in other words. It’s great for taking characters out of super serious situations and putting them into funnier ones. It’s also great if you want to put characters who normally hang out in realistic situations into some unrealistic ones. For example, you can take a character who’s a private investigator and make them into a paranormal investigator. They can investigate real hauntings or fabricated ones, but they have a perfect entry point into a genre they otherwise don’t inhabit. You can use the same premise with any other character. You just have to unlock how they could transition into the campy horror genre from whichever genre they’re usually in and you’re in business.

There are really two kinds of campy horror. There’s the kind that’s still icky and gory with lots of character deaths, but is basically making fun of itself at the same time. The Evil Dead and Scream fit into this category. And there’s the kind that is essentially harmless, where all the characters generally make it out into a happy ending, regardless of what scary happenings were at play throughout the story. Casper, Hocus Pocus, and Scooby-Doo fit into this category.

Certain traits are essential to both types too. The story always has to be just a little silly, even if there really is something paranormal or supernatural going on. For fanfiction, you can base a story on something true, make up your own, or even use another fandom’s story as a base. No matter what type of plot you end up with, the reader always has to believe that there’s some risk to the characters, whether there actually is or not. You still want the same atmospheric feel you get from the darker entries in the horror genre. Jokes are absolutely a necessity when writing campy horror, especially puns. It’s totally acceptable for the characters to make fun of the situation they’re in, for example, even openly acknowledging that it’s like a horror movie, like when Randy pokes fun at the horror movie rules in the Scream franchise. And even if you’re writing something like Hocus Pocus or Casper, which are both appropriate for children, it’s totally okay to slide some jokes in there that only the adults will understand.

But the two types of campy horror do split off at certain points. If you’re going for the gorier version, for example, characters can still die in vicious and horrific ways, but there’s often an element of hilarity or irony to the deaths that makes them not as impactful. But if you’re sticking to the lighter, happy ending type of campy, the good characters generally don’t die. Bad guys, of course, are always allowed to take the fall, or characters finally getting the heroic death they deserved, like Binx in Hocus Pocus. Basically, if there’s some poetic justice, you’re good to go. Generally speaking, no one gets hurt at all, at least not permanently. Deaths on this side of campy also tend to be less nasty when they do occur. Think child-friendly. The gorier side of campy is allowed to have more adult themes, like sex, while those aren’t going to fly on the happy ending side of the genre.

The real key to writing campy horror is to have fun doing it. It shouldn’t be hard, because you have so many opportunities to have characters do things that are totally acceptable in this genre that might not be in others. They can go to costume parties, solve mysteries, chase after ghosts, have old-timey duels for the character they love, and so much more. Get out there and just do the craziest things you’ve always wanted to do in stories and maybe held back from because you were writing in a more serious genre. This is where you’ll benefit from nutty ideas. Basically, what we’re saying is if you’re going to lean in, lean all the way in. The results will be worth it.

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Trope Scope: The Call Is Coming From Inside The House

What is the call is coming from inside the house?

Sit down, kids, and let us fandom olds tell you how phones used to work, because that’s where this trope comes from. Back in the day, houses had phone numbers, and every phone in the house used the same number. So if your mom was on the phone in the kitchen and you picked it up in the living room, you’d be able to hear her talking on the other end. These were also the days before caller ID was really a widespread thing, which is why so many characters in old horror movies pick up unknown numbers. They were all unknown. These truths of phone communication led to the common trope of finding out that an unknown call was, in fact, coming from inside your own home.

And yes, we know what you’re thinking. You can’t call your own number, right? Actually, you could back in the day, but only sometimes. It was unclear why exactly it was allowed to happen, and the mystery was never really solved, but whatever. It worked. Some houses also had more than one phone number, and once cell phones became a thing, you could easily call someone from inside the house using one. Basically, it’s meant to be super scary, because you thought you were safe, and suddenly you’re not.

Why is this trope popular?

This trope became very popular in horror movies because it meant that a confrontation between a victim or hero and the killer was imminent. Previously, perhaps the victim or hero had thought they were safe, and they have to very quickly come to terms with the fact that this is not the case. It also shows the power of the killer. They have invaded the victim or hero’s private space, which makes them even more terrifying. It also generally ties up the line so that the victim or hero can’t call for help, which means that they have to take matters into their own hands.

What are some examples of this trope?

This trope was first used in the horror movie Black Christmas in 1974, in which a killer hides in the attic of a sorority house and slowly kills all of the women who live there. It was also the basis for the entire plot of the 1979 horror movie When a Stranger Calls. A babysitter receives a call to check on the children, but ignores it as a prank. However, the calls continue in frequency and become more threatening, so she calls the police. It is eventually revealed that the calls are coming from inside the house, and that the intruder murdered the children before they even started.

Our personal favorite use of this trope,though, is from the popular movie franchise Scream. The first was released in 1996, and phone calls were a very big part of the plot. While the killers did use cell phones, and caller ID was more common by this time, it wasn’t unusual for people to still answer their phones. The scene that kicks it all off, with Drew Barrymore starring as the lead momentarily, is a particularly good example of this trope. However, the phone angle really kind of falls apart eventually, especially in Scream 4, which features teenagers answering unknown numbers on their cell phones in 2011, when people had definitely stopped doing that.

How do you use this trope in your own writing?

All you really need to do to use this trope is have the villain be inside the house when the victim or hero thinks he is literally anywhere else. You don’t even have to use the element of phones anymore if you don’t want to, especially since phone communication has changed so much since this trope became popular.

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Dear Nancy Thompson

Dear Nancy, 

You’re my favorite horror movie heroine. At first, it was just because it was so rare for me to see a woman in a main role in any movie, but over the years, as I’ve watched Nightmare on Elm Street again and again, it’s remained true for so many more reasons. I think that your journey into terror and subsequent fight against Freddy speaks to a lot of fans, particularly women.

One of the things that always struck me about your story was that no one believed you. And I get it. Saying that your dreams are trying to kill you is pretty wild. But you were the type of person who should have been believed. Sure, you were only a teenager, and some pretty scary things had happened to you recently. But you were the good kid, you know? You never misbehaved, even when there was peer pressure, you got good grades, and you were nice to everyone. You also went through all of the appropriate avenues to ask the adults, the people who were supposed to protect you, for help. No one listened. Hell, in the end, it turned out to be all their fault because of what they did to Freddy, and you were the one who paid the price and lost so many people that you loved. And if that doesn’t speak to the experience of being a woman, I don’t know what does.

I also remember wanting to be brave like you when I was a teenager watching your movie. After every adult in your life failed you, you took matters into your own hands. You didn’t let Freddy scare you into just waiting around to die. You went and faced the person who was hurting you, as terrifying as that was, and you were triumphant. I know it only lasted a few minutes, but it was inspiring to see you stand up for yourself even when all the odds were against you. And you never stopped standing up to Freddy. You even gave your life later so others could take him down. You turned your tragedy into a victory, and I appreciate that.

To say that I’ve looked up to you is an understatement. You’ve always been a role model for me, and I know you must have been a role model for other girls watching your story too. It may not have had a perfect ending, but it was definitely a memorable one. I, personally, will always remember it. Hopefully I’ll never end up in a horror movie, but even in everyday situations, it always helps me to wonder what you would do. I like to be the badass woman I want to see in the world, and often, that badass woman is Nancy Thompson. So thank you.

Sincerely,

A Final Girl Fan

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The AU Zone: Writing a Horror-Themed AU

Characters from horror stories often find themselves in alternate universes, or AUs, in fanfiction. It’s because their source material can be limiting and, therefore, not offer a lot of prospects for new plots and happenings. Also, everyone tends to die a lot, so if you want your characters to stay around, it’s not necessarily the best choice to stick with canon. The reverse, though, isn’t explored as often. What about putting characters into a horror AU?

To be clear, we’re not talking about making everyone into vampires, werewolves, or zombies. To us, those are each a different type of AU. It’s not that those creatures aren’t difficult to deal with or offer their own writing rewards. It’s just that we’re talking about good old-fashioned terrifying horror. Slashers and ghosts and truly demented killers. Stuff that makes you want to go to bed with the lights on and make sure your closet door is locked.

And there are really two types of horror AUs. We’ll get to those in a minute, because first we need to talk about what’s common to both of them, and that’s atmosphere. Good horror, after all, isn’t about how many jump scares there are. It’s about making the reader or viewer think that something horrible could happen at any given moment. In horror, the anticipation is worse than the actual event. Once the killer attacks, at least you know where they are and what they’re doing, right? The character being chased finally gets to act, rather than wait to be acted upon. This anticipation is key, no matter what kind of AU you’re writing.

But how do you create it? Generally, it’s all about setting. Your characters should be in a place that is either entirely unfamiliar, or a place that should be familiar, but somehow isn’t. The first usually encompasses some sort of location that the characters have traveled to, either on accident or on purpose, like a haunted house or a mysterious town. Think of The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson or the movie Silent Hill. In both of these tales, the protagonists go somewhere and have to confront the evils they never expected to find there. But if your characters aren’t leaving home, something about home has to change in order to make it scary to them. Think of A Nightmare on Elm Street or Stranger Things. In Nightmare, familiar locations become terrifying as Freddy twists them through dreams. In Stranger Things, Hawkins is turned quite literally upside down and then the characters find that evil could emerge from any corner, or they could be pulled into the shadow world to face the terror there.

All of these examples feature, of course, the supernatural and/or the paranormal, which is one type of horror AU that you can write. To delve into this type of horror, you usually need some kind of backstory to work with. Why is the ghost haunting the house? What are the consequences of a dimensional rip in a small town? How do you kill an evil alien clown that likes to hang out in storm drains? Now, since you’re writing fanfiction, you could always use the setting of one show and the characters of another and create an epic mash-up. Then that work is done for you. If you’d like to come up with your own story, we recommend going with one of your favorite ghost stories, or even one that has roots wherever you’re located. Research the details, figure out how your characters fit in, and go for it.

The other kind of horror, of course, is when nothing supernatural is going on at all. Usually, this means a very real killer is stalking your characters. It may seem as though something supernatural or paranormal is going on for a while, but in the end, it’s revealed that all of that was just a ruse. You can still achieve the same atmospheric effect you need with this type of AU. Think of Scream, where the unknown identity and number of killers means that anyone could be attacked anywhere and at anytime. Or you can look at the second season of American Horror Story, which involves a very real and staggeringly horrifying serial killer and rapist. A lot of the tension in these stories comes from character development, particularly for the villains. Why are they doing what they’re doing? Having a reason, even if you’re the only one who knows it, helps you drive the characters in the right direction. You could even twist the story and write from the perspective of the killer, or take some cues from a show like Riverdale and have multiple killers and nefarious plot lines in play that all come together eventually.

No matter what you choose to do, writing a horror AU is a fun way to challenge yourself as a writer, but also to put your favorite characters in highly different situations than you may have found them in before. It’s also a genre that can let you get a little wild with the creativity, and that’s always fun. So, especially in this, the scariest month of the year, go nuts and try your hand at a horror AU. We’re sure you won’t be disappointed.

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Teen Wolf Discord Server

Hey all! I started a 18+ Teen Wolf Discord Server and you’re invited! You can gush about the show, fanfiction, writing, or whatever else pops up. 

Come join the fun! 

#discord server #teen wolf #derek hale #stiles stilinski #sterek #fanfic #fanfiction

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Is it just me or do other people get homesick from books? Like, you miss the comforting feel of the characters, the fandom, and the world created by the author?

#reader problems #books #reading #multifandom

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#tua #tua playlist #the umbrella academy #the umbrella academy playlist #spotify #billy idol #dancing with myself #night kids

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These crazy kids and the apocalypse, am I right?

#tua #tua fanart #fanart #fanart friday #tua 2 #the umbrella academy #the umbrella academy 2 #hargreeves #hargreeves children

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Knifey Boi.

Umbrella icons!

#diego hargreeves #tua #tua 2 #tua fanart #fanart #fanart fridays #knifey boi #umbrella academy icons

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our favorite duo

#tua #tua 2 #the umbrella academy #the umbrella academy 2 #klaus #ben #hargreeves #hargreeves children #fanart #fanart friday #fanartists

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#tua #fanart #fanart friday #fanartist #art #artists #tua fanart #umbrella academy 2 #tua 2

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Five deserves nap, just one nap plz 

plus a blank go wild

#umbrella academy 2 #ua 2 #number five #Five #hargreeves #hargreeves children #fanart #fanart friday

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paradox psychosis

#fanart friday #fanart #fanartists #umbrella academy 2 #ua 2 #number 5 #luther hargreeves

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Author Interview: suitupbuttercup

@suitupbuttercup​ writes for one of our favorite old fandoms, Once Upon a Time, and one of our favorite new ones, Prodigal Son. Whether you want canon pairings, angst, fluff, crossovers, or humor, she’s got something for everyone, so head over to her AO3 and check it out as soon as you can. We’re very happy she took some time to sit down with us and answer questions about fanfiction.

How did you first start writing fanfiction?

Thinking back, I know I was a reader well before I was a writer. So for all of you folks out there who really enjoy reading, whether it be novels or fanfiction, and are too hesitant to write your own piece, go for it! You won’t regret it.

And I got my feet wet in writing within fandoms when I was in middle school, on the Neopets roleplaying boards, which is both adorable and embarrassing. One of the first huge fandoms I remember writing a lot of roleplaying pieces for was Twilight, and while I never wrote any fanfiction for it, I was able to practice writing and have fun with online friends and create my own characters. It was a blast. I didn’t even really know fanfiction was a thing until I found out my roleplaying friends were writing it, and once I found it, I devoured work after work for the books and movies and shows I loved. There was no going back after that! Eventually I started writing my own fanfiction.

I wrote a lot of random things before I ever started anything I felt was worth sharing with the online world. So for the new writers out there, take your time. Remember this is supposed to be fun, and only post when you’re ready. You’ll do great!

read the rest

#prodigal son #once upon a time #author interview #author interview: suitupbuttercup #suitupbuttercup #fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic author #fanfiction author #author #writblr #this or that #the citrus scale #tcs

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It’s Monday!! So it’s time to unpack the latest episode of Yellowstone (ep. 3x05 “Cowboys and Dreamers, even though Niki mistakenly calls it 3x04 a couple of times!). 

This one does not let up, and neither do we, as we give a recap, ship some characters, play some games, and even hash out some of our own new theories. 

Come get Dutton Dirty with us and let us know what you thought of the latest episode and that killer reveal! 

#yellowstone #yellowstone tv #dutton #dutton ranch #yellowstone ranch #kevin costner #ian bohen #denim richardson #jen landon #rule 34 podcast #rule 34 #the citrus scale #ep 1x02 #ep 1x02: crazy squared #crazysquared #dutton dirty

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my dad–also a writer–came to visit, and i mentioned that the best thing to come out of the layoff is that i’m writing again. he asked what i was writing about, and i said what i always do: “oh, just fanfic,” which is code for “let’s not look at this too deeply because i’m basically just making action figures kiss in text form” and “this awkward follow-up question is exactly why i don’t call myself a writer in public.”

he said, “you have to stop doing that.”

“i know, i know,” because it’s even more embarrassing to be embarrassed about writing fanfic, considering how many posts i’ve reblogged in its defense.

but i misunderstood his original question: “fanfic is just the genre. i asked what you’re writing about.” 

i did the conversational equivalent of a spinning wheel cursor for at least a minute. i started peeling back the setting and the characters, the fic challenge and the specific episode the story jumps off from, and it was one of those slow-dawning light bulb moments. “i’m writing about loneliness, and who we are in the absence of purpose.”

as, i imagine, are a lot of people right now, who probably also don’t realize they’re writing an existential diary in the guise of getting television characters to fuck. 

“that’s what you’re writing. the rest is just how you get there, and how you get it out into the world. was richard iii really about richard the third? would shakespeare have gotten as many people to see it if it wasn’t a story they knew?”

so, my friends: what are you writing about?

#fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic is real writing too