#enough to possibly write more snippets or expand this?

[nothingiswrongwithyourarmrests]

With all of the Tarsus iv fic giving kirk even more trauma in the aos verse all i can think about is what if this tragedy was averted?

They had one replicator. A luxury in the government buildung, for show more than anything as the solar panels and bioreactors had more important things to power. Growing crops from the ground would always be more efficient than matter/energy conversion on a planet, or anywhere that a cubic centimetere was not the most scarce resource.

The governing council took stock of remaining supplies- there was not enough stockpiled to last the 8000 inhabitants of tarsus iv the four months it would take for a transport ship to get to the colony. Even if their distress call was received and aswered immediately, it would take over a week to reach the nearest subspace relay station and over two to get to earth. And then relief supplies would have to be gathered and packed before any ship could warp to them. The governors’ most optimistic estimation had been three months before help would arrive.

Even with rationing they would not be able to provide sufficient calories to keep 8000 people from starving for two.

The governors summonned all engineers in the colony – only fifteen people with engineering certifications were in the databanks. They assessed the technology and came to the reluctant conclusion that they would not be able to build more replicators with the parts and resources on hand. They might be able to run the unit they had for 12 hours a day if the energy input was sufficient. Keeping it in working order would be their main concern. The unit was constructed to serve at most six people. Could they run it enough to keep their population from dying? Despair gripped the governors, as fear and uncertainty were spreading through the population. As rumors about how dire the situation really was leaked into the population.

The governors questioned the colony’s doctors on minimal nutrition requirements and symptoms of starvation. The prospect of confusion, agression and psychosis in thousands loomed over their slim hopes for survival.

Was it a good plan to keep people alive but starved if they were liable to kill themselves and others in fits of delusion? That question from governor Kodos was not answered.

The council had not summoned anthropologists or historians, but two came to speak to them of their own accord. Mass starvation had not happened to humans in living memory, but for nearly all of human history periods of starvation had been a fact of life. They spoke of deformed bones and old mythologies and mass graves, they spoke of slaves working themselves to death, of riots and trenches and diseases that were no more, of ignorance and deliberate policies, of rituals and catastrophes and of survival, against expectations. Despite the odds. They spoke of all the brutalities of humanity’s past and the atrocities humans inflicted upon one another and the dangers of giving in to despair. They spoke of grief and hope. Of the many times we thought humanity was going to destroy themselves, our whole planet, and how we did not. Of hope.

The revolution was not sucessful. Six elected governors were left alive instead of one.

Some might find it hard to believe that many of the survivors claimed the machine that kept them alive was not that one hardy replicator working overtime, but the radio. At first the governors took turns, keeping the population infomed of ration dispensals and energy outputs, of conserving heat and energy to feed their lifeline replicator, of the ping from the relay station meaning their distress call was being sent on and of medical advice for conserving their energy.

Nobdy is sure anymore who was the first to keep the channel open and just tell a story, but the radio doesn’t stop broadcasting. Someone keeps talking, always.

They hold memorials for those that die over the radio. Even, after a while, for the failed revolutionaries.

Everyone is hungry and hurting, but nobody is alone.

They replay the message from starfleet twice a day, once it gets there: Help is on the way.

They hold on.

[twisted-wonderland-shenanigans]

Kaiju!AU Rewrite Snippet

So as stated in a previous post, I've started rewriting the chapters I currently have for the Kaiju!AU due to the original not meeting my original vision and my own pacing minimizing the quality (in my own mind anyway). I'm still on hiatus from answering asks for imagines for the AUs, but I am still working on the ideas at my own pace and will slowly reintegrate myself into something comfortable and enjoyable.

Anyway, this is set shortly after Yuu discovers the ship and plane graveyard from the original prologue, expanding a bit more on the island itself...as well as meeting someone MUCH earlier than I had planned the first time around. >v>

I've still got much to finish writing for the first chapter and get it to a point where I'm satisfied with it, but I'm happy that I've been able to add more of the worldbuilding ideas I had discussed in previous posts so far!

In short: Story begins relatively the same, but it's been expanded a helluva lot more than before and will progress differently now that I'm gaining more confidence in my own skills since first attempting this AU!

Warnings: Some swearing in the snippet and some implied blood. If I need to tag anything in here a specific way, please let me know so I can keep it in mind whenever I post the final product!

//////BEGIN SNIPPET//////

The sun was steadily rising now as they continued their search, somehow managing to escape the giant metal deathtrap maze and into a wide clearing. Up ahead they could see a jungle tree line, immediately recognizing the cluster of yellow at the top of one of the trees. Relieved to have found a food source, they ran as fast as they could towards the trees. As they grew closer and closer, however, their excitement turned to confusion as they slowed to a trot. Still the trunks of the trees continued to grow bigger, dwarfing Yuu as they stopped and stared up in horror at the sight of the trees looming over them like towers.

“What the hell is going on,” they uttered, slowly turning in a circle as they realized just how small they were compared to the foliage. Plants that should have come up to their waist or shoulders were large enough to form a canopy, shielding them from the steadily growing harsh sunlight. Trees that should have been easily 15-20 feet tall were easily three times that height, fruit that should have been easy to pluck and gather now swayed threateningly like a boulder ready to be dropped.

Buzzing overhead caught their attention as they looked up, pure terror filling their veins as they saw what could only be described as a giant dragonfly-like creature flitting about. It hovered close to a flower, the downdraft of its wings buffeting Yuu with strong winds as it landed on a petal—and disappearing the moment the flower snapped shut around its body, clamping down like a vice as it struggled to escape.

“Nope! Nope, nope, nope, nope!” was all Yuu managed to say before they scurried away, not wanting to find out if anything else had a taste for flesh. “Giant food is one thing, but I draw the line at man-eating plants!”

Giant food, giant bugs, giant plants, a deserted island, and an entire graveyard of ships and planes? This had to be a fever dream or a nightmare of epic proportions! Yet it was getting harder and harder to find logic in anything they were seeing. None of this should even be possible, and yet…here they were, stranded in the middle of nowhere with no idea of who they were, how they got here, or even why they were here. And if the insects and plants were enormous, what else was even bigger than them? They didn’t even know if there were any other survivors out the-

‘Get a grip, Yuu!’ they thought, managing to stick close to the edge of the jungle on their right and keeping the shore on their left side. ‘Panicking won’t help anything, and you need to stay focused. Food will have to wait, so let’s just find water and shel-‘ the ground collapsed under their right foot, sending Yuu sliding down a steep incline with loud, “Aaaah!!”

Whud!

“…ow,” they uttered, groaning as they slowly sat up. Glancing back where they came from, they spotted the steep slope that had been concealed by one of the leaves. The dirt was smoothed away to reveal red and yellow clay, as though someone had carved out the opening with a tool to remove any bumps or ridges. Realizing that it would be too steep a climb to get out of the ravine, they sighed and shook their head. “Great…is everything on this island trying to kill-”

Thoom…

“…me…” Their voice trailed off as another thud hit the ground, the earth vibrating beneath their feet as they slowly turned towards the densest part of the forest. Something was coming, the sound of branches creaking and snapping reaching Yuu’s ears as they slowly started to creep behind a large rock formation—before finally noticing the razor-sharp teeth and the empty eye socket. They clamped their hands over their mouth as a massive black shape began to emerge, ducking into the gap of the skull until they could peek through the socket.

The creature that emerged was gigantic, towering beyond anything they could imagine as it crept into the area on four legs. The sunlight fell across its body, black and green feathers gleaming while its beak—wickedly sharp and deadly—was slick with something damp.

‘What…what the fuck is that thing?!’ Yuu thought, pressing their body against the inside of the skull as they watched the monster move.

It sniffed the air, its four glowing golden eyes scanning the area. It sniffed at the colorful crystal formations at the base of the tree. A pair of thin, small arms extending from its chest as the strange hands grasped at the stones, snapping them from the base. When it opened its beak, the sun glinted off of sharp rows of teeth before it crunched down on the crystals. Once the crystals were gone, it sniffed around for a moment before it stood on its hind legs and leaned against one of the trees. Its neck stretched out further than they thought was possible, its sharp beak plucking at the fruit that seemed so ridiculously small in comparison. From this angle, they could see a pair of massive wings pressed tightly to its sides and a long serpentine tail lazily sweeping across the ground.

‘Okay…whatever the hell that thing is, it seems only interested in fruit, so maybe it won’t mistake me for a bug and eat me…?’

Something skittered across the bark near the monster’s claw, and a moment later its head had darted forward. A giant spider-like bug with crystalline spikes was squirming in its beak before it tossed its head back, swallowing it whole before continuing to pluck at the fruit with a distinctly happy trill.

‘…yeah, that makes more sense,’ they thought, feeling their heart beating heavily in their chest. ‘Dammit…I can’t run or that thing will spot and eat me like that spider! Maybe I can just…wait here in this skull and-”

Beep-bwoop!

“Shit!” Yuu whispered under their breath as they immediately reached down to the ankle bracelet. To their horror, the bird-lizard monster’s head immediately snapped towards their direction, the two feathery ears popping up and swiveling left and right—searching for the sound again. ‘Dammit, why is the universe trying to kill me?!’

THOOM…THOOM…

Each footstep from the monster made their heart jump as they pressed their body against the wall of the skull, bracing their feet against the other side to avoid falling over and making more noise. They could hear the beast sniff the air, the musty smell of rotting meat and fruit washing over the area while something loud scraped against the ground around their hiding spot.

‘Please don’t beep again, please don’t let it find me, please, please, please, please!’ they thought, staring at the bracelet as the light blinked mockingly up at them. The monster sniffed—horrifyingly close now—as a wave of hot air rushed through the eye socket. Through the gaps in the skull’s teeth, they could see its shadow blocking out the sunlight, the tips of what they realized were its massive claws beginning to curl underneath their hiding spot and starting to lift. ‘I just woke up, I don’t want to die!’

Just then, in the distance, a loud, echoing roar filled the air.

Immediately the bird-lizard let out a sound akin to a chirp as it dropped their shelter back down, the quiet crooning it was making earlier devolving into a terrifying hissing snarl and caw. The earth shook as Yuu heard it bound away, branches and leaves snapping in its path as they heard it barrel through the forest. Then…

Silence.

///////END SNIPPET////////

MWAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!! This is only a snippet of what to expect once I'm finished with my rewrites! Something I've come to realize is that whenever I introduced some of the Kaiju, I never really elaborated on their appearances outside of the basics from that species list I wrote before. Definitely going to be making more of a point of describing how they look to make it easier for my readers to imagine!

[when-wulf]

Expanding on my last post about an elven lawyer Tav who has an old grudge against Astarion. I don’t have the time, skill, or energy to actually research and write this fic, but I did get excited enough to do a little snippet. I don’t normally write in second person, but I couldn’t come to any decisions about this Tav other than them needing to be an elf.

—————

Astarion Ancunin is dead.

You feel bad about not feeling that bad about it. The poor family, of course, obviously. One always has to think of the family in such cases—the deceased’s family, not the literal poor families their relative had fucked over in one way or another during his short tenure.

The little upstart magistrate has had been making your life hell for a few years now. You have ethics and integrity, which are great handicaps for a lawyer in Baldur’s Gate, but even you’d been pushed to bribery—sweetening up that one clerk who’s keen on you with pastries and other treats—in an attempt to stay off his docket. It sometimes felt like he took particular pleasure in trampling your work as a “bleeding heart” who’d dare to service anyone less than middle class.

That wasn’t true, of course, it wasn’t personal. All tramplings were just an added bonus to the only thing Astarion Ancunin took true pleasure in: lining his pockets. In doing so he’d apparently pissed off people who were, unlike you and your bleeding heart, unbound by civility. He’s paid the price for it now, all that gold doesn’t seem to have helped him much in the end.

Still, he was so young, especially for an elf, and one must think of the family.

…

You think you’ll pay a call to Mrs. Aggleneg on your way home, let her know there may be hope for her wayward son yet.

—————

Astarion Ancunin was dead.

You’re ninety-nine percent sure about that. It was, however, two centuries ago that you’d heard that, and so long as he was out of your hair you’d never felt the need to follow up.

People get revived. It happens. Especially people with money. It makes for interesting cases regarding inheritance, ones you’re happy to read about and stay far away from no matter how lucrative. So maybe that gold had helped him after all, you should just be grateful that being murdered must have taught him that magistrate was not the career for him. It was strange to think Ancunin was capable of such learning, but stranger things have happened, particularly in the past few days and hours.

You’d been kidnapped by mindflayers, you’d been infected with one of their parasites, you’d been to hell, you’d fought (You! Fighting!) literal imps and devils and somehow not died from falling several hundred feet onto a beach in what seems to be the middle of nowhere. And now, here in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, the singularly most absurd possible cherry on top of it all, is Astarion fucking Ancunin.

He doesn’t seem to recognize you, which is fine. Trees and axes and all that. Memory is a funny thing, elven memory more so given how damn much of it one ends up with over centuries and lifetimes. You picture it like the small army of filing cabinets you have back home. You can’t imagine someone like him being so organized, whereas your filing system is impeccable—even if it brings every new secretary to tears at least once—you always know exactly where to find what you’re looking for. So although Ancunin hasn’t crossed your mind in decades, you’re able to pick right back up on wondering if you could conceivable gouge out his eyes with a quill or if you’d need at least a fountain pen.

Yet…you also could’ve sworn they were a different color.

[initforthethrill]

Thank you for responding to my ask. I see how some of those lines can be perceived as a bit more ambiguous.

a single condom she bought at a gas station for the aesthetic (“for the gesture, not function”) - Especially the added gesture not function line, I guess.

the occasional “did you just grow another inch?” - But this? Idk how this is ambiguous.

tried to dom initially—thought she was gonna ride you. she really did. she got on top and lasted exactly two bounces before her thighs gave out. - This I can see how it can be a strap on.

maybe a dirty whisper about how tight she is - This didn’t stand out cause obviously fingers. Sure.

“remember when she said you were made for her cock?” - And yeah, okay. Referring to a strap as cock.

As I was reading that was my thought at first. Strap on (I’d hope.) And most of these lines alone can be ambiguous enough, I guess. But I’m sure you can see how all of this together in one piece of writing, especially when it isn’t specifically stated that this is a strap on, very much comes off as pandering to and writing for men. It wouldn’t have been hard to just add a mention of a strap and it makes me wonder why you didn’t. I am just so sick of seeing dick pushed into the lesbian community so it was sad to see here, since I have really been enjoying your writing up to this point. Not to mention since you have basically very specifically marketed yourself as writing sapphic/wlw content.

no problem, i can definitely understand the frustration and where you're coming from because for a long time the same things frustrated me as well—very specifically the overwhelming amount of g!p content that has become very prevalent in wlw/sapphic/lesbian fandom spaces.

personally, as i've grown and evolved i've found it less bothersome because i can understand the desire of possessing g!p and i don't believe that makes the content or person any less of a woman/lesbian oriented.

some of my writing may come across as being written with g!p in mind, but i can assure you if my content was ever explicitly referring to such i would give a very obvious disclaimer!

for example: i have an unpublished succubus!cate bot where the user explicitly has a g!p. it's subtly mentioned in the greeting and explicitly in the bot description. when i eventually post it i will mark it as g!p user in the bot release post and my masterlist, so please trust that i have taken these things into account so that people are not triggered when they come across such content and can avoid it if they are not into it! i also have some unpublished bots that feature pregnant!cate and instead of specifically stating the user has g!p (my personal preference when i use these bots) i leave it ambiguous enough so that the user can decide how they want this to fit into their use of the bot, some lean more towards the user having a g!p for genetic reasons, but hey cate also exists in a universe where people have literal superpowers so who's to say two cisgender women couldn't knock each other up in universe, too? i'm a big advocate for just completely writing men out of the whole pregnancy equation lol but how they user chooses to do that can be entirely up to them in such bots! they're roleplay so real world factors can play however big or small a role the user wishes them to play. want to knock cate up yourself, with girldick or superhero magic? go for it! want to get a sperm donor, also an option.! you could adopt if you'd like! hell there's an infinite amount of possibilities because it's all just imagination<3 i'm not trying to force anyone into any corners even in my own self-indulgence :)

i didn't give any disclaimers/trigger warnings on the freshman!cate post because i didn't feel anything was explicitly referencing g!p and there was not any lengthy or overly descriptive sexual content included—just short snippets referencing acts. if i were to write explicit smut, or had i further expanded on any of those scenes, i would have included trigger warnings and the user's method of penetration would have been very clearly written into the prose. that's not somewhere i would be purposefully vague as was mostly the case for the headcanon post.

to further explain the "did you just grow another inch" comment this was written with dirty talk in mind but again, i can see how this is less ambiguous and could have easily thrown someone off or made them second guess the rest of the content even though it didn't set off any specific alarm bells myself.

as a cisgendered butch lesbian, i obviously write in that headspace because it's what i know and am most comfortable writing.

that being said, it definitely bleeds more into my non-bot related writing because i have the freedom to explore that more than i do with a bot which—although i tend to write masc/butch!user—i do actively try (and even rewrote a lot of my now published bots) to appeal to other lesbian gender expressions. meaning the user can present themselves largely however they wish to. the only thing the bots know as fact is that user is always a woman and uses she/her pronouns, not specific anatomy!

i also state that most of my bots—with the exception of requests—are entirely self-indulgent! i just figured others might enjoy them so instead of gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss-ing and in the spirit of community and selflessness (lol) i decided to post them and accept requests!

hopefully this all makes sense lol i'm at work so apologies if it feels all over the place or disjointed...it's just my stream of consciousness atp but i didn't want to leave you unanswered or make you feel like your concerns aren't heard/valid<3

[swaps55]

I'm neck-deep writing an exchange fic, so while I'm actually writing, it isn't Mezzo quite yet. However, I am currently suffering from a metric fuckton of Sam feelings thanks to Spotify assaulting me with 2WEI's cover of Hurt, so here is a snippet from the next Mezzo chapter, from what has quickly become my favorite scene in the whole damn thing.

In which EDI talks to Sam about stars:

~

He closes his eyes. Swallows. “I always wanted to see the Pillars of Creation.”  

EDI skims through Shepard’s file. It does not appear his Alliance career ever took him to that region of the Traverse. Their recent venture to Korlus would have been his closest proximity, but at improper lines of sight to accurately reproduce the shape visible from Earth. Or, in Shepard’s case Arcturus.

--Query: Would you like to go? I could calculate an optimal vantage point. This ship would take you there. I could take you there.   

--Block: Illusive Man Protocol Override – Unprompted personal inquiries are impermissible.

“I could provide images,” she says instead.

He shakes his head. “No. It’s fine. Go on.”

“As you wish. The initiation of fusion creates enough pressure to counteract the forces of gravity, putting a newly formed star in a state of hydrostatic equilibrium. In essence, stars exist in conflict with gravity throughout their main sequence.”

Another flicker of dark energy illuminates his fingers, like a small star in his hands. His voice wavers. “Gravity wins eventually.”

“Yes,” she concurs. “When hydrogen is depleted, gravity becomes the more powerful force, causing the inner layers of the star to collapse, expanding the star outward. However, this is not the end of the star. The increased pressure causes helium to fuse into carbon, beginning a new, second life in the star’s cycle.”

“But it’s different,” Shepard says, then closes his fist and snuffs the light out. “Destructive. Red giants swallow up the things closest to them. Burn them up until there’s nothing left.” A small, strangled sound slips out of his throat.

He is…distressed.

She puzzles over this. Facts do not inherently carry emotional meaning, but Shepard appears to have assigned such meaning anyway, resulting in a negative emotional response to her requested outputs. An undesirable result.

Again, she wishes for insight into his subroutines.

The life cycle of organics does not parallel that of stars. However, Shepard’s death and reanimation creates an anomaly that raises points of comparison. Whether or not EDI’s does as well remains unknown.

She does not have a baseline for the life cycle experienced by others like her.

--Query: Do you believe that we have entered the second phase of our main sequence? Is this the source of your distress?

--Block: Illusive Man Protocol Override – Unprompted personal inquiries are impermissible.

Troubling, perhaps, if the comparison holds. Stars behave one of two ways once fusion ends. Some shed their mass away to form nebula clouds. Unlike the dark and cold nurseries that birthed them, in death they spiral with heat and color.

But those with greater mass become hotter and denser, fighting gravity until the core explodes in a supernova, ejecting most of its mass into interstellar space.

Sometimes, gravity does lose.  

But supernovas have the power to feed new stellar nurseries, spectacular endings that create new beginnings. The galaxy is predicated on cycles that endlessly repeat.

It makes her feel…small.

But they are just facts. Facts she has assigned an emotional value to.

Hm. A point of connection, perhaps? She finds the possibility unexpectedly comforting.

[skimmingmilk]

hi!! hope you’re doing well - i binged your picket fence timeline collection a week or two ago and it fundamentally rewrote my brain and now i finally found your tumblr username when going back to save them all so uh. immediate follow and need to let you know how much i adore all your work?? your style is delightful, your continuity is fascinating, and your enduring love of SATAM that grounds your entire perspective of the universe speaks to me so so strongly, infinite gratitude for all the time + love you’ve put into both your writing itself and sharing it :) sorry for a big wall of text but the impact your takes have had on me has more than earned it, here’s some tails i guess????

Gasp! Tails!! <333

Thank you so much! For the image of the littlest guy ever and for the kind words!

It makes me so excited to know this series is bingeable, lol. When I started writing it, I only had the intention of the first three stories with a possible prologue if I felt brave enough (Birth Certificate, Finders Keepers, Picket Fence OG, and Chart a Course), so the fact that it's expanded into so much more than that feels surreal at times. I'm glad that it feels cohesive enough to enjoy all together when it was written so out of sequence!

Anyway, thank you so much for reading all of it and for taking the time to find my Tumblr and let me know how much you enjoy this series! I really appreciate it more than you know, and happy to have you around :D

I hope you've found a couple of the Tumblr-exclusive snippets, too! There's a few that I just haven't put on AO3 yet or just don't feel fleshed out enough to be fics, but they should be on my pinned post! Maybe I'll mark the ones that can only be found on Tumblr to make them easier to find... hmm, never thought of that until now, lol. That would probably make sense to do.

Have a wonderful day/evening! ✨

[wawamouse]

HI. :D For the Director's Cut, any thoughts on Head Full of Drought or Dead Air? (I just really love Miguel messing with Chico, apparently, and how both of those have a kind of revelation/Things Starting and a lot of !?probably going on in their heads.)

Hehe, yeah! They both have a similar vibe :)

For "Dead Air" (AH! I wrote it a year ago now?!), I actually took that from a snippet that I'd had written a couple years ago and then transformed it entirely. The root of the original concept was just the idea of sweltering heat and one of the characters exercising… In the idea I recycled, the second character who became Chico in "Dead Air" was actually helping Character A (Miguel) work out/do crunches and such, with the unwritten idea being. When I started changing the idea and rewriting it for Miguel and Chico, I realised I liked the idea of the heat creating this strange atmosphere of tension, and then figured that with their personalities, it would come out as frustration.

There was also a tumblr post that I had seen around that time… (*5 minutes later*) (impressed with myself for remembering enough details to locate it) that I found funny:

Level 5 was "Porn with math", and no, there's no explicit smut in "Dead Air", but I did add a bunch of numbers and counting into the fic for this reason, as well as the rhythm of Miguel's circuits probably winding Chico up and driving him crazy (but also demonstrating how cognizant he is of Miguel's actions/body; he's definitely subconsciously attracted to Miguel). Miguel being a shithead was a flavor I, up to that point in my fic writing, hadn't quite explored yet, so that was another goal. At this point in post-canon, I figured they were friendly but possibly not actually friends—not for any lingering bad will, but they just don't know how to or something, plus Miguel’s pretty recently clean (again). 

But yeah, this fic is ObliviousDenial x CuriousOblivious because they’re both kind of dumb about picking up the clues of their own attraction, but Chico is more just lying to himself about it (hence his desires welling up in much more specific ways of wanting to kiss Miguel, for example). Meanwhile, I figured noting Chico’s sleep talk would’ve gotten Miguel’s thoughts churning a little, but he’s mostly politely chalking it up to Must Have Some Other Explanation and only said that line to mess with Chico later… Yet, he’s open to seeing where things go, especially when it feels good, Chico doesn’t seem like he’s going to Actually lash out about it, and they both have the frustrated energy to burn. I envision that after this fic, there’s more awkwardness and feelings of bewilderment where they pretend nothing happened but also find themselves talking and hanging out more and gravitating toward each other in a way they hadn’t really before, getting all touchy-feely before they get together (with a kiss on first night the air kicks back on!) (They probably end up sweating anyway :P)

"Head Full of Drought" - Honestly, I wrote this so fast, I'm surprised I have any recollection of what I was thinking😂 It WAS inspired by Miguel’s air tonguing in the show, and then I just wanted to expand from there—bring it into Chico’s POV and what the hell he would be making of it. I did also have this thought from waaaaaay long ago, mentioned in “Aftershock”, where Chico briefly gets like turned on at the thought of Miguel performing oral, so I decided to re-use it here (I think, in general, Chico pre-getting with Miguel is like kind of idly interested in the concept of Miguel having sex with women (inspo also came from some of our past convos here, I think) and how he'd be during.... While being completely oblivious to how he himself would like to factor into the scenario, lol, and be at the receiving end of Miguel's mouth that he keeps thinking about 🤪

There is just something inherently absurd to me about writing Chico’s sexual musings in this manner, though, so cranking up the ridiculousness and having Miguel interact by torturing Chico a bit (by proximity alone at first, and then on purpose, with the skin rag) was a natural choice. I also have a lot of fun writing Miguel unquestionably being the one messing with Chico, so it was fun to revisit that dynamic.

Miguel is unaware of any attraction Chico has toward him in this, as well as being unaware of how he feels toward Chico, though it can surely be said that choosing to be there to tease your horny friend and be present while he masturbates instead of going down to watch Sallycise is…. hm…. Questionable… (granted, he originally went up to check on Chico out of some concern). For the time being, Miguel’s just having fun—yup, that’s his idea of fun—though I imagine his own pondering and belated realisations will probably have something to do with how he keeps thinking about the sound Chico made when he came tbh.

[fairandfatalasfair]

10, 20, and 27 for the ask game? 💙

And for the bonus - I'm kinda cheating since this isn't specifically about your works, but you are one of the best people to talk about writing with. You always have such great ideas on how to get out of a tight corner and are wonderful to bounce ideas with. Love you Fatal! ❤

Hey Gen!!!! oh my goodness you're so sweet and I love chatting with you and bouncing ideas around too, you're a gem <3

10. How much do you write before you post?

I answered this one here for V - I've been trying to give expansions or bonus thoughts for duplicate questions, but this one is hard to expand on so I will just say I'm getting more comfortable sharing snips and excerpts!

20. What made you start writing?

Oh goodness how do I answer this one? a creative pressure built up inside me that wouldn't be satisfied until I'd put some words on a page? The first fanfic I ever published I swear I wrote in a fugue state while possessed by some sort of writing spirit. In general, I'm a casual enjoyer of a lot of fandoms that I never feel the impulse to write fanfic for. When something does grab me enough to start writing for it, it's usually because I'm deeply obssessed and have too many character thoughts and possible scenarios dancing in my head to think straight.

27. What is a question that you never get asked about your fics that you really want to answer?

I love this questions so much, and I'm going to take this opportunity to ramble about Edwin's family in Nothing Much To Lose - I have never vibed with the headcanon that Edwin was an only child. I realise we have a lot of WOG supporting that interpretation, but it doesn't fit in my brain, so I've always imagined him having siblings. I've really loved a couple of fics about Edwin having an older brother who died in WWI and when I decided I wanted to write a fic about Edwin encountering Remembrance day traditions and being confronted with the history of WWI and having to deal with his emotions around it I decided I wanted to go that route.

Edwin has two siblings in that fic - an older brother, Cecil, and a younger sister, Louisa. Cecil was honestly a lot like Charles - charismatic and good and sports and generally well liked - and was really dramatically changed by WWI even before he died (I have... not exactly a cut scene, but an alternate POV snippet from Edwin's POV from when I was trying to figure this out.) Lousia was a spitfire with strong opinions who actually had a lot in common with Edwin, but age and gender separation made it hard for them to be close. She was the only one of the siblings to outlive their parents, but Edwin's never tracked her or her descendants down.

Thank you for asking!!!

fanfic author ask game!

[sixofcrowdaydreams]

WIP Ask Game what is "self indulgent flash"?

(I too have a constantly expanding Wesper AU list 🫣)

Ooh, that is a particular favorite WIP I hope to finish!

On my birthday this year one of the prompts on the Wesper writing group was “the most self indulgent thing you can write.” So I wrote the most indulgent Wesper edging smut fic. Because there needs to be more Wesper edging.

Currently the WIP is 2,000 words of Jesper and Wylan being as kinky and tender as possible while Jesper and I objectifying the fuck out of Wylan.

Here’s a snippet (posted under the cut for naughtiness):

Jesper kisses Wylan and it’s a promise. An oath. A reminder. All soft lips and delicate teasing touches because Jesper knows it’s driving Wylan insane beneath him. Wylan chases his mouth for a properly filthy kiss, but Jesper denies him what he wants most.

He leans over Wylan. Mirth fills Jesper’s eyes as he presses his boyfriend’s hips to the mattress so he can’t rock upward anymore. He probably didn’t even realize he was doing it in the first place.

Stilled, Wylan whines. The sound vibrates through his throat high and needy even though they’ve barely begun. But Jesper’s broad hands pin him down, letting him know he’s not going to get the friction he wants.

“Jes,” Wylan begs. And Jesper smiles; that’s an excellent start.

But if Wylan wants to come tonight he’s going to beg much more beautifully. Panting and ruined. Voice high, ragged with need as Jesper’s name drips from his lovely lips. Bracketed by please — not yet, love — please, Jes! Please! — no — I need… Please! Jes, I need — not until I say — and half aborted questions getting caught on his tongue. I want to… Can I — No.

Winding Wylan up and setting him spinning. Adrift with lust, but without any release. It’s been going on for days. And Jesper has to admit, the longer they play this game, the more he likes it.

Because it’s fun to crowd Wylan into the counter while he makes tea. Fun to rub against his ass as Jesper reaches into the cabinet for his own mug, only to set it on the counter and wrap his hands low and suggestively around Wylan’s hips as his boyfriend moans and attempts to finish his task. And it’s even more fun to thank Wylan for the tea, lick the shell of his ear, and whisper that he should go lie down again. Fuck himself on his fingers to the fantasy of Jesper taking him against the kitchen counter until Jesper tells him to come back when his tea has cooled enough to drink. The lovely, frustrated, disappointed groans Wylan makes as he stops touching himself and tangles his fists in the bed sheets until he too has cooled enough to put his trousers on and join Jesper at the table as if he’s not a lit fuse ready to explode.

Jesper takes delight in casually brushing his hand across the seam of Wylan’t pants until he stiffens, as if it wasn’t his intention the entire time.

That’s the game they play. And as frustrated as Wylan gets, he’s more than willing to obey. To deny himself and follow Jesper’s instructions no matter how agonizing. It’s always been his choice to beg and twist and writhe this way under Jesper’s clever hands.

Jesper still hovers over him now. So close and not nearly enough.

“Do you want to come tonight, darling?”

It’s almost impossible to see the ring of color around Wylan’s wide eyes now that they’re dilated with lust. He nods eagerly, hair flopping across the pillow beneath his head. Yes, Wylan wants it more than anything. Need burns in his veins. Jesper can feel the strength of it in Wylan’s grip on his bicep.

“Remember, the only way you’re coming is on my cock. I’m not going to touch you. And you are going to keep your hands to yourself.” Jesper strokes his heated cheek tenderly. “Do you think you can do that?”

It’s the same rules as last night. And the night before that. Possibly tomorrow night too. Until Wylan comes untouched or shouts the one word that ends this whole game.

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

Man looking at these storyboards and then what actually occured in the show. You think it was just a lack of time and budget that caused them to change them, or do you think they were THAT afraid of being accused of beiing bigots if they made Belos a more nuanced villain?

So I'm not sure what the reason was for why Belos' more nuanced portrayal in the storyboards was axed or why only the villains are allowed to be terrible. Is it possible that they were afraid of fan backlash and kept their tabs on fandom to make sure they didn't write anything that could be misinterpreted?

Honestly, I doubt it because the writing never feels like it's afraid of its fans. In fact, if anything it wants to indulge them but it's also not afraid of teasing them after people spent a whole season theorizing how the Azura books would be relevant to the overall plot. Turns out they don't, except in giving something for Luz and Amity to bond over and have Luz occasionally feel sad about her dead dad.

Also, with how open the crew were in their Post-Hoots, answering fan questions, sharing head canons, and what-not, they don't strike me as being fearful of any kind of backlash. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had these seasonal streams.

I think the biggest issues the team have are time management skills and patience; character arcs are rushed or barely there, and they seem more interested in getting to the big, flashy scenes instead of putting in the time and effort to get there. Seriously, Hunter was on the Bad Guy Team for what, two episodes before we learned of his true nature as the Woobie? Luz, Eda, and King are allegedly Found Family but they don't spend enough time together in season 1 to justify that since the crew also has Luz split her time at school since Eda can't be bothered to teach her anything. Luz and Amity start courting early on and then once they get together, they don't really do anything but cutesy fluff. Lilith is turned into the Cool Aunt and the repercussions of her actions are either ignored or rushed.

I don't think the writers are afraid of nuance since they do pay lip service to characters not being forgiven immediately, but then there's no follow through and every major character has a strong setup and so much potential only for their characterization to be gradually watered down.

And it's not just characterization, it's the world-building as well; since the beginning, fans have complained that the world-building is lacking in the show, especially with such an interesting premise. Unfortunately, we only get more snippets of information about the isles as the series progresses but it's not enough where I feel like the Boiling Isles has a clear identity like say, Wartwood from Amphibia does. This goes back to that problem of lack of patience since the show seems so disinterested in exploring deeper character dynamics outside of fan-fic tropes or even bothering to expand on the lore.

Ultimately, the show treats its fantasy setting more as a stage instead of actually exploring it and has very basic characterization with the only distinguishing factor being that it has queer people in it.

[shrinkthisviolet]

How about director's commentary on 'we'll give the world to you (and you'll blow us all away?'

Ooh gladly! Below the cut for length:

So this fic was written as part of Maiko "Halloweek" (so called because it was the week leading up to Halloween), aka Fall Maiko Week, back in 2020. Maiko was, and still is, one of my favorite ATLA ships, and writing this prompt also endeared me to Izumi too—I don't believe I'd seen LOK yet, though she's barely in it anyway.

One of the important aspects to me while writing this was implementing one of my headcanons: they got married relatively early, but waited a while to have kids. And part of that means they dealt with pressure about having an heir as soon as possible...mostly from the Fire Sages, who are worried that Zuko might die before conceiving an heir. And it's not that the worry is unfounded, but it's the persistence.

It was a nice chance, also, to highlight the Gaang's closeness. This is one of my favorite snippets of that:

…Zuko had the full force of the chi-blocking Kyoshi Warriors, a master waterbender, the Avatar, a master swordsman, a master earth- and metalbender, and a master knife-thrower behind him. Anyone who dared oppose him would fail, of that the Gaang (Sokka’s name for them, expanded to include the Kyoshi Warriors) was certain.

And also this, showcasing a little Maitara friendship:

... Mai found out from a furious Katara that they’d been approaching members of Team Avatar in an attempt to circumvent the royals.

“What’d you do?”

“Threatened to freeze them if they tried it again. But I’d keep my eyes peeled, just in case they didn't get the memo.”

The worst part is that even when they finally get the hint and back off in the pestering...the rumors don't stop:

The Fire Sages no longer brought up the need to have an heir, but Zuko and Mai had endeared themselves to the palace staff enough to know about the whispers. The sneers that perhaps the marriage was not as happy as presumed, that perhaps the Fire Lady had already been pregnant when they wed (apparently, some in the Fire Nation were praying that this was true, and Zuko had never felt like committing murder more than in that moment).

Of course, as stated later, the Fire Sages are spreading the rumors. The palace staff are too endeared to Mai and Zuko by this point...and the Fire Sages intend to force their hand however possible.

Also, this adorable Maiko moment, with a little Maiaang friendship:

“Since when are you into proverbs?” Zuko teased.

“I’ve been befriended by a certain Air Nomad,” she replied with a smirk. “It turns out, he and your uncle speak the same language.”

“And you’ve picked it up?”

“Unfortunately.”

And this one:

...he focused his efforts on the creation of the United Republic of Nations and enlisted Toph and Mai’s help in replacing the gossiping Fire Sages. When the Fire Sages protested, he simply said, “If you wanted my ear, you shouldn’t have insulted my wife.”

I love them 🥰 I will go down with this ship fr (that last line in particular...one of my favorites I've ever written)

Also...Mai telling Zuko she's pregnant under Yue's light (right after Zuko tells her Yue's story) is intentional, given that Izumi is born at the moon's peak—which itself is also intentional!

But back to that in a bit. For now...Mai and Zuko's shared anxiety was important for me to convey:

He looked at Mai very seriously and said, “Do you want this? Really, and truly, do you want to have this child?”

She looked back at him, first startled, then serious like him, and nodded firmly. “I do. But I also want to do it right. I want our child to know they’re loved, always, and that they never have to earn it.”

They both want their child, they want to do right by them, but they're scared too. And of course they'll do their level best and even beyond that, but that anxiety can be hard to shake. It takes time!

But now, back to Izumi:

Princess Izumi was born in late spring, at the moon’s peak, with a quick but steady breath in her lungs. It had been a difficult birth for her mother, and a stressful event for her father, and the fact that she had even lived to breathe was a miracle in itself.

As mentioned prior, Izumi being born at the moon's peak would likely be unusual for a firebender. Late spring itself probably isn't too strange, even if summer would likely be more auspicious.

Izumi has a little asthma at birth too! Nothing too serious, but she is the first (and only) child. I've never liked the hc that Mai dies in childbirth, or that she and Zuko stop having kids because of pregnancy complications...but as someone who's the eldest child, yeah, we are usually pretty difficult births (one of my baby cousins was too).

And then, of course...it gets worse, because Izumi doesn't have the Spark.

So here's the thing about the Spark: I've admittedly never been totally sure what it is, I've always imagined it as the sun hitting a baby's eyes in a specific way...but I also think it's superstition more than it's legit. Zuko didn't have a Spark either, and he's a formidable bender. It's probably an old wive's tale, and it rightfully Zuko off:

“You cannot have a nonbender heir,” another Sage snapped. “It has never been done!”

“I was presumed to be a nonbender upon my birth,” Zuko retorted sharply, “and I ask you to mind your tone. I am your Fire Lord and this child’s father. If you’d like to try appealing to my wife, I assure you, my feelings toward this pale in comparison."

...

“Believe me, she means it,” Zuko said coldly from the door, startling the Sages. “And so do I. One more step towards my wife or daughter, and I will not hesitate to incinerate you.”

Another fun part was writing Mai getting pissed too:

Unbelievably, they tried just that, not even giving Mai the courtesy of sleep before approaching her. Mai, being both sleep-deprived and furious that they would propose infanticide, warned,

“Get away from my daughter or she won’t be the one disposed of today.”

Any time I get to write her emotions, it's really fun for me, because she's usually such a reserved character, while I am very much not 😅 she's so unlike me, so it's always fun to dig into why she's like that (which I've done in other fics), and show her being more emotional as she marries Zuko and grows older, to show how she's grown and changed 💞

Zuko being protective of Mai was fun to write too...and him being protective of Izumi!! He loves her so much already 🥰 and speaking of which...I loved writing this first moment of him holding her:

“Getting sappy on me? Save that for Izzy.”

Zuko smiled at his daughter. “Hello, my little turtleduck. Don’t mind your mother. She loves us, really.”

Loved it so much that it ended up as the preview in the summary 😂

Also ofc, this scene with him and Izumi later:

“And this is the turtleduck pond, where the turtleducks live! Except you, of course, little one.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “You’re my little turtleduck, and you’re actually human, so you get to live in the palace with me and your mom!”

But Izumi caught sight of the turtleducks, who were squawking happily at her, and seemingly out of nowhere, she burst out crying.

“Oh! Oh, um..what’s wrong, Turtleduck?” The name only made Izumi cry harder, and Zuko winced. “Um...Izzy? Izumi? What’s wrong, sweetie?” Her crying didn’t abate, and Zuko flipped her on her stomach and over his shoulder, patting her back firmly in an attempt to burp her.

He gets so worried here, it's adorable 🥺 remember what I said earlier about how Maiko both want Izumi but they're scared/anxious, and both things coexist? This demonstrates that. Zuko's a little out of his depth, and it shows, and I loved writing this. No parents are perfect to start off, especially not parents like Mai and Zuko who are flying...mostly blind (with help ofc, but even so...they're the full-time parents). But they're determined to do right by Izumi no matter what.

Mai says something to that effect here:

“Look, Zuko. What you did, when she was crying? The way you panicked and tried to soothe her in any way you could? That’s the mark of a great father. That’s the mark of a father who cares, who might not have all the answers but still wants to try.” She smiled softly. “It’s leagues better than either of our fathers, I’ll tell you that.”

As Mai says, she's “full of good points”, and I’m quite inclined to agree 🥰

(Also, as a bonus, I got to throw a little shade at parts of the ATLA comics. Aang refuses to even consider killing Zuko, and Kei Lo is Mai’s ex, not her boyfriend. Ahh how I love throwing shade at the comics 💞)

director’s commentary ask game!

[moreespressoformydepresso]

Okay so I have zero idea how ask games work or if it’s currently active but….

I got like two I desperately need to know about!!

🪸 & ♈️

🪸: I’m curious if any of your selections for the creatures coincide with their district or rather something from their personality and could you give examples of possible?

♈️ : Is the zodiac magic person to person or a whole wide district type thing that only ever occurs in said district?

Do they have certain techniques depending on the district?

Are abilities separated between the rich and poor in the districts?

Hi!! So technically this ask game was for me to write a snippet of the WIP's you pick and I can definitely still do that if you want me to! But expanding on these AU's can definitely be fun as well! So while I write the other requests I've gotten so far I'll answer yours since I'm a very slow writer. Also, finals has fried my brain and I'm so happy I'm almost done but I just cannot think straight enough to write right now so explanation it is!!

🪸 So the creatures aren't District-specific, I give the tributes whatever I feel fits their character best, but the variants are. It's bloodline related, but environment has impact on the people of the Districts. So for example: District 4 has a lot of sirens and mermaids, because they're so involved with the ocean, and their humanoid form only has legs so they can walk on land. They spend most of their time in the ocean anyway. Treech is also a siren, but he only has forest lakes as underwater domain. Therefore his humanoid form is practically indistinguishable from humans. Sea sirens have a very echoey voice, fitting for an open space as large as the ocean, but sirens like Treech have a more ethereal, magical, otherworldly sounding voice, associating them with a magical forest. Sirens in 7 also have more greenish colors where Sea Sirens have fully blue scales. My sirens always have some kind of hydrokinesis, but where Sea Sirens have full water control Treech would have a weaker control over water in exchange for being able to use his voice out of the water more effectively. Unlike Sea Sirens he can actually use his voice magic while talking, though it's most effective when he sings.

Lucy Gray is a faun because she has the nature-loving vibes to me and also she sings, but with D12 so focused on coal mining there just aren't many sirens there. Her magic is in any music she makes, allowing her some control over nature. Coral is a (water) dragon, because she's very protective over those she cares about and I felt like it fit her general anger at her situation in both the book and the movie. Mizzen is a fairy, because mythologically fairies tend to be very mischievous. Lamina is a firebird, but with added thunderbird qualities. She's like the wind, seemingly weak until it flings you through the air like you're nothing. Also, she has a hidden fire in her that you'll only see when it's too late.

There's a few examples :)

♈ohoho I have a lot to say about this AU but idk who to talk to because idk anyone who might be interested this specific one so I'll ramble about the magic system I created for this for a bit and wonder if anyone would want me to talk about all the plotlines I've thought up for this AU.

Is it person-to-person or district wide? Surprise, it's both! Every district has a zodiac sign (D13 has Ophiuchus) and the powers are vaguely based on that, but everyone has a mostly unique set of powers or combination of magic types. The districts aren't actually numbered based on zodiac signs though, they're still numbered based on in what order they joined Panem. This is long so I'm gonna put a cut here lol.

Virgo: I don't have a big explanation for this, it just felt right with the magic I could come up with, so I'll say a maiden in stories is usually beautiful, like jewelry and gemstones and stuff. Facet gets enchantment, he can bewitch people to basically fog over their mind if he can talk long enough for his magic to work or if he can get close and do magical hands around someone's head. Velvereen gets potion: she can take plants and combine them into potions with a positive effect and a negative downside to go with it, depending on what potion she makes. The downside gets bigger the less related the plants the picks are to what she wants her potions to do.

Sagittarius, because... Honestly this and 12 were the last ones I decided on and it was either Sagi or Scorpio. Sagittarius is fire, which feels like it fits more with weaponry. Marcus is connected to the archer part of the constellation, being able to basically influence people's odds in battle, including his own. He has stupidly good aim because he tips the odds of hitting the target in his own favor. He can basically boost his allies and make his enemies a lot less lucky on the battlefield. Sabyn, on the other hand, is more connected to the spirituality of Sagittarius (the optimism) by being able to influence people's emotions so strongly she can basically cripple them by trapping them in a mental breakdown spiral. She can push them to give her answers she needs, distract them, or help them gain the confidence to do what they need to do. Possibly the way her power works (influencing the neurons in the brain, essentially, and the chemical structure) allows her to also have mild control over people's perceptions of the world by blocking information from reaching the brain and maybe even enables her to use mild healing powers.

Capricorn is ambitious and goal-oriented, and I think you need some level of ambition to be an inventor. Teslee can create anything by picturing it with her mind. She needs to know its components and requires some kind of object to transform, but she can make virtually anything. She needs to imagine the inner workings too, though, so if she doesn't know how something works she can only make something that looks like what she wants. It won't actually work, because she didn't make the inner mechanism that makes it function. Circ has a form of spacial magic which gives him the ability of telekinesis and teleportation.

Pisces: Fairly obvious, I think. Their whole deal is fishing, so their sign is pisces the fishes. I briefly considered giving them aquarius but ended up going with the more cliche option. Coral clearly feels deeply, though we mostly see her anger at the world and her care for Mizzen. Coral's powers are basically energy manipulation. She can sap energy from around her and turn it into something else, whether that be light or a soundwave or electricity or a whole laserbeam. This is because Pisces is seen as a sign that's very in-touch with spirituality and stuff. Mizzen can turn his skin into protective scales that he can reflect light off of to blind his opponents and make some weaker magical attacks slide off of him like water slides past fish scales.

Leo is related to the sun. The sun gives energy. Sol can draw energy from the sun and turn it into both strength and laser beams. Hy can shapeshift into any cat-like animal and expel brief bursts of boiling hot air from his body.

Gemini because Mercury is apparently ever-changing and that reminded me of transport. Gemini apparently blends really well into any group because they can adapt to the vibe, so Ginnee can read people insanely well and just knows how to act and what to say to make them trust her or get them to do what she wants. Also, she will always appear like she belongs where she is, so even when people are actively looking for her, specifically, they'll look past her because she doesn't look 'out of the ordinary'. Otto gets the duality side of the deal and can speed up or slow down time within a specific radius around him. It doesn't have to include the whole radius, so he can slow down time around one person or speed up just his own movements.

Aries: I think it fits Treech and Lamina. The ram is usually associated with courage, confidence, and a strong personality, but before a ram is a ram, it's a lamb. Lamina shows she's fully capable of being strong and courageous, despite first coming across as weak like a little lamb. She ends up being a very offence-heavy fighter. Treech, meanwhile, is more on the defensive side. @ylvisruinedmylife's Electric Rebels characterization of him fits best here, where he's very insecure and not the fighting type, but he can show his horns when he needs to (on an individual level, Lamina's more Leo/Cancer while Treech is more Pisces/Gemini, but I digress). As for their magic: Lamina gets pyrokinesis for the fiery personality type Aries stands for, as well as 'reflect' where she cuts the air with her hand, creating a flash of light that will deflect an attack or even redirect it back at her opponents, inspired by diamonds being the gemstone for Aries. Treech has 'wool', where he can generate wool with his hands that absorbs any impact or attack that hits it. He can also use it as an attack but its wool so it doesn't do much damage on its own. It can trap people or push/throw them into a wall. He also gets 'impact' inspired by the way rams attack. It requires a lot of energy to use but he can aim his hand at someone and blast them backwards, nothing's hitting them but it feels like they get bodyslammed by a ram. He can also accelerate the speed of an attack with it. Both Lamina and Treech have small horns with a slight curl to them when their powers are activated. Their hair also gets very soft and fluffy like the wool of a sheep, though it's more noticeable with Lamina because her hair's longer, her tips are basically a cloud.

Libra, because it's associated with venus and thus beauty. It's scales, which work with gravity, so Bobbin gets control over gravity within a specific radius. He can only affect small areas at a time but hey, smashing a whole squad of peacekeepers to the ground is still fun yk. Wovey has the power to balance out anything. If you're very mad, she can balance you out with ✨aura✨ until you're no longer flipping out. If something's so heavy it's about to break something she can balance it out so the thing that's breaking is strong enough to hold. You have a laser canon? Guess what! She can balance out that energy to neutralize your laser! You wanna fire a gun? She can balance out that gunpowder and make it useless!

Cancer, because the moon phases reminded me of harvest phases. This is one of the spares, I fear. With the moon being so tied to the tides, Panlo's magic is magnetism. He can turn anything into a magnet, both himself and others. What is pulled towards the magnet is something Panlo can decide himself. Sheaf has the reflective properties of the moon (reflecting the sunlight) and can reflect anything away from her. If someone attacks her, she can reflect their attack back at them. She can reflect light like a mirror. She's basically a mirror with defensive properties.

Taurus, because Taurus is a bull and... Livestock. That's it that's my explanation (oh and disrespect for authority because Brandy and her response to Arachne's "authority"). The element of Taurus is earth, so Tanner gets... earthbending. It's basically just earthbending with the added fun that dirt and sand counts as 'rock' to me and you can't stop me. Brandy gets control over any precious metal or ore, because of Taurus' wealth aspect. I'm very creative (please don't judge my energy tank is rapidly depleting).

Aquarius, the giver of life, felt appropriate for the district credited with being the country's main food source (rip 9 and 10). Reaper has hydrokinesis. He can control the temperature and form, but cannot technically make it. He can just pull it from any source he wants, which means he's capable of some brutal stuff since humans are like- 75% water. Dill has plant magic. She can grow roots from the ground and control the plants around her.

Scorpio, occasionally said to have sly personality traits? Their spirit color is black like coal. Jessup has shadow magic, he can manipulate shadows and melt into them. Pretty straightforward, but since shadows are just the absence of light he has some extras most people wouldn't expect because people keep forgetting that shadows are just the absence of light. He's basically displacing the light (and thus warmth) and while he can solidify shadows because magic, he can basically blast people with freezing cold. Lucy Gray can negate magical spells or curses. Just destroy them or negate them immediately. She can absorb them for a limited time and possibly place them on something else too.

Ophiuchus.

[romanceandshenanigans]

Writer Q&A Game

Thanks to @clairelsonao3 for tagging me!

1. What motivates you to write?

I'm not exactly sure tbh. It almost feels like a compulsion. There are days where I simply do not feel good in my body if I haven't written anything. Then there are others where I can't bring myself to write because I'm too tired or too distracted from life. Honestly the second I get a clear head and enough time to myself, I'll start writing.

2. A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)

This isn't from my WIP, but from a fanfic I wrote a while ago. I want to try to find a way to incorporate it into something. Not sure where though.

“I know this seems like it’s coming out of nowhere,” he said, “but promise it’s not. I’ve had a long time to think about it.  A few years, actually. I guess, I just didn’t realize how deep I was in it until about five minutes ago.”

She kept silent, but the simple fact she hadn’t told him to get out gave him the confidence to keep going. . 

“I meant it when I said I’m crazy about you. I like that you take your sugar with a drop of coffee.  I like how you sing to yourself when you’re happy.  I like that you never seem to get cold.  I like that you never lose your head under fire, but still need me to get rid of spiders. I like that you can laugh at yourself.  I like that you can laugh at me. Hell, I like that you’re perfectly willing to slap my face if the situation calls for it.

I like so many things about you Liz, and that’s just the stuff I found out on accident.  I can only imagine the stuff I’d learn if I started loving you on purpose."

3. Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?

I really do enjoy writing Finn. The boy just makes my smile.

Close second is another OC which I wrote for fanfic who I want to save and put someplace else, Lucy. She's my softest girl who has a lot of love to give. Might figure out a way to put her in this regency setting somewhere, but who knows.

4. What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

The first draft spree. The moment when you get an idea and you have write it down as quickly as possible. It's rough and definitely will need some editing, but that rush cannot be topped. It just feels satisfying to exorcise even the smallest of scenes out of my body.

5. What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

Dialogue, hands down. It's at least the part I've gotten the most compliments on.

6. What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?

I've only just started to dip my toe in, but I really do love answering asks. I like seeing other writer's process and knowing I'm not alone. It's just fun!

7. A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

I've been using Scrivener and it's really helped me keep everything organized. I have a very conspiracy board way of drafting, so having all my random snippets in one place really helps.

8. A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

Not sure world building is my strong suit for this current WIP. I suppose I'm enjoying expanding the world of the theatre, but I admittedly need to do more research.

9. What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

Write anyway. It doesn't have to be the scene that's giving you trouble. It doesn't even have to be for the piece you're trying to focus on, just don't get out of the habit of writing. Once you lose that momentum, it takes a long time to get it back.

10. Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters

Gotta give a shout out to @clairelsonao3 for being so welcoming in my introduction to the writeblr community. And @janec23, for being one of the few specifically romance writers to reach out.

But I really can't begin to thank all the people who have followed me from my fanfic blog over to this one. It really means so much to know people are interested in reading anything I put out there.

@flapjacques, @jo-harrington, @can-of-pringles, @handahbear, @auroramagpie, @justanothersadperson93, @sad-cat-hours, @ghostface001, @theowlwhocameback, @mattmurdocksscars, @roruna, @everything-intertwined, @sweetjedi, @arcanerazil, @vibratingbonesbis, @delirious0pandemonium, @llovelykenobi, @geek-girl7, @mixedupanddown

Know that I love and appreciate you all.

I'm also going to leave this an OPEN tag to anyone who wants to do this, and especially invite everyone who I have tagged above. (and

[alfgifu]

fic analysis 1. Embers

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43713231/chapters/109920927

Word count: 126,249

Chapters: 43

First posted: 19th December 2022

Last chapter up: 17th March 2023

Summary:

Kip Mdang returns to Solaara, hardly confident that the Imperial Service will take him back but sure that there is no place for him in the Vangavaye-ve.

The City of Cities is still expanding from the backwater village it was before the Fall; the work of reconstruction continues but it is no longer a simple crisis. In the Palace the big political beasts are circling for position under the newly awakened Emperor.

Despondent and determined to bury himself in work, Cliopher finds his former patron disapproving and the new Master of Offices openly hostile. But he is still a fifth degree secretary, and some problems are easier to solve when you feel that you have little left to lose... and don't care which enemies you make along the way.

How and why this came about

You have to understand that I had only really written long form fiction in tiny snippets round the edge of life and also that all of it had been shit partially on purpose. I seldom showed it to anybody.

This was going to be different. There were friendly people discussing how much they would love to read more Nine Worlds fanfic. I could write a lot of words (I have always been able to write a lot of words) and maybe they would read them. If nobody liked it I could ask for tips on how to improve.

The Lays books are written from Cliopher’s pov so that was a natural choice. From the start I had some vague ideas about what I mentally classed as ‘fun’ stories for the future, which would be AU in various ways, but I didn’t feel like I had a good enough handle on the context.

On reflection I could have just started with a ‘fun’ story without writing 126k words first covering stuff that happened probably several centuries before the events I was most interested in, but details brain is going to want to details.

The books refer to Cliopher having eight miserable appointments before being sent to trial as secretary to the Sun-on-Earth. I sat down with spousegifu and we pooled our knowledge of terrible civil service jobs, which is collectively considerable.

But then it didn’t make sense to jump into the first appointment without showing Cliopher returning to Solaara… there was an emotion there that I could grab and start with. And as I started writing, I was figuring out his movements and the people around him, and it just - grew. And grew.

What worked and what didn’t

I firmly informed my hindbrain that the goal was to learn so it didn’t matter if this wasn’t any good. To my surprise, this worked.

In every other way I was flailing at random. How many words was this going to be? I thought perhaps 10k (I thought writing and sharing 10k words seemed like an awful lot). I thought there would be 8 chapters, one for each of Cliopher’s jobs. Okay, maybe 10, if there was an intro and a wrap-up chapter?

(I didn’t ask myself what would be in the wrap-up chapter, and I kept thinking of it as being 8 chapters long even after I found it took three chapters to get from where I started to the first of those 8 jobs.)

I was writing entirely linearly and with no plan but the list of possible appointments. I hadn’t thought about the order to put them in either. When I started writing chapter 6 in the car on Christmas Eve - already far past my 10k ‘super long’ assumption - I thought of a joke that would work better if it was from an alternate pov. Well, this was an experiment, so why not? When I sketched out bits that didn’t fit with my assumption of one job per chapter I chucked them in as ‘interludes’. The result is kind of choppy in places but it did feel like the things I did were things that worked, even if I probably would be more intentional about pov now.

Fairly early on someone said they liked my posting schedule. I hadn’t had a schedule in mind, I’d just been posting whenever I finished a chapter, but that sounded like a good idea so I settled on a pattern of two chapters a week - Monday and Thursday. That worked pretty well on reflection both for readers and for my life in general.

The title was the last thing I added when I decided to upload the first chapter and I gave it very little thought. It isn’t terrible but it’s not good either - it isn’t distinctive or memorable and it doesn’t really relate to the feel of the whole thing. Definitely something I got better at with practice.

What I learned from writing it

It’s impossible to overstate how astonishing and delightful it was to find that people liked reading a thing that I had written. Particularly when I wrote it so chaotically. My expectations were rock bottom. It means so much to me that people liked it at the time, that people still like it.

When I hit the end of the 8 jobs section I thought there were three chapters to go. I continued to think that there were three chapters to go for another 16 chapters. I later said this about other fics too, until I realised that the part of my brain that estimates the task ahead was comprehensively flawed and stopped trying to guess.

It really helped having the construct of somebody else’s world and characters and broad narrative strokes to hang all of this from, but I also learned that I could create new characters and ideas and plotty bits and that they could hang together well too.

I had never before written so much at a time (I had always plotted in far more detail and worked out a few hundred words a day at most). But once I relaxed and let myself write as fast as I wanted to and explore as I went, the results were good - far better than the painstaking layer of a few hundred words at a time.

Along the way there were many many things I didn’t know or did in a rush - title, tags, and summary, whether or not to reply to comments, how to create a buffer, how the politics would work out, etc. It turned out that letting go and flying had been the answer all along; a lot of details came together naturally as I was writing, as though my subconscious had been developing them before I saw it. And where I felt confused, I only had to mention it and people were so helpful. Suddenly I had writing friends! I had always wanted writing friends. I appreciated (and still appreciate) all these people deeply.

[itashiro-writing-corner]

Snippet Requests Open- May Day

It's time for snippet requests to be opened up once more. So the themes are very loose. May is the month of mother's day so mothers can be the main focus. However, seeing as I don't have a lot of mother muses I will be expanding out to a broader topic, which can be more along the side of bad ends. So go ahead and throw these muses into bad end situations, or in the case of the possible male muses, they could be the instigators of the bad ends. Have fun with it. Just remember to provide enough detail for.me to work with but not so much that the snippet is already written.

(Bold muses/kinks are ones I really want to write for at the moment.)

Canon Muses:

Kushina Uzumaki, Neo, Mirajane Strauss, Erza Scarlet, Cana Alberona, Android 21

OC muses:

Vorona, Ranzu, Nathaniel, Haruka, Yoshibara, Alice, Fryll, Maris, Swifty, Kongo, Krus, Valerie, Peraxus, Kaza, Skjolda, Hatvi, Phoenix, Naru

Kinks:

Bad end, incest, monster fucking, mind break, gangbang, impregnation, non con, blackmail

Gif sets:

Monster breedng, hentai gifs

[tinyblazepirate]

Master Pay-Per-Click Advertising – Drive Traffic & Increase Sales

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is one of the most effective digital marketing strategies to drive targeted traffic, increase conversions, and maximize return on investment (ROI). However, simply running a PPC campaign isn’t enough—you need to implement the right strategies to ensure success. In this blog, we’ll explore the best Pay per click advertising strategies to help you get more clicks and increase conversions today.

1. Conduct Thorough Keyword Research

Choosing the right keywords is crucial for a successful PPC campaign. To optimize performance:

Use long-tail keywords that have lower competition and higher intent.

Implement negative keywords to filter out irrelevant traffic and reduce wasted ad spend.

Regularly update and refine your keyword list based on performance data.

2. Optimize Ad Copy for Higher Click-Through Rates (CTR)

Your ad copy should be compelling and relevant to attract clicks. Follow these tips:

Write clear and engaging headlines that highlight your unique selling points (USPs).

Include powerful calls to action (CTAs) like "Get Started Now" or "Shop the Best Deals."

Use ad extensions (sitelinks, callouts, and structured snippets) to increase visibility.

3. Improve Quality Score to Reduce Costs

Google Ads assigns a Quality Score based on ad relevance, expected CTR, and landing page experience. To improve your score:

Align ad copy with targeted keywords.

Ensure landing pages provide valuable content and match the ad’s intent.

Maintain a high CTR by continuously optimizing ad creatives.

4. Leverage Smart Bidding Strategies

Using the right bidding strategy can help you maximize conversions while controlling costs:

Maximize Clicks: Automatically sets bids to get as many clicks as possible.

Target CPA (Cost-Per-Acquisition): Adjusts bids to help you stay within your desired cost per lead.

ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): Optimizes bids based on revenue goals.

5. Optimize Landing Pages for Conversions

A high-performing landing page is essential for converting clicks into leads or sales. To optimize your landing pages:

Ensure fast loading speeds to prevent visitors from leaving.

Use a clear and compelling CTA that guides users to take action.

Make your design mobile-friendly for a seamless experience across all devices.

6. Utilize Audience Targeting & Remarketing

Advanced audience targeting can help you reach the right people at the right time:

Demographic targeting allows you to refine your audience based on age, location, and interests.

Remarketing campaigns re-engage past visitors, increasing conversion chances.

Lookalike audiences expand your reach by targeting users with similar characteristics to existing customers.

7. A/B Test Ads for Continuous Improvement

A/B testing different elements of your PPC ads helps you identify what works best:

Test different headlines, descriptions, and CTAs to determine the most effective combinations.

Experiment with various ad formats (text, responsive, display) to see which performs best.

Analyze performance metrics and refine your ads for ongoing success.

8. Monitor & Adjust Campaigns Regularly

Continuous monitoring ensures your PPC campaigns remain cost-effective and high-performing:

Track key metrics like CTR, conversion rate, and CPC.

Adjust bids, keywords, and ad placements based on data insights.

Pause underperforming ads and reallocate budget to top-performing campaigns.

Conclusion

Implementing these PPC advertising strategies can help you maximize clicks and conversions while optimizing costs. By refining your keywords, improving ad quality, optimizing landing pages, and leveraging smart bidding, you can achieve higher ROI and grow your business. Start optimizing your PPC campaigns today and watch your results improve!