#my new years resolution is to write at least 500 words every day

[bitchwhoreofastorm]

rape tw (implied)

Then, at the worst time, they met again.

It was only days after Vivec had shaved hir head-- months after the thing in the desert, the thing that ze had not yet named and could not stop thinking of. Ze was still in a fog in those days, going about as if hir face was held under deep water. The tragedy had rendered the world unreal and pale as hir own violated body; ze was like a ship whose anchor-line had been snapped, all ze could do was drift. Ze prowled a lot, walking up and down the streets of Mournhold with no particular direction and no particular hope. So it was a hot day, a muggy summery day, and ze was foggier than usual, wandering up one of Mournhold's wealthiest streets, a hand on Muatra and sweat beading over hir bare head, when ze saw her.

The Daedric Prince had stopped to rest under a Moril tree. She was pretending not to notice Vivec; she held a piece of paper and she read furtively. Her scant clothing left her hard, brown body bared to the warm air, and she had only four limbs: two wiry arms, two long bare-thigh legs. But her eyes betrayed her, always betrayed her-- when Vivec drew towards her she looked up and her eyes, red as pomegranates, narrowed.

She said nothing when Vivec approached her. Her hands, dyed black, twitched against the parchment. She watched with quiet curiosity as Vivec came to a stop only a feet from her, and those bloody eyes darted only briefly to the spear.

"Mephala," said Vivec.

The daedroth blinked once but said nothing.

"Do you remember me?"

"Hm…"

She cocked her head, her dark hair fell loose before her face. The shadow dappled her-- it suited her-- she was oddly real, for a dream.

"Ah, yes." Her lips twitched upwards. "The netchiman's wife."

A chill went through Vivec, who had felt nothing in what seemed to be months. The water over hir mind grew thicker; ze twisted Muatra in hir hands and the movement caught Mephala's eyes.

"Vivec," ze said. "I'm Vivec now."

That bloody gaze went back to hir face.

"No," Mephala's judgement came at once, "Still the wife, I'm afraid."

"I shaved my head. They call me he. I am no-one's wife. I stopped being her."

The corners of Mephala's mouth raised-- Vivec remembered, as if from a million years ago, the fangs behind those lips, and the cool taste of her tongue. Ze had to take it as proof. The netchiman's wife had never kissed her, only Vehk, and yet--

"What do you want, wife of no-one?"

Her hands, too, would be cool and metallic, if Vivec were to grab them. Those inked-black palms always seemed vampiric, drawing energy from other people's skin. Vivec found hirself staring at them-- hir own hands on Muatra hot-- hir head swam in water, in the heat of the day, in the horror of it.

Mephala sighed. Her letter disappeared inside her tunic and she slipped off of the tree like a shifting shadow.

Then she was by Vivec, as cool as she'd been when ze was just fourteen, and she even smelled the same. Her hand, too, was cold despite the heat of the day, and her claw-sharp fingernails pierced through the fog of hir head with barely a graze against hir cheek.

She cupped Vivec's face and turned it upwards and then those eyes were the world. Hir own blood, the juice of pomegranates, the red of a desert sunset, the violent passion of the worst thing that had ever happened.

Those eyes engulfed hir and in one blazing-head moment of clarity Vivec realised that Mephala was very sad.

"Didn't I teach you how to survive your marriages?"

She asked it, and then she released Vivec, with no answer expected. Vivec blinked-- ze stepped back into the sunlight and it hurt-- but Mephala, too, had stepped forwards, out of her place in the shade, and for the very first time Vivec realised that she was a mortal woman. She was black-hands Mephala with the blazing eyes, ally of Molag Bal; she was a hard-bodied mortal woman with tattooed palms and scars that ran as deep as Vivec's own. She'd seen into hir. And she'd been sad.

The water came back-- Vivec walked on-- and it was only later that ze began to think of it as hir marriage. That violent thing in the desert. And only the netchiman's wife remembered why.

[sizzlingcloudmentality]

my 2024 review

@guiltyasdave tagged me, thank you so much babygirl 🫶

writing

I published 11 fics and wrote about 19k words this year. Which is, for me personally, huge.

I tooted my own horn here, so if you want to cut to a super short "best of" just visit that post. For the rest: the yapping starts in 3... 2... 1...

The man of my year was DAVE YORK. He got me back into writing in May and since then my thoughts are orbiting around him. I almost wrote exclusively for him. I sent him to a club, had him eating croissants while doing the dirty, made him confess his sins. 8 oneshots in total and I even started something like a series with in the sheets. Plus, still absolutely mind-blowing for a newbie writer like myself: slow has over 500 notes. What in the ever loving fuck? Thank you all so much!

And then I wrote for JOEL MILLER. Imagine being in Ireland and meeting this gorgeous Texan in a pub. It's fluffy and warm and exactly how I imagine a first kiss happening in Ireland.

And then there are so many wips for other characters like Max Phillips, Marcus Accacius, Javier Peña, Oberyn Martell... Most of them half way finished. All of them are part of challenges (I'm so sorry...) but they will come to you some time soon-ish in 2025, pinky promise!

And then there are wips for some Jake Gyllenhaal characters: Rusty Sabich, John Kinley and Lou Bloom. At least two of those should see the light of day in 2025 too (please send thoughts and prayers).

reading

I suck at reading. One of my new year's resolutions: read more (maybe a fic per week, not a fic per month...). And work on a system to find my fic recs on my blog so I can talk about them in length for the 2025 review. Until then: You are a talented bunch of lovely people, please be kind to each other and yourselves, thank you for creating pure magic!

all the highlights 2024, a selection

This year was all about connection, in the form of grief and friendship. Which is both ultimately love. In January I felt unbelievably lonely and sad and now I don't because it gets better. It always does. We just have to hang in there.

I reached out into the Jake Gyllenhaal fandom and met precious and insanely talented people there. @davidayer @charliehoennam and @gyllenhaalstories you three made my year so much better and I am beyond grateful to be allowed to live in your DMs 💛 (I'm working on responding in time, I swear...)

Watching Presumed Innocent every week in the wee hours of the (European) morning with my lovely Laurie, screaming at each other about writing, just chatting and holding space for each other... @gyllenhaalstories I love you so much sweet pea and I hate that there is this stupid ocean between us. We are meant to be eating blue candies while watching movies and hug at all times.

I started some polls and asks in the Jake fandom and it was so beautiful to witness how people came together and started reaching out and talking. I am a little proud of myself that I was part of the reason for that.

And finally: @guiltyasdave. I never thought I would find a friend in this fandom just because finding friends is hard and making a friend in real life is even harder. But not with you. With you everything is easy. You're not getting rid of me anytime soon 💛🥹

Oof, that was a lot. Thanks for reading!

Absolutely no pressure tagging, this post was some real work haha: @toomanystoriessolittletime @gyllenhaalstories @ace-turned-confused @yxtkiwiyxt

dividers: @steddiecameraroll-graphics

[sidhewrites]

Anyone doing new year resolutions with me?

I'm gonna continue my last year's resolution to continue actively trying new foods. In 2024 I found out that I like Ube, I'm meh on red bean dumplings, and I LOVE butter chicken. Right now I've got on my shelf hazelnut milk tea, which I've been putting off trying, but we'll see!

I also want to walk at least 500 miles. I've walked 96 miles since I started tracking 50 days ago, so I think this is a manageable goal.

Lastly, I want to write over 350k words and read 52+ works, which have been my general goals for the past 2 years as well. So it's not really a new resolution, just something I try to do every year :>

[staceymcgillicuddy]

SNOW DAY

Also I've kept the fuck to my New Year's Resolution of writing at least one (1) sentence every day. I'm doing minimum/basic/preferred habits, so my minimum is one sentence, my basic is 500 words, and my preferred is 1,500 words. I cannot TELL you guys how motivating it is to feel like I've accomplished something with even a damn sentence, because I'm still working toward my goal and toward re-establishing my writing habit.

Anyway, working on the depression. Once again exercise and eating better are doing the trick in combination with the therapy and meds and ugh, why must it always be the things that you know are going to work that DO work?

[thethirdgenesisbooks]

5 Ways to Keep Writer’s Momentum Going

In our last blog, “How to Put Words in Your Book: 5 Tips to Actually Start Writing”, we discussed a common problem with writers and aspiring authors: the difficulty of actually getting words onto the page. All the methods mentioned in that blog are certainly helpful, but there’s another problem that writers often run into, and that’s losing momentum.

Stories operate on momentum. One event leads to another, which leads to another, and builds to a climax, followed by a resolution. Writing stories operates the same way. For the writer to keep interest in the story, the writer needs to keep up some momentum in its telling. Too often, writers will start off a story which has them excited, only to later run out of ideas or lose interest. Here are some ways to avoid that sort of burnout and keep the momentum going.

1 - Make Playlists:

In the previous blog I mentioned listening to music as a means to gain inspiration. While this is helpful, it can be more helpful if it’s music that you’re returning to repeatedly. Make playlists on Youtube, Spotify, or even on a burned CD, if you’re old-fashioned. There should be lists of songs for specific characters, specific kinds of scenes, and for specific settings. Going back to those songs can then bring you back into the mindset you were in when you wrote the previous scenes, and thus help you to come up with ideas for what comes next.

2 - Set a Minimum Word Count Average Per Day:

This one is not as easy as the first suggestion. It requires a great deal of self-discipline. What we need to understand is that Stephen King, one of the most successful authors of the last one-hundred years, writes an average of 2,000 words a day. While this may seem unattainable to some writers, please note that Ernest Hemingway wrote an average of 500 words a day. Sometimes when I’m having trouble with a novel, I’ll make that my minimum average word count. Granted, there are some days where we cannot write because life gets in the way, and that’s understandable, but on those days that we can write, we need to set minimums for ourselves. If 500 is too much for you right now, I would suggest making it at least 100, and seeing how you can build up to it. Alternatively, you can also set aside a specific amount of time each day to sit down and write.

3 - Reward Yourself for Writing:

Whether writing your book is your job or your hobby, there’s no denying that it’s work. It’s work to write a book. You must think hard about what happens next in the story, what words to use, and what dialogue makes sense for the characters. Then there’s all the research you need to do, often on the fly, to make it feel realistic. It’s important to reward yourself for a job well done. That reward may take any number of different forms. Maybe the reward will be food, like a sandwich or some ice cream. Maybe it will be playing a video game, watching a movie, or reading a book. Maybe it’s just spending time with loved ones for a while afterwards. The point is, create a reward for yourself, and keep in mind that you are working toward that.

4 - Outline Your Plot:

This one works best when you do it from the beginning. When you start your project, it’s good to map out what you want to happen through the course of the story. That way, you’re never left thinking, “What will happen next?” Now, this outline can be as specific or vague as it needs to be. I understand some writers are “gardeners,” who just sort of let the story take on a life of its own as they go, and other writers are “architects,” who have to plan out every little detail ahead of time. That’s fine. The former category benefits from vague plot outlines while the latter benefits from more specific ones. The point is to have a plan, and to know what steps you are trying to reach. The best news is you don’t need to come up with the structure of your outline wholesale. You can use the Hero’s Journey as a basic guide. The Maiden’s Method is also helpful in that regard.

5 - When Stuck, Talk to a Friend:

Most writers have artistic or creative friends of some sort. If you don’t have any friends like that, I recommend finding some friends who are fellow storytellers. Iron sharpens iron. When you get to a place where you’re not sure what the very next step in a story is, talk to your friends about it. Bear in mind that the more this friend knows about your story the better, but they don’t necessarily need to be skilled in your particular genre. If you’re writing a fantasy novel, sometimes it helps to get the perspective of someone who writes murder mysteries or romance novels, just to get an outsider’s perspective. This can help the ideas feel fresh and new, as all too often writers feel like they’re just repeating what everyone else has done.

These are just a few things that can keep the creative juices flowing. All of them have certainly worked for me, and you can check out just how many novels I’ve written via this link.

Good luck, and happy writing!

[alexzalben]

My two best New Year's resolution tips:

Make it manageable. Instead of deciding "I'm going to go to the gym EVERY DAY" or "I'm going to write the GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL," think about what you can actually do - and in fact, try not to make a yearly resolution, but a monthly one. What can you do in January, versus over 12 months? Reason is, if you aim for something definitively achievable, you may actually get in the habit of doing it; versus if you aim for the full year, first time you fail you're more likely to quit. So: go to the gym once a week in January. Or: aim to write 100 words a day, on weekend days, in January. See where you get to, and then do it a month at a time from there. If you like it, you can increase the pace slowly over the course of the following months; or keep things the same, and know that's something you can actually do with your schedule.

Start today. Or, at the very least, get yourself set up properly today. Chances are you'll make your resolution, then be tired and just want to sleep in tomorrow. And then when you haven't done your resolution for January 1, you'll already be like "oh well, out the window." Instead, do whatever prep you need to on December 31 to get yourself set to drag yourself out of bed and do whatever it is you want to do on January 1. If it's go to the gym, make sure you have the membership set already, and your gym clothes out. Are you planning on writing? Have an idea in mind already of what you want to write, or whatever materials you find creatively fulfilling out on your desk and ready to go. Not only does that ease the prep, but those items are already there to give you a little mental nudge to actually start when you say you're going to start.

My third tip? You don't have to make a New Year's resolution. It's nice to have that start of a New Year to give you a kick in the pants, but you're also okay to relax and wait and have any other day give you motivation (or not). There's no need to completely change your life just because a bunch of Popes 500 years ago were annoyed that the time of year they were celebrating Easter kept changing.

[urlbending]

2022 Year End Fic Review

in the words of a very ancient internet joke, better nate than lever!!

1. What is your AO3 account?

My ao3 is lookatallthemoresigive, because that was my tumblr url at the time i created my ao3. I desperately need to change it but I'm having trouble coming up with a new one and am worried if i switch I'll lose brand recognition, which is hilarious bc my MO is to write a fic or two for a fandom and then bounce

2. How many words did you write total in 2022?

I wrote 8,487 published words, but i have at least 7k unpublished. There is a very long rangshi capture the avatar au that been languishing in my drafts for over six months that im hoping to finish up and post this year. I am not a particularly fast writer because i obsess over every word i use, but I've found that with practice im getting faster and better at writing more

3. How many fics did you publish in 2022? How many multichapters vs oneshots?

I published 4, which is about my usual (a couple of random scattered fics + yuletide). They're all oneshots of varying length. My new years resolution is to write 5 fics this year!! I'm holding myself to it. One day I'll write a complete multi-chapter fic, but it's not currently in the cards.

4. What was your longest fic? Your shortest fic?

Longest: a kyoshi novels fic about hei-ran, 바늘 구멍으로 하늘 보기

4,441 words that i agonized over, including the title. I'm super proud of this fic.

Shortest: your hair never falls in quite the same way, a locked tomb missing scene fic clocking in at 890 words.

I honestly had a pretty quick turnaround time writing this one. After i had a lovely and overwhelming response to a rangshi drabble in 2021, I've been trying to be better about posting fics regardless of their length. Sometimes, hitting 1k or even 500 words is not necessary to tell a story

5. What was your most popular fic? Your least popular fic?

Most popular: kiss you too hard and follow you west another quick turnaround, this is a rangshi fluff fic so i’m not surprised

Least popular: Shinrin-Yoku, my gen character study yuletide fic for a video game that came out in 2020. I'm not losing any sleep over it. Its currently at a 15% kudos to hits ratio which good!

6. What fic didn’t perform as well as you thought it would?

Listen, I died on some weird hills last year (the love interest’s mom needs more of a backstory!!!!), so any response is a good response. I guess I was secretly hoping your hair never falls would usher in an era of camilla/nona fics bc i was certain it was going to be a thing, but the book came out and crushed those dreams. I still maintain nona had a crush on cam!!

7. What fic performed way better than you thought it would?

바늘 구멍으로 하늘 보기 because as I mentioned above, it was a character centric fic focused on a minor character. glad the kyoshi novels fandom appreciates milfs!

8. What was your favorite fic you wrote from 2022?

This is turning into a whole arc. I love the nona fic dearly, it makes me happy every time i read it, but im so proud i pulled off that hei-ran fic. Writing a character arc is not easy or as instantly gratifying as making two characters kiss. I knew I was pouring my heart (research into ancient Korean tea ceremonies for half a scene! Politics! Asking @funnefatale to bug fandom friends for Korean sayings for me!) into a work that simply might not be received. Also, I finally came out to my mom around the time i was writing this for unrelated reasons, and this fic reminds me of that 💕

9. What was your favorite fic that somebody else wrote in 2022?

by land, by sea, by dirigible, @firstelevens' amazing c&d/tfatws fic which gave me everything i needed for BOTH shows. A two for one, can you believe!!

falling (for you) like snow on christmas, a warrior nun ava/bea hallmark au. I watched a lot of hallmark type christmas movies last year, and this fic delivered on the coziness these movies provide and the chemistry they usually don't. Also, it relased daily during the week leading up to christmas, corresponding to the days in the chapters, which was super fun to experience in real time.

10. Tag your friends to do this year-end fic review as well!

@funnefatale @isabrella and anyone else who wants to do this meme!

[dollwritesarchive]

this post is about 5 days late, but I didn’t want to make the post stating my writing resolutions and then end up never even trying them out, so I held off for a week, experimented with different ideas, and chose one that I think works best for me. obviously, I am not a machine so I can’t guarantee that everything will be perfectly consistent from here on out, but this is just my hopes for the new year.

last year was really tough for everyone, including myself. i considered deleting my blog multiple times. i am so, so, so glad i didn’t!

✧ ᴡʜᴀᴛ’ꜱ ɴᴇᴡ ꜰᴏʀ 2022 ✧

ao3 ; i have an ao3 account now! i am not caught up yet, but slowly and surely adding all of my previous content and current updates to it. go and subscribe or whatever you do with ao3? i’m still learning the mechanics, so if any of y’all have any tips, feel free to pass them along to me! even though i’ll be posting everything i post on tumblr to ao3, there might be a few exclusive fics that will only be for the latter.

we hit 7k followers ; before i could even finish the 6k fics 😳 you guys are so neat, thank you so much! 6k fics will still be posted, just slowly.

resolutions ; normally, i don’t do the whole new years resolutions thing, but there are certain things i want to improve about my writing and remain consistent, so i have a couple listed below!

« 𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔞𝔱 𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔱 500 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔡𝔰 𝔞 𝔡𝔞𝔶. »

even if it’s simply +500 words on to a current wip, I just want to make sure that I’m actively writing something every single day in order to keep myself from slipping into a writer’s block stump.

« 𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔱 𝔞𝔱 𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔱 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔣𝔲𝔩𝔩 𝔣𝔦𝔠 𝔞 𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔥. »

one that it is +3k words at least. of course, drabbles and mini musings will still be posted whenever I write them.

« 𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔦𝔰𝔥 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔯𝔢𝔮𝔲𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔰. »

i have so many amazing requests that I’d like to get done! I’m going to work to prioritize them!

* i’m really looking forward to providing you all with much more content this year. all of my mutuals who have made last year bearable, ilysm. to all of the readers who follow and enjoy my content, thank you all for a roller coaster of a year and more excitement to come!

[artikgato]

Daily wordcount for 1/1 - 1/7

I made a New Years’ resolution to write at least 500 words per day and I’m going to post my word count to hold myself accountable. I may have already failed every other resolution I made but damn it I’m going to keep this one!

1/1/2021: 1979 words

1/2/2021: 533 words 

1/3/2021: 9453 words (yes, really)

1/4/2021: 1025 words

1/5/2021: 1200 words

1/6/2021: 803 words

1/7/2021: 854 words

Total wordcount: 15,847

It was all mostly a Souyo fic that I’m not nearly far along on to post even the first chapter or talk about it at all. The document is literally titled “Well this got out of hand” because it was supposed to be just like a 1000 word short fic and got, uh, way out of hand.

[rnmbb]

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a big bang?

A Big Bang/Mini-Bang is a writing challenge that prompts authors and artists to work together to create a story and work of art that go together. In this case, our fandom is the Roswell New Mexico tv show, and our goal is 5000 words or more!

How do I sign up?

When sign-ups start, there will be a Google Form link posted for you to sign-up as an Author or an Artist or Beta

What if I need to drop out?

Yes! Sometimes life gets in the way or a story just doesn’t happen, and we understand that! However, there is a cutoff point, and if you do not let the mods know before this date, you can be banned from the next round. Even if it is after this cutoff date that you need to drop out please let us know so that we can discuss options. We can’t help if we don’t know there is a problem! Dropping all contact with mods after the cutoff date is grounds for an automatic ban, as we can’t help at that point. Please get in contact with us, so that we can arrange for art if needed!

I need help/support!

Once you sign-up, you will be sent a link to the Discord Server for the Big Bang. Feel free to talk about your story here with other authors, ask questions, look for a beta, ask for advice, freak out, or any general story discussions.

Membership is open to all who want to join the big bang or are thinking about it! Watch the blog for the link post

I don’t want to join a discord server/have never used discord before 

We are making this a mandatory requirement this year. Communication is critical for the big bang to be successful, and a discord server is the best way for mods to ensure they can communicate with all participants. If you’re new to discord, the mods will help you with an introduction and navigation resources to the server. 

Writing Requirements

What type of requirements are there for a fic?

Your fic must be at least 5,000 words long and, preferably, beta-read before the posting date. It must focus on or revolve around the characters from the TV show Roswell, New Mexico. You are not required to write a certain ship or a ship at all. Your fic also has to be completed at the time of posting. All chapters must be posted on the day of posting. 

I've already been writing an RNM story - can I use that?

The purpose of this Bang is to unveil a brand-new, completed piece on your posting date, however we are okay with you finishing your piece as long as you have not posted more than 2,000 words and do not post any more until your posting date. Since this Bang has a minimum word count of 5,000 words we are asking that no more than 2,000 words be posted prior to signing up, so that at least 80% of the fic is new.

Can I write a sequel to a previous story?

Yes, but the sequel needs to be able to stand on its own. Please make sure to link to the first story so readers can read that as well.

I want to gift my big bang to someone, can I? 

Big Bangs are not gift stories or exchanges, so your big bang must stand as itself. 

What genres are allowed?

All genres are allowed as well as crossovers, as long as Roswell New Mexico characters are the main characters of the story.

I've got two ideas in my head - can I write both?

Yes, you can, as long as you think you'll be able to finish both stories by the deadline (if you submit two stories we will do our best to make sure there is a good amount of time in between the posting of each fic).

Can I write the story with someone else?

Yes, you may co-author your big bang if you want to. The word minimum however for co-authored works is 7,000.

What an artist summary? 

An artist summary is written by authors to give a summary of the fic in a holistic manner. It will include all the main ships, main plot twists, trigger warnings, and any relevant tags for the artist to make an educated choice on making art for the work. The artist summaries are anonymous and only 500 words or less. 

What should my outline look like?

A fic outline is an overview of your story. You will need to list major scenes of the story all the way from the beginning to the resolution. The outline needs to show how you plan on finish the story so the mods and artists can anticipate the story.

Can I have an extension?

We will be granting extensions on a case-by-case basis for rough drafts as long as your final fic or art is in by the due date. We would hope, however, that you use the checkpoints and all your available writing time to its fullest.

If you think at any time you need an extension (whether fic or art) contact the mods right away so we can begin working it out with you.

What do I do if I am not sure I will finish my story but still want to try?

If, by the time rough drafts are due, you aren't sure if you will be done with your story and don't want to risk having an artist claim it only to have to drop out you can switch to the Unofficial track. This will mean your story won't be put in the claims post but if you can finish it by the time final drafts are due we will arrange an artist for you and you will post with everyone else.

Artist Requirements

What are the requirements for art?

Each story an artist claims is required to have at least one art of quality for each story they claim. If an artist decides to claim 3 stories, they will be required to create one piece of art for each story, so at minimum, 3 pieces of art. 

You’re creating something for a work that is at least 5k/10k in length, so we want the art to match that effort! Here are the suggested guidelines:

Traditional/Digital art: Cleaned lineart, on unlined paper, that is at least 500x500 pixels is the minimum. Additional sketchier/rougher pieces are welcomed so long as one piece of art is at the cleaned lineart stage!

Manips: Clean renders and non-blurry images that do not contain watermarks should be used for photo manipulation. 

Banners or Icons or Wallpaper: 5 icons, of at least 100x100 pixels. 3 banners. 1 wallpaper. More is of course always welcomed!

Picspam or Gifsets: At least 6 images, but more images, or multiple sets are welcome!

Vids: At least two minutes long, or a full song!

Fanmixes: At least 10 songs and include cover art (this can be a manip!).

What is an Art Claim? 

Art claims is the process through which artists and authors are paired for the big bang. Artists will have 3 days to review summary information provided by all the authors participating in the event. The claims process is anonymous, which means the artists have no idea who wrote which fic. On claims day, artists submit their top 5 choices and are matched with their first available fic. When matches are confirmed, the mods will email each team to introduce partners to each other. 

How do I make a claim?

On claims day, artists will receive a form to submit their choices. 

What happens if the number of authors doesn't match up with the number of artists or mixers?

We will do several rounds of claiming so that EVERY fic has an artist. In the event that fics outnumber artists, we will allow artists to make a second claim. If it's the other way, we may open up the fics so that more than one artist is assigned to the same fic. Either way, everyone who wants to participate will get to participate.

Can I post my art to my blog or another site to show my friends in advance?

No, we ask that you don't preview your art to anyone before the assigned posting date. You are allowed to show it to a few friends or an art beta, to get advice or feedback before the posting date, but please don't post it for the general public until your assigned posting date.

Where can I upload my graphics?

You are free to post your graphics on your platform of choice, as long as there is a link to the art in the fic.

How will I get my graphics to my author?

We will provide you with contact information once you are committed to an author. From there you can contact them to find out more about their interests, or simply send them the links to your final mix/gifsets/art.

We would like to encourage you to be in contact with them and to share what you make for them.

Schedule

What's a check-in?

Check-ins are something to give you a feel on where a typical author should be at in their writing process. There are multiple points of communication with the mods team to share your progress, ask questions, and share any comments you need to.

ALL CHECK-INS ARE MANDATORY! This is the best way for mods to track the progress of works and ensure works will be posted on time.

Why do artists get a check-in?

The artist check-in will be mandatory. This is mostly to make sure that artists have been in contact with their authors and that they are on track. It will help us determine which stories will need pinch hitters earlier.

Posting Requirements

What types of requirements are there for me to post my fic?

You must include a header with all the regular information (title, rating, wordcount, pairing, etc.) on it. This includes warnings. Not all of our readers like the same thing, so you are required to warn them. Besides that, you must include any secondary fandom you're writing in.

Do I post my story to this community or do the mods post it?

Anywhere you wish, so long as it is also in the RNM Big Bang AO3 Collection. Posting it there is how we will count your work as completed*.

*Artists will not be required to post to AO3, though it is highly encouraged. (AO3 isn’t great for hosting some types of art, like picspam or gif sets, we understand that!) If you are not posting your art to AO3, you must make sure the link to where you art is posted is provided to the author and linked within the author notes or story.

Can I post it to my blog a few days early to show my friends?

No, the first time you show your fic for this big bang must be on your reveal day. If you post in advance please lock the post for your eyes only.

If you have any other questions, please reach out to the mods team!

[mountaindaddy]

Hi.

Do people even use Tumblr anymore? Or, more accurately, do my people use Tumblr anymore? As I was signing up, I googled, “Is Tumblr relevant or dead in 2020?” The results were, predictably, torn. Since the banning of pornography on Tumblr (and the subsequent short-term removal of the Tumblr app from the Mac OS App Store), people have left Tumblr in droves. 

There’s something appealing to Tumblr for me though. This is a place where I can be anonymous and change my identity frequently. One day I can be mountaindaddy writing on the blog Mountain Trash, but tomorrow I could be WolfIntheWoods writing on the blog How to Catch a Little Red Riding Boy. There’s freedom in that ability to change and morph as my writing grows. 

I don’t know why I started this blog with the username mountaindaddy and the title Mountain Trash. To be honest, I suck at naming things, so this seemed like additional pressure to name something. There’s also the fact that it is incredibly anonymous for me...something I would like to keep so that the associated freedoms with anonymity allow me to post the truth of my writing.

I think it is important though to explain the why I am starting a blog, though. For the longest time I have said, “I want to be a writer.” Unfortunately, I don’t write anything. Part of that not writing comes from the feeling that I don’t have a voice or anything that I specifically want or need to write about. A blog has been suggested over the years as a place to figure that out. What do you want to write about? What resonates with an audience? How do you write? How do you engage with writing? This all seems like a great idea to me, especially since every advice I have ever received about writing comes down to two specific things: read a lot. write a lot. 

Read a lot. Check. I read a lot. Maybe I’ll write about what I read. 

Write a lot. Er....No check. My goal is in 2021 to post at least one 500-word piece to the Internet 52 times (once a week). I decided to start this in December, though, because I hate New Year’s Resolutions and I want to get time to get more acquainted with Tumblr as a platform.

I hope you’ll join me on this journey to finding an authentic writing space and voice. I hope you’ll share your own journey with me, too.  

[vroomian]

new years resolutions

- one new art piece every week

- write 500 words a day (or 200 if 500 is too much)

- update one chapter for my fanfics a week or at least every other week 

- work oN MY FUCKING COMIC OH MY GOD ITS BEEN YEARS JUST DO IT 

- pass all my classes (with hopefully a b at least, but i will settle for c)

- work out for at least ten min every day

- read more books and less fanfiction

- actually do an original novel that doesn’t implode in chapter 2

-  learn more home-cooked food variety than salad and rice and eggs

- work up to conversational Spanish and beginner Chinese

what are some of your resolutions for the year?

[500wordtheology]

Starting

January 1st, 2020. My wife greeted me this morning with a hug and the words 

“What are you going to start this new year with?”

The words were, honestly, like a dagger. I was lying sluggishly in bed (she had been up for a while), and my phone was open to Twitter. My phone is often open to Twitter, and rather than spend that time putting good out into the world, I have a bad habit of using the platform for arguments.

Though these arguments are far more valuable than the ones of my youth (then it was “Nintendo is better than Playstation” while now they revolve around “The Universe does indeed have objective meaning”) it was still a slap in the face. Here I was at the start of a new year (and new decade, depending on who you ask) puttering away on Twitter as I had for years.

I turned off the phone, pulled out the laptop, and began this blog instead.

What you now read is the start of a year-long journey. One might call it a resolution, however I hesitate to connect it to New Year’s because I made and have been keeping it since Christmas Day.

On Christmas I received a very generous gift from my uncle of a Chromebook, and made the commitment to write at least 501 words on it every day. I want to not only improve my writing, but also improve my discipline. Practice is the way to both goals.

Some of that daily writing is theological in nature, and at the recommendation of my friend Matthew I have decided to put those entries here for others to enjoy. I hope it is a blessing to you as it already has been for me. Each post will hover around 500 words, though since some topics are extremely deep they may be broken into multiple posts. In either case, no single entry should take very long to read.

It is my intention to be clear and concise. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen.

Only the theological writing will appear here, so the update schedule of the blog will be erratic. That, experience has taught me, is a poor way to run a blog. However unlike blogs I’ve started in the past, this one isn’t about gaining or keeping an audience. If no one reads any of what ends up here, so be it. My goal is not this blog, but the writing. The blog is a by-product.

The current plan is to maintain this for 2020, and after the year ends I will reevaluate. Since even the best plans often unravel, I am not concerned about the future or if the whole situation changes. That’s life - change happens. We will cross that bridge when we come to it.

Just like that, five hundred words comes to a close. I wish you a new year of peace, love, truth, and joy. May your 2020 be filled with expanding knowledge and a deeper connection to our Creator.

And welcome to “500 Word Theology.”

[josjournal]

So, my New Year’s Resolution (I swear I don’t normally do these, but this year dammit, I’m doing it) is to write at least 500 words a day.

After working all day, I really wanted to break it...seriously...after three hours of sleep and working all day, I just wanted to go to bed, but I sat down and I wrote. 556 words! Go me.

Now, I probably won’t keep posting my word count every day and I definitely won’t be sharing what I write every day, but because today is the first day, I’ll share what I wrote. (5 of the words were a random sentence earlier in the fic, so no judging!)

This is from a prompt fill I’m working on that will be Sterek and Ziam (I’m crazy, I know).

Beside him, Liam leaped off the bed, weapon at the ready, eyes blearily scanning the room; his body was alert and ready to fight, but his mind was clearly still in a deep sleep.

Zayn ran his hands over the light emanating from his arms, closing his eyes to take in the air around him, sending out feelers around to all of his protective wards to discover which one had been tripped and by who. As soon as the darkness fell over his chest, he clamped a hand over his mouth, muting the involuntary scream. Dropping his hand when it was done, he noticed Liam had moved into the bed beside him, eyes now alert and scanning the room as his hand ran over and around the air surrounding Zayn. He’d only made the mistake of touching one of the glowing runes once and still bore the scar on the palm of his hand, a mirror image that ended up joining Liam’s spirit to his in a way he’d not have expected.

“She’s here,” Zayn said as he moved off the bed and began gathering the few items he’d unpacked. Although he’d hoped that by returning to London, a city filled with magic users, he’d be able to hide from those who sought to find and absorb his power, he’d clearly been mistaken.

“We need to flee,” Liam stated, moving to grab his own bags and fill them; he’d been foolish enough to unpack after the first week of no incidents.

“Stay,” Zayn told him. “You’ll be safe if you aren’t with me.” He blinked back the tears his own words brought to light; leaving Liam was the last thing he wanted to do, but he knew it was the only way to keep his lover safe. His mother had left him and his father to keep them safe and when Zayn had come into his powers, he’d left his father. He’d never intended to keep Liam after he’d found him, especially not after he’d fallen in love with him. “I can’t risk watching you die because of me.”

Liam pulled Zayn into his arms, one hand going up to tangle in Zayn’s long raven coloured hair and pushing his face into his neck. “You are not getting rid of me that easily. I’ve told you every time we have to move on and you try to leave me behind, I love you and I am not leaving you. If you die, I die. So no dying, yeah?”

Zayn couldn’t hold back a wet chuckle at Liam’s words. If only his words held power, maybe things would be easier, but sometimes love wasn’t enough and he wished he could make Liam understand that, but at the same time he was selfish and didn’t want to let him go. “Hurry on, then,” he snapped, but his lips quirked in a smile before pressing a kiss to the rounded tip of Liam’s nose. “We need to get out of here quickly.”

As they left the flat, rucksacks on their backs, they hurried down the stairs and onto the busy street. Zayn kept one hand over his right wrist, feeling for any drastic change indicating the Alpha as drawing nearer. Thankfully, the pain faded instead of growing, so he knew they were moving away.

[prince-everhard]

So one of my new year's resolutions this year was to find a challenge to keep me writing more and more consistently... after some consideration I've just decided to make my own challenge and see how it goes. I'm sure there are other challenges out there like this but this is the "ruleset" that I'm planning to follow. Introducing...

A Weekly Oneshot Challenge

The rules for this challenge are as follows:

Each week for the duration of the challenge write a oneshot

Post every weekly oneshot the following week (preferably the same day every week for consistency)

If feeling particularly inspired to write more than one oneshot in a week, they can be "bankrolled" to take the place for a later week's oneshot if one can't be written (whether that be scheduling, lack of inspiration, mental/physical health needs, etc- no shame in knowing your limits and taking care of business)

Prompts from other challenges are absolutely allowed! If the other challenges allow it the weekly oneshot pieces are welcome to be posted for those other challenges as well

While there is no minimum length, it is recommended to try for at least 500+ words to make it a oneshot challenge instead of a drabble challenge. No maximum length; whatever can be written in a week is fair game

More may be added as I think of things I've missed, but that's the long and short of it. I will be attempting this challenge for a year to hit 52 oneshots total and will start posting them every Monday. If anyone else wants to attempt this challenge with me for any duration please feel free!

[samtheflamingomain]

remember when tik tok was a song?

A lot has changed in my short time on this planet. I grew up to the sound of the ole dial-up and now I can watch someone talk about why the Earth is flat for an hour from anywhere on the disc!

The way we create, consume and criticize media is one of the things whose recent evolution is probably what piques my interest the most. Not necessarily the content of the media, which is always changing, but trends in the structure behind it.

Tech has obviously improved exponentially. Health, science, education - all significantly changed in the past few decades. But same goes for the past few centuries.

Media has, necessarily, been slower to evolve. Can't have TV shows without a TV. It basically went from book to newspaper to radio to TV to Internet. There's at least a few decades between all those things, if not longer. However, from TV to today is what I'm most interested in.

For decades, for generations, TV was channel-surfing via an antenna or a satellite dish served by your cable provider. A lot of those words mean nothing to a teenager now.

I'm 26. I started with cable (10 channels), then we got satellite (500 channels), then by the time I was 16 or 17, Netflix the streaming service came out. So I'm in a very small window of people who were young enough for all of these things to happen in my childhood. 5 years older than me and you didn't get Netflix as a teen. 5 years younger and you didn't have cable as a teen. Maybe 10 years. You see the point.

Then realize that the 16 year-old of today hasn't grown up without Netflix being a household word. If the 16 year-old of today wanted to watch Peter Pan, he would boot up Disney+. I would've gone to Blockbuster and rented it for $3. If he wanted to see a kitten falling down stairs and then doing a backflip, that's probably somewhere on Youtube. If I wanted to see that as a kid, well, I'd better start looking for a very gymnastic cat with all its lives.

So to sum up so far, a lot has changed very quickly - about how we consume media. What about how it's formatted?

And how we consume it always necessarily comes before what it is we're consuming changes. Remember when "Netflix Originals" didn't exist? The platform was built, the people came, and then new media came from it.

We've seen TV shows go from the binary of "22 minutes or 44 minutes" to "however long we fucking want". The disintegration of the binary of "comedy or drama". When I was a kid, sitcoms had seasons of 22 episodes, once a week, in the fall. Drama shows usually had 16 episodes. Now Netflix puts out "Mike Tyson Mysteries", with any number of episodes in a season, with each only 11-13 minutes long, pretty much at random. Letterkenny puts out 6-episode seasons once a year on Christmas. Back in my day, we never knew if this season would be the last. Even if the last episode was a cliffhanger, there was no promise of a resolution. Sitcoms kissed the rings of the networks every year hoping to be renewed. The other day South Park announced it was making 6 more seasons and a bunch of movies.

There are a few TV formats that I consider "evolution proof" - game shows (not reality, game), soap operas, late night and standup. All of these date back to radio times and have rarely if ever changed format. I'm personally hoping that, within my lifetime, I'm able to see a change in the way standup is done. We've seen very few attempts to break the mold, and the only example I can think of right now is Mulaney's Sack Lunch Bunch, and to be honest I think it left a lot to be desired. But that's to be expected if media itself is going to change formats - it'll take a lot of trial-and-error.

Quick tangent: I'm not talking about comedy itself. Comedy is constantly changing formats. Vine made absolute stars out of SIX SECOND-LONG content creators. I mean standup. I'd like to see its definition change from "70 minutes of uncut, unedited, scripted jokes told in story form on a stage in front of an audience with a microphone and maybe a few props done by one person, with pauses for laughter and applause, sometimes with audience interaction" to "long-format comedic content delivered by one person to an audience", taking away the mic, the stage, the very structured format. With the exception of maybe Bo Burnham, even if you've never seen a specific comedian, you know what to expect and when to expect it. You can Just Tell when the last joke is about to begin. You're not going to be surprised when the guy picks someone out of the crowd to make a few jokes with. You probably even know the definition of a call-back by name because they're so common. I don't know how it would necessarily change, but I don't think it's impossible.

Back to the main post for one more point: fandom. We've talked about the evolution of the consumption of media and what format we're watching it in. We know the content has evolved. But I think one of the most interesting changes in this category is the way we interact with shows now.

I'm currently sitting in my Simpsons-character-covered tracksuit I bought for $15 on Wish, next to my closet which contains about 15-20 t-shirts. At least 8 of them are Simpsons-themed. When I started building this collection, it started about 5 years ago when I saw my very first Simpsons shirt in a Bluenotes, and it was the only one I had for a few years. I would buy any Simpsons shirt I saw for a while. Today I went to the mall, and if I still had that policy I'd have blown through my savings in one trip.

I actually consider myself lucky; The Simpsons isn't as popular on merch you'd find at the mall as say Rick and Morty, Adventure Time, or Spongebob. I've seen giant stuffed Pickle Ricks, but never an oversized Homer.

My point being, I'm a superfan, but of a slightly older show that isn't nearly as popular as it used to be. If you walk into a Hot Topic, you can probably find any pop culture property on a t-shirt, mug, keychain and temporary face tattoo. This was not the case 10 years ago.

And that's just fandom with regard to the physical world. Did you know that John Mulaney, who did 3 Netflix specials 4 years ago, has THREE subreddits? Every time I get into something new it used to cross my mind, "Hey, I wonder if there's a subreddit for this yet". Now it's "I wonder which of the several subreddits that surely exist for this show/movie/vague concept is best".

A lot of the time when I see the concept of fandom discussed in mainstream media, it's still a severely outdated depiction. Even documentaries tend to stop at "and then Comic-con was invented. The End". I hate to praise it for anything, but if it did anything good, The Big Bang Theory did properly define "fandom" for the world.

I remember when 99% of people polled would not have heard of "fan fiction". I started writing it at 12 when the category for Harry Potter fan fiction on fanfiction.net had but a few thousand entries. My show of choice, Death Note, had a few hundred. I got in on the ground floor and built my way to the top. I abandoned that account 6 years ago and I still get 10-20 story comments or favorites per week.

Now try finding someone who hasn't heard of fan fiction. Find someone who's too old to have written on AO3.

Finally, and I know it's been a long ramble but bear with me, I want to address the homicidal, drunk-driving, pregnant-wife-killing elephant in the room: stans.

If you don't get the reference I just made, please google "origin of the term stan". Caught up? Good, so now answer me this: how did we take a term that refers so very, very obviously to a very, very negative situation and turn it into something someone says casually or even proudly of themselves?

Obviously when I say I stan Green Day that doesn't mean I'm going to write Billie Joe threatening letters and kill my girlfriend, it means I consider myself one of their biggest fans. I think in all of English vocabulary, there's only one other word that's taken such a 180 in definition and it's one I can't say.

Anyway, that's me done. Now that there's more streaming platforms than people who've fucked your mom, I'm interested to see where we go from here.

Stay Greater, Flamingos.