larkral

[larkral]

being so staunchly anti generative ai while everyone around you is "i used chatgpt" and "i asked grok" and google search is useless and every company is implementing ai and every single celeb is taking ai money and partnering with ai is like... it's so jarring. why can't you see the harm like i can? why are you so lazy? why are we making society this stupid? can we please stop? it's killing people does that not matter to you?

[larkral]

Hello hello! Happy Sunday everybody!—I’ve been gone a long time and haven’t been able to read nearly as much fic as I’d like, but I’m trying to mend that. For anyone who missed it, a few weeks ago I finished my birthday fic for @rimeswithpurple, Pull Yourself Together. It’s chock full of tropes like Only One Bed, Forced Proximity, Magical Mishap, and more. I have a real soft spot for it, so thank you to everyone who’s read it and let me know you liked it :)

I love a good process post from other people, so here’s one from me, in which I have to say that GENERALLY I don’t make any kind of outline. I GENERALLY have a pretty good idea of how a story will go from start to finish and then I write that story from start to finish—yeah, quite often surprising myself with a change in direction, which is one of my favorite things in the whole world. Isn’t it great to be surprised?—Gang, I’m old. Surprise means I’m not at the end quite yet 😜

So anyway, I’ve had two mad deviations from my usual process since joining this fandom: my ongoing crucible marriage au, which is STILL in huge pieces all over my drive (and still not dead in my mind) and now my COBB from 2024 with Arianna, Time Will Lie Down and be Still. I’ve been mostly working in a start-to-finish order, but here I am struggling a bit in the last chapter (the bit where I have PLENTY of framework to hang the action on—the story is literally based on a movie), and I’m realizing that it’s maybe not working because I need to add other scenes into the parts of the chapter that I’ve already written. That happens from time to time, but where I’m deviating from my norm the most here is that I’m writing scenes I’m not happy with. The writing stinks, y’all. It’s literally like, This happens, then That happens—I just put the action down to have it, and it is NOT GOOD. Not to say that my writing is always great, but I’m usually happy enough with it when I share. But, it’s a process. Maybe it’s not as bad as I think; I’m just having a bit of trouble reconciling the idea that I may have to reread my writing, a thing normal people do all the time. At any rate, it’s not how I usually work, so here’s a bit of what I have; it’s Baz POV, describing a dream he had the night before:

I was in a field, watching a boy cry. Not Dev, not me—far too fair, this one. His hair was thick and curly, a shade of brown that had been run through with gold. He looked about twelve or so—not quite a teenager, but nearly. It was dark and a soft wind kicked up—I saw it in the branches of the tree that he was leaning against. He scrubbed dirty fists into his eyes, and suddenly I could make out a cottage in the middle distance, with a light still on in the window. I could feel everything in this boy’s breaking heart: the overwhelming ache of disappointment, the self-loathing. Hopelessness washed through him again and again, waves that hit with each ragged breath between his sobs. I felt as though my heart might break right along with his, and then he suddenly looked up.

Not at me. No, he was looking at the sky. He wanted to escape; he longed to be free. I took a step back, stunned by the magic I felt welling up and radiating from him. Power like this doesn’t exist in the World of Mages—it’s like something from legend. Dream or no, I could smell it—green smoke, burning, the sharp snap of cinnamon. Cinnamon and…the scents were familiar to me. Somehow I knew it was the scent of a spell, but I don’t think the boy was casting it. Not willingly, anyway. Rose petals floated in on the night air, and more blue feathers.

He fell to his knees then, shoulders hunching over, the back of his shirt splitting. Something was happening to him, something immense and frightening, but I wasn’t afraid. If anything, I wanted to go to him and tell him that he would be all right, and perhaps I would have if Mordelia hadn’t slapped me awake with a pillow to the face.

And now I have a lot of catching up to do! Enjoy the rest of the week, everyone! No pressure tags and hellos to: @larkral @raeny-day @cutestkilla @c0nsumemy5oul @artsyunderstudy @iamamythologicalcreature @ic3-que3n @cows4247 @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @youarenevertooold @valeffelees @letraspal @stitchy-queerista @monbons @imagineacoolusername @ileadacharmedlife @aristocratic-otter @nausikaaa @confused-bi-queer @carryonsimoncarryonbaz @prettygoododds @shrekgogurt @facewithoutheart @alexalexinii @forabeatofadrum @thewholelemon @roomwithanopenfire @supercutedinosaurs @ivelovedhimthroughworse @brilla-brilla-estrellita @drowninginships @bachusekart @the-beard-of-edward-teach @j-trow-95 @leithillustration @fiend-for-culture @skeedelvee @bookishbroadwayandblind @bookish-bogwitch @best--dress @mooncello @orange-peony @talentpiper11 @sillyunicorn @martsonmars @wellbelesbian @onepintobean @hushed-chorus @palimpsessed

[larkral]

it bugs me how many lesbians have issues with trans women. like, we're supposed to love women. what's next, you gonna start hating short people too? fuck off.

[larkral]

If you're still wondering, "huh...What is Check, Please?"

✨ start reading here ✨ get the book irl

[larkral]

I hate hate HATE all those 2edgy 4me theories about kids shows. Like Angelica dreaming up the rugrats, or the ed, edd, and eddy children being ghosts, or literally anything that takes a lighthearted and fun kids show and has to turn it into some tragic take of rape or murder or misinformed mental illness. So you know what? From now on I’m gonna do the exact opposite. Every cool grim-dark show is now because of a bunch of children. To get us started: Game of Thrones: A middle-school DnD campaign with the most angry, vindictive DM who has promised to kill everyone’s player characters (and their family) by the end.

[larkral]

Three women with penises, plus the statue of Hermaphroditus The Louvre, Paris Fr http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermaphroditus

[larkral]

Looooong time, no see. Thanks for the tags to everyone who's kept me on their lists. <3 <3 <3. And especially @martsonmars and @thewholelemon for tagging me today!

I've been writing, you understand, I've just not been writing about writing. Or engaging in fandom that much. I don't know! Brains gotta brain, I guess! Anyway! I recently published the first chapter of my COBB (affectionately titled 'Zombiedemic' in my draft, but in reality titled What Comes After, feel free to take a read!), and apparently with that off my front burner, a back burner project decided to catapult itself to the front of the range.

Which is to say, I've been writing on my Fandom Trumps Hate project, which also just so happens to be the very first Carry On fic idea I ever had? I ended up outlining it to death before realizing that I am, at my heart, a pantser. And now I have a new angle on it thanks to my FTH winner and am back at it in earnest. Yay! I have written....you know, just a casual 3500 words this week. No big (jk, it's big!). Of which these are some (Simon POV):

"Penny, tell Agatha I'm dating Baz," I say, clutching her hand like she's going to flee the scene of the conversation. "Why would you be dating Baz?" she says instead. I look at her. "Penny. Come on. You walked in on us two days ago. What did you think was happening?" "Walked in on you… dating?" "Snogging!" I say, and thank Merlin Baz is on his way over, or I'd feel like I was losing my mind.

Simon is such a delight, isn't he? ISN'T HE??

It has literally been SO long that I feel like I shouldn't include my regular tags here, but guess what: I'm going to anyway. Persistent love wins out.

@stitchyqueer @confused-bi-queer @facewithoutheart @whogaveyoupermission @cutestkilla

@hushed-chorus @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @ileadacharmedlife @bookish-bogwitch @artsyunderstudy

@captain-aralias @artsyunderstudy @martsonmars @nausikaaa

@chen-chen-chen-again-chen @that-disabled-princess @shrekgogurt  @palimpsessed @fatalfangirl

@blackberrysummerblog​ @valeffelees @youarenevertooold @emeryhall @run-for-chamo-miles

@talentpiper11 @orange-peony @thewholelemon @wellbelesbian @mooncello

@aristocratic-otter @roomwithanopenfire @monbons @kiwiana-writes @bookishbroadwayandblind

[larkral]

miss tornado herself ✨🧚‍♀️

[larkral]

[larkral]

writing fanfiction for free is actually a radical act of resistance btw that’s where we’re at

[larkral]

Wonder what's happening here? Come read about it!!!!

What comes after

my art for the @carry-on-big-bang !

I collaborated with @larkral for this year's event 🖤

You can find the fic here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/67430059/chapters/174239125

[larkral]

What Comes After

(or: Simon Snow and the Zombie Apocalypse)

art by @argumentativeantitheticalg

Every time I see someone at risk, I run down a list of questions: 1. Can I save them? 2. Will I put anyone else at risk by saving them? 3. What comes after? Penny says that she used to think that whenever someone entered into your life, if you took your relationship with them seriously enough to, for instance, save their life, that you became responsible for them. That it was like picking up a piece of litter. If you see it and you don't pick it up, it's not your problem, but if you pick it up, you can't just drop it again. That makes you the litterer. Or something. I don't worry much about litter anymore. No one is coming to empty the bins, and saving someone's life isn't a contract. It's a Tuesday.

A work for the @carry-on-big-bang

[larkral]

x reader ?? i'm here to be a cuck not to participate thanks

[larkral]

Prompt for 2025

It’s here! Thanks to all of your votes we are happy to officially announce Grand Theft Auto as the prompt for COManyCakes 2025. We’re so excited to see what everyone will create this year!

Grand Theft Auto (the crime not the video game) “I’ll steal it if I have to!” I shouted up the drive. “Or I’ll steal a bus!” Does Baz steal Fiona’s car? A bus? Something else? Or maybe some other Carry On character needs wheels…

Remember you have all year to post so there’s no rush! When you’re ready to post, please post into our new AO3 Collection. If posting on tumblr, we ask that you use the hashtag #COManyCakes and/or #comc2025 and tag this blog <3

What is this?

FAQS

[larkral]

Carry On Big Bang: Simon Snow and the Sands of Time

Summary:

Simon Snow Cadwallader is looking for answers and hoping not to find them. His father's notebooks with him, he roams the world trying to prove that the supernatural isn't real. That there are no prophecies, no Chosen Ones, no hidden meanings in the history of humanity.

Basilton Grimm-Pitch is tired of asking the wrong questions. Stuck in the basement of the British Museum, he looks at decades of stolen history piling up around him and knows that there is something more concealed inside forgotten crates of dusty terracotta.

When Simon's quests lead him to seek Baz's expertise, they soon realise that maybe they've been looking for the same thing all along.

I worked with the lovely @martsonmars for this year’s Carry On Big Bang. We collaborated to realize their vision of a helter-skelter action scene in the midst of their take on the Indiana Jones genre. Simon Snow takes charge of the situation— and a motorcycle— to get the pair out of danger. But what’s waiting for them at the end of this daring escape ?

I had so much fun with this piece; it emerged on the back of a thousand little questions and plenty of research as I worked to take the scene from concept to canvas. Are there still inaccuracies and anachronisms? Of course. But I had so much fun pushing my boundaries and trying new techniques with this piece!

Thanks to martsonmars for collaborating with me, and to our wonderful Mod Kal for coordinating.

[larkral]

best friends to lovers is only good if theyre still best friends while theyre lovers