oathena11-writes

[oathena11-writes]

I was thinking about this post again. Interestingly, I don’t hate Anakin quite as much as I used to… but this is likely a side effect of going no contact with my mom last year.

There are still things that are a bit triggering of course, those things I might never shake since they go back to childhood.

I’m not sure I can ever truly like him. And my points in this post stand. He’s what I could be; what I am trying desperately not to be as I navigate daily life and parenting.

But it’s nice not to feel so ready to fight when people talk about how much they love him.

I have seen the repeated sentiment that we can like the Jedi and Anakin. Yeah, that's true. 

But why assume that people want to like Anakin, that they think they have to hate Anakin? Yes, a large part of why people don't like Anakin is just because of the genocide of the Jedi Order. 

But there is so much more reason to dislike Anakin that have little to do with the Jedi. 

Although, the anti Jedi people who like to use Anakin to say why the Jedi are bad make it real hard to find reason to like Anakin.

I'm not a big hater. I don't like to hate. But... I don't like Anakin.

I don't want to like Anakin. 

Yes, I'm pro Jedi, and funnily enough, my feelings regarding how Anakin treated the Jedi are just the cherry on top of the huge pile of why I don't like Anakin.

Why I don't like Anakin: Simply put, I've encountered people like him in my own life, including my own mother, and that means I do not have the patience for a character that's like a person I'm low contact with in real life. 

Anakin is enough like my mom that I have written him with how my mom would react in mind. Sure she's not actually murderous, but she is very emotionally immature and takes things personally. 

I am still untangling the damage she did to me growing up, and realizing how much she did that wasn't right now that I am raising my own children.

Worse, I am like my mom, and like Anakin. They are what I could be if I wasn't putting in the work to be a good person. If I wasn't trying to always learn from my mistakes. If I wasn't always trying to step back from my emotions to recognize I'm being irrational. 

And that scares me. I could be like Anakin. And that is why I don't like him. I don't want to write a character who isn't good, who is who I could be. I don't want to work at making someone better when I know it will take a miracle to change his mind, after my experiences with my mom.

Nope. Not happening. 

So. I don't like Anakin. I love the Jedi Order. Two separate statements that for me are not connected. They are separate choices for me. 

[oathena11-writes]

Thank you!

Thank you everyone who participated by creating anything for the week or who liked, reblogged, and commented on all the wonderful works that have been shared throughout the week.

I will continue to reblog every post this blog is tagged in, and I will add anything I reblog and/or see in the AO3 collection to the masterlists throughout the year, especially in the next month.

Masterlists should be up sometime next week.

Again, thank you everyone for making this last week so fun!

[oathena11-writes]

@foxquinweek my day 2 is late but here’s my migraine/chronic pain fic… edited with a migraine lol.

[oathena11-writes]

@foxquinweek Day 6: Time travel! Might be my favorite of the week!

[oathena11-writes]

@foxquinweek Day 4 Asexual and/or aromantic character!

Love writing about my own sexuality.

Took me a bit to get this edited. I’m so behind this year oops. But hey at least it’s here!

[oathena11-writes]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/62303839

Fic for @foxquinweek Day 5! Altérnate prompt: Fake dating

Took me forever to edit it and took an unexpected turn but yay it’s up.

[oathena11-writes]

@foxquinweek fic! I chose to do an alternate for Day 1! Flower shop/Tattoo parlor AU! I had a blast writing it.

[oathena11-writes]

One week to FoxQuin week!

Posting is January 13-19.

Art prompts.

Writing prompts.

Quote prompts.

AO3 Collection.

I'm very excited to see what everyone has come up with! I will be reblogging every post that tags this blog or is in the #foxquinweek2025 tag once posting starts!

[oathena11-writes]

Happy New Years, FoxQuin week is less than two weeks away!

Posting dates are January 13-19.

Art prompts.

Writing prompts.

Quote prompts.

I hope everyone is having fun with their projects. I know I am! I can't wait to see what everyone has come up with based on the prompts!

[oathena11-writes]

Less than a month to FoxQuin week 2025!

Posting starts January 13th and ends January 19th! The time is just flying by... totally forgot I meant to post about this on December 13th oops.

Art prompts.

Writing prompts.

Quote prompts.

So how are we feeling now that we're down to one month left? Got any of them done? Or do you still need to start? I have 3 out of 7 finished (finally) but that still leaves four to get done in the next month!

[oathena11-writes]

2 months to FoxQuin week 2025!

Posting starts January 13, 2025 and ends on January 19, 2025.

Art prompts.

Writing prompts.

Quote prompts.

How's it looking for everyone now that we just have two months left? I have written so many words... and completed no fics yet. Hoping to wrap up one soon but we'll see what happens.

[oathena11-writes]

3 months to FoxQuin week 2025!

Posting starts January 13, 2025 and ends on January 19, 2025.

Art prompts.

Writing prompts.

Quote prompts.

I've been off to a good start on my own fics and I'm excited to see what everyone comes up with!

[oathena11-writes]

DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN NANOWRIMO

Time to talk about something I haven’t really talked about before.

Nanowrimo. You know the challenge to write 50k in a month? That starts in November, and usually people start coming out of hibernation to start planning for that now.

And to plan, they often find their way to the forums to find others who are gearing up and thinking about turning October into Preptober.

Only… the forums are closed this year. Why is that?

Well… https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSYcdosGLoPFI_Dc--vuC9Bl4-OUFGcmHgBRt2aHSRVWBPc6su4AMFY5iDgZGyC379Zm8C7zhBd2zuf/pub

Wait sorry that’s a long document though as someone who has been keeping up with this since late October 2023 and knows a lot about what’s going on, this is the most accurate summary I know of offhand.

So… short version? NaNo has been crumbling for a while, between dismissing people’s dislike of the 2019 redesign, not handling conflict well in general, leaving MLs feeling unsupported and unappreciated, and allowing a culture to grow in which a forum mod became the sole moderator of a fast moving teen forum.

This forum mod was accused of grooming. Several people compiled evidence to show why they believed that. The staff at NaNo did nothing. They claimed an investigation happened but no action was taken for months.

I read through a thread where many concerns were discussed and barely listened to. I watched many members of the community went from hopeful and believing in the organization to angry and disheartened over the course of several months after being treated like children, being told things would happen that never did change.

Then things came to a boiling point in November, and the Board got involved. They shut down the forums and started investigating. We had hope. Then they started treating us the same way the staff had.

There are currently no known MLs as all were removed before April, as they need to be vetted and go through some training, only there’s no word on when that is going to happen.

There were barely any proper events during April and July, and some events NaNo advertised were hosted by their sponsors.

There’s a lot more that I could get into, but I think the more I try to explain the more likely I am to get it wrong and there is enough misinformation about this controversy out there.

For now, the latest is this post on zen desk about AI.

Yeah… I have no faith left. Do not even look at NaNo’s official site. They don’t deserve to think they’re getting people to participate. Especially since all they want is money these days.

If you’re looking for a substitute word tracker, I highly recommend trackbear.app. It’s still in beta, but I’ve been using it all year, and I enjoy it. There’s a goals option that includes the graph and par line we all enjoyed with NaNo, and there’s leaderboards to have fun with your friends.

[oathena11-writes]

I’ve been thinking about why the Acolyte hasn’t landed for me even though I am interested in the characters.

And I think it’s because the show isn’t solely a mystery, and the mystery wasn’t done in a way I’m used to.

I adore Criminal Minds, I finally started watching season 15 of 17 last week and I have finished watching season 16.

What’s really interesting to me is that season 16, where Criminal minds starts being called Criminal Minds: Evolution, was only ever streamed. It has 10 episodes, all over 45 minutes long, and it has a plot that stretches from the first episode to the last.

And it is so much better written than the Acolyte.

I don’t even like these long story arcs in Criminal minds all that much; some of their best episodes were ones that were one offs that maybe got a sequel of sorts in a later season. Some of the best long running unsubs had them barely even referencing the unsub at all between the unsub’s episodes, just little asides, nothing too big to plot of the episode, the episodes unsub could stand on their own.

But season 16 was pretty good. The pacing is great. Each episode has a goal, a contained plot. Yes, it would be continued into the next episode and some episodes ended on a cliffhanger, but I wasn’t left going ‘wait what was the point of this episode again?’ Like I was after watching episode 4 of the Acolyte, where the point was to get the characters from point A to B and not much else happened. Each episode could have been watched stand alone and made sense despite the overarching plot of season 16.

And the flashbacks! I have always loved the different ways Criminal Minds approaches the unsub reveal. Sometimes we know who the unsub is from the beginning and just wait to see how the team uncovers them and some details missing from the scenes we see. Sometimes we get nothing of the unsub. Sometimes we see the crime happening but not the unsub. Sometimes we don’t find out anything until partway through the episode.

In season 16, since there’s unsubs in individual episodes and then the main unsub, the flashbacks are pretty much only with the main unsub, and are perfectly placed to start explaining his background, as early as episode 2 or 3, while the team doesn’t figure those details out until later in the season. It’s a great balance.

When I heard about the Acolyte, I wanted an unreliable narrator story of the Sith and what they do. When I heard it was a murder mystery, I was hoping for something like Criminal Minds but maybe with more of a focus on the Sith.

And… that’s not what we got. I binged Crimjnal minds season 16 in three days. I’ve watched one episode of the Acolyte at a time, and only because I like Yord and want to know how I’m breaking canon when I write fic. I stalled out after Episode 5 because I know after this episode it’s less of murder mystery/capture the murderers and more… romance and I’m not looking forward to watching that.

[oathena11-writes]

WHUMPTOBER 2024: PROMPTS LIST

Welcome to Whumptober 2024 — Seventh Time's a Charm!

Please make sure to read the Event Info and FAQ below carefully, as most of your questions will be answered there already. For everything else, you are welcome to come to our ask box or ask questions in our Discord server here.

This year’s AO3 Collection can be found here.

This year's playlist can be found here.

And the Anatomy of a Whumptober Prompt post can be found here.

We’re very excited to see the community come together for another year of Whumptober! Go wild with the prompts, and support your fellow creators - we wish you all the fun!

Best of luck and happy whumping,

Mods Vanne, Yenn, Kitty and Surro

(Text versions of the prompts, as well as event information, rules and FAQ are posted below the cut!)

Whumptober 2024 Prompt List

No. 1: RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK

Search Party | Panic Attack | "If only we could hold on.” (Icysami x Renegaderr, Strangers.)

No. 2: TRUST ISSUES

Amusement Park | Role Reversal | “You got away with the crime while the knife's in my back.” (Charlotte Sands, Rollercoaster)

No. 3: SET UP FOR FAILURE

Fingerprints | Wrongfully Arrested | "I warned you."

No. 4: HALLUCINATIONS

Hypnosis | Sensory Deprivation | “You're still alive in my head.” (Billy Lockett, More)

No. 5: SUNBURN

Healing Salve | Heatstroke | "If my pain will stretch that far." (Lottery Winners, Burning House)

No. 6: NOT REALISING THEY'RE INJURED

Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms | Healed Wrong | "It's not my blood."

No. 7: ONLY FOR EMERGENCIES

Unconventional Weapon | Magic with a Cost | "It's us or them."

No. 8: SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Isolation Chamber | Forced to Stay Awake | "Leave the lights on." (Coldplay, Midnight)

No. 9: OBSESSION

Broken Window | Bruises | “Frame me up on the wall, just to keep me out of trouble.” (Fall Out Boy, Irresistible)

No. 10: BLOW TO THE HEAD

Slurred Words | Passing Out from Pain | "I can't think straight."

No. 11: SEEING DOUBLE

Convenience Store | Loneliness | “Leave no trace behind, like you don't even exist.” (Taylor Swift, Illicit Affairs)

No. 12: STARVATION

Underground Caverns | Cannibalism | "Just a little more."

No. 13: TEAM AS A FAMILY

Familial Curse | Multiple Whumpees | "Death will do us part." (Set It Off, Partner's In Crime)

No. 14: LEFT FOR DEAD

Hunting Gear | Blackmail | “Because I want you to know what it feels like to be haunted” (tiLLie, kooL aiD mAn)

No. 15: CHILDHOOD TRAUMA

Painful Hug | Moment of Clarity | "I did good, right?"

No. 16: NECROSIS

Swamp | Wound Cleaning | "No, I can't feel anything."

No. 17: NOWHERE ELSE TO GO

Ruined Map | Shipwrecked | "We had a good run."

No. 18: REVENGE

Unreliable Narrator | Loss of Identity | “I see what's mine and take it.” (Panic! at the Disco, Emperor's New Clothes)

No. 19: BLOOD TRAIL

Abandoned Cabin | One Way Out | "Is there anybody alive out there?" (Bruce Springsteen, Radio Nowhere)

No. 20: EMOTIONAL ANGST

Shoulder to Cry On | Giving Permission to Die | "It's not your fault."

No. 21: BODY HORROR

Body Horror | Tattoo Gun | Spirit Possession | “Let the bedsheet soak up the tears.” (Apparat feat. Soap & Skin, Goodbye)

No. 22: BLEEDING THROUGH BANDAGES

Tourniquet | Reopening Wounds | "Oh that's not good."

No. 23: FORCED CHOICE

Public Display | Broken Pedestal | "I'm doing this for you."

No. 24: RADIATION POISONING

Collapsed Building | Equipment Failure | “I never knew daylight could be so violent.” (Florence + The Machine, No Light, No Light)

No. 25: SURGERY

Stitches | Being Monitored | "It's for your own good."

No. 26: NIGHTMARES

Breakfast Table | Parting Words of Regret | “I'm haunted by the lies that I have loved, the actions I have hated.” (Poe, Haunted)

No. 27: VOICELESS

Laboratory | Muzzled | “I have no mouth and I must scream.”

No. 28: DENIAL

CCTV | Exposure | "They caught me red handed."

No. 29: FATIGUE

Labyrinth | Burnout | "Who said you could rest?"

No. 30: RECOVERY

Hospital Bed | Holding Back Tears | "What have I done?"

No. 31: ASKING FOR HELP

Therapy | Making Amends | "I'm alive, I'm just not well." (Elliot Lee, Alive, Not Well.)

Alternatives List:

Body Swap

Communication Barrier

Finding Old Messages

Forgotten

Friendly Fire

Motion Sickness

No-Holds-Barred Beatdown

Regret

Secrets Revealed

Shivering

Survivor's Guilt

Time Loop

Used As Bait

Venom

Vermin

Event Info & Rules

WHUMPTOBER is a month-long, prompt-based creation challenge (think: Inktober, but whumpier). There are 31 official themes this year - one for each day of the month - which can be used, skipped, or combined in any way you’d like. They are meant to serve as inspiration without being taken literally (e.g. you don’t have to include the exact wording of prompts into your work). Feel free to run rampant on interpretation. For example, if the prompt is “flame", you could create something with reference to a candle/campfire, your character could have suffered a burn, or the flame could be a reference to an ‘old flame’ - an old relationship. It’s truly down to you!

In total, there are 4 prompts for each day. These are optional suggestions and can be used in conjunction with the theme, or as options/alternatives.  We want to give everyone as much creative freedom as possible, as well as increase event accessibility for folks with triggers and squicks. There is also a list of 15 alternative prompts that can be subbed in for any day, again to give participants as much creative freedom as possible.

Creators can PRODUCE work in any media they choose, including but not limited to: writing, visual artwork, photo/video/audio edits, paper crafts and elaborate recommendation lists (not just a list of links). Creators can PARTICIPATE as much or as little as they want (i.e. you don’t have to do ALL the prompts if you don’t want to) and prompts can be used in any order. They are also free to use even after the event ends.

When uploading Whumptober content to your blog, be sure to tag it with:

#whumptober2024 …..(the event tag)

#no.1, #no.2, #no.3, …..(theme number)

#bruises, #stabbing, …..(the theme or specific prompt you chose)

#altprompt …..(if you use an altprompt, tag the post with the number of the prompt you replace)

#fandom or #OC, …..(ironman, original content, oc, etc.)

#medium …..(gifs, fic, podcast, art, etc.)

#teeth, #etc …..(trigger warnings & any additional tags. Keep in mind not to add “tw” in front but only use the word/trigger itself)

#nsfwhump …..(only for nsfw content)

#your own tags go here

PLEASE BE DILIGENT WITH YOUR TAGGING. Only properly tagged posts are considered for archiving on the official @whumptober-archive blog. They must be tagged in the order above. An elaborate post about our tagging system can be found [here]

Unfortunately, due to the sheer number of participants in recent years, we cannot guarantee your work will be archived. A random selection of properly tagged posts from all genres will be reblogged each day.

Whumpers who produce content for 31 total theme days are considered event completionists and will be tagged in a masterpost at the end of the month. A form will be published at the beginning of November asking you to tell us if you completed. This is based on trust and we will not check this.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please read this before you send an ask!

TIMELINE

July: Trope voting form released. Late August: Prompt list is released for at least four weeks of preparation time. Tropes cannot be posted earlier than August 25th because of Moderator obligations in real life. (But, you know, go ahead and start writing/drawing, and add the themes in later, if you want!) September: Do as much or as little on your works as you want. You can prepare everything in advance or let September go by with vibes and start working in October. It’s up to you. October 1st: Challenge begins! A storm of whump breaks upon us all! During this time, some posts will be reblogged to the whumptober archive blog. We open the yearly AO3 collection for posting (optional). November 1st: The challenge is officially over! Completionist form opens for those who want to be included in the hall-of-fame. Early November: We release completionist and participant badges, solicit feedback, and post a hall-of-fame list of completionists by the 10th.

PARTICIPATION AND COMPLETION

Q: What counts as participation? Create or continue at least one work inspired by one of this year’s prompts. Q: What counts as completion? Creating work(s) inspired by at least one prompt from each day (or alts), for a total of 31 unique prompts. Q: Do I need to create 31 works? No. You can, if you want. Or you can create one work that you add to every day with a new prompt. Or several works that combine prompts. You can also update an existing work by adding new material with the current prompts. Q: Do I need to post my works somewhere to be a completionist or a participant? No. Q: How do you know I actually completed the challenge? We’ll take your word for it! Q: Do I have to finish my work(s) to be a completionist? No, you can post WIPs. And you’re not obligated to finish them in October, but if you want it to count towards being a completionist, you must have completed 31 prompts by the end of the month. So for example, if you’re writing a long fic and you fit 31 different prompts into the writing you did in October, it’s okay if that fic isn’t finished by the time October ends, you’ll still be a completionist. Q: Is co-writing/illustrating allowed? Yes, absolutely, and it would count towards being a completionist for both/all of you. Q: Is there a min/max limit on word count for written works? No. Q: Is there a min/max limit of quality for art? No. Q: Do I have to do something each day to be a completionist? No. You can skip days whenever you want, and as long as 31 daily prompts (or alts) are in your works done in October, you can be a completionist. For example, if you wrote a 1000-word ficlet that covers prompts in days 2, 3, and 17, you can check all three days off your list even though it’s only one work. Q: Is this challenge just for fics? No! Artworks, GIFsets, headcannons, rec lists, poetry, moodboards, or any other creative work is encouraged. Q: Can I combine Whumptober with other creation challenges? Absolutely, as long as the other challenges allow it too.

PROMPTS

Q: How do the prompts work? There are FOUR prompts per day: a theme and three ideas. You can use one, two, three, or all four prompts for each day. If you don’t like any of the daily prompts, you can substitute one of the ALT prompts instead. Q: How strictly/literally should we interpret the prompts? As literally or as figuratively as you want. For example, if the theme is WATER, that could mean drowning, waterboarding, raining, swimming, take place underwater, be lost at sea, construct a metaphor about a character’s mood that changes like a flowing river, crying, or whatever else you can think of that fits that theme. Q: Can I combine prompts? Is there a limit on how many? No limit and combine as many as you’d like. If you create a work that checks off multiple prompts, that work will count for a fill of multiple prompts. You need to address 31 different prompts to be an official completionist, but you don’t have to produce 31 separate works.

WORKS

Q: What’s whump? Hurting a character, whether that’s physically, emotionally, intellectually, psychologically, or any other way you can think of. Comfort afterwards is optional. Angst is emotional whump, so it counts. Q: How do I know if it’s whumpy enough? If your character is just mildly inconvenienced, it probably needs more whump. However, no participant has to prove whumpiness to the mods. Whatever you write is up to you. Q: What kind of characters can I create for? Anything. Generic “whumpee,” OC, PC, NPC, major characters, minor characters, or whatever you want. There are no limits. Q: Does it have to take place in a specific fandom? No, you can create works for your own worlds or for fandoms or for both. You can also create more generic or pan-fandom works. You can do cross-overs or use OCs, whatever you want. Q: Can I create AI-created works? We will not reblog or promote any works we know to be generative AI-created. Q: Is there anything we’re not allowed to write? As long as it contains whump and is based on our prompts, it’s fine. Please courtesy tag your works if you post them so people who follow the #whumptober2024 tag can filter according to their preferences. Q: What about sex, minor characters, and potentially disturbing content? You can create whatever works are legal in your country and post them accordingly. Please courtesy tag anything you think might be objectionable if you post to Tumblr so people who follow the #whumptober2024 tag can filter according to their preferences.

POSTING

Q: Where can I post my work? Post where and how you want. You don’t even have to (cross)post it to Tumblr. Just keep in mind if it’s not on Tumblr we will not be able to add it to the blog archive. There is an AO3 archive for Whumptober 2024, as well as the parent collection for works completed outside of the event. Q: Can I start posting early? You can, but this is an October event and wouldn’t it be more fun with everyone doing it at the same time? We won’t be reblogging any work predating October 1st. Q: Can I post late? Yes. For the sake of our hardworking Post Fairies, only a day’s themes will be reblogged to @whumptober-archive each day of October. But you can post whenever. Some of us are still working on and posting Whumptober fics from years ago. Q: Do I have to use your tags? Only on Tumblr and only if you want us to reblog your work on @whumptober-archive. Q: How do I have my works reblogged to the archive? Properly tagged posts will be reblogged to @whumptober-archive. If you want the official archive blog to reblog you, post on Tumblr and tag correctly (see this FAQ link for more info on tagging). Please note not all posts will be reblogged each day. Q: Can we @ you? For questions and comments, of course. We’ll be getting a flood of notifications, so if you really want us to see something send an ask. Q: Can I cross post on other blogs? Yes, multiple platforms and blogs are perfectly acceptable, as long as they allow cross-posting (to us). You can also post different works to different accounts under different names, without posting them everywhere at once. If you post some works under your main and others under an alt blog, that’s fine for completionist purposes. Q: Can I upload/repost my Whumptober content to other social media platforms? Of course! We’ve created an AO3 Collection to archive any fics posted there, which can be found here. The blog is the official archive, so please respect the personal boundaries of any whumpers in your social circle (don’t out anyone as a participant who would prefer not to be outed).

Most importantly, have fun, create, and enjoy all the whump posted this October!

[oathena11-writes]

Relieved that the Acolyte is cancelled for more than one reason. Yay, no more Jedi critical stuff to worry about.

But also, now I don’t have to worry about new information and my brains annoying need to keep canon in mind even if I’m utterly breaking it. No additional little details to keep in mind in the future.

I am writing fanfic for the Acolyte, after all. Yord is my new blorbo and I have been having fun writing fic with him. Definitely planning on having some fun writing whumptober prompts- including Yord being stuck in a time loop. Of course further planning has to wait for whumptober prompts to actually drop next week.

Of course that doesn’t mean I don’t have other fics I’m working on… last I checked my backlog of completed but not posted oneshots was somewhere between 30 and 40.

I just… have a new fixation on putting Yord in situations. Hoping to finish those soon so I can post but life happens, so we’ll see.

[oathena11-writes]

FoxQuin Week 2025 Quote Prompts

Day 1: "What do you mean you're married?!"

Day 2: “Unfortunately, General, I would need to be a sentient being for that.”

Day 3: "This is my only day off in weeks and you want me to help you commit a crime?"

Day 4: “The Guard is not the same as the GAR, General.”

Day 5: “The Guard doesn’t have a Jedi.”

Day 6: "Please refrain from kissing the commander while he is on duty, in front of a Senator, or shiny."

Day 7: "You arrested a Jedi?" "I was doing my JOB!" Alternates

"Is he always like this? Or is it just me?"

"Regretfully, General, I’m not considered a sentient being, but hey I'm sure you will do a good job“

"Put me down!"

"I will always find you."

"I could never hate you."

"I don't want to be like this forever"

"Why do you love me?"

"How are you still alive?"

"I’d know that arse anywhere"

"Why are you in the trash?"