#//these are basically the only 3 major events of the time period that were covered in my schooling

[daddyslilchickenfingers2]

KINKTOBER (reuploaded)

i <3 giving head (Matt)

Request: I need a Matt one where he overstimulates the reader with his tongue he can be dominant or submissive or wtv but he just doesn’t wanna stop giving the reader head/can you do one where matt wakes up horny and wakes y/n up by eating her out, and then it just goes on from there(I <3 giving head)

Warnings: fingering, oral(fem), face sitting, that’s basically it

A/N: this is kind of a head cannon and pretty short

A/N2: so sorry this is 2 days late, i was on a cruise and had no service!!

3rd Person pov

Matt loves giving his girlfriend head. It doesn’t matter where they are, whether he was feeling dominant or submissive, or anything else for that matter. He’s going to find a way to give her head, even if that means leaving an important event just so he could eat her out in the van. It was such a major turn-on for him that he didn’t even give a shit about getting himself off. Matt felt as if his sole purpose in life was to eat his girl out, having her cum on his face and fingers.

He loved the way her thick thighs wrapped around his head and squeezed, especially when she sat on his face. That’s an entire turn-on in itself, she used to be nervous about hurting him and still is cautious not to put her full weight down on him, but when Matt forces her down onto his face it’s like heaven. Y/n wasn’t complaining either, she absolutely loved the attention and praises he gives her. She always tries to get Matt off after but he almost never allows it if they’re out, claiming that letting him eat her out was enough until they got home, where he would fuck her properly.

Sometimes, Y/n would even wake up with Matt between her legs, already eating her out. And on the days where it wasn’t possible for him to do his favorite activity, due to her period, Matt would spoil Y/n. The day would be full of cuddles and whatever she needed from him, cuddling was usually enough though. They’re both so desperately in love with each other and that was just Matt’s way of saying ‘I appreciate you’ while also satisfying himself. He just loved the way she tastes and how easy it is for him to make her feel amazing.

•••

Matt needed to apologize, so today was one of those days where he woke Y/n up by eating her out. They had a little disagreement last night and instead of staying over at his house like planned, she went home. Matt had felt bad the whole night once he realized he was the one in the wrong and wanted to make it up to her. He woke up extra early to go get waffles and french toast from her favorite diner before heading to her apartment. Obviously he had a key, so he quietly let himself into her home with all his goodies.

Matt even went the extra mile to buy her a bouquet of her favorite flowers and a stuffed animal as an ‘I’m sorry’ present. Looking at the time, he noticed it was only 6:53am and there was no way Y/n would be up yet. Opting to put the food in her fridge to heat up later, Matt made his way upstairs to Y/n’s bedroom, sneakily crawling into bed next to her. He slowly pulling the covers down, not wanting to wake the sleepy girl, before gently rolling her onto her back.

This was something Matt had mastered at this point and he was very happy to see Y/n only slept in panties and one of his shirts. The elder boy started getting to work after pulling off her panties and settling himself between her legs. He groaned at the sight of his girlfriends, already slightly wet, cunt and dove straight in. Matt started off by kitty licking through her folds before sucking on his fingers to get them nice and wet so he could start fingering her.

Once he deemed his fingers wet enough, he slowly pushed one finger in, rubbing across her velvety walls. Y/n wasn’t yet phased by this action so he immediately added a second finger. Matt’s fingers were moving at a fast pace as his lips enclosed around her clit. His other hand was beneath the youngers shirt, toying with both of her nipples. He wanted Y/n to wake up so badly, wanting her to pull his hair and be begging to cum.

He was still pleased with the small moans and whines coming from her lips but he wanted more. Matt decided to move his face away from Y/n’s clit and start kissing her neck instead, still pumping his fingers into her. Y/n let out a long whine as she slowly woke up, letting out a loud moan just a few seconds later as Matt added a third finger. “Maaaattt, what are you doing?” she whined out as he started sucking light hickies into her skin.

“Shhh, just let it happen honey.” he told her as she fully woke up. “Don’t leave any marks, love!” the younger girl loudly whined, trying to wriggle away from the kisses, but Matt ignored her, saying, “Mine!” and continued kissing her neck. Matt then went back down to eat her out again, keeping his three fingers in her while sucking on her clit. “M-Matt faster please!” Y/n begged.

Matt switched his mouth and fingers, now sucking on her core and rubbing her clit in fast, tight circles. He was so turned on right now that he could cum in his pants just from her moans. “Oh Matt! I love having your slutty mouth on my pussy!” the girl cried, watching her boyfriends blue eyes lazily look up at her. Matt started to messily eat her out, squeezing and grabbing onto different parts of her body with his free hand.

This had the younger girl so close already, so when Matt pinched one of Y/n’s nipples, it sent her falling over the edge. “Matt I’m gonna- Oh fuck!” is all she gave as a warning before cumming all over his face. Matt wasn’t done yet though, as he continued eating her out at the same pace, quickly overstimulating his girlfriend. Almost immediately, Y/n was cumming again, squirming away from Matt as he kept moaning and sucking on her pussy.

“Good morning sexy mama.” Matt smirked as Y/n caught her breath. Matt wore a cocky grin, feeling his face wet with his girls cum, he loved making her cum. “I- Woah, okay— Good morning!” she joked back breathlessly. “I’m sorry for our fight, I hope this makes up for it” Matt said with a pout .

•••

Another thing Matt does, is get hyper-focused on making Y/n cum by head and will just continue eating her out until she’s screaming the safe word. On the day this happened, it was like a dream come true, the day had just overall been great. The pairs day, mostly consisted of lots of cuddling, soft makeouts, and just overall complimenting each other…

Matt’s pov

Today was great, I woke up this morning and went straight to my girlfriends apartment for breakfast. We made and ate breakfast together, which was fun, and now we were cuddled up on the couch. Y/n was sitting sideways across my lap while I watched some random show, keeping a tight arm wrapped around her waist. Y/n moved her head a bit and started placing little kisses on my neck, making me smile.

“What are you doing?” I softly giggled as I brought my free hand down to rub her thigh. She continued leaving kisses on my neck though, but now they were slower and had become more sloppy. Y/n kissed her way to my ear, “I’m giving my boyfriend some well deserved attention.” she giggled back as I had her readjust so she was now straddling me.

Y/n pulled back to look at me, her nails now running across the back of my neck, “Well he likes the attention so don’t stop.” I smirked. I was admiring my girls cleavage when her index finger and thumb moved my face up to look at her. We held eye contact for a moment as her thumb ran across my bottom lip, making my dick twitch beneath her.

“Do you think I deserve attention?” Y/n/n pouted, looking down at me with those big e/y/c eyes. I was starting to get hard from all the tension as I stared up at her, stupidly. “Yeah, I think so…” I replied quietly, mesmerized by my girlfriend. “Yeah, you think so? Are you gonna be a good boy and give me that attention?” she asked seductively.

3rd Person pov

Matt knew he was fucked the second he looked into her eyes, he immediately began to give up control. “Y-You can use my mouth.” he quietly stated, Y/n got off the couch and pulled him up with her. “Yeah? Can I ride that pretty, little face of yours?” she asked, resulting in Matt literally begging her to do so.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her in the bedroom where he quickly took off his shirt and unbuttoned his pants/belt, keeping them pulled up still. Y/n watched her boyfriend walk over to her while she laughed and took off her pants. “Naked, now!” Matt groaned, not pleased with how seemingly slow Y/n was getting undressed.

Once Y/n was naked, the two got into position, Matt was flat on his back while Y/n sat on his lap “Matt, baby, c’mon get comfortable, you’re gonna eat me out all night like a good boy.” the younger told him. That’s exactly what Matt did too, not stopping until Y/n said they were done. She instantaneously climbed over his face while he laid down. She was going to tease him with her words some more, but Matt was over it.

He pulled her down onto his awaiting face, forcefully holding down the girls thighs. She loved when Matt was whiny and impatient, because it always felt so good when he would rush into something, just to start pleasing her. Just like many nights before, Matt was sucking on her clit, flicking it with his tongue in the process.

Grabbing onto the bed frame for stability, Y/n gasped, not expecting that. “God!— Fuck Matty! You’re such a needy whore!” the girl whined as he started sliding his hands across her perfect body. Now that Y/n could control her own movements, she decided to tease the older boy again.

She sat straight up and started touching her own tits, groping them. She was also pinching her nipples and rubbing them, knowing it makes her extremely wet. “Look at you babe, you look so pathetic underneath me!” she teased Matt, causing the sub to whine as he replaced her hands with his, twisting her nipples.

Not being able to speak, Matt just let out whines and moans against her pussy from the dirty talk. “Damn Matt! You’ve got me so close already!” Y/n grunted, causing Matt to whimper. He moved one hand to her ass and one to her pussy so he could finger her, immediately slamming three fingers into her.

This is what sent Y/n over the edge, his rapid movements never halted. Matt lightly bit her clit before Y/n started screaming out his name. “Fuck! Fuck— Matt! Oh Matt, I’m gonna cum on your face! Feels so good— I’m cumming!” Y/n basically yelled. In response, Matt just started humming against her core. She came down from her first high, only to continue having Matt eat her out all night.

All work is subject to copyright

©Daddyschickenfingers 2024

Do not steal, use, or reupload my work

[galadrieljones]

Zabel Interview, Team Delusional Round-up, re: the past few weeks (months?) 💫

(Based on an ask from @natural-blue-26! This post contains spoilers, pertaining to the script leak. If you don't want them, turn back!!)

First, let me say that @twdmusicboxmystery has posted an excellent video covering this topic over at her youtube channel. This post is jumping off of that, with some additional takes and analysis by me!

Also, note that I wanted to wait to post or to talk about this too much publicly until today, as I think there are a lot of genuine shippers who might be let down right now. Not all c*rylers are unhappy, unruly people. Many are shippers just like us, and even though I don't ship it, I support them. I am only putting this in the Team Delusional tag, so anyone who sees this is seeing it either because they follow me, follow the tag, follow someone who follows me, or they went looking for it themselves. I am not making drama or inciting a "ship war." If you're here out of anger, I suggest you turn back. I am just going to go over what I see.

The Facts

There has been a recent spate of events that have lead Team Delusional to a rare and more than modest resurgence. Until now, we were mostly just working with templates and symbolism, with a healthy dose of informed meta and speculation: We were seeing how the season 4/5 template was beginning to unfold toward the Grady arc, which includes Carol in a major role.

BUT. Let's check in with what's been going on over the past six months. A lot of this new resurgence starts with Emily's multiple trips to Europe for TWD cons in the past six months, integrated with her (yet unrealized) insinuation that she has been in studio recording one or more songs that Beth sang on TWD. Massive financial burdens aside, these are unusual undertakings for Emily. While she has done many fan cons over the years, visiting Europe twice in a four month period is bizarre (as well as expensive). She also talked openly and excitedly in the panel at French comic-con about how cool it would be if Beth returned. Further, Emily's "re-recording" of "Parting Glass" and possibly other TWD songs was a fairly big announcement for us at the time, but we haven't seen any more on it since. Speculation went everywhere from "She'll be singing in a flashback in Daryl Dixon season 2" to "Her songs will be part of the soundtrack" to "She'll actually BE in season 2, singing, in the present moment."

A lot of these things, if they were spread out over a 5 year period, wouldn't matter at all. But the fact that they're all taking place in the six-month run-up to Daryl Dixon s. 2, when we've already been able to speculate her tenuous return based on templates and other tells, is exciting. It's been almost ten years to the day of Beth's *death.* Why now? The timing on all of this is very suspicious.

Now, a few weeks ago, there was a LEAKED SCRIPT excerpt, which was claimed to be the final scene of DD 2.6. In the script, we learn that Isabelle has died and is appearing to Daryl in the form of a hallucination while he fights walkers in the Chunnel. This was confusing for many reasons. First, we already know, given their ruthless advertisement of the fact, that season 3 is already being filmed in Spain. So why are they headed to England? Also, where the hell is Laurent? Further, Isabelle's death, while unsurprising to many of us, creates some new questions. Many members of a certain *other* ship were ecstatic to learn about Isabelle's death, as Daryl/Isabelle ship rumors have been rampant in the fandom basically since season 1. Forget the fact that the same ship FREAKED out over Daryl/Leah three years ago (a clear nothingburger). Any time another female character even comes into contact with Daryl, a notable portion of fans must make their "displeasure" widely known.

Moving on. Yesterday, an article came out summarizing a yet-unreleased interview with David Zabel in SFX magazine. You can read it here. In the interview, Zabel makes the following comment about "C*ryl":

"The obvious thing to do, and the easier thing to do would be, 'Okay, now they're falling in love and they're a couple.' But I always felt like that would be a mistake, because it would feel like you were going into the TV book of tricks," he explains. "To me, there was never a question that [their connection] was something other than what it is, and what it seems to want to be, and why it works so well."

Zabel then goes on to hint at a highly-contentious romance with Daryl and Isabelle:

"What happened in season one was that you could see a connection forming, for sure," he says. "We didn't manufacture that but we left room for it. A lot of season two is about the development of that and where that relationship goes, and that little surrogate family of Isabelle, Daryl and Laurent."

Now, the full interview doesn't come out until September 4, at which point, we may get a clearer picture of what's going on. However, it seems that Zabel is politely declining the "C*ryl as romance" narrative. In the quote, he uses the excuse of wanting to avoid TV tropes; however, he then goes on to say (in a portion of the quote that is being wildly misinterpreted among the c*ryl ship) that "To [him]," there was "never a question that [their connection was something other than what it is." He then equates "what it is" with "what it seems to want to be" and "why it works so well." The misinterpretation is coming with that second part. "What it is" = friendship. Zabel is clearly saying that c*ryl "seems to want to be" exactly "what it is," aka: a sacred friendship and nothing more. He's basically saying that this already "works so well," and so why fix what ain't broke? Why create a romance between two characters who are clearly just very, very good friends when he could go another, more interesting direction?

Certain c*ryl accounts have misinterpreted that section of the quote. They seem to think he's saying that the c*ryl ship "seems to want to be" something else, something other than what it is. But if you follow the grammatical logic of the sentence, you can see that they're wrong here. It wants to be what it already is, which is friendship. Of course, to c*rylers, what it already is = romance, but that isn't canon. There's no proof of this. In fact, there's more proof to the contrary, that they're best friends. They're family. Carol was married to somebody else, raised a child with him, still holds a contentious relationship with the other man, allowed Daryl to toil away in the woods alone for five years because she needed to stay with her husband...

In addition to factual evidence from the show, the C*ryl Friendship Campaign has been going strong on social media for MONTHS. In her video this morning, twdmusicboxmystery also goes over quasi-recent comments from Angela Kang which are UNSUPPORTIVE of a c*ryl romance. The notion that this perspective is coming out of nowhere, which some fans are claiming as a way of blaming Zabel for either lying or betraying his fanbase (and the actors), is, frankly, absurd.

Please note that I'm not saying that nobody should ship c*ryl just because it isn't canon. That would be silly. I ship non-canon ships all the time. BETHYL is a non-canon ship! I've written whole fanfics for Beth and Daryl (well, I've tried lol, but most remain unfinished). It's one of the funnest parts of being in a fandom.

What I'm saying is that c*ryl is NOT CANON. It never has been. And the people who get angry about this, who want to get professionals fired over this, who think that they're entitled to getting exactly what they want, lest the show perish, are wrong. They're doing it wrong. It's totalitarian and, frankly, obsessive. This is not how you be in a fandom, and my interpretation here of the Zabel interview in conjunction with the C*ryl Friendship Campaign is that they are TRYING to let this highly volatile and frankly unpleasant faction of the fandom down lightly in an effort to get them off tptb's AND the actors' backs. They don't want to deal with this shit anymore. And by the way, they're actually not leading anyone on. They've been insanely clear here, in their rebranding of c*ryl to a platonic ship, as to what's happening and what's going on, and while I really do feel for the good people who may feel let down by this, I am GLAD to see that the showrunners aren't going to heed the demands of one tiny, loud faction of a giant fandom, and that despite the haters, they're going to tell the story they want to tell.

ANYWAY.

Over the past 48 hours, things have gotten...weird. Zabel's interview dropped less than a day after the TWD Skybound social media accounts appear to have...posted a Bethyl edit out of nowhere. @sweetz1919 also posted early this morning, bringing together a few more Beth-related posts on either official accounts or *near* official accounts, which post promotional material, and which are followed by AMC TWD. One of these posts is a repost on twitter by Scott Gimple, who so rarely posts on social media, that any time he does, it's like a unicorn, symbolically notable and certainly important.

Now, pertaining to the Zabel interview, another wide complaint taking place in the c*ryl camp is that Zabel is likely LYING or he is being taken grossly out of context, because if c*ryl isn't happening, AND Isabelle is going to die, then how could Daryl POSSIBLY get his happy ending?

THIS is where Team Delusional comes in. Of course, we have our theories. Most people think WE'RE the delusional ones. And maybe we are! Lol. I don't really care. Most of our theories are crafted through a TON of hard, circumstantial, pattern-driven, and symbolic evidence, evidence taken from IRL sources, and hypotheses made after paying very close attention to what's been going on and making LOTS and LOTS of connections over a period of many years. Me, myself, I've only been here for four, but some of you guys have been doing this for almost ten, and for that, I salute you! As I said earlier, TD has been theorizing Beth's "return" in DD2 based greatly on symbolic and template-driven evidence alone for a while. A lot of what we're seeing now on social media is playing directly into our hand.

Emily in Europe multiple times in a 4mo period, including a trip to Paris, with her latest stint being just a week before "official" filming for season 3 was set to begin? Emily re-recording tracks from TWD? Leaked script pages in which Daryl mentions Beth specifically AND suggest that Isabelle is going to die? Romantic!C*ryl = not happening? HOW could Daryl possibly get his happy ending now? The rest is TD theory, ie: WHY we think Beth will come back to manifest Daryl's "happy ending." Speculation and theories on how she could come back, the connection to Spain/England/France, that's basically all we talk about lol, each of us with our own interests and niche perspectives, all arriving at the same point.

SO while there is still no proof that she is coming back, all of this is a Good thing, actually. For us. Because while everyone is looking around, freaking out, wondering what's going to happen next, we are seeing and able to read a LOT of signs that others ignore. And rightly so! There's no reason the rest of the GA needs to think that Beth is legitimately coming back. That would overshadow Carol's role in season 2, which is significant. It's just important that the GA REMEMBERS who Beth IS, that she was important to Daryl, and that hey, people used to really like Beth, and they liked Beth and Daryl together, and that was hopeful, and nice for him, and he hasn't had much "hope" or "niceness" since, and wouldn't it be nice if he could have that again...? All of these things are really there to do just this: let the c*ryl ship down easy, and remind people that Daryl once held a very strong connection to a woman whose life "ended" too soon, and who has really never been mentioned again.

While I really have no idea what's coming next, I wonder if we'll begin to see more astroturfed discussion on Beth's *death.* How weird it was, what the hell was going on at Grady, etc. If we don't see it in promotional material, we may hear about it in-show. Because if Daryl is casually mentioning Beth (along with Merle and Glenn) to Isabelle's ghost/vision in episode 2.6, then this likely implies that he's told her about Beth before, and that he's talked to her about what happened. It implies that Isabelle knows who Beth is, which would be a truly insane development, since he's literally never talked about her to anyone, including Carol, as far as we know.

So anyway, as usual, we should all just keep our heads down, chins to our chest, keep hope alive, but with a balanced sense of anticipation. We still really don't know what's going to happen, so it's important to be rational, but it also won't hurt to have a little faith 💫

[ollieoliveoboelo22]

Turn Week 2024: Day 3 - Different Time Period.

Now is the perfect time for me to bust out the College Band AU that's been invading my head for over a year. All because the sax TA looks like Benedict Arnold from TURN... I kid you not that's the origin. Is this a stretch for the prompt? Maybe but you get it anyway. Shout out to @phociian for jumping on my AU and rolling along with it.

There are a lot of characters, so I'm gonna cut down the list quite a bit for TURN characters. I also made most of them music majors because if I have to suffer music theory and aural skills, so do they.

George Washington: The Director of Bands

Everyone loves him, they show up to practice for him. His office hours usually have students in there just to chat and get some good advice. Also conducts the Wind Symphony.

Horatio Gates: The Assistant Director of Bands

The band director everyone loathes and makes them consider quitting. Usually a group of students decides to protest if they find out it's just him for a rehearsal and will get milkshakes or chug milk to get sick during rehearsal.

Lafayette: Drum Major

He was an international student his first year and decided to full on move and transfer to the United States. The Washington's usually host him. Has a ton of money, but everyone thinks he's broke because he only eats ramen.

Benjamin Tallmadge: Horn/Mellophone

Music and History Major. Absolute history nerd, but we love him for it. He's either usually in the library researching or in the music building practicing. Due to his friends he knows all the drama in the band but he wants nothing to do with it.

Caleb Brewster: Percussion (tenors)

Music Major. Caleb does gigs all over town at bars and clubs, usually with Jack Custis. He's only really in college to keep playing because he loves it. He's roommates with Ben, and their apartment basically became the designated hangout space.

Anna Strong: Color Guard (flags)

Journalism Major. Anna overhears a lot of gossip from the color guard. She's the reason why Ben knows so much. That and Abe usually causes some sort of drama that she has to drag him out again with the help of Mary.

Alexander Hamilton: Trumpet

PoliSci and Music Major. The very epitome of a trumpet personality. Along with John Laurens, they get up to far too many shenanigans. Including taking shots during a performance on stage.

Peggy Shippen: Majorette

Communications Major. Peggy has a long distance boyfriend, John Andre, at their rival school. Usually a good bit of jokes are made, but they're a very cute couple and take pictures together at the rivalry football game. The only reason she came to this university was because her father insisted on it. Though she transfers going into her Junior year.

Benedict Arnold

Saxophone TA (the thing that started it all). Arnold is really good at running the sax section through rehearsals and they're one of the best on the band. Even argued with Gates when he was crossing the line with comments towards students. And due to the music department (Congress) he left and went to the masters program at their rival university. (Still working on the flaws on this plot line)

Yes I know there are people missing, I haven't gotten to them as I have a lot on the aides and the other generals. I know not all instruments were covered, they are in my master doc. Yes, the specific details come from real life events. Thank you for reading

[purplesurveys]

1663

What were an average day’s tasks at your favorite job you’ve had so far? Working with big brands/clients = campaigns around the clock, all year long. That said I’m constantly brainstorming for and conceptualizing PR proposals for consumer campaigns; looking for 50-100 influencers at a time who can best fit my running campaigns; I write a lot and cover stuff from press releases to event scripts to lifestyle articles; working with suppliers for stuff like PR kits, mounting events, brand sponsorships; and I help in handling even financial aspects like ensuring talents are paid after they fulfill their contract. The work is very 360º in nature, is fast-paced and you can usually tell early on if a new hire is gonna last or not depending on how fast they can adjust/keep up.

Does your house have an separate laundry room? Idk if it counts as a room...but we did erect this makeshift ‘room’ at the rooftop for laundry stuff. It’s basically a super tiny customized room we had made to fit the washing machine because those things just take up so much space indoors and usually end up being an eyesore.

Do your parents still help you financially? Technically, yes. I never ask for money anymore (unless I have to borrow) and I always make a transfer every payday, but they do remain in charge of managing the bills and buying groceries. I imagine whatever I contribute becomes absorbed in the bills and whatnot, but for the most part it’s fair to say they still support me.

List 3 things you can see from where you’re sitting? I can see my phone, the TV, and my earphones.

Do you go by any nicknames? I just go by Robyn most of the time, but I have a few relatives who call me Byn.

Are you a very talkative person? Depends on the crowd.

What stereotype about your age group do you definitely live up to? I’m obsessed with social media and it’s a must for me to check each of my feeds on a daily, hell hourly, basis. Except for TikTok I guess as I find that shit annoying and most edits cringey for the most part.

When was the last time it rained where you live? Thursday. Such a refreshing sight, too; it hasn’t rained in months.

Where is your local polling place for elections? My village’s clubhouse.

What was the topic of the last documentary you watched? It was that new MH370 documentary that came out on Netflix a month ago. Around that same period I also started on In the Name of God which is about Korean cults, but found it too upsetting to be able to finish it.

Does your car have a backup camera? I’m not sure what a backup camera is but I do have a dashcam in case some idiots mess with my car and pretend to get run over.

Have either of your parents ever been in trouble with the law? My mom for some minor traffic violations. I don’t think my dad’s ever run into an issue; he’s barely in the country anyway HAHA.

What was the last restaurant you ate at? It’s a local coffee shop called Daily Habit.

Are you in the same mood most days or are your emotions all over the place? The only time I’m all over the place is when I’m nearing my period; otherwise I can manage my emotions quite well.

Have you ever had a pet that lived to be really old for its breed/species? Kimi lived to be 14, which was way longer than I ever expected. I thought that little dude was going to last forever with how he always bounced back from every single health scare. 14 years is above average for a dog, but I’m still very impressed and amazed by him.

Do you have a preferred brand of bottled water? I avoid bottled water whenever I can since all of them have a ~taste.

Have you ever spilled food or drink in your car? Once or twice. My bigger issue is when the dogs throw up in the car hahaha. Much harder to handle and clean up.

Is your skin more oily, dry, or combination? Dryness is a major problem for my skin at the moment.

Have you ever been in a relationship that was progressing faster than you wanted it to? I don’t think so. My previous one had an okay pacing for the most part, but it was the rapid crashing and burning towards the end of it that really threw me off-guard and messed me up mentally.

What kind of flooring is in the room you’re in? Hardwood.

Pop quiz! Who is the prime minister of Germany? Germany doesn’t have a Prime Minister. < Ok there you go then, haha.

What was the last strong scent you smelled? My black forest-flavored coffee. Not the biggest fan of this variant but it’s the only kind left in the pantry (and it’s the only one left since I avoided it this entire time hahaha), and I wanted to drink coffee before sleeping so here we are.

Are you more prone to overthinking things, or being too impulsive? I’m a very toxic combination of both. Overthinking makes me impulsive. When was the last time you wore an article of clothing that wasn’t yours? A month ago when I borrowed my sister’s sweatpants for an event.

Which one of your friends do you see the least often? My college friends BY A MILE.

Do you know anyone with a life-threatening food allergy? A number of them have food allergies but idk they themselves don’t seem to concerned by it?? Like all they need are antihistamines and that’s all I ever hear about it.

When was the last time you were outside? This morning when my family went to Sunday mass.

Who was the last person you sent a birthday card to? How old did they turn? I don’t send birthday cards...not a practice here.

[A/N: another two-in-one just because]

- Past -

Are you happy with your upbringing? No. I know my elders tried their best, but sometimes the best still isn’t good enough. I grew up in a very crowded half of a duplex; my parents were barely home (something for which I hold no grudge – they were just working to make us as comfortable as possible back then); I had relatives who drank and smoke on a sickeningly regular basis – sometimes leading to embarrassing, loud, public, and physical fights that the entire neighborhood would be witness to; and there was rarely a platform to be a kid. We never did anything during summer vacations and I can’t remember most of my childhood birthdays because there had been no plans for them.

I’m not resentful and have moved past that shitfest, but I imagine I’d do everything in my power for my hypothetical kids’ childhood to be entirely different.

Who was your first best friend? Someone in kindergarten named Kaye. Who was your first love? Not naming any people we’re trying to healthily move past :)

Did you ever attend any school dances? Like...prom? Yeah I had to go to my school’s own prom because it was required (ew), then I got invited to be a date at another school’s senior ball.

Did you play any sports growing up? Table tennis. I’m pretty sure I had potential in football/futsal because we had to take up a few sessions in school and was surprisingly an ok goalkeeper lol – even the PE teacher pointed it out – but I never pursued it.

Did you have a special blanket when you were younger? I didn’t.

What movie reminds you of your childhood? Toy Story, Shrek 2, and Finding Nemo.

Were you a picky eater as a child? Very picky. I only liked eating eggs and hotdogs. Took hours to finish anything else.

What’s your favorite memory with a family member? Growing up with my eldest cousin on my mom’s side. He’s always been an older brother rather than a cousin.

Did you ever have to share a bedroom? Yes I shared one room with my parents and siblings until I was 10.

Are there any smells that remind you of the past? There’s a very specific coffee smell that would hurl me right back to my childhood if I ever smelled it again. My maternal grandparents always drank coffee together in the morning, and they always used the same combination of brands (instant coffee, creamer, etc) that would result in the same aromatic smell every day.

Did you play outside or inside as a child? Outside. Indoors was crowded enough with more than 10 people squished in three small rooms, so if we wanted to run around and be kids we had to ask permission to play outdoors.

What was your first favorite song? Continued from last weekend. Idk man, something from Hi-5 maybe? Or High School Musical? Were you ever pranked at a sleepover? Hmm, I don’t think so.

- Present -

What’s your favorite color to wear? I like olive green, burgundy, and mustard yellow.

Who is your favorite musical artist? Currently and has been for a while, BTS.

Do you have any pets? I have two dogs. Kimi also hangs out with them in the living room, just as an urn on the coffee table hehe. :)

If so, how many and what kind? I have a beagle and a Yorkie.

Do you live with your parents or on your own? I live with my parents and siblings.

Are you in school? Nopes.

Do you have a job? I do.

If so, do you like it? I don’t love it, but like I’ve also got no plans to leave it any time soon. I’m still learning and I work really well with everyone; there’s really no reason for me to leave.

How often are you on the internet? Everyday...this survey must be quite old, because I think a good majority of people have at least one reason to go online at least once a day at this point.

On average, how much time a day do you spend on your appearance? 0 minutes, 5 minutes if I have to show up to work or at a work-related event.

Do you have any children? I don’t have any, no.

Are you in a relationship? Nope.

Are you subscribed to any streaming services? Spotify, YouTube, Disney+ yeah.

What time do you usually go to sleep and wake up? These days I’ll sleep anywhere between midnight to 2 AM at the latest; I usually wake up at 7.

- Future -

Do you have any long-term goals? Sure, but they’re all leisure-related – like going to Wrestlemania or traveling to a different continent and experiencing jet lag for the first time hahaha. I’m not a fan of making work/career-oriented goals; it brings in unwanted pressure more than anything.

Do you want children? (Or more if you already have any) I used to want to have kids, but ever since my failed relationship made me stoic I’ve been emotionless about the idea of having a family. I’m just not interested anymore; and kids annoy me these days lol so.

Where would you like to be in your career five years from now? In a higher position, with an even higher salary. Only time will tell if I’ll still be on the agency side or actually make the switch to the brand side by then haha.

Do you think you’ll ever move from the city you’re in? For sure. I have plans for that anyway; I’ve stayed here for more than 20 years and I know that eventually I’ll crave a new environment.

How do you hope your life will look in 10 years? I hope I’ll be more independent by then.

Do you think you’re heading in that direction? Bit by bit, yeah.

[tidefated]

TideFated Comprehensive Timeline

This post is primarily for my own personal reference on this blog ( meaning I would appreciate it if it were not reblogged, and also that it may contradict information found elsewhere ) so that I can stop acting like time is a wobbly thing that doesn’t exist. It covers major plot points/happenings of all the fandoms on this blog in one place, as well as some relevant real-life events for a sense of scale/scope, and is liable to be expanded upon over time, as presently it only covers the bare skeletal minimum. Note that for all PotC dates I have chosen to follow the timeline set by @oceanfoamed [x]. 

1665 ― Armando Salazar is born

1696 ― Henry Avery makes a deal with Nassau's governor, Sir Nicholas Trott, enabling the beginning of the ‘pirate issue’ on Providence Island. [historical]

1683 ― Honjô Souma ( Joji ) is born.

1686 ― Cutler Beckett is born.

1709 ― Armando Salazar sails into the Devil’s Triangle.

1714-1715 ― PotC: The Price of Freedom

1715 ― Black Sails: S1-S3

1715-1716 ― Black Sails: S4

1729 ― PotC: Curse of the Black Pearl

1730 ― PotC: Dead Man’s Chest

1730-1731 ― PotC: At World’s End

1750 ― PotC: On Stranger Tides

1750 ― Edward Pellew is born

1752 ― PotC: Dead Men Tell No Tales

1754-1763 ― French and Indian War. [historical]

1767 ― William Bush is born

1775-1783 ― American Revolutionary War. [historical]

1793-1794 ― Hornblower: The Even Chance

1794-1795 ― Hornblower: Examination for Lieutenant

1795-1798 ― Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil

1798( August 03 ) ― Under the command of Admiral Nelson, the British fleet destroys the French navy in the Battle of the Nile. Napoleon’s army is cut off from supplies and communication. [historical]

1798-1801 ― Hornblower: Frogs and Lobsters

1801-1802 ― Hornblower: Mutiny/Retribution

1803-1815 ― Napoleonic Wars. [historical]

1803-1804 ― Hornblower: Loyalty 

1804 ― Hornblower: Duty 

[wipbigbang]

2021 Schedule + FAQ

Schedule

All times are by 8:59pm PST. Convert time zones.

Sign-ups Begin- April 1st

Sign-ups Close- April 15th

Check In #1- April 22nd

Check In #2- May 15th

Snippets Due- June 1st

Art Claims Begin- June 17th

Check In #3- June 22nd

Check In #4- July 6th

Rough Drafts Due- July 15th

Posting Claims Begin- July 23rd

Posting Claims Ends- August 1st

Final Drafts/Art Due- August 7th

Posting Starts- August 8th

FAQ

What is the WIP Big Bang? Good question! This is a Big Bang with one goal in mind: to clean out your drafts folder. These are stories that were unfinished for whatever reason, that authors returned to and completed, and the art that goes with them!

Do I need a Livejournal/Dreamwidth/AO3/etc. account to participate? No! You don’t have to have an account on anything to participate, though you will need to have somewhere to post your finished work. Having one or more accounts will help for you to follow what is going on with the bang (we crosspost to Livejournal, Dreamwidth, Tumblr, and Twitter at the moment), but they are not required to participate. You can always leave comments anonymously or with an opensource ID.

Will I get emails about the bang? We do send out some emails, mostly for snippets and art claims and to ensure communication between authors and artists, but please do NOT rely on getting an email to remind you of due dates. We currently do not keep an updated email list of participants, so we only send individual emails as needed rather than mass emails.

However, email is the fastest way to communicate with the mods. If you have any questions or are having trouble communicating with your artist/author, please do email us! We will do our best to respond quickly.

Is there a minimum word count? 7,500 words, but the sky's the limit, right?

What do you mean by minimum word count to enter? This is a WIP Big Bang, therefore we ask you to have at least 500 words of your story drafted when you enter. It's okay if you have posted a few chapters of your fic already (you never know when the muse deserts you, after all), we just require you to refrain from posting more until posting begins here.

Is there anything not allowed? As long as you wrote it and you want to finish it, you're welcome to participate. Just bear in mind that original work is only allowed on AO3 if it has a fannish connection and might make it hard for artists to work with. But we'll make a dedicated post for that if there will be any.

What are 'Check Ins’? These are a way for us to see what you've been up to and for you to make sure you're still on track. It will give you a little nudge/reminder if you need it, but they are not compulsory.

What are the snippets requirements? In order to allow the artists to make art for the story they claimed, we require you to supply three snippets from your fic, between 500 – 1500 words each. The snippets will be sent to the artist after they have claimed your story. They're to help the artist match your story for artwork the best way he or she possibly can. It’s helpful to choose scenes or parts of scenes that you feel best represent your fic, but don’t feel like they have to be perfect to be submitted. Along with the snippets, we will send your artist the basic fic info and your email, so the two of you can collaborate more if you would both like.

What are the rough drafts requirements? For the rough drafts, stories should be at least 80% complete. You will not have to turn them in to us, just assure us that you are at that point. Anything less is at the discretion of the mods and those authors should speak to one of the mods asap.

What is, and do I need, a beta? A beta is basically a person who goes over your work to make sure that there are no spelling/grammatical errors and they can even be of assistance in helping you with story lines, etc. It is highly recommended that a beta looks over your work before posting. If you are having trouble finding a beta, try this post.

Where can I post my fic/art? Stories and art can be posted to your own personal journal, tumblr, ff-net, AO3, or wherever you like. For those of you with AO3 accounts, we will set up a collection that will go live on the day of the posting. Also, we've enabled moderated posting to the comm (Livejournal and Dreamwidth) for members. We will post a template for posting artwork and stories to the comm closer to the posting date.

If you don’t currently have an AO3 account but would like one, you can contact the mods for an invitation code to see if they have any available. You can also add yourself to the AO3 Invites Request queue.

How do I know when to post? Posting will be tiered; you'll each get your own posting date that you and your artist will decide on together. There will probably be four fics, plus art, posting per day between August 8th and September 30th. The post with date claims will go up on July 23rd and you'll have to choose your date by August 1st.

If you want to post your story in chapters on AO3 or your own blog (or wherever you usually post), you may do so starting August 1st. However, posting has to be finished by your chosen posting date to the comm. One of the things we're hoping to do with the posted dates is to give everybody on the comm a little bragging time in the spotlight. You know, "this story was incomplete for this long, but I finished this sucker." If you don't have time to post on your chosen posting date, you can queue up a post ahead of time and we can post it on the date you picked. Either way works for us. Art will be due on the chosen posting date to the comm.

Is there a minimum/maximum requirement for my art? There is no strict minimum, but we do ask artists to remember that the authors are writing a minimum of 7,500 words and your artwork should reflect that. You can do anything you like, including banners, wallpapers, icons, mixes, vids, gif sets, picspams, etc. Suggested guidelines for art are 500x500px (or equivalent of smaller pieces like banner + spacers, cover + icons, etc.) for traditional art, digital art, and manips; 2 minutes for vids; 10 songs + cover art for mixes; and 6 images for gif sets and picspams. We also ask that when you are in contact with the author, you work with them to see if there is anything specific they would like (i.e. a wallpaper, book cover, etc.). The art is your work, but having ideas doesn't hurt!

What are 'art claims'? The claims are when anonymous summaries of the story go up for artists to choose from. It is based on a 'first come, first served' basis and artists may choose up to three potential stories (in case their first choice is unavailable). If there are more stories than artists, there will be a second round of claims wherein artists may choose a second story to work with. And on until all stories are claimed for art.

If a fic up for claiming is rated explicit (R, NC-17, etc.), please only claim the story if you are over 18 years of age. Some authors may be uncomfortable working with underage artists on explicit works. We do not verify ages in any way for the bang, so this is solely on the honor system.

Can I get an extension? Community extensions may be given in the event that the majority of the authors/artists need one. They may also be given individually under certain circumstances, but this must be discussed with the mods and will only be a short extension for posting. If you are certain that you won’t be able to finish your story in time, please let us know by June 13th.

What do I do if I have problems or concerns about my author/artist? Sometimes authors and artists do not get along and this may cause problems with working together. If this happens to be the case with you, please email the mods and we will try to do what we can so that everyone has a chance to have fun at WIP Big Bang!

If you have not heard from your author/artist in some time after trying to contact them, you can reach out to us via email and we will try to get in touch with them for you.

Can I drop out? We have high hopes that everybody who signs up can actually finish the round and share in the joy of the reveal with us, but real life can unfortunately get in the way and we completely understand! If you feel like you just cannot finish in time and no amount of assistance from us can help you, just let us know by July 13th (if at all possible).

Is it possible to be banned? We do have a banned users list. We hope to use this to encourage participants who are having issues to communicate with the mods. We want to help you! The way the ban works is that participants, either authors and artists, will be banned for dropping out without notifying a mod. This means that anyone who has not posted or talked to a mod by the time the posting period ends will be banned. Dropping out is not in and of itself a banning offense, so please do not panic if you have to drop out! We understand that there are many reasons you may need to drop, and we want to work with you.

Bans will last one round or until the issue is resolved, whichever comes first. To resolve a ban, authors will have to finish and post the story they signed up with and artists will have to finish and post the art for the story they claimed. Three bans will result in a permanent ban from the bang.</lj-cut>

I have a question/concern that’s not mentioned here. If you need help, you can always contact a mod and we will do our best to make sure that you get your story/art finished. The best and fastest method of contact is through our email, wipbigbang@gmail.com.

[writingwithcolor]

Magical person in history, on not intervening on human rights issues

I am writing a dating sim/visual novel set in the present day. A major (non-romanceable) character is an ancient sorceress who moved from France to the Pacific Northwest in the 1850s. She is white. She is shown to have powerful magic. She also works closely with the main characters and develops personal relationships with them as she teaches them magic, giving each character comfort and advice during their respective stories.

Considering the events in America around her move-in date, there’s no way she could have missed the horrible human rights abuses going on, and there’s no way she was too powerless to help, even when most of the fighting and slavery was so far away. So I’m having trouble balancing “don’t make her a white savior by having her personally fireball Robert E. Lee” against “Hogwarts University is cancelled because Dumbledorette didn’t care about slavery.” I had the idea that the magical regulating body back home in France didn’t want her to intervene due to political reasons, so she helped out in small ways that could safely fly under the radar. She later realized that she prioritized her social standing over the suffering of countless others, so she began making a point of reducing human suffering as much as she could.

I can’t imagine this will show up in more than one small scene, but doing it wrong could really sour the whole thing. Is this backstory still icky? Should I just not mention it and let readers headcanon what they please?

I’m wondering what you think was happening in the PNW at the time for the fighting and slavery to be “far away.” Washington State had the Cayuse War at exactly this time period, Oregon didn’t ratify treaties and was calling for the extermination of “the I*dian race” in roughly this time period, and California’s Gold Rush created the California Genocide starting heavily in the 1840s, picking up steam in the 1850s, which included slavery of California Natives thanks to a law enacted in 1850 that lasted for 13 years. 

This is all from the top five results of googling “pacific northwest genocide 1850”, for the record. It’s not exactly hidden history.

So suddenly your character’s lack of movement in healing the poisoned populations as disease ravaged the area, in attempting to stop or at least buy and free the enslaved Natives being auctioned on their doorstep, or in attempting to get treaties ratified and honoured looks a lot more damning.

This is not counting any of the future events that happened at the turn of the century, including the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Hawai’i monarchy being overthrown, and Federal Order 9066, which is the WWII concentration camps (that included Japanese, German, and Italian individuals). This is just to name a handful of coastal issues in the next 100 years, completely ignoring Jim Crow, residential schools, the San Francisco Earthquake (which nearly had Chinese people relocated to the worst land imaginable for gentrification purposes, had the Empress of China not stepped in), and many others.

In short: she would have had hundreds of opportunities to end suffering, and focusing on a single event as a small scene feels disproportionate to how much she could have done.

And honestly? The French were no angels. 

The Second French Colonial Empire was one of the largest empires in history, and it began in 1830, covering roughly a third of Africa. The First French Colonial Empire began in the 1600s, and had both India and North America, primarily Canada.

She was white. French. You don’t specify her birth year other than “ancient”, but considering the sheer amount of territory-grabbing France has been doing since Normandy invaded England in the eleventh century AD, I’m going to assume her birth year is somewhere more recent than that. Therefore, I’m going to assume she has been around the Catholic Missionary Attitude that France had; one could call that attitude the bedrock of its existence for at least a millennia (and is still visible in modern day).

So tell me: when did she break out of it? What made her even care about human atrocities, when she has likely grown up watching France commit them her entire life? 

Because let me just say, she has had plenty of opportunities to realize she did nothing in the face of her neighbours’ hatred of people not like them, and she has never taken them before. 

Did she (or her parents, if she was born around this time) decry Napoleon re-introducing slavery in France in 1802? Side with Haiti when it declared independence in 1804, and hate that the government forced Haiti to pay for the “theft” of slaves and land (that was only paid off in 1947)? Is she presently championing for France to pay Haiti the money it wrongfully took from the country? Did she hate the delays in stopping the French slave trade, which took 11 years to actually stop after it was banned on paper? 

Unconditional emancipation was only reached in 1848, after all. I don’t care if she was born in 1830, there was some sort of major racial event happening in France all throughout the late 1700s to mid-1800s. Where did she side then?

Abolitionism was not an unknown concept in France, so it is possible she had already been working towards it quietly, but that would mean she would have felt guilt at inaction much earlier, depending on when she began decrying slavery—if she was even delayed in decrying it, which I will admit is possible. 

And if she was an abolitionist, would she have even listened to the French government in not at least easing the genocide around her? Because she would have watched nearly 100 years of the French dragging their feet on stopping slavery in their empire, and known how BS it all was… if she saw it that way.

That’s just abolitionism, and is not even counting the French relationship with the Native population in Quebec and the Great Lakes region, which is a giant tangle of proxy wars, colonialism, missionary work, and very, very, very complex relationships that started off good and ended terribly.

So I ask again: why did she only start caring then?

Speaking of proxy wars, the Napoleon Empire wanted a Confederate victory, because the Confederacy was its source of cotton and the American Civil War created a “cotton famine” in France that basically forced the textile industry into a massive downsizing. The Confederacy also tolerated Napoleon’s plans for expanding the empire in Mexico, which actually had begun in December of 1861.

So when it comes to how a magical board would rule—even though France was officially neutral in the war, the court of public opinion (among politicians and capitalists) was more on the Confederate side than the Union side. Many politicians secretly worked with the Confederacy, until they abandoned them when the Union showed signs of winning. The only reason France officially remained neutral is because a war with the British was inevitable if they acknowledged the Confederacy, and Napoleon didn’t want that.

I shall work under the assumption that because it was rather literally on her doorstep when she moved to America, she lost insulation to it (if she hadn’t thought about it before), but I will say how iffy that makes her look in the long term if she had so many opportunities beforehand (at the very least, seeing slaves in France).

My other option is the word “ancient” is liberally applied and she was only in her 20s or 30s when 1850 hit, and therefore had not had many opportunities to see otherwise (but she still would have seen slaves in France, likely).

Onto the white guilt and white saviour aspects

Strictly from a writing perspective, you have to determine if she changed the course of history, or not. This would not necessarily be within the realm of white saviour, seeing as white people were the only ones listened to at the time. You can see people who changed the course of history in this period by looking up the pastor who insisted Lincoln hold fair trials for the Dakota, which brought the execution count from over 200 down to 38. You can also look at Alice Fletcher, who made quite a few laws designed to protect Native people, but whether or not they were successful is up for debate (and she regretted some of the laws she helped enact).

If not, then you have the current tangle you’re dealing with.

Option 1

She was unestablished in America and relied on the magical regulations board to protect her, and she figured working small and under the radar would mean she could do more good long-term by not being killed, so long as you establish that such a threat is viable.

This option only works if she’s an active advocate for the slew of other racist acts that pass once she’s settled in America, of which I gave many examples above.

Option 2

She actually did change the course of history in perhaps a mixed way, or perhaps a positive way. She could have relied completely on being a white, well-to-do voice in the community, which would have granted her some privilege without using a drop of magic. 

This can apply to any point in history, seeing as there were a lot of others to pick from. It would be particularly useful once suffrage was achieved, and if she was part of suffrage, did she call out Susan B. Anthony’s racism? Did she encourage allowing non-whites to vote?

Option 3 

She was slow to care, and did not actually understand what a big deal it was that such atrocities were happening until it was too late. This leads to her dedication to atonement the strongest, but you have to be careful about white guilt. This option can go along with option 1.

This allows her to be a passive player in future racist events, but makes her an even more privileged white character who PoC will have a hard time seeing as kindly, and you should go out of your way to show white players how unkind and privileged she was, and perhaps still is.

Option 4 

she doesn’t actually care much, because she has a president of not caring about atrocities happening in France, and her bigotry shows up in other ways in modern day and she’s just a kindly-but-bigoted character. She’s your wonderful grandma who you have beautiful memories with… she just doesn’t care about anyone not white.

This can go along with option 3, as she was so slow to realize that she is still bigoted and hasn’t done any work, but her racism is going to be more covert and you’ll have to do research on microaggressions and how to frame them.

Based off the way her lack of action is framed in-story and how little a plot role it plays, I would say that option 4 with a dash of option 3 appears to be the most likely interpretation of her character by PoC. She’s lip-service to progress, at present, but seems to have made no strides in losing her social standing to be an ally.

Now here’s why I don’t think you should let readers headcanon her however they want:

White players in particular are going to minimize her culpability in what happened, and think that she did all that she could, and she is a Totally Redeemed Character now. In fact, they’ll probably wonder why she’s even an Atoner, because she did something, right? She helped, right? And now she’s helping and that’s plenty. She’s good to the players, so she is a Good Person.

Meanwhile PoC players are going to see yet another white author ignore the fact that colonialism was happening en masse at the time, and that white people deeply benefited from it, and are going to see the “it happened in the past why do you keep bringing up racism?” defence continued.

Let her be flawed. Let her be on stolen land and acknowledge it every time she teaches them something, and let her sit and exist in the guilt that happens when she realizes she could have stopped the theft but didn’t. Let her not wallow in self hate, but acknowledge her mistake with every lesson the main characters receive, and let her work on righting that wrong by championing “land back” causes that centre Indigenous voices.

Let her dialogue options show every trace of how the past is not over because the past’s actions are still being felt and reparations have not been made. The settler state is still controlling the land she has made home and she knows exactly what they did to get it, and she passes that knowledge on.

Let players be uncomfortable with the knowledge that, if they sit by and “only do small things when they can, to not lose anything”, they are complicit. Let white people see they must well and truly denounce what has been given to them by their racist, colonial ancestors in order for PoC to “stop talking about racism.”

Make her use whatever income she makes be paid in part to Native causes, as rent for the land she occupies unfairly. Make her refuse to teach bigoted students who want “mystic secrets” that aren’t hers to give, that were appropriated centuries ago. Make part of her life’s work be hiding away Black and Indigenous spiritual leaders to minimize the loss.

Let her past be imperfect. And do not force redemption on her, but instead let her own the fact she made catastrophic mistakes that will not be redeemed until land has been returned to the Native population. Until all forms of slavery are abolished. Until colonial powers give back all the resources and finances they stole from their colonized regions. Until the privilege that white people spilled so much blood to secure is no more.

Because if you want her to truly be a good character who does not support racism? That is the level you have to step towards.

Everything else is simply whiteness trying to make itself feel better.

~Mod Lesya

[emersonfreepress]

okay so is there content that you had planned for the ROs and story in general but then scrapped cause there wasn’t a good place in the story to stick it in? and if so, can you share what it was? 👀 👀 👀

yes, definitely. *rubs hands together* oh man, you done asked THE question today xD I can't wait to get into this 😁

Academics. I almost decided to have classes and grades be a minor part of gameplay, but the more time I spent designing it the more I realized I wanted nothing to do with it 😂 I haven’t really enjoyed academic gameplay in other interactive fiction because I 1) hate having to choose between studying and interacting with awesome characters, 2) have terrible short term memory, and 3) hate school in general!! So instead I just opted to have the MC be really good at school, point blank period so I could focus on social drama and relationships instead! 😆

Physical skills. I spent literal months crafting the catering scene around setting up stats for stamina/endurance, dexterity, and strength instead of just magnetism, confidence, and persuasion. They had their own backstories with the MC’s parents being overly invested sports parents instead and I think the background choices were like... martial arts, gymnastics, and track? But yeah, I ended up scrapping it all because I was spending hours on research about those individual sports so I could integrate them into the MC’s narrative organically but like... when I tried to think of what use they would be in the actual story, I came up blank. Best decision yet, esp since it means a lot less coding!

Skin tone customization. For one, I noticed that a lot of my favorite IFs don’t offer that customization and it hasn’t impacted my experience at all. For two, I originally realized I might as well not implement it since I am striving real hard not to introduce any customization that won’t actually be mentioned in interesting or meaningful ways in-story. I don’t think it’s really all that common for real life friends (esp in high school?) to comment or compliment each other’s skin and like... when it comes from someone who doesn’t share a similar complexion or ethnic background, that type of commentary gets... d i c e y. So then I wanted to be sensitive to that but what’s the pay-off? An RO mentioning how they love your skin tone once? Awkward sentences with the MC referring to their own skin color? Idk, just wasn’t vibing with it. I’m open to revisiting it in beta or something but for now it’s scrapped.

Singing, Rapping, and Gaming as Hobbies/Talents. I feel bad about scrapping these, honestly 😂 They’re great and I really wanted to incorporate them but it just came down to already having a lot of stuff to code. Plus, I know I can write the Hobbies/Talents I stuck with far better. And for Book 2 purposes, as well!

Leo. as @sourandflightypeaches ​​ asked me about a long while ago, I had to scrap an entire RO 😢 His name is Leo, he was the nephew of wealthy west African diplomats residing in Emerson, and I love him dearly! His backstory was largely based on my mother’s childhood and the circumstances she lived through after immigrating to America. and... ok, i’m about to go on one hell of a tangent so buckle up and bear with me if you can 😅

my intention with this story, aside from writing things that I personally enjoy (graphic violence, spooky woods, social drama, romance, conspiracies 😚), is to explore greed, wealth, and how the ways people and families interact with those two things influence young people and who they grow up to be. here i go sounding pretentious af 😝 and here’s where I apply a cut for those who want to preserve a little mystery to the main characters!

With Gabe, we’ve got someone who grew up with very little stability or financial security but who has found unscrupulous methods to gain status and money, with both noble and selfish motivations.

Kile has some of that childhood experience in common with Gabe, having been in the foster care system since infancy, but they lucked out when they were adopted into massive wealth by a caring, loving couple—a couple that uses their wealth and privilege to be far more lenient and protective of Kile than is actually reasonable or responsible.

Jack comes from a prestigious wealthy family on his dad’s side who he loves dearly but there’s no getting around the fact that they love him back as much as they despise his working class mom.

Jessie is a spoiled sweet heiress (being the baby of her family and the only girl) and while she lives blissfully ignorant of the harmful source and impact of her father's income and career, she bears the weight of the expectation to fulfill very traditional gender roles, including her behavior and appearance, but also extending to her career and life plans.

Rain's wealth led to them growing up sheltered and isolated but also extremely accommodated, giving them maximum freedom and opportunity to discover and develop their personal talents and interests. However, they have almost no positive relationship with their parents who have essentially decided to give up on a kid that couldn't be exactly the accessory they tried to mold them to be—both in terms of their identity and personality.

Rupan/Rohan, at their very core, rejects everything about conformity, self-importance, and excessive luxury—which means they have never, ever truly fit in with their peers. Going full non-conformist, however, has resulted in them becoming alienated from much of their family, as well, despite them all loving each other very much. Their history with false friends and betrayals has led them to over-indulge in their vices and reckless behavior to compensate for that isolation. Sometimes, they just get in over their head and many times, they know better. Every time, it's just that the feeling of finally belonging is utterly intoxicating.

Vivian/Vincent has two extremely successful parents who didn't inherit but instead built up their wealth and they aspire to be just like them, to a degree that is well and truly unhealthy. Their mother specifically is an over-achiever and applies mountainous pressure for them to follow in her footsteps, especially academically. Vi is completely capable of achieving what their mom expects of them, but they were already an extremely sensitive perfectionist so this has made them intensely critical of themself. This is a large part of why they are such a rigid, no-nonsense person and that in turn has made them one of the most disliked people among their peers—which is a huge personal failure to them since their father is a very well-liked and socially successful person in town.

And the Emersons are peak privilege: inherent high social status, brains, looks, charisma, athleticism, and massive wealth. They could never have been anything less than extremely popular, just by virtue of their last name and the nature of the town's social dynamics and politics. And they do enjoy that privilege (esp Curt lol). However, it should go without saying that being so high profile, even (or maybe especially) just in the isolated scope of your hometown, isn't always a boon. Their family's and their own perceived failings are widely discussed and privately mocked and/or celebrated. Real friends are scarce while fake ones and snakes are plentiful. Plus their dad is a gigantic dickhead who sees his kids as extensions of his own status and reputation and not much else. Public shortcomings make for an unbearable time at home and the world outside the estate is at once overly accommodating, full of assumptions, and even subtly hostile at times—all unrelated to their own actions or character.

And with the MC, I think the narrative will make it clear there are several ways that story can go. You start off with irresponsible parents that have lost their wealth due to their own mismanagement and material ambitions—how that affects any individual MC should differ based on choices and consequences!

So why bring any of that up when I was supposed to be talking about my cut OC? 😂😂

Leo was going to be the unwelcome recent addition to his uncle’s household, the son of a brother his aunt hates for (petty af) Reasons, and she took that resentment out on him directly by restricting his access to nearly every aspect of the family's wealth. Especially material goods and living conditions. He was basically treated like the help, tasked with playing nanny for his many younger cousins and burdened with doing the homework and providing academic cover for his dumb as rocks cousin in the same grade as you all. To sum it up, he was basically a victim of trafficking at the hands of his own family with his uncle out of town enough to feign ignorance to how bad his wife was treating his nephew and his aunt going out of her way to keep him busy, at home, and isolated. This is sadly a super common form of trafficking in Francophone African cultures (although I don't think most people view it as trafficking. and I’m sure the same is true of other cultures but I don’t want to speak outside of my purview). And like I mentioned above, it’s how my own mom's (and idek how many cousins') child/teenhood went.

It’s a perspective on modern wealth, privilege and greed that I really, really wanted to tell. I am confident in saying it hasn't been explored in interactive fiction yet (though correct me—and direct me 👀—if I'm wrong) and out of all the wealth/greed explorations I came up with, it's the one I have the closest personal ties to and the strongest feelings about. The characters and plans I had for it were detailed and I'm proud of them but at the end of the day... I just couldn't find a place for Leo in the story at large.

Leo was, in fact, the last main character I came up with, when I had already designed and fleshed out the larger story and started crafting the timeline of major events. I think the worst thing I could have done for a story and perspective that I care about this much is shove it into a plot that didn't have room for it at the very base level, regardless of how well the character or his story is written. Shoe-horned characters always stick out. I didn’t want to disservice Leo by having him be the character that did nothing or could be removed from the main plot without affecting it at all, y’know? That’s so much worse than just forgoing the indulgence, imo :((

ugh.... Leooooo 😭 I'm so sorry bb, I failed youuu 😥

[piggy-i-broke-the-conch]

Guide to LotF Ships:

Hello! So, it's been a while since I last made a proper post on here and I've been thinking of making something like this for a little while now so here goes! Basically this is a guide to the 'main' ships in the fandom (aka the ones I've seen the most in fanfiction and fanart). Each ship will be divided into two sections-canon interaction and fandom interpretation. I figured this might be helpful to anyone new to the fandom or just interested in why people ship certain things!

(apologies in advance for any incorrect quotes, chapter numbers or other errors- I decided it would be a great idea to write this at 3am while citing everything from memory except one quote)

1.) Jalph (Jack x Ralph)

Easily the most popular ship in the fandom, it's not surprising to see why this is a ship given that it involves the two most prominent characters in the novel. However, there is also a sizeable amount of fans who dislike the pairing- potential reasons for this will be covered below.

Canon Interactions:

Where to start with this one? Jack and Ralph's relationship is arguably one of the most significant ones in the novel, providing a source for much of the conflict within the story. At the beginning, their relationship is amicable and they consider each other to be friends- 'They were lifted up, were friends'. However, as the novel progresses their differing opinions lead to them becoming more and more at odds with one another until eventually their relationship falls into complete disrepair. In the middle of the novel their relationship goes through a period of love/hate- 'They stared at each other, baffled, in love and hate' (if you've been in the fandom for a while or are a jalph shipper you've probably seen this quote pop up a fair bit). At the end of the novel, however, it is clear that at the very least Jack seems to completely hate Ralph (throwing a spear at his chest 'with full intention', heavily implying he genuinely intended to kill him). Ralph also asks him 'Why do you hate me?' at one point, which Jack neither accepts nor denies. Ralph seems to have some regrets about the downfall of their relationship, with the memory of he, Jack and Simon climbing the mountain in Chapter 1 being the thing that ultimately causes him to break down and cry in the final chapter.

Scenes which are popular with shippers include the argument between Jack and Ralph in which the 'love and hate' quote appears, with several having pointed out that it sounds a bit like the sort of argument a married couple would have ('I work here all day with nothing but Simon and you come back and don't even notice the huts!'). Some people also consider Jack following Ralph to Castle Rock in Chapter 7 because he 'Couldn't let [Ralph] do it on [his] own' as a sign that Jack cares about Ralph's wellbeing although I personally disagree with this. The early interactions between Jack and Ralph in which they have a more positive relationship are also fairly popular. There are literally so many more examples I could bring up here, I could and probably should make a whole separate post about it.

Fandom Interpretations:

Jalph is portrayed in a number of different ways within the fandom. Generally it is considered to be a love/hate or enemies to lovers pairing, with the relationship between the two varying from a friendly rivalry to complete enemies depending on the fic (the hate aspect of their relationship is more often toned down in modern AUs/school AUs, understandably so as it would be a bit weird if Jack was trying to murder Ralph in the middle of a normal school setting- not that I wouldn't read that fic if someone wrote it).

While some fics portray jalph as a perfectly healthy romantic relationship, others explore the unhealthy aspects of this relationship (especially fics which are closely linked to canon/follow on from canon events) and can even portray Jalph as outright abusive, although this portrayal isn't very common. Some fics involve Jack having a redemption arc, allowing him and Ralph to have a healthier relationship, while in others their relationship remains unhealthy and reliant on their 'indefinable connection' which Golding suggests binds them together.

Generally anti-jalph fans believe that Jalph glorifies and in some cases fetishises abusive relationships, and that Jalph would not last in the real world as a result of it being extremely unhealthy.

2.) Rogermon (Roger x Simon)

While this relationship has little basis in canon, it is incredibly popular within the fandom to the point that it is most likely the second most popular ship after Jalph. The ship seems to stem more from the fandom's interpretation of it more than canon, similar to Rogice.

Canon Interactions:

As mentioned above, Roger and Simon interact very little in canon. This may be due to them both being fairly introverted characters who typically only interact with a limited number of other characters (with Roger primarily interacting with Jack and Simon primarily interacting with Ralph and Piggy). However, they were canonically both a part of the choir prior to arriving on the island and so likely knew each other before the events of the novel. There is one scene in canon which may be relevant to mention here (although this is admittedly a bit of a stretch), and that is in Chapter 7 when Roger is the one to interrupt Ralph and Simon's conversation by the rocks (the 'I just think you'll get back alright' conversation. you know the one). I'll leave you to interpret that as you will.

Fandom Interpretations:

Part of the reason for this ship's immense popularity is its potential. Shippers generally seem to like how Roger and Simon are portrayed as foils to one another in canon- Simon is the representation of goodness and purity while Roger is the representation of evil and sadism. I've heard the phrase 'opposites attract' thrown around in reference to Rogermon before to put it bluntly, people seem to like to contrasting edgy and soft boi aesthetics. In fanworks, Simon is often portrayed as sweet and accepting while Roger is very protective and seems to have a soft spot for Simon which contrasts his cold attitude towards other characters. They often appear in Jalph fics as a 'b-pairing'.

I don't think there's exactly an anti-rogermon part of the fandom in the same way that there are anti-jalph fans, but some people don't ship it for a number of reasons. The main reason is that there are other popular ships involving both Roger and Simon, Rogice and Ralmon probably being the most popular of these. There aren't really all-out shipping wars in this fandom from what I've witnessed (we're a very chill bunch), but I have seen some friendly discourse about Rogermon and Rogice in particular. In addition, it doesn't have much basis in canon and those who aren't a fan of Roger's personality (being a canonically violent and sadistic individual with sociopathic tendencies) may view this and other pairings involving Roger as inherently unhealthy. However, it depends on how you interpret the character and the ship- some may argue that Simon balances out Roger's more 'evil' personality traits and helps to ground him somewhat.

3.) Ralmon (Ralph X Simon)

This pairing isn't as popular as the above two involving the same characters, but still has a strong fan following of its own. Like with Jalph, there is a lot of interaction between Ralph and Simon in canon which provides some basis for Ralmon as a ship.

Canon Interactions:

Ralph and Simon have been friends from the first chapter of the novel and maintained a largely positive relationship throughout. The majority of interactions between them have bee1n interpreted by the fandom as Simon having a crush on Ralph, such as when Simon stroked his arm 'with shy liking' in the first chapter. The scene in Chapter 7 in which Simom crashed into a tree because he was staring at Ralph is also a popular one, as is the slightly later scene in which Simon encourages Ralph by telling him 'you'll get back alright' followed by the two smiling at one another. An interesting point to bring up regarding the latter example is that Ralph recalls this later on in the final chapter. There are also a few examples of Ralph liking Simon at least platonically, such as when he is the one who reacts the most strongly to Simon's death (although this may be more to do with his role in it rather than Simon being the one who died). Ralph and Simon are also the only ones who continue to work on the shelters together after all the others left, something brought up during Ralph's argument with Jack in Chapter 3 ('Simon. He helps')

Fandom Interpretations:

Ralmon is often interpreted in fanworks as being a soft and fluffy pairing, contrasting many of the other pairings on this list. Their relationship is usually portrayed as healthy and wholesome, with Simon often having the stronger feelings at first. Think slowburn friends-to-lovers type fics. The angstier fics tend to deal with Simon's death and Ralph's role in causing it, though Simon is alive in the majority of fics (as a result of an AU or the fic taking place prior to his death).

Again, there isn't really a shipping war between Jalph and Ralmon, but if our fandom was bigger and more aggressive there probably would be.

4.) Rogice (Roger X Maurice)

This pairing bears some similarities to Rogermon in that it doesn't have much basis in canon and seems to be liked largely due to the characters' contrasting personalities.

Canon Interpretations:

Again like Rogermon, Roger and Maurice were in the choir together prior to arriving on the island and so know each other from before the events of the novel. Their relationship in canon seems to be somewhat positive, with the two shown spending time together (aka bullying kids together) voluntarily in Chapter 4. They also both go with Jack to steal Piggy's glasses in Chapter 10, indicating they are at the very least willing to and capable of working together to achieve a common goal.

Fandom Interpretations:

This pairing, as mentioned above, has a focus on Roger and Maurice's contrasting personalities, with Maurice being cheerful and good-humoured while Roger is more cold and aloof. Their dynamic is often used for comedic purposes, with Roger using sarcasm in response to Maurice's memeing. They seem to balance one another out, with Roger being the straight man minus the straight part obviously to Maurice's wise guy.

In fanworks, the pairing isn't portrayed very often within the canon universe from what I've seen, generally appearing within modern AUs and as another b-pairing to Jalph fics. It is usually fairly fluffy, but in fics where Roger is portrayed as more emo or with a tragic backstory, it can be more angsty with a hurt/comfort edge to their dynamic.

I've mentioned this pairing being at odds with Rogermon before, but the closest I've seen to a shipping war was one that took place between the characters themselves in a fanfiction.

5.) Jager (Jack X Roger)

An interesting pairing because while it does have a decent amount of canon basis, it isn't nearly as popular as some of the ships which don't. This may be because there are a fair few fans who dislike one or both of these characters, or because the pairing isn't usually as fluffy as some of the other popular pairings. Even so, it's popular enough to be considered one of the 'main' pairings in my opinion.

Canon Interactions:

Firstly, the obligatory 'they were in the choir before the island so they already know each other'. Jack and Roger's canon relationship is difficult to interpret. It seems that they get along at least somewhat since they often spend time together, with Jack deliberately seeking out Roger to show him his face paint in Chapter 4. I'd also like to point out that the only time Roger smiles in canon is when he's making fun of Jack in this scene ('You don't look half a mess'). Roger also voluntarily accompanies Jack and Ralph up the mountain to look for the Beast, and by the end of the novel he appears to be Jack's second-in-command of sorts. I'm going to drift into speculation for a moment here- personally I interpret this relationship as Jack seeing Roger as one of the only people (if not the only person) who truly understands him- in one scene Jack 'looked round for understanding but found only respect', which could suggest that this is something he values. However, Roger's values seem to differ from Jack's and I think Jack starts to realise this towards the end of the novel- he appears to be afraid of Roger after discovering he was directly responsible for Piggy's death ('the hangman's horror clung to him'). I also don't believe Roger sees Jack in the same way- Roger seems to only be tolerating Jack's position as Chief towards the end of the novel, internally questioning his authority in Chapter 10 and almost pushing his shoulder when walking past him in Chapter 11. It is implied that he dislikes Jack (or at least has bad intentions towards him) in Chapter 4 as well- 'a darker shadow crept across the swarthiness of his face' upon seeing Jack, which could be foreboding.

Fandom Interpretations:

As mentioned earlier, Jager is not always portrayed as fluffily as other pairings. It seems to often be portrayed as quite unhealthy, or sometimes it involves Jack and Roger, for lack of better words, being gay and doing crimes. Their relationship seems to bring out the worst in one another in these sorts of fics. However, a popular headcanon amongst Jager shippers seems to be Roger having a one-sided crush on Jack. Sometimes they have a friends-with-benefits style relationship in works featuring this headcanon, but I've also seen ones where they are regular friends. This tends to appear in Jalph fics in which Roger is not already paired up with Simon or Maurice. Another interesting take on the Jalph side of this pairing is Jalger, or the polyamorous ship between Jack, Ralph and Roger. I've weirdly seen multiple fics in which Jack and Ralph become aware of Roger's crush on Jack and they end up in a three-way relationship. That's technically a whole different ship though so I won't talk about it in depth here. Fluffier Jager fics are often friends-to-lovers, with the two being very close friends in the beginning if not best friends.

*

Well, that's all I've got for now! Thank you very much for reading and I hope you found this guide interesting. Apologies for it being an absolute mess by the way, it's 4am and I have no idea why I decided to write the whole thing now (we love insomnia). If you have any requests for ships I haven't covered here, feel free to shoot me an ask and I'll do my best to cover them! I might end up making a second part at some point anyway since there are still ships I want to talk about (e.g.- ralphiggy because it's super underrated)

Okay, bye for now ;;;

[pochapal]

You don't gotta answer this publicly, but what on earth happened/is happening RE: Dogpiling?

this is long but there’s a lot to cover and i don’t know how much information is pre-known going into this.

basically breadtuber sarah z made a 2 hour fandom postmortem video on homestuck. instead of being a genuine look into what made the comic and the fandom so massive and so relevant for so long, she kind of glosses over all that in the first thirty minutes, then spends the rest of the video discussing homestuck’s two major controversies in the least tactful way imaginable. 

the first one she talks about is the hiveswap development hell fiasco, which on paper is an interesting thing to bring up in relation to a lack of content contributing to fandom decline, but sarah’s primary source for all this is a pseudo-anonymous blog run by giovan_h, someone who is notorious for treating dangerous and baseless accusation as fact and for obsessively stalking current and former whatpumpkin staff members to obtain information for said blog. she supposedly tries to bring a balanced argument on what exactly happened in the three year dark period between hiveswap’s supposed release date and when act 1 actually came out by pitting ipgd’s tumblr post (the one that made the odd gentlemen embezzlement claims vis a vis king’s quest) against giovan’s blog (claiming through anonymous and unverified sources that hussie deliberately dicked around and failed to meet a single deadline, then broke contract terms by using the kickstarter money to commission the odd gentlemen to animate act 7 instead of working on hiveswap. there are a lot of other unsavoury claims about hussie and certain other wp members among these blog posts, but that’s the primary relevant gist). 

neither account can actually be verified (ipgd’s post claims their information is spotty because they’re talking around a pretty strict settlement nda and giovan’s sources and accounts are deliberately vague and unverifiable to “protect various parties from retaliation from hussie/wp”) but sarah ultimately comes down and says that she’s inclined to take giovan’s blog as more truthful for. reasons. this is obviously bad because within minutes of the video dropping several wp team members reveal sarah never once tried to get in contact with them, which has led to attacks on the team members because a lot of zealous people looking for an excuse to keep being mad at homestuck in the wake of hs^2′s semi-permanent hiatus were emboldened by a video essayist treating the ugliest speculation as hard fact. as of right now, the hiveswap kickstarter has released a statement clarifying the development situation as best they can (from what i’ve read it does point to them legally being unable to point to/discuss certain things) which has had all the impact of dropping a match onto an oil spill. the anti homestuck zealots firmly believe every word of that post to be bullshit and are accusing the wp team of covering for hussie and his super heinous evil crimes (keep in mind we are still not privy to the internal workings of wp because why the fuck would we be) so the wp team in turn are putting these people on blast for this dangerous harassment (it doesn’t need to be said that as a professional being publicly accused of covering up fraud is a very bad thing) and then as a counter counter response the angry fans are now accusing the wp staff of abusing their power to direct mass harassment towards specific individuals (this amounting to people getting into wp members’ private discord servers and publicly posting mean things they have said about giovan et al which imo only serves to bolster the stalking claims) and the whole thing went very ugly very fast.

the second controversy that sarah brings up is everything involved in post canon homestuck (epilogues, pesterquest, hs^2). here she reverts to more of a passively pro-fandom stance, asserting time and time again how horrible and evil the epilogues and everything else were because of how they took the characters and stories everyone knows and loves and warped them into something unrecognisably terrible, that post-canon homestuck was universally reviled. in a very bad and awkward placement of information she then segues into a kind of hand-wavey discussion of the intense backlash towards certain post-canon trans interpretations (of vriska, june, and roxy) in a very I Am A Cis Woman So I’m Not Qualified To Make Any Statements Here Other Than Transphobes Fuck Off <3 But Also This Is Indicative Of A Growing Fandom Resentment way, which honestly begs the question of why she needed to include this at all. another bad thing here is how she super glosses over the “controversies” surrounding “the advocates for june egbert” and “the writer for vriska’s pesterquest route” - she is obviously referring to former creative director kate here (she kind of confirms this on twitter by saying she didn’t want to mention kate by name in order to not stir up further drama which uh... yeah) and the inexcusably terrible chain of events which led to every single out trans woman working on homestuck to resign to protect themselves from further mass harassment and dogpiling from the fandom.

she instead, for some reason decides to focus on how post-canon homestuck has been a total commercial and creative failure, that homestuck^2 basically shouldn’t have even happened after the fandom’s distaste for the epilogues and that it was not only controversial but also was a low quality mess everyone agreed sucked. she then goes on to compare the hs^2 team to the wp hiveswap dev team, and passively applies the same giovan-esque assertions to the internal workings of hs^2, kind of but not really implying the reasons given for the shutting down of hs^2 were bullshit. this is super bad for the fact that the post canon homestuck team is the most openly marginalised group of people working for hs is in an official capacity, and we have seen time and time again what drawing undue, speculative negative attention towards these people has done. again, reminder sarah did not reach out to a single person who worked/is working on homestuck for what is essentially a drama video disguised as a fandom postmortem. the upshot here is that her post-canon section served to embolden yet another wp-hostile section of the fanbase - those who adamantly believe that only the fandom itself can create worthwhile homestuck projects, and that all writers are evil people who want their queer fans dead (only a partial exaggeration) and produce spite projects which are driven by the steadfast belief that their work is inherently superior to official content by virtue of their fan status. among this group were a lot of people who latched onto any accusation against a team member as fuel to push them out of “ruining” such a beloved franchise so sarah’s video serves as proof that all the hs^2 writers were morally corrupt monsters ruining a fandom space that was meant for minors and queer people (this is all very anti/anti-anti carousel of bullshit nonsense that i have no time for) and thus they’re confident to once again tear down the remaining public facing staff members, ignoring how all this crusade has done so far is drive a handful of trans women and people of colour off of official homestuck projects for their own safety.

then she ends the video with a “oh btw this video is proudly sponsored by audible <3″ bit and it’s just. beyond unbelievably awfully stupid that she deliberately reignited this aggression which has caused untold material harm on marginalised people (that happened less than a year ago!!!) just for the sake of quick clicks and ad revenue. she consolidated the most dogshit takes as fact within the general fandom consensus, sided with some of the worst people to engage with homestuck, potentially detonated the last shreds of stability of this independent marginalised media project, and wrapped it all up with a sponsorship from an amazon subsidiary company of all fucking things. this is obviously a case of an incredibly short sighted decision to cash in on a very complicated and unwieldy fandom history but still the potential consequences here are unfathomable.

[bakemeats]

Houseki no Kuni encyclopedia translations, part 4/?

Mostly day-to-day tools in this part - medical tools, cosmetics, containers, and chairs/desks.

MEDICAL TOOLS

Mineral life forms born on the Beach of Beginnings are a far cry from the previously-depicted sculpture-like smooth forms of the gems; they are rectilinear and jagged in shape, with their specific crystal structure exposed, much like any other mineral. In order to prevent discrimination stemming from differences in physical appearance while maintaining their group lifestyle, all mineral life forms are tailored into the same shape as soon as possible after their birth. The hair is generally not modified very much, perhaps out of respect for the gem's individuality, or perhaps in order to make physical identification easier. The mineral life forms are refined by Kongou and become "gems;" accurate and detailed eyeballs are inserted into their eye sockets, and they are integrated into society. These medical tools are used both for the refining process in that early part of a gem's life, and for repairing injuries sustained during daily life or combat. The tools themselves are simple and unsophisticated; however, as each gem's individual hardness, cleavage, and viscosity must be taken into account, using them requires a high degree of skill. In the event that an entire body part is lost during a Lunarian raid, minerals birthed on the Beach of Beginnings without inclusions (and therefore unable to attain life) are carved out and extracted with the tools A through E, and, after being formed into the shape of the part that was lost, glued onto the gem. Figure F shows files used when refining gems with no cleavage, such as rock-types or quartz-family gems. Figure G shows a variety of different knives used for fine detail work during the reining process. The blades can be changed out depending on the patient's hardness and other such characteristics. Those with a hardness of four or lower are made of obsidian, much like the weapons; anything higher is made from fragments from the Beach of Beginnings that are too small to be used as replacement parts, or leftover shards from the refinement of those replacement materials. Outside of medical tools, these mineral fragments have very little use. Aside from the school's bell and the aforementioned Obsidian's weapons, we have not seen any other examples of minerals used in their daily lives. As these are originally fragments of those who should have been born as friends and companions to the gems, it may be something like using the body of a stillborn infant to them, so to speak. With this emotional reasoning in mind, it is thought that the gems do everything they can to avoid using them.

----

COSMETICS

---- The color of a gem's body is originally the color of that particular gem's constituent stone, but a custom of painting themselves white has taken root in their culture. As they're surrounded on all sides by the ocean, the application of glue and white powder has the additional goal of preventing salt adhesion and erosion on their bodies. The protocol for applying the makeup is as such: first, the entire body is lightly coated in a plant-based adhesive called "usunori" or simply “nori,” using an asa-fiber paintbrush. The inside of the fruit of the "bara" plant in late autumn is packed full with of a very sticky juice (called "nobara") meant to protect the seeds. The fruit is split and strained and the juice is extracted in order for use as usunori. The skin of the fruit is sturdy and durable, and can be collected and stored. Once the usunori has dried on top of the skin and some of the moisture has evaporated, a powdered foundation simply called "white powder" is gently dabbed on with a powder puff. This foundation is made by extracting powdered albumen from the seeds of a plant simply called "oshiroibana" (white flower.) These are harvested in late summer. The extraction of the white powder from the 5mm hard black seeds takes a great deal of time and effort, and about 1000 seeds are necessary to create the amount needed for one gem. Due to this, it's preferable that the gems do their best not to get wet. Outside of water, there is no simple way to remove the foundation. In the event that they need to go into the sea, a salt-resistant resin coating is applied. But as this resin cannot be found anywhere except in the "rouboku" (ancient trees) on the northeastern part of the island, the yearly harvest is highly variable, and as such, it is a precious resource; using it without permission is forbidden.

----

BOWLS, BASKETS, AND CONTAINERS

--- Used for storing the useful seeds, fruits and leaves the gems gather, as well as carrying them. These are communal items, shared by everyone, and the gems are taught to handle them with care, as there are few natural resources on the island. They span a wide range of designs, and compared to the clothes and other daily tools, there's quite a large number of them. Our conjecture is that vessels such as these are regarded as simple tools on this island and may not have any particular cultural meaning to the gems. Figure A shows the most common bowl, and the one we have observed in use the most. While it appears to have been made by hollowing out a tree, as mentioned previously, it was crafted by joining together several pieces of wood scrap. It is thought that items from a time period with larger trees were referenced in an attempt to recreate them. Bowls of various sizes and depths (as in figures A-1 and A-2) based on this basic model are also created. Figure B shows a lightweight knit wicker basket made from lengths of scrap paper. It has superior breathability, and if the inside is lined with cloth, it can even be used to temporarily store seeds, fruits or fibers. Figure C is a basket created from woven tree bark, used for carrying lightweight objects. Compared to the bowl from Figure A, the materials used to create this basket do not require a high level of skill to use; indeed, as anyone could make it if taught how, it's possible these baskets were once more commonplace, but as the tree bark itself is a valuable resource and not terribly durable, we saw only a small number of this model of basket during our observation period. Figure D is a container for small valuables. It's used to temporarily store pieces of gems being repaired and other such purposes. Figure E shows containers for tools. The gem in charge of tailoring stores their sewing implements here, and the doctor and weaponsmith also deposit various instruments in these. Figure F is an unusual vessel that opens with a key. It is unclear what it’s used for, as we've never seen the key.

----

CHAIRS AND DESKS

----

The gravitational pull of Y-3579203181277 can be considered about 1/3 of its former strength  from before the meteor impact splintered it into several satellites. Even so, constructing a chair that can support the gems' heavy bodies is a source of great mental stress to the woodworker gems. Due to the limited supply of lumber, the majority of chairs are built with three legs, as small as possible. Generally, they're used during short rest periods so that the gems don't get dirty or scratched by the floor; it's rare that a gem will sit down for an extended length of time. The frequency of repairs is high, so it cannot be said that using chairs is particularly logical; however, it's theorized that recreating the lifestyle of the ancient creatures holds some importance to the gems, and the furniture's purpose is more decorative in nature. One of our more eccentric scholars insists that the high number of three-legged chairs is reminiscent of "elderly people from the ancient race." Figure A depicts the earliest, most basic stool crafted from a tree root, miraculously still in one piece. It's not suitable for carrying a lot of weight. Figure B shows the most commonly-used chair; while it's used as a seat, it's also often used to hold clothes or as a weapon stand. Figure C is a unique model reusing the fork of a tree as the legs. The seat has a cloth-cover cushion filled with dried grass. It's used after damage repairs. Figure D shows a high chair with a number of legs added into the free spaces. As most gems are busy working at their posts, it's more of an interior decorating element. Additionally, before going to bed, the majority of the gems enjoy conversation with one another, but generally pull out cushions to sit on the floor at this time. This chair is rarely used. Figure E is a bench seen in the strategy room. It's temporarily used by gems on standby. There are fewer variations in desks compared to chairs, and there are less of them present, as well. Figure F shows the basic two-legged design; there's also a model with a drawer (figure G) for holding small items. Figure H is a footstool. Figure I is a stepladder, used to reach items on high shelves in the medical room as well as board up the windows in the hibernation chamber; one must be extremely careful with how they shift their weight, however, and those who are not used to using it often fall off when they try.

[davidmann95]

"Infinite Frontier": has DC actually learned anything and will things actually be better?

‘Learned anything’ might not be the right way of putting it, because this doesn’t seem to be a refinement on anything they’ve done before so much as - as Bleeding Cool speculated in November (that’s a donotlink so go ahead and check it out) - laying the groundwork for a much bigger shift a little ways down the road to fully digital-first titles collected in trades and only a handful of remaining regular periodicals centered around the biggest marquee names and aimed more at bookstore and supermarket audiences than the comics direct market, presumably alongside OGNs and some prestige/Black Label material. They’re consolidating their titles around recognizable names, making a Walmart-style anthology a tentpole Batman title and experimenting with fewer but thicker monthly comics with backups, and slapping relatively few #1s on even major shifts like Bendis/Marquez on Justice League which would seem to suggest the BIG change is still to come. For now, and again this seems to line up with this being the endgame, the goal seems less than a handful of remarkable titles than linewide consistency; few if any of these books are going to end up all-time classics even if there are several standouts, but even the worst of the bunch look merely tepid rather than total disasters in the making, and in that regard it feels like the improved version of the basic Rebirth creative ethos. They’re here to button up their shirts, demonstrate some professionalism and competence, and prove they can make a model aimed outside the Wednesday Warriors work.

Anonymous said: You know how you wanted Superman writers to start harping on how “he’s just a regular guy” and do cosmic space god Superman? Apparently PKJ has said he plans to do exactly that with Superman in his run. Also seems like Jon will get one of the main books and Clark will take over the other, so Bendis won’t be writing him, he’ll be written by PKJ or Lewis most likely. Interview is on Coliseum of Comics YT channel.

Anonymous said: I don’t think Bendis is writing Hon as Superman. Given that FS seems to be dictating the direction of the line, Lewis or Watters seem more likely for that job. Would prefer either of them, they’re both good indie workers.

Between tweets, this interview that I’ve had relayed to me by a friend, and new solicit material: the plan seems to be that PKJ will only be handling both Superman and Action Comics for about a year, and after a big Action story illustrated by Mikel Janin he’ll remaining on that while Superman goes to someone else. And with very pointed notes that there should be space for both Clark and Jon ‘between the two books’, Jon standing in front of Clark in multiple promotional images, and Superman #29′s mention of “a new Superman”, it seems likely that Jon will in fact be taking on the title himself in the present along with Superman proper (probably as you said with Lewis or maybe Watters - if it’s not a self-contained future book I doubt Bendis is doing it after all) while Clark and PKJ remaining on Action. He even apparently said he was involved with the original 5G plans as they morphed into Future State, and that stuff from that is going to continue to be mined: between this and the Future State Batman being in the Infinite Frontier group shot along with Yara Flor Wonder Girl and the Flash of Future State: Suicide Squad, I think we’re gonna see a lot of legacy characters taking over in the present and that’s when we’ll see the big new wave of #1s absent here (probably paired with some cosmic type like Waverider or Spectre going “events are happening earlier than they were ordained!”). I’d go so far as to guess the digital first vs. few remaining periodicals will be divided between the new generation heroes and ‘classic’ material, though which is which would depend on DC’s priorities and which they feel would be best serviced where.

Further thoughts on the books outside my previous immediate initial takes now that full solicits are out:

* Is Justice League just being used as a catch-all for all the stuff the other ‘Infinite’ branded covers didn’t cover, or is this indicative that Bendis/Marquez Justice League will rope in a lot of characters beyond its immediate cast, given the big DCU group shot for this line was already on Infinite Frontier proper? The solicit mentions Flash for instance being part of the team even though he’s only on this cover, not the main one.

* That Superman Red & Blue is being launched alongside this - with further King stuff in the works for Black Label too - would seem to suggest that DC’s actively going to continue putting together prestige works, rather than putting those entirely by the wayside in favor of the mass-market stuff. There was word awhile back that Black Label might be going under as part of this shift, so glad that a place for a more creatively free approach seems to be remaining intact. Also they got the Final Fantasy logo guy to do a Superman cover, so cool!

* Ok, so it’s a new Swamp Thing altogether, along with more next generation stuff maybe that’ll be an in for me.

* Oh thank god the Batman logo is finally good again after a decade. Not exactly excited though for these Williamson backups with Damian, even should him seeming to rejoin Talia turn out to be a misdirect.

* “In the aftermath of Dark Nights: Death Metal, catch a glimpse of brave new worlds within the DC Universe...but what are these strange planets? As we delve into the parallel lives of the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight, we'll meet new villains, new heroes, alternate realities, and a transdimensional collision that you will need to see to believe! It's the dastardly debut of a cadre of new villains, including the Spider Lady and her poisonous webs, Dr. Atom, who sports a Kryptonite pendant, and the maniacal machinations of the Unknown Wizard! You've never seen Batman and Superman like this before—so buckle up and get ready for the start of a new era courtesy of writer Gene Luen Yang and artist Ivan Reis!” THIS IS EVERYTHING I WANT FROM COMICS, INJECT IT INTO EVERY VEIN IN MY BODY. I assume this is where we’ll see Calvin Ellis given his presence on the Infinite Frontier cover? And is Reis gonna stick around, or will it be a different artist each issue for this multiverse story?

* Spoilers for the apparent new Wonder Woman status quo behind rot13: Fb rfcrpvnyyl nsgre ure nccnerag qrzvfr va Qrngu Zrgny naq gur pbfzvp fgnaqneq frg ol Vzzbegny Jbaqre Jbzna, vg frrzrq bqq gur svefg fgbel ol gur fnzr grnz gnxvat bire ure obbx jnf tbvat gb or nobhg ure svtugvat Ivxvatf. Ohg ab, fur'f va Inyunyyn, orpnhfr fur'f nccneragyl nyy nobhg fbyivat TBQ CEBOYRZF abj. Tbq, cyrnfr yrg guvf grnz fgvpx nebhaq naq svanyyl znxr guvf obbx nyy vg fubhyq or.

* And as one era begins, another ends with Grant Morrison’s alleged final DC comics arriving on the same day in March with Wonder Woman: Earth One Volume 3 and The Green Lantern Season Two #12.

[lunasilvermorny]

The Summer of Muggles

It’s finally here - and it was all my idea!

Kidding...

First of all - I’m so glad to see that anyone is that invested in anything related to my headcanon ^^ So thanks anon for giving me the motivation to finally make that post!

That being said...Here’s the thing.

When I made the "Summer of Muggles", it was just something I made for myself, to figure things out, so it involved zero research. And as someone who's never personally been to the UK, I probably got a lot of things wrong and Americanized the hell out of everything. Anyway, for me to post it, I need to do a proper research and I'm just not invested enough in it to dedicate the time and energy that will make it happen.

That means that the full thing will just stay as something I wrote for myself.

However...!

I can summarize it for you. (and by summarize, I mean - make a very long and detailed post about it.)

(I realized that the drawing I made about the Summer of Muggles is almost a year old, so I’ve decided to redraw it... It’s really encouraging to see how much I’ve improved since last year.)

0. Introduction:

For Luna's 14th birthday (it's in December, so she was still in her 4th year), her mother bought her a car that Luna named Oliver. Luna's muggle grandma has taught her how to drive (the first time she let her sit behind the wheel was when she was only 8 y.o.!), and she really loves muggle technology in general, so it was the perfect gift for her.

When Luna came back for the summer vacation between her 4th and 5th year, she's decided to go on a road trip across the UK with Oliver. The car had a magical protection that prevented muggle-cops from approaching it, so Luna was able to drive around without a license. She also looked older than she was (mostly because of her height), so she didn't draw any attention to herself whenever she got in and out of the car.

She drove around, especially next to coastlines, parked next to beaches and slept in the car. During her trip she met many muggles, but a selected few actually traveled with her for a portion of it.

You can divide her trip into 4 major sections:

The first week (the adjustment period)

The end of July

The first three days of August

The rest of August

Okay, let’s dive in!

----

1. The first week (around mid-July)

She spent most of the time getting used to sleep in her car and go to public places for basic needs like food, bathroom, laundry etc.

The most memorable event during this week was when she met a group of people that were on their way to a rock-concert when their car broke down. So she gave them a ride and in return they've sneaked her in.

----

2. The end of July

That's when she met Pete and Lynn - fraternal twins that just finished high school and wanted to have a small taste of freedom before going to uni. She met them while she stumbled across a forest party for their graduation.

Most people there were too wasted to notice her, but they saw her almost immediately and started a conversation with her. So they drank, danced and talked for hours. They were also the only muggles that figured out she's a witch. (Well, almost... you’ll see why in the next section.) Lynn has noticed her wand and they told her that their little sister is also a witch that just finished her first year at Hogwarts. After the party was interrupted by the cops, Lynn and Pete asked her if they can join her for the trip, and without any second though she agreed.

They mostly went to parties and got drunk in different places for the rest of the month, and had a lot of fun together.

--

3. The first three days of August

After arriving at a small town and sitting in the local pub, Luna’s identity as a witch was discovered and she had to use Obliviate on the muggles in the pub to keep it a secret. Because they were in the middle or nowhere essentially, a wizard from the Ministry of Magic arrived shortly after to see if a minor used magic there. Luna, Lynn and Pete hid in the car, and once the wizard got in the pub, drove away in a hurry.

Knowing that she needs a strong alibi in case they found out it was her that used magic, Luna left Lynn and Pete with Oliver next to a small forest outside of the town and flew in her owl form to her parents’ house, but when she saw that the wizard got there before her and was already talking to her father, she's decided to fly to the Weasleys instead. She got there in the middle of the night and woke up Bill to ask for his help.

In the early morning the wizard from the Ministry arrived at the Weasleys’ house and was greeted by Luna and Bill, although Mrs. Weasley joined them shortly after he got there. When she saw her son was telling the wizard that Luna has been staying there for more than a week and never left their house, she supported their story, even before she was sure why they're lying about it.

The wizard said that he found a letter addressed to her in the pub (oh right, I forgot to mention that while in the pub, Charlie Brown showed up with a letter from Rowan, and with the whole fuss surrounding her being a witch, she hasn’t noticed when she dropped it.) but Luna kept insisting she was never there.

The wizard left eventually and Luna found out later on that her father made the problem “disappear” and that's why she got away with it.

She stayed there for a couple of hours and gave Mrs. Weasley a not-really-convincing explanation for what happened, but Mrs. Weasley chose to trust her eldest son and his reasons for helping her.

Luna flew back to the road outside the small town where she's left Lynn and Pete with her car, but when she got to the exact spot, they weren’t there anymore. She's spent the rest of the morning searching for them in both her human and owl forms and when she couldn't, she went to a small pub on the side of the road to get some rest. The pub was empty aside for the bartender - Michael, a 20-something y.o. bloke that ran his parents' business when they got too old to do it themselves.

They talked and bonded, and eventually he offered her to sleep in his flat on the second floor, because she looked too exhausted to keep looking for them. But she barely got half an hour of sleep before she's decided to keep searching, and Michael offered to help her. She knew she'd be better off searching in her owl form, but he looked determined to help her, so they've searched together for a few hours. Around noon Luna thanked him for his help but said she preferred to keep searching alone, so she had the chance to cover more ground in her owl form.

Toward the evening she started to lose hope and took a quick nap on a bench in a random bus stop, before she was interrupted by an old lady and her son. She almost lost her wand, but the old lady gave it to her just before she left again.

She kept searching for a few more hours and just before she lost all hope, she went once more to the place where she had left them in the first place and to her surprise, found Lynn sitting next to a tree a few meters from the car.

Lynn told Luna that Pete and her had a huge fight and he's decided to go to Wales alone (because that's where they were heading) and Lynn went to a nearby town to sleep, but got stuck with the car because the gas ran out, and by the time she got back to the same point, Luna already gave up on the idea that they might still be there.

When Luna suggested they should just keep going, Lynn told her she's too tried and they both went back to Michael's pub to get some rest. But instead of sleeping they've spent the entire night drinking and talking with him and when Lynn finally fell asleep around dawn, Michael asked Luna to join them on their trip, since Pete’s spot has opened.

--

4. The rest of August

The three had great chemistry and spent most of the time like before- partying and drinking, only that with Michael there, they also went camping more. Lynn and Michael almost became a thing, which made being around them awkward, then it didn't work out, which made being around them even more awkward, but after a few days it went back to normal.

They went to the northernmost point in Scotland before they turned back to England, but kept driving past London and went to the southernmost point in England. There they met Connor, a rich young bloke that celebrated his financial freedom with a huge party on the beach.

During the night he made a very negative impression on Luna and Michael, but after he sobered up in the morning he offered them to come visit him in Brighton, where he'll make it up to him. Michael was against it, but both Luna and Lynn were intrigued and they've decided it will be the last place they visit before they head back home.

They partied with Connor for a few days and Lynn's decided to stay with Connor, while Luna and Michael headed toward London.

Luna dropped him at the train station and planned to go home, but when she stood outside of her house, already prepared to open the door and get in, she's decided that she wanted to get a proper goodbye from Pete as well and flew to his aunt's house in Wales.

Pete was surprised by the strange owl that knocked on the window, and even more surprised when it turned into Luna. He hugged her and apologized for leaving without a saying anything, and just said that he and Lynn had a huge fight and he couldn't stay there with her anymore. He refused to get into the details but showed concern for his sister’s safety and reassured Luna that they tend to have huge fights like this a lot and they'll make up "sometime soon."

--

After that Luna really went back home - and that's the end of the Summer of Muggles.

If you think that was long, the original post was ~30 pages long in MS Word, so... I actually summarized it. (Who know I was capable of it? Not me.)

[jaynedolluk]

TV OF 2020 PART 3

Another part ...

BBC continued with a run of great documentaries. I particularly like their music-based ones – this year, their Top of the Pops series got up to 1989 and 1990. Mark Gatiss did a couple of documentaries on Dracula and Aubrey Beardsley and Chris Packham did ones on the issue of over-population and what punk meant to him. Irvine Welsh did one for Sky about issues of taste/offence/censorship and Jo Brand did an A to Z one of ways of coping in this pandemic world. Tony Slattery did a very moving programme about how sexual abuse had affected his life + his mental health problems. I also thought Robert Rinder's documentary on the Holocaust was incredibly moving and emotional.

Mark Kermode returned with his Secrets of Cinema series – he also did another show with Simon Mayo reviewing TV/films available over the lockdown period called Kermode and Mayo's Home Entertainment Service (which I would really love them to bring back). Channel 4 did a short series of shows with each one having a different host/decade + a countdown of people's favourite shows from that time. A lot of my favourites got mentioned but I was surprised at some of the omissions (like Misfits + Utopia). I also liked Between the Covers which was BBC2's book review show where every week a group of different guests discussed a couple of new releases as well as their favourite books. BBC did The Noughties which had various guests looking back on the events + popular culture of the 2000s (which doesn't seem that long ago but weirdly, it is!). Andrew Marr did a really good series called New Elizabethans where he looked at different people from throughout the Queen's reign who show how much society and culture has changed in that time. Stephen Fry also did one of 21st century firsts + it was so crazy to see how so much stuff we take for granted now only came along comparitively recently. I thought the series Celebrity: A 21st Century Story was really interesting as it examined how celebrity has changed in the last 20 or so years.

Back In Time returned for a look at corner shops through the 20th century and Lucy Worsley did a series on Royal History's Biggest Fibs (which as usual was an excuse for her to tit about in fancy frocks). BBC did one of the events surrounding Miss World 1970 (it was the 1st time a black woman had won the competition + it was also the subject of feminist protests). In a similar vein, Channel 4 did a documentary on Page Three (which did highlight some of the issues around it – for those outside the UK, Page 3 was a feature in The Sun, the most popular tabloid newspaper, where topless models appeared + it was hugely popular at the time).

Some of my favourite US TV series returned (The Umbrella Academy, Westworld, The Walking Dead, Snowfall, and The Blacklist) and The Deuce finished off with its final series (I do think some of the others should be looking at wrapping things up rather than continuing to drag things out). Tin Star did a final series set in Liverpool which was basically just loads of people getting shot. I really loved the 2nd series of Warrior (about a Chinese man in late 1800s San Franciso who's involved with the gangs) – I really hope one of the other streaming services like Netflix step in + save it.

New shows included Perry Mason (a reboot that acts as his origin story – I really liked it), Lovecraft Country (which I thought was excellent + really well-done), Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (set in post WW2 Los Angeles – I found it a bit uneven but it did have its moments), and Why Women Kill (looking at 3 different women who commit murder in 3 different time periods – loved its wit + excellent performances – my favourite being Lucy Liu – and I'm really pleased to hear its been commissioned for a 2nd series). There was also Trickster (a Canadian production that has a largely Indigenous cast + crew and a setting/story that uses elements from modern life as well as traditional myths/practices) which I really liked + I hope they do another series. I think my favourite would have to be Prodigal Son – it's just so deliciously good in all the best ways – amazing cast + writing plus the amount of epic whump that the extraordinarily pretty Tom Payne gets put thro' will always ensure it's a fan favourite.

It seems like so long ago that The Trial of Christine Keeler was shown so I think a lot of people have maybe forgotten just how good it was (it's based on the true story of the Profumo scandal from the 1960s – I hadn't realised just how young Christine Keeler + Mandy Rice-Davies were when they were involved in it). There were a couple of true crime dramas which I think managed to do a decent job without being too exploitative – Des (based on the Dennis Nilsen case) and White House Farm (based on the Jeremy Bamber case). There was also Quiz (based on the 'coughing major' case of the man who supposedly cheated on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?).

[wipbigbang]

2020 Schedule + FAQ

Schedule

All times are by 8:59pm CST. Convert time zones.

We also have a Google calendar you can subscribe to with the schedule.

Sign-ups Begin- April 30th Sign-ups Close- May 9th Check In #1- May 16th Check In #2- May 30th Snippets Due- June 13th Art Claims Begin- June 17th Check In #3- June 27th Check In #4- July 11th Rough Drafts Due- July 25th Posting Claims Begin- July 29th Check In #5- August 1st Posting Claims Ends- August 8th Final Drafts/Art Due- August 15th Posting Starts- August 15th

FAQ

What is the WIP Big Bang? Good question! This is a Big Bang with one goal in mind: to clean out your drafts folder. These are stories that were unfinished for whatever reason, that authors returned to and completed, and the art that goes with them! Do I need a Livejournal/Dreamwidth/AO3/etc. account to participate? No! You don’t have to have an account on anything to participate, though you will need to have somewhere to post your finished work. Having one or more accounts will help for you to follow what is going on with the bang (we crosspost to Livejournal, Dreamwidth, Tumblr, and Twitter at the moment), but they are not required to participate. You can always leave comments anonymously or with an opensource ID. Will I get emails about the bang? We do send out some emails, mostly for snippets and art claims and to ensure communication between authors and artists, but please do NOT rely on getting an email to remind you of due dates. We currently do not keep an updated email list of participants, so we only send individual emails as needed rather than mass emails. However, email is the fastest way to communicate with the mods. If you have any questions or are having trouble communicating with your artist/author, please do email us! We will do our best to respond quickly. Is there a minimum word count? 7,500 words, but the sky's the limit, right? What do you mean by minimum word count to enter? This is a WIP Big Bang, therefore we ask you to have at least 500 words of your story drafted when you enter. It's okay if you have posted a few chapters of your fic already (you never know when the muse deserts you, after all), we just require you to refrain from posting more until posting begins here. Is there anything not allowed? As long as you wrote it and you want to finish it, you're welcome to participate. Just bear in mind that original work is only allowed on AO3 if it has a fannish connection and might make it hard for artists to work with. But we'll make a dedicated post for that if there will be any. What are 'Check Ins’? These are a way for us to see what you've been up to and for you to make sure you're still on track. It will give you a little nudge/reminder if you need it, but they are not compulsory. What are the snippets requirements? In order to allow the artists to make art for the story they claimed, we require you to supply three snippets from your fic, between 500 – 1500 words each. The snippets will be sent to the artist after they have claimed your story. They're to help the artist match your story for artwork the best way he or she possibly can. It’s helpful to choose scenes or parts of scenes that you feel best represent your fic, but don’t feel like they have to be perfect to be submitted. Along with the snippets, we will send your artist the basic fic info and your email, so the two of you can collaborate more if you would both like. What are the rough drafts requirements? For the rough drafts, stories should be at least 80% complete. You will not have to turn them in to us, just assure us that you are at that point. Anything less is at the discretion of the mods and those authors should speak to one of the mods asap. What is, and do I need, a beta? A beta is basically a person who goes over your work to make sure that there are no spelling/grammatical errors and they can even be of assistance in helping you with story lines, etc. It is highly recommended that a beta looks over your work before posting. Where can I post my fic/art? Stories and art can be posted to your own personal journal, tumblr, ff-net, AO3, or wherever you like. For those of you with AO3 accounts, we will set up a collection that will go live on the day of the posting. Also, we've enabled moderated posting to the comm (Livejournal and Dreamwidth) for members. We will post a template for posting artwork and stories to the comm closer to the posting date. If you don’t currently have an AO3 account but would like one, you can contact the mods for an invitation code. You can also add yourself to the AO3 Invites Request queue. How do I know when to post? Posting will be tiered; you'll each get your own posting date that you and your artist will decide on together. There will probably be three fics, plus art, posting per day between August 15th and September 30th. The post with date claims will go up on July 29th and you'll have to choose your date by August 8th. If you want to post your story in chapters on AO3 or your own blog (or wherever you usually post), you may do so starting August 8th. However, posting has to be finished by your chosen posting date to the comm. One of the things we're hoping to do with the posted dates is to give everybody on the comm a little bragging time in the spotlight. You know, "this story was incomplete for this long, but I finished this sucker." If you don't have time to post on your chosen posting date, you can queue up a post ahead of time and we can post it on the date you picked. Either way works for us. Art will be due on the chosen posting date to the comm. Is there a minimum/maximum requirement for my art? There is no strict minimum, but we do ask artists to remember that the authors are writing a minimum of 7,500 words and your artwork should reflect that. You can do anything you like, including banners, wallpapers, icons, mixes, vids, gif sets, picspams, etc. Suggested guidelines for art are 500x500px (or equivalent of smaller pieces like banner + spacers, cover + icons, etc.) for traditional art, digital art, and manips; 2 minutes for vids; 10 songs + cover art for mixes; and 6 images for gif sets and picspams. We also ask that when you are in contact with the author, you work with them to see if there is anything specific they would like (i.e. a wallpaper, book cover, etc.). The art is your work, but having ideas doesn't hurt! What are 'art claims'? The claims are when anonymous summaries of the story go up for artists to choose from. It is based on a 'first come, first served' basis and artists may choose up to three potential stories (in case their first choice is unavailable). If there are more stories than artists, there will be a second round of claims wherein artists may choose a second story to work with. And on until all stories are claimed for art. If a fic up for claiming is rated explicit (R, NC-17, etc.), please only claim the story if you are over 18 years of age. Some authors may be uncomfortable working with underage artists on explicit works. We do not verify ages in any way for the bang, so this is solely on the honor system. Can I get an extension? Community extensions may be given in the event that the majority of the authors/artists need one. They may also be given individually under certain circumstances, but this must be discussed with the mods and will only be a short extension for posting. If you are certain that you won’t be able to finish your story in time, please let us know by June 13th. What do I do if I have problems or concerns about my author/artist? Sometimes authors and artists do not get along and this may cause problems with working together. If this happens to be the case with you, please email the mods and we will try to do what we can so that everyone has a chance to have fun at WIP Big Bang! If you have not heard from your author/artist in some time after trying to contact them, you can reach out to us via email and we will try to get in touch with them for you. Can I drop out? We have high hopes that everybody who signs up can actually finish the round and share in the joy of the reveal with us, but real life can unfortunately get in the way and we completely understand! If you feel like you just cannot finish in time and no amount of assistance from us can help you, just let us know by June 13th (if at all possible). Is it possible to be banned? We do have a banned users list. We hope to use this to encourage participants who are having issues to communicate with the mods. We want to help you! The way the ban works is that participants, either authors and artists, will be banned for dropping out without notifying a mod. This means that anyone who has not posted or talked to a mod by the time the posting period ends will be banned. Dropping out is not in and of itself a banning offense, so please do not panic if you have to drop out! We understand that there are many reasons you may need to drop, and we want to work with you. Bans will last one round or until the issue is resolved, whichever comes first. To resolve a ban, authors will have to finish and post the story they signed up with and artists will have to finish and post the art for the story they claimed. Three bans will result in a permanent ban from the bang. I have a question/concern that’s not mentioned here. If you need help, you can always contact a mod and we will do our best to make sure that you get your story/art finished. The best and fastest method of contact is through our email, wipbigbang@gmail.com.

[eintsein]

Warning: 10 min read ahead :)

Coming into freshman year, I was relatively optimistic. However, I also did that thing where I prevent myself from having too strong of an opinion or extreme expectations (whether it’s positive or negative) before actually experiencing something, in order not to settle on a premature judgment. Even so, before starting freshman year, I was excited for a huge change - I was sick of mundane high school life. When I finally started college, man, was it liberating.

On Intellectual Development

I’d been taking more or less the same classes throughout high school. These classes covered the exact same topics - the only difference was the depth of the material. In college, however, I got to study a breadth of topics and subjects - astronomy, anthropology, information science, philosophy - subjects into which I barely dipped my toes, and when I did so, it was only through the books I read in my own time.

Choosing a liberal arts school is one of the best decisions I ever made because it exposes me to so many things I simply did not have access to in the earlier stages of my intellectual development. Like, yeah, I can read philosophy books whenever I want, but who will I talk to when I don’t understand an argument? How can I discipline my thinking, my writing, my approach to this new learning material? I can find any topic fascinating, but I can’t exactly set my mind on any of them because I haven’t had proper academic exposure. Plus, where high school humanities courses were easy and contained little engagement - just lots of material - the humanities courses I took in my freshman year of college got me thinking and reflecting and engaging with the material even when I didn’t intend to.

What I particularly enjoyed was the discussion sections in humanities courses. For those less familiar with the system, each course usually has a weekly discussion where students are split up into smaller classes and get to discuss anything related to the course material that week. I am not a naturally talkative or articulate person by any standard, let alone compared to Americans, so obviously these discussions were very challenging. But aside from helping me practice putting my thoughts into words and to interact verbally with academic material, these discussions did allow me to engage with the material in a way that I could not have alone, in a way that a STEM course probably could not be discussed.

My STEM courses, however, had their own merits. I very much enjoyed the project based, hands-on approach of most of the classes, especially when teamwork is involved. For my final project for a web programming and design course, my team and I got to make a website for an on-campus, student-run grocery store. For my intro CS final project, I got to code an entire game of alien invaders. This was so refreshing compared to the STEM courses I did in high school, where I was basically just learning the theory for 6 months, and then drilling past papers for the next 6 months. Theory in these STEM courses are also more involved and require more thinking, while high school science courses tend to be on the mechanical side.

College is also liberating because whenever I have the urge to understand something more deeply or find an ever-present curiosity sitting in the back of my mind, I can always enroll in a course or attend a lecture, instead of always being redirected to a predetermined course combination that doesn’t allow for intellectual exploration, and settling for an article, a youtube video, or a book instead. It’s an amazing feeling to always have a fountain of knowledge with which I can quench my intellectual thirst.

When it comes to learning things, I still have the same attitude as the wide-eyed freshman when I first came last fall. I kinda wish I had experimented more instead of jumping into my ‘intended major’, though. In my first two semesters here, I took astronomy, anthropology, comparative literature, computer science, economics, information science, mathematics, and philosophy, which is already quite a diverse course combination, but there are some other subjects I’d like to try out and definitely could have if I hadn’t settled for a major upon entering college. But wherever I end up - and I still have a year to decide - I’m sure I’ll choose something interdisciplinary and requires diverse ways of thinking.

On Paths (in Life, School, etc.)

The intellectual and academic rigidity of high school also kind of narrowed my scope for my own future. The courses and careers built into my head were the ones I was exposed to at school, at home, or in mainstream media. However, being exposed to all this new knowledge made me realize how little I’ve experienced - certainly not enough to determine where I’m going in life - and that it’s okay to not be sure of where I want to go.

There’s this perception that you should know where you want to be in the future by the time you turn 17 or 18 or whatever age you graduate high school, maybe even earlier if you take into account the college application period. But honestly, how realistic is that? I mean, it’s great if you discover your ‘passion’ early on in life, but then where’s your room to breathe? How can you explore the other joys life has to offer? How can be so sure that the path you’re on is the right one if you haven’t walked any other or even seen other possible paths? 

College freed me from feeling like I need to be certain of where I was going. It freed me from trying to pursue a predetermined path based solely on my past academic experience, and instead focus on trying new things to build new experiences and knowledge that will evolve into a path that I enjoy every step of the way.

That also applies to choosing a major. I started out ‘wanting’ to do computer science - wanting being a loose term meaning something I thought I should do, based on my background, experience, academic strengths, and personality. But then I noticed myself being very impartial towards pursuing the major and just doing the minimum amount of work needed for the classes. I also took the minimum number of CS classes each semester because I was honestly not looking forward to them - and I didn’t particularly enjoy them when I took them.

It wasn’t the same with my Info Sci classes, for example, where I started early on projects just because they were enjoyable to do, even if they were challenging. I learned how to do certain things when they weren’t required for the class, experienced a good flow when doing the projects, actually came to class because I wanted to, had initiative when it came to group projects, made friends with people in the class who I didn’t know before taking it - I was just more involved in the class. Overall, I was more motivated to learn, and I think that’s the most important thing (maybe that’s just the ravenclaw in me, who knows).

On a smaller scale, you might be good at a certain subject in high school only to find out you’re suddenly incompetent in it and aren’t interested enough to push through it. I was a math person in high school - like I almost didn’t even have to try - but the two math classes I’ve taken so far in college were very challenging for me, and I suppose that’s a good thing because it allowed me to push my limits further and think about whether I enjoy the challenge.

Recently, I read that true happiness comes when you find problems you enjoy solving, and I think that’s a good ideology to help you choose the path you wanna take.

On Things that Spark Joy

This past year, I also found that I was a lot happier than in high school because I got to pursue the things that bring me joy, whether it’s in regard to academics as I’ve described above, extracurriculars, or things in my daily life.

I got to wake up at whatever time I wanted to and had breakfast how I liked - both in terms of food and whether I had my coffee at home or to-go, or example. I could change my physical appearance in ways that make me feel powerful and confident - in terms of clothing and hair and just how I presented myself in general. When I needed to breathe, I could walk around town or go down to the gorges. I could do my work when and where it was most convenient for me (most of the time).

With regard to extracurriculars, there were a lot of opportunities for me to try new things and continue doing the things I already love. I became a graphic designer for a cultural magazine, which allowed me to do one of my favorite things for a purpose towards which I’m happy to be working. My high school didn’t have any publications and had a seasonal need for graphic designers (mainly school events). I tried out for music groups, trained to be a DJ, watched and discussed films I wouldn’t have seen if it weren’t for Cornell Cinema, went to the concerts of bands that never come to Indonesia. I attended social events I was interested in, and skipped those that I didn’t want to go to, attended workshops, listened to guest lectures, etc. I hung out with people I enjoyed being around, instead of those with whom the only thing I had in common was physical location.

One of the things I’m still adjusting to, however, is the different dynamic of college friendships compared to high school friendships in that they’re more spread out in away - like you’d know a whole bunch of people but they don’t mutually know each other, and there isn’t really like a friend group. Maybe that’s just me. But either way, I also realized that my closest friends in high school took at least 3 or 4 years to go from merely a familiar face to people I’d call for four hours straight and send my sporadic thoughts to. So I guess I gotta be patient and have faith that with time, compatible and like-minded individuals will gravitate towards one another.

On Self-Discovery

Starting college also allowed me to be who I am and who I want to be as opposed to who people think I am and who people expect me to be. Whenever I decide to do something, I don’t have this fear of being ‘out of character’ since I haven’t entirely established who I am yet in the context of college. By doing things I've never done before, I learn things about myself that I probably could not have had I stayed in the same environment (i.e. high school).

Among other things, I noticed that if I don’t want to do something, I will deliberately sabotage myself to make it harder for me to achieve. On the other hand, if I want to succeed or do well in something, I’ll take initiative. That might seem obvious, but the thing is, I don’t always consciously know what I want or like so analyzing my own actions helps a lot. Because college exposes me to so many different material, there’s more data and information to work with, in which to recognize patterns.

A lot of the self-discovery that’s happened is personal, as it should be, but one of the things I’m really grateful for is taking that philosophy course the first semester of college. It made me reassess everything I knew and believed and decide on what values and thoughts I should keep.

I guess one thing I’d advise you to do is to experience new things and reflect on the impact of those new experiences. Sometimes it might not feel like you’ve done a ton of things after a whole year. I’ve had moments where I thought about all the things I thought I should have accomplished but didn’t, and I was like, ‘did I just waste an entire year doing nothing?’ But then I look back on the things I did do - took awesome courses, made amazing friends, got a job, learned to live on my own, etc. - and realized I gotta give myself a little more credit.

On Everything

Coming into college was a huge positive change. Something I wish I could tell myself at the beginning of the year is firstly not to fear making mistakes, so you won’t be afraid of trying new things. Keeping an open mind is great, but not entirely helpful if you don’t venture out into unknown territory to provide you with things to think about. Step out of your comfort zone and don’t be afraid to redefine yourself, but in all circumstances, don’t lose track of who you are.

If you’ve read this far, thank you so much! and please don’t hesitate to drop me an ask if you have questions or comments or concerns. Have an awesome day :)