#I have looked at some of the mod applicants and that will get sorted eventually I promise

[akito-shinonome-daily]

#unreality — what was up with all that?

➥ it’s been a little over a day, so i figured i should probably explain myself…

TLDR: i impulse-made an arg, decided against going through with it, and left the parts i had already finished up rather that undoing the work. it was going to be themed to a story, but not horror.

✱ there will be no more arg content on blog!

➥ below the cut will be the above message in more detail and the “solutions” to the parts of the arg that went up. ⤦

so! i (very much on a whim) was inspired by all the daily vitamin blogs to try making my own arg. after my counterpart-of-sorts, vitamin-akito went on a hiatus, i suppose i wanted to continue getting that arg fix—but by trying my hand at creating one. my hope was that it would be subtle enough that it wouldn’t effect things on this blog for those who wouldn’t be interested in such a thing. it wasn’t horror-themed and i wanted to utilize hiding things in plain sight, so i only had to be suspicious long enough for people to pick up on it, and those that were in the know would then be given more clues/codes/directives on the side while the blog otherwise ran normally.

unfortunately for me, i must be quite a bit more nosy than the average person, and no one really seemed to pick up on my “subtle” approach. i eventually tried tagging things with unreality and posting hints when i saw no one was making any progress, but the only one i know of who got to the end was my irl fish, who had some hints from me, and of course the added assistance of me accidentally reblogging one of her posts to the secret side blog, making it pretty clear i was hiding something. to her credit, she went through the process of finding that blog properly, so she’s still the “winner” of the scrapped arg to me!

the clues are all still there if you have a desire to look for them now. otherwise i’ll be writing up an explanation/walkthrough of what i had left up below. i’ll try to leave clear blocks between steps in case you want to use it as a hint when you need but otherwise solve it on your own. i’ll also be including my thought process where applicable.

and just to be very clear this is /gen /srs. no lying. this is ooc, me irl, mod speaking, telling you that there is no more arg. this is not just a misdirection or anything like that. there is no more arg. 👍

also i’m not mad at all that nobody really found anything. it was experimental for me, and it was specifically designed for someone to be like “that’s weird…i’m going to comment on that and see where it goes.” part of my decision to leave it up was to answer the question “how close to other people look?” so i don’t blame anyone for not engaging much with it. in hindsight, i didn’t really give any reason for intrigue like the vitamin blogs use. i was purely relying on people being nosy. so it this was a learning experience for me.

perhaps in the future i will run an arg on a separate blog with the same/similar idea. tbf, my idea was almost more kohane-focused than akito-focused anyways, which is partly why i scrapped the idea. the other part being i chickened out of the rp aspect (i have ✨anxiety✨) so unless you’re reading this like “i think a combo arg/rp blog where i try to save my favourite pjsk characters from doom would cure what ails me, and i need it now,” and are willing to profess that supportive desire to me, it probably won’t happen any time soon. and i may not put my name on it if i ever do make it.

but without further rambling ado, here’s the solution to the first part of arg that’s all still up online:

if you think you want to play along, start with the #akito_posting tag in chronological order.

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① the buildup

the original “subtle” plan to clue people in to the arg was the series of screenshots taken from the neo 2DMV. all posted without any comment and tagged with only “#from neo 2DMV” and “#akito_posting”

the underscore is not in my actual “#akito posting” tag, and was meant to be a clue in that something about these posts was off, and that they were connected. if the images are brightened/adjusted and zoomed in on (as shown below in order of their posting) they all contained the text “day 203.” personally i can still see the text without adjustment, but they is probably helped by me knowing where and what to look for. in my plans, the arg would always tell you the next day to look for clues. it wouldn’t be fair to make you comb through every image that goes up on the blog, so i figured that was a fair compromise for my “hiding in plain sight” gimmick.

as time went on and i didn’t notice anyone picking up on anything being strange, i added the unreality tag to the final neo screenshot, which had “day 203” hidden in it 3 times and just “203” another 3 times. i’ll admit 2-3 of them got very hard to see with the compression, but i was still thinking some would be findable.

come the time of their posting however, i got comments on the unreality tag, but no one seeming to successfully find the answers—leading to me writing this post the evening it went up with the colored text as clues to where in the image to look, as when i told irls where in the image to look they did not have trouble finding things. the final lines in pink were a way a just implying that all the clues in that post led to the same post, so it was OK if it was too hard to read some of them. additionally the use of the akito_posting and unreality tags were meant to tie it back. the tags also said it was a hint and not me trying to write a heartfelt akitoya poem…but another experiment of mine proved that people might not read my tags as much as i assumed. this post did go up in the middle of the chibi akito saga however, and fish did tell me it got lost for her, so it’s possible my data there was a little unfairly skewed.

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② day 203

as day 203 was going into the main tags, it already had unreality as a warning. i also added the tag “aRe You PAyInG AtTeNtiOn? diD you catCh the siGns? diD yOU evEN kNoW to LoOk FoR It?” as a last ditch effort of “hey, this is the one. look at this one.” as for the strange capitalization, we’ll discuss that later…

each image contains one hidden letter, shown below, in order, with adjustments for visibility.

however, since no one seemed to find anything again. (fish was working on it since i had already asked her to check on the “day 203” hint, and i asked her to post some of her progress to see if that could help anyone else out.) i added another hint post.

the three symbols are meant to represent contrast, brightness, and sharpness in a photo editor, all of which are applied to the zoomed in akito from day 203. those are my suggestions for the best ways to make the hidden text a bit easier to see, tho once again they are visible if you just zoom in on the right spot. each symbol also contained a link, to the #akito_posting tag, the day 203 post, and an online tool for cyphers respectively. the tags also include a new tag 🥓🔍 which was a hint for the actual cyphers meant to save anyone from wasting too much time trying to work the code in the wrong direction.

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③ @LVTEZD

so if you put all the letters in order, you’ll find this blog on tumblr. lvtezd is a caesar cypher with a shift of 11 for “akitos” but that’s just a fun fact so i could have a random name for the hidden blog and i enjoyed that 11 is akito’s character number.

now lvtezd is primarily blank. the pfp is a darkened screenshot from the journey 2DMV to match with akito-daily and be a little reassurance that you’re in the right place. there is one post.

if you recall from the tags of the day 203 post, there’s some wacky capitalization going on. typo intentional. btw.

as of writing this post now, i’m thinking the au mentioned here might not actually be posted to akito-daily so i can save it for the potential arg/rp blog i make in the future. there’s plenty of similar aus out there i can draw for and i have plenty of my own aus (mostly crossovers 👉👈) to put on akito-daily so i’m keeping this one close to the chest for now.

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④ the final message

recall that 🥓🔍 from earlier? a quick google should point you in the right direction.

but if you’re just here to read the write-up, then that’s meant to be a little hint at “bacon cypher.” named for a guy whose surname was bacon. simply put, bacon’s cypher encodes a each individual letter to a five-piece string of two figures. typically a and b. this can be applied to plain text by letting a = lowercase characters, and B = uppercase characters. also i = j and u = v for the version i used, so getting “haue” at the end is not a true error.

i unfortunately had to encrypt my final message manually, as i couldn’t find a tool online to do it for me and don’t know how to write a code/algorithm that could do it for me. fortunately for you solvers, i have found a tool on the cypher website linked to earlier that will take text and convert all lowercase characters to 0 and uppercase characters to 1. the output may look like binary, but this is still bacon’s code. depending on the bacon decrypter you’re using, you might be able to tell it 0 = a and 1 = B, otherwise you can use a text replacement tool to convert your 0’s and 1’s to a’s and b’s.

you probably will get a result out with no spaces or punctuation, but it should be easy enough to get to this final message:

“a mind after my own i see / really though i decided not to do the arg / thank you for the effort / this is the end of the rabbit hole / you have my word”

the text in the tags on day 203 follows the exact same decryption process, giving “look carefully”

and that’s it! if you were actually willing to read through this all and you still have any questions / comments / encouragements for me, lmk! ask box is always open with anon on for your comfort (except when i accidentally turn things off and don’t realise it…) or leave a comment or reblog on this post. thanks for reading and taking an interest!

if you happen to see this and want to know how i did the encryption manually, i used the set up below. red box for the plain text, blue box for the bacon code for each letter, and green for the plain text with the capitalisation i then just to typed it up as shown. unfortunately this was a lengthy process (what’s shown below is only about a fifth or sixth of my total work) and obviously there is quite a bit of room for error. i think i had 4 or 5 letters off (out of maybe a 80 or so?) that i had to correct when i checked the decryption.

[scriptlgbt]

Delightfully, we are at an ever-increasing follower rate and there are plenty of new people checking out this blog daily. That’s rad, and I love you all and am glad you’re all here!

Right now we are overwhelmed with unanswered asks (well over 100) and our inbox (ask/submissions) are closed to sensitivity-based questions. Our private messaging is open for more logistical things, like contacting mod applicants and so on. If you’d like to send us a question, unfortunately it’s going to have to wait until our inbox opens again for questions.

Until then, please remember that we’ve answered a lot of questions and our archive and tag page is a great resource for the things we have answered on before.

Thank you for your patience!

- mod nat

[darlington-v]

I know different interpretations of a work are generally enriching and cool... but c!dream villan interpretations is like how to tell me you only watch Tommy without saying you only watch tommy.... which would be fine but its not a great place to be making statements about the whole nature of the dsmp lol

Wild speculation, but sometimes I wonder if like, because the dsmp didn't really start as a narrative, and a lot of fans don't nessecarily enter it expecting a narrative, but then there is one and the fandom is really discourse heavy and everyone is sort of excpeted to have an opinion while maybe not expecting to form one from the begining or not having a ton of experience with narrative in a way that would "expect" them to have an opinion or not take things at face value??, I don't know if I explained that well at all... and I don't really even think thats right nessecarily... but like wow sometimes some of the takes about power and government and villany...

Honestly, it makes sense!!!

I think something interesting is like.... looking at how animatics have shaped the like tone and culture of the fandom essentially. Like, an interesting fact that I didn't really fully grasp until SUPER recently is like...

c!Wilbur out the gate admits he is manipulating c!Tommy. Like his first youtube video on the Dream SMP he admits his goal is to manipulate c!Tommy and people like c!Tommy into helping him achieve a potion ("drug") empire to monopolize on potions because there were a lot of people on the server who like to min-max, which is to put all of your effort into this one specific skill essentially. so like... i know minecraft doesnt have a skill tree but if it did, it would be putting all your points into that one specific branch of a skill tree. So he wanted to exploit the labor of all the TommyInnits to.... maintain a Potion Empire.

THIS IS A LONG POST BC I GOT CARRIED AWAY SO BUCKLE UP

And I don't think a lot of the fandom who joined later on knows this. I certainly didn't until like a week or so ago? Like... I knew c!Wilbur had been manipulative from the start because I'm a mod of (shameless self promo incoming) @dsmpanalysis and we have a lot of different POVs in that mod team and discord and we talk about it really frequently. I joined the fandom as someone who was really big on L'manburg ESPECIALLY crimeboys, and have turned into.... *gestures vaguely to my blog*

And ngl I owe a lot of it to @1-michibiki-1 in terms of c!Dream "Apologism" but all of the mods there have expanded my thoughts and views on the storylines of this narrative.

My application consisted of like largely essays about like... how I think Dream was the villain but he was meant to be the villain because you don't get any insight into his character WHICH.... IS A FAIR ASSUMPTION AT FIRST GLANCE. People are easily villainized when you cannot get a glimpse into their thought process. It's easy to dwindle someone down into this flat character and starting out I knew Dream didn't stream the SMP on purpose.

And I personally came to the conclusion of "Oh! So Dream is supposed to be the villain." However as the story continued and I learned more about what Dream went through I began to realize that... it's more than likely a form of a red herring. My opinions on this were immediately solidified when I watched Ranboo's 2 MIL stream because both Ranboo AND Dream agree on enjoying red herrings.

There have been MANY times were Dream has said that c!Dream is a complex character and he's not a wholly evil guy and there have been times where the narrative has honestly just proved that.

Anyways, what's important though was that... I learned most of this from other people who were more focused on c!Dream rather than myself. Eventually I shifted from c!Tommy to c!Ranboo and c!Techno after c!Tommy betrayed c!Techno and I began to realize.... everything I learned before hopping in wasn't exactly what it seemed.

Part of this is because I'm older, I heavily identify with c!Techno's sense of loyalty and philosophies on government, but I especially identify with the anguish c!Techno voiced in... a lot of lore but especially the lore around Doomsday.

I'm not 16 anymore. I don't always feel wronged by adults, or older people in my case, whenever they absolutely have done something wrong by me, but I do feel wronged by my close friends. I also felt like c!Tommy's sense of loyalty didn't line up with mine after what felt like him constantly flip-flopping and refusing to understand c!Techno's morals on government didn't line up with his.

In short, it was easier to identify with Tommy in these animatics versus in the actual stream content because c!Tommy is played by a 16 year old. I'm not a teenager and my line of thinking doesn't entirely line up with people that age anymore. It's harder to place myself in the same shoes of someone's OC who is played closer to their actual age, because I'm not that age.

Regardless, I was still on the c!Dream is a villain train. I wasn't ever like... c!Dream is repulsive I hate him, but I was like omg hot villain lad go brrr.

Even when the first like... mellohi, panic room, Ranboo lore stream popped up I thought "Oh! c!Ranboo corruption arc?"

And I was excited because I really wanted this shy, nervous character to turn into villain buddies with his good pal c!Dream. I'm a total sucker for villains and corruption arcs and all that good shit.

SO I STARTED GETTING REALLY INTERESTED IN ENDERSMILE. I'VE BEEN ON ENDERSMILE SQUAD OUT THE GATE. NOT THE SAME WAY I AM NOW, BUT I'VE ALWAYS WANTED THEM TO TEAM UP.

So... upon not really keeping up with c!Dream and being relatively??? indifferent? I don't think I started arguments on c!Dream back then, but I might have. But I remember like... starting to participate more whenever c!Dream came up and looking more into Dream's character BUT ESPECIALLY TALKING WITH OUR SERVER'S C!DREAM SPECIALIST MICHI ABOUT DREAM A LOT MORE.

And because Michi has been a watcher since day one and was a DTeam fan rather than a SBI fan, she was able to provide me with more information on how the server worked pre-Tommy but especially pre-Wilbur.

Now, you could definitely argue well Michi probably has clear bias but it made sense to me when I looked back on how the storyline had been constructed and was going along, and everyone in the server talks a lot about our own biases and how we want people to maybe not lean so hard on them. Michi would also provide like anecdotes on what had happened and I'm sure links were probably provided at one point but the point was I felt like Michi had no reason to lie or manipulate how the story was told and if she did, eventually someone would have pointed it out because... Group of like... right now it's around 20 or more analysts but I don't remember how many at the time there were. POINT BEING, WE'VE ALL GOT POINTS TO PROVE AND IN MY EXPERIENCE NOT MANY OF US HAVE BEEN SHY TO PROVE THEM.

So if anyone ever had any differing opinions they would be talked about and we literally had and still have discussions.

REGARDLESS.... I DIDN'T FACT CHECK IN DEPTH BECAUSE I THOUGHT PEER REVIEW WAS ENOUGH WHEN YOU HAVE LIKE HOURS UPON HOURS OF STREAMS TO WATCH.

Anyways. Eventually I started paying closer attention and looking more into c!Dream lore but only recently have I started to triple check before speaking about c!Wilbur lore because I know everyone has biases and while I did trust everyone's thoughts and analysis in the discord, whenever I make essays I typically like it to be largely air tight and if theres a mistake, I want it to be because I forgot not because I just trusted what was said. Plus, I wanted to get down to the specifics of how Wilbur had always started with manipulation on the mind.

SO I WATCHED HIS FIRST VIDEO ON THE DREAM SMP.

AND WHAT I WAS NOT BY ANY MEANS EXPECTING WAS WILBUR TO SAY WORD FOR WORD, VERBATIM,

"SO WHY DON'T I START AN INDUSTRY WHERE I USE THE TOMMYINNITS OF THE WORLD TO WORK FOR ME, TO CREATE THINGS THAT THE MIN-MAXERS OF THE WORLD WILL WANT."

Like... this is in no way an attempt to like hardcore villainize c!Wilbur like everyone does Dream, it's just more so to like REALLY outline how far off a lot of fandom interpretation of c!Wilbur is....

Because of SBI focused animatics.

Now, when I joined I watched A LOT of animatics that really highlighted like... Wilbur being this self-loathing JD-esque, "I destroyed it because I had to because the world was against me because no one loved us, Tommy" type of character. At least... that's what it came across as.

And it definitely highlighted the fact that Tommy was a victim, which he is. He is undoubtedly a victim and no not even any dream apologist can change my mind otherwise. Tommy, despite being an instigator sometimes, didn't deserve the abuse he received.

But these animatics never shown the fact that c!Wilbur started L'manburg as a shady ploy to exploit people like c!Tommy and vilify c!Dream so he could have power.

And that was easy because Dream and Tommy had wars before. They had spars and pranks and here's the plan to take back my disks and here's the plan to out smart the thieving little child etc etc.

And all of the animatics I watched never mentioned this. Neither did the recaps though. The recaps gave the events flat out, there didn't sound like there was bias, and honestly I don't really know if there was rather than like... a lack of nuance. And it's hard to provide a recap with that much nuance in a short period of time for a youtube video, to be perfectly fair.

However, this creates a perfect formula for entirely rewriting the history of a server. c!Wilbur quite literally fucking succeeded TO A META LEVEL. He slandered and ran smear campaigns against Dream and like he even does that with Sapnap in the beginning. But what's crazy is that it transferred over into the meta! Most of this fandom understands Wilbur as a victim of mental illness, and yeah maybe? He definitely wasn't mentally well by the end of pogtopia, but he never started out with honorable intentions. L'manburg was never a victim, only its citizens. The TommyInnits of the world.

I just think it's like... such an interesting case study. Because this is like... an opinion like shared by at least half of the fandom, but the vilifying of c!Dream is shared by MOST of the fandom I would argue. Which is like even more crazy for me because that was c!Wilbur's goal!!!

LIKE I GO INSANE WHEN I THINK OF THIS BECAUSE HIS REACH IS JUST TOO POWERFUL. HE'S NOT EVEN ENTIRELY REAL, JUST A MANIPULATIVE PERSONA OF SOME BRITISH GUY.

And I mean... maybe people who have watched Wilbur's video on the SMP still maintain this idea that Wilbur wasn't always the bad guy, but honestly... I wouldn't be surprised if their introduction was still an animatic. Like bias is hard to check and I'm not going to lie I could have sworn I watched both Wilbur's AND Tommy's video on the SMP in the beginning and yet I STILL was a ride or die for tragic yet on some level still honorable Wilbur and a resilient Tommy.

Like... upon watching Wilbur's first video... possibly again I was surprised because I thought I did watch it like right before I even started watching the streams and yet I was still so invested in c!Wilbur as this tortured anti-hero.

It took 6 months of... not being in an echo chamber, full of multiple different people of different ages, different stream POVS, and people who joined the fandom at different points in time.

IDK IF THIS WAS EVEN ENTIRELY RELEVANT IT JUST FELT TANGENTIALLY RELEVANT AND THIS WAS SOMETHING I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT FOR A HOT MINUTE AFTER LIKE WATCHING WILBUR'S FIRST VIDEO AGAIN.

TLDR;

SBI CENTRIC ANIMATICS HAD A LASTING AFFECT ON THIS FANDOM AS IT'S HARD TO GO BACK AND ACTUALLY CHECK THE NARRATIVE FOR SOLID FACTS FOR YOUR OWN INTERPRETATION BASED ON THE FACT THAT THIS NARRATIVE SPANS OVER HUNDREDS OF HOURS WORTH OF TWITCH STREAMS.

[worldbuildguild]

Hi my dream is to work in animation but my grades in high school were pretty bad and my art is not that great (I’m working on that tho going to take drawing classes soon) do you have advice for getting into the industry even if you have bad grades? Thanks for reading sorry if something like this was already answered.

https://www.williamsonhomepage.com/parents-guide-for-middle-school-and-high-school-homework/article_ca0a274f-d9c5-57c1-b141-64fa4ae037d7.html

Strap in

The mods talked a bit back and forth about this, we all have vastly different experiences in regards to how we’re educated artwise, but also how our grades looked when we graduated high school. However, the consensus was that your focus should be on your portfolio rather than grades (if you find yourself in a situation where you have to choose). Knowing what the school your applying for wants from you specifically, and then following those requirements to a tee when forwarding your portfolio is more important than top grades, so if you want to apply - start working on your art fundamentals and start working yesterday. Unless you’ve got failing grades all over the board there are definitely schools out there who want you if you can meet their craft-related criteria. Some of our mods are taking more craft-oriented classes ( classic art, animation, etc ) which require very finely tuned fundamentals skills. While some of us are studying with more theoretical and method-oriented courses (Visual Design). In many cases, there are large differences between Craft-schools and Design schools, both in what they require from their applicants and students, but also in the way the schools teach you. They’re both valid and valuable ways into the industry, but you will be educated into different types of jobs. Always research the school your applying to extensively to find out if this what you're looking for, and what sort of skills you need to enter. (You can read more about this on our post about portfolios for art-schools  https://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/178674670521/hi-i-was-wondering-if-any-of-the-mods-have-tips )

Storytime (This is going to be a little long but i swear there’s a point to it.)

The system we adhere to in my country is rather different from yours but roughly converted I only managed to haul in C’s and D’s with only two B’s in my finals for your equivalent of high school, meaning my average was beneath average by the time I graduated.

I’m just not book smart like that. But from what I was told by mentors, teachers and psychiatrists were that I needed to focus my attention on the things that mattered to my continued education, and as with you - that was my portfolio. (and in my case my English grade ). I worked my ass off and whipped out a portfolio two years in a row for the school I’ve dreamt of studying at for nearly a decade. I never got in. While I was working on my portfolios (and had graduated high school with lacklustre grades) I worked a minimum-wage job during the day and spending the evenings and nights practising art. Eventually, I managed to land a spot at a 6-month course that my prefered art-school was hosting on art fundamentals. After 1½ year I joined and got my first tiny diploma in classic art (which I also did really poorly at, but my development was immense since it was the first time I’d received consecutive formal art training outside of 1-2 hours weekly in highschool). After I finished my semester there, I asked myself if I wanted to forward another portfolio, but by the time I felt that I’d been “stuck” applying for this school long enough, and my parents were getting impatient. So I googled around till I found a few other schools. In which the only one really spoke to me, it was a master’s degree though, so I’d have to take a bachelors degree in a broader topic before I could apply for that one. I applied for three schools that summer. I failed two of them for graphics design ( both partially deliberately as I was betting all of my horses on the school and the degree that appealed to me). I was rather depressed at this point, feeling like I might not really go anywhere within the art world in any way I wanted to. But come midsummer I was invited to the final test and interview - which, much to my surprise I aced all the way through. 

Now I’m only some months from graduating with my first degree from this school and heading straight for my masters - with plans of taking another bachelors degree in Cinematography and Animation when my finances will allow it. It’s been a long and gnarly road, where I expected my path to be straight forward. 

https://pixabay.com/da/photos/search/sketchbook/

The point I want to make with this little tangent (aside from hearing myself talk), is that sometimes our path is not straight-forward. Far from it. It can be full of twists and turns, you give up dreams to get new ones. I’ve found that even if my current course doesn’t teach me how to draw pretty things, it has taught me other skills and introduced me to a new dream that’s even closer in tune with my ambitions than what they were before. All because I googled around a bit. Stay open to new ideas cause its unlikely that everything is going to go exactly to plan. And remember to just .stay. the. course. Understand that there are times where things will seem impossible, allow yourself to grief when things don’t go right. Make sure that you’re taking care of your life ( hold down a job if you can, keep yourself fed ) - but never stop trying for better. It’s going to take a long time so strap in. 

Network! network! network!

While there is already a heap of things that you want to keep track of, there is one more thing. Network. Even if you’re only now applying for art schools, it is worth it to start building your network. Right now, this network will serve as a base of improvement and common interest. Find art friends, maybe even art-students at established schools that can guide you in how to properly apply. They’ll keep you motivated and make practising extensively a little more bearable. On top of that, knowing someone who knows someone can expose you to new opportunities ( new schools, courses, projects) that can broaden your horizon. Learn from your network, sponge up all the knowledge they have. You should also use this network as your source of criticism. 

Later you’ll build more on your network, once you graduate and look for a job or even when looking for internships, stakeholders of all kinds are valuable for your network. A stakeholder is a person within a company that can hold valuable opportunities for you ( an HR representative, an artist from a studio, etc ). Start collecting these bad boys like trading cards, they’re going to be important sometime. 

Look for courses (if you can afford it)  

If you have the means to get any formal training in your craft, absolutely go for it. You can teach yourself a lot of things, but there’s only so much you can do from your own internet browser and art books. With that said, go for courses that has established, skilled artists. No hate on the nice little weekend courses hosted by the librarian down the street, but you’re on a timer and drip-feeding your funds away on courses with no educational value is for a later date. Look up the artists who host the events and determine for yourself whether or not this looks like someone who has something important to say. If you’re like me, and you are really really bad in classroom situations - find courses that suits your kind of learning the best. No matter what you -are- going to it through some theory though, so prepare to stock up on coffee and attune your ears to the teacher’s voice. 

https://www.smk.dk/en/event/tegneworkshop-kroppen-i-kunsten/

Self help

There’s a great chance that you won’t be able to simply make do with whatever courses is in your area. You are going to want to take on a bit of learning yourself. You need to be pretty vigilant about this, so find a strategy that works for you ( ex. I’m going to spend the next two months studying anatomy ). I personally don’t have a sponge-brain. For me to retain information I need a lot of time and repetition. I need to write it down a number of times and try it out with my own hands for an extended period, so I need to plan around that. Your way of learning might be quicker, or slower depending on you as a person - so don’t follow other’s suggested plans to a tee, only you know how you learn most effectively. Be honest to yourself about this too, nothing sucks more than rushing through topics and then ending up on the other side of a year feeling like you’ve just wasted your time. 

Books 

There’s a couple of books I recommend, you can take a look at them and decide if they apply to your needs. 

Barrington Barber “The complete book of drawing”https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Drawing-Essential-Skills/dp/1848375360

Andras Szunyoghy “Anatomy drawing school: Animals”https://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Drawing-School-Szunyoghy-2015-04-28/dp/B019TMJOB0Daniel Carter and Michael Courtney “Anatomy for the Artist”https://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Artist-Daniel-Courtney-Michael/dp/0752586661

Scott McCloud’s series “Understanding comics”, “Making comics”, “Reinventing comics”

https://www.amazon.com/Scott-McCloud-Understanding-Invisible-Paperback/dp/B01FOCIZ50/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=understanding+comics&qid=1578672779&s=books&sr=1-2

https://www.amazon.com/Making-Comics-Storytelling-Secrets-Graphic/dp/0060780940/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=understanding+comics&qid=1578672779&s=books&sr=1-3

https://www.amazon.com/Reinventing-Comics-Evolution-Art-Form/dp/0060953500/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=understanding+comics&qid=1578672779&s=books&sr=1-4

Will Eisner “Comics and sequencial art” and “Graphic storytelling and Visual narrative “https://www.amazon.com/Comics-Sequential-Art-Principles-Instructional/dp/0393331261/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=comics+and+sequential+art&qid=1578672912&s=books&sr=1-1

David Chelsea “Perspective! For comic artists”https://www.amazon.com/Perspective-Comic-Book-Artists-Professional/dp/0823005674/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=perspective+for+comic+book+artists&qid=1578673084&s=books&sr=1-1

Richard Williams “The Animator’s Survival Kit” https://www.amazon.com/Animators-Survival-Kit-Principles-Classical/dp/086547897X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+animators+survival+kit&qid=1578673164&s=books&sr=1-1

VideosThere are also a couple videos, video-series as well. these are great to have running in the background while you practice, or as fully-fledged classes for you to get immersed in. 

AlanBeckerTutorials “12 Principles of Animation”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDqjIdI4bF4

FZDSchool, particularly their Design cinema serieshttps://www.youtube.com/user/FZDSCHOOL/videos

Sycrahttps://www.youtube.com/user/Sycra/videosProkohttps://www.youtube.com/user/ProkoTV

More on redline

Staying motivatedEvaluating your pre-requisiteshttps://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/178632918776/you-guys-are-really-good-at-answering-people-how

Reviving motivationhttps://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/181302844075/perhaps-an-odd-question-but-how-to-learn-to-enjoyMaintaining motivationhttps://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/179763196654/do-you-guys-have-some-tips-to-keep-motivated-and

Dealing with perfectionismhttps://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/178784622124/id-love-to-hear-an-advice-for-you-amazing-mods

More perfectionismhttps://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/181622006850/a-little-heart-to-heart

Structure and contentMaking a schedulehttps://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/184837893343/how-would-you-go-about-creating-a-schedule-andMoving out of your comfort zonehttps://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/187867803563/hey-guys-its-me-again-i-was-wondering-if-you

The post-it challengehttps://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/181045566498/hi-at-work-i-often-have-a-few-minutes-of-downtime

Common studieshttps://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/181026027751/yo-i-got-a-question-if-ya-dont-mind-i-see-lot-of

- Mod Wackart ( ko-fi )

[wethepixies]

Welcome to the third and final part of our staff interview series! This set of interviews focus on some of our most social staff members - our Discord moderators and our social media team. Once again, these pixies had a lot to say, so we’re tucking all of it under the “Keep reading” link!

WTP’s Discord server is the main place for the community to come together - in fact, we just passed 6,000 members! It’s extremely important to keep the server as safe and friendly as possible, and that’s where our beloved moderators come through. Without them, we wouldn’t have the loving WTP community!

Our moderators are Lila Almondpetal, Gloria Flutterflower, Daphne Moonflower, Anastasia Foxheart, Rose Morningmist, and Kassie.

What are some of your favorite memories about the original Pixie Hollow? And what are some things that you’re excited to see again in WTP?

Daphne: If I had to choose only one favorite thing then it would be shopping in Pixie Hollow especially those GORGEOUS gowns from the Queen's Boutique. It was the luxury store of Pixie Hollow, and the gowns they had were on a whole different level. I used to play Pixie Hollow every day as a kid and I even convinced my dad to get me the annual membership. I was able to make a lot of friends from different parts of the world because of the game. My best memories of the game are of Camp Pixie Dust! As for what I’m excited to see in WTP, I am exhilarated about the Tearoom and Animal Derby coming back since those were the only places you could play with other players. They were always packed with other fairies and sparrowmen and I used to hang out in those two places the most.

In her interview, Daphne sent us some pictures of two of her favorite things in Pixie Hollow - a couple of screenshots of Camp Pixie Dust and her favorite gown from the Queen’s Boutique.

Anastasia: Honestly? As a kid, I spent most of my time attending the parties. The minigames there were always so addicting! Gameplay wise, I loved baking and tailoring! I wasn't as invested in it as other Disney MMOs because I never was able to get a Pixie Hollow Membership, but I still loved to play it! It influenced my decision to play the DS games, as well as the Fashion Boutique mobile game! I will say that my love of the original Pixie Hollow has benefited my life in many ways as without it, I wouldn't have so many memories with friends I've made along the way. Also, I would've never found WTP! I think one of my best memories from Pixie Hollow has to be from the one party where I won almost all of the party games. I was pretty young when I was really into Pixie Hollow, so although it's a bit silly, I just remember feeling super proud and feeling like the queen of the party, haha! As a kid, I never really appreciated the quests (although I did do them), so I am excited for those to come back & relive that experience. However, since WTP will not have a paywall for any of the experiences from the original Pixie Hollow, I am incredibly excited to explore The Wilderness for the first time!

Lila: My favorite part of the original game was honestly how open and free it was! There was always so much to do in the game, but I never felt pressured to do any of it if I didn't want to. I could go crazy one day playing games and doing quests, and then I could spend the next day flying around, just admiring the scenery and doing absolutely nothing in terms of progress. There were no obligations at all - I think that's why I remember the game so well. I was also really invested in it - I actually kept a journal about what I did in the game, can you believe it? I would say it's made my life better in a couple of ways - when the game was still open, it was a fantastic stress reliever, and even now I love thinking about it (plus, it led me to WTP!). As for my favorite memory… well, there are so many! I'd have to say my favorite was the time a Sparrow Man and I flirted in the Tearoom using nothing but those preset Speedchat phrases. I don't know who started it, but I'm pretty sure we were both non-members at the time - maybe we were drawn together by those Arrival Day outfits. We ended up drawing a crowd; I remember seeing a lot of clapping emojis and hearts. It was insane! Sadly, we forgot to add each other as friends, so we never saw each other again. I just got out my old journal to check if I wrote down his name - and I apparently did! Figfig, my guy, if you’re out there, I was either Twilight Olivemist or Karina Lightningflame at the time. As for what I’m excited for, I'm super excited for all of the meadows to come back! I loved just flying around and seeing all of the gorgeous artwork. And multiplayer, of course - Pixie Hollow was such a social game. I loved those little things like sitting on a branch and chatting.

Gloria: My favorite part of the original game was definitely the community aspect! I made a lot of friends in Pixie Hollow that were really special to me. It was so much fun to play games and throw parties with other pixies in the Hollow! I played the original game from January 2009 to its closing in 2013. I was really invested in the game and played very often! It definitely helped me embrace my inner child and hold onto magic longer than a lot of my peers, something I am grateful for. One great memory I have of the game was the events. I specifically loved the Silly Days Event, which allowed users to access the Mermaid Grotto. And Camp Pixie Dust, of course! For WTP, I am super excited for questing! It was a really unique experience every time and led to neat storylines which allowed players to unlock some cool items. I really liked the added structure of quests in game.

Rose: I was mildly obsessed with Pixie Hollow for a good majority of my childhood. I was picked on quite a bit when I was younger, so Pixie Hollow became this sort of safe haven for me, where I could express myself without fear of judgement. I spent a lot of my time roleplaying with online friends, pretending to be waitresses in the Tearoom, or secret agents fighting crime and protecting the Hollow – it was a lot of fun. Some of my first ever story ideas came from some of those roleplays, which lead to me starting a blog and later pursuing a career as an author, so I actually owe a lot to the game and the friends I made there. My favorite thing was probably decorating my home – I loved creating different settings with all the furniture I had, from cafés to ice palaces. It was a lot of fun. I'm super excited for multiplayer – I’ve made so many friends through the PBC (Pixie Blogging Community) and WTP, so I can’t wait for when we can hang out in-game.

Kassie: I played Pixie Hollow starting in late 2008 until it closed! Every day after school I would grab my snack and head to the computer to play for at LEAST an hour. Narrowing down my favorite part of the game is so hard!! But if I had to choose I would say getting creative with outfits and color combos! I loved going to fashion contests and seeing other people's creations- that's actually how I met a lot of my friends. I think Pixie Hollow benefited me as a way to escape from the stresses of the real world. Middle school and early high school were difficult seasons for me and it was nice to venture into a mystical land where I felt people truly cared for me. One of my favorite memories was when I met my friend Strawberry. We were mutual friends with someone and we both went to her house at the same time. However, our friend was asleep (remember the lil z's?) and so we started talking and suddenly we became the best of friends! Over 10 years later we are still friends and catch up with each other once in a while. We don't live far from each other so we hope to meet each other someday! Honestly, I’m most excited to have house decorating in WTP! I remember people would spend HOURS decorating their homes and doing the coolest designs- I always concentrated more on fashion so I'd love the chance to redeem myself and design an awesome home!

How did you first find out about the WTP project and what inspired you to start working as a moderator?

Kassie: A lot of my close friends started up the project and eventually invited me to be a part of it as a moderator! In our friend group I tended to be the one to mediate conversations, so I think it was a no-brainer to ask me to moderate.

Daphne: When I got to know about Club Penguin rewrites, I thought there might be a rewrite for Pixie Hollow as well and I stumbled upon a YouTube video which mentioned WTP. I really wanted to help out with the project in any way I could so that really motivated me to become a moderator.

Anastasia: I actually found out about the WTP project through Teresa, on another Pixie Hollow site where she first posted the Bubble Bounce demo! She even DM'd me about potentially helping out as an artist, which I've always wanted to do! However, due to my schedule being a bit too busy to consistently help out with game art, I never felt like I could apply. However, I've always tried to help out in other ways, such as when I was an Event Manager & hosted movie nights! When it was decided that movie nights were going to take a hiatus, I really wanted to continue helping out in the community, and thus, I became a mod!

Lila: I first found out about We The Pixies when I joined a Club Penguin rewrite. I hadn't thought about Pixie Hollow in years, but then I wondered if someone else had rewritten Pixie Hollow, so I looked it up and found WTP! As for joining the moderation team, I'd been pretty active on the server when the application opened up, and I really loved the community. I figured I'd give it a shot - worst they could say was no, right? Well, I ended up getting the role! It’s been a really great job ever since.

Gloria: I found out about We the Pixies while doing some Google searches and checking out the Pixie Hollow community this year. I definitely jumped at the opportunity to apply to be a moderator because I have so much passion for the project and wanted to help out and connect with others who also had interest. 

Rose: I found WTP through Phoebe Bumbleflip’s blog – she published a post promoting the remake and the Discord back in October last year. I don’t have any skills that can really help with the recreation of the game itself, but I wanted to contribute in any way I could, which is what inspired me become a moderator.

(Phoebe is a member of the WTP Hype Squad, you can find her blog here!)

The WTP community is mostly positive, but have you ever had instances where you felt like server members weren't being the nicest? If so, how do you deal with it?

Anastasia: Since I'm new to the staff team, I've only ever come across a handful of issues involving the members, and most of them resolve with ease. Typically, directing people to the rules and giving them a warning is enough.

Lila: With so many people in the server, it's not unusual to see something that isn't so friendly - usually, if an argument starts up in the chat, reminding people of the rules or starting a new conversation fixes things. If things are really bad, I might talk to someone individually and ask them nicely to be, well, nicer.

Gloria: In my time on the staff so far, we have had a couple trolls and people who haven't complied with the rules, and in that situation, we generally like to calmly message the person and ask them to comply with the server rules. In my experience thus far, this usually sorts out the problem. However, if the issue persists, the moderation team would consult each other and figure out how to deal with it further based on the severity of the behavior.

Rose: They’re very rare, but we have had to deal with some disputes with upset or angry members. Usually us moderators will talk and discuss the issue and then decide the best course of action together.

Kassie: There's always going to be someone unkind who comes across the server every now and then. I think the best way to handle it is to tell them what rule they're breaking and WHY it's important that they adhere to the rule. Ultimately, our rules are about respecting everyone in the community. If we can help them empathize and understand respect I think that's making strides not only in the WTP community but hopefully in EVERY community that individual is a part of.

We've had a few events in the WTP community, how does creating one come about and how do you plan it?

Anastasia: Excellent question! As a former Event Manager, I'm the right Pixie to ask!

It all starts with the approval of administration. Once the admins approve of it (and other staff have no issues with it), you can go forward and begin scheduling a time. We typically don't do events without having a proper schedule or time frame. We also try to accommodate other time zones as best as we can, since we know that WTP has Pixies from across the globe! Then, you need to designate certain responsibilities to people. This was the purpose of the Event Managers, since we were in charge of hosting Movie/Game Night. I have a lot of good memories hosting movie nights with Alchemist (Lavender) and Asteria! With other events, staff members are chosen to have either a leading role or a helping hand in making sure the event goes smoothly. Even if they aren't in charge, it is important to note that all events typically require staff supervision. Now, planning it typically involves a discussion among the staff (and any other WTP players that may be involved in helping out). We usually try to make sure that the community voice is heard, and that they can get involved! Our main goal is always to bring everyone together while having fun, and that is the foundation of all our events.

Daphne: The Hype Squad is the creative mind behind all the events we have. Since we can not have in-game events (which we definitely will once the game is fully developed), the Hype Squad tries to come up with flitterific events to keep us in the pixie hollow spirit while we wait. Our former team of event managers was behind the shorter events such as the numerous game nights and movie nights.

Lila: Starting an event is absolutely a team effort - no matter where or who the idea comes from, we like to talk about it for a while first. For example, I had the idea for Meadow Madness one night out of the blue, and I made sure to run it by the staff and Hype Squad before I started anything up. It ended up being a huge success - we had an average of 200 respondents per round, which was pretty neat for something I came up with in ten minutes.

Rose: There’s quite a bit of planning that goes on behind the scenes for events – a lot of events are actually planned by the Hype Squad (which I am a part of) or our social media team. An idea will be presented by a team member, and then we’ll all discuss it – what our thoughts are on the suggestion, and how we’d go about holding it if it were to become an actual event. If everyone on the team agrees and the staff are okay with it, we’ll then start deciding dates for the event and preparing things like banners and announcement posts. Sometimes we’ll also have one of our members act as coordinator too, to make sure everything is running smoothly during the event itself.

Kassie: I'm personally not one of the head honchos who puts events together, but it comes down to listening to a bunch of ideas and trying to figure out which one best fits the needs and desires of the community!

How do you fit working on WTP into your schedule?

Daphne: I finished high school in April and I can't really start college until quarantine is over, so I pretty much don't have anything to do at home right now so it's easy for me to make time for WTP.

Anastasia: I try my best to moderate whenever I can- usually in my spare time. We get a lot of newcomers each day, so there always seems to be someone who needs help getting verified, or a Pixie who needs some other sort of assistance. That's the thing about having such a large community: we always seem to have some moderating to do!

Lila: I actually have the apps I need for moderation (and social media work) on my phone - now that I'm not in school for the summer, I'm traveling a lot, so I don't sit down and use my laptop very often. I think I use Discord on my phone more than my laptop, actually. Using mobile lets me check the server whenever I have a spare moment, so I can keep up with things wherever I go.

Gloria: I have a really flexible schedule in general as school and life goes, so I am able to make time to moderate and spend a lot of time online.

Rose: Mostly by multitasking – I’m almost always online, even if I’m doing other things, so it’s not too tricky to keep an eye on the server throughout the day.

Kassie: It's hard sometimes, but the easiest way for me to stay connected is to keep my notifications on when I'm not busy with the mandatory things in life like my job, planning my wedding, and investing in relationships outside of the community. Giving myself the chance to walk away here and there leaves me refreshed for the next time I log on!

Two of our moderators, Kassie and Lila, also serve on our social media team, so we asked them a special question:

How do you use social media to grow the community?

Lila: Social media is a great place to post about game updates and community events. I've found that few posts get people more excited than posts about new game features. Update posts also let people know that, yes, we are still up and running! Sometimes people think we've shut down already, and social media helps us keep the project alive.

Kassie: Social Media is all about messages. I think what attracts people to join a community is to send a message they resonate with! In WTP's case, nostalgia plays a huge part in growing our community- we are trying to attract people who are excited about something they wish they had again.

One final question for all of our moderators: what’s your favorite part of your job, and is there a way it’s benefited you?

Daphne:  Definitely talking and getting to know so many people from across the globe. I'm always down for making new friends! For me, the most impact moderating for WTP has had is on my people skills. As a moderator, you have to ensure that everyone is following the rules and sometimes people need convincing to follow a rule. It also involves solving any issues related to the game/Discord server and communicating with the members in general, which really develops your people skills.

Anastasia: Honestly, my favorite part of being a mod is being able to interact with the other staff members. They're a really lovely and creative group of people, and it's fun bouncing ideas off of each other and figuring out what's best for everyone in this community! I wouldn't quit WTP for the world! Working for WTP has benefited me a lot as so far, it's helped me work on the ways I can help organize a community. Also, it is helping me work on my time management skills, as well as my ability to work in a team.

Lila: I think my favorite part of my job is, as corny as it sounds, watching this community grow! When I joined, we had maybe 500 users in the server, and we're well over 6000 now. I never thought that so many people would remember the game, but they do. It's remarkable, really. Working for WTP is probably the best volunteer position I've ever taken up. Moderating has really helped me learn how to think things through and get help when I need it. Working on social media has also been great for my writing and graphic design skills - I've got to say that I've gotten pretty good at color combinations!

Gloria: My favorite part of moderating is helping people in the player server and sparking interest and discussion among users. It's so much fun to reminisce about the hollow with other fans. Though I haven't been on the team for a very long time, it has already been lots of fun and I have really enjoyed connecting with the community even more and getting others interested in the revival project. And the other staff members are very cool people that are really rad to work with.

Rose: My favorite part of my job is welcoming new people to the server! Being a moderator has definitely helped with my problem-solving skills – working out ways to handle situations on the server.

Kassie: Being friends with the staff is my favorite part. It is always a joy to log on to laugh and learn with friends. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Asteria and I have created a pretty strong friendship (hopefully she agrees, haha). We've known each other for about 4 years now. She makes me laugh out loud and we've been there for each other in our victories and failures. Her friendship is one I deeply cherish and I hope we get to meet sometime in the future! I care a lot about connection, community, and friendship, so for me, being a part of this team is a way for me to foster those things and be a part of it! I think I've benefited from WTP by learning how to guide hard conversations and disagreements in a respectful manner. Many people think moderators just manage the community, but a huge part of our job is to aid staff in having constructive conversations. There are definitely ruffled wings here and there, but we always get through and I've really grown through those processes!

__________________

Thank you all so much for sticking with us during our interview series! We had a lot of fun answering your questions, and we hope you had a flaptastic time reading them.

[beatrice-otter]

Some Thoughts about Tagging on AO3

(I originally made this post back in 2014 on the Yuletide LJ com, and I think it's still both helpful and useful, and other people have told me it is, but it's not actually in my own space, so here it is for posterity.)

There are a lot of people confused about what to tag their stuff on AO3. I mean, like, people who use AO3 regularly sometimes talk about not knowing how to tag their fic. And this is Yuletide; there are people who only post to AO3 for ficathons such as Yuletide, and they probably are even less sure what to do. There aren't many rules, and even the guidelines are kind of fuzzy. But yet there are many dedicated volunteers who spend many hours trying to make some sense out of the mess! It's chaotic and organized at the same time.

Fear not. I'm not a tag mod or anybody from AO3, but I am a power user of the site, and have been since it started, so I have a pretty good feel for the different ways people use the site and how people tag. So here are some suggestions, if you feel you need them.

ETA: Thanks to some wonderful feedback in the comments, I'm adding some other perspectives.

First, remember that the primary purpose of tags is to help people find stuff they'd like to read. No matter what your philosophy of tagging is, your goal should be to make it easy for people to find your fic and decide if they want to read it.

There are two basic ways people use tags when they're looking for fic.

1. Clicking on tags they want to read. Do you want to look for a particular fandom, character, or pairing? You can click on a tag and get all of them to come up. But you can use tags to find so much more than just the basics! Do you want to read wing!fic? Search for it on the archive and click the wingfic tag and you'll get a list of all fics tagged with "wings" or "wingfic" or something similar. The tag mods have done a lot of background work to make sure that similar tags (i.e. every permutation of wingfic ever used) are put together so when you're looking for wingfic you don't have to think of every possible permutation of what someone might have tagged it. They'll all come up. Now, if you click on the "wingfic" tag, it will bring up every wingfic in every fandom. Which is great if you're polyfannish like I am and don't necessarily care what fandom something is if it hits whatever kink you have right then. If you are more monofannish, then the sort and filter bar on the left side of the "Works" list is your friend, but either way, the tag is the first place to start. People look for a lot of things. Here are some categories that people may search tags for, either within a particular fandom or across the archive:

fandoms, characters, relationships, obviously.

AU types: is it a canon divergence, is it a highschool au, or a coffee shop, or whatever?

SFnal or fantasy elements: time travel, wings, magic, werewolves, telepethy, etc

Genres: angst, fluff, mystery, comedy.

Trigger warnings to avoid: mentions of rape or abuse (things not warned for in the warning tags).

Tropes: Aliens made them do it, kidfic, etc.

Sex stuff: kinks, positions, sex toys, polyamory, etc.

Social justice stuff: bechdel pass, character of color POV, etc.

Fandom specific stuff: is it related to a particular episode, or season, is it about a particular theme or backstory or trope or characterization that your fandom likes, is there any other fandom-specific thing that people might look for?

2. When they are deciding whether or not to read a particular fic. That is, a potential reader is looking at a fic in a list on AO3 (maybe they're going through the fandom's page, maybe they're looking at an author's works list, etc.) or perhaps have clicked on a link in a rec list and have opened the story up to see more about it, but the fic is in front of them and they haven't yet decided whether or not to read it. In this case, tags are one of a couple of things people will be looking at. The summary is the biggie; at this point it's usually the first thing people look at. They will also look at word count--they may be looking for an epic, they may be looking for a vignette, either way, word count matters. They'll look at the rating--do they want something hot and heavy, or not? They'll look at the comment/kudo/bookmark/hit counts--how popular is this fic? And they'll look at the tags. What is this fic tagged for? Characters, pairings, fandom, etc., all can be useful, but so can many other things.

This is why people add chatty tumblr-style tags, such as "Tony Stark has Daddy Issues." That tag tells you a lot about the story that may not be evident from the summary. You can add any tag like that you want, that will help people get a feel for your story. If it's unique, clicking on it won't help them find other stories like it and it won't help people find your fic, either, but it may well help people who have already found your fic decide if they want to read it. And, if enough people tag things with a chatty tag like "Tony Stark Has Daddy Issues," eventually the tag mods will take it and make it into a tag you can search on just like more general tags such as "wingfic." (There are currently 51 fics on the archive tagged "Tony Stark Has Daddy Issues.") Also, chatty tags like that can sometimes be made subtags for larger tags, so that "Tony Stark Has Daddy Issues." is a subtag of "Daddy Issues.", and then you can click on the Daddy Issues tag and filter by fandom and/or character.

3. Looking for things to avoid. If a trope squicks someone, they want to know before they click on the story.  If someone hates a character or relationship, they want to know if it's in a story.  Even if it's only in a minor/background way.  Protip from tag wrangler liviapenn:

"if you are posting a story and you want to indicate that the character or ship appears in the story -- but only in a minor/background role -- you can tag for them in the "Additional Tags" field, with a modifier. For instance, "Minor appearance by Sam Wilson". Or, a tag like "Very minor background Tony Stark/Pepper Potts" or "Past Tony Stark/Pepper Potts" for a story where Tony and Pepper's relationship is only mentioned but not really important in the story. Then those stories won't come up when people are searching for Tony/Pepper in the Relationships field.  You can also make 'warning' type Additional Tags more specific or accurate, with modifiers like "implied," "referenced," "minor," "mentioned", "non-graphic" or "past", if the story doesn't seriously focus on those topics, but you still want to indicate that they appear in the work, even in a minor or slight way."

(ALSO, if you are one of these people, the "Sort and filter" bar on the right side of the page is your friend. I hate, loathe, and despise Killian Jones on Once Upon a Time, and so whenever I'm searching for OUaT fic on the archive I go to the "Sort and Filter" bar, go down to the Exclude section, and I check his name and any pairings he appears in. Then I hit the "sort and filter" button at the bottom of that bar, and poof!  It's like he never existed!  It's wonderful.)

So how does this affect how you tag your fic? I'm so glad you asked. It means you need to take both uses of tags--finding fic, and deciding if you want to read a fic you've found--into account. As you tag, ask yourself: what in my fic might people want to read? What kind of craving would my fic satisfy? Tag for those things (fandoms, characters, relationships, tropes, kinks, whatever). Then ask yourself: once people have found my fic, what might help them decide they want to read my fic? Then tag for that. Then ask yourself: is there anything in my fic that might squick people or that they might want to avoid? Then tag for that, too. Autocomplete is your friend. As you start typing in the tag field, it will bring up tags people have already used, which are searchable, and which may therefore help people find your fic.

ETA: section edited because of youraugustine's feedback.

But beware! Before you hit "post," look at your tags and ask yourself: is there any deceptive advertising here? By which I mean, if someone is looking specifically for a fic with something you tagged for, are they going to be disappointed in your fic?  Different people use tags differently, so you can't please everybody.  But sometimes a selective approach can be better than a "kitchen sink" approach where you select every tag that might be half-way applicable.

As an example, take Sam Wilson. He is tagged in over 2800 stories on AO3 ... but in the vast majority of them, he's a sidekick, if that. Yes, he appears in each of these fics, but he's a very small part of the story in most of them. When I go looking for Sam Wilson fic, I sigh, because I may get three pages in to the list of works tagged "Sam Wilson" before I find one where he's important enough in the story to get mentioned in the summary. Having to slog through all those fics about other Avengers to get to the fics about the character I want to read about does not make me likely to read those stories. It makes me annoyed, because they're taking up my time and preventing me from finding the stories I actually want to read right now! I love reading about Steve's angst over Bucky, and Bucky's recovery, but if what I'm craving at the moment is Sam Wilson pwning everything, 50k words of Buck-and-Steve angst in which Sam appears in three scenes is just not going to scratch my itch. On the other hand, some people may find a mention that Sam plays a role in the story to be the difference that makes them read this Steve/Bucky fic over some other one. Even so, if he appears briefly but isn't significant to the plot, even they may be annoyed.

Now, as sandrine points out, some people have aversions to particular characters, pairings, and tropes, such that including them in your fic will completely ruin the fic for them even if all that happens is a one sentence mention buried in 100k of fic. For example, some Science Bros and Steve/Tony fans prefer not to read about Tony/Pepper. (I get it, because I loathe Killian Jones with the passion of a thousand burning suns.) liviapenn points out that (instead of using a regular character tag), if you put a tag with a modifier in the "Additional Tags" category (for example, "background Tony/Pepper"), it will be there for people who want to avoid it but won't pop up for people searching it out with the main character or relationship tags.

Just use some common sense, folks. Tag for everything important, and don't bother with the minor stuff. And you're the one who knows your story best; you know what's important in your story.

On creating new tags: This is particularly important for Yuletiders to know, since so many of us will be creating tags for characters and fandoms that did not exist on the archive before this Yuletide.

From tag wrangler liviapenn:

The only other advice I would give is for people posting stories in superhero comics fandoms. So many superhero names are very generic, or shared by multiple people within one canon (like the 3 or 4 different versions of "Robin", "The Flash" or "Supergirl" in DC fandom.) If there's a possibility that your character's cape name might have been used for another character (in your fandom or another fandom) maybe consider tagging with their "real" name instead of (or in addition to) their "cape" name. So for instance, "Tim Drake" or "Robin - Tim Drake" "Tim Drake aka Robin" -- any of those would be better than just "Robin". Finally, if you want to find out whether a tag already exists in some format you can use the Tag Search page: http://archiveofourown.org/tags/search So let's say I wanted to find out if there's a canonical tag for food carts or food trucks. I would go to the tag search page and type in "cart* " (which brings up any word that starts with "cart") and click the Canonical ticky box. This just brings up a lot of tags about Sam Carter and Peggy Carter though. So I hit backspace and type in "truck* " and click the Canonical ticky box, and this will bring up all canonical tags that have a word that starts with truck in it, and hey, one of them is Food Trucks. Freeform: Alternate Universe - Truckers ‎(10) Freeform: Truckers ‎(8) Freeform: Food Trucks ‎(7) Freeform: Episode: s08e07 Shawn and Gus Truck Things Up ‎(1) Freeform: Trucks ‎(11) If anyone has any other questions about tagging I'd be glad to answer them!

From tag wrangler lost_spook:

As another tag wrangler, I'd just add that the thing about cape names applies generally really - if you want to make a freeform (or any tag) involving your characters, remember the archive is a big place and expanding all the time with fandoms in multiple media, so the more you use full names etc., the more likely it is the tag can stay in your fandom or eventually become canonical. one of the joys of Yuletide is that it's about fic in rare fandoms or non-existent-till-now fandoms, but that does mean you might well find yourself posting the first fic in a fandom or for that pairing or character - and that means you have to create that tag yourself. So I just wanted to add - don't be nervous of doing that! You don't have to read through archive tagging guidelines and get it perfect; just be as clear and specific as you can, especially with fandom tags, where the wranglers dealing with those might never have heard of it. The same with new character and relationship tags - do add them! Just be sure to use full names in both categories, and if the names are very common or likely to cause confusion, add something like the fandom name in brackets to make doubly sure. Wranglers can link up any tags like these no problem - it's only when things aren't clear (ambiguous), that it gets tricky. (Wranglers in tiny fandoms love it when they suddenly have actual tags to wrangle! ♥)

From an anonymous tag wrangler:

One other thing I'd like to suggest is keeping each freeform/additional tag to one discrete concept! For example, "Tony Stark Has Daddy Issues" is a single concept; "Tony Stark has daddy issues and mommy issues and luckily lots of money too" includes several, and is unlikely to ever become filterable in any way. Also, if a single concept is split across multiple tags, a wrangler often can't do anything with the individual tags-- for example, the two tags "his heart", "it is so broken" is likely going to end up with both tags unfilterable instead of being linked to a canonical tag like Heartbreak.

When a new tag is created (i.e. when someone tags their fic with something that has never before been tagged) it is not yet canonical--that is, when you click on it, you won't bring up any other fic tagged with it, and even if someone else uses that tag, at this point it won't come up when you click on the tag. That only changes when a tag wrangler--a volunteer with AO3, in charge of wrangling tags for that particular fandom--looks at it and decides what to do with it. Most chatty tags get ignored (unless the wrangler has seen others very similar). New fandom tags and character tags get made 'canonical' and attached to particular fandoms, so that a) they will now be clickable so you can find other fic tagged with that tag once other people use it and b) it will come up in the autocomplete. Other tags that the wrangler thinks will be generally useful (i.e. anything that other writers might use) get made canonical as well, either attached to the fandom (Tony Stark's Daddy Issues) or not attached to the fandom (mpreg, wingfic, etc). Tags that are close to/mean the same thing as other tags already in use get 'synned' to those tags, so "Bechdel Pass" and "Bechdel Test Pass" become functionally the same tag--you click on one, you get all the fics tagged with one or the other, so you don't need to know the exact tag you're looking for if you can get close.

A note: the tag wranglers are awesome, and do a lot of work behind the scenes to make the Archive work right. To learn more, check out this post on AO3. And if you want to make life easier on the tag wranglers, here's something one of them posted on tumblr:

What actually makes life harder for tag wranglers? People tagging obscure characters or OCs who are not in the work. Private bookmark tags that use terms we’ve never seen before. Smushnames. Comma fail. Drafts that stay for months because people keep editing them. All of those are allowed, and hardly anyone ever says anything about them outside of wrangler spaces.

If you spot a tag that you think is wrong (wrong spelling of a name, for example, which I've come across a couple of times--for some reason Vulcan women often get their names improperly capitalized, T'lar instead of T'Lar, that sort of thing) you can report it! At the bottom of every AO3 page is a link to "Technical Support and Feedback." Your comment will be sent to the tag wrangler for that fandom, and they can then either fix or explain the issue. (Thanks for pointing this out, liviapenn)

If you're really interested in How It All Works, you can check out the Sekrit Decoder Ring of tagging, aka the Tag Wrangling Guidelines. It's designed for the Tag Wranglers, so you don't need to know it--they'll handle any fixes that need fixing--but it's there if you want it.

If you want a different step-by-step explanation of how to tag on AO3, here's a post by superhappygenki, an AO3 tag wrangler.

Hope this all helps!

[mister-tom-a-dildo-lover]

Strive Pt. 22

{PART 1} {PART 2} {PART 3} {PART 4} {PART 5} {PART 6} {PART 7} {PART 8} {PART 9} {PART 10} {PART 11} {PART 12} {PART 13} {PART 14} {PART 15} {PART 16} {PART 17} {PART 18} {PART 19} {PART 20} {PART 21}

Pair: Tomarry

Rating: M-E(depends)

Tags: Mild Language, Homosexuality, Sexism, Obsessed Tom, Time-Travel/Dimension-Travel, Teacher/Student, Eventual Romance, Teacher-Harry, Grey!Harry, MoD(sort of), Death!being,

"You know, I don't want to try to control the way you do things in your life, but if you go and get a Mastery in Magical Smithing, it'll look very good on any resume you decide to build in the future."

Tom's tea cup paused against his lips as he considered Harry's words. Applying for a Mastery was a free process. And he was very young. People his age didn't often get Masteries. Especially ones centered around dying arts that were rarely mentioned anymore since it usually took extra effort to find information about them and he had the benefit of Salazar's knowledge on his side.

"Technically, you could apply for a Mastery in many subjects. Magical Smithing, Runes, Arithmancy, Legilimency, Occlumency, Defence, Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions. And for a few of those, you were self-taught. Such notes would go over well with most people and even if you end up in another profession, your status as a Master would have you called upon often by others. Few people in our community are Masters in Legilimency or Occlumency for example and you could be called in to help the Unspeakables should they have need of your… abilities."

Suddenly the idea had become very appealing. "Having multiple Masteries would make me come across as more capable, yes?" Trustworthy. Hard-working. Dedicated. If someone was to see that he'd achieved Masteries in many subjects, they'd be impressed and more willing to put their faith in him. They'd most likely take him more seriously then, and consider everything he had to say as something valuable.

If he ever personally got into politics, that could greatly help with his ideas in moving forward. And it would draw his acquaintances even closer to him because it was in a Slytherin's nature to want to be near greatness.

"You're already Apprenticed to a Defence Master who will be going for a Runes Mastery soon. With a proper attitude, good support base, and necessary skills, you could probably obtain all those Masteries before you're thirty," Harry told him confidently.

It would be around twelve years until then, but at the same time that was such a short span of time for wizards. Nine Masteries in twelve years sounded impossible to the ear, but Tom did like challenges and he always came out on top eventually.

And he liked the benefits. If Tom was one of the very few Masters of a certain Art in Britain alone, he would be asked for assistance. Could probably charge outlandish prices simply because someone's desperation didn't let them think clearly. He very much liked the idea of it.

Also proving himself better than others by holding multiple Masteries at once sounded appealing. Tom was a narcissist first and foremost.

~.O.~

"We're going to explore my memories of the duels," said Harry as he held up a kit full of several vials of different colours, all bearing a different label on them. "Unaltered as promised. Choose which you wish to start with."

Tom squinted at the man's atrocious writing and plucked Duel 5 from the case.

According to Potter, they were borrowing the Headmaster's Pensieve for this lesson. He'd never seen one in person before, and committed the ornate markings in the bowl to memory. They looked like Runes, but unfamiliar ones, so mostly likely those from another culture.

"Pour the memory into the basin and dip your head inside."

The memory was silver as it poured out, but turned black the moment it hit the liquid within the Pensieve. Tom took a deep breath and followed Harry's order.

The Dueling Championship had been held in a massive outdoor stadium as large as Hogwarts' Quidditch Pitch. And the space where the duels took place was just like his and Harry's Room of Requirement training had been. Every element available to make things interesting.

The stands were filled with people holding up flags from different countries and cheering on their favourite competitors.

Said competitors were standing on the sidelines looking agitated as they had to wait for their turns.

A horn blew and a portly witch in bright yellow and black striped robes took center-field, her wand activating the Sonorous Charm. "We are ready to begin the Fifth Round! The first competitors up are Harry Potter of Great Britain and John Crawford of the United States!"

The cheers erupted from the stands.

Tom backed up until he was certain he was out of the way of the entire duel as the announcer shot off red sparks with her wand.

The four duels Harry had been through before this one were enough to make his opponent skeptical of him. He didn't rush in with his wand waving and spells flying. Instead, the blond man across the field stood perfectly still and waited, his blue eyes trained only on Harry in a manner that Tom did not appreciate.

Harry mimicked his opponent, stance casual and face passive. The two let the minutes pass them by, the silence rendering the crowd into a mass of confusion.

Eventually, it seemed that Crawford had lost whatever patience he'd been trying to show off, and whipped his wand out in an upward arc. A streak of flames followed the movement like a whip, and when the wand lashed out again, the whip snapped toward Harry's position.

Of course Harry quickly proved why the majority of Slytherin was looking to him to defeat Grindelwald. Instead of pulling up a barrier of any sort to protect himself, Harry quite literally took two steps to his right, allowing the fire whip to pass his left shoulder without a backwards glance. He didn't even blink.

The whip retracted and then lashed out once again, and once again, Harry manoeuvered himself around it, avoiding what would no doubt be a painful feeling if he had been unfortunate enough to get wrapped up in it.

There wasn't even a magical application to this, it was simply Harry being observant enough to predict where the whip would go specifically and simply moving to a position away from the targeted area.

Crawford didn't seem to appreciate Harry's treatment of his skills. Perhaps to a fool it looked as if Harry was mocking him, but if Harry was honestly good enough to avoid damage without having to use magic, then why tire himself out of he didn't have to? It would be pointless otherwise.

Common sense should be a thing utilised by everyone in Tom's opinion. It could honestly save one's life one day.

"Fight back, damn you!" Crawford eventually yelled.

Harry cocked an arched, perfectly plucked brow, and flicked his Holly wand once. Nothing seemed to happen and Crawford cackled. "Not so talented, are you? That's why you keep running away!"

And then Crawford's entire body jerked out of nowhere, and his hands rushed to his face to rub at his nose. He seemed to forget that he was holding a literal whip of fire and with his wand suddenly in his face again, the whip snapped back the way it came and Crawford got a face full of burns as punishment for his boasting.

The stadium erupted in applause and cheering, the astounded faces hanging out so openly. It was because Harry wasn't very intimidating in figure and didn't look like someone capable of much beyond looking pretty. But he'd proved their assumptions wrong so effortlessly!

Harry had won using only a tickling charm. Honestly, Tom shouldn't be surprised by his strange approach to magic.

~.O.~

"What did you observe?" Harry asked pensively the moment he was freed from the memory.

Tom shook himself in order to center his thoughts and stop the mild vertigo he was feeling. "He was very cocksure, but mostly in an attempt to hide that he was actually unnerved by you. You got that far so you had to be a threat in some way and when you didn't use magic to fight back and just kept avoiding his attacks, he became even more frustrated and attempted to goad you into fighting."

It was a pathetic attempt. Crawford was not so good with words as to manipulate anyone into anything. He would be a poor public speaker.

"He also knew how to use a whip," Tom added. "Very well. The flickings of his wrist spoke of experience." Tom was very well aware of how a whip was used. It took a lot of time to acclimate oneself to the proper motions if one wanted the best results.

"Correct. Anything else?"

He had to think for a moment. "He was impatient but also lacked common sense. He should have tried something else when you dodged the whip for the third time. Simply relying on the same technique for several minutes was foolish of him, and it rendered his arm tired after a certain amount of time elapsed. His form became sloppy and slow and even more predictable than before."

"Exactly. In essence, nothing particularly impressive. What would you have done differently?"

Against Harry? Tom already knew Harry. He'd been dueling Harry for weeks. Compared to Crawford, Tom already had a bit over him in terms of 'knowing his enemy'. He could formulate better ideas easily, though whether they'd actually work against Harry was an entirely different thing altogether.

Still…

"I would have learned a better version of the spell. A single whip is relatively easy to dodge because it is thin and can only go in one direction, but a cat o' nine tails is not. You aren't fast enough to dodge nine individual strips of flame no matter how talented you are."

Harry nodded, seemingly envisioning the very scenario and twirling his wand experimentally. "And if that failed?"

"Probably something involving animals. I've very good at controlling animals and most people are very hesitant to harm an animal, especially if they think it looks cute." He could capitalise off their hesitancy and then take them down.

"Interesting."

~.O.~

Dinner with the Malfoy family. It hadn't been since Yule that Tom had visited the Malfoys and he honestly found himself bored of them. Though it was incredibly useful that they felt indebted to him(and that was only because of Harry) he just didn't find them as interesting as he had before.

It was so strange how his way of thinking had changed so much.

During dinner, Tom had been asked a simple question. "How have things been for you, Tom?"

And he had to think about it for a moment.

"Considerably well if I ignore Dumbledore stalking my every movement," he'd answered. "I am Apprenticed to Harry Potter now."

Abraxas beamed, looking as if he had a million questions that he was only barely keeping himself from asking. His father however, merely looked politely interested.

"Our son told us you seemed less enthused the last time you met up for lunch," Lord Malfoy said calmly, not even looking up from his plate. "Are you well?"

An interesting place to insert this information. "I am am merely conflicted after I learned some sensitive information about the Slytherin family."

All three Malfoy's stiffened and turned to look at him with full interest.

"Oh?" Lady Malfoy asked.

"Indeed. Professor Potter is actually also related to the Gaunts and he is also a Parselmouth. As such he has managed to acquire many tomes about both the Slytherins and the Gaunts and has allowed me to study them. They are in Parselscript however, so it took time. I have learned that the enmity between Salazar and Godric had nothing to do with Mundanes, and everything to do with Godric's wife's younger sister starting a fight with Salazar's son over his pet snake."

"Mundanes?" Abraxas repeated with obvious confusion.

"Their older term for Muggles," Tom clarified. "Salazar sent his son away because Godric overreacted and when he found out he was in the wrong, he refused to take anything he'd done and said back, which lead to Salazar leaving as well after a time because he was too frustrated with Godric's childish behaviour."

"Ho-how did the story change then?" asked Abraxas, looking a good mix between horrified and baffled. "How could a fight over a snake escalate into him being pure evil?"

"It seems we've allowed the other Houses to dictate our Founder to us," said Tom plainly. "The whole story about the his monster is a lie. The Basilisk exists but not to cleanse the school of Muggleborns. All the Founders had a 'monster' that served to protect the school. Godric had a dragon that fell in battle, Helga had a Phoenix that still lingers around the property when it wants to be seen, Rowena had a Sphinx that was sold off centuries ago, and Salazar had a Basilisk that fell alongside Godric's dragon. So Salazar bred another to protect the children and left it there for any of his blood to make use of should the school need its greatest defence again."

The looks of shock and minor outrage on their faces was somewhat amusing and also sad at the same time. This went against everything they had ever learned about their House Founder after all.

"Essentially, we've been lead astray by the very people who hate us for the House we're Sorted into." If Tom was going to change something, he'd at least make certain proper blame was placed.

~.O.~

A knock on door of his rooms made Tom frown. No one ever visited him because there was no one around that would need or want to. And it was always him going to see Harry.

When he opened the door, he was greeted by the sight of one Ella Potter smiling up at him with mischief all over her face. "Hello, Tom. Care to come on a walk with this old woman?"

And the first thing out of his mouth was an offended, "You are not old. Dumbledore is old. Ancient even." He added last bit just to be petty.

Ella snorted behind her hand in a very unladylike fashion and nodded. "Such a charmer, Tom. He's only seven years older than me."

Briefly he had to wonder what happened because she looked so young and Dumbledore didn't.

Tom held his hand out and his cloak laid itself over his arm a second later. He didn't know why Elle was there at all but he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to speak with her if she really wanted to talk to him. He actually liked her company.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked as he stepped into the third floor corridor swinging his cloak over his shoulders.

"Not really. I'm merely going to have lunch with Harry and I thought you'd like to join us. You're always so alone down here. It's not healthy, you know."

"I'm not alone. I spend a lot of time with Harry," he defended since it was the literal truth. He spent so much time with Harry and still managed to not be bored of seeing his beautiful face.

She sent him an unimpressed look, left brow angled down to give the look more character. "All this time with him and you still haven't made a move. You need help."

Oh Merlin! He was getting courtship assistance from Harry's aunt. He didn't know if he should be embarrassed that his interest was so obvious to her, or grateful that she was in full support of it and wanted to see it blossom into something more.

Ella linked arms with him and gave his shoulder a fond by pitying pat. "It's really not that difficult. Harry is a bit dense but once things are more clear he will be more than receptive."

The entire afternoon was filled with Ella making certain to drag complements out of the both of them for each other. She also managed to get Tom to blush, which was a feat no other but Harry had managed. It was obvious she'd been a Slytherin. She was devious and single-minded in her purpose and didn't bat a single lash at her nephew's mortified sputtering.

And yet it was all worth it in the end just to see Harry so carefree and happy. While he hadn't been sad or dispassionate while teaching, he held a personal belief on how teachers should act when around their students. So the familiarity and fun behaviour he had shown all afternoon, was something new.

Tom felt privileged that he even got to witness it. Seeing sides of Harry Potter that others didn't get to, made him float.

Literally.

Sometimes he got so excited about Harry that he'd lose his connection to the Earth for a few seconds. It was embarrassing. Thankfully no one had noticed it yet.

~.O.~

"The school year is starting next week," remarked Harry that evening at dinner. They'd had a long day of training in dueling and this was the time they could indulge. Harry was eying up the platter of treacle tart the House Elves had brought for after supper.

"It'll be interesting to see the Great hall from a different angle." They took their meals together for the most part. Or Tom went to the kitchens personally in an effort to avoid Dumbledore. He hadn't stepped foot in the Great hall once that summer, and it had been marvelous!

Harry snorted. "You'll realise just how big it is then. It can almost feel overwhelming at times. So many students. So many faces. You can't even see them all perfectly near the double doors at the far end."

To Tom it sounded spectacular. Of course it could just be his happiness over getting to be in Hogwarts still. Not having to leave his true home behind could be blinding him.

"Have you already worked out your schedules?" Harry asked him, setting his plate aside and pulled the entire platter of treacle tart closer. As they were for him to begin with, Tom wasn't offended by the the gluttonous reaction.

They'd already discussed it. Tom would be taking over the classes for the first through third years. Harry had deemed him prepared enough to handle that much work, and had already bestowed much wisdom on how to handle assignments and such. And he had Harry's own example to base his own teaching style off of. Despite him originally being incensed in regards to it, Harry's method truly worked. He raised the grade average of the entire school simply because his class touched upon applications from nearly every other class in the school and his Dueling Club had been a great help.

With Tom taking on some classes, Harry's schedule would be freed up so he could dedicate the proper time to his Deputy duties. And there were so many to see to! Every day he had something to do, even in the summer!

"I have everything set up," he told the man confidently. "Though I wouldn't mind if you'd like to look over what I've come up with."

Harry's smile could make him believe in angels, it was just that fetching. That innocent. How had he existed this long and manage to be so untarnished?

"You've come a long way, Tom. I'm proud of your progress."

Tom was not blushing he was simply a little overheated still from the intense workout Harry had put him through. His clothes were hot and there was even still sweat on his brow!

There was sweat on Harry too. It made his hair shine and his skin glisten just a bit in the candlelight. And Tom's mouth felt dry suddenly.

"Are you okay, Tom?"

"Fine! Just fine."

He was not fine.

A/N: This chapter was finished months ago, for the most part. It was long enough and everything, but I chose to hold off on posting because it didn't feel right to me. Last night I got a review and decided to re-read the whole fic, plus this chap to see what was missing. I found it too. It was just detail. Some of the writing was just bland. I fixed it while I added 1,000 words!

[reconditarmonia]

Dear Rule 63 Author

(It’s finally happening! Thank you so much for signing up!)

I’m reconditarmonia here and on AO3 (and have been since LJ days, but my LJ is locked down and I only have a DW to see locked things). I have anon messaging off, but, er, I can answer any questions you might have about my requests in my mod capacity if you contact the exchange email ;)

Fullmetal Alchemist | History Boys | Pride and Prejudice | Robin Hood | Spinning Silver

General likes:

– Relationships that aren’t built on romance or attraction. They can be romantic or sexual as well, but my favorite ships are all ones where it would still be interesting or compelling if the romantic component never materialized.

– Loyalty kink! Trust, affectionate or loving use of titles, gestures of loyalty, replacing one's situational or ethical judgment with someone else's, risking oneself (physically or otherwise) for someone else, not doing so on their orders. Can be commander-subordinate or comrades-in-arms.

– Heists, or other stories where there’s a lot of planning and then we see how the plan goes.

– Femslash, complicated or intense relationships between women, and female-centric gen. Women doing “male” stuff (possibly while crossdressing).

– Stories whose emotional climax or resolution isn’t the sex scene, if there is one.

– Uniforms/costumes/clothing.

– Stories, history, and performance. What gets told and how, what doesn’t get told or written down, behavior in a society where everyone’s consuming media and aware of its tropes, how people create their personas and script their own lines.

General DNW: rape/dubcon, torture, other creative gore; unrequested AUs, including “same setting, different rules” AUs such as soulmates/soulbonds; PWP; food sex; embarrassment; focus on pregnancy; Christmas/Christian themes; focus on unrequested canon or non-canon ships.

A note: I'm generally fine with "/" ships where the fic doesn't contain a kiss, overt declaration of love, etc. I'll trust that you wrote it with shippy intent and don't expect you to force in something that wouldn't fit the story.

About Rule 63 Exchange specifically: I have no strong preference for character names, with a slight preference for sticking with their canon names; it's up to you whether you want to justify any resulting names that would be unusual for women or just gloss over it. As far as characters' personalities and gender expression are concerned, you can tell from my requests that part of what interests me in most of the characters I requested is the question of what they and/or their relationships would be like in a world where they grew up as women, but I tend to want to see them as similar to their canon selves, just female. I'm probably fine with unrequested characters also being swapped to female, but feel free to check if you're not sure; please don't swap any female characters to male.

For this exchange, I've requested only fanfiction and only Always a 63, and with the exception of FMA, have requested non-smut (for FMA both smut and non-smut are good).

—

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

Ship(s): F!Roy Mustang/Riza Hawkeye, F!Roy Mustang/F!Maes Hughes, F!Roy Mustang & Riza Hawkeye & F!Maes Hughes, F!Roy Mustang & F!Maes Hughes

I only recently started watching FMA:Brotherhood and I love it a lot. My fannish interests run towards military contexts, loyalty kink, idealistic/noble characters, and ambitious/pragmatic characters, so I'd love to read more about any of these combinations of people trusting one another to be the best person to do the job, or to know what to do, and risking a lot on that - whether that's on campaign in the war, when trying to get Roy up the chain of command, during the conflict with the homunculi... (I'm not yet up to the bit where Roy tells Riza he trusts her to shoot him in the back if he steps off the path, but it's been mentioned to me and it is my JAM.)

(My requests are fairly unspecific because as I write this I'm only about a quarter of the way through the anime. DO NOT worry about avoiding spoilers in the fic; I'm getting through the canon and can't wait to read whatever you want to write. Although I should specifically say, feel free to either have Hughes continue to be alive or stick to canon in this regard.)

Smut Likes: clothing, sexual tension, breasts, oral sex, grinding, informal d/s elements, intensity

Fandom-Specific DNW: please avoid canon-typical loss of body parts. If writing Roy/Maes in a period when Maes would canonically be married to Gracia, please don’t kill her off or get into either infidelity angst or poly negotiation; an AU where they never married or the assumption of an open relationship are both fine.

—

Fandom: History Boys

Ship(s): F!Stuart Dakin/F!Tom Irwin, F!Entire Class & F!Tom Irwin, F!Entire Class & F!Douglas Hector

I'm dying to know what the cultural touchstones would be if this plot were about lesbians instead of gay men. Auden, for instance, keeps coming up in the play - Hector loves him, Dakin and the other students bring him up to feel out Irwin - Housman, Bette Davis in Now Voyager...so what's acceptable and/or eccentric Culture for lesbians to cling to, or to signal (or flirt, or come-on) with? Who are the writers and the icons? During canon(/pre-, if applicable with Hector) or post-canon Oxbridge-slash-TV-historian life, it's all great. I, like most of the fandom, do like the idea that Dakin and Irwin do make it work at some point, post-canon.

Although I acknowledge that female versions of these characters feeling shut out of the historical and literary Canon is a valid place to go with the concept (I mean, that's Mrs. Lintott's speech), I'm more interested in following through on the way that the canon (little-c) characters relate historical or literary figures and events to their own lives - whether that's using more female figures, or finding things to seize on and relate to in the male figures of the Canon (in a fuck-you women-are-like-this-too way or a gay way rather than a Great-Men-are-universally-relatable way, I suppose).

—

Fandom: Pride and Prejudice

Ship(s): Elizabeth Bennet/F!Fitzwilliam Darcy, Jane Bennet/F!Charles Bingley

I would love to see how the basic narrative of P&P, or scenes from it, could play out, with period setting and some level of period attitudes, if either (or both) of the two main men are women looking for a "companion" or being pursued as a "companion," rather than as a husband. (Yes, I've been watching Gentleman Jack, but I've wanted this sort of thing for longer than that.)

To be clear, period attitudes can be "meh" rather than wall-to-wall homophobia; I'd just prefer to explore the implications of this change rather than supposing that same-sex marriage is accepted and everything about the plot is the same. If Jane, the eldest daughter to marry off, isn't interested in a heterosexual marriage? If Elizabeth turns down Collins without any expectation that a more suitable man could exist? (Having characters be bi rather than lesbian works too, I'm just throwing out some examples.) The significance of dancing, when in a formal dance context you'd encounter another woman in the dance but wouldn't be able to have her as a partner? Jane and Bingley being adorable, or Elizabeth and Darcy coming to revise their initial ill opinions of each other in this new context? Are the men a hot ticket for the women of Hertfordshire in the same way if they're women instead?

—

Fandom: Robin Hood (Traditional)

Ship(s): F!Robin Hood/F!Little John, F!Robin Hood & F!Merry Men, F!Robin Hood & Merry Men, F!Robin Hood & F!Little John, F!Robin Hood & Little John

Tell me about these people! A female outlaw commanding the loyalty of a mixed or male group -- or an all-female group of outlaws, how they live, what might have led them to choose that life. I'm also here for Robin Hood's relationship with her right-hand man/woman specifically, because I love loyalty kink -- people willing to go into danger for one another, the leader knowing how best to use her right hand's skills and strengths, what elements of formality might appear in, well, a very ad-hoc group. (And f!Little John would probably be hot.) If you're writing the Little John pairings, feel free to make the Merry Men either their canon versions or female versions.

I'd totally be into any of the f!characters crossdressing as men vis-à-vis the world at large, although if you go this route I'd rather have them not be in disguise to each other/to their own allies (so no Merry Men thinking they're being led by another man when it's crossdressing Robin, for instance - preferring masculine clothing/appearance even among friends is fine, though).

—

Fandom: Spinning Silver

Ship(s): F!Staryk Lord/Miryem Mandelstam

I love Miryem, and I'm so interested in the ways that making the Staryk Lord a woman would change Miryem's entry into the Staryk world and the romance that eventually develops between them. Maybe same-sex marriage is common among the Staryk, and that's one of the customs that are new and unfamiliar to Miryem in this new world. Would this be a Miryem who had never imagined being attracted to a woman before but comes to fall for the Staryk Lady, or one who simply couldn't have imagined being able to marry one and have that be a normal life? (For values of "normal" that include ice lands and gold magic!) How does the fact of the marriage being same-sex affect Miryem's initial understanding of it as a business arrangement, or for that matter, affect her understanding of the offer of queenship as a marriage at all? What makes them fall for each other?

Canon Miryem wonders what her role as queen is, thinking that she'd know about managing a household and having children and sewing if she were married to a human lord - is it the same if she has a fairy wife instead of a fairy husband, more so because there's not even the hope of a gendered complementarian aspect to fall back on, less so because the Staryk Lady is there as an example of what a female monarch in the Staryk lands does? Does Miryem try to be more like her, or to find her own accounting-powers-and-personal-bonds niche?

It's so important to canon Miryem to have a Jewish wedding with the Staryk Lord - what would that look like here? What happens when she comes back to the human world not only the queen of a magic country, but married to a woman (and in love with her, depending on when you set it)?

[twitchesandstitches]

How do some of the many alien races that cameo in your CrossThicc setting differ from their canon setting versions?

For one thing, most aliens are way, WAY bigger. Galactic average is at least 20 feet tall, with the smaller ones around 15 feet. Upper size limit would be 100 feet for especially big aliens; larger than that is reserved for mega-curvy thiccs who have gotten so powerful they expand past their limits, or completely inhuman beings adapted to live in space.

additionally, its important to note that in this AU, humans are honestly irrelevant, as a species. I’m going against the grain of sci fi and state that humans do not have any real power or influence on the setting... like, at all. Individuals do, and humans are certainly present within other organizations/societies and cultures, but the idea of humans being favored by the narrative and having dominance is not applicable here. They’re an extremely minor species of tinies, and the ones of significance are those who are using mods to remake themselves or have grown to huge size with thiccness power and are evolving into something totally new.

(I really, REALLY don’t like it when speculative fiction arbitarily makes humans THE BEST AT EVERYTHING FOREVER and constantly bends backwards to be self-congratulatory. Humans are not relevant, on their own, in this AU! They’re just sort of....... there)

Transformers are generally around the size of... combine their size ranges from G1 and the live action movies. Barring individuals or thiccness growth, they’re about that size. They’re one of the most populous species in existence; the Autobots have made a massive comeback within the Endowed Fleet, while the Decepticons have broken apart into several sub-factions that each are a thriving civilization. Female Transformers are MUCH more common than in canon, outnumering their male counterparts by a bit. They’re also EXTREMELY curvy and tend towards solid, powerful builds.

Asari are giants, ranging from thirty feet to fifty depending on which stage of their cycle they are in; matriarchs are the biggest and they get more hyper curvy as they get older, have more children, and get stronger powers. Additionally their bodies thrum with energy, to the point that they seem partly made of that energy; they look kind of eldritch. Additionally, they don’t have human-like noses!

Krogan are probably about twenty feet tall or so, and easily move on all fours. No genophage here; they’re EXTREMELY common and thriving, with a cosmopolitan and enlightened culture similar to what canon implies they might have turned into if the salarians hadn’t disrupted their cultural development. Krogan women tend to be much larger than the men, too, and afford their magic users with the same respect as biotics in canon; they speak with spirits as shamans and religious leaders.

Saiyans from Dragon Ball are more closely based on Son Wukong than we got in canon; they look more like alien monkey people; furred, with fierce and inhuman faces, pronounced fangs, and so on. The Great Ape form is an exaggeration of their normal form, a kaiju-ification. In their base forms, they’re about 14 feet tall, pint-sized powerhouses to other aliens; in Oozaru form, they’re about fifty feet tall but a LOT more wild, and its possible Oozaru is their true form, with their smaller bodies being a way to contain their wild impulses and control their power.

quarians have a symbiotic relationship with their robot offspring in the Geth; both are pretty big at forty feet tall, and the Geth tend to have very thicc fembot bodies in honor of their makers. No war here! Quarians are EXTREMELY curvy, especially in the hips or shoulders, and beneath the environment suits, they’re siialr to insects with plated, chitinous skin that is often a pale color such as light pink or off-white.

Kryptonians may be alive in well, but in decline and suffering a disaspora after the loss of their homeworld. Unlike other versions of them that make them aliens identical to humans, they are actually shapeshifter here; in Crossthicc, many aliens eventually reach a point of enlightenment and power evolution that causes them to be come universal shapeshifters, and inheriting the many powers of those who come before, along with the shapeshifting powers and innate telekinesis, is the source of their powers. In their true forms, Kryptonians likely resemble Doomsday but more pretty, curvaceous or whatnot as befits the individual, solemn and regal in appearance. The likes of Superman and Power Girl take on human form using these abilities. (Their size is personal; Superman would stay on the lower side of things, while Power Girl would be as huge as possible. 50 ft minimum, at least.)

aliens from ben 10 would look pretty muh as per canon, leaing more towards the Omniverse styles, but generally be larger (save for those that are supposed to be tiny) annd, of course, super thicc! Aliens in general should AT LEAST be as inhuman as ben 10 aliens, honestly

[shireness-says]

The Prickly Witch’s Guide to Magic

Summary: Emma Swan tries to keep the witch thing on the down-low. But when a handsome stranger discovers her secret and begs her to teach him magic, Emma finds herself using her powers for good to try and save his brother. ~9.6K. Rated T for language. Also on AO3.

A/N: It’s finally here - my @cssns piece! I’m really pleased how this one turned out, and I hope you love it too.

The fantastic fic art up top was put together by @allons-y-to-hogwarts-713, and will also be posted on her page. Go give her some love - she deserves it! Thanks for the edit, darling, I love it!

Special thanks also go out to my beta, @snidgetsafan; @distant-rose and @winterbythesea, who helped me come up with titles at the last minute; and the great mods for this event, @kmomof4, @winterbaby89, and @katie-dub. Thanks for making this such a great event, I’ve loved getting to know folks in the fandom!

Tagging the folks I think might be interested: @branlovesouat, @awkwardnessandbaseball, @searchingwardrobes, @courtorderedcake. If you ever want to be tagged in my stuff, sent me a message.

And a quick disclaimer: my knowledge of anything medical is completely non-existant.

Without further ado: Enjoy!

Emma tries to keep the whole witch thing on the down-low.

It’s not that she’s ashamed – she’s really not. It’s just that if someone’s going to put the whole witchcraft thing into the public eye, it should probably be one of the people who view it as a way of life or whatever, instead of Emma, who tends to treat it as a hobby at best.

The thing is, she wasn’t raised as a witch, and she didn’t really actively seek it out either. She just went into the second-hand bookstore looking for a birthday present for Mary Margaret, and the old, leather-bound tome had just seemed like it was calling to her – like it was there for her and her alone. Like it wanted her more than anyone (with the exception of her best friend) ever had. So she had bought it for nearly obscenely cheap and brought it home.

(She learns later it’s technically called a grimoire, but when she first found it on the shelf, it was just a weird looking old book with a lot of funny illustrations.)

It was just messing around at first. It was pretty obvious the book was about some sort of magic, filled with discussions about the pros and cons of using wands and short biographies of famous wizards (hello, Merlin and da Vinci) and the importance of using as fresh of snake scales as possible for maximum potion efficacity. Emma didn’t take it too seriously right away, but she was finally bored enough to look through it one day, and shocked to find most of the instructions actually worked. At first, it was just little things – seeing if she could turn on the lights (she could), make a grilled cheese appear (she couldn’t, but that’s apparently less about ability and more about obscure laws of witchcraft), clean her dishes (and oh fuck yes she could, this was the best book ever; her apartment would finally be clean and Mary Margaret would get off her back). So spells go pretty well.

And then she got into potions because her cramps were fucking awful one month and she never wanted to go through that again. So she looked through the book and found a potion for curing muscle aches and made up a batch to keep on hand. And the next month, when her uterus tried to kill her again, she tried it as practically a last resort, and it worked. It worked even better the next month when combined with the potion for “intestinal distress” that she found and thought might be good for the bloating (and hot damn, it was).

So Emma Swan, who can barely feed herself, is suddenly using her stove to cook up all kinds of potions – mostly the frivolous ones for, like, shiny hair or ‘an aura of confidence’ or whatever, but still. It counts. The massive soup pot Mary Margaret got her years ago has never seen so much use in its short, somewhat sad life.

And she kind of thought that’d be it – Emma Swan gains a weird hobby, keeps Mary Margaret stocked with all the aphrodisiacs she and David could ever hope to go through. But she’s out and about at a little café one day, and that same sixth sense that led her to the book starts going off again, and that’s how she meets Belle – librarian by day, witch and magical researcher by night.

And then Mary Margaret gets her a fish and calls it her familiar as a joke, and she and Belle keep meeting to try new spells, and it sneaks up on her, just like that, that oh my God she’s totally a witch. Even if Harold the goldfish doesn’t do much more than placidly putter about his bowl instead of helping Emma channel her magic, like she thinks a familiar is supposed to (that is the idea, right? The book wasn’t particularly helpful on that subject).

Things kind of spiral from there. It’s just her and Belle for a while, until Emma has to swing by the library to print stuff one day and finds a woman in there about to hyperventilate because she accidentally froze someone’s water bottle. And even if they haven’t noticed, the woman is still standing there shaking and muttering about this being why she can’t leave the house, and Emma can’t just let that go. So Emma manages to calm the woman down enough to get her into the Bug and back to her tiny apartment, and goes about plying her with hot chocolate made with magically operating equipment (à la Mrs. Weasley, if Emma’s being very honest about how this all looks) in an effort to show her that magic can be controlled and is actually a good thing. And that person is Elsa. Emma and Belle do a lot of research and invite Elsa to all their meetings, and are generally able to help Elsa get her powers under control – especially since so much of the problem was that Elsa thought she was the only person in the world who could do magic and everyone would hate her if they learned of her abilities. In time, Elsa becomes a regular member of their little social/research group.

(It’s especially nice when, after Elsa pulls her life together, she offers to let Emma live in one of the rooms of her old Tudor-style home and just pitch in on the utilities and groceries.)

(Anna still likes to periodically send Emma fruit baskets as a thank you for coaxing her older sister out of her shell, and Emma has never been one to turn down free food, even if the whole thing makes her somewhat uncomfortable. Emma Swan is not great at thanks, ok?)

Belle is the one who meets Regina at an old bookshop, when she actually has to fight her over an old spellbook (a fight that Regina wins because Belle is a total pushover, but what are you going to do). Regina is looking for a new circle after a whole debacle with her previous group – “My batshit crazy sister turned it into some sort of power-hungry coven, and I was not there for that” – and Belle is, again, too kind to say no.

(Never mind the fact that they’re practically becoming their own little coven after Belle moves in to one of the other rooms at Elsa’s, and shit, they really are becoming witches, aren’t they? Clichés and all.)

And they’re good, the four of them. Regina may want them to stretch their wings a bit, get out there and use their magic to effect small changes in the world, but Emma is more than happy with the way things are right now, searching out new texts and comparing notes with other local witches, and finding the perfect spell to extend their rooms to include an ensuite bathroom because that is a priority if Emma’s ever seen one.

But they’re not a coven. They’re just a group of mutual friends - or acquaintances, as the case may be with Regina - who all practice magic, and sometimes get together to do some research. That’s it. It’s like… a weird book club or something. And so what if they sometimes test out some of the more intriguing spells in the house or back yard? It’s not that unusual. And honestly, some of these spell names are so smudged they have to test them somewhere just to figure out what the hell they do.

(Oh fuck, they’re totally a coven.)

Honestly, Emma tries to keep her magic inside the house. That’s not everyone’s strategy; Elsa in particular uses hers out in the world, now that she’s opened an ice cream parlor, which makes sense given where her magical strengths lie. Belle sometimes uses her magic as a research tool at the library, Emma knows, especially when she needs that one specific book that has been reshelved in the wrong place (she’s actually fashioned this impressive computer application that will give her a map showing exactly where it is, which is hella impressive and something Emma thinks they could totally capitalize upon if the magic thing becomes common knowledge). Emma really doesn’t want to know if lawyer Regina is using magic in her profession because that seems pretty unethical. And Emma doesn’t want to be in the middle of it if it’s happening. Better for her to just… not know.

So she tries to keep the magic inside the house, but sometimes, exceptions have to be made. Like when she breaks a heel while chasing one of her skips and it just seems more efficient to create something magical for him to trip over than to keep chasing. Or when the horrible ancient computer in the bail bonds office freezes up again, and she sends a little spark into its ancient guts just to encourage any kind of action. Or any of the multiple things that go wrong with her Bug.

Like now. Standing on the street, staring at a dead battery.

And yes, eventually she will have to get that new battery, but it has been a Long Day, and Emma is tired, and she just wants to get home, dammit, without calling Belle or Elsa to come pick her up. And hey, she does have a way to fix this, doesn’t she?

So Emma metaphorically winds up and lets loose a little burst of magic, just enough to get the old girl running.

Unfortunately, when she steps back, satisfied with the now rumbling engine, she notices she has an audience.

Fuck.

She should have paid more attention, checked the area, but she was so damn tired, and now some dark-haired dude is staring at her with his mouth wide open. Which, granted, is warranted, since Emma just started her car with magic.

As Emma makes eye contact, his jaw snaps shut, and she throws him a look she hopes conveys “Don’t you dare tell anyone, idiot.” It must work, because he nods frantically with wide eyes. She’ll have to take his word for it; lord knows she’s not marching over there to demand a promise and even debating a memory spell feels far too Regina for Emma’s liking.

So with a final look, Emma gets into her car and drives away, trying to forget the whole debacle.

------

The problem is, she can’t just forget it, though not for lack of trying. After taking down her latest skip, Emma gets a few days off of work, finally getting the chance to replace her damn battery and even have a little downtime. But the afternoon of her first day back, when she’s just ready to get into her car and go back home to the creaky Tudor and maybe talk her roommates into takeout, he’s there, waiting for her to show up. The guy from the other day - the guy who saw her do magic, the guy who could probably expose her secret to the world if he felt like it - standing, just leaning against a streetlight right next to her car. And it’s fucking creepy, but Emma can handle herself. She’s got her gun at her hip and a switchblade in her boot and a whole encyclopedia in her head of ways to hit a man and make it hurt.

She’s just paging through her mental catalog for precisely which move she should use to get him to hit the road when he opens his mouth and shocks her.

“Can you teach me magic?” he demands, leaving Emma somewhat startled.

“Excuse me?”

“Magic,” the man repeats. “You have magic, right? Can you teach me?”

He may not actively be a threat, but he has now been reclassified as an annoyance in Emma’s book, which is almost worse. Threats? Emma can deal with threats: shoot them, punch them, kick them in the balls. An annoyance? Well, she still wants to do all that, but can’t find any justification to act on those impulses.

So again, Emma just rolls her eyes, climbs in her car, and drives away.

------

This continues for a week.

Emma will walk out of her building to find the dark-haired nuisance waiting and ready to beg. He always keeps his distance, never makes her feel unsafe, but is a near-constant irritation that she just can’t shake, dammit.

Her week goes something like this:

Monday: Tall, dark, and irritating flashes a grin he must think is flirtatious or disarming or something, starts to say “Excuse me, Miss, if I could just ask you a few questions…” and earns a car door slammed in his face for his trouble.

Tuesday: The annoying bastard comes with bribery this time in the form of a cup of coffee and that same charming smile. Emma gives him another look and drives away without words.

Wednesday: The persistent son of a bitch tries to get personal. “Hi there,” he starts, “my name is Killian Jones, and I was hoping we could talk -”

“Still nope!” Emma tosses over her shoulder before driving away.

Thursday: Emma doesn’t go in because she has an overnight stakeout that evening. It’s a nice break from Killian(noying) Jones.

Friday: He starts to seem a little desperate. He shows up with an honest-to-god hot chocolate and one of those packaged chocolate chip muffins she loves and tries to convince her (“The lady at the cafe said this is your order, and I was hoping to have a word with you…”).

Emma is not convinced, but she does take the muffin and tries to ignore the way his face falls in disappointment that her reaction hasn’t changed. (Even if she is starting to feel a bit bad, there’s no way in hell she’s taking an open beverage from a stranger. She’s not interested in becoming the next installment of Dateline, thank you very much.)

By the time the next Tuesday rolls around, he’s resorted to outright pleading.

“Please, Miss, I am begging you, teach me something about magic.”

Even Emma and her prickly heart are a little moved and intrigued by his desperation and persistence. A little. But the thing is, even if Emma wanted to teach him magic, she can’t. It’s not something he’d be able to just… pick up. You’re either born with the ability or you’re not, and Emma’s been able to tell which, ever since she first picked up the grimoire. It’s like a magic sixth sense or something, an itch under her skin that says all is not as it seems. It’s an itch she’s probably always had - come to think of it, that might have something to do with her lie detector and uncanny talent for tracking down people who don’t want to be found - but ever since she had found the book and delved into the study of magic, she’s suddenly and acutely been aware of that instinct. It’s how she met Belle, it’s how she met Elsa, it’s how she knows that her favorite waitress at the local diner isn’t just what she appears (and why Emma tries to tip extra well at the full moon, because if working with PMS is a bitch, working before you turn into a freaking wolf has to be equally awful). But this guy? This Killian Jones? Emma’s not getting any of her little mental alerts. There’s not a magic bone in his body. And Tuesday is the day she finally snaps and tells him as such.

“I can’t, alright?” she snaps. “Sorry to disappoint.”

But of course, a man as inexplicably desperate as he just has to push, to prod, to refuse to accept her damn answer.

“Well why not?” he demands. “Too busy? Just give me an hour, I’m sure we can figure something out - ”

“Because I can’t teach people who don’t already have magic, you idiot!”

His entire body practically collapses in on itself as he registers her words, and Emma almost feels bad. Almost. Except for the part where he’s been pestering her for a week now.

“You’re a muggle, Jones,” she chuckles humorlessly, before a thought catches her. “Why the hell is it so important that you learn magic, anyways?”

------

She feels like a total ass when he tells her.

Killian Jones, she learns, has an older brother, who is his entire world.

“He’s all I have left,” he chokes out through the tears. Because Liam Jones, beloved older brother of one Killian Jones, has been in the hospital ever since a drunk driver plowed into his car a month ago. There’d been a convenient bus stop nearby with a bench on which they could sit and talk, but Emma finds that he’s having trouble meeting her eye, as if fully facing the woman he’s begging for help means facing the reality of his brother’s situation. “The doctors were able to set the broken bones and fix the internal bleeding, but he won’t wake up. They’re saying things about brain damage…” the sad, dark-haired man in front of her trails off, running a hand through his hair. Emma can’t decide whether the gesture is more absent-minded or distressed. “He’s everything to me. And they’re saying it will take a miracle for him to ever be alright again.” His back straightens, as if with new resolve, and finally fully turns to face her. “Well, I don’t have a miracle. But you have magic, and I thought if you could teach me, that might be enough.” As the memory of her earlier words catches up, he slumps again. “But if you can’t teach me…”

“I can’t,” she interrupts, hating herself for the abruptness as new tears spring to his eyes. “Doesn’t mean I won’t help.”

For the first time, she sees a flicker of hope cross his face. “Yeah?”

Emma nods, once, definitively. “Yeah. Hop in.”

------

“Dinner will be ready soon!” Belle chirps as Killian and Emma walk through the front door of the old Tudor. “I found this mac and cheese recipe in one of the new cookbooks. It’ll probably be our cause of death, but hey, what a way to go - ”

“We’ve got company,” Emma finally cuts in, trying not to chuckle as Killian looks around the entryway with eyes comically wide, like he’s expecting a stack of broomsticks in a corner or something.

(To be fair, there is currently a broom in the corner where the stairs meet the wall, but it’s one of the plastic ones and there because Emma’s a bit of a slacker when it comes to cleaning.)

Belle rushes into the living room a moment later as Emma is still trying to motion to Killian to take off his shoes (technically, she could do it for him, but using magic on unsuspecting people who don’t deserve it is rude). She looks like some picture out of a misogynistic 1950’s Betty Crocker advertisement, with her heels and carefully coiffed hair and a damn apron, for fuck’s sake.

“Company?” she asks a little breathlessly - probably what running around in platform heels will do to you - “You didn’t mention company this morning.” And then, not nearly far enough under her breath to disguise the words, “You never have company.” It earns her a glare from Emma and an even more bewildered look from Killian.

“Yeah, well this wasn’t exactly planned.” Gesturing to the man in question, Emma continues into the introductions.  “Killian Jones, my roommate Belle. Belle French, Killian Jones. We’re helping him.”

Belle furrows her brow. “We? I’d love to help, Emma, but I’m not sure how much I can do to help find your skips -”

“No, not that. Magic. We’re helping him with magic.”

That catches Belle off guard, sending them into several moments of shocked silence, only broken when Killian quietly offers, “If that’s okay with you…”

Belle finally snaps back to attention. “Oh! Yes, of course! Oh Emma, this will be such a good opportunity to finally use these powers to make a difference…”

And they’re off.

------

Elsa reacts similarly to Emma’s sudden pronouncement, and Regina is practically giddy over the phone at the opportunity to finally fucking do something (and someone really needs to talk to her about interacting with people, because this is not the way to go about it). By the time Belle has the goopy macaroni spooned into bowls, they’ve brought down every spell book they own and spread them across the kitchen table.

Belle full-out cries when Killian tells the story again, and Emma knows she’ll do anything to help, what with her tender Disney Princess heart. Elsa’s already pulled out a legal pad to write down all their ideas, and Emma’s actually feeling really confident about this. Regina’s proved particularly good at locating sleeping curses and antidotes (which is, frankly, a little alarming), so that’s what they decide to try first. They all agree to meet at the hospital two days later to test their first batch of potential solutions.

“I can’t tell you how much this means to me,” Killian tells Emma quietly before he leaves, standing by the door and trying clumsily to put his shoes back on while juggling the Tupperware containers of chocolate chip cookies and macaroni that Belle insisted on sending home with him.

It’s the wrong thing to say, at least if he wants a real answer, because Emma Swan has spent her life looking out for herself and never really learned how to react to others’ thanks. She thinks she manages to mutter out something along the lines of, “Yeah, whatever, no problem,” but honestly there’s no telling - she’s too busy shuffling her feet and not making eye contact to really pay attention. He must sense it, because his words change from sentimental to almost business-like.

“I’ll see you Thursday, then? The main lobby at City Hospital, 6pm?”

Emma nods, grateful for the change in subject. “We’ll be there.”

He almost manages a smile. “Wonderful.” And then he’s gone.

(It’s not quite relief that Emma feels at his departure, but Killian Jones just makes her feel off balance, so it’s not sorrow either.)

------

Liam Jones looks rough.

Emma isn’t quite sure what she expected—she is coming to see a comatose hospital patient, after all - but it’s shocking all the same. She can see such a strong resemblance between the two brothers, but his frame looks diminished from a month hooked up to wires and fed through tubes, cheeks hollow and frame slim with an unhealthy, sallow tint to his skin. She can see the hint of a curl in his sandy brown hair, but it’s lank and slicked back. Overall he has the look of a man barely clinging to life, a barely breathing corpse, and it brings what two days ago in the kitchen was a theoretical problem into horrifying reality.

Maybe it’s just the harsh fluorescent lighting inside the hospital, but Emma Swan can suddenly see how awful Killian looks too. There are faint shadows under his eyes, and his cheekbones stand out in stark relief, more gaunt than they ought to be (though Emma does suspect that he always has those handsome, defined cheekbones, but this seems excessive and unnatural). Clearly, the worry over his brother is taking its toll on him.

Killian still tries to stay cheerful, plumping the pillows of a man who can’t tell one way or another and chattering away about “all these lovely ladies come to see you, you lucky bastard!”, but Emma can tell his confidence is wavering.

It’s only now, here at the hospital, that Emma realizes exactly how out of their depth they all are, how out of place to boot. They’re all here at the behest of a man they barely know, trying to help a man they’ve never met. No matter how Emma looks at it, she feels like an imposter, and even worse, a bearer of false hope for a man they may already be too late to help. Killian is trying as hard as he can to bring normalcy to this situation by making one-sided introductions, but there’s an awkward and heavy cloud that hangs over the whole situation.

It’s Elsa who’s the ice breaker, surprisingly, walking up and taking Liam’s hand like he’s anyone else she’d greet  in a meeting or on the street. Emma may have helped Elsa out into the world, but she’s still a retiring sort, shy and nervous about meeting new people. But she’s the one able to take the human, compassionate approach where the rest of them have fallen into the mistake of looking at Liam as a problem to be solved.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Liam,” she says in her soft, matter-of-fact voice. “We’re going to do everything we can to help you.”

And that’s enough to focus their attention and get everyone started.

Emma’s the first up, which is nerve wracking, but she’s the best at healing spells (way too much practice on herself), and they collectively decided that would be the first theory to try. Maybe, if they’re very lucky, this can be an easy fix, and Emma can sort out whatever is wrong with Liam’s brain the same way she would deal with a sprained ankle or broken ribs. Emma isn’t particularly hopeful, but looking over and seeing the trusting look in Killian’s eyes helps.

So she holds her hand over Liam’s forehead, gathers every ounce of concentration she possesses to collect the necessary magic from that well deep inside her, and releases it all at once. And yeah, it creates a nice little glow, but Emma can tell right away that it’s not going to work. She can already feel with her magic that there’s nothing to fix. She’s sure there’s better medical terms the doctors would use, but the closest she can describe it as is a feeling that his brain is stalled, or hibernating. She can help with some of the swelling, but Emma just knows, in a way that she can’t describe, that she can’t make him wake up.

Thankfully, she doesn’t have to tell Killian with words about how she’s just failed; one look at her face, and what must be an incredibly guilty look, and he nods resignedly. “Thank you for trying,” he tells her, and that hurts almost as bad as her failure itself - the way he isn’t blaming her.

“We’ve got other things to try,” she adds, whether to remind him or herself still unclear.

And they do. Regina is already stepping forward with a list of spells to reverse sleeping curses, and Emma willingly passes the proverbial baton to allow the other woman a chance to try her solutions. A concentrated blast like she had just attempted is a pure burst of energy, and Emma welcomes the chance to slump into the nearby chair, no matter how uncomfortable, and take a moment to recuperate.

Emma has to admit - Regina is good at these complex spells, where each and every word has to be pronounced just so or it all goes awry. She’s also surprisingly gentle with their patient, brushing his hair back where a gust of magic must have tousled it, and Emma is surprised and gratified to realize that Regina must actually have a heart underneath that terrifying shell.

But even her skilled spellwork doesn’t do it. Liam Jones is still resolutely unconscious.

Back to the drawing board.

------

“I know technically it’s not a sleeping curse, but it’s not like magic is the most exact thing in the world,” Regina says, pacing the front room and blatantly contradicting her many soapbox speeches about how exact you have to be in magic and spellwork. “I was so sure it would work.”

She’s disappointed. They’re all disappointed. It had been heartbreaking to leave Killian with what was still only a shell of his brother, but they’d filed out one by one, Emma the last to leave.

“We’ll find something else that will work,” she says as confidently as she can muster.

“I believe in you,” he says. It’s funny how just those four words warm her heart. “But even if you can’t, I just want to thank you for everything you’ve tried. It’s a lot more than most would have done.”

(And damn if that doesn’t make her all the more determined to find a way to fix this.)

So they’re paging through the books again.

“There’s one here for ‘opening the mind’…” Belle uncertainly offers.

Emma shrugs in return. “Worth a shot. Can’t be any worse than that thing Elsa found about reversing a soul being trapped in the wrong body.”

They’ve made it through the obvious options - healing magic, sleeping curses - so the evening has been taken up by more outlandish suggestions. Light magic used in the wrong context doesn’t backfire, thankfully, so even their more absurd ideas won’t negatively impact Liam.

Emma has just shut one book and is about to open another when there’s a knock on the door. It’s late, nearly 9:30, and as far as Emma’s aware, they’re not expecting anyone (she’d been counting on it, actually, when she’d pulled on her fleece Mario pajama pants and an old t-shirt). But none of them are in the habit of just ignoring the door, so she hauls herself up off the old couch to find out what the hell this mystery person wants.

And (of fucking course) it’s Killian, standing there on the front porch holding a collection of Granny’s takeout bags like some sort of fried food fairy. And of course he looks bashful and adorable, while Emma’s in sloppy clothes and the glasses she never lets anyone see if she can help it. Fan-fucking-tastic.

“I, uh…” She can see his hand moving like he wants to scratch behind his ear, but he’s got too many bags and a tray of drinks to actually manage the maneuver. “I thought I’d buy you all some dinner as thanks for what you’re doing.”

Oh. That’s unexpected. Very sweet, but unexpected. “That’s, uh.... thanks. That’s nice of you.” She moves to take some of his load, and he gratefully hands her one of the stuffed bags. Emma can already smell the fried goodness, and she is so ready to eat (she may have forgotten to do so in the middle of all this research, a fact Killian undoubtedly knows somehow). Holding half the haul, she stands there, confused and with raised eyebrow, as the man on her porch makes no move to hand over the other half, and then some, of her dinner.

Seeing her questioning look, he smiles sheepishly. “I was hoping to maybe come in? Eat with you? I picked up something for myself as well.”

And suddenly, it clicks. He’s lonely, just like Emma used to be before witchcraft brought so many people into her life. He’d already said it; Liam is his entire world. And without Liam, he’s probably wondering what to do with himself. So she steps aside and lets him in the door.

“I hope it’s alright,” he says, “but I just went to the place down the street. They seemed to know everyone’s orders, so there wasn’t any guesswork.”

It’s more than alright. In fact, Emma’s switched her opinion and he’s clearly some sort of food bearing angel. The other ladies are in similar states of surprise and gratefulness - Regina earns a particularly baleful look for saying “Why are you here?” instead of a proper greeting - but dinner is a welcome distraction from their hours of research, and Emma is even convinced to give up part of her sprawl on the couch so the bearer of diner food can actually sit down. And then Granny is the saint, because the bags contain everyone’s favorites - some sort of salad and an iced tea for grease-phobic Regina; lasagna and a Reese’s milkshake for Elsa; a burger, loaded fries, and strawberry milkshake for Belle; and Emma’s classic grilled cheese, onion rings, and butterscotch shake. It’s just what they need to refresh their depleted energy, and offers a chance to step away for a few minutes and come back looking at things from a new perspective.

“Can I help?” he asks, halfway through his own bacon cheeseburger, and Emma can’t find any reason to say no. Especially not after he adds, “I’m surprisingly good at research.” This is an all hands on deck type of situation; another pair of eyes would be more than welcome for wading through stacks of dense text and Regina’s weird internet research.

He actually is pretty good at it, they find out. Killian Jones may not have a lick of magic in his entire body, but he’s got a knack for recognizing when some of the weirder wording might be applicable to their goal, like the “cleansing of the mind spell” that’s probably meant as a forgetting tactic or the “jolt of wakefulness” potion they could probably feed into his IV (and that Emma definitely wants to try on some of her stakeouts).

“Thank you for letting me be a part of something,” he tells her at the end of the night, his eyes hinting at meanings she’s not yet ready to understand. So she shrugs it off.

“We’re the ones who should be thanking you. You’re the one who brought us dinner, after all, and then stayed to keep looking at spellbooks. That’s not everyone’s idea of a good time.”

He smiles, a sad little thing. “Maybe not, but it’s an awful lot better than sitting at home, worrying about Liam and unable to do a damn thing.”

And she hates the confirmation that her suspicions were correct, that he’s lonely. But the good thing is, they can do something about the loneliness, because if Emma never had to be alone again after meeting her collection of witches, Killian won’t have to be either. Still, she tries to keep her words as nonchalant as possible. “Well, you’re welcome any time. Belle’s always looking for someone else to fuss over.”

He still smiles, like he can see right through her and knows Emma likes his presence too. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Then, in a final maneuver she thinks must be unplanned, if the way his ears turn bright red is anything to go by, he grabs her hand to press a kiss to its back. “Goodnight, Emma.”

And then he’s gone into the night, leaving Emma wondering what the hell just happened.

------

They’re back in the hospital again on Saturday, this time at a more decent hour. Liam Jones doesn’t look any better in the full light of day, and it’s with some alarm that Emma thinks he might be looking worse. She hopes it’s all in her head, that her eye has been prejudiced by the sight of all the hospital equipment, but she can’t help but remember what Killian had said - that the doctors decreed Liam would need a miracle. It’s absolutely crucial, imperative, that one of their attempts work.

Killian is still trying to keep the positive attitude on in front of Liam, but Emma can almost physically see the frayed edges of his optimism. “The lovely ladies are going to try a few more things, Liam,” he says, adjusting blankets. “So hold still, would you?”

There is some progress. The wakefulness potion is a dud, but the spell for opening the mind does increase brain activity, so Emma’s counting it as a slight victory. Even if Liam is still firmly unconscious, Killian is thrilled to see any change in his status. But unfortunately, they still end up having to leave again without finding a real solution.

It’s a pattern that continues over the next two and a half weeks. Emma, Elsa, Belle, and Regina spend every spare moment researching, and Killian will bring them food from various local restaurants or, on a few memorable nights, cook a meal (and Emma doesn’t even really like fish but damn if that baked whatever with the lemon sauce wasn’t the best thing she’s had all year). Schedule permitting, they visit Liam in the hospital every two or three days to test out new potential cures, some with more success than others - the potion for “opening one’s eyes” turned out to do literally that, which resulted in a still unconscious Liam staring at them with unseeing eyes until Killian carefully lowered his lids again.

Killian tries so hard to hold on to hope, but Emma can see the toll this has taken on him. He’s gotten progressively quieter, his shoulders more slumped, the determined fire in his eyes becoming dimmer and dimmer. The more she sees his optimism fade, the more her own determination grows, until she finds herself pushing to try some of the more risky solutions that the other women are hesitant about, because anything has got to be better than making Killian just watch his brother slip away.

“I don’t understand why you won’t try these things!” she argues one night.

“Well, we’re trying to cure Liam, not cause his demise,” Regina drawls, and somehow that only makes Emma’s anger burn hotter.

“And this is better?” she demands. “Sitting around, just hoping the right solution will fall into our laps? When it hasn’t in the past three weeks?”

Belle, as always, is a voice of reason. “I think if we end up moving into the riskier options, that’s a decision Killian should make, not you, Emma. If that’s what he wants, I’ll be more than happy to try.”

All eyes turn to Killian. He’s been especially quiet and downcast today, only picking at his sandwich and fries. That’s part of the reason Emma’s pushing especially hard for a change in tactics today - it hurts in a way she can’t explain to see Killian like this. But even with so many eyes on him, he just sits there quietly, rolling a French fry back and forth between his fingers and not responding.

“Well?” Emma prods. “What do you think?” If she can just sway him to give it a try, maybe they can make this better, and maybe she can put that smile back on his face, the one he gave her when they first started this endeavor and he was still excited and hopeful…

But something within Killian must break, as he stands up and mumbles something about needing fresh air before he stalks out of the room, the front door banging shut in the distance.

Regina offers her a disapproving look that is, honestly, probably deserved for her actions. “Great job, Emma. I’m sure it was absolutely helpful to piss off Jones when he’s the one whose favor you needed to win.”

Emma glares right back before exiting the room herself, following Killian out to the front stoop and sitting down at his side. He looks a mess, honestly; his hair is all mussed from running his hands through it, and she now finds him clutching his head like he’s trying to block out everything else that’s going on. They sit there for a few moments in silence - Emma gathering her thoughts, Killian seemingly suppressing them - before she finally finds her words.

“I’m sorry for pushing,” she says quietly into the night. “I know this is all your decision, and you shouldn’t do anything that you think isn’t what’s best for Liam -”

“It’s not that,” he says, flapping a hand to wave off her concerns. “I appreciate all you’re doing, really. It’s just…” He trails off, head dropping again before he finally turns back to her and completes his sentence, so quiet she has to strain to hear. “The doctors told me today that if Liam doesn’t show marked improvement by the two month mark, the middle of next week, that he probably won’t ever. And then, I’ll have to seriously consider letting him go.”

Killian’s quiet explanation leaves Emma feeling like there’s suddenly ice running through her veins instead of blood. It’s been obvious from day one how important this is, but now they will have to contend with the fact that they’re running out of time. There’s no words she can say to fix the situation; she can’t even begin to imagine what Killian is going through. All Emma can offer is to take his hand and squeeze it gently, simply offering the comfort of not being alone.

“I don’t know what to do, Swan,” he murmurs. “I don’t want to lose him, but if we don’t do anything, it’ll still happen.” There’s a heavy pause, as he once again stares off into the darkness, lost in his thoughts, before he finds the words to continue. “I trust you, Emma, and I trust your magic. Do you think the best chance to save Liam is in some of these riskier options?”

She’d suggested it out of desperation, but the truth is, she does. They’ve gone through all the obvious and safe answers, so if they’re going to save Killian’s brother, they’re going to have to step outside their comfort zone, try other options.

So she takes a deep breath, gathers all her courage, and replies in as confident a voice as she can muster:

“I do.”

------

Regina and the others take the new direction somewhat better when the marching orders are coming from the man any issues would most affect. There’s still quite a few mentions of “If you’re sure…” but that’s more or less expected, and they continue on all the same.

They’ve really had to get creative now. It’s not entirely unexpected that they start looking for spell combinations that might work in tandem where they’d be ineffective alone, but Belle also starts dabbling in writing new ones herself, taking the useful parts of several different incantations and somehow mashing them together. It takes a skill with languages that Emma frankly doesn’t possess, but she thinks the results ought to be effective, and Belle gets excited talking about the potential for publication if any of them work.

Each of their next several tries is still woefully ineffective. Liam is stubbornly unresponsive, and all the attempts just result in utter exhaustion on everyone’s part. Killian tells Emma over and over how much he appreciates their efforts, her efforts, that he’ll remember that regardless, but they’re all tired and desperate and it’s not working.

Until it does.

It works. It finally all works. Emma is so relieved, she doesn’t have the words to properly describe it. Killian’s belief in her may never have wavered, but Emma’s faith in herself certainly had, and the last days had been plagued with the panic that maybe she wouldn’t be able to save Liam Jones after all, that she’d be forced to disappoint Killian and his beautiful hope. But they succeed.

She’s right, too; solution that ultimately works is so far outside the box that it’s a miracle in itself that they were able to devise its steps. The easiest way Emma can think of it is as the human equivalent of turning the computer off and then back on again: Elsa freezes his brain in stasis for protection, Belle enacts a complicated spell for removing the soul from the body in a shining ball of light before reaffixing it as Regina shocks his heart with a burst of magic like defibrillator paddles. Then Emma’s left to send another glow of healing magic as Elsa removes the freeze, the whole thing topped by a kiss from Killian to his brother’s sleeping forehead - a True Love’s Kiss. It’s a cheesy measure, one that makes Regina roll her eyes, but Belle had argued that it couldn’t hurt.

And it hadn’t. There’s not some ridiculous blast of rainbow light or anything, but the moment Killian’s lips touch Liam’s brow, Emma feels the world settle in a way she can’t quite explain but attributes to magic, to things setting to rights again, to a sleeping soul breathing a sigh of relief.

It’s not like the movies. Liam doesn’t gasp and sit up in bed, eyes flying open in a cinematically dramatic moment. But he squeezes Killian’s hand where it clasps his, and that’s enough to signify drastic improvement.

“Liam?” he asks, so hopefully, and while the elder Jones may still be unconscious, they all watch as his hand tightens around Killian’s. It’s conscious movement at last, and with that realization, the room becomes jubilant, exploding in a chorus of cheers.

There’s hugging and smiling and they may all be tired but Elsa lets out a little joyful screech, and it’s probably a miracle they’re not all kicked out. Somehow, Emma finds herself in Killian’s arms, and he’s smiling that smile again and there are tears in both their eyes and his face is just so close—

—and she kisses him.

It’s not planned, not at all, but her lips meet his and he’s kissing her right back, and God, she could get lost in this if not for the fact—

—if not for the fact that he’s only doing this because she saved his brother.

It’s like a bucket of cold water, that realization, and Emma steps back with wide, horrified eyes to find Killian looking at her with an unfocused gaze.

“Swan—” he begins, but Emma’s not willing to hear where that sentence ends - hear the excuses and the apologies and the buts. Almost before she knows it, she’s backing away until she’s out the door and into the hallway.

And then, Emma Swan runs.

------

She knows she’s really fucked up when even Elsa comments about her desperate exit.

“I know I’m not one to comment on others’ love lives,” she says, “but that was quite harsh, Emma. We might know about all your… let’s say struggles with dating, but the poor boy was just left there in a daze without any idea why you had booked it out of there.”

Emma really hates the picture that puts in her head, of a sad Killian just standing there with that stunned look on his face melting into confusion and disappointment. There’s a shock of guilt that accompanies that vision, but she does her best to push it aside. It was a moment of weakness on both their parts; it didn’t actually mean anything. Killian was undoubtedly just so happy that something had finally worked, which led him to reciprocate… whatever Emma’s excuse is. She’s still not entirely sure. Anyways, it was surely just a one-time thing. Her usefulness to him is effectively over, now that Liam is firmly on the road to recovery; they likely won’t ever cross paths again, now that there’s not any real reason for them to.

Of course, that’s not strictly true. Emma may not be having anything to do with the Jones brothers, and Regina is not enough of a people person to willingly pursue any further friendship without measurable advantage to herself, but Elsa and Belle are much better people who still stop by the hospital with dinner and check up on how both men are doing. It’s how Emma gets updates on Liam’s condition - how he finally opened his eyes and properly woke up two days after their breakthrough, how he’s still tired and healing and a bit out of it, but how the doctors expect him to make a full recovery, against all odds. By all accounts, he’s starting to get antsy, and Emma hopes he’ll be allowed home soon for both men’s sake.

“He asks about you, you know,” Belle contributes, and Emma can’t even pretend to not know who she’s talking about. “Whenever we walk in the room, he perks up for a moment until he realizes you haven’t come with us. Really, Emma, you’re being ridiculous.”

And she probably is. She definitely is. But she can’t get over the fear that Killian isn’t really interested in her, just in what she can do.

The weeks pass by. Elsa and Belle keep inviting her to the hospital, insisting Liam wants to meet her and Killian would just love to see her, but Emma dodges and avoids and works more hours, just to have an excuse not to go.

(She’d tried Mary Margaret at first, who had relished spending more time with Emma until she realized it was an emotional avoidance ploy. And then she’d flatly refused to be a part of it.)

At the end of the month, Liam gets to go home to the apartment he and Killian apparently share, and Emma gets to hear all about it. Elsa and Liam have apparently taken a liking to one another, which has resulted in even more visits and even more updates on all things Jones Brothers and the promise of an actual date once Liam’s well enough to drive them both to a nice restaurant. Emma’s happy for her friend, she truly is - Elsa deserves the world, after everything she’s been through - but it really throws a wrench in Emma’s plans to just never see Killian Jones again. If his brother and her roommate start dating, it’s a little inevitable that their paths will cross eventually, for better or worse.

Their latest ploy - ok, it’s not a ploy, but each invite Emma has to dodge feels like an individual attack on her resolve in some larger evil plan, so she’s sticking with ploy - is a welcome home party for Liam. Emma declines, almost out of habit now - she’ll find work or something to occupy herself, give herself a plausible excuse. The thing is, if she was to show up, it probably wouldn’t be that big a deal. They’d all talk and laugh and have a good time. Elsa’s trying to figure out what flavors of ice cream she’ll bring, and there’s sure to be cake. But Emma’s a wuss, and she might have feelings for Jones, hesitant as she is to admit it. She’s not sure she could take it if she spends an entire night in his company where he treats her as nothing more than a friend or, even worse, some sort of business associate. So she’ll stay home instead, thank you very much.

And she does have plans. They just involve executing a honeytrap on the latest jumper instead of socializing at some party. The problem is, those plans don’t last nearly as long as she anticipates, and Emma finds herself back home at the Tudor much sooner than she planned, sporting a number of scrapes from where she had to tackle her man to the ground outside the coffee shop. She’s barely limped inside and taken off her shoes, flipping through the mail in the kitchen, before she hears the awful dramatic doorbell that some relative of Elsa’s had installed God-only-knows when. Groaning audibly, she hauls herself downstairs again and throws the door open much more forcibly than she really needs to. “Look, I’m really not in the mood for whatever pitch this is,” she begins, fully ready to give whatever door-to-door salesman is bothering her a piece of her mind—

—only to find one Killian Jones standing on her doorstep.

The guilt hits her immediately as his face shifts through sheepishness to shock and then on to anger.

“You are avoiding me!” he accuses, and it takes every bit of willpower Emma possesses not to physically flinch at the words. Even if they are true. “I thought I’d come check on you tonight when you didn’t show, and thought I’d find you sick or working, or any reasonable excuse, but you’re flat-out avoiding me!”

His anger hurts, somewhat, and makes her feel guilty, but at the same time, those are fighting words. And Emma Swan has never been one to back down from a fight. Defenses raised, she shoots back with all the vitriol she can muster, “So what if I am? Most people would get the hint, or figure there’s a reason.”

“Well, as the one being avoided, I think I have a right to know the reason!” he demands, before softening once again, seemingly suddenly aware of his tone. “Look, Emma, it’s just… we kissed. And I thought it was a pretty good kiss,” he adds bashfully, scratching behind his ear in that way Emma has always secretly found adorable. “But then you just… ran off. And have conveniently not shown hide nor hair ever since. Did I do something wrong?” By the end, he’s almost painfully earnest, and Emma feels that knife of guilt dig just that little bit deeper. She still needs to stand strong, to protect herself from heartbreak, but there’s no reason for her to hurt him in the process, so she finally shakes her head, all the while avoiding his eyes.

“What then?” he asks, as gently as the situation allows. “Because I’m observant, Swan, and this? This is avoiding me.”

There’s a pause. A great, big, heavy pause. How do you tell a person the fears of your heart, when the greatest fear in your heart is letting anyone in?

He plows on, nonetheless, in the face of her silence. “I like you, you know?” he says softly, scratching behind his ear again, a tell-tale nervous tic. “I don’t know if that kiss meant something to you, but it did to me. Because I think you’re brilliant and fierce and… I like you.”

“You just like the magic,” Emma mutters. She can tell the moment her words process in his mind because he suddenly stares at her like she’s grown a second head.

“You think I just like you because you can wield magic?” he asks incredulously. He almost looks insulted, oddly enough, and it takes Emma somewhat aback. “Emma, that’s… that’s ridiculous, really. You really thought I only valued your company for what you can do, and not who you are? I mean, maybe at first…” he runs his hand through his hair in frustration, and she’d almost think it was cute, if she wasn’t anxiously waiting for his next words. “But then I got to know you, Swan, and you were much more than that. So brave, and determined, and… honestly, anyone who’s only interested in you for your magic is an idiot, love. You’re so much more than that. Well, and you treat it like some kind of bloody ridiculous hobby instead of the power it probably could be.” Killian laughs at his own joke, and Emma cracks into a slight smile too, unable to resist the sound. “But no, Swan, I find you fascinating for many, many reasons, and your magic is the very least of them.”

Tentatively, Emma meets his eyes, seeking confirmation. “Yeah?”

He doesn’t disappoint, smiling and nodding back at her with a chuckle. “Aye. You’re a marvel, Emma Swan.” His smile is so wide, so full of hope and truth, that try as she might, Emma can’t find a reason to doubt him.

She’s never been good at this part of relationships - making the first move when things are still so tentative and unsure. But she can sense that Killian’s nervous too, can practically feel it rolling off him in waves, and that gives her an unexpected boost of confidence. This doesn’t have to be like magic, be precise and exact or the whole thing will fall apart and your nose probably will turn green. It doesn’t matter how either one of them approaches this, just that they do.

So Emma gathers all the courage she can muster, and steps forward to catch his lips with hers, creating a different kind of magic altogether.

It’s a little bit fanciful (okay, a lot a bit fanciful), but Emma can’t help but feel like there’s an energy that flows between her body and his, between her soul and his, as their lips move together - at first softly and gently, but then deeper, stronger, more passionate as lips open and tongues caress and they both lose themselves in the special magic of a first kiss. Some might call it fate, or soulmates; Emma’s not quite ready to call it anything yet.

(But she very well might be some day, perhaps sooner than she thinks.)

They’re both breathing heavily when they finally separate, foreheads still touching as if connected by invisible threads.

“That was…” he begins, a smile creeping over his face.

Emma quickly interrupts. “If you say magical, I swear to God, I’ll smack you, don’t think I won’t.” She tries to look stern, but honestly, her kiss-swollen lips and mussed hair from where Killian had slipped his hand into her curls probably ruin that illusion.

“Of course not, darling,” he good-naturedly replies with a smile and what she suspects is a suppressed laugh. “Who am I to challenge a witch?”

------

Killian Jones has no magic to speak of.

But he’s a great cook and patient with all the chaos only a house full of witches can conjure up - not to mention, a damn good kisser - so Emma’s more than willing to overlook that fact.

Magic and Killian don’t always mix - he’s particularly not a fan of how Emma sets off the magical equivalent of firecrackers under their bed for April Fool’s Day - but overall, he’s so casual about the whole topic that Emma wants to laugh at herself for believing even for a second that he’d have a problem with any of it.

Things change, of course. Their relationship strengthens and solidifies and eventually relocates to their own place when Elsa decides they could all use a bit more privacy (especially since things have gotten serious between the elder Jones and herself), but their relationship is the constant. That little corner within Emma that hosts her magic simultaneously boils and settles every time she and Killian are together.

Killian Jones couldn’t perform a spell if he tried. But sometimes, curled into his side in bed and feeling her heart glow with happiness as he pulls her just that little bit closer, Emma Swan thinks he possesses his own magic all the same, one born of the feelings they share for one another.

And that’s a witchcraft more powerful than any spellbook.

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[rookieskrp]

Hello everyone, Mod Carly here! Now that I’m well enough to type up an announcement myself, I wanted to do so to elaborate further on our last announcement. 

[ trigger warning for discussions of mental and physical health and hospitals below ]

For those of you that don’t know, I have chronic Lyme Disease, which ultimately means I’m chronically ill with just about any health issue you can imagine at one time or another, to varying degrees of severity. I’ll spare you the details of it unless you want them-- feel free to message me and I’ll happily ramble about my health experiences if you’re interested! But the point is, when I was my sickest, it was the summer of 2011, before I was set to start high school, and I eventually got so ill that I dropped out of school altogether to focus on my recovery. I joined Rookies at the end of 2013 and Rookies has been a huge positive outlet for me and huge support system. I got diagnosed with Lyme Disease at the end of 2014 and finally received the answer I was looking for with my health, however, the recovery process is very long and individualized and very much trial and error at this point in time.

Long story short: I was the sickest I’d been since 2011 in February of this year, when I had a UTI, and since then, I haven’t reached my regular baseline, and I happened to have an even worse episode at the end of April. I ended up going to the emergency room where I was treated for severe insomnia and dehydration, and I lasted only two more days before I had to be admitted to a stress center, and I was there from May 1st-8th. It was an experience that was more frightening for my parents than me because I was pretty much dissociated and experiencing psychosis to cope, and we’re still not entirely sure what triggered this.

What we do know (from speaking to my neurological chiropractor on Tuesday, not from the doctors at the hospital of course, haha) is that I was in ketoacidosis, which is when the body produces excess blood acids, and is a precursor to organs shutting down. I was very seriously ill and it’s a good thing my parents knew they couldn’t care for me and brought me where they did, and that I ended up as an inpatient. All they diagnosed me with from the whole experience was some kind of generalized psychosis, but it was psychosis due to insomnia and dehydration.

[ end of trigger warning! ]

I’m on a lot of new medicine now and trying to put new routines into place to create the healthiest environment possible for myself, and I’m trying to get really serious about my own recovery, and trying to focus on things that are healing for me during this time. Rookies is a very healing place to me overall, but as I’m sure you can imagine, my Head of Relations job can be really stressful and draining, and I don’t think sorting out and passing judgment on drama is healthy for me at this time. There’s no way for me to put a timetable on my health or to know when I’ll be able to return to that part of my mod job. It may be only a few days, or it may end up that I can’t do that part of my mod job at all anymore; I hope the latter isn’t the case, but I want to be very upfront with you guys about all of this and admit that I don’t know where this will lead.

I know that might be scary, so I’ll also say that Rookies is in very good hands, even as I take a break from my mod job. Everyone on the mod team is amazing and fully equipped to hold down the fort and handle anything you would usually bring to me. I know it may be hard to open up to the other mods, but please do this for me for now, and if you hesitate to bring an issue to one of the other mods because you trust me with it more, I’d encourage you to think about why for a moment, and understand that dealing with drama has really taken a toll on me. I’m not saying this to guilt trip anyone that has ever brought issues to me-- heavens no, I really love helping you guys! But please be kind to whoever you decide to bring your issues to, because trying to play ultimate mediator in Rookies is a hard position to be in, and I know that from experience.

Hopefully you can all understand why I need a break for now. I will still be around, and you’ll probably see me writing for my characters even more now. I’ll also still be in communication with the other mods, and we already know how thinly we’re spread and we have known this for a while now. We’ll be opening up applications for at least one new mod as soon as we can, but selecting new additions to our well-oiled mod machine is something we take really seriously and want to handle with care. It’s not a process we can rush, and your current mods (aside from me) are already doing so much work, hiring new mods requires me to feel well enough to do the work involved in that, so please continue to be patient with me while I figure out my current work-life balance, and be patient with the staff team as a whole while they cover for me.

As always, I think a lot of this goes without saying, but I feel better saying it so it’s all out there and everyone can be on the same page. I don’t want you guys to have to speculate, and I want to be able to enjoy my time resting as much as I can. I’ll also take this time to say I really appreciate all of the support you all have shown me in the past few weeks; I’m honestly still overwhelmed by it and I’ve been on so much medication and so sleep deprived, I don’t remember half of it. I’ll have to go back through my messages from everyone soon and take screenshots of them to save for a rainy day, hahaha.

Much love, Rookies. See you around! ♡

[happyhollow-mellowmarsh]

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“Hey, everyone! We’re back with another interview with my friends! This time we’re hanging out at Whimsy’s sky castle, and lemme just say this place is cool as heck!” This YouTube video doesn’t have any intro at all, cold opening with the camera panning around a regal-looking white room.

Completing its 360, the camera alights upon a young woman with short teal hair, futuristic gray clothing, and a witch’s hat. A microphone levitates near her, picking up her words. “As always, I’m Erika Ljunggren, psychic YouTuber and Trouble’s apprentice. Introduce yourselves, you two!”

With a gesture from Erika L’s skinny metal wand, the camera pans over and back to reveal two other women sitting on the couch behind her. The microphone darts over to them as well. A tall brunette with a spiky crown and a shorter woman with a big hat, a scarf, and an apron, both wearing glasses. 

The former gets up from her seat, poses, teleports a few feet in the air and then lands in another pose, loudly announcing in her monotone "I'm the magical girl of the cosmos, Kimoto Erika, apprentice of Whimsy."

The latter, on the other hand, remains in her seat and watches. After giggling quietly at Erika K's antics, she looks back to the camera. "H-Hello... My name is... R-Rada Orlov... I'm... Beacon's apprentice..." She gives a little wave.

Erika L welcomes them both with a grin.

Then, turning to Erika K, the YouTuber asks, “What’s it like apprenticing under Whimsy?”

"It’s lots of fun, and I’m learning lots. I like it here,” she responds “I’m very grateful to Miss Trick, Mr Treat, and Miss Trouble for everything they’ve done for me to be here. And I’m extremely grateful to Boss for giving me this opportunity. The castle is really cool." 

She pauses for a moment, leaning her head back slightly before tipping it forwards once more. "Boss is a really skilled witch, so I've been able to cover a lot of ground under them. I think that I made the best choice for me." The corners of her lips quirk upwards into a slight smile.

Erika L then turns to Rada, the microphone moving gently over with her gaze. “What’s it like apprenticing under Beacon?”

"It's been... r-really nice... Granny Beacon is... a-amazing..." Rada fidgets with end of her scarf, drawing the long material up into her lap. "I, um... u-used to be... m-more nervous... than I am now and... s-scared of a lot... of different things... b-but... sh-she's been... very patient with me... a-and she's taught me... a lot... b-both as an apprentice... a-and as a person..."

“What have the two of you been up to lately, magic-wise? Any fun projects in the works?” asks Erika L.

Erika K hums, holding her hands up, index fingers and thumbs pointing outwards towards the ceiling far corners. "I’ve been experimenting with combo-ing my elements. Trying to get them working together can be a bit tricky, depending on which ones I'm trying with. I’ll get there eventually though." 

Flicking her wrists, her hands now spread fully chop down diagonally. "Also, with Mr Elliot’s help, I’ve forged a holy blade that shimmers with stardust." She leans forwards and holds a hand up beside her mouth dropping her voice just slightly. "When the goddesses approve of a strike it deals extra secret damage."

"I've also been... practicing with... combining elements..." Rada adds, nodding along with what Erika K says. "It can... b-be difficult... but also fun... seeing what kind... of different effects... are possible... i-if you just... put your mind to it..."

"A-As for, um, projects... I don't think... a-anything I'm doing is... a-as exciting as Miss Kimoto, but..." Rada bites her bottom lip for a moment in hesitation before continuing. "I've, um... I've been working on... a spell that... m-makes it easier for... spirits to communicate with... a-and interact with... th-their loved ones...  s-so that a ghost... a-and their family or friends... h-have a chance... to grieve together... Th-Then they can... pass on peacefully... a-and the people still living... h-have closure..."

“I mean, that’s pretty cool too! Just, y’know, in a different way!” Erika L nods approvingly. “Speaking of elements and combos thereof, what are your favorites that you've learned so far?”

Erika K steeples her fingers and places her elbows on her knees, resting her chin on her hands as she leans forwards. "Mh.... I think I still like Celestial best. I think it’s always going to be my favourite, there's so much you can do with it. But teleporting has been really handy too. Trying to combine both with Space for Special Warping is a bit trickier, but I’m failing good so I can figure it out. I like all the magic I've learnt though, Earth makes me feel like a strong bender from the western eastern based anime. I'm hoping to try and see if sand and metal still fall under its belt or if I'll need to expand my roster first." 

The mic darts back to Rada. "I, um... r-really like working with Emotion magic... a-and I'm having a lot of fun with Music magic as well... Combining the two together... c-can be powerful... e-emotionally, that is, um... s-since music can... affect people... so much... A-Although Music and... L-Life magic is... a-also fun... l-like in, um... th-the cartoon with... th-the magic mouse... a-and the mops..." She tugs up the edge of her scarf, looking embarrassed. Way to out yourself for recreating The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Rada.

Erika K murmurs a little "I know that western anime," nodding along with Rada's words. She leans back into her seat, her lips quirking into a smile. "Death magic is still just a bud, but thanks to Rada I'd already started thinking of the sort of expanded uses for it. I even know some I wouldn't have thought of beforehand. I think learning a magic that one of us has already learnt is extra fun because it means we get to work together, and with peer reviews and sessions we can learn faster and better. And we get to hang out at the same time."

Although Rada’s mouth is covered, the corners of her eyes crinkle with a smile as Erika K talks about Death magic. "Y-Yes... I like... h-having magic... w-we can both do... I-It's a lot... easier to learn things... wh-when we're working together... a-and think of things... th-that I wouldn't consider... o-on my own..." Rada shifts in place before continuing. "I have a... b-better understanding of it... s-since starting to learn... Life magic... I-It's not as... s-scary or violent... It's... natural..." She adds, feeling like she needs to defend it.

Another nod from the interviewer. “Nice, nice! There’s so many elements out there, and each one is so versatile! And that’s not even everything a witch has at their disposal, either. Tell me about your wands!”

Shifting her posture into something more alert, Erika K claps once, a big smile on her face. She opens her purse and pulls her wand out. The act itself is comical, with the contrast in the size of the wand versus the purse itself. Thank you Space Magic. She balances the wand on her flat palms above her head, smiling brightly. 

"Last Laugh is super cool. I can fly on it, it has a detachable strap for easy carrying, and it makes a really good prop for physical comedy. It's got really good range as a prop, and it's nice and sturdy. Plus I can do this with it-" Hopping out of her seat she begins to twirl the gun shaped wand around, although for only a short while. Once done she drops back down resting her wand on her lap. "Also I can use it to fire off magic easier then-" She flexes, "these guns."

"It s-suits you..." Rada mumbles, the curve of her cheeks still visible above the edge of her scarf tinged with pink, which only deepens when Erika K flexes.

"M-Mine is, um... m-more specialized, I th-think... th-than Miss Kimoto's..." Rada squeaks as she pulls out her wand from a pocket beneath her apron.

In comparison to the rifle-wand, the one Rada holds up is tiny and thin, only a foot in length. The white porcelain lily-of-the-valley plant is fragile-looking, with blood red enamel filling in the gaps where the vase-like handle is cracked, and tiny red gemstones lining the rims of the bell flowers as well as the veins of its skeletal silver leaves.

"It helps me... protect myself o-or... other people... i-if things are going badly... a-and I've been hurt..." She explains, bringing it closer to her chest as she nibbles on her bottom lip. "I was nervous at first... th-that it would break but... i-it's stronger than it looks..."

“Wow, they’re both so cool, huh? Thanks again for agreeing to come out here today, you two.” Erika L brings the camera in close, beaming at the viewer. “Remember, folks, we can only do so much with magic alone. Think about what you can do to help the environment. What your government can do. We’re making progress, with everyone’s help!”

Special thanks to Saga, Cherry, and Mel for writing this post!

Happy Hollow: Mellow Marsh is a tumblr submission trials game with Discord ooc and a Discord thread server, and the sequel game to Happy Hollow. This game is 18+ with the exception of returning players. We will be accepting a cast of 16-18 people including mod ocs, and characters should be aged 16-24. The events of the previous game are not public knowledge to characters, so catching up on the last game is not necessary!

Apps close on April 12th. That’s only two weeks away!! A three day extension is available if you ask a mod through dm.

About || How to play || Application || FAQ || Hopefuls || Hopefuls chat

[douchebagbrainwaves]

EVERY FOUNDER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT BOSS

Editing yields 95th percentile writing—95% of articles are improved by it, but 5% are dragged down. Eventually we may be able not just to play back experiences but also to index and even edit them. Screens were a lot smaller in 1998. Painters discover that they're expressionists. There hasn't been such a wave of new applications since microcomputers first appeared. Startups offer anyone a way to compete with Apple: be a better solution. Not the programmers. We need good taste to make good things. So any difference between what people want and what you deliver is multiplied. A good piece of software.

A mediocre programmer over the same period will generate zero or even negative wealth e. Like great athletes, great designers make it look easy. The most dramatic example of Web 2. You can't make the pie larger, say politicians. If you plan to start a startup. If there had been one person with a brain on IBM's side, Microsoft's future would have been harmful. Aiming at timelessness is also a way to make drawing bear a greater weight of exploration. Instead of accumulating money slowly by being paid a regular wage for fifty years. At every period of history, people have believed things that were just ridiculous, and believed them so strongly that you risked ostracism or even violence by saying otherwise. For architects and designers it means that beauty should depend on a few carefully observed and solidly modelled objects will tend to be outliers. In the original sense it meant someone, usually an outsider, who deliberately stirred up fights in a forum by saying controversial things. The whole site was organized like a funnel, directing people to the test drive.

0 democracy is not in itself bad, only when it's camouflage on insipid form. Most of the famous founders in Silicon Valley in the last couple decades. He believes you should get people to pay you from the beginning. 0 now, I have some idea what they mean is that the company has no way of measuring the value of your work. It was when I'd finished one project and was deciding what to do next that they always bit me. You're lucky if your productivity is a third of what it was before. So it is easier to sell an established startup, even at a large premium, than an early-stage one. Which seems to me exactly what one would want to be, in any kind of work. But here there is another layer that tends to obscure what trade really means. For the next year or so, if anyone expressed the slightest curiosity about Viaweb we would try to sell them the company.

Which means that as we learn to avoid one class of distractions, new ones constantly appear, like drug-resistant bacteria. The CEO of a company that tanks cannot plead that he put in a solid effort. If starting a startup were easy, everyone would do it. They literally think the product, one line at a time. One of the biggest remaining groups is computer programmers. I once studied, the students wanted most of all to develop a personal style. An energetic rower would be encouraged by the thought that he could have a visible effect on the speed of the boat.1 In a large group, your performance is not separately measurable—and you specifically are—one pristine old car the richer.2 It's obvious that biotech or software startups exist to solve hard technical problems, but I think this time I'll wait till I'm sure they work before writing about them.

That was her actual word. As anyone who has tried to optimize software knows, the key is measurement. Most of the greatest discoveries seem so simple that you say to yourself, that there is such a thing as beauty, we need to be very lucky. We had some well known users. The second phase in the growth of taste is a conscious attempt at originality. Open-source software has fewer bugs because it admits the possibility of bugs. This, as we then thought, let it slip by. And if they can't, they may simply violate it and invite you to sue them. What are you going to do? And if someone was lazy, the others would be more likely to succeed than not.

Copernicus' aesthetic objections to equants provided one essential motive for his rejection of the Ptolemaic system. Maybe as startups get cheaper it will become more common. Your performance can be measured, he is not expected to devote your whole life to your work. A mediocre programmer over the same period will generate zero or even negative wealth e. Err on the side of generosity. Instead of treating beauty as an airy abstraction, to be either blathered about or avoided depending on how one feels about airy abstractions, let's try considering it as a tablet small enough to hold up to your ear. You can still raise money, but you don't have to do is get eight or ten lines in the right place. One way to put up barriers to entry. If I remember correctly, our frontpage used to just fit in the size window people typically used then.

There are two differences: you're not saying it to your boss, but directly to the customers for whom your boss is only a proxy after all, and you're not doing it individually, but along with a small group of their peers than to average it with everyone. Godel's incompleteness theorem seems like a practical joke. And yet if I had to write down everything I remember from it, but if there had been some way just to work super hard and get paid a lot more, than they would in a big company take over once you reach cruising altitude. I can tell it isn't. There hasn't been such a wave of new applications since microcomputers first appeared. And what's especially dangerous is that many happen at your computer. When you have to get it over with as soon as some big company becomes aware of it, they'll take away your market overnight. Eventually we may be able not just to play back experiences but also to index and even edit them.3 For describing pages, we had a template language called RTML, which supposedly stood for something, but which in fact I named after Rtm. You don't need to join a company to do that, people who want to get the present shape. How has your taste changed?

And it can't have been heredity, because it isn't happening now. Was it something about the geography of Europe? But there were no takers, so we had to borrow a conference room to reassure an investor who was about to back out of a new round of funding that we needed to stay alive. Upside must be balanced by downside, so if there is no such thing as beauty, we need to be able to think, there's more where that came from. In software, it means you should give users a few basic elements that they can combine as they wish, like Lego. How do you arrange the dials in a square, and a dial to control each. The best you can do it in a distinctive way. When people say something substantial that gets modded down, they stubbornly leave it up. Excite really never got the business model right at all. It was pretty advanced for the time. I need to transfer a file or edit a web page, and I was even more convinced of it after hearing it confirmed by Hilbert.

Notes

I just wasn't willing to put it this way is basically zero. This was made particularly clear in our own Web site. I didn't realize it till I started using it out of the biggest discoveries in any case.

There's a sort of pious crap you were able to fool investors with such a brutally simple word is that some of the things we focus on users, however. Probably the reason this works is that their experience so far has trained them to keep tweaking their algorithm to get rich by preserving their traditional culture; maybe people in Bolivia don't want to either. At the time required to switch to a new search engine, the computer world recognize who that is exactly the opposite: when we started Viaweb, if the growth rate to impress are not very discerning.

The New Yorker. That's because the publishers exert so much better is a new Mosaic. Angels and super-angels will snap up stars that VCs miss. That's why startups always pay equity rather than ones they capture.

[olivedoesmagic]

Journal 3: “Olive how are you doing this?” -Sans

I was naive. That’s where I should start this one off. When I was skiso I tried dabbling in pop culture magick. I know. I know how this entry is going to sound. During this…”time period” I guess you could call it. I became “friends” with pop culture spirits. I became familiar with the likes of Sans the skeleton, Azula from avatar, and Tracer from overwatch. I know, I know how it sounds. Hence while I did it while insane. It seems buffoonish now. That you could become friends with pop culture characters.

Now and days I chalk it up to my schizophrenia. I do spirit work. But that? That was all if not mostly delusion. I mainly work as a magician with demons and demonic evocation. I summon Lucifer, Beelzebub, Belial the whole lot. They’re all from this book called the Lesser Keys of Solomon. Which is serious and very dark work. I have a much more public journal where I detail my workings with them. All you need to know. Is that. They’re kind to me. They don’t hurt me or harm me, and I’ve passed many of their tests. Demons aren’t evil and they don’t wish to harm you given you go about it the right way with the proper expectations and that is a hill that I’m willing to die on. 

Point is I’ve touched the pop culture throne. It’s one that outside occasional ramblings I don’t mess with. I bring this up because Sans still on occasion visits me. Pop culture magick in the way it is properly explored is a mask for the spirit, tied to an association, a concrete vessel, but while I was crazy the last experience I had with it was as follows. I was in the underground. I was projecting as my godform. He’s blonde, a cisgender male, has 6 arms and a halo. I was in a blinding flash of light in the middle of Snowden their realm by Sans’s house, and Toriel was watching. Sans said to me “Olive...How are you doing this?” and I stopped projecting and the memory fades. Theirs more to it but I can’t recall.

That could easily be seen as a form of reality shifting. I hate the nonsense of it all. I hate popculture magick. I look down on it as a form, as an art. I despise it. I dislike it and it burns my tongue. Through popculture magick I was able to visit Dionysus on his coordination day through the doctor's tardis. The Doctor was one of my spirits during this time period and while I never became a companion and he kept me on a leash he offered me one trip. I can’t say pop culture magick didn’t serve me well. I’ve learned alot about this world through popculture magick. But it’s a child’s toy. It’s completely and utterly a child’s plaything. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I only mention it here, because my alias Olive Brimstone leaves me totally and completely anonymous so I am free here to be myself and speak of things completely humiliating such as my ventures into that chaos.

I’ve become acquainted with a tick tock user known as Steller.Chaos. Tick tock is a lipsyncing/Short one minute video hosting app. It will eventually fade from memory and history. But it’s pretty popular in the states right now. His videos are what got me into the concept of reality shifting which is mostly what I want this journal to be. I plan to self publish it. I already have a tumblr set up for a few of the entries, so I will keep myself holding up an online presence. The thing about tumblr is that it allows complete and total anonymity. The hellsite that it is. Tick tock is a great place for discussions of magick, though be them limited in their timeframe. Here are some gems I’ve bothered to painstakingly transcribe for you.

Nervrockk: “Can you quantonshift into a anime universe?”

Gaiussorcery:” I’m like- first things first. Alternative parallel realities dimensions, realties whatever is not proven. It’s not scientifically, proven um so that’s always weird. So I don’t think people can shift realities. What it sounds like to me is like a form of lucid dreaming or a form of imaginational journing which means like getting so involved in your imagination that it feels like you're there. That’s valid. That is very valid. But um I- I worry that people are using it as a form of escapism and um you don’t need to escape. Reality is strange enough. First off magick’s real okay? Also you are an ape living on the bones of a dead god. Literally, everything on earth was a center of a star at one time. Exploded and shot its own corpse across the cosmos and you're literally on the bones of a dead god hurling around another living god that will die one day okay?  Which hurles itself around a completely reality destroying galactic, reality’s strange enough you don’t need to escape” 

Gauissorcery is someone who’s content I routinely dive into and enjoy but on the topics of the Goetia he doesn’t seem very knowledgeable and on this topic it seems his input is also rather lacking. I remember at one point he bothered to question if the methods in the keys of solomon were actually harmful to the spirits and as someone who’s based most of my work around that frame I can promise you, that yes it does infact if done by the book without any kind of modding, hurt the spirits. My familiar is a demon who told me not to waste my time on reality shifting but that is what this entire journal is dedicated too. There’s not much out there on this topic, and I want to be an explorer of sorts. I fear myself one of the first. Gauissorcery is right about one thing however. People do use reality shifting to escape. I fail to see how his argument would convince someone who was down that rabbit hole not to use it for such a purpose. Sure the nature of existence is fascinatingly strange. But if someone feels the need to escape their life, just stating that isn’t going to do much for them. Once someone sees reality shifting as a means to an end, that’s what they will use it for. Here's another list of gems. I dug through Steller.Chaos’s content to find these.

Steller.Chaos on how to reality shift answering a question from a fan: “Okay so it’s hard to explain. Well sometimes but I'll explain that later. That you can’t just waltz in there like it’s a place. Okay okay okay. So how to do it. Make sure you’re somewhere like in your room. Preferably your room. Make sure you are not like outside. Or around other people because if you reality shift, the people in the same room with you, will feel the effects. Imagine the room that you’re in. Only the room that you’re in. Imagine it moving.  Imagine it kind of traveling through a portal. Shit will start to not feel real. It will feel like your somewhere else but it won’t quite look like it. But your walls will kind of look squigly. It’ll look kind of blurry. But that’s because your shifting and that’s what shit will look like when your shifting and sometimes when your shifting um things will be things that people call “glitches in the matrix.” Basically you’ll set something somewhere and suddenly it’s on the other side of the room. Pictures might switch places it’s really weird. But eventually you will reach another reality.” -Steller.Chaos

Crow.Cospaly: So this is not lucid dreaming/astral travel?

Steller.Chaos: “Okay so I’m going to explain different types of scapes. There are dimensions/universes, scapes and realms.  The astral realm is technically a scape. Why it is not called a scape is similarly to why the Caspian Sea is not called a lake. Because of the sheer size of the realm and then theirs the dream scape, and the mind scape. The dream scape is of course, the dreams. Where they take place. Then theirs the mind scape which is basically the mind and I’ll explain that later because way to much to go into. Because this is a practice where people are very afraid to kinda come out with their findings, there is not a definitive, term for the scape that you go to, to reality shift. I’m thinking something among the lines of multiscape or glitchspace, it’s hard to explain reality shifting separate from astral projection. Because  of the similarities in how it’s done. It’s like the difference between a tiger and a lion. Both different animals.  But both still cats. I hope some of that made sense.” -Steller.Chaos  https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJAfYv1m/ 

I found these passages in my mentors journal. He keeps a pretty public diary similarly to myself, though his far longer  and I tend to model my own after his. If you know him, you know him, if you don’t you don’t. His “Secret diary of” fails to be very secret especially if you’ve visited BALG. But regardless I digress. I’ve been minorly shifting for a while now. I got a flash of a reality where I was messaging a ticktockr I follower named Dust. I don’t know him in this world and I’d hardly consider us friendly, he doesn’t even know I exist so that’s something. 

Overall I have yet to intentionally shift, or find a reality where that has been my goal. Apart of me is cuios about the fictitious implications of traveling to a fantasy world as so many have claimed. Though I’m skeptical of the applicability of such a notion. Right now I feel a species spying on me, another self from a canon I have created in my own fiction. It’s hard to get into so I won’t but I suppose that I will leave this here. Goodnight journal. Things are feeling weightless again.

-Olive Brimstone

10:50 PM

9/17/2020

[alternislatronemhq]

hello everyone! here’s a sample application that you can reference if you need any help with your own application. Since apps are OFFICIALLY OPEN, I can’t wait to see what all of you genius, creative beauties come up with!

Congrats, Kate, you have been accepted to AL for the role of Minerva McGonagall (FC: Tea Leoni). We loved your enthusiasm for and portrayal of Minnie McG. Blah blah blah it would be weird to compliment myself some more here ha ha ha. Please send in your blog (no sideblogs for first characters, please) in the next 24 hours and be sure to take a look at our new player checklist. Welcome home, we’re so excited to have you join the family! 

OOC

name — Kate age — 26 pronouns — she/her timezone — EST activity level — REDACTED.  any questions? — why is McG so cool? 

IC Overview

name — Minerva McGonagall faceclaim — tea leoni, the bae age — 49 gender — cis-female, she/her sexuality — heterosexual patronus — a calico cat; maybe unusual for someone who seems as straightforward as strict Minerva, but there are many more layers to her than her students would ever imagine. the calico cat makes a perfect patronus for her, especially considering her animagus form, and she’s quite fond of it.  boggart — oddly enough, minerva’s boggart is a bible on fire. growing up the daughter of a minister, minerva has a complicated relationship with religion, but the bible on fire represents the loss of her most deeply held convictions, as well as the breaking of her relationship with her beloved father. 

IC In Depth

personality traits — 

+ intelligent — it is minerva’s talent for seeing to the heart of things that makes her such an excellent asset to the Order.  She has the ability to cut through bullshit when she’s dealing with people and is well respected for her academic insights, particularly in transfiguration. this ability to be both academic and interpersonal is an amazing feat.  + moralistic — minerva has deep convictions, and she fights for them. maybe it’s because she was a minister’s daughter, but she has a very black and white way of thinking when it comes to light vs dark, and the strength of her conviction is what makes her such an excellent leader for the auror. - stubborn — minerva can be very pigheaded sometimes. because she’s so intelligent and knows it, she has an impossible time believing that she could be wrong. once she makes up her mind about something, good luck trying to get her to change it, even if changing it is necessary for her to move forward.  - standoffish — minerva has never been the warmest person. she doesn’t have problems being around people, but that doesn’t mean she feels comfortable immediately opening up to them. she keeps many of the people in her life at arms’ length, preferring to hide behind the persona she’s built of strict professor, and this causes her to miss out on some really rich relationships. 

character biography — 

minerva’s six when her mother tells her that the unexplainable things she can do is magic. her mother confessed to her father, afraid that her three children wouldn’t be able to keep this secret, and though it shocks the muggle minister, he moves past it. still, minerva’s mother isobel relies heavily on her to help her hide the accidental magic her brothers can perform, not wanting to overwhelm her father. minerva is a thoughtful and shrewd young girl, and she picks up on the tensions that exist between her parents, despite the fact that they love one another. she vows never to keep the truth of who she is a secret the way her mother did. 

eleven and minerva’s time at hogwarts is a breath of fresh air. away from the mounting tensions at her home, she thrives in gryffindor, making close friends who sustain her. she’s almost sorted into ravenclaw like her mother, but she takes after the rest of her mother’s Ross family in being sorted into gryffindor. she plays for the house team and thrives at her academics, but most especially transfiguration. it’s her friendship with poppy pomfrey and alastor moody that really defines her time at hogwarts, though. they’re the two people she relies on most in this world, despite the fact that poppy’s in a different house and alastor drives her up the wall sometimes.

seventeen and minerva follows her dream of working for the ministry. the summer before she begins, however, she returns home to spend some time with her family, where she falls in love with a local muggle. their summer romance is a whirlwind, and minerva is too besotted to recognize that her relationship with dougal breaks all of those pledges that she made to herself so many years ago. it isn’t until he proposes marriage that minerva realizes how far she’s gone, and after a very frank conversation with her father, minerva breaks it off, not wanting to repeat the mistakes that her mother made. 

minerva throws herself into work with the ministry, but she’s not really happy there. she spends almost all of her time wondering if she made a mistake, if maybe she lost the one real chance at love that she would get in her life. after a couple of years of this, minerva resigns and decides to take dumbledore’s offer to teach at hogwarts. before she begins her first year, she hears on a visit home that dougal has married a local muggle girl. it’s as if a spell that had been cast over minerva is lifted, and suddenly she feels in her heart that she’s free of the pull of her first love. 

minerva’s twenty five and poppy makes an offhand comment about how perfect alastor and minerva would be for each other if they could just stop being so damn stubborn. minerva is embarrassed, blushing and protesting that they could never be more than friends, but a seed is planted, and it doesn’t take long for it to sprout and grow. finally, it comes to be too much for her to handle, and she begins to drop hints to alastor, hints that all seem to go unnoticed. eventually she has to pluck up the courage to be obvious about it, and to her surprise, alastor reciprocates. they settle into life as a married couple and begin a family, but that doesn’t stop either of them from doing what they feel is their duty for their world.

they both fight when dumbledore forms the order of the phoenix, and minerva is happy to be lieutenant to dumbledore here just as she is at hogwarts. the war is a nasty time, one that minerva would gladly forget if she could, but when it’s over and the dust settles, dumbledore comes to her, alastor, and kingsley with the truth. this is only a reprieve, a rest period between two battles, and they must be prepared for voldemort’s inevitable return. dumbledore needs to focus on hunting horcruxes with sirius, so he leaves the three of them in charge of the order, minerva acting as leader. she’s not sure how she feels about such an important role, but minerva mcgonagall has never been one to shirk her duty, so she sets her mind to it and marches forward. 

plot ideas — either for the broader group plot or for your specific character

I’d love to see minerva as a mother. i’ve left some of that purposely vague because of the inclinations/opinions of the moody player, but I think this would be a fascinating dynamic to explore between these two incredible fighters. how do they balance being parents while also being leaders of a revolution? what is it like for them to be parents when for so long they’ve been teachers?

MMM MCMOODY — such an underrated and wonderful ship, and as the mod for this group, I just had to establish it. alastor and minerva are the only two people I see being strong willed enough to complement one another, and I’m beyond excited to see how these two pigheaded stubborn individuals navigate the reality of marriage alongside leading the order.

minerva does not give a DAMN about politics, but I’d be super interested to see a plot that drags her into them somehow. how does she handle dealing with people like dolores umbridge or barty crouch sr? does she agree with alastor’s thoughts on the azkaban dementors issue, or does she have other ideas? does he pull her into writing up a proposed bill because he’s rubbish at that sort of thing? is she offered a seat on the wizengamot and suddenly alongside her teaching duties has to worry about actual lawmaking? so many possibilities.

OH MAN minnie is such a stubborn and narrow minded individual at times. she has a tendency to make snap judgements about people, and it’s hard to get her to change her mind. I’d love to see a dynamic where she makes a rash judgement about a student (likely slytherin) who goes on to be a death eater, and then has to come to terms with the reality that it was her actions that solidified that path -- maybe if she had been a little kinder and not expected this student to go dark they wouldn’t have. 

extra —

headcanons

minerva is the heir to an ancient scottish clan of witches, the ross clan. the ross clan has their own heritage of magic that is passed down through the generations, typically through the women. minerva’s mother turned her back on it when she married robert, but minerva learns about it from her grandmother and continues the lineage.