#I’m asking for DMs because the site uses my real name and my real university

[captainkaltar]

Mutuals DM me for my Substack~

It’s all about the ancient Mediterranean in modern pop culture and also neat stuff I discover while researching my thesis

[kvwviiju]

Hi there! I’m sorry if I sound like a nag I really don’t mean to, but when are we gonna see the next pinup? I’m excited for echo but you don’t seem to post much here Now compared to Twitter. Hope all is well!

hey, don’t worry you aren’t nagging.

if I’m honest? don’t know, hopefully sooner rather than later. i study concept art and university dominates my time, alongside my job. It’ll be finished at some point.

i don’t use tumblr that often because i hate fandom culture, including Star War’s fandom, especially on here (Twitter is bad too, but I avoid fandom on there entirely as a rule, and I’m more liberal with the mute button) tired of getting my inbox flooded with vile hateful nonsense for dumb reasons over a universe of characters that aren’t even real. yesterday i got called an ableist slur in my dms because I said on twt that i enjoy tbobf and loved the last two episodes. ive also been called names for criticising the show too. there’s no winning, so I’d rather not engage.

im on here everyday, liking stuff from my mutuals and forwarding their fics to my friends, so if you dm me or send me an ask I’ll see it, but I find actually talking publicly on here just isn’t fun. ive been on this site for almost a decade now, so maybe that’s a contributing factor to why I feel this way too. i probably just had more tolerance for that kind of thing in my teens, and now that I’m 21 I don’t want to spend my free time exposing myself to needless hate from people who refuse to feel happiness without guilt

[crisis-aversion]

Welcome to my writing commissions; thank you for checking them out! As much as I dislike writing for others' OCs (because I'm always afraid I'll miswrite them), I need the practice and would like to lend my one natural talent to others' benefit. Please make sure to read all the rules, and use the form included at the end when commenting, thank you!

Signal boosts are greatly appreciated, and may be repaid with a little something ^^

Examples are at the bottom of the post. Feel free to contact me any way you want (comments, DMs, etc.)

Art commissions are not open at the moment, and I'm not sure when/if they will be. Please do not comment here asking for art, whatever reason you might have for wanting my scrappy style. 

I may, however, decide to add an illustration at no additional charge (unless you want to pay) if I'm really connecting to a story.

These are pay what you want, just make a base offer of anything and when I'm finished you can decide whether or not you want to add or subtract anything from it. You do not have to send/finish your base payment until I am done. Points>art>characters/customs>other (please specify) You can mix offers (ie, points and art, or similar) I cannot accept real money

RULES: -I will NOT write NSFW for any species no matter what -Please do not expect anything in particular, my writing style is inconsistent -I tend to interpret prompts differently than other people would, so please keep that in mind -Please do not just ask me to "write something about [character]," I cannot write with no idea to work from -I do not write prose/freeform poetry, but I can do other kinds if asked (I need to rhyme if I'm gonna be a poet) -I will only write ship fics for Transformers characters, but please keep in mind I'm not good at fluff so they will probably end up short and not very good -I'm not a fast writer, please give me at least a month to finish shorter fics, and several months for longer ones -Feel free to ask my progress or for a current draft -Do not claim my writing as your own -Reports are allowed with proper credit     DA: breakout24     Tumblr: transcore13     TH: Crisis-aversion -Please do not repost to writing sites like FF.net or AO3 without asking me first -No refunds once I've finished -I have the right to decline any commission for any reason (you can ask why if you really want, but I may or may not tell XD) -Spellcheck hates my guts and I don't always catch what it changes when editing so if you spot a word that seems wrong that's probably why, feel free to point it out so I can change it back! -If anything feels wrong/unnatural/something else to you feel free to ask me to change it

Fandoms I'll write for: -Transformers (most familiar) -Pokemon (any region Before Alola) -Doctor Who (modern series (9th+)) -Marvel comics (most familiar with the movies) -My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (not super familiar with canon events) -DC comics (most familiar with he Arrowverse (especially Flash and Supergirl), I don't follow the rest very closely) -Star Wars (not super familiar with canon events, and I have a really weird/spotty knowledge of what I do know (about half the movies and a random handful of books)) -Original universes -Feel free to ask about other things, but I'm not super likely to do it as I'm not very familiar with many other universes-

I will do: -Any kind of Transformers ships -Fight scenes/violence -Full length fics -Drabbles -Scenes

I will not do: -NSFW -Fetish stuff of any kind -Earth profanity (Cybertronian is fine) -Rewrites (parodies are fine, but please ask first)

-Please feel free to ask if there's something you're not sure about-

Examples can be found here: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Autocon5

Please fill out this form: Prompt: (the more specific the better, but please don't go so specific as to not give me any wriggle room. I don't care what format they are in as long as they give me a character(s) and situation) Beginning offer: Approximate length you'd want: (I can't guarantee length but I can try) Notes: (you can link a song or some images to set the mood, add something about the prompt you don't want me to miss, give me something you absolutely need included, or say whatever the pit you want! Just delete this section if you have nothing to add) Character(s): (please fill out an additional form for each character wanted; you may just name or link the wiki of any canon character you might want)      Name:      Personality: (the more info you can provide the more likely I can write them accurately, jam this section as much as possible)      Powers, abilities, skills, etc.:      Weaknesses etc.:      Visual reference if available:      Role:      Notes:

[lightsaroundyourvanity]

would u talk about your career path/how u got your job? I’m a writer and just graduated college and feel like idk where to head next and would love to hear what happened for you!!

ok for the sake of total transparency: my family and most of my friends work in film and television. it’s basically the only kind of career path i have ever known anything about, and i don’t want to pretend that it hasn’t helped me make connections and get work.

but i also know so many people who have broken in with no connections, just tons of moxie and drive, so like, don’t let it deter you either! i just didn’t want to give a like false vibe of how credible an inspiration i am for something like this, if that makes sense?

but anyway!! basically my path has gone: transcriptionist --> closed captioner --> production assistant --> assistant production coordinator --> story coordinator --> writer.  if you’re really serious about screenwriting, most of the professional screenwriters i know did NOT run this path -- it was more of a line of write a bunch of specs, maybe make a short (or a feature if they come from money), find representation, get staffed. 

(my screenplay is a situation where a production company i knew the development people at were trying to start a new model of making canadian content that mirrored h*llmark movie type stuff, and they wanted me to do it because i’m non union and inexperienced so i’ll work cheap for the credit basically lol. this second movie i wrote is for the same company -- but off of my first screenplay, another development company has asked to see my work, so hopefully things snowball from there!)

so then the question is: how do you get representation? how do you get staffed? the answer (and i hate it) is u gotta hustle and it sucks. write specs, go to stuff like inkdrinks and networking events, go to comedy shows, take improv classes. so, so many people i know who now work as writers on half hour comedies got their start in the improv community. go to film festivals, just talk to people!! embrace your ego and your inner thirst for attention -- everybody else is, and the ones rising up don’t feel guilty about it lol.  i’m SURE there’s a way to mimic this on twitter but i’m not cool enough to know how to do it.

the irony of screenwriting is like you’re a WRITER, and so often we’re naturally shy and intimidated by aggressively social situations. but it’s also SHOW BIZ and that runs on who is charming and who remembers your name. i’ve definitely been put up for jobs hundo p just from meeting the right person at a party before.

if you’re looking for break in jobs where you start to get to know people -- script reading seems to be a popular angle, but you pretty much have to be in LA for that. closed captioning was a really cool break in point for me, because i got to know editors and post people, and because an offshoot they often made the captionettes do were script deliverables, which i was able to parlay into freelancing when i left my post production house, and there are some producers i am still in contact with from that. production assistant is a really good job because you meet EVERYONE -- but it can also be kind of a trap, because if you’re a really good assistant, people want to keep you there, and if you work in production long enough, you can sometimes get pegged as “below the line” and overlooked as a writer. if you want to go this way though!! there are some really great facebook groups where people post job listings (i’m part of a canadian one called i need a fixer -- and they put calls for PAs, etc, but also sometimes for writing/development gigs so like!!) mandy.com is also a site for film/tv job listings (but not one i often use)

you can also look into post grads that are specifically for film/tv writing (ie, the canadian film centre or humber college’s television writers program). often they’ll place you in an internship as a part of the curriculum, and if you’re savvy you can get more work from that. obviously money is a barrier there though -- and tbh that’s something so prohibitive and sucky about this industry!! broke people just don’t have the same opportunities to intern or volunteer on sets or go to post grads or get soho club memberships, you know? or like, i can’t tell you how many times i’ll think “how did this mediocre idiot get this amazing gig” and then like -- of course they went to harvard or whatever.

ummm i feel like i have gone on forever and also said nothing, but like if you have any questions definitely shoot me another ask or a dm!! i feel like when i first graduated university i was so overwhelmed and always asking people how to do or get things, and never given satisfying, tangible responses (seeing myself type “network! :)” was a real lived long enough to see myself become the villain moment...) so definitely ask me for clarification if you’d like!!

[miss-oscurita]

I’ve got people asking what the hell is going on, since it seems this shit is getting twisted somewhere along the line and because I do not have the time or energy to engage with squabbling over this any longer, I’m gonna to take some time to state the facts from the get go (since some people apparently can’t keep track) and explain how I see all this one last time, and then I’m done with this shit. Let me be clear - I am not, and never have been, claiming to “own tropes”, as so many have accused me of. I have absolutely no issue with anyone using time-travel and the associated themes in their Red Dead fan fics. This is not entirely about that, I’m sorry so many of you can’t see the bigger picture. My primary issue with this is that someone mentioning me by name (without a tag) and saying I’d approved the content of their story when I was completely unaware of the changes they’d chosen to make to it until after it had been seen by dozens of people here. I do also have an issue with someone telling me they’re going to remove something to avoid drama going forward, only to then upload it to a second site a week later with the additional changes and mention of my name/approval. Changes which stem from someone claiming that they’ve never heard of my story one day, and then a week after discovering it, going ahead and changing their story to include a necklace/stone too. Which is the same plot device that is the very foundation of my entire fic! Coincidence? Maybe. You be the judge on that.  Now for everyone who’s jumped on the bandwagon while missing the start of this drama, this is what actually happened....

On September 8th - I was alerted to a story written by Charlee (previously @the-charlee-monstah) under the pen name GracelessTevy that was posted on AO3, called Fast Forward To Redemption. The story was about Arthur jumping through time into 2020, which is the same loose premise as my story Wish Upon. So what? Right? Right! There were enough differences for me to have zero concerns about this story existing. The main female character in FFTR was completely unaware of who Arthur was in relation to Red Dead, unlike my story where both the OC and Arthur know he’s a fictional character in modern reality. While the plot of FFTR appeared to follow the same path as my story with the OC helping Arthur find his feet in the twenty-first century and such, I didn’t feel it was that notably similar in any other sense. Now, this all came to my attention because apparently someone had commented on FFTR claiming that it was the same as my story Wish Upon. Due these comments on AO3 Charlee came forward, commented on WU, and the @’d me in a tagged post on here about the messages she’d received, and asked for my thoughts on what had been commented, because it appeared these comments were in defence of me. (There were a couple of other comments on the story that didn’t mention my story specifically but cried copying on some level. I’m unsure if that was in regard to my story or something else, since Charlee’s camp have repeatedly told me my idea is unoriginal and “been done” already....) At that time Charlee claimed she had never even heard of my story Wish Upon that random people were accusing her of copying. Concerned by this, for both my story and Charlee potentially being dragged unnecessarily by random strangers - I took some time out of my day to find her story, read what was posted. At that time I did not see any similarities beyond the element of Arthur existing in the modern day. There were some vague similarities, in the sense that Arthur arrived during a storm, and that the chapter began with the female character speaking to her friend about cowboys in a novel, but nothing that concerned me in any significant way. I responded to Charlee publicly and via DM’s and told her that what I saw was fine, and that I had no issue with anything she’d written at that point. Charlee repeatedly claimed to have no prior knowledge of my story but must have found it on AO3 in order to get my contact information from my profile to bring the matter to my attention on here. (Since AO3 still doesn’t have a Goddamned private messaging feature!) Charlee said in a comment she left on Wish Upon, that she would delete her story to avoid any further confusion or drama over it.

I thought that was the end of it, but since this began on AO3 I deleted the comment from my story because I wanted to avoid encouraging drama in the comments on my end, and I went on with my life.   Skip to last night (Sept 14th) a week later, and someone comes to my inbox here and tells me that Charlee has decided to completely change the name of her story, to reference a stone, and had also made changes to include a mention of a necklace that would obviously be relevant to the plot going forward. (For those of you who don’t follow WU, the concept is that Arthur is bought out of the game and transported to 2019 into the life of a young woman who made a off-the-cuff wish about him being a real person, while wearing a magical necklace her aunt had given her for Christmas.) More surprisingly was that Charlee had also posted the story on here in the Red Dead tag, under the new title of Tempest’s Stone. Despite not having posted it here as FFTR. In the posted chapter on here and AO3 she included a mention of what had happened last week, including my Tumblr username (which is different to my AO3 ID) but didn’t actually tag me so I could see it in my notifs. Despite tagging me last week when coming at me for comment over the responses she’d received. She mentioned that I had given my approval for the story and that I saw no similarities to my (unnamed) work, and that any similarities were coincidental.

Seeing the anon message coming in to my inbox, about a necklace made me think I was going crazy, because I hadn’t seen any mention of any stone/necklace in what I read last week. I initially wrote all this off as just someone trying to start shit here again, so I approached Charlee to politely via DM’s to query if there had been a change or if this was just more of the same trouble making from nameless individuals. I was concerned about all this, because if I had seen any mention of a stone/necklace in what I read last week, I would have raised concerns with it right away to avoid drama falling on her going forward. The initial response I get is Charlee denying any copying.

While waiting for further elaboration from Charlee, I get a few anon messages. One of which offers to provided me with a PDF version of what was originally posted by as FFTR last week, which showed there was no mention of a necklace or stone. It was late, I’m constantly tired at the moment, I’m going through some serious shit in real life, so I wasn’t going to sit up waiting for another reply from Charlee, I accepted her response, put the rest down to being anon drama nonsense, decided I’d deal with it when I saw the PDF, logged off and went to bed. Next thing I know I get woken at 5am by my phone blowing the fuck up with responses to this issue, from Charlee and people from her side/hateful anons attacking me for daring to question the new addition to Charlee’s work.

Then I am inundated with friends of Charlee’s (on and off anon) attacking me in asks and DM’s, saying I have no right to be questioning any of this because my idea has been done before and time-travel stores are common and anyone is entitled to use the concept of a magic necklace, no one owns tropes etc etc etc. I never once claimed or implied that I “own” any tropes. Again, for the peanut gallery, I have no issue with people writing Red Dead timetravel stories! I do however, think it’s highly questionable that someone who apparently had “never heard of” my story a week ago, suddenly changes her story to include a necklace after publicly discovering my work. Also, I’m not claiming any ownership of tropes, but I do not think it’s unreasonable for me to claim ownership of a very specific alternative universe. My fic is an AU, tropes are just something that occur in a chapter but the over all fic is very much an AU, which has very specific elements. But whatever... Unfortunately there is no arguing the morals of this turn of events with these people attacking me in Charlee’s name, because when you try to question their angle of defence they just block you. (Then unblock you later on to continue telling you how wrong it is to have an opinion on your own work!) To elaborate a little on my concerns, I’ll say this... YES! Mother fuckers! I know I did not invent timetravel, or any devices used to facilitate that! Change the Goddamned record! I do however feel it is not unreasonable to have an issue with someone claiming not to know of my story one second, then just so happening to add in a plot point to their work that is the very cornerstone of my entire story, a week after admitting to learning of my work. Then on top of that, going ahead and changing the title, and posting it here -after having said they’d delete- AND claiming that I’d seen the story and approved it AFTER the changes have been made. Changes that I was COMPLETELY unaware of! Changes that would have continued to go unknown to me without an anon tipping me off! Because I was not tagged in the post that Charlee made with her story either on here or AO3, and I made it clear in my first response to Charlee last week that I do not read any fics or following the RDR fandom. The biggest issue in all this for me is that Charlee claimed I was okay with the stories content, when I was completely unaware of the changes she’d made. In the bigger picture it is also somewhat concerning to me that Charlee’s story is a reader insert, which predominantly gain more attention (especially on Tumblr) than original character fictions. Which, for the record, I have no issue with in general, we’re all just trying to enjoy ourselves with words. However, I’ll admit, I was concerned about Charlee continuing with her story in its revised form since we’re both playing to the same audience, and Charlee would have potentially been attracting a different/wider viewership on a reader insert (posting both on AO3 and Tumblr) and how that would potentially lead to people to accuse me of copying at some point down the line. For a bit of context... I have over two hundred thousand words of Wish Upon in first draft, waiting to be edited and posted. I have over one hundred and fifty thousand words already shared on AO3. There’s plenty of eyes out there to read both our work, it’s not an issue of who gets more attention or any other shit you lot would like to throw. I’d take one kudos and heartfelt comment over a 100 likes any day.  The issue is that there’s a good chance that by the time I get to publish, let’s say, chapter thirty, that Charlee could have already explored the events of that chapter of my story. Which would then potentially cause her readers to come for me, claiming my work is a derivative of hers, when in fact the story I’ve spent two years writing is already finished in first draft, and is just awaiting final editing - which I cannot do quickly enough due to real life pressures! Is it wrong of me to be concerned about and want to avoid that kind of finger pointing bullshit, after having put so much time and effort into this story? Yes, it’s possible that it was a coincidence that Charlee decided to add a stone/necklace to her story, no one can prove it one way or the other beyond reasonable doubt. However, I am not going to pull punches on this one, and I’ll say I find it extremely questionable that this change to her story occurred AFTER finding Wish Upon, and AFTER the story views on AO3 went from 1042 to 1158 (with no new kudos/comments added) between this drama starting and as I type this. Someone was obviously reading my work over the past week, and with no update/bumps on it, I have to question who it actually was and how my work was discovered since it’s way down on the recent updates on AO3.... Anyway, the bottom line is Charlee claims she didn’t copy, I claim it’s a possibility that she may have, either consciously or unconsciously. BUT I gave her the benefit of the doubt on the vague similarities last week. But like I said, this isn’t just about copying ideas. It’s about claiming I’m okay with something that I was completely unaware of, and did not give my approval to. Whatever the case, I do not think it’s unreasonable for me to have issues with what’s occurred in regard to how Charlee has handled this matter. As a result of this drama being bought to Tumblr, I have been inundated with messages. Some from strangers showing support and raising concerns for my story and welfare, which I appreciate. Unfortunately, however, I have had even more people sending me increasingly hateful and combative messages. Attacking me for daring to question Charlee (who’s apparently been in the RDR2 fandom since August) and paint me as the bad guy over the issue of these changes Charlee made of her own freewill.  My blog is now getting likes/reblogs from a bunch of people who I do not know, do not follow me, and have no reason to find my blog other than because of this drama! So it seems obvious to me that links to my page are being shared around somewhere out there and hate is being encouraged in my direction. Back to the matter at hand... Early this morning I politely suggested that Charlee come forward and make a post on her own blog, for her followers, to explain what had happened with adding the necklace and changing the title etc. While I waited for her to do that, I made a post of my own to address anyone following me who may have been involved provoking drama. Charlee decided not to make a post explaining the introduction of the necklace in her story, giving me a bunch of excuses as to why she didn’t want to, and some point today she decided to delete her account entirely instead.  I’m now getting blamed for that, with people saying I had a hand in chasing Charlee off this site. When you can count the amount of messages (all civil and even toned) I sent her/regarding her on both hands and have still have free fingers. When I logged off early this morning her blog still existed. The first I heard of her deleting was an hour ago when I came on to find yet more drama had graced my inbox/DM’s in the wake of her flouncing. I couldn’t even interact with her if I wanted to, because she blocked me last night for reasons I do not understand, after I requested she explain the situation on her blog to square all this away once and for all. (I’m happy to share the full DM’s she sent me which are not polite and seem slightly combative from her end.) If the court of Tumblr want to come hang me for being concerned and questioning someone using my story concept AFTER being made aware of my story’s content - then go ahead, because I did that directly with Charlee in private. I did not bring this matter to Tumblr. It could have been dealt with privately or just on AO3. Charlee chose to highlight this for other people to see on here, why I do not know. But she tagged her original post last week so the entire fandom could see and jump on it. I didn’t have anything to do with that, so don’t any of you faceless haters fuckin’ dare come at me saying I encouraged or orchestrated harassment over this because I had absolutely fuck all to do with it at any point!!!! I’m wise enough to know attacking someone over plagiarism is pathetic, because plagiarism is solely an academic standard. This issue would be a matter of copyright. And you cannot copyright a fan fic, because by definition fan fic is copyright infringement. You cannot copyright tropes and I have never claimed dominion over any tropes in my story. This is fundamentally a moral issue, and I do not think it is unreasonable to have concerns about someone changing their story to use the exact same elements of a story to the one I’ve been writing for nearly two years. Especially in a fanom as new and as small as Red Dead is. And THEN claiming that I’m perfectly fine with the changes they made that I was TOTALLY unaware of! But if it makes me the bad guy for not being supportive of someone who for all I know saw my idea and ran with it, then fuck it - What can I say? I’m obviously the bad guy! Go get your guns! If you can’t accept it’s an appropriate response to be concerned by seeing someone do that to your ideas (and going on to add more of them to their work after you’d  written the first concerns off as a non-issue) then it’s not my place to convince you. To the best of my knowledge I am “persona non grata” in the Red Dead fandom. I have thousands of followers, from various older fandoms since I’ve been here since 2012, but I do not interact with anyone with an interest in Red Dead beyond responding to comments on my work on AO3 and the occasional ask on my story blog. I do not have a support network on here. I do not post my work here, because every time I have it’s been ignored. I do not have fandom or followings that I can call upon to defend me, or people I can tag to come to my aid. However, I do truly appreciate that strangers out there have taken it upon themselves to alert me to what’s going on, since I do not follow fandom in any respect. However, I ask that they take a moment to consider HOW they go about addressing matters like this now, and at any point in the future, and that if anyone is still sending messages to other people on my behalf about this issue then I ask them to stop now.  It’s between Charlee and I. Not Charlee, me, five of her friends, and twenty trolling anons showing their asses! Yes, Charlee also chose to add a necklace/stone into her story after admitting to finding my work. That could have been an innocent mistake, it could have been deliberate, who knows! I gave the benefit of the doubt once, only to wind up getting shit on and attacked by people defending her actions! Yes, maybe Charlee didn’t have any ill intent with saying I’d approved changes I didn’t know about. All we have is her word, and I don’t know her from Adam. I gave a pass the first time round, only for this to end up happening. Whatever the case really is, it’s not my fault that Charlee chose to include a necklace/stone in her story after discovering my story. She claimed to never have read my work, even after being made aware of it, but perhaps if she had made that effort to read it this could have been completely avoided. It’s also not my fault that Charlee decided to publically post about the drama that kicked all this off last week. Calling her dogs to come and attack me over comments people I do not know made on her story. And finally - for all the anon’s from Charlee’s camp, or any other, sending me actual hate and shitting on my writing, and pulling the old Tumblr classic of bravely telling me on anon that I should kill myself because Charlee deleted - fuck the lot of you! This is the last I’m going to say on this matter, I am fuckin’ done with this shit. I will not be deleting my blog, I will not stop writing my story, and I will not be engaging in anyone else who wants to keep prolonging the life of this particular unnecessary bullshit drama! The facts are there. It’s up to you to interpret them however you wish, but let’s be grown-ups about it, please? We’re all just here to try and show some love to a virtual cowboy who hates himself. There’s enough shit in the world right now, we don’t need to be adding to it over a Goddamn fan-fic!

[feministfangirl]

Hey I just that evil smiling picture of you playing dnd. I was wondering what you did to become a good dm, I've been curious about playing the game for a while and I think I have to be the dm if I want people to play with lol. Thanks for any help

I promise I didn’t ignore you! I’ve been real busy this week, and wanted to treat this question with the respect it deserves. Thanks for asking me…and assuming I’m a good DM, lol. I try to be good by following the cardinal rule: if you and your players have fun, you win! It’s easy to think it’s you v. the players as a DM, but really it’s a story you’re all making together, you help keep it going smoothly but it belongs to all of you. Once you look at it all from that perspective it gets less stressful, for me at least. Now I know it’s kinda weird since I did kill my players in that picture you saw going around… But that was a one shot. And there were ample opportunities for them to reverse the tide, but the dice were not on their side. Anyway. I’m sure you’re looking for more concrete answers. Here are the most important things I did in learning to DM. 1. Watch D&D gamesI watched Critical Role for a few weeks. After years of being afraid to DM, Matthew Mercer made it look easy and fun. He told fun stories and had varied characters and his players were so invested! The more I watched the more I wanted to play. And the best part about watching Critical Role is that there are 102 episodes and counting. Tons of material to mine for ideas. Another good one is The Adventure Zone podcast. It starts out a little slow for my tastes but once you get into it it’s AMAZING. I love the story in this one, it’s a great way to show you don’t have to stick to typical fantasy tropes to have a great game. Any genre can be a fun game. While watching, I paid attention to what kinds of rolls the DM called for in situations, how many monsters you could throw before combat gets hazy, how hard it is to DM for lots of people, how long combat takes, how to describe effects based on dice roll, and most importantly, when to stone face your players and when to laugh like the evil genius you are. 2. Get tips from expertsOkay, so, now you think you could probably do the thing, but you don’t want to screw it up right out of the gate. I spent years too scared to DM because it seemed like there was too much to know. I went looking for words of wisdom and found the aforementioned Matt Mercer’s GM Tips. It’s a great series of videos that are short and helpful, split up by topic. Another great series of videos is anything from Matthew Colville, whose Running the Game videos are probably the second largest influence on my work as a Dungeon Master (after Matt Mercer). I also read tons of articles from the official D&D website, like the Sage Advice column. I read every Unearthed Arcana article and thought about how those adjustments compared to the Player’s Handbook. I signed up for the Roleplaying Tips mailing list run by Johnn Four, whose advice is probably the third largest influence on my DMing. I heavily recommend it also because it’s great to get a reminder to work on D&D every few days when a new tip arrives in your inbox. Seriously the best mailing list I’ve ever been on. He also answers questions and solicits answers from the community, so he’s a great resource for obscure wonders.3. Join a communityThis kind of follows from the previous point about advice from Johnn directly. If you’re really struggling with the density of the Core Rulebooks and are daunted by the many columns and tables, a community can help explain things. For instance, I had a lot of trouble parsing how exactly XP adjusted values work. I asked online, and someone helpfully pointed out the reference and made an example so I’d get how to use it myself. Tumblr is good, but I prefer reddit for D&D things. Some great subreddits are r/DMAcademy, r/DMToolkit, r/DnDBehindtheScreen, r/mattcolville (yes, that same Matt Colville), r/UnearthedArcana, and r/worldbuilfing.

There are a number of other forums specifically for D&D that I have accounts for but never use, mostly because I am still recovering from my forum days… I won’t date myself and say how long ago.4. Google is your friend!I google everything I need for D&D. Sometimes, even though I know the information I want is in my PHB, the book is on my shelf and I’d have to search for the info. The internet can tell me what I need to know NOW. So! Here’s my advice for googling D&D stuff, along with some of my favourite links.

Rules: Include ‘5e’ or ‘fifth edition’ along with the keyword you’re looking for. This will reduce your chances of ending up on a site intended for players of another edition.Spells: Don’t google them, go to dnd-spells.com. Seriously. This website saves my life every time I play D&D. You can also make spellbooks for your characters and then generate pdfs before your game! It’s MAGICAL!Monsters: Homebrew monsters can be fun but be careful when implementing them in your game. If you need help building encounters (like I do), use Kobold Fight Club.Images: Google image search can get you really general or really specific stuff. If you want random images to inspire you you’re better off looking at something like The MET.Names: There is one site to end all sites for this. For all other generators, see donjon.5. Steal like an artistI have a lot of fun watching, reading, and playing other types of media and thinking, “I’m going to steal that for my game.” I love comic books for example. Recently, I decided to put Iron Man into my game. Not for any reason, just because it would be fun. I didn’t simply put Tony Stark as a rich human noble into my game and wait for my player to meet him so I could do my best Robert Downey Jr. impression. I thought about what makes that character exciting and recognizable and transported it into the steampunk world of my campaign. I changed his name and race. I made him an Artificer, a Gunslinger protective of his prototypes (*waves at Taliesin*), who could also build Mech Suits that are as much works of art as they are feats of magical engineering. I gave him an assistant with a romantic love triangle and let him loose in my world. It was so much fun to watch my player figure out my inspiration! Not every NPC needs this level of detail, but all your choices should circle back to 'How well would this work in MY world?’ By taking inspiration from the things you love, filling in the 'gaps’ to breathe life into your universe should come easily. I didn’t know Tran Intubi (Tony Stark) had a gallery of retired mech suits in his Tower but I described as such in-game. The description came naturally when I had a base inspiration to rely on.I hope that was more helpful than long-winded!

[tianamulan]

So I really really really love podcast and I thought I would make this masterpost of podcast recommendations!! There’s a little bit of everything, and I’ve organised it all, so I’m sure you’ll find something you’ll like! I mention possible content warnings, episode lengths and amounts, good places to start, etc. I will update this post as I find more podcasts! Enjoy~

Fictional Podcasts

Limetown: 6 episodes, 30-40 min each. Crime Investigation of a town whose residents all mysteriously disappeared one night. Has sci-fi elements. Possible content warning for animal abuse/testing in episode 3, and deaths throughout. End of episode 2 is also potentially disturbing. 

[Website] [Soundcloud] and in iTunes store.

The Message: 8 episodes, ~15 min each with a 30 min finale. A message from space needs to be translated, and our main character Nicky is podcasting the whole time. Obviously very sci-fi. Diverse cast, including a non-binary person! It’s pretty intense, and because the narrator talks directly to you which includes warnings it could be a little distressing but it’s 100% fictional. Content warning for hospital situations and characters on their deathbeds.

[Website] and in iTunes store.

Life After: 10 episodes, ~30 mins each. This is made by the same team as The Message. Ross works for the FBI, and has lost his wife recently. He’s obsessed with listening to audioposts that she made on a audio-social media site. Content warning for cults and hacking.

Available in iTunes store.

Steal the Stars: Currently airing, as of Aug 2017 they have 4 episodes out. It’s about government officials who are guarding and studying an alien who crash landed on earth years ago. There’s also a love story.

[Website] and available in iTunes store.

The Truth: Every episode is different! Often very dark, but some are more light hearted. Very very visual. My favourites include Starbursts, The One about the Dead Dog, and It’s Your Funeral (Pt1 & Pt 2).

[Website] [Soundcloud] and in iTunes store.

D&D Podcasts

Okay just hear me out before you scroll past this section. I have never played dungeons and dragons in my life, I’m not even a fan of fantasy. But I really love these podcasts. It takes time to understand the rules, but it’s so worth it. The stories told are so original cuz everything can change by the role of a dice, and the characters have free will and don’t have to listen to the narrator. The people in these podcasts are so passionate too. But if you are sure that it’s not your cup of tea then you can move on now.

The Adventure Zone: 3 brothers play D&D with their dad. They’ve just finished their first Campaign as of Aug 2017, so you’ll have a completed story if you start now. There’s 69 episodes, each around an hour or so long, so it’s a lot of content to get through. They’re goofy as all hell. It takes some time to recognise the voices if you don’t know the McElroy brothers (they make other podcasts I mention later). Merle is a dwarf cleric (essentially a priest), Magnus is a human fighter, and Taako is an elven wizard. The Dungeon Master (DM, person who tells the story of the world and plays all the non-main characters) is super talented, lots of great voices. The fantasy in this is very non-traditional, so not like medieval britain, so there’s things like trains and space travel and a costco. Hilarious, very original, and emotional. Also the music is sooo good here’s the soundcloud for just the music. also there’s a pretty active fandom if that’s important to you.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Sneak Attack!: 4 player game with 5 friends (including a married couple). As of Aug 2017 they have over 100 episodes, and bonus eps, all about an hour long. Sherwood is a gnome druid (basically a forest wizard) who is antisocial to everyone but animals and plants. Greaek is a dwarf fighter who introduces himself to everyone he meets he’s a good boy. Brenna is a half-elf bard (musician) who plays the banjo and bagpipes and gets into lots of arguments with Greaek, who is her irl husband. She’s the voice of reason in the group. Akio is a human wizard who dreams of owning a noodle shop, and owns a chicken named Alfredo. Also he’s a necromancer. The DM is amazing, and the whole group is just really nice and wholesome? 

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Science & Culture

Radiolab: Beautifully edited, usually about science/tech but mostly about telling a good story. Most episodes are about 40 mins to an hour, and there’s also shorter mini episodes. Good episodes to start with is Colors, Laughter, and Escape!. My favourites include What’s Up, Doc?, The Living Room (content warning for death and illness), Debateable, On the Edge, and Cities.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Reply All: Podcast about “the internet”, but it’s much more than that. Their content is all over the place. Episodes are typically 35 mins long, with the occasional longer ep. This is a podcast I would start from the beginning to get used to the format. Today’s The Day and Hello? are two of my favourite audio pieces ever, they make me so emotional, but I don’t think you’ll get this feeling unless you’ve listened to their ‘normal’ podcasts and gotten to know the hosts. This podcast is very good about content warnings for episodes, both at the start and when they’re about to discuss the content.

[Website] [Soundcloud] and in iTunes Store.

Flash Forward: Used to be called Meanwhile in the Future. Each episode focuses on a possible or not-so-possible future, first starting with a dramatisation of what that future would be like (usually news report kinda stuff), and then an in depth discussion with real experts about how possible that future is. In the first season the episodes were about 15 mins but now they’re up to 40 mins long. A good place to start with would be from the start! All the episodes are great in my opinion, but for examples of the range of topics discussed, you can try Sunward Bound and Don’t Lie to Me.

[Website] [Soundcloud] and in iTunes Store.

Imaginary Worlds: About fictional universes and our relationship to them. Episodes usually between 20-30 mins, and often topical to a recent event. My favourites are The Year Without a Summer (about Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, and volcanoes), Rolling the Twenty Sided Dice (about D&D, would highly recommend if you are unsure about the aforementioned D&D podcast), and In Defence of Captain Hook (about Peter Pan, the last 5 mins of this podcast is amazing).

[Website] [Soundcloud] and in iTunes Store.

Invisibilia: This podcast is about human behaviour/psychology. Episodes are an hour long. I would recommend The Personality Myth to start (but also starting at episode 1 is good). They are usually good about content warning but obviously they often talk about mental health so do with that what you want. As of August 2017 they have just finished their 3rd season.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

This American Life: The most annoying thing about this podcast is there’s only ever the last 4 episodes they’ve aired available at a time, but you can “save” the episode you like on iTunes. It’s about american culture and stories and stuff, sometimes a little hit or miss for me but I’m also not American but there’s still a lot of great episodes. The episode that just came out in August 2017 “We are in the Future” is Amazing, about afrofuturism.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Sawbones: This podcast describes itself as “a marital tour of misguided medicine”. Dr. Sydnee and Justin (not a Dr.) McElroy talk about the history of medicine and all the weird stuff we did in the past to try to cure people. Sydnee has the most knowledge in this pair and Justin is mostly there to ask questions and make jokes. Very fun tone throughout usually but obviously they take time to talk about more serious stuff. My favourite thing about it is just how much this couple love each other.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Oh No Ross and Carrie: Two friends go out to investigate fringe-science stuff so you don’t have to. They have joined cults including Scientology, have their pets get psychic readings, and try juice cleanses and soylent. I’d recommend any episode that covers something that you’re interested in! Episodes are typically 40-60 mins.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Comedy

My Brother My Brother and Me (MBMBAM): The same 3 brothers from the Adventure Zone. Justin, Travis, and Griffin have been making this podcast since 2010 and they give “advice” but mostly just laugh at their own jokes. They answer a lot of Yahoo questions, you know the type. Here’s a taster for their type of humor. They also have a new TV show, and the first episode is available for free, which can help you put a face to the name/voice. They’re never rude or mean but can be very dirty boys so don’t listen w/out headphones. Also probably in public with headphones cuz u will laugh out loud for SURE.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Dynamic Banter: Two dudes talk who also mostly just laugh at their own jokes. They like movies a lot. Here’s a 8 min clip where they talk about alternate titles for Tom Hanks’s classic film Big. Episodes are usually about an hour long. 

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

It Feels Like the First Time: Three guys are watching Lost, the 2004-2010 TV show about people who crashes on a ~weird island~. If were planning to watch/rewatch Lost and want to listen to more than 1 hour of three guys making jokes about the show then you should listen to this podcast. As of August 2017 they’re halfway through the final season, so there’s plenty of content for you to catch up on. This podcast comes out weekly and talk about 2 episodes of the show at a time. 

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

The Mortified Podcast: People read their childhood/teenage diaries outloud in front of a crowd. It’s embarrassing and cringe-y and hilarious and relatable and will make you more empathetic to your younger self and the kids and teens in your life because it’s hard out there. Episodes are about 25-35 mins long, usually featuring 2 different diary reads on a similar topic, like Prom or Summer Vacation.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Miscellaneous 

Terrible, Thanks for Asking: Nora McInerny is the host of this podcast. It’s about how terrible things are sometimes in life. Nora and guests just talk about the horrible things that have happened to them, like death of loved ones, abuse, mental illness, etc. Obviously, it’s not a casual, feel good listen, it is not for everyone and I would advise some people to not listen to this ever, but it’s emotional and raw and important. The episodes are 40ish minutes long.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Nancy: This is a relatively new podcast, as of August 2017 there are 19 episodes. It’s about the LGBTQ+ community and issues, hosted by Kathy Tu and Tobin Low. The first episode, for example, is about Kathy’s coming out story, and how she needs to constantly come out to her mother who isn’t listening to her. These two hosts are really fun, and so are their guests, and i’m sure that LGBTQ+ listeners will relate to their conversations.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Strangers: Podcast host Lea Thau tells stories about strangers. Or at least they’re strangers to you. It’s not as depressing as “Terrible Thanks for Asking”... usually. Episodes are anywhere between 20 and 50 minutes. Her “Love Hurts” series might be a good place to start, although it isn’t her typical episode structure, but it’s all about her interviewing exes about why they didn’t work out. This podcast is usually good about content warnings.

[Website] [Soundcloud] and in iTunes Store.

Mystery Show: Podcast host Starlee Kine solves weird mysteries like what is Jake Gyllenhaal’s real height, or a video rental store that disappeared in 1 day, or the owner of a really really cool belt buckle found on the ground years ago. There’s only 6 episodes, and there won’t be more. They’re between 25 and 70 minutes long.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

Harry Potter and the Sacred Text: The tagline for this is “What if we read the books we love as if they were sacred texts?”. Hosts Vanessa Zoltan and Casper ter Kuile discuss one chapter of Harry Potter per episode, and analyse it using techniques usually reserved for religious texts. The hosts are Religious and Divinity scholars. Episodes are half an hour long, and as of June 2017 they are about halfway through the Prisoner of Azkaban.

[Website] and in iTunes Store.

[doctordouzan-blog]

An Intro to Roleplaying: Douzan’s Advice

Good day, everyone! For the sake of convenience, we’ll pretend this post was written by Douzan, even though it was actually written by his Scholar, a nameless face behind a computer. (Kayla. My name is Kayla. Pleasure to meet you!) I understand that it can be difficult to seperate the IC from the OOC, even off-stage such as this, but I am sure we’ll manage. I shudder to think that I may accidentally godmod because of this post, but one can only carry on and hope that no retcons are required, a dastardly thought. Did any of those bolded terms confuse you? If so, that is precisely why I am making this post. I’ve been roleplaying for around 15 years now, and over that time, I’ve gained what I feel like could be some valuable insight* for newer players.  *Please note that I am not suggesting I am perfect. I still have quite a bit to learn, and every day I learn more.  Today, I’ll be writing a glossary of sorts of terms I’ve come across while role-playing that can be valuable for those who are just learning. Feel free to share this, and of course, send me Asks on any additional questions you might have, I’d love to answer them.  I should also note that a lot of these terms have changed and shifted since I started RPing. For example, OP/Godmoding/Power-playing have all been lumped into one definition nowadays, whereas I knew them all as separate terms. For the sake of convenience, I will be using the terms I am familiar with, but I HAVE cross-referenced a few terms with a couple of popular RP definition sites, and am aware of some of the changes. RP: Stands for “Roleplay”. I.. Must I really describe this term? You should know! Very well then. It is pronounced “ahr-pee”.  Roleplaying is acting as a character that is not you yourself. An RPer interacts with other RPers around the world to write out scenes from their favorite books, movies, animes, shows, games, comics, etc., or even original material. This can be done over text on mediums such as Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Proboards, AIM, Skype, text messages; or even through IRL interactions such as LARPing. It can be compared to acting on stage on a theater, except there is no script. The RPers build the story as they go, instead of following a script. RPing: Stands for “Roleplaying”. The act of participating in a roleplay. RPer: Stands for “Roleplayer”. Someone who participates in a roleplay. LARP: Stands for “Live-Action Roleplay”. It is pronounced as “lahrp”. An RP that takes place IRL, usually with props, costumes, etc. Obviously not necessary on Twitter, but since it comes up sometimes, figured I’d define it for you. LARPing: Stands for “Live-Action Roleplaying”. The act of participating in a LARP. LARPer: Stands for “Live-Action Roleplayer”. Someone who participates in LARP. IRL: Stands for “In Real Life”. Used to describe events that happen in reality, and not online. IC: Stands for “In Character”. This is the term used for when you are playing your character true to the personality, usually in events that can be considered canon to your story or growth.  OOC: Stands for “Out of Character”. This is used to describe when the person behind the account speaks instead, sometimes as commentary, sometimes to discuss direction for a scene, sometimes because you just fuckin’ feel like it. Often it is symbolized by: (( Speech )), ( words ), [ text ], #OOC more text.  Off-stage: A fun little term used in some RP circles to describe when RPers play their characters in an OOC setting, but IC. This is usually done as a joke and is often used to blow off steam or have fun. It is rarely, if ever, considered canon.  Canon: Something that is true to the universe. Some examples of canon events: Captain America underwent a super soldier program in Marvel; Yukimura accidentally felt up the MC in SLBP; Kari was the eighth child found in Digimon; Doctor Douzan was friends with the MC’s father in SLBP.  AU: Stands for “Alternate Universe”. RP is usually considered an AU as players create their own events that are not canon to the universe they take place in. Canon Characters: Characters that exist already within the universe. Examples include: Wolverine (X-Men), Doctor Douzan (SLBP), Ripley (Alien), Ash Ketchum (Pokemon), Sam Winchester (Supernatural), Evie Frye (Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate), Princess Zelda (Legend of Zelda). These characters are often played by RPers who attempt to portray the character as close to the canon material as possible, even when in AU events.  Custom Characters: Characters that have been created to interact with the canon characters of that universe, but are not actually apart of the canon events. Check out the links at the top of my page: Bio: The Merchant, Bio: Mirakire, Bio: Masami; for examples of custom characters. (More will be added soon.)  Cameo/Face-Claim: The act of choosing an unrelated character’s image to portray a custom character. Example: I use Arsene Lupin from Code Realize: Guardian of Rebirth for Hajime’s cameo. (Please check out the bios at the top of my blog for more examples.) NPC: Stands for “Non-Playable Character”. A gaming term used to describe sprites/characters in games that the player cannot control, it is used in RP to describe inconsequential characters that are not necessary for long term. Examples include: The merchant your character interacts with in one post to buy bread; Bandits that attack your character while on the road; Templar soldiers who attack your Assassin character but are dispatched quickly; A random opponent in a children’s card game that your character is watching another character duel against. These characters are hardly ever played for real and are usually just there to set a scene or fill a necessity for a few posts. Scholar/Player/Mun: Slang terms for RPer. While many RPers on Tumblr and Twitter use ‘mun’, I’m old-fashioned and stick with Scholar/Player, as I feel it makes more sense. Plus, I’m old. (Plus the word ‘mun’ is to me like ‘moist’ is to others. I just can’t stand it.)   Ship/Shipping: Favoring a set (or more for polygamous pairings, as is common in settings like Sengoku) of characters for a romantic relationship.  Smut/ERP: Erotic RP. If you are under 18, please do not participate in erotic RP. It involves sex, and if someone is caught ERPing/Smutting with you, it can have grave consequences with them. Please do not participate in these unless you are old enough. Seriously. You are playing with people’s lives. People can go to jail for that shit.  FTB: Stands for “Fade-to-Black”. Often in television shows, comics, movies, etc., when an erotic scene was occuring, the camera would pan away, or the panel would turn dark, to avoid showing anything truly erotic. Performing a ‘FTB’ is required on public platforms such as Tumblr, Twitter, and Proboards, as it is against their terms of service to display openly sexual acts/sexy things like that shit there. It is also respectful to the other RPers, who may not want to see that sort of action on their feed. FTBs are usually picked up and continued in DMs/PMs.  DMs/PMs: Stands for “Direct Messages” and “Private Messages” respectfully. This is sending a message only to one party, or to a specific group, instead of remaining public. Used for casual conversations, discussing plots and spoilers, ERP/Smut, and more.  Public Feed: Everyone can see it, nothing is hidden, all is forgiven. (Except not.) So those are some of your basic terms. Every medium has their own set of special terms. Tumblr, for example, also has Magic Anons, Autoplay, Drabbles, One-Line. Proboards has One-Line, Admin, Mod. A lot of platforms have crossover terms as well, but we won’t be getting into all of them.  We will, however, get into some important terms: The bad ones.  Mary Sue/Gary Stu: A character that is perfect. They are good at everything. They are beautiful, smart, talented, flawless. They have powers, abilities or skills that normally are limited to canon characters. They claim that canon characters are attracted to them. They usually have a convoluted storyline that involves a relationship to a canon character that is not plausible. They rarely ever have character growth, never have real flaws, and are honestly some of the most boring pieces of shit ever. They are a virus, a plague and must be stamped out.  Self-Insertion: Creating a character solely to insert one’s self into the RP. Instead of creating a new character with their own ups and downs, the RPer creates a character that is a mirror image of their own self and tries to live vicariously through them. OP*: Stands for “overpowered”. An OP character is one who is far too strong for the situation, or for the type of character. It is a lesser version of godmoding, but is just as annoying, as these characters are nearly impossible to beat or best in a fight, and will go out of their way to ensure they can never be beaten.  Power-Play: The act of controlling another person’s character. A lesser version of godmoding, but still fucking annoying. A power-player will write the actions of another character outside of their control. This is often done accidentally by new players who are used to writing their own short stories, or have little experience in RPing. If an RPer is power-playing, a gentle reminder or request to stop writing your characters action is usually all it takes to end it. There are many players who don’t realize that writing actions for you is considered disrespectful and rude. Try to be gentle when correcting them. Unless they start godmoding. In which case, call that shit out. Godmoding: A character who’s powers are nearly impossible to limit. These are characters who claim they are invulnerable, impervious, impossible to destroy. They override other characters abilities or nullify them without the consent of another player. They fucking suck. Don’t be this douchebag. *OP can also be used for “Original Poster”, or the person who started the RP.  Roleplaying a great activity that can bring people together, as well as improving literacy and creative thinking for all those involved. It encourages teamwork, as you must trust your fellow RPers to come up with their own ideas and aid with your plots while you push forward with theirs. For novelists such as myself, RPing is a way to explore new characters in new settings and expand our knowledge of how different types of characters, personalities, and events can play out, leading to more realistic and believable writing.  RPing can also be therapeutic, as it can allow people to face issues they could not have faced on their own. Someone who suffers from a traumatic event can use a character in an RP to come to terms with those emotions, while many who suffer depression and anxiety use RP as a way to de-stress and cope with their problems.  RPing however, can also be addictive. It is an interactive story that is always changing, a constant new mystery around every corner. If you choose to RP, please be mindful that all your fellow RPers are real people with real lives, and that your life, your health, your work, come first. RPing is fun, but it is not a priority. If something in your life is beginning to suffer, such as your marriage, your work, your friendships, then it may be time to step back from the RP scene and focus on your life once more.  Got more questions, more terms you would like to see me define in my own uniquely Douzan way? Drop me a line here. I’ve decided to share some of my own stories about RPing, to share some life lessons. Coming up are:  -”The Gundam Regret” -”Kuroda, Tsunade, and the Best Boyfriend Ever (Not.)” -”When Your Demon from Dragon Age is Ivy from Soul Calibur (Wiki Edition!)” -”All My Characters are Besties and Text All The Time!” -”*Giggle* *Laughs* *Snorts* *Giggles* *Chuckles* *Laughs softly* (...What am I Replying to?!)” -”I Got Out of Hell and Turned Super Saiyajin! (All By Myself!)” -And many more!  If you’re interested in seeing one of these stories first, drop me a line here or Twit at me on Tweeter. Otherwise I’ll pick one at random and write about that next.  Until next time, drink your tea and don’t ask me medical questions!