#also for people who've tagged me in other things i'll get to them i'm just slow

[dduane]

BTW… re: Smut

... off my comment to this post the other day...

I'm an entertainer. Writing's a form of entertainment. (And not just for the readership: for me, too.) To be aroused by art one's experienced is (almost by definition) to be entertained, I'd say. If someone's jerking off to my erotica, then all I can do is lean back in the typing chair, smile a bit, and think, Good! I got the job done. :)

(...with the tags: #and no I'm not going to let on where the smut is#why would i deny anyone the delights of the search#and of being repeatedly mistaken#while possibly finding smut writers who're better at it than i am#:) ...)

...and then noting (with affectionate amusement) some responses:

Well, troops, better get busy filling in that bingo box. 😄

Also: I have to say (while stressing that I absolutely appreciate the humor behind "shocked, shocked, scandalized...") that the dissonance is, temporally speaking, a bit ill-founded. Because while I may be best known for the Young Wizards works these days... by no means did they come first. This did.

A soft chuckle in the darkness. “Lorn, remember that first time we shared at your place?” “That was a long time ago.” “It seems that way.” “—and my father yelled up the stairs, ‘What are you dooooooooing?’ “—and you yelled back, ‘We’re fuckinnnnnnnnnnng!’” “—and it was quiet for so long—” “—and then he started laughing—” “Yeah.”

Granted, from the here-and-now POV of readers with access to the hot-'n'-spicy shipfic or PWP on AO3, this sort of thing (and the numerous other lights-often-off or dialogue-only sexytiems passages in the traditionally published Middle Kingdoms works) would be seen as pretty small beer: soft, non-edgy stuff. Yet in 1979 apparently there were those who found the sex and sexualities on display in The Door Into Fire arresting enough that the book got me nominated for the Astounding Award (for best new author in the field) two years in a row.

There's no question that the broadly inclusive tone set by the Middle Kingdoms books went on to affect and underlie the YW universe in very basic ways. (There've been some scholarly works written by academics who've picked up on this, so [much to my relief] this perception hasn't been just me imagining it.) But I'll grant you that those who don't know the MK novels wouldn't be in a position to make the connection. (shrug) This is just one of those things that comes of having a lot of fragmented readerships who don't know about each other... a side effect of having done a lot of different things during a career. I can also understand how not knowing about the MK works could leave people who know me only, or primarily, as someone writing for a younger readership, a little bit disoriented (or maybe concerned) when the issue of me writing openly sexual material rears its head. But that wouldn’t be a change of direction. It’d be, to some extent, more a return to form.

Anyway: I consider erotica—and its more casually-dressed (or undressed...) cousin, smut—to be perfectly legit forms of literary expression; ones that can soar to unexpected heights if you're willing to put in the work. The sexy-stuff-writing muscle requires periodic exercise if it's to remain viable and/or useful. So I exercise it. And being a 70-year-old person who sometimes creaks audibly when she walks has done absolutely nothing to decrease my interest in the subject—the brain being, after all, the biggest sex organ, and the one least vulnerable to the depredations of time. If anything, nearly fifty years of experience (and three and a half decades of marriage to @petermorwood) have added... let's just say nuance. 😏

Now this whole concept will doubtless horrify some of the "Eww, You're Too Old To Be Writing This Kind Of Thing, Go Get A (Home) Life" types. To which all I can say is, "...Well, good!" By and large, such folks are not my readers anyway. And as for any of them who are, and can't deal…? They need to understand that (pointing off to one side) those people over there—the various kinda-straight and pansexual and bisexual humans, and the gender-fluid fire elemental, and the otherly-gendered Dragon, and the mostly-gay ones enthusiastically shouting "We're fuckinnnng!" down the stairs—are Nita's and Kit's godparents. Without the members of that extremely mixed marriage and their increasingly extended family, there might be no Young Wizards series... not least because it was the splash made by the first of the Middle Kingdoms books that got the Errantryverse crowd in through a major publisher's door. And the series’s continued (modest but still noticeable) success through the second and third volumes kept the writing of new YW books going for a good long while.

...So. For those who may have had questions: HTH. 😀

(And now back to the unending search for a more graceful synonym for “testicles”.)

[rwbyrg]

How do you stay positive seeing all the negativity we get for shipping this?

I don't typically talk about discourse, but I know this is something pretty much every RG shipper has faced at some point. So I'll make an exception this once. For anyone that doesn't want to hear about it, I strongly encourage you to keep scrolling.

I'm gonna keep it brief(ish) and vague, but content warning for topics of mental health, abuse, general fandom toxicity and ship discourse.

The short answer is that I've had to completely remove myself from large fandom spaces. I left Twitter last fall, I'm not in any big Discords, and I never check the fandom Reddits. I block bullies, bystanders, and bad faith arguers liberally. I mute words and phrases I don't wish to see, I don't engage with the bad faith takes, and I don't go looking in tags much either.

I surround myself with a small group of friends that I enjoy spending time with and can trust. So I still have outlets to be able to geek out without risk of dealing with the wider community's negativity. This blog was also created as a safe outlet to ramble, join together, or spread positivity about the ship. I know how rough it is for us out there - in the RWBY fandom as a whole, as well as within our own RG shipping spaces. So since I can't be an impartial community leader that helps run events or bigger spaces for us like I used to, this is kind of all I have left to offer.

The slightly longer addition that got way out of hand:

I'm not going to say it's not lonely. That I don't miss being part of a more active, wider group of people that we should have every right to join. But despite how hard some of us tried, there was nothing we could do to change the toxicity that is so deeply rooted at the core of this fandom. The fact that I even tried as hard as I did was 1. a trauma response and 2. just ended up with me - and too many of my friends - getting hurt anyway. I can't regret it because it's how I made the friends that are so dear to me now. But none of us should have had to deal with the cyberbullying, harassment, dog-piling, backstabbing, suibaiting, or any of that other garbage to find the group we have today.

It's extremely fucked up. There's no way to sugar coat it. All of it is abuse and is genuinely traumatizing to many people. I am not using these as buzzwords either. Myself and a handful of my rg shipping friends have literally gone to therapy to help us heal from all the things we've experienced in this fandom. So I have it on the authority of multiple psychiatrists, therapists, and social workers that what I am saying here is true.

Rosegarden and its shippers have become the scapegoat of a toxic community. There are big name fans who've staked their entire platforms on the idea of a rival ship being canon. And so, when they see any of us suggesting a Very Likely alternative to their reality (even if we're minding our own business), they become violent and go out of their way to try and defend it. There are entire servers and friend groups built on bullying this ship and its shippers for similar reasons. Anyone that argues against them, no matter how valid their stance, or how articulately its delivered, is going to become a target. Because we are seen as a threat to a system they directly benefit from. If any of them were to acknowledge how unreasonable or ridiculous all of this is, what would that mean for the circumstances and relationships they've built for themselves? It would all fall apart, wouldn't it?

This is why we also see fellow RG shippers invalidating or blaming us for what we go through. Because some of them have become convinced that if they side with the bullies and paint themselves as "not like those shippers", then they'll be "safe". Which as we all know isn't true. Because the antis attack each other for the smallest offences that don't have anything to do with us anyway.

The RWBY fandom is not alone in struggling with this. Fandoms everywhere are seeing these same patterns play out in different ways. A lot of people without as many stakes in the arguments will often scoff or dismiss it on the basis of it being "so serious, when it's just about fictional characters". And to that, I say: bullshit.

First of all, the people on the other side of the screen dealing with all of this are Real People with Real Feelings and their own lives that are already hard enough as it it. And these sorts of environments, as previously mentioned, can and do cause severe harm. Second, none of this hate has anything to do with fictional characters. That is part of the reason why I am still able to enjoy this ship and this show despite everything I've been through here. Because the fictional characters are simply the means to an end. And while that end is different for everyone, for the bullies - by and large - it offers them power in the face of their insecurities.

The only reason this space is as toxic as it is, is because the loudest voices are often the most emotionally immature. All the reasonable people see the infighting going on and know that engaging with it is a pointless waste of energy. As someone that did try to fight it, I truly don't blame any of them for staying uninvolved. But power comes in numbers; so until a large enough group of the reasonable ones come forward, this fandom will only continue on the course it's headed.

I rambled a lot and I'm not even sure how much of this is relevant to your question. If i were to give a tl;dr to answer you, it is this:

You need to curate your own experience by setting boundaries for yourself that cannot easily be crossed by people or content that is going to upset you.

Recognizing the reason people behave the way they do towards all of this has very little, if anything, to do with the show, the ship itself, or the people shipping it is very liberating.

Don't be like how I was. Don't try and force it when it isn't working. If you are in an environment or a habit that you are getting more harm than joy from: leave. It doesn't always feel like it in the moment, but it is better to be alone than to be surrounded by people who suck. And when you shed the ones that don't treat you well, you open yourself up to more like-minded people that will want to be friends with you anyway.

I say this genuinely with only love and support in my heart, but: touch grass. As often as you can, as often as you need to: get offline. Read a book, engage in other hobbies, connect with people in real life, go for a walk or just get outside if you can. When you start connecting with the reality on your side of the screen more, it puts how pointless and absurd so much of this discourse really is into perspective. Moderation is key.

I'm sorry that all of the negativity has got you down. No one wants to acknowledge how much this sort of thing can affect our well being, but I know first hand how bad it can get. None of it is fair. The feelings you're having are valid and aren't anything to be ashamed about. If you have friends or family you can rely on for support, reach out to them when you need it. If you're in a place where you think the help you need is a bit more specialized, you have my support and encouragement in making the call or doing the research to get started. Therapy isn't accessible and doesn't always work for everyone, but it's not the only option. Before I could afford it, I micro-dosed by reading self-help books and following therapists on Instagram, lol.

I'm not sure what else I can say, and have said more than I meant to anyway. But hang in there, you're not alone, and take care of yourself, okay?💕🫂

[howlsmovinglibrary]

You mentioned in the tags of a recent post what you’d change about Funny Story to make it a different book. Would you mind elaborating on what you meant by that? I’m curious!

hey anon, thank you for being a massive enabler bc this has in fact been my special topic for the last 48hrs.

I want to state off the bat that I still gave this book 4.75 stars. I really, really enjoyed it. That being said, I'd literally rewrite the entire thing to get it to 5.

Answer under the cut to avoid spoilers! (also shout out to @eldritchcow bc these ideas are not formed alone but through a series of ranting voice notes lmfao)

The premise of Funny Story is that two exes move in with each other after their partners run away together - the main character, Daphne, has her wedding cancelled as a result, and Miles, the love interest, also gets a pretty crap deal bc his girlfriend literally breaks up with him via A NOTE ON THE KITCHEN COUNTERTOP, before running off on holiday with another man (after they hook up AT HIS BACHELOR PARTY. DAPHNE AND MILES DESERVED TO DO VIOLENCE). Miles and Daphne move in together, a series of circumstances means that Daphne tells her ex they are now dating, and that Miles will be her plus to the NEW WEDDING that they have been INVITED TO.

Personally, I think this - two exes move in, fake date, develop feelings - is such a juicy set up for a novel, that it could carry the whole plot. But at about the halfway mark, a bunch of other stuff - family drama, friendship drama - is bought in for the third act conflict. The exes and all their drama fades to the background, and its no longer about this Very Juicy Set Up, which I think is a shame. I think that the premise could've carried the entire plot and that there was no need to bring in additional conflict... except that Emily Henry is known for adding conflicts outside of romance to her novels (creating well-rounded, 'feminist' characters - I'm not being mean, that is just the perception of it and what she is known for) and that this is thus more brand appropriate. By the same logic, it is 'less feminist' of me to argue that the book should've been more about the romance.

But it should've been more about the romance.

If I rewrote/re-edited this book, I would do the following.

Make Daphne and Miles be messier people. These two characters behave like FUCKING SAINTS, while their exes are awfully and affably evil. I've had multiple friends say that Daphne should've hit Peter (her ex) with a car. I don't necessarily think that would've been the way, but I think she should've made much more spiteful decisions. I think Henry is very concerned in stressing that these are Two Very Goody and Utterly Blameless main characters, but I think they should've gotten a little spite as a treat, actually.

And the spite they should've gotten as a treat is - fucking each other.

As is the way with romance books, there are certain 'acceptable thresholds' for smut/romance scenes. So I get it, I really do. But Daphne and Miles only bang once it's a healthy decision... and I'll be honest, it would've been sexier if they had had sex in an unhealthy place. (for the people who've read the book: kiss at the drunk night out with Gil, sex at the truck or before the truck, then Sex With Real Feelings at the point where they actually have sex)

If they had had sex out of spite/petty revenge first, then the entire plot of the book could've been around 'catching feelings' and this would still have been a totally valid character arc. I would've liked to have seen more questionable decisions that are still somewhat about the exes - more of the 'are we doing this for them or for ourselves?' conflict which is microdosed at the midway point - and then feelings developing, and then making the 'no I actually really like you so we can't do this for the wrong reasons anymore' be the final sex scene before the third act conflict

Two things would be vastly improved by this change: 1. a weird scene where Miles sees Daphne in her former wedding dress, and they really should've fucked? but they don't? because that would be the tiniest bit weird??? (like, slightly weird and messy, in such the smallest way, but I think it was sanitised down for that reason) 2. the fact that their exes break up and call-off their wedding off screen. Have them break up at the rehearsal dinner that Miles/Daphne are attending, actually. Then you have your third act conflict.

The third act conflict of Funny Story is insane, convoluted, and unrelated to the story, IMO. Is it still well written? YES. Emily Henry, you will always be famous. But my favourite parts of it were 1. both Miles and Daphne get caught in their exes' orbit as they break up, and this causes them both to doubt their relationship (shout out to Miles having such low self esteem that he automatically thinks they're back together, I understand you king) 2. Daphne fucks up a promise she made to a friend (but bc she's not allowed to be a bad person - see the first point - it's for totally understandable reasons), leading her to wonder if she's just become part of another couple, where she's swapped one man and his house for another man, and his house. I personally think that these VERY MINOR FOOTNOTES in what is ACTUALLY the third act conflict... are a third act conflict in and of themselves. And... if we go back to what I said about Emily Henry being known for Feminism™, the second part of that is a totally valid trope/feminist critique to dig into in depth that would, if given time to breathe, be 'on brand'.

In this book, Miles drives 2hrs to try and get Daphne's shitty dad to come back to her. Where is this energy, for Peter? I think, Miles should've punched Peter, as a treat. And Petra should've had more scenes, so that she actually had a personality beyond 'being hot'.

I think we should've had a messy wedding scene. Daphne and Miles are each others plus ones, but they never get to attend bc the wedding is called off. But that wedding?!!! or that rehearsal dinner?!!! IS THAT NOT THE STUFF THAT THIRD AT CONFLICTS DREAM OF???

TLDR - I think Funny Story should've had more sex, and been more about the romance premise and the kind of fucked up, messy choices and weird feelings that premise engendered. I think the third act should've been connected to pre-existing conflicts, instead of creating new ones. I think Miles and Daphne could've had a little revenge, as a treat. They should've allowed to be sexy and weird about it.

[bills-pokedex]

To whom it may concern (Bebe and Cassius):

I'm sure we'll all well aware of the current event surrounding a certain Unovan(?) entrepreneur who stylizes himself as a genius. It is therefore unnecessary to show me news about his latest "innovative endeavors" for the express purpose of "watching [me], an inventor, age about ten years every time."

So to get it out of the way for the thirteenth and hopefully final time:

Yes, I'm aware.

No, I don't know how he got a stainless steel tank, a rocket cobbled together from spare parts, a self-driving car that occasionally ignites into a ball of flames while trapping its driver in thanks to multiple design flaws, or the brain chip past an ethics committee.

Yes, I am "salty" that I made one mistake with one of my inventions, and now I'm constantly scrutinized by the Pokémon Cutting-Edge Technology Research Institute's ethics committee.

No, I do not want the brain chip.

Yes, I want to study the brain chip.

The fifth point is out of morbid curiosity as to how it got past an ethics committee, not respect.

Hopefully, this clears things up.

Best, Bill

-

{From the Mun:

I found this in the drafts, and I thought it would be hilarious to bring this out and tack on an update post while I'm at it.

But the biggest thing is, I'm . . . actually leaving Tumblr. Now, the main reason for that is my main got super borked up. I've been told by my followers over there it's not shadowbanning, but I'm pretty sure it's random-ass shadowbanning. I cannot receive asks, I can't tag people, I don't have DMs, and I don't show up in notes. As for why, I can't fathom. For the most part, I've kept my nose pretty clean on that account, other than that one time somebody in the writeblr community kinda lost it and tried to use a bunch of random people as a scapegoat for drama reasons. Yeah, idk.

Anyway, the point is, I've submitted a ticket a few months ago and then . . . never heard back. And honestly, for personal reasons, I'm not really inclined on remaking.

Personal reasons being I'm gunning for writing an actual book, as you might know from my last-ish post? Like, non-Pokémon book. Though I'll admit some bits might be familiar to those of you who've hung around the blog for a while. Here's a hint: take powerverse, gender swap it, role swap it, and then stick it into FFXIV and add more steampunk. It's been cooking for the past year you haven't seen me, and I'm aiming to start pitching it to agents by the end of the year. If you'd like to follow along, if you're also a writer who would like to make more writing friends, or if you just like my writing for some reason and want to keep up with me, you can find me at jaxwolffwrites on both Bluesky and Twitter. Bsky moreso, but you'll get progress on this project on either of those other platforms.

Now, I will say this: just to be fair, I'm doing three things:

Closing the askbox. Admittedly, if you've been sending me asks for the past three months, I haven't seen them anyway. Sooooo I probably should've done that ages ago. Sorry about that.

Answering any ask I've saved to the drafts. Any ask. Please note that I don't know if the borking I've described above extends to this blog as well, so Bill won't be replying to replies or reblogs/tags. Apologies for that in advance. There are 49 posts in the drafts, and these will come out fairly slowly as I continue to keep up with my writing schedule on the other project.

Leaving this blog up as an archive. Assuming Tumblr doesn't nuke the main and the backup account that was created in an effort to avoid total nuking, and assuming Tumblr doesn't nuke this blog itself, I really want to leave this up so you can enjoy this pretty much forever onward. You all are the reason why this blog has gone on for so long, and I want to preserve this blog as a thank you for following me for so long.

So yes, after I clear the drafts, you'll likely see one last farewell from Bill and Lanette, and then that will be that. To everyone who's followed, thank you so much for following and supporting this blog over the years. As many ups and downs as running this had, I still look back on every moment as one fun adventure.

So thank you, and take care.}

[mercurygray]

I've seen a couple of writers on my dash, new and old, getting discouraged about a drop in writing requests, or wondering why no one is sending them, or asking if they're doing something wrong because they feel they're being ignored.

I don't know if this helps at all, but it took a loooong time for me to get to a place where people send me prompts. I had to cultivate it and be intentional about it and I'm really lucky that now I've got a group of people who ask me things!

Firstly, the askbox is not always open. (I mean, it is, but it also ...isn't.) I'm always very specific about when I want requests, and I try to give some parameters, like a list, or a specific set of characters. I realized that as a reader and a friend when someone just said 'I need prompts!' my mind went blank and I didn't ever send anything. So I make a special post, and I give my guidelines, and a link to my character list, and I try to set expectations about what I will do and I won't do. When I do this, it helps me set up where my heart is in the moment, so that hopefully I'll get something in that moment that I really like. And it's like a little event! And people who know me and know my characters get excited!

The heart part is important. The love needs to be there, or otherwise it's just...noise.

I'm also not above asking my friends specifically for things! "Hey, I want to write X and Y today and I'm thinking about this AU. Can you help me? Here's a list." It's like a random generator with more oversight.

On a related note, I also had to give myself permission to say 'You know what, I don't think I can do anything with this' and delete some of them. It doesn't mean I value the person who sent it any less. This is a regular part of my guidelines.

I've been doing this for four years now, so regular followers to my blog now know exactly how this works but I also have a regular tag I use for this work, and there's this body of old work that new people can look at, too, to see what kind of writer I am. If I'm seeing someone new in a tag I track asking for prompts, I usually go to see what else they've written. Will I like their work? Is it easy to find things they've done before so I can see what they're like as a writer?

I also try to pay it forward as much as I can by sending requests to other people when they ask for prompts. I know that sometimes when I ask for requests, it's because I'm lonely, or I'm having a bad day, and maybe that's where that person is when they ask. I try to keep a running list of different writers and friends' characters. Maybe not all of them, but two or three that I know I've enjoyed reading before. It's a way to know your neighbors and your neighborhood.

And this is maybe going to be a spicy take, but - fandoms now seem to have life cycles, and the simple fact is that there is a sharp drop in interest after the show goes off the air. This is why cultivating community is more important than ever. The people who give me prompts are often friends who've come with me through several fandoms, not just my most recent one.

[ugh-yoongi]

who are some of the fic writers who've marked your experience on here? you don't have to tag, i'm just curious :-) btw if you have a rec blog we want innnn.

i had a rec blog. i wanted to be super organized and also include all the fic i've bookmarked & read on ao3 as well, but that amount of work seemed really overwhelming so i never did it. and then i never did anything with that blog at all, period, so i deleted it and just use my #fic rec tag here. :')

(def willing to share ao3 mxm recs tho if anyone wants any.)

the rest will probably get long and sappy and awful, so i'll put it under a cut.

@the-boy-meets-evil / @effortandmore / @hot-soop — the absolute best people i know. i am lucky to call them my friends. they are talented and endlessly supportive and patient and they only give me minimal shit when we see each other irl and it is not an exaggeration to say i would get nothing done if it weren't for them. i owe them so much. (going to add @bubbleteakittyy here too even tho she doesn't write bc she is also endlessly supportive and gives me minimal shit irl. love u.)

@yoongiphoria / @here2bbtstrash / @eoieopda / @sailoryooons / @gimmethatagustd / @monvante / @moni-logues / @here4kpopfics / @xjoonchildx / @axialitae / @jjkeverlast / @chryblossomjjk / @jimilter / @raplinesmoon / @beahae / @kithtaehyung / @theharrowing / @ladyartemesia (pretend you didn't see me sneak edit this bc i knew i would forget people and i know i still did after this too) @daechwitatamic / @quarter-life-crisis2 / @hoseokhasmyheartxx / @seokjinsonlyone — building a network here is hard and making friends is even harder, but these are all people i have interacted with in some way (sometimes a lot of ways and some more than others) that i appreciate endlessly and support always.

special shoutout to @ressjeon for real bc she was, like, the first person on tumblr to actually talk to me and put me in groupchats and help me make friends. :')

there are a lot of other writers on here whose work i adore but i feel weird tagging in smth like this just bc we aren't mutuals or don't talk that much or anything and i Overthink Things Like That.

another special shoutout to @jihopesjoint for being top 2 funniest people on this entire website and being the best even when i send her weird spongebob shit unprompted on discord.

finally, literally just anyone who has read my work. regardless of whether there was feedback or it was just a reblog, it still continues to blow my mind that i can write things and post them on the internet and there are people out there in the world that read it and sometimes even enjoy it. that's really weird and really cool and i'm not sure i'll ever really come to terms with it.

[bittsandpieces]

Where are some spaces to safely experiment with fauxcest?

My bed

Okay real answer is that you just gotta find people who share your kinks and start talking to them! Irl, I've found that the age play community is the most accepting, but depending on if you're also into harder kinks like hard impact/pain play and strict rules, you may also find a place in your more traditional old guard kink world!

Online, tags like #sibcest, #fauxcest, #siscon and #brocon are where you'll find people posting the most! I stay away from any realm of the "icky" tags, because I've found the level of age play and emphasis on coercion and rape to be, personally, deeply uncomfortable and triggering. But that's just me! Again, as long as it's safe, sane, and consensual (aka between consenting adults who are sober, of sound mind, and not hurting anyone aside from maybe each other in non-permanent ways), I do not judge. I might stay out of it, but I won't judge what gets people off! If that kind of dynamic sounds like something you want to play with, I believe the tags are things like #icky brother and the like

Personally, my realm for fauxcest is in fanfiction, and in the little community I've created on here! I've never done any roleplay in real life (never really told any of my partners about that particular interest tbh), only through sexting. As openly as I talk about it on here, it's still the kink that I have the most shame around. I'm working on deconstructing that, but its a long process that's made harder by the shame others project onto *me*. I'll get there, though! The support I've gotten on here, and the number of people who've told me I've awakened fauxcest kinks in them is a huge help towards destigmatizing it in my own brain, so thank you all for that 🩷

[torrentialstardust]

UMINEKO X DRAWTECTIVES: OGALVY AND MARIA, YORK AND BATTLER

I have much to say, so sorry in advance for the length!

I was rewatching some of Drawtectives before attending one of the NezumiVA Umineko streams and I thought it would be fun to cross the two over! They're both mystery "games" but with vastly different tones and settings.

The first drawings I sketched aren't even the ones finished here but I'm sure I'll get to them soon enough. The one I started lining first was Ogalvy and Maria, or specifically Piss Boy and Sakutaro! They're cuddlie~ I even had my own Piss Boy plush next to me while drawing fo reference! I think Maria just deserves good things and she'd be such good friends with Ogalvy, I had them doing drawings together. The outfit swap was also fun, though a little tricky with how cartoony Ogalvy is. Maria's clothes were a bit tricky to put on him, but I like the way it turned out! Also proud of the facial expressions, hope I got the right kind of "enthusiastic to the point where you don't even smile, you're just totally focused and excited".

York and Battler got compared to each other a while back so I thought they'd be good to draw together, and I love the idea of Battler being a goofy bi disaster. Not only that but given how him being tall is mentioned repeatedly, I wanted to bring in the energy I feel whenever I see someone taller than me. I basically just hardcore projected onto Battler is what I'm saying.

The outfit swap part was a lil tricky but still fun, since York has two key design traits: he keeps on his armband with his outfits and he can't wear sleeves. "The technology just doesn't exist". I took off the sleeves of Battler's outfit, but I still decided to swap the armband around, mainly because the part of York's arm it would go on was geometrically confusing and I didn't want to draw attention to that. The hair was also fun to swap. Battler looks like that one rando from Overwatch and I'm not sorry, but I'm not proud either. It does still look nice to me.

OK! That's the process explained! And now: a call to action.

Hey, peeps on the YouTube stream and on the Umineko tag: you should watch Drawtectives! It's a fun and silly mystery series! There is murder in it but it's still lighthearted for the most part, it's got charming characters, and season 3 is on the horizon! You could catch up pretty easily in time for it to start and have a gay ol time!

Hey, peeps on the Drawtectives tag waiting for season 3: you should read Umineko! It's an incredibly engaging and emotional mystery series! It's got a massive cast with lots of character depth and many puzzles to solve! It's on Steam (but please don't use the new sprites they made they're so much worse than the OG sprites, switch to them), a few other places too, and I'm pretty sure there's even a Kindle Port, but I've been enjoying the readthrough by the delightful NezumiVA!

We've got a really nice community of people who've read it before and people like us who don't know what's going on there. It is a bit longer than Drawtectives I'm afraid but it may not take too long to get caught up on the playlist. Nezumi's also pretty good at warning for the more sensitive content in the Novel which is always a big help. Only thing I'd watch out for is some gorey stuff toward the end of episode 2, which isn't even visually depicted.

OK! I think that's everything I needed to say! Comms open as per usual and have a lovely day!

[directactionforhope]

Go Here for Instructions on How to Submit Posts!

And go here for an example.

Submissions limit of 5 posts per person each week, please!

Otherwise, unfortunately, I'll get too overwhelmed by the submissions volume to post anything. Thank you for your understanding!

Me and the Basics

Call me Cactus! They/them, late twenties.

I'm the person who runs the Reasons for Hope tumblr.

This is a sideblog-to-a-sideblog for Reasons for Hope, because I want to promote actions and spread awareness for things that don't always fit on a good news blog specifically

For context: Queer, trans, disabled, white, USian, for context.

Let me know if I post something offensive, I promise I have practice fixing things when I mess up instead of lashing out at the person who told me. I don't want to post hurtful things, so I genuinely want to always learn more about how to not do that, even when it's uncomfortable.

This is all very long because I'm still incapable of being concise.

About This Blog

Made this blog because I keep wanting to reblog or post about actions people can take, but didn't want to put them on Reasons for Hope unless they were actually mostly good news.

As a person who's Been There with spiraling, I really get the need to have access to a space that you know will contain good news and ONLY good news, in this day and age.

Also made it because I have Opinions and want to talk about Issues and activism and I'm committed to not doing that on my good news blog unless it involves, again, actual good news.

So, follow if you want! I definitely invite people to send in actions (links to campaigns/petitions/major protests/letter writing campaigns/etc.) specifically as submissions. I'll put up a how-to and link it here at some point, bc I've learned from Reasons for Hope that if they're in ask format I won't usually have the time/energy to reformat that/make it into a post.

(Sorry to people who've sent asks in on there, you're great. I'll switch to a submissions-based attempted system there too once I get the chance. May be a minute, I'm about to start a new job(!!).

My Editorial Standards

My usual editorial standards from Reasons for Hope apply, modified for this sort of blog:

Any donation-related posts/submissions need to be from some kind of established organization. It can be super grassroots etc. but I need to be able to verify that it's not a scam.

For that reason, no personal fundraisers/gofundmes. I'm genuinely sorry about this because I know a lot of people need the help but like I say on Reasons for Hope, there's no way to truly vet the vast majority of those posts, and I really don't have the time to try.

I'll come up with some sort of tag to put on all the particularly upsetting/fucked content so people can filter it and just see the action posts. Preferably something unique so it doesn't screen out other people's posts if you want to filter

More below:

I'll also have a tag for any particularly upsetting/fucked informational/educational things I post, because I do want to help spread awareness about a number of things, some of which will be pretty upsetting.

That said, I'll try to keep those informational posts only to things that are solutions-focused and/or have an element of good news or hopeful updates, where possible.

I'll also keep most of those posts behind a read-more where possible.

For more info about why I'm including that stuff, see the bottom of this post.

I will not post any campaigns or actions for reelecting Joe Biden until either the genocide in Gaza ends, or until September 1, 2024 (the month early voting starts).

Why do I have that policy? Because Joe Biden is absolutely committing war crimes, but Donald Trump would still, in fact be worse, for the US in general, for BIPOC in the US in particular, and for Palestinians/Gaza. I made a post about this with more details that I'll link here at some point.

Everything is going to be labeled with the link's source, the organization running it, the date posted (if identifiable), and the dates of the campaign/campaign deadline.

Re: Posting bad news here

I've been thinking about starting this sideblog-to-a-sideblog for a while now, because there are a lot of actions/campaigns/etc. that I really wanted to help promote, but did not want to put on Reasons for Hope, because I'm trying really hard to keep that limited to actual, you know, reasons for hope.

That said, I will be including upsetting stuff here. It will have its own tag for people to filter if they only want to see the links to actions. But I am committed to including it.

More below the read more, because this got longwinded and a bit personal:

That's partly because there are a lot of issues that very people know about, and I believe a lot in the power of spreading knowledge/awareness.

It's also because of the reason I finally stopped pondering and decided to start this blog: I just found out tonight that my grandfather died young because of toxic radiation from a nuclear meltdown at a super dangerous and experimental nuclear reactor, which the US government covered up completely and continued operating for decades. Right next to Los Angeles. btw.

If you live in or near Simi Valley, Chatsworth, or the West San Fernando Valley, or your parents did, get high-risk-level-appropriate cancer screenings. And if you're in Simi or within like 5 miles of it...probably don't drink the tap water. Also maybe try to move. (Consulting with a public health scientist/activist friend about this, will report back.)

I was already anti-nuclear, including anti-nuclear power, because of the absolute devastation it's done, especially to Indigenous communities and Japanese civilians. I didn't want to get into it on Reasons for Hope because of the whole "urgency of climate change" thing. But suffice to say that being anti-nuclear just shot very far up my "activism priorities" list.

None of this, or any other horrific things I may post about, conflict with or ruin my faith in humanity. I've definitely been incredibly pessimistic and misanthropic in my life.

But I believe that, for all the bad and evil things humans do, there is equal or greater potential for good. I believe it's like they say: "Hurt people hurt people." That's not the case always, but it is very often. Now, for the first time in history, we have the physical ability to end starvation and scarcity and a lot of death and suffering. We're still getting there, though we still have a long way to go.

I believe in a future where we can all hurt each other (and the other life around us) far less. I believe in a future where we have beaten and reserved at climate change.

I want to live to see that future, and I want all of you to get the chance to see it with me.

[musewrangler]

20 Questions for Writers

Thank you so much for the tag @wendingways I'm FINALLY getting around to it. :D

How many works do you have on AO3?

132

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

2, 962, 169

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Star Wars, Hornblower, Narnia [just one]

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Mirjahaal

Bajur

He Who Sheds His Blood With Me

Forging Ahead

I Felt You In My Bones

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do as much as possible. I appreciate my readers making time to say something. It takes effort on their part and I want them to know I am grateful. Equally, I get lots of fun thoughts from my readers and it's delightful to interact with people. :D

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh definitely the fic I could never write. ;D By which I mean---there was a prompt somewhere that said 'the aftermath of a scene you'll never write'. So I knew immediately what that was and ripped my own heart out to write "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night". Literally, I was ugly crying the whole time. And it convinced me that nope, I can never do this in my 'real' fics if you will. xD

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hmmm. I am a girl who likes a happy ending. Granted, it's after kark tons of pain and suffering usually xD, but...

I think I'll land on the Dragon Speaker. I could name quite a few others, but I spent more time developing the happy aftermath so that's why I choose it.

8. Do you get hate on your fic?

I've said it before---I have some of the BEST readers. And I've had folks who've disagreed with some of my takes on character or plot, but they are welcome to do so if they are respectful and they are. It produces good conversation and perspective. I can think of one time I had someone actively unpleasant, but let's hear it for delete and block! :D

9. Do you write smut?

Nope.

10. Do you write crossovers?

No. It's just not my cup of tea.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of and I hope not. Obviously, a lot of us have similar ideas----writing is just like that. But I don't think anyone has taken my work directly. That kind of thing does get me riled up because I know the work all of us creators have done to make these stories. Don't do it, kids.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes I have and it's very fun! I have a very industrious and delightful reader who has translated a lot of my work into Russian. :D

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

I have a few times. :D

14. What‘s your all-time favourite ship?

Depends on context here. I don't read or write fics for just romance. I need purpose beyond the couple if you will. If we're talking within Star Wars then canonically it's Han and Leia. If we're going with my own fanfics it's a toss up between Mara and Max Veers and Firmus Piett and Sola Naberrie. ;D If we're talking broad literary ship Benedick and Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing.

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

WIP I will never finish? What are you talking about?

Genuinely, I hate the idea of abandoning my fics. Just can't. Some of them are taking longer than I had thought, but that's ok. Life happens. I will finish. ;D

16. What’s your writing strengths?

I think I develop character fairly well. I like to have a plot mapped out before I start writing, so I think I do all right with story cohesion and flow. I am a firm believe that you need to care about the characters more than anything else. World building and correct editing are good things, but if no one cares about your characters, it can get boring and readers lose interest.

17. What’s your writing weaknesses?

A good balance of action, description, and dialogue. Dialogue is easy for me and I like the characters interacting. But action and description are very important as well to SEE the scene and I need to work on my descriptive choices. I'm also ridiculously impatient. I want to publish NOW. And this means that perhaps some needed editing or more polish/depth is overlooked. I'm working on that.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Absolutely. I've used mando'a a lot now in Star Wars. In history AUs I've dabbled a smidge in French and Latin to set the tone a bit. Definitely do your homework whether using a real or fictional language. People notice!! :D

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Haha. So in terms of more serious writing like I'm doing now, it's Star Wars.

But.

I wrote by hand in notebooks during high school for the original Star Trek. Had all kinds of crush on Pavel Chekov. xD We watched the re runs of it and I liked the movies as a kid so....

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Oh goodness. Can that really be answered? I like them all for vastly different reasons. If we're going for world building then likely Dragon Speaker. If we're going for in depth history fun, then The War in the Shadows. If we're going for fic I saw most clearly in my brain as I wrote and LIVED it, then Showdown at Alliance Ranch. Within the ER verse, quite possibly Fidelity because writing all that courtroom drama and the intense brotherhood of Firmus and Max going through that was just so satisfying.

But over all story? Honestly can't pick just one. Sorry!

Gently tagging @hollers-and-holmes @winterinhimring @kraytwriter @kanerallels

[jean-meowreau]

Used to be @/bokuakamazing.

I'm gonna set up a proper info post for myself but for now I'm sharing my simple one from Twitter just bc I want to make sure everything is a safe space for anyone following me!! I try to do my best to give tags for certain content but I may mess up and if it's not for you please feel free to take care of yourself first and foremost and unfollow ♡

A note: I do not personally consume or share non-con content but some people consider high sex, heat/rut sex in A/B/O, and somno between consenting partners to be non-con so I have that there. I don't consume or share explicit assault content, including content with minors in NSFW situations at all. I do support CNC, which is an established BDSM setting between consenting partners who've set up limits before a scene.

Adding incest to this list. Never really had to think about it until now.

I am not a furry but some of the art is stunning but ik it can be an ick for some. I do share content like death, suicide, self-harm, eating disorders - exploration and also some trauma exploration. I write and may share content around torture because learning about it was a special interest when I was younger and I do still find it intriguing.

I share trans content that some young trans peeps can find triggering: bottoming from the front, non-op trans art/fic, and maybe some pregnancy content. (Pregnancy is triggering to me so this is very rare but I may share content discussing why telling trans men they can't get pregnant is transphobic and also informative posts/graphics about pregnancy and how to keep yourself safe should you become pregnant and are heading towards birth.)

I'm queer and ig agender, I kinda don't care. Preferred pronouns are it/its but as someone who's grown up half my time in Texas I understand that using them can be triggering, so he/him is also okay. My romantic labels depend on my partner(s) gender orientation. I love everyone in a gay way, so sometimes I'm a girlfriend, sometimes I'm a boyfriend, sometimes I'm a partner. I'm not here to debate it. If you can't handle that just leave now.

I'm a cult survivor, still deconstructing but 8 years free. I'm agnostic and do often share sacrilegious content so if that is something you're uncomfortable with I recommend muting tags like "sacrilege" and/or "sacrilegious" if you want to keep following. I respect religion and everyone's preference/practice, please respect my decision to not know who/what is in charge and not really give a fuck about it rn.

My interests atm(Aug. 28 2024) are: AFTG, Call of Duty, Haikyuu, Teen Wolf, Good Omens, Dead Boy Detectives, Our Flag Means Death, Interview With a Vampire, What We Do In The Shadows, and other medias I see every so often from mutuals. Sometimes I share art/writing of fandom I'm not even in because I like it. I'll usually try to copy in OPs tags for fandoms and characters and ships where applicable so hopefully tag mutes work.

My Twitter and Instagram are the same username as my blog title.

My AO3 pseuds(by fandom)

- ErlKönig (Call of Duty)

- WretchedLittleRunaway (AFTG)

- SquishySterek (Teen Wolf - very old)

- BokuAkAmazing (Haikyuu - old, not as old as TW)

I do have an Etsy store:

I sell my own merch designs/jewelry and also run my charity projects through here. At the moment I am running:

@sunshine-soap-zine - A huge appreciation zine for John Soap MacTavish (Call of Duty)

@aftg-pinups - an AFTG Pinup Calendar

@cobooty-pinups - A Call of Duty pinup calendar (second year)

My DMs and ask box are always open. I'm autistic so please use tone tags/clarify tone when you can. I'm happy to discuss things I'm in opposition towards but please know I do not owe you my mental or emotional health and can stop/refrain if I so choose.

Thank you ♡

[distant--shadow]

get to know meme

lil thing where I'll give a bit too much detail so it fills its purpose, honoured honestly to be tagged by three of my favourite writers in this space @sharkodactyl, @unicyclehippo , and @astoriacolumnstaircase - anyone reading this should be reading their works instead.

favourite colour: brown(s), like a mid to a dark tone, i like them to have a bit of red involved. like our old-boy chet, I love the wood. my dream home would be all wood-panelled with built in inlayed and set back shelves and nooks a plenty and yeah just full of brik-a-brak. otherwise my favourite colours are navy blue and greens that are more mixed with blue than yellow, teals and emeralds and once again generally around the mid tones. green makes me very happy. moss and outdoors and all that.

currently reading: fic. haha. (suss my recommend reading tag) I did venture out to my (very) local queer bookshop and asked them for something that won't send me on a spiral if I'm already on one/provide some escapism and they reccomended river of teeth by Sarah gailey. anyone I've said about it to seems real enthusiastic about it, I am not well read at all when it comes to published things, tend to just get really into a few fandom authors works and picking them apart (rereading a lot) . still haven't started it but maybe I'll try take it out to the park in the next week or so. I'm dabbling in reading (and unfortunately writing) poetry thanks to @picturesofthegoneworlds and @blorbotomy 's influence, those mini books are fun to keep on you when out and about, poem or two on a tree stump or boulder with a grand vista and a brain that wants eyes on a phone screen.

last song: last song I consciously (not background music) listened to was:

I went on an early lord snow stint the other night because the air smelt crisp and there was a nice chill. they have remained my favourite heavy (as a broad term) band for a decade now.

I used to have music on all of the time, whether that be cd's at home or in my mp3 player (that I still take out with me) but these days I find listening more of an intentional activity and I prefer to have people just nattering when I'm at home and want background noise. think it's where my heads at and I've just got more sensitive to being overstimulated I guess. I was also pretty good at going to a live gig at least once a week before I did my back in, looking forward to getting into that habit again.

last series: I don't watch much stuff outside of critical role, least other than YouTube videos I'll put on whislt I'm drawing. oh wait yeah I ordered 3 seasons of xena on ebay because it's like a couple of quid a season and it is a real good comfort show and fucking amazing. I hadn't seen it since I was pre teen and it was on day time TV and I'd catch it on sick days. the amount of people I've brought it up to these past few months who've been so stoked to be reminded of it/eager to watch it with me is actually hilarious.

last movie: uhhhh God movies I watch even less. I haven't been to a cinema in over 12 years now, just not my thing, and it's funny caus my mum used to work in the film and TV industry and we had shelves and shelves full of VHS growing up (mostly bootlegged) and she can just ramble about pretty much any early era film up to the stuff from the 80s (when she was working on em) for days. never could sit through em, never felt satisfied with how the story went. guess that's why actual play appeals to me. but saying all this I did rewatch Bound for the first time since I was like 15 last month or so, enjoyed it a lot more than I did back then.

sweet/savory/spicy: savory all day. I am a salt fiend. I used to think I'd be fortunate enough to die from my salt intake. I'll put it on anything. cereal, toast, fruit. I think the other day I noted the one thing I wouldn't put it on, but I can't recall that right now honestly. it's gotta be decent salt too, sea salt or rock salt that has some texture and delicious flavour, I'm not fucking with that table salt shit. I carry salt with me in a mini mason jar everywhere I go, saves when you only have access to bland cold supermarket food. one of my earliest memories is when I was like 6 I had had my daily 1 glass allowance of squash/fruit cordial in my white Tom and Jerry printed beaker with the accordion bendy straw and so when I was pouring myself a glass of water from the tap I put salt in it caus I wanted flavour that would not show through the white translucent container. it's all been downhill from there, although I also, luckily I guess caus otherwise I would be really fucked, do drink a lot of water.

currently working on: myself and healing. hah. I never realised how much paperwork and phone calls came with this maintenance shit. I'm still out of work, and my mental health has taken a huge hit from not being able to do the things I usually would. so right now I'm just trying to keep everything together. I can draw again though, so sorry about that.

I never know who to tag in these things caus I don't think everyone wants to do them. so I'll go with this being open invite as always. hope anyone who read this far is having a good week, and sentiment is still there even if you didn't read this (unless you don't deserve my well wishes, then fuck you.)

[emelkae]

15 Questions, 15 Tags: Lug

My second round of this tag game! @lvl22wizard, this one's for you :p

Rules: Answer these 15 questions as yourself or as an OC, then tag 15 mutuals. I'll be tagging people who've interacted with this post.

This one'll be from Lug's POV :) And it's another reader!Interviewer insert one since I just think it's fun. It'll also take place before the War Machines met Briar.

---

The other War Machines were intimidating enough, but this one practically looms.

He can't seem to help it. He's taller than any human you've ever seen. His skin is the color of blood, and his eyes are as black as the armor jutting roughly from his massive frame. When he walks into the lab, his steps have enough force to resonate in the glass beakers lining the tables. You have no doubt one flick of his wrist could tear your head from your shoulders.

No wonder he's called the Tank Unit.

Your silence is only broken when he rumbles a giggle.

"I'm Lug!" he says in a voice as sonorous as you'd expected from such a barrel-like chest. "Nice to meetcha."

He thrusts a huge red hand toward you, clearly wanting you to shake it. You eye his fingers, knowing he could easily crush yours if you return it—but you don't want to upset him. You take a breath and slip your palm in his.

His handshake is shockingly gentle.

"You got questions?" he asks after he lets go. "Awesome! Nobody ever asks me questions!"

The glint in his eyes calms you, and you suddenly realize you're safe here with him. You begin.

Are you named after anyone? 

"I don't think so," he says with a ponderous squint. "People called me 'big lug' a lot when I was first built. I like it. I think it's funny!"

When was the last time you cried? 

You can't imagine someone like him ever shedding a tear. Still, his jolly demeanor flickers a bit before returning in full force.

"Oh, uh... let's not talk about that. Laughing's more fun than crying! Any other questions?"

Do you have kids? 

"Naw, I don't think War Machines can have kids. And I don't wanna ask the Engineer." He shudders, then looks wistful. "I think having another little brother would be nice."

Do you use sarcasm? 

He gives a loud belly-roar of a laugh that shakes the beakers around him. Then he looks down at his hands, his voice softening slightly. "Like Sharpe and Circuit? Nah, I don't like being mean. It'd probably scare people, right?"

What’s the first thing you notice about people?

"I see if they're scared of me, like your last question. Sometimes I don't want 'em to be." Your prior awe stirs in your belly at his wicked grin. "On the battlefield I do, though."

What’s your eye color?

"Black! The Repair Units get the cool glowy white eyes. I'm stuck with boring black."

Scary movies or happy endings?

After you explain to him what movies are, he giggles and asks, "People just sit and watch those? Can a scary movie have a happy ending?"

Any special talents?

"Oh! Yeah, I've got one!" He leans conspiratorially toward you and whispers, "I can wiggle my ears. Don't tell the Engineer. I don't think I'm supposed to be able to do that."

Where were you born?

"You mean built? Right here, I guess!" He sweeps his arm around the lab, then points to the compartments standing lined up against the wall. "In one of those."

What are your hobbies?

"When I'm not tearing stuff up, I like singin'. I memorize words pretty good. I can hit low notes too, and sing really loud. Maybe I can teach you a song if you want—the Repair Units aren't here to keep me from teachin' you the really fun songs."

Have you any pets?

"No... but I'd love a kitty! Or a hound, or a lizard, or a bug..."

He starts rattling off animals, and you let him ramble on until he seems to forget why he was listing them in the first place.

What sports do you play/have played?

"I don't think War Machines do that. But I do wrestle! I'm pretty good at that." He smiles wider when your eyes flick to the artificial musculature of his arms. "Sometimes the Engineer makes me toss stuff up and catch it again. Those are my favorite calibration tests."

How tall are you?

"I dunno. I'm sorry. I'm just... big."

He certainly is. You size him up and realize he's taller than Sharpe and Claw were in your last interview. You'd put him at around seven feet tall, over two meters.

Favorite subject in school?

He isn't sure what you mean. You list a few school subjects, and his eyes light up predictably when you mention "gym." Oddly enough, they also look interested in music and art classes.

"You mean... you get taught how to make songs?" he breathes. "And how to make things pretty? Wow. I wanna go to school!"

Dream job?

"If I could do anything? Do people sing for money? I wanna do that."

---

I love this precious boy 🥺

Tagging @brittany-diamond @its-all-ineffable @saphoblin @rosieposiepuddingnpie @scarletteflamerald @thewriteflame @indigocastor @authorlaurawinter @oblolongue @akiwitch @andromedaexists @rowanwriting @helvelloides @chrismerle @justwriteyoudummy

[lunanoc]

xiuxiu/xiao hua/wu xie for the ship meme??

ohhh now this is interesting 👁️

i feel like i'm flooding the tags at this point oops

i'm not going to lie i've never really thought about these three as a ship but i need you to know the first thing that came to mind was the spiderman meme and it's all three of them pointing at each other 😂

it's another interesting one that i'm still not screeching about this thing needs a spare square for that but i feel like it ultimately runs into the same problem that xiehua does for me, in the sense they're all too similar in certain specific ways for it to truly work for their personalities. i do think these three have a great dynamic to explore though, both together and paired off into different two-by-two options. they're all childhood friends (or more like long-lost childhood friends in wu xie's case) are all three the heirs (or in xiao hua's case acting head, that happens a bit later for xiuxiu) of their respective jiumen families, and essentially carry similar baggage in terms of the burdens of their elders' choices impacting their lives to different extents. though some do a good job of showcasing how they work, namely ultimate note in particular, in my opinion none of the dramas really do it justice, so i'm going to be basing myself off of books 7 and 8 more particularly, because there's actually a wealth of material to look at there. you've got xiao hua and xiuxiu, who've grown up together and are good friends (one of xiao hua's only friends really), and they both trust each other' inherently as well as each other's respective competence. they work seamlessly really, and while i tend to see their relationship as more familial than romantic, it's not a stretch to see it that way. i've already touched on wu xie and xiao hua so i won't get back into that here, so i'll move on to wu xie and xiuxiu directly

wu xie comments multiple times on the fact he feels xiuxiu's mind seems to work very similarly to his, and i don't think he's wrong about that given you discover fairly quickly she just about as persistantly stubborn and crafty about it when she sets her eyes on a goal. she's the one, who observing from a young age that her grandmother (who favored her over her brothers because the huo family is matriarchal) was troubled in curious ways by her aunt huo ling's disappearance, investigated it on her own, discovered the discrepancies in the photographs huo ling was in pre and post banai expedition, hunted down jin wantang, and is the one who posted the missing persons ad that says "i have the fish" that wu xie finds while googling xiaoge's name all the way back in the first book. all this at the big age of 18. all this to say she's about as cunning and determined as wu xie proves himself to be, and while they're not the same people, and xiuxiu carries her own faults and shortcomings due in large part to her youth and inexperience (though even that in some ways mirros wu xie's who's never truly naive, only inexperienced), they're also quite similar. i've seen a number of people comment on wu xie and xiao hua being mirror images of each other, and they're not wrong, but there's also something to be said about xiuxiu in many ways being something of wu xie's female counterpart. i could go more into this namely the kinda vague hairpull idea i have that maybe xiuxiu in some ways might represent a facet of his idea of the ideal women that he still doesn't pursue that way but i'd be getting off topic

all this too much to say that i feel all three of them are weirdly different sides of die i can't say coin if there's three of them, and it even shows in their solidarity once wu xie drags himself enough out of his severe depression post zhang family tomb and its fallout. he chooses to face xiuxiu, who at first resented his desecrating of her grandmother's corpse (which for context, bodies are meant to be buried whole in chinese tradition, it is extremely taboo to do what he did), and because she's reasonable she quickly forgave him and warmed up to him again. from there, both wu xie and xiao hua act as xiuxiu's main support system to help her navigate the fraught huo family politics and the family business after huo xiangu's death, xiao hua in the north, wu xie in the south as he'd taken over wu sanxing's territory and businesses by then. up until tibetan sea flower, all three of them are very much a united front, and i'd say xiao hua and xiuxiu in some ways act as wu xie's support system just as much pangzi does over the phone, seeing as they indulge (xiao hua especially) wu xie's fixation on the things he brought back from the zhang family tomb

so tldr; i don't ship it like that but i do really love their relationship and i'm glad xiuxiu is more actively involved with them now

[ravenmold]

How do you go about picking which fic to read next?

I've decided I'm going to take this opportunity to rant about my favourite AO3 tags some. And also about how a great summary can absolutely sell a fic.

So I've got two modes, as I'm sure most of us fanfic readers have: reading and rereading. Rereading I do a LOT of, I've got so many comfort fics, and the mood for them strikes when I'm stressed or when I'm having a normal Thursday and suddenly the memory of that one specific moment surges up and I have to go find it again (this is a lie my brain tells me. I will read the whole thing again - granted it's under 150k words).

But for new stuff?? Hmm, here follows a few of my favourite things:

For fic authors I'm not familiar with:

General fic things: A nice name. Bonus points if I find out several chapters in that it connects thematically with the plot! No Archive warnings - I'm not the biggest fan of character death etc. If you know me, this doesn't come as a surprise, I like my fics like I like my pets. Fluffy and exciting and comforting. (I will not expand on this simile any more because I realize now it has some major flaws) A sweet spot for words would be >10k and <80k. Not necessary for it to be finished, but I do tend to check finished fics first.

Tags that would definitely reel me in: mutual pining, temporary amnesia, slow burn, fake/pretend relationship, royalty or historical au, time travel/time loops, identity porn, marriage of convenience, workplace au's for some reason, epistolary, kid fic (DONE RIGHT), cheesy romcom crossovers, future fics/time skips, used to date/exes (this is a big one), space operas/sci fi au's, magic and crossovers with other pairings I like. Yeah I guess I like putting my Guys into Situations, no surprise there. Also zombie or apocalypse fics can be fun, if they're not too heavy on the angst. Unless I write it myself.

Summaries: This is the main thing that catches my eye. Probably also not unique there 😂 I like when they're more than two sentences and actually set up the tone and the inciting incident of the fic pretty well. I love a "quirky" premise, if you're like "so character A got cursed to be forgettable and the entire plot happens because of this" I'd be like Hell Yeah I wanna see how that happens!! 😂 I do also like when summaries, combined with the tags, give me an idea of at least like 80% of the fic. I'm not the biggest fan of when an author considers it spoilers if they drop hints about more than the first two scenes. That's what makes fic different from just picking up a random book, imo, and I like to know what I'm in for. That's why I also expect the focus of the summary to be the focus of the fic's main plot. I only find this out later, of course, but we're talking ideal circumstances here.

For fic authors I know/enjoy:

Honestly, same as above but if you manage to hit any one or two elements I'd be interested. I follow a few authors, but not a ton, as I tend to forget to unsub when they move on to new fandoms and then I just live with the emails on random pairings I get 😅

Overall, how I choose new reading material is usually by seeing if my new hyperfixation has my preferred tropes and tags. And by being intrigued by an interesting summary and setup. Once I've worked through all of those, I'll go through the bookmarks of people who've read and enjoyed my favourite fics, and then I've pretty much never dried up on content so far.

Thanks for the ask! This has been really fun to talk about. And I can look back on it in a few and see if my tastes have changed through the years 😊

[ashknife]

A Cheery Lot

Here's my contribution to the 2022 Inklings Christmas Challenge (@inklings-challenge). It's a little cyberpunk, and I incorporated song as the major image. I tried to do something that didn't involve somebody dying or experiencing extreme turmoil. Also, first-person. Hopefully, it worked out. Story after the break.

"Merry Christmas!" "Woot! It's Christmas!" "¡Feliz Navidad!" "Happy Holidays!" "Happy Christmas to everybody!"

The chat on my HUD is a constant stream of holiday wishes. The 25th is just hours away. It seems every shop and house I walk by is full of revelry and cheer. Some dance as they walk to the next party. Some exchange gifts. Some do some last-minute shopping. Some are so caught up in the ecstasy of the moment that they forget to find somewhere more private to celebrate. It's just like a normal night in the city, but with twice the energy. People here like to celebrate, but they do it harder when there's an actual celebration.

Blinking lights cover every building. Businesses augment their signs with holograms of reindeer, trees, and Santa. The usual stable music is set free to stampede our minds until we get sick of it, and then they sing it some more. There's so much to buy, and the sales just make it all that much more tempting. That new air fryer I've been looking at is now half off, but I don't need to get it for myself. Someone else will get it for me, and I will get them something they want. That's how Christmas works. I scratch your back, you scratch mine. Somehow, it's more rewarding to buy things for each other that we would have normally gotten on our own.

I am no different than the rest. I am on my way to a party thrown together by some coworkers. It's one of the few times we get to see each other. Oh, sure, we get a good look each day through our virtual meetings. These glasses we all wear really make that convenient. YumiCorp really did us a good turn developing these. I don't see how humanity got along without the steady stream of information these things provide. I like seeing what's in a building, having a map of where I'm going, being able to work while I go about my day, and watching the constant chatter of the city. Life without them is so boring and bland. Still, there's something different about talking to a warm body and not to a video.

And, like that, I receive a video call. It's Josephina, my manager, wearing a festive sweater and reindeer antlers, both with blinking lights.

"Hey, Henry! How's it going?"

"Hi, Josephina. I'm walking there right now."

"Great! It looks like you're on Broadway."

"Yeah. Just a few more blocks to go."

"You better hurry! The rest of the team is here, and the hors d’oeuvres are almost gone already."

"Should I pick up some snacks?"

"I ordered some more food, but a little more won't hurt."

The map of my walking route displayed a number of stores that were on the way.

"I'll pick up a few things, then."

"Thanks. See you soon!"

The video call disappears. I look at the suggested stores. Most of them are convenience stores, but this one here, Mitchell's, catches my attention. It looks like a hole-in-the-wall kind of place, but the few who've been seem to love it. I think I'll give it a go.

The store is just a few blocks away tucked under an apartment complex. I see why not many have been there: it has a small, faded sign that would be barely visible on a clear, sunny day. I would have missed it if the glasses didn't highlight the sign and front door. I descend the shallow steps to the door and struggle to pry it open. The wood scrapes against the cement as it finally gives, yielding a packed shop full of all kinds of things. I think the owner stuffed an entire Wal-mart into the space of a 7-Eleven, but they also managed it keep it clean and organized. What manner of sorcery is this?

"Irasshai!" I jump at the sudden, cheerful greeting. Standing behind the counter is a thin, balding Asian man with a colorful name tag labelling him as Mitchell. The glasses confirm this. Mitchell nods with an excited tic and a wide grin.

"A new customer!" he says. "I'm sorry if I made you jump. It's a greeting my family used at home a long time ago."

"Where was home?" I ask.

"Japan. Kyoto."

"Is that how you know how to stuff all this in here?" Mitchell nodded.

"Yes, sir! I have just about anything you could need. What are you looking for?"

"Snacks for a Christmas party."

"Of course, of course! Let me show you what we have."

Mitchell nimbly navigates his shop the way a librarian could find a book. He points out different kinds of finger foods for sale, and there were even some hot items I didn't notice before. Never had I seen such efficiency of space. Within minutes, I was carrying bags full of crackers, spreads, and warm tamales. I tap my glasses and make a note of this wonderful find of a place. I started to thank Mitchell when the lights went dark.

"Oh!" Mitchell says. Without missing a beat, he strikes a match and lights a candle. With that candle, he lights a few more, bathing the counter in a sort of eerie, dim light. It feels oddly cozy and comforting.

"It's not often the power goes out," he says. "Hopefully it isn't for too long."

"Right," I reply. "Thanks, Mitchell. I'll be back again."

"You are most welcome, honored guest!" He bows as I step out through the stubborn door.

I step back up to the sidewalk when I notice something: my route doesn't show up on the glasses. In fact, nothing is there but blank spaces. The glasses are on, but they aren't receiving any data. I look around. Darkness. Everywhere there should be lights, there is only inky black. I can hear the indistinct protesting of the crowds. It's hard to see with camera lights. It's cold outside. Frightened people lash out at pranksters who pretend to be ghosts for cheap laughs.

I can't go anywhere by standing around here, so I start toward Josephina's place. It wasn't far, and I have a decent memory, so I try to navigate the streets from that. I'm pretty sure there was a left turn here, and then a right turn there, and it was just few blocks this way down 8th Street...

Wait. This doesn't look like the residential area Josephina lives in. This looks way different. Everythhing looks older, worn, run down. Is this...the ghetto? Was it always this close? I look around to see where I am at, but I cannot make out anything like a familiar landmark or a street sign in this darkness. Am I lost? I am lost. I don't know where to go from here.

Voices. Voices coming from around the corner. It sounds like singing. What should I do? I could ask them for help, but what if they're dangerous? But they're singing. It doesn't sound like trouble. It's risk danger for help or stand here and slowly freeze. I walk closer to the corner where the voices are coming from. I see the faint reflection of light coming from a building across the street. The voices are clearer, coming from a lot. The light flickers, and there is a scent of something burning, like Mitchell's match and candles, but somehow pleasant. I walk to the lot. There is a group of people standing around a couple of barrels. There is a fire in each, and a ring of people surrounds them. Some of the people hold out their gloved hands trying to absorb the warmth of the fires. A stack of logs sits in between the barrels. One of the larger men steps forward, grabs a couple of logs, and throws them into the barrels, one in each. Within a few moments, the fires blaze a little brighter. They're singing Christmas carols. I know them from the music that normally plays all day, but there are no instruments or bass dropping or anything normally broadcast. It's just their voices ringing out into the dark, dead night.

When they had finished their current song, someone pointed at me, and they all turned to see their intruder. They motioned me to join them, so I stepped closer to the fire.

"Hey, man, you don't look like you're from around here," one of the men say.

"Uh, no, I'm not. I live downtown," I say. Amazed chatter followed, accented with "oos" and "ahs."

"Get lost?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I did."

"Where you headed?"

"Parker Street."

"You're about ten blocks off course."

"I see."

There was an awkward silence. A woman joined the group from the dark street.

"Joe's been called out," she says. "Someone got a hold of some fireworks and set them off by a substation. Power'll be out for a couple of hours."

"All that info, and not a lick of common sense," a man says. The group grunts in agreement and shakes their heads. I want to protest, but I wouldn't be here if I really knew where I was going and wasn't dependent on these glasses. I take them off and look at them.

"Hey, four-eyes," a man calls out. I look up. I feel a chill breeze and shiver. I don't belong here.

"Y-yeah?" I say.

"You got a favorite carol?"

"Oh, you don't need to worr--"

"No, man, you're our guest."

"Oh. I..." I had to think for a moment. I never really gave that much thought before. It all kind of blurs together every year. Everyone seems so blissful and happy and cheerful. I guess there was that one upbeat song about comfort and joy, but I never really heard anything but that part.

"There's one that's about comfort and joy, I think?" I offer.

They all nod their heads. Some say it's a good one.

The man who asked starts them off. "God rest ye," and then they all take hold and sing the entire song. A song of faith, joy at the coming of a savior. I never heard such things before. I tried to sing with them, but I couldn't keep up with them except at that chorus part. I looked around uncomfortably and noticed that there was a tree bedecked with a few ornaments and a string of lights. A real one, not something that the glasses tacked on. Next to it was a table with a small plate of food. I approach the tree as they sang. I touch the needles but jerk my hand back as they poke it. I didn't think they would be so sharp. I reach out again and grit through the uncomfortable feeling. It smelled of pine. Of course, it did. But it was a real scent, not something coming from a candle or spray. I could feel the weight of the wood and the sticky sap in each whiff. If the power had not been out, this tree would be illuminated by the pathetic string of lights and the star that crowned the top. It would have been a warm and welcoming sight, especially for these people. This was nothing like the celebrations I walked past earlier.

I could go to Mitchell's again later, or maybe some other store. I brought out the food I bought and set it out on the table. The tamales had cooled some but still held a little warmth, which I offered to the gathered crowd when they had finished singing. I've seen people excited over a meal before, but I've never seen such joy as each person caressed their warm tamal and peeled it open to eat. They hail me as some sort of hero, half-mockingly, and the other half genuine. I brought them cheer. No, that's not right. They already had cheer. I simply accented it.

They crack jokes, tell stories, and ask questions. They want to know what I do. They talk about their hard lives. I am far away from family, but they cherish theirs daily. Some say this is the finest food they've ever had. I don't know what to say. When they finish eating, more logs enter the fires, and the singing begins anew, well-fed and grateful for it. I keep up the best that I can, fully aware that I never really paid attention to music as anything more than background noise. Time loses its meaning, and for a short while, I am adopted into this community. I feel blessed.

After some time, the lights return to the city. People cheer as their tree also lights up with the surrounding buildings. Strings of bulbs alight overhead with no real pattern. They shine over the lot with the little bit of magic they hold. I feel a buzzing in my pocket. I pull out my glasses and put them on. A flurry of activity pours through, and Josephina is calling.

"Henry?"

"Yeah?"

"Oh, good! You're alright! Did you get lost?"

"No. Well, yes. I did. But I ended up at someone else's party while the power is out."

"We're still going here, telling ghost stories, if you want to come."

"It's getting a bit late out as it is. I'll have to take a rain check."

"I get you. Sorry it didn't work out!"

She waves bye and hangs up. I rejoin the party I found myself in. I think tonight, I found the better place to be.