#and this fantasy au ~Bog Edition~ is basically me going

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

warlock wizard Wally scribbles... Thinkings! oh and a bonus bard-ish Barnabys in the corner for flavor

outfit ramblings:

first of all that is a Terrible rendition of what Home looks like in my head. i just needed to fill empty space </3

the staff was the toughest part honestly. bc it Had to be paintbrush-themed, but then halfway through scribbling i was like "oh shit. there are only so many ways to draw a paintbrush-wizard-staff and Weevmo already hit it out of the park." so if you're seeing similarities! you're right! i tried to make it as different as i could! there is Inspiration from their marvelous design, however accidental or subconscious! Apologies!

he gets a pointed hood instead of a hat because a) it looks great on him! and b) it has less of a chance of messing up his hair! also c) it helps muddle the difference between Wizard and Warlock. typically hoods have evil/duplicitous connotation - blur the lines! i want his long gloves and forearm wraps to have the same vibe. his neckerchief is a big help in hiding Home's seal!

his layered (loosely apple-themed) capelet (which the hood is attached to) has a nice high collar & hides the details of his loose shirt - eye embroidery! and some flowers on the shoulders but yk, mostly eyes. on one side of the shirt buttons has open eyes, the other side they're closed! there's also one big eye on his back!

his belt buckle is two halves of an apple! he wears tall thigh-high boots w/ low heels to feel Taller! he has a book-holster hooked to the back of his belt, which holds his grimoire! and he has a lil thigh-bag that has been magicked to be Bottomless and warps size! he can fit pretty much anything in there! canvases! paint! apples!

his half-skirt thing (idk what the word for it is!) is really plush, like a quilt - his capelet is the same fabric. soft, cozy. sometimes he'll use the skirt thing as a blanket in a pinch, or as a picnic placemat!

is his outfit a little Complicated? is it annoying to replicate? yes and yes. but im a maximalist at heart and Nothing But The Best for the blorbo <3 layers my beloved <3

[bettsfic]

commissions open

i’m (temporarily) opening commissions for the 3 things i know how to do: write, edit, and teach. i had beta commissions open for a bit last spring and got quickly overwhelmed because i didn’t have the best process in place, so i’ve streamlined the process and expanded my services. now i’m offering coaching services, editing services, and fic/story commissions.

no more quotes! no volleying correspondence! no confusing price points! no losing track of people because i’m on 10 different platforms! you don’t even have to talk to me if you don’t want! 

now all you have to do is fill out a google form

more information on services, prices, and caveats below the cut. please read the whole thing before commissioning. i will probably not be open for commissions for long, so please reach out sooner rather than later. 

please note, i can answer questions on tumblr but i will only accept commissions via google form. 

my qualifications

i have a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from a public ivy university.

i am currently an adjunct creative writing professor at said public ivy.

i’ve held several professional editing positions, including editor-in-chief of my school’s literary magazine. i’ve also been a slush reader for four other publications.

i’m a published author: my story “Lien” is published in Quarter After Eight and has been nominated for the PEN Short Story Prize for Emerging Authors; “An Informed Purchase” is published in Midwestern Gothic and won the Jordan-Goodman Prize for Fiction.

i have worked with and received mentorship from well-known and award-winning authors like Garth Greenwell, Claire Messud, Joanna Scott, Howard Norman, Emily Witt, and Daisy Hernandez.

i developed and led the @fanauthorworkshop, a successful fanfic workshop i held last fall. i plan to hold another one eventually once i have a bit more time on my hands.

i’ve written over a million words of fanfic which have received one million hits and over 75k kudos.

i give writing advice to a lot of anons. in 2016, i put all my writing advice posts into a free collection called Drunk on Writing.

i possess an unfortunate and extreme familiarity with the Chicago Manual of Style.

writing consultations/coaching

$50 for a 1-hour Discord video/voice chat (includes a read-through of a short piece of work)

this is probably the thing i am best at and it’s also something i enjoy a lot. it’s also like 90% of my job. you send me an outline, excerpt, chapter, story, what have you, i read it, and we chat about it. easy peasy. a good time for everyone involved.

i’m available for consultations between 1pm and 5pm on most Sundays and Wednesdays. once you fill out the above-linked form, i’ll send you a link to my appointment calendar for you to choose a time. if none of the available times work for you, i will do my best to accommodate, but i can’t make guarantees.

i can help you with any part of the writing process: brainstorming, composing, revising, publishing, or all of the above. we can talk about anything! fanfiction, original work, careers in writing, applying to MFA programs, whatever you want. my knowledge of craft, fanfiction, and the publication market is at your disposal.

my coaching approach is based on affirmation and support. i’m not here to tear you down. my goal is to make sure you leave my (metaphorical or physical) office utterly stoked to write, and have a solid plan in place for where to go next. individual conferences with writing coaches/mentors is probably the single most effective tool in improving your writing, so i highly recommend this option for anyone who wants a bit of a boost. 

this service is good for:

receiving overall feedback/mentorship

working through ruts, writers’ block, and plateaus

gaining confidence in your writing and feeling good about your work

getting started on a big project 

asking questions that google can’t answer

assessing your strengths as a writer and places to improve

brainstorming big ideas and turning them into manageable tasks

beta commissions 

$12 per 1k words, up to 10k

pretty self-explanatory. i’ll read any piece of writing up to 10k words and give you line-by-line feedback and my overall thoughts.

no caveats here. i’ll read anything, original work or fanfic, with any kind of content. just keep in mind that if i’m unfamiliar with the fandom i won’t be able to provide notes on characterization or canon, and i won’t fact-check.

i can’t currently commit to long-form projects, but you can commission me multiple times for the same work, either additional chapters/content or revisions of a piece i’ve read already (the price will be the same).

this service is good for:

in-depth feedback

improving your line-level writing

polishing up a completed piece

gaining a deeper insight into your work

learning your strengths and weaknesses

honing your voice for a longer work (as in, you can get line feedback on the first chapter and apply it to the rest of the piece)

fic/story commissions

$25 per 1k words, up to 4k

i’m nervous about this one because i haven’t done it before, but we’re gonna try it, and if i have to cut it from the roster because it’s too difficult to manage, then so be it. here are the basic rules:

i’ll write for any fandom i’m familiar with and any pairing/grouping

i’ve seen a lot of stuff, but i can tell you right now bandom, sports RPF, and most anime is out

i will also write original work if you have an idea but no preference for fandom

i’ll write any content and any kink, with the exception of sounding, piercing, or knifeplay

prompts must be relatively simple (canon/au + kinks would be ideal, think kinkmeme format) and able to be completed within 4k words. you must be willing to pay for up to 4k words and i’ll charge accordingly if it’s less (for example, 2200 words would be $50). i won’t charge over $100 even if it goes above 4k.

i’ll be posting commissioned pieces on ao3 under a sock account and referring to them as prompt-fills to uphold the ao3 TOS. i may restrict these to user-only access, so you must have an ao3 account to commission me.

i may reject prompts for whatever reason, be it unfamiliarity with the canon or an inability to complete the prompt within the allotted word count. 

this service is good for:

your strangest and most obscure fantasies no one else will write

your ideas made manifest by a professional author

funsies 

a note on correspondence

i will not be able to maintain consistent correspondence about commissions, which is to say i can’t email/chat back and forth repeatedly, either to refine a rejected prompt, re-read beta’d pieces, etc. last time i tried this, it bogged down the process. 

a note on legality

i know money + fan content is legally sketchy. i don’t plan to keep commissions open for terribly long, but at this point i’m in dire straits financially until i get a full-time job. right now i’m trying to fix my house up to sell it, which will cost money, and move in with my grandparents to help take care of them. i’m not trying to make a killing here, or even a living. i’m just trying to cover a handful of renovation costs, and once i make enough to get out of this place, i’ll close commissions.

ready to go? fill out the google form and i’ll get back to you within the week!

[magic-and-moonlit-wings]

Ideas for Themes for Strange Magic Weeks (so far)

Suggested themes will be collected here. Rather than reblogs, this post will be edited as new themes are received (with some time delay if I’m not at the computer), so they can all be seen at once in the Strange Magic Week tag. 

Deadline for suggesting themes is Wednesday August 9th. (So, if you submit a theme at 11:59 pm Wednesday night, it will make the list, but if you suggest one at 12:01 am Thursday morning, it probably won’t.) 

On Thursday August 10th, I will create a new post - the Voting post. Send me an Ask, or Reply or Reblog the Voting Post, with your Top 5 choices for themes. The most popular seven will be the daily themes, and the next three (or four if we have another tie) will be the optional themes. 

Voting ends on Friday August 11th. (Get your vote in before 11:59 pm on Friday night, though really I’ll probably still count it if it shows up before I get up on Saturday morning.) 

I’ll post the final Theme List on Saturday so there’ll be a day to prepare and Strange Magic Week can start on Sunday. Themes will be in reverse order of popularity, so the one with the most votes will be on Day 7. 

Today’s the 5th but I didn’t post this until evening, so there are, functionally speaking, 4 days to suggest themes, 2 days to vote for themes, and 1 day to get started before things start posting. (There is no ‘time of day’ you have to have it posted by, and I for one won’t be upset if people decide to use the themes out of order and post something on the ‘wrong’ day.)

Role Reversal. It’s been done, but it was on the theme list both times we’ve done this before, which suggests it’s a sustained interest. 

Chat Room/Texting/Pen Pals. Characters writing to one another. The initial idea lends itself to a Human AU, but correspondence could also happen in the original setting. 

Historical Fiction. Medieval, 1920s, Aristocratic Comedy of Manners, Jules Verne type adventure ... or the sorts of thing that might appear as ‘historical fiction’ in canon, like stories of past fairy royalty. 

Roland Redemption OR Revenge Upon Roland. Some people want him to turn out to be not so terrible and some people want his head on a stick. He gets a theme day for his fans and anti-fans to express their views. (Could lead to fandom drama so may need to lay some rules of etiquette.) 

Kids Day. Again, a repeat of what’s gone before, looking back into characters’ childhoods or forward to the next generation - or maybe draw games or toys you think characters would’ve played with as kids. 

When We Are Old. A look into the characters’ future, in counterpoint to ‘When We Were Young’. 

Arranged Marriage. AU where characters meet because they were arranged to marry each other, or sequel where they find out they’re betrothed to someone else but are already in a relationship? You decide! 

Fake Dating. Usually leads to Real Dating, after the obligatory period of Mutual Pining Due To Unawareness That Affection Is Also Mutual. Could also be a way for asexual or aromatic characters to avoid matchmakers.

Soulmate AU. I’ve seen these before, mostly in Avengers fanfiction, and the idea seems to be you have a mark that matches your soulmate’s, or their name on you somewhere, or an intangible line linking you to them, or their first words to you printed on your skin (usually in their handwriting), or a countdown to when you will meet, or you don’t see colours until you meet them, or you share injuries, or there’s a telepathic bond, or what you write on your skin shows up on theirs. 

Masquerade. Magical beings of some variety concealing their nature from a non-magical world, or a costume party, or possibly a Phantom of the Opera AU. 

Star Wars AU. Because it’s Lucasfilm. Maybe the Millennium Falcon lands in the Fairy Kingdom, or there are Ewoks in the Dark Forest, or everyone’s just reimagined as members of the Rebellion and Empire. 

Everyone Picks From The Previous Years’ Prompts. Getting another chance if you missed out on participating then! 

Travel. Vacation? Business trip? Diplomacy tour? Who’s going? Where are they going, and why? How do they get there? What if they get lost? 

Forbidden Love. This prompt is specifically intended to refer to ‘goblins courting during the Love Ban’, but it can refer to any forbidden love. 

Proposal. Not just a marriage thing - it could be a business venture, or a diplomatic one, or a thesis proposal in a college AU. 

Beyond Field and Forest. What other nations or regions neighbour the Dark Forest and the Fairy Kingdom? 

Food. What do fairies and elves and goblins eat? Where does it come from? Cooking, farming, hunting, and foraging stories and pictures. 

Existing Media AU. Crossover with another movie, book, game, or TV show. 

Highlight Reel. Instead of creating new content, share your favourite parts of things that you, or others, have already made.

Continuation. Write the next chapter of, or a sequel to, something you wrote on a previous Strange Magic Week. If this is your first Strange Magic Week, write the next chapter of one of your works in progress, or a sequel to one of your other stories. 

Merchandise. Strange Magic toys or costumes or jewellery or bookmarks.

Fill That Plot Hole. Explore something the movie either left unanswered or left ambiguous, such as the Imp’s backstory. 

Canon Divergence. A point where the timeline splinters, such as  what might’ve happened if someone in the Fairy Kingdom had heard Sunny yelling about his plan on the way to the Forest, or the Fairy King took it badly when Roland described himself as “even better” than the king in front of basically everyone.

Music Day. Choose your favorite song from the movie and make a cover. Can be singing, instrumental, collaboration, acapella - or, if you don’t want to sing, fancy calligraphy of the lyrics or suggested choreography. 

Free Space. Like in Bingo. In case someone has an idea that doesn’t make the theme list. 

Modern Fantasy.Take a modern AU of the story, but keep the characters as fae. Are they still in political power? Are they just regular citizens? Are fae the ones with the modern society, or are they hiding amongst humans?

Fake Exes AU. They know each other from something they don't want to admit (like LARPing, or crime, or something), then meet again in a different social context. When asked how they know each other, they claim that they are exes/used to date. 

Space Aliens AU. Bonus if Bog is from the human faction and Marianne and Dawn are the bizarre aliens.

Rumpelstiltskin AU. Someone wants something turned to gold and/or demands someone else’s first born. 

Mobster AU. This doesn’t even have to be a human AU - there could be organized crime in the Fairy Kingdom or Dark Forest. 

Hollywood/Rockstar AU. One or more characters are stars or looking to make it big - or maybe they’re all agents commiserating about their demanding clients. (Fun sub-prompt - Marianne manages Roland, an actor/model, AND Bog, a rock star.)

[crushing83]

Soooo... @saawek​ sort of tagged me (I saw my name in the post because I was flipping through my newsfeed at just the right time, but the link didn't work or show up in my activity, so I'm assuming I can do this...), and now I'm listing my works-in-progress. I might tag a few people at the bottom because I, too, am a curious kitten and I love hearing about what other people have on the go.  

Writing:  

Fanfic side:  

Tolkien/Fast & Furious >> Thranduil/Owen Shaw >> Bullets and Blades 10... I actually cracked it open this weekend and started picking at what I'd written last. (Oh, and to anyone who started following me after I unintentionally hiatus-ed this one? Yes, you read that pairing right. Thranduil and Owen Shaw. Yep, yep.)  

Tolkien   >> Thranduil/Bard >> Spins and Pirouettes 4 was started a long time ago and then it started to get sad and I didn't like that so I focused on B&B instead. I'll eventually get back to it. There were a lot of mistakes in it---writing mistakes---and having a beta point out things in another story made me realise what I was doing in this one, and it's been hard to go back. I'll get there, eventually. Yes.  

SPN >> mostly gen >> The Winchester Gospel, where a tricksy archangel (who lives, obviously) makes sure his dad's work is discovered as ancient scrolls. Kind of hops all over my timeline right now, because I'm writing it in bits and pieces and not at all chronologically. Follows some faves, follows descendants of faves. Haven't started posting it yet.   >> Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester/Female Reader >> An untitled story that was supposed to be for @mrswhozeewhatsis' April Fools challenge, but got away from me and now I don't know how to end it. The reader's ace!spec, there's some non-sexual kink stuff, Dean and Sam both have squishy feelings for the reader/character (because it's my fantasy), they have a great big hunt in the middle of a werewolf den (it's not what you think)… oh, and Ketch is a scary douche (predictable).   >> Team Free Love-ish/Female Reader >> Forging a Bond. There are two chapters left. I will get there. I promise. They just need editing.   >> Gabriel/Sam Winchester >> Six Months, one of my vape shop AU fics. I've been chipping away at the next chapter recently.   >> Gabriel/Sam Winchester >> An untitled AU story about ace!spec Sam, trying to figure out a way to tell his brother he's ace (or demi). This one's been super hard to write. But, I'm pushing through it.   >> Gabriel/Sam Winchester, Dean/Castiel (eventually) >> A "what if Josie was never possessed and Henry never went to the future" fic. I have one chapter written, and it's basically turning into a husband!spy vs wife!spy sort of showdown between Mary and John with the boys in the middle.  

SPN/Beyond Belief (TAH)   >> Frank Doyle/Sadie Doyle, slight Gabriel/Sam Winchester >> A sequel to When God Comes to Call..., because Gabriel needs to grow up and face the flannel-wearing duo. And because I want Frank and Sadie to meet 'em, too. I'm just... stuck, right now.  

SPN/Criminal Minds   >> Gabriel/Spencer Reid, maybe Gabriel/Spencer Reid/Sam Winchester >> Falling is the Easy Part, my drop-Spencer-into-season-nine-and-see-what-happens fic. Some of it's been posted. It's going to be long. I'm not 100% sure where it's going yet, though. So, I'm taking my time.

SPN/Marvel Cinematic Universe >> An untitled "what if Justin Hammer somehow found out about the supernatural side of the world and tried to harness it for his own gain" fic. I only have about a hundred words written so far, so I'm really not sure what it's gonna be yet. Mostly it's an excuse to have Sam and Dean interact with the Avengers, if/when I get there.  

SPN/Sanctuary >> Helen Magnus/Sam Winchester >> An untitled fic where Helen is tracking down Sam for some MOL information. I only have about 200 words written so far. But I want to see these two be dangerous together and then geek out together.  

Dark Angel >> An untitled fic about what could happen after "Freak Nation." Mostly, it's Alec remembering things, doing things to keep his pack or unit together, and trying not to hold a grudge against Max because she doesn't know any better when it comes to having so many of Manticore's soldiers together. I think I started this after getting sick of watching her tear down Alec. Not that he's a saint. But. It made me cranky, watching her put him down all the time.  

Personal project side:   >> NaNoWriMo 2016 >> This story will never be finished. I hit the word limit. But I need about double that to wrap it up, and I'm really, really stuck. One of the themes is magic is dying. Another theme is the main character's, where she's looking for a place where she (and her ace!spec-ness) fits in. And then it's all mostly set inside a bdsm club. The sequel to the story is already sort of in my head, but I can't get to that point because I'm so stuck and bogged down with the first story.  

Illustration (and animation):  

Fandom side:   Quattro Formaggio   >> Four Cheese comics >> I still have two or three waiting to post... and I want to get to an even 12. So I need to write and render a few more. A couple are thumbnailed.   >> Jailbreak 2016 >> I cut audio from a few clips of the concert, and I have the animatic done... but animation makes my brain seize up. It's like I'm blocked. So... that's on hold for a while.   >> Space Jam Dance >> I really want to animate the cheeses dancing. To a song from Space Jam.  

Saturday Night Salad >> The full line-up >> I'm in the process of turning almost everyone into a 3D vegetable---or fruit. I want to make a big poster with everyone in it. Right now, the ones I've done... I think the next one on my list is... celery, but that'll be one of the last almost-regular SNS-ers. So. Those ones are modelled. And then I have to finish the occasionals. And then go through the texturing and rigging process.  

Team Free Breakfast (or Brunch)   >> The line-up of five >> I'm still rigging Pancake!Cas. Not because it's hard, but because I rig every day at work. And getting psyched up about coming home and doing more rigging? Doesn't happen all that often.  

#Blame The Musk >> The product line-up >> For now, I'm just trying to get the products textured. They're all modelled and sort-of rigged (just single controls on everything so I can move 'em around later). Later, I will be making mock advertisements with all the products.  

Personal project side:   >> Various 3D projects >> I started renovating an old robot project from school, hoping to make it something for a new reel (but it's a mess, because I was a student and scrambling to finish things for project deadlines, so I find the whole thing discouraging). I've also been trying to model a character so I can work on a face rig set-up---but organic modelling is SO NOT MY THING. The only other thing I've been working on is a sort of bdsm dungeon that fits in a shoebox. I haven't looked at it in probably a year. Most of it's modelled, it just needs texturing. The point was to comp it into video footage of an actual shoebox being put on or taken off a shelf.  >> Tattoo design >> So. When I was a wide-eyed and innocent frosh, with the taste of freedom from my very demanding (but lovable) parents fresh in my heart, I ran out and got a tattoo. I designed it, which may have been stupid, but whatever. It's an abstract take on a claddagh ring, just the lines, and with spiky sort of wings instead of hands. It's on my lower back. Which was fine for a couple of years. (Then, the term "tramp stamp" became a thing.) I feel like it's important to say I do not regret getting it. It was freedom. Probably the first I felt ever, really, and I will always love it for that. But. I didn't take care of it as well as I should have. And I gained weight (because college) then lost it, gained it and then some, lost it, and gained more, and so on. So the tattoo is a little fuzzy. And I do feel shame about that. I've been trying to turn this little fuzzy thing into a larger back piece that's like a collage of different style and different elements and imagery. I can't do the finer details because I'm not that good at drawing, but I've been trying to rough something out so I can go to an actual artist (someday lol) and give them the sketches and go from there.  

//  

But getting all of this stuff done is contingent on my shoulders and arms not being sore enough---or just being numb enough---so I can sit and work on this stuff. (Backstory: my work desk is well on its way to killing me, and there's no alternative; we're in those call-centre almost-cubicles and the desks are about three to five inches too tall for me. Shoulder and arm pain for years. Goes to show how artists rate, huh? Can't even get a desk to fit! /rant+whining)   So, I have a bunch of things on the go, and when I feel like I can move without wanting to scream, I tinker on something that matches my mood or snags my interest. Eventually (hopefully), I'll finish something.  

Aaaaaand.  

Now. Who do I want to pester today, hmm? *rubs hands together*

@lacqueluster and @thequeervet... am I allowed to ask what you two are working on? Or what you're thinking about working on? And @evansluke, @piyo-13 @little-red-83, and @ofplanet-earth? How about you guys, toooooo?  

What have you all been up to creatively lately? Any words? Or art? Video? Photography? Body art? Fanmixes? Metalworking? (I don't know if any of you do that. Just throwing it all out there because there are different ways to be creative. I was following the example format I was given, but there are so many more things that can be done.)

Okay. I am so sorry to anyone seeing this because it got very long. Whoops!