#august writing challenge 2021

[monthly-writing-challenges]

About the Blog!

This blog is an attempt to collate and collect all the non-fandom-specific (writing) challenges hosted annually during specific months posted on tumblr - it is not an attempt to take credit for any of these challenges! Please follow the actual blogs of the challenges you're interested in participating in and check out their individual prompt challenge rules!!

There are many, many more writing challenges out there than these monthly challenges, if you're looking (daily prompts, yearly prompts, fandom specific challenges, etc.). If you know of a challenge that hasn't made it to this blog and fits the above criteria, please let me know, I'm happy to share it.

Monthly prompt blogs for the next three months (Jul. 2025 - Sept. 2025):

Blogs with different prompt lists/challenges every month:

@monthlywritingchallenges. July challenge (ongoing): Golden Hour, prompt-a-day.

@thepromptfoundry. July challenge (ongoing): Juxtaposition July, prompt-a-day.

July 2025:

@whumperless-whump-event! Category: (whumperless) whump. Running since 2024. 2025 status: prompts are posted. [Type: prompt-a-day]

@whumpmasinjuly! Category: whump. FAQ. Running since 2020. 2025 status: prompts are posted. [Type: 10 creation/writing prompts, plus question and community prompts on the other days of the month]

@fluffyjuly! Category: fluff. First year running. 2025 status: prompts are posted. [Type: prompt-a-day]

@fluff-cember in July! Category: fluff. First year running (at least in July!). 2025 status: prompts are posted. [Type: prompt-a-day]

18+ only challenge. July Writing Challenge by @loki-hargreeves! Category: multiple. First year running. 2025 status: prompts are posted. [Type: prompt every other day, 18+/minors DNI]

August 2025:

@augustofwhump! Category: whump. Running since 2024. 2025 status: prompts are posted. [Type: prompt-a-day]

@augustwritingchallenge! Category: AU fics. FAQ. Running since 2020. 2025 status: prompts are posted. [Type: prompt-a-day]

@writersmonth! Category: none. FAQ. Running since 2019. 2025 status: prompts are posted. [Type: prompt-a-day]

@ficwip5k! Category: AU. Running since 2023. 2025 status: signups have started. [Type: single fic, maximum word count challenge]

@aug-kissed! Category: romance/kisses. Running since 2024. 2025 status: unknown. [Type: Aug 4-31; 3 prompts a week.]

September 2025:

@sicktember! Category: sick fics. FAQ. Running since 2021. 2025 status: prompts are posted. [Type: prompt-a-day]

@tropetember! Category: tropes. FAQ. Running since 2021. 2025 status: unknown. [Type: prompt-a-day]

@whumptember! Category: whump. Running since 2022. 2025 status: will be returning. [Type: prompt-a-day]

@horrortember! Category: horror. Running since 2024. 2025 status: unknown. [Type: prompt-a-day]

@sapphic-september! Category: sapphic fics. FAQ. Running since 2020. 2025 status: on track to return. [Type: prompt-a-day]

@alphabetofwhump! Category: whump. Running since 2024. 2025 status: unknown. [Type: 26 main prompts]

Check out the active and inactive challenge lists for other months!

[chaoticquill]

An Open Letter to the BSD Fandom

Long post incoming. TL;DR: fuck fandom bullying. Full stop.

Fellow BSDers,

I have been writing for the BSD fandom since August 2021, where I started to write my way out of my big traumas. Somehow, with one image in my head, I started the CAU with A Drop of Black Coffee in the Pot. I'm not entirely sure if that makes me a "big name" in the fandom or whether that gives what I'm about to say more "clout," but hey... it's worth a shot, yeah? Because maybe people will listen.

Maybe.

Since coming into this fandom, I've made a lot of friends through Discord, and I have had a blast creating for, with, and among them. Through Discord, I became a rare pair aficionado and gained a soft spot for Chuuatsu, ChuuRan, and others. The conversations I had with fans, in short, brought me more than peace from my traumas. I found myself among a community who, through shared interests in pretty anime characters based on historical authors, held me up as I faced more traumas, enjoyed more successes, and just... lived.

HOWEVER (emphasis), in the last year or so, three of who I would consider my closest Discord friends--three people I care deeply about--have been bullied out of the fandom for their unconventional ships or portrayal of characters or preference for dead dove content, and two more have been targets of cyberbullying.

In one case, I was also targeted by Dazai Anon (one of the cyberbullies mentioned above). My response to this is always simple: I laugh at the death threats because I'm already dead inside, I delete the comments, I block the posts, and I keep writing what brings me joy. Sometimes, that's ChuuAtsu. Sometimes, that's a more popular ship. And in all cases, that's totally fine.

But that's me. And not everyone is like me.

I've written this post a dozen times in my head. I contemplated, as the "adult" in the room, putting everyone in timeout or putting on my disappointed parent face. But instead, I settled on this.

BSD fandom, respectfully, what the actual fuck?

Let me be perfectly clear: there is no good reason to ever bully anyone, but ships, tropes, character preferences and readings? These are among the worst. And don't even get me started on what's "canon."

What I guess I'm really trying to say is this: the three people I know who stopped making BSD content did because certain members of the community took their fun away. And that's never okay. There is room in the fandom for the main ships and the rarepairs. There's room for the fluffmongers, angst fiends, and dead dove aficionados. In fact, many of the friends I mention write content I personally don't, nor do they tend to write fluff and explicit consent the way I tend to, but guess what? We appreciate each other's art. We share ideas. We hold each other up. And, most of all, we're friends, anyway.

So if I'm in any place to ask this fandom for anything, it's to keep your own space as a writer/creator without taking someone else's space away. It's to have fun creating content SKK, but stop taking fun away from the people who create DaRan or DazAtsu or KuniDazai or Kouyou x Dazai or whatever ship. Most important, be kind to one another, regardless of what characters, tropes, or ships we love because at the end of the day, we're not just pseuds or creators; behind the screen, we're human.

As people, I don't think we have anything to lose in this. We can still work around tags and tropes and ships and characters we don't enjoy. Plus, who knows? You might make a new friend, gain new perspective on a character dynamic you never thought about, exchange ideas and share excitement about the newest manga chapter... and that might bring joy to both of you.

I really hope this letter to be the start of something bigger, maybe something that will move through boundaries between fan communities. I've thought about events, challenges, movements... but my limited resources as a creator with 99 mental health issues mean that for now, those ideas will have to wait. This letter, inadequate as it feels, still says most of what I want it to say.

I often say I appreciate people taking the time to read my fics. I mean that for this letter, too. So thank you, truly.

And as always, don't forget to drink water.

Until my next update,

ChaoticQuill

[muirneach]

so about those czexes and their darling chinese third... a timeline

2020/2021

so imagine you're some flop czech tennis player who honestly isn't very good and somehow you start dating this really cool woman. and she's way out of your league. but you're in love! so who cares everything is wonderful :3 also you are an entire nineteen years old. lol. lmfao even. [authors note: i feel like this post from 2020 is kateřina's first soft launch but i genuinely don’t know? could be unrelated. whatever]

KOZERKI OPEN 2022

you're grinding it out on the challenger tour and you beat this random guy in the final of some random polish tournament in august 2022 in a weirdly lopsided three setter. you two are the 5th and 6th seeds and come into the event ranked 160th and 161st in the world. he never makes a challenger final again. whatever. you probably won't see him again.

AUSTRALIA 2024

fast foward to 2024. somehow you and that guy partner up for doubles for australia. you're not super close and both usually play singles but well why not. somehow you run all the way to the semis together.

MARSEILLE 2024

so you stay together and at your second ever event together you win a title. it's both your first ever atp main tour titles!! and now you guys are great friends.

CLAY SEASON AND THE CHANNEL SLAM 2024

clay season is a little rough for you at first but he does like, pretty well. you guys get to the doubles semis in barcelona. before going to roland garros you do beat novak casually at a 250 and this gets you to your first ever singles final, and lose. but suddenly people care about you a little bit! in roland garros and wimbledon you and your best friend both lose in the same rounds in singles. you play doubles though, and get to the quarters at roland garros. you also play mixed doubles with your girlfriend at roland garros and lose first round. she wins the channel slam in womens doubles. you and your girlfriend break up.

PARIS OLYMPICS 2024

it's the olympics now. you and her had signed up to play mixed doubles because luckily you were from the same country. it's a little awkward, but out of pride for your country you stay in the draw.

you're doing singles too, obviously, but you have to meet your best friend in the first round, which sucks. you win in 3, again, but lose next round so what was the point.

but it's okay, cause your now ex girlfriend is so good at doubles that she drags you all the way to the gold medal match. pride for your country.

but the draw once again brings you and your best friend together. he's had a weird olympics too, his partner withdrew last minute and won gold in singles, so now he's with someone he hadn't played with before, but suddenly they're in finals across from you. you win, obviously, in straights, his and his partner's luck could only last so long against someone as good as your ex girlfriend. but hey, he wins a medal too.

you and your ex kiss, people speculate if you really broke up or not, you joke about it but she confirms it. rough. but you are a gold medalist.

ASIAN SWING 2024

none of you three do anything big in north american hard court summer. then your best friend gets to his first ever tour level final at a 250, just like you, and also loses. in his home country. where he had hoped to become the second man from his country to win a singles title. at nearly the exact same time as his loss, his compatriot wins a final, also in their home country, making HIM the second man to win a singles title instead. damn.

SHANGHAI 2024

you two go to your best friend's hometown event. he loses in a heartbreaking first round. you play doubles, and also lose first round. it's not like he has to bear his entire country's expectations or anything.

however you upset a top three player in singles and get to your first masters semi. in his hometown. and he's the first thing you mention post-win, via the format of camera writing. tomas <3 partner zzz :^)! you lose that semi, but who cares, it was a great run.

END OF SEASON 2024 -> START OF SEASON 2025.

after a first round exit at the last masters for both of you, the season ends. your ex girlfriend gets the year end number 1 for doubles though, again. new season. united cup. both your countries fumble to the united states. whatever! your ex girlfriend wasn't even playing for your country

AUSTRALIA, AGAIN. 2025

it's australia again. where it all began for you and your friend. he very politely asks you if he can play mixed doubles with your ex girlfriend and you laugh and tell him yes. it's not like you and her were gonna play. they end up losing first round anyways.

he loses first round in singles. you get to the third round but can't beat djokovic again. you still enter in doubles, naturally. but fail to defend your semi finals points by falling third round as well.

and yeah, your ex girlfriend wins another slam in womens doubles. she's still better than anyone could dream to be.

and all this time you're just a random czech guy trying to figure out how to make your shorts shorter, which is totally not distracting for either of your doubles partners when you crouch in front of the net or anything.

[usedpidemo]

4th anniversary update! (reflection, future, and other thoughts.)

Hi everyone! π here.

Can you believe how fast time has flown by? It’s been four years since I opened this account and began my blogging/writing journey. Four years. Even writing this, it’s still kinda insane to comprehend that I’ve been this chronically online for so long. Normally, whenever I have a hyperfixation or interest, it tends to be strong for a few weeks, hell up to a year maximum, before it ultimately flames out—but not writing and specifically this blog. I may not be as active as I used to, but even during my limited down time, I always get that itch to write, and I wish I cherished and made the most of the times when I was actually free, because Lord knows how hard finishing up college is.

As is now tradition, here’s a brief timeline and log of the blog so far:

First work: Sandwich (Red Velvet Wendy) (published 05/13/21)

Number of works published: 105 (1 fic every 13.91 days)

Work with highest note count: Tell your friends (Ive Yujin x Wonyoung) (published 01/14/23, 1317 notes)

500 followers: June 18, 2021 (36 days)

1000 followers: October 12, 2021 (152 days)

2000 followers: June 18, 2022 (401 days)

3000 followers: November 12, 2022 (548 days)

4000 followers: May 22, 2023 (740 days)

5000 followers: December 18, 2023 (950 days)

6000 followers: September 10, 2024 (1216 days)

Current follower count: 6626 followers (1 new follower every 4.54 days)

It feels like I’ve written quite a lot, but at the same time not enough considering how long I’ve been doing this hobby/profession. As of writing this update/reflection, I’m smack dab in the middle of the final two weeks of college, so I do apologize there isn’t anything huge or bombastic to celebrate the milestone, but rest assured, once I finish up finals, activity will ramp up for at least a few months—from June to August. 

I can’t understate or declare my sincerest gratitude and appreciation for each and every single of you, be it reader, follower, or lurker. For giving me a chance and for all the feedback, both good and bad, it motivates me to always be better. Never in my wildest dreams would I think that I could make something out of writing, but now, it’s become a passion, and more importantly, a semi-reliable source of income on the side. So once again, thank you. 

—————

I cannot stress how bad 2024 was. Like even with a few good moments, 2024 was easily one of the toughest years of my life. So much so that the fallout continued into 2025 and even now. The family was dangerously close to falling apart, our business was tanking, and there was so much going on that every facet of our lives was put through the ringer. It was taxing for all of us—emotionally, financially, spiritually, physically. 

Five months into the new year, and the challenges never seem to stop. We’ve been forced to temporarily close our restaurant and go into a big corporate restructuring. Utilities and daily needs at times feel like a huge blow to our budget. The mall that houses our shop won’t release our assets unless we pay them an exorbitant fee despite the fact they did not provide some sort of compensation when they closed off our section because they were building a new parking area and at times, were seemingly trying to sabotage and undercut us. Everyday feels like a struggle just to get by.

However, not all hope is lost. For one, the relationship between my mother and my sister has slowly been repairing since December, and thank God. I can’t imagine how worse off we would be if there’s still this tension between the three of us. Then there’s this property that, court willing, we could turn into another form of passive income or outright sell for millions. And then there’s me. I’m currently hard at work writing up my thesis, hence the lack of activity and new fics. While I won’t have to formally defend it till December, I have to submit a proposal for my final this semester. It’s been hard. Business and research has never been my strong suit; if I had a choice, I should have gone into a creative course when I first started college, but circumstances kept that from happening. Nevertheless, graduating has been my mom’s priority for me so that I can help out in some shape or form.

So once again, I apologize for lack of activity recently. Thankfully, it’s only at least two more weeks, then we can get back to writing. But also, I’ve been trying to find a part-time job online so I can make some money on the side while waiting for the next academic year to start. Gonna be a challenge to balance so much all at once; I don’t even know if I’ll follow through on the latter.

With all that said, while this isn’t in my field of expertise, and this is something I usually keep to myself, I have been doing AI edits of K-pop idols in my free time. Edits that would probably get me booted off this site; they’re really lewd. I’ve been keeping a stash for a few months and I figure that there are people who actually pay for this stuff (wild!). So I’ve made the executive decision to add a membership that you can subscribe to, both in Ko-fi and Patreon. 

Membership on either site will give you the same benefits—from having a dedicated server/access to the aforementioned edits/pics, the ability to request an idol you wish to have an edit of, the ability to vote on membership-only polls deciding what I will write next, discounts on commissions, and previews to my upcoming works, including being able to read them days ahead of their public release. 

I would like to reiterate that none of my published fics/written work will be paywalled; this is a bit more degenerate in nature. I recommend if you’re gonna avail of the membership to subscribe to Patreon, since I don’t wanna nuke my Ko-fi account with the explicit content I might upload on it, and Patreon is seemingly more adult content friendly. Regardless, this is all optional and changes nothing otherwise, but is merely another means of showing support :). As long as it’s on any of the four sites I post on—Tumblr, AFF, AO3, and Wattpad—my work will be readily available to read. Also, this is all completely optional; support if you’re compelled to do so, but don’t feel the urgency to help. Everything will work out by itself.

As the clock winds down on another year around the Tumblr sun, I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank everyone—to the community, to my peers, to all my followers, and to you, dearest reader, for sitting through another year with me. I don’t need to beat it over your head that my personal life has been shit, but if a recent movie has reminded me of anything, it’s that we’re never alone (shoutout Bob). If I were given a chance to walk a different path or redo everything, I would go through this journey all over again—that’s how special and meaningful it has become. Most importantly, the story isn’t over yet; there’s still pages to be written, memories to be made, and a great reward that’s waiting at the finish line. 

With grace,

Peter / π

[posttexasstressdisorder]

Today was kiddo's 8th-grade "Promotion Ceremony", marking their going on to High School this fall. Hard to believe...I still remember the day her dad called me to tell me she was on the way. The ceremony was very nicely done, they each got their name called (150 or so kids), and got to walk across the stage, and get their "Certificate of Promotion".

The kids were all dressed up, she was in a sweet little spring dress and had matching shoes; they had the big doin's at the College of Alameda Gym, so it was plenty loud and raucus when everybody cheered for the kids. My lower back's a little worse for the wear from having to sit on bleachers, but it was worth it.

I caught pretty much the whole thing on video, as that seems to be my duty in these matters...I've recorded every one of her middle-school band and orchestra concerts, since her dad died in early 2021, before she started jr. high.

And since she's going off for the summer to be with her cousin and uncle (her dad's brother) until August. Her mom's going to have the piano guy come out and fix the pedal and touch-up the tunning again while kiddo's gone. She's going to be in/out for the summer herself, so I'll be taking care of The Bunny Named Gerbil, which I love doin'...she knows I always give her a treat when I walk in the door.

So since I will be having a little bit of extra cash coming, and because it has been such a stressful 6-7 months around staying housed and now adjusting to new roomie, I gave myself permission to give myself a treat for having survived. Now, y'all know I'm broke as fuck, and there is never "extra" cash above bills. But since there will be "bunny money" coming, I decided I could.

What was it? Something I've wanted for a long, long time: a very nice example of the final 11-inch MacBook Air, with 8GB RAM soldered in, from early 2015. It's got Thunderbolt and USB3, and uses a 128GB SSD blade that I can replace with a faster 1TB blade for pretty cheap.

And with a slightly newer (by three years) design, it will run on Catalina (the final OS X), as well as Big Sur (OS 11) and Monterey (OS 12), and since it will be strictly a writing and tumblr machine, I can leave my two mid-2012 machines at my preferred OS versions for both. The tower needs El Capitan for the piano software plugin I use with my keyboard. The MacBook Pro is sitting at High Sierra, which still works with the software I use for the keyboard and for graphics.

So with this little machine to take over the lightweight stuff, I'll be much more apt to update the OS to either Catalina or I may go all the way up to OS 12...I'll see how it handles Catalina first.

It's responsive, quick, and is light-years different from the last Air I had (2010 "Core 2 Duo" with only 2GB RAM!), oh, what a pokey little thing that was...this one feels up to the challenge, with 8GB. Firefox launches fast and is just as quick as I'm used to, so I'm happy.

And the cool part was it was only $129, $141 with tax. From a certified Mac refurbisher, and it's immaculate...everything works, it has backlit keys (YAY!) and so far has been rock solid.

So yippee for a new toy.

I earned it.

[arianatwycross]

Hi my tumblr name is arianatwycross (this is not my real name but you may call me A or Ari) I'm a pommy that lives in Australia, I have a golden retriever that owns my heart and I'm addicted to cheesy romance novels.

I write mostly Jily but have been known to delve into Romione and am dipping my toe in some wolfstar!

last updated 18.03.24

Jily

Multi-chapters:

The Process of Wanting- University Muggle AU / Jily-microoops March prompts

Headlines - Muggle AU / Popstar James

once upon a dream - WIP Hogwarts AU / Lily has a crush

To send or not to send? - (Two Parts) 2023 April Jily Challenge / Theme: Letters, Notes and Texting

A (not so) bad day - (Two Parts) - Hogwarts idiots in love

We'll be a fine line -WIP a chapter a day for jilytober 2022 / a muggle au

Only for the Summer -WIP Rated E / Muggle Job AU / Friends to Lovers

Beach Reading -  Rated T. July 2022 Jily Challenge / Theme: Summer Prompt: “i really, really need this summer job, so please stop distracting me with your wiles/good looks. you’re going to get me fired”

The Art of Fake Dating - WIP written with @vertraymer / For the Mixed Up Writer Fest 2022 / Prompt: Fake dating AU!

Unlearnable - WIP, Rated M. Muggle AU. Angst.

Strawberry Lipstick State of Mind - Rated E. Canon. Seventh Year.

Just a touch - Rated E

Teenage Kicks - Rated E / Celeb AU with minor wolfstar

you are the sun - Rated M (Three-parts) Muggle AU/Secret Relationship

One Shots:

Skinny Dipping Part 1 - a jilymicrofic

Just the two of us - Hogwarts / Forced proximity, Hurt/Comfort

A Sweet Meet Cute - Muggle AU, small town romance

A romance of their own - Jily Valentine Gift Exchange 2023 / Celeb AU

Wet, Cold & Bothered - Rated M / 2022 Jily Challenge December Christmas challenge; prompt: Snowball fights

Muggle Christmas Traditions - Rated G/ 2022 December Christmas Jily Challenge. Prompt: The night before Christmas

The One Where Remus Has no Filter - Rated G. Jily Challenge December Christmas challenge

a year and 22 days - Rated T. Summer of Jily 2022 / lyric: all that I know is you caught me at the right time —"golden hour" (kacey musgraves) Scenario: late evening with friends in the garden

The One Where Petunia Can't Drive - April JilyChallenge / Meet uglies + prompt "i hit you with my car/broom and was the only one to visit you in the hospital"

two fools - Rated T / Feb 2022 Jily Challenge romance theme + prompt " “It’s not like I've thought about kissing you, or anything…”

Shut up & Kiss me - Rated M / December Jily Challenge, Winter theme. Muggle AU

Crush Phase - Rated T. Muggle AU

A Year Later - Rated M / Jily Challenge August 2021 . Muggle AU

consciously unaware - Rated GA / Jilytober 2021 bingo (5 prompts in one). Canon, friends to lovers.

Say my name - Rated M. Canon.

Romione

Multi-chapters:

Backseat Rider - Rated T / Muggle AU

One Shots:

Willow - Rated GA. Written for M.Windsor for the 2021 HP Romione Discord Secret Santa!

It’s better In the front seat… - Rated M (Backseat Rider One shot)

Confessions - Rated E / Canon

Books & Freckles - Rated T

Nobody Compares - Rated T / Muggle AU, professional football player Ron

Wolfstar

Skinny Dipping Part 2 - a wolfstarmicrofic

Teenage Kicks Spinoff coming soon!

[storyofthenauseouseye]

The Duality of Woman: Anais Nin

Vogue Magazine, Anais Nin talks about being a woman, 15 October 1971

Anais Nin is a woman of duality. It's been a well-known fact for those who know or love her that she is truly a two-sided coin. She said it herself in her book Henry and June,

"I will always be the virgin prostitute, the perverse angel, the two-faced sinister and saintly woman"(bookquoters.com).

From her intense marriages to two different men on opposite sides of the country, to her literary career, to even her personal reflections and essays, Nin was a figure bathed in duality. How does one split the image of Anais Nin ideally in half? You just have to find the seam between diarist and eroticist.

The Diarist

Anais Nin is most well-loved by her adoring fans because of her published diary. As a young girl, Nin wrote her father a letter begging him to return to the family he had abandoned (The Anais Nin Foundation). This was the beginning of Nin's diary, which would be published in seven volumes, with four unexpurgated diaries later appearing after their original publication.

Her diaries were incredibly personal, full of secrets and thoughts she never thought would come to light. The biggest secret within these diaries was that she was married to two different men simultaneously, something she would remove from the diaries upon initial publication. Years later, Nin compiled the removed sections into one volume, the first of her unexpurgated diaries. It was called Henry and June, and detailed the letters and writings the two shared. The duality of Nin stretched throughout every aspect of her life.

These highly intimate journals struck twentieth-century American women directly in their souls. As one journalist famously put it in an article for The Conversation,

Anaïs Nin dreamed, in all senses. She dreamed of lives and possibilities. She dreamed in slumber and allowed her dreams to leak into the day. As I regularly committed the cardinal social sin of recounting my dreams over breakfast, she seemed a soulmate across oceans and generations (Gorman).

These teenage girls and their daydreams were instantly hooked on Nin's likeminded wonder and splendid prose. She became a sensation after the diary publications almost instantly, giving her a decent seat in literary history.

It wouldn't be long until something else gave her another boost of fame.

Ramon Casas, Decadent Young Woman. After the Dance, 1899

The Eroticist

In the late 1970s, Anais Nine published three volumes of erotic short fiction, each containing approximately ten stories. Despite their popularity, the term erotic is a tad inappropriate. Although she wasn't a follower of the transgressive art movement like Georges Bataille, Anais Nin's erotic stories are more disturbing and controversial than actually arousing.

Nin wrote about such topics as sexual abuse, incest, pedophilia, and other forms of sexual violence within her stories. These works would go on to shock and challenge readers even today (Maza).

Lost Lenore Antiques, Anais Nin ~ Little Birds and Delta of Venus ~ 1st Edition Books ~ Vintage Erotica, 27 August 2021

Works Cited

The Anais Nin Foundation. “bio — The Anais Nin Foundation.” The Anais Nin Foundation, https://theanaisninfoundation.org/bio.

Gorman, Alice. “The book that changed me: journeying to the self with Anaïs Nin's sensual, transgressive diaries.” The Conversation, 25 April 2022, https://theconversation.com/the-book-that-changed-me-journeying-to-the-self-with-ana-s-nins-sensual-transgressive-diaries-176135.

Maza, Sarah, and Paul Herron. “Swinging: The Double Life of Anaïs Nin.” Public Books, 19 February 2018, https://www.publicbooks.org/swinging-the-double-life-of-anais-nin/.

Nin, Anaïs. “Quotes from Henry and June: From "A Journal of Love"--The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin by Anaïs Nin.” BookQuoters, https://bookquoters.com/book/henry-and-june-from-a-journal-of-love-the-unexpurgated-diary-of-anais-nin.

Further Reading

[justforbooks]

Patriot by Alexei Navalny

The late Russian activist’s memoir is an insightful, sharp, even humorous account of his fight against Putin’s regime – and a warning to the world

Alexei Navalny was watching his favourite cartoon show, Rick and Morty, when he suddenly felt unwell. He was 21 minutes into an episode where Rick turns into a pickle. The late Russian opposition leader was on a flight back to Moscow after campaigning ahead of regional elections in the Siberian city of Tomsk in August 2020. Something was clearly wrong, and Navalny staggered to the bathroom.

There, he recalls, he had the grim realisation: “I’m done for.” He told a sceptical steward that he’d been poisoned and then lay down calmly in the aisle, facing a wall. Life didn’t flash before his eyes. Instead, he compares his experience of death – or near-death, as it turned out – to something from a dark fantasy. It was like being “kissed by a Dementor and a Nazgûl stands nearby”.

He is clear who gave the order to kill him with the nerve agent novichok: Vladimir Putin. Navalny calls Russia’s president a “bribe-taking old man” and a “vengeful runt” who sits on top of a “sinister regime”. The assassins were members of the FSB, the KGB’s successor agency. Navalny spent 18 days in a coma, waking up in hospital in Germany.

It was while recovering in Freiburg that he wrote the first part of his extraordinary memoir, Patriot. The second section consists of letters from prison, following his January 2021 return to Moscow, when he was dramatically arrested at the airport. Navalny says he embarked on an autobiography knowing the Kremlin could finish him off. “If they do finally whack me, this book will be my memorial,” he notes.

It took three years for his gallows humour prophecy to come true. Navalny died in February this year, his likely murder taking place in an Arctic penal colony. He was 47. Prison documents hint he was poisoned and the authorities removed the evidence: clothes, vomit, even snow he had come into contact with.

This is a brave and brilliant book, a luminous account of Navalny’s life and dark times. It is a challenge from beyond the grave to Russia’s murder-addicted rulers. You can hear his voice in the deft translation by Arch Tait and Stephen Dalziel: sharp, playful and lacking in self-pity. Nothing crushes him. Up until the end – his final “polar” entry is on 17 January 2024 – he radiates indomitable good humour.

Patriot includes a manifesto for how the country might be transformed: free elections, a constitutional assembly, decentralisation and a European orientation. Days before his murder, he predicted the Putin regime would crumble, while acknowledging the resilience of autocracies.

Trained as a lawyer, Navalny first attracted attention as a transparency activist. He bought shares in notoriously corrupt oil and gas companies and asked awkward questions at shareholder meetings. The Kremlin controlled TV and most newspapers, so Navalny wrote up his exposés online. In 2011 he founded FBK, an anti-corruption organisation which grew into a grassroots national movement run by volunteers. He expresses pride at the way his campaigns encouraged young Russians to take part in opposition politics. Police detained him for the first time in 2011 when he attended protests against rigged Duma elections. Undaunted, he stood two years later to be mayor of Moscow, coming second, before finding himself in an “endless cycle” of rallies, arrests and spells in custody.

The Kremlin’s response to all this was vicious. His brother Oleg was jailed after a fake trial, a provocateur threw green gunk at Navalny, blinding him in one eye. In 2016 he tried to run for president. His videos – of Putin’s tacky Sochi palace and former president Dmitry Medvedev’s dodgy schemes – attracted millions of views. Navalny writes movingly about his wife, Yulia, – whom he met on holiday in Turkey – as a soulmate throughout this period.

Given his understanding of Putin’s Stalinist methods, why did he return to Moscow? His answer is that the struggle to make Russia a normal state was “my life’s work”. He wasn’t prepared to dump his homeland or his convictions, he says. At first, jail conditions were bearable. Well-wishers sent sacks of letters and a tiramisu cake. In one dispatch, Navalny ponders the “amazing ability of human beings to adapt and derive pleasure from the most trivial things”, such as instant coffee.

Behind bars, he chatted to his cellmates and read. He preferred Maupassant to Flaubert and enjoyed Oliver Twist (though he wonders if Dickens got working-class dialogue right). The FSB spied on him 24/7; his warders wore body cameras and barked commands.

As conditions worsened, he made fewer diary entries. More criminal “convictions” piled up – for insulting a war veteran and for extremism. He was shuffled from one penitentiary to the next. Meanwhile, “perverted” prison staff refused to treat his back pain, prompting a hunger strike. He was categorised as a flight risk and woken throughout the night, put in a tiny punishment cell and denied his wife’s letters.

None of these privations stopped Navalny from denouncing Putin’s all-out invasion of Ukraine as an “unjust war of aggression”. The reason for the war is Putin’s desire to hold on to power at any cost, and an obsession with his “historical legacy”, he writes. Critics regard Navalny as a closet nationalist. But Patriot calls for Russia to withdraw its troops, respect Ukraine’s 1991 borders and pay compensation.

During one of Yulia’s visits, Navalny told her there was a “high probability” he would never get out of prison alive. “They will poison me,” he said. “I know,” she replied. He sketches out what this means – no chance to say goodbye, never meeting his grandchildren, “tasseled mortar boards tossed in the air in my absence”. Maybe an unmarked grave. His philosophy: hope for the best, expect the worst. His death is a terrible loss, for Russia and for all of us.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[secretlywritingstories]

Last day of June, last day of pride month, and last day before I huddle myself into a corner to write loads for the coming month.

I have a rather proud tradition of doing my Posting Every Day In August (PEDIA) challenge every year but it's actually preceded by an accompanying tradition - not posting in July, though I haven't come up with a fancy acronym for that one.

It's mostly a tradition born out of necessity. Posting for a whole month straight (gay pun here) is a whole lot of work, and so it makes sense that I start to hoard what I'm writing to post when it is time. I usually start thinking about my PEDIA fics already around May and plan ahead.

Even so the majority of the writing is usually done during July and August. Two very busy writing months where I give time to the fics that have been ideas for a while but never gotten their chance to shine. It's almost an excuse to busy myself with my fictional words and it's helped along by the fact that I'm usually on summer holiday in July as well.

I've still got two weeks left of work and then I'm spending my first holiday week travelling around a couple European countries, but after that I've got three whole weeks with no plans. And I am hopeful that work is going to wind down into more of a holiday mode and I'll have extra energy to write.

It's a precious little tradition, even if I'm again this year intermixing spilled thoughts posts (as this one) and fanfic, whether that be chapters or one shots. As a writer, I'm so bad at doing short one shots or chapters and they tend to grow out from under me.

This year's PEDIA feels even a bit more special because my longest fic to date was started during PEDIA in 2021 and I am going to be finishing it up during PEDIA this year. It is a fic with very long chapters, so it's without a doubt PEDIA that has been keeping it alive, as well as the handful of lovely people sticking with it for literal years.

My writing month here in July is going to be challenging but I am looking forward to it as well, and I'm planning to pull a lot on my writing friends, hanging out in our space and getting words down together. It's a magical and wonderful thing. For a while, most other things in my every day fades away and I can just write.

What a blessing. Wish me luck on the fics this year! We've got some good ones and I'm so excited to share them come August.

[infinitejedilove]

2024 Jinnobi Challenge

Hello everyone! It’s March which means it’s time for me to be really early about mentioning the Jinnobi Challenge happening in August! This is the 8th annual Jinnobi Challenge and it feels very strange to write this and know this all started back in 2017 when I was lamenting the lack of Qui/Obi challenges. Well now there are several that happen every year and they are always worth checking out!  (previous master lists of the Jinnobi Challenge submissions : 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023).

So here’s all the info and FAQ for those who are thinking of participating in this Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon challenge (I will repost this info periodically as it gets closer to August).

When is it?: The challenge will run from August 1 – August 31. Any Jinnobi work you submit must be complete and it must be submitted sometime during August 1 – August 31. You have from now until August to work on submissions. PLEASE DO NOT POST YOUR SUBMISSION BEFORE THE CHALLENGE STARTS. Due to time differences in various countries, I do allow people to post on September 1st. 

Who can enter: The challenge is open to writers, artists and everyone in between. Art, poetry, photo manips, videos, gifsets, fanfiction, it’s all welcome. There’s no theme except it has to be Obi-Wan Kenobi/Qui-Gon Jinn. It can be set during the prequels, the originals, the Kenobi show, or an AU. It’s up to you. You can submit multiple entries too if you’d like. For fic writers there’s no limit on the length of your fic(s).

How to enter: When August 1st, comes around you’re welcome to post your complete work on whatever social network or fanfiction site you are comfortable using. Please tag your work (if the site allows you to tag) with the tag Jinnobi Challenge 2024 or The Jinnobi Challenge 2024 whether it’s a fic, art, or a post.  Message me with a link to your work (or links, if you submit more than one work), once you’ve published it so I know to put it on the master list!

I can also be reached on A03, but I tend to check tumblr much more regularly so if you want a fast response, I recommend contacting me via that.

Rules:

1. No underage relationships. (underage = below 18 years of age)

2. No Abuse or Noncon between the main pairing (Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon)

3. If you post anything triggering, please tag it with the appropriate warnings

4. Your fic must have a rating on it (the challenge is open to all ratings)

5. If you’re posting a long WIP, the first chapter must be posted on or after August 1, and the last chapter has to be posted before August 31, so I don’t recommend it unless you know you can get it done in that time.

FAQ:

What if I don’t have anything ready, but I do have a Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan work I happened to post in August?: As long as the quiobi work was complete and was posted between the 1st – 31st of August 2024, you can tag it ‘Jinnobi Challenge 2024’ and enter it in the challenge.

What if it’s not slash?: This challenge celebrates the Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan ship. Pre-slash is fine, just please no ‘Qui-Gon as a parental figure to Obi-Wan’ fics as that is not what this challenge is about.

What if it’s a fic in a series?: if it’s a standalone complete story in a series than yes, it qualifies.

What if I already entered it in a different quiobi fic challenge?: The fic must be a new fic posted in August 2024 (no reposting old works unless it’s an extreme rewrite to basically be nothing like the original) and it must be complete. It’s ok with me if it is tagged in another challenge as long as it meets the guidelines for this challenge but you’ll want to check if it’s ok with the other challenge you posted it in.

What if it’s Obi/Qui/others? Or there’s Obi/other, Qui/other, but still Qui/Obi?: The main pairing should still be Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon, even if it’s poly, or if there are other partners or past/present relationships.

Does it have to follow a prompt?: No. As long as it’s Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan and complete it can be about anything. If you want a prompt to work with here are a few you can choose to use for inspiration:

People assuming the characters are a married couple/accidental marriage

2. Someone gets sick

3. Sharing a home/quarters for the first time.

4. Quiobi in a different genre than sci-fi (i.e. fantasy, western, supernatural, historical romance, etc)

5. First kiss

Can be as angsty, fluffy, or as AU as you want as long as it follows the rules of the challenge.

Is there a prize this year?: Yes! I want to continue having a prize each year. And this year is a repeat of the 2021 Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan poster! (yes I do actually have more than one copy of this 90’s poster magazine) The link about that prize information is right here, as nothing has really changed since 2021, except that I now hold the challenge in August, not October, so ignore the dates in the original post. 

By the first or second week of September, I’ll put up a master post with links to all the amazing stuff everyone has created!!!

[soon-palestine]

Workers said Project Nimbus is the kind of lucrative contract that neglects ethical guardrails that outspoken members of Google’s workforce have demanded in recent years. “I am very worried that Google has no scruples if they’re going to work with the Israeli government,” said Joshua Marxen, a Google Cloud software engineer who helped to organize the protest. “Google has given us no reason to trust them.” The Tuesday protest represents continuing tension between Google’s workforce and its senior management over how the company’s technology is used. In recent years Google workers have objected to military contracts, challenging Google’s work with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and its role in a defense program building artificial intelligence tools used to refine drone strikes. Workers have alleged that the company has cracked down on information-sharing, siloed controversial projects and enforced a workplace culture that increasingly punishes them for speaking out.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the Tuesday protest and workers’ concerns over Project Nimbus. The Israeli Finance Ministry announced its contract with Google and Amazon in April 2021 as a project “intended to provide the government, the defense establishment and others with an all-encompassing cloud solution.” Google has largely refused to release details of the contract, the specific capabilities Israel will receive, or how they will be used. In July 2022, the Intercept reported that training documents for Israeli government personnel indicate Google is providing software that the company claims can recognize people, gauge emotional states from facial expressions and track objects in video footage. Google Cloud spokesperson Atle Erlingsson told Wired in September 2022 that the company proudly supports Israel’s government and said critics had misrepresented Project Nimbus. “Our work is not directed at highly sensitive or classified military workloads,” he told Wired. Erlingsson, however, acknowledged that the contract will provide Israel’s military access to Google technology. Former Google worker Ariel Koren, who has long been publicly critical of Project Nimbus, said “it adds insult to injury for Palestinian activists and Palestinians generally” that Google Cloud’s profitability milestone coincides with the 75th anniversary of the Nakba — which refers to the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians following creation of the state of Israel in 1948.

In March 2022, The Times reported allegations by Koren — at the time a product marketing manager at Google for Education — that Google had retaliated against her for criticizing the contract, issuing a directive that she move to São Paulo, Brazil, within 17 business days or lose her job. Google told The Times that it investigated the incident and found no evidence of retaliation. When Koren resigned from Google in August 2022 she published a memo explaining reasons for her departure, writing that “Google systematically silences Palestinian, Jewish, Arab and Muslim voices concerned about Google’s complicity in violations of Palestinian human rights.” Koren said Google’s apathy makes her and others believe more vigorous protest actions are justified. “This is a concrete disruption that is sending a clear message to Google: We won’t allow for business as usual, so long as you continue to profit off of a nefarious contract that expands Israeli apartheid.” Mohammad Khatami, a YouTube software engineer based in New York, participated in a small protest of Project Nimbus at a July Amazon Web Services conference in Manhattan. Khatami said major layoffs at Google announced in January pushed him to get more involved in the Alphabet Workers Union, which provides resources to Khatami and other union members in an anti-military working group — though the union has not taken a formal stance on Project Nimbus. “Greed and corporate interests were being put ahead of workers and I think the layoffs just illustrated that for me very clearly,” Khatami said.

[cha-melodius]

2023 Fic Year in Review

I've been doing these for three years now, and they always grow each year as I get tagged in other year-end posts that make the rounds. Feel free you grab it if you want to do your own review! And I’d like to add a hearty thank you to each and every person who’s read my fics over the years, y'all continue to make this a joy!

2020 Review | 2021 Review | 2022 Review

AO3 Username: chamel  My Page: Link  Active Fandoms:  Red, White & Royal Blue: 20 works The Man from UNCLE (2015): 8 works Loki: 5 works New Fandoms: None thank GOD Total Number Of Completed Works/Word Count  This Year: 33 works, 278k words  All Time: 113 works, 1.27 million words

This year a little movie that came out in August absolutely destroyed these stats lmaoooo. Most Popular One Shot (by kudos): This Year: Always Where I Need To Be (RWRB, Alex/Henry, T, 5.5k) All Time: Class(room) Warfare (RWRB, Alex/Henry, T, 7.8k words)

Most Popular Completed Multi-Chapter (by kudos):  This Year & All Time: Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood  (RWRB, Alex/Henry, E, 20k words)

Events/Challenges: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Gift Exchange 2023, The Brownstone Anniversary Fic Exchange, Halloween Huh?

More reflections, stats, and planned fics below the cut!

Additional Random AO3 Stats

By number of fics: 85% one shots, 15% multi-chaps

By word count: 52% mult-chaps, 48% one shots

Ratings by number of fics: 48% T-rated, 33% E-rated, 15% M-rated

Musical artists contributing highest number of titles: Jeff Tweedy (Tweedy/Wilco) & The New Pornographers, tied at 3 each

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected?  Somehow I topped my word count from last year by 10k, which I was not expecting. That said, this year was right about average.

What’s your own favorite story of the year?  God this is a hard question this year because I wrote a lot of fics I really really love. For one single fic I'll go with Nova, Baby, because I love the story and I've got a lot of lovely feelings about it.

Did you complete your writing goals from last year?  The Goal: I want to complete a few large multichapter fics, which will probably mean my one-shot production goes down. I completed one long mulitchap, and then a few mid-length (~20k) multichaps. I think I wrote more of those than I have any other year. Surprisingly, my one-shot production wasn't super significantly decreased.

Do you have any writing goals for the New Year? Ok, I gotta come up with something. My goal is to have a similar mix of fics as least year, and also to write my first collaboration with @cricketnationrise, which will be a long multichap.

Did you take any writing risks this year? Wrote on a topic outside my wheelhouse (therapy 😬) and also posted a fic in a fandom where there weren't a lot of fics in similar genres (action/spies). Now that's no longer true, but at the time it was really freaking nerve-wracking.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Every fic I write in a fandom that's not RWRB? 😅 It's hard to complain too much, especially considering what happened to my numbers this year.

Most fun story to write: All the Old Showstoppers, Will You Brie Mine?, You're the Perfect Gift for Me. Silly RWRB boys being silly, basically.

Biggest disappointment: Again, I feel like it's hard to complain when I have a fic that's closing in on 4k kudos. The goalposts keep moving, don't they, though? I still live in fear of pouring my heart into a multichap and having what will count as "lukewarm" reception, when before this year I didn't have a single fic above 1k kudos.

Biggest surprise: Most definitely Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood. Like I figured it would do pretty well (I hoped, since I put so much into it), but holy shit?? I still can't really believe it's on page 2 of the tag by kudos? And honestly also Always Where I Need To Be, this little one-shot about David stealing glasses.

Coming soon/planned for 2024:

False Dichotomy (RWRB You've Got Mail AU)

Kissed Out (RWRB pro-pool players AU)

RWRB 1940s noir AU

RWRB conductor/piano soloist AU

RWRB hockey AU (with cricket)

A shitload of prompts from my fandom fest

Extremely delinquent MTH fics

TMFU art thief/gallery owner AU

Thank you for the tags on your end-of-the-year fic reviews @loki-is-my-kink-awakening, @kiwiana-writes, @rmd-writes, @lizzie-bennetdarcy, @indestructibleheart, and @welcometololaland!

[a-silent-symphony]

Nightwish: “The whole theme of the album is time, history, humanism, mortality. It’s really optimistic”

Tuomas Holopainen gives us the lowdown on everything you need to know about the hopeful new Nightwish album, Yesterwynde…

In the four years since their last album, Finnish symphonic metal titans Nightwish have been through much change, challenge and uncertainty. And that's without the pandemic kicking the legs out from underneath a year's worth of touring plans for 2020's HVMAN. :||: NATVRE a month after it came out.

First, in December of that year, longtime bassist and vocalist Marko Hietala announced that he was leaving the band. In October 2022, singer Floor Jansen revealed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and successfully underwent surgery.

Then last year, they dropped a worrying newsbomb, announcing that upon completion of their then-current touring duties – which had included a mammoth show at Wembley – they weren't going to be booking any more gigs for an unspecified period of time. Including, they confirmed, even when a new album came.

“After the planned shows for June 2023 we will be ‘hanging up our spurs’ for an indeterminate time, as far as live concert performances go, and won’t be touring the next album," they wrote in a statement. “The reasons for this decision are personal, but, we all agree, vital to the wellbeing and future of the band. Be assured that we still love working together, and this decision has nothing to do with Floor’s pregnancy or our other individual projects."

They did, however promise new music. True to their word, they've just announced that in September they'll release their 10th album, Yesterwynde. A record immediately more heavy than its predecessor, it's also one that sounds refreshed, vital, optimistic.

"Yes, that's definitely a word you could use for it," says keyboardist and composer Tuomas Holopainen when we catch up with him in Berlin to get the skinny. "The whole theme of the album is time, history, humanism, mortality. And it has a really optimistic vibe going through it all."

The first track, Perfume Of The Timeless, arrives on May 21. Ahead of all that, we sat down with Tuomas to get the first look at Nightwish's next chapter…

You’ve been working on the album for ages. When did you start, exactly? “I started writing it in January 2021. It was the second year of pandemic. I wasn't supposed to start writing songs for this album yet, but there was nothing else to do because of COVID, so I thought I might as well use the time for it. So I used all of 2021 to do that. Then in early ’22, we did a demo with just me and the engineer, and had a listen to the demo with the whole band for the first time in May ’22, during our American tour. It’s always a really exciting moment to present the new songs to the band. And terrifying, to be honest!

“Then we started recording it last August, and it took a few months to record. And after that, four and a half months of mixing, and a few mastering sessions. And now here we are. And we're still working with the atmos mixes – there's going to be an atmospheric mix of the album and the orchestral version of the album.”

That’s not long after HVMAN. :||: NATVRE came out. Were you doing it with the hard intention of writing a full album, or were you just initially doing something just to pass time? “For some reason, I just felt really inspired. I felt like it was the perfect time to do another Nightwish album. And, like I said, there was nothing else to do. The previous album, HVMAN. :||: NATVRE was released in April 2020, about a month after the COVID lockdowns started, so tough luck there! It was frustrating, but as always, you have to try to look at the bright side of things. I thought, ‘Okay, maybe this album, now people can listen to it in peace. They have nothing else to do, either. Maybe it brings them some hope and comfort during the dark times.’ So you always have to turn things an optimistic way.”

This is a lot more of a metal album than the last one. Was that a conscious thing? “That just happened. We never, ever think about this stuff in advance, like, ‘Let's make a heavier album.’ It's just the stories need to be told in a certain way. And this time, they needed to be told in this way. And it's really interesting that you should say that, because there were two journalists yesterday who said, ‘I was expecting something much more metal. This is a really mellow album.’ Really? Okay, I don't hear it that way. But it's all in the listener’s ear, I guess.”

The first single, Perfume Of The Timeless, is nearly 10 minutes long. Not exactly easing people in, are you? “No! But, when we had the first meeting with Nuclear Blast, talking about the new album and singles, I told them, the first single will be a song called Perfume Of The Timeless, and it's eight-and-a-half minutes long, and the chorus comes in at 3:30. And they were like, ‘Perfect!’ I think that has to do with the fact that we have a long legacy. You know, we can do whatever we want, and I do, but it says something that we can do that, when I heard that for Spotify it’s good to have the vocals start after 15 seconds, or people skip it, they don’t have the attention span anymore.”

What does the title, Yesterwynde, mean? “It’s a made-up word. There's this thing called The Dictionary Of Obscure Sorrows. It gave me the idea that if you don't have an English word to describe a certain emotion, you can just make your own. This particular dictionary is dedicated to that, like, the feeling of longing for a place that you have never been in. What is that feeling? And it was something weird, I can remember. And this album was born from a certain sensation that I felt really strongly, but I couldn't find a word in human language to describe it. So I started to talk with Troy [Donockley, multi-instrumentalist] and said, ‘Should we come up with a new word? Does that make any sense to you?’ And he's like, ‘Yeah, that's a brilliant idea. What did you have in mind?’ It was something like time, memories going black and white, sepia, and I said, ‘something yesterday’. Then he said, ‘How about Yesterwynde?’ That's perfect! But yeah, it's just a made up word to describe what the album is about."

A sense of longing? "Not so much longing as realising what time is all about. Realising that there is such a thing as time and past and history. The internet and YouTube is full of these old black-and-white images, and even video clips, that you first see in black-and-white, and then they have been coloured. Have you seen those? That's the effect that I get at the moment. It's like it's coming from an other dimension, these are black-and-white images, then you colour it, and it's right there, as if it was filmed yesterday. Something happens in my mind when I see those. I thought, 'This has to be put into a song or into an album somehow.' Suddenly, you feel so connected to the past generations, and those people that you see in those images. They've all had their lives, their ups and downs, and they don't exist anymore, except as atoms scattered all over the universe. And we're going to be in that state pretty soon as well. So that should give you something to think about."

Are you just worried about getting older? "Not at all – on the contrary (laughs). But they are the ultimate cliche of: seize the day. That's something that I think about more and more. We're all going to be dead soon. It's just a matter of what you're gonna do before that."

That's a very positive outlook. You can hear that in the record. There's an enthusiasm, rather than a sense of bleakness or defeat… "Yes! Spot on! People often ask, 'Where do you get the inspiration?' Well, just look at this world, look at everything's that happening. Look at the sky, the scientific innovations. History is so full of stories that are just a bottomless pit of inspiration. And also, especially these days, there's a lot of fear mongering going on, like end-of-the-world scenarios, which I find, let's say 'distressing', but also a bit annoying, because humankind has ceased to see the good that we have accomplished as well. There is no denying that the world is going through a horrible stage at the moment. But it's always been like that. If you go back to the Middle Ages, things were much worse. Throughout the human history, it's always been like this. But now because of fear mongering, and the media, and the authorities, whether political or religious, telling us that it's all coming to an end, we have to repent. And a lot of people buy into it, and they live miserable lives. Because of that, they forget the beauty of existence. It's an unbelievable stroke of luck, and a privilege, that we are actually alive. So you might as well enjoy it."

There's a song called The Antikythera Mechanism, which is the name of an ancient Greek device used for astronomy. You don't get many bands writing about that… "Yeah, it's considered today to be the first analogue computer made by mankind. So, imagine that 2,200 years ago, in ancient Greece, they were able to build a computer. It just blew my mind when I read about this machine in a science magazine, and I thought that the world needs to know about this. Well, now everybody knows because of the new Indiana Jones film, because that's also about this particular mechanism. But yeah, it had to be done into a song.

"I was just thinking that humankind was so advanced back in those days that were able to build a machine like this. What happened? What if religions hadn't happened, or the burning of The Library Of Alexandria hadn't happened, where would mankind be today? Maybe we would be living all across the solar system already. Who knows?"

Again, it feels like there's still a very positive outlook there in the music, rather than moaning that it's all gone wrong. "I think it comes down to the word 'imagination', which is the biggest strength that we have as human species, compared to the other lower species. We like to imagine things, imagine things that might be better on the other side of the fence and things we will never have. But also imagination takes us to huge innovations. So it's a really good thing.

"The ancient Greeks did that with their computer. They started to imagine, 'Is there a way to predict those solar eclipses or star constellations moving? I bet there is, let's start building this machine.' So it all started from the imagining. It's similar with creating any art or music. Could there be a way to tell a story through music? I do that a lot. There's a song on the album called The Children Of 'Ata, which is a wonderful story of these kids on a deserted island and surviving there for 15 months. I heard the story and thought, 'There has to be a way to put this into music.'

"It's a crazy story, from not that long ago, 1965. I think some of the kids are still alive. It's important to tell these stories, because it really did happen. And maybe it can change the human perspective of the concept that if you take a bunch of people and put them into an isolated place for a certain period of time, they become savages. But this is proof that that's not the case. So they are a perfect example that humankind has hope."

This is your first album since Century Child in 2002 without Marko Hietala. Did that change your approach to writing? “No, it doesn’t really change anything, except that now we had two voices instead of three, only Floor and Troy. But that's it – it really didn't change much at all. And Jukka [Koskinen], the new bass player, is such a grounding personality that it's so easy to work with him. And his bass playing skills are tremendous, quite different from how Marko played the bass, which also brought a new spice into the music. So nothing but positive things to say about it all.

“There are many bands in the world that don't have a single original member anymore. And I think it comes down to the fact that if the music is good, then that's all that matters, in the end. Maybe for some people, certain bands are so holy that they can stand if they don't have certain members in it, even though the music would be good, but I don't really think like that. I just listen to the music, not the personnel behind it. That's all that matters to me.”

Similarly, does it feel weird to be talking about an album that, for the first time, you won’t be going out to tour? “No, it doesn't feel weird. It just feels right. But people shouldn't get worried. It's not the end of the band. We just signed a multi-record deal with Nuclear Blast, so there will be more music coming, definitely. But as far as shows, we're just gonna have a long breather now and see what happens. That's all I can say at the moment. We got our fair share in 2022 and 2023 when we did a lot of shows. So that helped.”

Yesterwynde will be released on September 20 via Nuclear Blast

[hexfloog]

2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 2024 - 2025

Can you believe there's barely 10 days left to the year?? Because I can't! Time to lay my feelings bare again!!!

So I definitely slowed down quite a bit compared to 2022, but I still made enough to fill the template and, in spite of everything else, lots of life development things happened these last 365 days that I think makes 2023 one of my best years in recent memory :)

I have less to say about the art this time. The drop in quantity checks out when I stop to reflect on just how much time I spent on each one. I definitely don't have as many sketchy works to show off this time either (probably in no small part due to the fact that I've also slowed down on Detco) - and that's probably owed to having spent most of my art effort this year drawing for other people, be it commissions or fan projects, and I already know that I'm more inclined to take risks when I have just myself to please. It's not a bad thing, that's just how it is.

I suppose my one observation of this year's body of work is that the vast majority of it is quite ambitious. Real pushing-my-comfort-zone stuff, but it's more of a polished brand of risk rather than the kind you get sketching ideas on the spot. Some examples:

February - both a collab and a thing that became a fan cel intended as an autograph piece at a con

April - simultaneously a gift and a very personal piece

June - silly comic (anything humorous is automatically out of my comfort zone)

August - community project + comic page redraw that really tested my ability to find a new style to play with

September - made to become tangible merch (it did)

October - redraw of my very first digital piece

November* - character design from text description only and formal reference sheet commission (my first ever)

December* - digital watercolor + fake children's paperback cover

*active WIP, not yet complete

It's not that much (really, it's average output for me) but I will take my wins where I can get them, especially since this is pretty much the scope of my art projects this year. Didn't really have much time or energy to write, or make more models, or scan more cards, because... ya girl was too busy getting a promotion/raise, moving out, enjoying the best con experience of her life (so far), volunteering, meeting lots of new people, dating again, having general fun, eating good food, trying new things, finishing a monthly art challenge for once, playing creative romhacks, waking up to new career opportunities, etc. etc. etc! It feels like so much happened this year!!

I tend to be harsh on myself and often feel like my life is not going anywhere, but this year really made me feel like I'm finally gaining some momentum again. And like... I don't expect (or want) to live life in the fast lane or anything, but stagnating isn't good, either, and with every passing year I have to ask myself with a little more sincerity what my future looks like.

So all that said, thanks very much for sticking around and suffering me another year <333 Who knows what 2024 will bring!! But for the first time in a while, I think I am looking to it with more than just a resigned "meh" and I hope the same for anyone reading this, too.

[zhiroaesthetics]

Mid-Summer Writing Updates

Was told that giving updates about non-major works is also valid to prove that this page is alive so...teehee!

Mental Check

To say that I've been slacking this year is a grave understatement. It frustrates me because posting in December 2023 (Kaveh) then January 2024 (Haruaki) truly made me believe that I had found my groove, then I saw my stats and gave up, yay! It's just hard writing when I already don't have the healthiest approach towards writing (it's really bad, like I cried so much writing both of those drafts), and that level of effort goes unnoticed by both the audience and myself. But I've slowly been accepting the fact that I can't gain the audience I want if I don't prove that I exist. After all, posting since 2021(?) but not even having ten entries is silly. With that being said, I have been writing consistently over the summer, but have been slowed down because I've been active, like this is the first week that I've been in my room this entire month.

Goals for Pre-Fall 2024

I'm definitely going to have at least three posts before the end of the year. I always try to have more than the year prior, and considering how little I have to my name, it's been pretty doable.

I've been going back and forth between Bowman (Granblue Fantasy) and Kyo (King of Fighters) for the past two months, and I know for the latter that his second draft is going to be posted before fall, though I'm not sure about the former. My writer's block on his draft isn't the worst despite the fact that I have to rewrite the first half of what I currently have, but I struggle trying to prioritize that draft over Kyo's given that I don't know how well a NSFW Bowman entry would be perceived. Regardless, if I post twice before Late August, expect for it to be these two bums.

Goals for Fall 2024

This is tricky, as it HIGHLY DEPENDS on what I end up fixating on, but definitely expect Tai Gong Wang (Fate/Grand Order). I've been wanting to write him since the beginning of time, but lack of knowledge on his character thanks to me exclusively playing FGO on the global server and things implied under mental check made it hard for me to prioritize writing the idea that was practically given to me. But what was initially supposed to be a collector's item ended up being NP3 and LVL 100, so I'm taking it as a sign to - at some point - lock in, and I think doing so right after clearing out my current drafts would be perfect timing.

Do, however, look out for these people:

Blade (Honkai: Star Rail)

Diluc (Genshin Impact)

Charlemagne (Fate)

Goals for Winter 2024/5

Yae Miko. Despite her being a December 2024 goal, she's one of my more ambitious projects due to research and it not being a one chapter entry. Even as I'm currently working on Kyo and Bowman, I'm immersing myself within The Pillow Book, as Sei's story is what most of Yae Miko's story will be in reference to. Also Haruaki, again, hopefully January 1st.

Do, however, look out for these people:

Kaveh (Genshin Impact)

Saichi Sugimoto (Golden Kamuy)

Miscellaneous

Girl if you saw how far I made it into my Senji draft, when I started, and when I stopped, you'd be wondering why my #1 isn't in any of my defined goals. And I'd say shit happens! Senji's draft had a very extensive outline, and I lost that very extensive outline, so I lost my motivation yay! Nevertheless, I still want to get it out there because I think it's a really funny one chapter entry.

Also Toji. Very much an outlier, but I've been putting him on the backburner because his draft is also one of my more ambitious projects, but one that challenges my writing skills in a duller way because of the amount of mundane scenes present. Also not a one chapter entry.

Anyways uh, thanks for peeping the yap session, meow!

[stereopticons]

2024 Fic Year in Review

I know I did a bunch of these already and I wasn’t tagged but @kiwiana-writes did this and like him, I fuckin’ love stats, so I’m doing this one too.

AO3 Username: stereopticons

My Page: Link

Active Fandoms: Schitt’s Creek, Red, White & Royal Blue

New Fandoms this year: None

Total Number Of Completed Works/Word Count

This Year: 17 fics, 34,782 words

All Time: 101 fics, 373,443 words

Most Popular One Shot (by kudos):

This Year: you can call me, call me, anytime (RWRB; Alex/Henry; E; 502 words)

All Time: if i’m not beyond repair (SC; David/Patrick; M; 8.3k words)

Most Popular Completed Multi-Chapter (by kudos): 

I didn’t finish any multichapter fics last year but here’s hoping for this year?

All Time: the lie between your teeth (SC; David/Patrick; M; 48k words)

Events/Challenges: I think just @scmdc-secret-santa-gift-exchange and Royally Big Bang (though not as a writer).

Additional Random AO3 Stats

2024 fics by rating: 76% E, 12% T and 6% each M and G which is a significant departure from my usual distribution (thanks to kinktober)

All time fics by rating: 47% T, 30% E, 15% M, 8% G, and 1% NR

2024 title sources: 88% song lyrics, 6% canon dialogue, 6% no specific source

All time title sources: 71% song lyrics, 13% pun/wordplay, 11% no specific source, 2% canon dialogue

2024 song lyric sources: 12% from musicals and 6% each from The Bens, Mariah Carey, Billy Joel, Regina Spektor, The Neighbourhood, MUNA, Chapterhouse, The Dixie Cups, Noah Reid, Matt Nathanson, Blondie, Julien Baker, and Sara Bareilles

All time song lyrics sources that have been used more than once: 8% musicals, 6% the Mountain Goats, 5% Noah Reid, 3% Julien Baker, 2% each the Wonder Years and Matt Nathanson. 63% of song lyrics sources have only been used once.

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected?

Less for sure. There were a lot of things that happened that I hadn’t expected that made it hard to write. Up until April of 2024, I had published at least one fic every month since October 2021, and ending that streak was really hard for me. And the stretch of not writing between April and August was ROUGH.

What’s your own favourite story of the year?

I cannot pick a favorite, so here’s my top three:

gather up the avenues (SC; David/Patrick; E; 10.3k words)

a long winter of indifference (SC; David/Patrick; T; 1.7k words)

the shape of things we cannot ignore (SC; David/Stevie; E; 610 words)

Did you complete your writing goals from last year?

lol I’m sure I didn’t. I didn’t finish indie band patrick (STILL). I don’t remember what the other goals were but I’m sure I didn’t complete them.

ETA: I looked up what I said my goals were last January and apparently I said this:

I would really love to say I’d start posting indie band Patrick in January but that just doesn’t seem realistic unless I suddenly discover a whole lot of motivation and time. So let’s say I hope to complete either the Manhattan exes to lovers fic or the threesome fic, whichever (vastly different) direction inspiration takes me.

And I did one of those things! I finally completed the Manhattan exes to lovers fic!

Do you have any writing goals for the New Year?

Keep writing.

Did you take any writing risks this year?

I feel like attempting kinktober was a risk for me. And I didn’t really manage to complete it but 11 fics/14.4k words is still pretty good considering.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion

The David/Stevie kinktober fic (even though it’s only a few days old). It’s a rare pair in a fandom that’s a lot less active than it used to be, so it’s to be expected but I think people should read it anyway.

Most fun story to write:

I think I had the most fun writing i feel dizzy, i feel sunny, i feel fuzzy and funny and fine.

Biggest disappointment:

Having to break my publishing streak. That sucked.

Biggest surprise:

Nothing comes to mind?

Coming soon/planned for 2025:

I have something planned for Frozen Over (maybe two things if i get my shit together). Beyond that, i have a bunch of things i want to finish but I’m not sure which it will be.