#because eventually there will be no more writers for you to copy off of

[ovaryacted]

I saw the messages I got sent in my inbox, thank you guys for letting me know about the plagiarism, I appreciate it really.

Obviously I feel for the OP and I truly do hope that they feel comforted in knowing that there are people who believe them. I genuinely can’t imagine what it’s like to have 20k words worth of something you made stolen like that. I’m heartbroken and angry for them and the fact that it happened twice is so…

At least on my end, I’m angry because Fae (@/kennedyswhore, @/hoeromi) is someone I interacted with frequently, and not only was she someone that inspired me artistically, but she was also someone I considered a friend. I’m just angry about it, and it pisses me off more that people who put so much energy and time into creating something gets stolen from them and gets claimed as someone else’s work with more viability. It’s sick. Please block those pages, she has a few other ones too she uses to stalk other accounts so be on the lookout for things that may be copied over too.

Don’t fucking steal from other people. Just don’t fucking do it seriously. It’s cruel, it’s awful, and you’re a low-life good for nothing bitch if you’re willing to sit down in front of your computer to copy and paste someone else’s work and call it your own. It’s things like that that only result in writers leaving this hellsite and stop posting their writing all together. Fuck you if you do this. If you lack the creative ability to make your own shit, at least live in your truth, cause doing stuff like this is just pathetic.

And of course, if anyone ever EVER finds something that sounds remotely like my stuff, either on here or on any ai chatbot spaces, please let me know. Writers and creators work so damn hard to put out original stuff others want to enjoy for free, so much energy into their work just to have it stolen from them. If you plagiarize, I hope you jump headfirst into fucking traffic.

[thebibliosphere]

I saw your post about ingram, and out of curiosity, is there some advantage to going through the whole self-publishing thing with retailers when you're just starting out? like I mean the way that fandom zines work is that they don't even bother going through ingram or amazon or whatever. they just set up a social media site (usually twitter) to gain followers, open preorders (usually 1-2 months in length) to generate the costs of printing upfront, and then sell anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred copies of their books (usually artbooks, but anthologies exist too). I've seen some zines generate over a thousand orders. they're kind of like pop-up shops, except for books. maybe the sales numbers aren't so impressive to a real author, but the profit generated is typically waaaay more than the $75+ apparently needed for Ingram Spark, so I still feel like new authors could benefit from this method too, especially if they just need some start-up cash to eventually move to ingram if they want to for subsequent runs of their book. I think authors would also have to set aside some of the pre-order money to buy an ISBN number to have printed on their book, and I'm not really sure what other differences there are, but I just wanted to ask about it in case there's some huge disadvantage I'm missing!

So, popup zines work well for some people, and I know some authors who kickstart their work successfully. But for a lot, it's just not feasible as a long-term stratedy. Or even as a means to get off the ground.

Fanzines succeed primarily because an existing fanbase is willing and ready to throw money at something they love. They’ve got a favorite writer or artist they want to support. Supporting all the others is just a happy by-product. They also take a HUGE amount of short-term but intense planning that just doesn’t always jive with how some of us work.

I, for one, would never offer to organize a fanzine. I’ll take part in them as a creator, but I’d rather throw myself off a cliff than subject myself to wrangling that many people and dealing with the legal logistics.

When it comes to authors doing anthologies, it'svery much the same. The success of the funding often hinges on having other big-name authors involved whose existing fans will prop up the project. Or having a huge marketing budget.

Most self-pub authors have zero marketing budget. I’m one of them, and I’m under no illusions that my work would not be as popular and self-sustaining as it is if I didn’t have a large Tumblr blog.

When I thank Tumblr in my forewards, I am utterly sincere. Tumblr brought fandom levels of enthusiasm to an unknown work and broke the Amazon algorithm so hard, that Amazon thought I was bot sniping my way to multiple #1 spots and froze my sales rankings.

That’s not the norm. And while I could probably kickstart my own work as an indie creator, that’s because I’ve put literal decades into building up a readership. I’ve been doing this since I was 16 and realized people thought I was funny. I didn’t know what to do with it or if I’d ever actually write anything, but it meant the groundwork was already there (thank you, past-me). I basically fell upward into my success by virtue of never being able to shut the fuck up and wanting to make people laugh. Clown instincts too strong.

New or first-time authors trying to sell their work without that will find it infinitely harder.

All of that aside, even if an unknown author somehow gets lucky and manages to fund their work, there’s still the question of shipping and distribution logistics. Are you shipping everything yourself? Better hope you’re able-bodied and have the time for it. (for reference, it took me months to ship out 300 patreon hardbacks because of my disabilites. It damaged my back and hands. I couldn’t type for several weeks after I was done.)

Are you going to sell primarily at conventions? Better hope you’re able-bodied, have the time and don’t have cripling anxiety about being in large groups...

Also, will selling a dozen to a few thousand copies in one burst be sustainable in the long run as a career? Not for me. Doing things via Ingram and Amazon means I earn a steady trickle of sales for the rest of my life provided the platforms remain and so long as I keep working and can generate interest in the series, not just when I have funds to pay for physical copies to sell. The one-time (in theory) cost of $75 to distribute through Ingram gets paid off pretty quick that way. And it doesn't require the same logistics as doing the popup/crowdfund.

Ultimately, it comes down to what you are capable of but also the type of work you’re doing. If you’ve got an extended network of fellow creatives who will back you or you’ve got a large following elsewhere, doing it like a popup might work for you.

If you’re an exhausted burnout who can’t fathom the short but intense amount of organization that sort of thing requires, not to mention doing it over and over and over... Ehhhhh. No thank you.

[mossyivy]

okay but like what if Leon is the famous one in the relationship. The whole RE universe is a movie or show and he’s popular. You’re out here devouring his fanfics. Then he found out….or u writing one —then what 🧍‍♀️

I weirdly see Leon as a mom vlogger. He’s one of those😭

(If you ever call Leon a mommy vlogger again it's curtain calls for anon. I will not rest until I find you)

(this is a joke pls don't come for me...)

I'm thinkiiiiing...

Actor! Leon x Assistant! Reader (Post Damnation era)

BUT YOU READING HIS FANFICTION!!!

He knew his fans read and wrote this stuff. Draw him, write about him. Character and him alike. The screenwriters literally wrote everyone's characters based off of who they actually were. So in a way his RE character is an extension of himself but everyone can still differentiate between the two. So he doesn't mind anyone doing this.

He's gotten fanmail with art, copies of fanfiction and even just fan accounts constantly interacting with his social media posts. But one particular account seems to interact with him a lot, R4Kennedy.

No idea who it is but whatever.

Eventually he starts getting a lot of offers from different companies for commercials, brand deals, appearances, ect. He starts getting a bit overwhelmed with things so he hands off some responsibilities to his lovely assistant, you. You get to do most of his social media stuff. But he still likes scrolling around, liking things, retweeting/reblogging stuff and making his own posts life update posts on occasion. But he'd notice the lack of interaction from that one account on posts he specifically didn't make. But the second he'd personally post something he gets responses from R4Kennedy.

Super weird...

He'd accidentally found out by having to use your laptop to check a few things because his computer was having issues. You two know each other well, you've worked for him for years now, practically live together. So you don't even think to close out your open tabs... Tabs to your social accounts...

Leon is too nosy curious for his own good so he ends up opening the tabs.

You're R4Kennedy... He starts looking through the fics you've liked, everything you've said about him, even the things you've written.

You're a good writer, he'll give you that. A lot more brave online versus your usual mousey demeanor on the clock. Maybe you were interested in him and we're just shy? The thought crosses his mind constantly.

But he keeps this information for himself for a while.

Eventually he uses it. A day you're looking particularly good. He's been attracted to you for a while but was scared of scaring you off with his abrasive nature.

But you're making a coffee for yourself in his kitchen and he ends up saying your account name. You tense up immediately and just look back at the massive grin on his face. He says nothing else before he walks out.

He knows. And now you know he knows. And he's definitely going to hold this over your head for a while...

[greenerteacups]

oooh please someday tell us what you think of GOT

oh, no, it's my fatal weakness! it's [checks notes] literally just the bare modicum of temptation! okay you got me.

SO. in order to tell what's wrong with game of thrones you kind of have to have read the books, because the books are the reason the show goes off the rails. i actually blame the showrunners relatively little in proportion to GRRM for how bad the show was (which I'm not gonna rehash here because if you're interested in GOT in any capacity you've already seen that horse flogged to death). people debate when GOT "got bad" in terms of writing, but regardless of when you think it dropped off, everyone agrees the quality declined sharply in season 8, and to a certain extent, season 7. these are the seasons that are more or less entirely spun from whole cloth, because season 7 marks the beginning of what will, if we ever see it, be the Winds of Winter storyline. it's the first part that isn't based on a book by George R.R. Martin. it's said that he gave the showrunners plot outlines, but we don't know how detailed they were, or how much the writers diverged from the blueprint — and honestly, considering the cumulative changes made to the story by that point, some stark divergence would have been required. (there's a reason for this. i'll get there in a sec.)

so far, i'm not saying anything all that original. a lot of people recognized how bad the show got as soon as they ran out of Book to adapt. (I think it's kind of weird that they agreed to make a show about an unfinished series in the first place — did GRRM figure that this was his one shot at a really good HBO adaptation, and forego misgivings about his ability to write two full books in however many years it took to adapt? did he think they would wait for him? did he not care that the series would eventually spoil his magnum opus, which he's spent the last three decades of his life writing? perplexing.) but the more interesting question is why the show got bad once it ran out of Book, because in my mind, that's not a given. a lot of great shows depart from the books they were based on. fanfiction does exactly that, all the time! if you have good writers who understand the characters they're working with, departure means a different story, not a worse one. now, the natural reply would be to say that the writers of GOT just aren't good, or at least aren't good at the things that make for great television, and that's why they needed the books as a structure, but I don't think that's true or fair, either. books and television are very different things. the pacing of a book is totally different from the pacing of a television show, and even an episodic book like ASOIAF is going to need a lot of work before it's remotely watchable as a series. bad writers cannot make great series of television, regardless of how good their source material is. sure, they didn't invent the characters of tyrion lannister and daenerys targaryen, but they sure as hell understood story structure well enough to write a damn compelling season of TV about them!

so but then: what gives? i actually do think it's a problem with the books! the show starts out as very faithful to the early books (namely, A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings) to the point that most plotlines are copied beat-for-beat. the story is constructed a little differently, and it's definitely condensed, but the meat is still there. and not surprisingly, the early books in ASOIAF are very tightly written. for how long they are, you wouldn't expect it, but on every page of those books, the plot is racing. you can practically watch george trying to beat the fucking clock. and he does! useful context here is that he originally thought GOT was going to be a trilogy, and so the scope of most threads in the first book or two would have been much smaller. it also helps that the first three books are in some respects self-contained stories. the first book is a mystery, the second and third are espionage and war dramas — and they're kept tight in order to serve those respective plots.

the trouble begins with A Feast for Crows, and arguably A Storm of Swords, because GRRM starts multiplying plotlines and treating the series as a story, rather than each individual book. he also massively underestimated the number of pages it would take him to get through certain plot beats — an assumption whose foundation is unclear, because from a reader's standpoint, there is a fucke tonne of shit in Feast and Dance that's spurious. I'm not talking about Brienne's Riverlands storyline (which I adore thematically but speaking honestly should have been its own novella, not a part of Feast proper). I'm talking about whole chapters where Tyrion is sitting on his ass in the river, just talking to people. (will I eat crow about this if these pay off in hugely satisfying ways in Winds or Dream? oh, totally. my brothers, i will gorge myself on sweet sweet corvid. i will wear a dunce cap in the square, and gleefully, if these turn out to not have been wastes of time. the fact that i am writing this means i am willing to stake a non-negligible amount of pride on the prediction that that will not happen). I'm talking about scenes where the characters stare at each other and talk idly about things that have already happened while the author describes things we already have seen in excruciating detail. i'm talking about threads that, while forgivable in a different novel, are unforgivable in this one, because you are neglecting your main characters and their story. and don't tell me you think that a day-by-day account tyrion's river cruise is necessary to telling his story, because in the count of monte cristo, the main guy disappears for nine years and comes hurtling back into the story as a vengeful aristocrat! and while time jumps like that don't work for everything, they certainly do work if what you're talking about isn't a major story thread!

now put aside whether or not all these meandering, unconcluded threads are enjoyable to read (as, in fairness, they often are!). think about them as if you're a tv showrunner. these bad boys are your worst nightmare. because while you know the author put them in for a reason, you haven't read the conclusion to the arc, so you don't know what that reason is. and even if the author tells you in broad strokes how things are going to end for any particular character (and this is a big "if," because GRRM's whole style is that he lets plots "develop as he goes," so I'm not actually convinced that he does have endings written out for most major characters), that still doesn't help you get them from point A (meandering storyline) to point B (actual conclusion). oh, and by the way, you have under a year to write this full season of television, while GRRM has been thinking about how to end the books for at least 10. all of this means you have to basically call an audible on whether or not certain arcs are going to pay off, and, if they are, whether they make for good television, and hence are worth writing. and you have to do that for every. single. unfinished. story. in the books.

here's an example: in the books, Quentin Martell goes on a quest to marry Daenerys and gain a dragon. many chapters are spent detailing this quest. spoiler alert: he fails, and he gets charbroiled by dragons. GRRM includes this plot to set up the actions of House Martell in Winds, but the problem is that we don't know what House Martell does in Winds, because (see above) the book DNE. So, although we can reliably bet that the showrunners understand (1) Daenerys is coming to Westeros with her 3 fantasy nukes, and (2) at some point they're gonna have to deal with the invasion of frozombies from Canada, that DOESN'T mean they necessarily know exactly what's going to happen to Dorne, or House Martell. i mean, fuck! we don't even know if Martin knows what's going to happen to Dorne or House Martell, because he's said he's the kind of writer who doesn't set shit out beforehand! so for every "Cersei defaults on millions of dragons in loans from the notorious Bank of Nobody Fucks With Us, assumes this will have no repercussions for her reign or Westerosi politics in general" plotline — which might as well have a big glaring THIS WILL BE IMPORTANT stamp on top of the chapter heading — you have Arianne Martell trying to do a coup/parent trap switcheroo with Myrcella, or Euron the Goffick Antichrist, or Faegon Targaryen and JonCon preparing a Blackfyre restoration, or anything else that might pan out — but might not! And while that uncertainty about what's important to the "overall story" might be a realistic way of depicting human beings in a world ruled by chance and not Destiny, it makes for much better reading than viewing, because Game of Thrones as a fantasy television series was based on the first three books, which are much more traditional "there is a plot and main characters and you can generally tell who they are" kind of book. I see Feast and Dance as a kind of soft reboot for the series in this respect, because they recenter the story around a much larger cast and cast a much broader net in terms of which characters "deserve" narrative attention.

but if you're making a season of television, you can't do that, because you've already set up the basic premise and pacing of your story, and you can't suddenly pivot into a long-form tone poem about the horrors of war. so you have to cut something. but what are you gonna cut? bear in mind that you can't just Forget About Dorne, or the Iron Islands, or the Vale, or the North, or pretty much any region of the story, because it's all interconnected, but to fit in everything from the books would require pacing of the sort that no reasonable audience would ever tolerate. and bear in mind that the later books sprout a lot more of these baby-plots that could go somewhere, but also might end up being secondary or tertiary to the "main story," which, at the end of the day, is about dragons and ice zombies and the rot at the heart of the feudal power system glorified in classical fantasy. that's the story that you as the showrunner absolutely must give them an end to, and that's the story that should be your priority 1.

so you do a hack and slash job, and you mortar over whatever you cut out with storylines that you cook up yourself, but you can't go too far afield, because you still need all the characters more or less in place for the final showdown. so you pinch here and push credulity there, and you do your best to put the characters in more or less the same place they would have been if you kept the original, but on a shorter timeframe. and is it as good as the first seasons? of course not! because the material that you have is not suited to TV like the first seasons are. and not only that, but you are now working with source material that is actively fighting your attempt to constrain a linear and well-paced narrative on it. the text that you're working with changed structure when you weren't looking, and now you have to find some way to shanghai this new sprawling behemoth of a Thing into a television show. oh, and by the way, don't think that the (living) author of the source material will be any help with this, because even though he's got years of experience working in television writing, he doesn't actually know how all of these threads will tie together, which is possibly the reason that the next book has taken over 8 years (now 13 and counting) to write. oh and also, your showrunners are sick of this (in fairness, very difficult) job and they want to go write for star wars instead, so they've refused the extra time the studio offered them for pre-production and pushed through a bunch of first-draft scripts, creating a crunch culture of the type that spawns entirely avoidable mistakes, like, say, some poor set designer leaving a starbucks cup in frame.

anyway, that's what I think went wrong with game of thrones.

[ixkhor-and-ambroxia]

Hey #GreekMythology tumblr, I want ya’lls help on something :).

So, I’ve been thinking about starting this massive project. Like, would take years and years work of writing and research and sheerly finding the time and motivation for. And as I was thinking about the specifics, I thought: why not bring others into it as well? Because as much as I am interested in a lot of Greek Mythology, there are things that are simply not my interests and might cause writers block and my goal for the project would to be as fun as possible. So, here we are.

What is the project exactly? Well, hopefully, it’ll be a long Ao3 series/fic focusing on the individual perspectives of various figures/events in Greek Mythology arranged in (semi/good enough) chronological order. I personally intend to write for Poseidon in his/my version of the Titanomachy and (maybe) some events that follow, if you want a little bit of an idea on what I’m talking about.

The limits on this are almost completely free, all that I ask are that each of your submissions are one POV only (and by that I mean your main subject’s POV). Why do I say this? I say this because that is what I want this project to look like. It doesn’t matter if it’s First, Second, or Third POV along with all the other variants of those three, my main focus is on the individual experiences of these individuals. Kind of like character studies, if you know what I mean. I’m intending for it to be mostly formal but I will absolutely accept crack admissions that I will probably put into its own series to Separate the Vibes for whoever comes by :).

Ultimately, this is a completely open-ended project that has absolutely no deadline. I’m about to go to bed so I can’t go into too much detail, but if you want to DM me or send any asks, I am completely okay with that and we’ll all flesh out the specifics we go :).

What is my overall purpose? Not only is this project made for my own individual purposes of learning more about the gods and other Greek Mythology writers, but it’s also the chance to spread the word of other writers. I know how hard it is to get specific audiences, especially when you’re shy, so this is a chance for your work to be stumbled upon. Each post on the eventual Ao3 fic will include your socials, how to find you, and your other general works on either ao3, tumblr, wattpad, or other :)

Can you participate even without socials or a tumblr page? Yes you absolutely can :). My asks will always be open to anons and I will do my best to give credit when I eventually post everything :). If you want to post multiple submissions or simply just want a trackable (between works) name to your writing, just sign something at the end. It could be a name, it could be a potential username, I don’t mind at all :)).

How do I submit things? Well, the best way would be to DM me :). I have a personal writing email separate from most things that would be perfect to either share a google docs with or to just send a copy-and-pasted copy of it. Otherwise, I take asks. None of them will be posted unless asked or we’re ready to so it’ll be safe to just drop them off in! It’s also where I take questions :).

Any other things to note? I’d really appreciate some other moderators and editors :). There’d only be like two or three of each and we’d have to know each other decently well before officially starting, but some help would be appreciated! Also, I’d like to keep a working ‘spreadsheet’ of who’s working on what just for people to see what’s going on :). Maybe some people can collaborate or it’ll encourage those niche writers to write :). A third thing is that most questionable stuff is accepted. I’d personally rather not handle all those things other than posting it so it might be a while until I can officially accept (consensual and/or graphic) ✨spicy stuff✨ but, other than that, I’ll take any of it (also, it’s Greek Mythology, almost all of it already happened). If someone’s willing to take over the ✨spicy stuff✨ then please DM me so we can work out the details and see if it’s a nice fit :)

Honestly, that all should be it. The main point is that I’m trying to start up a long-term project on Tumblr and Ao3 about what is essentially Greek Mythology character studies that not only allows for mass communication across a wide audience, but also (hopefully) gets some recognition for the smaller writers :). Feel free to DM me or send me asks with questions but for now, I shall sleep

Tagging: @bluebellstudio @thirteen-deaths-later @0lympian-c0uncil @happyk44 @h0bg0blin-meat @sworeontheriverstyx @deathlessathanasia @gotstabbedbyapen. Sorry if I tagged you and you want nothing to do with it, I just wanted to get it out there /pos /gen

[caseylicious]

Hello again! Hope that you’re having a great day! If it’s alright with you, can I request another rise!donnie x gn!reader where Donnie is such a simp for reader?

Like Leo would tease him about it but he would deny it because of his “bad boy” image. But then reader enters the lair and Donnie is just 💜w💜.

Thank you!!!

Simp.

Summary: Donnie being a simp (more of swooning) for the reader.

Character: Donnie.

Reader: GENDER NEUTRAL

Relationship: CRUSH

Warnings: Leo and Donnie having this whole on sibling moment, but that doesn't affect the silly teasing that'll happen-

Words: 3312

Tags: @ath3nasc4f3 , @anxietyishere

A/N: My dear, there is no problem with requesting another time! Your requests place a smile on my face. I'm in love yet so hesitant with this one- because I don't want it to be to remind anybody of 2012!Donnie being whole on OBSESSED for April. With some serious thought, This is Part 2 of the Mad Scientist!Reader piece. (Read for context)

The story may be a bit wack... but im trying so hard to juice my brain for plot. (currently in writer's block.) As well of trying to follow the basic idea of your request, but overall I like this piece a lot! A few things first! I see Leo and Donnie as TWIN BROTHERS. There's just a lot that heavily implies it in my opinion! and I just imagined that one scene from Aladdin with him just swooning for Jasmine. You get me? Yeah.

I love your ideas. Come around again < 3

As always! Please, Enjoy 💐

[ If you have any constructive criticism or corrections for any of my English do let me know! :) ]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 💐

Waving the brothers goodbye from your introduction, you began climbing up the manhole with April. To your surprise, you've gotten along quite well with each one of them. Even with your "normal switch" off. You've noticed in your time with them that each one of them were different in their own way. Leo was cheery while funny person. Raph was a strong sharp, yet loveable and empathetic. Mikey was one of the loudest people you've met. And Donnie... Before you could continue with your analysis of the whole day you had. April spoke, "Well.. whatcha think man?" You thought for a second on what to say. "I need more context to that question O'Neil." She chuckled, "Of the whole meet and greet! You seemed to get along with most of them."

"Hmm.. I'd say it was a success." April's groan echoed through the sewer hole. "That means I liked them all; your friends." You assumed April grinned and was pleased, because you heard a pitter patter on the bar below you. That would've been the end of the conversation before April opened her mouth once more. "How about Donnie?" You suddenly stopped moving forwards. Which made April bump onto your calf. "What about Donatello?" She snickered. "Pfft- Opinion on Don? There's no way you'd forget him man."

A second of silence passed before you finally answered, "Well.. he's okay." An audible gasp could be heard. "What do you mean okay?! You talked about so much with him!" You looked away from the bar in front of you as she kept ranting. You enjoyed the turtle's presence, you truly did. He seemed to understand everything you were talking about. And it was one rare moment in your life where you kept up a conversation which you found interesting. However you somehow "knew" that he'd leave you like everybody else.

The foreign memory which you've tried to suppress began to play. How you ate all by yourself, which led to you staying in the abandoned science lab for most of your lunch. How you've practiced normal conversation in the mirror. Researching popular trends which you've tried copying to the point of creating an image of somebody you just weren't. It just all didn't click with you. For some reason, you just couldn't fit in with the crowd of your school. And it became the reason for the bad reputation you had.

Personally, you wouldn't blame him for leaving. Eventually he'd see how you were.. "weird." But... good always lifts from the bad. Would it be really a bad thing for him to notice you being "weird?' Hypothetically, if you tried hard enough to "fit in," you wouldn't have had a great time with the turtle. Ideas which you've suppressed wouldn't have been unleashed. And you would still be complaining about society being awful and needing a fix. A grin made itself onto you for a moment before you felt your head hit a flat surface. Adjusting your focus, you have found the manhole cover on top of you. You began to lift the object, moving it to the side. Hearing the metal fall, you then climbed onto the ground. Reaching a hand inside for April who was still ranting on how you and Donnie got along so well. "You understand though- Right, Y/N?" You blinked for a couple seconds before patting her back. "Yes. I agree completely. Let's put a pin on this discussion and come back to it. How about it?" She agreed walking down the street with you. Before the both of you separated due to her route being in a different location. Watching as April ran off, you sighed in relief.

You made your way back home, unable to stop thinking about that encounter you had. That special conversation which made you open up. Where you felt normal. But that's silly, right? Out of every logical and fictional existing thing in this universe, a turtle seemed to comprehend anything of what you said. Who was this "Donatello?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 💐

💜 Donnie

Brzzt. Brzzrt. Brzzrt-

A hard slam landed on the device. It was around 6 in the morning and two tired eyes opened. The tired figure slowly sat up, stretching from side to side. A robotic yet humanoid voice spoke, "It's too early to wake up dad.." A chuckle could be heard. "Shelldon, you understand we have work to do. Acquire yourself some coffee and I'll get some bolts ready for you." As odd as that sounds, the purple drone swirled in a circle before exiting the room. It has been about exactly 4 months and 27 days since your introduction.

In those 4 months you both had been interacting with one another nonstop. Mainly on electronic email and/or text. It contained random ideas and topics which you both enjoyed immensely. He couldn't help but feel a genuine boost of optimism seeing your username and email. Especially on random facetime calls the two of you had. How you showed off your school AP textbooks to Donnie, and how Donnie showed off his battle shells explaining each function. And the best part? You listened and seemed to be genuinely interested in his work. It was strange, but he liked it. a lot.

Before he chose to finally get up, he waited for the hot coffee. Which arrived in the matter of seconds. Taking a sip, he let out a sigh of relief. "Ahh.. That's good." He whispered. The soft-shelled turtle walked over to his desk. Inspecting the blueprints in front of him, his eyes noticed a doodle in the corner of the sheet. Donnie groaned, while a smirk quickly formed. It was probably his younger brother Mikey. He was always one to enjoy doodling on his brother's stuff with or without permission. "Did Mikey touch my work?- I swear... alright, let's see what on earth he drew this time-" What Donnie saw made him shut up. Which was rare for somebody who seemed to love explaining everything he knew and believed in. But what did the young turtle see? No, it wasn't anything inappropriate. And no, it wasn't anything hateful. It was something quite far from any of those things...

It was your name traced over in the blue paper. With what seemed to be hearts surrounding it- and was that a cloud? Whatever the doodle was, he was speechless. Silence filled the room before suddenly he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. "Yo D what are you do-" Donnie quickly grabbed his screwdriver. "EAT LASERS INTRUDER!!-" His brother quickly raised his hands above his face, "Hey-! Chill- it's me Leo!" The purple turtle stared at his twin brother for a couple seconds. Before his face became red, flicking his forehead. Leo quickly whined in pain holding his forehead with one hand. "Scoff! Learn to knock next time brother. What are you even doing up this early?" Leo chuckled poking Donnie's plastron with his finger. "I should be asking you that... but you're always up early. So I won't ask!-" Donnie quickly wore his bandana, glaring a little at Leo. "That doesn't answer my question Nardo'."

"Woahh! Chill, chill. I just got up to the sound of Shelldon making coffee... anddd.. because we're-" For a few seconds, Donnie really hoped Leo had a different reason. "Please, don't say it."

"Because we're twin brothers Donnie~" His drawn-on brows furrowed together. "That isn't a proper reason." A grin formed on his brother's face, "Oh, but it is now! Anyways back to me." He paused. "What's that you're working on?" Donnie should've rejected Leo, he knew clearly it was a trap for some sort of teasing. However could he resist to explain one of his creations? No, he could not. "Well- if you insist. I'm working on a suitcase which can hide weaponry such as my staff. So next time we ever choose to go out in disguise, I won't be held back for a couple minutes for silly reasons such as "illegal weaponry" and-" Leo quickly snatched the blueprint out of his hand, "Hey!-" He browsed the paper for a couple seconds before aggressively pointing at the corner of the paper. "And thinking about Y/N! There's no way!!-"

His eyes widened- "Leo, could you at least lower down your voice!" Donnie watched as his brother giggled for a few minutes on the sight. He tried remembering when or why he chose to write your name multiple times on his own piece of work. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't. There was no collection of him daydreaming about you. As the laughter died down, his brother spoke. "So- what is this? You got a crush on them or something? Lord-"His cheeks flared up, blinking aggressively down to the floor. "Man! This is almost as bad as you and Atomic Lass! Ha! You and Y/N??" Expecting a snarky comeback, he was responded with only silence. Donnie glanced down. Looking away from Leo with shame, genuinely unsure on what to say or do.

Leo frowned, gently placing his hand on his shoulder letting him sit. "Uhm.. You don't gotta talk about it if you don't want to. I know how you are with stuff like this. My bad." He didn't respond, tension filled the room. "Errm..Want me to leave?" Donnie opened his mouth, but closed it. Trying to find the words. Leo waited for him to figure out what he wanted to say. "..N- no. It's fine, don't leave... I'm sorry just.." He took a quick sip of his coffee. "I don't really know if I do. Is i-.. is it okay to feel like this? I've never felt like this and-" He paused, not knowing what to say. "Well, yeah. It's okay to feel like this man! I'll listen if you really want to talk about them." Donnie blinked a couple times, staring at Leo in disbelief. He hasn't had a "heart-to-heart" moment like this with him in a long time. For obvious reasons. He slowly grinned with a nod.

"Well... Y/N- where do I begin. Oh okay.." Leo pulled out a stool, sitting on top of it. Donnie closed his eyes imagining one of the special calls he had with you. "Well, their hair. It's this color that just looks so nice in the dark and light. They have these eyes that just shine like gems found in the deepest caves of the world- and wow their voice. Their voice is a whole conducted symphony Leo..." His brother nodded his head, listening in. Surprisingly not making a comment. "Uh huh- and? What else? That can't be it." He placed his hands on his cheeks, trying to remember one of his favorite voice calls. "We like so many things- Our interests just match! It's as if the constellations aligned perfectly in one part of the world. They just know so much that I know- which is just so mesmerizing..." A short but long 'hmmm.' came out of Leo.

Donnie watched as his brother placed his own hand on his chin. "Well? What is it Nardo?' Leo empathized with his twin brother, mainly on how he spoke about you. He spoke as if you were a holy deity, a treasure, maybe even a blessing! He just seemed to understand how Donnie felt. Even if he wasn't a touchy feely sort of person. "You really like Y/N that much, huh?" Donnie nodded, covering the lower half of his face with his hand. "Well honestly, expect me to tease ya." Before Donnie could scold him, Leo spoke again. "But go for it. Nobody is stopping you from being with them. And I'll be cheering from afar."

Donnie hummed, glancing back at Leo. "..That's actually some smart advice Nardo... Thank you, brother." Leo smirked. "Getting soft on me Don?"

"Don't ruin it."

"Yeah, yeah- You're welcome! Chill!"

----------------

Bzzrt. Bzzrt. Bzzrt-

Your hand quickly grabbed the wire clippers, cutting the wire which was attached to the device. Opening one eye, you glanced to what you have cut. The purple wire. Your eye twitched realizing which wire your hand instinctively chose to cut, which frankly saved your life. again. "Ughh.. What genius am I, if I keep cutting that wire?"

Quickly, you got out of bed, slipping your slippers on. Making your way to your closet, the calendar on the wall of your room was marked. In bold red letters, "HANG OUT. 11:00 AM." That's right! You and your newly made friends made plans to hang out together. Excited as you were. You specifically were excited to share your ideas with one particular person of the group. Donnie.

Mentally you had to slap yourself. It was irritating how he always seemed to be on your mind. Just because he chose to listen to your thoughts? Please. It was almost humiliating how just of one person, you'd be this distracted. You suspected it was because how isolated you were. How you were the 'outsider.' Maybe because he seemed to know about titanium and uranium. Or maybe because he genuinely wanted to become your friend. Your hand reaching for a pen, making a repetitive clicking sound. "Pascal Triangle, prepare yourself to be solved."

You were a fan of mathematics. It being one of your favorite subjects in school. April knowing this information, usually asked you for answers. In which you've always responded, "Giving you the answers isn't going to help your education O'Neil!" "Urgh-! I hate it when you're right Y/N." The thought made you grin, until you looked back down to your paper. None of the pentagons had answers in them. "Wh- what? I thought I was answering these..." Needing reassurance, you flipped through all of the pages in your packet. Expectedly you answered them all. To the questions which required the most simplest distributive property, to having to identify graphs. You didn't seem to second-guess yourself, so you were confident in your work of elimination.

Just.. why now didn't you know what to write? You weren't one to be seriously invested in your grades. Surprising? Yes, however you more focused on whether you knew how to perform the work. Were grades going to help you in the long-run of your "world-domination?" No. They would not, but the Pascal Triangle really shouldn't be this confusing. You didn't want to admit it, but you needed another pair of eyes on this question. Well let's do the simple process of elimination with the friends, or more specifically acquaintances you've made.

April? No offense to the poor girl, but could you really get answers out of somebody who asks you for them? Pass.

Mikey doesn't even know what on earth the Pascal Triangle is. Poor him.

Raph and Leo would give you a detailed look of confusion. Calling over...

Donnie.

Out of everyone on the list, Donnie was the most logical choice. It was obvious he would understand what on earth this was. A groan escaped from your lips. "Can't believe I have to ask him for help on this problem. C'mon Y/N.. you're a mathematical genius! Why can't I solve a simple pattern?" You didn't even notice it, but you woke up at ten o'clock. Due to this one question and overthink, you've wasted another thirty minutes. Leaving you now with... "Oh- SHOOT!" As you launched yourself out of your rollie-chair to change...

Running down the alleyways of New York, you were advised by April to remember the specific manhole which led you down to their quarters. What did the manhole look like again-? You inspected each manhole you passed.

Too Large. Too Small. That isn't the right color. That's a whole pizza dropped on the ground.

Eventually you found the manhole, attempting to lift the metal plate as discreetly as you could. Placing it back as you made your way down. You learned from the last time you visited that it was quite dark. So you turned on the flashlight on your phone, stepping through the puddles, your name echoed throughout the sewer halls.

Finally, what felt like walking in the same direction for so long, you made it to the lair. Nothing seemed to change from your last visit, the graffiti was the same, there doesn't seem to be any new furniture, and.. Splinter seemed to be watching the same commercial like yesterday. Mikey was the first to notice your arrival and waved to you like a kid who just ate a batch of Halloween candy. It was adorable, platonically of course. He ran up to you, a visible grin on his face, "Y/N! You made it!!" You smirked, moving a hair strand behind your ear. "Well of course I made it. I couldn't miss out on a hang-out with you and your brothers."

While Mikey kept speaking with you, you could feel a gaze upon yourself. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it was.. sort of strange. You were the outcast, the 'weirdo' of the school. Who on earth would be staring at you?

.

.

.

Donnie, obviously. He was leaning against a wall, standing near the edge of the skate ramp. A small smile growing as he observed your very movement. You just were able to speak in a way that could make his heart flutter. Donnie suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, jumping in surprise. Realizing who it was, his sharpie-brows furrowed together. "L- leo! Do not creep up on me like that." Leo cackled, noticing that you've arrived. "Checking out Y/N? Gotta say Don, not your sort of thing to do." It was quite obvious for Donnie that his twin brother, wasn't going to ever let this go. An unnerving feeling, he didn't like it. "Aren't you going to talk with 'em? Y'know, make your move?" Donnie frowned unapprovingly, "I wouldn't use that saying, but yes. I was going to talk to them..." His twin brother only stared at him, waiting for the second half of the sentence. Soon realizing, that was it.

"Well! If you are then get down there." Leo moved behind Donnie. He became suspicious immediately, "Nardo- what do you plan on do- ING-!!" He was suddenly pushed down the skate ramp, now rolling towards you like a wrecking ball. Immediately jumping into action, his battle shells' metal claws grabbed hold of the floor. Throwing him back into the air, to land on his two feet. As he was about to glare and scold Leo, you spoke. "Oh my God! Donnie that was- so impressive! Was that apart of your shell?"

To the sight of his shell acting like a sixth sense, your curiosity blasted off from there. Did Leo know you'd react like this? ... Maybe. Donnie wasn't the only brother with smart ideas. They're twins after all. Donnie only blushed, as you began to circle him. In a respectful distance, "What coding did you use for them to do that! Oh my- look at this! Are these compartments for items?" After a few seconds of silence, Donnie coughed, collecting himself. "I- indeed! Well, specifically, more of an Object-Orientated type of programming." The two of you didn't even notice as Mikey left, letting you both infodump. "Really? That sounds like absolute hell! You have to teach me how to code something like that... Oh right! I need some help for this math assignment. Know about the Pascal Triangle?"

Donnie chuckled, "Do I know the Pascal Triangle? Y/N, who do you think you're asking? They're the training wheels to the most amateur of equations." Suddenly he watched as your eyes lighted up. A grin filled with relief and joy. Something that felt so amazing to experience in person, "I completely agree! Mind if we go into your lab? It'd be better to discuss there." He nodded his head as you ran off. A lovesick grin visible on his face. Wow you were... just perfect.

"Ha! Lover Boy-!!" "NARDO."

[hexiewrites]

on nanowrimo

(copied from my thread on twitter)

the discourse about NaNoWriMo is so heartbreaking. three of my fics - including my most popular - were written or partially drafted during NaNos. forgive my bit of nostalgia rambling here, as I mourn the final death of the thing that taught me I could be a writer too.

I wrote my first NaNo the fall of grade nine. My dad had just died, and I was stuck looking for something to take my mind off of it. I don’t remember now how I heard about NaNo, but soon I’d roped a friend in, and we set off. We were the youngest writers at our meet ups, but they welcomed us with open arms. I read all the author emails, sapped up every encouraging word. that year, I wrote 50,000 words. the next I did 75. I didnt always win, I didn’t always try, but because of NaNo, November has always felt like a month of possibilities in the dark.

in 2016, I moved away for grad school. new province, no friends, an outsider who was quickly homesick and heartbroken. I’d fallen back into dramione and read a TERRIBLE marriage law fic - rapey and gross. And I said “I can do better than THAT. hey look, its november tomorrow!”

I knocked out my 50k and kept writing. the story eventually hit 90k, still my longest fic by a landslide. I mentioned it to my dr, an inability to focus on school but this all encompassing fixation on my story. I got diagnosed with ADHD (the biggest blessing). I started to post.

I’m still not sure why - I wasn’t a bnf with a following - but DTTS took off. As of today its sitting at 219,000 hits. 5,000 kudos. To know that 5000 people have read and liked my writing, asked for more, told me they love it… I still get comments on that fic, and they all remind me that I AM a writer. that i AM capable. that fic taught me that there is a world who likes my work. that fic gave me the courage to keep writing, to switch fandoms, to post without expectation. that fic gave me the hundreds of thousands of words I’ve written since.

NaNoWriMo gave me that. the courage to do something a little insane. to find myself along the way. to step out and say “look, I made this, do you want to see it?”

and AI has taken some of that joy. AI has made me consider locking my fics, so my words don’t get scraped for the machine. AI has made me wary on tumblr - of art and voice notes and, yes, fic too. AI has taken my community and plundered it for our very soul.

and now @nanowrimo has coopted the language of disability. has taken an amazing accomplishment - something that has been part of my life for 17 years - and broken it, just a bit. still, as the leaves turn, as the air cools, the call to my desk is unmistakable. the words are there. they’ve always been there, waiting, ready. in november I will be writing, and mourning a community that made me who I am, but because of all of you, I will not be alone.

[beesmygod]

i like thinking way too much about fromsoft games. there’s something about the light touch the writers use to carve out their worlds that just absolutely tickles my brain. writing way too much about the most trivial details using college essay formats is the easiest exercise to make sure my brain can still make basic connections and convey those connections to other people. but as a lore prescriptivist (snob), i try to only stick to what’s in front of me without attempting to drag in outside resources or succumb to the apparent impulse to engage in wild speculation that many fans find themselves mired in. additionally, i try to make things as clear as possible for the fandom rubbernecks who like to read lore dumps about things that are totally outside their wheelhouse (i do this).

here’s something really annoying to keep in mind with these games: they write the scripts in english and translate them to japanese. but the dev team obviously works in japanese and have a tendency to reveal connections that are either relevant to unlocking questions not addressed in the game (such as the parasitic wall hugger having the file name “Prince Izalith”). there are also inconsistencies between the english and japanese translations, which raises more questions about what the authorial intent REALLY is. so the best we can do is filter the noise, ignore the innate desire to put words or ideas in any developer’s mouth, and stick to things you can copy-paste to support your argument.

that said i have one theory i refuse to give up entirely on the basis that it is really funny to think about: Gwyn’s firstborn is the father of Crossbreed Priscilla.

look out bitch! look out bitch!

i will go over all the reasons that support my argument and then i will discuss the objective problems with my theory, which is absolutely not one i think anyone holds but me. generally, the community is in agreement that her father is traitor turned mad scientist Seath The Scaleless. seath is an albino dragon who, due to his jealously of the scales that granted eternal life to the other dragons, betrayed his brethren and helped the gods wipe the once everlasting dragons off the planet. his bottom half looks like microwaved tinfoil because he’s been fucking around with crystals. also he was just born fucked up.

seath was rewarded with dukedom and a slice of Gwyn’s (king of the gods. who are a race separate from humans, rather than literal gods) soul.

first let’s talk about what supports my theory, so you can get a feel for the timeline of events and the social mores within the world of dark souls (?? i typed this)

PRO:

Crossbreed Priscilla lives in the Painted World of Ariamis: this is explicitly a location for things and people that the gods want to either forget about or sentence to exile. there are very few residents in the painting; the entire population is priscilla, the corpse of xanthous king jeremiah, a rotting dragon descendant (a wyvern), phalanx from demon souls who got lost somehow, a handful of hollows and skeleton wheels, and velka’s crow worshippers.

Xanthous Crown - A mysterious item once worn by the Xanthous King Jeremiah, the legendary exile

Peculiar Doll - There once was an abomination who had no place in this world. She clutched this doll tightly, and eventually was drawn into a cold and lonely painted world.

Dark Ember - The church long hid the forbidden black ember, and no living blacksmith knows of it. Occult weapons were used to hunt the Gods, and are effective against their followers and kin

velka, an unseen goddess with a single worshipper, is an entire other kettle of fish, but she’s not as complicated as people make her out to be. she was banished or killed by the gods for participating in the plot to overthrow them (this is another subject that causes people to spin out). i dont have time to get into this, it just matters that she’s persona non-grata.

priscilla herself is described as a “crossbreed bastard child” in her soul description. this confirms that she is the result of an unauthorized fuck and suck. as the “antithesis to all life”, she wields a weapon called the lifehunt scythe that mows down gods and drains any mortal that tries to use it.

Lifehunt Scythe - Even the Gods feared Priscilla's lifehunt ability, and in the hands of a mortal, its power will turn upon its wielder.

why the fuck would gwyn keep around someone who could kill him and everything he’s been working for? the man was so freaked out over the idea of the age of gods ending and losing power that he threw himself on a pyre and invented a new way to suffer to prolong the inevitable. why is there a black knight, gwyn’s most trusted troops, protecting the doll and one of three berenike troops in the entire game protecting priscilla herself? the answer is the same reason why he kept gwyndolin in spite of her snake leg deformity and simply hid her away: she’s family.

CONCLUSION: PRISCILLA IS GWYN’S GRANDDAUGHTER

Gwyn’s firstborn was erased from history for an unknown, unforgivable trespass: the amount of Mad gwyn is at his firstborn son cannot be understated; statues across lordran depicting him have been shattered, he was stripped of his godhood, and he was exiled from anor londo.

Ring of the Sun’s Firstborn - Lord Gwyn's firstborn was a god of war, but his foolishness led to a loss of the annals, and rescinding of his deific status. Today, even his name is not known.

Sunlight Blade - The power of sunlight, manifested as lightning, is very effective against dragons. When the eldest son was stripped of his deific status, he left this on his father's coffin, perhaps as a final farewell.

“foolishness” is such a weird ass turn of phrase for something that got you disowned so hard your dad forgot who you were. its so like...mild. just an observation. an example of a thing gwyn specifically might find unforgivable is fucking a dragon, as they are his mortal enemies and he just spent all that time killing them.

you DO eventually meet this son, The Nameless King, in ds3.

CONCLUSION: THE NAMELESS KING’S TRESPASS WAS SHAMEFUL ENOUGH TO HIDE WHAT HE DID AND WHO HE WAS, BUT NOT KILL HIM

The Nameless King has been deified by dragons and their worshippers: this one is so weird. by ds3 you are told outright that the nameless king “sacrificed everything to ally himself” with dragons and those who want to become them. he’s not even the first dark souls character to do it all for the nookie.

archdragon peak, a location where dragon worshippers go to begin their physical transformation, is riddled with statues of him looking badass. this is also where you fight him and his drake (it has 4 wings, but no everlasting scales) friend, the ambiguously named “king of the storm”. its not clear if the “king of the storm” is a title they share together or what the nameless king calls himself when he’s with his dragon lover or if thats the name of the dragon. regardless, killing the dragon begins the phase 2 solo fight against the nameless king. making this more confusing is that in japanese, both phases are named “the nameless king” and calls the king of the storm a wyvern instead of a stormdrake.

Lightning Storm - Once a slayer of dragons, the former king and wargod tamed a Stormdrake, on which he led a lifetime of battle. This miracle is likely a tale of their bond.

wow. love truly conquers all. gay rights!

CONCLUSION: THE NAMELESS KING IS COOL

Seath has never had sex: look at him. no way.

MY THEORY: gwyn’s firstborn, overtaken with sexual desire, fucked a dragon. the result of their copulation was priscilla, an abomination whose innate abilities made her extremely dangerous. gwyn threw his firstborn’s ass out from a combination of shame and anger, but could not bring himself to kill either. ariamis was commissioned to create a world for her, which became an all purpose dump for shit gwyn didnt want to think about any more.

AGAINST:

Priscilla is white: it’s pretty hard to ignore the fact that seath and priscilla share the same very unique skin tone...color palate? you know what i mean. the most common theory is that priscilla is the result of seath’s experiments or his daughter by way of gwynevere. what we do know about seath’s experiments is that the failed results transformed women into snake-ish creatures called pisacas. as stated many times in the series: a snake is a failed dragon (this is true in real life too). maybe one of them was successful.

BUT: there’s some problems with this, actually. for one thing priscilla isn’t albino; her eyes are white and she’s fluffy, like the everlasting dragons we do see. gwynevere married some guy named flann and booked it out of anor londo years ago.

Ring of the Sun Princess - The Princess of Sunlight Gwynevere left Anor Londo along many other deities, and later became wife to Flame God Flann.

so the gwynevere theory is out. it’s more likely that she’s a successful experiment who got too scary so she had to go in the paint. i dont really get why he was trying to turn women into dragons, if thats what he was up to. maybe he was trying to have sex. he was tired of using his j/o crystals or whatever.

Yorshka and The Painter: okay, we can assume that the painter of the next painted world, a dragon scaled young girl, is the daughter of priscilla and her weird husband mentioned in the ds3 dlc. i dont get company captain yorshka at all. i have nothing. she’s obviously a dragon crossbreed but has 2 insane things that make her completely impossible to make sense of.

first, she has fucking neck tentacles? no one else has this shit. what is that.

second, she calls herself the sister of gwyndolin. what! huh?! excuse me?

it’s insane enough that one of the dlcs revealed that gwyn had ANOTHER surprise kid who didnt get to share in the narcissistic family naming convention and was forgotten by history (filianore). but now there’s a DRAGON one?! i don’t know man. she’s inscrutable and i don’t understand her relation to the original crossbreed or why she didnt get painting’d. her existence is pretty hard to patch over with my theory. i dont think the nameless king was pumping them out and then shipping them over to gwyn for him to deal with more than once. mostly because gwyn has been dead forever by the time ds3 happens. maybe gwyndolin just handles these problems better now that shes de-facto ruler of anor londo.

well, i guess that’s all i actually have. my point with all this (besides entertaining the three people who enjoy reading DS lore) is that i can recognize the obvious flaws in my crackpot theory, yet it offers me the most satisfying answer because the idea of getting disowned for being a furry (scalie i guess) is really really funny. and as we all know, the comedy is when you need a 2 million word explainer about having sex with dragons. well. bye.

[lightofraye]

It's A Story

Have you ever heard of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy? If you’re familiar with the tale of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, you might be. Outside of that case, it’s a layman’s term for a supposed mental illness where the parent deliberately makes the child ill to obtain attention. Basically, child abuse.

So why am I bringing it up? I was reading this article (link: Gypsy Rose Blanchard Was a Medical Mystery. A Failure of Science Made Her a Murderer) and there was a section about how the term came to be. (The following is either paraphrased or a direct copy-paste from the linked article.)

--

It was used by Roy Meadow in The Lancet in 1977 to describe “parents who, by falsification, caused their children innumerable harmful hospital procedures” as “a sort of Munchausen Syndrome by proxy”. Meadow used the term to label this particular form of child abuse.

Munchausen Syndrome was coined by Richard Asher in 1951. The syndrome itself was identified to describe individuals who either fake medical conditions or go as far as to commit acts of self-harm to induce symptoms of real illnesses.

Asher, in trying to define this issue, wrote:

“Here is described a common syndrome which most doctors have seen, but about which little has been written. Like the famous Baron von Munchausen, the persons affected have always travelled widely; and their stories, like those attributed to him, are both dramatic and untruthful. Accordingly, the syndrome is respectfully dedicated to the Baron, and named after him.”

Evidently Asher chose to name his described syndrome after the ‘famous’ Baron von Munchausen—in particular, the fictional German nobleman character created by writer Rudolf Eric Raspe, not the real Hieronymus Karl Friedrich von Münchhausen that the character was lampooning—by the end of the 20th century, the syndrome was more well-known than the namesake.

For instance, in 1983, on the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, there was an episode actually called ‘Baron von Munchausen’ where a patient faked their illnesses for attention.

--

“But Raye,” you say, “what’s your point?”

Keep reading. I’m getting there.

(Eventually.)

--

The real Baron Munchausen—Hieronymus Karl Friedrich, Freiherr von Münchhausen—was not a malevolent man. He was a veteran of the Russo-Turkish War of 1735–1739, and at the age of 40, he retired to Germany.

There, he became a sort of celebrity amongst the German elite. They relished in listening to his stories, which were in some cases embellished. But Hieronymous didn’t embellish because he wanted glory; he was telling his crowds what they wanted to hear. One person who knew Hieronymous said he told his stories “to ridicule the disposition for the marvellous which he observed in some of his acquaintances.”

In the end, perhaps that’s the one thing we can take away from the term, “Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy.” A reminder of the culpability—not just of the medical professionals or the legal system, but even the fans who consume the true crime content about the mysterious and deeply misunderstood disease, especially the gripping tale of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her mother.

It’s a reminder that a lie is only effective if people choose to listen to it, to believe it without question. To shrug off doubt, because deep down, we’d rather just be told a story.

--

Figured out my point yet?

No?

That’s okay.

Stories. Be they stories you read in books—paper or digital, I don’t judge—or online, or heard in conventions… sometimes all we want are stories. Embellished to the point of being absolute fabrications or real stories, we all want them. We want to be entertained. It’s why we have plays, movies, television shows. Heck, even music can be used as a form of telling a story.

Actors are a part of telling those stories. It’s why some anti-Tumblr blogs are trying to emphasize that some, if not all, the stories we hear actors tell in conventions may be, completely and utterly fictionalized. Or embellished. That we shouldn’t take everything they say to be complete fact.

Case in point: Jensen’s recent stories. Danneel being “home”—that’s something everyone has called their spouse at one point or another. Would it be that far-fetched that he’d eventually use that story? Jenneel stans and Danneel stans are pushing that as fact, but I question it. Why? Because his other stories read so… generic, without any genuine heart.

For instance, the ice cream story.

I’m a parent myself. My ex and I disagree about what to feed our son. There’ll be arguments about what to feed our child when we go back and forth for visitations. That’s how Jensen’s story came across to me—because if it were a wife telling her husband not to give the kids ice cream, it’d be told in a far different way.

Meanwhile, as a parent with shared visitation experience, that’s how it felt. As well to others who aren’t separated from their spouses, so I’m not projecting here, folks.

Yes, actors tell stories. When they no longer have stories to tell about the shows they were on, or weren’t asked about it, they have to come up with ready stories to tell. Could they go super-personal? Sure. But sometimes embellishments happen. Or they “take” other stories that were used because they literally can’t come up with some of their own.

Such as taking Blake Lively’s very beautiful and real tribute to her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and using it to describe Danneel. Yes, that one is absolutely fabricated. Because all you have to do is go back to other statements Jensen has said about Danneel—stories that aren’t romantic, that were absolutely ignored by the stans because it doesn’t fit the delusion they have. Such as Jensen saying the marriage works better when he isn’t home and are apart. That he couldn’t be himself when she was on the Supernatural set (a very telling statement). Heck, when he was talking about her being on the Supernatural set, he mentioned how she was very aggressive and combative to Jared about acting, and he was all “Phew, someone gets to be the target and not me”. That’s… an alarming thing to say about your spouse. Most heinous of all, she didn't go to him after the Rust shooting, forcing him to make up bullshit about her being afraid of flying. Period.

It's stories, people. But in each story there’s a crumb. A statement. A look. A tone of voice. Jensen never sounds genuine when he talks about Danneel. He doesn’t look genuine either. Then there are the photos of him with her. Again, never real, never genuine, with body language that screams he’s massively unhappy in his marriage.

But of course… mention that and stans jump down our throats. Which I don’t understand because… I’m free to express my opinions and observations. And you’re just as free to block the tags and avoid our blogs.

You won’t convince us and we clearly won’t convince you.

[chubs-deuce]

Hi, fellow writer/artist here! This is about your recent post about struggling with your writing, and I found that I had a lot to say and I didn’t want to clog up the comment section, I hope it’s alright that I sent it this way, and if its too long or not helpful, my apologies XD

My number one tip: there are no rules! Writing is fun time! It’s kids finger painting with words! Its emotions! It’s characters we love, and stories our hearts or brains or some other parts of us wanna tell! Always lean into what sounds the most fun when you’re stuck! Even if you never use it! <3

In my experience, some writing is better than no writing when you feel like it's not good. Sometimes to get out of being stuck I find it best to just keep typing, even if it stops making sense, or i hit enter twice and start rattling off a new scene or a different story entirely! Sometimes I will literally just type ‘why does writing feel so hard. This feeelsss dumb blah blah blahblahblah fuuuuuck fuuuuuuuuuuuck why do I feel so stuck -’ And so on until eventually my brain thinks of something else haha – literally just a brain dump. Type any random word that comes to mind. Sometimes I just open a clean document and go at it with this, you can always copy paste anything remotely relevant that may come out of it somewhere else later.

The rewrite loop is a hard one, I find that when I'm stuck in that space, sometimes taking a step back and just literally making a bullet point list of the scenes and/or what I want to accomplish really helps! Recently I also started going through and highlighting certain passages or concepts in the document that are poignant to the themes or vibes of the story/ that I wanna circle back around to in some way. Its been helping me keep things a bit more consistent in terms of emotion, and has helped a lot with ‘scene-block’. Bc instead of being like ‘uhhhh okay what now?’ I can always look back through the highlights and see what needs to be carried through more – or it can spark a new idea from thinking over how to get to that specific point you want to reach!

Sometimes when writing feels too daunting to me I’ll literally just tell myself “that’s okay. You don’t have to write. You can do literally anything else.” And sometimes just that, the verbal removal of the pressure, can loosen things up – especially if I do want to be writing. But sometimes, you really just do need a break from it. Picking up another hobby to fill writing time when I’m burnt out really helps me out!

I’ve taken months away from all sorts of writing projects before (both fan work and personal) bc there was just a block. And it sucks. I’m really sorry you’ve been dealing with this, it’s such a frustrating experience.

Honestly, sometimes writing can help you work through something IRL, but other times I find that sometimes the writing has to wait until I’ve hit a certain milestone personally. There’s a project of mine I pick up maybe once a year. Maybe. Because it just can’t have what I need it to until I sort some of those personal things out in my own life.

I’ve also noticed how much your Charlastor Fankid AU has taken off (Love Dawn btw), and you expressed recently how you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by the amount of asks/etc with the executive dysfunction of it all (same btw) (I’m also the person from the comment on that - hi lol). I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those pressure-feelings you’ve expressed have bled over into your other WIPs, pls be kind to yourself <3

Think how long people waited for Hazbin content from Viv, or any other number of indie-origin fandoms. When people love an idea or a style or any other number of things, the people it resonates with are happy to give the person or people behind it time. You can tell when someone enjoys making things. When something is made with that passionate spark. I want you to know that your posts really do have that. I can tell how much love you have to give through your work. People who like your stuff aren’t going to disappear if you need to take a minute to breathe, you know? I know the world we live in, and the faux-perfection of the internet can make us creatives feel like we need to be machines, but it’s not true. We’re people. And other decent folks will be happy to respect that!

Creativity and how we express it is very personal, and everyone’s process is different, so I can only really speak from my own perspective here, but you’re doing great. Your work is amazing, and I hope your writer’s block clears up soon!

I hope this message doesn’t come off weird in any way, with this massive message out of ‘nowhere’, my heart just really went out to you on this from one writer and artist to another. I also sent this as an ask bc for some reason sending a DM this long felt weird given that we haven't really spoken before.

Good luck with everything! Always here if you need another creative person to complain to or chat with LOL

- Lizzie

sobbing, this actually made me so (positively) emotional man-

Thank you so so so much for taking the time to type all this out and reach out like this, it honestly means the world from me, especially since your ask here really is oozing with empathy and care in ways that surprisingly hit me in the feels pretty good???

I'm sorry I didn't respond to this sooner but I kind of couldn't muster the energy to give it the kind of response it deserves that wasn't just senseless keysmashing sdkjhsdkjfh

what's wack about my particular kind of writer's block is that I'm more than happy to ramble on and on about Dawn and my ideas for her story in asks etc, but to make a coherent story of it feels like an undoable feat somehow?

I've always had a knack for piecing together a plot out of thin air or based on next to nothing to go off of, but it's actually putting it into a consumable format that I always, ALWAYS get hung up on, and it bothers me to no end :'3

Your reassuring words genuinely really help a lot in soothing my fears of, well, I guess irrelevancy?

I do ultimately write for myself, but I can't help but feel like there's a ticking clock in the back of my brain that tells me I need to make something consumable before the "fad" around Dawn especially passes and most people that would've cared about a fic about her have already moved on, if that makes sense?

It's a stupid amount of pressure to put on myself and maybe even sounds kind of arrogant, but I do thrive off of seeing people react to and think out loud about things I'm passionate about - it's a connection, a communication of sorts, something I'll never not desperately crave.

I've been having so much fun with Dawn and the story surrounding her and I couldn't be happier that people are so engaging with what I put out in turn! So much so that a part of me dreads seeing when that will come to an end ^^"

I'll keep trying though, and keep doing what I love <3

Again, thank you so much for taking the time to reach out like this, a lot of this is something I definitely needed to hear and words can't express how much I sincerely appreciate it ;w;

[everythingwritingg]

Getting Plot Ideas

@everything.writing on IG

Writing the first draft, rewriting, and editing are definitely difficult parts of writing a book, but sometimes the hardest part is getting started. What do you even write? What if you know you want to write something, but you don’t have a single idea of any sort of plot? Keep reading to get some tips on how to come up with a story.

What kind of story do you want to write? Even though you might not know specifically what your plot is, narrowing “a story” to “a fantasy/sci-fi/romance story” could help you come up with a plot. Also, if you have an idea of the age group you want to write for, it could help you in coming up with the plot, because there are certain themes that correspond to certain age groups.

Do you have an idea of characters and setting?, if you know your characters well and know the relationships they have with each other, you can imagine the kind of conflicts that may take place, which can lead to a plot. Also, if you know the setting, you can imagine what kind of problems would happen in your world.

Get inspiration from your life and media you consume. Have you had an interesting experiencing that you would love to base a story around? If not, you can read books and watch movies and see if that strikes up any inspiration. However, if you take inspiration from media, make sure you’re taking inspiration and not copying their ideas. Try to change your ideas up to avoid copying.

Talk to people in your life. You can talk to both writer and non-writer friends. Your writer friends can help give you some ideas to get you started. Sometimes, though, I hear conversations from my friends that I want to incorporate into my own writing, so talking with non-writers can also help too.

Use writing prompts online. Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, and other writing blogs are a good site to find writing prompts. Use those prompts to help build your ideas. Often, these prompts are a resource to get your creative juices flowing. Scroll around until you find one that you would love to write, and tailor that to your own story ideas.

Use plot generators. There are numerous online if you google them. You can pick the genre and a few details and then the generator will give you a story idea. You can then supplement this with your own ideas and then, voila, you have a plot. This is exactly what I did with my first book, and it eventually became a trilogy.

If you can’t come up with ideas, just ask ChatGPT. The thing about it is that you can ask it to write a story for you in all different genres. You can be as specific and generic as you want. You can then build off of this and create a plot from that.

I apologize for the short post, but I’m really glad I’m posting original posts again. I just got back from my trip and I am excited to be more diligent with posting and answering DMs and comments. Looking forward to talking to all of you.

[bibliophileiz]

I just finished a book called The Queens of Animation by Nathalia Holt, about women animators at the Walt Disney Studio. I cannot believe the shit I found out.

(Hopefully I got this all correct, I was listening to an audiobook instead of reading a hard copy, so I can't consult it for name spellings and the like. I'm relying on Google, and well, we know how that goes sometimes.)

Some things I learned from this book. -Walt Disney became a personal champion of women in the animation department, arguing not just that they were as talented as men but that they could bring something to storytelling that men could not. After his death, the number of women in the animation and story departments plummeted, along with the animation department itself. -But he also paid women way less. (Except Mary Blair.)

Not just women, but many animators had a hard time getting on-screen credit for their work. This was one of the issues that led to a massive strike in 1941 that tore the department in two, temporarily shut down the studio, and resulted in a lot of people, both union and non-union, losing their jobs when it finally reopened.

On the rare occasion women did get credit, they were sometimes ignored by reviewers.

The second woman to be hired to the animation department, Grace Huntington, was a pilot who held multiple speed and altitude records. She eventually quit the studio with the hopes of getting a full time aviation job, but died young of TB before her career could take off.

Traditional animation is apparently a terrible way to make money. Only a handful of the early animated feature-length films made more at the box office than it took to make them.

Women animators were drawing things for The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast as early as the 1930s.

Men thought drawing fairies was unmanly, so the fairy sequence set to Nutcracker music in Fantasia was drawn and directed entirely by women.

While the women animators were doing that, the men drew super gross racist and sexist centaurs to Beethoven music, and the reviewers all hated it. (Essentially they were like HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO BEETHOVEN.) - Generally, male animators tended to like slapstick comedy in their cartoons, while women tended to be more about storytelling and character development.

Obviously there were exceptions to that rule, like Walt Disney and Mark Davis.

Disney hired an LSU professor to write Song of the South. When everyone pointed out to him this was a terrible idea, he hired a Communist Jew from New York as co-writer for "balance."

This went about as well as you'd expect.

When the LSU professor demanded his co-writer get taken off the script, Disney replaced him with another "progressive" white guy.

Apparently he never considered hiring an African-American writer.

Literally everyone, including the studio's legal team, told him not to make this movie, much less hire a white guy from Baton Rouge to write it.

The lead actor James Baskett, who won an Honorary Academy Award for the role, couldn't go to the premiere because it was held in Atlanta.

Meanwhile, the Communist got put on Cinderella. He interpreted the story as a worker rising up against her oppressors.

This is also known as the correct way to interpret Cinderella.

Apparently the writer (so sorry, I'm forgetting his name) included a "violent" scene in which Cinderella goes after her stepmother and stepsisters.

I have no more details than that, but apparently the other animators made him take it out.

I'm now just picturing Cinderella stalking around her house with a raised butcher knife in her hand like in "Psycho."

Artist Mary Blair was art director for many of the classic Disney movies, including Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland. Disney loved her work so much that when she had to move to Long Island for her husband's job, Disney let her work remotely and fly back and forth from New York to Los Angeles.

She was responsible for the rich colors and design choices in the princess movies. She resigned part way through "Sleeping Beauty" but the art director after her used her designs for Maleficent.

Her husband, Lee Blair, was also an animator for the studio before he left to fight in World War II. He was apparently extremely jealous of Mary's artistic talent, and when he returned from Europe, he moved the family to Long Island, became an alcoholic, and started abusing her and later their children. Mary didn't feel she could go to Walt, or any of her other friends at the studio like Retta Scott and Mark and Alice Davis, because domestic violence and divorce were so taboo back then.

Even after the move, Disney let her work remotely, and she spent a lot of time flying between New York and Los Angeles. She eventually resigned hoping to work on her marriage (this didn't really work, though her husband did eventually start going to AA meetings after spending a year in jail for drunk driving) but was later rehired to help design the It's A Small World ride.

Everyone who worked on that ride hated the song btw.

The men apparently got over the idea of drawing fairies making their balls fall off or something by the time they were making Peter Pan, but one of them still asked why Tinker Bell "had to be so naughty".

101 Dalmations was the first animated film to be made using Xerox technology, which decimated the studio's female-dominated ink and paint department (their job was to trace over the animators' work). The Xerox machines could only make black and white at first, which is why so much of that movie is so colorless compared to the earlier Disney films Mary Blair worked on.

The silver lining was everyone got to play with puppies while they were making it because Disney ordered a whole bunch of them to just be there in the studio for the animators to draw.

Speaking of cute animals, the Burbank lot was home to a bunch of stray cats. Disney liked them being there because they hunted mice, so he didn't like when employees fed them.

Disney hated 101 Dalmations, because of the Xerox machines, but it made more of a profit than any of his previous films, because of the Xerox machines.

Julie Andrews originally turned down the role of Mary Poppins because she was pregnant, and Disney promised to wait on her. (Joss Whedon, take notes.)

After Walt died of lung cancer, the animation department was nearly killed and pretty much stopped hiring women. Mary Blair, who had been almost as influential to Disney's art as Walt, was edged out and by the time new animators started working on the Disney Renaissance films, they didn't even know who she was.

Many of the women who left the studio went on to work for Little Golden Books and other children's book publishing companies.

One of the few women animators at the company at this time, Heidi Guedel, who drew Tigger, left with Don Bluth when he departed to form his own company in 1979.

When The Little Mermaid was in production, there was only one woman animator--she may have been the only woman in the entire story department, I don't remember.

Disney then began hiring more women animators at the directive of then-Disney CEO Mike Eisner and head of animation Jeffrey Katzenberg.

One of the women screenwriters working on Beauty and the Beast (I think Linda Woolverton, but it may have been Brenda Chapman) wrote a scene in which Belle puts pins on a map showing where all she hopes to travel.

The animators changed the scene in the storyboards so that Belle is in the kitchen making a cake instead. When the screenwriter saw it, she apparently raged BELLE DOES NOT MAKE CAKES!

Pixar at this time had no women in its animation department.

Brenda Chapman became the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film for Brave. During her acceptance speech, she talked about her daughter Emma.

When making Frozen, Disney held a "sister summit" of women discussing their relationships with their sisters and other women. Men at the summit were not allowed to speak.

btw Brenda Chapman also worked on The Prince of Egypt. (I did not learn this from the book, I learned it just now while looking her up on imdb.)

If I have had a very bad day, and am very tired, then the mere mention of Howard Ashman's name will make me break down in tears.

[firsttimewriter92]

Everything Black Part 1.

This is a Post Azkaban Sirius Black x fem! reader (Muggle) fic I came up with. This is the first time I´m writing something like this and posting it, so let me know if you have any suggestions as to how I can improve my writing. I am not a native speaker so please keep that in mind :) Please, please don´t copy my work. If you want to repost, please do. I would love it if you tagged me, though :)

Warnings: canon typical violance, No smut or angst so far (will eventually happen) This is a slow burn, folks. Maybe because I am obsessed with details.

Word count: 1.800

Summary: One strange night, a man known as Albus Dumbledore decides that it was you, who was the perfect fit to make a certain someones life more comfortable. Your own life nothing but a grey veil, you decide to humor the wizard and let youself be introduced to a world so far away from yours.

_____________________________________________________________

Shoulders hunched and hands in your pockets, you ran across the cobbled street and up the antient stairs to a higher level street. There, in the safety of an overlooking roof you stopped to catch your breath. The ice cold wind was going right through you and you tried to keep your toes warm by lightly jumping up and down. As you pulled your hat lower over your freezing ears you could see other people hurrying left and right to get home as quickly as possible. You imagined their lives for a second. Were they going home to their families? Would they enter a warm, welcoming flat or house with people waiting for them; smiles on their faces? Or do they hurry back to a cold, fairly furnished flat with florescent lighting and a leaking water tab? Because that´s where you were headed.

With a sigh and your forehead in wrinkles you hunched your shoulders again to brace yourself for the cold and darted off again. Only three more turns and you would wind up in the dingey little alley where a small flight of steps would take you down to your lovely home. You scoffed at the thought. Being alone for most of your life, well we do not count the 16 years you spent with your emotionally absent father, you just did not know why a home should be any less than four walls to return to just to sleep. That is why you spent all day either working or wandering about the city. It was quite nice in spring and summer. And given, even the low hanging fog on a quiet autumn day gave this antient town a form of mystery that many a writer has already been intrigued by. But in winter, the harsh, cold winds and the rain that could not decide if it wanted to be snow or not, was nothing short of unpleasant.

You rounded the last corner to your flat when you saw something so unnormal, your feet rooted themselves to the ground. There, in your alley, adorned with rubbish cans and an ever present smell of anything old, stood tree people, two facing the other one. All three had one arm extended and were pointing…chopsticks at each other. Nonsense, you scolded yourself. Those cannot be chopsticks. Why would tree grown people point chopsticks at each other? Rather menacingly in fact. How absurd. The wind was howling stronger now and before you could ask those tree figures what in the devils name they were up to, you heard a loud crack. The very second you heard it, something green shot out the tip of whatever it was one of them was holding. Maybe fireworks? Those were your last thoughts before there, in your little alley all hell broke loose.

Suddenly you found yourself in a state of panic. You ducked behind a rubbish can as more and more cracks and loud bangs filled the air. Wherever these lights would crash into, something was destroyed. Some of them even ricochet off the walls causing debris to fall onto the street. You couldn´t think. The heat of the lights that crashed close to your hiding spot lead you to duck even deeper into the shadows and rubble. Now you even heard someone scream something. Almost like an order but you couldn´t make it out. And as suddenly as the lights appeared, destroying walls and trash cans, there was silence. No more lights. Smoke and dust clung to the air as you let down your arms that you had wrapped over your head for protection. As if that would have helped any, you thought. Knowing only one thing, stay where you are, your breathing was hard and you could feel your throat burn from not being able to make a sound. Or so you thought.

You heard steps coming closer. Oh that´s just grand. The other guy probably dead and now, it´s my turn. Why has no one sent for the police yet? Someone must have heard the ruckus. True, it was already late at night but still!

You crouched in your spot, waiting for something to happen. Your heart pounding in your ears, waiting. You could feel a presence right next to you. Staring ahead with wide eyes you did not want to look up at the person who was probably about to end your life.

„Excuse me, Miss. Would you happen to have a Mint?“

___________________________________________________________

Your head snapped up when you heard the question. Your eyes were met by piercing blues behind halfmoon spectacles and a kind smile. Before you stood an old man with a long white beard and hair. He was tall, wearing the strangest clothes you had ever seen. A long dark maroon robe clung to his shoulders and you could make out the trousers of a needle stripe suit. Dumbfounded, you blinked up at the man who was kindly smiling at you.

„What? “, you asked, still staring. „I was wondering if you have a mint on you. You see, problem solving tends to give me a bad taste in my mouth. “The man smiled and put both hands on your upper arms to help you stand up. Patting the dust from your legs you eyed him from the side. „Sorry. I´m afraid I cannot help you with that" you said in a bit of a wiry tone. The man just smiled. „Ah, a shame. Well, at least the problem got solved “. You looked around. The three people that just a minute ago were trying to end each other were gone. You looked the alley up and down but there was no sign of them. Thank the heavens but it also made you incredibly uneasy. What did that old man do? They quite literally vanished.

Said man was currently watching your every move. Already an idea brewing in his mind. He knew he had only two options with you. One of them solely possible because he was, who he was.

„What did you do to them? And what where they doing with those…sticks anyway? They nearly blasted my head off! “You turned to the man and with every word your voice got a little higher. „Yes, well. It seems these tree gentlemen had a disagreement and- “„Yea, no shit“, you scoffed. The older man's eyes twinkled at that. „And were dueling to see who would win the argument“, he said as if giving this explanation was his daily business. You raised your eyebrows. „Dueling? Like they did 100 years ago? Only with, I don´t know…laser shooting sticks? What in all the gods' names is going on here?“, you asked exasperatedly. The man chuckled. He knew now which option he would take. „I can assure you it has nothing to do with lasers. Although that would be an easy answer for you, no, that was not it. These men where dueling with…wands.“ He waited a little to end his sentence for dramatic effect. You looked at him incredulously. „Wands?“ you repeated in a low voice. Before he could answer you started grinning. This soon ended in you almost doubling over holding your stomach. Surely this was a joke, or the shock finally caught up to you.

The older man lightly laughed along with you. „Miss, I am delighted to see that you find this information only half as shocking as I expected you to, but I am afraid we need to relocate sooner rather than later“ he chuckled. „W-what do you m-mean?“ you asked still gasping for air and wiping your eyes. „You are absolutely bonkers. I am not going anywhere with you. I am going home! Wands…next thing you are going to tell me is that they were wizards“. Still wheezing a bit, you turned around and walked off towards your flat. „Maybe you should start believing in the unbelievable a little bit more, Miss. I am guessing working in a Bar and walking around the city can become kind of dull.“ You stopped in your tracks and slowly turned around. The feeling of having to prove yourself yet again made its painful way up your throat. „Sir, let me make one thing clear“, you sneered, taking a couple steps towards him. „I do not know how you know this about me nor do I particularly care. But I did not leave my old life behind for another old man to tell me how to live it! You want me to believe that magic is real? That I just witnessed it! Fine, fine. Prove it to me then!“ Why did you sound so desperate at the end? This was an utter joke.

The old man reached into his long robes and produced yet another wand. You looked at it skeptically. Without a word the old man flung the wand though the air. Your eyes widened when from the tip, silvery smoke erupted. First it was without shape, and it still could have been some sort of trick. But then in front of you, in the air made of silvery smoke, hovered a large bird flapping its wings slowly. It had very long tailfeathers. Slowly it rose above your heads and started to fly around you, gathering speed. You twisted and turned as to not lose sight of it. It was gorgeous. The next moment it was slowing down and disappearing into thin air. Your heart pounded, but not out of fear as it did a few minutes ago, but because of sheer excitement and childish joy. „Was that...? I only ever saw drawings. It´s a mythical creature!“ you whisper-yelled looking at the man. His eyes were fixed on you the whole time. „Mythical for you. Yes, that was a phoenix,“ he said calmly. „Believe me when I tell you, you were in grave danger when you entered this alley. And I cannot say if there are others about. So, I would like to see you save. And I cannot see you save here.“ He gestured to the rubble on the ground and the blast holes in the walls. You looked around as well. Was this your life? Did you want this to be everything there is? The answer was clear to you. The opportunity was standing right in front of you. So, you looked at the man with a stern expression, nodded your head once and took the last few steps until you were right in front of him. He smiled a brilliant smile and moved to stay beside you. „I am very relieved you see reason, Miss. Now, please hold onto my arm and close your eyes. The first time can be quite uncomfortable.“ You looked up to him with raised eyebrows and with a last, what in the gods' names am I doing here, you grabbed his arm. „I am _____ by the way“, you said quietly before closing your eyes. „It is my utmost pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss ____. “That was all you could hear before your stomach turned.

____________________________________________________________

Let me know if you liked it so far :) Should I post the second chapter? Many more beloved characters will be introduced in this one.

[aerkame]

I’d like to toss my hat into the ring since that anon brought up AUS. I don’t have any favorites or enjoyment of a lot of them, So here’s a sort list I can think off;

1. A/B/O: It’s just very, very, uncomfortable.

2. Crossovers: 80 or 90% of the time when there’s crossovers, it’s just crossing over for the sake of having your fav characters meet and get up to crazy adventures. There’s no actual reason as to why there crossing over apart from that.

3. mafia: Not a fan as there’s nothing different, but there’s a Mob AU by Clownn (correct me if I spell it wrong,), they put a unique twist by having it be physiological and giving it certain traits to make their AU stand out from the usual Mafia AUs.

4: anesthesia: It’s a pretty cheap way to get characters to fall in love and kinda creepy when you think deeper about how easily bad things can go.

5. Soulmates or Marks: I don’t like the idea of a mark or something telling you who your partner is or who to be with. What if you don’t want a partner tho or not interested in falling in love? Are you allowed to be just friends instead?

I prefer if authors/creators add more unique twist or additional spin on AUs. The down side is, I have seen some pretty unique AUs but they’re not as talked about or popular since it’s not the go to ones that fanbases love.

Ah yeah, A/B/O AUs tend to romanticize toxic relationships a lot from what I usually see. Not liking it is understandable. Ironically though, the whole Alpha, Beta, and Omega stuff that was made by a researcher later discarded his own theory after further study of wolves. (In short, wolves are just large families with mom and dad in charge, the whole A/B/O stuff makes no sense.) So the whole thing is really just made up of disproved theories and is purely fiction.

The others are also understandable. Some of the AUs tend to have repeating themes or they end up being complete copies of each other. The Whole amnesia one is creepy, yeah. I have only ever read 3 fanfictions in my life that did this trope properly and it only really works if the characters knew each other beforehand or they were already in a relationship before it happened.

The soulmate one is kind of okay depending on who is writing it and how it is written. I've seen a handful of very well written soulmate AUs that actually got creative with it, but a lot of the fanfictions for AUs like that just repeat and copy each other a little too much.

To be perfectly honest, I agree that unique AUs are way better because it leaves room for even more AUs to branch off of those one and it also helps other writers get a good idea on how to handle the idea behind it.

My other favorite AU type is one I don't see often but I wish I did, and it's the self-aware ones or the ones where the reader/character ends up in the fictional world of the fandom they're in. My reason for liking those ones is because they can turn into good horror fics or have creepy vibes IF done right. It's like the 4th wall breaking rule in some video games or horror movies. Twilight Zone vibes y'know?

For my own personal Finfolk AU, I did want to add yandere vibes, but not like Wattpad anime fanfiction kind of yandere. I think yandere fics should be taken seriously and treated seriously because of the topics they deal with. I have read so many fanfictions that do it just right where it genuinely scares me and it makes for interesting dynamics between the characters. I haven't gone into full horror with the AU though simply because I'm afraid of people romanticizing what is supposed to be dangerous behavior or dark topics. The finfolk folklore itself is dark when you look into the stories/mythology. I just don't like seeing how often AUs and fanfictions with serious topics get put on a pedestal in a wrong lighting. But, I do plan on eventually trying to go full horror with it at some point. When? I'm not sure yet. Maybe when I have more experience in writing. All I know is that making the characters attractive (that is what finmen/women do regardless in folklore) but obsessive without making it romanticized is going to be difficult.

[utilitycaster]

I spaced on sending this when you initially made the post, but if you were ever so inclined to make that full list of recommendations on metafiction/the liminal space of tangential genres, I would be very interested to see it! (the original list was 100% some of my favorite books/media)

Oh man I've been uh. bad at reading as regularly/much as I'd like for the past few years, something I'm attempting to remedy, and I've never been the biggest of film buffs, and as such that covers a lot of the high points.

(obligatory reminiscing): Truly the the most "not actually a real problem" tragedies of my life is that I was a teenager before the Goodreads era and so I was shaped, indelibly, by whatever Collected Science Fiction Anthologies of the Latter 20th Century my local library had circa 2004. As a result there's like a thousand 70s and 80s sci fi stories the titles of which I cannot remember but which are etched deep within the recesses of my brain. Occasionally I have enough details to go to some thread on the internet and say "pretty please can you find it," but often I don't. There's definitely one I'm thinking of in which a group of scientists keep doing an experiment to change the time line and they keep believing that it fails, but as a reader you clearly see the list of names and various details is changing. This is not super helpful to anyone other than to say "go read short speculative fiction." ANYWAY here's a few more.

On the topic of short fiction, Sword Stone Table is a collection of short stories inspired by Arthurian legend which I read last year, and not all of them worked but there were enough to make it worth it (and it's a quick read). Hilariously, the coffee shop AU was one of the more metafictional examples.

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. I don't remember this well but I own a copy and might re-read it; I distinctly recall purchasing it because she made a chapter in the form of a PowerPoint presentation and got interviewed by NPR about it since she could see how many people quit reading at that chapter thanks to eReader data, and I was like "sounds cool". I love when authors are hostile to their audience in a way that's good for them, and I remember enjoying that chapter very much.

I mean your bio quotes Calvino so I'm assuming you're good there but like...I have not read all their work, but I trust Calvino, Borges, Le Guin, and Susanna Clarke to always deliver.

Jules Feiffer's A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears; Diana Wynne Jones' Fire and Hemlock (among other Diana Wynne Jones books); The Phantom Tollbooth; and the various works of Ellen Raskin (best known for The Westing Game but I read so many of her books) are middle-grade or YA but they are in fact a big reason why I eventually became a college student who would read House of Leaves and Calvino for fun and why I became an adult who devoured Piranesi in one sitting.

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

It's also been a hot minute since I read Possession by A. S. Byatt but I do remember loving it at the time.

For...the best I can put it is "popcorn reads?" low postmodernism? mass-market metafiction? Fun shit? Jasper Fforde is your guy.

Technically The Princess Bride is metafiction. Fun fact: a good friend of mine in college did not realize it was not legit a translation when he read the book. His undergrad thesis was in part about translation. We made fun of him for this.

David Mitchell's literary universe, notably Cloud Atlas. David Mitchell is a very good writer who does tend to have a pretty dark interpretation of our world's future and so I sort of fell off following his works because they were particularly depressing but like, that's a me problem because he's immensely talented. (note: did not see the film adaptation, cannot speak to that.)

I am also going to plug the Teixcalaan books (two so far, starting with A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine which is a bit of a stretch but I'm doing it anyway because I think it’s underappreciated (it occupies the same space in my mind tbh as Ada Palmer’s Terra Ignota and to an extent Yoon Ha Lee's Machineries of Empire, both of which I’ve mentioned before, of an incredibly intelligent SF story with queer characters and relationships that was well received but just doesn't have the buzz of some other modern sf series). It’s not metafictional per se, but it does have an incredibly strong theme running through it of engaging with narrative and controlling it (honestly? Similar to Black Sails in that regard.) The Teixcalaan Empire is hyper-aware of language and legend, naming patterns are a number and a word, and the cool thing to do is write complex forms of poetry. The second book also has a character purchasing an indie comic and drawing all sorts of interesting comparisons to her ongoing situation... a little bit like Tales of the Black Freighter within Watchmen.

Run Lola Run/Lola Rennt (I watched it as a non-German speaker with subtitles and enjoyed it)

[something-pithy]

Notes and an Update: Astarion, Tav, and Trauma in Stories

Pictured above: actual footage of trauma response from Astarion (j/k! kinda!) to catch your eye :D

Hey glittercats and cosmic kittens!

So I've definitely been neglecting the updates here, which I'm going to try to do better with.

We're up to Chapter 11 on this bad boy, and I've adjusted the anticipated chapter count to 30 (but honestly it's probably still all lies because I have absolutely no sense of how much writing each point on my outline ends up being loool).

I have a DOPE beta who's fucking amazing both in terms of conventions and idea partnership and I'm telling you right now, this story is so much better for having their hands and eyes on it.

SOME CONTENT WARNING STUFF RE: THIS CHAPTER:

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) and symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

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.

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MORE DETAILS ON THIS -- SPOILERS AHEAD, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

So hopefully that's enough room for people who don't want to be spoiled to escape!

So I'm going to copy/paste the end note on the story, and expand on it a little bit.

So, although Tav is a "good drunk," as Frank Gallagher might put it, she is 1000% engaging in pretty serious substance abuse, or to be more specific in this chapter, alcohol use disorder. I'm not going to go into the way this story is going to approach mental and behavioral health disorders and trauma; hopefully it will speak for itself. Suffice it to say substance abuse and trauma are not the central subject of this story, but also, Astarion and Tav as they exist in this little pocket dimension of the BG3 universe have been impacted by the trauma they've each experienced both together and as individuals. In general, the impact of trauma can look and feel a lot of ways. Sometimes it's horrifying, sometimes it's heartbreaking, sometimes it's rage-inducing - but let's be honest, sometimes that shit is funny, too, because humor is such an incredible survival tactic / coping mechanism. Even if sometimes we're laughing at shit that shouldn't be funny. (Maybe especially then.) This story isn't going to be an after-school special or a PSA. It's a story about people, and sometimes people are fucked up (literally and figuratively). Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now. If this has activated you, or you have earnest questions or concerns about what's going on in this story / with these characters, or you just want to shoot the shit, hit me up on my tumblr. There might be more notes there on this eventually, but for now, this chapter actually took a lot out of me and I'm still out here with these perpetual COVID symptoms, so... lol NOT TONIGHT. As always, thank y'all for reading, kudosing, and commenting.

OK, so I may have lied about the no notes part... but honestly, in re-reading that note, I think it kind of gets to the point.

But ALSO...

I've been a geek on the internet for a long, long time. I've engaged with different fan-based writing and roleplaying communities (tabletop, chat-based, forum-based, butt-based -- EVERYTHING) for pretty much the entire time.

"The Tragic Backstory" seems like it's been A Whole Thing since people started creating characters whether for roleplay or stories.

I think times have changed somewhat, but back in the day I ran in circles where a lot of thoughts about writing, creating characters, roleplay, etc. coexisted somewhat peacefully, but an old chestnut that consistently (maybe without fail) turned up in any conversation that involved Writers of Quality was a contingent of folks who had deep disdain for The Tragic Backstory.

I'm talkin' some deep, scathing, elitist shit, my beautiful people.

And I'm not gonna lie to you! This is approximately ten thousand years ago (no but seriously, decades), and honestly, I was up in those conversations, too, throwing around my disdain, assured by my fellow elitists that even though I frequently employed some form of Tragic Backstory, it was OK when I did it because it was good.

I mean in retrospect, it's kinda bullshit. There's always gonna somebody who's gonna think your shit's good, and there's also always gonna be somebody who thinks they're a Better Writer Than You who's gonna think your shit is... well, shit.

Not gonna lie, I still have very strong and particular preferences when it comes to the fic I read in general, and that includes backstory.

But over time, I got progressively less insecure (not just about my writing, but in general) and consequently less concerned with judging writing that's not my flavor as "bad" or "shitty" or "juvenile" (looool seriously, I was a dick) and more concerned with finding and creating writing that is my flavor.

However, and I don't think I'm going to apologize for it, some dickish tendencies linger in my soul. I'm going to try and frame these thoughts in terms of what compels me in a story I'm reading and what I do (or try to do) in my own writing.

This is a very long way of saying if something I say (or have already said) makes you feel like I'm coming for your neck, please know that I'm not.

My thoughts and/or opinions may cause you or someone you love to feel Some Type of Way. That is not my intention. I have no desire to:

Yuck anyone's yum

Contribute to or activate the crippling self-doubt that plagues almost every creative I've ever met

Be a dick.

Having said all that, I do have Thoughts on This Matter.

People write for a lot of reasons, but I'm fairly convinced that nobody's doing it with any level of purity. There are tons of incredible, beautiful, moving stories that feature a whole-ass Self-Insert, maybe even the dreaded Mary Sue.

(lol lookin' at you Dante's Inferno, Tyrion Lannister from A Song of Ice and Fire, and countless others lol)

People write to explore topics and themes that interest them, that compel them, that they see recurring in the world around them and/or their own lives.

One of those things is trauma.

In my writing, I approach trauma, disordered behaviors, dysfunction, dysregulated emotions, etc. (topics both of great interest to me and, not coincidentally, ones with which I have a great deal of personal experience) from a place of wanting fervently to tell the truth.

And I'm pretty good writing some things that feel true.

But I know that in some ways, I've shied away from harder truths; from using my writing and the characters I create not only as reflections of what I see in the world, but as accurate (rather than idealized) reflections of myself.

Because of this, while I've explored redemption arcs in roleplaying games (where being cheesy or facile or juvenile or fulfilling personal fantasies felt much safer than on a page), I've skirted neatly around it, I think, in my writing (for the most part). Because I absolutely was the girl who wanted to "save" or "fix" the wounded (and emotionally unavailable, and/or abusive, and/or toxic) lover. I wanted stories about it. I wanted to roll around in that narrative, bathe in it, eat it up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

All while occupying the role/perspective of The Good One / The Good Girl whether in a game or in a story I was consuming.

But it's not the truth. Not the whole truth, at least. Not for me, anyway.

My admiration, respect, regard, and all the other good words for the writing and acting in Baldur's Gate 3 cannot be overstated. Each of the "origin" characters (and honestly, any character "Tav" has the opportunity to even have a conversation with, much less spend a significant amount of time with) is thoughtfully and truthfully written. I see this more in some than others, but that depth and breadth of understanding about human beings -- sorry, sentient beings -- shows up all over the place and honestly I almost can't stand how much I love it.

I'm not going to say that there's no character I feel this as deeply with as Astarion, but... idk, sometimes.

But there's no need to quantify this. Astarion is one of a number of characters from the game that I'm low-key obsessed with.

As such, when I decided to take on the story outcome in which, in my opinion, he throws all the growth, all the processing, all the truth and reconciliation I saw him moving toward in the game into a fucking woodchipper, I did not want it to be easy.

I get wanting it to be easy, and there are delicious, delicious fics out there that go this route. I think anybody who writes Ascendant Astarion at least flirts with it.

And it's not a binary; it's not either, "OMG this is completely uncomplicated, I love you I'm your spawn and it's just like if you hadn't ascended except your SUPER EXTRA POWERFUL AND SEXY AND HOT AND WHOOPS THERE GO MY PANTIES" (which, tbh... lool I'm not mad at) or "ASTARION IS IRREDEEMABLE LET ME WRITE OF HIS TRAGIC DEMISE AND TAV'S TRAGIC WITNESS TO IT / ENGINEERING OF IT." Which I'm ALSO not mad at, because THOSE THINGS CAN BE TRUE.

But while I'm subscribed to some stories that follow those paths or ones like them, and when I get that notification it's time to STOP THE PRESSES bc mama needs to READ, for me the challenge of this is if I'm going to continue Astarion and Tav's love story (or rekindle it lol), I want to honor the four years of intense character work Neil Newbon and Stephen Rooney and honestly the whole goddamn BG3 team from soup to nuts have done by considering "What would really happen here" as brutally as possible.

Komo, my incredible thought partner-cum-beta, can tell you about the pages of back and forth between us about "fml, how can we make this story work and maintain fidelity to the integrity* of these characters???? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY"

*not personal integrity -- meta shit. The integrity of their arcs, development, personalities, histories, traumas, etc.

SO. Back to trauma.

I said in my end note for chapter 11 that this story is not an after-school special (which looool probably at least some of you are like wtf are you talking about my dude and I'm like looooool omg life before kids were a whole target demographic unto themselves - kind of lol) or a PSA.

Which alludes to the fact that YES, I want to tell the truth about the ugliness of this relationship and the individuals in it with nuance and empathy and sensitivity; that I want to write about the pain and harm and longing and ache and all of it in ways that are neither hyperbolic nor diminishing.

But also, look, my darling motherfuckers, my comrades in fuckery, whoever's made it this far into this rambling monster of a -- whatever the fuck this is lool -- PEOPLE WHO HAVE TRAUMA ALSO HAVE FUN.

SOMETIMES EVEN WHEN THEY ARE ENGAGING IN BEHAVIORS THAT ARE DESTRUCTIVE TO THEMSELVES AND/OR OTHERS.

I don't think I've sufficiently unpacked this part to dig down much deeper into it, but what I will say is that this is not going to be a passion play about Poor Tav or Drugs Are Bad, Mmkay? or anything else.

What this is going to be (or at least, what I passionately want it to be) is -- framed with a delicious little fake-dating muffin of an emotional MacGuffin -- a portrait of some people in all (or lordt jebus please let me achieve at least MOST) of their complexity.

ALL OF IT.

Lordt Baby Jebus, Allah, Milal, Great Spaghetti Monster, ANYBODY

(not Lolth lol)

hear my prayer!

Aight, that's all I've got for today. <3

If you made it this far, PM me and tell me something you want to see in the story! I'll make you a treat.

And if it don't fit in the story, I might be able to make a li'l drabble happen.

COMING SOON to Writing Notes Storytime:

Identity in this story and in stories in general

The Good, the Bad, and the Neutral: Alignment and Astarion (and some other ppl, too!) in BG3, DnD, and This Story lol

Stuff I'm forgetting bc I'm STILL not over this never-ending COVID fuckery