#i might put it on a google drive or something if people want to read and correct it and stuff!

[weedle-testaburger]

some people: no one does anything without a profit motive! me: *is going to try to translate an italian short story from the 1920s which there's seemingly no english translation for about a guy who turns into a girl because it sounds interesting to me specifically*

[maryleclerc]

𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 — charles leclerc

pairing: prince!charles leclerc x reader

summary: just another version of 𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫, prince charles leclerc cheated on his wife and confessed

author note: NO HATE TOWARD CHARLOTTE SINE !

read the my royal series here

au: this is my first time write a full one-shot or long imagine so please forgive me if i made any mistake. would be great if you can give some opinion, advice after reading this 🫶🏻 there no part 2 of this, and i might delete it anytime so not sure if i will keep it or not

warning: english is my native language, use google translation, grammar mistaken. but i won’t call it a part of the 𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 series, i made cause so much people wanted to read it so it’s going to be a sad end, please if you don’t like this end… scroll or just don’t read it at all. love ya!)

Charles and I have been married for 3 years, we have a 2 years old son together, according to the royal plan arranged for both of us, as it was plan today we will got to Italy because in a few days we will attend the F1 Grand Prix race in Italy this year but it coincides with the wedding date of my best friend in London, not wanting to let the Italians down because of the broken promise. We have decided, Charles going to attend the race in Italy in the next few days, me and Christian are going to attend my best friend wedding in London.

"Morning mon amour, is Christian awake yet baby?" Charles asked me and came up to where I was standing and kissed my forehead, he has been act to strange for the past few month he use to to kiss me on the lips every morning and before bedtime. But now he only kiss me once or sometime he does not kiss me at all.

"He haven’t, can you help me wake him up handsome?" I look up and smile at Charles and kiss him on the lips.

“Of course i can.” He replies and leaves his phone on the table before goes into our son room, Christian to wake him up.

Just a few seconds after Charles walked into our son room to wake him up, Charles' phone vibrated constanly. i didn't mean to see who’s texted him at first but because it kept vibrate so I thought maybe it was something to urgent and needed my husband so I walked over to grab Charles phone but right at the moment i pick it up, the phone lights up once again and the name Kristiana Bailee was pop up in his phone screen… It’s his ex girlfriend, the famous actress Kristiana Bailee

Everything would've been fine if she hadn't sent another text message saying, "Can't wait to be with you in Italy baby… does your wife know?"

My heart just drop imediatly, don’t know how to react, should i throw his phone away? she even calls my husband baby? and then I heard Charles's voice coming out of Christian's room and I quickly turn off the phone, put it back down and wiped all my tears away before Charles could see it.

I walk over and put breakfast i just made on the table for Charles and Christian and i turned walk straight to our share bedroom. He notice it’s very unusual for me to skip breakfast today, I never skip breakfast because it's so important.

"Wait Y/n, you don't eat breakfast today?" Charles asked

"Yea, i feel a bit dizzy because i couldn't sleep last night, so I'm still a bit tired now, please wake me up at 8am so I can get Christian change and then we have to arrive at the airport on time" I said but still didn't turn to look at Charles, because I was afraid, I was afraid that if I turned to look into those eyes of Charles again I would see those images, the images of Charles looking at her with those eyes, eyes that I thought were only for me.

The clock strikes 8 o'clock Charles wakes me up, I change Christian's clothes and Charles prepares the car to drive us to the airport on time so we can arrive at London on time and Charles will go to Italy to "her" the famous actress. When we got to the airport, Charles hugged me and Christian tightly

“I love you, mon a'mour and have a safe flight” Charles said and kissed me on the lips, I have to kiss these lips because it will probably be the last kiss from Charles that I get, then he kiss Christian once again

“Charles, you have a safe flight too and enjoy the race baby” I smiled and said, does Charles recognize this smile? a sad smile, “Christian say bye bye papa, see you at home.” I turn to Christian. “Bye bye paapa” His cute little voice makes me feel a bit soothed. Before Charles can say anything, I turned away and got into the plane as fast as i can before he can see another tear run down my eyes

As soon as Christian and I arrived in London, our friends were there to pick us up, no matter what, I will make the most of my days in London and just forget everything that happened back to Monte Carlo.

2 days later

After 2 days spending all my energy for my girls wedding day, today me and Christian had to leave London to go back to Monte Carlo and it’s 6am, we’ve to catch a flight in 9am so i think it’s best to get yourself ready while Christian still asleep. I pack mine and Christian lugguage, after finish I open my phone to check who’s texting me in this early morning, one of my other bestfriend Céline back in Monte Carlo just sent me a link and the next she text me “WTF?! Are you okay?”

I click onto that link, and it’s show an images of Charles and Kristiana kissing eachother at Italy Grand Prix.

The i started to read every single word that was exist in that news

“Three years after Prince Charles Leclerc and Princess Y/n married, people whom attended today race at the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix got caught Prince Charles Leclerc of Monte Carlo kissing another woman, it is none other than actress Kristiana Bailee, it’s known that the two have a history dating but after 2 years together, the two of them decided to end their relationship then Prince Charles Leclerc found the love of his life is Y/n Y/l/n (Princess Y/n of Monte Carlo now) and together they have a 2-year-old son, Prince Christian Arthur of Monte Carlo.

It could be said that this was an affair and this has led to media criticism of the way Prince Charles Leclerc and actress Kristiana Bailee act in public. Accordingly, Princess Y/m is not present at the Grand Prix race in Italy today is because she has to attend the wedding of her close friend in London.

So far, the Royal Family has not made any announcement about this information.”

My heart sink once again, i felt like i cannot breath anymore… they’re now making it public. During the flight from London back to Monte Carlo, I sat with Christian on my lap and pondered over how to react when I met Charles, I might be angry uncontrollably. As soon as I got home from the airport, I saw Charles' car parked at the front gate of the house, so I gave Christian to the babysitter. I went straight into the living room where Charles was sitting, and as soon as I entered I immediately asked Charles.

“Do you love her? Kristiana Bailee” I ask him with a calm voice and show him the images that those people has taken of them kissing, trying to calm myself down cause i just don’t want to hurt anyone while we’re having this kind of converstion

“Y/n, it’s not what its look like, you have to trus-” He start to explain a little, trying to walk across the big sofa to grab me

“Do you fucking in love with her? CHARLES FUCKING LECLERC! JUST FUCKING ANSWER MY QUESTION” I raise my voice at Charles, then bridge of my nose start to feel uncomfortable and a stream of tears ran down my face. Charles hated to make me cry, he once said to me that i don’t deserve who make me cry… but now here he is the one who make my heartbreak into small pieces and cry my eyes out

“I’m so sorry Y/n, and no i’m not inlove with her. I just don’t fucking know why i’ve done all of this shit” He said with a sad, regret voice then i continued to ask him “How long? Charles how long have you and that bitch been doing this behind my back?”

“You know what Charles, never mind” I didn't even care to hear his answer, I turned and walked out of the room with an unbearably gloomy atmosphere. Charles chased after me and grabbed my arm so tight as if I could disappear into thin air at any moment.

“Please don’t leave, Y/n please” Charles begging me to stay and look straight at me into my eyes

“Charles I already know everything, everything from the day you came to Italy Grand Prix, but I still trust that you would never do such things. But when I found out the truth, and also the everything, it really made me extremely disappointed! Why do you do such things that you’ve promise me? do you think our 9 years relationship and 3 fucking years of marriage doesn't mean anything? If you not think about me when you’re with her, you atleast think of our son Christian, how do you think he would feel when he’s old enough and found out that the reason his parents divorced was because his father was secretly FUCKING another woman behind his mother back? and that’s other woman is his father ex lover. It’s hurt me so bad Charles my heart ache everytime i saw those images got posted everywhere on every social platform” I said while crying, Charles look shock when he heard the word “divorce”

“No we are not going to get a divorce Y/n. Hit me, shout at me or do whatever you want but please don’t get a divorce” Charles said, i snapp back “NO CHARLES THERE ARE NO FUCKING WAY TO WORK THIS SHIT OUT ANYMORE, IT’S OVER” I storm out of our house.

[ineffable-endearments]

Hello, everyone!

In light of Neil Gaiman's comment that Amazon is close to officially renewing Good Omens but hasn't done so yet, I think those of us who can should start sending physical postcards to Amazon Studios!

The TL;DR of this post is that you can easily send a postcard from MyPostcard.com for about $3 (USD, I'm sure other currencies can vary). The Web site will print and mail it for you, so you don't have to do any printing or mailing yourself. The postage is included in the $3.

If you don't already have an image or card you want to use, you can just use one of mine above. Some of them are small because of small source images, but the site seems to resize them appropriately for the card. There are bigger versions in a Google Drive folder that you shouldn't have to be logged in to see.

You can send the postcards asking for a third season of Good Omens addressed to Jennifer Salke and Vernon Sanders, co-heads of Amazon Studios, at:

AMAZON STUDIOS 1620 26TH STREET, SUITE 4000N SANTA MONICA, CA 90404 USA

@fuckyeahgoodomens was the first to post this contact information for Amazon, so thank you, Ixi.

If it's something you don't mind, I would very deeply appreciate reblogs on this, since it works better if lots of people see it! No pressure if you don't want to, though.

And if you have Questions, click through below for my reasoning on all this.

Why should we send postcards to Amazon Studios?

We've made lots of noise online about renewal, and we've done a lot of streaming Good Omens. But I haven't seen much discussion of sending physical mail or, specifically, postcards.

Mail takes up space in the real world. It's slightly harder to ignore than email. It's way more attention-grabbing than posts on X or Tumblr or any other social media site. Because postage is required, physical mail can also appear more "committed."

Postcards specifically are great because of their convenience for the recipient. No one has to open them to read them. All it takes is a quick glance to see what we're asking for, and realistically, a quick glance is the best we can ask for in a corporate office. That's why I'm emphasizing postcards over regular letters (although really, anything helps).

Is sending postcards really going to motivate Amazon to make more Good Omens?

Postcard and letter-writing campaigns have helped get shows renewed in the past. Star Trek: The Original Series is a good example of a series that got another season after a letter-writing campaign. This article has more examples.

We don't actually know what's going on in Good Omens's case. Maybe postcards would make a difference; maybe they wouldn't. We can only make our most determined effort at making sure we're heard, and sending mail is part of that.

The cost of sending a postcard is too much for me.

I understand that sending a postcard will not be an option for many of us. This post isn't intended to try to push you into spending money you don't have. If you still want to find a way to participate, you can also send an email to cs-reply@amazon.com with your comments about wanting Good Omens 3. It's not physical mail, but it is still a personal message from a customer.

In fact, people who are sending postcards might want to follow up with an email, too.

Do we have to use your postcard designs?

No! Not necessarily! You can use anything.

As long as the message you write includes how much you want Good Omens 3, your postcard's image doesn't necessarily have to relate. You could send a souvenir postcard that says "Greetings from Los Angeles, CA / Tadfield, England / etc" from your local post office and just write your message on the back.

Technically, even a plain index card should be thick enough to mail as a postcard, at least by USPS standards. Just write your desire for Good Omens 3 on it, put a stamp and Amazon's address on it, and make sure it's at least 90mm x 127mm (3.5in x 5in).

Isn't Amazon Studios going to notice a bunch of postcards being mailed from the same Web site?

I'm sure they will. But the messages will each be unique, and again, they'll know each card represents a person who had to order the card and postage themselves.

Speaking of unique messages, what should I write?

One sentence is enough. Definitely indicate that you want Season 3 of Good Omens. If you want to add more, you could also write a sentence or two about how much you love the series so far.

Above all, be polite and straightforward! Remember that sarcasm and jokes often do not come across well in print, so it may be best to stick with simple statements that can be taken at face value.

What address should the cards go to?

The co-heads of Amazon Studios appear to be Vernon Sanders and Jennifer Salke; you can address them by name, although I'm guessing it will be someone else who does the reading/glancing.

Amazon Studios's address is:

AMAZON STUDIOS 1620 26TH STREET, SUITE 4000N SANTA MONICA, CA 90404 USA

Where did you get these images?

The images for the nightingale postcard and the Crowley postcard are screencaps from directedbypiper.

The Please Do Not Lick the Walls and Fell the Marvelous posters were downloads from the Amazon X-Ray feature.

The Nice and Accurate Prophecies postcard was adapted from cover art I did for A Nice and Interpretive Fanzine. Most of it is my own, although the mottled background is an extremely blurred version of a free stock texture from Pixabay, users chrisfiedler and/or humusak.

The bookshop postcard is a promotional image from Amazon used in a Den of Geek article.

[spnexploration]

A Christmas Case

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Warnings: None

Summary: Dean drags you out of bed to go to a case, ruining your Christmas plans. But does he have a plan to make up for it?

Words: 1.1k

This is my submission for @spnfanficpond Secret Santa 2023 (ignore the fact it was posted in Jan 2024...) and is a gift for @apocalypseornaw ❤ Sorry for the delay!

Supernatural writing masterlist

“Come on, we’ve got a case,” Dean said, shaking you awake.

“Fu’ offfff,” you grumbled at him. “You’re not allowed in my room.” What you’d really like was Dean to stay in your room permanently, maybe some ravishing… But that was never going to happen.

He chuckled, “Just channel that energy to the monster. We leave in twenty.”

---

You sulked in the backseat. It was December 23rd, why the hell were you off on a case? You’d put in a little bit of effort at the bunker, getting a tree and some dollar shop baubles. That was all for naught, now.

Dean caught sight of you in the rear-view mirror. “What’s up with you, princess? We interrupt your beauty sleep?” You didn’t appreciate his teasing.

“I don’t see why monsters couldn’t give us the bloody holidays off.”

“It’s just another day in our line of work, don’t know why you got your hopes up.”

You glared at him. “Yes, how could I, when known Scrooge, Dean Winchester, was going to be trawling for cases at 6am on Christmas Eve Eve.” It was his own damn fault he wouldn’t be getting the present you’d spent a lot of time choosing for him.

“Hey! I didn’t even find it!”

You turned your glare to Sam, “Got anything to say, Second Scrooge Winchester?”

“I just have some google alerts set up, sorry.”

You crossed your arms.

“You might have been expecting a bit too much from a Christmas at the Bunker anyway,” Dean said in a tone of voice as if he was trying to make you feel better. “We’re not very good at Christmases.”

You rolled your eyes and looked out the window. The boys decided to let you be.

---

You decided to keep a tally of how many people said something about the FBI making you work so close to Christmas: you were already up to 4 and it was only mid-afternoon on the first day. Happily the drive hadn’t been too long from the bunker to the crappy town where the case was, so you’d been able to get started straight away.

There was a giant Christmas tree in the main street of town. You felt like it was mocking you.

You dragged your feet as you followed the boys into the library, conveniently still open. You wondered if Dean even realised everything was going to be closed on Christmas Day. Serve him right if he couldn’t get pie that day.

You half-heartedly trawled some books, not really contributing to the research effort.

“Sorry,” Sam said quietly as he came to sit by you. “I didn’t mean to ruin your holidays.”

“It’s alright,” you said, not really feeling it but not wanting to sound petty, either.

“I can tell you’re upset. Hell, even Dean can tell you’re upset.”

“You know, Dean’s better at reading people than people give him credit for,” you said, always quick to defend inappropriate criticism of Dean.

“Ok, you’re right, that was a low blow. But you’re still upset, and I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well, solve the case fast enough and maybe we can do Christmas on Boxing Day at least.”

He gave your arm a friendly squeeze before standing up again and heading back to the shelves.

“I think I found it!” Dean called from somewhere. You stood to go find him.

---

It turned out to be a very quick case, over by late evening Christmas Eve. It was late enough that ordinarily you’d all head back to the motel room and go home early the next morning, but Dean suggested something different. “How about we head back to the bunker tonight, I’ll drive.”

“It’s pretty late,” Sam said, nursing a couple of injuries.

“You can sleep in the backseat until we get there. Won’t it be better to get to sleep in your own bed?”

“If you’re doing this for me, you don’t have to,” you said. “It’s fine, it’s just a stupid day. You don’t have to kill yourself driving late at night just for me.”

“No, come on, it’ll be nice to be back home.” He gave you that beautiful smile and you couldn’t help but melt.

You nodded, not trusting yourself to speak. Sam mumbled agreement and so you all piled into the Impala, Sam stretched out on the backseat. He was asleep almost instantly, and you weren’t too far behind.

---

“Hey, hey,” you woke to Dean whispering your name and gently shaking your shoulder. “Wake up.”

You looked around blearily, this wasn’t the bunker. It looked like the middle of nowhere. You started to ask Dean, but he held up his hand.

“Shh, don’t wake Sam,” he said, still whispering. “Come out of the car for a sec, I’ll explain it all.”

You looked at him quizzically but followed, closing the door as quietly as you could behind yourself. Dean took your hand and pulled you around to the front of the car. Your heart was racing; this was different…

“I’m sorry Sam and I ruined the Christmas you had planned,” he said, standing very close to you. You looked up into his stunningly gorgeous face wanting nothing more than to kiss him, but knowing that he saw you like a little sister. “But I thought we could look for Santa delivering presents,” he said, gesturing to the huge expanse of the night sky you could see.

You laughed, “What am I, 7?”

“Well, ok, it doesn’t have to be Santa. But it’s a nice night for stargazing, and I wanted to make it up to you.” He reached up and brushed his thumb over your cheek. This was definitely new. You nodded in agreement and he took your hand again, pulling you up on to the top of the bonnet.

He scooted very close to you. You could feel his body heat, which was good in the freezing night air. You felt a wave of goosebumps break out over your skin, but you weren’t entirely sure if they were because of the cold or the proximity of Dean.

He reached behind him and grabbed a blanket you hadn’t seen was there, then put his arms around you and draped it across your shoulders. He was so close, so beautifully close. And yet, always so far.

He didn’t put his arms back down, like you were expecting.

He put a hand on your shoulder. What was he doing? He put his other hand on your cheek. So warm, so close. So... intimate.

You looked up into his big, green eyes.

He leaned in close.

Oh. Oh! This was happening!

His soft, Adonis-like lips were suddenly on yours. You closed your eyes and leant into the moment.

He pulled away, “Merry Christmas. Hope this makes up for having to be on the road.”

“Oh, this definitely makes up for it,” you said before capturing his lips again.

The stars looked down from above, forgotten.

.

.

.

Dean Winchester tag list:

@mrsjenniferwinchester

@lyarr24

@waynes-multiverse

@deans-spinster-witch

@zepskies

Everything Supernatural tag list:

@leigh70

@malindacath

@ellie-andthemachine

@iprobablyshipit91

@123passwort

@kazsrm67

@nerdymuffinbonkcloud

@magssteenkamp

Spnfanficpond Dean Winchester x reader fluff tag list:

@babypieandwhiskey

@bkwrm523

@buckys-zomdoll

@canadianspnhunter

@cas-backwards-tie

@castieltrash1

@deanwanddamons

@ellewritesfix05

@emilyshurley

@emoryhemsworth

@firefly-in-darkness

@idreamofplaid

@ilovedean-spn2

@kalesrebellion

@katelyn--renee

@kayteonline

@kickingitwithkirk

@lucibae-is-dancing-in-hell

@manawhaat

@melbelle45

@mrswhozeewhatsis

@mysupernaturalfics

@notnaturalanahi

@plaidstiel-wormstache

@sinceriouslyamellpadalecki

@supernatural-jackles

@there-must-be-a-lock

@thing-you-do-with-that-thing

@trend90s

@waywardjoy

@whispersandwhiskerburn

@akshi8278

@ssonia13

[copperbadge]

What do you mean by digital cleaning?

It's something I've been working on more this year because I had a bit more travel than usual so couldn't do actual home cleaning, but I always take a couple of days in the Month Of Cleaning where I'm focused on my digital life. It's good to make your physical home a comfortable place for yourself, but it's also good to recognize that we have "digital" homes that need attention. And often this is at least less physically demanding, so it's good to keep it in your back pocket for days when you're mentally okay but physically too tired or sore to do more of that kind of work.

In the shortest possible terms, digital cleaning is just making sure that your phone, computer, socials, and other digital "presences" are organized in a way that you find helpful, and that you take a moment to either answer those messages you've been putting off or give yourself amnesty on doing so.

This tends to make a lot of people extremely anxious in a way ordinary physical space cleaning doesn't, so I'm going to put the rest of it behind a cut...

So when I say digital cleaning, I refer to stuff like going through my likes on Tumblr and clearing them out, going through my drafts and turning them into queued posts, answering my asks. I spend time in my email inboxes, either responding to messages or removing them. I am not an "inbox zero" kind of guy, but I like to keep the read-but-not-answered messages to a minimum, and towards the end of the year that usually means a clear-out and amnesty. I clean my Google Drive -- delete old files I uploaded for others, move documents I'm no longer using into an archive, move documents I want to work on into a central work folder. I go through my catch-all folder on my hard drive and organize it; I sort through the year's photos and organize those, partly to archive them and partly because I make a scrapbook from them each year. I don't usually have a ton of tabs open but often have more than I'd like, so I go through them all and either read, bookmark, or get rid of them.

I look in my phone's file tree to make sure I delete files I don't need (mostly menu downloads, Restaurants Stop Making Your Menus PDFs Challenge 2K24) and I sometimes go through each app on my phone, make sure I still use it, and make sure it's set how I want it. If this sounds like a nightmare, bear in mind that I very rarely put apps on my phone to start with -- I think my mother has more apps open at any given time than I have apps on my phone ever.

Everywhere I clean, I look for files named things like "notes" or "deal with" or "random" and move them all into one place so that whatever is in them, I can sort through it and make sure it goes somewhere permanent. Logins go in the login/password spreadsheet I keep, addresses go into my contacts, story notes go into a "fiction scraps" file, random thoughts either get moved into a journal file or put into drafts to become Tumblr posts, etc.

If this sounds like I might have some kind of compulsion disorder, I get that; when I explain my digital hygiene systems a lot of people look at me like I'm spouting a mad but harmless conspiracy theory. But it's something I used to have to do periodically even before I created National Clean Your Home Month, because otherwise I could never find anything, and everything was just...harder. As I once told a boss who admired my organizational skills, "It was this or endless chaos."

Putting addresses into my contacts list means I always know that the addresses I have for my friends are up to date. Putting logins into a spreadsheet means that five minutes spent now will not result in five weeks of procrastination later because I can't find the login and can't do anything else until I do that. Going through my email and archiving old conversations means not only can I find them easily when needed, I don't have to look at them the rest of the time. Sometimes I even go through my various wish lists and remove old/purchased items, or clear out all my "save for later" carts.

There's no doubt this is stressful, but like every part of NaClYoHo, it's broken down into smaller tasks; I don't have to look at my computer and organize everything on it all in one day. I can answer a few asks, then sort photos (something I find very soothing up until the moment I Don't), then read and delete some emails, then I'm done for the day. I can spread "answer or file all your work emails" out over a couple of days. I can maybe empty out my Likes but just turn the ones I actually want to reblog into drafts for now and deal with them later in the "drafts" phase of cleaning. And if I don't manage to empty out my inboxes, at least they're emptier than they were.

I'm struggling this morning with having put a bunch of physical cleaning on the to-do list but not feeling physically up for it, so I did what I felt capable of doing (measuring cabinets for new shelf liners mainly) and later today I might sit down and start building this year's photobook. Or not -- I have to code Radio Free Monday, sort out a prescription and possibly go pick it up, plus a very full day of work and a couple of afternoon appointments I can't shirk, so today may simply be a "get through the day" kind of day. That's okay too; some days the spirit is willing but the schedule is full.

[melancholicmarionette]

[Oh shit I did something. I wrote Val and Sam as podcasters. Warning: this is fucking stupid. I literally had to just stop writing bc it made less and less sense as I went on. But I love writing dialogue and it’s silly and this is tumblr. here have a little snack my dudes]

Graveyard Girls Episode 12: Roasting Ember’s Beauty Guru Era at 1 AM

“Hello and welcome to Local Ghost Smash or Pass—”

“I will fucking kill you.”

Valerie had to admit that Sam Manson’s ability to keep a completely straight face while saying the most unhinged nonsense was probably one of the reasons their video podcast was so popular. Her own ability to refrain from actually killing her was the reason it still existed at all. How they’d made it to episode twelve, however, still remained at least partially an enigma.

Though it was overall Danny’s kindness that slowly made his trio of friends into a tenuous quartet, Valerie had slowly become accepted by all of them, once she finally came to terms with Danny’s secret. Sam was the last to come around, though by the time they were both seventeen their tension was less due to fighting over a boy and more due to the fact that they could agree on almost nothing.

Most of Graveyard Girls was the two girls arguing, originally spawned by a viral TikTok Tucker posted, in which Valerie—at Danny’s bizarre request—tried to explain The Bachelor franchise to them and Sam being convinced she was making some of it up. People had been interested, and with Amity Park being a niche-but-also-hot topic, a weekly podcast was born.

“Okay but,” Sam leaned back in a vintage-looking office chair, “if I returned as a ghost, would you sma—” Sam cut herself off with a grunt as she dodged a throw pillow.

The show was mostly the two competing to see who could get the other to essentially rage quit, and while Sam’s personality was surprisingly just as strange as those of her best friends, Valerie was competitive enough to be a worthy opponent.

“You might just be, like, the worst person,” Valerie said, expertly catching the throw pillow as it was hurled back at her. “We’re not even three minutes in and I’m so uncomfortable with the energy you’ve created.”

“So our very last episode is three minutes long and titled Valerie Quits, then?”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you Manson?” For a tense moment they stared each other down. “Say it one more time, see what happens.”

“So what is today’s topic, then?”

It was a challenge, to see if Valerie had forgotten it was her turn to start. She had.

They had the Box Ghost to thank for it, too.

“Okay, so—full disclosure,” she began, and she looked at her phone, “it is…1:16 in the morning. And both of us have been awake for like…”

“More hours than usually recommended,” Sam continued, “for reasons. We wanted to get this episode out on time so we are crunching.”

“And suffering.”

“And suffering quite a bit,” Sam concluded, nodding. “So my topic is that Ember McClain is trying to release eyeshadow palettes.”

“You cannot just drop that on me.”

“It was dropped on me,” Sam told her, “I’ve had to live with this. You don’t read the DMs for our official account so you didn’t see it and this poor lady, she has this indie cosmetics company and she slides into our DMs asking ‘is this person for real? I think she’s a ghost? She wants to collab.’”

“Collab…”

“And she sent me like…a mock up. I’m putting it in the google drive so get ready.”

Valerie picked her phone, opening their shared drive and—sure enough—seeing a digital version of a very Ember-esque palette, showcasing both dark and neon shades.

“She’s unhinged. But like…some of the shimmers on here aren’t terrible.”

“That’s the thing—I don’t like the bright blues and greens but there’s potential here. I could make a look out of it.”

“I’ve got conditions—if she wants to start the beauty guru era of her ‘career’ I need a full press release saying it’s not a complex murder plot,” Valerie said.

“I swear under penalty of perjury that I’m not imprisoning your parents in hamster wheels to power my sound system,” Sam affected an impression that would positively enrage the ghostly pop star as she spun around in her chair.

“My mad power-grab via subliminal mind control is so over, okay? That was the old me. Get to fucking swatching.” Valerie continued, snickering. “We kid, but this is actually peak influencer already.”

“We’re writing her YouTube apology for her,” Sam said, and she trained her eyes on the camera before continuing, “you cannot use this. I know you’re watching, I said your name once, and your Obsession is name-searching the universe. You have to do your own YouTube apology.”

“We should edit her name out before we upload.”

“We should.”

“…We’re not going to.”

“No, and a certain somebody’s gonna be on my ass about it. We should perhaps move on…”

[gatheredfates]

Hi! My name is Sea, and I have an unhealthy obsession with taking on large community projects! This is my Final Fantasy XIV Community Compendium, focusing on linking as many XIV writing/roleplaying discords, forums, events, free companies and resources as I can get my hands on. While the inspired by and predominately tailored for roleplayers, it should have something for anyone looking to engage creatively with the game in some capacity. ⭐

If you'd like to simply check out what the Compendium is all about and miss my waffling below, any of the links on this post will take you there — but this is a handy one! A reblog also goes a huge way to increase my reach and find communities/resources; you're also welcome to share this post with people not on Tumblr who might be looking for communities/resources or have something to add.

Why a compendium, Sea?

In my opinion, the way people engage with fandom and communities has changed. It was once extremely common for people to hop onto the XIV Roleplaying Forum or find people looking for contact on Tumblr, but most of these resources have shifted to Discord. While Discord is great for keeping a community when you have it, the isolation of these communities into hidden, secular spaces doesn’t do a lot to help people find them in the first place and creates an air of loneliness/disconnect for new players or people looking to find specific communities. I don’t believe that a person should necessarily be a part of x amount of servers to find the one that suits them, nor that all communities should necessarily be on Discord — or just plain hard to find. However, while this is currently the standard, I’d like to try and help these communities be fostered and seen in a place accessible to basically anyone with an internet connection. If one community has benefited from this document, then I have done my part.

This is my monthly drive to showcase the Compendium but find new things to add! A lot of the below is already on the document, but I split communities/resources into four distinct spaces:

Large-scale community discords such as the XIV Reddit Discord, Hunts, GPOSE promotions and broad-space roleplay servers that harbour a large number of people and are publicly available to all. These may not have an RP focus but will assist in other aspects of the game.

Free Company & community-focused servers. E.G. an Ishgardian Roleplay server whose mission is to foster a community for Ishgardian characters; an EU server created to help players struggling with timezones. This also includes event discords such as fight clubs, markets, cafes, etc.

Friend/casual servers that have a roleplay element but may be just a group of people looking to find others to hang out and do content with.

Miscellaneous. Likely to be less community servers and more resources such as lore compilations, how-to guides, gposing techniques, boosting blogs, etc. These may get their own dedicated section later.

Want to submit? You can either fill out the google form here, send me an ask with the relevant information contained on the Compendium, or join my Discord at SEAFLOOR (21+ only)!

Is my space suitable for the Compendium? Most of the time, yes! Below the read more is some more information/stipulations. Again, all accessible on the document! 🪸

Below are the following things I do not accept on the Compendium:

Personal/Single-Character LFC ads.

Content intended for or can be used for bullying, harassment and OOC gossip. E.g. ‘Secrets’ blogs, receipts, callout posts, etc. This does not include IC tabloid blogs used to generate RP.

Communities that do not have an RP/writing element (large-scale exempt).

Anything I find personally distasteful or goes against the spirit of this project.

Common-sense rule applies.

FAQ.

I want to put my community on the compendium but we have an application process. Is this okay?

Yes! Just note somewhere in your application that's a requirement. The only thing that is mandatory for the Compendium is that you must be open to new members or have a public-facing/accessible facet. There's no point advertising a community if no one can join it in some way!

I want to put my community on the compendium but I only have x number of members —

Also totally okay! People don't start with large communities. Activity is a must but, whether your server has two or two thousand members, if you're looking for new people to join, I'd love to help you find people.

I want to put my community on the compendium but I worry its too niche?

Okay, and? If your Eorzean Fishing Alliance has four members but you roleplay every second weekend, I still want to know about it.

What resources/communities can I add if I'm not the owner of them?

Mutual consent is extremely important to me, so anything that isn't a large-scale community OR a publicly accessible resource must be endorsed by the owner/admin/moderators in order to be added to the compendium. I operate under the assumption that a resource posted to a public space (tumblr, googledocs, youtube, etc) is open to all. A large-scale community is one with a significant member count or openly advertises itself as being accessible to everyone for whatever purpose it serves. If in doubt, please get in touch with me. I'm happy to contact your community owners for you!

How active does a community need to be?

If you find a community has not been active in about two/three months, send me a message and I'll take a look at it. Communities have ebbs and flows, especially event spaces that may take hiatuses depending on member interest/life events. I'm not strict in my implementation provided a space isn't dead. If a link or anything is broken, absolutely contact me about that.

I have [insert a question not stated here]?

No drama! Send me an ask or use the #Compendium channel in my Discord!

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

The post you had earlier about how quickly new technology has come in recently years is amazing and just puts things into perspective. Each decade will in fact look quite different as to what would be available. Stuff just 10 years ago can already be dated. I have a sci-fi story set in my own universe in which the story spans multiple decades. How do I create a similar advancement througout the decades? In fact, in thinking of other fictions that span decades or more - I don't really see such advancement. Some, yes, but nothing that appears and they always keep certain things 'retro' anyway. Not sure if it matters from this viewpoint but I can watch/read something, I don't find it easy to pinpoint its decade within the story just by tech cues. Whereas anything set in the last century, I generally absolutely can identify when its supposed to be. Especially if it's say... surrounding tech and not tech directly at the forefront of the story. Feels like there is something that I am missing that I could insert into my story that will explicitly date the events by its tech. Perhaps that's quite a pedantic point that most people don't really focus on, but I think it definitely would make things stand out and feel like it's an innovative society that makes advancements over the years.

Addy: I feel like there are two major possibilities for sci-fi: continued rapid development or a sort of slowed not-quite-a-plateau. In the second one, you'd see things like our developments with phones, but at a slower pace. Phones came out a while back, but they've been getting smaller (and then larger) with more features. Now they're basically mini-tablets with cell data. On another track, airplanes have certain limitations due to efficiency and interactions with air currents (flying too fast drives up your fuel consumption *rapidly*), and we also still use the SR-71 Blackbird, which came out in the 60s. Our ability to model things and develop things has improved massively, but the SR-71 still works really really well. It gets the job done and, more importantly, we already have it. Our world is a mixture of tried-and-true classics and new developments.

For sci-fi, I'd say a lot of it depends on where they turn their attention to. Can't get new developments in brightly-colored concrete if nobody's pursuing it, after all.... and a lot of that comes down to trends. Look at home development trends - the 2000s had a lot of heavy wood and whatnot, and then it swung into minimalism, and now it's slowly emerging from greige-land (gray+beige) into "some colors, but not too many (yet)." Call it around 15-20 years for a housing style to change. If you walk into a house with 70s decor, you can just tell. The style/era has characteristic features. The whole reason we have so many developments in phones is because people are interested in phones. If nobody cared, nothing would happen.

So what are people prioritizing for research, and how does that affect new developments? New methods of wood engineering, growing organs in labs (maybe there's a breakthrough that massively reduces the cost or reduces the rejection rate), vibrantly colored steel (not currently possible, to my knowledge, and I'm the steel person here), or something with temperature-sensitive plants to act as "natural" thermometers.

People want to develop and grow, it's just a matter of what we develop and when. What's the style of your era? What's the trend? How does that affect industrial research? Or, on the flip side, a new development could launch off a trend. Say you can make color-changing paint - that's going to launch a whole thing of people doing highly customizable rooms with whatever accent walls you want. And for why it doesn't take over and last forever... maybe it becomes kinda tacky after a few years. People might use color-changing paint while deciding what colors to use, but then go get proper paint for the "real thing" because color-changing paint just feels tacky and kinda outdated. Maybe it flakes off easily or is easily removable, or maybe it's super hard to remove. Either could make it feel troublesome to the layperson.

Maybe there have been some difficulties with growing most crops in lunar soil (which is basically rocks with no microbiome), and someone went "hey, if we add this chemical, that'd allow for better water penetration, which would allow for more plant variety" so now you've got a more varied diet instead of subsisting off of 2-3 plants.

One example of IRL research is someone whose project was to look at the amount of white on the wings of monarch butterflies before the migration and after the migration (seeing which butterflies survived to reproduce during that). They found that butterflies with more dappled edges did better, and that may be due to microcurrents at the edges of their wings kinda breaking up the wind. How that ties into the colors? Well, black absorbs heat and white reflects it, and that heat difference causes pressure differences that cause tiny tiny currents. That's the current theory, anyway, it's still being looked into.

People had looked into color differences a little bit, but hadn't really gotten into it properly. Maybe your world(s) didn't really think about it from that angle, and so after a certain year, all atmospheric vehicles with wings have characteristic dappled edges. Maybe those dapples change with time, like how the camouflage on military uniforms is more pixelated now to confuse cameras moreso than people. Maybe you see it on kites for children as well, or on drones or rotors or whatever else. Is the payoff worth it? Maybe not, but it's sci-fi. Why not?

For sci-fi fiction, I think that many franchises want it to appear sort of timeless, where everything kinda has the same general "sci-fi aesthetic" look to it. From that perspective, changes don't matter as much. I will say that Star Trek does have some of their aspects change over time (like more developed communicators and phasers, better EVO outfits, etc - compare Enterprise, TOS, and TNG, for example), though more slowly than in our modern day. The shapes of ships, the tools they use, etc.

[asksythe]

MXTX Interview with Risa Wataya for Subaru Magazine P.8 (Final)

Future Plans

Risa: Are you perhaps working on a novel? 

Moxiang: I have not a few works in progress, but because my creative process is slow, for the foreseeable future, no work has taken proper form. 

Risa: If you can write freely without worrying about reader's reception, what kind of story will you write? 

Moxiang: Personally, I enjoy and pride myself in being able to satisfy myself and my readers at the same time. Therefore, I never thought about disregarding my reader's reception. I really have not thought through something like this before, so I would like not to answer this question. 

Risa: What have you been doing recently? 

Moxiang: Recently, I'm into playing with slime. On my days off, I also want to play slime with my friends, or I think: "What do I eat today?" That sort of stuff. 

Risa: So cute. Ms. Moxiang, even though you are so busy, you still reserve time to sit down and talk to us. Such a wonderful opportunity. Thank you! Lastly, other than the stories that you are working on, is there anything you would like to tell your Japanese readers? 

Moxiang: Dear Japanese readers, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. No matter if it is today or in the past, when I think about how my work has been translated into Japanese and read in Japan, I always feel an indescribable emotion in my heart. I am so, so happy. 

Furthermore, regarding my newest work, "Tian Guan Ci Fu," I must apologize to all of you. Also, "Mo Dao Zu Shi" that we just talked about as well. Originally, there were no scenes where Lan Wangji visited the Burial Mound and the kiss on Bai Feng Mt. (Mount Hundred Phoenixes). These scenes were added on in the extra 50 thousand words edit in the new edition. But at the moment, the 'Tian Guan Ci Fu' that Japanese readers have is the old edition without the additional contents. For the foreseeable future, it will only be this old edition. I don't know when the new edition will be ready or if there will be any further changes. I profusely apologize for this.    

Risa: We will work on this new edit with utmost seriousness. 

Moxiang: That's right. We will treat it with the highest level of care. 

Risa: Kuohao-san, please say something to the audience waiting for the third season of the audio drama. 

Kuohao: The third season is progressing very nicely in both story and the Wangxian romance. It will certainly be very exciting. Many details will be gradually revealed, and there will be countless famous scenes between Wangxian! Please listen to it! 

Risa: Thank you both of you for today. I hope there will be future opportunities like this. 

Moxiang: To be honest, this is my first official interview. I am better at writing than speaking. I'm a little clumsy with my words. Today I was so very nervous. Thank you, Ms. Risa, for following and recommending "Mo Dao Zu Shi." Ms. Risa's Mandarin is excellent! I look forward to future opportunities to sit down and talk. Furthermore, I hope I will have more opportunities to connect with my international readers.  

-From Sichuan Province, China, November 28th, 2022-

Translator’s Note: with this done, I will take my time to reorganize all 8 parts of this translation into a single file, proofread, and edit it. My plan is to host this one file on a platform that can be easily stored and shared among the community. So probably Google Drive. I will post the raw Mandarin transcript of the interview too, for people who can read Mandarin to read it directly. 

I’m thinking whether I should put it on other platforms too, for safekeeping, because digital things can disappear randomly. I’m not sure where though. Tumblr and twitter are hardly suitable for archival purposes. AO3 maybe? If you have suggestions or advice, I would be very happy to hear them. 

Translator’s Note 2: recently I was told that my sharing this translated interview might be illegal and will negatively impact the fandom and make reprints of the magazine harder, that it will negatively impact fan etiquette. I concur this is a potential issue. So I would like to take a minute to clarify a few things. 

1/ This interview was conducted in Mandarin and then translated into Japanese by Subaru and printed for their May-June 2023 edition. This edition is now being scalped on Japanese web for 7-10 times its original price. 

2/ I originally got a single scanned page of the magazine (Japanese) and translated it with the help of my husband. I was waiting for further scans, but luckily, the actual translator (Mandarin to Chinese) working for Subaru posted the entire Mandarin transcript on weibo. Subsequent parts of this translation was made based entirely on this transcript. As my Mandarin skill is much better than my Japanese skill, this is reflected in the quality of the translation from part 4 onwards (something I intend to fix in the edit). 

So we have a situation where: the magazine is in Japanese and sold to Japanese fans. The Mandarin transcript is posted publicly on weibo to Chinese audience (although that might change at any moment). I am Vietnamese, living and working in Vietnam, translating from Japanese / Mandarin to English for an international fandom (my husband is American citizen working for Saudi Arabia... if that’s relevant to the issue). 

I am not a lawyer, so I don’t know how copyright laws apply here, or even if it applies at all. Again, if anyone has advice, suggestion, concerns, I would be open to hearing them.  

I did intentionally add in footnotes explaining lingual concepts and cultural, philosophical references, to potentially lean on Fair Use (if it applies). 

That said, I don’t want to negatively impact MXTX, so if I receive official request, I will take this translation down. 

Regarding potential fan etiquette, I don’t really participate in the international fandom, but I do know fandom politics can be difficult to navigate. It’s not really my place to gatekeep any body. As far as I’m concerned, if the story brings you joy, then that’s a good thing by itself already. 

So, I would like to ask anyone who read this translation to please keep this in mind. Fan translation is a gray area issue. Whatever you feel, please consider the wellbeing of the fandom itself, and to not potentially negatively impact Ms. Moxiang. If there’s anything you don’t like in this translation, please just chalk it up as my translating skill not being up to snuff. 

Sincerely,

NPD Khanh 

[sarahlizziewrites]

Re: Historical accuracy in fiction

Tl;dr: it is not your job as a fiction author to provide complete historical accuracy. It is your job to evoke a time period and communicate it. Don't get bogged down in research unless you really want to.

First of all, this is my disclaimer: I am talking about the kind of things I like to read and write. I am speaking as a historical fiction fan, author and lover of history. This is my personal taste.

Perfect historical accuracy in fiction is massively overrated. In the past have gotten stuck on writing historical fiction pieces because I felt I needed to research more. This killed my story. The piece of art that could have been amazing sat languishing on a hard drive forever.

I do not think historical fiction needs to be stunningly accurate. In fact, it's easy to see when an author has clearly over-researched their book: it reads like a history text that talks about topics your average person would have never even thought about.

Example:

What an author I read recently thought a 1st century Roman citizen would think about: Ah yes, I remember the British campaign like it was yesterday, even though it was ten years ago, in AD 61. Nero was emperor then....etc.

Me, when I think about something that happened 10 years ago: Shit, that was 10 years ago? Wait, was David Cameron PM then?

(And I know how to read and use Google.)

I'm not saying "don't research the time period you are writing in". I'm saying "research the time period you are writing in as much as you feel like doing, then forget most of it when you get in your character's head, except for what might be meaningful for them".

It is not necessarily the purpose of historical fiction to give readers a detailed and realistic version of the time period. All you really need to give them is the vibes that make them feel as though they're in that time.

I just saw a post that explained how Medieval Europeans had access to spices we might usually associate with Indian cuisine. But is that what people would expect to see in a story set in Medieval Europe? No, and you don't get to put in a little "um, actually" author's note explaining every little detail that feels incongruous but is "technically" accurate. It just feels incongruous.

However, am I going to give my Indian character who lives in London in the 1930s access to curry spices? Yes, because he'd look high and low for them and I bet he'd find a good grocer somewhere in London at that time. I haven't researched how realistic that is, and I don't really care. It will still feel in-touch with the setting, and that's all I care about.

Ever since I gave up on perfect historical accuracy, I have written so many more stories in historical settings, and I love the hell out of them. Would a Louisiana jazz band tour in the UK in 1923? Maybe. But I am definitely putting a Louisiana jazz band in my novel set in the UK in 1923 because people want to see jazz in the jazz-age novel! And so do I!

The key thing is, I've only done the level of research that I'm interested in, enough to get me comfortably embedded in the time.

The fiction author's job is to deliver on the promise of the premise. Don't get caught up accidentally writing non-fiction!

You don't have to "put in your research" to write a historical novel. You get to put in as much research as you want to, and you get to disregard the stuff that doesn't spark joy, because it's your story.

I'd love to talk about this more. Historical fiction fans, what's your taste? Have you ever read anything that felt over-researched, or anything that was under-researched to the point of taking you out of the immersion? Let me know.

[cyberphuck]

The Human Voices Project

So I have a very very dear friend who has been blind since birth. They're actually pretty good at being blind-- they have a Masters in Eyeball Science, live independently, and make amazing art (by pressing their face so hard against the drawing surface to see it that they used to get sores on their cheeks!). They have also gone through a lot of shit-- some of it, but not all, due to being a disabled trans person-- and though they have been trying their hardest to keep a smile on their face, they live in a place where they have few in-person friends, accessible social spaces are hard to get to (or don't exist, or cost too much), and sometimes they don't have the energy to go out at all. They use a screen reader to hang out on tumblr and on discord etc, but one time, after a DnD session over voice chat, they told me that it was always so quiet in their apartment after the session was over, and that it was nice to hear real people talking. That stuck with me. Last week I started asking friends and family to record themselves talking-- about anything. My older brother and his wife told funny stories about crazy things they'd done. My friend who loves the circus arts described a particular act that they loved. Dad told a story of his own, and Seb and I recorded ourselves trading banter while he played Mario Kart. People read stories, read poems, described what they saw while on a jog through their neighborhood. A whole bunch of people, just talking, so that my blind friend could listen to a real human voice whenever they wanted-- not a polished podcast, not a sponsored youtube video, but a regular person.

I uploaded this first batch of audio files to a google drive folder and sent it over to my buddy. They loved it! They downloaded all the files to their phone so they could listen whenever they wanted. And I thought, there must be more people who want to tell stories about their lives, or talk about their favorite subject, or read poems that mean something to them.

If you have a way to record a digital audio file (most smartphones and tablets have a native recording app) and would like to participate in the Human Voices Project, you can send an audio file to thehumanvoicesproject (at) gmail [dot] com.

Guidelines: mp3 is the *preferred* format because it'll play on most devices without having to have a special app. If you send me something other than an mp3 I can convert it, but I would appreciate it if you converted it on your own.

most subjects are okay; the only thing that's absolutely a no is talking about or describing guts, innards, or viscera. Try to *avoid* explicitly describing abuse (of anyone, including animals), and if you're reading a story or poem, let me know if it's in the public domain or not so I can make sure to put those in a different folder.

you can introduce yourself if you want but you don't have to.

the recordings I've gotten are usually between 3 and 5 minutes long, but I also recorded myself reading a short story at 20 mins, and a friend talked about not knowing how to swim for 90 seconds, so any length is fine.

Right now the google drive folder containing the audio files is private. I might make it a public thing someday, but as for right now it's still a thing for my friend, to fill up the silence and brighten their day. Thank you so much to the people who've already contributed, and thanks also to all those who'll contribute in the future!

[phoenixrisesoncemore]

Two Interesting CFPs That You Should Totally Check Out

Wanted to pass along information on these two CFPs!

Oxonmoot 2024 virtual paper deadline extended

I am copying below an update I received regarding the CFP for this year’s Oxonmoot:

“The Call for Papers for in-person presentations has closed, however you can still submit a paper to be delivered online via Zoom! We gladly accept papers in just about any time zone, as the programme will continue for our Online delegates even when it is after-hours in the UK.

“The deadline for submitting an online presentation has been extended until midnight UK time on 12 June 2024.

“For more information, see the Information for Participants page. If you have any questions, please reach out to Asli and Elena at chair@oxonmoot.org.”

"If you've never given a presentation before, or are unsure if your desired topic will "fit", may we encourage you to go for it! Whether you are new to Oxonmoot, or were there 3,000 years ago with Elrond, or whether your topic ranges anywhere from deep metaphysics to 1st Age fashion, if you are passionate about it we want to hear from you!"

I also have it on good authority that the organizers are very interested in getting new voices involved and presenting this year. I was told specifically: “If you think you or your topic are "not Oxonmoot enough", you're especially invited to consider it!”

I have presented at Oxonmoot: I gave my paper “Wizard, Demon, Cat; Reformer, Satanist, Bureaucrat: a Diachronic Analysis of Multiple ‘Saurons’ in the Legendarium in Light of ‘The Book of Lost Tales’” last year. It was a great experience with lots of great interaction. The great thing about Oxonmoot is the openness to presenters who run the gamut from knowledgeable fans to long-term scholars and all variations in between.

To submit follow this link (obviously remove the “dot”s): www(dot)tolkiensociety(dot)org/events/oxonmoot-2024/call-for-papers/

Ace/Aro Readings of Tolkien

Two scholar friends have put together the following CFP for a themed issue of the Journal of Tolkien Research, an open access journal focusing on (obviously) Tolkien. Information follows below:

Although Queer studies of Tolkien are becoming more frequent, the exploration of asexual/aromantic relationships and identities is an area that has not attracted nearly so much research, thus far. Our response is to put together this special issue, and we invite folks both to consider submitting their own work, and/or share the CfP with people who might be up for writing something.

Please direct any queries to aspectolkien@gmail.com - we're looking forward to hearing from you!

The full CfP is at this link (replace the “dot”s): drive(dot)google(dot)com/file/d/1NPsynolTD6RQyUjkzyMO4voNJoj-7rfl/view?usp=drive_link

Here is an image of it.

Please share and signal boost!

[theycallmeratt]

12, 14, 17 for fic writer asks! :)

12: trope I'm really into

I did a stupid laugh reading this question. I'm really into the "they asked for no pickles" trope. Heists, I've been trying to figure out how to write one forever and I keep getting paralyzed, but watching heist movies is my comfort. The one where you apply modern technological/programming ideas to fantasy worlds. The sunshine and storm cloud couple.

14. Where do I get inspiration?

1) Daydreaming. Whenever I do anything physical I daydream and a lot of that is "what if this character did this?" Most of them are silly but if I get a scene I like I'll write it and that might turn into something. I try to not dismiss any idea.

2) I get it a lot of inspiration from other people. Shadows of the Lost came from a post about imperialism and the Gerudos' relationship with death/zonai came from a post about lore theories. Flowers was based on a tumblr post about flower language. Arcanus Fisticuffus was from the MMMay posts, Wine, Iron and Other Damnables from a post about enchanted weapons. Stranger Flames have Burned was from a @naughtybg3confessions post. I always try to link my sources in fics!

3) Talking with people, especially joking about things. I feel like I'm always taking my jokes to absurd levels, but in Arcanus Fisticuffus the idea for Liam and Cal to be filling everyone's heads with stories about Rolan came from a bit where they were going to make sure he won (as well as the incoming cobra kai jokes). Honeypot came from a joking demand for a thirst fic. Hornoscopes from joking about horoscopes. Sometimes an individual inspires a fic and I usually gift that fic to them.

4) Going off that, writing absurd stuff and trying to make it work, like when Astarion and Minthara crash a patriar party to make sure Wyll is getting the respect he deserves in Dance, or when I explain the "fade to black" sex scenes at Sharess's Caress... and then involve shovel (Sharess's Mess).

5) Exchanges! I've written a lot for exchanges.

6) Fixing problems I have with the story or finding solutions to things that make me uncomfortable. Like, I don't want to write overly gendered language/insults. That led to my current fic-canon (which I don't remember if it made it into my published fics but if not, I'm going to fix that) where Ganondorf being male doesn't make him the leader; it's that he's Ganondorf, the same guy, reincarnated. And that led to Gerudo having a huge reincarnation culture that lined up nicely with the lore post I linked above.

17) talk about your writing and editing process

I write on my phone, in google drive. I'm not stoked about this set up but it means I can write while waiting in line or on a walk so I do it.

I make a new doc for each fic, put in the prompt or idea I have, and then let it sit until something hooks me. Rarely am I'm writing at this point, but I might be researching or brainstorming. All links, ideas, notes, etc, go into the doc. Everything stays in the doc until I'm finished.

For long fics, I have to break it out once the total work count is around 30k because drive gets wonky. For short fics I do not do all this prep haha

I often make a list of character beliefs, lore, vocab for me to reference. Examples (sorry for the photos of text):

Dialogue patterns:

And body language (or kinks, erogenous zones, etc):

I usually write a few scenes I like first, or a bunch of random lines. Those might not make it into the story, but I'm the kind of person who has to do something to figure it out? I can't think my way through it (or, at least, I haven't tried to build that skill).

I often pick a "voice" scene, which is the scene I read to remember the voice the rest of the story should be written in. If possible, I read that scene before I write new stuff.

I edit as I go, normally. I usually make notes of what I want to add at other points so I don't forget

I also make a timeline:

And I try to note any plot holes, any points where I can put hooks or foreshadowing in, etc.

Once a story is done I go back through the "to add" list and make sure it's in the story, try to patch holes, make sure it matches the timeline, make sure the characters match my notes, etc.

I also break it out into chapters that are about 3000-5000 words long (if it's not already there) and rewrite the endings of each to feel nice.

I write up my fic breakdown (for long fics) and link my resources.

Then I make my partner read it. They do it solely to amuse me/hype me up and they are amazing.

Then I post it! And the moment I post it I notice 5,000 errors.

[hindahoney]

Hey, I hope you have a nice day :)

I am considering converting but I'll take some more time to overthink that. What do you think are some, or many, questions I should ask myself, before deciding?

I saw some people recommend to just go to a rabbi, even if you are not 100% sure, but since there are very little jewish people in my country, and only a handful of conversions a year, I assume it'll be something new for a rabbi too and I don't want to bother anyone.

So, I think this is a good time to address this. This is absolutely not because of this specific anon, but it's something that I get sent asks about on a daily basis.

I am no longer going to be answering questions about conversions. I will answer any other questions or concerns about Judaism, but I'm not giving advice about converting anymore. There's a few reasons for this. Namely because it's too close to proselytizing for me. Even though anons are coming to me to ask questions, I never want to come off like I am advocating for or influencing people to become Jewish.

I have answered the same questions multiple times, and still to this day get the same ones. I tag all of my stuff, so if someone really wanted to know something about conversions they should do the work to just search through my blog for what I have already said. It's not just me, either. Essentially any Jewish blogger has, at one point, had gentiles sending them questions about conversion unprompted. I strongly believe that if you really wanted to learn about Judaism, that if you were sincere and serious about converting, you should at least read up a little online before going to ask basic questions to random Jews online. Not every Jewish person is comfortable with this, not every Jewish person should be expected to be the spokesperson for the tribe.

Every question about conversion can be answered with "Ask your Rabbi." If you have too much anxiety or other obstacles in your way that prevent you from speaking to a Rabbi, you cannot convert, and that's your answer.

By no means does this mean that I don't like or appreciate converts. I've made a lot of posts in support and admiration for those who have completed the process. But at this point almost all of the asks I get are from people asking me basic questions about conversion that 1. I have answered multiple times, and 2. That would take a quick Google search to find the answer for. If you're not willing to put in the work for a Google search, or for a search through my or other bloggers tags about conversion, you do not have the drive to get through the conversion process. Which is fine, it isn't meant for everyone! But expecting a random Jew online to do the legwork for you isn't fair. I've taken many hours (weeks, if you include reading through all of them) compiling sources of books, podcasts, websites, etc all dedicated to learning about Judaism and have posted links to all of them. There are a million books out there for really any question you might have, even free articles from places like Chabad, Sefaria, or myjewishlearning.

If you have specific questions, other than just "advice about converting?" I will gladly answer those, but I will no longer be answering question about conversion resources, how to convert, should I convert, etc.

[sav-not-tav]

Get To Know Me Tag

Whew this was a long one! Thanks for the tag lovely, @darkurgetrash <3 This was fun! I love these games and learning more about my moots and sharing about myself when I wouldn't otherwise!

No pressure tags for: @little-paperboat @seabirdsong @forget-me-maybe Do you make your bed? Nope! Once I manage to peel myself out of that thing, what's left behind isn't my business. (plus I have 2 dogs who would promptly tear it back up, so,)

Favorite Number: I've always liked the number 11. Can't really say why, though!

What's your job? I am in sales, which works shockingly well given that I am pretty introverted IRL

If you could go back to school, would you? No. I was always smart but struggled in school because I had undiagnosed ADHD and was only seen as a problem child and as the weird girl. The lack of support and social issues left a bad taste in my mouth for school. Then, post-high school, I experienced terrible burnout in my first few years at college.

Can you parallel park/drive a manual car? Yes and yes. Cars and motorsports are actually a big passion of mine :)

Do you think aliens are real? Hell yeah! We'd be insane to think we're the only ones here. I kinda subscribe to the Dark Forest theory, though

What's your guilty pleasure? Napping. On the rare weekends that I have free time, there is nothing to stop me from a 6-hour mid-day nap. That and sweets.

Tattoos? I have 4, with plans for a few more. I have more piercings than tattoos at the moment. I just need to find a new artist, eventually... if I ever remember.

Favorite type of music: I have 2, depending on the mood. Metal/Rock or Electronic/House music. Which, these days a lot of metal leans on electronic heavily so it balances 🥰

Do you like puzzles? Yes and no. I really enjoy escape rooms as my ADHD can just go crazy with finding something, getting distracted and finding something else, then putting it all together. The time constraints are the vibe killer there, tbh

Any phobias? Fear of falling, definitely. I don't mind heights themselves if I'm in a secure position, but things like skydiving/ziplining/certain roller coasters do me in.

Favorite childhood sport: I was never into sports as a kid. I've gotten really into motorsports as an adult, though, and feel like if I grew up somewhere that kids motor sporting/karting was more prevalent *cough cough Europe cough cough* I would have been super into that.

Do you talk to yourself? Not really. There's enough going on in my mind 24/7 that the external stimulation might push me over the edge lol

What movie(s) do you adore? When people ask about my 'favorite movie', there are only ever 2 answers. Animated: Pixar's Cars. Live Action: Interstellar. No I will not take questions.

Coffee or tea: Depends. Cold: Coffee, all day. Hot: Tea, green, please.

First thing you wanted to be growing up? An astronaut 🥰

Last song I listened to: tear gas - Architects

Favorite color: Black!

Current obsession: BG3, lol.

Last thing I Googled: The phone # for my local tire shop 😂 Fancy.

Favorite Season: Winter. I love a good cold day.

Skill I'd like to learn: Painting. I actually went to art school for 2 years before suffering from extreme burn out. I was always decent with digital art, but I would love to be able to really, actually, literally paint

Best advice: I genuinely can't share any. Big head no thoughts. Sorry

Currently watching: Catching up on the Fallout show! I'm always very behind on new TV but currently about halfway through it.

Currently reading: A stupidly long list of BG3 fanfics as my "to read" books sit gathering dust on my bookshelf.

Relationship status: Married! Together since 2016 <3

Sweet/Savory/Spicy: Gosh it really depends on the mood, but if I had to choose only one for the rest of my life, SWEET! I have a weakness for baked goods.

[nymph-ette111]

I’m happy to know you enjoy our interactions too and that you liked my little tangent there. I’m glad that you searched for accounts from actual people who have the disorder rather than pseudo-psychologists, because they are often the harshest without a shred of accuracy (just the way they talk about the narcissist’s eyes turning a demonic black is enough to make me exit the article).

To be fair, Quora is one of the worst places when it comes to accepting people with npd. So I’m glad you managed to find something that didn’t conclude in a pro-eugenics rant lead by a divorced dad who is certain his ex wife is a narcissist because she took the kids. And since I chose my first paper this school year to be about npd and gender (we could write about anything, it was to test our abilities in general), I had to go through a ton of those. They ranged from absolutely hilarious to restraining order worthy. Thankfully Google Scholar saved me from that (though I would never suggest reading studies upon studies on a topic for x reader headcanons, I’m only saying this to sort of validate where my understanding of it came from). Since, yk, it’s a relatively fresh thing (recognised since the 80s I believe) and the fact that I had a therapist who diagnosed me correctly and knew how to approach it is pure luck

Also just any dog metaphor is delightful but it fits so well with Toby too?? Like, it just feels so right when people do that. And I can genuinely see Jeff having some npd traits, good call^^

Ben is just so!!! He’s awful in the best way. I want to kiss him and also put him in a blender for fun :3 i want to drive him insane. And also hold hands maybe. Like, yeah, realistically I would lose my sanity if he liked me but he’s so fun

Also yeah, that’s why I like your blog so much. You don’t shy away from making them hard to be around, hurt, mean. All kinds of messed up but also fun to read about. That’s why I also said that they would probably have an easy time with hurting me mentally, bc if they were aware of just how paranoid I am they would absolutely do what I did in that friend example, only 10 times worse (like, specifically saying stuff they know gets a reaction out of me to force me to stay or do whatever). In all honesty, this might be just why I like creepypasta characters (especially this specific portrayal of them). I mean, it does fit into that type of ‚pleople may be nice but they are out to get you at all times so you need to act to survive’. It’s kind of a safe way to experience something that is both natural to me and also absolutely unsafe irl. Like, yeah, I would have to walk on eggshells to be with Toby but also that is the way I see any sort of relationship either way. Sometimes, I’m more uncomfortable with the pure fluff bc that feels fake and unnatural. On that note, Toby to me is so untreated-bpd coded

-⭐︎

Agreed Ben is so fucking stupid I want to gnaw on him and push him down the stairs, what a silly fella. You don't know how happy it made me when you said you liked my blog :') when I shared my first post I thought it wouldn't get any attention, and I would just end up deleting the blog all together so hearing someone actually enjoys these little headcanons I make about fictional serial killers is so nice <3

you said everything so perfectly I have nothing to add, and yes toby is fucking miserable any disorder he has is 100% untreated and yes I love him and yes I want him and—