#im writing this au mostly this is like the end goal..

[ditzyblues]

them cowboys out on the field are up to somethin strange and beautiful!!?1

heyyy guys. cowboy capril au. who cheeeereeddddd... crickets. Jk i love this au i've been working on it since like august and tbis is my vision board.. gotta know what i'm working for.. Let me know if u wanna see more!!

[couch-house]

2023 baybeeeee. havent done an art summary in a while since i basically stopped drawing early 2020 and didn't get back on the horse until mid-2022 (i wonder... what could have caused that!) i dont feel like my art has really changed this year, only in the ways that I draw specific sonic characters (looking through my archive is fun bc i can see the progression of the diseases known as Giving Them Big Eyebrows and Drawing The Monoeye) and--more exciting 4 me--my practice with paneling comics! :)

i think the progression is much more noticeably when you line it up with last year's sonic art... i can see all the Milestones.. more talking abt that under the cut

May: couch gets into sonic. June: Yucky Sonic 1.0. this was also the month when i Heard Of fleetway super. July: couch comes back from brazil, having read stc. this is also when i start dong actual short comics. compare may -> june -> july. (also please forgive whatever tf i was doing with skintones. i needed some practice)

august: merger au takes shape. dog invented. also i just really like that speed racer sonic mspaint picture. its fun :) september: deep in the fleet mines. october: i lose a lot of steam and mostly just doodle. another comic comparison for those three months:

november: frontiers comes out. i go crazy mode and make that sonic + knuckles comic with the pretty backgrounds and LOTS OF TINY TEXT. december: winter break AND im tired. january 2023 i come back insane crazy mode and write some fanfiction?? still havent finished that LOL. made some nice cover art :) february: i shift into knuckles mode fora month. make another comic. this one is much better i think :) november -> february

march: i shift into transfem metal sonic mode. also just stick to a lot of doodling. also write more fanfiction. crazy. april: transitory period as i shift back into stc/exit: sonic mode. may: more fanfiction. more comics. i really like how both of these turned out :) while the last two were definitely taking a lot more notes from stc, i think around here i start paying attention to and trying to learn from more creative panelling from artists i admire. like @/superemeralds THOAM and @/starrjoy's pandora au.

june: i play sa2 and it's good. july: i play unleashed and it is both miserable and good. i get in kind of an artistic frustration zone and wiggle my way out. august: idk i think im just chillin. super react dot jpeg happens. it's not even named that, it's named after the other image on the canvas, which was maria holding baby shadow. more comics.

september: i burn out for a bit. get real tired. eventually get back up and make more comics. the goal here and last month has become "try to make more interesting panel shapes. I've noticed other artists don't just use rectangles--try playing with irregular polygons and see where it gets you." well it gets you mixed results as you learn :) also i think after that pause i accept the monoeye into my life. sigh...

october: oc showdown starts and @/neurotypical-sonic asks me to make some halloweeny art :) feels like i dont do much this month bc i focus on those. november: A LOT OF ART?? INSANE. more oc showdown stuff. i play shadow the hedgehog (2005). it's good and i love it. i draw a ton of shit on one canvas for it. Fucking Dember: i have shifted back into stc/EXIT mode. motivation's a little weird bc work's a little weird. doing commissions also makes it weird. well im having fun and being myself :) a final handful of comics from this month:

idk maybe ill do something sicko crazy b4 the end of the year. mayb i'll follow exit sonic's example and #GetWorse. who knows :) well this is fun i love looking at my art and seeing and noticing things. thank u all for your support and I hope we all have a great 2024!

[thecruellestmonth]

Cass & Jason fic recs

Some of the best fan-created works featuring heated squabbles and/or unlikely family bonding between Cassandra Cain and Jason Todd.

"the patron saint of the lost causes" by evanescent - Grabbing Jason’s wrist just right and putting a necessary amount of pressure on it, Cassandra says, “You’re good. I’m better.” And that’s how she ends up pinning her brother down behind a dumpster. So much for making a good first impression. // Pre-Flashpoint AU based on canon what-if Lady Shiva was not only Cassandra's biological mother, but Jason's, too. ["One Year Later" fix-it for Cass and Jason.]

"the sound, the silence" by evanescent - Cass and her brothers. Character study, relationship study.

"Movie Magic" by Telperien - Jason is an utter bitch, and Cass hates his guts. That's it, there's no fluff, their relationship doesn't improve. But they do team up, because they're family.

"Sister's Blues" by ShariDeschain - Cass decides she is Jason's self-appointed protector and big sister, and she isn't taking no for an answer.

"got her guns out" by marquis - Cass spars with all her siblings. It's nice! Mostly. Except for the rampant cheating.

"Neighbours" by Aingeal98 - Bruce and Shiva are rival PTA parents, Cass seeks to become the world's greatest crime-fighting hero while rising to the challenges of junior high school, and Jason is her adorable little civilian friend. Unexpectedly, some of the best Shiva writing I've had the pleasure to randomly encounter. Work in progress.

"The Priority" by CastleGachi - Cass is self-sacrificing to a fault; also she wants a milkshake. Some Cass whump.

Red Blood, Blue Blood by Telperien - Jason and his mother discover his biological father is Bruce Wayne, who has three other biological children. Cass (age 10) was raised from birth by Bruce, but she still keeps her unhinged determination to put 100% effort into all that she does—from solving the mystery of Bruce's secret nightlife, to seizing the title of Jason's favorite sibling. Work in progress, contains some Tim-bashing on the side.

"Someone That Hates To See Me Go" by AutumnHobbit - Jason bonds with his family. Cass crashes at Jay's place after her foot is dislocated in the field, and she eats his food.

🦇 "Within These Toxic Waters" by Gray_Skies_Rising - Cassandra and Jason are both too alike and too different in all the places where it matters. Enemies to frenemies/siblings, dark!Batfamily AU, Cass and Jason both deal with Lazarus Pit side effects.

🦇 "that's the thing about anger (it begs to stick around)" by nashequilibrium - On one hot August night, months after the death of Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain has one goal; nobody in Gotham City dies tonight. Her resurrected asshole brother has things to say to her about that. Cass and Jason play shoulder angel and shoulder devil. No fluff or healing to make things better, they hate each other and today they're even worse. <3

[bougonia]

a drawing for a batman au i've been playing with lately :)

au details under the cut

apologies this is gonna be long. i wrote out an outline and it features 6 arcs plus a prologue and epilogue... if i ever were to actually write the story (unlikely) it'd probably be well over 100k

ok so i call it the stolen tires au and essentially what it is a canon divergence au (y'know, for a certain degree of canon). the divergence point is that jason gets away with two of the batmobile tires, and he never is found by batman or becomes robin.

he does, however, eventually end up living on crystal and stephanie brown's couch. so he's kind of an older brother figure to steph. he does henching for various gotham rogues/criminals to get money to help out with bills and stuff.

eventually, he comes across tim during his stalker era (although he's just following batman, since there's no robin) and ends up befriending him, and then he introduces tim to stephanie and they get on like a house on fire.

eventually steph still takes on the mantle of spoiler to foil her dad's plans, which catches the attention of batman and then steph ends up becoming robin #2 in this universe.

and then a bunch of character dynamic stuff happens (happy to elaborate if anyone's interested *cough*please*cough*) and cassandra comes into the picture and has to start healing from her own issues.

and then the joker kills steph

so everyone like. falls apart. which is fun! steph's mom dies from her addiction. bruce is not coping (similar to canon with jason). tim throws himself into taking on the mantle of robin to carry on her legacy and the whole batman needs robin thing. jason, who only found out that steph was robin after she died, takes the opposite route and goes all scorched earth and becomes the red hood with the goal of killing batman and joker (fewer resources and different plan than canon but yeah). cass completely shuts down.

eventually somebody convinces everyone that hey, this isn't working and we gotta start like actually dealing with our grief. none of this is gonna bring steph back.

...so then steph comes back. thanks talia!

taking back up the mantle of spoiler, she goes on a rampage to avenge her mom and kills pharmaceutical execs and drug dealers... mostly. she's not too pleased with batman and robin either. she gets a woman unhinged arc! as she deserves! that's when this piece is set :)

there's definitely a happy ending afterwards. i wish i could just beam it from my brain into writing

(dick is also there and has his own role in this but this was long enough as is lol. but again. if anyone read this far and wants to know more. please do not hesitate to send an ask or dm im dying to talk about this.)

[bluiex]

In my demon lore these are different demons. Each one is under a deadly sin category. Imps are kid demons.

Scar and Cub are Lust and Greed princes. They work under the King of Lust. And they are also pure blood demons. (Demons who were born in Hell)

Grian; once Scar eats his humanity and soul, I’d a half blood demon. More noble based as he was turned by a prince. Thus higher standing than once turned by a common demon.

Not much is different between pure and half other than range of powers and looks. Pure blood demons are more monster looking. Half blood demons look more human.

Souls come in 4 forms: Pure, Shiny, Smudged, Tainted.

Pure souls are newly made ones. They have never been reincarnated once and are brand new tot he works.

Shiny souls are good souls that have been reincarnated a few times. Still rare to find though.

Smudged souls are souls that have sinned a bit in life. Making their glow more of a gray color.

Tainted souls are evil ones that are fully engulfed by their sin. Demons mostly eat these, but prefer to eat ones that tainted themselves.

Most demons prefer to eat souls they corrupted and not ones that were already corrupted. To tempt a shiny soul into sinning and darkening it’s edges is the most sweetest food they can have.

Eating the soul is the end goal. For Scar though, until Grian dies, he feeds on the others Lust and pleasure like an energy vampire. The more Grian sins to the Sin of Lust, the better Scar eats. (For Cub it’s when his vessel or contractor sins mostly for Greed.)

Normally demons just eat the soul and maybe make them into a servant or something. Rarely do they also devour their humanity to make them a demon. Grian just is a special case that Scar had to give him more than jsut a lowly servant job. Grian belongs on his lap worshiping his prince. Dressed in only the finest.

Most do get tortured by their demon, Scar doesn’t do so often mostly only to those who were truest evil. He won’t turn down a meal but does judge your actions. (IE Scar making a deal with a r*pist. He hates them, but won’t turn down an idiot giving him a free meal and will torture them later.)

He’s made deals with Prostitutes and normally they just end up as maids/servants or succubi/incubi that work for him.

Scar’s true demon form is rather scary, more alien monster looking in Grian’s opinion (why is he getting a boner?).

Normally Scar just stays in a half human half demon form. Scary but not to the point someone mistakes him for Lovecraftian horror. Lol.

Needless to say when Scar saw Grian’s soul he was salivating. Grian is a pure soul, a new soul in the world, and Scar gets the pleasure of tainting him. He’d be an idiot to pass up this sweet and precious opportunity,

Also yes, Demons can eat human flesh, but souls taste much better. Flesh is just fun to eat.

YESSS DEMONDS CONNECTED TO THE SINS JAde i love your ideas so much- please *lays down* give me your creativity to write out all my things in my head

Grian's a monster fucker in this AU heheheh Im obbessessing with demon Scar just being so greedy with Grians soul and just getting the best of thrills tainting it

[lilac-udon]

mythical AU whenever I think about Sunflower, aside from the romance, it is mostly about how angry/crazy they are with each other (? arguing about the meaning of life stuff. Whenever I think about Basil, he's either all bloody or manic, Sunny is mostly overwhelmed, depressed, or lovesick Yes, Basil deep down is not in love, I do say he may not be able to distinguish anything. He believed in love and acted by the love he imagined. So, my take on him is that he's just doing "things" repeatedly. This is why Basil's is more chaotic than Sunny's, lacking purpose. He thinks he doesn't belong anywhere, and that's probably exactly the case. He is too tired to think so he relies on other emotions as his emotions and if they are happy he is happy which is a lie but he can only live like this

On the other hand, sunny is more normal. The setting of a vampire is naturally romantic. Perhaps this is the instinct to connect with others. I wanted him to be very sensitive and have a kind soul, which is bothered by the nature of vampires. Same as the og , he is angry with himself, and Basil lets him put his rage on Basil. Which made him super conflicted. And for more guilty and hypocritical to love basil of their power imbalance. Basil's goal find comfort in himself in the worst way in a sunny mind. and I don't know how to write romance, but this is some stuff I thought about oh, as crazy as Basil and Sunny are they kept all the stuff away from Kel, and the whole group kind of views him as the baby. Also, according to his lifespan, he probably has the shortest, they imagine he probably won't understand

Kel, he got mad at Sunny after the secret eventually got out. Dissapponit in both sunny and basil, spending almost 50 years together, and they treat him like that ,all six of them have weird life philosophies, perspectives in life, and Kel is probably the healthiest and most normal view. I don't want to be human mythical lifespan race topic analogy, so yep im lazy but I do have a base for most of them. The point is that Kel cannot be mad at Sunny. He told Sunny to promise him to take care of Basil, and he needed to look after Aubrey. This is the dividing point between the good and bad endings of Sunny's death or not.

[dufrau]

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @lesbianlotties 🍻thanks bud!

1. How many works do you have on ao3? 27

2. What’s your total ao3 word count? 199,090. If only I could have padded that last thing out another 1000 words i would have hit my year end goal of 200k 😭 now i just absolutely have to post at least one thing this month thats all 🤷

3. What fandoms do you write for? just ronance

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Red & White & Blue & Gold - 715

Exile - 670

Entirely On Purpose and According To Plan - 580

Nothing But The Whole Wide World - 578

I Wish I Was The Moon - 469

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes! If I have ever not responded to your comment I promise it was an accident I try to respond to all of them always because I love them so much.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I'm gonna go with One Too Many Mornings (and A Thousand Miles Behind) even though theres one thats definitely SADDER but I feel like this one is specifically ANGSTIER.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Honestly contrary to what many would have you believe, most of what i write has a happy ending! I guess Entirely On Purpose, maybe? That one just feels good at the end.

8. Do you get hate on fic? Not to my face!

9. Do you write smut? Yeah. I love it and I hate it. It's the hardest thing to write for me but also for some reason the thing I tend to fall back on when Im having trouble writing other things.

10. Do you write crossovers? Not so far. Ive written an AU but its not actually a crossover, really?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of 🤞

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Also not that I know of

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No. I think conceptually this could be fun if we had a good premise, each writing one POV. But I would only try it with like a very small handful of people who first of all I vibe with but second of all who I would trust to actually write their part.

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship? I mean. Ronance.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but probably won’t? I think I'll finish all of my WIPs. I don't have a lot and they're mostly gonna wind up being short so it's just a matter of doing it 🤷

16. What are your writing strengths? Hoo boy. Dialogue, I think? And like atmosphere, setting the scene, establishing a sense of place kind of stuff?

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Plot. And run-on sentences.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? If it makes sense it's fine. But I think a lot of people think it makes sense when it doesn't actually make sense? Basically if a character doesn't switch between languages often in canon it feels weird to have them do it in fic, in my opinion. It's like making up nicknames that dont exist in canon, it just pulls me out of the story.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Glee 🙃 But all evidence of that has been erased.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? My Piece of Land no doubt about it. i am so proud of it i will be bragging about it on my deathbed.

you're tagged if you want to be tagged, i will not gatekeep bragging about your fics! if you want to please do it!

[spaceyflowerswriting]

Heyy I'm the anon who requested for Jinho!

I read the reply really late sorryyy :(( and yes i did mean a oneshot sorry for my poor choice of words :'(

Looking forward to what you'll be writing! <3

perspective (jinho lee x reader)

details: oneshot, gender neutral reader written in 2nd pov, general canon au but if jinho never took that motel job, you and jinho are roommates/friends

warning: themes of existentialism...? jinho and reader have those kinds of "philosophical" conversations !

summary: a conversation leads to jinho feeling like the knot he's had in his mind is slowly beginning to untangle.

a/n: dw, anon, im glad u even came back and replied at all 😭💖 thanks for letting me know, i hope this works for you~ i focused on the last part (the build up of everything) of ur request bc the rest is kinda hard to fit into a oneshot; much apologies T_T

sharing context/og request below:

×

A goal to live for; a reason to make life "meaningful."

Out of everything in Jinho's life, that was what he felt like he was missing. It wasn't suffocating him, but it did make him feel... empty. And, well, he felt empty enough as is, he didn't exactly need the lack of a goal to make him even more emptier. The thing was, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find a satisfactory answer.

Granted, he never asked anyone for their thoughts and only tried to come up with conclusions himself, but he felt like he didn't need to. Aside from believing no one was worthy enough to answer, it was just easy to guess how most people would reply anyway. Something cheesy like, "Work hard and achieve your dreams," is what they would say, probably.

It's not as if that in particular was a bad idea, it just didn't feel like enough for Jinho. Perhaps there was more to his feelings... either way, he couldn't untangle the knot in his mind.

~

Jinho tilted his head at the building he found himself stopping at to observe. It was an animal shelter of some kind. A brand new building, one he figured couldn't have been but a few months old.

Brightly colored posters were plastered around and he ended up walking closer to read them. He had to bend down a bit before he could properly see what was on them. The posters were asking for volunteers to help the staff.

"Should I sign up?" he wondered, holding his chin as he read the details on the paper. It was volunteer work, so the lack of pay felt like a waste but he could potentially earn himself a few reputation points. Not to mention, it would probably look good on his resume. He also had free time on his schedule and was able to make adjustments here and there so perhaps...

As he thought about it, the sound of the building's door opening made him straighten up and look over. To his surprise, he saw his roommate.

"Bye! See you tomorrow!" you called out to someone from in the shelter before the door shut behind you. The next second, you noticed Jinho and jumped a little. "You scared me!"

"Obviously," he quipped, smiling. He pointed at the poster he was just reading. "Are you a volunteer at this place?"

You sighed at his quick topic change but went along with it. "Yeah, I just discovered it like a few days ago. I was going to tell you about it since you like animals. I think?"

"How thoughtful." Jinho adjusted the grocery bags in his arm and continued to smile at you. "I was considering it. Is the work easy?"

"Well, you just clean and hang around animals mostly. Sometimes the staff force you to talk to the customers to inform them about the animals, but that's about it. So, yeah, I'd say it's easy."

Jinho hummed at your response. "I'll sign up some other day, then. It's a bit late into the evening now."

"Alright." You eyed his bags and then looked back at him. "Are you heading home?"

"Yes, I just came from a grocery store." Before you could say anything, he added, "I only bought things to make me dinner."

"You asshole," you said with a laugh, lightly slapping his arm.

He politely nodded as if to agree with you. "I'll make it up to you by walking home with you."

"If you make dinner for me with what we already have at home, I'll forgive you then."

"I refuse to cook for you unless I get something out of it."

"This guy..." A few more chuckles left you while you moved to walk alongside your roommate as he began to walk off. "I'll forgive you this time only."

"Okay." He gave you that same blank smile.

You shook your head before settling your hands in the pockets of your pants. "Anyways, now that you know about the animal shelter, I wanna talk about it."

"Okay."

"Could you be any more dry?"

"Gladly."

"You piece of..."

~

Despite the bickering, the conversation eventually carried on into what you intended, and it ended peacefully. When the two of you arrived home, it trailed off into other topics.

Jinho started cooking for himself right away while you slid into a seat at the dining table with a snack of your choice in your hand. The two of you continued to speak while busying yourselves.

"I'm jealous of the simple lifestyle animals have," you suddenly brought up.

Jinho couldn't help but laugh a little. "Talking about the animal shelter again?"

"Kind of, I just meant what I said in general, though. Aren't you jealous, too?"

"I suppose. There is less nuance for animals in their black and white world of kill or be killed. No 'morals' to fight over." He stirred up what was in his pot before glancing at you from the lack of a response. You were currently appearing rather bewildered, as if he said something that wasn't correct.

You cleared your throat. "...I was going to say I'm jealous of animals because they don't have to pay rent or deal with capitalism, but you're absolutely right." While Jinho laughed again, you said, "Being an animal would also be kind of scary, though. Every day I would have to be fighting for my survival."

"Don't you already do that?" Jinho glanced at you again, only to make sure you would see the glint in his eye. "You never know when there's a serial killer nearby, after all~"

The sound you made after what he said sounded like you were faking a shiver. "Generally I feel safe, though. I know humanity can be cruel, but at least I'm not living in a kill or be killed situation."

Jinho continued to stir. Wherever this conversation was going, it was starting to become intriguing. "Does it not bother you that humanity is cruel in the first place?"

"Of course, but that's not all there is to humanity. Kindness and being caring is a big aspect of being human. And I think that outweighs the bad, no matter how terrible things get."

"Is that so..." As Jinho turned off the stove, he mulled over your opinion. "Is that how you define humanity, then?"

"Sure, if you wanna put it like that." You munched on your snack for a bit and then blurted, "Oh, and stuff like creativity. Art, cooking, and all that--that's what makes humans human!" You smiled at at your roommate while he stared emotionlessly at you. He had trouble processing your words and only realized he forgot to reply after your smile started to fade. "You're an art student, so you get what I mean, right?"

"Hm." He tried to give you some kind of smile to compensate for his little reaction while he moved about to grab a bowl and spoon. "I'll just say that's an interesting point of view."

You raised a brow. "Is it? I think it's a pretty common view." You timidly asked, "Do you not think the same?"

Jinho let out a small, airy laugh. "I feel like I'm the only human in this world, but I don't think the way you do at all."

A look of concern grew on your face. "Well... what do you think, then?"

"I don't know. I haven't put much thought on it, and even if I did, there's a knot in my head preventing it. All I know is I feel like a human and everyone else feel like... animals."

"Huh." Your look of concern intensified. "I didn't know you thought like that, Jinho."

"Yes, because I've never told you." You shot him a glare, which only earned you a sly smile. Once he got his things together, he left the now empty pot in the sink and joined you at the dining table with his meal. "I'd still like to hear more about your view on humanity. Outside of what defines being human, what do you imagine is the 'most human' goal to have? What is there to strive for in our short, insignificant lives?"

"Woah, this conversation took a very intense turn," you replied, seemingly trying to lighten the mood. "Wait until 1:00 AM or something to give me an existential crisis."

"Very funny, now will you answer my question?"

He watched in amusement as you thinned your lips and shifted in your seat, clearly looking uncomfortable. Still, you ended up giving him an answer, but not before saying, "I don't know if the feeling you were describing earlier means you feel lonely, but I hope you know I'm here for you. We're roommates, but we're friends, too."

Words Jinho had heard millions of times. At least you seemed more truthful about them. As far as he could tell, you "cared" for him more than other people he's met, and you weren't annoying about it or trying to get something out of him.

Still, he ended up shrugging off your kindness. "Don't worry about it. Tell me what your answer to my question is."

A look of pity flashed in your eyes. "Right, uh... I can't speak for everyone, but personally I don't think we even really need to have goals."

"That's boring." Jinho frowned at your unsatisfying answer. He had been waiting all this time for your reply after the interesting things you said, only for this to be your answer? It didn't help him at all. He should've kept to his original idea about never asking anyone what they lived for.

You seemed mildly offended. "Listen, I'm just saying there's nothing wrong with simply living. We all don't need to be main characters going through six training arcs before achieving our goal of beating some bad guy. I mean, maybe some people do have it like that, and good for them to have something to strive for, but me and some other people are fine with just drifting by."

The frown on Jinho's face firmly stayed there. "Isn't that kind of lifestyle empty? What's the point if there's nothing to push you?"

"This probably sounds crazy, but some people just want to live and enjoy life as it is." Now you were just being sarcastic, yet there was a genuineness in your words. "Besides, I'd argue being unsatisfied and bored with life is what's really empty."

Why did that sound like you were indirectly calling him out? Surprising even to himself, it left Jinho unable to say anything in response.

Your words swirled around in his head, and he ended up deciding to just start eating his dinner. Meanwhile you went back to eating your snack and a silence fell over you two.

Of course, there was more Jinho wanted to say, but he was unsure of how to. He had much more to think about anyway.

~

Weeks had gone by. Things went back to normal after a slight awkward stage. The conversation from then had not been brought up between you two ever since but it stayed in Jinho's consciousness. For too long, if he had to be honest.

Again, he never asked for anyone's thoughts on what they lived for because he didn't think anyone was worthy enough to answer, but the conversation he had with you lead him to asking for your opinion.

Your answer was so strange. Here he was, wandering aimlessly and feeling empty with no direction, and was now being told that was okay. He didn't have to feel empty? He could be content with such a life? It made no sense. Yet you were a living perfect example of what you had described. It was easy for anyone to see how happy you were with your life.

What you thought of humans also fascinated him. Kindness and creativity, those were acts of humanity. He was capable of both, was that what made him human? You were capable of both as well. And his classmates. And the neighbors. And even the lady at the grocery store. But how come your kindness felt so different from his? Because he knew he only acted kind to get what he wanted while you acted kind just for the sake of it? Were you... more human than him?

Curiosity is all he felt. He wanted to understand--he had to understand why you were able to live and think the way you did. Anything but his boring life would be better.

"Who would've thought a simple conversation with some roommate would have me rethinking my entire life?"

It felt ridiculous to him, but he couldn't deny feeling somewhat thankful. The threads in his head were being gently tugged on after all. It could potentially lead to the knot being untangled.

Perhaps the simple insight you gave him that day were the words he had needed to hear to all his life.

[babydarkstar]

You write? :3

yes i do 😳 above everything else i consider myself a writer. it’s a fundamental part of me—words are what i’m good at, and like an illustrator can create wonderful worlds with lines and color, i strive to do the same with words.

i can remember before i even learned to read i was 4 years old and had stories i wanted to tell. i was 12-14 and i blackened journals with poetry and prose, things i would look back on now and think ‘omg cringe’ but in the moment that was my flow and i’ll never judge myself for that. any sort of creative writing project in school was a guaranteed 100 for me, because i took on the assignment like it was my mission from god. when i was 14/15 my best friend was always the one i would send any original writing/stories to bc she would always hype me up and help me talk through my ideas. i owe a lot of my perseverance to her, because she gave me the encouragement i needed to keep pushing myself to get better and better. i have original characters and stories that i started/worked on when i was 14-18, as well as a lot of stream of consciousness poetry and a few other abstract ocs that i wrote when i was 18-20 and going thru crazy shit w friends and almost-never-quite-lovers. i started this blog when i was 16 and mainly used it as a fandom blog to write star wars fanfiction, and i wouldnt say i established any sort of foothold as a fan content creator, but i published a lot of stuff here and on ao3, ao3 who is my wife and my beloved angel forever and ever til (hopefully only my) death do us part. long live, amen. my inspiration to write ebbs and flows so i don’t push it when it isn’t working for me. for like a year i created content for pedro pascal’s cinematic universe of characters™ when i got super into the mandalorian, but then my interest for it faded. i also started doing drugs again which always hinders my writing and that’s actually a huge reason why i’m sober now, and a huge motivation to stay sober. then i somehow went through an mlp phase like an insane person, and im still working on a collaborative project for rarijack (bless) w an artist who i met via that fandom. the lesbian/sapphic/wlw content creators in mlp fandom on tumblr are actually epic tho they are few and far between. quite a few hidden gems, but v hidden bc there are so many creators and not everyone gets the attention they deserve. mlp didn’t spark my desire to create fan content/fic quite like the locked tomb tho, which is my current obsession and also permanently altered my brain chemistry like nothing i’ve ever read before and oh my god in like 3ish months ive literally written probably upwards of 80k words of a modern/college au that i’m still working the kinks out of. and it is. mostly smut because i saw these lesbians and i was like yall deserve to kiss and have narsty (meaningful) dyke sex and also hold each other for 17hours straight and not have to deal with so much shit. but then again i also am putting them through their own trials and tribulations in the au. so. yknow. some characters beg to be traumatized. it’s a character study, among other things. lmao. but yeah i havent posted anything for tlt yet bc one im just a little bit scared of the fandom on here and also ive set myself with this goal that i want to FINISH a story and publish it bc i always end up posting my stuff without finishing and when i read fic i like it to have a promise of an ending, so i also want to emulate that as a writer, even just on a personal level of wanting to say i’m capable of starting and finishing something meaningful like that. i also havent ever posted original work/poetry (maybe some poetry i cant remember) bc it’s. idk more near and dear to me than fanfiction, and i consider everything i write very near and dear, so i guard the og stuff w my life lmao.

damn. sorry for the life story but. it really is just a fundamental part of who i am. i’m in the process of becoming a kindergarten teacher and one thing i’ve always wanted to do was to learn how to create stories that are relevant for my students. i’ve also always wanted to create a children’s book; one of my lovely coworkers has a degree in studio art and she’s dreamt of being an illustrator for a children’s book, so i’ve been seriously considering doing that with her at some point in the future, once my life is more settled and i’m able to focus on it and give it the attention it needs <3 thanks for your curiosity hehehe

[jack-kellys]

The SOC au for the headcanon thing? Bc I will never get enough of soc AND newsies - @roideny

SOC MY BELOVED... im going to nycc and their panel is gonna be, of course, the day i can't go. robbed fr

send me an au (mine or an idea u have) and i'll give you some headcanons!

so if yall dont know i made this post a while ago and the concept is a bit too much of a novel for me to write fr so it just. lives on mentally and brain-rottingly

so i'll give something for everyone!

jack does have a "jordie" in this; he has a brother he lost when he first came to manhattan, and that brother was kid blink <3 in the book kaz is the younger brother and that makes sense for him, but older brother jack will never leave me soul so he's blink's older brother. same stuff happens, the boys are swindled at a young age by an asshole club owner (in this au its snyder is pekka rollins >:)), are left with nothing, blink gets sick and dies :(

manhattan is obv kerch in this (each of NYC's boroughs serve as like. kerch/novi zem/ravka/etc), but manhattan was jack's "santa fe" idea so once he got there and it wasn't what he pictured he had to find a way to swindle his situation into a lifestyle he could fit himself into and rule over enough so so nothing like what happened to him as a kid could ever happen again.

(also, smaller point, but as kaz is adverse to skin/touch bc of jordie's sickness and all the gross bodies on the funeral barge, jack is extremely afraid of water, drowning, all that!)

davey is just so interesting as a character in general bc he is a leader who is not really allowed to lead, like he has the right characteristics to be a leader but jack fills that role. and the same goes for inej!! which is who i modeled davey after.

dont worry everyone! davey is brown.

jack is also brown but you'd have to be STUPID. stupid. not to know that

but yeah so inej's end goal of wanting to be a captain is something i am gonna give to davey, mostly bc he just. he aligns so much with inej like guys if you've read the book just think abt it. but it'd let him be a leader in the exact terms he desires, of the people he wants to trust and lead, and for the exact causes he believes in (which can't be said about jack.)... and also yeahhh bc jack's afraid of water so what davey wants is too much for jack but he's willing to try and conquer it bc he loves <3 him <3 :(

in this davey makes all his gear, which isn't true for inej. i think him making his own tools of destruction, especially since it takes a lot of work, is a form of penance for what he's going to use them for (kill and maim and stab!)

RACETRACK HIGGINS BEST CHARACTER. this is where like race gets his redemption arc bc i never write him

for jesper he like. he Thinks he can talk his way into things but often gets into a shenanigan. but i think race actually Can talk his way into stuff.. but can talk his way into both good stuff And bad stuff bc his vices don't stop at gambling... like i think he's more self-serving than jesper? but more to the detriment of himself than of his team. or if he thinks it could backfire on the team, he does whatever he can to make sure it bites him in the ass worse than anyone else. team player but bad at it!

charlie morris also best character. he has the strongest abilities of anyone in the group and tends to be a bit impulsive about it. he's under a contract to jack's gang, though, so he can't exactly do everything he wants... he also has a rly big heart so if someone's like. do this or someone will get hurt. boy will fold everytime and be so mad abt it LMAO

also i did some rereading recently and heartrender powers are even more hardcore than i remember so MAJOR charlie rights. can literally.. kinda bloodbend is the closest way i can describe it go charlie go!

spot conlon i am still figuring out!!! matthias is such a hard character to begin with so making someone off of him. damn bro.

but i think the sort of honorable warrior spirit that matthias has is very...grecian hero, and spot also harnesses that for me too. like he's the leader of all these boys, he's this symbol, and matthias also serves a symbol. and then matthias learns to become his own man despite the symbol, and that just sounds like the ideal character arc for spot conlon. who is the king of brooklyn when he's taken from the kingdom?

KATHERINNNNE. katherine is literally so cool in this fr, since she's pulitzer's daughter and naturally they got the van eck drama going on. similar backstory, kath also has dyslexia but instead of wylan's music route she slaaaays at mathematics. really interested in trades and building. loves a good bomb.

BUT. very much unlike wylan, she's not the youngest. she's older than all of the crows. like she's like. why are a bunch of 17 year olds the ones hired to fucking. unkidnap me. what the fuck. so kath's like 22 or so, so not as sheltered as wylan but like works on her own and has an apartment but still rides above ketterdam (ahh lower east side manhattan who would've guessed).

and that's everyone for you el! hope everyone enjoyed. go read six of crows by leigh bardugo. and/or watch shadow and bone

[quaranmine]

alright, stats time. numbers! percentages! analysis!

GO ME! i finished my writing challenge last night. though i have done them before, i have never had a 30 day streak--my longest was 11 days, previously.

NANOWRIMO "GOAL": 50k words in a month. lol nope i didn't even plan to do that but that's the perspective i'm putting the post in

MY GOAL: add 30k to IBW.

fail. i added 5.2k to IBW in the end, the equivalent of finishing just one chapter. basically, I completed 17% of my goal. not something I'm happy about but i did inevitably mostly get past a thing that was giving me trouble.

MY SECOND GOAL: add 30k aggregated to any projects

total word count: 21,366. that's techinically a fail but i'm not gonna count it because i reached 70% of my target wordcount AND THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME!!! 70 is a passing grade afterall :] if we want to put this in perspective of nano, i basically completed 40% of nano, which is great for a first-ever run (especially since i have never completed a 50k fic so far, let alone in a month. baby steps for me, i just do not write that quickly.)

MY THIRD GOAL: write something every day

SUCCESS! i did do that and i am very proud of it. it was shockingly hard sometimes. during the challenge i was like "i am never doing this again" and now literally less than a day after im like "hm i should do this again next year!" why am i like this? who knows!

So, let's look at other stats.

Number of fics worked on: four. (IBW, grumbot fic mainly, hitchhiker's au, and tumble town gothic)

Fanfic started and completed within the month: do you see no ghosts in me at all? (13,651 words). This means that ~64% of my time was spent on this fanfic, compared to any others (if we go by word count, as i don't remember which days specifically were used on this versus the others)

Average daily wordcount: 712 words. again, to reach the 30k goal i needed roughly 1k on average per day, so this is again about 70% of that. It is worth noting that my average for my last writing challenge in the spring was 548, so I did much better on average this month despite being forced to do it in a much longer streak. that's probably because the 0 wordcount days in the last challenge dragged the average down, so writing every day helped me a lot.

Lowest daily WC: 131

Highest daily WC: 1897

i think both of those were the same fic actually (grumbot fic.) the low wordcounts mostly represented lack of time, as i would stop writing whenever it got so late that i started falling asleep midsentence. however low wordcounts on IBW mostly represent lack of inspiration, except for the day 30, where it represented research.

all in all, i think it was a successful challenge. i'm still in writing mode and was already thinking about what i could do tonight, which is great because like...i am no longer beholden to this challenge but am still wanting to keep going (i'll just likely not force myself to do anything anymore if it's like 11:30pm and i havent done anything. i will just go to bed instead.)

the main lesson here is that i can Do Things when i want to really force myself to do, which is good because i often doubt my own abilities especially in connection with my writing. it's very personal compared to other stuff i do, so i very much love and appreciate everybody's support and kind reviews because i straight up would not be here or doing any of this without you. like i would have just gone back to hide under a rock lol.

i feel like completing these challenges gives me a lot more confidence in myself and my abilities, and gives me momentum to make consistent progress on my works even when things are a little rough. sometimes in writing you just Gotta Do It even if there isnt much inspiration, because it'll unlock the way for other scenes where you DO have inspiration.

now then. if someone can tell me why i was able to fully complete inktober for two years in a row, and pull off two of these writing challenges in one year, but CAN'T stick with actual responsible adult habits--

[northerngoshawk]

2, 11, 15 for the WIP ask game??

thanks for the ask hotwife!!

obviously i will be talking about my forbidden lovers au for kataang because that is the only thing i have in the works rn 🥲

2. Do you set mini-deadlines or goals for yourself along the way?

i cannot do deadlines, mostly because irl is apparently very keen on throwing all the assignments it can at me 🥲 so instead i rely on tiny goals to get from point a to point b.

the way i'm writing this fic right now is actually very unorthodox of me: i'm skipping around and writing down the sections i have the most idea for so i don't end up forgetting how it goes, and then moving from there. so when i usually take a weekend or so to sit down, my goal is usually to finish up the section im working on and, if possible, start a new section. as i'm writing this now, i'm planning on taking tonight to finish my current section--one of the rare moments of free time i have on a weekday 🥲

11. What is your favorite way to procrastinate?

scroll through tumblr and/or meander on around discord in the hopes i can see someone having a convo and jump in lol 🥲 but tbh, i really don't like procrastinating that much--it's like every fiber of my being is telling me to write write write, but when i do open the document, my mind goes blank, and suddenly i don't want to write anymore.

ugh, why can't i just have someone else transpose the exact scenes and phrasing onto the document 🥲

15. What has been the easiest thing about working on this WIP so far?

writing the scenes i already have in mind. i actually already have a pretty clear idea on how and why kataang gets separated, what brings them back together, and the ending. and even if i have something vague like this actual, realtime note in my document:

[something about their childhood or something]

if i sit down and really think about it, i can usually come up with a scenario to fill that space. but even when i can't write it down right away, i can write a heck of a more detailed note to guide me, like i did here:

this was the result of a one-liner note that i sat down and really thought about before coming up with the scene i want to write for this section. really, the easiest part of the fic is thinking of the scenes; the hard part is actually writing it out.

so with that out of the way, even tho you didn't ask for it, i shall give you a snippet because i love talking about this more than writing it 🥲 and also kataang is very soft in this fic 🥺

“So then what do the stars remind you of?”

Katara had to hide a smile as gray eyes filled with stars turned to her. “There’s this old friend of mine,” she began carefully, looking down at the hard ground carpeted with grass, “that I hadn’t seen for a long, long time. He used to take me star-gazing and point out all these constellations he had in his own culture. We would spend those nights comparing them with the constellations from the Southern Water Tribe.” She idly plucked at some of the green stalks peeking out between her fingers. “I missed him dearly.”

Even in the dim light of the moon, Katara could see a glimmer in Aang’s eyes. “What a shame,” he murmured. His impressively straight face was ruined only by the twitches at the corners of his mouth, very clearly trying to suppress a smile. “He seems like a really nice guy.”

“He is,” she agreed, her own smile threatening to overtake her face. She looked back up to the sky. “Unfortunately, he had to go off and fight in the war.” She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “It’s been… rough, only having his letters to know he’s still alive.”

Aang shifted next to her. “I’m sure it was just as hard on him,” he offered. She looked over to see him looking up to the constellations. “It was probably difficult to keep waking up without your smile there to greet him.” He glanced over at her, his expression soft. “He probably missed you just as much as you missed him.”

thanks again for the ask, and i can't wait to share this fic with the rest of the world!!

WIP ask game

[little-lightning-lavellan]

Fic Writers Round-Up: 2022! 🖊️

Oooohohohoho let’s do some number crunching, shall we?? I was tagged by @pikapeppa and @noire-pandora (who are both incredible and you should read all of their works this is a threat I am threatening you :))) ) and I’m going to go ahead and tag my lovelies @because-im-hap-hap @rosella-writes @dreadfutures @bogunicorn @melisusthewee @jellydishes @effelants @emerald-amidst-gold​ & @bluedwarfed​! 

Might want to click the image to be able to see it better; I did realize how compressed it would get... oops! ^_^”

🖊️ New Things I Tried 🖊️

Started off the year strong with posting alien smut for the first time in Haunted by One Another! Inquisitor/Nizana have been an OTP of mine within different Star Wars RP groups for a hot minute (like, literal years a hot minute) so it was about time I actually got to writing about them and their dynamic.

And of course I started with smut because I’m a simple being at the end of the day, but also because they have a very base relationship that starts out as just Enemies With ‘Bennies. They’re kinda sorta real toxic, but I like to think even their smut speaks a lot for their dynamic and I had a lot of fun writing it. 💖 

🖊️ Fic I Spent the Most Time On 🖊️

Its Dueteragony.

You know its Dueteragony, I know its Dueteragony, we can all go home now.

But, seriously, everyone here knows Dueteragony is my baby, and even though I didn’t get to work on it this year as much as I did last year, I think the overall quality of the writing was significantly higher. I may not have put out as much but I really think I’ve grown as a writer and I’m really happy about that. I’m still learning a lot and that’s really exciting!

🖊️ Favorite Thing I Wrote 🖊️

Its a pretty short piece, but Within you lies the Best of Us is definitely up there. There were moments in basically everything I wrote that made me super happy this year, but being able to gleefully wait for your friend to realize that your friend has received a gift fic HITS DIFFERENT.

Nothing feels better than the unadulterated rat screaming, I swear on me mum. 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖

🖊️ Writing Goals for Next Year 🖊️

ALRIGHTY, SO...

• Get Dueteragony mostly finished (I really want a good chunk of that bad boy done prior to Dreadwolf, if all of it. Though, I do accept that parts of the last fifth of the story may have to be tweaked depending on the events of Dreadwolf. I HAVE PLANS, I HAVE CHARTS, I HAVE SO MANY SPREADSHEETS.)

• Write a sequel to Haunted by One Another. I really want to post more of the Inquisitor and Nizana’s relationship, how they went from Enemies to Lovers, and also just... write more fun smut between those two losers. I’m currently working on a direct sequel, but I also want to do a prequel, and maybe some oneshots. I’ll most likely end up making a little series grouping for them and shove them all in there for ease of organization rigiuerbgierb

• Actually start that ding dang What If fic I was going to do of Felassan and Mellan that I promised @because-im-hap-hap​ and @rosella-writes​ I was going to do.

• Actually finish the draft and post the WandaVision AU fic of Solas and Mellan that I promised basically everyone I know that I would do--

• Finish the Solas in heat smut that I also promised I’d finish I’m so sorry everyone my goals should just be “finish your pile of WIPs you savage...”

This was a ton of fun and a really interesting way to look at all the things I’ve done this year. ^_^ It’ll really be fun to see what next year brings as well!! :D

Lots of love! 💖

[mostlymaudlin]

I am and forever will be in love with Out of this World. Asking: 2, 8, and 12!

ty!! <3333 also, rly into the love for the fics i wrote for @tea-brigade 😂 korinne, my muse...

2: What scene did you first put down?

if im remembering correctly, i wrote this mostly chronologically! i knew i was going to write something like this for korinne's bday, but until the night before, all i had in the doc was "simon is an alien."

the only thing i wrote out of order is that i went back and filled in the date at the end. i like writing resolutions before i write conflict, because usually the resolutions contain the bigger part of the story im trying to tell hahah. there are myriad ways humans (and aliens?) can fuck up and cause problems that will get to the same end goal, so it's easier for me to do that part second.

8: Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?

i worked at the Gap for three? four?? years?? and up until covid i'd held a retail job since i was 16! so the setting and the coworker stuff (and the walkie talkie drama) borrows from that. unfortunately, though, i have never dated or been an alien :/

12: What do you like least about this fic?

love this question! this au is definitely more shallow than i usually write. i remember including mechanisms that specifically asked readers to suspend disbelief so that i didn't have to answer questions that would've been justified lol. an example -- baz is like... SO fine with the whole alien thing lol. but i included this part so that the reader could be like "ok fine sure":

It’s a good act. Part of me wants to believe — the part that clings to Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and my mother’s ghostly hands brushing through my hair. It’s the part of me that always gets hurt. “Prove it,” I say, indulging, always indulging, always setting myself up for failure and then basking in it.

so i guess i dont necessarily DISLIKE it -- the fic is doing what it's supposed to do! it's fun. but it doesnt include some of the more in-depth character choices that i would like to think most of my other work has.

[actualaster]

Please talk about your favourite WIP!

For the WIP meme

AAAAAAAAH OKAY SO.

Okay so this started as just. Like. Mostly a shitpost, just an idea burned into my brain and I have no fucking idea way, back in May 2020. and it just sort of snowballed from there lol.

So. Like. pre-canon DotNW AU. Where Aster is a Werewolf.

I actually have So Many versions of how it could go in my head, but the one that I'm slowly working on as a WIP is like. It's just a great excuse to put him through hell lmao. (sorry aster, i love u but my faves gotta Suffer)

i just. am SUPER in love with the whole idea (even if the writing it part is not working great lol, im better at the ideas than the writing i think)

there's just. so many ways i can break this boy. but it's interesting to see how it evolves because I wasn't sure right from the start just how dark I wanted it to get, but it's ending up with some pretty dark implications at least.

I'm really mostly a one-shot type person but this would be a multi-chap and my goal is to write the whole thing out first before even thinking of posting because. like. i don't want 5 year gaps between updates lol.

i just. will ramble about it endlessly if i let myself lmaooo

[jackpotgirl]

I just wanted to say the biggest thank you for your wonderful Haladriel fic which is one of the most beautiful fanfictions that I've ever read. And I've read a lot, with a lot of pairings. It feels like home, like old times when I was 13 and I found out there is a whole new world behind the books or series: the fans incredible talents and imagination. It was mesmerizing. It feels like when I first read a wonderfully wellwritten dramione or spuffy or bethyl or dumbeldore/grindelwald fic throughout my years. I didnt know how i missed this feeling and this kind of fanfiction until I read yours. Because yes, there is a lot of lovely fanfic in this fandom too, cute oneshots, more cuter humanHalbrand and Sauron angst, smut and AUs which are good but we know they could never be true - and I like them too. But your work... Your work grab some really true part of them, that make the whole thing REAL. That IT COULD BE. I think the writers of the rings of power truly find something incredible what hidden under Tolkien's wise, old, and sometimes too white OR black books. They found GREY, there were little hints in a huge world where the story goes to different ways and had no time or intrest show other ways. But the hint was there and I belive that the writers did good. And its so rare when something feels real true PLUS the actors chemistry and LOVE for their roles hit the whole thing a different level and an OTP is born. Ahhhh. (When I read your story I wished couple of times that Charlie Vickers read this!!! I think he would love this redemption arc, he truly understands Mairon and Sauron goals)

So what you wrote in this fic could be real, could be canon, its hanging in the air, like a cloud (♥️♥️♥️) above the series and the books. I really feel that and in my nearly 20 years of reading fics I felt the same max 3 times. And the last time was so long ago!

So yeah, reading this was truly magical, i read at night and couldnt stop, I read under breastfeeding my baby, i read every 5 minute when I could, I was so tired but I had to read more! And I felt the adrenalin rush, the giggling like a 13 years old, my cheeks were burning because I was so excited whats happening, I teared a lot, mostly when Sauron tried to explain his very being to Galadriel and sometimes I had to reread parts because how true they were. I feel they will rent free in my head forever and Tolkien's Galadriel and Sauron never will be the same for me and its wonderful because yeah, I feel this could be true for them. Of course not in the show, not in the books, but after that when no one knows what Tolkien wants, yes... Their relationship is truly cosmic, not just a simple love story.

You are a very talented writer and I hope your passion for writing cause you many many happy hour. You did such a great job at maping up feelings and love. I thought a lot of my marriage and how the years flying and we are getting older and see things in different levels, understand each other deeper, studied like Galadriel did with Mairon. There was always love but it could be even more.

And in the end because I wrote too much sorry: im glad that in my early 30s I found a total different Sauron because I think its wonderful and shows how is the life is going truly: when I was a child and innocent etc it was easy the see the world like Tolkien did. Good and bad, simple choices etc. But when you getting older and you made mistakes and others too and you are not too good and not too bad... And sometimes you've got the control and sometimes not... You just understand that you cant hardly judge anyone... Even the Dark Lord himself... :) Everyone wants to be Aragorn in the begining and a few will be Sauron, but mostly we just some random guys in the middle(Earth, haha), trying navigate and understand both sides and live a happy life.

Oh my God how I wrote such a sentimental mess, sorry! My english is worn too, agh but im tired and couldnt practice long ago! But I wanted to THANK YOU that feeling. Of course I will wait chapters till the end! ♥️

Oh my god, thank you so so much for this beautiful message! never apologise for long messages, I relished every word!! It means so much to me that I could help spark that joy in you and you are such a rockstar, breastfeeding (I am sure that takes a lot out of you) and being a mom to a baby, so I am incredibly happy that I can offer some distraction from that too!

Thank you thank you thank you, I am so happy to have received this and I hope you will enjoy the rest of the story, too <3<3<3