#my first fandom and my latest fandom merged...

[fushiglow]

Share the first lines of ten of your latest fanfics (or up to if you have fewer) and tag ten people.

Thank you for the tags, @detta-pica and @hollow-lime-green! I cheated by posting a whole new fic before having a go at this, but there we go. The first fic in this list marks my 34th upload to AO3 for the Jujutsu Kaisen fandom which... Fine. Yeah. Looking forward to celebrating number 40 sometime later this year, I guess.

Let's have a look then...

1. Five Days of Summer

Summer is an endless gasp for breath. It shudders past August and into September. It rattles damp and desperate around Suguru’s lungs. It persists without pause, leaving him aching for relief.

Turned that over in my brain for a whole day. Needed the opening of the fic to capture its essence immediately. It's fire for a reason.

2. Energy

It was a long way down. Long enough to survive the fall? Probably, for him, but was he really going to risk that? A fate splattered on the grimy streets in the bowels of the city for some bleeder to ransack whatever remained of his body? His best friend?

Star Wars AU, my beloved. I wanted to withhold the POV from the reader for a little while since part one, Balance, is told from Megumi's POV. The fic summary spoils it, but alas.

Part two and the currently unpublished part three were originally the other way around, but I decided I wanted to give part three (exclusive spoiler! It's called Warmth and it's a very fitting title) a bit more emotional oomph, so we went back in time a little further first. I'm enjoying the non-linear storytelling of Star Wars AU a lot.

3. Phantom Power

Looking back, Suguru had been stupid to believe everything would simply slot back into its rightful place the moment Satoru came home. Impressively stupid, even for him. It had been easier falling asleep with Satoru’s familiar weight in the bed next to him. It had been easier to drift off tangled in his too tight hold. But they must have rolled away from each other at some point during the night, because Suguru was cold when he awoke in the darkness.

This is kind of cheating since it's the opening to the most recent chapter of a multi-chapter fic, but all of the chapters are standalone shorts so I'm saying it counts. It's also very beautiful with gorgeous accompanying art by bean! This is (not) just a plug!

4. A Cappella 

I could do that. It was the errant thought that passed through Suguru’s mind as he watched Sugar from yet another angle. Childish, really. With his face pressed into his pillow, drawstrings of his hoodie (Satoru’s hoodie) pulled tight around his chin, Suguru dragged the scrubber back to the start and watched the video again.

I watched so many Tiktok dance challenges during the process of creating this oneshot, mostly this one by San from ATEEZ. So we've got Santoru, SaTENru and... Jackson Wang. Yeah, I can't find a way to merge their names, but they're the three main influences on threshold!Satoru at this point. Honourable mention to Taemin, too.

Anyway, make sex sad again!

5. Race You to the Bottom 

Satoru usually enjoyed holidaying with his friends. Usually. However, even putting aside the pandemonium that was the Swiss Alps in the middle of February, it was quickly becoming clear that a group ski trip was Utahime's worst idea yet.

Sigh, take me back to ski fic...

Kidding, I think. I definitely look back on this fic with rose-tinted glasses because it turned out so well and I had so much fun writing the first two chapters especially. However, the last one was hard work. Basically, turns out I enjoyed writing the actual extreme sport more than I enjoyed writing the, uh, extreme sport.

6. Taste Test 

‘Is it a knife?’ he blurted, excited both by the prospect of winning a point and the implications. ‘Is this your way of telling me you want to try knife play?’

The opening lines are just the summary of the fic, so here's Suguru being a horny kinky bastard instead.

7. erase me

Gojō sits in his car and cries. He’s so sick of winter. He can’t remember the last time the sun shone on this shitty little town. Thinks it was probably— Gojō doesn’t want to think about Suguru. Gojō always wants to think about Suguru.

Your honour, I slayed. Severance AU is peak (fan)fiction. And the opening makes it if you ask me. The whole thing reads (and looks) like a poem and I love that.

8. Summer's Last Cherry

Suguru wore his twenty seven years well.

Simply because this fic is tagged "canon compliant", oops.

9. Over the Threshold 

The beat dropped and Satoru went with it, falling to his hands and knees as though gravity had become irresistible. He began moving against the floor like it was his lover, gyrating his pelvis in effortless synchronisation with the gaggle of dancers surrounding him. His soaking wet tank top left little to the imagination, clinging to his torso in a way that was only somewhat offset by the baggy cargo pants that sat obscenely low on his hips. From the shaggy mop of waves atop his head to the chunky combat boots hugging his calves, Satoru was a vision in white, cast in a cerulean hue under the studio lights.

The actual opening is a definition of limiting (which I agonised over a lot, it's important!) but these are the opening lines of the actual fiction. I wrote this so long ago and it's one solid paragraph, which is interesting, because it's not often that I open a fic with a long paragraph like this. It makes sense here, because it's basically a description of the video Suguru is watching rather than any close internal monologue. It gets increasingly silly as Suguru forms an opinion and we drop into his POV, and although I had doubts about the opening to Over the Threshold in the past, I love it these days. I think it conveys the premise and also themes of the fic very quickly.

By the way, I make a direct reference to that last sentence in chapter 14, coming god knows when. Sooner rather than later, I hope.

10. A WIP?? A WIP???

It begins quietly. The instrumentalists arranged on the stage settle into stillness. A cellist at the back of the ensemble taps his bow along his D string on a pedal point played portato. The violins ease in with an eerie whine, playing a dissonant interval suspended over that single sustained tone. Still, the two performers positioned at the centre of the string orchestra remain motionless.

This will probably be the next fic I post (?) and, yeah, I'm sorry it's not Vocal Rest. It's that other music AU I know a few people have been waiting for instead. It's really just AO3 user greaterglow being a nerd about music but in a slightly different font. Who'd have thought?

I'm going to be so honest. The reason I delayed making this post is mostly because I wanted to avoid including ~certain works~ that make me a bit sad, so I waited until I'd posted Five Days of Summer and padded it out with a WIP of music AU number 5725 😭 However, because of this post, I literally pulled up a new doc to start writing the daddy!Satoru pairing for ~that fic~ so I can reclaim it for myself.

I hate that harassment has soured my feelings about a work that was made with so much love for someone who means very much to me. I still haven't replied to a single comment on it, I just pretend it doesn't exist. So, we're going to fix that with an equally emotional and, this time, extremely self indulgent "daddy" counterpart. Make of that what you will.

(If you've spent any amount of time reading my fics, it shouldn't be that hard to work out the angle I'm taking with this, honestly. It's going to be fantastic.)

—

I really don't know who to tag since I'm very late to this and don't know anyone with 10 fanfics who hasn't already done this challenge! However, it was fun looking back through various works! I love yapping about my writing and I'll always take any opportunity to do so!

[an-angel-in-the-garden]

A new kind of comfort

Welcome to my new obsession. I plan on making this a fandom I now write for so here's my little test run! Please enjoy a little hurt comfort with a GN reader. Words in another language will be in bold. TW for violence in Silvairs and gaps part

This world is bleak and endless, old and grimy walls that go on forever. Old rooms and new ones start to merge together until you can't remember where you've been. Sometimes you find new monsters...people? You don't know anymore. Most of the time you stumble upon those you've come to call friends but that doesn't mean it's not lonely. Passing through the maze of halls, running, fighting and resting when possible. For now, things are calm, the room is dimly lit, and the bed is a bit uncomfortable but it's better than some other rooms. The quiet is normally nice and gives a moment to relax but today it's hard to ignore the creeping loneliness. Eyes shut tight and head buried in the small pillow you don't hear when the door opens.

Mr. Crawling

He's so worried about you all the time as is. Crawling spends a lot of his time looking for you once you're separated, he can't stand being apart for long. Finding you like this makes his undead heart break, he doesn't like when you're not smiling. " Why sad? In pain, afraid?" His hands reach out tentatively, not sure if you want to be touched yet knowing no other way to make you happy again. " Pet! Pet!" It's hard not to laugh as he gently messes up your hair. " Not hurt, lonely." You explain as best you can. He seems to think for a moment before pulling you into his chest. " I'm here. Us together, not lonely. Me like you, you stay! We like each other." His words are oddly soft, his body though cold brings such comfort in this bleak word. " Yeah, us stay together. Thank you, Crawling." With careful and slow movements you bring your arms around him and relax into his chest. For now you can both just rest and later you'll explore and when you finally find the exit you'll go home together.

Mr. Scarletella

He's an odd one, seeing you unhappy does something to him, both good and bad. He hates that you look like you're in pain and yet the fact that he's the one getting to see it makes his heart race. Though it's not raining Mr. Scarletella leans over you, using his umbrella to cover you. It's his way of protecting you with all that he is, to show you that you're still his everything. " Upset? Not hurt, no blood. Why upset." His voice always sounds so far away, cutting in and out in the same way his body does. " Just am. It hurts being alone for so long. No one stays long." His head tilts at an uncomfortable angle, too far left to be anything but inhuman. " I stay, I always stay. Love you. Give name, me, you forever. Have me." He pushes the umbrella into your hand body now bent almost in half to reach your level. Your eyes finally meet his, his mouth pulls into a wide smile as you clutch the umbrella like a lifeline. " I give you name. We stay together. " His mouth pulls even wider at the sides as he nods. A hand is offered and he pulls you up. You can take time to name him, he's happy to wait so long as you let him be with you.

Mr. Silvair

Upon seeing you all curled up his first thought is that you're sick or going through the next stage of becoming a resident. He's honestly a little worried as he approaches. He doesn't want to have to hurt you but if you lash out he'll have no choice. Instead he hears the faint sound of sniffles and can see your shoulders shaking. You aren't in physical pain, he can tell from a glance now that he's closer but if not pain then what? He crouches down to sit next to you, words of affection have never been his best means to communicate with you anyway. Silvair just pulls you to lean on him and begins to speak of his latest discovery. What he's learning about your transformation, things chopped has seen on his last outing. Anything really, it's his own way of showing that he cares, that he trusts you. It's strange but comforting. He likes you enough to not want you to be sad but he knows no other way to make you happy. So he gives you time. Collect yourself and when you're ready he's there. He'll listen and keep you safe.

Mr. Chopped

He's so loud about it right away. It's not that he wants to make it worse but he can't comfort you in the same way others might. As much as he would love to just go over and hug you he simply can't. " Desire carry! Bring closer!" The yelling is enough to make you move and it's clear he feels bad about making you do work when you're clearly upset. The moment he's in your arms he's going to be working his hardest to comfort you. " You good! Me like you, need you, want you! Us friends, happy." Bring him close enough to your face and he'll ask if kisses are okay. He likes giving little kisses to your cheeks though be careful, he bites. It's hard to not smile at his attempts and honesty. You can hold him for as long as you need, so long as you realize that you mean the world to him! " Thank you Chopped. I like you too!" He smiles ear to ear at this and while you sit down together, him on your lap, Chopped will talk the time away until you're ready to start traveling again. This time you can do it together.

Mr. Gap

Kinda the worst. He likes teasing you even now that you're closer than before. So when he sees like this he wants to poke fun at you needing to rest. Then he sees you sigh, sees the dark bags under your eyes and how your shoulders sag so much more than normal. He....hates it? It looks wrong and he can't stand it, you should be standing tall, teasing him back or fighting some other person around the halls, not hiding away like this. He peers through the nearest crack in the wall to reach out. " Have paper?" Maybe this would cheer you up but you don't take it. Instead you just glance at him and look away. " Have....have what?" What do you want, how can he make you better. " Want touch, friend or companion." He looks offended at this. " Me companion! Give touch." His hands dart out to pet you in the same way he's seen others do. Its a little rough but he's trying. " Can...hug? Want hug?" He sounds unsure but he remembers seeing something like that in a paper he found. You turn and tilt your head. " You give me hug?" He nods and opens his arms for you. It takes some effort since he's in a wall but its nice. He's warm but slightly wet? It's odd but nice, grounding "Good?" This time you nod and he smiles. " Take to new place. Lets go." So long as you agree he's happy to drag you through the shadows and into another safe room, one with lots of fun things, free of charge this time. Your touch was more than enough.

I think this is the fastest I've ever written something? This is my newest and strongest fixation I think. And it sucks cause I can't play it right now but the rest of tumblr has been feeding me wonderful content. I really hope you enjoyed this and I hope to see some requests for them in the future! I'll be adding them to my list shortly, this was just a little test run. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. If you would like to buy me a coffee it would be greatly appreciated. Have a good night or day~ Lilly

[wanderingaldecaldo]

Tagged by @gloryride, @gamerkitten, @chevvy-yates, and @aggravateddurian to share something I'm working on. Thanks, chooms! Still leaning into the ADHD, so there's several things I'm working on simultaneously. Most recently it's been...

Modding

The cutoff vests are 95% done, just need a few touches before I can make them live on Nexus, so what better time to start a new modding project? 🙃 A friend mentioned wanting Vik's pants and I'm always looking for more butch clothes for Val especially ones that ride low on those hips but also the belt & tools seem like a fun project.

Unedited. Not bad for an hour's work ☺️

Both the pants and belt are simple replacers to start while I test. I have some clipping to deal with on the pants, but so far the weights look okay. 🤞

As for the belt, I lost the tools somewhere between Blender and Wkit lol. I wanted to take a go at texturing them in Substance Painter so I split them off into their own submesh. Not sure where I lost them but I'm sure they'll turn up again.

Writing

It's fitting that Durian tag me because my latest writing was incited by a scene in his fic "The President's Lady" in which Myers invites Sol and V to lunch at the White House. I'm going for a more, uh, traditional take on The Tower ending than he is, using my fave angst, combined with some good ol' longing and probably some flashback smut. I've been canoodling on this in my notebook since Durian's chapter came out, writing a bit each night before falling asleep. I started transcribing it just for this post, so here are 315 of 338 words, hot off the Google Docs.

Some backstory: The second time I played Phantom Liberty I beelined to Dogtown, and skipped meeting the Aldecaldos and doing pretty much anything past finishing the VDBs quests. Vik was the only one who called, and she decided to take Sol up on his offer of a job at Langley. Soon after she's back in DC, she gets an invite to lunch from President Myers.

“Thank you, Madam President.” “V, please. No need to be so formal. I believe we’re well past that now.” “Heh, just a few weeks ago, told you—” “Yes, V,” she cries out, breath hot against her neck— Stopping, Rosalind turns to look at her, eyebrows and lines of her forehead drawing to a point, as if finally she recognizes V for who she still is. “I suppose that really was like yesterday for you.” The lines soften and she leads V to a sofa across the room, gesturing for her to sit first, then sits close and takes her hand. Long, graceful fingers teasing her skin— V stares down at her hand in Rosalind’s, her arms blank of cyberware still a disconcerting sight, but she doesn’t pull away. “How are you feeling? I can’t imagine the news was easy to hear.” “No, wasn’t,” she says with a shake of her head. “Thought I was gonna die a merc but now....” “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to tell you myself. Solomon suggested it would lead to too many questions among the staff. He’s right of course, but I still feel I let you down.” V frowns. “Ma’am?” “You weren’t my agent for long, but that doesn’t mean you weren’t important. What you did...” Rosalind trails off, eyes dipping to her mouth before she drops her gaze to their hands on her lap. Her nails are still perfectly polished, buffed to a shine. She looks up and says, “I’ll never be able to repay you for all that you did for me.” V down looks at their linked hands then, heart pounding, she leans forward to kiss her, as if she’s just any other woman, not the most powerful in the world, and Rosalind tilts her head and parts her lips and— She swallows and shakes her head. “You did, though. Least as far as I’m concerned.”

Tagging with the usual no pressure disclaimer: @medtech-mara @breezypunk @streetkid-named-desire @peaches-n-screem @rosapexa @luvwich @merge-conflict @steelscorner @ghostoffuturespast @byberbunk2069 and YOU!

Take this as an invitation to share something you're working on and tag me! Doesn't have to be Cyberpunk, or anything fandom-related!

[thesilliestrovingalive]

(Hi, can I get an explanation on what Metal Slug is? I’ve never heard of this series before and you seem really interesting in it :3)

It's a bit complicated, but I'll do my best to summarise it...

Metal Slug is a multimedia video game franchise originally created by Nazca Corporation before they merged with SNK in 1996. It initially started as a run and gun series, but has expanded into other genres like tower defence. The latest game is Metal Slug Tactics and it's the first turn-based tactics game for the entire franchise. The game franchise is named after its titular tankette, the SV-001 "Metal Slug".

The games focus on the Regular Army and their two main special forces: the Peregrine Falcons Squad, an elite strike force, and the S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S., an intelligence division. The main protagonists of Metal Slug are Marco Rossi, Tarma Roving, Eri Kasamoto, and Fio Germi. Once Metal Slug 6 rolls in, the Ikari Warriors from King of Fighters are introduced into the franchise and they serve as the Regular Army's elite mercenaries. The Regular Army and their elite special operatives are often in war against the Rebel Army, led by the power-hungry General Morden, who intend on taking over the world to unite everyone under one government.

Following the initial game, Metal Slug: Super Vehicle-001, the franchise expanded its enemy roster to include zombies, mummies, mutants, and aliens. The primary antagonists in the Metal Slug series are the Rebel Army and the Martians. However, additional enemy groups are introduced as the mainline series progresses. Notably, two organisations and an alien species make singular appearances throughout the series:

Amadeus Syndicate (Metal Slug 4)

Ptolemaic Army (Metal Slug 5)

The Invaders (Metal Slug 6)

Although the mainline Metal Slug series and most of its canonical spin-offs are largely dialogue-free, the franchise has a rich narrative. I recommend checking out the timeline on the Metal Slug fandom wiki, which summarizes the storyline.

I hope this explanation clarifies everything. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!

You can find a lil' thought on Metal Slug 3D in the comment section if you're interested!

[shc2c]

The Mysterious Case of Sonic Movie 3 Marketing

An Op-Ed by Malzilla

Let me say this right off the bat, I am not an expert in marketing. I took Marketing classes in college for my business minor but most of it was pretty entry level but it gave me a solid foundation to understand most companies' marketing plans. Or at least try to see the method or goal behind the madness to get a scope of what they’re trying to do. But Paramount’s treatment of Sonic 3 is bizarre. We got toys, plushies etc out in stores before the first trailer. 

Sonic Movie 3 has me utterly baffled. Because here we are exactly four months/120 days (122 days at the time of this writing) and do far zip zilch nada. 

The last OFFICIAL news we got for the movie was back on Feb 2nd when the twitter released a little teaser showing the logo as well as some of the additional human cast members. Sure Jon Campea on his Podcast YT show announced that Keanu would play Shadow and was pretty much confirmed by official Hollywood outlets in April but no official word from Paramount has been given. They’ve been radio silent for months know, save for a few weeks in April to promote the Knuckles TV show

So why the wait? Some folks I have talked to may think there may be some internal stuff going on, but I doubt it. Yes Paramount is getting ready to merge with Skydance and some layoffs have happened but I don’t think that would affect much of the Sonic movie day to day. 

So here we are at four months till release and we’re all wondering “It’s go time right? RIGHT?” 

I would think so. And so has the rest of the Sonic Fandom. But alas we’re still waiting for the green light to go. So when is that green light coming? 

Soon.

I hope.

Honestly, I don’t know. But looking at two other films marketing that run some parallels to S3 as well as some key dates in the next  four months. I'm going to throw some ideas out there. 

First off let's look at the marketing on Sonic 2. Movie was released April 8th 2022, and its first official trailer was released on Dec 9th at the 2021 VGAs (it also had a poster released the day prior on the 8th). So right at the four month mark. They followed up with some TV spots and a special Pre Super Bowl TV spot in February AND then the final Trailer March 14th. So a fairly dense four month marketing campaign. 

The other film to look at is Spider-man No Way Home, which like Sonic 3 had a December release date. NWH after months of rumors and lack of promotion (sound familiar) debuted its first teaser trailer on August 23rd 2021; roughly four months prior to its Dec 17th release date. It also had another final trailer on Nov 16th; roughly one month prior. 

So if we look at both of them we see a very similar four month marketing campaign. So what does that mean for Sonic 3? Let's work backward from the release date till now. The following are dates of significance, IMO to both Paramount, Pop/Nerd/Game culture etc: 

Dec 20th - Release Date 

The Long Wait will be over and we all bask in the Living and Learning of it all 

Nov 28th - Thanksgiving - Possible 2nd Trailer.

Given that Paramount has put Sonic TV spots before Football games before, I would not be surprised if we got the 2nd Trailer during Half Time of the CBS game that airs in the morning of Thanksgiving. This also aligns with the roughly 1 month prior benchmark as seen with both S2 and NWH. 

NYCC Oct 17th-20th - TV Spots/Behind the Scenes/Movie Clip

While this date kinda is little too soon for a second trailer, it would be a great time to bring out the whole cast and do some promotion with the masses and maybe some TV spots or a small clip. 

Transformers One Release Sep 20th - PONR for First Trailer 

I think I can safely say that the absolute LATEST we can expect a trailer for Sonic 3 would nex month with the release of Transformers One. Paramount would have to be utterly brainless NOT to have a trailer for Sonic playing in front of their other Family Nerd Oriented IP.

Gamescom 2024 Oct 20h - 25th - Trailer Release 

Kinda funny how the Opening Night Ceremony for Gamescom just so happens to fall on both the four month till release mark AND a Tuesday (Paramount usually releases trailers on Tues/Thurs)? We KNOW SEGA will be there with more SonicXShadow Generations, but really the movies are more Paramount’s game than SEGAs so there is no guarantee it will be released. BUT Paramount has passed on both Summer Game Fest AND San Diego Comic Con. Everything seems aligned for a reveal on Tuesday. I guess we’ll know if we get a poster revealed  tomorrow. 

Now personally I would have started ramping up the marketing with SDCC. Because right now the two biggest competitors that Sonic 3 is going to have in Dec are Kraven and Mufassa. And both of these movies have had TWO trailers released for it.  With Kraven it makes sense since it was originally supposed to be released back in 2023 but then got pushed back 3 times. So I guess Sony thinks it can rack up a solid week one before the family holiday push. Mufassa on the other hand is going to be the big one to beat as family’s will no doubt flock to the much anticipated origin of Mufasa! That last part was sarcasm but this part is not: they need to get the word out to the casuals. I’ve talked to a lot of Non Sonic who are genuinely excited to see Keanu play Shadow. And the time is right to get them hooked. 

So in the end, I will say that I’m like Jon Snow and I “know nothing” but I do know we're getting to the point where it’s time for paramount to lace up its sneakers and get going. Whether it's this week or the next or maybe till the opening of Transformers One. But I would recommend Paramount not dilly dally. Sonic Fans are easily frustrated and can turn rabid quickly. 

[somekindofhannibalcannibal]

figured i should probably make some kind of masterpost for my fics, so. here are my hannibal fics for anyone who might be interested.

Spring Lambs and Wounded Birds - my first fic on AO3 and first in this fandom. it's my attempt at a silence of the lambs retelling in the nbc hannibal universe since there are a lot of those but i wanted to have my own idea out there too. i worked on this over the course of the summer of 2023 and i haven't been that productive since, but i don't know how well that schedule worked out for me. i'm mostly proud of it although i think i stuck a little too close to the book at times. includes elements of "trying to fix the problematic elements of the original text", "bedelia/hannibal roleswap sort of", "original characters but not really", and "women". 14 chapters, 70k words.

Glass Houses - a one-shot focused on beverly katz, because i also like doing fix-its for canon's more egregious missteps in my opinion. this one presents a scenario where she didn't die in s2, although it doesn't go beyond the timeline of s2e5. i enjoyed writing this one and expanding on a character i'm fond of. people seemed to like it; it gets pretty consistent kudos. 7k words.

sanguinaccio dolce - another one-shot that i banged out pretty quickly after getting the idea in my head. vampire hannibal au where he's feeding on bella as her illness worsens. i also liked writing this one, i think it's an underexplored relationship in the fandom. 8k words.

he served a dark and a hungry god - my second multichapter project. this one is an au merging the characters of hannibal with the plot of sweeney todd. i'm not the first one to come up with that idea but i still wanted to see it through. it just works! (i hope). 9 chapters, 36k words.

Clarice Starling and the Morbidity of the Soul - a sequel to Spring Lambs and Wounded Birds. currently on indefinite hiatus as i try and figure out what i really want to do with it, but i'll probably finish it someday. trying to channel my frustrations with the novel hannibal into a productive storytelling outlet. currently 3 chapters, 18k words.

Philanthropy - my latest work, and probably the most popular (wonder why). this is kind of another s2 fix-it where i reckon with the concept of a trans man and a cis lesbian trying to find a way to make a baby together. featuring hannigram, marlana, and the closest thing to outright smut i'll probably ever write. 3 chapters, almost 20k words.

will update as i write more!

[inominati]

#INOMINATI. Selective VIDEO GAME MULTIMUSE featuring muses from Honkai: Star Rail, Wuthering Waves and Mass Effect. High enthusiasm, slow writing speed and activity. Revamped in June 2024 and written by Min (30+ she/her). Not spoiler free. Duplicate friendly.

"Inspirational quote that makes you feel things and that I currently can't think of! In fancy wording." - Source: me

GALLERY | MEMES | MUSIC CREDIT

BLOG ROLL: delusionaid (Genshin Impact multimuse) | formerly dianoetikon & inconcordia | faderifted (Dragon Age multimuse)

Rules and muses below the cut!

MUSE LIST & CHARACTER SHEETS HONKAI: STAR RAIL Caelus | Sampo | Sunday | Sparkle | Luka | Dr. Ratio | Jing Yuan | Igor | Argenti | Dan Heng | Mydeimos | Blade/Yingxing (test muse) WUTHERING WAVES m!Rover (test muse) | Yuanwu (test muse) MASS EFFECT [in Progress]

I. ABOUT ME. My name is Min, I'm over 30 years of age and I've been rping in various fandoms for over 15 years. I work during the week so replies are slow, but I'm online throughout the dayand available through DMs or discord (for mutuals only). I am not caught up with the latest updates but I don't mind spoilers.

II. REQUIREMENTS. If you are interested in roleplaying with me, you must be at least 18 years of age, ideally over 21, even more idealier over 25. I make no exceptions for minors, regardless of thread content. I will gravitate towards canon muses, but I am open to OCs if the character appeals to me and crossovers if I can see a way to merge our worlds together.

III. WRITING. I prefer plotted threads and longer replies (on average I'll write 3-6 paragraphs), but I don't expect you to match length. What matters to me is the content of our posts and our ability to progress in the story we want to tell. I don't really do short convos anymore (unless it's dash crack) and I don't write unplotted starters because they often lead nowhere. If you have ideas for our muses, just message me and if you don't have ideas yet but would like to write, let's plot together :)

IV. MEMES. Best way to get something started with me is through memes. Any memes in my meme tag are available without time limit for all mutuals, so no need to ask first, just send in whatever tickles your fancy! Heads up: it might take me forever and three days to respond, but I will get there eventually. Feel free to reblog any meme posts directly from my blog, I don't mind that at all. Bonus: there's a high chance you'll get a meme reply from me 84 years after sending it, when you no longer remember it.

V. SHIPPING. I don't auto-ship and once I do have a ship for a muse (or maybe more than one) I'll probably cap. If I write multiple ships, they are automatically in separate verses unless discussed otherwise. Don't be afraid to ask if you're interested in shipping, the worst case scenario could be that it doesn't work out.

VI. EXCLUSIVES & MAINS. I don't often to exclusives because I find the concept more often creates issues than it helps, but I do make exceptions sometimes so you will see the occasional exclusivity with close friends or long-term writing partners. I do not list mains; mains are just the people I write with the most - you know who you are. I don't collect duplicates either way, once I find one portrayal I really like, with a writer I click with and we're both happy with the other's writing speed, I don't tend to write with duplicates - I just don't feel the need to write up a list of these writing partners.

Current exclusivities are:- Seele (iniziare) - ship exclusive for Sampo and Luka - Jingliu (iniziare) - ship exclusive for Jing Yuan - Jade (bonnajade) - character exclusive for all muses

VII. SOCIAL POLITICS. I am against callout and cancel culture and do not engage in it. Callouts will not be reblogged - I curate my dashboard my own way and I have no interest in being dragged into other people's fights. I don't respect publicly hating on fictional ships, characters or portrayals. I will never harass anyone or shame them for the fictional things they choose to write, I simply avoid, blacklist or block what I don't want to see. I believe the RPC would be a better place if people tried to be more tolerant, respectful and kind to one another.

Rules are subject to change. Thank you for reading this far! :)

[dianoetikon]

I MOVED RATIO BACK TO MY MULTIMUSE OVER AT @inominati!

#DIANOETIKON (gr. διανοητικόν). Private and selective DR. VERITAS RATIO of Hoyo's Honkai: Star Rail. High enthusiasm, slow writing speed. Established in April 2024 and written by Min (30+, she/her). Not spoiler free. Duplicate friendly.

"Πάντες ἄνθρωποι τοῦ εἰδέναι ὀρέγονται φύσει. Ignorance is a malady that must be cured. Should your mind exhibit symptoms of dullness, feel free to give the doctor a call."

GALLERY | MEMES | HEADCANONS

BLOG ROLL: vidyadawn (Dan Heng) | inconcordia (Sunday) | delusionaid (Genshin Impact multimuse)

Required reading below the cut.

I. ABOUT ME. My name is Min, I'm over 30 years of age and I've been rping in various fandoms for over 15 years. I work during the week so replies are slow, but I'm online throughout the dayand available through DMs or discord (for mutuals only). I am not caught up with the latest update but I don't mind spoilers.

II. REQUIREMENTS. If you are interested in roleplaying with me, you must be at least 18 years of age, ideally over 21, even more idealier over 25. I make no exceptions for minors, regardless of thread content. I will gravitate towards H:SR canon muses, but I am open to OCs if the character appeals to me and crossovers if I can see a way to merge our worlds together.

III. WRITING. I prefer plotted threads and longer replies (on average I'll write 3-6 paragraphs), but I don't expect you to match length. What matters to me is the content of our posts and our ability to progress in the story we want to tell. I don't really do short convos anymore (unless it's dash crack) and I don't write unplotted starters because they often lead nowhere. If you have ideas for our muses, just message me and if you don't have ideas yet but would like to write, let's plot together :)

IV. MEMES. Best way to get something started with me is through memes. Any memes in my meme tag are available without time limit for all mutuals, so no need to ask first, just send in whatever tickles your fancy! Heads up: it might take me forever and three days to respond, but I will get there eventually. Feel free to reblog any meme posts directly from my blog, I don't mind that at all. Bonus: there's a high chance you'll get a meme reply from me 84 years after sending it, when you no longer remember it.

V. SHIPPING. I am very selective with shipping on this muse but I am not closed off to the idea in theory. I don't insta-ship and once I do have a ship (or maybe more than one) I'll probably cap. If I write multiple ships, they are automatically in separate verses unless discussed otherwise. Don't be afraid to ask if you're interested in shipping, the worst case scenario could be that it doesn't work out.

VI. SOCIAL POLITICS.I am against callout and cancel culture and do not engage in it. Callouts will not be reblogged - I curate my dashboard my own way and I have no interest in being dragged into other people's fights. I don't respect publicly hating on fictional ships, characters or portrayals. I will never harass anyone or shame them for the fictional things they choose to write, I simply avoid, blacklist or block what I don't want to see. I believe the RPC would be a better place if people tried to be more tolerant, respectful and kind to one another.

Rules are subject to change. Thank you for reading this far! :)

[librainkblot]

When the World Ends, make Lemonade from Oranges. Character Index part I

This a character index and summary for a crossover AU I'm writing, as well as my first work I am posting here on Tumblr. This works expands over multiple fandoms, centering on Sam & Max Freelance Police, Psychonauts, and Count Duckula (a strange combination, I know). This will be split into parts considering how big it's gotten.

=========

In Summary: This Au takes place directly after the events of the Devil's Playhouse, with Sam and Max newly reunited. Unfortunately, Max's time travel has unforeseen consequences, triggering a domino effect that not only merges Sam and Max's timelines, but rips open portals to other dimensions. This forceful and chaotic introduction to the multiverse is dubbed the Great Universal Calamity, or GUK for short, by Mama Bosco. And as if the initial confusion isn't enough, the GUK is followed by an array of random and bizarre events that only adds fuel to fire: reanimating the dead, reversing gravity, making sentient toasters, blinking people out of existence and… creating babies? Now, not only do Sam and Max have to juggle their home becoming the epicenter hub of newly opened dimensions, but also raising an infant that strangely has their DNA and, just their luck, is a freakishly strong psychic with an unexplained connection to the Toys of Power.

Twelve years later, the multiverse has adapted to life post GUK. Darla "The Geek" Cotton-Hound has grown into a genius albeit sarcastic, loner pre-teen; raised in the heart of the GUK Hub thus making her unfazed by the chaotic mess that is her life.

Sam and Max are pretty happy with how they raised her, until they realize a bit too late that Geek missed out on many aspects of a normal childhood. Mainly socialization with other people, which Geek avoided like the plague, spending most of her time in her sub-basement-turned-laboratory. It doesn't help that her psychic powers have begun to grow stronger and neither know how to help.

Thankfully, a solution promptly presents itself when a flyer for Whisper Rock Psychic Summer Camp smacks Max in the face. A summer camp for psychic children run by a government with questionable intentions in the middle of nowhere? Sounds perfect!

=========

Character notes from observations and psychic foresight by Geek Cotton-Hound, as written in her journal, part I:

Darla “Geek” Cotton-Hound - Snarky child genius with psychic powers. Spends half her time reigning in her dads’ chaos and the other half building weapons of mass destruction.

Topaz Pandemik - Darla’s shy best friend who happens to be made out of living marble. Once lifted the neighbor's car with one hand to reach Geek’s lost hair ribbon. 

Rasputin “Raz” Aquato - Young psychic prodigy who has goals of becoming the best Psychonaut agent. Is not having the best day.

D’Artagnan “Dart” Lobo - Newest (and grumpiest) camper at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp. Thought there was something off about Geek the moment she arrived.

Count Radish Duckula - Vegetarian vampire and the latest incarnation of the Duckula line. Tired of Igor signing him up for various villain leagues.

[storecowboys]

Interstate 40 Texas USA T-Shirt

 Here are some recommendations for shirt designs in the same theme that you may be interested in:

DALLAS COWBOYS NFL TEAM T-Shirt

I might live in Oklahoma but my team is in Dallas T-Shirt

Dallas Cowboys A Son'S First Hero A Daughter'S First Love Dad Happy Father'S Day 2020 T-Shirt

Dallas cowboys queen classy sassy and a bit smart assy classic shirts

Interstate 40 Texas USA T-Shirt

Solve Your Fashion Dilemma with Dallas Cowboys-Themed T-Shirts

Finding the Perfect Balance Between Style and Fandom As a Dallas Cowboys fan, you want to show your unwavering support for your favorite team while still looking stylish. However, finding the right balance between team spirit and fashion can be a challenge. Generic sports apparel often lacks the flair and individuality you desire. That's where our Dallas Cowboys-themed t-shirts come in.

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[chaotic-average-child]

Funny you should mention this random stranger!

For I have not left this fandom and still make stuff and am fully taking this opportunity to info dump!

(this is the latest thing ive done so I'm jumping off it for me going through my au hc stuff)

Tw for: side character death and minor character death

A lot of this is more broad than the triplets themselves but I wanna write down this context even if the triplets themselves don't care or aren't impacted by it. Also im sorry if this sounds like a shojo anime or just generally crazy its the first time I'm writing it down 😭

---

Island itself hcs,

Its powered by a stone at the heart of the island, years ago as the chaos emeralds came to earth one of them hit the island merging with the natural crystals, they amplify power, becoming the heart of Christmas island (still 7 emeralds, this is taking the 8th from some games lmfao)

When the heart of Christmas couldn't hold it's new power in it simply split a piece off, becoming the first monarch of the island.

They would later have 2 children, Irene and Iero (this part isnt as thought out yet as the island itself so im leaving it here, we'll get into it later)

As generations pass from the first the amount of residual power fluctuates, pieces of the initial crystal becomes more and more shattered as the descendants become more organic than energy.

(clarification: a piece of the crystal is imbeded in each of them it just becomes smaller and smaller as it needs to break off from their parents. But they also get more organic so it evens out)

---

Irene and Iero, tdlr: Irene was power hungry so Iero created the staff of Christmas using the heart as the material to seal her into the heart. Thanks to being made from the heart only ppl decended from Iero can use the staff

(its more complicated than that as its somewhat sentient and only the oldest living descendant can technically use it without harm but I'm not getting into that rn)

What I will talk about is the powers decended from Iero and how that works,

There's 3 powers that can be inherited, speed, strength, and foresight

Speed and strength is inherited in a pattern of "strength, speed, strength," someone with speed will have a child with strength first, and if they have a 2nd then they will have speed. Reverse is true as well.

Foresight is more complicated as it will choose a host out of the available, most commonly the oldest but can be younger etc.

---

(im gonna go into Aleena and Tania really fast since its my most recent development mentally)

(B4 that I just gave the royal family the last name Christmas because I thought it made sense)

Aleena and Tania are twins born to Brenda of Christmas island, Aleena being older, this is important due to magic bs

---

Some hcs for the 5

Aleena is incredibly fast, while Tania is extremely strong, foresights holder isnt discovered till later (its Aleena)

Aleena is headstrong and incredibly stubborn while still holding her responsibilities

Tania is more on edge

Jules was a well known motorbike racer before settling,

Aleena and Jules bonded on speed

Charles and Ivo were close as they ended up in the same department early on

Charles doesn't understand mechanics too well but is very good at biology

Ivo decided to learn as much for everything as he could

---

The two later go off to a university where they meet 3 important people.

Ivo Robotnik, Jules and Charles Maurice

They become something of friends and after their education go back to Christmas, they send in a good word for Charles and Ivo, who later become employed in their science department.

While that happens Aleena and Jules become closer and eventually start dating

Sometime after this something disturbs the heart causing Aleena and Tania to meet face to face with Irene Peculia, who escaped her crystal prison

Im not gonna get into what happened there rn since its still kinda a wip but whats important is that Tania dies, the staff is found, a prophecy is made, and the seeds of Eggman are born.

---

Underground begins

Here's what im sure most people would be interested in over my deranged context rambling but here we go😭

---

A siege on the castle begins shortly after the triplets are born.

Queen Aleena is betrayed by one of her closest allies Ivo Robotnik, who has decided to take the throne by force.

Jules buys time for her to make it to the hidden city of Mobodoon, he ends up dying before being robotiziced

Charles starts the resistance.

Aleena took pieces of the heart with her that she used to create the medallions in mobodoon.

The triplets aren't separated for 2 years, when Aleena remembers the prophecy made when she was young.

Separating the three is the same as in the show

---

Actually good time to mention that a lot of this stuff happens like the show, (not everything but major plot happens)

Important exceptions

---

Mobodoon isnt another universe, its tied to Christmas

Manic Sonia and Sonic are 10

They meet knuckles but Sonic and knuckles do not interact as much

The events only take place on one island

Most minor episodes arent relevant

---

The ending is the biggest difference

Sonic Sonia and Manic confront Robotnik at the top of Robotropolis castle

As things get heated Sonic doesn't notice a stray bullet about to strike him

Aleena jumps in front of him, curses Eggman, dies

The three are distraught at different levels, and Eggman gets kicked from the island for good.

---

Sonia is crowned queen shortly after Eggman is kicked from the island.

She and Sonic argue for a while before Sonic decides to leave for good.

Manic decides to hit a middle ground of leaving but coming back frequently enough to have a job in the court.

Sonic goes through the game timeline & Idw

Sonic 1-3 happens 3 years after Aleena dies.

(He and knuckles don't recognize eachother as they didn't interact much and it was 3 years prior)

Manic still steals, and has his own situation with the chaotix.

Manic helped durring the forces crisis with the resistance but dipped before they rescued Sonic

(No one knows the relation aside from knuckles)

(which as funny as itd be for knuckles to not realize that sonic was that sonic until manic shows up, he did realize shortly after realizing eggman and Robotnik were the same guy)

Sonia has been investigating past events and recovering old documents while protecting the island.

Christmas island also has a large robot population due to robotiziation and was relatively fine during the metal virus as it had very few organics to latch onto to begin with.

Sonia and Knuckles have kept in contact occasionally as she researches the past of the island.

Most of these side things I'm planning on making small comics for, (manic comic...)

I'm not gonna get into the several possible reunion scenarios rn, i could, but i wont

A summary for one is

A sudden realization that a prophecy had been misread leads to a series of events that all come down to Sonic going back to the one place he never wanted to see again.

Anyway... Sorry for adding so much context but I saw this opportunity to bring out all my extra lore 😭

pissed off sonic with a manic from the same plot bunny head space mental story thing i made.... the entire page is just a bunch of heads lmao

[nenyabusiness]

Fic authors self-rec! ✨ When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you’ve written, then pass on to at least five other writers ❤️

Thank you for the tag, @myfavouritelunatic! I think I’m gonna go a little multi-fandom this time, actually.

The Return of the Queen: The first installment of the Oathbound series. Galadriel x Halbrand/Sauron, Rings of Power.

The Heart of Mordor: My latest installment of the Oathbound series. TRotQ is still my favorite, but I have to say that I really like this one. Galadriel x Halbrand/Sauron, Rings of Power.

Dream Within a Dream: The result of me trying to merge Rings of Power with Tolkien’s canon timeline, which somehow ended up in dream smut. Galadriel x Halbrand/Sauron, Rings of Power.

A reluctant compromise: Force bond smut. Simple as that. My most popular fic on Ao3. Rey x Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, The Last Jedi.

Him. A series of vignettes exploring the aftermath of The Last Jedi (and, of course, the force bond). Rey x Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, The Last Jedi.

Most people seem to have been tagged already, so... if you’re reading this and you haven’t done it already, consider yourself tagged.

[itsclydebitches]

Clyde, I’m so sorry, but I HATE Oscar as much as the rest of RWBY+, now. He’s forgiven 2 assholes, letting the fact he was never slighted by Emerald blind him to the people who have to an infuriating degree, lecturing Yang and Jaune while defending her from Ruby like they’re all supposed to be fine with it. He also went along with way too much of the plan to destroy two cities and render millions homeless. He and Weiss are ruined, I hate every character now and I’m done with this fucking show.

Ngl, my farm boy seriously frustrated me this volume. And see, that’s something I’ve been grappling with lately. I’ve see a number of posts point out - correctly! - that you’re not always supposed to agree with a well-written character. Let characters be assholes! Let them be stupid! Let them exhibit all the traits an actual human would, which does not include an ability to be perfect at all times! So I keep coming back to this question of whether Oscar’s characterization is well done, even if I don’t personally like his choices. 

Aaaand I keep answering my own question with, “No, it’s just badly written” lol. 

Because the story (the author) needs to be aware of these traits. They need to exist for a reason. I’ve delved into this a bit in my latest BTD Recap (yes, those are still a thing, despite my snail’s space) when it comes to Coco’s characterization. When these people do something stupid, or cruel, or arrogant, there’s no acknowledgement of that from the text. No one is pointing out how insanely foolish it was for Oscar to give Hazel the password, angry that he would risk one of their greatest weapons - and endanger the world - based on his personal desire to believe the best in everyone. No one is allowed to be legitimately angry that he, a comparative outsider, is pressuring them to work with the woman who helped murder their friend and destroy their school. (No, Yang’s brief pushback doesn’t count when it exists solely for Oscar and Ren to counter, making her appear stubborn and too closed off. Yang is the one who is supposed to learn to be more forgiving here). RWBY has its characters engaging in incredibly polarizing behavior, but then acts as if no one could ever disagree with these choices. So when the audience does disagree, it feels like the story is too limited, approaching its own plot with a narrow, biased lens. It’s like the character version of watching Yang fall. Just because the story willingly ignores all the obvious pushbacks here - but aura, but strategy, but staying conscious, but glyphs, but speed semblance - doesn’t mean the end result is a good one.  With Oscar, it feels like the story is ignoring all the problems with his choices, thereby stalling growth rather than forwarding it (which is what the show tires to claim is happening). I agree entirely that it makes sense for Oscar to trust people, perhaps more than his team members. It made sense to me that he’d be the one to try and talk to Ironwood. But not just talking, but giving Hazel the password? Emerald? Never mentioning the cane? Keeping Ozpin a secret when he first came back? The continued mess with the merge? At this point I am, quite literally, unsure who Oscar is compared to Ozpin (especially given the lack of work done to help us know him individually) and what little we’ve got is, currently, making me want to bang my head against the metaphorical wall. I don’t think I’ve ever watched another series where there is SO MUCH setup for growth, only for the story to insist again and again that what the character did was The Perfect Thing actually and they should never question their initial impulses, let alone experience consequences that would lead to them learning something in the future. What did Oscar learn this volume? Uh... magic will arrive in the nick of time to save you, your friends will magically find you in a massive kingdom, but they’ll stand around while you’re kidnapped, keeping secrets is still fine provided you’re the one doing it, torture sucks, if you believe hard enough your worst enemies will become friends, don’t try to get Relics back, magic will arrive in the nick of time to save you again, if you believe hard enough again your worst enemies will become friends, you can now remember moments that you weren’t present for. 

None of this gets me excited for Oscar’s future, especially when the merge is still a mess and he’s fighting against Ruby’s status as protagonist. I love Oscar, but a great deal of that love is a result of his early potential and how the fandom has characterized him. Now that RWBY is actually giving him stuff to do and not having the cast treat him horribly anymore, they’re failing to write him in a logical and compelling manner. Which isn’t surprising given that the whole cast is facing the same difficulties. This isn’t an Oscar problem, it’s a RWBY problem. 

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Podcasting "Self Publishing"

This week on my podcast, I read my latest Medium column, “Self-Publishing,” an essay about the structural shifts in the publishing industry over the past half-century and how and why that has driven people to try self-publishing.

https://doctorow.medium.com/self-publishing-41800468bcfe

The tale starts with the rise of Big Box stores, after Reagan’s deregulation got Sam Walton to take Walmart national. This concentrated the “mass market” — the huge, variegated world of pharmacy and grocery and cornerstore spinner racks that were the cradle of genre fiction.

The big boxes demanded a single national distribution system, and hundreds of local distributors — whose unionized Teamsters stocked the spinner racks based on long territorial experience — collapsed to a handful of database-driven decision-makers.

The number of titles for sale fell off a cliff. Writers who had a single underperforming book were no longer welcome in the big boxes and thus no longer economically viable (remember all those established writers who switched to pen-names? They were trying to beat this).

Monopoly begets monopoly. The predatory discounting of the big box stores put the squeeze on chain bookstores and indies. The chains merged and merged into a duopoly, while the indies underwent a mass die-off.

Publishers were caught in this squeeze: the two national bookstore chains and the big box stores demanded extra co-op payments, preferential discounts, and more generous credit and return policies. The publishers merged and merged, down to six (now four).

This also happened with trade distributors (who sold to bookstores, not the mass market) — the industry collapsed into a duopoly (today, it’s a monopoly, run by Ingram).

This is a familiar pattern across all monopolized industries.

As David Dayen described in MONOPOLIZED, this neatly parallels the monopolization of health care: pharma monopolized and gouged hospitals, who monopolized in self-defense and gouged insurers, who monopolized in self-defense.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/29/fractal-bullshit/#dayenu

Both monopolistic trends had the same end-point: after all the companies had finished monopolizing, the disorganized group of suppliers and workers were the only ones that the monopolies could strong-arm. In the case of hospitals, that’s health-workers and patients.

In publishing, it’s workers and writers. If you work in publishing and your resume is rejected by four companies, it has been rejected by every major publisher. If you’re a writer whose book is rejected by four publishers, then you’ve been rejected by every major house.

That’s why writers are now expected to give up graphic novel, audio, world English, and other valuable rights for the same advances — with fewer companies bidding on books, the likelihood that one will pay more or demand less goes down.

In the 2000s and early 2010s, some writers hoped that they’d be able to sidestep publishing by allying themselves with a different monopolized industry, locking themselves to Amazon’s platform. But as competition from publishers dwindled, so too did Amazon’s largesse.

The authors who shackled themselves to Amazon now face tens of millions of dollars in wage-theft. The solution to unfair treatment at the hands of giants isn’t to ally yourself with an even bigger giant and hope for its ongoing generosity.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/11/03/somebody-will/#acx

A more promising sign is in the wave of mid-sized houses that have snapped up the workers shed by Big Publishing during mergers as well as the promising new publishing workers who are surplus to the Big Four’s needs.

These presses punch way above their weight, thanks in part to the number of great books that just don’t fit into the publishing needs of four giant houses. But as great as this is, it’s intrinsically precarious.

These mid-sized houses can’t stand up to the might of one distributor, one national bookseller, four big box stores, and one giant ecommerce monopoly. Earlier mass die-offs in indie publishing (like the American Marketing Services horror story) show how fragile this is.

Which brings us to self-publishing. There have never been more sophisticated tools for making polished, professional books on your own — Lulu.com, Smashwords, Bookbaby — and (thanks to layoffs) it’s never been easier to find publishing pros to help with that process.

But that’s not “publishing.” As Patrick Nielsen Hayden once told me (paraphrasing), “Publishing is identifying a work and an audience and doing whatever it takes bring the two together.” In other words, how do you convince people to give a shit about your book?

This is an incredibly hard problem. It’s the hard problem of advertising, religion and politics. There’s no established method for it because the attention wars are a race against adaptation — what worked yesterday won’t work today.

https://locusmag.com/2018/01/cory-doctorow-persuasion-adaptation-and-the-arms-race-for-your-attention/

If you want to self-publish, you need to observe books like yours, identify how they are discovered by their audiences, formulate a plan to do the same, execute the plan, measure your results, and change the plan and do it again, and again, and again.

Publishers don’t just have systems and experts — they also have multiple data-points, a stream of books where they get to try different things, refine their successful tactics, and try again. You have a data-set with one point in it: you.

It follows that if you’re not prepared to work as hard (and well) at marketing, sales and promotion as you did at writing, you probably shouldn’t self-publish. Doing those things won’t guarantee your success, but without them, failure is all but assured.

That said, the one area where self-publishers can sometimes outdo publishers is accessing (parts of) the mass-market. The vast majority people aren’t “readers” (in the sense of being people who regularly buy books, go to bookstores, etc).

Every mega-bestseller is just a book that succeeded with a tiny sliver of nonreaders. And you might know more about a community of nonreaders — a faith group, fandom, subculture or political movement — than anyone in publishing.

If that’s the case, and if you are both diligent and lucky, you might be able to successfully market you book to that group and even leverage that success into a publishing deal that brings your book to “readers” — whom a publisher knows more about than you ever will.

I published by first book in 2000. Since then, I’ve published a couple dozen more, everything from novels for adults to YA novels to a middle-grades graphic novel to a picture book to essay and short story collections to book-length nonfiction.

I’ve published many books, including multiple bestsellers, with one of the Big Four publishers, and I’ve also published with several mid-sized boutique presses (some of which have merged with bigger publishers since).

I’ve successfully self-published, including a $267,000, record-smashing Kickstarter campaign. I’m a recovering bookseller and I’m unhealthily drawn to great bookstores, which are doing surprisingly well (thanks partly to Libro.fm and Bookshop.org).

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/attack-surface-audiobook-for-the-third-little-brother-book

Despite all this, I’m keenly aware that runaway consolidation makes my position as a worker in this system intrinsically precarious. The wonderful people in big publishing love books and treat me very well, but they can’t fix the system.

I’ve met sincere, talented people at Amazon doing their best to support publishing, but they can’t fix the system either. Neither can James Daunt, a true hero of bookselling who has come to America to transform Barnes and Noble.

Monopoly begets monopoly. If any part of the supply chain is allowed to monopolize, the rest will follow in self-defense, and it will always be the workers — the writers and staff — who struggle to push back.

That’s why the current resurgence of both trade-unionism and antitrust are so important. In a world whose outcomes are more determined by power relationship than by good intentions, the only way to secure workers’ futures is to make them stronger and make business weaker.

The essay is here:

https://doctorow.medium.com/self-publishing-41800468bcfe

The podcast episode is here:

https://craphound.com/news/2021/07/05/self-publishing/

The MP3 is here (hosting courtesy of the Internet Archive, they’ll host your stuff for free, forever):

https://archive.org/download/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_396/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_396_-_Self_Publishing.mp3

And here’s my podcast feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast

[iturbide]

If you are still up for character asks, how about Sumia. I was sad no one asked about her yet.

And your latest fan art got me interested in also hearing your thoughts on Takumi. If you feel ok answering since I know you haven't played Fates.

I’ve been sad about that too so thank you for rectifying that situation ❤

How do I feel about this character?

My girl.  I love Sumia so much, she is one of my absolute favorite characters in Awakening and one I will never pass up an opportunity to write.  I love her and how passionate she is about books, how deeply invested she gets in the stories and characters and how she uses them both as an escape from her own life (where she can’t help but dwell on her own shortcomings) and as a source of inspiration and courage.  There’s something intensely relatable about wanting an escape like that, feeling outclassed or useless and getting lost in a book as a way to cope -- and yet she’s so capable, even if she doesn’t recognize it herself.  She seems so used to people looking down on her or criticizing what she does or making fun of her slip-ups that she’s started to really believe all of it, when the reality is that her mistakes have never been her defining trait: seeing her learn to embrace her own skills and talents is so heartwarming and I find myself constantly rooting for her to succeed in everything.

Who do I ship this character with romantically?

Sully!!  Sully and Sumia is one of my favorite ships in all of Awakening, honestly: I love these two ladies who are so gung-ho about horses and bond over that mutual interest and I love the idea of them getting together and learning more about each other, bolstering one another’s confidence (Sully reassuring Sumia that she’s more capable than she thinks and offering to train her if it would make her feel more assured, Sumia insisting that Sully doesn’t need to be girly to be a woman and gushing about how she admires the cavalier) and falling for one another in the process.  It’s just really warm and I love it a lot, and given how encouraging they are in their supports, I really think they’d be a fantastic match for each other.

Also, I do love her with Chrom, and I feel like she’d be an encouraging influence for him, doing what she can to give him confidence and help him keep moving forward in spite of the obstacles; she’s such a bright and refreshing character and I think they could end up working really well together, leveraging their individual strengths to make the halidom a better place.  And I really enjoy her with Robin, too, considering how they bond over their mutual love of books, and I think Robin would be one of those people who really can see her for who she is, rather than the klutz she sees herself as.  It’s especially good when it’s both of them together with her though (yes I love my OT3).

Who is my brOTP for this character?

Robin and Sully, when I’m not shipping them!  Their relationships are so strong and they’re founded on such deep rooted friendship that even when I have them in other relationships, those bonds remain.  Also, even though she doesn’t have any supports with him in the game (which is criminal), I love the idea of a Sumia and Kellam friendship.  Kellam is someone who struggles to be noticed, Sumia’s someone who often seems to wish she could disappear.  The idea of them coming together and overcoming their obstacles together is really heartwarming to me.

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character?

She’s so much more capable than fandom wants to give her credit for.  Most people seem to write her off as stupid, passing over her as a brainless klutz in favor of the “genius” Cordelia -- but this is such a disservice to Sumia and her character.  She’s a fantastic fighter if given the chance, outrunning and outmaneuvering enemies, and while the game loves to play her off as comic relief, she’s a character with interesting, thoughtful support conversations whose life clearly doesn’t revolve around getting a man’s attention.  She’s her own person with hopes and dreams, hobbies and interests, unique skills and charming quirks, and bothering to get to know her really allows her to shine.

And personally, I don’t think she’s actually that clumsy.  Sure, she can be a little scatterbrained sometimes, but even the smartest and most capable people can be; when she has too many things to juggle she slips up in comic ways, but when push comes to shove she’s incredibly capable; if she weren’t, she never would have been able to rescue Chrom at the Longfort (sometimes I think people forget that she’s the one who swept in and got him clear of the javelins).

(And for a bonus unpopular opinion: I hate Cordelia and Sumia as a ship.  Cordelia is so mean to Sumia in their supports, banning Sumia from telling her flower fortunes because she personally doesn’t see value in them -- she doesn’t even bother trying to understand what Sumia’s doing or why, she just decides that her own way is the only right way, which is not how friends should act; putting them in a relationship is out of the question for me.)

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon?

Why does she have so few supports?  It’s not fair that she can so easily end up alone because the game limits her options so much; aside from Chrom, she has the fewest marriage options, but unlike him she doesn’t have an auto-marriage after a certain point.  It’s not fair that the game treated her that way, and I wish canon had given her more supports, platonic and romantic both.  Again, seeing her with Kellam would have been incredible, and I really wish they’d bothered to give her a support chain with Maribelle, too, considering how Maribelle treats her early on; it would have been amazing to see them work things out.

and you know I was wondering if people forgot my favorite Fates character

How do I feel about this character?

I have never played Fates.  I know about these games purely through fandom osmosis.  And yet I will say, in no uncertain terms, that Takumi is my absolute favorite Fates character. Fallen Takumi is still one of my very few units at +10 merges in Heroes because I love him that much.  And it’s kind of hilarious how it came to this because it’s kind of Heroes’ fault that I’m in this situation. 

I remember when the game first launched how much of a pain he was in the early Arena before Skill Inheritance was a thing, and how the only reliable counter I had for him was Hector because I’d never gotten Takumi myself.  And then one day he randomly showed up in a summon, and I was so excited I ran off to train him immediately...and realized as I did that this guy has some massive self-esteem problems.  It’s what got me interested in him in the first place, enough to do some digging in the wikis, and I kind of fell in love with his character: he’s smart, he’s capable, but he has a massive inferiority complex since he’s grown up in the shadow of his older brother -- something Corrin’s return manages to make worse, since everyone kind of loses their minds over it and pushes him down and away despite the fact that he’s the only one being sensible and questioning whether they can really trust Corrin after they were brought up in Nohr.  While he has an attitude problem that needs to be addressed (though it’s nowhere near as bad as Felix’s), he can get better and gain confidence in himself and his abilities...but in Conquest, his fate is an absolutely tragic one, where his self-doubt and anger allow Anankos a foothold, something to prey upon, and ultimately lead to his loss of control, loss of self, and loss of life.  His story just really hits me in the heart, kind of like Lyon, and I just want to see him grow and overcome his doubts. 

Who do I ship this character with romantically?

Okay so this is probably where my not having played the game is going to bite me but I have no idea. There are so many characters in Fates and I don’t even know half of them.  I know Leo is a popular partner for him but I’ve never really seen the chemistry there so I can’t say that’s for me; I could always cheat and say I ship him with happiness because honestly that is true, I really do want him to be happy first and foremost, but I don’t have an actual character answer whoops.

Who is my brOTP for this character?

Azura.  I love the idea of the two of them coming together as friends, both haunted and hounded by nightmares and terrible thoughts they can’t seem to shake, and finding ways to support one another through it.  I get the feeling that Takumi might have treated Azura with some distrust early on, but despite the fact that she came from Nohr, I honestly think they could have ended up having a close bond in Hoshido growing up as they struggle with their own problems, and it would have been amazing to see them come together to overcome them.  Also, I love the idea of him and Sakura being close as siblings, with Takumi protecting Sakura and helping draw attention off her when she’s feeling especially shy while she tries to encourage him and give him a place where he can relax with and get away from all his issues for a little while, someone he can enjoy himself with and not have to think about his problems.

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character?

I actually don’t know what kind of popular opinions there are about Takumi so I have no idea what kind of unpopular opinion I could have.  Honestly I don’t see anywhere near enough to Takumi in general since he seems to be eclipsed by not only his older brother but the Nohrian royals in fandom-wide popularity; is it an unpopular opinion to want more people to give him a chance, rather than writing him off as just an angry nay-sayer?  Because honestly, he is the only one with any sense, since he’s the only one who thinks to distrust Corrin when they return.

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon?

Okay so this is really really niche but I really wish they’d made Takumi Corrin’s half-brother rather than just a step-brother.  It honestly would have made so much sense?  Takumi’s the only other character who has the same kind of pale hair that Corrin canonically does, even if it’s not the exact same shade, so if that came from Mikoto it would fit perfectly with not only Corrin’s and Takumi’s hair color, but Sakura’s hair being that super pale pink compared to Hinoka’s vibrant red, which is what you’d probably expect from Ikona and Sumeragi after Ryoma inherited his father’s very dark hair.  I get the feeling they didn’t do it because they wanted to make all the royals available as romance options, which is both cheap and gross (and after what they did with Azura in Revelations it’s worse), but I think it would have been a really interesting plot element if they’d taken the time.

Give Me a Character  

[magicaltear]

13, 15, 21, 29, and 48!

Answering for these Fanfiction Writer Asks! Thank you for sending these, Yonder! ♥

13) Who is your least favourite character to write for? Why?

I’m guessing we’re sticking to the 1917 fandom for this one? If so, then Will’s daughters/nieces would definitely be my least favorite to write for. Writing children is so difficult when you haven’t been around toddlers in ages. They either sound too adult or too infantile. What do kids talk about anyway!? And to a traumatized soldier who has been gone for at least 3 years at that!?

15) If you write OC’s, how do you decide on their names?

That would depend on the genre of my story. If it’s a historical fic, then I’ll look up the popular names that appeared in the census of the years I’m writing about. That’s what I did to name Albert and Norman, my Yorks OCs. If I’m writing in a fantasy or sci-fi setting, then I either use name generators for inspiration or sound out cool names and play around with their spellings.

21) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?

Aww yesss, time for me to gush! You know I’m already a huge fan of our writers in the 1917 Officers’ Club, so I’ll mention writers from other fandoms to spread the love.

@xxiiyu practically brought me back into fanworks with his brilliant fic Of the Northmost Winds and Skies. You want to read a HTTYDxROTG masterpiece? Then read this fic. I learned so freaking much about foreshadowings, set ups and payoffs, and worldbuilding through his writing.

@whirlybirbs specializes in reader inserts, a type of writing I personally am not good at. Her OCs merge perfectly into every world she tackles and are so wholesome and complete regardless of the vague nature of reader inserts. Her romance style is always so endearing and heartwarming too!

@determamfidd is one of the greatest writers in the LotR fandom. Her fic Sansûkh is massive, and I’ll always admire her dedication to it. Her skills at worldbuilding and characterization easily make me believe her fics were written by Tolkien himself. I aim to become as good a writer as her!

And as a little bonus, I just have to mention my dear @vannral, a 1917 fic writer not in our beloved Club. Her beautiful fic a long road down the river is what got me to join the fandom. I love how she cares for Schofield’s every thought and feeling, and her slow-burn is downright poetic. I have so much to learn from you, my dear friend!

29) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like?

Hmm, I’m not sure. My latest work, The Kindness Thenceforth, didn’t get quite as much attention as my first works. However, I totally understand why, considering it focuses on my OC’s. I know that doesn’t tend to be very popular, but I still like to think that my fic is very tender and worth some love ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

48) What’s your favourite trope to write?

I like writing fix-it fics and established relationships. I haven’t posted any of my longer works yet, so all of my current ones are one-shots written for specific Discord events. Tackling a story in medias res is crucial in order to add strength and impact to the limited word count. Plus, I tend to get a bit overwhelmed by the amount of work and scenes that must be included in longer works ;;;;

Thanks again for humoring me, Yonder! I’m having so much fun answering these asks ♥