#official tag for my worldbuilding i guess!

[jamlabs]

Ok because I'm brainrotted. More facts about the Guilty Gear Inside My Brain

- there is a universal translation spell. Since the GG stories have people speaking all one language, I assumed that there is a sort of translation effect going on: axl speaking 1990s English would not let him interact with literally anyone in the present considering peoples various nationalities. Also explains why ppl all speak a certain language for the viewer

- Illyria is a melting pot so language over there is fucked. It's a mix of a lot of western European languages bc countries and boundaries sort of got blown up during the crusades

- The Crusades were a lot worse in my head. Like they are kind of glossed over except for the whole "a lot of people died" but it was bad bad. An immortal enemy and her endlessly propagating soldiers makes morale both incredibly hard to keep up and incredibly important to maintain

- On that note rations during this time were super commonplace. A lot of time was spent making food and resources available for The Holy Order. Large scale farms were often the target of Justice's attacks so food in general was pretty scarce. Civilians had to ration distributed food and usually supplemented it with small farms and livestock if possible. A few squadrons of the Order started eating slain gears when it came down to it (based on animals, probably okay to cook and eat. Due to hyper-regeneration I don't think gears tasted good at all but a war is a war)

- Morale is part of why Ky was appointed as a Commander so young. Propaganda wise he is just picture perfect, the kid who beat the odds and always has Hope . Perfect for morale in the Order and for civvies

- Kliff did his best to keep him out of the propaganda side of things but he is sort of ruled by the UN and their funding so :(

- Back to point one, the first time Axl timeslipped he got really really sick because of all the new viruses/germs/health shit his body wasn't used to . Modern Magical Medicine mitigates the stuff axl brings forwards though :) (the worst of it is usually the sniffles)

- the Former United States got hit the worst with the gear attacks at the beginning and them having a centralized government is an extremely new thing. States as we know them no longer exist in anything but name as they are effectively large enough communities that live in a given area. The amount of territory controlled by the centralized government is actually pretty small

- Magic does not make it easier to continent hop. I don't care if everyone can teleport or some shit i studied way too many planes to make it that easy. Boats piloted by those with water magic or magic-powered airships are the primary forms of cross-continental transportation here. Its common knowledge that if you want to beef up your ship you'll use Black Tech from Zepp. They have quite literally perfected engines from sub to supersonic since the Dawn of Revival they know their fucking planes

- most civilians don't have a large scale form of transportation. Large scale settlements are connected by magi-rail, and bicycles are becoming more common. Those who do have cars either have a small, compact car, or one that's used for many people in a given location, depending on how many people live at that location

-Sol's bike is augmented with black tech because he doesn't give a shit.

- a lot of things are still being worked on: science took a massive hit with the destruction of knowledge in 99 and then another hit when the crusades started. Most innovation during that time went into how to kill more gears and let people survive so in peacetime more effort has gone towards uh. Other stuff.

- voyager 1 and 2 still operated and stopped transmitting data when their supply of plutonium was no longer able to power them. The Golden Record is still up and out there. :)

[ultra-raging-ghost]

hey

This is my "intro" post even tho ive been here for several years, new hfx new me

Names Ghost or Magic, im 18 (almost 19 in january) and i use all pronouns including neos/xenos!

My current hyperfixation is QSMP so its what this blogs mainly about even though its my main blog i put everything on here, this will change when that changes

My main POVs are BBH and the entirety of the morning crew, i also watch bagi and occasionally foolish :3

Since im maining QSMP right now here's my main tags you can search on my blog:

-#qsmp fanart

-#qsmp

-#live blogging

-#Dapper time, #pomme time, etc. these correlate with the eggs who are the main focus while bad's gone i try to tag them

Im VERY liberal with my block button, i block over minor or major things, but i try to be fair

My DMs and ask box are always open, im always free to talk to, i mutual a lot of people for fun but i dont ask to mutual bc i dont like to pressure anyone :3

I dont RB those posts that are like "RB this for good luck/or else youll get bad luck" because i think those are stupid

My first language is english but i know a little portuguese and im learning spanish, which i know a fair amount of!

My timezone is EST but i have a shitty sleep schedule cause im out of school/not working right now so its anyones guess as to when im awake

A big rule of mine is no attacking creators or even players, i like analysis of shitty characters but if your neg isnt tagged accordingly you suck, and if you harass the CCs you also suck, i dont sugarcoat when it comes to that <3

otherwise uhhh have fun here i guess :3

oh also P.S. i like homestuck. if you see me quadrant any of the cubitos no you didnt unless you also like homestuck then yes you did

OFFICIAL KING OF CUCUHALO SIDE OF TUMBLR LETS GOOOO VVVVTHE PLAYLIST VVVVV

(cover by @mangofanarts adding it here so more people see it please go check out their art theyre really cool^^)

[pleasestaywithmedarling]

Author Ask Game

Thanks for the tag @starlit-hopes-and-dreams!

I'll gently tag @verkja, if you'd like, cause I am SO excited that I should finally have time soon to start reading your work, and I'd love to hear more about it if you're down! And of course, anyone is welcome to jump in; please tag me if you do!

I only have one fic on this side of the internet, so this will all be about my WIP Sin of Purity, Purity of Sin.

What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

I personally don't vibe with the idea of writing "lessons." I guess the ideas that have been sticking out to me the most have probably been guilt and innocence, and the way the past can recontextualize the present and vice versa. But that's just me; I'm sure anyone could read this and see something completely different.

Or maybe we're all just here for the whump :)

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

Disclaimer: I have nothing at all against any religion that is not causing anyone harm; there are obviously a lot of wonderful religions and religious people in the world, and I 100% support that.

That being said, the key feature of the worldbuilding in this fic is the official religion of the kingdom, and that was very much inspired by my own wildly toxic religious upbringing. Before I started writing, I didn't really bother to plan out what most writers would consider the basic features of a fantasy world--I don't think I even got around to naming the kingdom the story takes place in until maybe a half-dozen chapters in. But I had worked out a lot about the fundamental theology and practices of the worship of Vato, the way the temple system is organized, the relationship between the temple and the culture and subcultures of the kingdom, the doctrines and practices that are basically arbitrary or just make no sense, etc. And all of it draws pretty heavily from my own experiences with the type of churches that I grew up in.

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

Okay so the obvious answer is that Anden and Kiri are both trying to gain their freedom. But Anden would prefer to achieve that by his own strength--he doesn't like feeling weak, and to him being forced to rely on others can sometimes feel like weakness. And Kiri...I think Kiri would prefer the temple simply have a change of heart and let them go lol

If there's anything that I'm trying to achieve with them, I guess it's just the catharsis that I personally get from watching them suffer together the different ways that they're growing, both individually and together.

How many chapters is your story going to have?

No idea! The events of the story are all mapped out, but I'm letting myself just experiment and have fun with this fic, and I'm really trying to embrace serialization rather than try to match the pacing of a typical novel. I would say that the chapter I'm currently working on is right at the midpoint of the narrative arc--if that term even applies to my unstructured mess of a plot--but that may or may not mean I'm at the halfway point in terms of the chapter count. The back half of the second act could end up stretching out a good half dozen chapters, or for all I know it'll only take, like, two. And how long will the third act be? Who knows? Not me!

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

Unusually for me, this is an original. I will probably just keep in here on tumblr; idk if I'd want it on my AO3 account with my fanfiction--it feels odd to me to mix the two.

When and why did you start writing?

I started this one I think about a month and a half ago--it has not been long! Tbh I'd had a pretty awful summer, and I'd been getting back into reading whump as a form of escapism. Had the idea for this one, and I realized it would do me a lot of good to have an outlet just making something I want to make, just cause I want to make it, and not worry about how good it is or what other people think about it. This is easily the most self-indulgent work I've ever written, and it makes me so happy to hear that anyone else is enjoying it too!

Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

Idk, you do you!

Oh gosh I hate doing these because I am SO forgetful and I feel like I always leave off a favorite blog! But here's a sampling of writers whose works I've been really enjoying this past year: @i-can-even-burn-salad, @little-peril-stories, @clairelsonao3, @dont-touch-my-soup, @whumpcereal, and of course @starlit-hopes-and-dreams who I guess I'm tagging twice in one post!

Blank questions below:

What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

How many chapters is your story going to have?

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

When and why did you start writing?

Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

[larkral]

My friends, this is the first week I have written something that isn’t for A Dangerous Affinity. Please rejoice with me, my fandom door is swinging a bit more widely open. (Specifically wide enough to admit smut.)

Six sentences from this week’s chapter of ADE, Simon’s POV. I love this section, so revisit (/visit) it with me:

He pulls his shoulders into a line. I’m starting to learn him, learn that there are signals in the ways he moves his body. I know this one so well, not just from him. From me. From everyone here. It means ‘I want something I won’t reach for.’

Six spicy sentences from a tentative @erotic-grope-fest​ piece (Baz POV). This idea took hold of me several weeks ago and when EGF signups got posted, I took it as a sign. I don’t know, I guess it’s too early to officially be participating, since confirmations aren’t until Dec 2, but I’m counting it. Below the cut for SPICE.

“Snow. Yes,” I moan, and his hands nearly rip my trousers and pants getting them off of me. 

I think I might die. Can you die from lust? I may be the first recorded case of death by arousal. I’m not sure my heart can take the vision he makes—rosy cheeked, panting, eyes bright and curious, taking a deep breath before he brushes his lips against me.

This week has been an earnestly top-3 difficult one in my personal life, so writing smut rather than emotionally intense and logistically involved slow burn + worldbuilding + multitude of braided plot lines has truly been a balm for my slightly overtaxed brain.

Thanks for tagging me @you-remind-me-of-the-babe​ @hushed-chorus​ @aroace-genderfluid-sheep​ @martsonmars​ !

@raenestee​ @artsyunderstudy​  @facewithoutheart​ @cutestkilla​  @sillyunicorn @basiltonbutliketheherb @ileadacharmedlife @asocialpessimist @bookish-bogwitch @aristocratic-otter @captain-aralias @petedavidsonscock @takitalks @yeonjunenby @carryonvisinata @takenabackbytuesdays @nightimedreamersghost @chen-chen-chen-again-chen @ionlydrinkhotwater

[copperdaisy]

Signed into my note keeping dreamwidth account to start moving notes for the shapeshifter AU there for safe keeping and ease of access. Found a list of fic titles waiting for assignment to actual plot ideas while I was there. (Anyone else keep lists of random title ideas in the hopes that one day they will be able to use them?)

Anyway, the shapeshifter AU finally does have an official title now. Pretty sure it was the one I was planning on using for it two years ago, or some version of the same then fledgling idea, but I guess this is a more rock solid commitment to it? So, going forward, the project name is “The Wind, It Howls”. Now... to work out things like plot and cast list.

And again, if anyone has any specific questions about things like worldbuilding points or possible character information or even thing like songs I listen to while working on this, feel free to drop it into my ask box. I will compile another post with mostly established info later since the other one is getting a bit long, but for now if you want to see what has already been talked about just check the “shapeshifter AU” tag here in the blog.

(Basic rundown: high fantasy AU where Mandalorians are shapeshifters, a decent variety of magic types exist, steampunk level technology, Din is a literal lone wolf at times dealing with a magic toddler, won’t be a scene by scene rewrite of the series but will essentially follow some of the main story beats of at least the first season, exact plot still up in the air.)

[catkin-morgs-kookaburralover]

hello! thanks for explaining the taira tag! i felt like it was book related but i was still way off! just for fun i'll explain what i had originally thought -

so i noticed a lot of rabbits and nature scenery in the tag, and it reminded me of watership down (which i read forever ago and don't recall that much of). i'm guessing you probably read it or know about it, either way i kept thinking that 'taira' was maybe a word from the lapine language they used in the book. and i was wracking my head trying to figure out what it meant, or maybe if it was one of the rabbits i had forgotten about...

anyway! please feel free to share as much about your story as you'd like! you mentioned it was a fanfic, may i ask what fandom it was originally inspired by? does it have influences from any other fandoms, too? and are the main characters animals or is it just set someplace where a lot of animals are present?

i hope things work out well with your book, and may God bless you and keep you always, you seem like such a kind-hearted person and your blog is so nice.

Understandable! Taira is definitely inspired by Watership Down, which I do love, so I suppose that's an influence. (Taira, the main character, is in fact a rabbit so that also tracks.)

It's a fanfic that's still available online, as a matter of fact, and I intend to have it remain so :) I will say it's on fanfiction.net and AO3, and if you care to take the time to find it, you'll've found me under my more normal name, lol.

It was a Narnia fanfic, written over the course of a week, a chapter a day. One of the things I liked about it originally, which I obviously can't have now as original fiction, is the interactions between Taira and King Edmund (I bent a few rules of dreams lol). Three of the main characters have been preserved (Taira, Paddy and Aki, although he's significantly less important than in that because he's got basically the same role and page time, only now in a longer work). Several new characters have been introduced (most importantly, Spry, Nadia, Sheba and Minna).

The main characters are animals! There are no humans in at least that part of that world (I'm vaguely keeping notes in case I ever want to write anything more set in that world). Taira is a rabbit, Paddy a fox, Aki a stag, Spry a duck - sorry, a grey teal, I discovered what it was yesterday, Nadia a rabbit, Sheba and Minna lynxes. (The fact that they are both lynxes is deliberate. What Paddy doesn't realise is that they're married and have been for as long as he's known them, but they don't make it public knowledge to avoid creatures claiming they're biased. Until near the end when Sheba is injured and Minna refuses to leave him because 'I'm his wife I can stay if I want!')

I've actually collected a bookshelf of books that it's inspired by or I want to evoke something of when writing! Let's see what I can remember offhand, probably not authors names, sorry. Tarka the Otter - I love its concise style and the way you can really feel they're animals. Watership Down - similar reasons. Calligraphy Guild - the overall warmth and wholesomeness of the story, and its fantastic worldbuilding. There are more, I know there are more. But I can't remember them offhand.

(Incidentally, I do have a new title now. But I'm keeping it largely under wraps at present, and probably won't reveal it here unless I make me an official author page and decide to connect them.)

Thanks so much for the ask! This was a lovely one to receive <3 I really appreciate the last paragraph especially.

[thomine]

slo's playlist of thoughts

description: a series of "announcements" and just things on my mind. i do hope to get them done (if these thoughts are action thoughts) so look out for those i guess? :3 | 05/08/23

since patch 4.0 will drop in mid-august, meaning we'll have more information of lynney and freminet, i was thinking of swapping repeated character's prompts that i'm not too interested in with the two boys. currently looking at baizhu + modern and (most likely) kazuha + farm/ranch. to be replaced with lynney and freminet respectively. (going to be honest: not really a big baizhu fan lmao. baizhu + modern sounds so so so boring).

probably will drop a post that explains 3-5 points per AU? not just what i thought on the fly that was the basis of the world, but also the potential of each fic based on what themes or symbolism popped up.

i know i said the works will be less than 1.5k for my au august challenge... but like... tighnari. you would understand too, right? plus, (i think) since it was a fic inspired by the work of someone who already did the heavy lifting of worldbuilding, it was easier to write more words for it. either way, i'm proud i managed to write 1.5k words (in the span of time that i did) but also i don't think i can keep this momentum up for the whole of august, so expect more less than 1k works even.

i might want to rewrite childe's portion. just because i feel bad for giving his story only 900 words then he shows up in the fontaine trailer. like, i'm not giving him justice bro. and he's in the nation of justice. the irony, haha.

so, as my friends would know, i'm not a huge baizhu fan but i rolled on kaveh's banner (you read that right) and did not get favourable results. this actually broke my pulling rule of only pulling on rerun banners and i can't believe i did that for a blonde. well... freminent..... (why are all the characters i like 4-stars that are not free-drops *screams*. anyways). i don't think i'll be pulling him this time... but i do hope i can have him sooner or later. there's just this feeling of satisfaction owning a character you write for, yk?

chongyun's fic (that is part of 10 confessions) will be rewritten (or tweaked) and published as a whole story after i complete chapter 2. i did say this in the tags but putting it here is like making it official, lol.

i did not forget 10 confessions. i will start working on it when i finish au august. i do want to expand on some of the au's even after august, so do not be surprised if i rewrite or start a new wip or even continue from where i left off in the future.

even though i want to continue 10 confessions after au august, do note that my primary concern will be my bennett fic meant for my friend's event !!! so... hopefully.... i have the energy to work on that! haha.

[antimony-medusa]

🤭 🤲🎯 ASK GAME!!

🤭 Do you have a favorite tag to use when posting your works?

There is a non-canon tag that I want to get canonized if I have to do it myself, which is Tone is a bit of a wild ride, which you put directly after the tags for Angst, Fluff, and Humour.

Aside from that, any time I get to include "worldbuilding" as a tag I am chortling with glee.

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

"A guard on a meander around the kitchen stopped at the edge of the table. “Everything good here?” He eyed the table, gaze passing judgmentally over Fundy hunched over a pile of small bones, Niki in tears, Foolish with his knife stabbed through the breastbone of a chicken, and Wilbur and Quackity both embracing a cheese. 

“Everything good!” Everyone said at once."

🎯 Have any of your readers accurately guessed major plot points? Care to share which?

Okay my immediate reaction is to say that I don't normally write things with plot points, but that is probably not true. I don't normally write mystery-type things though, where people are guessing where it's going? With the time travel fic though, a couple people have accurately identified worldbuilding bits yet to be officially revealed, and notably 7cxrhye once identified a MAJOR plot hole in my heist I had to paste over with Tubbo angst. That was fun.

[Fanfic Writer Emoji Ask game]

[olderthannetfic]

Do you know what the origin of the "sold to One Direction" thing is? I know it's a common trope (or was), but, I have no idea where I first heard of it, where I learned it was a thing. How do weird tropes like that get started, anyway? Why do some concepts take off and become huge parts of a particular fandom, but others don't? (And does this particular premise show up in other RPF contexts as much?)

--

tl;dr - Wattpad circa 2013, probably

--

I'm only familiar with that from doing Wattpad research. I don't think it's a major RPF thing, at least not under that exact name. Horny f!sub is kind of the Wattpad way, so a lot of the popular tropes there make sense from that perspective. I've definitely seen plenty of badtouch sexy slave/kidnapping victim/stalk-ee stuff with BTS and other music groups. But maybe somebody reading has more specific 1D history knowledge?

As for why one thing takes off and another doesn't, the big answer is:

Historical accident

We can look for patterns, sure, but a lot of it is ultimately survivorship bias. That's the thing where we look at what's remaining (successful companies, popular fic tropes), and we assume they have some special property that made them survivors and then extrapolate from that. But maybe it's coincidence, or maybe it's a different type of causality than the one we're looking at.

For example, a trope in a popular fandom will spread farther faster than a trope in a dinky little fandom, so maybe fandom size is what matters and not the nature of the trope. Most analyses assume it's the trope itself that matters.

On an individual basis, many specific tropes get popularized by a particular famous author or fic that other people imitate. Some get popularized by a fanworks exchange or fest. (That's how 5 Times fic spread.) But why do they stick around long term? Why do they gain traction elsewhere?

Aside from random chance, it's probably something to do with broad applicability and easy entry points.

So, for example, the show The Sentinel doesn't actually have Guides as such, but the AU added an official role for the other dude to make the two of them super destined. Sentinel AUs took off across a ton of fandoms. (Less so these days, but I've even seen them in BTS, so they're definitely not gone.) The AU version is basically soulmates + potentially codified top/bottom roles + superpowers. People like fantasy AUs. They like frameworks to fit their ship into. The trope isn't highly specific otherwise, so it can be tacked onto many settings, both real world and sff. It fits two-person ships easily, which is most popular ships. One can do some worldbuilding about whether there's One True Guide for a given Sentinel or whether the bond is more a matter of choice. Guides might be equal in numbers/prestige/public visibility to Sentinels or not. The existence of all this can be openly known by everybody or a secret like in the show.

A/B/O has a similar level of "proof my ship belongs together" stuff with room to play around with worldbuilding. It also overlaps heavily with prior popular tropes people like for pretty obvious horny reasons. Same with plenty of tropes. They're often a slight remix of already popular stuff.

Sense8 AUs, however, never really took off as a thing. I saw some fans sadfacing about this, but in this case, I think we could have predicted it. Why? Simple: the concept involves OT8, and that's not going to apply to most people's fandoms unless they happen to like a kpop group or a superhero team with 8 people. The 8 also don't have specific roles that would make this simpler to write. If you're going for less OT8 and more of a complicated network of relationships, that's a complicated story to write and it has much less of a template to work from. So low applicability + high barrier to entry.

Hogwarts AUs, on the other hand, are super popular. Why? My guess is that the biggest reason is that a million bajillion times more people know Harry Potter than know Sense8. Hogwarts also has some canned roles that are more obvious: which house is your Fave? Shit that could be in a clickbait-y personality quiz is easier to write fic about than something that requires you to make up everything yourself. But also, four houses are easy to keep track of in a way that all those Myers-Briggs types are not. Add too much mandatory complexity, and it gets too confusing.

--

If I had to guess about the popularity of Sold To One Direction, I'd say a lot of it is due to the problem of getting Mary Sue or y/n into the room with them. Why is she there? This fic concept provides the answer in one quick title or tag. Sexy slavefic and dubcon have had broad appeal since forever. There's room to go really dark or fluffier. Some of the fics are nothing but ravishment fantasies, while others are more abuse recovery stories (where 1D are better than whatever came before).

I don't think there's some simple answer for why this specific thing and not a closely related trope became such a known trope in 1D. Probably, if some BNF had posted a ravishment fantasy with a different pithy title at just the right time, some adjacent trope would be big instead.

As for why I've heard of this trope, it's absolutely due to 1D being a fucking massive fandom such that its popular tropes occur very frequently in a sample of Wattpad writing of the right eras. It definitely owes its lulzy memeticness to fandom size: lots of people care enough about 1D and 1D fic to know what the trends are and make jokes about them.

Here's Huffpo being dicks about 1D slavefic back in 2013. They don't mention the exact phrasing though. Here's a pretty standard specimen from 2013-14.

I presume this was also a big thing on Quizilla (RIP) and I see extant examples on Quotev. Sadly, these and Wattpad are fucking hard to study, and a lot of the meta-writing types stick to AO3, so I don't see as many good analyses of this part of fandom.

Any 1D fans want to weigh in?

[earthnashes]

New follower so uh what're like the basics to your mario au? Any significant changes to canon?

Biggest rule of thumb for this AU:

If it's canon to the games, it doesn't happen in the AU. Most clearest and probably biggest example I still get asked about: No, Bowser does not kidnap Peach, and it never happens.

So the best mindset going into the AU is just ignore everything about the happenings in game and think of it as a complete divergence.

A lot about this AU can be found in my Super Mario tag. There's about 20+ pages of headcanon to read thru as of today (supplemented with art). While you may find the answer if you take a skim through the tag, you're always more than free to ask me any question regarding the AU. Or anything else, really.

Basic worldbuilding things to remember for this AU:

-In this AU, what is essentially world peace has mostly been achieved. How? Any disagreements or conflicts is settled with competitive games, including but not limited to Go-Karting, basketball, soccer, brawling, tennis, and so many others.

-IRL countries and continents does not exist in this world, however the kingdoms draw cultural influence from them. Examples: Koopa Kingdom draws from Asia, Sarasaland from Latin America, Metro Kingdom from North America, Mushroom Kingdom from Europe, so on.

-Peach is officially the queen of Mushroom Kingdom, but she prefers the title "princess". It ties to her hope that her very ill father will recover and regain his status as standing monarch of the land.

-Bowser's parents are trash. They aren't abusive (majority of the time) but they are neglectful in a happily dismissive way. As such, Kamek is Bowser's father figure. It's to a point he actually refers to Kamek as ba.

-Bowser has a younger sister: Bowsette. She exists as an entirely separate character from Bowser and does not need the Super Crown. In fact, Super Crown does not actually exist in this AU.

-The Koopalings aren't Bowser's biological children but he did adopt them.

-Mario and Luigi were plumbers once, yes, but they now have different main jobs: Mario is Peach's bodyguard and an agent to the Mushroom Kingdom. Luigi is a simple baker but also aides King Boo in helping lost souls find their way to the afterlife.

-Rosalina is a goddess and protector of the universe. Specifically she is the cosmos, a task she is aided with by the Lumas. In the same vein, King Boo isn't actually a king, but instead this world's version of the Grim Reaper. So... I guess he too is a god. Like Rosalina, he is aided with his task to guide the spirits of the departed to the afterlife by the smaller Boos (who are spirits and not ghosts. There's a distinction in this AU).

-Magic exists in this AU but it is limited and operates on a simplistic (but strict) magic system. TL;DR of it: You have to be born with magic to use it, there are five basic elements someone can be born with (fire, water, wind, earth, energy). Power Ups don't work the same way as they do in the games but they are very much utilized in this AU.

-This AU follows a slice-of-life format and it's main focus for stories is on the characters themselves, no overarching grand plot. It has loose arcs and doesn't follow any sort of chronological system. There are no main villains in the stories of the AU, but if there was one, it'd be Kaptain K. Rool, which is explained a little with the next point.

-K. Rool is the "king" of pirates. Due to the vastness of the oceans of this world (even more vast than our own), paired with the odd technology the world operates with, the ocean is pretty much entirely lawless Difficulties keeping peace amongst the oceans has made it prime grounds for pirates to emerge, and they are so present and consistent that they are the biggest threat to the kingdoms. If it's illegal amongst any of the kingdoms, the pirates most certainly partake in the act. And the worst one of them all is K. Rool, as insane as he is dangerous.

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

If you wanna know more about this AU in depth, check out the Super Mario tag of my blog, or ask me a question. Hope this helps :)

[staryarn]

*slides in* hello galaxy brain holder! Your aus are amazing af! Tell me, what was your inspiration for making the NSR submas AU? *slides away*

Hiya ty for the galaxy brain ask!

I literally searched tumblr tags of 'nsr, submas' and nothing came up. And I saw a bunch of people were putting the two in aus because of PLA. so my brain went ' I have the nsr talksprites , 3d models , multiple versions of the game, and the official art book therefore I have all the materials I need to properly emulate the style and create lore for it)

Along with that I previously created (with two friends of mine) a very long headcanon Google doc on the worldbuilding , lore, and characterizations of nsr. This includes characters and why they acted the way they did (ex mayday fighting nsr over the rock band vs mayday fighting nsr over the blackouts), the combat system (as in lorewise how do these powers work and how to fans make these powers stronger. And is it only music that is a catalyst or can it be any kind of art, such as writing or photography), and personal headcanons (neon j 'sees' via a camera installed / his radar picks up most things / a heat map / etc).

So I guess in the short term my brain went 'yeah you know enough about this game to brainstorm stuff about it without having to directly look at canon for every little detail'

(Vs my genshin au in the works where I would have to research a ton of stuff so it makes any sense)

[dral-koumine]

the Leviathan/Reader slow burn fluff shall not be denied [OM!] [snippet!]

fandom: Obey Me!

fanfic title: TBD

tags: gn!Reader & Leviathan (friendship, pre-romance), picnic, beach and ocean vibes, Reader and Levi calling each other nicknames, Devildom headcanons/worldbuilding, fluff fluff fluff.

This snippet refers to my earlier snippet from here: [link]

[rated G below] [WIP ZONE]

Once, not long after you two have actually become friends, he walks back out of the water onto the shore, and you’re there waiting for him on an officially licensed TSL blanket with his headphones and a picnic basket. (He’s a creature of habit, so he almost always enters and exits from the same little cove, which is usually deserted because it requires carefully hiking from the sandy beach over some big slick boulders that are submerged at high tide to get there. You got yourself some knee-high rain boots, checked the tide charts -- with 3 moons, Devildom tide patterns are fucking wild -- and made it work.) He’s so surprised to see you there that he almost falls right back into the water. “What!” he almost shouts. “H-H-Henry! What are you doing here?!” “Hi, Levia-chan,” you say cheerfully, putting down your tri-lunar physics textbook. “I noticed you skipped dinner to come down here, so I brought some food for you.”

“F-for me?” he stammers. “Yeah!” you say, and smile at him. “I figured we could have a little picnic, just you and me.” “Just -- just us two?” He blushes so hard you wouldn’t be surprised if the seawater started steaming off of him; his long, reptilian tail curls this way and that, carving arcs into the wet sand. “Is that okay?” you ask, sure that he’ll blurt out a reflexive protest before eventually circling around to yes that’s more than okay. “Yes!” he blurts, being direct about it for once, and you grin at him delightedly. He’s so cute. You pat the blanket next to you, and Leviathan comes over to sit half hesitantly, half eagerly; he sits and has to immediately get up again to wave the seawater off of him and his drenched clothes and hair before he soaks right through the Lord of Shadow’s face. Then he just stands there, frozen for a moment in painful awkwardness. “That’s a handy trick,” is all you say, lightly, as you start pulling boxes of food out of the picnic basket, and he unfreezes and sits down next to you with his knees pulled up to his chest and tail curled around his feet, and quietly starts eating the food you hand to him, all dishes you know he likes and which you made a point to save from Beel, no matter how much Beel made sad demon eyes at you. You’re pretty sure this is one of the main reasons why Levi likes you so much: you don’t mock him for being his very awkward self; you barely even tease him for it, except in those rare cases when you’re sure you can make it abundantly clear that you’re only doing it fondly. And why would you mock him for it? After all, you’re more than well acquainted with awkwardness yourself. You know how it feels. You lean back on your hands and stretch your legs out in front of you, sighing contently. The gentle roaring of the waves rushing up onto the sandy shore, the rough splashing of brine against the nearby boulders, the smell of the salty sea air, it all erodes away the cares of the day. Leviathan slowly relaxes, too, until he’s sitting with his legs crossed and holding his box of lion’s head meatballs over oleander and rice in his lap and sneaking glances at you in between taking slow bites of food. “What’s it like down there?” you ask. “In the ocean?” he says. “Yeah. You dive down really deep, don’t you?” “Yeah,” he replies, blushing again, as though that’s something to be awkward about; maybe it is, for him. “So what’s it like down there?” you ask. “It, uh…” He thinks about it for a moment; you imagine him trying to put words to something that he’s experienced for millennia, but probably has never had to describe, let alone to a human who knows little about the Devildom’s oceans. “It’s dark,” he finally says, “and quiet, and empty, except not really because there’s still plenty of fish and jellies and tiny krill and stuff in the deep, and there are giant venom-sponges living along the trench down there --” he waves a hand vaguely in the direction of the ocean “-- and they tend to make noises sometimes while they filter-feed and most of the deep-sea animals have bioluminescence anyway so I guess it’s not that dark either…” He trails off, seeming to realize how much he’s rambled and contradicted himself, but you’re sitting there grinning at him practically with stars in your eyes, because you love everything about the ocean, and Levi rambling on about sea creatures is just about the cutest thing ever. He sees you grinning and ducks his head bashfully. “I’m not good at explaining it,” he mumbles. “It’s like … it’s not technically totally dark and quiet and empty, but it feels like it is, you know? It feels like … when I’m down there, I don’t have to worry about anything at all.” He curls in on himself a little, drawing his knees up a bit, like he’s anticipating that you’ll mock him for some part of that, like he’s still not used to the fact that you make a point of being nice to him whenever he’s not being a jerk, because you actually like him.

“That sounds amazing,” you sigh, staying in that relaxed position of yours, like sending out relaxed vibes will help Levi to relax, too. “I wish I could go down there and experience it myself.” He looks up, uncurls a little. “I could show you?” he offers. You perk up. “Really? How?” He offers his hand, a rare moment of confidence, and you take it, smiling. But you have to say, “Uh, Levi. I’m a squishy, air-breathing human, remember? I can’t just swim down with you.” “Oh,” he says, and covers his embarrassed face with his free hand. “Oh hells, I’m such a stupid --” “Hey,” you say warningly, squeezing his hand, because you made it a rule last month that he’s not allowed to put himself down around you. You’d like to expand that rule to you’re not allowed to put yourself down, ever, but … one step at a time. “Uuurggghhh,” he groans, hiding his face in his knees, fully curled up again, alas. “I know, I know, the rule.” “Friends don’t let friends self-deprecate,” you singsong annoyingly, like you do every time you have to remind him, and it always makes him smile even if he hides it, because yeah, you’re his friend. His true friend. And he smiles into his knees, this time, face red with joy as much as with embarrassment, and squeezes your hand back without looking at you. “So, alternate solutions,” you say thoughtfully. “There are submarines in the Devildom, aren’t there?” His head pops up with sudden excitement. “There are!” he says excitedly, “Diavolo has one!” You grin at him. “So we’re stealing Diavolo’s submarine then,” you say, pretending to be serious about it, and he physically recoils, dramatically, but doesn’t let go of your hand. “No!” he protests, “no we’re not doing that, don’t even think about it, Lucifer would kill us!” “Aw, but it would be so much fun to take it out for a joyride!” you say gleefully. “Noooo it wouldn’t,” he insists, though he looks a little shifty-eyed about it. You cackle a little.

[eviclair]

thanks to @starlit-pathways for the tag!! love talking about myself, 10/10

last album: i consume 98% of my music through the random shit spotify yeets at my face every week so i dont really ever listen to full albums BUT

Lei Line Eon by Iglooghost : iglooghost and his beepboops have been gluing my mental health together since like 2014. lei line is the most recent album but please know i am listening to his entire discography all the time forever

Afterburner by Dance Gavin Dance : last year prisoner was my most binged song and the only reason thats not still the case is because the i realized the rest of the album was Also great and i just let the whole thing play now

what i DO listen to cover to cover are soundtracks!! constantly!! this weeks favorites are

Made in Abyss from Kevin Penkin : you could not pay me to finish watching this series but mr penkin sir i have feelings for you

Final Fantasy XIII / XIII-2 : this year spotify told me i was in the top 2% of masashi hamauzu’s listeners. this is distressing. who is in the top 1% if not me, i just want to talk.

D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die : man don’t @ me about this i just wanna live in a world where i can get the serotonin hit from theme of d4 without being hit by crushing cancellation sadness

Endwalker OST from Soken: its not officially out for me to link but please know of the 25 hours a day i spend logged into the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV with an expanded free trial which you CAN’T play that covers the entirety of A Realm Reborn and the award winning Heavensward expansion up to level 60 for free with no restrictions on playtime, about 15 of them are spent healing vanaspati. there is no reason for this. my whm is at cap. i just want that orchestrion roll and i am willing to experience unlimited amounts of violence to obtain it.

last movie: spider-man nwh. it was certainly a movie! i did have fun! 98% of that was my pea brain going OOOH WOOOOOAH ITS SPIDERMAN I LOVE THAT DUDE and not much else, which i guess is the point!! will not be consuming another marvel property until spiderverse 2

currently reading: i miss books, man. miss being able to read real actual physical literature without feeling like my brain is trying to escape out my ears but here we are!! what i CAN still read is uhhhh horrendous amounts of fanfic so here’s the top picks of late

Pedestal by Digital Skitty (Pokemon): area child begins their pokemon journey with the most broke-ass team (derogatory) conceivable. You Won’t Believe What Happens Next ! i dont know anything about pokemon now and i didnt know anything about pokemon eleven years ago when i read this on ffn but skitty’s puttin in on ao3 now so its a good time to say: pedestal is the fucking best. i’ll die on this hill. pedestal fucked me up as a human so bad i now own this persons actual published books. go go now

The Tourist’s Guide To Aselia by ritzcracker (Tales of Symphonia): y’all already know im a huge slut for inserts and godddd this one is just excellent. oc is chefs kiss, worldbuilding is chefs kiss, scenery description is unparalleled. mx ritzcracker if youre reading this i love you

the call of yesterday by MargaritaDaemonelix (Fire Emblem: Three Houses) : new game +++ byleth vs Her Actual Job but make it hurt me so good. god GOD god i love gen. prayers in chat for op’s grades tho 🙏

i am accepting fic recs 24 hours a day 7 days a week. i am in love with your ocs specifically.

up next:

A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin : i have been trying to read the asoiaf series with minimal success for like four years. it is going to happen. it is GOING to happen. there is simply too much happening in that ao3 tag for me live out my days in ignorance. its just that every time i open this fucking book all i can think is WOW what a fantasy series, so horny, really makes me want to read the vastly less sexual and incomparably better

Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill : high fantasy feral teenager has to figure out how the hell to be Queen At Thirteen while gathering a supernatural army to fight Literally The Roman Empire. i’ve read this book maybe thirty times. i will read it perhaps thirty more times. thirrin freer strong-in-the-arm lindenshield, my beloved

currently watching:

Jujutsu Kaisen : i’m way behind the curve on this one, i know, i just finished the junpei arc and im suffering

Mo Dao Zu Shi : i did not know the mdzs donghua got a part three until like yesterday. where were you all in my time of need. i have so much to watch

currently craving:

not the catboy. i mean yes the catboy but i have thought of almost nothing else but this donut basket for... weeks. i think a lot my problems could be solved by a picnic basket full of pastries (and also the catboy) but all the bakeries around here have been so slammed for the holidays it just aint worth it til after new years

tagging:  do you also like to talk way too much about your interests?? lucky for you i like to read abt them!! if youre reading this then i tag you

[druidx]

April Roundup/ WIP Whenever

What was on the Task List for March:

❌ Write/ Rewrite/ Edit more of The Ruby Falls ✅ Post WIP Intro for Astyria’s Star ✅ Post worldbuilding fics for Astyria’s Star to Tumblr and RoyalRd ✅ Post WIP Intro for Igazinyoka 

What have I been doing?

Well, I got sick on 6 April for two weeks, so while a lot looks like it's been done, it's all been crammed into the first and last week of the month...

➼ I wrote 'official' WIP intros for Astyria’s Star & Igazinyoka; and an 'unofficial' intro for What Alexis Did Next, which is queued for next month. (I guess the difference between types is how many graphics are in use?)

➼ I managed to post the short stories for Astyria’s Star to Tumblr, but not yet to Royal Road.

➼ I completed a craptonne of tag & answer games that have been stacking up since mid-last year. They're all queued up as I didn't want to swamp people with tags.

➼ I somehow convinced my broken brain to come out with two short Starbound fics (linked below, under ICYMI); I've also been building a bunch of stuff for the Spring Prompt list in Starbound (building is easier than writing when one is sick).

➼ A lot of the character development tag & answer games I've done have been focused on improving the Blades for The Ruby Falls. I'm stuck on rewriting it, so I thought developing these characters would help (because all Bethesda gave us was cardboard cutouts). Ideally I want them all to have a bit of blurb outlining their background, why they became a Blade, and any personality quirks. I'm also working in Heroforge and Canva to create reference images. That is going okay - I'm having plenty of ideas, but not much in the way of formal output.

What’s next?

Write/ Rewrite/ Edit more of The Ruby Falls (?)

Fill out the Blades better, as mentioned above

Post worldbuilding fics for Astyria’s Star to RoyalRd

Continue posting applicable drafts from @Druidx into @Dru-Reads-Writblr; answering old asks & tag games

Check masterposts are up to date

Start brainstorming fic ideas for TES Fest 22

Maybe more WIP intros, for things that are semi-abandoned?

ICYM

A Place No Good Man Should Go (Starbound), Tumblr ~ AO3 :: Oganesson introduces Yasahama to the Black Market.

While the Sun Shines (Starbound), Tumblr ~ AO3 :: Mio enjoys a picnic with some of her residents; trouble stirs when they discus who's brought them together

SPC Challenge One (Astyria's Star), Tumblr :: Astyria wanders the abandoned council chambers at Gont Point, considering the perils the people of Ilma face due to the rising acid seas, and asking why the Gods test her faith

SPC Challenge Two (Astyria's Star), Tumblr :: A grandmother recites a folk tale to her grandchildren

SPC Challenge Three (Astyria's Star), Tumblr :: Astyria's nephew has to complete a school assignment; his father helps

SPC Challenge Four (Astyria's Star), Tumblr :: We join Astryia at a council meeting to hear the options for dealing with Ilma's climate issues

SPC Challenge Five (Astyria's Star), Tumblr :: A talk show host discusses the current climate issues faced by the people of Ilma with a priest and a doctor

[galacticlamps]

Tagged by @the--highlanders​ ! Thanks!

How many works do you have on AO3?

13

What’s your total AO3 word count?

76,200

(oh what a nice even number - I should try to mess that up as soon as possible, shouldn’t I?)

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Aw man is this intentionally worded to be really hard to answer? I get that it says ‘written’ and not ‘posted’ but then what constitutes a ‘fandom?’ I definitely wrote fics for stuff I was interested in long before I even knew the word ‘fic’ - I did it throughout my childhood, and then in high school, and while I didn’t do it as much in college, it still happened from time to time. So a lot of the books/movies/tv shows/plays/musicals I wrote things for aren’t really fandoms, and frankly, I had to check my old folder just now to even remember some of them existed. I’ll just list the ones that I know for sure had fandoms, since that’s more fun (and embarrassing), right?

Obviously Doctor Who, classic and modern, Torchwood, Sherlock Holmes (ironically more of these seem to be about the books, but yes, I will admit, some for that tv show too), Les Mis, a couple different Marvel comics & movies, Good Omens, hell, I even found a Night Vale fic in there just now.

And I know there are other older things not even in that folder, some of which never made it to a computer at all, so if I had to ballpark a number I’d probably say around 25ish but really, who knows?

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Across the Gap

On the Spot

Expectations

Shards of Memories & Fragments of Glass

Itemized

(this was fun, I’d never noticed Ao3 even had a stats page until now lol)

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try to! Sometimes I take a long time to do so but for the most part, I usually get around to it. The rare exception would be if I first saw the comment when I was super busy/distracted and then felt like way too much time passed before I noticed it again, that it might be awkward if I said something at that point.

I do genuinely enjoy hearing what people think, but I’m also weirdly terrified of making anyone feel like they have to reply to my comments. I know that’s probably a little strange, but it’s actually a large part of why I made this Ao3 account in the first place - my original one, from high school, is followed by some long-time friends of mine who aren’t interested in this fandom, some of whom are involved in art & writing professionally. The thought of anyone like that reading something I wrote out of friendliness or even just curiosity and potentially having to pretend they liked it for the same reasons stressed me tf out, so I like having this virtually anonymous one because I can relax knowing that anyone who reads or interacts with something I wrote has probably done so only because they wanted to, rather than feeling obligated, and there’s no pressure on them to be nice to me about it if anything I write or post annoys them - so I really hope nobody who does just know me as an anonymous blog has ever worried about offending me by not replying to something, trust me, I’m perfectly happy with it!

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I don’t think I’ve really written any angsty endings? I guess the answer would have to be Reckless just because it involves the characters arguing about sad/weighty things and there isn’t really any solution to those issues - but even then I think I ended it with a kind of acceptance that stops it from really qualifying as angst? I also set it in the the same universe as other fics, so maybe that doesn’t even count as an ending? Am I that bad at ending things on angst? Lol

Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Obviously none of the fics I’ve posted are crossovers but I’m trying to think now if any of my WIP’s are - I’ve definitely poached setting/premise ideas from other media, but in terms of actual crossovers . . . I’ve got a few cross-era or cross-Doctor, a few involving Torchwood, but that’s already the same universe, so the only thing that’d qualify as a true crossover would be some vague pieces of a fic where Jamie, Zoe, and Two end up on the Enterprise, since I think the 60s series of Star Trek and Dr Who feel kind of compatible, don’t they? In fact, aren’t there like officially licensed crossover comics or something? Or did I make that up? Idk, and the ideas are very loose, so it’s not much of a WIP either

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Nope, never

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I’ve never written smut, but I’m wondering if it’s possible that could change soon. There’s a longish multi-chapter fic I’ve been working on for a frankly embarrassing amount of time, and the plot does call for a sex scene at one point towards the end, but I can’t seem to make up my mind on how - uh, I guess the word is explicit? - it should get. I know I could easily do a fade to black/implication thing, but it’s kind of a source of contention and anxiety for the characters, so to skip over writing the actual scene and just revisit them afterwards rings of “and they slept together and now everything’s fine!” which feels kinda cheap to me - in this context, anyway - and not the right payoff for a long fic that’s otherwise more of an interpersonal drama/slightly a period piece, if I had to place it in a genre. I feel like my aversion to actually writing the scene might just be prudishness I should get over, or maybe just self-doubt, because I know I’d rather have a well-written, funny, character-development-supporting sex scene than nothing at all, but since I’ve never had any interest in writing a scene like that before, I don’t know if I can do it well, and I also don’t want to ruin a fic I’m otherwise proud of by doing it badly... ugh I have to figure this out

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I seriously doubt it

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

What’s your all time favorite ship?

I mean, it’s gotta be Two & Jamie. I’ve shipped things before with varying levels of investment, but I’ve never been able to use the term ‘otp’ in a literal sense until I came across them, and now it’s already basically gone out of fashion, go figure!

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I’m not sure if I have one? My WIP doc is huge, but I don’t actually intend to get around to finishing everything in it, so I’d like to think that anything I’ve currently singled out to complete can actually get done.

That said, I do have a few AU’s that I don’t really plan to finish, but it might be cool if I could. Two of them are for all the main + some supporting characters of the Second Doctor’s era - one’s a modern day school teachers AU, and the other is a typical fantasy/fairy tale AU. Another is just Two/Jamie, based on Doctor Faustus (specifically the Marlowe play version) but right now there are two different versions of the ending coexisting in my head. I’ve written parts of scenes & some gen. backstory for all of those ideas, but I don’t know if I’ll ever try to finish them, or what form a finished product would even take - a series of one-shots set in the same universe? one long multi-chapter fic with some kind of overarching plot? And the amount of context/worldbuilding a big AU like these would require might not make them very appealing fics for people to read, so maybe it is better if I just keep them to myself, since in my head I already know what’s going on in those worlds lol.

What are your writing strengths?

I honestly don’t know. I haven’t had a creative writing class since middle school, and since then I’ve only ever shown creative writing to others in a fandom context, so it’s been a while since I’ve discussed it or gotten critical feedback. I suppose when I work in other arts or even academic writing contexts, people usually say I’m kind of insightful or at least detail oriented, which might just be another way of saying I overthink things, but I like to imagine I’m decent at finding little points of interest to expand upon.

What are your writing weaknesses?

If you’ve read this far I feel like you must know what I’m about to say: I do not know how to be concise.

Usually when I’m writing a fic, I put down the dialogue first on its own, leaving out the action of the scene and whatever plot/context led there, even if I’ve already figured all of that out. But then when I go to add those things in, they’re always longer than I wanted them to be. I don’t mind writing something long, but I don’t want my fics to be a slog to get through either, and there can be a point at which the stuff I’ve added for context overwhelms the stuff that I wanted the fic to be about in the first place, so it becomes a structural/proportion issue too. I haven’t completely given up on any fics because of this yet, but there’s one I’ve been struggling with for a couple months now - probably because I’m even second-guessing myself on which scenes need to be written out and which can just be referenced like a recap. Hopefully I figure that one out soon.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

((this is karma isn’t it? i posted a fic last week with two words of gaelic in it and was worried about that and now this is karma))

In general, I don’t want to do it. I feel like you’ve gotta have a really good grasp of a language to write dialogue & speech patterns for someone who’s a native speaker, and since I’m far from fluent in any language the characters I write for are, I wouldn’t feel confident writing any significant amount of dialogue in, say, Gaelic.

As a sidenote, though, I kinda love it when other people do it, particularly for Jamie. Irish (Gaeilge) and Scottish (Gàidhlig) are both languages I’ve wanted to learn for a long time, because my family’s fresh out of living speakers of either & I think that’s a shame, but I started with Irish and at the moment I’m still very much learning it. As different as they are, it still helps me understand parts of lyrics or texts that I come across in Gàidhlig fairly frequently, so when it comes up in a fic I get to feel like I’m being responsible and practicing, and it’s great when I can actually understand what’s being said.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I’m gonna go with Harry Potter even though that’s probably not a perfectly accurate answer - it’s almost certainly the first thing that has a fandom that I ever wrote for, but it was in a notebook when I was a kid and never something that I even typed on a computer, much less posted online or shared with other members of a fandom. But even then, I’m sure it wasn’t the first pre-existing fictional universe I ever set an original story in, because I did that a lot when I was a kid, it’s just hard to remember those clearly or on any kind of timeline.

What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

I’m very partial to Across the Gap, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that ranked first on the kudos thing above - but I’ve also got a soft spot for So Merrily We’ll Sing. It’s so self-indulgent it feels silly saying ‘it was so easy to write!’ but I guess having a fic that’s already just 100% headcaonons and fluff tied together by a song you really love does prevent it from being much of a labor (I also managed to refrain from making that one unnecessarily long, so that’s another win there)

tagging @terryfphanatics and anyone else who wants to do it - sorry I’m bad at remembering whose tumblr goes with whose Ao3 account, but I really would be interested to read this if anyone else feels like answering them!

[avatarfromtheashes]

[Image ID: A header image with a low opacity painted background of the Fire Nation at sunset and text that reads “So, what is Avatar: From the Ashes?” //End ID]

Hey everyone! @yueqqi here, but I respond to anything including “dumbass (friendly).” 💙 From the Ashes has been a project I’ve been working on over the course of the last 8 months, first incepted in late May 2020 as a small Dungeons & Dragons campaign between friends. After the campaign ended with the first arc, I was inspired by the awesome fancomic work by @legendofgenji, @avatarhanami, and @niikocomic (please check them out if you haven’t already!) to realize all of mine and my friend’s (massive shout out to Magpie and Josh) worldbuilding and plot building into this project starting late fall of 2020. It might not be a fully fledged comic since we’re new with only a small team of worldbuilders/writers and 1 main writer/artist, but for now we will focus on sharing our story in the form of fic writing and concept art.

This is a fun project done on our own time, first and foremost. It is also an important project, for me anyways, to build on what Avatar could be, written by POC for POC, written by LGBT for LGBT, and to be shared with people who want to learn more about our communities and support us. The story’s narrative is supposed to expand on Chinese and other Eastern cultures and address serious topics that mirror our real world problems. As a Chinese diaspora author from a family who immigrated from post-war Vietnam, those topics are what I hold with importance and I hope to be able to share it with you. I love interacting, so the askbox is officially open! ☺️

What is your story?

From the Ashes, also titled Tian Hui Yuan (天灰園, meaning “garden that grows from the sky’s ashes”), is set during the time of the second earthbending Avatar of Korra’s cycle in a world ravaged by the Great War—which, wasn’t as “great” as it says on the tin until the end of the 36 years of battles with long intermittent periods of silence, when it devolved into an all-out nuclear war between the democratic Earth Republic and the Fire Nation. Who instigated the war? If you live in the modern Earth Federation, history lessons at mandatory school left it pretty fuzzy until recent years but everywhere else, including the remaining Southern Air Temple and the Northern and Southern Water Tribes, agree that it was President Qin Namyao of the Earth Republic who first developed nuclear technology for non-peaceful purposes and his successors that dropped the first bomb, the effects rippling even today in 539 AG, the rough equivalent to the 1980s era.

The three-month-long catastrophe led to tragic losses not only in the initial blast and ensuing fallout, but the generations of famine it triggered after the decade-long nuclear winter. With the first airbending Avatar’s help, society managed to rebuild itself within a century, though still long ways away from returning to how things used to be in peace times in between turf wars and fighting over resources. With the rise of Avatar Niraq, the second waterbender, the period of warring factions was put to an end—at the great cost of destroying autonomy and bringing down the working middle class in the act of rebellion against the upper class with the creation of the (now Old) Order to unite all the nations and their factions under a single banner.

After Avatar Niraq’s assassination and the New Order taking over and returning control to world leaders, 18 years later the new Avatar is (still) missing and the original plan to take the Avatar young to prevent another tragedy becomes more loose as tensions rise and the New Order has to reconsider their game plan on how to handle the Avatar—including arrest at best, or making them “disappear” at worst.

As for our new Avatar? He has no idea what’s coming, nor that he’s even the Avatar.

FtA focuses on Leaf’s story years after all hell broke loose, where things seem better, but the picturesque peaceful times keep unraveling to reveal a very ugly truth where what seems to be the right path is one in darkness and the seemingly amoral one is the only one that can make a change.

Who is the Avatar?

[Image ID: A young man in motion appearing to be in mid brake while running, earthbending shards of grey rock and kicking up a dust cloud. He is lightly tanned with slight pink undertones to his skin, with hazel eyes that lean more deep green, and he wears his brown curly hair in mullet, sadly missing the hair spray and mousse, with a slight chin scruff and a ratty mustache. The man wears a red shirt with its sleeves ripped an a v-neck ripped to expose his collarbones and a part of his chest, paired with a silver dog tag on a chain necklace, light wash skinny jeans with a brown and brass belt, and green canvas high tops with drooping flaps that look suspiciously like Converse. //End ID]

The Avatar is this idiot right here and his name is Leaf (Ye in Chinese, but to emphasize strangeness of his name, it stays in English except for nicknames) because he never knew his birth name. He hasn’t even mastered his birth element yet, smh. (Backstory? Well, that will be revealed. :) All you need to know is that he has a stack of crimes hiding there.)

Team Avatar??

The team is called the Vine by the writers (ha, get it? Leaves from the... *crying*). You’ll see them around as I post their finished sheets! They aren’t the only main characters, though. :)

Who are the villains?

For now, all you need to know is that the Order acts as antagonists (obviously), but it gets heavily into some grey areas on who’s right and wrong here. There are bigger sharks in the sea, eventually.

Okay, so we know the rough backstory of the story. What about the plot?

Now, that would be spoilers. :) But if you want something to start guessing with, many game changing events can be described with Bon Jovi, Metallica, and Bonnie Tyler top hits. Here’s a Jon Bon Jovi pic from the 80s who may or may not have been the inspiration for Leaf’s aesthetic. 💙