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copperbadge · 1 year

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Hey Sam! Since it's currently AO3 donation time, I'm wondering what your thoughts are on it? I'm asking because you've written RPF and it's one of many "anti-AO3/anti-AO3 donations" people's favourite things to bring up when they're complaining about AO3 getting so many donations that it continuously obtains an excess of its donation goal whenever donation time rolls around? (Wow, how many times can I say "donation" in an ask?) Sorry if this question bothers you! I don't mean to offend or annoy.

Hey anon! Sorry it took a while to get to this, I don't even know if the drive is still going on, but the question came in while I was traveling and I didn't really have the time for stuff that wasn't travel-related. In any case, let's dig in! (I am not offended, no worries.)

So really there are two issues here and as much as some people who are critical of AO3 want to conflate them, they are different. While some criticism of AO3 may be valid, rhetoric against AO3 tends to misinterpret both in separate ways.

First there's the issue of what AO3 hosts -- RPF, yes, but more broadly, varied content that some people find distasteful or think should be illegal, which is a misunderstanding of the purpose of the archive and more broadly a dangerous attitude towards the concept of freedom of expression.

Second, there's the issue of AO3 generally outpacing its fundraising goals while not allowing monetization, which is a misunderstanding of the legal status of AO3 and to an extent a misunderstanding of philanthropy as a whole.

The longer I watch debates about content go on, the more I come to the conclusion that I was fortunate to have a teacher who really wanted to instill in us an understanding of free speech not as a policy but as an ongoing dialogue. It's not only that freedom of expression "protects you from the government, not the Justin" as the meme goes, but also that freedom of expression is not a static thing. It's an ongoing process of identifying what we find harmful in society and what we want to do about it.

Should the freedom to shout "Fire!" in a crowded theater be restricted? Should the freedom to yell slurs at drag performers? Should the freedom to teach prepubescent kids about gender, sexuality, and/or safe sex? Should the freedom to wear a leather puppy hood at Pride? Who gets to say, and why?

I was nine when my teacher did a unit on freedom of speech and the intersection of "harm prevention" and "censorship", which is (and should be) a discussion, not a set of ironclad rules. This ambiguity has thus been with me for over thirty years, and I'm comfortable with the ambiguity, with the process; I'm not sure a lot of people critical of AO3's content truly are. Perhaps some can't be, especially those affected by hate speech, but RPF is not hate speech. It's just fiction. Or is fiction "just fiction"? This is a question society as a whole is grappling with, although fandom seems to be a little out ahead of society in terms of how explicitly we discuss it.

The idea that prose can incite violence or cause harm is both valid to examine (witness the rise of fascism on the radio in the 20s, on Facebook and Twitter in the past ten years; they're very similar processes) and a very slippery slope. Because again: who decides what harm is, and what causes it, and what we do about it? Our values align us with certain beliefs, but those are only our values, not universal truths. So AO3 is part of the ongoing question of harm and benefit both to society and individuals.

AO3 itself, however, has a fairly defined policy that it is not meant to police content; it is an archive, not a bookstore or a school board. AO3 refines its TOS and policies as necessary, but the goal is always open access and as much freedom of expression as possible, and if that's uncomfortable for some people then that's a discussion we have to have; ignoring it won't make it go away. But it has to be a discussion, it can't be a unilateral change to the archive's TOS or a series of snaps and clapbacks, and I don't see a lot of people ready to move beyond flinging insults. Perhaps because they were taught a much more binary view of freedom of expression than I was.

So, self-evidently, I support AO3 and I don't have a problem with RPF. Whether other people do is something we're going to have to get to grips with, and that's likely to be a process that is still going on when most of us are dust. I'd rather have a century of ambiguity than a wrong answer tomorrow, anyway.

But whether AO3 hosts RPF is truly a separate issue from its donation drives, because it's a criticism some people level at the site which exists whether it's fundraising or not. So people can criticize AO3's open policy and they can give it as a reason not to support the site, but it's just one aspect of the archive and the fundraising as a whole should be examined separately.

I think AO3's fundraisers are deeply misunderstood (sometimes on purpose) because even people who are anticapitalist get a little crazy when money gets involved, and this is, to fandom, a lot of money -- a few hundred thousand, reliably, every fundraiser. To me, a fundraiser that pulls in three hundred grand is almost quaint; my current nonprofit pulls in better than ten million a year and my previous employer had an endowment of several billion dollars. At my old job I didn't even bother researching people who couldn't give us a hundred grand.

On the other hand, AO3 is an extreme and astounding outlier in the nonprofit world, because basically it's the only one of its kind to work the way it does. It is entirely volunteer-run on the operational side (ie: tag wranglers, coders, lawyers, etc) and has no fundraising staff (gift officers, researchers, outreach officers) as far as I'm aware. To pull in three hundred grand from individual one-time donations, without any paid staff and without even a volunteer fundraising officer? That's insane. That doesn't happen. Except at AO3.

What people misunderstand, however, is the basic status of a nonprofit, which is a legal status, not simply a social one. (I'm adding in some corrections here since it gets complicated and the terminology can be important!) The Organization for Transformative Works, the parent of AO3, is a nonprofit, which indicates how it was incorporated as an organization; additionally it is registered federally as tax-exempt, which carries certain perks, like not paying sales tax, and certain duties, like making their financials transparent to a certain extent. (Religious nonprofits are exempt from the transparency requirement.) If you're interested in more about nonprofits and tax-exempt status a reader dropped a great article here.

Nonprofits, unlike for-profit companies, cannot pay a share of their income to stakeholders. Nonprofits don't have financial stakeholders, only donors. They can have employees and pay them a salary -- that's me, for example -- but if a nonprofit pulls in $10M in donations, my salary is paid from that, I don't get a percentage and nobody else does either. That's what it means to be a nonprofit -- the money above operational costs goes back into the organization. The donations we (and AO3) receive must be plowed under and used for outreach, server maintenance, further fundraising, services expansion, et cetera. You can see this in the 990 forms on Guidestar or ProPublica, or in their more accessible breakdowns on Charity Navigator. Nonprofits that do not put the majority of their income towards service provision tend to get audited and lose their nonprofit status. So nobody's getting paid from all that money, and the overage that isn't spent goes into what is basically a savings account in the name of the nonprofit. (I'm vastly simplifying but that's the gist.) Using that money for personal purposes is illegal. It's called "private inurement" and there's a good article here about it. The money belongs to the OTW as a concept, not to anyone in or of the OTW.

So the biggest misunderstanding that I see in people who are mad at AO3 fundraisers is that "they" are getting all this money (who "they" are is never clearly stated but I'm pretty sure people think @astolat has a special wifi router that runs on burning hundred dollar bills) while "we" can't monetize our fanfic. But "they" get nothing -- nobody even earns a salary from AO3 -- and you can easily prove that by looking at the 990 forms they file with the government, which are required to be made public. You can see the most recently available 990, from 2020, here at Guidestar. Page seven will show you the "highest compensated" employees, all of whom are earning zero dollars or nonmonetary perks (that's the three columns on the right).

Either AO3 is entirely volunteer-run or someone's Doing A Real Fraud. The money the OTW spends is documented (that's page 10 and 11 primarily) and while they may pay for, say, the travel and lodging expenses of a lawyer going to DC to defend a freedom-of-expression case, they don't pay the lawyer for their time, or give them a cut of the income.

Despite what you've read, the reason "we" can't monetize our fanfics on AO3 has nothing to do with the site being the product of volunteer handiwork or AO3 having it in their terms of service or it being considered gauche by some to do so; it's because

IT'S ILLEGAL.

I cannot say this loudly enough: It is against the law for a nonprofit to be used by its staff, volunteers, or beneficiaries to earn direct profit from the services provided by the nonprofit.

You can be paid to work at one, but you cannot side-hustle by selling your handmade friendship bracelets for personal gain on the nonprofit's website. If the nonprofit knowingly allows monetization of its services, it can lose nonprofit status, be fined, be hit with back taxes, and a lot of other unpleasant bullshit can go down, including prosecution of those involved for fraud. If you put a ko-fi link on your fanfic, you are breaking the law, and if AO3 allows it, they are too.

Okay, that was a sidebar, but in some ways not, because it gets to the heart of the real complaints about AO3 fundraising, which is that people in fandom are sick or unhoused or in some form of need and other people in fandom are giving to AO3, a fan site that is financially stable, instead of giving to peoples' gofundmes or dropping money in their Ko-Fi or Paypal. And while it is a legitimate grievance that there are people who are in such desperate need while we live in an era of unprecedented abundance, that's not AO3's fault. AO3 doesn't solicit actively, there's no unasked-for mailings or calls from a gift officer. They just put a banner up on their website, and people give. (Again, this is incredibly outlier behavior in the nonprofit world, I'd do a case study on it but the conclusion would just be "shit's real, yo.") You might as well be mad that people give to their local food bank instead of someone's ko-fi.

You cannot lay at AO3's feet the fact that people want to give to AO3 instead of to your fundraiser. That's a choice individuals have made, and while you can engage with them in terms of why they made the philanthropic choices they did, to blame an organization they supported rather than the person who made the choice to give is not only incorrect but futile, and unlikely to win anyone over to supporting you. We know from research that guilt is not a tremendous motivator of philanthropy.

It is also not necessarily a binary choice; just because AO3 gets a hundred grand in $5 donations doesn't mean most of the people giving don't also give $5 elsewhere. I support the OTW on occasion, and I also fundraise for UNICEF and the Chicago Parks Foundation and BAGLY and others, in addition to giving monthly to several nonprofits that I have longterm relationships with -- my alma mater, the animal rescue where I got the Cryptids, my shul. And I give, occasionally and anonymously, to fundraisers that pass through Radio Free Monday, which are mainly individuals in need, because I was once in need and now I pay it forward. These are the choices I have made. Nobody twisted my arm. I respond poorly to someone making the attempt to do so by attacking places I've given.

I think the upshot is, after all of this that I've written, that we cannot begin to come to grips with questions of institutional inequality in philanthropy, or freedom of expression and censorship, until people actually understand what's going on, and too few do. So all I can do is try and explain, and hopefully create a forum for people to learn and grow when it comes to charitable giving.

Archive Of Our Own and the Organization for Transformative Works are products of our community and as that community changes, we will necessarily continue to re-evaluate what aspects of it mean and how AO3/OTW express the community sentiment. I hope that the ongoing discussion of support for AO3 also leads to people learning more about their philanthropic options. But criticizing AO3 for fundraising by attacking it for fulfilling one of its stated purposes is silly, and attempting to guilt people into giving in the ways one thinks they should give rather than how they do give is just going to make one extremely unlikable.

As members of this community, we have to be a part of the push and pull, but it's difficult to do that competently in ignorance. So, I do my best to be knowledgeable and to educate my readers, and I hope others will do the same.

#ao3 #otw #nonprofit #fundraisers #ao3 nonprofit #that's my new tag for posts like this #if anyone has any of the earlier posts I've done drop a comment in them so I see the post and can tag it #archive

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familyabolisher · 8 months

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haphazard assortment of thoughts on the unwanted guest:

firstly, it really does have to be said—crazy good, probably my favourite of all the tlt short pieces, and i say that as someone who lost my mind over as yet unsent for like a week. excellent conceit and excellent execution, just a really gorgeous piece of writing. the play format of course reminds me of what abigail says to harrow in htn—that the river bubble is a ‘play [she’s] directing’—the inside of one’s head as a stage in which other actors can intervene & whereby mileage can be gotten out of Symbolism as immediately “real,” tangible presences that the kind of realist baggage that a more quotidian prose form would usher in would probably falter in accomplishing. it’s a lot!! i think even if i wasn’t already a tazmuir writing style defender (contra the insistence that she’s yknow homestuck fanfiction serial numbers filed off hack) then this would have had me floored anyway.

the play format also works in the way that muir’s general dexterity in form and willingness to really make use of craft as a technical space where discourse can be generated always works—i’m talking about the ‘fanfictiony’ voice in gtn which manages to say something both about fanfiction and about the text itself, the use of the dramatis personae as a space where atmosphere can be established and plot points hinted towards (thus blurring the lines between what is and is not diegesis), the drastic shifts in style between different close thirds, the shifting from third- to second- to epistolary first-person, the use of poetry both diegetic and not (the noniad, the epigraph poems…), the mimicry of the ‘voice’ of the king james bible in the nona epilogue—she never stays in one place for too long and she never seems to stick to one central style or form, and it really works in her favour. insofar as tlt as a whole is a very ‘patchwork’ kind of work, building itself up from its big big index of references and intertexts and memes with hugely variant levels of ‘prestige’ or legitimacy attached to them, the ‘patchwork’ use of form really works in muir’s favour. however i am also fuming because i was right in the middle of writing a tlt fic which jumps into a play format two-thirds of the way through and now my idea doesn’t look ORIGINAL but ANYWAY—

& i really do need to flag my good friend vee’s mercy/augustine fic, which makes use of a similar conceit and pulls it off masterfully—i am deeply jealous of vee’s talent and i think the unwanted guest makes this piece (from 2021!) shine even more, if anything.

i am DYING to see where muir is going with the use of hamlet, of all things—dulcie quoting it to palamedes immediately catapulted my mind back to abigail’s reference to ‘that undiscovered country’ in htn. obviously muir likes to drop contemporary (or contemporarily canonical) references and turns of phrase all over the place, but the attention drawn to the quote as diegetically referential (“I like that. Is it from something?” / “Yes. It’s complicated.”) has me wondering about a) the survival of ‘pre-res’ literatures ~over the river and like WHY and b) what a thematic interlocking of tlt and hamlet can do, here…….real aveheads remember cytherea ophelia theory where i tried to use ophelia as a point of reference for teasing out some arguments about cytherea and death and aesthetics and white femininity and whatnot. all of which is to say i need to sit with this hamlet reading a lot more but i love it, i am so here for it.

of course ‘kissing or feeding, we can’t be sure’ calls to mind ‘how meat loves meat,’ alecto biting harrow’s mouth by way of a kiss…and the general thematic throughline of, you know, certain practices of love as practices of consumption, naberius later being figured as the ‘meat’ in question contains echoes of this eroticism which ofc guides the contours of the necromancer/cavalier dynamic, eroticism as a currency of power, we know all of this stuff because it’s all over the text but i am just thumbs-upping it from the sidelines

the coffins had me thinking of utena’s black rose arc, which is a fun link to make considering the equivalent moment in the main body of nona is also referencing utena, ie. with the ‘rules’ of the duel being that cam has to get the handkerchief out of ianthe’s pocket as kind of an equivalent to skewering the rose. i feel like the tlt/utena overlap is pretty self-explanatory but it’s just fun to see the fingerprints all over lol

i think a lot of this was treading old ground thematically (erotics of consumption, dog motifs, we’ve seen it already!) but i will say that i did Yell Out Loud over ‘who's she got dawdling behind her but that creature—tugging visibly at her leash like an overeager dog.’ reminded of the other memorable use of ‘leash’—’even the devil bent for god to put a leash around her neck’—and, of course, the endless parade of commonalities between gideon & alecto. anyway there’s not really anything in this line that we didn’t already know about gid as a character, thematically speaking, but i point it out because it inflicted +100 psychic damage when i read it. gideon as a ‘creature’ is particularly slimy, & sort of puts me in mind of ianthe's tendency to talk about what appears to us as 'butch masculinity' (as opposed to the more effete masculinity of augustine or even babs) with a notably derogatory slant (the 'hurtful threats of sexual violence' line comes to mind); i don't know that i have much to say about it here specifically but it's an interesting one that i think informs the kirianthe dynamic pretty heavily (especially when held up against, like, harrianthe ... ianthe has a kind of respect for whatever harrow's gay and stupid gender is Doing (at least insofar as she can mould it to her own desires; i'm thinking of the dios apate forcefemme scene lol) in ways that i don't think she has for kiriona? but this is v off-topic, lol).

i have never been especially taken by dulcie as a character but i think this may finally have forced me to fold and admit that she’s great. her haters!!! her agonies!!! camilla would have to cook!! the balance between levity and sincerity was really well-managed. & i love the double meaning of “unwanted guest” as both palamedes intruding on ianthe’s mind palace and naberius setting up shop inside of her.

i need a week to sit with where this idea of the consumed soul as being literally ‘digested’ such that it can begin to ‘inhabit,’ however immaterially, the host body, or like to alter the characteristics of the host body such that to carry out such a consumption is to kind of kill yourself as well, slots in with lolita theory. or like, i need alecto right now. i am however reminded of chew, a short story that muir wrote in 2013, which also plays with these ideas of sexual assault as a forcing of a part of yourself meaningfully ‘into’ another person, and cannibalism as the reenactment of such a process, figured in the story as kind of a reclamation or at least an assertion of permanence—“I was always going to be in the ground with him in me,” she said. “I just wanted to make sure, that’s all. I just wanted to make sure.”—which the unwanted guest seems to kind of, play with in reverse? i don’t know, but i’m interested—as ever—in where muir wants to take these ideas of rape and consumption and absorption that she’s got in her hands.

i keep returning to…i hesitate to say ‘parallels’ because i think that imposes a narrative onus that i’m not actually that convinced by, but these, like, commonalities between babs and gideon. gideon is played off against so many people (cristabel, loveday, alecto being the big ones) that it feels kind of inane to add another person to the pile, but like…they’re the two who get got in canaan house, they’re both ironically ‘false’ cavaliers and expressions of the ‘truest’ or most paradigmatic form that cavalierhood ‘can’/’should’ take, they both have unconventionally gendered names (‘babs’ is a shortened form of ‘barbara,’ it is a typically feminine name imo) and (by our standards) somewhat unconventional genders (gideon is butch, babs effete)—and of course the unwanted guest places a lot of emphasis on the coercive ‘making’ of cavalierhood (the reference to babs being ‘fixed’ were he to have a disability! ianthe’s glib ‘society really is to blame’ comment—ironic, obviously, but not wholly untrue) not dissimilar to the emphasis that gtn puts on cytherea moulding gideon into the state she comes to be in at the end. babs and gideon as the two possessed corpses in nona, obviously. two wildly diverse but ultimately converging trajectories! a dialectical tension between their fundamental ‘opposition’ (as by-the-book cavalier vs whatever gideon is doing) and their fundamental ‘sameness’ whereby the dialectic is resolved in their mutual deaths. also just, of course, continuing the throughline that muir has had going for a while now, of gender/gendering as a set of coercive enforcements loyal to a hegemonic structuring of the world.

that’s all i’ve got, i think. just. really good everyone say thank you tazmuir

#.txt #tlt #the unwanted guest spoilers #this was originally bullet points but tumblr's formatting is bad and i can't be bothered editing to improve the flow here. so.#rape cw

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fruitdaze · 3 months

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fic writer meme!

thank you claire @microcomets and lore @megafaunatic for the tag!!!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

34 posted publicly, and a few more that are now on anon because i have disowned them

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

427,315

3. What fandoms do you write for?

mostly danmei (currently a lot of liu yao, cancipin, and yuwu), but i'm excited to start branching out to other books if they catch my attention :')

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

in defense of lightning

between two lungs

blooming days

the rivers start to sing

shake the heavy

all are wangxian because i was regrettably a one trick pony for several years LOL

5. Do you respond to comments?

i fell out of answering comments in like 2022 and i've just never gotten back to it! i'm usually not sure what to say except thank you and i also get very self conscious. but i always read every single comment i receive, usually 5+ times because they're such a big confidence boost

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i honestly don't think i've written anything super angsty! i don't like reading a lot of angst and so i cannot write it. but i guess losing all my senses every night has a vaguely angsty ending since it's a missing scene

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

most have happy endings!!! but i admit that the ending of i kneel into a dream still makes me do kicky feet a little bit

8. Do you get hate on fics?

a few times, but overwhelmingly the comments are so kind :')

9. Do you write smut?

yes! although it took me a while to get comfortable with it and also start to feel semi good at it

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you have written?

nope, and i'm not a big fan of them personally so i probably will never do so!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i am aware of.......... knock on wood etc

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

back to my door has a russian tl!! that is the only one that i know about but i would be thrilled if that list expanded

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

lots of casual discord brainstorming but never a formal fic!

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

i honestly don't know if i have an all-time favorite! what i crave in a pairing can change from month to month or even day to day. all of the ships i've written for have a special place in my heart and have provided me with comfort at some point. but for the past year i've been very into mingqian and lulin, and for the past month-ish i've been REALLY fixated on lulin (lulin save me... lulin.... save me lulin)

15. What is a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

i started a follow-up/sequel to the soft animal but the inspiration has totally left me and i'm not sure if that wip will ever get resurrected </3

16. What are your writing strengths?

i think i'm really good at imagery and purple prose. which is not everyone's thing but EYE love purple prose, so,

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

action scenes!!!! and frankly smut scenes, which always take me 5x longer to write than dialogue or more plotty scenes. i've said it before but wangxian was my first time writing smut, and as an ace person it's still not something that comes easily to me.

18. Thoughts of writing dialogue in another language in fics?

most of my experience with this is in danmei, but i have always loved seeing chinese or diaspora fans integrate that into their fics! one day i'm going to write my locked tomb/sixth house fic and put latin in there because you know those people are unironically using latin in daily speech. this is my calling

19. First fandom you wrote for?

honestly i think it was inuyasha. never saw the light of day of course

20. Favorite fic you have written?

i've been REALLY pleased with my writing over the past few months, but i'm quite fond of portrait of gravity... mingqian banter is always so fun to write and it was surprisingly personally cathartic to write from the pov of acespec cheng qian. also i can reread it without wanting to singe my eyeballs, which is the norm for me upon rereading my own work

i tag @yuebings @dcyiyou @tantai-jin @perilously @arithmonym @hamburgergod and anyone else who wants to do this!!

#rtxt #ficposting

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greypetrel · 2 months

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1, 7, 13, and 24 for the fandom asks!

Hi Mo! Quicker than a lightning!

Tis the prompt list

1. List 3 positive things about your current fandom(s)

I know this could all depend on the small bubble I created around me, in the years I grew at least a bit proficient in curating my experience online but... I am surprised and amazed at how active and welcoming this fandom is. And how adult. Speaking of Dragon Age. With my utmost surprise, the fandom is still active and ready to engage after all these years. People are active and producing content, and welcoming and kind enough to comment and compliment. I am not the kind of person that randomly befriends others... But the environment pushed me to produce more and to get in contact with more people, fangirl in tags with less fear of being judged. With more adult people that knew how to disagree in a productive way (on fiction of course, we're not talking of human rights). I am happy to say I made some friends and changed my minds over some characters and things my in-game experiences made me overlook, and without being shamed for thinking otherwise ONCE. it still amazes me. (and it all happened in a very dark year, so if you're here reading: my deepest thank you, really <3)

7. Your favorite tropes to read/write/draw

Bisexual Cullen needs to be first, of course. Many of you are here for those comics. Solas yes could be a villain, but I prefer to think he's a grumpy old man who has absolutely NO idea of how to people, and is just acting out of pure, unadultered panic. Sera is treated WAY better by fandom than by the game, sorry not sorry. I recently discovered that the scout that interrupts the first romance cutscene with Cullen is NOT called Jim in canon and my brains refuse to entertain the idea. Fenris and Merrill being friends. Dad-Bod Cullen.

It all depends on how people build things up.

13. your favorite type of fandom event (gift exchange, ship week, secret santa, prompt meme, etc)

I'm big on weekly events with prompt lists! And I do like gifts exchanges quite a lot with mutuals, without much obligations on both parts. :)

24. how has fandom positively impacted your life?

As above, I entered the fandom in a bad moment of my life, with little time. My original works tend to be heavy on research, and I had little time for that (and I was already in crisis with one). So, I restored to fanart to relax.

Fandom has brought me back to see art as a hobby and something I do for pleasure and not as a job. It had brought me back to write prose, made me meet many lovely people I am so happy to chat with! Which in the end brought me to experiment more on art, learn something new...

It has come in the perfect moment, and I'm happy to say I'm now, thanks to fandom, working on a new original project that doesn't stress me out as much. It's still soon to say something and I have nothing to show but... Eh. :)

It carried me through a difficult year and gave me some joy and some friends, for which I'm extremely grateful for. <3

#love your fandom ask #petrel replies #too sappy? Oh well

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alectoperdita · 6 months

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20 questions writer meme.

Thanks to @heyholmesletsgo for tagging me <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

178 (one is a podfic)

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,761,591 words

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I'm mainly in YGO only now, but in the past, have written for Lucifer, Sherlock, Gundam Build Fighters, Sailor Moon, and a few other random fandoms

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The sum of our choices (Lucifer post-S3 canon-divergent AU)

Side Deck (YGO post-canon kaijou)

obvious things observed by nobody (also part of the same post-S3 Lucifer AU)

Confirmation Bias (Sherlock, post-Reichenbach Johnlock)

The tomorrows we'll never have (YGO Battle City canon-divergent AU with hints of kaijou and Priest Set/Jounouchi)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yeah, I usually try to. I've definitely fallen behind in the last few months, though. I'm sorry. I try to tackle it when I have energy, but it's a rare commodity and I use it to write usually.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

These are more open endings than specifically sad/tragic endings, but they could end up there because they're open. It's a toss-up between Chilled to my bone and the recent ficlet where Jounouchi was kidnapped by Hirutani.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of them are fairly happy because I tend toward happy endings. But I can't really think of which is the happiest?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Somehow in the last two years, I morphed into being a majority smut writer. I'm still in the experimental phase, trying to write different kinds of kinks/tropes, but I feel more practiced at it compared to when I started. Overall, my preference is to try and use smut as a way to advance character/relationship development.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Yes. It's maybe not crazy per se, but some of them may feel discordant(?) in their source materials. Like I find it amusing to write crossovers between animes and Western live-action properties.

We do ourselves no favors is a Lucifer/YGO crossover casefic.

Going forth by day is an unfinished Sherlock/YGO crossover casefic.

Said the spider to the fly is a Sherlock/xxxHOLIC crossover ficlet.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I know.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not yet.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Sorta? The Horny Cinderella Incident was an idea workshopped between wahwahwashbear and myself. I wrote the prose for the

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Kaiba and Jounouchi forever 😍

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I try not to give up on WIPs, as it may take a few years but I eventually get back to them. But if I'm honest with myself, I'm probably never going to finish he lit a fire with icicles 😔.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Hmm... perhaps the smaller gestures characters might make that hint at their feelings?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue, especially in a way that distinguishes between characters via appropriate voice/cadence is something I generally struggle with. I also tend to be verbose even in dialogue, which means they require a lot of editing.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Unless the point is for the reader to also not understand the dialogue, I prefer to not do that.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Sailor Moon

20. Favorite fic you've written?

It changes every once in a while but right now it might be Lure. 😈

Tagging @leechysmile, @arien-elensar, @worldendercharles, @chazz-is-a-zelda-fan, @bdeblueyes, @unfriendlyamazon, @kaijous, and any other writers that want to do this one. <3

(Give me permission to tag you on games here.)

#tagging memes #my fanfiction

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peachpety · 6 months

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20 questions for fic writers

tagged 230943 years ago by @schmem14 [x] @vukovich [x] @mintawasalreadytaken [x]

check out fics from these lovely, brilliant, fantastic, stellar, amazing [*insert lady gaga meme here*] writers:

schmem14 [some truly wonderful & witty rarepair gems y'all] vukovich [off-the wall, peculiar delivered in amazing prose] mintaminta [insightful angst/dead dove & hot kinky smut]

tagging @mystickitten42 @citrusses @kittycargo @lumosatnight @xanthippe74 @rockingrobin69 @stavromulabetaaa @bubble-gumhead @porcelainheart3 @roseharpermaxwell @curlyy-hair-dont-care

me, myself & i

How many works do you have on AO3?

76 + 1 in anon, to be revealed soon!

What's your total AO3 wordcount?

149,896

What fandoms do you write for?

HP, with emphasis on Drarry.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Come as You Are (3.8k) Sun Stroke (3.8k) Laundry Day (2.7k) 10 Easy Steps (1.8k) It's Called Fashion, Potter (2.1k)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

listen. yes. i try. and i am so far behind atm. honestly, i get the most wonderful comments from lovely readers. and i want them to know how appreciative i am that they took time to read(!) and let me know their thoughts(!!). even if it's just an emoji(!!!). i don't care, i love it.

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

if you read me, you know...i do not write angst. i have one (1) fic where i stepped out of my lane and wrote angst-lite. it's not even really angst, but more moody atmospheric. and interestingly enough, the most purple i've prosed. my beta was like, peach, what? the weed which strings the hangman's bag

What is a fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

pfft, all my fics have the happiest endings.

Do you get hate on fics?

nope. i did get hate on a supportive/love comment i left on a friend's fic once. that's, like, 7th circle of hell troll behavior to be hating on a comment.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

i do write smut, yes. my smut has been described as [insert various descriptors like "inferno", "blazing", "scorching", and lots of🔥] hot paired with soft/romantic/sweet. i.e. fluffy smut. smuff.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

nope. the closest i've come is inserting HP characters into a magical version of The Breakfast Club.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i'm aware of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

not that i'm aware of, but i do have a blanket statement in my AO3 profile that allows it, so who knows?

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

drarry, easily.

What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

i have a fic inspired by a movie and idk if i'll ever get it written. I COULD mention my xmas advent fic from 2020 but i'm determined to finish it this year. DETERMINED. 🦔

What are your writing strengths?

i'm good at characterizations & writing banter. and i'm good at writing lean.

What are your writing weaknesses?

recently, i've had the immense pleasure of listening to my fics read aloud in published podfics. and let me say, this is a brilliant way to spot weaknesses. and while my banter may be good, sometimes i maybe inject too much action into my conversations. it disrupts the flow. also, long, plotty fics ellude me. i'm a pantser/gardner style writer and plotting/outlining makes me hyperventilate.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

yes, if used sparingly, and in such a way that i (as an english only speaker) can intuit what is being said. and also if translations are provided as a footnote. i've got a french-speaking Draco in my Dron fics [1] [2], where he lapses in the heat of passion.

First fandom you wrote for?

drarry, baby.

Favorite fic you've written?

if i may, i have two: Deadheading the Odd Dahlia, inspired by the incredible art of @beyondtheclose Birds Behaving Badly (my longest drarry to date! 10k!)

#me myself and i #tag game #20 questions #hp fandom

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zedif-y · 22 days

Note

Fanfic ask meme!

C; D for BAYAB, vampire fic and fabriz fic; G; H; L; N; R; S; T; Z

Now suffer :3

Putting this under the cut because it's Long

C: What character do you identify with most?

As of rn? Fabian Seacaster LKJSDSDG Impulse wasn't really someone i identified with as much as i felt like i just really Got his character , but fabian.... hoo boy . he's not Me as in 'that's how i act' (that title would be given to Riz) but he's me because of experiences KLSHDGJ somewhat . anyway watch fantasy high /silly

D: Is there a song or a playlist to associate with [insert fic]?

All the songs they're titled after, basically .

BAYAB = Be by Hozier

vampire fic = Angel Of Small Death & The Codeine Scene by Hozier

fabriz fic = anything by Adrianne Lenker

G: Care to share a favorite crack fic?

Behold. the Impulse Dick Timer AU.

H: How would you describe your style?

Honestly? I'm not super sure ! I think i definitely lean towards dialogue and imagery though . I think of writing as a bit like painting, and i think it definitely colors my style of writing :0 like layering stuff w imagery and abstract prose . no idea if this makes sense LK:JHSDG

L: What’s the weirdest AU you’ve ever come up with?

Still the dick timer au ngl

N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you?

Hmmm... Probably the zedpulse thing i started for imptober? because like. yeah no i'm not finishing that LKSJHDG but actually maybe if someone could write my shapeshifter joel au fic series for me, thatd be awesome KLJSDHGSDG but . well. doubt that's happening anytime soon

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence?

Yes, definitely! I've read a lot of fics that have made an impact on my writing, and I'm. so sorry to tag this writer on this long and somewhat cursed post but @milo-hypno's works have inspired my writing and was honestly one of my inspirations that made me start posting HC/mcyt writing in the first place :] you're awesome!

T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand?

Hanahaki, i guess? i can't think of anything else off the top of my head, but this also just depends on the execution . generally i steer clear of those though, it just makes me feel Blegh as someone who's on the aro spectrum

Z: Major character death–do you ever write/read it? Is there a character whose death you can’t tolerate?

Hmm... Sometimes, maybe? It really depends, but it has to be something that specifically caters to My tastes because there's no way i'm just reading a hurt no comfort fic LKJHDSGJKDSG it's too sad for me !! i can't take it !!

Thanks for the ask, ref!! :D

#ryan's screaming #bayab #shapeshifter joel au #reflingthefox #ask games #ask

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felixferitas · 24 days

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knowing your partner can potentially make writing together a lot easier.

basics

✧ NAME: ash / meg

✧ PRONOUNS: she/they

✧ SEXUALITY: bisexual / queer.

✧ TAKEN OR SINGLE: taken. @ourpretender is my bf. we've been in a ldr for abt 2 yrs?

three facts

✧ i also love bts !! i'm a jin stan. i had a kpop phase for a while there.

✧ i love succession, along with other media about complex family dynamics and dysfunction. generational trauma. it always hits. also have an affinity for monsters and monstrous muses. anything that can serve as an allegory for queerness. i was a cw supern@tural fan for a good chunk of my teen years.

✧ i'm an aquarius and a very lowkey astrology nerd.

experience

✧ HOW LONG (MONTHS / YEARS?): 12 years ago i was roleplaying arthur pendragon after that depressing ass finale. yes, i was 15 at the time but fear not, i was a safe kiddo that grew up on the internet.

✧ PLATFORMS YOU’VE USED: tumblr, twitter, discord.

✧ BEST EXPERIENCE: meeting my partner 2 years ago. having a falling out with some of our mutual rp friends because they didn't like the fact that we were dating and surviving their attempt to sabotage our relationship a la the weird callout post they made in our disc server. it was the best of times, it was the worst of times..

muse preferences

✧ FEMALE OR MALE: male. being a cis woman is heavy enough in the real world. i write to decompress.

✧ FLUFF, ANGST OR SMUT: angst and smut !! fluff too. i'm all about soft epilogues.

✧ PLOTS OR MEMES: i really enjoy plotting, but i'm also a meme hoarder and if you send it, esp with like -- some context for what you think would help would set the scene, i will most definitely get around to it.

✧ LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: i love lengthy replies. just as long as it's not purple prose or aesthetic writing, but a reply with meat and substance, i'm jazzed. i enjoy short back and forths every now and then too.

✧ BEST TIME TO WRITE: afternoon. sometimes i write at night, but my mind gets overstimulated and it becomes hard to sleep.

✧ ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S): sometimes. i am not at all like felix in terms of class or gender, but there aspects of him that i relate to. having a narcissistic parent being one of them.

#─── ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ * ⠀ ⠀𝐨𝐨𝐜.⠀ ／ ⠀ dash games.#─── ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ * ⠀ ⠀𝐨𝐨𝐜.⠀ ／ ⠀ mundane.#─── ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ * ⠀ ⠀𝐨𝐨𝐜.⠀ ／ ⠀ ramblings.

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ac1numa · 4 months

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@insanislupus asked: desperation meme. [ 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 ] : sender carries injured receiver to safety. bonbon.

bb. bonnie knew she wasn't that strong. she was good at hiding it though. does that stop her from being a hero once again ? no. she was meant, built for that anyway. be a sacrifice. that's what a lot of people say about her. you're always helping those around you bonnie, but who helps you ? who is there for you ? maybe that's what's stopping her from being happy ? she doesn't want to be a burden who gets dragged behind. she wants to be useful and give all her energy for a good cause. although, it may kill her. that's why she doesn't stop reciting those cantations. she needs to save the world. they needed her. she feared no one but her falls. trying to stay strong and not fall, she couldn't help but groan when she felt someone pick her up from the ground as she tried to regain her strength. " i don't need help. i need to finish this. " she plead as she looked at the girl, cleaning her bloodied nose with her sleeve. " you don't understand. they need me. " even at her weakest, she tried to stay strong.

#does she need a break ?#yes.#will she takes this ?#nope.#i'm emotional.#this angst at midnight where i leave is hurting me #oops.#insanislupus #muse. : bonnie bennett.#001. : in character. / answered meme.#001. : in character. / prose.#dyn. : jackie matlin. ( insanislupus. )

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onomatopiya · 9 months

Text

writer tag game!

hiiii thank you @avi-why for tagging me this game seems so fun :D

1. is there a common piece of writing advice that you disagree with? alternatively, is there one you think (generally) most people should follow?

oooooh okay! generally i dislike any hard absolutes like "don't use adverbs ever" because i mean. no piece of advice like that will ever be universal and it's important to consider what Your Piece of writing needs rather than trying to fit a set of ~arbitrary guidelines~

as for advice i think works, i think consistency in writing will always be key to improvement. i like. very heavily stagnated in actual writing after covid (i was like. good lord i was 15 then. wild) because i got bogged down trying to make my book Perfect. and i think if i had actually written more during that time i would be a much better writer now! more writing = more improvement and practice makes pretty damn close to perfect etc etc

2. you can have dinner with any author, living or dead. but the catch is that after the dinner, you and that author will team up against a third writer in a no holds barred cage match throwdown. which 2 authors do you pick?

OOOOH ok. i'm currently very enamored with andrew joseph white and lee mandelo's writing because they both write GORGEOUS prose so maybe one of them? OOO or r.f. kuang . i think tolstoy should get got in the cage match. cry old man

3. have you ever experimented with poetry, plays, or screenwriting? what was the result?

YES i have and now i have a web series. help girl this was not supposed to be longer than a short fiction piece and yet. also shameless self plug you can read my web series about a dead girl haunting her own narrative HERE: https://gloryburning.substack.com/

i do want to experiment more with poetry though!!! that's one medium i haven't really dipped my toes into so to speak

4. what type of rancid twitter discourse would your current wip generate?

oh god what discourse WOULDN'T rr spark. i definitely think having an aroace mc weaponize someone else's attraction to him is probably um. discourse worthy. my top fear is that someone unironically ships lahar (romance and sex repulsed aroace) with anthony (horrible white savior who has no semblance of self) some other notable things that happen in the book:

diversity loss the capitalist kendall roy ass character (anthony) is gay

people of color get to KILL

ruh roh! tragedy :(

horrible horrible body augmentations with dangerous and ableist implications

so much murder. so much assassination. god bless

5. what author would you love to be compared to? what author would you hate to be compared to?

OOOOOOH . uhhhh i love so many authors oh god. i do love neil gaiman i would be so floored if someone compared me to that guy. OH and terry pratchett . probably would not want to be compared to like. jkr. booooo

6. design the ideal piece of merch/swag for your wip.

oh this one is so me bait. i have serious merch and then deeply unserious merch

7. free space: what's one thing you really want to talk about in your writing that no one ever asks about?

I LOVE soulmate horror and just. idk taking different concepts and hitting them with my aroace beam. i love aroace horror i love aroace people. and i think there should be more weird aspec fiction

and question time. putting them below the cut along with tags

what's the first story you can remember writing? how does it compare to the way your writing has evolved? where do you see your writing going in the future?

what parts of yourself (if any) have gone into your current wip? alternatively, how would you fare if you were suddenly dropped into your own wip?

what's one quality of your writing that feels completely unique? what's one thing you want to improve upon in the future?

make or share a meme that you feel captures the essence of your wip.

what are your goals as a writer? do you want to publish? is your writing for your eyes only?

which of your characters is your favorite to write and why?

free space: feel free to be self indulgent--do you have any aus or your wips? if so, what, and if not, what aus/fanfic would you write of your work?

tagging: @macywrites, @cream-and-tea, @saltwaterbells, @coffeeandcalligraphy, @wren-is-writing, @encrucijada, @snowinks, @chayscribbles, @cuntylittlesalmon, and anyone else who wants to do this

#writeblr #tag game #writblr

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ferinehuntressmoved · 5 months

Text

𝘒𝘕𝘖𝘞𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘠𝘖𝘜𝘙 𝘗𝘈𝘙𝘛𝘕𝘌𝘙 𝘞𝘌𝘓𝘓 𝘊𝘈𝘕 𝘗𝘖𝘛𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘐𝘈𝘓𝘓𝘠 𝘔𝘈𝘒𝘌 𝘞𝘙𝘐𝘛𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘛𝘖𝘎𝘌𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘙 𝘈 𝘓𝘖𝘛 𝘌𝘈𝘚𝘐𝘌𝘙.

NAME :　Panda

PRONOUNS :　She / Her

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION :　Discord. While I can use tumblr dms, I most likely might miss them. Discord is the best form of communication for me.

NAME OF MUSE(S) :　Primary muses are Caitlyn Kiramman & Ahri. Secondary are Mel Medarda & Aloy. Tertiary are Elora & Vi. By Request is Nidalee & Janna

EXPERIENCE / HOW LONG ( MONTHS / YEARS? ) :　Holy shit, you want me to count that far back. You want me to tell you how old I really am!?! So, I started to roleplay when computers were pretty new to houses. YES! I was one of those kids that was graced by the first computers in houses! I think my first computer was a IMB one or something, but I started playing on a computer with internet back in 2000. My parents didn't have a lot of money so we couldn't get an earlier computer; this was a gift from a friend at church for me. It had Windows 98 I think or something. I don't know.

Anyway, got distracted, but when that came around, one of the first forums every I think that had roleplaying on the web was called Avidgamers. I played Pokemon as a self insert character. One liner diaster writer I was. So yeah, I've been roleplaying for about 23 years now, but in terms of writing, I have been writing stories since I was 9 years old, so that is about 26 years (I use to also write self insert stories in Sailor Moon or Pokemon or things like that XD). Anywho, I went on a tangent, anyone who reads this your amazing.

BEST EXPERIENCE :　Oh man, I'm not sure. There are so many things that could be my best. I use to own forums before, I had some amazing partners. I miss them dearly and I hope they are doing amazing things now. Honestly, I think its just the level of growth I've had over the years. From going to being a self-insert writer who could only write a line or two, to now trying to expand my writing and doing more. To be more quality then quantity, but also meeting partners who absolutely challenge me to write better and be better. I want to be good for people, but there are those partners that absolutely push me to try even harder and be even better.

RP PET PEEVES / DEALBREAKERS :　I'm not saying this is a pet peeve? but I typically stray away from one liners or massive purple prose writing that I don't understand what I'm reading. While I never deny anyone's choice of writing, these are the things I tend to stay away from because I personally cannot write them. I can't really say what my pet peeves are? I probably have some but I don't know of the top of my mind.

MUSE PREFERENCES FLUFF, ANGST OR SMUT :　I am, hands down, an absolute fiend for angst. I know it might be overwhelming for some people but I really find it carthatic for myself? and have a double enjoyment of angst that turns to fluff. I like to call it Angsty Fluff, or Fluffy Angst. The bonding of two people in difficult moments whether that is fighting to survive death or helping someone through a rough period. Two people, bonding and encouraging each other is something I really enjoy to write. I also don't mind writing smut, I actually enjoy it but I do tend to write smut with people who I heavily plot with often.

PLOTS OR MEMES :　Plots. While I post memes a lot, I do try to create a plot line to those memes too. I need some kidn of foundation. I am not looking for a written out script we have to follow to a T, that's not what I mean. What I am looking for is just like this idea to build around, maybe even talking about our muses connections and waht they are dealing with at the time. That kind of foundation and design really helps me feel more connected to our msues and the writing. I love memes, but I tend to only continue memes with people I plot with a lot.

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES :　I love long threads. like you don't have to apologize for anything because I thrive on really long replies. I have had replies go up to 1.5k words, which absolutely thrills me. The shortest replies I can do is maybe 2 paragraphs. Any shorter then that, and I tend to loose interest and have to drop it.

BEST TIME TO WRITE :　Honestly, no idea. I am far more productive at night my time (CST). I tend to stay up til 2 or 3am.

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S) :　Caitlyn is very much my muse, so much so we relate on many different levels. I understand her deeply and I'm very connected to her. As for my other muses, yes and now. But caitlyn, hands down, is almost like a part of me that I get to write fully.

➤ 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘 [ : ] @knifvd - Thank you dear ♡ ➤ 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆 [ : ] @shimmerbeasts, @hexcoremagician, @goldenfists, @futureforged, @goldusk, @gauntlets-shot, @blackrosesmatron, @angelicxlly, @dynaisms, @decidentia, @demacianhcart, @jynxd, @piltover-sharpshooter, @powdied, @ofspvrta, @undercity-prodigy, @torntruth, @tricoloredillusion, @realmyths, @weavertali, and anyone else who wants to.

#[ panda speaks ] — personal games.

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compacflt · 9 months

Note

not to be that one its always sunny conspiracy board meme, but is the most recent excerpt you posted with macy's and sears and the goodbye kiss a part of the same ten-step guide how to kiss tom kazansky? there's one where maverick turns ice by telling him about the woman he hooked up with the night before and one where they drink wine from their hands at the beach - is the goodbye kiss another one that doesn't quite count? also please feel free to ignore if i should wait to see when this is posted in full

yes correct there are three sets of those, they are all months old at this point 😭

in the spirit of wip wednesday here’s one from the third set that i haven’t posted any excerpts of yet

we do a little prose poetry 🤪

#1st set is 1994-1996 2nd set (of which the home reno section was) is 2005-2007 3rd is 2018-#🤷🏽‍♀️#baby was going thru it in may. Needed to take some stress out on some good thick juicy second person italicized dialogue #why is heartrate red underlined i am gonna kms it should be one word #btw prose poetry is a joak for anyone who didn’t get that #i am joaking #this is just me sucking my own dick relentlessly (most of these extras are)#pete maverick mitchell #tom iceman kazansky #icemav #top gun #top gun maverick #top gun fanfiction #may 2023 was basically me just losing my mind over and over again & sometimes led to ideas como esto #‘huh! that’s weird!’ yeah that’s cause i was stressed out of my fucking gourd lol #same with the drinking wine out of each others hands LMAONFJSNDJD what the f #Are you guys getting sick of my size-11 single spaced cambria yet

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incorrectcoldflashblog · 6 months

Note

Sooooo...is it too much to ask for your answers to all of the questions on the ask list about your country?? (I hope you will say no and tell me to select a handful, if that's what you prefer.)

Sorry, sorry, I totally meant to do this faster but that was a lot of questions, haha. Putting this under a read more because it got LONG.

1.) favourite place in your country?

Honestly there are a lot of beautiful places in France, but a personal favorite would be Biarritz, near the Spanish border. My whole extended family used to vacation there when I was a kid.

2.) do you prefer spending your holidays in your country or travel abroad?

Given the choice I’d prefer to travel abroad.

3.) does your country have access to sea?

Yes, via the English channel, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean sea.

4.) favourite dish specific for your country?

La blanquette de veau, a dish that was originally from Normandy :)

5.) favourite song in your native language?

Nooo, don’t do this to me. I hate picking favorites. I’ll just share one that has some personal significance for me and not call it my favorite ;)

6.) most hated song in your native language?

I don’t know that I really hate that many songs, but on a personal level I definitely never wanna hear Jusqu’ici tout va bien by Gims again as long as I live. It’s the theme song to a show my roommate watches every evening (which means I have to hear it Every.Day.) and it irks me that the title is a reference to one of the best scenes from my favorite movie when the song itself is so annoying. But maybe I just feel that way because I have to hear it so, so often.

7.) three words from your native language that you like the most?

Clair-obscur (chiaroscuro), l’engrenage (an ineluctable series of events) and it’s technically two words but l’amitié amoureuse. The literal translation would be ’friendship in love’ but it’s not actually a romantic love, it just describes basically having an intense but platonic crush on your friend. It’s one of my favorite concepts in the French language.

8.) do you get confused with other nationalities? if so, which ones and by whom?

No, we don’t, for better or for worse France is very uniquely French, lol.

9.) which of your neighbouring countries would you like to visit most/know best?

The one I know best is probably Switzerland, just because my great-uncle lived in Lausanne and we visited him a few times when he was still alive. Fun fact, he ran away to Switzerland after having an affair with a married woman because her husband threatened to kill him, lol.

The one I’d like to visit most is Italy, just because that’s where part of my family is from (from Parma) and I’ve never been.

10.) most enjoyable swear word in your native language?

Putain, which I use approximately 500 times a day XD

11.) favourite native writer/poet?

Listen, how am I meant to pick just one when there are so many??

Classic literature: Gustave Flaubert

Contemporary writer: Marie Ndiaye

Favorite poet: maybe Marguerite Yourcenar? Although my favorite poem might be L’Irréparable by Charles Baudelaire.

You didn’t ask but my favorite play is Le Cid by Corneille. Romeo and Juliet wishes XD

12.) what do you think about English translations of your favourite native prose/poem?

I think there’s just always something missing in translation tbh.

13.) does your country (or family) have any specific superstitions or traditions that might seem strange to outsiders?

I mean, I know outsiders often comment on the fact that French people kiss each other on the cheek to say hello (se faire la bise) but I don’t know if that counts as a strange tradition.

14.) do you enjoy your country’s cinema and/or TV?

Ehh, to me French cinema/TV is divided in two categories, really fucking good and really fucking awful, haha, there’s pretty much no in-between. A bad movie is called a navet (a turnip) by the way^^

15.) a saying, joke, or hermetic meme that only people from your country will get?

There’s a lot of jokes and memes that originated from the tv show Kaamelott that are going to be hard to decipher for people who haven’t seen it. Here’s one I think you’ll enjoy:

16.) which stereotype about your country you hate the most and which one you somewhat agree with?

The one I agree with is that French people complain all the time because we really, really do, haha. I don’t agree with the stereotype that French people are lazy though, we just don’t live to work but why are we acting like it’s a bad thing?? I don’t know, there are a lot of negative stereotypes about French people but tbh at the end of the day I don’t really care that much.

17.) are you interested in your country’s history?

Sure, it’s definitely interesting, but there’s so much of it it can be a little intimidating.

18.) do you speak with a dialect of your native language?

Nope.

19.) do you like your country’s flag and/or emblem? what about the national anthem?

Our emblem is le coq (the rooster), which you only see on the French team’s shirts, just like you’re most likely to see the flag when there’s a World Cup. It’s fine I guess, I don’t really have an opinion on it.

Our national anthem is kind of problématique but it does go hard. I’ll give it that. Like, if you’ve ever watched that scene from Casablanca where they sing La Marseillaise you’ll understand what I mean by that.

20.) which sport is The Sport in your country?

Mbappé Soccer :)

21.) if you could send two things from your country into space, what would they be?

I’ve been puzzling over this question for weeks, haha, and I’m still not sure what it means, like? Do you mean annoying people I’d launch into space or XD

22.) what makes you proud about your country? what makes you ashamed?

I don’t have a lot of national pride tbh. I’m ashamed about a lot of the public discourse, the islamophobia, the state violence, the way Nicolas Sarkozy and the media brought far-right talking points into the mainstream and now we’re all swimming in their shit.

I’m proud to know that French people are always ready to burn shit down though.

23.) which alcoholic beverage is the favoured one in your country?

According to Google it’s beer. I would’ve probably said wine.

24.) what other nation is joked about most often in your country?

Probably Belgium. There’s lots of belgian jokes.

25.) would you like to come from another place, be born in another country?

I don’t really think about stuff like that. Every country has its own issues, so it is what it is.

26.) does your nationality get portrayed in Hollywood/American media? what do you think about the portrayal?

Oh boy, does it ever. Every time a new season of Emily in Paris comes out you can bet French Twitter is gonna have a field day over this shit XD

27.) favourite national celebrity?

When you say national celebrity my first thought immediately goes to Jean-Jacques Goldman. Amazing songwriter, but also very well-known for his work with the Restos du Cœur, a French charity that was founded by his friend the comedian Coluche and les Restos famously do more for the poor than our own government ever would. Probably why Goldman gets elected personnalité préférée des Français every other year. (He also pays his taxes in France, unlike some people, and we always appreciate that here.)

28.) does your country have a lot of lakes, mountains, rivers? do you have favourites?

It does. I think the most famous are the river Seine, the Mont-Blanc (although that crosses over into Italy) and as far as lakes go I’m sure there are a lot but I can’t think of a really well-known one.

29.) does your region/city have a beef with another place in your country?

My city does have beef with another city, but I won’t say which for privacy reasons ;)

30.) do you have people of different nationalities in your family?

My paternal grandmother was from Laos and my paternal grandfather’s family immigrated from Italy (not him directly, but his mother). I think there’s some German (well, Prussian) and Flemish on my mother’s side. My aunt’s husband is also from Italy, and my eldest brother’s wife is from Madagascar. I think that’s all :)

Thank you so much for asking, friend, I can only hope I didn’t totally bore you to death XD

“Hi, I’m not from the US” ask set

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