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dduane · 10 months

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The Novel as Cake

I was reading through the 'writing' tag on your blog, and came across your wonderful post about how you outline your novels using Cherryh's 'Shopping List' technique. My question is - how do you decide/come up with the 10 things in the novel? I have about 3-4 things I know must happen in my idea, and other random details about the world. But what is important enough to be one of the 10 things? And also, how do you generate your ideas for those 10 things? - Asked by Anonymous

…Okay, let’s take this from the top. (And for convenience’s sake, let’s stay in the shopping-list idiom; it’s useful enough.) (ETA: the blog entry that discusses the Shopping List outlining method is here.)

Let’s say you want to make a cake. …This cake also being your novel.

To have a solid story (in the western-novel tradition, anyway), you need at least two things: plot and theme. The plot is what happens. The theme is the why of what happens, and (to a certain extent) the book-wide spectrum of thought and emotion that underlies that; the answer to the question “But what’s the book about?”* …Think of this duality, for the moment, as the equivalent of having both liquid and solid stuff in your cake. You’ve got to have both or it won’t rise. A book with a plot but no theme has no soul.

So: you’re going to make a cake. What kind?

As an example, I’m going to ease myself out onto a limb here and equate “chocolate-chip devil’s food with chocolate buttercream frosting” with “epic-fantasy quest fiction with strong political, exoreligious, and quasiromantic components.” (A favorite for me, over time, as some folks will have noticed. I just can’t get enough of those chocolate chips…)

So how do you determine the ten things you need (or whatever number you like, but ten works for me) as major ingredients / sections?

Well, ideally from some familiarity with what has gone in other/similar cakes/works of fiction in the past: because (in genre fiction, anyway) you have at least some reader expectations to manage. If you haven’t been reading in your chosen genre, you really should be. ...Now, this doesn’t mean you have to do what other people working in the genre have done. Indeed, at all times you remain at liberty to “flip the punchcard” and do exactly the opposite of what everybody else has been doing, if that’s what suits you. But they’ve set out possible recipes for you, so (as a beginner at this work) it'd seem wise to examine those recipes and see what’s in them that might be useful for you. Once you’ve been doing this for a while, you don’t need to go looking, just as an experienced baker doesn’t need to run for the recipe book every time they want to make a cake.

Naturally you can substitute ingredients, add some or lose some, when you’re creating something new; just as you like—while always making sure you don’t throw away anything routinely required/expected in your genre. (Such as, for example, the Happily Ever After at the end of a genre romance.) But certain basics must be in place, things that make what you’re creating recognizably A Cake, as well as your own additions and embellishments.

In this case, that could be:

For a cake: flour, milk, eggs, butter, baking powder, cocoa, chocolate chips, vanilla extract, seasonings, a little bit of salt (because without that, even the sweetest cake tastes just a little insipid somehow)

For a novel: a protagonist/pairtagonist (is that a word? It is now…); an antagonist (not necessarily a character: an antagonistic or stymie-ing situation that keeps the antagonist from easily getting what they want/need will do just as well. This is where at least some of the interior drama will derive from); a change in interior or exterior conditions that sets events in motion; a “ticking clock” or similar construct that means the desired result must be achieved within a certain time or before certain conditions change or expire; various reversals or hiccups in the flow of the story that will inject a sense of realism (because when does anything ever go perfectly smoothly…?); a crisis point at which everything assembled against the protagonist rises up to be dealt with, and the protagonist rises up to meet the challenge and deal with it; and finally, a set of resolution events that (even if it doesn’t absolutely finish the story proper) brings about an end state that will leave you, and any theoretical reader, satisfied with the completion of the current story arc.

…Needless to say, this is an incredibly oversimplified take on the kind of strategizing needed when you’re creating the recipe for a novel that won’t simply collapse the minute you take it out of the oven. But starting simply is often best. The more you do this kind of work, the easier it gets.

Now: “How do you generate your ideas for those 10 things?”

There are a lot of possible answers to this, but the simplest is: Make them up out of nothing, as usual. :)

…This isn’t meant to sound like sass. You made up those first three or four things you came up with out of nothing, and now (because they’ve been there for a while, probably) they may well have started to acquire a kind of secret, temporally-based superiority in your mind—starting to feel somehow more valid than what needs to come next to fill in the gaps. This kind of creeping sense of validity-via-temporal-primacy is a commonplace when you’re in mid-process, and I invite you to ignore it.

Just insert those three or four things into your shopping list in (roughly) story-temporal order, and then spend some time thinking about what kinds of events could usefully come between / flow from them. Hints:

Events that could realistically have been caused by the ones you’ve got already, and could also realistically be seen as causal to later ones you’ve already established, are always useful. Ideally, you’re trying to establish a chain of events in which none of them look accidental, or coincidental (because readers are rightfully sensitive to plots that only work because all the characters are idiots, or keep having “lucky accidents”). What you’re working toward is an event flow that seems, when viewed in completion, inevitable: as if it couldn’t have happened any other way. You will almost certainly not achieve this easily, early on in your novel work, and maybe not at all. But it strikes me as a good thing to be striving for.

Events that badly screw things up for the main characters are also always useful. Heroes do not become heroes by having everything go their way. Their heroism is achieved and manifested by having things go to shit around them again and again and AGAIN, and nonetheless still finding their way through all that shit to do what needs to be done. The lines attributed to the Confucianist philosopher Meng-tse (sometimes translated from Japanese into English as “Mōshi”) are a touchstone in this regard:

When Heaven is about to confer a great office upon a man, it first exercises his mind with suffering and his sinews and bones with toil: it exposes him to poverty and confounds all his undertakings. Then it is seen if he is ready.

So put your protagonists through the wringer. This is the greatest service you can do them: showing who they are by showing what they're made of.

A variant on this theme: Spend a little time thinking, “What is the absolute worst thing that could happen to these characters in this story / in this world?” And when you’ve figured that out, stick it into one of those gaps as a Main Thing—ideally one between the story’s midpoint and its already-planned crisis, if you’ve got that in place—and then start thinking about how to best exploit it to show how terrific your characters can become if you kick them around a bit. (Addendum: you are allowed to have one Absolutely Terrific and Beautiful Thing happen to assist your characters in recovering from this awfulness. Because they deserve it; but also, all invented worlds [if you ask me] should have beautiful things in them—things to long for, things that make your reader wish they could live there. And that you find beautiful, and worth returning to. You are absolutely allowed to keep yourself entertained, and emotionally refreshed, while you’re creating.)

…Anyway, take your time about getting those gaps filled in. It may take a little while: laying down basic story structure is worth not rushing, if you can avoid it. Once you’ve got everything major in place, the secondary lists will follow more easily.

HTH!

*This is a hilarious oversimplification, but my job at the moment is not (as the saying goes) to explain the workings of the entire universe while standing on one foot. :)

#writing #outlining #the Shopping List #how-to #suggestions #writing process #themes

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luvstarss · 28 days

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can I have a request with jj maybank x shy! reader where you work at the beach in a bar or something like that and stares at him all the time bc you're afraid to ask him out and he gives a typical jj answer for stalking him and you're upset & avoiding him. until kie tells JJ he's wrong it's just you're in awe? Fluff ending please 🥺

You can write it like you want, just an idea! Love it anyway

Oblivious

JJxReader

Warnings:Alchohol.Talk about sex I guess?

I'm working behind the counter as I watch JJ pick out some surf gear "You're staring"my co-worker Leah chimes in "Hm what?"I say as I snap out of my train of thought. She just laughs and continues to stock shelves.

JJ had been coming into the store almost every day for the last few weeks buying random shit like surf wax or a new shark necklace. He comes up to the counter "Just them please" he says as he looks at me with a smile "You've been coming here a lot recently"I giggle with a smile "Surf season coming up good waves and shit I gotta prepare" he replies with a cheesy grin.

I round up his items "fifteen dollars fifty"I say as I open the register "fuck I've only got 10 hold em' for me ?I'll come back to pay for the rest" he replies as he looks through his pockets embarrassment painted on his face."you're good"I say with a small smile "what?"he says looking up “don't worry about it take it as my discount"I say "oh-Thankyou so much"he says with a warm smile as I give him his stuff and he leaves the surf shop.

Timeskip

“You sure I look okay Ames?”I say in an unsure tone to my best friend Amy as I look in the mirror pulling my dress down and doing what I can to make myself feel more comfortable in the short skin tight material “bitch you look so fucking good” she says as she stares back at me through the reflecting in the mirror.

“don’t worry JJ will love it” she adds with a teasing grin. I give her an unimpressed look through the mirror “I fucking hate the fact I like him” I reply as I brush out the curls in my hair “Can’t help true love” she says with the same teasing grin still painted on her face.

Me and Amy finish up getting ready and head to the boneyard. As we walk onto the sand the sweet smell of alcohol and weed fills my senses. We go over to the keg and fill up our cups. As I look around grasping my surroundings I lock eyes with a familiar blonde boy standing with his usual group of friends wearing his signature grey cargo shorts and black tank top. I immediately look away and turn back to Amy.

“are u even listening?”she scoffs “I-yeah”I reply my tone sounding a lot more unsure than I intended “girl go over there”she grins as she follows my gaze to JJ “No way shut up”I respond with an eye roll.

Somehow throughout the night me and Amy had migrated around the bomb fire with JJ and his group of friends just laughing and talking to each other the alcohol taking slight effect slowly but surely. Me and Jj keep catching each other’s eyes but I ignore it and keep talking to other people surrounding us.

“JJ you just can never admit you’re in the wrong dumbass” Kiara giggles as she sips her drink. “No, she practically tried to fuck me on the fucking sand!”He defends “I mean I wouldn’t have said no to a hot kook” he adds with his signature toothy grin. I feel my cheeks rush in slight jealousy. Amy gives me a look. “JJ you need to get over her” John B. chimes in “Her dad's like a rich kook who owns the whole entire neighbourhood “John b adds deflating JJ's ego.

I get up and go back over to the keg to fill up my cup. Amy jogs over to me “You okay?” she says scanning my face for a signal of how I feel “What? oh yeah, all good” I reply with a small smile “He’s being an ass don’t worry” She says referring to jj talking about that girl “Amy me and JJ have had like two conversations I have no right at all to be jealous and shit “I reply as I run my hand through my hair “so your jealous?” she clocks with a smirk “bitch shut up” I scoff with a grin as we go back over to the group.JJ shouts my name “Hm?”I respond confused as I look at the blonde .

He looks at Kiara then back at me “Your a kook if you were my girl-“He begins clearly trying to prove another point to John B or some shit before he can finish Kiara hits him in the arm “what did I do!”he responds in a defensive tone. I laugh it off as I sip my drink.

Me and Amy end up wondering off from the group I see Kiara talking to JJ.

“JJ she obviously fucking likes you!”Kiara says as she hits JJ arm “Stop fucking hitting me!and no she doesn’t!”he says defending himself“you’re so oblivious”Kiara sighs “You don’t see it because your a guy”she adds “I-cam does not like me your just being weird”he scoffs “fucking talk to her JJ”Kiara adds as she goes off to talk to John B.

Im just stood with Amy as we talk and sip on our drink when I see the blonde slightly stumble over to us “Cam can I talk to you?”JJ speaks as he look between me and Amy . Me and Amy just give each other a look “I-um sure”I reply confused . Amy nods as she walks away back over to the bombfire. “What’s up?”I say confusion still laced in my voice . “Do u like me?shit- I don’t know how do do all this shit-Kiara said you liked me”he says as I runs his hand over his face in embarrassment .

“I-well -“I begin. “I like you and I feel really bad talking about that girl in front of you earlier. Kiara told me and it was a total dick move”he says as he scans my face for a sign of hesitance “wow JJ captain of hookups actually likes a girl?”I grin teasingly.He gives me a look with a grin spread on his face “I like you too Maybank”I laugh “Soo does this mean free shit from the surf shop?”He grins as he throws an arm around me .

Hate the ending of this sooo much. I hope this fits the request enough I tried. Thankyou for the request 💞

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miley1442111 · 2 months

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hii would love smth with sydney adamu x reader if ur still taking requests!! like literally anything just need more syd content haha

omg thank u for requesting sydney, there's like nowhere near enough stuff for her? like guys... she's amazing. anyways, I hope you enjoy, it's kind of short, so sorry about that :)

no-show

a/n: lowkey spoilers for season 2, episode 3- sundae, also I didn't really think of male! or fem! reader while writing so just imagine what you want :)

summary: sydney asks if you want to join her and carmen on some food tasting, how could you say no?

pairing: sydneyadamu x reader

warnings: general fluff, talk of parents dying, brief mention of lupus, brief mention of cancer, mention of crushes.

She was pretty. But… she was also technically your new boss. You, a new person on the waitstaff at The Bear, had been hired a month ago. For the past 4 days, you had been building the tables and chairs along with your new co-workers, they’re fine, all pretty normal people- nothing to write home about. But Sydney, your boss, she was amazing. She had been the one to orient you in the restaurant. She showed you where everything is and how everything works, but you were sure you’d forgotten all of it. You were too busy watching her.. You pushed those thoughts out of your head, for now, you just had to keep your head down, get to opening night. All anyone is focusing on is opening night. So, you keep working and finish the last table, when you notice Sydney standing and talking with Carmen. Carmen Berzatto was strange, in your opinion. He barely talked to her, yet she was his ‘business partner’? He refused to even send her a text when he basically told you all to start taking down walls more than a week ago, and she was rightfully upset. He walks away from her with a nod and you get up from under the table. She comes up behind you as you stretch your aching back.

“Do you want to come with us? We’re just- our pallets are fucked and-” she starts to explain.

“Yes,” you say, probably too eagerly.

“O-ok. Cool,” she smiles. “I’ll grab my stuff.”

You smile and follow her to the lockers. “So, where do you plan on going?”

“Just some places around, I know some people, Carm knows some people,” she shrugs and the nickname she has for him irks you slightly. There can’t be anything going on between them, right?

“Will we wait for him?” You ask, pulling your jacket on.

“He’ll catch up,” she decides, leading out the back door and into the cold Chicago air.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A train ride, a short 10 minute walk, and a conversation with a waiter later, you sit across from Sydney, conversation flowing freely. You feel… comfortable with her. She’s awkward in an endearing way, kind in a way that's foreign to you, and so deeply interesting that you feel like you could talk to her forever. The food arrives, and it’s the best thing you’ve tasted in a while. Considering you’ve been living off of the same meal for the past three days (meal prepping is the only way you eat), this is like actual gold dust. Clearly your reaction doesn’t stay in your head, your eyes closing in satisfaction.

“Good right?” Sydney grins from across the table.

All you can do is nod. And internally kick yourself for being so embarrassing.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carmen has been long forgotten. He was supposed to show, he didn’t, boo hoo. You don’t care. Sydney doesn’t care. Your day with Sydney has been nothing short of perfect. Good food, good company, and now, good ideas- on Sydney’s part, you were basically just here for the food and her.

“So, what’s your favourite food?” Sydney asks, just on the walk back to The Bear.

“Can I be honest?” You chuckle, a warm feeling within you shielding you from the cold.

“Of course!”

“When I was a kid, my mom made these nachos with like-just random cheeses on them, and then we’d dip them in this spicy sauce until our tongues would go numb,” you recounted fondly. “I forgot to ask for the recipe before she died.” Sydney’s face falls, and you can’t help but feel that you’ve ruined the moment, the day too, maybe. “S-sorry, I didn’t- it just slipped out-”

“It’s ok. My mom died too,” she explains slowly. “Lupus.”

“Cancer.”

“I’m sorry,” she smiles softly as you both stop just outside the restaurant.

“I was like 10, it happened a while ago-”

“I’m sorry,” she repeats.

“I’m sorry too,” you smile, the sound of blood rushing filling your ears. You want to kiss her. You want to kiss her so bad. So, you do.

You reach and hand out and cup her cheek, pulling her in to kiss you. She gasps at the sudden contact, but kisses back all the same. She tastes like the mint the last restaurant gave you both. Her arms wrap around your neck, a smile on her lips against yours. You pull away, opening your eyes.

She looks beautiful, a smile on her perfect lips. The lips you just kissed.

“Thank you for today,” you smile.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” you chuckle.

She rolls her eyes and kisses you again.

Wow. What a good day.

#the bear fx #the bear #sydney adamu #sydney amadu #sydney adamu x reader #the bear hulu #the bear fanfiction #the bear fic #syd adamu

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simmancy · 7 months

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Happy Spooky Season, pumpkaboos!

Here’s what’s happening this month / going forward on simmancy-dot-tumblr-dot-com.

𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜! 👋

Hi there if you’re new! My name is Kit, I am 32 now, this is my simblr, I am active on and off. If any of that bothers you, unfollow, it's okay! If you're here because I posted a mod list or a random piece of CC you like, then I have good news - I do those things occasionally! When I am actively posting, I usually dabble in gameplay. I don't do much storytelling anymore because... well, I don't have the time!

𝚂𝚒𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍𝚞𝚕𝚎 🍬

I have SOME stuff I've been poking at in my ~spare time~. I love Simblreen, it's the best time of the year imo and it's just... a tradition. It's a tradition. So I'm going to try 🤞

I have been writing out a mod list centered around occults/spooky gameplay at least. So that's seasonally appropriate????? If you have a mod list request hit my inbox because I still fucking LOVE WCIFs and that's a sort of WCIF.

𝙾𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 🎃

This year (and likely going forward), I'm going to try to use my blog to showcase the community. There's SO many cool things in the ts4 tag!! So I've been scouring it at the dead of night to refill my queue 👻 That's what you can mainly expect this month. No CAS challenges, no CC challenges, just some creepies and kookies from others around simblr.

𝚁𝚎𝚐𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 🌕

Hi regular followers!! I’m so sorry if you've been here a long time, because I don't have much updates on my ~classic~ gameplays and saves and they just...... won't be. For a while.

Not So Perry... I have a bit of Gen 4 but I haven't played in a whiiiiile so. I might revisit that/redo/we'll see.

Star x Crossed is indefinitely on hold - I will probably revise how that was posting because the full episodes just aren't possible right now. I might do it more as like... an edit type thing, where the edits tell the stories or whatever. It SUCKS because I had really big hopes and dreams for that save and instead I... had a child.

The Nobel ABCs will return because I have 10 generations done in game. I just need to queue.

Maggie's Wonderful Life WILL eventually be done LMAO. I'm hoping to get back into that save soonish. I LOVE farming gameplay! So I want to play/finish it. I had about half of the introductions shot before I got distracted with other things and then... well. yeah.

New saves? When I manage to play, I play a lot of newer saves LMAO. Mostly because when I have time right now I need... something easy.

𝙻𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚄𝚙𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 🔮

I decided I like doing this once a year Simmancy Newsletter during my favorite time of the year. Halloween remains the BEST season, and there's also no guarantee I won't drop off the face of the planet again.

Obv the main thing is that, as previously stated, I had a baby. A whole ass baby. She's now 3 months old, and she is so much in the best way. We're currently teething and if you're like "Kit that seems a bit early," you're absolutely right but this is the lot I've drawn in life. She likes to be sat up, and stood up, and to talk to the Baby in the Mirror. She also is obsessed with trees and the cat. I know new moms are annoying and I'm absolutely that annoying new mom, I literally cannot shut up about her and therefore make my sims blog also about her.

I go back to work next month and I'm absolutely dreading it. Can I just be a sim and have someone press motherlode for me? Please?

Otherwise, there's very little in Kit World. The past 6 simblr years remain wonderful, and I've met some of my best friends on here. I go between BG3 and Sims when I have game time (which isn't a lot because Baby Simmancy is increasingly awake and mobile). I WISH I had more time to hang around here but maybe in a year or so.

Anyway, that’s my update of the year. Happy spooky season everybody! I hope it’s a good one!

Stay safe & spooky out there!

#blog update #kitkat chitchat #'i will be putting that baby in a pumpkin' sound #yes i am continuing to use my simblr to also update you on my child

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bibismovingcastle · 1 month

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MADE IN ABYSS MOVIE! REVIEW

8/10

No spoiler review:

The animation is always fantastic, the details of everything is so mesmerizing, the character design and the color makes everything perfect

The story is fantastic, I like how dark it is. The world building is so original and made me hooked to the anime more.

I can’t find myself hating on any character even the bad guy. I really enjoy everyone because everyone had their story and a certain mystery around them and I really liked it.

I found some scene unnecessary but not boring at all. The information given were not overwhelming at all so I understand almost everything.

Now the review with spoilers!

I recently finished season 1 of made in abyss and I am still traumatized! But I decided to finish the movie today after dinner and I am still devastated! Every scene broke me! Every single scene was made to hurt me! Watch made in abyss they say, it’s cute!

Where! WHERE! Where is the cuteness? I just see pain here and there.

The movie starts ok still weird things like commenting on minors private parts! But I just ignore them for my own benefit. It’s so cringe but anyway! My babies are still cute and Nanachi looks so cute and adorable as always (sorry I adopted them unwillingly)!

The first scene with the corpses made me chill and horrified! I still can’t get over the fact that it looks like a “kid” anime but then it turns so dark.

We see our main protagonists going on a journey, reg having random memories like I KNEW HE WAS RELATED TO LYZA.

Rika being our cute leader, Reg being our bodyguard and Nanachi our mascot the movie couldn’t start better.

It was going so well until I hear this aggravating voice! bondrewd!

I was so confused about the mask thing! Like he dies but then he revives and it’s all connected to his mask. STOP IT HURTS MY BRAIN!

I’m still confused so if I comment scenes but in a random orders it’s because I’m trying to remember the movie by memory! Bear with me ok?

This “papa” (sorry name too long to remember and to write) weirdo doesn’t he have something better to do? Like find some hobby! I can’t find the reason why he does all that! Like yeah I understand but I still don’t! The fact that he cares about his kids it’s emotionally draining Because you can say aww cute but then he turns them into that kind of briefcases with meat! Or into ugly experiments! But he still cares about them! You can see that at the end of the movie he turns into that thing, the “blessing” thanks to his love for his children.

Another thing that confused me is when Reg transformed in a black demon! I was like when! Why! Who! I was so confused. Can you return normal? GIVE BACK MY SON!

So maybe it’s time to talk about my other adopted kid… Prushka. Rest in piece 💀. I’m still grieving. Like she was still alive at a certain point but I think that couldn’t be called life.

It was all sad and devastating, she deserved better, she deserved to be with them in their journey. PRUSHKA YOU WILL BE REMEMBERED.

Oh and the Whistle thing. Weird concept! The fact they they are maybe by human sacrifice I am still shocked! And it was an evil touch to make prushka into a whistle!

Gory scenes were so gory. I never saw an anime that gory. And about kids that it’s the worst part. When they tortured my son reg and like you can see the flesh of his arm omg it made me sick.

Every death was so detailed! I can’t think about it anymore! Who watched it knows!

Final thing is the combat! I find it ok honestly wasn’t so much interested in it! Some scenes were confusing other I found them pretty smart. But it was cool it made the movie more interesting, and it was cool even the fact the he never dies and that he turned into a furry himself.

The final scene where Prushka before dying even after what he did to her wants to stay with him it broke my heart!

I really loved it! It surely it wasn’t as perfect as the season 1 but I liked the fact it wasn’t too overwhelming with informations. Every piece of information was given on the right time at the right moment and they were easy to understand, at least for me! The characters were so cool even the bad guy I really enjoyed his character!

#made in abyss

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maggie0li · 1 year

Note

any sombra fics you can recommend ? :0

Had to dust off the old fimfiction for this one aha :'D

I have a pretty high standard when it comes to sombra stuff, I only have about 100 fics favourited among the 2000 something or however many about him. I used to more frequently read mlp fanfiction but I don't really anymore :/ season 9 kinda ruined Sombra and sadly a lot of the new fics use his new personality (though to be fair he didnt have much of one before LOL)

Anyway here is my top 10 list of Certified Sombra Bangers (Sombrangers?). In no particular order:

Regarding Falling Villains (naturalbornderpy)This was one of the first fics I ever read and it is AMAZING. It's a Twibra fic, not really that serious and it was more lighthearted, it's about Twilight and the Princesses trying to reform him. naturalbornderpy is one of my favourite fanfic writers as well, he's amazing at writing funny in-character humour :D he also has a few other fics about Sombra but I think this is his best one

Sombra: Saga of Hatred (HiddenUnderACouch) https://www.fimfiction.net/story/125519/sombra-saga-of-hatred This is like a biography of Sombra, basically going through how he ended up as King of the Crystal Empire. It is amazing and impactful and I think about it way too much even to this day, when I read it in 2019. Sadly it was never finished and its last update was in early 2017 but I'd highly recommend it, it's incredibly high quality and surprisingly immersive

A Sparkle in the Darkness (tom117z) https://www.fimfiction.net/story/414136/a-sparkle-in-the-darkness Omg, this fic was so amazing. It's basically about where Twilight gets curious about Sombra after his defeat and begins reading up about him. There's a bit of a twist I won't spoil, but it's mainly about Twilight and Sombra's relationship (not Twibra shipping though). Absolutely S-Tier :D

Dinner With the King (naturalbornderpy) https://www.fimfiction.net/story/219841/dinner-with-the-king Another one of naturalbornderpy's fics, but this one isn't so funny and is more of a horror-drama from what I can remember. In the height of his initial reign over the CE, Sombra takes six guests to his castle to have dinner every month. And none ever return. Stomach-twisting and haunting. Sombra is more villainous in this one than Regarding Falling Villains

The Crusader King (naturalbornderpy) https://www.fimfiction.net/story/274736/the-crusader-king Okay, yeah, another naturalbornderpy story. What can I say, I'm a fan. This one is more like Regarding Falling Villains and is much lighter in tone, kind of comedic. Haven't read it in a while but iirc Sombra gets tied up to working with the Cutie Mark Crusaders: shenanigans ensue. Iirc as well I think it goes into his background briefly.

Unfortunately, I Am The King of Equestria (Sofa King Zill-E) https://www.fimfiction.net/story/374058/unfortunately-i-am-the-king-of-equestria This one is a certified funny haha, but technically there's actually no Sombra in it. Sombra has just defeated Celestia and conquered Equestria after returning! Only for some random human man to wake up in his body and replace Sombra's soul. Shenanigans ensue. It's pretty funny. However, like Saga of Hatred, it was never finished and hasn't been updated for 6 years. I highly recommend reading it

Sweetie's Shadow (Note Sketch) https://www.fimfiction.net/story/214170/sweeties-shadow Comedy and slice of life that gets progressively darker. Sombra gets magically attached to Sweetie Belle's shadow, essentially becoming the 'devil on her shoulder'. Very good, but again, unfinished. I recommend it though, it's a good read with an interesting read (kind of like A Sparkle In The Darkness)

The Fairy Tale Fiasco (LaWombat) https://www.fimfiction.net/story/401496/the-fairy-tale-fiasco This is a Twibra fic. Kind of like Regarding Falling Villains? Basically, Sombra attacks while Cadence and Shining Armour are off on vacation. Magical mishaps happen and he, Twilight, and Spike are sucked into a book about fairy tales. Cue some character development and reformation. A pretty good read that I binged in one sitting

Plural Possessive (Aquaman) https://www.fimfiction.net/story/243196/plural-possessive Utter chaos and ridiculousness. It's brilliant! Basically, kind of like Sweetie's Shadow and A Sparkle In The Darkness. Sombra, bitter over his season 3 defeat, comes back intending to steal Twilight's body. But there's one thing he doesn't foresee: the mare changed her address, and Sombra accidentally possesses Dinky Doo instead. Shenanigans ensue. Light-hearted comedy

Dark Arts and Kind Hearts (Boomstick Mick) https://www.fimfiction.net/story/295671/dark-arts-and-kind-hearts A Flutterbra story this time. Sombra returns after his season 3 defeat and a successful battle sees Celestia begrudgingly giving him some crime-infested land and the choice of one of the Mane 6 to choose as his bride. He picks Fluttershy, who is forced to become his wife. Story follows her and Sombra establishing a new kingdom and liberating it of crime. A good read. Serious content warning though for NSFW and explicit gore/violence

Those are all the top tier fics! Some honourable mentions:

Exile - Blade Star

A Meal Fit For A King - Bucking Nonsense

Tales from the Dark Side of the Mirror - GrimWolf, Legends from the Dark Side of the Mirror - GrimWolf (this is mainly about the alternate version of Sombra, from the Reflections comic: where he's a good guy. unfinished though)

The King of the Night - Pen Mightier

Alicorn Princess - Bad Dragon

A Somber Tale: FIENDship is Magic - Maltrazz

Little Sparrow - Mitch H

Hope this helps you :'D

#mlp #mlp fim #sombra #king sombra #maggie0li #mlp g4 #fimfiction

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rennatelier · 11 months

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long time no see! 🌻 (editted)

(edit: shop update has been moved from 7/7 to 7/11 instead! sorry for the confusion!!) hello everyham, it’s been a while since I’ve posted here I know!! I've had a very busy event season during the months of May and June, which I'll eventually write a wrap-up post about once I get a chance to, and I’ll definitely and be more active again and keep this place updated on at least a monthly basis on everything new with my art and online shop, but for now--

Mark Your Calendars!! cuz we’re having a shop drop this week on July 11th! it’ll be sometime in the evening for fellow US east coast friends, and we will have an early access for Snack Club members this time to shop a day earlier than the public, as well as some other special freebie perks!

Also thank you so much for 2.5k followers to this blog!! if you’re new here, hi it’s nice to meet you, I’m Renna, the artist behind Rennatelier and Hao & Friends! if you already know me from other places and have followed me from their (such as the blue bird app), it’s so nice to see you again!

ANYWAY! here’s just a small peek of the cool new stuff we’ll have for the shop drop next week!

oooh collectable Hao & Friends trading cards?! AND they come with stickers!! series 1 will be available as a full complete set of 10 cards, or come in blind packs of 4 random cards!

ahhh reusable AND foldable shopping bags! (or grocery totes, whatever you wanna call ‘em) it's made of durable ripstop nylon and even folds up into a convenient little square with the sewn-in pouch on the inside!

check back tomorrow to see what other things and restocks are coming to the shop next Tuesday! 🐹

#artists on tumblr #character shop #hao & friends #Illustration #original art #hamster

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meggie-stardust · 7 months

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20 Questions for fic Writers!

Tagging myself via @lucky-bishop because I'm half bored, half a bit loopy on benadryl... And same suggestion; if anyone else wants to do this, say I tagged you <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 73?! Wow that surprised me.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 403,636

3. What fandoms do you write for? These days, mostly Teen Wolf, but I've written a lot for Merlin, Percy Jackson, BBC Sherlock, Gundam Wing, and assorted others over the years.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 1. Acts of Man (Merlin/Arthur, Merlin): On the morning of their Annual pre-Christmas Dinner, Merlin is shocked to find out that Gwen thinks his boyfriend, Arthur, isn't good enough. But after a glimpse into Merlin's quirky flat, Gwen realizes that she might not have the whole story. 2. Nightmares (Jason/Percy, PJO): Percy feels lost and alone after returning from Tarartus. And if that's not bad enough, he can't sleep without having horrifying nightmares. Luckily for Percy, Jason is the one person not avoiding him, and the one person that has offered to help. 3. Looking for the Thing We Lost (Stiles/Peter, Teen Wolf): But the thing is that Stiles had already been forgotten by everyone. 4. Here I Am (Stuck in the Middle With You) (Jason/Percy, PJO): Percy and Jason's mission gets derailed when they find themselves trapped in a room with no way out. Luckily, they find a way to pass the time… 5. Know How A Man Becomes a Beast (Stiles/Peter, Teen Wolf): Peter took a steadying breath and stepped into room. He held up his hands and walked forward slowly, the way he would approach any wild animal. “Stiles. It’s gonna be ok.”

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes, I try to, even it take a while -- at least on my newer fics. I haven't gone back to things from like 10 years ago to reply to old comments that I missed, but I try to keep up. I want people to know I appreciate the time they've taken to read and react to my fic, and you never know if you're going to connect with someone new and make a new fandom friend.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Give Me Pure Energy (Stiles/Peter): the alternative season 2 where Stiles craves some normalcy and befriends a new kid in his econ class, only to realize that maybe they both want more from each other than just a simple friendship. This is a super darkfic anyway, and has the kind of ending that's happy only if you're ok with all the awful things that Peter does during the fic... but generally, I like my angst with a happy ending so this is the best I can do.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Oh gosh, so many of my fics have happy endings... that's how I like em... uhhh. I'm going to go with one of my all time favorites:

Stuck Between Stations (Stiles/Peter): the one where Peter and Stiles are stuck in a time-loop inside The Wild Hunt.

8. Do you get hate on fics? I have been so lucky to not get much hate. If people are talking about my work behind my back, it's not getting back to me. And aside from an odd comment or two, I've gotten through about 20 years of fandom without having to deal with random hate.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? yes. I've written m/m, m/f, f/f, and, I think an m/m/f once... but I'm into all sorts of things and have fun writing about it

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I have in the past; a Harry Potter/BBC Sherlock x-over that got abandoned. I've also done a few prompt challenges that lead to crossovers/fusions like SPN meets MJN Air, etc.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? god, I hope not!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes, I have been so lucky to have a few of my fics translated into different languages. It's always such an honor, and I give full permission for people to translate my work as long as they connect it back to mine on AO3.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I have but it's been ages. And I think there may be someone *cough*@punchedbymarkesmith*cough* that would be great to collaborate with if an opportunity presented itself...

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Steter it would seem. I've been reading and writing it since 2016...!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I fully intend to finish It's Only Forever, but I've used some of the ideas for it in other things, so I know it will be hard to get back into where I was going with it. I don't want to abandon it, but it's been a few years... le sigh.

16. What are your writing strengths? I think I'm pretty good with dialogue, especially banter. I think I'm also great at taking a small detail from canon and using that to world build something different.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Oh, that's easy: action and mystery. I really wish I could write a good casefic or mystery plot, and I just can't. I have to distract and misdirect at the end... I have to do the same with the action, too.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I don't trust myself. I might confer with someone who speaks that language if it was really needed, but I would probably do something like:

"Wow, I can't believe you survived that helicopter crash," he said in Spanish.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Gundam Wing, followed my Newsies and Harry Potter.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? I already gave a call out to Stuck Between Stations above, so I'm going to have to go with:

At This Truth We Have Arrived (Stiles/Peter): Five years after the death of Laura, Peter returns to Beacon Hills only to be confronted by the truth that the pack has moved on without him. But the fact that everything he once knew has changed isn't necessarily a bad thing; not when there is someone like Stiles who is so full of possibilities.

OR as my WIP notes for this fic say: "Peter is curious. They do something. Murder murder. Sex sex."

#meg writes fic #writer meme #tagging myself like a cool kid

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ladytauria · 6 months

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hey liv sorry in advance i am nosy

🍓🐇🧃🪐🍬🦷🦋🦴🪲

dont be sorry! i enjoy nosy uwu

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction?

hmm

i was 12. my favorite tv show at the time was this old disney cartoon, "super robot monkey team hyper force go" (abbreviated as SRMTHFG or SRMTHG. i prefer the first but plenty of people use the second.) it was canceled after its 4th season and, uh. the ending was SO bad. like, major major cliffhanger.

anyway, i was looking up... i don't even remember at the time. and i discovered deviantart, and i discovered this person's OCs. read a lot about them, including some fanfic, and then eventually discovered fanfiction.net

i didn't realize what it was at first; i thought it was just a writing in general site? and i was like oh! i can share the book i'm working on! (i have been trying to write a novel since i was 10). and then as i was looking into where i would post it, i realized what it actually was. (no, the title didn't give it away. idk why.)

so then i was like oh!!! this is really cool actually!!! and i wrote my first fanfic xD

that was in 2011? so i was 12, almost 13.

and i've been reading & writing fic ever since~

🐇 ⇢ do you prefer writing original characters, reader inserts, or a mix of both?

okay so this is a tough question

bc like

i love love love love love second person.

like.

*adore* it.

second person, present tense is my absolute fave, but past tense is good too. (i have written an entire sapphic little mermaid retelling [12k words i think] in second person. uh, it needs revisions but it's a full draft. i opened it it the other day and im still so proud of it uwu)

howEVER. outside of writing second person w/o ever explicitly naming the pov character i have not actually written a reader-insert? so for that reason alone i will have to say 'prefer writing oc's'

🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before

uhh

i'm a chronic oversharer (mostly in the tags) so that's kind of tough!

ah! since my grandmother's memory issues started, i've been doing about half of the cooking (it's been a bit of a battle, as she keeps trying to do everything xD) and i've cooked a lot of new things this year!! i've gotten very good at cooking pork chops. which 🤔 now that i bring that up, i might make friday! or tonight, but they're still in the freezer, so...

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

my grandmother's memory situation has improved a lot!! it's still not great, but like. strides ahead of where we were 7-8 months ago!

my anxiety has been much kinder to me this year <3 i've made some very lovely friends this year~

mmm, oH, my energy levels have been fantastic this year. i didn't realize just how bad they had gotten until i started these new meds, and now i'm just. <333 much better.

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

idk if i have any unpopular opinions...? i mean. i'm sure i must, but... nothing immediately comes to mind ^^;

🦷 ⇢ share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on

hmmm

recently been trying to get in the habit of summarizing what i want to do before i start writing. it makes the process much easier, if ik a bit about what i want to do before going in?

🦋 ⇢ share something that has been on your heart and mind lately

i am much better at being patient than i ever gave myself credit for in the past <3

🦴 ⇢ is there a piece of media that inspires your writing?

i can't think of one piece in particular, as the places i find inspiration are. all over the board?

🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here

picked a wip from my open tabs at random! funnily enough this is also the one i ended up doing for the emoji ask xD

it's also almost triple what this asked for but once i started writing i couldn't stop <3

He swallows, staring up at Tim. Jason has had plenty of practice reading people through a domino, but. He has no reference for the look Tim is giving him now. Only that it— That the feeling it gives him is… is new and strange. He has no name for it, the way his stomach feels fluttery and tight, his scalp and fingers tingling. His mouth opens—but all that escapes is a stuttery puff of air. That’s okay. He doesn’t know what he was going to say anyway. Tim hooks a gloved finger under his chin; tipping his face up. He leans in, slowly—so slow that Jason— There’s nothing keeping him there. He could run. Turn away. But he feels caught, feet anchored in place. Tim’s mouth touches his, and all thought leaves him. Jason has never been kissed before.

[ writers truth or dare ask game ]

#ask gaming #felinemotif #asks and answers #tauriawritesfanfic #the color of hope (canary yellow)

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theragamuffininitiative · 4 months

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2, 6, 10, 20 and 22 for unfinished fic asks!

hiiiii!

2. How did you get the idea to write this? [Based on the other questions, I'm gonna talk about my urban fantasy novel here] As best as I can remember, the inspiration for Cloy came from 1) the part in Bandstand where Julia says "I don't need saving!" and Donny says "yeah, well maybe I do" and 2) Needtobreathe's song "Banks" and 3) the ending of Jessica Day George's Dragon Slippers, and 4) a couple random pinterest pins including an animated gif of a human!Starscream from Transformers I guess?? and something from the first season of Nikita??, and lots of stuff I had no pre-existing context for and hodgepodged together. 😂

6. Is there any specific ship you're planning to include? Ok, I don't ship much and I definitely don't write romance for the sake of it, but this story has a very important romance between the two protagonists, River and Captain. [sudden giggling over how their names basically suggest a ship anyways] Anyways, I ship them so hard, and they're so good for each other, and I put them through so much. 😭 The dynamic can definitely be found in the NTB song from the first question.

10. If unpublished, can you show a sneak peek of what you've written?

"Why am I here?” Tyler frowned. “You don’t remember.” “No, I don’t, that’s why I’m asking –” “No, that’s what I meant. You’re here because you don’t remember. You were attacked. You lost some of your memory. You were awake when Professor Lewis brought you here… you don’t remember that either?” Tyler looked as though he were concentrating on Captain’s answer, as if it were suddenly not a casual check-up, but a report he had to give. Captain frowned, thinking hard. “I think…" Something itched at the back of his mind. “Mathen brought me here after… after the hospital?” Tyler grinned, relaxing a little. “Yeah, the hospital.” “But why was I…” Captain looked down at his arms and suddenly noticed the skin was scraped and raw. A wide bandage had been wrapped around his left forearm and horrifying purple bruises completely encircled both of his wrists. He sat down hard on the bed. “What…” Fear stabbed at his gut, twisting his insides. He thought he was going to throw up. “Where did…” He looked back up at Tyler, who was staring at the marks as well, but shook himself and met Captain’s gaze. “I don’t understand.” Tyler's brow furrowed with concern. “I’m going to call Professor Mathen and tell him you’re awake. Can I leave you here, you’re alright for a minute?” He seemed afraid Captain might do something unpredictable and insane if he left him alone. Captain shook his head slowly. “Please, go call him. Is there anyone else here?” “No, sir. Just us. I’ll be right back.” And, with that, Tyler turned and sprinted off, his hand already going to his pocket to dig out a cell phone before he was even out of view of the door, which he left cracked open. The electric light of the hall was comforting and Captain appreciated Tyler’s thoughtfulness, or perhaps absentmindedness, for leaving the door open. He looked down at his hands again, trying to comprehend what had happened and why he couldn’t remember. Panic escaped his lungs in a sharp exhale, immediately forcing him to breathe in again - a sort of desperate gasp to fill his body with oxygen again. The gasp, the intake of fresh sweet air, brought a stab of recollection to him and if he hadn’t already been sitting down he would have staggered under its blow. It wasn’t a memory exactly, but like the feeling of realizing after a long night of troubled sleep, that all the trouble had been because of a dream. There was no memory of the dream itself, just the idea of having had the dream in the first place, and whatever he had been feeling in the dream. But whatever this was, it had not been a dream. Dreams didn't leave bruises around his wrists. You were attacked, Tyler said. Again, he thought he was going to throw up. The echo of memory passed as soon as it had come and he sat on the edge of the bed in the silent room trying to catch hold of the last thing he did remember. What had happened to him?

20. Give a vague description of something that will happen without revealing too much. [I wanna say something funny and cleverly vague here but have no braincells, just gonna share the little logline/teaser/synopsis I have.] "The worlds of fae and humankind are collapsing in on themselves, as a half-fae daughter of war and the scientist assigned to test her magic must choose to save their own in the division, or lose everything together."

22. Will this fic include more angst or more fluff? Probably more angst. Bit of world-ending stuff going on. But not devoid of fluff. 😊

#thanks for the ask!#unfinished wips ask #aster friend #wip: cloy #ft. an unoriginal amnesiac scene bc that is what i scrolled to in the document lol

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ecofinisher · 4 months

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Mais Fortes Juntos 🥺

I had set in mind to use the pregnancy interaction during a "wedding scene" but after figuring out CC brides dresses (Or the ones I downloaded" don't show up on pregnant Sims my whole setup got ruined 🤡 Anyways, I took around 80 pictures and uh well....it's hard to pick a favorite 😂

Conheço o olhar, no seu rosto a dançar. É igualzinho ao que eu tento disfarçar.

She was wearing one of the ugly base-game dresses, so you don't really see anything by the angles I picked.

"Today I'm more confident thanks to you" - Wow this honestly doesn't sound anything romantic in English 😂 Moving on, I'm just adding the pictures, I didn't think of writing anything at all.

10/10 mood. It's understandable when you're sitting here in a video game for around 5 hours.....

Now that I see the chandelier there....we heard at work today that Sia song and I commented how awkward things would be, if you had to dub every song in existence into every country's language. Like imagine having to sing in German the refrain like: ICH WERDE SCHWINGEN AUF DEN KRONLEUCHTER. AUF DEM KRONLEU-CHTER! 😂 It would be amusing tbh.

"On what name do I have permission to call you by now?" .- Parker.

"The one that gives you goosebumps" (Oh this is random, the German word "Entenparker" means goosebumps as a old slang word 😂 Weirdly no ones knows about the word)

I thought she wore a different dress as I picked or no I think I changed my mind because of something.

My effort on trying to make a gorgeous bride: 67%

My effort on trying to make a gorgeous groom: 3%

They should be actually dancing at night, but I missed the night😂 Let's sell it as a one-nighter dance. If we can call it like this.

Two things are infinite. The Universe and Ecofinisher's Imagination.

Just a comparison picture down the rug.

I actually love River's natural look, but still gave her for the wedding a bit of color. I didn't go through a lot of hairstyles in MTS and only had in mind to have a hairstyle, that wouldn't be that long. I changed my mind in the end and used one of the hairstyles that came with Seasons and she actually looks good. (Coming from someone who knows nothing about make-up)

OK those were my pictures. They're still the most adorable thing I have done yet. (With them at least) ❤ If I get to know how to work with poses at some point, I sure will take more. Or actual put up screenshots of a "basic wedding"

#ecofinisher #the sims #the sims 3 #simblr #the sims community #sims #sims gameplay #custom content #sims 3 mods #sims 3 screenshots #sims 3 gameplay #sims 3 simblr #ts3 simblr #ts3 gameplay #ts3 #sims 3 #river mcirish #parker langerak

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dduane · 2 years

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...Okay, let's take this from the top. (And for convenience's sake, let's stay in the shopping-list idiom; it's useful enough.) (ETA: the blog entry containing the description of the Shopping List outlining method is here.)

Let's say you want to make a cake. ...This cake also being your novel.

To have a solid story (in the western-novel tradition, anyway), you need at least two things: plot and theme. The plot is what happens. The theme is the why of what happens, and (to a certain extent) the spectrum of thought and emotion that underlies that; the answer to the question “But what’s the book about?”* ...Think of this duality, for the moment, as the equivalent of having both liquid and solid stuff in your cake. You’ve got to have both or it won’t rise. A book with a plot but no theme has no soul.

So: you’re going to make a cake. What kind?

So how do you determine the ten things you need (or whatever number you like, but ten works for me) as major ingredients / sections?

Well, ideally from some familiarity with what has gone in other/similar cakes/works of fiction in the past. If you haven’t been reading in your chosen genre, you should be. This doesn’t mean you have to do what other people working in the genre have done. (Indeed, at all times you remain at liberty to “flip the punchcard” and do exactly the opposite of what everybody else has been doing, if that’s what suits you.) But they’ve set out possible recipes for you, so (as a beginner at this work) examine those recipes and see what’s in them that might be useful for you. Once you’ve been doing this for a while, you don’t need to go looking, just as an experienced baker doesn’t need to run for the recipe book every time they want to make a cake.

Naturally you can substitute ingredients, add some or lose some, when you’re creating something new; just as you like—while always making sure you don’t throw away anything routinely required/expected in your genre. (Such as the Happily Ever After at the end of a genre romance.) But certain basics must be in place, things that make what you’re creating recognizably A Cake, as well as your own additions and embellishments.

In this case, that could be:

For a novel: a protagonist/pairtagonist (is that a word? It is now...), an antagonist (not necessarily a character: an antagonistic or stymie-ing situation that keeps the antagonist from easily getting what they want/need will do just as well. This is where at least some of the interior drama will derive from), a change in interior conditions that sets events in motion, a “ticking clock” or similar construct that means the desired result must be achieved within a certain time or before certain conditions change or expire, various reversals or hiccups in the flow of the story that will inject a sense of realism (because when does anything ever go perfectly smoothly...?), a crisis point at which everything assembled against the protagonist rises up to be dealt with, and the protagonist rises up to meet the challenge and deal with it; and finally a set of resolution events that (even if it doesn’t absolutely finish the story proper) brings about an end state that will leave you, and any theoretical reader, satisfied with the completion of the current story arc.

...Needless to say, this is an incredibly oversimplified take on the kind of strategizing needed when you’re creating the recipe for a novel that won’t simply collapse the minute you take it out of the oven. But starting simple is often best. The more you do this kind of work, the easier it gets.

Now: “How do you generate your ideas for those 10 things?”

There are a lot of possible answers to this, but the simplest is: Make them up out of nothing, as usual. :)

...This isn’t meant to sound like sass. You made up those first three or four things you came up with out of nothing, and now (because they’ve been there for a while, probably) they may well have started to acquire a kind of secret, temporally-based superiority in your mind—starting to feel somehow more valid than what needs to come next to fill in the gaps. This kind of creeping sense of validity-via-temporal-primacy is a commonplace when you’re in mid-process, and I invite you to ignore it.

Events that could realistically have been caused by the ones you’ve got already, and could also realistically be seen as causal to later ones you’ve already established, are always useful. Ideally, you’re trying to establish a chain of events in which none of them look accidental, or coincidental (because readers are rightfully sensitive to plots that only work because all the characters are idiots, or keep having “lucky accidents”). What you’re working toward is an event flow that seems, when viewed in completion, inevitable: as it if couldn’t have happened any other way. You will almost certainly not achieve this easily, early on in your novel work, and maybe not at all. But it’s what you should be striving for.

Events that badly screw things up for the main characters are also always useful. Heroes do not become heroes by having everything go their way. Their heroism is achieved and manifested by having things go to shit around them again and again and AGAIN, and nonetheless still finding their way through all that shit to do what needs to be done. The lines attributed to the Confucianist philosopher Meng-tse (sometimes written as “Moshi” in Japanese) are a touchstone in this regard:

So put your protagonists through the wringer. This is the greatest service you can do them.

...Anyway, take your time about getting those gaps filled in. It may take a little while: laying down basic story structure is worth not rushing, if you can avoid it. Once you’ve got them all in place, the secondary lists will follow more easily.

HTH!

*This is a hilarious oversimplification, but my job at the moment is not (as the saying goes) to explain the workings of the entire universe while standing on one foot. :)

#writing #writing advice #the shopping list paradigm #or: Shopping for the Story Cake

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ecreau · 1 year

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youtube

December 31: State of Grace

I wanted this blog to be the most special because it would be my last blog this year and next year. I decided to be on hiatus next year to rest, to regain my creative juices. Though every artist needs to recharge, I had the most fun doing my 365-day drawing challenge.

Do not worry, though, because I have scheduled surprises once a month to make this blog active! Until then, I hope you guys keep healthy, fun, and optimistic this coming 2023! It's the bunny year (in the Chinese zodiac sign)! I hope 2023 will be as cuddly and adorable as a bunny, haha; my fingers are crossed.

Anyway, I would divide this blog into three sections: announcement, recommendations, and message. I am excited to share my thoughts, so here it goes!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The first announcement

As I mentioned, I will be less active next year on my social media accounts. However, I would still post surprises once a month to keep a few of you who support my blog active. Yay!

Second announcement

I will close some social media accounts next year, specifically Twitter and YouTube, as I want to focus more on Tumblr, Deviantart, and Instagram.

Third announcement

I am still deciding whether to change my blog's name. Until then, let's see what happens from 2023 to 2024!

RECOMMENDATIONS

This has been a tradition for me to list everything I wanted to recommend to you guys.

Podcast

Talks in Class by Jenna Barclay

If you are a millennial like me, this podcast is perfect for you. Ms. Jenna is probably the mother of the early 2000s nostalgia for me! She's funny, creative, and witty! Listen to her podcast and reminisce about your cringe early 2000s memories.

The Bald and the Beautiful with Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamo

I am not a follower of drag race, but I love these two fabulous creative queens. Suppose you like listening to random and crazy topics about life, the internet, mainstream media, or anything. In that case, this podcast is totally for you. There are no boring seconds in this podcast. You'd cry while laughing so much.

Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time

Fossils, dinosaurs, cavemen, and whatever knowledge from the past you wanna know, Eons doesn't disappoint, as always. I love their YouTube channel I am glad they now have a podcast. I wish they would continue uploading more content on Spotify. Totally worth your time.

The Kit & Krysta Podcast

If you followed Nintendo Minutes on YouTube, you would recognize these two amazing people. Do you like Pokemon? Zelda? Or any games? This podcast is totally for you! I love how I also learned some tips about games because of them.

Series

That 70's Show

I just started this series and am now in season four going five. I love this because, as someone who wasn't born this year, I appreciate all the popular things in the 70s. I love the cast and the writing because the tone is similar to Malcolm in the middle. You won't know what's coming next, haha! My favorite character is Kitty Foreman! :D

Wednesday

I love this series. I was iffy to watch this because I thought it would be full of gore, but it wasn't! I also like the casting here. It's close to the comics! I love actor Hunter who played Tyler. He is so hot and talented!

Adventure Time

I know I am 10 years late or something, haha! But I really loved Cartoon Network in the 2010s; they had such good shows. I am glad I watch this series without commercials or a season break. If you like Steven Universe, Regular Show, Adventure Time would be your thing too! It's so good!

Albums/Songs

Midnights

My first Taylor Swift album. I have previously listened to her album but have yet to be this in-depth. I just turned into a Swiftie now. Almost all my liked songs on Spotify are from her! I love Karma, Hits Different, and You're on your own, Kid.

Red

I am 5 to 6 years late, but this is my favorite album this year. I love almost all the songs here. Taylor Swift, you are talented! My favorite songs are State of grace, Red, and Message in the bottle.

The Loneliest Time

I love Carly so much! This album is such a chill vibe for me. 10 out of 10 for me!

Celestial

Ed Sheeran doesn't disappoint! I was happy when he released a song for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. It's so nostalgic same with Post Malone's music for Pokemon.

That's all my recommendations this year that I have listened to and watched many times. I would love to have a book recommendation soon as well!

MESSAGES

I always say this, but I am genuinely happy even though I have few followers on my social media accounts. You guys still make time to respond, like, and share my artwork. I cannot thank you enough for doing this. I often feel emotional every time I get likes passed 10. It is silly, but your 'likes' and 'follows.' Make artists like I inspired and fuel me to do more creative stuff.

Thank you so much for being part of my 2022 adventure. It was not a perfect year, but we had fun learning from our mistakes, challenges, and goals. 2023 would again be our year together.

This blog's title it's inspired by Taylor Swift's song in the Red album, State of Grace. It's one of my favorite songs of hers, especially the lyrics, "This is the golden age of something good and right and real" I wanted to manifest this next year. Let's go, 2023!

Talk to you later!

- Please do not repost my artwork/design. Ask me first. ⁠

Thank you!⁠

Linktree(if the link does not work please remove href)

“Nostalgia is my favorite thing."

#blog #2023 #2022 #year recap #year review #tumblr #instagram #twitter #hiatus #nostalgia #taylor swift #ed sheeran #that 70s show #wednesday #red #midnights #adventure time #writing #PlaidConnection

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spneveryseason · 2 years

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Results of the Supernatural Origins Survey: Part 2 of 2

Part 1

Part 2 has finally arrived! I hope you guys enjoy it and thanks again so much for participating.

Have you watched the entire show?

Pretty straightforward here: most people have watched the entire show, meaning here every single episode. However, significant portion (35%) have not. This encapsulates people who have missed and episode here and there, who’ haven’t seen entire seasons, and have barely seen any episodes at all.

Your relevant comments are below:

when i think about supernatural i generally think about seasons 1 to 9/10, because i stopped watching for a while after that but eventually got back into it. so my answers may be skewed in favor of those seasons? if that makes sense? like i love the general aesthetic of supernatural...... when it's about the earlier seasons. i am trying to be kinder and learn to love the later seasons but it's hard! anyways thanks for the survey it was fun <3

I’m curious to see if there are others like me who came into the show with Destiel goggles on, but quickly realized Sam is thee only character and then lost interest in Dean/the Big Ship. Also would like to add that I started with season 13 because I wanted to meet Jack and didn’t think I would end up watching the rest of the show, and I still feel a little guilty about it lmao

It's got a good foundation but it's inconsistent both in worldbuilding and characterization. I guess that's why fandom can just take off with it and make it fantastic

If you answered no, how much have you watched?

This answer was a little more varied, but for the most part people stopped watching up season 9/10. Second is up to season 12, third is the random scenes/episodes, and fourth is up to season 14. The specific seasons mentioned are generally seen as the weakest in the show’s run, so it makes sense that these are the spots where people would get frustrated enough to stop. Also represented here are people who watched the show in a non linear and scattered format.

Your comments are below:

The show was great until season 13. After that point, it lost its footing by trying to placate a vocal but misguided segment of the fandom. Jack was a stupid character that ruined the show. His story eclipsed the Winchesters' story, and that should never have happened. That ridiculous "confession" in episode 15x18 was just to satisfy the Destiel people. And the finale was a horrible disappointment lying squarely on Andrew Dabb's shoulders.

Hope I helped even though I technically havent watched it. Also, absolute worst theory for me personally is the Chuck Wins theory bc that means my baby boy Jack is being puppeted around hurting his family and I CANNOT take that. Also if they had framed the finale as a tragedy instead of a happy ending it would've made more sense.

I gave this show so many chances and it continued to disappoint every time. In the end all my interaction with the show is second hand/fan revisionism

I watched up to season 9 and between how that went and the descriptions i’ve seen of the later seasons, I’m not going to watch the rest.

What do you like most about the show?

Pretty clear winner here: what most people like about the show is the depth of characters, aka the emotional attachement to the characters themselves. Second was the platonic relationships, and third was the general aesthetic. This also tracks: the show’s characters inspired multiple emotional reactions from the audience, and many tended to get attached to one character or the other. Some of the write ins even specified characters that respondents enjoyed. This also implies that people stuck around the show primarily to see the characters and not for the plot or general themes.

Here’s what you guys said:

I really enjoyed how the show introduced one plot point (Chuck is God and he has written/controlled basically everything that has happened so far), then it made me shift my entire view of the point of the series. There's the old idea of the show (brothers fighting evil and saving the world and family) but that's Chuck's back cover blurb of his book summarizing the story. The real plot is underneath the control and puppeteering. It's The Truman Show. It's about these people who go from thinking they have free will, thinking they achieved it, then discover that they were still being watched and controlled. So they go on a journey to look God in the eyes and earn their first taste of free will in their entire lives. I'm just sad that most of them die before they can enjoy the free will or discover who they are once free. It felt like Truman slipped and broke his neck before he could step into the real world and that's how it ended.

While I think the show is terrible at following through on metaplots or character development, I am constantly in awe of how fantastic they consistently were with setups. Whether they show you a character in one scene and make them feel fully fleshed out or if they're starting out a new storyline and it seems so creative and laden with possibilities. Yes, they usually resolve it far too quickly (or with what feels like the most mediocre option) but the creativity behind the concepts is always a genuine source of joy for me.

things i love about the show? boy am i glad u asked!!!! i love sam winchester!!!!!! sam is why i wake up every day and sam is why i go to bed every night, sam is my reason for everything i do. i only apply for college bcs sam would want me to. everything i believe in is due to him. i love him. i am off to listen to my sam playlist now (also i am aware this paragraph implies that i am a destiel hater as per usual tumblr culture, but i am not. some of us are samgirls [gn] AND hellers. we just have the range)

I am incredibly deep into the complex jungian thought process meta for supernatural and although you can kind of lose yourself in the context of that and how much it actually matters, it got me interested in a lot of things i would've otherwise never learned about. I joke all the time and yes truly supernatural is deeply, deeply flawed even at it's core, but saying its a bad show as a reason to degrade myself (as alot of people do) doesn't feel right. I do legit love engaging with supernatural.

i unfortunately am very interested in something that the show itself fell flat on and nobody in the fandom seems very interested in, which is the lore. like we get what they read aloud when planning to gank the motw sure but i'm talking about the bitches we interact with constantly that's right angels and demons which we know actually surprisingly little about idk i might write up my theories one day for a podt that gets like. two notes

Supernatural is a mid-tier show in terms of being a CW drama but is top-tier for being good and camp. I like the serious emotional aspects esp wrt the brothers but would not be this into it if it wasn't batshit insane fun too

This show has really stuck with me because of how real the characters are and how easy you can connect to them and the story contains every genre and there’s always more to go with the story. This really was a show

I like meta analysis that breaks down where exactly characters actions don’t seem like ‘them’ because writers didn’t understand them, but where fans still find some way to make it coherent within canon.

I love how unintentionally and intentionally messed up so much of this show is. The relationships, the consent issues, the unanswered question of what a monster really is, oooh boy are they a lot!

It's got a good foundation but it's inconsistent both in worldbuilding and characterization. I guess that's why fandom can just take off with it and make it fantastic

Honestly one of my favorite parts of the show currently is the brain rot I get if I think too hard about the narrative potential that was never carried out.

I enjoy the Supernatural the fandom creates and manifests and writes. The actual show… hurts.

What do you hate most about the show?

What most people hated most about the show was the problematic narrative context, aka the elements of the show that had racist, homophobic, or misogynistic elements. Writing and plot were also popular choices. I believe the first part is pretty self explanatory, while the second is no surprise as the writing is well known to be disjointed and a little lost, especially later on in the show’s run.

Relevant comments below:

Sorry, this is a downer, feel free to ignore, lol. I watched the show in a vacuum for like 6 or 7 years, and it was fun. The fandom cult of the show that grew out of control as the show neared its end almost ruined the show for me. I hated the pandering of the writers to shippers, which is embarrassing and nonsensical from a plot perspective, and downright insulting to certain characters. I hate the obvious favouritism of Dean after Sera Gamble left the show, and the bizarre sidelining of Sam that began in season 10 and became ridiculous by season 15 - so ridiculous that people were baffled when Sam was the one to outlive Dean. I hate the demonisation (ha) of Sam for adopting a traditionally feminine role in TV and film, and I hate that he's still mocked or belittled for suffering r*pe, gaslighting and emotional abuse - often by characters beloved in the fandom. Basically, half the people who watched the show consumed it so differently to how it was supposed to be consumed I felt pity seeing their reactions every week. Like watching someone try to eat a sandwich via their rear end. Sad and weird and ruining my experience. Anyway. Stan Sam Winchester

will die mad that sam's addiction wasn't fully realized and i take it personally. i miss what the show was and mourn what it could've been. i used to see myself in sam but i had too much self esteem to keep watching him be victimized and pushed around and his own free will be like.. that. and i used to really like dean but he became so boring and controlling and close-minded and never learned and they didnt feel like brothers anymore. they felt more like cardboard cut outs and no longer like,, individuals. the thesis of the show started feeling like 'if your family is making you uncomfortable you grin and bear it and dont leave, dont change anything, because they are your family, and your family comes first, even before yourself and your own desires and aspirations', and as a gay mexican raised in a religious household that shit is so stinkyyyyy.

I really loved this show for a long time because of Sam's story and his connection to feeling monstrous but honestly the show never fully commits to this and slowly it becomes a deeply tragic story about abuse with the problem of the writers having no awareness of this reality and being able to deal with it effectively. everytime i though the show could go somewhere with sam's trauma or the fracture in Sam and deans relationship as an extension of John's mistreatment of them or even become a horror show where dean and sam's codependency is exposed/utilized as a psychological element. it just never happens. plus the show never crucified sam. lame.

Tbh my least favourite bit was whatever went on bts after/ around Covid. Misha was there but then he wasn’t. He was just breaking the law(?!) for a camping trip. The fact that there was 3 (THREE) montages and an extra ad break in the finale of the longest running sci fi show on American tv. Because they cut out Cas. They cut out the queer because god forbid we actually see ourselves in their all American Kansas red-blooded hunters.

Idk I kind of hate how the plot arcs are kind of abandoned in the later seasons and how the characterizations are not followed through, but in the earlier seasons I thought they did that really well and that’s one of the reasons why I like(ed) it so much.

Still mad about: the special children storyline being dropped/Sam losing his powers, the not-all-monsters are evil not being explored enough, Ruby 1.0 is the superior Ruby and more people should know that, MEG GETTING FRIDGED FOR NOTHING

if some writers & showrunners had stronger skills, cared a bit more abt the show and it’s stories, and cared less abt alienating/pissing off certain groups of viewers i think spn could have been much more cohesive and impactful

Supernatural had such brilliant ideas and plot points they consistently overlooked to drive a simpler narrative that was more able to fill the white man hero complex. It wounds me deeply.

Honestly, I just wish spn fleshed out it's main characters more. Dean has a shit ton of conflicting background information and Sam just doesn't have enough. Sam just deserved better tbh.

I wish I lived in the world where the supernatural writing room was not oddly preoccupied with how their soapy drama cw tv show appealed to white conservative men.

Do you enjoy participating in fandom?

When it comes to fandom, a majority of people enjoy participating only in their specific niche. However, people saying yes to general fandom participation was a pretty close second! This tracks as well, because the participants of the survey are in the fandom and are more likely to enjoy being there if they still engage to this degree.

Comments below:

The thing about Supernatural is- it’s an okay show on a surface level, as casual watching. Go down a level, start paying attention to the acting choices and stuff and it becomes frickin awesome. Another level down, you start noticing narrative inconsistencies and also the racist elements and you realize it’s a terrible show. Yet another level down, connecting the dots and thinking on a meta level and paying attention to the fandom? INSANE BRAINWORMS HOLY SHIT THIS SHOW IS SO AMAZING AND NOT ENTIRELY ON PURPOSE- WHAT THE HECK- In short- it’s simultaneously a terrible show and an amazing show, and you just gotta watch it with the right mindset, and make sure you’re following the right peeps in the fandom and blocking the people who are crappy, and you’ll have so much fun

The fandom is fun but only as experinced through carefully curated discords and only checking tumblr once a week. Probably my favorite thing is the volume of cool fanfictions! The last few fandoms I've participated in are much smaller I'd literally run out of fics to read, but that's never a problem here :) I started watching the show because of the Nov 5th memes. I connected with Sam the most as a character. The brother and family stuff along with the spooky creepy aesthetic is my favorite stuff about the show. Makes me wish I had chosen to watch this instead of the wholock stuff back in middle school when it was the hot thing. Supernatural has a ton of problems but overall I did still enjoy it a lot!

When I say the fandom isn't positive, that's not quite true. I love my corner of the fandom; they make me enjoy the show infinitely more, contribute to my brainworms, and add so many layers to the experience of watching the show. But as soon as I go outside my "section" of the fandom, it gets pretty rancid. The last survey results just reminded me of how much I disagree with so many other fans (how could you hate Cas???) in the other parts of the fandom.

i feel like its hard to talk about the experience in the supernatural fandom bc its like i love being here as in my little corner but also i hate it bc you can never keep to your corner and always have to beat uglies off with a broom… also please for the love of god can these people read anything other than tumblr excerpts from gender trouble and apply queer theory from the 80s to 2000’s television its making me break out in hives

I have a love/hate relationship with the show and the fandom. But I'm not sorry I found it or became part of the fandom. It's been a huge part of my life because I've been watching for 15 years and I still love discussing the nuances of the show whether they were intentional or not.

Honestly at this point I've separated my fandom experience from canon so much it's basically a separate entity by now, especially since my favorite ship is contained in like,, three-five episodes. It's just me and ten mutuals vibing lmao

Its so lovely to me that we have our own vocab and terminology and that we have theories like chuck won theory and the ghostfacers effect like i feel like a scientist kfjfkf

The fandom was significantly more tolerable when it was on livejournal.

Is the overall fandom a positive place to be?

People saying yes were given the edge here. Interestingly, when compared to the previous part, the numbers for yes were almost exactly the same as the numbers for enjoying fandom in a specific niche. However, this answer also indicates that many people enjoy participating in fandom while also believing the general fandom is not a positive place to be.

Here are your comments:

I love the show and i used to enjoy the fandom. maybe i’m just getting old and nostalgic. but i think a lot of the fandom has become too toxic and too wrapped up in trying to make the show something it wasn’t(?) i think there are certainly things that are best left to fanfic. i will always love sam, dean, and cas with all my heart, but the show became so outrageous and far fetched and downright blasphemous at times, and that’s saying a lot for a show literally about the supernatural. i think the show fell out of touch with its origins and the fandom fell out of touch with reality. i don’t know, like i said, maybe i’m just old and worn out from everything. don’t get me wrong, i love it so much, but i honestly keep to myself about it.

I enjoy the fandom, but its very clique-y, and it seems like if you're not in with a specific group you're not really in. I think it's difficult to get to know people and a lot of memes aren't explained unless you already understand them because you're in one of the it-groups. And I don't care about the actors or RPF and there seems to be a lot of that lol. I mainly look at memes, read fanfic on my own, and talk about the show with my irl friends who are also fans. Hope my answers weren't a mess, great survey :)

i know my answers are extremely negative but i really do like the show and fandom quite a bit ghkjfdghfk it is both fascinating and extremely frustrating to be playing in the world's most horrible and pessimistic sandbox, because on the one hand you truly can take any old garbage and turn it into a beautiful gem and that's so satisfying when it works out, but on the other hand the sand you are forced to work with IS soaked in homophobic piss. so.

I think you would all enjoy the show more if you stopped interacting with weird people online. I do Not Know Anything about Jared or Jesen. I cannot spell Jareds surname. And I am happier for it. Every time I think it would be fun to come on the little blogging website and look up the tag, there are people saying incredibly weird things. Also Dean should have gone back to Cassie Robinson instead of Lisa.

I think because Supernatural has so many episodes and ran for so long it offers a unique amount of longevity to fandom that are on par with Star Trek and Harry Potter, and it will be around for a long time. I met my soulmate through a destiel fanfiction, this show isn't good. Idk. There are SO many layers............... an onion…………

To be clear about the fandom, I definitely think some parts of it are toxic and can make things a drag on everyone else, but other parts of it are very enjoyable and that's why I'm still in the fandom.

I think the healthiest the fandom has ever been was during the superwholock days. We were honestly just having fun and I know it's cringe now but it was just so genuinely fun I look back to it fondly

I enjoyed fandom so much more a few years ago. Not so much anymore. It's gotten so toxic.

Is shipping your favorite part of the show?

A pretty big majority here ruled that no, shipping is not their favorite part of the show. This may be a surprising or unsurprising result depending on the specific parts of fandom that you’ve seen. Of course, the people the survey reached does have an impact on the validity of these results, but this large a skew indicates that shipping is not the overwhelming element of fandom as it may appear to be.

Here’s what you said:

I'm not going to lie, I really do love Destiel, but I get really frustrated when fans act like the show is ONLY about Destiel. Where we robbed? YES. Did the CW behave like a little turd baby? FUCKING YES. But those two are not the end all be all of the show, there are so many other characters and themes and story arcs that are so so wonderful, and those things are not wasted because the CW chickened out and behaved like bratty children. Also I'm sick of the double standard around Jensen and Jared. I see too many people defending Jensen's bad or poor behavior but shitting not just on Jared, but Sam, when Jared behaves badly or poorly. The characters are NOT the actors and I've had to many interactions with fans who don't understand that. I'M TIRED. I adore this show, I really genuinely do, and I've had great interactions with fans. My roommate/best friend/pseudo-sister is literally a 5'5 Ginger Dean Winchester and it's AWESOME, we talk Supernatural all the time even though we have very different views of the show and the characters, but online I've been seeing less and less civilness between people with differing opinions. I've also been harrassed for being a Sam girl over a Dean girl, which makes no sense to me. I relate heavily to Sam Winchester, of course he's going to be my favorite character, I understand his brain space in a way I don't with other characters. But some fans act like I've committed a war crime when I say he's my favorite character, (It gets worse when they find out Cas is my second and that Dean is only like my fourth favorite character, I still love him to pieces but gosh damn it, he does not have to be my favorite character! I've gotten genuine hate in my ask box over this!!!). Sorry this is such a long rant but it weighs heavily on me because it just seems to be getting worse since the finale. It makes me not want to interact with a fandom that I truly love dearly, and one that helped me survive one of the darkest points of my life. It sounds cheesy and fake, but this show genuinely helped me stop self-harming. I can't stand seeing how things seem to be shifting, even as I try desperately to surround myself with positive fans and fannish things. Also, Gabriel is not dead because I said so. He is currently on a date with Sam in the Library of Alexandria. They're going to get lunch in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon later. No one is really dead and rusty nails do not exist. Rowena is the Queen of Hell and Jack and Cas are co-leading Heaven and they are working with Rowena to make the afterlife as good and fair as it can be. John Winchester is still burning in hell though.

I said "Yes" to the "Is shipping your favorite part?" question because it's related enough, but my actual favorite part of this show is the whole "good Supernatural in our heads" bit. I love that there's so many potentially amazing ideas and compelling characters / relationships and instances of REALLY good writing that - even when the execution in the show sucks - we can build something there. Whether it's a "society if..." tumblr post or a half a million word fanfic, there's so many good things in this toolbox (and so many bad things that can be looked at in fascinating ways if you just hold them up to the light and turn them a little). On one site we've written over 100,000 ways for just *two characters* to love and want and deeply affect each other. That's so nuts (in a great way)!

There's a lot good and a lot bad about Supernatural, but my overall feelings on it are very positive. The ship wars that plague Tumblr have gotta be the most obnoxious part of the fandom - and I say this as someone who does occasionally enjoy ship content. To me, what makes the show great is its compelling and charming characters, and solid attempt at a tragic story about family, free will, and generational cycles, although unfortunately I found a lot about the last two episodes disappointing. It didn't quite stick the landing. Also, as an aside, the meta episodes ruled and were definitely one of the things that made the show memorable and set it apart, on my first viewing.

I enjoyed the show, but it got many times deeper and I joined the fandom to start thinking about it all the time when I started rewatching with shipping goggles on :D

If you have one, which ship is your favorite?

Destiel wins handily here with over half of these respondents choosing it as their favorite ship. The second place ship, Sastiel, is a distant second at almost 10%. This isn’t a very surprising result, as the ship is undoubtedly the most represented in fandom. A large number of ships were also represented, indicating that the shipping landscape is actually quite varied here.

Relevant comments below:

when i first got into this fandom in 2013 i was equal parts a sam girl and a destiel shipper but as time passed i became more and more of a bitter sam stan? i mean i still ship destiel (and it’s probably still my otp) but i don’t get people who make it like it’s the show main thing OR the most interesting thing to talk about. you have a show that focuses on PLATONIC relationships and then you go make it all about romance? like, it’s so rare to find shows that don’t focus on sexual or romantic drama as it is. also i wanna add that sam winchester is my main concern and idk who was she (me in 2013-14).

Watching for the first time in 2021 and I keep thinking “this is what the og Destiel shippers have been going through this entire time???” INSANE. Purgatory is gay. Dean absolutely fucked Benny. Hell, I would have fucked Benny.

dean saving cas from empty would have been the ultimate ending for destiel cause like it bookends their relationship with saving each other and the goddamn writers/network were too homophobic to actualize that

I wish the fandom didn’t so heavily focus on destiel or see Dean as a hero. I am a queer neurodivergent fan and while I am disappointed with the show, the fandom itself is so much worse.

Look i don't connect with romance of destiel really as an ace but im so indignant about the homophobia of it all that i ship it out of spite and make whole fanworks about it lmao

I wish the writers didn’t queer bait us as much they did. Destiel is a powerful story and shouldn’t have been treated like garbage.

destiel is endgame but megstiel was real. samwena supremacy

In your opinion, what is the show about?

Interestingly, the top three spots here are family related: first place goes to family don’t end in blood, second to family is hell, third to family and brotherhood. Free will, a main theme, is in fourth place. While these three themes of family are interpreted differently in these answers, the overwhelming consensus seems to be that the show is about family first and foremost.

Relevant comments below:

society if we got spn ending where sam married eileen and start a hunting community where you can go if you're traumatized by supernatural events (humans and monsters alike) it's not about killing monsters it's about sharing resources and helping each other and monster rehab/therapy (i think i saw a post abt sam helping people like magda? thats what inspired monster therapy thing like hes not just gonna be men of letters 2.0 establishing a new hunting network) hunters dont have to be isolated and depressed and alone you have a support system it's about COMMUNITY and monsters can coexist and dont have to killed :( as much as i like destiel if you kept the finale the same but added destiel at the end i still would have hated it, what spn needed to address was how it treated monsters, ultimately it keeps flip flopping on who "deserves" to be saved and if monsters can be "good", and it's pretty anthropocentric idk it's frustrating. i also dislike human!cas because he doesnt HAVE to be human to be accepted, monsters/creatures/angels can live alongside humans you dont have to turn them human :// also I really hated how dabb era in particular treated angels and there was such an easy fix for it in the end like it wouldnt have been hard to write rescuing cas from the empty also brings all the other angels back so heaven isnt practically empty with a three year old in charge. yes im a new fan but it would have been so healing to see the other angels come back anna and uriel and raphael and balthazar and hannah like at this point theres no reason to fight beyond regular insane family drama stuff so they argue and stuff but theres no genuine animosity anymore and it would have been a cool throwback to see them again anyway yeah angels are the coolest part of the show but sadly...... </3 also hated how the show kept insisting on keeping sam and dean isolated and killing off side characters etc. also they left adam in hell for ten years WHAT THE HELL adam and michael deserved better too, anyway i think people often attribute problems with the show itself to dean but it's not his fault and i love him (i hope this was coherent sorry)

I had a really hard time picking a favorite and least favorite aspect of the show! Overarching plots especially, because some I thought were very compelling and there were some that fell very flat for me. Also picking what the show is about is so hard for me to narrow down to one thing. To me, I feel like it’s a show about brothers and their found family trying their best to make the world a better place and save people/keep them safe. Wait actually I would like to say my least favorite part of the show was how overplayed the whole “what did you do to my brother” plot point was. It’s always the brothers choosing each other and it got stupidly repetitive any time they put that to the test.

"Are All Monsters Evil? Yes" made me laugh out loud because that's a great incapsulation of a huge problem I have with the show: no matter how many non-human people we meet and befriend, no matter how many times the main characters deal with feeling monstrous themselves, no matter how much we wrestle with the moral dilemmas inherent in the institution of hunting - we always come back to non-human demonization and Murder Is Cool as our central tenet, to the detriment of the show's story and character arcs :C Not only does it annoy me personally, it leads to nothing making any goshdarn SENSE at the end of the day! Justice 4 Jack

i mean it’s not so much family is hell as it is you are destined to become your father. cycles of violence infinitely more powerful than you are at play and you are completely helpless in the face of it. i think that sam dean and cas are each living out entirely different and contradictory narratives which i find really compelling

To elaborate on the last question: they spent so long on this humanizing the monsters plot that didn’t go anywhere. It was so horrible for real. Sam kept being like “I think this is a person actually” and then repeatedly Dean and other characters and the narrative itself told him he was wrong. What was it all for

that last question was kinda hard cos i honestly do not know what its about at this point. the secret good spn in my head is all about horror, found family and destroying the cycle of abuse but it seems canon disagrees with me :/ anyway love ur surveys ur honestly doing a service for this fandom

i genuinely can’t imagine watching this show for anything but “family is hell” bc like. damn it really is hell for these dudes. all they do is suffer and hurt each other and everyone else. i love it <3

I think this show is an exaggerated study of living with trauma, loss, guilt and redefines the meaning of what love really is ...depending on who's watching. Survival against all odds is a comfort.

I think the writers destroyed everything the show was about with the last two episodes and the only message left was gay love is powerful enough to defy god himself.

In the later seasons, the writers seemed to forget that family didn’t end in blood, wrote scenes for characters that went against their character arcs.

It's a really interesting study in generational trauma and toxic masculinity even though the creators kinda didn't mean to do that lol

Thank you to everyone who participated, and a special thanks to the people that interacted with these results. I really appreciate it! If you have any questions about the data and extra info let me know.

My 26th birthday celebration day 4: possession OR the end

#spn #supernatural #anases26 #sam winchester #dean winchester #castiel #Jack Kline #speaks #spn surveys

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