BlueBoxBallad

The Good Omens Holiday Exchange is awakening for 2019! Sign-ups will start next week… 🐙📚🕶️ 

Saturday, Sept 21 @ 12:01 AM EDT-US through Saturday Sept 28 11:59 PM EDT-US. We will accept everyone who signs up during that period or 100 participants, whatever comes first.

We’re located at Dreamwidth. You do not need a Dreamwidth account to participate (although it’s recommended, and it’s easy and free); just a valid email that you check regularly.

crowley: i’ve connected the dots

aziraphale: you haven’t connected shit, my dear

One Unconscious, One Hysterical, After Surprise Double Proposal

Diners at The Ritz had quite the show Sunday evening. Anthony J. Crowley, of Mayfair, and A. Z. Fell, known for his Soho bookshop, each planned a surprise marriage proposal to the other. However, when the time came, luck was not on their sides.

“Good thing I married a doctor!” said Mickey Smith, of North London. He and his wife were sitting at the next table and had a clear view of the action. “The ginger bloke–could swear I know him from somewhere. Anyhow, he kneels down with a ring box. The other fellow, the bastard who never sells anyone anything, started to say something. All of a sudden, he whips out this ring box at the speed of light and knocks his cold. Wham! Straight to the temple! Started screaming like Hell was chasing him!”

Smith and his wife, Dr. Martha Jones of the Whittington Hospital, took control of the situation as panicked diners rang 999. The scene culminated with Crowley and Fell kissing on a stretcher as the other diners gave them an ovation.

“Maybe now I can actually buy that book on ancient hand-to-hand combat techniques,” Dr. Jones stated after Crowley and Fell were cleared to go.

Welcome to Fandom First Friday! What is #FFF? The first Friday of the month, the OTW celebrates one aspect of fandom. This month’s theme is Accidental Heroes!

We’ve all been there before. You’re just trying to life your life, when OOPS! There’s a disaster and you’re right in the middle of it and you somehow wind up saving everyone. Wait, you mean that hasn’t happened to you before? Oh good, I thought I was the only one. In any case, though, it’s definitely happened to the folks we’ll be featuring this month.

The Folio Society has announced a series of volumes paying tribute to the history of Marvel Comics, the inaugural volume was originally scheduled to feature an introduction from Art Spiegelman, the creator of Maus and the first person to ever win a Pulitzer Prize for a graphic novel.

Marvel is a division of Disney, and its chairman, Isaac ‘Ike’ Perlmutter, is a longtime personal friend of Donald Trump, donated to Trump’s campaign, and serves Trump as an “unofficial and influential advisor.” Spiegelman’s intro made reference to this fact, and tied the origin of Marvel with its thin-veiled allegories about fighting fascism, to the contemporary moment, comparing Trump to the golden age Marvel villain “Red Skull” and dubbing him “Orange Skull.”

In response, Disney/Marvel demanded that Spiegelman redact his essay, removing references to Trump. The corporation said that it was trying to be “apolitical…and is not allowing its publications to take a political stance.”

Spiegelman refused to make the change and instead severed ties with the project. His unredacted essay will appear this weekend in The Guardian.

Let’s be honest - we all forget to leave a comment sometimes. We don’t always go out of our way to click the “come talk to me on tumblr” link on AO3 to scream about the fic in the author’s inbox. On August 21st I encourage you to take a moment and show fanfic writers that you appreciate them!

How can you do it?

leave a comment and kudos on every fic you finish reading. Doesn’t matter how short. Doesn’t matter if you’re just repeating what other people have already said. Just be kind! Keysmashing, Caps Lock, and live commenting appreciated! (Bonus points if you leave a comment on every chapter)

ideas for what to put in a comment: one | two

floaty review box for ao3 (super useful for commenting as you read + it has a ‘review tips’ button if you feel stuck)

reblog ficlets, drabbles, fics, fic rec posts, etc. Put a nice comment in the tags. Remember that likes, while appreciated, don’t give the writer any exposure, meaning the posts don’t reach more people

go to your local fanfic writer’s inbox and talk to them about their fic of your choice. Let them know how long ago you’ve read it and what story point/sentence/scene still makes you smile when you think about it

send thank you messages to fic writers. In a world where you have to pay for almost everything, they’re supplying you with countless hours of free entertainment. It can get quite lonely without getting messages acknowledging the hours they spend writing stories - let them know their time and effort is appreciated

make fic rec posts and @ the authors whose fics you’re recommending! (believe me, fic writers love to see their stories in these posts)

create something inspired by a fic! You can draw fanart, make a moodboard or aesthetic post, or even write a song for the fic you love. Whether you’re a beginner or a pro doesn’t matter - the thought alone is what counts more than anything <3

buy the writer a coffee if they have a ko-fi page and you have some change lying around c: Caffeine keeps most fic writers awake when they struggle with a particularly slow draft or a difficult scene. More coffee, more content.

How to Format and Submit Your Prompt Set

Submit one prompt set consisting of three different ideas and a short list of likes and dislikes by commenting on this page, following the format below. We have set comments to moderated so that we can collect them, anonymize them, and post them on the prompt-claiming page once they’ve all come in.

Character(s), rating: (Choice one)

Character(s), rating: (Choice two)

Character(s), rating: (Choice three)

Story elements/tropes/kinks I’d like:

Story elements/tropes/kinks I wouldn’t:

Email: (For mod purposes only. This will not be posted anywhere.)

[Tips:

-Use an ampersand for platonic relationships (eg. “Nobby & Colon”) and a slash for romantic pairings (eg. “Nobby/Shine of the Rainbow”).

-The ratings are General, Teen, Mature, and Explicit.]

So, for example, if you wanted a fic or a piece of artwork about Nanny and Granny becoming friends in their youth, you might write:

Granny Weatherwax & Nanny Ogg, rated T: What was the dynamic between Esme and Gytha like when they were girls? What happened in their lives to make them who they are?

Or, you might ask for something like:

Angua, any rating: I think a lot about that line in Men at Arms right before Angua and Carrot hook up where she’s afraid that her situation in Ankh-Morpork will wind up “just like it did in Pseudopolis and Quirm.” I’d love a fic or comic exploring her life between leaving her family and joining the watch.

Or:

William/Sacharissa/Otto, M or E (up to you): Otto wants his partners to roleplay a vampire scenario with him where they’re the vampires and he’s an innocent human.

You get the idea.

For your list of likes and dislikes, don’t be afraid to ask for something obscure or uncommon, or an AU, or a crossover, and don’t be afraid to be specific about the things you’d rather not have in your gift! It’s for you! Your prompt-filler will avoid your dislikes and try to include as many of your likes as possible.

How to Claim and Fill a Prompt

Pick three prompt sets, in order of first to third choice, and comment on the prompt-claiming page. [The prompt-claiming page does not exist yet, but will be linked here when it does.] Once prompt claiming closes, the mods will email you to inform you who your recipient is and which prompt set you’ve been assigned.

You only need to fill one of the prompts in your recipient’s prompt set. You do not need to fill all three.

Once you’ve completed your fic or artwork or other fanwork, email it to the mods. If you have any questions before then or things you’d like to double-check with your recipient, email the mods and we will help. Our email is [email protected].

Fic should be 1000 words or more.

That’s all! Email us with any further questions. Hope your Hogswatch is jolly, with mistletoe and holly, and other things ending in -olly!

HO HO HO

PS: save these dates

September 30th- Anonymous prompting ends.

October 1st- Prompt-claiming opens.

October 8th- Prompt-claiming ends. Writing/art-making/video-editing/etc. period begins

November 30th- Submission due date.

December 15th- Posting of gifts begins.

The Mods will provide information about sign-ups for the 15th Annual Good Omens Holiday Exchange shortly! Are you new to the Exchange? Welcome on board! Please visit our home on Dreamwidth and look at this post and this post for examples of the signup procedure for 2018 and the lovely gifts produced by our community’s talented writers and artists in past years! 

We’ll have just a few changes this year designed in anticipation of a large number of participants. We can’t wait to see what the TV series has inspired people to create! And, of course, creations based in book-canon are always welcome! Your Mods this year are @vulgarweed, @irisbleufic, and @lunasong365.  

The Mods will provide information about sign-ups for the 15th Annual Good Omens Holiday Exchange shortly! Are you new to the Exchange? Welcome on board! Please visit our home on Dreamwidth and look at this post and this post for examples of the signup procedure for 2018 and the lovely gifts produced by our community’s talented writers and artists in past years! 

We’ll have just a few changes this year designed in anticipation of a large number of participants. We can’t wait to see what the TV series has inspired people to create! And, of course, creations based in book-canon are always welcome! Your Mods this year are @vulgarweed, @irisbleufic, and @lunasong365.  

AO3 won the 2019 Hugo Award for Best Related Work!

Here’s the speech given by Naomi Novik when the award was accepted:

All fanwork, from fanfic to vids to fanart to podfic, centers the idea that art happens not in isolation but in community. And that is true of the AO3 itself. We’re up here accepting, but only on behalf of literally thousands of volunteers and millions of users, all of whom have come together and built this thriving home for fandom, a nonprofit and non-commercial community space built entirely by volunteer labor and user donations, on the principle that we needed a place of our own that was not out to exploit its users but to serve them.

Even if I listed every founder, every builder, every tireless support staff member and translator and tag wrangler, if I named every last donor, all our hard work and contributions would mean nothing without the work of the fan creators who share their work freely with other fans, and the fans who read their stories and view their art and comment and share bookmarks and give kudos to encourage them and nourish the community in their turn.

failed magic trick

Crowley: Care to explain the horror show in your fridge?

Aziraphale: Well, I’m sure I’ve mentioned upstairs has been rather cracking down on miracles of late -  and I’ve been practicing that trick, you know the one with the finicky compartments and such- and- well- it’s possible I might have been a tad heavy handed closing it and that he might have got a bit, well…smooshed I suppose. 

Crowley: That doesn’t explain why the unfortunate bird is in your fridge.

Aziraphale: Oh don’t give me that look, I couldn’t bear to leave Lazarus like that, and this way he’ll keep until I’m back under quota. 

Crowley:  Lazarus?

Aziraphale: Well, uh, you see-

“Well… after the incident with the mice, I just thought–”

😍