https://vocal.media/geeks/confessions-of-a-36-year-old-fan-fic-writer

Mod Note: AO3

Hi everyone - a quick note that I’ve joined Archive of our Own (invited and encouraged by the lovely @icouldwritebooks!) and will be posting some of the stories from this blog there. My profile is: AbsintheTerminus.

If there is any entry on this blog you would like me to add to AO3, please let me know. I started with one of my favorites, in which Sarah borrows a baby for a class at a settlement house. A (very slightly) edited version is on AO3 - The Little Stranger.

Hey! Just cross-posted the various fandom essays and listicles I’ve written for this blog over the years onto AO3. If you want to read my Deep Fandom Thoughts™️ you can click here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22988023/chapters/54957943

this is dumb 

(inspired by this post by @newsiesasvines)

Davey is still a lamp, almost thirty years later

Oh wow. It’s been a while since I heard a lamp headcanon.

FTH 2020 Signups Now Open!

The hour has struck! Signups are open from now until the end of the day on January 31st. (any timezone; we’re not super picky.)

There are a few things we want to call your attention to, before you plunge in:

1) Our list of supported nonprofits includes some of the same organizations as last year, as well as several new ones. (A couple of last year’s orgs grew enough to shoot past our $10 million-a-year ceiling, which is actually pretty awesome for them.) It’s also possible for creators to select one additional nonprofit where their bidders can send donations; if you’re thinking of pursuing this course, please be sure to read our policy on donations to outside organizations.

2) As part of an effort to boost fan labor, we’re piloting a project called the Regiment of Fan Laborers (ROFL.) You can read all the details here, but we want to highlight two things:

3) Though we still aren’t including tangible fancrafts as part of the auction (we explain why in our FAQ,) this year we will have a Fan Crafts Bazaar. The full details and a signup will be up soon!

4) Lastly, because of some updates we’ve made to the signup form regarding how fandoms are classified, the signup form is now, technically, 54 pages long. But don’t worry! You won’t see 54 pages. That number includes pages for every single subfandom menu. Nobody is going to see more than about seven or eight screens, even if all three of your fandoms break down into separate subfandoms. We’re mentioning this only because we don’t want anyone to flip out when they see “page 1 of 54″ in the bottom right corner (which would be a reasonable reaction.)

Click here to sign up to offer a fanwork for Fandom Trumps Hate 2020.

We’ve heard that the signup link above is no longer working (or at least not for everybody.) Here is a fresh link to the signup form… but of course we can’t promise this one won’t fail too, so we have two additional solutions:

1) visit our blog homepage on tumblr. We’ve added a link to the signup form in the header.

2) visit us on dreamwidth: fandomtrumpshate.dreamwidth.org. There is a link to the signup form in our stickied post.

Ok. That “fixed” link didn’t work. We’re going to try again, without embedding. It’ll be ugly, but maybe it will actually work!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc6UIXzFBuix6ihzeNaVkHjv_gFcEbjBgtx08VzVBDO6yO6UQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Let us know, y’all!

So it turns out that even if you click the above link, you still get a failed internal tumblr link! But copying the text of the link and pasting it into a browser window -does- seem to work.

Give that a shot and let us know, and if it doesn’t, then we’ll… think of something else to try.

I’m watching “The Bonding”, a season three episode of Star Trek the Next Generation, and this familiar face popped up:

I checked on IMDB to verify, and yep. It’s Spot Conlon in space.

What, you were surprised Spot spent time in space? Ever spaceship needs a three-foot tall, twelve-year-old mascot who spends his days screaming about Brooklyn. It’s the people who don’t have a Spot Conlon of their own that miss out. 

And here’s another thing I got to tell you. If you’re lost in outer space - outer space being anywhere outside of Manhattan, including the Refuge - Spot Conlon’s one guy you won’t regret having on your side. Notice how the strike picked up steam after he and the Brooklyn boys joined up. That wasn’t an accident. That was the combined sweat and grit of the Brooklyn newsies, who came to join with us despite luxuries of their own, like the slate gray surface of the East River they love to swim in so much. 

Spot has yet to introduce me to an alien, but my impression of Spot is that he likes to keep the various spheres of his life separate: Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Refuge, a Galaxy far, far away. I’m holding out hope that I get the chance to learn Klingon some day.

Until then, let’s dwell for a moment on a version of Spot who can mentally manufacture anything he wants - and settles on an oversized, pampered cat. That, dear readers who are somehow still following me despite a long absence, is a clear indication that you share Mr. Conlon’s personality, which follows no rational rules. You, too, follow no rational rules, as you would otherwise have unfollowed however many months ago when I stopped updating regularly. The answer is clear: your inventive minds cannot be bound by logic. Perhaps you are all cats.

I would love it if you were all cats, or dogs, or elephants, or frogs, or perhaps a vast menagerie comprised of every imaginable or unimaginable creature. I myself am a cowboy who finds myself inexplicably fond of a space alien from Brooklyn. Just call us Woody and Buzz.

“However many months ago”?

Jack, it’s been years.

okay but Davey has known the Newsies for a day and in that day he’s heard a million horror stories about Spot Conlon. It’s like every time something happens, there’s a story about this leader from Brooklyn who’s terrifying and he did this that and another thing to somebody for that or he’d do this if he knew we did that or he’ll do this if we show up.

and he kind of thinks it’s hazing? or at least some kind of joke they’re playing on the new kid? because there’s no way somebody can be that scary. and then everyone is all excited about the strike and excited to run off to different boroughs and neighborhoods to recruit. but nobody wants Brooklyn.

and that’s the first time Davey thinks that maybe they’re serious about this Spot Conlon guy because nobody is willing to go to Brooklyn because they’re scared of him. and then Jack decides for him that they’re going across the bridge and he has to get up early and walk for a long time and he’s sure, he’s positive that these stories of the great and terrifying Spot Conlon, the King of Brooklyn, the scariest, toughest man around must be exaggerated.

but Brooklyn has a weird vibe. they pass some newsies who stare at them silently and look like they might pounce until they recognize Jack. and Davey starts to think that maybe there’s something to these rumors about Spot Conlon because these Brooklyn newsies are big and tough and every one of them seems to have bruised knuckles and crooked noses and scars and black eyes and split lips that marked them as fighters, and surely anybody who can control them must be the big, tough, terrifying figure this mythical Spot Conlon is supposed to be.

and then they finally find him.

he’s down by the pier, harassing the newly disembarked sailors and the men who unload the ships into buy papers. he sees them before they see him, but they know he’s here because Jack managed to get one of the other Brooklyn newsies to tell him where Spot Conlon was for the morning.

so Davey and Jack get to the pier, and Davey is expecting to see some hulking figure. biceps the size of his head. six feet tall. broken nose and black eyes and bloody lips and a sneer to scare the fear of god into anyone.

and instead, a kid drops down from the dock and lands in front of them. he’s maybe five foot two, and that’s being generous. he’s got white spots scattered across his dark skin, dark hair with a streak of white running through it, he looks like he’s maybe fourteen or fifteen at the absolute most, possibly much younger. he’s got a black eye, all right, and a crooked nose, but his clothes are clean and he’s got a slingshot hanging from a belt loop and pink suspenders. his bag is only half full of papers and even that much weight looks like it should be pulling him down because he’s so short and skinny.

he must be Spot Conlon. Jack reacts like he’s Spot Conlon.

but Davey cannot possibly believe this tiny boy is the one everyone is so scared of. he looks like a strong breeze would knock him into the river and float him out to sea.

and then Spot Conlon opens his mouth and talks, and Davey suddenly gets it. Spot Conlon looks into Davey’s eyes and seems to read his soul. he starts talking and it’s with complete and utter confidence. he has this presence that just screams not to underestimate him, not to think his size shows his power, not to think his height means he won’t win a fight, not to think his age means he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. he talks and Davey is absolutely positive that Spot Conlon has earned his reputation.

but at the same time, it’s obvious what Spot Conlon means.

he says he won’t join the strike until he’s positive that Manhattan won’t flake, that Brooklyn won’t be left to fight on its own, and Davey knows he means he needs to be sure his newsies won’t be starving for nothing. he insults Jack and Jack laughs and Davey recognizes the respect between them and he sees the spark of respect in Spot’s eyes when Jack explains their plan but he sticks to what he said. Brooklyn will join when Manhattan proves itself, and that’s that. and Davey can tell Jack kind of expected that answer but is still disappointed, and Jack and Davey make the long walk back to Manhattan.

and Davey is trying to reconcile this tiny kid he just met with the million stories he’s heard, and he’s sure there’s some truth to them. obviously, there has to be, because Brooklyn is tough and Spot Conlon is in charge and he had to have fought his way to the top somehow, right? but he’s also sure it’s been exaggerated somehow because it has to be.

at least, until the rally. when Jack comes and speaks and betrays them, and for the first time, Davey isn’t just intimidated, he’s afraid. Spot Conlon’s eyes flash and he shoves, Jack, hard, and Davey is absolutely one hundred percent certain that if Spot Conlon wanted to, he could win that fight easily. but instead, Jack runs out and Spot Conlon crosses his arms and looks at Davey expectantly and Davey knows that if he doesn’t step up and take control, Brooklyn is leaving, because Manhattan is falling apart.

but somehow Davey manages to get control. he manages to convince them to stick with him, and when he nervously looks back at the group of Brooklyn newsies, he sees the same half-hidden spark of respect Spot Conlon had given to Jack on the pier in Brooklyn, and Davey knows Spot Conlon has decided to stick with them.

Davey is just as scared of him as the rest of Manhattan, now, but he also understands. when Jack rejoins the cause, it’s Davey and Jack and Spot who burst through Pulitzer’s door, and Spot Conlon smiles for the first time in front of Davey and it’s terrifying, ten times worse than any glare, when he almost-whispers an almost-threat to Pulitzer and gestures out the window to his boys, and Davey really understands what’s so terrifying about him.

it isn’t his size, he’s tiny. or his strength, it isn’t really that obvious at a glance. it’s his aura. the way he commands attention, the way he stands like he’s the biggest person in the room even though he isn’t and you can’t help but believe it because he does, the way he talks and it’s obvious he means it and he’s right. he’s terrifying because he’s a leader, and a good one.

(Notice how I am writing tiny throwaway Newsies fics again, at least when prompted over at the writing goals blog.)

I’ve been having major difficulty writing lately, so I’ve started this blog:

@beth-writes-100

The goal is to write and post at least 100 words of fic a day. Go follow it.

This is me

For those of you wishing for Jack/Katherine and Jack/Sarah content:

There are several AMAZING people in the Newsies fandom who write Jack/Katherine and Jack/Sarah.

Jack/Katherine:

@elozable, also known as tuppenny on AO3

@wordshakerofgallifrey, also known as WritingToKeepMySanity on AO3

@thelittleredheadedmusician, also known as pennysparrow on AO3.

@radioactivepigeons, also known as Carbon65 on AO3.

Also, someone on here is Politics_and_Prose on AO3.

Jack/Sarah:

@david-jacobs-would, also known as Beth Harker on AO3.

Go read all of these people and their wonderful work! <3

Please feel free to reblog and add more! :)

ALSO, for Newsbians:

@penzyroamin, also known as PenzyRome on AO3.

@livingchancy, also known as Illinoise on AO3

@musicals-musicals, also known as musicals_musicals on AO3.

@writemetohell, also known as WriteMeToHell on AO3.

@ad-astra-de-luna, also known as Indigo_Penstrokes on AO3.

I got my first tattoo. It's a quote from Dracula: the Musical. I deliberately chose the least vampiry quote from my favorite vampire musical.

GUESS WHAT HAPPENED!

Yeah, if anybody is wondering if I still hang out with @jackkellystories , let it be known that she went with me to get a tattoo today. We didn't even know each other before we met via tumblr newsies blogging, and now she's one of my best friends. Hopefully the rest of you playing with online fandom blogging have similar luck!