I Haven't Seen Dancing Pumpkin Guy ONCE This Year, Are You Guys Okay?

I haven't seen dancing pumpkin guy ONCE this year, are you guys okay?

I feel this one. Star Trek the Original Series is a great example of this.  The special effects are ultra realistic, but you go with it, every step of the way. We need more imagination and focus our money on hiring writers to make plots then to make it look like it’s 100% perfectly real

I’m probably in some weird artsy minority here, but I would really love to see less emphasis on realism in movies.  I think trying to make everything look ultra-realistic puts too much focus on special effects.  They suck up budget and audience attention, if they’re even slightly off-kilter they become a laughingstock, and they’re increasingly mandatory even for stories that don’t involve robots or aliens.

Meanwhile, in theater a flashlight with some orange paper on it can be a “fire” and everyone’s cool with that.  You get the idea and that’s what counts.  And by asking the audience to actively participate in suspension of disbelief, it can draw them even more into the story.

I wouldn’t want every movie to go this route, but I wish it were considered more of a legitimate artistic choice.

PSA, there's a really nasty Discord scam going around rn. If one of your friends DMs you, starting off with a simple "hello" "how are you", may even joke around a little, and then starts asking you to look at a game/project they're working on, don't click the link, don't download anything. If you can reach that friend through non-Discord means, reach out and let them know they got hacked.

One of my friends said the link takes them to a very convincing video game page that has in-game screenshots and stuff, and then gives you an option to download a playtest zip file or something. That download exploits a weakness Discord apparently has for password protected zip files and steals your Discord log-in and changes your account info to the scammer's account info. Two of my friends lost their accounts. Be careful.

Okay, I gotta say, this one is awesome.  This is how you create characters who aren’t Mary Sues!

good traits gone bad

perfectionism - never being satisfied

honesty - coming off as rude and insensitive

devotion - can turn into obsession

generosity - being taken advantage of

loyalty - can make them blind for character faults in others

being dependable - always depending on them

ambitiousness - coming off as ruthless

optimism - not being realistic

diligence - not able to bend strict rules

protectiveness - being overprotective

cautiousness - never risking anything

being determined - too focussed on one thing

persuasiveness - coming off as manipulative

tidiness - can become an obsession

being realistic - being seen as pessimistic

assertiveness - coming off as bossy

pride - not accepting help from others

innocence - being seen as naive

selflessness - not thinking about themself enough

being forgiving - not holding others accountable

curiosity - asking too much questions

persistence - being seen as annoying

being charming - can seem manipulative

modesty - not reaching for more

confidence - coming off as arrogant

wit/humor - not taking things serious

patience - being left hanging

strategic - coming off as calculated

being caring - being overbearing

tolerance - being expected to tolerate a lot

eagerness - coming off as impatient

being observant - being seen as nosy

independence - not accepting help

being considerate - forgetting about themself

fearlessness - ignoring real danger

politeness - not telling what they really think

reliability - being taken advantage of

empathy - getting overwhelmed with feeling too much for other people

Badge List

Now releasing our list of cool(but not mandatory) badges that YOU can earn during this whumptober!

Total Achievement: completeing every day 2. Total Achievement Plus: completeing every day + the alts 3. Going Against the Grain: only doing prompts from the alternative list 4. Oddball!: Only finishing odd numbered prompts 5. It Takes a Village: For collabing with one or more people during whumptober 6. Homebrew Suffering: For exclusively making OC whump 7. Culture Connoissuer: For people who post fics in over five different fandoms 8. One is Just Enough: for those who only post one thing for whumptober

I don't know who needs to hear this, but as a creator -

I am fine with "the audience" -

downloading my fics

printing my fics

copy/pasting or screenshotting my fics

sharing your saved copy of my fics with anyone else who might want them in the unlikely but never impossible case that my fics are no longer available on ao3

making a book of my fic(s) and running your fingers across the pages while lovingly whispering my precioussss

doing these things with anything I create for fandom, such as meta, headcanons, au nonsense like 'texts from the brodinsons,' etc

I am not fine with "the audience"

doing any of the above with the purpose/intent of plagiarizing my work or passing it off as their own in any capacity

feeding my work into ai for any reason whatsoever

Save the fandom things. Preserve the fandom things. Respect the fandom things.

Enjoy the fandom things.