Cosmic Cacoethes

A collection of writing resources, museful things, occasional bits of what I'm working on, and the ever despairing things I'm too chicken shit to post somewhere people might see them.

[sarcasticsciencefictionwriter]

"I sort fics by kudos and only kudos on stories with high kudos counts, why aren't there more stories with high kudos, I ran out of things to read." You're part of the problem.

"Authors artificially inflate comment counts by thanking people, I can't find anything with a real comment count to read." No they fucking are not, they're grateful for engagement.

"I can't read anything under 100k." That's the majority of fics you're ignoring, most novels aren't even that long.

"I don't have time to look for the incredibly rare diamond in the rough, so I won't read anything below a certain amount of kudos, comments, and hits." Those fics are popular because people gave them a chance and then snobs like you found them.

"I won't read anthing with a single typos." You made typos in that sentence, get off your high horse.

"One singular author didn't thank me for commenting, I'm never commenting on any fic again so I don't get burned." You're punishing people because someone didn't give you engagement they don't owe you that they might not have seen.

"This fic is three months old, it's so old, it doesn't matter if I comment or kudos, it's old." Fics do not have expiration dates, comment and kudos.

You're killing your fandoms with your snobbish behaviors.

[ao3statss]

There are currently 414,472 fics without a single kudos.

2,948,374 under 10 kudos

If anyone was wondering.

[cacoethesxscribendix]

I could settle down and relax, the thought a taunt even to my own ears. As if I don't feel every root being planted like a stone added to my headstone. The earth itching to reclaim me, shoving soil in my lungs where it doesn't belong.

I could stay, if stretching out to fill space didn't feel like dying a little bit.

If I didn't itch at the idea of never unfurling in a new place.

If my eyes didn't fixate on the horizon and put my feet in motion

[tuesdaytothursday]

Oh. So this book’s just gonna fuck me all the way up.

[nefhertari]

im sorry but graham gore taking her bag to help her, graham gore snapping the heel of her shoe so she can walk easier because one already broke, graham gore lighting two cigarettes at once before giving one to her, graham gore dancing with her, graham gore calling when they're apart to check how is she doing, graham gore comforting her after someone was killed next to her

[amplifyme]

"The most radical thing I ever did was love him, and I wasn't even the first person in this story to do that. But you can get it right, if you try. You will have hope, and you have been forgiven.

Forgiveness, which takes you back to the person you were and lets you reset them. Hope, which exists in a future in which you are new. Forgiveness and hope are miracles. They let you change your life. They are time-travel."

Kaliane Bradley - The Ministry of Time

[oxymoron0-o]

If you are surprised that, so soon after a secret agent tried to kill me, I was wondering whether the man with whom I'd had sex liked liked me, remember that being in love is a form of blunt-force trauma. I was concussed with love for him. I bent my head to the cudgel.

—The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

[ratcoffin69]

Whenever i hear people say they feel weird about commenting on fics they really love because their brain is telling them some iteration of ‘i have nothing to say here that this writer actually wants to hear/it’s annoying!’ I really just want to assure them that there’s literally no feeling to compare with opening my inbox and finding a comment notification from ao3, especially on fics i wrote over a year ago. people who make art want you to interact with it! like yes i write for myself but i also write for every single person that takes the time to not only hear me out but tell me it made them feel something. feeling something is kind of the whole point of art actually! and feeling like i’m not just yelling into the void makes the weeks of work that go into writing something i’m proud of worth the effort! i’m so serious when i say you could literally just comment an emoji and i’ll love you forever

[chickenmim]

I.... have nothing to add. I LOVE interaction!

[president-coriolanus-snow]

WHAT ARE WE?!

WRITERS!!!

WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?!

WRITE!!!!!

WHEN ARE WE GONNA DO IT?!

((Disgruntled muttering))

[randomfandomfamily]

EVENTUALLY!!

[coffie-coffieraptorstudios]

[darthlenaplant]

[jadedaceofspades-deactivated202]

[starsfromuncle]

[animentality]

a wonderful ao3 author note

[cacoethesxscribendix]

If there's one thing I've learned from Sunrise on the Reaping it's that I could do a lot worse to my characters.

[princessofthevalley5]

i get so happy when people that are new to fanfic writing, or just writing in general, post their work on ao3. despite their doubts, despite their fear of something so personal and vulnerable being perceived, they still press that button, and i turn into the equivalent to a proud mom cheering on the sidelines. like yes! you did that! your work is worth seeing! you deserve to share your passion for and be part of a community! i’m so proud of you!

[marriedzukka]

fic writers and fan artists be like

[dear-ao3]

[jonairadreaming]

I might've organised this Devil's Sacrament, but you rocked up to it in full ceremonial garb

[mallalada]

get yourself a main character whos two primary emotions are "little cunt" and "catatonic with grief"

[kosmogrl]

every day I wake up and it’s fucking january

[grumfy]

i had a 4 hour drive today so i put on the revenge of the sith audiobook and the part where palpatine tells anakin to kill dooku came on right around the time that i saw a cybertruck and for a brief and beautiful moment when he said "do it" i had the urge to ram my honda full on into that shitty ass car

[grumfy]

everyone who says that anakin’s fall in that movie was too sudden has never been so angry at an Elon dickrider trying to cut in front of you at a traffic standstill while a droning, pleasant British voice tells you that murder is okay and necessary. I’m sorry guys but I would have folded too

[cacoethesxscribendix]

Pansy is falling by florence and the machine, she thinks of Neville as my boy builds coffins, she is sharp and wicked with a tongue that lashes out at everything, she is too quick and too scared to stop moving, she is a shark who will die if she stops moving, if she slows down for even a second, and he is the ground. He is soft moss, and a spring morning defrosting the grass to a soft gentle dew, he is the beginning of bulbs when they are just sprigs that could be anything, he is a place to lay for a while and the world turns without him because he is at peace with it turning without him he has what he needs. He gives her the softest place she’s ever had to land and she would kill anything to protect him, but he doesn’t need that side of her, and he will let her be soft without setting herself on fire first. And the first time they kiss it isn’t gentle, it isn’t with kindness because that’s not what she’ll allow, so he grabs her by the hair and pulls her back to his chest and he kisses her like he wants to claim the air that is in her lungs. She doesn’t stop moving, she wraps her legs around him and pulls herself up until he pushed her into a wall firmly sandwiching her on all sides and she doesn’t feel trapped, she feels safe in the cage of his arms and he stares at her with fire and heat in his eyes.

“I’ll do this for you, because it’s what you need, but you deserve so much more.” And he kisses her before she can process that, and he leaves her a shuddering mess, and when she tries to crawl out of his arms later he refuses to. He holds her until she stops struggling and tells her, ‘but this is what I need.” and that’s all she needs to hear to stay, because how could she hurt him with herself, and she keeps waiting for him to tell her he needs her to leave, but he never does. He never tells her to dull herself, and he just waits, for her to not need to be grabbed for her to come and rest in his lap and his arms and to know whatever happens he is always a safe place for her.