#(i do still love that fic and everything and i have stuff written and outlined and planned... but you know life)

[hithelleth]

You created the BEST Azgeda that a fan of The 100 (King Roan) could have ever dreamed of, did you know that? Thank you for providing what the show didn't.

#blackcatking

Thank you so much! ❤️ Yeah, the show didn't give me what I wanted so I had to make it myself but I am so glad it also pleases others, such as you. :D

[clockwayswrites]

I'm dropping by to say, I love the way you wrapped up Haunting, boys deserve some sweet and spicy dating time after all they've been through and it's nice to see indication that they will have it. They're all really cute together.

On another, barely related note, because it was something I've meant to ask long time ago, but kept putting it off:

How detailed are your plans for your stories? Do you have them all planned out when you start posting? I guess no, because you mentioned figuring out next beats of things we already knew, but how far ahead do you have everything figured out?

How do you go about outlining things in general?

(I'm asking particularly about thing you definitely didn't wrote (Trouble with Tuesday, I think is official title?), because writing out of order seems like cool solution for me, but I almost never know enough about stories to actually do it, so I'm asking at the source hah. Though I am curious about it in general too)

Have a nice day/night whatever the time you see it will be, have a nice vacation (or time adjusting back from it, if you see this ask later, I hope you had a good time)

Hellu! Thank you! Still on vacation~

How much do I plan... that's a complicated question! It really depends. Which isn't that helpful lol

My first fic I started because I had two or three scenes in my head that were SO CLEAR that I basically had to write the rest of the story to get to them! So for that one, I planned every part of it with the main beat(s) of each chapter. And then it ended up 3x the chapters I had planned, because writing never goes to plan lol.

BUT that said, writing the important scenes is what matters, the rest can ebb and flow. Sometimes that is what I mean by figuring out the pacing! I did Betta Fish the same sort of way, although I was more experienced (by a handful) and that fic stayed on track! I had the Big Drama Scene written almost since the start and was just waiting to get to that point to share it.

With a lot of my stuff at present, I've got some beats in mind I want to hit, but how it gets there is not figured out. Birb needs Bruce and Danny to get together. Danny needs to get to being settled. There's a drama point I've waffled on. But also Duke introduced a whole plot idea without me planning it! It's one of those fun writing discoveries.

The fic that I'm not writing, The Trouble with Tuesdays, I just wrote whatever scene popped into my head and sounded fun to write! They got themselves slowly into building a story. And now I have to go back and stitch it all together and fill it out--which is the harder option.

If you don't have too much planned out, but have the how to start, climax, and how you want them to end up figured out then really I think that's enough! I find writing the climax motivating because I have to wait for you all to get there, but I know some don't like it because they feel why write the rest of the fic. But I greatly love the journey of the characters so that's not much an issue for me.

Hopefully that helps!

[thecousinsdangereux]

i just recently discovered your soulmate au and i loves it so much. so incredibly intriguing and well written and damn is it hot 🔥 thanks so much for sharing with us. in your mind, does it have a happy ending for them?

also wanted to ask if you'll be checking in to see the big warrior nun announcement coming tomorrow?

Ahhhh thank you! This ask is kind of tragic now given how everything with Warrior Nun ended up going, but I thought I'd use it as a way to share my ideas for the rest of a beggar in the morning, if anyone is interested in learning how it was going to go. Long story short, it was going to have a happy ending. :)

Here's a full outline for what I had in mind for the second half of the fic. Under the cut because it's very detailed in the parts that I'd started writing. Also in case anyone cares about spoilers? At the moment, I don't plan on finishing this fic, but I do plan on returning to writing in general, so guess there's a non-zero chance that I could come back to it. Stranger things have happened.

Beatrice keeps looking for the recipient of the Letter she's been trying to deliver and starts taking trips out into the countryside. She takes Ava's advice and takes to enjoying the journey - stopping into small cafes for lunch rather than eating in the car, taking the long way when it means she can enjoy a new view, etc.

During one of these side quests, she's told about a man who lives way off in the middle of nowhere who has the last name of Reis (the last name of the Letter recipient: Lara Reis), and she tracks him down. He had a sister who had a child with someone who was not her Match. I wanted to go more into what this looks like (and how the church is still anti-abortion in this world, because they think this could potentially ruin a future match, cue eye-roll) but in this case, the woman was basically run out of town. The man directs Beatrice to an orphanage where the child was raised.

This trail eventually goes cold because the orphanage has no records of the girl. They only know she left when she became of age.

The end of chapter six is basically Beatrice being frustrated and taking some 'advice' from Lilith to find someone to fuck hfkjshlk so she goes to the bar and ohhh nooo Ava is working that night, filling in for someone. Ava gets jealous, Bea does some shots, and it's basically a rehash of the lemon drop scene from the show, but hornier. Eventually, they make out, and decide to be friends with benefits.

Chapter 7 was honestly just going to be porn. lol. It's actually some of the first stuff I wrote for this fic - just a page of porn. Beggar came out of a Secret Santa fic exchange, and my friend Alex asked for lots of sex and a soulmate au. So... Chapter 7 was the payoff (part 2). Here's a few disjointed scenes, in case anyone is interested in reading some unedited very E-rated stuff.

A few months go by and all the nuns visit Beatrice for her bday and they're like huh so what's going on here and Beatrice has to pretend that it's not that serious with Ava (lol). I also wanted to do a conversation between Shannon and Beatrice where Shannon talks about the whole Mary thing and loving someone against the will of god (or at the very least, in the very gray areas).

The end of chapter seven is Ava finally talking about her past, which is that Ava doesn't remember hers. She woke up in a hospital without her memories and then spent the next decade traveling around trying to find something that felt like home.

In chapter 8, a lot of time passes, and the fucking continues. Beatrice is kind of losing it, poor girl.

I hadn't exactly decided what was going to happen next, but Ava was going to overstep in some way (or in some perceived way) and Beatrice was going to panic. Either Beatrice was going to have a brief thought about being in love, they were going to have reallyyyy soft sex, or something like that, but either way, Beatrice was going to have to admit she has deeper feelings for Ava than what's allowed allowed, so she goes back to Spain and ignores Ava's texts/calls/etc.

Eventually she realizes she owes Ava closure. She comes back and kind of explains why she's reacted the way she has. She gets more into why she joined the church and it's not for God or the Church itself, but because she does genuinely believe that love itself is holy. She admits she's falling in love with Ava, but she can't break her vows. She believes giving into her feelings would be putting herself above the whole history of love... the sanctity of the entire universe... and to be that selfish would be monstrous.

There's a callback to their early game of three questions, and how Ava still owes Beatrice one answer. Beatrice nearly asks if Ava loves her, but pulls back because she's scared of the answer. They basically break up, but Ava tells Bea to let her know when she's ready to ask her last question.

Beatrice takes it HARD. She buries herself in her work and starts visiting hospitals in various towns. She finds a Spanish doctor and he recognizes the number (or rather, the system behind the number) that is on Letter Beatrice is still trying to deliver. He tells Beatrice she's not looking for a hospital in Portugal, but rather in Spain - one in a small town in Andalusia. He mentions a patient who was in a coma, who woke up without her memories.

At this point, Beatrice obviously knows and she flies to Spain in daze. She visits the hospital, gives them the number, and asks for the name of the patient. When they'd brought the girl in, no one knew where she came from, she didn't have an ID, memories, etc. Nothing except for an old receipt from a restaurant in Portugal. ("Beatrice braces herself for what she already knows, but doesn't want to face.") The nurse at the hospital tells her they used a generic Portuguese name for the girl and it stuck: Ava Silva.

Beatrice visits Cat's Cradle because what else is she supposed to do? How is she supposed to deliver this Letter to Ava, who she's obviously in love with. She talks with Mary and we get the other side of the whole Mary/Shannon thing, and Mary is kind of like, okay, the Letters matter but they don't Matter. Beatrice asks Mary what she would do if she got a Letter (since Mary isn't a nun and could get one, but Shannon never could) and Mary basically says she would throw it away without opening it because she wouldn't want to give Shannon a reason to go self-sacrificial.

Of course, Beatrice doesn't really think this is her call to make. She's going to deliver Ava's Letter. There's this whole scene of her very dramatically and angstily getting ready for the delivery in the Official White Habit, then walking through the town she's come to associate so completely with Ava. And chapter 9 ends.

When Beatrice walks through the doors of the bar, Ava looks up, but doesn't seem surprised, even says 'oh, finally', which is pretty much the last thing that Beatrice expected, but then again, maybe it should have been the first, because Ava is always surprising her, and shouldn't she expect it by now? She asks Ava if she'd known that she was the person Beatrice had been trying to deliver to all along and Ava looks confused at this, like she hadn't considered that at all. "It's not that. I just knew my Letter would be coming because I'd already met you."

Beatrice is like, no no no. That's not how this works. It can't be me. I've been carrying this Letter with me this whole time - before I met you - and the Letters are only sent to a person when they've met their soulmate. And obviously, Beatrice is a nun and can't have a soulmate, etc. etc.

And then Ava says something like this: “Maybe every once in a while, God -- or the universe or whatever it is -- knows that it’ll be really hard to make two people meet organically, so it fudges the rules a little bit. Makes one girl a nun, makes another one hard to find, and sets up the dominos really early on."

And when Beatrice says she's being ridiculous/it's impossible, she says, "I know what’s in that letter. It’s you. I don’t need to open it to know it's you." and "Maybe it’s like some people say and god arranged it all. Fine. Then god chose me for you. Simple. He made me in this exact way, down to my hands and toes and whatever, so that I was perfect for his favorite creation in all of the universe. Because that has to be you."

And: "Or maybe it’s like what those other people say. You know - the past lives reincarnation stuff. Fine, then in our first lives we fell in love and then I found you in the second and third and the five hundredth. I found you and I picked you and I wanted you every time. Or okay, fine, maybe it’s what the the pseudo science people say. Even if those guys are right, I still know. It’s you because at the very start of the universe - at the very beginning of everything - we were the first two bits of something. The first two tiny little sparks. One of those was you and one of them was me. And even when we split off into a million trillion billion infinite pieces, the core of one was you. And the other one was me."

And: "In every religion or in any theory, the world exists so that I can find you again, and the world will do whatever it takes - bend the rules in whatever way - to make sure that at the exact right time, we would meet. And maybe it wasn’t perfect - maybe it was stupid hard for us to get to this point - maybe there was an easier way to make it happen - but I don’t care. Because it worked and I found you and I fell in love with you and I would do anything for that. So yeah. This Letter is telling me that I’m for you. That’s easy. It’s not faith. It’s just a fact.

And: "Besides, whatever’s on that paper? It’s going to be you. If it’s a picture of a butterfly, then it’s going to be you because of that time we went to the dam and one landed on your hand and you said “isn’t the world beautiful?” and that’s when I knew I loved you for the very first time. If it’s the notes to the first bar in At Last, then it’s you, because we used to play it all the time in the bar and I always thought it was fucking stupid to think you'd know like that right away, before everything, but it was the song that played in my head anyways when you walked in the bar that first night. There she is, I sort of thought, a dream that I can speak to."

"It could be any single word or phrase or letter and it would be you, because I love you and I love you so much I see you in every part of this entire world. I love you and I want to keep you with me always, and so you’re always there in my thoughts, slipping over and into everything else and I love it. It makes me love everything I see a little bit more, because it reminds me of you. It makes the world more beautiful."

"So, no offense, but I don't really give a fuck about the Letter. I already know it's going to be you. But I think you need to see it. So you know you’re not as selfish as you think you are."

And Beatrice admits that she wants to be with Ava anyways. Even if it makes her selfish. (Even if it makes her heretical.) Love is holy and what she feels for Ava is holy too, even if it's a sort of holy no one else will ever understand.

I went back and forth about whether they actually SHOULD open the Letter. lol. But I think I eventually settled on that they should, and that when Ava does open it, it's a blank page with like, 7 little dots and Beatrice is like??????????????? But Ava recognizes it instantly and it's the freckles on Beatrice's cheeks, the ones she's always tracing, and she does that again, following the ink on the paper.

Beatrice had been ready to give up her religion for Ava, so getting to keep it, maybe, suddenly is a LOT. She can't quite believe something divine would do something like this for her. But maybe she can believe that something divine would do something like this for Ava.

Later, I wanted Beatrice to have a conversation with Mother Superion. I thought it would be interesting to get into the philosophical bits of it. To debate if Ava could actually be right in her ideas about how this could be, and still fit into what they know about god/Letters/religion. I liked the idea of the conversation ending with neither of them really knowing, and Mother S being like, look girl, you'll never know for sure, but that sounds like faith to me. And Beatrice says no, no this is different, capital F Faith is for the divine. This is just trusting that Ava isn't lying about the freckles thing, or won't get tired of me, or won't find someone else. Etc etc etc. because it's panicking time for Beatrice, suddenly. And Mother Superion just raps her knuckles sort of in the most gentle way she can manage and says "That's love, Beatrice." in the way way someone might say "That's pussy, babe."

Beatrice does leave the church (though she eventually goes back to 'consulting' kind of like Mary). And when she does actually physically leave as well, Ava is waiting outside on a bench. Beatrice asks why she didn't just come inside, and she says something about being a little afraid of churches these days. She did steal god's favorite, after all.

And then they walk off into the sunset, with Beatrice being like wait a second, I thought you said this was all God's plan. And Ava shrugs and says that she would never willingly give Beatrice up, so god might come to her senses and change her mind.

I was going to end it there, but I did consider doing an epilogue as well. Early on in planning I had this idea where, years later, all the nuns regularly come over to the Silvas (because Ava does keep her 'second' name, though she does start to learn more about the Reis family, and meets her Uncle - the dude Beatrice learned about the orphanage from). And on one of these occasions, the nuns are all in white, and they're delivering Beatrice's Letter, which is addressed to Beatrice Silva. In the end, I decided against this, because I liked leaving it more open-ended, but nothing had been set in stone at this point, of course.

So yeah, that was going to be a beggar in the morning. lol. I plotted most of it out before I even started writing, because it wasn't the sort of story you could make up as you went and still tell it well. And I did want to tell the story well! There's a part of me that's sad that I wasn't able to, but I do think it was worth writing what I did. I really loved seeing people realize that Lara was Ava, even as early as chapter 5! And I also loved people coming up with theories about how Avatrice would be endgame. Some of them were honestly really good and maybe better than mine fhdskjhfd I had one person be like PLEASE let Ava's Letter be for someone else so they can metaphorically spit in god's face and honestly that was valid.

I don't know if anyone is going to bother to read this very, very long reply to an ask that doesn't actually ask for any of this, but it honestly just feels nice to put all these ideas together and 'complete' the story. Even if I've done it in the most half-assed way possible I am so sorry fhadskjlfhldsj

[selkiefinalist]

BELATED FIC REC POST

okay last(?) week i was really in the mood to rec some fics and then ran out of energy to actually do it but tonight i have a LAPTOP, i slammed a cup of coffee at 8 p.m., and most importantly have a willing heart, so here is a compilation of the various asks i received:

Fic(s) you could do a whole PowerPoint Presentation on:

generations by talahui (hockey fic, ej/nate): except my powerpoint would be about how this is the most important, exactly perfect fic for me and i would make the author (beloved) also present, but much more articulately, on the themes and content of the fic itself, as i am well known as an inarticulate pile of sentient goo. however, here is the loose outline of what my slides would be:

why ejnate is the most important ship ever written

how the author's use of casual/domestic intimacy really came for me but also, you know, tells you everything you need to know about a certain commitment-phobic character's intentions

the power of choice!!! my beloved

how to hurt my feelings while making me happy about it in three steps

the most accurate upper midwest characterizations of all time

scenes that are specifically so painful and also perfect to me. this might be also slide 4 but it's my presentation so i do what i want

future full of yesterdays (1d, narry): godddddd i love this fic, i re-read it a few weeks ago after many years of not having read it and it really held up for me, my powerpoint would be a little rusty but very sincere and every slide would be like 'why this fic is perfect, cont.'

2. a fic you would recommend to get someone into a fandom or pairing you love or have loved

listen i really had to think about this, because hockey fandom is soooooo. like there's so much good stuff, and different stuff, and just. it brings a tear to my eye. but i need to be true to who i am, and i always try to rec stuff that i haven't before, so here is a mix of rarepair fics of varying lengths/ratings/players:

laundry day by screamingcryingthrowingup (~3k, pinto/sanderson). this fic is like if you dared someone to spit in your mouth because you didn't think they would do it but you kind of thought they might because they're a little bit of an asshole and then they actually do spit in your mouth and you're like oh shit

since we're here anyway by robokittens (~4k, chabby/josh). just a really, really good fwb plus a lil extra

cut from the bone by underfallingstars (~80k, i did say there would be varying lengths lol, roope/wyjo). hanahaki disease fic!!! bless this author, i was tearing my hair out through the WHOLE THING

hold by frausorge (2.4k, dillon/jones) for the magic au lovers, i reallllly enjoyed how magic worked in this fic

at home in the uncanny valley by ionthesparrow (~36k) i remember reading this when i was just dipping my toes into hockey rpf and sending it to la and also clawing my face off

3. A fic from a past fandom that you still reread (or at least still think about if you don't revisit old fandoms)

let's go with nevada's fault (~35k, ziall, 1d fandom). ultimate comfort pairing, comfort fic. every three years i go down a big ziall rabbit hole and never ever regret it

4. Fic(s) you would/did create fanart for

one million years ago i made a collage for steph's luckyverse fic. i'm not really an arty person, but i do like doing stuff with my hands

5. Fic(s) that keep you up at night (Either reading or thinking about)

ok well quite literally when i woke up at 3 a.m. on saturday morning FOR NO FUCKING REASON two weekends ago, while also still fuming about season four of the magicians, i read the entirety of damage control for a walking corpse (queliot, ~75k) and then, more slowly, the rest of that series, which really just. the beauty of all life. is something to weep about.

6. Great Angst Fic

i'm not the biggest pure angst fan, like i will definitely read it but some level of angst or whump often crosses the line to straight-up melodrama and that's when i have a hard time sticking with it HOWEVER if you haven't read jes' anything that touches (~50k sidgeno, mind the notes) then i think you should.

in a different way, angst that kind of pries you apart and puts you back together but not in quite the right way, like in a way that's still beautiful and still you but not exactly, try how planets form by caltrain (3k, dumo/yamo)

[spnfanficpond]

New Member Spotlight for June 2025

The Pond is always growing, and we want to make our new members feel welcome! Here’s a list of recent additions to our fishy family and a little info about them!

We've got a LOT of new members this month, so everyone is under the cut!

Guppies, Jellies, and Mutuals, oh my!

Jay - she/her, Atlantic Canada (GMT-4), @aka-faded

AO3 pseud? - aka-faded (screamingincolour)

Discord handle? - aka_faded

OTP? - Destiel

Other fandoms? - Not really active these days, but formerly in the 1D, Teen Wolf, & Marvel fandoms

Looking for in the Pond? - I've been out of the fandom/tumblr/fic world for a while and have been dipping my toes back in this year. Just looking to get some writing out there, as well as make some random friends.

Pairings you read? - Dean/Cas mostly, though I do like a good rare pair

Genres you read? - Angst with a Happy Ending, Secret Relationship, Retired

Favorite writer(s)? - fleeceframe and Northernsparrow are current faves

What do you like to write? - All kinds! I generally go for longer fics, angsty fics, but am also just kind of getting back into the swing of things so am kind of experimenting a little bit with range.

Masterlist!

Most underappreciated fic? - violent sweet music

Bea - she/her, Southeast USA, @brbrbeatrice

AO3 pseud? - Brbrbeatrice

Discord handle? - Beapopcowbot

Other SM names? - Instagram- brbrbeatrice

OTP? - I only like gen pairings. So Sam&dean platonic

Other fandoms? - Heartstopper

Looking for in the Pond? - I’ve never had any supernatural fic friends. I’d love to have a space to talk about it more and get recs and advice, and connect with people

Something to signal boost? - I sell a calendar with my art. It’s linked on my Instagram (brbrbeatrice), but it’s Heartstopper. But that’s the only thing I can think of!

Pairings you read? - My fav is gen

Genres you read? - I only like angst. And H/C 🫣

Favorite writer(s)? - Lennelle, mentholpixie, TheMarvelousTolkienJob, shangrilada, and others. Idk their socials. I just read their fics. Not even sure if any are very active still

What do you like to write? - Angst. If I write anything other than that, it’s usually for a gift. I’ve mostly been writing Heartstopper. But when I first started on AO3 a couple of years ago, I wrote some SPN fic that I want to return to. I’ve gotten better at writing since I started, tho, so I feel like I need to go back and fix my older stuff from 2022.

Masterlist!

Most underappreciated fic? - Heart & Soul

Something you haven't written but would like to try? Why not? How can we help? -I’m planning a Heartstopper/SPN crossover. But I’m feeling a little overwhelmed trying to plan it. I’m not a passionate outliner. 🤣

Elia - she/her, UK, @alwaysbeenyouandme

AO3 pseud? - Butinaparalleluniverse

Discord handle? - Historicalcheesecake

OTP? - Wincest

Other fandoms? - Law and Order: SVU

Pairings you read? - Wincest and J2

Genres you read? - Almost everything, with extra points if it comes with smut

Kmoraa - she/her, Central USA, @iwasneverinyour

AO3 pseud? - KmoraaWrites

Discord handle? - kmoraa (Kmoraa #8679)

OTP? - Destiel :D

Other fandoms? - There are so many fandoms, so I'll only list my favorites: Bat family and Superfam, Young Justice, One Piece, Demon Slayer, X-Men (Comics and Movies), Cosplay, and Art, but there are many more :)

Looking for in the Pond? - I just wanna find a community of writers that I can get support from, but I'm also interested it joining the sprint. 

Pairings you read? - I don't particularly like to read romantic or sexual relationships or similar pairings, so I would say any platonic/sibling/found family is what I enjoy most.

Genres you read? - Angst, Whump, Hurt, and Crack are my fav tags, I like the found family trope :D

Favorite writer(s)? - No but please let all the writers and artists know that they are loved and are doing great :DDD

What do you like to write? - I've actually written a lot of fics, but I've just never posted most of them. A lot of them include either OCs or AUs, because I like to experiment with different writing styles, characters, settings, and etc.

Masterlist!

Most underappreciated fic? - I've only got two fics posted so far, both of which are on my Works list lol

Something you haven't written but would like to try? Why not? How can we help? - Currently, I wouldn't say so, but I am always open to finding new things to write :)

Thatwriterlady - Eastern USA, @thatwriterlady

AO3 pseud? - thatwriterlady

Discord handle? - thatwriterlady 

OTP? - Destiel

Looking for in the Pond? - I'm looking for story ideas, people to talk to, maybe a new Beta

Pairings you read? - Destiel

Genres you read? - Fluff, romance, horror, smut, ABO,

What do you like to write? - I like writing fluff, parent Dean/Cas, ABO, romance, horror

Masterlist!

Most underappreciated fic? - Be True to Your Heart

Ray - she/her, @hellwillfollowoffical

AO3 pseud? - Through_The_Valley

Discord handle? - Raythevariant

Other SM names? - TikTok: hellwillfollow

Other fandoms? - The Last of Us!

Looking for in the Pond? - First time fic writer and looking to get established, meet fellow writers, and learn a little more about writing fics in general!

What do you like to write? - I love creating my own characters so fics with the main characters being an OC. I also like to explore the story deeply so long fics are also my thing. And anything canon divergence/AU because why not!

Masterlist!

Moony - he/him, Central USA, @thewanderingseeker

AO3 pseud - TheWretchedPoet

Discord handle? - gayeststrangerthingsfanatic

OTP? - Destiel

Other fandoms? - Stranger Things, Greek Mythology, & EPIC: The Musical

Looking for in the Pond? - Writing help & Getting peeps to read my fics

Pairings you read? - M/M

Genres you read? - Fluff, Slice of Life, and Smut

What do you like to write? - I’m all over the place… but mostly AUs

Masterlist!

Most underappreciated fic? - The Divine Tragedy

Something you haven't written but would like to try? Why not? How can we help? - A few rp plots I’ve written that would make great fics

Ashley - she/her, Texas, USA, @tumbleweedstillhaspanic

AO3 pseud? - DarnItTumbleweed

Discord handle? - grumpus89

Other fandoms? - Sons of Anarchy

Looking for in the Pond? - Finding a community of other fans

Pairings you read? - I tend to read just about anything.

Masterlist!

Most underappreciated fic? - All As it Should Be

Lindsey - she/her, Georgia, USA, @lindsey-in-w0nderland

AO3 pseud? - SlowBurnSiren

Other SM names? - Wattpad is also SlowBurnSiren, and FFdotnet is LindseyBrooke8997

OTP? - I don't have one!😭 I love so many fic types

Other fandoms? - SPN is def the one "big" fandom I'm in. Twilight and Harry Potter, obviously, but I love so many forms of media.

Looking for in the Pond? - Mostly looking for help with fic writing and SEEKING READERS. I am so desperate for feedback, I'm CRAVING IT.

Pairings you read? - Honestly, I love OC fics for smut, but I love a good slow-burn/high-stakes read.

Genres you read? - Lots of angst and suspense/high stakes, love smut and romance

What do you like to write? - Suspenseful high-stakes fics, always with a romance element. High character development, something to lose, etc. love a good smut read tho lol

Masterlist!

Something you haven't written but would like to try? Why not? How can we help? - I'd love to write horror at some point because I read a LOT of it but that is intimidating lol

That’s all for this month, folks! (If we’re missing anyone, let us know and we’ll add them to next month’s list!) Make sure to say hi to the newbies and make them feel welcome! Thanks to all from @mrswhozeewhatsis, @mariekoukie6661, @heavenssexiestangel, @spn-fanfic-reblog-writes, @walkingaline, @xpurdyglambertx, @leatafandom, and @manawhaat!

[susiecarter]

Hello Susiecarter! Gosh I love your work so MUCH, but I mostly lurk on AO3. Your characterization and your pacing fit so well together, and I'm always delighted to re-read your stories -- I feel like I notice something new and wonderful every time.

Would you be willing to talk a little bit about the bodyswap superbat AU you've been thinking about? I'm wildly curious!

Hi! :D And dang, thank you so much—I'm so glad you've enjoyed my fic ;-; and rest assured I appreciate everybody who reads my stuff even if they leave no sign of their presence but an increase in my hit count. ♥♥♥! AND it means the world to me to hear my characterization AND pacing hit the mark for you; the characters are always the thing I am the most invested in, no matter the fandom, and trying to get them right is really important to me (\o/!!!!) and pacing is probably one of my biggest weaknesses :') SO it's really rewarding to hear the work I've put into not sucking at it is paying off, haha. :D And of course I'm thrilled my stories hold up to rereading for you, too!

AND I could talk about the bodyswap AU all day long, but I will try be restrained here. :'D I started planning the bodyswap AU as a secret Santa gift like a zillion years ago, and the more I worked on the outline, the more obvious it became that this was probably going to turn into a longfic, and not one I was going to have time to finish by the deadline for the secret Santa. SO I set all my notes aside and started something shorter that I could actually finish—but I still REALLY want to write the bodyswap story, and also the sequel (yes, in my head it has a sequel even though I haven't actually written it! This is how the big scary list of things I want to write keeps getting longer instead of shorter :'D).

The basic concept for it was that starting in BvS somewhere, Bruce and Clark would bodyswap—Clark would find himself in some stranger's body, with no powers, experiencing genuine hunger/thirst/fatigue/pain for practically the first time in his life, but also horribly aware that this probably means some stranger is in his body ... and Bruce would find himself in THE ALIEN'S BODY, in charge of all the powers that terrify him on such a fundamental level, and presumably still determined to kill that body, even if that's going to mean dying himself, in a much more direct way than he was in canon. :') OH BRUCE.

Naturally, in my hands, this is yet another BvS fix-it AU, ultimately! But anon, I am so SO enamored of everything about it—Alfred rapidly sussing out that something is DEFINITELY wrong with "Bruce"! Bruce learning exactly how much control Clark needs to have of himself every second of every day, AND because he's Bruce, doing his best to conceal the swap = finding out as much as he can about Clark Kent, the way he didn't do in BvS! Living Clark's life—going to the Planet offices, meeting Lois and seeing how she responds to Clark, picking up the phone and having it be Ma Kent checking in on her son ... :D :D :D :D :D

And of course Clark would have a pretty good idea where to find his own body, and no reason he knows of not to go looking for it; he'd have no idea Bruce has been trying to figure out how to kill him! He'd be worried about this poor random civilian guy in his body! Weirdest angle on identity porn ever: Bruce having to Bruce Wayne in Clark's body, trying to make sure Clark keeps thinking of him as a harmless, ordinary person who just wants this to get fixed. :'D And Bruce getting to be in Superman's body—getting the opportunity to save people so much more quickly, so much more thoroughly, with the strength and the speed and the invulnerability, not having to approximate a pathetic percentage of it with effort and armor ... he'd be afraid of himself with Clark's powers, but I think he would also love it a little bit, anon, and I have so many feelings about that! ;-;

And Clark! Clark, getting to really honestly just be human for a while! Getting to experience directly what it's like, getting to not have to manage his supersenses all the time, getting to stub a toe and scrape a knuckle and burn his fingertips a little by accident. :'D Experiencing all the little aches and pains of everything Bruce has put his body through—and eventually, of course, taking Bruce's shirt off, and finding all the scars under there ... :D :D :D :D :D

ANYWAY, yeah, it's going to be identity reveals all around eventually, plus or minus some parts of the plot of BvS; I'm going to handwave the bodyswapping with, you know, Lex Luthor screwing around with Kryptonian technology after getting access to the ship :'D��I usually don't manage to get much farther than the end of BvS in any one longfic, and I intend for the end of the bodyswap story to be Bruce using Clark's body to kill Doomsday, with Clark using the tech at the last second to get him out of there, in such a way that the sequel is going to be a bodysharing story. :D

So, yeah, I hope that sounds like something you'd be interested in reading, anon—and if it doesn't, rest assured that as with so many of my other favorite tropes, I probably will not stop at just one bodyswap fic. :'D ♥!

[sirsagrell]

While I'm usually critical about Veilguard, and will probably continue to be critical, I want to switch gears for a bit and engage in some positivity. Because there are things in it I liked and I don't want to lose sight of them.

So this is a collection of random Veilguard positivity rambles about some things I genuinely liked:

The entire character of Davrin: Davrin and his confusion about sacrificing himself as was expected of him but surviving, Davrin and his complicated but constructive relationship with his heritage that informs everything about him. Davrin knowing what is and isn't a monster, and giving Isseya her name back. Davrin is just very Dragon Age to me. Also holy shit, hot.

Generally, most of the stuff that surrounds the Wardens - the Hossberg Wetlands, the siege of Weisshaupt, the wardens Ivo, those records about the first qunari Warden, the First Warden trying to take the sacrifice of killing Razikale upon himself, the fucked up fortress for hiding fucked up stuff, the surviving wardens saying fuck it post-Weisshaupt and turning the joining into a blight vaccine.

The flowers in Hossberg quest (or was it a hidden quest?). Loved that. Flowers starting to bloom on previously blighted land was a plot point in that DA fic I outlined in my head 10 years ago and never wrote.

While I'm on the subject of plants, Harding's greenhouse was just stunning. Went to just stare at it multiple times regardless of Harding having anything to say to me. And it's thematically resonant too.

Neve as a concept seems like a character designed specifically to appeal to me personally in every way possible. If I was a Dragon Age character I would want to marry Neve. In my actual playthrough Neve never quite stuck, but I wasn't playing myself, I was trying to play a character who fucking hates Tevinter. So I am actually considering doing a separate Neve appreciation playthrough, and I have never replayed a game just to get more of one particular character before. You are too alluring, Neve.

Taash is interestingly and realistically flawed. People like to critique their coming-out scene because Shathann wasn't even really rejecting them, rather trying to understand them through concepts familiar to her, but I like it as written. You get so used to your mother being relentlessly critical of you, you work up the courage to have this important conversation because you know that is the right thing to do, you come prepared to stand your ground, you've been imagining everything she will say and rehearsing what to say back, and when she's honestly trying to understand and reach out, you don't even really notice it and lash out anyway, because you expected this conversation to go badly. This is very human.

Also, I vibe with Taash a lot. I too am socially challenged, sometimes unintentionally rude, surrounded by things that are certifiably messed up, struggle with cultural shit, and think dragons are the best.

I honestly liked the hair. Especially those luscious curls on Teia. This might be the first game I played where hair wasn't some kind of a distracting eyesore. I kid you not it improved my immersion.

I don't actually remember if it was like this in previous games, but I am very glad they labeled the flirt/romance dialogue options in the most unambiguous way possible. I played Baldur's Gate 3 recently and the most seemingly innocuous dialogue options led to flirting all the time. I realize this may be a me problem (see above, socially challenged), but having the options labeled and never having to reload because I'm not trying to flirt with you dammit is very relaxing. Which reminds me.

I think, that despite all its flaws, and weird narrative decisions, and wild shifts in theme and tone, Veilguard still made a better attempt at saying meaningful things than everyone's game of the year 2023 Baldur's Gate 3 did (runs away and hides under a rock).

[crow-quilll]

Hello :) i really like ur writing style and wanted to know your writing tips!

Like, how do you get a clean and nice pace? Or how to write intense scenes? Or what words to choose? Etc

I thank you graciously for sharing your works 🙏🙏

HELLO SLEEPY!! I meant to respond to this way earlier but stuff got in the way -- however I have arrived!!

Let's dig in:

In terms of pacing, it is always helpful to have a clear outline of every event that will happen - I write all of mine in a notes app, write down each key event and how the chapter will progress. I think that way I get a good idea of what sections should be longer, which are more important and need more detail, and which should be intentionally fast to amp up pressure. Ofc it depends on what you're writing! I've always written these sorts of angsty hurt/comfort fics, so I've just had a lot of practice with them. I can assure you that I'd struggle with a slow pace slice-of-life au in any fandom.

Writing intense scenes mostly comes with practice, I've had 10 long years of experience haha! But there are some things that I've learned to do for those scenes:

Positioning is important, set it up early. You want your readers to know exactly where your characters are so they aren't confused which will slow down how they read the scene. You want them following the speed of the scene you've set.

Shortening your sentences and descriptions will make your scene more intense because your reader feels like they are struggling to keep up with it. It also makes them predict a breaking point - a point in the sentence structure where it reaches a limit and either stops completely or slows back down. So they hang on to every word, waiting for that drop.

Metaphors and imagery are great for describing emotional or physical pain - but I try not to overdo it, especially in "Nobody's Soldier" when those scenes are pretty lengthy. I try to keep those scenes feeling intense and quick because the stakes are supposed to feel high for Gi-hun - and by extension, for the readers.

As for word choice, that really depends on your style and where you find your inspiration from! Like I said, I've primarily written hurt/comfort and whump fics, so my style developed to be very physical: I always think about the facial expressions of the characters, the way their body reacts to stimuli, where they are standing and how they stand, etc. That comes from working on how to describe reactions to pain, and they always tell you to show it instead of telling it: "he winced/he flinched" rather than "it hurt him".

A lot of my style just comes from the things I take inspiration from. Funnily enough, I don't read fics or books for fun because I read so much for university in my history/english program. So I find my inspiration in the historical sources and literature I read. I think a good example I can give is from a poem by Wilfred Owen, an English poet who fought in WWI, called Dulce et Decorum est, which uses very visceral language (ie. "His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;/ If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood/ Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs..."). I'm sure you can some similarity between his descriptions and my own -- albeit, mine are far less sophisticated than his. But I still try to emulate how grotesquely he describes the human body, as well as the sharp rhythm of certain lines like "sick of sin." ANYWAYS thats enough university talk that i'm sure sounds boring haha. I also find inspiration in video games, in TV shows, in everything. The world around us is composed of sentences waiting to be written, you just have to look for them and put pen to paper :))

One last tip I can give is to just write what you enjoy! I know ao3 can be disheartening if your work doesn't get a lot of love, but honestly as long as you are having fun, it is well worth it. I have written for dead fandoms in the past - and in fact, I have more often written for dead fandoms than for popular ones. I'm somehow always late to the party, except this time ofc with Squid Game.

Anyways, I think that is all I have for now!! If you have any further questions, please ask away. I'm so flattered to have been asked about something like this, thank you to coming for me and reading what I write <3 <3

[phantomwyvern]

i am in LOVE with destitution!!!!

what is your thought process behind writing firth? like, are there any specific bulletpoints you try to hit as you write, or is it all just vibes?

i am STOKED for ch 3 and you singlehandedly revived my act brainrot!!! tysm!!!!!

I do have a pretty long outline for this fic so while a lot of it is vibes, there are a few bullet points that I try to hit as far as the personality traits I still want to carry over from his current directly after canon characterization to where I want him to go as the story goes on.

I never want him to quite lose his greed, anger issues or how much a smug bastard he is. At the moment he’s still sort of full on the worse but I want it to start being something he goes ��Wait! That’s not right, I shouldn’t say/do that.” Not anything that completely fades away but something that he stops to think about before he does so he doesn’t hurt others rather than just lash out at people or act like he’s the only one who matters.

I’m super excited for chapter 3 as well, it’s already written up and will posted Tuesday U.S. Central time. It’s also the first appearance of the guy I made to really get the plot rolling considering I couldn’t use Firth as he’s the protagonist here and Roland and Inkerton are both dead.

His name is Strait and he’s definitely going to make everything fine and nothing is going to go wrong with him at all. I promise!

Also go follow my friend and beta reader @winterwoodragon all there art and stuff is really good and the fic would be a lot messier without his help!

[eowynstwin]

'Peristalsis' is making me go feral... I love how visceral it all feels in your descriptions, like I can taste the salt of the sea and the wind whipping in my hair. UGH. SO. GOOD.

And Soap?? Don't get me started. I need to be tossed, thrown, manhandled, and MANGLED by that man. Also love the little appearances of the other 141 men... 🤭 Patiently awaiting the next installment 🤞

Also, this may be a big question to answer, but I'm curious: what is your writing process like? Do you plan everything out then work on it, or just go all in with a vague premise?

Thank you!! I’m really concerned the most with making the sensory experience feel immersive so I’m glad it’s that effective :)

Re: my writing process right now I tend to prefer having a holistic idea of the story I want to tell before I get to writing. I’ve written general outlines for basically everything on my docket. I find that this helps a lot with maintaining my enthusiasm for a fic—a lot of the time “I can’t wait to write this part” keeps me motivated to get through stuff that isn’t as exciting.

I’m not married to the outline though, because sometimes something much better than what I originally planned occurs to me. With Peristalsis, a pretty pivotal scene leading to the climax wasn’t even on my mind until after the new year and now it’s like, literally nothing else would work for the story MORE than this. As I develop my writing process I’m learning that I have to leave room for stuff like that to happen.

However it’s almost essential for me to have a completely clear vision of the ending, right down to the minutiae. Knowing how a story ends is actually pretty important for figuring out how to get there, I find. The Peristalsis epilogue is already written, and having that basically done kind of lit a fire under my ass because that’s a big thing! The fic is finished! I just have to fill in the space between where I am now and where I want to go.

It’s all kind of experimental though because I’m still learning. So far this is working for me :)

[serpercival]

The Fox!Trap AU - A Comprehensive Table of Contents

Right okay this series is a complete and total mess thanks to the fact that 1) there are bits written by a couple of different authors and 2) some stories take place between bits of Mating Habits. So here's a full, chronological table of contents for this thing that I'll be linking in the notes of each of the individual pieces and adding to when people inevitably write more that fits into this main canon.

Anything written by someone who wasn't originally involved in the AU is in square brackets. If you're looking for a chronological reading order:

A Beginner's Guide to Emergency Veterinary Medicine, co-written with @trappper-johnathan (archive locked)

Mating Habits of the American Red Fox (Tokyo: Chapters 1-5)

Unconventional Pest Control Solutions

Five-Star Expectations

Mating Habits of the American Red Fox (Crabapple Cove—Boston: Chapters 6-35)

Caudal Morphology

Mating Habits of the American Red Fox (San Francisco: Chapters 36-43)

Full Throttle by @trappper-johnathan (archive locked)

Mating Habits of the American Red Fox (Home: Chapters 44-49)

... out of love, a prompted ficlet

Professional Courtesy

[Head and Shoulders, Tail and Paws...], a companion piece to Professional Courtesy by @seepweed

I'd recommend reading everything in black between Beginner's Guide-Five-Star Expectations, then Mating Habits as a whole, then the rest of the black links!

Bonuses:

The Art of Fur Trapping, written well before we'd landed on one particular variation of the verse and therefore isn't canon to anything else here, but I still had a good time writing it :3

holy ghost by @mainenorth, which doesn't fit precisely with the rest of the series but was such a sweet gift and is a very fun read <3

@erikraven also has a few fics, featuring both fox!trap and cat!hawk - as of the time I'm editing this -

Two of a Kind Animal Instincts Cat Scratch Fever

Sweetgrass on the Prairie by @bbjkrss-blog, a radarhawk fic featuring cat!hawk

A couple more things:

This series absolutely could not be possible without the incredible talents of both @trappper-johnathan and @remyfire. None of these fics would have happened without their participation in building the lore and the original outline of Mating Habits. An extra special thanks to @mxmorel, who joined the crew late but has been nothing but lovely and encouraging and has been an incredible help in keeping the steam going. Please keep all three of them in mind in regards to this verse—I'm the one who has a lot of time and energy for writing on my hands, but none of this would have any structural integrity without their overwhelming help.

Finally, you, the reader, are more than welcome to write in the verse if you want! Write in the Mating Habits verse, do your own thing, use the worldbuilding and do something completely different with it (I know there's a cathawk wip out there), all of that is more than welcome. Let me know about it and add it to the Ao3 collection and I'll add it to this list!

Additional stuff that's on the docket for some day can be found here. Am I going to get through all of those? Probably not, but a guy can dream.

[droumack]

hi! I'm very new to writing natejo and hrpf in general, and trying to figure out how to improve. do you have any writing tips, or are there any mistakes new writers tend to make? thank you!

HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY BUDDY HEYYYYY!!!! First of all, so glad you're thinking about starting to write. it is one of the best things I have ever done for myself, and I mean that so seriously, it is such a source of joy and therapy in my day-to-day life.

I'm going to be a little lazy and re-post some advice I typed up a few months ago. But it's all still true so I hope it helps you, and my inbox is open if you have any more specific questions -

start small! I’m a massive hypocrite for this given my first fic ever was 100k+, but I’d suggest you begin with a one-shot or a shorter story rather than jumping into a multi-chapter epic. It helps you get comfortable with storytelling without feeling overwhelmed.

focus on what excites you. if you love angst, write really angsty stuff. if you love fluff, write a gorgeous, touchy-feely scene. doesn’t matter if it’s 200 words, just crank it out and make sure it matters to you. passion shows!

be cognizant of what kind of planning you need: you might be a person who needs a whole ass outline, you might be someone who just needs a loose idea of the story. either way, write it down ahead of time, but don’t be afraid to veer off course.

be kind to yourself :) i have written so much shit that’ll never be published because it’s ass. not everything will be good, but everything will be a learning experience

read what you love!!!! and take notes on what you love about it! like go read your fav fics from a learning perspective; pull out your favorite lines and scenes and digest what you love about them. is it the way the author described someone’s reaction? their use of metaphor? their dialogue? etc

and specifically for dialogue-

keep it natural. i literally act out some of my dialogue scenes out loud, and when it feels like something a person wouldn’t say, i strike it.

as you can probably tell, i love breaking up my dialogue-particularly the longer beats-with action. an example from HDTDP: “Well, then trust me. I’m in this just like you’re in this. I’m all in on you, Nate. You being here, it—” Jo feels his throat tightening. “It’s all I wanted, every single time I came to these appointments. And I know now I could’ve had you there. Should’ve had you there. That’s on me.” & ““Can I get copies of that?” Nate asks Dr. Kerr, jerking his head at the screen. “Like—probably ten, at least?”

you don’t need to tag every piece of dialogue! "tags” are phrases like “he asks” or “she said” etc. sometimes a piece of dialogue can stand alone / be followed by an action, and it won’t be necessary with every line of dialogue

[valeriianz]

For the fic writer asks:

4. Obviously you did research for BitB. I'd love you to ramble about it if you like I'm sure you've got STORIES

5. Did you outline it?

7. How'd you decide it would be Hob's pov?

25-27 I'd love to know a/some favorite lines, details, and any lore you might want to share

omg TJ what wonderful questions! thank you!! this is going to get LONG!

4: Rambling about research!

do you wanna see a screen shot of my bookmarks under my "band au" folder?

man, and that's only what could fit on the screen.

there is... SO MUCH i chose to ignore for this fic. ideas that i had to drop, lines or extra details about the other band members equipment. more logistics, what Lucienne actually does, what Mervyn has to put up with as the new touring stage manager... i realized very early on that i couldn't possibly cram all this (super cool and eye opening) information into the fic and still keep reader's interest and, most importantly, to not stray away from the fact that this is a dreamling fic. whenever i felt myself getting carried away with a side character or job or even social media numbers, gossip, outside POVs, i had to reign myself in and get back on track. there will be time for exploring everything i missed in side stories after BitB is finished. i just hope i still have the energy to write it all.

once, i was so deep into research that after publishing chapter 2, i went into work and when my chef asked what "GA" meant on my prep list, i answered with full confidence, "general admission."

(it means "get ahead.")

the worst part of this entire writing process is im still learning new shit. i havent rewatched or read a lot of what i've saved because, to be very honest, i was feeling a little burnt out. it's why we're kinda full steam dreamling now. it's why ive been glossing over a lot of technical stuff and being vague about conversations amongst the crew/not including it at all. i don't prefer ignoring my research, but at the end of the day i want to still enjoy writing this fic and finish it. even if i can't be as descriptive and detailed and nuanced as i used to be.

5: Did you outline the fic?

(also asked by @hardly-an-escape!)

i wouldn't call what i have a proper "outline," it's more like a 20k word document filled to the brim with notes that i skim at least a dozen times while i'm writing a new chapter (being in my brain is literally hell). i live multichapter life very dangerously. i copy and paste lines or sections (always scattered, never together! augh!) that are meant to go together and plop them in a new document titled "band au ch.#" and then i structure the chapter around what i want to happen.

but to answer this question in the plainest of terms: yeah. i know exactly what's going to happen up until the very end. even if its all in my head and the only concrete shit that's written down are beats/plot points. i'll figure out the rest later!

7: How'd you decide it would be Hob's POV?

i actually never even considered writing it from Dream's POV. this was my first fic in the fandom (which is so nuts to think about lol) and writing in Dream's POV sounded so scary lol. i also just thought Hob's would be easier because i have worked a few backstage shows, back in my college years. i figured eh, i can make this work. and i loved exploring how weird and mysterious musicians can be, from a normie's POV. making Hob a fan first and having him worry about developing a parasocial relationship... it was fun to explore.

25: Share your favorite line

oh god, i have so many haha.

“What are you thinking about?” starting in ch.2 and onward lmao

“It’s–” Dream laughs quietly, bitterly. “I don’t like change.” He says each word with emphasis, eyes trailing down to fixate somewhere past Hob. “And I still hold onto the things I can control, like my instruments–” his eyes swing up to regard Hob apologetically. “Or my clothes or my–” he brings a hand up and wiggles his fingers around his head. “My hair.” ch.4

"His majesty is pleased." ch.5

“You are obsessive,” he states, slow and cool and with a quiet smile cracking through his composure. “Just like me.” ch.7

“You look good.” Hob has to lean in to say so, unwilling to raise his voice amongst the roar of the fans. ch.11

“Del looks like porcelain, but she’s actually made of steel.” Desire swirls the contents of their glass before pushing their shoulders back with a deep breath. “She's tougher than all of us.” ch.11

“Everything. I want…” his fingers tighten in Hob’s hair, pulling him closer, speaking against his lips. “…Everything.” ch.14

26: Share your favorite detail

how intentionally coy Dream behaves. i love keeping him a mystery and deciding when and how much to allow his intentions to peek through has been so fun lol.

Despair is in fact covered in tattoos and piercings! i say this because i feel like sometimes i forget lmao. (but also her and Hob don't interact much so. my bad haha).

Delirium's constant explosion of color in the way she dresses <3

Hob's dedication to his job, Dream, and the people he cares about the most. i don't care if people think i'm making him too soft and good, im gonna project on that man and make him a sweet, sweet simp lmao

and ah, this doesn't matter anymore, and i kinda regret doing it but. i originally had Dream's favorite bass all black but the pickguard was white. so it actually looked like Jessamy. not gonna lie when @designtheendless drew it all black i decided i liked it better that way. and truly i do. that's when i went back to ch.1 and changed it haha. to actually see the guitar with Dream, all done up sparkling black and purple flecks... gosh it's just so him. but then i got up to the reveal that the guitar's name was Jessamy and i was like, "oh, right." lmao. no one seems to care so i'll leave it be.

27: Share a piece of lore you made up for the story

i have a lot lmao. and this post is already so long... im hoping i can get to some if not all of it in side fics in the future. but for now, here's some that's more like headcanons but:

Dream hates flying. he can full on go into panic attacks on the plane if he allows himself to get into his own head.

this was mentioned briefly in ch.4, while Dream was discussing the formation of the band, but Despair was in another band before joining Endless. she is the only character in the fic who gets to keep her English roots (lol sorry) and is the oldest in the band (30).

all of the band members ages: Dream, Desire, and Death are all 28 and Delirium is 22.

Dream can experience subdrop after going too hard during a performance.

Dream paints his own nails, it's very therapeutic.

as an exercise, i explored my own headcanons for Dream in this verse in a word doc, and one thing i will share from it that you might find interesting: If I were to ever give Dream a theological values, I would describe him as a satanist. He is a physical and pragmatic person, nonconforming, and although he is introverted, he enjoys being a part of a community (he loves his band).

also found this in my notes: How Desire and Dream got along was Death making them fight it out. Hob raises an eyebrow “like in a brawl?” He couldn't imagine Desire throwing hands. “No, in a pillow fight that escalated in hair pulling and verbal taunts.”

fic writer asks

[harruandlou]

✨Writing Self-Evaluation 2024

thank youuuu @red-pandaaa for tagging me 🫶🏻

1. Number of stories posted to AO3: 4 this year! (10 total!)

2. Word count posted for the year: 262,441

3. Fandoms I wrote for: One Direction

4. Pairings: Louis Tomlinson/Harry Styles

5. Story with the most:

Kudos: i would know you from touch alone

Bookmarks: sunshine, baby! (literally 1 single bookmark more than iwkyfta or this would be a clean sweep)

Comments: i would know you from touch alone

6. Work I’m most proud of (and why): I think sunshine, baby! I did a lot of research for that fic into swimming and law school (and the olympics) and it's the longest thing I've ever written on my own.

7. Work I’m least proud of (and why): I'm really proud of all of them, but probably your brightest star only because I wasn't in a good place writing and pushed myself through most of it. I think it could have been better if I hadn't been so strict on myself for posting time, etc.

8. Share or describe a favorite review you received: I got so many really wonderful comments this year and every single one makes me go mush inside. In particular anytime someone says I'm one of their favorite authors or my fic is one of their comfort fics I just want to cry lol.

9. A time when writing was really, really hard: I started slipping into a rut in like May and didn't really claw out of it until October. During that time I wrote ybs and about 25k of a wip I've since put on the shelf. The whole time was such a struggle.

10. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you: Louis' roommate Mina in sunshine, baby! surprised me a lot this year. I added her in a scene because I wanted Louis to say something in particular, but fully expected her to show up once. But I really loved writing her and then she ended up bring the kick in the ass he needed more than once and i love her so much.

11. A favorite excerpt of your writing: this is from i would know you from touch alone. I added this scene in editing and it's one of those moments that it seems impossible now for the fic to have existed without it. I love it not necessarily because of how its written, but it like such a good reminder that editing a million times can be really important to shaping the fic 😂 (I need that reminder for the next time I edit something to death)

Hours passed, the night crawled towards dawn, but still Harry and Oli sat diagonally to each other. At some point Liam came in. He had Harry’s broken phone in his pocket and a sad look on his face. Oli eyed him warily, but Liam just clapped a hand on Harry’s shoulder and sank into the chair next to him. Some time after that another Tomlinson came over and sat next to Oli. Harry didn’t know his name, but he’d been at the warehouse. Harry could so clearly picture him glaring at Harry over the barrel of his gun. Before long there were a handful of them who had migrated around Harry and finally he realized what it was. He was surrounded on all sides. He was protected.

12. How did you grow as a writer this year: I got really good at outlining this year! And being a bit more strict on myself about making sure I have things properly planned before I start writing (can you tell I've had problems with this in the past lmao). I also picked back up something I'd put aside that I was really afraid to try to rework and had convinced myself wasn't worth the effort. So I think trusting myself and the process more in general.

13. How do you hope to grow next year: I think maybe be a bit more risk taking lmao. I tend to play things safe or overthink everything, but I think some of the best stuff happens when you let yourself get a little silly.

14. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc): 2024 was the year of @red-pandaaa saving my ass every 5 minutes lmao. We started working together at the end of last year and they helped with everything - beta reading, cheerleading, listening to me bitching and moaning. Oh and the friendship was nice too 🤣

15. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year: Oh for sure, always. A lot of Louis in sb! was based off a friend of mine (actually a lot of sb! I pulled real life experiences for). I'm always putting places I've been, food I've eaten, weird personality quirks I have or friends have in fics.

16. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers: Always know the ending before you start. You don't always need to know how to get there, but at least know where you're going.

17. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year: I'm really excited to get back to the fic I put on hold in the summer. I think I'll start working on that in January (once edits for you're all i ever dreamed of are finished!!!)

18. Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read.

@blueskiesrry @petitommo @wishingforloushair @28goldens @lunarheslwt @larry-hiatus

[gunnerfc]

Update :)

Hi! I know it’s been literal months and I’m so sorry for that!

After I lost all my outlines for my 1k celly (I lost other outlines for other fics I was working on as well), which I still don’t know how I managed to do that, I lost all motivation for writing and kinda woso in general. I still watched games and whatnot but it just wasn’t fun until the Olympics (which RAHHH USA GOLD). Plus I did not have the best mental health but thats besides the point.

I just wanna say sorry for not writing the 1k celly fics, I hate that I lost everything and lost motivation right as I hit 1K </3

I do plan on slowly returning to writing, with the new seasons about to start, my excitement and love for the game is coming back and I want to channel that through writing! Gonna be a slow restart but I’m glad my love for writing is coming back :)

There are a few changes tho!

-> I changed who I write for! I’ve taken quite a bit of players off my list solely because I hardly ever wrote for them in the first place and I mainly want to focus on the ones I know the most!

-> I also will be starting to write for a few fictional characters that I like, I know this is a WOSO blog and all my followers are WOSO fans but im so hyper-fixated on some of these characters and I haven’t written for fictional characters in ages so I wanna get back into it even if they flop lmao

-> I won’t be doing any more NSFW alphabets (aside from doing them for the fictional characters I added) and I won’t be doing any more insta posts/stories etc :)

-> I’ve cleared my WIP list and inbox from months-old requests to sorta give myself a true fresh start so im so sorry I never got around to some of them </3

Lastly, please bear with me as I get back into posting and writing and stuff, I’m sure my writing is a bit rusty but hopefully, people still enjoy my works! - ⚡️🫶🏻

[r0semaryrambl3s]

noticed your carrd says writer, have you got any self ship projects to share? - self ship writer who rlly wants more selfship writers

Sorry to disappoint anon but it’s a kind of..? It’s weird. With my art and this blog I treat Lovebites as much more of a selfship than I do with my writing. Which, to be fair, may become apparent as to why when you see what I happen to write.

Like, I do happen to have 4 bg3 projects I’m writing at the moment. But they’re not really “self-ship” stuff, I’m instead treating them simply as x Tav/Oc works, where Dave and Nh’ara are their own separate entities devoid entirely of our traits.

But here they are anyhow:

- (working name) Seven devils:

Mine and Dave’s player’s BG3 playthrough written into fic format.

- Tavern Tidbits

A series of oneshots based on random scenarios I make up and drag Dave’s player into (currently we have: a potluck, a bad Halloween party and a game of smash or pass)

- Love bites: Nibbles

A series of Love bites oneshots I’ve drafted up

Body and Soul

A really dark Lovebites and Raphael/Tav (ish, it’s fucked up.) based project set in a BG3 au (It’s not at ALL cannon accurate but honestly I think that works out better).

The story’s set a short while after Astarion ascends (yes it’s an Ascended Astarion timeline), with Nh’ara regretting everything she did to help with it and in her desperation for a way out becomes victim to one of Raphael’s deals (there’s more info on that, like what the pact entails, but no spoilers). The plot is then the slow unraveling of our poor gal’s mind, an abusive situation so bad I redeem ascended Astarion and honestly a refreshingly dark project for me.

I’m actually halfway through outlining the chapters! And have even made a chapter playlist (seeing as each chapter is named after a song):

Body and soul stands as a project that I can use to say “you see why I’m considering just calling Nh’ara an oc?” As in no world would I ever want to imagine myself in the story I’ve created- its also a project that I’m a bit sceptical about admitting that I’m enjoying making, because of the dark subject matter and how the internet tends to react to that- (everything’s portrayed as being absolutely abhorrent, like the abuse is abuse it’s not rationalised or anything. It’s meant to be obvious that the situation isn’t a good thing but I’m still weary of saying “yeah I’m super invested in my own work here”).