#EVEN THOUGH MY FIC IS SOME OF THE STUFF I PRIMARILY POST ABOUT ON MY DUMPSTER FIRE TUMBLR

[pastelaspirations]

Is your fanfic on ao3 or somewhere else?? I need to get to reading it lol

W e l l. U m. Okay. Like, I should have expected this. Especially with a certain TWO people going around, clamoring for people to read it. Am side-eying you, Moldiee and Anayz, h a r d-

So uh. Y e a h, it's on ao3. Linked here for your convenience. JUST. It's l o n g. It doesn't start out that way, it starts off short, but then just gets longer and l o n g e r and-

Let's just say you're going to be reading this for a while probably

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

At risk of causing a wave of DP fans to head your way... I've noticed some parallels between the ML fandom and DP (Danny Phanton) fandom.

Both seem very active (even though DP has been over for a while) and seem almost gleeful to take the pieces of lore/potential/implications and completely run with it to a point where it's almost more popular than the original source material.

And yet, Kim Possible a show from around the same time frame as Danny Phantom seems to have faded in terms of fandom. (It’s also possible I haven't found the KP side of Tumblr yet and I am completely missing that part of the site.)

It's interesting to me that in this case shows which either don't realize or are unable to go all the way with their implications seem to have the more lively and active fandoms vs the ones that seem a bit more solid writing wise.

I don't really have a point here. Just find it interesting.

I guess I'm curious if this is a case of me cherry picking examples and declaring causation or whether you've noticed similar trends as well.

(Also my memory is very poor. If I've sent a similar ask that's in the queue, sorry! Please ignore/delete this one. I probably won't even realize it. :))

Generally speaking, the amount of fan content you can find for a given work has a direct correlation with popularity and unexplored potential, not quality. More popular works will naturally get more fan content because more people are thinking about them, but if the work is self contained, then there's not much left to do with it as this graph nicely illustrates.

This is why Kim Possible has 2,341 works on AO3 while Danny Phantom has 23,605 as of this post. It's not that Danny Phantom is the better or more popular show, it's than Danny Phantom has a lot of stuff that never got explored in canon. What does it mean to be half ghost? What would have happened if the series had continued after that massive cliffhanger with Valarie? What happened to Dark Danny? All wonderful questions that people want to answer!

If I try to think of similar questions for Kim Possible I draw a blank even though I watched a lot of that within the past year and it's been almost a decade since I watched Danny Phantom. Kim Possible is simply satisfying in and of itself. I'm sure there are good fics for it, but they're not answering obvious questions raised by the source material. A fact that is amusingly glaring if you go look at the most popular stories in both fandoms to get an idea of what's going on in them. One is mainly pure shipping content, the other is not even though both works had a similar amount of shipping content in canon. Give you one guess which is which. (This isn't a dig, btw! Shipping content is fine! It's what I'm usually looking for when I read fanfic.)

Note that unexplored potential need not be a bad thing. It can be a sign of bad writing or a sign of a well developed world or even just a sign that the work had a lot of hiatuses and people filled that time by coming up with ideas of what might happen next. Lord of The Rings has 56,681 works and I would never dare to call Tolkien a bad writer. He just wrote an incredibly popular and complex world that gave people a lot of room to play around.

I can usually guess if a work I love will have fan content, how much it will have, and what it will primarily be about. For example, I love The Good Place and it got millions of views, but it left no gaps in the story so fan content is going to be pretty sparse. I'm honestly surprised it managed 1,832 fics on AO3 though almost a fourth of those are crossovers so who knows if they're really about the show's cast. The rest appear to mainly be pure shipping content which is not a dig! It just shows you that the show didn't raise a bunch of questions that need answering. The story canon gave us was all we needed from the plot.

[alexanderlightweight]

this is literally just malec fic ideas and verse bullshit - lumine

I was writing the beginning of this new verse for a prompt and it reminded me of another idea that i'd dreamt of briefly during last years brain fog.

Colosseum (and primarily active only) shadowhunter style but it's also basically tied with the whole mating runs trope. which I think I have a prompt from someone about gladiator style shadowhunters fights so like.... I could fill that with this idea I think. it's just courting gladiator style instead.

basically when you hit a certain age, you get sent in rotation to the colloseum because 1) its good training 2) its a good way to connect all the younger active duty Shadowhunters who normally are stuck at their respective Institute 3) allows for the mingling of bloodlines and testing of chemistry

once you reach a certain rank/essential work you only have to go for like, events or if you're specifically called out (because they fight for the right to court as a part of this whole thing)

alec is so far unbeatable. not necessarily because he's better than the rest but the sheer rage and energy of 'i'm not marrying you. perish or die' kind of make it hard for anyone to hold up well against him.

yes Alec knows that both of those options are unreasonable.

he doesn't care.

you expect reason out of him when he keeps having to fight off shadowhunter women looking for strong/lineage/good position/really good with kids-handsome, who want to have sex with him?

like they want to marry him but that's not the only bad part. the worst part is the sex okay. Alec knows exactly what those kind of shadowhunters are here for and it's to have babies. they're looking for a stud but they want a competent one, hence the fights.

technically by the rules of the colloseum Alec could fight a guy and propose that way completely legally but he uh.... there is no one he wants to fight in Idris. like he sometimes subs in for shadowhunters who don't want to risk losing and are too outmatched by their opponent. typically that because of politics or family dynamics they don't say no to the whole fighting mating dance.

and sometimes in a daze the Shadowhunters Alec beats are just like 'oh wow' and Alec is just like looking down at their prone forms, the match already called 'stomps their face and hopes he did enough damage that they forget the last five minutes' (he's gotten really accurate over the years okay. at some point it's mentioned that Simon needs to forget the last few minutes and alec's just like 'oh I can handle that' and everyone is just like "NO ALEC HES A MUNDANE'

Alec: well.... it still would have handled it

--

anyway so yeah alec does not need more suitors. even if one or two are the gender he actually likes

he has standards

currently nephilim are not up to his standards and since broadening his horizon (he didn't broaden shit. its just that Magnus is the skyline) he realized that Magnus is not just up to his standards but was in fact the blueprint and mold for those standards.

magnus finding out that even though the entire shadowworld knows they're together, Alec is still getting courtship fight requests.

Magnus: I see, I see. so first i'm going to nearly kill every single one of your opponents in your name, then i'm going to fight you and personally ensure that every single nephilim in attendance witnesses your submission when I win.

Alec who is absolutely tired of the colosseum and clave bullshit: k, wake me up when it's my turn to lose. I need a nap.

i like to ramble about verses and fic ideas I have no idea if anyone is interested but sometimes this stuff will pop up lol. also questions and asks about fics and verses are always welcomed, they're a lot of fun to answer

lumine

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Okay, I've Read Worm: A Retrospective Part 3: Who the Fuck Is Worm For?

(Before we begin, two notes - one, the consistent use of 'fuck' in the titles here is primarily for humor value. Two, the promised Amy retrospective post may not actually happen because everytime I've gamed out what I want to say in it, I spend more time yelling at WB about Ward and stuff than I really want to. So we'll see if that happens)

Have you ever been watching TV, or watching videos on youtube, or w/e, and seen an ad for a new game, or show, or movie, or anything like that, and you find yourself wondering 'who wanted this?' 'who is this for?' Or you look up a summary of a movie or book and it's not even that the plot sounds bad, it just baffles you because like... who ordered this? Who wanted it? Is it for? The idea of someone actually being the target audience for the thing, or liking it, baffles you.

Now, to be clear, I don't have that with Worm. It is reasonably easy to grasp that people would like Worm, even that people would like it more than I do. But Who is Worm's real target audience is?

I've tried to figure that out, and I cannot. Now, I don't know if Wildbow actually sat down and gamed out who his target audience was with Worm. He's not a movie studio, he's not a TV exec. He's a guy who had a lot of ideas, and wanted to force himself to write a story. He presumably wasn't trying to game out what kind of story he needed to hit some right demographic to a return on his investment. Like, I'm sure he considered how the story would be received as he conceived of it and stuff like that, but not in the way a Disney Exec games out how to decide what movies to make and what executive meddling to do.

I don't know for sure who Worm's target audience was. What I can say though, judging from like, everything I've seen said about Worm, a lot of people who read Worm, or tried to, were, like me, very much not in the target audience. Like, at all.

The people who, really, deeply fundamentally are butthurt that Taylor was ever a villain, that the Undersiders are sympathetic. Equally, the people who are deeply, fundamentally furious that Taylor joined the PRT/Protectorate and that the PRT isn't actually just super corrupt and incompetent. That the heroes aren't the 'real bad guys the whole times'.

The people who, like me, just aren't actually that much into superhero fiction and yet stumble into it. The people who, like me, find the bleakness oppressive and exhausting. The people who call Worm grimdark. Some of the people who write the OP SI fixes everything quickly fics. (Some are just having fun with not taking themselves seriously).

This is not to say that everyone who didn't enjoy all of Worm's various writing choices was 'outside the target audience', but with Worm, as with other pieces of Media, I have absolutely seen people bitching about certain aspects of the story and gone '...*maaaaaybe Worm just isn't for you?'

I went into Worm knowing this. I came out of Worm knowing this even harder. Worm is not for me. I can definitely point to writing choices that I think were just flat bad for even what WB appears to have been trying to do (Not a ton, but a few), or just fundamentally detract from the story (again, not a ton, but a few), but a lot of my issues with Worm really do just come down to 'it ain't for me'.

There's a lot I like about Worm. But in a lot of ways, Worm ain't for me.

But if it ain't for me, who the fuck is it for? I honestly can't articulate a clear statement.

Worm is for people who are very familiar with superhero media, especially comics. Worm is for people who have some degree of dissatisfaction of what most mainstream comics do. (Worm is not for people who think Worm was the first 'realistic' or 'deconstructive' or even 'reconstructive' take on Superheroes)

Worm is for people who have a higher tolerance for boring antagonists... or who somehow found Mannequin not boring. (Because those people exist and will never not confuse me) Worm is for people who enjoy a degree of bleakness and grimness, even if they might not say it like that. They enjoy the fact that Being Taylor is Suffering, to an extent. I don't think that's a bad thing, and I'm not against a protagonist suffering and losing and having setbacks and so on, but Worm does go a lot further than I really like. I don't think Worm is only for people who 'liked' it. I have definitely consumed media where it was definitely in my balliwick, I'm definitely the audience, but I just didn't care for it. But one of the groups Worm is for is definitely the people who enjoyed it a hell of a lot more than I did. I was a bullied teenage outcast, but I was never on the level of Taylor's experience. I was out of HS by the time Worm came out, but only barely. I may have appreciated Worm more then - the fact that a lot of people identified with and related to Taylor being a lonely bullied teenage outcast has been observed and commented on by many people. (That she then goes on to become a deeply unrelatable girlie later on is often forgotten or ignored)

Worm is for people who care more about Shard mechanics than I do. Also probably for people who consider 'Word of God' to be more of an authoritative thing than I do in general (My issues with WoGs predate my experience of reading Worm. My position has always been that WoGs don't supersede the text, though they can be useful for grasping authorial intent - which only matters as far as one wants it to).

Worm is for people who who don't hate precogs the way I do, probably.

I don't know who Worm is for. I know it ain't for me. And I suspect, whether people in this fandom realize it or not, it wasn't really for them either. There definitely are people who it was for, and if you're one of them, good for you.

[olderthannetfic]

Genuine question: what's the point of writing fanfic? As in, what's the purpose? No one in the fandom I'm in comments on fics and I even got told off by one person for doing so, as it "encourages bad writers and makes them think they're good". So it seems that it's a lot like book writing, where people work hard and are creative, but instead of getting paid and getting comments on the work, you just sit there silently hoping someone will press the kudos button and make a number go up. I feel like that time and work could be better spent on making something you might get some kind of profit off of. Don't get me wrong, I love doodling fanart, but I don't post it, as I'm aware that there's no point to doing so, and while it's a nice way to fill the time on a commute, it's not something that takes me as much time and effort as fanfic does. So... why do people bother? Sometimes I describe ideas I have and people I know in my fandom will tell me I should write it, but I don't see why. I get more interaction from just saying "imagine if [thing here]" than I would by sitting down, writing for hours, editing and posting [thing here], so what would the point be? I'm not punching down or going "haha women and their fanfic lol!", I genuinely do not get what the point is and this blog feels like it might have someone reading who knows the answer.

--

Do you make art for profit? Genuine question.

There's nothing inherently wrong with being motivated primarily by external factors, but it's not actually why a lot of people create things, whether it's books or recipes or doodles in a notepad.

I enjoy the actual process of writing.

I think many people lose sight of that aspect in an era where tons of <500-word fics that are mostly outlines and "Imagine if..." posts get disproportionate attention for being easy to consume. But the satisfaction of doing a bigger art piece and doing it right is real and motivates a hell of a lot of creation.

I suppose you might be thinking "Okay, but why not just write it alone and never post?", but I like sharing. Showing off my finished creation is part of the joy, and sharing with other people like me is too. But those aren't quite the same thing as worrying about kudos. It's like dressing nicely when you leave the house because you feel great when you know you look good vs. needing another person to tell you you look good.

To be honest, though, this type of feeling has grown in me the better I've gotten at a craft. The closer my finished projects get to the vision in my head, the easier it is to find them fulfilling and to be excited to share them. When I fall short of my own ambitions, it's discouraging no matter how much attention I might get from others.

I feel like it's time for my regular reblog of Adam Westbrook's video essay series The Long Game.

The third and least known in the series is all about this idea of who you're making art for if you're not getting material rewards in the short term. It talks a lot about autotelicity—being internally driven instead of externally.

--

But if you really just want clicks, anon, start a blog that accepts anon asks and posts about wanky stuff. Actually tag things, unlike me, so people can find you.

No, writing for attention isn't worth it.

The time investment is too great and your brain will always fixate on the times people didn't respond instead of the times they did.

But that's not actually why most people write.

[bedlamsbard]

i will say—the whole "reaction shot roundup" thing that post is mentioning also just comes off as...relatively bad cinema. like, something you could make work if you were GOOD at it, but also something that a lot of people attempt to do without a lot of skill when they have too many cast members to effectively balance. YOU, on the other hand, do write in a cinematic fashion but you are so fucking good at it. the way you paint pictures in scenes and the way you build and release tension is just pitch perfect. it's tv/movie magic translated into a different medium at its finest

Aw, thank you. I mean, part of my reaction was definitely the bog-standard "this person is saying a thing that I COULD relate to so DOES it relate to me?" which I'm as susceptible to as the next "I am uncomfortable when we are not about me?" birb.

but also I genuinely think that this writer is talking about several different (though related) things and falling back on "it's television's fault!!!" instead of actually like. thinking about them. now I don't know what's going on in creative writing classrooms, I'm a history teacher (though I'm teaching 'how to write research papers' this semester and next semester), but I think these are just...normal "how to write fiction" problems. like the fact that OP isn't using any actual examples from published fiction makes it just sound like they have just noticed something so therefore it's A Problem And Those Darn Televisions And/Or Video Games Are At Fault.

there are very, very good pro writers who are very visual and very cinematic in multiple ways, which is not just about balancing reaction shots or pacing or stunning visuals. John Jackson Miller, who writes primarily tie-in novels, is really good at it. part of that is because he's also a comics writer, so he's used to thinking about things visually and how that translates to prose. (I know everyone thinks about Kenobi and A New Dawn with JJM, but the Knight Errant book and comics are interesting because he did both prose and comics for the same character. Also if you like JJM's stuff, go read his "behind the scenes," there's stuff he said about writing the KOTOR comics that I think about to this day.) Martha Wells is also great at it, so is S.M. Stirling; so are many others, those are just the first three that come to mind because I think they're three of the most visual writers I read regularly. And all three are tie-in writers and very good tie-in writers and good tie-in writers, like good fic writers, have to think about translating between media. (One sign of a bad tie-in writer -- who may otherwise be a very good writer -- is that they struggle with translating between media. Tie-ins are a very specific genre and even medium which I think many people don't realize until you read a terrible Star Wars novel written by an author who writes really great non-IP novels and then can't figure out why it feels Wrong.)

I do think writers (and readers and viewers) should think about how to translate something that's natural in one medium (film, video games, prose, comics, whatever) to another medium, because it's not as straightforward as "you just can't do it because they're different media." You can! You may have to think about it differently, but you can still do it! Some of the best writing advice I've ever read has not come from prose writing, it's come from comics writers about writing comics. Depending on your genre or your medium, advice for writing novels may not apply -- I don't structure my fanfic the way I would structure a novel, because I write serial fiction. My scene beats and chapter breaks are not necessarily translatable to a novel, because that's not what I'm writing and that's not how I expect people to read it. (I mean, for one, if I was writing novels, I would not be writing 10K chapters, because for a novel, that's insane.)

anyway, that was about like. six different vaguely related things, the tl;dr of which is something I don't usually say but which comes down to "perhaps OP, as a creative writing instructor, should think about what they're doing in THEIR classroom instead of blaming the television." (this is based on the whole article and not just that bit that's excerpted.)

[burins]

@mengyao and @bao3bei4 did a 20 questions meme and y'all know I love a meme.

1. How many works on AO3?

72! a wild number. I thought about stopping at 69 but the lure of posting is too great.

2. Total word count on AO3?

334,157. which frankly also feels surreal. at some point I have to recognize that I've been in fandom for almost 15 years and thus have amassed a pretty substantial word count despite almost never writing longfic!

3. Top five fics by kudos?

unfurl

mission parameters

everybody says

flash in the pan 

field research 

shocking no one, these are all DC fics, but they're not all the ones I would assume would be the most popular (field research is straight up sex club idfic porn!) I try very hard not to write with a capital-A audience in the back of my head aside from like, a handful of friends I know will yell at me about certain lines because a) that's a surefire way for writing to not be fun anymore and b) you simply can't know what is gonna get recced on some massive server you've never heard of and what is going to be the sleeper fave of like five really dedicated commenters.

this wasn't asked but it feels important: as of right now 666 people are subscribed to me. great number everyone can pack up and go home!

4. What fandoms do you primarily write for?

DC at this point, aside from my yearly excursion back into Friends at the Table for the Secret Samol exchange. I have to be careful enough with how and when I write that I don't know when I'll be able to answer the call of a new fandom. I'd like to write more HxH stuff, though! 

5. Do you respond to comments?

if it's a substantial comment I really try to! comments bring me a tremendous amount of joy and I love to talk about my own writing (clearly.) I usually do in batches so it takes quite a while.

6. Angstiest ending?

one time I wrote a fic where one half of the pairing asked her wife to murder her, and her wife did <3 

7. Fic with the happiest ending?

god. I feel like I so rarely write a completely uncomplicated happy ending, because all the characters I like to write are kind of miserable people. actually if we're not counting fluff or porn, which don't so much have a happy ending as start there and stay there, the answer to this one in terms of biggest distance from beginning to end is breath hot blood red. this is the fic where Bruce makes a deal with a Creature and reaps the consequences. you might think a fic with these particular tags could not possibly have a happy ending but it does! I think Bruce setting aside the cowl is actually the happiest ending he is ever going to get. I really waffled on whether to give him one tbh. in an alternate universe Dick dies on that rooftop and Batman eats Bruce alive :)

8. Do you get hate?

not particularly! I was worried when I started posting jaydick but tbh I've gotten weirder comments about how I characterize superbat lol. sorry I do not believe that two men with this many neuroses are always nice to each other. I'm including Clark in that too if you think that man escaped growing up an alien in small town Kansas with no psychological damage in how he treats himself and others I don't know what to tell you. yes he's superman yes self sacrifice and caring are at the very core of his being and yes that causes problems! it is difficult to be in love with someone who will always put the world's needs above your own even if you know they're right to do so; it's also difficult, in a very mundane way, to be in love with someone who would rather chew their own arm off than ask for something.

9. Do you write smut?

do I ever! I love writing porn. I think it's a great way to get at the root of how characters relate to each other and a fun writing exercise for me, who at this point has written a lot of porn, to figure out how to make this one feel fresh and new and also still be hot. sometimes when this happens you wind up writing chair kink. I can talk about character relationships all day long but at the end of the day it has to be hot!

10. Do you write crossovers?

aside from my one mdzs locked tomb au, which is more of a sci fi fusion that riffs off of one specific premise in that series, no! it's not usually something I'm super interested in - the reason I write fic for any canon is the juice in the existing character relationships, so I don't generally feel the need to pull in anyone else. 

11. Ever had a fic stolen?

not to my knowledge! I mean I'm sure they've all been scraped but. :(

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes! itsuki_minatsu did a Mandarin translation of take a pic, strike a pose and I only wish I could read it because I bet the translations of the group chat are really funny. 

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

also yes! not in years though. I cowrote an ungodly amount of porn about ttrpg OCS in the process of getting together with my spouse (and also meeting many beloved friends.) I do often get inspiration from riffing off of things with friends on social media or in group chats, which has some of the same juice to me!

14. All time favorite ship?

truly not a question I can answer. I go back and read for a lot of old fandoms!

15. WiPs you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

this is a bit of a depressing question at this juncture so I am skipping it ✌️

16. Writing strengths?

due to my years in the Twitter mines making my friends sad via 140 characters or less I can create atmosphere quite quickly! I'm proud of my prose in general, and I put a lot of thought into creating meaty characters that bounce off each other in satisfying ways.

17. Writing weaknesses?

plot. oh my god. you want me to keep track of these people's emotions AND make up things to happen? there's a reason I've written a grand total of five fics that broke 10k and it's not just because I have chronic pain in my arms.

18. Thoughts on mixed language dialogue?

I know enough about how being multilingual works to know I won't be attempting it. The exception is I don't tend to translate titles or words that normally wouldn't be translated in an English sentence. I'm not out here making Lan Wangji play the zither.

I did have to go kind of the opposite direction in from the inside of the wound when Clark and Kara are speaking in Kryptonian, though, because a) I wanted their conversation to be entirely in Kryptonian but English for the reader because b) I can't be going into the conlang mines. I have utmost respect for folks like blorb-el who are out here doing the work! but once I cross that Rubicon I never come back and I need to save my language learning juice for languages that will help me out at work. I think I managed it with a minimum of awkwardness!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

warrior cats baybee! I was a proboards forum kid.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

impossible question, I answer it differently every time. I think how cleanly how quietly might be one of my faves because Tim has historically been difficult for me to write and I wanted to make Bruce an unreliable narrator who's clearly in the wrong here while still making him not totally unsympathetic. (the comments section to that one kind of bears up my suspicion that your reaction to that fic is a litmus test for how you feel about your dad.) also I got to throw in a ton of Easter eggs which was simply so fun for me, a person who adores coming up with silly little details. 

also tbh I think every year I do a secret Samol it comes out better than the last. some of my absolute best writing has been read by several dozen very dedicated people who are still into hieron six years after it ended. and for that I say thank you!!! friends at the table is your favorite writer's favorite writing. they're starting a new season now you can get in on the ground floor- 

tagging: if you want to do this, you should tag me in it. for real, I mean that, I want to hear how you think about writing! even if we aren't mutuals!!!!

[qoldenskies]

grips your shoulders (respectfully , sorry). my life before I read the entirety of cc was nothing. Literally forgotten and gone. /hj

10000/10 #1 best written fic ive ever read ( +3 years reading mind you ) made it to the top 5 goodness gracious. I relate too hard with cc!don on like a deep level ( deeply sorry if this makes you weirded out, I'm saying you write very well, I promise. /gen ) I go back and reread the entire fic to process my own emotions, ( and hurt myself aha. Again, I'm so so sorry if this makes you uncomfortable.) but the comfort genuinely. Makes me tear up. I kid you not, I have never been so emotionally attached to a fic this way. I genuinely get lost in the fic. Wdym there a 'real world' this fic is my world...! Anyway I rambled- just saying. I am a fan, genuinely love it and would consume any cc related media up so fast. It feels like being in a library (A03), but every book there is your favorite book (cc!), and you have a lifelong membership to stay however long you like. (Refresh the page). I love how everything moved so naturally. Nothing felt out of place or random. Even if you didn't mean for things to mean stuff, it all fits together so well. The entire family is essentially just a bunch of broken puzzle pieces glued together by a weak layer of ninpo and sheer spite. I was somewhat thinking along with Donnie some of the time. Ex: "Huh, Mikey put too much syrup.. well, I really don't want to hurt his feelings, it was an honest mistake." It was mostly when the actual physical abuse and the closet hit that I was like. Sorry, beg your pardon? That's not normal. I'm dead serious when I say I had to backtrack and reread because it all just happened so realistically I was like. This isn't normal actually? Then again, it could just be my dumb brain forgetting again. (Happens way too much than I'd like to admit, I'm sorry about that. I promise your fic is memorable, I read it often. I'm just bad at this kind of thing. /gen) I guess good thing I wasn't Donnie, because I think I'd react the same, unfortunately. But that just shows the realistic yet exaggerated nature of your writing! It's all so vivid, even the vague details that aren't really spelled out, so you can catalyst and make it worse than it maybe is, is just so appealing to me? It all just felt so real. I'm trying to compliment specific parts but it's ending up vague anyway, I hope you can understand my nonsense .. I personally loved the animatic no more birthdays. Hit me with the feels. I watch it a lot! I don't heart a lot of things because I have really bad anxiety and just generally am panicky/hesitant to interact. I am looking at everything you say, though. It's very precious to me, whether it's headcanons, cc, www, faw, whatever! Primarily, I am a cc fan haha. I usually don't like open ended stuff. I usually am on the fence about hurt and whump, I believe it's called. A thousand pardons if I've got it wrong. All in all, I'm sorry for the ramble. What I'm trying to say is, I love cc a completely huge amount, and if it was a physical book, it would sit by my bed, worn out and used often. ❤️💞 /vpos /vgen

I'm sorry if this doesn't seem genuine (I promise it is), I think that despite what you say about yourself, you're very much an admirable human being, and while I don't interact with blogs much, I just wanted you to know there's someone out there who reads your fic like it's air. (and most likely, I'm not the only one, not trying to hate on anyone.) Sorry if I've said anything wrong that makes you uncomfortable to post, I'll be okay if you just read it. :) /gen

THANK YOU ;~;

[gffa]

hiya! long time listener, first time caller-- I'm writing a couple fics with Jedi protagonists (Shaak Ti, Mace, other Prequel Jedi) which is really fun so far except for the part where I "majored in" (read: hyperfixated on) Organization and Tactics of the GAR and don't actually know that much about the Jedi as individuals, *especially* anything that happened before TPM.

I was wondering if you know of any resources that organize/compile information about that era of Jedi? Things like lineage lists, who was on the Council when, typical schedules/roles/responsibilities, that kinda thing. Resources can be any format; other Tumblr blogs, articles, images, discord servers, archived websites, whatever works! Even the obvious stuff can be helpful (outside of Wookiepedia), since this isn't a part of fandom I've walked through much. You're the only big-name Jedi blog I know.

(If you don't have the spoons to respond, I understand, thanks for reading anyway!)

Hi! Congrats on writing your fic, I'm wishing you all the luck in the world! And here's where my brain starts spinning in a bunch of different directions, because here's the sticky thing about Star Wars "lore": there are three separate continuities and, while you are absolutely free to mix and match as you like and should pick out all the things that interest you, no matter the continuity, they do still exist in separate realms. You have Lucas' Star Wars, you have Legends Star Wars (the Extended Universe/EU under Lucas' ownership of SW, but he has explicitly said it's a separate world from his Star Wars), and you have Disney Star Wars. There is worldbuilding in each of them (though, often very thin on the ground at times) but what's true in one isn't going to be true in another--for example, in Legends there was an age cut off for Jedi initiates at 13, if they didn't get a Master. This limit does not exist at all in Lucas' SW (is contradicted by Ahsoka at 14 being said to be YOUNG for being a Padawan) and Disney Star Wars (there's an Initiate who is 16 and doesn't have a Master and will have to wait at least another year to try again, with no hint of them aging out). You pick which works for you! Just that I think it helps to be aware of what bits come from which continuity. There's also not a ton of pre-TPM content, at least not after The High Republic! Though, I've found THR stuff generally pretty helpful for prequel-era Jedi stuff, because they act and behave 98% of the same way imo! THAT SAID, I tend to collate as much of the Lucas continuity and Disney continuity (as they're the ones I generally prefer) and I have a bunch of resources if you don't mind some homework reading! 😂 I did at least make it as easy to browse as I can, though! - Jedi Culture and Teachings in Canon - A mix of Lucas and Disney content mostly, organized by sections for hopefully easier browsing for what you're looking for! Because 75k words of citations is a lot. orz This is going to give you probably the most of what you want, because I have been working to collect all of that kind of stuff--descriptions of the Temple and personal quarters, any rituals they have, how a Jedi's day is structured, what different paths and roles are common with Jedi, all the Jedi philosophy, what kind of pets they have, etc. It's in three (so far) parts, so you'll have to browse through each of them, but the set-up is the same in each one, so if you find a section that you need the info on, just Ctrl+F to find it in the next part or skip to the same chapter, they're the same template for each! - My "reference" tag - Which is a mixed bag of various posts and different continuities (primarily Lucas + Disney, though) that organize this kind of thing, like a possible in-universe calendar system [also here], a collection of worldbuilding bits specific to Padawan, which was pre-TPM, crossection of the Jedi Temple, a Jedi Council seating arrangement chart through the years, a list of the handful of Master&Apprentice match-ups that we know, a list of "what kind of swearing do people of the galaxy do?" because it's hilarious, a compilation of everything I could find about Jedi healers in ANY continuity, etc. I hope this helps and if you have any other questions (or anyone else wants to suggest other resources!), feel free to ask, I might be able to better steer you if you have a specific question--or at least tell you that I don't think we have anything on that. AND ALSO just remember: the books and games and comics are pretty low on the "hard canon" level, the movies and the TV shows are the highest level of canon, everything else is supplementary and you do NOT have to scour every inch of it if you don't want to! Relax and have fun with it as best you can. <3

[stevehairingtit]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you @geddyqueer for the tag~

1. How many works do you have an AO3? 24

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 72,539, which kind of makes me want to go add a word to something

3. What fandoms do you write for? Primarily Stranger Things, though I have some 911 stuff both published and planned

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Come and Turn the Tide (My "Achy Breaky Heart." My "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles).")

Temperature Running High

A Kind of Magic (My lone Shadowhunters semi-hit)

Living Tissue, Warm Flesh

Slide It In

5. Do you respond to comments? Sometimes with significant delay, but yes

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? If we are just looking at the individual fic, I wrote a couple of episode codas during the Malec break-up in Shadowhunters that were fairly bleak. But I've never really written angst that isn't resolved by a follow-up fic or by the source material. I'm delicate. Ending author's notes don't count.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? They are mostly pretty mushy! Can take your pick.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Nope

9. Do you write smut? Yeah, it's probably my primary vocation lmao. Though a pretty recent one! I had only written it twice ever before I started writing steddie.

10. Do you write crossovers? No, and I feel like this is not as common as it was when, like, LJ and ff dot net were the primary fandom sites.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I am aware of...

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Nope

14. What's your all time favorite ship? Stucky........

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? lmao. I'm a quitter, so anything I start and don't finish in a sitting is at risk for this. My white whale, gogoboysteve, is the most fleshed out of my WIPs that I'm not sure I'll ever get all the way through.

16. What are your writing strengths? I am very funny. This is obviously good for comedy writing, which is my wheelhouse, but I think more dramatic writing is still set-up and punchline, even if the punchline isn't played for laughs.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? You know how pointing out your insecurities draws attention to them? I started listing stuff, decided that I don't want you noticing my eyebrows are more cousins than twins, and deleted it. I will say I think I am something of a one trick pony and comedy is also a bit of a crutch for me and nvm, Kam reblogged a post about finding your form as a writer, and I am not a one trick pony, I have just been called to write silly porn. My weaknesses are varied sentence structure and physical description.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I haven't done it, but I think it is fine as long as you are not using a translation software to do so.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Maximum Ride

20. Favorite fics you've written? I've said it before, but right now Path to the Rainbow's End because I finished it lmao. And I like the end product! The Floor of Heaven's Lain is also a favorite, I think the structure is fun and interesting, and I could read it immediately after I wrote it without picking it to pieces.

Tagging @postmodernau @cuips-not-cute @jamiethegardener55 @mustlovesteve

[remus-poopin]

Hi! Sorry to bother you but I’m looking for specific pieces of HP meta and I’m kinda lost.

Do you have any reading recommendations about homosexuality in the Harry Potter world? I’m trying to decide a couple of things about the world-building for a fic and I’d love to read about other takes on the topic.

Hi! It's not a bother at all, I love this stuff! I have a couple metas on this and I also have my own thoughts about this as well! This is a question I often think about and I was planning on writing something on this eventually anyways, so I'm glad I got this ask because now I have an excuse to! (And I can talk about some gripes I have with the author as well so yay)

CW: Homophobia and misogyny

Here is a meta by @thecarnivorousmuffinmeta on homophobia in the wizarding world.

Here is @hchollym's take on gay marriage in the WW

My thoughts:

The books give no mention of homosexuality explicitly, but the author has slightly expanded on the topic at later times in interviews and tweets. In 2007 she confirmed that Dumbledore was gay and later she gave us more details about his sexlife. She then said this in 2007 about homosexuality and homophobia in the wizarding world:

"MA: 'We wanna talk about Dumbledore so bad. We know that you've created worldwide intrigue when you said that he is gay. But I wanted to ask you about homosexuality in the Wizarding World in general. Is it a taboo?' JKR: 'Now, that's something I never thought of. I would think that that would be-- it would be exactly what it is in the Muggle World. But the greatest taboo in the Wizarding World is, well, for some wizards... I mean if we're talking about prejudiced people within the Wizarding World, what they care most about is your blood status. So I think you could be, um, gay, pure-blood, and totally without any kind of criticism from the Lucius Malfoys of the world. I don't think that would be something that would interest him in the slightest. But, you know, I can't answer for all witches and wizards because I think in matters of the heart, it would be directly parallel to our world.'"

She also says this in a tweet when asked about homophobia in 2014:

“Only by ludicrous Muggles. The wizards don't give a damn - it's all about the magic for them.”

Now whether or not you take this to be canon is up to you. What I find interesting here is that I feel from the second statement we are being made to believe that homosexuality is a non issue in the wizarding world and not a point of prejudice. From her first statement she says that it's “something she never thought of” and that “it would be exactly the same as the muggle world”, I'm guessing her second statement is contradictory because she wanted to please LGBT+ fans and reassure them that Hogwarts is a safe space (for some, lets not ask her about the other letters in the acronym). 

This is a pattern I've noticed JKR exhibiting in a lot of her post work words, where she tries to communicate how egalitarian the world she created is through new information, even though the text itself does not reflect this worldview. I think a good example of this is how when she listed the ministers of magic she included several women, going back as far as the 1700s to try to show there are not as many barriers to entry for women in the WW. Yet we see many instances of sexism throughout the series from the characters and the culture which they live in. I think what she was trying to do is have her world primarily focus on blood purity and creature rights and have the issues we face either go on the backburner or not be present at all. Now I understand this choice, (though I really don’t think it's necessary, more interesting, or remotely realistic) but I also think her execution is pretty awful because you can (and I'm about to) make an argument that these issues are still very much present in the wizarding world. I think the biggest issue here is that she doesn't understand the structures and systems of oppression that she hand-waved to the side to truly write a world where they would not be a real problem. To me, given what we've seen of the wizarding world, homophobia would still very much be an issue. 

So I think if we're going to talk about what homosexuality looks like in the wizarding world we would also need to talk about what homophobia would look like in the wizarding world. Homophobia has many factors contributing and working with it to make it function as a prejudice and system. If I had to break it down to its biggest parts I would say our big three is: religious fears, rigid gender norms, and disgust. Those often play off of each other to create an effective tool; and this tool is used to uphold a gender and class-based power structure. Let's examine this in the context of Harry Potter:

Religious fears: 

Religious fears resulting in homophobia is very common in the real world but for this factor to apply to the WW I think we would need to determine whether or not the wizarding world is even religious. We have examples of christianity showing up across the books in casual ways: Harry has a Godfather, he was christened as a baby, and Lily and James have a quote from the bible on their tombstone. From this we can at least make the assumption that the Potter family is religious to some capacity. We also see that one of the Hogwarts ghosts is called “The Fat Friar’. But to my knowledge this is where the references end. If the wizarding world is religious, or at least wizarding Britain, they seem to be casually so. So I don't see this being a huge driving factor in any homophobia we would see in that universe. 

Rigid gender norms:

I think if you take away any religious influences you're still going to see homophobia even in its most violent forms and this has a lot to do with rigid gender norms. If gender norms are established to sustain a power structure that a society relies on to maintain a certain order, any breaking of those norms will be met with punishment (socially or physically). In a heteronormative culture, homosexuality can be seen as a breaking of these norms.   

First off, Pureblood culture seems to be obsessed with lineage and creating heirs, one of the metas I linked talks about how homosexuality would be a threat to that. At least in pureblood society, your job as a man is to make pureblooded babies and your job as a woman would be to give birth to them, anything else would be looked down upon.

If we step outside of pureblood society, we can see that the general wizarding population also seems to believe in strict ways in which men and women should act.

So what are the gender roles the wizarding world has? Well there's the clothing; all wizards wear robes, but dresses are traditionally for women and any robe that looks a little too dress-like for a man could be seen as embarrassing: 

“'What is that supposed to be?'  He was holding up something that looked to Harry like a long maroon velvet dress. It had moldy-looking lace frills at the collar and matching lace cuffs. - ‘Mum, you've given me Ginny's new dress,’ said Ron, holding it out to her. ‘Of course I haven't,’  said Mrs Weasley. ‘Thats for you, dress robes’.- “You've got to be kidding’ said Ron in disbelief ‘Im not wearing that, no way!' - In some trepidation Harry opened the last parcel on his camp bed. It wasn't as bad as he expected, however. His dress robes didn't have any lace on them at all - in fact they were more or less the same as his school ones, except they were bottle green except black” (GOF, pg 155 and 156)

“Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville changed into their dress robes up in their dormitory, all looking very self conscious, but none as much as Ron who surveyed himself in the long mirror in the corner with an appalled look on his face. There was no getting around the fact that his robes looked more like a dress than anything. In a desperate attempt to make them more manly he used a severing charm on the ruffs and cuffs." (GOF, pg 411)

Ron’s dress robes are old, moldy, and out of fashion, but the emphasis on his embarrassment is put on the feminine style of them. To be seen in a dress-like robe as a boy is to transgress an established gender norm; this transgression is to be recognized as humiliating. This isn't the only instance we have of a man in a dress being perceived as funny/embarrassing:

“‘When the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape,’ said Lupin. ‘And you will raise your wand — thus — and cry ‘Riddikulus’ — and concentrate hard on your grandmother’s clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture-topped hat, and that green dress, with that big red handbag.’ There was a great shout of laughter. The wardrobe wobbled more violently.” (POA, pg 135)

The weapon to a boggart, your greatest fear, is laughter. After Lupin hears Neville's boggart is Snape he decides the way to make him appear less intimidating is to put him in a dress with a handbag. The rest of the class finds this highly amusing as well. There is a direct connection being drawn here between masculinity with strength and power and femininity with weakness and frivolity. Snape as a big, mean, scary teacher is rendered impotent in his intimidation when he has this dress on.

There are gendered cultural roles in the wizarding world as well:

“‘Come on, Ginny's not bad,’ said George fairly sitting down next to Fred. ‘Actually , I dunno how she got so good, seeing how we never let her play with us…’  ‘she's been breaking into your broom shed in the garden since the age of six and taking each of your brooms out in turn when you weren't looking’  (OOTP, pg 574) 

There is no real reason for Ginny to not be able to play Quidditch with her older brothers. Even if she was too young at one point, very soon after she should have been able to, considering Ron was only a year older. The only notable difference between all of them is their gender. From this we can assume that wizards, or at least the Weasleys, have a view of femininity as more fragile, or weaker than masculinity. 

This idea of weakness is reinforced through the founders of Hogwarts making separate dorm rooms for girls and boys where boys cannot enter the girls dorm but girls can enter the boys

“‘It says in Hogwarts, A History that the founders thought boys were less trustworthy than girls.” (OOTP)

This rule positions men as the aggressors and women as the victims in a sexual context. It also indicates the heteronormality of their society.

There are established sexual roles for men and women in the WW:

The sexual roles of the wizarding world celebrates male sexual action but also shames females for the same. Any time there is slutshaming in the series a woman is at the end of it.

Hermione is seen as a “scarlet women” for appearing to toy with Harry's heart:

“I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She's made you out to be some sort of - scarlet women!’ Hermione stopped looking astonished and snorted with laughter. ‘Scarlet women?’ - ‘It's what my mum calls them’ Ron muttered." (GOF, pg 513)

The term “scarlet woman" is a reference to the novel “The Scarlet Letter”, a story about a woman who commits adultery and is shamed by her puritan community for it. The term itself invokes the image of a promiscuous, scandalous woman of ill repute who is deserving of her shame. Molly uses this term frequently enough for her children to recognize it and reference it. This signifies that there is a belief of proper standards in which women are supposed to behave sexually.

Ginny is at the mercy of these same beliefs from her family members: 

"'But we're not selling them to our sister,' he added, becoming suddenly stern, 'not when she's already got about five boys on the go from what we've — ' 'Whatever you've heard from Ron is a big fat lie,' said Ginny calmly'" (HBP)

“'Let's get this straight once and for all. It is none of your business who I go out with or what I do with them, Ron -' ‘Yeah it is!’ Said Ron just as angrily. ‘D’you think I want people saying my sister’s a-’" (HBP, pg 287)

"'my tiara sets the whole thing nicely, said Aunt Muriel in a rather carrying whisper, 'but I must say, Ginevra's dress is far too low cut.'" (DH, pg 145)

Merope Riddle also experiences criticism from her family after running off with Tom Riddle Sr.:

"'dishonored us, she did, that little slut!'" (HBP, pg 365)

All of these instances of women asserting their sexuality is perceived as negative by the men in their community because they are breaking a societal norm. The norm being women as chaste, demure figures of virtue.

However men’s sexual activity is looked at as an accomplishment (usually by the other men)

After Harry kisses Cho, Ron has this reaction:

“Ron made a triumphant gesture with his fist and went into a raucous peal of laughter that made several timid-looking second years over beside the window jump. A reluctant grin spread over Harry's face as he watched Ron rolling around on the hearthrug. Hermione gave Ron a look of deep disgust and returned to her letter.” (OOTP)

Ron’s joy for his friend can be seen as not only just a happiness for Harry's journey to maturity or him finally getting with his crush, but also as the affirming of Harry's masculinity. This is backed up by Hermione's less enthusiastic reaction to this news and her disgust at Ron's display of triumph.

So we've established the gender roles, and we've seen there are consequences when you fall out of line. So, what if the gender role calls for you to be masculine as a man and then defines that masculinity in part with obtaining women and sexual prowess? Homosexuality would be in direct conflict with that. And with that lets tie it into disgust.

Disgust:

The disgust that a homophobe feels can be stemming from a couple different places. Maybe it's religious fears like we talked about or maybe it's because of gender norms. But that disgust is only taking place because they perceive that something they hold to be pure is being tainted and violated; the word of god, the sanctity of masculinity, or hegemonic gender roles. In a society where these beliefs are upheld and treated as sacred, any conflict with that will be met with judgment at best and violence at worse. 

I don't see the wizarding world as a progressive space where homosexuality or anything LGBT+ would be considered a non issue because the text does not reflect that. The text shows the same misogyny, the same disdain for femininity, and the same reverence for masculinity that we see in everyday life and because of that I feel it only makes sense to see the wizarding world just as bigoted as ours.

Ok so what does homosexuality look like in the wizarding world then?

Well if we've established the wizarding world as a society that would be hostile (in any way) to gay people I think its easier to move forward on how to imagine how they fit into that society since we have ours for reference. However, It's important to remember that our oppression doesn't define us and it's not the only thing to consider while writing. Think about what the fashion would look like, what the music would sound like, what the spaces would be like and just generally what the culture would be. Have fun with it!

Hope this helped a little!

[nefertittythegreat]

Hello, I was relieved to see a kind and reasonable reblog as opposed to what I've been exposed of the fandom these past days... You can privately answer this ask or not at all, I'd hate for you to get blocked by mutuals in the fandom LOL (guess who that happened to, whoops?) I wanted to ask you about the Ferdinand fic idea that got you stonewalled?

First, I'm not afraid to be seen interacting with you! You're one of the few people who interact with me directly in the fandom, when I have literally been dying for some sort of aob interaction. I have so much love for you already, though we've only interacted a few times! It will be a shame if my mutuals block me because of this. I understand they probably want to curate their blog to avoid any AoB hate. Sometimes, you just want to keep the good times rolling, and I get that.

It would be a shame since you and me differ in opinions on a lot regarding Aob. If you ingested any of my content, you would know. For one, I'm a fervent Fermyne shipper, and I'm a Ferdinand lover. My blog will always reflect that. I mean, i have a multiple fermyne post on my blog, but at the same time, I'm in the minority(?) that prefer Sylvester over Ferdinand. Funnily enough, when i joined the fandom over 2 years ago, speaking well about Sylvester was almost unheard of. I was still at the beginning of part 3 and couldn't understand, but in part 4, I got it even if I disagreed because he's just a good boy okay? He's trying his best😭😭

Either way, even though I wasn't interacting directly with the fandom, I learned early on that the nail that sticks out will be hammered down in this fandom. And my own interactions outside of tumblr haven't been pleasant. If me a person who falls primarily in the majority regarding my opinions is feeling this then i can only imagine what someone who has interpreted the series in a different way feels and I know I must not be alone in this feeling.

I want this fandom to be a place where we can discuss freely without fear. I want this fandom to feel welcoming. I've been a part of so many fandoms, and too many of them are toxic.

I'm sorry you're getting hate. I haven't seen it in the notes, so I'll assume you're either deleting it or it's in your asks. If so, I am disappointed with us a group. I understand loving something so strongly that you feel attacked, but interacting and analyzing in the way that you do is a form of love as well and has its place in fandom.

I believe we've grown in number here on tumblr over the past two years, and it's time to organize ourselves better to prevent stuff like this from happening in the future and help everyone curate their own experience as we navigate the main tag. To be honest, I'm not even sure if we have an "official" acronym for the series yet(Are we AoB or AoaB?), but I could just be out of the loop. Maybe we should have a tag specifically for discussions and analysis in this fandom?

I'm gonna be tagging this because I feel we as a community need to think on this, and im willing to start that discussion. I just want this fandom to be as welcoming and fun as possible for everyone. We are all never gonna completely agree, but we can have fun together on here like I believe we have been.

[ao3-oner]

hi oner!

im a really big fan of your writing, thank you for posting so much!

quick question just for fun: if someone could only read five of your fics and no more, and you got to pick which ones, which five would you want them to read? you can include wips if you want

im just curious lol, happy writing and hope you post soon

Hi there, anon! Thank you so much for reading my stuff. I hope I post soon too LMAO, life can be busy sometimes but hopefully I'll be able to find time to write more in the upcoming weeks. I'm glad you're enjoying my fics so far :)

Man, your question is really hard to answer, though - asking a writer to pick their favorite pieces is like asking a parent to choose a favorite child. That said, I never claimed to be a good fic-parent, so ofc I have my faves. If someone, for whatever reason, could only read five of my fics, the ones I would recommend are:

1. Metro Lines and Their Prismatic Tears - 10,000 words, Rated T, minor background ships, Peyz-centric

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I think Metro Lines is my best-written fic so far. I also think it's unique in that none of my other fics really capture what it does - like if I wanted to include a GuKe fic on my list I would have a handful to choose from, but this fic is truly one-of-a-kind. I like the AU, I like the characterizations, and overall I'm really proud of my work on this fic.

2. Mad Scientist Incorrigible - 30,000 words, Rated E for lots of sex, multi-ship (Lehends x Everyone) but RuLehends-focused, Lehends-centric

Even though I think Metro Lines is better-written, I still see M.S.I. as my magnum opus and likely the coolest fic I'll ever write. Writing this fic as the tournament was going on was such a fun experience and I'm still shocked that it all came together so well narratively. I really enjoy all the drama of the piece and I think no list of ArchiveofOurOner fics would be complete without it.

I think those two very cleanly take the top spots on my list. From here on out, things get a little more debatable, but for number 3, I'll add the one other fic that I've referred to as "my favorite one" before:

3. The Man Who Talked Shit About Choi Wooje - 4,000 words, Rated T/M for violence, One2eus, shifting POV

I love this fic because it defines "crack treated seriously". Every part of it is just so ridiculous and it was super fun to write. I think part of why I consider it one of my favorites is because I had such a blast writing it, but it also shows a different tone of fic than the other two, so I think it's a good inclusion. I also sorely need to include more of my T1 boys on this list, which brings me to my next entry:

4. Facecheck - 14,000 words, Rated E for some smut, One2eus with background GuKe, Zeus-centric

As my first and most popular fic, I feel like Facecheck is another requirement for the AO3 Oner list. That's not to suggest that I don't love it - I do, but I definitely think that I've grown in my writing since then. It would still be a good include to show that growth, plus it's a fun read even if I personally consider it to be more middle-of-the-pack in terms of my work quality.

For the final slot... damn, okay, this is actually really hard. See, if the question was simply which other of my fics do I like the most, then I'd probably go with 04.11.2023, but that feels way too similar to Mad Scientist Incorrigible (since it's literally just an extension of that fic). I would also consider including my Spider-Oner AU, Strand By Silken Strand, which I'm quite proud/fond of, but let's be real - I haven't included any CanMaker on the list yet and that's a complete sin. So, with that in mind:

5. Flash-Ult - 2,000 words, Rated T, CanMaker, Canyon-centric

It was a really close call between this and Heartbreaker, but I think Flash-Ult won out for me primarily because it's much sweeter and a good deal less angsty (though there is still a bit of angst at the end). All in all, Flash-Ult is a classic, feel-good hurt/comfort fic that I think suits my dynamic of CanMaker very well and is therefore a good representation of how I write the ship. I think between M.S.I. and Facecheck, there's already enough smut on the list, but if I were to include a CanMaker smut fic instead... maybe Unleashed Power, tbh? Ig that would also allow for a taste of my Omegaverse AU...

But yeah, that's my list of 5, plus a few bonus ones tossed around in between. They aren't my best fics, they certainly aren't my most popular fics, but I think they make up the best representation of my total LoL RPF corpus so far. If someone could only read a small portion of my writing, then I think this selection would give them a pretty good taste of what my fics are like. Hopefully, they'd enjoy them as much as you have, anon!

Thanks for the ask - it was certainly an interesting one - and have a great day, wherever you are!

[justagalwhowrites]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag, @sawymredfox!!!

1. how many works do you have on AO3?

21

2. what’s your total AO3 word count?

1,032,269. When you throw in the Tumblr only stuff I think I'm closer to 1.2 million overall.

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Pedro Pascal fandom, mostly TLOU! But I'd love to spend some time with Poe Dameron, my beloved, so I might dive into Star Wars beyond Mando at some point :)

4. top five fics by kudos 

I'm really not sure on Tumblr? Individual chapters don't get as much attention and I don't write many one shots, my highest single post on Tumblr is probably a one shot but I have NO CLUE which one!

On AO3:

Lavender

Beskar Doll

Yearling

New in Town

Lavender No Outbreak AU

5. do you respond to comments?

I used to be so much better about doing this and I've just not been keeping up with it lately. I want to get back to it! I LOVE getting comments, they make me so happy! Part of my issue is I read them immediately even if I don't have time to respond and I'm like "I'll respond when I post the next chapter" and then I post the next chapter super late at night and I'm so tired and I'm just like "I'll reply later" and then I never do.

ANYWAY! I want to get back to replying to comments because I love them. I used to reply to every one. Less now.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably Proof of Life, an angsty as hell QZ!Joel era one shot. I traffic in angst but I like my happy endings, especially for long fics :)

7. what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Lavender I think. After all that angst, they got the life they wanted and saved the world. Not too shabby.

8. do you get hate on fics?

I haven't really! I've had a few people disagree with directions I took characters or plot lines and a few people send asks that didn't feel so nice but I'm not sure they were intended to not be nice. I try to not take those things personally. But everyone as been exceedingly kind, probably kinder than I deserve!

9. do you write smut?

I do but I feel like it's my weakest area. If you're looking primarily for smut and reading my stuff, you're probably in the wrong place, I'm sorry! I wish I was better at it! I feel like I'm getting better at it. But alas!

10. craziest crossover?

I haven't written any and I haven't really read any, either. Closest thing I came to a crossover I think is tying the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy of Star Wars into Doll's history in Beskar Doll.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

None so far!

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Not shared anywhere but I do have commenters in other languages tell me they've put my fic into Google Translate to read it! I think that's immensely cool .

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

I haven't but I'd be open to it! 

14. all time favorite ship?

Of characters that actually exist in canon? Probably Han Solo and Leia Organa. I LOVE them. Love love love love LOVE them. The "I love you" "I know" in Empire followed by the reversal in Jedi? TO DIE FOR.

15. what’s a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

As far as fics go? None. I have the stories so thoroughly planned there I'm compelled to finish them, I can't help it. I wasn't always this thorough of a planner, though, and I have so many books that I've started and written like 40k words of that I'll probably never finish. That breaks my heart a little. All these characters who won't get to live their whole lives because I can't get their stories across the finish line. But I'm not sure I have enough hours left in the rest of my life to tell every story I've got inside me so it'll have to be what it will be!

16. what are your writing strengths?

Dialogue.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Everything else lol especially smut. I feel like my descriptions are often lacking, too.

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Yes please! As long as the author can do it right (either because they know the language enough or get help from someone who does - the translate tools just aren't great at grammar and it takes me out if it's a language I know.)

19. first fandom you wrote in?

The Pedro fandom! Specifically, the Mandalorian. Beskar Doll, my first baby <3

20. favorite fic you’ve written?

Probably Lavender? Maybe Yearling. It's so hard to say! I'm probably the most attached to Doc and Joel, though.

NP tags: @dancingtotuyo @beardedjoel @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @netherfeildren and anyone else who wants to play!

[devilsxxharlot]

❣️ 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔯𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔩.

Disclaimer: for the safety of myself and others, I do not interact with individuals under 18. This means ageless blogs or underage blogs that interact with me are promptly blocked. This is not a bitter thing. In my opinion (and from the experience of someone who began reading NSFW extremely young), it's not safe for minors to consume NSFW material. This is also why anon is not permitted on my blog.

Thank you for being respectful and understanding :). I am more than happy to interact with people once they're 18 and up!

Introduction.

Hello and welcome to 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔯𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔩.—or, in other words, my introduction + information post. You may be wondering, what is this account? Well, don't you worry, I'll tell you all about it. And if you're not wondering, strap in anyway!

This account is for cross-posting my smutshots, headcanons, and general thirstings for fictional characters. You may (probably not) know me from Ao3 :3!. Anyway. The most exciting part of this account may be that this is where I'll be taking writing commissions :). More on that later, though...

Suffice to say this will be a very adult space because it will LITERALLY just be me being a whore. Maybe in company, maybe alone. Who knows? Certainly not me.

Fandoms.

Lego Monkie Kid.

Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Aphmau (PRIMARILY Minecraft Diaries and My Inner Demons).

Creepypasta (sort of—I'm in a revival phase... currently I'm on a Tobias Rogers and Laughing Jack kick <3).

These are the fandoms I'll write the most for, purely because I'm most familiar with their characters and, well... in love with some of the characters /silly dramatic. You're free to ask about other characters or try to get me into other fandoms, though! :)

What I Do and Don't Write.

Like I said previously, this is an NSFW account, meaning a lot of what I write will be straight up porn or, at the very least, greatly suggestive. That is a warning in itself, but here's a list of kinks/themes I frequently write about so you can know what you're walking into!

Dubcon (specifically somnophilia and intoxicated sex; sometimes with a hesitant but not unwilling reader!).

Biting/marking/blood in general (period sex DOES NOT bother me and I may get nasty with it).

Degradation/praise.

Overstimulation/orgasm control.

Unprotected sex.

Anthropomorphic + alien characters, depending on context and comfort.

Non-sexual themes also include depression, self-harm, suicidal ideation, etc. Usually my smut is written between characters who love each other, so sometimes these topics come up for comfort reasons. It's not meant to glamorize or romanticize anything: it's strictly comfort.

With the things I do write out of the way, here are some of the things I absolutely do not write.

Rape. Not even for roleplay purposes. All involved characters are actively consenting or have established consent at some point (ex. a somnophile fic obviously won't have one person actively consenting, but the fic will either imply or outright state that said person consented at a different point or would be consenting if they were awake).

Abuse. Not even for roleplay purposes.

Incest. Not even for roleplay purposes. This also includes step-family.

Pedophilia. Not even for roleplay purposes.

Zoophilia. I do not write porn for feral characters, and writing for anthropomorphic/alien characters is greatly contextual (ex. I write for LMK!Wukong because it's obvious he's sapient and mostly built like a human; but I wouldn't write for the xenomorph because they're more creature-coded and I don't believe they have the same level of sapience as humans).

DDLG/MDLB or any variation of it; this also includes ageplay. Both make me uncomfortable.

ABO. I like heat/rut tropes as much as the next guy but I'll eat rocks before I play into the alpha and omega stuff I'm sorry.

M!PREG.

Piss/scat play (squirting isn't included in this!).

If you're curious about anything you don't see listed here, feel free to ask me!

Boundaries.

My work is never to be reposted or fed to AI. Doing so will result in a block and report if applicable.

Requests & Commissions.

Now for the most important part...

Requests are low-priority, free prompts you guys can give me. I decide whether or not I want to do a fic for it or headcanons! You just give me the character/s and the idea and I wait for inspiration to strike :).

Commissions are top-priority prompts or requests that I'm getting paid for. There are two options related to commissions:

Character x Reader: CxRs are charged at $15 USD per 1,000 words. The reader can be vaguely customized (sex/gender, dom/sub, body-type). These are published publicly after the commissioner gets to enjoy it first :). Looking at my current works, this would mean a CxR fic would cost around $45-90 USD.

Character x OC: CxOCs are charged at $20 USD per 1,000 words, the reason being that I will do everything in my power to make the fic as accurate as possible! So they just take more effort to write. For CxOC fics, they run closer to $60-120 USD.

If the word count is below 500, I round down to the nearest thousand. If the word count is 700+, I round up to the next thousand. If the word count is 500-700, I'll charge half price (ex. a 1,500 word CxR would be $22, not $30).

I can only accept money through Cashapp. Upon accepting your commission, I'll keep you updated as I work on your piece and send you snippets for you to approve of. After I finish, I'll request payment and then send you a PDF of the fic!

Requests are CLOSED. CxR Fics are OPEN (0/1 slots claimed). CxOC Fics are CLOSED.

End.

[thatswhatsushesaid]

hi hi hope youre doing well!! i was wondering if you had any good recs for fics that explore jin guangyao and su minshans relationship? platonic or romantic idm i just wanna read more fics about their dynamic!! no worries if not, you just seem like youd know some good fics for them lol (compliment)

anon you have come to the right clown with this request, let me throw some stuff at you:

a painting missing strokes, a song missing notes by occasional_boy_reporter is a cql post-canon xiyao fix-it fic that includes probably my favourite brand of suyao, which is one-sided, unrequited, but nevertheless not something minshan makes jgy's problem to manage. he might be eaten up with envy on the inside, but his ride-or-die loyalty to jgy overcomes everything. anyway, i am sad to say the fic is incomplete, but it is still such a beautiful read, and sms's role in it really can't be overstated! i also really like how the writer handles lxc and sms's dynamic!

favor by venndaai is a hunger games AU which primarily focuses on a romance between meng yao and lan xichen in the games, but also features background nieyao and very minor background nielan--which, if you know anything about me and my preferences, is so high up there on my list of NOTPs as to be in the stratosphere, so for me to not only read and finish this fic, but turn around and recommend it to other people as often as i do.... idk if it says something, exactly, other than i think it's REALLY FUCKING GOOD! minshan's role in this one is very minor in contrast to what you'll see above, but it is nevertheless an extremely important role that, imo, closely mirrors sms and jgy's canon dynamic in spirit, if not in function. just be prepared for things to go very dark. i cried at the end.

sainted, untainted by gloriousmonsters is a suyao oneshot that veers very closely towards dubcon territory, though the kink in question is one that they do negotiate in advance. things just... happen... in the thick of it, and they struggle, but the whole scene from start to finish remains consensual. what i love about it isn't even the sex, though that is very steamy and intimate dgmw. it's that everything about this scene, from start to finish, is also an examination of trust and vulnerability, and i think if there's anyone in the canon material jgy would be willing to give up his dearly bought power and control to--other than lan xichen--it's going to be su she.

those are the ones that immediately leap out at me! beyond that, here's a shameless plug for my post-canon xiyao fix-it WIP glorious, which only has one chapter up atm, but it is all jgy and sms. their dynamic is going to be as important as the romantic xiyao in subsequent chapters so 👉👉 watch this space etc.