#Gosh it’s fun to look back at canon events and see how much a fanfic twists things up and makes it so much different

[ssreeder]

I’ve just had the idea it would be hilarious if Sokka randomly asks about a bald spot on Zuko’s head. And he’s like yeah that’s where my helmet cut me when you tried to kill me with a boomerang. And things ensue from there.

I’ve probably read it in a fic before but the idea is just so funny to me with liab, I would rather die than hurt you, Sokka.

I also think it’s funny how liab Sokka jabbed Zuko off his own ship into freezing polar waters lol. (Canon events haha) It’s really weird to think back on how much they despised each other before becoming prison pals lol.

liab sokka would probably deny those events ever happened. Knocked zuko from where into what? On a ship together??? Nahhh never. Not his fire bender <3

thanks for the ask anon <3

[vo-kopen]

The Hero With a Steel Fist

Hey, today is Community Day Classic in Pokémon Go, and it’s for Beldum. I enjoy that little arm rocket, though admittedly I have never played a proper Pokémon game. I have put over a hundred hours into Coromon though. Like three years ago I was so inspired by the little guys and how they are the arms of Metang and the feet of Metagross, that I wrote a little fanfic. I don’t write much fanfic anymore, but recently I felt like revisiting the two short stories and trying to polish them up to be closer to my current standards.

So here are two short stories about an Autistic superhero who uses a Beldum as a prosthesis. The first is entitled “A Lot of Bagon,” a play on how the lead has a lot of baggage. This is because I watched the anime years ago and bad puns are now what I associate with Pokémon. The second story is simply entitled: “Steel Yourself,” for the sake of more bad puns. Both are set in Hoenn, because Kyogre and Groudon are peak legendaries and deserve to be kaiju sized because that’s when Beldum debuted as a Pokémon. It’s connection to any one canon is loose, but something like the events of Alpha Sapphire happened in the backstory. Though Steel Fist subscribes to Lance’s strategy of “just attack the trainers,” which feels more anime. Although that example is in the games so *shrugs*

Tagging @thefingerfuckingfemalefury @highly-radioactive-nerd @akirakan @alexanders-pokemon-adventure @thewilliamambervein and anyone else who wants to see my newly edited Pokémon stories from three years ago. Fun fact, I was inspired to revisit these stories because I adopted a Painted Horsea by Alexanders-pokemon-adventure, and it put me into a bit of a Pokémon mood. I did the edits maybe a few months ago, it’s just I needed an occasion, and the literal community day for Beldum felt right. Plus I think it’s Worlds right now, though again, I have only played Pokémon Go. And Magikarp Jump I guess. Regardless, I hope y’all enjoy this. Just be aware the lead has some trauma related to loosing their arm, and a lot of their actions are guided by that trauma. I don’t think I milk their pain, but it’s definitely present in them, and the second story is about them facing something similar to that trauma. Hopefully it’s not tastelessly done.

Gosh I ramble. Again, hope y’all enjoy this, here are both tales.

A Lot of Bagon

…

“Cool it ya mutt,” the man growled as he struggled to drag the Pokémon. He was clad in black with a red ‘R’ scrawled on his chest, much like his comrades. He was hauling a Bagon toward the campsite; the small bipedal dragon’s jaws were muzzled and her legs and arms cuffed together in chains.

As he dragged her through a shaft of moonlight, a figure watched from behind a nearby tree. Their claws tightened into a fist; their arm reeled back.

“Da boss is gonna pay big for a Pokemon like—“

The grunt barely had time to move before a metallic blue blur slammed into his head. He was sent soaring into his campsite. He crashed into a tent, and his body went limp.

“What?” Another grunt stood up, her fists clenched, “ that stupid dragon has earned itself even more chains—

“Shut up and get your Pokemon out,” ordered a second man as he fumbled into his bag. As he dug in he yanked out a Pokeball, only for it to slip out of his unsteady hands.

He dove at the ball yelling, “Hurry.”

“Why?” The woman shook her head, “It's just that runt of a Dragon Type stirring up trouble, it can’t run far with those clamps around its legs.”

And then there was a scream on the other side of the camp and a rustling in the bushes behind the two of them. The woman tightened and nodded before she pulled out her Pokeball.

Then someone lunged out of the bushes and slugged her in the jaw.

The woman tumbled across the clearing, lying sprawled with her Pokeball rolling out of her grasp. The man trembled as he looked up to see a human standing over him, one with a massive left forearm and claws for a hand.

“The … the Hero with the Steel Fist,” The man squeaked as their fist shot forward, punching him hard in the gut. He was sent flying away, before smacking into his tent. He too went limp.

The Hero with the Steel Fist shook out their left arm, fresh from punching the grunt. Their forearm was a metallic blue; it ended in three claws and had a rough almost jagged shape. In truth, the forearm wasn't a normal prosthetic but a Pokemon, a Beldum. The rocket-shaped Pokémon’s nosecone of a head connected to the hero’s elbow, with their rocket fins used as a crude mimicry of claws. The Beldum pivoted on their elbow to slam into Steel Fist’s hand, punching their palm for emphasis.

The Hero with the Steel Fist turned about, even as two more grunts in the same uniform charged from the bushes. They reeled their fist back before launching at the grunts, slamming their fist into the first grunt’s jaw. He fell limp to the grassy ground.

“G-g-go Jigglypuff.” The last grunt stammered as she threw a Pokeball, and a pink puffball of a Pokemon erupted from the ball. The Jigglypuff drifted down to the ground, as the Hero with a Steel Fist turned to face her. But they didn't target the Pokemon; they aimed at the brunette grunt.

“Jigglypuff, use I-Ice Beam?” The grunt swallowed, trying to puff out her chest to seem intimidating. The Hero with the Steel Fist only leaped to the side, dodging the Pokémon’s frosty blast. As they dodged, the moonlight lit up the vigilante, giving them an almost magenta glow.

They wore a denim skirt with a sleeves jean jacket atop a magenta t-shirt and a denim glove on their right hand. They had a black domino mask over their eyes and black boots on their feet. A magenta infinity symbol lay on their vest’s back and a silver emblem on their shirt; the latter reflected both the rocket fins of a Beldum and the symbol for Autism. They were color-coded with the Beldum that functioned as their prosthetic arm, and in the moonlight, their clothes seemed almost to make them ethereal.

“Jigglypuff, Ice Beam again.” Another beam of frost erupted from the Jigglypuff, but this time the Hero with the Steel Fist merely blocked with their Pokemon prosthesis. The Beldum absorbed the force of the blast before they flexed and the frosty coat shattered.

“You … you … if you kill us, Steel Fist you … Team Rocket will avenge us,” squeaked the grunt as she recalled her Jigglypuff and then began to stagger into a sprint. She ran away as fast as she could.

The Hero with a Steel rolled their shoulders before pulling out a Pokeball.

“Go Guardian,” they declared as they hurled the ball like a pitcher, “Use Psychic.”

Immediately, the ball erupted and released a colossal steel tank of a Pokemon, supported by four legs that each looked like a larger version of a Beldum. This was a Metagross, the final evolution of the Beldum species. The Metagross glowed magenta as they stared at the fleeing grunt, and suddenly the Team Rocket Grunt rose into the air, dangling helplessly as her feet kicked with desperation.

As the grunt was incapacitated, Steel Fist turned away. Their living prosthesis clicked their claws together before their human hand began to rub the shoulder of their Metagross.

"Nice job, Guardian, same with you, Left Hook.” They petted their living prosthetic at that remark, and the symbiotic Pokémon seemed to hum. They smiled and their claws clicked again to stim.

Then they walked over to where the bound Bagon had unsuccessfully tried to hide in a bush. The shell on her head had been visible, and the shaking bush had been hard to miss.

“Easy,” Steel Fist said, “it’s okay. You are safe now.”

They walked up to the Bagon with their human hand outstretched, slow and gentle. They held Left Hook behind them, trying not to overstimulate the dragon. The Bagon huffed but let them rub her scaly hide; her breaths were heavy as they massaged her slowly and gently.

“Now, I am going to tear off your chains,” Steel Fist said slowly. The Bagon tensed up but didn’t flee. They reeled their Beldum of a fist back before hooking the muzzle with their claws, ripping the metal restraint off her. The Bagon eyed them and drew closer.

With a swing, the Hero with the Steel Fist broke the chains on her arms and legs, freeing her to move freely. “I heard from Claire you were missing,” Steel Fist said, clicking their claws again. The Bagon leaped into the air with excitement as she heard her partner's name before the small dragon began to run about with joy.

“Hold on,” Steel Fist declared, and Bagon flinched. As the dragon turned, she spotted a Sitrus Berry in their hand. She stumbled over herself to waddle to them before engulfing the Steel Fist’s arm in her large jaws. She gulped down the berry and then slid her mouth off them, leaving their human arm soaked with slobber.

Guardian glowed and immediately the drool levitated off of the Hero with the Steel Fist’s hand, before letting it splatter to the ground.

“Thank you,” they nodded before recalling Guardian into their Pokeball. As they holstered their Pokeball alongside the three others on their belt, they whistled to the Bagon. The dragon cocked her head at them as they gestured.

“Come on, we need to head back to your partner don’t we?” Steel Fist asked, “she lives over by Meteor Falls right?” The Bagon nodded eagerly and trotted after them, as they cut through the bushes and grass towards the west.

…

The genderless Autistic stood out against the railing, enjoying the sea air as they and their Metagross traveled under the darkness of night. The ferry’s bright lights drowned out the stars, leaving only the faint glow of the full moon. Metagross was deflecting the waves, making them fluid fireworks.

They laughed as sea foam splashed before they spotted something in the distance. There was a glow in the water, something more vibrant than the moon, a bubbling radiant light more like a solar flare made flesh than lava. As they stared they could see a massive blue shape with a bulbous head, with this horrifically bright glow drawn in their body in a strange pattern. The beast roared; its radiant maw exposed as it charged at the boat with a rush of speed. The youth had time to have their eyes go wide as the mouth of the beast, the Legendary Primal Kyogre erupted and searing boiling water engulfed the ship.

…

Steel Fist awoke as Guardian nuzzled them; their breaths were shallow and rapid. Their claws frantically clicked while their remaining human hand trembled as it clutched their chest. Finally, they nodded at Guardian, closed their eyes, and stopped clenching their stomach. But their Beldum of a forearm continued to click.

They stood up shakily, looking around. Guardian had kept watch during the night, just in case more members of Team Rocket showed up. The gang had recently been infesting Hoenn, trying to steal the Pokemon native to the region to sell them to the highest bidder. Disgusting. So the Hero with the Steel Fist fought them as they did in their travels to all poachers in the region of Hoenn. It was … it was something they could handle at least.

After Kyogre and Groudon rampaged through Hoenn, the region’s infrastructure had been left broken. Routes had flooded, waterways had dried up, and several cities suddenly found themselves submerged or in a drought. Hoenn was recovering, but with Team Magma and Team Aqua dissolved, it had been easy for Team Rocket to move in.

Steel Fist shook their head and glanced over towards Bagon. The sleeping dragon had tiny stubby arms compared to her legs, similar to a Tyrunt. But unlike that prehistoric Pokémon, when she stood upright her head was positioned only slightly in front of its body. She was built vertically not horizontally.

The dawn was creeping into sight, and the sky blended pink and blue. Guardian was disassembling the wall they had built the night before, levitating the debris with their psychic power. They glanced back to them, sounding its cry in confusion.

“No, I’m fine,” the Hero with the Steel Fist answered, stretching their arms about, before walking over to Bagon. They sat down next to the sleeping dragon, who was kicking her legs in the air like she was trying to run in her sleep. They reached into their belt before pulling out a round violet berry and laying it near the dragon. The dragon paused in her sleep, her nostrils inhaling the scent, before stumbling upright and looking about, yawning.

“You slept okay?” asked Steel Fist, and Bagon nodded as she swayed, before lunging and scarfing down the Chesto Berry. As she chomped on it she regarded the vigilante, tilting her head at them curiously. She finished her berry, before walking over and nuzzling their Beldum prosthetic.

“I had an accident a year ago,” answered the Hero with the Steel Fist as their clicking sped up again. “I lost my right arm. I thought I was going to be the Champion of Hoenn, hoped to beat the entire League with just my Metagross. Then the accident happened and well, plans changed.”

Guardian boomed in agreement, raising one of their lumbering feet to wave. But their eyes were focused on Steel Fist.

“It wasn’t the end of the world,” Steel Fist assured their starter. Guardian dropped the rocks they had been carrying and started to head back, still eyeing them. Steel Fist shook their head with a forced grin. They could manage. What mattered was keeping Bagon comfortable, poor girl.

“When my Metagross’s egg hatched I discovered the Beldum and I had a connection,” the Hero with the Steel Fist smiled genuinely as their prosthesis’s makeshift claws clicked, so Guardian went back to digging, “Much like a Galarian Slowbro and a Shellder, the Beldum could latch to me as a living prosthesis. And I figured, with a punch like Left Hook, why not use my fist to help people. Sometimes I haul away rubble to free trapped hikers, sometimes I fight poachers, and sometimes I round up a powerful Pokemon was released in an ecosystem that couldn’t handle it. Just traveling around Hoenn, helping who I could. Like a superhero.” Their Beldum hummed again, and Steel Fist nodded in agreement.

Bagon stared up at them as they continued, “When I went to Meteor Falls I asked around for any folks in need, I found out you were missing and went to help.“ Bagon made a throaty chirp before running off with a flurry of footsteps. Before she could get far, Guardian snared her with their psychic abilities before levitating her back to Steel Fist.

“Easy,” the Hero with the Steel Fist laughed, “we are heading for Claire, but don’t exhaust yourself scrambling after her.” Bagon pouted but held close while the vigilante recalled Guardian.

…

Boom. The footsteps of Tankette thundered across Hoenn. Tankette was a Lairon, a bulky metallic reptile that ran on four legs. She was part Steel Type, as were all the Pokemon that the Hero with the Steel Fist owned. They liked all their Pokemon to match. Tankette wasn't a fighter; she was the muscle, hauling the vigilante and anyone who needed transportation with her massive strength.

Bagon lay in Steel Fist’s lap, her legs kicking once again as they rode atop the charging Lairon. Steel Fist hoped Bagon was just dreaming of chasing a Sentret or maybe playing with Claire. But the whimpers Bagon made seemed to suggest that their fears were more accurate.

As she pounded across the ground, Tankette suddenly bellowed, tilting her snout up towards the sky. The Hero with the Steel Fist tensed up before searching about, trying to see the cause of distress. It wasn’t long before they spied a Taurus running towards them, with a pair of Team Rocket grunts riding atop the Wild Bull Pokemon, clutching his back.

“It’s over, Steel Fist,” demanded one of the grunts as she leaned over, “you left me floating in the air for hours until you got bored and chunked me at the nearest town. Well now you’re gonna pay.”

The Hero with the Steel Fist was quiet, not rising to their words. But Bagon on the other hand bolted upright, her breath shallow and her whole body quaking. Steel Fist quickly reached down and stroked Bagon, but she was too aggravated. She lashed out at their hand with fear, before tumbling off Tankette.

Immediately, the Lairon skidded to a halt and began to run back towards where Bagon lay aching in the dirt. The Tauros swerved around too, before head-butting Tankette. Her thick metal hide deflected the Tauros’s attack with ease, even as the Hero with the Steel Fist launched up. They vaulted at Bagon, landing between the Dragon Type and the mounted grunts. In the meantime, Tankette slammed her head against the Tauros’s gut, knocking him away to knock off the grunts.

“You … you aren’t gonna stop us,” the grunt managed, standing shakily up, “I … I have a secret weapon this time. Ice Type moves might apparently be useless against Steel Types, but why don’t you try out my new firepower.”

She threw her Pokeball; it burst in a blast of light to reveal a Ninetails, an elegant and large vulpine Pokemon that was a Fire Type. And Fire was strong against Steel. Or at least it was strong against pure Steel Types. Steel Fist reached down and picked up Bagon, waiting.

“Ninetails, Flamethrower,” she ordered, swinging her fist towards the Hero with the Steel Fist. In response they punched the ground to vault into the air, leaping over the rush of flames. They landed with a roll before dropping off Bagon and vaulting again. They slammed into the second Team Rocket grunt feet first; and he slumped over, incapacitated.

“That … that doesn’t scare me,” she swallowed, smiling, “I still have the type advantage you … you only use Steel Types. Ninetails, give me another Flamethrower.”

Immediately, a second tidal wave of fire erupted towards the Hero with the Steel Fist, so they dived to the side, before punching the dusty ground. A plume of dust erupted from the impact and soon melded with the thick miasma of ash from the burning field.

“ Where … where are you?” The grunt squeaked, sticking close to her Ninetails. And then suddenly Lairon charged through the fire, head-butting the Fox Pokemon with her armored head. The blow hurled the leaner Pokemon away before shakily standing upright.

“You … that isn’t even fully evolved, and it still is a Steel Type. This will be easy,” she puffed out her chest to seem bigger, “Ninetails, Flamethrower.”

“Tankette, use Rock Slide.” As a surge of fire charged at Tankette a rain of rocks exploded from out of the sky, plowing into Ninetails with bludgeoning force and smothering the flames. As more debris filled the air the grunt saw a blur launch through the air, before a metallic fist plowed straight into her, flinging her across the field.

The Hero with the Steel Fist walked up, picking up the Ninetail’s Pokeball. They shattered the Pokeball with a punch, letting the pieces fall away.

“Fire is weak to Rock,” they said simply, “Lairon is a Steel and Rock Type.” Behind them they could hear the Ninetails running, fleeing back into the wilds.

They turned away from the broken grunts, first feeding Lairon a berry and giving her a pet, and then they walked back to Bagon, who was shaking and hiding behind a rock.

“You okay?” They asked, but Bagon only shuddered, trembling so much it looked like they were about to vibrate into dust.

Carefully, the Hero with the Steel Fist reached out; they kept their movements slow so Bagon could reject them at any time. Finally, they embraced her, holding her close as Tankette lumbered up.

“I understand,” they said simply, “I know what it’s like to feel helpless.” Bagon cried in their arms, just exhausted and overwhelmed by being kidnapped and chained up and muzzled and being away from Claire. It had all just been too much.

Steel Fist let her cry, letting her tire herself out. Then they said, “I was supposed to be this great Pokemon Master, and when this, when this real challenge emerged I was helpless, I couldn’t do anything; I couldn’t help anyone on the boat, and I could only watch as my arm was ripped apart by the intense blast of water. Like a pressure hose burning algae off a dock. The ship sank and the monster rampaged free and unimpeded. I couldn’t, I am nothing compared to Primal Kyogre.”

Their claws were clicking in a frenzy; they were more unsteady than their heartbeat. Bagon had been terrified by her ordeal, and that felt all too familiar.

The Hero with the Steel Fist looked at Bagon in her eyes and said, “but through my depression and trauma Guardian protected me, and then Left Hook helped me do things for myself again. And I decided I would try to do the same, to help anyone in trouble, to try to support Hoenn so that folks wouldn't have to feel as helpless and hopeless as I did. To pay it forward.”

Bagon whimpered as the Hero with the Steel Fist stood up with the dragon in both of their arms, “I don’t know if that helps any. But I am here for you, and Claire will be too. She missed you too, and she will be there to support you through everything.”

She moaned as the vigilante climbed aboard Tankette, before feeding Bagon a Sitrus Berry. “Do you want a song?” They asked, and Bagon nodded. As the Lairon thundered on the Hero with the Steel Fist began to sing, their deep voice rumbling and rich. Bagon hunkered in, still shaking, but supported.

…

“Thank you so much, if there is anything we can do—”

“It’s fine.”

“No really there must be something—”

The Hero with the Steel Fist raised their human hand. "If you need to give me something, I could use some basic berries and potions. And I would appreciate it if you try to help out more people in turn.”

Claire’s mother nodded aggressively before gesturing to the other villagers to hurry. Meteor Falls was a secluded community inhabited by the Draconids, a people who specialized in raising Dragon Types. Steel Fist could understand that, they specialized in only Steel Types, though Steel Fist did that because the Steel Type was their special interest and not because of a tradition.

Plus, they liked it when their Pokémon matched.

Regardless, the Hero with the Steel Fist wasn't looking at the Draconids rushing to gather a reward but at Claire. She hugged her Bagon tight as both youths cried.

"Bagon is going to need a lot of support,” they stated, “I know Claire is young, this could be a lot ot pressure on her. I know of a Drampa breeder in Alola, they are good therapy Pokemon.”

”Thank you, we will do everything we can for them. I can’t imagine what they both are feeling.”

Steel Fist nodded, staring at the youths. As they looked, they could see Claire was now tickling Bagon, who was squealing with tears of laughter as they both rolled around. The superhero closed their eyes just to hope this moment would last. For all of them.

……………………

Steel Yourself

…

The Hero with a Steel Fist grabbed with their prosthetic Beldum and hauled themselves up the tree trunk. They grappled the tree, dragging their body higher. Atop the tree, a Skitty trembled, her long tail flickering wildly as she clung to the branch with her stubby legs. She desperately meowed as the tree shook under the weight of the superhero climbing.

The superhero had a strong grip; their large living prosthetic dug at the tree, helping secure them as they climbed. Steel Fist didn't have super strength, but their symbiotic prosthetic could tightly grab and punch with enormous force. They managed.

Soon enough Steel Fist had climbed up the tree trunk high enough to be the same level as the Skitty’s branch. They hung tight with their Beldum; the Steel-type Pokemon clutched the tree tightly as they extended their other hand.

The Skitty almost yodeled out in distress, before her trainer called out, “look Skitty, they are going to help you. They will carry you down.” Steel Fist nodded and extended their human hand, offering it for Skitty to sniff. The Kitten Pokemon nuzzled their hand, her tail flickering anxiously.

She slowly inched along the branch, meowing skittishly. Steel Fist waited for her to come before scooping her slowly onto their shoulder. Then Steel Fist climbed down the tree.

They reached the ground. The Skitty jumped off and ran into the arms of her trainer.

“Thank you,” the elderly woman said as she held Skitty in her hands, “Skitty was so stressed up there. If there is anything I can do to help you.”

“Thank you,” Steel Fist said, “but in all honesty, right now I need to visit a Pokemon Center. My team is a bit tired, that’s why I didn’t have Guardian just levitate her down.”

“Oh yes, of course,” the woman nodded, and Steel Fist walked off, heading to the large red and white building. They rubbed their prosthetic arm as they walked, and they hummed in response. The claws of the prosthesis clicked together as they felt the cold steel body of Beldum, both human and Pokémon were fidgeting happily.

They had named their Beldum ‘Left Hook,’ since they gave the superhero quite the punch. Left Hook was the only offspring of Guardian, and the two of them were the dearest Pokemon to Steel Fist. Though they loved all their Pokemon, of course.

Once when Steel Fist was younger, they had been a trainer challenging the gyms of Hoenn. They had thought they could beat the whole Pokemon League with just Guardian, a team made of a trainer and their Metagross. But then they lost their arm and realized just how out of depth they were.

Steel Fist hyperventilated at the resurfacing memories; their hand was shaking and their clicking wasn't excited but frantic. They swallowed and tried to focus on when Left Hook hatched, how the Pokemon just seemed to understand them, how they supported them, how they learned they could use the rocket-like Pokemon as a prosthetic, and how they decided to help protect other people and Pokemon who were helpless.

“You alright?” the nurse asked, looking concerned.

“I will manage,” Steel Fist answered as they handed over their Pokeballs. The nurse slotted the balls into a type of cradle, and they flashed before she handed them back.

“Your Pokemon are fully restored. If I may ask, what wore them out so much?”

“Forest fire,” the superhero admitted.

“Ah, and you only use Steel types.”

“Yes. It’s not the best coverage, but I love them.”

“Far be it for me to tell a trainer not to choose the Pokemon they bond with. Thank you for protecting the region of Hoenn. We get a lot more visits because of you, and a lot less funerals.”

“I do what I can,” Steel Fist blushed, but their claws clicked in a flurry of excitement. Then they pocketed their Pokeballs and walked off, still almost skipping.

“Um, excuse me,” a small voice said. Steel Fist turned to see a young girl with brown pointy hair and a small teal and purple blind bat fluttering around her. Looked like a Zubat - a Poison and Flying Type Pokemon

“Hello, is there anything I can you you with?”

“Um, Yes. My name is Tox. My village of Marshroot um, we live in a swamp but um, we need the help of a powerful trainer. Our village is being attacked every night by a rampaging Pokemon, and our Poison Types are useless against it. We think it’s a Steel Type, and since you are one of the most skilled Steel Type trainers in Hoenn, and you help everyone in need…”

“I can definitely give it a try,” nodded Steel Fist, “is it a Magnezone? An Aggron?” Either Pokémon could devastate Poison Types, especially if they were part Flying Type like a Zubat.

“No it’s … it’s one we don’t recognize. It has seven red eyes, a kind of silvery body, long arms, stocky short legs, and its cry is so … metallic.”

Steel Fist stared at the girl. They didn't respond to her but their breath grew into an odd uneven mix of hyperventilation and forgetting to inhale. They were still fidgeting but it was no longer joyous. The music of a clicking keyboard was gone, replaced by a clanging jackhammer.

“Is … is something wrong?”

“I … I do not … I will need to think this over. There may be trainers better suited to this.”

“But … but you are the Hero with a Steel Fist? You are the greatest superhero in all of Hoenn, the best in the world. Way better than that Gligirl in Johto, or the Joltikeer in Unova, or Blaziken Mask in—”

Steel Fist held up their hand, still panting. Finally, they said, “give me time to prepare, I … I will make sure your village is saved. I just … I need to prepare. Do you have accommodations, I can ask in town for living space for you.”

“Thank you but … you … you are a superhero, why can’t you do it now?”

“Because … this is a dangerous Pokémon, and I do not want to risk making things worse.” That was indeed true, but their fears ran deeper than that. Much deeper.

…

Guardian stomped forward, they were a large Steel and Psychic type, with four legs that each resembled a Beldum. Beldum would evolve into a Metang, a hovering Pokemon with two arms that liked squire like a pair of Beldum. And when Metang evolved into Metagross they looked a bit like two Metang stacked together into a quadruped.

Steel Fist was still panting, stroking Left Hook. With each stroke, the hairs on their human arm stood up and their Beldum hummed. The tingling was soothing, a vibration sent down their skin to try to steady them. But the superhero still felt their heart pound and their legs shake. And their prosthesis kept frantically clicking its claws to fidget.

Touch and sound were vital ways that Steel Fist stimmed, the cold smooth touch of metal was calming, the hum of electricity tickled their ears, and the clicking exhausted them when they were excited. Growing up, the Hero with a Steel Fist would fall asleep to the sound of office workers typing on their computers. Left Hook made that symphony interactive and added the sensation of touch to its rhythm; they gave Steel Fist a solid way to calm their racing thoughts.

Guardian nuzzled up against them, and Steel Fist laughed bitterly. “It is so stupid. I love Steel types, every single one. They are my main special interest. They have a good vibe to them. And Reg … Registeel, they are one of the weaker Leg — Legendaries in Hoenn. They are not that dangerous. I can handle it. You, Tankette, and Ronin could take them on easily. It is, it is stupid.”

Their words rang false to their ears. Even a weak Legendary was impossibly strong. There was a reason civilizations like Hisui had worshiped Legendaries as gods. Legendaries could resurrect the dead, flood cities, and evaporate lakes; Rayquaza recently destroyed a massive meteorite that could have destroyed the entire planet.

Only a fool would disrespect even a lesser Legendary.

The Metagross shook their head and hummed against Steel Fist’s chest, almost purring in a sort of computerized way. Steel Fist leaned into them as they stroked Left Hook; their body trembled as their claws clicked.

“I … I have to do it,” Steel Fist muttered, “they came to me, they have faith in me. And I … I am a superhero. And these … these people need my help I have to help them. They are helpless, they need someone to try to help them, since they cannot help themselves.”

Guardian shook their head in disagreement and Steel Fist swallowed, “and I need to do it for myself too. Registeel is a Steel Type, I think, I think they have a cute design, I need to face my fears. And I know I will always have my trauma but I, I do not need to always be ruled by it. And Registeel wasn't remotely the Pokemon I lost my, that I lost to.”

The Metagross pushed against them gently, applying some simple pressure. Steel Fist nodded and said, “thank you for your support. I … I will rely a lot on you and Left Hook out there. We … we should stop by the PC and get out Raptor, we will need to fly there I … I have wasted enough time.”

Guardian just continued to press against their partner, humming to steady their breathing.

…

“Thank you,” Tox said as she rode behind Steel Fist. The superhero and her were riding atop a Raptor, a Skarmory with blade-like wings. The Steel and Flying Type soared over Hoenn, blasting across the island and its many waterways, Hoenn was equal parts sea and land, said to have been formed by a clash between two … two Legendaries. Impossibly strong ones.

One had been Kyogre.

“It’s … it’s no trouble, I will do my best,” Steel Fist stroked Left Hook, feeling their hair start to stand up on end. Their claws clicked as they asked, “Tell me about the ruins near your village.”

“Um, well that’s the reason anyone ever treks to our swamp. They date back to the Iron Age, mostly made of stone and bricks but there is plenty of early iron tools and support beams there. Most of the iron was harvested from meteorites, humans had only just begun to mine iron.”

“Has anyone explored the ruins recently?”

“No, they flooded recently during a clash between Kyogre and Groudon, along with most of our homes and the roads to our village. Why?”

“Because the Pokemon you described is a Leg … Legendary known as Registeel. They and their fellow Titans represent eras of human civilization. Regirock is the Stone Age; Regice is the Ice Age, and Registeel represents the Iron Age. They are a pure Steel Type and tend to be found in ancient ruins. I am guessing that when your village flooded; it disturbed Registeel’s rest.”

“Oh. Um, so what do we do?”

“My Aggron and Lairon both know Earthquake. I’m going to try to crack the foundation of the ruins to drain the water away so that Registeel can return to sleep. If that doesn’t work, or if draining the flood is too hard to control, my Aggron also knows Flamethrower, and between that and Earthquake I should … should be able to wear Registeel down.”

“Oh. But why not fight them from the start?”

“…Because I would rather not get in a fight that could hurt more people,” Steel Fist answered, “best to … to make peace with a Legendary, than fight them.”

“Oh, okay,” Tox nodded.

“Registeel is a Legendary, but still is as much a Pokemon as your Zubat,” Steel Fist explained further, trying to convince themself more than the girl. "It's not some monster, it has needs, wants, and rights like any Pokémon. It should be treated respectfully.”

“I guess. But after Kyogre flooded our town … is something wrong?”

“Nothing,” Steel Fist managed to squeak out, their whole body trembling and their claws clanging together like a Kingler trying to intimidate a rival.

��We should be quiet, we are almost there.” And it was true, as the sun drew closer to setting, they were drawing closer to the swamp and the half-sunken village inside it. The homes were built on stilts, though many had collapsed or the ground had been reduced to a quagmire, sinking them. Even some of the standing homes had flooded; the water level had risen so high that it surpassed the stilts. Other homes had been ripped apart, their stilts smashed and their walls pummeled.

Steel Fist shook their head at the sight and muttered, “After all this is over, I will try to help you rebuild.”

“Oh um, thank you so much.”

“It’s no trouble.” They could at least do that much.

…

Ronin was a large bulky Aggron with a pointed helmet. He was Steel Fist’s main counter to Steel Types and Fire Types. Ronin and Tankette both were part Rock Type, and that give them some protection against fire attacks. Likewise, they both could use the moves Earthquake and Rock Slide; those moves could hurt a Fire Type, not to mention Rock Slide got a same-type attack bonus.

As Ronin stomped forward towards the flooded reaches of the ruins, he grumbled, he was weak to water, and being out in these flooded reaches didn't make him comfortable. Tankette similarly shuffled uneasily, not happy to be in such a sunken place.

“Alright,” Steel Fist said as they stroked the two Steel Types with their hands, “do you think you two can use Earthquake with enough control not to damage the ruins, but still drain the flood?”

The two of them grunted in reply before Steel Fist turned to Guardian, who was watching from the side. “What do you think?”

Guardian paused and shook their head ‘no.’

“You … you are sure?”

The Metagross pointed their leg up at the sky, gesturing towards the setting sun.

“We, we don’t have enough time,” Steel Fist swallowed and their prosthesis began to click like an old-fashioned typewriter, “You … you are right, okay, you … you feel their mind nearby?”

Guardian boomed and pointed towards a rumbling sound to the south. Steel Fist swallowed and said, “Let’s go.” Their breaths were shallow and their hands were trembling, even as night fell across this swampland.

“Okay Ronin, have a Flamethrower at the ready. Tankette, get ready with an Earthquake,” Steel Fist swallowed, “I am relying on you.”

The two Pokémon grunted, even as Left Hook began to hum. “There!’ Steel Fist shouted as they pointed towards a red glow. Both Pokemon unleashed their attacks, the ground trembling madly and a plume of flame erupting through the jungle. The fire exploded from the swamp gas, igniting a portion of the swamp in a blast of light.

And then, wading through it, came the Titan of Steel. Registeel just walked through the fire, its body a bit singed but still functioning.

Registeel spoke in a strange mechanized voice, and then a light blue aura spread across their body. Steel Fist trembled in recognition before the Registeel slammed down their long arms to vault forward. Their fists swinging simultaneously bludgeoned both Ronin and Tankette, who groaned in pain as they were flung back. They tumbled and splashed across the water, before laying limp, submerged in the flood.

“Superpower,” Steel Fist identified the move in horror. It took down both Pokemon in a single blow. Fighting was four times as effective but to take down both Ronin and Tankette in a single attack … that kind of power…

Their fear was justified. Even Registeel was beyond them.

Registeel turned towards the superhero, and the light blue aura ignited again. They charged at the superhero, who could only stare in empty shock.

Suddenly Guardian rammed into Registeel from the side, veering them off course. The Titan rampaged into a tree, falling face forward into the muck. Guardian then charged the Legendary, rearing their front left leg back, before slamming it forward like a meteor hurdling through space. The Titan tumbled through the swamp, splattering gunk everywhere.

“Guar … Guardian,” Steel Fist managed, “you don’t … run, you should … you should run.”

Guardian huffed and Registeel charged with their light blue aura, swinging both fists down. Steel Fist dropped to their knees in horror, as Guardian took the blow.

And then Guardian just slammed another Meteor Mash into Registeel, knocking them away.

“R … right, using Superpower lowers the user’s attack and defense. They have used it three times now. And they … they can only use the move five times. And you, you are part Psychic, Psychic is resistant against Fighting, it can only do normal damage. I … I know this.”

Guardian nodded in response, looking back to Steel Fist, waiting for orders.

“Thank you I … I should have trusted you,” Steel Fist managed as their claws clicked. They began to rub Left Hook as they ordered, “Okay … okay use Reflect, make him waste more energy on you. I … I will try to get in close.”

Steel Fist began to wade through the water, as Registeel ignited with a blue glow. They swung at Guardian, who formed an oval barrier in front of it, vaguely the color of denim. Registeel’s fist bounced off of the barrier, stumbling back.

“Now use Meteor Mash.” Guardian swung their fist again, even as a Registeel reared their head back. Suddenly a laser of power erupted from their eyes, plowing into Guardian. Guardian stumbled, but their punch still landed, knocking Registeel into a piece of the ruins. The Titan wobbled upright, as did Guardian. Both were being worn down.

And then Steel Fist lunged out from behind, slamming Left Hook into the Titan’s leg. The Titan swayed, even as Steel Fist flung themself to the side with another punch. Then Steel Fist pivoted and struck Registeel again, knocking them to the ground.

“Guardian, here,” they threw a berry at their partner, who ate it in a fury. As some of their strength returned, the superhero said, “Pin Registeel down like when you go hunting.”

Guardian lumbered over and then slammed their heavy metal body down, sitting down on Registeel. The Titan flailed, shrieking out in a horrid electronic screech.

Registeel struggled, trembling wildly, but they … they couldn’t break free. They were … they were left utterly helpless.

“Reg … Registeel,” Steel Fist said, wading through the swamp toward the Legendary; their human hand rubbed Left Hook as their claws clicked.

“I … I know your home has been damaged.”

Registeel thrashed and the superhero continued, “I … I can’t image what it’s like to lose your home, the grief you … you felt. But that’s what you are doing to the people who live here, you are destroying their homes too. And they lost a lot to Pri … Kyogre. Just like you did. Just like I did.”

Registeel stopped flailing for the moment, tilting their head towards Steel Fist as the superhero continued, “I lost my arm to Ky-Kyogre. I … I though I had been powerful, a prodigy. And then Kyogre destroyed me. I … I only was able to begin to rebuild thanks to my Pokemon. I will never have the dexterity of my old hand, Left Hook will always be different, but I … I have grown something new. And your home and Marshroot can be mended too.”

Left Hook hummed as the Hero with a Steel Fist rubbed them. They purred like a computer’s fan warming up and their claws clicked like a keyboard. Steel Fist closed their eyes, taking the sensations in.

Then their eyes opened and they continued to speak.

“Humans built your home ages ago, the humans of Marshroot could help mend it. Not by causing an earthquake; they could fix it the proper way, through hard work and ingenuity. And your strength could help you mend their homes, rebuild their town. The two of you could help each other grow and improve. Your homes will never be exactly the same as it was, but they will be better than they are now.”

Registeel emitted a long slow noise, before extending their hand towards Steel Fist. The autistic superhero shakily grasped it with Left Hook, and the three shook in agreement.

“I am sorry I had my Pokemon ambush you,” Steel Fist said. They wouldn't attempt to justify it.

Guardian climbed off Registeel, even as Steel Fist recalled Ronin and Tankette back into their Pokeballs. The superhero hoped Marshroot would have Revives, the two Pokemon would be unconscious until they could reach a Pokemon Center or get one. And Steel Fist couldn't leave Marshroot to find a town with a Pokémon Center, not until they were sure peace had been managed between the Titan and the people.

[kuwdora]

fic writer questions: 7, 10

7. Any worldbuilding you’re particularly proud of?

oh gosh, I have SO MANY worldbuilding things proud of. Let me try to pick out a few favorites from things I've actually posted this year...

Leshen Eskel in my season 2 AU: The Warden Along the Path

Eskel's body mutated enough to become so tree-like and when he drank large quantities of witcher alcohol, he got violently ill and some of his branches fell off. Because you can't really feed a tree booze, that's not the nutrients he needs! (His body chemistry will eventually adapt but it was really startling, okay!) I did so much thinking about fantasy botany that could reasonably vibe with the witcher setting. This is just the beginning. 🌳

Eskel can now see and feel magic in a new way, including things and memories from other worlds because the Leshy Queen's connection to the monolith got passed down to Eskel in his mutation.

post-canon Redania - stories we tell, memories we share, and the words we hold dear aka the story where Geralt is naked and writes poetry for Jaskier. The story includes way too much history and a lot of silly puns but I have a worldbuilding nugget that I really love:

I made a reference to an event called the Three Day Incursion where Nilfgaardian forces crossed the Redanian border (for--you guessed it--three days). Dijkstra is such a strategic thinker and looks for every opportunity to help preserve his country and his power for the long term. Even if that involves a little pain in the process. Dijkstra encouraged or incited Nilfgaard enough to cross the Redanian border so he could use the anxiety and fear of the people to his benefit. That way he could step in and be the strong, steady hand for Redania and fight back with a plan. It helped inspire confidence in the new leadership and solidified Dijkstra's power.

10. How do you decide what to write?

oh my god. A better question is "how do you decide what stories to finish?" like many writers I suffer from Too Many WIPs and not enough focus. Also I'm having a lot of anxiety problems this year so it's doubly hard to see things through. I am a theme-driven writer and I tend to gravitate towards ideas and characters where I can really chew on for awhile. The stories I start are things that I will write out 10 million thoughts and unnecessary details and spend 16 years trying to whittle things down into coherency. It helps when I have someone to help prune my ideas (even though I still struggle with keeping things digestible).

Because my writing is dense and introspective in a lot of ways, this means I gravitate towards writing character studies and relationship pieces in lieu of action plotty things and tropey one-shots. I'm trying to flex my writing muscles in the plotty and tropey ways but oh, those muscles have atrophied over the years!

Even as I type this out this all feels like a non-answer, ahaha. God, a lot of things I decide to write I because an idea makes me laugh or it makes me cry and ache, or because I'm really interested in ways I can subvert canon and fanon characterizations and tropes and still satisfy myself in some fun way or interesting way.

But yeah... it's really hard deciding where to put my energy because I am so excited about so many ideas and my current WIPs... I just love all the witcher characters so much. Also puns. I love including too many puns and wordplay. So anytime I get an idea where I can be silly about it... I'mma write it. Will I finish it? Publish it? That's... remains to be seen.

I really need to get better about sharing snippets and making sure some of it exists outside my head and google doc and not just hide in my friends' discord DMs.

Fanfic writer meme

[kholran]

For the 35 Questions for Fanfic Writers: 4, 5 10, 12, 16, 19, 27, 34

Oh wow so many! Thank you very much!

4. Are there any writers that inspire you?

Plenty! I'm constantly inspired by other writers in this (DMBJ) fandom. @xantissa and @merinnan and @alxina have such steamy scenes and excellent action plots, and gifted the fandom with not only PingXieSang but Fox!Sang. @foxofninetales has a way with words that I am constantly envious of. @wild-feather writes SO MUCH and is an excellent cheerleader. @hils79 can do slice of life one-shots like no one else. I could honestly heap praises on so so many people (do you write for this fandom? THEN I MEAN YOU), and I draw little bits of inspiration from everything I read.

5. What’s the fic you’re most proud of?

I have a couple, for very different reasons. Pyre, for being the start of my very own pool noodle, and for being the first multi-chapter fic I ever actually finished. And Ordinary World, for being the longest fic I've ever written (to date) and for the world-building. I also wrote the entire thing in just over a month, which is a level of productivity that will probably never happen again.

10. What’s your favorite genre to write for?

It's a toss-up between Canon Divergence and Fusion (characters from one thing put into the world/plot of another thing).

12. Tell us about a WIP you’re excited about.

I started a RiSang Pretty Woman AU that I'm having a lot of fun writing so far. I'm going to try and sit on it until it's mostly done, so I don't feel guilty for not updating faster. But it's in the works!

16. Any guilty pleasure trope(s)?

Answered here!

19. Do you prefer canon-compliant, AUs, or something in-between?

...Yes? LOL Ok not very specific. But I've gotten inspiration for all three of those things. Like Pyre is technically "canon-compliant" with Sha Hai apart from the obvious. The major events happening in the background don't change much from canon, save for some tweaking of the (very very wonky) timeline. While Ordinary World and a few of my WIPs are totally AU. I do tend to try and weave at least some of canon (or at least similar events) into my AUs though, so I guess most of them count as "something in-between".

27. What’s the nicest comment you’ve ever received?

Oh gosh EVERY comment I get is enough to make my entire day! I've only (so far?) gotten one comment that wasn't nice. But maybe...if I absolutely had to choose...I'd say @crowbraiin's comments on Ordinary World as it was going up during the Rarepair Exchange. Seeing how happy they were about it made ME super happy too.

34. Copy and paste an excerpt you’re particularly fond of.

I've mentioned Ordinary World a few times already, so here's a little bit of RiSang's first meeting in that fic:

Under a cut because I didn't realize how long it was in Tumblr format

“Is there no other way for you to prove your identity?” Zhang Rishan asks.

His head snaps back up, because yes! He can do that! “I know Wu Xie is still alive. He knows me. If you take me to him, he can prove it to you.”

Liu Sang doesn't get the reaction he's hoping for. Zhang Rishan goes completely, eerily still, in the way that only large predators can. “Take you to Wu Xie?” he repeats, and there's ice in his voice. “How do I know you're not a Wang assassin? Perhaps the other fox shifter is the real Liu Sang, and you're merely an impostor that followed him here. Or maybe the two of you are here together to better your chances. How can I be sure you're telling me the truth, and not just what I want to hear so that I'll let you get close enough to Wu Xie to finish him off?”

“What!? No! I'm not a Wang!” Liu Sang protests, cursing the fact that no, he doesn't have a single thing on him to prove that he's telling the truth. “I don't want to kill Wu Xie!” Well, he doesn't want to assassinate him. He's wanted to murder the man plenty, particularly for dropping him into what was supposed to be a well-paying, simple job that would look good on his resume, but what turned out to be some kind of convoluted horror story that involved him being haunted. By paint, of all goddamn things.

“Then prove it,” Zhang Rishan says again, and while his features are still hard and unforgiving, his tone says there is actually some way for Liu Sang to do that to his satisfaction.

“How? How can I do that?” he asks, and he internally cringes at how desperate he sounds. But he has the distinct impression that being unable to prove himself right here and now means he's not going to walk out of this room again. And if he dies here, he won't have any chance at all to tell Wu Xie that his plan as it stands now is going to get him, and everyone else involved, killed. “Tell me what I have to do.”

Something in Zhang Rishan's expression shifts. Just slightly, almost imperceptibly, but for just a moment, it feels more like he's being regarded with appraisal than accusation. As if the fact that Liu Sang doesn't already know what he needs to do means something. “Turn around and take off the robe,” Zhang Rishan says after a moment.

Liu Sang chokes on nothing, and gapes at him. He can't be serious. How is that going to prove anything? “Wh—what?” he stammers, tugging the robe a little more securely around himself. He wants to gain Zhang Rishan's trust but that's...

Zhang Rishan gives him A Look, and sighs. “The mark of the Wang clan is a tattoo. A phoenix on the right shoulder,” he explains. “Show me you have no tattoo, and I will take you to Wu Xie.”

Oh.

“Oh,” he echoes aloud, but any relief he might have felt is short-lived. Not because he has any kind of tattoo. He definitely doesn't. But his back isn't without its marks, and showing them to anyone, much less a complete stranger, is asking a lot. He glances over his shoulder, and realizes belatedly it's a highly suspicious thing to do when he looks back and finds the accusatory expression has returned to Zhang Rishan's face.

Reluctantly, Liu Sang turns. It's the only way. He recognizes and accepts that, but it's a part of himself he doesn't like to think about, and certainly doesn't like to make visible. Pulling his hair away from the nape of his neck, Liu Sang lets the collar of the robe gape open, and shrugs it off his shoulders, though he does not let it fall all the way. Zhang Rishan hasn't earned that show from him yet. His shoulders hunch as he feels the cool underground air brush the sensitive burn scars that cover his upper back, and hears the sharply drawn breath Zhang Rishan takes at the sight of them. It makes him bristle despite his fear. He doesn't want anyone's pity.

What he's not expecting is the sure touch of a broad hand coming to rest flat against his shoulder. He'd been so preoccupied with his own anxiety that, for the second time in less than an hour, he's caught off-guard. He hadn't even heard Zhang Rishan move. Liu Sang jumps, startled, but Zhang Rishan's other hand comes to rest on his opposite shoulder, holding him steady, and not letting him dart away.

“The tattoos are only visible when the skin is heated,” Zhang Rishan says softly, his breath wafting against the shell of Liu Sang's ear, and his voice is so close, and so suddenly gentle. There's almost an unspoken apology in it. Liu Sang shudders, and he's honestly not sure if it's a result of exposing his scars to Zhang Rishan, or because he's instinctively responding to the soothing tone in his voice. Like the purring of a cat, it somehow eases some of his tension.

Zhang Rishan's hand seems to burn against his skin. The heat of it seeps down into his bones, spreading warmth through his veins despite the residual chill of the underground air. Liu Sang shivers again when he feels Zhang Rishan lean in to breathe warm air onto his skin, presumably in an attempt to speed the process along. He's a little taken aback by the intimacy of the gesture, and his response to it. Because he's very abruptly reminded of the way Zhang Rishan's teeth had clamped onto the back of his neck and held firm, and he can't help the intrusive and completely inappropriate thought that maybe he wouldn't mind if it happened again.

But then the hand and the breath are gone, and the moment with them, and Liu Sang is left a little breathless himself at how bereft and cold he feels without them.

Which is absurd. His life is at risk if he can't make Zhang Rishan trust him. He shouldn't be having feelings about being put through a test that will determine whether he lives or dies.

[shealwaysreads]

16 and 25 for the end of year asks please! 💙💙💙

Hello darling! Thanks for playing, and apologies for being...days late with my reply 😅❤️

16. fic(s) you completed this year

So, every fic I’ve ever written for the Harry Potter fandom has been done this year - and every single one has been a joy and a journey of learning. 

Here they are - all 15 (FIFTEEN?!) of them!

Heaven’s Embroidered Cloths - 

In which the Yule Ball opens Harry's eyes to beauty and splendour, and it takes him eight years to find someone who realises exactly what he wants. Magical fabric, solstice celebrations, and first kisses in borrowed clothes.

My first ever fic for Harry Potter, my first every drarry! Encouraged, aided and abetted, by @diligent-thunder @tepre and @bixgirl1 and our collective obsession for Wizarding clothes. Looking back I can see the flaws and my baby-foal fumbling with characterisation, but this was the beginning of my little fandom frolic (and ongoing kink obsession with their clothes) so I love it dearly!

Simple Little Kiss - 

Harry slid his knife and fork together, and leaned back in his chair to watch Draco finish the last sip of wine in his glass, the long line of his neck exposed as he tipped his head back. Satisfaction and longing vied for the top spot in his mind. One appetite had been thoroughly sated; another was growling its hunger in his chest.

Prompted by the lovely @malenkayacherepakha this little ditty was based on: ‘One Small Kiss, Pulling Away For An Instant, Then Devouring Each Other’. Needless to say, that was right up my street 🙌

Those Who Favor Fire - 

In which Harry and Draco ride out the effects of a potion, revealing every feeling that lies beneath.

My first ever Drabble for the monthly Drarry Discord Writers Corner Challenge - this server full of talented, creative, and encouraging folk has absolutely been pivotal in my swan dive into writing this year ❤️

Crow’s Feet - a gift for @erin-riwen - and a very self-indulgent one at that. I’m a sucker for love, and gentleness, and life well lived for my darling Harry and Draco and this was me just revelling in that!

Writing’s On The Wall - 

In which the Auror department is surprisingly artistic, Draco is still an overdramatic shit, Harry still makes the most of any trouble that finds him, and getting horizontal is the solution to everyone's problems.

This is really showing up my terrible summary habits isn't it 👀 ANYWAY! This is another fic inspired by the fabulous drarry squad server - and my first attempt at being funny? (Also, Draco is fresh out the shower and if that isn't entirely on brand for me idk what is)

Honesty Is The Best Policy -

In which Auror partners Malfoy and Potter discover a trunk full of depraved tools, and Harry might have to explain himself.

Another Drabble for the Drarry Discord gang! 

A Shorts Story About Love -  

House-sharing with Slytherins, student life, magic weed, and short shorts. Harry's life at university might be strange, but he wouldn't change it for the world.

Entirely inspired by the lovely @rose-grangerweasleyisbae and her prompt over on the Drarry Discord. I had a ball writing this, it was one of those pics that just flowed, and I loved the little world I dreamed up - might even revisit it at some point...

Sunkissed - 

Burnt toast, international Portkeys, ancient ruins, and Harry's own special brand of support.

Written for this years @hpdrizzle - my first ever fest fic, prompted by @maraudersaffair who I have to thank for igniting my lowkey head canon of freckled!Draco into a full blown writing brand™️ ❤️

Patient, Hungry, Waiting - 

“Potter looked every inch the picture of the war hero that the Ministry loved to trot out for events like this, and nothing like he had on the day he actually did end the war. A decade of rising through the Auror ranks and hunting down dark Wizards, with all of the efficacy and subtlety of a natural disaster, had turned a skinny boy with knobbly knees into a strong, self-assured man who fairly commanded the room. He was resplendent in wine-dark robes, gold buttons and epaulettes, and a profusion of medals; a world away from the exhaustion, grime, and worn out jeans he wore during the Battle of Hogwarts. Draco, for one, approved of the changes.”

                                               ...

Unspeakable Draco Malfoy has learned the value of patience, the scintillation of delayed gratification, the thrill of waiting out his prey. Tonight, he's going to show Potter that good things come to those who wait.

A gift for my darling @tackytigerfic on her birthday, and one of my favourite fics of mine. As much as this was written to indulge her every whim, her tastes align so closely with mine this felt pretty damn self indulgent - can I say leather thigh wand-holster anyone? 😉

Pathless Woods - 

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods” Lord Byron.

Harry finds himself unexpectedly reacquainted with Draco Malfoy when his work as an apprentice wandmaker takes him to Wiltshire. Amongst the trees Harry finds magic, growth, and a man who might finally be proving he’s worthy of the wand that chose him.

Hawthorn, Unicorn hair, 10 inches, reasonably pliant.

A story of found family, trees with feelings, belief in the power of growth, wandlore, and gratuitous description of Handsome Estate Owner™ Draco Malfoy swanning around in white shirts and leather boots.

Written for @hd-fan-fair and it’s my longest fic to date - a little out of my usual wheelhouse - it’s gentle, more of a tale than a rollicking ride, but I adored writing it, and love the way it turned out. 

Logical - Inspired by this stunning art by @potter-art! I just couldn’t help myself, I was thirsty enough for Draco in leather to be one of the many to prompt her the outfit in question for drawing - and then the finished product was so GODDAMN hot I had to write poor Harry having to deal with it! ❤️🔥

No Absolutes - The first of my ‘I finished all my fest deadlines for the year prompt me Hozier songs for ficlets’ project (all of you who prompted, I promise I haven't forgotten, I’m working on them!) 

This one is for @littlebozsheep who suggested Take Me to Church, and I had a lot of fun making this not-quite-poetry-not-quite-prose little baby of mine.

And my rarepair babies:

A Study In Contrasts - 

In which Neville grew up hot, but still doesn't quite remember it all the time, and Theo is freckled, handsome, and likes plants. You know what happens next.

Okay so the lovely @drarryruinedme7 slid into my DMs and started talking HP rarepairs with me and when she started talking about Neville x Theo my eyes lit up and my writerly ears perked up - think excited meerkat, that's about how it felt. 

After rummaging through the internet for their facecasts - see Neville and Theo (important research okay, the fact they're devastatingly gorgeous is neither here nor there) I had the delightful excuse of the @growing-neville fest to light a fire under my arse and write a fic, which I gifted to @drarryruinedme7!

All Our Strength, And All Our Sweetness - 

In which Neville cooks, Theo is seriously into being manhandled, these two finally get each other naked, and it turns out they're compatible outside of the greenhouse too.

I was NOT DONE with these two! I still have lots of feelings about this little ‘verse I created and I will be playing with these delicious toys again soon 😉

Devil’s Snare - 

In which some late night extra-curricular work in Greenhouse Nine turns into a whole new Herbology discovery for Neville Longbottom.

Did I ever see myself writing Neville x Devil’s Snare? No. Did I commit 100% once I decided to go for it? Yes. Do I entirely blame the kinky gang on the Drarry Discord? Also yes. 

21. a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read

Gosh, okay Corie pick the hard questions why don’t you?! I have read so many incredible fics this year - let’s face it - every fic I’ve read is brilliant in it’s own way (and I’m thinking of doing a ‘this is what I read this year’ list to cover them all) but I’m going to try and nail it down to...5...okay so, 10. Alphabetical, cause these are all adored equally.

amid this warm and steady sweetness by warmfoothills (drarry)

All Bets Are Off by @dualwieldteacup (drarry)

Before the World Was Made by @13pawns (drarry)

Brick by Brick by agentmoppet (drarry)

Cupid Disarmed by @chromat1cs (wolfstar)

Offer Up Our Hearts by @tackytigerfic (drarry)

Trouble, My Old Friend by @tepre (drarry)

You Burn Me by @etalice (linny)

White As Snow by @bixgirl1 (drarry)

with exactness grinds he all by @thistle-verse (drarry)

I’m playing the Fanfic end of the year asks game!

❤️

[thecrimsonvalley]

001 | Send me a fandom: Fatal Frame 2, 002 | Send me a ship: Gascoigne/Henryk, 003 | Give me a character: Jennifer (Rule of Rose) ♥

001| Send me a fandom and I will tell you my: Fatal Frame 2

Favoritecharacter: Oh that’s really a hard one but I would have tosay Itsuki. I feel terribly sorry for the poor lad and I suppose Isomewhere can relate to his idealism. He tries his best even thoughit ends up making things a whole lot worse!

LeastFavorite character: Mayu. Just… Mayu. To explain mythoughts: she was made to be this driving force, for you to want torescue her and make it out but when this little shit gets “possessed”for the five millionth time and continues to whine about you leavingher behind, I’ll gladly go to the hellish abyss and shove her inthere myself.

5Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): That’s gonna be a nofrom me. Most of the cast is either dead or underage, so it is not mycup of tea to ship stuff.

CharacterI find most attractive: See the last point.

CharacterI would marry: Last point again.

CharacterI would be best friends with: That’s kind of a hard one but Ithink I wanna say Itsuki or Mio.

Arandom thought:Am I the only one who thinks that the designs in the remake were atad inappropriate? I know they aged them up from their original ageof 15 but I really did not fancy the cleavage, big boobs and cutebutton nose appearances ^^’

Anunpopular opinion: Don’t know if this is an unpopular opinionor not but I don’t think this is the best Project Zero/Fatal framegame. I know this is generally a fan favourite and I like it but Ithink that some of the others are way better/better story.

MyCanon OTP: There isn’t any what I know? So this one goesblank.

MyNon-canon OTP: See above.

MostBadass Character: Mio, hands down. She’s in a situation wheremost people would probably drop dead of fright yet here she is,yeeting ghosts left and right to save a sister that seems a tad toomanipulative for my taste.

MostEpic Villain: Sae. The writing really came off good here,through the notes you get that she has been feed an ideal from birthand that it motivates her to unthinkable places. This makes her bothsympathetic and really bad ass. Her boss fight is about as fun asdoing Pilates on top of acid though…

PairingI am not a fan of: Everyone can do what they wish butpersonally I’m no fan of underage ships, specially not in the sexualsense.

CharacterI feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): Mayu.It makes it hard for me to fully enjoy the game when I see what theywere going for. For me, if they had just added some scene/plot of Mioloosing her shit with her and actually showing that there might besome friction from Mio’s side about Mayu’s complete dependence onher, it could have worked so much better. Heck, have Mio tell Mayuoff for being a burden and then have Mayu try to help and getcaptured. This could work to show that Mio were acting under stressand regrets it and drive the player to want to find Mayu more thanbefore and not just see her as an overbearing burden with a strangesister obsession.

FavouriteFriendship: The friendship between Itsuki, Mutsuki, Sae andYae seems to have been rather sweet when they were all younger. Also,the sibling relationship between Itsuki, Mutsuki and Chitose isreally sweet.

CharacterI most identify with: My own head canon has made Mio kind ofa 100 % done character and I guess I identify with that. But that isnot the canon appearance of her so take that with a pinch of salt.

CharacterI wish I could be: Can I say Sae? Can I just get to… floataround, laugh like a maniac and bring a bit of fuck up to the world?

002| Send me a ship and I will tell you: Gascoigne/Henryk

WhenI started shipping them: Honestly,almost from the start. I was really into a ship with Gascoigne and anOC but slowly this one grew on me as one of my ships between canoncharacters. When I ship this I also keep Viola in there, as a partnerthat joins at times and at times not, just like Henryk sometimes doesnot join Viola/Gascoigne.

Mythoughts: Justtwo old dudes being hunter pals am I right? I adore them because Iimagine such a lot of warmth and kindness between the two, not tomention the mutual understanding of how hard it is to go throughhunts and all what that means.

Whatmakes me happy about them: Thethought of them being dorks when hunting. Of a tricky situation inwhich the solution was Gascoigne taking Henryk on his shoulders andhe runs through the town while Henryk throws poison knives ateverything within a 10 mile radius.

Whatmakes me sad about them: *Grosssobbing as I look at canon fates*

Thingsdone in fanfic that annoys me:Any jealousy or implications that Viola is a bitch who destroys thegay ship, boho. I really hate love triangles, let them all be in themost wonderful of polyamorous relationships dang it!

ThingsI look for in fanfic:Hurt/comfort without it going into “crawling in my skin”territory. Fluff and goofy situations, I love to see charactersactually have flaws and be able to be dorks and mess up without itbeing a big deal aka I hate when characters are portrayed as flawlesshunks who’s only flaws is that they are so brooding TM .

Mywishlist:Hm, hard one. There is very seldom fan art of this so, more of that.Also, more Henryk of colour (fun fact: personal head canon were thatHenryk were black which was later confirmed in his model, which mademe very happy :D )

WhoI’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:Gascoigneis obviously always gonna be paired off with Viola and I love that tobits! For Henryk, I had a headcanon that him and Eileen were verysweet on one another so that is a pairing I could go off with.Perhaps some Henryk/Valtr as well.

Myhappily ever after for them: Theyall live! Big house! Raise kids! Goes to pub on Saturday and spendSunday hungover during church sermon as Viola makes hushedinappropriate comments and enjoys watching Gascoigne and Henrykshivering with held back laughter.

003| Give me a character & I will tell you: Jennifer (Rule of Rose)

HowI feel about this character: Iwant to protect her so bad. As someone who has been the meek weakbutt of all jokes for bigger part of their childhood, I just want toprotect Jennifer so gosh darn much!

Any/allthe people I ship romantically with this character:My answer is Jennifer/Wendy but I want it known that I see this as apuppy love. There is a difference between the romance that you haveat that age (and I mean this is canon) and how adults view romance.

Myfavorite non-romantic relationship for this character:I always liked to imagine that Jennifer had some sort of silentfriendship with Eleanor. The sort of thing where she would beconvinced Eleanor didn’t even know she were there but then besurprised that she were included in her drawings or were given somelittle trinket. (It all ties in with my own headcanon that Eleanor ison the autism spectrum and have a hard time expressingemotions/connections over all.)

Myunpopular opinion about this character: Don’tthink I have any but the closest I can get is probably, I wish thestory had actually been child!Jennifer instead of the morepsychological but nonsensical retelling. I understand why they didNOT go for that though: imagine trying to pass a game through thatages censorship on “yeah a young girl gets constantly bullied andchased by monsters!”. Would probably never have gone over well.

Onething I wish would happen / had happened with this character incanon: Can’treally think of anything on this one.

Favoritefriendship for this character: Ilike to imagine that there were actually friendship between thecharacters and not just cruelty. The entire game is highlightingevents such as Jennifer interpreted them as a child but with anobviously over exaggerated tone to it. I like to imagine that inbetween the cruelty of children there were actually some genuinefriendships. That and I totally wanna headcanon that Jennifer andClara got along very good as Jennifer were a quiet child that didn’tpester with too many questions which Clara probably appreciated. Alsolike to imagine that since Clara had her own issues and feeling leftout as a young teenage girl she would take pity on Jennifer for beingthe runt of the litter around the orphanage.  

Mycrossover ship: Acrossover friendship between her and Mio from Project Zero 2. Thanksto thesaeseries.

[p-and-p-admin]

Interview given to The Severus Snape and Hermione Granger Shipping Fan Group.  (sharing here Admin approved)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/199718373383293/

Hello Aurette and welcome to Behind the Quill, thank-you for letting us get to know you a little better.

I'm deeply honoured to be asked.

A true titan in the world of SS/HG fic, many of our readers will have broken their hearts over your story The Tattered Man.

Okay, let’s jump right in.

What's the story behind your pen name?

Honestly, it was a whim. Long before I thought of writing, I needed a login name to read fanfic. It was a play on Auror. I had no idea it was an actual name.

Which Harry Potter character do you identify with the most?

Hands down, Snape. I know that might sound strange, but he was the one that clicked. My niece introduced me to the books. Being in my 30s at the time, I already had kids of my own, so I didn't identify as one of the students. I loved Harry from the start but he had this uncanny ability to keep being wrong about nearly everything. The character who best expressed adult annoyance with that was Snape. And I do love a good jerk. Snape was a jerk.

Do you have a favourite genre to read? 

I'm a sucker for fantasy and science fiction. I hated reading as a child. All there was available when I was a kid was Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys and it was insipid. I glommed on to mythology early but once I'd read all the books in my library on the subject, I gave up reading at all. That was about 4th grade. Children's books in the 70s were total garbage and YA books only had one author: Judy Bloom.

Ironically, my first job was working in a bookstore. It was a college bookstore, so it was all textbooks. I wasn't even a student, so I had no interest in any of them. One semester. A Lit prof assigned Fahrenheit 451. The cover art caught my eye and I read the blurb. Then started reading the book. I finished it in about 5hrs. It blew my mind. I had no idea writing like that existed. And the book was about someone discovering the value of books. It was intellectual Inception waaaaay before that was a thing.

After that, it was like a switch flipped in my head. I sucked up books air. I was never without a book or two. Or three...

Do you have a favourite "classic" novel?

Obviously Fahrenheit 451. I'm going to go ahead and say Les Miserables as well. I was in my 30s when I finally read it and sobbed like a baby at the ending. The care and tenderness Hugo showed when portraying these disposable lives were so unique for that age. Sadly, even today. A lot of our culture is wrapped around the belief that only the wealthy have value and beauty is a pathway to wealth. The poor and ugly are a constant plague to be shunned or dealt with, not humans with crushed dreams that deserve to be valued in their own right. Look at how often fanfic recreatesSnape as handsome or Hermione as gorgeous. Those are always the least interesting stories. (hops off soapbox)

At what age did you start writing?

Whatever age I was when I wrote Safe House. Probably 40ish? That terrible little fanfic is literally the first thing I ever wrote beyond shopping lists and emails. It's an ugly child, but my first, so I love its pointy head. I intentionally leave it up so new writers can see my learning curve. No one starts out good. Read my stories in reverse chronological order and you'll see they get a little worse each time. That's how much I grew as I learned the craft.

How did you get into writing fanfiction?

Reading tons of it. I was at a total loss after the book Deathly Hallows came out and it was all over. Reading it had become an event in my house. My husband and I would snatch the book out of each other's hands "You've had it long enough. My turn." And then there were no more...

I couldn't even tell you how I found fanfic, but it kept me sane. I keyed in on SS/HG because at the time there was a noticeable difference in the talent level in that ship. I must have read SS/HG fanfic for a solid 2 yrs before I took a leap and wrote my own. I was inspired by the amazing stories, but also by the crappy ones.  "Heck, I could do better" became its own form of allowance. So I had a small 'what if' and just went for it. Of course, it was crap, everyone's first is. But taking the leap and writing it was a huge thing for me to have done.

What's the best theme you've ever come across in a fic? Is it a theme represented in your own works?

I'm a sucker for a story where characters overcome emotional adversity, both external and internal. If you squint. You'll see that theme repeated throughout my fics.

What fandoms are you involved in other than Harry Potter?

None. Nothing else ever grabbed me as a sandbox I wanted to play in before or after HP.

If you could make one change to canon, what would it be? Do you have a favourite piece of fanon?

Gosh, I don't think I would change a thing about JK Rowling's work. Things I would change would only be me forcing her story to fit my preferred ideal. However, if you think about it, her world, the good and the bad,  challenged all of us to churn out 100,000+ what ifs. Some out of anger. Heh.

As for fav piece of fanon, probably that Malfoy jr was Snape's godson. He's totally not, but whoever started that created a great layering of the dynamic between them that you can share in so many tones.

Do you listen to music when you write or do you prefer quiet?  

I was a stay-at-home mom when I was writing most of my fanfics, so I wrote in a chaotic and very noisy environment. I didn't listen to music when I wrote, but music was often the inspiration. When I would get stuck in writing, I would leave it and go listen to music that was emotionally similar to where I wanted the story to be while I thrashed out plot points. Colossus by Afro Celt Sound System is amazing for plotting a prelude to a battle.

What are your favourite fanfictions of all time?

Gosh, there are so many. Sadly, many of the authors who first inspired me are gone and pulled their fics off the web, like my fanfic bestie Dressagegrrrl. I would have to call out Pet Project by Caeria as the one I found most inspiring.  Anything by ApolloniaV is pretty high up there in my book. There are dozens I'm forgetting. There was one called Resurrection Man about Snape accidentally creating a hilarious Zombie apocalypse. Best. Fic. Ever. It disappeared from the web when the author moved on. An incredible loss.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? How does that affect your writing process?

Total pantser. The obvious effect is to drive the story right off a cliff and be unable to salvage it. It's why I vowed to never start posting until I had a rough draft ending. Too many dead stories waiting for an ending that never came. But an outline for me is a killer in disguise. I lose interest in telling the tale because I already did in the outline. The fun part is over. Sitting at a keyboard typing your fingers off, while muttering, "What the hell are these people doing? Who's writing this stuff?!" is an amazing experience.

What is your writing genre of choice?

In fanfic, I ran with every genre there was. Mostly I wanted to see if there was one I couldn't tackle.  Most of my o-fic is a hard-to-define mishmash of fantasy and sci-fi. I want to write romance, but it always turns into something complicated and angsty that no longer fits the box.

Which of your stories are you most proud of? Why?

The Tattered Man.

Did it unfold as you imagined it or did you find the unexpected cropped up as you wrote?

It came off exactly as I'd planned in my head. A rare occurrence for me.

What did you learn from writing it?

I could make people cry with my words. Up to that point, I'd made readers laugh and yell and blush, but to get a reader to the point of actually weeping? That's not easy. JK Rowling did it with ease. It was a challenge.

How personal is the story to you, and do you think that made it harder or easier to write?

It's very personal. My father had just died.  He'd had cancer, and it might have got him in the end, but what actually killed him was being sent home with a feeding tube and the wrong instructions. None of the homecare nurses realized the mistake until his kidneys shut down. It was devastating. When I next took up writing, I was still hurting so I tried to make others feel what I felt at a death that didn't have to be. It was crazy easy to write. I wrote it all in one day. Based on the reviews, I achieved my goal. It helped me work through my loss. Pretty sure I gave a few readers PTSD. My bad.

What books or authors have influenced you?

My all-time favourite book is Iain M. Banks' Use of Weapons. Definitely a classic among the eighteen people in the United States that read it. The man was a shockingly gifted author and I was devastated when he passed away. His ability to just drop you into the action from the first page and not bother to explain what's going on is sadistic genius.

How do you think that shows in your writing?

It led to my belief that a writer is always better when they assume their readers are smart. Grab their interest and just run. They'll catch on and even pass you with their theories of what's going to happen next. I've no patience with stories that spell out everything in minute detail. They're tedious and insulting. Less really is more. On the other hand, writing over your reader's head is just as annoying. Intentionally using obscure SAT words in your story just makes you a pretentious twat. Unless your character is a pretentious twat and it's part of the dialogue.  In that case, twat away. *gigglesnort*

Do people in your everyday life know you write fanfiction?

My family all knew. They were tremendously supportive. Especially Mr. Aurette, my personal Snape. Outside of my family, I was less forthcoming. Mostly because it was so crazy hard to explain. I think it's a lot less weird now, but back then? It was far more stigmatized.

How true for you is the notion of "writing for yourself"?

That's a hard one. For someone who'd never tried to write a story before, it was an amazing journey to realise what I could do. That changed me forever. Having the instant feedback of reviews was intrinsic to that experience. The downside is you can get sucked into writing for reviewers, and they will tell you clearly what they want and expect.  That can stifle. I knew no one wanted The Tattered Man to end the way it did. I was pretty terrified of the reaction. But it's what I wanted. It was the entire point. I wrote that ending for myself, but I cowered after posting.

How important is it for you to interact with your audience? How do you engage with them? Just at the point of publishing? Through social media?

I absolutely loved interacting with my readers. I made some real-life friends and some really great fic buddies all over the world. I watched them become friends in reviews too. It was a really great experience. Spam-posting a fic would often take on a festival atmosphere. Unfortunately, when my review count started to really take off, I couldn't cope with the sheer numbers the same way. There weren't enough hours on the day to reply to everyone. Trying to personalize my response to a review grew overwhelming. I actually grew quite depressed over it. Connecting on a more removed, professional level seemed cold. I connected the most on Livejournal when that was a thing. But I had to back off. "Aurette" became far more witty and wonderful than I was in real life. Everyone wanted a piece of her. I couldn't keep up with the bitch. Lol.  I faded away from most interactions on social media out of self-preservation. Even tiny fame can make you whacko.

What is the best advice you've received about writing?

There's a few that come to mind.

1-If you want to be a better writer, kill every adverb you come across.

2-Read your words out loud to yourself. If you run out of breath, your reader will run out of patience at that exact point.

3-Dressagegrrrl was the one that finally made me see how playing POV ping pong within a scene was something that marked my writing as an amateur.

4-Stop trying to be clever. Be clever, if you are clever, but don't try. It comes off hamfisted every time. Readers hate that.

5-Never, ever, ever post something you wrote that day. You've left half of it in your head and you can't tell. It's awful.

6-If you're not even a little embarrassed by something you wrote 6 months ago, you're no longer growing as a writer.

What do you do when you hit writer's block?

That's a bit of a sticking point. Stress is a muse-killer. Anything you can do to rid yourself of stress will help. Writer's block is usually the result of something going on elsewhere in your life. Fix that and the creativity will come back.

That said, my life has turned into constant stress with the result being I no longer write at all.

Has anything in real life trickled down into your writing?

Everything has. 'Write what you know' is true for fantasy too. Whether it's heartbreak, or a drunken hookup that turned into love (Hello, Mr. Aurette) or a moment when you were a child and ignored or teased, or maybe the bully, all of it makes it's way into the emotional truth of a scene or character, no matter how outlandish the setting.

Do you have any stories in the works? Can you give us a teaser?

I have a Dropbox full of stories I've run into the wall or had to leave half finished, both fanfic and o-fic. No teasers, because at this point I don't think they will ever see the light of day. Never say never, but the light of hope is dim.

Any words of encouragement to other writers?

Anyone can write and everyone has something to say. Be open to the process. Part of that process involves having a stranger tell you that your shiny new love is really shit. Being defensive only prolongs your shittiness. Embrace criticism. Sometimes,  the process of justifying something can actually buttress your choice, so you double down with better results. Other times, you'll see your idea wasn't working after all. Be ruthless in your editing, but don't delete. That scene you cut because it caused everything to go off the rails could be a different story trying to get out. Take that leap, you fail at everything you don't try, so why not try something you really want?

Thanks so much for giving us your time.

It's been my pleasure.  Thank you for the opportunity.  *waves to my readers*

[simptasia]

Kateclaire and the science squad?

AHH bless you, my faves!! thank you very much!!

kate/claire

when or if I started shipping it:

i honestly don’t remember but i do know that kate/claire didn’t come into my mind during my first watch of the show, it was an afterwards thing. or perhaps… season 6? season 6 made kate/claire shippers of us all, really

my thoughts:

restless, passionate…

my thoughts are, best ship, end game. i genuinely believe they ended up together after the finale (it’s canon they at least LIVE together, raising a son)

i think they love each other, and that people can have multiple soulmates damn it (i don’t care if thats not how it hurts, multiple soulmates!!!). to me, kate really comes across as bi (and i think evie was doing that on purpose, but thats just a theory) and like, claire is bi-who-thought-she-was-straight

Straight Until Kate…. fucking poetry

they’re honestly like, my (non-canon) OTP. and what with LOST lacking lgbta+ diversity, the show would’ve been much stronger if they made ‘em canon bi

buuuut whatever i guess…. we got a lotta handholding. and also the last third of kate’s character arc is dedicated to her (and one could argue, claire was a part of kate’s arc all along) and, i say this all the time but, CLAIRE IS THE REASON KATE WENT BACK TO THAT FUCKING HELL ISLAND. she found the idea of going back to be disgusting and horrible but gosh damn it, claire needed to be rescued. nobody else was gonna do it, apparently. also i’m pretty sure nobody knew is claire was alive or not at this point but kate went back anyways

the completion of kate’s character arc (not running away, accepting responsibility, opening up to the idea of family) is because of claire & aaron!!

also it’s ironic how i imagine claire doesn’t know she’s bi considering she’s the one making the moves. (that starsign scene, the hand holding…)

kate/claire = proactive sunshine femme astrology bi + tomboy hiking butch i’ve never had a job and relationships scare me but i love everyone bi

What makes me happy about them:

that it would take very little adjustment to make them canon

that kate looks 40% butcher anytime she’s near claire (and the inverse, claire looking 40% more femme. she practically glows)

the height difference

kate is so so protective over claire (kate being protective over other women is legit one of my fave things about kate)

a few days into the crash, the first time claire has ever interacted with kate and she correctly guesses that she’s a gemini and that she’s “restless” and “passionate”. A. great observation skills and B. THATS GAY!!!!

THEY’RE LEGIT CANON GONNA RAISE A SON TOGETHER (two sons, if you include my david austen theory)

that they triggered each other’s memories in limbo. that is genuinely one of the best writing decisions ever, like it’s impressive. whoever decided that they would remember together (instead of the expected jack/kate, and charlie/claire - which happens later because MULTIPLE SOULMATES) is a fucking genius. as a writer, audience member and a sapphic, i fucking applaud you

oh and that their connecting scene was the birth of aaron. such an important event to both of them. and it’s kinda foreshadowing at how they’re gonna be mums together

What makes me sad about them:

not canon [sad horn noises]

other than that, very lovely

things done in art/fic that annoys me:

there’s not an abundance of this sorta thing…?

things I look for in art/fic:

FOR IT TO EXIST

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

jack for kate, charlie for claire. of course

My happily ever after for them:

living together, married, raising two boys, honorary aunties to ji yeon, clementine, charlie (hume), dani, izzie & lara. (some of those are OCs!)

claire is an artist for a living (i thinking an illustrator) and i can’t imagine what job kate would or could get. as i’ve said she’s never had a job before… what would she do? gasp… is SHE the housewife? that’s kinda cute. there’s pictures of charlie and jack on the wall, and they are honoured as aaron & david’s fathers and as heroes

kate knows what it’s like to be in a family that doesn’t involve pain and abuse, claire eventually feels safe as the nightmares become less and less. they both have absolute trust in each other which is quite a feat for those two

[happy sigh]

what is their favorite non-sexual activity?

claire likes to paint and draw. kate isn’t much of an artist but claire is encouraging (imagine kate getting blushy over claire’s praise)

listening/singing to music together

claire encourages kate to take up yoga. it’s relaxing. takes a bit to get used to it tho because kate is restless (more of a rock climbing kinda gal)

yeah basically i imagine they do a lot of exercise-y things together

i was gonna say camping too but claire probably never wants to see trees and tents ever again… so avoid that

~

daniel/charlotte/miles

when or if I started shipping it

the earliest sci team shippy post i made, that i could find, is like from 2013. so maybe during my first watch? or shortly after. somewhere there

my thoughts:

okay so i’ve thought about this and i’ve realised that sci trio shipping is beloved as a concept, especially by me. whilst in canon, this supposed team doesn’t do a lot of teaming. basically my imagination has built them up to be more than what they actually are. and not just in a romantic way. they’re more friends in my head than in the actual show. it’s a tad disappointing actually. see, in the show the science team (the whole thing) is barely a thing. they drop out the sky, the show tries to convince they’re untrustworthy, and then sorta forgets they’re meant to be like colleagues and friends? or at least doesn’t pay attention to that

(miles is given no reactions to char and dan’s deaths. which is FUCKED. i blame writing and direction because no fucking way is this ken leung’s fault. i also blame time constraints which is the biggest reason for lack of sci team stuff)

the dynamic most focused on is dan and charlotte (ah, love..). so throwing miles in there is wishful thinking (i love miles) on my part. because interactions between dan/miles and miles/char in canon? little and none, in that order

but the IDEA is nice

i’m in love with IDEA of these things:

two nerds and a “jeez these nerds” guy (like he isn’t a ghostbusters fan)

a polite timid nerd, a loud passionate nerd and a snarky sardonic cynic

two sciences and a magic

miles being annoyed by, slightly jealous of and wanting in on dan/char

sweet dan in love with people with “bad attitudes” (his words. translation: okay i love you but you’re being bitchy right now and it’s not helping)

char getting the best of both worlds, in my opinion (sugar and salt)

children of the island OT3

being smooshed between people whom look like rebecca mader and ken leung is honestly the best situation you can be in. godspeed dan

and basically i use their personalities (or exaggerated versions of such. espech with charlotte) to project this relationship upon them

TL;DR: barely any sci team interactions in canon, but i adore the ship anyways

What makes me happy about them:

oh shit i make that list up there too early

in general, it feels good? and like theres a lot i can do with it. like i’ve said, i love the concept of their dynamic. like, putting these personalities together is fun!

also

miles uses his powers and dan is immediately on board which means either miles told him on the boat or dan just takes miles at his word without hesitation. both are very plausible and also great

oh and my gosh, my fave thing? these people had possibly months on a boat together off screen. we didn’t get like, any sci team content on screen but thank you for that fanfic/imagination fuel, writers

none of them moved on in the finale which gives me a place to ship them… so basically they’re only shippable outside of the island… huh

char and miles were friends in limbo (thank heavens for small miracles) and thats a great concept. and it also means with char meeting dan in the finale, the TRIANGLE IS COMPLETE. THEY MAY NOW JOIN

that thing dan does where he touches/pets everybody near him? yeah, does that with miles, which isn’t remarkable. miles, like char, doesn’t seem to mind or flinch. which is interesting cuz you’d think miles would react to that. true none of the characters react to dan’s petting (???how) but idc

dan rans to char, pets her hair, face and arms and asks if she’s alright. miles, who is standing near by, says “i’m okay, too”. that sounds like something i would write for them but that actually happened in the show

i like the idea that dan/char (and later sawyer/juliet) make miles reluctantly realise he does want love in his life, which leads to miles/richard one day. this has nothing to do with anything in the show. legit all of that sentence is based on headcanons. and thats a summary of shipping dan/char/miles

uhm… they’re fucking pretty

i’ve slowly made them more and more kinky over time. that makes me happy. it’s also funny

the fact that dan is the tallest of the three and he’s 5 foot 9

i’m certain they’ve all dealt with ableism in their lives. i just like things in common, espech angst things

everything. everything makes me happy about them. even the sad stuff

What makes me sad about them:

tho again, i wish the show remembered these people are friends

on that note, two of miles friend’s died. the show didn’t show him caring but i of course imagine he did. miles has walls but he’s not a cunt

all of ‘em had a fucked up thing happen with a parent (wait no, that’s not an OT3 thing, that’s just a lost is like that thing. anyways, sad)

i have this headcanon that miles is cynical about love (and relationships and romance) cuz like, due to his powers, he grew up with this fucked up perception of death. and throughout he’s seen people absolutely devastated about losing a loved one. this includes dan losing char, sawyer losing jules, and miles himself losing his mum. basically love hurts and he’s decided that pain isn’t worth the temporary amount of happiness. i imagine miles’ bad attitude towards life is caused by this way of thinking. we’re all gonna die, so why bother? only possessions stay so $$$$

….and there’s my miles meta, wow

things done in art/fic that annoys me:

now, sci team content is like, none but i’ve noticed a trend among fandom… their personalities being flanderized a tad too much. and yeah i do that too but i mean

dan being innocent, naive and humourless. we have no reason to assume the first two and fuck no he is humourless. dan has funny lines, he’s just subtle. innocent and naive? maybe kinda. i personally portray dan as innocent and naive in COMPARISON to char & miles (and most other characters). like, the vanilla to their kinky. but again, just by comparison. he’s not totally oblivious. plus he’s a quick learner and can pick up context. i know this all comes from him being so nonthreatening (also it’s a symptom of woobifying. and is also very mildly ableist in this context)

char being a constantly angry shrill bitch. i’m most annoyed by this one. i have some words about this. yes, a couple of times char got angry/bitchy. and it stuck out to people because she’s a woman. as somebody who has analysed like, every moment she’s been on screen, lemme tell you: she is not constantly angry. in fact, when i needed a cap of her looking angry for an art thing, IT WAS GENUINELY HARD TO FIND ONE. char is also very nice to the survivors until they start being mean to her. also she got shot in the chest, i’d be annoyed too. but the most part, char is actually rather pleasant. she’s just… loud. and has a bit of temper. but most of her screentime is with dan, so for the most part she’s soft and sweet with him. because love. i’m annoyed by all this because to this day, within fandom, char is remembered as the angry bitch who died of nosebleeds. fuck y’all, she’s a passionate, polyglottal, determined nerd with a shorter than average fuse and whom loves daniel faraday and chocolate. i know she didn’t get a lot as a character but being remembered for a trait that doesn’t even describe her doesn’t help. like, yeah, my section of the fandom has her be a chocolate obsessed mega trekkie who’s super kinky. is it self-indulgent? fuck yeah (and im proud) but it’s better than seeing her as a constant bitch because she got justifiably angry a few times

ahem anyways

miles as a constant deadpan snarker. okay i see where this comes from, my brain does it too, but miles is not daria. he has tones and inflections. when he isn’t resting grump face, he’s quite emotive. also he has feelings. inside he is very sad. also he cares about his friends. basically he’s not always deadpan. most importantly, miles is an asshole. yes. but he’s not an ASSHOLE. you get me? like, he’s a snarky dick to people but he’s not actually genuinely a bad mean person. this is kinda the point of his character. like his snark is a defense mechanism for his issues. miles would never be an actual (and ableist) cunt to say, hurley or dan. he just has issues connecting with people due to his powers and internal conflict

basically: 

dan isn’t a delicate perfect flower of innocence, char isn’t angry all of the time and being a bitch isn’t her entire character, and miles is actually (eventually) a good person who cares and emotes. i’ve seen ken’s face do things, ya know

things I look for in art/fic:

any art and fic of them existing would be nice (points at my icon)

and in fic, as with anything, i’d like it to be in character. and like, boat times, limbo times, it’s all good. have it anyways. also i’ve found like zero fic

there used to be loads of lost fics, but most of ‘em were purged in 2010

[the saddest violin]

• Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

miles/richard is another pairing i love, and thats how i imagine miles lives his life

• My happily ever after for them:

they all live together in limbo land, in dan’s penthouse. basically 80% of my sci team imagination center (the part of my brain specifically dedicated to the science team) is spent in that house. a great dymantic and lots of sex ensues

also piano. also rats. also char has a cat named jean-luc. it hates miles

fuck, i just realised between dan being a musician/sort of scientist, char being an anthropologist and miles being a detective, that penthouse is gonna be FULL of stacks of paper laying around… the sci team personally killed the rainforest

• what is their favorite non-sexual activity?

PLAY US A SONG YOU’RE THE PIANO MAN

watching tv together

i’ve pictured ‘em doing most domestic activities… right now i keep imagining them eating breakfast together in their underwear

showers

dan likes to draw on his lover’s bodies (music notes, equations, cute little pics of rats. miles says dan’d make a decent tattoo artist)

and holy shit get dan and char going, they can talk for hours. and miles can just sorta follow it (and throw in quips) but he loves ‘em anyways

[naruto-scenarios-plus-akatsuki]

Fanfic question meme: 6, 7, 10, 11-14, 23, 26-28, 43, 46!! Sorry if that's too many!! xoxoxoxox 💖💖💖💖

Thank you so much for asking me some questions and its not too many at all ^.^

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

I’m mainly going to focus on pairs I like in Naruto, because that’s what I’m heavily involved in at the moment. I’ve only written fanfiction for 3 different fandoms and I’m considering that’s what the question meant by “involved in”. 

For Naruto: SasuHina (I just love reading fanfiction on this pair), ShikaTema (right from the start, I knew they be together

For Batman: BatmanxCatwoman, JokerxHarley (I usually stick to those two as my favorite because I like angst but most fanfictions on them get repetitive)

For Twilight: EdwardxBella, LelaxSam (don’t judge me 😖)

7. List your NoTPs from each fandom you’ve been in.

For Naruto: GaaSaku (this pairing has always confused me; to me its a no), ShikaHidan (also a no), ItaSaku (its an interesting idea but I really cant see Sakura falling for Sasuke’s brother when she’s so hung up on Sasuke), KakaSaku (no student-teacher relationships), ItaSasu (No incest). 

For Batman: BatmanxHarley, BatmanxJoker

For Twilight: EdwardxAlice, RosexJacob

10.  Is there a fandom you read fic from but don’t write in

There’s probably lots of fandoms I dont write for. Some of them I want to, others I know I cant write fanfiction for. 

X-men

Attack on Titan

Hunger Games (I have a few drafts of story I never posted that I had lost inspiration to)

Fast and Furious (I had an outline of a story I wanted to do, but never wrote for it.)

Inuyasha

Vampire Knight

The Walking Dead

Death Note

Avatar

Sherlock

Host

11. Who is your current OTP?

Oh gosh, can I say my OC Saryie with Sai? Lmao Uh probably still heavily like the idea of SasuSaku together out of the canon pairs. Otherwise, I’m mostly reading oc stories with cannon pairings. 

12. Who is your current OT3?

Hmm can’t really answer this because I don’t have one, sorry ^.^’ 

13. Any NoTPs?

Again, I say no to Gaara and Sakura ever being together. Also all the ones stated above again. Haha. 

I also find the pairing of Naruto and Temari weird.

14. Go on, who are your BroTPs?

NaruGaa, ShikaChoji, KakaGai, HidanKaku, KisaItac 

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

I’m honestly fond of my most current story that’s about my OC Saryie with her team. Its called Stirring Emotions. I know I have mentioned it before and I know some people may be sick of me talking about it. However, I am so fond of it because it was the first multiple chapter story I finish in less than a year, that’s how pumped I was to write it even when I was busy finishing up school. 

I like it so much because I knew I wanted to create something different that could be added on to the Naruto world. I am rather picky though, and I don’t like how most oc stories try to mess with Naruto’s life or his background. So I knew I didn’t want to do that with my story. I wanted a character to bare witness to the plot of Naruto without actually changing anything. Now my oc Saryie had been in the drafts for years. I created her when I was 13 years old when I first started watching Naruto. She was a very blunt and unrefined character that I created. I truly got to test out her personality in a different story that was a Naruto AU fic I created. It got me use to writing her character. Then before this story came along, I had worked hard to develop her story and her background. Which also led me to develop more OCs because I wanted to put Saryie on a team that was  going to help add to Saryie’s background. 

So the whole process of preparing and designing characters was very fun for me. Plus, I really wanted to write a proper story for Sai where he is neither the perfect boyfriend or the worst boyfriend. Some people will either write Sai as too dumb or they will write him as too sensitive. I wanted to create a slow burn of how Sai discovers his feelings and wanted to portray a real life feel of a relationship. 

I’m very proud of my story for that reason.  Also, figuring out ways to add to the Naruto story was what made my story even more enjoyable, because I wasn’t just working on creating a romance fic but an all encompassing adventure and romance one. I’m still working on the Sequel to my Stirring Emotions story with Sharing Emotions where Saryie and Sai’s relationship grows further and takes places during the war.  So yea, that’s what I’m most fond of… can’t you tell? lmao 

Sorry for rambling. 

26. How do you come up with your fanfic titles?

I’ve been told on more than one occasion that I am not the best at naming stories 🙂 I perfectly agree. Some feedback I have gotten is that my titles are too dull and dont catch reader’s interest. 

So how do I pick titles? Well for instances with these scenario requests if I write the scenario first, I try to pick a title that summarizes the event. However if I choose a title first and then write the scenario, I just make the title generic. 

As for my stories on fanfiction… I kind just go with the first thing that pops into my head which is bad sometimes. 😅

27. What do you hate more: Coming up with titles or writing summaries?

Titles. Summaries are ok. I’m not the greatest at it, but I try. 

28. If someone were to draw a piece of fanart for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of?

I always thought it be cool too see fanart of my Naruto AU story where most Naruto characters are at an Art college. This story was like created when I was 14 years old so its not the greatest but… can you imagine like…

Naruto all deck out like a pop artist as he has dreams of being a singer 

Hinata in cute ballet outfit

Sasuke as a hiphop dancer 

Tenten as a painter with her colthes splattered with paint and pencils in her hair

Temari as a violinist with combat boots and piercings with a rock band shirt on.

Shikamaru with a man-bun, smoking a cigarette, with a guitar strapped to his back

Sai looking prestine and formal, but always caring a sketch pad with him. 

Ugh… I want it. I tried drawing it myself once. Didn’t come out well. 

43. Is there anyone in your fandom who really inspires you?

Yes, the whole reason I wanted to refine my own oc was because of an author on fanfiction. She had created a neat Kakashixoc fic that wasn’t at all mary-sueish and didnt affect the plot of Naruto and made me fantasize creating my own story in a similar way. 

There are also a few authors on tumblr that had inspired me to start my own imagines blog. 

46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why?Probably my latest story with my OC because its more well-written. Frankly my Naruto AU story embarrasses me when I read back on it and even if I do like the compliments I get on it, I know its not the best. I was a young teenager when I wrote it and I just wish I had thought about it more. 

[carnationbooks]

Author Interview: Porcupine Girl

We are so excited to add more author interviews to our blog! This month we talked with authors from the Check, Please! fandom, and first up is the lovely and talented @porcupine-girl.

Read her fic here on AO3! (http://archiveofourown.org/users/PorcupineGirl/works)

Note: We added links to any mentioned sites/fics! Check ‘em out!

How did you first get into fandom? What was your first fandom?

Depends on how you define “fandom”… When I was a kid, I was OBSESSED with the Baby-Sitters Club. If I had had any way of getting in contact with a group of BSC fans at that age (this was like… 1988-1992), I absolutely would have. As it was, absolutely anyone I met who also read them was instantly my friend and would be pestered about the latest books. So that was like… me without a fandom but desperately wanting one. :) I still occasionally write BSC fic; I consider it my “nostalgia fandom”.

My first online fandom was the Star Trek: The Next Generation message boards on Prodigy in like 1995-1996. I still didn’t know about fanfic - I spent most of high school writing an elaborate self-insert TNG movie in my head, but it never occurred to me to write it down and show it to other people. But I found other fans to talk about the show with.

My first fanfic fandom was Harry Potter. I started reading fic in like probably 2004-2005, and started tiny dabblings of writing fic in about 2006 or so. I honestly don’t remember how I first got into reading fic, though. No clue what the first fic I read or anything was.

Other than writing fic, do you participate in any other fandom activities such as drawing fan art, podfic, gif making, meta, cosplaying, etc?

I’ve written meta occasionally. I can’t really draw, but I can use photoshop, so I’ve made a handful of photomanips and I’ve got some text-based designs for several fandoms up on RedBubble (http://www.redbubble.com/people/porcupine8/shop#_=_). I love small fan-run cons and have been on several panels and run events for both 221B Con and Destiel Con. I hope there’s an OMGCP Con someday, although this fandom skews even younger than most of the ones I’ve been in so I’d probably feel like a den mother! And I helped run the Fandom Trumps Hate  auction this year, and hopefully will be involved in future auctions. I’ve been meaning to try podficcing, but never get around to it….

What inspired you to start writing fic?

Oh gosh. Well, the very first fic I ever posted was sort of a joke. I’d been reading HP fic for a while, and back then on LJ there were comms making fun of “Mary Sue” fics (I know, very mean, I wouldn’t do that now). One had a contest to see whose intentionally-bad Mary Sue could get the most comments on ff.net. I won. :) I got some HP stickers. I’d made a ff.net username just for that, but then made a new one (PG) to post real fic. I guess I just… finally realized that the stories I’d been building in my head for so long (like that TNG movie from high school) could actually go somewhere.

What is your favorite thing you have written so far?

*gasp* How dare you make me choose between all my babies! There are a few that I’m proud of for different reasons. I wrote a Sherlock fic several years ago called Autonomous Behavior (http://archiveofourown.org/works/626909) that I love because it’s only 335 words yet contains a plot twist. I’m proud of my Destiel ABO fic, Unwritten (http://archiveofourown.org/works/5087059), because I basically created my own version of omegaverse and managed to subvert a lot of the more problematic features of that genre. Another Destiel fic, This Isn’t Where We Intended to Be (http://archiveofourown.org/works/3537659), I just generally love. My goal there was more interiority than I usually managed at the time, and I think I did really well on that front and it’s something I’ve been able to do more easily ever since, plus I’m just really happy with the structure and pacing. And my Check Please! fic Jack Zimmermann Is A Masochistic Fuckwit (http://archiveofourown.org/works/8910685) I’m proud of because I wrote 11,000 words in two days and yet it managed to not suck.

What is your favorite fic by someone else?

Ack! Also SO HARD! I just took a survey recently on favorite Destiel fics, and wow, even just narrowing it down to 5-6 in that one fandom was nearly impossible. It would vary day to day, probably. Ok, I’ll try to give one each for the two main fandoms I’m reading fic in right now, SPN and OMGCP. SPN if you twisted my arm I guess I’d go with The Way to a Man’s Heart is Through Chlamydia by violue (https://archiveofourown.org/works/3815995). Or maybe the Not Part of the Plan series by Annie D (https://archiveofourown.org/series/56211)? Or Plus One by ceeainthereforthat (http://archiveofourown.org/works/5042650/chapters/11593768). Ugh, this is too hard. And Check Please!… ugh. *stares at AO3 bookmarks helplessly* Maybe… Finally I’ll Be Yours by angryspaceravenclaw (http://archiveofourown.org/works/8333965/chapters/19090003) or A Little Bit Closer by marswithghosts (http://archiveofourown.org/works/7289398). Or maybe Maybe I’m Waking Up by idrilka(http://archiveofourown.org/works/4436639).

I have entirely failed to give you one fic, or even one fic per fandom.

How did you get into Check Please?

I’d heard a few mentions on my Tumblr dash of this hockey comic where people thought the OTP would actually get together, but I’ve been burned enough times that I didn’t think much of it. Then a year ago, suddenly my dash was full of these two guys kissing! And I was like, okay, I should check this out. But I didn’t, really. I think I looked at the one comic where they kiss and that’s it? And like many people, I was like why is this grown man kissing a 14-year-old, because Bitty still looked pretty young then. Finally, a couple months later, I was like oh yeah that hockey comic with the boys kissing, I meant to read that. Turns out it had just updated a few days before, and I read the entire comic in one afternoon. I posted my first fic for it like… two? three? days later. I had promised myself I wouldn’t write a fic until I read a bunch to see what the common tropes were, what’s been overdone, etc… but no. There was no going back.

What pairings do you like to read in this fandom? What pairings do you like to write? Do you read gen fic?

I mostly read and only write Zimbits (Jack/Bitty), which is the main canon couple. I’ll read other pairings here and there - basically anything that doesn’t involve one of them with someone else, though not much with Kent Parson because I have Kent Parson Issues ™. Probably the pairing I’ve read the most after Zimbits is Nursey/Dex. I’ll read gen, as long as it’s not something negating Jack/Bitty (so stuff set before they got together, or focused on other characters).

What’s your favorite fic trope?

Oh jeez. Again with the wanting me to pick one favorite. I love Two Person Love Triangles - where they know each other anonymously (online, pen pals, etc) and don’t realize they also know each other in person. I’ve written one for destiel and am currently writing one for zimbits. Fake Relationships are also a classic. I hate the concept of soulmates in real life, but adore Soulmate AUs. Also Magical Realism. And I’m a sucker for anything that subverts or deconstructs a trope.

Do you listen to music while you write? What music inspires you? Feel free to tell us if a specific song or playlist helps!

Not normally, actually. Music is too distracting for writing - I’m trying to get down words, other words are coming into my ears, can’t do it. I can use music to focus for less verbal tasks, but not writing. But right now I’m writing a fic based on the musical She Loves Me (which is a Two Person Love Triangle, this is that Zimbits fic I mentioned), so I’ve been listening to songs from that to work out plot points - but I generally have to switch back and forth between listening to the songs and writing the scenes, I still can’t do both at once very well.

Do you have any recs to share with our readers?

Oh man. Do I ever. Hm. In order to narrow it down, I’m going to stick to things that aren’t as well-known - the ones I listed as favorites all have thousands of kudos - things like that don’t really need to be recced even more, y'know? So I’ll give some CP recs that have under 500 kudos and deserve more recognition.

Love Is To Be Made by DoubleNegative (http://archiveofourown.org/works/8423557) Mr Crappy’s Political Party Talk Radio Show by tiptoe39 (http://archiveofourown.org/works/8976388) Breakaway by Alianne82 (http://archiveofourown.org/works/8444416)

Production Values by chocoholic2 (http://archiveofourown.org/works/8440468) Southern Confectionaries By Eric Bittle by foryouandbits (http://archiveofourown.org/works/8772907) Smoke, Fire, and Galangal by snorklepie (http://archiveofourown.org/works/9776216) And Just Like That by maxette (http://archiveofourown.org/works/9582320)

We’d like to thank @porcupine-girl for taking the time to share her fandom experience with us, and for the stunning amount of recs contained in this interview (we love recs). We hope you all will go check out her fic and the ones linked in the interview. Happy reading and writing!

[shesailsships]

2016 in review

Tagged by @frenchcirce <3

total number of stories (completed/WIPs):

7 completed (they are one-shot fics) || 3 WIP...one fanfic and two original works

total word count:

I’m just going to tally my fanfic word counts here (my original works are always in flux, I’m constantly adding and cutting)...9,985 published without counting Ghost Hunters, Lies, & Money...with counting Ghost Hunters, Lies, & Money-- are you ready for this? A whopping 236,716 words. GLM had become monster sized, it’s hundreds of pages long at this point...and still going lol! 

fandoms written in:

Oh gosh, I’ve written for quite a few. My very first fandom was JAG and it was what introduced me to what fanfiction was. I wrote many many fics for JAG, eons ago. They were my first writings. They’re still out there somewhere, lost in the internet. So yes, JAG for one. Later I wrote for Primeval. I’ve written a short piece for The Pretender. I tossed my hat in the ring and was moved to write a one-shot for Clintasha. Ghost Hunt though, has been a long beloved muse of mine, and the only fandom I’m currently writing for with any regularity. There are so many fandoms I follow-- I have a whole folder on my computer full of half-finished fic...I can say that I’ve attempted writing for just about every ship that I love <3 

looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected?

I always seem to write less than I want, so sad! At the beginning of each year I have these grand plans of making more time for my writing, goals of writing for more fandoms that I love, publishing more one-shots, ect. Unfortunately, I rarely seem to be able to follow through with these plans. It’s 2017 now, and once again I’m back on the grand dreams train. I desperately want to write more this year, especially on GLM. I’d love to get four solid chapters out this year...maybe even finish it? We’ll see :)

what’s your own favorite story of the year?

We’ll since we’ve gone over the fact that I haven’t been very prolific lately, it would have to be my WIP, Ghost Hunter, Lies, & Money. That being said, I would choose GLM as my favorite anyways. I’ve been writing it for 10 years now. It’s apart of my heart, I am so tremendously proud of it <33

Original works wise, the novel idea I started revisiting in 2016 has got me so excited. I can’t wait to grow this idea more and develop it into something. 

did you take any writing risks this year?

Does not writing count as a risk? lol! It sure feels risky to me...[glances at readers nervously] Not to mention I go slowly crazy without a creative outlet. I NEED TO WRITE. In all seriousness though, I feel like every time I open Word I take new risks. Approaching my original works is both a exciting and terrifying experience. I am writing out of my comfort zone, about characters I don’t know very well yet, in a setting I’m not quite knowledgeable about yet. Very different from Ghost Hunt.

do you have any fanfic or profit goals for the new year?

Like I said I’m in it’s-a-new-year-imma-write-lots mode, so I have lots of plans for 2017...but at the very top of my priority list is publishing new chapters for GLM. I am dying to share this final arc with my readers <3

best story of the year?

GLM...because that’s the one I feel most proud of? I feel it’s the best of my works anyways! That, and I didn’t write anything other than GLM this year. Aside from starting my original novel that is...and that’s still shaping up! 

most popular story of the year?

Why, Ghost Hunters, Lies, & Money of course! I’ve had 10 years to build a following of the most lovely readers in the entire world. To know there are people out there who actually want to know ‘what happens next?!’ amazes and honors me. I am truly blessed. 

story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:

Kindred Spirits, my only Pretender fic-- as well as my Memily one-shots. The Pretender is a small fandom, so I know there’s not much traffic, but I really feel I captured ‘a moment’ in that piece, and I think other fans would enjoy it if they knew it was out there :) As for my Memily one-shots, that’s just me waving my shippy flag proudly, and wishing someone else out there would join in with me. Memily is a small niche ship inside the Primeval fandom, I’m a passionate shipper, but I’m one of the few [sigh]

most fun story to write:

GLM! I get so excited about different plot points, revealing twists, badgering my characters with embarrassing hijinks, setting up inside jokes. I often laugh to myself while writing it, much to the alarm of my cat lol!

story with the single sexiest moment:

Hee, hee, hee-- I guess it depends on your perception of sexy? Sorry kids, I don’t do NC-17. I come from the Jane Austen school of romance. A brush of the hand. A low whisper. Locked eyes. Surprise gestures, which reveal hidden feelings. Subtly. I am a huge fan of the ‘slow-burn’, building tension. Passion is an aspect of romance that is fascinating to me. I feel you can have passionate characters, involved in a passionate romance...and not have to hit the sheets in the first chapter. I really enjoy writing passionate characters... characters who are passionate about each other...and how that passion comes out. But anyways, back to the question! 

Sexiest moment I’ve ever written? In my style, I guess you could look to my reviewers for an answer to this one, I’ve scattered some special moments between Mai and Naru through out my fic that I know have gotten quite a reaction ;) I personally change my mind on this all of the time, but right now I’d say the most passionate scene I’ve written, would be the final scenes of Chapter 23. Mai and Naru alone at base after the blood rain in the theater. There’s a certain intensity there, so much tension has built up between them, there are things she wants to tell him, but can’t-- and he knows it. He’s worried for her, and she’s worried for him, and through that their passion for each other shows. The whole scene has that oooh-something-might-happen feeling, you just kind of hold your breath...it’s enough to make my heart race, and I’m the one who wrote it! Yes, I know I’m a dork ^__^

most sweet story:

Bedside Manner, hands down. It’s the first piece I wrote for the Ghost Hunt fandom and it features a really sweet ‘what-if’ scenario between John and Masako, where he takes care of her at the hospital after she’s hurt on their first case. Say it with me, awwww! <3 

”holy crap, that’s wrong, even for you!” story:

According to my sister, who pre-reads my GLM chapters before I post them: the Mr. Sachi x Miss Miyuki twist. Sorry? [evil cackle]

story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters & most unintentionally telling story:

No exact example of this really, except that after writing GLM for so long I feel even closer to the characters, that I know them better. Also, I’m having a harder time distinguishing between canon, and the canon of my fic...oops? lol!

Writing Kindred Spirits really put me in Catherine and Sydney’s frame of mind...which was really interesting. Writing out that piece between them really helped me build better theories on who they were as characters during the events of that time, which the show kept mostly hidden from us.

hardest story to write:

I sound like a broken record, but GLM. Naturally, right? It’s my longest running work and it has a mystery plot that, believe it or not, is not my greatest strength. Then there’s the added pressure of wanting to meet not only my expectations, but the expectations of my readers. I’m a perfectionist and I end up revising so much of what I write. Takes me forever. 

Also, my original novel. Every aspect of my novel is in the developing phase, nothing is certain or concrete, there’s just this vague sense of what I want the story to be and the excitement that goes with it. Every sentence I write is experimental. It has been a real challenge getting off the ground and out of my comfort zone. I have my good days and bad days. Still, I’m learning and looking forward to what these fingers will type next! 

biggest disappointment:

So many things. I think that’s apart of the yin/yang of writing. I’ve written and lost pieces of original work due to computer errors. That has to be the most disappointing, down right painful actually :( I back up my work obsessively now. 

Also, actually being able to write when I do have the time. It’s so funny that way. There will be plenty of times where I make the time, sit down all ready...and can’t seem to put out anything? Ah, the woes of being a writer ;)

biggest surprise:

How well received my work has been, the reviews my readers leave for me. Being a writer, putting yourself out there-- it’s nerve wrecking. Self-doubt is my friend. To get the kind of response I’ve gotten over the years, I am so grateful for it. When I say reviews fuel my writing, I truly mean it. Nothing motivates me like hearing that someone just can’t wait for more! Or that my writing has touched someone, made them laugh, ect...oh goodess! <3

taggity tags: @sy5starplaty (because I know you write :D) AND anyone else who writes that follows me, really-- I tag you! Do this, I want to hear about your writing :)