#I'd ask why the fuck it's so hard for so many authors in this fandom to be normal about Sophia but we all know why

[dragongirlfangs]

"Oh wow I really like this Worm fic that's been going on! Well written, with interesting dynamics, and Wolfspider for once!" [A few chapters later] "I regret to inform you that the fic has flanderized Sophia and casually killed her off"

[shanastoryteller]

happy birthday! identity shenanigans in the fandom of your choice, please?

Part 1 2

Chris doesn't get through more than two upper level demons before the sisters' calling for him starts to give him a headache.

He orbs back in the manor, arms crossed. "Did you figure out how to put the sword back in the lake?"

Leo is here now. Great. As if this whole situation wasn't already terrible.

"My liege," says a tall man in a ridiculous outfit, going into a deep bow. "I felt when the sword was removed. I am here to teach you how to wield it."

Chris can't even pretend to give a fuck. "Go away."

"Um, he seems to a lot about the sword?" Phoebe offers. "Maybe he can help you put it back. His name is Mordaunt."

"It would be my honor to-"

"Am I your king or aren't I?" Chris demands. "Fuck off."

Paige seems delighted by his attitude while Piper is taken aback and Leo is frowning.

"Perhaps you are not the king," Mordaunt suggests, "your combative attitude could be a result of the sword's corruptive power. It's strange that the sword would appear in the Charmed Ones' home only for you to take it from the stone."

People thinking the sword can't possibly belong to him is nothing new. It was always supposed to be Wyatt, no one ever questioned that, but when the time he came he couldn't make the sword budge, no matter what he did.

Chris's time with it had been brief. He'd been too young when he'd pulled it free and Wyatt had stolen it and corrupted it and been corrupted by it. No one had believed him.

Well, almost no one.

"Are you saying Excalibur doesn't know it's master?" he asks sharply.

Mordaunt visibly hesitates.

"Go," he says. "Before I make you."

His face sours but he gives a shallow bow and disappears into a vortex. Interesting. Those are typically associated with neutral parties.

The sisters and Leo look wary. He holds back a sigh and says, "If the sword were truly corrupting me, I wouldn't want to put it back and I'd be trying to conquer the world. It's mine."

"You're King Arthur?" Paige presses. "You're a whitelighter!"

Piper's face softens. "Were you king before you died?"

There are so many reasons that this is a disaster, but the questions it brings up are the worst for him personally.

He supposes he's just lucky that Piper hadn't grabbed for the sword. She's his mother, and the half of him that will eventually become, well, him, is still inside of her. She would have been able to pull it from the stone, it would have corrupted her, and it would have been almost impossible to get it away from her without revealing his identity.

"It's not king like you're thinking of it," he says finally. "Don't worry about it. Unless me being king means you'll actually listen to me, in which case it means exactly what you think it does."

"If you're the king, why didn't you say that when you first appeared?" Leo challenges. "It would have meant more than you just being a random whitelighter from the future."

Chris stares. "Yeah, because historically the Charmed Ones have responded so well to authority. It doesn't matter. I'm not a king here."

His identity matters in the future. It's the only reason the Resistance exists at all.

Wyatt doesn't use Excalibur against him in battle. The sword, even corrupted, knows its king. It won't harm him.

His brother found that out that hard way, in front of too many witnesses. It's the only reason anyone is crazy enough to go against someone who's seemingly almost all powerful.

"You're so young, though," Phoebe frowns. "How long have you been a whitelighter? You're not even born yet. And - why would the Elders make you a whitelighter? You need to be reincarnated. It's your destiny."

Destiny is horseshit.

It's Paige who figures it out. He'd always worried that it would be her, that he'd see the similarities between them that no one else noticed. "Unless - you didn't die. You're not a whitelighter."

Piper frowns. "Honey, he's pretty obviously a whitelighter."

"No," she shakes her head. "I mean, yeah, but he's like me. You didn't die. You were born a whitelighter."

This day really can't get any worse.

[bookofmirth]

Uhhh what did I miss? Why are big artists leaving the fandom and what did fairyloot do?

Fairyloot didn't do anything - this fandom is just entitled and out of control.

Fairyloot released the designs for their special edition ToG a couple of days ago, and some people disliked it. I say "some" because the post now has 50k likes and plenty of people do actually like the designs, I personally like them and if I had the disposable income I'd buy them.

So people flooded the comments with complaints. I mean it's over 4k comments now. Not all of them are negative, but many of them are incredibly rude and entitled. Like astonishingly so.

But they couldn't leave it at that - they had to go to the page of the book designer and the fan artist and leave rude comments on their pages, too.

Do people have legit things that make sense to want to change? Perhaps. Making the stag white would make sense if that was literally supposed to be the Lord of the North and not just a stag. I guess the wyvern is the wrong color if it's supposed to literally be Abraxos and not just an abstraction of wyverns, of which there are many in the book. In terms of the color and design of the covers, they were going for a vintage look, which the book designer explained, and is something I clocked before she even made that comment.

And the allegations of plagiarism are ridiculous considering the similarities between the two special editions are elements coming from the damn series. I mean, a landscape? In art? Fucking revolutionary /s

The thing is, even if all of these feelings are justified - you can be sad that the colors aren't vibrant, you can be sad that they are relatively monochromatic, you can think that there are other, better special editions out there - that doesn't fucking mean that you need to tell the whole world how you feel, especially when it's going to negatively impact the people who worked really hard to create these books. And what's more, these special editions are a luxury item. No one has to buy them. No one is owed the specific design that they want.

These assholes probably already own and have read the series. If they think someone else has done it better, and for cheaper, then go buy that other version!!!! Go commission someone else for their hard work then, bestie! And you'll quickly find out that people's hard work and time is actually quite valuable and probably regret your decision.

All the comments saying it's a cash grab - I'm sorry, are you not on the page of a store that sells things in order to make money???? Are you fucking stupid???? "This thing that is completely optional to my ability to live and has no impact on my quality of life that I don't need to buy is too expensive and doesn't look how I would want it to" okay, and? Go cry to the group chat.

All the people saying "it's constructive comments/constructive criticism" -

Did they fucking ask??? Fairyloot didn't post asking what people think, they posted saying "here's the design". If you don't like it, don't buy it.

And there is a way to deliver constructive criticism that isn't harmful. A few hundred people commenting the same snarky, passive aggressive shit over and over is NOT constructive criticism. If people were really concerned about that message getting to Fairyloot and the artists, then all they would have to do is find a comment they felt expressed what they agree with - because there are plenty - like that comment, and perhaps respond saying that they agree. Engage with that comment. Don't fucking dogpile with the same. Goddamn. Comment. Over. And. Fucking. Over. And apparently there were a bunch of reels deconstructing how much the book design sucked too, which I didn't even watch or get into.

People are really out here on the internet acting like no one else is human or has feelings.

So yeah, now big artists are leaving the fandom and tbh, if I were a visual artist, I would have left a long time ago. Other well-known authors are commenting on those artists' posts (Sabaa Tahir, Stephanie Garber, Shannon Chakraborty) in support of the artists.

It's beyond embarrassing to be part of this community so I'm just... pretty much done with it.

[ofstormsandfire]

Do you have any good BotW/TotK fic recs? Yours or other people’s!

Boy howdy DO I.

Going to preface this by saying that I have preferences, and those preferences tend to veer towards gay shit and people who don't initially get along ending up ride or die, and as such a high proportion of these are going to be Revalink.

Anyway. The fic that got me into that ship, changed my brain chemistry, and is a large part of why I go !!!! about ghosts (literal and nonliteral) haunting the narrative, characters with amnesia who are supposed to be dead, and the Rito as a whole, is Pinesong by aperplexingpuzzle and that is the fic that makes me go "if you read NOTHING else in this fandom read THIS holy fuck."

(But also you should be reading other things too, because there is so much good shit and I adore it greatly I go back to reread my favorites regularly. Also check out the authors I mention apart from just the fics I link there is so much good fic I'm forcing myself to just pick one per author or else I will be here literally all day.)

Next up: Moonlight (every single night) by Heleentje. Do you like time loops? Do you like characters slowly, painstakingly figuring out how to get it right? Did you get very attached to Revalink from the last fic? how about some ~queerplatonic Zelink~ in this trying time?

Frankly, it is very hard to pick just one fic by Ginneke, they've got so many good ones but I'm going to have to settle on Flowers from your Beloathed, which is another Revalink fic set before the Calamity where, y'know, Revali is getting flowers from a secret admirer. Except he's Revali. Hilarity ensues and I enjoyed the hell out of this one ^-^

Also also. Come Morning Light by misscoconi. Post-Calamity, they are both idiots (affectionate) and I am starting to realize that I have a bit of a pattern in my taste in Revalink fics. Huh. I'll unpack that later actually.

Skybound Wishes by Baddrummer is unfinished (unlike most of the fics I've recommended here) but y'all. Y'all it makes me lose my shit in so many ways because I am a SLUT for creative fix-it fics and gratuitous weaving-in of references to other games in ways that still respect the established canon but respect all of it, y'know, not just doing the TOTK thing of "actually nothing pre-BOTW matters anymore and neither does BOTW lol."

...I am starting to realize there may be a reason why I don't have a lot of TOTK recs. Also if this post is starting to sound unhinged and disconnected that's probably because I'm bouncing between Tumblr and studying for one of my finals like a ping pong ball.

But I do have one really, really big fic rec for TOTK. Y'all should check out Show Me the World Outside by IllusionOfDeath. The Sages get to do things, the Divine Beasts don't just vanish without a word, the Champions get actual recognition, and you can tell that the author is the Linguistics Georg (affectionate) of the fanfic world.

Anyway I think I will shill myself a bit too since you gave me permission to anon! If you read no other Zelda fics by me, may I recommend no one ever mentions fear, a fic that... it really was, in a lot of ways, a love letter to the fics in the fandom that I'd read and loved before. You've got the Champions getting to live and have nice things, you've got Revali being a dumbass (affectionate), you've got gay shit, you've got Problems Being Caused by the Yiga Clan in the background.

...Oh god this post is getting. A little longer than I meant for it to I've realized. Um. I love fanfic and tbh if you end up reading everything I've recced and still want more, my bookmarks on AO3 are public and I tend to bookmark just about everything I've read and liked enough to want to find again.

......I should probably get back to studying now but thank you for the ask! I like rambling lol

[lolotr]

hi hello babes this is shadowquill17, reporting for duty for the prompt "Anonymously - or not - tell me what passage, fic, line of narration, or anything you remember me by as a writer." I guess I'm doing both anonymous and not. (Couldn't send the ask from my side blog, ugh)

Anyway, so obviously you immediately popped into my mind when I saw that post, which is why I just had to make you reblog it. I could say my piece.

THIS, FROM TERMS OF ENDEARMENT:

Edwin doesn't bring it up until they're back at the office and Crystal has gone home for the night. He's not especially good at the bringing up of things (“Now you know that's not true,” the Charles in his head says with a salacious wink, and if Edwin could he’d blush at how thoroughly infected his mind has become). However, since he and Charles have begun courting—

(“These days it's called dating, mate.”)

Remember when I was writing my first dbd fic? (after you dragged me into the fandom laughing at my pain? Yeah). And I wanted to give credit to the person who had written about Edwin having a mental Charles making dirty jokes in his mind? Because that bit had stuck in my mind SO HARD and it felt so right, I just had to give Charles a mental Edwin as well?

And remember when I was asking you to help me find that fic so I could give credit to the author? And you were not giving me any details, you were like yeah, it’s the spicy one. And I was like WHICH ONE JENNA. And you were like !!! The spicy one!!!

Because you thought I knew it was your fic, but I’m literally so stupid that I did NOT remember it was yours. Even though I screamed about it to you right away.

ANYWAY.

There are so many parts of your fics that I will adore forever, but that one was really one of the first that REALLY stuck with me and embedded itself into my soul. So here’s to the line I was obsessed with even when I didn’t know you had written it. ❤️❤️❤️

AHHHHHHH STOP IT I'M SMILING SO HARD

I can't believe the thing I initially wrote because I couldn't stop myself from making a dirty joke is something that stuck with you so hard. the two of them know one another so well, and we have that adorable moment of Charles imitating Edwin to have a conversation with him when Edwin is ignoring him, so giving Edwin a Charles in his brain was an easy leap to make, haha. especially if he gets to make dirty puns

I DO remember that, and I was so fucking confused bc at that point I'd only written 2-3 fics and was like, it shouldn't be that hard for you to find it WHAT ARENT YOU GETTING

also you're not stupid. iirc that was the day after you'd insisted you weren't that tired even though it was like 7 am for you and you'd only slept a couple of hours the night before.

anyway I'm so glad we have one another to be stupid and/or unhinged about DBD together 💜💜💜💜💜💜

[whatever-you-can-give-me]

oo hot takes !!! i think. i think fandom is rlly missing out on not exploring more of the less human aspects of vash, ww & livio & literally anyone who's been experimented on OR is biologically Other. like - yo, zazie the beast??? why are we not talking about them??? they are SO terrifying???? the Potential with how many gaps mr. nightow left..... also this whole ... softification ... of many characters resulting in people fr missing how absolutely horrifying vash can be to be around and how terrified wolfwood was of him for a whole while.

oh man, anon, you're definitely trying to get me in trouble. obligatory disclaimer: i don't judge anyone's lighthearted or shippy fanfics, or even have that much of a bone to pick with most popular fanon.

HOWEVER, SINCE YOU ASKED:

vash is so fucking weird. he's so weird. he has this very subtle habit of like, forgetting that humans can have free will and fully-formed opinions about things? like, he assumes he is the highest authority on The Concept Of Conflict because he Knows The Most (and he's Space Jesus Delivered From On High By The Goddess Rem). and it makes him act really weird and patronizing out of 0% malice and 100% mommy issues. (i'm not a japanese speaker so take this with a grain of salt, but he uses the you-pronoun "kimi", which makes him sound 1. old 2. really patronizing. other people who use "kimi" include legato and zazie, for reference)

i can't really speak for what fandom's missing out on, cause i'm having a great time writing wolfwood's ongoing health issues from getting fucked over by the eye of michael into my fics about him. there's a lot to pick at there! i don't begrudge anyone not wanting to get into the whole. child experimentation angle, but there's a lot of real estate there if you're looking.

ZAZIE. oh i had a whole conversation about zazie with some friends the other day. i'd have to do some more research before i post about it, but the tl;dr is that by making zazie conscious and sentient, they exist as a native people of no man's land. which has made me think very hard about the post-canon concept in fanwork of terraforming the planet, because, like, that's their HOUSE, did you ASK them? for the record, i don't think nightow thought about this At All, but i think studio orange definitely has. also i want to write about them but it would need to be very stylistic, because hivemind.

LET WOLFWOOD BE SCARED OF VASH IT'S VERY IMPORTANT. very much hoping s2 keeps the thread from trigun maximum that seeing vash's power in action scared the fucking shit out of wolfwood and he doesn't really get past it for most of the manga. again people can write their fluff i don't begrudge it but i do think wolfwood's character is very informed by the fact that he is very in over his head and very scared.

[azrielgreen]

Hi! I really hope that this doesn't come across wrong, because you're my favorite author of all time, but I am curious about how and why you write pairings with Billy? I mean, he's a violent and awful racist who tried to kill a kid. I'm just curious about Billy shippers, and I wanted to know what you think about all that! You really are my #1 author, and I really, really hope this doesn't come across as mean!

I debated answering this at all because I really don't involve myself in anything remotely related to fandom unpleasantness or the kind of immaturity that leads to "ship wars" and outright bullying, but I can tell your question was asked in good faith so this will probably be the one time I answer anything like this.

I write for myself. I write characters that interest me. I'm interested in complex characters. They have the most wiggle room for expression and interpretation of angst and growth and suffering within my kind of creative narrative. I fully appreciate that the Stranger Things fandom is where I gained traction, but I've been in fandom for a decade and I've written for Hannibal, Supernatural, Vampire Chronicles, Dragon Age among many others that I usually orphan because writing for myself is essential. I don't write to appease or instruct or create a moral guideline for how to be or how to love.

I won't reel off a list of reasons "why" i write pairings with Billy because I don't need to justify anything to anyone. I don't endorse what I write. I explore complicated characters and I feel things through them and I write and follow my creative instincts where a story might lead. I don't write to be popular, I never have, and I never will and if I thought for a second that the only reason my fics gained traction in this fandom was because anyone saw me as some kind of Anti-Billy Flag-waver, I'd delete every single thing I wrote including my AO3 username. Luckily, I know that's not the case and those who like my writing and stories enjoy them because they're smart enough to select what they like and leave what they don't.

I think there's a stunning level of dissonance between people who are insecure and fandom and those who are secure. It's fanfiction. It's literally transformative works. I can transform whatever I like and I write what I'm drawn to and I am drawn, always, to complicated characters with the potential for growth and evolution from low places. I've written so much for so many fandoms and some of what I've written has been pure, ice cold horror, straight up. The idea that I'm supposed to be someone who only ever writes Fandom Stamp-Approved Characters is hilarious to me. I write about murderers, people who kill, soldiers, assassins and even serial killers. I could spend time and energy explaining why I'm drawn to writing darker elements and giving them a bright, hopeful growth arc but I shouldn't have to explain ANYTHING and I don't, so I won't and please, anyone else reading, do not ever feel like you have to explain or justify what you write. That path leads nowhere good. No one should regulate what people write. NO ONE has the right to bully someone out of a fandom because they disagree with what they're writing about. No one.

I have always tried to be very open and supportive about encouraging people to feel safe exploring their interests, be it kink, trauma, whatever. I'll fight fiercely to defend people's right to enjoy literally whatever the fuck they want because life is hard, time is short, real life is disappointing and AO3 at the end of a long day can be comforting as fuck. The idea that some people are handwringing because people write about a "violent awful racist who tried to kill a kid" is so ridiculous to me it makes me laugh every single time. It's not real. It's a story. It's a TV show. I can explore whatever I want and so can everyone else.

Here's the very closest you'll come to hearing me give reasons why and I'm only doing it because I want other people who feel belittled and bullied and shamed for exploring what they're drawn to, to see this. The person I was at 17 years old is nothing like the person I am now and I cannot emphasise that strongly enough. I come from an abusive home. The girl I was at 17, 18, 19 and even 20... if I met her now, I wouldn't know her and she absolutely wouldn't know me. I lost who I was as a child because I was abused and it's only in the last ten years I had enough experience, distance and self-exploration to rediscover myself and really grow. Nothing excuses racism or violence. Me writing these characters is not excusing it. Writing domestic violence is not endorsing domestic violence. People need to understand this because it's a massive problem in the queer publishing community; this idea that all queer media needs to be morally squeaky clean, to be flawless and sexless and adhere to the perfect cis-heteronormative outline in order to be "acceptable" and not cast a pall on queers overall. I believe people can change. I believe people can see themselves in a piece of media and WANT to be better. I know because it happened to me. People can change. I like to think there are circumstances in which Billy could change. In which there was an intervention point, the possibility for redemption.

Fanfiction isn't real life. I would be so happy if people could understand this. Fiction is FICTION. It's exploration, it's themes, it's freedom of expression, it's art, it's for fun. It's not for everyone. No single thing is for everyone and it never, ever should be. My writing isn't for everyone. That makes me really happy because it means those who might resonate with what I write, will find it and have their own space to enjoy it. I'm a person with finite energy and time who dedicates a lot of that energy and time to this corner of fandom where I reasonably expect to be able to write whatever the hell I like however I like and if anyone has a different opinion of that, they'll be sorely disappointed. Complex, flawed characters whose experiences mirror my own will always be compelling to me and I will always be drawn to exploring redemptive narratives for them. If people don't like it, they don't have to read. If they get upset that I'm writing something they disagree with, that's on them and if they feel the need to draw attention to their discomfort, that's far less to do with the person they're complaining about and more an indication they need to do some serious shadow work.

Thank you for your question, no harm was inferred and I wish you all the best. Az. 💜💜💜

[outtoshatter]

20 Questions for fic Writers!

finally getting to the tag games i've been forgetting! thanks for the tag @sugareey-makes-stuff this looks so cute and fun!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Just 93....for now! I have a secret little goal to hit 100 before the end of the year but realistically that probably won't happen.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

1,864,258! I'd like to hit 2mil eventually :D

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Just Teen Wolf for now! Although I've been trying to get myself to be inspired by others, it's just not happening. Although i finally finished watching Superstore the other day and intensely plotted out a fic that would fill in some missing stuff that was bugging me. but I likely won't do that lmao

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Haaa Son of the Sheriff [Teen Wolf, G, 3k words] Nature of the Beast [Teen Wolf, M, 56k] No Mercy [Teen Wolf, M, 64k] Love Don't Lie [Teen Wolf, T, 2k] Ride with me [Teen Wolf, T, 4k]

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! almost always. sometimes I don't know what to say but I try to respond anyway. I didn't before, at first because when I joined ao3 the authors' whose works I commented on didn't respond so I just thought that was the culture, and then occasionally now because I'm just...very drained from pulling the story out of my head. MOSTLY though I genuinely love talking about my stories with people, especially when they have questions about my worlds; I put a ton of thought and care into my worlds and LOVE when people are interested!

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

Ah...hmm. I don't know! i always aim for happy endings, they bring me the most joy in writing. Uhhh maybe Pulling Strings? It's more open than angsty, buuuut it is less outright happy than my other fics!

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

HAPPIEST. That's so hard!! Because see above, all happy endings. I'll say an even tie between The Next Chapter and Fractured Starlight, just going by most recently picked fics!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

klfjsalkfslka I don't know that i'd call it outright hate. but i've gotten some WILD comments before. That were unquestionably FUCKING rude. But i don't know if it counts as hate. I have an entire folder i have named Hall of Shame of some of the worst offenders. It's gotten less bad now that I've archive locked all my fics, which made it so much more fun to post. I think the worst was either the several-paragraphs long, two part comment about how the reader was disappointed in me (??) and just a bunch of other rudeness, OR the person who, after I deleted their comment that pissed me off, pasted their comment back in with a bitchy little addition to let me know they felt entitled to leaving rude stuff on my fic. so i deleted it again c:

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I don't write a lot of it! Definitely not PWP. Just emotion-focused sex scenes if it happens and works for the rest of my plot! it's just not as fun as action scenes for me most of the time c:

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nope!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I'm hesitant to call it stolen but someone did ask me permission to translate my fic, and I granted it, but they did not link me to it, or even post it on ao3, which bothered me. but i found it. and. they had translated it, sure, but they'd also changed it from a sterek fic....to a Derek x Peter fic. which was. a weird thing to do. that was not what we had agreed upon so i just messaged them mainly asking like. for why.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

LOL. Yes! 4 on ao3, and two out there...on other sites. that was annoying D< I am flattered people wanted to translate my fics! I now have a blanket statement on my profile for this sort of thing, including that I want translations only on ao3, and not posted elsewhere because of...well. #11 lol

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

No :c I'd like to try! But i have so many to-write fics!! I have some vague plans for a fic with @dappledawndrawn but like. my list. it's so long. (Also add in my fears that I'd be overbearing or something and i will procrastinate this forever.)

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

I'd have to say sterek lmaooo. I have others I like and even love a whole lot I just haven't become obsessed with finding out how to fit those other ships in a whole bunch of other worlds like I have with sterek. Maybe one day! Mostly they're book ships hahaha

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Oh man. ;-; the third of my fairy tale series. I started it like 3 times but could never get it right! i had it all planned out and everything it just would not work. So annoying.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Worldbuilding for sure. Plotting, foreshadowing. Building the tale itself i guess? And action oh man am I obsessed with writing action and I am good at it. I love building worlds, blowing things up, and telling the tale of why, taking the reader on the twisty, interesting, exciting journey to the satisfying conclusion.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Personally, I think I need to work on my descriptions of characters, and tbh I have trouble writing emotional scenes! I'm working on it though.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I've done it before! Looking back, I was annoyed at myself xD I mostly now stick to just writing it as regular dialogue, then "-in [x language]" afterward. I don't have anything against it I suppose, but usually it's not really important to the plot to have a single line in a different language than the rest of the fic (special cases happen) so I just don't hahaha

19. First fandom you wrote for?

e.e This question always happens on these things lkfdsalkfjdskaf SIIIGH it was Maximum Ride. c,:

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

I am ever proud of Are You Ready? it's my baby, my love, I am so so proud of it and how my writing improved just trying to do justice to that story. So.

Thanks for the tag! Tagging @raisesomehale @rosieposiepuddingnpie @2dents @cephalog0d @halevetica @tkwritesdumbassassins @evanesdust and anyone else who might want to play who i didn't tag lfkjdslakjfs sorry

[tideswept]

I was tagged by @yourfavoritefridge and am taking a page from @sendpseuds ('s) book and answering this while deeply compromised. Sober, I am not.

You have been warned!

1.) How many works do you have on ao3?

62!

2.) What's your ao3 word count?

800,347! (Ooh, big round number!)

3.) What fandoms do you write for?

Currently: Kingsman & Star Wars. (I really never thought I'd be in either of them but I'm glad I am.)

4.) What are your top five fics by kudos?

gold and pink and glittering: 498, Hartwin, E. I'm still surprised to this day how much people liked it. First smut in several years.

the lean and hungry type: 453, Obikin, E. First time getting to do alpha/beta, and written from around 11pm to 4 am and then another hour proofreading. I was mildly delirious, ngl.

offer a little salt for that wound: 463, Hartwin, E. OOH man I had this one in my head and wouldn't leave me tf alone. My plot bunnies aren't USUALLY visual, but this one was!

cold water on your tongue: 429, Obikin, E. Still surprised this one took off tbh! I had a lot of moments where the fic felt awkward to me and not worth salvaging. But I think it makes people happy, and god, I can't really ask for more than that!

somebody to lie in the dark with: 302, Obikin, E. That's the second time today I've typed something instead of someone in that title. HMM. (Sith-Wan, my darling!)

5.) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do when I can! Have a pretty decent streak going, I think? I think I owe a really lovely commenter from like 5 days ago and nnnghh the guilt is heavy.

6.) What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Potentially empty spaces, empty phrases (Obikin) depending on how you decide the ending goes! But objectively: let me stay (TimJon).

7.) What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

oh fuck, who are you, the cops? (me, looking at my fics in despair)

I think the honor goes to cold water on your tongue. Everything else tends to end in a bittersweet or incomplete ("to be continued") kind of way.

8.) Do you get hate on fics?

Not outside of TMA. It's been absolutely lovely being in Kingsman / Obikin fandoms. I genuinely showed up here low-key scared for my life, and I've been shown nothing but kindness and support.

9.) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Yes, and welcome to the first of the "UH IDK? [awkward shrug/hand wave]" questions because... I have no idea how to answer that. Like, what are the quantifiers here? Level of depth (NO PUN INTENDED) in how explicit it is, or what bits are rubbing against what bits, or like, if I specialize in any particular kind of smut (if there aren't pins for "I WRITE BDSM SMUT", I demand we print them) or— tldr: IDK. Vibe. The vibe kind. oh my god not vibrator vibe brain why are you doing this

10.) Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Nope. I've thought about fusions, though! Like, I feel a fic where Obi-Wan is a Kingsman and picks Anakin as his candidate--maybe it was Qui-Gon's dying request still, and when Obi-Wan became a knight and a seat next opened up, he reluctantly said, FINE.

(Now I'm wondering what knight Obi-Wan would be. Gawain? The original version of him, not the vulgarized mythos of later romances. Which leaves Anakin to be Agravaian, which is pretty perfect tbh. I mean he could also be Mordred since they're all brothers)

11.) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yup! Multiple times. It never stops feeling Not Okay.

12.) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of?

13.) Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Nope.

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

oh fuck you are the cops.

Uh. tbh this is a really hard question until I asked myself: a 100k fic written by an amazing author: what pairing would you be more excited about? And my heart... my heart said Hartwin.

15.) What's a WIP you'd like to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Ahh, sadly the post-Vday canon divergence Hartwin fic. I'm told it stands on its own as is, though. So maybe that counts for something?

16.) What are your writing strengths?

I have no idea. You saw what happened during the smut question, I fell apart like a jenga tower! And that was a simple question!

Honestly though, I don't know. That I manage to carry enough vibes to be entertaining? That's pretty good.

17.) What are your writing weaknesses?

I will not clutch the camera and shove my face into it and whisper everything in a voice ragged with despair I will not clutch th—

18.) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Google Translate, my dearest friend. (Unless it's Spanish, I can handle that on my own.)

Granted, if I have a friend who speaks the language, you can bet I'm knocking down their door like a SWAT squad.

19.) First fandom you wrote for?

UH SO FUNNY STORY. I watched IT (the TV series) when I was like, 7. Was very confused for many reasons (partly because I missed the first hour) but also i was a Weird Child, and also Not American.

But! I didn't know it was based off a book written by a dude, so one day I just... started writing the story down in a notebook when I was 8. Because I figured I liked the movie (I assumed it was a movie at the time) so much, why NOT turn it into something to read?

20.) Favorite fic you've ever written?

Beholding's Own. Lightning-in-a-bottle kind of situation, 10+ year break from writing, and also re-entering fandom after said 10+ year long break. It's really hard to live up to that kind of fondness.

From new fics? the devil is a gentleman. I can't help it, this Obi-Wan and Anakin are hilarious. They are so dumb and yet so smart.

I'm supposed to tag people now for this, so imagine me throwing Your Candy of Choice at @irrationalsense, @veloursdor, @kingdomvel and @howlbrooklyn like a fastball. (And anyone else who'd like to do it!)

[witchimagefanfic]

20 Questions for Fic Writers!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Three.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

579,734

3. What fandoms do you write for?

On ao3? Harry Potter, Funny Games (2007) and an obscure Slenderman ARG called EverymanHYBRID (???)

But wait. There's more. I've posted stories on fanfiction.net about The Dark Knight (Joker x OC), Labyrinth (Jareth x OC), Repo! The Genetic Opera (Graverobber x OC) and Phantom of the Opera (Erik x (you guessed it!) OC)

But wait. There's even more. In my google drive live (and die) dozens of unpublished fanfics from various fandoms. Right now, my favorite is about Resident Evil: Village (Heisenberg x OC), but god there are so many more. Every time I fixate on a piece of media, I have to write about it and insert myself into the universe. Usually I abandon the fics though.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Broken Silence (Harry Potter, Snape x OC)

:D (EverymanHYBRID, HABIT x OC)

Whether by knife or whether by gun (Funny Games, Paul x OC)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

No, only occasionally. I could be better about it but anxiety. Plus I get quite a lot of comments and idk...I'd feel bad making it a habit if I only had the bandwidth to answer some. Plus PLUS most of what I would say boils down to "thanks for reading bby" and that gets repetitive. I do read and cherish every single comment I get though.

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

Haven't ended any yet. Striving to make people cry with BS though.

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

Again, I have a terrible habit of simply just never ending my fanfictions.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No. Well, once someone tried to defend JKR. Like ??? what a hill to die on.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yeah. Dom/sub vibes, flavors of daddy issues and brat taming, maybe some dubcon floating around.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I have this one wild fanfiction that's a crossover of the 2001 Stephen King miniseries Rose Red and the videogame Dishonored. I wish I was fucking joking. Otherwise no.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. Other stories yes, though.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Well people asked, but I don't think I ever replied.

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

Not unless you could DnD stuff.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

I think I'm abnormal among fandom authors because I never get very excited about shipping canon characters. The one exception is Dean x Castiel -- I am a fucking DIE HARD Destiel shipper. But otherwise, fanfiction for me is about inserting myself or my relatable characters into fandoms.

So when you ask my favorite ship, it's gotta be me x Karl Heisenberg.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Take your pick. Probably the Repo! fic I started in college.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue. Flow. ... clarity?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Metaphors and poetry. Can't do that shit. If I write something beautiful, it's because I tripped over my own feet and accidentally landed in it.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Cool, do it, just do your research. Does feel a tiny bit pedantic though.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Labyrinth. I was like 10 and Jareth was ALL I could think about.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

I'd like to say Broken Silence, and in a lot of ways it is. It's certainly the fic I'm proudest of, and one I'm certain to finish. But in terms of just me having fun? My Heisenberg fic is eating my brain right now. Someday I'll post it. Probably.

[possessingtheproperspirit]

Fic Author Self Rec

Fic authors self-rec! ✨ When you get this, reply with your favourite five fics that you’ve written, then pass on to at least five other writers.

Thanks for tagging me, @kay-elle-cee <3 I found this very hard haha as self-reccing goes against everything I hold dear, but nonetheless here we are...

the way you left me || At nineteen, James vanishes, and Lily breaks.

I wrote this in a fevered rush, and I think it's the one I'm most proud of overall. Not entirely sure why, which doesn't lend itself to this sort of post, does it? It's sad and sweet and painful and all the things I like writing most. Angst with a happy, hopeful ending is my sweet spot.

2. Uninvited || With NEWTs looming, friends gather at the Potters' cottage in Wales to study and let off steam during the Easter holidays of their seventh year.

What's not to enjoy about pining, a Welsh beach and a 'there was only one bed' scenario? It includes this sentence, which I feel nicely encapsulates the gang:

They ate their fill; Mary tried to teach them a strange Muggle game called cricket, which James had a natural affinity for (“ever the fucking sportsman,” Marlene jeered from her position on the opposing team); Sirius tried to lead a team into the shallows, forgetting that the waters around the British Isles were frigid at the best of times; Remus built a bonfire in a bid to stop said team from developing frostbite.

I mean, what more can I say?

3. Forget-Me-Not (cw: sa). ||. At eighteen, Lily Evans fell - and fell hard - for James Potter, a classmate she had never given much thought to before. He seemed as into her as she was into him, so why is it, when she starts a new job almost a decade and a lot of water under that particular bridge later, that her new boss - James Potter himself - doesn't seem to remember her at all? A Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi Mcfarlane AU fic.

I wasn't going to include this one, but I guess I changed my mind? I'm proud that I a) finished this fic at all, and b) hopefully managed a very fine balance in dealing with an extremely sensitive subject. It was all a very personal writing experience and I guess I'm glad it all came out okay in the end.

4. A Lesson in Communication || There's a rule at his school that teachers are strictly not allowed to date the parents of pupils. James has never minded this rule before...

This largely started because it so amused me to think of James wrangling children at sports day. This is one of those stories that was supposed to be a quick thing, and then morphed into a nearly-12k monster whereby the misunderstandings piled up on top of each other like delicious pancakes. Yes, if anyone asked a straightforward question this fic would be about 500 words. Yes, my favourite bit is still Remus' reaction when he realises James' mistake.

5. The Price We Pay || As the summer before their sixth year comes to an end, Sirius, Remus, Lily and James consider how things may be different on their return to Hogwarts. When Sirius finally breaks free from his toxic home, it should be a fresh start - but unfortunately, it's the start of a spiral that will threaten the foundations of friendship, and change their lives irrevocably.

Last but not least! That blurb could do with updating, really, given that now – 27 chapters in – we're into seventh year and rather a lot has happened, haha. Still, when I started it, I didn't think I'd write more than maybe five or six chapters, and then it sort of grew its own little legs and scurried away from me. You know, how writing does? It's my original baby fic and I love it so but I also go through phases where I worry it's all utter bollocks, so it's very much a rollercoaster of a relationship. There is something both wonderful and challenging in writing a canon multi-chap, especially in this fandom where there are so many amazing canon multi-chaps. We battle on.

What a strange, therapy-esque post this ended up being 😅

Tagging (please feel free to ignore if you don't fancy it/have already done it) @wearingaberetinparis @mppmaraudergirl @clare-with-no-i @thequibblah @isahorcrux

[eldritchmochi]

Word prompt for the letters! SWORD TIME

mina pls that is so many letters lmao

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

okay, if it is not obvious, i have thought SO MUCH about disability in exandria, so heres a general worldbuilding headcannon vs character based hc but it's shown that disability isn't overly impactful in exandria. basically everything we've seen ranging from pcs like shakaste to big npcs like dancer and also smaller one off pcs like the moorbounder dealer in the city of beasts, whatever the name is, they're fully functional within society despite major physical disabilities and theres functionally not a whole lot of ableism at a surface level when it comes to worldbuilding (thanks matt).

however..... its not hard (for me) to extrapolate how the dynasty in particular would have a not great view on disability (thank u cherry for putting it into words as i was charlie day-ing over coping skills early on). it's not something that i talk about explicitly in coping skills (and may not since it would be really info dumpy and not vibe with the way i write or characterize the wizards lmao) but it's something ive spent a great deal of time thinking thru for the dang fic and my in-head notes are basically a) in a modern setting like coping skills, the healthcare situation moves at a glacial pace partly because elves live forever so what is a several year wait for a non emergent specialist issue and b) major disabilities, things that impact daily living to a significant degree that cannot be "fixed" with magic, are at best really only tolerated until anamnesis or consecution so the body can be reset into a more perfect form

i could wax poetic about the nitty gritty as it relates to coping skills specifically, but that is like, the base premise of 90% of the fic lmao

W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom.

okay so, heres the thing: with the exception of a few squicks, if something is well written with some fukken *heart* i will eat up just about anything. theres some tropes i don't really get myself and haven't found anything with it that's interested me, like hanahaki, but i have fav fics involving things i notoriously avoid, like kid fic and hs aus. like legitimately, my absolute fav fic is a non explicit hs au, which considering i basically dont read non explicit fics OR hs aus is fucking wild

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

lets see, i did one here for an ashrym fic, and one here for general shadowgast so lets go with a single character, and a delightfully weird song for her

obviously imogen, again, because its funny. do not ask me why spotify recommended this german edm country album to me a bit ago but i listened to the whole thing and it fucking slapped, and this song immediately went on my hells playlist

R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?

I AM ONLY DOING ONE BECAUSE I DONT TRUST YOU MINA (ilu but also damn many letters lmao)

but callowmoore is just chefs kiss. i don't see anything necessarily romantic between them but i love the idea of the two of them bonding over being absolute gremlins. ashton definitely needs a charismatic wingman and fearne definitely needs someone who has (some level of) smarts re Doing Crimes, so the two of them playing off each other is just delightful and i love how soft they are with each other in cannon and in turn all the fanart (especially the forehead kiss???? im still not normal about that)

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.

hmmmmmmmmmmm okay i guess maybe reylo? the rots kiss was absolute garbage rey deserves better BUT i am in theory into her domming the shit out of him but reylo shippers as a whole soured me on the ship and now i just hhhh no thank you, even from authors i trust to write it in a way i'd enjoy :C

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? 

T answered here! (basically no lmao)

I - Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why?

homestuck :I like part of it was definitely the Fandom Cycle of falling out if interest with something, especially once there stopped being new cannon i could access but a bigger part of it was seeing all my fav artists and writers in the fandoms, particularly the ones 30+, PARTICULARLY Black artist, being absolutely shat on by kids for the crime of... being adults in fandom spaces basically, or otherwise creating fanworks that featured non-white, non-thin depictions of the characters. i live vicariously thru @/roundandtalented when they spam share hs art because i still love those characters but yeesh ye olde tumblr hs fandom got VERY toxic

M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.

answered once here with ashton and here with astarion so i guess i gotta keep the train going with "a" name characters

hmmmmmmmmmm

okay lets say abby from ncis (i have watched Many crime procedurals lmao). i imagine she and i would be GREAT fashion buddies, especially when i'm bubblegum pop kawaii to her scary goth. we could swap tips on breaking in big stompy boots and all the best places for cute clothes, and i think we're fairly close in size too so could even SWAP gasp The Dream

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?

god i do not know if fandom as a whole has picked up on any of the various things i've built in my fics but tbh i think its absolutely hilarious how i inevitably write a porn/camming au for like every fandom i write multiple fics for. it happens, every single time. EVERY TIME. in fact, mine and cherry's sg camming au started with me lampshading this trend i have, laughing about how FINALLY here was a fandom where i couldn't write camming and make it work, except whoops i thought too hard on it and made it work. this occurred over the course of like..... a single evening. i had the basic outline sketched out within twenty minutes of me being like "theres no way i could write camming into critical role, NO WAY" i am not even exaggerating

so i guess maybe my hilarious contribution to critical role is the contemporary magical setting proof-of-concept???? cherry did say there werent really that many at the time i asked because i lov me some modern aus

there are maybe some letters left idk at this point lmao but here is the meme for those of u who made it thru all that

[ryanthedemiboy]

20 Questions for fic writers

(I was tagged by @annachibi )

Note: i'm combining answers for all three of my pseuds/both accts

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 56 :)

Ana's response: "18, I'm not very prolific haha"

That's so much! iirc the average person has like 2 fics under 3k total!

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 231,440 :D

3. What fandoms do you write for? Right now it's Fullmetal Alchemist. I may or may not go back to Marvel at some point. And I may move on to another fandom at some point :)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Four of the five are from my Ed is Dying series c: #1, 6, 7, 3. The fifth is an HP fic I wrote in 2016.

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes! It's extremely rare that I don't; only if I have nothing to say.

Ana's answer: "Yes, just about every one! Sometimes I don't if it's been multiple years since I wrote the thing and I don't have much to say back, since I figure some people don't necessarily want the author to respond anyway."

I promise you, almost everyone wants the author to respond! And the ones who don't just aren't going to check them xD

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Oh this is an excellent question. I have to be careful here, because spoilers. The end of the first fic in my spn series ended in a suicide that was unclear that he survived (he did). And then I have the death fic for my Ed is Dying series written, that's angsty af. There's also a fic I wrote recently on my semi-secret AO3 acct that doesn't seem angsty but it really fucking is.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Uhhh... I need to go look.

I forget if Out of the Box (MCU non-sexual age regression) had a happy ending, but basically the whole fic was gentle happiness. Same with Cas and the Bee Bag (spn. This is 9 years old)

I do not appear to have any other fics that are happy. Interesting, neutral, enjoyable, positive, sure. Not happy 😂

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not thus far

9. Do you write smut? Sometimes

10. Do you write crossovers? Not usually. It's very rare that I will. The main one I can think of is unpublished, idk if I even have it tbh — I had to write a crossover fic with A Scarlet Letter for my English class in 11th grade. I chose Doctor Who xD I believe that remains the only fic i've written for doctor who.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that i'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes! It was a blast. I forget why, but I asked my friend not to list me as a co-author.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship? Riza/Al, I think.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? My spn series. I am so many levels of uninterested, and even if I did, i'd have to rewrite it from scratch bc it's not up to par, anymore, and is extremely insensitive in parts (in particular, I have Cas using bible pages as the rolling paper for his weed. He is not xian. That's just what I remember off-hand). All that said, i would love to finish it.

16. What are your writing strengths? Emotion. Hitting the reader where it hurts.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Anything with happiness 😂

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I have done it both ways. And both are kind of cringey for me, when i've written them in the past.

Generally, the best way is to use italics to signify another language, and specify that language, as long as the POV person understands it.

19. First fandom you wrote for? HP

20. Favorite fic you've written? Talk about a good question. Probably one of the kink fics i've written. I love how i've had the characters be with each other, and shown their love for each other. I also love some of the drabbles i've made — it's hard to get a fic to exactly a word count, and getting an entire fic in so few words is a massive challenge, and very rewarding.

I'm not going to tag anyone, but if you want to do this, go for it!

Blank questions to easily copy/paste (incl on the app) below.

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 2. What's your total AO3 word count? 3. What fandoms do you write for? 4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 5. Do you respond to comments? 6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? 7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? 8. Do you get hate on fics? 9. Do you write smut? 10. Do you write crossovers? 11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? 12. Have you ever had a fic translated? 13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? 14. What's your all-time favorite ship? 15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? 16. What are your writing strengths? 17. What are your writing weaknesses? 18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? 19. First fandom you wrote for? 20. Favorite fic you've written?

[this-world-of-beautiful-monsters]

1, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19, 21, 27, 33, 36, 37, 41, 44, 45, 48, 49

(The only reason I did not put any fic specific asks for this is because you have so many that I fucking adore that I can't even begin to pick out which ones to ask about 😳 perhaps tomorrow I will send another ask because my god do I love hearing from authors about their fics)

How old were you when you first starting writing fanfiction?

I almost feel like a late bloomer, but eighteen, tbh. I only really entered "fandom" spaces in college and it spiraled from there.

5. If you had to choose a favourite out of all of your multi chaptered stories, which would it be and why?

Shoot, that's hard....I think I'd choose The Nature Of The Wind, one of my stories from the TMNT fandom, because it still gets so much love and I'm proud of the darkness I explored there.

7. When is your preferred time to write?

Whenever the spirit moves me! Seriously, I prefer to be well rested, but I've written up a storm in the dead of night, too.

8. Where do you take your inspiration from?

A whole lot of places...great fic authors (like a certain someone who sent me this ask), books I've read, stories, personal experience, family stories, art. I've been known to pillage the Bible from time to time, and Greek mythology, too. It all just melts together into a bubbling witch's brew and I fish out (what I hope are) the best bits for my writing.

12. Who is your favourite character to write for? Why?

Depends on the fandom...for TMNT it's Leonardo, because I love his tortured leader aesthetic and the sheer amount of trauma he puts up with is really fun. For DC it's Damian, because I have a soft spot for angsty baby murderers trying to be better.

For Avatar I'd think recom Jake, because he's such a perfect Frankenstein's monster of hunger and cruelty and pain and power. With Spider being a close second, because I love this boy and I love fucking him up.

17. Post a line from a WIP that you’re working on.

It’s insane. She’s insane. Her very existence is a mark of insanity, always has been and always will be. If she thinks too hard about what she wants to do, it will overwhelm her, and the fire and water are both getting closer. There is no time, no time. 

18. Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them?

God, so many....I've got a whole doc for dead Avatar WIPS and more TMNT WIPs than I can count. Usually they just--weren't working? It felt too familiar, sometimes, or just wrong, or it wasn't as fun to write as I'd hoped, and being fun to write usually means fun to read (I think).

21. Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?

Well, tbh...there's this one writer who writes the most amazing, vivid, wild and fractured and lovely stories, and who writes some pretty spectacular comments, and sends me some great asks to boot! Their name might be familiar.

27. Do you make a general outline for your stories or do you just go with the flow?

I'm a go-with-the-flow little bastard (gender neutral) and I probably always will be.

33. What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?

Someone told me they hoped I kept writing, both in fanfiction and in general, because I was really something, and I don't know, that just stuck with me? I want to believe it's true.

36. Can you give us a spoiler for one of your WIP’s?

Mommy-and-me assassination attempts.

37. What’s the funniest story you’ve written?

I wrote a nsfw story once about characters fucking while they watched the Kevin McCarthy debacle and I still think I should have gotten an award for it or something. It's you're gonna need congressional approval and you don't have the votes (it's not Hamilton fanfiction I stg, I just couldn't resist the title).

41. What’s your favourite minor character you’ve written?

Honestly changes depending on who I'm writing, heh, but right now it's definitely Sylwanin te Tskaha Mo'at'ite. She deserves so much more love and attention and I miss her even though she was technically never on screen.

44. What is the last line you wrote?

It helps that if they do look at her, all they see is her baby, that they think mother and not threat. It helps that no one bothers to consider how easily the two can overlap.

45. What spurs you on during the writing process?

The high, maybe? The fact that writing feels good and getting comments feels good and I like being able to get these thoughts out of my head and share them with so many great people.

48. What’s your favourite trope to write?

Not sure if angst/abuse/trauma/violation dressing itself up as soft fluff counts as a trope, but if it is, it fucking wins hands down. I love it when the horrors try to pretend not to be horrors and never quite get there.

49) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about?

A TMNT OT4 turtlecest future fic with immortality, bondage, and the apocalypse. It's called Casting Stones at the River by GoblinCatKC and I still love it so fucking much.

[bubblingacid]

Stealing your idea and making the ask fandom related >:)

What do you love most about bsd and (why) would you recommend it?

Mocha, get prepared for a long ass rant cause you've got me monologuing

I think my favourite part about bsd is the love for literature and stories that the story has.

Its a bit hard to explain but all the characters are based on classic literature authors and their works. So the story has these layers that you can peel back if you learn more things about the authors or read their works, bsd managed to make me genuinely interested in reading classic literature and I'm still amazed by that.

It also has so many interesting characters and relationships between characters + alot of the times these relationships are connected to the authors' real life relationships with eachother.

I think its also nice that I feel like I can trust the author, he has his flaws but I feel like I can trust him to give us a satisfying conclusion to things. He's incredible honestly.

As for wether I would recommend it? I think that's heavily subjective. Getting into bsd can get pretty difficult I think?

The anime for one sometimes (alot of the time) fucks up so many things from the manga and light novels and that reduces the impact of the story.

Also, the first season kinda sucks but it gets much much better ( thats not to say its completely bad, it has its moments but I didn't get into bsd properly until s2)

Honestly, it depends, are you prepared to spend your time watching something a bit clunky until you get to the good part.

Frankly, if I wanted to recomended bsd to somone I'd spend some time checking if they are wierd enough about stories and exposing them to parts of bsd slowly by talking to them about it.

Would I recommend it to you specifically, idk, really. You might like it, I do think you should give it a shot cause you don't fall in either or catagory of 'would' or 'wouldn't' when it comes to who I'd recommend it to.

So, maybe try it out, you might end up loving it like I did.

Also, if you start, don't just stop at the anime, the anime has like half of what we really love about bsd.

[delta-pavonis]

20 Questions for Fic Writers!

Tagged by @valeriianz and @sleepsonfutons, so LET'S DO THIS. Because I want to procrastinate from working.

Under the cut because I don't wanna clog up your feeds with random bullshit about me as a fic author. LOL.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

*checks AO3* SIXTY ONE?!? WHEN THE FUCK DID THAT HAPPEN.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

325,828 total. 216,568 of that is Sandman that has been written since September 5 2022.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Fandoms I have posted fic for: The Sandman, Star Trek, Men's Tennis RPF Fandoms I have written fic for that will only ever live in the secret rooms of my mind palace hard drive: X-Men, The Vampire Chronicles, Harry Potter, Vampire Hunter D, Hellsing (the anime & manga) Fandoms I have written fic for that I might post someday: The Dresden Files

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. New Moon 2. high enough (you got me good) 3. Whispers to the Night <- the one that started me on this wild Dreamling ride 4. To Worship on a Marble Altar 5. Eros in Pragma Interesting note is that almost all of those are early in the Sandman/Dreamling fandom where there was more activity and less fics in existence.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I would LOVE to respond more to comments. I read all of them and treasure each one. However, spoons are limited and most of the time recently my brain is just not cooperating. I used to respond to every one and exhaust myself. Now I'd rather spend that energy reading and writing more. But when I am feeling like I am a shite writer and others do it better and why am I even continuing to do this I go back and re-read comments and it really does help.

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

I don't think I write angsty endings, tbh. The angstiest of those that are finished would probably be i will take me away. There is, however, one that will definitely be the angstiest once it is done. 😉

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

I chronically write happy endings. I think my happiEST ending is Hypnopompia turtur, followed closely by high enough (you got me good)'s Chapter 4

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nope! At least not yet... <.< >.> <.<

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

*CACKLES* Do I write smut? Do I write smut? Do I write smut? You would have an easier time counting the fics that do NOT contain any smut. You could count them on one hand. I mostly write BDSM and/or graphic smut. Lots of porn, sometimes plot.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Yes, rarely. I think my recent delve into Sandman+Ted Lasso with Keeper is pretty fucking weird (as much as I adore it).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Also nope.

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

Not that is published. I am currently collaborating with someone on future White Horse Mafia fics.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Oh Christ, that is like asking what is my favorite bird. *pulls out laptop and projector and slides* In this TEDTalk, I will... Dreamling is definitely the one that has had the strongest grip on me in a very long time. Lestat/Louis is a classic I will never be completely over. Harry Dresden/John Marcone just thrills me for reasons I cannot fully pinpoint. Chris Pike/Ash Tyler from Star Trek also is very dear to me, as is Clint Barton/Loki from back at the start of the MCU.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

My Chris Pike/Ash Tyler/OC triad from Star Trek. I want to finish it in my heart, but I have lost the thread of it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Apparently porn. At least that is what I gather from feedback from others.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Does comparing myself too much to other authors count? Like, too often looking at another person's fic and being like I want to BE THAT instead of embracing who I am and how I write. Does that make sense? It is one thing to be inspired by someone's work and try to learn from them, but sometimes I find myself wanting to try to change my WHOLE STYLE to try and be "more successful" or "more liked", whatever the fuck that means.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I avoid it unless I feel I really need it for Plot Reasons™. I will use Google Translate if the language is common, but also other websites for common slang phrases or dialects that Google Translate doesn't have. I am more than happy to have people correct me, though!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

The Vampire Chronicles

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

OK, this is almost as hard as choosing my favorite bird... I really really love what I was able to achieve with the style of i had a dream (i got everything i wanted). I am so proud of Hob's first-person journal and a part of me will always wish it caught more people's attention. I still impress myself with the amount of world building I was able to cram into the less than 10k of find in me your rhythm and the less than 3k of Stay the Knight. What I was able to do with Hob's snarky voice in A Change in Tactics also cracks me up. But I think the one I am most proud of overall is You create me against your lips. It started out with a blurb inspired by an Instagram post and in the end will be the longest fic I have ever written and the longest fic I have ever finished by far. What is interesting is that most of these are decidedly NOT my most popular based on AO3 stats. Fascinating.

If you are a fic author and want a fun reason to waste some time, consider yourself tagged! *