#I'm just writing a fic that includes a lot of non-show non-canon scenes that exist in fandom spaces and it amused me

[ineffable-doll]

Remembering when I joined the fandom in 2020 and no one would explain where the whole South Downs thing came from

[divinekangaroo]

Thanks @palmviolet for tagging me!

How many works do you have on AO3? 154

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 900k

3. What fandoms do you write for? Peaky Blinders, Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy VII, Dragon Age II, The Professionals.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Interesting and not straightforward question: I've been writing since 2007 and only rebooted my fics to AO3 in 2023. I backdated them to time of writing rather than posting live into the current update stream. I was vaguely curious to see what *actually* attracts readers through the AO3 search engine. So, my current top five are all Peaky Blinders Tommy/Lizzie fics, and given my small followers list, everyone following me will probably already have read them!

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I do, and it’s my vain (both senses of the term) struggle with how to do it appropriately. I am conscious of how comments, particularly on an AO3 "archival" fic, can weight a reader's further interpretation/engagement of or with fic by that author, and that I'll never put so much time into comments as I do into fic.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? 7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? The fics I thought of picking for these two pretty much overlapped. Perhaps this shows just how I approach happiness – it’s moments, it’s never an ending.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Only old Dragon Age fics. Interesting period of time where any fic author that didn't unequivocally support the moral rightness of one particular character's opinions was targeted. Like: ok to write torture/rape fics of this character, but only if it was clear the author thought this character was morally right. Such a destructive troll.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I'll write sex, mostly as part of a larger arc rather than standalone smut; often it is a partial scenario rather than linear start-to-end event written in a rhythm to support a coherent wanking rise-to-climax read. I'm pleased if people find it pushes their buttons, but I'm also not bothered if it doesn't. I do approach smut as one of many possible lenses or frames for a character, however, so smut that detaches from character confuses me.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Sometimes but they have to feel really right. I think I tend more to fusion or pastiche (I think those are the terms?) rather than crossover: I take a particular character concept/theme and port them into a particular environmental context which is not possible in the canon to see what happens. The only one I still have up is a FFXII/Dragonriders of Pern fic (incomplete) which was going to be all about the horrible knowledge of socially accepted and endorsed ritualised rape and forced feminisation of a character.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? I'm not that popular to notice.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? I have a memory of one in FFXII but can't recall.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes! Taught me a lot, including the kind of writer I am - difficult to collaborate as my push to complete within a motivational urge period will always be greater than a long-haul effort, and I struggle to be available for other people. I’m either good at the front end ideas-generation, or a micro detail ‘write this particular thing/scene and fill it with goodness’, and not very good at the middle bit – the long slot of planning and plotting and aiming for consistency etc. I am so grateful fandom exists to support non-traditional prose formats which let me play with writing and thinking and engagement without needing to produce to book-style production standards.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship? I usually fixate on a character, and pairings allow means to explore that character rather than being an end game.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Oh they all carry this potential. *cries* The issue for me is loss of motivational drive/thinking; because I rarely have good structural notes etc if I lose my immediate thread of 'thinking of everything all at once' I find it hard to pick up again later. I also stop some fics because I realise how ambitious the scope really is, and I feel like I can’t do them justice.

16. What are your writing strengths? Speed-sketcher? Completionist? Tests multiple ideas rapidly and freely and never worries about something 'being wrong' because there's always another fic to try? Intuitive gut level hits on characterisation here and there?

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Editing, pacing, I can't sustain long fic, I frequently move characters around like paper dolls for the sake of the cool and forget they need their own internal motivation.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I prefer the kind of cant-based/dialect-based approach which splices non-English terms fluidly into English dialogue, mostly because as a child of many migrants this has been my world experience. I do suck at writing this, hence my frequent use of cop-outs to say 'language shift here, meanwhile still writing in English'. But when it’s done well it hits so many of my sweet spots.

19. First fandom you wrote for? FFVII.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? Anything in my Personal Favourites list: https://archiveofourown.org/series/3728710. (I'm still too close to Peaky Blinders to pick a fav, it'll take about five years of distance!)

[subbyfoxelf]

ships i ship the hardest

one of the things i've always loved about tumblr, and a big part of why i'm so happy to be back, is that (and yes i know i'm dating myself here) it feels like a spiritual successor to livejournal. and frankly, i fucking miss livejournal something fierce.

so it seems like a bit of a waste to just reblog stuff & write the same reviews of media i've been writing wherever my online presence has existed for the last half decade or so. it's about time i get into that really cringe bullshit that i always used to post on livejournal. and this seems like exactly the kind of thing I woulda posted on there back in the day.

cringe is dead, long live cringe.

now, just to set some limitations on myself so this post doesn't become totally unreasonable (just reasonably unreasonable), i'm going to make a genuine effort to limit myself to one entry per show/game/whatever (i fully reserve the right to just flagrantly ignore this limitation when i so choose). i will also mostly focus on couples rather than just putting all my favorite characters in a giant polycule. cool? cool.

(cw: some of these characters will have canon age gaps and/or are minors in some canons, just assume there's an element of au-ification or time skipping here. cool? cool.)

sontails

my profile on every social media site used to include "and yet, be it cruel or comforting, this machine unerringly writes sontails angst & fluff. that's what it does." so, yeah.

i also happen to believe that they're in a big ol' gay polycule with shads & knux, and recently i've especially had QUITE A FEW THOUGHTS about shadtails (do i share that fic here? hmm. i'll think about it.)

but yeah. for me, sontails has always been the central relationship of this franchise, even before I shipped it. i got super annoyed when the franchise did dumb shit like when sonic x gave chris almost exclusively emotional beats that should've gone to tails, or when sonic unleashed gave sonic a substitute sidekick (ok tbf i was already a shipper by the time i played unleashed), or just the games increasingly deemphasizing their relationship in general.

but, yeah. probably needless to say, this one is super important to me.

godzilla/mothra

godzilla is a bratty bottom, mothra smacks him around every now & then when he gets out of line. this is just canon.

riker/worf

a lot of this is just the fact that frakes' charisma is totally off the charts, and riker is such an outspokenly openminded dude that you can kind of imagine that literally every single conversation he has with a sentient, physically compatible, appropriately-aged character has a non-zero chance of ending with them in bed. he's like a non-predatory kirk. just total throwback pulp-inspired sexually adventurous explorer dude.

and as worf is canonically his best friend, and we see several instances of them sharing a deep, emotional bond, it's kind of hard NOT to at least see possibilities for shipping here.

what really cemented this for me was when we got to season 2 in our most recent tng rewatch. this is a season that early on features riker being extremely excited to serve aboard a klingon ship as part of an officer exchange (to learn about his boyfriend's culture!), and closes with the scene i screencapped at the top of this entry of riker making worf his first officer during the wargames. also somewhere in there riker joins worf on the holodeck for his klingon calisthenics program. they just do everything together, it's so sweet.

also worf dating troi towards the end of tng & riker having clearly had a fling with dax in thomas riker's ds9 appearance really put the icing on this polycule. it's basically just canon. if picard season 3 doesn't give these two some good moments together it's gonna have some 'splainin' to do.

catdora

yes, yes, i'm being boring and shipping a canon couple. here's the thing, though. i literally started watching this show because i knew the central protagonist & antagonist were canonically gay for each other and i'm sorry but i fucking love that shit.

every time catra captures or beats up adora i feel squirmy. and then catra shows up to princess prom in a messy tux and homoerotically/threateningly dances with adora culminating in dipping her??? and guys, my little gay heart can't take it. it's too yummy. HELP.

but then season 5 happens and there's that agonizing apology AND THE RESCUE??? where a swordless adora nevertheless transforms into she-ra THROUGH SHEER FORCE OF GAY WILL & GAY ANGER to protect her kitten???? and i'm sorry, THIS IS EVERYTHING I'VE EVER WANTED OUT OF MAINSTREAM MEDIA, PUT THIS GAY STUFF DIRECTLY INTO MY VEINS.

so yeah i kinda ship them or whatever.

adiray

yeah, yeah, i’m being boring and shipping another canon couple. but i'm sorry??? they're the first trans/nonbinary characters in the history of star trek??? and they're dating each other??? and they're part of a big queer chosen family???

also the episode where we first meet gray is just one of the best episodes of the whole damn franchise? the scene where all of tal's past hosts embrace adira is just so fucking wonderful. and then once gray is literally brought back from the dead he picks just the most epic, wonderful nurturing life direction.

i love these two so much and i want them to be so happy & safe. protecc at all costs!!

lumity

i mean yeah again they're canon but fuck you i only recently started actually getting canon queer couples in shit i watch!!

but yeah seeing these two bring out the best in each other and just being absolute badasses whenever they're fighting to protect each other and also they're powerful witches, just, YEAH this shit rules. and they're so dang sweet.

flick/cj

i'm not nearly as into cj as i am into my beautiful enby punk/goth lizard boy, but i gotta admit they're hella cute together and i want flick to have all the happiness their little gay scalie heart can contain!!!

karai/leo

this is basically down to the fact that in literally every iteration of the two characters, karai bullies the fuck outta leo, and as someone who used to intensely relate to leo because he’s got “the good kid” syndrome something fierce, obviously i always enjoyed seeing her be all femdommy towards him.

nowadays, i tend to relate to donatello more than leo, but i still really enjoy every iteration of karai playing with her food with leo.

also, honorable mention to karai & april from the 2012 cgi series. the episode where karai beats the shit outta april definitely made me feel feelings the first time i saw it. and every time karai defeats or captures her she always calls her “princess” & is all condescending in general, and it’s just, fuuuuuuuuck, it’s SO gay.

also also obviously i ship basically every combination of the four turtles. i mean, duh.

russian winter

i was shocked when rewatching babylon 5 a few years ago how upfront the show was about the relationship between commander susan ivanova & talia winters. in her last appearance on the show, talia slept with ivanova, and in a later episode when everyone on the crew has to tell a deep, personal secret ivanova says that she loved talia. considering we’re talking about the 90s here, that was pretty fucking explicit.

and yeah, there’s an unfinished fic sitting on one of my harddrives about ivanova rescuing her. maybe i’ll try to get back to that at some point, idk! i haven’t been writing much fic lately.

jake sisko/t’lir

jake sisko/enby vulcan, jake sisko/enby vulcan, JAKE SISKO/ENBY VULCAN.

aragorn/legolas/gimli

it’s that thing where you take a very homosocial book and add expanded roles for some of its female characters to make it less homosocial but you change exactly nothing about how emotionally intimate the homosocial relationships are and also both gay people & people who are more conscious of the fact that gay people exist watch your movie, so like, yeah this is kinda inevitable?

gashir

i don’t even give a shit about bashir when he isn’t interacting with garak. he might as well be a non-character.

i fucking love garak he is such an amazing bratty dom. i love watching him play with his food (his food being bashir).

milippa

i mean, burnham has more feelings about georgiou than she does about any of her actual on-screen romantic partners, whether it’s for her gentle mommy domme prime universe georgiou or her badass mean domme mirror universe georgiou. i like michael with book, don’t get me wrong, it’s just hard for me to get as excited for heterosexual relationships as i do for queer headcanons, especially when one of the two participants is a mommy domme.

jaydick

i’m not super invested in this one, especially since it requires dick to be a service top and i think he’s at his most natural as a bottom, but yeah their dynamic has always been pretty charged to the point that the first gay fic i ever wrote was about these two.

[dracox-serdriel]

Maybe you're reading different fanfic than me, but I've not found this to be true at all. This kind of stuff is very noticeable to me, regardless of medium of publication, and my enjoyment certainly doesn't gloss anything over here.

The OP specifically mentions books, but a lot of fanfic is for other media, including TV shows. Plenty of TV shows jump from big moment to big moment "with nothing to earn it inbetween", as the OP states. This is especially true for movies. It's particularly noticeable in the Marvel movies - we start a movie, and suddenly two characters have established a raport that had very little/no prelude in any of the previous flicks. Because that all happened "off screen."

So this idea that fanfic needs to feel specifically like books, which I take to mean is the OP's specific taste for books, is ridiculous to start with. Plenty of people who write fanfic only write it for non-book media.

(It also amuses me that the OP says "traditional fiction" but then refers to the "jumping" to big events as an issue... like apparently the OP has never read the Odyssey or The Canterbury Tales, neither of which, per the OP's statement "earn" the "big events" they jump around to. I'm sure they've missed out on tons of other fiction which does, in fact, jump from big event to big event.)

But let's say the OP's personal view of "traditional fiction" is actually valid and that there aren't completely legit examples of literature that jump from big event to big event without needing to (as the OP says) "earn" that big event. They're still utterly incorrect.

Firstly, fanfic can be any length. A lot of the fic I read falls into 1k-10k word range. They don't jump from one major event to another because, well, there may only be one major event in the entire story. The ones that do jump from event to event often do so as part of the conciet of the story (e.g., three times they miscommunicated and one time they didn't).

There's also simply the story itself. There's a huge difference between writing a full story (be that an "episode" for a TV show, a "movie" in a series of films, etc.) and a shorter "missing scene" that occurs in a specific time/place during a specific episode of a TV show, for example. "This is what happens after ___ happens in 2x02 of ___." Such a story doesn't need world building, small details, etc. because it's literally just an extension of an existing story. Sometimes TV shows will do "webisodes" or mini-epsiodes just like this - they also lack world building and the events between big events, as their entire point is to illuminate a short story.

There's a big difference between a 2k word "missing scene" fanfic that takes place in a specific episode/time in a series and a novel-length story. The beats will obviously be different because the scope of the story is greatly different. But compare that to a short (film), a mini-episode, a webisode, or a short story... and suddenly the beats "match up."

Secondly, if we're only talking about novel-length fanfics or longer, there's tons of AU work out there. It's impossible to write an AU without world building components. The same (to a lesser extent) is true for canon divergence, which there's also a lot of out there. I wouldn't bother reading a novel-length fanfic if it lacked details, world building, etc.)

In the end, "They feel like stories, but they don't feel like books" is a very ignorant take on literature.

If they wanted to talk about how much they hate people who "convert" fanfic from fanfic to their own new-universe novels, they should've written directly about that, rather than trying to act like "book" has a specific literally obligation to function as they expect, even though there's plenty of legit literature that doesn't function that way--as well as plenty of legit, published media (TV shows, movies, etc.) that ALSO don't function that way.

this comment on that vulture article about the "fanfic-to-romance novel pipeline" is very interesting and not something i've seen articulated...much to think about...

[tnapki]

send an ask: get to know your author

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason? I don't really hold off on writing, I hold off on sharing!

2) what work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing? I once rewrote the lyrics to Peter Andre's 'Mysterious Girl' for this rando I had a crush on in college

3) what order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else? I write an outline (sometimes including the ending), then fill in my favourite scenes as per my mood then stitch them up together

4) favorite character you’ve written: I love writing Klaus PoV; I feel like I can relate to him in a, you know, non-serial killer way

5) character you were most surprised to end up writing: Rebekah! I didn't think I'd write any of her scenes but I did and it was fun

6) something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now: In 'What Could Have Been' the writing implied that Klaus & Cami slept together even though I personally don't think they did according to what I understood of canon. I changed it just for fun but in hindsight I'd have preferred to leave it as is

7) when asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write? Imagine muted introvert-esque enthusiasm - people do know that I write, they just don't necessarily know WHAT I write :P

8) favorite genre to write: I love writing ACTION & fight scenes because it's almost like choreography & just fun to put into words

9) what, if anything, do you do for inspiration? For fanfic, I watch the show or go through my Pinterest

10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone? Alone but with background score that works with the scene I'm writing, that's very important for me to direct the story in my head

11) what aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing? Conversation flow & general Thesaurus skills lol

12) your weaknesses as an author: there's a lot but the main ones would be repetition of words/phrases - I have to work extra hard to make sure those don't happen. Also, my memory sucks so I need to keep going back to read what already happened in the story so far

13) your strengths as an author: Empathy for my characters

14) do you make playlists for your current wips? Of COURSE

15) why did you start writing? Mostly to get the angst out of my system. It worked with Klaroline :D

16) are there any characters who haunt you? Nope, once I write it out, I can easily move on

17) if you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be? Just upload it already!

18) were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they? Fics? that's way too many to list. With books, writing style that had most impact was probably J.K.Rowling

19) when it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.? You should see my Murder-Board-Level colour-coded EXCEL SHEET

20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts? Mostly little spurts, unless I get time slots in my day for long sessions

21) what do you think when you read over your older work? I feel like I read enough of it when I'm writing it & I'm usually satisfied when I finish so I don't revisit them

22) are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write? Maybe extreme torture or heavy SMUT

23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing? I grew up in a conservative country where reading was healthy escapism so there's that :)

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story? After my Klaroline story, I felt like I could write a book on Hybrid blood - if only that was a life-skill

25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of:

I loved her," he said quietly.

Caroline swallowed; trying not to be affected by Klaus' hushed declaration but couldn't stop herself.

"There was a time you loved me too, why was this any different?" As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she regretted it for how petty they sounded even though she was genuinely being curious.

Ugh. Her inquisitiveness could be such a pain sometimes. Klaus, however, didn't seem to be bothered by her question.

"I suppose…" he said looking up at Caroline with a sad smile, "…it was nice to be loved back."

This one's for @enniec123 who painstakingly listed out every number in the asks 💜

[nyxelestia]

Having followed you for a while, I've got the impression that you're a person who has faith in tptb knowing what they're doing and aware of continuity/storyline. I don't. I also find it sort of disingenuous of you to claim that there was no separation. I'm not saying early seasons hinted at a romantic storyline whatsoever, but the fact that the interactions between them decreased during later seasons is undeniable. Even if, as you claim, most gifsets are corrupted Scerek scenes, it does not 1/?

take away from the fact that Stiles and Derek did interact more in early seasons, their "hate" of each other notwithstanding. I never contested the notion of romantic Sterek being non-existent, so I'm not sure why you're bringing up all these examples of Stiles not caring about Derek living or dying. I feel like that's derailing the argument, as is you referring to Sterek as widely known as a crackship, a term I haven't seen used outside of the belligerent anti-Stereks. My ask wasn't about 2/3

that. Lastly, I want to mention the fact that Jeff, tptb etc, all pandered to the Sterek fandom during the early days, going so far as to say that Sterek may very well happen it enough people wanted it. A LOT of revisionist history is happening in this fandom, all of it meant to discredit and ridicule Sterek fans as delusional. I'm tired of seeing the same arguments regurgitated to incriminate Stereks and seeing personal opinion presented as fact. Please don't blame Stereks for the writers' 3/4

deliberate choice to have Stiles and Derek not interact. I, and most of the Sterek fans I have seen, did not JUST want to see them fucking, which seems to be the generally accepted canon™. Most of us would have been pleased to actually see them interacting on friendlier terms. The writers did not want this, and thus made sure to keep them away from each other as much as possible (as noted even by the actors themselves). Rant over. Thank you for your time. 4/4

I had to bring up their hostility to make my point: there was more Sterek in later seasons.

That is because there was not much Sterek in the earlier seasons.

Most of the scenes fandom ascribes as "Sterek" were either not about them, or scenes in which they clearly disliked each other.

In later seasons, Stiles and Derek like and care about each other a lot more. They are more supportive of each other. They help each other.

But this wasn't enough for the fandom.

Also, given how often I complain about the fact the episode writers' rarely ever seem to talk to each other or know the broader story, not to mention my overall complaints about Jeff Davis' inability to maintain continuity, where or how did you get the impression that I "trust" them?

There was a lot of problematic queer-baiting (hinting at Stiles' bisexuality without ever following through on it). But that's about all their behavior in relation to Sterek I'd say was problematic.

It is the job of the cast and crew to encourage fans. They were running into a lot of Sterek, and so encouraged it. But, there were also Stydia fans there, so they encouraged that. And Scallison fans, and fans of many other ships, too. It's their job to tease all these ships, whether or not it's going to happen. And that's what they did. They happened to get the bulk of their attention from Sterek fandom, and so teased it a lot. They're supposed to.

But there is a world of difference between "throwing in some scenes and tropes on top of what we already have to tease a popular fandom ship" and "erasing half the show and replacing it with fanon that has little to nothing to do with our show". The latter is what Sterek fans - at least the loudest and most vocal - were calling for.

When we write Sterek fanfic, we have to inject a lot of background story and characterization in order to make it work (and when fic-writers don't, they usually aren't writing about Stiles and Derek, but Pack Mom Gary Stu and Woobie In Leather Pants; they are using tropes and archetypes to fill in the blanks, especially ones created by erasing some of canon).

But Teen Wolf is a TV show. They have severe constrictions that we don't, and along with Sterek, they do have other ships to think about (and quite frankly, their primary target audience isn't "the Tumblr demographic", but "the MTV demographic" - which really aren't the same thing).

The show is an ensemble show, about many characters, relationships, and dynamics. They built up Sterek a lot in comparison to the first two seasons, and utilized many Stiles and Derek character tropes that were really popular in fandom - but it wasn't enough for the fandom. Scott was still the main character, Stiles wasn't a Pack Mom Gary Stu, and Derek still cared more about Scott than Stiles (as he always had). So the fandom started to leave en masse, at which point.

The show went back to doing what it was doing before (Malia was a Cora replacement, who in turn was an Erica replacement, and Stiles' relationship with all of them was very similar; the relationship between Stiles and Malia was basically a continuation of all the Stiles/Erica teasing from back in Season 2). It could've continued to include more Sterek scenes or tropes - but why bother, if that fanbase wasn't watching it, anyway?