#I've done revisions on this image like five times

[redinthesea]

Happy B-day boys 🥳🎉🎂🌱

[middleearthpixie]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag, @i-did-not-mean-to!!

And.... we're off...

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 36

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 2,583,909 (just about everything i write tends to go novel length and when my muse cooperates, look out!)

3. What fandoms do you write for? Tolkien - The Hobbit and LOTR, and most of the characters played by Richard Armitage.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? After the Fire, More Than Meets the Eye, Brilliant Disguise, Where I Belong, In This Moment

5. Do you respond to comments? Almost always. It might take me a while, but I try to respond to every one.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? That would be The River which was a short piece of about 3k words that takes place right before Thorin starts out for the Shire and the Quest to retake Erebor.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Pretty much everything else (Where I Belong is more bittersweet than flat out happy). I write romance and one of the hard and fast rules is an ending that is either happy or happy for now. And I am an absolute sucker for a happy ending.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not so much hate, but useless criticism (and yes, unless a writer has specifically asked for a critique, criticism is useless so save yourself the time and trouble and don't bother with it. Don't like something, don't agree with it? Write your own story how you want it. I'm not even nice about that any more.)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Sure. I write steamy in general, but Good Trouble, The Chance You Take, Playing with Fire, Damaged Goods, Miss Fortune, Seven Days, and Better Days are the smuttier of my fics.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I've written crossovers for Richard Armitage characters - Guy of Gisborne/John Porter

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? I doubt my fics are good enough for anyone to steal, so I'm thinking no.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? I'd be very surprised if I have.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, and I don't know that I'd be able to do it, either. I'm far too set in my ways and doing things the way *I* think they should be done and telling the story the way *I* see it.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Thorin x OFC

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I don't have any. I almost never orphan a story. It might take me literally years to finish it, but it will be finished.

16. What are your writing strengths? I write fast and clean (meaning my edits/revisions are usually minimal) and judging by a lot of the comments I receive, I write very good and natural dialogue

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I sometimes have trouble slowing action down, as I usually want to get right to the meat of the story. I also can't always translate the images in my mind to the words on the page.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I write using other languages sparingly - usually just enough to give the reader a feel for the character. It's too easy to fall into linguistic stereotypes otherwise.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Marvel. Loki, specifically.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? This one is a three-way tie between More Than Meets the Eye, After the Fire, and Something in the Night, (my current WIP) because all three have heroines who are very unique - Arielle is not only trying to pass herself off as her twin brother, but she rambles when she's nervous, Jasna is a medical student who stutters, and Nina is a bounty hunter seeking revenge against a certain dwarf king. All three were and are fun to write.

And now for the no-pressure tags!

@evenstaredits @sotwk @fizzyxcustard @frosticenow @glassgulls @sunnyrosewritesstuff and anyone else who'd like to answer! :)

[emerald-chan]

Hey Lynn! I hope you're doing well. I have finished the revised version if the message. As soon as you're done, I'll send it over to Dudley. And I was sure to add the people mentioned that are good members of the solars, and shouldn't be bashed.

✨✨✨✨

Hey guys, Rascal here. This particular message something's been coming for a long time now. I know that when it comes to the affairs of discourse with certain members or addressing behavior or contoversy, usually the co-leaders address and handle it then tell me the results. But this time its a matter that's gotten to a point where I was alerted to intervene myself.

My friend @LynnMagne has alerted me several times that the behavior of certain Solar members has gotten to a point where its no longer civil when it comes to disagreements, or are placing blame on other members for their actions. I've even gotten word that they refuse to listen to reason despite multiple attempts to defuse the situation or explain why their actions/words were wrong. I was also sent evidence of these actions through screenshots of conversations.

This tab only allows up to five images, but I can post the other evidences in the next post if necessary. Other rascals that have supported evidence are Davi Crossover, Dino/Mysticals and will post their responses/evidence and messages on their respective community tabs as well.

You're free to look at the below pictures that were sent as evidence of certain Solars actions. With that being said, we've come to a decided the only action that could fix this:

Banning Solar members who are also Rascals from the group and revoking their staff member status. Its not something I wanted to do, and I really hate losing people in the group, but I made the Rascals group so we could have fun together, not tear anyone apart.

There was an idea to monitor people, but this could require TONS of time and it would interfere with many regular members schedule. Not to mention that both sides would feel a lack of privacy as well. I don't mind when others want to have conversations or even disagreements, but when it escalates to a point they can't listen to reason, then we have to take action.

Last, but not least: I was also shown/told that The Solars often force Davi and Candler to not be friends with certain people due to these accusations. And many of them are incredibly serious, and shouldn't be taken lightly. Just because some rascals are friends with certain people, doesn't mean that they are the labels that have been put upon them.

It should be made clear that they shouldn't force others to end friendships. The accusations made also lead to them making their own reasons to ban people like Lynn, Davi, Dino, and Diego from the Solars. Its especially important to know that everyone-and I mean everyone-has a right to tell us problems regardless of age difference between members. We need to know about these problems and handle them together.

If we do introduce any new members from the Solars or otherwise, we suggest they work on themselves before inducting anymore members into the group. There are a few nice Solars which are Sean, Mandy, Nuke, Sonic Past Cool, Art Dragon, Clover, and Daniela. And I, nor anyone else has a problem with them. They're perfectly fine.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but this is something I've needed to address for a long time. I'm not personally mad at anyone, or holding a grudge. I'm just kind of disappointed in this coming to light. I can even understand if you're mad at me. I just want my friends to be safe as we work on what we love, either together or apart. We'll get back to the fun stuff (outside of new podcasts releasing and my Wish Rewrite videos) soon enough, we just need to get past this first.

Thanks for reading, and I'm sorry it took me a while to finally address this.

Sincerely, Rascal. 🐶

I think the draft looks good, but I realized I forgot to mention Candler as one of the nicer Solars. Overall, it looks good.

[celinamarniss]

Year in Review

In 2023 I posted 4 fics at 58,153 words.

Previous years:

2022: 4 fics at 45,096 words.

2021: 3 fics posted, 55,788 words.

2020: 7 or 10 fics posted, 125,738 words.

2019: 7 fics posted, 72,149 words.

2018: 7 fics posted, 87,752 words

2016: 9 fics posted, 51,643 words

2017: 9 fics posted, 115,336 words

2016: 9 fics posted, 51,653 words

In total, 49 fics posted to Ao3.

We Can't Keep Meeting Like This

34,355 words, gen, Din/Luke/Mara

The Din/Luke/Mara fic I told myself I wasn't going to write! As these things tend to do, it expanded into a much longer fic than I expected. The "five things (plus one)" structure helped to keep it from spiraling even further, but those individual chapters ended up being much longer than I expected and took much longer to write. At first, I serialized the first couple of chapters in smaller excerpts for WIP Weds on tumblr. It was fun to get a little feedback and the weekly deadline compelled me to write those chapters quickly. But when engagement dropped to basically nothing I stopped posting updates and waited to post each chapter to ao3 when it was done. My progress slowed down considerably, but the chapters got longer. I had fun, most of the time.

The Girl Who Traveled the Ways Between the Walls

4,938 words, gen, Animalis verse

Written for the 5k AU fic challenge. Luminous Creatures begins with Mara and Luke's daemons settling, and I regretted never writing a story with an unsettled daemon character. I wanted to write a fic with a fairy-tale vibe and I wanted to explore the weirdness of the Imperial Palace. The Palace becomes a fairy tale wood, and Mara sets off on a quest in which she encounters strange people who aid her or demand aid. Does she learn the right lesson in the end? Perhaps not.

Echo, Revenant, Targeter, Phoenix

15,431 words, gen, Winter Retrac character study

I wrote this one for the Star Wars Big Bang, an experience that ended up being so stressful that I dropped out. I still finished the fic on time and posted it. The fic attracted a modest number of readers (unsurprising given Winter has been basically forgotten these days), but their enthusiasm was very gratifying. I've always liked Winter and I wanted to give her a chance to shine.

However, while I love the worldbuilding and individual scenes and images in this fic, as a whole I don't think it's very gracefully written and I've never been very happy with it.

Cascade

3,429 words, mature, Luke/Mara

I wanted to include A Non-Zero-Sum Game in Vol II of my printed fic collection, but the series felt unfinished without the fourth and final story that I planned to write after Tether. So five years later, I finally wrote it. It was interesting to go back to those old fics and try to write a story that fit the series. I wanted to post it before the new year broke so that I could count it in the 2023 list, and I rushed to get it out. It could probably still use some work.

As the year went on, I failed to meet a lot of the arbitrary deadlines I set myself, and that made writing frustrating and unfulfilling. I don't want it to be like that! I want fic to be fun.

However, I have a lot of non-fandom projects coming up in 2024, and I'm going to have to shift my focus away from fic, at least a little bit.

GOALS FOR 2024

(almost exactly the same as the goals for 2023)

Triumvirate Finale! (explicit, very) The big finale of the Triumvirate series, in which the trio returns to Coruscant to face the Emperor. Doesn’t have a proper title yet. Progress so far: three chapters drafted, 15,410 words.

A Smuggler’s Guide to Joining the Rebellion (gen) The sequel to The Things You Find on Tatooine. Progress: the first chapter finished, 2,241 words.

Lando Calrissian and the Jewel of Andara (gen) The Lando and Mara heist romcom I’ve been promising forever. Progress: three chapters drafted, but in need of heavy revision, 6757 words.

Other fics on the backburner:

Courtship remix

Experiments

Daughter of the Rain and Snow

More daemon fic! 

[hum-suffer]

193 students

Three days before the kids' preliminary exams are supposed to be finished, Jeetu paces in his house. Don't get him wrong, he's done this a lot of times by now, but he's still worried. They've got physics tomorrow and he's not had more than five calls from all of his batches for doubts. It's ridiculous, makes him want to pick at the skin of his palms.

Did he not create an approachable image? Did the students fear to come to him with their doubts? Will they succeed in those prelims? It was crucial that they did, this exam could break or make their confidence.

There's a soft burn in his throat and he'd have assumed it to be acidity if he had eaten all day or even smoked. His hands wish for another nicotine rush but he knows better. There are children who look up to him and Jeetu will be damned if he gives them anything but his best.

He's wrecking hell on his hands by the time his alarm rings. He stops it. He doesn't want to go out for a walk, not now. Everyone will be in their rooms and without students, Kota will be too empty to be enjoyable.

His door bell rings and Jeetu rushes to open it, still nervous.

Vaibhav is standing there. This slip of a kid, who's had a late admission and too much idealism, is standing there, for once without his two friends who are grasper and talker, respectively. Jeetu side steps and allows the kid in it, but he doesn't see any nervousness that he usually sees in kids. There's no frustration and no desperation to solve an issue and for someone as desperate to prove himself as Vaibhav usually is, that is very dangerous.

Jeetu is instantly worrying.

"Arre, Vaibhav. Sit, don't just stand there. Do you want tea? I was just about to make some." He was not. (Jeetu never drinks tea in the evening, it makes him stay awake a lot more than he'd like.) But Vaibhav doesn't need to know that.

From his bag, Vaibhav grabs out a thick spiral note with blue cover, much like the first assignment Jeetu had given the boy to test his drive. He holds it out and while that is unusual, Jeetu doesn't ask a question as he accepts the note. "Bhaiya," the word that had seemed so alien to that boy to use instead of &sir' slips out so casually now that Jeetu is bursting with pride for his student. "Please don't read it now. I've just come to give that to you. Abhi, I'll go back to some revision."

"Arre but at least eat something. You'll go empty handed from my house?" Jeetu says, putting down the book to go into his kitchen. He knows the authority he has, the kid won't leave until Jeetu dismisses him.

From the living room, Vaibhav protests,"Nahi, bhaiya! I just had dinner, that was why I was out, actually. Now, I'll go back to the PG." It's something else entirely because Jeetu even knows the curfew that kid has in the PG and just how much he hates his landlady.

Jeetu hums to himself as he quickly grabs some chocolates that he always has in his house for kids with family issues and bad breakups. He needs to stock up soon, he idly thinks as he returns to the living room. He hands Vaibhav the chocolates when he's too stunned to speak against Jeetu as Jeetu stands in a reprimand. "You really went to get outside food in the middle of your exams, Vaibhav?"

The kid looks sheepish. "It was my cheat day, bhaiya. Aap hi ne to kaha tha ki—"

Jeetu interrupts him. "I know what I said. But still. Try not to get sick in your exams."

Vaibhav nods obediently and pockets the chocolates. "I'll leave now, bhaiya. Read the note and wish me luck!" He bends down to touch Jeetu's feet and Jeetu pulls him, let's him go with a pat on the back and a smile.

Later, when he's sure Vaibhav got into a rickshaw, he comes back inside, to his living room. He opens the note and for a minute, only stares.

Why Jeetu Bhaiya is the best teacher, authored by 193 students.

Underneath the title, is written a note in a simple ball pen.

Happy Birthday, bhaiya.

@aarambh-hai-prachand

Guys............sudden feels for Jeetu bhaiyaa of Kota factory

Who wants a one shot?

[kiyoominous]

starburst matchup 

exchange with @haikyuu-matches​

hello! thanks for doing this with me, i think it's such a cute idea! i hope you don't mind that i've went with a more narrative approach with this matchup, i have never done one in my life D: 

you have been matched with komori motoya! 

falling for you!

komori met you at a community volleyball club. he doesn't visit too often, with the responsibilities of his own high school club, but he likes to play when he can. one particular day, he entered the community centre and saw you in all your 5'6 glory. the last time he came, he didn't see you in the crowd of familiar neighbourhood faces. you stood further towards the back of the hall, fidgeting with your fingers. this image looked all too familiar to komori, the cousin of a particularly standoffish ace. a sympathetic pang in his chest and he walked over to you, smiling as your eyes met his. 

you both traded names and he noticed that you were a little quiet. that was okay, he could talk around that. and he did, asking you questions and trying his hardest to make you feel comfortable. taking glances at your face, he saw the corners of your mouth turn upwards and noted that it was working. 

was it weird that he was enjoying it? 

komori doesn't remember too many things about that day. the volleyball match was fun and he remembered doing a really good receive. the rest of his memories from that day were filled with you. you and your shy smile, you and your dark chocolate eyes, you and your cute jokes. sure, you could've been the same as every other girl he's met in his life but there was something so discernibly about you. something so outstanding that he felt couldn't be matched. he couldn't put his finger on it so he made it his mission to finally put a name to this feeling. 

he found that the second he mentally declared his manhunt to define his thoughts on you, he was seeing you everywhere. he spotted you at the convenience store, he bumped into you at the dog park and he saw you at school. he saw you at school? komori was mildly surprised to see you in the cafeteria of his school, which was your's too. you weren't all too shocked, you knew about him through volleyball monthly but you didn't want to tell him that you did. 

five minutes of conversation and he discovered that you were both in different classes. no wonder why he never saw you around. or perhaps he did but he never took notice of your sleek black hair. he was always accompanying sakusa anyway so he didn't really notice anyone outside of his club or his class. 

somehow, someone mentioned the upcoming exam season. you declared your conflict with standardised testing, he proclaimed his struggle with revising content in return. it became very obvious to komori that his chance to understand you more intently was here; he could ask you to study with him! talk about killing two birds with one stone. you agreed to his plan with a gentle smile and he felt his heart flutter. was it the satisfaction of your agreement or was it something deeper? 

he decided that the answer would come to him later, not now. 

after the much anticipated study session came another one, and another one, and then studying morphed into free time. and then free time morphed into a weekly friday night hangout. unbeknownst to him, one of the beloved friday nights would become a vehicle for his romantic epiphany.  

komori enjoyed this turn of events. as much as he wouldn't admit it out loud, komori realised that he enjoyed your presence too. maybe a little too much. every second he spent with you, he felt his heart racing faster than it ever did after a volleyball match. it didn't help that your accidental touches made it accelerate even more. he didn't think that was even possible. it was impossible to not drink in the sight of you. the glow of your face, your silky dark hair, your gleaming brown eyes. perhaps you might’ve found them boring and painfully average but he thought you were the prettiest person he’d ever had the pleasure of perceiving. 

his fixation on you extended past your outward appearance and dove right within your mind, your heart, your very soul. he loved the sound of your laugh, the noise was melodious to him. he loved your sense of humour, all of those puns and dad jokes were right up his alley. hearing them made his heart flutter even more. he loved your hardworking nature, your love for the rain, the passion you put into everything you adored. 

he loved you. 

komori saw your widening eyes in his vision and suddenly he was brought back to the cold of your living room, back to the dark of the midnight sky, back to where he was sitting right now; next to you on the timber floorboards. the neon light of the television reflected on your pretty face, the movie playing on the screen long forgotten in favour of you. 

the realisation that he said that out loud hit him right in the chest and he felt like he was going to pass out. komori felt the air enter his lungs again when he heard you reciprocate loud and clear. 

you loved him too. 

the relationship dynamic!

you're both the most entertaining pair to be around, the gemini/leo combo makes for a fun relationship. 

the two of you are one of those couples that people want to be around, wishing to stick around to laugh with you and just see you so in love. 

with your mom friend energy and his dad friend energy (which i know he just has), you both become the designated parents amongst your friends. whether its a blessing or a curse, that's up to them to decide. 

the two of you are constantly on the same wavelength. 

it’s never too loud or too quiet with komori, just the right balance of both. 

he loves your sense of humour and thinks you’re one of the funniest people on the planet. it helps that he’s absolutely enamoured by your puns and dad jokes. sometimes he’ll shoot one right back at you just to hear you laugh. 

you both like poking a little fun at each other, giving teasing remarks or sarcastic quips. 

komori cares so much about you. 

he understands your need to recover in social situations and gives you the time that you need. he’s willing to be the pillar you run to whenever your social battery’s running low. 

though he admires your hardworking nature, he won’t hesitate to stop you if you overwork yourself. he always encourages breaks and offers to do your work for you if that’s what you need. not necessarily a nagging type of person but if he needs to take physical action, he’ll do it. it’s mostly just him stealing your laptop and pulling you into his lap for a cuddle. 

he doesn’t hesitate to remind you that you don’t have to be a people pleaser. an understanding man, he knows that it’s hard to just get over it so he tells you that he’ll be with you every step of the way, always giving you a gentle reminder of how cool you are to him and that you can say no. 

komori wants to be the shoulder you lean on whenever you’re facing something you don’t like. loud noises? he’ll hold you close and rub your back, telling you that it’ll all be okay. confrontation? he’ll confront them for you. injuries? he’ll keep an eye on you to make sure that you’re never going to be hurt. on the off chance that you do earn a wound, komori will ensure that you’re fixed up as soon as possible. he has a whole mini first aid kit on him specifically for this reason. fear of losing? he’ll always remind you that your efforts mattered more than the results and give you a kiss on the top of your head. the unknown? he’ll waddle through the unknown with you. he’s scared of it too but he won’t tell you that. violence? he’ll cover your eyes and guide you away with strong, gentle arms. 

he loves indulging himself in all of your interests.  

on lazy days, he’ll sit with you and take turns reading a book to each other out loud. sometimes it’s a whole novel, sometimes it’s a manga you’ve picked up from the library. he thinks it’s cute seeing your eyebrows furrow while you concentrate on the words in front of you. 

the study dates don’t end. whenever one of you is struggling with a subject, the other visits to be their personal tutor. it ends up being you a lot of the time, since komori loves your studying method. 

komori loves to read your writing. there are days where you go over to his to hangout and sit in silence. he adores that he can be that relaxed around you and lounge around on his phone while you sit up with your laptop propped on your lap. you’re always writing up a draft of a new creative piece whenever he glances at your laptop. he graciously offers to be your beta reader and indulges in every word you’ve typed. komori thinks that your writing style is so beautiful. 

one day, you told him that you like the french language and he spent a week trying to learn how to say ‘i love you’ and maybe a couple of other phrases to surprise you out of nowhere. when he saw your shock, he giggled and wrapped his arms around you. from that moment on, he would occasionally whisper je t'aime into your ear. he loves you so much omg. 

you play sports together. it doesn’t matter what it is; be it volleyball, tennis or soccer. you’re both a power duo in every game you play and everyone’s scared to play again the two of you. it helps that your boyfriend is one of the most notable liberos in japan. 

komori likes watching anything with you. sometimes when you’re both too tired to go out, he’ll set up his tv to watch whatever you’re in the mood for. one day you might catch up on my hero academia. another day you might be sniffling at a romcom. he likes romcoms more than he’d like to admit but he tells you about this guilty pleasure to appease your love for the genre. 

you mentioned to him once that you liked handwritten letters and komori made it his personal mission to write one for you personally once a month. they’re always so heartfelt, a clear reflection of him and his emotions towards you. he enjoys writing them as much as he enjoys the expression on your face when you read them. 

he seems to be the greek mythology enthusiast himself so he loves talking to you about it. and by enthusiast, i mean that komori was one of those kids who owned the whole entire percy jackson series. since the most that he knows about greek mythology is whatever is written in the percy jackson books, he lets you sit with him and educate him on the extensive lore of the gmcu (greek mythology cinematic universe). 

he loves hearing you talk about astrology and gets into it himself. he can’t help it, especially with the bright smile you hold on your face whenever you talk about it. when he first found out about your astrological compatibility, he was over the moon. the grin that he had on his face was so big that you thought that it looked like the moon itself. he’s downloaded co-star and reads his and your horoscope sometimes. 

date idea! 

komori decided to take you to a cat cafe after you mentioned the idea of it to him once. it’s a very him thing to do, to remember something you’ve told him offhandedly once and immediately make something big out of it. 

the second you step in, your eyes glimmer with delight as they land on the multitude of cats in the vicinity. you don’t even look back to him at once, swerving your attention to the cafe’s residents. at least you’re holding his hand still, he thinks. maybe he’s a little jealous but hey, the visible joy on your face beats his concern over being prioritised after felines living in a cafe. 

after what seemed like hours of cat-petting, you both sat to order, the food arriving in a pleasingly timely fashion. the lunch items were delicious, the desserts were divine but komori was even more drawn to the soft look of adoration on your face as you stared at a calico cat that frequently passed by the two of you. 

this might’ve been his best date idea yet, he thought.