#Katiehoughton

[do-it-for-the-fandom]

So underrated. This professional relationship had so much potential.

“The fact is, I admire your loyalty. I hope you feel that for me someday.”

[tvmilfs]

hi idk who else to talk to about this but i recently watched the leftovers for the first time and then a couple weeks later i went to stephanie j block's concert and accidentally ended up standing next to her husband and i was like oh my god. doug durst. anyway i'm normal

Hi oh my god I didn’t not they were married! That is wild! i would have felt the same! Hope you enjoyed the leftovers as well!

[90stvqueen]

6 & 29 & i love you!!

I love you too!!!

6. Favorite title you used

Again I have two answers, and in some ways they both feel like a cop-out because they're someone else's words. There's always an angel; never a god, which is from the boygenius song "Not Strong Enough" but I chose because it fit the themes and overall vibe of the story so perfectly. Then there's take these years of mine, which is from This Is How You Lose the Time War, and I just think it's such a lovely turn of phrase and it fits thematically as well.

29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

One that comes to mind is "Barbara watched the rolling tide of her throat as she swallowed." and the passage that surrounds it. Apologies, it's kind of long, but I think I accomplished something I've been working on in this section, which is using more descriptive and evocative language in my prose to ground the scene in the senses (because I have a tendency to spend all my time in the characters' heads). This is from chapter 8 of Fritole, "Bachelorette Weekend."

Fire danced in Melissa’s eyes as she sparked up, turning the spliff in her hand. The end of it burned in flame and then settled into a red-orange glow as she brought it to her lips and inhaled. Barbara found herself breathing with her, blowing clean air from her lungs as Melissa expelled smoke from hers. (She was too stoned, and too invested in the shape of Melissa’s lips, to realize how intently she was staring.) “You want any?” Melissa offered. Barbara shook her head, looking out over the ocean. It was nice here, where there were no other people. More space to listen and think and feel. To look out at an ocean undisrupted by buoys or bodies. To be closer to God. She tipped her head back, eyes closed, to feel the sun on her face. “I wish we had some music right now,” she said. “That’s the only thing that could make this more perfect.” When Melissa didn’t respond, Barbara opened her eyes. Melissa was looking at her with an expression that was so soft she could nearly cry. She was so happy. Just to be here. To be basking in Melissa’s light. To stare into the clear green of her eyes, seeing and being seen. “Yeah,” Melissa breathed. There seemed to be so much contained in that one syllable. She cleared her throat and made a face, and Barbara thought maybe she’d just imagined the layers of choked longing folded into her voice. “Damn. I left my iPod Nano in the room.” She looked away, taking another drag of her marijuana cigarette. “‘Course, I don’t have a speaker, so that wouldn’t have done us much good. Shoulda brought a boombox.” “It’s all right,” Barbara said. “I’m happy with just this.” Melissa looked at her again. So soft. Searching. Barbara watched the rolling tide of her throat as she swallowed. “Me too,” she said, looking away.

[frenchtoastcomix]

I hope this inspires you to drop everything and read Surface Protocol, the Cold War navy wives Barlissa AU by @katiehoughton!

The whole story is well-written, but this was the moment that grabbed me like THIS IS A COMIC PAGE AND YOU MUST DRAW IT.

Thanks to @branzinos for posting gifs of young Sheryl Lee Ralph and Lisa Ann Walter :)

[perigilpin]

please go read surface protocol by @katiehoughton if you have not, had to draw two of my fave parts from chapter 3 because this au has saturated my brain fully

[vanillabeanwrites]

casual reminder that i’m still not over surface protocol by @katiehoughton / beanie on ao3. </3

[perigilpin]

The shaft of light from the hallway elongated across the floor and Barbara turned over her shoulder to see that Melissa was hesitating in the doorway. Taylor looked up and set her bonnet aside so it was mostly hidden beneath the bed sheet.

“Goodnight, honey,” Barbara said, and stood up from the bed.

Melissa did not move from the doorway until Barbara reached it, so their bodies had to fit together in the narrow space. Barbara did not go back downstairs. She knew she should. She was fairly sure Ume was sitting in the backyard alone now while the men smoked out front. Janine had left early, with Officer Eddie, which neither of them had done a good job of disguising.

- From chapter 5 of Surface Protocol by @katiehoughton

🗣️ go read this fic if you have not yet ! I couldn’t get the visual of this particular scene outta my head and had to sketch it

[perigilpin]

I was tagged by @bawnjourno & @the-frankenman-writes !

@kleyamarki @exteenpopstar @flowers-and-beskar @katiehoughton @chipthekeeper @shotgunsue and anyone who sees this and wants to I’m @ -ing you all (but absolutely no pressure to do anything) !

[trappergirl]

Hi i'm not dead!! my wife @softiescully tagged me aaages ago, thank u 🫶💐

favourite song at the moment: dream brother by jeff buckley or a&w by lana

current obsession: i'm in between obsessions atm but twd always & i do still randomly bring bj up in conversation

style: lots of ditsy florals and lace for summer, 70s prairie dresses, red or green accent pieces, 90s square toe kitten heels, my thrifted leather jacket and red white & blue cowboy boots

celebrity crush: jdm lol. and did u guys see anne hathaway in the wattpad movie oh my god...

favourite food and drink: had the dreamiest fluffiest scrambled eggs recently in paris 🍳🩷 at home i've been loving brioche, hbaf almonds, espresso tonics

places where i'd like to live: my friends pockets or holland, but i actually love where i live... new jersey for like a month

hobby: reading, writing, best friend and i are slowly getting into scrapbooking

sooo nice to catch up @anatomicvenus @weirdlittlegirl @majorbaby @teamtoby @katiehoughton @10000000fish @strideofpride & every mutual i have ever had and forgot... what have u been up to!!

[90stvqueen]

I was tagged by @tunemyart in 20 Questions for Fic Writers like a week ago and I just now saw it so THANK YOU FRIEND

How many works do you have on AO3?

27

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

235,642

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Xena: Warrior Princess (14 works)

Abbott Elementary (10 works)

The X-Files (2 works)

Stranger Things (1 work, is an outlier adn should not be counted bc I wrote it to meditate on internalized homophobia and not bc I ship it)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

say it again (Stranger Things LOL)

remind me tomorrow (Xena)

succ (Xena)

Fritole (Abbott)

No Matter What (Xena)

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

I try to! It depends on how swamped I am with life stuff, but I like responding to comments because for me, writing is about starting a conversation and building community and connecting.

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

Depends on how you define angst but probably the fic with the angstiest throughline (like, it starts angsty, stays angsty, ends angsty) is glory glory glory to the night that shows me what i am (Abbott Elementary). But I think the best angst I've written is probably After (also Abbott) because it's a smutty slow-motion trainwreck.

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

take these years of mine (Abbott) is probably the happiest thing I've ever written, period. remind me tomorrow has the happiest ending (and is the most lighthearted) of all my Xena fic.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, but sometimes I get demands for more or for specific plotlines. I worry that if (and WHEN) I don't follow those requested/expected plotlines, there might be some pushback.

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

Almost exclusively. Although I've been branching out a little more. But yeah. Mostly F/F, some F/F/M and F/F/F, also a decent amount of gender fuckery in various configurations. I would say my smut leans more vanilla, but I've written some kink, and there are definitely elements of kink in some of the vanilla stuff, too.

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

I do not write crossovers. Maybe someday. But probably not, unless it's purely for the lols

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

God I hope not! Not that I'm aware of!!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Somebody asked me if they could translate my fic once, but I don't remember what the fic was, and I don't think it ever actually happened. Would love that, though!!

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

Lots and lots. My first big foray into cowriting was with @angelsarenamederika, with whom I wrote a massive amount of trans!Mulder X-Files fic that we never posted anywhere but was an absolute blast to work on. I'm also working on a 5+1 piece for the Work Wives (Abbott) fandom with @the-frankenman-writes, @this-barbie, @katiehoughton, @wolf-government, and @vanillabeanwrites. OH AND! @deirdresart adapted Eromenas into a comic and it's AMAZING.

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

Xena/Gabrielle

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I refuse to answer this question. I WILL FINISH ALL MY WIPS SO HELP ME GOD

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and interpersonal dynamics and internal reflection (or, in unreliable narrators, lack thereof)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Stealing @tunemyart's response word for word here: Action, movement, and description of setting. I'm really trying to get better about grounding the characters in the world around them instead of some nebulous room. Also writing action without getting bogged down in unnecessary details. It's hard!

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

Maybe if you know the language and it serves the story or the way the story is being told. Never say never, but it's not something I usually do, because I don't ever really have a reason for it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter lol

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

Right now, it's After. I worked so hard on it and I learned a lot writing it and I found a community (partially) because of it! I think it's just a really satisfying, angsty/bittersweet read, start to finish. Honorable mention to Eromenas (again plugging the comic here) and five times it was quiet and once it was loud.

This was fun! I'm tagging the people I've already tagged in this (my dear friends and collaborators) and anyone else who might want to do this <3

[trappergirl]

@psychopomp2016 tagged me to post 6 albums ive been listening to thank u schnecke 🩷 @softiescully @anatomicvenus @majorbaby @katiehoughton @10000000fish tag ur it :o)

[perigilpin]

ahhh love your fan art for surface protocol! that story is SO good 😍

there are a number of really solid AUs in the fandom, we're so spoiled

love your art!

thank you ☺️, I’m glad you like it!

obvs, shout out to @katiehoughton for writing such a fantastic story, it is so good I had to draw something after reading the last chapter

alsooo if you have any other AU recs, please do share!

[trappergirl]

@majorbaby tagged me to shuffle my music library, then list the first five songs that come up in a poll to let people vote for which one they like the most! and of course i forgot it in my drafts lol thank you 🩷

tagging @anatomicvenus @softiescully @10000000fish @katiehoughton @weirdlittlegirl @jonismitchell & allllll of my mutuals <3

[writingwell]

This is amazing. What a lovely way to celebrate each other this year! Tap the link and help me decorate my tree!

Thanks to @randomfoggytiger for the tag.

@daphnebeauty @happyveganvampire @justwanted2dance @jstar1382 @digitalcitizen @odakota-rose @hopealope @caskettforever @lounytoone @huffle-puffen @her-pegship @blastedbastion @brighteyes01 @hopefearlovefaith @chaosncoffees @copop83 @lordofkavaka @dmarx @do-it-for-the-fandom @katiehoughton @kimchristie32 @nikki457 @laeveart @iamclystanieves

[90stvqueen]

i got tagged by @katiehoughton to share a little bit from a wip, so here's a little section of "VHS," a barb/mel pwp which i have been writing on and off for months (and i will finish it! just not right now lol)

i know i'm supposed to tag people but my brain is mush, so if you want to share a bit of wip, please do and tag me in it!!!

“Ah,” Barbara says sharply. “Baby, stop. My hip is cramping up.” Melissa shoots a rueful look at the camera and disentangles herself from Barbara, helping her lie flat on her back. Barbara grimaces and rubs her hip gingerly. “You okay? Need me to massage it?” Barbara shakes her head. “No, I caught it just in time.” She looks at the camera, frowning. “Glamorous, aren't I?” Melissa can see her shrinking into herself, from Barbara Howard, Sex Goddess to Barbara Howard, Aging Beauty. And you know what? Absolutely not. That is not how this is going to end. So she slips out of bed, and she takes the camera from its post and holds it up to her eye. “From where I'm standing, I've never seen a brighter star in all the sky.” She's not a poet, okay? Barbara starts to wave her hand in dismissal. Melissa catches it, the same way Barbara caught her hands earlier. She holds it up to the camera, their fingers interlaced.  There used to be a tan line on Barbara's finger. Melissa saw it every time she took off her ring, the specter of Gerald floating over them both. Now it's gone. Took all of two weeks to fade away. Like it was never there.  She wonders how Barbara feels about this. Does she notice its absence? Does it hit her like a baseball bat to the chest, the same way it does Melissa, when she thinks about how quickly she left behind thirty-five years of marriage? They haven't talked about it. Everything is so new. They've been doing this dance for the better part of three decades, but it's all so new. Feels wrong to mar this perfection by bringing up everything they lost along the way.

[mattepinkallshades]

Chapter 3eeeeeeeee enjoy!

Thank you @connyhascontrol and @katiehoughton for cheering me on, cannot believe I’m this 🤏🏻 close to finishing.