#but also COMPLETELY different fandom and i will probably never publish this so i think it’s alright

[starbuck]

chipping away at a couple little fics at the moment and the letter-format one is the most fun because instead of a coherent plot it’s a smattering of random thoughts so i’m in a situation where i KNOW i added another one last night as i was passing out, but i don’t remember at all what it is/if it’s good/etc.

[blocksgame]

Tips on character voices when writing fic

This is written in mind for people writing fic in MCYT/QSMP/DSMP/Life series/etc kind of fandoms. But if anyone finds it useful for anything else, well then, hell yeah.

Character voice is big in all, uh, fiction, and mimicking it in any fanwork is big. But I think it’s especially big in these fandoms where the voices are so distinct – it’s usually how a Real Person Somewhere (the streamer) talks, versus something very scripted that you’d see in a TV show or novel. And it can be a big difference in your character sounding generic versus really feeling true to the original.

Listen to a bunch of your subject talking. If you want to write a character well, watch vods from their point of view, or episodes where they show up a bunch. Take note of what they say and how.

2. If you don’t know how to start doing that: try literally writing down what they say. Transcribe an actual exchange in fic-format. You probably won’t want to publish a literal exchange from canon, but it will give you a sense of how to physically write what they say.

3. If you do this (or just pay attention to how they talk), you will get a lot of: Stumbling, pauses, repeating words, filler words, weird sentence constructions, fragments, etc. I love em! Here’s something that comes through in improv much more than in novels or movies: Most people, even very charismatic people, are not very eloquent when they speak. Writing out conversations or sentences will give you a sense of the unique and delightful way in which your subject is not eloquent. vvvvv way more under cut vvvvv

(People use a LOT of filler/etc when they speak. It’s reasonable to cut back on this if it’s interfering with a nice-looking or readable result. I believe this is the eternal struggle of people who write transcripts – you want the transcript to be accurate, but there are also a lot of things you can obviously simplify and not lose the meaning. So you’ll end up falling somewhere on this spectrum either way. But I do think a lot of mediocre/generic fic dialogue is very stylized – it doesn’t sound like your guy because your guy literally wouldn’t say that. They would say it worse and more confusingly.)

(I’m serious, if you’ve never sat down with a short non-completely-scripted clip or real conversation or whatever and just written out exactly what was said, do it. It will make you better at writing.)

4. Wonda-cat made a really incredible list [link] of characterizing speech patterns for the Dream SMP members. But you can also do your own reconnaissance and come up with your own patterns, common phrases, etc.

5. You do not have to get EVERYTHING right. You’re not going to, like, get so deep into the speaker’s brain that you can produce “exactly what they would have said if they were somehow in your fic.” That is impossible. You’re just trying to evoke a character, and if you get a few turns of phrase to ring true, you’re doing great.

6. A lot of these people are popular because they are hilarious. Include jokes. Yes, even if your thing is angsty or serious. A lot of the most serious lore I can think of from, e.g., the Dream SMP or 3rd Life or the QSMP - the really story-defining, life-and-death moments - were absolutely hysterical. If you’re writing characters who are usually funny, then add some humor. It can heighten angst via contrast and a sense of realism. Ask yourself what a funny streamer would make jokes about if they were possessing a character in this situation.

7. Some people have the mystical ability to “hear” character voices in their head, and read things in their voice. If you can, do this with all of your dialogue during the editing process. This won’t always get you there, but sometimes it can catch things that sound wrong by invoking "that's really hard to imagine them saying". If you don’t have this power, try recruiting a friend who does.

8. So there’s dialogue and then there’s narration that’s still from a character’s point of view. I’ve mostly given you tips about dialogue, but a lot of this is also true for narration. IMO, narration is less about phrasing things the way the subject would, and more about recreating the way they think. I don’t have concrete rules on how to do this, but here is my wisdom:

You can get eloquent again - narration is more of an abstract and artistic process than dialogue.

Spend time with your subject’s source material.

Pay attention to what they notice and care about. How do you think they think?

Don’t be afraid to get weird with it.

That last one also applies to all art ever.

9. MCYT tends to give you a great boon you don’t see in other media: what the speaker says to their chat/audience when nobody else is listening. This can be incredibly characterizing even if you’re writing a story where people don’t have chats. It’s your person talking about their thought processes and feelings! Mine that shit.

10. Some questions that might help guide both characterizing narration and dialogue (that you’d get from dialogue):

How open are they about their feelings?

How often do they lie? What do they lie about?

What kind of metaphors do they use, if any?

How quickly does their mood change?

How can you tell when they’re in different moods?

What kind of things do they pay attention to?

How formal is their speech?

11. Finally, this is a little odd, but I find it’s much, much easier to write a character that sounds good if I, the author, like them and am rooting for them at least a little bit. If a character needs to be there who you don’t love, try to love them. Or at least get a sense of what other people love about them. It just makes everything else easier. I swear to god.

Happy writing out there!

[i-can-read-to-him]

The Wesper Fic Club's Author Spotlight is a post series that aims to feature two to three fic authors a month, randomly selected from a pool of names put forth on our server. The authors are then asked to answer three interview questions, select up to five of their fics for us to feature, and finally, recommend three fics by others in the fandom.

(Note: Our spotlighted fics are not limited to Wesper, though they tend to be a central pairing in most of our authors' featured works.)

This week, we are putting a spotlight on Blackpearl's writing!

Socials: @magicandpizza (Tumblr) | Blackpearl (AO3)

❀

Part One: Author Interview

Q: When did you first start writing? What keeps you going today?

A: I honestly don’t remember when I started writing, but I was very young. I have vague memories of writing some little stories inspired by Beatrix Potter, and at one point I was convinced I was going to write the fifth Harry Potter book. I don’t recall anything else about that one apart from the title - Harry Potter and the Silver Snitch. What was the plot? Who knows.  My first serious fandom was Pirates of the Caribbean, followed by Spooks and BBC Sherlock. I had some of those fanfics published on AO3, but they’ve long since been orphaned. I then didn’t write anything for years and years until I fell into the Six of Crows fandom. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Q: Have you had a chance to interact with the SAB cast? Tell us about your experience(s)?

A: I’ve been lucky enough to meet Jack Wolfe a few times by stage-dooring at Next to Normal, once at the Donmar and three times at Wyndhams. He’s such a genuine, down-to-earth person who really loves his fans. And his eyelashes? Rude. I also met Kit Young after his show Influence. It was about two days after the cancellation announcement and we had a chat about that, as well as what had drawn him to doing a magic show. He was very kind and generous with his time. I’m attending Into The Fold 2 next year - it’ll be my first ever convention so I’m excited for that and the opportunity to meet some more of the cast!

Q: What’s something you wish you could write, but don’t think you ever will?

A: I really wish I was one of those authors who could craft incredible and intricate plot lines, but I never have been and I don’t think I ever will be. I’d love to be able to write a heist or something complicated like that, but all my attempts are half-hearted at best. I should probably just stick to what I do best: fluff and smut.

❀

Part Two: Selected Works

Don't Do Sadness

Mature | 3.1K (Complete) | Wesper 5+1, Wylan Van Eck and his trauma, Violence, Extremely dubious consent (not Wesper)

Blackpearl says: Mind the tags on this one. I really wanted to explore Wylan’s trauma at different ages and how he might cope with it, and also take a step away from the usual stuff I write. I’m very pleased with how this one turned out.

Sky Full of Stars

Explicit | 10.2K (Complete) | Wesper   Famous/celebrity AU, Wylan is a musician, Jesper is an actor, mixed media fic

Blackpearl says: This was an idea I had percolating for a while, and I wanted to play around with writing different kinds of media. I feel this one is a bit under-appreciated but that’s fine, I had fun writing it.

We Keep This Dream Together

Mature | 33.1K (Complete) | Wesper  Coffee shop/university AU, Loosely based on the UK education system, Wesper-centric featuring background Helnik and Kanej, Found Family

Blackpearl says: Who doesn’t love a coffee shop AU? This was very self-indulgent, but I had so much fun with it I’m working on a sequel!

Folding 

Teen | 2.6K (Complete) | Wesper  Jesper’s gambling addiction, Post-canon, Hurt/comfort

Blackpearl says: I don’t think Jesper’s gambling addiction gets addressed enough, and I wanted to explore what it might look like post-canon. 

Tie Me Up

Explicit | 1.7K (Complete) | Wesper Shameless smut, Light bondage, Light dom/sub, bottom!Wylan, top!Jesper

Blackpearl says: It wouldn’t be me without a smut fic, and this is one of my favourites. Featuring slightly subby Jesper and slightly mean Wylan and a tie that neither of them will ever look at the same again.

❀

Part Three: Author's Recs

i’d marry you with paper rings by MaudeAlise

Teen | 11.3K (Complete) | Wesper, Helnik, Kanej Fluff, Established Relationship, Post-Canon, Marriage Proposal

Blackpearl says: Just 11k words of Wylan and Jesper being stupidly in love and wanting to marry each other. This fic makes me grin like an idiot every time I love it. Also just a general shout out to everything that MaudeAlise writes. I’m obsessed with them. 

Obvious Lovebirds by perculiarjuliar 

Teen | 11.6K (Complete) | Wesper, Helnik, minor Kanej POV Multiple, Fluff, Heartbeats, Holding Hands, Hickeys, Kissing

Blackpearl says: Six different outsider perspectives of Wylan and Jesper’s relationship. I love fics like this, and this author did such a great job of getting into the heads of the different characters. 

Keep You Safe by @aphroditestummyrolls

Mature | 42.3K (Complete) | Wesper, Helnik, Kanej, Crows & Colm Post-Canon, Book & Show, Canon Divergence, Protective Crows

Blackpearl says: Six months post-canon in an alternate universe where Jesper took the jurda parem, and Matthias lives. Colm Fahey comes looking for his son. This fic is so so so good and made me feel so many things. I love the deep dive in Jesper and Colm’s relationship, as well as Jesper and Wylan’s. Just perfect.

❀

Please support our authors by commenting and leaving kudos on any stories of theirs you read and enjoy! Don't forget to also reblog this post and check back soon for our next author spotlight to come.

Interested in joining our server and getting to know our community? Feel free to request an invite via the @i-can-read-to-him ask box.

[myrthing]

I am James Somerton.

or, This Is Not A Defence of James Somerton Because He Fucking Sucks

The thing I've been thinking about since I watched Folding Idea's unlisted video about Somerton's second apology yesterday is how much I recognised myself in Dan's analysis of James, and how conflicted I've felt since then.

I should start by saying that as a Swedish lesbian woman with autism, ADHD and MDD, who has neither college degrees nor work experience, but who does have scruples, burnout, a sense of responsibility, some talents (if no way to consistently use them), a desire to create, basic financial sense, and a living parent who can read; I'm actually not like James Somerton at all.

But those are really rather superficial differences, aren't they? What got me thinking is the line with which Folding Idea ends his video:

"Ambition without actions and avenues to achieve them are called fantasies."

That is both an accurate analysis of James Somerton's personal failings, and a summary of me. The ambition to be something without the ability to put in the work needed to succeed. A deep-rooted optimism about how things will always work out in the end, somehow.

In James's case, this is currently demonstrated by his unwavering conviction that he will be able to return to YouTube. He hasn't considered the alternative. I don't think he can—the idea that he has permanently destroyed his chances of being a youtuber is too big, too real, so instead of engaging with that reality, he pretends to himself that he can't see it. Out of sight, out of mind. Literally, apparently, if we take James's account of his TBI at face value.

I want many, many things. I have many, many ideas. I would like to be a successful [anything]. I have imagined myself in many careers, from freelance editor to self-published author to youtuber. Anything that would, like James, enable me to work from home. It's partially desperation: after all, how else would I get a job as a disabled woman in her mid-30s who has never been employed and who can't go back to school?

I'm also loath to the idea of doing work. Self-employment is hard and it requires dedication. I would like to have already achieved my success, thank you very much. None of us can say what the reasons are behind James's unwillingness to work (although laziness is certainly not unlikely). For me, though? It's probably a combination of certain autism symptoms that I've dealt with since I was a child, and the burnout I suffered from in high school. Those aren't excuses, they're embarrassing weights I carry around to remind me of why I'm a failure.

This is what has been on my mind because of Somerton. I found myself not empathising with him, but recognising certain attitudes as a mid-30s adult with a disability (between the TBI and epilepsy as Somerton describes them, he certainly qualifies as disabled) who has been largely shielded from consequences. Although James certainly also seems willfully ignorant of his actual faults in a way I don't think I am. If nothing else I do know how to genuinely apologise. And I can cite sources! I know how to do that even without completing though school or managing even one term in university!

My mother—who can read, thank you very much—would eviscerate me if didn't. Besides, I entered fandom shortly after Cassie Clare's plagiarism scandal. It was instructional.

This is a goddamn ramble, so I'm going to end this by putting all cards on the table, and admit I actually have one (more) thing in common with James Somerton:

My dad, you see, can't read.

Because he's dead. I'M SORRY I'M NOT SORRY I CAN'T NOT MAKE THESE JOKES HE DIED WHEN I WAS TWO

[sixbynine-da]

Tagged by  @doonarose!

How many works do you have on ao3?

60

53 are works solely by myself.

2 are large group collabs

5 are podfics.

What’s your total ao3 word count?

364322

250802 is soley mine (6351 in group collabs)

What fandoms do you write for?

Currently Good Omens.

Previously 

Buffy, Naruto, Bleach, Sherlock, Harry Potter, LoTR, The Originals, Star Wars. A bunch of other anime series :D

Top five fics by kudos:

Of comforts and Rituals - The Originals fanfic Klaus/Elijah. Feat hair washing - the most intimate thing a couple can do!

Sweet dreams - companion fic for vavoom-sorted comic. Feat unconscious Crowley and his sub conscious insecurities.

A Tricky Situation - Human AU written for the vday exchange. Feat professor's Crowley and Fell. They don't immediately take to one another. 

Oh! My! What a situation - unrelated to above :D. Aziraphale is dropping hints Crowley is not picking up. Feat tartziraphale. My favourite *ziraphale.

It's a ~*DEMON DICK DOWN*~ - Aziraphale attends a summoning gone wrong. Does what it says on the tin. Feat large shouty Crowley.

Do you respond to comments?

Yes!

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Published…

Toss up between 

Bad habits - a Lucicrow fic. Crowley has an arrangement with Lucifer that means he doesn't have to face the fact he can't have Aziraphale.

or

Going down in flames - Crowley takes over hell. And not in a cool destroy it from within way.

Unpublished…. I currently refer to it as ‘sad fic’. Human AU. A look back over their life from Az's perspective.

Do you get hate on fics?

Nope not really. Couple odd comments about tags….

Do you write smut?

Hahahahahahahahaha.

Craziest crossover:

Never done cross overs. 

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I am aware of. 

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I'm having one translated right now :D

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I've worked on a few group projects and am currently co writing a couple things. Nothing before that though, so these will be my firsts :)

All time favorite ship?

God lord

 How tf can one chose ?

Probably Tony/Steve from MCU

I worked my way diligently through every E rated complete fic on AO3 and read virtually all of them!

What’s a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have a couple Naruto ones I will never finish. But I don't particularly want to. So that's fine. 

Want to but doubt…? Honestly I'm a bit worried about sad fic at this point !

What are your writing strengths?

Hmmm, dialogue?

I also seem to be able to just write if I have to as well.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Honestly my attention span. I'm impatient and get bored and want things to hurry along and it shows :D

Total lack of reasearch into anything. ^^;;

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Odd word here or there is fine, if I have to go google entire phrases or consult with footnotes to get important bits of the story....bit annoying.

First fandom you wrote in?

Buffy would be the first published by date but I THINK the first thing I actually wrote was a poem for an obscureish anime called Loveless. They are all still perfectly readable on FFNET because I'm terrible at tidying up myself when I leave :D

Favorite fic you’ve written?

uuugghhhhhh, thats like asking me who my favourite kid is! I'm going with Validation. Because it was the first thing not smut I wrote and where I tried out a different type of writing. It's entirely Crowley POV and more of a character study re his fall. I put a lot into it ^_^

tagging blah blah blah blah : @wingsofopal @theonewiththeshippinggoogles @thenerdalert @fuzzygoblin

[lovemadethemdoit]

Any advice on trying to write Hangster for the first time??

oh anon, i am honored you'd think to ask me but i have no clue what to tell you here. but i'll try.

my main advice would be

don't retread the whole movie unless it's pertinent to your premise. if not, you can still do flashbacks or little scenes from the movie but hangster fandom has gotten pretty tired of rereading the whole movie plot, i'd say.

for hangster purposes, understand that the movie hints at us that they are both the best aviators in the navy other than maverick. if maverick wasn't there, they'd be the two at the top.

if you're still pretty young, understand their age difference is small (unless the main theme of your fic is supposed to be age difference. then fuck with their ages a little more than the four canon years that put them apart)

hangster fandom decided jake seresin either has a shitty family and has daddy issues or he has the sweetest most loving and supportive family and is a good texan mommas boy. BOTH IS GOOD. we love both those backgrounds for him here in hangster fandom (and they both actually work for him!)

bradley bradshaw is a cocky motherfucker (and rightly so) and he's probably felt alone a lot throughout his life so do with that knowledge what you want

you don't actually have to write mavdad. personally i love a maverick that's a little useless at personal relationships. generally, maverick doesn't have to show up at all if you don't want him to

found family is a big theme with hangster i'd say

if you write post-canon, try not to forget their day jobs and that they will be flying, on base, talking about flying and missions and stuff. it doesn't have to be a whole lot but some fics forget about it completely and never mention it and it makes those fics feel a little bit ooc

hangster fandom is branching out into writing AUs recently, which i love, so if you want to write an AU, go for it!!

general advice: please, please, stay in one tense or if that's not your strong suit, find a beta to check for that before you hit publish

other than that, just sit down and let them tell you their story!

(oh and also, rewatch tgm like ten times because you're obsessed and find a top gun spotify playlist featuring miles teller's great balls of fire performance and the song danger zone by kenny loggins 🤪)

there you go.

happy writing, nonnie!!

[batrogers]

So -- barring the idea I have for the Doll % Runs -- my Doll fic series is finally complete, as I'd first imagined it to be.

Series Summary:

A series in which, upon leaving the Dollmaker she made a very generous gift to Hyrule: one doll for each of his friends, with the caveat he must be the one holding it for it to activate, and he must be near them. He hopes he never has to use one. Here are all the times he might be forced to explain.

Ratings range from T to E.

Universally Temporary Major Character Death fics, with frequent Graphic Depictions of Violence (although some deaths are less graphic, less violent, or a different kind of violent.)

Fun with some stats, because I wanted to collect them for me:

Brief summary: most fics in the series hover around 1:6 or 1:7 ratio, probably because of the self-selection by means of being Linked Universe fics (which often average closer to a 1:10 ratio) and being self-selecting by means of the MCD/Graphic Violence archive warnings and similar tags (eg. beheading, eaten alive, etc.)

The highest word count is Dog Days, at 4,070 words.

The lowest word count is Perfection, at 1,950 words.

The first fic ("The Dollmaker" was published in October last year, and the most recent was finished twelve hours ago (September 3rd).

More detail about ratios and hits and commentary on why I think that is under the cut. But thank you all who have enjoyed this series!

The Dollmaker is the oldest fic in the series, published Oct 18th, 2023. It's at a 1:8 kudos-to-hits ratio, with over 700 hits.

Dark Despair's Corroding Hand (Time's doll fic) is next, published Apr 8, 2024, and is at a 1:7 kudos-to-hits ratio, with over 300 hits (but it has some interesting tags and an E rating, so can't blame y'all.)

Where is my Harmony (Legend's doll fic) was published Jun 13, and is at a 1:6 ratio, and is a few more hits over 300 than Dark Despair -- but this one's only rated M and much less graphic.

Dog Days (Twilight's doll fic) was published Father's Day (Jun 16th) because I'm an asshole. It has a 1:8 kudos ratio and barely over 300 hits, probably because it's intensely political and not the kind of Twilight-and-Time vibe most of the fandom likes.

It Hungers Still (Wind's doll fic) was published July 1st, and is at a 1:6 ratio because some tags are VERY self-selecting for an audience and oh boy is this one. It's also rated E. Over 200 hits.

Good Is Not Nice (Warriors' doll fic) was also published July 1st, and is at a (slightly higher = 5.6 vs 5.9) 1:6 kudos ratio too because tbh these two fics -- for all the ratings lower -- are equally violent in very different ways.

Hidden Ruin (Sky's doll fic) was published July 11th, and is at a 1:6 ratio too. It has just under 200 hits.

Perfection (Wild's doll fic) was published July 16th, and is at a 1:9 ratio, proving that fandom favouritism is not always in a story's favour LOL. Just over 400 hits, which wildly outpaces the others and yet that has likely pushed down the ratio in itself.

Blue and White and Gone (Four's doll fic) was published Jul 30th, and is at a 1:7 ratio, with just under 200 hits. (Which makes sense given how recent these last are.)

And, published twelve hours ago, Will You Be There (Hyrule's doll fic) is at a 1:5 ratio and 60 hits.

[thelostgirl21]

You know, it occured to me that I should really let people fight their own battles.

So I've sent this messages (under the cut) here.

If it bothers his publishers, or Mr. Sapkowski himself in any way, given that the Witcher wikipedia apparently gave Netflix their own page when they came asking politely, I'm sure they won't mind doing the same for Mr. Sapkowski.

And if Mr. Sadkowski's people don't see any issue in having a single page blending books canon and games canon in the intro, and/or believe the way that the references are indicated are more than enough to ensure that the people looking at the wiki can quickly and clearly make the difference between what's part of the books and what's part of the games, I'll just have to let it go!

That being said, kudos to that "Wiki Specialist / Bureaucrat" for their patience and kindness in that conversation (and very lenghty answers... I've never had a moderator on any wikipedia devote so much time to answering me. I'm very impressed, actually.)

The fact remains that those decisions don't rely on a single person, and they pretty much have to convince the vast majority of the people working on the wiki that something is problematic and that those changes are indeed needed. So, it's not like they could have just gone "Of course! Just let me go and fix this right away!" whether they agreed with me, or not.

Some of the arguments they gave me might not even have been their own (when you're part of the group, you represent the group).

So yeah, I think that's probably the most productive / potentially effective approach, if I'm remotely hoping to actually fix anything.

And if it doesn't work, well, at least I'll know I've tried...

Hi,

I would like to bring your attention to a particular situation with the way that the current Witcher's wikipedia is run, that I believe is currently contributing to the misrepresentation of the content of Mr. Sapkowski's books in the media.

Essentially, instead of having chosen to adopt the model most often used by fandom wikipedias, where the source material has its own page, and each franchise/adaptation of that source material also have their own pages, the people in charge of the general Witcher's wikipedia have chosen a different approach, quote: "the idea when we started overhauling bios for characters was to make them read like an actual bio. Thus, we refrain from referencing the books, games, shows, and other adaptations within them as the focus is to summarize the character/their importance to the overall lore (the witcher lore is more than just the canon books). The only exceptions are items or crucial gameplay features where bios aren't as important as just providing quick game info for those needing game assistance.

[…] If there's anything to take away from this, you have to remember this wiki is about the witcher, not just the canon books, but the entire witcher lore and universe. We are not purist: that means all the adaptations, both canon and non-canon, are allowed here. Everyone appreciates the rich and in-depth Witcher series by Sapkowski. We also respect his thoughts that none of the other adaptations are canon to those novels and try to re-affirm that whenever it gets brought up. However, the witcher lore has been greatly expanded on by others with his approval/licensing and has also helped not only bring to life the witcher but also greatly expanded the witcher universe. To deny all the work by others (and let's face, many cite the CDPR games as the reason his books even soared in popularity outside Poland) would be a disservice to those who helped bring it to life and those looking for a complete picture of the entire lore (regardless which adaptation it came from)."

This was in response to me pointing out to them that the way their wikipedia has been designed (here is how it looked before I started trying to edit it: https://imgur.com/a/old-version-yZN6sd4 ), with the "game canon warning" placed where it was at some point in the biography, suggested that everything that had appeared before it (including the introduction paragraph that mixed both books lore, and videogames lore) were ALL part of Sapkowski's books, when that is not the case (here is a compilation of every reference that I was able to find about Radovid in the books, for your convenience: https://imgur.com/a/AbGA9eL ).

And that this confusion - regarding what is part of the books and what was written for the videogames by CD Projekt Red on the main Wikipedia page - has lead to at least 7 articles like this one pictured here ( https://imgur.com/a/CmOP41q , source: https://screenrant.com/the-witcher-king-radovid-future-books-games-comparison/ ), where game content has been erronously attributed directly to Andrzej Sapkowski.

All 7 articles can be found here: https://collider.com/the-witcher-season-3-jaskier-radovid-romance/ https://www.looper.com/1364442/why-the-witcher-season-breakup-radovid-and-jaskier-romance/ https://screenrant.com/the-witcher-season-3-prince-radovid-books-games-changes/ https://screenrant.com/the-witcher-king-radovid-future-books-games-comparison/ https://screenrant.com/the-witcher-season-3-king-radovid-age-story-different/ https://www.dualshockers.com/the-witcher-season-3-prince-radovid/ https://www.dualshockers.com/the-witcher-season-3-jaskier-radovid-relationship/

Though there may be more (Let's say I didn't do much digging to find them).

They also argued that "there are more than just Netflix and CDPR game adaptations and not all of them are confirmed canon to each other. For example, there's Polish comics that are also not canon, there is the original Hexer show and movie that the author has distanced himself from (but was created so the info still gets added here), the pen-and-paper games, and even non-canon and non-witcher books Sapkowski has written but still touched on topics within his witcher universe. In short it wouldn't be a simple "just 3 tabs" because the way you're wanting to split all info out, it'd be at least: canon books, CDPR games/Dark Horse comics/Gwent, Polish comics, non-canon books, Netflix's show, Hexer show/movie, pen-and-paper games, etc.. In short, this would be very impractical and create a lot of nearly empty pages (there are times where the books themselves only mentioned a sentence or two of something that got greatly expanded on in other adaptations). The main reason Netflix is its own tab is because that was requested by Netflix and it made more sense as the show progressed as they altered a lot of information to the point they were completely new bios (as opposed to just adding details in where gaps were to fit their narrative, like with CDPR's adaptation)."

So, here was my last answer to them:

Except the books are the source material, they are not adaptations of Mr Sapkowski's work!

In the examples you've given me:

The books and the added material Sapkowski wrote (like the details about legacies) are all part of the same lore / universe.

The videogames / gwent, etc. are all part of CDPR's own lore / universe.

"The Witcher", "Blood Origins", "Nightmare of the Wolf" are all part of Netflix's own lore / universe.

And then, you have "other adaptations", that are part of their own smaller universes, that could either have their own pages, or share one bigger page with a different section for each.

If you want to organize it into tabs, you would have:

Tab 1: The original franchise (with its own world / lore).

Tab 2: The videogame adaptation franchise (with its own world / lore).

Tab 3: The Netflix TV show franchise (with it's own world / lore).

Tab 4: The "standalones".

This is how most fandom Wikipedias are built, actually.

They are usually divided by franchises and recognize that each of them are their own distinct entities.

Not by mixing all together a bunch of different franchises that are not owned by the same people, and are not telling the same stories!

And Mr Sapkowski having sold the rights to videogame writers to create their own franchise from his own work, by borrowing any element from his books that they want, does not give CDPR the right to claim that their videogames are part of the same lore / world / franchise as Sapkowski's books (despite a lot of elements having been integrally borrowed from the books)!

Far from it!

And this shouldn't give the right to fans to blend his characters with the videogame characters, either, by using excuses such as "the videogame writers didn't diverge from what Sapkowski wrote to create their own character, therefore it's okay for us to absorb the book character into the videogame's, and treat that character as a single entity in the Wikipedia, rather than two completely different characters existing each in their two separate worlds".

And/or "since the page on the book section of the wiki would be just a small paragraph, it's better to make the CDPR character absorb them and treat what Sapkowski wrote as a simple template for the videogame character, rather than a full fledged book character, belonging to its own independent world/franchise!"

In the case of Radovid, for example, in the physical appearance section, it states he is bald.

Not:

Book: N/A

Games: Bald.

They aren't the same characters and they do not share the same continuity / world / lore / franchise, and yet, it has been decided that, because the videogame filled in blanks that Sapkowski never filled, he's officially bald!

We are treating the books and the videogames as a single franchise / entity where, if nothing was specified by Sapkowski about a specific aspect of the character, then who he is and what he looks like can be determined by CDPR.

And Sapkowski has never authorized the fans of his books to treat his work as belonging to the same franchise as the videogames, and in filling in any blanks that he didn't fill himself with someone else's work.

You can do it in your own fanfiction and headcanons because those aren't meant to accurately report or describe someone else's work, and they are personal to each fan.

But Wikipedia pages aren't supposed to be fanfiction.

Right now, regardless of all those added references, that's what Radovid's main page looks like: fans taking a character from an independent book franchise (the original material, no less) and using material from one of its adaptations (the CDPR one) to fill in the blanks and create their own mixed together version of the character!

Sapkowski is not David Gaider, that wrote stories and characters directly for "Dragon Age", and then published novels (prequels, sequels, etc.) that all exist as part of the same franchise.

In that situation, it makes perfect sense to put all the information gathered across books and games together as a single "Dragon Age" Wikipedia page for a character.

They share the same lore/world/franchise.

But here, we have three big franchises (Sapkowski's books a.k.a. the original, the CDPR games, and the Netflix TV show), that all belong to different people.

Even I only personally learnt that Mr. Sapkowski was not a "Polish David Gaider" thanks to the show, because until then, I thought that he was something like "The Witcher's lead videogame writer" that had written novels about it!

A lot of game fans are still under that impression and, the way "The Witcher" 's Wikipedia is built, treating everything as a single franchise all sharing the same lore on its page (if that's what you're saying), is extremely confusing for fans because they start thinking that the books and the games are all part of one single big franchise all sharing the same lore, that "Netflix has the chosen to disrespect"!

Netflix asking for their own page sadly only reinforced that belief.

But, at the same time, they are not part of the same franchises, so what were they supposed to do?

I don't remember having ever come across a Wikipedia that had appropriated the source material (the books) to give it to another franchise/universe (the games) in such a way as it is done here, to attempt to integrate game content into Sapkowski's universe.

Usually, on a fandom wiki dealing with more than a single version of a world/franchise based on a series of novels, you will have a specific section for the novels (source material), a section for the TV show and any graphic novels or novels written specifically for the world of the show (the adaptation), a section for the movie (another adaptation), etc.

For example, see "Jace Herondale" here ( https://shadowhunters.fandom.com/wiki/Jace_Herondale )? Under his info box you have:

Jace of Thule ( https://shadowhunters.fandom.com/wiki/Janus )

TV Jace ( https://shadowhunterstv.fandom.com/wiki/Jace_Herondale )

Film Jace ( https://shadowhunters.fandom.com/wiki/Film:Jace_Wayland )

This is usually how it is done when you want to respect and honor the integrity of the source material, and ensure it doesn't accidentally get erased / confused / absorbed into other people's work (or other people's work don't end up being added to it when the author has explicitly said they want to avoid it happening), and even avoid potential legal troubles (should the owner of the original material realize that their own original work is being absorbed into other people's work).

Because authors tolerate fandom activity as long as it benefits them and does not threaten the integrity of their work.

If characters from the books had their own pages, things like these articles I showed you would be a lot less likely to happen.

Because a quick search in "The Witcher" wikipedia would have brought these authors right to the "Books Radovid" 's page, and the way he's portrayed in the books would have been clearly written there.

I genuinely do not understand why "The Witcher" fans apparently care so little about preserving the integrity of the author's work in the fandom and in the media, that they think giving Andrzej Sapkowski's franchise (characters, lore…) its own standalone page for his characters, locations, etc. would be the same as giving "Gwent" its own page!"

Gwent belongs to CDPR!

"The Lady of the Lake" doesn't belong to CDPR! It belongs to Andrzej Sapkowski.

Do you see the difference, and how that argument fails to stand?

The books, as the source material, are more than deserving of their own Wikipedia pages.

If Sapkowski's books do not deserve their own pages on "The Witcher" wiki, free of additions taken from other people's adaptations (that the author keeps insisting are not part of the stories he wishes to tell), who does?"

And the answer I got was:

"I do really appreciate your thoughts on this, however as noted previously, we've already discussed this topic several times at length among admins and moderators over the years, and each time the majority have agreed it's best to keep the information as it is currently set/on one cohesive page with markers and refs. If anything changes in the future, we’ll be sure to revisit this topic and make any necessary adjustments as needed. For now though, most people reviewing the wiki (i.e., not those using bots to auto summarize) can easily distinguish between the canon books and other adaptations, and many in the community already know Sapkowski's stance so any newcomers to the lore generally are quick to learn this themselves. I thank you for your understanding!"

(Here is the link to the entire conversation: https://witcher.fandom.com/wiki/Message_Wall:Mechemik?threadId=4400000000000064664 )

From this conversation, we already know that when Netflix came knocking at their door, requesting that they be granted their own page on the Wikipedia, they complied.

So I figured, instead of continuing to argue with them, I would bring this issue directly to you.

That way, you'll be free to evaluate the situation, and decide if any action seems necessary.

Thank you, and wishing you to have a wonderful day!

[plothooksinc]

Tagged by @loadthebases

Turns out if I search by mentions I can find it immediately! I'm so clever. (And yet. I only just went "oh hey".)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

22! I am not as prolific as some-- a lot of these are one shots. |D And most of them are ancient.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

475,671!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The fandoms I write for that are published are Rurouni Kenshin, Final Fantasy VII, and TMNT '03, '07, and ROTTMNT. Unpublished I also have One Piece, Tiger & Bunny, SPN, FFXIV, annnd The Untamed, most of these just being snippets etc etc. (And then RP is another bag entirely, writing in a different format-- you can include Blade of the Immortal that way.)

4. Top five fics by kudos?

It was only recently I managed to clock the 1000 mark, and I did it on two fics at once, lmao. Uhhh--

Underdark - 1089!

No Rest For The Weary - ....1089. (You guys really are neck and neck still.)

The Zaibatsu Project - 291

Some Rest For The Weary. As A Treat. - 221

Snowblind - 174

Not altogether that bad, considering Ruroken is such a dead fandom these days. /o/

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yup. Unless someone is leaving a whole stream of one word OMG/!!!!/EEEK in which I'll probably just answer the last one they left. I did go through a very long period where I did not because I was too tired, but I started again around the 2020 mark when I actually started reading fanfiction again. And started engaging, etc etc.

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

I write angsty endings? :|a 404 File Not Found. I think the closest I got was the tiny ficlet I wrote for Ruroken which was just Kenshin being depressed in the rain after Tomoe's death, and I'm not sure that really counts. That was like three paragraphs of "well my life sucks" lmao. It never made it to AO3. (It's on ff dot net still, though.)

...OH. But I can tell you which one's going to have the angstiest ending and that's The Legacy. Which given the last chapter I had finished with Raph holding onto his dead not!girlfriend, I would assume most readers are not gonna be surprised by this fact. (File Soon* To Be Found.)

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

Idk man I tend to angle for happy endings in general, so that is very hard to answer as it comes under YMMV - people have different views of happy endings, after all. Probably Underdark as the most distinct "Yes, everything is okay now" ending.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nah, not really. I did have one serial reviewer that reviewed every chapter of Tanabata Jasmine back in the day with a lot of backhanded compliments and condescending comments? And one person who started off reviewing Misconduct with "well my friend told me to read this" and two chapters later said "okay I'm bored now bye", but none of this is hate. The only actual "hate" I got given was not actually ...for me? I don't think? It was someone who literally said: Why did you delete your slave fics? BITCH!! And I'm like... I have not now nor will i ever write... one of those...? So yeah. Think they mistook me for another author or something. Maybe Kikide. EH. Not my division.

9. Do you write smut?

Nah.

10. Craziest crossover?

Zaibatsu Project is a Rurouni Kenshin/Cyberpunk 2020 crossover, so that's taking all your 19th century samurai types and ditching them wholesale into 2029 Tokyo. It's fun. Maybe one day I will even write more of it.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Outright? I don't think so. Buuut I've certainly had people ping me in the past to tell me someone's lifted a chunk of it wholesale or "they've written Snowblind, only with smut!" or there was one person who wrote a BNHA fic which followed the same plot of Underdark complete with dialogue borrowed directly from the fic. That last one I contacted the author and they apologised and offered to take the fic down and I told them they could keep it up provided they credit me for the inspiration somewhere. I'm sure by now some AI has scraped my stuff, but largely I write in fandoms that don't get lifted and sold like others do. And honestly, the above examples are more kinda flattering than anything else.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! I believe most of my longer works have been translated into Russian, at the very least. I found Tanabata Jasmine back in the day being re-released onto a Russian forum site and I had a lot of fun translating the site to read responses (and laugh a bit at the machine translations because they kept telling me the readers were legless). Underdark has for sure. I've also found Snowblind.

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

I wrote a few pages of one with @shadowbends at one point! But we didn't get far in and we both got distracted with other projects. And I also wrote half a fic to set up the other half for an author, but she didn't end up going ahead. Alas. So.... kind of?

14. All time favourite ship?

I'm honestly not much of a shipper. I mean-- actually, I ship a lot of different pairings, but only kind of superficially for the most part? Like I really enjoy reading ships but I still vastly prefer gen. I will very rarely read an outright romance fic, there's gotta be a plot. (Or at the very least some interesting smut, god.) It's easier for me to point out ships that make me go UGH GOD NO rather than a preference. (In RP I'll ship a little more if the dynamics between our characters work out really well, but I still won't be crushed if nothing comes from it. This is a hard question for me to answer. I definitely don't have an all time favourite in this lukewarm pile of ships, that's for sure.)

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

Any of the WIPs that I have that I never bothered publishing have been abandoned. Anything I want to finish will get finished. It will just take some time. This is assuming I have a long life; I mean, if I'm scheduled to die, say, three years from now, the only thing that might get finished is Infinite Ricochet, lmao.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Action scenes! /o/ Pacing and tension. The most common review I get is from people vibrating from delighted stress, lmao.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Connective tissue. I can get really bogged down in getting from A to B. You can really see it in the early days of a fic where I'm still writing set up and wondering how to scale up realistically to the things I really want to write. Once everything starts going wrong, it gets much easier, rofl.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Depends on context. Like many I started writing fanfic at the time people tried to pepper as much Japanese into their dialogue as possible for realism or brownie points or whathaveyou - you can see that in my first fic on ff dot net lmaooo. Don't do this. Not unless you have a foreign phrase that just loses its flavour when translated through to English. Or, alternatively, when you actually have a non-English character who keeps dropping into their own language, or some try hard teenager who keeps trying to show off how much Spanish they know, as an example. There are always reasons to do so and reasons it will work. But if you're just going "LOOK AT THE WORDS I KNOW"... I recommend not doing so, you will look back years later and go "oh god".

19. First fandom you wrote in?

....look, technically the first fandom I wrote in was Inspector Gadget self insert fic. But I was nine so I feel I should not be judged. /cough

First time I sat down to write an actual story that was based off a show was for the old Defenders of the Earth cartoon while I was ...15? And then when I moved out my one sofa chair was surrounded by notepads as I wrote out my first 1987 TMNT fanfic. I didn't know it was called fanfic back then. In fact I didn't know anyone else did it at all and I was just weird. Please understand that when I got onto the web proper in the late 90s and found fanfic sites I was over the moon.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

It's gotta be Underdark. That thing is its own island by now. It's closely followed by the more recent There Is No Gravy, which much like Underdark wrote itself and also ended up far longer than I intended. It was just fun. It was a soft warm hug for the Rise fandom, okay, I love it.

Thank you! This was fun to reminisce about tbh. :D

I tag: @calliopechild, @radishhqueen, and @bobtheacorn ♥ No pressure, have at it if you like

* please note that the author's definition of soon may vary to yours. She has 13 year breaks between chapters sometimes, after all.

[sophieswundergarten]

I was tagged by the lovely @mahpotatoequeen!! Thank you, MQ <3

How many works do you have on AO3? 33!

What’s your total AO3 word count? 91,623

How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they? Technically three: MBS Books, TV Show, and then Wolf 359. I don't know if the Books and Show really count as different fandoms?

Top five fics by kudos:

- Lights and Sounds (And What Comes After)

- Of Missed Opportunities and Scaled Fences

- Chance Encounter

- An Averagely Cold Winter Storm

- Mental Literature

Do you respond to comments? I try to! Sometimes it's hard because I get all self-conscious, but y'all are the nicest people ever and so I do my best to answer whenever I get the time.

What’s the fic with the angstiest ending you’ve ever written? Probably either Deep Space Survival Tip #552, because of what I insinuate about Hui, or Dr. W Dex, because that wasn't the intended ending but then I completely ran out of steam on that one.

Do you write crossovers? Nope! I've considered it, but holding two differing narrative styles in my brain at once sounds tricky.

Have you ever gotten hate on a fic? No, thank goodness. I would be very sad if I made someone angry enough to leave a comment like that.

Do you write smut? No. And I don't think I ever will.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? I hope not! I don't think anyone would want to steal my weird little stories, though.

Have you ever had a fic translated? No I have not! I would be very honoured though, and it would certainly be an interesting experience.

What’s your all-time favorite ship? I don't really do ships, but I love Found Family of all kinds!

What’s a WIP that you want to finish, but don’t think you ever will? Probably that Dr. W Dex one I mentioned. I marked it as "complete", but it's technically still a WIP.

What are your writing strengths? I like writing dialogue, and I can do angst I guess?

What are your writing weaknesses? Goodness, it feels like everything asdfdf. But also descriptions and fluff. I'm working on getting better at fluff, but it's tricky for me.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fics? I can see where it has its uses, but I've never done it. I'm not confident enough to.

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for? Technically, I found a rambley old file that was for the Tangled TV Show, so that's my first fandom. But I don't usually count that because it was so bad and never finished.

I normally say MBS, because that's when I actually understood fanfiction and intentionally chose to write it.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written so far? Ahhhhh. I hate looking back on my work. I usually publish it and then kind of pretend it didn't happen. But I do like Swept Away. It's kind of a silly concept, but it's something I thought about hundreds of times when I first read the books. Any of my older stuff, really. The further away I get from writing it the more I'm able to like it.

[sequencefairy]

Writing Wrap-Up 2023

It is, once again, the end of the year! I wrote a lot!

First of all, I have officially published all my original stuff written for Space Fruit Press on Amazon Kindle under my penname, so if you enjoy my fic, I would love to encourage you to check out my original stuff, too, since all those dollars help me on the journey to doing that full time instead of having a full time job that really cuts into my fangirl time.

In addition to what is available on Amazon, there is another anthology of work coming from the press, and I will have a story in it! I need to write it, but it will exist. I'm very excited about this story, as well.

From a fanfic perspective, I have published only three things this year:

And I Was Never Afraid of the Dark (Oh, the Weapon You Made of My Heart) - shyan, wip, unfinished, 9.4k, demon!shane

Shane pulls Ryan out of Hell at 3:37 on a Tuesday afternoon. He’s not looking at his watch at the time, but he infers the time later after he’s finally managed to get up off the desert floor, and has hauled them both back to the car he’d parked in the lot at the trailhead a little over a week ago. Ryan’s a deadweight in Shane’s grip, head lolling back against Shane’s shoulder and body limp and unhelpful in Shane’s arms. His eyes are closed.

My Rivers Tilt Towards You - geraskier, fae!jaskier, 29k, strangers to friends to lovers, canon-divergent au

Geralt pushes the door open one-handed. As it creaks, announcing his presence, Jaskier looks up from the long table he’s sitting at. There’s a mug of something at the bard’s elbow and his songbook is open in front of him. “Geralt,” he says in greeting, and for a moment, Geralt is sure that the bard’s eyes shine in the dark, reflective like his own. He blinks, and the moment passes. Jaskier’s mouth curves into a smile. “Is it done, then?”

Coax the Cold Right Out of Me - shyan, complete, 4.1k, vampire!shane, established relationship

“Shane,” Ryan says, insistent, eyes gleaming in the dark. Shane lets his eyes fall shut, and sighs. The little red and white cooler they usually bring on shoots got left behind at the hotel, an hour and a half away in Jackson. “I’ll be fine,” he says, not looking at Ryan, and ignoring the ache in his gums. He’s gone longer without, he can make it through one shoot and then the drive back before being sated. “You don’t have to be.”

(more rambling under the cut)

So I spent too long making this, but whatever. Let's have fun with infographics, baby!

Anyway, interesting look at the last couple of years for me! I have clearly been in a quality over quantity place regarding wordcounts + things published over the last few years.

I have, over the past couple of years, been feeling like my writing has changed quite a lot, both in terms of what I am interested in writing, and also what I am interested in publishing both to AO3 and as original work.

I think there's also probably something in here about the fall out from the pandemic, as well as something about the fact that I've been medicated for the ADHD for a year now, and I've had to learn how to write in a way that is not an unhealthy coping mechanism and instead as something I do for fun, as a hobby that I enjoy.

What I have been producing lately, in 2023, is some of my favourite writing I've ever done, and I feel like I really levelled up this year in terms of tackling themes and ideas that the me of 2021 wouldn't have even imagined was possible.

With that said, the other fun comparison across years is this one:

Clearly, when you only publish three things in a year, it skews your stats, but I do also think that My Rivers was definitely a thing I needed to finish and write in order to become the person who is currently sitting on about 70k or so of active WIP for a different fandom altogether.

I adore, always, all the love that my shyan fic gets, this fandom is demonstrative in a way that no other fandom has ever been for me, and I've made the best kind of friends in this fandom. Even if I never publish another shyan fic ever (which I am certainly not saying is the case), I still treasure every single one of these fics which allowed me to meet people who've become extremely fucking important to me.

In addition to published fic, of course, the other thing to talk about is all that stuff I'm sitting on that hasn't been published (yet).

These are the seven most active of my WIPs. I am desiring to publish Moonlight on Broken Glass before the end of December, but since I'm the porn and instead of writing it, I keep going back to refine other parts of it, I have some doubts in my ability to get a draft done in the next few days.

All together, that's about 82k of wip, in various states of done that I'm working on. So, really, this year, I've written like, well over 100k, which is always my quiet goal going into any given year.

I don't have anything else to say about this, but I had fun making these little pictures and looking at all my wips. It was, all told, a good year for writing, even if it started off kinda slow.

[lady-of-the-spirit]

tagged by @goldheartedchaoticdisaster thank you bestie ❤❤❤

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

55!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

183,074

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The short answer is basically "whichever one I'm feeling".

the longer answer is: Arata the Legend, the MCU (specifically my own OC content and Eternals), Good Omens, The Old Guard, The Wicked + The Divine, A Discovery of Witches/All Souls Trilogy, Doctor Who, Ted Lasso (in theory, so far) and like... other stuff I can't think of right now that I haven't published but still write for, and other stuff I have written fics for but wouldnt say I "write" for the fandom.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Okay

Rotten Work

Ethereal

First Word

everybody wants someone (i want to be somebody)

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

I do! Or I try to - I try to respond to every comment people leave, even if it's only a heart emoji or a 'thank you'. Because I want to show them I see them and appreciate them!!

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

Toss up between "no home sweet and no sweet home" with Joan having to run away from an abusive household in the middle of the night to a life of just constant running and loneliness she's not emotionally prepared for after having a relatively normal life and "my heart is a stone, my body is not my own" with Yataka dealing with years of blackmail, sexual assault and noncon suddenly being exposed to everyone by one of his abusers and just refusing to talk about it at all and rejecting the (admittedly flawed) attempt at comfort shown to him (points for being a fic I wanted to end with comfort and instead became my first hurt/no comfort).

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

It's hard to choose but I'm gonna say probably First Word (link above) because. I mean how does it get better than Human!Ten, Donna and Jenny being a little family together and Jenny's first word being Donna's name and Ten being absolutely in love with his girls-

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Oh I did like, back when I was 13. My ATLA OC fic got cyberbullied by some dude on tumblr, who copy&pasted whole chapters of my fic and then would go through the chapter and add shitty comments.

The only good thing about that situation was that he even added a whole post to express his confusion that all the comments on my fic were positive. everyone else was loving it. and then he apparently needed to ruin me and left his own comment telling me he was reviewing my fic. which of course led to a shock and some hurt feelings but uh, seeing him annoyed at everyone else liking the fic helped lmao now I can look back on it with amusement like what was going on with that guy that he felt the need to harass a 13 year old.

I also got another comment on the same fic accusing me of plagiarizing their fic and OC because both my oc and hers could bend 2 elements and had sort of similar names and when I went to read her fic it was so completely different from my own I had to LAUGH.

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

I've attempted it a few times but I really don't know what I'm doing with it.

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

I've never written a whole crossover - I admit I did start an au fic where all different studio ghibli characters were in the story of Anastasia the movie, but it did not get super far before I stopped.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

luckily no.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No but if anyone ever asked I wouldn't say no!

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

Nope!

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

Oh my god.... I mean as hard as it is to choose it's gotta be TenDonna. like platonically, romantically, a secret third thing, they are amazing together and I love them so much.

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

I try to never say I'll never finish a fic, but there's one for certain I don't think I'll ever finish, Prince Mononoke - a role swap au of Princess Mononoke. I was writing it for years and had my grandma proofread every chapter before publishing. I put it on hiatus for years, but then she died, and it didn't feel right to keep going.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I feel I write dialogue really well. I try my best to hit the right voice for every character and I think I do a good job at it. And honestly it's hard for me to not write dialogue like half the time I'm like can you guys shut up already and progress the plot with actions instead-

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm not as poetic as I'd like to be, I guess. Like. some writers are just fucking masters with words and I feel like I'm stammering. I'm also not super confident in writing romance - like, pining, or friendly relationship with a splash of romance for fun? I've got that. Actual romantic relationships? Not so much.

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

If I do, I use google translate and hope for the best, but usually I don't. Ethereal has a lot of Canadian French in it because Marianne is from Quebec, but I use my sister (a French Immersion student) as my translator.

I mean I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Like, use the best translator website you can find and hope for the best.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

If we want to get really technical it was for The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, before I even knew fanfic was a thing. If we want to be specific to published fic, it was Avatar the Last Airbender.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

UGHHHH HOW DO I CHOOSE

honestly I have no way to choose. So I'm simply not going to lol

tagging: @dani-luminae @sighonaraa @altschmerzes @jamietarttsnorthernattitude @fallenangelontheceiling @vinatintasupernovita @strangelock221b @mousedetective @linguini17 and like, anyone who wants to do this!!!! it's fun :)

[sarcasticsciencefictionwriter]

I'm feeling seasonal (for the elemental asks): Summer, Spring, Fall, Winter!!

Oooh, seasons! Thank you! 😁

Summer: How do you know when you need a break from writing?

I push myself way too hard and I usually keep trying to force myself to write well past the time I should have stopped.

But usually, when I'm feeling both physically and mentally restless, that's a sure sign that I need to take a break and do something else, even if I don't want to.

Spring: Have you ever scrapped (a huge chunk of) a story to start over?  Why did the change come about?

I don't think so?

I'm wracking my brain, but I cling tooth and nail to pretty much everything I write, because I hate cutting out bits and never using them. I also stubbornly refuse to start over unless I have to.

I wish I had a better answer here, but I don't think I've even really scrapped things in my original writing, even though I definitely should.

Fall: Have you ever completely abandoned a WIP?  What led to that decision.

I have, actually.

I had a few Fantastic Beasts WIPs going, but I decided to abandon them because I lost steam and then found out about J.K. Rowling and didn't want to be associated with the author any longer. (Yes, I did publish three fics for that fandom, but that was before I knew)

I've also abandoned a Stargate WIP with a Sam/Martouf angle because I just lost enthusiasm for them.

Winter: Have you ever written a story based on a holiday?  If yes, which holiday was it for and what was it like?

Oh boy, I absolutely have! I've done Halloween and Christmas and they were fun to write! The Christmas ones especially, because I don't really like Christmas all that much, so I initially decided that I wouldn't do any, but I did and they were nice and fuzzy, with some angsty dollops for maximum feels. I also did one of them for my first festive fic exchange and that was a lot of fun! I feel very proud of myself for how I did there.

For Halloween, it was really fun because I adore Halloween and it was a lot of fun to stick the Sanctuary gang into the holiday. I also met self-imposed deadlines, and that was a nice thing to see that I could do.

I've also done Mother's Day and Father's Day and those were satisfying to do, but not as fun. They were also a lot more angsty and they were more of self challenging than anything else.

(List and links under the cut, because I was reading some of them earlier and it probably explains it a bit as well)

Halloween

No Monsters Allowed (Sanctuary, Gen, Helen's POV)

Halloween can be hard, especially for a little boy whose family are considered monsters. On his first Halloween at the Sanctuary, Helen witnesses his struggles and the solution that is offered to her son.

-

One for the Ages (Sanctuary, Teen, Declan's POV)

Halloween night has always been a competition between the Sanctuaries. This year, to Declan's slight dismay, the London Sanctuary is at the front of the pack.

-

Christmas

O Night Divine (Sanctuary, Gen, Helen/Nikola, Helen's POV)

On Christmas Eve, Helen is feeling sad and Nikola gives her a gift.

-

Christmas Cookies (Sanctuary, Gen, Helen's POV)

There was a tradition Helen maintained over the years, even when it was hard.

-

To Start Anew (Sanctuary, Gen, Helen/Nikola, alternating POV)

Helen and Nikola slip away from a party to spend some quiet time together in the new Sanctuary and confront some things they need to talk about.

SG-1 Stories

Mother's Day

What Makes a Mother (Stargate SG-1, Teen)

These women all played different roles across the universe. Queen. Goddess. Outcast. Doctor. Wife. Warrior. Thief. All different from each other. But, ultimately, they could all be defined by one single word. Mother.

_

Father's Day

Fatherhood Does Not Simply Stop (Stargate SG-1, Teen, Jack & Teal'c)

On Father's Day, Jack and Teal'c discuss fatherhood and loss.

-

Christmas

Nook (Stargate SG-1, Gen)

Christmas has always been family time for SG-1.

[autumnslance]

Writing To Yourself

(Mileage may vary, I'm not your mom nor your teacher--unless you're working for a specific state healthcare service, anyway.)

That's how you garden. Tend the plot. Plant a million seeds, reap a thousand blooms. The rest? Compost for the next crop. -@biot08 / @driftward

During a Discord convo, I thought about why so many fandom writers catch “writer’s block”, and some of it goes back to self-care and taking in new media, getting inspiration and knowledge, covered in this post. But much of it?

People think everything they create has to be publishable for others’ consumption. That is Not True. Too often we don't want to write things just for the sake of writing them, falling into the trap of thinking it needs to be perfectly polished and shared, but No It Really Doesn't.

Folks talk about “writing for oneself” but in terms of posting finished pieces of the kinds they want to see. If everything feels like it “has to be” publishable, it can start to put too much pressure on oneself. And then there’s your block, especially if the type to worry about how others Perceive you and your art.

Try simply writing anything and deciding later if it's something you want to share. I have pieces I wrote cuz my brain suddenly said it wanted to, but that writing isn't posted anywhere. Usually it’s random lines; out of context sentences, scenes, or bits of dialogue. Sometimes just incoherent character rambling. Ideas for situations and what ifs. Misspelled, typos, not grammatical, redundant wording, passive voice, bad POV, too many adverbs, not enough active verbs, not enough description, too much description, etc. All in notebooks or doc files. I’ve shared the (now out-dated) deep nests of my WIPs folders and the multiple, unfinished, unpolished pieces within them. Most will never be completed nor seen by the public. 

For instance, I've a random smut fic of a Highlander Warrior of Light and the popular antagonist of Shadowbringers. I'm not usually a villain liker, but one day it hit my brain, so I wrote it. I have notes and outlines for the rest of their story and how it plays out, though I'll probably never write more. I scratched the writing itch, stretched some skills, considered things from a different angle, and now it sits in drafts (I did post a couple decent-ish smut lines to my private Twitter once).

Mostly, it's practice. Even if it's junk and janky.

“But I have (professionally) published X or Y…”

Still gotta exercise the writing muscles! Still gotta scrawl off something utterly unusable now and again for the heck of it!

All those random lines, descriptions, scenes, rambles? Maybe I'll use them someday. I wrote them down to feel the pen in my hand or keys clacking under my fingers, to see the words pop onto the page or screen, to play with word choice, sentence structures, and “how would they say that?” For my own satisfaction, no one else’s.

When I get bored or stuck, or need a screenshot or writing prompt response, I might poke at those lines, pages, rambles, and see if they hit now or spin off to something else. They often don’t. But sometimes they help inform other things I do post to the public later. Even if that’s just a Question of the Day prompt response on Twitter.

(That also counts as writing and creating btw; you’re still coming up with something to share about your characters and I think that’s very creative of you.)

If the mood strikes, write. Even if it's just a vague idea--especially if it's any bits of dialogue or description, if it's something you think that you actually do want to write when off work or out of bed or whatever.

Even if you never post it anywhere public. Even if it never gets out of crummy first draft, unfinished pages form. It might feel like pulling teeth and look rough, especially if it’s been awhile.

But still write it. No one else has to know or see. Not until you want them to.

Maybe parts of it will inform something you do finish later. Maybe two years from now another prompt will hit just right and you’ll dig out that draft and finish it for posting. Maybe you’ll cannibalize aspects of it for an entirely different piece. Maybe you’ll even use it in a few more years to see how far you’ve come as a writer.

In many cases? That's how you actually keep writer's block away. Keeping ideas around to steal from yourself, letting yourself write nonsense, unpublishable bits and pieces, maybe even whole pages, just for the heck of it, if writing is something one enjoys and wants to stick with as a hobby (or professionally). If you don’t enjoy writing for fun? Don’t force it; do little character prompts and blurbs as they feel right, and find the ways to share creativity that work for you.

And seriously, don’t forget to take in new media, experiences, and information. This is How You Lose the Time War got me writing on an original story I shelved last autumn. The stories aren't at all alike! But seeing new words in new ways helped shake something loose in my brain. So try to make some time for that, too.

Write to yourself, not for others’ consumption. Public posting is great for validation and encouragement, for when we feel the urge to share due to pride or just wanting to gush about our faves. But also let yourself remember why you liked creating worlds, making up stuff about your characters, and writing at all to begin with, without the pressure of public posting. Give yourself some grace, and let it all be messy, unhinged, misspelled, ungrammatical, incomplete, and make no narrative sense.

Write to yourself, for yourself. Then let the rest follow.

[little-box-of-wonders]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks for the tag @grexigone! n.n

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

33 as of Nov. 15, 2023

2. What's your total A03 word count?

135,824 words

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Only Horizon (Zero Dawn/Forbidden West) for now.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

To Know Peace: 103 kudos (Rated T) - First longfic

Live for the Night: 88 kudos (Rated E) - First smut fic

Bonding Moments: 83 kudos (Rated G) - Companion vignettes fic for To Know Peace

Devotion: 79 kudos (Rated E) - Kinktober 2023 drabbles collection

Visual Delights: 77 kudos (Rated E) - Fun, smutty 5+1 oneshot

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

I do! Comments mean that someone took the time to read my fic and something stuck with them enough to tell me about it. It makes me feel appreciated, and I want my readers to feel appreciated in turn. :3

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

Oof, probably Shadowed Heart, which is my first rare pair fic (Fashav/Ritakka). I promise to give them a happier ending in my series.

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

I'd say To Know Peace has the happiest ending so far.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I got a couple of comments on Bonding Moments about some choices I'd made that rubbed me the wrong way, but I haven't gotten hate publicly or privately. I think it helps that Horizon is still relatively small in the fanfic/fanart space and I don't share my ship-specific fics on the subreddit for the games.

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

I do and I have no shame, hehe. It's mostly M/F and very light on kinks. Other than my Kinktober drabbles, the raunchiest fic I've written is Early Exit.

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

No crossovers. They're kinda tricky to get right.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

To my knowledge, no, but I haven't checked FF.net or Wattpad to confirm.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope. Spanish is my native language, but I have no plans to translate my fics from English to Spanish.

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

@jadefyre and I have a smut fic in the works that we started earlier this year. Also, not co-written but @murmart made a beautiful art of Fashav/Ritakka for my fic Heavy in Your Arms. :3

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

Definitely Aloy/Kotallo. Not only did seeing their dynamic and conjuring up ship possibilities get me to write again after a long hiatus, but it's also allowed me to become part of a community of amazing creators both in the Kotaloy Elysium Discord server and beyond. n.n

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

I don't necessarily think I'll leave any of my WIPs unfinished, but some are a little more complicated than others in terms of getting them to meet my own standards (yeah, I'm my harshest critic).

With longfics, I've since learned to write until completion and then start posting, only because I don't enjoy the self-imposed pressure to update something that's already out there since life can be really uncertain at times.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue! It takes me such a long time, but I love nailing the voices of the characters correctly and having readers comment on that and their characterization. However, I do find speeches a bit cumbersome to write because every word has so much weight to them, even though I do enjoy the end result.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I struggle with describing environments/settings, because I never know if I'm being descriptive enough to paint a full picture for the reader.

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

I think if it's a few sentences here and there is fine, but anything else might make it inaccessible to part of the readership unless it's stated in the author's note that the fic will feature two or more different languages.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Horizon, though I wrote a (thankfully never published) fic for Final Fantasy VII when I was around 13 years-old; trust me, it wasn't good and I still cringe thinking about the plot. HOWEVER, I miss that feeling of writing without caring about the end result, of just having a deluge of words on paper with a somewhat coherent narrative thread.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

It's hard to pick only one because all of my fics are special in their own way, but I'll go with Hurricane Drunk because I had so much fun describing Kotallo being drunk and struggling with confessing his feelings for Aloy in a humorous way.

Tagging @setavvo, @fogsblue, @hannahmationstudios, @destinysembrace-oblivion and @mwasaw. (No pressure! Only if you want to).

[metaphorical-goblin]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag @aawrightworth!

1. How many works do you have on A03? 31!

2. What's your total A03 word count? 259,660! ...woah

3. What fandoms do you write for? Mostly Ace Attorney! Though I do have another published fic for Dungeons and Daddies, and a couple more WIPs for other fandoms in the future

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Woo fun!

The Things We Agree to Believe are True

Double Date

Taking the Lead (NSFW)

The Essential Guide to Avian Development

And I Will Stay with You Through Spring (NSFW)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? *Yes,* absolutely! Honestly, comments (and responding to them) are probably one of my favorite parts of actually publishing fic. I get a lot of joy from writing them, but seeing and hearing from other people that liked them too, or share the same headcanons? *chef's kiss*

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Honestly, probably my most recent one, Her Brother's Keeper. I don't typically write "bad ending" fics, so this one was definitely a big step for me haha

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Again, most of the things I write have happy endings, so this is hard 😂

I personally really love it when "the war is over" and they can finally just get married and be CHILL so I'd have to say either "The Things We Agree to Believe are True" or "The Essential Guide to Avian Development."

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not really, thankfully! I've had a couple comments from John Phoenix here and there but I don't take it personally.

9. Do you write smut? Sometimes! I have a bad habit of writing smut that Must Have 10K Words of Prelude First, and while I am trying to "break" that habit, I actually really enjoy a story to go with it!

10. Do you write crossovers? I actually did write one for the Wright Anything Zine a few months ago! Of course, it was DnDads x Ace Attorney, and I... need to publish it lol

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Oh goodness, not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? No I haven't! I haven't had much of anything with that much traction though, but it would be cool in the future!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, but I would love to! I was actually talking through it with a friend a while back.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship? Of course I love Narumitsu, but I don't know if it's my "all time favorite..." I'm not sure what it is off the top of my head!

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Ironically enough, it's also the first Ace Attorney fic I ever wrote! It's a farmer Phoenix AU in which Miles also has amnesia, and over the course of his recovery they of course fall in love (dawwww). I would also love to add more to the Elfworth series! I have. His whole life planned out lol

16. What are your writing strengths? To be honest, I'm not completely sure! I like to think I can come up with original plots or ideas, but I know I still have a lot of work to do.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Sometimes I have some trouble connecting my points or writing "effective" scenes, amongst other things. (dang now these questions are making me want to keep up with this...)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I don't do it too often! Typically if I do include it, I'll either use something that is very common knowledge or provide a translation in the author's notes. Having said that, I've written some unpublished stuff for Avian AU where Phoenix and his mother are talking, and in *that* case I just wrote the dialogue in English with a clarification that they are speaking a different language. I'm always so nervous about getting a translation wrong though lol

19. First fandom you wrote for? Ohh man. Probably My Little Pony or Minecraft to be honest. Don't ask; you'll never see them and they're written in missing notebooks anyway 😂

20. Favourite fic you've ever written? AHH THIS IS SO HARD! I love a lot of my fics just so so much. I absolutely adore Avians and the Elfworth series, just because I love writing AUs and coming up with lore and everything. I also really really enjoy Kindergarten Cop and Great Big Leaps because I love writing little kids and how they act because they make me laugh.

I think overall, though, my most favorite would have to be "The Things We Agree to Believe Are True." It was fun, experimental, and just a really euphoric way to write a new story as I was getting through my senior year. I had a blast with it, and I'm always so thankful that it got so much support, as well!

Feel free to ignore the tags if you like (I know I'm hopping on this a little late lol), but answer if you feel like it! @kbots @edwirdon (and also just a blanket tag for anyone that might feel like answering!)