#but more because it's got more yuletide stuff

[luna-the-cretar]

Hi, I’m talking about the love curses in OUAW again for the thousandth time, because I finally understand Richie’s interpretation of it after seeing it again in the Yuletide oneshot.

Okay, so obviously Mikey’s and even Andy’s interpretation of the love curses doesn’t go any further than skin deep. They just see the item of their affection and essentially become Ron from that one video of the two birds. And id say it’s fairly in character for the two goblinoids.

Rich’s interpretation of the love curse, I’ve noticed, is just closeness. It’s not as obvious with Briggsy in the Yuletide oneshot, but it’s especially obvious with Kremy during the wedding in episode 15. Sure, Kremy got jealous, but that wasn’t the only thing. He just. Wanted to be close to Gideon (closer than I bet he normally is).

Kremy didn’t start really talking to Gid until AFTER he was affected with the curse, to which he couldn’t shut up. And because they were standing at the altar, the two of them had to keep leaning in to sidebar, hence getting closer. Then was Kremy’s suggestion of feeding each other the peanut butter pie/cake, and the dancing. Even after the curse had long since dissipated, it almost seems like Kremy keeps fighting himself between getting closer to Gideon as well as putting distance between them.

And then there’s Mace’s interpretation with Gideon, which is interesting. Because the first time Gideon got the love curse, he was mostly just. Admiring Kremy. Calling him beautiful/perfect, regardless of form; helping him fix his mustache; nodding along to Kremy’s stupid Shants scheme. I mean, there was also the noticeable sexual attraction—like with the goblinoids—but this is also Gideon we’re talking about. And also, this only applied to the first time, when it applied to Kremy. Which is also interesting because Gideon does most of this stuff normally, it’s just that any romantic undertones were repressed. Hidden. But once he was under the love curse, it was like all of those repressed affections for Kremy came forth, louder than ever (which might also be the reason why Gideon was able to verbally admit he loved Kremy, whereas Kremy couldn’t, even when he was under his curse)

But for Bumbo? None of that really applied. It was barely below skin deep. In fact, Gideon even mentioned that he knew that Bumbo was just a clown using the body of his best friend. Gideon was just kinda…sad? He was sad that Bumbo was sad, and that Gideon had killed him, but that was the end of it, really. Which makes sense since Bumbo is his own entity, separate from Kremy, so of course none of the same things apply to someone who isn’t Kremy.

And, again, even after the curse had long since dissipated, you can still see some of the more notable traces throughout the rest of the campaign. Like Gideon listening and egging Kremy on about his Witches Brew idea (and the whole Taper Tots idea), Kremy being the first one he ran to once he got his fire back, worrying about Kremy not eating enough, etcetera, etcetera.

But he’s also seemingly trying to put distance between the two of them—while Kremy is trying to close that same distance—and has been since the first love curse.

Idk man, I think the love curse is really fucking interesting, and I’m going to pick these two dumbasses apart cell by cell until OUAW picks back up in the new year

[wordy-little-witch]

I am now hip deep in the Edge of Midnight campaign from legends of avantris and lemme tell you some shit -

1) I would lay down my life for Jericho Sticks without any hesitation. Torbek and Jericho are my sons now, no takesies backsies.

2) Lethica and Marius are so perfectly aligned to be end game lovers but I personally adore the idea of them being queerplatonic if only bc it's funny to watch people be confused and I think Lethica would adore that.

3) you can pry the concept of Briggsy having a some kind of magical fantasy cellphone equivalent from my cold dead hands - sending stone or smth idfk - and he's been keeping his buddy/boyfriend Torbek updated on all this like "Becky you would not BELIEVE what happened today-" ((listen I know the flirting bit between them in the yuletide one-shot was a feycurse but leave me alone it's funny as fuck))

4) briggsy @ jericho in ep 24 appropos nothing: Jerry, maybe we have to kiss ((sad, silly twinks with Literal Darksides are his type /j))

5) I have a friend-crush on Nikkie and I will never recover

6) I have an unyielding NEED to have Jericho get a final hit on a boss and yell yeehaw

7) I know stylistically Jericho doesn't have "skin" but I personally hc that his clothes aren't effectively his skin, he has a burlap body - and he has "tattoos" in the form of embroidery. It started when he had to stitch up his own cuts and stuff and he just kept it up.

8) Only Yorgrim has any constant sense of cooking in an actual kitchen-like setting. Farryn, Marius, and Briggsy can do journey or on-the-road cooking, but it's never.... great. Lethica burns everything somehow or gets the bright idea to 'experiment', and it's never good - she's fine if she's got clear end goals. Jericho is understandably skittish around fire due to his body and straw, but he is the closest to being able to cook well and do so semi regularly.

9) Virgil is a weird mix of a hater and lowkey overprotective. He does hate being imprisoned, but also he's kinda bound here so he HAS to keep this disaster of a bard safe. He refuses to admit he might have a soft spot. He is Stressed.

10) Farryn doesn't get the appeal of Girls Nights, but Jericho does!!! They join Lethica for some fun relaxation. Briggsy once asked why Jericho was allowed since he's also a dude, and Lethica just responded "he's allowed to be there - on account of him being a scarecrow and not a literal man after all." It's an inside joke which later has to be explained - Jericho is nonbinary but doesn't rightly care about stuff like that.

11) Yorgrim is the group dad, no I will not explain.

12) sometimes after a battle, Lethica and Marius will help stitch up some of Jericho's tears. Farryn may also add in random flowers she finds around because it makes him happy.

13) Briggsy is small but mighty. The only person he has yet to pick up and carry is Yorgrim - he swears that one day that tombstone will be gone and he'll be able to do it. It's all the rock's fault, he's sure of it.

Spoilers under the cut (caught up to present)

OKAY so I am caught up completely and have decided that Canon is not important leave me alone

• Yorgrim did not die - he got wounded heavily but survived.

• Farryn almost got taken but they got to her in time. She is mute for a time due to injuries and trauma - idk if she ever talks again bc we could use more sign language in the world. Maybe it comes and goes, fuck if I know, idk and idc

ONWARDS TO SILLIES

• Lethica strong armed her way into giving Jericho The Talk after he revealed he had no idea what a penis was. Scarecrows cannot blush, but apparently his fiendish glow can ebb and flow and he glows much MUCH brighter when he's embarrassed - she tries so hard not to laugh.

• Adella and Jericho btw are simply besties. His "crush" on her is a friend crush and Phillip just finds it painfully cute. ((Also -> Jericho has mommy issues and Adella always wanted a son/nephew/little brother. Peaceful alignment))

• Dark Mode Marius is a colossal flirt but still a giant dweeb. He's cool and suave until someone flirts back - then he's a mess.

• Briggsy is very happy with his Kannon & makes "shooting my shot" jokes at every and any opportunity

• Yorgrim, with his reward, manages to finally lay many souls tonrest but he still carries the tombstone on journeys - just not constantly now. He still believes he must pay penance, but it's a little easier to share the burden.

• Farryn, with her own reward, has not chosen to activate it yet. Something tells her to wait, to bide her time and remain. She does, however, get a little more at ease with the others. She and Jericho have come to an understanding, too - that being they they are a package deal, no takesies backsies, and they refer to each other as twin, much to the confusion of many, many, many people. WLW and NBLM solidarity.

• Jericho is pining HARD for Marius, but he's absolutely terrified of damaging the friendship so everyone is watching two oblivious dummies look longingly into each other.

• POLYAMORY POLYAMORY POLYAMORY

• Marius grows rather fond of Virgil, and the sentiment is very much NOT reciprocated bc this angry knight vampire is not good enough for his vessel and he's mad about it.

• Yorgrim: I've only had my friends for a few days, but if anything happened to them, I'd kill everyone in Druskenvald and then myself.

• I fully expect for Jericho to somehow befriend an enemy in disguise, not realize, and accidentally fuck up the evil plan with the powers of puns, music and friendship (/j)

• the first time the party sees Jericho presenting more feminine, he's been lended one of Lethica's dresses after his own clothes got torn up and the rest are being washed. Marius has a nosebleed and faints. Briggsy is staring somewhat respectfully. Lethica is trying valiantly not to laugh. Farryn and Yorgrim regret not dying when they had the chance.

• Marius: i cannot have a relationship because I have sworn to follow the duchess of sin

Lillith: whoa hold up, Do Not use me as an excuse to avoid the cutie pie over there. Besides, he has a demon. I'm queen of hell. I can make a small exception.

Marius: shit

• Briggsy Bi Icon: OH if ONLY Jerry here had a DASHING KNIGHT to SAVE THEM from this PERILOUS INCIDENT

Jericho: captain, I'm just getting off of a horse??

Marius: no no Briggsy has a point, no maiden should be unaccompanied or unassisted. Allow me-

Lethica&Farryn: We Know What You Are

• Yorgrim is watching all this inter party flirting and is definitely wondering if he's gonna have to have an aside with everyone about flirting tactics and communication skills. Briggsy is making it worse by enabling everyone.

• Farryn gets some sweet, succulent healing, that is all.

[leupagus]

For a Jew I've written a surprising number of Christmas fics!

Somebody mentioned how they reread a certain fic of mine around the Christmas season, which got me thinking about the various fics I've written that could be deemed "Hallmark Christmas Movie Fics." Surprisingly, there's only one, but I've written at least three that prominently feature Christmas and so if you are looking for some festive cheer before Yuletide drops, here you go!

A Sleepy Hollow fic from ye olden days of 2013; honestly I'd stopped watching the show even before then, but I did enjoy Ichabod and Abbie and Jenny as the trio from hell, so to speak. Plus it's always fun to put characters that are usually in a super serious grimdark show into something very ridiculous (more ridiculous than Ichabod Crane actually being a supernatural crimefighter against the forces of evil).

This is my "Miss Marple Gets A Boyfriend" fic that I wrote this year and I'm still delighted by it and plan to write a sequel. It's set over several years and isn't really a Christmas story per se, but it does end at Christmas, with a true love confession in the snow, and you can't get much more Hallmark Christmas Movie than that.

This is the one that could be (and probably is, somewhere) a Hallmark Christmas movie, to the extent that one of the horrible protagonists actually remarks on it, because if I want to use a trope I want to pound it into the absolute ground. This is not a TV show that anyone's watched, and I can't really recommend that you do. But the two main characters of the show were so hateful and hot for each other that I immediately looked for fic, and while there was SOME stuff, there wasn't enough, and...well, write the ridiculousness you want to see in the world, part three.

[youwillfindilluminating]

Roy x Jamie x Keeley & Roy x Jamie fic recs - Part 2

Part 1 is here

Part 3 is here

These recs cover the fics I’ve read from about 4/22/23 - 6/17/23, but some of them were written earlier.

-

Roy x Jamie x Keeley:

be your teenage dream tonight - liesmyth - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

Probably my favorite 3x11 OT3 fic!  6k. It’s just the right amount of hot and sweet. Mainly set in the hotel room after they were at Jamie’s old house. Includes lots of poster talk, which is my fav. Includes Keeley suggesting Roy come on Jamie’s face. 👌👌👌

“Reality living up to the wet dreams?”

“You can take the piss all you want, it won’t work,” says Jamie, who has no fucking shame. He sounds so immensely proud of himself that Roy doesn’t know if he wants to suck his dick or smother him with a pillow.

.

because your right foot was kissed by god - jedusaur - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

Another amazing 3x11 fic! 3k.

Their first time starts with some light D/s (Roy smacking Jamie’s ass and telling him to get Keeley another drink), and flows into body worship of Roy, which Roy is uncomfortable with and has to work through his feelings in his head about it. Includes the following fantastic lines:

"Roy is extremely tempted to grab him by the fucking walnut mist and fuck his throat, but he resists the urge."

-

"You know, I almost got away from men entirely," she says wistfully. "Now somehow I've ended up with two of you dipsticks on my hands."

-

"You and Keeley are more than anything to me. Why are you not listening?"

.

Tongue Tie - MoreThanSlightly (cadignan) - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

Another fantastic 3x11 fic. 3k. It makes sense that the thing that would ease them into an OT3 is a competition (over who eats out better).

Champagne in the physio room is a good idea until the first bottle’s nearly empty and Jamie leans forward and says, “Tell the truth now, Keeley. Does he eat you out as good as I did?”

.

soft things - inlovewithnight - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]  

Just as the title says - SOFT and precious. They’re moving Jamie into his new house that’s connected to Roy and Keeley’s via the garden, and they find his old teddy bear in the closet. 1k.

An uncertain look flickers across Jamie’s face. “I can bring him to the new house, right?”

“Of course you can. It’s your fucking house.”

“And if I wanted to bring him round to Keeley’s… the main house?” Figuring out what to call what is a complete fucking mess, and if Roy had his way they would’ve just bought an entirely new house and started from scratch, but it’s important to hold up the illusion of things until either Jamie retires or the world suddenly gets very cool about polyamory.

.

our love keeps the things it finds - Chapter 1 - shampoobaby - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

This is gorgeous. I sometimes skip feminization stuff, but this was just the right amount for me. Roy calls Jamie “princess” and it’s sort of the catalyst for the OT3 (but mainly Roy and Jamie) working through some gender-light stuff. (I’m doing a bad job of describing it). Ends on a lovely Greek vacation for all of them.  I loved the bit with always-cold Jamie and him not wanting Roy to “baby” him at practice by asking him to wear a coat. 20k.

 .

if you could redirect my day - lady_ragnell - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

This is SO GOOD. 11k. I’m assuming this is one of the OG OT3 fics out there. Written for Yuletide in 2021. Keeley kind of sends Jamie to Marbella to keep Roy company. The author really nails the characterizations, it’s incredible. Two of my favorite quotes that I pulled:

The first thing Roy thinks about is the way Keeley always smiles a little when Jamie says her name the way he does.

-

“That man has wanted you to tell him he’s good or that he’s a brat or both in a really dirty kind of way since before he even met you. He just doesn’t handle things well.”

.

en déshabillé - inlovewithnight - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]  

13k. A fluffy OT3 fic where Jamie gets into lingerie (with Keeley). They all take a trip to Paris and it’s all very lovely! There’s a good bit in the middle where Roy asks Jamie if it’s a gender thing and Jamie tells Keeley he just likes pretty things. The ending scene is based off Carey Price using his wife’s underwear as a pocket square. 👀

.

wishing, wanting, yours for the taking - inlovewithnight - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

Listen, if there’s some well-written Consensual Non-Consent out there, I’m gonna find it and rec it. This one is particularly delightful because the nature of it is kind of theatrical and jokey, as they’re playing parts in a sort of historical scene (the only way Roy was comfortable doing it).  Jamie gets what he wants, they all have fun, there are plenty of check-ins and lots of aftercare and everyone is happy. 4k.

Keeley can't believe she's the only one willing to commit to the concept here. After all the negotiating and discussing and research and Roy's PowerPoint presentation, the two men she is, for some reason, in love with can't be bothered to dress for the theme?

.

Follow the Hearts and You Can't Go Wrong - inlovewithnight - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

3k. An OT3 future fic that centers around Jamie’s retirement. Roy and Keeley go up to Scotland for one of his matches. I love future fics and they are hard to come across sometimes.

 -

Roy x Jamie:

Once More, with Feeling - liesmyth - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

8k. An Amsterdam anniversary fic. Roy’s the new manager, the team is doing amazing and Jamie scores 3 goals and takes Roy out after. They go cycling and Jamie stops him and asks what Roy would do if he kissed him. There’s also a part where he’s telling Roy random facts and he tells him one about Roy as a young player, and it’s precious. I love Jamie’s characterization here, he’s such a happy sunshine boy!

“Yes, yes, you were fucking gorgeous out there, but I meant now. The post-match.”

Jamie’s bike falters, a bit, the front wheel swerving in the mud. He gets it back under control and raises his eyebrows in Roy’s direction. “Fucking gorgeous, am I?”

“What, you angling for compliments?”

“From you? Yeah.”

[…]

“When we do something together, that’s always the best part of my day, you know that? I wake up in the morning and I’m fucking excited to do sprint intervals just ‘cos we’ll get to talk about it later. When I get good news I can’t wait to tell you. It’s just, I’m proper fucking gone on you.”

.

The Secret Language of Bum-Smacks - jedusaur - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

3k. Another amazing kinky fic by jedusaur! Butt pats turn into something more. Praise kink, spanking, etc.

"Just realised the gaffer don't pat me bum, like, ever. Pep did it all the time."

Roy shrugs. "Americans. They think it's fucking sexual harassment or some shit."

Jamie makes a face like what the fuck. "It's nice, though," he says. "Like a little 'good lad' without having to speak, y'know? I like it." He takes a swig of water and bounces on the balls of his feet, awaiting further instructions.

.

nobody's ever crashed this hard before - silverhelme - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]  

5k. A very sweet, well written Amsterdam fic!  They talk about their feelings at a café. Very in-character and the dialog is so good. Jamie bats his eyes at Roy and there’s a callback to the “ugly boy” scene.

.

Chip Shot - baffledbear - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

13k. This is phenomenal! This basically covers from the beginning of the show, from Roy’s perspective. Keeley mentions how fun it always was that Jamie liked being told what to do. Roy and Jamie start training together. It rains – they go back to Jamie’s. Things happen! The smut is SO well written in this. Roy is very in character, but he’s also sweet. Lots of mentions of how he’s falling for Jamie, etc.

.

i know how you learn best, tartt - leaveanote - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]  

“Jamie’s never sucked dick before.” AKA BJs with feelings. It’s pretty rare to see fics where Roy is Jamie’s first time with a guy, and this one does a nice job with it.

.

the pull of you - soofyahn - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]  

8k. Uncle’s Day get-together. The second half is very sweet and fluffy (and hot).

.

take my hand (take my whole life too) - LikeAMovieIOnceSaw - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]  

2.5k. Jamie gifts Roy his dirty jersey from the England game and asks if he can suck his dick. D/s elements, a bit of praise kink, subspace, Jamie coming in his pants. All things that are good!

.

heaven-sent is the way you say you're proud of me (i'm unconditionally loved) - holographiccs - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

2k. Roy helps Jamie understand that being soft is a good thing. I am such a sucker for emotional h/c around Jamie’s daddy issues.

“You soft thing, you,” Roy chokes out around the lump in his throat. Doesn’t even think about the word until he clocks the way Jamie freezes. The way every muscle in his back seems to tense up at once.”

.

Something's Gotta Give - pepperlandgirl4 - Ted Lasso (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

3k. Season 1 AU where they’re assigned to be road roomies for a night. Roy hates him and Jamie loves teasing him. This is sexy! I want more S1 AUs where they have a ton of sexual tension and Jamie is basically openly horned up for Roy. There are two sequels as well that are worth a read!

“I knew you could be nice,” Jamie murmured.

“I’m not fucking nice.”

“Knew you liked me.”

“I fucking hate you.”

“Hmm, and you think I have a pretty face.”

[friedricebunny]

LIAR! UNCOVER THE TRUTH ARCHIVAL HELP

Hello if you've been looking through the liar uncover the truth tags, you may have heard of some discord servers currently working on archiving Liar before it shuts down November 30th. I'm a part of those servers and I'm reaching out to tumblr to see if anyone has what we've got left

Common Reasons for Being Unable to Archive That I'm Just Gonna Get Out of the Way Rn

I can't get audio on the recordings

not a high priority

depending on your device, we can troubleshoot that/find alternatives

I don't have time to record right now

While most of it is recording, yes, we also accept screenshots especially for missing events and data file info!

I can't get the app again/the app doesn't work for me on IOS

We have an APK pinned in our discord that can allow you to play Liar! again on an emulator. We have a couple of recommendations for specific emulators in our discord!

(You will have to set up a transfer account though)

I don't have the disk space

We have multiple resources to help compress videos in our discord!

If you have no problems w/ helping with archiving after me going through that then

The following missing files/stories are categorized as follows:

Missing Data Files: we have absolutely NOTHING on these files - no cgs, no data info, no recordings of story (if applicable)

Missing Data File Stories: goes along with Missing Data Files but we are specifically missing the story recordings of these files

Missing Event Stories: events are unplayable but we'll take clips, screenshots, or short versions of these routes from data files (and if you somehow have the full thing then 👀we'll definitely will take that)

Update: we're also trying to take as many screenshots of sprites and backgrounds as we can for a project we're doing!

Under the read more, we're missing the following stuff:

(this list will be updated as time goes on so please check the most recent version of this post to see what we're missing)

November 30th update: the game has finally shut down

As the game is now officially shut down, the majority of these files cannot be recorded or obtained but if you still have screenshots or already existing recordings of these, then we'll be happy to archive them!

Missing Data Files

No. 236: What If? Part 4 - Toya

No. 237: What If? Part 5 - Kunio

No. 238: What If? Part 4 - Itaru

No. 239: What If? Part 4 - Keima

No. 240: What If? Part 4 - Toya

No: 241: What If? Part 5 - Kunio

No. 242: What If? Part 4 - Itaru

No. 243: What If? Part 5 - Keima

No. 246: File Level 55

No. 262: Sequel Chapter 4 Data (note: it was apparently in EN Liar but there seemed to be no way to access it)

No. 312: What If? Story Part 6 - Kohei

No. 316: What If? Story Part 6 - Kohei

Missing Data Files: Stories

No. 336: File Level 60

No. 305 - D-Team’s First Mission (note: we're having trouble with this file because it seems to be corrupted)

Missing Event Stories

Hectic Yuletide (2nd Revival) - Itaru’s Secret Route 

Perplexing Presents - Accusation Portion

Perplexing Presents - Epilogue

Perplexing Presents - Keima Route

Perplexing Presents - Sotaro Route 

Spring Break Madness! - Stage 1

Spring Break Madness! - Stage 2

Spring Break Madness! - Toya Route

If you have any of these files and would like to help with archiving, then PLEASE join our Liar! discord server with this link before November 30th! (and if you read this after November 30th, you should join anyways if you'd like to talk about Liar! and access our archives): https://discord.gg/sNg6gWhXmd

If you have any questions, please send me an ask!

[mattstrahm]

ah but it's past 2am

diary posting again bc why wouldn't i be. i was so ill for most of november. here's some stuff on my mind.

first idk my blog looks so fucking sad with how little im posting and reblogging and i know this is on me because i don't follow enough sports blogs to feed this blog more, but finding new blogs to follow is such a nightmare. i've bitched and moaned about this before but wow it's hard. i really made a post in october complaining about the state of my blog and ellipsus not having curly apostrophes. ellipsus now has curly apostrophes but i've failed to do anything to fix the blog thing. oh well.

secondly i'm trying to put in place life changes creatively. i'm trying to think of a solution to doing dumb little ficlets/drabbles more often. i feel like i lost a really good outlet when i stopped doing twice a week drabble workshops on discord even tho it was 100% the right decision to quit. but the way i used to roll dice for pairings was really fun and pulling a 100 words out of my ass was great creative exercise. i miss that. i'm also doing a new thing for long form where i go in with a Real Plan. i know that sounds silly but listen... not a big planner lil ol me. and i don't know how it's gonna work out. it has enabled me to write out of order more which is fun, i don't really need to worry about it because i know i have a plan. and then as a third note i guess i hope to start painting again, like actually. getting paint to canvas.

thirdly (?????) yuletide thoughts. i am going back to calling what my family and i celebrate yule, it does make conversing with other people about the general time and holiday really complicated but what i do is yule. calling it christmas feels disingenuous bc christ is literally in the name but our celebration isn't religious, we exercise pagan traditions for it and i resigned from the church years ago... anyway. i feel like i wish i was more of a yule person and then every year i'm a little disappointed that that's not me. but then i do think i am for the first time in my life experiencing seasonal depression which is interesting, so i think that's kneecapping me too. i don't have any decor up, i had a phone call today with my mom about presents and i do have a buddy coming over which is exciting. i guess there's still time. i'll get my tree and shit out of storage and try.

fourth... i don't know. i haven't been watching sports at all which sucks a little but i've been holding a somewhat normal sleeping schedule which doesn't really... lend itself to USAmerican sports. but that's what i watch. i guess i am messing the sleeping schedule up right now considering it's nearly 3am, oopsie? i'm honestly too scared to watch sharks games again, mikke is showing that maybe love is enough in san jose and i'm terrified i'll open a broadcast and like his leg will fall off or some shit... (trust me im knocking on wood) so that's got me worried... i guess i'll look into the nfl schedule?

this won't make a difference to anyone who reads my tumblr posts but i am thinking i'm gonna start posting more about music i like on instagram (stories) and that's also exciting to me. that might be all though. uh thanks for coming to my diary talk again. love you. it's 3am now.

[annas-hair-donut]

Bundle Up, Scooch In

Chapters: 6/6 Fandom: Frozen (Disney Movies) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Anna/Kristoff Characters: Kristoff, Anna, Bulda, Elsa, Honeymaren Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Colonial America, 18th Century, Love at First Sight, (sort of), Angst and Fluff and Smut, Porn With Plot, Family Fluff, Sharing a Bed, Snowed In, Cuddling & Snuggling, Awkward Sexual Situations, Clothed Sex, interruptions, Blow Jobs, Vaginal Fingering, Cunnilingus, Vaginal Sex, Woman on Top, Kristoff Needs a Hug, Minor Elsa/Honeymaren (Disney) Summary:

Anna, a woman Kristoff just met that day, allows him to sleep in her bed so he doesn’t have to go home in the middle of a blizzard. Will he overcome the pain of his past and open himself up to the possibility of true love? Or will he walk away, lonely and cold in the dark? 18th Century, Colonial New Arendelle AU.

Written for the Frozen x Beauty and the Beast Yuletide Exchange

@kristanna-days

“When will we get to Living Rock Township?” Kristoff’s passenger Anna was only talking to him because he was there and she was bored, which was almost worse than ignoring him. 

He wasn’t in the habit of conversing with strangers, especially pretty, high-born women who were cheerful even when there wasn’t a reason to be. He didn’t see the point.

“When we get there.”

He wasn’t trying to be funny, but Anna laughed anyway. Rather than ignore the daggers he shot at her, she laughed even more.

“I’m sorry!” she said as she caught her breath. “It’s just that, well, are you always this talkative?”

He answered her with a smirk. This was why he bought a wagon and not a carriage: he’d have rather delivered parcels and mail than people any day.

But Mrs. Stone, the pastor’s daughter and one of the only nice people in Living Rock Township, had specifically requested he be nice when he collected Anna at the harbor, so he attempted conversation, though it didn’t help much. 

“What are you even doing here?”

“I beg your pardon?” Her wrinkled forehead didn’t dampen her bright eyes. “That attitude is completely unnecessary.”

Kristoff whistled and his horse Sven stopped. Then he turned on the bench to face her. “You had to have a good reason to leave your family and probably very comfortable life in Arendelle to risk crossing the ocean. Especially alone-”

Then he remembered there was supposed to be a man with her.

Anna scooted away from him on the bench and folded her arms. “That’s none of your concern.”

Kristoff rolled his eyes when she lifted her nose in the air like she wanted an apology.

Instead, he said, “Fine,” and told Sven to walk on. So much for his attempt at friendship.

Then it crossed his mind that perhaps she had lost her companion on the voyage so he swallowed his pride. “It’s just unusual, that’s all.”

She let out a deep breath instead of crying and Kristoff relaxed. “My fiance was supposed to come with me.”

“I guess things didn’t work out with Prince Charming, there?”

Anna shook her head and added, “Well, see, I met him at a ball.”

Kristoff rolled his eyes. He already knew where this story was headed.

“It was amazing and magical. He was dreamy and divine. And he asked me to marry him that night! Of course, I thought it was true love so I-”

“You agreed to marry a man you just met? That day?”

Anna stopped talking and glared at him.

“I mean, sure. Yeah, that sort of thing happens all the time,” he said sarcastically.

“Anywho, my sister lives at North Mountain and I haven’t seen her in years—she got accused of witchcraft and had to leave in a hurry, long story-”

She said it so casually that it almost didn’t register. “Wait, what!?”

“How far is North Mountain from Living Rock? Do you know how to get there?”

“You might not want to talk about that kind of stuff too loudly here. Personally, I think it’s a bunch of hogwash, but other people seem to take it pretty seriously.”

It almost seemed like she was mocking him when she said, “Anyway, we were going to join her at North Mountain. My parents actually passed away a few years ago-"

"You lost your parents?"

Anna paused and smiled at him. "They were trying to find Elsa, but their ship never made it. That was about three years ago or so."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

She smiled again. "Well, obviously I wanted my sister's blessing since I couldn't get my parents. So I made all the arrangements and wrote to her. But I don’t know if she even got the letter-”

“So she doesn’t even know you’re coming?”

“Well, no…” Anna twisted her mittened hands in front of her and she looked off to the side. “Maybe. But I also wrote to Mrs. Stone gave. She gave me an open invitation when she and her husband left Arendelle. So I thought at least we’d be on the right continent.”

Then her voice dropped. “At least, I’m on the right continent.”

Kristoff pursed his lips. He hated to ask, but he was invested in the story. “So where’s your handsome prince now?”

She folded her arms again and spoke softly. “I guess he didn’t love me enough.”

Unfortunately, that tugged on Kristoff’s heartstrings and he couldn’t tell her what he really thought.

“I don’t believe it was love at first sight, in case that’s what you were thinking.”

Kristoff didn’t mean to snort.

She narrowed her eyes. “It was blind attraction, which can be even more problematic.”

“Not exactly the best way to start a life together.”

Not expecting silence, Kristoff turned his head. She was biting her lip, but he knew it wasn’t supposed to be suggestive. Or endearing.

Then she peered up at him, eyes blue-green like the sea, but constant, unwavering. “I still believe in love at first sight, but I’ve learned my lesson.”

He desperately wanted to look away from her but he couldn’t.

“Next time I’ll take a closer look.”

Kristoff’s heartbeat quickened until she wrinkled her nose and giggled, finally looking away.

“I’ll know him when I see him! And when I find him I’m going to hold on tight and never let go. True love is worth it.”

Kristoff turned his head again. The huge smile plastered on her face locked him in the moment, even though stared far into the distance.

But then he shook his head and remembered the last time a woman looked at him as closely as Anna had. That had been some time ago, and she hadn’t offered him a passing glance since then. There was no reason to believe Anna was any different.

Continue reading at AO3.

[baronetcoins]

I feel like I win when I lose—Director's Commentary

In what is rapidly becoming a tradition of mine, I went on a research Bender for my Yuletide fic and there are so many details I want to point out and discuss—so I will. This year I wrote I feel like I win when I lose for @avengingmariner and I did loose my mind over it, but in a fun way. Join me in my descent into madness below the cut.

My brief was "you must put my man laurence in A Situation" and I somehow landed on the core nugget of "Napoleon finds Laurence in his darkest hour, instead of Tharkay"—mostly because NGL I haven't read further in this series than Victory of Eagles. I'm working on it, just not there yet.

From that point I just sort of... started writing and felt out where the story wanted to go, and then I kept falling into research holes. Here are some of the fun pieces of information I learned in rough order of where they popped up in the fic.

There was chicken set aside from the dinner he was supposed to have had hours ago, before an urgent missive had pulled him away—a simple roast bird, born out from what local provisions had been found

The WEEK I was working on this, Max Miller of Tasting History put out a video on Napoleon. I wasn't able to work in a lot of detail about the food here just because I couldn't make it flow into what I was writing, but there's so much I wish I could have talked about. The weird thing with chicken! Apocryphal stories about how dishes got their names! His drinking habits! The inherent whatever of breaking bread with somebody who's supposed to be your enemy! Now that I'm writing this paragraph I feel like I need to write another fic about food.

And then I Made chicken marengo the week after because I was curious. It was fine?

le mistral noir

Now this bit owes its thanks to Kangoo, my resident French correspondent. I was talking to him about what could be a nickname the French soldiers used for Temeraire, and he suggested "le mistral" which he described as "(very cold and often violent wind that blows into france from great britain, known for cleaning the sky of clouds and also wrecking your shit) (also the name of a fighter plane)" and I went "oh, that's Perfect". And I wanted to be able to explain that reference. Because it's So Good.

He blinked around at the courtyard of brick building before being hurried just as swiftly into a fine bedchamber where he was given a cold supper and the opportunity to wash himself. With little else to do, he fell into another restless sleep.

This was a fun bit of gamesmanship to think out—where would Napoleon want to set the treaty signing in order to send a message? And in order to think about that, I had to learn more about how the government of Britain worked in this timeframe (polisci major hat incoming).

In the US, authority to make treaties is vested in the executive branch, but the legislative branch has to ratify them. I did not know how that worked for the British, because their system mystefies me to this day. Luckily, I found this paper which explains how it worked in 1938, and there isn't much reason to expect it to have changed in that period, so the answer is "at least in theory, the authority rests with the Crown".

Based on that, I figured he'd want to make a point by holding it in a royal building as opposed to Westminster, so I went with St. James' palace which has been used for state stuff forever. Unfortunately, the details for the interior of St. James' are scarce. I was looking at 1860s watercolors to try and squint out a layout.

It was a dress uniform of aviator green, with gold braid and buttons as well as twin epaulettes. He dropped it as if it were a hot coal.

This was perhaps my longest diversion. I'm not intimately familiar with the internal culture of the military <understatement, but I knew having Laurence be present in any form would be read as a huge statement. So what kind of statement would you want to make? Ultimately I went with "the biggest 'fuck you' possible", so Laurence in a British aviator's uniform.

Then there was the question of fringe or no fringe. Which didn't even make it into the fic, but was an interesting diversion. You see, "captain" is a term that connotes a different level of authority in the Army vs the Navy. NATO has a standard rank scale I was able to squint at here, as it tries to standardize across branches and countries. Captain in the British Army is an OF-2 rank, but Captain in the British Navy is an OF-5 rank. What does it represent in those terms in the Arial Corps? I have no idea! This impacts nothing here other than if one or both epaulettes would have fringe on them.

He wandered the hallways, passing French soldiers who saluted him and English dignitaries who ignored him or glared at him in turn. In desperation he returned to seek refuge in the room he’d been left last.

The medal Laurence gets is that of the Légion d'honneur, and nominally military personnel in uniform are supposed to salute other uniformed personnel wearing it, regardless of ranks involved. That was too good of a detail not to gesture at.

The Wikipedia article

I picked Jacques-Louis David entirely because he's my favorite artist of this time period and location, though the fact he did official work for Napoleon was a bonus. I'm very interested in the uses of these really formalized displays of image-crafting as used for propaganda, and also it's just fun to think about. Spent ages looking at Wikipedia too to get the formatting and the style of writing right, which I think I did.

The Title

Really, it just made me laugh, so it had to stay. I mean the song is also fitting and I think it's the sentiment I wanted to gesture at emotionally, but it is also funny,

[abarero]

ao3 wrapped 2024 [writers edition]

How many words have you written this year? 258,855

How many works did you publish this year? 10

What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)? Cross My Heart {and Hope to Die} because I got way outside of my comfort zone with this one and I still think I’m doing pretty well with it. 

What work of yours has the most hits? Kamihama Ultra Beast Files with 962 

What work of yours got more feedback than you expected? Uhhh basically any of them. I love comments and going from older big fandoms to tiny femslash fandom has definitely made it rough. So anytime I get a comment I’m thrilled.

Favorite title you used Cross My Heart {and Hope to Die} and Do Androids Dream of Falling in Love? Both of which I think are fun plays on a familiar saying. 

If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most? No lyrics this year. 

Pairing you wrote the most for this year? Touka/Nemu (can’t let @chairteeth have all the fun)

Favorite pairing you wrote for this year? Mikoto/Hanna. They are THE blorbos and I really enjoy playing with their dynamic in different settings. 

What work was the quickest to write? Probably my last minute speedrun for Snow-Kissed Christmas, which I did while sick. I started it the 21st and had all 4 chapters ready to post by the 25th.

What work took you the longest to write? Cross My Heart {and Hope to Die} always takes me the longest because I’m usually doing like eighteen tabs worth of research for historical stuff on each 10k+ chapter.

How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year? 4, two continuing and 2 new

What’s your longest work of the year? Kamihama Ultra Beast Files at 118,046 words

What’s your shortest work of the year? Reverse, Repeat, Resolution at 500 words

What WIP are you taking into next year with you? KUBF and CMH

What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag? Canon Compliant and Romance

Your favorite character to write this year? Mikoto, Nemu and Mitsune (also Phichit and Emiri). Mikoto is just so earnest, Nemu has more layers than an onion, and Mitsune has hilarious speech quirks (lol). The other two are just fun side characters which I got to enjoy writing. 

The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year? Alina because I know zero Italian so I have to cross reference terms and phrases every time she speaks. 

What’s one pairing you want to explore next year? Mikoto/Hanna. Because they’re my blorbos and I cannot get enough of writing them. But I’m also looking forward to some Emiri/Hinano and other side pairs in CMH.

Which work of yours have you reread the most? someone will remember us (even in another time) got me through MagiReco EOS like a balm on my soul.

How many kudos in total did you get this year? 82

Which work has the most comments? KUBF. Thanks to my loyal commenter 🙇‍♀️ 

Did you do any collaborative works this year? Both KUBF and CMH have associated fanart from amazing artists as part of the Mini Bang projects. 

Did you write any gifts this year? 5/10 were gifts or some part of an exchange/event! 

Did you receive any gifts this year? Yes, 4! (Two by @harocat and two from Yuletide)

What’s your most common category? F/F (do it for Sappho)

What do you listen to while writing? MagiReco OSTs

Favorite work you wrote this year? Cross My Heart {and Hope to Die} for being so different than anything else.

Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?  

“Must be a Christmas miracle then.”

Touka snorted. “Is that what we're calling this?”

She leveled her with a look as she handed over a mug of hot chocolate.

“If you, at any time, call our relationship a Christmas miracle, just know that somewhere, someone deeply religious who hates lesbians is probably having an aneurysm.”

Touka grinned. “All the more reason to do so, I think.” This one from Snow-Kissed Christmas because I am very proud of it.

30. Biggest surprise while writing this year?  Mostly surprised by myself when it comes to CMH. Previously if you told me I’d be writing a fic with technically all (MCD is but isn’t there bc they are vampired) the Archive warnings I would have thought it highly unlikely, but here I am. 

[moonsheen]

fic writer meme

1. how many works do you have on ao3? 112. And thank god that doesn't include the REAL old stuff.

2. what's your total ao3 wordcount? 552,904 ...that's...both more and less than I was expecting

3. what fandoms do you write for?

...a...lot. Most recently? MDZS/SVSSS, Trigun (er, sorry for the weird stuff), and 13 Sentinels (PLAY 13 SENTINELS). Long term oldies but goodies? Kingdom Hearts, Devil May Cry, Overwatch, Supergiant games, Evangelion

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Recovery (SVSS, Qijiu --woah, that one pulled ahead in the last few months) Husband x Husband (Hunter x Hunter -- I did this as a yuletide treat to make up for defaulting one year and it's the gift that keeps giving) Minor Delays (SVSS, Qijiu -- wait really?) The Way Back Home (SVSS, Qijiu -- ....Qijiu nation represent. This one doesn't surprise me though, Chira did an amazing comic for it) Hold the Baby (MDZS -- okay this one was just where I was dumping the old twitter threads of a VERY specific Xiyao fix-it AU but you know what, thanks everyone)

5. do you respond to comments?

I try to. If I don't succeed it's often because life kicked my ass.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Probably On Your Six (Reaper & Soldier 76, Overwatch)

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

This is hard mostly because all of my fic tends to be some kind of fix-it in some way to give someone an obscenely happy ending. If you had to have me narrow it down based on what my most blatant fix-it to some miserable canon character ending was? I'd go with either Happiness Exists (As Long As You Believe in the Possibility) (Qijiu again!), and the Recovery-verse as a whole, or maybe Abstraction White Rose (Revolutionary Girl Utena), because by god I needed Utena and Anthy to kiss and I MADE THEM DO THAT, A LOT.

8. do you get hate on fics?

Xiyao troll hit me once or twice and I got a few cranky dudebros who got mad at me for my Eva fic on a message board once, but nothing all that bad if I'm honest.

9. do you write smut?

...well, I've tried but the plot gets in the way.

10. do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you have written?

The first that come to mind are the MDZS/TGCF crossovers, but those are the same authors so I don't know that that counts. I DID write a very silly How The Grinch Stole Christmas/Nightmare Before Christmas short once upon an internet. It has since been lost to the great yawning of time and collapse of several social media platforms.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Someone once scraped the awful Naruto fic I wrote when I was like 15 and changed the names to make it a Samurai Champloo fic which, um. Why? But that was pretty damn funny in hindsight.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! In Russian, Chinese, and French. And I love every time it happens.

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

My dayjob these days is cowriting with people. But on the fanfic side -- well, in short, yes. With the usual suspect (that would be Chira) and with my wife, who has once or twice dictated an entire story outline to me which I write in a day.

14. what's your all time favorite ship? Internet, I am old and you cannot expect me to pick one. Utena/Anthy maybe?

15. what is a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I still need to do the last story for the A Troublesome Charge series which I SWEAR will happen it's just I had a literal baby.

16. what are your writing strengths?

Character voice. I love character voice and I am told I am good at it.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Smut.

18. thoughts of writing dialogue in another language in fics?

To be honest if I don't know it I don't try. But I like bilingual writing when it's done well (see also: Everything, Everywhere, All At Once) -- but when it comes to fangirl Japanese or Chinese, I tend to leave that to the experts.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

mumblesBeastWars and thank god that was on a platform that crashed and burned. The Beast Wars fic I wrote for Yuletide was way better.

20. favorite fic you have written?

On Your Six, despite how I feel about Overwatch nowadays, I feel was probably one of the punchiest stories I've ever written. I would have absolutely used this story to audition to write for Blizzard's tie-in novellas if Blizzard hadn't...well, read the news on what happened at Blizzard.

The other one I'd probably say is Ghost Roads in my Troublesome Charge series (MDZS). I just feel like I nailed all the multiple plotlines and characters involved in that one and I'm super proud of it. I'm not tagging anyone because I have anxiety about this kind of thing, but please feel free to do this meme yourself if it crosses your dash!

[freneticfloetry]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Will I ever get enough of these? No? Thanks to @liminalmemories21, @strandnreyes, @welcometololaland, and @reyesstrand for the tags!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

45. RIP to the lost works of my OG fandom, published on a ship board/archive that no longer exists. (I still have most of them, they just won’t be seeing the light of day. Like ever.)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

368,184. (Again, RIP to all those now-unpublished words — with them I’d be somewhere around 800k.)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

LOL So glad this question is phrased the way it is. Right now, I’m only actively writing in 911 Lone Star fandom, though I have a WIP in Magicians fandom that I fully intend to finish. Historically, I’ve written in about 40 fandoms (36 on AO3), most with a single fic. Thanks, Yuletide!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Ashes and Flame (Every You and Every Me), The Hunger Games Trilogy (I get a kudos email for this one at least five times a week. How are people still finding and reading this little fic?)

Lost in Translation, The Losers

Deck the Halls with Daddy Issues, pre-film Avengers MCU

Big Girl Pants, New Girl

Shells of a Long-Ago Lifetime (Faces That Once Were Mine Mix), Supernatural

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

99.9% of the time, absolutely. Comments are my biggest motivation — the serotonin section fuels my muse. If people take the time to tell me they read and enjoyed a fic (especially if they tell me why), I like to at least thank them for that. There have been times when Real Life has been Happening A Lot and comments on the more popular stuff have gotten by me, and I feel weird about going back months after the fact to respond — that Hunger Games fic, for instance, has a couple pages of unanswered comments.

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

Posted, probably Of All Our Yesterdays. I am typically an Angst with a Happy Ending writer without fail, but the boys of the Black Dagger Brotherhood don’t do typical happy, and Phury is lowkey the angstiest of the bunch.

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

I’m actually gonna say scenes from an unfinished story, because I think Quentin Coldwater having this happy ending, the way this one happens, is the biggest fuck you to show canon and its creators that I could possibly craft.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I recently got my first hate comment! I posted about it, but I’ve also left it up in all its glory.

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

I do now! Not that I haven’t in the past — I wrote several het scenes for my very first ship, and Quentin and Eliot had some delightful married kitchen sex we picked up right in the middle in What Baking Can Do — but I feel like Tarlos has really helped me unleash my inner smut writer. My smut from Carlos’ POV has a lot of feelings (LOL), but the stuff I’m writing from TK’s POV is a little sillier and dirtier and more fun. With feelings.

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

I do love me a good crossover. Outside of canons I’ve crossed that exist in the same universe (We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For, in Jessica Jones/Luke Cage fandom, plus And to All a Goodnight, for two Jennifer Crusie books), I once wrote tens of thousands of words of a ridiculously plot-heavy Roswell/Angel crossover that will forever hold a soft spot in my heart, a randomly cracky and super angsty Supernatural/Grey’s Anatomy, and a minor character-focused Supernatural/Sarah Connor Chronicles, Requiem, that I still sort of love a lot.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

That Hunger Games fic has been swiped a few times. Weird.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Again, the Hunger Games fic — it exists somewhere on the internet in Dutch. And that one, the SPN/TSCC crossover, and an old Dexter fic, Dinner and a Show, have been podficed.

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

I have! An old friend and I once cowrote ~25k of our idea of fluff, which was basically hijinks, smut, and torturing our leading man with a boom box and Billy Joel.

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

For ships that I’ve written… Hmm. I think, before I wrote to build a home, I would’ve said it was a tossup between Tarlos, Queliot, Chlollie, and Jules/Robin from Troubleshooters, but now there’s just no contest. Weewoo Husbands for the win. For ships in general, Tarlos still tops the list, alongside the ones I mentioned, the OT3 (Eliot/Hardison/Parker), Arthur/Eames, Phedre/Joscelin from the Kushiel’s Legacy books, Frank/Karen from the Netflix Marvelverse, Aidan/Sally from Being Human US, and my MCU crack cube of Steve/Nat/Bucky/Sam.

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

God, this is such a throwback, but it’s probably Adagio in B-Flat, the Sherlock music porn murder mystery I half wrote and got hopelessly blocked on.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, I’d say, especially banter. And understanding characters, I guess? I’m good at making characters sound like themselves, whether they’re speaking or internalizing. And, I’m now proud to say, plot. That’s something I wouldn’t have dared to claim this time ten years ago.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Oof. Brevity. I have completely lost the ability to write short (and, by extension, to the point). I’m also the slowest writer in the world, thanks to my tendency to edit every sentence within an inch of its life.

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

My Lone Star mutuals are laughing right now. Clearly I hate it. 😊 I’ve written three fics that feature Spanish, two sort of significantly, and all my old Firefly fics have some Mandarin in there somewhere.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

OG Roswell. So much OG Roswell. Michael/Liz, specifically, with a side of Kyle/Isabel.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

It almost feels like cheating, since it’s my most recent fic (and the only one I’ve published so far in my current fandom), but I’m so stupidly proud of to build a home. Carlos is such a touchstone character for me that writing him was oddly therapeutic. And I think I’ve said this before, but writing the two of them together was like the evolution of the clarity I found writing Queliot, which was the first time I’d really explored a ship in fic where I loved both halves of the pairing even close to equally — it helped me unearth my Carlos and who he is in my heart, but it also helped me uncover the true depth of my love for TK.

No pressure tagging @orchidscript, @heartstringsduet, @never-blooms, @rmd-writes, @walkinginland, @paperstorm, @mixtapestar, @catanisspicy, and @alrightbuckaroo!

[dreamerinsilico]

Fic writing questions

tagged by @yuniemaki - thank you for thinking of me!

how many works do you have on ao3?

67

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

344,183

Kind of wild to me, but the VAST majority of those words happened more than five years ago.

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Mostly The Sandman right now, although I'm still a Hannibal person and I think I feel some BG3 coming on eventually. I've meandered my way through various video game fandoms over the years and am likely to return to Pillars of Eternity. Rather less likely for the Bioware stuff, but maybe the upcoming DA game will, in a stunning subversion of my expectations, make me care about Dragon Age again.

I really enjoy the Yuletide fic exchange, so I write for whatever small fandom I get assigned that year (so far I've done Wayward Children, Left Hand of Darkness, and Goncharov), and I'm hoping to get more into exchanges.

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Constellations of the Things We Left Unsaid - multichapter Reaper76 thing I actually finished and was writing when Overwatch was popular

His Pale Steed - early Hannibal fic, I think it was my second

Best of Cruel Intentions - also earlyish Hannibal fic, and the start of my very excellent mutual betaing relationshihp with @tiggymalvern

Let's Try Another Kind of Peace - T_T WIP crawling out of the well to shame authorkind (also Hannibal. Yes, I still do have intent to get back to it.)

Solstice - Actually tickled and delighted this made the list; it's the second fic I ever posted to AO3, and it is Aela/F!Dovahkiin smut from the Skyrim kinkmeme back in the day

5. do you respond to comments?

A majority of the time, yes. Especially if I get a meaty one to actually talk about!

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

....yeah, not really any competition there, it's I Recall, which I wrote for a Pillars of Eternity minibang about my Watcher, Acantha's past-life doomed romance with Iovara.

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

I'm not sure how to answer this one! I'm kinda all over the map in terms of the tone of the fics I write, and I don't know how to really differentiate between different happy endings.

But let's shout out You Sang Me of Some Distant Past (Dragon Age, F!Hawke/Morrigan, which canoe I will paddle until the end times) - this was my first ever big bang entry, and I'm still happy with it a decade later.

8. do you get hate on fics?

I think the closest thing to hate I've ever gotten was someone saying my Labyrinth fic had Sarah using too many big words in her head.

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

My AO3's linked all over this post, you can just go look.

But uh, lot of D/s, lot of knifeplay, I think are the two big themes.

10. do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written?

I have written one (1) crossover! There's Someone Scratching Softly is a Hannibal/Wayward Children crossover where Jack Wolcott is in therapy with Hannibal. It's the leviathan shadow of a much larger AU Hannibal fic I've done a lot of brainstorming on, and I posted it on a whim one day (I hadn't originally intended to, when I wrote it) and was very pleased with that decision, because a few fans who know both canons came out of the woodwork to gush at me about it.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

No idea, but probably not; I don't write enough plotty epics to make it likely.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I'm aware of. (A couple of delightful people have podficced some of my short Hannibal fics, though! I was very excited.)

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

Nope. Wouldn't completely rule it out as a possibility, but not something I've done date.

14. what's your all time favourite ship?

I don't really do all-time favorites? I do whatever I've got the most brainrot about currently. I don't have a good way of ranking favorite ships relative to one another!

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

Relentless Splinters I Recall is the parent fic, sort of, to I Recall, which I mentioned above. It was a very ambitious idea and I love what's there, but I will be very surprised and impressed with myself if I manage to pick that thread back up at some point. I don't think I'm really cut out to do game novelization fic.

16. what are your writing strengths?

Economy's probably the biggest one; I know very well that I can get a lot done in a relatively small number of words. I also really enjoy writing dialogue and like to think I'm good at it.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

I'm not the kind of person who can spawn wild AUs or plotlines easily, and I often wish that I was. (I don't think I'm bad at plot, but if I'm writing something plotty there is a lot of very deliberate brainstorming and probably workshopping with a friend or two, and it takes a ton of effort.)

Also just, you know, getting words on the page. (It's hard! It's hard! It's really really haaaaard! ~*)

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

I think anything from a curse word to a short phrase can have a place, but usually find it obnoxious when writers put in whole exchanges in (usually google translated) Other Language.

There was a post going around at some point discussing how bi/multilingual people do and don't mix languages that was very good and valid.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

Labyrinth (1986)

20. favorite fic you've written?

Oof, that's hard. Something, something, can't pick a favorite child.

However, with the caveat that I have a lot of favorites for a lot of reasons, the Goncharov fic I wrote for Yuletide 2023 still pleases me to an outsize degree. Sometimes I think I'm funny.

Tagging @tiggymalvern @stylishanachronism @firebatvillain @xenosimp @pragnificent @softdedue @the-bees-patella @dsudis and anyone else so inclined <3

[tracingpatternswrites]

Friends in the UK! Taking a lil' break from fandom stuff to give a Christmas present suggestion, either for yourself or a book lover you know.

My friends run a vintage book subscription box and they always do a special little something around Christmas. I cannot recommend this enough, tbh, it's such a lovely little treat. Not only are they lovely little gifts, but you'd also be supporting a small business in a time when being a small business owner is nothing if not a challenge.

The Yuletide bundles are amazing, but if you got some more money to spend I'd also highly recommend looking at the subscriptions because my god, they are beautiful and personalised to your preferences.

Spread the word <3

[vriskarlmarx]

this past year i sort of unexpectedly ended up writing regularly again, for the first time in years. i blame cassian andor's big wet baby cow eyes, but overall it's been a really fun hobby to take up again. i'm gonna do a little reflection on what i wrote in 2023 (fanfic-wise, i wrote some other stuff too but won't talk about it here).

putting this under a read more since it's mostly just for me to talk to myself, pulling a few questions i found interesting from other writers i follow who are doing this sort of thing (feel free to take the questions for yourself too!)

how many fics did you write in 2023? how many total words?

as it turns out, a total of 16, and it totaled out to 45.578 words. which is kind of lot considering that the last time i wrote fanfic was in 2019 and all 1000ish words felt like pulling teeth, and the time before that had been 2013. so i'm very happy with it!

what are you most proud of, fic-writing-wise in 2023?

a few different things:

being able to maintain a consistent rhythm and interest in writing

being able to connect my own feelings and experiences to those of different characters, which i think gave my writing some additional layers

experimenting with a few different structures (i get bored just writing a standard linear narrative sometimes, i think)

putting more actual thought into character/plot/theme analysis. i think writing fanfic made me engage with the things i was watching/reading in a different way

what fic meant the most to you to write?

definitely No Return Address. it was a pinch hit for yuletide but it hit me like a baseball bat, it ended up being crazy personal and the feedback has been better than anything i could've hoped for. i could talk for a very long time about everything that fic means to me personally, but i think it might honestly come through in the fic itself.

what is a fic you didn't expect to write?

so either Bitter Fruits or Hostia, but for different reasons.

with Bitter Fruits, i was just suddenly and unexpectedly overcome with inspiration from a fanart that is honestly completely unrelated to the premise i ended up going with, and i wrote it in like 2 or 3 days like a daze. and it was sooo much fun to write, honestly.

with Hostia, it is what happens when you sign up to an exchange, see a ship in the tagset that you find kind of curious so you put it in your offers and unexpectedly match on it, so you gotta step up to it. i definitely did not really expect for it to end with oral sex on a pomegranate but hey when life gives you lemons. or pomegranates. whatever.

what is something you learned about yourself while writing this year?

that deadlines are sooo magical, even if they're mostly in my head. exchanges were super helpful to keep me writing, because i knew they had a time and date to be done by! Late Harvest 100% only got finished and posted because of WDLF.

the other thing is that changing the place/mode of writing really helps me. i found out that switching between handwriting in a notebook and then copying that into a google doc, then continuing to write on the doc was the best way to keep myself going and unblock my head whenever i felt stuck. ditto going to write in different places, like coffee shops or other spots.

and lastly, having written fanfiction really helped my other writing in some other aspects. i think other things i've written are more creative, flow better and are more literary/beautiful/interating to read than before, and i love that it's had that effect on my other writing.

what fic was the most difficult to write?

Conventional Weapons, which i ended up really liking in the end. but i had to fully re-start that one, because a few different things happened in my life that ended up making it a much more personal fic to write than i had anticpated, so i had to switch POV characters at one point because i wasn't going to be able to do it from Roy's POV anymore. it's an interesting pairing to begin with, with a ton of baggage, and at times i felt like i had written myself into a corner, or had to put it down because i was thinking about personal stuff and getting really upset. still, i'm happy with how it turned out!

what fic was the most fun to write?

petite mort. writing L as a weird necro freak who gets turned on by dying was hilarious and incredibly fun.

what are you looking forward to in 2024, in terms of fanfic writing?

i look forward to continuing to write consistently, and am thinking about a couple of ideas that i want to get around to writing! i think i will also try to write things without deadlines and see if i can get them done anyways, now that i have more of a rhythm going :) but there are also a few exchanges i'm excited to do.

[bookgirlfan]

✨ao3 wrapped 2023✨

I was tagged by @lilolilyr and I love this idea!

Works published: 24

Wordcount: 28,153, which is the lowest I've had for a few years. Probably because I've been away a lot this year! It's actually more than that, because I wrote stuff in my ongoing Sherlock Holmes minific collection, but that isn't included in the count.

Kudos: 983

Hits: 7,412

Bookmarks: 163

Subscriptions: 31

Most popular by kudos: The Long Path to Truth, which is really impressive, considering I only posted it at the end of November! It's an A:TLA fic on the eternal theme of the Gang finding out how Zuko got his scar, and somehow got 326 kudos in a little over a month.

Most hits: The Long Path to Truth, again, with 2,919 hits.

Longest: On Love You Can Depend, a fic for Wind in the Willows the musical, at 4,435 words.

Shortest: The Babysitter of the Bones, at 189 words, because my best friend got me into Bones this year.

Most Comments: Idle Lips Are The Devil's Mouthpiece, a Good Omens fic with the locals gossiping to Nina about Crowley and Aziraphale, got 11 comments!

Fics that made me cry/Fics that made me smile: I hate to say it, but I honestly don't know. I read approximately 2196 new fics this year, as well as rereading probably twice as many old ones, so as much as I would love to rec some amazing authors, because there are so many, I've read too much to keep track!

gifts: This year I received three gifts!

a podfic of my fic Birds, Beasts, and Haystacks, by the fantastic @blackestglass

A Devotion to Duty, a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fic by BardicRaven for the Hurt/Comfort Exchange

Famous Five (or half of it) buying ice cream by Claire_cz for Yuletide

I also gave gifts for Hurt/Comfort Exchange and Yuletide

company | ˈkʌm.pə.ni, a Ouran High School Host Club gift for palebluestrings

Crash of Priorities, a Darkwing Duck gift for BleepBloopBotz

collaborations:

Only one collab fic this year, for pod_together 2023! I collaborated with the fantastic lilolilyrae to create Where No Flan Has Gone Before, a Star Trek fic! It's a series of Yelp reviews about the bakery, Where No Flan Has Gone before, and I'm very proud of it!

events: None, other than the above mentioned!

Tagging @zahnie, @violetemerald, and anyone who sees this and wants to do it!

For ease of copying: Works published: Wordcount: Kudos: Hits: Bookmarks: Subscriptions: Most popular by kudos: Most hits: Longest: Shortest: Most Comments: Fics that made me cry: Fics that made me smile: gifts: collaborations: events:

[faintedincoils]

7, 10, 11, 12 & 34 ^_^

7) Are you the "token" queer person in your family? Nope! My sister and niece are both queer, and by their own description both my mom and her mom are on the ace spectrum, though they didn't have the language to label themselves that way. My mom's cousin is gay too.

Putting the rest under a cut because my answers got long. 😅🙈

10) Something that gives you gender euphoria (whether you're cis or trans): All of my cute, colorful, silly skirts. All through my childhood and young adulthood I was told by all sorts of folks that I was "bad at being a girl." Which was okay, because a lot of the time I didn't really feel like a girl, although I couldn't say what I did feel like. I had some broomstick skirts that were long and flowy and so much fun to spin in. I loved the sensation of wearing them. I didn't love how people would say it made it even more obvious that I wasn't a good girl, or that I looked or 'felt' weird in them. So I just stopped wearing them for the most part. Then as I got older I tried wearing them to work on occasion, which was just as bad or maybe worse. I kept getting comments on how dressed up or pretty I looked, or how they weren't used to seeing me looking so girly, or questions about if I was trying to find myself a man now, because if so this was definitely going to help. So I stopped again. Then a random patron at work one day gave me a hard time about wearing a pastel purple polo shirt, how it wasn't a good color on me and made me look even bigger than I already am. This is after years of wearing nothing but polo shirts and khakis to work, or jeans and t-shirts on the weekends, being as bland as possible and hoping nobody paid any attention at all to what I was wearing. I got so angry and so offended and so fed up that I was like you know what? I am going to make my off the wall, probably questionable taste and fashion everybody else's problem and I am going to be happy. So I bought myself two maxi skirts in very bold designs: a desert landscape and some flying griffins. Then I decided to finally buy the Maya Kern skirt I'd always wanted, even though a midi skirt seemed too short because it might draw attention to my big calves, which happened a lot when I was younger, and got my legs groped by strangers more than once in my 20's. And every single time that I wear any of those skirts or the other ones I've bought similar to them, I'm so so happy. I can twirl around in my midi skirts and they flare out around me! I can put my hands in my pockets and swish my skirts around and I feel like a fancy dancer or something even though I'm an awful dancer and won't actually dance around at anyone. And everyone compliments what cute patterns they are, or how happy I look wearing them, but nobody really says anything about me being girly. I don't know. That was a lot of words but I still feel like I'm doing a lousy job of describing it. Some days I feel like a girl, but the skirts don't make me feel like more of a girl. Other days, more frequently, I feel like not a girl. I feel nebulous, or like nothing, so far as gender goes. And even though skirts register largely as feminine, and I'm sure they help a lot of people feel more feminine, they actually enhance my neutral gender feelings. Somehow.

11) Favorite (or just one you love) piece of LGBT media: Oh wow, there are so many! I'll start by saying that I have a huge soft spot for pretty much anything put out by Wolfe Video in the early to mid-2000s. I probably need to watch a bunch more of their recent stuff honestly. Anyways, Make the Yuletide Gay is a fluffy holiday favorite I watch almost every year. Were the World Mine is the gay movie I would have killed for in high school. Camp is the one I got as soon as I graduated from high school; it and But I'm a Cheerleader came into my life at just the right time and I'm forever grateful for them. On a similar note, Mercedes Lackey and Tanya Huff's books will always hold a place in my heart for being so matter of fact and lovely with their gay characters, which helped me tremendously as a tween and teen. More recently, Cat Sebastian's books have been game changers for me in the romance field. Her queer characters are so varied and have so many lovely little idiosyncrasies, and even the romances that you assume are straight aren't, because her characters are often by or because gender and attraction are a little more complicated than what you're used to.

12) Name some queer artists/bands or songs you like most: I'll be honest, I don't really listen to a ton of music. Once podcast became a thing I switched over to them by and large for when I have time to listen to stuff. But Placebo was one of the formative bands in my early life and they were queer. I didn't listen to a ton of Green Day, but American Idiot looped in my CD player nonstop, and boy howdy did the line "maybe I'm the faggot America" resonate with me and get me all pumped up. And t.A.T.u's "200 km/hr in the Wrong Lane" was my entire experience for a year in high school.

34) What are you needing most right now (what would make your life easier or more fulfilling in regards to existing as queer)? It would be so nice if people would stop using so much gendered language and phrases about me or in reference to me. I don't mind she / her pronouns, but being called Miss or ma'am or lady skeeves me out a lot of the time. It doesn't bother me at all coming from some of my friends who aren't cisgender, because there's always an implied asterisk, so to speak, but from randos it's the actual worst even though I know they're probably just trying to be polite and don't think anything of it.