#comments are my favorite but kudos and bookmarks are also great

[letmelickyoureyeballs]

Witcher Fic Recs

Wanted to make a list of some of my favorite Witcher fics! Most of these are not Jaskier/Geralt, but I did add some, and they are just as good! A lot are also Explicit, and some need an AO3 account to access. Feel free to message me if you want your work taken off this list.

*I do not claim any of these fics as mine, and I give all the credit to the original authors*

"Bat Out of Water" by @tafkamayle One of if not my favorite Witcher fic! 65k words, Explicit, Jaskier/Geralt Jaskier/Eskel Jaskier/Lambert, Vampire and Pirate AU

"The Songbird of The Cats" by @ohwhoopsok I've read this one so many times I cannot recommend it enough! 28k words, Mature, Jaskier/OCs Jaskier/Aiden Jaskier/Lambert, Jaskier becomes the School of the Cats new obsession, little non-human Jaskier

"The Shape of Love" by @jaskierswolf 17k words, Teen and Up, Shifter AU, Geralt/Jaskier, there's a bunch of works in this series and they're all great!

"Fateful Red" by @tafkamayle again, 16k words, Explicit, Jaskier/Geralt, Soulmates and No Powers AU, I love this one so much!

"That's my Jam(bert)" by @greenbirddraws/GreenBird, 14k words, Explicit, Jaskier/Lambert, I love them together so much!

"So Tight I'd Bruise You" by @sweetpeapod 496 words, General Audience, Jaskier/Lambert, little hurt/comfort and soft Lambert

"Cat Up A Tree(Going Down on a Witcher)" by Hallianna, 10k words, Explicit, Aiden/Jaskier/Lambert, love this one a lot!

"Bring Your Hunger" by @sweetpeapod again, 2k words, Teen and Up, Jaskier/Lambert, teasing and fluff

"Take a Chance on Second Chances" by Caelanmiriel, 9k words, Explicit, Jaskier/Lambert, some courting rituals

"Fingertips" by @ohwhoopsok again, 3k words, Explicit, Jaskier/Lambert, Lambert can't get hard, some fluff, this one is super sweet!

"to the wolves" by @besselfcn 1k words, Mature, Jaskier/Lambert/Eskel/Geralt, Past SA, hurt/comfort, revenge, past Valdo/Jaskier

"I Just Want to Feel You" by @stfustucky 6k words, Explicit, Jaskier/Geralt/Lambert/Eskel, Geralt and Eskel fuck up some aftercare so Lambert has to make things right, super sweet one!

"Soap, and the Scents of Home" by @round--robin/round_robin 32k words, Explicit, Jaskier/Geralt/Eskel/Lambert, lots of touch-starved Witchers, Scent kink, an amazing series!

"5 Times Geralt was Cat-Like (+1 Time He Was Wolf-Like)" by @xrdragonix 2k, General Audience, Geralt/Jaskier, Wolf and Cat traits, super cute and wholesome!

If you enjoyed any of these please let the authors know with comments, kudos, and/or bookmarking it!

[thelucyverse]

Keep fandoms alive, comment on more fanfics!

The do‘s and don’ts of fic reviews

Because a friend told me she never knows what to write and then never comments, but wants to learn how to do better, I thought I’d compile a list, and maybe it will help someone else as well!

As always, this is unofficial and just from my personal experience writing and reading fic, and talking with other fic authors.

My posts on beta reading | ao3 bookmarks

What to comment

Honestly, authors love friendly comments, no matter how small. Here are some ideas for short comments you can write to pretty much any fic you enjoyed:

I loved it!

Great fic!

Thanks for writing this!

Thanks for sharing your fic with the fandom :)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 10/10 perfection

So happy I found this!

Reading this made my day

I had fun reading this

You’re a great writer!

Love your writing style

<3<3<3

Amazing!

Kudos!

If you want to write something a bit longer, you can for example

Tell the author where you have been reading the fic or what you were doing while reading it

Tell the author what you should have been doing instead of reading fanfic (and that it was worth it to read the fic)

Copy a passage (or several) from the fic you particularly enjoyed

Did the author write a note at the end or beginning of the fic? Maybe even ask a question? Sometimes you can reply to author’s notes in your comment

How did the fic make you feel? Happy, made you cry, made you laugh, made you jealous of a character, or made you want to punch an antagonistic character’s nose in? Write it in the comment!

Is it your first fic in a fandom or with a ship? Your favorite fic in a fandom, or with a specific character? Did you read it in one go? Did you savour it slowly reading over days or weeks? Have you enjoyed every update of a multi-chapter? Do you wish you could read it again for the first time? Write anything you want to let the author know about your reading experience!

Is there a character you particularly enjoyed in that fic/chapter? Tell the author you think they wrote xy character really well!

You can always start or finish your comment with one of the suggestions from the short comments to make sure the author knows you liked it :)

If you really don’t know what to write, or are reading fic in a language not your own (though authors usually don’t mind you commenting in your native language) and aren’t comfortable commenting in either language, you can also leave emojis as comments, for example variations of:

for any fics:❤️💕💜💗💞💓💖💟🤩😍🥰

for humor fics: 😂😆🤣🤪💯

for shippy fics/getting together: 🎉💖🥳💋💘💏👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨💑👩‍❤️‍👩👨‍❤️‍👨🫶

for angst or hurt no comort: 🥹😭🤯😱🫣😢💔❣️❤️‍🩹🖤 maybe still include a ❤️heart in there so the author can be sure you still liked it!

for smut/pwp: ❤️‍🔥💯🫣😋🤩🥵😈🤯🫦

There are even some stickers you can comment by copying the html! A few tumblr posts with stickers to copy can be found here & here!

Don’ts

There isn’t much you can do wrong when writing comments on fic, but there are a few things you should keep in mind:

don’t criticize (unless negative critics/what they can do better has been specifically asked for by the author, and then stick to the kind of criticism asked for, and best try to include something positive too to soften the blow)

don’t demand more/ask for updates - you can tell the author you’d read it if they wrote more, but don’t put pressure on them, you don’t know what’s happening in their lives right now and for what reason new entries might have slowed down, and they don’t owe you regular or any updates!

don’t tell them what to write (unless the author is taking prompts, and in most cases the comment section is not the right place for prompts, check what the author specified)

Remember: Fan fiction are free, from fans for fans, so etiquette is a bit different than in the Amazon reviews of books you paid good money for! Fic authors don’t have to cater to you, just enjoy that there are fics shared with the fandom :) If you don’t like something, or don’t like a part of something, either close the tab or quietly ignore the issue and just enjoy the parts you do like.

And in general, to end this on a positive note:

Yes, you can comment on older fanfics!

Yes, comment on several fics in a row if you’re reading through fics by one author!

Yes, comment on as many chapters of the same fic as you like!

Yes, you can make art for the fic and tell the author about it!

Yes, absolutely tell the author if you’re still thinking about a fic hours/days/years… after reading it!

Yes, send authors asks on tumblr/other sites talking about how you love their fics, if they link these sites in the author’s notes! (But also comment on Ao3)

Yes, you can comment/review even if you don’t have an account (at least on Ao3 and ffnet)!

Yes, please let the author know if you’re reading a fic for a second time, even if you just write ‘re-read kudos!’

The best comments are also written directly on the site the fanfiction got posted on (so usually ao3/ffnet and not tumblr/discord), both because it makes the note count higher, and because then the comment won’t quickly get buried under unrelated messages or posts.

If you want to leave long comments about different parts of a fic or chapter, you can also make use of the floating Ao3 comment box! It allows you to type your comment while you're still reading, without having to leave the page!

Some more kinds of comments on another post

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

Fic Author Self-Rec

I was tagged by @qqueenofhades mwah dear!

When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love. ❤

I know what I would pick for the five if I was being fully honest - it's the same five I've repeatedly picked before (Reincarnation AU, Hades!Buck AU, Zombie Apocalypse AU, Ghost!Buck AU, and Hades!Eddie AU). But I wanted to challenge myself and pick five fics from this year, 2024, since it is the end of the year and it would be nice to look back on it.

I wrote far more fanfic than I planned (728,600 words), including a threesome collection and a rarepair (77k words for a Midsomer Murders fic what is wrong with me). I had hoped to surprise post my big Xedgin fic as a new year's gift but that ended up not happening, alas. I haven't forgotten it though and while I am now 100% focused on my original novels I promise to find time to post it.

Anyway enough navel-gazing, here are my five favorite fics from this year!

Racing with the Brakes Cut

My Fast & Furious AU that I wrote in a burst of inspiration after I was made to marathon the series with friends. I had a lot of fun writing it. There's a very particular feel to the first F&F film - a vibe of Los Angeles in the dog days of summer, a sense of desperate people living in the beautiful grit of the city, a feeling of messy found family, and a particular brand of homoeroticism, that I wanted to capture. I like to think I succeeded.

Held Up a Lightning Rod (Wonder Why I'm Struck)

THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO JUST BE A FUN SUGAR BABY AU. I predicted it would be around 60k words and it turned out double that number. But I'm really proud of how I wove seasons one through four into this canon and ended up incorporating Buck and Eddie's alternate relationship into the canon. This is also a fic I posted chapter by chapter and the responses I got from everyone along the way were delightful. I think this might be one of my most popular fics, actually. I just had a blast writing it and responding to everyone's comments, it really felt like a community, and that's what fic and fandom are all about.

Connected the Dots in Reverse (But Still Completed the Picture)

This is a Ghost Files/Unsolved AU and that proved to be a challenge. How do you capture the feeling of watching a video in a written work? How do you replicate the banter and the humorous editing? I also had to watch the entire two series over again to pick what locations and quotes I wanted to incorporate into the fic, so that was a lot. But I had a lot of fun writing it. It was especially fun to get to lean into Eddie's sassy, goofy, Buck-enabling side.

The Blood Between My Teeth is My Own

I am so proud of myself that this was only 32k. YAY, ME! I love the 118 as werewolves, and it was great to finally dive into that with a fic that had a proper plot. It was fun to explore Eddie's personal issues through the lens of lycanthropy, and I enjoyed depicting werewolves as properly monstrous rather than just big wolves or slightly-transformed humans. I wrote this in the span of about 72 hours and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

I’m Not Breathing Unless I’m Giving You CPR

YES I KNOW THIS IS FROM 2023 BUT BEAR WITH ME. I wrote this fic as an experiment and was extremely nervous about its reception. I didn't think most people would read it or enjoy it. But if you look at my stats page for 2023, it has the most hits, second-most kudos, second-most bookmarks, and second-most comments. I'm floored, absolutely floored. Over the last year I've repeatedly gotten really lovely comments from people talking about how this fic has affected them, and it's really meant more than I can say. Especially as I dive into my novels which feature characters who are various levels of disaster and do often mess up, or are hard to love, or who make wrong or bad choices, or are mentally unwell, it's so encouraging to know that this darker fic that I really was nervous about has been so loved.

Tagging @extasiswings @tripleaxeldiaz @peridotglimmer @givemeunicorns and @princessfbi. No pressure but I hope as this (terrible) year comes to a close you all have a chance to look with pride at some of your writing!

[avengetheangels]

curses, like chickens by Kaekokat14, Tierfal. After the sudden death of his wife, Natsuo falls apart – and his two young sons end up with Enji.

My Hero Academia (Enji/Hawks). This is the best fic I read this year. It is an amazing study on the Natsuo and Enji's relationship. It also has some of the best (and most complex) depictions of grief and forgiveness I've read in a fanfiction.

Carry No Burden by RohanBerry. Katsuki and Touya have been talking online for months. When Katsuki Presents as an Omega and triggers Touya’s Rut they are forced to admit they are drawn to each other. But as they try to navigate their complicated relationship they are forced to deal with outside issues.

Katsuki is evicted from Pack 1A when they find out the true extent of his middle school bullying and he’s too busy trying to hide his mother’s abuse to fix anything. Touya is helpless to do anything as his Omega is forced to face foe after foe.

Follow Katsuki and Touya, as they go from a hero and a villain, to a power couple the rest of Japan idolises, one slow step at a fucking time.

My Hero Academia (Bakugou/Dabi). Reading this fic felt self indulgent in the best way. It has all of my favorite ABO tropes and some great smut. There are some interesting background pairings and (some) LOV redemption if you enjoy that. Also, super long so it will keep you busy.

Lessons Learned by Sif (Rosae). Rather than the police station, Katsuki's friends bring him to a hospital after rescuing him from the villains. His wounds were minor, but it didn't make having them treated any less important. As it would so happen, Best Jeanist was also brought to this hospital after the attack.

Sometimes, small choices have a big impact on how a story plays out.

--------------- Aka: Best Jeanist Acquires A Son. Featuring: Serious talks regarding abuse and emotional scars, one adult finally stepping the hell up and trying to help Katsuki, me going off about the sports festival because I'm still not over it, pro-heros having a group chat, and Katsuki finally getting a chance to learn how to be good.

My Hero Academia (Gen). The worst part about this fic is that made me crave Dad Jeanist with Bakugou and it isn't as popular to write about as Dadwaza. This was also my most reread fic this year.

A Sad Song With Nothing To Say by WakingNightmares. It starts with the Make A Wish foundation, and ends with a funeral.

Which, Bruce supposes, is unfortunately how things involving the Make A Wish foundation usually work. But what happens in-between catches him completely off-guard.

DC (Gen). This is a wonderfully painful character study of Jason Todd. It will make you cry but its worth it.

Malfoy Home for Lost Children by Craftybadger1234. After the war, Draco accidentally becomes responsible for a whole passel of children. Along the way, he has to dodge Harry Potter nosing around in his business.

Harry Potter (Draco/Malfoy). This is the first HP fic I've loved enough to bookmark. I enjoyed the focus on Slytherins and their friendships. Plus, cute kids.

Lightning's End by evils. Sanji thinks he’s finally in the clear after escaping Whole Cake Island, until the Thousand Sunny encounters a freak storm that sweeps him and Luffy overboard.

Stranded, they face new trials that force them to confront truths about the strange island they’re on, and about each other.

One Piece (Sanji/Luffy). This fic made me love this ship. I really enjoyed how the writer wrote Luffy. It also had a fun bit of mystery as well.

Salvage by MuffinLance. Mid-Season-One Zuko is held for ransom by Chief Hakoda. Ozai's replies to the Water Tribe's demands are A+ Parenting. Hakoda is… deeply concerned, for this son that isn't his, and who might be safer among enemies than with his own father.

Avatar The Last Airbender (Gen). There is a reason this fic has so many comments and kudos. Muffinlance manages to create a whole cast of interesting characters. If you love found family like me, this is the fic for you.

Tracing a Sparrow on Snow-Crested Ground by whisperedstory. Tied up and left to die at the hands of a monster, Jaskier is sure his life is over—but then he's rescued by a group of witchers, led by none other than the White Wolf himself. The witchers offer Jaskier shelter with their group as they travel to Tretogor to negotiate with Redania, and a new home once they return to Kaer Morhen.

Jaskier is hopeful that he will be able to start over in Kaedwen. What he doesn't expect is to end up being married to Geralt as part of the treaty.

The Witcher (Jaskier/Geralt). This fic has all the best Witcher fanfic tropes. Warlord Geralt, arranged marriages, non-human Jaskier. With the smut and hurt/comfort, it was everything I wanted.

The Kids Will Be Alright, Eventually by NotWithThatAttitude. Bakugou is spiraling in the aftermath of Kamino and his friends are starting to notice. He's stubborn, aggressively independent, and less than willing to dig into his past, but after a breakdown that ends with a painfull secret revealed, he starts to get help.

Whether he likes it or not.

Meanwhile, a new kind of villain threatens an uneasy peace following the loss of Allmight. Whispers build as a new narrative slowly takes shape: Hero society needs to change.

Feat. Therapy, Dadzawa, best boy Kirishima, dysfunctional families, healing, growing up, and the mortifying ordeal of being known.

My Hero Academia (Bakugou/Kirishima). The subject matter in this fic can make it a challenge to read. But it is a fantastic exploration of trauma. It has a great amount of Dadwaza and Bakugou growing as a person as well.

Butterfly Effect by Frecklefrog. “Go, Mob, melt it!” screeches Reigen, and Mob extends his hand, already coated with the swirling blue discs of his aura. Only-

Only he can’t exorcise the spirit, because there isn’t one, and the boy is staring at him with wide blue eyes. His hand is glowing the same yellow as the basket.

(in which Teruki meets Mob much, much earlier.)

Mob Psycho 100 (Gen). This was the first MP100 fic I read after finishing the show. I love found family and this one was great. I loved seeing Teru learning to accept help from others and Reigen was a delight.

[the-fab-fox]

Okay. So Imma just come out and say it.

Y'all who read fanfic. You. Need. To. Start. Commenting. On. Fics.

I have been told I'm a great writer. I've been told I'm spot-on with characterization. I've been told I'm great at making readers feel and experience what the characters are feeling and experiencing. Been told it's like the reader is in the room as everything plays out.

However, when I see that my fics have upwards of 1K hits and maybe 100-300 comments and maybe 40-100 kudos and not even hitting triple digits in the bookmarks/subscriptions to a fic... Well, what would you think in my shoes?

Most likely, if you're like me, you're thinking all kinds of negative things (especially if you have mental illness/ADHD/neurodivergency of some kind). Stuff like... Oh, those other people are just being nice (not fair to them so I try not to think this way but negative self talk doesn't play nice with me).

Or I think... Okay so they checked it out. They had to click on the fic for it to even register the hit, right? So why don't I at the very least have more kudos? That's the easiest option on there (though it's like a like on here; if you are gonna leave kudos please also leave a comment), right? So what was wrong with my fic that I don't have more kudos at least.

But then I get on here and see so many comments and reblogs on FANART (still not enough for them either though lbr). THE POINT IS... If you read a fic. If you read it and liked it, you all really need to start commenting.

It doesn't even have to be long paragraphs or quoting or any of the ✨ big comments ✨ stuff. You could leave an emoji that be showing me what my fic or update got you feeling. You can do keyboard smash. If the author asks for it, you can leave constructive criticism (but only if the author has actively asked for it; if they haven't or given you permission, then don't). You can absolutely do big comment things too.

One of my favorite type of comments to get are the quoting ones. You just copy/paste and then say what you liked about it or what it made you feel or your reaction to it. Things like that. I love when my readers tell me their fave parts in an update. Or quote a line and tell me their thoughts and feels. Just yes.

We are far too advanced in this day and age and fanfiction and fandom are wholly more accepting than it used to be but for some reason, comments and reactions have become almost non-existent compared to when I was 15. And I was... Pretty cringy in my writing back then but I can admit that. But every chapter I'd get at least 8-10 comments. A chapter!

Even earlier in my Twst series I was getting A LOT more comments and with every fic it seems to have dropped significantly.

To me, to my brain, that tells me that my writing is suddenly sucky or I lost my talent or I'm not actually as great a writer as I was told because then why aren't more people commenting.

You might try to argue and say you're shy. Do you comment on order things? Do you tack onto a reblog to put out some addition to the original post? Do you chat with people in the fandom? Do you comment on fanart?

Then what makes a fanfic any different? (This is not including smut fics because I get but necessarily wanting it tied back to you. But if you open ao3 in a browser you aren't logged into ao3 on, you can (as long as the author has allowed it) post a comment anonymously. Yeah!)

You might say oh well I don't have time to comment right now. But you had time to read the fic? You had time to reblog that shit post? You had time to comment on the tags on a fanart you really loved? Thing is, unless you want to write a long one, comments do not take that long to leave. They really don't.

If you're worried the author doesn't want to hear from you—I'll stop you right there. The author ABSOLUTELY wants to hear from you.

So now is the time to stop making excuses to be lazy. You are reading really great fan literature for free. The least you can do as a thank you and to show support is to COMMENT. ON. THE. FIC.

And if you wanna really make an author's day and help support them and their work, REC the fic. REC the Author's work list. You can do that to friends you know would like it or even better, make a post about the fics and link your recs.

It's really not that hard and we should not have to beg. Realize the blessing you have that fics you would enjoy exist for free and do your part. COMMENT.

[bitchslapblastoids]

dumb fic thoughts that are going to sound whiney and like personal complaints but i promise are really me talking big picture about the state of fic engagement on ao3. and i know i've been on this soapbox before and I KNOW everyone who follows me is a homie so i’m really just old man yells at skying about this again, but just let me say all the quiet parts out loud please. I do not wish to be aloof and demure.

1. hits to kudos ratios are so fucking bleak. and i don't mean wrt my own fics, i mean in general, the two numbers side by side is always so dismal to see. hits are kind of a meaningless metric, esp for chaptered fics and for fics that people return to to reread, so i wish ao3 just wouldn't publish them, because it sets up this weird pair of numbers for people to compare and jump to conclusions based upon, even though they aren't actually informative for anyone. Why do I want to know how many people clicked on something? That doesn’t tell me anything.

2. That being said (to make it about me now), I know I’m a good fic writer. and while obviously my fic isn’t going to be to everyone’s taste (puppet smut isn’t a crowdpleaser wym??), I feel pretty confident that out of the 250+ people who have clicked on my brand new fic so far, more than just 17 of them must’ve liked it. which brings me to…

3. people can get so cagey about leaving kudos on explicit fics. this is a time-tested truth. let's let go of this phenomenon! I promise no one's stalking where you've left kudos. if they are, they're a freak. and if they're judging you, they're especially a freak because HEY LOOK, they wouldn’t have seen it if they weren’t on that fic too lol! let's all try and shake off these fucking shackles of sexual shame and stigma.

4. similarly, the # of bookmarks that i can see on an explicit fic i've posted vs the # of bookmarks the public can see is so funny. This one makes more sense to me and I can understand why bookmark choices feel more private. But i will say again, people aren't judging your bookmarks. even if it's smut! no one cares what you get horny about and probably the only reason they'd be looking is bc they trust your judgment and they'd like to get horny about it too lol.

5. lack of feedback/interaction is such a scourge. We all gotta fucking engage with the writers we like! it means so much and it's such a great way to build a mutually supportive community. Also, people who have left comments on my fic and vice versa are the people i became most immediately PALS with on here. It’s a lovely thing to do and it’s not time intensive I promise! Authors don’t seek comments for validation but more because publishing fic is sharing this thing this offering that you became so obsessive and giddy about that you had to literally create it and once it’s out you just want to be giddy and obsessive with others about it.

6. Obvs no one should feel obligated to leave kudos or bookmark or comment on anything they don’t like. Be a discerning reader and engage with what brings you joy! There’s a ton of shlock out there. No one has to pretend to like it all. But societally I feel like we’ve become such selfish consumers - I see it in streaming our favorite music for .0000000000000000000000000000002 cents, in the erosion of concert etiquette, in the rabid sense of entitlement towards celebrities’ attention and time, in the uncredited circulation of other people’s art without a second thought, and in the way apparently only ~10% of readers leave kudos, which are a paltry way for an author to get a sense if someone liked something enough to take the most bare bones possible step of simply tapping a button (you don't even have to have an account! you can leave kudos as a guest!). that's a bummer. I don’t want fandom to be a selfish one-sided space where we’re just taking what we want instead of connecting or building together.

Ok, that’s all ✌️✌️✌️

[f1crecs]

Fic Rec List - Carlos/Charles

if your fic is on this list and you don’t want it to be, please let me know and I will remove it immediately, no questions asked. I have contacted most of the authors on this list, but sometimes people fall through the gaps - just pop me a message🤍

have a pairing you want me to do next? please read the faqs and then head to my inbox.

don’t forget to give the authors featured on this list some love in the form of kudos, bookmarks, and comments!

I hope you enjoy these, anons. If anyone wants to talk Charlos, please hmu - I have thoughts and no one to share them with!

Playing Games by @vegasgrandprix | T | 4.3k (wip) Charles and Carlos compete in a game of gay chicken. This story is wonderful! Charles and Carlos are so sweet together, and the humour throughout is on point. The both of them are just completely clueless, but the author has written this in a way that clues us, the reader, into the reality of the situation - it's so fun, and so well-written, and such a great start to what I know is going to be an amazing fic!

'Charles giggles. It lasts a little longer than Carlos thinks his joke deserves, but that's why Charles has always been one of his favorite audiences.'

People Will Say We're in Love by @unabashedlycasualangel | T | 7.1k Charles and Carlos through the eyes of their friends. I love outsider perspective fics - and this one is fantastic! The relationships here - platonic and otherwise - feel so organic and so well-developed. One thing that I really love about this author's writing is their dialogue. It flows so beautifully, and it is a real pleasure to read.

'Pierre turns around. He thinks about friendship. How easily it can turn to love. He thinks about pasta and chess, gasoline fumes and karting under the Normandy sky. He thinks about victory. How easily love can turn to hate. He thinks Charles may be in love with his friend. It is better that he doesn’t find out. He walks on.'

nsfw: can't sleep 'til I feel your touch by @f1-stuff | E | 8.5k Charles has insomnia - Carlos is a great teammate, and lends a hand. This author really is Charlos Royalty. Everything they write is fantastic! There is such a beautiful build-up of feelings in this one, that feels really natural and really exciting, and it's so much fun to read! This fic is also very, very hot. 10/10!

'Seconds ago, he would’ve kicked Carlos out of his room. He also would’ve lied in bed all night, eyes closed yet mind spinning like it has been for months. He would’ve shown up at the track tomorrow, brain foggy with exhaustion. He might’ve wrecked the car and put everyone on track in harm’s way. He doesn’t know what’s wrong. And the truth is that it’s scaring him. But maybe...maybe Carlos is right. What if he’s right?'

nsfw: my blood is singing with your voice (the saints can't help me now) by @7msc | E | 13.2k Carlos meets Charles in a half-finished church. To say that this fic is beautiful would be an understatement. This story is pure poetry - sun-soaked and golden and gorgeous. I read this in one sitting, paused, read it again, and then shared it in every single Discord server I'm in. The development of Charles and Carlos' relationship is also really beautiful - serious soulmates vibes, in a very ethereal kind of way. I cannot say enough how much I loved this story.

'Carlos looked up, helplessly — forehead kissed by God and lips kissed by Charles, who looked like the sun.'

nsfw: what we felt by venerat | E | 14.3k Following a high-intensity moment, Carlos imprints on Charles - they deal with it together. I have never read a story like this before. This is a really lovely fic - it is structured in such a way that you really feel Charles' internal spiral. The tension builds beautifully, and the emotions are so visceral. The world-building is, as always for this author, sublime. Gorgeous.

'Carlos is being so careful. Even when Charles nods, and he moves forward, sliding his arms around Charles—Carlos is being so careful. As if Charles is precious porcelain. Carlos’ arms tighten around his middle, and then loosen. Carlos’ body tenses and relaxes. There is a whoosh of breath against Charles’ hair, as if Carlos is exhaling.'

nsfw: win or lose (it's how you play the game) by @f1-stuff | E | 18.3k Going into the new season, Charles and Carlos make a bet. This story is so much fun. Very much 'Idiots in Love', which is how I like my Charlos! This author's writing style is beautiful, and very easy to read - I loved the plot development here, and the pacing was just perfect. A really great read!

'Now, though, he notices other things, like how Carlos smells like sweat and fuel and something else - coffee? He notices the press of fingertips against his chin, more of a reminder not to squirm away than a proper hold. He feels the steady heat coming off of Carlos from hours spent in the car.'

nsfw: last night by venerat | E | 24.2k Charles attends an American University, and meets Pierre's roommate - things develop. Anything by ao3-user venerat is an insta-recommendation for me, and this is no exception. The world-building and character development here is fantastic - so rich and so unique, with just the most gorgeous chilled atmosphere. It perfectly captures college life. I really, really loved this.

'All of it. Like, love. Take the whole alphabet of any language he knows, and make words that mean the same thing: he and Carlos. Charles, circling him like a moon, hoping that one day the pull of gravity fails.'

In The Reflection by @effervescentdragon | E | 43.8k (wip) Charles is an Engineering student on praxis at Ferrari; Carlos meets him at Singapore, and things spiral. This story is stunning. Carlos and Charles are just completely gone for each other from the outset, and it is so fun to read. This author has the most beautiful writing style, and their characterisation of Carlos is some of my favourite in the whole fandom. Beautiful!

'They cut off at the same time, and after a moment of pause, they both started laughing, and Charles’ laughter was wonderful to Carlos, because it was a bit silly and very honest in its silliness. Charles ducked his head, and the light hit him, and the realisation hit Carlos that Charles wasn't just pretty, he was beautiful.'

[ahyperactivehero]

2024 WRITING REVIEW

tagged by @acediscowlng (thank you!!)

stress free tags!: @genevievefangirl @fairandfatalasfair @makemeimmortalwithahug

number of stories posted to ao3: 22, with all of them being Dead Boy Detectives lol

word counted posted for last year: assuming this is for 2024 that would be..... 264,426 words. Or at least that's what I posted to ao3, because I know I shared some on here that I didn't over there. If you can't tell, I found a new hyper fixation lol

fandoms i wrote for: Dead Boy Detectives

pairings: Payneland I think was the only pairing? I don't think I even did any Niko or Crystal, which is kinda crazy lol

stories with the most kudos, bookmarks and comment threads:

kudos: the phantoms here will never have their fill: 5 times the boys have to deal with poltergeists (a couple being themselves, of course)

bookmarks: once again, that would be the phantoms here will never have their fill (it was my first dbda fic, so neither one of these is surprising

comment threads: Séances and Summonings (and Screaming) : Edwin is summoned back to St Hilarion's in front of Charles, much to both of their panic. (and hey look, one that's not phantoms lol!)

work i’m most proud of (and why):

as annoying as it is to list it three times on here, probably the phantoms here will never have their fill. This fic was what got me really back into fic writing for the first time in over a year, and it motivated me to write a whole lot more for this fandom. I also love fics exploring things like "true forms" and the consequences of ghosts leaning too heavily into the "ghost" thing, so this one was a real treat to write.

I also want to mention late for this, late for that because it was the first (and so far only) soulmate fic I've ever written! I don't think it's necessarily the best or "groundbreaking" as far as soulmate fics or dbda fandom goes, but it was fun (and sad) to write!

(and of course Séances and Summonings (and Screaming) gets another reference here, because I do so love the horror aspect of it lol)

work i’m least proud of (and why):

probably a toss up between Would We Survive In A Horror Movie? or Not Orpheus and Not Eurydice (just me and just you)

I lost the original notebook that had a lot of Horror Movie plotted in it, which sort of killed a lot of my motivation for it and makes me look at it less than favorably. And Not Orpheus and Not Eurydice has a plot in it that I really, really want to write again, but I feel like I sort of wasted it by banging it out in a day and posting it because I wanted to be on time for that day's prompt.

share or describe a favorite review you received: lol just one? okay, probably this one then!

(obviously this person is being very generous with their comment, but I think this was the first comment that sort of made it click in my head that I wanted to keep writing for this fandom, so thank you!)

a time when writing was really, really hard: honestly, here recently. It's not even that I don't have the words or plot or motivation, it's purely time and attention span lol. But I'm hoping to fix that in the new year!

a scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

I actually really, really like writing Crystal. I was also a kid who should have been supervised more and ran out an did stupid things and lashed out at people first so I didn't "get hurt." (that does not maker her any easier for me to write, however lol)

a favourite excerpt of your writing:

.... I tend to forget what I've written after it's posted, but I did find this one!

“I am in love with you, Edwin Payne,” he said. He took great care to enunciate each syllable, to make his message as clear as possible. He had never said anything as important as what he was saying right now, and he needed his meaning to be clear.

Edwin’s face was carefully blank. Not scared or confused or worried, just blank.

When Charles had pictured himself confessing to someone that he loved them it had been nothing like this. There had been less blood and pain, for one, but he’d also expected some sort of reaction. Acceptance, rejection, maybe even love back.

He’d never expected the person to completely blank out on him. - It Was Worth A Wound

how did you grow as a writer last year:

I think I became more consistent with my writing. Not necessarily the style or anything but just doing it more consistently. I regularly go to coffee shops and write now, I make sure I take time to do it at least a little bit every day (or plan for the days I know I won't have time), and I've even had a semi- consistent posting schedule where at least one of my fics gets updated once a week.

who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer, beta, cheerleader, etc.)

shoutout to a few of people here! @fairandfatalasfair for always being down to talk about anything dbda, but especially my hockey fic. @genevievefangirl for putting me on her rec lists and telling me about the server! and @sonofhelios2005 who always gives the most wonderful comments on my fics! I couldn't do it without y'all! (and everyone else who has been so kind to be in this fandom!!)

anything from your real life show up in your writing last year: there are several references to the ttrpgs I run, but they are only noticing to my irl friends who play them (and I hope they never read these fics lol)

any new wisdom you can share with other writers: cliche as always, but write, write, write. That is the only way you get better! Well, that and reading. And reading broadly, even if you don't think you'd be interested in it.

any projects you’re looking to starting (or finishing) this year?

Hockey AU is going to start being posted this month (I hope anyways lol) and I am hoping to finish two of my other fics off before March??? that might be generous though lol

(sorry this got sooooo long everyone lol! I hope you all have a wonderful New Year!)

[ghuleh-recs]

hi! i'm a new Ghost fan and i would love to get some fic recs since i don't know where to start. 😊 i'm pretty much open to anything but something with lots of feelings (hurt/comfort), Papa IV x someone, and around 15,000 words would be great. thank you in advance 🧡

hellooo! welcome to our little satanic corner of tumblr!! i'm so sorry this took me so long—i had a tough time finding fics that matched your criteria. i hope it's okay that i focused on "feelings" more so than hurt/comfort specifically. definitely give these writers a follow if you haven't already. (i also wasn't sure what you meant by "x someone" so i threw in a mix of x reader, x ghoul, and x oc.) feel free to dm me or send another ask if i didn't get it right this time! i can also point you towards a bunch of fantastic writers ♡

recs under the cut!

x ghouls

paper armor - @ratballet - copia x dewdrop

“Horns,” Aether says quickly, like the words in his mouth are searing him. “It’s his horns.” He spares a glance at Dewdrop’s door, like he’s afraid he might be pressed up against it, listening. “He’s shedding them." Dewdrop is shedding his horns. Copia tries to help.

Steadfast Love, Not Sacrifice - @st-danger - copia x aether x dewdrop

It’s a bit like a shark smelling blood, he thinks as they follow close behind. It's natural they were going to want to taste it, too. “Well,” Copia says, “some of us need our beauty sleep.” He hesitates, and then proceeds to look nervously between the two of them and continue, “I meant me, of course. You two are already very, erm. I should go to bed.” It’s such a flimsy excuse. The elevator reaches the third floor before any of them speak again. Aether clears his throat. “You don’t want to though.” Copia looks very called out, but can’t do much more than stare, before realizing the two ghouls beside him are waiting for an actual answer of some kind. The elevator beeps as it passes the fourth floor. “No,” Copia says slowly, and Aether’s stomach does a little swoop. “I don’t.” Or, Sometimes the reward is worth the risk. *No Man Taketh From is another favorite of mine with Papa IV and Aether.

x reader

A Message From the Bulletin Board - @writingjourney - copia x reader

The ministry’s bulletin board, ordinarily used for missing items or party announcements, contains a particularly interesting request this week – a lonely hearts ad. Or: You and Copia are secretly crushing on each other. You both have to reach maximum desperation before you make a move. * if you're in it for the long haul PLEASE read I Knew Nothing But Shadows THE hurt/comfort fic of all time. you won't regret it.

Confessional - @da-rulah - copia x reader

As a sister of sin, it was your duty to confess at least once a month, to have your sins praised by a higher up member of the clergy. But you only ever chose Thursday nights, when you knew he was on duty. And tonight, you were working up the courage to confess your darkest sin - the dreams you had been having… *check out Rituale Septem while you're at it. lotsss of feelings but with Papa III, instead.

x OC

sweeter red - @anamelessfool - copia x oc

Your kiss so sweet, your sweat so sour…sometimes I’m thinking that I love you... but I know it’s only lust. Copia is a scrungly little nerd and this totally happened to him. There's something about Cardinal Marian. Maybe it's the way she infuriates him with her laissez-faire attitude, or ingnites his soul with envy of her free spirit. Rage and love, at a certain point they merge together into an overwhelming burning in the heart and mind: passion.

you found the ache in my argument (series) - @the-lisechen - copia x oc

In which two reasonable people from different religious disciplines have a conversation. (A study in faith, hope, and love.)

𖤐 you know the drill--bookmark, read, leave kudos and/or comments!

[beanarie]

For the ao3 wrapped ask game: 3, 19, and 28!

in the interest of not spamming folks, i'm also including questions requested by anon 1, anon 2, @typicalopposite , @sanguinarysanguinity , and @capitalnineteen

thank you all for letting me yap about what a blast i've been having these past few months.

3- What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?

i'll say opioids and antiemetics (where tommy and buck fall through a collapsing floor together). it was my first bucktommy fic and my first fic that wasn't a snippet in over a year. dry spells like that make me feel like i forgot how words work, but it flowed well, i got some of the characters' voices down, and that helped build my confidence again.

5- What work of yours got more feedback than you expected?

oh, got my head checked by a jumbo jet (fix-it where buck gets amnesia), holy shit. people have been leaving the loveliest comments. it's been really rewarding because it was a gift for a friend and she liked it a lot. also the angst side of the story stems from some personal stuff as a healthcare-adjacent worker. losing someone you feel partly responsible for is gutting and it fucking sucks every time.

19- What’s one pairing you want to explore next year?

i'm extremely ship monogamous and i never know what's gonna trigger my fic-writing lizard brain, so honestly i just wanna keep going with bucktommy. it would be great if fandom could maintain this energy after the hiatus. i haven't been in such a supportive and inspiring environment for a while.

20- Which work of yours have you reread the most?

i reread them all a lot, especially after they get really positive feedback because then it's like "oh hey. that part right there *was* pretty cool".

27- What do you listen to while writing?

just my internal monologue babey. music is too much of a distraction unless i'm at the stage where it's 95% done and all i need is to stitch the holes together

28- Favorite work you wrote this year?

of course (fix-it where they're both in the helicopter when it crashes) is the one i am most likely to have bookmarked if it had been written by someone else. i feel like i executed the near death scene effectively and i managed to touch on tommy's issues while threading in hope that he and buck could get past them together.

29- Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

Evan lays his free hand lightly, ever so lightly, over Tommy's battered heart before leaning forward and pressing their foreheads together. "I'm so proud of you," he whispers. "I asked you not to run, and you stayed."

(when i tell you this PAINS me bc i didn't figure it out fully until after i posted the last bit on here. so there are people who not only read the ending that's slightly worse than this but reblogged it. the subpar version still exists out there. i'm never letting myself post a proper fic on tumblr in its entirety again 😩)

[burins]

2024 WRITING REVIEW

tagged by @vechter !! thank you so much for the tag i will try not to be tremendously maudlin in response! idk if @timetoboldlygo @rolameny or @try-set-me-on-fire did a fic year in review already. Also if you see this and would like to do it genuinely consider yourself tagged I would love to see your thoughts!

number of stories posted to ao3: 7! although two of those and almost all of another were written in 2023. let's say 4.75.

word counted posted for last year: 27k (minus 8k for estate and 3k for unsent letters, so 16k. Which is frankly, a miracle)

fandoms i wrote for: fatt, dc comics, hxh

pairings: superbat, leopika, dinahbabs, alyarr. I also wrote a relatively high proportion of gen fic this year! 

stories with the most kudos, bookmarks and comment threads: everybody loved how cleanly, how quietly (the tim has friends actually manifesto) which is good because i also love how cleanly, how quietly. 

work i’m most proud of (and why): literally anything i got out this year was the product of blood sweat and tears for reasons i will get into later! I’m probably most proud of the silliest fic i published, my love sits patiently, the leopika chair fetish fic. this sprang out of a joke with some friends and rapidly became ungovernable. I’m always nervous writing for a new fandom about whether i have a good handle on the characters, but the entire process of writing this was just me sitting at the keyboard going teeheehee what if! and then putting that into the fic. I think the comedy hits and the prose is good and i managed not to make it too sad (always a danger) while still keeping the leopika sauce in there!

work i’m least proud of (and why): genuinely i don’t publish things I’m not proud of! the really id shit languishes either in my brain, my dms, or in my notes app. so I’m going to cheat by saying a fic i wrote in 2023 but only put up on ao3 in april. it’s estate, not because i don’t think it’s good-- i think it’s really good!! I gave myself a hell of a challenge in writing it (“oh i want to write a shirley jackson pastiche, from the POV of a character I’ve never written before, and also he is a child” <- words spoken by a fool, and a dingus. No one made me do this!) and I think I mostly succeeded. But because it was for a zine I had a strict word count limit, which meant i had to trim down the prose a fair amount and I think it did lose some of its effectiveness in that process. Someday maybe i’ll go through my gdocs and try to resurrect some of the bits I tightened farther than they should have gone. 

share or describe a favorite review you received: i got a lot of really, really thoughtful and lovely comments this year! I feel immensely lucky every time i write something and people like it enough to tell me so. Especially because writing was such a thorny thing for me it was deeply helpful to have people in my inbox going hey, i loved this. sometimes they did literary analysis! incredible shit!!! there are too many to have a particular favorite but someone just told me that they read to the morning come, the post-utrh superbat, a week into their DC comics journey. Which is crazy because that fic obliquely references the time the Joker was the Iranian ambassador, perhaps one of the stupidest storylines in comics. (In hindsight I could probably have come up with a different reason why Clark doesn't let Bruce kill the Joker.) I hope this person has a great time, and also I’m very sorry. 

a time when writing was really, really hard: ha. well. I don’t think this is what the question was intended to get at but for 90% of the year it was physically painful for me to write! my nerve pain came roaring back in december of 2023 and I spent months and months only able to pick at stuff a couple dozen words at a time on my phone, or trying to do bits in voice to text via a truly wild phone to computer situation, or just full of ideas rattling about that I couldn’t do very much with. I try to let it be what it is but it has been a fucking rough year and many many times it made me want to bite. I have ups and downs and I’ll probably keep having ups and downs! i hope this isn’t forever because i really miss getting to lose myself in prose. but at the end of the day we are all just working within the limits of the form and sometimes that has to be more literal than i’d like.  

a scene or character you wrote that surprised you: i was originally writing my love sits patiently leaning more heavily on the jokes. But i realized that it is much funnier and also much sweeter if leorio genuinely gives himself a chair thing because he is so horny and emotional about kurapika, so then i had to write them having sex where the chair was integral while not, myself, being into furniture in that way. (i respect our kink warriors it just isn’t For Me!) 

a favourite excerpt of your writing: i’m so pleased with all of the prose in unsent letters from the end of the world, yet another alyarr epistolary fic, but i’m particularly fond of the conclusion. I rattled around a little trying to figure out how alyosha’s voice should sound in these letters after everything he’s gone through. I was thinking a little bit of Leonard Cohen’s final letter to Marianne Ihlen-- there’s a particular certainty that comes with age, and I wanted to allow alyosha some bitterness while still acknowledging that of the various tragedies he’s witnessed, everything with arrell is probably not the top of the list. And also i wanted to stay true to the ending tone of spring in hieron, which is a story about the end of the world and the lives we make for ourselves anyway. 

What I mean to say, in a rather roundabout way for which you are no longer around to chide me, is that I write you to tell myself a story, to determine my own thoughts by writing them down. To make a story, step by meandering step. I did not begin at the beginning, and I have not ended at the end, but I have, I think, come to the conclusion anyway. I loved a false god, and I will never know what, if anything, He loved. And I loved you, Tutor, and you loved me, and it was not enough. But I also loved the world. I loved it enough to change it. I thought there should be something instead of nothing, and I made it so. I hope I was not wrong to do so. From my window I can see children playing, swinging from branch to branch. I do not think I was.

how did you grow as a writer last year: i would like to say that i learned to accept my own limitations and celebrated my victories (getting a fic out for multiple events, getting to a place where I could write almost all of my love sits patiently by sitting down at a keyboard!!!) but that is a Work In Progress. 

how do you hope to grow this year: i really do not want to jinx anything so i will just say i would like to be able to write sustainably, whatever that means for me this year. I suspect it will mean a variety of different things because what counts as sustainable changes from day to day! 

who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer, beta, cheerleader, etc.): really truly cannot say enough kind things about @suedeuxnim beloved friend beta cheerleader etc. thank you for cheering me on in my dms and keeping me supplied with cat pictures. also, separately, my wonderful spouse. this is a tumblr post, not the oscar acceptance speech, and i suspect they would find it embarrassing if i went on a lot but it makes every aspect of life easier to have a partner in crime. 

anything from your real life show up in your writing last year: funnily enough the chronic pain duo fics were actually written BEFORE the big chronic pain resurgence, and also they’re from 2023. (this has actually happened to me twice, and while i’m not going to stop writing about chronic pain it does feel like maybe i am a little bit cursed.) I wrote two fics about bruce’s parenting choices and their effects on his kids and I think you can do the math! No one gets deeply into batman comics because they’re normal about fathers. Oh, in more fun things, Tim’s calendar from how cleanly, how quietly is based on the very real Daikonic Moments calendar from Omega Mart, which was our 2024 calendar. If anyone has suggestions for a 2025 calendar lmk because we got one for Christmas but it’s all bad mullets and we are not hanging it up.  

any new wisdom you can share with other writers: i spent a non-zero amount of this year feeling bummed that i couldn’t write as much as I wanted, both because writing is one of my main hobbies and also because despite my cool and untouchable image (citation needed) it is hard not to compare myself to others who are able to write much, much, much more than me! But that is silly because I am me and they are them. There have been times in my life when i was the demon of productivity and times in my life when i wrote nothing publishable all year. So my wisdom (still working on the implementation part!!!) is to celebrate what you are able to do and not what you don’t manage. And also, write for yourself and your circle of freaks and you can’t go wrong. 

any projects you’re looking to starting (or finishing) this year: anything i can finish is a win! I have a lot of projects in the hopper from almost two years ago; who knows what will happen. I did sign up for secret samol so there will be a fatt fic forthcoming, and I also signed up for another secret project (no longer secret! I'm gonna be in the Bruce Wayne pinup zine) so there’ll be something else probably in early summer. I would love to finish my jaydick injury fic. i have a second chapter of dinahbabs handler sex, but that one involves a lot of disability feelings and i’ve been putting it off because i want to do it justice. maybe superbat amnesia will happen at some point but that’s so long (and has a Real Plot) so the likelihood is slim. I have a LOT of ideas about how leopika can have sex mistakes I’d love to turn into fics but also they’re just fun to rotate. we’ll see!

[kimberbohwrites]

Did she make a graphic?

YES I DID

Welcome to my first ever Fic Rec Post. I only ask that if you check these fics out, you leave kudos/comments for the authors to let them know how you feel — because it’s important. All credit for these works belongs to the authors who are either tagged or their AO3 pages are linked below.

Category Is... Rolan One Shots

My first post will be centered on some recommendations of fics about my favorite tiefling, Rolan. These little one-chapter numbers give SO much and are great little spicy bites if you’re not looking to dip into something time consuming.

>Earl Grey and Chai By: @viennacherries

READ ON AO3

Why I recommend it: It’s cute, thoughtful, spicy, and well-written. It’s actually the first fic I ever bookmarked on AO3 and remains one of the best written short stories I’ve enjoyed. Pairing: Rolan x F!Tav

Rated: Explicit, 18+ MDNI

AO3 Tags: Love Confessions, Idiots in Love, First Time, Blow Jobs, Penis In Vagina Sex, Post-Game, Baldur's Gate 3 Spoilers, Dirty Talk, rolan deserves a blowjob, You Know It I Know It, give the man his dues, POV Female Character

>Working Steel By: Velocitross

READ ON AO3

Why I recommend it: As much as I love Rolan x Tav, I also love Rolan x Dammon and this fic is probably what started that for me. Plus a super talented artist was inspired to do art for the piece, which is linked on the AO3 page. This one gets down to business quickly but is still so sweet. Pairing: Rolan x Dammon

Rated: Explicit, 18+ MDNI

AO3 Tags: Explicit Sexual Content, Established Relationship, Power Bottom Rolan (Baldur's Gate), Rolan is a Biter (Baldur's Gate), POV Dammon, Riding, Post-Canon, Location: Baldur's Gate, I'm sorry I can't stop writing sweaty Dammon

>The Red Book By: The_Littlest_Raindrop

READ ON AO3

Why I recommend it: Maybe I have a thing for pining? This one is pining and spicy and a great use of a bookcase. Love it. Pairing: Rolan x F!Tav Rated: Explicit, 18+ MDNI AO3 Tags: Pining, Invasion of Privacy bookcase sex, Oral Sex, Cunnilingus, Clothed Sex, Vaginal Sex, Creampie Here's three fics to start: this is by no means an exhaustive list and I'll be back with more recs soon if these are helpful. Thanks!

[bre-meister]

Hello! About your last post, you said you were reading some fanfics, so I wanted to ask: What are your favorite fanfics from the fandom??? Especially the green pls, because I'm obsessed and nothing can help me 😃 (Looking forward to the mafia story)

This is probably not an exhaustive list. If you can't tell I'm a very forgetful person and I'm probably forgetting some good ones. I'll include whether or not the fic is incomplete (NC) and if it contains sexual content (M). I'll also try to find links for all the fics I list. I will say to anyone who uses these recs leave comments and kudos but don't be that person who harasses for an update. Definitely show the author some love though!

More Than Human NC. A definite must-read for anyone getting into the fandom. It was the fic that sucked me in! A great High School fic. Anything from Sbj at all is a win. Make sure to check her out on Dreamwith and FanFiction.net. Some of her stuff is crossposted but not all of it is

Green Lights NC/M. My current obsession. Buttercup moonlights as an exotic dancer and meets a mysterious man (Butch) who captures her attention.

Lie in Lime NC/M. Butch is a fashion designer and Buttercup gets roped into being his model. Features a slight love triangle with Brick. Great fic!

Any of the fics in this series on Ao3. This author is just amazing and most of her works are complete and also pretty long. A win-win if you ask me! Don't shy away from the NC ones though. Lilys of Snow Valley is amazing!

The Good, The Bad, and the Rowdy NC. An old west au.

The Greens Way of Life NC/M. A wonderful collection of One-shots and short stories surrounding the greens

The Number 3 NC. A great High School fic with some mysteries going on in the background.

Lycan NC. SO GOOD! A 19th-century supernatural au that is so well written. I can't recommend it anymore!

Killer's Playground. Mafia au. One chapter for each of the color code parings. Kinda violent

93,000 miles. I don't want to say much and give it away but it's super touching.

In general, just check out Miss.RoseGold. She has amazing greens content (the last few recs were from here) and I'd be here all day if I try to list them all. She's on FanFic.net and Ao3 but I'm not 100% sure if all her works are crossposted.

Green Maiden NC. An interesting dragon au. I don't think this one will ever get completed but it's still worth reading what's written imo

XXY NC a great high school, combined team fic.

Watching Her Move M. Short and smutty from Butch's perspective

Favours Fortune NC/M. A different take on the mafia au.

Our Italian Resturant. A great secret baby au fic. IDK if that made sense but you should definitely read it though

i thank the oceans (for giving me you). The fluffy family feels. I revisit this fic A LOT

Leaving. Just super cute and fluffy (maybe with a tad pinch of sadness)

Re-Life. Has some time travel shenanigans and is so worth the read.

I think that's a pretty good starting point. Again, it's not an exhaustive list of all the fics I have enjoyed in the fandom. A great piece of advice is if you find an author you like, check their account for their other works as well as their bookmarks or favorite stories. You'll find a lot of good fics that way. And don't limit yourself to one site. With a fandom as old as ppg you can find some amazing gems on "older" sites like FanFiction (it grosses me out to consider that site old). net and even here on Tumblr. Here is my own Ao3 link as well if you'd like to check out my own writing. Happy reading!

[mintchocochipsposts]

2024 Writing Review

I was tagged by @vechter & @androxys; if anyone else wants to participate, consider this your tag!

number of stories posted to ao3: Only 2 this year :/

word count posted for last year: 7,239

fandoms i wrote for: Detective comics

pairings: All gen this year

stories with the most kudos, bookmarks and comment threads: usher down the sky by far.

work i’m most proud of (and why): usher down the sky was in the works in various different iterations for over a year and wound up becoming really, really personal.

work i’m least proud of (and why): some things that fly there be; I wanted to do something way longer with Selina but it didn't really make sense with a pre-Robin Tim. This one was also sitting in my drafts for over a year before I finished it up. But writing Tim in the Robinson Park apartment was really fun!

share or describe a favorite review you received: @vechter and @androxys left such really nice reviews on usher down the sky :) But also a giant thank-you to everyone who's commented on my fics, I know I'm really slow at replying but I appreciate everyone's comments <3

a time when writing was really, really hard: Basically all spring and summer; I was working full time and essentially doing school full-time and this was not conducive for writing (or for having a life 😂). I finished school in August and have had way more time to write since then! You can really tell from my Works tab when I was taking my licensing exams in 2023 and when I went back for my next degree right afterwards. Hoping this year is a whole lot more conducive for writing!

a scene or character you wrote that surprised you: I couldn't get the plot beats to iron out writing from Cassie's POV in usher down the sky; I wound up writing the whole thing from Dick's point of view, and he was a lot harder for me to write for than Cass.

a favourite excerpt of your writing:

The sky behind her is lit up, electric; the city looks like it’s on the edge of a storm, like lightning’s about to burst forth any second, like the atmosphere’s about to bloom into viridescent light any second. “Everybody dies. But not like that,” she says somberly. “And I let them kill. All those people, and I was dead when Blüdhaven needed me.” She reaches out her hand, like she’s trying to grab onto something. “The pit. It felt like burning.” Batgirl looks at him, almost swaying in the drizzle, and he feels flayed by her eyes. “I couldn’t stop them either. Chemo burned too.”

how did you grow as a writer last year: I read a lot of really great books and quite a bit of poetry and I'm hoping my prose is getting better as a result!

how do you hope to grow this year: I want to figure out how to stick to my long-term plotting. Maybe won't be a pipe dream this year!

who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer, beta, cheerleader, etc.): everyone, and especially all my mutuals! For people I haven't thanked yet, thank you @apokoliptic, @zahri-melitor and @jjohnnyutah who've all been in my inbox and interested in my wips! Also thank you @cherrystainedknuckles for your Oracle posting!

anything from your real life show up in your writing last year: Pleading the fifth.

I took photos as a kid like Tim Drake, but I didn't have any camera near as good as his lol.

any new wisdom you can share with other writers: The hardest part is the first draft; you can edit if you have a framework to edit from. Also read, from a huge variety of books; it will give you so many new ideas for phrasing and construction!

any projects you’re looking to starting (or finishing) this year: I am going to finish my Donna and Oracle fics; my goal was to finish them in December but I moved twice and started a new job this week and did the holidays with my family and that might have been a pipe dream; I'm hoping to get them done this month and posted. I might have to split the Donna fic into two chapters, so the Oracle fic is probably going to be done first. I also really really want to finish fireflies this year!

[moonshine-nightlight]

Hi hello hope you're doing well!

For the ask meme, one or more of ✨👾✍️ please and thanks!

@sarahserinde

hi! its been busy holiday times but i'm doing good! I hope you are too! its always lovely to hear from you 🥰

✨What's one area of your writing that you think needs the least amount of improvement?

Dialogue or worldbuilding, both of those I really enjoy doing and come a lot easier to me, plus i don't mind editing or revising those aspects.

👾 Do you have any "bad" writing habits you want to break?

I want to work on less run on sentences and using less "feel" "thought" etc (i have a list of words to use less of actually) and try to recognize and limit repetitive phrasing. I also want to build more good writing habits, like a more regular routine with writing, even if its only for a half hour a day.

✍️ Which stat matters most to you (if at all!): subscriptions, kudos/favorites, comments, bookmarks, word count, or hits?

Of course, i love seeing any kind of note or interaction with the stories I post but to an extent, a lot of hits, etc are anonymous numbers, they just dont feel as real. however, comments and reblogs+tags (along with bookmarks that have notes) are my absolute favorite. they make me smile without fail, i hoard and save them all for motivation and just because they make me happy. Kudos, subscriptions, and likes are great but they are a thumbs up or a wave to comments/tags that actually let me know more about what ppl think about the story beyond they liked it generally. I love knowing what parts made people laugh, or angry tags about cliffhangers, or keymashes, or people saying they stayed up reading -- anything with words is great. i lik feeling like i'm having a conversation with readers - i like any reaction i can respond to. 🥰

writing goal ask meme here if anything else looks interesting on that list. i plan to put out an official 2025 writing goals post this weekend at some point

thanks again for sending this in!

[across-violet-skies]

so lately I've seen a lot of things about lu wild and people's opinions and stuff and I thought maybe I'd add my two cents in a way that (hopefully, if I can articulate my thoughts well) won't make anyone upset. feel free to scroll past this or whatever I just thought I would share my view :)

semi long post under the cut!!

so. wild. first off, I like him. he's fun, he got me into lu in the first place, his games are my favorite in the series, all of that.

he's popular and unpopular all at once. generally, according to a poll I ran recently where I asked for people's least favorite lu link and why, people who like wild the least (which doesn't necessarily mean they dislike him, mind you) said it was mostly bc he's just so popular.

which... yeah, ok. he has the most content I'd say, so that checks out. but I also think the problem (if there even is one?? I'm unclear) is NOT that there's too much content for Wild, but rather that the amount of content he has is just so much more compared to the rest of the links.

basically, I think the amount of Wild content is fine, but it's more about how little content there is for everyone else.

Wild fics are fine. wild fics are good! great, even. I've written some myself. you can't have too much I would say, but you CAN have not enough content for other characters, and I think that's where people have issue with it.

and yeah, the other links aren't as popular, so it makes sense that there'd be less fics. but also there's a chicken and egg situation here: is wild more popular bc of more content, or is there more content bc he's more popular (this literally doesn't matter. I'm looking too far into it. it's 1 am please excuse my rambles)

but also... any wild content seems to be more consumed? if that makes sense? like take my writing for example:

two fics in a series together, two stories, around the same length, about similar subjects, written around the same time. one of these fics is wild-centric, and the other is hyrule-centric. I'm sure you can tell which one is which. (also, stats aren't everything. I'm happy with both of these stories, it's just an example to show the difference!)

the wild-centric fic has about 3x as many views, over twice as many kudos, and over twice as many bookmarks than the hyrule-centric one. the hyrule-centric fic has more comments and is part of a collection.

(these fics can be found here (wild) and here (hyrule). shameless self promotion)

anyways... yeah. again, I don't think there's a problem with people writing/enjoying wild content. always create for what you love! however, I think a lot of the dislike/less like of wild stems from the fact that any other character just doesn't have as much content available. I don't think it's the actual content or character that people take issue with.

(and again, I like wild. he not my favorite, but he's certainly not my least favorite. he's somewhere in the middle for me, maybe towards the favorite end more but still in the middle)

I hope this made at least some sense if you read this far!! I don't want to upset anyone so feel free to discuss things with me. I'm typically pretty easygoing online so don't be afraid to mention something I mightve glossed over or worded poorly, but just please be kind and respectful to other people because ultimately, its just an opinion/thoughts on other people's opinions and other people are ofc valid if they disagree :)