#cowritten by us both haha!

[tendaysoftenzo]

Prompt Discussion - Tenzo of the Kingdom | Festivals

Ten Days of Tenzo 2023: Day 4 (Nov 4)

Each year, the prompts for Ten Days of Tenzo are open to your interpretation! We enjoy all the TDOT participation, and we wanted to give some ideas for how you could interpret each prompt.

Tenzo of the Kingdom

You might think that this prompt is inspired by a love for Legend of Zelda, and you'd be correct! But there's more to this prompt than Hyrule shenanigans.

This prompt invites ALL the Royal AUs. Imagine a majestic Tenzo as King, Emperor, Frog Prince, Courtier, Royal Heir Recovered, etc. where he's never expected to pick up the lunch tab (it's what he deserves)! Or maybe he's the most trusted knight/warrior in the land charged with the safety of all who dwell within?

If you'd rather skip the shiny armour, Tenzo of the Kingdom could also be a saviour of the people (a la Robin Hood)! Imagine Konoha's biggest helper as the champion of the oppressed, quite at home camping deep within a forest.

And if you, like us, are an LoZ geek, let both your imagination and Tenzo run amok in Hyrule! How would he react to the Great Deku Tree? How would he react to Evermeans? Could he befriend Skull Kid? Is he Team Shiekah, or Team Yiga? Consider: Twilight Tenzo. Would he ninja-sprint to the final battle with Ganondorf, or would he succumb to the distractions of 1000 Korok puzzles? There are so many possibilities for Tenzo of the Kingdom, and we're excited to see how you interpret it!

Festivals

There are several festivals in the Naruto series, from the Quarrel Festival where people fight over Cats/Dogs, to the Rinne Festival where people exchange gifts. What other festivals might Tenzo want to celebrate? The Hidden Leaf Sports Festival? The Festival of the Screaming Trees? The Bring Your Best Helper Festival? DIY your own ninja (or AU) celebration!

Maybe you're drawing from personal experience. If you'd like Tenzo to celebrate the festivals that mean the most to you, go for it. For example, this beautiful depiction of Tenzo celebrating Diwali is just one of several ways to take on a prompt like this. There are tons of ways we can honour the wonderful traditions we may all have and respect their origins!

Maybe, we're thinking about the specific subculture of festivals through art and music. Can you see Tenzo attending Woodstock (no pun intended)? Performing at a music festival? Trying for crisis management at the Land of Fyre Fest? There are so many kinds of events, and we'd love to see where this prompt takes you!

Thank you to everyone who suggested a prompt, and to everyone who enjoys TDOT. These are just a few ideas! Feel free to get creative.

MORE INFO | UPDATES | ALL PROMPT DISCUSSIONS

[wingsthephoenix]

oc-tober day 9 - relationships

im a bit late to this day, but i was really busy yesterday, so! here i am to talk about one of the most important relationships ive cowritten with others, between my tiefling warlock river, @psikind's human sorcerer xilant and @sparklelight3's human warlock irene!!!

(art by @psikind )

this is a ship that's been following us for four years, since risk and i started shipping xilant and river before their campaign even began! a friend of risk's was like "haha what if your magic users kissed in barovia" and then we both went "wait shit they actually work really well together" and that was the end of that story. when the narrative puts you both in the hands of the thing you hate the most and you try to save each other from it ........... i love them. so much

(art by @anafishart )

and then irene entered the picture!!!! she joined the party not knowing that she was a caster and xilant had to train her after river had a fight with the entire party (read: river yelled at everyone and everyone yelled back). she's dating xilant, as is river, but irene and river have their own secret third thing going on and i love them for it <3

the way they confessed was actually fking hilarious. while trying to find camp, river overheard irene and xilant talking about their respective dark powers (and then had an encounter with Their Own but dw abt it :3). then they got quite literally dragged into said conversation, and the following occurred in this order:

river told xilant/irene that they totally called their mutual crush and was fine if they wanted to be together since river didn't want to hurt them

xilant confessed to liking both of them, not just one or the other

irene confessed to her dark power marking both of them as sacrifices. bonus round bc said confession Removed the marks so they were fine

and then they all kissed <3

(art by @sparklelight3 )

for river's side of things, xilant and irene are a majority of river's reason to live (as are the rest of the party). they've both proven time and time again that they would never abandon or give up on river for anything or anyone, gods or dark powers be damned. irene literally got the three of them promise rings, and by the three of them i mean river's missing right now so irene got three promise rings for herself, xilant and is saving the third for river for when the party finds them. i cried after that

(art by @psikind )

anyway hi. love wins and so does polyamory <3

[johaerys-writes]

[20 Question Fic Writer Tag]

tagged by @baejax-the-great thank you!

How many works do you have on AO3? As of now, 47.

What is your AO3 word count? 1,084,458

What fandoms do you write for? Currently neck-deep in my Patrochilles (Iliad/TSOA/Hades) obsession. But I've also written for Dragon Age (Pavelyan), Voltron (Sheith) and Castlevania (Trephacard, Lenector).

What are your top five fics by kudos? High-Flying Birds, Like Friends Do, Winter's Fruit, Jasmine and Yarrow, Where Blood Roses Bloom.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I love responding to comments!! Even if it's just to say Thank you. I absolutely love rambling in my replies and getting into discussions about lore or characters' motivations and such. This is the fanfic experience at its best for me.

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Honestly I'm not great with angsty endings haha. Even if the fic as a whole is very angsty, the ending tends to be happy. I think the fics with the saddest ending are Loyal To The End and The Wound That Never Heals, both Hector/Carmilla (Castlevania). Some people have told me they found the ending of At The Water's Edge quite bittersweet.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Now we're talking haha. Of my most recent ones, Twin Flames has a very sweet ending. Fall Into Your Tide also has a super hopeful ending, and another favourite is A Place To Be. I'm all about that comfort after the hurt babey.

Do you get hate on fics? I think I've only ever got hate once or twice? As far as I remember. I honestly couldn't care less about it, I forget it as soon as it happens lol.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yessir. Not exactly sure what kind? Are there different kinds? I would say that my favourite to write is angsty smut with lots of complicated feelings. And also I do like sprinkling some kink here and there whenever I feel like it.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? I've only ever written one crossover and I still love the fuck out of it, it's a Witcher/Dragon Age one with my OC Tristan Trevelyan and Dorian Pavus and it was sooooo fun to write oh my god. I would love to revisit that universe ngl!!

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of? Depends on what we mean by stealing. I have had parts of fics of mine lifted and used in other fanworks without credit, it wasn't great but it's been a little while since then and I haven't noticed anything else (not that I've gone looking though).

Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes! A super lovely person has been translating High-Flying Birds into Vietnamese.

Have you ever cowritten a fic before? Yes! I've cowritten several fics with friends and it's always so nice, I love working with other people.

What's your all-time favourite ship? Oof that's a tough question. If we go by number of fics written, it would have to be Patrochilles. If we go by number of words written, it would have to be Pavelyan (almost 450k 💀). If we go by number of fics I've read and bookmarked, it would have to be Sheith. So idk if I can give a straight and clear answer lol.

What's a WIP you'd like to finish but doubt you ever will? God I really do want to finish A World With You and I do think I will do it eventually, it's just that I know there's a LOT of it left and it's often really daunting. I also want to finish Where Blood Roses Bloom but, again, the plan I have in mind is kind of ambitious and it will take me a while to get there. Also, Blood Roses In The Snow is one I want to get back to, and that one would be easier to finish since there's only like a couple chapters left.

What are your writing strengths? Probably imagery, introspection, and I've also been told I write good action scenes!

What are your writing weaknesses? Dialogue, probably. It stresses me out the most haha. I also used to be able to write complex plots but it's gotten quite hard lately, idk why :(

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I don't love it. I'm fine with a word here and there or even a phrase, as long as it's been sort of explained before or it's one that's widely recognised. I just feel like having a big chunk of untranslated dialogue in the middle of a story breaks immersion and I try to avoid it whenever I can.

First fandom you wrote for? Dragon Age, specifically Inquisition.

Favourite fic you've ever written? Noooo you can't make me choose, don't make me choose 😭 Damn that's tough. Twin Flames is still a huge favourite. A Place To Be is one I often come back to and I'm super proud of how it turned out. A World With You is the first fic I ever posted and the longest, I have spent so much time with it and it has a special place in my heart. And this might be cheating because it's my current fixation, but I feel like you're a walking disaster, and yet— is some of my best writing yet, I'm very fond of it.

Tagging forth to: @elveny @pikapeppa @mary-aries @darlingpoppet @pinkfadespirit @sketchass @starlightvld @petrowriting @in-arlathan @figsandphiltatos @heypax and anyone else who'd like to do this! (Also, if you don't want to be tagged for these memes let me know!)

[galaxostars]

fanfiction author interview game

thank you @emlovessid @arviyya and @badhairred for the tag <3

how many works do you have on ao3?

22 on main, 9 on my dead dove

what’s your total ao3 word count?

347,256

your top 5 stories by kudos/likes?

show me your teeth (jegulus)

all of you (drarry)

trip, switch (ron/krum)

untamed desires (drarry/charlie)

“you love a good ride, don’t you?” (jegulus)

do you respond to comments?

always! they make my day

what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

uhhhhhh *scratches chin* I don’t write… sad endings… I guess this one dead dove fic tho it’s still pretty sweet to me (I mean, mind the tags tho lmao)

what’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

honestly all of them but I’d say esp my jegulily and prongsfoot one bc they almost don’t make it in both so giving them their hea was veryyy gratifying

do you write crossovers?

nope

have you ever received hate on a fic?

once or twice on my dead dove acc I think

do you write smut?

almost always I have smmm fun with it

have you ever had a fic stolen?

im assuming this means copied word per word and used for another fandom so nope, I haven’t (weird question tho)

have you ever had a fic translated?

nope

have you ever co-written a fic before?

I did do a round robin once but never actually cowritten something!

what’s your all time favorite ship?

drarry, forever and beyond

what’s a wip that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

my only wip 😭 I will finish it ONE DAY but I just… lack time and keep signing up for fests so it’s just… waiting for me….

what are your writing strengths?

mhm. good question. uhm. maybe giving insight to a character and a little growth for them in a one shot? idk lmao next question fjcjfkfj

what are you writing weaknesses?

repetitions omg I always use the same metaphors 24/7 lmao, this and my ginormous sentences (shoutout to my beta @lilacfiresoul who has to catch all of them). also, remembering the setting of the scene, like did the character already take off this piece of clothing, how are they standing/sitting/what’s their surroundings etc.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think it’s sooo wholesome, sometimes I try to understand it based on other languages I know haha, and I have done it a few times by using French

what’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

I have been dyingggg to write some jayvik and melvika. maybe even vanco. like so bad. basically 70% of what I’ve been consuming all winter has been arcane fics lmao and I’ve gotten familiar with these ships (esp jayvik) to the point where I feel like I could probably write them without struggling too much.

what’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

honestlyyyy either one of my sirry fics? maybe this one more than the other, probs bc it’s more recent. idk why but they invoke sm stuff in me and I feel like my prose is best when I write them, both times I wrote them in one go and it just…flowed out of me like word vomit, which is a pretty nice feeling when writing xD

no pressure tags: @bluedahlia912 @locomotiveodyssey @shoopsthereitis @microdamage @starsworth @lilacfiresoul @moonbornjpg @the-invisibility-bloke and anyone who wants to do this!!

[claire8216]

Fic Tag Game

Thanks @fandomscraziness22 for the tag!! 🩵

How many works do you have on AO3? 10! My page says 7 but I have some I've published anonymously.

What's your AO3 word count? 122,718

What fandoms do you write for? It's been a while since I've posted anything but when I do find the motivation to write it's usually Julie and the Phantoms, Outer Banks, or The Summer I Turned Pretty! I've written some for other fandoms too but that was a looong time ago haha.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? (Not including the ones I'd like to remain anonymous 😉) - Fire Red and Ocean Blue (TSITP) - I Hate the Way I Don't Hate You (JatP) - Been Counting My Blessings Thinking This Through (OBX) - Something Like That (JatP) - I'm Standing in Your Line (I Do Hope You Have the Time) (JatP)

Do you respond to comments? I really try to respond to every comment, even if it takes me a while to respond! I genuinely appreciate people who take the time to not only read my writing but also share with me their thoughts, so the least I can do is respond back 😊

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Oof in general I usually stick to happy endings so there hasn't been a ton of angsty endings! But I once wrote a fic exploring a character navigating the aftermath of the sudden death of his wife. It ends with him bonding with a woman in a bar who had also lost her husband, and they dance together and while it's nice to have some sort of companionship again, there's an unspoken agreement that nothing and no one would ever compare to their late spouses. (Based off the song Ghost of You by 5SOS, specifically the last line!) I don't usually write major character deaths, and I actually ended up taking that one down because it was too sad for me haha.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? The rest of my fics pretty much all have HEAs because at my core that's what I enjoy most haha. But my favorite and probably fluffiest ending is Fire Red and Ocean Blue.

Do you get hate on fics? I don't remember ever getting any hate! *knock on wood*

Do you write smut? What kind? I do not, but I always enjoy reading a good smut fic!

Do you write crossovers? No, but I love AUs or fics based off of other books/shows/movies!

Have you ever had a fic translated? Also no haha.

Have you ever cowritten a fic before? I've attempted to, a loooong time ago when I was first getting into fanfic. Nothing ever came of it though, we were both, like, 12 so it fizzled haha. I have no idea where that person is today but I hope they're doing well!!

What WIP would you like to finish, but doubt you ever will? Back when s1 of Outer Banks came out I started working on a Jiara one night stand fic and got about halfway done. I still think about it often, but too much has happened in s2 and 3 it just wouldn't make sense anymore and I'd basically have to start from scratch.

What's your all-time favorite ship? This is a tough one! My oldest and most beloved ships will always be Romione and Percabeth. But no ship has ever, and may never again, have me in a chokehold quite like Juke did during the height of my JatP hyperfixation. So one of those three! 😂

What are your writing strengths? Ooo I love a good theme or motif or analogy and bringing everything back around full circle. It makes my little perfectionist virgo brain very happy haha.

What are your writing weaknesses? Sometimes I'll rush through the little details just to get to the main plot points. I constantly have to remind myself to slow down, a sort of "stop and smell the roses" if you will, and set the scene or create unique little character details to make my fics more descriptive.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in a another language for a fic? If it's needed it's needed! I usually will copy/paste and look up the translation if I need to.

First fandom you wrote for? Glee haha. I used to be OBSESSED.

Favorite fic you've ever written? I feel like this answer changes depending on my mood haha. Right now I think it'd have to be Been Counting My Blessings Thinking This Through, but that could totally be recency bias haha. I am very proud of it though!

What fic would you want to rewrite someday? I wrote this PJO (Tratie) fic called Rivers about 10 years ago and to this day the idea behind it is probably one of my favorite ideas I've ever had for a fic. When I reread it now, I can't help but see the writing of a 15 year old girl who had no idea what she was talking about and was unable to execute it in the way I wanted to in my mind haha. I always tell myself I'm going to rewrite it, and maybe with the show coming out soon, it'll inspire me to!

This was so fun!! Tagging @story-courty @bex2313 and @writerownstory and anyone else who wants to participate!

[television-overload]

20 fanfic questions

Thanks for tagging me @randomfoggytiger !

How many works do you have on AO3?

30, I'm still working on putting more that I wrote either on Tumblr or Fanfiction.net back in the day on my AO3 (if they don't induce too much cringe. Been doing this almost a decade now).

2. What's your total AO3 words count?

137,433 and counting

3. What fandoms do you write for?

NCIS, X-Files, Star Wars, and on rare occasions, Harry Potter

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Mother (Star Wars Obi-Wan x Satine), Life Force (more Star Wars), Back to You (old NCIS fic), Like Life Itself (you guessed it, more Star Wars), and sh-boom (X-Files :D)

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

Sometimes, if I get a particularly nice comment that makes me all excited. But I recently read a post where someone was saying you shouldn't reply to comments on your own fic on AO3 because it artificially inflates the number of comments on your story, and I was like :'(

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

Ooh, I've been specializing in angst since I got back into fic writing. Let me think... The Star Wars prequels are inherently angsty, so-- hope like the sun (Star Wars) this could be such a dream (Star Wars) what was once a garden (Star Wars)

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

Probably Mother (Star Wars), because even though it's angsty, it's a happy ending AU. I'm realizing a lot of my fics that I'm actually proud of have melancholy endings lol sh-boom (X-Files) is a good one too.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I mean, maybe I used to? When I wrote as a teen? Not so much "hate" as "this doesn't make sense," and half the time, the commenter was getting some fact about the fandom wrong anyway haha

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

Nope, never will

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

Never a crossover, although I have thought about an X-Files/NCIS crossover. Pretty sure I'd be the only one interested in it though. I am currently writing a Star Wars fanfic that is basically a retelling of The Sound of Music, which is probably as close to a crossover as I'll get.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of. But I did have someone ask to print my fic out once to keep forever and that made me so happy :')

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

That would be cool, but no.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Nope.

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

I can't. I'm so loyal to Tony and Ziva from NCIS, and they really are fantastic. But even I have to admit that Mulder and Scully are the blueprint. Nobody did co-dependent coworkers turned lovers like them. Both of them have WILD stories about how they ended up with a child though, and I love them for that.

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

Oof. The forbidden topic. I was writing a fic called "In the Eyes of Tali" on Fanfiction.net once upon a time before they brought back Ziva on the show, and a lot of people seemed to really enjoy it. It was basically the episode Family First from Tali's perspective, which I think is really unique, and then went on toward an eventual reunion with Ziva. I think I could theoretically finish it one day, but there's so much I'm writing now that I doubt it. Maybe I need the proper incentive.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I actually don't know. I've been told I capture characters' voices well before, that's really nice to hear. I hope I'm improving in the description department.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Probably maintaining good pacing, getting from point A to point B without rushing it, and actually making myself finish what I started. I'm also a little wimp when it comes to not getting comments or bookmarks on a fic, even if it's a small fandom and it makes sense that the engagement isn't as high as I hoped.

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

Occupational hazard in the Star Wars and NCIS fandoms. Star Wars you're dealing with made up languages (most often for me, Mando'a) and NCIS is usually Hebrew for Ziva. Best you can do is do the research, try to fact check Google, and provide translations if needed for context in the story.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Technically, Harry Potter. When I was 13 I started a story that I had grand plans for, posted 2 chapters on ffn.net, and then never touched it again lol. But the ones I actually stuck with were (now really cringe) NCIS fics, and they got a decent amount of attention on that site (and even among some old ladies on Twitter that would share links sometimes, how cute is that?)

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

So far, either Mother (Star Wars) or Beautiful (X-Files), but recently I've been putting out a lot that I'm finally proud of! I'm hoping they're actually good this time, and not the "good" that I thought I was writing in 2015. I've always hoped I'd build up a base of readers that enjoy my stuff and subscribe for when I post new fics, but I don't think I'm there yet. Easier said than done, especially on Tumblr.

Tagging: @indestinatus @wanna-be-bold @ whoever else wants to do this! I'm out of touch with who writes stuff on here, and also relatively oblivious to people's blog names if I read them on AO3 haha

[kiichu]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

not tagged by anyone, i just found it and wanted to do it :3

How many works do you have on ao3?

60

What's your total ao3 word count?

523,261

What fandoms do you write for?

According to Ao3: Zero Escape, Legend of Korra, Gotham, Dangan Ronpa, Daredevil, Skyrim, FNaF, Frozen, Hazbin Hotel, Life is Strange, Logan, MCU, Nope, Saw, Spider-Man, Squid Game, The 100, FATWS, The Jungle Book, The Walking Dead Game, The Wolf Among Us, Uncharted, Animal Crossing, Zom 100, Ace Attorney

Top five fics by kudos:

Out on a Limb

Smoke and Mirrors

GNAWING

Anodynes

Electric Sheep

Do you respond to comments?

For the most part! Sometimes I don't really know what to say in response, but I appreciate every single comment I get. Like, I adore them all.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

(spoilers lmao) It's a tie I think, between Out on a Limb (in which Troy does die, but he saves Clementine and repays his debt, being remembered for the good choice he made in the end) and Electric Sheep (Dio and Luna's fates are left ambiguous, it's unclear if they're alive but at least they're together wherever they are)

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

Any of the fluffier fics tbh, but a special mention for Taken by Storm. It's the last fic of the Nope series, and it shows that the gang is recovering from their ordeal and have hope for the future.

Do you get hate on fics?

I mean, I've seen offhand comments on Twitter, but honestly I haven't gotten any hate on Ao3 at least. :)

Do you write smut?

A tiny tiny bit. It's very rare. But we have Stay Classy for a direct smut thing, with like two other fics having references to sex. It's not really something I like to read or write, and have to be in a ver specific mood to write.

Craziest crossover:

I don't write crossovers haha.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Oh god I hope not. Or maybe I do, maybe I want my old deleted (see also: gone forever) fanfiction.net fics to resurface somewhere.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes!!! Electric Sheep is being translated into Polish. Here's the link: Elektryczne Owce :]

Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Nah. Not my thing.

All time favourite ship?

Dio/Luna. Always always always <33

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

I... dunno. I have a few that probably won't ever see the light of day, but I'd rather make that decision and leave it at "everything might one day get posted, but I don't know".

What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm pretty good at descriptions, and putting out my best work possible. The latter is a result of my OCD not letting me post something without passing a very strict self-imposed "quality filter," but still. It does show in the final product, stressful as it is to get there.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Sticking with something. Sitting down and writing. Also making more happen in scenes, with more dialogue.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I've tried to pepper in some Russian in both Out on a Limb and it's just blood under the bridge for the Russian characters, and also some Spanish in Vencido, but it's all Google translated haha.

First fandom you wrote in?

Yu Yu Hakusho :]

Favourite fic you've written?

It'll probably always be Out on a Limb. I worked so hard on it and I reedited it all and made it into a book through a website (I own the only copy so it's not illegal or anything).

I'm tagging anyone who wants to do this!! :]

[petruchio]

Twenty Questions: Fic Author Edition

@caesarflickermans tagged me to do this a little while ago and i'm procrastinating doing some actual writing so here goes

1-How many works do you have on ao3?

ten

2-What's your total AO3 word count?

105,385

3-What fandoms do you write for?

hunger games always! and i wrote a few pjo fics last summer

4-What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

we’ll fill our mouths with cinnamon

the birds were singing of you

flowers never bend with the rainfall

under the blossom that hangs on the bough

simple song

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

i try to! sometimes i get overwhelmed when a comment is too nice and i want to give it a thoughtful answer and then i procrastinate answering because i don't feel like i have the energy to be thoughtful enough to show how honestly genuinely grateful i am that someone left the comment and then it spirals and i just never reply lol. but i try to at least say thank you to most people because it really does mean so much to me when people comment on my work

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

i am a happy ending girlie at the end of the day but probably flowers because like, things are not going to get better in that au

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

probably simple song because it is just pure self indulgent romance. but maybe my post mj fic too because we know what happens next and it is happy

8-Do you get hate on fics?

hate is a strong word but one time i did write that one short post mj fic and people responded by being like "i don't like this" and i was like ... okay haha. oh and one time someone bookmarked my pjo fic and said it could've been better written but the idea was good and i was like meh i'll take it. (i was actually super offended at the time and i was like fully prepared to delete my entire archive over the comment but im over it now lol.)

9-Do you write smut? If so what kind?

no. i try to kind of fade to black or allude to sex because i do feel like it sometimes has relevancy to the plot but i don't really have an interest in writing it in detail

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

no

11-Have you ever had a fic stolen?

no

12-Have you ever had a fic translated?

no

13-Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

no

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

katniss/peeta

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

ugh my district 4 au. i have it outlined in such excruciating detail and i have so many scenes that i think would be so fun to write but i just cannot get the beginning to gel and i don't think it ever will

16-What are your writing strengths?

i'm not sure whether to interpret the question as what i think is good *in my writing* or what my strengths are in my process, so i guess i'll try to do both!! i think style-wise i do a nice job of trying to weave the thematic/symbolic threads in my stories together so that they conclude in a way that makes sense from the outset, and i think i have some nice moments of descriptive writing. as far as process, i think i write relatively strong first drafts which definitely makes the editing process more enjoyable

17-What are your writing weaknesses?

style-wise i think i can write some real clunky dialogue (who among us, lol) and i don't always get my pacing right. i also think i have a tendency to repeat certain words or sentence structures too much and i often will skip over things when i am not interested in them and then not edit enough to notice where the story is dragging vs where i'm skipping things. process-wise, i can be slow to think of an initial concept and then when i do have an idea i sometimes get more invested in the outline and the general plot and then i can get very easily bored if the actual writing isn't fun or it's taking a while to get to the scenes i want to write.

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

i don't speak any other language with an appropriate degree of fluency so i wouldn't, but i don't think it would really come up in any of my projects

19-First fandom you wrote for?

percy jackson <3 my iconic ff.net era

20-Favorite fic you've ever written?

under the blossom that hangs on the bough. it does pretty much everything i set out for it to do and i'm very proud of it. there's a couple lines i would change just because i think i wrote them kind of clunky and awkward but overall i think it's probably my best work.

i'll tag @districtunrest @rosegardeninwinter

[bikananjarrus]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

finally getting around to this, thank you @astromechs for the tag!!

::

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

29

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

327,391

3. What fandoms do you write for?

mainly star wars and marvel! though i don't write marvel as much anymore (the mcu really burned me too many times lol and just took away a lot of my inspiration/motivation to write for it). so mostly star wars nowadays, but occasionally i will sprinkle in a fic for a different fandom!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

a. we find ourselves when we lose everything else - 519 kudos

b. our time in the dark - 518 kudos

c. risk everything we have (and just let our walls cave in) - 426 kudos

d. if loves elastic (then were we born to test it’s reach) - 391 kudos

e. revelations (come to us in recovery) - 388 kudos

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

no 🙈. weirdly enough, i was a lot better about responding years ago on my ff. net account. but i don't really do it on ao3, honestly because i'm just a little lazy about it lol. but i promise i read every single one and know that if you've ever left a comment, i appreciate it so so much!!

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

probably broken things. it's a romanogers soulmate last words au which ended in a major character death. but you know. last words au, death. it made sense haha.

i've also written a couple canon-compliant character study type fics, including one for natasha romanoff, one for cassian andor/rogue one crew, some for leia organa (post-tfa), and well, none of those end very happily sooooo.

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

uhhhhhhh why was this so hard asdffglkhglj. i write a lot of agnst and hurt/comfort lol. but my fic, the weight of your love, is just pure kanera fluff. and these two kanera fics that i've posted on tumblr (but not on ao3 yet), are just silly and fun and fluffy.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not really, thankfully. i mean, i've gotten some not-so-nice comments in the past (again, mainly on ff.net) but i've never gotten anything super aggressive or confrontational, so i'm grateful to be in nice corners of fandom!

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

occasionally yes. typically i insert my smut scenes into longer fics though. (i do have a bunch of unpublished half-written smut fics that i haven't gotten the courage to finish and post yet, bc i'm not always the most confident in my smut writing but maybe one day!)

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

not really. i'm not even the best at coming up with AUs, much less crossovers lol. i think the closest i've gotten to a crossover is an agents of shield/mcu crossover, which shouldn't even BE a crossover, but considering that the mcu never acknowledged AoS, it kinda feels like it is. anyway, wrote a fic where daisy johnson and bucky barnes are bffs, and i'm quite fond of it!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

yeah :/ i had somebody take one of my fics and (related to next question) translate it and put it on wattpad. i couldn't message the author and my attempts to contact wattpad got me nowhere so i kinda just let it go.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

looking at last question, technically yes. but other than that, not yet! i would be very honored if someone wanted to translate one of my fics though, and would have absolutely no problem with it! (so long as they asked and didn't steal it asdkfsjd)

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

only bits and pieces of shared aus with friends for fun, but haven’t published anything.

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

kanera and romanogers, hands down. kanan and hera are more recent, but i fell in love with both their characters and them as a couple so fast, and i absolutely love writing for them. they're going to stick with me forever. and steve and natasha.... my loves. fell in love with them when i saw catws the first time and haven't looked back. they've stuck with me the longest, i think. and even though i don't write marvel as much anymore, i still think about them a lot, and there's a lot of stevenat wips i have that i still hope to finish one day.

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

whew ummmmm. there's a couple of romanogers fics (specifically finishing our time in the dark and the follow-up to revelations which is an endgame fix-it) that i have told myself i will finish. and i want to! but it will really take a major push to get me back into the headspace to write for marvel again. genuinely, endgame drained so much of the love and inspiration i had so 😔 i hope i can prove myself wrong one day!

i also have ambitions to do a star wars sequels rewrite, but it feels so big lol, so idk if i'll ever actually get around to finishing it. but the bits i have written for it i have so much love for.

16. What are your writing strengths?

digging deep into character emotions and their headspaces. that's something i really like exploring. also i think i'm pretty good about including small details, particularly with using the different senses and using those to help set the scene, and whatnot. in short, description and emotion are my strong suits!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

humor. i think i can be funny sometimes in my writing, but i definitely don't think i'm as good at humor as other people. and especially funny dialogue and banter, that's something i feel like i have to think about more. so still working on that!

i also don't know if this is a true weakness, but i literally don't know when to stop writing asdfljgldkj. i feel like lately it's so hard for me to write short fics (unless i do it in a mad burst in one sitting). but if i'm thinking a lot about a fic, chances are it's going to be 5k MINIMUM.

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

i'm not real comfortable with it, especially if i don't speak the language. if it's a very short phrase or a singular word, i will try to use a translator and other online investigating (and then nicely ask people to correct me in the comments if i'm wrong lol). but if i want to have the character speaking full sentences i will usually type it out in english and then use "they said in [insert language here]" as the tagline.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

if we're going wayyy back, technically the first fic i wrote was a bones fic when i was in middleschool lmao. i wrote it in a notebook, never published it online. but i first posted fics online in high school (as a freshman i think), and i think the first fics i published were for percy jackson and supernatural lol.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

probably revelations. looking at it now, there are certainly things i would change about this one, but i wrote it on and off for 3 years, so i was just really proud when i finally finished it. and there are still a lot of character moments i wrote into this one that i still love.

also you are my solid ground. plot does not really exist in this fic, but i had the best time writing the steve/nat/sam dynamic. literally dream trio.

(real talk, some of my fave fics are ones that i haven't finished yet/haven't published yet. i think my newest favorite fic is the kanan character study one i'm working on now. i still have a little bit to go, but i'm really close to finishing it, and i'm just so proud of it. there's so much about it that i love and i can't wait to share it (hopefully by the end of the year!)).

::

no pressure tagging: @effie-trinket and anyone else who would like to participate!

[thelittleredheadedmusician]

I’ve been tagged by @klaineharmony and @wordshakerofgallifrey in one version of this and b @radioactivepigeons in another so I combined the 2 (there was one question difference lmao).

How many works do you have on Ao3? 

146 (and like many who have done this before me, a couple are drabble collections and such)

What's your total Ao3 word count? 

530,111 words which... wow.

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they? 

Oh dear GOD if I listed each individual comic series we’d be here all day. We’re gonna go with the five I know for sure off the top of my head w/ the 3 big subcategories for comics. 

DCU 

> Batman comics

> Teen Titans/Titans comics

> Young Justice cartoon

Newsies

Les Mis

Percy Jackson

Harry Potter

What are your top five fics by kudos?

All of these are older and Batfandom so I’m not even remotely surprised by this. 

Family Gatherings Dick wakes up to a text from Bruce asking that the whole family meet at the Manor that night, causing him to stress out all day.

No Judgement Damian crashes at Jason's apartment and has to explain to Jason why.

Nursing a Sick Bird Tim loses contact with his family when he gets sick for a week, causing Dick to come and check in on him.

Bat Kid Jam Sessions All of Bruce's kids play an instrument which gives Dick Grayson and Jason Todd an idea.

Annual Wayne Enterprises Take Your Kid to Work Day Bruce has Tim, Damian, and Dick all coming to WE for the day and he's a bit nervous over what kind of mess they might make.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not? 

I do! Though I see now there’s a bunch sitting there that I haven’t yet. I’ll get to them when I’ve got more spoons. I love interacting with people and knowing what they like about my stories and writing. It makes me really really happy. 

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I don’t really write angst? I don’t think I write angst. I write a lot of ennui. So much ennui. And bittersweet endings. Donna Troy and the Outlaws may be the closest to an angsty ending cause they only get one resurrection out of a possible two? But again, it’s more bittersweet than anything. 

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

DO I EVER. Yes. Yes I write crossovers. Mainly modern au newsies/les mis cause it just makes sense. The craziest one has to be from my main newsies/les mis series A crooked politician? Yeah but that ain't news no more where I dropped so many references in media, networking, and other things you don't learn in a lecture to Hairspray and Hamilton characters that I wrote the “shit show” of the four musicals being combined in a modern au that I alluded to (and I think I was encouraged if I remember correctly) and it’s called Cautionary Tale.

Have you ever received hate on a fic? 

Not so much hate as someone doing what was essentially a “well, actually” on the politics in one of my Crooked Politician fics. The moral of the story is character views and emotions and blatant optimism do not directly reflect that of the author and I did study political science and know my stuff. OH! And then there’s my crowning glory of a DIFFERENT Crooked Politician fic being quoted out of context in a New York Times article. That isn’t really hate but it was certainly something. 

Do you write smut? If so what kind? 

Haha. No. 

Have you ever had a fic stolen? 

Not that I know of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but I welcome translations and podfics!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! @wordshakerofgallifrey and I cowrote Costs of Civil Disobedience as part of her Piano Man au and by that I mean were LITERALLY typing in the same doc at the same time. It was wild and amazing. From Across the Bar isn’t cowritten but is my companion to her fic Play Me A Memory. @radioactivepigeons were working on a leverage!newsies au but then we both got busy. 

What's your all time favorite ship? 

I? Don’t think I have one? Uh... Beatrice and Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing? Parker/Hardison/Eliot from Leverage are the ultimate ot3? I care very little about ships. If I like it, I like it. If it squicks me, it squicks me. If I don’t care, I don’t care. Sorry?

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will? 

Oh the Batfam Ghostbusters au. The concept is still solid but I just don’t have the motivation or know where I would go with what stands. If anything I’d strip it for parts and write it new. 

What are your writing strengths?

I have been told my descriptions are really strong but personally I think that my character voices/dialogue is. Also my ability to write teenaged ennui. Any ennui. It’s a mood. 

What are your writing weaknesses? 

Grammar! I do weird shit with my sentence breaks and make run ons and just absolutely butcher punctuation. And balancing characters in ensembles. That’s hard. 

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I’m going to quote @radioactivepigeons here cause I agree with it wholeheartedly and she puts it better than I possibly can rn: “I think there needs to be a narrative purpose. Like, is it building dramatic irony? Is someone being purposefully excluded from the conversation? Is there a characterization where the linguistic difference matters?“ If the answer is no then just note it’s being said in the other language. 

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for? 

Actually physically wrote a story out? Batman. I wrote a “patrol report” as Batgirl to my friend as though she were Robin in middle school as part of a christmas present. 

What's your favourite fic you've ever written? 

Oh this is hard. Uh glitter and gold is like my love of DC characters made manifest and is absurdly long but like there’s certainly scenes I like more than others. Three Card Draw might be my favorite? I love the vibes and the little world I made and using it to work out my own thoughts about gods and magic as a stepping stone for my original stuff. 

Since I think literally everyone I know in the newsies fandom has been tagged in this at some point I’m going to kick it towards the dc folks. Absolutely no pressure to do this. @audreycritter @oh-mother-of-darkness @sohotthateveryonedied @preciousthingsareprecious @whore4batfam

[incomprehensiblelentils]

@dollsome-does-tumblr​ does this and opened it up to anyone and I am feeling chatty today SO!

Because I co-write a lot with my lovely wife, I might answer some questions including those co-written stories, or I might not, depends on how I feel when I get there.

name:

Megan but I go by Lentils most places on the internet, Shadowcrawler over on AO3

fandoms:

at the moment: MCU, especially Agents of SHIELD and Daredevil; Terminator: Dark Fate; Halt and Catch Fire. Oh and I wrote Dollhouse fanfics a thousand years ago. Sometimes I will watch a movie/show and think “those two girls should be gay” and bang out 2k of fic about it and then never write for that fandom again. (I THOUGHT this was going to be HACF but as it turns out, no, it’s not done with me yet.)

where you post:

AO3, at Shadowcrawler. I also have a tumblr @lentils-writes​ where theoretically I post links to fics/advertise them in the tags, because I used to be real precious about not putting porn on this blog, but fuck it.

most popular multi-chapter fic:

Co-written, it’s definitely mallverse, which is I think the reason most writers definitely hate us because it’s very long and there are a lot of tags lmao. The problem is that every tagged character HAS shown up in a significant fashion at some point so we can’t just...untag them! It doesn’t update weekly anymore because we’re exhausted by life lmao so at least there’s that???

As for a multi-chapter fic that was just me, I don’t tend to do that so much, so actually it’s say you will, my 3-chapter Endgame fix-it where Clint dies instead of Natasha and Natasha and Laura have a past. It actually has over 1000 hits which is very exciting! I feel like it’s...niche in a way that is frustrating but understandable lol. I put a lot of my heart into it and some people really liked it, so that’s gratifying.

favorite story you’ve written so far:

Co-written, I think our SHIELD Dollhouse AU is very underrated for the amount of work we put into it. Author bias evident here because I love Dollhouse warts and all, and it’s a lot of fun translating episode plots as well as the general trajectory of the show into stuff that will work with SHIELD characters. We don’t just rewrite episodes, we really try and rework them as needed. Also it features both Skimmons and my beloved rarepair Bobbi/Kara, though of course they won’t get together until later.

Of my own stuff, I’m still really really proud of the AU where Kara Palamas didn’t die. I think that was a pretty severe misstep of the show and I think I did a good job of fixing it. (I haven’t forgotten Kara, promise!)

fic you were nervous to post:

lolololol I wrote some uh. Terminator pornography last year and. They are very porny! I had co-written a bunch of smut obviously, but that was the first time I’d posted like, PWP all by myself on purpose??? and that was TERRIFYING. Also I was very nervous to post the Engame fix-it because that was my own personal goodbye/tribute to Natasha.

how you choose your titles:

They are always either song lyrics or jokes (such as Three Lawyers and a Baby, my Daredevil Accidental Baby Acquisition fic). My WIP docs are always titled either obvious shit like “RoseJannah horse girls” or memes like “what if we belonged to a fire cult and we fucked haha just kidding unless...?” or “Morgan has two mommies.”

do you outline?:

B and I typically outline for the co-written fics, although it’s more often chapter-by-chapter outlines since that’s how we write them. On occasion we’ve fully planned multi-chapter stuff out in advance but that’s less common. Oh and the one-shots are nearly always outlined as well, just to keep ourselves organized.

When I have written planned multi-chapter fics in the past I have used outlines - particularly for the Kara one and I had to do that for the SHIELD Kill Bill AU because I was trying to follow the format of the movie. For things that are allegedly supposed to be one-shots I almost never outline, which turns out to be a terrible idea when they inevitably balloon beyond my control and become 45k like say you will. That one, I wrote out a list of scenes I thought needed to be in it and then I wrote about 75% of those scenes and then I wrote a bunch more scenes I hadn’t planned for. Don’t be like me, kids!

complete fics:

According to AO3, 89 as of right now. Uh, you do not want me to list all of them, here’s a link, I guess!

in progress:

I don’t understand what the difference is between this question and the WIP questions lmao help????

posted WIPs that I have active plans to continue at this time:

Cowritten: mallverse as I said, and its femslash smut oneshots spinoff and character flashbacks spinoff and older characters/teachers spinoff (these get updated, uh, irregularly), the first half of a Piper/Snowflake SHIELD s7 fic that we are planning on finishing the second half of soonish, SHIELD Dollhouse AU, SHIELD Teen Beach AU, SHIELD Buffy AU. You may notice a pattern!

By myself, I have: Have Your Elf a Merry Little Christmas, a Terminator Hallmark Christmas fic that I ambitiously posted the first chapter of in 2019 and then lost steam immediately (I am going to go back to it sooner or later bc I had some cute ideas for it); the SHIELD Fate of the Furious AU that has one chapter to go and which I do intend on finishing eventually; Three Lawyers and a Little Lady, the Daredevil Accidentally Baby Acquisition AU that is literally just cute kidfic and poly avocados and which I have a bunch of ideas for and just need to buckle down and finish some.

posted WIPs that I have given up on:

Lol so there’s a Dollhouse Caroline/Bennett Doctor Who AU that I wrote purely as idfic and which nobody ever cared about except me, and I think that ship has sailed! RIP darlings. I also had an ongoing Skimmons series waaaay back when where I posted oneshots that were like missing scenes or gay readings for each s1 episode, and I just feel like it would be inauthentic to even try and finish it at this point. (It does include the first ever Skimmons fic to be posted on AO3! Really truly, there’s one fic that shows up as older but it’s an ongoing fic and was updated with the tag way after I posted mine.)

exchange fics due soon/unrevealed:

I haven’t done an exchange since like 2015 lololol I am so bad at them. I am currently working on finishing up my MCU Femslash bingo card, very late, and I do have plans for almost all of the remaining squares!

WIPs that live in my fanfic folder and are incomplete and who knows when they’ll be finished:

“RoseJannah horse girls,” which has been put on hold temporarily but is literally just Rose and Jannah being gay while riding orbaks

half of a Daisy/Gwen fic from Marvel Rising because I know they’re not making any more of those but I stg those two were really gay

multiple fics about Elise Nelson-Page including: avocados Halloween with smol Elise, Aunt Elektra very reluctantly taking smol Elise shopping until she realizes smol Elise also likes weapons (she buys her a fake katana), Uncle Frank is a pushover and spoils the shit out of Elise, and baby Elise has a high fever and everyone freaks out but then she gets better and smile at them for the first time (inspired by baby me lol).

coming soon/not yet started:

“Morgan has two mommies,” yet another Endgame fix-it where Maya Hansen did not die in Iron Man 3 and she resurfaces and she and Pepper kiss and eventually she adopts Morgan

Claire and Colleen go on a nice date to get coffee/tea where Danny doesn’t interrupt them goddammit

Bobbi/Kara Warehouse 13 AU which is sort of like “For the Team” but gayer ft. grappling hook

X-Men: Evolution Tabby/Amara fluff

Cameron/Donna character study disguised as smut

Grace proposes to Dani with a ring made out of the metal from her power source and Carl officiates the wedding 

Dani gets horny watching Grace eat a peach and jerks off and Grace ends up hearing her and then they fuck (I have been calling this “the peach fic�� in my head but I gotta stop being delicate about it lmfao it is just porn)

B and I have plans to do a Nico/Karolina Jasper in Deadland AU but we keep forgetting

I MUST WRITE FOGGY AND KAREN SADLY FUCKING IN A CHURCH WHILE THEY MOURN MATT THIS YEAR I STG

do you accept prompts:

uhhhhhh I have on occasion written a prompt for someone before but it’s pretty rare and I have enough trouble writing the shit I come up with in my own head lol. but never say never?

upcoming story you are most excited to write:

I’ve got a bit of the Bobbi/Kara Warehouse fic written and it’s nice to go back to that world. Also I’m weirdly excited about the Cam/Donna smutty character study I mentioned above, I have a lot of what I think are good ideas for it and it’ll be fun.

tagging @unwind-myself @swiftzeldas @swashbucklery @loved-the-stars-too-fondly and, if you want to, you!

[erindarroch]

i love all yr stories, yr own and the cowritten ones too. How did you start to write with someone else and will you ever do your own again like another remain in light?

Aw, thank you Anon. You’re so kind to message me and tell me this. It really makes my day. 

While I was writing Remain in Light, I was searching my mind for a suitable location for Han and Leia’s long-awaited reunion, which occurred at the end of Chapter 10 (and carried on for a few more chapters...they missed each other..a LOT... haha). I wanted the location of their reunion to be a place that meant something to them both, and I thought of Ord Mantell (where, according to my head canon, their budding romance had hit a snag and they’d fallen out with each other big-time, not long before the Battle of Hoth, all those years ago). 

I really liked the version of Ord Mantell that was conceived by Sue Zahn in her story Mergers and Acquisitions, so I messaged her to ask if she would mind me borrowing her unique concept of Ord Mantell for my story. She very graciously gave the nod, and then (after I’d published Remain in Light), she got in touch with me to tell me how much she’d enjoyed reading it, and to ask if I would be interested in collaborating with her. Of course, I was deeply flattered that someone as talented as Sue would think my writing on par with her own, and I was delighted to accept. 

She had four specific fics in mind, which she was hoping to finish in time to include them in a ‘zine she was publishing. We worked rather intensely together for about five months and got all of those written in time (phew), and then Sue decided to go on hiatus again, having been on extended hiatus for about 7-8 years prior to that. (Psst! Rumour has it that she might have another story or two to tell before long, though, so this hiatus may not be as long as the last one.) 

So I went back to writing on my own for a while. In that time, I produced just two stories, iirc. One of those was Louder Than Words, and the other was Cargo Handler (I think I also wrote a couple of 100-word drabbles). I also wrote a couple of brief follow-ups to Remain in Light, just to round off the story a bit, as I was pretty much done with Disney canon by that point. Those two solo fics were Recursion and The Double Edge. I was still struggling to finish The Double Edge when I got a series of reviews from Justine Graham, and we struck up a correspondence. She then emailed me with a suggestion for a follow-up to Cargo Handler, which I thought was an adorable idea. It involved Han performing a pseudo “inspection” of Leia, and I thought it was just too good an idea to snatch and grab, and take it for my own. So I invited @jhgraham to write it with me. We asked Sue to beta, and Sue came back saying that it was good, but it just wasn’t long enough, and not satisfying the way that we had originally constructed it, and it should be longer and more fully developed. We took her suggestions and ran with them, and the result was our first collaboration The Only Constant. We’ve now written around 15 fics together, with more on the way. 

As to whether I will ever go back to writing on my own, uhhhh, I doubt it very much. I’d never say never, because you never know when an idea for a drabble will strike (indeed, I think I have written a couple more on my own since we started collaborating), and JG may likewise have fics she’d like to do on her own. 

But on the whole I much prefer working with JG to working on my own. It’s just too much fun! Once we got over our nervousness (it is SCARY to write in front of someone else, let me tell you), we became really good friends. We chat pretty much every day and we’re always working on something. It’s a very enjoyable pastime, made even more enjoyable by the camaraderie between us. And now we’re both super excited because we actually get to meet in person next month. How cool is that!? 

Thanks for getting in touch, Anon, and I hope my ridiculously long and detailed answer doesn’t put you (or others) off asking me questions! =D