#currently writing a WIP and it has me locked the fuck in

[sabbathbloodysabbeth]

I'm currently writing and trying to figure out what could be a possible middle ground for chapter lengths and just want some general feedback on what the (heavy on quotation) "perfect" length is. But I kind of want to hear why some of these lengths are better than others, or if you're someone who doesn't pay attention to length but the quality what are some things that normally keep you interested in longer chapters (or even shorter chapters) I have my own opinions as a reader but as a writer I'm very interested in what the 'general' opinion is. (I don't think I'll personally cater to the majority, but I really enjoy conversations that revolve around topics like this and its been a while since Ive had a deep conversation with other readers/writers and wanted to start one if anyone wants to discuss :)

[kiwiana-writes]

Six(ish) Sentence Sunday

I've already shared a few snippets from my trans!Alex Fandom Trumps Hate fic, which I am SO fucking excited about—but I've also taken my usual batshit chaotic approach of 'just write stuff as inspiration hits and fit it all together later', and I realised a not-insignificant period of time into doing this that I'd written some stuff that was inherently contradictory. But I also LOVED it all and didn't wanna give anything up... so long story short, now I have TWO trans!Alex WIPs 🤣 One is the longer, more Big Feelings fic for FTH... and the other is this, which will be a bit shorter. And pornier. I mean, they'll both have porn and feelings, because I am who I am, but... you know. Let's fucking go. (I might try to smash this one out for @rwrbgenderfunkyfest if I can!)

“Jesus fuck, sweetheart.” Alex buries one hand in his own curls as he comes down, the other resting on the top of Henry’s head, who has only moved far enough away to press soft kisses to Alex’s thigh. Henry’s face is a fucking mess, and he looks… well, he would say Henry looks unduly proud of himself, except for the fact that his knees currently have the approximate consistency and weight-bearing capabilities of a particularly booze-heavy jello shot, so really, Henry’s earned the smugness that’s radiating out of every pore. “That was—” “Yes, it was rather.” Henry smirks, his eyes locked on Alex’s as he flattens it, dragging it up towards his hip before planting a hard, toothy kiss there. His hand slides up Alex’s other leg until his thumb is resting at the edge of the scar above Alex’s pubic bone, and Alex reads the question in his eyes half a second before he voices it. “May I?” Alex blinks. In his experience, people tend to ignore his scars completely during sex, even if they have practical questions about the equipment. But Henry’s already sucked him off until he saw God—if he gets any better at it, Alex might die. “If you want.” Henry’s smile softens into something sweet and hopeful and breathtaking, and then he leans forward to press an almost unbearably gentle kiss to the raised skin there. “Christ, you’re beautiful.” It’s so quiet, Alex isn’t sure he was meant to hear it at all.

Tagging @agame-writes @affectionatelyrs @anincompletelist @blueeyedgrlwrites @cactusdragon517

@celeritas2997 @cha-melodius @clottedcreamfudge @cricketnationrise @dumbpeachjuice

@everwitch-magiks @firenati0n @getmehighonmagic @happiness-of-the-pursuit @heysweetheart-writes

@hgejfmw-hgejhsf @indestructibleheart @inexplicablymine @jellibuns @junebugclaremontdiaz

@leaves-of-laurelin @littlemisskittentoes @lizzie-bennetdarcy @matherines @myheartalivewrites

@ninzied @nocoastposts @nontoxic-writes @notspecialbabe @orchidscript

@piratefalls @read-and-write- @rmd-writes @sherryvalli @ships-to-sail

@sparklepocalypse @stereopticons @thesleepyskipper @tintagel-or-cockleshells @welcometololaland

@whimsymanaged and, as always, anyone who wants to play! (If you take the open tag please tag me so I can see!!)

[firstprincehornyramblings]

WEEEEEEEEEEE Hello, I hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday. I feel like I haven't done a Sentences Sunday in years! Thrilled to be back, with Sugar Baby Alex, AND a new WIP. Things are under the cut so this isn't the longest post in history.

-

Let's get into it with Sugar Baby Alex first, shall we?:

“Alex, I am not ‘putting you off’, I am thirty-eight years old, I do not have that glorious refractory period you have, anymore,” the blond huffed, “As much as I would love to go again right now, and believe me, I would, it’s impossible. So, surely you can wait until this evening when we can both get hard, hm?” “Damn,” Alex whispered, “That fucking sucks actually, I didn’t know fucking an old dude would have drawbacks. So, like positive is that you can make me cum like never before but negative is that your dick has a tim-MMPHM!” That sentence was cut short by Henry picking up a pillow and pressing it into the brunette’s face, holding it in place for a moment as Alex flailed, “Such a mouth on you, I’m almost certain I liked it better full,” he teased before lifting that pillow, “Don’t make me confirm your sister and friend’s worst fear.” “Oh baby,” Alex laughed, smiling so wide now that he was free of the pillow, “Killing me with a pillow is so intimate though, that’s incredibly sexy of you.” “Shut up, Alex!” “Make me!”

AND new WIP time, Doctor Alex :)

What Henry was not expecting was for the door to open and the most beautiful man he’d ever seen in his life to walk in. He was fairytale prince level tall dark and handsome. Even in the scrubs, his physic was broad and built, and the long-sleeved shirt under his scrub top fit tight around wide biceps. He had coal colored, luxurious curls, high cheeks, and obscene lashes over gorgeous brown eyes. His jawline was sharp, covered in a few days’ worth of stubble. Miles of tanned skin, the same dark hair on his forearms, large hands that he was currently slipping into gloves. The few inches of exposed wrist from slightly pulled up sleeves made Henry feel like he was seeing something pornographic. But anything to keep himself from locking eyes on those incredibly soft looking lips. “Hi, I’m Alex, it’s nice to meet you.” Ah, Henry remembered reading something about Alexander the Great being the son of Zeus. Yes, a demigod, right here in Oxford, that made sense. No, wait, that accent- “You’re American?” Henry blurted out before he could stop himself. If asked, he would blame it on this man’s, well- everything. “Yeah, sorry,” Alex laughed, “Always forget that catches ya'll off guard, I’m from Texas. I’m going into clinical medicine, but I’d like to travel, work with the Red Cross and do outreach things; help with natural disasters and pandemics. It’ll be easier for me to break into that if I do the rest of medical school and residency in Europe.” “Oh.” “But that’s not why you’re here, hm, Mr. Fox? May I touch you?” the brunette asked stepping closer to the exam table Henry was sitting on. “Please. Erm, I mean, uhm, yes please, go ahead.”

-

🏷️(no pressure tags darlings)

@taste-thewaste @onthewaytosomewhere @henrysfox

@mikibwrites @eusuntgratie

@softboynick @catdadacd @sheepywritesfics

@henryspearl

@basil-bird @caressthosecheekbones

@henfox @anti-homophobia-cheese @redlipstickandglitter

@thesleepyskipper @tailsbeth-writes @thighzp @lfg1986-2

+ literally anyone else I'm tired and forgot. (Im queueing this at 2am) or anyone who sees this and wants to tag me, I love reading yall's stuff. <3

[tj-dragonblade]

popping my head in to ask about Mer Hob 👀 from the WIP title ask game

Finally popping my head back up to answer, my apologies for the wait! Mer-Hob came out of server conversations about mer-Dreamling fish assignments and aquatic mating displays, but he kind of fizzled out with the scene I tried to write. Dusting him off for this, though, I think I can breathe the spark back into it. Take it past where I meant to before, so it will have a more satisfactory conclusion. I have scrapped the lackluster 'how did they meet' that was stalling me out and given them new backstory and now I'm unsure how exactly I want to structure this. Start where I've started and then jump back to the meeting, then bring them back to the present? Make the backstory a separate fic? Rearrange the whole thing chronologically, which would require a lot of rework and shortening of the current opening bit? IDK but I'll figure it out. In the meantime, here is a chunky chunk of drafting for their meet-cute (sfw but cut for length):

Dream is not surprised to find a waterline-level cave out on the rock formation in the bay, on the side not visible from shore. Nor is he overly surprised to find someone stretched out in the handsbreadth of water covering the floor with their eyes closed, as the morning light fills the first several feet of the cave brightly in a way that is conducive to sunbathing.

The fact that the sunbather has a bright orange tail with brilliant yellow fins and blue-black leopard-like spots is rather less expected, however, and Dream gasps his surprise.

The sound startles the man—the merman—surely not?—who sits bolt upright, eyes wide and panicking as he locks gazes with Dream not an arm's length away.

Dream's heart skips a beat. He's beautiful—

"Oh, fuck!" The merman—there is no other explanation, no mistaking the flurry of fins and scales as he moves—the merman twists and flops and dives past Dream, a less-than-graceful plunge off the rock and into the sea and then he is gone.

"Wait!" Dream cries, to the bright flick of yellow vanishing into the depths, but of course it is no use.

He could swim back to the boat, could don his diving gear and follow—but no. The merman is already gone, and will be more so by the time Dream could be equipped to give chase.

He swallows back his disappointment, his disbelief, and tells himself resolutely that he surely imagined the entire thing.

But he did not imagine it, he knows this; the knowledge lodges in his mind, burrows down into his consciousness and curls around his common sense, stokes his curiosity.

He saw a merman.

Merpeople do not exist.

But he saw one.

He returns the next day, hoping perhaps to repeat the discovery, but he is the only visitor to the cave in the hours that he spends there. When the tide has gone out and come back in, high enough once more to cover the floor of the cave, when he has spent all day waiting with nothing to show for it, he admits defeat and swims back to his boat.

He returns again, and again, later each day with the drift of the tide, diving to explore beneath the surface when the cave remains empty. He finds nothing of note, nothing to hint at the existence of merfolk, nothing at all out of the ordinary; by day six, he is trying to convince himself to make peace with the likelihood that he will never find any trace of the merman he knows he had seen.

On day seven, the merman is back, sunbathing at the front of the cave again.

Only this time, he has human legs, is wearing swim trunks, is sitting further away from where Dream is treading water, stunned.

"…Hello," Dream manages.

"Hi," the man says, warmly polite. He is cross-legged with his knees drawn up and his arms wrapped around them, one hand holding the other wrist; he is meant to look casual and relaxed, Dream is certain, but the tension and the nervousness coming off of him are palpable.

He is still beautiful.

"You're. I saw you here, before?" His thoughts are still trying to catch up; he hoists himself into the cave, doesn't move closer.

The man's shoulders drop a tiny fraction. "Yeah, yep! Startled me good, you did!" He chuckles lightly, a carefree and casual sound; the fingers of his dangling hand wriggle, a nervous and distracted sort of gesture that draws Dream's attention to the profusion of hair on his bare legs, and arms, and what Dream can see of his chest.

"You had a. A tail, last time," Dream says, somewhat awkwardly, tearing his gaze from the sprinkling of hair on the man's bare toes.

"Oh, that, yes!" The man grins, bright and disarming. "I'm a mermaid performer, with the, ah, the local carnival."

Dream is convinced this is a lie even as the logical part of his brain points out that this explanation makes far more sense than believing in merfolk. He knows what he saw, the flexing of muscle and the fanning of fins, the bending and twisting that did not match up to the way that human legs would move in that configuration. The merman speaks with casual confidence, but the tension in his frame and the nervous fidget of his clasped hand are easy to read.

"…No, I don't think you are," Dream says, and the man's bright smile dips before returning to full wattage.

"Calling me a liar, are you?" He laughs, a light and enchanting sound that Dream immediately wants to hear more of. "Merfolk, they don't actually exist, I'll have you know."

~ The wip tag has a tiiiny bit more of this one, also.

[sundrop-writes]

Current WIPS July 2024*

*IMPORTANT NOTE - these fics won't be posted until mid to late August at least (maybe later - the later my moving date is pushed back, the later the post date of these fics is pushed back). I am delaying editing and posting them because editing is the most difficult part for me, but I will be working on writing new fics up until my moving day. And then after moving day, I will take an official two week break to do nothing, after which I will then start editing and posting these fics.

I just finished the Virgin!Stiles fic that I was working on, so I figured I would post this list again if anybody needs a refresher or if people seeing this in tags see this and wanna follow me. I am heavily considering working on an Isaac/Reader/Erica fic next because they are two characters from the show that I feel heavily inspired by. If you want to see a preview of any of these fics that don't already have one, please let me know!!

Also, my requests for Teen Wolf and The Maze Runner are currently open, (please read my rules before requesting), so if you wanna send me requests for reactions or MLTs for those fandoms, I would really fucking love to work on those (and requests for reactions and MLTs will be posted during the hiatus because I don't have to edit them).

Heaven’s Gate - Daryl Dixon x GN!Reader. Strangers to Lovers/Lovers Reunited. Emotional Angst, Hurt and Comfort, Fluff. Set during Seasons 1-5. You and Daryl get seperated when the Prison falls, and both believe the other person to be dead. But you can't let go of the things your relationship taught you. Eventually, when you're reunited - it's like you never missed a moment apart. (17,100 words est.) - PREVIEW HERE

Untitled Daryl PWP - Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader. Established Relationship. Set during Season 4. Daryl gets jealous, and takes it out on you. (2,300 words est.)

Some Kind Of Disaster - Gally (TMR) x Fem!Reader. Best Friends to Lovers/Lovers Reunited. Emotional Angst, Hurt and Comfort, Smut. Set during The Death Cure. You had every reason to believe Gally was dead, so when a mysterious stranger pulls off his mask and reveals himself to be the one person you had been missing so badly - you are shocked. And then you show him just how badly you had been missing him. (6,800 words est.) - PREVIEW HERE

English Blood // American Heartache - Gally (TMR) x Fem!Reader x Newt (TMR). Established Monogamous Relationship to Polyamory. (Very slight) Emotional Angst and Smut. Set post Death Cure/Safe Haven Era. Newt Lives AU. (Sequel to the above fic.) When you get to the Safe Haven, you believe that you have everything you ever wanted, everything you ever needed. So why do you have a nagging feeling that something is missing? Turns out, that 'missing' thing was the addition of your best friend Newt to your bed, which your boyfriend Gally is more than happy to provide. (20,300 words est.)

Trouble Is - Thomas (TMR) x Fem!Reader. (Pining) Friends to Lovers. Smut/PWP. Sex Pollen. Set during The Scorch Trials. Just as the group finds safety outside of the Maze, you are separated off from everyone as the only girl, and not being able to see you slowly drives Thomas insane. Until one day, he's locked in a room with you - but there's nothing suspicious about that, right? (6,900 words est.)

BRAINWASHED - Stiles Stilinski x Fem!Reader. Pining Best Friends/One-Sided Fantasies. Smut/PWP. Panty Stealing. Stiles has been in love with you for as long as he can remember, and since you both hit high school, that love has become perverted by hormones. But he can't help it. He also can't seem to help it when he steals a pair of your underwear that were seemingly laid out for him - but he can't get too caught up in the logistics when he has a hand around his cock. (6,900 words est.) - PREVIEW HERE

Stupid For You - Stiles Stilinski x Fem!Reader. Pining Best Friends to Lovers. Smut/PWP. Sequel to the above fic. Stiles still has your underwear that he stole, and he accidentally drops them in the locker room - in front of the entire lacrosse team. He lies and says that he got them from a hook-up with you, and surprisingly - you cover for him? But only on the condition that you can turn his lie into the truth. (10,200 words est.)

Blood In The Water - Void!Stiles x Fem!Reader. (Pining) Best Friends to 'Lovers'. Pure Angst. Set during Season 3 (with flashbacks to Season 1). When Void takes control, you worry about the damage that he's inevitably doing to Stiles's body. So you make a deal with him - if he lets Stiles eat, then you'll feed Void with some of your pain. But it's not cuts or broken bones that he wants from you - it's your tears.

[zee-has-commitment-issues]

okay! It's time!

AO3 wrapped (writer’s edition) 2024!

I did not write as many fics this year, but I got a big kid job and I traveled and I started a very VERY long outline for Dead Draw, plus I finished Reckless Abandon, but here we go!

1. How many words have you written this year? 205,699 more words than 2023, but less quantity of fics.

2. How many works did you publish this year? six. less than last year by five.

3. What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)? Same answer as last year, but Reckless Abandon is a part of my soul now I think. There was blood sweat and tear put into that fic.

4. What work of yours has the most hits? Reckless Abandon still! 16k hits, which is batshit insane.

5. What work of yours got more feedback than you expected? Skin. I didn't imagine it would get any readers at all, actually. It was a really stupid little idea, but i'm glad people liked it!

6. Favorite title you used? If You Give A Prince A Cookbook (He'll Get Weirdly Good At Cooking) based on the childhood If You Give A Mouse A Cookie books!

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

8. Pairing you wrote the most for this year? No one is surprised by it being Wilhelm/Simon in 5 out of 6 of my published fics this year.

9. Favorite pairing you wrote for this year? 100% wilmon, but nilcent would have been second.

10. What work was the quickest to write? Six Sentence Stories From Tumblr because they were literally six sentences each lmao.

11. What work took you the longest to write? Toss up between Dead Draw and Reckless Abandon. Both are long fics, but one is still ongoing, and one was brought into 2024 part-way done so it's hard to compare.

12. How many WIPs do you have in your docs for next year? I currently have four WIPs that I'm working on. A rewrite of Voicemail Box, a continuation of Just Some Guy, a crack fic I'll never finish, and Dead Draw

13. What’s your longest work of the year? Reckless Abandon technically, but again it was brought in from 2023. So only like 20k words were actually from 2024. Behind that is Dead Draw with a current 41k words and counting.

14. What’s your shortest work of the year? Six Sentence Stories From Tumblr - 2,703 words

15. What WIP are you taking into next year with you? Dead Draw! chess fic is my passion project.

16. What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag? "Wilhelm Loves Simon Eriksson" and "Simon Eriksson Loves Wilhelm" so...

17. Your favorite character to write this year? Always Wilhelm, I fear. I relate to him so much that I absolutely have to get up into his fucked up little head. But I found that I wrote a lot from Simon's pov this year.

18. What’s one pairing you want to explore next year? ... Madison and Alexander???

19. Which work of yours have you reread the most? The fic from this year was Nils' Room. My stupid little nilcent fic. I love it passionately. But I went back and read some of my old old fics this year too, so I probably spent more time on those.

20. How many kudos in total did you get this year? 1,302. Holy shit.

21. Which work has the most comments? Reckless Abandon and no one was shocked.

22. Did you do any collaborative works this year? Still none this year. All the love to Dani who helps me write and outline fics all the goddamn time. I hope I'm as useful to her as she is to me lmao.

23. Did you write any gifts this year? I did not this year unfortunately. I just didn't have time to join any of the exchanges. But I wrote for a few of the events I think!

24. Did you receive any gifts this year? Again, not this year, since I didn't have the chance to join any of the exchanges 😔

25. What’s your most common category? M/M in a whopping all fucking six.

26. What do you listen to while writing? video essays were a godsend this year. I'd just put them on in the background and lock in.

27. Favorite work you wrote this year? Dead Draw is my passion project and Reckless Abandon ripped my soul in half so probably a tie

28. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year? GodDAMN that one's hard to choose. But I think one there are two that stick out to me, both from Reckless Abandon:

Stella reached across the counter and squeezed his hand with a sympathetic smile. “He is an exceptionally easy person to love,” she said. And then she pulled away, grip tightening on her glass. “He’s just an easier person to leave.”  What made Simon the most upset — more than anything else in this fucked up situation — was that his heart hadn’t shattered until this moment. Not like it should have. It didn’t break him in two and threaten to overwhelm him.  His heart had broken, surely, when he found out what the others had done behind his back. His heart had broken, absolutely, when he realized Wilhelm wasn’t who he thought he was. But Simon’s heart didn’t shatter until right now. 

and

Wilhelm loved Simon like he was supposed to love Sweden. 

My soul left my body and joined the poets with those two I fear.

29. Biggest surprise while writing this year? I'm a slut for writing a prickly Simon/arrogant Wilhelm dynamic. Absolutely love it. Devour my own writing every single time.

-

I hope you enjoyed this year's writing wrapped! Sorry it took ten days into 2025 for me to post it lmfaoooo.

[thorntopieces]

💖🦄💥?

Thank you for the questions!

💖 What is your primary writing goal for this year?

I would love to finish my OSDD!Goro Akechi project (one main part, one sequel, a few oneshots). I'm currently halfway done with the primary fic, which is projected to be between 70-100k. A few snippets can be found here and here (both links to Tumblr posts)

Secondary because my interest in any project changes so often: I would love to finish my oneshot about BPD!Genesis

🦄 Is there a new POV you'd like to try writing?

At the moment, not really!

💥Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're most excited to write? Share a snippet or tell us about it!

Disregarding my OSDD!Goro fic which is under lock and key except for the few excerpts I've posted, I will talk about my FF7 time travel AU. It started out as a (not) NaNoWriMo project, but I quickly had to give up on it because of a demanding 42+ hour work schedule and declining mental health.

It's a time travel (kind of fix-it) AU where I also really get to dig my hands into everyone's (terrible) mental health, such as Cloud's obvious dissociative disorder (personal headcanon: DID), Genesis' personality disorder and everything that's wrong with Zack, Sephiroth and Angeal. It's not the most creative project by any means, and there is no shortage of time travel AUs out there but it also allows me to create the weirdest kind of polycule chain (featuring both romantic and queerplatonic relationships). It's made incredibly confusing through all of the time travel, but I'm having a lot of fun. Two snippets can be found below the read more:

Like it usually is with time travel, everything and nothing stays the same, all at once.

It’s the same in that, just like in his partially recovered memories, he’s in the infantry rather than in SOLDIER. A part of him sours with that realisation because it just feels so fundamentally wrong to him. He — they — he shouldn’t be stuck in the infantry like this.

But it’s entirely different when he realises that he’s now yet again occupying the body of his fourteen-year-old self while possessing at least some of his older memories, with the rest inaccessible to him (Vincent had called them amnesia barriers, and wasn’t that an apt name?) and that’s not right.

But magic is real (“A man once told me that we shouldn’t even call it magic” — a memory relived from two angles, causing a blinding headache to bloom across his temples) and so it stands to reason that time travel is also entirely possible.

Fuck, his head hurts, and for more than one reason.

“Hey, Cloud!” Someone says quietly from the side of his bunk. “How’s the concussion? Feeling better?”

Cloud cracks his eyes open to see Axel bent over him, head barely brushing the bunk above him. He shrugs and his head throbs. It’s a good thing he’s been awake for ab it already, long enough to have come to term with the fact that it’s now nine years earlier and he’s stuck quite literally reliving his memories. That he’s once again enhanced and still well and truly alive, despite it.

… His memories are still fucked up, though.

Maybe that’s a mercy, too.

*

Aerith crashes into him and hugs him as tightly as she possibly can before grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him into the church. The doors shut behind them, almost like Aerith is manipulating the universe through sheer will. It’s not outside the realm of possibility. The church has always been her domain, her sanctuary, a place that’s as devoted to her as she is to it.

It’s not before they are seated perfectly in the middle of the miniature field of flowers that she speaks.

“The Planet spoke to me,” she says, entirely sombre. “She told me that you remember. Do you?”

Cloud looks at her, looks hat how she almost seems to flicker a little. There is his perception of her, the twenty-one-year-old confident and staff-wielding mage, and then there’s the Aerith that really truly exists in this world, a shy fifteen-year-old still unsure of her place in the world.

“Do you?” He asks her instead of answering directly.

She averts her eyes and shrugs awkwardly. “The Planet speaks to me and I know more than I probably should. My existence is anchored to multiple points in the universe, much like you, Cloud. But … no, I don’t remember, not in the way that you do. I’m sorry.”

Cloud stares down at the flowers. Even after the end of the world he had carried one of them with wherever he went, preserved with a Stop materia to allow it to stay in bloom as long as possible. Always allowing it to wilt when it needed, allowing its energy to reunite with Aerith in the Lifestream.

She grips onto him, tightly. “But it doesn’t mean I don’t know. The Planet has shown me some, and a bit it feels like I just know. And there are others who are like me, and others who are like you, Cloud. You won’t be alone.”

She tugs at him to make him collapse into her lap, on his side, head facing outward, towards the church doors. At fist he doesn’t really understand, but then out of nowhere, a headache hits him hard enough to make the world spin.

“You always would get a headache after comments like that, I think,” Aerith says quietly. “You would worry the others greatly every time one of them hit because they wanted to help but didn’t know how to.”

Cloud lets her voice wash over him as his head spins. Every last neuron in his brain aches and maybe this is the other shoe. His very view of reality is rewriting itself, and it feels threatening in a way he can’t even begin to explain.

“He mentioned you having headaches, too, you know,” Aerith continues, brushing her fingers through his hair. “You didn’t start getting them later, they just became different, and a little worse, I think.”

It’s quiet in the church as Aerith starts humming, petting him not unlike how she’d petted the chocobos not long after leaving Midgar on the hunt for Sephiroth.

… Sephiroth.

The church doors slam open before he can even begin to think about everything that is Sephiroth. A voice Cloud hasn’t heard outside of his head in two years calls out desperately, “Aerith … something is wrong.”

The headache somehow gets worse and the world spins more aggressively, leaving him feeling distinctly sick. It feels like coming out of the mako poisoning coma. That’s…

It’s almost like his brain doesn’t want to remember, like it doesn’t know which version of reality to align itself to, as it flicks through every available option.

They’re still hidden there in the flower patch and Zack seems to have slowed down— this is Aerith’s domain, she could very well have made it happen —slowed down Zack so they’d have one more moment together.

He grabs onto her, even as he struggles to keep his eyes open and forces out, “If I forget, you need to remind me. Again, and again, and again, as many times as it takes.”

“I will,” she says, like she understands, and maybe she does. “As often as I have to. Let go, Cloud. Let the sun shine.”

Time starts moving around them again and his hand falls from where he grabbed Aerith by the wrist.

“Aerith!” Zack stumbles towards them and falls to his knees. Cloud can’t seem to get enough control of his eyes to actually look at him.

Everything fades away and then comes back in technicolour. The truth hits him like a bucket of cold water to the face and he suddenly has full clarity of the situation.

The knowledge is too much for him to handle and he cries out in pain as the true, pure memories, the ones that are all his, flood into his brain, the feeling of Zack’s blood on his face, crusting in his hair despite the warming rain pouring down on them (had that been Aerith’s rain, blanketing them as Zack had passed on, introducing her to him so that he would recognise her as safe later on?)

You’ll be my … living legacy.

And he had been, hadn’t he? Even more than Zack would ever think possible.

He wonders, distantly, through the sheer agony of his psyche tearing itself to pieces over and over again, shattering the relative and tenuous stability Aerith and Tifa had granted him like a pane of glass.

Like the plate Zack’s mother had dropped when he’d made the trip out to Gongaga after the end of the world to tell her about her son, to tell his story, to give them and him a semblance of closure.

Where he’d met Cissnei and Kunsel and they had recognised him once again as the tiny little infantry trooper Cloud that Zack had dragged around Shinra HQ not unlike a giant chocobo plushie.

One of them had compared his mannerisms in that moment to Zack and his world had almost crashed down on around him when Tifa had backed them up, bringing up the inconsistencies in his behaviour that still persisted after she’d almost quite literally entered his brain to try and save him from himself.

A second hand joins in on petting his hair as the world fades out again. His body is both overly his and not at all.

Then it suddenly feels right again. Or, as right it can be when it’s always been wrong.

“I think I died, Aerith,” Zack says from above him and Cloud feels so impossibly small. There’s nothing of Zack within him in the moment because Zack is right there in front of him, in the flesh and while he’s still at the mercy of his own body, entirely limp save for the occasional shake of his hands or legs and the fluttering of his eyelids.

Hearing Zack’s voice is enough sand it’s so much better than he could ever have imagined.

“But you’re here now,” Aerith’s voice says, warm and steady, but so different from the Aerith that Cloud has come to know. The fabric underneath his cheeks feels like it’s changing from the thinner, layered white linen to the thick and reliable pink cotton of past-future-his Aerith and back again.

There’s no telling if she’s the one changing or it’s his perception of the world playing tricks on him.

It’s like his brain can’t decide on which version of himself he should be and through a lot of struggle he manages to wrangle enough control of one hand to cover his eyes. Everything hurts, but in that intangible way that he’s come to associate with emotional turmoil of any kind.

“Hey, sunshine,” Zack says, and why how why why is his voice so warm and impossibly gentle and nice? “How are you feeling?”

Cloud manages a small groan and Aerith giggles above him.

“I get it, buddy,” Zack says emphatically. “I thought I’d lost my mind when I woke up this morning.”

It feels like talking through quicksand, but the word ‘concussion’ finally leaves him.

Zack sucks in a breath between his teeth. “Yeah, I bet that sucks. You’re really not having a good time, are you, huh, Cloudy?”

“How are you so calm?” Cloud says through gritted teeth and Zack laughs. It sounds different, on the edge of delirious.

“I woke up in my bed after being dead for multiple years. How do you think I feel? It’s a good thing the Firsts are all unavailable for a few days … I think.”

[aroeddiediaz]

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @cal-daisies-and-briars , @jesuiscenseedormir , @diazsdimples

How many works do you have on ao3?

27!

What's your total ao3 word count?

61,537

What fandoms do you write for?

Currently I’m pretty much exclusively a 9-1-1 writer, but in the past I wrote a lot of Flarrowverse (do they still call it that?). I also have published fics for Fantastic Beasts and a few anime (Given, Haikyuu, Saiki K). Given the number of Bnha wips i have locked away in the vault it’s amazing I don’t have anything published for that.

Top 5 fics by kudos:

(I am omitting all the Flarrowverse fics in my top 5 on the basis that they were written in high school and I’ve changed as a person, and they probably only beat out on the numbers due to being up for years longer)

1. Kabe-Do’s and Kabe-Don’ts (Given, 861 kudos)

2. You’re Not Special (Saiki K, 598 kudos)

3. How Eddie Learned To Stop Worrying And Embrace The Kitten Life (9-1-1, 327 kudos)

4. The Boy Formerly Known As Miracle (Haikyuu, 277 kudos)

5. Under The Hood (9-1-1, 275 kudos)

Do you respond to comments?

Yes!! As many as I can!

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

This probably has to be The Crimes of Queenie Goldstein, in which Queenie is put on trial for her actions during the war. Don’t @ me but Queenie turning traitor was bu far the most interesting part of the Crimes of Grindelwald (the only interesting thing, really). There could be such an interesting story between her and Tina if only JKR would let the movies out of her grasp.

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

Fuck, idk if I have a happiest ending fic, a lot of them tend to not have that much story arc. (A lot of established relationship fluff or smut lmao). I guess if I had to pick one it would probably be How Eddie Learned To Stop Worrying and Embrace The Kitten Life.

Do you get hate on fics?

Not since that one anti-olicity fic that I wrote while deep in the trenches of Flarrowverse discourse, which I totally deserved :/. I have regrets. Also I should probably orphan/delete that one if I haven’t already. In my defense, high school. I have learned.

Do you write smut?

Yea lol. I think my 9-1-1 stuff has been almost exclusively smut. Idk how it happened. (I do know how it happened smut is fun to write)

Craziest crossover?

I haven’t published any of my crossover fics :( none of them have been complete enough. I have many many unfinished RotBTD wips that have never seen the light of day though.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Who would steal my stuff? Lol

Have you ever had a fic translated?

One time someone offered to translate one of my fics into Russian but idk if that ever actually happened.

Have you co-written a fic before?

Nope

All time favorite ship?

Right now definitely Buddie! Percabeth holds a special place in my heart though <3

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

Ok. After the end of the Heroes of Olympus Series, but before Trials of Apollo was announced, I tried my own hand at writing the sequel that was clearly coming based on all the loose threads in the final book. It was going to be a Solangelo quest to save the Oracle of Delphi from Python, while Akhys tries to poison Percy to turn him into an evil god(?). Half the details have been lost and I desperately want to remember them, because I haven’t attempted anything nearly as cool or ambitious since then. The first 5 chapters are posted on my ao3 (Will Solace and the Oracle’s Cry) and I still think high school me had the most interesting characterization of Will out of everyone else on the internet at the time. Even if it is still very 2015.

What are your writing strengths?

I think I’m good at getting into the heads of different characters. Understanding their motives and weaknesses.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Editing.

Lmao I have a lot of weaknesses but I definitely struggle the most with trying to look back on or change things I’ve already written, even when it’s necessary.

Also my tendency to just drop fics if I stop working on them for too long. Rip to my wip graveyard.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

That’s a minefield I’m not willing to play in. Unless it’s Chinese. Very limited amounts of Chinese. Or like, a pet name or phrase that’s already ubiquitous in fandom so I’m not risking anything.

First fandom you wrote in?

Percy Jackson!! That Will Solace quest is the first thing I ever wrote! I definitely had a tendency to jump into the deep end with new hobbies lmao. Like my first ever cosplay that took me 3 years to complete.

Favorite fic you've written?

I think my favorite fic is always going to be the one I’m currently working on writing. But I am very proud of the silly little dramatic ironies in In Hindsight, which I wrote entirely over one long lunch the day after 7x04 broke me. Also I have to shoutout Teacher’s Pet, that one ruler spanking fic nobody ever reads because it’s Eddie/Ana lmao. I enjoyed putting in a bunch of tiny incompatibilities between them. So, uh, I guess my favorite thing in my own writing is dramatic irony?

Tagging: @aspecbuddie @pirrusstuff @jesuisici33 @steadfastsaturnsrings @lemonzestywrites @your-catfish-friend @inkmortal-trash389 @evanbegins s @wildlife4life @eddiebabygirldiaz @epicbuddieficrecs @kitteneddiediaz @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove @coatedpanda16 @nicotinewrites @estheticpotaeto @babytrapperdiaz @snowviolettwhite @wikiangela

[moltenwrites]

STORY NAME TAG

Thanks @thatuselesshuman for the tag

Rules: Post the names of all the files ( for me, files are the ideas fighting for attention in my head ) in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it!

After writing the post, I realize I very likely shared more than I was supposed to. Oops-

How our world ended

My current project, the first draft is finished and I’m shooting for a late 2024 early 2025 release

Souls Collide

My first project, and the namesakes of this universe. This one is indefinitely on hold untill I figure out how I want it to end.

Cadin & Raixen ( untitled )

A story focusing on two very important characters in the souls collide universe. This one is a more recent idea, but I’ve got a lot of it locked down in my head

Hart ( untitled )

A story focusing on an aging bounty hunter named Hart! This is the most recent full story idea I’ve had. I only really have the end figured out, but I like the idea

Council of fate ( untitled )

I may never make this one, but a story focusing on the council of fate, and how these people became as fucked up as they are is infinitely interesting to me

Asteri ( untitled )

One of two god based stories I’ve thought of, this one would focus on Asteri, a character who actually made a brief appearance in the How Our World Ended prologue

Other god story idk ( untitled, obviously)

I want to make a story focusing on the Gods post Asteri.

Shorter projects

These projects wouldn’t be full novels like the last, but I felt they were worth mentioning!

The Unfaithful - A remake and expansion of a ( admittedly terrible ) short horror story I wrote many years ago. I actually wrote a couple of paragraphs for this one, but I’m waiting to develop it more

Another Soul - A short project focusing on Oti, the God of death, taking a single soul to the afterlife

Untitled religion idea - this one is probably never gonna see the light of day, but it has a cool concept that I kinda fuck with

Island story - Also very likely never gonna see the light of day, but I thought of it two days ago and it was kinda cool

TAG LIST

Tagging @aintgonnatakethis @ddgraywrites @jjoneswriting @revenantlore @noxxytocin @yourpenpaldee @illarian-rambling @autism-purgatory @the-letterbox-archives @theverumproject @gioiaalbanoart

+ Open tag

[yeliuxi]

Fic Writer Q&A

Tagged by @dragongirlg-fics :") Thank you ahh

How many wips do you have currently?

I think 5. Though all having various degrees of actually aiming to finish and post haha

For Qi Ye - The longer Ming Hua fic. Ming Hua's impressions of Jing Beiyuan and his bullshit throughout the years

Also for Qi Ye - My main fic. The genderbend modern organized crime AU that I have been working on for years now with femme-but-also-kind-of-becoming-butch-at-the-end Jing Beiyuan + butch Wuxi. But I ended up drawing a lot of it to procrastinate the writing... so now I have a lot of art (including first attempts to draw NSFW art), and not even a complete outline

& another for Qi Ye - Just straight porn featuring Jing Beiyuan domming Wuxi. Also topping like Jing Beiyuan initially wanted to do in the novel. But that's a separate sex scene. That's all

For MDZS - modern AU inspired by my RBB prompt. Lan Wangji has feelings for Wei Wuxian & when helping him out Lan Xichen accidentally ends up dealing with his own problems

For Locked Tomb - Palamedes/Camilla gender thesis fic. Where they fuck (? Masturbate? What happens when you share a body) and cope in unhealthy ways and Pyrrah is there going "wow yeah that's fucked up. Do you feel fucked up about this" and having an uno-reverse moment about her in Gideon 1's body

Still in brainstorming phase but The Double femslash where jealous Situ Jiuyue indeed "knocks up" Xue Fangfei. They blow off steam and the fake pregnancy drug is administered in sexy way lolol. The two lines of ":0 Whose baby is it" "Jiuyue's" live rent free in my head

More of the Q&A below

Which one are you finding the hardest to finish?

#2... It keeps growing... I thought I would end with an AU equivalent of Jing Beiyuan faking her death but then I started writing post-fake death... and now it's 90% ex-criminal-but-still-committing-a-continuous-crime Jing Beiyuan relearning how to be a normal person and Wuxi fitting herself back into a normal life 🤦🏻‍♀️Also did I mention the procrastination with my drawings?

What does it usually look like when inspiration strikes for you?

Unfortunately I think when I am most inspired it prevents me from writing haha. I get all excited and then stare off imagining the scenes... and do not write them. But there is a moderate amount of inspiration where I go onto 4thewords co-op writing battles and write out 10k in a day. I had several of these days in July and then have not since...

Do you curate playlists for each fic or is your process different?

No... I feel too much pressure to have songs that "relate" to the fic and I don't like doing that because it's time consuming and burns my energy that could be spent writing lol. Also I don't usually do any creative things with music because it's distracting to me

Do you go balls to the wall and write as you go or are you more organized?

I am a pantser mostly (tragic result of often having more vibes than plot thought out haha) but for certain long fics I will put together a detailed outline

Tagging: @difeisheng @geneticcatalyst @minnarr and whoever else wants to :D Yes this includes anyone reading this. Even if we aren't mutuals haven't talked etc. Just say I tagged you because I did and I am nosy and want to read it

[firstprinced]

hi pretty people and happy pride month!

long story short - i read a lot of fics of alex and henry. all the ratings, all the lengths, au's and canon. now, this has been going on for a long time (don't ask me how long i will not confess). lately i have been just reading recent works and after sending another fic rec to the gc, i thought to myself, why not share them on tumblr. so this is just that. i will not limit my recs with anything but will write out ratings, wordcount, summary etc and give my own notes (spoilers not included).

SO! here are some of my latest fic recommendations from those i've read during the last week or so! ALL of these are posted between 31st of May and 5th of June 2024. bon appetit!

one more thing, everything not E is very pure in my eyes. all below E are marked with blue and all E fics are in pink.

but daddy, you love him by @theprinceandagcd rated M, 16k. tags: non-famous au, kid fic, mutual pining my comment: so sweet i was about to die. and i cried! minor angst i just cried over how pure it was. alex's daughter in the fic, brie, is the sweetest thing in the whole wide world.

author's summary Alex peers up at Henry’s face, the familiar tenseness in his jaw and mildly disinterested eyes nowhere to be seen. Instead, Henry’s expression is open and borderline delighted, like Brie used an extra strong shot of sorcery to draw Henry in and melt the ice that he usually stays locked behind.Suddenly, Alex’s vague crush on an unapproachable coworker feels realer, all because he’s standing there and looking at Alex’s daughter like she hung the fucking moon. He’s treating the most important person in Alex’s life—his entire goddamn heart—as if she truly matters to him, giving her fist bumps and smiling at her and telling her she’s beautiful like her dad.It’s doing weird things to Alex’s chest and making his palms sweat even in the air conditioned office, and he can’t decide if he’s okay with that development or if he wants to stick his head in Brie’s Easy-Bake oven.

the law of attraction by ao3 user bananamilks rated T, 6k. tags: non-famous au, fluff, no angst, henry is a flirt, bisexual disaster acd my comments: i can never get enough of a confident, flirty henry. alex didn't stand a chance. was giggling and kicking my feet and also full on LAUGHING

author's summary As he’s pulling out his textbook, a shadow crosses over Alex’s bag. Before he can look up, a warm, distinctly accented voice asks, “more exams?” “They never stop,” Alex says. He looks up at Henry, who is grinning down at him with his arms crossed over his chest. If Alex notices the way his shirt is pulled taught over his broad shoulders then that is no one’s business. Henry glances at his textbook, and Alex finds himself angling it so Henry can see better. “Criminal procedure. It’s about–” Henry leans one arm on the table, and his blonde hair flops down into his eyes. He’s studying the book cover like he’s the one with the exam, and this close Alex can see a tiny mole on his upper lip. “Uh… criminal… procedures.” The corner of Henry’s lip quirks up and – Jesus Christ. “You don’t say?” [or: Alex is a law student and Henry works at the library. Naturally, they're smitten]

playing to win (you're in my head again) by @anincompletelist WIP (but written and posting every day or every other day so no sweat)! rated E, about 30k finished, currently 2/7. tags: enemies to lovers, pining, friendship, getting together, dob/sub dynamics, kink negotiation, kink exploration, subspace, aftercare, post-college, masturbation, oral sex, eventual fluff my comments: NOW, i don't know how much i'll rec wips but this one i HAD TO. one, please do read this author's other work if you have not. two, this is everything i could dream up. CHOMP CHOMP. yeah that's my academic peer review.

author's summary Other than Nora, there’s Pez, the one that’d wrangled them all together in the first place and continues to plan their token themed brunches & bar crawls each week; Eliana, or Eli for short, ridiculously talented creative with a heart of gold underneath the leather jacket and the nose ring; and Mateo, their resident bro, all around hype-man and Alex’s fellow bisexual. And that’s pretty much the group. Except for Henry, of course. But Alex tries not to think about him if he can help it. + Or, Henry and Alex are practically perfect for each other. Once they get past the years long animosity and hate-pining, of course.

'we hereby conduct this postmortem' (or something along these lines) by ao3 user natoureuse rated E, 23k. tags: homicide detective alex, medical examiner/forensic analyst henry, character injury, blood and injury, mentions of murder/death/guns and so on, sexual content, feelings realization my comment: SO incredibly funny, beautiful, soft, sweet, FUNNY. i loved everything about it and this author writes so well oh my god! it, because of their occupations, involves some blood and dead people so if that's a hard no so be it but it is SO fluffy you wouldn't believe based on the tags etcetera. adored it.

author's summary “There is evident lack of blood around the wound.” “So that suggests he was dead beforehand?” “It suggests that the blood coagulated before the stabbing, which would mean…” Basically that he was dead beforehand, to summarize. Or; Homicide detective Alex tries to befriend his rude ass coworker, medical examiner Henry.

that's it for today! i'll see if i'll keep this a weekly thing and maybe i'll change the format in some ways but these are the fics i wanted to highlight! show love for new works and works by new authors - comment, leave kudos, all that good stuff 🩵

[the-inkwell-variable]

Writeblr Interview Tag!

Thanks so much for the tag, @sableglass!

Short stories, novels, or poems?

Novels all the way. I've tried my hand at short stories, and they always end up being novellas or straight up novels by the time I'm done with them. May as well stick with what my little brain clearly desires!

What genre do you prefer reading?

Mysteries (cozy or otherwise), horror (especially zombie fiction or apocalypse fiction, yes please), fantasy (especially cozy, I love cozy fantasy so much, have you read Legends and Lattes?), and romance.

Are you a planner or a write as I go kind of person?

I'm a little of both! I'll generally have a plan in my head at the very least, if not a brief outline written down somewhere, but when I actually sit down to write, my writing tends to veer off wherever it wants and do its own thing (for example, FUCKING CHUCK). As long as it makes sense, I tend to just let it go wherever it wants lol

What music do you listen to while writing?

Surprisingly, I don't listen to much music while writing. I'll daydream to it, absolutely, but I mostly just throw on some Markiplier or an old debate that I've heard ten thousand times and write to that. It's more about the background noise than the actual content, y'know?

But when I DO listen to music, I drift toward lofi or mood music compilations on youtube. The kind that DMs play during their DnD sessions. Love those so much, they really help keep me locked in a single mood, which I absolutely need when I'm writing a scene.

Favorite books/movies?

Oh god. Lord of the Rings (including the Hobbit don't @ me). Train to Busan (or any Korean zombie movies/shows, really). Some Disney and Pixar - Big Hero 6, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Emperor's New Groove, etc. The Strain is one of my favorite TV shows - I also love Cutthroat Kitchen above all else, a bunch of different anime, and Dance Moms (yes I know it's toxic and yes I am ashamed of myself for enjoying it. I pity the kids but I rage at the moms.)

As for books, my favorites are the Beechwood Harbor Mystery series, The Luminous Dead, Thief Liar Lady, All Systems Red, Legends and Lattes, A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, anything Holly Black, Suffer the Children, Contagion, Luck in the Shadows, Assistant to the Villain, Dead of Night, and Surviving the Evacuation!

Any current WIPs?

Oh gosh. I'm bopping between From Carnival to Chamomile, a prequel to a cozy mystery series, and Dauntless, a zombie apocalypse trilogy, right now. Sometimes I'll work on Priestess Without Honor, a paranormal low-fantasy romance, and Chosen Against My Will, a dark mafia romance. I also have zer0 ALPHA, a lit-rpg isekai zombie apocalypse novel, but I haven't touched that in years and have only recently rediscovered my notes for it.

If someone were to make a cartoon out of you what would your standard outfit be?

I wear the same thing every day, surprisingly. That's the autism for ya. I love jeans and a T-shirt, especially if that T-shirt has a picture from an anime or show or something like that. Printed shirts, I think they're called. Oh, and mismatched socks. That's me.

Create a character description of yourself: 

Too tall for her own good and unwanted curves for days. Bobbed dark-blue hair with steel gray eyes. Too busy writing or gaming to really notice what's going on. Expect a text back within seconds of receiving it - she reads faster than most people expect and tends to read every text twice just to give it that safety buffer. If there isn't a snack and a drink nearby, call the police.

Do you like incorporating actual people you know into your writing?

Hehehehe maybe. But not exactly in a good way. I'm very much the kind of person who will put someone I dislike into my book just so they can get the justice they won't get in the real world, even over something as minor as pronouncing my name wrong on purpose (I'm looking at you, Keiara).

Are you kill happy with your characters?

I want to say yes because I kill off characters constantly, but when it comes to my main OCs, no. I can't bring myself to kill them at all. I go out of my way to create characters for death (like FUCKING CHUCK) rather than put my favorites in the line of fire. I think that's a problem I need to work on.

Coffee or Tea while writing?

coffeecoffeecoffeecoffee

but I do love tea, especially in the fall. In the fall, I tend to drift toward tea and apple cider rather than coffee.

But otherwise? Coffeeeeeee

Slow or fast writer?

Fast writer when I actually sit down to write! Slow writer when I'm procrastinating. I've been working on Dauntless for...thirteen years? Twelve?

Where/who/what do you draw inspiration from?

I get inspiration from EVERYTHING. Dreams. Books. Movies. Something dumb my partner says offhandedly.

If you were in a fantasy world, what would you be?

I absolutely want to be something cool, like a shadow mage. But I'm probably a little gremlin that hides in the edges of the woods and steals your socks. Mmmm socks.

Most fav book cliche:

Enemies to lovers! Especially when one person is smitten at firstt sight and doesn't realize it.

Least favorite cliche:

Friendship is magic. Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with powerful friendships being front and center, but when the big bad is literally destroyed because fRiEnDsHiP I gag a little bit. I also hate undeserved happy endings - make the ending make sense. If it's a sad or horror book, sometimes the ending needs to be bad. And finally, forced romance. No. No thank you. Some stories don't need romance.

Favorite scene to write?

Descriptions! Am I good at them? No. Will I spend three pages describing a tree? Maybe.

Also conversations. I tend to do a lot of conversations and monologues in my writing. Need to work on that.

Reason for writing?

If I don't write down the ideas in my head, I will explode.

TAGLIST: @falconfate - @space-writes - @leahnardo-da-veggie - @i-can-even-burn-salad - anyone who wants to take part!

[baejax-the-great]

Hi! I just wanted to combat that anon (fuck them btw) and say I ADORE your fics.

I’ve plagued everyone to tears in my life over broken oaths and water in the dawn. Your premises never fail to go hard asf. And your prose? It absolutely baffles me how you write so fast when the quality is just next level, and your characterisation of patrochilles? Ugh it scratches such an itch in my brain, you just Get Them.

I recently logged into my ao3 to read sweet victory and realised most of your fics have availability set to logged in users only. Omg I was like a kid on christmas. I have so much reading to do!!!

Your work is incredible, and brings me so much joy. Have a great day!

Hey, thank you! (but also don't worry about that anon. Pretty sure I know who that is and they have a very weak understanding of appropriate behavior (or how to get under my skin for that matter))

Patrochilles crawled into my brain and sleeps there. Prior to them, I can't say I had much interest in Greek myth. I played Hades, someone suggested I read tsoa, I read the Iliad, became obsessed with Ajax somewhere in the middle of that, and two years later, here we are (366k words on the archive???). I like to joke that the muses still wake up every few years and target a random person with "Okay, it's your turn to make sure his glory is eternal like we promised" and then go back to sleep. And possibly the one I got was confused and hit me with the Ajax beam, too.

I also think when Troy (2004) came out, the muses had to work overtime to fix that egregious error

I'm mostly joking. I tend to think of these Greek heroes as the OG comic book characters. Over the years, so many authors have taken a crack at them with their own biases, preferences, and interpretations. Some shit gets retconned. Some new stuff gets canonized. People debate over it. Except those debates end up on jstor instead of reddit or twitter or whatever.

Obviously, though, as one of the current people writing about these guys, I'm right and my cultural biases have no role in influencing my perfect understanding of their characters (/s).

It was interesting going from Hades game, where Patroclus is so snarky and dry, to the Iliad, where when he finally speaks, it's to literally cry with tears streaming down his face to Achilles. I was thinking to myself, well, I'm fine with Supergiant inventing this part of him and I'll keep it for myself. And then he had the best trash talk of all the Achaeans. I had actually put my book down to text a friend "the trash talk in this book absolutely sucks; humans clearly didn't have that down yet" and then the next line was Patroclus telling everyone to shut the fuck up because he was with me on that one. And then he wrecks Hector's shit verbal-style while blind and dying. Love that guy.

Anyway this is all to say many interpretations are good! Except for Troy (2004) and the one where Achilles considered Patroclus his mommy. It's cool to see how people take small details from a 3k yo book and turn it into full characterizations. Less cool to learn just how badly Ajax's original story got warped. I'm super happy these guys inspired me to write so much in the past couple years and that the fandom has honestly been one of the most interesting and engaged that I've come across.

As for the archive-lock, I tend to keep my active WIPs open to guest readers and then lock them after they've been finished for a little while. It's probably not terribly effective, but my hope is this limits some of the constant scraping being done of the archive.

[elvenbeard]

WIP WEDNESDAY

Yes I'm actually doing this on a Wednesday wooo :D

I just went back through all my tags of the last month and man, you guys ;__; <3 I'm not good at keeping up with tumblr atm and I don't have something to share every week, so I think once a month a WIP Wednesday might be a good compromise XD Thank you for all the tags!!

@theviridianbunny @dreamskug @ouroboros-hideout @lokiina @therealnightcity @chevvy-yates tagging you all right back!

So, with that off of my list of works in progress, as is answering all the tag games and quizzes, some projects I'm working on atm:

Writing: Love is stored in the olive jar (WT) - Chapter 13

It's done, but still needs a lot of editing, as it got very heavy on dialogue in the end and I want it all to flow more nicely and make it a bit more scenic XD Too many instances of "she looked up again" or "he paused for a moment/second" xD But I'm getting there! Here's a snippet from the already somewhat polished beginning:

“Alright,” Fuentes said as she finally caught her breath again, “I suggest we cut straight to the chase.” “Yes,” V nodded, “Thank you again for taking the time.” “Of course,” Fuentes nodded, “I have to admit, I have been thinking about you and your case a lot these past days. Even with the limited knowledge I have so far, I still believe I may be able to help. If you are willing now to tell me more about your condition now, of course.” ‘Willing’ wasn’t the word V would use, it was more a necessity at this point. “I will,” he said, “But only if you can provide me with a certain level of security.” Fuentes shifted in her chair slightly and frowned, then she opened one of the drawers of her desk and pulled out a tablet. She turned it on and began to search for something on it while maintaining eye contact with V as best as she managed. “You’ve come here today as my patient. As far as I’m concerned, everything, anything that we discuss, falls under the doctor-patient confidentiality. My contract with the Little China MedCenter binds me to treat your data and information with utmost care and discretion. All data we store is locked away securely, all in accordance with your Trauma Team policy. I can resend you the patient information papers and contracts, although I think most of them you should already have…” “I care less about the MedCenter than about what you personally do with the information I’m going to give you,” V said, and Fuentes stopped her search, narrowing her eyes slightly. “I’m not sure what you’re alluding to,” she said, still polite, but significantly more tense than before. “Nothing,” V shook his head carefully, “This is just not something I tell random strangers on the street… no offense, of course. If I have to play with open cards, I need you to as well.”

In which Vince hates doctors but has to trust one now, boo XD

Writing: Some drabbles :3

Inbetween the longfic I still have some ask prompt drabbles to fill that I'm looking forward to tackling soon! And in a sudden burst of inspiration I wrote out a long although not very serious convo between Vince and Johnny the other day xD I'd love to turn it into a (VP) comic maybe, but I'm not sure yet XD

Art: Nothing new since last time, slowly chipping away at some bigger projects inbetween

VP: Currently no concrete plans for a bigger project

Although I wanna do more "days in the life" for Vince!! And I wanna play around more with some poses though and have a very soft set to share that I gotta edit a bit still ;_; Tomorrow probably!

Also, I'd like to turn the interface thingies from my recent "V as NPC" projects into shareable templates, that is also on my wip/ to-do list! Just wanna gather some in-game reference shots first :D

Modding: 👀👀👀

I'm working on a little something maybe, and I'm so excited :DDD Just gotta relearn how to do Archive XL, it's been half a year xD And I fought MLSetup Builder so fucking hard, but now I know how to edit MLMask Setups, so that's a victory at least XD And I have a base for a very kitschy coat :3

But yes, so much to that so far! See you again in a month or so probably with an ever-growing pile of wips xD But maybe some more writing, maybe some more art, and maybe a finished mod after too long 👀

[eusuntgratie]

g1 and a2, unless someone already asked. if they did, then dealer’s choice

thank you, amanda!

g1 answered here so i'll give ya another one <3

A2. Did you have a fic you wanted to write this year but didn’t get to? (Or a fic you wanted to post but haven’t finished yet?)

SO MANY! i was hoping to have my morning after 2x06 malexa fic done by now. i was also really hoping to make progress on my firstprince exes to lovers fic. i'm not sure when i'll get to that one bc my current wip is consuming me but i really do love that one.

okay i'm gonna answerrrrrr....

A3. Which of your posted fics do you wish had more comments for you to engage with?

okay i don't mean this in a wahhhhhh i want more people to read my shit way i just mean it in a i really fucking love this fic and would love to talk about it BUT the last fic i posted is an actor rpf throuple rarepair situation alksdjfjlaksdjfls (costars + the actual girlfriend of one of them, who is also an actress) and like. i love the concept and i feel like its hot as fuck and it would be fun to have more people to talk about it with but i also get that the number of people looking for fic like that is probably none. its the only fic in the ship tag and i didn't tag the main ship (which still has a tiny fandom) bc they don't do anything in the fic without the third involved. ANYWAY.

its archive locked bc rpf but maybe give i wanna see a shot if you enjoy hot women in charge and bisexuality and mess 🥰

writing asks

[flowersforthemachines]

55., 65., and 68. for the fic writer asks!!

omg, dani, hiii <3

Answers to 3, 11, and 18: here, answer to 76: here, answers to 13 (sort of), 17, and 26: here, 10, 47, and 74: here, 46: here

Questions come from THIS post

Hidden under the "Read more" for length (don't ask me about my writing plans. I will NOT shut up)

55. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

I don't really have any for Dragon Age since I've finished writing only 6 fics so far (counting a fic that I haven't posted yet), and like 3 of them were super short, so I didn't get a proper taste for the POVs I've tackled.

I did enjoy writing Bellara a lot, though, both for Ghilasara's codex entries, and her post-canon diary WIP that I posted last week. But she *is* my absolute favourite, so there's a ton of bias involved <3

I don't think I've ever been swayed by readers' reactions, but it was great to hear a few people say that I managed to get Lucanis right when I took a stab at writing him (I was quite nervous about that. a lot nervous, even)

65. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

I'm mostly looking forward to figuring out what I want to write next. The current contenders for the spot of the next WIP are:

The Rookanis relationship lock-in scene, an already awkward scene, made about 300% more awkward by Rook having to admit she (accidentally) lied to Lucanis about liking coffee and actually prefers tea instead. I've been warming up to this idea specifically because while the concept of "they are so love, but they are also so fucking stupid" has been present in most my Rookanis fics so far, it has never been centre-stage, and maybe it's time for that. Maybe they need a silly little win.

That fic I mentioned before about post-divorce Rook drinking with Illario to drown her sorrows in alcohol. I'm still kind of nervous about writing Illario, but I also have more Illario fan mutuals right now, and one by one their presence gives me small boosts of confidence <3

A fic about Rookanis's first post-divorce reunion, mentioned in a throraway line in ATEOHW ("You strolled into the Villa during a Crow reception, announced that you missed me and dragged me away.”). Mostly because I love the power play of strolling into a Crow party to say you want their Talon back, and said Talon, you know, actually agreeing to that. They are both insane for playing into that scenario, in their specific ways (there is nothing to indicate to Rook that Lucanis will agree - she is exposing herself to potential public ridicule. And Lucanis knows they are in front of a bunch of crows, including Caterina, and still leaves with her anyway. Idiots, both).

But that fic would involve smut, and that aspect, like, requires a lot of planning, and mental preparation. I do, however, tend to write smut when I Go Through Things, and some of the news I've received lately sound just like something to write more porn about to emotionally process what the hell is going on. So We Shall See.

68. What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

Read! I don't think there's anything better than reading that can inspire me to write. I consider a book great if I walk away from it having written/getting inspiration to write a new fic ^_^

But that fic would involve smut, and that aspect, like, requires a lot of planning, and mental preparation. I do, however, tend to write smut when I Go Through Things, and some of the news I've received lately sound just like something to write more porn about to emotionally process what the hell is going on. So We Shall See.