#fanfic writers appreciation day 2017

[destielfanfic]

from the inbox, #9

From the inbox, #9, special edition - Destiel fic reccing Now and Then

Hi! First of all, your blog is absolutely wonderful! I wish there were a billion more like it for all pairings and fandoms lol. Do you know of any other good supernatural rec blogs?

As long as there were destiel fics, there were also dedicated fic reccers. Some stayed with fandom longer, some moved on faster, so, now we have a mix of active blogs and archived blogs. Here’s small collection of destiel fic rec resources that I’ve come across on tumblr. This is by no means a definite list and you are welcome to add your own resources in the notes! Let’s keep fic reccing craft alive and diverse!

Destiel Fic reccing NOW, currently active blogs in 2023

@profoundbondfanfic - an active and prolific destiel fic rec blog with dedicated mod team. Follow them on tumblr and have a rec every day!

@destielficbasket - a blog that reblogs a wide variety of destiel fic rec posts from other Tumblr blogs. All goods in one place!

@deancasfanficrecs - destiel fic recs and fic rec reblogs, lots of posts to chose from!

@destieltaggedfic - blog full of original themed fic rec posts, sorting destiel fics from different angles.

@mixtapebookclub - a tumblr blog for destiel fic podcast. Thematic podcasts and fic rec lists at the same time. There is also a Mixtape Book Club AO3 collection for your convenience. 

@cocklesdestielfiction - what it says on the tin! They have destiel, but they also have cockles recs and gif sets. Check them out!

@destieltropecollection - a very unique blog that collects themed self recs from the authors. Check out their neatly organized Master List Collection 2017-2022 or follow them to get the latest Destiel Trope Collection 2023 rec lists every day in May.

The Destiel Fan Survey Favs Collection on AO3 contains 2793 fics and 668 bookmarked fics that were chosen by destiel readers in several fic surveys organized by destiel writer @unforth. Check out this vast collection of reader choice fics!

Destiel Fic reccing THEN

@destielmybeatingheart-deactivated - what to say, this was the main blog for destiel fic rec back in the day. Unfortunately, the mod left fandom and later took down the blog and, with it, all their fic rec posts. See this post to appreciate what we used to have. In coming weeks, @destiel-fic-rec-lists will continue to reblog available destielmybeatingheart’s rec lists with updated links to AO3 when possible. You can find them under #creator: destielmybeatingheart tag. 

ask about other spn blogs like ours - this is 10 years old ask and a lot of blogs here are not active anymore or full of dead links, but if they are up, you can still browse them. The list includes some non spn fic rec blogs as well.

@deancasfix - destiel fic rec blog, reviews, rec lists and asks, last update May, 2020.

@deancasfanficnet - a blog to promote destiel fic writers, various posts, last update April, 2020.

@destiel-fics-for-you - destiel fic rec blog, reviews, rec lists and asks, last update June 2016.

Last but not least, don’t forget to browse our destiel fic challenge master post Where Is Destiel Fic In 2022 and occasionally check out @destiel-fic-rec-lists​ blog for fic rec lists made by other fans. (hint - all reblogs are tagged with their creator’s urls, so you can easily find their other posts on the blog)

Support and cherish your local fanfic reccer. You never know when you’ll need their help to find your next favorite fic!

Destiel fanworks on AO3 - 111,567 (May 8, 2023)

You can find previous From The Inbox posts here.

[neewtmas]

24 days of Appreciation

DAY 1

*Mariah Carey voice* IT'S TIIIIIIMEEEEEE

Welcome to the very first day of appreciation of this month, where we shine a spotlight each day on those we appreciate in this fandom!

If you want to submit someone or something (for more info read here), you can do so here or just message me! If you wanna stay anonymous, either tell me or submit on anon.

Appreciation from me:

The person I wanna talk about today is @maraschinomerry, because you were one of the first people I really interacted with in this fandom. I hadn't written fanfiction in several years (since 2017 I think), and your commentary was what I was looking forward to every time I posted something. And it just motivated me so much to keep going and made me really happy. Also in my mind, you're one of the big George x reader writers on here, and for that I love you very much. Your imagines are some of my favourites that I regularly come back to and reread (especially How to Stand, Important Research, Offerings and Matching Mates - see, I can't even pick one or even three haha). Also you've just been a very sweet and kind person overall and I'm glad you're here and I got to know you. 🫂💞

Appreciation from others (submissions):

from @demigoddess-of-ghosts: I would like to show my appreciation for one of the loveliest person I know Oh I have a favorite fanfic made by the most beautiful and amazing person I have met @smol-being-of-light she's literally fantastic omgs 😭😭🫂🫂🫂

Show your appreciation and submit someone or something here :)

[turquoizxe]

𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬

Welcome to all! If you are new, I go by turquoizxe, an online content creator, writer, and artist. Welcome to my Tumblr Blog, where I am a black multifandom writer, aiming to be a safe space for all readers alike! If you'd like to learn more about me or my work, my intro/masterlist is pinned on my blog. I also plan to involve my writing more into my other content!

I would like to describe this month-long shenanigan known as my December Delights. I often wrote fanfiction as a hobby, especially in high school. I personally owe my humble beginnings to Wattpad before they went to shit. I transitioned to Tumblr in 2023 after my prolonged hiatus due to growing up and losing the motivation to write after one of the works I was working on for years was taken down after reaching +100,000 reads. Both of my accounts are Wattpad are now archived, yet viewable lol. I only have one official work that remains to this day, which I created in 2017 if you'd like to glimpse where I started el oh el.

All that just to say, my passion for the arts and writing exceeds this lifetime. And I'm glad that even after my hiatus since August of 2023, so many of you hung on and were excited to see what I still had to bring. As we enter a new year, I have made many plans to take my content creation more seriously, starting here. I will be creating an AO3 account, while it will be prioritized for my longer series that exceed +20,000 words, I will also begin posting some other content there as well, mainly from my webtoon that I am producing, and will be constantly updating my blog to make my other works accessible as well.

I want you all to know that I appreciate your support beyond words can describe, and I can't wait to continue my writing journey which such an awesome fanbase <3

Alright, moving onto the actual festivities...

Welcome to "December Delights"! A full month where I release the completed drafts from my hiatus will be released to my wonderful audience

Due to my mental health, as well as the college life kicking my ass, I took an unprompted hiatus in August of 2023 until I posted my Sevika fic this November of 2024.

December Delights is to clear out my drafts and finish the series I intended to finish months ago. I'm glad you all were so patient, and I can't wait for you all to read my final installations of 2024 before we proceed into a new chapter of life :))

Down below, you will find the tentative schedule for the release dates of each of the works pending for their release. This also includes when my Request Box opens for the entirety of December for FAQ, Q&A, and Requests. Here are some rules below:

Please tag what you are requesting in the Request Box: Fanfic Requests are tagged as #FicPrompts, less than 100 words please. Questions reserved for Q&A are tagged as such (#Q&A), and the same goes for FAQ (#FAQ)

Please keep in mind that I have the right to decline prompts, look into my rules if you don't know what I do/don't write.

If you request a prompt that includes a fandom that is not on my list, keep in mind that chances of me writing said prompt are slim, it's okay to also message and ask me beforehand if I know a fandom that's not on my list.

If you'd like to be added to the tag list for this series, please comment so I can take note and respond to those who request it! (ex. #DDTaglist)

That's all folks! Marvel at the list below!

December Delights | Tentative Schedule

First Release (December 2nd 12AM, Just For You (4/5) - Hobie Brown)

New Year Q&A, FAQ, Request Box Opens (December 2, 12AM)

Second Release (December 9th 12AM, Just For You (5/5) - Hobie Brown

Third Release (December 16th 12AM, Addictive - Fontaine)

Fourth Release (December 23rd 12AM, Wasted Eyes - Mizu)

Final Release (December 31st 12AM, Take Your Time - Kento Nanami)

New Year Q&A, FAQ, Request Box Closes (January 1st, 12PM)

New Year Q&A, FAQ Release (January 10, 12AM)

...Request Box Schedule coming soon

― turquoizxe

[squishmittenficfan]

Ah, another tagging post. I do enjoy doing these, so thanks for including me, @lilolilyr 😁

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav color: pale grey, purple. Clothing-wise I generally tend towards wearing black, grey, greens and browns.

: ̗̀➛ how long have u been on tumblr for: Since 2017 I think. I initially joined to stalk my fave fic writers

: ̗̀➛ wheres a place u always wanted to travel to: Once upon a time - America because I wanted to see Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, but these days I don’t think I’d want to set foot on US soil. I’d love to see New Zealand and Australia. More realistically - I want to see more of Scotland. I’ve been a few times and I love the landscape.

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav clothing brand(s): I don’t have one. Unless you count Qwertee t-shirts because I have… bloody hell, probably well over a hundred 😲

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav singer/band(s): Imogen Heap/Frou Frou, Kate Bush, Tori Amos, kd lang, Queen, Erasure, Texas, Sinéad O’Connor, Cranberries, Dolly Parton… I could go on and on! My tastes are relatively eclectic, but with a massive tendency towards women singer-songwriters.

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur current phone lockscreen: It’s an abstract design - swirly/stripey and rainbow coloured.

: ̗̀➛ most recent/current hyperfixation: Ummm… I don’t think I really have one. I am reading an awful lot of lesbian fiction (both fanfic and published) I suppose. That’s just fairly standard though.

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur relationship status: Forever single.

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur dream job: Philanthropic billionaire.

: ̗̀➛ outside of tumblr, fav social app: I enjoy Instagram for random scrolling rather than posting - I literally only have three photos of my cat posted on my account! I also still use Facebook, but I’m forever asking myself why! I have Twitter, but I think the only reason I haven’t deleted it is in case I get back to writing fic, as a few people seemed to appreciate me posting about new stuff.

: ̗̀➛ do u have pets (if u do have pets, what kind/how many): I have a psychotic cat called Lucky. He’s an unpredictable and violent little arsehole, but I love him.

: ̗̀➛ do u prefer tea or coffee: Definitely coffee. I do like ‘normal’ tea (aka black tea) but I can’t drink it anymore - I only like it if it’s quite sweet and the old diabetes says no. I do enjoy herbal and some fruit teas, but coffee beats them all.

: ̗̀➛ whats ur fav ice cream flavor: Coffee, vanilla, pralines and cream. As with tea though, diabetes says no.

: ̗̀➛ tag at least three other tumblr accounts: no thank you. Anyone who fancies this - go for it!

Blank for ease of copying: : ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav color: : ̗̀➛ how long have u been on tumblr for: : ̗̀➛ wheres a place u always wanted to travel to: : ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav clothing brand(s): : ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav singer/band(s): : ̗̀➛ what’s ur current phone lockscreen: : ̗̀➛ most recent/current hyperfixation: : ̗̀➛ what’s ur relationship status: : ̗̀➛ what’s ur dream job: : ̗̀➛ outside of tumblr, fav social app: : ̗̀➛ do u have pets (if u do have pets, what kind/how many): : ̗̀➛ do u prefer tea or coffee: : ̗̀➛ whats ur fav ice cream flavor: : ̗̀➛ tag at least three other tumblr accounts:

The psychotic feline ⬇️

[hkthatgffan]

I still remember it like yesterday. I don’t think anyone forgets the first time they saw it. It’s crazy looking back at how long it’s been. I always assumed I’d be a fan for a few weeks at most…not 6 years and counting. Gravity Falls changed my life in ways I still am discovering. And now, 6 years on from that cold February evening in 2017 when I finally decided to give this 40-episode masterpiece a try, I still find looking back at it all so insane and why I fell for Alex Hirsch’s creation over literally anything else I could’ve.

I think after the show itself and the impact on me which I’ll mention later, the fandom’s full of life mentality and kindness was what got me hooked not even a week into it. I mean, I was a year late, so I didn’t think I was gonna find anyone left. I began on Gravity Falls Amino in 2017 and I don’t think I ever expected to find the GF fandom to be so alive and thriving, despite it at the time being a year on from the finale. I think to this day that’s something I love about it; yeah, it’s not as big as it was at its peak. But it still is alive and well despite it being so long.

I think alongside just how alive the fandom was, it was also just the kindness of fans that kept me going. I afraid when I joined at first and felt intimidated at times. I was the new kid on the block. Were fans going to welcome me in or mock me for being late and gatekeep me out like I was less for not being a fan when it was airing? Well, I think the answer is pretty clear. I’ve been in so many fandoms since and while GF’s isn’t always perfect, the kindness in this fandom on all medians I’ve been on is incredible. Old fans are so supportive and helpful to new fans, new fans with curiosity bring new ideas to the table and help keep the stories alive and more. I see it on this the GF sub whenever a new fan is welcomed in for finishing the show or on other sites when they share art or ideas and more that watching GF gave them. I see it in old fans who return because they’ve been reminded about why they loved this show so much or the continued love from fans who never gave up on GF even when Next Summer became less a possibility and more a tear causing goodbye.

Yeah, we have our ups downs as a fandom, but we all are collectively here because we love this cartoon and what it means to us all. Whether you think the show ended perfectly or not, think Dipcifica is the best ship or Wendip is, think Bill is alive or dead, hate or love Mabel or Ford and more, we all are Gravity Falls fans first and foremost and that is something we all are aligned by.

Gravity Falls also made me love animation again after a year of just being away from the median. I’ve gone on to watch so many other cartoons since it. While I admit I still sometimes find myself trying to see if it can live up to GF, which is of course never the way one should watch another show; by comparing it to another, I do owe GF for my renewed passion. It made me not only love animation, but also find a great deal of respect and admiration for the people who make them. From creators to animators, writers to VA’s, Gravity Falls was a huge reason why I now watch every new cartoon with a greater deal of respect for those who work to make the median so incredible.

There is so much more I could say about Gravity Falls and its impact on me…be it the channel I created through it and video creating skills I learned through working with it, the fanfics, the fanart, the communities I’ve had the chance to be part of cause of it, the good and bad from the people and events I’ve been part of from it, or even the renewed appreciation for those I care most about because I saw so much in me in Dipper and Mabel’s sibling relationship. But the thing is…when I found this show, I was at a low point in my life and at the least hopeful for the future.

I was in a real bad place mentally speaking. Really just questioning where it all went wrong and not being able to find a reason to crack a smile anymore. I was the least optimistic I ever was about the future. And then for some reason, I decided one day, after seeing a video about how it ended well, I’d give this cartoon I barely heard about but knew the existence of, a chance. I mean, what was the worst that could happen? I think everyone has their own story for when it hit them in relation to their reason to love this show. I have to be honest, I think the defining reason for me is now lost to time or buried deep in my memories now…but the combination of just Gravity Falls’ pure fun feeling, mystery and emphasis on fan interaction, as well as nostalgia factor really got me excited. But there was one other reason I fell so hard into the fandom and this show; the reason why it got me good...Escape.

It was almost like an escape from reality. For those first few months, I was nonstop Gravity Falls fandom. I scrolled through Amino on the daily to see what people were posting about it, checked Alex Hirsch’s Twitter to see what was new, checked the GF sub to see what was up and more. It was just wake up, classes, come home and obsess over GF, sleep, repeat. I think it’s taken me a long time to realize that at times, Gravity Falls was my Mabeland; my escape from the troubles of real life and the real world. But while it may have been easy to let this obsession become unhealthy and consume me and yeah, at times I feel it may have, I think in a way, it helped me reignite my motivation for the future and the next chapter ahead.

I think seeing Dipper tell Mabel that the future is not something to be afraid of and that going through it with someone who cares, was something I needed to hear and come to understanding the meaning of. Talking to people and finding ways to overcome it. I always thought I was more like Dipper but truthfully…those eyes of fear and the future Mabel had in Vs the Future were the ones I had in the lead up to this day 6 years ago when I gave episode 1 a watch. It’s ironically why I ended up loving her character more when so many others began to hate her. That fear Mabel had was something I understood. Not knowing if you’ll be okay in the future and who was there for you…Mabel really was my guide into and out of that emotion.

And slowly but surely, life got better and better. I did still have my ups and downs here and there and times where I wondered why I made this turn instead of the other with life (still do), but then, each turn was always gonna lead somewhere and by the end, I found my way out. I think now I am at the most stable and just mentally okay place I’ve been in for years. Gravity Falls wasn’t the reason I found my way out of that dark place…but it did give me the motivation and assurance that I needed to hear in order to do it myself.

I still don’t know what the future holds. Hell, even just last year I questioned if I’d still be here in the fandom to mark 6 years. Life is an up an down roller coaster with bumps that all try to throw you off. If you hold on too lightly, you’ll fly off and be lost, but if too strong, you won’t enjoy it. It’s a case of finding that balance. I had held on too lightly before I found GF. Then for a while I held on too hard as I used it as a means to escape. Being able to find the right grip to be able to take life for a spin but retain control was not easy, but I needed to do it if I ever wanted to see what the future was rather than think what if.

I sometimes get asked why Gravity Falls means so much to me when there’s cartoons out there that can be argued as being better than it. For me, Gravity Falls’ quality as a show isn’t why I love it so much. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve been able to allow myself to accept that GF isn’t perfect and see the cracks in it while still loving it instead of blindly believing it’s perfection. Neither is the notoriety I’ve gained from it. Anyone could’ve made the username That GF FAN and done what I did and still do. I’m not some mega fan or any special person. I’m just a guy who was a year late to the party and become obsessed with a cartoon that began 10 years ago, lol. I will forever be grateful for this fandom’s kindness and for giving me a chance and a place within it. And while I am always grateful for that, it’s not the only reason that to me Gravity Falls means so much.

It's the message this show sent; that message about life and never letting the future stop you from living it. To not let the past, dictate your future and to find those around you who will help make the future better. That was more important and of a thing that Gravity Falls gave me than any other cartoon I’ve seen since, no matter its quality gave me and more valuable than any Journal 3 Special Edition or piece of merchandise ever will be. It was the right show at the right time and just did it for me.

There was a high school student one cold February evening 6 years ago, who began watching a cartoon he had no idea about beyond a little background knowledge. And I doubt he ever imagined then that this one show would help him find the passion and reassurance to give life the fullest and find a way out of that dark moment so that looking back now…that time is nothing more than a long faded away scar.

And all thanks to a kid who thinks washing clothes is a waste of time, telling his twin sister who’s better at knitting than I’ll ever be, that there's a better way to get through the future than denial or trying to hide away in fear of it.

So yeah…there’s my corny story, lmao. 6 years ago today, I watched Gravity Falls for the first time…and 6 years on…it’s still one hell of an amazing show and life lesson.

VHULRXVOB, BRX UHDG DOO RI WKDW? RU GLG BRX MXVW VFUROO GRZQ, VHH WKLV FRGH DQG GHFRGH LW, OPDR? HLWKHU ZDB, WKDQN BRX, IHOORZ JUDYLWB IDOOV IDQ :)

[bettsfic]

craft essay a day #11

took a couple days off because i got a plot bunny for a fic that turned into a short story that turned into a novella that turned into a novel but might still be a novella depending on whether i want the main character to commit a murder or if i just want everyone to have a good time.

"The Sword of Damocles: On Suspense, Shower Murders, and Shooting People on the Beach" by Anthony Doerr, The Writer's Notebook II: Craft Essays from Tin House

beginner | intermediate | advanced | masterclass 

filed under: plot & conflict, structure, pacing, process

summary & my thoughts

in 2017 i was at tin house and i went to Anthony Doerr's lecture on simile. i use the word "lecture" loosely; it was closer to a performance. the guy's got great energy. i was so inspired by his lecture that i skipped the next one and returned to my room to start writing a new story, one that would go on to get published, win an award, and become my writing sample for the next four years, including my PhD application. i think that story was so successful in part because i wrote it only as a way to practice what Doerr had taught me about the work of similes. in fact in put so many similes into this story that when i workshopped it later, my professor wrote a little note in the margin that said, "not everything has to be like something else."

i wrote the thing to practice similes, and i ended up taking all the similes out. so it goes.

later, i attended Doerr's reading. having an audio processing issue, i'm really not a fan of readings. i would be able to listen if i could just look down at my phone, but that's rude so i end up only really getting disparate sounds and the occasional fleeting mental image. so i sit there in the back, bored and wishing i could process sound without requiring a second sensory stimulus.

with Doerr, a miracle happened: somehow, there was something about his sentences and paragraphing that made me able to understand what he was saying. for a brief, shining moment i understood the cultural obsession with podcasts. he was reading an excerpt from a short story, and i was hooked. and then it ended on a cliffhanger. so, being in the back, i left right before the end of the event and bought his book, hoping that when i asked him to sign it, he would tell me where i could find the story.

i was first in line. i gave him the book to sign and asked about the story. he said sorry, it wasn't published and probably wouldn't be. devastating. as he was signing my book, he looked at my badge which had my name and listed my genre as creative nonfiction. he asked what project i was working on. i was somewhat taken aback by this (because his line was now a mile long and also why would he care?), and told him the truth: "i'm writing a memoir on fanfiction."

over the years, i've been pretty open with just about everyone regarding how cool i think fanfic is and that i write it. it's not something i'm ashamed of and i'm generally not afraid of being judged, because it's an awesome and wonderful thing that exists in the world, and anyone who thinks otherwise has no idea what they're talking about and probably isn't someone i care to know. i've talked to dozens of authors, editors, and agents about fanfic and for the most part receive mild and polite curiosity as they attempt to align what i'm telling them with what they know of publishing. ultimately i'm sure they dismiss it, but for a beautiful couple minutes, i introduce them to something new.

(not a single person i've ever spoken with has known anything about fanfic. to us it seems so huge, but in literary circles, some people haven't even heard the word fanfiction.)

Anthony Doerr's eyes went wide. he gasped. he glanced around as if having a grand epiphany and said, "everything is fanfiction, isn't it? everything is inspired by something else."

"yes!" i said excitedly, appreciating that he and i are both excessively, possibly offputtingly, enthusiastic people. he signed my book, For Beth! A fellow writer. Your fan, Tony.

unfortunately his line was getting even longer (that's what happens when your book wins a Pulitzer i guess) and we had to cut our conversation short. a week later when i got home, i cracked open his book (all the light we cannot see) at, i don't know, 8pm maybe, and didn't go to bed until 5am when i finally finished it.

which is all to say, what Anthony Doerr says about writing, i listen to.

his essays are a lot like Mary Ruefle's in that he kind of talks about and around a general topic, and as such, this essay is a bit hard to summarize. in the vein of Wayne Booth he also leans heavily on dissecting block quote examples, and so this is a very long essay.

he begins with a disclaimer: "i'm an absolutely terrible writer of suspense. i use up most of my sentences describing trees or snow or light." i actually lol'd at this because i use his short story "The Hunter's Wife" in my lesson plan on developing imagery, and specifically refer to his detailed descriptions of trees, snow, and light.

he introduces the idea of "suspended suspense," or the moment of the story at its apex and relishing in the length of time it hovers there.

"I'm more interested in measured, proportionally handled suspense; the kind of suspense that makes you simultaneously want to skip forward a few paragraphs and to find out what will happen and dwell for as long as possible inside the slow blister of rising action."

he goes on to pull my favorite move of any craft essay: elaborating on the etymology of the term he's discussing, in this case "suspense," which comes from the latin "pendere" which means "to hang."

he talks about the idea of a plot being the thing in a story that is always ticking down to zero, and then compares storytelling and the concept of an obstacle to sports games and the reason people watch them.

"One way to look at games, tournaments, and seasons is that they are essentially highly formalized structures designed to produce obstacles. Why? Because obstacles are delay, and delay produces compelling narration."

Doerr believes that the draw of suspense is the ability to create a kind of anxiety outside of reality where one can feel emotions within the safe bubble of narrative structure. the story, after all, must always end, but life continues on.

he elaborates on two ideas in relation to suspension: interruption and diminishing returns. he cites a study which declares that humans crave interruptions in anything lasting. taking a break at work, for example, or an intermission at a play.

"Maybe interruptions—slowing down scenes just at their most pleasurable—are a way of making the sensations of vicarious anxiety and longing feel acute to us for as long as possible."

of the law of diminishing returns, he says that humans "crave newness" and that part of the allure of a break is to make new something pleasurable and familiar. for example, savoring chocolate by eating it slowly.

"...a huge percentage of writing your most climactic, emotional scenes is about learning to go very slowly. One has to learn to trawl the attention through the texture of the dream."

while all of this is great in theory, it doesn't really address the practicality of writing the damn thing. my favorite rule of thumb is "when the action is hot, write cool," an adage from Debra Gwartney that is certainly prescriptive but something i always keep in mind regardless. action hot, write cool is more or less what Doerr is saying. he's saying, slow down and take your time, while Gwartney is saying, the way to do that is to create narrative distance. my go-to example is the climax of the personal essay "The Fourth State of Matter" by JoAnn Beard, in which we become so distant from JoAnn's point of view we reach into the point of view of someone else.

climaxes are my least favorite thing to write. once i reach them, i skip all the way to the end of the story and write backwards, until the only thing left to write is the climax. i can't say whether or not this is effective advice, because i simply can't do it any other way. if there's a better way, i don't know it.

but i do have something you can try when you finally have to buckle down and get it done:

climaxes are generally the most emotional and visual part of a story. it's where the internal conflict meets up with the external conflict, and therefore you're dealing with both interior narration and sensation, and external movement of bodies in space. you should not expect yourself to handle all of these things at once. you only have one brain, and these sorts of scenes take two brains, maybe even three (how can you expect yourself to be inside your character's perspective while also standing outside of it to direct the action?), and so sometimes you have to layer them.

for your first pass on the climax: work on blocking only. all you're doing is rendering bodies in space. who are the characters in this scene, where are they in relation to each other, and what are they saying. how do they get from A to B interpersonally and/or physically? let's say your characters are finally having their first kiss. you have two bodies that have to go from not touching each other to touching each other. you potentially have some discussion between them. don't worry about dragging it out at this point per Doerr's recommendation. just get mouth A against mouth B. this is more or less only a light pencil sketch of the scene.

second pass: you've focused on the movement, now you go in and add the static details involving the sensation of the kiss and any other external detail your character is attending to, like an airplane flying overhead. most writers like to elaborate on what a person tastes like, which personally i think is weird and unnecessary because i as a reader don't really need to know what someone had for lunch, but whatever. you do you.

third pass: interiority only. my favorite way to pace out a climax is to allow your narrator access to time. allow them to think into the past, into something we don't know yet, or have them realize something, or whatever. let them think. you're controlling the mind of your narrator; use that to your advantage.

if you need to, make a pattern of it: blocking sentence, external sentence, internal sentence. movement, feeling, thought. of course, you're going to revise the shit out of this whole scene later hopefully and so you'll be able to move things around and rewrite as necessary. but in terms of just getting the whole thing onto the page, i find this layering technique pretty useful.

craft essay a day tag | cross-posted on AO3 | ask me something

[crackinglamb]

Get to Know the Fanfic Writer

Tagged by @natsora, thank you! 💕

Tagging @effelants, @theluckywizard, @demarogue, @serial-chillr and @mogwaei. No pressure!

When did you post your first-ever fanfic?

October 8, 2017. This is also incidentally the day I joined AO3.

First Character(s) you wrote?

John Hancock, FO4. The aforementioned first fic was Junkyard Dogs, told from his POV.

Main Character(s) you’re currently writing?

A dwarf Inquisitor (eventually, she's not there yet), a human Inquisitor and Sookie Stackhouse.

Character(s) you haven’t written about before but plan to soon?

Planning? What's that? Ideas come to me out of the Void and demand to be written. I have nothing to do with it.

Fandom(s) you’re currently writing?

Dragon Age and Southern Vampire Mysteries/True Blood.

Platonic Pairing(s) you’re currently writing?

Mira Foret & Krem Aclassi. Mira & Solas. Sookie & Pamela Swynford de Beaufort.

Romantic Pairing(s) you’re currently writing?

Mira Foret/Iron Bull. Sookie/Eric Northman. And the new fic I'm working on which is Female Cadash/Varric Tethras.

Your top AO3 tags?

Explicit Sexual Content

Swearing

Established Relationship

(I feel like that tells you everything you need to know about my writing)

Current platform you use for posting?

Only on AO3.

Snippet of the WIP you are currently working on?

“Shit. Shae!”

It was rare to hear him call her by name, but she couldn’t really appreciate it in the moment. She was seeing black spots now. The pain was making her nauseous, making it even harder to breathe. She let herself topple into his room.

“What in the Void happened to you?”

“Met your boy. Hawke.”

“Did he do this?”

“Nah,” she gasped out as Varric lifted her bodily off the floor and set her down on his bed. Vaguely she noticed that he’d thrown a dark blanket over his rumpled sheets so she didn’t bleed all over them. “Coterie, I think.”

“You think,” he repeated dourly. He was pulling at her boot, and she hissed in pain as it jostled her injured side. “Maker’s Balls, you’re a mess. You need a surgeon.”

“Risky.” Too risky.

“Yeah. Yeah, all right. Give me a minute to get some stuff together.”

She knew she was going to pass out any second and fumbled for his hand before he got too far away from her. “Hawke. You were...curious.”

“Not now, Shae. Tell me after I clean you up.”

She shook her head, uncaring that it spun. It was entirely possible she’d bleed out first. “Mage.”

Then it was quiet and dark in her head and Varric’s exclamation was distant.

[mirrorofliterature]

fic author interview

stealing this from @glorious-spoon because it looks fun - essentially a q&a for fanfic writers. tagging @elisedonut, @broomsticks, @felixantares, @certifiedbisexualdisaster and whoever else feels like doing it!

How many works do you have on AO3?

75.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

254,450 words.

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Mostly my Percy stuff with my most popular shadowhunters work thrown into the mix.

a study of cracked gold (1662)

everything not black and blue (1311)

whispers got nothing on the truth (1058)

why do i care at all (495)

falling from dusk into dawn (408)

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

Ideally, I would love to respond to comments, but practically I don't because they pile up, I get busy and stressed. It's often a choice between replying and writing - I normally chose writing. But I do read and appreciate all my (non-rude) comments.

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

the storm howls, and everything turns to ashes is absolutely brutal malec MCD I wrote for Shadowhunters Ficlet Instruments in 2019.

On par with this is:

Imelda finding her husband's dead body: if i fall

Magnus forgetting Alec: i miss all the times we had

All the Blacks dying: dreaming of a happy ending

Writing stories with tragic endings is fun!

6. What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

A lot of my fics sit in the grey area of happy endings but not like, butterflies and rainbow. It's hard to say.

If pushed, I would say i just want to be wanted. It's a relatively light pining get-together malec fic at ~3.7k that ends with them getting together. I say it's my happiest because it has a clean, tidy resolution, without lingering existential angst.

7. Do you write a cross-overs?

I have written cross-overs. I have day-dreamt about cross-overs. I have not yet published any.

Mishmashing different fandoms is really fun. The Old Guard x Shadowhunters fic with Magnus running into the immortals in 17th century England and saving Quynh with his magical skills... I love the idea. Be great to write at someday.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not outright death-threats or the like, but I've had weird, entitled comments.

The most akin to a hate comment was someone disliking my fic because I made a disparaging comment about 1984 in it. That was weird.

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

No. Just not my thing.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

12. Have you co-written a fic before?

Also no.

13. What's your all time favourite ship?

I do not have one, overall. The perils of having multiple fandoms.

14. What's a WIP that you want to finish but think you never will?

My malec wwii AU. It's 42k and contains some really good writining, but it would take so much effort to make it publishable.

Also, that is the angstiest ending I've ever written. I wrote a lot just for that ending.

15. What are your writing strengths?

I am very good at generating ideas and writing introspection, particularly of the existential nature. This helps a lot when writing character studies!

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue. And long plotty stuff. Fuck dialogue, it always feels so... stilted and awkward.

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

If it is small phrases like si, senora, ciao, that's fine. I write a little Spanish in my Coco fic, following the style of the movie. But I'm not going to go into full blown sentences - the characters in my Coco fics are definitely speaking Spanish, but my grasp of Spanish is not good enough + it's generally confusing for most readers.

18. What's the first fandom you wrote for?

Published? Harry Potter in 2017, buried at the back of my AO3 page. Written? Total Drama. It exists, somewhere.

19. What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

The Old Guard! Feels like a fun sandbox to explore and I think the fandom is cool (all the drama had boiled off before I watched the movie last year).

20. What's your favourite fic that you've written?

falling from dusk into dawn because it's my longest published fic, it was a labour of love, and I'm really proud of its construction.

[neutronice]

I want to jump onto this exchange too, for everyone, because I think I totally completely understand both of the POVs here!

I'm a YOI fan. I found it in 2022, so far far too late to be part of the YOI mania that swept over Tumblr and is still waxed nostalgic about by a bunch of the fans. It gets old hearing "YOI is so dead now!" from those people, because if I had a time machine, yes I would love to be a part of the joy of the 2016-2017 YOI fandom, but that's not in the cards. It does mean that I am constantly seeing new to me art from 2017, and I use this blog to reblog it so I can go back and enjoy a neut-created little tidal wave for myself.

But I'm also a YOI fanfic author. And meta writer (though that has died down!), and when you're a new creator in a fandom where the tidal wave has passed, there's something really disheartening about pouring your heart into a new thing and holding it up for people who are there and love you and seeing so many posts and discussions of the works that happened in those old glory days, and wondering if anyone knows I'm here, making things, loving this thing that makes me so happy I need to be inspired by it! Yes, there are wonderful creations from back then but please also look at creations from now!

My blog's own compromise on this is I prioritize reblogging new things. I stick them at the top of my queue so they come out with everything else, though I don't tag or do much more than that. And I enjoy the little discord communities we have made for ourselves to talk as new and current YOI fans, appreciating the old creations and celebrating the new, and hoping that we strike the right balance.

It really makes me sad to scroll through my Tumblr timeline, see someone just having reblogged some awesome YOI art just to see that the art itself was made in 2017... It just makes me feel like the fandom is so dead because WHERE'S THE YURI ON ICE FANART DRAWN THIS YEAR??? LAST YEAR??? OR OR AT ANY POINT IN TIME AFTER 2017????

Plz don't tell me there ain't any...

[thing-you-do-with-that-thing]

Fanfic Writers Appreciation Day!

I looove reading fanfics. There are soo many talented people out there and I am sure I am forgetting some but this is my way of trying to remind y’all how amazing you are and how much I appriciate all the hard work that goes into every single fic!

One Shots

Unsteady (Dean x Reader) by @torn-and-frayed 

This one shot is so amazing it made me cry and that rarely happens. Especially with one shot. Steph is one of the best Dean writers out there and this is just perfection!

Free  (Dean x Reader) by @torn-and-frayed​

I hate you for making me love this!!!

In My Veins  (Dean x Reader) by @torn-and-frayed​ 

Again heartbreakingly beautiful. Angst is an amazing skill and Steph master it to perfection!  

For Fucks Sake, Jared (Jensen x Reader) by @jayankles 

LMAO interrupting Jared is one of my fav Jareds :D

Father’s Day Surprises (Misha x Reader) by @the-awkward-writer

I love Misha. And daddy!Misha... kill me now. Misha is an amazing parent and I love seeing fics that celebrate that.

Babe, where’s my razor? (Dean x Reader) by @thevioletthourr

Who wouldn’t hide Dean’s razor if they had the chance too?!

Sixty Seconds (Dean x Reader) by @thevioletthourr

This fic is written in a way you know something is coming as soon as you start reading. Doesn’t hurt any freaking less when you are hit with it!

Forever Young (Dean x Reader) by @thevioletthourr

Not gonna lie! This one will freaking hurt but it is so beautifully written.

I’m Yours (Dean x Reader) by @deanssweetheart23

This is probably my all time fav one shot. I have read it 5 times and everytime it makes me feel better!

Something Stupid (Like I Love You) (Dean x Reader) by @deanssweetheart23

Jealous Dean but in the possible way. Such an underrated writer. Go check her out!

Austin (Jared x Reader) by @impalaimagining

Based on one of my fav songs and the story did not dissappoint me one bit :D

You’re My Home (Jared x Reader) by @impalaimagining

Probably my favorite Jared one shot!

The Way You Look Tonight (Jensen x Reader) by @impalaimagining

Gah it is just sooooo cute!

You Promised Me Forever (Dean x Reader) by @like-a-bag-of-potatoes

This can be summed up in whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!

Flowers on Your Grave (Dean x Reader) by @like-a-bag-of-potatoes

QUIT BEING MEAN TO DEAN AND MAKE ME LOVE IT!

Suck it, Cupid (Sam x Reader) by @winchesterprincessbride

Hands down my fav Sam writer and this is just soooo cute!

Martha Stewart Has Left the Bunker (Sam x Reader) by @winchesterprincessbride

Probably the only writer that can make me wanna smack Dean and kiss Sam :P

Broken (Dean x Reader) by @percywinchester27

OUCH!! But it is so real and as so amazing. Read the warnings before you read though!

Dee (Dean x Reader) by @percywinchester27 

Sooo many brother and Dean feels!!!

Constellation (Dean x Reader) by @percywinchester27

Everytime I feel bad I read this and I feel better right away!

Against All Odds (Destiel) by @impala-dreamer

Ouch! It hurts so good!

You Should Join Me (Dean x Reader) by @impala-dreamer

YAS PLEASE!! You read my mind on this Beka!

She Waits (Chuck x Reader) by  @mysupernaturalfics

I rarely read Chuck but this is sooo damn beautiful and I adore this song!

Amazing Grace (How Sweet The Sound) (Cas x Reader) by @mysupernaturalfics

Ignore the dorky ass title! This one is hot af!

Whiskey and the Road (Dean x Reader) by @ellen-reincarnated1967

Andi wrote this for one of my challenges. It always stuck with me. It is so damn beautiful

Homeless (Destiel) by @deansleather

Don’t even get me started on this one. I want a series of this one. It is just sooo good. 

Sleeping Positions 101 (Destiel) by @deansleather

So darn cute! I love fluffy destiel :D

I’m In (Dean x Reader) by @deansleather

Dean is the bestest and Maddy is awesome. That’s all :D

The Walk (Misha x Reader) by @curliesallovertheplace

No one fluffs like this girl and I agree with your statement about that gif soo much

Let Me Count The Ways (Dean x Reader) by @bringmesomepie56

Arie always makes me need a Dean!

Concrete Angel (Dean x Reader) by @chaos-and-the-calm67

This will make you cry!

Rumor Has It (Cockles x Reader) by @manawhaat and @mrswhozeewhatsis

Fangirl dream come true right here!

Fools In Love (Jensen x Reader x Danneel) by @manawhaat

My forever favorite poly fic! It is just sooo goood!

Mesmerising things (Misha x Reader) by @adriellej

Miss I can’t write Misha and nails it! I love this fic!

No such thing as too short shorts (Dean x Reader) by @winchesterswoonathon

I couldn’t not add this!! So damn hot!!

Mad World (Misha x Reader) by @blacktithe7

First time she writes Misha and she makes me cry! I don’t know if I should hug her or kill her :P

Hallelujah (Jensen x Reader) by @blacktithe7

Angsty bitch!! OUCH!!!

Barcelona (Dean x Reader) by @pinknerdpanda

I love this. We all say things without thinking sometimes but not all are as good as making up for them as Dean. 

Series

Send the Pain Below Series Masterlist (Jensen x Reader) by @torn-and-frayed

Will probably always be one of my fav Jensen series. It is sooo good and real. I wanted to hug everyone and slap most through this. And this reader is so amazing. So is Jensen but I am biast there :P

With All My Heart (Jensen x Reader) by @torn-and-frayed

I so regret the way I phrased this request! But I will never regret making it :D

First Degree Burns (Dean x Reader) by @jayankles

Firefighter Dean is a weakness of mine! And Dean with a kid does not help!

Daddy’s Nugget (Dean x Reader) by @jayankles

Again Daddy Dean is a huuuge weakness and Lizzie is adorable!

Across the Milenia (J2 AU sorta... Not sure what do call the pairing but it is awesome!) by @spncovenverse

J2 fic yes. But the wives are in it and are very much as amazing as in real life! It is a beaufiful story and it has this gorgeous blog dedicated to the story!

The Morning After (Jensen x Reader) by @the-awkward-writer

Sweet and endeering story about how a spur of the moment mariage turns into a real wedding. Love this story!

The Arrangement (Dean x Reader) by @ravengirl94

I devoured this series in one sitting and I was sooo sad when there wasn’t any more parts! But Emily is doing a sequel so YAS!

Hold On, I’m Coming (Dean x Reader) by @ravengirl94

Again firefighter Dean. But more than that... all the little puns to the series. It is just amazing. I love it sooo much! And Dean is perfect so there is that. And a gsd mix!

Unspoken (Jensen x Reader, Jared x Reader) by @wheresthekillswitch

I am routing for Jensen here. Not just cause Jensen but they are perfect together and has been best friends since they were little.

The Falcon and the Wolf Series (Dean x Reader) by @emilywritesaboutdean

LOOOOVE one of my fav movies and Emily’s take on it is soooo good!

With You By My Side (Jensen x Reader) by @like-a-bag-of-potatoes

*glares at Ida* I don’t wanna add this cause it cost me sooo much pain but I can’t not add it either!

The Package (Jensen x Reader) by @mrsjohnsmith

I can’t describe how much I am hoping for an update on this one. It is so sweet and good and real and gah

Tic Tac Toe (Sam x Reader) by @percywinchester27

My fav Sam series! I love it so so much I don’t even have words.

Stroke of luck (Dean x Reader) by @percywinchester27

I don’t think reading any series ever made me whine and complain so much. Sorry Ana but I promise you all the whinning means I love it dearly!

Sons of Lawrence (Dean x Reader) by @mrs-squirrel-chester

This series damn near killed me! In the best way possible! Urgh!

Against the Ropes (Dean x Reader) by @mrs-squirrel-chester

I didn’t know I needed a boxer Dean in my life before I read this series and now I want more and I already forced one time stamp out of her ... ;S

Simple Man (Dean x Reader) by @luci-in-trenchcoats

The reader and Dean are both such asses in this. But both has good reason. And I love it.

Crack Under Pressure (Jensen x Reader) by @mysupernaturalfics

This one is so sweet. I love the young love and playful relationship!

Counsel (Sam x Reader) by @mysupernaturalfics

This one will give you a few surprises. And it is soo good!

First Impressions and Second Chances (Misha x Reader) by @ruined-by-destiel

I can’t even begin to explain how much I love this series!

Strictly Professional (Misha x Reader) by @splendidcas 

There is a lack of great Misha series out there so when Shan wrote one I was sooo happy!

Summer Fling (Dean x Reader) by @supernatural-jackles

Pretty sure this is my fav on going series!

Perfect (Jensen x Reader) by @supernatural-jackles

This series has a fitting name. It truly is perfect. Even if Y/N and Jensen are a couple of dumbasses for not seeing how much they love each other sooner.

A Perfect Storm (Dean x Reader) by @nichelle-my-belle

I got no idea how this is what fell into Nichelle’s head after my request but fuck it is awesome and I will love it forever!

YouTube Sensation (Jensen x Reader) by @bringmesomepie56

Where is the rest of it Arie???!!

A Little Thing Called Love (Jensen x Reader) by @chaos-and-the-calm67

I repeat: Where is the rest of it Bev??

Friendly Neighbor (Dean x Reader) by @ilostmyshoe-79

One of the first fanfics I read! And I still adore it!

Singer’s Automotive (Dean x Reader) by @ilostmyshoe-79

As a Dean girl with a very soft spot for Cas you really put me through the ringer on this one!

Neighborhood Connections (Destiel) by @i-dont-know-how-to-write

I really hope this will continue at some point cause I need to know things :D

Hearts Wide Open (Jensen x Reader) by @d-s-winchester

An Amazing summer series. 

Just A Little Bit Longer (Jensen x Reader) by @jalove-wecallhimdean

My dream vacation right here!

Someone to Watch Over Me (Dean x Reader) by @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog

I was on the edge of my seat all the way through! So damn good!

An Unassuming Life (Dean x Reader) by @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog

I love domestic Dean and I love Mimi’s writing so this was a huge win!

Everything Dean and Donna (Deonna) by @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog

I blame Mimi for shipping these two beauties! I love these fics sooo much!

The Littlest Winchester (Dean x Reader - sorta) by @sophisticated-angel

I adore this collection! Dean is the best daddy ever and his kid is so darn awesome!

Forward (Jensen x Reader) by @blacktithe7

Such a rollercoaster and it give slow burn a new meaning! I love it!

Silk and Rough Velvet by @blacktithe7

My fav Jensen series forever and always! Rockstar!Jensen need I say more?

Prophet City (Dean x Reader) by @winchesterenthusiast

I am obsessed and so patiently waiting for more :D

Unexpectedly (Dean x Reader) by @winchesterenthusiast

Soooo cute. I love it and I want more :D

Daddy!Samverse (Sam x Reader) by @teamfreewill-imagine

Yaaaas that is as cute as it sounds and it has uncle cas and dean too!

Soft Hair and Single (Jensen x Reader) by @teamfreewill-imagine

I love this series. Danneel positivity and a cutie patotie JJ :D 

12 Dates of Christmas/True Fluff Series (Dean x Reader) by @iwantthedean

Fluffy perfection right here!

Out of the Park (Jensen x Reader) by @iwantthedean

Just imagine Jensen in that ball cap and all gruff! GAH I miss this series!

Behind the Story (Jensen x Reader) by @sleepywinchester

I am obsessed! Like really. Twitter updates gives me life!

Written on the Wrist (Dean x Reader) by @angelkurenai

This is so unique and wonderful. I don’t read soulmate AUs but I love this one so much!

Friends After All (Dean x Reader, Sam x Reader) by @angelkurenai

Again I don’t really like triangle but this one is beyond amazing. Will forever be one of my fav series!

The Future Series (Jensen x Reader) by @one-shots-supernatural

I love this series so much even if it made me cry recently! And I love Kayla worked in CM :D

A New Roommate (Dean x Reader) by @one-shots-supernatural

Dean is perfect! And I adore the readers angelic family :D

Love & War (Dean x Reader) by @winchester-writes

Gaaah I love Dean in historical pieces. This is just sooo good and sweet!

Waimea (Dean x Reader) by @manawhaat

This series is so beautifully written you feel as if you are on the beach with them

NOT SPN FICS

The Pretzels  (Steve Rogers x Reader) by @jayankles

Sooo cute and hot. What a view to walk in on!

Stay Alive (Tom Hiddleston x Reader) by @pastapizzacheesedragon

Prepare to get your heart ripped out and stomped on!

Postcards (Bucky x Reader) by @sebbytrash

So sweet it will make your teeth fall out!

Drinking Games (Chris x Reader x Seb) by @emilyevanston

I blame Katie and this fic for my new obsession with poly!

The Boy Next Door (Chris x Reader) by @emilyevanston

Don’t act so surprised Katie! You knew this would be on here! :D

Sleeping Angel On The London Tube (Kit Harington x Reader) by @kitharingtonfanfiction

My cheeks still hurt from smiling :D

Your Wildest Dreams (Jensen x Reader x Chris) by @blacktithe7

Not sure where to put this one, but read it. It is a dream come true!

[sagechanoafterdark]

Fanfic Writer's Day Q&A

Thank you to @imanuglywombat for sending me the Fanfic Writers questions! I really do appreciate it so much! 💕

Let's get down to it! 💕

— How long have you been writing fanfiction?

The first fanfic I ever did was when I was maybe 8 or 9. It was long long ago and I think it was either for Sailor Moon or maybe for another anime I was obsessing over. It was definitely in the late 90's cause I remember being so secretive that I even watched those shows. That was back in the dark days of anime when it wasn't as mainstream as it is now. I wrote it in a blue spiral-bound notebook long hand and it was absolutely a Mary Sue fic.

I'd stuck with anime for a long time writing for certain popular franchises (and others that were not so popular) but I'd never ventured into writing anything based off of anything live-action until I got into the MCUverse in 2017. I still sometimes write stuff out long hand just to get my bearings on some scenes.

— Do you have a favorite word? (One that you love. Doesn’t necessarily have to be one you use all the time.)

Fuck. Fuck is my favorite word in the world. Ask anyone whos ever had the displeasure of listening to me speak. I use it all the time in both fics and real life. People swear. They curse all the time. Either in their heads or out loud but I like writing it into stories cause it validates a lot of what's happening.

— Share a favorite run-on sentence that you’ve written.  

“Shut the goddamn door Stark,” you snapped at him with a glare, your lipstick smeared and covering Bucky’s kiss swollen lips.

Catch Me If You Can, Codename Lazarus

I don't classify this as a run-on sentence, but it was fun as hell to write that last one two punch for this story.

— Share a bit of a scene that you’ve written that still gives you FEELS.

This wasn’t how you wanted things to end between you and Bucky, not the strained silence and tension that ran through both of you.

“Y/N,” Bucky said, breaking the silence. Glancing up at him, his brow was drawn together in thought shadows deepening the lines on his face and playing at the hollows of his cheeks giving him a grave expression. “I have a question and, I’m not sure exactly how to ask.”

“You can ask me anything, James,” you murmured, tongue feeling thick in your mouth. “I’ll always be as honest with you as I can be.”

He nodded, eyes dropping down to your hands as they played with your cup. The blue hues illuminated, almost like the spirit sitting in front of you could read your very soul. “After tomorrow, when I, when it happens,” he asked, voice barely a whisper but still crackling with emotion. “Will I remember any of this?”

Your heart seized in your chest at the thought. Swallowing hard you couldn't bring yourself to look at Bucky, you wanted to lie to give him the false hope you held onto yourself.  “I don't know,” you whispered honestly, meeting his gaze. “You could very well remember parts of this, but your consciousness could think of it all as a dream. You could also forget all about me, it just depends on how your mind chooses to handle it.”

Bucky’s hand reached out covering your own, his fingers looping over your palm and holding you firm. Drawing his bottom lip between his teeth briefly before locking his gaze with your own, oceanic depths drinking in the moonlight. So clear and sure of himself in this very moment.

“I don't want to forget you.”

Vision blurring you swallowed hard, lips trembling as you tried to hold back the onslaught of despair welling up from inside of you. You’d tried so hard to keep him out, to keep James at arms length and steel yourself against him. But the man had found his way in, nestling inside of your heart and now you found yourself cracking and breaking right in front of him. 

A broken sob slipped past your lips as Bucky pulled you into his arms and out of shame buried your face against his neck, allowing another broken sob to bubble past your lips. Bucky’s hands felt warm against your back, stroking against you in an attempt to soothe away the tears, the deep rumble of his voice cooing to you as he tried his best to calm you. 

“Even, even if you do forget me, forget about all of this,” you choked out against his neck. “I’ll remember, for the both of us.”

You felt him stiffen in your arms, your hands gripping against the muscles in his back as he pressed a tender kiss into your hair, “I won't forget you, doll. I can’t.”

Squeezing your eyes closed you clung to Bucky in your kitchen as the tea in your mug went cold.

All Good Things, Part Four

Sometimes I re-read this scene and it makes me tear up still. I don't know how I got through writing it lol

— What is your favorite kind of character interaction to write? — Do you have a hyper-specific genre?

Someone once told me I do Slice of Life fics very well. I've always liked thinking about how characters interact when they're NOT out doing world-saving stuff. How their interactions in day-to-day things would go. That and I'm a real comfort slut at heart lol

Oh, jeez. I've got a lot of tags. Mostly my personal ones are lame but I use (insert character) x reader tags mostly along with the corresponding franchise. 😬 Truth is I'm awful with tagging. It's what's kept me kind of away from A03 for so long. 😂

But strangely enough I love writing action sequences. I haven't gotten to really explore them much outside of maybe Codename Lazarus and one or two one shots. But I'd like to write more of them.

— Any personal or frequently used tags?

— Share a joke or funny moment that you’ve written that still makes you laugh.  

Day Eight

Steve passes by Bucky’s figure staring out the large floor-length window on the upper floor of the compound. It gives him pause, Bucky’s wrapped in the comforter from his bed. Eyes longingly looking out the window with all the sadness of a shelter dog.

“What’s the outside world like,” he asks, voice barely a whisper. “I haven’t felt the sun on my face in weeks.”

Silence follows the statement before Steve shakes his head and continues on his way, “It’s been eight days Buck.”

“Weeks!” Echoes down the hall after him.

Quarantine Craze, Co-written with @iwantutobehapppier

This whole fic is absolutely mad cap and I loved working on it with Miri. It's always good for a laugh since it was written VERY early into the pandemic and none of us knew what the hell was going on. We were all just a little Bucky then.

— Best editing tip?

Just do it.

Usually, I edit as I go. It provides me with enough feedback loop for my ADHD-riddled brain to keep up and hone the new information that's coming out of it. Editing is hard and I've had TONS of scenes that are just left on the cutting room floor cause I can't make them work into the fic the way I want to. I've actually got a scene saver file where I save all the cut parts from stories to be used in later works. There are actually 2 or 3 scenes that I've reused in Held For Ransom that were originally in other stories, but they didn't fit the characters at the time.

— What drives you to write?

Connection. I like writing something that someone out there could connect with on a personal level. Yeah I looooooove writing smut, it was really my bread and butter and gets the most interaction on this platform out of anything else. But when I get a DM, comment or response from someone who read a story and it's clear from the heart. It makes me so happy to have connected with that person on that level.

— Share something about your writing that you have wished someone would ask you about. Or alternatively, something that you are just really proud of.

Writing and ending. I have the HARDEST time writing endings to things. I've left a lot of my fics open-ended (Alpha One and All Good Things) mostly cause I never know if I want to continue with their stories or not. But I'm really proud of myself for writing a few of my fics (Phantoms of The Mind and Unknown Caller) with that final period and meaning it. There's nothing after that, it's the end of the story and there's nothing going to change it. I feel really proud for being able to do that when all I ever want to do is leave it open.

— Where do you draw inspiration?

A little bit of everything all of the time. Not going to lie some of the situations and moments come from interactions I have with people around me or even things that those closest to me have said or done.

— What is your immediate reaction when you receive a new comment on a fic?  

I cry. Legit. I will cry sometimes when I get comments or anything resembling a review. It's not sad crying. It's that happy, "I can't handle my emotions right now cause it feels too good to know that someone else GETS it." Type of crying. Yeah, I'm a big crybaby on the inside.

— What is your biggest challenge in writing?

Besides writing? Worldbuilding and knowing where to stop. Some of the AU's I've created have such deep and intense builds that I've thought about so much stuff outside of the storyline. The world I'd built for the Deal with the Devil Demon AU has a lot of moving parts to it that are barely touched on in the stories. So it's a challenge to know when to stop building that kind of detail and if it will matter in the long run.

— 1-2 sentence preview from your current WIP??

You shifted and so did Curtis, hanging on your every word as he watched and listened to you talk.

“He looks strong, so very strong,” your voice started taking on a soft breathy tone, hands sliding from your neck down to your chest briefly before landing on your thighs with an audible smack. “I didn’t scent him, but my god I can just imagine how good he smells. Handsome too, straight nose, high cheekbones. A beard that I just know would feel so soft under my fingers and… other places too.”

Whoever this guy was he was a lucky son of a bitch to have caught your attention, Curtis couldn’t help but think bitterly.

Dove and the Mechanic, a Mechanic!Curtis x camgirl!Reader AU

I've been working most on Dove and Curtis the last few weeks. I'm hoping to have the launch for this soon. It should be a fun story to share. 🥰

— What story or scene are you most proud of?

Held for Ransom. I'm the proudest of that story which is why the ending is taking me so long to wrap up. I've got so much of myself invested it's hard to give their main story the wrap-up it deserves.

Here's my favorite scene though.

Face matching his own, you could see the surprise in his eyes when you shook his hand off you; rounding on him fully. “You’re unbelievable Ransom!” The tone you held was condescending and accusatory. “Is struggling just to prove a point to yourself really worth sitting on a gold mine of fiction? You’re just hiding it all away, this could be your ticket! Don’t you get that?”

He was upon you in a second, only a hair’s width of space between you and it made you gasp. His breath fanned over your face as he glared down at you, but all you could do is look at his mouth. Plush lips pulled down into a scowl of disapproval and anger. “Maybe I don’t want it to be the ticket.”

Ransoms fingers dug into the soft flesh of your arm, as he held you tight. “Maybe I don’t want to be compared to Harlen,” he continued, blue eyes darting back and forth as they gazed into your own. “Maybe I never wanted that.”

Tongue reaching out and wetting your lips you saw his eyes drop to your mouth briefly before flashing back to your eyes, “Then, what do you want Ransom?”

— Please link your profile so we can admire your works!

Afterdark Masterlist Library Blog AO3

Thank you for the opportunity to answer so many questions about writing. 💕 Happy Fanfiction Appreciation week!

[trulycertain]

Fanfic Writers Appreciation Day

*wizened crone voice* Gather closer, children. Let me tell you about some of my favourite writers. I do so love giving a good ego-boost. *cough cough, ahem*

@aphreal42 - one of the first writers I read and one of my most major influences. Her stuff helped me get into DA fic, and helped make me brave enough to post some fic of my own. And she writes a lot of the same tropes I do, but does it much better. Check her out.

@thesecondsealwrites - writes beautifully about things like alienation and finding your family, and how sometimes when life gives you lemons, you have to... I dunno. Cut down the lemon tree and build a really cool shed that you then paint yellow. I was going somewhere with this. Writes about boundaries and emotional bravery and honesty, and does it very well.

@fanfoolishness - angst and fluff and bittersweetness. Happiness for her characters always feel true and well-earned, and her angst is some of the very rare stuff that has made me cry. I will read pretty much anything she writes. And then probably sniffle.

@cherieofthedragons - want swooning romance? She’s got it. Want to be a sobbing heap on the floor? Sure, she can do that, too.  Mirevas and Vhenan and Autumn have special places in my heart.

@withthebreezesblown - writes about beauty and pain so vividly and so poetically. Her stories have such tremendous heart, and her characters grab you by the heart and pull because of it. 

@skogrr - just does things to my heart. There’s such a core of truth and compassion to her fics; they’ve got me through some really hard times. Also, her Cullen is... *sigh* My god, she writes him amazingly and I’m so jealous.

@celeritassagittae - has one of those brains that makes AUs the way some people breathe. Makes detailed characters and has the best brain for funny lines and for worldbuilding. I am also jealous.

@damnable-rogue - writes an odd combination of romantic escapism and utter, honest heartbreak, and best of all, both, with balanced light and dark. Also writes the clearest, snarkiest narrative voices.

@saibrarutherford - bighearted and funny and makes crack work.

@sarcasmfish - she writes cute so well, and I envy that. I am so terribly awful at fluff and cute, but she could make you get on the bus to work with a sappy grin on your face.

@3jarsofbees - I probably annoyed Aphreal for days because I kept quoting passages of fic at her while a) being jealous of the fantastically sharp, in-character observations and b) trying not to laugh hysterically. Also, Thedasbook is a masterpiece and never fails to make me grin when it crosses my dash.

@todisturbtheuniverse - contemplative, intense, sometimes trippy writing, always chock-full of emotion, and one of the best Isabelas I’ve ever read.

@crisium - writes stuff that’s dark, light, everything in between, and emotionally honest to the point it hurts to read. One of those writers who made me want to write a whole bunch so I could be even a third that good.

@tarysande - puts her characters through some stuff but always gives them credit for intelligence and keeps them in-character, and her writing has an immense kindness. That’s what makes it work. It’s also the “I will fall over” kind of swooningly romantic when it needs to be.

...That’s not even all of them, but definitely a few. Phew. I’m terribly sorry if I’ve left you off this list; It’ll be oversight rather than slight, I know what I’m like.

[rannadylin]

So it looks like it’s some sort of Fic Writers Appreciation Day today? In that case, huge shoutout of appreciation to all the writers who have been taking part in the Pillars of Eternity events I’ve been running! Having never done something like this before, I was just hoping we’d at least get a few people involved and get a little more fic into the archives for PoE, but we had 14 wonderful writers take part in the fic swap and 7 have posted fics for the first week of the new prompt blog, @pillarspromptsweekly! I’m delighted by everyone’s enthusiasm and creativity, and no matter how many spreadsheets I have or how meticulously I organize the thing, we would have no fic events at all if not for your hard work. So thank you to @svartalfhild @alien-cafe  @queen-scribbles @ohvexahlia @thepebblejohnson @perahn @leeoliver @mandorways @haledamage @serenbach86  @reaper-kravitz @catofcombs @grumpy-jedi @captainofthefallen and everyone else who’ll be part of these games and challenges in future!

[choicesficwriterscreations]

500 Followers: Meet The Writer

Hello there! Look at us reaching 500 followers just in time for CFWC One Year celebration! We’re grateful to all of you who continue to share your work with us and support the fanfic authors of the fandom.Anyway, let’s get to the good stuff!

For some reason that only the forces of the random picker website we use can explain (lol), the tenth fanfic author interviewed is extra special to us. It’s our pleasure to introduce you to our dearest @mod-queen​’s fanfic blog:

Blog: @thequeenofpixels

Name (or petname): Tamires, but you can call me Tammy

Birthday: March 12

Nationality: Brazilian

Current residency: Brazil (somebody save me)

Languages you speak: Portuguese, English (or at least I try 😂)

Masterlist/AO3: Tammy’s fanfiction masterlist / thequeenstories

 1. Is there a meaning behind your url name?

Well, not much of a meaning, but more of a part of a user I already use for all my social media (thequeen) and the 'ofpixels' part is just because this blog is now for all games I play, and all of them are made of pixels... so.... yeah, not much creative but that's it.

2. When did you start playing Choices? What's the first book you played? 

Back in 2017, The Freshman (When we had the option to choose between Romance and Adventure at the beginning.)

3. When did you decide to join Choices fandom? 

Dec. 2017. At first I created a sideblog in another tumblr of mine, but it really annoyed me how we can’t follow/comment/send asks from the sideblog, so I decided to create a new one exclusively for choices and here we are.

4. Go back to your archive and tell us what your first post on your Choices blog was about.

It was a screenshot from HSS. Oh man, this made me miss the good old days, the magic...

5. How long have you been writing fanfiction?

Since 2015.

6. Share the first fanfic you wrote with us. Do you still like it or would you change anything about it?

The tour after the tour. Yeah I still like it. I wrote after getting really frustrated with TRR, I had to write how I wanted the scene to go  since book 2. Maybe now I’d change a few words here and there, but not what happened in it.

7. What are your favorite Choices books to write about?

Perfect Match and The Royal Romance, but I think it’s more about a few characters than the whole book.

8. What is your specialty as a fanfic writer?

I don’t think I have one…? But I enjoy writing smut and I’m enjoying writing fluff lately.

9. If you could write only angst, fluff or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?

OMG this is one is difficult, and even though I'm getting in the fluff scene I'd choose smut 🤭🤭

10. Do you ever recognise yourself in what you write?

Always. I always put something of mine in my main characters, be it the way they act, speak, the way they feel or express their feelings... Or the way I can’t extend a plot, I tend to solve everything as fast as I can or I lose patience  🤭

11. Are there any writers (published authors and/or fanfic writers) who influenced your writing?

Of course! I couldn’t not mention my dear friend Maria ( @marijo37​ ), who’s the one who gave me the biggest push to start writing. She always inspired me with her writing. And later on J. R. Ward with the Black Dagger Brotherhood helped me discover my liking for the erotica genre and inspired me starting writing it and a few years later Sparrow Beckett did the same with BDSM for me.

12. What element of writing do you struggle with most?

Definitely describing places, I don’t know why but for me is really difficult (and boring) to do it, I mention which place the scene is happening and that’s enough for me, but I know it is not enough for some people, so I’ve tried to do it twice, but it didn’t work really well…

13. Is there any neglected work yours you wished you would finish?

A Drake x MC unfinished story that is resting in my archive… I never finished it because the thing I mentioned before: it was being too much prolonged, I lost my patience because it had a plot it couldn’t be solved as fast as I wanted, and so I gave up a while ago… But I never forget about it, if I can change something in it and finish I’ll post, I promise.

14. Which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series?

Oh man, definitely The truth in the burn. All the drama of Eros using humans instead of robots in their mind experiments… (Ngl I did imagine a follow up for this one, but I didn’t want to go on there after all, because of all the possibilities it can lead so I’d rather let to the reader imagination.)

15. Do you write original stories?

Yes! I have one already finished (https://www.wattpad.com/story/44646174-rebeca but it’s in Portuguese) and I’m writing a new one that I haven’t post anywhere yet, I didn’t even gave it a title yet to be honest 

  Thanks for reading! Reblog to share your appreciation for @thequeenofpixels​ ❤️

[pointlesslypoetic]

I was tagged by @deheerkonijn and, much like my main greased up hobo Aragorn, I answered The Call. To Deheer, thank you for being one my strongest sources inspiration, both on purpose and inadvertently. You are an amazing artist and writer and a Very Cool Friend.

The largely unanticipated 2021 Year End Fic Review

How many stories did you complete?

Stories? 0

Self contained one shots that I’m counting bc they’re technically their own stories? 13 and a half.

I’m like Professor Calamity from Jimmy Neutron when it comes to fics, and I’m vowing to end that when it comes to the fic I’m currently working on. Although, in all honesty, I do intend to go back and continue both Landslide and Forged in Fame. Just waiting for the brain cells to rub together.

What is your total word count for the year?

211,600. Which is, uh, absolutely unfathomable and I’m honestly kind of in shock?? Not bad for a chronically distracted, fic hiatusing Bitch amirightladies?

What fandoms did I write in this year?

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Ducktales 2017, and Lord of The Rings/The Hobbit. To say I have eclectic taste would be fair. If only I had managed to throw Star Trek TOS on there. Would have really rounded out my personality profile I think.

Did you write more, less, or roughly about what you expected?

MORE. WAY WAY MORE. My god more, by about 100k words. I’m still reeling. Jeez. I love writing, I consider myself an author on somedays, a freelance bullshitter on most; but I’ve wanted to BE an author since I was, oh, five? So this is really a confidence boost. Feels good, feels organic.

What’s your own favorite story of the year?

Of my own making, either my ongoing SPOP fic (https://archiveofourown.org/works/34172422/chapters/85027798) or Save the Last Dance for Me (chapter five of Landslide). All of my fics have been absurdly fun to write, as I am a woefully self indulgent person. The Dionysus of AO3, really. But those two are very, very dear to my heart.

Most under appreciated story of the year?

NONE! All of my fics have been well received, kudo’d and commented on and bookmarked. Landslide and Forged in Fame have received more attention than WYAIAA, but I’m writing for a more niche audience and primarily myself with that fic so I don’t think one can really compare the feedback. It’s like comparing the views of an NFL game to the latest episode of GBBO; they have their audiences, and are beloved for different reasons. I’m eternally, immensely grateful for every kind word anyone has ever left on any of my fics, I really do read each and every one. It’s not the quantity that matters, but the quality.

Biggest fanfic-related disappointment of 2021?

That I am biologically incapable of juggling more than one interest/fandom at a time. To my duck audience, I am so sorry lmfao. You haven’t been abandoned I swear.

Biggest fanfic-related surprise of 2021?

That Landslide was such a well received hit! I literally never saw myself writing Ducktales fanfic, but after the finale of the show left me gently disappointed and very confused, I really felt the need to get it all out and work through my feelings the best way I knew how. And so I just started smashing away at the keys, and the first chap was born. And then, I woke up the next day, and there was ART. And so then I wrote more, and then there was more art, and on and on until uhhh 11k views later that artist and I are really good irl friends! And along the way, I had fallen back in love with writing after almost a year of struggling with it. So, Landslide is love letter to a wonderful cartoon, one of two that got me through the Cobra Panasonic, and love letter to myself. So, yes, complete shock that it found such a wide audience, but I’m so grateful it did.

Something you’re looking forward to working on in 2022?

My own personal work! I’d like to actually churn a manuscript out this year, or, at the very least, a first draft. And so much more fanfic! I’ve got so many ideas, and I’m sure this year will bring new interests and new friends!

I’m tagging @lettheladylead and @alysurr to drop their Year End Fic Review!!

[oversizedbats]

tumblr tag game 😛

thank you for the tag @nina-zcnik !!!

1. Why did you choose your url?

“Why should I be afraid of an oversized bat who likes to throw temper tantrums?”

2. Any side blogs?

I help out at @illyrianet

3. How long have you been on tumblr?

I had a personal tumblr in like 2016 that went dead in late 2017. I didn’t really come on here again until last summer when I reread acotar and went looking for Nessian fanfics.

4. Do you have a queue tag?

I do not. The only time I used the queue feature on this blog was for a multipart fanfic while I was offline for a week to read acosf.

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?

I wanted to support the artists, writers and creators in the fandom and be able to organize stuff by tags to find it again later and my long dead personal tumblr account wasn’t really suitable for that so I made this one.

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

Idk I saw it and obviously thought of the Queen of Queens, Nesta Archeron.

7. Why did you choose your header?

I am a Nessian whore.

8. What’s your post with the most notes?

Pretty sure it’s this one about fae menstruation lol

9. How many mutuals do you have?

Noooo clue I just know most of them come from Illyrianet

10. How many followers do you have?

161 :)

11. How many people do you follow?

44

12. Have you ever made a shit post?

Every original post I’ve ever made is a shit post lmfao. I don’t write or draw or contribute in any meaningful way to this fandom I’m more of a throw all my thoughts into the void blog.

13. How often do you use tumblr a day?

Too often. I got into the habit of obsessively refreshing the Nessian tag last summer and the muscle memory of opening and checking Tumblr has kind of stuck since then.

14. Did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog?

No but someone recently tried. They were promptly blocked.

15. How do you feel about the ‘you need to reblog’ posts?

I get it. I’m sure it’s frustrating for creators. I made this account specifically so I could reblog fandom work but everyone has different comfort levels with what their social media presence is though so I also understand why people don’t. I didn’t reblog stuff until I had made this account bc I wasn’t gonna expose my Nessian smut tastes to people I used to go to high school with 😂

16. Do you like tag games?

For the most part even if I don’t do a lot of them (I see and appreciate everyone who tags me though I just get distracted/busy)

17. Do you like ask games?

Sure why not?

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

Anyone from Illyrianet that has no business following this blog in any other circumstances 😂 Mostly @nina-zcnik @ladyvanserra and @vanserrasvalkyrie

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual?

All of them 😌

20. Tags!

@arinbelle @positivewitch @simpingfornestaarcheron @starbornvalkyrie @arielle-reads​ @ladyvanserra @vanserrasvalkyrie @illyrianvalkyrie and anyone else who sees this consider yourself tagged 😛