#fic author ask

[notquitejiraiya]

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

Alrighty then. This is gonna be tough and has required some thought, but let’s do it:

1. Strangers (Sand Sibling-Centric, Mature)

In Strangers, we see the sand sibs join together as a trio for the first time in almost three years as they make their way across Europe together, all battling their own issues and struggling to accept their shared sense of loss.

It is, by far, my favourite I’ve ever written. I had so much fun planning and writing it and it’s become my favourite little universe I’ve made. I am so proud of it, and it has my favourite final line of all of my stories. If you love Sand Sibs, please give Strangers a go!

2. Grandmaster (ShikaTema, Temari-Centric, Explicit)

Grandmaster is the prequel to Strangers. It follows Temari growing up to become one of the world’s top chess players, and the influence of her (tough and testing) family and her fellow player Shikamaru Nara on her life and career.

It is not yet complete on ao3, but it is my pride and joy in terms of my ShikaTema fics. So much time and effort and love went into this fic. It is my world building child, my best attempt at OCs and I am so proud that it exists. There is so much of my soul in this story, and I’m overjoyed to see people are liking it so far. Thank you very much to those who are currently reading it!

3. 9/10 (ShikaTema, Mature)

9/10 is a oneshot set in our world that centres around Shikamaru, who was on a trip with his friend but has branched off from them for some peace and quiet. Whilst on his own, he becomes acquainted with the strange lady next door.

It’s not my personal favourite fic I have ever written, but I do think it’s the fic I feel most proud of. It was the first story I truly felt like I was writing just for myself, and I think it’s one of my best; it’s certainly my best oneshot, and I’m immensely happy with it.

4. CHESS (ShikaTema, Mature)

CHESS is a story about the friendship and eventual relationship that develops between Shikamaru and his new therapist, Temari.

And no, it isn’t “problematic”. Don’t even think about coming for me about that — I simply do not care — just read it and find out. That said, please do mind the tags as it does touch on certain topics some may be uncomfortable with.

Now, I don’t think CHESS is even nearly my best work, but it would be criminal not to put it in a top 5 of mine. It’s a part of my blog’s “brand” at this point, if I were to have such a thing. If people have read just one of my stories, they’ve probably read CHESS. It came from an important place to me and it turned into the beast it is and I’m proud of it, even if my writing has evolved since then. For that, it deserves top 5 without a doubt.

(PS: yeah, I still regret capitalising the title on ao3 but I’ve committed to the bit now. We aren’t turning back.)

5. Ripples (ShikaTema, Mature)

Ripples follows two wedding guests taking a break from the festivities.

I wasn’t sure what to list as 5, but I decided to go for another oneshot, and Ripples is my second favourite of my oneshots. Nothing deep, nothing sad, nothing particular silly, just them and a lake and some stones. I have very happy memories of writing this fic and despite it being a few years now I still think it’s nice.

.

Whoever sent me this ask, thank you! It was a lot of fun to think about. Hope you all have a lovely day ♥️

[anthrofreshtodeath]

#12 for the fic ask! (also #14 if u feel so inclined 😄)

Thank you for your ask! Appreciate you!

12) What is my favorite trope to write and why?

I really like fake dating and friends-to-lovers. Something about realizing there's something different going on, something different than friendship or partnership, I think. I like when I can make characters realize they've been reading things wrong. Fake dating is also very messy and I am know to love the mess haha.

14) Share a snippet - oooh, let's do one from P FKN R. I'm liking how it's going.

Jane closed her eyes to savor the tug of Tatiana Martinez’s teeth on her lower lip. Quickly, control spiraled, and her heart hammered. Her fingers trembled when they curled around Tatiana’s waist, and her back sweated when Tatiana put a hand flat on it. They kissed, lips on lips, tongue tangling with tongue, until Jane felt that hand move to her chest. “Jesus,” she whispered, more a feeling against Tatiana’s mouth than a sound in her ear.

“Just Tati is fine,” Tatiana teased when she pulled back. “I haven’t seen you in…”

“Five years? Five long-ass years,” Jane finished, just before lunging in for another kiss. The atmosphere of the steamy, rapidly-filling bar pressed in around them, cocooning them in with each other. 

Tatiana laughed when Jane found her again. “Stop for a second,” she said. “I’d like to think we have all night.”

“Do we?” Jane asked, eyes somehow darker and all alight at the same time.

“Don’t we? Do you have somebody to go home to?” Tatiana asked back. “You didn’t mention anyone.”

Jane shakes her head. “Nah. Not really,” she replied. “There’s a guy overseas… army. But we’re not serious. I think I might have already dumped him.”

Tatiana laughed, mouth open and a hand on Jane’s chest. “You think? You always were so messy when it came to love, papi,” she said, her accusation light, playful. When her fingers hit leather, she scrutinized Jane more directly: jeans, boots - possibly from work, a v-neck tee, and a jacket. She narrowed her perfectly threaded eyebrows. She shook her head.

Jane frowned, checked herself out. “What, I don’t look good?”

“I didn’t say that,” Tatiana replied. “You just look like you’re meeting my brother. What happened to the Jane that used to take me out? What happened to my Jane?” She was remembering Jane in silk shirts, with loud tropical prints, in dark skinny jeans, in exposed ribbed undershirts, catholic pendants around her neck, bathed in perfume. Reckless Jane - Jane chasing promotions and chasing Tatiana’s naked form all over the bed.

Jane remembered herself at that age, too. “To be fair, I had no idea you’d be here,” she said, blushing, her lips practically hanging off of Tatiana’s ear. The scent of Tati’s hair, of coconut shampoo and fruity styling products, set a symphony off against her ribcage. Knock knock knock knock. Memories of debauchery and athleticism tickled her brain before releasing in a deluge.

“Hmm,” Tatiana hummed when Jane gave into temptation and ran the tip of her tongue over the side of Tatiana’s neck. “It’s because I never know if I am gonna be here. That would be better with a shot and a little salt, you know,” she said, stepping confidently into the affection.  

“Jane!” Maura called over the music, with the tray serendipitously in her hand and Frankie right behind.

Jane jerked upright, as if just having remembered that she didn’t come to the club alone, or at least hadn’t planned to be there alone. “H-hey!” she shouted, catching sight of Maura. The visual was calming; it pulled her spirit back into her shoes when it had threatened to float above the crowd and out into the summer night. 

Tatiana, ever the extrovert, helped Maura take the tray to the small standing-room table close by. “You have excellent timing,” she said to Maura while Jane and Frankie followed along. “We were just talking about how we needed some shots! Jane, Frankie, who is this beautiful woman?”

Jane cleared her throat and tried not to use what little Spanish she had to decipher the salacious lyrics pounding into the room around them while she stared at Tatiana’s ass in that tight skirt. And then there was Maura’s tight skirt, ass and all, and…

She needed to get ahold of herself.

“This is uh, this is Dr. Maura Isles,” she said, coming up behind Tatiana, hand on her waist. “She’s the Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth, and she’s my best friend.” Jane smirked at that last part, a smirk reserved only for Maura, which Maura was happy to see preserved considering Jane was behind Tatiana and therefore hidden from Tatiana’s view. Maura smiled back just before her lips closed around the lip of her beer. 

Jane gulped. “Shit. Before we do shots, I gotta get me one of those,” she said, squeezing her way through bodies as more started to hit the floor. Maura watched her rub her entire front on Tatiana’s entire back and suddenly had the urge to tell Jane there was no more waiting. Shot time was now. 

But then, Jane put a hand on Maura’s forearm and leaned close. “Wait for me, yeah?” she said into the hair at Maura’s temple, the only way to be heard now that the music had been pumped up. “I’ll be right back.”

Maura nodded dumbly. “Sure,” she said, once Jane had already left.

“Dr. Isles!” Tatiana shouted. Her voice sounded muffled and far away, but Maura still turned toward her. Again, stunning. Close up, Maura noticed all the ways that Tatiana and Rafael looked alike: eyes set the same distance apart and burning with intelligence, full and glossy lips, the same broad and beautiful nose. Tatiana deviated from her brother in the womanliest of ways, however, with the curve of her hips and the kind of ass Maura had begged the universe for in high school. She thought she’d gotten quite a good return on her investment, but… Tatiana had her beat in both shape and bounce. Maura only had the tiniest bit of a hard time admitting it. Apparently, she had been lost in thoughts of Tatiana’s good looks so long that she’d missed her name, because it came again. “Dr. Isles!” Tatiana repeated. “I looked you up when my brother said he was working with you!” she yelled across the cadence of drums and guitars that she swayed to. 

“Oh, you did?” Was all that Maura could think to shout back, feeling bold with her beer and putting a hand on the silk of Tatiana’s shirt, right above her wrist.

“I did! Youngest person ever to be Chief M.E.! I gotta say, that’s impressive!” replied Tatiana. Maura’s brain analyzed all aspects of her with impressive speed, trying to dissect all the things that might make Jane as wrapped up in Tatiana as she clearly was. Interestingly, her Spanish accent, slight, sounded different than Rafael’s, and Maura couldn’t quite place it. Mexico? Guatemala? Distinctly American-born.

She didn’t get the chance for further study because Jane slithered against her before moving past. “Hey, I got us a round,” said Jane, carrying four beers, two in each hand. “Seemed like a good idea.”

Jane’s deep voice, loud like Tatiana’s but not feminine like hers, carried notes of the North End and its own very specific Sicilian-American leftovers. Maura gulped, chugging the rest of her beer so she could take the next bottle from Jane. “Thank you!” she raised the empty one to Tatiana in response to her previous comment, and then, more quietly, she wrapped her fingers around Jane’s around the base of the amber bottle. “And thank you,” she said, in her normal volume, relying more on the hooding of her eyes to convey her words to Jane.

Jane, already on her way to Tatiana, stopped for a moment. “Y-yeah, you’re welcome,” she said, with that Maura-specific smile one more time.

[seraandthebees]

For the fic writer ask: 💋

💋when you leave comments on a fic, do you want to hear back from the writer?

I love hearing back from authors, especially if I’ve commented something specific cause hearing their response is really fun in terms of seeing some more where they were coming from! It’s also nice to hear back if I know the author from other platforms and am invested in them. But I don’t get upset if I don’t get a reply, especially if the work is more than a few years old

[zeldamacgregor]

For the writer's game: 🦐, 😍, 👍, 🕳️, 🎻 (any or all). :)

Ooooh thank you for these!

🦐- Talk about a time when you made yourself laugh or cry? I made myself laugh a few times with some of He Can Be Very Charming (bike shoes, the baseball game), and I've also made myself shed a tear here or there with that one when discussing grief.

😍- Post one sentence you think is really great. I think I've done this one before, but I'll do it again because I still love it. It's not that great but it makes me laugh.

Nevertheless, Port Star managed to be a relatively peaceful and pleasant place filled with happy people (even the local mermaids were reasonable and only occasionally drowned people for sport.) Star Mile, Chapter 16 Port Star

👍- What was the first piece of creative writing you ever did? How do you feel about it now? I'm not sure it's the first, but one of the earliest I made an effort with was called The Glass Sword of Zaldz (lmao) and it was about a young girl raised by an elf named Crimson and she had to, you guessed it, reclaim a glass sword etc. I think it was probably not as bad as I remember it, but also probably not that great.

🕳️- Talk about a research rabbit hole you fell down! Oh my god so many, but a fun one was for this chapter (Blue Jello) of He Can Be Very Charming and it's about blue raspberry flavor! Here's the link to an article about it that is also shared at the end of that chapter.

🎻- Where do you look when you need some inspiration? I have playlists that help me or if it's fanfic I'll go back to the source media or chat with friends to brainstorm/idea pitch.

Thanks again for these!

[shushmal]

"Are you going to break my heart?"

Eddie almost drives them off the road.

It's late, nearly 2 am, and the country road is narrow and winding, and this thing between them, fingers twinned above the gear shift, radio turned down low, Stevie Nicks singing to them softly, is new. Eddie wants to live in this moment forever, wants the smell of lake water and dying August heat to live in their clothes, wants the warmth of first kisses and whispered confessions to last in tingling sparks in their skin, the memory of touch to be permanent. It won't be, it'll all fade, but Eddie can visit it again, rewrite them into the cotton and the softness of Steve's mouth.

It's late, and this is new.

"It's okay if you do," Steve says, so quiet. He's holding on to Eddie's hand like he's dangling off a cliff. "I can handle it. I'd just like a heads up, so I can prepare."

Eddie almost feels guilty, basking in his joy when Steve was sinking into something else. He thinks, if he were a kid still, if he hadn't died, hadn't lost everything and managed to get it all back, he'd be angry. But he's not. He's not, and he did, and it's late and this is new—but it's not unfamiliar. The same, but more, an extra free scoop with whipped cream and sprinkles, a cherry on top.

"You trust me?" Eddie asks. He rubs his thumb along Steve's knuckles, feels the scars under his skin, little tears in someone so perfect.

"Of course," Steve croaks. Eddie can't look at him, because the road is dark and narrow and winding, and he has to get his boy home safe.

"And I trust you," Eddie says, brings Steve's hand up, presses a kiss like a seal to his skin. "And I love you, and you love me. I got you."

Steve's quiet for a long, long moment. Eddie can tell he's watching him, so he presses another kiss to Steve's hand, lets his lips linger on hard tendons and dark veins. Kisses in his promises to the place they're linked together.

When he speaks again, it's soft, and Eddie can hear the love, living and leaving in the air between Steve's teeth.

"Okay," he says, giving Eddie everything. "You got me."

[daydreamerwonderkid]

"Another AO3 author with too much time on his hands"

Where the fics at?

[frownyalfred]

“Why are you bullying Hal Jordan so much in this fic?” Because it’s funny. Because it’s funny and he’s not a real person.

[ethereal-bumble-bee]

Making a fanfiction author ask game!

(Basically bc I’ve seen fanfiction ask games but I’m too lazy to find one with some of these specific questions, so here ya go!)

What is your favorite trope to write?

What is your least favorite trope to write?

What is the main program you use for writing (google docs, the ao3 writing text box, etc.)

What is the main site you publish/write on?

The fic you’re most proud of writing?

The fic you’re least proud of writing?

Favorite ship to write?

Least favorite ship to write?

Biggest pet peeve while writing?

Best/funniest comment you’ve ever gotten on a fic?

Do you prefer writing angst, crack, or fluff?

First ever fic written?

Latest fic written/latest WIP?

First fandom you ever wrote fanfiction for?

Fandom you wrote the most fanfiction for?

Do you prefer co-writing something or just working on it by yourself?

Favorite AU to write?

Most words/chapters ever written for one fic or oneshot?

Have you ever created an OC for a fic?

Hardest character to write/get the characterization correct for?

[drenched-in-sunlight]

saying this as respectfully as possible but. Do not put fandom content creators on a pedestal. We are also just fans contributing to a community just as you are. We have boundary on our own work and that’s it. What I say is not and should not be considered sth the whole fandom should listen to. I’m just a normal ass person ranting about things on my blog. If it does not have a fandom tag for others to engage in, do not make it out to be me trying to start fights or addressing the whole community. Because it’s not.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, my art, my lore talk, is biased. I’ve never tried to hide that I view Marika a certain way and will always develop my theory following that base assumption.

Aside from translation stuffs and pointing out in-game items, everything else I say you can look at it, agree or disagree, and move on to form your own opinions. Just because I draw stuffs doesn’t mean you get to saddle me with responsibilities about managing fandom expectations. What the hell? I’m a fan artist, I’m the last person who you should look at for “leaderism” (?) WHAT?

I can and will be a hater in my own space, like I know sometimes other artists will just post their stuffs and not engage too heavily with fandom, and for a while I did try to do that here (because I’m already a dramatic ass on twitter), that’s just not me though.

You will get art and you will get my opinions as well.

[landwriter]

Hi! I hope you feel better soon!

This is a great prompt by @academicblorbo about Hob Gadling being the landlord of the Dead Boys. It has a wonderful fill already by @omgcinnamoncakes but I’d love to see what you come up with for it!

Alternative prompt from me if that doesn’t work for your brain: remember the date between Jenny and Maxine? How about one between Jenny and Esther? Poor Jenny is going to really question her taste in beautiful blonde women 😭

Thank you! I saw ‘landlord’ and ‘decades’ and blacked out. I love Hob having them as tenants. Maybe even before the modern day meeting in Sandman.

The Sandman/Dead Boy Detectives, 2.4k, G Dream/Hob, pre-slash, alternating/outsider POV, found family, a reunion and revelations etc.

---

Hob did not, strictly speaking, have tenants. It was more of a minor haunting. Pun intended.

The small room above the pub and below his flat wasn’t worth charging anyone rent for; when he first bought the building he had put a handsome oak desk in there and some bookshelves before wondering who he was possibly keeping up appearances for. Who was he going to take back upstairs that would stop and say, Wait, can I see your office? So he’d left it as more or less an abandoned room.

When he realized a pair of boys were using it as their clubhouse, he didn’t do anything at first. He saw them quietly coming and going a couple times, disappearing around the corner of the first landing. Brazen things. He meant to call after them, but the shout had died in his throat. He’d been young once. He still remembered the need to get away from it all. It was only when he went to check if they’d been making a mess of the room that he discovered it was still locked.

He’d crouched down and inspected the latch and found no marks at all. Huh, he’d said, and jiggled it again, and been a little more interested in whatever clever way they were getting into it after they disappeared up his stairs. Then he didn’t see them for weeks, and assumed they had gotten bored and stopped.

Until they came back. In the middle of an argument, striding through the pub like they owned it. Hob straightened up as they passed him.

“I cannot believe you broke the mirror.”

“I was in a rush! It’s not my fault you forgot you needed Arcana Incantatum after we arrived at the church. And found the demon.”

“I hardly forgot, I only made the mistake of assuming you would know to pack it by now.”

Hob raised his eyebrows. The boys disappeared into the back hallway. He followed them as they went upstairs, too preoccupied with their drama to notice Hob. They turned onto the landing, still carrying on. Even as they walked through the door. The locked, closed door.

Hob blinked. Then he drew his keys from his pocket and opened the door. The boys were still inside. One of them was pulling a mirror out of a backpack that was several times too small for it. They didn’t even look up, and Hob wondered how he couldn’t possibly have put it together earlier. He cleared his throat.

“Hello, boys.” That caught their attention. Hob grinned. “Seems we’re neighbours.”

---

Edwin abhorred getting involved with the living. He and Charles got along perfectly well on their own. They were a duo. An intrepid pair. Best mates, like Charles often stressed whenever he was about to ask something particularly ridiculous of Edwin. They were solid together. As solid as two ghost boys could be. The living, though, were messy and unpredictable.

Perhaps the most salient fact at present: Charles invariably became attached to them.

“He’s sad, mate. I can see it in his eyes.”

“You said those exact words in ‘94 about a dog. At least ask Hob himself.”

Before you decide to adopt him too.

Hob Gadling, irritatingly, was unobjectionable on every ground Edwin could think of. He had made no imposition upon them. When he found them, he only asked them their business, and then told them he was usually downstairs, or upstairs, if they needed anything they couldn’t procure themselves. He had an interest in rare and old books, as it happened. In explaining this, he had also hinted at being far older than his looks would suggest, which vexed Edwin twice over. He knew his curiosity would not be slaked until he talked to Hob, but then he would be the one getting involved with the living, and Charles would hardly let him forget it.

“Do you think he’s really immortal? Mate’s far too calm. Last week I saw him stop a fight downstairs by stepping right between these huge blokes. He just said something and smiled and they backed right off.” Charles lit up. “Do you reckon he’d teach me how to do that? Conflict de-escalation, innit? I could show him some moves with the cricket bat, I bet. Oh, do you think he’s a cricket fan?”

It was obviously a hopeless case, and since the Dead Boy Detectives never took on hopeless cases, there was only one course of action that remained. Edwin had long since disabused himself of the notion he needed to breathe. He had no beating heart, yet when he was startled, he would find himself clutching his chest. Now, he exhaled slowly through his nose in an entirely superfluous sigh of resignation. “Well, Charles, shall we go talk to him?”

---

When the millennium came around, Hob found himself celebrating it with his accidental tenants. There was something gloriously satisfying about being able to make a toast to the next one and have it taken seriously. He’d asked them if they had something better to do - spectral trouble to get into et cetera - and they both looked at him with almost identical put-upon and incredulous expressions.

Hob had a terrible suspicion they thought they were taking care of him as much as he thought he was taking care of them.

Edwin, with his insatiable curiosity and, deep underneath it, something Hob thought he recognized from himself: a sharp animal ferocity and a refusal to go until he’s good and done, natural laws be damned. Charles, still brightly, painfully alive for a ghost - who should be alive still, by all rights, but nothing of this life was fair - who joked to cover up hurt in a way Hob knew too, and glowed any time Hob turned so much as a kind word to him.

He wondered what they saw when they looked at him.

The year ticked over, and technology kept working. Charles grinned innocently and said he could probably possess the telly and break it that way if Hob wanted?

Hob’s heart twinged. He knew they weren’t his, not to keep, but it seemed that teenagers didn’t change at all over the centuries, even if the boys were only sort of teenagers in the way Hob was only sort of in his thirties. It didn’t change that they’d been punted from the mortal coil before having a chance to grow up, and figure out the kind of men they were, and make their own choices and fuck up and try to be better than their fathers, and everything everyone deserved. Hob had made more than his share of mistakes. They hadn’t been given the chance to make nearly any at all.

So they made toasts to the new millennium, to the detective agency, to themselves, all stuck out of time in different ways and refusing to move on for different reasons, and Hob allowed himself to think of Robyn and privately pretend that they were his all the same.

---

A week later, Hob was reminded of the other universal traits of teenagers when he mentioned his stranger and both boys began to grill him with terrifying alacrity. Before turning to his dating life, like ravening bloody wolves. When Edwin had asked, in a specifically nineteenth century manner that Hob remembered all too well, if Hob had always been unmarried, he’d nearly put his head in his hands.

“It can be hard for me to associate with the living too, you know. For obvious reasons.”

Charles had turned to Edwin and hissed “See? I told you.”

Right in front of him. Nobody had taught them manners.

“Manners, Charles,” replied Edwin loftily. “We will, of course, respect your privacy. A man is entitled to his secrets.”

“You’ll go upstairs and rifle through my personal things, is what you’ll do,” said Hob.

Charles coughed to hide his laugh. Edwin flushed and looked away. Hob snorted, and told them about Eleanor and Robyn. Properly. It was a strange relief. He’d told the story wrong for plausibility’s sake so many times he had been worried he’d forget the truth of it one day.

They had listened, and been remarkably quiet until Charles piped up and offered to set him up with a ‘really fit’ ghost. Hob had roundly shut that down. Woefully, not all explanations were satisfying enough. Charles cornered him again the next morning while he was cleaning the bar.

“No, mate, I still don’t get it.” Hob was about to say he no more wanted to be with someone who couldn’t feel pleasure from his touch than someone who would grow old and be taken from him while he stayed the same, when Charles went on, bafflingly, to ask, “Why don’t you meet your mysterious friend more often than once a century?”

Hob sighed. “Adults are often busy, Charles.” Nevermind that he had begun to wonder the same since the eighteenth century. He’d always just assumed time passed differently for his stranger.

Charles just laughed and perched himself on the bar top. “Ooh, low blow. We’re busy too, you know. Plenty of cases to solve.”

“Really,” said Hob. “You’re busy. Right now.”

Charles waggled his eyebrows.

“Charles, I am not a case,” said Hob, sternly as possible. “I’m not even a ghost. He’s not a ghost. No ghosts.”

“We could investigate. Maybe ghosts are involved. What even is he? Why every hundred years? Is it some sort of Persephone situation?”

Hob bit his lip against shouting I don’t know! I don’t know anything about him! Instead, he tried to smile, and felt it come out as a wince instead. “He’s very private.”

Charles scowled. “Yeah, obviously. You don’t even know his name. He can’t be that good of a friend if he’s too busy to see you more than once a century.”

Hob couldn’t see the expression on his own face, but he saw Charles’ shocked reaction well enough. It was so long ago for him, and still Hob knew at once what Charles saw now: that first time you manage to visibly hurt a grown-up’s feelings, people who seemed too old and too stern to actually feel pain, when you’d been going around kicking at them like a new foal, just to stretch your legs.

“Sorry,” said Charles, instant regret chasing his surprise. He was a good kid.

“It’s alright,” said Hob. He meant it. He looked down at the shining bartop. His hands were restless with the urge to light a cigarette. He gave in. It wasn’t like Charles would be dying of lung cancer any time soon if he decided to follow Hob’s example. “I don’t think he would say he’s very good at being a friend either. Truth is, I’d love to see him more often. But we had an awful fight the last time we met. If he forgives me, I’ll have to ask.”

“Mates always make up,” said Charles earnestly. He was such a good kid.

“I suppose they do.” Charles still looked sorry, and Hob clapped him on the shoulder. “Hey. Thanks for looking out for me, Charles.”

Charles beamed at him. “Always. We’ve got your back, me and Edwin.”

---

Charles couldn’t bloody believe it. Hob’s friend was here. There was nobody else it could be. He and Edwin were watching from a nearby table, pretending to be absorbed in their own conversation. Neither man noticed them. They were too busy looking at each other.

He couldn’t imagine spending more than a century apart from Edwin. The way Hob had talked about him and his stranger over the years, it sometimes seemed like they were best mates too, no matter how little they saw each other. He was dead sure that’s what had Hob looking so gutted when he thought nobody was looking. He had known they would make up, though. Maybe now Hob would be happier.

“Charles, we really ought not eavesdrop,” hissed Edwin. Right as he scooted his chair closer, the cheeky hypocrite. Hob and his friend were talking too quietly to properly hear, their heads bent together. Lots to catch up on, Charles reckoned. A hundred years. He couldn’t stop thinking about the number. It seemed impossible. Funny, he couldn’t imagine that long away from Edwin, but he could imagine spending that long being best mates. There was nobody he’d rather hide from Death with.

Hob’s face was doing something strange as his long-lost friend talked. Then Hob moved and grasped him by the shoulders, so tight that his knuckles stood out in relief. The man said something in low tones and Hob shook his head, and then pulled him in for a hug. The man stiffened and then relaxed, and his arms came up around Hob’s.

Their cheeks both looked wet.

Charles swallowed and it felt suddenly a little like he was choking. He should look away, only he couldn’t.

“They must be great friends,” said Edwin softly.

“Yeah,” he managed to croak. We won’t ever need to have a reunion like this because I’m never going to lose you, mate. I won’t let them take you. It was stuck behind the phantom lump in his phantom throat. His hand, without him telling it to, reached out and grabbed hold of Edwin’s. Edwin squeezed it hard, and Charles knew he didn’t have to make his voice work after all.

Then the man pushed Hob away, but only far enough to grab his face and pull him back again, thumbing over Hob’s cheeks, and beside him, Edwin honest-to-god gasped, and then Charles momentarily forgot how thoughts worked too.

---

It happens thus: in the New Inn, just next door to the White Horse, some 639 years after they first met, Hob Gadling and Dream of the Endless share their first kiss. Neither, if they had bothered to think about it, would have intended to have an audience, but it’s a well-known fact that some kisses cannot wait, and theirs was chief among them, being that it had so much to say, and was so very long overdue.

I missed you, it said, and I came back, it said, and Please don’t go away from me again, and I could not.

And atop them, like blankets, were laid invisible the daydreams of those who saw them, including two long-dead boys, whose dreams were woven from the fresh and unaccounted-for possibilities of Hob kissing his mysterious stranger. Another man, thought Edwin. His best friend, thought Charles. Dream was the only one who could have heeded this, but he did not, because Hob Gadling was holding him tight and daydreaming loudly of this kiss and more, of this today and tonight and tomorrow, ever greedy and ever easily pleased, and Dream could hear nothing at all over their clamouring and comingled joy; the bright gold daydream between the scant space of their bodies that sounded so much like at last.

[stardustndreamsofsilver]

Fic Writer Asks

Thought it would be fun to make one of these myself

🫓 What is your most popular fic?

🥘 What category do most of your fics fall under?

🍲 When did you start writing and why?

🍱 Do you read your own fics?

🍛 Have any comments, tags or reactions to one of your fics every made you laugh or cry or both?

🍜 Do you ever feel pressured to write?

🍠 How long does it take you to write one of your fics or a chapter/part?

🍢 Have you ever gotten hate on a fic?

🍣 What helps you focus or get in the mood to write?

🍥 What's your favorite fic you've written?

🥮 Do you have any writing milestones you're working toward?

🍡 Which of your fics was the most emotionally difficult to write?

🍘 Is there a fic or idea for a fic that you've abandoned?

🍙 Is there a fic you wish had gotten more attention?

🍚 What genre do you have the toughest time writing?

[lexirosewrites]

hi!! i love all your stories and read them all (my three favs are Bandaids for the Heart, And the Sun Will Rise, and Bleeding Heart ☺️🥰) but i have been rereading so many of my bookmarked stories and i need new steddie omegaverse fic recommendations if it’s not too much to ask?

i’ve been struggling to read lately so this one has been in my inbox for a while. i’m gonna give you my recently read fics as well as my all-time favorites from my bookmarks, with the hope you find something worthwhile! (please check tags on the individual fics)

2024 Reads:

💛 “feel forever its soft fall and swell” by hesjustlikemefr, 34k words

💛 “Princess Jazz and Calamity Meg (Single Dads Go to the Zoo)” series by @fayefayefaye90, 20k words

💛 “Free-Use Health Care” by @midsummer-semantics, 9k

💛 “like rabbits” by crybaby, WIP 23k

💛 “Anemone” by @teddywesworl, 28k

💛 “None But You” by @itcanbepalped, 13k

💛 “Room 414” @oh-stars, 9k

💛 “Bearer is Entitled To...” by @starshideurfics, 9k

💛 “My Loneliness Is Killin' Me (Baby)” by Anonymous, WIP, 18k

All-Time Favs:

💛 “Simple Biology” by @boltedfruit, 28k

💛 "among the leaves sae green" by @starshideurfics, 37k

💛"Nurse Harrington" series by @itcanbepalped, 13k

💛 "Remember Me, Love (when I'm reborn)" by @stevebckley, 34k

💛 "Could you coo, could you care?" By @mixsethaddams, 13k

💛 "Build a Life with You" by @starshideurfics, 86k

💛 "pull my body back and whisper in my ear" by @catknives, 33k

💛 “down to the studs/like a bitch in heat” by @itcanbepalped, 22k

💛 "Yeah, you made me feel" by @whataboutthefish, 85k

💛 "it must be something in the water" by @r-o-s-e-f-i-r-e, 13k

💛 "Suspended Bridges" by @kiaramori, 243k

💛 "Six Kids and a Winnebago" series by @oddree13, WIP 105k

[anthrofreshtodeath]

9. What inspired you to write your first fic? (Love your work and all you do 🏟️💐👩🏻‍🔧)

Thank you for your kind words. I'm glad what I do resonates with you. That's always very nice to hear.

This is a good question! Honestly my first fanfiction was for Pokemon and I wrote it because I was tired of Team Rocket not having enough screen time every Saturday LOL. I think I was 11?

My first rizzles fic was inspired by a recent discovery of the field of forensic linguistics. It was ultimately deleted because its representation of that field was shaky at best and I felt it wasn't up to the standards it needed to be when portraying the discipline. I know a lot more about forensic linguistics now and Pyrite has more of a faithful representation of it.

[phoenixcatch7]

It's always funny to me when in an lu fic the chain is offered bananas and don't accept them. Like, you're offering these high energy adventures free food?? Fruit they'll have never even heard of before??? A ridiculously expensive imported good at best?? AND it boosts your attack?

Not ONE of these idiots would ever turn down something new and interesting to eat at least once. They'd be all over those bananas and immediately get dubbed yiga and I'm honestly surprised no one has used it in a fic yet 🤭

[zeldamacgregor]

For the get to know your fanfic writer ask game: 1, 11, 55, 60, and 69, any or all, please!

1. Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics? It depends on the story I'm trying to tell. I like to give myself room to tell the story without having a single huge scroll to get through and chapters help me pace, but sometimes all I need is one.

11. Link your three favorite fics right now. Hmm... Your Precious Thimble by ComradeGiddyBiscuit (Explicit) To Make Much of Time by lemonfluff (Explicit) Innocent Questions by koala2all (General Audiences)

55. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has the choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers' reactions to certain ones? My favorite will always be Hook but I also love writing Jacob Carter and Selmak (SG1). I don't think I've been swayed, but positive reactions to characterization certainly helps me want to write more material for them.

60. Have you ever had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like? Yes, and thrilling! I remember when I uploaded the first five chapters of He Can Be Very Charming and lemonfluff commented on the first chapter. It sent me over the moon!

69. What work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing? First of all, nice. ;) I'm not usually embarrassed if I bother to publish it, but there are some older fics I did back in like 98-2005ish that were just so bad lol.

[vinelark]

what r some fics that shaped your psyche? you have so many good recs im currently rereading the to an athlete dying young series

hello! you sent me this ask ages ago and i've been meaning to get to it ever since. (it took me so long to answer that i'm sure you've reread to an athlete dying young by @sonosvegliato many times over by now but hell yeah, what a good one.)

these are a few fics--dc and beyond--that have been in my "in case of emergency" epub folder (aka fics i want to have on hand immediately to reread on bad days, or good days, or even average days) for a few years now. so here is an extremely incomplete list of fics that have shaped my psyche!

for dc specifically--if i tried to list all of them i would just end up repeating my whole fic rec tag, so these are just a few of the ones i read when i was getting into this fandom that stayed with me/made me want to seek out more for these characters:

📸 surveillance series by @smilebackwards

this series located the tim drake center of my brain and lit it up like the vegas strip.

🎒 like a hinge, like a wing by @bonesbuckleup

one of my go-to rereads for pangs; chapter one is a masterclass in tension. also, one of my favorite pre-robin tim pov fics of all time.

💻 nominal by @unpretty

"you don't get it, batman is a comedy" --conversation i've had with multiple people using this fic as my thesis statement.

🌃 the jingle jangle morning by @audreycritter

the moment somebody in my vicinity says "i love dick grayson" i'm on their doorstep with this fic url.

🚉 a meditation on railroading by @eggmacguffin

there's a moment in this fic known among my friends as "baby wipes jason" and it has successfully converted no less than three people to the fandom.

and then for non-dc fic:

🌌 atlas by @megafaunatic (mdzs & tgcf)

did i read this before i had a single clue who the characters were? yes. did i return to it once i did and lose my mind a little? yes. lore etymologyplayground writes that “so so so in love and pining so hard the lines between us are blurring and we haven’t made a move yet but it’s inevitable” flavor with such a deft hand; it is in fact called the lorezone. if any friends-to-lovers pining i write can achieve even 50% of a lorezone i will have done my job.

🪿 If they caught you by @feyburner (tgcf)

i go back to this when i think about setup and payoff, when i think about subtle misdirects, when i think about the monumental task of creating whole compelling new characters in 6k words.

🧪 away childish things by lettered (hp)

one of the best de-aging trope stories i've ever read; i think of this when i want to take a trope to its maximum potential and then go: no wait, there's even more.

(another fav de-aging fic is grow by @cafecliche; shorter plot but no less pangs 🌱)

🏡 in defiance of all geometry by @idiopath-fic-smile (les mis)

a fic that's a perfect reread when i need something cozy and full of character, and a perfect touchstone when i'm pondering something where the world may not hang in the balance but the stakes still matter.

📔 The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli (cql/mdzs)

paragon of metahumor, basically. i think of this when i want to write something that's funny in both text and form.

🍚 and his wanting grows teeth by @yuebings (cql/mdzs)

masterclass in pangy backstory reveal; the way the first scene loops back around to punch you in the gut long after you've forgotten it will forever be seared into my brain.

also, most answers on this list fit the bill!

(apologies again that this answer is so belated; it took me ages to write up partially because i kept stopping to reread these fics every time i tried.)