#givemeunicorns

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

I was tagged by @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove and I felt like some public masochism so here we are!

Edit: Holy fuck this got long, putting it under a read-more.

How many works do you have on ao3?

258 although I orphaned 100 works back in 2020.

What's your total Ao3 word count?

Why. Why would you ask me this. Why would you do this to me.

4,578,245 - although I shudder to think how much it will have gone up by the end of the year.

What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly 9-1-1, but I took a nosedive into Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves last year and still have one more fic I'm writing for it. I tend to have quick little detours into other fandoms, which I think is overall a good thing since it helps me flex my writing muscles with different characters and settings. I'm currently working on a fic that is from a show where the main characters are all constantly sassing each other and bickering, and it's pushed me into being witty and sharp with the dialogue and humor in a way that I don't think I have been in quite some time.

Top 5 Fics by Kudos:

Even Steel Blades Need Fire - that's right, a WITCHER fic. HA. You all weren't expecting that!

Leading with the Left - yeah yeah we all knew this one was coming.

Drowning in Dreams (You're My Raft) - I'm constantly surprised this little oneshot I wrote post-tsunami is so popular.

Footprints are More Easily Seen in the Snow - my first Witcher fic I ever wrote and might still actually be my favorite.

Sometimes a Hammer, Sometimes a Lockpick - another Witcher fic! I had a lot of fun with this one.

Do you respond to comments?

I do! I try to respond to every comment I get. I know not everyone can but given the anxiety I know readers have around giving comments I try to show how much every comment is appreciated by me.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I do happy endings, overall, but every once in a while I decide to be evil, so it's a tie between the two fics that are about a character dying:

The Soft Goodbye - a Timeless fic that focuses on the idea that time travel, like being in space for a long time, wreaks havoc on your body.

Full Circle - a Doctor Who fic written years ago speculating about the Doctor gifting a dying Donna her memories back so they can say goodbye.

For those of you in the 9-1-1 fandom however, since I'm sure everyone's looking at those two fics going "wait what," the fic with the angstiest ending is:

I'm Not Breathing Unless I'm Giving You CPR - spoiler alert, but I end this fic on an angsty and purposefully ambiguous note. It's up to the reader to decide what sort of ending they get.

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

Uh. All of them, I'd say? With the exception of the two MCD fics above, I deliver happy endings. However based on reader feedback, I think I'll go with...

Your Love is an Oil Slick (It Glows Like Rainbows, It Stains My Soul) - the amount of angst in this fic, especially the Bobby and Buck relationship, seems to hit readers extra hard and so the happy ending, especially Buck's reunion with his father figure, is extra joyful and cathartic.

Do you get hate on fics?

I have once in a blue moon gotten "flames," as we used to say. Writing fanfic since I was thirteen, I don't think it's possible to fully avoid a few cranky people with nothing better to do than go around and shit on people's beds. But I've been extraordinarily lucky in the love and kindness I've gotten from my readers.

Do you write smut?

Baby, it's what I'm known for. Honestly sometimes to my chagrin - I hope people enjoy my worldbuilding, characterization, and plots as well - but overall I have a lot of fun writing smut and I love reducing people to slack-jawed water-chugging babbles.

Also someone had to bring the monsterfucking around here so by golly I'm reporting for duty.

Craziest crossover?

I don't do crossovers.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yup! Someone stole my Budde Porn Star AU and turned it into a Rooster/Hangman from TG:M fic. Someone kindly alerted me and I was able to report it to Ao3. Truly a surreal experience.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have! Multiple times. It's deeply flattering and I really admire translators who put in the work to take something from one language and convey the same meanings, flow, and story in another. Translation is a genuine art form, if you ask me.

Have you co-written a fic before?

Yes! A few times, all with my beloved @extasiswings. We did one Timeless fic together whispers like poetry and we had such fun that when I started my first long, plot-ty Buddie fic I Hit the Accelerator (But the Car was in Reverse) and panicked, I roped her into finishing it with me.

We also co-wrote Carbon Date Me, Excavate Me because I was in a bad writing slump and she graciously made everything better, and then A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words (But Love is Undefinable) because she uno reverse'd me.

All time favorite ship?

I've been shipping for so long it's incredibly hard to pick just one, but I think given the sheer depth of my insanity, I have to say Buddie. I haven't had a ship grip me like this in... ever, actually. Honestly after being burned hard on some previous ships in my time, names redacted to protect the guilty (me), I didn't think it was possible to love a ship this much, and yet here I am.

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

I plan to finish all of my WIPs. Once I start a fic I'm committed to finishing it. I do however have a couple fic ideas that I don't think I'll ever actually write.

What are your writing strengths?

Um. Smut, apparently. I also seem to do well with fusions; that is, taking one trope or setting and fusing it with another in a sort of plot mash-up. And people seem to really like my world building.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm a hyper-sexual person who is very casual about sexual relationships and so sometimes I think as a result I have characters think with their cocks a bit too much and jump too quickly into sex, and sometimes there's more smut than plot. Run-on sentences, my beloved (and my editor's beloathed). I tend to write out-of-order and so sometimes little plot details can contradict, not be followed up on, or get lost in the shuffle.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I don't really write dialogue in another language in most of my fandoms, but in a few it's come up and I've approached it in different ways.

In Timeless, the character Garcia Flynn's first language is Croatian, so I would have him sometimes speak in it. In my dragon!Jaskier series, I was able to bastardize some of the Draconic from D&D (mixed with some Germanic root languages) for when he was cursing or communicating with his draconic family. In both cases, the other language was limited to only a line or two of dialogue, or perhaps a single word, so I wrote the dialogue in that language, and then had a translation guide at the bottom of the fic.

This tends to be my modus operandi, an exception being Xenk speaking Thayan, because I couldn't find any actual Thayan for the life of me, so I just describe how the phrase sounds or allude to him muttering something/swearing/etc. Since Ed, a former spy, also speaks Thayan, he can then inform the reader through his thought-process what the Thayan meant.

Occasionally, I will have two characters speaking in another language and simply italicize their words and have a line of description saying "they switch to French" or something similar, since I don't want readers to have to scroll up and down to understand an entire conversation.

In my original novels, however - the Horsemen quartet specifically - the characters communicate about fifty percent of the time through sign language. It's become the lingua franca, because noise alerts zombies and ASL is a silent language. In the books, I write the dialogue as I would English, and simply have the dialogue tag "she signed" instead of "she said."

As someone who speaks other languages but for whom English is their first, I'm not sure I get to really speak on how and when one should use other languages in one's predominantly-English fic in a predominantly-English-speaking fandom and online space. All I can say is that I listen to what others say in regards to what is most respectful and comfortable, and I don't have any personal preference in how a writer handles the use of secondary languages in their writing.

First fandom you wrote in?

I'm not sure which came first since they were right on top of each other, but Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Favorite fic you've written?

Well that's just mean. How dare you. I don't have one favorite fic, that's like asking me to choose a favorite child.

I will say I am particularly fond of In the Gray You are Golden. I banged it out in a day in some kind of fugue state and I do think it's one of my best works.

Someday when I am filthy rich I will commission someone to draw it as a comic, especially the reunion scene between Buck, Eddie, and Christopher.

Tagging, with no pressure:

@princessfbi @buckttommy @extasiswings @kitkatpancakestack @gracieryder (once again I typed your fucking old url like five times...)

aaaaaaand @givemeunicorns.

[curiosity-killed]

22 25 and 28!

22. say 3 things about someone you love

Picking on my sister even tho she won't see this lol:

she's really, really passionate and cares very deeply about the things that matter to her

she works really hard to build community and is a really good convener of people across different groups

she tries her best to support me even when she has no goddamn clue what I'm talking about lol

25. fave season and why?

It's always been fall (October is my favorite month) for the color and crispness and the perfect blue skies under gold and amber canopies, but spring is so lush and beautiful here that it's winning me over.

28. do you collect anything?

Not really? I have some categories of things I have a lot of (plants and books and art and weird little dishes people give me) but I don't really think of any of those as collections so much as like...necessary conditions for a healthy environment lol

fun questions ^-^

[phoenixwrites]

@givemeunicorns UNI HE HAS YELLOW EYES AND DOG EARS AND SILVER HAIR WHAT THE FUCK ELSE WAS I SUPPOSED TO THINK.

[pansexual-chocolate]

BEAUTIFUL PERSON AWARD! Once you are given this award you're supposed to paste it in the asks of 8 people who deserve it. if you break the chain nothing happens, but it's sweet to know someone thinks you're beautiful inside and out!!!!

(p.s. thank YOU for being the bestest Edouard headcanon partner in helping me develop my characterization! can't express enough gratitude for all your help :DD)

Wow thanks for randomly hitting me where it hurts out of nowhere. I try my best to do my best and I'm so glad I can be a force for good chaos.

God so many of my mutuals are such beautiful people I'm going to at randomly but all of yall are so beautiful.

@givemeunicorns @jadenartemis @brownskinsugarplum76 @elektraking @americium-dioxide @rebellconquerer @tllgrrl @atiena-m

and whoever wants to

[labseraph]

Truths and Lies - givemeunicorns - 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

@givemeunicorns wrote a fabulous character study of Jiang Cheng that is thoughtful and heartbreaking. Give it a go!

[faggotryandtransjesterism]

VegasPete Fic Rec Masterlist (Pt. 1)

favorites are marked with a (*)

Lost Pet by @clandestinegardenias | 12k | E

Vegas has very few things he truly allows himself to care for, in this life. Going through the routine of feeding his hedgehog, only to find that a second pet has left him in as many weeks, might finally be the thing that pulls him under.

i can't really point to why i like this one so much, but it was my first vp fic and i always come back to it.

spend the rest of your life (what could have been) by toomoon | 15k | M

“I have an idea,” Pete says slowly, and Pol looks up at him. “But you’re not going to like it.” “I’ll take anything at this point,” Pol tells him. “Tell me.” Pete tells him. Pol doesn’t like it.

Pete and Pol get put in charge of a surveillance operation on a potential business rival. The only way to avoid rousing suspicion is to take over a small family restaurant. Vegas is the only person in the Theerapanyakul mansion that can cook. It's all going smoothly until the restaurant actually becomes a success.

vegaspete running a restaurant, what can i say? i love the vibes and the premise of this fic so much. also features trans!Pete, which was a nice surprise.

Sustenance by @givemeunicorns | 14k | M *

His grandmother told him when he was very young that there was no love in the world so filling as a place at the table. That there was no greater kindness, no greater expression of devotion, than to feed another, no better way to make them whole.

As the smoke begins to clear, Pete waits and wonders.

i adore this fic with every bone in my body!! food as a love language my beloved. i remember feeling like i'd been punched in the gut when i first watched ep. 14 and pete said because I'm hungry, and this fic really taps into that reaction, and builds on it with some beautiful character study for both pete and vegas.

fuck it all back down by @syzyg3tic | 4k | E *

Everything about sex is performative. There is no such thing as fucking without an agenda, at least in Vegas’s experience. He wouldn’t have survived to adulthood if he was precious about shit like that.

Vegas and some of the men he sleeps with in his desperate, rage-filled attempts to be loved or hated--either will work.

unparalleled, genius, the Vegas fic. great character study and really influenced the way i perceive him. also sparked my obsession with big and also with vegasporsche friendship. (obligatory CW for vegas' psychosexual obsession with his cousin. Freak <3)

hoping at the gates they'll tell me that you're mine by puckbaes | 34k | E

Missing scenes between Vegas being gunned down and waking up again.

Pete takes care of an injured Vegas, what's left of the minor family's business and Macau. He's reminded that while he resigned from his job, the family that loves him are not going to abandon him.

Bamf!Pete, found families, and glimpses of life after Vegas wakes up.

nice little fluffy domestic vegaspete fic :) i don't read much fluff for this pairing for obvious reasons, but this one's cute.

Five-Star Southpaw by Anonymous | 106k | E *

When Vegas is handed the keys to a failing major family hotel and told to bring it back to life, he knows it’s not a gift, or a test, or even an opportunity to prove himself. It’s a taunt. It’s a way to set him up for failure so everyone can rub his nose in the shitshow he’s left with, defeated and inferior to his cousins like always. It’s the death sentence of his pride in a gilded cage.

But misery loves company and all that, and he finds a surprisingly fitting cellmate in an unassuming looking employee named Pete. Now if only he could get Pete to stop playing hard to get, this cage could become a lot more comfortable.

Obviously. We all know. this is The VegasPete Fic, it's glorious, it's perfect. i think about it at least once a day.

stay with me a minute (swear i'll make it worth it) by incendir | 2k | M

Pete hadn’t anticipated how much breathing would hurt.

[Or, an unseen moment in 1x13]

incendir is an author i read consistently, all of their oneshots are great, so definitely check out their page after you finish this one!

while I do my thing in the background by TheDameJudiWench | 1k | G

"I have a gift for you. This is Pete."

tankhun-centric vegaspete fic my beloved...

First Impressions to Love Expressions (Chapter 12) by @iffervescent | 6k | E *

this is part of a series of stand-alone kpts fics, but i think this is the only vp one. anyway, it's immaculate. the little delve into pete's backstory, his connection to vegas and the family throughout his life are all amazing. great writing, great characterization, highly recommend.

like a trigger (get me ready to shoot) by @veliseraptor | 6k | M *

sadism: psychosexual disorder in which sexual urges are gratified by the infliction of pain on another person. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

As far as Vegas can tell, there are normal people who want normal things, and then there's whatever he's got going on.

another marvelous Vegas character study, beautiful characterization. lise is another author i read regularly, so you'll see a lot of them on my lists.

That's it for part 1! I'm just going through my bookmarks in reverse order, so there's no real rhyme or reason to the ordering here. If anyone knows of any more of these authors that are on tumblr, pls feel free to tag them!

[khunspikesficrecs]

title: Sustenance

Author: givemeunicorns (@givemeunicorns)

Rating: Mature

Pairing: Vegas Theerapanyakul/Pete Saengtham

Summary:

His grandmother told him when he was very young that there was no love in the world so filling as a place at the table. That there was no greater kindness, no greater expression of devotion, than to feed another, no better way to make them whole. ~*~ As the smoke begins to clear, Pete waits and wonders.

[phoenixwrites]

@givemeunicorns

no i don’t have an “astigmatism” i can just see the halos of the angels that live in car head lights that you losers are too spiritually closed off to see

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

Favorite TV Shows

I was tagged by @peridotglimmer @mistmarauder and @princessfbi to share one gif from ten of my favorite TV shows. Oh boy.

9-1-1

Interview with the Vampire

Star Trek (TOS)

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

Timeless

Sense8

The Mentalist

Black Sails

Ghost Files

Critical Role (yes it counts!)

Honorable Mention goes to Bones - nothing hits like those early seasons, but unfortunately that quality is not maintained (in my personal opinion) and I stopped watching in later seasons so it was edged out.

Tagging: @captainofthefallen @buckttommy @givemeunicorns @lisbonsteresa aaaaaand Jess tagged everyone already didn't she. didn't she. goddammit.

[curiosity-killed]

1, 15, and/or 30 for the writing asks!

:D you know i always opt for all hahaha

1.the last sentence you wrote

She said it with such surety that Jisel couldn’t help bristling, irritated at the assumption that Malia knew what she wanted.

15. favorite weather for writing

oooh i don't actually know? like my default answer would be rainy and/or storming but honestly I think that just actually makes me sleepy. I like to write outside when it's sunny but cool?

i think ultimately my favorite condition for writing is just "strapped into an airplane with no wifi" so it's not very weather dependent lolol

30. share a fic you’re especially proud of

idk if i'm particularly proud of this one, but i recently had cause to read non nobis nati for the first time in ages and i do have some delightful little choices of words and imagery in there if i do say so myself

oh i'm cheating but I am actually proud of mori bc it was actually a really good (& rlly hard) challenge to intentionally write a fic modeled off a specific poet's style

fic writer asks

[phoenixwrites]

Not you being homophobic again 🫣

The only gay I fear is @givemeunicorns when she gets a really dangerous idea during our DND campaign.

[phoenixwrites]

@givemeunicorns

~sampughart

[wickedlittlecritta]

tagged in an ask meme by @frogblast-the-ventcore

Favorite Color: red

Last song: it's sunday morning and i don't have to work we are on lofi hours babyyyyyyyyyyy

Last Movie: last in theaters was the boy and the heron, i don't think i've actually watched anything since lmao

Currently Reading: working through an urban fantasy short story collection called naked city

Currently watching: i gotta finish the last ep of blue eye samurai

Current Craving: $500k, a massage, and a 2010 mitsubishi evo X. this would fix me

Coffee or Tea: tea!! i'll drink iced coffee, but i love tea.

tagging: @givemeunicorns @goldeneyesblind @madnessmadness @sapphicsophos and anybody else who wants to play consider yourself tagged.

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

I was tagged by @givemeunicorns and ooh this is interesting.

Rules: List five topics you can talk on for an hour without preparing any material, then tag five people.

Monsterfucking. Its history, why we like it, famous examples, trends, different lore for different monsters such as vampires, etc.

Art history and the art world. As anyone who read my WinterJones fic can tell I'm a bit of an art nerd.

Mythology. I was a huge mythology nerd growing up.

Lord of the Rings film trilogy behind-the-scenes. (Did you know that when Aragorn kicks the helmet--) Baby's first fandom LOL

Agatha Christie. Her works, her successes, her flaws, her life, her legacy, etc.

Tagging @captainofthefallen @mistchievous @catdadeddie @extasiswings and @userautumn but obviously no pressure to anyone.

@peridotglimmer I FUCKING KNEW I WAS FORGETTING SOMEONE. I'M TAGGING YOU NOW.

[curiosity-killed]

the storm

---

A delightful lil commission for @givemeunicorns <3

[ALT ID: A digital painting based off Cot's "The Storm." Two men run down a dirt road with a large gold sheet held aloft as if to protect them from rain. In the distant background, dark clouds build.]

[sirquacklesdefoof]

Reblogging with @givemeunicorns’s tags

im scared of a baboon in the same way that im scared of a wolf, but im scared of a chimpanzee in the same way that im scared of a person thats been following me for a few too many turns