#gonna tag this post with my tag for my wip starring this dude (that explores this angle)

[generic-sonic-fan]

In case it wasn't apparent from my recent fic, I believe that a crucial element to writing Metal Sonic's obsession with Sonic is not hatred, but paranoia.

Sonic is capable of arriving at any point on the planet within a matter of hours, if not minutes. The only places of relative safety are Robotnik's bases, but even this is not guaranteed. Sonic can speed through conventional defenses, tear through walls, achieve verticality and attack from every angle, at any time.

And every time Sonic arrives, he attacks with every intent to completely destroy Metal Sonic.

. . . at least, according to the programming Eggman shoved into its head. Everything in Metal Sonic's processor, every scrap of personhood or sentience it clings to, is based on code written with a single purpose. The only way that Metal views the world is through the lens of this purpose. It analyzes locations based on defensive angles or potential resources during a combat situation. It sorts any person it meets into one of three categories: An Ally (aligned with Dr. Robotnik), A Civilian (irrelevant), or A Threat (aligned with Sonic). Its knowledge of objects is a complete toss-up depending on what info's been useful in the past to fighting Sonic- Metal only knows what a grocery store is because he punched Sonic through one once.

And Metal is always scanning, scanning, scanning the environment around it for any sign that Sonic might arrive. When your opponent is faster than the speed of sound, a half-second warning can mean the difference between continued operation or utter destruction.

[flyingcatstiel]

I’m currently reading superbat fics (sorry, destiel, stony and dinluke, I’ll get back to you some day) and I’m having great time with commenting and authors replying to me. It’s a whole new fandom experience when I can read fics just for personal enjoyment, without planning fic rec lists. So much easier to comment, wtf. Anyways, I’m following 4 superbat identity p*rn fics right now, and it’s glorious. What a feast. My favorite trope, so many interesting ways to explore it. Happy holidays to all superbat writers but especially those 4 WIP writers🎄

ETA - here be some recs

ETA, March 2024 - HERE BE SOME UPDATES!

@pinkb00bsocks asked about those 4 WIPs. Here they are! The usual disclaimer - there are plenty of excellent superbat WIPs going on right now, but I've limited spoons and these are the ones I currently enjoy.

The World and All Its Hedgehogs by Ginevra_Benci [M. 8,007 word count, WIP, 4/?] To investigate illegal arms sale taking place at a tropical resort hotel, Batman goes under cover as a vacuous billionaire Brucie Wayne and Superman takes a part time job as a porter. They didn't coordinate this, they don't know each others civilian identities. Every time they talk there are at least 3 different conversations going on and it is glorious. Also, so much lust. ;)

(Also, check out Interviewing & Counceling series by the same author. Clark is having a superhero identity crisis and Bruce is there to catch Clark gently as he spirals down. It has one of the softest identity reveals in superbat fics. ETA - the series is now complete, it has 5 parts and 18k word count. Awesome ending to the softest identity reveal story)

Watching Our Stars Align by ClarkeStetler [M, 28,840 word count, WIP, 7/14] There's a dating/chatting app only for superheroes and all identities are secret. What could go wrong? Bruce and Clark get matched under their new pseuds, and same happens to Tim Drake and Conner Kent. Now fathers and sons gotta navigate complicated relationships that come with secret identities and judging your coworkers hastily while talking heart to heart to anonymous superhero. The identity porn part happens through DM, which just happens to be another favorite trope of mine. [The story is going strong, it has 10/14 chapters now and a wonderful tangle of 3 secret identities!]

(Love) Triangles Have Multiple Centers by frozenpotions [T, 27,281 word count, WIP, 4/10] This fic wastes no time getting playboy billionaire Brucie Wayne and pining-after-his-coworker journalist Clark Kent together. After that, first time uneasy partners Batman and Superman gotta solve a case and their civilian selves gotta deal with the realities of their one night stand. Complicated doesn't even cover it! [The fic is being updated and Clark and Bruce are being put through new trials, 6/10 chapters]

A Favor for a Friend by RedFive [Explicit, 18,286 word count, WIP, 4/7] Omega verse fic with alpha playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne and omega journalist Clark Kent. I'm fascinated by dominant, flirtatious, sexually ravenous alpha Brucie Wayne who moonlights as a stoic, covered in scent blockers thus unclear second gender, Batman. Meanwhile omega Clark, due to being Kryptonian, is much less ruled by his second gender. That is, until he meets Mr. Wayne. This fic has so much lust and tension between the two. Does accidental heat triggering counts as a soulmate mark? I'm gonna count it like that. [The fic has entered the finish line, only a chapter or two are left to finish this wild, explosive, life changing story of two people who were meant for each other. 8/? chapters, 44k word count] The fic is now complete!!! 9 chapters, 56,153 word count. (Also, there's this new TV show about two gay dudes, and istg, they look like Bruce and Clark from this fic. I'm not naming it here because I don't want to highjack the show tag with superbat post, but go and check the tag on tumblr)

*****

And a special shout out to two identity shenanigan WIPs that are not actively updating but are absolute must reads.

ship-to-ship combat by pomeloquat [M, 62,737 word count, WIP, 12/13] OK, so, for me personally, this is the ultimate identity p*rn fic across all fandoms I've read so far. This fic has one of the highest amount of secret identity pairs in superbat fics. There's the usual pining silently Batman/Superman, then there's Clark dating Bruce, Superman saving Bruce Wayne from peril, Clark Kent chatting with Batman. And the cherry on top is Clark writing Bruceman fanfic which is basically a RPF of his two friends, Batman and Bruce Wayne. Which leads to an internet friendship with a fellow fan, who is, you guessed, Bruce. This fic has great reflections on fandom and shipping culture. But the very beating heart of this fic is about how easy it is to lose something you wished to have but were afraid to ask for. The fic, at 12/13, is technically a WIP, but the main reveal is already done, and it is glorious. ETA - THIS IS NOT A DRILL, the fic is finished and the last chapter is a super meta cherry on a top of delicious, layered superhero identity and fandom shenanigans parfait. 13 chapters, 76,7k word count.

10 Things Every Brucie Fan Needs in Their Life by pomeloquat [T, 8,956 word count, WIP, 5/10] The main premise of this fic is hilarious and yet so, so right. Bruce Wayne is promoting himself as a nation's boyfriend instead of a playboy, and is making bank out of his wholesome, PG rated merchandise. The chapters of this fic tell continuous story but they also can be read as separate vignettes, so there's really no cliffhanger. This fic is so soft and fluffy, it will heal your soul. Also, Superman has celebrity crush on Bruce Wayne. Batman is amused.

[orangeflavoryawp]

Author Interview

Tagged by @riptidemonzarc, and dude, thank you for thinking of me for this.  It really made me think about my 12+ years of work, lol.

Name: orangeflavor

Fandoms: Hoooo boy here we go.  Just counting ones I’ve written for, instead of ones I also read, my biggest contributions have been to Game of Thrones, Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Naruto, but also X-Men, Star Trek, Lodoss War, Sailor Moon and Harry Potter years ago.

Where You Post: Ao3, FFnet, and here

Most Popular One-Shot: By kudos, it’s ‘The Warmth of Wolves’ (Jonsa, Game of Thrones) but by hits and bookmarks, it’s ‘Teeth’ (Jonsa, Game of Thrones)

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: Oh, across the board it’s ‘Wool and Tallow’ (Jonsa, Game of Thrones)

Favorite Story You Wrote: Oof, okay, uh, this is gonna be hard, so I’m going to give you favorites for different categories - 

My favorite one-shot is probably ‘Reckoned from One Midnight to the Next’ (Kaidan-centric/Shenko, Mass Effect), which is weird, because Kaidan isn’t even in my top five characters to write in ME, but it just worked so well in this story to get into his perspective.  ‘Reckoned’ is a poetic-prose study of grief following Shepard’s death over Alchera.  I fucking loved exploring that style, and I got to really delve into the daily difficulties of learning to live after loss.  It’s just... god if you read anything of mine, please, read that.

Favorite multi-chapter (though I have very few anyway, hahaah) would be between ‘Rocks and Shoals’ (Kolyat/Oriana, Mass Effect) and ‘Moiety’ (Gen/multi-ship, Mass Effect).  Rocks and Shoals is just so emotionally exhausting to write, it really digs deep, and it’s the slowest of the slow burns I’ve ever attempted to write.  The poor thing has been sitting untouched for too long, but it might be the dearest fic I’ve written.  It’s taken so much out of me, and it’s challenged me so much, and it’s got probably my favorite ship in the verse (and the closest thing to OCs I’ve written in fanfic).  Kolyat and Oriana are my precious little shits, and it’s been an honor to share their story.

Moiety is just super fucking fun to write, lol.  It’s a 100-word drabble series, which is great for training yourself to write economically - to say everything you want to say, in the most powerful way you can say it, in as few words as you can say it with.  It’s got some gut-punches in there alright, and it’s been a great exercise to keep my descriptions tight and my themes focused.  It’s also got that poetic feel to it for a lot of chapters, and I write original poetry, so that probably has something to do with it being a fave.

On the whole though, my favorite collection of stories for any one single fandom would have to be my Jonsa fics for Game of Thrones.  Maybe that’s because they’re my most recent and so my style is as evolved as it can be for the moment, and I’ve honed my skills well enough throughout the years to be able to say that about these stories.  But also.... I’ve never written for any one ship quite this much before.  And I mean never.  I’ve been so inspired recently, and I’ve become quite proud of my work actually.  I enjoy these fics.  I get so much out of writing for Jonsa, and sharing in this fandom.  This is the best of me yet. 

Story You Were Nervous to Post: Oh def my first explicit smut piece ‘Teeth’.  But it had an amazing reception, and I’ve since had the courage to post more smut, so this ended up being a great experience, honestly!

How You Choose Your Titles: I don’t usually choose a title until I’ve written most, if not all, of the story, and that’s largely because I don’t always know the exact theme I’m exploring until I’ve gotten through enough of it.  Then I choose a specific word or image that works as a symbol in the piece, something that can represent the theme on a whole, in a pinprick focus kind of way.  I don’t like general or abstract titles usually.  I need something concrete, often tangible.  I need something that you feel like you could turn over in your hand and go ‘hmm’ about.  If that makes sense???

Do You Outline: AHAHHAHAHAHBDJBFJSLAknvdkngnn

Fuck no, I’m a disaster writer.  We write by the seat of our pants and die like men.

Complete: 82 stories, almost entirely one-shots

In Progress: 7, though 2 of those are 100-word drabble series and 2 more are longer drabble series, and they’ll probably always be WIP as I’ll add to them when the inspiration strikes.

2 more are on indefinite hiatus until I find the drive to finish them (possibly never).

And the last one is ‘Rocks and Shoals’ which will always be slow going but best believe that baby’s crossing the finish line at some point, even if it takes years.

Coming Soon/Not Yet Started: A Season 7/8 AU and fix-it multi-chapter for Jonsa, Game of Thrones - quite possibly my greatest challenge yet, my albatross and my tour de force all at once.  Halfway through and fucking loving it.

Also, I haven’t started it yet, but I’ve had an idea for Hunger Games kicking around my head for the better part of three years and by damn am I going to write it one day.  Perhaps I’m just building toward it.

Do You Accept Prompts: Yes, but no guarantees I can fulfill them.

Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited to Write: Previously mentioned AU Jonsa fic.  Let me tell you.  LET ME TELL YOU.  I can’t even articulate the depth of my excitement for this fic.  I’ll be blasting it for days once I finish it.  You won’t be able to escape.  I will smother you all with this fic, I’m telling you right now.  Be prepared.

Tagging @ladyalice101, @tacitwhisky, @sailorshadzter, @amymel86, @theoriginalsuki, @missfaber, @szajnie, @kadaransmuggler, @goddesstiera, @joufancyhuh and any others who want to do this!