#i am never writing a longfic as i post it again i have learned my lesson amen

[softodettes]

just did the math and i have to write approximately 42k words in six weeks to finish AR when i originally intended to 🫠

[critical-birb]

I have 203049920493 unfinished fanfictions as well as a longfic I'm suposed to be working on (a poor half-finished chapter is still sat in my drafts from my last day of work before Christmas...)

Yet between traveling up and down the continant to see family then ultimately getting sick because public transport sucks - I have worked on none of these the past two weeks and instead have been bouncing back and forth between two different revalink oneshots depending on my mood.

A super extremely wholesome one with a very 'tortoise and the hare' style race across Hyrule where they both keep getting distracted with side quests. Revali who's far faster being in the sky arrives at the finish hours before Link anyway and decides to nap by a tree for a bit because he's exhausted from all the tasks and wants to see Links dumb face when he thrashes him. He doesn't wake up when Link wanders past until he's right at the finish line, but instead of taking the win while Revali scrambles to get up, Link wanders back over and flops next to him because he could do with a nap too - and they both settle on a tie they can argue about in the morning.

And a completely emotionally devastating one where post Calamity the Champions revive but with their blight injuries and Zelda/Link are requested to Rito Village by Teba after Revali attempts to uh...return to being a ghost, after learning he'll never fly or shoot a bow again because his wing is too mangled. So Zelda makes Link stay behind in the Village to lowkey 'babysit' to ensure Revali doesn't do anything stupid again while she starts doing research into creating some sort of prosthetic wing, and Link ends up pissing Revali off following him around everywhere obsessively - but ultimately teaches him to use a sword and to swim and climb like a Hylian, and to find new purpose after losing everything important to him, and they grow closer even through some tough moments.

Tragically I will probably never finish or post either of them but lawd - know that dispite it all I am still tryina write SOMETHING always.

[kiwinatorwaffles]

I found This is About a Stuffed Bird bc of you and its one of my favorite fics ever. Do you by chance have more suggestions?

hermitcraft/mcyt fic recs? :0 let's go!!

i get a lot of my fic recs from other friends since i don't really go out and search on my own all too much for this fandom. but there are lots of great works out here! i will be listing out some of my favorites :3 mostly hc but a couple general mcyt ones that i think are an excellent read no matter what. all of the fics i'm listing will be genfic without ships!

also i just realized a lot of my bookmarks are grian-centric which is funny i guess because i am admittedly quite picky about content of my other favorites and grian just tends to have the most content in the fanbase. hope that'll be alright

(i hope some of my friends and mutuals don't mind me tagging them for their works)

hermitcraft longfics:

the last days of the free angel of carrows by @theminecraftbee - loved stuffed bird? here's another great longfic by second! this one is about joe and cleo in an urban fantasy mystery setting. again, second writes our beloved hermits into an captivating au!

leaping and hopping on a moonshadow by @lunarblazes - a fantasy au by luna my beloved! pearl suddenly gains magical powers and goes on a quest to find her long-lost friend grian who might know what's happening to her. she meets a lot of familiar faces along the way!

Recall by @redwinterroses - hey, i was the artist for this one! :D mumbo goes missing, so grian and scar search for him. they find that grumbot has been up to some... things along the way. the fic isn't finished but i think the chapters red put out is worth a read if you don't mind leaving off on a cliffhanger because it really is super interesting

dramaturgy by wormcity - a universe where gem and pearl join in a season 7 that was never finished. mumbo became the mayor, but the turf war went so very wrong afterwards. admittedly i have not finished reading this yet because ummm short on time xD but it's super interesting with a lot of layers of drama(turgy hahaha)!

hermitcraft short fics/oneshots:

for trying. by @autistic-evil-xisuma - a stuffed bird universe oneshot of x and xisuma during their lab days. great if you want to be sad over the doomed brothers again :D

the wheels on the bus by sparxwrites - a hilarious post-s8 oneshot about grian being a little shit towards the watchers. one of the first fics i've read from this fandom and i still love it

a body is an object by ruffboi - grian is a mimic, and pearl's arrival in s8 shakes him up. she hasn't seen him in a while and is quite upset to learn that the grian she knew died a long time ago. a great read for familial connections and conflict of friendships!

Goatman and the Rift by TheDepressedCanary - doc's eldritch powers start acting up when the rift appears. what shenanigans will ensue?

other mcyt fics/crossovers:

late at night, when the stars don't look quite right by @lunarblazes - an excellent empires s1 and hermitcraft crossover longfic, where grian lands into the server and is discovered by pearl! very great worldbuilding and relationships, i especially love the dynamic between gri and pearl and pearl and gem :D

every new discovery is just a reminder by amaranthinecanicular - grian begins pulling alternate versions of the hermits from the life series into the server. he does save a lot of them, but at what cost? it does end on a cliffhanger but this is genuinely one of the most captivating oneshots i've ever read... argghhh

The Fair and the Brave and the Good by @slashmagpie - an afterlife smp longfic centered around the shelby, scott, and sausage. i have never watched afterlife smp before in my LIFE and this is still one of my favorite pieces of literature ever. the characters and worldbuilding is impeccable and perfect if you like something dark with themes of hope and renewal.

Two Can Keep a Secret (If One of Them is Red) by anonymous secretmcblog - a 3L oneshot! ren suspects grian has stockholm syndrome with his pact to stay with scar, but his expectations are wrong. a truly excellent read and one of them first fics i've read! i still go back to reread it from time to time

dog at the door by fluffy_papaya & iamsolarflare - a longfic where doc and ren take a trip on a van on their way to s8. ren, however, is not quite himself, and doc has to learn to befriend the red king.

devil town is colder in the summertime by @bananasofthorns - a oneshot from a 100hsmp/life series d&d au! team BEST ventures into a cursed evil fucked up forest. uh oh.

Interview with the Aftermath by @ranchersrevenge (wanderlasts) - the last life contestants are invited for an interview. the responses vary greatly.

stars, smoke, and stolen car keys by wormcity - a 100hsmp modern au oneshot where grian, scar, and joel go on a hike. it doesn't go quite as they expected.

the beehive state by amaranthinecanicular - a dsmp oneshot after wilbur moves to utah. tommy visits him, and the two reconnect. i have to say i stopped following dsmp a long time ago but this fic made me BAWL. i don't even think you need to know any of the characters that well to really enjoy just how amazing the writing itself is

Can't Go Back (This Time) by @duckmumbo (musicaltvbooks) - soup group goes end raiding and accientally finds themselves in afterlife smp. nothing goes wrong, surely! also admittedly i havent finished reading this either but roy i swear i will. this is a great read nevertheless and the soup group dynamic is impeccable!

TommyInnit's unbeatable method of avoiding sudden death by eneliii - on the train of dsmp fics, this is the superhero au longfic that inspired my own hc superhero au, vdhau. it's a lot of funny shenanigans with tommy and his friends. the fic does take a dark turn at the end, but that can be skipped entirely (as said by eneli herself) if you just want the wholesome aspects.

if you don't mind a little self promo, here are some of my fics!

it takes two to play (the game of mutual secrecy) - the aforementioned hermitcraft hero au. this installment is centered around xisuma and evil x as brothers resolving their issues through hero work and solving the mystery of welsknight's disappearance :D there are other works that are set in the same universe if you're interested for more!

how to form the ultimate besties dynamic: an unreliable tutorial by hypnotizd - a oneshot! hypno is a warlock who goes treasure hunting under the sea. he meets a guardian who later becomes his unlikely friend.

smoke and mirrors, the hunt perseveres - grian's arrival in empires s2 unwittingly brings the watchers' suspicions with him. cue jimmy freaking out and a lot of shenanigans.

ballad of etho’s lab - my newest installment! a oneshot about etho's storied life as the redstone god.

i'm also currently working on the sequel to the game of mutual secrecy and a new (well not exactly new since i made concept art for it) au called private detective gem tasey! these will likely be released sometime late january or february. have fun with these fic recs! i haven't been reading as much lately but i hope ill be able to find more if anyone else asks in the future. cheers!

edit: the fics are out! here they are!

hiding in plain sight (the meaning of trust) - sequel to the hermitcraft hero au! it follows an escaped lab rat trying to acquaint themselves with human society while avoiding suspicion and making friends with familiar faces from tgms ;D

private detective gem tasey: a rotten mystery in london - a hermitcraft detective au where gem gets hired for a case that spirals completely into drama and politics!

[openphrase123]

okay........so sorry for all these questions lol feel free to pick and choose.

73, 65, 45, 32, 26, 20, 11, and 10!!

AH? well don't worry i like answering things :) thank you for the ask >:3

however this shit's going under a readmore (there isssss a preview of tomorrow's four eyes update in here though :3) (and also fic recs)

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

I think I format things a little differently on ao3 than what i've seen in other fics? me and my doublespaces. sorry if this makes them harder to read it actually makes it easier for me to read with my visual processing

for actual CONTENT... idk i think i have the tendency to take things that are extremely high concepts that veer into crackfic territory and ground them in reality as best i can. but i think it feels more real because i deal a lot in slow boils and longfics, so i take lots of time on atmosphere before immediately coming out with things like "siffrin is a literal star banished from the sky by the universe"

also i think i'm really strong at romance writing especially but that's neither here nor there

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

i actually just noticed you left a comment on my seizure-induced post about my future 20 years later fic and it reminded me that i'm so on my high horse about how i named the isafrin fankids i made up for it. you know how siffrin's name is sisyphus but id5 mangled it into siffrin? i did that with all of the isafrin fankid names. took greek mythology heroes and mangled the names. theseus -> thessan and aeneas -> aeney

anyway they're fun to write and i keep writing about them as a treat when i need it :3 they're both forgotten island castaways that washed up on shore as toddlers so they couldn't just learn vaugardian and move on, and everyone in bambouche was like "hey siffrin can you take care of these kids since you're from the same country" and he panicked for a full month before saying yes

45. Do you want to break your readers‘ heart or make them laugh?

por que no los dos? can't i do both? sometimes i do it at the same time, even. i do want to END with them laughing though i don't give hits without a comfort at the end

32. Name three of your favorite fanfic writers.

club of never missing in my heart is entryn17, faedemon (hi @moipale :3), and grech (HI @isuggestwishcraft) although i need to like. catch up. there are fics on grech's profile i haven't read yet. this is a mistake

26. Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

um. :)

it's a tie between inutile and four eyes (curtain call is SO MILD) but they're wild rides in different ways. inutile is like a proper steel roller coaster where you can see what the next drop is going to be if you look ahead. four eyes is a 50 year old wooden legacy coaster that you wonder if it's stable enough to ride on safely the whole time you're on it. (in case you were wondering, the 20 years later fic is like a teacup ride that you get sick on in between breaks and curtain call is a log ride that has lots of drops but you can still take your nephew on it without scaring the shit out of him)

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

when i write in the second person i am so guilty of "you feel yourself/you see yourself/she seemed/she looks" like i need to stop that... however i don't make multiple drafts of fanfiction, i do it a lot less in Fully Original Edited Works

my friends that know me outside of isat would say my biggest writing theme is clones and duplicates and doppelgangers so. [sweats]

isat is lacking in some of my other writing themes which how blood family interacts with found family but [looks at four eyes and starts sweating again] aw beans i didn't realize i was doing that there until now

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

backstitching has been taking over my entire life. i need to start leaving comments on it but i'm shy

@riggedbones has also made me insane about their odile looping au, pspsps you want to read find chance in consequence sooooo bad

i do not know where the wild hunt is going but i am grisping it really hard. i'm eyes-emoji-ing it.

10. Cltr+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

hahaha. lol. from the four eyes chapter i'm formatting right now, that's coming out tomorrow:

[serbarris]

Author Ask Tag

Tagged by @volkoss my answers are not going to be as eloquent or insightful but enjoy I guess lol x

All of these are going to be about my current fic At Best You'll Find A Little Remedy. Which is about Emmrich and my Rook, Calliope!!

What is the main lesson of your story?

Um, intentionally - no main lesson. I think unintentionally, it's a story of Calliope learning to trust herself, in multiple aspects of her life, also to be more trusting of others. Also I wanted to explore the romance in Veilguard a bit more, and flesh out some of the interactions with not just Emmrich but the other companions too. And finally, I wanted to inflict/show some real-time trauma for them since everyone seems slightly too well-adjusted for the Horrors they are experiencing lol.

What did you use as inspiration for your world-building?

Basically, I had a passing headcanon that Calliope was in Emmrich's class as a student, and obviously why would she not have a crush on the handsome 35-40 year old teacher? and ran with it. First I wrote I'll Crawl Home to Her as a starting place for small interactions between the main quests, and then I started to build off those small scenes that's now ballooned into this multichapter fic! Also chapter 1 of this fic was basically - what if I wrote veilguard as a romcom novel.

Also I have a list of things I wish were explored a bit more in VG, so the plotline with the huge books in the Cauldron, an earlier first kiss scene, a [redacted] fight, and can't beat just hurt/comfort and more smut :)

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, or help them grow as a person?

On reflection, it's a bit of free therapy writing Calliope. Even though she's a couple years older than me, she is v much a younger version of myself. I was very reclusive and introverted (still am) but she is truly the extreme of me at my worst I guess? I definitely feel like I want her to grow and show that throughout the fic - at the beginning of VG she is very much running away from her problems, as well as longing to go home. She's definitely fighting her own demons in a continent without therapy so she is Struggling, but the team do help her a lot and it's the first time she's truly been confident at calling people friends (apart from Audric and Myrna but Myrna's her boss and Vorgoth is like a quasi-uncle).

I also took the chance to explore Emmrich's POV a bit through some interludes that take place. I think Calliope has such a puppy love towards Emmrich and truly has watched him afar for many years that I wanted to punctuate Emmrich only just noticing her, and how it's a quicker descent for him (that starts out a bit more lusty). It's very fun to write Emmrich's POV chapters, his voice comes quite easily.

How many chapters is your story going to have?

Currently sitting at about 22 chapters that I'm happy with the plan for(one of those will probably be split in two so maybe 23 is the answer?) - possibly more possibly less I'm going with the flow!

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

Fanfiction babeyy, on ao3, some chapters have been cross-posted to tumble (before I decided to post on ao3 as a multichapter)

When did you start writing?

I wrote a couple of fanfics back in the day when I was a teen for HP and Darren Shan - I then didn't write for years until 2019 when I started to write for my Inquisitor x OC, but I've never had the balls to write their longfic it would be intense haha. Then only picked up writing again in November after doing Calliope's playthrough!

Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr?

just write!!! it's fun, it's therapy- post it or don't post it, someone out there will enjoy it, even if it's an audience of you!!

Tagging: @aymayzing @maythedreadwolftakeyou

[rosesradio]

so i told myself i would talk about this by the end of last year, but i never got around to it so here i am now

yesterday i reblogged a post and talked in the tags about how %0.5 of all readers comment on fics. not just my fics—most of the fics i’ve done the math for. the comment drought is very much a thing, getting worse by the day.

CE was my first pjo longfic. i explored a lot of elements in the fic i hadn’t before—and some of the things definitely did not hit. (i mean some of the fight scenes? goddamn lmao). there are definitely some things to be improved, so i’ve learned in the revision (don't ask about the revision 🚬).

i suppose this comment is subjective, and the details of it all depend if you’ve read the entire fic. imo i do think the nyx stuff was weak, only because the other elements were better (if you’ve read the tomb of sleep chapter & the layers of sleep deprivation you gotta admit it hits a little bit lol). it’s going to addressed a bit in IR, and i’ve been in talks with my editor about that.

regarding piper…i don’t appreciate this commenter’s tone in explaining to me how sexual assault works. i am a lot of things. a percy jackson fan. a writer. a college student. i am also a victim of sexual assault. i know what sexual assault is. its implementation into the story was entirely intentional with the knowledge of an adult who has been sexually assaulted (as a minor).

sure, you could argue that no trauma or identity makes the writing of a subject well thought out. in this specific case i would disagree, but i agree with the concept as a whole.

you can, in fact, write in a character who has done horrible things (especially as a child) and has realized the error of their ways and turns towards doing good things. they don’t deserve forgiveness, either from the audience or their victim(s), but they can choose to do good anyway. it’s actually a very human and realistic path for characters to follow.

as for leo…i feel like i don’t even need to explain this. to be quite honest i’m a bit baffled even now. his younger foster sister was the whole reason he stopped hanging out with his bullies. that was explicitly in the text like several chapters before this. he is written as a caring character in spite of his flaws and past, who stands up for his friends and tries to be generally kind in spite of what life has given him.

i would suppose (other than the prior leo of it all), this just comes from a place of “i got so pissed at these Uncomfortable Subjects being brought up that i had to leave a long, critical comment with all of my thoughts before exiting out of the fic” (because yes, based on the comments, this user did stop reading after this chapter).

because the context of this is that these subjects were brought up in flashbacks prior to a big fight (again, big fight is subjective lmaoo). there was no time for the characters to sit and talk about their past and feelings, the way they do in prior and (wait for it) later chapters of the fic. there are conversations in later parts of the fic, after the fight, in which the characters talk about their past and regrets and so on and so forth.

i won’t blame fandom culture as a whole for this. i do think people tend to jump on the purity bandwagon automatically when dark topics are brought up. they tend to do this to “protect victims”, even if a victim is writing it to be cathartic. additionally, i implemented a darker element into the characters’ backstories by nature of it being fanfiction. again, it’s subjective, though i think not liking a character’s altered backstory is not grounds to think of a fan work as “bad”.

then again, if some of my writing is flawed, it is and i can accept that. however, the right thing to do in this event would be to ask if you can leave constructive criticism, and then do if you get the okay. this is rude, and not the way to do it.

i want to hear everyone’s thoughts and feelings, really. if you have negative opinions, you need to ask. but what you should also understand is that i walk around with an ao3 tab open on my stats page every day. i refresh usually twice a day, waiting to see anything new.

%0.5 of readers comment on fics. this stands out amongst them. to be told a fic you worked hard on for months is a bummer to read? i can’t stop you from thinking what you want—and i’m not going to pretend to be something i’m not when i say this. i’m going to be vulnerable: it sucks. i don’t usually get comments as long as this, so to see this is what it is really, really sucks.

(also, needless to say, please don’t go find this comment and say anything. this happened a while ago. i’m using this as an example and ultimately don’t want to bother them)

this was my comment in response. if you ask me, i was being too nice, honestly because i was in a sense of shock. i later became so anxious and upset about this that i threw up at work multiple times and had to go home. is that the most mature response? no. one day, i’ll be Fandom Old, and these comments will roll off me like water off a duck’s back. it shouldn’t have to be that way, but i know that I’ll grow accustomed to it.

fandom is becoming more about Fast Content than ever, more entitled and more angry when things are not to their standards. i don’t want to budge, though. i want to take advice where i can to improve my work, and then i want to start biting people.

additionally (on a different fic):

(the idea was cool but really boring)

this user has hundreds of bookmarks, and about 9/10 of them were scathing. when i perused, i started to wonder if they even enjoyed reading fic, or if they just enjoyed bitching about amateur works they get unlimited access to for free.

your bookmarks are public if you set them that way. they can’t be removed (unless, maybe, you block the user). this is just…attached to my fic now. learn to make bookmarks private if you have shit like this to say.

fic writers do what we do for fun and the love of the craft, but it is truly thankless work sometimes. it’s only a matter of time before everyone realizes that, and one by one talented and unappreciated artists leave.

what will you do then? will you feel bad? or will you ask AI to do it and bitch at it, too?

[khywren]

hi!! for the end of the year asks: 3, 14, 15 💕

thanks so much for the questions! ❤️ (from this post.)

3: favorite line/scene i wrote this year?

ooh, okay. i'm still working on this oneshot (which may be a two-parter now, idk), but i am extremely proud of this scene that i shared recently:

i didn't intend this to be a character study of sorts, but once i had the first kernel of an idea it really took off and i just ran with it. i haven't read a lot of fic about astarion's more... let's say, self-destructive tendencies (or him just being mean/cruel in general) and i really like how i dug into his motivations and thought processes. i can't wait to finish this one and post it!

14: a fic i didn't expect to write:

honestly, anything involving my tav, especially another longfic. i'm still on a bit of a hiatus on that one because i've realized the direction i was going isn't quite where i want it to go, so to avoid a repeat of my last longfic that i ended up hating by the end i've decided to really take my time to make sure it's what i want to do. i put a lot of pressure on myself and ended up with something i am not proud of and refuse to let it happen again. 😭

but i digress! until a few months ago i was primarily an xreader writer, and i never considered doing anything with my tav. but i saw so many of my friends writing their own fic with their tavs and it looked like a lot of fun, so i decided to join in. i'm glad it paid off because i really love my girl. she's a mess, but she's my mess. ❤️

15: something i learned this year:

i learned to have fun more with my writing. it's hard not to get caught up in statistics, but doing so is an easy way to get discouraged or to give up entirely. i was anxious about posting anything with my tav because i figured nobody would read it. those fics are definitely less popular than my xreader fics, which does kinda suck, but i totally get why. i'm much more comfortable writing what i want now instead of writing for other people.

[just-prime]

I don’t want you to feel pressured or anything of the sort; I understand that fics are written by real people with real lives beyond what I read on the screen. (As someone who is notorious for never doing anything on time, I don’t want to make you feel pressured in that way.)

I am very grateful that, despite this full life I assume you already lead, you, and other writers, have chosen to not only create, but also share your work with the greater community! Thank you!

however

I have literally been on the edge of my seat waiting to read the Horror of Dream House

I assume this is how other people feel when they are waiting for a cake to finish baking, although, as a terrible baker and voracious eater of cake batter, I have rarely, if ever, felt this excitement in the literal sense

so

Are we cooking? Cooling? Burning?

Boiling? Pickling? Fermenting?

Popping? Locking? Polka-dotting?

Inquiring minds (and bad bakers) want to know :)

So I was in class when I received this ask, which is the only reason it didn't get answered immediately.

This ask absolutely made my day!!!

It's incredible to know that there are people out there who are interested in my work, and nothing gets the creative juices flowing like people expressing said interest.

That being said, baking-wise, I apologize in advance because it is probably going to be a long wait. I am very much the sort of person who likes a chunk of fic done, and given that this will be my first longfic, I want it to have a consistant posting schedule.

I took a pretty big writing break over March, so April is where I am easing myself back into the process. However the fic is still nowhere near done. Currently, I'm shaping up to *hopefully* hit 100K words by the end of the month, but again, this is going to end up massive, since the full end is not in sight.

My current plan is to try and finish up Part 1 and then start posting (I am putting it in writing here so I can't back out of it later), because that will give me a lot of leeway to work on what will probably end up being a shorter Part 2. The epilogue and a short connecter story are already written, and there are tentative plans for at least a sequel and threquel fic...however I'm not letting myself think about those all too much lest I become distracted from the task at hand.

It's been a slow but steady process and I am learning when I need to take breaks so I don't burn myself out too often, but honestly I've very much kept the spark of the idea, and it is definitely still in the works.

If we want to continue the cake metaphor, for this fic, you'll be getting two cakes, Part 1 and Part 2. Currently, there are some cooling tiers across the board, some that still need the batter mixed, and some that are cooking. However, Part 1 is definitely getting closer and closer to being finished, and I certainly am able to roughly count how many tiers it will be before it's done.

All in all, keep an eye out here, I will definitely let you all know when Part 1 has hit the editing stage. I am so deeply excited to share it with you.

[fitzrove]

💙 - what inspires you to finish writing a fanfic, and what makes you quit writing one at any stage in the process?

🤎 - how did you decide to write (or why are you writing) a certain fanfic?

💙 -

Usually what inspires me to finish is what inspires me to start - ie. I am the chosen one, if I don't write this who will 😂😌 I've learned my lesson though and will never post unfinished multichapter fic again... It's way too much pressure if I lose steam with the idea + the expectation of future delayed gratification is also a good motivator for finishing fic, like, you have to finish it to be able to publish it and get attention 😌 (I largely don't write fic for myself, I write stuff I would want to read in the hopes that it will be found by people it resonates with and that I can talk to them about it!! It really is just the more artistic version of metaposting, I want to communicate an idea and to prove it I need to write it.)

Things that make me quit: if there's no interest (ie. started plotting while talking to a friend but we lost interest in the idea and idk how to continue, or I think that absolutely nobody will care to read it), if the writing process drags on and I myself lose interest or faith in the idea, if I feel like it's not going anywhere/the idea isn't strong enough to carry even a short story with some kind of a plot or arc. That's the most common ones :'D

🤎 -

Flights of Angels - my longest todolf fic - was actually born from my dissatisfaction with existing todesengel fics and specifically todesengel rudolf fics 🙈 It was also an attempt to do my personal "definitive" version of Tod as an independent entity. I usually/almost always prefer to think of him as a metaphor or a manifestation of depression or suicidal ideation because it's the most fun and interesting interpretation psychologically, but since it's so common to characterise him as a supernatural entity of some kind, I wanted to do a version of that that made sense to me. Like, if it must be, it should be like this. It's also because I wanted to write character development for two characters, a longfic with a plot, and to kinda philosophically look at death and/or immortality a bit ajdjdk. Also with one chapter I literally wanted to push the rudolf x lucheni agenda while also tying to the other themes of course xD. Also I wanted to write at length about máté tod and think of a backstory for him, like he's crazy what is his deal jakskd 😂 I think I did pretty well on those fronts! >:]

So yess a lot of the time the way I get fic ideas is that I feel like it should exist, because I have a thought about the show that I want to communicate to people, or I notice something in it that I want to flip or expand upon. To me personally, fic that doesn't have anything relevant to say about the source material isn't really worth it in the long run, because then it could just be original fiction. People read fanfic to feel emotionally fulfilled and usually they gravitate towards a specific character or fandom because something in the canonical starting point appeals to them! So expanding on that, or commenting on or subverting ideas presented there, feels important and is interesting to me

[captainskyson]

Fic Writer

Wanted to do ficwip's year in review questions for my own sort of journaling :-) I answered a couple of these over on Twitter/X, but wanted to track for myself all 30 questions. So, I've put my answers below a cut to keep everyone's feed a little more tidy:

1. What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year? How did it turn out and would you do it again? Explored writing a true narcissist and not redeeming him or the relationship with the main character by the end of the fic. I would do it again - and in fact am, though this 2nd one may never be public. It was/is very cathartic though.

2. How many fics did you work on this year? (They don’t have to be finished or published!) I'm only counting what was published in 2023, because I've dabbled on probably 50 others. I added 6 or so chapters (~90.000 words) to my longfic (Guesstimation judging from emails...I should start keeping better stats of that process, maybe), of which I only include the word count because there were only 4 other fics, 1 drabble, & 1 drabble set. For me, that's a big drop as far as amount of completely separate fics, compared to past years.

3. What’s something you learned about yourself as a writer? Alongside question #2 - When I can't post as often on my longfic, I put more time into posting longer chapters. Too long. And I need to stop that. (One of my biggest chapters last year was over 25.000 words. I'm so sorry to my readers, especially those using phones.😶‍🌫️)

4. What piece of media inspired you the most? Music in general. Also notable Buffy's perpetually wandering eyes, and Giles' ruggedly handsome face and his hearteyes.

5. What fandom(s) did you write for this year? Mostly Buffy, and I've only posted Buffy (and one Ted Lasso fic), but I did feel nostalgic at times and opened up a few of my old Daisy x Mace Agents of SHIELD fics and dabbled a little bit.

6. What ship(s) captured your heart? Nothing new, but Buffy/Giles always. ❤️

7. What character(s) captured your heart? I was never a Dawn-hater, more indifferent really, but watching her scenes with a more thoughtful eye and writing her has caused her to grow on me quite a bit.

8. Did you write for a new fandom or ship this year? Yes, my fic mentioned in #1 was Rupert/Rebecca from Ted Lasso. Definitely a new type of fic for me in nearly every way, especially considering it's a "ship" I don't "ship" canonically at all.

9. What fic meant the most to you to write? Our Souls, They Blend. A hurt/comfort fic brainstormed with one of my best mates the last time I was in England, and I finally finished it satisfied for posting this year.

10. What fic made you feel the happiest to work on? Bad Idea; I've reached the point where I've diverted from canon timeline quite a bit, so it's always so satisfying when a canon quote or scene ends up weaving into my story really well.

11. What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing? The Trouble With Wanting; it was a wip for a couple of years due to just one or two scenes that wouldn't quite find themselves, and the song itself was in my "inspiration playlist" for even longer prior to that.

12. What fic was the most difficult to write? Did you finish it? Out of all my wip's I dabbled on, overall I'd pick Bad Idea. By the end of the year I started getting into my stride again, but it's been incredibly difficult working out the plot where I want it to go, and try to keep everything "logical" with as few holes as possible as I near the climax and end of the story.

13. What fic was the easiest to write? Wips: I'm surprised to say my Tabula Rasa rewrite (to be published soon 😉). I had a general idea but once I saw a specific image the fic just flowed. Published fics: my Kinktober drabble series, despite my normal struggle to keep anything short. I found myself able to knock out each drabble almost every morning before I even went into work.

14. What were your shortest and longest fics this year? Longest: additions to Bad Idea, previously mentioned. Shortest: a single drabble added into my "Laughter drabbles" series.

15. Rec a fic you wrote or posted in 2023 The only 2023 one I haven't mentioned yet, a collab with another dear friend! A fluffy, funny, first-dates exploration that ended up including a lot of real life inspiration.

16. What were you go-to writing songs? Too many to list, but some notables: The Devil You Know by Kovacs, The Trouble With Wanting by Joy Williams, Dirty Little Secret by Alex Who?, Can't Pretend by Tom Odell, and pretty much everything Dermot Kennedy does.

17. What were your go-to writing snacks? Snacks? I usually forget to eat at all.

18. What was the hardest fic to title? The collab mentioned in #15 Third Time's the Charm, which wasn't really that difficult but it was one of the few that wasn't inspired by music. 😂 I often make it too easy on myself for titling when I've got song lyrics to pick and choose from.

19. Share your favorite opening line Out of what I've posted, Bad Idea Chapter 41 (Blood Ties, All the Way): “Have you noticed that every time we talk about moving past the honeymoon phase, we end up finding ourselves in situations like this?” Buffy commented, slightly breathless.

20. Share your favorite ending line “There won’t be another test.” Giles assured her firmly. [iykyk hahaha]

21. Share your favorite piece of dialogue "Santa can bugger off and have the mince pie." [unashamedly stolen from a convo w/ my friend: thank you, dear, for that]

22. Share an excerpt from your favorite scene Classic American vs. Brit tea scene: “You don’t trust my tea-making skills!” Buffy exclaimed, even more indignant than he had been, and he gave her a look. “And what in our most recent history should make me assume otherwise?” “Don’t be snarky.” She huffed, and straightened. “I’ve been watching you make it for years. It’s not that complicated.” “Oh, God,” He mumbled in sure dismay, resting his arm across his eyes.

23. Share the final version of a sentence or paragraph you struggled with. What about it was challenging? Are you happy with how it turned out? Not so much a single paragraph as it was an idea - how to create and then solve Buffy's problems in Bad Idea's version of "Life Serial", as the Trio and their dumb curses don't exist in the fic. Luckily (and humorously, to me anyway) an ol' song came on the radio and gave me inspiration... sometimes the simplest solution works. And in this case, it was parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.

24. What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story? Buffy's third "time test" in the Life Serial chapter being another run through the Cruciamentum. I didn't originally plan that and it sort of just happened organically. It didn't change the end outcome of the chapter, but it did provide me a little moment to do an almost AU of my AU, which was interesting.

25. What did you use to write? (e.g. writing programs, paper & pen, etc.) Paper & felt-tip pen for notetaking, Google Docs for my meatier fics, Apple Pages for the rest.

26. If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year? When I had Rebecca tell Rupert to his face: "I warned you that I was going to make you crawl."

27. Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic? Started the next one.

28. How did you recharge between fics? I read fic, or I watch something completely non-Buffy related. (As it's most often only Buffy, these days.) Spend some time walking or kayaking. Go see a show. Something creatively filling, because I long ago learned the hard way about not being able to pour from an empty cup.

29. If this were an awards show, who would you thank? Tony Head's parents. 😄 Really though, my two sisters. ("What have you been reading?!" 😉) The orchestra would play me off the stage before I finished talking about all the ways I'm grateful for them.

30. What’s something that you want to write in 2024? I never ever thought the day would come, but I've actually got a couple of different ideas involving a little bit of that silly de-aged comic plot with Giles. (Both fix-its in their own ways, of course.) I've been having a lot of fun with both of them; one for the research, and the other for... the fun. Haha. x

[kleiner-ghost]

20 Q's for Fic Writers

Thank you @spacejammie-eimmajecaps for the tag!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

27! But I do have a few original works that I post on a different website.

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

You can tell I mostly write one-shots haha

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Quite a few, but Deathloop and Fallout 4 are my top ones ^^

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 

The stars in your eyes - Kleiner_Ghost - Fallout 4 [Archive of Our Own]

Follow the Black and Gold Rabbit - Chapter 1 - Kleiner_Ghost - Deus Ex (Video Games) [Archive of Our Own]

December in Dunwall - Chapter 1 - Kleiner_Ghost - Prey (Video Game 2017) [Archive of Our Own] - which I haven't touched in years, and honestly needs a rewrite ^^;

Mirror, Mirror, on the Ceiling - Kleiner_Ghost - Original Work [Archive of Our Own]

Your Value to Me - Chapter 1 - Kleiner_Ghost - Fallout 4 [Archive of Our Own] - which was my main before kinktober and then Nano hit ^^

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yep, as a rule of thumb. Sometimes I don't know what to say though ^^;

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh, oh, the working title for this one before I posted it was 'Frank Angst'!

Consistently Hangover and Automatically Assuming the Worst - Kleiner_Ghost - Deathloop (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]

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

Urgh. Happy endings are for happy people. The best I can give you in bittersweet?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nope. But then again, I don't get much comments either because of how small my fandoms are.

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

Yep! Recently I have been messing around with it as well, for kinktober, and now I'm a bit ashamed to look my beta in the eyes.

I will admit, I usually post my kinky smut on an alt for that excat reason. Too many people I know irl know my main AO3 handle ^^;

But yeah, I love writing smut! But sometimes I want to play around with themes or settings too, and it doesn't always belong in those stories.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Yep! My fave is this fic, which I consider to be one of my best works:

Two Pieces of Nine - Chapter 1 - Kleiner_Ghost - Deathloop (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]

I am also working on a few side projects that are crossovers. Since they're both longfics, I'm waiting to have over half of them done before releasing them (I've learned my lesson about those XD).

One is a Bablyon 5 and Star Wars crossover, where droids invade the world of B5, and a clone battalion is sent through to stop them.

The other is about the bad batch waking up on Blackreef.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not stolen, but I have had elements of a story plagiarized. I never called the other author on it, because it was one of their first fics, and because of the fandom and tags we had in common I don't think it was malicious.

12. There was no question 12 so I'll make one up myself: How many WIPs do you have?

18, not counting all the unfished kinktober one-shots. Some of those are original stories that won't go on AO3 though.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope, but I would love to!

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

How bad would it wound if i name something from a fandom I never wrote for? Winterfrost is my favourite ship. I would die for some Bucky x Loki.

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

December in Dunwall - Chapter 1 - Kleiner_Ghost - Prey (Video Game 2017) [Archive of Our Own]

I just keep forgetting it exists tbh ^^; I've changed and grew a lot as a writer since I started it, and as I've said it would need a full rewrite. Maybe one day I will get to it (It is my second most popular fic as well), because the two fandoms it's from deserve that, but I have like 3 longfics to get through before that.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Characters. Funnily enough it's also one of my greatest weaknesses because if I can't write a character, I never will, but for those that I do write well, well, they're great.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Dyslexia and writing on mobile. Sometimes my autocorrect does things, and I don't notice them, and then my beta goes "???" on stuff that any 4 year old would have caught XD

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I did it once, I'll do it again! But readers did drop it after those chapters (and that fic is no longer on AO3). I think it adds a lot of realism to a scene.

On that note, one of my favourite Outer Worlds fics had Welsh text in it. The author went to great lengths to make it readable to peeps who didn't speak it, with hyperlinks and stuff. But I was reading on mobile, so it never worked for me XD I had google translate open in the background, and was missing half the dialogue, but i was sooo into it that I didn't care.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Soul Eater. But that fic will never see the light of day. I'm even more embarrassed by it than I am from showing my experimental kinky smut to my irl friends. (Yes it involved a shinigami self-insert smooching Death the Kid). I was 14...

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Tough pick. I'd say overall this one :

Two Pieces of Nine - Chapter 1 - Kleiner_Ghost - Deathloop (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]

But I love how weird this one got (it was inspired by irl sleep deprived shenanigans) :

The orange thing in the tree - Kleiner_Ghost - Control (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]

And this one is the one I'm most emmotionally invested in :

Your Value to Me - Chapter 1 - Kleiner_Ghost - Fallout 4 [Archive of Our Own]

Thank you once again for the ask, I'm passing the questions down the line to @rowanisawriter, @the-lastcall-main, and Rieha (whose Tmblr I can't find ^^;), oh, and anyone who wants to join ^^

[greyennui]

3 and 15 for the ask game!!

oooh good ones—

3. What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?

I don't think this will come as a surprise to most of my readers, but I'm most proud of Don't Commit '^^ It's the fic that got me back into writing after so many years of being too burnt out to do anything creative, and I've never actually written this much for any work before. It's absolutely wild to think about how much I've written for this fic (over 300k words!), and I've learned so much in the last 2+ years I've been working on it. Not just that, but I for some reason created a new language for it?? What really gets me is that several of my readers have pointed out/praised the things I'm proud of in it (e.g. how I write dialogue, my worldbuilding, the aro/ace dynamics I incorporated, etc.), and every comment I receive like that fills me with so much joy. So thanks to everyone who's commented on DC and given me the fuel to keep going. 🩶

15. What WIP are you taking into next year with you?

As we all know, I have so many WIPs, including fics I've started posting and have left hanging (we're getting there, Bowuigi readers, I promise), but for the purpose of this question, I'll answer with a WIP I haven't started posting yet. And it's so hard to choose! I have several I'd like to post and finish in 2025, but the one I'm most excited to work on is a SephiCloud longfic. It won't be anywhere near the size of Don't Commit (I just don't have it in me to do that much again lmao), but similar in themes of trauma, family, and finding love in unexpected places. The plot revolves around time travel (I know, it's been done) but in an unusual way I haven't seen in other fics yet. I'll leave it there to avoid giving too much away, but I hope y'all look forward to it as much as I am.

[spookyvalentine]

Kasumi, Thane, Shiala for the character ask meme

OHHHHHHHHH i do be too in love

FIRST IMPRESSION

K: a THIEF??? you give me HEIST??? i studied art history in college, and got very focused on art crime and museum security and made several professors quite anxious, so the first time I played 2 and recruited her, she immediately soared to the top of my fave list

T: oh ho oh HO tiddy window. he is... ooh. him pretty. then he talked. HE'S HOT!!!! uh oh weren't you gonna romance garrus?

S: when she feel out of the thorian i was like wat. i am getting my ass kicked by a plant booger. why are you HERE. WHO ARE YOU

IMPRESSION NOW

K: i will die for you. i wanted to see more of her in 3. i wanted to heist the casino with her. extremely in love, forever and always, and if i wanted to punish myself and make another shepard it'd be to romance her

T: shattered. one of the most deeply romantic LIs out there imo. watching him come alive again. unrecoverable. i'll forever love him. also hes hot as fuck lemme lick him. he didn't die, he blasted kai leng in the face the second he leveled his pistol. i will also go to my grave foaming at the mouth what they did to him

S: wife. omg please benchpress me. the first time i played and had that conversation post-thorian and its like oh. you're badass as fuck. a commando and studied for centuries w benezia? AND THEN SHE FLIRTS W YOU IN 2 AND THERE IS NO OPTION FOR FOLLOW UP???? i thought about that scene all the time. and with the next couple playthroughs, every time i got to see her i was like. oh no youre even prettier. oh no you're even cooler. and now its just terminal brainrot. god i wish we couldve recruited her/romanced her. that would have been mad dope. thank god i am sometimes capable of writing fic

FAVORITE MOMENT

K: ohhhh a toughie. it feels like a cop out to say all of them, but her VA does such a damn good job bringing so much personality into her lines so like even going and checking in on her between missions was a delight to hear her comment on squadmates. that heist was so good tho. hoot every time she jumps on the jet and gives hock that jaunty wave. WHAT A BABE!!! i also love when she goes HAha while in combat

T: when he finally talks about irikah and kolyat. it felt so special and intimate to learn about them. and when he cries before kissing shepard. yes.

S: when shE FLIRTS IN 2 OASIFHLJISUDH but seriously when shes free of the thorian and says she wants to help the colony in recompense. that. meant a lot to me. also i watched the renegade version on yt and the fact that she'll just. let shepard kill her without a fight.... that...... ow

IDEA FOR A STORY

K: well. i've got several fics in the works for her w mercy shepard

- new orleans heist

- vinny (the first man kasumi kills)

- ANDERSON NEVER ARRESTS MERCY AU: CRIMELORD MERCY SHEPARD where kasumi is their right hand, and eventually they end up on the trail of saren. alternate recruitment of squadmates >:)

T: i've got a google doc titled cleaning supplies which um. has been the filth i've been posting in chunks. the other fic for him that i just have a barebones bit is hurt/comfort after mercy visits alchera, beginnings of a romance between them. and of course, sports coach au that i will absolutely start actively writing once i've gotten a couple more "essential" mercy fics done

S: i am working on stellan and shiala's first in-person date after the war, inspired by you, the powerful @yellingaboutmasseffect, where they do the floating howl/sophie walk. and then i like to play around with a full-on howl's moving castle shepala au, that i'd probably post scenes from, rather than any sort of longfic. and im still writing very married sleepy fucking. um. yeah. that's almost complete

UNPOPULAR OPINION

K: i will never regret she's there because she makes my life worthwhile, but why was kasumi recruited in the first place?? she's a thief, not a murder powerhouse

T: can't be considered a dilf til kolyat forgives him and even then, hun, you've got a lot of work to do for your kid (which, he does, of course. but it can't be ignored that thane just. abandoned his child)

S: i think she would've made a more fun companion than liara

FAVORITE RELATIONSHIP

(ignoring shepard)

K: i thought the one she had with the spectre jondam bau was fun. i'd write them going on an interrupted heist-turned-date. or a slow burn enemies to lovers thing. if i had time. i also love that kasumi and samara hang out, referenced in 2

T: thane/irikah, of course! what a powerful couple.

S: i would love to read about shiala studying under benezia, and then the curdling relationship has soverign's indoctrination worms between them. to her being sacrificed to the thorian. and then her learning the death of her teacher. like. there's a lot there and it hurts my feelings when i think about it. love that for me :)

FAVORITE HEADCANON

K: her grandmama. i have her as a badass cat burglar that raised kasumi as not only a beloved grandchild, but also her protege. powerful woman. also cared for mercy, but she dies when kasumi is seventeen

T: that he's got a dick like a vodka tampon

S: she's absolutely ripped. i know it. you know it. we all know it. i like the idea that she's both beefy and intellectual. and in my shepala-rotted brain, she's got a real talent for growing flowers :')

[anneapocalypse]

2, 3, 20, and 28 please? :D

chocochipbiscuit asked:

...I meant to ask 38, not 28, but do both if you like!

2. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

I am definitely both! If you actually break it down by hours, I probably spend more time writing fic, since I try to split my reading time between fanfic and original fiction, and I'm still mostly writing fanfic at the moment. But I definitely do both. I couldn't really imagine writing fic and not also reading fic; I might be selective about what I read, but being an active reader is important to me.

3. Are there any fics that inspired you to write what you do?

I have been inspired by so many longfic writers, the dedication they put into writing novel-length (and longer) works of fiction just out of love and enjoyment, and sharing them with the rest of us. There have been plenty that I've loved and been inspired by over the years, but one of the earliest ones that I'll always remember fondly is Trouble (Fallout 3, Butch/Harkness) by @rustypinhead, one of the first fics that made me want to write longfic myself.

It's been a while since I had an up-to-date "all time favorites" rec list... maybe I should do that again.

20. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Man... there are so many things I love about writing fanfic, but I think one of my favorite things is learning a character's voice, and getting inside their head, understanding their motivations, seeing the world they way they see it. Especially for characters who have a distinct voice and point of view. (There is a reason I've been having so much fun with Sera.)

28. How do you deal with writing pressure (ie: pressure to update, negative comments, deadlines, etc)?

I'll go ahead and answer this one anyway. ;)

I do very well with deadlines. Deadlines are my friend. However, I do prefer to focus on one thing at a time, so I generally won't commit to more than one external deadline (like an exchange) at a time. I just work better and happier that way. But as I've gotten into the exchange scene a bit over the past few years, I've loved the structure of it, and ended up writing some thing I've loved that I probably would never have written otherwise.

As far as updating... I prefer to have the whole fic written before I start posting. I still post serially, because it's fun, and good for visibility, but I don't do well writing serially, and it's not a coincidence that the only longfics in my catalog that I've repeatedly stalled out on are the ones I tried to write and post chapter by chapter. Just doesn't work for me. (I have had a couple questions about whether I will ever update those, but they've always been nice about it, and I really don't have a problem with that.)

I have been lucky to receive very few negative comments on my fics. (I mean outright mean comments, not concrit.) On the rare occasion I've gotten an actually nasty and unconstructive comment, I've just deleted it without reply, because why give those people attention? I didn't write it for them, clearly.

38. What does your writing process look like? How chaotic is it on a scale of 1 (very tame) to 10 (you can’t handle this kind of chaos)?

My process is a very organized sort of chaos. I'm a Planner through and through; I brainstorm, I outline, I canon review, I take loads of notes. I live in Scrivener because being able to see all my notes for a fic at once makes my brain very happy.

...Here, I'll just show you what the binder for the Sera backstory fic looks like! (This is for a fic about 40K total, with not a lot of external research required but a lot of canon details to fit together.)

[ellstersmash]

fic writer ao3 questionnaire thingy

tagged by @bearlytolerant and @ejunkiet for this 💙 thx buddies

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

37

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

79,572

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

these are all solavellan which I guess is not surprising... but to be fair, my mass effect fics just missed the cut

three (modern!au WIP that could technically be finished where I left it but needs a rewrite bc i started it before i learned how to make more thoughtful choices)

nothing on my tongue (collection of playlist-inspired <500 word vignettes that sort of work as a whole story)

awake, alive (two-shot ? about not-kissing in the rain. *smacks the roof* this bad boy can fit so much romantic and sexual tension in it)

the naughty list (a very smutty christmas fic, and another two-shot)

waking up (post-trespasser prompt fill about kissin your not-ex-boyfriend to help him see how dumb he's being)

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

yes, I do. commenting can be intimidating when you don't know the writer, so in that case it feels disrespectful not to even acknowledge the effort. same with extensive comments. and oftentimes the commenter brings up questions or points out interesting moments that you can then have mo re of a conversation about.

honestly comments aren't about the compliments (though those are always nice to hear), they're about the connection. I wrote this, you read it. we both want to feel seen. consider my response an acknowledgement of our connection.

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

principles, which is just a one-shot so the whole thing is angsty, but it definitely ends even less happily than nomt...

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

probably three, but since the last chapter is technically not the ending... I think to the water (smutty dragon age OCxOC indulgence) takes it! it is also, coincidentally, some of my tightest writing.

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what's the craziest one you've written?

i do not. i don't generally love reading or writing them tbh

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

nope, but there's always tomorrow!

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

i sure do, but uh what kind? the um... the quick and snappy kind where you hope to squeeze at least a little heat out of those 600 words? idfk

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i am aware of

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

not that i am aware of

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

not that i am awa- wait, yes! i collaborated with my past self on not to keep, a shenko fake-dating one-shot that I wrote most of in 2017!! lol ok but like with other people, no.

13. What's your all-time favorite ship?

well that's not a fair question to ask. how about top three: mayo, solathi, and bethistair

14. What's a WIP that you want to finish, but don't think you ever will?

i mean there's always some hope, but.. arlathan!au. 🥀rip

15. What are your writing strengths?

being concise: i try to be efficient with my word choice, and cram a lot of characterization/meaning into a handful of words

i think i hit a decent balance of description, action, dialogue, and interiority?

giving certain sentences that satisfying cadence

im good at beginnings. fuck endings tho

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

dialogue. im a lot better than i used to be, but still struggle with it

i don't understand smut and it doesn't understand me

my stamina is shit!!! which is why i write small things and that works fine but when i occasionally want to write something long (beach fic my love) i get overwhelmed and discouraged.

im just.. not that creative lmao this head is empty

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

i do not do it, but all the best to ppl who do ig. hopefully someone knows how to do it well... once i read a longfic that did this sort of a lot and the translations were all in the chapter end notes on ao3 and it was such a PAIN to scroll down then find my place again

but i just don't do it bc im lazy :}

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

newsies lmao (which came out when i was 3! never been on time to a fandom in my life ✌🏻😌)

19. What's your favorite fic you've ever written?

uhhhhh well right now i am most satisfied with anybody's hands (pre-relationship mayo), but like the writing of be gentle with me (also mayo), but am most proud of nothing on my tongue. idk which would be considered my favorite.

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idk who hasn't been tagged yet but @thevikingwoman, @boshtet-juggler, @kittlesandbugs, @ladymdc, and @writer-ish, if you've done this will you pls tag me in it so i can see?? and the rest of yall if you got this far and have stuff on ao3 i am BEGGING you to say i tagged you pls i do not even care if we're mutuals or not

[princip1914]

A few thoughts on writing longfic

I’ve had this post brewing for a while and I figured since today is a Friday I might as well let it out into the wild. 

First off, this is not writing advice. I don’t feel qualified to give writing advice. This is a few observations I’ve made over the course of trying to write something that feels, well, long. Fandom is full of excellent authors writing long chaptered fic, but I don’t see a lot of people talking about how they go about producing such fics. I remember feeling like long fic was really out of reach for me when I started writing again in the summer of 2019 after not writing for years and years and I wanted to talk a bit about how that changed for me. Of course, this post comes with all the caveats that there is no need to ever write long fic if you’re not feeling it. Some of my favorite authors write mostly or only oneshots! But, if you are interested, here’s my lengthy, self indulgent, and entirely personal take on ~the longfic process~ below the cut. 

First, to get this out of the way: long fic is anything that feels long or complicated to you, the author. “I’m working on my long fic” can mean that you’re branching out from microfiction to write something that’s 2k long, or it can mean you’ve got a multi-part 800k epic. There’s no objective measure of if something is “long fic,” Your own personal definitions can also change as you grow in confidence or change your focus as a writer (a little over a year ago when I finished Doubt Thou the Stars are Fire topping out at 31k, that felt very very long to me. Now it feels….still long, but not very very long.) 

Here are a few specific things that helped me write something long. I don’t know if they will be interesting for anyone else, but at the very least writing these down has been a fun way for me to reflect on my own process. 

Practice exercises. Ok, this is going to sound exceedingly obvious, but writing one shots prepares you for writing chaptered fic. Here’s what I mean more specifically: if you know you want to write (as a totally hypothetical example) a chaptered fic set in America in the summer that relies heavily on a nature metaphors, is written out of chronological order, and features a melancholy tone--it helps to write a few one shots like that before you embark on the Big Fic. Just like artists tend to do sketches before starting a big piece, it’s very helpful to write something small that gives you a feel for the ~vibe~ of what you’re trying to do in the long fic. It’s helpful for all the usual reasons--you get to know a specific version of the characters which helps plan out a character driven plot for the long fic--but it’s also helpful because you will learn if the tone and mood of the fic has enough staying power to capture your interest for the long haul. For instance, I have a few unfinished chaptered fics that have a humorous tone. I wish I had done more short humorous fics before starting them, because I would have realized that I don’t currently have the mental stamina to hold up a humorous tone for the length of a chaptered fic (hopefully that will change and I will finish Last Days some time this century!). 

Plan it out ahead of time. I used google sheets for The False and the Fair. I do not think God intended google sheets to be used for fiction, but that was not going to stop me. On a more serious note, I think the best tool for planning fiction is the one you’re the most comfortable with--the notes app in your phone, handwriting, word, google drive, sheets, chalk board, summoning circle, the blood of your enemies, etc. The reason I chose to use sheets is that I knew from the very beginning that I wanted certain things to happen at specific places in the story--for instance, I wanted the first kiss to happen at the end of the first third of the story and I wanted the “reveal” about the mine accident to happen at the end of the second third of the story. But, I didn’t know what was supposed to go in between those elements. A traditional outline for a story at this point in development might have looked like: 

Meet cute

Kiss

Reveal 

Ending 

But, what my brain needed was to preserve the blank spaces in between these story elements, and specifically to preserve the right amount of blank space between these story elements so that it didn’t end up, for instance, that the first kiss was halfway through rather than a third of the way through. In this way, I found google sheets an invaluable tool for pacing in the early parts of the planning process. I simply made 30 rows assuming 30 chapters, and started plugging in the elements I knew I wanted in the locations I wanted them. Then I filled in the blank spaces by asking myself “how do we get from X plot element to Y plot element in Z amount of chapters.” I’m not a mountain climber, but I’ve often thought about the first things that go into the spreadsheet in terms of mountain climbing terminology.  In climbing, a crux move, which can be anywhere along the route, is the most difficult move of the route: if you can’t do it, you can’t do the route. I think of the first things that go into the planning spreadsheet as the crux moves of the story, the most important pieces around which everything else turns. It was not an accident that those were also all the first scenes of the fic that I wrote; if I couldn’t do those scenes, I couldn’t do the story the way I planned it so I wanted to know early on if I needed to make changes.

Make changes if you have to: even though it helps to have things planned in advance, don’t resist the story if it tries to change on you while you’re writing it. Usually the feeling that you have to make changes stems from having a plot that is not entirely character driven. As you write the story, the characters reveal themselves and sometimes the plot has to change to change with the characters’ motivations. Here’s an area where fanfic writers have a leg up on everyone else: if you write fic, you already know the characters really well. That means, (in my experience anyway) it’s less likely that you’ll have a surprise character development which leads to a rethinking of the whole plot. Less likely, but not completely unlikely, unfortunately.

Lie to yourself: The False and the Fair was supposed to be 90k words. I thought that sounded reasonable, a little less than 3x the longest fic I had ever written. Now it's 161k and will probably top out a little over 170k. Ooops. But I never would have set out to write something that long. I wouldn’t have thought I could do it, even though anyone more experienced looking at my plans for the fic probably would have laughed at the idea I could cover all those plot points in 90k. Ignorance is bliss. Protect your ignorance.

Scrivener: Long fic for me means “fic that is long enough you can’t hold all the parts of it in your head at once.” That’s where Scrivener comes in (or another app if you’d rather, but I really like Scrivener for the ability to see the project either linearly or as condensed notecards). You can put together an organizational scaffold in Scrivener that allows you to move back and forth between the forest and the trees. So, for instance, you might be going for a jog and come up with the perfect line of dialogue for chapter 27 when you’re only up to chapter 5 in terms of writing progress. With Scrivener, you can go home, and put that dialogue in the “bucket”/index card/whatever for chapter 27 without compromising your ability to see chapter 5 clearly or muddying up your google doc. You can then use the fact that you’ve started writing bits and pieces of the later chapters in conjunction with the tool of lying to yourself that, actually, you’ve written a lot more of the fic than you realize and that when you get to chapter 27 it won’t be as hard as chapter 5 because you’ve put in the groundwork already. In my experience, this lie turns out to be true about 50% of the time, which is better than 0% of the time.

Digestible mini arcs: The False and the Fair was originally broken up into thirds. I thought it would be 90k and 30k was the longest I had written, so thirds seemed to make sense. Also, 3 is a nice, time honored storytelling number. I think it’s good to give yourself seemingly achievable milestones along the way to completion. These milestones (for me anyway) lined up well with the “crux moments” I’ve described. If you’re someone who likes to write out of order, writing your way to an already written milestone can feel like sailing to an island where you get to rest for a bit from the stormy seas before setting out for the next island in the archipelago.

“It's all part of the process”: I’m categorically incapable of describing things without resorting to running metaphors, and so I apologize in advance, but I am now going to do the insufferable thing of comparing writing a long fic to running a marathon. Here’s the thing with a marathon. You are not going to feel good every step of the way. We all know this. It’s a marathon, it’s supposed to hurt a little bit, especially at the end. In the same way you literally cannot write something novel length or even novella or long short story length without, at least at some point, feeling bad about yourself and your writing. But you also can’t run a marathon if the whole thing is agony, and for most people, it’s not--your meat sack shuffling along the course is subjected to the slings and arrows of all sorts of weird body chemistry that only happens when you push it to its limits. So, you’ll be in agony and then the endorphins will kick in for a while and you’ll be thinking “this isn’t nearly as bad as everyone said,” and then you’ll drink some water at a rest stop and feel like a God for half a mile before you crash and you’re in agony again until that one perfect song comes up on the playlist...and you get the idea. Writing something long, for me at least, is a bit like that. There are massive ups and downs. The key for me is to just understand it’s all part of the process, a necessary step on the way to the finish line. If the fic is 10 chapters long, at some point you have to write chapter 5. Just like you have to write chapter 5, at some point you also have to go through a bit of despair before reaching the end. It is unfortunately non-optional. In fact, despairing is something you can check off your list each time you’ve done it. Cut dialogue tags, check. Feel awful about my writing for thirty minutes, check. Write ending section, check. Often I feel that the stress and shame and fear that come with bad emotions while writing are worse than the bad emotions themselves. It really helps me to remember these emotions are all part of the process and nothing to worry about. If I didn’t have them, then I would worry! 

I certainly have plenty more to say about writing, but this ramble has gone on long enough. If you’re interested in any of this stuff, please feel free to send me an ask. 

I would also love to know more about everyone else’s writing processes, so feel free to pop into my ask box to talk about your own approach too! I am very interested in this stuff!