#i do tend to write a lot of introspection. it's something i need to work on

[derinwrites]

The Three Commandments

The thing about writing is this: you gotta start in medias res, to hook your readers with action immediately. But readers aren’t invested in people they know nothing about, so start with a framing scene that instead describes the characters and the stakes. But those scenes are boring, so cut straight to the action, after opening with a clever quip, but open in the style of the story, and try not to be too clever in the opener, it looks tacky. One shouldn’t use too many dialogue tags, it’s distracting; but you can use ‘said’ a lot, because ‘said’ is invisible, but don’t use ‘said’ too much because it’s boring and uninformative – make sure to vary your dialogue tags to be as descriptive as possible, except don’t do that because it’s distracting, and instead rely mostly on ‘said’ and only use others when you need them. But don’t use ‘said’ too often; you should avoid dialogue tags as much as you possibly can and indicate speakers through describing their reactions. But don’t do that, it’s distracting.

Having a viewpoint character describe themselves is amateurish, so avoid that. But also be sure to describe your viewpoint character so that the reader can picture them. And include a lot of introspection, so we can see their mindset, but don’t include too much introspection, because it’s boring and takes away from the action and really bogs down the story, but also remember to include plenty of introspection so your character doesn’t feel like a robot. And adverbs are great action descriptors; you should have a lot of them, but don’t use a lot of adverbs; they’re amateurish and bog down the story. And

The reason new writers are bombarded with so much outright contradictory writing advice is that these tips are conditional. It depends on your style, your genre, your audience, your level of skill, and what problems in your writing you’re trying to fix. Which is why, when I’m writing, I tend to focus on what I call my Three Commandments of Writing. These are the overall rules; before accepting any writing advice, I check whether it reinforces one of these rules or not. If not, I ditch it.

1: Thou Shalt Have Something To Say

What’s your book about?

I don’t mean, describe to me the plot. I mean, why should anybody read this? What’s its thesis? What’s its reason for existence, from the reader’s perspective? People write stories for all kinds of reasons, but things like ‘I just wanted to get it out of my head’ are meaningless from a reader perspective. The greatest piece of writing advice I ever received was you putting words on a page does not obligate anybody to read them. So why are the words there? What point are you trying to make?

The purpose of your story can vary wildly. Usually, you’ll be exploring some kind of thesis, especially if you write genre fiction. Curse Words, for example, is an exploration of self-perpetuating power structures and how aiming for short-term stability and safety can cause long-term problems, as well as the responsibilities of an agitator when seeking to do the necessary work of dismantling those power structures. Most of the things in Curse Words eventually fold back into exploring this question. Alternately, you might just have a really cool idea for a society or alien species or something and want to show it off (note: it can be VERY VERY HARD to carry a story on a ‘cool original concept’ by itself. You think your sky society where they fly above the clouds and have no rainfall and have to harvest water from the clouds below is a cool enough idea to carry a story: You’re almost certainly wrong. These cool concept stories work best when they are either very short, or working in conjunction with exploring a theme). You might be writing a mystery series where each story is a standalone mystery and the point is to present a puzzle and solve a fun mystery each book. Maybe you’re just here to make the reader laugh, and will throw in anything you can find that’ll act as framing for better jokes. In some genres, readers know exactly what they want and have gotten it a hundred times before and want that story again but with different character names – maybe you’re writing one of those. (These stories are popular in romance, pulp fantasy, some action genres, and rather a lot of types of fanfiction).

Whatever the main point of your story is, you should know it by the time you finish the first draft, because you simply cannot write the second draft if you don’t know what the point of the story is. (If you write web serials and are publishing the first draft, you’ll need to figure it out a lot faster.)

Once you know what the point of your story is, you can assess all writing decisions through this lens – does this help or hurt the point of my story?

2: Thou Shalt Respect Thy Reader’s Investment

Readers invest a lot in a story. Sometimes it’s money, if they bought your book, but even if your story is free, they invest time, attention, and emotional investment. The vast majority of your job is making that investment worth it. There are two factors to this – lowering the investment, and increasing the payoff. If you can lower your audience’s suspension of disbelief through consistent characterisation, realistic (for your genre – this may deviate from real realism) worldbuilding, and appropriately foreshadowing and forewarning any unexpected rules of your world. You can lower the amount of effort or attention your audience need to put into getting into your story by writing in a clear manner, using an entertaining tone, and relying on cultural touchpoints they understand already instead of pushing them in the deep end into a completely unfamiliar situation. The lower their initial investment, the easier it is to make the payoff worth it.

Two important notes here: one, not all audiences view investment in the same way. Your average reader views time as a major investment, but readers of long fiction (epic fantasies, web serials, et cetera) often view length as part of the payoff. Brandon Sanderson fans don’t grab his latest book and think “Uuuugh, why does it have to be so looong!” Similarly, some people like being thrown in the deep end and having to put a lot of work into figuring out what the fuck is going on with no onboarding. This is one of science fiction’s main tactics for forcibly immersing you in a future world. So the valuation of what counts as too much investment varies drastically between readers.

Two, it’s not always the best idea to minimise the necessary investment at all costs. Generally, engagement with art asks something of us, and that’s part of the appeal. Minimum-effort books do have their appeal and their place, in the same way that idle games or repetitive sitcoms have their appeal and their place, but the memorable stories, the ones that have staying power and provide real value, are the ones that ask something of the reader. If they’re not investing anything, they have no incentive to engage, and you’re just filling in time. This commandment does not exist to tell you to try to ask nothing of your audience – you should be asking something of your audience. It exists to tell you to respect that investment. Know what you’re asking of your audience, and make sure that the ask is less than the payoff.

The other way to respect the investment is of course to focus on a great payoff. Make those characters socially fascinating, make that sacrifice emotionally rending, make the answer to that mystery intellectually fulfilling. If you can make the investment worth it, they’ll enjoy your story. And if you consistently make their investment worth it, you build trust, and they’ll be willing to invest more next time, which means you can ask more of them and give them an even better payoff. Audience trust is a very precious currency and this is how you build it – be worth their time.

But how do you know what your audience does and doesn’t consider an onerous investment? And how do you know what kinds of payoff they’ll find rewarding? Easy – they self-sort. Part of your job is telling your audience what to expect from you as soon as you can, so that if it’s not for them, they’ll leave, and if it is, they’ll invest and appreciate the return. (“Oh but I want as many people reading my story as possible!” No, you don’t. If you want that, you can write paint-by-numbers common denominator mass appeal fic. What you want is the audience who will enjoy your story; everyone else is a waste of time, and is in fact, detrimental to your success, because if they don’t like your story then they’re likely to be bad marketing. You want these people to bounce off and leave before you disappoint them. Don’t try to trick them into staying around.) Your audience should know, very early on, what kind of an experience they’re in for, what the tone will be, the genre and character(s) they’re going to follow, that sort of thing. The first couple of chapters of Time to Orbit: Unknown, for example, are a micro-example of the sorts of mysteries that Aspen will be dealing with for most of the book, as well as a sample of their character voice, the way they approach problems, and enough of their background, world and behaviour for the reader to decide if this sort of story is for them. We also start the story with some mildly graphic medical stuff, enough physics for the reader to determine the ‘hardness’ of the scifi, and about the level of physical risk that Aspen will be putting themselves at for most of the book. This is all important information for a reader to have.

If you are mindful of the investment your readers are making, mindful of the value of the payoff, and honest with them about both from the start so that they can decide whether the story is for them, you can respect their investment and make sure they have a good time.

3: Thou Shalt Not Make Thy World Less Interesting

This one’s really about payoff, but it’s important enough to be its own commandment. It relates primarily to twists, reveals, worldbuilding, and killing off storylines or characters. One mistake that I see new writers make all the time is that they tank the engagement of their story by introducing a cool fun twist that seems so awesome in the moment and then… is a major letdown, because the implications make the world less interesting.

“It was all a dream” twists often fall into this trap. Contrary to popular opinion, I think these twists can be done extremely well. I’ve seen them done extremely well. The vast majority of the time, they’re very bad. They’re bad because they take an interesting world and make it boring. The same is true of poorly thought out, shocking character deaths – when you kill a character, you kill their potential, and if they’re a character worth killing in a high impact way then this is always a huge sacrifice on your part. Is it worth it? Will it make the story more interesting? Similarly, if your bad guy is going to get up and gloat ‘Aha, your quest was all planned by me, I was working in the shadows to get you to acquire the Mystery Object since I could not! You have fallen into my trap! Now give me the Mystery Object!’, is this a more interesting story than if the protagonist’s journey had actually been their own unmanipulated adventure? It makes your bad guy look clever and can be a cool twist, but does it mean that all those times your protagonist escaped the bad guy’s men by the skin of his teeth, he was being allowed to escape? Are they retroactively less interesting now?

Whether these twists work or not will depend on how you’ve constructed the rest of your story. Do they make your world more or less interesting?

If you have the audience’s trust, it’s permissible to make your world temporarily less interesting. You can kill off the cool guy with the awesome plan, or make it so that the Chosen One wasn’t actually the Chosen One, or even have the main character wake up and find out it was all a dream, and let the reader marinate in disappointment for a little while before you pick it up again and turn things around so that actually, that twist does lead to a more interesting story! But you have to pick it up again. Don’t leave them with the version that’s less interesting than the story you tanked for the twist. The general slop of interest must trend upward, and your sacrifices need to all lead into the more interesting world. Otherwise, your readers will be disappointed, and their experience will be tainted.

Whenever I’m looking at a new piece of writing advice, I view it through these three rules. Is this plot still delivering on the book’s purpose, or have I gone off the rails somewhere and just stared writing random stuff? Does making this character ‘more relateable’ help or hinder that goal? Does this argument with the protagonists’ mother tell the reader anything or lead to any useful payoff; is it respectful of their time? Will starting in medias res give the audience an accurate view of the story and help them decide whether to invest? Does this big twist that challenges all the assumptions we’ve made so far imply a world that is more or less interesting than the world previously implied?

Hopefully these can help you, too.

[stick-named-figure]

i wrote a bit under the cut. i think i got most of my main ideas across but if you have questions i'm perfectly ready to talk about it.

one of the things i think is important about writing angst (and mental anguish, hurtfics, so on) is that satisfying ones typically have a point beyond just the suffering (though "pointless" pieces still have literary value). it does not mean that the point must be that the character is comforted, ambiguous ends and unresolved troubles can still be a good read.

i treat angst as a vehicle to state something about a character. i tend to do a lot of introspection and patternmaking (which is likely a part of me being autistic) and then use the conclusions i come to in my writing.

people (and then by extension, characters) do not typically do things for no reason. things may be done on a whim, but that whim is the reason, and so on. thus behavior in my writing is cause -> effect. characters often don't know the explicit cause of their behavior when i write them or how their past shapes their specific actions.

example that in my fic "shelled out" is that purple is angry about the situation with the ender dragon. on paper, the reason is that it's an example of a dragon (which in this universe is an animal) caring enough about it's progeny that it would burn a village down for them. there's this frustration that purr's parent could not do the same.

on the writing itself, i saw this post the other day, which is how i tend to write. while this one is about physical pain, a similar concept can be applied to anger, sadness, and other emotions. a character experiencing emotions may not be able to identify and vocalize said emotions, but they are likely still acting on them.

Ah idk how to ask this but yunno- angst is a good way of developing a character, andd uh since most of y'all are good at it-

could you mayybe teach me ?

[gcldfanged]

NAME?: King_Kkeungi, Kkeungi, or Soda- If you've been around for the past 700 years...

PRONOUNS?: He/Him mainly, still trying to get used to They/Them over time. I identify as AFAB Transmasculine, but also very GNC.

MOST ACTIVE MUSES?: Jae (you are here!), also a shitload of others because I am literally insane.

EXPERIENCE/HOW MANY YEARS? Uhh, like back when AOL was still fucking dial-up. Shove that into your calculator, proceed to jaw-drop, and demand 'why would anyone put themselves through that, though'.

FLUFF, ANGST, OR SMUT?: In order of what I write the most: Angst, Smut, Fluff.

Angst is my bread and butter- We do love the bitter hardships, because a lot of personal growth and the potential for self-reflection.

Smut is usually me having no fucking clue what I'm doing, other than trying NOT to sound totally BORING for my poor writing partner.

Fluff is something that I normally get bored by, but I'm starting to appreciate more moments of Fluff and Domestic/Slice of Life content thanks to Oni?

I think the reason why the 'Second Chances' AU hits so differently is because our muses both didn't really experience a 'normal' upbringing nor childhood, so they're super motivated to allow this poor clone to just BE A CHILD and ENJOY LIFE and DEVELOP HIS OWN PERSONALITY. So, all of these seemingly minor and 'every day' occurrences and family-centered events aren't even things that Sephiroth and Jae-hyo have experienced in the past, like ever. And it's so far from perfect- They have no idea what they're doing, they both are better at killing people and being walking weapons than being like, emotionally attuned to a fearful child in a completely foreign environment. They're learning a ton of practical things, but they're also learning more about each other as individuals on an emotional level, which is really important development for them.

Anyway- Any of these three thread types can work for me, but obviously I am super into plotting and long-term exploration of our inter-muse dynamics!

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES?: It honestly depends on how my muse responds to my partner's replies- But I tend to go overboard and focus way too much on introspection that my poor mutuals can't even respond to in-character... so I'm trying to work on that!

PET PEEVES?:

Being a jerk about tagging- It takes like 2 seconds? Even if I DON'T think my mutuals might be triggered, I still tag heavy subjects out of common courtesy. I don't need some random internet troll telling me I'm a 'widdle babey who can't handle real fucking life!11' just because they hate mentally ill people and are lazy. I have survived so much 'real life' shit that they would struggle handling like an adult?

Rules pages that are rude and worded super aggressively. Chill out. We've all had bad experiences, I don't turn around and decide to be a literal asshole to complete strangers who are simply interested in my writing.

Vagueing and Passive-Aggressive behavior. You don't like smut? Blacklist the tag for people's NSFW content. Making a post in public and outright shaming people who are supposed to be your friends just because you personally aren't comfortable with sexual topics is way out of line. Also, we've all been browbeaten into ONLY posting smut on Sunday for ya'll, what more do you want to enforce on other people's blogs?

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE?: All of my muses have some facet of their personalities that I generally base off of my personal experiences, but also I try to build each muse up with a strong sense of realism and do a ton of scholarly research in areas that I feel I am NOT well versed in.

Jae is probably the most... emotionally personal muse I have simply because I am actively exploring very serious and heavy themes with him that I myself have survived/been a victim of, in the past. It's a safe way for me to kind of explore said events in a more objective and rational fashion, rather than rehashing specific memories that can be extremely upsetting and makes trying to be kinder to myself incredibly difficult.

He is not a self-insert, though (not that I personally see anything wrong with self-inserts in fics or 'fan-geared content', but I also do not think it's a good nor healthy idea to roleplay yourself in an RPC). He's a character that was first birthed out of spite towards someone on my dashboard (via my Genesis blog) who was complaining about 'overpowered OCs' and claiming that there are 'too many SOLDIER OCs' and that the 'few Turk OCs are all lame yakuza wannabees and they suck'. Like, what fucking game did you play, fool? I swear to God, being exposed to all these cold-ass, rancid fucking takes from the general fandom side of the community has really soured my experience in the RPC as a whole.

TIME TO WRITE?: Morning is usually better for me, right after my medication kicks in. But it's also dependent on who I am talking to and how excited we both are for the threads/plotting.

TAGGED BY: @stupidiinspades/ @endlcssdreamiing / @endlcssdesiire TAGGING: @nightiingaled, @sadistpet, @inspiirefear, @wayan9an, @bukkuobujiendo, @serandipity, @agloryofuniicorns, @ilbound, @tredispade, @annjiru

[tired-old-men]

Your jobs seem stressful, what do you guys do to de-stress?

Thunderhawk 

Our jobs can be really stressful especially since we are constantly on duty to keep Angel Island safe, however we do get some free time to rest and unwind. Everyone needs to rest and refresh to be on their A game including us Guardians. 

For me, I destress by spending quality time with the family when I can. As expected of people that constantly work and live together we tend to spend most of our free time independently, which is all fine and good.. but we are a family after all, and getting to share some genuine time together, watch a movie, maybe play a board game or two, sharing a big meal, just gives me a nice warm feeling and reminds us of the simple moments in life together. Slowing down and enjoying the little things. 

Sometimes when work gets really overwhelming I stop for a moment, I focus on my breath and pay subtle attention at whats around me, how things look, sound, feel, maybe taste, I notice my feelings in the moment and remind myself of those little happy moments in life. It’s helped me destress over the years and has even come in handy when my anxiety would try to get the best of me. -smiles- 

Sojourner

What do I do to de-stress? Besides beautiful women -smirks then clears throat-, I enjoy the occasional cigar as opposed to my usual cigarettes, I don’t drink too often but I’ll even enjoy a glass of whiskey on the rocks with my smoke. Just find a good spot to sit outside and enjoy the view and maybe some tunes, although the sounds of the Island’s wilderness is the perfect music to my ears. 

At times the best way for me to de-stress is to go out hiking and especially camping. Sometimes I’ll take my son or another one of the boys along for the trip but other times I’ll go by myself, just exploring and experiencing Angel Island’s raw beauty brings me a lot of peace and provides the space for personal reflection too. Can’t beat a walk in nature I’ll tell you that!

Sabre

To say that this job is stressful would be an understatement in my opinion… I’ve tried a few things to destress but I really enjoy some quiet time along with a nice cup of tea, perhaps even a book or a good album to listen too. I’ve also found working on my garden to be quite therapeutic for me in a way. Gives me something to focus on besides work, and as much as it reminds me to take care of my plants it reminds me to take care of myself too. Originally my wife started this garden so I’d say it also holds some fond memories to reminisce about.

Locke

De-stress? Hmm.. I’d probably say meditation is my biggest guide when I feel burdened. I’ve read some of my ancestors would meditate so much they would even reach new levels of consciousness and even find greater insight into their chaos abilities. For me it keeps me focused on the present and helps organize my thoughts. I um- sometimes go out maybe into Echidnaopolis or another town on Island, just socialize a bit… Although my favorite places I go to are some of the old ruins or caves found around the Island, lots of history to uncover, it fills me with such an exciting energy I tend to forget about whatever might have been stressing me at the moment. -smiles sheepishly- 

Spectre

Hm…I meditate. I read. I tend to write about my thoughts, feelings, and observations as it helps gather all my introspections and provide greater insight into them… … I’ll also swim or dive from time to time…water is rather soothing…

[aurorahrt]

fanfic writer interview!

thank you to the lovely @monkey-banana41 for the tag <33 almost cried at my pc anyway weeeee

How many works do you have on AO3?

i have 34! they were all posted this year, and 32 of them are sskk or sskk-centric... i might be crazy

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

i rarely check this one but it actually surprised me a little bit :3 they are, of course, all sskk :D

lasting until the next time - explicit | 39.4k | 31 chapters my kinktober for 2024! i wanted to write something that had a "developing relationship" type of plot, but also featured an nsfw scene for (most of) the chapters! it's set two years into the future, after everything is cleared up and sskk reunite for the first time in a while.

two flints make a fire - explicit | 24.5k | 10 chapters originally started as a rivals-with-benefits smut shot after i watched dead apple three times in one weekend, but turned into 10 chapters of somewhat canon compliant sskk porn, basically!

skin to skin - teen | 18.1k | one-shot this was the first fic i posted in march! an sskk ability swap fic where they learn to understand each other whilst trying to get their abilities back, set after the decay of the angels saga. lots of fluff, a little bit of angst and a slightly-unhinged atsushi!

inevitable dwindling; awakening metempsychosis - teen | 17.2k | one-shot i'm so glad this is up here because this is my favourite thing i have ever written. an sskk fic around the six month promise and how that might happen, which turns into an accidental-roommate-situation and a lot of overthinking! essentially one big akutagawa character study that i did after rewatching bsd in the summer.

from duality to singularity - mature | 10.8k | one-shot a post-beast au where atsushi joins the ADA and sskk basically hate each other until they love each other. it's part of twin flames, which is an entire world where beast sskk and canon sskk meet and learn a lot of things about each other!

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

absolutely yes, whenever i can find the time. i love talking about my projects, and comments are always the best place for it. for me, if someone enjoyed my fic enough to comment, i want to reciprocate that gratitude and energy :D

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

ehe... well i think we all know the answer to this one, but definitely a hope to return, as it's literally canon-ish mcd. i also think i should give an honourable mention to double edged blade, which is just my personal headcanons on tachihara's back story up until chapter 90.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

i tend to write with more ambiguous endings. to me, sskk are a pairing where they still kind of hate themselves and need a lot more time than just a silly mega one-shot where they get together to heal. i think the to transmogrify a hound series (especially home comforts) are quite cathartic, and that makes ME happy...

Do you write crossovers?

no, i don't think i will either! canon is my playground :D

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

not yet... hopefully never...

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

yes i do! it really depends. i've written pure nasty nothing smut, but introspective smut is my favourite to write.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

other than when a bot sniped the whole of ao3, i have had a few snippets/plot stolen in a fic i saw once, but i just kind of let it slide and took it as a compliment

Have you ever had a fic translated?

no :)

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

no but watch this space............... /threat

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

i think it's pretty obvious that it's sskk for me. i'm hoping to branch out into other ships i like for 2025!

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

i currently have a spreadsheet of 15 wips that i stare at blankly then start something new. one of the wips i have that i don't think i'll ever share is a rewrite of an au that i published before 'auroraheart' was born. i always think of a good time to post it, then change my mind!

What are your writing strengths?

i guess i understand the characters i write pretty well, and even though i have my own characterisation, people seem to like it and/or think it's pretty close to canon! i'm definitely good at introspective fics, or character studies, and i think i make pieces transition really well from different scenes!

What are your writing weaknesses?

i do not branch out from what is comfortable, and when i do, i really overthink it. i would like to test that in the new year, because i've never really attempted 'world building' and i would love to try.

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

I think it depends on the context, but i tend to not do it.

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

so many... i'm going to hopefully start posting for sgdlr soon! i also want to branch into more bsd ships i enjoy, like tachihigugin (and any variation of the three), sigzai, suegiku, odango, etc... which is part of my new year goals :D

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

i've already mentioned id;am and deb, so i think i will use this space to say checkmate! it's one of my lesser known fics, but it was hard to write and i'm very proud of it :3

tagging: @acreeperinawhitevan, @doctorweebmd, @heartless-cur, @spliqi & @frankenjoly <3 (feel free not to do of course)

[msshinylemon]

Thanks for tagging me @ohhcinnybuns :D

Fanfic Writer Interview

How many works do you have on AO3?

As of now, I only 4 published works, one of them ongoing. However, I also have others that aren't currently published.

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

Who Needs Rings When You Have Potatoes? (6,209 words), General audiences, complete - childhood friends skk exchanging potatoes as a love language.

The Bridge Between Us (13,149 words), teen and up, complete - Modern au where skk meet on a bridge one night and slowly get to know each other.

Forget Me Not (2,138 words), General audiences, complete - Atsushi is sick. Dazai and Kyouka bond as he helps her find a get-well-soon gift.

Red and Blue are Complementary (6,042 words), M, ongoing - Canon compliant where skk were childhood friends

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! I like seeing what readers enjoyed about my writing as well as getting to interact with them.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I haven't published any fics with an angsty ending. I love my fluff too much, although I've tried my hand at writing hurt/comfort but always with a happy ending.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Probably Who Needs Rings When You Have Potatoes? with childhood friends skk. A lot of fluff to be found with skk being sillies together. It didn't have any angst except for a tiny bit, but it was definitely the fic with the happiest ending.

Do you write crossovers?

I haven't, but I've thought about trying later down the line. For now, I'm thinking about writing an alien stage fusion but nothing posted yet.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

As far as I'm aware, I haven't. However, even if I did I would just move on.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I don't write smut, but I've thought about trying. My one attempt ended with soft and emotional smut, but I prefer to mostly write fluff.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I haven't.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not exactly, but I'm currently bouncing ideas back and forth with a friend.

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I like a lot of ships, but SKK has been my favorite ship for a few years now. I have a few other favorites in different fandoms, like ivantill and mizisua for alien stage, and timebomb for arcane.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I have way too many wips, but one I think I'm least likely to finish would be the Yosano in pm au, where Mori succeeded in getting her instead of Fukuzawa.

What are your writing strengths?

I tend to lean a lot into introspection, and one of my strengths would be coming up with ideas and connecting them. I love planning and outlining my stories, seeing where I can add different things, and weaving different ideas into the story.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I could do more narrative exposition and descriptive imagery. Both are something I'm working on. I'm also a slow writer, so a lot of what I write ends up as a wip.

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

I think it can be really fun, but it can sometimes get a bit too much. I use Japanese honorifics and some Japanese-originated words because it takes place in Japan.

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

I think I would want to write something for Ivan/Till, or for alien stage in general. I love the ships and the worldbuilding, but not sure when I would get around to do that.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Surprisingly enough, I can't choose between "Who needs rings when you have potatoes?" and "Red and Blue are Complementary". Both childhood friends aus which was fun to write. The potato fic is the one I'm the most proud of, but the canon-compliant fic is the one I'm excited to write since it's my first long fic.

@cryptid-juzou @nolongerforthetainted @spccts no pressure tho :3

[candywraptor]

Hello! I just found your "gentlemen prefer blondes (but I'm not classically trained)" fic and I love it so much. I'm sorry if you've already answered this but how do you guys work on it together? My friend and I tried to write a fic together once a long time ago and it got really messy and we stopped because it was too hard to make it fit together. How do you and @frostbite-fable (sorry I just picked you to send the ask to but it's to both of you) write so your story and characters stay so consistent?

Hello! :DD

Thank you for the ask and it's a very fun question!

First of all, I'm very glad you're enjoying blondes! ^__^ I hope you like the things we have planned for future chapters! I think I've said this every time but I am so excited for the things that are coming.

As for your question. . .I think Frost and I's situation is a little unique in that we were previously married (genuinely) and therefore we are used to working together very closely. I'm not sure I could do a project like this with absolutely anyone else (and with a lot of this content, I'm not sure I'd want to!). That also means I have pretty easy access to her if I have a question or need clarification regarding what to do with Lucifer - which brings me to a point that I think may be one of the biggest reasons we can keep the characters in line:

We have complete and total control of the character we write. I'll use myself as the example. If I am starting a chapter and I need to refer to Lucifer, I ask Frost what he's doing in that moment or has been doing since the events of the previous chapter. If Lucifer is actually present in a scene, then me and Frost are actually in the document working together and writing in real time. Anything Lucifer says or does is Frost, not me - any dialogue is written by the one who writes the character and actions are dictated by them (but not written out - that's the job of the chapter author). If we need them to go in a different direction than where we're headed naturally, we can reconfigure some dialogue or how they approach each other and we figure it out together.

This is possibly the most fun thing on the planet and I live for these sessions.

It is also really challenging. I have to read my previous chapter and remember the headspace Alastor should be in before jumping in to work with Frost in hers. Not writing out how Alastor feels (he's very introspective) before responding means that I'm working a little more blindly than I prefer. When I write Alastor, sometimes his response is different than what I expected so not being able to work through that means I need to be very careful with him in Lucifer chapters. It also means I can't explain why he did or didn't do something that may seem out of place.

And Lucifer is terrible at paying attention. A lot of what you can get out of Alastor in Frost's chapters are subtle but the sad, wet, pathetic man-child doesn't notice shit. And he sure as hell doesn't think about anything, either. It is no mystery why he's a disaster, truly.

Switching perspectives can also be jarring so I tend to start my chapters right after Frost is done with hers so I can transition as smoothly as I possibly can but no matter what there is a gap of time. I think I find that to be the most difficult part - Alastor goes through growth that I didn't get to explore as fully as I wanted since I didn't write it.

So the short answer is that we're very comfortable with one another and we're very involved in each other's chapters. We also worry only about the character we write so it isn't on us to determine what the opposite one might do or think - someone else keeps track of them.

Frost is going to hop in with her own take on everything but I wanted to thank you again for this fun ask! :D

And thank you for reading blondes, too, I'm very happy that you like it! <3

P.S - Fun fact. You would think we favor the character we write but that isn't the case. Lucifer is my favorite of the two and while I absolutely like Alastor, knowing so much about him (this version) and hanging out in his head make him less appealing than Lucifer who I know much, much less about. I shit talk Luci because that is my job but I adore him - to the point of infatuation, really, so take from that what you will.

[delta-lethonomia]

Hitting you as requested! For the writers goal ask game:

🦄 Is there a new POV you'd like to try writing?

👾 Do you have any "bad" writing habits you want to break?

��Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're most excited to write? Share a snippet or tell us about it!

🦄: Ohh man I’m lowkey scared to write Astarion’s POV? 😅 it’s weird, I feel confident in how I’ve portrayed his emotions, I’ll defend my choices with regards to his actions in my stories, I think I’ve got a pretty decent handle on his dialogue, but actually writing his POV feels pretty difficult. He’s both emotionally intelligent and not the most introspective, which is my exact opposite in a lot of ways lol. It would be fun though! I’d just die inside if someone told me they thought my read on him was shit 😭

👾: Re 👏 pe 👏 tition!!!! I repeat words all the time!!!! Including sentence structures, one of the major edits I do all the time is going in and breaking up my massive compound sentences. It would be nice to be more conscious of that from the get go.

Other than that, I really ought to be more aware of the emotion/vibe I’m trying to convey before I write a scene. I tend to sketch the details: “they go to x, y information is revealed, Tav’s stress level increments [+1] and reminds her of z, which is building tension to c event in 3 chapters” but I tend to play the rest by ear. That works most of the time and lot of the more intimate scenes were developed organically that way, but it does happen where I write a touching scene and then realize it completely lets out the tension that I need for something later that day. That’s definitely something I could be a bit more aware of.

💥: ohoooo hohoho~ there’s a scene coming up that’s gonna suck to write but it’s gonna be sooooo good. I fully expect readers to go “oh no oh fuck nO” if I do it well, but it may also seem contrived even though it’s been set up for a long time. Other than that, I will say that Cazador gets more than one scene and we don’t kill him the first time we meet him. (I couldn’t do that to mother!!!)

There’s also gonna be a sex scene at the elfsong tavern eventually that I’m gonna use as a personal challenge to go as unhinged as possible. I have a couple of ideas but haven’t settled yet, and they’re all more depraved than the last. 🥰

[bean-in-dice]

WIP meme

Thanks for tagging me @thelaithlyworm !

Rules: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

(Hope I'm doing this correct lol

Also, i usually name things after Im done writing, so none of these have names as they are wips)

1. A Bai Jintang and Gongsun Ce fic (for SCI: The Mystery Novel). I think I meant to name this something like "Blood, Glass and Bone Ashes"

With introspective GSC pov, where I analyse their horrific relationship start, and what continuing meant for both of them, and where they stand now. Though I HATED them in the first few books, by book 4 they had unexpectedly grown on me and I wanted to do something about that, but to my regret I only wrote like 500 words at the time and postponed it till I've read all of SCI, but by book 5 I kinda started losing interest on the series therefore I keep pushing this Wip to the back shelf. Sorry, fic. Maybe one day I'll get back to you🫠

2. Baby Pangzi fic

Probably will never happen because I wrote a baby Xiaoge fic and included all the best baby shenanigans in it already. Dui bu qi, Pangzi! Ive done you great injustice 😭

3. A Heixie fic that acknowledges Pingxie, Huaxie, Pangxie, Heiping and Heihua all at the same time.

Will probably finish this, it kinda feels all over the place but this is a headcanon so dear to me so I will try my best to brush it up.

4. A One Million Yen Girl (jmovie) au for Zhang Qiling

I've written like 1/8 of this, I really want to write it but I feel like it's beyond my abilities and it stopped being fun. There was this aloof and extremely introvert atmosphere in the Japanese movie but that's what... uh, handwaves....the Jmovie vibes tends to be like sometimes but that's so not the C-story vibe, not even in the most thought provoking, languid and quiet Cmovie/Cdrama, and I thought I could make it work because Zhang Qiling is aloof himself but the more I write the more I feel like this only looks appealing on visual media not when you write it.

OR it's not actually as bad as I think but because I already have this exact image in my head, inability to achieve it makes me more dissapointed. One needs to be careful when they adapt a story from one culture to another that is quite different from the first one, and if you are feeling awkward you better stop. Some things only work in your head and not on paper.

Now for the tagging

Hmm

I don't know a lot of dmbj people on tumblr huhu. @missfangirll @mekare-art @epicwalrus if you will? 🙈

Oh well, I realise I've left nothing for anyone to ask about anw, I've already provided descriptions. Should I remove them, then? Nvm 😂

[eponastory]

Heya! Me again! XD I might need some writing advice.

First of all, I'm trying to get back to writing something, but I want to write an ATLA AU retelling where the characters are older and it's Zutara/Sukka/and Taang-based! :) Problem is, I have like 23 unfinished stories on AO3(four more on FF.Net), and I don't want to like, make another story to add it onto the pile, but...well, in your expertise (I mean, I hear that you write really well), should I just focus on the ones I've written now?

Secondly, how do I get back in the groove of writing? I feel like when I get myself going back to it, it just makes my head feel heavy or something, or I'm just tired. ^^; I don't know, maybe I'm writing too much. I just got other stories to update that I haven't for a while and I want to like...not let everybody wait for the next update on those stories, and...well, I just need some advice on procrastination, I guess. ^^;

I hope I'm making sense. I want to write, but I can't seem to get it going. Maybe I'm distracted too much. What do you do when this happens? What should I do? :O

(Also, no worries about the crossovers! I have two one-shot fics of ATLA, but they're both Taang-centric. ^^; They also have Zutara and Sukka in them, but they're only minor. XD I also did some Taang Week stories that I did in 2020. :) Either way, if you don't do crossovers, there are those to read! :D )

I will definitely check them out!

When I can. Because I've got like... four papers to edit for these people in college that are too lazy to edit their own. That's okay, I get paid for it.

And then there is my current fic I'm obsessed (it's unhealthy, I know) with and then I have to start planning for ZKBB...

Please have mercy on me.

I'm also pretty hungry for Chicken Shawarma for some reason and I really need some ice cream. And chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

@omegansamurai *edited because I am a dingus*

I totally missed the middle part of this ask. I apologize for that... I feel like such an idiot for missing that.

So, a neat little trick I like to do is a word avalanche. It helps get the thoughts going and keeps you on track. You just start with one word, and then you find the words, emotions, or senses that go with that word. It helps with creating scenes and prompts, you name it. I've been doing it for years, and sometimes, it ends up being a whole outline for an epic adventure.

If you have the opposite problem of too many projects at once, cut back on the stories that you feel aren't cutting it. Don't try to force something if you get stuck. Let it sit. Think about it while working on another project. Then go back. I like to keep a journal of all my thoughts that randomly pop up when I'm having a difficult time with a story. I write down those thoughts so I can go back to them later. Most of the time, especially with some of my original works, I get really stuck, and they sit for months. With fan fiction, it can be years before I go back to them. But when I do decide to pick them back up again, I have a journal with everything written down on where I wanted to go with it.

Prompts are also a good thing to practice getting better at introspective and character analysis if you are having issues with that. Putting characters in sticky situations tends to develop them more.

Also, it's totally okay to let go of stories you don't feel connected to anymore. You can always go back to them later on if you ever get the drive for it.

But rule number one is always do what you can make the time for. Overwhelming yourself will cause burnout. One idea at a time. Develop it, write it down. Make it work. But don't try to do too much at one time.

Again, I'm sorry for totally missing the point of your ask... I think I had just finished up that chapter and was posting on both my phone and computer.

[amtrak12]

Hi, amtrak12! I'm your Bering & Wells gifter this year, and I'd be happy to provide you with a story of a sort that might make your heart sing. I write AU and canon-compliant stuff, though I do tend to avoid full-on tragedy and anything truly explicit--apologies for that, if it's too limiting, but I bet you'd find any attempts I'd make at those to resemble lumps of coal rather than true gifts. In any case, I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

OMG I totally feel you on the explicit smut. I, too, should not be trusted to write it! LOL And I think the Bering and Wells fandom gave ourselves enough tragic fics during our great Angst War of 2013 😜 So those restrictions are totally fine with me!

Oh, I'm so excited for this! Let's see...

My general likes:

The S3 yearning during Helena's pokeball era XD I will read anything where Myka sneaks Helena's hologram out late at night to talk to her.

Helena mentoring kids. I hate S4 and I hate Instinct, but I do agree with its premise that Helena is fantastic with kids and would love to play a significant role in a child's life again.

Warehouse artifact shenanigans, especially during inventory. Always a classic.

Dislikes:

Character bashing (though feel free to criticize Myka's dad more than the show did)

Season 4 -- everything except Steve's resurrection is just a big no from me. Though if you want to use Abigail in the fic, you can. I did like her.

Season 5 -- I didn't even bother watching this one. I noped out right before the S4 finale and I don't regret that decision at all.

I am more than happy with an AU future where the warehouse and everyone are magically alive (and Leena never died). I don't even need an explanation for it. 💜 Canon S1-3 settings or even pre-series settings are also good with me.

If you'd like some specific prompts to get you started....

Canon Setting Prompts:

Helena has to work with Pete to help Myka -- could be something as big as Myka being in danger. Could be something as simple and domestic as picking out a birthday gift. Myka has two important people in her life and I, at least, am incapable of thinking about her and Helena without also inevitably thinking about Myka's relationship with Pete. (As completely platonic BROTP, of course. No Myka/Pete romance, either past or present :S But that's probably assumed in a B&W gift exchange.)

Helena's past work with WH12 shows up in small ways -- she recognizes an artifact during inventory, she wrote one of the shelving tags, or they find a report she filled out over a hundred years ago when they're refiling in the archives. Could be angsty because it's S3 and Myka misses her. Could be comforting because Helena's back and every reminder helps her feel like she's home. Could be any tone in between.

Myka having to adjust to having Helena living at the B&B, either in S2 when they're still getting to know each other or in a happy, post-S3 world where Helena's working with them again. Or maybe Myka notes that it isn't an adjustment for her at all because it feels so natural to have Helena living with them. Just domestic introspection outside of the chaos of the job.

AU Setting Prompts:

I'm a huge sucker for soulmate AUs. The tattoo style markings are my favorite premise, but if you have another favorite soulmate set-up, feel free to use that instead. I just think it's neat to explore the impact soulmates would have on the world building and relationships. Are soulmates formed or pre-ordained? How do soulmates work when the other person was born in a completely different era than you?

I know we had a firefighter/paramedic AU series way back in the day, but I wouldn't be mad to see it come back. I've been watching a lot of 9-1-1 lately LOL

Lawyer AUs are also always delicious. The tension that comes out in the courtroom -- HNNG!! There's a reason I have sexual headcanons for Alex Cabot (Law & Order SVU) and every single female defense lawyer and judge she came across ROTFL (And no, this doesn't contradict the no smut agreement, you and I have made, anon. One of my most formative ships was Doctor/Rose. They were heavy on the Unresolved Sexual Tension, and I firmly believe UST should make a comeback in media/fic. It's about the denial, it's about the what if's, the almost's, GUH!)

Hopefully, that gave you enough variety to inspire you without overwhelming you. I will be happy with any length of fic. So if you're the type of writer who thrives on deadlines and/or can write plotty fic in a short time, great. If you're a slower or shorter writer, also great! There seems to be a trend where readers only want 10k+ fics (at least in my current fandom), but I love short stories! I think you can do a lot in just a single scene. So write whatever length you're comfortable with, and feel free to use these ideas as just a starting point. I'll be thrilled to read whatever you come up with :) Thank you so much! 💗

[deadwrites]

Well I was set to keep going on in the tags of the prev post but I think what I need to do is just make a seperate post.

The Tales of Nocturna-Illume (through the shadow of the sun) will be a pretty short cut and dry slavefic story, definitely self indulgent and the court of the gods origin story that is referenced in FNV and all other fics in my what, deadverse? how edge, I like it. It's about a secret prince slave, greco-roman-persian-egyptianesque inspired. Very self indulgent and cliche. I live for trying to make the cliche feel fresh. We see Emryth, the mc, in FNV a couple times, Book I and Book II. TTSOTS is going to be novella to novel length. I hope.

Even fire will burn itself out is euro-medieval era-ish, having Étienne--a dragon-burnt slave--going on a bit of an adventure (I HAD been considering following the hero's journey template but boy does that stress me out) that ends with him and a dragonshifter together. There are dragon hoards. There are wars. There are lots of godstouched creatures in it. Weird dragon sex. You name it. It's gonna probably be a trilogy.

Lead Bodies is what's going on on the human side of the dragonic war, specifically in the warring nation's court. It's court politics and forced relationship, with the mc, Aris, being the royal favorite/obsession. He had kids and a bad case of OCD and runs off with a knight (will not spoiler besides for saying it ends badly). I like this one because it isn't going to be an epic insomuch as the story of the grand battles etc go to Étienne in even fire will burn itself out. For Aris, I am thinking of less of what's the most epic thing happening in the world rn, and more of "why is THIS the part of Aris' life that deserves to be told". There's a fun little incubus-imp critter that he ends up with in there. It should just be a novel. A long novel.

(Man I would love to write a baroque/age of enlightenment/maybe french revolution? inspired story. I have a lot of french and euro art history under my belt so I tend to draw a lot of inspiration from that. But I need to chill with the stories until I FINISH something. Hmm. Plague, philosophers or alchemists, beheadings, powdered faces, maximalism...).

Next is The Lighthouse, which I started publishing then took down when I got serious about FNV, because it's not gonna get written anytime soon even though it's meant to be quite short (50-60k?) and is noncon FREE (?!) and about a pretentious existentialist gay guy who, in a lenin-era-russocommunist world, fucks a siren. Very fun, very much an introspective piece about loneliness and PTSD.

And then we have the siren and under the earth, which are modern era and may or may not ever see the light of day again.

Lastly, modern era, is Booters (working title), that is a novella tragedy pet whump story because I dislike pet whump as a whole and hate bad endings. But! I read a compelling essay by Arthur Miller (after reading death of a salesman) and found the idea that he proposed of a tragedy being great because it shows the tenacity of the human spirit in spite of impossible odds to be quite inspiring. We do live in an era of impossible odds, don't we? So anyway, pet Daisy works at bussy Hooters and had a bad ending. But at least he tried. I want to post an excerpt sometime. It's a novella, maybe short story, only has 3-4 chapters.

I am pretty terrible so I have about 20-60k written for each of these stories, sans Booters, but certainly most of it will get tossed by the time I am ready to get serious about them. Anyway that's the tour of my rough drafts. Don't get too excited (congrats if you read to the end of this) because it'll be ages before they get posted bc I am unfortunately a slow long format author.

[lady-of-endless]

Hello! May I please request a one piece matchup? If you're too busy please feel free to delete! <3

--

BASICS

Name: Mochi

Gender: Female (she/her)

Sexual Orientation: Pansexual (any gender match is ok!)

SIGNS AND TYPES

Zodiac: Libra sun, Libra moon, Leo rising

MBTI: INFP

Enngram: 4; the individualist

Alignment: Chaotic good

House: Slytherin

Love Language (Giving): Physical touch, quality time

Love Language (Receiving): Quality time, gift giving

PERSONALITY

Likes: Video games, reading, drawing, writing, crochet, cross stitch, Sanrio, frogs, mushrooms, cows, coffee, sweets, summertime

Dislikes: Chores (executive dysfunction), cold weather, bitter foods, crowded places, overload of sounds (sensory issue)

Personality: I'm a very quiet person, but I'm also very friendly and bubbly. I love making friends even though I have social anxiety around new people. I'm not the most talkative, though I can hold a conversation: I'm a great listener, at least! I love spending time with my loved ones, especially my special person. I try really hard to make people feel welcome and relaxed when they're around me. Despite being quiet, I'm generally quiet communicative. When it comes to negative feelings it does have to be dragged out of me a bit, but otherwise I'm an open book!

I'm very chill most of the time, and can be very laid back. More a follower personality. I can be a bit cavalier as I deal with everything through (often quite dark) humor, but if I ever make someone genuinely uncomfortable I'm good to stop. I do need to be told peoples feelings directly though as I'm not a good judge of others unless I already know them well. Because of this I don't sus out peoples intentions well and see the best even when maybe it's not there. I'm pretty naive and gullible tbh. If you dig my humor, though, I'm really funny.

I'm very mental health aware. I suffer from anxiety and bipolar II, so I can be a lot. That being said, I'm very observant with those I love and very good at dealing with ups and downs in myself and others. I'm very introspective and always in my head for better and worse. I'm always striving to better myself, but tend to doubt myself and give into negative self talk.

I value my found family above all else. There's nothing I wouldn't do for them and I've been told I'm too loyal. I also value accountability, a growth mindset, and ambition.

Im very indoorsy and a bit of a homebody. That being said, I don't mind being spontaneous from time to time or going out if there's something interesting to do.

I have my moments of insecurity for sure but I'm pretty confident most of the time. Like I said, I'm an open book - I'm not shy to talk about anything with someone who asks and is seemingly well-intentioned! I honestly just have a huge interest in how people think and love picking their brains lol. I also love silly theorheticals for this very reason.

I'm a big softie who unsuccessfully pretends to be a tough guy. I've got a major weakness for cute things and wouldn't hurt a fly in reality. Soft candy with a gooey centre fr.

APPEARANCE

Hair: I have shoulder-length very dark brown wavy hair with a side part and grown out fringe. My hair is plain but it's soft!

Eyes: I have beautiful, big chocolate brown eyes with long lashes. They're one of my favourite parts of myself!

Body: I have olive skin, a pear figure, and am overweight. I have about 7 smallish tattoos, and piercings in my lips, ears, and nose.

Style: usually I'm very hobo-chic with all sweats but my preferred style is either full alt or cute pink dresses and bows.

--

Tysm for your time! Don't hesitate to message me if you have any questions!

Author's Note: Thank you so much for this request and how detailed and well structured it is! It made my work really enjoyable. As a side note, you seem such a nice person. Hope you'll enjoy it! 🌹

I ship you with...Trafalgar D Water Law!

(lovely gif is not mine, please show appreciation to the OP)

- Your chill and laid-back way of being is what naturally draws him to you. Afterwards, your bubbly side is what keeps him close, all whipped and annoyed.

- He hates to admit that you are exactly what he needed.

- You both seem loyal, mature and ambitious. Once he discovers those traits in you, he decides that he wants you close. An ally, maybe. That's what he sees in you initially.

- A softer demeanor is what Law needs to heal from his past. You being a softie is what will keep him getting better. Is also a side of you that he wants to keep as a secret, not wanting others to try to use it as manipulation.

- Being introspective is a mutual trait so at times, it will be a little complicated for you to figure out and communicate what's happening between you two.

- He's the first to notice that you're feeling anxious. Maybe because he's a doctor or maybe because he worries for you, who knows? (Hint: It's both.)

- The innocent gullibility you mentioned is something that triggers Law to take care of you. And also to tease you, good luck.

- Soft hair? Lay next to him as he's studying and let him run his fingers through your hair while he's reading.

- A cute scenario? You two would have late night convos about tattoos and piercings. Both being half asleep, talking about what other tattoos or piercings you want/consider cool.

- About your style, I think you two would make a great power couple when you go for the alternative aesthetic. If you go for the cute pink aesthetic, there's something about it that makes him whipped.

[lumen8s]

100 days of productivity

12.03.2024

day 2/100

Okay, so I am definitely not yet in the habit of logging what I do.

I have most definitely done productive things since I made my last post but I can't really be fucked to back track so we are just going to start from where we are at lmao.

today I.....

✿ went to work

this is the biggest thing I did today, I work in fine dining and tend to be there for most of my day / night so didn't have as much time to myself today as I usually would. However, work was very productive! I got a lot of little things done that had been missed recently, and had a nice conversation with one of the chefs about going with her if she starts her own restaurant

✿ got home and made dinner

the urge to buy food out is STRONGGGGGG but I am trying really hard to save money soooo I made a nice soup and some sweet potato gnocchi I cooked in brown butter to go in it. I love love love cooking so it was nice to get home and still have the energy to do that.

✿ unloaded the dishwasher

well..... mostly. I need to actually go finish that up after I finish up here but something that helps me when I am tired but still trying to get things done is do things on a timed rotation, so right now I'm writing this for ten minutes, but in the next ten minutes I'm gonna go finish up the dishwasher, maybe even load it.

✿ picked out some books to read!!!

I really used to love reading but have gotten out of the habit, I really want to make it a priority to read more, and read a variety of things. I love fantasy but it isn't always the mental challenge that I want to give myself. And I want to read books that help me be more introspective and in touch with myself. Anyways!! Here are the books I checked out from the library.

Sooo below the cut is my little tbr for this month ig!!

-How to write about music

I'm really excited about this one and have actually already started it, I love to write and even though I have only read the forward so far I really think I am going to enjoy this book.

-The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee

I am looking forward to reading this one! Although I could only check it out for 7 days, and I am thinking it might be a little heavy for me emotionally to rush through. I guess we will see

-Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

this one has been recommended to me a BUNCH , and I have tried to read it like three times, and always lost momentum. I am DETERMINED to finish it this time.

-When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

-The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz

-12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson

I know there are a lot of "self-help" type stuff in this list, but I am kind of on a journey to figure out my personal beliefs. I was in such a bad place for such a long time. Now that I am trying to pull myself out of it, I find myself wanting to read how others feel about the "best" way to live. So then I can decide for myself if I agree.

-Worthy by Jamie Kern Lima

-How to Talk to Anyone by Leil Lowndes

-The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

-The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

-Becoming Supernatural by Dr. Joe Dispenza

Anyways thats the list!!! I am hoping to make a post with some of my thoughts for each of them.

[autumnslance]

Fic Writer Interview

Tagged by @sheepwithspecs technically on my main but this is where fanfic goes. Do this if you wanna!

How many works do you have on AO3?

47 as of 2/6/24. There's a few things I need to get around to adding there though.

What’s your total AO3 word count?

411,290 as of 2/6/24

What are your top 5 fics by kudos

Downtime (compilation of younger Scions & other teen chars being pals in Norvrandt) Unexpected (compilation of shippy nonsense) A Constant Distant Thunder (Thancred in ARR patches post-Lahabrea) Ruminations (General Warrior of Light introspections & adventures) Rogue's Prelude (My headcanons on Thancred meeting Louisoix, Papalymo, and Yda)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I usually do! I often try to. So my comment count is almost, not quite though, doubled.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Hrm; I tend to do a lot of bittersweet endings. We'll keep it simple and say "Never Gets Easier", a fic where Edmont and Charlemend talk about their lost sons. There's no sweetness there, just men haunted by mistakes and losses.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Maybe "When Everything Changes" which is kid fic from the POV of my WoL's older brother when she's born and his ambivalence turns to big brother joy and love.

Do you write crossovers?

Haven't yet.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not that I recall.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Occasionally. Usually pretty vanilla. It's all right, I guess.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Had an OC's backstory on our WoW RP server's fic blogging site lifted wholesale; they changed the names and class, and then…walked into our weekly guild meeting that I was leading and tried to join our guild. When confronted, the person claimed their partner had leveled the character for them and based the backstory on Skyrim (my OC's story is very specific to WoW). They tried to message me later as if we were pals who would laugh this off someday. I informed them that was not a thing and btw the site mods knew they were a plagiarist now. Also everyone knew who their alts were and a bunch of other trouble they'd caused. So far as I know, they bailed from our server after that.

I hoped they learned better and grew up quite a bit; this was well over a decade ago.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Once or twice now; so long as folks credit and link back to my originals, and share the translated link with me, it's all good!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Roleplay and actual story collaboration both. It's a lot of fun.

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

How dare you.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

*stares at WIP folder*

Come back with a warrant.

(I won't say never, but there's a lot that probably are just noodling and scraps to feed something else later)

What are your writing strengths?

Folks seem to like my dialogue.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Impatience, and certain grammatical abuses that do nothing for length nor clarity.

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

Depends on the fic. Depends on the intended audience.

For dialects, mostly the concern is "don't overdo it" as it can slow things down, be really jarring at best and offensive at worst, and difficult to understand if laying it on too thick.

Other languages entirely have different guidelines though, from sprinkling in single words or short phrases, to entire passages, and whether or not you translate or leave it up to the reader. Depends on fandom, on the characters, on the story, author intentions.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Narnia, in a my little girl diary as a pre-teen. I wanted to pick up Susan's story as a grown up and bring her and family back to a magical land. Cuz I knew it could, would happen someday, even if Lewis never got to write it himself.

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

Final Fantasy XVI. Midst. The latter is tricky as I really don't have ideas at the moment, but really want to dig into that vibe. My writing needs to be more weird in general, really.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

How dare you, come back with a warrant!

[karliahs]

💻🤔✨- for your fic ask game!

from this - thank you!!

💻 Do you do research for your fics? What’s the deepest dive you’ve done?

i'm not a huge researcher but i do little bits here and there...most recently for a soft place to land i did some research about japanese customs and also some about child development to check that my sense of what 7 year olds are like was semi-accurate...and that did then lead to me reading a whole book about parenting, but at that point it crossed over from being fic research to just me remembering that i find kids and parenting fascinating

🤔 What is the hardest part of writing fic?

insecurity/the mean bad faith reader who exists in my head. this is the hardest part because it makes everything else harder - fixing problems i've noticed in my work, taking risks/going out of my comfort zone, just taking time to write in general because i have this weird fear that if i go work on something i'll suddenly realise it's irredeemably bad. shame is not conducive to making stuff

i'm also profoundly conflict-averse and fear discourse, and that does definitely affect what i'm willing to post and therefore work on. although i do think the level of bad faith reading i bring to my own work is probably a lot worse than what would happen in reality (and also even if people are doing that, they have almost never felt the need to tell me about it, so it shouldn't really be an issue)

i'm a lot better about this than i used to be!! but it's the biggest roadblock for sure

✨ Choose three adjectives to compliment your own writing.

introspective

this is a thing i did not really realise until people mentioned it in comments, but yeah i do tend to find the most interesting thing about a scenario to be how people are thinking and feeling about it, and my main goal with a piece is often to get across a vivid sense of what it would feel like to be that person in that moment.

this is also why when i've played around with a more distant 3rd person perspective, it hasn't really worked for me. gotta be right up in someone's head

2. grounded

i am truly just cribbing from comments with all of these...this is another thing people pointed out and i'm like yeah! even when i write tropes like bodyswap or de-aging, i tend to take a sort of grounded perspective on it that i really enjoy (even though i also love the wild & zany takes that are more common with those tropes)

there's an interplay of fantasy and realism in hurt/comfort fics in general which i could ramble on about for ages, and i think i'm pretty good at couching fantasies of comfort that are common to a lot of people in a kind of semi-realism that lets you really feel it.

3. succinct

it took me infinitely too long to think of a word that means short but in a good way 😂 i would not say no to suddenly gaining the ability to write 200k plotty epics, but i realised recently that i enjoy reading oneshots and shorter fics more than i do longfic, and i really admire when other writers achieve a lot in a short word count...so it seems kind of silly to deny myself that praise just because it's me, especially when nice people in comments keep telling me it's true

ignore the fact that my current project is 30,000 words of domestic softness. this is an anomaly and should not be counted