#i ended up rereading it basically from start to finish which was really fun

[aster-wright-writes]

I'm going to do it anyway

Okay, so I'm going to give a review of each of the series in Dawn of X (including HOX and POX)

House of X: Six issues long. 8/10: Fantastic. It starts the new status quo with a bang. That first issue alone is incredible; the reveal with Moira is super exciting and recontextualizes a lot. It's a fantastic start to the new era.

Powers of x: Six issues long 6.5/10: It was really interesting, but paired with HOX, it kind of ruined the momentum for me. I thought it was a cool writing choice to have us see where the series begins and ends, but personally, I just enjoyed HOX more. I might enjoy it as a reread once I finish all of Krakow, but for right now, it is just good.

X-men: 11 issues long, 8/10: This is the flagship series, and it does its job well. It works as sort of an anthology, where many of the issues are self-contained but introduce some of the concepts that will be found in the era. (I.E., the summoner, orchis, the vault. and most importantly Arrako) overall a good display of characters and their relationships while also showing some idea of what to expect for the era.

New Mutants: 12 issues long, 3/10: one of my big hot takes of the list. I really did not like New Mutants that much; according to one of my friends, I would need to wait until Vita Ayala takes the wheel, but for now, I just couldn't get into it. This is likely because I don't know any of these characters apart from Magik, but even then, if this is supposed to be your introduction to the characters, you should work to make them interesting. full disclosure I ended up not finishing this series so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

X-force: 12 Issues long, 7.5/10: the mutant CIA? What could go wrong? This is a pretty good series; it uses the concepts of resurrection brought up in HOX in exciting ways and proves that just because Jonathan Hickman has introduced basically immortality, that doesn't mean he has erased the stakes. One of the reasons I love this series is how they handled Domino's trauma. They handled it incredibly well, and I respect their nuanced approach.

Fallen Angels: 6 issues long, 7/10: I only hear a little about this series, which is weird because I liked it a lot. The gritty art style was fantastic, and the story was super interesting. Seeing Kwannon's character and personality in action was fascinating, and seeing her go up against an enemy like this one was so cool. I just really wish we got more of it.

Excalibur: 12 issues long, 10/10: Genuinly fantastic. my favorite series out of the run HOLY SHIT. so I have met Tini Howard the author at 2 seperate cons and she has been so nice to me both times, so not only is she a fantastic writer but fantastic person as well. okay onto the book. it's like if X-men became a fantasy novel (even more than it already is) it takes place in otherworld (essentially Camelot. and deals with Betsy Braddock the new captain Britain ballence her loyalty to krakoa, otherworld, and Britain. it also has an absolutly stacked team with apocalypse now working with the hero's, the ever fun jubilee, and one of my favorite mutant power couples Rouge and Gambit.

Marauders: 12 issues long, 9/10: it's mutant pirates; what more could you want. My second favorite series is Dawn of X, about Kate Pryde traveling around the world with her crew and rescuing mutants from foreign governments. Not only is this one of the funniest series, but the downtime we see between the crew is also charming. It has an entertaining team, and we also get to know how the Hellfire Club is running now that it has rebranded; with the Hellfire Club comes one of my favorite mutants ever... emma frost; if frost is what you want, then a double helping of iceman and Emma should keep you fed for days. Now, it's not all fun and games; there is a specific moment in these issues that will make you super emotional, I won't spoil it, but the moment is super well done, and its ripple effects through the following matters are great to read,

Wolverine: Five issues long, 6/10: Another hot take. So, I love Wolverine. I've loved him for a while, and the fact that he is my type doesn't hurt at all. However, I also think he works best when he is on a team. and while he did have people to bounce off of in this series, I think I overall preferred it when he was on a team and working with people when it's just him it kinda feels very serious all the time. Still, he can let loose a bit when he's with others. The second story arc, with Wolverine fighting the vampires, was awesome, though.

Hellions: 4 issues long. 7/10: so this is just the beginning of the series, but I am only counting the problems in Dawn of X. First, I love the concept of villains on a team willing to get their hands dirty. Second of all, I love seeing a catty Mr. Sinister. He quickly became a standout, and I might cosplay him eventually. This also reintroduces one of my favorite lesser-known characters. Madalyn before the goblin queen. Her interactions with Alex Summers were exciting, and I loved seeing her again. Also, Psylocke having to act as the parent of a collection of homicidal killers was fun to see.

Cable: Four issues long, 5/10: It had some fascinating concepts, especially with kid cables' relationship to old cable and those who knew old cable, but overall, it was not my favorite. The Space Knights were excellent, and how they were confronted was interesting. Their use of time travel was terrific, but overall, it was just not my favorite.

X-factor: 2 issues long, 7/10: it's an X-Men mystery solvers group. Basically, if you die outside of the walls of Krakoa, X-factor will come and find your body so you can be brought back. It's fun, and the team is filled with characters you don't see often, like Eye Boy and Daken. It's good. I just can't talk about it too much with how few issues there are in Dawn of X

empyre x-men: 4 issues long. 3/10: I was curious if I should count this since it's part of a crossover event, but it's in the Dawn of X collection trades, so I might as well. So this had some exciting concepts, such as the Scarlet Witch trying to redeem herself, mutants vs mutant zombies vs plant aliens. But overall, it could have been better. I didn't read any of the connecting crossovers; I needed clarification.

X of Swords: 22 issues, 10/10: the culmination of all the storylines so far, genuinely fantastic. What starts out as an X-Men tournament arc turns into so much more. We learn more about the history of Arrako and the apocalypse's connection to it. Satyreene is stunning and a fantastic villain. Everyone getting their swords. And once the battle actually began the rounds. How different they were and how cool they were. If I have any complaints, they are: 1. I would have liked to see some of the fights described, mainly in the fashion show, but many others sounded cool. 2. I wish the battle between Storm and Death lasted longer. 3 I think that as a promo or special edition, they should have allowed you to buy your own Xmen tarot deck, But hey, if my main complaint for a 22-issue crossover is that I wish there was more content, then you know you did a pretty good job. (also, speaking of Storm, the issue where she gets her sword might be my favorite issue in the entire crossover, which is saying something because it's incredible.) also, I got Tini Howard to sign my copy of the collection, which is fantastic.

I know the krakoa era is over but would y’all like to hear my review of each series in dawn of x, I’m finally finishing it tonight and I have some thoughts.

[theseance444]

// I know it's technically bad etiquette or whatever on tumblr.com but it's hot take time

I love when other ppl like my rp threads. Like, you mean more than me and one other person reads our little stories? These scenes exist in more than just our minds?? Our words are not only being perceived but also enjoyed???

Fucking wild, I love it

[rifter-pride]

i've been digging thru old backed up writing and found some scrapped lore i never finished but still kinda like so i'm gonna do the impossible

tidy it up and finish it

[facewithoutheart]

Five plus One, fic recs

A post is going around about fics you consider classics in the Snowbaz fandom. I’d like to take it a step further by asking …

What are five fics you consider your inspiration/influences for writing, plus one of your fics which you think best represents what you want to bring to the fandom?

5. Hang the Moon by @captain-aralias

@captain-aralias is, to me, the snowbaz fandom fic writer of our time. Her commitment to detail, to nailing Rainbow’s voice, while infusing every fic with a heart and purpose that will leave you changed. Every fic of hers is chef’s-kiss-perfection but I’m highlighting Hang the Moon specifically as a fic I often think about (Baz, wet tennis clothes, helping Simon fight the merwolves), and a fic that was my introduction to what fanfics could be/do. I think I finished this fic and just stared at the wall for an hour because I was just like, oh. Oh.

4. The Pitch by basic-bathsheba

Local Hero is one of my favorite fanfics but I wanted to highlight this fic because it’s just such a powerful and understated story. It’s love in the details. This Simon is the model for all of my Simon’s, just a complete simp for Baz haha but also a man who is comfortable and confident being the man who loves Baz even if he doesn’t get to claim it publicly.

3. Stay Up With Me by @sharkmartini

Not sure what to say about this that hasn’t been said a million times. It’ll break your heart; it’ll put you back together. The concept is brilliant and the exploration of two Simon’s will definitely put your emotions through a wringer. Time travel/what-if fics will always grab my attention but this one in particular makes the same case Rainbow posed in Carry On: what if the villain isn’t the villain? And takes it a step further, because Simon realizes he could be the villain, too. Absolutely beautiful.

2. Can’t Find My Way Home by @carryonsimoncarryonbaz

This is one of those fics that just has so much heart and sweetness. I love a good second chance AU, and this one has such Hallmark vibes in the best way. I just love the slow burn of it, and the amazing ending. A perfect holiday fic to snuggle up with. Reading this feels like being cozy up by the fire with someone you love. Actually writing this makes me wanna reread this so much; now that I live with actual Fall I wanna feel cozy like this again.

1. Basil Pitch’s Diary by @bookish-bogwitch

I know it’s a bit weird to rec a WIP as an influence, especially one that’s being written as we speak, but working with/beta-ing Em’s works have made me a sharper, smarter writer. I know this fic is a classic in the works and it’s something I think about on a weekly basis. The Baz Em gives us, to me, feels like canon Baz taken to the next level. What if Baz was the villain … but only to himself? Em’s writing really is just economical in the best way; every line hits, every paragraph teaches me something. And then the heart. It’s genuinely so hard to do what she does and I’m so lucky to get to see her work in realtime.

+1 This Will All Go Down In Flames

I think, at the end of my fandom career, I want this to be the snowbaz fic people associate with me (Spadey being a close second hahaha). But I do feel like it’s got a lot of fandom in-jokes, humor, and sweetness, plus the fun high-stakes of them being in the spotlight. I got to celebrate the Austin I love and miss, as well as poke fun at my own hipster upbringing. I put a lot of Me™ in this fic and it always feels so lovely when people like it. Besides, I got to work with the amazing @tea-brigade and their art just takes this fic to the next level. A dream collab.

(Throwing in the caveat that I started reading long before I got an ao3 account so it’s very likely I’ve missed some amazing fics from before 2021; I’m so sorry!)

Tagging everyone listed above and six more peeps to start: @cutestkilla, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @larkral, @ileadacharmedlife, @thewholelemon & @aristocratic-otter

[crescencestudio]

๋࣭⭑ Devlog #42 | 6.25.24 ๋࣭⭑

tis the season of Kayn

HAPPY SUMMER!!

Hope you're all doing well and keeping cool <3 I know for me it's started getting to.... the Hot Season. To celebrate the start of Hot Girl Summer (and the beta route going live), I of course had to draw the hottest girl, Kayn.

we must stay cool brothers

Now that we've paid respect to The Hot Girl, let's get into the devlog!

Writing has been fun this month. A lot of it has been dedicated to Etza edits and writing Kuna'a's route. We're getting to about the halfway mark with Etza edits, so we are definitely chugging along!

Sneaky peeky of a recent edit

For Kuna'a's route, I said I wanted to have his first draft complete or almost complete by the next devlog, and I'm VERY PLEASED AND PROUD to say their first draft is In Fact almost complete! This is, of course, the very, very first draft so I'll be going back in to flesh some scenes out here and there and rizz him up even more. But I'm happy with the fact that at least the very base draft is done ^^

This month, I did quite a bit of drawing actually! I finished rendering two of Kayn's CGs, meaning 8 out of their total 9 CGs are finished YYYEEEAAAHHHH!!!!!

it feels so good to see the ending cg titles ouuggHHHH

Because Fenir's beta will be going out soon, I wanted to make some headway on his CGs. This month, I ended up finishing 3 of his CGs and sketching two. I'd really like to get 5-6 of his CGs finished so that it's a similar amount to Kayn's beta, so here's to praying!

baby girl

I also finished Senja's (they/he) sprite and base expressions. His outfit was designed by very talented bestie @saffein-e so please thank them for doing god's work o7

Finally, this past month we worked mostly on Kayn's beta route and getting Fenir's beta route ready for Patreon access!

If you'd like to try out Kayn's beta, you can get access to it if you subscribe to my Patreon (tier Hydra). Beta access to Kayn's route will close as soon as Fenir's beta goes up which will be early July, so if you want to experience Kayn's beta, definitely make sure you subscribe before it ends!

Player feedback for Kayn's route so far has been really positive, which has been a relief, especially since Kayn's route is the first one I wrote so is arguably the roughest (I have a big soft spot for it and like it, but I'm obviously Biased). So I hope you're all looking forward to it!! <4

beta feedback: so real

I also have started the voice acting sessions for the characters, which is EXTREMELY EXCITING!! That's the last asset I need basically, so the fact we have finally entered a stage where we can start recording is crazy. Our current session is for Kayn's route, but in the coming months we'll be moving to the next routes similar to how beta-testing is going :')

Aside from Kayn's route, I've also been working on coding Fenir's beta route. Rereading his script and he's... a cutie, I'll admit. So I hope the Fenir fans are excited for his route to enter the beta phase!

LET'S.......... GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Last thing, but I also ran a poll on Alaris's release, basically asking whether you all would prefer a full or segmented release. The results were basically 50/50 LMFAO and that's the vibe I've been getting in general. So while I don't want to solidify anything yet, just let it be known that Alaris may end up having a segmented release, where the first four Central routes are released first, and the Fae routes a bit later. I'll see how I start feeling as the year goes on and where Alaris stands, but thank you all for the support and understanding for the poll <3

I was pretty busy this month, so I didn't have too much time to do market research :cries:

But............

I did see the new Haikyuu movie..................... And I am the biggest Haikyuu fan. Quite literally if you want to know everything about who I am as a person and creator, watch Haikyuu and you will understand who I am to my deepest depths.

obviously I had to draw baby

But aside from that, I want to give one last shoutout to our Hot Girl Summer cross-promo! If there are any games you haven't tried out in this little set, I highly recommend giving at least 1 or 2 of them a peek! All of the games are so charming and have some similarity to Alaris, whether it's a personality mechanic, hot Fae, or a fantasy/ adventure story :')

Links to each game can be found on the Alaris Game page under the magic and mystery otome section!

I'm pretty happy with the progress we made this month. While there's still a lot to do, it's satisfying to see Alaris come more and more to life with each month. See you all next month with hopefully more exciting progress!

[roomwithanopenfire]

Six Sentence Sunday

Happy Sunday everyone!! Thanks for the tags @blackberrysummerblog and @artsyunderstudy!!

This week I’ve done the big three: writing, editing, and ignoring my wips, with perhaps a bit more of the last one than I’d like. Most of my writing this week has been for an exchange fic for a different fandom, which I finally finished the rough draft of. Cue the celebration. However, even if I wanted to share anything from that, I can’t, it must remain hush-hush, but I am getting pretty excited to share it (and way more excited about receiving my own exchange fic back, this whole thing is very fun).

I’ve written less than 300 words on my COBB this week, and none of them are good, but I have gotten some editing done of Proof of Life. I can’t share any more snippets of the next chapter though because I’ve shared too much already. So instead, I figured I’d do a bit of a process post this time around, because I always love reading those. Check that out under the cut! (and i'm sorry this is long, i still have not learned brevity)

So my editing process isn’t too crazy, and is brought to you almost entirely by google docs comments. I also use the word ‘editing’ very loosely to encompass rewriting, revising, and proofreading. Sometimes editing means completely rewriting a scene/section, sometimes it just means switching around a couple of words or cleaning up a sentence. 

Mostly, I try not to take everything so seriously, because I know that I could edit something forever and ever and never post it if I let myself get too carried away. So I try to keep everything pretty chill. So here’s my steps I go through for each chapter that I edit. 

Step One: Reread the whole chapter. While I do this, I’ll leave comments on big picture things. “Maybe move this scene into the next chapter” or “The dialogue in this scene feels stilted” but I don’t add a lot of comments at this point. Once I’m done with this I’ll copy over any comments I had on the first draft or the beta reader copy over into the ‘draft two’ document. 

Step Two: COMMENTS. Again, my fics are brought to you by google doc comments. I like to go through from the bottom up, reading scene by scene and leaving comments on pretty much every single sentence. 

A lot of the time (read: most of the time) these are really vague like:

And sometimes these are more detailed like:

And occasionally these are compliments

Step Three: Once the whole chapter is filled with comments, I go through scene by scene (in whatever order speaks to me), and rewrite, edit, or fix sections. This part I find really fun, because I’m taking parts that aren’t good yet and I’m making them better. I love fixing things and getting rid of all the comments. It typically ends up being a lot of  rewriting, but I always finish a scene feeling better about it then when I started.

For example, here’s the draft one vs. draft two version of a snippet from the first chapter of Proof of Life. This is one of the scenes I pretty much rewrote. Others look a lot more similar to their original versions.

Original:

Edited:

Step Four: Then before I post a chapter, I’ll read through the whole thing and sometimes find smaller bits to fix. Then I’ll run it through a grammar checker and ignore half of their suggestions in the name of ✨style ✨.

Overall, I feel like I have a pretty basic editing strategy and I’m really pleased with it. Even though sometimes I feel like more robust edits would make everything way better, it’s a good mix of fixing things but not spending too much time on it. I remember I spent like a month on editing the very first fic I posted at that was only 6k words. If I kept doing that for everything, I'd never post anything at all. With fanfiction, I know that y'all will be nice to me even though it's never perfect <333

Tags and Hellos!! (I'm unsure if we still need the spaces, but i've been burned too many times lol)

@you-remind-me-of-the-babe @m1ndwinder @facewithoutheart @run-for-chamo-miles @raenestee

@onepintobean @prettygoododds @noblecorgi @hushed-chorus @angelsfalling16

@thewholelemon @monbons @shrekgogurt @brendughh @hertragedyconnoisseur

@beastmonstertitan @valeffelees @horsesarenotdeer @drowninginships @supercutedinosaurs

@fiend-for-culture @rimeswithpurple @cutestkilla @alexalexinii @ileadacharmedlife

@arthurkko @rbkzz @skeedelvee @bookish-bogwitch @brilla-brilla-estrellita

[bonesandthebees]

Sorry if you’ve already answered this but but do you plan to continue writing anything mcyt after ready set detonate and rose are finished?

well considering I'm already done with ready set detonate yes I definitely plan on continuing to write mcyt after that considering I'll still have rose. as far as once I reach the end of that though is a bit more of a difficult question

I want to keep writing mcyt. I really do. I actually have a lot of ideas for one shots in the ready set detonate universe that I already want to start writing. but as I'm sure you guys have noticed I'm not as fast at updates as I used to be. this is largely because I'm a lot busier these days, but also it's a lot harder for me to feel the same motivation I used to feel for writing. once I have ideas for fics usually I'm pretty good about writing them, but it's coming up with those ideas that's been difficult.

I think you guys can guess where at least some of my struggles are coming from. not a lot of people want to read stuff about c!wilbur these days. I'm continuing rose because I love the story and for myself personally, I have no issues with separating the character in my head. but I feel weird about writing anything new with him as a central character just because I know a majority of the remaining fanbase doesn't feel the same way. of course i have qsmp which is really fun, but my one true love will always be dsmp. but it's difficult to find ideas for stories that don't center around c!wilbur or at least c!crimeboys or c!tntduo.

so basically, the answer is I hope I keep writing mcyt after I finish rose but I don't know how long it'll be until my idea well dries up for good. I might end up finishing some abandoned wips of mine just for the sake of closure even if they do center on c!wilbur (I reread what I had of tinfoil summer recently and got such a nostalgia trip) and I might write some more in universe one shots for other large fics of mine (thanks to rereading world forgetting recently) but those are kind of my only ideas at the moment. I have a lot of qsmp ideas too but it's difficult to find the drive for them, but hopefully I'll be able to find it because I have some really fun wips in that folder

I am also trying to drift more into writing for hotd since I do love that show and have several very fun ideas for fics, but I've found it way more difficult to come up with ideas for that fandom compared to mcyt.

sorry for the wall of text but if you've been following me a while you guys know i'm a yapper. basically, it's a complicated answer. I want to but we'll have to see where my creative drive takes me

[f0point5]

Toto is in a pretty hard situation. Next year is way to early for Kimi to go to merc. He is fast and talented that is not a question but he is young and he makes mistakes. And thats fine. Thats what feeder series are for, to develop drivers. But he is not given enough time. Making mistakes in f2 is one thing, making them in merc very different. The social media reception after he finished p14 in his first race were quite brutal. That would be way worse in an f1 team. The drivers are also using social media, Im sure he saw the people making fun of him. That cant be helpful long term.

Toto finally noticed that overhypeing an 18yrs old before his f2 debut wasnt really a good idea.

Announcing him while he is p9 in the f2 championship would be a pretty wild move…

https://www.fiaformula2.com/Latest/5oAWBWT5LJNkTvQFdlQBw5/antonelli-on-his-fast-start-to-f2-working-with-oliver-bearman-and-his-title

All he is talking about in this interview is how much he is learning. Which is good. But putting him on f1 testing while he is still learning f2 is an interesting choise. Its great that he is getting testing opportunities but they are really rushing him. And sure it worked out with max but he was one in a million.

Yes Toto doesnt want to lose an other Max level driver, but he could easily be the one to destroy Kimis carrier by rushing him so much.

Sorry rereading this ask I realised that its quite a mess🫣

Tbh, I half agree on Kimi but i think Toto is the biggest problem facing kimi.

While yes, Kimi is p9 in the championship, he is beating his teammate. Yes Ollie missed Saudi so you could argue he could have won or whatever but realistically, there hasn’t been a chasm between their results that would suggest Ollie would be ahead. Kimi is learning very fast for someone who didn’t have the experience of being in f3 at all. I don’t think it’s that crazy to consider giving him a seat.

BUT. Is Toto the TP he needs as a young driver with next to no experience? In my opinion, no. Apart from the fact that Toto doesn’t develop drivers, and is used to dropping them off at the Williams day care and picking them up when they’re ready, or just picking an already finished driver off the market, Toto makes no allowances for the antics that young drivers come with. Even in 2016 he made no allowances for Max, who wasn’t even HIS driver, to be “getting in the way”. He doesn’t like his drivers complaining or inventing. He doesn’t seem like a team principal who would have the understanding that yeah, a kid is going to end up in a first lap incident sometimes, he is going to fuck up qualifying. He is going to impede someone, and you are going to have to go to the stewards with him and fight for him, and not hang him out to dry when he does something a bit unorthodox. And I don’t think Toto is that guy.

Max was one in a million but he didn’t get there in his own, he had a Christian, Helmut, GP, and Jos, but largely Christian in a professional sense, fighting for him, letting him make his mistakes, and swallowing those fuck ups as part of the cost of putting a kid in a car. I don’t think Max would be the driver he is if he’d gone through Williams and Merc, I think he would have been encouraged to be more conservative and ultimately not developed in the same way. You would rather go over the limit and then come back, than never reach the limit.

I don’t see Kimi reaching his potential if he is under Toto from the beginning. And for that reason I don’t see Merc in 2025 being the best idea for him.

That being said, if Merc weren’t who Merc are, taking 2025 as basically live testing for him before the new regs come in is not a bad idea. If watching F2 this year has taught me one thing, it’s that those races will not adequately prepare you for driving in F1 in terms of speed, strategy, awareness, or a long calendar. A burner year to experience that where no one is expecting much from you in a midfield car is the best gift that could be given to Kimi. But coming from Merc, I don’t know how it will go for him.

As for the social media aspect, all you can hope is that Kimi has a good team around him and that he is consuming as little of it as possible. The way he always focuses on the learning says he is taking the right approach to it so far, but only time will tell. I do think there is a twisted positive in the amount of eyes on him, because most of these guys have no clue the amount of scrutiny they will get once they get to f1 and it’s a baptism of fire. As harsh as it sounds, Kimi being eased into it might not be the worst thing. Especially considering he is already associated with such a high profile team.

[verbenaa]

for the fic asks: 2, 19, 29, 37, 40, 47, 57, 59! 🫂❤️

ahhhh tysm my friend 🥹🫂💕

(answering from this set of questions here)

2. do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go? I already answered this question here, but the short answer is both, haha 😅. I am a very chaotic writer.

I will say though, the farther I get into writing to eden, the more I have planned for each chapter moving forward. In the beginning I had very little plans for the story and more of a vague idea, which gave me a lot of room to figure out exactly what I wanted to story to be and now I have a much clearer trajectory of where I am taking things. But even knowing that, I still technically only have a basic outline set up for the next 5 chapters or so (which puts us post-confession near the end of act 2)! Once I post the confession chapter, I definitely need to sit down and think about how to move towards act 3 for sure (though I've definitely already been thinking about it in my mind) 😅🫡

19. what is the most used tag on your ao3? I think it is a 3-way tie between 'Porn with Feelings', 'Soft Dom Astarion', and 'PWP' hahaha

29. what's your revision or editing process like? absolute chaos. Every chapter and fic is different during editing, of course, but I am very much NOT an organized person in any facet of my existence, and this extends to editing✨. I do a lot of rereads, change wording around, change it back, etc. The one thing I do in every WIP though is use the color red to designate something that needs attention, so it serves as a clear visual marker of 'hey something about this word/phrase/paragraph is off and needs a little more TLC'. I also utilize this while writing as a way to say ‘I like this idea but the English is not flowing and I can’t find the exact words’ so I can know to go back to that concept and flesh it out when the English DOES decide to flow again. I also like doing this because it means when I'm done editing, I get to see a word doc without ANY red which is a great feeling!

37. how do you choose where to end a chapter? straight vibes 😎. but honestly I never really know if I'm ending on the right thing, I just attempt to close stuff where it feels like a natural conclusion--like someone leaves, someone has a thought that ends, and so on so forth. (there's lots of leaving tents in to eden, ok? it's a thing.)

40. if someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see? ooooooh certainly something from to eden, but I have no idea what scene? I think I'd be happy with any of them, honestly.

47. how many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting? a million? a billion? it's an infinite number. all I know is that once my eyes start to cross and my head gets fuzzy when I'm reading over it and any obvious mistakes are gone, it's probably time to post.

57. do you prefer editing as you write, or waiting until it's finished? Either, really! I edit when I am having a not-so-great writing day typically so I can feel like I am at least achieving something! But in general, the bulk of my editing does happen at the end. But really it’s whatever suites my brain at that moment.

59. does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? If not, would you tell anyone? Aside from my husband, no! Family members know that I do write though, but I just tell them I am "writing fantasy stories for fun", which seems to appease them. I would probably tell someone I felt close to that UNDERSTOOD it, but I don't actually know anyone IRL who writes/reads fanfic believe it or not.

[batsplat]

Hello Bat!! I love love love reading your thoughts on things, from motogp to terrible 2000s tv shows. You mentionned great Smallville Lex/Clark fic in a recent post, and I was wondering: could you please share? I literally just finished rereading the Astolat's and still hunger for more.

yeah sure!! I'm kinda coasting off my ao3 history here (apparently I spent the entirety of 30/10/22 Having A Moment) so it's like,, a very imperfect list

okay, I'm gonna start with a bunch of seperis fics but I'd genuinely check out... all their stuff. it's just a fun read of the characters!! also there's so much of it and it's a good time to work your way through

A Handful Of Dust 47k words

At the end of the world, Lex can't stop running.

quite a dark and sad fic but I think about it a lot and it really works for me. it's basically a post-apocalyptic fic where the apocalypse is caused by clark being pushed over the edge and succumbing to his god complex. he's hunting down his former friends and allies, including lex. I think this kind of premise can easily be like... edgelord central 'ooh what if the hero were actually the villain', but this one feels true to the characters and their relationship + is very engaging

Advanced Masochism 8.6k words

In which Lex is curious as to why he's become a proxy stalker.

a small series that consists of lex trying to make the whole clark/lana situation work while doing his best to suppress his attraction to clark. lex's internal monologue in this is fun and punchy - though a lot of it is about his age gap to clark, which never like... feels THAT extreme in the show because tom welling *gestures*. but if that element makes you uncomfortable, I'd give this one a skip!

My Usual Lie 4.1k words

He wants to be so much more than that.

ice skating!! kinda melancholic but also idk a little sweet. it's clark spending time with lex after he's already grown up and they've already grown apart and clark misses the way it used to be between the two of them... again also ABOUT the age gap. lex is such a fun kinda slippery presence here, funny and kind but also a little detached

Frantic 9.1k words

In which Clark does not get dinner. And then everything goes downhill.

oh yeah I really enjoy re-reading this one. clark finally is forced to reveal his powers to lex at an inopportune moment, when evil goo is attempting to kill them both. no angst, just bickering

Resident Alien 2.7k words

It's tax season in the Luthor household.

just short and sweet and fun! established relationship, does what it says on the tin, lex is very into taxes. he's also very into clark

Closer to Breathing 8.6k words

Christmas parties at Luthor Manor. Boys sharing thoughts with brandy. And other things.

really lovely read, tender and fun and just kinda... nails a version of lex who is so very good at what he does, who might be loathed but can charm the small town people anyway, and a clark who stands at crossroads between being part of the small town and not liking the feeling of seeing lex play people like HIM (but not him). gets into a lot of the inherent tensions of that relationship!! love lex the outsider

Vix Te Agnovi 36.8k words

Clark gets a late-night call and interesting things happen.

again, age gap-centric warning!! lex asks clark to pick him up from a sex party. very much about the tension between the worldly metropolitan lex and the country boy hick clark, and both of them kinda entering into each other's worlds... lex reckoning how he's changed, clark curious and awkward and frustrated at being treated like a child (which. he very much is)

A Life More Ordinary 4.1k words

It wasn't sudden, and Lex didn't know it was happening until it had. And then he did.

aggressively not ABOUT superman, it's just about lex and clark. about lex and clark being flatmates. soft and gentle and intimate

Two Paths 21.8k words

Everything decided in one breath.

man I WISH there were more of the series. the basic premise is the whole smallville lie falls apart and lex is trusted to like... get clark out of there and hide him. so basically clark becomes his ward!! they live together!! lex needs to be an Adult who Takes Care of clark, but again. conflicted. this is just fun like it's such a funky dynamic that feels like an absolute perfect nightmare for lex specifically

and fics by other authors:

The Olive Branch by tasabian, 3.9k words

It's the holidays...which means Lex Luthor is keeping Superman very busy. But what is Lex's hidden agenda?

lex does crimes to get clark's attention. they're cute idc

When a Strawberry Is Pushed into a Mountain by Thamiris, 33.1k words

Away at college, Clark learns to read between the lines and finds his future there.

college!clark!! a few misunderstandings and tricky emotions that serve as a backdrop for the care clark and lex show for each other... I quite like it when fic doesn't like,, cut out their terrible parents

The Butterfly Effect by The Spike, 11.6k words

Lex can't let this Cassandra thing go.

remember that old prophecy lady from s1? well, what if lex injected himself with something that gave himself the power to see the future too, and was horrified and traumatised by what he saw? feat. clark taking care of him and papa kent playing the role of the homophobic dog

Going Home by mskatej, 5.5k words

Lex has amnesia.

amnesia future fic! clark comes to the rescue a little too late and takes care of lex. warning: the amnesia creates some issues of consent

where the colors are by museaway, 10.3k words

After Clark rescues Lex from Belle Reve, they flee to Canada to start a new life. Although his age and the need for discretion limit his options, Clark does his best to support them. But despite Clark's loyalty, Lex continues to have nightmares of his time in the asylum and worries that one day, Clark will leave him—or that the rescue was entirely in his head.

this scratches a very straightforward itch: the one where clark successfully saves lex in season three and chooses him. kinda nice and comforting even in its melancholy of not being able to return home again... y'know, sometimes you want something exactly like this

light the torch and pass it on by ang3lba3, 19.8k words

Clark starts behaving erratically, and it's up to Lois and Lex to figure out how to fix him. Thankfully, the paper cuts off there. Clark is faint, sweating. He thinks he’s hard. He checks. Yes. Yes, he is. He flips the paper over. In a deep purple ink, almost black, is an unsigned note. I think we can come to a mutually satisfactory conclusion on this matter. “Oh my god,” Clark whispers, thrilled. “He’s blackmailing me.”

lex/clark/lois. clark is having like... a weird alien hormone situation and it means he's weird towards both lex and lois. lex knows clark is superman but they're still very much enemies here, so this is the push that gets them to change their relationship. this one's just fun! sweet, good banter between lex/lois, it's obvious beneath it all how much they care for clark and clark does for them

The Milk and Cookies War by Punk, 6.2k words

Lex Luthor's Penthouse for Wayward Boys.

college!clark shows up at lex's place and makes himself at home. my favourite scene in this one is a brief interlude where lex is bitchy to his father

m2m by rivkat, 2k words

For thefourthvine, prompt: Craigslist. Clark gets curious about all those superhero kink offers.

what it says on the tin. I think you can probably guess who's demanding a superman lookalike. this fic made me laugh

Risk Management by tasabian, 7.3k words

A bad day for Metropolis reunites Clark and Lex.

future fic where lex almost dying sparks the reconciliation. ... I'd also just rec checking out all their fics tbh

The Grope of Destiny by suzvoy, 19.7k words

Clark had no idea how he was going to explain *this* one.

clark and lex are physically stuck together, and it's what prompts the reveal. always satisfying!!

Candy Cane Hearts by tasabian, 4.6k words

A new brand of candy makes Clark unusually mellow; Lex finds it all very confusing. Written for the Under Mistletoe challenge.

another christmas-y fic, another fic where clark acts weird! basically whenever you remove clark's inhibitions, he whisks lex off. just sweet and charming

No Choice by mskatej, 4.3k words

Clark is in heat.

okay. listen. you need to un-repress them, right. again, this is taking license of some weird alien biology. lex's blend of caring about clark so much and also needing him and also feeling weird about it and also being very into the whole alien thing but also kinda freaked by it... the classic dynamic

The Hinge Moment by tasabian, 14.8k words

Superman has a bad day; Lex just happens to be there.

clark kidnaps lex! but like, in a nice way. a lot of these fics don't REALLY engage with canon all that closely, but this is a future fic that definitely does. gives them the chance to actually have some conversations, y'know. some days I don't actually want them to forgive each other easily, but sometimes it's nice to scratch the itch of having slightly older and more mature versions of them figuring out their issues. really well written

I might add some more at some point but I only had the energy to go through a few right now lol and well I imagine you'd rather like them now than in like. three months. also psa: pLEASE feel free to send in smallville fic recs to this account, I'm always happy to receive them

[radishhqueen]

ao3 questions!

thanks @plothooksinc for the tag 🥺💕 i am always psyched to talk about writing.

1. How many works do you have on AO3? Somehow I've reached 10 whole works... 9 of which are completed.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 193,772. Shit I gotta write something to break 200k.

3. What fandoms do you write for? rottmnt pretty exclusively. I never have been so plagued by a media that I felt the need to write it down before. Insane that the ninja turtles got me.

4. Top five fics by kudos?

how to get very good at juggling - 1,079

vigilantism for fun and profit - 410

it's too early for this - 322

the ol switcheroo - 321

stuck between a rock and a hard place - 207

5. Do you respond to comments? Yeah!! At least if there's something to like, reply to. I get very giddy about doing it, so if you've ever received a rambling five paragraph essay from me uhhh enjoy my stream of consciousness.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't think any of them have angsty endings? Mostly bc i need all my little guys to be happy. the ol switcheroo is the fic that I cried the most writing though, hands down.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Again, all happy endings, but HMMMM how to get very good at juggling may be the happiest. It's a hard pick tho.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Nah.

9. Do you write smut? Not that anyone gets to see.

10. Craziest crossover? I've never written one! I tend not to seek them out, though there are definitely a handful I'm very fond of.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not that I'm aware of!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yeah! My friend and I have been co-writing a fic on and off since about 2018. It's just for us, really, since it's basically a post-canon fic of an RP that we were in from like 2009-2013ish? Anyway the lore doesn't make sense but the character dynamics compel me so here we are. I've got some snippets and some drawings for it in #rs tag.

14. All time favourite ship? Not a big shipping person!

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I intended on writing more for hot girl summer, but considering I haven't updated it in about a year, and I never really had a plan in the first place, and I feel like the last posted chapter ended in a very conclusive place, that ship has probably sailed.

16. What are your writing strengths? The Bit. She's my #1, I never forget. My favorite comments are along the lines of "please stop making me laugh during this very sad section". People have different tastes of course, but I find that consistent, oppressive angst is just not...appealing to me, and if the angst goes on for too long, I'll just drop the fic. I like to add a little levity to the mood, or at least some dark humor.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Ough. Planning is a bad one for me. I didn't have an outline for any of my fics, besides some rough mental plans. for the ol switcheroo, I didn't even have an ending figured out when I started writing it. Actually coming up with ideas can be difficult, and I usually need to have something actively eating away at my brain in order for it to make it onto paper.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language? Depends on if the POV character understands it or not. If they don't, I'll usually just write like "Character B said something in Spanish." If they do understand it, I'd write, "Character B started speaking in Spanish. "Do you drink milk?"" Maybe put it in italics if it doesn't seem super clear? The exception would be like, if a character is peppering words from another language, a bit like Leo and Spanish in rottmnt.

19. First fandom you wrote in? Technically I wrote some Pokemon fic back in like 2008. It was OC fic and I could not tell you for the life of me what it was about though.

20. Favourite fic you've written? vigilantism for fun and profit may be the one that I reread the most, though I do reread all the fics in the mean teen fighting machines series. The fic that single-handedly gave me Foot Clan brainrot. Casey Jones isn't even my favorite character in the show as written.

tagging @witchofthemoss @sroloc--elbisivni @crows-murder o/ i would love to see your words

[allwaswell16]

Annual Writing Self-Evaluation

Thanks for tagging me @kingsofeverything !

1. List of works published this year:

Netflix Original

A Deal

Do You See What I See 

Bitter Ends Turn Sweet (series)

All This Time

On That Note

Ace of Hearts

Crush

Daydream

One

Heart Beat 

2. Work you are most proud of (and why):

Probably Bitter Ends Turn Sweet. First of all, just knowing there was a song called Chicago on FITF had me shook. Then, the first time I heard it, it was just such a fanfic that the whole story was just right there in my head as soon as the song was over. And I was like...nah. I'm not gonna write a long kid fic, right? RIGHT?? I've written angst before, but writing about a child made me emotional in a way I've never felt while writing in part because I was writing a disabled child. And for that matter I wrote a trans character into this fic as well. But I wanted to write this in a way that made it clear how deeply loved and celebrated these characters were to their families and the people around them. Maybe I made their characters have it unrealistically easy, but it's what I wanted for them just as I want that for my disabled and trans family and friends in real life.

3. Work you are least proud of (and why):

I wouldn't say I'm not proud of any of them, but the time stamps I wrote for Bitter Ends are just things that didn't fit into the main story. And I feel like there's a reason they didn't, if that makes sense. But I thought it might be fun for anyone who liked the fic to read those bits of it, which is why I published them at all.

4. A favorite excerpt of your writing:

oof I can never find anything. Here's something from Bitter Ends:

Harry shrugged. “Maybe. Gem said it was okay to make mistakes like dancing with the wrong guys.”

Louis nodded, considering. “How about dancing with the right guy?”

Harry’s heart pounded harder, and he wasn’t sure it had anything to do with the dancing. “I don’t know. He didn’t say anything about that.”

He’d now lost Liam amidst the dancers, but it was hard to concentrate on that with Louis this close. Louis’ hand splayed out across his back, keeping him close as the beat slowed. 

They’d both dressed in black. And although Harry’s shirt was filmy with a bit of lace and Louis’ a t-shirt sheer enough to see his tattoos through, they were near enough to one another that Harry couldn’t tell where one fabric ended and another began.

Perhaps he could blame muscle memory on why he lifted his arms and wrapped them around Louis’ shoulders, close enough now to feel Louis’ breath at his neck, cooling his heated skin just there as desire zipped down his spine. 

The bit of scruff still on Louis’ cheeks slid against the bare skin of Harry’s shoulder peeking through where his shirt had slipped down, and Harry was thankful for the volume of the bar blocking out the sound of his moan. The whirl of lights danced across his vision, caught up in this moment with Louis.

5. Share or describe a favorite review you received:

There's this one for Bitter Ends: What a gift!!! What a wonderful, sweet, tear inducing gift of fabulous writing! Every word, every sentence of story building was exquisite. I could do nothing else but read this from start to finish and will reread it again and again. Max was an inspired character, so real and so loved. Thank you for this.

And this one for Ace of Hearts: I had no idea I loved early 19th century pirate stories as much as I do now. I couldn’t leave a comment until I finished reading all the parts. I don’t remember when I started but I did forgot to eat for awhile. I haven’t read a story with so many twists and well written.

And basically every single one for Do You See What I See because they're all the same thing...people yelling at me when they find out the twist hahahaha

6. A time when writing was really, really hard:

No one come for me, but I wouldn't say there's ever a time where it's really hard to do. BUT sometimes it's really hard for me to make time for it.

7. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

I spent YEARS trying to come up with a plot for a Louis/Cillian Murphy fic. Nothing felt right. And then it somehow occurred to me that what I really wanted to write was Louis/Tommy Shelby and once I figured that out the story immediately came to me.

8. How did you grow as a writer this year:

I always like to try my hand at new things, so this year I wrote girl direction for the first time, some new rare pairs, I wrote an advent fic, both my longer fics are kid fics, which is wild to me lol.

9. How do you hope to grow next year:

Whoops. Had to come back and add this in. I just hope to find more time to write and keep finding more challenges for myself.

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

If you looked through my author's notes this year, you'd definitely notice how often I thanked @nouies I couldn't have done half of what I did this year without Lou. Her encouragement and making fic posts and reading things over for me helped me enormously. To have someone supporting and keeping me going was just everything. And always @louandhazaf for betaing my fics and always being excited to read whatever new thing I've come up with to write! Thank you x a million, Nic!

11. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

lol yes. hmmm where to start...Bitter Ends has a lot of my son and the things my family likes to do in Chicago in it. Do You See What I See is based on a FB ad I saw that I found hysterically funny and also based on the animals that run around in the wooded ravine behind my house. Daydream takes place in a coffee shop that I like to go to. And Heart Beat takes place in a fictional version of my hometown, has a fictional version of my cat in it, and has a plot inspired by me spending a lot of time in a converted cathedral listening to my son play the drums.

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

I think I say the same thing every year...READ!!! It's important of course to make time for the actual writing. And writing as much as possible if your goal is to become better at it, but analyzing other people's writing is how a lot of people grow as a writer. What is it about your favorite novels/fics that you love? Read or reread them with a critical eye at what exactly the writer is doing so you can try it out in your own writing.

13. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

I (think??? lol) I'm only signed up to write for @1dalphalouisfest but I'll probably sign up for @1domegaverseficfest too. And obviously I'll write for my own fest @louisrarepairfest I have this soulmates fic that I've been simmering in my brain for a while and I just recently started to figure a few things out for it. So it may or may not fit into one of those fests.

14. Tag three writers whose answers you’d like to read. ;)

@jacaranda-bloom @nouies @lululawrence and anyone else who wants to do this just say I tagged you!

*All answers should be about works published in 2023

Past years: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 , 2021 , 2022

[sroloc--elbisivni]

questions for ao3 writers

tagged by @secretlystephaniebrown and @radishhqueen! thanks!

i will tag @bobtheacorn @kithnkin @spectralsleuth @decepti-thots @desdemonafictional, and if you see this and want to please consider yourself tagged!

1. how many works do you have on ao3? 108!

2. what's your total ao3 word count? 895,129. (I started the year with vague hopes of hitting a million words--we'll see where I end up after finishing current major non-fic project.)

3. what fandoms do you write for? right now, I've got active WIP docs open for rottmnt, transformers, usagi yojimbo, and one piece.

4. top 5 fics by kudos? Deaged Batgirls, tried to raise you right, Universe Collision, words that it was forming, and Intelligence, or vision, or the truth.

5. do you respond to comments? I try to! Especially if I have something to say more than just 'thanks.' I love talking about my fics.

6. fic you wrote with the angstiest ending: Any way you go you lose, which was specifically written as a bad ending for a different fic.

7. fic you wrote with the happiest ending: Mmh. I write a lot of happy endings, but I think the most uncomplicated/least bittersweet one is probably Heart's still beating, guess I'm pretty lucky.

8. do you get hate on fics? almost never, fortunately!

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind? yes, trending towards kinky.

10. do you write crossovers? sometimes! arguably all the turtles/UY fic I've written is a crossover, though I don't think of them that way because it's usually about blending the canons rather than crashing them into each other.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen? not to my knowledge

12. have you ever had a fic translated? I've had requests, but nothing completed!

13. have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes! A few different ways--written bouncing back and forth, trading off scenes, each person taking one half of a story, each person taking a scene that fits in a larger narrative. it can be really fun.

14. all-time favorite ship? ooooooooough um. hm. hard to say. i've got the most words written for leo/usagi, so i'll go with that even though drifting out of turtles fandom has kind of taken a hard turn into absolute disinterest for me.

15. what's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? hahaha uh. let's say The Days That Follow, which was part of what i consider my first 'real' major fic project, for Young Justice. maybe if i ever get around to watching the post s2 stuff i'll come back to it.

16. writing strengths: I'm good at worldbuilding and I'd like to think that extends to detail and description/immersion in general

17. writing weaknesses: i basically never edit on a macro level and i think i tend towards glibness in a way that leaves holes behind the main action.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? i used to, and stick the translations in the end notes! and now i probably wouldn't--I'd either indicate the language via dialogue or have the narrator say they don't understand. my priority has become making sure the reader understands.

19. first fandom you wrote for: there's a very old percy jackson oc fic somewhere in the depths of my hard drive from when i was like. 12.

20. favorite fic of yours: i recently reread 'Fathomless' and I'm still so fucking happy with it.

[eyesontheskyline]

😭💰📌

And not an emoji but a question. Which chapter of no such thing did you find the hardest to write!?

Hi!

😭 Have you ever made yourself cry writing a fic?

Yeah. I'm a crier honestly, so it doesn't take much, but reckless was a lot. I'm the lapsed Catholic child of teen parents, and I had my own baby in lockdown with the world falling apart around me, isolated from pretty much everyone who would've been supportive, and basically entirely without any sense of like... happiness or normality. So yeah, various parts of all three chapters of that made me cry lol.

💰 What’s one trope you wouldn’t write, except for money?

Note a trope really, but I wouldn't touch x reader (except for money loool, there's definitely enough money out there to sway me).

Any sort of dubious consent is also very much not for me, and anything kind of age play / daddy or mommy kink... all that stuff.

📌 If all your fics/WIPs fell off a ship and were drowning (go with it), and you could only save one, which would it be?

This is a brutal question hahaha I love all my babies! But probably no such thing as over this? It's still fun for me to reread, and it was always my answer to 'what's one fic idea you'll probably never write' because it felt too big for me. Like I felt like I couldn't do it justice or I'd never follow through or whatever. So I like it and I'm proud of it and honestly just the fact of having both started and finished it is a big deal for me.

Aaaaand which chapter of no such thing was hardest to write?

Ha there are so many contenders for this! My first thought is maybe chapter three - I did a lot of deleting and restarting and restructuring. It was quite a lot of ground to cover practically, and initially the whole team helped Emily move in instead of just Morgan and Garcia, but it just didn't feel right. (It felt too much like the shortcut the show started taking with that pasta cooking lesson and then didn't stop honestly - just jamming all the characters in a room and not really doing anything with them.) So yeah I had a lot of false starts with almost every single part of that chapter lol. I was still figuring out how to write around canon too, really wrestling myself away from the impulse to try and fill in every little moment.

And it has Emily crying on the floor by herself with her cat, which I really liked, but also found really hard to write. Like, my writing style has been (very generously lol) described as 'practical', and I consistently struggle writing characters crying (or doing any other sustained activity to be fair) for any amount of time. For the reader to end up with the impression that it's been a long time, they need to be reading about it for more than one sentence, and it just took me a while to figure out how to write it well. I think (on this one occasion) it turned out okay.

Chapter six too though, which spanned four episodes and had no particular plot points for me to hit but I needed to lay the groundwork for Emily and Garcia's friendship and end up with an Emily and Hotch who might plausibly have an open, vulnerable version of the "having a bad day" conversation with each other.

I struggled in a lot of places and I had a lot of blank page anxiety every time I moved onto a new chapter, but I think these were the ones I really struggled to make work.

Thank you so much for asking, I appreciate you, kind anon ❤️

[hecatesbroom]

How I organise my (fic) writing in Notion

@this-geek wondered how I organised my works in Notion, and considering I'm nothing if not always happy to ramble about anything concerning lists and sorting my various things, here we are ;) thanks for giving me an excuse to talk about this haha

Under the cut because I have unfortunately rambled quite a bit (sorry!)

Okay so first off: I really only use Notion for my fic writing (I prefer to work on original projects in physical notebooks or Word, for reasons unknown to even me) and I only keep my first drafts in here. I move on to Google Docs for second drafts (again, who knows why I do this? I sure don't!) Anyway, onto the organisation:

This is what my main page looks like! I have some fancy sidebars I never really use, the to do list is horribly outdated, and I haven't updated that quote (from one of my favourite book series: The Locked Tomb) in ages, but I still think it looks nice!

The thing this is mainly about, though, is the part in the middle that says "all fics". This is what Notion calls a database. It's basically one gigantic collection of pages (in my case: fics) that you can add tags to and display in various different ways. I prefer gallery view because it allows me to add a picture to the overview if I want to. I used to do this for my Locked Tomb fics and it looked pretty fun:

The thing is that it's also a lot of work to find pictures to match your fics (and nowadays I'm more focused on writing than all the thing surrounding it) so my Golden Girls overview looks more like this! I still like the gallery view because it gives you a little preview of every wip :)

As you can see, there's lots of different tags under the titles. The stuff you see in this view is a quick overview (mostly to help with sorting, so all my posted wips line up, and the rest shows up according to which state of unfinishedness they're currently in)

When you click any fic in this view, you'll be taken to the actual fic, and its complete overview of tags & info! I like to keep track of a lot of things (when I remember to, anyway). Here's a little overview for the things I tracked for the finish line :)

Created: shows me the date I started the document (and therefore the fic). Very useful! I love this feature a lot

Fandom: is mainly there for organisation purposes! I set my gallery view to toggle per fandom, so it's all sorted into neat little sections thanks to this tag

Characters: pretty self explanatory

Type: I've got several categories here: "one-shot", "multi-chapter", "drabble", "ficlet", and (reserved for one AU in particular) "i honestly don't know anymore"

Status: again, there's quite a few options for this one: "plotting", "writing draft 1", "1st draft", "2nd draft", "finished", "posted", "hiatus" and "abandoned" (which I rarely use)

Quick summary: is where I play around with my ao3 summary whenever I'm bored and don't really feel like writing

Draft 1 wc: I usually just put the final word count for the first draft there, unless I remember to track individual writing sessions (in which case I add those word counts as well, like in the example above, because I love looking back on the process!)

Draft 2 wc: I tend to completely retype a fic into my google docs for the second draft. Once I've done that I put the end result into my Notion doc

Finished wc: after I've reread and edited my 2nd draft, and possibly managed to have it all get a little out of hand (like you can see in that doubled word count for the finish line, lol) I put the finished word count here!

WC goal: is just a fun way to see what my initial idea was for the fic (I try to set a goal when I've got a general idea of what I want the work to look like, and always end up exceeding it)

The rest of it is just my writing, basically! Scroll down from there and you get the body for the fic :)

I hope this was somewhat helpful! I'm not a pro at Notion by any means, but if you have any questions or need some help, feel free to ask! I'm happy to try to help out!

[lambergeier]

2022 book post FINALLY

this post is six weeks late because, frankly, i was on my honeymoon over new years and its hard to get up the will to type all this shit when everyone has already posted their book lists ages ago!! but also i read a lot of good books last year and wish to gloat, so here we are. italics are rereads, bold are my favorites, asterisks denote not-prose, and reviews are interspersed throughout as i felt like it:

January

No One is Talking About This - Patricia Lockwood (this book made me cry so hard lmao. first part is a sickeningly true-to-life depiction of Being A Blue Check Person and then the second part makes you cry so bad.)

Sorrowland - Rivers Solomon (what the fuck happened to the last third of this book? what shit-ass x-men knock-off did it come from?)

What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France - Mary Louise Roberts (got on a whole ww2 history kick because, gotta be real, i watched all of band of brothers during winter break 2021-2022 and developed a bug up my ass. pulled this off the shelf at the library on a whim and it was STUNNING. excellently, thoroughly told history of sex, venereal disease, and race among american GIs in normany following the invasion. would read anything roberts now.)

How to Blow Up a Pipeline - Andreas Malm

Hello, Sailor: The hidden history of gay life at sea - Paul Baker and Jo Stanley

Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War II - Allan Berube (another excellent ww2 book, frequently quoted on this site and for good reason. not written by a historian, so incredibly easy and engaging to read, that presents you with just this amazing overview of how modern american queer identity was totally, inextricably shaped by the us military and the experience of being part of it or even just near it lmao)

February

Possession - A.S. Byatt (really really lovely romance that was such a consistent pleasure to read that i got to the end basically unable to remember favorite lines or even scenes i was just like mmmmmmmm. book good.)

Uncanny Valley - Anna Wiener

Howl’s Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones

The Verge: Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years that Shook the World - Patrick Wyman (this book sucked ass we gotta stop giving podcasters history books)

Watership Down - Richard Adams (so fucked up. loved this. love that we give this to children to read.)

Dead Collections - Isaac Fellman

March

The Hidden Palace - Helene Wecker (much better than its prequel, imho! resolved many pacing issues but lost no heart!)

The Vanishing Half - Britt Bennet (part of the reason i managed to read so much this year is that i had to drive a lot for work and started putting audiobooks on in the car, having never been an audiobook person before. i listened almost entirely to contemporary litfic this way, a genre i also had not previously engage with, and this was both a fascinating entry into an entire other world of books and also kinda boring sometimes lmao. vanishing half was good, certainly better than some of the other stuff i ended up listening to, but still not something i would have finished if i weren't in the car)

The Reformation - Patrick Collinson (this bitch was so funny his preface to the book was 'i didn't list any sources because i've been teaching this topic for 60 years. the source is Me.' anyways almost totally unreadable but did provide me some good context on the counter-reformation, which i want to learn more about.)

Fleischman is in Trouble - Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Home Baked - Alia Volz (soooooo good all bay area homies please read this)

River of Stars - Vanessa Hua

April

Light from Uncommon Stars - Ryka Aoki (INSANE BOOK. SO FUN.)

*Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller

Book of Dust - Phillip Pullman

Gold Diggers - Sanjena Sathian

*Angels in America - Tony Kushner (disconnected me from reality for like 24 straight hours. scared to reread it.)

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (read this in high school and hated it because i was a DUMB TEENAGER!! THIS BOOK IS SO FUNNY!!)

Good Omens - Terry Pratchett

Fifth Elephant - Terry Pratchett

May

Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia (strongly eh.)

Oh the Glory of it All - Sean Wilsey (loved it but feels impossible to recommend.)

Magic for Liars - Sarah Gailey

Foundation - Isaac Asimov (absolutely fascinating as like, a history of the genre thing, even if i only "enjoyed" reading the first two or three stories lol. also, HE COULDN'T PREDICT FIAT CURRENCY?? ACTUAL PLOT POINT THAT THERE AREN'T ENOUGH METALS ON THE PLANET TO MINT COINS???? reader i lost my mind.)

June

All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy (all the pretty horses my insane high school problematic fave. i will never read the sequels)

Have His Carcase - Dorothy L. Sayers

The Power - Naomi Alderman (as i said on private twitter after rereading, this book makes me sick to my stomach not because of the gender shit, which is like, i know what the book's about that's what it's about it's not gonna be a different book, but christ it's so bleak. love an oral history style but i gave my copy away once i finished lmao.)

Murder Must Advertise - Dorothy L. Sayers

July

Such a Fun Age - Kiley Reid (great audiobook narrator, and a very funny book)

Several People are Typing - Calvin Kasulke (PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS AUDIOBOOK THEY HIRED A FULL RADIO-PLAY STYLE CAST AND SURE THE ACTUAL STORY DOESN'T STICK THE LANDING BUT IT'S SO FUNNY. i finished it on my own and immediately put it back on for emma to enjoy. so good.)

They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South - Stephanie Jones-Rogers

Hawk Mountain - Conner Habib (oughhhhouguhughuhghh the dread. great book. wretched creeping horror. queer, if that matters. gives you the Dread.)

There, There - Tommy Orange

August

If an Egyptian Can’t Speak English - Noor Naga (experimental fiction, i listened to it on audiobook and actually missed a lot of what it was doing in print but still incredibly good. absolute sucker punch of an ending.)

The Loneliest Americans - Jay Caspian King

Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People - Elizabeth Fenn (great clear thorough history of the mandan nation of the upper missouri river, really enjoyed this.)

An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us - Ed Yong (ed yong is the best science writer working today and this book was tremendous. i quoted like every other line of it to emma and she still went and borrowed it as soon as i was done. we immediately bought a copy for the house.)

Sheer Misery: Soldiers in Battle in WWII - Mary Louise Roberts

September

Black Sun - Rebecca Roanhorse (damn so much modern sff is bad)

I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life - Ed Yong (not as good as the animal book but still VERY good)

Dark Rise - C.S. Pacat (unfuckingreadable. a masterclass of incoherent bullshit)

Nona the Ninth - taz lol (this should not have been its own book.)

*Ducks - Kate Beaton (cannot recommend highly enough. intense subject matter, also made me cry many times, but holy shit ms beaton you killed it with this one)

Unreleased Friend Book that I Love So Bad (soon!!)

Normal People - Sally Rooney

October

Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (another book i haven't reread since high school holden ilu. you are my little problems boy)

Pachinko - Min Jin Lee (read it all in one day while on various airplanes. what a BOOK)

Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Foundation - Mercedes Lackey (thus begins the valdemar stage of the year)

My Year of Rest and Relaxation - Ottessa Moshfegh (uh. would not recommend.)

November

Devil House - John Darnielle (ur crazy for this one mr mountain goats. still don't know if it was good or bad lol.)

Arrows of the Queen - Mercedes Lackey

Arrows Flight - Mercedes Lackey

Arrows Fall - Mercedes Lackey

Magic’s Pawn - Mercedes Lackey (vanyel i love you)

December

Magic’s Promise - Mercedes Lackey (vanyel i'm obsessed with you)

Empire of Wild - Cherie Dimaline

Magic’s Price - Mercedes Lackey (oh misty we did NOT stick the landing here. rip to vanyel.)

Winter Counts - David Heska Wanbli Weiden

Neuromancer - William Gibson (loved so many individual sentences and, like foundation, a very interesting work for understanding the history of the genre. however in many ways, totally incomprehensible.)

total books: 66!!! nice work, me! really enjoyed how much i read in 2022 and how generally varied it was and after a long while of not reading too much at all, it's been very nice being back in the swing of it. also god non-fiction is so good. i can't read it particularly fast but every time i read a good one i enjoy it so immensely. look forward to reading more of it this year!!!

AND, FINALLY, A SHOUT OUT TO THE WORST DNF OF 2022:

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab sucks shit.