#i have TOO MANY ocs for this specific trope. its bad

[olderthannetfic]

The Pawn to Queen wank was well known at the time, but it seems to have mostly sunk into obscurity... or maybe I just know too many people who never read het now?

Riley was a BNF on the very large and active When I Kissed the Teacher mailing list, which was for Snape/Hermione in that era when we knew nothing about Snape and people wrote him as a mysterious aristocrat who just needed a better hair care regimen. I remember her wangsting unsubtly every time another author got praise on the list despite being one of the most popular authors at the time and getting frequent asspats from the same posters. It was incredibly tacky and obvious, but we'd all comfort her anyway because she was popular and nobody wanted her to stop writing.

At first, PtQ was your classic Bad Guys Made Them Do It sexy dubcon hurt/comfort nonsense... And then there was the snake on rollerskates, but we ate that kind of thing up back then.

As the story went on, however, her OCs (and "OCs" stolen from Cyteen) started taking over the story with endless nonsense about being ~Strega~ (never "a strega", always "I am Strega"), the witchy Übermensch. The sexy Snape/Hermione stuff went out the window to the annoyance of a lot of the audience.

This was all going on as I was getting to the end of my time in college and getting busier. I eventually left the list and thus tragically missed (most? all?) what I'm told were called the "PtQ Wars". This months-long wank was reportedly about Riley revealing that a lot of the point of PtQ was to enlighten the readers as to the amazingness of objectivism. On one side were a bunch of readers explaining that, yes, really, as people who'd at some point been in proximity to a college campus and/or insufferable twats, they were amply familiar with objectivism and didn't appreciate a bait-and-switch. On the other, Riley, insisting that people Just Didn't Get It.

All I can find now are a few references to there being a wank and to Riley loving Nietzsche, nothing about Rand, but I definitely remember people saying there was specific discussion of Rand and Riley being mortally offended that others were... not fans.

[decepti-thots]

(I’ll preface by saying: huge JP fan who has no problem with people not liking it)

Anyways I’m actually super curious…

How are most JP fics “boring”? 🤔 I’ve always found their dynamic to be more entertaining than most, given the dichotomy of their characters.

So I’m curious as to how you’ve wound up at “boring” of all the possible reasons to dislike it. 🤣

I'm going to be a bit blunter here than I usually would be on the topic, as I was directly asked. So I'll cut the uh… negativity? I guess? For those who prefer not to see folks talk shit about a ship they like, lol.

First and foremost Jazz/Prowl is basically just… essentially made up and purely based on fanon inventions/additions, and made up fanon stuff is usually not of real interest to me without a very strong hook somewhere in the actual canon material. It is 99% fanon by volume that draws on little to no canon material of any kind but just... years of fanon, reproducing itself and mutating almost like a fanfic game of telephone, all developed in fandom echo chambers. Which renders the characters in the vast majority of fic a) largely unrelated to any canon material I like in a meaningful sense and b) tbqh, the kind of generic stuff found in a lot of typical, large dudeslash fandoms where the characters are… they're Dudeslash Fandom Archetypes with a gloss of paint on top, you know? People come in, look for which character in a fandom fits their favourite m/m trope the most, and then squish the character down to fit into that pre-existing archetype.

And the thing is, J/P has historically made a certain kind of sense for this, because the appeal was basically that… they didn't HAVE that much canon material? In the Marvel G1 comics, they have a little more specific characterisation and canon, but the G1 cartoon is not exactly a character exploration piece ANYWAY, and for Prowl especially he is a blank slate you can functionally project an OC onto. Which like, that's fine! That makes a lot of sense even if it's not what usually draws me into something.

My issue has become that if I read one more G1-fanon-soup fest mistagged "IDW" I'm gonna scream. I like IDW Prowl (and IDW Jazz too!) for the fact that these characters have specific, strongly delineated canon personalities, arcs and dynamics, and both of these characters- Prowl especially, but both of them!- have like. Things about them which are true, and which J/P fic not only tends to ignore but actively treats in a loooot of cases as somehow Inferior To Our Fanon and something to be "fixed" with idk, the power of Extremely Generic Dudeslash Tropes. I've been in many a fandom with Migratory Dudeslash Fandoms writing fic. J/P is extremely rote to me as a result, if nothing else.

It warrants mentioning that J/P fandom is where one does find a lot of examples of just undeniably racist treatment of Jazz in fic, both the truly inexcusable phonetic accent bullshit and also a lot of bad decisions around tropes. I don't think this is a function of the ship, per se, but that its specific persistence in J/P fandom (bc trust me: this has been a point of criticism for A Long Fucking Time) is in part due to it having this long entrenched fanon-to-fanon game of telephone going on? It would be better to talk about the fandom's issues there outside ship talk so I'll leave it at that, but I can't deny it has not… helped my feelings. TBH. And I know that's where a lot of the resentment you will find in the fandom obviously stems from.

IDK. It's just. It's usually fanfic of itself, you know? J/P largely feels to me, in most cases, like fanfic of fanfic of fanfic, and I come to TF fandom for fanfic of a canon. So. Yeah. Not a fan. At all.

[ihopesocomic]

People accusing Storm of being a Hover ripoff just because they're both gray, have a hair tuft, and are outside a pride… Same energy as people accusing Scar (TLK) of being a Claw (Kimba) ripoff just because they're both dark brown, have an eye scar, and are villains. Like those are all common tropes for their character archetypes, not unique copyrighted traits, and the DIFFERENCES between the characters are much greater than those surface-level similarities. For example with Scar/Claw, Claw is not the protagonist's uncle, does not kill his father, and has a much different personality and role in the overall story. And of course as IHS fans know, Storm (unlike Hover) is not an ableist bully, is actually supportive of her girlfriend, and has a more developed and interesting arc, including having an in-universe culture (vs "prideless lions" which are an un-detailed, amorphous blob)

But of course that's all on top of some people calling every lion cartoon "Lion King ripoff" anyway 💀 I wish people would think more critically before making accusations of copying, even if jokingly

Yeah its easy to tell who's read the comic and who hasn't because we made it a point to have Storm not be anything like Hover, right down to her sense of humor LOL (Also unlike Hover, Storm isn't a collective of bad butch lesbian stereotypes). We didn't write her to be "better Hover". Storm is just inherently better than Hover because a root canal is better than Hover.

If people think Storm is like Hover, it's a Hover they made up in their head and not what was in the show. But sure, let's all ignore the fact that Storm has a personality that isn't making fun at the expense of her friends. Let's ignore that she has interests beyond her girlfriend, has a family to speak of, has a collection of knowledge, fears specific to her, and reacts to problems completely differently. if its a grey lion, then it's fuckin Hover. Sorry, everyone who has a grey lion OC post-2020. Why you just copying Hover?

All Storm was was a repurposed Lion King adoptable. RJ added a mane when she repurposed her into a MP OC. And then later when we made IHS I changed her hairstyle to a fauxhawk cuz 1) I already had a character with a fauxhawk and I just took their hair and put it on Storm's head? 2) Maned lionesses are cool. Hover is not a maned lioness, unless you count those three growths sprouting from her cranium (all the other lions get real hair, so i dont get it, why wouldn't she?). Whatever those are, they're not a fauxhawk, that's for sure lol Plus Hover goes through like 7 different color palettes all throughout the show. If I had made Storm brown, they would just say she looks like Hover anyway cuz Hover's been all the colors of the rainbow. I can't win.

I won't mention that no one complained about Storm being a Hover clone when she was a MP character, and I don't hear too many complaints about how much closer Storm looks to Kasi from The Lion Guard soooooooooooooooo make of that what you will. - Cat

[aboutdragons]

Hello, thank you for answering my questions. If you are open to sharing, do you have any tips to write an isekai in the Asoiaf universe and to write an interesting oc?

Hi, you're welcome!

As for tips... When you're looking for inspiration, it's good to reach for works of the genre that interests you. If you want to write isekai, go read some isekai (japanese mangas and korean manhwas are the best for this) and see which of the tropes you like, which you dislike, and which you think are most interesting to tackle. Then you pick the one you like best/think would suit the story you want to tell best/both, and roll with it.

Personally, I write isekai as pure escapism, so I heavily stray away from giving my MCs any possibility of returning to their original world, or having them have a good enough reason to try. Ability to physically cross between worlds could be interesting, but really isn't my cup of tea. I prefer leaving 21st century reality behind me in the burning dumpster where it rightfully belongs.

When it comes to ASOIAF specifically, the setting has its own magic and stuff, so you can take that (take an existing concept, make shit up, or go somewhere in-between like I have) to make the transition between worlds plausible and ta-dah! Valyrian Gods are a good go-to if you want to be fucking around with the Valyrians, but I think R'hllor and his whole rebirth shtick or even the Drowned God could be an interesting option. Opens a way for interesting worldbuilding & making the MC particularly attuned to the magical side of the world.

Or something Eldritch! Damn, I love eldritch fuckery so much, unspeakable cosmic horror and all.

Beware! Ramble ahead!

As for writing an interesting OC... Honestly, gonna sound super basic as everyone will probably say the same, but make them as close to a person as you can. Give them multiple personality traits, flaws and all - conflicting personality traits are fun, too. Give them quirks and ticks and interests and hangups and make them consistent, but also allow them to grow. We all live through character arcs, and your characters should too. Their views can be changed or reinforced, they can be forced to go against those views for the sake of themselves or others. They can (and should) hold grudges, even about the silliest things. Give them a pet or a hobby (or both), show us how they interact with those things, how they care, how they grieve, and how they seethe. Who are their friends, what kind of people do they gravitate towards, how do they interact with those people? How do those people view them? How close are they to the truth?

Does the character show a different them to the world than they truly are? Why? Why not? Do they exaggerate their traits? Why? Why not? What are their limitations, social and physical, and how do they get around them?

How do they influence others? Do they stay on the sidelines or make a menace of themselves, or something in-between? What motivates them? Are there lines they will never cross? If so, what are those, and why? Make them react realistically, based on the information they have and the things they feel. Make them face the consequences of their actions, the good, the bad, the entertaining!

It's also very important - essential - to decide where your character will end before you even begin. You as the writer need to have an end goal with them. Who they are at the start, and who they will become by the end, and that's where you need to gradually take them. Having the points in the middle down helps too.

Their journey is important, but so is their relationship with the world and others. Don't overdo it, but make the audience care. Put them in a situation and ask yourself, what would I most likely do here? Would they do the same, or would they do something different?

There's many facets to writing characters, but the baseline always is; make them human. A little fucked up, a little weird, trying their best. Or utter fucking menaces. Or both! Or something else!

Also give them demons. Give them issues! And then make them deal with them! I give a lot of my OCs depression because I suffer from it myself, and then I have them slowly work through it in lieu of therapy. It helps me, and it makes for a compelling internal struggle that many can identify with. Or imposter syndrome. Or mommy issues.

Explore themes with them, those that interest you, those that pertain to them.

Of course, adapt character traits accordingly to how you want the characters to be perceived, too. Don't give them too much of a trait of which perception you don't want; save being judgmental or hateful for the antagonists, don't overdo on chivalry, don't overdo on badassery. Let them fuck up. Let them fall down. Let them need help. Let them succeed too, of course. Few like misery porn, but fewer like the feeling of emptiness that comes from unearned victories.

And that goes without saying: don't make them right all the time, or successful all the time, or infallible. Kick their ass sometimes! It's for their own good, I promise!

But ultimately write the character that brings you joy. It's easier to write a compelling character when you, too, want to know what happens next, what kind of trouble they get into, how do they get out of it.

Most of all, have fun with it. If you do, others will, too.

[icyday]

12, 13, 37, 50. 💜

From this post

12-13

Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you? Are there any tropes you used to like but don’t anymore?

I don't think I read enough (or write too many of the same things enough) to have any definitive answers to these.

I guess for 12, there was a point where I wasn't really into the concept of 'soulmates' or something similar. Mostly, I think because I like my ships with some kind of semblance of free-choice. But in retrospect, I like the idea of two people who are indelibly connected somehow. (Just think Raye and Mariah/Mara from my own OCs, or as a canon character pairing, a Yuna/Baralai concept from FFX-2 that I never quite got off the ground where they're experiencing lingering side effects from the whole Lenne/Shuyin thing ) so long as there's conflicting priorities or something else actually makes getting together a Bad Idea.

For 13…I used to be a lot more into (or at least tolerant of) het with some of the more traditional romance tropes. I remember re-reading "Those who Come Closest" last year and cringing a bit at the very het, kind of gender-essentialist treatment of the dynamic given in the Ifrit and Shiva chapters specifically.

37.

Promote one of your own “deep cut” fics (an underrated one, or one that never got as much traction as you think it deserves!). What do you like about it?

My Skyrim fic! The Final Confession of Shabhira Moons Stalker

It's not exactly the deepest of cuts, since it's a Yuletide fic. But I'm still really proud of this one. The intent of the story was to write something that could either be plausibly added to Skyrim (or another Elder Scrolls book) as an actual freeform quest, and I definitely feel like I pulled that off in how Shabhira's journey plays out. The worldbuilding still holds up, and the overarching plot of the silent saboteur is one that still captivates me.

50.

Answer any question of your choice, or talk about anything you want to talk about!

To expand bit more about NDKO (the Disco radio station that Raye listens to when Mariah leaves her alone) and the Disco scene in Hell in general:

DJ Magik Mik, the host of the morning show that's used in the story, keeps his Band nature a well-kept secret, even for a D-list celebrity, to the extent that anyone likely to encounter him is forced to sign a very, very strict NDA regarding his Band. That doesn't stop the radio station from advertisting 'Magik Mik' band reveals every few months or so, but something always seems to happen just at the point of reveal that keeps anyone from actually guessing. Balseraph and Shedite have mostly been ruled out, but there's still several running guesses, including a few brave souls who think he's actually an unfledged demonling. An actual Band reveal would dispel pretty much all of the mystery around Mik, so he's very keen to keep up the charade as long as he can.

More in general, the 1980s Disco scene in Hell is quite…fraught. Its popularity has spread out to quite a few Words including some that don't play well with Media, read Death and Fire specifically. This makes running events for NDKO listeners quite fraught, since any event actually worth attending is going to bring in demons who don't know how to (or don't care to) play nice. By the early 1980s, Disco isn't actually very popular among Media or Technology anymore, which makes Mariah's choice to play it in her work room a little weird and off-trend, which isn't suspicious because, well, Mariah's more than a little weird and off-trend.

[sweetestberryofthebunch]

OP I hope no one was mean to you for saying something very true and valid, especially from the perspective of someone who’s part of a minority! It’s an issue I myself encounter a lot too, in this fandom and in many others. And calling that out is not an attack on anyone or anything, its simply stating a thing you noticed. People need to remember their manners.

To me personally, part of writing a reader insert is writing it as inclusive as possible, because otherwise it is literally an OC. It’s supposed to be relatable for the broadest amount of people, its supposed to leave a mostly blank slate for people to fill the gaps themselves, since you’re supposed to insert yourself as the Reader. Like the name of the trope states. It’s obviously a skill to learn, and yes that takes time, but if you wanna crochet you need to learn how to do that first too dont you? Skills just work like that.

I personally like to approach it like this: Y/N isn’t just me, Y/N is everyone. And while i am the one writing the script and decide what they do and say, I am not in control of who they are and what they look like. Any of my friends could be the starring actor, so i should write it in a way where they could see it like that themselves too.

Anyway, if a person belonging to a minority calling out a pattern they noticed in a community/group you’re involved in makes you uncomfortable, that means you need to look at yourself and your own body of work. And why that is the case, not at the person who had the courage to bring it up. The fact that it has to take courage to say you feel excluded is already kind of sad.

As a writer, having stuff to learn/get better at doesn’t make you ignorant, but getting angry at being called out does. If you notice a lot of color descriptors, especially for skin like pale/porcelain etc in your own work, it actually just gives you reason to go over your own writing style, see if those are really necessary and maybe find a new way to describe a physical reaction in a broader way. It Literally makes you a better writer to do that, and then automatically makes your piece of work more inclusive. That does not mean your work is bad otherwise, not at all! It simply means this specific thing is worth practicing. And is that not the joy of having a hobby? Continuing to grow and refine the skill over time and keep evolving it. Is that not part of the fun?

I’m loving the overall creative expression that has come from these fics and the global obsession that seems to follow Agatha Harkness & all the amazing witches from her coven, yet if I was being completely honest though, I really wish y’all would keep in mind that not all of us are blonde haired, blue eyed, “porcelain skin” girls. Some of us are apart of different communities and cultures that look nothing like what’s usually described as the reader to look like. it can be quite distracting and if I’m being honest quite dejecting when most of the stories use that specific set to describe the reader when that’s not what i look like at all. Not just me I’m sure there’s others…..idk if I’m being overly critical or sensitive but It would just be nice to read about someone who looks like me.

This is not me bashing the current releases either, I think all authors on here are doing absolutely phenomenal and i love reading everything you all decide to share with the community. I just wish people thought about the minority perspective sometimes. ONCE AGAIN YOU ARE ALL FANTASTIC AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR AMAZING WORK!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️

[bmpmp3]

im truly so sorry im about to write another needlessly long text post about the 1992 TV movie The Tin Soldier performed by the Ottawa Ballet Company and narrated by Sally Struthers yet again BUT

okay so like some background, i have my lovely shitty vhs copy I bought when I was like 16 for 7 bucks and at the time that was the only way I could find it (wasn’t online and the only place i could find a dvd was seemingly non-operational digital storefront that ive been unable to find again by one of the distribution companies selling very expensive library and/or educational copies) and nowadays we have that one copy on youtube someone uploaded a year and a half ago BUT while the copy on youtube is relatively high definition it is also very frame-jumpy and has a lot of strange artifacting and while my copy is fine on the framerate front it is a cheap EP tape from the 90s and it looks like this

which has its own value (i gotta learn how to gif movies...i can feel the aesthetic posts in my bones) BUT ANYWAY what im saying is we have access to this movie a lot easier now but we don’t have access to like... a good copy SO i decided to try to see if I could find a DVD copy somewhere online nowadays...I’ve been on a physical home media kick ever since I got that cheap copy of the Otogirisou movie kjdsfajsgdfskda

anyway I was looking to see if I could find anything and weirdly I found an amazon listing for like, a UK DVD of this other tv movie from the 90s called The Tin Soldier but this one is like a normal live action movie and from 1995 and I was about to dismiss it bUT i looked at the reviews and there are multiple from the years 2007 to like 2020 complaining that they bought it expecting the 1995 movie but instead getting a 48 minute ballet narrated by Sally Struthers....the 1992 movie!! and thats weird enough that it seems to be happening to multiple people across 13 years BUT ALSO according to these reviews, the movie is shipping in the proper DVD case for the 1995 movie, with like all the actors and everything on it, and possibly even the DVD itself might be printed with information about the 1995 movie? but then they play it and it’s our old pal The Tin Solider (1992) Narrated By Sally Struthers...

i wonder if like, maybe both movies had the same DVD manufacturing company? or distribution company? something like that? and somewhere along the production of specifically these region 2 DVDs, the wrong movie (1992) got burned onto the 1995 discs? or maybe the 1992 discs were put in the 1995 cases by accident? and then they were shipped out like that and are still being sold as recent as 2020... i cannot stop thinking about this i know i’m going all

again but like. much to think about

yknow i. i actually havent rewatched the movie yet. i havent actually seen this thing since i was literally like 7. i think. i think i know more about this movie’s production and distribution than i do about the plot at this point

[belfrygargoyles]

*whispers* I would like to hear what you have to say on reader inserts in the SW fandom because I too have a problem with them and I feel like not enough people are calling it out 👉👈

I’ve made a few posts about it in the past but I think it’s high time I actually Do This and really get into it.

Before I start: 1) This will be in specific reference to fanfiction written for the Star Wars fandom, particularly tcw and the mandalorian eras, 2) A lot of the issues come down to racist fetishization of men of color by white women; I am white, so there is much that is simply not my place to make statements on. What I can speak most on is my take from the gender side of things.

I’d honestly recommend reading this post by @nibeul with addition by @clonehub first, as they discuss the core issue with reader inserts in the Star Wars fandom.

And 3) some of this will involve discussion of sexual acts (as they relate to fanfiction) and sexual fantasies. These discussions will be non-explicit, and no pornographic text or content will be displayed.

Also. I’m GNC and nonbinary. I’m also a very feminine looking person that falls under the generalization of “small and petite.” I don’t have dysphoria, I like my body and the traits I have, and treating them like inherently female sends me into a blind fury. This is, unfortunately, important.

For the sake of making sure I come across as clearly as possible, I will be writing as though the reader of this post has never read or is broadly unfamiliar with reader-insert fanfiction.

Without further ado.

Hey, Star Wars reader insert fic writers? Please get your shit together.

INTRODUCTION

I’ve been reading reader-insert fanfiction since I was a grade schooler waking up early to check Quizilla. I love it! It got me into fandom, kept me engaged, helped me make and develop some of my oldest OCs, and it’s just fun to read and write- it’s like a self-indulgent little gift you can give to a bunch of people all at once. Because who doesn’t like the idea of starring in their own little adventure, usually alongside some of their favorite characters? It can be fun, immersive, get you attached in ways other ways of fandom interaction may not, make you feel just a little bit special, or be a way to express some feelings you might have about canon and the way the story went.

Like any form of fiction, it ends up saying more about the author’s feelings than anything else, whether the author realizes it or not. For many, many authors of reader-insert fanfiction, the primary enjoyment comes from writing “themselves” into the story- before the readers, the author most often makes the “reader character” someone they, themselves, can relate to and substitute for themselves. They write to live out a self-indulgent fantasy they have, and their readers can come along for the ride.

Some writers do actually try to write as diverse or as vague of a reader character as possible- as few details about the body, identity, etc. as possible so anyone could superimpose their image without the narrative directly contradicting it. This is not the kind of reader insert author I will be discussing.

The kind of author I will be discussing is the one most common in the Star Wars tag on Ao3: White, AFAB, cisgender, gender-conforming, able-bodied women who assume all of their readers are also White, AFAB, cisgender, gender-conforming, able-bodied women. Yes, you can tell.

ISSUE: fetishization of men of color

Again, this post puts it in the best words, but there is a rampant problem with Star Wars reader-inserts, particularly those involving the clones, Boba Fett, and Din Djarin, fetishizing characters played by men of color as either “physically aggressive and threatening, hypersexual and dominant, big strong men who are scary because they do violence and fuck constantly when they’re not” or “completely inexperienced baby who doesn’t know anything about things and needs a gentle nurturing guiding touch to introduce him to the mere idea of a vagina.” The former is common across all of them, the latter most common among clone trooper fics or Din/Reader.

I went into the Boba Fett/Reader tag on Ao3, because I like him and hoped to find something alright. Here are some stats I tallied up (give or take some) based solely on tags, summaries, and warnings:

There are 284 works in the Boba Fett/Reader category as of the time of this post.

198/284 are rated E for explicit sexual content. 69.7% of all Boba Fett/Reader works are sexually explicit.

259/284 are in the F/M category. 91.2% of all Boba Fett/Reader works involve an explicitly female or AFAB reader.

24/284 are tagged with or mention “Age difference,” “Older man/Younger woman,” “Innocence kink” or “Virginity kink.” 8.4% of all Boba Fett/Reader works are written explicitly with an age gap, with Boba Fett as the older party

26/198 E rated fics are tagged with or make reference to “Daddy kink” or involve the reader being called some variation of “little girl” by Boba. 13% of all E-rated works under Boba Fett/Reader are daddy kink fics, or allude to Boba Fett being a daddy dom/sugar daddy.

102/198 E rated fics are tagged as, make reference to, or suggest in the summary that Boba Fett takes a dominant sexual role with a submissive reader involving rough or painful play, or make reference to Boba Fett being frightening, physically intimidating, having a power dynamic over the reader, or being possessive or violent. 51.51% of all E-rated works under Boba Fett/Reader portray Boba Fett as sexually dominant and/or enacting use of physical force or pain play.

Just using this as an example, because it’s the easiest stats I can gather and also what made me realize there was a pattern.

The problem isn’t even necessarily that people write explicit fic about Boba- it’s that 1) over half of all fics in the category are explicitly pornographic, and 2) the way those pornographic fics are written. The two things compound on each other. They’re dominance fantasies projected onto a character of color in which he becomes extremely sexual, physically rough with the reader, possessive, and demeaning towards a reader character who is always written as White, AFAB, and petite.

This brings me to the next issue.

ISSUE: The way sexual relationships are portrayed.

Let me clarify so there is no chance of me being misunderstood: sex is good. Liking and wanting and enjoying sex isn’t bad. It is not bad if you are AFAB and have submissive fantasies. It is not bad to be sexually attracted to a man of color. You can write about sex even if you haven’t had it. Writing about sex can be a good way to express some more complicated feelings you could have about certain things. It doesn’t even have to be realistic. It has its time and it has its place.

This being said.

Sexual relationships as they are portrayed in the vast majority of E-rated Star Wars reader inserts are… not great.

The reader is always AFAB. I can think of maybe one fic off the top of my head where an AFAB reader was written with they/them pronouns and not just she/her.

The reader is almost always submissive, the dominant character is almost always portrayed as cis male. Even when the characters are supposed to just be having spontaneous casual sex, D/S or BDSM aspects will be introduced with no prior discussion or talks about it afterwards. Sometimes characters will start using dirty talk and it just does not fit at all, but it’s what the author thought was hot.

Sometimes, it just reads like a quick smutty oneshot. More often than that, it reads like the author doesn’t realize that sex… isn’t always a dom/sub thing. Or that someone can take the lead in sex and that doesn’t automatically make them a dom.

It’s not bad to be inexperienced. It’s not bad to have preferences or kinks or specific turn-ons.

But it gets… tiring to read, over and over and over and over, because that’s all there is.

That and… I dunno, it just has me a little worried? It doesn’t make me feel good knowing so many people can only portray a sexual relationship if it’s dom/sub. I don’t know why it makes me so uneasy.

Vanilla sex isn’t a bad thing I promise. It's this feeling of insistence that something "spicy" absolutely has to happen for it to be worth writing that gives... some weird vibes.

I’m going to move on to the next Big-

ISSUE: Every “reader” character is exactly the same

By which I mean the following:

Always cis AFAB female

If a character is written with gender neutral pronouns they will always be AFAB and written like Girl Lite

I have never seen an explicitly stated nonbinary/gnc reader character unless it was a request specifically for a nonbinary reader

I have never seen a gender neutral reader insert fic where the reader was AMAB

I have seen a grand total of 1 cis male reader fic and 1 trans male reader fic. The trans male reader fic was about dysphoria.

The reader is allowed to have one of the following backstories: slave/runaway, mechanic, medic, ex-Rebel, secret Jedi, bounty hunter.

The reader is allowed to have one of the following personality traits: throws knives, babysitter, completely civilian, WOMAN, says curse words.

The reader is never written with any narrative agency- things only ever happen to the reader character or around the reader character, they are never written to take charge and actually affect things on their own. Essentially the sexy lamp trope.

Remember when I said the majority of people writing Star Wars reader-insert fanfic on Ao3 were White, cisgender AFAB women who are gender-conforming and able-bodied? This is how you can tell.

It’s at this point where you can tell they’re really not meant to be reader-inserts, but author-inserts with the names removed- they were only meant for a very narrow selection of readers.

I’m nonbinary, I’m gnc, and I’m a very feminine looking person, generally speaking. I’m used to people looking at me and assuming oh, girl. I’m at peace with that.

I can barely stand reading some of these fics just because of how much the author emphasizes that the reader is FEMALE shes a WOMAN with BOOBS and a VAGINA and FEMININE WILES. There’s barely ever even a chance to give myself room to mentally vault over all the “she”s and “her”s because then I’m getting hit with Din or someone calling the reader “girl” or “the woman.” It’s unbearable, and I even fall into the general description every fucking fic author uses for their generic protagonist!

Even with the “gender-neutral reader” fics, it is just. Painfully clear that they just wrote a female character and changed the pronouns- no, there is no such thing as “male behavior” or “female behavior,” and I quite heartily rebel against the concept of gender essentialism. And honestly, I can barely even begin piecing together how I know it and what it feels like, because it’s just one of those vague conglomerates of cues and writing patterns I can’t consciously pick up on but I know it’s there- it’s frustrating, it’s demeaning, and it feels like you’d have to threaten these authors at gunpoint to get them to write a reader character who was any major deviation from the same three cutouts they use every time.

It seems like they can’t possibly force themselves to write a reader character who isn’t meek and submissive or has the sole personality traits of “mean and can hit things”- you can actually strike a balance between “absolutely no personality” and “fleshed out oc” you know? And you don’t actually have to tell the reader what their hair looks like or how full their figure is

It’s like 2:20 AM and I started this at like 8something PM but.

I’m someone who loves reader-inserts. I enjoy them. I still check for new ones regularly. I’ve been reading them for well over half my life now.

So many of these authors are just locked in on exactly one way to write things and it fucking shows. It’s like a self-feeding loop, they just keep writing the same things and the same dynamics because they see each other doing it and they never think about taking a step back.

It’s… exhausting. I’m exhausted. If you’re a reader-insert fic writer and you want to improve your reader character inclusivity and have also read this far, you can DM me or shoot me an ask.

[literarydemerit]

While I'm catching up with the podcast, here's a question: how would You go about writing a trollfic/badfic/jokefic, or rather, what concepts/tropes would've made a ~good~ trollfic in your opinion? You've mentioned the obvious My Immortal inspiration in many a trollfic over the years, and as someone who's been fascinated by bad fanfiction as an art form since, well, early 2010s, I've been wondering. I just think there's more to it than bad grammar and gratuitous ikea erotica.

Siobhan's thoughts on this, which I agree with, are that a quote unquote Good badfic/trollfic is one where you're able to tell the author is having fun and it doesn't feel mean-spirited. I really like this question though and I spent a while thinking about it, so here's some additional thoughts:

I think you're absolutely right that there is more to it than bad grammar and IKEA erotica. A lot of trollfics, in particular, aren't very good specifically because the authors think all you need to do to write an entertaining trollfic is write badly and include gratuitous sex (&/or violence, or anything else "shocking"). The trollfics/badfics we think are Good are ones that are honestly very creative — My Immortal has all sorts of crazy plot twists and a fun central premise (mall goth vampire wizards time traveling to seduce an evil wizard, also there's a bisexual love triangle), and Forbiden Fruit parodies similar Twilight fics about an original character breaking up Bella and Edward's relationship before going totally nuts in the last two chapters in a way no one could have seen coming. (I don't want to get ahead of myself talking about Blood Raining Night when we've only just started it, but it's also definitely a creative one. It has its own fanime!)

Regarding writing style specifically, there's definitely more to it than just making a lot of spelling/grammatical errors. To again use the two fics we've already covered on the show as examples, My Immortal and Forbiden Fruit are both very "badly written" in a technical sense, but they each have a distinct writing style that goes beyond just typos. Those two fics have very different writing styles, too! I think we may have said this on the show but they're kind of at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to badfic writing. In the case of Forbiden Fruit, it's also very apparent that the author knows how to write and is writing in purple prose, constructing nonsense metaphors, etc. on purpose.

The other thing (Siobhan mentioned this too but I wanted to expand upon it) is that a good badfic/trollfic can be read as satire or meta commentary (on the work the fic is for, on that work's fandom, on fanfiction in general, etc.). Of course many trollfics are mimicking/referencing My Immortal and thus are making some sort of commentary on My Immortal, which may or may not be interesting/insightful/entertaining. I think Forbiden Fruit is particularly good because it serves as commentary on Twilight fandom (of course lots of people have written fics about their OC getting with Edward, and from what little I've seen I think the "gothic new girl arrives in Forks" premise was pretty common). Twila The Girl Who Waz In Luv With a Vampyre isn't as strong by comparison because it focuses too heavily on trying to be similar to My Immortal and doesn't really develop its own style. I think it's fun that so many people enjoyed My Immortal and want to reference it in their own stories, I just feel like the story should have more to say than "I thought My Immortal was really funny," you know?

[gonnalosemydougdimmadomedamnmind]

Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not trying to start a fight, but you're contradicting yourself? If your entire message is to let people do whatever they want with characters and just move on when you don't like something, why are you complaining about fans who want to see characters characterized the way they are in canon? Just move on lol?

Also, I think it would be disingenuous to say that characters are like constantly reinvented. There are obviously core characteristics every character has at this point, that's kind of why people fall in love with characters? And to be fair, literally everyone was fucked over by the new 52.

I would also argue that engaging in fanon is like... the opposite of seeing canon. Like there's no way to connect those dots. All the popular fanon tropes in the bat fandom specifically were either characteristics redistributed to other characters or plot lines redistributed to other characters or like character roles redistributed to other characters... and I don't see how that's expressing an appreciation or desire for anything other than the version of your favorite character that only lives in your head. Like there's no substance? So... why not move on to a character you can actually appreciate as they are? This especially bugs me because like.... lmao the characters you want to see are literally right there in canon?? But they're either brown/black/not white or women. So. I don't think sidelining certain characters and taking all the interesting things about them and then giving those things to the white male characters is like.... fun.

And I'm not expecting people to know everything once they enter a fandom, but it's only common sense to figure out like the basics of the characters you're drawn to? Do you have to read every comic ever written about the character you like? No. But should you at least read some? Probably, yeah? Should you at least know their character motivations, who they hang out with and the dynamics they have, their personalities? Like, yeah? Why else would you like them lmao?

And that's really the root of the problem. A lot of people don't like the characters they think they like, they like the way they look or the role they may have in the narrative, like a 'bad boy' for instance, and they kind of make up everything else. Again, why? Why not just move on to a character or media you can enjoy as is? I'm not saying not to indulge in AUs or whatever, AUs can be fun! I'm not saying not to indulge in whatever scenario you're fixated on with these characters, everyone does that because its fun. But if you make the character itself so far removed from what they would actually do or say, you just created an original character and you slapped on a trademarked name. And that's what it's like in this fandom and many fandoms, seeing people play around with their OCs but claiming them as the actual characters you know and love. (And also claiming that these OCs are in character). And obviously, the more popular these OCs become, or certain headcanons become, the harder it is to enjoy what you actually came to the fandom for. Which is the characters... characterized how they are in canon...Like it's just not logical lol. Like yall are fucking up my happy place too, you know?

“He wouldn’t do that in canon!!!” “He would never say that!!”

SO FUCKING WHAT??

[henrysblake]

definitive dragon series ranking based on what i can half remember from books i read aged 8 to 12:

1. Eragon, obviously. FORMATIVE MEDIA. my favourite pastime aged 10ish was coming up with eragon OCs. i spent hours drawing dragons based off the book covers. Obsessed.

2. Last Dragon Chronicals. This series has Everything: squirrels, dragons, arctic expeditions, a dissapearing house!? and whats that, is it a coherent continuation of the series that will wrap everything up nicely soon enough? NO! its an alternate universe where everything is even more batshit and there are apostrophes everywhere! Probably read these before Eragon if im being honest, and fully didn’t have a clue what was happening for the entire series. Who was the target audience for these. 10/10.

3. dragon riders. listen i dont remember much about this one but i do remember loving it. books that make you go ‘oh my god i wish dragons were real so so so bad’

4. how to train your dragon. Ok im not actually ranking these at this point and i only read the first an maybe second of these (very good, i think). Special shout out to the films and more specifically the tv series Race to the Edge which bridges the first and second films and is genuinely a masterpiece of kids tv. It was paced well enough that there was a fair amount of fun filler stuff that made it not unbearable (looking at you v*ltron), but still wasn’t too slow and had genuine stakes. You know the villain decay trope yous always talk about? executed BRILLIANTLY. Don’t even talk to me about villain decay if ur not prepared to talk about dagur the deranged. The final season leads impeccably into the second film in a way that is genuinely really rewarding (i think the second film came out a fair bit before). the dragons. OH BABY the dragons!!!!! so many wonderful dragons!!!!!! is anyone reading this anymore???? Hellooooooo!!!!!!! im gonna do my degree in dragons i swear to god

5. harry potter. not a dragons series, but that scene where they escape gringotts and free that dragon is a literary and cinematic masterpiece.

[whump-to-whump]

Hey...Look I'm Actually Posting Something!!

This is something I've wanted to do for a while. I've just sat in the shadows and loving from afar, but well...I need to get out of my shell and convince myself that there are others like me out there so, here I am! Here's a few things about me I guess:

-My name is Leon -He/they please^^!! -Certified soft boy -Very anxious but trying my best And I suppose the most important part: -I have too many ocs Yeah lol. I do. There are some who I prefer to keep in my head right now and there are others whom I've created recently to help jumpstart my time here! It'll help me stay unrecognized^^ I use Picrews a lot to help bring my characters to life. I hope you enjoy my little corner of the internet. So uhm. Ah right. I have a stream on consciousness writing style when it comes to talking about myself. I apologize if that gets pretty annoying pretty quickly. My personal favorite Whump Tropes (tm) are: -Sleep deprivation -Pretty much any sickness (I'm a sucker for those. Especially when they try to hide it...mmm that's the good stuff) -Guilt (it's an outlet for me) -Villains being taken advantage of by "heroes" -Conditioning! -Failed escapes -Passing out -Torture (medicinal normally) -Night terrors~~!! This one is a bit specific but; -When the Whumpee begins shutting everyone out because they believe themself to be a burden to all; hiding injuries, sickness, emotions, etc. And when their teammates find out its just a huge comfort session and aah,,,always makes me tear up a little. And of course; some comfort tropes: -Whumpee and Caretaker huddling in a blanket together on a couch -Group hugs! -Honestly anything to do with blankets,,, -Stuffed animals~!!! -Caretaker staying with Whumpee all night while holding their hand to make sure that Whumpee is okay -Cuddling/little hand gestures that let the Whumpee know that everything's going to be okay -Movie night at 3 in the morning because Whumpee and Caretaker both can't sleep I think that's it for that section! I don't want to make this too long because then no one would read it. I'll do an O.C introduction in another post just to make everything less cluttered. One more thing I forgot to mention earlier; I'm very insecure about my writing and about myself, really. Due to bad experiences in the past I'm very nervous to actually write anything, let alone post it. It's bad paranoia which doesn't really get better. So, if I go dark for months, don't worry. I either got all my stuff taken away again or I'm too nervous to come back and post anything. Anyway, I think that's it! I hope that uh,,,my writing will bring some smiles to your face! I think anyway.

[silentauroriamthereal]

Five favourites

So, @totallysilvergirl and @anindoorkitty and at least one other lovely person (I’m so sorry that I’ve forgotten who you were!!!) tagged me in a thing that I wasn’t going to do it, because picking only FIVE favourites out of EIGHTY-SIX fics feels like an unusually cruel task to set before me, but I’m caving to the pressure. I thought about rebelling and doing ten, because I do have a significant output here (just tipped 2.3 million words!!)... but then it gets even harder to choose! This was still just so, so hard. If someone asked me ���if I could only read five of your stories ever, which five would you prefer that to be?”, I GUESS I would give them these ones. And yes, I can count. It’s six. Deal with it. 

Against the Rest of the World. I mean, you knew this would be on here. It’s my longest story (in this fandom, at least), clocking in just below 152,000 words. It took me four solid months of working on it daily to write. It’s in first person voice, which is something I’ve almost never done for any other character apart from Sherlock, but writing it that way made it feel like I was living directly inside his head for those months. I missed him when the story was over. It’s the fic upon which my unpublished novel is based. It took me more location research than anything else I’ve ever written. Every single place in there, be it a street, restaurant, hotel, store, etc, is a real place. Much of this story was set in countries that has not (yet?) permitted google maps access. That added to the challenge for sure. It’s not perfect and may well not be my best writing ever, but this thing was a beast to write! I was updating with new chapters on average every six days. I never want to live like that again, which is why I never post unfinished WIPs anymore - I can’t handle the pressure! I might post it in chunks, but it’s always finished first. 

Bridging the Ravine. I just found this universe so much fun to live in! It has a record number of named OCs (over 20, I believe!), some of whom are fully-fledged people who come back in the sequel, etc, plus the luxurious atmosphere of the spa-like retreat centre, the added bonus of getting to write Sherlock and John some much-needed therapy following series 4, the need to pose as a couple for the case anyway (fun fact: this was my first time ever knowingly writing a known trope!), the unabashed romance of it... yeah. It was fun. :) 

The Wisteria Tree. For sheer emotional impact alone, I think this is some of my best writing. Multiple readers have told me that they cried throughout. I hadn’t even known that “amnesia fic” was a Thing was out there, in my sheltered little life over here! The concept of this story is that Sherlock suffers memory loss spanning over five years and wakes up from a coma to discover that, in that time, he and John got married. His furious attempt to retroactively catch up to the person he had become is both painful and, I hope, romantic as John struggles with having lost what they had, too. But they find their way. 

Scars. If you want to see how dark my writing can go, look no further. There’s a scene in this story I finished writing, stood up even as I was closing my laptop, put on shoes and walked out of my apartment. I just had to get physically away from the fic. I did a heap of research on this one, too, specifically following the questions of: was Mary’s behaviour toward John in series 3 (this was written before series 4 aired) gaslighting and emotionally abusive? And if it was, how does that behaviour typically play out in female->male spousal abuse situations? I talked to three different therapists, only one of whom had seen Sherlock. I showed the other two the opening scene between John and Mary in HLV and without hesitation, they both agreed that it was absolutely textbook gaslighting. I asked all three of them how, if left unchecked, abusive relationships of that nature typically progress. This story goes there, and it’s ugly. It gets to a good place by the end, but there’s a journey you have to endure first. I’m proud of this one notwithstanding, particularly of a scene in chapter 5 (where Sherlock finds out the full extent of what happened). But omg, read the warnings first if you haven’t read this one and are thinking of trying it!! 

Vena Cava. I have written so very many series 3 fix-its. I love all of them for their own reasons, but if you put a gun to my head and made me choose my favourite of them, it would still be this one. The dual hurt-comfort structure (Sherlock is suffering physically from Mary’s shot; John is suffering emotionally from it), the fact that it’s all set within HLV, and the bathroom kiss scene just put it up there for me. 

The White Lotuses. A classic example of a SilentAuror domestic comfort fic! So much good food in this story, plus a delightful (I hope!) slow burn. A go-to for a bad day that needs salvaging. :) 

Honestly, ask me again on a different day and I’ll give you five (or six!) totally different stories. This is too hard!! Seriously, so mean. Lol. 

[aloera]

The ask prompt is too long to fit into an ask TT_TT but here's the doc for it docs(.)google(.)com/document/d/1yDI7iFRhOJ8ENv_IwZAo3rDSUqj80EiJROS10RzRbj4/edit

the lengths u are going for this,,, much appreciated you're very sweet!!!

prompts + answers under the cut!!

INTRODUCTION

Name: aloera

AO3 account: aloera

Fandoms you write for: bnha

How many stories have you written so far: 19

FANFICTION PROFILE

What's your favorite fandom to write for? hmm,,, used to do pjo and eah (ever after high) and eah was fun as fuck i will say!!! i think bnha is my fav mostly bc i made the most friends in this fandom :D

What's your favorite character/person to write for? bkg and kirishima!! cannot choose do not make me <3

Fic you'd want to improve? probably what we deserve? i rushed the beginning and the confession is a bit stilted imo

Hardest fic you've written? between lion and men -_- bc there is so much canon compliant stuff i've gotta write out before i get to the divergence and its HARD

Easiest fic you've written? come home to me!!! it happened so easily,,, no second guessing no writers block just vibes <33 was lovely i miss it

What would you say is the most "famous" fic you've ever written? also probably come home to me? its got the most interaction

first line of the first fic you've ever written and published. [not including my 2014 ffnet fics] "The bell rings, class starts, and Katsuki and Midoriya are inexplicably absent." from come home to me

Have you ever done a collab with another writer? yes!!!!! on two separate occasions and its so fucking fun i highly recommend trying it out its the best

Do you beta? if asked but honestly im a shit beta lmao

Do you like joining fic fests/exchanges? depends on what i have going on irl but in general yeah!!

FANFICTION PREFERENCES

Fluff or angst? definitely fluff

"OCs" or "Reader" inserts? reader inserts!! have been going ham on them recently

Blurbs or drabbles? blurbs!!

One thing you love about fanfiction i just. i really love slice of life romance?? and most media doesn't give you that bc its dedicated to plot and action and that's valid!! but fanfiction fills in the gap which is really nice

One thing you don't like about fanfiction most of the stuff i don't like is less about actual fanfiction and more about how people behave about it

What is/are your favorite fandom author/authors? IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE!!! TURN IT UP!!!

bnha: hiuythn, rae_tnub, Moniix, Ata_Lanta, wrunic, chezka, PurplePersnickety, surveycorpsejean, mahadevi, arxaris, deviance, Oceanbreeze7, MikeWritesThings, bonnia, wonhaebunny, dinosuns

voltron: hiuythn, Oceanbreeze7, DeerstalkerDeathFrisbee, arahir, dinosuns,

and honorable mention to loveclouds im not even in the haikyuu fandom i just love their fics So Much

these are just the ones off the top of my head i have so many favourites idc if i'm only supposed 2 have one!! die mad about it!!!

What is your favorite trope? secret relationship + relationship reveal til the day i die babie <3 <3

Least favorite trope? hm,,, probably just like. angst lmao i cannot stand 90% of it

A fanfiction cliché that you can't help but love? coffeeshop aus,,,, so good

Do you have a type when it comes to pairings? the otp where its like. piece of shit + himbo = love. ex. krbk, catradora, jade/beck

Favorite setting/au? hm,,, truly i cannot pick one KGKSJNHKj but i really like college aus!! and modern aus!! and roommate aus!!

Explain the meaning of your favorite line of dialogue you've written as if someone hasn't read it in context. “He doesn’t know,” Katsuki says, softly. “My timer stopped and nothing happened. He’s not mine.”

the line is from what we deserve!! it's a soulmate au where your timer counts down to the moment that you meet your soulmate!! bakugou's timer ends at USJ when he and kirishima attack kurogiri at the same time (impulsive kings <33) but kirishima's timer doesn't end until kamino because that's when he accepts himself as bakugous soulmate!! unfortunately, when bakugous timer has reached 0, he turned to see that kirishima's was still ticking and therefore believes that kirishima isn't his soulmate.

this line just,, idk. it's really sad. bakugou is such an action-driven character? if something doesn't go his way he Makes it go his way. he's got this insanely volatile quirk and he's got impeccable control of it!! but his love for kirishima isn't something that he can change and he's not going to ruin kirishima's chance of finding his own soulmate because he loves him and wants him to be happy. i really wanted to focus on how resigned he is? and how unusual that is for a character like him.

Favorite trope/genre to write? again, secret relationship with relationship reveals <33 fluff in general is my wheelhouse!!!

A trope/genre you haven't written but think would be a fun challenge? idk if this counts?? have been working on some dead dove concepts!! its super different from what i normally write so its a cool challenge

The one trope/concept you'll never touch and why probably cheating/infidelity?? it just looks,,, super difficult to write well and i don't have enough of an interest in it to try it out

Which do you prefer to write: longer or shorter fics? shorter!! low attention span gang <3

Ideal length to read? 5-10k?

Ideal length to write? 4-8k!!

How long was the longest fic you've ever written? control fraek is around 28k i think?

Have you ever written an AU? yeah!! i've done restaurant au's, soulmate au's, pro hero aus, and fantasy aus (general, not the bnha fantasy ending)

What's your favorite AU trope? hm,, probably when two people in authority are in a secret relationship? ceo's/uni professors/etc etc

Have you ever written smut? yeah!! was. difficult tho

What's your comfort genre? (the one you fall on most in writing/reading) fluff,,, hurt/comfort,,, fix-it fics with happy endings <3

If you were to start writing in other fandoms, which would they be? maybe jjk?? the characters are really cool!!!! fr i might go back to my ever after high roots i love the characters and setting so Much its so fun!!! idec if no ones into it anymore!!!!!

Is there a trope you think you could be easily recognized by in your writing? i've had people say they saw the mention of buff hagakure and recognized it was me so. probably that skdjhnksjd

WRITING STYLE

How would you describe your style? i tend to use shorter sentences and pretty simple words i think? and i gravitate towards lighthearted concepts that allow for ensemble casts and humour!!

Describe your style in three words romcom but fanfic

Favorite words to use when writing? the word reverent!! fuckin love including it!!

Dialogue tags or no dialogue tags? (she said, he said, they said, etc) dialogue tags!!!

Favorite dialogue tag (other than said, if you use them) again idk if this counts but "they said softly" is unmatched

Long sentences vs short vs a mix short <33

What colors would you use to describe your writing? hm,,, depends on the fic i would say?? control fraek is dark green to me?? kinda like a forest at night yk?? scary but there's still life there. sugar cookies is yellow like early morning sunlight, when it rains is yellowy-orange like a caution sign. not gonna list all of them cause theres a lot its just. do u get it? the colours change based on the vibe of the fic.

What song or music genre would you use to describe your writing? think. i am constantly trying to emulate that moment at the end of wasteland baby when hozier goes "im in love/im in love with you."

What kind of metaphors do you rely on? religious metaphors my beloved <33 they're just so pretty!!! i also love comparing stuff to water for some reason?? like that ocean vuong quote thats like "what are you now?/water." it goes hard!!!

What's something you'd say is experimental in your writing at this time? definitely action!! i have,,, no idea how to write it so anything i do is really just me playing around and seeing what works and what doesn't

Do you prefer to write by hand or to type? i've tried both!! personally i prefer typing because it goes way faster but i will say that writing by hand lets me get words down when i'm going through writer's block

What is your preferred place to write (notebook, laptop, cellphone, etc.)? laptop!!

What app/apps do you use to write (word, notepad, etc.)? google docs skjdnkjh its fine on desktop but mobile is,,,,, disgusting

Do you keep a notebook or file/notes page in your phone/device for notes on your writing? ngl i just have everything organized in my drive?? one folder per fandom and then sub folders for ideas+hcs, unfinished wips, and finished fics. multichaps get sub sub folders so i can organize outlines and drafts

Do you listen to music to help you write? yeah!! playlists organized by fic vibe :D

Where do you usually go to write (bedroom, living room, etc.)? mostly in my bedroom??? but moving around to different stops helps too i think!!

How long does it usually take for you to write? again this depends on what i have going on irl, how attached i am to the idea, my mindset at the time, etc!! i am,, the least consistent person skjnhdkjh.

What's your favorite font to use when writing? times new roman my beloved

Other writing habits? sometimes i'll write in the dark?? bad for my eyes but for some reason it gets the words flowing

CONCEPTUALIZATION

How do you conceptualize your ideas? (See specific moments like they're a movie, writing specific lines in your head, don't know until you put the words on paper, etc.) i tend to get inspiration from movies, books, poems, or other fics!!! sometimes one line just makes me go oh,, i want to write something like that,,, and then it helps me create an idea that makes me feel the same way?? i did this with control fraek!!!! i wanted a scenario where bakugou was cold and calculating and i was like hm. to do that he’d have to be focusing on something important. and from there i was able to flesh out the rest of the idea.

Which comes first: the pairing or the plot? with krbk its always always the pairing,, i'll be sitting there like wow <33 i love them <33 what if one of them had amnesia <33 (which, yes, wip!!) otherwise it's usually the plot!! and i slot in characters that i feel make sense

Have you ever used a prompt? yeah!! used a prompt for wlw week 2020 and it was fun as hell

Do you write around the story around a specific scene you want to get to or do you start from a plot idea definitely the first!!!! i almost always write like,,, a super messy scene thats 90% dialogue, keep it in my head, and then write the entire fic around that one moment

Do you find that you include a projection of some part of yourself in the way you write a character? a lot of the time when i write love confessions or love in general i'll have one of the characters think or say that the other person makes their head quiet? and it's because that's what i feel whenever i'm in love?? a quiet mind. i project on characters yeah but i think most of the projection actually goes to the way that i write love

Do you research some of the things you write deeply, partially and kind of wing the rest, or play entirely by ear (in this case, go with whatever base knowledge of the subject you have)? most of the time if i do research it'll be about the setting (ex. the izakaya in to have and to hold) or if i'm having the characters interact with an object that they like. need to know how to use (me, in control fraek: google. hey google. does someone die if they get shot in the foot??? no???? awesome thank u <3)

Have you ever had an idea for a story and forgot about it? lmaoo yeah all the time i'll find like 500-2k words of concepts in my gdocs like i do. not remember this at all

Is there a trope you think you could be easily recognized by in your writing? probably krbk secret relationship lmao

Are there concepts you've tried that turned out better than expected? yeah!! i fully thought the action in control fraek would be awful but it turned out not bad??? which im happy with

Are there concepts you've tried that turned out worse than you expected? again, what we deserve, i personally think it would have worked out better if i'd paced it slower and drawn out the pining but i. do not feel like going back to fix it so its staying the way that it is. pining is so fucking hard to do AHHHH i get so tired with it!!! im like just date already!!!!

PROCESS

How do you come up with titles? in rare occasions (literally. all my multichaps for some reason) the title comes after writing like .5 words of the first chapter im like YES this is it!!!!! sometimes i write the whole thing and pick out one line that fits (what i did with come home to me) a lot of the time i just. steal from songs or poems that i like

What's your favorite emotion to cause on your readers? i like making people happy!!!! love when people comment saying they're cheered up

What's your favorite emotion to write? lovelovelovelovelovelove

Have you ever cried or felt any emotion while reading something you've written? never cried?? but sometimes i'll rereading my hurt/comfort fics 4. yk. comfort

Do you write in order or whatever comes to you? in order!! unless i have a scene that i Need to write and i'll quickly jot it down so that i don't forget

Usual way you procrastinate while writing? ...doing asks like this, making playlists, discord, watching netflix. what don't i do smh

Do you outline or free write? i am. so shit at outlines. i mostly free write and write lil notes for stuff that i wanna add later

Do you set word goals or scene goals (scenes you want to include)? yes!! like i said i'll write loose notes for scenes that i want to add later!! it gives me something to write towards :D

What do you consider when writing your scenes? what goes into making the atmosphere and mood you want? to set a scene i do two things? the first is like,, the five senses bc that always sets the scene really well and makes it feel Real. i'll visualize stuff in my head like its a movie and write out what i would want to tell the set designer?? if the lights are low, if the space is busy, if it's supposed to exude comfort or not.

for putting forward the character's mood one thing i've found that makes a difference is sentence length!! long sentences are good for making a character seem flustered and nervous or not really in control of their emotions? good for love confessions. short sentences are good for when the character is focused on something or short on time. good for fights!!

What's something you never considered to include in your writing that you can't leave out now? def buff hagakure,,,, once i thought of it i was like. if i don't include this at least once in every single fic how could i look at myself in the mirror!!!!!! how could i face anyone!!!!

How do you start a story? establishing a fact about the character or describing the setting! option a is one single thread of gold, option b is between lion and men

How do you end a story? either by tying it back to the beginning or doing like a funny kind of closing??? option a is sugar cookies, option b is a godless society

How do you get out of writer's block? change something!! move something!! i go from typing to handwriting, moving from my bedroom to my living room, switching wips to work on something else!! i do sprints as well?? give myself like fifteen minutes to write something and sometimes 200 words opens up the way for another 2k. sometimes i'll just delete like 500 words and start fresh

Do you edit? or do you toss your writing out there? i edit!!! i'll go over it myself then send it to one or two betas (bee my beloved <33)

How do you edit? do you use spellcheck, grammar checkers, etc? bee is my grammar checker bc he is So Good with grammar. i use grammarly as well for spellcheck stuff mostly?? sometimes my edit process is just like "am i tired of looking at this!! yes <3" and then i post it

PROGRESS

Do you usually like what you write? yeah!!! i post stuff that makes me happy and that i'm fine with rereading!!! i write stuff for self-indulgence reasons first and foremost and i think my writing reflects that sjhnksj

Have you ever written something you didn't like but posted anyways? nope!! even what we deserve i LIKED even if i see a lot of room 4 improvement!! if i don't like smth it's not getting posted

Do you find yourself rereading your writing often? yeah!! the reason i wrote so much krbk secret relationship is because i loved it but i'd read all that there was so i just,, wrote more,, ngl its kinda nice being in a place where i actually like my writing bc i can write stuff that i want to see and really enjoy it!!

Can you tell us anything about your current WIP? sure!! i'm currently working on when it rains which is a fic where bakugou gets hit by a crying quirk!! i'm gonna be using it to explore So Much of all might's character and his relationships with bakugou and aizawa (and i think some people from his past!!)

Can you give us a sneak peek on your current WIP? “You did something. What the hell did you do?” Kirishima sounds pissed off. It would amuse Katsuki if he wasn’t fighting just to stay standing.

“Nothing he didn’t ask for,” Shinsou replies.

“K’ri… shima,” Katsuki croaks out. “‘S fine. Not him.”

His chest collapses back into the familiar dry heaving after that but Kirishima shuts up. He doesn’t apologize to Shinsou.

Kirishima’s a good friend, stubborn and loyal. He stands by Katsuki’s side like an attack dog, blocking him from the view of anyone ogling at his tears.

The last line you've written Ochako knows more than she'd realized. She knows enough to keep her guard up.

It’s not enough.

Open a wip. what’s the first line?

Katsuki wakes up feeling like absolute fucking shit.

INSIGHT

What's your favorite thing about writing? touched on this before but it's mainly just being able to write the things that i want to see and actually enjoy them!!! actually reread them!!!! i thought "wouldn't it be cool if bkg and kirishima owned a restaurant together" and then i wrote it and i like it enough to reread it!!!! being able to create content for myself makes me. so happy

How do you keep yourself inspired? this is gonna sound narcissistic maybe but honestly i'm just really excited about my ideas and where i'm gonna take them and the idea of "i'm gonna get to That scene" keeps me going through the entire thing. also my friends!!!! i'll talk to them about fics and their reactions keep me hyped up enough to finish!!!!

What is your favorite thing to write? just,, slice of life romance,,, stuff thats silly and makes people laugh!!

What do you think your strengths are in writing? i'm good with dialogue!! i do lil voice acting sessions with myself to make sure everything sounds natural and like it's coming from that character skhjnskj

i'm comfortable with my portrayal of love as well??? i spend a lot of time thinking about what it is exactly that i'm trying to get across and i think it turns out well!!

What are things you wish you could practice more? on one hand i wanna get better at writing angst on the other hand i dislike writing angst. do you see my issue

One way you've improved your writing since you began? characterization!! i think i've gotten better at writing characters that are all Different and bring different things to the table!!! i used to project a lot more and it would compromise the characterization because the character was like 70% me and 30% them? not to say that projection is bad but if you do it too much it just,, doesn't read like the character and from a reader's standpoint the narrative can become less compelling

One aspect of writing you're still working on? writing action!!! i. literally hate writing it but i write for a fandom about superheroes so. Unfortunately i gotta learn.

A piece of writing advice you've learned while writing saw this on another tumblr post but they said sometimes if you're struggling with a scene, the problem is five lines back. i've found that to be true!!!! sometimes u gotta delete a chunk and start a little ways back!! i did this with too busy being yours because i was stuck for Weeks and i deleted like 25% of what i had but it helped me actually finish it :D

A bit of writing advice you can't stand when people shit on show don't tell for being overrated lmao bc when u read their writing you can Tell

Something you wish you knew when you first started writing? ,,,,honestly i kind of wish i could know some of the stuff that i used to when i first started writing?? technically i'm better now but creatively i was must better when i wasn't stressing about whether anyone would like what i was writing. so i guess i wish i knew that i should keep that confidence? i kinda wish that i wasn't as insecure about other people's writing styles because i never used to be!!

Something you've learned in life that you apply in writing there's no point in feeling inferior?? writing one genre isn't better than the other. being in one fandom isn't better than being in another. the kind of language you use or the length of your paragraphs- none of that stuff like. matters. what matters is that you're having fun and happy with what you're creating!!!! enjoy other peoples writing but don't let it make you feel worse about yours :D

[monsieur-hadrien]

Harry Potter Fanfic Recommendations continued...

I did one of these lists back in June, and y’all KNOW! that I have even more to share with the world.

This list is a mix between crossovers and single-fandom fics, and are drarry or rarepair-centric, but either way I’ll mark which are which when I get to it.

If you want to see what I’ve been enjoying lately, check out my bookmarks on the Archive

Man of Iron, Child of Magic by zathara001

Harry Potter and MCU, no slash, 107k word count, 32 chapters, completed, teen

In the aftermath of the Chitauri invasion, Tony Stark sorts out his priorities - including one he didn't think he had.

Okay I followed this one from the beginning as a WIP because this is exactly the fic that I was looking for. Tony being Irondad for Harry is the most wholesome thing ever, and Uncle Steve is also 20/10. I will say, this fic is not as dark as a lot of this hp/mcu fics of this trope because it happens in Harry’s younger Hogwarts years and his childhood isn’t too ruined just yet. It focuses a lot on Tony’s growth as a father rather than working through Harry’s trauma (which, don’t get me wrong, that happens as well). Harry still has the naive outlook on life that a child should have and it just makes my heart swell.

Although this fic is done, the sequel has not been uploaded yet, as this fic was just completed late August, but don’t let that deter you. The author is a sweetheart to interact with on new updates (which were quite frequent).

Golden Boy’s Dance by Madriddler

Harry Potter, Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy/Blaise Zabini, 57k word count, 13 chapters, completed, explicit

Two years after the defeat of Voldemort and Harry is feeling useless. Jobless and suffering from PTSD, Harry spent his days going from horrible interview to horrible interview hopelessly looking for a job. Feeling completely useless, Harry, with the help of George, turns to a new profession that Harry never even thought of : being a camboy. Pleasuring himself for money and people's entertainment, Harry hopes to find a use for the Savior of the Wizarding World in this Peaceful Era.

Yeah so uh,,, this is a total guilty pleasure kink fic and I’m not at all ashamed for putting this fic on here. I won’t even lie, sometimes it felt a bit cheesey, but the porn was so well written it didn’t even matter. I swear to you this is porn with plot and lots of it. Harry works through his post traumatic stress disorder in ways that may or may not be slightly unhealthy, but beyond the porn, it’s really about Harry being okay in his own skin, as someone with mental health issues and as a sex worker. It was a hell of a good time to read and I definitely cried for Harry a time or two.

A Dented Old Street Sign by orphanghost

Harry Potter, Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy, 27k word count, one-shot, completed, mature

Draco knows they aren't the only students who will be completing their NEWTs this year, but they are the only ones whose home fireplaces were disconnected from the floo network by the ministry.

At least, Draco assumes as much until he sees the light falling out from the front door of one of the other rickety old houses in front of them and the three figures cast in its warm glow. For a moment they look like some sort of strange, many legged creature. An acromantula, or a particularly massive Blast-Ended Skrewt. Then Draco hears Pansy make a disgusted sound beside him and the light falls in a less blinding way, and Draco can see that it is actually Potter and the Weasel carrying a large couch between them, and Granger fluttering around them with her wand out, seeming concerned.

I don’t think I’ve laughed this much reading a fic in a long time. The golden trio and the Slytherin gang live in the same neighborhood while attending their 8th year at Hogwarts and i swear to fucking god, the amount of mutual pining and angst between Harry and Draco is fucking ridiculous, but you can’t help but love them anyway. Sometimes I wanted to throttle them and then shove them into a closet together so they would just t a l k but like in a good way. also the Christmastime atmosphere is something I just live for.

Words Unread, Things Unsaid by PinkCrupps

Harry Potter, no slash Harry & Snape, 18k word count, 7 chapters, completed, teen

What if the Dursley’s were a little crueler, and a little smarter? What if they didn’t want Harry going to school because they didn’t want anyone to see the bruises?

What if Harry had to leave for Hogwarts, carrying a shameful secret? One that Severus Snape is determined to discover.

When I say this one hurt, I mean it h u r t. I feel so bad because when I first read the tags I laughed when I saw the illiterate tag because I make the “I can’t read” jokes often but then I read the fic and i felt SO BAD OMG.

I am no fan of Snape, let it be known, but this fic, I think made me feel like he actually deserved a bit of a redemption arc (even if it’s fanon). This whole time, all I could think of is giving harry a big hug and never letting him go.

I said this in the notes of my bookmark, and I stand by it: “

I feel like the hurt/comfort tag on this one is also meant for the reader”

What Happens to the Heart by Mossycoat

Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, 33k word count, 18 chapters, completed, mature

With no girlfriend, no job, and no idea what he wants, Harry has decided to let life go on without him. If only prophetic dreams, demanding ghosts, and Draco Malfoy would let him.

If you need a pick-me-up after the sadness for the prior fic, may i recommend this one. Seer!Harry is a headcanon that I had never seen before this fic, and I was not let down whatsoever. We love a fic where the OCs are wonderful and the writing style is immaculate. The incorporation of tarot and divination into the chapter names and plot also makes my babywitch heart s i n g!!

Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Relevant_Peach

Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, 70k word count, 15 chapters, completed, no rating specified, but probably teen/ mature for mental health tingz

Draco Malfoy would do anything to find a cure for his son's life-threatening disease. When he crosses paths with an old acquaintance, it unleashes a string of events that will uncover secrets and deceptions. Will Draco be able to look past the misdeeds of his old lover's past? Will Harry ever find the family he longs for?

Ah yes, who knew that pain could feel so good. Everything seems to be fine until it isn’t with this one.

Turn by Saras_Girl

Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, 306k word count, 14  chapters, completed, explicit

One good turn always deserves another. Apparently.

oh my goD yes a classic we love to see it. This is one of those fics that is long but doesn’t reallly feel like it is? This is definitely another feel-good fic, even if it doesn’t seem that way in the beginning. Not only does it focus on Harry and Draco’s relationship, but also their relationships with their family, specifically their children. It’s just really heartwarming whenever Harry get’s all fatherly with his kids. ugh I swear I don’t want any but this is just SO ADORABLE! Plus Blaise Zabini rights thank you very much.

Also Boris can suck my left toe.

There’s a Pureblood Custom For That by Lomonaaeren

Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, 105k word count, 36 chapters, completed, mature

The day that Harry stops Draco Malfoy and his son from being bothered in the middle of Diagon Alley starts a strange series of interactions between him and Malfoy. Who knew there was a pure-blood custom for every situation?

This is another fluffier one, and I have absolutely no shame. Draco is just trying so hard to get through Harry’s thick, clueless skull and Harry is just trying to understand. They’re just so adorable I can’t. And Harry defending Draco’s and his relationship after people are like fuck naw just warms my heart. Like yes Harry, protect ur mans you adorable himbo you.

Our Own Demons by Emmalie22

Harry Potter, MCU, Harry Potter & Tony Stark, Harry Potter/Peter Parker, 119k word count, 24 chapters, WIP, teen/mature

Tony Stark. Genius. Billionaire. Philanthropist. Ironman. (Reckless. Lonely. Father.)

Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived. The Chosen One. Wizard. (The Master of Death. Survivor. Breaking.)

Tony Stark never thought he would be a father. But when a lawyer comes knocking and truths become evident, he realizes that he can’t let his son walk out of his life. For Harry, acknowledging his relationship with Tony is a last-ditch effort to gain freedom and control over his life. Although the journey might not be easy, Tony and Harry learn to heal and become a family, facing trials and tribulations on the way such as a scheming Death, a Mad Titian, Dark Wizards, dangerous Doctors, and living Wards.

I’m so sorry to give you a WIP that hasn’t been updated in 10 months, but I couldn’t let this one slide. I’m so attached to these characters it’s unhealthy. I’m not gonna lie, this fic was the product of a very hyperspecific filtered search on AO3 but I’m not even mad at it. Tony is Harry’s father but unlike the other fic on this rec list, Harry is a bit more grown up and bears a lot of the scars of 5th year (y’all don’t need me to specify with that one). It’s a lovely family dynamic and super fluffy Peter and Harry wow we love to see it. Harry is also super fucking smart AS HE IS! I will never get over people calling him stupid ugh Harry rights. But yes, author friend, if you see this, update when you can I’m so in love with this.

If anybody wants me to do more specific lists, I will totally do so. Just reblog or private message me. And if you have any other fic recs, please do so too because I’m always looking for something else to read.

[onthevirgeofdestruction]

35 Q’s for Fanfic Writers

From this post

I’m having a shitty, rude alter-y, crap night so I’m just going to answer all of these to distract myself and focus and to not bother anybody just making my own post and putting it under the cut btw, notice to anyone not aware: since I’m moving I won’t likely be updating anything until I’m done doing so.

1. From one to five stars, how would you rate your writing?  (No downplaying yourself!) 3/5? Could use more editing and description and can be weirdly paced.

2. Why do you write fanfiction? Because it’s better than focusing on pain 24/7. 

3. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works? I don’t seem to have a specific narrative voice that people recognize but I’m pretty proud of mostly organic dialogue. 

4. Are there any writers that inspire you? as a rule i never look up to anybody for inspiration but there’s some stuff in my ao3 bookmarks I fawn over.

5. What’s the fic you’re most proud of? Right now, none of them. It changes normally, anyway. If get too proud then I’d get my ass kicked by RSD if someone didn’t like it so it’s safer this way

6. What element of writing do you find comes easily? Dialogue. 

7. What element of writing do you struggle with most? Organic description, poetic language kind of stuff. I can paint a scene but I’m not so great with bring out out a feeling with description alone.

8. Which character(s) do you find easiest to write? Janus and Virgil are probably tied. They both have things I struggle with but I don’t have to go back and do much adjusting of language and tone with them. Though admittedly my Virgil is signifigantly more foul-mouthed than canon and I tend to prefer pre-AA feral asshole Virgil.

9. Which character(s) do you find most difficult to write? Patton. I write him the least, so people can probably tell. I love Patton, I really do, but it’s so hard to keep away from fanon Patton. 

10. What’s your favorite genre to write for? Angst w/ H/C obviously. Or if you’re talking about regular book genres, Fantasy. I fucking love fantasy world building.

11. Who or what do you find yourself writing about most? Trauma. I blame Daeram. As if Ayri isn’t a giant Angst Demon.

12. Tell us about a WIP you’re excited about. Slopes. I’m really into it. I’ve got three one shots running right now. Patrons can read the first part of the unnamed cat remus one, there’s also a coffeeshop au tropey nonsense one like eglantine & lycoris, but Slopes is addiction angst. Mmmmm. Virgil is addicted to coke and alcohol and will listening to his friends even be in time? Who knows, especially not me, but there’s already over 30k. 

13. First fandom you ever wrote for? InuYasha. Or was it Harry Potter? Or shit, The Blue Sword? Fuck, I’ve been writing for a long time, I really have no idea.

14. What’s your favorite fandom to write for? Sanders Sides. The characters are the perfect dynamic for writing since they exist in balance of each other and the popular, easy to project on archetypes featured are incredibly fun to do basically any scenario with.

15. What’s the weirdest fandom you’ve ever written for? Weird storywise? Kingdom Hearts? I can’t even follow the plot anymore. Weird Fandomwise? Sanders Sides. Its simultainiously the fluffiest and angstiest nonsense at the same time.

16. Any guilty pleasure trope(s)? Vampires. Gay ones. Gay Vampires. I also love calm tol and angy smol.

17. A trope you’ll never, ever write for. Any tropes that normalize incredibly toxic behaviour or tropes that are inherantly ableist, but I can’t think of any.

18. Wildest fic you’ve ever written? Incorrigible continues to be complete nonsense.

19. Do you prefer canon-compliant, AUs, or something in-between? AUs. I mean closest I even have is canon-divergence other than a single short.

20. Gen fic or shippy stuff? I like it when there is gay nonsense along with a plot that is treated as more important than the relationship the most. But I like both. There’s more shippy stuff in tss so i read more shipping action by default.

21. Favorite pairing to write for? (platonic or romantic!) Anxceit/Sleepxiety, but in general, give me darksides or give me death/j

22. Do you listen to anything while you write? Almost everything I write has a special playlist I listen to to help me write it, but otherwise I listen to my Nyan playlist, an alter is picking the tunes, or a voidfam playlist. I never have music off. When my internet is down I just listen to the songs I own or Anxiety’s theme on loop.

23. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas? I’m fine with all of them. I love working with prompts but I tend to deviate. And I’ve never done a challenge since I can’t do deadlines and bad things happen bingo never sent me a card and I applied three times.

24. One-shots or multi-chaptered works? I am generally multi-chaptered stuff, but I’ve been working on a few one-shots lately that are much longer than most one shots.

25. Have you ever daydreamed about side adventures/spin-offs from your fic? Tell us about them! I was originally thinking of doing some little 13-year-old Dreaming!Roman (y’know, the one with a job) shorts but it turns out I just had an alter of that little bastard and that’s why I inexplicably know more about him then I ever even considered. I still might do them after Dreaming is done. But that’s paced so slowly who knows when that might happen. Otherwise I put stuff in my notes and just do shorts of it if I’m like “oh you know what’s cool???” but since I can’t daydream maybe this question doesn’t apply to me.

26. Is there anything you’ve wanted to write, but you’ve been too scared to try? I want to do more autism stuff, and I’ve had it demanded a few times, but I’m scared of being that explict about it for some reason. Possibly because I might be, possibly because I’m scared of doing it wrong even though I’ve accidentally coded multiple characters autistic. I’m scared of explictly tagging them as such, too. 

27. What’s the nicest comment you’ve ever received? That I can remember off the top of my head? I’m going with one from @a-genz-with-trauma-and-kins. It really helped me out and was just so kind and literally the best christmas gift I got in 2020. 

28. How well do you handle criticism when it comes to your writing? I can handle it alright but Daeram is a little fucking pissbaby about it. Constructive criticism helps people get better, so I appreciate it. I can’t handle critism that is incomplete, though. “i just don’t get it” or “I don’t know I don’t like it” kind of things. If I can’t understand the why to fix it then things get out of control. And then I spiral and RSD for like four days minimum. If it came from an anon or a troll, too, It might not bother me for as long. Things that are just like “this is shit and you should feel bad” just make me laugh. Couldn’t even bother to read it long enough to insult me proper? I don’t care.

29. Have you ever gone outside of your comfort zone for a fic? How did it turn out? I have a few times. Mostly in shorts and prompts, I think. I think they turned out okay. They’re not particularly inspired or anything.

30. Tooth-rotting fluff or merciless angst? Depends on my mood. Am I triggered? give me the fluff. Am I vibin? Angst. 

31. Do you have any OCs? Tell us about them! Fuck, fam, no, I can’t, I have so many. I have multiple original stories and some of them have very large casts and like holy fuck. Or do you mean in Sanders Sides fandom? Um, Morgan and Thorn in PD. The lesbian and her himbo dynamic. I love them. They’re dorks. Morgan is strong person with sharp tongue and soft romantic heart and Thorn is just so kind and so dumb and so exciteable he’s like a puppy. They were just filler characters and I got attached to them. Felton even gets redemption for being an ass later in PD, like oof i never intended to include so much OC content, especially for names I just picked randomly. 

32. Summarize a random fic of yours in 10 words or less. nope I’m doing all of them because these are fun plea for my new self: 2 gay vampires, 4 humans, 1 braincell dreaming while I wake: trauma child needs therapy and so do you break: big oof, oh dragons, oh why, go virgil go rebuild: virgil is so not okay there’s more virgil to deal painful death: gay teens drink themselves into a new religion stargazing: whoops we didn’t realize people actually cared whole castle: everyone will throw down for kid!patton, even you incorrigible: found family with a shot of psychological horror and crack dangerous instincts: wholesome crime syndacite action  slopes: addict gets mugged and thinks that’s just fine with him conflagration: logan avoids everything ever like a champ cat!remus: bored fae shifts gay pining from one person to another  caffeine cyptids: caffinated gay panic goes faster than regular gay panic eglantine & lycoris: more tropes than you can toss a shoe at storytime: overpowered virgil also overreacts literally always

33. Is there anything you wish your audience knew about your writing or writing process? an alter and I write together and I have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen, what I’m writing about, or even what year it is. I often don’t even remember what I wrote. There’s no outline. I have an idea and I pick things at random for it. There’s just notes and an evil gleam in a demon’s eye. The only reason I know more than readers is because I take a long time to edit and some of these stories have fucking alters up in my head who can tell me things. Daeram tells me nothing. The writing demon supposedly has all this knowledge but I have absolutely no clue because he does not talk to me, he just fronts and slams out 9k in a few hours or we cofront to write and I’m like “oh no she didn’t” while typing 

34. Copy and paste an excerpt you’re particularly fond of. i’m fond of the entire painful death series and I tried to find something I really liked without spoilers in stargazing and I couldn’t so here’s a random thing from incorrigble: “So, what do you do with your friends?” Patton continued on with a megawatt smile. “Grand larceny,” Virgil deadpanned and glared at Patton, who was taken aback. Remy and Andy just broke out laughing while Virgil tentatively sipped his still-too-hot-cocoa. 

35. Ramble about any fic-related thing you want!  slopes my dudes slopes i have learned so much about cocaine! like wow! I thought for a minute it was going to end with MCD around 30k but it swtiched from whump to hurt/comfort and I still don’t know if it’s going to be MCD but look at that funky little coke/alcohol addict go, it’s a medical wonder he’s alive! It’s not like there’s what seems to be a little talked about interaction between alcohol and cocaine that causes a toxic chemical to build up in the liver which can result in liver failure and sudden death at basically any moment! Which is part of why it may result in MCD but this time no ghosts! maybe it’ll be h/c with whump elements or maybe it’ll be whump with h/c elements we can’t know for sure