#i just created like 4 new google docs as i typed up fics i wrote while camping so you hit me at the point of maximum WIPs lol

[wren-of-the-woods]

Rules: Post the names of the files in your wip folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title of what most intrigued them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it. If you want, tag as many people as you have wips.

Thank you for tagging me @loki-is-my-kink-awakening! Here goes:

your gaze lights the fire

Lullabies - Kidfic Yennskier

Nature Geraskier <3

Geraskefer + Art & Ferns

True Slug's Kiss / You Hurled Curses At The Land

Yennskier + Bluffs & Love

Jaskel + Redwoods & Gifts

Yen/Essi

Fatalistic Recklessness

Renfri Fic (Buttercup and Butcherbird)

Tagging @ghostinthelibrarywrites @flowercrown-bard @bambirex @dreamofbecoming @blaidd-gwyn @samstree @cherryjuicegf @damatris @artistsfuneral @alllthequeenshorses and anyone else who feels like it! <3

[febuwhump]

febuwhump 2024 survey results

has it been six months since febuwhump? yes. yes it has. nevertheless, here's the cold hard data (analysis) of the survey from febuwhump 2024: feb five.

firstly, this year was our most popular yet! with 1417 works in the official collection across 329 fandoms, we made (and shared) 103 fics more than 2023, and 770 more than my first year running febuwhump in 2021! this isnt even including all the art and fics posted to tumblr, or wasn't shared during the event, which would put our total so much higher!

the prompt list had 4000+ notes and i received 115 responses to the survey.

there were 62 people in the hall of fame, up from 51 in 2023.

the blog hit 2,683 followers, up from 1,946 at the end of the 2023 event.

across two independant check, based on the average word count of 2,000 words per fic in the 2024 collection, and aware of the multi-chapter fics (some of which were finished after the event), it is estimated that 2.8 million words were written for febuwhump 2024. which is just. fucking insane.

now, onto the survey results!

firstly: in what way did you participate in Febuwhump this year?

with extra write-ins not pictured, fanfiction was the overwhelming winner with 92 responses (82.6%), followed by original fiction (22.6%) and artwork (11.3%). interesting to me personally is the 4 responses who wrote poetry and the not-pictured 1 response who created web-weaving! which is very cool and i would like to see it.

fandoms

according to the survey:

the most popular fandoms written for were the star wars universe and legend of zelda universe (8/115 responses)

21 responses included original fiction

the majority of responses also referenced more than one fandom, meaning less people stuck to a single fandom or topic the entire time.

according to the collection:

21 anime/manga fandoms were represented

51 books/literature fandoms were represented, 12 being specific star wars subseries

24 RPF fandoms were represented, including bands and minecraft servers

the most popular fandoms written about in the collection were:

star wars (all media types) - 253 works

star wars: the bad batch - 80 works

torchwood - 66 works

original work - 56 works

my hero academia - 54 works

why and how

next, there were a lot of really lovely responses about why participants took part in febuwhump, a few favourite and repeated responses being that it seemed fun, they'd done it before and so wanted to do it again, and they liked to write about their favourite characters suffering. also, multiple people have been doing it for three of the four years i've been running it (of five total), and several were encouraged by friends!

the majority of participants discovered febuwhump through tumblr, the admin's tumblr, ao3 fics and discord servers. a handful said there's apparently a google doc floating around that houses a whump event calendar. i would be interested in seeing that if anyone's got it.

did you participate in Febuwhump 2020, 21, 22 or 23?

the majorty of respondants were new comers to febuwhump at 66.1% "no" to 33.9% "yes". the majority of comparisons to previous years referenced a noticably bigger community, more interaction on the blog, and the admin being more "confident" (oh, you guys), however several noted that the prompts felt more repetitive or samey this year than they did previously.

are you a Febuwhump completionist or participant?

a fairly even split, 51.3% of participants didn't finish compared to the 48.7% who did. however, only 88.1% of those completionists submitted to the hall of fame.

for those who didn't complete, the most common amount of prompts completed was 2 (13.6%), 3 (11.9%) and 12 or 6 (6.8%).

the most common place to share prompt fills was tumblr (74.8%), ao3 (72.2%), or choosing not to share at all (7%). several write-in responses said that they were planning to share in the future but hadn't yet. and while 76.4% of people submitted to the ao3 collection, those who didn't claimed it to be because the fics weren't ready to be shared on time, they weren't following the rules so didn't add to the collection, an inability to find the collection on ao3 (i swear i'm working on it) or shyness/fear.

what went well/even better if:

the only actual criticsm of the event received was that the blog was posting in a "spam"-like way, to the point that the participant almost unfollowed (and another suggested a reblog tag so it could be ignored easier if people didn't want to see the works throughout the month).

several comments asked for a later deadline for submission to the collection/hall of fame, which is going under advisement, but the current position is that by doing so, it makes the event a different event. there are no stakes to actually create once a day if, at the end of it, you actually get 2 weeks of extra time.

another couple mentioned there being too many dialogue prompts and vague prompts. this will be considered during the next voting period and prompt collation - potentially, if i allowed less dialogue prompts into the final 100 vote, less would make it through to the official 28, however the voting itself is out of my hands (unless voter fraud occurs once again).

the main suggestion for improvement (8 times out of 44 suggestions) was for an additional mod to help with reblogging more. (which imo flies in the face of the "spamming" from earlier, but there is surely a middle ground). this is likely to not happen, because i like running the event alone, despite the major burnout i receive every single year without fail. but thanks for your concern lol.

on discord:

31.3% of participants were in the discord server (which, this year, ignored the first year's 100 user cap and had 172 total users).

43.6% of people who didn't join the server did so because they hadn't heard of it, while the majority didn't join because they were either shy (the minorty) or don't use/like discord (the vast majority). i don't know if tumblr still does groupchats and if that would be a viable alternative, or if there is another forum/chat location that would work better (or to have in tandem), but i am open to suggestions.

of the people who were in the channel, most (33.3%) used it "rarely", followed by "most days" (25%) and "for half the month" (22.2%)

febuwhump 2025

the majority of responses wanted next year's colour scheme to either be red or green, but shout out to everyone who wanted orange, the person who said "children's hospital" and the other person who gave me this specific hex code: #4BEC13

which is vile, but also another vote for green.

finally, here are my favourite suggestions for febuwhump 2025's colloquial name. previously, we have endured febuwhump 2: electric boogaloo, febuwhump 3: tokyo drift, fourbuwhump and feb five.

febuwhump 6 suggestions:

fe6uwhump (which, i'll be honest, is a real contender)

"I don't know"

febuwhump 666

febuwhump: revenge of the sixth

"I don't know, sorry"

"febuwhump sex and make all the prompts kinky"

"??? i have been thinking about this for 10 mins"

febuwhump 6(9)

feBEEwhump

"i am bad at this"

"could not care less"

febuwhump feb five 2: electric boogaloo

apparently, i accidently made this a mandatory question and that made some of you mad :(

and that's the wrap up survey, six months late! any questions/queries/want to see some of that cold hard data? send me an ask. i'll actually respond to it i swear! (probably!)

[nus4y]

2024 Fic Writer End of Year Roundup

Answer and then tag three or more creators to keep the game going!

(If you're in my answers consider yourself tagged if you'd like to play!)

1. How many words did you publish on AO3 in 2024?

51,695! About 30k of it is from Clerical Errors in Love

2. How many fics did you complete this year?

Four! One multi-chap and 3 oneshots!! I did them relatively close together as well since i only started publishing my works Oct-Nov?

3. How many in progress or ongoing fics did you start this year?

I dont think i have any ongoing fics rah

4. What was your favorite thing you wrote?

Oh god where do I start!! Am i allowed to say nearly every chapter of Clerical Errors? I think chapter 6 had to an all time fav wink wink

However I think my pride and joy was my trans masc Azriel fic Take my heart pull it apart It’s actually very dear to me despite being pretty short.

5. What piece was your most experimental or different from your usual style?

I’m having major imposter syndrome honestly, I’m not even sure what my style is I’m still very new to all of this haha

6. Did any fics surprise you - either while writing or their reception?

Uh YEAH!? The amount of comments I got on Clerical Errors was genuinely mind blowing to me, especially considering that was my very first piece of work I had ever published aajkajaka

7. Do you have a fic you wrote and loved that went under the radar? (This is your sign to reblog/repost it!)

Ugh absolutely I love Take my heart, pull it apart and This World Was Never Made For Me soooo much. I suspect they’re less popular bcs they’re not ship fanfic but ah i love writing angst!!!

8. Who is an artist that inspired you?

@lucychanart @palomita-de-la-sangre both have insane artwork

9. Who is an author that inspired you?

SO MANY AHH

@greenvelvetcouture @g00seg1rl @chunkypossum @ tessabeth @the-darkestminds @jules-writes-stories @neciebee @fourteentrout

10. Who is a new author you discovered?

@g00seg1rl Oml bro writes the most DELISH smut i have ever encountered. As in full body blush type shi AHAKNSQOMA

11. Did you do any collaborations? How did it start?

Nope! I just fucking got here bro

12. What accomplishments are you proudest of?

Honestly just opening Google docs and writing something actually worth reading. I’ve never really been good at creative writing to be honest but lately I am kinda proud of myself for writing that much!

13. What did you learn about writing or creating this year?

You will have a million ideas but unfortunately your brain takes a stupid long time to put that all into coherent writing/art 💔😭😭

14. What are your creative goals for 2025?

I definitely want to draw more, I have animatics planned and want to take a shot at full animation!

I’ve also got quite a few fics lined up which I am SUPER excited for!!! The titles being

-Crawling back to you

-Tongue tied

-Lonely is the muse

-Addicted to you

[zeltqz]

niyaaaa do u have any tips for people who wanna get into fic writing? 👀

i don’t really get how the whole posting format for fics works on here tbh 😭 and like your info area it’s so cool

YEAH OFC!! btw dm me your username so i can follow and support you <3

tip 1- the posting format isnt that hard to get used to actually its just you create a tumblr text post and then copy and paste your fic onto it, add the tags and stuff then post it. if you want to add banners, headers and stuff to make it look better then go ahead, just add images to the text post

tip 2- the info area is the same as above, just add pictures of your choice etc to the text post, add your information, name, age, fav things etc and then to link posts to your post, highlight where u want the link to go, then copy the link of the post u want linked then press the hyperlink that looks like two chains linked together when you highlight the text if that makes sense? sounds like a lot but its rlly not i promise haha

tip 3- always type your fics on other apps like word or google docs since they have an auto save feature!! i dont reccomend typing your fics on tumblr since one if the app crashes, it doesn't automatically save your work so everything you wrote will get deleted (some versions of tumblr do have autosave, my laptop has it but my phone and iPad doesn't, so i dont rely on it)

tip 4- idk if you want tips on actual fic writing or just how to get your fics onto tumblr but ill help you with that anyway. with me when i write fics i always imagine it out in my head. theres some of my fics where i just went with the flow and wrote wgatever came to mind and those are the fics i hate the most because they dont rlly make sense to me. theyre always so random and it just seems rushed and bad.

i picture my fics like a scene in my head and whatever i want the character to do, think, say or feel i write that shit down asap. i use other online sources to help get more descriptive like the emotion theasurus <- honestly one of my favourite things to use ever, they have so much body language to use for every emotion in the damn book

dialogue is also something i find difficult. i've improved i personally feel like but its still hard for me especially if im writing a new character. i never want to make the character seem OOC so i do lots of research before hand. i normally use the wiki to read up on a characters personality.

for example i'll use ran for this since he's like 99% of my account lmao. in the wiki, he's described as "naturally whimsical toward others which makes him inscrutable" though ran doesnt have many scenes in the manga (which i hate bc i love him sm) its impossible to actually write him down to a tee so i use that naturally whimsical description to make him playful, charismatic, carefree etc, going off what little information i have with him.

getting a characters personality down is what can make or break a dialogue. for me when im reading a fic of a character and their dialogue is so OOC it puts me off and i dont even wanna read. so i apply my same fic icks to myself and think if I don't like seeing this and that in a fic, why would I incorporate those in my fics and have ppl get put off it if they have the same fic icks as me?

hope that makes sense!!

tip 5- dont rush yourself at all. i used to rush a few of my fics and i just ended up hating it so much after and fought bck the urge to delete them so many times but then i'd see people's comments and realise i was being too harsh on myself. i'd keep them up but i'd just hate seeing them get attention.

rushing only makes you hate your work and the quality of your work will decline if you are not in the right headspace.

thats also why i have the don't rush me thing in my rules because not only is it annoying to see people constantly asking for updates, it also makes me mad because i know i'll just put out a piece of garbage if i did rush.

also another tip don't give yourself deadlines!! if you know your writing consistency can be a little sloppy, don't tell your followers that you're going to upload every so and so day. if something happens and you miss the deadline, you'll feel bad and rush something out and most times out of ten, a rushed fic doesn't do well. so take your time and don't rush.

tip 6- dont listen to what other people say or feel obligated to write something you don't wanna. establish your boundaries!! for example, from day one i started this blog i said im accepting requests but i will not write anything to do with non-con, incest or minors. i made sure that was out there so i wouldn't feel uncomforable writing anything i wasn't comfy with.

there are people on this app that may like your writing and request you to write something for them. you are not obligated to write anything for anyone! don't feel like you have to just because they asked nicely.

if you want to accept requests you can im not saying you shouldn't, im saying don't feel like you have to. you always have a choice. its your blog.

tip 7- remember this isn't a job. you're allowed to take breaks, allowed to have a personal life. don't feel like you need to be updating every day. i used to think i was obligated to be uploading consistently at least every week because i was obsesssed with engagement and seeing peoples comments and was scared if i took a break ppl will unfollow. now i honestly don't care. i'm not active as much as i used to because of school and that's fine! if ppl want to leave, let them. don't feel like you're forced to keep being active in order to keep your follower count stable.

tip 8- this app can get really toxic sometimes. luckily enough i've only had one toxic anon in my inbox and i've been on this app for a year. some people have so many, some ppl get harrassed etc. if that happens to you just be prepared since there's no actual way to find out who's behind anons. you can turn off your anon options which means if ppl want to inbox you something then their account will be showing. some people arent comfortable with that and that's fine! i keep mine on because i want people to feel comfortable on my page.

just remember though if you ever feel like this app is getting overwhelming take breaks! for the sake of your mental health take breaks. i know so many writers on here that took breaks and came back healthier and stronger.

i feel like this tip goes for social media in general. as much as i love social media im aware how unhealthy it is. breaks are so important for you. remember that.

i can't think of anymore tips right now but if i have some more i will edit the post and add it on.

if u have anymore questions about the tumblr posting format dm me and ill help you out :))

[re-coding]

I make a stupid decision to decide to make a (fic) writing app, cheers

Well now, I know there's like tons of them out there in the market. A lot of them are good! And even free (or have pretty good free versions)! A reddit thread I found have a few very good ones, you guys can check it out! (I'll add my own two cents later :3)

But look, the only thing I want to do, is to have a place when I can throw my ideas into a list (like what I'm did in my notes app) then auto convert it to a document when I feel like I want to write it. None of them (or at least, what I saw/found) have it!

To do that, I set up a Google Form-Google Sheets system so I can just fill in the form when I get some thoughts™. Then when I feel like I want to add another WIP to my ever-growing list of WIPs, I'll just open the associated sheet, see what idea I would like to write, then create a Google Docs and copy/paste the idea there.

Easy, right? Problem solved?

No, not really. For me, there're a few problems with this.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

The Problem(s)™

The process of opening Google Forms takes forever to load (depending on my Internet) and I have a goldfish memory. What are the odds that I forget my ideas by then.

(Just use phone notes app then) But I'm in the mood to type my fic in a computer 😔😔 I don't wanna copy my prompt there to a doc via phone, or worse, retype it out. There's like 4 steps there at least! I'll lose my motivation by then!

Google Sheets has this problem where the text refuses to wrap properly if you add a long text (my ideas are sometimes a few hundred words of rambling y'know). So whenever I decided to grace the sheet with my presence, I'll need to reformat the wrap if I wanna read what I wrote. That's 1 whole extra step.

I'll need to open at least two tabs here, 1. my sheet file, 2. open a new docs file

Look, they're all pretty minor inconveniences imo, but I'm 1. a lazy mf and 2. a tired mf

So, I made a decision any sane person with a job and 0-energy would do - I thought "Hey, why don't I make my own?".

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

And thus begin the brain-storming

Ok, look I'm not that good at UX/UI designing. I figure that should be the first step so I went and watch a few video and stumbled upon Juxtopposed's world's shortest UI/UX design course (it's pretty great, do check it out!). Simple, quick, concise - perfect.

First, I started with designing the user flow. I planned out a general idea of what I want my app to do and how it would flow from there starting from the landing all the way to when users save their work and exit the app.

Boy, I sure hope I did that correctly.

This generally is made up of user actions (except for landing). You may notice how it's mostly AO3 focused because yes, I'm using this just for AO3 - as in I stopped using fanfiction.net, Wattpad and Quotev a long time ago.

I did get some inspirations for some of the features from other existing apps. Like:

Scriever - it's paid, but most people say it's a godsend but personally, I've never tried it. I think it pioneered the scenes idea tho.

Manuskript - Free open-sourced version of Scriever basically! They also have words and phrase frequency analyser and I think that's pretty neat!

MyStory.today - I like the idea that you can edit and view multiple scenes at once but the writing UI itself feels kinda clunky? It feels bothersome to add a new scene below my current one. But free version is enough and that's pretty nice. Oh yeah, not sure if it's just me, or it's kinda laggy

Wavemaker - ok this actually a great one! Everyone should give it a chance! But again, too complicated to just add one simple idea when I just wake up for instance.

Story Plotter - This one is nice. It actually have a idea to story button but, why are there... so many things... to choose before I can start writing the story. Granted, all of them are optional and you can just spam skip... a whole 7 times (unless it's a freeform, in that case, 4 times). But this provides a nice idea to combine more than 1 ideas into one plot tho. Also, not my style

Campfire - Is nice, there's so much things you can customize! But well, the free version can be quite limiting, like what if I need more than 25k words :(

Notion - Ok, here me out, it's not a great idea to write multi-chapters long fics here exactly without some amount of setting up too. BUT I love the markdown system here and I wanted to include it.

Do try some of them out, maybe you'll find your new writing app soulmate, who knows?

So... about the user flow diagram

I'm making this app because of two main features, ok maybe three, that I want to make my life easier and make me happier.

The ideas being converted and directly stored in my writing doc.

Being able to use markdowns to type unlike google docs *squint eyes*

Copying the whole chapter in HTML so I can just throw it in AO3 and click update without worrying about forgetting the formatting OR having to go to those docs to HTML converters.

And a secret fourth thing to maaaaaybe include things like chats, boxes, and other workskin related things

Oh, yes and how could I forgot, syncing progress across multiple devices

So I want to implement auto-save features (well, at least when you're connected to the internet, else it'll save locally first). The database I'm thinking to store these should be the user's own google drive (but that would required the user to sign in to their drive first).

Inversely, I'm thinking if the user did edit the doc in the drive, it should reflect in the app too, so I'll need to think about that. But the idea is that one chapter should be stored in one doc, and then separated by a scene separator symbol (I'll figure this out) to break it into scenes in the actual app. That may be a bit messy to edit in docs though so maybe a traditional folder + docs might suffice but then, there's also a space constraint, where there is too much scenes. That's probably where the web services come in.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

And, oh! another diagram!

Ok look, the user flow made perfect sense to me while I was making it. After looking at it again while writing this... In hindsight, I should also make a screen/page flow diagram, or sitemap, so here it is! So- ta-da~!

So this should be the whole flow of screens for the app. There may be more screens in the future but for now I think this should be it!

The app mainly just consist of -

The home page - which displays ALL your works/books

The ideas page - which is basically my notes app for, well, ideas, word vomit, random shower thoughts about how much you want a fictional character to be xxx

The writing page - which will be the main working space, the rest of the pages like references, characters, places, timeline, chapters and individual scenes can be accessed easily from this page too

The profile page - well, it's your profile! Access your profile settings, change themes, work space settings or what you want to copy in your html here - maybe add friends for collabs and betas in the future? We'll see

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

And that's it! ...For now

Oh my god, I'll admit, this post went on longer than I expected haha. That's all that I have to share for now! Next up, I'll get started on the wireframing process (moodboards? hunting down apps? reddit???? ok nevermind, reddit sounds like a bad idea). I know I kept calling it app, but I think I want it to have an app, windows, (macs?) and web version.

Thanks for making it this far and reading it all!

[kakairu-rocks]

We are excited to introduce our next shining star for the Creator Spotlight... @sweetysamaa​!

This is a member's only activity where we reach out to one of the talented people in our community each month to find out all about them and their kakairu creations, and then show them off to the world!

We hope you enjoy learning about Sweetysamaa & her creations as much as we did. Please give them some love ❤️

Pronouns: She/ Her, They/ Them

Type of Creator:  Writer & Artist

Where to find them:

AO3

Tumblr

Twitter

Read the exciting interview below the cut, or on the forum!

If you would like a chance to be in the spotlight too, the only thing you have to do is be a member of the kakairu rocks forum, and be a creator; and we will contact you, ourselves!

1. How long have you been creating KakaIru fanworks?

I started writing around September 2020. I’m French, and since I had no idea about this whole community at that time, I wanted to satisfy my own need for kakairu because I think I’ve read all the French kakairu fics out there.

As far as my poor attempt to do art, you have to know that I’m fairly new to drawing, and while I’ve always enjoyed it, it’s always been something that’s been difficult for me because I don’t have any special skills - and I still don’t. So… I was always giving up.

I started again around November 2020, because I really wanted to draw those two idiots that I love so much, and I didn’t start drawing « seriously » until March 2020.

So, I’m really a beginner in both writing and art, and constantly improving; at least, I hope so.

2. What are you working on right now?

I’m working on the first chapter of a fic for my maze. Maybe this chapter will already be published when this interview comes out?

I’m also working on the translation of some of my « old » french fics so that I can share them with you. 😊

3. What is your favourite trope to create for?

I have an endless favorite tropes that I love. I tried to pick just one but couldn’t. I picked three, I hope that’s okay? I am a very indecisive person xD.

I’m a sucker for Kakashi being the one who runs away from happiness thinking he doesn’t deserve it, or that he sacrifices himself without realizing he’s hurting his friend and Iruka.

I also love Kakashi using Sukea to seduce Iruka, and then everything ends up in shitty situations where Iruka suffers and Kakashi blames himself.

But on the other hand, I love writing idiots in love one shots - funny and weird situations where Iruka is completely done with Kakashi’s crappy ideas. xD

4. Which of your creations is your favourite, and why?

My favorite piece is this one that I did for the maze.

This was the very first time I painted such a background! I tried new techniques I learned through courses or by myself, new brushes, etc. I’m pretty proud of this one because I feel like it tells a story, and a lot of people have told me that, too; and that’s definitely one of the best compliments for many artists to receive, I think.

Besides, I had a lot of fun with this one! Which is a good point to pick something as our favorite, right?

5. Do you have any WIPs you’re excited about?

As I said, I’m working on a fic for my maze and it’s my new « big project ». I hope to live up to the plot I’m still brainstorming.

6. Do you have any original characters? If so, tell us about them!

Yes, I do! I even have some ideas for Kakairu comics/drawings with her! I think you’ve already seen her somewhere. She is my profile picture 😊. And this is her profile: Shinrin Okami - Google Docs

7. What was your hardest piece to create, and why?

Definitely this one.

There are so many reasons why this piece was the hardest. The pose was quite difficult fro me to construct, even though I used references. (I use photographs, because I can’t draw poses without them yet). But the most difficult thing was the kiss. I can’t draw kisses.

8. Do you have any favourite scenes from something you’ve created?

There is this one from one of my Sukea/Iruka fics: The cooking chef of Rokudaime (I’m working on the translation so I can share it with you soon!)

Kakashi is holding baby Boruto in his arms, completely lost and Iruka comes to help Kakashi to place his arms correctly. Their backgrounds make the act very sorrowful for them but it’s also so cute and meaningful! I love that there are two very different feelings at the same time.

9. Where does your inspiration come from?

That’s a good question. Most of the time, whether it’s the morning or at night, I’m trying to sleep and my brain seems to disagree with that and then starts to throw me ideas, dialogues, and sentences at my face!

I also like to choose certain words and think about how they make me feel. That’s why I like bingo and event prompts.

10. Which of your creations is the most meaningful to you, and why?

My Soul Is You. Because it’s the very first fic I wrote thanks to a discussion with discord members. 😊

[jencsi]

End of Year Creative Review

Tagged by @panchostokes thank you :) 1) What is your favorite thing you created? Which work are you the proudest of? Favorite thing I created this year would probably be “Burnt” an AU in which Finn and Nick are both kidnapped in the episode Karma To Burn and how their relationship is used against them and how they deal with all of that. Karma To Burn has so many ways to be enhanced from every character's perspective and I’ve had good fortune to have like four or five different timelines and stories that have come out of the unique episode the show provided. A work I am proudest of would probably be Peer Pressure because I sat with that idea for a long time and wrote and re-wrote and just couldn’t get it to flow right until finally, I just let it happen and it all worked out. 2) Is there anything else you are proud of that you achieved this year? - the fact that I was still able to write anything at all, does that count? Also, the fact that I was able to make follow up fics to episodes Torch Song, Merchants of Menace and Ghosts of the Past involving Finn and Nick moments that revolved around some canon aspect of the episode but never got any further explored.

3) Did you explore anything new this year? (A new way to be creative, a trope you didn't write before or an idea you hadn't thought of earlier, etc.)- A new trope or theme or whatever that I explored was Finn’s childhood and everything in her life prior to, leading up to her job as a CSI first in Seattle, how she got hired, how she switched to Vegas, things involving her family. I also played around with the “she’s dead” trope and how losing Finn to the coma affected those around her. 4) Which work gave you the most difficulty? What was your biggest creative challenge this year?- Biggest creative challenge would be how distant I felt from the two characters I write for most often (Finn and Nick of CSI) and how they just seemed so far away in my mind and I couldn’t connect back to their dynamic that I love so much and couldn’t turn that into the right words. I suppose all the fics I did this year gave me the most difficulty because I never knew which one was going to be finished and if it would even make it or would the idea just fizzle out in my brain.

5) Which work brought you the most joy?- probably “Love You For A Long Time” because it just came so naturally to me and was a continuation of a tradition of writing an anniversary fic for Finn and her coma and that’s the 6th consecutive fic I’ve done honoring that anniversary.

6) Which of your works do you think people should check out?- it’s tough to choose because every fic I try to offer a different perspective or theme or topic or range of emotions. My A03 is pretty full now with 102 fics so whichever mood people are in, I probably have a fic to match it.

7) Do you have creative plans for next year? Is there anything exciting you are currently working on?- I still have a lot of WIP’s on Google Docs and some on my phone that have not even been started yet. I want to write more of Finn’s childhood, more of her adult life pre-Vegas, more of her with John, with Nick, and some light Finn/Russell fics as well. Anything I can get my brain to churn out will end up in the usual places but planning them out is not going to happen. They will just happen when they do.

8) Lastly, any words of wisdom or anything else you would like to share?- words of wisdom I suppose, and I don’t want to make it negative but it has to be- I can’t assume that I create to fill some void, or that I create to give others something to read, I can’t assume I will get any reactions at all to anything I do so my “what’s the point?” gets in the way often because I am very much an instant gratification and verification type person. I don’t want to waste time on something that won’t benefit me in some way, whether that be money or serotonin. The reality is we live in a messed up world and everyone is on different levels of creativity, as long as we can see each other's work and know that everyone is valid as an artist, that’s all I can offer. But if I throw myself into this process too hard or too fast, I will end up disappointed and so will anyone else. Tagging @frozenmemories1987 @impossiblepluto @csinickstokes any fellow writers I missed or ones who don't post on here, please feel free to do this as well.

[falsegoodnight]

hi! not sure if you’ve ever talked about this before, but do you have a specific writing process you follow when you write fics?? i’d love to hear about it if you do :)) love your fics so much!!! (p.s. feel free to ignore this if you don’t want to/don’t feel comfortable talking about it!)

hiiii! first of all, i’m really glad you like my fics! thank you for reading them :) and for my writing process: i think i have talked about it a couple times but i do plan on making a thorough and detailed post describing my writing process but i’m lazy so it keeps getting put off! for now, i’m copy & posting what i said for an old ask where i split it into stages and described how long each one took  (+ new notes!!)

(under the cut because i ramble)

1) idea/brainstorm

i tend to get ideas from other subject matter such as books, tv shows, movies, music, etcetera just like most people but i also get a lot of fic ideas in dreams. those actually tend to be the best ones, in my opinion. and once i get an idea and it won’t leave my brain for a bit, i open up a notebook page or my notes app and write down everything i can about it (the general gist, anything specific i dreamt/wanted, etc). sometimes i’ll even write out a scene if i can’t stop thinking about it. in fact, i’ve based an entire fic around one written scene more than once in the past. 

if i’m super excited, i usually end up blurting out the idea to a friend and there’s just something about explaining an idea to someone else that has you fleshing it out and building upon it and then suddenly you’re even more excited than before--

2) outlining

this actually tends to be a relatively quick stage for me! for the most part, once i get an idea and i get inspired, the story just comes together! there may be gaps but i don’t worry about them yet - i just start my character profiles and a scene list! my outlines tend to be pretty detailed but they can range from around 1k to up to 5k depending on the complexity of the story, characters, and whether any worldbuilding needs to be done. and every story is different - some i just have fleshed out in my head already so i don’t need to work it out on paper (or, on screen, i guess) and others i need to plan out every last detail or else my brain gets too muddled trying to sort everything out. and in my experience: the longer the outline, the longer the fic. 

i’d say typically this takes around a couple hours (for the basic outline) but i always come back to my outline frequently even when drafting, changing and tweaking things or adding/cutting things. outlines are fluid! they’re meant to change and alter with new ideas and different directions :)

[edit: i’m just quickly going to add a:

3.5) research 

this isn’t for every fic but sometimes a story i want to write involves something i don’t have a lot of knowledge/experience for and so i always make sure to research the topic as best as i can in order to portray it as accurately as possible. of course, this is fanfiction and no one is going to grade you on how credible everything is (and they shouldn’t!! this is all for fun!!) but i personally really enjoy the research aspect of writing and getting to learn about things i normally wouldn’t ever get the chance to. i’m currently writing a fic that’s required so much research (i have pages of notes; it’s ridiculous) and i’ve been having a lot of fun with it!! i also want to make a post about this but the main thing i try to do is find experts, whether that be from expert sources or from experts themselves on platforms such as youtube, specific websites, or even reddit and quora. the best way to learn is to learn from someone else who knows it well]

3) drafting

as expected, this stage definitely takes the longest. i’d say my average for writing days (as in, only counting days where i write) is around 2-3k or maybe 4k. on a really good day, i can write 6-8k (edit: haven’t done that in a hot second haha). the biggest streak i’ve had was when i wrote 40k in 4 days (ie: before we knew, which i posted the same day i finished, of course) but that is very uncommon, obviously.

so it all depends on the length of the fic and the type of story for how long drafting takes but i’d say majority of my fics were written either in a week (these are the shorter ones, just to clarify) or in a few weeks depending on length. one of my 50k+ fics was written in exactly 25 days (that sounds a bit like Nanawrimo but it was october) and then on the other hand, a fic that ended up at 30k-ish took me months to write - part of that was just that i wasn’t prioritizing it, but i also just struggled a lot with it.

(edit: so just to elaborate a bit more with challenges that are typically faced in this stage - there’ll be times where i get stuck on a scene or lose motivation and then i typically jump around and move to a different scene that i feel more excited about. that’s what’s so helpful with outlines: they let me switch between different points of the story without getting everything jumbled or creating hordes of plot holes and inconsistencies. for more on things i do to help me write more, i answered this ask a while ago. also if i get stuck plot-wise, then i often consult a fellow writing friend or go back to my outline to work it out) 

4) beta stage

i have two very lovely people who beta for me: @soldouthaz and my friend chelsea who does not have a tumblr :( (edit: she does now!! @kittenlouis :D) i’d say they’re both pretty fast, finishing in a couple days when i need them to! but again, it depends on the fic/length/other circumstances. they’re really good at catching my embarrassing typos and giving me feedback when i ask (edit: i tend to leave questions in the form of comments on google docs if i want specific input or feedback and it’s really helpful) 

honestly i really don’t reread/revise my own work (i actually sort of did for my second blff though since i had the extra time so we’ll see if it pays off!) (edit: i think it did!) but when i go through the edits from sarah and chelsea, i do typically end up skimming scenes and making changes that i deem necessary. i do highly suggest self-editing to anyone else though because it only ever makes the story better, never hurts it. i need to get better at it myself. 

i hope this gives you some sort of idea of my writing process even though it’s sort of a mess. feel free to ask more questions if you want me to extrapolate/elaborate anything. i wish you all the best!

[ilguna]

hi- I’m not sure if you’re the right person to ask, but I wanted to know how to start a fanfic writing tumblr- I mean, I’m just not sure how to start since I’ve never posted anything on my account- I’m sorry if this is an inconvenience-

Don’t worry about it. I’m a little offended that you would think you’re coming to the wrong place 😂.

Imma break it down for you.

BTW this post is long bc I wanted to cover all bases

—

First of all, if you’re on tumblr mobile, then that’s fantastic and we’ll start with that first. If you’re on desktop, I would like to suggest getting it on your phone because it’s more accessible and easier to manage than doing it on the computer. The only time I go to the computer is when I’m going to post fics, but we’ll get there.

I know you said you’re wondering how to start posting fics but I gotta give you some advice before that. Because there are just some things I cannot stand when it comes to some fanfic blogs, alright?

Be easy on your color scheme. I wouldn’t put any bright colors because it could hurt someone’s eyes, and sometimes it looks really bad. Going along with that, you should be careful what your second color is on your blog (let’s say that your base color was a maroon, and then you’d choose a color similar to that/darker than that. It’ll be hard to read the things in your bio, and it’s frustrating)

This is obvious, but make sure you have a profile and header picture, it’s more appealing rather than tumblrs default.

Turn ON asks and then proceed to do it for anonymous questions, because that’s the only way you get requests. Some people do it off anon but that’s not as common.

You can do this on desktop and a safari browser. It’s not possible to do on mobile just yet. Open up safari > log in > little person icon in the top right > edit appearance. Scroll until you see “let people as questions” turn that on. Turn on anon, and edit the box to whatever you want. Keep it short

Turn off “share posts you like” and the following one below it. It’s a risky game to play when it comes to what you’re looking at and liking.

No submission posts, normally people don’t submit things anyway. Turn OFF “on blog advertising” and then that’s it. It automatically saves so you can just leave to the next screen imma bout to tell you about

IF you go to my blog on desktop, you’ll see that there’s a theme. My font is different, I have a different set up than most blogs, etc.

If you wanna mess around with that, scroll to the top of page (you should still be on the same page from the anon instructions) and tap “edit theme”

It might take a second to load, but you’ll get there.

THIS SCREEN IS VERY IMPORTANT.

Besides the fact that it lets you edit your theme, this is how you put in a Masterlist, and all other links you might want in your bio.

You said you haven’t written anything yet, so there isn’t a need for a Masterlist just yet. But when you DO start posting, please come back to me and I’ll let you know how to put one in your bio, okay? Nice and shiny for your future followers.

If you wanna change your theme go to browse themes, change it from “all themes” to “free themes”. If you like mine, it’s called “Accesible”. If you just want the font, get out of the theme screen and scroll the screen on the left. Turn ON “open dyslexic

Remember, you can do all of this on desktop too, it doesn’t have to be on safari

—

Now onto posting, I have some opinions that might offend my mutuals (oopsie)

I can’t tell the difference, but PERSONALLY, I think posting fics on tumblr from my phone is gross. But that’s also because I’m writing 1000+ words normally and it gets difficult to post

If you want to post fics with more than 100 paragraphs, then you have to go to desktop or maybe safari tumblr (I don’t post from safari tumblr so idk if it works) because tumblr says NO paragraphs after 100 on mobile. There is no restriction on computer

I write in Google Docs, because it’s neater and I’ve discovered some hate for Word after deleting some of the shit I wrote over and over. Plus it’s an app, and you can open it up on computer. Easy to use.

If you use Notes on your phone, or type directly onto a tumblr post, then that’s fine but you don’t know your word count and it’s a little difficult to navigate.

When it comes to formatting, I used to have it be really long. But I’ve narrowed it down to 3, sometimes 4 things.

Summary: this is where I put the request so the anon/person knows that it’s their request. (I copy n paste the entire request in the summary part, I don’t answer asks (requests) anymore because it’s easier to answer them after I posted).

Warnings: my permanent is swearing, and then I add on (what type) violence, murder, suic*de, gore, etc DEPENDING ON THE REQUEST

Word count: and I do this because I write long imagines sometimes and some people don’t want to sit through 5k words of boring shit

And the optional—Note: I put this if I thank someone for their patience on the request, if I say happy holidays or some shit like that. I don’t have notes on every post anymore because they just turn out being the same every time

Apart from that, give it a title (make it unique but not too long!) who it’s for and then copy and paste the fic in

I’m using my own posts as an example right here, okay. But I have the summary and all of that bolder because it’s easier to see, and I want it to be different from the actual post. Most fanfic writers do this.

I also put 2 —‘s between the authors note at the top and the fic to also make a difference there

Don’t have the entire fic italicized, it takes away the special part of italicizing a word

Finally, it’s tagging.

I cannot stress this enough, DO NOT tag things that have nothing to do with the post. It’s my biggest pet peeve and it’s because I can’t comprehend why people tag (for example) Katrina Stuart when it’s a fic OR A RANDOM POST about someone else

Instead, let’s keep it simple.

🌸 STOP 🌸

I forgot to mention this. But choose your username wisely. You can change it later on, but it’s a goddamn pain in the ass when you have 50+ fanfics you wrote and your Masterlist is nice and clean only to realize that you have to RELINK every post individually

Listen, I changed my username on my old blog, and it took me 8 hours ROUGHLY to relink and fix every individual Masterlist. I had to create new masterlists, with so many tabs open to fix it

Instead, change it before you start fics

If you wanna be a colby brock blog, I have a canon url (which means that it’s so fucking GOOD and I’m angry that i realized it was open only a month ago rather than when I created this account) and it’s colbysbrocks (it’s a plural canon url). And I have colbysecrets too. If you don’t like either of those, I have a couple of other ideas that I wrote down if you want them

🌸 okay continue 🌸

This is how you should tag:

(I’ll give an example after this)

Your username first, the person it’s about, the fandom (if it’s not Colby brock, then something like marvel, etc). Then the persons name, imagine, fanfic, x reader, and oneshot. Then if it was requested

EXAMPLE ONE:

Azurebrock, Colby brock, Colby brock imagine, Colby brock fanfic, Colby brock x reader, Colby brock oneshot, requested

Simple, right? You can even use this method for Wattpad too.

EXAMPLE TWO:

(This is Star Wars, im using my own username again)

Kylorenlovesyou, Kylo ren, Ben solo, kylo ren imagine, kylo ren fanfic, kylo ren x reader, kylo ren oneshot, Ben solo imagine, Ben solo fanfic, Ben solo x reader, Ben solo oneshot, Star Wars

Notice that I tagged both of his names. I do this because it draws more people in, and more people will be attracted to it (however, in the Star Wars fandom there’s a difference between Ben Solo and Kylo-Ren, so you would have to specify in the title Ex. Resistance (Ben Solo) or Struggle (Kylo-Ren). It would depend on which persona you’re using

This works for a couple of fandoms, like twilight and shit like that

EXAMPLE THREE:

(Final one, I just wanted to cover this base just in case)

If it’s a request for more than one person. Let’s say Colby Brock and Sam Golbach (like a Polyamorous relationship, if it’s just about a bunch of people, tag the people in it and don’t put the imagine, fanfic, x reader, oneshot after any of them, it doesn’t apply)

If it’s a poly relationship (or maybe more) then do everything you normally do for one person, and then just add on the second;

Azurebrock, Colby brock, Sam Golbach, Colby brock imagine, Sam Golbach imagine, etc

If you’re on desktop, I would suggest putting in a Read More (this goes BEFORE your fic but after the authors note, below the 2 —‘s). The way you do that is press enter, and hover over the new break in the fic.

Off to the right you’ll see a . . . Click that and then you have the read more. I would only suggest using this if there’s more than 500 words, so that if the fic is super long, it doesn’t take up the entire dash for the follower (it takes forever to scroll and it’s annoying

If you’re on mobile, it isn’t possible. Just post and you can go back and edit later if you have a computer

[lukeskywalkrearchive]

1, 4, 14, 16, 19, 24 !!

YAY THANK YOU for sending these!!

1. Tell us about your current project(s) - what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

the project i SHOULD be working on is my novel (though i haven’t been doing a whole lot of writing in it lately; most of my writing has been in other random fun things no one will see), which is a futuristic(ish) sci-fi romp about a cyborg who doesn’t know she’s a cyborg (kestrel), a human who gets drawn into helping her (rowan), and a powerful person (ARE they a person??) who manages to start a robot apocalypse. 

there’s way more to it than that, of course - for instance, my cyborg was created as a military weapon to fight militarized robots, but she doesn’t know that at the point the story starts - but i recently did an overhaul of my first draft because it really didn’t feel like the right direction to take even the beginning of the story.

i love the characters the most, which is a pretty common theme for me. characters are always what drive my story. i especially love rowan and kestrel’s relationship. they develop this very specific bond, the kind of found-family, tight-knit closeness and trust that only comes from surviving something terrible together and only being able to rely on each other. they are soulmates in a very particular kind of way, and it takes them a while to realize that. i’m really excited to write it all out

(the rest of the answers under the cut, bc lawd knows i’m gonna type too much)

4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

i have 2 sentences:

Cassiel is his only stopping point, the only arrest to his momentum, draped in pearl and watching him with a gaze the only shade of blue he ever seems to drown in. 

He keeps watching them even as he’s kicked into the hole, no longer an angel, not really anything else, and thinks about wax wings and burning as he free-falls out of the only place he’s ever known, unable to muster up any feelings aside from Good riddance.

the lines came from a series of oneshots about one of my characters that i wrote as a challenge to myself. each one is focused on a color (this one is white) because i usually write in a very grounded way, not particularly poetic or flower but rather more about actions, and these were meant to be written in that flowery way. i like these lines in particular because i feel like they encapsulate a really nice, specific combination of description and emotion and i’m proud of how they come across.

14. At what point in writing do you come up with a title?

it really depends on the story. sometimes i will write the whole thing without coming up with something. i have a lot of placeholder titles using song lyrics or parts of a poem (a habit i formed from reading fanfiction titles, lol) that i then make a title from, and sometimes i just throw words at it and see what sticks. i have a story called “reasons why handcuffs are not ricky’s kink” because it starts off with ricky getting handcuffed to someone at a party, but it’s not really kinky at all, and it’s about their relationship rather than any smut or whatever, but i needed a title for my google doc. then there are other stories i figure out a title for really early on and i manage to stick to it. tl;dr it really depends on the story and how many ideas i have at the beginning, and if/how much the story changes along the way

16. Tried anything new with your writing lately? (style, POV, genre, fandom?)

honestly not really. the only really new thing i guess i could say i have is a kirkspock fic i barely started a handful of months ago? i always got really intimidated by writing spock bc i’ve read a LOT of ks fics and people are so incredibly talented and specific and i didn’t want to do it wrong. i haven’t made very much progress (i have 1 page so far) but i’d like to try! i have mostly only written stevebucky so i hope to finish it eventually.

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?)

oh my god. always. i feel like when i write i forget 80% of my vocabulary. if i can read all the words and understand them, why do they never come to mind when i’m writing?? i’m definitely a culprit of the like, “the ghost/echo of a smile” on someone’s face a lot, probably also “a flush creeps up his neck,” and plenty more. i think there are descriptions i wind up recycling in most things i write. i usually know when i’m using whatever it is that i use it a lot but hopefully even though i repeat myself they’re far enough away to not be noticeable!

24. Would you say your writing has changed over time?

1000%. i have definitely learned a lot from reading such a wide variety of people’s writing styles and finding choices i wanted to emulate or things i wanted to do better in my own writing. i am constantly learning and trying to improve, and though it’s hard to explain exactly how, i can definitely tell my writing is getting better. i improved my dialogue tenfold when i took a playwriting class, too, and really learned about how dialogue should feel natural. it helped me in how it felt to write dialogue alongside making the dialogue sound better.

ask me about writing!

[early-sxnsets]

writer’s tag

i was tagged by @basic-banshee (thank you for the tag!!!)

1. how did you start writing?

ooh boy this is a Story. okay uhh i was raised in this cult thing (long story that i’m willing to tell ltr) and part of our education process was writing books so uh i wrote a full length children’s book at like 6 y/o (maybe 5? i think i was 6 tho) and i wrote a couple more before we left. i kept writing tho and i’ve always sort of creatively wrote for myself, then at the end of 6th grade into 7th grade i found the wonders of fanfiction and i was like holy shit so i started writing johnlock fanfics (oof) and uh here i am now

2. what was your first writing project? tell us a little about it.

it was uh about some horses and girls and i’m not saying it was horseland but it was basically horseland. i don’t remember much except one of them nearly died after falling into a ditch because i was a dark and disturbed child (and an even more dark and disturbed adult now tbh) but there was that happy ending. so yeah. that.

3. what is your preferred mediums for writing first drafts?

word docs. i usually move it to a good doc after i’m done, but i like starting with word

4. what rituals or habits do you have around writing?

there’s a good couple. i usually get ideas on a whim, so i do a shitty outline on my phone (honestly it’s laughable if you look at them. i showed a friend a plan list and she started cracking up because most of it is just “??????”) and try to set up a plot flow first before writing. for original works, i actually draw the characters first so i can kinda have a fully put together mental image before i work. while writing, i put on (typically instrumental) music that goes with the mood of the fic (for example, for my demon fic, i put on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey album) whenever working to kinda put myself in the mindset.

5. we all have a “type” - of character, plot, theme - what is yours?

oohh boy. uh, pain. i like writing people hurting and in distress. angst? hell yeah baby. character wise i write a lot of kinda bitter or sarcastic queer people who are secret softies. plot wise i usually go with a “man vs. self” shit. love that internal struggle.

6. introduce us to one (or more!) of your OCs!

heheh okay uhh i’ll start with my current project, a sapphic graphic novel i’m working on. there’s Summer, who’s a high femme lesbian. she’s like... the proper looking girlfriend who likes sweaters and long flow-y skirts and makeup but she’s the rebel and gets into trouble and smokes and gets fucked up on stolen vodka way too often. she’s short and a lil chubby and she’s just the problematic fave. her girlfriend, (who’s actual name is still up for debate, but i just call her Matchstick because she dyes her hair bright/unnatural red and that’s what Summer calls her) rides a motorcycle and wears leather and jeans, but she’s a straight (heh) A student who meditates in the morning and writes sappy poetry for her girlfriend. she’s like... average taller and kinda awkwardly lanky in that way, too. this is set in suburban New Jersey and Summer has a thick NJ accent while Matchstick moved around most of her life because her dad was military (nasty divorce about 3 years prior to when the story is set) but she finally settled with her mom and little brother.

i have another OC that i abandoned that i might bring into the graphic novel (despite her having her own story that i don’t quite know if i’ll finish? it was something i started working on like 3 years ago and abandoned because it’s a tad cliche). her name is ayala and she’s a mixed jew (half ashkenazi, half mizrahi) who’s got a grunge punk aesthetic and she’s the classic bitter bi bitch who just drinks black coffee and complains. honestly? light of my life. she sneaks butterfly knives into NJ and takes a grater to her jeans and just ugh. fave.

7. what’s your favorite genre to read?

fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, and queer YA romance (i have a building library of these)

8. favorite genre to write?

fantasy, queer YA, and not exactly horror but dark stories (i’m writing a morbid children’s storybook rn to just str8 up submit to college board for a drawing portfolio)

9. how do you conduct your authorial research?

hah. google, usually. sometimes i ask my roommate shit, like once i leaned over my bed, looked at him and said “do demons have lairs?” and he thought i said layers so he looked at me, squinted and said slowly “like ogres?”

10. what does your editing (gasp) process look like?

hahAH nah it’s usually me writing shit out, like SLAMMING that shit out, then sometimes reading over it before i put it on my doc to edit. once it’s on the doc, i set my betas to it (sometimes more than my usual beta or two) and i usually read over it while they’re reading too so i edit then too? once they’re finished, i edit whatever suggestions. then i usually do another comb through, looking for little shit, then i share that shit.

11. what are your favorite tropes?

*chanting* MAN VS. SELF MAN VS. SELF MAN VS. SELF i love me some internal struggle. that and miscommunications and poor communication. basically anything that creates angst.

12. show off your writing space

i’m too tired rn but it’s just my loft bed. that’s it. it’s an ikea bed with a bunch of pillows and blankets on it, fairy lights wrapped around one side, and a shelf next to my head for my laptop/food/drinks/anything else i need

13. what is the most useful piece of writing advice you’ve ever used?

it’s odd because it isn’t exactly writing advice, but i use it in reference to my writing. i’m told that i tend to over-complicate shit, that i explain too much and i need to take a step back, and i kinda use that in my writing. it makes me look over paragraphs sometimes and just cut it because hey, that’s either not needed or i can explore the character in other ways than just saying how they’re like. i feel like it really helps because rather than saying shit about the character, i try to make them show it in their actions. it helps, i suppose.

14. what’s the least useful piece of advice you’ve ever ignored?

“do they have to be gay?”

15. your writing beverage/snack of choice?

oh boy okay this really depends on when i’m writing. if i write during early/mid-day, it’s usually a huge mug of breakfast tea with two spoonfuls of sugar, milk, and some kedem tea biscuits (usually original, but sometimes vanilla). sometimes i’ll make myself some instant noodles, if i’m really hungry. if it’s night time, it’s black coffee, and a lot of it.

16. how do you compile your ideas?

fffff uhhhh my note app on my samsung akdsfdsh okay i hate me too but all my ideas go into at least 3 unorganized note files because they always come to me in a whim and i don’t like putting a plot note with a summary note, so i have different note pages for different elements of the story.

17. what are your controversial opinions™ on the craft of writing?

oof uh... don’t write any romance that’s unneeded. also making characters do something shocking doesn’t make the story interesting. writers who feel the need to make a shocking twist aren’t good writers, because if that’s all that’s keeping readers entertained, then it’s not the writing itself, it’s them just trying to figure shit out. i’m not referencing horror or suspense, but let’s say a character who’s known for being aggressively loyal suddenly cheats on their partner for no truly viable reason, then that just feels like sloppy and boring writing that’s supposed to be interesting but isn’t. so, controversial opinion, but if you’re a good writer, you don’t need that kinda shit.

tagging @jessethejoyful @ravenclawbaz @angelsfalling16 @bazypitchandsimonsnow and any other writers who wanna do this (just tag me because i’d wanna see it!!!)

[acesinspaces]

The Writing Process Tag

A little awestruck that @teacup-universes decided to tag me in the Writing Process tag. I love talking about this kind of thing so I’m really happy to do it

1.  What are your favorite genres and/or styles to write in? As of now I tend towards Fantasy, just because its my comfort zone within reading and writing and I feel like it’s what I do best. I like the freedom that it gives me and most of the time I like to have the ability to solve problems via fantastical means.

2. What was the last writing project you finished and felt successful with?Honestly I’m never particularly good at finishing things, let alone larger writing projects I start. It’s usually the little things that make me happy within writing, like flash fiction pieces I do and stuff.   Recently I read my own work out to a room of people, and that was both terrifying and really rewarding since I’ve never done that before. 

3. If you have a WIP how do you feel it’s going? What stage are you in? I’m currently rough drafting a Star Trek TNG fanfic about the cutest ship in the galaxy, Daforge. In the fic Data is a human with Autism and so has to go to a special needs school, where he meets Geordi and the two become firm friends. 

Since I don’t have Autism myself I thought it was important for me to research and understand as much about the condition as was possible, as a part of the @Fandomacefest here on Tumblr and also on the discord server I’ve had some interesting discussions about the ins and outs of portraying Autism in media on there. 

4. What is your favorite place to write? Most recently I’ve found I like writing before bed, I’ll curl up all comfy in my jammies and scrawl in a notebook until I can’t keep my eyes open. It’s a bit of an eccentricity I’ll admit but it helps me feel a little productive even if I’ve not been able to get anything done during the day. 

I got into this through a Uni Open House Day I went to last month where had a prompt and we had to write whatever came into our minds. It had been so long since I’d written with a pen and paper that it felt like a completely new experience and I really had fun writing again.

5. Do you prefer to write long hand or type? Or some other method? Most of the time I type because I’m lazy as anything and refuse to go through anything I hand-write in order to transcribe it to MS Word or Google Docs. 

6. Do you remember your first character? If so can we meet them? Honestly a lot of my early fiction I wrote was incredibly derivative, ergo I don’t really remember many of the OCs that I created. 

7. Where do you get your inspiration? Anywhere really. Honestly sometimes I don’t even know where it comes from myself. In fact I usually force myself to just sit down and write and I sometimes find I’ve got more rounded subconscious ideas than I knew about when I wrote actively. 

8. Do you outline a story before writing it, or does it all live in your head until the first draft gets put down? I find that outlining takes a bit of the joy out of writing for me, I’ll have a vague idea where the plot begins and ends but that’s it.

9. Where do you go/what do you do when you’re feeling stuck? I watch trashy television. Don’t ask why but a quick episode of something  makes me think that no matter how terribly I plot a scene or someone has plotted something more trite, cliche or trashy and I shouldn’t worry about it. 

10. What got you started writing/doing art? (Because I always love origin stories) Honestly having an Old Yellowing Desktop Computer in my bedroom as a kid really encouraged me to write. There was something about the mechanical clicking noise of the keyboard and also the way in which I could get words to dance around in my imagination that was really satisfying to me.

My dad scavenged the beast from an office clear out and even though it was fitted only with the bare minimum of software, and a windows 95 OS (this was 2003 or something) I loved it to pieces and would even write local newsletters and stuff on it and imagine I was writing for a real newspaper.  I have such fond memories of reading my work to my dad as a kid, since he was dyslexic and having him praise what I did felt really validating. I did the same with other people’s books when we would come home from the library, and something deep inside me just said  “If these people can do this, you can too” and since then, writing has been one of the only things I’ve had consistent confidence in. 

I tag @the-wandering-avarian and anyone who sees this that wants to do it, since I don’t know too many people on Writeblr

[interview-with-a-creator]

Cosplay: GreenRiderGlen

Thank you again for the amazing response. I’m now up to 41 interviews! Enough to move up my posting schedule! Remember, the interview is still open for any creator still on the fence. 

For those of you who have answered, I’ll be picking the interviews through random selection, so please don’t get discouraged if you don’t see yours pop up right away!

Now, without further ado, on to one of our newest (returning) members of our fandom!

Author/Artist Name *

GreenRiderGlen

What content do you create? (If more than one applies, please select your main focus) *

Cosplay

What other content do you create?

Fanfiction

Where can fans find your content?

greenriderglen.tumblr.com, AO3 account once activated (05jan) (Account is now active!)

How did you find Gundam Wing?

I started watching Toonami from the day it began. The initial teaser trailers piqued my interest and I started watching it as soon as it began playing on the afternoon block. Once it started playing the midnight sun block, I watched it unedited (gasp! Blood and mild swearing, how racy!) and never looked back.

How long have you been writing or drawing/painting in this fandom?

16 years. I made my first Duo cosplay or Halloween in 01. No pictures survive, it was a scorched earth policy on old costumes. My first OZ uniforms, Treize and Une, were made in 06. I wrote a few absolutely awful fics when I watched in high school and college, but its been well over 10 years since the last fic.

How long have you been in the fandom? (Not necessarily creating for it)

17 years at large in the world, about one year on Tumblr

What has kept you in the fandom? Or kept you coming back?

The fandom has been a massive part of my life. My first Treize was a guy I dated for several years, and the show was a part of our relationship (costumes, friends made through mutual love of the series, evenings watching it and arguing over interpretation of characters, etc.) After an extremely bad breakup, I was in a Very Dark Place. I didn't want to stop cosplaying but had no idea how to find the passion for it again. So, like Lady Une, I soldiered on alone to conventions trying to find my way. At one show I  met a group of pilots who became solid friends. They helped me put my life back together and move on from the wreckage that it was. I’ve met so many good people through this fandom. It really just feels like home, that's what keeps me coming back.

Is there a go-to fic or art piece that never gets old? What is it?

Past Tense by Ginnybag    Lifeaftermeteor  @lifeaftermeteor 

Its one of the high points of my Saturday reading

Please recommend one fan work you believe everyone should see.

I don’t have the URL, maybe someone can help me here. There’s an art piece of Quatre, holding a machine gun, he looks sad, but resolved. His father and Iria are in the background.  Its powerful and sobering. We have spent so much time breaking down, building up, telling our own stories of the series, but this sad determination of a kind hearted boy doing what he feels he must. It just gets a reaction from me and makes me remember the boys were likely scared at times, but were doing what they thought was right.

What piece of advice would you offer your younger self, in terms of creating?

Just get it all out on the paper now. Keep going. You can always edit later.

What type of content do you create?

Costumes, serious writing, maybe with a bit of humor. I'm so new to writing i don’t have a favorite type yet

What programs do you use?

Google docs, memo on my android, voice to text programs so I can get an idea down while I'm commuting to work.

Describe your work process.

Scattershot at best. I try to do one creative thing a day. Sometimes that's sewing for an hour, sometimes it's opening a program and writing a paragraph. Then there are the rare times I get a whole day to sit and write or sew.

What challenges have you encountered while creating your piece?

I'm my own worst enemy. I will pick every word apart until I decide it all looks AWFUL and has to be started over again. I try to not delete it, but start on another new document. I'm not always successful there.

How long, on average, does it take to complete your work?

Cosplay? 3-4 weeks if i block out time to do it daily. The majority of the time is spent doing hand sewing details.  I’m still new enough to writing I don’t have an average

Are you self taught or attend schooling/classes?

Mix of both

Do you feel your works receive more or less attention than the more common fanfiction and fan art?

Difficult to say

Is it more or less difficult to receive feedback and/or comments on your work?

I love feedback. I want to know if I'm doing something right or if I should go back to just reading and not creating.

How can fans reach out and/or comment on your work?

Tumblr, AO3 once it's active 

Cosplay Examples:

His Excellency Treize

Treize Detail

Lady Une

Favorite pizza?

Margherita!

Do you ride roller coasters?

Yes

Pet peeve?

Chewing with an open mouth and inconsiderate jerks who talk on a phone through the checkout line.

What do you do to relax?

Go to the farm and climb on a tractor or ride a horse. Also mermaid swimming during the summer months.  You have to be unplugged to do any of that.

Name one cool/fun fact about where you live or somewhere nearby (if you don't want to be specific).

The Natchez Trace tracks behind my property. There's this massive waterfall that people love to take photos of. I love it too, but get a laugh at the fact my great grandparents used to do their laundry on the rocks where people are taking their engagement photos.

Which of the Seven Deadly Sins best describes you, and why? (Pride, Sloth, Lust, Envy, Greed, Gluttony, Wrath)

Sloth. If I don’t constantly prod myself to get up and do something,  I'll easily slip into "I’m going to sit here and scroll through Facebook" and that’s a rotten way to spend your life.

@thisweekingundamwing @greenriderglen

[sariasprincy]

Another Writers’ Meme

I saw another blog do this last week and decided it looked like fun. And I love talking about myself.

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

I made this name so long ago. Like 10+ years. I made it in Middle School to a reference about Zelda (the character Saria) and it became a joke with a friend of mine (Saria’s Princy) and it stuck. I don’t know why.

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/favourites, follows/subscriptions, visitor hits, kudos)

Nightmare in Red has to most reviews

Code Seventy-Seven has the most views

But I believe Within the Messages and Cold Case are a long standing favorite.

3. What is your FFnNet/AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?

It’s Itachi. And it’s because I like Itachi and Surfacage ha

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

Yes! That would be @la-moonlight-lily @zutaras-where-its-at @nips-out-for-itachi @crimsonriley @heymessyjessie

On FF, there’s Key, parsimonia, WhiskeyBlair (so many names I recognize in the reviews)

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

Everything written by Cynchick. 

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

Honestly I am so lazy with reading fic. I usually forget unless it comes across my dash.

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

Modern!

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

On fanfiction, I’m on the favorites of 1124 and the alert of 951. Quite the number going! Thanks for the love!

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are 😨 of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

Dirty smut? ha

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

Writing complex plots without a whole bunch of plot holes.

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

ItaSaku is pretty popular I feel like. And MadaSaku is now becoming popular?? (at least in my circle). Does TobiSaku count as a rarepair? Cause that’s a new fav!

12. How many stories have you posted on FFNet/AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

Twenty-four. I deleted a lot of them when I disappeared for 4 years.

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

Don’t even ask....I have about two dozen half-written ideas on Google Docs alone. I have no idea about Word. Has to be in the 100s. Many of which I will not write. 

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

If it’s something I think I’ll come back to I write it down. If it’s a passing fantasy, I enjoy and let it go. 

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

@beyondthemoor oh my darling. We’ve done a couple: Round Robin - ItaSakuShisui (Rated M) Gas Station - KisaIno (Fluff Friday)

16. How did you discover FFNet/AO3?

I joined FF in 2007. I have no idea about AO3. I think I googled a rarepair I came across the glory that is AO3

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on FFNet/AO3?

When I first started, no. But so many authors have left the fandom that I sometimes feel like I’m one of the only ones still writing ItaSaku ha.

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers? 

Whores. Just kidding! Sorta.

Nah, I mostly call my reviewers wonderful people, cause for the most part, they are. 

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

I get inspired more by ideas. Silverfootsteps wrote a wonderful story called Eastern Suns that I am still raving about. That one inspired me. I do like to bounce ideas off a few other tumblrs, but my inspiration usually comes from every day things: grocery shopping, working out, out at dinner, etc.

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

Read, read, read. The best way to learn how to write is to read other’s writers’ work like a writer. Try to see what you like about their writing style, what you don’t like. Then incorporate that into your own. 

When I don’t know how to write something so it’s smooth and easy to follow (ie fight scenes, kissing, smut, etc) I read a handful of other people’s writing to see what worked for them and perhaps didn’t work. Then apply that towards my own work.

Plus it gives you time to step away from your own writing if you feel stuck. 

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

Both. It usually starts out with writing as I go. But then I get ideas of scenes I would like to add later so I throw them into a document so I can go back and reference. 

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

One I remember was someone commenting on a MadaSaku story saying they “preferred NaruSaku”. Like okay?? Why are you here? Hahah.

I’ve also gotten a visit from g.o.d., which I found more funny than offensive. Usually I just ignore hate though. I’ve been writing long enough that I know when my work is good or not. Just shrug it off.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

FLUFF. I don’t know why. I hate cliches in writing. It makes me gag. So trying to write fluff that isn’t like that is difficult all the time sometimes. 

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

See my previous post for this answer ha.

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

I usually try not to because then I get excited to just move on. But usually I plan on taking a break after completing a long story but before I even finish, I get another multi-chap fic idea and I’m like nooooo - let’s do it!

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

I used to just write as I felt like doing it, but then I would sometimes go two weeks without writing. So recently, I started a goal of writing at least one sentence a day (if not more). I even have an alarm set at 6pm every day, asking if I’ve written yet.

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

Hell yes. Omg, my first fics are horrible. Physically painful to write, dear lord.

28. What is your favorite story(s) that you’ve written?

Ink was a lot of fun, I’m Sorry for What I said... was not a favorite but it is growing on me now. Where it Happened because I feel like there are soooo few medical AUs. 

29. What is your least favorite story(s) that you’ve written?

Within the Messages/Cold Case. Neither one is very accurate. They make me cringe. The only reason they’re still up is because so many people seem to enjoy them.

30. Where do you 👀 yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

Still trash.

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

Imagining story ideas.

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

Writing.

33. Why do you write?

Because even after all the writing, rewriting, editing, cringing and rewriting, it’s still amazing to be able to share what you’ve created. And to hear how people enjoyed what you made feels good. Plus there is a deep sense of accomplishment when you finally write that final word: end

Tagging: @crimsonriley @la-moonlight-lily @littlebirdrobin and anyone else who wants to!!!

[segadores-y-soldados]

Personal and Fic Updates

Hey everyone!

I know it’s been a long time since I’ve done one of these personal update messages.  I’m trying to get my stuff in order but life continues to outpace me, it seems.

The quick and dirty: Fic Stuff:

Moira has been integrated into the overarching plot of “And Overwatch For All”

Because of this, I am currently rewriting major portions of Old Habits.  Yesterday, I finished a major rewrite of chapter 10 (the “evil council is introduce” chapter).  I have the majority of chapter 11′s rewrite done and hope to finish that today as well.  With luck, I will start working on a rewrite of Chapter 13.

Shockingly, I’m keeping a lot of the “present day” plot elements the same (aka, all the stuff leading up to Recall).  But several major “past events” have changed, including Reaper/Gabriel’s backstory.

More on this later.  I will also be writing a separate post JUST for fic stuff, if you prefer to read only that.

Personal Stuff:

Extra expenses have started showing up in my life.  Details are under the cut.

My job has not yet promoted me and a coworker the way they said they would in the timeframe they gave us (1 year).  Because of this, I am starting the job hunt again.

I have created a Ko-Fi (https://ko-fi.com/U7U063ZJ)

More under the cut

Alright, so here’s the longer version of what my last like...three months have been like, with both personal/work stuff and fandom stuff.

Personal life/Work:

I have said this in a few places, but I currently work as an entry-level archaeologist for a state department in California.  Full disclosure: I and my fellow coworker are underpaid for our work, which is as variable as conducting documentation research through databases and organizing research on behalf of our higher-level archaeologist and historian supervisors to performing surveys and actual fieldwork digs in every type of weathers in California.  As an example, two weeks ago (the week of Thanksgiving here in the U.S.), myself and one of my supervisors did an 8 hour fieldwork day which consisted of 3-4 hours of surveying through waist-high grass in pouring rain at 55 degrees F/12 degrees C.  This upcoming week, I and (other underpaid) coworker will be doing two 12-hour days of construction monitoring.  Our work consists of traveling all over the state, with driving that can take a full day to get to a work destination (these are charged to work, don’t worry - I don’t have to pay for that, thank god).

The reason I’m explaining this is because this is a huge reason why some days (or even some weeks) my activity on tumblr, twitter, and AO3 will take a straight nosedive.  On Thursday of this past week, I spent 8-10 hours without checking my phone and came home to 4 missed calls, 8 “active chats” on messenger, 600 messages on discord, and basically a whole day of “social media-ing” missed out.  

If you’re rolling your eyes over this, I get it, I really do - it sounds like all the stuff that older people complain millennials “overvalue,” but (for example) one of those phone calls was from my dentist’s office saying that they will not serve me because (after three months of them NOT checking) they realized that I don’t have the right dental insurance for them.

Fun.

I don’t make enough money to switch to higher, “better services” health and dental insurance, but since I work a job that requires physical labor, I’m scared to cut them from my life.  Said coworker twisted his ankle earlier this year, and work only compensated him for 1 week of “missed” work, when in reality he was walking with a slight limp for 2-3 weeks.  Because of our low-level, we are not given access to benefits that many other state workers get.

Moreover, our sub-department has been promising that the two of us would get promoted “within the year.”  We reached a year working with them in mid-November, and that promise still hasn’t been reached.

So in terms of my personal life, I’m at a cross-roads: I will tell them that they need to promote us, even to the next “low-level position” because that will give us just a few more $/hour which will help A LOT when accumulated, or I’m going to tell them that I’ll have to search for something else.

On top of this, my parents have decided it’s time for me to “pay rent” to live at home with them - a discussion we, frankly, haven’t had on a serious level yet and one which blindsided me this morning.  I am looking into my options but without a better job, they’re not good.

This also doesn’t cover whatever it will take to help me start the legal and medical processes of transitioning, which are, frankly, the main things I’ve been saving money for.

What does this mean:

I’m looking for places to cut costs, but the combination of current expenses + what my parents want from me will take 1/3 to 1/2 of my current monthly paycheck.  I already spend next to nothing on personal stuff, so all my current expenses are “necessities” such as food, gas, and insurance.  I’m looking to cut down on gas costs but it may be awhile before my daily schedule gets adjusted.

The alternate is taking a second job that will permit me to only work my free three days a week.

Doing this means I will have zero time to write or produce content.

For now, I’m not jumping out to do that.  I’ve made a Ko-Fi account (https://ko-fi.com/U7U063ZJ) that I would greatly appreciate any spare money you’re willing to contribute.  Something as simple as a few dollars can go to me covering the cost of my health insurance per month, while I figure out the bigger problems of searching for a job.

The reason why I started with this is because:

Fic Stuff/Writing Stuff:

I do the equivalent of 3-4 full days of “writing” for fandom stuff per week: on my days off, I can write anywhere from 8 to 14 hours a day.  Using just Friday and yesterday as an example, I wrote 9k words, and with whatever I do today, I will likely push that to about 11-12k.

Yes, it is all voluntary, and I do not have to write at the pace that I do, nor the amount that I do.  I do it because I enjoy it, and because, honestly, writing for Overwatch has given me some of the biggest joys and happiness I have felt in like, a decade.  And that includes writing the long essays.  My last big R76 post (http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/167321630835/everything-you-want-to-know-about-reaper-and) spans a whopping 67 pages and 7.5k words in Google Docs (that includes pictures and sources/credits/links/references).

Again, this isn’t to brag, but just to put my writing into perspective, I guess.  This is the equivalent of doing a second part-time job, which was something I attempted last year but was unable to balance my current archaeology job + a part-time retail job + writing.  I dropped the second one because, at the time, I finally had the luxury to choose a job in my profession and writing on the side.  This is a luxury I was fortunate to enjoy for the first half of 2017, but it is steadily becoming undoable as my work increases my responsibilities without increasing my pay.

Fic Updates:

For those of your who have been waiting patiently for information on “And Overwatch for All” I do have some good news that I’m finally ready to share:

Moira has been integrated into the plot.

I got a number of comments here and on twitter that were really supportive of my current version of “AOFA” and I just want to say, thank you all so much.  It means a lot to me that you guys have liked the version of Overwatch I’ve built up and that you found all the characters, including my silly OCs, to be engaging and well-written.  It was soul-crushing to think I would have to lose some of them, but after some time and doing more research on Moira, I feel ready to talk more about her and how she’s going to factor into the updated plot.

To start off with:

None of the OCs will be cut, but some of their roles will change.

Lmao, this surprised me as well, but I’ve figured out a few different ways to make all of the OCs, especially the very obviously contrived “Death Agents,” stick around in the updated plot.

Only one OC (and you can probably guess who, if you’ve started “New Wars”) will change names: the character called “Reaper” in “New Wars Chapter 1″ (the “young Hanzo chapter”) will be called “Reaver.”  This is due to his updated role in the plot.  His background has changed only slightly.

If it wasn’t apparent, this “Reaper” was meant to act as a plot device to cause confusion over Gabriel/Reaper’s actions after the fall of Overwatch, but that has changed because:

I’m switching to Crisis-era and “undercover mercenary” Reaper.

If you’ve read some of my more recent posts on Moira, you’ll know that I’ve switched over to supporting the idea that “something went wrong with Gabriel Reyes during SEP/the Crisis.”  This is due to the fact that you can find a folder labeled “Soldier ID: 24″ in Moira’s Oasis lab, that Michael Chu said that Reyes was interested in getting her help on “matters of genetics,” and that this appears to mesh the “Reaper has existed for decades” concept in Reaper’s hero profile.

Truth be told, I’ve actually been a supporter of this idea of “Gabriel has been Reaper behind the scenes for decades” plot point for a long, long time, almost as long as I’ve been posting Old Habits.  “Reaper”/“Reaver” was semi-messy OC that attempted to bridge Reaper’s original hero profile with the “Old Soldiers” explanation that Gabriel/Reaper gave that “Jack and Overwatch ‘left [him] to suffer.’”  However, I also knew when writing Old Habits that the “Mercy is evil” theory was ALSO not true, so I was kinda stuck:

“If Gabriel = Reaper for decades, why did he appear to blame Jack and Overwatch for his current condition?”

My original solution was to make “Reaper” a different character and have him operating the situation in the background (like a mystery story), but over time this solution got trickier and trickier to work with.  With Moira, I have a chance to rework much of Old Habits/AOFA to better suit some of the details that have come out since drafting it.

This does mean, unfortunately, that all the “76+127″ content is going to become its own, standalone series.

To switch over to integrating “Soldier: 24,” the “76+127″ stories will have to become their own standalone series.  Don’t worry - I’m not deleting anything.  Old content from “Old Habits” will be moved to their own fics, so you can read the whole thing in chronological order.

A new version of my updated ideas on SEP has already started being drafted.  Writing it out is just a matter of time at this point, haha.

The conspiracy/Talon council “mysteries” will become more transparent almost immediately.

With Moira, I finally get the chance to explore some of my ideas in “full format” instead of the kinda awkward “Sombra hacking a chat log” parts yall originally got.  This DOES mean that written portions will suddenly be much, MUCH longer.  For example:

Old Habits original chapter 10 (Sombra hacks an SSO chat log): 17 pages

Old Habits revised chapter 10 (Moira discusses the Route 66 battle with council members + Sombra hacks a chat log): closer to 34 pages

The explosion fight has been changed.

Because of the changes to Gabriel’s plot, the nature of the explosion fight between him and Jack has changed significantly.  It does incorporate new information that Moira revealed.

If it wasn’t obvious, I’ve had a draft version of my ideas for the fight sitting in GDocs for about a year now, and I use that for all my flashback/memories, and also for when Reaper and Soldier: 76 are arguing in the present.  There was a major plot point in the explosion fight that I was extremely uncomfortable with, but found it to be “solid angst material.”  In retrospect, I dislike this plot point and have removed it for another plot point that sits better with me, and fits the overall story more comfortably (I think).

So yes, I DO have a new draft of the explosion fight - written completely from scratch, 100% different in tone and emotionality.  Parts of this should begin to show in updates to Chapter 13, when Soldier: 76/Jack reflects on some of the fight.

The Goal:

The goal for AOFA right now is to update Old Habits in “two big batches” - update the first half (Chapters 1 - 15) within 1 - 2 weeks, and then update the second half (Chapters 16 - 31) shortly after.  Optimistically, before January, but realistically, closer to late-January/early-February.

Thanks for sticking with me - both with this post, and with my life changes.  Things are incredibly and often overwhelmingly busy for me, and I don’t really know where many of these things (both personal stuff and fic stuff) will end up.  I really do appreciate any and all support, even if I’m not able to respond to comments.  You guys make it worthwhile to keep writing, and I apologize for how distant I’ve been with this stuff.

[isabeau25]

Get To Know Your Author

Tagged by @eastofthemoon!

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

There’s a book called Dove Isabeau that I loved as a kid, and also I loved the movie Ladyhawk, and Isabeau was one of the main characters.

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos).

Room with a View (although Can’t Take the Sky From Me was a very close second  - I had to do actual math to figure it out; I’m impressed I remember how to math.)

3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?

I don’t have one. I never bothered to upload it. If I did, it would be the same as the one for this account. It’s my cat Nibbs laying on my foot not long after we found him in my parents’ backyard. I use it because he’s cute and fluffy, and because I don’t like pictures of me floating around the internet.

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

I love all my commenters! It’s always exciting to get the notice that someone took the time to comment and I go back and reread them all all the time.

@maychorian​ has commented on a bunch of my Voltron fics (almost all of them I think), and I’m always super excited when I see her comments because she leaves such excellent and well thought out ones.

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

Hound by story_monger I come back to because it’s so well done. The writing is fantastic, and the sense of suspense is amazing, and I really love the way it dealt with different layers of trauma and wove together the way past trauma continued to impact how present trauma was processed and dealt with. Plus the team was wonderfully tender with Keith, and he got cuddles.

Hyggelig by heyheroics I’ve gone back and reread a couple times. It is an example of the ever rare, non-romantic Keith and Lance center story. Well written and even though it’s not finished, the chapters read as short stories, so I’m not left with cliff hangers. I’m always excited when it updates.

I reread pieces from @maychorian​ all the time, particularly from the Boom Crash series and the Dream Seam series (*whispers* a lot of the time I skip straight to the cuddles. She writes the best cuddles.)

The Raised by Lions series by @eastofthemoon​ I like to go back and reread. Red and her strange furless cub are super fun to read about, and then Shiro comes along and there is even more fluff and cuddles.

Basically there’s a shortage of platonic fluff and cuddles in the Voltron fandom and when I run out, I go back and re-read my favorite cuddles.

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

I have like 12 bookmarked and 4 subscriptions. I always forget that’s a thing you can do on AO3.

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

.... so many. I’ve been working on The Five Lion Cafe au lately, trying to finish up the next one (almost done *fingers crossed*), and Mermaid Rescue and Rehab Inc. is up next on my list to finish, so I’ve been picking on that. 

I’d like to get back to Babe’s in Space at some point. I have general outlines for lots of short stories in that AU, and there actually is a bigger over arching plot if I ever get to it.

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

91 subscriptions and 992 bookmarks

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

Mostly platonic physical intimacy, just because I don’t want to deal with it being labeled as romantic or shippy (I guess that’s not so much a fear of being judged as just not feeling like dealing with other people’s reactions). Once something is posted, you have no control over how it’s received or interpreted. That’s just the nature of publishing something; you have to let it go (or drive yourself crazy trying to force people to see it only the way you want, which is just not worth the time or energy).

Because of that, I sometimes pull back from writing a scene as intimate as I’d like, or I choose a slightly different approach to it, just because I don’t want to deal with seeing it labeled as a ship in the tags and comments.

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

Action sequences and creating suspense. It’s hard to translate the movie-like images in my head into words for action sequences. I watch a lot of youtube videos for reference when I’m trying to write them.

And suspense, when done well, is just a great thing to be able to do. It keeps the reader engaged and makes the piece more exciting.

Also replying to comments! They mean so much to me, and I’m so terrible at replying.

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

Not really? I guess Ronin and Tara from Epic qualify as a rarepair just because the fandom for Epic is so small. I think the idea of Ezor and Kolivan from Voltron being a crack pair (not one that ever would or should show up in canon) is hysterical, but I haven’t written anything for them yet.

I really just don’t ship much in general.

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

As of December 22, 2018, I have 49 stories up on AO3, all of them finished. I never start posting a story unless it’s already done.

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

So, that’s really hard to calculate. For every fandom I have what amounts to a dump document where I write random scenes and stories that I’m not sure will go any where, in addition to that I have:

Epic - 14 docs, most of those are probably single stories

ROTG - 9 docs, but I don’t think I separated out many of the WIPs from my main dump doc, so there’s probably more WIP there.

Voltron - 15 docs, but some of those documents are for series, so there’s might be multiple WIPs in the document.

And that’s just the unfinished stuff. I didn’t include the stories that are done. I usually keep those on my hard drive too because I don’t trust the internet not to suddenly eat my work.

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

I keep them in my head way too often, then go back to stories I’ve set down for a couple months (or years) and don’t remember what was going to happen. I’m trying to get better about writing out at least a general outline for stories so that doesn’t happen.

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

I have co-authored with @eastofthemoon and @ladydouji. I’m kind of a flake about writing though and I’m really bad at keeping deadlines with something I just do for fun, so I don’t team up very often.

16. How did you discover AO3?

Google search for fanfiction because there wasn’t enough decent stuff on ff.net.

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?

I don’t think so? I don’t pay much attention so I don’t have much bases for comparison.

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

Nope.

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

I read a lot growing up (not so much now - grad school does a really good job burning you out when it comes to reading). I loved fantasy mostly, and a little bit of sci-fi, although that’s never been a super sharp distinction for me.

Patricia McKillip is my favorite author. I absolutely love the way she writes and the way she crafts stories. I really enjoyed Jane Yolen, and Bruce Coville too.

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

I really like Neil Gaiman’s 8 Rules of Writing.

The most important thing you can do is write. Get the words on the paper. That’s really the hardest part. I like his last rule best though “Write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly and tell it as best you can.”

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

I usually know where they’re going (in my head at least, by the time I actually start getting words on the page), but sometimes they end up taking unexpected turns or new scenes show up out of now where while I’m writing. That’s part of what makes writing exciting. 

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

Nothing terrible, but a few (at least one of which went over my head until years later because they were being sarcastic).

I find I have an increasingly low reserve of energy, and things like that are not worth spending it on. I just ignore them.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

Interpersonal conflict! Why would these two normally rational people who care about each other let a thing escalate to the point of them actually fighting over it, or having it damaging their relationship, or coming to blows over it? And how do I write that in a way that doesn’t sound contrived and is in character to everyone involved.

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

Right now I’m working on finishing up the next Five Lions Cafe story, and also working on the last of the Mermaid Rescue and Rehab series.

I’m also working on a story that is probably going to be called Bad Moon on the Rise, and is focused on Lance and the Red Lion’s bond (and also has quintessence vampires).

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

Yes! My brain never stops planning stories. Never.

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

Not really. Sometimes I’ll got through stretches where I write a lot, and other times my brain just melts and refuses to make words.

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

Yes! Even just going back a few years, but I’ve been writing since I was in elementary school, so there has been a great deal of improvement from the epic and fully illustrated “There are dinosaur ghosts living in our playground” that I wrote in first grade (and tried to convince my teacher was true).

28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written?

It’s actually not even up on AO3. It’s the only Narnia fanfic I ever wrote, and it’s called Refuge. One of those things that just felt unfinished and unaddressed in the Prince Caspian movie, and I like how I addressed it.

29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written?

*Snorts* Thankfully lost to the great ether of individual fan sites that no longer exist, I had some CATS fanfics that were pretty terrible.

There’s also some Ronin Warriors stuff, and I think some stuff from the original Voltron dub, that’s pretty terrible, but I don’t have the heart to take down because people were actually kind enough to leave nice comments on them.

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

The same, but hopefully better at it. I don’t really have any aspirations to be a professional writer. I’m happy just doing it for fun.

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

The stories!

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

Putting the words on the page!

33. Why do you write?

Because it’s fun! And challenging! And it gets the things in my head out of my head!

Tagging: anyone who wants to. I think all the people I know on tumblr have already been tagged.