#i'd love to see rewrite christine in this style!

[britishchick09]

silly little guy

omg he's so cute!!!! definitely the silliest guy! :D

[smallblueandloud]

20 questions for 20 writers

@arithmonym didn't tag me explicitly in this meme, but i thought it was really cool, so i'm gonna do it too! you can read emma's answers to the meme here.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

72! in reality i think it's 73, because one of my fics is currently anonymous (i just didn't want it attached to my account -- it's not hard to track down via my blog). considering making a few more anonymous, we'll see.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

298,580! my next fic will probably push me over 300k

3. What fandoms do you write for?

oh god. it might be easier to ask what fandoms i DON'T write for. currently... a lot of doctor who, star trek, star wars, and x-men. not too surprising if you know me and my interests. i have ongoing series for the west wing and MCU that i keep returning to, although i don't write for those fandoms very much otherwise.

speed round of fandoms i'll probably write for again at some point: leverage, librarians, locked tomb, steven universe, the muppets (maybe?), and les mis.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

i'll take your part when darkness comes (Doctor Who, 2018): dimension hopping!rose fic, nonlinear narrative, eventually ended up being a journey's end fix-it. this is one of those fics i'd love to rewrite if i ever had the time, just so i got to spend more time in its world.

ain't water under the bridge (Doctor Who, 2018): series 5 rewrite where 11 talks about rose just as much as 10 talked about her, with a fluffy ending. this is one of my oldest fics, so i can't bring myself to reread it, but i'm still very fond of the concept.

in blackwater woods (Doctor Who, 2020): 6x11 "the god complex" rewrite where we find out what 11's worst fear is and it's rose. for such an old fic, i am still really proud of this one -- i think it turned out really, really well, even considering how long ago it was written, and i like how canon-adjacent it was.

good times never seemed so good (Doctor Who, 2020): 11, amy, and rory run into 10 and rose and amy and rory realize that the doctor loves rose and always has. lol are you noticing a pattern

sit there in your heartache (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, 2023): mariner and boimler are Not Great at hiding the future existence of spirk from spock. i wrote this RIGHT after the time travel episode came out so i really rode the wave of post-episode enthusiasm. this is my first (and only!) fic to get podfic'ed!

it is SO INTERESTING to me how all of these are outsider POV fics. the top 4 being doctor/rose doesn't surprise me at all. none of their premises are super original, especially #1, 2, and 4 -- i have read a billion fics with the exact same premises and i would read a billion more. we have consistent taste, the doctor/rose fandom does.

5. Do you respond to comments?

yes! i try to get to them within a month, although that often doesn't end up happening.

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

rose dies at the end of just look and you will see, so, y'know.

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

oh, man. many of my fics are really fluffy. i would say... don't wanna see you go (but it's not forever), which is a mockumentary-style exploration of the x-men's 20th anniversary, inspired by the starkid 10cumentary. i just want them all to be safe and happy!!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not generally, knock on wood. i did get someone accusing me of biphobia for calling the spock/christine romance in SNW comphet, but the fic had spock himself recognizing that he wasn't actually attracted to her, and also the comphet was in the tags, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ what are you gonna do

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

nope!

10. Do you write crossovers?

yes!! LOVE writing crossovers. my favorite one i've written so far is the one where guinan and jenkins make friends. i'd love to write more in the future!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not to my knowledge!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

not to my knowledge, sadly.

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

yes, but nothing that ever got published! finx @aethersea and i worked on a leverage/librarians crossover together FOREVER ago but it didn't get very far. i would love to give it another shot someday but we'd have to have writing habits that mesh well.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

oh dear. i'm also a pretty strong multishipper. i think i'll say ONE of my favorite ship DYNAMICS which is a divorced/otherwise broken up couple who still love each other dearly and know each other so, so well and wish things had been different but understand why they can't be. you guys can imagine how my eyes lit UP when the muppets ABC established piggy and kermit's breakup.

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

...sorry guys.

16. What are your writing strengths?

uhhh. i guess... i like my characterization? i like the work i put into making sure that characters are acting in-character and for a good reason. i'm also very proud of my dialogue.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

pacing remains a struggle. i always have a lot of ideas and thoughts and i try to cram them in and It Gets Bloated. i also struggle to communicate real-world movements, expressions, etc -- i feel like i always end up like that one "she sighed" "he sighed" "she inhaled" "he exhaled" post.

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

i'm generally against writing it, at least in this point of my life. i think it's very cool in contexts where you have a bilingual audience (i love you, ¿qué pasa USA?), but i don't like the idea of having to do footnotes or something else to translate dialogue that is readable to me. i HATE when english language fics have their non-english lines in italics, it feels so othering.

i'm writing a fic rn that has a lot of spanish dialogue and i'm experimenting with translating the dialogue but not as direct quotations -- we're getting the meaning through the narration of the POV character, who's doing the translating herself. i think that's my favorite way to get around it right now.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

doctor who, surprising no one! afterimage was the first fic i ever wrote and i immediately posted it on fanfiction.net. i have never changed.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

wow saving the hard questions for last. uh. i've generally been really happy with the fics i've been posting recently. i think will you meet me there? is my favorite right now, just because it turned out EXACTLY how i wanted it and i got to write so many of my favorite xmen characters and dynamics. ororo <3 ororoscott <3 stormfrost <3

not gonna tag anyone, but if you want to do this yourself, go wild!

[shitpostingfromthebarricade]

Hey!

I don't know if you're the right person to ask, but I want to read Les Mis in english (not my first language) and I wonder which translation you'd recommend?

Thanks for any reply!

Hi!

So there's a lot of takes on this question, so I'd like to open by saying that any translation you pick will tell the story of Les Mis and also that most people imprint on their first translation anyway; as someone who is reading in a language that is not your first, I'm sure that some translations may have strengths that I as a native English speaker wouldn't consider, and I encourage you to explore as possible.

With that said, I'm going to try to answer this question below the cut in a bit more depth.

Wraxall: first English translation (1862), released in England. In my experience, not particularly bad nor particularly illuminating. I mostly own this translation for the absolutely lovely Lynd Ward illustrations.

Wilbour: first American English translation (1863). The language is a bit dated and unclear in some spots (and there is a later edition that clarifies some of these points — keep reading), but overall it's pretty solid.

(there's an obscure American translation from around this time from the Confederacy that cuts out all denunciations of slavery that I do not personally recommend for obvious reasons)

Hapgood: Hapgood (1887) is the translation you'll always see online for free. If a copy of Les Mis does not specify the translator, it is most likely Miss Isabel Hapgood. I personally find Hapgood a bit difficult to parse in some areas, but I've also been assured that many spots align very closely with a literal translation from French and that people who do speak French like that. In my opinion, because it is the one that is free and also the easiest to find, I would recommend buying a physical copy of a different translation or holding out for a Hapgood with a very pretty cover; however, if Hapgood's what you want and/or what you have available, please, get Hapgood. (If it matters at all, I think that this is the translation that most of The Iconic quotes come from, in case you're waiting for that iconic "Do you permit it?" and don't wanna get slapped by a "Is it okay?")

After Isabel is a long period with no new translations, and then suddenly we see a revival.

Denny: Norman was the first in a long time (1976) to translate Les Mis, and if I understand correctly, his aim was to make it more readable and accessible, which he definitely accomplished. His translation can be a bit contentious in the fandom community because of the liberties he takes in it, but ultimately it is the same story, all of the most important pieces are there, and it's pretty to boot.

Fahnestock-MacAfee (FMA): FMA is pretty much cleaned-up Wilbour from 1987. I know Wilbour fans who have tried FMA and not really cared for it, but in my supremely biased opinion (FMA was my first and is my general favorite), I think FMA does a good job clarifying some points and in offering translations for some of the French while still maintaining the more classic style of speech.

Rose: This translation was released in 2008 and definitely has the most conversational air of the translations here, to the point at times of being jarring. I think (aside from maybe Denny) it may be the easiest to read on this list if you're hoping to avoid wackier sentence constructions, but there are also spots that feel weirdly modern and casual. I would be remiss in not mentioning that Julie Rose is also the first translator to include (non-translation) footnotes!! And they are structured very clearly and conveniently rather than making you flip back and forth between the back of the book searching to see if the author left you little clues like crumbs in a forest CHRISTINE.

Donougher: The most recent translation to be released as of April 2022 (2013), Donougher's style is very flowery. I've heard people say it's beautiful (I think she even rewrites some poems), I've heard people say it comes across as tacky and like she knows better than Hugo. Only you can decide how you feel — however, Christine also has footnotes! As I implied earlier, hers are unmarked and a bit chaotic compared to Rose, but I believe there's slightly more of them, which may matter to you. (I've also noticed that they rarely overlap in content with Rose's, in case you do ever go overboard and want multiple translations.) Her cover is also v pretty.

We are very fortunate to have some very cool fans who have already copied over the translations from several passages so that you can compare them firsthand and decide which style makes the most sense for you!

3.4.1 (the introduction of the Amis)

4.12.2 (Preliminary Gayeties)

4.12.6 (Jean Prouvaire's poem at the barricade)

I hope this helps, I am so excited for you to start on this journey!

(Edit: There are also now people in the notes and comments with informed feedback, and I encourage you to take their feedback into consideration as well.)