#i'm including both rats because of the two rats fanfic

[discocandles]

these are your coworker wyd

[wannabelilybriscoe]

2024 In Review!

Thank you for the tag, @leavesthatarebrown! <3

I only have two stories and I only started writing halfway through the year! But I'm going to take this opportunity to indulgently ramble about my two stories because I love them both very much. Under the cut for anyone who happens to be interested.

June - December

A Song For the End of the World

So, I'd gotten back into HP fanfiction earlier in the year, after a long time away from being actively in the fandom (we're talking ohhhh ~15 years). Turns out, many people wrote many truly fantastic stories while I was "away," not to mention the treasure trove of older stories that I'd missed because I was a tween back when I first started reading fanfiction! Who knew!

After reading so many gorgeous, poignant, fun, and hard-hitting stories, including a whole whack of really creative AUs featuring the Marauders, I found myself kinda sorta wishing that I could write one of my own. I used to write fiction a lot when I was younger but only ever short stories. Then, university and my twenties happened and put creative writing other than poetry on the back-burner (poetry has been a constant throughout my entire life). But I've always wanted to write a novel! I just didn't think I was the type of person who could write a long story.

Anyway, I was in an extra slumpy place creatively, and aching to feel connected to my old self again (hence getting back into HP fanfiction in the first place). So I thought...fuck it! I've done a bunch of other really hard shit in the last decade. Why can't I just write a stupid fanfic for the pure fun of it, and use it as a sandbox to learn how to write a multi-chapter story? Just to prove to myself that I CAN?

So I started brainstorming what would be the most fun for me to write i.e. what I would be intrinsically motivated to stick with. That's how I landed on:

Zombies! I love zombie movies. Zombies are fun! The genre never takes itself too seriously, but creates a lot of opportunities for interesting character dynamics and explorations into the human psyche. Plus, a lot of opportunity for action-packed, cinematic scenes!

Set in the 70s because I find that era interesting from a pop culture and political milieu.

Remus POV because he's my favourite and I thought he would be the easiest brain for me to inhabit (but I later enjoyed exploring other POVs, I think I just needed to build up my confidence in Remus's head first).

I wanted it to be EPIC. Like a TV show with a couple of seasons. Lots of characters. Multiple plot reveals. Something of a scale I'd never done before.

I wanted it to be a queer coming-of-age story because I love those stories, and stories about found family, friendship, and learning to be brave in the face of insurmountable obstacles.

Then I made a list of cool and/or funny things to add in. I decided that nothing would be too ridiculous for this story because the name of the game is fun. Those things included:

Ample 70s music references

A priest with a flamethrower (can't tell you why, I just loved the visual)

Zombie dog!

An apocalyptic roadtrip

A romantic scene on a tower ledge

A cult with a classic 70s cult leader

Zombie rats!

A Commer van

A chainsaw (hmmmmmm)

And the very final scene, which I won't spoil, but which I've had in my head since the first week of writing this story.

But as I wrote and wrote, I started to tease out different themes I wanted to explore, and different characters I wanted to introduce and inhabit.

One of the biggest things I'm learning from writing this story is to trust the process. Before writing this, I thought I had to have every little piece of the plot figured out at the get-go. It always left me with analysis paralysis. But now I'm learning that while you need to have the broad strokes planned to give you direction, a lot of the parts of the plot that make the story engaging and memorable are discovered along the way. How can I begin to explain how freeing that realization was for me? I've rewritten my plot outline about four times. Although, the funny thing is, whenever I find myself second-guessing a plot point, I seem to end up circling back to my initial idea anyway.

Does all this mean that parts of the story are clunky and in need of refinement? Hell yeah. If I was going to even consider trying to get something published traditionally, I would need to put it through so many rounds of edits. But this is my hobby story about Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, and I'm sharing it as I go. So, I'm choosing to not feel bad about things like going back and making edits to past chapters after they're published if it serves the final product. And I'm choosing to not cut scenes I've included simply for my own self-indulgence, even if it makes things ramble a little. It's imperfect but it's full of joy and heart (and angst and irreverent violence).

December

The Road to Love Is Covered in Ice and Slush

If ASFTEOTW is long for the sake of long, The Road to Love is short for the sake of short. I've read a bunch of tight, punchy romcoms that were just brilliantly executed. I wanted to see if I could do the same. Also, things are at a heavy point in my zombie story and I needed a little brain break. I've been having a blast writing horror but I wanted some silly, light comedy during the holidays!

I decided to set it in Toronto because I've wanted to write a story set in Toronto for a long time. I was born in Toronto and have lived in and around it my entire life. Some of my most formative years were spent living in the west end of the city.

I set it in the present day at a startup because I've lived it, and I knew all the ridiculousness that could be packed into a story with that setting. My goal was to make the plot uncomplicated, as a counterpoint to the zombie story, because that one has required a lot of research and planning. Basically, I approached this story as a rapid-fire project that would hopefully flow easily. I'm happy to say that it did! I've enjoyed writing it immensely.

It's a love letter to my home city. I've fully romanticized Toronto because I think the city deserves it. And it's been so lovely to see people commenting that my story has made them want to visit! It’s also officially the first multi-chapter story I’ve ever finished!!!

Fanfiction is so fun! I've met so many lovely, creative people in the last six months. I've learned SO MUCH about writing fiction! Thank you thank you thank you if you've been reading my stories, and especially if you've been leaving likes and comments. I think one day I WILL write an original novel. I know I'm capable now! But for the time being, I'm enjoying playing in the fanfic sandbox.

(I don't know who to tag because seems like most of my moots have done this already....so if you haven't, consider this an open tag!)

[skeleton-in-a-hoodie]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love 💚

Playing with Shadows - part one of Dead Doesn't Mean Gone au

This was supposed to be a oneshot, but I quickly got really attached to this version of Mikey and Splinter and the fic ended up being six chapters long. By the time the first draft of this fic was done, it was the first part of a series and I started really thinking about what happened to both these characters and where to take them in the future.

2. Memento Mori (Remember That You Must Die) - part three of DDMG

DDMG Tang Shen is a lot of fun to write. Figuring out who she was when not someone's dead wife/mother was as entertaining as it was interesting, and the answer was apparently someone who's simultaneously filled with so much love and a desire to protect her daughter, as well as constantly cataclysmically enraged at all the people who have wronged her. If dropped into season 1 of the 12 universe, Shredder would be dead within a week.

Her relationship with DDMG Splinter now lives in my brain rent free - they were so close to moving to NYC, and being happy together, but everything went to hell instead. I am so excited for when we (eventually) get to her and Splinter meeting up again.

I will say there are parts in this fic that assign more blame to Shen than is fair regarding what happened + the arguments she and Yoshi had about moving. That isn't me blaming her for them having relationship issues because Splinter is my blorbo - her husband died horribly and was simultaneously blamed or a lot of stuff he didn't do + his name was dragged through the mud, so a combination of that and survivor's guilt has left Shen blaming herself a lot more than she should, because the idea of blaming him for anything, even the times he was a stubborn mule, makes her feel complicit.

3. The Whole Being Dead Thing - part one of Ghost Splinter 2 Electric Boogaloo

Splinter dies and keeps making awful (un)life choices, which all blow up in his face.

Also fun fact: the name for this au was supposed to be a jokey placeholder name until I thought of a better one, because saying "that au where splinter dies" also describes DDMG. But then I got attached to it

4. The Pied Piper of New York - part two of DDMG.

I know DDMG has taken up most of this list, but in my defence I've not written many fanfics. Also it's my comfort au and I enjoy shaking it like a dog. Actual picture of how I write this au below:

This is probably the first fic I wrote that really started to include horror elements, which are a lot of fun to write. Getting to write Mikey's brothers and how they bounce off one another and Splinter is also entertaining, cause I get to explore how they're different or similar from their 12 counterparts e.g. Leo gradually coming to see Splinter as one of them, but not liking the idea of Splinter being Mikey's dad because it a) interfers with Leo's own pre-existing plans and b) he doesn't want to think about their dad being replaced.

5. Lone Turtles and Cubs - part one of tmnt ageswap au/ dubiously canon for The Road to Hell.

I'm still proud of this fic - it was one of the first things I wrote after not being able to write for 5+ years, and is one of the first fics I managed to finish.

Basically the Turtles throwing a party to commemorate their rat nephew and sort of human nieces being given their first weapons, with flashbacks to shortly after they all got mutated.

[rayless-reblogs]

20 Book Challenge

I saw this challenge on a post by @theresebelivett. The idea is you pick 20 of your books to take with you to a desert island, but you can only pick one book per author and series. Here are two further guidelines I set myself: They have to be books I actually own, as if I really am gathering them up under my arms and heading to the island; and I'm defining "book" as a single volume -- so if I just so happen to have 100 novellas squashed between two covers, it still counts as one book.

We'll go alphabetically by author.

Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre. An old standby, a classic, I can jump into it at any point.

Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca. Have only read it once, but loved it and I suspect I'll get more from it each time.

Clare B Dunkle: The Hollow Kingdom. If I can only take one book from this excellent and unusual goblin series that captivated me in the mid-2000s, it'd better be the first one.

William Goldman: The Princess Bride. This book had an outsize influence on my own writing. I can quote a lot of it, but I wouldn't want to be without it.

Shannon Hale: Book of a Thousand Days. I love the warmth and humility of its heroine Dashti. Plus, Shannon Hale very kindly wrote a personal response to a fan letter I sent her years and years ago, so her work always has a special place in my heart.

Georgette Heyer: Cotillion. I don't actually own my favorite Georgette novel, but the funny, awkward, and ultimately romantic Cotillion is definitely not a pitiful second-stringer.

Eva Ibbotson: A Countess Below Stairs. Countess was my introduction to Eva's adult romances, and she is the past master of warm, hardworking heroines who should really be annoying because they're way too good to be true, but somehow you just end up falling in love with them.

Norton Juster: The Phantom Tollbooth. I first read this when I was like eight, and even for an adult, its quirky humor and zingy wordplay hold up, no problem.

Gaston Leroux: The Phantom of the Opera. Can't leave without Erik, nope, the French potboiler has got to come. Perhaps I will spend my time on the island writing the inevitable crossover fanfic, The Phantom of the Tollbooth.

CS Lewis: Till We Have Faces. Faces is my current answer for what my favorite book is, so I'm taking that, though it feels criminal to leave The Silver Chair behind.

LM Montgomery: The Blue Castle. As much as I love Anne and Emily, it came down to Blue Castle and A Tangled Web, and I'm a sucker for Valancy's romantic journey.

E Nesbit: Five Children and It. Probably the most classic Edwardian children's fantasy, though still a hard choice to make. Nesbit is another author who had a huge influence on me as a writer.

Robert C O'Brien: Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. A childhood book I'm really sentimental about. I should re-read it.

Meredith Ann Pierce: The Darkangel. The first in the archaic lunar vampire trilogy. This will always be frustrating, only having the first in the series, but if I can only read the first, maybe I'll forget about how angry the third novel left me.

Sherwood Smith: Crown Duel. At one time, this swords-and-manners fantasy duet was one of my absolute favorite fandoms, and clever me has both books in one volume, so I don't have to choose.

Anne Elisabeth Stengl: Starflower. My favorite of the Tales of Goldstone Wood series. We'll have to test whether I can actually get sick of Eanrin.

JRR Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings. I've never actually read it through as an adult and, look at that, I have a three-in-one volume. Cheating!

Vivian Vande Velde: Spellbound. I've read much of VVV's YA fantasy and liked a lot of it, but none more so than The Conjurer Princess and its fast-paced tale of revenge. The Spellbound edition includes the prequel and a bonus short story, so I'm good to go.

PG Wodehouse: The World of Mr Mulliner. There are some hilarious novels I'm leaving behind here, including all the Bertie Wooster stuff. But there are some absurdly fun Mulliner stories and this edition is like three hundred pages. That'll keep me happy for a long while on my island.

Jack Zipes (editor): Spells of Enchantment. This is an enormous compilation of western fairy tales. I've owned it since 2004 or so, and I've still never finished it. Now, on my island, I'll no longer have the excuse.

Tagging anyone else who feels like doing this!

[librathefangirl]

Love your fics btw 🥺❤️

But 🦈 and 🍬 for the ask game ❤️

Thank you!! 🥺❤️ And thank you for the ask too :)

(Also can I say that I'm impressed that I've gotten 7 emojis for this ask game now, but none have been duplicates)

🦈 Which character is the toughest to write?

Ooh. For nnt I gotta go with daytime Escanor and Diane. I just... don't really know how to handle those two.

I much more prefer writing wimpy night Escanor than arrogant day Escanor. Although both will show up in an upcoming fic of mine (day 21 of my Febuwhump series, whenever I get to that one). So, we'll see how that works out.

As for Diane, I don't know, I just struggle a lot with her character. Which is probably why I have never actually written from her perspective yet.

🍬 Do you write for multiple fandoms? If yes, what is your favorite fic of yours for each fandom?

I mean, technically yes? If we're looking at both my early fanfic days over on FF.net and my current ones on ao3, I've got 60 fics across 12 fandoms. Although, this year I've only posted fics for nnt. Which I don't mind actually, I haven't been this inspired to write since I started writing fanfic (for Lab Rats) back in 2016.

Only 5 of my written fandoms have more than 1 fic posted, so let's look at them, shall we? Going oldest to newest:

Lab Rats - Betrayal

I guess it would be cheating saying my entire A for Always fic, since it's my advent calendar fic and is thereby a collections of 24 fics? (Actually that advent calendar was fun to write, maybe I should do something like that for nnt this year?). So let's go with chapter 2: Betrayal. This one's actually a bit different from my usual stories. It's more of an introspection and deals with Chase's (canon) experiences of betrayal and the emotional impact these had (that was't explored in canon). Over 6 years later I'm still proud of this one.

Lab Rats: Elite Force - Her Baby Brother

This one's a set of three drabbles, showcasing Bree's relationship with her little brother during different stages of their lives. I like this one because writing drabbles is not always that easy, plus at the same time I managed to make them feel like three parts of the same story with a similar structure. (Not a story for people who don't like main character deaths.)

Glee - The Boy with the Christmas Sweaters

Okay, looking back at my Glee fics was actually kinda hard, because the ship I loved back then I can't stand anymore. But I do like this fic! It's a Samcedes fic based on a Christmas prompt. Just some fluff and humor (a rarity for me).

Stranger Things - Trust and Needles

I have a total of 3 ST fics. All of which less than 700 words. All of which Stoncy. This one's just fluffy ot3 shenanigans combined with Steve whump. It might leave a smile on your face (unless you don't like needles or stitching, then you won't like this fic).

The Seven Deadly Sins / Nanatsu no Taizai - Who'll Hug the Prince of Hell?

This one wasn't easy to choose. They're all so new and all so loved. I think I'll have to go with this one though. For starters, it's my first nnt fic, the start of a new era and all that. It also includes a lot of things I love to write about; Meliodas angst, the relationships between the Sins and Meliodas, Meliodas getting the love he deserves, Merlin knowing his whole story, Meliodas and Ban being Meliodas and Ban, King dealing with his feelings and actions towards Meliodas after the reveal. Also, who doesn't love a story where Meliodas gets hugged repeatedly? (I should make Mel get hugged more often)

Anyway. Here's the list for the ask game, if anyone else wanna send me something :)