#i've also been thinking about an almost phantom of the opera au but this one amused me more

[chthonic-cassandra]

Tagged by @awildwickedslip

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

111

2. What’s your total AO3 wordcount?

312,131

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I write a little across a lot of fandoms. The only fandoms for which I have written substantial amounts are Dracula, Greek mythology, and Shakespeare's plays. I have active projects right now in Dracula, Xena, and Penny Dreadful.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Shattered Mirrors (Jonathan in Dracula's castle), Make It Through the Wintertime (Hadestown Persephone character study), To Burn the Castle Down (Jonathan angst), Compromise (Dracula darkest timeline AU), Minor Initiations (different Dracula darkest timeline AU)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I have been trying to get in the habit of it. I think it's nice to express my appreciation and try to be a bit more social about all of it.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

This is a hard question; so, so many of the things I write are angsty. Specifically as far as endings, I am realizing that an extremely high proportion of my stories end with a character aware that they are about to die or that something else terrible is about to happen to them, and in some way accepting it. This is of course tragedy but I'm not sure it is quite angst.

Outside of this pattern, I think that To Burn the Castle Down is almost over the top angsty (it's not one I like to reread), as is For Every Grief That's Offered (yet another Dracula darkest timeline AU). Both are from ~15 years ago, and I would write them differently now.

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

Ha. Do I write happy endings? Sometimes I do bittersweet hopefulness, of which I think Fidelity (poly Mina post-canon) and Still in the Realm of the Sun (Code Name Verity Julie/Maddie fix it) lean most heavily on the sweet side. The Caucus-Race (Alice in Wonderland, the Dodo enters politics) is legitimately happy.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not to my face for a long time, at least not in a serious way.

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

I do not.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Not much. Many years ago I did a couple - a Dracula-Greek mythology and a Dracula-Vampire Chronicles, and also a little Nosferatu-Pied Piper of Hamelin which is the only one of those still up.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes - someone translated Foreigners (Aida, Amneris character study) into Mandarin. There might have been another but I don't remember it.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

No, though I once told @forthegothicheroine I would and then bailed on her, for which I continue to feel some guilt

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

To write, certainly Mina/Dracula/Jonathan. But that's not from an actually shipping it perspective. What I tend to write and what I ship when reading or watching something aren't all that related.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Mood, imagery, psychological interiority, small-scale structure/pace

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Smut, happy endings, writing anything long form

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

I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it in a language that I didn't myself know, and the only non-English language I know well enough to do that in is ancient Greek, which I guess I could use somewhere but it hasn't felt necessary. Several installments of Compromise have important scenes of switching between languages so I've thought about it, but keeping all the text in English let me do a particular language-related reveal in this last installment which pleased me.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Either Lord of the Rings or Phantom of the Opera

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Right now it has to be Compromise as a whole, but this is hard. There are a lot of other things I've written that haven't gotten as much attention as that one but which are very dear to me, but as a series Compromise means so much to me at the moment.

Too tired right now to tag anyone, but please consider yourself tagged if you'd like to do it!

[dearxtallxboy]

🎶⛔️🌞💖🦅👀🤩🤲

Thank you so much for the ask! I appreciate it so much ❤️

🎶 - Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

I have to say that I usually don't listen to music while I'm writing. I get kind of distracted and I'll sometimes type out the lyrics of what I'm listening to without even thinking 😅 But a song I have been listening to on loop is the French version of Do you Hear the People Sing? From Les Misérables, which is A la volonté du peuple. Please listen to it! Even if you don't speak French, it's amazing! I also recommend looking up the English translation because it hits harder than the actual English version.

⛔️ - Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

I have a couple that I've written little drabbles for that never went anywhere, mostly because I struggled with writing it or I didn't like the idea once I had it written down. I had a Detroit: Become Human AU with android!Ben and human!George and they fall in love and it's cute. I might bring it back, but for now it'll stay tucked away in a little corner.

🌞 - Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

If I'm able to, mid afternoon is such a great time to write. There's just a chill vibe and everything is nice and quiet. But I mostly write at night because of my work and school schedule, which is also fine. I'm usually so tired by the time I start writing in the evening I'm lucky if I get a paragraph or two out before I fall asleep.

💖 - What made you start writing?

Well, I've been writing fics since I was about 12, but stopped when I was about 14, mostly because I hated what I had written and I was convinced I was a terrible writer. Fast forward a few years and my friend @ouiouixmonami gave me several gentle nudges into writing a fic and finally putting it up on ao3.

🦅 - Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

I very rarely outline my fics, mostly because I write a lot of one-shots. The most I've ever written are three chapters and that's only because I can't fit all the things I want to write into one chapter without it feeling clunky. I do have an outline for a much longer Phantom of the Opera fic starring omega!Raoul and alpha!Erik. It's even got a table of everyone's ages, height, and whether or not they are an alpha, beta, or omega. Otherwise I'll just sit down and write things out until I'm happy with it.

👀 - Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

I'm currently working on a follow up to my last fic, Lean On Me. The basic idea is that Raoul is going to be introducing Erik to Philippe for the first time, though Raoul has a teeny tiny secret that he doesn't want to reveal to his big brother quite yet, but the beans will be spilled before the day is over.

🤩 - Who is your favorite character to write?

That's so hard to decide because I love writing almost everyone! Currently my favorite to write is Raoul. He can be so goofy and whiny to write, but he so deeply loves Erik and only wants his lover to understand how deep that love goes. One I'm looking forward to writing in the future is a certain cynic from Les Mis because I think we're gonna vibe together pretty well.

🤲 - Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

Here's an itty bitty paragraph from my latest wip. Enjoy!

He hated waking up these last few weeks. Every morning was the same. He would wake up sick to his stomach and would usually expel whatever contents were in it. He would feel a little better afterwards, but the acidic taste of vomit would linger in his mouth and he often felt too weak to get out of bed right away. He honestly didn’t know what he would do without Erik. His alpha would rub his back while Raoul would empty his stomach into the chamber pot, whispering soothing nonsense to help distract him. Then he would help Raoul get comfortable in bed again and give him a gentle kiss on the cheek before leaving to prepare a cup of ginger tea and some dry toast to help settle his stomach.

[trensu]

I had a thought about a vaguely Cupid-and-Psyche inspired crack!fic where Elias is a god of Love

(Jon: don't you mean Emotional Manipulation?

Elias: you say to-may-to, i say to-mah-to

Jon: ... I say to-mah-to, I'm not American, what does this have to do with anything?)

Jon is obviously Cupid. Elias took a shine to him and made him immortal against his will and keeps him as his servant or smth. Idk Elias is a douchebag, okay? ANYWAY, Elias is also a petty bitch and so he gave Jon Love arrows

(Jon: it's mind control.

Elias: they inspire passion, Jon. Just bc you don't experience it, doesn't mean--

Jon: No. Me being ace has nothing to do with it. They're mind control arrows. These people wouldn't have done all that if they weren't being influenced.

Elias: you have no romance in your soul

Jon: ...i find your interpretation of love and romance extremely suspect.)

Whenever Elias feels jealous or neglected or just plain bored tbh, he sends Jon out with to shoot whoever's caught his ire with one of those love arrows and has them make fools of themselves. Jon does it (he's bound to Elias for handwavey reasons so he can't really disobey) and it usually gets him in trouble. It's how he's gotten all those scars. (Jane Prentiss falling in love with worms and attacking Jon with them when he accidentally stepped on one while trying to make an exit was pretty tame in comparison to Jude Perry's reaction when she realized Jon struck Agnes with an arrow so she'd fall for some no-name mortal boy).

Such is Jon's life. Being immortal is not all it's cracked up to be when you can get injured and scarred. So when Elias started muttering about Peter's wandering eye, Jon knew it was only a matter of time before he'd send him out with those arrows again.

Peter, apparently, had been showing too much interest in a mortal boy named Martin, whose Loneliness tasted as bittersweet as dark chocolate (or so Peter claimed as he boasted during his dinner with Elias while Jon slowly sunk further into his chair the more irritated Elias's scowl grew).

"make him fall in love with something hideous and embarrassing," Elias had seethed at him, practically throwing the quiver at his head. At least two of the arrows pricked him so he was quite grateful that he was immune to their mind control (Elias: don't be ridiculous, Jon. Having you susceptible to the magic you're tasked to handle would be a stupid move on my part. You could get compromised and be completely useless to me!)

Grumbling, Jon set out to track down the mortal boy. He was not prepared for the the way the sunlight glinted off of Martin's light hair or his warm smile. He was not prepared for the twinge he felt in his heart when Martin's pale eyes glimmered with tears after receiving his mother's harsh words (the pain, worryingly, felt all too similar to the slice of the arrows he aimed at people).

He didn't want to shoot Martin with one of the mind control arrows. He wanted Martin to be happy. So he persuades his good friend Daisy to get her gf Basira to fake a prophecy. To her credit, she did a fantastic job delivering a fake prophecy. But there was some sort of miscommunication (or Martin's mother deliberately misunderstood; it could go either way). Instead of telling Martin's mother to marry off her son to a kind and handsome man with a gentle heart in order to avoid the wrath of the gods, the prophecy was somehow interpreted as sacrificing Martin's hand in marriage to some sort of hideous beast that lived at the peak of a nearby and treacherous mountain.

(Jon: how did she get that idea from your prophecy? what exactly did you tell her???

Basira: i can't fake a prophecy, Jon. and i'm not telling you what the prophecy was

Jon: What?? Why not???

Basira: it would violate the oracle-client confidentiality clause on the consent form we have them sign prior to a reading)

Jon was irritated by how quickly and eagerly Martin's mother was to dress up her son and dump him on the mountain. He was tempted to use the arrows on her, instead, but he figured Martin would be upset if something happened to his mother so he refrained. Jon fretted as Martin started his slow procession up the mountain. Martin wasn't made to endure such a harsh environment, and even if he had, he shouldn't have to!! Martin deserves to be loved and treated well and get given all the good things life could offer!!

So Jon constructs a luxurious enchanted castle using godly magic and more favors than he probably should've called in. He puts big obvious signage to Martin knew it would be his castle provided by his non-existent monster spouse.

(Daisy: he's gonna get suspicious when his monster spouse doesn't show up. he'll probably leave and try to find it. he seems like the self-sacrificing type and you know how those get.

Jon: i have a plan

Daisy: .... is this like all your other plans?

Jon: shut up, daisy)

So Jon pretends to be the hideous monster spouse Martin was expecting. Sort of. He only visits after dark, and informs Martin that he can not bring light into the room for if he sees his visage he'd be cursed (or something; Jon came up with something on the fly and was definitely not suave about it but Martin complied and that's all that mattered). He spends his nights with Martin, telling him stories and meekly asking permission to pet his hair and hold his hand while doing his best to ignore the pounding of his heart and the heat on his cheeks whenever Martin softly says yes. He didn't say yes the first time Jon asked, and Jon skittered away from where he had been creeping closer. He respected Martin's boundaries (he isn't Elias, after all) but as he and Martin spent more time together, Martin became less guarded and began to allow Jon close.

It got to the point where they would cuddle in bed and Jon was so content in Martin's arms that he occasionally dozed with him. Everything was great and Martin seemed genuinely happy to spend his days in the castle learning new hobbies and such while spending his nights with someone he couldn't see. Until one day Martin asked if he could have his mother visit. Jon wanted to say no, but the hesitant way Martin asked tasted too much of fear of rejection for Jon to deny him.

(Daisy: why do I have to guide her here?

Jon: bc you're my friend and if you don't Martin will be sad which means I'll be sad and you'll have to listen to me cry about it and you hate that

Daisy: damn it jon)

And because martin's mother is awful and bitter and spiteful, she tells Martin he should find out what his "captor" looked like. his spouse was a monster, after all, he should know what he's dealing with so he could defend himself and her if it should decide to attack them. so one night, shortly after his mother left, he waits until Jon has dozed off before quietly lighting a candle.

Jon wakes when he feels hot wax drip onto him and sees Martin staring a him with a shocked expression. Jon realizes what happened and flees in a panic. He knows what he looks like; short and skinny an riddled with scars of all kinds. Ofc Martin would be disgusted by him. He ends up licking his wounds at Elias's.

(Elias: my poor delicate darling precious boy

Jon: really, Elias?

Elias: can't a father worry about his child??

Jon: you're not my father!! you kidnapped me and immortalized me against my will!

Elias: details, details. anyway, you can stay here until you recover from your grievous injuries. byyyyee!

Jon: where are you going? elias? why's the door locked? elias?? LET ME OUT, YOU POMPOUS ASS)

When Jon recovers and finally manages to escape, he finds out that Martin had been trying to find him but Elias had given him impossible tasks to prove he's worthy of him. Thankfully, Daisy, Georgie and Basira all helped him out, much to elias's displeasure. Since Martin completed the tasks, Jon was able to reunite with him and they lived happily ever after~!

[luna-helps-writing]

Any chance you could do a lotr/Hobbit match up for me please?

I'm 5'11 So on the taller end of the spectrum for a cis woman. I would like to say I'm curvy as I have been blessed with a decent sized chest and bum though I do have a bit of a tummy and dip hips. My hair is a mousey brown with with green dye at the tips which comes down to my lower back. My eyes are almost black in colour which is strange for my family.

I wouldn't necessarily class myself as strong, I can't do a pushups but people do turn to me to open jars and bottles over everyone else. I'm strong enough to restrain people which is the tactic I go to if I have to step into a fight. As my grandfather always said don't start a fight but always finish one. My true passions are history and animals I can talk about them endlessly and am full to the brim of random useless facts. I have some basic knowledge that might be useful on the quest. My sister is a 3rd generation medical practitioner so I do have some first aid knowledge that I've picked up growing up and I briefly worked in a vets and got to watch some operations so I think I could suture if I needed to. I've trekked through a rainforest so I also know some wilderness camping tips and tricks so if I ever got to partake in a quest I think I could manage. I also am a proficient swimmer and have training in lifeguarding and general water survival (always take your shoes and socks off while swimming!).

I do have some health issues which occasionally flare up and I feel like I'm one of the clumsiest people on the planet. I do care deeply about people and I desperately want everyone to like me or at least find me useful to keep around. I feel like I am most myself with my dog as there is no pressure to be anyone but me. As a result I do have people anxiety so crowded areas are a big no go for me. Despite the anxiety I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie having skydived, ziplined, hotcoal walked and I love theme parks. Rollercoasters are my happy place away from my pets. Oh and I love the theatre, you can catch me singing along to musicals in my spare time.

Sorry for rambling I hope you enjoyed the deep dive into me as a person.

Thank you for your request! And I don’t mind the rambling, really! It gives me a better idea of who to match you with, so thank you for that!

For the Hobbit, I ship you with Fili!

• He LOVES your hair. I cannot stress this enough? The dye, he loves it. He is absolutely amazed by it. Might want to do it himself too. He can play with it for hours without ever growing tired. He likes it in a ponytail, braid, bun or just loose. Anything really. He just loves the general look on you.

• Loves your whole attitude of “don’t start a fight, but finish one”. He might be a bit impulsive himself, so perhaps he’ll jump in too, even though he is aware of the fact that you can handle yourself. He just wants you to know that he’s there for you no matter what.

• Please, for the love of all good, teach him some survival hacks, because he and his brother and walking catastrophes. They carry chaos - no - they are the embodiment of chaos. They need those tips or there will be heavy consequences. Please, safe them because they need it.

•Will get you out of overwhelming situations. He’ll just reassure you and do something fun with you that doesn’t involve...people. Like acting out musicals, because he is so obviously a theater kid. I think he would be a sucker for the classics songs such as Suddenly Seymour, Phantom of the Opera or My Favorite Things.

For Lord of The Rings, I ship you with Aragorn!

• He knows a lot about animals too, but your history remains unknown to him. He would love to learn about it! As a ranger, he doesn’t really get history lessons, despite his heavy lineage. He wants you to tell him about your favorite history subject and don’t hold back on him. Obviously, you won’t, as he seems to love it just as much as you do.

• You share a lot of information based on survival and medical stuff together. Both of you know a good amount, but not enough to be completely on your own. Sharing both of your knowledges, honestly makes a great duo. Issues? Not with you, there’s not.

• When you told him about the one time you went skydiving, he thought you were insane. No person with a right frame of mind would jump from the sky. It wasn’t until you explained that you’re ere completely secured, that he understood. Even though Aragorn is Aragorn and he’s a bad bitch, he will never do it. Ever. I do think he’d love rollercoaster in a modern au.

• Random useless facts? He’s obsessed. Teach him please. You’ll go for walks at times and sometimes you’ll mention some facts. He loves them and wants to hear more. He’s afraid to ask though, but eventually you’ll find out yourself. He finds it fascinating how you find a way to storage all that useless information.

I hope you liked it! Stay safe during these times please❤️