#in even more cringe i currently have at least 5 wips let me think —>

[cellsshapedlikestars]

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @hilarychuff

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

honestly, I'm sometimes embarrassed by how much I've written in the 3 1/2 years since I started posting. Currently 66

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

1,350,298. yikes.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

at this point, Jonsa. we do not talk about The Prior Fandom

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

a fairytale ending (by a WIDE margin)

the mating game

take me out

moth's wings

ever fallen in love (on national TV)

(shocker, it's all my romcoms lmao. also, let's not talk about how the top 4 are all fake dating fics. I can't help myself)

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

I try to. I used to do it on all fics, but as discussed above, I'm a wordy bitch and at points responding to all comments on, for example, one shot event fics that I would post back-to-back got overwhelming. So I allowed myself to stop responding to comments on one shots. Recently I had quite the mental health dip and didn't respond to any for a while, but I think I'm back.

Part of the reason I like fandom is the sense of community. I started responding to comments on my first fic because I hadn't resurrected my tumblr from the grave yet, so it was the only way to interact with the fandom. Then I continued to because I appreciated the comments, even if they were simple and I had nothing else to say except thank you. I still try to on chaptered fics because, let's face it, without comments and without community, I wouldn't be posting my stories.

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

probably my WWI one-shot

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

I try to write at least *hopeful* endings for all my fics. I don't know if I can quantify "happiest", because I think that's different for everyone.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

of course. I feel like it's a rite of passage on ao3 to get some shitty hate comments

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

*through clenched teeth* I sure do

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

I'm not really a fan of crossovers tbh

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that I'm aware of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

not that I'm aware of

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

nope! I don't think I could tbh. I'm sort of a control freak and I even have problems letting people pre-read things, I have no idea why. I think the only people I've let pre-read anything are @hilarychuff (who is my brainstorm buddy) and @greenhikingboots (who is the reason the last chapter of the ghost inside made any coherent sense)

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I mean, Jonsa. I honestly don't ship that often

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

sigh. white knuckles.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'm very fast at it lmao. Like, seriously. I type very fast. I'm also somehow really good at starting a fic off with only an inciting incident, no other real plans, and somehow coming up with a full plot/ending that I'm satisfied with, while posting it as I develop the story

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

outlines. smut.

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

I can barely handle English my guy

19. First fandom you wrote for?

hmmm that depends on what the criteria is. First fandom I wrote for was Sailor Moon, I just never posted it anywhere. Harry Potter was technically the first fandom I posted for, but it was one chapter and I never continued it and I genuinely can't even remember what it was called, all I remember is Harry melted Voldemort with a bucket of soapy water like in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles.

The first fandom I was actually active in and wrote more than just a chapter was... A secret. I'm actually a little embarrassed about it and my fics are still floating around out there and some of them make me cringe sooooo hard. I don't think I've ever admitted to it here on tumblr dot com and I don't think I will now

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

help me out of the shape I'm in

I'm always so anxious about tagging people and leaving people out and making them feel bad, but I'll try to do it anyway. @greenhikingboots @sibyldisobedience @thewolvescalledmehome @esther-dot @periwinkle39 @eruherdiriel and anyone else who wants to do this! (also, no pressure to anyone I did tag lol)

[fieldsofview]

20 Questions (for fanfic writers)

I got tagged by the absolutely lovely @sarah-sandwich Thank you!!

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

17 :)

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

157,867 (2/3 of that is SMH hahaha)

3. what fandoms do you write for?

atm all my WIPs and upcoming fic ideas are Spidey related, but I used to write a lot for MLB and OL:BA (and A:TLA back on ffn in hs but we don't talk about the dark ages hahaha)

4. top five fics by kudos:

Under The Moonlight - OL:BA smutty oneshot of what should have happened after the charity ball scene 😳

Crushtomer - MLB coffee shop AU one-shot with Barista!Adrien and Overworked Uni Student!Marinette (heavily inspired by my barista days in College, when I was writing this) ☕

King Agreste - a MLB AU oneshot inspired by the Grimm fairy tale Allerleirauh "all-kinds-of-fur" 🏰

You Said You Loved Me - an MLB kwami swap identity reveal wip i never finished and probably never will sorry 😬

Spider-Man: Homesickness - My take on what the MCU Spidey's life could be like 5 years post: No Way Home and his journey into letting people back into his life and not being so alone (My CURRENT BABY and WIP that I'm ALMOST DONE WITH - it's so fucking long alskdhasasjdkhksdjhfkfh my hope is that it ends up in the no. 1 spot someday when it's complete) 🕸️

5. do you respond to comments?

So I didn't always, but nowadays I try really hard to respond to every comment thread at least, even if I don't always have the last comment on the thread. I really REALLY appreciate each and every comment and I actually often re-read them when I'm feeling insecure in my writing (is that cringe? maybe lol but it's true)

6. what is the fic your wrote with the angstiest ending?

Definitely The Beauty of Green. 268-word OL: BA drabble that smacks you out of nowhere in the last two sentences. I never write things that short anymore but it just worked

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

A lot of my one-shots back when I was writing for MLB like 5 years ago have happy endings. I prefer more *complicated* endings now, but a genuinely happy ending can be nice too. May I present Drops in a Pond for consideration though? Not traditionally fluffy or sweet, but I like to think it's a soft and hopeful kind of ending.

8. do you get hate on fics?

I haven't yet. I think I'm too small of a creator to get hate lol

9. do you write smut?

I've posted one smut fic before, Under the Moonlight, listed above. It's my top-rated fic so I guess I know a little of what I'm doing. OH and my side-wip I'm working on when SMH is too angsty for me is all fluff and kinky Parkner smut and I'm so excited to post that someday when SMH is fully out and done.

10. craziest crossover:

I haven't written any crossovers, unless you count pulling from marvel canon across different adaptations to make SMH (it's got Gwen and Harry and Miles even though they're not in the MCU 19999 as of now). But I used to write a lot of aus

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but I would be so honored if someone did! I once had a full conversation in the comments with someone in another language by using Google Translate and that was fun!

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

I think my writing process would be a little too unconventional to co-write with someone unless we were trading chapters and perspectives. I go back and edit my drafts a lot as I move forward and I would be too tempted to edit their writing too, which feels mean...

14. all time favorite ship?

I LITERALLY CAN NOT PICK DO NOT DO THIS TO ME!!!!! I will be a multi-shipper until the day I die, in basically every fandom.

15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have an idea for a series of long fics making an MCU HS AU inspired by Degrassi, but I think it would be just too many hours and too many words that I won't ever commit to. I love a good HS AU every now and again, but I feel like a lot of people (across fandoms with hs aus tbh) write the characters as if they already have a lot of the canon quirks the characters have as adults. I would want to write them truly as their HS selves, acting like real teenagers and all the dumb shit teens do, as the reader follows along on the journey of their growing up.

16. what are your writing strengths?

I think I really like detail and trying to portray a level of reality with the characters, even in more fantastical settings. I want the character's choices and motivations to be both complex and clear to the reader, even when they're making choices that the reader disagrees with. I also think this is a skill that is more and more prevalent in my recent writing, so my earlier MLB stuff doesn't have as much of it. My OLBA stuff and now my Spidey stuff though? Yeah.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Staying motivated to finish WIPS. (This is something I've improved a lot on though and at this point, barring some kind of life-or-death calamity in my life, I will absolutely be finishing SMH. I'm literally 120k of a predicted 150k words deep and going strong sooo).

OH ALSO comedy! I'm so bad at writing funny characters and making them actually say things that are both funny and make sense. Sucks when writing Spidey cause he can be such a little shit with his sarcastic comments and each dialogue point takes me 3-5 business weeks to come up with.

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I do it very rarely and only when it feels 100% necessary. I had a small bit in Spanish in ch 6 of SMH because Jeff and Rio were literally talking about Peter right in front of him and he could hear the words they were saying, even if he didn't understand them. But it was very brief.

I did it because the POV character literally didn't understand it, so it made sense to have it written out. In fics where the POV character understands what's being said, I prefer it all be written in the fic's primary language, for reader ease.

19. first fandom you wrote in?

A:TLA, like I said. That was back in the dark ages of my Junior Year of HS on my old ffn account that will never see the light of day again hahaha

20. favorite fic you've written?

Every current WIP has always been my favorite because that is what I'm thinking about. So SMH is definitely my current fave. It's my baby and I've put literally hundreds of hours into it (I keep a spreadsheet lol, it's nearly 150 hours of sheer writing, not including the early days of brainstorming and outlining.)

HOWEVER, back in the day, I was really proud of writing Answer Me and it's literally my lowest-rated fic, but I was such a fan of the genre and the Night Circus inspiration. Plus, I love Alya as a character and it was really fun to write from her perspective.

OH, and I'm still proud of Under the Moonlight because it taught me that my acespec ass can write smut and is also good at it, lol. I just have to write smut that's rooted in ~*~feelings~*~ and also has an element of humanism and imperfection. Which is the type of vibe I'm putting into my side-wip rn.

Thanks for tagging me, Sarah!

no pressure tagging: @seek--rest, @abcd-em, @missamyshay, @pbpsbff

[sarah-sandwich-writes]

20 Questions - Fanfic Writer Edition

I was tagged by both @writer-or-whatever and @jmrothwell so I suppose I better do it 😅 Thanks guys!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 42 (*gasp* am I Miles Morales?)

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 1,265,660 lol

3. What fandoms do you write for? currently just Spider-Man but I used to write for Supernatural and before that Harry Potter. I'm a one obsession at a time kinda girl.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Paradise (spread out with a butter knife) - 72k spideypool soulmates au

Don't Freak Out - 136k parkner rivals to lovers speedrun

A Peach Like You - 73k parkner featuring autistic!peter, loveatfirstsight!harley, and a cringe self insert as the villain of the week lmao

The Distance Between (You and Me) - 29k parkner bodyguard au

You're Freaking Out - 166k sequel to DFO featuring plot (wow!) and Miles (yay!)

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

My dudes I try. I know I'm not very consistent and I have a tendency to disappear for months at a time, but I read and cherish each one.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't really do angsty endings lol I think the closest I've gotten is Lay Me Down - 8k destiel major character death--lowest kudosed fic out of all 42 lmao

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

This is an impossible question. I am like the queen of happy endings? You want me to rank them??? Fine, it's You're Freaking Out. Best 10k epilogue in the land. Oh hey also I just noticed it has 997 kudos. May I humbly request 3 more pretty please?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No. Closest was when someone complained on one of my destiel fics about the grocery store not having plastic bags and needing a quarter in order to obtain a cart. I specifically remember they said, "I hate when writers do this," and went on to complain about us making up obviously fake stuff that pulls them out of the story. Like, first of all you're complaining about storytellers making stuff up ??? okay. And second, it was an Aldi. A real grocery store. That I didn't make up.

I had to take a day to cool off before I responded and then they were like oh yeah, my roommate told me when I complained to them, you responded to this really nicely though! WHICH folks LET ME TELL YOU made me angrier lol Like you found out you were wrong and didn't even come back to edit/delete/apologize for your comment???

Anyway after that I internalized that you don't know what kind of lived experience your commenters have so some comments should be taken with a grain of salt. Which is a double-edged sword bc sometimes I get really nice enthusiastic comments and read it like, okay but what if this person is 12 and read it at 2am in a fit of delirium and this is their first fic ever and it's actually not as good as they think haha

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

I doooo. I haven't published any since I wrote for spn but I have a parkner pwp ready to go as soon as I muster up the nerve.

I have no idea how to interpret the question "what kind" lol uhhh the hot kind? pffft

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

I have but I never published them. Again, these were for spn which is hella fun to play with merging into other canon. I started but never finished spn crossovers with Firefly, The 100, The Hunger Games, Criminal Minds, Agents of Shield, and Teen Wolf. I think that's all of them. I've been thinking about putting all of my abandoned wips on AO3 for archive purposes, but idk still noodling on it. I wish there way a way I could elect to post without notifying my subscribers :/ Or at least send them a message warning them that I'm about to be incredibly annoying

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of 🙃

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes!! A few now! The ultimate kudo in my opinion, and one I never expected <3

The wonderful @bluettspetal has translated An Insignificant Problem, Undercover? I thought you said under covers..., and Completely and utterly devoid of sex appeal into Russian with plans to translate more.

And Faaayeee42 on AO3 translated Paradise (spread out with a butter knife) to Mandarin Chinese.

I'm forever blown away by this.

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

Nope! Done some brainstorming a few times but nothing that has evolved into actually writing out a shared thing. Not sure I'd be any good at it tbh. I'd probably be a very frustrating writing partner.

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

Peter Parker/Harley Keener. They're good boys.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

My Infinity War time travel fix it (make it worse) fic 😔 It's got so much potential but it is perpetually at the bottom of the to-do list.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and developing relationships

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

mother fucking action sequences and like, coming up with The Plan (the evil kind and the ones to take down the evil kind)

This silly little graphic I made for You're Freaking Out where Harley mocks The Plan made by the spider dumplin gang was initially one half of my brain negging the other half about being shit at making Plans and I decided that it might as well manifest as the characters lmao

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

Eh. It's fanfiction, you know? Do what you want. Experiment. Try your best to do it justice. Accept that some people are going to let their eyes blur and skim over it while others will pick it apart but most will exist somewhere in the middle. Just write what you want to write, how you want to write it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

*sigh* Harry Potter. Looking forward to my own post getting gobbled up by my block list lmao

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Goodness gracious how do I even decide? I think Peaches Ain't Pretty is my favorite. It's the fic that showed me beyond a shadow of a doubt that I can step outside of fanfiction and write whatever I want and be just as satisfied, if not more.

[kagedbird]

Ao3 20 questions!

Tagged by: @azures-grace I tag: @bamsara @argisthebulwark and anyone else! (I can't remember who writes solely on Tumblr or not, sorry for not tagging you if you do write on Ao3 as well!!)

1 – How many works do you have on AO3?

-Currently 16.

2 – What's your total AO3 word count?

-Currently 800,424. (Will change for sure on the 15th haha.)

3 – What fandoms do you write for?

-Skyrim, Five Nights at Freddy's / Security Breach, Undertale, Divinity Original Sin 2, and Baldur's Gate 3.

4 – What are your top five fics by kudos?

-Precious People, Four Makes a Family, That Little Thread, My Neighbor Mr. Roboto, and Forgive Me, for I Have Sinned. (Greatest to least in the top five.)

5 – Do you respond to comments?

-I try to respond to every comment I can, but some I just don't know how to respond to! I'm mentally kissing every commenter on the head though. Mwah.

6 – What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

-Angstiest ending? I don't know if I've ended anything super angsty, despite my love for the genre. I prefer hurt/comfort. Can't say I can answer this one.

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

-Oh, That Little Thread for sure. But only because TESSDE isn't remotely finished haha. But I'm still very proud of how TLT came out. :)

8 – Do you get hate on fics?

-I have had a stray hate comment here and there, but I just meme and dab on the haters until they die from their own cringeness. #HatersLoveMe

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

-...The smut kind? I'm not sure I understand. Read 'You're a Feisty One, Aren't You? I Like That', if you need specifics, I guess. (Only if you are above age obviously.)

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

-Oh my god I used to on FFNET. I don't think it's crazy, but even before I discovered FFNET, my friend got me into writing crossovers, and it was a massive Inuyasha, Fruits Basket, Code Geass, and Death Note combination with self inserts. I miss it, it was a good stupid time, haha.

11 – Have you ever had a fic stolen?

-I've had people try to tell me they can't get writing down correctly, and oh, would you mind helping me write this out? What about this? Until slowly I'm literally writing their story and they're POSTING IT ONLINE. ON Ao3/FFNET. LIKE. A PARAGRAPH AT A TIME.

INSANITY.

But also I was one of the first few people who had the Ao3 scalpers target their fics, but I have no idea if someone is out there on Wattpad or something using my shit. I don't self search, so I do not know.

12 – Have you ever had a fic translated?

-Nope!

13 – Have you ever co-written a fic?

-Yes! Not on Ao3 though. (Ah good old days of middle school and writing dumb things with friends.)

14 – What's your all-time favorite ship?

-I'm a self shipper by trade, I'll admit it. But I was a very big Sesshoumaru / Kagome shipper in my baby years. Now I lean more towards Loid / Yor. Love those idiots.

15 – What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

-TOO MAN TO NAME. I REGRET LEAVING ANY FIC UNDONE, BUT I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO GO BACK. The past is in the past and it's time is over, unfortunately.

16 – What are your writing strengths?

-Focusing on characterizations and researching accuracies for making things logical not only in the fantasy realm but also reality. I love combining the two and giving people a little educational lesson along side their story time. It pleases me to teach others new things and myself. I also think my pacing has gotten a lot better over the years.

17 – What are your writing weaknesses?

-I tend to structure things differently than most people, and genuine writing formats— even using em dashes, I never learned until this year the difference between it and a hyphen— so it comes across as lesser than other people's writing, I think. Less polished. I like bouncing things around textually, having breaks in spots to let the mind "breathe" in between words or phrases to try and give it a bigger impact, but it weakens actual structures sometimes.

That and word choices. I'll be stuck for ages on what word to use. I hate repeating words or phrases, so it'll take me longer than necessary to just choose a damn word.

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

-I've done it many times and think it's fine! I use translators because I am unfortunately only educated in English (and my brain has difficulties learning other languages), but I try my best and do ask around friends if things are accurate if they speak the language.

If you're not sure what it says, just translate it through a friend or Google. Or, read the bottom AN to see if the author translated it for you. I grew up with American's using broken Japanese in their fanfics, you think I'd see dual languages any different? Lol.

19 – First fandom you wrote for?

-Inuyasha? Naruto? Crossover? I don't remember!

20 – Favorite fic you've written?

-Biased. 'The Elder Scrolls Skyrim: DragonBard Edition', otherwise known as TESSDE. It's my bread and butter, my longest length story, and one I would die to complete. We're technically half way there in terms of arcs, but definitely not in chapters, haha. I look forward to the day it's complete, and I hope others enjoy it too.

-

Below are the questions to copy and paste for yourself!

1 – How many works do you have on AO3?

2 – What's your total AO3 word count?

3 – What fandoms do you write for?

4 – What are your top five fics by kudos?

5 – Do you respond to comments?

6 – What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

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

8 – Do you get hate on fics?

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

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

11 – Have you ever had a fic stolen?

12 – Have you ever had a fic translated?

13 – Have you ever co-written a fic?

14 – What's your all-time favorite ship?

15 – What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

16 – What are your writing strengths?

17 – What are your writing weaknesses?

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

19 – First fandom you wrote for?

20 – Favorite fic you've written?

[a-very-fond-farewell]

Ok, new profile picture new me I guess! so here I am considering to make a list of all the wips I have under my belt just to hold myself accountable (while simultaneously convincing my stupid brain I have no time to join a new fandom... I’m looking at you Evilive):

Let’s split this between fandoms shall we?:

Word of Honor:

- Children of the Red Dust: the modern!au where ZZS is trying to adopt ZCL but WKX’s job as a Mergers & Acquisitions lawyer gets in the way, with a sprinkle of traditional chinese opera on top

20/33 chapters already done, a new one on the way. I feel vaguely positive about this and I think I can manage updating before the end of the year or the beginning of the next. I’ve updated very little this year, compared to 2022 but.. I do love the story and I want to see it through;

- They Got Exits Covered: the sci-fi!au where the author knows nothing about omegaverse trope etiquette and rolls with it anyway

2/3 chapters already done......... fellas is is bad that I can’t bring myself to finish this one? I have re-written the last chapter at least 5 times, I discovered that I hate writing smut (unfathomable, ik, considering I have written even 45k of dirty sex in the past) if it involves baby-making (??), and I hate myself every minute that I have to sit and work on this project so.......... it will take some more time I fear. the premise was good, we stan a good premise and I love the vibe I got going on but.. meh. we will see;

- (unnamed project 1): aka the noir!au that I really want to bring to the surface but currently have no energy to plan out

0/0 done, none, nada. this one is fun bc I really want to write it and I got at least two chapters done in my drafts already. I wanted shorter chapters for this one, little to no dialogue, more ambiance and vibes than plot.. it’s so close to get started...! but I want to PLAN this right. never been much of a planner tho. idk where to start. does anyone know how to go beyond the ‘plot-points checklist’ phase? bc that’s honestly all I can muster for this one and it frustrates me to no end.

Winter Begonia:

- The Way Home: which is the retelling of the entire drama, episode by episode, through the lenses of a heavier, more overt romantic vibe between the leads (basically a drama retelling with additional historical context from the novel and my own research)

14/49 chapters done and I have already drafted most plot points up to the 25th.. but see my issue here. I love this fic. I. Love. This. Fic. but I cannot focus on it until Children of the Red Dust is done, bc I need multiple steps to get this over with:

need to rewatch the drama diligently, while taking notes (would really like a dvd set of this one, but subs alas..);

need to use the existing dialogue of the show and put it on the page, describing how characters move and react on screen;

add my own new fresh scenes to the already existing plot, which takes a lot of time;

research the hell of the time period and the details of the traditional opera technicalities (bc I’m not very smart, I love to suffer and I love this stuff too much to care);

come up with ways to tie everything up nicely without it sounding cringe;

read the actual novel to tweak things and fill up details from side characters’ lives and.. if you know the original story you probably know how annoying some of the characters are, which makes it difficult to handle at times.

so....l..........I need me time to mentally prepare for that ok? but it’s a long term project and I don’t care if I have no readers. I’m cool;

- Everything will Bloom: aka the follow-up to The Way Home............so it means I have to finish that one first

2 drafted chapters done already. but I need me TONS of research for this baby. it will be set in the early 50’s so I want to get this right. which means that I am reading everything I can and sourcing everything I come across as I go and I’ve been doing this for almost 3 years now. I’m not messing around. I want these characters to have a life after the epilogue!

MDZS:

- necRomance: the crack au people still reblog from my tumblr, the idiotic one, you know the gist

80/100 chapters done, not picking it back up. I don’t care for it anymore, it was a crack project anyway. also, not a fan of receiving comments and get excited to open the inbox just to be told to go fuck myself for not finishing this one. so uncool mate! totally got me out of the fandom. I don’t think I’ll ever get back to it so.. yeah. pick your battles folks *shrugs emoji*

STUFF I AM TOTALLY NOT PLANNING DESPITE BEING BUSY WITH IRL STUFF/RESEARCHING/WORKING ON WIPS:

that one Good Omens human!au inspired by an Italian comedy I am not writing;

that one Evilive fix-it I am not fantasizing about on the daily and I really want to dig my teeth into rn;

that one (extremely unnecessary) [insert classic Victorian novel title] epilogue retelling I’ve not lost sleep researching for;

(3 hypothetical original works that will definitely never see the light of day)

———

and that shall be all folks :D please admire my new profile picture, which I took from the manga She loves to cook and She loves to eat and edited to have a sense of continuity with my previous one (which was Jin Ling from the MDZS manhua). please get yourself a treat after reading this! and check out any of my current projects on ao3 if you’d like but please read the tags! most of my stuff is pretty heavy and at times either obscenely long or dead-dove-ish so.. please be careful!

- Niki (they/them) on my way to 30. can I get a wahoo??

my AO3: humble_prompt_machine

[alittleemo]

girl help i never wrote down the name of my wip and now its still named ‘Hrngh. soup’ and i forgot the real name ;-; /j /lh

[therealvalkyrie]

Through the Mirror: Part 1

my body, my music

Pairing/setting: Detective!Levi Ackerman x Female!Ghost!Reader, modern!AU within the Walls

Summary: When you’re murdered one Tuesday morning, can Levi piece together the true circumstances of your death with your help from beyond the grave?

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: dead body, descriptions of blood, swearing, mentions of violence

AN: Welcome to my new series because I have no self control and can’t finish projects before starting others! Lemme just start off by saying updates may come pretty irregularly because I do have a lot of other WIPs to work on, but! I’m really excited about this idea and have a whole lot planned:) I seriously hope you enjoy. After all, who doesn’t love a good murder mystery? Drop into my DMs/askbox/comments/reblogs to let me know what you think! Be kind to yourselves and others. ~valkyrie

“Ah, shit! Hello!? I’m standing right here!”

The woman completely ignores you, stepping carefully over the puddle of blood and across your tiny living room. You cross your arms and pout. She ignores that, too. 

“‘Scuse me, boys, let the experts take it from here,” she quips, gently pushing past the two detectives and crouching next to your body on the ground. 

It’s ugly, but she’s probably seen worse, you muse from where you’re leaning against the door jamb. It’s only been lying there for a couple of hours, so at least you haven’t bloated to something out of an NCIS episode. Must smell horrid, though, judging by the mask the head detective has pulled over his face.

“So, you said the landlady called at about 7 am?” the ME inquires, cocking her head up to look at the detectives, nylon gloved hands held at the ready.

“7:07 exactly. Said a neighbor made a noise complaint, she came up to check it out, found signs of a forced entry, and called us.” It’s the taller blonde who speaks up, reading from an off-brand pocket notepad in his left hand. The kind you’d find on sale at Staples after Back-to-School season.

Interesting. You lean your head against the wall, eyes trained on the trio. You’d pegged the ill-tempered shorter one as in charge. Maybe he’s just the quiet type. 

“Hmm, alright. Moblit, get off your ass and come take the pictures before we move her,” the woman calls to someone behind you, and you turn just in time to get a face full of Moblit’s chest as he walks towards you. 

You cringe back with a “God, seriously?” to no response.

“Yes, sorry, right away, Hange!” Moblit hurries past- no, through -you, sidestepping the ottoman and the blood. It feels weird, like a strong wind, but not altogether unpleasant to have someone walk through you, you suppose. You look down at your chest to watch your misty body re-settle into itself before looking back at the group in your living room.

Were it not for the gruesome accents of blood flecked up the walls and your body riddled with stab wounds, you’d chuckle at how all four of them struggled to navigate the space. It’s cramped enough when it’s just you, fitting only a couch, a chair, a coffee table, your fern (Boris), and a narrow IKEA bookshelf. With the four of them plus a dead body, it’s like watching a freaking clown car.

“Sorry, excuse me, Captain, oh, was that your toe—?” Moblit’s struggling the most, having to move to capture different angles with his bulky camera. When he steps on the shorter man’s toe, he positively blanches, fumbling over himself to apologize while the ME laughs openly.

“God, alright, just,” the Captain pinches his delicate nose between a thumb and forefinger, then decides it’s better to wait in the kitchen. “C’mon, Gin, let’s chat in there.”

The Captain and the blonde detective both pass through you on the way back to the kitchen, but you only sigh and shake the tingly feeling of being incorporeal out of your fingers before following them.

“So,” the man called Gin takes the initiative, flipping back through his notebook and standing by the fridge. “I got statements from the landlady and two of the neighbors, numbers 303 and 304 down the hall. 301, directly across the hall, didn’t answer, but I got contact info from the landlady.” He pauses to read and scratch at his whiskery beard. “It was 304 who made the noise complaint, said she heard yelling this morning at around 5:45, and that she normally wouldn’t’ve said anything but it was, quote, the fourth goddamn time this week and I work the goddamn night shift, I deserve some fucking rest, unquote.”

You grin. Mrs. Sheffield was never one to mince words, something you appreciated when your ex-boyfriend got too loud and she took it upon herself to give him a piece of her mind. You catch a glimmer of a smile on the ornery Captain’s face above where he’s pulled his mask down before he gestures for Gin to keep going, keeping his thoughtful gaze fixed on the floor and his back against your countertop.

“Then after she called the landlady, she went to bed, only to be woken by us two hours later.”

“You said she called the landlady at 5:45 and that she works the night shift?”

Gin double checks his notes. “That’s right.”

“And she works at the hospital?”

“Yes, as a scrub nurse on the night shift.”

“But the night shift at the hospital ends at 6:30.”

“It was her night off,” you and Gin say at the same time before you catch yourself. They can’t hear you, anyway. This’d be a lot easier if they could.

Gin plows ahead. “But she says she keeps the same sleep schedule so she doesn’t, ah, fuck up her circadian rhythm.”

The Captain practically snorts at this, itching for a second under his silk cravat (can someone say pretentious) before settling back into a listening silence.

“303 says he didn’t hear a thing. College kid, looked exhausted. Said he was asleep the whole night after he got in at,” a page flip, “11 o’clock last night. Wasn’t much help, but looked genuinely upset when we told him about the murder. Wanted to know if there was anything he could do. Oh, but he did, uh, hang on,” more page flips, “He did tell us that he heard her and her boyfriend arguing a lot. Which is consistent with what Mrs. Sheffield told us.”

“Ex-boyfriend,” you correct into thin air. 

“A lover’s spat gone wrong, then,” Mr. Pretentious Captain muses. You huff in annoyance. A lover’s spat. If that’s all that this is written off as you’ll have some serious PD haunting to do. Chris may have been an angry, loud, disruptive manipulator, but he wouldn’t murder you. He didn’t murder you. “Any info on the whereabouts of the boyfriend?”

“Ex-boyf—!”

Blondie cuts you off, “Not currently, but we do have a name: Chris Henderson, works in admin down at the University. Lives across town closer to the Bridge.”

“Send some uniforms to bring him in for questioning. No arrests yet, tell ‘em to keep it friendly.”

“Right, I’ll put Dreyse and Bodt on it.”

“Dreyse, really?” Captain Cravat gives Gin an incredulous look. 

“Hey, she may look like a ditz but she gets the job done. And she might get him to let down his guard,” Gin argues, grinning. 

“Fine. I’ll meet them at the station, you stay here and make sure that mousy-haired dunce doesn’t fuck up my crime scene.”

“Hey, who’re you callin’ mousy-haired, short stack?” Hange actually sticks her whole head through yours this time, to butt into the conversation, and you shriek and jump away to the other side of your tiny kitchen, now sandwiched between Blondie and Shortstack. The latter twitches and swats at the air by his ear, as though to dislodge a fly, narrowly missing yours. You give him a weird look then turn back to listen to the ME. She’s leaning into the kitchen at an alarming angle, one hand on the doorframe and the other on the end of the gurney you assume is carrying your body. You shudder at the thought of being toted around in a dark, musty, humid glorified coat bag. Ugh. 

“—takin’ this baby”-she slaps the gurney twice and you flinch-“back so I can get started on the autopsy, Moblit’s staying to take more pictures and collect forensics. If Eld’s stayin’ here with Mob, does that mean you’re catching a ride with me, Levi?” The question is addressed to Captain Grump on your right, who gives a heavy sigh and pushes off the counter. 

“I guess so. I get to choose music though.”

“Ah, ah, ah,” she’s wagging a finger, grinning. “My body, my music!”

“How about my body, my music?” you suggest, following Levi. “I deserve it after the day I’ve had.”

Again, Levi twitches and swats aggressively by his ear, nearly hitting you full in the face this time. 

“You hear that, Gin? This place got a mosquito problem or something?”

“I do not have a mosquito problem!” and “No, sir, I don’t hear anything.” overlap in the air. 

Captain Levi only grunts, then starts spouting instructions, which Gin notes down. “I want footage from any cameras in the building, and from the shops next door and across the street. I want statements from residents both upstairs and downstairs. I want names, addresses, and numbers of next of kin on my desk by noon, and lastly, I want no one, save for myself, you, shitty glasses, and mousy-hair, in or out of this apartment. Are we clear?”

“Crystal clear, sir.”

“Good. I’m leaving you Braus to help and to show her the ropes of this kind of thing. Even though she’s on the case, she will not set foot in this apartment. I don’t trust her not to leave breadcrumbs in the bloodstains.

“Yes, sir.”

“I expect an in-person report before shift-change this evening. See you then.” Then, he’s sweeping out of the kitchen in pursuit of Hange and the gurney, leaving you to scurry after. As you exit your home, he shoots a young auburn-haired woman in a crisp white blouse and wool slacks a look. “Braus. You’re with Gin. Don’t go in the apartment.”

She straightens up from leaning against the wall with a jolt and brushes croissant crumbs off her front. “Yes, Captain Levi, sir!” It’s slightly muffled by the pastry stuffed into her mouth.

“Tch.”

It’s fascinating watching how Levi and Hange manage to navigate the gurney down the narrow, twisting stairs of your walk-up apartment building. They’re both clearly used to this sort of thing, communicating only in short phrases and grunts when they encounter an obstacle. Occasionally, you offer up a pointer and watch as Levi becomes increasingly irritated. 

“Watch out for Mr. Laslow’s cat, he likes to sneak up on ya!”

“Hange, do you hear— shit!” Levi hops to the side, narrowly avoiding the tabby tail as Tubbins McGee whisks past.

“It’s only a cat, Levi, dunno what’s got you so worked up today,” Hange teases, grin echoing your own as you chortle from the landing above them. 

Eventually, they spill out onto the sidewalk and into the bright mid-day, and Hange groans loudly, stretching with both hands on her back.

“Ugh. Remind me not to die in there, I’d hate to put someone else through that.”

“Boof, tell me about it,” you commiserate. 

“Noted,” Levi snarks. 

Hange removes jingling keys from her pocket and unlocks the ME’s van parked along the sidewalk with a beep, then opens the back doors and steps in. You follow, leaning against the cool metal siding to watch.

When they both load into the front seats and the engine turns over, you lean forward between them to listen in.

“So,” Hange starts, smoothly pulling out into the road behind a silver minivan. “I’ll be able to give you a more solid answer in a couple hours, but my initial estimated time of death would be around 5:45 this morning.”

Levi nods, staring out the passenger window while he answers. “That lines up with the neighbor’s story.”

“Theories so far?”

“Well, there’s the boyfriend,” he muses, lifting a hand to rub his chin.

“Too obvious,” you say dully, not bothering to amend the lack of “ex” yet again. “Next theory.”

He’s quiet for a moment, then mutter, almost too quietly for you to catch: “Too obvious, hmm? Next theory....”

You’re momentarily flabbergasted, hand falling through the faux-leather seat back in your shock. Can he actually hear you? You shake out your hand while it re-materializes, tuning in to the conversation as Hange’s responding. 

“—a little far-fetched, don’t you think? I mean, has there been any of that activity in this area recently?”

“Mm, I’ll have to touch base with Petra. If there has been, I think it’s worth looking into.”

“What is? Wait, go back,” you frantically plead, leaning further into his airspace. But Hange plows on. 

“Oh, it’s Petra, now, hmm? Not Raggedy Anne anymore?” Her tone is teasing, and she glances over to Levi for a reaction. 

He doesn’t give her one, just stares out the window pensively before reaching for the radio dial. The stereo blares up into an Oldies station, and you make a disgusted face along with Levi. 

“You listen to this shit?”

“Hey, my dead body, my music, sweetcheeks. Don’t like it, you can thumb it back to the PD.”

“How about my dead body, my music?” you suggest again, reaching for the dial at the same time as Levi does. Just as his slender fingers touch it, your hand passes through the whole front console and the oldies are replaced with a terrifyingly loud static screeching. 

“Christ, Levi, what’d you do?” Hange shrieks, lunging forward to punch the radio off as you remove your hand. 

“Nothing! It just went berserk!”

They bicker while you stare at your offending palm. “Huh. Didn’t know I could do that.”

If you can actually interact with objects, at least to some degree, and if it turns out Levi can hear you.... This whole thing might be easier than you thought.

[ravens-words]

Tagged by @futures-tense Thanks, Talie! 💛

20 questions, writer's edition, let's go!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

67 (I can't believe I actually got this far lol)

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

428,576 (holy shit)

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

3- RNM, 911 and LS

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 

Everybody Knows (911)

to watch you fall (911)

I could lie to you all my days (but you're the one) (911/LS)

Couldn't see it coming, love (911)

I'll hold you closer than my skin and my blood (LS)

5. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I typically don't write angsty endings, but I do have a couple of open endings. Out of the two, even shooting stars must fall (RNM) is definitely the angstier one.

6. What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

97% of my fics are happy endings, so I based this on which one's the happiest overall lol and I think it's all I see is you (LS).

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've written? 

I've written one and currently writing another. Out of the two the one I'm currently writing is the crazier one (Zombie AU) but this is the one that's posted: I could lie to you all my days (but you're the one) (911/LS)

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

Nope. And I never will lol.

9. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

YES. If I ever don't, it's either because I missed the comment, or i wasn't in the right headspace when I recieved it and didn't want that ro bleed into my response. To this day I still go back to fics and see if I missed a comment and respond to them.

As for why, well, I was a fic reader long before I was a writer, and I know that I look forward to a writer's response, especially if I'm writing a long comment, so I respond to each one.

10. Have you ever received hate on a fic? 

Not ones that are still posted. I did get a comment that was almost but not quite hate on one fic, but other than that, I've been extremely lucky.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

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

Nope.

14. What's your all time favourite ship? to write for? 

This comes and goes but the one ship that I've been consistently loving writing for is Tarlos for sure. Right now though, my favorite is definitely Malex.

15. What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will? 

Probably Be My Shelter. It's so out of the realm of Canon now it's not even funny, and I just don't know what to do with it lol. It has taught me to never post a fic before it's finished or at least planned though.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I Always hate these questions because I'm never sure. I think my strength is dialogue? Maybe writing emotions?

17. What are your writing weaknesses? 

Settings- the weather, movements, etc...I tend to focus on the main thing that's happening in the scene and so I forget to describe the little things happening around the characters.

18. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? 

If it's something I see in the show, I like it. If it's not, I don't. I do know when I read it and it's something in my language (arabic) I literally cringe lol, but maybe that's just me.

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for? 

NCIS

20. What's your favourite fic you've written?

Gonna choose one for each fandom lol

LS: Until the End of All Things (I Will Wait For You) this fic is one I enjoyed writing immensely. The Winter Soldier meets LS, and it's an angst fest with a happy ending. This is probably the fic I'm most proud of.

911: nothing safe is worth the drive the reason it's my favorite is because the one thing I struggle with the most when writing Buddie is writing how they get together. And to this day, this is my favorite way (that I've written). It's quiet, domestic and kinda funny.

RNM: Bound by Stardust. This was my second fic (that I've published on this account) and it's the one that made me write more Malex. It has a pretty special place in my heart.

Tagging some of my favorite writers: @cosmiicmalex @djdangerlove @sabrinachill @spaceskam @lire-casander @alilypea @lambourngb @morganaspendragonss

[linskywords]

criminal-minds-fanfiction wrote a bunch of questions for authors that you’re supposed to let people ask you, buuuut I felt like answering all of them instead of doing my actual job this afternoon. 😄 Here we go:

1) How old were you when you first starting writing fanfiction?

Like 25 maybe? I started writing about a year after I started reading it. I had a fanfiction-deprived adolescence, y’all.

2) What fandoms do you write for and do you have a particular favourite if you write for more than one?

The hockey boys pulled me in years ago and they haven’t let me go. I do sometimes write other things: I almost always participate in Yuletide, and I’ve actually written a bunch of Animorphs fic under a different name (ask me if you want to see it!). Mostly hockey RPF, though.

3) Do you prefer writing OC’s or reader inserts? Explain your answer.

Haha neither. Well, I guess OC’s, if I had to choose -- I don’t read or write reader inserts. But I tend to keep OC’s for original fiction.

4) What is your favourite genre to write for?

I was very confused about fic having genres before I realized this was probably referring to the genre of the canon works. Um...sports. :D

5) If you had to choose a favourite out of all of your multi chaptered stories, which would it be and why?

Don’t make me choose my favorite child. Um, probably the first wolfverse story -- I don’t know if it’s the best one, but I’m very grateful to it for starting the ‘verse!

6) If you had to delete one of your stories and never speak of it again, which would it be and why?

None of them, if that’s an option. If I really had to choose...probably the Kirk/Spock fic I never finished even after uploading it to AO3 and promising to finish it this time. I still want to finish it!! But it would be the first to go.

7) When is your preferred time to write?

I don’t have a strong preference. Afternoon/evening. I like having multi-hour blocks, and I use the Forest app to keep me off my phone while I do it.

8) Where do you take your inspiration from?

Plot bunnies come from all over the place: random thoughts, memes, real-life conversations, suggestions from other fandom people. I tend to have a pretty strong “THIS IS A STORY I WANT TO WRITE” response when something grabs me the right way.

9) In your xxx fic, what’s your favourite scene that you wrote?

Haha this is probably why I’m not supposed to just answer all of these in order. XD I’ll answer for my current WIP: the scene where Geno kisses Sid for the first time. So soft. So angsty. 😈 (My own story has cursed me to love Geno. I am doomed.)

10) In your xxx fic, why did you decide to end it like that? Did you have an alternative ending in mind?

In general: I know how my stories are going to end when they start. Sometimes it does evolve a bit as I write. One thing I’d like to play with is including more of the main characters being together at the end of the story, instead of ending it at the moment when they get together; the latter makes sense from a tension perspective, but I’ve been finding when I read lately that I want more of the happy times at the end, so I’m going to try to move in that direction.

11) Have you ever amended a story due to criticisms you’ve received after posting it?

Only for typos, I think.

12) Who is your favourite character to write for? Why?

Ooooh. Either Patrick Kane or Jonathan Toews. There’s something so compelling to me about Patrick’s fanon voice. And every love interest in every original story I try to write is Jonny.

13) Who is your least favourite character to write for? Why?

I...don’t really write about characters I don’t like? I wish Auston Matthews would shave his mustache.

14) How did you come up with the title for the xxx? - You can ask about multiple stories.

About fifty percent of the titles I come up with are desperate scrambles because I’ve got nothing. The other fifty percent I have a perfect song lyric for from the start.

15) If you write OC’s, how do you decide on their names?

I only write OC’s in original fiction, but: I’ve been phonebanking lately, and I’ve been writing down all the good names I come across. The best so far is someone with the last name Quackenboss.

16) How did you come up with the idea for xxx?

MAGIC.

17) Post a line from a WIP that you’re working on.

Oh...oh no. Um.

“It doesn’t matter what he was thinking about. His knot popped; that’s the important thing.”

Some of you can probably guess what that’s about. :)

18) Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them?

Mostly on my computer. I have a lot of beginnings of stories I haven’t finished yet; many of them I’ll probably go back to. I tend not to post things until I’m done or close to done with them. (That one Star Trek fic being an exception. Mea culpa.)

19) Are there any stories that you’ve written that you’d really love to do a sequel to?

YES. The 1988 timer one and the 1988 story where Patrick’s a girl who sneaks onto the Blackhawks in disguise. I’d love to do a Bennguin version of both of those.

20) Are there any stories that you wished you’d ended differently?

Hm. Some of them I think I rushed a little. More Than I Could Ever Promise, I think it needs a good old-fashioned battle scene in the mountains at the end to really round out the plot.

21) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?

Have I mentioned astolat? What, only two or three hundred times? I should mention her again, then. Give me that woman’s ability to plot. Inject it into my veins.

22) Do you have a story that you look back on and cringe when you reread it?

Haha. I often have slightly cringy moments in my old stories. You Made My Life an Adventure, I definitely didn’t really know what I was doing yet...

23) Do you prefer listening to music when you’re writing or do you need silence?

I usually listen to music.

24) How do you feel about writing smutty scenes?

Turned on.

25) Have you ever cried whilst writing a story?

Yes. The sequel to My Heart Forgets to Beat.

26) Which part of your xxx fic was the hardest to write?

The Sid/Geno wolfverse story I’m working on now is maybe the hardest thing I’ve ever written. The language barrier is such a new challenge for me.

27) Do you make a general outline for your stories or do you just go with the flow?

I don’t formally outline, but I tend to have a sense of the major plot beats. One reason I love writing fic is that the plot and world tend to be straightforward enough for that. I have a lot more trouble doing that with original fiction.

28) What is something you wished you’d known before you started posting fanfiction?

This will radically reduce the amount of time I spend writing original fiction.

29) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like?

Like You Have a Secret I think is less read than some of the others because it’s het, but I really love it. Similarly, some of my stories that are inspired by other works (Tangled, Doctor Who, The Giver) tend to be read less because people think they need to know the source material, when really I deviate from the source material so much it’s not important.

30) In contrast to 29 is there a story which gets lots of love which you kinda eye roll at?

Huh. Probably not. I’m definitely surprised when some stories take off -- Kinda Narrows It Down I wrote pretty quickly, on a whim, and I was surprised by the extent to which it resonated with people. Turns out lots of people think Tyler was coming out in that tweet. XD

31) Send me a fic recommendation and I’ll post it for my followers to see! (The asker is to send the rec not the answerer)

Ooh. Ignoring the terms of this question, but: I just read this TK/Patty story and loooved it. It’s a different take on werewolves than the one I use in wolfverse, and it’s super compelling:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24029188

32) Are any of your characters based on real people?

Hahahahahaha. (I mean...less so than you might think.)

33) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?

I absolutely love it when people write screaming flaily responses to my fic. Also anytime anyone says that they’ve been having a tough time and my story was exactly what they needed. Maybe my favorite was the responses to More Than I Could Ever Promise that told me it read like a novel; that meant a lot to me right then.

34) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten?

Fandom is amazing; people almost never give me concrit. I did have someone ask once if I randomly chose when to stop writing and just ended my stories there. I was pretty offended, since of course that’s not true at all, but I can see where they were coming from: my stories tend to wrap up after the characters get together, and sometimes there’s a lot of potential story left to tell at that point. But stories have to end sometime.

35) Do you share your story ideas with anyone else or do you keep them close to your chest?

I tend to share them! I find other people’s enthusiasm to be strongly motivating, and sometimes people have awesome suggestions I wouldn’t have thought of.

36) Can you give us a spoiler for one of your WIP’s?

Well, I only have the one. XD Sid...is about to have an important conversation with Mario.

37) What’s the funniest story you’ve written?

Ooh, I’m not sure I’m the write person to answer! No idea, really. My recent TK/Patty is probably pretty funny. Or maybe Quality Time, where Patrick doesn’t understand why he keeps losing track of time when he’s cuddling with Jonny. Anything with a super dumb protagonist, probably.

38) If you could collab with any other writer on here, who would it be? (Perhaps this question will inspire some collabs!) If you’re shy, don’t tag the blog, just name it.

Wow, I have no idea. I’ve never really written a story with someone, so I’m not sure how that would work. I want to say astolat again but honestly I’d be too intimidated.

...no, I’m gonna say astolat. Even if I made a fool of myself I think I would learn a ton.

39) Do you prefer first, second or third person?

Third. For some original stuff I like first person, but third feels right for the hockey boys.

40) Do people know you write fanfiction?

My close friends do. Most of my friends have the vague idea I write fic, but they don’t know my username or anything.

41) What’s you favourite minor character you’ve written?

Patrick Sharp. No question.

42) Song fic - What made you decide to use the song xxx for xxx.

I will legit listen to a new album with a doc open to write down promising lyrics. Titles are HARD, y’all.

43) Has anyone ever guessed the plot twist of one of your fics before you posted it?

I think people guessed where the Tangled fic was going. Though I also liked the guesses that it would be about Patrick’s mullet. XD I don’t really mind when people guess twists -- in the kind of story I write, it’s more about the experience of reading it than about surprise!

44) What is the last line you wrote?

“His parents have always been very respectful of any choices Sid’s wanted to make. They haven’t pried into his private life when he’s tried to set boundaries. But they’re wolves, and they know him a lot better than Jordy does. Sid isn’t going to be able to keep it a secret from them what he’s going through.”

...no guarantee it survives in that form. :D

45) What spurs you on during the writing process?

Getting the story out of my head and into reality! Spoon out that lake, baby.

I also do love the prospect of posting it for people to enjoy and respond to. It’s one of the reasons I find fic so much more rewarding than original fiction, where the timeline to a readership is so much longer.

46) I really loved your xxx fic. If you were ever to do a sequel, what do you think might happen in it?

Things, probably.

47) Here’s a fic title - insert a made up title. What would this story be about?

This exercise might be going off the rails a bit. (If anyone does want to pose this to me, feel free!)

48) What’s your favourite trope to write?

Ooh. Mutual pining. Friends to lovers. Werewolves. :D

49) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about?

The first fic I ever, ever read was a random Kirk/Spock one I found through google, and I was like “OMG IS THIS WHAT AROUSAL FEELS LIKE”

50) If you could write only angst, fluff or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?

Oh man. Angst, as long as it can have a happy ending. But it just wouldn’t be the same without the smut.

[yeahhiyellow]

First Lines Meme

List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 of your favorite authors!

Thank you so much @emiliaf25 for tagging me!!! I've seen a lot of fun writing tag games going around, but I haven't been tagged in any before now. This is probably due to the fact that while I write a lot, I don't publish most of my stories so like no one knows lol. I tried to put these in chronological order from newest to oldest, but they're not perfect, as I do not keep accurate time of when I write things (and probably should). Anyway, here are mine:

1. Blasting heavy metal so I can't think

"Heavy Metal": Detroit: Become Human (This one is in the form of a poem, so that's why it's a bit weird.)

2. Markus's head popped out of the last bedroom.

"Family": Detroit: Become Human (I still have to finish this one and publish it so I can't provide a link... yet)

3. I know I'm not enough.

"Enough": Detroit: Become Human (listen this is one of the angsty ones I never published so uhhhh)

4. CHRIS: Hank! Connor! What are you two doing here?

Unnamed: Detroit: Become Human (This one is formatted as a script soooo... yeah. It's also another one I am working on and have not and probably won't publish)

5. Crowley stood by the side of the road, his arms tightly coiled around his waist.

"Alone": Good Omens (aaaaand another really angsty one I never published, I have problems)

6. "What's wrong, angel?"

"It Started in 1957": Good Omens (currently not finished and has not been worked on for over half a year... probably should get on that at some point)

7. Every dystopian novel ever has some random teenage girl save the world. Unfortunately for the world, I don't think I can do that.

This was just an original story I started back in January that I wrote like a page of and never finished because I had way too many wips. Figured I'd put it in here anyway though

8. Finally, after 17 years of work, I had made it to the most prestigious school humanity had ever created.

This is another original story, however one that I have actually worked on for more than a page lol

9. RENATA: Oh, shit. This can't be good.

Function (Free Will): original. I have been working on this story for nearly 2 years now, and I'm still nowhere even close to done. It's formatted like a script and also has the same type of rpg choice-based storytelling as Detroit: Become Human. Add to that the fact that this story is meant to critique our current political and social society, systems, and structure and touches on a variety of incredibly heavy topics, and you have the recipe for writing a story that feels like it just. Never. Ends.

10. Demons aren't supposed to feel love.

"I Love You Too": Good Omens (I wrote this one a whiiiillleeee ago, as to why it's down here on the list. I only published it a few days ago, though, a little after I first saw you tagged me in this. So thanks for finally motivating me to do it lol)

11. "You obey or he's dead."

"Exit": Detroit: Become Human

12. "Come closer. Don't be scared."

"First Kiss - The Traci's - DBH Rare Pairs Week": Detroit: Become Human

13. If I broke that shotglass, I bet it could hurt me.

"Help": Detroit: Become Human (Essentially, I published this one on Tumblr and then proceeded to take it down later the same day. It was another angsty one.)

14. "Shut up, dipshit."

"Expectations: Shut Up, Dipshit": Detroit: Become Human (This one was actually from a zine I took part in that fell apart before anything could really happen. I never finished it, so I probably won't publish it, but I guess if I finished it I could. Will that happen, however? I doubt it.)

15. "You're back."

"Hannor Week: Living Deviant Prologue Compilation": Detroit: Become Human (*sighs* Now we're getting into the old stuff. Hang on, for I have no idea what atrocities lie ahead. Or behind?)

16. System Instability. Deviancy Detected. Contact Cyberlife for a inexpensive replacement, only $2000 with your warranty!

"Living Deviant": Detroit: Become Human (I wrote this story years ago and as a result it is so cringeworthy and has so many grammar mistakes I hate to even link it so I'm not going to lol)

17. "I'm just so glad we're alive, personally."

"Who I Thought I Was": Detroit: Become Human (Surprisingly, this one isn't actually too bad. I mean, it's definitely not good, but I don't facepalm and curl up into a ball when reading it, so that has to be a good sign.)

18. I heard a gunshot from around the corner.

"Dbh Revolution Week ~ November 13 ~ Connor, Hank, and Sumo": Detroit: Become Human

19. RK900 visibly shook as he looked into the mirror.

"Scarred": Detroit: Become Human (Another one that I never published, surprise, surprise. Given how old this one is and subsequently how bad and also utterly angsty it is, I don't think I'll be publishing it unless I, like, rewrite the whole thing, so.)

20. LAUREN: 8:51, hmm? I've already been here for 11 minutes, and no one else has shown up.

"Choices": a horrible original romantic comedy I wrote as a script 5 years ago. Tbh the idea wasn't even that bad, it was the execution of it that just... really sucked. So it's a good thing we're stopping here, as if I went any farther back in my writing history, I think I might just cringe myself to death.

---

Woo, thank god we're done with that! XD In all seriousness though, this was quite a bit of fun and got me to revisit pieces I hadn't seen in years. Thank you again for the tag!!! :DDDD

Now for which one is my favorite... there are some that are definitely good, and others that are definitely bad. I like numbers 2 (cute opening line for a fluffy fic), 5 (wordplay with "coiled" and Crowley being a snake), 7 (twisting of an expected trope), 8 (brings in scifi element and introduces the character's personality while hooking the reader in), 9 (set up for the tone of the rest of the chapter and immediately introduces tension), 11 (same as previous), and 12 (also attention-grabbing), so we'll just let those make up for whatever atrocities 16 (horrible imitation of corporate writing), 20 (just plain boring), and the attempt of 18 (I had the right idea of it being a hook, the execution however was horrific) were. I start a lot of my pieces with dialogue, or at least I used to. I became aware of that within the past year and tried to work on introducing stories in other ways, which I think I've done a pretty good job on. If I had to pick a favorite, I'd probably go with 7. I just really like the subversion of expectations that you get right away from it. It announces the trope loud and clear, but plays with it instead of following it.

While I'd love to tag lots of other writers, I unfortunately don't know many at all (listen I would love to read more fics but also tiiimmmeee). I'll just tag @konami-code-ao3 for now. However, if you see this and want to hop in, feel free!

[larrydoinglaundry]

Ah, thank you so much for tagging me @stylesthebrave 😏

1. when did you start writing? I think my first proper touch to writing was when I was 15 and it was a fanfiction. It was... Very cringe. Oh god.

2. what fandoms do you write for? As of right now, only One Direction. I used to write Adam Lambert fanfics and hate to brag, but I was the shit in there. Entering a fandom this big where I am nothing but a flea is very humbling lol

3. do you write better in the morning or at night? My imagination runs wilder at night, but I can write just as easy in the morning. Just takes a little bit more time.

4. what music do you listen to while writing? Very often I listen to nothing. I find music disracting when I try to get something done, my brains just physically can't multitask haha. Except when I write smut scenes, then I often listen to music. Versace on the floor and I don't wanna live forever for soft explicit smut. Yes, that's a thing.

5. what do you/ plan to major in at college? (if you’re not going to college, what are you up to?) I'm a last year nurse student, trying to get my thesis done by the end of the year but you know, covid makes things hard.

6. do you outline before writing a story? Basic lines, yes. Then I struggle with filling the blanks. My current project started out as a 'I wanna write a short one shot about edging' and now it's 53K words and I'm like ok I don't know how that happened.

7. do you write multiple stories at one time or only focus on one? I may have lots of WIPs, things I need to get out of my system, but I usually only focus on finishing one story at once.

8. do you write every day? Definitely, at least something. It can be easy to just stop once you feel like you have a block, but if you force yourself to write through it, even if you don't necessarily like what you write, it goes away a lot faster.

9. what are your goals for your stories? (& do you want to become a published author one day?) Bring joy to at least one person, I guess? I write in English, which is not my native language, so I don't really have big dreams.

10. favorite work of yours? As in something that I have written or...? Nevermind, let me use this space to praise my favorite fics that I have NOT written:

Something that I keep going back to, is one of the first fanfics I read in this fandom in which Harry is an actor and Louis is a nurse, and as a result of their one night stand, Harry gets pregnant. 83K. You can find it here.

Another favorite of mine is an A/B/O fic, in which Louis is a beta nurse (I swear I am NOT projecting myself into these nurse fics lmao) and Harry is an alpha, with a fictional knot-based cancer that drastically affects his self-esteem and sex life. While as a nurse, I could never imagine myself forming a friendship or a relationship with a patient, especially when they are in such vulnerable state, and I despise it when some fics just dive right into it, but it somehow works in this one. It's also the only Alpha Harry fanfic I have enjoyed reading. Entire series is 25K. You can find it here.

As for my own works? Probably something I wrote for another fandom. It was about a young fashion mogul who fell in love with a troubled, young boy. It was and still is, I think, the most kudos'ed fic inside that fandom. It's a small fandom, so it's not a lot, but still. I wrote it in 2014, so it's uh, very cringe, but with that one, I truly realized how much I love writing.

As for this fandom, I like my current work, but it's still under construction🤫

So I say my smuttier than smutty A/B/O one shot, Omega Harry and Alpha Louis. 5K. Right here.

Please do this if you see this and want to share your story! I love seeing these by other authors.

[ebonybow]

Fanfic Author Tag Game

Tagged by: @halcyonhowl <3

Tagging: AHHH let’s see @uneventfulhouses @poiregourmande @blacktofade @queerunsolved @mephsation @drunkkenobi i know @sequencefairy has already been tagged by foxy but i’m tagging her again. if any of y’all wanna do this the ball is in your court <3

Ao3 name: sarcasticfishes

Fandoms: unsolved/watcher currently. past main fandoms have been teen wolf, and check please.

Number of fics: 69 total works on ao3 — 25 unsolved.

1. Fic you spent the most time on: waiting for the sunlight (18k, unsolved, 2019), which took me about 9 months to eventually complete. 

2. Fic you spent the least time on: we've been here before (1.4k, unsolved, 2019), i think, which i spent an afternoon working on after i had a Feeling™.

3. Longest fic: most important things (21k, teen wolf, 2013) — i think this was one of the first tw fics i wrote, and it’s also been so long since i’ve read it that i don’t really remember it, nor can i attest to the quality of it. probably cringe!!

4. Shortest fic: you got a heart (full of gold) (300w, hockey rpf, 2016) — this was supposed to be a series of ficlets, and i just never posted the rest of them after the first one. i don’t even know where the rest are now :’)

5. Most hits:  most important things ^ — 41,597 hits as of now.

6. Most kudos: a year in sleepovers (3.3k, teen wolf, 2014) — 3,515 kudos as of now.

7. Most comment threads: ayis ^ — 103 comments overall. idk how many i replied to, i was awkward back then lmfao.

8. Fave fic you wrote: hoo, idk. possibly paper thin (8.7k, unsolved, 2019), but i do have a soft spot for waiting for the sunlight because of how long i spent thinking about it and working on it piece by piece.

9. Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: just like the weather (6k, unsolved, 2019) — i loved writing this and, as nasty as it is, i always wanted to write a soft filthy sequel. maybe some even softer baby fic, WHO KNOWS.

10. Share a bit of your WIP or share a story idea that you’re planning: From my endless sea of WIPs i present a snippet from a random shyanara fic i have cooking. mostly sara/ryan. no context provided lmfao.

...

Sara clutches The Professor to her chest with one hand, reaches for her phone and keys with the other.

“Thank you, Ryan,” she says, and Ryan beams at her, hair slightly more tousled than usual, cheeks bright and pink.

“No prob,” he shrugs, and ducks past her to his desk and she watches him start saving his projects and closing down his software. “Thank you for breaking me out of my editing coma. I’d have probably stayed here all night if you hadn’t come by.”

“You’re telling me the Bergmeister has no Friday night plans?” Sara scoffs, and Ryan looks at her, smiling, his face just a little too open for it to come across as a joke when he shrugs.

“I’m afraid so,” he says, and shuts the lid of his laptop. “Unless walking you to your car counts as plans?”

Sara doesn’t know what on earth possesses her to say it, but the words are out of her mouth before she can help it.

“Come home with me,” she says, and immediately hears the sentence back in her head. “Um. You know what I mean.”

“You and Shane don’t have plans?” Ryan asks, something like suspicion in his voice.

“Ordering in food and watching TV,” Sara shrugs. “The more the merrier. I was gonna have a drink maybe.”

Ryan’s quiet as he packs away his things, and for a desperate minute Sara thinks she’s fucked it all up, and she can’t quite pinpoint how.

“That sounds really nice,” Ryan says, softly, shouldering his backpack. “I’d— yeah I’d like to come over and hang out.”

“Good,” Sara says, relieved, and when she gets closer Ryan reaches out to squeeze her wrist. “Follow me in your car?”

“I’ve driven to your place before,” Ryan points out, with a raised eyebrow, “I know the way.”

“Yeah but I wanna look in my rearview and pretend I have a stalker,” Sara says, as flatly as she can manage, and then cracks a grin when Ryan barks out a laugh at her.

“Okay weirdo,” he says, and she knows she not imagining the fondness in his tone. “Lead the way.”

[tottwritesfanfic]

Fanfic Authors Tag Game

Thankee for tagging @moramewhq​

AO3 name(s): Tottwriter, [REDACTED] Fandoms: Haikyuu!!, Digimon (a little lapsed, but I still tinker with my WIPs!), sliiiightly BNHA, and I have a TUA wip which I will someday resume. I try not to venture into new fandoms but, you know...I fail. Number of fics: I have 56 posted works, but also, uh... a few which I haven’t gotten to posting yet.

1. Fic I spent the most time on:

Um. Oh jeez. I mean, I guess nothing has overtaken Hope’s Fire just yet, because that’s the monster. Hopefully nothing else will? XD

2. Fic I spent the least time on:

Well this is genuinely a toss-up, because I have a few which I wrote for 20 minute prompt game fills, and then hardly even bothered to edit before they were thrown up on Ao3 without a backward glance.

Annoyingly, some of them are among my most popular works.

3. Longest fic:

Hope’s Fire! As I said, it’s the monster, currently clocking in at ~144k. My longest completed fic is The Ocean’s Curse though, which is 62.4k!

4. Shortest fic:

Okay so my shortest fic is actually a bit of weird experimental stuff I wrote for Starbound, which you will note I did not list in the fandoms above, lol. It’s old and weird and 351 words long... I don’t think anyone wants to read it. You don’t want to read it.

5. Most hits:

Hope’s Fire! It’s not really surprising tbh, given how long ago I started it and how many chapters it has. 

6. Most kudos:

Hope’s Fire wins this one too! I bet you’re all really shocked to learn this.

7. Most comment threads:

...imma give you lot one guess. 

8. Favorite fic I wrote:

fuck. Er. I dunno? I mean I write because I like writing them, you know? But honestly if I have to narrow it down... Parallel for the ‘serious’ fics, and either Press Play or (Not) Moving On for my more lighthearted stuff. It’s hard to pick when I swing between such tone extremes!

9. Fic you want to re-write:

I mean this is probably gonna sound really dumb but...kinda also Hope’s Fire??

Hear me out tho, because it’s complicated (and also I sorta already am). This fic started in 2015. I love it wholeheartedly, and I keep coming back to tinker and I wish life would stop throwing so much shit in my way and let me devote a bit more time to fic-writing so I continue it properly. 

But the periodic and spaced-out returns have meant that every time I knuckle down I end up re-reading the whole fic for continuity and tone reasons. You can probably see where this is going. Each time I read my old opening I cringe. It’s just not up to the standards of my writing today and it bugs me.

If I’m being brutally honest, part of the reason I haven’t updated it in so long is that I keep getting distracted going back and tweaking/fixing old chapters rather than focusing on new ones. It’s a bad habit but one I just can’t seem to kick.

10. Share bit of a WIP or a story idea you’re planning on:

You know, I’m actually gonna give two. I’ll drop them below a cut because this got long, but I know I have both Digimon and HQ peeps here and it’s sucky to be in the fandom that doesn’t get the love. I can’t promise when I’ll manage to get either of these posted (I’m trying to avoid adding more works to my Ao3 until they’re actually, you know, finished) but...they exist!

First up, we have Fun and Games at the Adventure Cafe

Yes, this is exactly what you think it is:

The notice on the door said “HELP WANTED” in large, sensible font.

The addendum “Enquire Within” sat below it, equally formal.

Scribbled underneath in scruffy handwriting was just one more addition:

     ‘as in we’re hiring. dw we know what we’re doing.’

   The notice on the door the following morning was back to plain old:

     HELP WANTED      Enquire Within

…It lasted half a day or so, at least.

As Sora remarked later, it was a wonder they got any applicants at all. Then again, as Taichi remarked, it wasn’t as though a lot of places were taking on extra staff—which was something of an oddity as the summer approached.

“It’s that swanky place round the corner,” he said with disgust, peering out of the window. “Bastards are driving everyone out of business.”

“But not you guys, right!” piped up their current interviewee. “You’re doing great! Honestly, as soon as I saw the sign I knew I had to apply. I’ve always wanted to start my own ramen business, and I figure I ought to start out with a popular place like this and get some real experience in the industry, you know?”

“Er, yes. Right,” Sora remarked, looking over his application. “Well, Daisuke, I will have to warn you that as a new hire you’d be working front-of-house rather in the kitchen, but if you’re okay with that—”

“Eh, just tell him he’s hired already,” Taichi replied, turning back to face them with a grin. “Yamato could definitely use a hand in the kitchen sometimes, so taking on a future all-rounder makes total sense.”

From the look Sora shot him, it perhaps didn’t, but Daisuke was already practically leaping to his feet with a grin, exclaiming that they could totally rely on him, and he absolutely would not let them down and could start the next day if they needed him to.

Next up, for my HQ peeps, here’s a little snippet from Connection Problems, my longtime langushing halfway chatfic. I’m not sharing the chatfic stuff because formatting tumblr is hell, though. 

Kenma always suspected that being a third year would turn out to be a pain, but he’d rather hoped his fears wouldn’t be realised within the first few weeks of the school year. Really, it’s bad enough that Kuro, Yaku and Kai have left, and that everyone else nominated him for the role of Captain (he’d talked them down to being Vice Captain instead, but that, apparently, was as low as they were prepared to go). He does not need Taketora constantly pestering him about—of all things—a chat group as well.

“Come on, I thought you and Kuroo were like, joined at the hip or something! Don’t try and act like you don’t miss him now he’s at university.”

He shrugs. “I have a phone. We’re keeping in touch.” Because, really. That’s all that matters, isn’t it? Why does everyone have to complicate things so much?

“Yeah, but, it’s not the same, right? Besides, what the hell! You spend all that time on your phone as it is. And even Fukunaga joined, right?”

Kenma glances over at Shouhei, who nods, grinning sheepishly. Drat.

“Still, I don’t have that chat app you all use,” he says. “It’s too much trouble setting it up, when I can message Kuro just fine.”

That should have been the end of it. Any rational person would have seen that it was no good, and left him in peace. Kuro would have, certainly. Not pushing—never pushing, actually. Just nudging him along a little, and even then, only when it comes to volleyball. He’s learnt all of Kenma’s limits over the years.

But the thing is, Kuro isn’t there any more. It’s just himself, Taketora and Shouhei, and okay, Shouhei never pushes—he hardly ever says anything, for that matter. But Taketora is clearly some sort of demon and he, Kenma, is being punished. Maybe he really pissed someone off in a previous life. Maybe this is a penance so he can piss someone off in his next life with a free pass. Either way, the badgering doesn’t let up.

Kenma holds out until the 27th of May. Seven weeks of hassling is more than enough for anyone.

Aaaand for tagging how about: @ahiddenpath, @humandisasterbuckybarnes, @mooifyourecows

[magic-is-something-we-create]

Get to know me tag!

I was tagged by @hannahs-creations in the original post!!! Thank you, Hannah! sorry im a bit late with it haha

Rules: Answer the questions and tag a few people!

I got a bit long-winded on these answers, so I’ll put them behind a readmore!

1. What made you decide to start writing or arting (assuming you write or do art)?

I can’t say I ever consciously decided to start writing - I’ve just always loved reading, and when I first got a school assignment for a creative story, I decided I never wanted to stop!

In terms of art, though, it was sparked by a similar thing: the Dragonology book. My first story was about a dragon in there, and part of that assignment was to make illustrations to accompany it, and I decided I needed to learn how to draw dragons. From there, I just fell in love with making a blank page into something I could look at and enjoy, and I’ve been drawing ever since!

2. What do you like to do more: photo editing or video editing?

Oh, this is a hard one... Video editing is fun for me, especially because, when I make videos, I tend to do speedpaints with commentary, and cutting my ramblings down to a manageable size is so satisfying. On the other hand, I like taking fairly mundane pictures and making them magical...

I’d say, for satisfaction levels, video editing wins. For the actual process, I think photo editing is my favorite!

3. Which do you prefer: YouTube or TikTok?

YouTube, 100%. The only TikToks I’ve ever seen have been sent to me by friends, and I don’t particularly like short videos like that? If it were Vine, though, Vine would win ;aslkdjf

4. How many books have you read in the last 5 years?

A lot, LOL

My favorite have been Six of Crows, The Stormlight Archive, Red rising, and The Fallen Empire!

5. Do you tend to post more cheery/cutesy things, silly things or more serious things to your blog?

I think silly things are the most common? I like to meme with my WIPs, since I just. love meme culture. And I like making jokes about things - it’s a quick and easy way to get myself to smile!

6. How long have you been on Tumblr? Just ramble for a minute about some changes you’ve noticed about the site.

I made my first Tumblr blog in 2013, and I kept that one up until about April of last year, I think, before I decided to remake. 

The biggest change I’ve seen is the shift from sharing things to consuming things, in terms of like, reblog to like ratios and whatnot. Also, the amount of discourse has stayed about the same, but it’s changed in subject for the most part. But fandom discourse is still pretty much the same, just with different shows, now.

Also, reaction gifs have faded out of use pretty heavily since I started. At least, in the areas I’ve been in.

7. If the staff of tumblr came up to you, genuinely wanting advice on how to improve the site, what advice/request(s) would you give them?

I would tell them to rename likes into bookmarks. Also, lift the nsfw ban, and make it so that in order for 18+ blogs to be viewed, the user has to be 18+. Yes, people lie about their age, but so many sex workers lost their audiences and sources of income because of it, and it legitimately threw away a third of the userbase in one hit. 

Also, no matter the pressures from other social sites, don’t make this site less anonymous. It’s one of the beauties of Tumblr - I’m never going to have a boss find my blog and know for sure that it’s me.

8. What was the most challenging thing about starting your favorite hobby? How did you get past it, if you ever did?

Well, at the time I started drawing, the biggest obstacle was finding a way to learn. The art classes in school were never trying to teach us how to draw something, just showing us that we could. I ended up getting “How to draw manga” books and looking up stuff on YouTube.

9. What do you think other people think of when they think of you? For instance, with me, most people think about either tomatoes, chinchillas or black cats, depending on the person and how long they’ve known me.

Well, I hope they think of my jokes, first of all a;lskdjf;aslkdfj

But in terms of like, objects or animals? Sketchbooks, pride flags, and dinosaurs.

10. If every animal except one specific species went extinct but you got to pick which one didn’t go extinct, which species would you pick?

Hmmmmmmm... probably Komodo Dragons. I really like big lizards :)

11. What do YOU feel makes the world go round?

Laughter! Or, really, anything that makes people smile!

12. What would you say to a person if you heard them talking shit about your best friend?

This has actually happened before, and they were saying it to my face without knowing we were best friends. I sat there, nodded along, and when they were done, just said “You know they’ve been my best friend for like, 7 years, right?”

They went so pale it was kind of funny.

13. What is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to you that has stuck with you?

This was more something they did, but when I was going through a nasty friend break up, I texted them, and within 5 minutes they were at my house, texting that person furiously, and letting me cry on them, even though they’re not a very emotional person themself ;-; I felt so loved in that moment, you have no idea.

14. What was the greatest piece of life advice you’ve ever gotten?

You have the rest of your life to wake up and decide who you’re going to be that day, and you should never feel bad about changing who that is from one day to the next.

It was said in the context of me realizing that I wasn’t genderfluid, I was transmasc, and my ongoing crisis over whether I’m fully a guy, or if I’m a bit more fluid than that. It’s helped me a lot with accepting that I might not have all the answers right now, and I don’t need all the answers all the time.

15. What one or two aspects of your childhood personality would you bring back to your current personality if you could?

Honestly? My willingness to just make things, and not care about how they turned out. I made so much art that I cringe at now, but I was learning, and that’s all that matters, really.

--

Okay, this was long, but I’m going to tag: @nothingisliteral, @violetcancerian, and @morgan-s-writes! Apologies if you’ve been tagged before, and as always, no pressure, and if you want to hop in, feel free to say I tagged you!!

[wanderingsofal]

Fanfic Authors Tag Game

I was tagged by @fizzingwizard. You’re right!! I really do love doing these!! Thanks for tagging me! :D

AO3 name(s): WanderingAlice

Fandoms:  Ooof. Too many. Mainly I write for Good Omens now, though I also write for Star Trek, Star Wars, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I also have a couple Witcher WIPs and I have a couple other fandoms that I don’t write for.

Number of fics:  Well, if I include unpublished WIPs... too many to count. Published fic? 62.

1. Fic I spent the most time on: That’s probably The Truth Remains, though of my older fic I think I spent a comparable time on David, it’s just been so long now I can’t remember. If we’re talking series, it would be Anagnorisis, which I wrote over a couple years.

2. Fic I spent the least time on: Just a Selfie. That thing was a tumblr prompt I banged out in like half an hour.

3. Longest fic: Surprising nobody, my longest fic is The Truth Remains sitting at >2k words

4. Shortest fic: Just a Selfie, at 354 words

5. Most hits: David, which surprised me. I had thought A Comforting Hand was the fic with the most hits, though it actually comes third, after Comitatus (Or, It Takes An Army) and just before The Truth Remains. Perhaps it’s due to the size of the Star Trek fandom, and the fact that it’s a multi-chapter fic. 

6. Most kudos: A Comforting Hand, which was a surprise when it happened. I’d done a very similar fic before, but I wasn’t happy with it so I re-wrote it and turned it into the current story, not at all expecting it to get any traction. It’s by no means a big name fic anywhere, but it is at the top of my kudos count by a solid 1k. It’s a short, sweet thing about Finn and Poe from Star Wars, and the headcanon that Finn likes to hold hands when he’s upset. 

7. Most comment threads: By far the most comment threads are on The Truth Remains. I’ve never been in a fandom that comments so generously as the Good Omens fandom. Y’all are seriously amazing to your fic writers. 

8. Favorite fic I wrote: A year ago, this would have been a hard question. Now it isn’t. The Truth Remains is absolutely my favorite. It’s a very personal piece for me in some ways, and writing it was pretty cathartic. 

9. Fic you want to re-write: David. I love the story, but it was one of my earliest fics, and while I want to continue it, looking back at the writing makes me cringe. My vague plan is to re-write the existing chapters and then continue it from there, but I’m not sure when I’ll get to that since a large part of my writing time now is going to my Good Omens pieces, and what’s left over is dedicated to my book.

10. Share bit of a WIP or a story idea you’re planning on: I don’t have anything of my WIPs in a place I’m willing to share at the moment, but I did come up with an interesting plot the other day that I want to do. 

For Good Omens, this story is as-yet unnamed, and will likely be written after I’ve completed A Promise Unfulfilled. Set in a high fantasy world, where mages live apart from humankind. Here’s the summary from my notes:

They say the mages saved the world once, and they may even be right. But the mages have never let humanity forget it. They spirit away any mageborn children to be trained in their high towers, keeping them contained ‘in order to protect humanity’ from the disasters an untrained mage-child can unleash. They send mages from the towers whenever a disaster is about to happen, preventing the disaster from costing human life. In return they take a tithing of goods and coin, and disappear into the tower once more.

Crowley is one such mage. One day, he overhears the Grand Magister of his tower detailing a plan to end the world. There will be a child born with the power to save all humanity from a second world-ending event. They plan to take this child and instead use their power to wipe out humanity and leave the world for mages alone. Unable to go along with such a plan, Crowley defects and kidnaps the two babies who might be the child, raising them as his own sons. 

Eleven years later, the mage Aziraphale arrives in a small and unremarkable town. Tasked with hunting down any mageborn children, he notices at once the unexpected presence of strong magic. Will Crowley be able to protect his sons from the mages’ plans? And what will Aziraphale do when he finally learns the truth his superiors have been hiding from him for all these years? Tag People: I’m not so great at tagging folks, so if you write fic and see this/want to do it, consider yourself tagged. 

[wilde-writing]

11/11/11

@siarven tagged me, thanks! <3

I really loved the questions so I have to do it immediately. 

1.     How many wips do you have going on right now?

Actively ... only Ruins of the West. That’s the only wip I’m working on right now. 

However – there are two more story ideas in my mind that I’m considering, one crack-thriller-fantasy thingy and one horror idea. Let’s see how far these vague ideas may go. 

Also at some point I might write the second draft for The Devil’s Seals. And for Sidereum. I hated the story so much after I finished it last year but I skimmed over it again and it’s actually not that bad. 

2.     Loud clicky keyboards or quiet keyboards?

I don’t mind. The clicking can be kind of nice. I don’t care so much about the sound but more about the haptic. The „old“ keyboards where you have to press down so hard I can’t stand. 

3.     Who was your first OC?

That’s such a long time ago! I can’t remember. I lost a lot of old stories I wrote and I can’t remember any characters from them. The oldest thing I have lying around is an angel story (because all my old stuff had angels in them – blame Angel Sanctuary) and the protagonists name was Claire. And just thinking about the way I wrote that character makes me cringe.

4.     Are there any common themes that come up in a lot of wips or characters?

elements

when there are no elements there’s another kind of structure the world is build on

starting of with black and white thinking and slowly realizing that most of the world is grey

legends that you would need a whole other book for to get them all down

rituals

super classy bad guys

5.     Are there any genres you currently write for now that you never thought you would write for when you first started?

Nope. Always sticked to fantasy.

6.     Do you typically spend more time developing/creating protagonists or antagonists?

Good question. I definitely create the protagonists first, that much I can say. ... Yeah, they are also more developed, since they have to get through more character development than the bad guy (at least in most of my wips).

7.     Do you have a line you’ve written that you really like? Post it if you do!

I don’t know... I’m sure there is something, but how can I remember a single line? I can’t even remember my characters last names!

I guess I liked the prologue for RotW. Better now reread it now or I might change my mind. 

8.     When you’re coming up with a new wip, where do you usually find inspiration?

Aaah~, this questions is so hard! Inspiration is everywhere! Once I start a new wip there’s nothing else on my mind so everything I see/hear/touch/etc. is directly linked to the project.

Of course there are things (or sudden ideas) that leave a lasting impression (movies, quotes, books, ...) and for these I write everything down on cards that I liked about them and put the cards in my little inspiration box. So whenever I am in need I can reread them and see if I can do something with them. 

(Yesterday I read some ideas I wrote down in an old notebook and hell that gave me loads of inspirations for my horror idea. So read your old notes, guys!)

9.     Would you ever want to have writing as a career?

That’s Plan A.

10.     What is your ideal writing environment?

Huddled in a blanked, tea, rain outside and sitting in a corner of a dark room. Haaa~

11.     What are your favourite 3 books and why?

Tithe by Holly Black: I read it first when I was like 12, but I instantly fell in love with it. The elves! The courts! The beauty, the ugliness, the magic – it’s a place I still love to return to. 

The Simarillion by Jirt Tolkien: Elves. And also these fairy tale-like stories that are so easy to believe in. 

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde: Of course there has to be at least one Wilde book. This is my favourite play of his, since it’s the funniest thing you can possibly read. There’s no way one can’t fall for his on point cynism and aesthetics.

(I kind of want your top three now @siarven!)

I’ll copy my tagger and stick with most of the questions because there really interesting and I want to see more of you answering them. However I’ll swap out another question. 

Instead of question 2: Are there any stories from your childhood that still influence your writing? Which ones?

※ Tagging: @kittensartswriting @desperatlytryingtowriteabook @unfocused-overwriter @doro-writes @ardawyn @faerisms @glittcrpeach