royalmailtrackngkr63

[veggieharumaki]

if anyone who sees this knows/is a beta reader who knows absolutely fucking nothing about jjk and is willing to beta read something for a dnf fic with hella plot hmu thank you so much

[pricemarshfield]

Writer Interview Game

thank you for the tag @wetcatspellcaster! honestly just this morning was talking about writing and inspiration and motivation so it was super cool to get to dive in-depth with this :) under the cut because uhhh i am chatty as all hell <3

tagging @reallyhatethiswebsite @goldfyshie927 @prettyaveragewhiteshark @pouralaura @atrueneutral @bravestworriers AND anyone else who'd like to! as always, no pressure :)

When did you start writing?

i genuinely have been writing so long that i don't remember when i started. i have distinct memories of being 6 and writing about my oc who was a babylonian priestess raised by alligators and living in antarctica in a compound full of animals, and despite being babylonian she was named athena. honestly a baller concept for me at 6 years old, i kinda still fuck with it (though i'd tweak some things. world-build a little more. probably rename her. read more than one encyclopedia page about mesopotamia)

i wrote a LOT of original stuff (read: knockoffs of whatever novels i'd read at the time) and a bit of fanfiction as a tween, got into a phase where i hated and deleted all of it and wrote WAY less as a teen, and then jumped back into fanfic with requests from my high school friend group and haven't stopped since. even when my posting has slowed, my writing hasn't; i just waffle between "post a chapter as soon as it's done" and "wait until the fic is finished and fully edited before i post a word of it". the former approach definitely works better for me because otherwise it languishes in my drafts forever (i'm sorry pricemarsh longfic. one day i will muster up the motivation to finish you).

i write Some original stuff, but more short stories than longform things. actually someone yell at me to post my molly drew backstory thing because it's one of the best things i've written in years AND fully original! (well. project zomboid. fanfic gray area but it's basically a stand-alone zombie thing, it doesn't pull from the game's lore because i don't know it lmao)

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

hm...i think i read a long more long genfics than i've written or attempted to write, which is funny because longer genfics are definitely some of the best things i've written and that have resulted in the Nicest comments and response i've ever gotten. (the only fic i've ever joined a server and had someone go "i've read this and i loved it" is a 30k genfic, and also is my magnus opus). also, i read MUCH more original fiction stuff than i write these days, even if i DO have a lot of oc ideas these days.

i'm not sure why! i don't think it's coming from a concern of lack of interest...compelled as i am by platonic dynamics, i think i just have more fun writing shippy stuff. also i write a lot of smut, so there's that. thinking about it, there mayyy be a level of spite in my not writing more original stuff, or at least not sharing it? my family is very annoying about the fact i write fic instead of original stuff, and that i am Not interested in being an author as my career. but that's a silly reason so maybe i'll hype myself up about my original stuff more lol

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

not that i can think of? not unless i'm writing something in a very specific genre, anyway. when i wrote my noir au martian thing i was very specifically trying to emulate works from that genre but even then not Authors so much as Works and even then more movies than books...i think there are some fantastic authors (both published and fandom!) that i'm very inspired by and learn from but none that i'd point to as a Style To Emulate. but in terms of writers, both the person who tagged me and everyone i'm tagging have writing i love enough that it makes me want to work on my own stuff. all of y'all use words SO well.

again, not a style i'm trying to emulate BUT in terms of books that got me thinking about words and world-building and writing in such a way that i was inspired to Create (a VASTLY incomplete list): mexican gothic by silvia moreno-garcia, exercises in style by raymond queneau, 253 by geoff ryman, the haunting of hill house by shirley jackson, this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar and max gladstone, the martian by andy weir, and in the dream house by carmen maria machado. ALSO READ MORE CLASSICS AND NONFICTION AND POETRY...get thinking about words in different ways even if it's not the genre you want to write because it WILL help your writing grow...this is getting so far away from the question oops

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

...the amount of fic i've written on my dinky old laptop, in bed at 2am, directly in the ao3 textbox is FAR more than the fic i've written in any other space. (no one should do this btw.) unfortunately i write most when i compelled by ideas at at a time i shouldn't be, and my laptop is convenient

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

stepping away. forcing writing puts me back in a mindset that'll burn me out Longterm, and i won't even be happy with the end result. writing and also any other creative endeavor isn't something to do on its own forever; if you're not inspired, go read something! play something! draw something if you write/write something if you draw! go on a hike! try and fail to learn to crochet!

on top of helping yourself decompress from writer's block and burnout (if you're dealing with either), i feel like the muse always comes easier when i give her space. sometimes she comes back with a vengeance and that's when i write at 2am (that's when most of talk was written, and it haunted me for MONTHS. MONTHSSS. so i guess also you can muster up the muse by being down bad for the devil)

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

all my ocs are autistic women who mask (either well or poorly) and feel fundamentally not in line with the worlds in which they're living. which could mean nothing

but also i don't really think so! i try to very consciously write different genres and themes and ideas; i think i revisit the idea of two characters who are in some way opposed realizing they're more similar than they thought, or else finding compatibility In their differences maybe?? which isn't surprising but also i think indicates more a desire to build up a relationship as part of a plot rather than saying something about Me, Specifically

wait no i lied. in dnd and dnd-related fandoms specifically i write a LOT of stuff vis a vis divinity and expectations and the dichotomy of good/evil in the setting not necessarily matching with any sort of real-world morality/philosophy and the horror inherent to godhood (on both the side of the god and the follower.) i'm not a particularly religious person nor was i raised as such, so not sure Why, but it's very interesting to me!!

What is your reason for writing?

i want to read it and no one's gonna write it exactly like i will!! but also...it's fun. i like getting into a character's head. i like figuring out how to get from scene a to scene b in a way that doesn't take away from the narrative. i LOVE getting to see the ways a story can shift outside its outline (my outlines are very bare-bones, so this happens a lot). it's something that i enjoy and that i can share with people.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

any comment that shares something about my writing that either i was actively trying to do or that i didn't notice at all. the first is a delight because it means someone gets what i'm going for!! hell yes! and then the latter is a look at my writing through someone else's eyes which is just so so nice. either one feels like Connecting with people over my writing which is! the goal! so hell yes!

really though any comment that isn't "write more" is motivating to me. someone once left a keysmash and nothing else in the comment box and it motivated me to pick up another wip for the same pairing and write another chapter

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

i am a human being and not a content machine <3 this doesn't come up a lot anymore but i used to have to deal with a lot of asks and requests that would demand more fic even as all my posts were about the immense grief i was dealing with at the time lol.

but also i want to be seen as a person who can be approached! send me asks about what i've written, dm me, tell me about zines and fanweeks and things like that! i literally live with someone i met in a fandom space, fandom works best when it's a thing you share with people rather than a thing you Consume and expect Recognition for. (not that recognition is BAD, but like...see it as connection first and content second, ykwim? i also say this knowing i'm bad about reaching out first but. yeah. i'm working on it!)

slight tangent but you've already read this far so <3 i also feel like fandom these days has moved to more private spaces rather than public appreciation...like, how many fandom events get shared primarily in discord servers that a new fan might not know to join? how many people only get hyped up by people they've already talked with? how many people gush over a fic in a server and then never mention it to the author? i want to be approachable because i want to actually Engage with people without having to join 80 discord servers for different niche things and hope i find a place i vibe with. (nothing against discord specifically--anyone can ask for mine, and i met some dear friends that i'm tagging through a fan discord server, but i hate social connection in fandom being Limited to that.) okay tangent over

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

this is so specific lol but i think i'm really good at flow and sentence structure. like...i feel like i space out my sentences and paragraphs well to keep things from getting too jarring even while being wordy as all hell in a smut oneshot. (there's a reason my first tav is a bard multiclass with the sage background, and it's because neither of us can or will shut up <3)

How do you feel about your own writing?

honestly? pretty damn good. i'll still go through what every writer does where i reread my own stuff and think it sucks sometimes, but i think i've gotten to a place in my writing where i can enjoy it as it stands even if i notice something i'd edit differently. it helps that i've started writing a lot more SELF-indulgently rather than request-indulgently (though please do still send requests if you want! <3 i just mean that i'm not ONLY writing things for other people)

[kaykat666]

20 questions for fic writers

Thanks @superlc529 for the tag!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

32 published on AO3. If I include unpublished and/or unfinished stories that I have on my laptop I’d say I have a total of around maybe 45?

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

729,333. Definitely over 1 mil if I count anything unpublished. I didn’t even realise it was that much before this moment.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Lucifer. I may have dabbled in other fandoms in my teenage years but we’re not going to talk about that right now.

4. Top 5 fics by kudos?

Joyriding with the devil - 2,051 kudos

Project Deviant - 1,079

Never to Me - 874

And I Would Do It Again - 854

Supernova - 853

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to! Sometimes I forget though :( I absolutely read and cherish every single comment I receive though!

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

Never to Me. It was unintentional really, as it was meant to be the first part of a 1 part story. Certain circumstances lead to me completely losing the desire to continue writing the second part (it’s over half finished!) and so I never posted it. That was like… at least 3 years ago. What is time? I hope to finish it at some point but I’m just too busy these days with work. This is really the only story I’ve left on an angsty note.

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

Like I just said, I don’t do many angsty endings. I love to play with it in the middle of the story, and orchestrate killer cliffhangers between chapters but I like to make everything work out in the end. I always liked the John Lennon quote, “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.” So yeah, a lot of my stories have endings that I think are happy. I’m not sure I could say which one is the happiest.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Unfortunately I’ve had a few horrible comments. I try not to think about them for too long though. It’s a drop in the ocean compared to the amount of lovely, thoughtful comments that I get 😊

9. Do you write smut?

No. Far too British for that.

10. Craziest crossover?

Lucifer and Loki. My only crossover really. Also on do regretfully have not finished but it’s definitely out there in terms of craziness.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes, but I feel that it was more of a misunderstanding than anything and the person who did it took it down (along with a lot of others they had posted) fairly quickly.

12. Have you ever had fic translated?

Yes! A reader of mine translated Project Deviant into Russian.

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

Also yes! Project Deviant was co-written by myself, @oh-mylordy, and @self-indulgent-sapphism. I also started writing one with my beta @notonelineff but we never have gotten around to finishing it. Co-writing is hard. Especially if you’re writing a long project.

14. All time favourite ship?

Deckerstar I guess. The amount of fic I’ve written should be enough evidence of that.

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

Hm. Not sure on this one. There’s a few I want to finish but I’m still hoping to get around to them like I’ve said.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Uhhh. I feel like I’m decent at descriptions. I try my best anyway. I try to keep things fluid and set the scene in a way that feel natural and not just stick you with a whole block if description at once. I’ve definitely improved at plotting long fics as well I think. I personally think I’m good at writing suspense when it is called for.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I definitely get stuck on words or phrase and will waaaay over use them until my beta tells me off. I’m really not great at keeping things short either. And it’s not even like my one shots keep turning into long fics, but more that I can definitely over describe and draw things out more than is necessary. I don’t really know what else. I’m sure I have many things that I could improve but I do write for fun and so I try not to get myself too down about what I could be doing better. As long as I can convey the story/scene/emotions that I want to it happy.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I’ve tried it a couple of times. Never more than a like or too, just to convey the purpose that I want it to. For example I would love to show Lucifer being omni-lingual more because it was something I did love about his character in the show but it’s so hard to do in writing without making it overly complicated for the reader. Therefore I settle for throwing in a line here or there and leaving it at that. Also, my knowledge of language really doesn’t extend past Google translate so I don’t want to end up saying the wrong thing.

19. First Fandom you wrote in?

Doctor Who when I was about… 15 or so. They are no longer on the internet. It’s probably for the best.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Ahhh asking me to pick a favourite fic is like asking me to pick a favourite child. I really do love the universe we built in Project Deviant though, and the sequel A Glitch in the System. I thoroughly enjoyed every part of plotting and writing those fics, and dabbling in the universe of one of my favourite games. It also allowed me to write a lot of things that I’d wanted to for a while so that was nice.

However, I also really do have a soft spot for All That Remains. Writing that fic emotionally wrecked me but I still love it.

Also I’m pretty proud of Resistance is Futile writing and plot wise. It was just a fun thing that I wanted to write but I was pleased with the case part more than anything. I wanted it to kinda feel like an episode of Lucifer and I personally think it does.

I did a top 3 instead of 1. Like I said, you can’t make me pick. It’s just not fair.

Anyway! I don’t know who to tag really but if anyone writes fic and wants to do this please feel free!

[chameliyun]

20 Q's for Fic Writers

thanks for the tag @spacejammie-eimmajecaps!

How many works do you have on ao3? Officially 8, but I have one on anon and one currently unrevealed in a fic exchange

What's your total ao3 word count? 61,996

What fandoms do you write for? So far I've written for Death Note, Tangled the Series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Haikyuu, plus a couple of crossovers. Haikyuu is definitely my main rn though

What are your top five fics by kudos? #1: Frosting and Freckles: 69 (nice) #2: Draw Me Near: 39 #3: [embarrassing anon fic]: 35 #4: Varian Is Not a Wizard: 25 #5: Midnight Coda: 21

Do you respond to comments? Yeah, I love to! I don't get a lot so they always make me happy :)

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? probably the anon fic sdfsk but other than that, Midnight Coda is kinda bittersweet because of what happens later

What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? hmm idk but the sappiest is definitely Frosting and Freckles

Do you get hate on fics? Not so far, thankfully! I don't think I have a big enough readership for that haha

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I have not; not sure what kind it would be if I did

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? I love writing crossovers! A PJO/HP crossover was actually what got me into fanfic. Unfortunately most of them are merely concepts or abandoned (for now), but as for crazy, I think my Lunar Chronicles/PJO one is the craziest in terms of how the plot grew out of control from a simple "what if these two characters interacted" to "I could rewrite most of this series," which is why I got stuck and put it on hiatus lol but I do want to get back to it someday. Maybe once I finish my other active crossover

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not to my knowledge

What's the longest you've spent working on one fic? And the shortest? Uhhh well if we count "working on" as "having it in the back of mind to get to but haven't worked on in months," probably Sent from the Heavens lol. If not, then Varian Is Not a Wizard (just over two years since I published the first chapter). Shortest is definitely Midnight Coda, since I wrote that pretty much in a day iirc

Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, but it sounds like it could be fun!

What's your all-time favorite ship? From all fandoms? Dude I have no idea how to narrow that down. Best I can give you is my current fave is Tsukkiyama from Haikyuu

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Probably my "Leo Valdez ends up in the ATLA world" one :sob: It never made it past the word doc and about three pages of story and I haven't looked at it in like two years

What are your writing strengths? I like to think I'm pretty good at dialogue and grammar/spelling

What are your writing weaknesses? Everything else (jk). I am awful at describing scenes/settings; I get bored writing them so I don't put as much effort in as I should haha. I also tend to ramble and use passive voice too much

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I haven't done it, but I think it's fine as long as it fits the context

First fandom you wrote for? Published: Avatar: The Last Airbender. Unpublished: Percy Jackson

Favorite fic you've written? I think it's still Bent Out of Shape. It's so niche, but I had an idea and I executed it, and I'm proud of what I accomplished. Although once I finish Varian Is Not a Wizard, that might take the top slot.

No-pressure tagging: @supermarine-silvally @starrynightarchive @litterateur97 @palant1r @soreiya @lilac-writes @oloreandil @kandybarkreepshow @ellegamgee and anyone else who wants to!

[exhuastedpigeon]

WAIT NO ONE ASKED YOU QUESTIONS!?

Okay. Every single odd number on that list.

I reblogged that post last night and fell asleep almost immediately after 😂😂! Thanks for asking Tanis!!

1. Share a song that makes you think of [fic title] Afraid of Heights by boygenius always makes me think about it hurts to hope for more. I listened to that song on repeat while writing it that no whenever I heart it I think about that fic.

3. What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written? That's like asking me for my favourite child (not that I have kids). I'm sticking with buddie fics here since I have almost 150 fics on Ao3 and that's way too many to think about.

Honestly, there ain't no turning back might be my favourite even though it isn't fully published!

Or I really love gold when you see me too.

5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write? Answered here :)

7. How many ideas for fics do you have right now? Uhhh too many?? I have 5 'active' wips (meaning I'm actually working on them a little bit) and like 20 other ideas. I tend to get an idea, work on it like my hair is on fire, and then when I lose the beans half the time the wip goes to collect dust.

9. Do you write every day? If you wrote today, share a sentence of what you’ve written! I try to write every day, even if it's just one sentence! Here's something I updated from the NHL AU today!

Buck’s much less self destructive now, thank you team mandated therapy and a bit of heartbreak, but he still has a big personality. He’s got the kind of personality that used to land him on Don Cherry’s shit list before he was finally kicked off Hockey Night in Canada for being a racist old fuck. But, that personality of his means he’s the kind of guy who the Kings marketing team loves because he’s down for basically anything they throw at him. 

11. Do you have specific playlists for writing fics? I tend to find a couple of songs that match the vibe I'm going for or that really inspire me and then listen to those on repeat.

13. How much planning do you do before writing? Answered here

15. How do you come up with titles for your fics/chapters? Usually song lyrics! Sometimes a title comes into my head out of nowhere, but usually I end up searching for a lyric that feels right.

17. What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic? I learned all about the best sunrise views at the southern rim of the Grand Canyon for there ain't no turning back! It made me really want to go to see the sunrise there, even more than I already wanted to before!

19. Give us a small teaser from one of your WIPs. This is from my NHL AU! In the fic Buck is Canadian and when they go to Canada on a road trip Buck has to scope out a Tim Hortons immediately.

It would be a lie to say that as soon as they landed in Ottawa Buck went to Tim Hortons, because they landed at 11:45, only a couple of hours after a win in Buffalo. It’s been a long and cold east coast trip - they’re on the road for almost 10 days for this one and Ottawa is the third to last stop.  It wouldn’t be a lie to say that the first thing Buck did when he woke up in their hotel was to jump out of bed, wake Eddie up in the bed next to him, and drag him to the Tim Hortons next to the hotel.  And listen, Buck knows that objectively Timmies is just fine. It isn’t bad, it’s just not actually good either. But he’s a Canadian boy, he grew up on Timbits after practice with Maddie and hanging out in the Tim Hortons parking lots during high school, at least for the couple years he was around before moving to Kitchner to play juniors. Tim Hortons will always have a special place in his heart.

21. Have you ever deleted an entire scene after spending hours laboring over it? If so, why? Yeah, it was a scene that I wrote really early in the writing process and by the time I finished the fic the scene just didn't fit the vibe. I ended up using bits of it in another fic though, so it wasn't all a waste!

23. How do you choose where to end a chapter (if you have multi-chapter works)? I try to find a natural stopping point, but typically I don't write chaptered fics. I think of my 149 on Ao3 only like 15 of them are chaptered, maybe less.

25. Have you ever upset yourself with your own writing? I've made myself WEEP while writing and weep again while rereading later.

27. Is there a fic you were nervous to post/share? Why? I was a little nervous to share it hurts to hope for more because it was a really important fic to me (and really personal to me in some ways). I didn't want people to hate it because it felt so close to my heart.

29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.) I don't think I'll ever finish this fic so I'll share a bit here. When I saw on the fandom wiki that Eddie and Buck were actually probably the same age (1991/1992) I started a fic that's a snippet of each of their lives at the same time period. This is from the Eddie - 18 section.

There was a little plus sign on three separate pregnancy tests. Eddie rests his head on the bathroom counter, hunching over from where he’s sitting on the edge of the bathtub in Shannon’s bathroom. To her credit, Shannon looks like she’s holding it together more than he is. He was leaving for basic in a month and a half, she was supposed to be moving out of state for college in two.  Eddie took a deep breath, then another, before looking up at Shannon again. Her eyes were red rimmed, but otherwise she looked composed. He pushed down the fear that was threatening to crawl out of his chest, up his throat, and out of his mouth and instead said, “Whatever you want to do, I’ve got your back.” “I want to keep it,” Shannon said after a beat.  “Okay, then we keep it,” Eddie reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently. “What do we do now?” “I have no fucking idea,” Shannon half laughed, half sobbed. Eddie stood up and wrapped her in a hug, holding her to his chest. 

Fan Fic Writer Asks

[risen-from-stardust]

A taste of blood

CW: Violence / Blood / Torture

3317 words

Toyhouse

Note: HELLO UHHH HA i wanted to post this here cuz why not? I really wanted to do something a bit dark for a while soooo... Remember that english is not my first language and I have no beta reader, enjoy, or not, idc. Vix and Sushi are the OCs of @whereisxyro, the rest are mine.

Note 2: I'm probably going to do more mini stories to tell the lore of some of my OCs, i have a lot in mind and even if "Risen from Stardust" is slowly being published on Wattpad (Still a WIP and is in spanish and i'm not updating soon cof cof), i preffer to use this way

Note 3: Writing is so complicated, i admire people who do this omfg

Vix was walking with Dan'dchei and Tai'ytu in this new, or at least unknown for him, space station. There were plenty of interesting things around, almost forgetting why they had come here initially. Things for their ship? He doesn't remember, and neither cares right now. He was happily listening to them talk as he was included time to me in the conversation.

— Too much tech stuff for me, go and do whatever you two need. I'll be fine, I want to explore

Dan'dchei clicked his tusks a bit.

— Don't you want one of us to come with you? Security, I mean

— I can take care of myself! See you in a while

Without waiting for an answer, Vix just moved away to explore by himself, ignoring how Tai'yu loudly huffed. Why did they even care about him? He's not lying, the past days had been... Nice. He supossed. Dan'dchei and Tai'yu were gentle with him, ignoring again how their relationship started. It was pretty much probably due to the fact he was like some kind of trophy. Another pretty thing in a stupid collection of ego-filled creatures... But... He had expected to at least be called to come back, and here he was, almost screaming to be stolen again. These two actually cared? Then why was he here?

His head turned at the glance of something shiny in one of the stores. One of the first things he noticed when he arrived here. Ah, now he remembers.

He didn't knew what it was, nor did he care. Shiny was shiny, and distracting enough to keep him out of his thoughts. Yeah, that was a good plan.

After a while a scent made him wipe his head around. What is that? He asked himself. Too familiar, but too faint in his memories. Decided to investigate, Vix started to walk around the shops until he saw a little brown Yautja? With a peculiar look. It was adorable, like an oversized axolotl. Curious, and lured by the scent, Vix decided to get closer and started to follow. Why was he alone in this place? Poor thing. Maybe he could help to find his parents or whatever took care of him.

— Hey little thing, — Vix said, walking closer to the slimy yautja. — You look lost, may I help?

The creature chirped happily, he was about to take Vix's hand until he decided to suddenly stop, his expression changing to instant worry.

— What's wrong? I'm not going to hurt you don't worry

Vix tried to use his most calm voice possible, seeming to be useless as the yautja darted away, tripping on things and chirping broken apologies.

— Wait!

Vix darted too to follow him, being easy to catch the thing in his arms due how much he was bumping on things. He started to wiggle on Vix arms, surprisingly loud screams coming from him.

— Calm down! I said I'm not-

That smell...

Unwittingly, Vix used his poisonous spikes to prick the soft skin and release a paralyzing venom. At the feeling of the sharp things, the yautja stopped moving. Whatever the reason was, fear, his poison, that didn't matter. He sunk his fangs on the squishy meat, savoring the addicting taste of his warm blood as it started to coat his mouth.

Loud stomping started to come close to them, before Vix could even look, he was trashed violently against a wall, whining due the sudden pain of all his body.

Dizzyingly, Vix looked up to see a massive creature... Yautja too? Holding in his arms the much smaller one, who was now curled on himself and whimpering in pain. Oh no, no, no, what he had done?

— Sushi... Sushi... I'm here — His deep voice sounded worried, those webbed hands petting the recently discovered to be called Sushi and pulling him into an embrace. Mumbles being said to the little one.

Vix tried to get up and noticed how the yautja tensed. He wasn't even looking at him, so in little hope he had to escape, he tried to slowly, carefully, to get up. Again, in a blurry movement everything was agony. The yautja used his weight to crush one of Vix's legs. A nasty crack echoing in the silence. The few people that were around decided to leave. Being near an angry yautja was dangerous, being the reason why they were angry was far, far worse.

His scream was stopped when he held his throat in a deadly grip. The feeling being something Vix already got used to, so his body slightly tensed and instinctively got lax again. All of this while he was being pushed against a wall.

— You, — The yautja snarled, his only dark eye looking straight into his very soul. — are going to feel something far worse than regret.

After that, he found himself being half-dragged around the station. Having to forcefully walk due how high he was hanging. Vix tried to take out at least one of his spines to stab the stranger with these, however, every time he moved, the hand on his throat choked him until he was almost unconscious and repeating over and over again. This little game actually excited Vix in some twisted way, having your life hanging off a cliff like this was dangerous, and it was exactly what he liked... Even if it wasn't a good situation for those thoughts, he just couldn't help it.

He was tossed again once the yautja entered a building, leaving the slimy one in a table and calling for O'Twei.

Once this said yautja with blue hide was with them, the much bigger one picked Vix up and chained his arms behind his back, picking carefully some of his spikes and pulling away, making Vix hiss.

— I'll go to see what this thing does, — The bigger one, O'Steaab, as O'Twei called him, looked back at Vix. — Pray this doesn't kill Sushi.

And with that he was gone, leaving him with O'Twei and an agonizing Sushi.

— What are you going to do with me...? — Vix asked, for some reason his voice sounded a bit scared. Was he scared? This wasn't the first time someone chained him.

— Not me. He — Replied calmly the blue yautja as he started to work in the bite Vix caused, trying to calm down Sushi and reassuring him with being back at home.

— I didn't mean it! I swear I don't know why I bit him! It just.... Happened

— Unfortunate. Try to explain that to O'Steaab and he may not be so cruel with you

Curiosity pricked him a bit. Some part of Vix wanted to know what he was actually able to do. The other... Wasn't happy at all about this whole situation. Dan'dchei and Tai'yu will be worried if something happens to him, and he really didn't wanted to worry them this way.

— What you say is true...? — Vix lowered his voice a bit, tilting his head down to don't look threatening in any way. He also used his best tragic eyes, concern and a slight hint of fear in them.

O'Twei looked at him for some long seconds and sighed, slowly petting the trembling brown ball in the table.

— No — He finally replied, not even paying attention to Vix anymore — But accident, as you call it, or not, you're going to be dead. — A soft purr started to sound in the depths of O'Twei's chest, picking Sushi up and nuzzling his mandibles on the little one's head — Eventually. Start begging for it.

Groaning, a burst of blood came out of Vix as he puked on the floor. A little pool of neon magenta blood creating in front of him. This was bad, really bad. He was probably bleeding internally due the crude handling from earlier. Cursing internally he was picked up again, this time by O'Twei, left in another room and locked there. Like if he was able to scape with a broken leg.

Some time passed since they left him alone here. Barely catching some noises from the outside. Some things were hanging from the ceiling, probably useless whires and some steel boxes scattered around. Nothing useful here.

He was starting to feel dizzy due to the lack of blood. The floor around him being a mess of magenta and pink. His mind wandered back to situations like this in the past. It was all he had right now to distract himself. For how long they are going to keep him here? 

The sudden slam of the pad outside was his answer, O'Steaab entered the room and darted his tongue to taste the air. The way he looked at him had Vix shivering. A faint feeling that he was going to die right here and then started to make him nervous.

He was about to explain what happened, but his words ended up in a squeak when O'Steaab picked him up and shoved him hardly on the steel table near a wall, forcing him to cough some remains of blood still in his throat. Vix was about to try again and excuse his pathetic self when a hand pressed his head against the table, the other pulling out the poisonous spikes of his body. They sometimes fell, so it only made him feel a slight discomfort.

— You have to try harder to make me not enjoy this

Vix teased. He knew he was digging his own grave. Whatever.

— Make yourself comfortable then

O'Steaab growled, leaving the spikes aside and pressing Vix's back. He seemed to take a second to calculate before ripping open his back, five long trails made by his claws started to bleed and coat Vix, a pained hiss coming from him, but just as a natural instinct. He actually enjoyed that a damn lot, melting as the warmth of himself leaked out. Vix tail slammed O'Steaab on his side, just as a reflex, in response, he just took it and ripped it apart from his body. Again, this sometimes happens, but it hurt a lot due to the sudden move, making him roar this time in surprise.

O'Steaab carelessly turned Vix around and let him rest on his exposed flesh, making him squirm uncomfortably against the table. Then he left. Leaving Vix alone in his misery for who knows how long.

•  •  •

Vix lost sense of time after some hours. Gods, he was starting to get hungry, and dehydrated due all the bleeding and puking. Where were Dan'dchei and Tai'yu? They said they'll be with him if he had any issues. Well, now, he was stuck in one.

From time to time O'Steaab came back to just do more damage on his back, it was weird how his claws teased his spine, but in a good manner... At the beginning. It was starting to get seriously uncomfortable due how long he took his time, searching for sensitive spots and abusing them until Vix was whimpering in discomfort.

He tried to not care and somehow enjoy it. If he's going to be stuck here for a while, he really had to search for ways to not make this unbearable, convincing himself that it could be worse. How long since he has been here? He tried to count and already lost track after half an hour.

— Where are they...

Whispered Vix under his dry voice, shifting time to time with the chains still in his arms pressing against his abused back. He could swear that he was torn enough to have his bones slightly touching the surface under him.

— Who?

— Like if you cared, asshole

A pitch yelp came from him when O'Steaab buried deep a dagger he was sharpening near him in the internal part of his tight near the beginning of his leg, jerking aggressively due how sensitive and also damaged that zone was.

— FUCK! — Vix cursed, baring his inner fangs — If you're going to kill me, do it already!!

— Cool off, — O'Steaab snarled, twisting the dagger — It's been only three days

— Three days?! — How was he even alive? His body couldn't produce that amount of blood. Well, he also time to time fell unconscious, giving him enough time to heal at least a bit.

— And half — O'Steaab mumbled, his free hand exploring with curiosity Vix's gills. This sent a pleasant shiver throughout his body, even if he knew they were being considered his next zone to damage.

Gods above. Where are they?? He was having enough of this.

— They... They are going to come and find me, they care about me... — Vix was disrupted when a claw hooked in the inside of one of his gills, at the verge of feeling so damn good and painful.

— If they really care, then where are they?

There was a momentary pause. He just used what Vix just said but in a way that had him doubting the insecurities Dan'dchei and Tai'yu tried to take away, clawing back at him and holding Vix like a vendetta. He really wanted to ignore O'Steaab, but he was right, they already gave up on him? Just like that?! He shouldn't be surprised. They were all the same after all.

Looking how the thing seemed to crash in a wall of realization, O'Steaab took the opportunity to rip open the gill he was hooking, an actual painful, hoarse cry coming from Vix.

— Take a break — O'Steaab pulled the dagger out of his leg, licking the blood as he walked away. — I'll give you time to think.

Think... That was the last thing he wanted to do right now.

•  •  •

O'Steaab actually left Vix alone, first making sure to have he forcefully hydrated again, which meant coughing water out of his lungs. Trough these three days O'Steaab noticed the two yautjas asking for their companion. What a shame he was having some fun with him, the magenta blood looking interesting on his claws.

Sushi in his own way insisted to don't kill the thing. He didn't knew why even if Sushi was noticeably more quiet since the attack. Miraculously the spikes weren't deadly, only paralyzing, but still he's not forgiving him soon for scaring like that the little one.

He was surprised at himself at how protective and attached he had become to the pup, trying to teach him how to hunt small things so he could learn the basics, even if Sushi was basically blind. That feeling of pride striking O'Steaab unexpectedly hard when Sushi managed to get something, a little fish, it was all he needed.

He couldn't help the curl in his upper mandibles, smiling at the memory. Doing a last check to see if Sushi, and Kiloun apparently, were comfortable in their nest, he made his way to the other nest of furs in the room, nuzzling against a sleepy O'Twei and occupying most of his little personal space due O'Steaab's size.

Maybe he could let the creature go for tomorrow's morning. But not before giving him a reminder to never, fucking never get close to them or this station ever again. One that he was sure the masochist thing couldn't enjoy. Yeah, that sounded good. Yawning and stretching O'Steaab curled around O'Twei, letting his faint purr drift him to slumber.

•  •  •

— Wake up

A kick near his injured gill made Vix realize he was on the floor, his arms free. Or at least not chained, O'Steaab was holding one of them behind his back. Wait, he was going to...? A hard shake made him slightly hiss in protest.

— I'm awake, I'm awake... Going rough today, big one? I still can sing for you~

O'Steaab kicked him again, harder this time, and growled, obviously pissed by that.

— Don't. Congratulations, you're getting out of here

— Ha. Didn't know you where funny

— I'm being serious. Tai'yu and... Dan'dchei are your owners, right? Well, I can give them the important piece of you — He then used one of his feet to press Vix head against the warm ground, slightly curling his back to be closer. — But I'll take something first

— You already have my tail, what else... — He stopped when his arm was pulled further backwards, reaching his stretching limit.

— Let me show you... — He growled, a slight popping coming from Vix sore muscles.

— No... Wait, WAIT, WAIT!!

With a grunt, O'Steaab used his strength to rip off the arm out of his body, tossing it to the table. Vix was unable to scream due how hard he was hit in his head with something, falling unconscious once more.

The next thing he knew was muffled voices, bright lights... Why was it so bright?! His eyes hurt, so he decided to fall into oblivion once more. When he woke up, his body was heavy as stone, none of his limbs cooperating. A faint shadow made Vix open his eyes, looking at the blurry figure hovering over him. Glass? Where am I... His back wasn't in pain anymore, in fact, he didn't felt anything at the moment.

Groaning, he moved to touch the glass, his left arm didn't respond, so he used the other to catch the attention of the shadow. Slightly glowy eyes stared at him. First in surprise, then confusion, and finally moved away in a sudden motion. Okay, it was gone, what else did he had around him? He was floating in some kind of liquid? Strange.

Wanting to go back to sleep the liquid was drained and now he was resting against a soft surface. When the glass moved away Vix took the opportunity to sit and look around, feeling a bit dizzy. He noticed the other beings in the room, three of them being particularly close.

— Vix... — Whispered the one with a familiar glowing pattern all over his body, it seemed to be fearful to speak any louder, which Vix appreciated due a faint hint of a headache. Wait a second.

— Dan'dchei...? — Vix mumbled, leaning closer to look at him.

A purr was his answer, a warm hand coming to cup his cheek. He couldn't help but lean on the touch, he was craving for this since...

— For how long I've been out?

— A week and a bit more — Tai'yu — Lost too much blood. Need time to recover, Thakiar decided to finally take you out of your slumber. Also need to recover your strength

— How am I even here? — Vix darted his only hand to the sticky and cold bandages in his supposed to be right arm place. He was going to be okay, if he could grow back his tail, why not limbs? Right?

— We received a message of your location, when we reached the zone, this... Yautja... — Dan'dchei hissed in disgust, seeming to despise sharing species with O'Steaab — Tossed you to us and left, not without warning us to never come back again or he's going to actually kill you.

— We are not afraid — Continued Tai'yu, growling — But we are neither risking you, or anyone here

Vix decided to say nothing this time, he just didn't know what to say. Sighing, he let them carry him up to stretch his legs, noticing more bandages and how much they were trembling. This was going to take a long time to heal.

•  •  •

With Vix out of his sight, O'Steaab was back at O'Twei's little home. Gods, he wanted to get out of here for yesterday, a good warm sun and a mud bath screaming for him. He gathered some of his stuff and left them for easy transportation for the next hypothetical morning. That night his tail was pulled hard enough to turn around and see what happened, Sushi being a bit more annoying than usual.

— What? — He growled, his voice rumbling like that due how sleepy he was.

A soft squeak was his only answer. He tried to teach Sushi many times how to communicate in Yautja, the task being slightly impossible because the little thing was stubborn about keeping his squeaking noises. O'Steaab just picked him up and also curled around him, a faint smell of fear coming from Sushi. 

When he was ready to go, Sushi picked his tail again and refused to let go, a bit surprised at how hard Sushi was holding him.

— I'll be back later, you know O'Twei will also take care of you

Still, Sushi refused, so he decided to say his goodbyes to his friend and bring Sushi with him. A slight feeling of compassion and guilt for seeing him like this and lowering his guard to let this happen poking his brain. Probably Sushi also needed some time outside, so this was going to be necessary for both of them.

[foragecore]

had an immensely disappointing experience in my english class yesterday that i havent been able to stop thinking about. white teacher went on a schpiel about how a poet can write a poem with their idea of what its about but they publish it and the poem belongs to all of us and we can interpret it in different ways etc etc which is true lots of the time. many poems can be interpreted in lots of ways, we can debate what theyre about, share our opinions, etc. but then we read This maya angelou poem

which is uhh. without a doubt from the perspective of a Black woman who is enslaved by or maybe an indentured servant to a white family. thats what its about. and we discussed it in groups and i was like okay so what do u all think its about? and my white group of ppl were like oh shes a senile old woman complaining about her life, shes bitter and grumpy and so on. i was like uhhh. uh guys can i tell you what this poem is Actually about? before you say anything deeply fucked up? so i explained and the teacher was still doing the its up to interpretationnnn your groupmate may seem very smart and think it has a different meaning than yoooou dooo but yours isnt any less validddd and i was thinking girl. when angelou is speaking from the perspective of an enslaved Black woman it is Not the time to be getting lovey dovey artsy fartsy. its time to sit down and listen. this is real shit. there are millions of poems we could have discussed and interpreted in different ways but to take this poem and divorce it from the context, not tell us anything about maya angelou, thats just so disrespectful. i think next class shes gonna do the well heres the context about who angelou was, heres was thinking when she wrote this poem, etc. but then what comes after that? "but all your interpretations are still valid :)"?? either way its such bullshit. gonna have to give uh. some Feedback

[notjusthespongenextdoor]

Writing Patterns Tag Game

Tagged by @buildarocketboys!

Rules: list the first lines(s) of your last 10 fics and see if there's a pattern.

I was so worried going through my last 10 fics would take me way too deep into my previous fandoms since I didn't write for a while but it's fairly reasonable if i include shit i haven't published or even finished lol

(not yet published): A sensation comes to him in his half-dreaming state. A touch to his back by a warm hand, and then one of those fingers tracing over something--tracing over the numb welts of the scars carved into his back.

to make me love you less: It’s the smallest thing that does it. They’re all sitting around the waning campfire, most of them drunk to varying degrees and listening to Karlach and Lae’zel exchanging war stories, the former of which seemingly unaware that she's in a competition.

something good can work: He's learning how long he can tolerate morning’s light. He never had reason to take the risk in the many long years before the tadpole, before...all of that happened.

(not yet published....): He shouldn't have. He shouldn't have he absolutely shouldn't, it's the kind of idiotic, naïve mistake he thought had been beaten out of him decades ago.

(silly thing for a friend lol): He’s lived too long--too long!--on squirrels and foxes and the occasional boar, when he's lucky. It's the best he’s been fed in his life as a blood-sucker, but it's not enough to keep him going through long days (days! Imagine that) of traveling and fighting and dealing with this lot.

peace to those who suffer: The slow waking of the morning still fills him with dread. It’s hard to shake, after two centuries of fearing the sun.

a promise: A strange calm washes over him as he falls, shedding Bahamut’s skin one final time. Perhaps he is victorious, perhaps not.

azem's adventures in herbology: She’s called him before. More times than he can count, but he is certain it has never felt like this.

join me within: You wake to your heart pounding in your chest, and this time the answer to “why” doesn’t arise from pondering your dreams, the half-formed traumas of your past awakening you--no, this time the danger is in front of your open eyes, a swirling, dark cloud hovering over your bed.

we're all okay: Squidward glances up over the top of his magazine, meeting eyes with the irritated customer looming over the cash register. This is the part where they snap at him, and he makes a snarky comment in return, then they both part from the interaction in a worse mood than they went into it.

Pattern I was absolutely expecting: I've developed some kind of allergy to mentioning the POV character's name in the first sentence which I'm sure is confusing to some people but it JUST SEEMS WRONg

Pattern i wasn't entirely expecting but am not particlarly surprised by: having to include the second sentence in almost all of these because the first sentence is just absolutely devoid of any context

uhhh who the fuck do i know that regularly writes. @loyalhorror good luck, @dragqueenpentheus, yeah i got nothin

[melandrops]

20 Questions Writer Ask Game

Inspired by @thesymphonytrue

How many works do you have on ao3?

18

What's your total ao3 wordcount?

209,022

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

In published works I have 5:

DSMP/RPF (I count them as the same fandom even though they are tagged differently in my works)

Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse

Stranger Things

Legend of Zelda (BOTW/TOTK)

White Collar

I have wips in probably 2 or three other fandoms including Shadow and Bone, Purple Hyacinth and The Magnus Archives

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Hey Lover (Pavitr/Hobie)

Three Rings (Karlnapity)

I'm not a praying man (but I'll kneel to that) (Pavitr/Hobie)

Dancing Barefoot (Robin Buckley/Nancy Wheeler)

We're Sleeping Together (Dnf)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Very rarely to be honest. If it's a mutual or someone I know or they give a comment that I think warrants a response (request, questions, etc) then I respond. Otherwise, I never know what to say and how to thank them for commenting without sounding like an automated message lmao. But if you have commented on my fics trust me I have happy screamed about you <3

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

Love Causes Trouble. 60s/70s era dnf where george gets killed at the end. Very tragic I think.

Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the wildest one you've ever written?

Nah, no crossovers. I do have a hunger games/spiderverse idea, but I'm not sure if it will come to fruition.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

No, god bless. Which is a little surprising sometimes considering the amount of rpf I've written lmao. But my dsmp writing was never that popular so I should count my blessings.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Sure. I prefer quick and easy fade to blacks which I've done before, but occasionally I write smut.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I would be open to the idea. It would have to be a long fic if I did that.

What's your all time favorite ship?

Oh god. I've never written for it but ngl wolfstar has a soft spot in my heart. But there are so many and for the sake of not providing a documented list of everyone I've shipped before I'll leave it at that.

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

My Purple Hyacinth fic. I love it so far, but I just got so burnt out in the middle of working on it. And I have trouble picking up fics when I haven't touched them in too long. I still have it outlined and probably like 1/3 of the way done. So I'm holding out a sliver of hope. But realistically, I probably won't finish it.

What are your writing strengths?

Uhhh no idea. Over the years I've definitely seen a lot of improvement in my descriptive style. Showing, not telling. And I think I've gotten a lot better at making my writing compelling. The first time someone told me that my writing made them cry I also cried.

What are you writing weaknesses?

So much. 😭 I find that dialogue often runs away from me and I get sidetracked, or it sounds clunky and unnatural. Also characterization. I tend to want to make my characters 1 million percent soft and huggable and forgetting that they are quite flawed. Also plot. I can write out a series of vignettes like nobody's business but an actual plot is hard. I've only written something with a genuine plot a few times, and only one of those got published.

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

It's why I didn't include any of Pavitr speaking in Indian associated languages. I don't want to do a bad job on it, and would be too nervous about accidentally appropriating someone's culture. Or just generally making an ass out of myself by writing something silly. Maybe something to work on?

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

Wrote and published? Dsmp. That fic has been deleted (it's for the best) but my first fic on my profile is still a dsmp work. Unpublished, my first fanfiction was probably for the Lunar Chronicles. Specifically Cress and Thorne.

What's your favorite fic you've ever written?

Love Causes Trouble

It is not the most popular of my fics by a long shot, but it's one of my favorites. If I went back and rewrote it there are a lot of things I would change about it. A lot. It's very imperfect but I'm just such a slut for 60s/70s queer love, for artists and writers falling in love and for tragic endings. A bit kill your gays, but I'm at peace with that.

If not for you (I couldn't get off this floor)

I also like this one because it has a few personal ties to me and because it got such a good reception. I got so many comments saying that this helped them process their grief or it was really cathartic to read so it means a lot to me.

I'm tagging a few people but please feel free to continue the game, even if I didn't tag you.

@avi17 @maybeebeee @wulfspyd3r @sunkraken

[viperwhispered]

hi hi ner!! 👻💕🎨 for the ask game !!

Aaa Ian here you are again coming in with the questions that I really have to think about (it’s fine don’t worry but oof these aren’t easy ones for me to answer).

👻 What is your wildest headcanon?

I mean all my opinions are factually correct so… Jk, jk. Kind of a tricky question, tho 🤔

I know I’ve said this before but I kinda never know when character / canon interpretation or interpolation crosses over into headcanon territory. Plus I generally do try to be pretty canon-compliant and base my interpretations on that.

Basically, for all those folks making headcanon lists and stuff, my brain just does not work that way and not sure I'd ever be able to produce one of my own.

Hmm…

Honestly, I’m totally drawing a blank here, sorry 😔 I guess if I’ll ever throw something wild into a fic, you’ll find out?

Only thoughts I can even kinda grasp rn are nsfw and uhhh some of those are definitely more personal wish fulfillment than actual headcanons.

💕 What is your favorite fic that you’ve written?

Aaa how can I even choose.

I mean also a big chunk of it is smut and a lot of it isn’t widely available (and I probably can’t remember the existence of half of it off the top of my head), so…

I suppose in some sense Of Cows and Curses and Consequences (Hatsuharu x reader, Fruits Basket) is my magnum opus, at least as far as longfic and plotting is concerned. Yes, it is very unfinished and I haven’t touched it in ages, but I worked so properly on that one, outlining my chapters and the story (like, I’ve got notes like 10 chapters ahead of what’s been published), which makes it stand out. Plus it was one of the first if not the first fic I ever wrote (if we don’t count the beginnings of a young teenager self-insert for Earth’s Children that never made it past couple hand-written pages). So yeah, a bit of a “go big or go home” start to my fic writing journey. 😅

Also whatever was the first fic I wrote with a friend’s tastes specifically in mind. Always love it when I can get someone right in the feels (definitely a big reason for why I write in the first place, but that’s a story for another time before I get even more off-track).

Honestly there’s so many pieces I could consider notable for being a first in something or otherwise meaningful but I really can’t pick just one.

🎨 If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

Oh boy so many Jamil scenes coming to mind. Fixation would have so many tasty bits (some of them even sfw, oop), some whump for the Kali & Shiva analogy thoughts (it could be so cool even if it also would hurt me so bad 😭), Jamil’s first realization moment (or any flustered bit, really) from How Not to Be Swept Under… All of them would be lovely ngl.

Though honestly, if anyone ever were to make anything (draw, write, whatever) inspired by my works, I would probably just combust and live off the high for a week (or a few).

I’m afraid my answers for these ones are kinda rambly and not super definitive but alas, it is what it is. Can’t pick just one for many of these. Still, ty for the questions Ian! I hope my answers weren't too disappointing.

(ask game here for anyone else curious)

[gaylanrivens]

AO3 Tag Game

Tagged by @skelingtonsderek (thanks justie!) and I am definitely not two weeks late on this

Last year's for comparison

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

34

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

33, 311. Which wow! Didnt realize i had broken 30k!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

At the moment just justifed! I've written for I think a dozen but have only published for a handful though.

4. Top five fics by kudos?

family we find 9-1-1, 549

I Can't Steal You (Like You Stole Me) 9-1-1, 429

i could be found, I could be what you had saved Stranger Things, 176

A Fan Knows Julie and the Phantoms, 135

blueboys and teddy bears Stranger Things, 117

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes!

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

Oh my god I've written four mcd fics uhhh voicemail from your grave???

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh shit usually it's open or like. Happy for *them* not traditionally happy ending. Got That Solid Gold Country 33 on Repeat maybe

8. Do you get hate on fics?

One time and its still funny

9. Do you write smut?

Not well or confidently

10. Craziest crossover?

Ok so I never published it but I was workshopping a ted lasso/spn one at one point

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Lmao not steal worthy

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

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

@willowmckinley wrote a slasher au installment

14. All time favorite ship?

One??? Impossible. Top three: destiel, stucky, raylanboyd

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

Uhhh idk I have a lot of wips from previous fandoms that I'll likely never finish. What to Expect When You're Expecting (an 11 year old) was supposed to be the start of a series and then....my mom died like. A week after posting and dead mom is a pretty big part of that so lol lmao. Maybe I'll feel like touching it again one day who knows.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I can do ok dialogue sometimes

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Instead of annoying everyone with self depreciation im gonna refrain from this one

18. Thoughts on dialouge in another language?

I mean as long as you do it respectfully?

19. First fandom you wrote in?

Supernatural

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Slasher au!!!! watch a few movies, take a few notes but id i have to give one fic instead of a whole series..... maybe The Ballad of "Just Tim" Gutterson that's one I had been wanting to write for a long time and I think it came out decent?

Tagging uh... idk who has and hasn't been tagged. So....if you see this and want to do it I'm tagging you

[writing-hat]

Hi! I really love your fics and was wondering if you had any tips/advice on your writing process? :)

Hello!!! I'm really glad you enjoy my fics!! For any tips and advices uhhhhh I'll do my best? here! (under the read more, because it turned out pretty long.)

Write whenever you want! Never force yourself into it (unless you got some inspiration that's not ready to go out yet so you just type things that would lead to what you're thinking about? Idk if this makes sense)

But if you feel tired, or you don't want to write anything? Full. Stop. Take a break, have some water, and just do something else. I feel like this one's the most important thing I can give. Don't make writing become something like homework you don't wanna do.

Always have something to note your ideas on you! Wether it's a small notebook or your phone

This is a life saver. I've got too many things on my phone I need to get back on my fics, and it's important because the moment you'll sit down to write you'll realize that feeling you got when you had the idea is gone, and sometimes the idea's the one to fly away. So having it written down somewhere is very important!

Now this can actually turn back against you if, like me, most your ideas come right before you fall asleep, so you have to grab your phone and write everything down to make sure you have it somewhere but yeah. It's still an advice I guess?

and save those notes. and your work too. I hate GDrive and GDoc but it's really useful when you wanna store your stuff somewhere, espiecially if you got an unreliable computer like mine

what else is there to say uhhh

READ WHAT YOU WRITE OH GOD THE MISTAKES YOU CAN FIND IN THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY HORRID

I unfortunately never read behind what I write (I have Oli to take care of that now ehe) but when I look at old fics I'm just. ew. It's painfully obvious I wrote that at 4 AM or while my brain was buzzing in another language because what the actual fuck

If you're on a multiple chapters fic, do not do like me and actually try to write your chapters on different files every time cuz then you're just going to have. a lagging file. taking forever to save when you're adding one letter.

like this. your computer is just going to hate you and spit on your face. (this is bbnb starting chapter 13 only cuz I had to delete all the previous ones after my computer almost died on me help me)

Never forget! A lot of your stories won't be published! And that's okay! A lot of them are just going to be you training and never see the light of day but it's part of the process!!!

But don't throw them away! Whether it's to fish out old ideas or to compare what you used to do, it's always useful to have

Don't be afraid to remove things that don't fit your way of writing anymore. Like, if you had those phrases written a while ago, and the ambiance isn't right, just delete it.

Deleting stuff is not as bad as your brain wants you to think (especially when it's something you thought was so cool), or if you think it's still needed in the fic try finding out new phrasing for what you're trying to say or another moment that could need this?

Am I making sense? I have no idea. But yeah those are the tips I have for now and I cannot think of anything else (this. already took me a while to answer because I had no fucking idea of what could be helpful (idk if those are even helpful))

thank you for the ask! and see you around anon!

[icepixie]

20 questions for fic writers

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

158 (22 of these are fanvids)

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

430,454

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Many. The top 5, per AO3, are Babylon 5, due South, Stargate SG-1, Farscape, and Northern Exposure. The most recent have been Strange New Worlds, China Beach, BBC Ghosts, Enterprise, and DS9. (Though to be fair, DS9 is an old fandom I started writing in again, and China Beach has been a mainstay since ~2014. Farscape...uhhh, oh, wow, I last published something for that in 2003.)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

I'm adjusting for the fact that the Agent Carter fics have by far the most kudos simply because it's the one large fandom I've written in. I'll count one of them and then go to the next-most-kudosed.

Necessary (Agent Carter; for once in her life, Peggy needs Jack for something)

Moves in the Field (The Cutting Edge; Yuletide fic where Doug and Kate visit Doug's brother and hometown)

Closing the Circuit (Enterprise; Baby Elizabeth lives and Trip and T'Pol spend their first night as parents)

Imperfect Recall (Strange New Worlds; Una and Chris recall his invitation to spend shore leave together 20 years ago very differently)

My Late Enchantments Still in Brilliant Colors Shine (Babylon 5; Susan Ivanova runs into a technomage)

5. Do you respond to comments?

98% of the time. Occasionally if it's a busy week they get away from me.

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

Either The Snow Maiden (Susan Ivanova childhood angst) or If Equal Affection Cannot Be (Marcus Cole, death and poetry) or Amo, Amas, I Love a Lass (more Marcus death and pining). Babylon 5 is the only fandom I've ever really gone angsty in.

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

Like...most of them? I'm not much for angst. I guess A Way to Walk on Water and Not Drown ended with the big theatrical happily ever after business...

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I feel like I got some sort of weird LJ comment once, but I barely remember it and it may have been more spam than anything.

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

Nope.

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

Love me a good crossover. I don't write them often because doing them right requires a lot of thought, but they're very fun to do. I've written the most for due South, and the conceit of "Fraser and Thatcher come to New Burbage for Shakespeare-related reasons" has worked well for me. I also quite like the Wonderfalls/Fringe crossover I did back when Peter was missing...I felt like I had a cool idea I followed through on, and the canons meshed better than one might expect at first.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? 

I vaguely recall someone asking permission to translate something into Russian once.

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

When I was 13 or so, with a RL friend, we wrote several hamfistedly shippy DS9 and Voyager fics together over the (landline) phone.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

AO3 says it's Fraser/Thatcher (due South) with Ivanova/Garibaldi (B5) a very close second, which seems about right. I'm also extremely fond of Maggie/Joel (NX) and McMurphy/Richard (China Beach).

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

I'd love to finish the "Ivanova and Garibaldi try to honeymoon on Earth and get swept into defying a political plot against the president" fic I started years ago, but it always seems to require more plot than I want to deal with.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue. I can't write it unless I can hear it in the character's voice in my head, and it seems to serve well for accurate characterization.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Plot. Plot plot plot plot plot. I just want to write characters vibing with each other, not have them do things!

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

I've done it a couple times. Most of it was Russian, for the skating RPF, and for that I just googled a lot and apologized for any errors in the notes. I think it adds some flavor, and unless you're doing something really specific you're probably framing it so someone with no knowledge of the language can get the gist, so even if you've gotten it wrong it doesn't matter that much.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

It was either DS9 or Voyager. I would say I deleted all the evidence, but alas, usenet is forever.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

The Future an Affirmation (China Beach; the AU where McMurphy and Richard get married and we follow them for the next 25 years. Except backwards, because I very much enjoyed writing it like that. I feel like I effectively packed all my thoughts and feelings about McMurphy into that fic and did justice to what she would have done and been had these circumstances played out.)

I have a lot of honorable mentions, but maybe the most honorable is Out of the Ashes, a Northern Exposure fic where Maggie resorts to staying with Joel after her mother burns her house down. I got a fair number of "this reads just like an episode" comments, which I was quite proud of.

[sluttyhenley]

4, 15, 18, 19!

a story idea you haven’t written yet

there are so many i have floating around in my head that i haven't written yet, but ummm, i'm gonna go with the mavnix soulmates au i floated a while back where neither of them have soulmate marks. and this is a fact that affects them both differently. for phoenix is relief, there's no one out there who's her match, who she will get so attached to that it will kill her when they leave her. and for maverick it's a gutwrenching disappointment, because that man has spent so much time chasing love, so like. he doesn't even get a soulmate mark?? and anyway. they're not soulmates but they choose each other anyway. yeah. that. it'd be fun to write that some day.

15. favorite weather for writing

god idk. probably rainy because then i'm not sitting there like, but what if i were doing something else, because i don't like going to do stuff when it's rainy

18. If you keep them, share a deleted scene or paragraph from a published fic

huh, they mostly just kind of get deleted since 99.99% of the time i edit the same document i wrote in rather than a copy. (the exception being #NotDating). i know i've deleted whole paragraphs before, but i can't remember any of them to share. so uhhh, i'll idk cheat and go with the bit that i know i won't write that would technically belong in this mota voyeurism fic i'm trying to write:

gale has to go into work (he used up his fucking leave when he went hitchhiking (???) after the war) but bucky is still in casper visiting. so it's just him and marge in the cleven house. and here's the thing. marge is trying to make this work, because she Loves gale so much. and gale and bucky have a love that is so deep that she doesn't want to break that. and she's falling in love with bucky. but bucky (giant fucking messy king of unhealthy coping mechanisms) is being so weird around her that she comes to the inevitable conclusion that he doesn't even like her. so she confronts him while he's sitting on their couch reading, like 'do you like me, bucky?' and he just kind of looks at her like ...... and she clarifies all that. how she can see how much he loves her husband. how she loves them both. and she's not going to do anything to disrupt the two of them and they'll figure something out but it will hurt like hell if he doesn't even like her. and he just blurts out 'i do! i do like you, marge' to which she says, 'don't you dare lie to me john egan,' and he promises her he's not, but he doesn't deserve them, either of them, doesn't deserve this. and blah blah blah, conversation happens, and uhhh she makes him help her with dinner, and that's how gale comes home to find the two people he loves most in the world actually enjoying each other's company in the kitchen.

how's that for a deleted scene?

19. The most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic.

ok so you remember that spuhura fic that like technically finished but also definitely didn't because it definitely deserves more work? i spent a lot of time researching specific linguistics topics for that, and that was genuinely so much fun. i was basically out there being like, this is the paper i'd write if i were still in an academic setting, because it's so interesting and compelling To Me

ask me about my writing!

[boopidyboopidyboop]

Howdy!

I recently saw a reply you made in a post about feeding unfinished fic to large language models like ChatGPT. In there, you said that free-to-use AIs are "free to use because the company who makes them is actively profiting and taking aspects like phrasing, style, etc." I've heard of variants of this idea but could never figure out where it came from. Can you tell me more about the origin of that?

Well I'll start off by saying I'm not an expert in the field, and that AI technology is actually relatively "new" in terms of very recent rapid developments and it's in this stage where the future is generally uncertain. However, as early as now, people are already using AI for commercial works. There was a movie announced where all backgrounds were made with an AI, and a manga that was made near entirely with AI. The rhythm game Cytus has recently drawn ire from fans and even its own creators and designers for using AI generated art instead of the very stylistic art it used to use. The moral and economical issue here would lie in that they still charge the same amount for the game and it's already a game that is criticized by some for its high price point compared to other rhythm games. So not only are they earning more, in a way are putting less effort into the game. Those who purchase it would essentially be paying more for less and the money would not be going to the artists because their styles will have been copied but they themselves wouldn't be credited or paid.

Now for a more direct example, I've also heard reports that publishing houses are being spammed with hundreds of purely AI generated work. This of course directly negatively affects writers trying to get published if only by uhhh what's the word,,,, adding a bunch to the pool (sorry English is my third language).

I myself do writing for companies overseas by editing and writing the info on their websites. As someone from a third world country, this contributes to a good chunk of my income as the local economy is not great. Due to the recent popularity of bots like chat GPT, the market had dropped by a LOT and while at first it was my primary source of income, its not really sustainable anymore.

Now these examples don't all use language based examples but they do show that the creation of AI art forms so far is mostly just harming artists and from the examples such as Cytus and just,, life in general I suppose, as "young" as commercial AI is, we can likely assume that corporations don't intend on making their AI for purely wholistic reasons. The art AI midjourney was even found using stolen art after saying that they don't. AI writing, I believe, is going to be more finicky than AI art and as such, I expect theyd want to do a lot more fine tuning before using it to write whole textbooks while art bots are already being used on book covers and movies, only because you don't need to fact check art.

Sure people can see something is wrong, but with the sheer amount if it used, it's rapidly adapting to fix the anatomical issues in its art. Written work I think would need to be double checked a lot and by a human before they release one making bold claims such as "You can't buy food but you can buy paint thinner from home depot instead" (an actual AI result generated by Quora when I was trying to find a place to eat that Google tool as the top rated answer on the website and proudly presented to me). But that doesn't mean it won't eventually go as far as to take someone's job entirely. It's already starting to take mine.

For a clear cut example, sorry to say I can't name one myself, but you can look at the way AI is already being used this early on and how it's already being used to substitute and replace some artists and writers and how apparently even fanfiction writers who do their work out of love, and look just a few years in the future based on the patterns that have been happening and the way corporations will always value profits over the heart of what they make, and for most the picture of what will happen is a very grim one for art.

The "Origin" of it differs from person to person. Some artists have seen their art put into AIs and their styles mimicked (art which will be very difficult to claim the person who generated it shouldn't be allowed to use for commercial purposes). Some writers who write more boring industry stuff that is very easy to mimic are getting their jobs taken away from them. Others without firsthand experience can only look at examples or patterns and infer a probable and large scale outcome similar to that of Cytus. All in all, to me the backlash and opinion that AI is copying peoples works is more of a social movement with no clear cut origin but a lot of evidence that points towards AI generated writing and imagery being a bastardization of the work of hundreds even if it's just a lot harder to see when it comes to a non visual form of art like writing.

Hmm I think if you want a clearer answer or example, the best personal one I can give you is an article I edited which was so poorly written I sent it back and they had a different writer do it. When it got back to me it was better, but extremely familiar. It repeated phrases from the OG article and had the same problems I had noted (strange wording, odd vocabulary, etc) so I asked them if they had wrote it. Apparently they just put it into chat GPT and told the bot to rewrite it without changing too much, so the bot mimicked phrases and words but changed the flow by adding conjunctions or paraphrasing, but to me, who has read the first persons work several hundred times, I still recognized the style, if I can call it that. The person profiting wasn't Chat GPT, but if the state of AI art is anything to go by, in a few years it could very well be.

(sorry about the long reply and if anything is messy or hard to understand. I am not an organized thinker.)

[iamthecomet]

I always feel bad for coming in here and just ranting about my problems, cause I know yet aren’t that bad but I can’t really talk to anyone in person here about them and I just feel a little bit better talking here because I feel it’s actually genuine.

But have you ever had someone pray on your down fall, or unknowingly do it? If that makes sense… but I’ve had ppl say they truly didn’t think I’d make it this far, to my face, and weirdly enough I could handle it. I took that and pushed my way to get athletic and academic scholarships. But just now for a project we had in physics only one person in our group had to turn it in, which the professor didn’t say that so we were all working on it. But when we figured it out they called and told me cause I was still working on it but I had don’t all the graphs and formulas and sent it so I could help them out. I asked if they got them and they go “uhhh yeah imma be honest, they weren’t right…” UM HELLO. Thanks for telling me before I turned it in?!?

Like it won’t hurt my feelings if you tell me I’m wrong, give me some advice on how to do it right, but it DOES hurt knowing that your weren’t going to tell me and let me get a bad grade. Thanks. That right there made me lose all trust in those two girls. Girls that I’m taking multiple classes with and am also on the same team with.

I know you get a lot of ppl who like to talk and tell you what’s going on in life, and I think it’s because YOU are a TRUSTWORTHY person, a GENUINE person who wants what’s best for people. So thank you, and all the other online friends for being some of the few people who are like that, holy shit. I know I’m being dramatic but right now I can’t tell if I’m more pissed or sad that it all happened.

But PLEASE distract me tell me all the things in your life right now, good or bad, if you’d like. Tell me fun things that have happened or things you’re excited about!! I’d love to know if you’re doing amazing:)🖤🖤

Holy shit, Mo. In all genuine honesty, fuck those people. Like, seriously. I'm sorry that you have to do so much with them. I think people are so afraid of conflict that they unintentionally create it by being like this. Or maybe they just genuinely don't care--either way it's not a great way to live your life or communicate with other people. And it isn't a reflection on you it's a reflection on them. Ok, enough of that. My life? Christ, Mo. My life is BORING haha. Let's see, my library is planning a solar eclipse party for whatever day in October the partial Solar Eclipse is. We're BARELY getting any actual eclipse but we got sent five billion eclipse glasses and we love an excuse for programming. (And we're getting a full eclipse in April so this is our practice run). So that's going to be my fun work thing for the next couple of weeks! I saw one of my best friends over the weekend. I don't see her much anymore since she left her husband and moved in with her new boyfriend 2 1/2 hours away. But that's alright, she is SO MUCH happier. I made her a little dumpster fire crochet (she immediately named him Daniel). We judged the clueless out of staters for a few hours at a weird craft fair thing we went to, and then we went to the book store and got boba tea and it was just a really wonderful day. I'm in a writing group that's supposed to last from August-May and the end goal is to have a finished draft/self-published book by the end of it. So that is super exciting. I'm working on a story I've been trying to tell for YEARS. I'm just hoping to get it out of my head. It has nothing to do with fantasy, or smut, or ghouls. But I'm hoping it will help me process some shit. It's exciting, I am unmotivated, but I'll make it work haha. Everyone else in the writing group is like 10-40 years older than me so it is a WILD experience. I sort of feel out of place with all these "adults" who read their fancy literary books and I'm over here like "well...I...read books for fun so they have to be fun!" I feel like the dumb little kid in the room. Which I'm pretty used to at this point in my life. But I have faith in my own skill, and I've worked with the guy running it before in short story programs he's done and he has faith in my skill, so I am unbothered by being the weird young person in the room. I am worried that I'm going to get to May had have nothing to show for it--but eh, we'll see when we get there. Please never feel bad about coming to me to vent/talk. I'm glad you know that you can just come into my ask box and decompress from the bullshit. Everyone deserves a place like that. Sending you love and hugs if you want them. And, seriously, fuck those people.