#it's the kind of ridiculous melodramatic angst that i'm into

[swamp-adder]

I recently read The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Ed. John Joseph Adams), which is a fun collection of "nontraditional" pastiches, including some with SFF elements (though they're all reprints of stories that have been published elsewhere).

But it amused me that the collection includes two different stories that both read like fix-it fic of Michael Dibdin's The Last Sherlock Holmes Story.

(Story spoilers below.)

In "The Horror of the Many Faces" by Tim Lebbon, Watson witnesses Holmes committing a brutal murder (and removing an organ from the body, Ripper-style) and starts to have a mental breakdown over it, but it turns out to have been a doppelganger.

In "The Singular Habits of Wasps" by Geoffrey A. Landis, Holmes is Jack the Ripper, but he actually had a perfectly good reason for slaughtering all those women: they were infested by alien parasites and were functionally already dead!

Like I can't prove either of these writers had read Dibdin's infamous pastiche, but you could say I've got a hunch.

[perverse-idyll]

Fic Stats Tag Game

Rules: Give us the links to your fic with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the least words.

Thank you @danpuff-ao3 and @likelightinglass for tagging me! I've got an hour to relax, and this is just about my speed at the moment: something fun but not demanding. (One hour, my arse. It took me three days!) Who else would enjoy doing this? @ac1d6urn, @ripeteeth, @squibstress, @yletylyf?

Most Hits

The White Road, Snarry, 48K. I knew the answer to this one without having to check. TWR is my most popular fic by every metric and the one most Snarry readers know me by, not to mention it's old enough now to be a high school sophomore (or possibly an A level student). I'm happy I somehow managed to pull off a nonlinear fic, plus I was so, so in love with the Snarry ship and all its possibilities, and I think that shines through. I let myself explore Lily's character and responded in fic to the way Snape's story ended; gave Lily and Severus one last chance to face some hard truths; and - well, no need to flog it, there are just a lot of scenes in this fic that make me clutch my heart to this day. And I let myself be a bit romantic about my OTP! With a happy ending and everything! (Okay, I'm always romantic about Snarry, but you can't always tell that from my fics.)

If you have any desire to hear me natter on with more Writerly Thoughts about this fic, I recorded an interview with ChaosBlue over here: Fanfic Maverick episode 25

Second Most Kudos

Soft Touch, Snarry, ~15K. This was a sleeper hit. I never expected it to be popular, and it's not a fic people love, exactly. But the combination of mindfucky unethical massage kink plus character study brought readers to the yard - although, really, I doubt it has much to do with the "character study" part. I'm going to cheat here and borrow a bookmarker's comment to describe it: "Very sensual almost eerily so. Actually somehow slightly creepy at times yet very seductive at others. A weird read." I like how they can't seem to make up their mind! Because, yeah, IMO the appeal lies in that uncomfortable overlap between sensuality and creepiness, and the touch-starved atmosphere that hangs over it all.

Third Most Comments

The Afterlight, Snarry, WIP, currently at 46K. This is one of three melodramatic and, yes, romantic Snarry WIPs on my plate - ridiculous amounts of whump and/or emotional turmoil, plus a triple whammy of overwrought happy endings (but only after I put them through hell). Apparently after the last 10 years of Life Shite, my fannish desires are all about shameless self-indulgence now. This one has a serial killer subplot that's giving me conniptions, but I'm in love with the ending so I need the fic to get all the way there. It also ponders, in a "one dark thread running through the whole work" sense, what it means to die and come back, and I'll just say that Snape experienced death very differently than Harry did. I suspect this fic has as many comments as it does because readers were kindly encouraging me to continue after years of me not posting very much. I'm currently finishing up a Snape/McGonagall fic, but The Afterlight is next on the menu. Fourth Most Bookmarks

Warm, Snarry, ~11K. Hah! My PWP made the list! It's also a character study of Snape and Harry with an established couple dynamic, but come on, those bookmarks aren't about the settled kind of domestic bliss. They're more about the "naked by the fireside fucking each other's brains out" bliss. I wrote this fic for a prompt and to help me scrape the rust off my creative wheels after several years of writer's block. In doing so, I found that porn without plot doesn't come naturally to me. Or established relationship, either. Where's the angst? I muttered constantly to myself about the paucity of sexy anatomical slang and the problems with pacing a fairly drama-free fic. (Solution? Don't write 10K words of PWP when 3K words will do.)

Fifth Most Words

The Blood of Stars, Snarry, WIP, ~44K. This is the fic that started my journey into the melodramatic & romantic combo, but it hasn't been updated since 2014 (aka The Worst Year of My Life). However, it's alive! I've picked it up again and have been scribbling and revising scenes in between working on three other fics. This was also the start of my So What If It's Messy and Imperfect phase, which is a challenge as a perfectionist but a necessity in my current circumstances if I presume to have delusions of ever finishing anything ever again. It's a challenge in another sense, too, since I committed myself to writing Harry's section in first-person POV, just to see if I can. (The jury's still out on that.) It's also got book-ended sections written in third-person Snape (an obscure and hard-to-master dialect)(kidding), and I'm not terribly confident writing from his POV, either. But the fic's got one of those can't-stay-away-from-each-other plots (I love these), and Harry being unfaithful to Ginny (yes, I know, don't send the OOC police after me). It's full of emotional flailing and obsession and beloved characters behaving badly and Snape coming to a tragic end - but wait! There's also Love after Death and Snape having meltdowns and in the end sort of getting everything he ever wanted. In case it isn't obvious, I am wallowing like a pig in mud. I love this fic. 🥰

Fic with the Least Words

Truce, Doctor Who, Twelve/Clara, a classic drabble of 100 words. This won't make sense to anyone who hasn't seen their series arc and the last encounter between them. It's a drop in the bucket of my undying love for them, but alas, my fealty has already been pledged to my endless Snapely WIPs. But Twelve and Clara deserve so much more than I'm able to give them.

[tenebriism]

GETTING TO KNOW YOU.

respond to the following prompts out of character. then, tag others that you'd like to get to know a little bit better!

ROLEPLAYER NAME: Christina / Tina

ROLEPLAYER PRONOUNS: She/her!

MUSE NAME: // gently gestures towards Muse List.

PREFERRED COMMUNICATION: It depends on the day. If I'm at work (which I am most of the week), I can't easily access Discord since it's blocked on the work computers and using our phones is grounds for suspension. So, as long as folks can be PATIENT and not spam me, Discord is the preferred medium. Otherwise, Tumblr IMs are okay, too!

EXPERIENCE: I've been writing pretty much all my life, but on Tumblr, I'd say I've been here... almost 10 years, if I've not already reached a decade?

PREFERRED ROLEPLAY TYPE: I adore fluff mainly. Too much angst makes things feel forced, and I don't like writing strictly negativity or tense situations. It's just not realistic, no matter how tragic a character's life/backstory is. I love fluffy interactions, I love writing domestic moments, and I love writing big developments. Moments that kind of... shift the dynamic and the world we're building together.

PET PEEVES & DEALBREAKERS:

People who are always negative, or who take things so personally to the point it becomes ridiculous. Vague posting, constant complaining, whining, etc... it gets to be too much sometimes, especially if it's untagged. We're here to write and to bond and vibe; how people manage to add melodramatics and high school drama to this, too, is beyond my realm of understanding.

Making big ship/dynamic decisions without asking me first. There's a difference between something being a surprise (like a marriage proposal), and just flat out moving forward with a big plot point without coming to me to see if I'm okay with it, because my muse(s) very well might not be, and I won't hesitate to state this (it kills the motivation, honestly). Roleplaying involves two, sometimes more people; this isn't a fanfiction, so all parties involved should be considered. Some of my muses don't want children, some of my muses aren't okay with sex, etc, etc. Communication, folks. It's not that hard, and most of the time, I'll be okay with it! Just ask first.

Constantly making blogs for muses and then abandoning said blogs, or remaking blogs multiple times a year. It's okay to want a fresh start from time to time, or to want to pick up a new muse, but I'm not about to keep switching up my tags because you need a new URL every 3 months, and I'm not gonna keep following if I notice you have a graveyard of abandoned blogs.

PLOTS OR MEMES: I'm not the BEST at plotting, especially if it's someone I've not been writing with for a long time, so honestly, memes are a bit easier for me to work off of. It gives me something to work with right from the start, and we can build from there and mold it as we go.

LONG REPLIES OR SHORT REPLIES: It depends on my motivation. I tend to take a very long time with my lengthier threads, so I like to balance it out with shorter threads, here and there, just to keep the muse flowing.

BEST TIME TO WRITE: Motivation tends to hit while I'm at work, annoyingly enough, but typically, late at night works best for me. It's when I'm most active, since I literally stay up all night, lmfao.

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSES: Some of them, yes. Others? Not even remotely close.

tagged by: @serabellyms ;; Thanks, hun! tagging: @hyaciiintho, @ironbloodcd , @box-of-characters , @seeasunset , @r3ys-malt3s3 , @mystiic , @inyvat , and anyone else this may interest!

[onewomancitadel]

Yeah, being in uni is going back to being a preschooler again.

You've earned the honour. And I'm sure there's other good content creators for knightfall,

I am mildly allergic to the words 'content creator', but yeah, I do know there are other fic authors primarily on FFN. Sunset Hunting is writing In His Kindness currently if you want to check that out. There are others recommended to me, but it seems like the fandom I've discerned present for Knightfall is more interested in V1-3 era Knightfall. I am resolutely not, merely a matter of taste. To my eyes V1-3 Knightfall is a completely different ship basically, and I don't multiship. There are also a lot of issues with characterisation of Cinder and Jaune since I have very different interpretation so that's also a thing I'm concerned about.

I'm glad I'm a fic author whom you can reread, thank you for enjoying my work.

As for downloading videos, I know that RWBY can be downloaded off of Crunchyroll if you have it, but idk if it's usable for editing purposes.

Okay maybe I'll check that out, but are all the volumes on Crunchyroll? I watch on the RT website with sponsor First. Stupid name change. I'll see what I can do anyway.

The newer chapters definitely haven't decreased in quality, they're definitely still good. The only thing making them not as enjoyable as the other ones is, obviously, the lack (or great reduction) of Cinder/Jaune moments.

Yeah, I had a feeling that happened to be the case. I really like separation and it had to happen but yeah. Understandable. This is where I'm okay with concrit ftr, when I did specifically bring it up/ask for it, in case anybody else is reading this.

I figured it was worth mentioning because I noticed I got very few comments the last few chapters (haven't checked FFN reviews because I had a person leaving comments who didn't like the story from the sounds of it, scared me off, and edit: fandom etiquette I'm used to is don't like, don't read), but if it's coming from the separation angle that's fine. I did really try to bring in the angst/interest with outside third parties, since that hadn't been present throughout (most) of the earlier story, but yeah.

Just mildly demoralised. I regret writing my fic sometimes, the epic highs and lows of being a complete fucking loser who can't write. Sigh.

And lastly, I've only watched bits and pieces of RvB, but I'm definitely interested. [...] Developed a minor crush on Carolina.

Oh, the romance is very minor, and the only time it's good imo is when Miles wrote that one episode, it was the episode that got him working on the Chorus Arc I think. My favourite seasons of the show are the Blood Gulch Chronicles and the Chorus Arc, the Freelancer Saga REALLY doesn't hold up (Season 8 is probably the best of those), it's way too melodramatic in tone (especially 9 and 10, I can't do it). Chorus is at least a bit sillier and stupider and the villains are better. I prefer RVB when it's silly and stupid (and it's honestly an offensive show lol), but I wouldn't say that I really watch it regularly anymore.

Agent Carolina is still like my favourite character though.

What are some good ships for me to get into? Either ones with good canon content or ones with good fanfic, ones that you liked.

None of the ships are the sort of thing I'm interested in now, personally. There are fics for a few ships like Grif/Simmons (often a background pairing), Tucker/Wash, Locus/Felix, that sort of thing, most of them are M/M, there were some others which were popular. None of it is really conducive to good romance (edit: in case anybody gets upset I said this, I mean RVB is not a romantic setting with a traditional romance payoff, and all of the canon romances are tragic), and most of them are - being really mean here - tonally inappropriate to RVB, RVB is ridiculous. Most of the fic is too serious. (Grif/Simmons works best because it's basically canon and very silly). But again, that's my qualm about the Freelancer Saga.

Anyway, enjoy your naps, it sounds like you need them. <3

Re: the new chapter.

It was fantastic and I WILL be commenting, I just don't have enough time to dedicate right now (or rather, I have the time management skills of toddler).

Re: miscellaneous

I've now listened to the Camp Camp theme about 40 times because I love the fact that it's technically Jaune singing it.

I was also very guiltily watching rwby amv's like the shameless 2000's fanfic reader I am, and you know what I found? There's like, ONE single Knightfall amv, of unknown quality since I haven't yet seen it. And since you're the Designated Knightfall Person... guess who it falls to to Deliver us from hopelessness.

If you feel like it, that is XD, but I certainly couldn't do it and you are, as I've said, the #1 knightfall content creator.

Hope you're having a nice day:)

Re: the new chapter.

No worries about commenting, I appreciate the ones you've left on previous chapters. Thank you for reading. (: These past few chapters have been pretty hard for me to get through mentally, I mean I've enjoyed writing them but I get the sense they're not very good. At least next chapter might prove interesting. I hope everything is going well for you; if your time management skills are as good as a baby, then make sure you're getting those afternoon naps in. :D

Re: miscellaneous

Have you seen Red vs. Blue? I think I've mentioned to you I was a fan of it and that's how I got into R/WBY, but um. Jaune's voice actor (and writer for seasons 11-13, though he also wrote one episode in season 10 which at the time had me confused when he said he couldn't write romance, because it had the only and most romantic scene for that couple in the show) also voices another character in RVB and it's. Very funny. He has a lot of range, let me put it that way. (I actually really like Miles' voice acting lol).

EDIT: Lol and Cinder's letter X-ish shaped scar even reminded me way back when of Locus' visor, she matches with her boyfriend's voice actor's character in RVB. Incredible.

I like fanvids conceptually but there are very few I actually really like. I generally prefer the ones without lyrics, like instrumental scores. The ones I do like I go back and rewatch frequently though. I really love how fanvids themselves can be so convincing of an idea and string together different scenes, it's argumentative like an essay.

And since you're the Designated Knightfall Person

This is a very high honour, thank you.

guess who it falls to to Deliver us from hopelessness.

I have one plotted out in my head already. :( I would really like to get Skimming Eye done as soon as possible and on time according to my schedule so other stuff I want to do keeps falling to the wayside. The fanvid living in my head is really awesome though. I put together the music already.

The one thing I can't find is a source for downloading R/WBY episodes. I'd prefer to buy them so I actually want to OWN them and load them up in VLC media player etc.

It's such a pain in the arse always going to the website, for that matter I can't make a fanvid without actually having the episodes. I've surched in all of the requisite places.

I guess there are only the DVD versions? Is it blu-ray now? Sucks to be me without a disk drive. This is when I really want to get a desktop again.

and you are, as I've said, the #1 knightfall content creator.

An extremely high honour lol. There are lots of other talented fic authors and people into the pairing, I'm very sure. I'm just doing my thing. I've parked myself here and I'm not moving. I suppose also I really like R/WBY and I'm very much into the show, V8 was my favourite volume etc., so that influences my reading and my output/interest. But trust me I have absolutely no conceited ideas about myself, I know I'm a weirdo.

Thanks for your ask and hope you have a good night. (: