#kitkatpancakestack

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

I was tagged by @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove and I felt like some public masochism so here we are!

Edit: Holy fuck this got long, putting it under a read-more.

How many works do you have on ao3?

258 although I orphaned 100 works back in 2020.

What's your total Ao3 word count?

Why. Why would you ask me this. Why would you do this to me.

4,578,245 - although I shudder to think how much it will have gone up by the end of the year.

What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly 9-1-1, but I took a nosedive into Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves last year and still have one more fic I'm writing for it. I tend to have quick little detours into other fandoms, which I think is overall a good thing since it helps me flex my writing muscles with different characters and settings. I'm currently working on a fic that is from a show where the main characters are all constantly sassing each other and bickering, and it's pushed me into being witty and sharp with the dialogue and humor in a way that I don't think I have been in quite some time.

Top 5 Fics by Kudos:

Even Steel Blades Need Fire - that's right, a WITCHER fic. HA. You all weren't expecting that!

Leading with the Left - yeah yeah we all knew this one was coming.

Drowning in Dreams (You're My Raft) - I'm constantly surprised this little oneshot I wrote post-tsunami is so popular.

Footprints are More Easily Seen in the Snow - my first Witcher fic I ever wrote and might still actually be my favorite.

Sometimes a Hammer, Sometimes a Lockpick - another Witcher fic! I had a lot of fun with this one.

Do you respond to comments?

I do! I try to respond to every comment I get. I know not everyone can but given the anxiety I know readers have around giving comments I try to show how much every comment is appreciated by me.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I do happy endings, overall, but every once in a while I decide to be evil, so it's a tie between the two fics that are about a character dying:

The Soft Goodbye - a Timeless fic that focuses on the idea that time travel, like being in space for a long time, wreaks havoc on your body.

Full Circle - a Doctor Who fic written years ago speculating about the Doctor gifting a dying Donna her memories back so they can say goodbye.

For those of you in the 9-1-1 fandom however, since I'm sure everyone's looking at those two fics going "wait what," the fic with the angstiest ending is:

I'm Not Breathing Unless I'm Giving You CPR - spoiler alert, but I end this fic on an angsty and purposefully ambiguous note. It's up to the reader to decide what sort of ending they get.

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

Uh. All of them, I'd say? With the exception of the two MCD fics above, I deliver happy endings. However based on reader feedback, I think I'll go with...

Your Love is an Oil Slick (It Glows Like Rainbows, It Stains My Soul) - the amount of angst in this fic, especially the Bobby and Buck relationship, seems to hit readers extra hard and so the happy ending, especially Buck's reunion with his father figure, is extra joyful and cathartic.

Do you get hate on fics?

I have once in a blue moon gotten "flames," as we used to say. Writing fanfic since I was thirteen, I don't think it's possible to fully avoid a few cranky people with nothing better to do than go around and shit on people's beds. But I've been extraordinarily lucky in the love and kindness I've gotten from my readers.

Do you write smut?

Baby, it's what I'm known for. Honestly sometimes to my chagrin - I hope people enjoy my worldbuilding, characterization, and plots as well - but overall I have a lot of fun writing smut and I love reducing people to slack-jawed water-chugging babbles.

Also someone had to bring the monsterfucking around here so by golly I'm reporting for duty.

Craziest crossover?

I don't do crossovers.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yup! Someone stole my Budde Porn Star AU and turned it into a Rooster/Hangman from TG:M fic. Someone kindly alerted me and I was able to report it to Ao3. Truly a surreal experience.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have! Multiple times. It's deeply flattering and I really admire translators who put in the work to take something from one language and convey the same meanings, flow, and story in another. Translation is a genuine art form, if you ask me.

Have you co-written a fic before?

Yes! A few times, all with my beloved @extasiswings. We did one Timeless fic together whispers like poetry and we had such fun that when I started my first long, plot-ty Buddie fic I Hit the Accelerator (But the Car was in Reverse) and panicked, I roped her into finishing it with me.

We also co-wrote Carbon Date Me, Excavate Me because I was in a bad writing slump and she graciously made everything better, and then A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words (But Love is Undefinable) because she uno reverse'd me.

All time favorite ship?

I've been shipping for so long it's incredibly hard to pick just one, but I think given the sheer depth of my insanity, I have to say Buddie. I haven't had a ship grip me like this in... ever, actually. Honestly after being burned hard on some previous ships in my time, names redacted to protect the guilty (me), I didn't think it was possible to love a ship this much, and yet here I am.

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

I plan to finish all of my WIPs. Once I start a fic I'm committed to finishing it. I do however have a couple fic ideas that I don't think I'll ever actually write.

What are your writing strengths?

Um. Smut, apparently. I also seem to do well with fusions; that is, taking one trope or setting and fusing it with another in a sort of plot mash-up. And people seem to really like my world building.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm a hyper-sexual person who is very casual about sexual relationships and so sometimes I think as a result I have characters think with their cocks a bit too much and jump too quickly into sex, and sometimes there's more smut than plot. Run-on sentences, my beloved (and my editor's beloathed). I tend to write out-of-order and so sometimes little plot details can contradict, not be followed up on, or get lost in the shuffle.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I don't really write dialogue in another language in most of my fandoms, but in a few it's come up and I've approached it in different ways.

In Timeless, the character Garcia Flynn's first language is Croatian, so I would have him sometimes speak in it. In my dragon!Jaskier series, I was able to bastardize some of the Draconic from D&D (mixed with some Germanic root languages) for when he was cursing or communicating with his draconic family. In both cases, the other language was limited to only a line or two of dialogue, or perhaps a single word, so I wrote the dialogue in that language, and then had a translation guide at the bottom of the fic.

This tends to be my modus operandi, an exception being Xenk speaking Thayan, because I couldn't find any actual Thayan for the life of me, so I just describe how the phrase sounds or allude to him muttering something/swearing/etc. Since Ed, a former spy, also speaks Thayan, he can then inform the reader through his thought-process what the Thayan meant.

Occasionally, I will have two characters speaking in another language and simply italicize their words and have a line of description saying "they switch to French" or something similar, since I don't want readers to have to scroll up and down to understand an entire conversation.

In my original novels, however - the Horsemen quartet specifically - the characters communicate about fifty percent of the time through sign language. It's become the lingua franca, because noise alerts zombies and ASL is a silent language. In the books, I write the dialogue as I would English, and simply have the dialogue tag "she signed" instead of "she said."

As someone who speaks other languages but for whom English is their first, I'm not sure I get to really speak on how and when one should use other languages in one's predominantly-English fic in a predominantly-English-speaking fandom and online space. All I can say is that I listen to what others say in regards to what is most respectful and comfortable, and I don't have any personal preference in how a writer handles the use of secondary languages in their writing.

First fandom you wrote in?

I'm not sure which came first since they were right on top of each other, but Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Favorite fic you've written?

Well that's just mean. How dare you. I don't have one favorite fic, that's like asking me to choose a favorite child.

I will say I am particularly fond of In the Gray You are Golden. I banged it out in a day in some kind of fugue state and I do think it's one of my best works.

Someday when I am filthy rich I will commission someone to draw it as a comic, especially the reunion scene between Buck, Eddie, and Christopher.

Tagging, with no pressure:

@princessfbi @buckttommy @extasiswings @kitkatpancakestack @gracieryder (once again I typed your fucking old url like five times...)

aaaaaaand @givemeunicorns.

[honestlydarkprincess]

What's the new piercing??

a medusa piercing! 🥰🌸 hehehe

[mistchievous]

Kitty so cuteeeeeee I'm in anguish I want to squish it 😩

Have some bunny kicks from last night. 🥰

[leothil]

Aight let's go 🔥+ s7 (9-1-1 ofc)

Maybe this is cheating because it's like. Tangentially related to S7, but people keep misunderstanding what's being said in interviews. Lou saying he thought his storyline would be with Eddie but it turned out to be Buck doesn't mean the bi Buck arc was meant to be Eddie's. Tim Minear saying he doesn't know how the story ends doesn't mean he doesn't plan out his seasons and episodes beforehand and just wings it. There's room for nuance in here, it's not ever a black or white thing, but the fandom sure likes to treat it as such.

Send me 🔥+topic for an unpopular opinion!

[vanmarkus]

I feel like I owe you my life for these gifsets which are nothing but bangers straight up 10/10 no notes just *chefs kiss*

aww you're too kind 🥹

tbh i'm just genuinely grateful that there are people of any number who can still appreciate scrubs 20 years on agdvsg and just anything i make really

thank you for being here <3

[zouisalmightie]

SHUT UP!???

lmao that’s what i said when i saw the pictures! he used to joke about it whenever we would watch a smtn either her in it but of course none of us believed it and then he pulled out the photo album and we all freaked out. ig my mom is a baddie cuz my dad married her instead of cree summers.

[iinryer]

HI KAITLIN I hope you have an amazing day today thank you again for blessing us with your art and talent you are the best ily MWAH ♥️

WAAAH HELLO MY LOVELY!! thank u so much wtf i WILL have an amazing day 🫶🫶🫶

[soleadita]

Okay. Babe. My mutual in closest proximity. Talk to me about Stargate Atlantis pls.

OHMYGOD. okay. okay. i accidentally wrote you an essay. i'm not sure how much of it is coherent. i love u thank u for sending me this it made my night. <3

disclaimer: i'm so new. many people know much more than i do. and i still have about a season and a half left; i've been watching with a bestie so i've been forced to pace myself more than i would otherwise.

plot/premise: SGA is a spinoff of a movie (Stargate) and another show (Stargate SG-1). i was told, repeatedly, to watch the others first, but i'm impatient...i was a little confused but i got the gist eventually. ANYWAY. it's like...the lost city of atlantis has been located, except it's in another galaxy, and a group of scientists and military fools are going there for an expedition to like...explore/learn things? they're kind of in space, but it doesn't feel like that too much—by my standards, at least, and i am a known hater of media that takes place entirely in space. there's a team, they're a family, they get into Situations...u know the drill.

why i, specifically, enjoy the show:

john sheppard. JOHN. SHEPPARD. babe, i have not been this down bad for a character since DEREK HALE. im NOT KIDDING. i wanted to say more about him but i don't feel qualified enough to have my own thoughts yet. (or at least, i still feel shy about saying them out loud on the internet. i can and will go on and on about him in private, though.)

i did go into this for john sheppard. i will fully admit that. (i had a few mutuals who'd put him on my dash every so often and i could just tell he was gonna do me in.) HOWEVER. i am falling in love with nearly every single character. the character development is genuinely some of the best i've seen, and the way the team gradually turns into family who have each others' backs no matter what?? I'M EATING IT UP. (here is a video of the team, i CANNOT talk about each of them individually, i'd be here all night.)

john and rodney's dynamic is DELICIOUS. they're both obnoxiously intelligent (and they're both obnoxious, but in different ways). they annoy each other. they delight in each other's presence. they're teammates. they're best friends. they keep each other alive they'd do anything for each other they know each other better than they know themselves. (AND I KNOW I'M ONLY SCRATCHING THE SURFACE OF IT MYSELF, BECAUSE I HAVEN'T EVEN FINISHED THE SHOW.......)(here is a video bc there's no way my words are gonna do it justice.)(also here are more words.)

the fic is SO good, too, and it's been especially fun bc the authors of a lot of my fav sterek fics had also written for sga back in the day, and getting to read stuff from them that i hadn't read yet....aughhhh. i love fandom.

the dialogue is hilarious, the situations are WILD (cannot tell you how many times i've been like WHO WAS IN THE WRITERS ROOM HOW DID THEY COME UP WITH THIS), and generally i'm just having such a great time.

in conclusion (bc i'm cutting myself off here), i'm never really sure whether i should recommend things to people or not bc my own tastes are basically just whatever happens to hit the unpredictable switch in my brain, but GENUINELY it's just SO FUN. i'm having the time of my life. i cannot shut up about it. <3

[freewayshark]

Random question hour <3

What's the one item you can't live without?

Hi! I have this blue hoodie that if anything were to happen to it I would simply have to burn down the world

[wolffnichols]

random question hour<3

What is one of your favorite lines from any movie?

omg hi k my beloved!!

I have soooo many favorites but one of the ones that just popped into my mind is from the Mummy where Evie sing-songs "Patience is a virtue" and Rick yells "Not right now it isn't!" akjsbdbdb it's such a silly line but my sister and I still quote it to this day 😂

tysm for the ask babe!

[cinematicnomad]

Happiest of birthdays!! Ur such a solid presence on the dash and I love hearing about what you do for work bc ur so so interesting. I hope the day was great <3

oh man this is so lovely!! thank you for the birthday wishes and the kind words!!

[imtheiliad]

Happy birthday aj!! I feel like you've had a lot of change and uncertainty this year but you are resilient and I truly hope this next year treats you kindly. I'm glad your birthday party was so fun!!

thank you k my dear <3 this year has been a lot of.....something.... but i am so glad that i have had the stability and love from everyone here, truly don't know what i would have done without it. even when it was hard to be here. <33333

[honestlydarkprincess]

Random question hour <3

If you could make the ultimate sandwich, what would be on it?

hello darling<3

excellent question, i think it would have to be ham and turkey with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, banana peppers, mayo and that chipotle sauce from subway! yum 😋

[mistchievous]

random question hour <3

What's the weirdest gift you've ever received?

Gahhhhh.

I don't have a fun answer to this, K! Everything I get is pretty normal. 🤔

Wait. I had an online friend once that I don't talk to much anymore ask for my address because he wanted to send me something. And it was a freaking Chewbacca mask that made Chewbacca noises. For the life of me, I can't remember why he sent me this. I'm not sure he had a reason tbh. He probably just thought it'd be funny.

I no longer have it, unfortunately. I accidentally donated it to Goodwill. 😔

But that's probably as weird as it gets. 😅

[piningbuddies]

Hi Rebecca! Glad ur research is going well. For sleepover asks....is there anything that surprised you about the position/research? And what's your favorite part?

hi k!!

oooh good question! one of the biggest surprises for me is how much of scientific research isn’t doing actual hands on science - for example, in my lab we have lab meeting 9-11 on a monday, journal club 9:30-10:30 on a friday morning, and every two weeks there’s a haem seminar 9-10:30. other than that i spend a lot of time reading papers, talking over protocols and doing training. don’t get me wrong - i do a lot of hands on stuff too, but it’s not the be all end all of my days!!

as for what i’m enjoying, i’d say developing confidence and independence - i’ve been here two weeks and i’m already so much more confident in cell culture. i’m teaching my supervisor a technique called barcoded phosphoflow this week that i learned in my last lab, and i’m really excited to see how she applies it to her research!!

sleepover weekend!

[leothil]

1, 6, 30 for the 9-1-1 asks MWAH

Thanks K! 💛💛💛 Mwah!

1. Favorite scene

In 5x16. The 118 walking towards the camera together while "Carry you" swells in the background. God, what a moment! And having the Eddie and Linda moment with "God has spoken" right after... TEARS!

6. Honest first impression of the show

Ok this is tricky because I knew it through fanfiction before I'd seen as much as a gif. So my first impression of the show is technically reading a fic @clusterbuck wrote, and, I mean. Evidently I liked that enough to keep reading other things she wrote, then read other fic she recommended, then get back onto tumblr and see gifs, and finally watch the show. So... intrigued?

I do have what might be my first publis reaction saved:

30. What do you wish you saw more of in fics?

That people adhered to the way the characters actually speak. Like I'm sorry, but neither Buck nor Eddie would ever use the words "fuck nasty."

On a more trope wishlist side, I adore fics that have one or several of the 118 be witches/wizards/magic wielders. It can be a delicate balance to handle, but when it's done well it's SO good!

9-1-1 themed asks! 🚒