#like chapter 2 I have written a long time ago and I genuinely don't really like it

[rawliverandcigarettes]

every time dan olson releases a billion hour long video about finance, I know I'll get some TEoP juice back in the machine

[seajelllies]

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝟏 ♡︎ What do you mean we had homework? masterlist ✎ roll call 1 ✎ roll call 2

"Took you long enough." You mused, not even bothering to look up at Yuji as he lets out an exasperated sigh, flopping into the chair across from you.

"That wasn't fair, I've never been here before, you should've been more specific." He almost whines, slumping over the table with a defeated frown.

"Mhm. Not my fault. You should've been around here months ago." You hum, before pushing the first few pages of your notes over to him, eyes still glued on the textbook you were highlighting. "Or you know, take your own notes for once."

Yuji happily slides the pages closer to him, yanking out his own notebook to start copying everything. It was clear by the goofy grin on his face that he was not processing any of the information he was writing out, simply just trying to get the information down so he can forget about it later.

"But then I won't have an excuse to see you!"

"Even if you didn't have an excuse, you'd find a way to bother me."

He smiles at that, and your lips curling up into a slight smile of your own was not lost on him. Not even 5 minutes go by before he sighs, leaning back in his chair, already over the notes. He barely copied anything down, and what he did copy looked so much like chicken scratch you'd be surprised if he could even understand it himself.

"I don't understand how you even know what you're reading about." He groans, head in his hands as he rubs his face with a tired sigh. "Nothing makes sense. If this wasn't required for my major I would've dropped this class immediately."

"It's not that hard to grasp, once you get used to the basics." You shrug, twirling your pen in between your fingers. "You just have to pay attention."

"Have you seen the professor? I don't think he's even paying attention. He sounds like he's already 6 feet under." Yuji scoffs, shaking his head with another heavy sigh. You could tell he was over this already.

"Professor Yoshinobu is like 76. Of course he's going to sound like that. He's still good at explaining the material-" You glance at Yuji and you can see him nearly zoning out, hardly listening. You frown, reaching forward to flick his forehead.

Yuji blinks out of his thoughts, and the moment you get his attention you snap lightly in his face. "Look, see, it's not really that hard.." And you end up spending the remainder of what should have been your self study time, going over the material from last weeks class. You were so engrossed in trying to explain things in simpler terms, you didn't even notice that he genuinely started paying attention, leaning forward to nod his head.

The two of you end up filling up his notebook with the notes you took, as well as his own personal notes in an attempt to dumb things down so he could process them easier later. And before you know it, you're getting kicked out for staying past the rental hour you originally placed.

𝑻𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚'𝒔 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔!

︾ you've been bamboozled, no Sukuna this chapter >:) sorry about that, i wanted to include something like Yuji talking to Sukuna or smthn but !! i figured it'd be easier if sukuna was just not there and then gets randomly barged in on by y/n and yuji tmw 🧍‍♀️

︾ anyways is it messy?? weird?? ooc?? sorry i haven't written in forever >: i've also never done a smau before, please don't look too closely at the time stamps on the messages and tweets i was too lazy to accurately adjusting them;; sobbing

︾ ANYWAYS SUKUNA NEXT CHAPTER I PINKY PROMISE!!! Mostly him & y/n anyways with bits of Yuji.

[shadowgast-recs-weekly]

Marriage/Engagement Shadowgast Recs

This week, we've got eleven fics that deal with marriages or engagements! Check them out behind the readmore, and as always, if you like them, don't forget to kudos or comment!

A fic that celebrates birthdays and traditions while slowly realising that Essek's path is entwined with Caleb's.

like coloured indigo inscribed with my name by KmacKatie (30648, Teen)

Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Reccer says: Rich Dynasty worldbuilding and wonderful character moments between Essek and the Nein, it really is about Essek learning what family is and how that family is Caleb.

Caleb and Essek end up in an arranged marriage, with each side having their own goals and secrets

A Tapestry of Stars by Cinderstorm (95903, Explicit)

Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn, Referenced past abuse, WIP

Reccer says: A sci-fi arranged marriage AU with spies, suspicion, political intrigue, and some genuine affection in the mix - there's a lot to love!

It's about the wizards building a life together and having important conversations and having hot sex.

the endless string of summer storms that led me to today; began one afternoon with you, long ago and far away by MarsBar2019 (22801, Explicit)

Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Reccer says: It is a great balance of domestic wholesome fluff and hot sex. The wizards deal with the realistic and difficult questions of building a life with the person you love in beautiful ways together. From home buying, to discussions of having children and getting married. All the grownup relationship topics + kinky sex.

Caleb's plan is to leave when he starts getting old. Essek has a different plan.

One day, Liebling, we'll be old by The_Rogue_Bard (4877, Teen)

Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Reccer says: I can't say everything I like without spoilers, but I can say this. I like the seeing what the Nein are like 20-30+ years in the future. I like how sweet and romantic Essek is.

Caleb and Essek are happy and in love, and decide to take the next step. The customs of the Empire and Dynasty are rather different, however, and what is a wizard meant to do except research how to propose to his partner, with some help from friends along the way?

of blossoming hearts and glittering souls by quinn_of_aebradore (77995, Teen)

Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Reccer says: This is a beautifully written fic with so much character! There are lots of soft moments between each of the characters, and the last chapter DID have me tearing up.

Caleb and Essek visit Una and Leofric's graves. Essek asks their permission to marry their son.

Permission to Send by Nienna19 (1107, General)

Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Reccer says: It is so sweet and romantic. I like that Essek is the one to propose and I liike how he does it.

2 weddings, 1 fic. A private ceremony with family. A public ceremony with even more family.

All this time love, I sublime love, to the feelings in my mind by onyxshinigami (17041, Mature)

Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Reccer says: Soft vibes. Warmth and Happiness. A found family. A touch of fashion for visual interest.

Caleb proposes to Essek after suggesting he take his surname.

Hold you in my hands like hot tea by Technojuicebox (970, Teen)

Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Reccer says: Cute and fluffy wizards in love!

Caleb and Essek have a normal conversation (that ends with a proposal)

A Perfectly Ordinary Conversation by Northofthewall (317, Teen)

Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Reccer says: It is short, sweet, cute and funny.

After Essek is injured and comes to Caleb for help, Caleb proposes a certain solution.

and then two recs each for these last two:

stars align (hearts beat in time) by flashhwing (2823, Teen)

Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Reccer 1 says: I liked it! Reccer 2 says: Very cute, very sweet glimpse into a possible future for the wizards!

Five times Caleb and Essek get married to other people and the one time they get married to each other, kinda.

I Do, Five Times Over, I Do by TormentaPrudii (Illustrated by Cha Cha Rae) (2450, Teen)

Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Reccer 1 says: I love the pining, the misunderstandings, the cultural differences, the art. There is so much here to love. Reccer 2 says: It's a beautiful fic full of longing and love.

Aeor is for Lovers is an 18+ Shadowgast Discord server. The above fanfic recommendations were pulled from our community for this weekly event. All fics, unless otherwise specified, will primarily feature Shadowgast.

Have any questions about what this is? Check out the FAQ! Next week, we'll be back with some Near Death Dangers!

[crimetimesteadicam]

ok @morporkian-cryptid tagged me to do this fic author interview so here we go...

if you would like to do this, i am officially tagging you, yes you, right now. tag me back so i can see your answers

1 How many works do you have on AO3?

i got 40

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

1,044,749

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

sorry like none of these are lupin iii. a blight on my lupin iii blog

Wabisabi (991 kudos) - Spirited Away. idk it's short and cute, read it

BONES OF BLACK MARROW (952 kudos) - Homestuck. the infamous cyoa cannibalism sex fic. scrolling through the things people say about it in the bookmarks is always so funny

Cum mortuis in lingua mortua (925 kudos) - Homestuck. no clue why it has so many kudos lol it was like the first long thing i've ever wrote (a whole decade ago??? jesus). it's a d&d/discworld joke

Vanitas vanitatum (914 kudos) - Homestuck. the same d&d/discworld joke except the LI is turbo depressed. notable for being the only fic i ever outlined and edited and that's why it whips

Supermassive Retinol Overdose! (677 kudos) - hey look, a lupin fic made it on here!

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

i do when i have something meaningful to say besides "thank you!" i don't have a lot of thoughts about my own work so therefore i tend to not respond if there's not a direct question :( my head is empty. i always respond to every single comment on the last chapter of longfics though because i'm always impressed people read that far lol. genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading all that

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

idk uhhhh i wrote a series once where two of the main couples break up at the end, but it wasn't really angsty

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

they all end pretty happily

7. Do you write crossovers?

if i did it was so long ago i don't remember it

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

no but people used to send passive aggressive hate about my art in fics once in a while. hasn't happened in like 2+ years

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

yes. every kind. EVERY KIND

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

a bot will sometimes scrape my high kudos homestuck fics and plant them on a junk ebook site

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

yeah i think like 7 of them got translated into russian and do numbers on ficbook.net

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

in the past me and my friend would sit around a laptop and scream laugh write our way through crack fics

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

right now it's jiglup and fujilup

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

i finish almost all my WIPs because i'm a freak. if i don't finish a WIP it's because some dramatic life event happened. this has only occurred two times

15. What are your writing strengths?

im a funny binch

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

i don't outline or edit or re-read any of my fanfic. i just type it and then eyeball it for typos and then post it. i COULD outline and such to really make the narrative nice and tight, but i don't find it very fun to do (for fanfic) and this is like, my relaxing wind down hobby. i just wanna have fun haha. the only reason my fics like, make sense, is because i write at least one ending scene first thing and always aim for that, and also i write out of order so i kinda know the route of the story

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

it's fine if it makes sense to do it there as a narrative device

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

h-hetalia crack fic.....

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

once i figure out how to draw zenigata it's over for you bitches. luzeni hours on da clock

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

for lupin iii fic, i like Lightkeepers the best

[osarina]

hi carina !! havent been in ur inbox for a while, hru :)) i hope ur well >^< !!

i'm mainly here to ask if u have any writing tips/advice bc ur lit one of my fave bsd writers ever i adore all ur works sm and recently i've hated everything im writing ajkrnjekncvej SO IM WONDERING IF U HAVE ANY ADVICE CEJFCNJ (hopefully this isnt strange eabfihri)

you dont hafta answer this is u dont wanna btw !!! have a great day mwah <333

REDDDDDD MY SWEET LOVE BUG i've been doing okay!! work hasn't been as awful as i expected it to be, i rlly got lucky with my boss HAHAH - how are you doing?? you had exams right?? i hope they all went well!! sorry it took me so long to answer this one, but i wanted to actually be able to give u a good response so it had to wait until i had time i fear

IT'S NOT STRANGE, ur so sweet im giving u the softest forehead smooch. i'm sorry to hear you've been feeling that way about your writing though - i get it, trust me i do LOL, i go through days and weeks where i literally am revulsed by every word i put down in a doc. actually, i just went thru it like 2 days ago while writing the first chapter of civilian dazai so it's all fresh in the head LOL

honestly, i think the most important tip i have is really basic but u should never force yourself to write just for the sake of getting something out. like, i've done it before and whenever i do, i'm soooo unhappy with the results that it usually makes me go through a huge writing slump -> this happened with uu6 actually, i was so busy but i was trying to force the chapter out on time that i ended up rewriting it like 3 times because i hated it so much. finally i decided to move on to write some pmzai drabbles to clear my head & then came back to uu6 when i started feeling it again and behold, it came with ease. sometimes when i want to write but none of my wips are doing it for me, i'll literally conjure up a huge list of tropes and just read through it until one pops out to me LOL and then ill work on that

another i think basic piece of advice is reading. whether its fanfics, or novels, or whatever. whenever i have trouble liking what i write, i find something to read. reading is actually how i taught myself to write HAHAH my go tos are fantasy/scifi- tolkein, martin, herbert, rf kuang, i've been meaning to read sanderson but haven't had the time yet. honestly, in general, if i have free time and i'm not writing something, 9/10 i'm reading something.

i think plotting is also really important!! even for like one-shots, sometimes i get so lost in the writing that i lose focus of what the fic was originally supposed to be about and that frustrates me into deleting everything i've written. so something i do is i list out all of the scenes i want to see in a chapter or a one-shot before i start writing it so that i don't lose focus.

dialogue is a huge hurdle for me - sometimes i struggle to figure out whether or not my dialogue is realistic, so LOL sometimes i just sit there and speak it out loud, acting out a conversation with myself to see if it flows properly and then adjust accordingly. sometimes i do it for like descriptions/narration too if i think the narration isn't flowing or is too clunky. reading things out loud is a go-to way for me to figure out what's wrong with my writing.

and then lastly, this is more of a mental thing than anything else, but i've just slowly had to teach myself not to be too hard on myself. like i'll get so mad if something doesn't come out exactly how i envisioned it, and it used to genuinely make me so disappointed that i couldn't bring myself to write for days. so i've just slowly been working myself into a mentality telling myself that it doesn't have to be perfect to be great, yknow. and ten times out ten, you're seeing faults in your writing that no one else will take notice of.

so the whole tldr:

only write what you WANT to write, dont force urself to finish/write something

read when you can, whether its fanfic or novels or whatever u can get ur hands on

plot things out so you don't get lost

read things out loud that aren't making sense

work on not being so hard on yourself

[fieldsofview]

20 Questions (for fanfic writers)

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

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

17 :)

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

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

3. what fandoms do you write for?

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

4. top five fics by kudos:

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

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

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

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

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

5. do you respond to comments?

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

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

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

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

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

8. do you get hate on fics?

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

9. do you write smut?

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

10. craziest crossover:

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

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

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

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

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

14. all time favorite ship?

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

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

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

16. what are your writing strengths?

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

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

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

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

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language?

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

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

19. first fandom you wrote in?

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

20. favorite fic you've written?

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

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

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

Thanks for tagging me, Sarah!

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

[meercacchi]

Tag game! What are you top 10 fandoms of all time? Name them and then tag ten more people. Feel free to write as much or as little about why you like them!

Tagged by @supreme-sauteer~ These are in no particular order and I ended rambling a lil too long LOL.

1. Kuroko no Basuke

Jk, ofc knb has to be first! It's been almost 10 years since I got into it and it's just the gift that keeps on giving. It's one of my comfort shows and it's gotten me through a lot tbh. Special shoutout to Kise, my baby who will forever be one of my favorite characters in media, and Kasamatsu, who I love with my entire being. Kaijou deserves better!!

2. Pokemon

My original hyperfixation before I even knew what that was, LOL. Pokemon has been there for me for as long as I can remember, and I don't think anything will ever quite replicate the feeling of home I get from this franchise, whether it's the games or merch or the show. I will def be there when gen 5028373 comes out, still playing the newest Pokemon game on the newest console no matter how old I am.

3. Xenoblade Chronicles

A newer fandom but one I fell into HARD. XC3 actually altered my brain chemistry and is probably my favorite game ever. My journey through the Xenoblade trilogy was magical and I can't get over how well the characters and stories are written, on top of having pretty fun gameplay. I'm super excited to finally check out XCX in March too!

4. TMNT 2003

Another childhood fave and another comfort show. These boys genuinely feel like family to me, they're just so cozy. I'm honestly shocked how well the show holds up even today; the writing is too good! It's criminal how slept on this version of the turtles is compared to others and I will die on this hill.

5. Akatsuki no Yona

The other day I realized I've been reading this manga for ten years which really made me have a belated quarter life crisis LOL. I migrated over from the anime, but man, it's SO SAD that they haven't animated the arcs after bc I love Yona (and everyone else's) growth through the series. I'm really anticipating how the series ends! Last chapter ripped out my heart thx.

6. Love Live!

I haven't kept up with Love Live and I was introduced to it through LLSIF (RIP) but I still listen to so many of the Muse/Aqours songs to this day! Kotori is incredibly special to me in particular bc I relate to her and I'll always smile when I see her pop up. Also I sometimes use the cards for fashion inspo bc their fits are too cute!

7. Rurouni Kenshin

I haven't felt comfortable following new RuroKen stuff considering everything, and tbh I don't think I'll ever be able to even reread/rewatch it bc it's forever tainted in my mind. But I can't deny how big of an impact it (esp Sano) had on me in my early teens, so here it is!

8. Sengoku BASARA

Tbh I'm not really in the fandom anymore, but I met SO MANY of my mutuals who I'm still friends with today through it, so it'll always hold a special place in my heart <3 Those were some wild and fun times LMAO.

9. Ys

Still making my way through all the older Ys games, but Ys 8 will forever be a legendary game imo and it has one of my fave OSTs of all time. Ys 9 and esp Ys 10 were also awesome! I finished Ys 10 a couple weeks ago and I'm still having withdrawals lol.

10. EXO

Alright this one is kinda eh bc I never got super into fandom stuff, but it's been such a crazy ride watching them from debut to now! Jongin esp is one of my favorite humans on the planet and as cheesy as it is, his words helped me tackle some of my insecurities growing up. I'll always be an erigom and an EXO-L <3

[mothmage]

20 Qs for fic writers

Tagged by @monstersinthecosmos , thank you!!!

1. How many works do you have on A03? 31 (and a few anon, i think 2 or 3. idk, when i post a fic on anon i forget about it forever)

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 446,135

3. What fandoms do you write for? currently/primarily vc, iwtv (amc), star wars, and merlin (bbc)!

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? A Lovely Little Normal Life (which, honestly, kind of annoys me lol. i know it's just bc it's a huge fandom, but really? the stupid little 12k harry potter fic i wrote in two days is my most kudos? please...); Arthur Pendragon, Long May She Reign (forever pushing my lesbian genderswap agenda); The Face of God (les mis slightly canon divergent javert character study); The Odyssey of Recollection (amc iwtv s1 pov armand); Away From Stranger Tides (potc philip/syrena fic i started ages ago and never finished, lol)

5. Do you respond to comments? yes i love talking to people in comments!!!! i've made a lot of friends through comments!!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? omg. umm. merthur fans don't know this yet bc i havent finished posting but it's arthur pendragon long may she reign (BUT it's part of a series, so it's literally fine). idk, i dont tend to write long fics that end angsty. but my angstiest fic in general is probably Hollow-Boned Boy (armand contemplating his human life in the early CoD era) or Vision of the Damned (daniel's turning from armand's pov)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? i love a happy ending!! my series Odysseus in White Silk is probably the happiest ending, and in such an undeserved way hahaha it's so very AU because i was sad after s1 of the show and just wanted them all (and armandaniel) to live happily ever after

8. Do you get hate on fics? i dont think i ever have, but i tend to read comments in good faith too, so maybe someone out there is annoyed that i interpreted their vague dislike comment as a genuine comment or something, idk. in general though, i'll say no

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? yes but i dont post that often, idk if there's a particular kind, but generally it tends to be a little rougher than is probably appropriate without discussion in real-life situations, but also very...idk my friend described it as very tender, like theyre very clearly in love. which is so funny considering that that kind of tenderness irl gives me fucking hives lmfao

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? oh wow, not in a long time. i do have a wip sitting around rn that's a crossover between london spy and cloud atlas, which is really crazy until you remember that ben whishaw is in both london spy and the cloud atlas movie lol. and cloud atlas is already about weird reincarnations and parallel worlds and stuff, so it isnt too out-there.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? i dont think so!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? yes!! The Face of God was translated into Korean by ao3 user Crescent919 !! i've had a few comments on other fics asking to translate for personal use (always yes, of course), but no one else has asked to share a translation publicly

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? no!! i've been thinking about it lately though

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? all-time? probably merlin/arthur from merlin (bbc). it's the whole fate-destiny-choice thing, it just compels me like nothing else

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? hmmm, i would like to finish Roswell -- well, kinda (agent carter farm girl / alien crash landing au) because i still have all the original notes and outlines and stuff. i also made a shitty conlang when i was first writing it, which is crazy lol. but it would need some pretty serious revisions, and i would definitely rewrite the first few chapters that i posted years ago. i just kind of lost the agent carter bug, but i might return to that fic if i ever get in the mood for it again.

16. What are your writing strengths? ooh, i'm not really sure! i get a lot of comments mentioning characters' voices and/or personalities, so i would say maybe that!!! i also feel that i'm fairly good at mimicking an author's writing style when i want to (notably, i do not mimic anne rice when writing vc fic, lol)

17. What are your writing weaknesses? editing for sure. i have at least a hundred fics sitting on my hard drive fully or almost-fully written that i just need to edit. but i would simply rather die than do all of that. it's also why my whole merlin fic got put on pause while i went down the vc rabbithole, because i just can't bring myself to go edit the next chapters lol

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? hmm, i think it's usually unnecessary and comes off as a bit silly. that said, i did do it once (maybe excessively) in Daniel Molloy, Time Bandit (1984 daniel ends up in 1794 theatre des vampires, it's more of a character study than a time travel fic) BUT, let me defend myself -- i did it because daniel doesnt understand french, it's his pov, and he's incredibly confused and distraught for most of the fic. i felt like the dialogue being in french conveyed this sort of "daniel does not belong in this time/place" vibes. but, also, my french is...a little rough. so i'm sure it's an annoying fic for french readers lmao

19. First fandom you wrote for? warriors cats, a million years ago hahahah

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? ok, i have three different answers for this. the fic i think is the best, objectively, in terms of writing and content: The Story of Dani [...] (r63 devil's minion from armand's pov, starting with lestat's house). the fic i am the proudest of, mostly because it was my first "big" fic (it's funny now, bc it's only 41k) and i feel like i grew a lot as a writer while working on it, and i'm still happy with it: The Face of God (les mis pov javert, character study from childhood). the fic i have the most fun with and think about almost 24/7: Arthur Pendragon, Long May She Reign (r63 merthur, canon divergence, this is like a 4-part series that's currently over 300k lmao)

no-pressure tagging: @aunteat @leslutdepointedulac @butchybats @graygiantess and anyone else who wants to!!

[picnokinesis]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Got tagged by the fantastic @wykart ahh thank you for the tag!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

32, most of which are Doctor Who!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

859,228!! (but it's gonna keep climbing until I finish posting part 6 of campervan sksk)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Pretty much just Doctor Who right now, but I have posted fics for Stargate Universe, Marvel and The Greatest Showman. And then I have written for other fandoms - most notably Venom, which I never posted anything for but I did get 40k into a multichapter one time.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

In this order: Liminality, Tropospheric Disturbance, campervan part 1, watchfires and Renegades in the Ring (my TGS fic that I never finished, rip in pieces)

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

I always try and respond to comments!! Mostly because I love talking about my fics and also don't know when to shut up hahaha - but I also have some absolutely fantastic commenters who have such interesting things to say! And also like, idk I really appreciate people taking the time to comment, so I reckon it's polite to say thank you at least. The only time I don't reply to comments, mostly, is if it's a REALLY long comment and I just don't have the energy rip (but when that happens I definitely read and cherish the comment dearly haha)

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

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh. MOST OF THEM RIP. I'm genuinely not sure because I always try and end my fics on a vaguely uplifting note. Maybe Campervan Part 4, simply because of all the uni-era angst? But tbh the ending of Part 6 is definitely a contender, now I think about it. Canon-fic wise, though.......hmm I think it's got to be notches in your spine, since that ends with the Doctor just straight up leaving the Master without warning sksksk

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

Hm. I think I'm gonna go with In the Wind for this one, which is hilarious since I wrote it THREE YEARS AGO, but it's a multi-chapter mid-series adventure that rounds itself off in a satisfying way, with everything being resolved nicely, so I think that's a decent contender!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Hm, no, other than people complaining about the show in an attempt to compliment my writing, but that's stopped for the most part since I got annoyed about it in my author's notes one time ksksks. I did get a weird comment recently that started out very complimentary but then turned really weird in a pretty upsetting way (and, frankly, it would have been very triggering if that sort of topic had been something that was something that affected me a lot? Luckily it wasn't, but the commenter did NOT know that). So I just deleted the comment because I didn't want that sort of thing in my comment section, especially when I know other readers comment lurk.

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

No I'm sex-repulsed lol

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

I wrote a crossover that was The Greatest Showman crossed with the X-Men Comics one time SKSKSKSKSK (and it was specifically the comics not the films, I did so much research on historical terminology for mutants HAHA) which was actually SO much fun - I never finished it, but I do think back on it very fondly. But I'd class that as more of an 'x-men au' rather than a crossover tbh, bc it was wholly focused on the TGS characters.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't believe so

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

Yes! We never finished it LOL

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

Currently spydoc, but this will probably change. I have a MASSIVE soft spot for rush/young from sgu, clintasha from the MCU, newt/hermann from PacRim, and symbrock from Venom.

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

Hmmmm there's a bunch, but probably The Grandfather Paradox? I genuinely love that one so much. But who knows, maybe one day. I feel like it would make a great pitch for a Big Finish audio sksk. Oh, and Deathless will probably never happen. I'm not going to put Trestle on this list because I am SO DETERMINED to finish it some day HAHAH. Oh - and I don't think I'll ever finished Trouble With Entropy, which was my unfinished Venom fic, or Renegades (aforementioned TGS fic) even though I love them a lot, it's just....very unlikely at this point rip.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Going off what other people have said to me, I'm good at creative immersive worlds! Which is mostly because I really want my stories to feel 'lived in', so to speak, and broader than what you actually see in the immediate plot. I think I'm also pretty good at pacing, and also writing narrative prose with a character voice! The latter one I definitely pushed myself with when writing part 6 of campervan, as well as my recent doctormaster oneshot, where I had to weave together both the doctor AND the master's characterisation into one seamless pov

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I definitely worry too much about making sure the reader DEFINITELY gets what I'm trying to say, and so sometimes I'm repetitive and I hammer things home a bit that can be more subtle. I also think that sometimes I can be a bit repetitive in my longer fics where I know a gap needs to be filled but I'm not sure with what sksksks. There are other things too. I definitely struggle writing shorter things and getting to the point and TRUSTING that the reader will come with me. I often feel this urge to make sure all the steps are there for the reader to follow where I want them to go.

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

Oooh so I actually did this in campervan part 5 with Gabriela and Jamila speaking a bit of Portuguese! And I think there's like, obviously nuance to it, but when I had the pov characters who understood portuguese (namely Jamila in the prologue), I had the dialogue in portuguese, but the translation in the prose, either literally just next to the dialogue or explained in the narration by Jamila. But then in later chapters, when Yaz is trying to talk to Gabriela, because Gabriela is upset she's occasionally saying things in Portuguese....but Yaz doesn't understand them. So they don't get translated. And so I think that works for the story in that context, bc what Gabriela actually SAYS is less important and it's more showing the emotion of it. Another case I can think of was in Force Over Distance by cleanwhiteroom who wrote a LOT of ancient into the fic (which is basically latin) and when it was on ao3 there was this sort of 'hover to translate' thing which worked REALLY WELL, bc the translation was there but it didn't disrupt the flow of the fic.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Okay so I wanna know what counts here - if it's like, the first fic i POSTED, then that's Marvel (specifically the Avengers). If it's the first fic I wrote when I actually understood what 'fandom' was, then...I think that was also Avengers....or maybe BBC Sherlock. If it's the first thing I actually WROTE DOWN properly, then it was Doctor Who (specifically Ten and Rose and my oc companion sksk). If it was the first thing I played with creatively for media that wasn't my own...then that was probably me coming up with elaborate ocs out of two unicorns on the credits for the My Little Pony vhs tape we had SKSKSKSK SO. I don't know. One or all of those.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Oh this is hard because I'm proud of a lot of what I've written. My gut reaction at the moment is actually Trestle, even though it's unfinished and no one has read it HAHAH but I'm just so proud of some of the writing in that so far. And I'm extremely proud of Campervan AU as a whole entity. However I do really really love see me bare my teeth for you - which I actually forget about a LOT because it's not one of my thoschei fics sksksk. But I'm super proud of how that one turned out. And then also and they did live by watchfires because that one just has such a special place in my heart.

THANKS FOR THE TAG LIV!!! I'm gonna tag hmmmmmmm @sunshinedaysforever @taardisblue @novantinuum @emptyofdust @strikingtwelves @walker-lister aaaaah basically anyone else that wants to do this! :D

[everythingsinred]

For the writers ask: 2, 3, 4, 17

thank u for asking <3 <3 <3

2) What is your favorite fic of yours? i hope this isn't too much of a cop-out answer but my favorite fic is always the one i'm working on. a lot of love goes into each one and if i'm not fully enthralled in a story i'm writing i might as well not write it at all, imo. i'm particularly proud of atrad right now, because it took a long time, as well as lots of research and i really wanted it to be well-written. but rn, even though i'm on pause for a bit, subjectives is my fav bc it's the one i'm working on now.

3) What fic of yours do you think is underrated? it's hard to say when it comes to the ga fandom bc there's usually not as many readers at all, but i must say lack of interaction is what caused me to put not what we should be on the backburner for a few years. i fully intend to write all of it some day, but it is hard to get motivated when it's also a fic i've received negative comments on ;-;

(w the fandom that won't be named, i really liked writing trust, but it was seemingly less interesting to others so i abandoned it. rest in peace...)

4) What fic of yours were you surprised by how popular it was? i am always shocked when any of my fics get attention! my first ga fics in the internship universe on ffn got a lil bit of attention and i was genuinely surprised! but my g*th*am fic play dead getting as much attention as it did really shocked me, especially bc i was on twitter back then and i had plenty of mutuals who would "live tweet" reading whenever a new chapter came out, and it honestly felt so touching... the higher u fly, the more u have to fall and all that.

when it comes to ga, i had surrendered to having no attention especially more recently, but i think atrad got a decent amount of attention for how small the fandom is! and lots of ppl would comment and give me their thoughts which meant a lot too, and which i wasn't fully expecting!

17) Do you have any wips that you can tell us about? What are you most excited for in you wip?

obviously, i still have nwwsb, which someone asked abt recently! i'm very happy there's ppl out there who are interested in seeing it continue bc i am too <3 i'm thinking after subjectives, i'll probably continue nwwsb for a while (tho i had planned on it being rly long so i might get distracted by another project eventually before finishing it lmao)

i also wrote ~7 chapters of a zombie au a few years ago that i enjoyed but never posted bc pretty much all i saw on tumblr back then were ppl hating on zombie aus. i think i'd have to rewrite what i have though if i were to post it, which is why i'm not as excited about that project. i don't like restarting lol

and i also have a restaurant au i like, but it would likely not be quite as long as my other fics <3

and what i'm most excited abt is just sharing more fics for people to enjoy! i love writing natsumikan fanfic and giving as much as i can to this fandom and tho it seems to be in a constant state of shrinking, i won't let myself get too discouraged! thank u to all who read and enjoy my fics <3 i very much appreciate it!

send me a fic writing ask if you would like!

[1d1195]

sam you are the sweetest person in the world actually, thank you so much🫶

STEAL MY GIRL MUSIC VIDEO IS SUCH A NICHE THING I FEEL LIKE ITS ALMOST AN INSIDE JOKE it’s sooooo funny every time i watch it i’m just laughing SO REAL WITH LOUIS AND THE CHIMP i remember watching it for the first time and seeing harry in the fucking trench coat and genuinely getting worried like “hmmm it’s too hot for that, hope he’s okay😕” BABHSHAHAHAHAHA zayn and the sumo wrestlers ALWAYS gets me

IM ACTUALLY LAUGHING SOOOO HARD AT THE "SAMANTHA -🎶" YOU GET ME😭😭 i think i read all dolcezza like the same week you posted the last part, and it’s a good thing i did cause ooooo girl….😮‍💨😮‍💨you woulda drove me crazy

I THINK I SAID THIS ONCE BUT IM NOT SURE AND IF I DID IT WAS A LONG TIME AGO BUTTTT THE SERIES THAT BROUGHT ME TO YOUR PAGE WAS ACTUALLY MADE TO BE🥹🥹🥹🥹 and i came from PART 1 !!!!! (ironic considering my aversion to waiting lol) i tuned in every week to read the new part and back then you were updating on sundays and i stg i would get soooo giddy (i was in SHAMBLESSS between chapters having to wait a week😭) and yea…after that series ive been stuck here like a leech LMAO

on the topic of waiting on chapters i started traditional like right after you’d posted the second to last chapter and O.M.G. AHAHAHAH ITS SO FUNNY LOOKING BACK BUT I WAS ACTUALLY GLUEDDD TO MY PHONE👀👀 WAITING FOR THE NEXT PART CAUSE THEY HAD GOT IN THAT FIGHT AND I WAS SOOO HOOKED and then i woke up one morning and it was out, guess how i spent my breakfast & coffee time😭

i’m just rambling at this point BUT YES !!! YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW APPRECIATED YOU ARE !!! i remember back then i wasn’t doing the best and lots of things were changing but i always looked forward to reading the newest chapter. i read in one of your recent asks about how you decide what you write based on engagement (which makes total sense) but you feel like you get a lot of non-interacting readers. this is true and it really sucks but i guess it’s the reality of posting on a website like this. however, i will gladly take the time to say what they won’t and AHHHH SAM YOURE AN AMAZING WRITER I LOVE YOU THANK YOU FOR FEEDING US YOU MATTER SOOOO MUCH MORE THAN YOU KNOW 💕💕💕💕💘💘💘💘💘💝💝💝💝💝💖💖💖💖💖💖💗💗💗💗💗💗

i cried while finished “Love & Other Words” 😪omg i didn’t see that coming but it was SOOOO. GOOD. like….i sat and stared at the book with a small smile after i finished it kind of good. i will DEF been rereading that I LOVE THEM😭😭 THAT SCENE WHERE HE SAID “I’ll take anything you give me. Is that pathetic?” I SCREAMED they’re so precious and i looooveddd the way it was written!!! i just sped through it and i love when books feel like that

it has also been storming here, like so bad the electricity went out a few weeks ago and if u go out when it’s sunny you will melt. not a fan of summer right now🙄 SO happy to hear you’re feeling more relaxed, hopefully that stays till at least the end of summer. pasta is yummy !! i like my pasta dishes w a lotttttaaaa cheese :)) ive been boring too, dw. just a lotta reading on my end cause i am notttt in the mood to talk to anyone lately, vry antisocial (i also started my period last night ??? maybe that why lmfao😭)

sorry for this behemoth of an ask, thank you for chatting HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY LOVE YOU <33333333

~🎶

I DREAM about Harry in that trench coat. A fashion icon. I love him so much in that (and everything). I totally forgot all about the sumo wrestler piece of it I was so focused on the chimp and Louis. Louis' smile in that is my FAVORITE thing in the world. It was SO pure.

hehehehehe well, I'm happy to report that Part II of Most will be up tomorrow afternoon. She's longer than I thought I could do but here we are. After writing it, I think Part 1 and Part 2 would be a good read. I don't think it will drive you crazy the way Dolcezza would have drove you crazy.

OMG. I apologize if you DID say it, but I feel like this is new information to me. I'm so so sorry if I forgot. BUT STILL. I haven't thought about Made to Be in a REALLY long time 😭 I loved it for so long after I finished writing it. It was a huge part of my life. You've been here for a while, that's so cute and nice to hear 💕 I'm so glad you liked it

You are so so sweet. I am so grateful for you compliments.

IS THAT PATHETIC made me want to SCREAM too. I love Elliot so goddamn much I could CRY. He is my ideal man. My new story is Love & Other Words coded for sure 🙈 I didn't mean for it to happen but then I think I told you I got it back from letting my sister borrow it and I couldn't stop rereading the whole "I'm pathetic part" like OMG I'm 😭😭 so distraught about it STILL. Everything about that book is perfect.

I am summer's least favorite fan. The heat makes me so sticky and gross feeling. Also, I don't look good in summer clothes (or I feel gross about myself, whatever) ANYWAY. I love a good antisocial mood tbh. I feel so obligated to be on and around everyone all the time. And what's worse is I let myself be available. I JUST started getting better at not checking my work email outside of work hours. My sister and mom need me LITERALLY all the time. My bf and I are home at the same time so I just never get a MINUTE to myself. I have to like hide in my own apartment to get any alone time. So yeah. I can't get my brain to shut off lately to read but I've been doing some hard work on the writing here so I'm hoping that will help--also been doing a GREAT job binging TV. I think I just want to keep reading romance stuff and not all the like "interesting" books I've bought and haven't read 😭 It's the only way I'm going to get through this bookshelf of mine 😂

I love the chatting and the long asks so no need to apologize or thank me. I hope you have a fantastic Monday! LOVE YOU SO MUCH 💕

xoxo

[hero-deserves-to-be-happy]

aaa that snippet makes me so excited for the next part of when sun shines!! been absolutely loving the series so far and am eager to see hero and zoey meet proper!! :o

Awww thank you so much for sending in this ask, Anon! 💙 It made my whole day, and I know I speak for both Sprinkles & myself when I say that it really means so much to both of us to hear that you’re so invested in “When Sun Shines Again” and excited for the next part! It’s so flattering and encouraging to hear that other people are interested in our work, especially a story that is so dear to us.

To be honest, I’ve been struggling a lot with the next chapter (which is now so long it’ll (probably) have to be 2 chapters 😅) thus why there has been such a delay. I was sharing some of my frustrations with Sprinkles the other day and groaning (somewhat jokingly) “Is anyone even going to care if this ever, actually gets written?” (lol) 😅 So needless to say I really needed to hear this, Anon! Thank you so much for sharing how much you’ve been enjoying this series and how excited you are for the story to continue.

I'm going to include some unsolicited ramblings about the origins of "When Sun Shines Again" and a little bit about why it's so humbling and flattering to hear that you're so interested and invested in it (apologies in advance for even more ramblings from me!), but I've put it under the cut (since I've rambled enough already and it get into some OMORI spoilers 😅).

To wrap up here, however, thank you so much again for such a kind ask and your encouragement! I'm extra determined to wrap up these chapters for you, Anon! 🥺 Please don't ever be shy about reaching out to us, especially if you want to talk about "When Sun Shines Again." ⛅ Cheers & much love to you! 💙

"When Sun Shines Again" is such niche project and, in a lot of ways, an unexpected one given how much everyone (Sprinkles and myself included) absolutely love HeroMari and desperately wish they could have gotten their happy ending. Sprinkles' often makes the joke that "Of course, I want Hero to be happy and move on & love again if that's what he wants. I just don't want to know about it" (lol 😅😂). In that way, it honestly shocks me sometimes to learn that anyone is actually interested in this project. I certainly wouldn't blame anyone for not having it as their cup of tea, and genuinely thought "no one is going to read this" when I started posting it, so it has been such a flattering and encouraging experience to hear that people are interested and even invested in exploring this and considering what Hero's life after Mari might look like.

As much as I can get absolutely squealy over Mari Lives AUs where Hero and Mari get to live happily ever after together, at the end of the day, I feel like they don't comfort me, personally, because I know that the reality is that Hero has to learn to live in a world without her. And after spending several weeks listening to sad love songs and crying about HeroMari in my backyard after finishing the game (almost a year ago), I remember just genuinely thinking “Is Hero going to be okay?” and really trying to ponder what that would be like and what his future would look like.

I remember the first time I asked Sprinkles, “Do you think Hero is ever going to love again?” and she said, “No.”

I said, “Well what if he did?” And we kind of had this discussion about how neither of us had any ideas about what that would even be like. But I was feeling determined so I remember saying to her "I'm going to figure this out and get back to you."

I took that very seriously and did a lot of research and pondering and eventually came to the conclusion that Hero didn't have to be "ready" to put himself out there and actively pursue a relationship with just anybody (i.e. go a bunch of blind dates or try online dating or something like that), but he could eventually be ready to love a particular person. It's not so much that he's ready to love again in the general sense, but more that he's ready to love that person (in this case, to love Zoey specifically). And even that was going to take an extremely long time.

Using this as a jumping off place, I had this idea of what if Hero had this extremely slow burn with a friend of his from college who is spunky, smart, a little snarky, and really focused on her ambitions and her career (so she isn't just waiting around for a decade for him to be ready to date her). She's confident in herself and isn't threatened or insecure about Hero's love for Mari, rather she is actually very sensitive to his pain and his grief. She's intuitive enough to know that he's lonely and is kind enough to encourage him that he can open up to her and can share these things that are incredibly difficult for him to talk about. (And she was always a redhead in my mind too but that's not that important).

I named her "Zoey" because it means "Life" from the word ζω meaning "to live" (thank you high school level Greek class) which is what I wanted so desperately for Hero. I wanted him to live and to have a life even after everything that he's been through. That life doesn't have to include moving on, loving again, and settling down, but if it did that's what Zoey represents. (Though, to be fair, I did ask Sprinkles' if the name was a little too on the nose 😂).

After I had this vague vision, I took this very barebones idea back to Sprinkles and she encouraged me that I should write this story. I told her, "I don't think anyone will read it" 😅 But she said she would, so I decided to write it for her and for myself. That said, it means the absolute world to me to hear that other people out there are interested and that they want this story too.

It started off very small, but it grew into something much bigger because I think "When Sun Shines Again" is about so much more than just Hero eventually falling in love again. It's about Hero finding healing, finding people who love and support him, and ultimately finding himself and his sense of purpose again. Even Zoey isn't just there to eventually date him, at least I hope not! (I was thrilled and incredibly touched that you mentioned her in your ask! Thank you for that!🥺💕) It's important to me that she has a whole life and a purpose outside of just being a love interest for Hero and that they have this deep and meaningful platonic friendship which would be just as beautiful even if it remained purely platonic between them and Hero was never ready to move on and never wanted to take it to a romantic place.

I think is why I actually started with "Am I Ready For Love Or Maybe Just A Best Friend?" which is mostly about their platonic friendship and Hero finally opening up about his grief and how much still loves and misses Mari. I always go back to that heartbreaking line in the game on One Day Left when Hero says, "I've been so busy with school and studying, I don't really have time to make friends anymore." He's so alone at a time in his life when he is most in need of the support of people who love him. Even if Hero never loves Zoey romantically, there's something beautiful and something important in him having a friendship with someone who says to him, "You can open up to me. It's safe. You're not going to hurt me" and for him to believe her.

From there we created this whole group of friends for Hero to have at college. We tried to be very thoughtful in the creation of them and really just wanted Hero to have these people in his life who love and support him and who he can hopefully (one day) open up to without the fear of hurting them (or of bumping into their own wounds and grief surrounding Mari's death) so he can really start to heal. We felt strongly that those degrees of separation for Mari were really crucial, though there were many discussions (and some disagreements) about how similar Hero's friends (and especially his eventual love interest) should or shouldn't be to Mari. In a way, I think every single one of Hero's friends that we've made up has something in them that parallels Mari at least in some small way whether it's Lorraine being giggly and talented arts & crafts or Kyle's having an injured knee. (Tamra is probably the most like her, but I digress... This is all a discussion for another time, perhaps).

The truth is that Mari is irreplaceable, but that doesn't Hero mean can't build meaningful relationships with other people. His new friends don't have to be Mari, and they don't have to replace her either. Moving on doesn't mean having to forget.

And that's really what this new section of the story is all about so, needless to say, we are so excited to finally get there and are so happy to hear that others are excited too. Thank you so much for all of all your support and encouragement! Take care 💙

[kindlythevoid]

1 and 2 for the ask game perhaps?

Oooh, okay!!

I kind of just went off, so in the interest of space:

1. What story (stories?) are you writing rn that you’ll most likely publish next? ∩(´∀`∩)

Hopefully? One of two stories.

The one that I started earlier is my Fallout 4 fic called The Stapinski's, which is my take on a Fallout 4 Minutemen runthrough with Nate and Nora surviving. I know that traditionally in the story Nate was in the military and Nora was a lawyer, so I'm keeping that, except Nate is, like, a surgeon/doctor/medic and Nora has ASPD. It'll mostly be written in a series of snapshots, with one longer intro story and then parts of the main Fallout story that I think would be interesting/changed with these versions of Nate and Nora. However, I'm unlikely to post it until I do another runthrough of Fallout 4 which... idk when it's gonna happen, ha ha!

The second story is my Baby Driver x Fast and Furious crossover fic. There is a chronic lack of Baby Driver fics in general, but especially ones in this crossover, which is devastating. But this one fic had Brian and Debora as siblings and I really just sunk my claws into that concept and started typing away. I don't really have a solid plot, per se?? It's super self-indulgent and takes place after Baby gets out of prison and... at some point in the F&F franchise (probably after the 4th or 5th movie, there are just so many, ha ha!!)... but I'm having fun with a more Debora-centric fic and the interactions between the everyone!! (I also may or may not have stayed up reading an official handbook on classifying prisoners for this fic?? I sincerely doubt it'll affect the plot in any way, but I did and if anyone is curious, it's thought that Baby went to Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison.)

Realistically? The next installment of Rewind, which as of right now is called In Every Stitch and Seam. I am technically still on break, but it wasn't meant to be an indefinite break, oops!! It's just. So Ridiculously Long. This one I am more or less sure of the direction and have a vague notion of what I want each chapter to look like, but writing it has gone... slowly. I'm still working on chapter 6 (out of possibly 21) and I want to be farther in before I start posting so that they don't have too many loose ends if I accidentally drop the ball later on. (Sorry, y'all!!)

But yeah, probably not anything soon. I'd love to keep posting, but, unfortunately for me, nothing is finished, ha ha!

2. What story (stories?) are you writing rn that will most likely linger in your head for an undetermined period of time? (*´▽｀*)

Soooo many stories. I really really want to get around to posting soooo many stories that I have in my docs and my notes app and what-have-you. I really do have so many fics that I haven't posted, it's devastating. (Each one being unashamedly self-indulgent and written so many years ago definitely is not contributed to that, no, not at all.)

I'll focus on written stories instead of just story ideas... I have a few Assassin's Creed ficlets that may never see the light of day. One's, like, a Hallmark AU fic?? With light undertones of mafia?? It's soooo olddd, smhhhh. (∩∀`)/ There's also, like, a genuine songfic that I wrote forever ago. That I could absolutely be persuaded to post, but it's part of a series and the rest of the series wasn't finished and at this rate probably never will be.

This really just descended into early cringe me, but back in the day when I first started reading fanfics, I would notice the billion and one fandoms tagged in a single fic, never read them, but assume that somehow?? they were including each of them in a coherent story??? or something?? (Tbf, I think some of them were, and kudos to everyone who was able to do it, but for the most part I'm pretty sure they were just requests or something) Anyway, so lil ol' me decided to do something like that, too. And the best way I could think of this, for some reason, was to put all my fandoms, each and every one, in a single neighborhood. Each fandom had a house, everyone had a backstory, there were multiple stories detailing the history of each house and one story about my "latest" fandom moving in. I kept track of literal hundreds of characters as people in every day jobs in the town. It was insane. I still pass by it in my docs sometimes and smh. In conclusion, no, this will never see the light of day.

Okay, that was a lot, but absolutely why I made this game, so thank you so much for asking!!

Kindly,

The Void

[eucalyprhodes]

Going back to the bible

I cannot believe it took me 32 years to finally realize that the Bible is literally amazing and studying it is not something that I HAVE to do, it's something that I have the privilege to do.

It all started last Sunday at church. The Pastor was going through the verses when he finally came to Genesis 6. This chapter talked about the sons of God (fallen angels), mating with humans and resulted in: literal Giants, aka Nephilim. That blew my mind and I immediately wanted to learn more. So I did something that I thought I would never do. I started searching for study guide because at that moment, I decided that this book is far more powerful and actually interesting, than I ever thought. And thus began my first week of daily bible study and studying, again, not because I have to , but because I genuinely want to know more.

I am currently on Genesis 30 and let me tell you, I was nor prepared for this.

Here's my context. I may be a believer, I wholeheartedly believe in Jesus and accept Him as my Lord and savior. I'd like to believe that if the situation arises, I can defend my faith and I can say that I have discernment on what's good and what's evil. BUT, I'm a lazy reader. I also always thought, reading the bible is hard because how can I really understand verse by verse without someone guiding me? or worse, I thought I knew most of bible stories already. I mean, I went to sunday school and I am a regular churchgoer, surely I know a lot. Obviously I was wrong but I also think it's such a sinful nature; to think that I know a lot when in reality, I know nothing. The Genesis that I read this week was so different than what I knew from Sunday school and not because the message has changed. No, God's words never changed. it's because I have grown and I am able to comprehend it deeper.

So I did what I should've done a long time ago. I bought an actual study bible that includes footnotes verse by verse. This particular study bible was also written for women's perspective so throughout the chapters, there were explanations from a woman's issues and perspectives.

Here's what I learned in just a short 5 days in Genesis (Genesis 1 - 30)

Genesis 1 is so important because it sets out the foundation of our morality. God designs male and female, God commanded Adam to rule over animals, and God created marriage to be between a man and a woman. Even Jesus explicitly referred to Genesis 2:24 in Matthew 19:5.

There are so many barren women in the bible, even goes as early as Sarah! Infertility is not something new. Sarah was infertile for about 25 years, Rebekah was infertile for 20 years, Rachel was infertile for over 10 years AND to top it off, she had to endure all that while seeing her sister (whom btw, shares her husband) gives birth not once, twice, but FOURTH time. As someone who is going through this season right now, I feel so strengthened to know that these women in the bible went through the same thing that I have, for longer than I probably will. But I see that God is faithful and what I gather from their stories, is that God's timing is magnificent. We can't comprehend it, but we don't have to! We just have to stay still.

Generational sin is so eerily real. The descendants of Ishmael, Lot, Cain and Ham all turned into wicked violent people and that's because no one in their family line ever made the efforts to return to God.

Adam was created first because God designed a man to lead. Eve was created from Adam so she can be her helper. I will admit, if I read this years before, I will always question why God can't just create them both at the same time. After all, equality right? But now, I read it with different perspective and I see how perfect God's design is for humanity. Men and women are created differently because we have different purposes. As a woman, I am here to help my husband not because I'm inferior but because we are an equal partners in furthering God's kingdom. There was never a doubt that God sees us all as equals, in fact, by having different needs and skillset, we are perfectly made to complement each other.

I am reminded that when we don't trust God's will and try to do things on our own fallible limited way, we will certainly fail. Case in point, Sarah tried to take matters into her own hands by making Abraham has a son from her own slave. It only caused her heartache and confusion. Plus, it made them broke God's original design for marriage. There is a reason for every season and we better believe that God is not silent.

God is honestly, so good and kind. Many of the characters committed sin and God always accepts them back, EVEN IF it's on behalf of other people. Abraham was pleading to God to not kill all the people in Sodom and Gomorrah even though these people are so extremely wicked. At first, Abraham said "if i can find 50 righteous people, will you please spare them?" and God said yes. Abraham went back and forth eventually lower the number to 10 and God said "for the sake of 10, I will not destroy it"

Another thing is, I understand now why so many unbelievers like to challenge the creation story and the flood story. I genuinely never questioned it because I just grew up in church. TO me, those stories are history. I believe it literally, that God created the earth in 6 days and the flood really happened (without actually examining the facts). But now that I re-read it again, it made me even more believe in these historical accounts because if God didn't create the heavens and the earth, then what is even our purpose here? We are not here by some sort of accidents, we were all created by God for a specific purpose. But I can also understand why unbelievers challenge it because it is a VERY EXTRAORDINARY STORY. It's out of this world, but then again, God is infallible and limitless so of course, He's capable of doing this.

i am excited to see where this goes. For those of you who has been wanting to start reading the bible again, I highly recommend an actual study bible. It will make a lot more sense and it'll encourage you in ways you never imagined.

[practically-an-x-man]

Ask game!

🌻🌈✨️💎💖💌

(Those might be a little out of order, I just remembered the emojis, not what order they were listed in lol)

thank you!! And don't worry about it being out of order, it's not a problem

(also apologies in advance because this turned into some MAJOR rambling)

🌻what makes you want to give up on writing? what makes you keep going?

I thrive off of feedback, and so I tend to get discouraged when I write something I'm proud of and it gets little/no response. It starts to feel like I'm putting a lot of effort into something that's just going to float aimlessly through the void, and I have other hobbies that I could spend my time on.

And admittedly, this happens sometimes when I swap read with a friend too - I put a lot of effort into commenting, marking lines and making note of all the little things I liked, since I always love getting those sorts of comments on my own writing, and then my writer friend either won't read my writing in exchange, or won't comment on it so I don't even know what they thought. That's not meant to be a callout and I'm not upset with anyone in particular, it's just a fairly consistent thing I've noticed and it makes sustaining motivation difficult.

Generally this is resolved by either receiving a surprise comment or two (I literally got a two-line comment on A Love Once New and it pulled me out of 2 months of uninspired dormancy), or simply pressing myself through the hard parts because I know there's a scene I've been dying to write coming up.

🌈is there a fic that you worked *really fucking hard on* that no one would ever know? maybe a scene/theme you struggled with?

Okay, so I have a bad habit of starting fics in the most underused fandoms or with the most underappreciated characters, so it's kind of a tossup. But I'm actually gonna go with A Love Once New for this one, for one particular reason.

That fic is LONG. Over 200k words at this point. And given I started it over two years ago at this point, my writing's a lot better now than it was when I began. I worry that people will click onto it, but the old writing style will chase them away (it's not bad, but certainly not great) and they won't bother sifting through 60-something chapters to get to the new, well-written stuff.

I've put so much love and thought into that fic, but I feel like it just doesn't get appreciated the way I want it to.

(but also I work really fucking hard on everything I write so they all kinda fall into that category)

✨What's a fic you've posted you wish you could breathe life into again and have people talking about it? (or simply a fic you wish got more credit)

I used to have a longtime consistent reader on Smoke and Mirrors, who left these really great, multi-paragraph comments on every chapter, and it gave me so much joy to write that one. And then I had a second reader who came in after a while, and left slightly shorter but still really wonderful comments. But they disappeared, and the only comment I got on the most recent chapter was along the lines of "I don't really like being left in suspense, I hope Madison's okay. Nice update though." I'm grateful for the comment, but... not the most inspiring, y'know? It reads to me almost like a warning, like "you're losing my attention, please resolve this plot before I leave too"

I really wish I could get a few of those readers back, honestly. Smoke and Mirrors has some of my most dynamic characterization, a great slowburn, and I feel like I've struck a really good blend of angst and softness. I'm genuinely very proud of what I've built with that one and my writing keeps improving each chapter, but it feels like my readers have just been trickling away despite that.

💎why is writing important to you?

In a general sense, I feel like writing is an incredibly good way to showcase different perspectives and generate compassion and understanding in a way that other forms of media can't. Writing helps showcase not only a character's actions but their thoughts and worldview, which is an excellent tool for representation.

In a personal sense, writing is important to me because I feel more understood myself. I can incorporate my thoughts and perspectives or even rant about some of my personal pains through the lens of the story, and usually turn it into something compelling and interesting to the reader. I can channel my emotions into the words, and actually make something positive and creative out of them. It helps me keep the rampant ideas from piling up on me, helps me focus my thoughts, and makes me more articulate when I need to express something in the real world.

💝what is a fic that got a different response than you were expecting?

I wasn't expecting Who Waits Forever Anyway? to get so much attention! I knew there was a standing Night at the Museum fandom since everyone loves Jed and Octavius, but I was surprised that so many people actually engaged with my Ahkmenrah-centered fic too! I've had three or four consistent readers (non-writer friends, people who genuinely just stumbled into the story and decided to stick with it) since the beginning, and that fic probably gets as many comments as the others combined. Catch and Release has more hits and bookmarks, but doesn't seem to have as many consistently engaged readers.

And on the opposite side of things, I'm surprised Secret Worlds and (Farewell) Wanderlust got so little attention. The Sandman is popular, the fandom appears to be pretty active, and the Corinthian is a well-liked character as a whole. Plus, I feel like those two pieces are some of my better bits of writing. Logically, I'd have thought it would get more attention.

💌share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

Okay, so recently my motivation has been almost entirely devoted to this new fic called Taking Flight (thank you ADHD, I literally can't focus on any of my other WIPs right now), but I've been trying to work on the next chapter of Desert Song! I don't want to spoil too much, but I'll give you two things: it starts and ends with flashbacks, and the focus song for this chapter is The History of Wrong Guys from Kinky Boots.

The history of wrong guys:

Chapter one, he’s a bum. 

Two, he’s not into you.

Three, he’s a sleaze.

Four, loves the girl next door.

[hannahssimblr]

I've tried to write sims stories in the past but I always end up running out of steam quickly and giving up on them. How to you stick to your consistent weekly schedule? I'm in awe of how you keep putting out full chapters every week

Hello!

Firstly, apologies for leaving this unanswered for a couple of days, i'm very bad at writing back to people when I know the message is going to be very long lol.

I think maybe it comes down to like.. experience or something? I've been writing sims stories since I was 13 and everyone was doing it for sims 2 so I kind of got to know what works and what doesn't work for me, along with how to deal with and build engagement. OBVIOUSLY I am not a professional writer or anything like that, I'm just a lowly hobbyist but here are my tips!

Please plan! I get it, it's boring, but you WILL regret it if you don't. Literally, you can just plan in your head and that can be enough if you're thorough, but before you start you should have an idea of where you will end. If you launch in to chapter one and just write with the ~vibe~ then that's really cool, but you might find yourself out of ideas, or unsure what the theme of your story is by chapter five. You want to avoid getting overwhelmed and giving up.

Choose a theme and stick with it. Make sure you keep coming back to that theme and following the thread. Try not to deviate and start talking about side characters back stories, because while it's very fun to do, you'll quickly realise that you've created something that feels a little... disorganized, and then likely stop writing. (BTW! Side character stuff is fun! But you can explore that outside of your main story, in tumblr posts or in a little "extras" section on your blog if you want to!)

Stay ahead. I go back and change chapters constantly. It's so normal to write something and think it's fine, and then while writing a later chapter realise that the story would be better if you changed what you've written a couple of weeks ago, so give yourself the space to do that. Once the chapter is published, it is out of your hands. Currently I am 6 chapters ahead (Very manic) but i recommend having a healthy cushion of about 3. Don't post that first chapter until you're up to ch 4.

It's normal to care about what people think, but don't let it rattle you. Your story should be for you, and your should stick to your convictions even if others make noise or disagree. If you're trying to please everyone you will quickly burn out and lose interest, so don't be swayed by what others want you to write! Releasing chapters week by week like this is an interesting way to do it, as it allows people to view your work in segments rather than a whole finished piece. It's easy to be swayed off course by people's comments and think "hmmm maybe that person is right, I should change this.... DON'T, GIRL. Stick to your plan. Unless obviously, they have a point...

You need to stick it out. The first weeks or months of a story are the hardest because you can often feel as though you're writing into a void. I've noticed that an audience takes a long time to form, but don't take it as a reflection on you or your story. Most people quit writing their stories after less than 5 chapters, so people might not even click on your links until your past that point to avoid the risk of getting invested in something that will be abandoned. It took me a good 3 months to get almost any comments at all on Lucky Girl, and that was fine, because I was ready for it. (I was also prepared to keep going even with minimal engagement, but more often than not, if you build it they will come.)

You have to love it. You have to be genuinely passionate about creating something and telling a story. Everyone has a story to tell, so have conviction in yours. It is worth telling, and it will speak to somebody. Love your characters, get to know them, listen to what they want and don't force them to do or say things that you know they naturally wouldn't. Be obsessed with it and you'll be fine.

No pressure. If a schedule is too much, cut it out. Everyone is different. For me, it works, for others it is too much and they prefer to run on vibes and feelings. I've seen both methods work well.

Tips related to actual sims: people care about your screenshots, make sure that you put a little effort in, but don't burn out creating custom poses, building every lot and creating every background character if that will burn you out. I know I can't do this, so i stick with a style that's easy to uphold, and forgive myself if i can't make everything look exactly right. On my sims 3 story, Dustland Fairytale (SO to those who are still here after all this time!) one of the things that majorly burned me out and made me sick of it was having to build so many lots all the time when all I wanted to do was tell the story. Take advantage of the gallery, use CC and poses by other people, cut corners and focus on the parts that are important

I can't think of anything else! I hope this is helpful <3