#link is to the fic i screenshotted that excerpt from

[shichidikai]

The poll has wrapped up with a much higher number of votes than I ever thought it would get, thank you so much to everyone who voted, reblogged, and provided input!

For those who might be interested, aside from the results above, I've tallied some statistics along with some of the most frequent comments and tags in case they're useful to anyone.

Regardless of anything else, these are just numbers at the end of the day and really still a small sampling of everyone out there who reads and loves fanfiction, and I wish every writer who sees this joy in their craft and the knowledge that your bringing something new into the world is an amazing thing, with or without people clicking little arrow and heart buttons on websites. Happy writing everyone 💖

Total votes: 2,922

804 notes at the time of this write-up (~26% of votes) 408 of which were reblogs (51%!) 302 tags + comments total (74% of reblogs)

Poll results breakdown by # of votes:

1,005 - excerpt + basic info 643 - fanart 421 - more than one/other 400 - i don't reblog fic 234 - ao3 screenshot 143 - entire work on tumblr/no external link 76 - other visual

Most common reasons given for not reblogging fic (by # of comments/tags):

108 (35.7% of tags) - i only reblog if i read and enjoyed it/reblogs signify endorsement and recommendation 42 (14% of tags) - i only reblog if it's a mutual or friend's work or i'm already familiar with the author 21 (7% of tags) - leaving tumblr to go to ao3 makes me lose the link

And a few other statistics for fun:

20 people (6.6%) said they will block on sight for putting entire fics on Tumblr if they aren't under a readmore 17 people (5.6%) mentioned and strongly endorsed AO3's native share function, particularly as being preferred to screenshots 5 people mentioned LiveJournal by name + at least 3 business/marketing majors chimed in

PEOPLE OF TUMBLR! i am crazy curious to know what makes you (or stops you from) reblogging posts from writers that advertise their fics!

fanart still gets notes, shitposts still get notes, but a writer can put up an ao3 link to some of the most amazing words you'll ever read and it'll end up with 3 reblogs and 9 likes on a very good day; therefore i am begging to know what would actually make you reblog (yes reblog specifically, because likes are wonderful but they don't spread the word!) an author's post about their fic!

little things for clarification:

* second option: does not include fanart (either author-drawn or commissoned); this would include things like moodboards, other photos or graphics, etc.

** fifth option: includes things like oneshots posted directly to tumblr, x reader posts, etc.

[thorin]

unironically 🤕

[xxnashiraxx]

Happy Fic Moment of the Year

Thank you so much for the tags, @alwaysmauria, @roguishcat, @vividiana, and @andromedaancunin !!!

"Share an excerpt from any fic of yours that you wrote this year depicting a happy/fluffy/cute moment that you're proud of. Let's spread some joy for the last moments of the undeniably fucked-up year that was 2024" <- honestly.

I've chosen this little snip from Chapter 13 of With Stars to Fill My Dream where Ofelia buys the coffee from the Zhent trader in the goblin camp and tests the tadpole connection between her and Astarion to see if he can experience the taste of her chocolate candy through it. :") Plus this screenshot that accompanies it is really cute for them, il them sm. 💕

“What about if I drink it, and we open a connection? Could we test it?” He frowns, about to tell her this isn’t the time, but she looks adamant as she pulls some little sphere wrapped in foil out of her bag. “I suppose…” He trails off, watching her unwrap it to reveal a ball of something dark. Chocolate perhaps? She meets his eyes and he interprets her nod as permission before he links with her, the sensation slightly painful but surprisingly easier than it’s been in the past. Gale and Shadowheart look back at them curiously but stay rooted a few paces ahead as if giving them space. Ofelia lifts the candy to her mouth and pops it in, and he can feel the sensation of it on his tongue almost as if it were his own. For a moment, nothing else happens- he’s just looking at himself through her eyes, and gods is that a leaf in his hair? Honestly, everyone just let him walk around with that in? The nerve- “Oh,” He whispers, pressing his fingers to his lips as the faint taste of something mind-numbingly sweet coats his tongue. It’s novel, smooth, and wonderful as the phantom taste of it flows down his throat. She smiles at him with a fervor in her eyes, which he hadn’t seen before, and through the connection, he gets the impressions of her emotions- delight, adoration, and satisfaction. It all melds into a mix of tenderness he isn’t used to, and he staggers away from the bond with a swift snap. “Did you taste it?” She asks, reaching forward to grip his forearms, and he nods- slightly off-kilter. The twinkle of excitement in her eyes throws him, and with a nervous chuckle, he disengages from her touch to collect himself. “I… thank you. I would like to try the coffee,” He mumbles, feeling lost despite himself. It’s distracting, and he fights for a moment to process the sensation of taste again after two centuries of nothing. “Of course,” She smiles, bright like the sun. He almost has to shield his eyes from it. “When we wake up tomorrow, I’ll brew some and we’ll share a cup. Trust me, you’ll get it- I need the coffee to help me think clearer, fight better. Promise,” She laughs, mocking his little line from when he’d been pleading for a drink, her tongue curling obscenely around the words to try and emulate his accent. It’s an awful imitation, but it feels like honey in his ears as it brushes against his tense muscles. He watches her walk away, eyes lingering on the sway of her wide hips and he shakes his head free of the lingering emotions, likely just a side effect of the tadpole, before following them inside a larger room.

Tagging you all, sorry if this is a double tag since I'm behind!! Ily all! 💗

@pinkberrytea @khywren @bloodinwine @preciouslittlebhaalbae @ladyduellist @verbenaa @inkymoonbunny @lanafofana @elinorbard @badbloodwitch @caffeinatedmunchkin @bardic-inspo @justabiteofspite @bhaalsdeepbat @bhaal-battle-beer-bard @heylittleriotact @nerdallwritey @busy-baker +anyone else!! Please tag me so I can read your wonderful work!! 💕

[lonely-night]

fandom on bird app is so annoying sometimes cuz they be like "this fic is insane!!!" does not share the ao3 link or fic title only screenshot of an excerpt from the fic "watch her old film last night she's so pookie" does not tag or share the movie name only with screenshots and I just ://///

[lavender-twilight23]

Plugging one of my older X-Men fics because I took a screenshot of a paused moment from DOFP that looks way too much like a scene from my fanfic (picture in the bottom of the post with the excerpt)

————

Title: I'm Slipping Through The Cracks of Your Cold Embrace

Summary:

Erik and Charles have a lot of unresolved relational trauma. Feelings of hurt, betrayal, and forgotten love simmer between them, and despite the fact that it’s been eleven long, lonely years since they were together, Charles can’t stop thinking about him. And his lips.

The journey to the Paris Peace Accords is charged with tension of all kinds. Charles has come to the painful conclusion that Erik never truly loved him, and Erik tries to tell him otherwise. But words can only get them so far, and they end up finding a different way to prove to each other that their love is still very much alive.

————

Excerpt:

(Charles’ POV)

My heart is thrashing in my chest, he’s staring at me, through me, into me, and I’m losing myself in his gaze. I see the years we missed reflected in his eyes, all the pain and heartbreak and anger and the deep, crushing loneliness that overtook us both.

My eyes flick to his lips once, twice, and dear GOD I wanna kiss him so bad.

But I can’t. He’ll just hurt me again. I can’t risk it. I just…

“Charles,” Erik whispers, and the familiar huskiness to his voice makes my breath catch in my throat. “Say something, please.”

“Y’know what, fuck it.” I take his face in my hands and kiss him hard, because to hell with the consequences, I just want him, only him.

————

The only difference from this picture to the fic is that the scene from which the excerpt is taken is in the back of the plane, not the front near the cockpit 😂

Link to the fic!

I’m going crazy over these two

[verieriberries]

[Photo description: screenshot of an excerpt from a fanfic reading;

“Yes,” he said, smiling at him. Barry waited until Bruce drove further enough away before turning to head to his own car. He smiled to himself and hopped in the air to bump his toes together.]

WDYM BUMP HIS TOES TOGETHER???? FUCKING YAHOO CARTOONY AHH REACTION TO A DATE????

link to the barry allen/bruce wayne fic 👇🏽

[lousylemonseminar]

“I was just so hungry, gill”

Meal isn’t pictured in alignment to how it’s described in the THING!

@here-there-be-drag0ns

AUSVBRBRHEHTHRGRGRGRGHRHGHGGG i bashed my fist into the wall multiple times while reading this fic[link] in astonishment of the details and how they alluded to things and i can Talk SO LOUD AN D UNCEREMONIOUSLY but i wanna put that under the cut along with my Fav quotes of this SO READ IT FIRST READ IT FIRST READ IT FIRST!!!! I PLEA

On a less serious note There were multiple times where my brain had to spare myself from fathoming by making stupid connections like Chip taking doppelgillys kidneys because in a bit where gill said he took chips And other Stuff Like That but then THE HE PROBABLY TOOK HOIS HEART FIRST????? IM KILLING ICARUS????/NSRS IM MAIMING THORN???? obeheheemanba okay!!

So here’s most of the screenshots I took while reading this! Which will help me relive the atrocities

My reaction to Did you know it wasn’t me by here they be dragons /pos :

DID YOU FUCKING KNOW I WROTE PARAGRAPHS DISECCTING HOW BEAUTIFUL THIS FIC WAS AND HOW IT PERMEATED ALL OF MY SENSES AND FUCKED GREATLY ALL GOT DISSIPATED BECAUSE I FORGOT TO SAVE. IN SO TIRED RIGHT NOW. ANALYSIS LATER IM PISSED OFF

OSHAHEGRGRHRHHRHRR GRAAGAHHHHH

They seriously couldn’t have done that to me after I spent like thirty minutes writing how much I admired the tension and the buildup and the emphasis on how fucking dead chip was OH MY GOD.

Icarus if your reading this I cannot emphasize enough how greatly the fics I’ve read from you Fuck with my brain

I remember watching the a new riptide episode at some point and genuinely wondering why gill and chip wasn’t more conflicted with each other and why gill wasn’t being more obedient to his friend for knocking his shit I

Reading the absolute ferocity went at doppelgilly made drawing this SO SoSo so much more rewarding for me which is something I have a Lot of trouble with . Or like being passionate / having fun with drawing it’s insane

I was kicking my feet fangirling over it

You’re such an amazing fucking author in which i do still wanna write down why those excerpts Stuck So Hard and GOSHHHBD DB losing it I admire you so much have an awesome sauce day :o3333

[kenobster]

In fact, I'm raising the stakes.

FOR EVERY SINGLE CODYWAN SHIPPER WHO VOTES FOR OBIKIN IN THIS POLL, I WILL WRITE 100 WORDS OF CODYWAN FANFICTION.

All you have to do is send me an ask with a screenshot verifying your vote for Obikin. To help you decide whether I'm any good, here is an example of my writing:

Mustafar bleeds from the edges of Vader's mask—the place where Padme aired some of her dying words. Hard as he tries, Obi-Wan can’t find the good in the hollow husk of metal that drags him through flames and lets him scream and burn and blister. The Polis Massa hospital oozes from those not-quite eyes and deposits the stench of bacta, beeping vitals, and wailing newborns. Their haunting is loud enough to drown the inhale and exhale of his tormentor's ventilator, but the reminders of pain leak from the bacta patches on his arm, prickly and itchy and icy in the place of what once was too warm. The ghost of Padme always dies first. She’s lost in the shadows and lights flickering across Vader’s helmet as he checks the integrity of the restraints—the cuffs on Obi-Wan’s wrists and ankles, and the strap across his chest holding him to the operating gurney. The glove around the artificial fingers is leathery as Vader squeezes a fist around Obi-Wan’s jaw. Always, Obi-Wan is glad that the ghost of her is spared what happens next. “You will tell me where you’ve been hiding them,” the vocoder states. It’s a voice as alarmingly empty as his faceless face.

Here's a link to the excerpted fic for anyone who would like to read the whole thing.

I will wield this same writing power for Codywan if you will let me. All you have to do is vote Obikin and ask. :)

[liketwoswansinbalance]

MASTERPOST for The One True School Master of Vault 41

This is a continually updating table of contents to help with navigating my posts about TOTSMOV41, my WIP longfic.

The fic's premise: Sophie joins forces with a resurrected, former lover in the midst of trying to get Tedros back onto Camelot's throne, but that's not even half the uphill battle: rogue psyches and distrust abound and threaten to shatter the present state of the Woods as everyone knows it.

or

In which Rafal is resurrected during the events of One True King and things go horribly, disproportionately wrong!

Also, the fic will not be published for a very long time, so don't expect to see it anytime soon. I'm still on draft zero/the outline/script.

⸻

—Table of Contents—[Pre-Publication of Fic]

1. Title reveal and associated music

2. Round I of Excerpts

3. Apparently, the tag "otk" is banned from tumblr.

4. The misleading trope hint

5. Round II Excerpt

6. Visual ref. 1

7. Facts about the fic

8. Reblog #1

9. Aesthetic for one of the first scenes (and flower trivia in the comments)

10. A Peek at My Outline Process

11. Reblog #2, dialogue, and reference to suicide

12. Round III of Excerpts

13. Sketch - Rafal got punched in the face.

14. Screenshots of my Pinterest board for the fic

15. Update, more facts about the fic, and its references to philosophic concepts

16. Round IV Excerpt

17. Cover Reveal

18. Reblog #3

19. Reblog #4

20. Reblog #5

21. Hypothetical Non-Excerpt

22. The Recurring Japeth Punchline

23. Reblog #6

24. Reblog #7

25. Three "Fun" (Incongruous) Facts

26. Thanatos drive reference mentioned

27. Reblog #8

28. Reblog #9

29. Reblog #10

30. Ask containing minor fic trivia

31. Update and Round V of Excerpts

32. Which wizard is this? (a.k.a. The Tedros Insanity Poll)

33. Reblog #11

34. Reblog #12

35. Reblog #13 and Fic Tags

36. Round VI Excerpt

37. The Suffering Scale

38. Word Ask Game

39. Word Ask #1

40. Word Ask #2

41. Word Ask #3

42. Results of the Tedros Poll

43. Round VII of Excerpts

44. Guess the Last Verb/Noun

45. Minor Spoilers

46. Reblog #14

47. Reblog #15

48. Reblog #16

49. Visual ref. 2

50. Reblog #17

51. Slightly Cursed Thought?

52. Aesthetic

53. Round VIII of Excerpts

54. Scrapped Hypothetical Scene

55. Reblog #18

56. Visual ref. 3

57. Reblog #19

58. Reblog #20

59. Deliberate or Not Deliberate?

60. Update and Another Ask Game

61. Page Number Ask #1

62. Page Number Ask #2

63. Visual ref. 4

64. Visual ref. 5

65. Reblog #21

66. Reblog #22

67. Reblog #23

68. Reblog #24

69. Reblog #25

70. Verbing Nouns

71. Reblog #26

72. Reblog #27

73. A Little News

74. TLEA Evidence for One of My Theories

75. Reblog #28

76. Reblog #29

77. Trick-or-Treat Ask Excerpt

—The Story— [Links TBA after publication.]

Part I: Of Solipsism, Sophistry, and Storians.

Part II: Great Mistake II, Great Mistake III, and Verisimilitude

Part III: Phantoms, Prescience, and the Pen

Deleted Scene

Meta post

Fic Analysis, Commentary & Trivia

Propaganda

⸻

Need-to-Knows (a.k.a How I'm meddling with canon):

This fic will involve Rafal being resurrected, and lead up to an alternate continuity of plot events, all set during One True King. Thus, its title will be: The One True School Master of Vault 41. However, the title may or may not be a bit of a misnomer, so I might just end up subverting your expectations after all.

There will be a form of "psyche travel," or an approximation of time travel, using Dovey's crystal ball like in ACOT, the arson of a certain Wizard Tree to look forward to, and some offbeat, unprecedented action taken by the Storian. Of course, Agatha and Rafal will bicker a lot while Sophie plays the role of mediator. And, oh, Rafal will be tortured, slightly…

Additionally, there's a couple things to note about the premise and the changes I've made to canon, for context:

1. The fic will disregard Fall as canon, yet will acknowledge Rise.

2. There are several canon elements I'm not using. The Rafal is the fic is him from Rise, and also from TLEA. I decided to only acknowledge Rise but not Fall because I didn't want to work with the identity-swap twist. So Rafal is Rafal is Rafal in this case. I will draw from both his Rise characterization and his TLEA characterization.

3. Later in the fic, Rise Rhian only has minor appearances, and is present in Rafal's psyche, but he will not actually be a character until I write a possible sequel, if I ever do reach that point. So, you can assume Rhian was moderately Good to grey on the morality scale, and that Rafal was the one who ultimately committed the fratricide for the purposes of this fic.

4. I've decided not to acknowledge the OTK parentage twist. To clarify, Rafal will have no relation to Japeth, simply because it felt out of character for him to have children with a woman he seemed to loathe, even if it may have been less out of character for the canon Rhian falsely disguised as "Rafal." I personally thought it contradicted Rafal's characterization, so Japeth's placeholder father, who probably won't even be mentioned in the story, will be the Green Knight, to explain his magical prowess as the Snake.

Otherwise, for the most part, this fic is alternate continuity "canon," and diverges at some point during OTK.

I've tried to set the stage, eradicate confusion, and mediate potential disappointment as best as I could above, but if anyone would like me to demystify anything about the fic, my writing process, or ask anything else at all, feel free to send questions to me! Yet, I might not be able to answer everything, for various reasons, including limiting excessive spoilers, so please keep that in mind.

[emo-eyemakeup-evildude]

hi, about the astor zine,

1- how many maximum number of images per submission? (example: astor mod screenshots can be a lot of images for a single submission subject if unlimited)

2- is a zine web published? or intended as physical print as well? asking for if gifs or videos can be turned in as well, and if a clear (printable) thumbnail would be needed if so/if not

Hi

a. I'm going to say no limit, because I've already planned for shortened versions of the zine. My hope was to get so many submissions that a full, printed version would be difficult. In that spirit I ask that any extremely long submissions come with a shortened version of the submission, like an abstract on a paper. Just like how NSFW works can be submitted alongside a censored version for the safe for work editions. Reminder that I will not edit, censor, or shorten any works, so keep an eye out for followup emails because I'll be in contact about any and all potential changes. That said if you're unsure if a submission is long enough to require a shortened version you can always email me. b. Each drawing/picture/comic/triptych or the like will count as one submission but there's also no limit on the number of submissions any one person can submit, so the people submitting meta or memes or tutorials aren't getting some kind of multi-submission loophole here. c. But I also ask that any writing submitted alongside images be under 2500 words, the same as the limit for other written submissions. This is not a hard limit, more of a guideline. If your work is a few dozen or even a couple hundred words over the limit, I'll work with you on it. The limit is to encourage shorter excerpts instead of printing multiple full novel-length fics within the zine.

a. There is going to be an online PDF version, so links to external websites or files will be an option. If I can figure out how to embed gifs and videos directly into a PDF I'm willing to do that, too. Digital extras like music or videos was always one of my goals for the zine. Physical versions may include links to these, I haven't worked out all the logistics yet. Anything that is particularly difficult to print will simply be excluded from the physical version, like how NSFW works will be excluded from the SFW version. Just like the NSFW thing, you can also submit a thumbnail and/or a summary for the physical versions. b. I put emphasis on this every time because I want to make absolutely sure no one misunderstands, but the full and uncensored version of the final zine will be available online for free. Any curated, printed versions will be a bonus, and if they cost any money at all it will only be a small fee to offset shipping costs, because I don't want price to be a barrier to getting a copy. The full version will never be behind a paywall and everyone will be able to access it. If I ever gatekeep the full version for anything short of a full authoritarian crackdown you all have my full permission to track me down and beat me. And then steal the PDF and put it back up so everyone can access it again, please.

[owowhatsthis-itsblood]

I would send this as a screenshot or link, but the fic isn’t even close to finished yet and I don’t want to be revealed on this blog…. Here’s an excerpt from my Feral/Animalistic!Elijah Volkov AU.

——————————————

A creature, appearing as a man but clearly inhuman, hunched over the animal. Red blood stained the lambs white wool as the monter fed on it's dead body.

You were frozen in fear, your body unresponsive. Run, you thought, run and never look back. But you couldn't.

You tried to step backwards, but stumbled and fell onto the leafy forest floor with a crunch.

The creature looked up from the lamb, standing to its full height. It was tall and thin, its blonde hair dirty and matted. Blood, whether its prey's or its own, stained its clothes; a set of light blue scrubs, like those of a nurse.

It stumbled forward, its torn cloak trailing behind it. The creature walked off-balance, as if it wasn't supposed to walk upright, but instead on all fours like a wolf.

As this monster approached you, you tried to push yourself up, but found yourself too weak to move. This is the end, you thought, You are going to die. The creature knelt next to you, close enough to hear its ragged breaths. It tilted its head.

“Вам нужна помощь?”

——————————————

There’s more so far, but I think that’s a good stopping point and cliffhanger! Thought you’d like it~ (He is actually Russian by the way, I didn’t just choose a random language)

I love it! The way you write is so good! I especially love the visuals. And you know how much I love a good inhuman monster ;)

[henrysglock]

James' Working Master List

My Bullshit Theories:

Mother Is God In The Eyes Of A Child (Mothergate origins, Vecna’s mother imagery)

Psycho Killer, Qu'est-ce Que C'est? (Neither Henry Nor Vecna Are Psychopaths: An In-Depth Behavioral Analysis)

A Night of Monologues (Splicing together the released 4.07 script and the transcript of One’s filmed monologue. Spoiler: They’re two halves of a whole speech)

Shattered Mirrors and Cracked Walls (An analysis of Henry’s dematerialization scene, the aftermath, and a determination that we’re being shown all 4 timelines interchangeably in the NINA version of the 1979 HNL Massacre)

One Does Not Simply Lose A Gate (The 2nd part of the 1979 massacre aftermath and proof that a timeline exists where Henry/Edward did nothing wrong)

Where Is All The Blood Coming From? (A comparison between the NINA massacre's smeared blood and the carnage resulting from democreature attacks)

A Tale Of Two Vecnas (An analysis of Vecna's scorching in Dimension-X, which shows us two distinct and physically different men)

Pick A Damn Jumpsuit! (Matching up the Dimension-X jumpsuits to NINA massacre jumpsuits)

Barnes And NO!! Where Did He Go!! (A write up on the discrepancies in One’s appearance, tattoo, and color grading in the closet scene as evidence of his disappearance from the plot)

Why Do You, As The Big Bad, Have No Lines Or Powers? (Vecna’s physical form in the UD has no dialogue and doesn’t use psionic powers: evidence and theories)

So Which Is It: Night or Day? (Discrepancies in time-labeling in the released 4.07 script and how they might link to El’s 1983 escape)

Plinko Power! (NINA's plinko game as a microcosm of timeline theory and Henry's time-based powers)

The Mystery of the Move-In Date (Physically speaking, there’s no possible way that the Creels moved in in 1959)

Our Lord and Savior…Vecna? (Why Vecna/001 is God, Based On Analysis Of ST4, The Bible, And Other Supporting Media)

The First Shadow: Who Knew Whom in 1959 (Why Certain Character Were Removed From Hawkins Prior To ST4)

Proto-HeIIcheer: Who Did George and Betty Become? (Why Patty Newby and Allen Munson may be the pairing to watch for in The First Shadow, rather than Patty and Henry)

Fics:

Paper Faces — POTO x ST fusion fic (Complete)

ptolemaea (blessed be the children) — Henry’s fix-it fic (3/?)

Spider Fact, Anyone? — 1959 RPG-style ST minific

Featured Art:

Creel Siblings Outfit Swap

Creelarke Aesthetic Board

Featured Edits:

NYMPHOLOGY (ft. HNL)

The Colors of ST4 (ft. Le Monde)

Henry Creel: Brainless Borzoi

Art:

TUNNEL VISION (ft. Henry Creel)

Edits:

Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve (ft. Henry Creel)

Left-Brain, Right-Brain (ft. Henry and Edward Creel)

House of Leaves (Mini-Library):

House of Leaves Initial Analysis

House of Leaves Excerpts

Creel Files:

Henry Files:

Rebuke of Apologism Claims

A Note on Script Analysis

Our First Impression of Henry Sets Him Up For Failure

The Seagull

Stand By Me

The Divine Comedy

Henry and Edward, Jekyll and Hyde

Young Henry, Adult Henry, and the Rabbit Scene

Multiple Henries: Screenshots and Brenner Comparison

Perspective On The Length of Henry's Imprisonment

Vecna as the Villain: Defining Stranger Things' Narrative

I, Tonya and Perspective-Based Truth

Henry's Unseen Costumes

Kate Trefry and The First Shadow

Henry Didn't Manipulate El Re: Soteria

Details the Duffers Must Address

The Fallacies in Henry's Spider Schtick

NINA and Vecna’s Black Obelisks

Henry and Brenner Expansion Pack

Expansion Pack!

Creel Cousins:

Eleanor “El” Creel

The Stare Runs In The Family

Room (2015)

And Soon, Others Were Born

Sleepyhead

She’s Mike’s…Cousin! Second Cousin! Lots of family in Sweden.

Luke and Leia vs El and Mike (Stav’s Post)

Luke and Leia vs El and Mike (2)

Luke and Leia vs El and Mike (3)

Henry/Edward…Anakin…

Family Files:

Heritability of Powers

Psychopathy: Learned or Genetic

Karen, Virginia, and Tortured Husbands

ST5: Which Wheelers Live and Why?

Alice Creel: Admission of Innocence by Omission of Fault

ST4 Victims: A Story By Proxy (AKA The Breadcrumbs Post)

Even if Henry killed Virginia, It Would Be Self Defense

Brenner and Virginia Expansion Pack

Pedo-Files:

Mamas and Papas: Spiders, Flowers, and Bathtubs

Karen, Billy, Virginia...Henry

Will and Vecna Expansion Pack

Will Files:

Expansion Pack

The First Shadow/Creelarke:

Creelarke Origins

IT (1990) Reddie Aesthetic Similarities

Scott's Funeral Scarf

A New Timeline

IT (1990) Aesthetic Updated for TFS

Radiationgate:

Radium Files:

Eben Byers, Radium, and ST3's Soviet Plot

Chemistry Class: Maria Skłodowska-Curie

Radiation Sickness Files:

Psionic Powers and EM Radiation

Vecna's Curse: Radiation Sickness Symptoms

ST5 Predictions

Nuclear Disaster Files:

Henry Creel Literally Nuked Hawkins

Chemistry Class: Nuclear Explosion Imagery

Chernobyl, Hawkins Earthquake and ST4's Soviet Shadow (1)

Chernobyl, Hawkins Earthquake, and ST4's Soviet Shadow (2)

Phantomgate:

What in the POTO Visuals?

POTO 2004: Film Analysis

Dart and Gustave: Love Never Dies

Secret Admirers: Puzzle Tales Connection

Anime/Manga References

Coming Soon: Fullmetal Alchemist

Rambles:

1: On Byler and Rink-O-Mania

2: On Demoslugs

3: On Byler and Open Secrecy

4: Sad Thoughts About Post-S2 Will

5: On Spore Lore

6: On The Rain Fight

[lacependragonwrites]

Hello! Welcome to the blog. This is an updated intro. I've been here for a minute, just wanted to tidy things up.

I am Wallace, but I also like Wally and Lace just as much (and I generally refer to myself as Lace), so feel free to pick your preference! They/Them or He/Him pronouns, in that order.

This is my writing sideblog. My main blog is over at @lacependragon! I will follow, like, comment on posts, and send asks from there, but I post my writing here and I reblog writing stuff to this blog.

I'm a queer, autistic author with chronic illness/pain and a whole lot of wips. I'm Canadian. I've been writing over half my life (and when you're a couple years shy of 30, that's not bad!) and I was reasonably popular as a fanfic author (RWBY fics mostly), something I've largely stopped doing as of September, 2021.

I'm very passionate. Which is to say I have a Lot(TM) of opinions. And I refuse to take personality tests even if I love them for characters.

Also I really love writing programs. I don't think you need them to be a good author, whatsoever, but god I love them so much.

My Writing

I write basically two things: big ass, character driven, SFF series with tightly woven plots & relationships, plus ridiculous amounts of lore and worldbuilding; and romance novels. That's it. I'm pretty sure I'm better at the latter, which I think is cool.

Also: I have a lots of wips. I cycle between them regularly but I always come back around to the others eventually.

I can sum up my writing as such:

Mostly SFF with a focus on fantasy and scifantasy

Character focused and driven

Often relationship driven - family, friendship, romance, etc.

Almost all of my protagonists are they/them NBs or some other flavour of trans

Mainly queer, disabled, neurodivergent characters

Queer and trans focused romances, also polycules

Found family, slow burn romance, platonic bonds, redemption arcs, overcoming adversity & trauma

Gray morality and tough decisions

Intricate world-building, in-depth magic systems, lots of fantasy creatures, and details on how these things interact with everyday and overarching life

Puns. A lot of puns.

A lot of silly combo words I use as a shortcut to avoid conlanging unnecessarily (though I do LOVE a good conlang)

Listen there's a lot of apocalypses in my WIPs. And overcoming them. It's a theme. It's because of the state of the world. Roll with it.

The Blog

What can you expect on this blog?

Character intros, WIP intros, worldbuilding posts, magic building posts, lore posts, and more

Lots of rambling posts about my WIPs, in general, and progress updates as I draft them

Screenshots and discussions of writing programs, including Scrivener, Word, Excel, Plottr, Aeon Timeline, Scapple, Powerpoint, Illustrator (for maps), Clip Studio Paint (for maps), Photoshop (for nonsense), and Notepad++

Snippets and chapters from various drafts of various WIPs

Inspiration posts for various WIPs

Reblogs of other writeblrs I think are great

Tips, tricks, and advice I picked up from my own experiences as a writer

Rambles about writing, the universe, and my process

Non-Writing Tag: #wall talk

The WIPs

[Under the cut because oh my goodness this is getting long]

Main Projects

THE METAHUMAN INITIATIVE Book One: Descent

Series Overview Urban fantasy, mystery/thriller, suspense, adult. Long as fuck.

Nat Carter is drawn to Veda City, a place built to uncover the secrets of superpowers in Metahumans, after the violent and mysterious death of their family. Once there, they set out to uncover who killed their family, why, and how it boosted Nat's own powers, only to realize that the conspiracy is far deeper than they ever imagined. And, somehow, Nat might be at the centre of it all.

Links: WIP Post | Series Tag | Book One Tag | Series Playlist | Book One Playlist | Character Profiles | Book One Excerpts

BEURKRATTI: THE PLACE OF STONES

Series Overview High fantasy, urban/constructed fantasy, adventure, mystery, adult. Multiple connecting series.

The changing world brings forgotten history forward. The Wardens, the protectors of the world, struggle to find the source of the faltering ancient magic that is causing widespread destruction. Old gods and new are risen in the Free Cities, and nothing is as it seems. For a young Warden, Katya, an opportunity arises to seek the answers for her people's inevitable spiral into nothingness, only to find far more than she ever bargained for.

Currently Undergoing Major Revisions

Links: WIP Post [Being Updated] | Series Tag | Book One Tag [TBA] | Spotify Playlist [None]

BOOK OF FARSIDE Book One: City of Fractured Dreams

Series Overview Scifantasy, apocalypse, adventure, mystery/suspense, adult. Series.

A floating, island city suffocated by civil unrest is thrown into deeper and more violent turmoil after the return of the apocalypse kills its elite fighting force in one fell swoop. Everyone seeking power leaps at the chance to seize it, all while ignoring the dark fate that made it possible. Amidst it all, two siblings, separated by eight years and an entire city, struggle to find one another and not lose themselves in the process.

Links: WIP Post | Series Tag | Ramble Tag | Book One Tag | Spotify Playlist

PATHS MADE OF STARDUST

Series Overview Fantasy, magic school, mystery/suspense, young adult. Series.

Every year, new witches flock to one of the many witch colleges across Mokeno. This year, three students arriving at Starmont College will cross paths for more than just classes. Two first-year students discover a third is held captive by her father's illegal curses and fight to free her from his grasp. If they succeed, they can bring down one of the most corrupt men in the country. If they fail, getting caught will be the least of their problems.

Links: WIP Post [Being Updated] | Series Tag | Book One Tag [TBA] | Spotify Playlist [None]

RESTORING MOONBLOOM HOLLOW

Series Overview Romance, fantasy romance, polyamory, adult. Companion series.

A dying trading post on an abandoned road receives new life when a poorly worded ad tricks an alchemist into moving to the town. Unfortunately, Arlo is not the saviour Moonbloom Hollow was looking for. Two townspeople, Samir and Winnie, don't let Arlo's grumpy exterior stop them, however. They are determined to save their town, and Arlo is determined to save themself. Maybe, working together, everyone can get what they need, and maybe fall in love along the way.

Links: WIP Post [Being Made] | Series Tag | Book One Tag | Spotify Playlist [None]

Side Projects/Minor Projects

Supernova | wip post | tag Urban fantasy, contemporary, young adult. Standalone 15-year-old Andie has never belonged. Bounced from foster home to foster home, they figure they’ll leave the system when they age out. An encounter after school one day awakens powers Andie never knew they had and quickly turns their life upside down. A foster home that cares, foster parents who know their struggles, a new school, and even new friends. But where did Andie come from? And how did they get here? They need to know, or they’ll never be able to rest.

Ghostpossible | wip post | tag Urban fantasy, new adult. Standalone When Y2K hit, it tore open a portal through the ether, letting ghosts, spooks, and all sorts of monsters through. Sixty years later, the best people to tackle the dead and ghastly are the young, and Kai Yeung, part time college student and full-time big sibling, is trying to make it big in the ghost hunting live streaming business. Money is tight, and this is their best option. Until a guy named Archie shows up and reveals that he’s been possessed by an ancient magical artifact and the very grumpy warrior trapped inside it. If Kai can get the artifact off, they can sell it and provide for their sister for years to come, but that’s only if they can get it off Archie before those chasing him can catch up.

Demon Fuckers Anonymous | wip post | tag Fantasy, dark academia, new adult, erotica. Standalone. A disabled student in their upper years at a prestigious, elitist, bullshit academy for magical grad school struggles to keep up due to exhaustion and ableism. To get back on track, they summon a demon in hopes of getting him to help. But the summon uncovers a deep conspiracy beneath the bowels of the school, and a long pent up desire to connect with someone, mind and body.

Queer Witch Cozies | wip post | tag Urban fantasy, cozy mystery, romance, adult. Series Ciar Gallagher can find things no one else can, that’s their talent as a witch. So when a frantic man comes to the door one night begging for Ciar’s help, they’re pretty sure they can do it. But there’s two problems. One, the man is a regular human, one with no knowledge of magic, and two, he’s asking Ciar to find his kidnapped daughter, and Ciar’s never tracked a person before.

Care Home for Chosen Ones | wip post | tag Urban fantasy, contemporary, adult. Standalone 25-year-old Marlowe takes great pride in their career as a care worker at Sunrise Elder Care, especially in their chats with the remaining chosen ones of a long finished prophecy. But when strange shadows begin to haunt the care home, Marlowe must summon all their knowledge and their most trusty weapon – the push broom – in order to stop the returning Dark One and save the elder chosen ones and their home before it’s too late.

Persephone Project | wip post | tag Science fiction, mystery/thriller, adult. Standalone Five years ago, Axl Thorn was arrested aboard the U.S.S. Faraday for techno-terrorism and multiple counts of first degree murder. Now, the cybernetic attacks have made a resurgence, but this time someone else is behind the keyboard. Pulled out of holding to help, Axl is kept on a short leash by their pissed off personal guard, whose job is both to keep Axl out of trouble – hah! – and to keep others from attacking them. Yet as the attacks grow stronger, the unlikely allies must cast aside their differences if they have any hope of saving the station and all those it connects to.

[fractualized]

If I may hear about the titles "Bruce Octopus" and "interrogation rules" from your wonderful WIP list? <3

Indeed you may!

"interrogation rules"

This one is a comedy batjokes fic from the POV of a new Arkham orderly, Omar, who just moved to the city. Omar is on duty one night when Batman shows up to interrogate Joker, and he's very concerned about following procedures to make sure nothing goes awry, while more seasoned staff are too lackadaisical. Omar's shift partner leaves him alone while Batman's shut up with Joker, and Omar starts to hear… suspicious noises.

From there, this scenario just repeats, with more blatantly sexual noises prompting Omar to pound on the door. Yet each time he gets a look in the room, he can't see anything besides signs of violence and starts to wonder if he's losing it.

So just a sillier idea to balance out all the others. Not sure how it ends, but probably with Omar still unable to prove anything.

"Bruce Octopus"

You picked a secret darkfic square! *red lights flash, confetti cannon goes off*

(CW: brief references to self-mutilation and dismemberment below the cut)

I haven't gotten far enough with this one to provide any good excerpts, but it's a horror story. There was a screenshot going around about a certain male octopus that is so averse to physical intimacy that rather than touch another octopus, he rips off his penis-leg and gives it to the potential partner instead. And that sent my brain a-spinning about Bruce and not just his repression, but his playboy image.

Basically Bruce spends years ignoring that Joker is who he really wants. He also spends years having hollow sex with dates as Bruce Wayne. The latter doesn't bother him so much at first— many times he finds ways around it— but the emotional emptiness that comes with it slowly eats at him anyway. Eventually he always finds ways to leave his dates high and dry, all while still repressing what he really wants. But that's what Bruce does, right? He can deal with it.

Until he gets dosed with a new fear toxin that Crane's laced with Ivy pheromones, so it's just a sex pollen that links Bruce's horniness to his fears. Bruce finds himself trying to find Joker in a daze, but is simultaneously still terrified of both making his desire real and feeling this loneliness forever. And by the time Bruce reaches Joker, he's made an irrational and horrifying decision about how to resolve this problem!

[actualbird]

hi zak i just wanna i looove your fics ur marius hcs are so canon to me and if u don’t mind me asking how do u usually outline ur fics?

hi anon!! thank u so much :DDD

and sure thing! i remember i answered this question once or twice in the past but i cant find it again in my archive ahjfkjhsfkjahs so i'll just go thru it all again (and for good reason cuz i think i my answer last time made it look like things were organized. it's not. it's Not Organized)

anyhoo, short overview answer is: craft big idea -> rough outline (summaries/short bullet points) -> detailed outline (connecting all the dots)

long detailed answer follows under the cut (wow, me using a readmore HAHAJKHSVKFJ well, my writing process is boring i dont wanna stretch dashes with this, i'll save being a nuisance for my silly little headcanons)

all screenshots will be coming from my outline for my most recent fic "standard operating procedure (x4 speedrun)" cuz it's freshest in my memory and also planning took a LOT of time here

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step 1: craft big idea

the first thing i actually do on outline doc is make the summary that i forsee it'll have on ao3. this is cuz my summary format on ao3 is [excerpt of scene] + [a few lines explaining the fic overall], and thinking of what to put here first helps me get a good grasp on what i want the fic to be in the Big Picture sense: what the mood/tone will be, whos POV it's in, what the inciting event that kicks it all off is, etc etc

the big idea, along with all the other steps in my process, are subject to change as the process goes on. for example, for the shovel talk fic, heres the first ao3 summary i made for it (version from april 3, thank u google docs version history HAHA)

this was back when i envisioned the fic as a long-ish oneshot that was mostly comedy. but as i continued thru the other steps of outlining (and realized that the comedy is more of the hook and seasoning and the real core is gonna be the feels later on that i didnt wanna spoil upfront in the summary), the ao3 summary changed to whats on the fic now

still, no matter how the ao3 summary changes, it's a great starting point for my brain to get into the rest of the fic cuz ive already got a bunch of the core stuffs for the story

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step 2: rough outline

this step is me getting into the overview of each part/chapter of the fic, the big idea but for specific chunk of story. these come either in the form of short bullet points or short short summaries of the events, and thats rlly all that is in here: events. all the details is for step 3

heres the rough outline portion for chapter 5 of standard operating procedure (x4 speedrun)

absolute barebones, but each chapter has got something along these lines going on for them (i just shared this one cuz it's the least messy to look at AJHVKJZHFVAKJHS) which keeps me on track irt what needs to be Happening.

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step 3: detailed outline. the longest and most stupidly meticulous part of my process

this step is what it says on the tin. with the smaller bigger picture of the chapter (huh, actually, im realizing that my process basically hinges on taking in the big picture and then slowly zooming in bit by bit) i then start putting down the exact things i wanna write: everything from dialog to descriptions to etc etc. and all of it is absolute wordbarf and the fact it is wordbard is Important

heres an excerpt from the detailed outline portion of chapter 2 of the fic

i put in A BUNCH. and this is important to me cuz it's at this stage i can start filling in the blanks, irt the events i put down in step 2

like in this chapter, i had 2 events to link: vyn making dumb sex innuendos -> vyn making his grand and genuine love declaration about marius. how to get from point A to point B is something i cant leave for the actual writing portion because my tendency is to blank for days, trying to find the perfect way to word it or execute it.

but in this outlining portion ive got the freedom to try out a bunch of methods in a wordbarf format that gets my thoughts in order. it doesnt have to be good or make sense just yet, as long as it connects the two events, i can refine it during actual writing

and more often than not, changes Do happen in the actual writing portion, since once that bit is going on ive got a clearer idea on how the scene is flowing and all that jazz. still, those changes are hinged upon the fact that ive got a skeleton prior, or else i'd have a really hard time trying to figure out whats not working because i hadnt put a Thing thats Not doing the job yet. i guess my penchant for doing this step that i know many people see as insane is that it's easier for me to work on something imperfect that already exists than to make something do what it needs to do on the first try

heres another portion i still consider as part of step 3: me trying to figure out how marius and giann have their argument in chapter 5

and then i basically transplanted these into the chronological outline portion so i could see how it works in the actual scene

so my full outline for this fic is a grand total of 6.7k words cuz i do the detailed outline for every single scene HAHA

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aaaaand thats how i outline, anon! i hope this sates ur curiosity :DDD

[steveyockey]

link to the poetry fic youre talking about pls?

and this, your living kiss !! blessed work of unparalleled brilliance that’s really more of a deeply resonant character study than an au. it’s like someone made a compilation post of a bunch of dean screenshots and poetry excerpts but then took 50k+ words to show you where exactly the poems fit into the character and what they wish he could take from them. also it’s just stupidly romantic in the sense of reflecting how cas fell in love with dean’s soul, in the fic dean’s poetry, before falling in love with dean! it’s like an adaptation in the purest form. I will warn you that it will make you buy a copy of on the road and probably start writing poetry again.