#no idea how to tag fic on this website anymore

[wands-natsthing]

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭?

Hellooo this is chapter 2!! I hope you enjoy it. If there's anything you guys would like to see for this little thing please let me know!! Also I will be trying to update this fic at least once a week maybe either on Wednesdays or Thursdays and then posting a request or something on the weekends. 

Feedback is more than welcomed, pls like and comment I enjoyed sm reading and replying to them and if you would liked to be tagged pls leave a comment

Warings: This is like previous high school student x teachers kinda sorta reader was 18 when that was happening tho no smut yet but will be implied in the future. That’s all i think but if you recognize anymore lemme know pls!! 

Word count: 1.3k 

Summary: You didn’t see Wanda anymore after the cafe incident but you go to the schools open house and see here there and have a talk. (I'm so sorry i'm shit at summaries)

 You didn't see Wanda around anymore after that. School was lingering around the corner, with the hot summer air turning into a cool breeze. You had comfortably settled into your new apartment, adorning it with various fall decorations. 

The open house was coming up in a few days. It was an event filled with eager students and their curious parents about the upcoming school year. Although you weren't required to go because you weren't a teacher, you wanted to. You needed to know if Wanda still worked there.

Technically, you could check the school's website and browse through the staff directory, but you wanted to see for yourself. You wanted to see with your own eyes whether the classroom still looked straight out of a Pinterest board. If the fairy lights you both had hung during a shared lunch still twinkled from the ceiling, if her favorite cinnamon and vanilla-scented candle still filled the room with its soothing aroma?

You wondered if her teaching methods had changed. Had the years hardened her patience, or did she repeat herself as often as needed? Did she still listen more than she spoke, or did she talk over students? Did her words continue to carry the same weight as they did all those years ago? Would they still keep you awake at night pondering over what she said? 

You had so many questions you wanted answers to, but simultaneously, you were afraid to know the answers. What would you do if everything had changed? What if this wasn't the same Wanda from five years ago? Physically, she looked the same, but what would that matter if she had changed from within? 

Realistically, you knew that asking her to stay exactly the same was impossible. A lot can change in five years. You should know you have grown a lot yourself, but that didn't mean you liked it. 

And who was that woman? 

You asked yourself this question for weeks after seeing her that day in the cafe, constantly fighting the urge to try and stalk her. It's not like you could, anyway. You didn't even know her name, let alone what she looked like, as her back was facing you, but that didn't stop you from obsessing over her. 

Were they together? Were they married? How did they meet? When did they meet? Was it long after you left, or did she move on quickly, and your shared turkey and cheese sandwiches didn't mean as much as you thought? 

There were just so many questions. 

The day of the open house had arrived. You sat in your car, staring at the familiarity of high school. From the outside, it looked exactly the same, with the red and blue colored letters spelling out "Go Ravens!!"

Your heart pounded in your chest as you observed the array of cars in the parking lot, heightening your anxiety. You contemplated the idea of simply driving back home, but just the possibility of seeing Wanda again was too irresistible to resist. 

The clock was ticking, and with each passing moment, your dread only seemed to grow. 

How would she react upon seeing me again? 

Would the awkwardness be palpable, or would she greet me with the same warm smile she did in the cafe? 

And what about me? How was I supposed to act around her? I certainly had to do better than last time. 

Taking a deep breath, you force yourself out of the car. The walk to the entrance felt longer than it was; each step was heavy with hesitation. You thought about the day she saved you as you entered the hallways filled with eager parents and students. The noise seemed to fade into the background as you made your way to where her classroom used to be. Your usual fast-paced walk is now turning into you dragging your feet. 

Before you even turned the corner, you heard the same laugh you did in the cafe with another voice. Your heart skipped a beat. Without thinking another thought, you turned the corner. 

There she was, Wanda, standing outside her classroom wearing black slacks and a white long-sleeved ribbed shirt tucked into them. Her hair was lightly curled down her back, and her feet adorned a pair of black loafers. 

She was engaged in conversation with a parent, and her passion for teaching was evident in how she used her hands to talk and the sparkle in her eyes. You hesitated, not wanting to interrupt but unable to pull yourself away. The parent soon left, nodding and offering a polite goodbye. 

As they moved, you saw her again, the redhead from the cafe. 

What was she doing here?  

She was leaning against the doorframe, a soft smile on her lips as she watched Wanda interact with the parent. 

Your eyes met. She turned to tap Wanda to get her attention and pointed at you. You stood there awkwardly, unsure of how to approach her. 

When she looked at you, the recognition on her face was immediate, and a warm, genuine smile spread across her face. "It's been a long time," she said softly while grabbing at your hands, using the same soft tone she had last spoken to you on graduation day.  

"Yeah, it has. Too long," you replied, the weight of the years settling between you both. You stood there for a moment, staring before you were brought back by the sound of the woman's voice that was standing next to her.

"Hey, Wanda, I can take over here for a while if you guys want to catch up."

"Are you sure? I mean, I know it's a little busy, " she asked, looking around at all the parents and students.  

"Yes, go. I'll be fine here; I can handle it, " the red-headed woman reassured her while pushing her farther in your direction. 

"Okay, then let's go somewhere less crowded," Wanda said while leading you away. 

As you walked to a quieter area, neither of you said a word. The silence wasn't necessarily awkward, but it wasn't comfortable either. Inside, you were freaking out. 

What were you going to say? What if she told you to leave and that she never wanted to see you again?

It wasn't like you could fulfill her request if that's what she wanted. You needed this job; You could not go back home. 

The less crowded place turned out to be a janitor's closet. The smell of dirty mop water and ammonia was prevalent in the air. 

Wanda turned to lock the door. Once inside, you both looked at each other, wondering what to say.

"You look really good, so grown up," she whispers more to herself than to you while taking her left hand to brush a piece of hair behind your ear before hesitating and bringing it back down to her side. 

You noticed that when she brought her hand back to her side, a silver ring with an oval-shaped diamond lay upon her ring finger. Has she gotten married?

"Thank you, so do you. Look really good, I mean," you stutter over yourself.

Wanda blushes with a slight chuckle, "Thank you."

"Of course," you smile.

Tension lingered in the air as both of you had questions but had no idea how to ask them or if you even should.

Wanda is the one to break that tension.

"So, um, not that I'm not super happy to see you because I am, but what are you doing here?"

Excitement swirled inside, hearing that she was happy to see you.

"I, uh, I got a job here as a library media assistant. I will be working in the media center, you know, checking out books and teaching computer programs."

"Really? That's great. You always loved the school library. I remember how you used to beg me to bring the class at least twice a week."

"Yeah, I'm really excited about it."

While you were trying to be present in the conversation, you really had a one-track mind.

"Who's the woman that was standing outside the door with you?" you asked.

You can tell Wanda hadn't been expecting your question by the way her eyes widened.

"Oh um that's Natasha, After you graduated I started teaching a co-taught english class and well she's the co-teacher." She paused before confirming the suspicion you had earlier. 

"She's also my wife…" 

♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎

Lemme know whatcha thinkkkk

@nebthetautora @esposadejoyhuerta @w4ndsversew0nder

@skz-xii

[yeyinde]

thank you for tagging me @ivymarquis ! i debated between this, the regency fic (fleshed out), or one of the other Price fics i'm working on (home from college for the summer and seducing hot older neighbour Price whomst you had a crush on since sixteen (aka daddy issues, the playbook), DomPrice, etc), but i think the Soap fic will probably be finished before all of those. so, here is the baby trap piece with Soap.

nothing smutty but this def captures their odd, imbalanced dynamic perfectly, i think:

“And you have no cellphone? No satellite phone?”

“Ye can check it—” he makes a flippant motion toward the glove box in front of you. “Deader than ever.”

You hesitate only briefly. Long enough to level him with a searching look that yields no results (every expression hidden behind a thick, unruly forest of overgrown hair jutting out to his Adam's apple) before you reach for the compartment, gingerly pulling it open, and—

Sometimes, things get overlooked by their surroundings. Swallowed in the vacuum. Blending seamlessly into the muddle, the commotion. Or hidden. Can you spot the mountain lion in this tumble of rock and bush?

This isn't like that. 

It sits on top of a manila folder. Sleek black and cold silver. You're not terribly well-versed in guns—the extent of your knowledge stemming mostly from formulaic crime shows aired late at night; CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds—but you recognise this one instantly. Some sort of handgun. Police issued, you think. It's bigger than you'd expected. Looks heavier, too. 

Your heart stutters. The air galloping out of your lungs in a stammering rush. 

He makes a noise, soft and nonchalant, as if keeping handguns in the glove box of his old, burnt umbre truck is perfectly normal. 

“Fer protection,” he mumbles. You catch the jerk of his chin in your periphery. “Forgot I had it in here. Been usin’ the rifle for huntin’ mostly. Or the shotgun.”

Three guns. You swallow. “Why—” your voice comes out in a brittle whisper. You clear your throat. Pretend it helps, that you don't feel as vulnerable as you sound right now. “Why, um, why do you need three?”

“Not fae around ‘ere, are ye?” He echoes your words from earlier with a wry twist of his mouth, eyes slanting in the sunlight. “Tha’,” he takes his hand off your thigh to jab his finger at the handgun. “Is fer wolverines.” His index finger falls, his thumb juts out. He jerks it over his shoulder. “Tha’ is fer huntin’. The shotgun back home is fer bears.” 

You try to move out of the way when his hand falls back to your thigh, but the pain radiating up your leg immobilizes you. There's not much you can do in this situation but endure.

Military. Wounded in action. Three guns. Touchy. 

You're not sure what to think. It would be easier if you couldn't. 

“What do you hunt?” You ask instead, glancing out the window to the barren landscape rolling out around you. There doesn't seem to be much in the jagged hills, towering mountains. 

“Gettin’ hungry? Donnae worry, doe. Go’ tha’ pesky hare I was tryin’ tae shoot on the ledge fer dinner tonight.” 

It's not much of a comfort. The idea of being injured—by accident, he claims—to such an extent over a rabbit makes you feel a little sick. 

“That's it?” 

“I can make a mean steak outta anythin’. Stews fer tougher meat. Fish, too—whitefish, arctic grayling, and lake trout. Learned how tae make a nasty fishfry from the locals in Nahanni Butte. Bannock, too. Got berries ‘round ma cabin. Caribou, Moose. Taste better in tacos or burgers. Mountain goat, Dall’s sheep. Been eatin’ better ‘ere than ah did at home.” 

“And you're—just allowed to hunt them?” The website advised of a permit through some special outfit needed to hunt when you requested your pass into the park. Said that only aboriginals were allowed to do so. “You're not—”

“Aye,” he cuts you off with a small nod. “No huntin’ in the park. But. We're not in the park anymore.”

“Where are we?” You ask again, firmer this time. 

“I told ye. Nearly home.”

“And where is home?” 

The way he sucks his teeth makes you recoil slightly. Wet. Irritated. As if he's tired of this conversation already. 

“Close.”

You don't let his flat tone deter you. “Are we—are we still in the Northwest Territories?”

“Thereabouts.” 

It's not an answer. It doesn't reassure you in the slightest. 

You open your mouth to say so, words curling on your tongue when he jerks his chin toward the handgun, brow furrowed. 

“Thought ye wanted tae check on the satellite phone.”

His tone is severe. A growl curdling the ends, pitching it down, down. Displeasure, irritation, blooms in the gnarled petals of witch hazel when he narrows them into slits. 

[midnightsnyx]

for smau… mat barzal just gushing over his girls (wife and daughters) all the time to the point where he literally doesn’t even post hockey anymore. it’s just his girls 25/8 and his teammates are always commenting and chirping at him.

love love love this idea!!! i took the name nora from my mat barzal fic and just picked the other from a baby name website. also, i dont know many islanders so theres only a few lol

honestly i kinda wanna take this and turn it into an AU lol

disclaimer: photo credit to all original owners. they were found on google/pinterest/etc. requests for blurbs & instagram edits are open!

barzal97

liked by dawson1417, yourusername, and others

barzal97 best feeling in the world.

view all comments

al_rom26 second that! ⤷ barzal97 ✌️

user1 good luck this season!!!

ny_islanders 😎

titobeauvi91 miss you brother ⤷ barzal97 miss you too! see you on the ice✌️ ⤷ user2 screaming crying throwing up

mattymarts17 there will be a better feeling one day bud

barzal97

liked by titobeauvi91, bohorvat, and others

barzal97 missing this girl

view all comments

user1 since when does Mat have a gf?? ⤷titobeauvi91 that's his wife 👀 ⤷user2 SINCE WHEN IS MAT BARZAL MARRIED

ynbarzal miss you too ❤️ ⤷user3 brb going to stalk her profile

bohorvat young love

al_rom26 yeah man you're kinda depressing when your wifey isn't here ⤷barzal97 am not ⤷mattymarts17 he's right

barzal97

liked by ynbarzal, _connorbedard, and others

tagged: yourusername

barzal97 my wife's been upgraded to baby mama

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pagertrain did yn approve this caption? ⤷ynbarzal no she did not.

joshanderson_77 congrats guys!

user1 omg awwwww

titobeauvi91 can't wait to be upgraded to uncle ⤷barzal97 you'll have to visit us

user2 baby mama lmao love it

ynbarzal can you come make me a sandwich ⤷barzal97 I am in the next room?? ⤷ynbarzal too much energy ⤷bohorvat don't question pregnant women bud ⤷user3 she's so cute omg

barzal97

liked by ynbarzal, ny_islanders, and others

barzal97 Welcome to the world Nora. Beyond thankful for my wife❤️

tagged: ynbarzal

titobeauvi91 booking my plane ticket now ⤷barzal97 ✌️

ny_islanders Congrats to the Barzal's!

mattymarts17 we're so happy for you guys. ⤷barzal97 thanks man

user2 still can't believe mat barzal is married and has a kid

al_rom26 wow, congrats guys!

ynbarzal love you and our little family <3 ⤷barzal97 love you ❤️

barzal97

liked by ny_islanders, ynbarzal, and others

tagged: ynbarzal

barzal97 like mama like daughter

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bohorvat Holly said to bring Nora for a playdate with the kids soon ⤷ynbarzal i'll text her!

user1 she is literally living the life we all want ⤷user2 fr

al_rom27 workin on #2 yet? ⤷ynbarzal get outta here ⤷barzal97 👀

titobeauvi91 do you even play hockey anymore🙄 ⤷barzal97 full time dad ⤷ynbarzal he's in dad mode

user3 🥺🥺🥺

mattymarts17 she's growing like a weed

barzal97

liked by bohorvat, al_rom26, and others

tagged: ynbarzal

barzal97 Nora is getting upgraded to big sister!

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titobeauvi91 growing your own hockey team so you don't have to play? ⤷barzal97 you know it

user1 no wayyy ⤷ynbarzal yes wayyy

ny_islanders Can't wait to see Nora as a big sis!

al_rom26 you just should change your username to "mat barzal family fan account" ⤷ynbarzal tell me about it

barzal97

liked by ynbarzal, ny_islanders, and others

tagged: ynbarzal

barzal97 everyone meet Rosie

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user1 girl dad!!!

mattymarts17 how's Nora adjusting? ⤷barzal97 she doesn't want anyone else to hold her Rosie so we're working on that

titobeauvi91 2 down, 18 to go ⤷ynbarzal Anthony, get out of here

barzal97

liked by bohorvat, colecaufield, and others

tagged: ynbarzal

barzal97 thought playing hockey was the best feeling in the world. turned out, it wasn't even close.

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titobeauvi91 that is so sweet... I kind of love it

ynbarzal we love you so much ❤️

ny_islanders beautiful family!

user1 literally crying ⤷user2 same omg

al_rom26 ok this is officially a mat barzals family fan account

mattymarts17 I told you bud

[hircines-hunter]

20 Questions for Fic Writers!

sorry let me post this on the RIGHT blog! not sure if the other tags stay if I delete it but. Thank you @rakaiawriter for tagging me! Tagging @thequeenofthewinter @umbracirrus @madamefluffnstuff @bostoniangirl21

How many works do you have on A03? 18 works (mostly bc I dont post my oneshots separately).

What's your total word count? 174k on AO3 (I have a lot that is NOT posted and a bunch that’s been scrapped. Like probably another 100k+ more words lol

What fandoms do you write for? TES, Dragon’s Dogma (Eventually one day I’ll write my One Piece things)

Top 5 fics by kudos? Just a Ruin (and Mudcrab) Advocate  54 Kudos Coldfire Codex  29 Kudos Roar of a Wolfborn 25 Kudos Mages’ Guild Fiasco: Journal of Vestige Liselle 22 Kudos Shadows Preserve Us 22 Kudos

Do you respond to comments? I try to! I do keep them in my email though! <3

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? It is not posted anymore, but I wrote out a miniseries for Sifkni’s past. So, if you are reading the newly updated version of Roar of a Wolfborn, you probably never got to experience the angst that was Howls of Whiterun (If you are interested and want to read stuff from 2014/2015 send me a DM I can send the document of trash :3)

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Rage of Dragons and the Vestige - It’s the 3rd part in Liselle’s story. It covers Northern Elsweyr. She gets married to that old man, Abnur Tharn. Gets herself a Khajiiti Wedding bc that’s where they were.

Do you get hate on fics? I have in the past. For my old crack fic for Kingdom Hearts. I’ve recently found my one Dragon’s Dogma fic on a stupid website that says your writing is shitty or whatever. LOL I’m more angry about it, but like, it was written for fun… nothing serious my dudes. ( I can also supply this link but honestly its stupid.) The fic was written in 2014? 2015? And the review was posted in 2019?? XD

Do you write smut? I have but I will not write it anymore. It makes my physically ill sometimes. I get really bad anxiety over it.

Craziest crossover? I have a fic from like…2001? That was just a bunch of my husbandos from all my favorite animes falling in love with me. :3c, but nothing recent. Crossovers are not my things.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? YES! OMG! Someone stole MY fic idea and then TRIED to say I PLAGIARIZED THEM! The absolute! NERVE!

Have you ever had a fic translated? Not that I am aware…. I’ve had people use my translations of doujinshi to make more translations?

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes. It was quickly dropped due to his time constraints and low interest in TES at the time. Attempted to write it myself, but it wasn’t the same.

All-time favorite ship? Abnur Tharn x Liselle Yvette Farkas x Sifkni

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Frostfalls of Solstheim - I dont know why I EVEN started this, but not sure I will finish it Shadows Preserve Us - I hate this so much. I love Ragna and I love Mercer, but its been so hard to focus on this now. I might rewrite one day.

What are your writing strengths? Fuck if I know.

What are your writing weaknesses? I think I hate it sometimes? I procrastinate A LOT!

Thoughts on dialogue in another language? As someone who inserts random Ta’agra, Jel and Dovahzul into their fics…. :)

First fandom you ever wrote in? Slayers Next??

Favorite fic you've written? Just a Ruin (and Mudcrab) Advocate or Roar of a Wolfborn

[cookinguptales]

I almost wrote a small essay in the tags of that "fanwork as content" post but realized that it would probably be better off as its own post. So now it's... a large, rambling essay. lmao

Like... to preface, AO3 is great, it's a great resource for fandom, it feels good to have a centralized location that works well. That said, there has been a steady decline in how I've felt treated as an author since we switched to an archive-only model of fic.

For people who are newer to fandom, pre-AO3 (and even in the early days of AO3), people often crossposted fic. Sometimes to websites, sometimes to journals (particularly LJ/DW), sometimes to communities, sometimes to kink memes...

AO3, while certainly one of the primary places you could upload stuff, wasn't necessarily where you would get most of your primary interaction about your fic. It was always designed to be an archive, not a social media site.

But since we moved to an archive model (and away from LJ/DW) I've noticed that fic gets almost no traction on sites that actually are intended for social interaction. I'm not saying it's easy for any creator in fandom, but god. The numbers on fic posts are just downright demoralizing.

I don't mean to sound arrogant here, but I think I'm a pretty good writer. People seem to really connect with my fic. In multiple fandoms, I've written fic that most people have read and enjoyed, to the point where people have just taken it for granted that if someone reads fic in the fandom, they've probably read something I've written.

All this is to say, I know I've written fics that people like. I know I've written fics that people connect with. And I know those posts still only get like 5 notes sometimes on Tumblr.

I'm proud of my work and I'm happy that it's gotten such a warm welcome on AO3!!! But there are times when I feel like all this means that I could write literally the best fic on earth and still no one would talk to me. People still wouldn't want to interact with me on social media sites.

I wrestled for... honestly, a long time with all this. I had a hard time putting into words why this felt so uh. Bad. Was I just self-conscious about my own writing? Yes, but that's a separate issue. Was I just jealous of others' popularity? Sort of, but it went deeper than that.

I had an issue with a fandom that I don't write in anymore. I got a lot of fanart based on my fic, which was great, which was amazing, there were even fan comics made. Visual media travels better on social media than fic. That's just a fact. And I had to watch as repeatedly, art based on the fic I wrote got thousands of notes while my fic got maybe 12. And I realized the power of social media vs. AO3 because it did get to audiences that weren't familiar with my fic and people started to give those artists credit for my ideas.

I remember watching the tags of those posts because it was occasionally the only way I'd hear feedback on what I'd written (imagine getting one comment and 5 notes on a fic, then seeing dozens of people in the tags of fanart saying that it was their favorite fic in the fandom! it was weird!) and seeing the tags gradually devolve into "oh, this is such a neat idea for an AU, artist OP" or "wow this dialogue is perfect [artist] I love it" and like

It's weird to feel so happy because so many people are enjoying your work in a transformative way but also so unhappy because you have been completely removed from the equation. No one... even knows you wrote those things anymore. You have been removed in favor of a more "marketable" version of your work.

It's uh. It's a bad feeling. I stopped writing in that fandom eventually.

So again, I felt like... idk, like there was no point in me even trying. Because I could write the best fic on earth and still somehow get erased as a person. People would want my "content," but they wouldn't want me.

I think that's what hurt my feelings so much.

What I've realized is this: what I miss is the sense of community. On LJ, you could post a fic, cross-post it to a community, and there would be comments that would become conversations that would become lasting friendships. Not always! But often. I still talk to some people daily who I met through fic on LJ over a decade ago.

In the archive model, there has almost become a death of the author. The me on social media and the me on AO3 are very different; more importantly, it's almost like it's viewed as the "me" is on social media, but the work is on AO3. I am absent. There is only the fic, not the person who created it.

And that's okay, but when you try to combine those two things on social media and it goes over like a lead balloon... idk. There's an odd sense of dehumanization. I don't mean it in like... I don't know, a dramatic human rights violation kind of way. More that I literally feel like less of a human person the way I interact with fandom these days. Like I'm no longer a person who writes fic as a way to connect with my fellow fans and more a "content creator" whose human side is separate from my creation and never the twain shall meet.

(And I'll admit it feels especially galling to be forced into the capitalistic "content creator" box when it's not even a thing I can make money off of, lmao. It's like the worst of both worlds. I feel like if I can't make money off fanfic, I should at least be exempt from capitalistic social trends during its creation.)

I'm not so much complaining about my current fandom; WWDITS has actually been one of the best fandoms for interaction I've been in since the birth of AO3. That's one of the reasons I keep writing stories for fellow fans to read -- many of those fans feel like my friends, and I want to make them happy.

I think that poster was right when they talked about how the pivot from fan to "content creator" has fucked up fandom. There is this sense that we should be treating fandom like a job, often a fast-paced one with no pay. There is this idea that we should be separated from our "content" like you might a worker from their product, and blah blah blah alienation of labor, Marx, I get it, but damn if that isn't a shitty thing to do to your fellow fans who are making art for the love of art.

There are so many things I do love about AO3. I like having a central, organized place to put my fic. I like not having to worry about my work being lost to the ages. I like having an organized comments section I can return to on bad days to cheer myself up.

But I don't like the way that fic has kind of been relegated to a portion of fandom where people aren't particularly social. I don't like the way that authors are separated from their writing. I hear people complain sometimes about A/Ns because god forbid an author leave any trace of their actual personality to distract you from their content.

I can't have DMs with someone on AO3. I can't add someone to my friends list. There are no "beloved mutuals." There is just my work and the people who are kind enough to comment on it, even if they never actually engage with me elsewhere.

It's... a weird feeling, to feel so loved and unloved at the same time. Like you keep writing trying to make something good enough that people will talk to you but like. That's really not how it works. lmao. The best fic in the world won't make you friends anymore. It won't make people see you as a fellow fan rather than a pen name under a title.

My fic is some of the most personal stuff in the entire world, but my personhood is stripped away from it. It's so fucking weird. People like my fic, but they don't like me. They remember my stories but not the person who told them. It's bizarre. It feels like having your life and experiences strip-mined for content, and then the rest of it is just... left behind.

Frankly... I work in the publishing industry IRL and I have had opportunities to write professionally. Real, tangible opportunities. But I turned them down because I've seen it, the way that trying to fit such an intensely personal art form into a capitalistic framework can be exhausting, dehumanizing, and stressful. I don't want that for my work. Fandom has always been an escape from that.

But now fandom is starting to conform to those exact same capitalistic frameworks (and ofc without any kind of capitalistic compensation) and I hate to see it. It's so stressful. I feel like we're losing a lot of what makes fandom fun for writers and we're getting pretty much nothing in return. I'm not surprised that so many writer friends I know in fandom have quit.

like damn, I just wanna have fun with a bunch of dumbshits who love to overanalyze vampires and cry over their dumbshit shenanigans, not take on a second job. one that, I reiterate, I am not being paid for.

(Note: I am not asking for payment, just that I not be treated like a worker. The tradeoff for treating someone like a worker is that they get compensated for it. If I'm not being compensated, no one gets to treat me like this is my fucking job.)

It's a weird thing, because for a lot of people, fandom has become their job. Fanartists at cons selling fanart, youtube essayists making money off videos, professional cosplayers with sponsorships, etc. And so fandom is becoming more corporate, more capitalistic, more marketable. It's frustrating for those who don't want to capitalize on our fannish output, and doubly frustrating for people who are legally unable to do so.

I'm realizing as I write this that I'm most upset about the nonconsensual capitalization of fandom, particularly when imposed on people who are unable to access the very meager benefits of capitalism. I didn't ask for any of this!

Feels like when I'd be forced to go to assemblies for the US military when I was in high school. Like I'm morally opposed to all this but I'm also not physically fit for "service" anyway, so it's doubly insulting. I feel like I've been opted into the, ah, corporatization of fandom when I'm not even eligible for employee benefits. None of this should even apply to me! ;;

Okay!! I'm all het up now so I'm gonna go eat lunch and go for a walk! No monetization of hobbies, only trees.

[possessingtheproperspirit]

WIP Tag

Thanks for the tag @mppmaraudergirl @emeralddoeadeer @isahorcrux @alittlebitofeverything23 @wearingaberetinparis! Sorry it's taken me an entire decade to actually do anything.

List the titles your top five priorities for WIP updates (link your fics for new readers!)

An upcoming scene, event, or detail in each fic that you're looking forward to writing

Bonus: make a poll for your followers to vote on which top 5 WIP they are most excited to see an update on!

Then tag 10 writer friends!

I fear the optimism that I may even have five WIPs is too much, but we shall see...

Titles

The Price We Pay - Chapter 30. A Marauders canon fic with highs and lows and I can't believe it's been 30 chapters.

Murder on the Dance Floor - Chapter 6. The last chapter of this fic that will come so late, literally nobody will care anymore. Jily Strictly Come Dancing AU.

untitled friends with benefits fic. Jily canon diversion shenanigans, Order era but not depressing. I think.

untitled Lily-goes-to-fix-up-a-stately-home-and-falls-in-love-with-the-heir-you'll-never-guess-who-he-is fic. Jily magic AU. I think.

Upcoming Scenes and Details

Chapter 30 will feature Sirius' 18th birthday party, and we all know that's where the fun is. Also a future chapter (might be 32) will see the return of an old face, someone I've been itching to get back to for a while now...

I deleted a whole chunk of text from this doc which were snippets from 'articles' about Snape being exposed as an incel after a website gets hacked. It was fun, but ultimately distracted from the main point of the chapter, which is how to describe two people who want to snog each other desperately, trying to get through a showdance to I'd Do Anything For Love by Meat Loaf.

Some of it is written, but not much. It started off as an angsty fwb situation (to no one's surprise) but has morphed into a fun-but-pining fwb deal. It contains James reminding Lily of their encounter with the description, "You know - you, me, the screaming orgasms."

I have sort of planned it? but not written a single word, so it might not happen. But I used to love those trashy, very English chick lit books when I was younger, and one I enjoyed in particular started percolating in my head, suggesting itself as a Jily au. We'll see if anything comes of it!

A poll? How do I do a poll?!

Pretty sure everyone and their second cousin has done this already, but I'll tag some people anyway, feel free to ignore! @thequibblah @clare-with-no-i @oyprongs @kay-elle-cee @sunshinemarauder @nodirectionhome-ao3

[transmonstera]

In regards to your posts about ao3 and how vile it is in actuality, I wanna say thank you. I've not put much thought into the website I've been using but this has put things into perspective. I no longer want my work (work that I am proud of) on a website like that. Ao3 doesn't align with my values and I'm assuming many other people's who use the site.

Do you have any suggestions on a better site everyone can use?

(Side note: I absolutely adore your work!)

sure thing!

while there are no websites quite like ao3 in terms of filtering, curation, bookmarks, likes/comments etc there are a few alternatives out there!

Wattpad - I know people make fun of this one because it's where all the rpf for bands went back in the day but it is still operating and many people use it so you'll likely just switch viewers from ao3 to wattpad pretty seamlessly

Tumblr - you can always post directly on here! there is a character limit i believe of 4k so it's great for showing previews or even cutting up a small fic into parts 1, 2, 3, etc. a little clunky but it's an option if you only write short stuff! (Twitter threads can even be an option for this though again, a lil restrictive and works better for super short works!)

Google Docs + Linktree - if you have a linktree account you can always just link a view only (make sure people can't edit!) google doc of the fic! having the fics on a linktree still give people the ability to see all of your work in one place, and you can even see on linktree the click statistics for each fic! while it doesn't give the reader the ability to like/comment, you can always encourage those who do like it to leave a message on your tumblr!

Discord (or any groupchat tbh!) - similar to above you can always set up a discord server and post your fics view docs links there! it gives a curated experience and you can see the comments of people directly in the server

AO3 has seemingly made people believe that each and everyone one of their fan creations must be thrown out into the void where you hope everyone sees it and loves it. I think this has really stifled people's abilities to truly be creative in terms of making content of their favourite medias (and even with transitioning to making original work!) because you may subconsciously be adhering the current trends and whatnot of everyone else, even if you don't really like it yourself! I mean look at how common modern/high school aus still are today when I have yet to meet anyone who actually likes them. Look at how many books that have been published lately that painfully follow AO3 tag systems, where they don't even havea blurb anymore and instead just have "friends to lovers meet blah blah blah! read it now!". (Not to mention the quality of the books being published is fucking atrocious)

AO3 has ruined publishing and I am being entirely serious about that.

But back to where you wanna go with your fics now. Don't be afraid to restructure how you interact with your hobbies! It doesn't have to be so exposed and vulnerable to anyone and everyone having their say on it. I used to participate massively in fandom and I'll be honest, it made me miserable. I constantly felt like I couldn't keep up, that my ideas were wrong because another idea was more popular, and I really struggled. So I took about a hundred steps back and only interact with the media I like through my friends who also like it! And it's a lot better! You may not get hundreds and thousands of likes on fics from here on out if that's what you're used to, but I guarantee you'll have more meaningful interactions that you actually hold dear to you far more than any "a guest has left a kudos on your work" notification.

(Also just a pre-emptive thing of anyone who wants to defend AO3 on this post because "it's an integral part of fandom!" or "they need that much money because they run a site with no ads!", or you want to try and tell me that the fics on there are fine because it's fiction regardless of what the fics is (including literal fucking CSAM), just know you are completely unserious and I don't value a single thing you say. So don't even try it. How about you donate to a marginalised person's mutual aid for the first time in your life and you'll calm down.)

[onlygenxhere]

20 questions for writers

Tagged by @floating-in-the-blue. Thanks friend!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

42

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

526,945

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Julie and the Phantoms and one Teen Wolf

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Falling Toward the Future(264)

2. Julie and Luke’s Book of Dares(257)

3. Burn Baby Burn(159)

4. A Bigger Table(149)

5. Eat the Chips(145)

Falling Toward the Future was my first long fic in the jatp fandom. It’s a college AU that pulls from my own college experiences. I made the plan for it as I went along and learned a lot about what I like about writing and that I should have planned better before I started. It was still a lot of fun and I will always look back on those six-ish months fondly.

Julie and Luke’s Book of Dares was my second long fic I just finished in January. I wrote quite a bit of it before I started posting and this was my version of Dash and Lilly’s Book of Dares with the jatp characters so I had that to go by as far as plot goes and I think I kept to that as closely as I could with these characters.

Burn Baby Burn is the 6th story in the Found Family Fluff series and my first attempt at “sexual content” It’s Julie and Luke making out in a hammock. Very little dialogue. I was so nervous about posting this at the time. I’ve written WAY more explicit things since.

A Bigger Table is the 2nd story in the Found Family Fluff series and was inspired by buying a new dining room table and wishing I had four ghost boys to carry it in the house. It’s told from Ray’s pov.

Eat the Chips was my very first fic in the Jatp fandom and the smallest word count at only 752. This little series is the only “cannon” one with the boys still ghosts and still seems to be a fan favorite even though the series is pretty much done in my eyes. But never say never, ya know.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes

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

I don’t really do sad/angsty endings. But the saddest/angstiest fic overall I’ve written would have to be As Long as We Have Each Other. It’s a miscarriage fic and I cry every time I read it but it’s got a happy ending.

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

Everything has a happy ending. I honestly can’t pick.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Never any hate. A few “I didn’t like that thing.”

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

Yes. It’s mostly M/F. One M/F/M (Rukebox) and I have a M/M (Willex) coming at some point.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I have not but if I ever had a good idea I certainly would.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Also not to my knowledge, and I’d hope someone would tell me/ask me if they did that.

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

I haven’t although that would be fun.

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

I mean I’m going with ships I’ve written and say Julie/Luke and I used to run a Willow/Oz website back in the day.

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

Never say never but I’ve got a couple that aren’t really talking to me anymore. A Peterpatterlina one where Julie and Luke start secretly “dating” although everyone knows but both of them are feeling guilty about it because of Reggie. I just don’t know where it’s going so there it sits.

Then I have another Juke meet in a different time period like my Royality Maybe I Could Be Yours which is 90% smut but the idea that they were always meant to be together came up when I was writing it and I thought maybe it could be a series. We’ll see…

16. What are your writing strengths?

I hate these questions. I don’t know. Even in job interviews I never know how to answer this because what I think I’m good at others may think I’m shit at. I will say the parts I LIKE are coming up with funny lines or heartbreaking lines. Also a really good visual where I’ve managed to describe the scene exactly how it is in my head. Doesn’t happen as often as I’d like but sometimes I’ll get a comment that “saw” what I was trying to show and it just makes me so happy.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Punctuation, hands down. (and spelling but word helps with that) It’s definitely better the more I’ve been writing but woof, I am not naturally good at it.

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

As long as it’s not too much. Especially in the jatp verse there should be a little Spanish here and there but I’m not a native speaker so I use it sparingly.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

My favorite is almost always the one I’m currently working on so it’s the new series. The Miraculous Files of Mariposaport, Main(by Luke Patterson S.E.O.)

So it's the first fic in that series, It’s the End of the World as We Know It.

No pressure tagging, @wishfulstargazer, @writerownstory, @jackoneillistheman, and @jmrothwell

[littleragondin]

SHIPPER TAG GAME

I was tagged by @lurkingshan, thank you very much (´꒳`)♡ My memory is not the best so some of these are going to be a little challenging lol but let’s try!

1. What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care anymore?

I don’t know how to “not care” about things I once loved I’m afraid lol. But ships that consumed my life that I now don’t think about very often and am more “what a good surprise to see you here, I still like you" than "oh you are back to consume my life for the next two to fifteen months" are most of the things I watched when I was younger: Logan/Max from Dark Angel, Sam/Jack and Daniel/Jack from Stargate:SG1, Jim/Blair from The Sentinel, Piper/Leo from Charmed, Tim/Tony and Gibbs/Tony from NCIS, etc...

2. Which ship would you consider your first one?

Hmmm… I think the first time I felt emotionally invested in two characters ending up together – in a “watching religiously and asking my mom to tape the wedding episode because we would be traveling on the day it was to be diffused” kind of way – is Fran Fine and Maxwell Sheffield from The Nanny.

We knew they were end game, but STILL!

3. Your first fanfic belonged to which couple?

Oh, good question… I came into fandom via manga and while they were not the ones I shipped the hardest (I was a hardcore Gaara/Lee fan ♡♡♡), I think the first fics I read were NaruSasu and/or Kakashi/Iruka – on personal fan websites.

The first shipping fic I wrote hmmm… I think it actually was some Kakashi/Iruka? I tumbled into fandom really fast once I found it so it’s a bit of a blur lol but yeah, pretty sure it was something Naruto related.

4. Do you remember the first couple you saw a fanart over?

… Not really, but probably either something from One Piece (Zorro/Luffy or Zorro/Sanji) or Neon Genesis Evangelion – those two were the very first manga I read (circa 2002), and I vaguely remember checking them on Google Image for my favorite hobby: “collecting images from the internet that I would then organize carefully in the computer’s little folders” so I must have found some cute stuffs that I didn’t even realize were shipping…

5. Did you ever get into ship discourse?

No. While I generally have strong opinions about stuff, I am pretty non confrontational and I’m here for a good time, not to fight with people, so I avoid it. I’ve seen stuffs that I’m glad I didn’t poke with a ten feet pole. On top of that, I am a huge believer and practitioner of “shipping one character with more than one person (in a polycule or not)” so ship wars have never made much sense to me. Even in qL, even when I really adore the endgame couple(s), I often like thinking of the options, the what-if, etc. so fighting about that does not sound appealing lol

6. Did you used to have any no-otp or have it currently?

Talking about my very first fandoms, I never wanted Sakura with either Naruto nor Sasuke lol I loved her, but hated the idea of either options. Still not sold on it tbh. I also really hated the idea of Hermione with either of the other two lsdfj same reason, I loved her so much, and I loved that they were friends!

I have ships I am uninterested in but I always feel like notp is a little stronger than that, so I don’t think I have any currently.

7. Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read?

Oof, okay, life does come back full circle lol I binged the One Piece Live Action at the start of the month, so the last fics I’ve read since were all Zorro/Luffy.

8. Currently, do you have any OTPs?

DO I EVER?? I have OTP that have been in my heart since I’m 10. And, I mean, by virtue of watching so much QL I have an OTP in every couple I watch get together for 8 to 12 episodes, I’m a big, mushy romantic. Also I will daydream about ships from about anything I watch so…But! My current OTP, the one that owns my heart, that gets me to literally squeal in delight, makes me gasp and cry and twirl my hair while kicking my feet is Nomoto and Kasuga from She loves to cook and she loves to eat!

I love them sooooo much it’d be ridiculous if I had any sort of dignity about that kind of things (I don’t) (*´▽`*)

9. Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together?

Ok you know what? I rewatched some episodes with my mom over my christmas break so I will say yes, Jack O’Neil and Samantha Carter in Stargate:SG1. Yeah, yeah I don’t care that he is her commanding officer and blablabla.

After all this teasing, damn, we could have gotten a little something something when the team finally breaks alright?

10. Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting?

I can’t really think of anything right now to be honest… I feel like anything I’d feel strongly enough to remember I would still dislike now, though, to be frank.

11. Do you have any ship that, in the past, was considered normal but now you would be canceled over?

I guess? I mean, I came to fandom and to QL via yaoi – wich I started reading around 2005, so you can imagine the amount of “problematic” content I enjoyed. Age gaps (I was a HUGE fan of Naono Bohra who like those a lot), power imbalance, dub-con (one of the first yaoi translated in France was Gravitation), and so on and so forth.

12. What was your favorite crack ship?

I can’t answer that one, mainly because I used to have so many of them (I still do, don’t look at me). I got into superheros comics when I was something like 18 and I did RP with a friend where looking back, it seems like our main game was to pair everyone no matter how silly it might have been. I guess in those, I still have a fondness for everything we did that crossed the DC/Marvel divide. We also played a lot with those random ship generators? They gave you two characters and you tried to find a way to make it work. I still like those!

13. Who is the couple you read more fanfics of?

Across all of time?? I… have no idea… like really none. Recently, it’s probably any variations of 3zuns from The Untamed, but for the early years I could not say.

14. What most of your ships usually have in common?

The love I have for them (*¯︶¯*)

Joke aside, I’m not sure? I’m a simple creature, I’m easily swayed, if there is something compelling in the dynamic, I will be interested. I like them sweet but I also have pretty toxic ships, so I think the main thing for me is that there is something interesting going on that makes me want to root for them and/or think about them and how they work together.

15. What do you absolutely hate in a ship?

I need to believe there is a way for them to genuinely love each other. But sometimes, ~the vibes~ just feel rancid to me and I can’t get into it, I can’t explain more than that ^^”

I'll tag, if you feel so inclined: @benkaaoi @troubled-mind @bengiyo @gillianthecat @iguessitsjustme and @heretherebedork

[ollieofthebeholder]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks @fridayyy-13th for the tag!

How many works do you have on Ao3? 64!

What's your total Ao3 word count? Holy...! Uh, 1,700,611. (I should've guessed, I've got some ultra-long fics on there, but Jesus Christ on a cracker.)

What fandoms do you write for? These days, mostly The Magnus Archives. I've also written for Star Trek (primarily the AOS/Kelvin films), the MCU/Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Cut & Run, and RQG. I've got a couple of very, very old Sherlock fics, a couple PJO fics from some ship week challenges I took part in back when the Heroes of Olympus books were still coming out, a couple WTNV fics, a few Star Wars fics that never made it to AO3, and three one-offs.

What are your top five fics by kudos? leaves too high to touch (roots too strong to fall) - 1,758 kudos Had He Known It - 777 kudos Whiskey Lullaby - 395 kudos It Was Just My Imagination Telling Lies - 378 kudos Hurry Up and Slow Me Down - 349 kudos

Do you respond to comments? Every single one! It's half the fun to me.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Ooh...that's a toughie, actually, but I'm going to go with Where the Road Waits to be Taken because it's the only one where the ending focuses on the people left behind.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Also a toughie! But I'm going to go with Love Will Find Out the Way.

Do you get hate on fics? Not so much anymore. I've been around long enough that I definitely used to, but I write for saner fandoms now.

.Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Not these days. I'm asexual and, while I'm personally sex-averse, my tolerance for it in fiction kind of goes in cycles. I think the last time I wrote an explicit sex scene was in 2016 or 2017.

.Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? Heh...I do, on occasion. Most recently the WTNV/TMA crossover (the full extent of which hasn't been published yet), which isn't that crazy. I think the craziest one I wrote was the Sherlock/Star Trek crossover that was also (sigh) a HP AU...which I have deleted, so sorrynotsorry.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not as far as I know, but I don't exactly go looking.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Again, not as far as I know.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Uh...technically? My brother had an idea for a fic, but he wasn't old enough to join any fanfic websites at the time (we were probably the only two kids who never lied about our age on the internet to join websites), so he dictated it to me, I fleshed it out and posted it under my username.

What's your all time favorite ship? I love so many, but I have to say, the only ship I love that I genuinely can call an OTP in that I cannot fathom them in a relationship with anyone else (even adding anyone else to the equation) is Cecilos. JonMartin is a close second, but, well, I can see (and frequently enjoy) them also having other people in their relationships. Cecil and Carlos? Nuh-uh.

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Ooh. There are...a couple. But I have a WIP sitting in my Tumblr drafts that was a sequel to Hurry Up and Slow Me Down that I would very much like to finish someday...I just, yeah.

What are your writing strengths? Angst and heartbreak. I've got a gift for descriptions, and I'm really good at conveying emotion in text. And I think I have a knack for putting together a tasty sentence.

What are your writing weaknesses? I do tend to get hung up on irrelevant details, and I frequently think myself into a corner. I also think I tend to obsess sometimes about things being perfect...and if I'm being honest, a big weakness of mine (not just in my writing, but in general) is that I often feel like it's something I need to apologize for, which is not helpful.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Oh, I love doing that! I try to put a translation in hover text, and also in a footnote for benefit of screen readers, but I also try not to burden the actual text with translations. It's one of those "trust the reader to know what you're trying to say, and if they can't figure it out from context, you have failed as a writer" things to me. (This may have something to do with the fact that I used to write Star Trek fanfic, and conlangs are a thing.)

First fandom you wrote for? If you want to get technical, Power Rangers; I used to tell myself stories about the Power Rangers to put myself to sleep at night when I was a little kid, and once I wrote one down and read it out loud for Show and Tell. (The opening line was "One night, when Kimberly and Trini were sleeping, they were stolen," which should tell you everything you need to know about it. In my defense, I was seven.) I didn't know that's what it was at the time, though. If you're talking fandoms that I wrote for knowing it was a fandom and published on the internet...well, I grew up in the '90s and turned thirteen in the early '00s, so it probably shouldn't be that big of a surprise that it was HP.

Favorite fic you've written? It's like asking me to pick a favorite child. I am deeply in love with to find promise of peace (and the solace of rest) even if the next chapter is currently frustrating me a bit, because I am always deeply in love with my current project, because I love the way it showcases how I've grown as an author. That being said, I think my favorite fic that is currently complete might actually be Tomorrow When the World Is Free.

Tagging (absolutely no pressure) @blasphemous-lies-and-deceit, @amberastra, @magnetarmadda, @astudyinfic, @dyscalculated, and anyone else who wants to give this a go!

[aristi-achaion]

[20 Question Fic Writer Tag]

tagged by @johaerys-writes hehe ❤️

How many works do you have on AO3? 35!

What is your AO3 word count? 321,184 (that's nearly a book)

What fandoms do you write for? Right now, primarily for Patrochilles (TSOA/Hades game/classic lit), but I've also written for a bandom I'm in :)

What are your top five fics by kudos? Chronos, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, I Can't Believe I've Met You, I'm So Blessed You're Mine, and A Welcome Threatening Stir!

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yesss absolutely! I try to respond to every comment, even if it's from an older fic. I love hearing what people have to say, and seeing that they enjoyed the story is what makes me keep writing haha

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? This is easy because I don't think I've ever written something angstier than I Know I Always Said That I Could Never Hurt You, it's the only fic I've ever tagged "hurt no comfort"

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Another easy one, Chronos!! I was only too happy to give them everything they deserved and more by the end of this fic, they'd been through too much haha

Do you get hate on fics? I don't think I've ever gotten *true* hate, mostly just people yelling at me because I've made Achilles suffer haha but I like strong emotions, it means i'm going my job correctly!

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes, always. It's mostly pretty vanilla stuff, but I experimented with writing some kinkier stuff with Cuffed.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? I've never written one!

Have you ever had a fic stolen? No, but there was one time where someone posted my fics on a different website without permission. They gave me credit, but I believe the site was taken down or at least the fics were deleted (some kind of bootleg ao3??)

Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes! I've had a fic translated into Spanish, and I've been asked if someone could translate different fics into Russian and another language :)

Have you ever cowritten a fic before? Yes, I haven't in a long time but I had a really fun time cowriting! I wrote the Rocket Man series with an incredible author :) It's fun to bounce ideas off another person and see how your writing styles merge and evolve together!

What's your all-time favourite ship? Favorite ship to write about is definitely Patrochilles, but I've been reading a ton of Firstprince lately, they're like a comfort ship for me haha

What's a WIP you'd like to finish but doubt you ever will? I started writing a cowboy au back when I finished school, wrote a couple thousand words for it and then just dropped it. I want to finish it though!!! I just don't know when I'll get to it, and I don't live in the country anymore so I don't have a lot of inspiration lol

What are your writing strengths? Probably writing intense emotions, and having my characters go through some truly distressing moments. I'm a cancer so I like to pride myself on being in touch with my emotions lol

What are your writing weaknesses? Description, and the fact that I struggle with getting a story started. Part of me always wants to pull an Ernest hemingway and just describe the scenery for a couple hundred words before I do anything, and I don't know what to do to fix that lol

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I like adding it if I'm comfortable with the other language or have a person who speaks the language to consult with. I think it's great when you want to emphasize the place/culture the characters come from, but when the translations aren't right there it can become a little tedious lol

First fandom you wrote for? Bandom fics, I don't want to say it but it literally might be McLennon 🥲

Favourite fic you've ever written? Honestly... This is tough. Because Chronos is definitely my most popular fic and I'm very proud of it. But there's also a few that I had so much fun writing, like This Side of Paradise, that almost felt inspired when I was writing it. That one is definitely the most sickeningly romantic fic I've ever written, another I'm very proud of. I also actually really love I Know I Always Said That I Could Never Hurt You, because I was able to incorporate a lot of actual text from the Iliad into it, and I think I did a really good job!!

This was so fun!!!!! Thank you Jo ❤️

[boypussydilf]

I'm going to throw you a curve ball and say Sherly and that one guy whose name I don't remember who you ship him with (I think it's Soseki?)

idont know how to say this without unintentionally sounding mean but this is the second funniest ask ive ever gotten. (i was going to say funniest, but i cant lie even for comedic purposes- the funniest ask ive ever gotten was “shouldve KNOWN an AKESHU shipper would RIP MY THROAT OUT IN PUBLIC for mentioning shusumi”) i got curious and looked at all the relationship tags for dgs on ao3 until the site wouldnt let me anymore and i can almost conclusively say tht no one on this earth ships sherlock and souseki, which, to be honest, is kind of a surprise. on my journey i learned just how dire the state of the dgs ao3 relationship tags really are. i hadnt looked that hard, and i had thought, “oh, woe is me, only about 200 of these are homumiko” There are less than 30 with the susahao tag. theres like, a Small Handful of fics with kazuma interacting w iris or yuujin. This is. This is awful. Someone needs to fix this. What’s wrong with you people? You could have filled this website with one hundred Kazuma Asougi Gets Forcibly Absorbed Into The Greatest Family fics and you’re still asobaroing away? Unbelievable. Unbelievable.

Anyway it’s completely understandable to mix up souseki and mikotoba when you havent seen a ton of them they do both . have mustaches. thank you for thr ask and also for always calling him Sherly bc its cute here we go

describe their canon relationship/dynamic

*putsmy head in my hands* they have like 2 hours of screentime interacting its hard to describe a dynamic beyond “God they are so mean to each other”. its ok though. Its ok. the concept is very clear honestly. World’s Most Hyperactive and Completely Insane Man & Completely Normal Guy Who Goes Along With It. Oh My God They Were Roommates. lets see. serious notes. they trust each other completely and implicitly (mikotoba has to find a good home for The Baby He Was GOING To Raise But CAN’T and asks sherlock and he IMMEDIATELY agrees On The Spot my god ……) look . what do u call devotion if not saying “our home” about a place youve been away from longer than u ever lived at and thought youd never even see again & acting like you were never separated in the first place. Unreal. unreal.

anyway the fact of the matter is theyre literally just another variation on the Holmes & Watson concept go read an acd sherlock holmes story and imagine if they were ace attorney characters and idk i think youd more or less have it

your ideal/headcanon version of it? how does it differ from how it is in canon & why is this your favorite version? any other alternate versions of it you enjoy?

*pulls out my giant conspiracy board and 90% of it is just screenshots of fanfic The Legendary Pair by Meowzy on AO3* IF YOU LOOK AT IT. THE NOT-REALLY-INDICATED-BY-CANON BUT MORE FUN AND COOL TO ME VERSION OF IT. it makes this A Necessary Relationship. sherlock is. smart in Some places. definitely observant. But has. 0 common sense. you would think hes never been to this planet before with his apparent complete lack of frame of reference for what is or is not plausible or likely. there is too much shit going on in his brain for him to figure out which ideas are Actually Likely without taking like 2 days to work it out. Give him someone who actually has common sense and can crossreference What Sherlock Has Actually Noticed And Figured Out with What Actual Human Beings Generally Would Do.

OHGOD MAYBE I CAN TRY TO ELABORATE IN A MORE SERIOUS TONE ON MY FUCKING “YUUJIN MIKOTOBA SILLY ARC” POST. GOD. what im attempting to drive at is thinking abt . the idea proposed of 16-years-ago sherlock being more of a prickly little bitch and, Much More Importantly, mikotoba going to britain to try and escape the Grief Of Losing His Wife & subsequent Depression That Made Him Unfit To Take Care Of His Baby . and then theyre . again, worlds most hyperactive and completely insane man, and, again, GUY WHO TAP DANCES DURINVG INVESTIGATIONS ?!!!!?!???????????

basically fuck you *gives you by chance a fundamentally life altering friendship right when you need it*

Anyway i dont think theyre that different in my head than in canon but its hard to say.

what do you like about their relationship, why is it interesting or enjoyable to you?

i like it because i think they are neat. i like it bc i love families and fuck dude they sure do have one. i like it bc i am a dgs sherlock holmes kinnie and this drives my behavior,

what about the individual characters involved? what does this relationship mean to them, what makes it unique among their relationships?

*SCREAMS* BESTIES. anyway,

sorry for once again saying serious concepts in the dumbest fucking ways possible but Pov u are yuujin mikotoba age 26 leaving ur home to try and run away from the deepest pain of ur life & deciding not to stick with ur very close friends uve known for quite a while as you do so? For some reason? AND IT WORKS ???????????? in some part bc of this weirdo freak u moved in with impulsively who keeps almost blowing the fucking house up?

This is basically something i already said in this post earlier and i STILL . cant think of an actual good way to say it. I guess just . as many people on this blog may have noticed. me wh. me when stories involve the way positive connections with others help people <3

Also basically the only 2 reactions sherlock seems to invoke in people are “this guys insufferable” and “this guys insufferable but i also admire him” - god the trajectory of this train of thought just changed drastically im laughing so hard Bear with me . mikotoba is of course in th second camp bc thats where all sherlocks Positive relationships are. this is known to us. see: thr dialogue where hes like “Well your methods are unusual but ive always been willing to try them :)” (and then sherlock yells at him for being stupid.) anyway thats wonderful and its also Wonderful. mikotoba shortly after meeting sherlock watching this man rip up a handful of grass an d just eat it and then solve an entire mystery and mikotoba has to work out if this guys a genius or insane. He quickly realizes it is both. Anyway i guess to yuujin mikotoba sherlock holmes is his dear friend and partner & also the guy who cursed him to occasionally think “i DO wonder what that grass tastes like” at inopportune times

I don’t know WHAT the fuck i just rambled about for like ten minutes. So anyhow. sherlock describes mikotoba as “the only person i could truly call a friend” so shoutout to this friendless man i guess . no but literally hes a little weirdo freak and people dont tend to. like him. societal perceptions of ND people are not conducive to sherlock holmes having close friends . (Also he might not be. or might at some point not have been. particularly social in the first place - But this is my extrapolation based on acd canon and nothing in dgs at all so it cant be counted as anything other than my female hysteria.) and like. epic win for him finding someone who can Tolerate Him Enough To Live With Him and not just that but like . Actually Likes Him. Actually Likes Being Around Him And Would Like To Be His Friend. Congrats! also a win 4 him having like, a normal human being around. who can keep track of him and yknow. Help him remember important things. make sure he actually sleeps and eats instead of spending 42 hours straight trying to make The Sequel To Toasters (It’s Also A Juicer!)

favorite interaction they have in canon

oh,my god you know the thing is theres not a Lot of them but what there is is Really Good Actually.

on one hand we have the shit from the legendary pair scene like “:/ only JAPANESE mice go Chu. make a RUSSIAN mouse noise” or “YOUR BIRTHDAY? THATS FUNNY BC AS OF TODAY YOURE DEAD TO ME :D” “measured as always.” On the other hand we have the part from the scene after the last trial where sherlock thanks mikotoba for leaving iris in his care.

Basically i dont know how to decide. im going to say the Other part of the scene after the last trial where sherlock is excitedly telling mikotoba a story about something he did. With mikotoba. like a day before. and mikotoba lets him get through thr whole fucking thing before going Yeah i was. i was there.

favorite interaction they have in your head/a situation you want to put them in

OH GOD I DONT KNOW ACTUALLY. what is there to say beyond the Default List Of Every Homumiko Fans Shared Interests. its all been done. “Remember That Time They Raised A Baby Together For A Month”; “Have You Heard Of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Adventures of Sherlock Holmes? Great Here’s My Adaptation-“; “Put That Beast (Sherlock) In Japan LOL”. i will say that like. i dont remember where but theres some tiny bit of optional dialogue where iris says that sherlock playing the violin was a detail she wrote into the stories for fun and then after that he felt obligated to actually learn. i think a lot of people dont know this or dont use this. which is fine its a tiny random one off line i wouldnt even be able to track down. and a lot of people have the order of events go sherlock has violin -> mikotoba learns to tap dance, Look another musical thing matchy matchy :) . which again is FINE. BUT. isnt the other order of events - the order that it’s only reasonable to assume is canon - more fun ? Sherlock goes HEY GUESS WHAT I LEARNED VIOLIN NOW WE CAN MAKE MUSIC TOGETHER. He has not seen mikotoba in person in 9 years

thats the end of the post thank you i like the dads

[textsfromthefifthbasement]

Returning the favour!

1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 25, 26, 30, 34, 37, 38, 41, 42, 45, 46 !

💗

(1) What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work?

Probably Unspoken Secrets. It's my most popular fic, it's got fluff, it's got angst, and it's got a sequel.

(3) What are some tropes or details that you think are very characteristic of your fics?

I don't feel like I have a trope or detail that's super characteristic 😅

(5) What do you wish someone would ask you about [insert fic]? Answer it now!

I'm just going to talk about my first Dark Week fic from 2021, The Child. I had actually written something like it back when I was 18 and had first read the book, but you know, 2 computers and a hard drive failure later it got lost. I managed to rewrite the fic and majorly improve it for the event.

(6) What’s one fact about the universe of [insert fic] that you didn’t get a chance to mention in the fic itself?

I think the one fic I did the most worldbuilding for was All the Things Yet to Come. When writing it, I had planned on incorporating the Ratcatcher from the novel into it with the idea that ratcatchers were now very important members of society, but that never happened.

(9) How do you find new fic to read?

I usually check the new fics on AO3 every day and add the ones that interest me to my To Read list.

(10) How do you decide what to write?

I usually decide that through vibes 😂

(12) Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you?

I think I'd rather not answer questions on things I dislike in fanfic, but usually the things I dislike aren't things to do with tropes.

(13) Are there any tropes you used to like but don’t anymore?

See above

(25) What other websites or resources do you use most often when you write?

I usually don't do research for fics. Probably the most research I've done was to play Plague, Inc., while trying to figure out the disease in All the Things Yet to Come, and watching some of Jammidodger's videos on Youtube when writing my latest Trans Erik oneshot and thinking of expanding it into a longfic.

(26) Would you rather write a fic that had no dialogue or one that was only dialogue?

No dialogue! I actually think I've done one of those before.

(30) Have you ever written something that was out of your comfort zone? If so, what was it, and how did it affect your approach to writing fic thereafter?

Yes, but I published it on anon for A Reason.

(34) What aspects of your writing are inspired by/taken from your real life?

I usually base things Madeleine says or does after things my mother has said to me before.

(37) Promote one of your own “deep cut” fics (an underrated one, or one that never got as much traction as you think it deserves!). What do you like about it?

Hellfire. It's an E/C oneshot inspired but Eddie/Chrissy from Stranger Things minus major character death. I'm actually planning on writing a sequel soon.

(38) Did any of your fics get surprisingly popular (whatever that means to you)? Which ones? Why do you think they were so successful?

Probably In Your Skin and Blood and Bone because in my opinion, it was a hot mess that I was unhappy with but ran out of time to edit before I needed to publish it for fluff week. I think it did have a lot of appeal because it's an alternate LND beginning type fic.

(41) Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”

Honestly, @wheel-of-fish's Unsung and Out of the Woods.

(42) Have you ever received a comment that particularly stood out to you for whatever reason?

Not on AO3 but I still to this day giggle over @coatandtails reblogging Leave the Past Behind with the tag "moisten the maestro."

(45) What’s something you’ve improved on since you started writing fic?

Chapter length and dialogue. Conversely, I feel like I regressed in being able to portray characters' inner angst.

(46) Do you prefer writing on your phone or on a computer (or something else)? Do you think where you write affects the way you write?

Computer! And I do feel like I'm more relaxed when writing in my bedroom.

[alwaysalreadyangry]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova Characters: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Andy | Andromache of Scythia Additional Tags: Gawain and the Green Knight AU, medieval people loved a good beheading game idk what to tell you, purposeful anachronisms Summary:

Before Yusuf can turn away from him, he takes both of his hands, and says: “Beloved, you do not need to comply with whatever challenge has been set out for you. If you choose to, we could leave here right now and take our chances against the world. There is no honour in games and trickery.” The sky is full of pre-dawn light, just before the sun breaks through and starts to rise.

Yusuf says, “I gave my word.” And he kisses Nicolò’s hands, then lets them go, and says, “I will see you after this is done.”

[duckprintspress]

For This Week's Blog Post: We Need YOU!

One of our long-term projects at Duck Prints Press - something we've been working on on-and-off for a while but haven't made public yet - is a Fandom Lexicon. There are a lot of websites and blog posts that include parts of a list of fandom-specific language, but we've not been able to find just a simple glossary, so we decided to put one together. (We're not saying such websites don't exist...they surely do...but we also wanted to do our own!)

There are many challenges in making such a list (one of the most obvious being what to include - how general a term is "too" general for inclusion?) but we've been doing our best, casting a wide net, and picking the collective brains of people involved in the Press.

And...we've basically exhausted our own knowledge/memories/ideas, which is where you, yes YOU, come in!

We want your terminology! What are fandom words you've encountered and said "wait, what does that mean?" What's old fandom slang you used to use that you don't see anymore and know that some newbie would be confused by? What are words you wish you could have found on a list when you first joined fandom?

We've already put together a list of 222 general fandom terms and abbreviations (some definitely "fandom specific," others more "internet general slang") and 29 fandom-specific abbreviations (this list is, obviously, much more nascent). You can see the entire list here. (note: there is citrusy terminology on this list, both literally the citrus scale is on there, but also things like A/B/O, BDSM, etc. - it's a lexicon, after all.)

Currently, we are looking for:

general fandom terms/online terms that would be confusing to people out of context; and

over-arching fandom abbreviations (e.g., MCYT = Minecraft Youtuber, but we don't want every single abbreviation for every sub-part of the fandom - just the level that if someone saw the abbreviation "in the wild" they'd have at least some frame of reference).

Long term, we'd love to do fandom-specific lexicons as well (NOT wikis, mind you, literally just "this abbreviation often means this" with links to resources that can give more information) but that's a much larger project that would require recruiting people with enough fandom-specific knowledge for each fandom, and is not our current aim, so please don't send us stuff like that.

Have you been in fandom a long time? Do you just HATE when people use the word "drabble" wrong? Have you got a list of words you wish fandom still used, or a list of newer terms you regularly look at and go "wait wtf does THAT one mean?"? Send us your words, so we can incorporate them into our list!

You can add a comment! Put your words in a reply! Add your words to the tags! Drop us an ask! However you feel like sending the words our way, go for it.

You can see everything currently on our list HERE. (reminder: lemon text at this link)

Or, here's our current ones (as of July 24th, 2022) under a read more. No definitions yet - we're not even at that stage, we're still gathering words! (And a third reminder: yes there are lemony fresh words below the read-more. No pictures or definitions but just. The words themselves.)

(read more)

General Fandom Terms (some of which are more just general internet lingo, it's a difficult line to draw - many of these have more notes in the linked gdoc so we definitely recommend you go there instead of relying solely on this list):

[Person’s] A+ Parenting

A/B/O

A/N

AITA

Alpha

Alpha Reader

Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics

AN

Angst

Anon

Anti

Anti-anti

AO3

AU

Avatar

AYRT

Baihe

Bashing

BB

BDSM

Beta

Beta Reader

BF

Big Bang

Bingo

Bird App

BL

Blorbo

BNF

Bottom

Britpick

BroTP

C&C

Camp NaNo

Canon

Canon Compliant

Canon Divergent

Canon Insert

Carrd

Casefic

Cisswap

Citrus

Citrus Scale

CNTW

Coda

Concrit

Consentacles

Cosplay

CP

Crack

Crackship

Crossover

CW

DA

Danmei

Dead Dove

DL:DR

DNI

DNW

DP

Drabble

Dubcon

DW

Eeby Deeby

Fanart

Fanfic

Fanfiction

Fanon

Fanzine

Fave

Femslash

Fest

FF.net

Fic

Ficlet

Filk

Fix-it

Flame

Fluff

Fujo

Fujoshi

Fusion

Gary Stu

Gen

Genderbend

Genderswap

GF

GIF

Glomp

Glub Shitto

Gong

Grapefruit

H/C

H/NC

HC

HEA

Headcanon

Hentai

HFN

Himbo

Horse Plinko

Incorrect [thing] Quotes

IRC

Isekai

Jossed

JPG

Jump the Shark

Kink Meme

Kink Tomato

Kripked

Lemon

Lik the bred

Lime

LJ

LRT

Lurker

Mary Sue

MC

MCD

Meme

Meta

MFL

Miette

Mini-Bang

ML

Monoshipper

Multishipper

NaNo or NaNoWriMo

Noncon

NoRomos

NoTP

NTA

OC

OFC

OG

OMC

Omega

OMG They Were Roommates

OP

Orange

OT3

Otaku

OTP

OTW

p4p

pfp

Plinko Horse

Plot bunny

Podfic

Polyshipper

Poor Little Meow Meow

Pro-shipper

PSA

PWP

QRT

Queerbaiting

Ravatar

RB

Reader Insert

Reblog

Remix

Repost

Reverse Bang

RPF

RPS

RT

Rule 63

S (followed by a number)

Schmoop

Scrunkly

Secret Masters

Self-insert

Selfcest

Seme

Sex Pollen

Ship

Shitpost

Shou

Slash

Smushname

Smut

Sockpuppet

Songfic

SPAG

Squee

Squick

Stan

Superhell

t4t

TBR

TERF

There Was Only One Bed

Tinhat

TL:DR

Top

TPTB

Troll

Trope

TVTropes

TW

Twincest

Uke

UST

WAFF

Wank

Whump

Wiki

WIP

Woobie/woobify

Wuxia

Xianxia

Y/N

Yaoi

Yeet

YKINMKATO

YMMV

YT

Zine

Our (VERY Preliminary) List of General/Overarching Fandom Abbreviations:

AD&D or D&D

ATLA

B5

BNHA

CQL

DMBJ

GDC

HNK

HOB

HP

JJK

JK or JKR

LoTR

MCU

MCYT

MDZS

MXTX

OFMD

OP

SNK

SPN

ST

ST: DS9

ST: TNG

SVSSS

SW

SW: TFA

TGCF

TLTR

[beautifulhigh]

I'm catching up on Tumblr - some rare downtime on this holiday which is supposed to be all about me having downtime! - so I'm pretty sure it's not fic writer appreciation day anymore. But every day should be fic writer appreciation day so there's that.

I was tagged by @sapphire11​ who is a gem for still tagging me in things, even when I take an age to get around to them.

My favourite five of my fics

1. The tender things are those we fold away (911 Lone Star, Tarlos)

That had been a surprise, a good one. An amazing one, really, and something Carlos had privately cherished for years. New York Firefly became someone who had made a difference to his life and Carlos would carry that gratitude with him for the rest of his life, along with the knowledge that this was some random guy on the internet who posted pictures and videos on a website which was infamous for its explicit content. He was some firefighter in New York, being himself and being amazing while doing it.

Except he wasn't.

New York Firefly, the man who'd changed Carlos' whole life and outlook without even realising it, was TK Strand and he was sitting in Carlos' living room.

And Carlos wasn't quite sure how he was still remembering to breathe.

The fic I wrote in a week because the Discord crew made a comment about TK having an Only Fans account. This was so much fun to write and I loved playing in the season 1 timeline.

2. Life, believe, is not a dream, so dark as sages say (911 Lone Star, 126 fire fam with a side of Tarlos)

Carlos had gotten to know TK intimately well over the last few years, in more ways than one. He knew how to read the slope of his shoulders to know if he was angry, sad, or overwhelmed. He knew how his mouth quirked up when he was teasing or playful or flirty, he knew how his chest flared with pride or defiance. He had seen him suffering and joyous and every emotion in between. Even from halfway across the room, seeped in the situation they were, he could read TK. He knew that look of horror and realisation, knew that TK understood something that he didn't.

He wished they could talk, swap notes on the situation. They were always better problem solving together, even when the issue wasn't in the other's area of expertise. TK had listened to Carlos talk through situations and cases he'd been involved with over the years; Carlos had listened while TK had talked about procedures and treatment options for patients in the field. They'd learned from each other in that time which had been half the reason he'd been confident to help treat Kyle's wound.

He wondered if TK had a plan, or an idea of what was coming next. If they could talk then maybe they could work it out, he could help or do something to get everyone out of here. The itch within him to help was almost unbearable: he was more than his career but it was also part of who he was.

He wondered if TK was as scared for him, as he was for TK.

Ah, the bank fic. God this one was hard going but it was so much fun to publish it and to see people enjoy the action and drama. I loved working out how each of the characters could play to their strengths, how they could work together, all when they weren’t able to talk to each other.

3. In the burned house I am eating breakfast (911 Lone Star, Tarlos - Carlos centric)

“Please don’t tell anyone,” Carlos says, his eyes wide with fear. “I’m not ready for people to know but you were going on about us maybe getting together and I love you but not like that and I couldn’t not tell you and—”

“Carlos, it’s OK,” Jessica says. “I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

“Thank you.”

“Do you think your parents will OK with it?”

“I think so,” he says. “I hope so.”

Jessica leans in and gives him a hug but she doesn’t smell like he remembers. She smells of smoke and something metallic and she’s cold and hard to the touch.

“You need to work out what you want,” she says in a voice that isn’t hers.

God the love I have for this fic is feral. Rafa made the comment about wanting Carlos getting hurt on the way to the wedding, we all want a Carlos Begins, and my brain went “hey, how about we have them both?” and this was the result. Written in one day because the idea was just there, fully formed, and I just love it. A lot.

4. Rumours (Emmerdale, Robron)

"No.  Pat... my real mum, she was Divinus.  The crash killed her outright, that's why she died, and she never got a chance to tell Dad what I was.  But Mum – Sarah – she knew.  She saw some of the symptoms I guess.  She cut her hand on a knife and I just... fixed it.  Didn't think twice about it apparently, just held her hand and fixed it.  I don't remember much about what I did, but I just remember looking at the cut on her finger and seeing what the problem was, knowing I could put things back together.

"After that she took me to the doctor's and they confirmed it."

"You make it sound like an illness: symptoms and doctors."

"Curse more like," Robert said sadly.  "This isn't something I wanted, Aaron. I've worked so hard to not let this define who I am.  I don't want to be the Divinus everyone says they know, I don't want people to see me as a commodity or a secret weapon.  But like I said to you yesterday, I just want to be myself now, with you.  And this is who I am.  What I am."

My Emmerdale Big Bang fic and the longest one I’ve ever written. The world building I did for this fic, the detail and planning that went into it, the fact that so many places in this fic (especially the places in Ireland where I am right now) are real places. I put months into this fic and I’m still really proud of it.

5. Exponential (Emmerdale, Robron with a Robert focus)

6.

"Why do I feel like you're always hiding something?" she asks.

"Because you don't trust me," Robert replies.  "And without trust we can't survive."

It's always easier when it's always their fault.

Speaking of being proud of a fic, this one was the most technically challenging. I remember driving to work one morning, mulling over the concept I had of writing a fic to explore Robert’s bisexuality and the impact it had on him and his relationships over the years. And then I had this line about how his love for Aaron just kept growing exponentially. Which then turned into a structural idea where each part would have a word count double of the last part. And so it went, exponentially.

Since I’m super late to this I’m giving YOU the excuse you want to post the five fics of your own that you love. Yes, you. Go for it, you wonderful writer you.