#ooph I'm so excited

[amtrak12]

This 44 story subscribers/388 hits/ 65 kudos ratio single-handedly wrote me 2400 words on my story today. Plus editing the other 40k and pulling together a 2900 word outline for the current chapter.

Feedback and validation is awesome :D

[this-sapphic-paradise]

i have no idea on how to quote the post like everyone is doing (I'm new here) but maybe a situation post high school where like 10 years later aaron leaves cady with their child and she bumps into regina somewhere and they get together

Send me a situation and I'll tell you how I think Regina or Cady would react to it.

Hi!! Welcome!!!

Ooph!!! The potential for angst and passion this scenario has!!!!!!!!

Cady finding herself resenting her choices in life, starving for some excitement and then in walks Regina George back into her life.

Regina who is now secure in who she is and is not afraid to openly flirt with Cady when she finds out Aaron left.

Cady melting as she watches from afar as Regina (awkwardly, but lovingly) holds her kid in her lap and reads to them until they fall asleep.

Aaaaaahhh!!! It's so sweet!!!

[boogleboot]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Literally nobody asked for this, but hey that's the joy of tumblr - talk about what you wanna talk about, and fic writing is important to me! So I've taken it upon myself to do these questions that have been swimming around and if you're reading this, that's an open invitation to do the same lol.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

19 on my current Ao3 account. There's an old account kicking around somewhere with a handful more, but they're sort of orphaned.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

622,253k words, so the statistics page tells me. Again, current acc only.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The Starless Sea is my main baby, (the book by Erin Morgenstern). I also write Harry Potter fic, have threatened to (and may yet) write Twilight fic, and will happily write fic for anything if I feel strongly enough about the story! And, of course, back in the day, really, really bad One Direction fic lol.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Fateheart: A Starless Seaquel by far and away the top

2. Firebug Book I: Chiân Maeroris and the Secret Library of Fire

3. The Asset of Loneliness

4. Firebug Book II: Chiân Maeroris and the Monster of Slytherin

5. Nightmares apparently! Did not realise that ahaha

This was different to sorting by hit count, which is interesting! Hits wise number 5 would be Flowers <3 my beloved.

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

Absolutely! Not like, strictly - there are plenty I have left unanswered, but if they ask a question or leave a thoughtful comment I'm more often than not gonna respond. I've made genuine friends that way, and it's a lovely way to engage with the fan community.

Particularly as I primarily at the moment write fic for a very small fandom where basically everyone knows each other - we have a discord and I will often personally invite a commenter to join the discord if they are new, but even past that these stories mean so much to me and I have historically just been so DESPERATE to talk about them that actually sometimes a really excited comment signals someone who is gonna be a great friend to get excited with about it.

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

Ooph that's a good quebbin. Probably the second Firebug book? Monster of Slytherin. I mean, that series is designed to get darker and darker, so it leaves quite a few things intentionally unresolved, and the main characters in significantly worse predicaments to where they started.

God I gotta finish that series.

Also one person got really rather upset with me about the ending of Fateheart, ranting for a GOOD long while about how painful the ending was, but I think the general consensus there is that, yes, even though it comes at a cost, the ending is overwhelmingly a satisfying conclusion?? I think??? I think it's a good ending lol.

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

Fateheart hahahaha. Hmm I mean, this is hard to quantify, right?

I have a saying about fic, which is 'the deeper the break the deeper the catharsis' which only works when both are done well, but I think you could argue that the greatest catharsis - and therefore the fic where the ending is happiest compared to the narrative lows, would be A Heart That Won't Break. But only someone who has literally lost the plot would name that a happy fic.

Probably The Ugly-Sweater-Verse, by measure of how warm and cosy the end makes you feel, but it's too much of a one-shot really to have had time to develop enough narrative to even really have an 'ending', structurally speaking. I'm way overthinking this.

How 'bout Flowers, coz they have really good sex. There.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nah, not really. One or two people really like picking apart the plot holes in my Harry Potter fic, but I think picking apart Harry Potter is something of an international passtime. Also one comment I remember from years ago said something like "this is riddled with inconsistencies but your writing is awesome so I don't care" which is hilarious. Shoutout that commenter. I swear to god I'm gonna deal with the veritaserum problem in the next book if it ever gets written.

Nobody's said anything close to mean on any Starless Sea fics, but we all pretty much know each other and a nicer group of people you could not hope for <3

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

Mm, more than I used to!

There is a standing joke amongst our little fandom that my 'smut' is outstandingly not smutty - I think I write erotica, rather than smut. Which, like. Hard to judge. But anything sexually explicit in my writing is usually so whimsical and figurative that it hardly constitutes smut even when it is like overtly gay sex lmao.

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

Hmm, I haven't, but I would absolutely one day. I had an idea a while ago called the Seinfeld Glory Meld or something which was an episodic fic series in which a set of characters from a show or a movie or anything would suddenly find themselves in a specific setting following a certain storyline and each time it would just slowly morph into an episode of Seinfeld, except that all the characters would keep returning and they would be sentiently aware that they were trapped inside the show Seinfeld and it was hilarious and I think i had a fever at the time of coming up with this and I will never write it but I remember meticulously outlining it to my brother over like 83 messages lmao.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

YES. It was weirdly upsetting, but also just very, very strange? Like exactly a chapter and a half of Fateheart got reposted by somebody - and like, it wasn't even a particularly coherent chapter and a half? Like, it's not like it was a portion that made sense on its own. I was half inclined to think it was a bot somehow, except that they did all the tagging and even wrote a description about it being like "A short exploration of life after the end of the book. Enjoy!"

It felt really shitty and they disabled comments, but I reported it to Ao3 and like 3 months later they did in fact get back to me saying yeah, that was obviously stolen, and removed it. god bless the Ao3 team.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Aw not as yet, but a very sweet friend of mine on our discord has been working on translating bits of Fateheart into Italian! That is a HUGE undertaking and I don't evny them lol, but I am so, so flattered that they even wanted to try, and it will be SO cool to see any parts they finish!

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

Nope! Though I am threatening to... Starless Sea book 4 look out

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Mm the Interceptor from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Just kidding it is Zachary and Dorian from The Starless Sea.

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

Ouufhgjhg I am kinda feeling this way about all my major fics right now - I have a rule of not posting something unless it is completed, so these aren't up even though they both exist at about 2/3rds - Fever Pitch and Lotus Flowers.

I do, however, know that I care enough about the characters from The Starless Sea to actually finish these though.

Unlike the Firebug series. Which I really hope to return to one day, because the whole 7-part book series will be KILLER, but let's be real who knows if it's ever gonna happen. A 7 part fic series of full length books is nutso ambitious.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Mmm, I'm very good at character development, and I have a natural prose style that is evocative and descriptively rich. I am fortunate enough to have been mentally steeped in very good writing ever since I was a wee babbie so texturally that is easily reciprocated.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Ach. I am literally so bad at being concise. I cannot do it. Look at the word count for any of my major fics. The ones I consider short stories are novel length. The ones I consider full length works are 3 books' worth of words.

Tried to write an outline for an AU recently and the document hit like 20 pages. Good job me. I was writing a full scene with dialogue by the middle and just never finished the outline lol.

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

I do this occasionally, but only to the effect of adding one or two words in a native tongue, and never without also providing translation. Not in a clunky way, either - not a fan of anything that breaks the prosodic mode, like a parenthetical translation or a footnote or something - but equally it doesn't have to be a diegetic translation. I think there's usually a comfortable middle ground.

For instance I most often use Arabic terms of endearment between Zachary and Dorian, and the types of scenes where it comes most naturally also lend themselves to repeating it and answering it in a way which makes it clear if not what word exactly is being said, at least what that word means here.

Other than that I default to like, '"yo my Cantonese is shit" he said in Mandarin'. Don't assume a reader reading in English is familiar with anything else unless you have contextual reason to do so.

But also, obfuscating the meaning intentionally because the characters also don't speak that language can be a fun gimmick.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

One Direction. lmao. Well, that's the first fandom I ever posted fic on the internet for. If we're counting me scribbling stories in my special notebooks under the covers at age 10 then probably Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series. Lirael forever.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Fateheart: A Starless Seaquel just in terms of like, how much that story has changed my life. The community it has helped build, the friends it has brought into my life, and the way it absolutely launched me headlong into the development of a world and a timeline in this story that I am now fully committed to seeing through in a way which will take me several years of creative work.

Possibly The Man Named Sky is up there, as is Death in the Valley (I have found my groove with the short novella-style standalone stories), and I am really proud of the Firebug books, though the best is yet to come there. But I think I'm really, REALLY proud of A Heart That Won't Break. I think it is quietly, secretly one of my best pieces of writing maybe ever.

This was fun to do. Nobody tagged me, but I'm gonna tag @thatwasntlikeridingabikeuasshole, fellow Starless Sea fic-writer extraordinaire and one of my faves.

ANSWER THESE FIC QUEBBINS <3

[ladyelysandra]

For the fic writer asks! 🌈 🎀 💌

Yay, thank you! :D

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

I talked about "Under a Praxian Sky" in my answer to Sarcasticsciencefictionwriter as one I worked really hard on. Another, newer one along those lines would be "Silent Confessions". I remember working really hard to catch the atmosphere I had in mind, and it's a fic I'm quite proud of still^^

A fic I remember struggling A Lot with in a more negative way would be "A Special Kind of Meeting" which I wrote for quite specific prompts and which I scratched and started over too many times before it finally worked XD

🎀give yourself a compliment about your own writing

Ooph, asking the hard questions, huh? XD Hmm... I want to say I managed to develop a 'light' writing style that I quite like - but that's actually something I feel like I'm still working on. I guess I'm happy with the progress I made? ... Oh, I think I'm good at character development/exploration through kink (not the compliment anyone expected, huh? lol) One thing I've come to enjoy quite a bit about writing smut/kinky stuff is looking at kinks that at first glance don't seem to work for the characters and find a way of looking at it, some kind of aspect to it or a way of interpreting it that (imo) would speak to the character after all. It forces you to really think about the characters, the way they think and feel, what they are confident or insecure about etc. (It has also, coincidentally, given me a couple new kinks so far lol)

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

Oh no, how am I supposed to choose? XD

Oh, wait, I know one! I've got this one month of smut stories written for my Helen/Kate/Nikola OT3. It's for Kinktober prompts from... 2021 I think? The prompts are kinda crazy, and the fills even more so. It was just so much fun to come up with creative ways to work with them (I worked on one prompt a day throughout that month, which was rather challenging XD), it's (I think) going to be A Lot of fun reading them (and hopefully sexy as well, but we'll see lol), and I'm absurdly proud of the idea I came up with to bind them all together XD I'm currently editing them and waiting for it to be October again, 'cause I'm planning on posting one story a day as they happen in the story. I can't wait to hear what people think!! (But good thing October's a while off yet, because I feel like some stories might need quite a bit more work. XD)

[starlit-hopes-and-dreams]

Happy STS, Anna! You mentioned recently that you were still getting to know your new character Riah (we’re so excited to meet her btw 😁). Has she revealed more of herself to you since you shared that? Anything fun or juicy you wish to/are able to share about her? If not, feel free to ramble about a topic of your choice instead. 😊

Happy STS, Kate! :D

Oh boy, this is a dangerous question. I just got refocused back onto HD arc 2, you know? You risk pulling me away from that to work on shattered kneecaps again LOL (somehow I don't think you would protest that lol) (and I am so excited to share her :D)

Under the cut bc it got long and I included some quotes :)

So. I have been rolling Riah's backstory around in my mind, trying to figure out where she came from. This is an unusual method for me, and may not actually work, but we'll see.

I don't think I've mentioned this outright yet, but Riah used to work as a prostitute until she was... acquired by her current, uh. person. It's a complicated dynamic :') Let's just say the place she worked was not the greatest, and she thought this person alone was the better option. Ooph.

Anyways, I've been thinking about how she became a prostitute to begin with. She is older than the characters I've previously written, in her 30's, so has more room for previous history, you know. I'm thinking she either ran away from an undesirable situation, or she found herself out on the streets for whatever reason and was forced to turn to prostitution to survive.

I'm also thinking she was raised in a respectable section of the city; perhaps the child of crafters or merchants. Not too high up in society, but not poorly off either. So how did she get to this undesirable situation or whatever? I don't know the answer to this yet.

Anyways, have a snippet that may provide a bit of insight into her personality :)

It took her too long. Too long to stand. Too long to work up the nerve to duck under the chain, making sure to only step on the blocks of stone. Too long to raise her head. She probably resembled nothing more than a frightened prey animal.  Annoyed with herself, Riah set her jaw and forced herself to look.

And here, have another from Nykim's POV, because I'm feeling nice lol

Nykim hadn’t expected kindness from her at all.  But the truth was, he didn’t want Shadow to stop staring at him, even if that did prolong his suffering. She was an excellent focus, and not just because she was nice to look at. There was something about her voice, something about the emotion behind her brilliant blue eyes, something about how she’d overcome her obvious fear of him enough to come around to look him in the eye.  Well, kind of in the eye. She’d been looking at some other parts of him too.  There was something about that smile she tried to hide from him after he’d purposely brushed his lips against her fingers.  There was something about the automatic fight or flight response she had when the door opened.  Fuck. 

[in-arlathan]

Get To Know Me

Who dis? It's me! Been a hot minute, hasn't it? This year has been a pile of dung up until now, if I'm being completely honest, hence my absence from Tumblr and most social media. I had an accident in December and have been feeling like dirt ever since. But: I'm back now! Mostly thanks to my beloved @johaerys-writes and the amazing @mogwaei who tagged me for this game. Thanks to you two! ❤ It's been a please reading your posts.

And now: Let's dive in!

Share your wallpaper: I'm a very boring person who has her own artwork as a wallpaper on her phone (talking about this study I did last year). XD It reminds me that (every once in a while) I do create something that I actually enjoy without any self-doubt or regret, and I like that.

Last song you listened to: "Eyes Closed" by Ed Sheeran. I'm a very basic person, lol.

Currently reading: Let me check Goodreads real quick... Yeah, I'm reading far too many books at the same time again. So here's the top 3 of books I'm reading and enjoying the most atm:

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman

Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

There's also a bunch of fanfic I need to catch up on but my mind has been all over the place.

Last move: "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves". My P&P podcast party had been invited to a preview 2 weeks ago and we had a fun time watching that movie.

Craving: Time off. I've been working non-stop for the past 8 months or so (with Christmas being the only exception) and I'm feeling super drained right now. Luckily, there are a few short trips coming up in April and July, so there is that!

What are you wearing right now: Basic black jeans and a white knitted sweater. It's spring but it's still flipping cold in my apartment. Ooph!

How tall are you: 168 cm or 5'5 feet (I guess?)

Piercings: Just the two for my earrings. As I said, I'm *very* basic. :')

Tattoos: Currently I got two but I plan on getting more later this year. Gotta save up some money first.

Glasses? Contacts? I got 3 different glasses (transparent, gold and brown frames) and contacts because I like to switch things up.

Last drink: I'm currently having some coffee with oat milk aka The breakfast of Champions. Or so I keep telling myself XD

Last thing you ate: Chicken wrap with lots of cheese. It was amazing.

Favorite color: My taste in color(s) shifts constantly but I'm currently obsessed with green in various tones. I keep getting back to like a warmer green because it makes me feel very cozy. But I also adore a good color combo of orange and violet/lilac or yellow and dark blue. It depends on my mood.

Current obsession: Truth be told, because of the current state of my mental health, I have a hard time being obsessed about anything. It's not like I can't enjoy things (I know that that feels like and I don't want to get back to *those days*) but there's not hyperfixation that lives rent-free in my head. And you know what? It feels terrible! I miss the feeling of being utterly obsessed about something. I crave that level of excitement, honestly!

Unrelated Obsession: Okay, I guess this means non-fandom obsessions. I do have one of those! A short while back, I read a book by the title "Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World" which was fascinating. I loved that it was not Euro-centric and instead focussed on the achievements of Genghis and his successors. I've been gobbling media with the same or similiar topics – including finally playing "Ghost of Tsushima" which send me reading up on the Mongol invasion of Japan. It's been an intriguing ride!

Any pets: I'm too allergic to have cats, dogs, and other animals and I hate it. I want a little doggo so badly... 💔

Do you have a crush on anyone: IRL? Not anymore. I used to have a crush for most of last year but since he started ghosting me a few months back, I decided to focus my attention elsewhere. I'm *done* with dating and have been for the past couple of years. As for fictional characters... I have to go with Solas, although (as I mentioned) my excitement has died down somewhat. I still love that boy to death but I'm not as obsessed as I used to be.

Favorite fictional character: How dare you make me chose one?! I have a trillion fave characters and they're all precious to me ;_; No, I will not pick one because I truly can't!

The last place you traveled: I went to Cologne, my hometown, three weeks ago, but I assume that doesn't count as traveling. I think my last real vacation was in 2019 when I travelled to the Leipzig Book Fair. Oh my... 😅 (And I was wondering why I felt so drained all the time, lol. Dang... what a reality check. This hurts!).

That's it! Hope you enjoyed the read :3

Time to forward some tags. As always, please feel free to join in or ignore the tag: @serial-chillr @faerieavalon @thebookworm0001 @ohmypawsandwhiskers @pikapeppa @oxygenforthewicked @fiadhaisteach @noire-pandora @ellie-effie. Sending all of you lots of love. I hope you're doing great!

Until next time, lovelies! <3

[seob-i]

3.) 𝙼𝚒𝚜𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐

In the dark, gloomy and dusty but well organised classroom, [Y/N] akwardly sat beside the slim, tall and bonde boy named Malfoy, who was visibly irritated. He was throwing glares at her and tapping his foot for the past 15 minutes.

Professor Snape had made seating arrangements. The reason for this occurrence, some students were caught cheating and sleeping, so, now, the poor Hufflepuff had to sit next to the worst Slytherin ever.

"Now, before we end this class, I want to make an assignment because some of YOU.." Professor Snape seethed. "Forget. And waste the ingredients Hogwarts has provided you."

He said, looking at the students who accidentally put the wrong ingredients in the wrong vials, pouring the wrong liquids and ending up wasting or blowing the whole class up.

"Your partner is your seat mate, now I want you to make a 5 page research about Fluxweeds, I want to see the background, how to harvest it, what potions it could make or what it is used for. The deadline is in next week, for those who will fail to pass it, you might as well never come in my class again."

[Y/N] gulped as she turned to look at Malfoy. He stood up and looked at her "You do it on your own mudblood. If you don't do it right I will make your life miserable." The Hufflepuff felt tiny, Infront of him, closing her eyes as she felt a splash of saliva that came from his mouth because of how dramatic he was talking.

Gross. Her face scrunches.

He walks out of the classroom and The girl follows behind him. "B-but! It's a 5 page research! I can't do it by myself!" He suddenly stops causing the girl to bump behind his back.

"Ooph!" "And why would I help a Mudblood like you?" The Slytherin pokes the girls fore head with his finger harshly. "Hey!" She pulls away and touches her forehead, face visible with distaste.

"Mudbloods are below me, you should be my servant for being one. You shouldn't have come to Hogwarts. You are not. Welcome. Here." He walks away snickering.

[Y/N] stares at his back as he walks away. Jerk. "Aw! Poor Girlie!" A voice said behind the girl exclaimed "Don't mind him first year, Slytherins are just a bunch of gits." The other added.

A pair of red heads touched the girls shoulder. She turns around. "Oh, Hello Fred, george!" "What do you say we prank that spoiled boy-" "-and teach him a lesson?" They grin, each with excitement on their faces.

"What? N-no thanks, why would you even do that?" "'Cause you're our baby brothers friend of course!" George rubs the girl's head. She holds his wrist and pulls it away, gently.

"Ah, well thank you..? But I'm pretty alright, thank you very much." [Y/N] smiles at them and turns around. Fred blocks her way, "Come on Girlie! We could turn his frown upside down with a spell-" "- Or we could make him burp loudly non stop!"

[Y/N] giggles at the idea, "Or-" "What are you two doing?" The three turned their head to see another red head. [Y/N]'s gaze turned to George who winked and mouthed 'our brother'.

"Are you two harassing a first year again?" The boy asked, he was a lot older than the twins and looked much more mature, he had a badge and stood straight, confidently.

"Aw, you really think of us that way Percy?" "Harassing isn't the right word, it's more like- chatting." Fred puts his arm around the girls shoulder, pulling her closer with a grin.

Percy, looks at [Y/N] for approval. "We were just talking..sir?" "Percy is fine. Now, go back to class you two!" He ushers the twins off as they groan, childishly.

"I'll be seeing you..?" "[Y/N] [L/N]!" "[L/N]-" "[Y/N] will do!" The girl cut off the prefect. His lips formed a flat line from it, as she grins sheepishly.

"Right, [Y/N]. I'll be seeing you, do enjoy your day." The Hufflepuff smiles at him as he walks away. The girl sighs, she'll be not enjoying her day. After all, she had draco as her partner.

--

"That's not fair!" Hermione exclaims, as she looks at the Hufflepuffs head on her lap in distaste, The two had grew close over the past few days, they took every chance to be together and hang out.

Be it studying, chatting, complaining and sharing candy- which Hermione would only eat one, tiny piece -right now, [Y/N]'s head was on Hermione's lap.

She was complaining about how, Malfoy had forced her to do their research paper. She whined stuffing her mouth with more candy to suffice herself and contain her anger.

"You're going to choke if you continue to eat while laying down, [Y/N]." Hermione commented, in which the Hufflepuff girl on her lap only giggled in response. "If I were you, I would turn him to a frog." Ron then said leaning on the bench.

Harry only hummed in agreement. "... it's not that bad. Maybe I'm just.. being dramatic." "He had no right to do that!" "Hermione's right." Harry said, taking a piece of candy from the Hufflepuffs hand before she could smash it from anger.

She suddenly sat up, causing Hermione to move her head away, almost getting hit on the face. "I'm going to force him to do it with me!" Determined, she lifted herself off the bench and dashed away.

Leaving her friends. "She won't be able to do it." Ron says nonchalantly, still chewing candy he took from the Sweet toothed Hufflepuff.

The bushy haired girl sighs. "She can do it, I hope." Harry added. The three looked at their friends figure, running away. Since that day, the Hufflepuff was determined to make Malfoy help her with their research papers even if she had to use threatening.

"You are not going anywhere!" She says, pulling the Slytherin's wrist to sit him back down. "Hey! Are you mad?" "If you don't help me, I will make throw up slugs!" [Y/N] threatens "I'd like to see you tr-"

She points a wand at him. Causing the boy to stiffen, "T-that's-! I-ill tell my father about this!" "Try! And I'll make you puke slugs before you could utter the word 'daddy!'"

Malfoy then sat down in defeat.

For hours, the two sat in the library working on their paper- except [Y/N] was doing all the work-, but she was pleased as long as Malfoy showed up and participated.

Everyday, she wouldn't miss the opportunity to show up as he was leaving the door to drag him to the library to complete their work. Malfoy would just pull his wrist away irritatedly and follow the Hufflepuff.

Everything was fine until....

[Y/N] woke up, a bit late than the usual time she would wake up. It was the weekend, after all. When she entered the great hall and went to her housemates to greet them, everyone was ogling at her.

"Good morning!" She greets her friend, Susan. The red head only stares at her, "Is there something on my face? Why are you guys looking at me like that!" The confused Hufflepuff pouts.

"[Y/N], are you dating Draco Malfoy? The Slytherin?"

"Excuse me?"

( Hello! Sorry for the long wait, I'll try to update once a week. )

[cornsnoot-fr]

the LAST thing i need is MORE IMPS and MORE ACCENTS but thats exactly what i’m going to do soon. check out this pretty boy whose outfit i’m saving for :O

[amtrak12]

I left 300+ comments on fics in 3 days

So the Seasons of Drabbles fic exchange just wrapped up its summer round, and I had a blast with it! I plan on making a wrap-up post about my experience as both a writer and a reader, but first I want to talk about how I read and commented on 338 drabbles (aka everything posted as of the day authors were revealed) in one weekend. 👀

Why

First of all, why the fuck did I read and comment on sooooo many drabbles? For multiple reasons:

I haven't received many comments on my most recent fic updates which has left me pretty bummed out

If I'm going to claim "Even a simple heart emoji goes a long way!" then I should practice what I preach

I was so excited/impatient for fic reveals that I skimmed through past rounds for fandoms I like and found a fic that didn't have any comments even 5 months later, not even from the giftee :(

So yeah, I was determined that every single fic posted to the summer round was getting a heart emoji and a kudos from me BARE MINIMUM! And if I'm kudos-ing and commenting, then I might as well read the fic too. What if it's really good? What if it's really sad and a heart emoji doesn't fit the tone? I need to know these things!

Methodology

I made a game plan. My baseline comment was a purple heart 💜 because that's my go to color. If I found something to quote, I quoted it. If it was angsty (or seemed angsty), I might do an 'Ooph!' before the heart, or even a broken heart emoji paired with a 'Good job!'. If someone did a series of drabbles and split the drabbles up into their own chapters, I switched up the color of the hearts for each chapter -- and yes I did comment on each chapter! As an author, I LOVE when I get comments along the way and not just at the end. And as a reader, it gave me extra space to quote or add commentary, if I had it (and sometimes I did!). Commenting on every chapter is 👍👍👍 Do recommend.

But did I actually READ every single one of these fics, you ask? Yes. Like 99% of them. There were a couple where I knew enough about the fandom to know I wanted nothing to do with that or where the series of drabbles was so long, that I was like "oh bestie, I can't do it. I'm so sorry :(" But I still skimmed those enough to grasp the tone of the fic so I could modify my heart emoji comment as needed.

Results

OMG it was so frickin fun! I mean, did my eyes start to bleed? Did I have to take breaks from reading because I caught myself skimming too much? Yes, of course. IT WAS 338 DRABBLES IN THREE DAYS! And not all of them were 100-300 words long. Some of those were 1-2k words! I should've taken more breaks than I did, but I really wanted to get all/the majority done before author reveals for arbitrary reasons only my brain knows (it won't even tell me you guys 😜) But even still, it was super super fun to see the huge variety of fics out there!

It's also been a blast to see the author replies roll in. Some replied before author reveals so they still showed anonymous. Most waited until after the reveals and I got to learn that WHOA, so-and-so wrote like 7 of those drabbles! *applauds* Sometimes they replied with a thank you, sometimes it was their own preferred heart emoji. It's so cute seeing how other people like to say thank you, because I know I've definitely settled into a 'style' when I reply to comments on my fics. 💜

Would I do it again?

I honestly don't know. It was exhausting burning through all those fics in such a short amount of time. Now this particular fic exchange is smaller and only runs four times a year, so give me three months and I can probably do it again no problem. But right now, I definitely need a break lol No regrets though!!

Highlights of my reading:

I learned Object and Concept Anthropomorphism is a category on AO3. 😲 Which on the one hand, shouldn't surprise me because I KNOW I read crack fic with anthropomorphism back on LiveJournal. But it still delighted me to see it pop up in this fic exchange. XD

On that note Chess Pieces (Anthropomorphic) is apparently popular enough to warrant it's own, individual, fandom tag. Incredible information to know!! I love that!

There's a user named DanceWithOrangutans and they seem to only request or write orangutan fiction or maybe Planet of the Apes fic if they feel like branching out. Truly an icon to end all icons! 🌟 They're my new favorite person and I look forward to reading lots of orangutan flash fiction in future rounds 💜

I have absolutely no idea what was going on in any of the anime fics but some of them were super adorable and fluffy 🥰

My absolute favorite thing was when people who actually know that fandom commented before me, so when I left my little heart, I would get to read them squeeing and crying and freaking out over how good the drabble was. :') They'd be like 'IT WAS SO IN CHARACTER!!! 😭' and I'd be like 'oh cool, the author nailed it! 😄' 10/10 experience

And to wrap things up...

Seasons of Drabbles: Summer Round Superlatives

Best Author's Note:

satisfy the desire of the afflicted by yesthisisnarumi (Dungeon Meshi, M, 300 words)

Hysterical author's note. Absolutely loved it. 😂

Most Baller Line:

birds of a feather by embraidery (Stardew Valley, T, 1100 words)

CAN IMAGINE WHERE A SMILE MIGHT GO???????? Are you fucking kidding me right now???????????? Brilliant work! A++ I'm still losing my mind about it!

I Don't Go Here But Holy Shit That's Good Writing:

recoil by Fleetling (The Man From U.N.C.L.E, T, 300 words)

The use of gun imagery to describe their relationship -- which from the one viewing of the trailer I saw years ago, seems pretty fitting for the movie -- just blew my mind. "voice cracking like gunfire" in the next paragraph? -- GOOD GOD! Again, don't even remotely go here, but damn this fic was really well written!

Best Username:

ECwrotethisforyou

You know what, yeah. You did write that, buddy! And you should remind everyone reading your fics that these are gifts! In or outside of a fic exchange. I approve! 👏

Best Story Structure:

If Comfy, Warm, and My Size, Why No Sit: A Meta-analysis of Research into the Warm Flat Rectangle by Dr Fluffy Jones by finerandbonnier (Original Work, G, 300 words)

YOU GUYS!!!!!!! If you have ever read a scientific paper for school or for funsies, you need to read this fic! It has FOOTNOTES! It has a BIBLIOGRAPHY in the end author's note! IT'S A FUCKING WORK OF GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!! 12/10 All the applause 🎉👏👏👏🌟

[expatesque]

Dear S, long time listener first time caller here. I'm about to start my LPC (with a TC lined up) in less than a month and I don't know if I can do it. I know that law isn't for me but I don't have anything else lined up and I'm not entirely sure how to go about transitioning to a more exciting career in data with my humanities degree. Should I call it quits now or stay for the two and a half years?

Ooph. Okay so this is really hard. A few considerations (and know that I say these judgement free, but this is a really important choice and I think it's worthy of asking tough questions):

Would you have to pay back any money to your firm? Would that be a financial difficulty for you or could your family cover it without issue? (If your firm have paid for your GDL, they'll likely want you to pay something back)

What would your life look like if you don't start the LPC and you're unemployed for 6 months? A year? More than a year? Hopefully this wouldn't be the case for you but it absolutely does happen. Would you live at home or would your parents pay your rent? If you'd be at home, is that a sustainable situation for theoretically upwards of a year? How would that impact your mental health? Would you be able to travel to job interviews easily or would finding a job be logistically difficult? Would you be near friends or without your support network?

What else would you do? Are you currently qualified to do that? Do you need further education or experience? Have you talked to people in the field to confirm your understanding?

What I'm trying to get at is: the decision isn't just 'do I want to do law or not?' It seems pretty clear that you've already worked that one out. The decision is: would my life be worse taking the 2.5 years to train as a lawyer or not?

It's not surprising to regulars here that I did not like law. But for the situation I was in at the time, it was the right choice to continue my TC -- I needed a visa, and no one was paying my rent but me, and I needed to be in London so I could find another job in London. I also didn't know what else I wanted to do, so it was a good stepping stone -- it was miserable but it was well paid and it's a useful qualification and a good notch on my resume belt.

You may be in a similar situation or you could be happy to live at home for a bit and be based in London and have a great relationship with your parents and be clear about your path and what you need to do to get there.

Law is a serious commitment, particularly when you know you don't want it long term. So it's a tough question. You have to decide whether sucking it up and putting up with it for 2 years would put you in a better position than the alternative, and that's highly circumstance dependent. I would spend some time really digging into the practical logistics of what not starting your TC would mean, and how you would cope with that. I'd also talk to some people in the industry you'd like to be in and factor that into your choice -- if you'll need another 2 years of schooling to do what you want, it's probably better to get that out of the way asap (I can almost guarantee you will feel less up for going back to school after some time in the working world). If it's the kind of industry where they like people to have some other experience, then law might make sense as a starting point. It will likely depend on the industry, and it's well worth finding out the answer before you make any choices.

And one last thing: are you the kind of person who would be able to leave? It's so easy to get stuck in law -- you likely won't get paid NQ levels switching careers, and that can be a hard pill to swallow after getting used to a certain lifestyle. You'll also have gotten older, all your friends will be earning more, and you'll be going back to square one. And it's exhausting trying to find a new job while you currently have one, especially one as demanding as big law. If you realistically think you won't be able to leave, don't start. You'll ruin your life that way.

Good luck babe. I'm rooting for you. Let me know if you need any clarifications -- and let me know what you choose.

[katierosefun]

Hello! I'm kinda new to the fandom side of tumblr and just wanted to ask: what made you start writing fanfic? I kinda want to get into it, but I'm not sure what I would write exactly or how much work it would take.

hello! thanks for dropping by!! 

ooph, i guess in terms of what made me start writing fanfic--’tis a long story, but it basically boils down to i watched a series finale and decided that nope, i’m going to continue the story in any way i can. really, i just wanted to stay in the universe for a little while longer and create stories that filled in more of the gaps of episodes that i loved/was intrigued by. 

as for what you should write/how much work it would take--that is entirely up to you! the cool thing about fic is that it’s simultaneously diverse and unifying, if that makes sense. like, there are people who will write about the same episode/use the same tropes, and yet each story will be so unique because of the author’s personal style/particular characterizations and etc. (ie. you want a gazillion stories that’s just,,,idk, hurt/comfort? someone cries? congratulations, you probably have an array of so many stories that tick those exact boxes and yet are so incredibly unique!) 

so what i’m basically saying is that you can really do whatever the heck you want, and chances are, there’ll be some people who are interested. if you prefer to write in canonverse (ie. write in the direct timeline of the world you want to write about), then that’s totally you’re call! if you want to do a bunch of AUs with time travel/fantasy/coffeeshop/university/high school/whatever, then that is also totally your call! write what you enjoy! write what interests you, because that way, you’ll be excited about what you’re writing, and being excited about what you’re writing = better content! 

as for how much work it would take--that is also something that’s totally up to you. some fic writers write almost exclusively in one-shots, and others write almost exclusively in novel-length multichapter fic. some writers (like me!) do a mix of both. some writers maybe write like, a few stories a year, while other writers write a few stories per month. it really just depends on your own schedule and your own comfort levels! 

so, bottom line: get into fanfic if that’s what you wanna do! have fun! go bonkers! unleash your imagination, write as little or as much as you want! hope that helps!

[queercapwriting]

I'm currently planning a long AU with multiple chapters and I'm very nervous. It's gonna be my biggest and most ambitious fic to date. Would it be too much to ask for a couple of words of encouragement? (Ps- you are a v delightful human being and no pants is the BEST way to blog party ok)

It would never be too much to ask! I’m glad you did: because first let me say, I’m so proud of you for planning out such an intricate story! AUs and multi chapters are hard! The two together? Ooph! Job well done, my dear: you’re already crushing it! And, I know you can get the rest of it done, and done well. You have an amazing story to tell, and I know you love being able to write it: so try to let the stress of it pass you by and enjoy the excitement and passion of it! When the stress bites through anyway, know that you are definitely not alone! You’ve got this

[writtenonreceipts]

Hi!! I’m excited to be working on your gift in the ACOTAR gift exchange. Beyond the pairings you listed, is there anything else you’d like to see in your fic? 🎁

Hello!! Ooph let's see....I'd be happy with anything haha, which is so unhelpful and I'm sorry 😅 I think I'd love some fluff and feels for sure though, I know that much. The holidays are going to be really hard this year so fun and sweet is definitely something I'd like to see.

Have a great day friend!!

[indynerdgirl]

UPDATE 12/01/2023 (This will be my last update to this post unless something drastically changes, good or bad. Thank you all so much for your prayers for Vianney, Jennifer, and the entire Cripe family. 🙏🏻)

[IMAGE TEXT:

3 Months! And oh, what a journey its been. I pray her next 3 months are less exciting - boring sounds pretty good around here right now. We got to take Vianney home with us on 11/20, just in time for Thanksgiving. Right before she came home, she started giving us some small sounds and looking around more, each day she got more and more alert (and has continued to do so!). She also was completely seizure free while she was on the EEG for 72hrs. Which is so incredible and another answered prayer! We were able to wean her two IV seizure meds off before coming home and are now working to wean one of her four remaining seizure meds down. I am praying she does well and we might be able to wean a second one off soon too. She is still feeding by NG tube and taking her meds through this as well. It's been a learning experience for us but Shad and I are figuring it out (Shad had a middle of the night ER visit with her this week after multiple tubes kept clogging). I am still hopeful she may be able to nurse again one day but we still aren't there yet. In the meantime, I continue round the clock pumping (which can sometimes be stressful itself and no fun but I am grateful to still be able to feed her this way). Since we've been home, Vianney has been showing off her lungs and giving us lots of good noises now! And while I will always be so grateful to hear them, I wouldn't hate it if it was a little less frequent at night. ❤ It seems our little lady has her days and nights mixed up (no surprise given she'd been in the hospital for so long) so we are working on that. A few nights ago she was up from 11pm - 5am and ooph this mama was tired the next day. And unfortunately I keep scheduling virtual appointments/home health visits while Zelie naps. She is stiff and sometimes struggles to straighten out but we are gently working on that. And still unsure of how much she can see and hear but she does startle to loud noises at least! It's taken me a while to post an update, mainly because I've been so tired and whatever energy I do have has been put towards the girls and just trying to resettle into our home/reestablish our routines. Each day we are figuring life with her out though but every moment continue to be grateful for her! She is such a gift and we treasure it as a most wonderful blessing from God. Cecilia adores holding her as much as she can throughout the day and I'm pretty sure Zelie has her own "kiss quota" she has to hit - she kisses her randomly all day long ❤ We remain incredibly, incredibly grateful for all those lifting us up in prayer, the meal train, the grocery shopping, the donations, and everything else in between. My family feels so loved by so many. I continue to ask the Blessed Ulma family's intercession for her healing and for her to make gains that surpass every doctor's expectations. Jesus, I trust in you. God, thy will be done.]

[Image Text: Please, please, please, if you even so much as glance at this post - share it for us and help us storm heaven!!! Our little girl needs a miracle and I beg any and every one of you to pray, pray, pray! Even if you don't know how to pray, please just ask God to heal Vianney’s brain. Now is the time for her miracle. We are devastated. Ever since we first found out about her diagnosis of left hemimegalencephaly, we have been praying and asking you all to pray that her right brain be spared. And you have shown up and helped us pray for this intention! All along the doctors have told us how strong and beautiful her right brain looked. However, this all changed sometime in the night between Friday and Saturday. At a time when we thought we were in the clear and were actually making plans to go home in a couple of weeks (!), something happened. The doctors can't explain it, they are looking into every avenue, as this was completely unexpected and unexplainable. She was awake. She was breathing on her own. She was moving. Shad was with her Friday night and video chatted me and I could not wait to see her the next day, finally alert! But suddenly very early that morning she took a turn and stopped responding. That's when her seizures started and they were indeed coming from the right side this time, due to whatever injury the right side sustained. They said her injury looks consistent with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy but none of her vitals ever changed and her labs have remained great. There is truly no explanation at this time. My heart is broken. I cry out to God to understand why, in this final moment, when we were so close to her recovery, did this happen? I am trusting in Him with all my might and KNOW in my heart and soul that He is loving her far greater than I, but oh man I am absolutely broken. She has lost 40-60% of function in her right brain. Even typing it out and reading it in this post is too cruel to bear. They don't expect that she is in dire life threatening circumstances yet but they also can't say that her brain won't be injured further - since we still don't have a cause. Even if she survives all of this and is able to come home, we don't yet know what kind of life our little, beautiful perfect girl will have with only 25% of her brain. At this point, the most basic expectation is that she will not be able to walk or talk along with many other difficulties. She is outside of what they can do (other than trying to prevent more damage) and is truly in God's hands now. I told our priest yesterday before we got the full news - perhaps God is giving us the most dire of circumstances to give us the most miraculous of recoveries. In a world that needs to witness a miracle more than ever, I am praying to God that He show us one now. Please, please, please, keep praying for our Vianney - that her brain is completely healed and she can defy all medical expectations. And if now is the time for a miracle, then we are asking you to also beg for the prayers of the Blessed Ulma family. Soon I will share more about this incredible family, but for now we are asking them to pray along with us for our little Vianney’s miracle!]

Please storm heaven for my friend's little girl! 🙏

You can follow their GiveSendGo for updates

Prayer for the Intercession of the Ulma Family

Almighty and eternal God,

We thank You for the testimony of the heroic love of the spouses Józef and Wiktoria with their children, who gave their lives to save persecuted Jews.

May their prayers and example support families in Christian life and help everyone to follow the true path of holiness.

Lord, if it is in accordance with Your will, kindly grant the grace for the complete healing of little Vianney, for which we are asking You through their intercession and count them among the Blessed.

Through Christ Our Lord

Amen

Our Father…, Hail Mary…, Glory Be…

[crazy-little-thing-called-me]

ooph,, hello 🥺 i'm your secret santa thingie, uhh first questions! not related to like, anything- what's your zodiac sign? fav member? -💫

Hi!!!

I’m so excited to hear from you!

My zodiac sign is taurus. Favourite memeber of the band? Hard to dedice because I love all of them.. but I’d go with Freddie.

Have a nice day!