#so i reworked this fic that i wrote a while ago to try and get myself back into it

[weekend-whip]

Ninjago Fic Rec Week (2024): Day 4

Prompts: AU/Movieverse/OCs! (Catching Up! I uh skipped Day 3 oop but I've got plenty to offer for this day! Which is...also late...don't look at meeee)

Aus WITH OCs (or as I like to call this list, my own personal indulgence corner. All the AUs/Movieverse stories I've read are ones that get recc'ed a lot already + I myself have already recc'ed them at one point or another, soooo let's throw some pure spotlight onto some OC stories! Even if a lot of it is connected to me to some degree that's irrelevant):

As The Years Pass By: A fic currently in the process of being rewritten/reworked but still chock full of next-gen Dragons Rising goodness! And it stars the one, the only, Jenna and Ethan from @rainofthetwilight!!!! This fic made me fall in love with her characters and I've loved reading/seeing/drawing these two adorable kids ever since!!!!

Dad!Jay AU by @taddymason: An AU so good I'm still catching up on reading it bit by bit to savor it for longer *-*)9 All the stories in this series are worth the read alone for the accumulation of taddy's character Kaida (a girl who needs no introduction–she's that awesome guys, trust me) but also the eventual father-daughter bond with amnesiac!Jay that is gripping and engaging aaaaall the wall through!!

I Carve This Poem From the Harshest of Storms: Another I'm not caught up with YET (a running theme for this Fic Week, it seems hgfhgfdfgds i'm sorry I'm slow and have a short-attention span). It follow two fascinating peeps in The Administration following The Merge, and without giving too much away, @theartsyswissapple ‘s voices for the characters just POP and make them feel SO real and it's been intriguing to read so far so yeah others should give it a try too!!!

What it Takes for You to See Me: A Spinjitzu bros story with added FSM and Mystake goodness too!!! This is one I've just started reading myself, but you know I love some throwbacks to Wu and Garmadon's past! And the OC here, @marhan-writes-n-draws's Amka, fits into the setting like a glove!!

Honeycomb: Gotta give a shoutout to @miqotepotatoe's Lucy while I'm here too!! Some short, sweet snippets of the Ninja Team's best (and most yellow) cheerleader!! I love her dynamic with everyone, and especially Cole <3

The Space Between Us: A very deep and heart-wrenching introspective into @k1ngtok's characters Lynda and Jamie, Master(s) of Space. It's story about siblings and bonds at its core, but also be mindful of tag of you're looking to dig deeper! (it also takes place in legacyverse technically but that's neither here or there I promise)

Flowery Language Another super funny and endearing story by King following Jesse (hey it's my boy!!) and Antonia on the case to discover who's been leaving flowers in Jesse's locker (spoiler: it's not Cole lmao). It's actually a semi-sequel to this old thing *I* wrote however long ago, but thaaaat's not required reading (though it does help). If you want more of a fix for the Jesse-Antonia duo + more of Jamie, this is the story to read!

Learning to Love (Again): Yet another King fic based in legacyverse (a coincidence), this one kiiiind of takes place during Season 2/Book 3 and follows Jamie on his quest to truly show his friends (Nya, Antonia, Harumi, Jesse, and...Olivia?!) just how much he cares about them through the power of love languages over the course of a week and it is AWESOOOOOOOOME!! Soooo many touching and feel-good moments, mostly soft slice-of-life with teenagers being teenagers, and is a great pick-me up when your soul is feeling sad ;w;)/ I advocate for this one just for the warm soft friendshippy-feelings it gives me alone!!! AAAAAA—

Something About Morning Glories: Jesse (oop there he is again) takes it upon to himself to comfort Jay after the latter finds himself concerned about something following obtaining his True Potential. A duo I desperately want to write more about but can't yet, so this little bit of foundation for their relationship will have to suffice for now ;w;)/

(and if you're still clamoring for more of a certain magic pink fool, there's plenty more where that came from; perhaps there may be a Jesse-Antonia friendship origin story on deck soon, along with maybe some DR stuff~! ...listen there will never be a good chance to self-advertise like this again!! BE YOUR BIGGEST FAN!!! SELF-LOVE BABY!!!! *-*)9 )

In the Company of the Stars: A tale as old as time—a Royal!AU where the fair groundskeeper of a palace's garden (that's the OC) falls head over heels for the prince far out of his league (that's Cole)—except, the prince absolutely likes him back...albeit only as his secret, suave alter-ego. But is that really true—and, more importantly, is there bigger problems to deal with right now???? There's romance, mystery, good food, royal drama, angst, fluff, sabotage, magic, a whole bunch of flowers, Harumi causing chaos on purpose, Skylor throws Chad across a room, Jay goes on a rampage a some point, Kai can't flirt to save his life—the author just needs some fresh motivation to post the darn next chapter already because the ending's gonna be really really good ;V

[imtrashraccoon]

Bit of a vent, feel free to keep scrolling.

About two weeks ago, I came to the realization that I don't have the motivation to finish The Hand We've Been Dealt and I hate it. It's been a year since I wrote anything for it and the place where the story is, isn't something I'm happy with but I don't want to try fixing it. I put over a year of my life into it before attempting to post it online and at the time I thought it would be the first fanfiction I'd ever finished. I've learned a lot about structuring a story this year and I wish I had known this before.

I could restructure the story or completely rewrite it but I have so many other projects that I'd enjoy more. It's also a remnant of my old Undertale Multiverse I had created before I joined Tumblr. Most of this I've never posted anywhere and in my opinion it's too cringe to even bother doing. In a way, I'd like to retire it and move on to my new multiverse that I've been building.

Maybe one day I'll write a fic with a skeleton MC or rework the story like I am planning to do with my first ever Undertale fic. I know I'll feel better with it not being one other thing to complete but it's still sad. So, while I doubt any of you are following me because of it, this is me officially concluding that fic. I'll post the remaining chapters to my AO3 and write up a brief epilogue before marking it complete.

If you read this far, I applaud you. I'm only posting this because I needed to get it off my chest but also, I may have randomly gotten inspiration for a writing request one of you sent me. Is it weird that I'm debating "killing off" the main characters of The Hand We've Been Dealt and having their (eventual) daughter survive them? It feels edgy for no reason to me and I may end up changing my mind.

[1425fivefive]

hii amelia, i've been really enjoying your fic process posts and i'm wondering if u have any advice for new-ish fic writers? i wrote a few one shots back in the days when i was really young and although im fond of them it's not great work. now that i'm writing a new one (landoscar brainrot has forced me to get back to writing) longer format too, i really want it to be good- i don't know how to make sure it isn't absolute shite before posting it because after rereading it a thousand time for editing my brain is incapable of telling whether it's any good. but anyways. if you have any wisdom or tips and tricks for writing/editing to share i'd be endlessly grateful 🥹💛

Hi lovely anon, thank you so much for sending this ask!

First of all, I just want to say how much I adore you for wanting to write and share it with people! It took me a very long time to get comfortable enough to share my work publicly and I still get really bad indigestion every time I'm about to post a fic because I'm convinced this will be the fic that makes everyone realize I'm actually a terrible writer. So I fear the feeling of "this is absolute shit and everyone will hate it" is maybe a permanent thing, at least for me.

BUT, I do have some tips for making sure things aren't "absolute shite" before posting (below the cut because it's a bit long).

First, taking some time away from a fic can be really helpful, just to be able to see the fic with fresh eyes. I know that can be hard because you want to just post things, but stepping back can help you come back and read the fic as a fresh reader.

Second, I always try to make sure everything's formatted correctly. So, proper dialogue tags (comma vs. period), sufficient line breaks, making sure a new character speaking or a new action is a new paragraph, etc. (here's a post I shared ages ago about proper fic formatting).

Third, and this is the most important to me especially with a longer fic, I try to think about whether any parts of the fic are boring. Not slow, but boring. Try and look at each scene and think "what is this scene trying to accomplish?" That can be a variety of things (character development, plot, character interactions). But once you feel like the scene has achieved that thing, it's okay to move on to a new scene. One of my biggest complaints about most fics, especially longer ones, is that scenes can feel draggy or repetitive of other scenes. I cut so many scenes from Learned Behavior because I realized I was only including them because I liked one little piece of dialogue from it or had some other attachment to a random thing about the scene. Don't be afraid to delete scenes by copy-pasting them into another Word doc or Google Doc tab. You might be able to rework them into something else later down the line, but not every scene you write needs to be in the final fic

Fourth, there is such a thing as over-editing! I, at least, edit so much as I write that most of the time the "first draft" is already pretty polished (like I wouldn't be horrified by posting my first draft). When I start spending ages editing, I often start making things worse because I'm overthinking every sentence and it stops flowing together and sounding like me. I try to remind myself that I wrote/edited the sentences in a certain way for a reason

Fifth, remember that this is just for fun! At the end of the day, "good" vs. "bad" art is highly subjective. My least favorite fic I've ever written is my second most popular fic, while my personal favorite will probably never come anywhere close to my most popular fic on AO3. It's also just really hard to judge objectively whether your work is good or bad! If you have a decent time reading it, then I'm sure other people will enjoy it too

Anyway, I'm so sorry for the ramble, but I Iove hearing that you want to share your fics! I have total faith they will not be absolute shite, and my inbox is always open to talk about writing 💕

[viscerawrites]

status update 9/28/2024

just a lil post to announce what fics ive worked on/tasks ive crossed off my checklist today! its mostly for myself rlly fcngnhkk buuut its here if anyone's curious ig? Im just chilling

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what ive accomplished today:

wrote 492 words for chapter 2 of where love didn't exist

today was the first time ive been able to work on this fic (w/o anxiety) since i first posted it in january, so that's pretty nice! tbh i lost so much confidence in it after i lost my therapist since i was hoping to use it as a coping fic while i processed shit. but who knows, maybe it'll still help me learn things abt myself. regardless, im excited to be back at it!

wrote 156 words for my sleep token oneshot wip, the body as a temple ; got it to 913!

i havent worked on this one in a while either lol, mostly bc i started it right before The Anxiety started hitting me every time i sat down to write. i was honestly rlly nervous to return to it cuz i was scared I wouldn't be able to keep writing it at all. but im giving myself the grace to move slow, so. rare W for me.

retyped/sorta edited 582 words for chapter 1 of my hollywood undead wip the exorcism of jorel decker

i actually posted this 1st chapter a long while ago! then i deleted it, tried to rework into original fiction, realized i was having much more fun writing it as bandfic, and then foolishly orphaned the original version instead of just deleting </3 but the good news abt that is. idk if i still have it in my google docs at all. so at least i have that to reference LOL.

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soo.

today is saturday september 28 (this month is going by way too fast fr) and it's just past 6pm rn. got a late start today bc i was exhausted as shit for a while, then i talked to my mom incessantly for what was apparently hours. So i only got started around 3pm (but i still needed to warm up, soo it took longer. Bleh).

didn't set my checklist goals at the start of the day like i planned to bc i was having The Anxiety and a bit of decision paralysis. and was also worried abt.. Various things. so it doesn't feel as successful today, but ive still gotten shit done and that's what should matter to me.

out of everything ive typed today, ive done abt 1,230 words in total so far. Most of that was unfortunately just me retyping shit ive already written and am now moving from google docs to ellipsus (which i highly recommend btw). i typically prefer to retype into new software instead of pasting; it gets the brain flowing better.

but i did still write some new words, and a lot of what i retyped was modified and added to. or cut. Whatever it needed rlly.

im still trying to find the proper schedule for myself + the best way to juggle my millions of projects/ideas. I need to allow myself some wiggle room while still having some structure. adhd is making this a bit difficult (as it so often does), but it's rlly just trial and error rn. Plus a lot of self-acceptance and focusing on making things easier and more fun for myself - instead of worrying abt the "most reasonable" way to do things. Or anything others might recommend.

I do still plan on writing some more before the night is done, so I might be back w/ an update for this before I head to bed. I got distracted by my brother while writing this post so it's now just after 6:45 LOL.

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gonna close this post off w/ music ive been rlly liking today! bc,, why not.

Animals - Ice Nine Kills (maroon 5 cover)

Disturbia - The Cab (rihanna cover)

What I Never Learned In Study Hall - Ice Nine Kills

[khalaris]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

Ooh lots of fun questions, thank you @justhugsplz for tagging me <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

25.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

61,430 which is absolutely mind-boggling to me. And of those about 45k are Tatort Wien. Which I started writing exactly one year ago. For comparison, I've been writing fanfic for over 20 years and until I fell into Tatort fandom in 2021 I'd posted less than 3k in total.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Exclusively Tatort Wien at the moment. If I ever manage to peek my head out of that particular rabbit hole, I might get back to some Münster WIPs. Not in the near future, though :D

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Aufgeben -> Der Anruf -> Die Welt in unseren Händen -> Bordsteingespräche -> Loslassen

Haha, Tatort Münster with a little sprinkle of Wien. I don't usually sort by kudos, so it's a bit surprising to see Die Welt in unseren Händen rank so high. Well, high in a range between 75 and 34. That's just how it is in small fandoms :D

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

Yes, always. Sometimes it takes a while to get to it. But I always want to take the time and energy to write a proper response, because a) if someone else took the time and energy to tell me how they feel about my story, the least I can do is tell them how much I appreciate them commenting. and b) A comment always feels like the start of a conversation to me. I remember the long comment/discussion threads under fanfic on Livejournal and I miss the community of that. Nowadays it often feels like there's this growing gulf between author and reader, probably because of the current content creator/consumer culture that does little to invite equality or discussion.

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

Silence, a Torchwood CoE fic about John Frobisher's last moments.

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

Bordsteingespräche. I'm really proud of how everything came together in the end in that one :)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nope, thankfully never.

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

If you'd asked me that a month ago, I would have said no. But recently I kind of got over my terminal embarrassment at even trying to write anything smutty. I haven't posted anything yet, but there's several fics/chapters in the works. Tbh I don't find vanilla sex interesting and most of the usual kinks in fanfic are either squicks or a snooze-fest to me. The stuff that I am writing is either weirdly specific kink or just downright unsexy (which my characters are having a frankly outrageous amount of fun with atm, bless them).

I'm a bit hesitant to put any real smut in a fic that isn't actually primarily about the smut. I fear enough people might be put off by that, so hardly anyone would end up reading it then. Bit of a stupid fear to have, perhaps, but still...

(Yes, I know, I should just get over it and simply write and post whatever the hell I want 😅)

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

I've had a lot of crossover ideas over the years, but the only thing I've ever written was an MCU/Agents of Shield thingie I hacked out during NaNoWriMo a couple of years ago. Let's be honest, that combination is the least crazy crossover of all time and hardly counts as a crossover at all. Like 99% of the stuff I've ever written during NaNo, it's completely horrible, unfinished and should never see the light of day again.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Don't think so.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I've translated Bordsteingespräche myself, but was very unhappy with the result, which is why it's unavailable at the moment. It's going to get reworked at some point.

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

Many many years ago, when the world was still young and some of you not yet born 😂, the lovely @hope-calaris and I cooked up a tentative plot for a rather ambitious Star Trek: Voyager fanfic. We didn't end up writing that one, but later co-wrote a CSI: Miami one with someone else iirc and I believe there might have been a 4400 (?) fic, also. Due to depression, my memory of that time is hazy at best, though, so it's possible that I'm missing or misremembering things there.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Didn't expect this question to be so difficult to answer, but is kinda is... 🙈 I guess any combination of my 3 Tatort Wien blorbos. Apart from that, Boerne/Thiel and Stephen Strange/Tony Stark are ships I can always come back to.

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

The aforementioned MCU/AoS time-travel epic.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, especially banter-y dialogue. And editing sentences/paragraphs for maximum impact (when I take the time to do it)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Action. What characters are doing, how they're moving, getting them from A to B and so on. Ugh.

External conflict. I despise conflict in real life and find it extremely difficult to write. You won't find an antagonist in any of my current stories or wips. And when I do write conflict between characters, that's always rooted in their internal conflicts and mostly the result of them not communicating properly.

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

It's very hard to do right. Translations in footnotes are annoying and leave me confused while reading. Translations in brackets behind the dialogue also annoying and missing the point of having different-language dialogue in the first place. It can be good when the author puts enough context there that you can get the gist of what is being said without needing an actual translation.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

X-Files. There's probably some 23-year old notebooks in the back of a drawer somewhere at my mom's house that have fanfic snippets mixed with homework assignments.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Oof, that's another difficult one. I have several that are favourites for different reasons.

Bordsteingespräche for the sheer joy and ease with which it was written.

Kaputt for how much of my heart and soul I'm putting into it.

Die Welt in unseren Händen, because after twenty years of trying and failing I am now finally writing an epic long-form multi-chapter fanfic and I have so many plans and ideas for it. I cannot put into words just how wild that is. And I simply adore this version of my favourite characters.

No-pressure tagging @carlomenzinger, @kathastrophen and @all-my-worlds-a-stage if you want to :)

[pipermca]

Writing Update - June 2024

June is in the history books! I had a huge thing at work this past month, which has taken a lot of my brain power. Now that project is out of the way, I fully intend to do a bit of coasting at work for a little while. (I'm not sure how much coasting I can do, but we'll try. lol)

That said, I did get a lot of writing done! I finished up my Reverse Big Bang fic (look for that in a few weeks!) and worked on a couple of other projects that interested me. I ran a poll a few weeks ago to see what people were interested in seeing from me, and the two big long fics I've been working on... tied. (One was ahead on Tumblr, while the other was ahead on Twitter, and if I combined the votes they literally tied.) At this point I'm just letting my brain work on whatever it wants to work on, although I would like to start posting that one fic later this summer. (And new today, I think I'm coming down with a summer cold. Hopefully it doesn't stick around for very long.)

Anyway, I wrote a total of 8960 words in June, blowing past the 3000 word goal. And I'm approaching another milestone: I have one more fic left in one of the compilation series I took down. (Two of the stories in that compilation were completely reworked and became the start for The Renegade and the Hound, so I won't be reposting those. That means there will be a total of 28 fics/chapters in the series.) After that I think I only have a few more to repost from the other compilation, and then I'll be all caught up. Huzzah!

And a follow up from last month's wrap up, I decided not to participate in the other Big Bang. I'm kind of regretting not signing up, but I know it was probably a good decision. I didn't need anymore obligations on my plate at the moment.

Posted

A Different Me. 830 words. This is a comic script of a scene from A Bonding, a Coronation, and a Funeral. It's one of the scripts I've been wanting to get done, so this feels good to have it posted!

Goat Crossing. 1000 words. This fic was reposted/rewritten. It was backdated to its original posting date (November 24, 2017) so it didn’t appear on AO3’s “front page.”

Family Ties. 2400 words. This fic was reposted/rewritten. It was backdated to its original posting date (November 26, 2017) so it didn’t appear on AO3’s “front page.”

WIPs

These are the works that I actually put words down for this month.

Reverse Big Bang fic. 9200 words. This one is done and just waiting for the posting period to start! Look out for a preview of this piece coming soonish. :)

The Prime and His Protector. 47,600 words. I will eventually start posting this, I swear. But also...

Resonant (working title). 2700 words. This is a prequel to The Prime and His Protector. Yes, a prequel to a fic that I haven't started posting yet. No, I don't know what I'm doing. Lol. this will probably get posted to Tumblr and Pillowfort in full first, and will only go up on AO3 once I start posting Prime and Protector. (It gives some back story to some background characters and adds tragedy to something that gets mentioned in chapter 1 of Prime and Protector. Sorry/not sorry.)

[ainulindaelynn]

Tagged by @aeide and @brasideios. Thanks, wonderful humans! <3

1) How many works do you have on AO3? Two(ish..)

2) What’s your total AO3 word count? I pulled a few things down for reworking a while back, so currently 15,381.

3) What fandoms do you write for? AO3 says exclusively AC Odyssey, but I also have active docs for BG3, SDV, and AC Valhalla. Someday in the (far) distant future I hope to finish some for KotOR and Dragon Age Awakening as well.

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos? There's an unclaimed smut piece out there that's lapped everything else, but after that it's Korinth, then Euboea. By Kudos it's Smut > Ship > Gen Fic, which does not surprise me about AO3 at all 😂

5) Do you respond to comments? Try to!

6) What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Considering they're all WIPs, I abstain xD

7) What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Again, abstaining^

8) Do you get hate on fics? None so far.

9) Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes. The excessive detail kind. For some reason it's easier to write than anything else, so someday I'll probably subject you all to that. I apologize in advance lmao

10) Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Nope! My brain / docs are very much like my blogs (see pinned post for reference). I admire all of you who cross streams, but I am just not built that way.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen? Nope.

12) Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope.

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before? AGES ago. I admire it, but not my thing.

14) What’s your all time favorite ship? As much as I love the Adrestia... Ebon Hawk, BELOVED. But no seriously... how could a person ever pick a favorite ship? Kara/Lee maybe (platonic or otherwise). Kassidas is up there. Recency bias says my BG3 ship too, but there's an OC in there so no one knows what I'm talking about... I love a lot of ships, okay?!? I love them all, okay???

15) What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I used to be offended by this question, but considering I have *pauses to count...* 27 open one shots for BG3 and only plan to finish 1.... 😅

16) What are your writing strengths? Unwavering intent to finish. It never ebbs.

17) What are your writing weaknesses? The actual finishing part. It never happens lmao.

18) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? In theory I enjoy it. It's almost always a sweet touch imo, but that said, it does break immersion if I need to go hunting for a translation. It's worth it usually? But case by case.

19) First fandom you wrote for? I think I've given a different answer to this question every time it's been presented. Honestly, I don't remember. The first time I posted was a flurry of Dragon Age Origins, Snow White & the Huntsman (ahaha), and Knights of the Old Republic though, prompted by the fact that my laptop was dying and I didn't know google drive existed yet. Pure panic posting. Do not recommend.

20) Favorite fic you’ve written? I'm the sort that never wants to see it again once it's published. I'll always love the version in my head better - what makes it to a page is mostly for love of fandom. Of all the fics living in my head though, it's probably the Kassidas one. It's what brought me to tumblr and returned a whole part of my mind to me that had been missing for a decade. Nothing beats that <3

No pressure tagging @merelyafigment @leofrith @whereforartthoumisthios @reiverreturns @anosrepasi :)

[izupie]

💋, ⛔️, and 🍦.

Thank youuuuu for the ask!!! This took a million years to reply to and I'm sorryyyy !!

💋 First kiss fics. Love em or hate em?

OH! this is a good question. I was literally thinking about this a few days ago. I was going to make a poll about it lmao

I kind of hate to write them,,, because I feel so much pressure to get the balance of emotions and imagery and The Moment perfect and somehow still keep everyone in-character. To me it feels virtually impossible to spin that many plates and nail them all. I can never quite write it in a satisfying way (to me)

I just can't reach that perfect balance of all the elements together that make a great written first kiss !! Elusive cryptid I will find you one day.

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

I have a long list of fics I abandoned, but not necessarily scrapped.

Like, I orphan off a lot of my old stuff, which is usually the result of starting a fic while I'm in a certain fandom, and then falling out of the fandom before I've finished it. oops. I can't bring myself to work on something I'm not actively hyperfixating on invested in, so the poor fic just gathers dust and is abandoned to live in WIP Hell forever. I'm sorry unfinished fics !!

As for scrapped, I very rarely delete a work. I've only ever done it once I think? It was a fantasy Izuocha AU that I wanted to rework into something original, so I removed it from existence before I finished it lmao

But yeah, there are a lot of unfinished fics living in my notebooks honestly ahahaaaaa

🍦 What's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

So I've had a flick through my AO3 and remembered this thing - definitely this one: Green's Your Colour

No contest.

It was one of the first batch of Izuocha fics I wrote when I was still trying to figure out their dynamic and was deep in my fluffy feelings about them and it all came pouring out of me in this very sincere but overly sweet fic lmao

I know I said in a previous ask answer that I love to read my own fics, but this is an exception honestly asdfghjkl;

This one is so so so sweet and fluffy and I literally cannot read it without cringing aaa

I've toyed with the idea of orphaning it a few times, but I can't bring myself to do it!

[blossom-adventures]

WIP WEDNESDAY!! (Thursday Morning for me)

We’re back!!

Ok, ok… not quite back, but I was tagged by @thequeenofthewinter and @sylvienerevarine so I thought I’d share something, a little update if you will ☺️

So I haven’t took part in one of these for about 3 maybe 4 months now, but Im wanting to get back into posting them when I can, and I actually mentioned to a mutual earlier, that I have been feeling really good and I’ve found some clarity about what I want to do in each of my WIPs which is something I’ve not been able to say for a long time!

I’m getting excited to write again, which is making me very happy ☺️

However, at this moment at nearly 3am on a Thursday morning, I don’t have specific snippets to share, but what I wanted to do was share what I’m currently working on (this will also act as a to do list for me) 😆

🩷 Bad Things Happen Bingo - I still have one that has been requested from my mother which I haven’t got around to doing, and I’m still up for suggestions being sent my way if anyone wants to

❤️ A Tall Glass of Red Wine - Partial Hiatus on this while I try to work out where I want the story to go next, I still want to work on it but I think I need to dig myself out of a plot hole, maybe reworking the chapters I’ve already posted to have it make sense in the future 🤔

💙 Far Horizons & Ancient Stones - The chapter I’m currently working on is called “The Crown and The Dragonguard” but I’d been finding it hard to get though the Jagged Crown quest line, but I think I’ve recently had an idea of where to go with it, so this is definitely something that will be worked on soon!

🧡 The Blood Prophecy - The Prologue was shared a while ago so I’m hoping the next chapter “Dawnguard” will be happening soon too, I’ve fleshed out Kristof’s character quite a lot thanks to the Calling Of Kynareth Discord Server so I’m excited to get his story underway

💜 Guard & Glaive - I have a Whumptober story and the Kingsglaive Legends stories that I want to finish before I would feel comfortable sharing the Prologue of Guard and Glaive, it’s still in the works and I’m excited to see where it leads

💚 Legacy of the Herald - Yes, you read that right, my Dragon Age fic has a title! I wrote the Prologue the other day but I want to get a little further with the story before I start posting this

🩶 Cosplay! - I am currently starting my work for my Cloud cosplay ready for February as well as making the wing that goes with my Ardyn cosplay, I’d love to share more progress with people on here ☺️

[hangmanbradshaw]

Fanfic Writer Emoji Ask

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

💖 What made you start writing?

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

📚 Would you ever want to turn writing into a career?

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

omg you hit me with a challenge, I love it! Okay.

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh? So many. Throwing in humor is my fave thing, but recently I was re-reading IWTBY and laughing at the scene where Bradley and Jake are spying on Mav and Ice's date like the worst spies in history.

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately? I do not! I have to have total quiet to write, but I listen to so much music as inspo for when I am writing later. Right now I'm listening to TS as always (current song I'm obsessed with is I Almost Do) and Got Me Started by Troye Sivan thanks to ABY.

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped? A couple. Started an ABY themed fic a few months ago that I might rework. A witch one. The baseball/football philly one that turned into IWTBY instead.

💖 What made you start writing?

I've always LOVED stories, like annoyingly good at guessing movies/books cuz I love how they're crafted and I just have an eye for it I guess? Anyways I never thought I could write, but my therapist recommended art therapy in some form and I thought, well, I'll try? And I wrote my mummy AU so fast and fell in love with it immediately. Here I am.

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

unhappy ending, major character death

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

hehehehhee here you go:

His heart jumped into his throat, but he forced a smirk and said, “Me? I’m not the one torpedo-ing through a damn crowded bar.” He gave the man a long, hard look. He was just as hot as he remembered, maybe even more. He had on some ridiculous jorts and sneakers, and draped over his torso was the ugliest palm tree hawaiian shirt he’d ever seen. He raised an eyebrow as he asked, “What, gotta get to the Hawaii Five-O Convention?”

“Funny.”

“Bloody.”

The guy furrowed his eyebrows and said, “No, I said funny.”

“No.” He said with a roll of his eyes as he gestured at the side of the hawaiian monstrosity where a deep red was spreading. “You’re bleeding. What did you do, get attacked by a shark?”

“Oh.” Brown eyes blinked down at his side like he was just now realizing he was bleeding. He lifted the edge of his shirt up, and Jake tried not to salivate over the sliver of toned abs and happy trail that poked out, instead focusing his attention on the gash on the man’s side, over the cut of his hip. “Well, look at that.”

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

I very intentionally connect my worlds lmao but I realized recently I unintentionally use the phrase 'takes one to know one' in like....most of them lmao.

📚 Would you ever want to turn writing into a career?

That's the dream, isn't it? Imposter syndrome still says I can't, but hell maybe I should try? Won't know if I don't. (If I could write all day I'd be in literal heaven. It's seriously my fave thing)

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

in little ways. my twister au when they're getting divorced hurt ugh. parts of iwtby or even tree farm when they're broken up.

[diamondmeadow]

ooh, I'm curious about Edinburgh Epic! 👀

So Edinburgh Epic is actually a strange thing, and I could talk about it forever. It is basically an idea that I used for one of my roleplays, which is now discontinued, but the whole premise is just too good to pass on, and I really hope I can turn it into a fic one day using my writing from it. The scary thing is, it can be nothing but a multichapter, possibly a very very long one at that, and I'm not very brave when it comes to longfic. It's sort of a band AU but not really at all. It takes place in Edinburgh, that's why Edinburgh Epic. Sirius trying to patch things up with the rest of the Marauders after he disappeared for five years after their graduation. He suddenly appears at their uni reunion and well, shit goes down. The reason for his disappearance silly as it can only get; he thinks Remus and James are in love (which isn't true, but it's still complicated). But of course, he's been pining for so long. And maybe Remus has been pining too, but god, they are oblivious. Sirius is not a very good person in this premise, but I love the idea of him as a very flawed being very much. It makes me want to write the fic all the more. There is a whole extensive lore for this that came around while the roleplay was going on, and much of it can't be used because the ideas are not all mine, but I'm hopeful I can rework it.

There are also a lot of graphics I made for the rp (fictional album covers), so posting some here for fun as well as a snippet I wrote for the rp.

If it's to any interest haha.

There he is. He is! This isn't a joke, but that's no surprise. Sirius could never doubt Remus after all; the other has never given him any reason to. Unlike Sirius, who's been giving them to everyone around him. His brows knit in an unconscious pained look, not because of his injuries, but because of the way Remus is looking at him. Sirius doesn't know what to do with himself. It is bright enough with all the city night lights, not like back in the quad with Reg, but Sirius now wishes it was the other way around. It's hard to look into the face of things he has done. Into Remus' face where it is all being reflected, the black eye that he's given him by an accident a burning testimony. Sirius wants to reach out, let his fingers apologise for him. Well, that privilege he lost years ago. And yes, Sirius has his reasons for everything, yes, he does, but no one is asking, no one is interested. Honestly, at this point he starts believing that's how that ought to be. He doesn't deserve forgiveness. He doesn't deserve a chance to explain. He doesn't deserve to be anywhere near Remus nor James nor Peter, nor anyone really. His eyes fall down to his own feet and watch his own steps as he follows Remus, wherever he os taking them. Just say something, anything. Whoever the thought is directed to. I'm sorry. Remus, Moony, Moons, I'm so terribly sorry. Looking up just enough to see the way Remus' pace looks strained and heavy, the way he is gripping at his cane, Sirius feels a pang of pain somewhere near his heart. Very real physical pain coupled with his lung feeling as if someone kept stomping on them. Remus, how are you? What can I do? Let me ... take ... Then Sirius hears him, sees the napkin at the edge of his vision. They stop. Sirius reaches out for the offered item, his fingers hesitating for a millisecond; does he have any right to accept the kindness? Remus, always thinking of others when the only person he should be thinking about is himself. Remus, who absolutely wouldn't accept others thinking about him the same way in spite of the fact he would give himself and his everything to anyone who asked. No, actually people don't even have to ask. Remus. At last, Sirius clutches the napkin in his hand, then in the other, finally neatly folding it, smoothing it on his palm, before pressing it under his nose. He inhales, closing his eyes, a familiar scent hitting his nostrils, but when he looks again, there's no trace of blood on the pristine fabric. It knows too. In itself or as a part of Remus even the napkin's rejecting him. "I... tried to clean up before. And now the blood's all dried up and won't really ... come off. That's okay." His voice comes off a little shaky as he rambles. Sirius is ashamed of how much the events of the night are affecting him. He is afraid Remus might come to pity him. But he's worthy of none of that genuine compassionate feeling the other is so capable of. Sirius quickly pushes the napkin into the pocket on his trousers instead before Remus can ask for it. At least... let me have this. Sirius looks up quickly. Is it okay? "How is your eye? Does it hurt very much?" No improvement shows in his voice. A car's passed them just as he speaks up again and his question is drowned in the sounds of the engine. He steps closer and repeats. "Does your eye hurt very much?"

[ectogeo-rebubbles]

👀🙋‍♀️❌🏆

Ohhh, thank you, so many emojis!!! <3 (This is for the fanfic writer emoji ask game)

🙋‍♀️ Do any irl people know you write fanfic?

My partner has read about half of my fics, and I feel so lucky to have his support! <3 <3 <3 He is always blown away by my writing (partially bc the only other fanfics he has read besides mine are the fics that he used to host for people on the fansite he ran, back in the day), which is really adorable and always a much appreciated ego boost for me, hehe. I also sometimes, when I am feeling very daring, tell my irl friends that I write fanfic (but not the fandom, or at least not the ship). XD Oh, and one of my siblings knows I write fanfic AND the ship I write for, but like... I am confident they will not find my fic, bc I cannot for the life of me get them to watch DS9 despite my best efforts lmao.

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

Coffee shop AU. 

🏆 What's your most popular fic?

the spy who married me by both kudos and bookmarks! ^_^ Honorable mentions: latent attraction by hits (aka Highest Number of Chapters Award!), so, I lied, I cheated by comment threads (aka Most Likely to Induce a Response of "Bestie, You Are Insane for This" Award!), spectre by subscriptions (aka Longest IRL Wait Time Between Chapters with an Unresolved Cliffhanger Award!)

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

I think I’ll tell you about a number of them (below the cut), bc I am kinda in the mood to hype up ALL of my ~active wips (...as opposed to the mood I would need to be in to actually write any of them lollllll)

-Julian reveals his augment secret to Garak in a roundabout and indirect way, accidentally causing Garak some angst in the process. But it’s mostly about them both submitting to the mortifying ordeal of being known (in order to be loved), together. This is actually a follow up to one of your short fics, sapphose, you wrote this scene about Garak pouting about having to get an annual physical and it gave me An Idea.

-A romantic and smutty, 30-years-later, old!married!garashir fic where they reminisce about the day they met. <3

-A ridiculous By Inferno’s Light oneshot where Julian and Garak have to make out in order to distract the prison guards. Do NOT ask me how this is a good, sensible plan (it isn’t, just roll with it, haha).

-A much more serious In Purgatory’s Shadow/By Inferno’s Light fic multichapter, that is a set of canon compliant missing scenes. And it’s a Garashir getting together fic too, of course, bc I know what I’m about.

-A sinister and smutty Siskarak oneshot (with background open relationship garashir and siskasidy), set a bit before Inquisition. Sisko and Garak have already cut a deal or two with s31/Sloan to give them needed advantages in the Dominion War, and now they are trying to decide what to do about Sloan’s latest demands. And obviously they are having this loaded conversation while banging.

-Every once in a while, I still daydream about rewriting and reworking my post-“The Quickening” mad!scientist!Bashir horror fic that I rough drafted ~2 years ago. Not actively working on this one but like... what if I did? What then?????

Folks, feel free to send me more emoji asks, and I will of course share multiple snippets if people ask me to, haha! XD Force me to write/edit each of my fics snippet-by-snippet simply by bombarding me with emojis, lol!

[penname-artist]

The other day I observed something I hadn't looked at in a bit: my old 'Emergency' series. It was finished a while back, at the end of 2021. And something I realized, while going through it and reposting chapters to Wattpad (just to say it's available in multiple places), is that the me who wrote it was...very different from the me looking at it today.

Specifically, I was a very angry person before I finished that series.

I was mad at the world and at God for a lot of things. A lot of losses, a lot of mistakes. In a sense, Emergency was the fic that I poured my heart into to drain it of those emotions. I grieved through writing a series. And since I've finished it, I haven't written nearly anything quite so dark. Smuttier, definitely, but never anything quite so big, or so painful. Let me remind you that Emergency is a series that includes character murder, other character death, kidnapping, characters bleeding out, active shooters, ghosts, possession, and a lot of extremely emotion-heavy scenes. It was a swan song of its time, but it was no lighthearted story. I dropkicked my grief into it, and it does show.

Which is what makes the separation between the then and now so weird to me.

I do still grieve my losses and my missteps, but not nearly as often, and not nearly as strong. They happen more often like waves, not like whole storms. Even right now, I already know as we barrel through July that I'm getting closer and closer to a time period full of heavy reminders: that it's been two years now since I was forced to remove myself from a server and group of people I was unable to be around safely anymore. Two years is a lot of time, and it still feels like I blinked and it was all gone. So yeah it's going to get heavy again, I'm almost certain that it will, but, somehow, I know I'm going to get through it. I've gotten through every other anniversary date so far, in the threeish years since my first major incident occurred.

Fics still poke through that you can tell have a heavy emphasis on my emotional state. It's one of the best and safest ways I've found to feel my emotions without the need for someone to hear me through it. Emotions are messy, and I don't like leaving them in the hands of others if I can help it. But through the metaphors of Blade and Nick going through a breakup, or Cabbie finishing the job of a horrible person in his childhood, or running away to a new life and a new beginning on a train car, there is a sense of draining those remaining heavy emotions and clearing out the dust and clutter to make room for more important things, and it's helped me immensely to regulate myself in a healthier way.

I'm not the person I was a few years ago, and I'm continuing to grow and change and toss out a few more old things. And I know I have proof of that growth, too. I deleted old messages, songs, poems of 2021. I got rid of some reblogged posts I didn't want to keep up anymore. I reworked my strategies and I'm using a whole manner of effective blocking measures, and trying to learn some better coping mechanisms when I come across names or faces or triggers or anything that will eat at me if I let it. And Emergency is finished. My God that fic is finished. I don't even want to look at it anymore because it's like a time capsule lost to time, it's so messy I would never have the time nor energy to readapt it to the present. It's okay, I've got a lot of new things that are coming out that have just as much significance for their own time periods.

Anyways thank you for indulging with me in this self-reflective spiel of mine. If you've been around for any number of time you've probably grown used to me doing these lol. They're fun to make and discuss. Human adaption and internal evolution is so wild. And it's so cool to observe.

So yeah there's all that. Have a good Thursday folks, and til the morrow.

[bluejayblueskies]

If you're still doing the end of year fanfic ask thing; 13, 18 and 21?

fanfic end-of-year asks

13 - favorite writing song/artist/album of this year

the technical answer to this is probably the heavy rain/no thunder spotify track i write to 99% of the time asdlgkjagl BUT i did also spend a weird chunk of time listening to this song in particular while writing whisky lol

18 - current number of wips

oh gosh. including both posted and unposted wips, i've got

malevolent:

whisky

tattoo john

timeloop fic

tma:

SUU

10000 flowers

fata morgana

tim no eyes oops

Bad Gender Feelings

magic poetry

therapy somewhere else

bad martin feelings

more bad martin feelings (poetry specific)

moulin rouge au (does it count as a WIP if i've abandoned it?)

time travel fic

so 14 WIPs! i intend to finish at least 7 of those (all the malevolent ones plus 10000 flowers, fata morgana, tim no eyes oops, and magic poetry). the rest very well may float in the ether for all eternity 😅

21 - most memorable comment/review

ohhhhh gosh this is hard because i keep all the comments i get close to my heart 💜 i think it's a tie between the comments from anonymous commenter 'oh my' on whisky (if you're seeing this your comments are so lovely and i cherish them greatly 💕), the occasional new comment i'll get on it will be this, always talking about how the fic helped them resolve their feelings about s5 (which was why i wrote it so i love seeing it help other people!) (AO3 user Random_Reviewer left a comment like this that is so <3 <3 <3 to me), and comments on my aspec stuff talking about how it's helped people realize that they're aspec, come to terms with their aspecness, or just see parts of themselves in my writing (i got one from an anonymous reviewer on my aro!martin fic in the reciprocal a month or so ago that made me 🥰)

i know that's not a specific comment but! idk! i have a hard time picking the most memorable because i just love them all <3

(also! while i'm here talking about comments: i know that i'm absolutely terrible at replying to them, but if you're reading this and you've ever left a comment on one of my works, please know that i love and appreciate you SO MUCH and i've probably read your comment multiple times and gushed over it repeatedly. i have a hard time finding the words to reply to them in a genuine and meaningful way [SO sorry if you've ever left a question in a comment, i try to reply to those but sometimes i forget, feel free to send me a message asking the question again if i don't reply, my brain is a sieve lol] but i do love everyone's feedback 💕 yall are the reason i share my work and the reason i get so excited to write new things, and i appreciate you all 🥰)

[marmota-b]

Probably not how this is supposed to work, but whatever. 1. Share a song that makes you think of [fic title]

Less one specific fic, though I do have one WIP using the title and the lyrics, and more of a general worldbuilding background for the Empire: Poločas rozpadu by Petr Skoumal. It's a song from and about the 1980s / Normalisation period in Czechoslovakia. The chorus goes: It's winter And it's already been spring We are walking backwards It's winter And what is left Half-life - where "half-life" in the original is actually the term relating to nuclear physics, and literally means "half-time of disintegration". But the English version offers itself to double metaphors; and since the author's parents were translators from English, and he spent four years in Britain with them as a child, I cannot help but wonder if that actually was at the back of his mind when he wrote it.

2. Do you read/reread your own fics?

Yes. Although it kind of fluctuates based on what universe is currently occupying my mind. Or I return to something if I receive kudos / a comment, and I remind myself of what I have written. I tend to stick to headcanons, so I think in part it has to do with reminding myself what they are / whether I still agree with them.

3. What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

Can I list three?

Survivors (Bright with his Splendour) (Good Omens / Historical RPF) was one of the first fanfics I ever wrote (not the first, I eventually realised, but the first I wrote in English), and given that, I’m still amazed how well it turned out.

Let Us Make Us a Name (The Eagle) is something I wrote, and posted, quite quickly, and writing quickly isn’t my strong suit, and again, I still like how it came out.

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Chronicles of Narnia) is short and succinct and says all I wanted it to say, and that’s also not my strong suit.

4. How many WIPs do you have right now?

Um… too many. 23 just at the top in my Google Docs as things I worked on more recently, not counting those I haven't and forgot to count and not counting things that may or may not become fics in their own right. And things I had on a backup harddisc that crashed last year but that I probably still want to revive. (The only one I really regret stupidly forgetting to back up in Google Docs was a Sherlock Holmes / Chronicles of Narnia crossover exploring the possibilities of the Giant Rat of Sumatra. I really liked what I had there, I just got stuck, as usual, on the plotty bits.)

5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write?

Many years ago, as a teenager, I had some sort of mad idea about a Quo Vadis fanfic involving time travel... don't ask me how I came up with that. In retrospect, I think I have worked through the things I was very inexpertly trying to work through there in other ways now, so that frankly clueless teenaged idea doesn't need to happen, and there wasn't much in it to salvage for other reasons. (Though I still can't discount the idea that the characters, heavily reworked but retaining their core, will find their way somewhere one day.)

6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time?

I haven’t in a while now, but the Housemates series by Coneycat is a big and fairly regular comfort read.

7. How many ideas for fics do you have right now?

Pass. :D Honestly mainly because I don’t even know, and if I think about it too much, more will spring up. Plot bunnies are called bunnies for a reason…

8. What project(s) are you currently working on?

Sewing projects, actually.

9. Do you write every day? If you wrote today, share a sentence of what you’ve written!

No, I don’t. I often write more in short intense bursts of inspiration, and then I polish and polish; so I may have even written something today, but it’s not something I wrote today.

10. Is there a fic that got a different response than you were expecting?

Aside from not getting much of a response at all, or just getting kudos instead of comments that would actually tell me what people think… I think the strangest - though not unwelcome - was Jate’Ka’ra, which focuses on Fenn Shysa and his reluctant ascension to the title of Mand’alor. I got thanked for not Jedi-bashing. Which says something very unflattering about the prevailing attitudes in the Mandalorian fandom, because I don’t think there’s much canon-based reason for a Shysa-centric fic to Jedi-bash. (And then we descended into a long string of worldbuilding / canon-reconciling brainstorming, and that was also unexpected but quite helpful and fun.)

11. Do you have specific playlists for writing fics?

I don’t really have playlists, period.

I do get inspired by songs, but there isn’t any rhyme or reason to it. Though come to think of it, one of these days, I might try to compile such a playlist - I have enough song/music-inspired fics that it might actually work out into something decent if I did.

12. Do you have a playlist for your current WIP(s)? Share it!

See above.

13. How much planning do you do before writing?

Probably far less than I should. I get ideas, and write them down, and the only more thorough planning I do is for fics that are shaping up to be quite long. More recently, I've done some mind-mapping for some of those, which turns out to work probably best with how my mind works. Me and linear outlines don't mix well.

14. If you could see one of your fics adapted into a visual medium, such as comic or film, which fan fic would you pick?

Probably some of the Marvel fics? I have an idea for something, not yet finished / written, where it would actually work best if there WAS a comics as part of it - in-universe, something Steve Rogers created. Out of the things I've already posted, somehow I also feel Jate'Ka'ra might work quite well as a (more contemplative) comics, although I think the structure would have to be reworked (like maybe juxtaposing Tobbi and Fenn's reactions to trauma more directly instead of in two separate narrative sections). Film... not really. I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with film adaptations. I like that the written word and even comics still leaves space for the reader to fill in the blanks with their own imagination, and I think I sort of always write with that in mind.

15. How do you come up with titles for your fics/chapters?

I often seem to pick lines from songs. Not always, but it seems to be a safe thing to resort to when I don’t have other ideas. Sometimes something just forms as part of the creative process, sometimes I have to figure something out. For The Peridan Chronicles (the title of which is a sort of pun on the name of one of my fandoms and “The Methos Chronicles” from the other) I intentionally follow the “In Which…” naming convention for the chapters, namely “In Which Our Hero…” I did that for the first chapter because it was a fun way to play on the clash of worlds happening in it, basically, and I liked it so much I kept it. At some point in the story I intend to switch “our hero” to other designations marking where Peridan is at that point in his life, but I haven’t gotten there yet.

16. At what point in the process do you come up with titles?

Depends a lot. Sometimes a title forms quite soon - that was the case with The Peridan Chronicles, that title came to me basically right at the heels of the very idea of writing that particular crossover, and is pretty much inseparable from it. That seems to be the case sometimes where the story is a bit of a "high concept" story. Other titles are the very last thing I come up with. In many cases, I have a working title that eventually changes because the story grows under my hands and perhaps develops a "message" the original "high concept" did not yet have. I have a Painkiller AU WIP that started out with the punny title "Big Trouble in Little America" and the "high concept" of "Steve and the Howling Comamndoes team up with a Czech resistance group to deal with the Hydra base in Czechia that you can see in the maps in the film"; currently it bears the title "While the Winter Army Stands", which I suspect is the final one, but the story is still very far from finishing.

17. What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic?

Relative to the abvementioned WIP, probably the biggest thing I learned researching for a fic is the personal history of the Czech writer / songwriter / … Bob Hurikán (pseudonym), and various of his friends. And now I have FEELS about a flawed human being doing his best. In Real Life, he founded a resistance group we don't know much about because he kept it a bit independent. From my research, I strongly suspect he founded and named it as a tribute to a friend who joined the Resistance practically the moment Nazis rolled in, and perished in a concentration camp. Bob himself escaped execution only because it was scheduled for VE Day. Bob wasn't supposed to be the main character. Now he probably is.

18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

"It felt like an eternity; it felt like far too short a time." - when Methos first sees Aslan.

19. Give us a small teaser from one of your WIPs.

“You have been Knighted,” Lucien observed and sipped his tea. The evening was growing colder.

“Under duress,” Zayne said. “And by a heretic Jedi who proceeded to turn Sith, subsequent return to the Light notwithstanding. I distinctly recall I told him ‘kriff you’ right after the ceremony, and walked away. I would have done it earlier in the process, but he had a lit lightsaber, so I figured he’d take it better if I let him go through with it. I don’t think it holds much water.”

“Under present circumstances?” Lucien retorted. “I don’t think anyone who could protest is still alive.”

Zayne sighed.

“At least two such people still are,” he said.

“You think I would protest?” Lucien asked, bemused.

“When the possibility first arose, you tried to kill me,” Zayne pointed out mildly, like it was a little inside joke and not one of Lucien’s greatest regrets.

20. What’s a favorite title for a fic you’ve written?

As a title, that must be The Peridan Chronicles. Succinct, to the point, says a lot about what the story is, leaves a lot of room for the story to become what it wants to be.

21. Have you ever deleted an entire scene after spending hours laboring over it? If so, why?

A couple times, sure. Often because it was something I wrote ahead in the story and by the time I got to that point, it no longer fit. I also wrote a whole long bit about Sarah Altmann exploring Frank and Steve's flat which I tried to turn into some sort of character exploration for One Hundred Tours (And Still Counting)... and it just got long and meandering and did not say much. But I still treasure the detail I came up with where they have post-its and schedules on the fridge door and one of them in Frank's hand says "Thu 1600 - Postpone eschaton". It's a sort of nerdy joke where Frank does something on Thursdays he does not want to miss (presumably helping out in the youth centre) and it basically means "Avengers-related apocalypses better NOT happen then", except that Frank has some theological knowledge and an Immortal kinsman who lived through Biblical times, and he knows that's not what the word "apocalypse" means, so he used the correct one. It might have been my other pick for my favourite line I have written, because I like how (unlike the rest of the piece) it says quite a lot about my version of Frank and where he is right now, in a very short space; but unfortunately it got cut.

22. Do you know how your fic will end before you start writing?

I prefer to at least start with a rough idea. It keeps me focused. The story may grow and demand a different ending after all, but generally speaking, I want to start at least with the gist / feeling of the ending. (Hope. It’s always hope.)

23. How do you choose where to end a chapter (if you have multi-chapter works)?

It tends to be a mixture of “where there is a logical place to end story-wise”, “how long the chapter already is”, “what I’m trying to have this particular chapter to say”, and things like that. Since my stories tend not to be particularly action-heavy, I tend not to have to grapple with things like cliffhangers, so I think actually it tends to be fairly easy for me - my stories often more or less already come to me in chapter-form, in terms of, yes, each chapter kind of trying to say something (even if they often grow more chapters than expected).

24. Share a moodboard for (one of) your current WIP(s).

I don’t do moodboards; though I do have a “Peridan Chronicles Inspiration Board” on Pinterest.

So here are some snapshots of that. These sections are largely concerned with what I picture Stormness Fast like, so it's also relevant to We Can't Fall Any Further, We Cannot Reach Any Higher. It doesn't cover all aspects of the house and its surroundings, but at least as a rough idea.

And the above are illustrations from books I read in my childhood, by Tony Wolf, which were definitely a strong influence on my focus on the smaller inhabitants of Narnia and their doings.

25. Have you ever upset yourself with your own writing?

Hm, I don’t know what exactly is meant by “upset”, but if it means “strong feelings I have to take some time to process”, then yes, definitely. Especially in recent years, every now and then a story takes a turn under my hands I didn't entirely expect, and a bit of a darker turn maybe, which I think is a reaction to how hard in many respects the past couple of years have been.

26. Is there something you’ve written that you would never want your family to see?

I don’t show most of my writing to my family, and I don’t think they know I write fanfiction (they do know I write things I don’t share with them). I don’t necessarily think they wouldn’t like it, but… Well, we’re a very analytical family, and I don’t think I want to be analysed to that extent. I am fine with strangers online seeing things in my fics I didn’t necessarily intend to put there, and often that sort of discussion is enriching; but I suspect some of my family members might the same way draw conclusions about me that I didn’t necessarily intend to put in there. (Would they find confirmation of their own ideas / points of view that I don’t actually necessarily share, or would never put the way they do if actually asked?) And that would be the exact opposite of enriching. I don’t really hide the side of myself I put in my fics from them - I just prefer to reveal it in normal conversations as relevant to our lives / as a relevant reaction to what they say / ...

27. Is there a fic you were nervous to post/share? Why?

Survivors (Bright with His Splendour remix), since it’s a remix of an existing work by another author that I poured a lot of heart into, before I even knew remixes were a thing, and it sat unfinished for years.

Te Choruk’la’kajir Aka (The Stone Table Mission), because it was a gift in a gift exchange, and a bit of a scrambling to have SOMETHING to post when my original idea exploded under my hands into something I had no chance of finishing on time.

Ceasefire, because it was - though I did not yet have the terminology for it, a reader years later named it and was spot on - a story from the POV of someone who dissociates a lot, and I had no idea how it would come across. I had a period like that myself, though in my case it had more to do with suffering from anaemia - so I knew what I was doing, but I didn’t know what I was doing, if you see what I mean. :D Considering that, I think it’s not a bad story - just not one that was easy to write, or is easy to read.

Plus I now have several WIPs where I know I will be nervous about posting them when (if) I eventually get around to it, because the themes are darker than usual for me, or, in the case of the WW2 story, I'm dealing with real people, and… I think mainly I’m worried that I might downplay some issues, or depict them incorrectly.

28. Have you ever tagged a fic “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat”?

No. :D Is that some sort of meme?

29.  Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.)

“His classmates started calling him "Flagpole Kallus". He grew like a weed. He was, now, the tallest human in the class.

He had also gained a reputation as a fierce, street-smart fighter.

None of them were entirely sure what "street-smart" actually meant; but in their sheltered world, Alexsandr Kallus definitely came closest. He won fights, even fights with people larger than himself, he could fight dirty, and he displayed a certain insouciant, cocky, aloof charm that was only heightened by his ability to win fights without getting too ruffled.

None of them were aware how easily that mask slid off once he returned home from school. None of them knew of the moments throughout the day, behind corners and closed doors, when he sagged, and sighed, and racked his brains for ways to do better.

Nothing he ever did was good enough.

And then the war came. And nothing anyone did would ever quite hold the candle to Chancellor Palpatine in Senator Menelaus Kallus' eyes. The Chancellor said this. The Chancellor said that. The Chancellor was doing this and that. The Chancellor would save the Republic.

The Chancellor did not save the Republic. But by that point, the Republic was not good enough.

The Empire would do better.”

It’s from my latest posted effort. I briefly considered starting with a chapter from Kallus’ childhood, but ultimately decided it would throw the structure of the fic out of whack and it would be better to reveal the things from his childhood gradually. Some of the above may still find its way there (some of it already has).

30. Ask anything!

Eh… I don’t really know. :-)

I’m Bored and Anxious So I Slapped Together a List of Fan Fic Writer Asks

1. Share a song that makes you think of [fic title] 2. Do you read/reread your own fics? 3. What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written? 4. How many WIPs do you have right now? 5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write? 6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time? 7. How many ideas for fics do you have right now? 8. What project(s) are you currently working on? 9. Do you write every day? If you wrote today, share a sentence of what you’ve written! 10. Is there a fic that got a different response than you were expecting? 11. Do you have specific playlists for writing fics? 12. Do you have a playlist for your current WIP(s)? Share it! 13. How much planning do you do before writing? 14. If you could see one of your fics adapted into a visual medium, such as comic or film, which fan fic would you pick? 15. How do you come up with titles for your fics/chapters? 16. At what point in the process do you come up with titles? 17. What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic? 18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic? 19. Give us a small teaser from one of your WIPs. 20. What’s a favorite title for a fic you’ve written? 21. Have you ever deleted an entire scene after spending hours laboring over it? If so, why? 22. Do you know how your fic will end before you start writing? 23. How do you choose where to end a chapter (if you have multi-chapter works)? 24. Share a moodboard for (one of) your current WIP(s). 25. Have you ever upset yourself with your own writing? 26. Is there something you’ve written that you would never want your family to see? 27. Is there a fic you were nervous to post/share? Why? 28. Have you ever tagged a fic “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat”? 29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.) 30. Ask anything!

[writeroutoftime]

🌿how does creating make you feel?

🍉in what ways has writing helped you process trauma and/or navigate through your own life?

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

🦋what are you most insecure about when you post a fic?

💘Is there any posted fic you want to rework/re-edit/re-write?

🎀give yourself a compliment about your own writing

💫what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

thank you so much, lovely, for sending all these in! let's go!

🌿how does creating make you feel?

Honestly, it gives me so much freedom and joy. I love (almost) all aspects of writing. From when I randomly get an idea, to when the story is finally complete. It really is such a mood booster!

🍉in what ways has writing helped you process trauma and/or navigate through your own life?

I can't say that it has helped me process trauma, but I think it has given me the space to explore and feel confident in many aspects of life. Sometimes when I'm feeling really insecure, reading certain fics help me to feel better and better deal with that emotion later on.

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

Hmm, well I worked really hard on my story dreamland but it was for that show netflix had a while back "hollywood," and so it never really had an audience. But I remember pouring over the fic trying to get it as perfect as I could.

🦋what are you most insecure about when you post a fic?

Definitely that my fics don't sound/seem realistic or are too "childish." I just always read stories that are absolutely beautiful and I try to make sure my stories sound the same too. I've been writing fanfic for many years now, and I know my writing has improved since when I first started, but sometimes it's hard to shake the feeling that everything I write sounds like a ten year old wrote it lol.

💘Is there any posted fic you want to rework/re-edit/re-write?

Ooo, this is a hard one! Honestly, I think most of my one-shots I feel pretty confident in. It's mainly my unfinished series 😂 I want to finish them, but I also started them a year or more ago - when my writing was different, as I've said. So, I gotta figure out the best way to tackle getting started with those again.

🎀give yourself a compliment about your own writing

I like to think that in my writing (for the most part at least) I'm pretty good at keeping our characters 'in character.' For example, in my one Anthony Bridgerton story, I think the dialogue between the family at the beginning is totally what an evening at the Bridgerton dinner table would sound like!

💫what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

Truly, any comment/feedback puts a huge smile on my face! But, connected to the last question, I love when people say that the story, character, or specific piece of dialogue sounds like it really came from the source material! That means so much to me!

I also love when people tell me any emotional reactions to what they read! Partly because it means I did a good job, but also because I want to know I'm not the only one who has intense reactions to fanfics lol