#some of them were very close in numbers of kudos

[skyfallscotland]

20 Questions for the Writers Tag Game!

I was tagged by @caeli0306

1. Total number of AO3 works

Nine!

2. Total AO3 word count 985,672! We're about to crack the mil, baby! And in just over a year, too 🥺💗

3. Fandoms I've written for

So many! But if we keep it to works currently posted: ACOTAR & The Empyrean series.

4. Top 5 fics by kudos

Truth & TalonFear & FlameMacchiatoFurykeep quiet (nothing comes as easy as you)

5. Do I respond to comments?

Yes, always! I love receiving them, so replying is the least I can do 💗

6. What has the angstiest ending?

...Truth & Talon, actually...

No, I'm just kidding....mostly... 👁👄👁 I'm saying Dangerous Devotion. 7. What has the happiest ending?

Fury, I think.

8. Have I received hate?

Not recently/in the Empyrean fandom (unless you count people telling me they're disappointed with my choices, lol, shoutout to that one girl who was sad Remi wasn't a virgin!) but I have before for sure.

9. Do I write smut? And what kind?

Sure. What kind like...kinks? Praise kink? Cockwarming? What do you mean what kind? 😭 The hot kind 💗

10. Do I write crossovers?

I have before, but I don't have any currently published.

11. Have I ever had a fic stolen?

Multiple times, lol. she's an icon, she's a legend, and she is the moment.

Honestly though, please don't do this. It's not a nice feeling. It doesn't help you, either, or anyone else. Wouldn't you rather contribute something new to the fandom you're in? 12. Have I ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Some of my older Tolkien works were translated into Russian and I've had offers for Remi's Version, but I prefer that translations stay on AO3 (with very limited exceptions) which I suppose limits some people.

13. Have I ever co-written a fic?

I mean, most of my ideas are bounced off @justallihere and we throw dialogue/ideas back and forth so we'll give her... 12% of the credit for my next work. But no, I've never properly co-written anything. I feel like it would be weird, right? Unless you're writing a POV each?

14. What is my all time favorite ship?

Xaden Riorson/Remi Sorrengail 😌

15. A WIP I'll never finish?

I really hope to finish the things I've started so far. I have a few on the go, but the brain does what it wants. Tattoo-artist Xaden is sitting right on the edge there. I have 10k words of a scribe Violet AU that I might never pick up again, so let's say that.

16. Writing strengths?

Feelings, apparently. Lots of people tell me I make them cry, lmao.

17. Writing weaknesses?

Battles, action, fight scenes. I hate them. I hate them so much I'll write in storylines that change the canon universe so I can skip them completely. Ick.

18. Do I like foreign language dialogue?

I just write, for example, 'he said in Tyrrish' after the dialogue, I like that sort of thing, I think it's indicative enough without doing all italics and strange indicators like people used to back in the day, lol.

19. First fandom I wrote for?

Lord of the Rings. Very short lived. Was told it was "the worst fic I've ever read in my life" and that was that. I was maybe thirteen at the time 😌

20. Favorite fic I've written?

I cannot and will not pick a favourite child, but I will say Fury is very close to me. It got me back into writing and it came at a time in my life where I was really struggling and finding who I wanted to be and really changing my life. Without Tessa, there wouldn't be Remi 💗

I feel like everyone I know has already been tagged by someone, so I'll just open it to the floor for anyone who wants to participate 🤷‍♀️

[calaisreno]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

I was tagged by @7-percent, @totallysilvergirl and @gaylilsherlock. Thank you!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 

147. I’ve been here nearly 6 years, some years more prolific than others. 

2. What's your total A03 word count?

Right now, just shy of 2M: 1,937,496, to be exact

3. What fandoms do you write for?

BBC Sherlock and ACD Sherlock

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Synchronicity Date Night A Chronic Condition The Wedding Gift Blank Slate Wooing Sherlock Holmes has recently moved up and is close enough to nudge its way to number 5.

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

Always, even if it’s just to say thank you. I appreciate comments, often feel humbled by the compliments people give. It just feels right to respond. (Maybe if I were getting hundreds of comments a day, I would have to rethink that.)

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

Either Below Zero or The New Gardener. Both have MCD, but sort of a soft landing. Also Learning the Heart and The Real You, but those also have endings that mitigate the angst, a bit.

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

I write a lot of happy endings; it’s my preferred resolution.  My choice: The Short Tragic Death of John Watson. John does NOT die, but there’s a very cheesy happy ending that made many readers scream.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No. A couple rude comments, but no intentional hatred.

9. Do you write smut?

Not much. I don’t write PWP, but include a sex scene where the plot seems to need it. I'm not opposed; it's just not my usual.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I’ve written two GO/Sherlock stories: Limbo and Hell and Back. I’ve written stories that borrow from other fandoms, but are not exactly crossovers. The closest to a crossover would be Serendipity, which borrows plot from the movie. I’ve borrowed from movie and book universes to make an original story (Eye of the Storm, A Chamber to be Haunted, Do No Harm), and I’ve borrowed premises (The Real You)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

About 60 of my fics have been translated, most of them into Russian, a couple into Chinese, on into Spanish. 

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

No. 

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

Sherlock Holmes/John Watson

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

The Secret of Agra: a post-Reichenbach fic that I started in 2020. It has been through several transformations. I rarely give up permanently on a story, though. A few have grown into something new that I ended up posting. I expect I'll finish this when inspiration strikes me.

16. What are your writing strengths?

The things readers most often compliment me on: 

Character voice and emotions.  

World building. 

Versatility: historical fiction, case fics, science fiction, fantasy, rom-coms, etc.

Making readers cry.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Action scenes. In Greek tragedy you simply have a character enter and describe the murder that’s just occurred offstage. In fanfiction, that’s a nope. And you have to think out every move, make the scene visual. I admire writers who make this seem effortless. (That's you, @discordantwords !!!) Description: finding non-cliche ways to describe things/people without making it weird and overly fussy.  Being too minimal: I am not a wordy writer; minimalism was how I was taught, but sometimes I need to be wordier.

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

I’ve done bits of this, but only in languages I’ve studied. I have a degree in Latin, and have used that in couple stories: A Demon's Tale, Accidental Magic. 

19. First fandom you wrote for?

The first and only fandom I’ve posted in is Sherlock Holmes (ACD and BBC). I don’t have any plans to move. I used to write original fiction, but have found fanfiction so much more rewarding.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

This is hard to answer. Last Envoy is the story I’m most proud of.  I write the stories I want to read, and I do re-read a number of them, some more than others. My favorite fic written in 2023 is The Traveller.

Has everybody been tagged? How about @mydogwatson @lisbeth-kk @discordantwords @copperplatebeech @keirgreeneyes @meetinginsamarra @bertytravelsfar @jrow @thegildedbee @helloliriels @gregorovitchworld ???

[fantasyfantasygames]

Scramble World

Scramble World, Jenny J. Jensson, 2011

Scramble World is an extremely badly named RPG with a fairly generic premise and fantastic execution.

The titular world is one of those weird mixed-up dimensions where dozens of different worlds have crashed into each other for unknown reasons. You play characters from different RPGs, teaming up to prevent catastrophes or at least be there to help afterward.

The setting is like Torg, but without our world as the base and without the cosms having well-defined boundaries. It's like Rifts but again without our world as the base, and with all the most flavor-packed parts of each worldbook crammed into an area the size of Pennsylvania. And with less racism. It's a world whose major powers did not evolve in each others' presence, so their mutual existence explicitly does not need to make sense. Scramble World is in constant catastrophe and will be until the sky stops being red and worldbergs stop crashing through the bleed.

Remember We Were The First, where the alien species were all randomized in ways that made sense together? Well, here your character sheet is randomized. I don't mean that you roll for your stats, no, I mean you roll to see which stats you get. You get pieces of the character sheet, suggested locations to place them (you can change those), and half-pages of rules that connect to them.

One character might end up with a standard-six-stats block that goes 3-18, an extensive skill list, and a set of emotional attributes that trigger XP conditions. Someone else might have the same stats but they go -2 to +4, a set of Apocalypse World style moves, some Merits and Flaws, and a Vancian spell system if you choose to pursue it. It's an amazing setup. It was clearly well-tested: there was a character generator online to speed things up for you, using the same mechanics as the random roll tables, and I've never seen it come up with a non-viable combination.

Because there are so many options, some of them boil down to the same thing under the hood. For instance, everyone ends up rolling for (or otherwise generating) a Likert-scale success measure and comparing with each other to see what the actual winner gets. Each character sheet fragment has only half a page to get in, explain things, and get out, so a lot of things have to do double duty. Kudos to Jenny for keeping this as small as possible, even if "as possible" does a lot of lifting in that sentence.

There are lots of "world fragments" described in the book. Out of 304 pages (in 6x9 / A5 format), they take up about 200. Each one is roughly 5 pages, with one piece of art, descriptions of their leaders and common people, a few key landmarks, and a "heroes from here are like X" section. A corebook overflow supplement ("World Omelette") adds another 20 pages of rule fragments and 60 pages of world fragments. They range from "pastiche" to "homage", but none of them feel like "ripoff".

The art is taken from a dozen different types of action-oriented RPG stock art, thrown together with slashes or tears or glitches between them. I'd like to see a version that showcases a small number of artists rather than just stock art, but it's used very well for what it is.

I've already spent a lot of words on Scramble World, so I'll stop here, but hopefully you can tell that I really enjoyed it. Highly recommended.

* For those of you who are less mathy, 1d100 has a max of 100, a minimum of 1, and an average of 50.5. All numbers are equally likely. 1d10 x 1d10 has a max of 100, a minimum of 1, but an average of 30.25. Not only is the average 20 points lower, but it's also more closely concentrated. Less than 5% of the results are 60 or above. 🌈The More You Know!⭐️

[regulusrules]

New to your blog, I was wondering if you have a Merlin fic rec list that's just your favorites. I unfortunately missed the Merlin fandom back when the show was airing so I always feel like I'm just missing the greatest stuff from other people

Hello friend! Welcome to my humble abode of a blog (which resembles more of a Merlin waste disposal). Like you, I missed the show when it was airing, but honestly when you stay as long in this fandom as I have, you will constantly be exposed to wonderful creative energies that give their all. It's a timeless fandom, one of the very few, and no matter when you enter it you will always feel fulfilled. :)

So, favourite fics! Gosh, how can I fit 2K+ bookmarks in one ask. When it comes to this fandom, I admit: I have no life. I've read a real huge number of fics throughout the years, but sometimes it's inevitable for fics to get lost in a sea of bookmarks. So to make things easier, I'll write you some canon fics that immediately come to my mind for how unforgettable they were.

No order; each one has its own chamber in my heart.

Short fic recs (1K-50K)

1. Our broken pieces by @aramblingjay. 10K, T, Canon Era, Hurt/Comfort.

Am I purposefully putting this one on top this time so that everyone who stumbles across this ask could check it out? Yes. Yes I am. Is it my personal mission for the fandom to give this fic the love and kudos it deserves? You bet it's a big overbearing yes. And yes I want you to cry and feel your heart twist with agony because of how beautiful it is. My eyes never shed tears for a fic before this one, and never will after it. There is something in the way the author broke Arthur that just resonated in my innards. And the way Merlin was there for him, not a placebo "I'm here" but there, in all actuality, doing so with every fiber of his love, made it something else. I like to believe that this fic was crafted so perfectly in a parallel universe, and sent to us as a blessing we never knew we needed.

2. Beauty in the Ashes of Our Lives by Fulgance. 21K, T, Canon AU, Magic Reveal.

This is probably the umpteenth time for me to recommend this fic, but I won't stop. I can't stop. This fic ruined me so slowly, and healed me even slower. All my Merlin friends do not believe why this would be one of my favourite fics of all time with what Arthur did, but honestly, it's the fact that the writer wrote it so convincingly that makes me crumble internally. It isn't easy to write angry Arthur, and it's even harder to write him grief-stricken, but here, the author blended both elements so perfectly. It's impossible to forget this fic. It's worth your every second.

3. Linger On Your Pale Blue Eyes by supercalvin. 18K, T, Canon Era, Touch-Starved.

Will this fic linger in your heart? It sure as hell never leaves mine. Every once in a while, I have to go back to this fic and read it like a morning paper. Some fics sustain you.. this is definitely one of them. Most of @supercalvin's fics are of sustaining material. They are made with such depth and broad understanding to the characters that you should take notes. There's this one line that everytime I cross this fic I instantly remember and I go to the nearest pillow to just AAA a little bit. When you reach it, I'm sure you'll recognise it, and I'll be waiting for you to come AAA with me.

4. Dower the Stars by RurouniHime. 40K, E, Golden Age, Pining Arthur, BAMF Merlin.

I don't think anything levels the levels of intimacy in this fic. It is one of the best Arthur characterizations I've ever read. His boundless love and pining for Merlin— oh my heart. Also, the world building and amount of research that must have been done for this fic is astounding. I was this close from following the author's footsteps and, idk, writing an entire research paper about Arthurian lore or something. The moment I read it I immediately wanted to contact the author and just tell them WHY ARE YOU BLESSING US WITH ALL THIS INSTEAD OF PUBLISHING IT?? It was amazing. I reread it a month ago for the third (fourth?) time and found myself gasping and aweing as if I never read it before. It keeps being an experience every time, one so worthwhile.

5. from hearth and ashes, we’re reborn by @remuscariad. 5K, G, Canon AU, Magic Reveal, Hurt/Comfort.

Earthshatteringly-poetic isn't a made-up word powerful enough to describe the beauty of prose here. There are fics that you open and immediately know that you're sold: this was one of them. Its summary alone dropped my jaw down to my neighbour's floor. The dialogue is so meticulously crafted it feels like reading a piece from a past era. Genuinely beautiful.

6. Half of my soul by marvelxpendragon. 2K, G, Post-Canon AU, King Arthur/Court Sorcerer Merlin.

This fic is half of my soul, as the poets say. So what if I reject the canonic ending and resort to pain myself with fics like this instead? I sometimes feel we, as a fandom, try to up the angst of the finale so that we forget how painful it was by bringing even MORE pain. But it's pain that I delight in, because it's pain that MAKES SENSE. Yes give me MCD but with a freaking beautiful life like the one this author gave us. Make me believe it was all worth something. Make me believe they lived.

7. whisper to the flame by @missfaber. 16K, E, Canon AU, Wounded Arthur, Hurt/Comfort.

*clears throat* *prepares for a mental scream*TELL ME HOW YOU LIGHT YOUR FIRESSSSS *clears throat once more and pretends I'm okay*

So, as the author wrote, this is indeed a love letter to the two characters we love more than anything. More than anything, I loved the fact that the author gave Arthur agency to think and act and be a king, even when he was still a prince. Even in most fics where Arthur already knows, this isn't common. So whenever I find a fic that has Smart!Arthur and a lovesick one at that, I would vouch my life and soul for it. Also Protective!Knights is the best thing in the world, ok? I would die for this discourse for real.

8. As a Sea Shell by bathilda bagshot (wellthengameover). 12K, T, Canon AU, Slow Burn.

Okay, so this fic is only bookmarked "Agony until 7 AM", and with that, a rush of drowning memories always come crushing my soul. I lost sleep and SANITY over this fic. I was thrown from a cliff and kept hanging in the air without a respite until the very END. I read it a couple weeks after the finale and it broke me even FURTHER. I was promised growing old together, and it was a big LIE. And yet I love it so, so dearly.

Honourary biased mention:

9. My heart is readily yours by yours truly. 11K, T, Canon AU, Protective Arthur, Hurt/Comfort.

Sometimes I don't believe I had it in me to write this. Like.. what, dearest self, the hell were you thinking. With tyismso, I somehow balanced fluff and angst— a solid magic reveal fic. But this one? I only knew ✨pain✨

.. and I don't regret a thing.

[Long fic recs]

[pinktie]

What's your opinion on the Kudous' parenting? Do you think Yukiko or Yuusaku is the better parent? It's a bit hard to judge as the canon timeline is a bit unclear (even after hundreds of episodes it's barely been a year because filler) and the situation of your child de-aging because of an extremely dangerous organisation who have assumed he's died as a perfectly disguised murder for collateral damage is something I don't think anyone knows how to handle properly, they are in fact an actress and author. In canon he's established a life with Ran via some help from Professor Agasa Hiroshi (his very capable and involved neighbour) before they are involved in the story but he often references having an allowance and previously going on trips with his parents to America rather than staying home alone, it's not clear how long they were out of country for or how they learned of Shinichi's Conan situation. He gets their help in some situations too, mainly with disguise stuff but I like how Yuusaku handled the teacher's attempted kidnapping of Ran. Other character's note their influence on him often and most people close to him have met his parents often & seem to view them positively. Taking a child to crime scenes could be introducing Shinichi to the police and crimes in a controlled way if he's already gotten involved in cases while going about his life or teaching him in a questionable way that crimes exist outside the books in the family library, still not good though. The pretending to be the Black Organisation...I get what they were trying to do but still horrible.

I have 2 views when it comes to Gosho's writing:

1. Most of his story, plot line, and characters' behavior are questionable by real-world standards. They make the characters look less smart than the author's original intentions. Which makes his writing unsatisfying to read.

This led me to view the story as number 2 more often:

2. If the author thinks it's fine, then it is fine. I've lowered my expectations and am just enjoying the story as it is at this point. So, even if I don't agree with what the characters do or say, I'd still take whatever the author gives. I would still complain, though.

So, to answer the question.

1. The Kudos' parenting style is horrible.

2. However, in the DCMK universe, they are the best parents. They teach Shinichi what they think is good for him. They give him freedom and room for him to nurture. They trust Shinichi and his plans, despite he's only 17. Without their decisions, there wouldn't be Detective Conan to begin with.

There aren't any differences between Yukiko's and Yuusaku's parenting. Yuusaku just had better moments, for he is written as a man with detective skills. Which is on theme with the story.

But if you were to ask me about the Kurobas' parenting style. It's another thing going.

[dnfao3tags]

Monthly Fic Roundup - February 2023

so many good ones this month honestly.

leave a kudos and nice comment to all these talented ppl !

— candle-lit sun by findingahome (mature | comp. | 4k)

baths, intimacy, and the kind of love found only in candlelight.

— strike us like matches by tippysleeps (expl. | comp. | 8k)

“Shut up,” George says, again, as Dream scrolls. “You have a spreadsheet,” Dream says, redundantly. His eyes catch on the titles that fill the cells, the columns, the rows, the links. There are even numbers. “You have functions.” He tilts back in the chair, looking up at George. “What are the functions for?”

— like nothing ever happened by Anonymous (mature | comp. | 11k)

Dream meets a sweet guy in the Twitchcon party who, funnily enough, is not very into social media and has no idea who he is. They decide to give it a try, despite how dangerous it might be (for Dream, what it is to expose yourself in any way. For Evan, what it is to fall for someone already in love). On the sidelines, George goes fucking insane.

note: HELP ME i cnt fuckin breath someone actually wrote it

— love by candlelight by snowdreamr (teen | comp. | 9k)

Patience is a virtue, they say. Dream must be the most virtuous man on Earth.

— you got the peaches (i got the cream) by preytall (expl. | comp. | 2k)

A love letter to George's... assets.

— Attachment Issues by youresheesh (expl. | comp. | 15k)

Dream has a one-night stand with George after picking him up at a party, but it quickly turns out he might feel a bigger connection than that...

— Wake Up Slowly (Take It From Me Whole) by sageafk, snowdreamr (teen | comp. | 12k)

“Dr’m,” George whimpers, burying his face further into the pillows, and hugging them close to his chest. He hears the rustle of fabric, of his friend getting out of bed. “George?” He asks, his tone ten times more urgent than before. “What do you need?” “‘M sick,” he mumbles, not even making an attempt to keep his eyes open anymore. “R’lly sick. Help me.”

— like a secret by findingahome (teen | comp. | 2k)

a shirt and a bet leads to a “soft” launch on stream. 

— all the words that you said (did you mean them?) by twostorms (teen | comp. | 6k)

Dream gets a head injury—and, consequently, a valentine.

— a fool's guide to guarding a dutiful heart by beforeduskfalls (teen | comp. | 10k)

George learns the ways of love and trust in the ways that Dream is willing to teach him.

— i know you feel the way i do by nervouswaltz (expl. | comp. | 12k)

George watches a lot of porn, but still hasn't had sex. Dream sets about helping him change that.

— sandbox love by sickah (expl. | comp. | 16k)

Dream and George had known each other since they were four, but neither of them planned to become national tennis superstars in high school. The pressure gets worse when they find out that they might have been in love this whole time.

— romantic curses and how to break them by brokenlikeastitch (teen | comp. | 18k)

George is cursed, like there’s no other logical explanation. With every wedding invite he receives, it only solidifies his theory.

— circle the drain by twostorms (teen | comp. | 26k)

George makes it to Florida. It’s more complicated than it should be.

— A Breath of Smoke and Warmth by biboyhalo (expl. | comp. | 9k)

“I’m going to ask Sapnap if I can have some of his weed.”

— from the ground up by Orlaith (mature | comp. | 11k)

George loses his scholarship that allowed him to move across the Atlantic and attend school on the sun-soaked shores of Florida, and he has to fight tooth and nail to get it back. The one wrench in his plans is getting paired for a semester project with the annoyingly attractive blond he spent most of his first semester fighting.

— lovecanthropy by fifishy (teen | comp. | 3k)

Dream and George spend the first full moon together

— lay us down, we're in love by womanhunt (mature | comp. | 3k)

Dream and George spend a soft morning together in Los Angeles.

— you are what you love by 21questions (teen | comp. | 10k)

Five milestones in the development of Dream and George's relationship, and the one moment that really sets it in stone.

— Wheel of Fate Challenge - DNF Favorites and First Times

In this collection, we challenged ourselves to write tropes that we've never tried before or maybe just don't have a lot of experience with. We spun two wheels this time: one with these new-to-us tropes and another with some of our favorite tropes to write. Our fics had to include both of the tropes the Wheels of Fate chose for us. We hope you enjoy these stories. Leave a kudos and comment if you did!

note: make sure to read all the fics in this collection! theyre solid

[imthepunchlord]

Ok, so I was looking at those posts about what the kwami's powers echoed, and realizing I had a lot of free time, I thought, "Hey, maybe I could try the whole organizing 5 groups of 7 miraculous, it could be fun and give me something to do". And my god, this was so HARD, I have gained a whole new level of respect for you. Here's what I managed to cobble together. Keep in mind I worked purely off of the themes you said the powers echoed, what you said the miracle boxes were tied to, and the color symbolism of the boxes (I didn't even attempt to factor in color or pairs)

Red

Ladybug

Cat

Butterfly

Dragonfly

Turtle

Horse

Tiger

Yellow

Songbird

Pig

Mouse

Grasshopper

Monkey

Mantis

Rooster

Green

Fish

Frog

Swan

Rabbit

Bear

Crane

Eagle

Blue

Bee

Deer

Dog

Dove

Lion

Snake

Peafowl

Purple

Fox

Goat

Wolf

Spider

Raven

Owl

Bull

It is very hard, especially trying to do a pleasing color wheel and trying to get some decent pairs, and yeah, it's just not easy. It's kinda why I decided to try and explore different numbered groups as there are clearer themes and ideas to work off of, and it's been easier to set up so far.

Either way, you got pretty close to those placements, at least where I have them at this time. Major kudos and what you were able to think of and put together.

[waxwings2046]

All That Is the Case - Chapter 1: States of Affairs (new!)

A big THANK YOU to everyone who read, left kudos and comments on and/or reshared the prologue of All That Is the Case!

This is a Sherlock/John spy AU set in the 1940s, in postwar London. Here is the post from a few days ago announcing the beginning of the fic. This is a completed story (not a WIP) and I will be posting regular updates over the next few weeks. Many many thanks to my invaluable beta readers @calaisreno, @7-percent and @jrow.

I have now posted the next chapter, which is the first proper chapter of the story. It's called "States of Affairs" and it picks up in December 1946, two and a half years after the prologue. Here's a snippet:

It was almost eight o’clock, twenty hundred hours on the dot by the time Mycroft permitted Sherlock to leave, and he headed directly for the tube. His brother had been very close-mouthed about their task, but based on his agitation, the documents they were gathering, and the fact that, despite his demurrals, they were clearly destined for the Home Office, it was clear Mycroft suspected some kind of Soviet infiltration of the department. Like the good underling that he was, Sherlock had obediently collated everything, even as Mycroft took severe pains to make it clear it wasn’t any of his business. Well, he needn’t have. Sherlock had no real desire to involve himself further. Several months in, he still hadn’t accustomed himself to the unpleasant irony of having ended up back at SIS as a codebreaker and under Mycroft’s own thumb, no less—after having foresworn following in his brother’s footsteps in any way. He told himself, several times a week, that he needed to begin plotting his exit. He also found that codebreaking itself had lost most of the urgency and interest that it had held during the war. They were no more U-Boats in the Atlantic, no more Nazis staring down the English coastline. A number of his Bletchley colleagues had stayed on, but he generally avoided them. Molly Hooper, the only one he might have counted as a real friend, had not. As it was, love of king and country could not sustain him through the tedium, nor could he muster up any kind of fervour about the Soviets. But he had found himself at a loose end after his abrupt departure from Cambridge, without any kind of a plan. To his chagrin, he had ended up taking the path of least resistance. It would be temporary, he repeated to himself, again, as the train slowed to a stop at Embankment. It would just be until he figured out what he was going to do next. But at least it had brought him to London, and that he couldn’t regret.

Read the rest here. Thanks for reading and sharing!

[sunny-mercya]

Hey, Brother do you still believe in one another?

02. Exhausted

Heiji Hattori x Male Reader | Platonic! Shinichi Kudo x Brother Reader

Fandom -> Detective Conan/Case Closed

Masterlist | Previous / Next |

Lately I’ve been,

I’ve been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

You didn’t want to get up and leaving the comfort of your bed nor the warmth it held. A warmth which was futile, since it couldn't stop the coldness you felt—a coldness which makes the body tremble and teeth clatter. Sometimes during the day it would hit you like a wave and bring you into an uncontrollable tremor.

Puffing out a sigh you turned to your side, snuggling deeper into the heavy blankets. Taking a glance at your frog-shaped clock, you closed your eyes for a few minutes. 

You knew sleeping would be impossible, still you tried for a nap every day after school. If it were up to you, you would lay in bed the whole day. You hadn’t felt this tired, no, exhausted since elementary school and all the way till middle school. 

Even when you so desperately wanted to sleep, you couldn’t and besides the 15 minutes of dozing, you didn’t know how much you could take of these sleepless nights anymore.

Stretching your body and throwing the blankets off, you got up. Time to get ready, you had promised Ran to come today and take the school worksheets and assessments, she had saved for Shinichi, with you. 

Oh, this reminded you to check your phone, again. 

Messages unable to send,

Number does not exist.

Resend?

Yes.

No.

About three months has passed since Shinichi has disappeared and still no sign of him. Neither call or message, not even a Mail. Absolut nothing. At first you thought, believed and hoped, after the first 3 Weeks of him gone—that he was simply solving a case somewhere out of Tokyo. 

But even when he would have a case, doesn’t matter where, he would have given you a call, Shinichi knew how worried and anxious you could get. You had sent messages without getting any sort of reply.

When you started to call him, one day, and got the Automatic voice of; This number does not exist, the realization had finally sunk in.

A realization that Shinichi wouldn’t come back anytime soon. And a tiny voice, far in the back, was telling nonstop, that Shinichi has died. Was dead and being buried nameless six feet under ground or just decaying away all lonesome by himself—because he hasn’t been found.

And yet you still daily checked your phone for a message from him or resending that one SMS over and over again. Even though you knew very well how useless and pointless it was.

Shinichi's disappearance was the restart point of your exhaust.

»Ah, Conan,«

When Conan turned around to give you a short greeting, the words died on his tongue. Sachiko hasn’t exaggerated with her worry of you.

It was last week, when Ran was meeting up with Sonoko and Sachiko for some Coffee and Cake. Sachiko had told them how much ~his~ Shinichi's disappearance has taken a toll on you. How you lack sleep and the focus for any- and everything. 

Sachiko feared that your state of mental health has been affected greatly by it. Sending you back into an endless spiral of harmful ways, bringing the depression—you had so desperately fought to overcome in middle school—back and shattering your, still in process, recovery completely and perhaps for finale.

Besides your worn-out look, you had managed to give Conan one of your genuine smiles with that certain gleam in your eyes. Taking Conan's school bag and shouldering it, you picked him up. Hugging him and smoothering Conans cheeks with kisses.

»Ne, [Name] don’t, I have a cold.« Conan tried to stop the affection you were giving him, as your older Brother it feels a tiny bit embarrassed. Huh? Wait, right. He wasn’t your older brother anymore, nor was he as of current Shinichi Kudo. Because Shinichi was now Conan Edogawa. You hummed with glee, tapping his mask-covered nose.

»And? Doesn’t gonna stop me, now let's get inside. I’m sure Ran has cooked some delicious food for you.«

You knocked shortly on the door of the Detective Agency, before opening it and stepping inside. Still carrying Conan in your arms.

»Hey Ran, I think the kiddo needs some cold medicine and some good food.« You said, not really taking notice of the other person in the room, as you sat Conan down on the couch and putting his bag on the floor. 

»Here, the kid shoulda drink this and his cold will be gone,« absentmindedly you’ve taken the cup, which had been pushed into your view. Mumbling a thanks to whoever it was, you gave it Conan. Now that you think about it, the voice sounded familiar. You turned around in confusion and came face to face with Heiji.

»Heiji? What are you doing here in Tokyo? You could have called me,«

»Sorry, I wanted to but I totally forget about it once I came here.« Heiji rubbed his neck sheeplish,

Ran cleared her throat, feeling a just a tiny bit awkward. Standing here and listen to your friendly chatter you were having with Hattori. A question for you formed itself on her tongue,

»You know each other?«

»Yeah we’re boyfriends,« you both answer at the same time. In such a causal tone, sounding as if it was already known.

And while Ran hummed, nodding her head, not really listening to what you both just said, Conan coughed violently at this and almost fall off the couch. 

So he is your Boyfriend? The mysterious person for your happiness.

Conan might be a bit, prejudicial, critical about this, but in his opinion Heiji wasn't the right person for you. You deserve only the best and surely there was someone out there, who was a far better match for you. 

»What do you mean, Shinichi has called Ran?« you asked, wanting to be sure you heard right. 

Before Heiji could answer you, Ran was quick to change the topic. She didn't want to upset you, not any further. You already looked worse and when you knew that Shinichi was only calling her and not once you, she didn't know how you take it and if your mental health would reach its final breaking point with it.

The upcoming disaster were already to start though. Your crestfallen expression has said it all. Ruffling Conans hair one last time, you stood up and taking the Folder from Ran. 

»Does Curry for tonight sounds good? Call me when your done with whatever Case,« you asked Heiji and without waiting for any answer you walked out of the office, giving a short wave of goodbye.

I won't sleep,

I can't breath,

Until you're resting here with me

[carladuquette]

I was tagged by @dragonsoftheeast to write about my writing - thank you!!! If you know me, you know I love to go on about this, so be prepared, this is a long one.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

15

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

312,657

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Elite Elite Elite, baby. I have one Money Heist fic (Nairobi, la puta madre para siempre 🔥) and one Class fic, but that's an Elite remake, sooo… I'm pretty much a one-trick pony haha.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Close your eyes, count to ten (duh); The ties were black, the lies were white (next chapter coming soon!); Midnights in October; Summer state of mind; It's the most wonderful time of the year

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

Yes! I'm so grateful for comments and love chatting with people about their thoughts, the characters, my interpretation of them, etc.

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

Hmm, I don't know that I really do angsty endings. Lots of angsty stories and chapter endings, for sure. But the ending-ending is usually at least hopeful, or perhaps melancholy. Maybe Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Fics like Midnights in October or Best Friends Forever are sad, but I wouldn't say the ending is angsty.

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

Close your eyes, count to ten! No way was I going to give Lu anything but the happiest ending after everything I put her through ❤️

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No! Honestly surprising considering I write so much VaLu and they're a little controversial, but I guess I got into Elite fic when the fandom was already pretty small, so not that many people were around to care anymore, haha.

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

Only very brief scenes.

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

Midnights in October is a ghost story (that's really a story about friendship) inspired by The Haunting of Bly Manor. And, uh, 12 points go to… is kind of a crossover with the Eurovision Song Contest? But my only real crossover is I put a spell on you, Hocus Pocus with the Elite characters.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Not yet.

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

Lu and Valerio will always have my heart.

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

I have a laaarge number of story ideas that only exist in my head, but I don't have any unfinished WIPs right now. I'd like to think I'll end whatever it is I started, even if it may take me forever 🙃

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'm good with plotting- I have good ideas that I can turn into fairly good stories, I'd like to think. I give different characters room to grow, or at least give them little moments to shine, too, not just my favorites/ main characters. With characters I know well, I can make them "make sense"- dig into their motivations, their character traits, how they've been treated and have it be clear (maybe not for the characters around them, but for the reader) why they act the way they do and why they make certain decisions, even when they're bad decisions.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

There are some physical reactions people have that I repeat too often. I love angsty drama and in longer stories, I put in so much sometimes that it loses its effect a little, I think. I'd like to be able to write more lyrically, but I can't, so most of my stuff is pretty straight-forward. And I can't write good smut to save my life.

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

I personally don't believe in it. The occasional pet name or whatever thrown in is fine, but apart from that it a) doesn't make much sense to me; whatever language you write it, to me it's implied that this is the characters' mother tongue- like, I write in English, but the Elite characters live in Madrid, so the assumption is that they all speak Spanish, which would make switching to actual Spanish weird. And b) it's more work for readers then having to use online translators to figure out what people are saying.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I started to put down a Grey's Anatomy fic about Izzie and Denny yeeears ago that didn't go anywhere.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

Obviously Close your eyes, count to ten will always be my baby. I spent close to three years with the characters and I'm proud of the story. But depending on the day and my mood I have other favorite fics, too.

I tag @dhyanshiva and @cangse-sanren, two incredibly talented Class fic writers. I can't think of any other mutuals who write, but if you do and that has escaped me (apologies), PLEASE DO THIS TOO! I'm serious- all fic writers, feel tagged!

[boiwcndr]

20 Questions for Fic Writers Tag Game

stole this from @blackerinapendleton! hope you don't mind me tagging you <3

1. how many works do you have on AO3?

24.

2. what's your total AO3 word count?

59,778 because I can only write/finish very very very short stories.

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Currently? Detective Conan/Magic Kaito, but I've written for boku no hero academia, young justice (cartoon), tsubasa: reservoir chronicle, pokemon (anime), mcu, kuroshitsuji, d.gray-man, criminal minds, and alex rider.

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

pour me a glass of vermouth { shaken and very stirred }. a detective conan/magic kaito fic that i dreamt, woke up, and wrote at 3am. it's shinichi realising that kaito (his boyfriend) is family with an assassin that he's had to fight against.

insanity { when life weighs down too hard on your shoulders and you can't close your eyes in fear for the demons. } a criminal minds fic that i wrote initially for a friend on tumblr that's luke x spencer.

disguises ( you're not as hidden as you think ). a detective conan/magic kaito fic that i honestly want to delete because it's not good but i also don't believe in deleting fics, so...

five times robin's acting skills were amazing yet terrifying. a young justice (cartoon) story where... well, exactly what it says on the tin. it was written due to the young justice prompt meme challenges or whatever back in 2012.

fantasy ( we're apart despite longing. ) a detective conan/magic kaito fic and probably the one i'm most proud of of the top five. it was initially a one-shot that i wrote for a friend on tumblr, turned into a series, and i still need to write the third one and it's been 5 years, oops.

i didn't add hyperlinks because i don't think anyone that i follow/follows me is a detective conan fan looool

5. do you respond to comments?

yeah, usually. sometimes i don't like to because it inflates the comments number, but also, i don't get many, so i don't think that really matters.

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

a detective conan/magic kaito drabble where kaito dies before the story even begins and conan receives his death letters. i honestly want to rewrite it though because i feel like i have a better understanding of both characters now.

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

home ( is sometimes not where the heart is but where memories lie and cannot seem to die ), a tsubasa: reservoir chronicle fanfic where tsubasa grows some measure of acceptance of himself and embraces himself a little bit more.

8. do you get hate on fics?

no. that usually requires people to get hits, and i don't usually, lol.

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

i did and then deleted it all.

10. do you write crossovers?

yeah.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of???

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope.

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

yes! @greenfiredragonfly and i wrote grandpappy together back in 2013. it's a kuroshitsuji crack fic. (not that you know this blog of mine, heyyyyy).

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

i can't choose, i have too many.

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

hawk's eye, an alex rider and detective conan/magic kaito crossover that was based on a series of fanfics written by dblanc that they have graciously allowed me to write. i just suck at coming up with plots (i'm mainly a character-driven/analysis writer), so i'm just stuck on that.

16. What are your writing strengths?

personally, i'd say character-driven angst. i've been told that i'm quite good at writing different characters and given them their own cadence and tone that makes them sound like them despite the numerous fandoms i write across.

this is a review from a specific friend (who is really talking about my roleplaying that i do).

um. this is based entirely on my experience of writing with you but i think you're really good at setting up scenes. like laying the foundation for any interaction so the other person always has something to build on. i think your writing is also pretty evocative in the sense that if your muse is feeling something strongly, you convey it really well in a way that moves the reader. i think you interweave introspection in between dialogue and narration really well too, bc when you switch to a character's inner monologue it always blends smoothly and there's always a good flow to your writing.

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

i do it when it makes sense to, and then i add translations for it. however, sometimes i don't want to do the research and i just go "i want some bread," he said in french.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

if you count my really really shitty fanfics when i couldn't spell when i was seven, harry potter. on ao3, it's kuroshitsuji.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

even though it's a wip that i probably will never finished, i really like hawk's eye. also, i'm proud of both of my tsubasa: reservoir chronicle fanfics.

tagging: @dustorange @hood-ex

[hlficlibrary]

✤ Bed Sharing Fics ✤

A series of posts with the top five fics of each category by kudos plus five more hidden gems from that category! Remember to leave kudos and a comment on the fics you enjoyed to show your appreciation! You can find our other recs here.

- Top 5 H/L Fics -

1️⃣ Escapade by dolce_piccante / @haydolce [M, 146k]

In the grand scheme of things, finding a date for a wedding should be no problem for Louis Tomlinson. He's rich. He's handsome. He's reasonably well behaved. But when the wedding is for his lifelong best friend (and former boyfriend), and is happening in under a month, finding a date for the ceremony and accompanying festivities becomes more of an adventure than he ever could have planned for.

2️⃣ In Dreams by dolce_piccante / @haydolce [M, 23k]

AU. When Harry moves to a new city, his new flat come with a number of sweet, anonymous gifts and surprises that brighten his days. Could it be a friendly ghost? Another friendly presence in his new building is his tattooed neighbor, Louis, who seems determined to put a smile back on his face.

3️⃣ Let Me Feel Your Heartbeat by @angelichl [E, 34k]

Harry is 98% sure Louis hates him. So he feels like his bewilderment is justified when the omega offers to help him through his rut.

4️⃣ waiting for the tides to meet by @nauticalleeds [E, 59k]

Louis lets out a deep breath, thinking about Harry’s soulmate. Thinking about how Harry’s soulmate is probably as beautiful as Harry, some person that Louis cannot compare to, and how the universe has chosen them to be Harry’s. Fuck the universe. “Fuck you,” he calls out to the universe. He’s aware of how crazy he sounds.

Maybe he is crazy, with how he’s falling for Harry. And fuck that, too. 

Soulmate AU. Everyone is born with heterochromia — one eye is their own eye colour, while the other is the colour of their soulmate's. It's only when they meet their soulmate for the first time that their own eyes match properly. After a hazy night at a frat party, Louis wakes up to blue eyes and the shocking realization that he had met his soulmate, without any sober recollection. Seven years pass where Louis comes to terms with the fact that he'll never know who his soulmate is. Then one fated summer, a beautiful green-eyed photographer arrives at Louis' workplace, with promises of endless laughter and a familiar feeling in Louis' heart.

Featuring a lovely cup of OT5, a road trip down the coast, and a scene where Harry eats a whole head of lettuce. Don't ask why.

5️⃣ Close to Nowhere by @angelichl [E, 34k]

“I will kill you in your sleep,” Louis threatened as he quickly stepped out of his jeans.

“I don’t think that would work very well baby, seeing as you talk to dead people all the time.”

“I’ll kill you in your sleep and ignore your ghost. And don’t call me that.” 

Louis and Harry are psychics who kind of hate each other. They go to Tennessee to investigate a haunting.

HIDDEN GEMS:

💎 Love After the End of the World by @mercurial-madhouse [E, 162k]

Society shattered when all electricity suddenly cut off across the globe, plunging the world into darkness. Now, Prometheus Industries is the sole remaining supply of power, a saving grace to those who survived Lights Out. As fugitives in no-man’s land struggling to break into Prometheus HQ, death lurks around every corner for Louis and Zayn. Things get complicated when a routine recon falls apart and Louis collides with Harry and his mates Niall and Liam, survivors with their own agenda.

When staying alive is already a constant battle, the deadliest weakness is to be in love. For Harry and Louis, finding each other sits on top of the endless list of What Else Could Go Wrong.

💎 Caught In Your Gravity by @lululawrence [NR, 62k]

It felt like the blood froze in Harry’s veins even as he got a bit lightheaded. He hadn’t even made it two practices, only one of which he was remotely in charge of, without giving it all away and now he and Liam were both absolutely fucked.

“Shit,” Harry breathed out. “Who all have you told? Does everyone know? I thought I covered it better than that…”

“No, no,” Louis said quickly. "They’ll figure it out soon enough, though, because they’ll get used to you changing things up, but you’re only going to trip over your so called Americanisms for so long before they realize it’s because you don’t actually know fuck all about football.”

Harry sighed. “Yeah. I figured. I just need to bullshit for long enough to allow Liam to get the situation figured out from his end.”

“Right, which brings me to my entire point. I think we can find a mutually beneficial arrangement with all of this.” Louis leaned forward. “You need to learn the ins and outs of the sport incredibly fast. I can help you with that.”

“What do you want in exchange?”

Or, an AU inspired by a 30 second trailer of Ted Lasso that doesn't actually have much in common with the show at all.

💎 i must admit i thought i'd like to make you mine by @disgruntledkittenface [M, 50k]

Louis fell apart when her ex broke up with her and moved across the country. Just as she’s starting to move on, Zayn comes back to town for their mutual friends’ wedding – with a new girlfriend as her plus one.

Blindsided and scrambling to save face, Louis lets herself get talked into a fake relationship with her new friend Harry. Their arrangement makes Louis feel pathetic and embarrassed, but it’s only going to last a few weeks. She just has to get through the wedding – what could happen?

💎 as in olden days by @scrunchyharry [T, 18k]

Château Frontenac hotel, Christmas 1925   When his father insisted the entire family spend Christmas abroad in one of his new investments, Harry dreaded the prospect of being trapped for weeks in the biting Canadian cold, so far away from the roaring excitement of his London life. As he crossed half of the world to be buried under a thick blanket of snow, he never imagined he would meet a charming bellhop who would do his best to keep him warm.

💎 Naturally by @neondiamond [E, 5k]

When PE teacher Louis first gets assigned to be a chaperone on a weekend long camping trip with a bunch of high school seniors, he’s not too excited about it. That changes when he finds out his fellow Music teacher Harry, who Louis happens to have a massive crush on, is also coming.

[somewhereapart]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for tagging me @revolutionsoftheheart! 💋

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

230

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 1,851,307

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently: SVU (EO), MCU/Marvel (Steggy), Once Upon a Time (OQ) (shut up, i'm calling it current bc I intend to continue, I've just been taking a little break....)

Over the course of my fandom life: Battlestar Galactica (Lee/Kara), Private Practice (Charlotte/Cooper), CSI:Miami (Calleigh/Eric), and if you count all the writing I did in notebooks during my teenage years Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel: The Series (Buffy/Angel, Buffy/Spike, Angel/Darla).

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Couches (SVU)

Breaking In (Once Upon a Time) (** This one would absolutely have the top spot if the OQ fandom had made the shift to Ao3 sooner. Baker's Dozen would probably be in the top 5 as well, so... honorable mention. lol)

Lip Service (SVU)

Convalescence (SVU)

Mistakes Were Made (SVU)

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

I used to respond to every single comment, years and years ago. Now I am terrible at responding to comments, for a number of reasons. 1) I just don't have the spoons I used to have, and oftentimes I will start out replying to all the comments and then the day will pass and the next day I maybe don't have the time/energy for it, and then I worry people will think I'm intentionally ignoring their comments, which I am very much not, so I kind of adopted an "if I can't get to everybody, I just shouldn't do anybody" mentality which is probably not the greatest and I am trying to work on... 2) I tend to keep the tab open for my latest fic/update for a day or two to see what comments roll in but then after that, I close the tab and I forget the inbox on Ao3 actually exists so I'm reliant on my email alerts to know when there's a new comment, and I don't check that email every day so sometimes it's dayssss after someone leaves a comment on a not-quite-brand-new work before I see it. And then I feel like I've accidentally left it too late? 3) I feel like I should have more to say than just replying to everyone with "Thanks!", or I feel bad when I have more to say to some reviews than that (because they ask a question, are more specific about something, etc.) but then reply to some of the others with only "Thanks!" Like I feel like the people who just get "thanks!" are gonna feel like I don't value their reviews as much as the people who get a longer response, and then they'll feel bad or like they wasted their effort reviewing and then I'll feel bad bc that is very much not the case. (See above re: "if I can't do it for everyone, I'll just do it for no one.") This is the (one and only) downside to me of the Ao3 comment reply format vs. FFNet review replies -- I LOVE that the Ao3 comments format lends itself better to conversation, but the FFnet review replies went to people's DMs so nobody knew if they got a "Thanks!" on this one and someone else got a paragraph. 4) I feel like it pads the Comment count? Like it looks like the work got double the response that it did, it feels a little like I'm cheating? So in summary, I have Comment reply anxiety, clearly lol. But I love receiving everyone's comments, and I hoard each and every one like a dragon with their treasure, and I appreciate everyone who takes the time to leave one. Maybe in 2024 I should make it a goal to reply to all of them idk...

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

Mmmmm.... Hexes, maybe? I was scrolling down the OUAT fic memory lane last night and hit OQ Angst Week, that had some doozies. Maybe Sing A Song of Forgetting, that one was rough.

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

Baker's Dozen, probably. (Which, fun fact -- I put the OG version back up on Ao3 a few years back "temporarily" and then forgot to take it down, so if you have that and the published book version, now you can compare, I guess 😂)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not much these days, but I have a few times in the past. The one I got the most hate on is actually not on Ao3 because when I moved over my Private Practice fics from FFnet, I didn't move anything incomplete that I wasn't expecting to finish. But it was a Charlotte King fic that dealt with her fiance coming back into her life (before we actually met him on the show) while she and Cooper were broken up, and I was very clear that it was a Charlotte fic not so much a CharCoop fic, but oooooh people were mad that there was a love triangle going on and it was unclear who she was gonna end up with. LIVID. FURIOUS. That's the fic that made me turn off anon reviews for the first time bc I had someone who would just troll me with hate reviews and blow up my DMs. It was a time....

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

Indeed, and pretty much... whatever's clever. lol I need more specifics on the last question.

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

Not really, no.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes! Someone swiped a chunk of one of my EO fics and reused it like word for word (with the names changed, obvs) in their Jopper fic this summer! And someone linked me to it and I blew up their Comments section on the chapter and they deleted their entire internet presence, it was wild.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, because every time someone asks me for permission to translate one, I say no, bc I am very protective of my work. lol I don't like not being able to vet the translation and know that it comes across the way I want it to. I've talked in the past about having a friend of mine do a Spanish translation of Baker's Dozen, but she literally does translation for a living and she's so familiar with my writing and my writing process (and I'm so familiar with hers) that I can trust the end result would be what I'd want it to be. Also, in my experience, folks who want to translate my work also want to repost it somewhere themselves, and I haaaaaaate that. I'm a control freak about my work, I want it to be where I want it and have control over the managing of it at all times. (I get annoyed when people repost my work to other fic archives/collections, or have it bound in print for themselves, etc. I don't like that. What if I want to go back and change something? Just leave it where I posted it and link back to there, please and thank you!)

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

Yes, but never to completion.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship? It's like choosing between children, I can't.

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

If Every Road Led Back Home (the aforementioned Charlotte King fic). Everything else, I am still convinced I'll finish it someday. lol (But if we were gonna be less optimistic than that, What Happens in Vegas, and L'ébauche probably)

16. What are your writing strengths?

Porn with feelings. lol Sex scenes with what I call "heightened realism" -- it's probably consistently better sex than real-world sex, but never so much that it seems implausible or too exaggerated, and I like to include little mishaps, or imperfections, or the real things that often get skipped over (hey condoms, hey lube, hey peeing after sex) because when you've been writing sexy fanfic for two decades, quite frankly it's boring when it's perfect and shiny every time. I have a Steggy fic planned for sometime this year that is basically "their sex life has one consistent and inconvenient obstacle and here's all the ways that works out (and sometimes doesn't work out) for them." I haven't flexed my angst muscles in a while, but I used to absolutely love writing stuff that wrecked people until they were yelling at me in the comments. I miss doing that.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Rampant abuse of grammar (I know I'm doing it, I just don't care), overuse of the word "just", and too many parentheticals. Also knowing when to stop. I will use 18 words when 3 would do, and I can very easily write myself into the weeds instead of staying on target and writing every scene with intent toward a goal. (Hi, Breaking In.) Also, finishing things. (Hello again, Breaking In, and every other unfinished WIP both on Ao3/FFnet and in my Google Docs graveyard.)

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

If it fits the fic, absolutely, but only a language I can find a native speaker to check and correct for me before I post it. I don't wanna be the one out here with the wonky Google Translate French that makes people who can actually read the language cringe.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Technically, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The first fanfic I ever published on the internet was a Spuffy fic that is now lost to the ages because it was on some fic archive that no longer exists, but I did a lot of pen-and-paper BtVS fanfic writing in middle and high school.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

I'm gonna go with Breaking In, because it's my baby. My Beast. The big guy. My Everest. And also Baker's Dozen because it's Baker's Dozen.

tagging in a no-pressure way (and sorry for any double tags): @goodthingscomeinthrees @behindthelabels @rahleeyah @roboticonography @doctorhelena @lyricalviolet @audreysl0ve @ninzied @somuchwhatever and anyone else who wants to do it!

[oodlyenough]

fic 20 questions

1. how many works do you have on Ao3? 127...! I have had the account since 2009, lol.

2. what's your total Ao3 word count? 707,519

3. what fandoms do you write for? Generally I only write for one at a time, which is currently Ace Attorney. Not counting the odd one-offs for ask memes over the years, the other big ones were Arcane, Borderlands, Doctor Who and the wizard books.

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

Commutative Law (Arcane)

Window of Opportunity (Arcane)

Where the Air is Rarefied (HP)

Prestidigitation (Arcane)

Contingency Planning (Arcane)

Lmao, 4 of 5 written in 2022. You can see the power of writing m/m in a popular new fandom VS my entire other library at the time. Admittedly at some point I made a concerted effort to try and knock HP down from top spot, which was successful. For now. Jayvik fandom has quieted down a lot.

5. do you respond to comments? Yes. Sometimes it takes a while because if it's a particularly thoughtful comment I try to give a particularly thoughtful reply, and it can take time to gather my thoughts.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I'm going to discount oneshots because the tone in one-shots tends to be more consistent throughout the piece rather than being about the "ending" yknow.

So probably King and Country, a Doctor Who fic cowritten with @go-ldy way back when. Technically a happy ending if you factor in immense amounts of off-screen couples therapy lmao. But we had originally written something much simpler and happier, and it didn't fit the story at all, so we went back and wrote something heavier for the closing chapter, which is why it sticks in my mind.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I think probably Anachronism, the 95k Borderlands epic. I had always had a rough image of the four main characters happy together by the end, and it was also my swansong in Borderlands fandom, so I wanted it to be an optimistic, happy ending (especially in contrast to whatever the hell is going on in the canon there now lmfaoooo). Plus the rest of the fic was quite angsty, and the ending was hopeful and happy.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not in recent memory. Once upon a time I got a couple disgruntled comments in Doctor Who fandom, and perhaps funniest of all found people complaining about my fic on LJ in French, unaware I read French.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Nope I'm a big baby who gets too embarrassed. I've written some pretty soft-focus M rated stuff but nothing I think could rightly be called smut.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I wrote a short joke crossover between Doctor Who and Inspector Spacetime, the Doctor Who parody from Community. I don't think that one made the leap from Teaspoon to AO3 actually.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes, a number of times. It's very flattering. Mostly Borderlands fics and mostly into Russian iirc, but there's been a few over the years. Sometimes people ask, and I say "sure, drop me a link!" and I never hear back, so I'm not sure if they forgot to link or just never finished translating to begin with.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? My longest and best DW fics with @go-ldy way back when! Not so much since.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? I'm gonna be real it always just feels like whatever I'm into at the moment. And, actually, not necessarily something I write fic for -- like Pricefield is an all-timer for me, easy, but I have never written fic and I haven't read all that much either. If I were narrowing to tree, one of "each" lol, probably Doctor/Rose, Pricefield and Narumitsu.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Don't have any. I know I will never finish them (RIP Fixer-Upper and Silly Love Songs) as I've lost interest in those fandoms.

16. What are your writing strengths? I'd like to think I am good at packing emotional and/or character beats into a concise scene or story. Adding missing scenes or elaborating on canon scenes to give some additional depth or meaning without really deviating from the source.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Definitely plot. I will get stumped on the technicalities of things for ages -- I might know an emotional scene I'd like to write, but hell if I know how to get them there. It's why I primarily write one-shots. Also I struggle with any kind of scenery or set description.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I avoid it as much as I can. (Which so far has been entirely, lol.) I don't speak any other languages well enough to write dialogue in them and feel awkward relying on Google translate or hitting up random friends to do that work for me. I am more likely to use the "said something in [language]" approach.

19. First fandom you wrote for? I actually can't be sure but I think it was 101 Dalmatians. The animated one. When I was like, 7.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? I'm gonna cheat and do one per fandom:

Anachronism (Borderlands) -> biggest, most complicated, plotty fic I have ever written, with four main characters and every combination of relationship between them as the focus. Took 3 damn years. Very proud of it.

Unravel (Ace Attorney) -> total recency bias here but I'm very happy with it and it scratched a very particular itch for me, fleshing out a relationship and characters that exist mostly in the fringes of canon, something I used to do lots of but haven't in recent years

Contingency Planning (Arcane) -> an emotional sucker punch fic in my humble opinion, happiest with it

Out of the Howling (Doctor Who, with @go-ldy) -> actually I had a hard time picking a DW fic. But this was our last together and most complex, so it wins. Also the Master is fun as hell to write.

I am supposed to tag people! I am not sure who else has already been tagged. Do it or don't, I'm not your boss, happy new year 🎊 @annalyticall @heavybreathingcatt @sandboxer @mutxnts @tinsnip @tlonista @themirokai

[intermundia]

Hi! I saw ur post about your birthday, so first off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Second, thank you so much for sharing your fics - they are genuinely so damn spectacular! I can’t really pick a favourite so in lieu of that I’m just going to rant about some favourable mentions :)

I’m a huge philosophy nerd, so your Symposium fic is the chefs kiss of fanfic and academia! I’ve reread it so many times now and, each time, I find another platonic element or link to the philosophy, and I basically scream with joy. Also mixing the Jedi with Plato’s philosophy is such an interesting and well-fitting mix! Like the realm of forms parallel to the force, obikin and the ladder of love parallel to their relationship, and obv the master apprentice dynamic so central to the symposium. Even the cave allegory in one way, like, once they start talking about love, obi wan can’t unhear it - he can’t go back from the light, in that regard. It’s so amazing to read a fic and keep on finding new things to love; reading it just brightens my day, and because I can’t send you an exorbitant number of kudos on ao3, please let this stand in their place <3<3<3

and don’t get me started on lex talionis! It’s such a gripping narrative!!! Like, for the first half/three quarters, there’s this slow decline in everyone’s mental state, relationships, and in general wellbeing. And it felt like I wanted to climb the walls, almost shouting at my screen, because if they would just TALK or THINK, but it’s like a tragedy because the CANT or at least as they are at the beginning they can’t, and that was so wonderful to read. A huge part of that was that I was already invested in the characters, so the stakes were raised from the get-go, but also it was the way you mirrored the drama of canon’s breakdown, and you managed to do that on a completely different playing field. And THEN you made them CHANGE!!! And it felt plausible! It felt in character! And all the hope and joy that they lost was returned, but it wasn’t the same, and that was okay!!! And to me, it felt like that decline and rise mirrored the way you integrated Roman history (I could very well be wrong lol); fall of the republic, rise of the Augustan empire - things are irrevocably changed, but they’re still standing! They’re alive! It’s so deeply moving and emotional, I can’t even articulate it as well as I’d like! Also, I was wondering, in LT, did u base any particular characters’ arcs on actually folks from Roman history? And what would you say is your favourite ancient person in general? It’s so interesting to see how ur Classics background informs your writing. In the most complementary way I can say it, it’s giving off ancient history Tolkien vibes, which is genuinely so inspiring to me as someone who wants to find their own writing niche

thank you so much for your writing, and I hope your next year ‘round the sun is filled with joy 🥳🥳🥳

yesss augustus was definitely a central inspiration for me for my fall of the republic story!! just as i think he was for lucas, with his ascension to supreme executive power and institution of an empire, the way he participated in and then brought a devastating period of civil war to a close, offering up long desired peace and security under his autocratic rule. he's a popular leader whose figure looms large as an example still after thousands of years. i wanted obi-wan to 'win' in the same way he did, usurping palpatine's claim to being that leader who took advantage of chaos to seize power.

i just think obi-wan would be such a devastating sith lord, brilliant and charismatic, who could outplay sidious at his own game, very much in the tradition of augustus's strategic decisions. obi-wan lies to himself about it, but his corruption is to always seek ever expanding circles of control. anakin and the clones have strong personal loyalty to him, echoing the loyal legions in civil war that swept octavian into power. padmé has shades of cicero and other republic figures who lost out and were removed from public life (i let her keep her life though ofc).

basically the whole political aspect was modeled on the fall of the roman republic haha you got that exactly right. i'm just so thrilled that you've engaged with the classical influences that i both consciously and unconsciously include in my stories. that's such an unbelievably kind analogy with tolkien, thank you!! there are just so many greek and roman figures that have fascinated and compelled me: homer and hesiod of course, pythagoras and heraclitus among other presocratics, aristotle's virtue ethics, and the moral philosophers of rome like epictetus and marcus aurelius are very dear to my heart.

other favorites are thucydides and herodotus, euripides and aescylus. pericles and alcibiades are fascinating figures. in terms of rome, cicero and catiline, catullus and horace, lucretius and seneca, virgil and ovid, tacitus and plutarch. the lives of antony and cleopatra especially are fascinating. so is alexander ofc, but i spent most of my time on archaic greece not the hellenistic period. i could keep going saljkdlkfdjsa but i will stop, thank you for the excuse to geek out!!!! it's always fun to think about, so i invent as many excuses to do so as possible haha

[kanonavi]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

I was tagged by @hua-fei-hua, thank you much <3

~

How many fics do you have on AO3?

30, currently. I've had a few more in the past that I've since orphaned, and most of my stuff from old fandoms is archive-locked, but that's the total number.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

142,199

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently just Genshin Impact, though I've had a couple ideas for other fandoms that get to stay in the ideas box because I'm simply too busy for them. In the past the fandoms I've written most substantially for were Noragami, BSD, and Persona 5, and there are a few other random ones in there too.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

When Suikou Met a Little Bird (Genshin) - 287

The Nighttime Routine (BSD) - 257

The Petrus Will Taste Less Bitter (BSD) - 252

We'll Talk the Stars Down from the Sky and I'll Not Forget the Chaos in Your Eyes (Genshin) - 217

This Wine Pairs Best With Your Love (BSD) - 187

Considering that I'm not really attached to BSD anymore, it makes me so happy that one of my xiaoven fics has actually managed to top this list. (Also, another one of my xv fics, A Brief Respite from Lantern's Light, is a close 6th with 183 kudos, so if anyone wants to go drop a few kudos on it to get it back in the top 5........... jkjk lolol)

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

I used to not respond to comments because I was shy and was never really brought up in fandom to know how to interact with other community members without feeling awkward. But now I try to respond to every comment I get, because I know I always get serotonin when authors reply to my comments, so I'd like to hope that I can give that feeling back to others.

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

The only fic I've ever written that had MCD was a BNHA fic I wrote based on the song Ghost Rule by Deco*27, so I'd say that one (but please don't go read it that fic is so old agh). I prefer happy endings, so I don't write stuff like that very much.

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of my fics don't have particularly high stakes imo, so it's a little hard to compare in this regard. If I interpret this as the most hopeful ending though, I'd say either Disambiguation, the Persona 5 fic I wrote for the 2020 Goro Big Bang, or The Petrus Will Taste Less Bitter.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Thankfully, no. I've gotten a couple of comments that offered unwanted constructive criticism or sort of pedantic corrections, and there was one person who commented on the collab fic I'm writing asking my co-author when she would update another one of her fics, which sucked. Largely though, people have been very kind about my fics, which means the world to me <3

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

I have written smut before, but only for fun so none of it has ever been posted. I do hope to write some in the future though, so I'll leave what it's about as a surprise ;)

10. Do you write crossovers? If so, what's the craziest one you've ever written?

I'm not a big fan of crossovers, so I've never written one. I have written a fusion au of BSD and Persona though, which was pretty fun.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, I've never hit it that big lol

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

Yes! I'm currently co-writing Talk the Stars with my lovely friend Miki, and I do also have a BNHA crack fic writing roulette that I wrote with a group of fandom friends waaaaay back in the day.

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

There hasn't been a ship of mine that I would say has proved itself entirely timeless yet, but as of now my favorite ship is still xiaoven (Xiao/Venti) from Genshin Impact. If we ask AO3 though my most written for ship is still (unfortunately) soukoku (Osamu Dazai/Chuuya Nakahara) from BSD.

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

My only current wip is Talk the Stars, and I want to remain optimistic about it, so take my entire box of ideas that I want to write but may never get to instead!

16. What are your writing strengths?

I've been complimented on my characterization in the past, which is always an incredible honor!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Actually writing- Joking, I'm joking! I feel like I've always struggled with the minute descriptions that go between dialogue. Like I'm good at dialogue and I can describe things fine when no one's talking, but I can struggle with the little movements and facial expressions that go between.

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

I don't mind single words or little phrases, I know I've attempted (to a questionable amount of success tbh) to use German pet names in Venti's dialogue, but they never really sound right, probably because I don't speak German and don't understand proper usage. The one place I really object is where people will write entire sentences in a foreign language in the fic and then not provide a translation even in the author's note, which I have encountered and is quite annoying.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

My first fic on AO3 was a little one-shot for Kagerou Daze!

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Call it recency bias, but my newest fic, A Mora for the Bard, Held Between Your Lips, is one of the best things I've ever posted imo. I put a lot into it, and I think the end product speaks to that. I don't think it'll be my favorite forever, of course, but for now it holds a special place in my heart

~

Tagging: @radellama, @stardustdiiving, @morkiiimoo, @mango-jpeg, @ghostofdiamonds