#some of them were very close in numbers of kudos

[kentuckyfriedmegumi]

fanfic writer interview

thank you @uriekukistan for tagging me!

no pressure tags @yearnwormwrites @hijinks-n-lowjinks @fluffy-bacon363 and @philosophiums <33

How many works do you have on AO3?

i have 14 works; 13 are for jjk and 1 is just a writing exercise thing i wrote

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

Itadori Yuji's Totally Foolproof Plan to get Fushiguro Megumi to Fall In Love with Him

Closing the Distance

is it gay if our pinkies are intertwined?

Too Soon?

I Have to Protect You

all of them are jjk itafushi works!! yuji's plan is my first fanfic piece i've ever written!

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

yes!!! i try my best to but lskdjflsd sometimes it gets ahead of me or life gets all wonky. i really do try tho, and most of the time i'm pretty responsive <3

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

oh for sure it has to be To See You Again. it's an alternate ending to What I'd Give, and i've had ppl argue that that one is sadder, but i feel like (without getting into spoilers) the lack of resolution leaves this one feeling a bit more bleak. i felt bad writing it.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

probably yuji's plan, even tho it's an ongoing series. it's only "ongoing" bc of a series of spin-off one-shots that follow the ending, but they are all pretty happy. the series overall has very light angst too, but if not yuji's plan, then perhaps Closing the Distance.

Do you write crossovers?

naur but i have considered writing characters in other universes. idk tho, seems intimidating.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

not hate in the traditional sense where someone is actively disliking my story or writing, but i do regularly get jumped by my readers for my angsty stuff. i wouldn't call it hate tho.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

naur and i probably never will, but i do have little FLIES IN MY EARS that want me to.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

last i checked, naur. but im keeping an eye out bc im willing to throw hands over it ksfdjsdl

Have you ever had a fic translated?

no, but i've had someone ask me if i ever will. i can't do the translating, but it would be cool if one of mine were.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

YES OMFG!!!! @sunnyyflowerrs and i wrote pinkies together and it was SOOO MUCH FUN!!!! it's crazy like how well our writing styles meshed together, and i really liked working with her. i'm her number 1 fan fr so like this was just a dream to me. i loveee it and it's my third most liked fic!!!! i'd lovee to work with her again, and there are also some other writers that i hope to work with!

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

itafushi literally sucked me into the ao3 rabbit hole like nobody's business. i never read fan fiction ever in my life before june, and then next thing i know i'm writing a multi-chapter fic in august. now i have 13 itfs works and kfm socials on like. every app. crazy how that works.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

i don't know if there's one that i don't think i'll ever finish. i hope to try and finish all of my works eventually, i guess the *only* thing that i could really think to put here is just that the yuji's plan one shots are going to keep going til i run out of ideas.

What are your writing strengths?

the kfm trio: angst, miscommunication, and tension. i feel like i really do well with tension, but i've been told that when my angst hits, it hits. also currently have my readers tweaking out in CTD with the miscomm, so we got the holy trinity.

What are your writing weaknesses?

my prose and descriptors are a work in progress. i feel like it can come out sounding clunky and it's really hard to get the flow right. that's what i'm struggling with in skinny dipping, an unpublished wip of mine. the more i work on it, tho, the better it gets.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

oh goodness, i would be soooo bad at it i fear. the only other language that i know is american sign language ahahaha, so the best that i could do is accurately capture inumaki signing in ASL kajsdfldsk the closest i get is using when i use -chan or -sensei in dialogue, but i don't use it anywhere else.

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

OH MY GOD I SWEAR I WILL WRITE A SHIGUANG FIC FOR LINK CLICK OMFGGG THE POTENTIAL THERE IS CRAZYYYYY I NEEDDDD TO WRITE IT however, i must pace myself and finish skinny dipping first, and also probably closing the distance before i even try to start writing a new fic, much less for a new fandom. oh also kagehina is slowly creeping up on me the more i watch haikyuu... i can feeeeel it

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

currently, it's actually Hot Off the Press teehee. it's a fun, low-pressure fic that i can self-indulge in and use my degree for! it's been a ton of fun writing and i really like being able to pull stuff that i learned for this story. also it's just a fun story to write teehee

[antimony-medusa]

Ao3 Wrapped

I like numbers so here I am delving into my works again!

__

Overall stats for 2024!

User Subscriptions: 218

Kudos: 1,703

Comment Threads: 376

Bookmarks: 479

Subscriptions: 126

Word Count: 186,620

Hits: 186,620

That's a decrease on most metrics, but my word count is very comparable to last year, and I had no idea my subscription count had broken 200! Cool! Especially as I wrote some kind of out there fics this year, I'm very touched by that people want to stick around. I feel like I also do kind of absurdly well for comments, so thank you guys for that.

Fun Stats: 

Fics Published: 25, including one on anon, for 186,620. This is down from last year's 31, but my word count last year was 198,621, so we're pretty damn close!

Number of One-Shots: 22— It was another year of going hard on exchanges, and that encourages one-shots! Of those, 14 were under five thousand words, so I'm pretty pleased with my objective of learning to write short was actually enacted, when I was experiencing deadline pressure!

Number of Multi-Chapters: 3 total, and one still unfinished. I didn't start any new ongoings and leave them unfinished this year, but I still have multiple languishing from 2022, and I didn't finish the one of those I was working on this year, so— augh. I need to stop doing events and finish some of those ongoings! But events are so good...

Number of Inspired Works: 3, because I participated in recursive exchange, where you write fic inspired by other people's fic and art! One of those was inspired by an animation, which I'm very proud of.

Longest Fic: You Blew Me Into Stardust (42,846 words), my beloved mech au. I did two fics for the aufest reverse bang, I also wrote Trying Hard Not To Smile Though I Feel Bad (16,254 words) for Aufest, which is a college au! The minimum for that event was 5k so I— went overboard a bit.

Shortest Fic: I just posted it actually, that's How To Make The Secret City’s Speciality Dessert - Roasted Brown Sugar Oranges And Buttermilk Ice Cream  (912 words), that's a zine fic where we had a 1250 word maximum! I love this fic, and I'm so proud that I managed something short.

Most Kudosed Fic: Gonna Have It Out Like Fight Club, which is a bit unfair because that one has been acquiring kudos since 2022, and is now at 213 kudos. My poor neglected child the mafia fic I HAVE THE REST OF THE FIC OUTLINED I just keep writing things for events instead of writing you.

Most Viewed Fic: That's Gonna Have It Out Like Fight Club, with 2,220, but again a bunch of those are from last year, so probably my biggest fic is Trying Hard Not To Smile Though I Feel Bad, my 13-things-I-hate-about-you Niki & Ranboo au, at 1,457 hits. That one I honestly did not expect to get as big as it did, but I guess people like the comedy.

Most Subscribed Fic: Gonna Have It Out Like Fight Club, with 82 people wanting to know how that one ends. I"M SORRY. I"LL FINISH IT I PROMISE. I did notice my subscriptions to fics overall fell— people were still subscribing to one-shots last year, and this year I guess people realized that was not panning out.  

Most Bookmarked Fic: okay so it LOOKS like it's Gonna Have It Out Like Fight Club at 73 but I can count dates so I can tell that only 28 of those are from this year, wait I forgot about private bookmarks. Hm. Well anyways the one I'm sure was bookmarked this year was Things Could Be So Easy (If You Let Them), my first real intentional shot at writing QPR emduo with a proposal, and boy having THAT unlocked was a delight. That one has 52 bookmarks.

Most Used Fandom: Dream SMP with 13 fics, and SMPEarth in second place with 5. I wrote 9 different fandoms this year, technically.

Least Used Fandom: this is A MULTIWAY Tie as Internet & Social Media (Anthropomorphic), Murderbot Diaries, Books of the Raksura, Original Work, Origins SMP, and Parkour Civilization are all at 1 fic.

Most Used Rating: Teen, 18 fics. I wrote my first two explicit fics this year, both for exchanges!

Least Used Rating: Gen, 1 fic.

Most Written Relationship: Technoblade & Phil Watson | Philza, 10 times, UP FROM NINE LAST YEAR I'M DOING BETTER.

Most Used Additional Tag: hilariously, it's a tie between Comedy and Grief/Mourning, both with four times.

Most Frequently Used Characters: 

Philza (16)

Technoblade (15)

Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF) (6)

Niki | Nihachu (5)

Tommyinnit (3)

Ghostbur (Dream SMP) (2)

Tumblr (Anthropomorphic) (1)

Jade (Books of the Raksura) (1)

Moon (Books of the Raksura) (1)

Archive of our Own (Anthropomorphic) (1)

Last year I was really startled that Tommy didn't make the list and well. I am not immune to Tommyinnit. He's back again.

Last Year’s Stats

And here's my stats! Tag me if you do this too, I like to see numbers!

[mixterglacia]

CONTENT WARING: Vivziepop/Stolitz Critical below the cut.

TL;DR- This episode was inconsistent to put it politely. I will not continue such niceties below the cut. You've been warned.

I'm going to start with the good. The jokes with Satan and his...therapist?? are delightful, and considering how awful this episode was, I will take it.

The bit where the rest of the imps are tormenting Stolas felt so good, but I'm aware we're meant to sympathize with poor wittle owl boi can do no wrong uwu. So that missed by a mile.

While it wasn't consistent, this episode had some stunning animation. Kudos to the team, especially those working on the shot where Stolas is lifting his cape in the song. That and the slow turns were beautiful.

Alright let's rip into this.

If the second half of this episode existed in a vacuum, it might have hit its mark. But it doesn't. This is TOTAL tonal whiplash. Completely unearned and obnoxious. Once again, we have the biggest helluverse problem:

I don't want to put in the effort to earn my drama. I am relying on the fandom to fill in the blanks so they cry.

The song is horrendously demeaning and bad. He's belittling him because he's in a place where Blitz can't fight back. You can't convince me that I should go from the tone at the start of the song to the end.

GOD i hate these two. there is nothing appealing left. They are a hollow, pathetic shell of what we were promised. this is "messy" in the way a dumpster is. This isn't some artsy spill of candy. This is trash with glitter poured all over it.

Suddenly we're getting Blitz's "truwe" feelings all dumped on us in the span of a single musical number. This is TERRIBLE. You have been so stingy with any level of development on his end that this feels like a car getting t-boned at an intersection. I guess "self indulgent" is code for "I didn't want to put in effort, i just wanted my OTP." Which is fine in a fandom sense, but this is a SHOW. You have to actually make us believe they feel like that. You have FAILED, and you're still trying to give yourself the prize? Man, you are deluded.

This was total dogshit. This was a rushed attempt to get Stolas in Blitz's house/bed. This was nothing short of MORE woobification of this dumbass owl. HE DID THIS TO HIMSELF. IF ANYTHING, THIS IS A SLAP ON THE WRIST.

He's a privileged piece of shit that is so babied by the writers that even his PUNISHMENT is nothing. So he's banished, but only for a hundred years, which is nothing to an immortal. If you're trying to bring him down to be on par with the imps, you've failed.

He's still going to get his job back in the future. He's still going to have money in the future. He's still going to have power in the future. If anything, you should have had the punishment make him be an imp for those years.

But no. You're so obsessed with him that you've centered the whole plot around HIM. Not I.M.P, not Blitz.

HIM.

This show has become so derailed at this point. Each episode is (somewhat) fine on their own, but you can't sit there and tell me they have any level of consistency. I keep thinking they're going to hit their stride, and they keep failing to do so. This is pathetic.

I'm very close to giving up on this series. Even analyzing it has become a chore. You aren't fun to watch, or make fun of. You're just mediocre.

I so desperately want these shows to have better writing. I want them to have quality and be successful at the same time. But currently we only have the latter and I fear that will wane in time if Vivienne doesn't get her head out of her ass and put in the effort I know her to be capable of. You can't keep coasting off of your pilot fans forever. I implore you to have someone work on the tone and consistency of the helluverse in the future.

Somehow Helluva makes Hotel look like high art, and that's a shame. When it was only the pilots, I truly adored Helluva. It had wonderful characters and great humor.

But here we are.

[chromatic-lamina]

20 Questions for Fic Writers!

Thank you for the tags @hyperions-light ❤️

I haven't done one of these for a while. Really, if you want to do this, then please do, and vice versa! (and tag me, if you want to. I'd like to see your answers).

Take note that I've been posting since 2017, so there are a few works up there!

1) How many works do you have on AO3? 85.

2) What’s your total AO3 word count? 791,018 words.

3) What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Hmm, with smut or without? Actually, they are a mix (by kudos).

Dark like the North Blue Sea (aka The Sea-Hill you Die On) (350 kudos), Bioluminescent Hearts (323 kudos), Repossession (mind the tags!) 253 kudos, The sellout (mind the tags!) 237 kudos, the slut's dilemma 220 kudos (really, really, really, really mind the tags, please). I want to put a shout out for number 7: softening the fall of snow with 197 kudos. If I hadn't taken some of my fics off anon, that would be in the top 5.

4) What fandoms do you write for?

Only One Piece.

5) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes! Because I'm so grateful, and it can lead to friendships!

6) What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Haha, all of them, but they're angsty and then happy (except for the Hurt, NO comfort fics). Maybe softening the fall of snow. But it's still upbeat in its own way. Defects (Marco is immortal, his partners are not)

7) What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Except for the Hurt no Comfort fics, I try to have a form of positive resolution. Maybe Repossession, or Bioluminescent Hearts, or screen / shiki-e. Doctor Death (Doula), despite its premise (actually, because of it). Overlooked and Underpaid is funny, I think, and Sea Hill too. Ooh, I love the ending of Welding (KidLaw)

8) Do you get hate on fics?

I have once or twice, but they were pretty confronting fics. However, they were tagged.

9) Do you write smut? I used to. Not so much any more, or when my mind leads me into darker recesses smut with a capital Dead Dove. However, I have written healthier smut, but yeah, not for a while.

10) Do you write crossovers?

I don't think so. Sometimes some kind of famous fictional world might fit a premise. For example, Taxi  is inspired by Jim Jarmusch's "Night on Earth", but it's not a crossover.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No. I thought a fic had a very similar premise, but what in fanfic doesn't? I asked the writer directly and although our fics had similar premises, mine did not inspire theirs.

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! I've been super lucky to have two of my fics translated into Vietnamese (maybe 3). screen / shiki-e by Dea_Fi screen / shiki-e (my original)

As fast as he could caper by Dea_Fi, As fast as he could caper (my original)

Những điều hư cấu by Dea_Fi (Nuts in a nutshell is the one shot collection's title); Fairy Tales - Law, Germa 66, Montblanc Noland (my original) I've also had two fabulous podcasts done too! [podfic] screen / shiki-e, [screen / shiki-e (my original) ]

[podfic] Overworked and Underpaid by Podfics by (zipcodecrone) , Overlooked and Underpaid (my original [I changed the name]).

13) Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Yes! Last October (2024) I worked with @ninhaoma-ya, @cal-cium-the-nerd and @crowbarsolo on Sunk Cost Fallacy for the davyback fight run by @cyborg-franky

14) What’s your all-time favorite ship? close tie between LawBin and LawZo, I used to write MarLaw, and I'm still fond. I like SmoLaw and KidLawKid. LawSan's great too, but I haven't written them yet. I like Ray and Shakky, Aladine and Praline, Big Mom and Kaidou. Dunno, most ships are fine with me.

15) What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

The last entry for the rare pair month from a few years ago (MarLaw. I have the idea).

16) What are your writing strengths?

I get the job done. Maybe keeping track of an idea.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

Verbose, even with so few words.

18) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

I'm guessing this is the honorifics argument. Guess it depends how close you feel to the source material, and what the writer is trying to convey and why.

19) First fandom you wrote for?

One Piece. However, my sister and I did a word for word blow by blow rewrite of the Three Little Pigs when we were little.

20) Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Maybe I'll do my favourite of last year spilling into this. Decomposers (LawZo), Welding (KidLaw), water fills the shape of the holder  (law/guilt), and it's actually pulled from a much older and longer piece, but Brontë's Ring (mind the tags). I think my all-time recent fave is still in zine jail.

[turnbackthependulum]

From Anime Expo 2025 Interview with Masashi Kudo, character designer for BLEACH anime:

Question: How did you get to be the character designer for BLEACH? Kudo: I got my start at Artland Animation Studio. Then when I went off on my own and became a freelancer, my very first job at Studio Pierrot on the title TOKYO MEW MEW, which was also Director Abe's work. So there I worked on key animation. And ever since I've been part of Team Abe, so to speak. Then came the title Detective School Q. And after that.. That's when I came to work on BLEACH. I had heard they were looking for a character designer. I was told there's this competition and you should do it. It was Producer Hagino who had reached out. So I decided to enter the competition and I submitted a number of drawings like Ichigo, Uryu and Orihime. I made those drawings and submitted them, and then, I would come to hear this later, it turned out Kubo-sensei took a liking to my drawing of Orihime. And basically, just like that, I joined BLEACH as character designer. Turns out with Orihime, her sort of sensualness... That's what seemed to have won him over.

Question: Were you familiar with the BLEACH manga before your submission for the competition? Kudo: Well, I actually don't read much manga so I can't say that I was familiar. But then I really had no time to read Jump. When I'm working on a project, I lose almost all opportunity to read. When I entered the competition, I laid out several manga volumes. As many as had been released at that point, and just read, and I was able to go through them really quickly. But, you know, hmm.. how should I put it... The reading tempo between the weekly manga and the volume is a bit different, I think. I managed to read all the volumes in one sitting. But I still remember that I really enjoyed it.

Question: Which BLEACH character has been your favorite to draw? Kudo: Let's see, the characters I had fun drawing... In Thousand-Year Blood War, he doesn't show up that often, but I had a lot of fun drawing Kon. In the earlier BLEACH, like in the opening, there's this part when the stuffed animal comes out, and in the ending, too. He's really a lot of fun to animate, so drawing Kon is definitely fun.

Question: And which character was most challenging? Kudo: Difficult characters to draw... I have to say Ichigo. Even from before, I always say this, but as you know, we watch Ichigo grow up. And as he grows up, there's this... The character.. The way you draw him evolves. So to do that, how do I put it, keeping up with that is really tricky. Especially at the beginning of the series, this was really difficult. But with Thousand-Year Blood War, you don't see the same kind of major changes in him; he has sort of stabilized. But that beginning period was truly a challenge.

Question: As you continue to work on Part 4, what scenes or parts are you particularly looking forward to? Kudo: Up until now, and this was the case up until this part, but with the anime-only scenes.. For example, (Kubo) Sensei may have had a scene in mind but didn't include it in the manga. This time we'll have more of those kinds of scenes. Those new aspects, I think they're something to get excited about. I think even those who have read BLEACH back in Jump, even they will have some new discoveries to look forward to. Such as new characters. Yes, you'll definitely get to see some of them.

Question: What's your message to this year's AX 2025 panel attendees? Kudo: BLEACH the manga and anime have both run for so long, and then there was this long break, you have those who have watched from the very beginning and then also those who began with BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War. But since we're finally now approaching the conclusion, so to see this moment.. to see this opus.. finally come to a close, I really hope you're as excited as I am to see this final chapter.

[eleventhhourfactor]

Following up on something @jayyydez tagged me in, in regards to a "writing wrapped" of sort. Call it vain, or reading more into things than I ought to, but given my current burnout situation, I figured I ought as well take stock of all my works from 2024, and perhaps rope in the other writers and see how we're faring.

So, if you wish, here's my Writing Wrapped, originally by @jayyydez and extended forth by yours truly because what else am I supposed to do for my lunch break besides sit at my computer and ignore food, chores, cross stitch, and a whole load of other things for the latest attention-grabbing post.

Should I tag some of you nerds? Yeah. Get tagged @peaches2217 @itsavee4117 @megamagimugi @vulpixfairy1985 @silenzahra

Writing Wrapped

How many words have you written this year?

90,985. Considering I kicked things off in May, I'd say that's pretty decent.

How many works did you publish this year?

14. All but one of these were for Mario, Luigi's Mansion, and Sonic.

What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?

How dare you make me pick a favorite child? Why I oughta—

Enjoy Your Stay at the Last Resort. Let me manifest my Luigi's Mansion movie, alright? I liked the chance to blend the games together, to introduce some stakes for everyone, to weave Daisy into the story and make her truly distinct. Also, writing E. Gadd was a blast. I love that little dude, and I love his interactions with everyone.

What work of yours has the most hits?

Enjoy Your Stay at the Last Resort. You're more than welcome to be in that number.

What work of yours got more feedback than you expected?

In terms of volume? Both Enjoy Your Stay and The Fourth and Final Time got their fair share of comments.

In terms of the responses themselves surprising me? Worth a Shot. Touched some nerves in a bittersweet way.

Favorite title you used?

Again with picking favorites! Can I at least break down my top three by why I named them? Yeah? Then I'll do that.

The Fourth and Final Time has its roots in tetraphobia, especially the Japanese superstition of four being unlucky (due to its pronunciation being very close to the word for "death"). We've had three successful ventures out against ghosts, so why not seal Luigi's fate when he tries his luck for, well...it's in the title. Luigi's Mansion 4 when, Nintendo?

Sparks and Butterflies is all about being anxious, of feeling something funny in your very core when you're going through some major changes. In English, there's the idiom of "butterflies in your stomach"; for Mario, it's literal fire in his belly. The title later turns from feelings of dread to feelings of joy upon the arrival of twins, turning that dread into love as he holds his fiery little butterflies close.

S(t)ealing the Show on Christmas, of All Days! let me work a pun in like I'm Mr. Peabody. What better opportunity to reveal to your extended family that you've become a selkie than with an elaborate Christmas Day prank? Have to convince them you're the real deal of a seal somehow.

If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most?

I didn't really pull from many songs this year, except to name some chapters in Enjoy Your Stay. Those chapters? "Standing on Ghosts" (a banger from Two Door Cinema Club) and "Give Me Your Answer" (a line from "Bicycle Built for Two", which I chose for Daisy and the fact that it was the first song sang by a computer. I swear it makes sense in context).

Pairing you wrote the most for this year?

Bowuigi. I'm sorry, I'll change it up this year. The autism gripped me hard with this one. I didn't see it coming, either.

Favorite pairing you wrote for this year?

Yakko Warner/Max Goof was nice to revisit for A Zany, Goofy Christmas. A breath of fresh air from all the green man and turtle stuff.

What work was the quickest to write?

Out in the Rain. About 1100 words, originally written for @lu1g199 in an ask, so it took me a few hours at most.

What work took you the longest to write?

Both of the Luigi's Mansion-centric fics, Enjoy Your Stay and The Fourth and Final Time, took me four months apiece from start to finish. I have to admit, with the long break I took between the third and fourth chapters of the latter, that one felt like it took me longer to complete. I was also running everything by the original creator of that AU, @giddlygoat, and I didn't want to tread wrong!

How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year?

Crud, I was dreading this one. In terms of what I've actually begun work on, I've got these:

So You Were Bitten by Dracula Himself - already started this one, still need to write three chapters of varying lengths that are effectively one-shots all shoved into a single work. Luigi once again suffers under my hand, but things get better. Mostly.

Steady Steps in a Tangled Tango - started outlining this and I need to finish, dammit. Basically, post-Enjoy Your Stay stories about Luigi and Daisy, developing relationship and all that jazz. Title might change.

Light Reading for a Dark Evening - need to work on the concluding second chapter of that where OH NO IT ALL WENT WRONG!!

As for things I haven't even started? There's one I want to do with Luigi gaining weird ghost powers, and then there's the Pinky and the Brain works that I've sworn to rework and repost for a couple of years now. I need to get my priorities in order.

What’s your longest work of the year?

Enjoy Your Stay at the Last Resort, with 32,330 words.

What’s your shortest work of the year?

Out in the Rain, with 1,161 words.

What WIP are you taking into next year with you?

Everything in the list above, plus a follow-up chapter for Love's Capacity if I get the time.

What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag?

Hurt/Comfort.

Your favorite character to write this year?

oough that's hard. Movie-verse Luigi is fun because I get to infuse him with the mannerisms of Charlie Day. The Count Bleck crew was fun to bring together, too.

Gonna have to go with Sonic, though. That technically falls under 2025, but like man, sometimes you need a Sonic to pull you out of your own head.

The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year?

Goofy. Yes, that Goofy. On the surface, he shouldn't be that difficult. Once you dive in and break down how he speaks, and how he enunciates his sentences, it becomes a balancing act between writing something that's coherent and true to the character and completely butchering him into a yokel. He's no yokel. He's just fucking Goofy, with facets and flaws and hidden depths.

I do love him, though. Best dad. Like PJ, I'd take him over the Pete I was dealt.

What’s one pairing you want to explore next year?

Luigi and Daisy. I really started something with them and then dropped the ball for gay shit. Not that gay shit was the worst way to go! Just that my brain really, really needs to switch gears for my sanity.

Also, I want to put Brinky back in the rotation. So much for switching gears, I know.

Which work of yours have you reread the most?

I've given everything a fair share of rereads, both to keep the story in line and for my own entertainment.

How many kudos in total did you get this year?

802. Not too shabby, methinks.

Which work has the most comments?

Enjoy Your Stay at the Last Resort.

Did you do any collaborative works this year?

Collaboration is what got me started writing again, so three cheers for that.

Off-Hours was the start of it all, a one-shot paired with an excellent work of art by @snakeeyesdraws for a SPM collection. There was also The Fourth and Final Time with Gidds and the entire tarot reading from Light Reading for a Dark Evening by @jayyydez.

Did you write any gifts this year?

Quite a few! Most of these were because I saw something neat and latched on and made tributes to it, like:

Aftereffects for [where the heck did you go wahooitsamee]'s half-Koopa Mario AU,

S(t)ealing the Show for @loud-kid2's Folklore AU,

Out in the Rain for @lu1g199's Plant Luigi AU, and

A Zany, Goofy Christmas for @wheres_waddle19 (Animaniacs Secret Santa).

Did you receive any gifts this year?

I received a really nice fic from @magical-octopus for the Animaniacs Secret Santa: A Wintery Zoo Night.

Other than that, nah. I mostly give.

What’s your most common category?

Gen.

What do you listen to while writing?

Most of the time, background YouTube video essays. Most of the music I listen to for inspiration happens before and after I sit down to write.

That being said, that really depends on what story I'm writing, though some bands stay in my rotation no matter what (like TDCC and Saint Motel).

Favorite work you wrote this year?

Could've sworn I answered this one already. You want something out of left field? Something truly written for the guilty pleasure of doing it?

Literally Lovestruck and Love's Capacity. Shameless smut promotions. There.

Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

You are once again asking me to pick my favorite child. Some of these stories were multi-chapter, people. How the heck am I supposed to pick just one?

You get a collection of passages from the Mario fics, and that's final.

From Off-Hours:

“Get out.” Mr. L was fuming—a hilarious expression for such a silly-looking sap, Dimentio thought. “Out of where? Town? Dodge? Your field of vision?” “Get out of MY WORKSHOP!” Predictably, Mr. L chucked his wrench at Dimentio’s head. Unpredictably, this throw had impeccable aim.

From Enjoy Your Stay:

“Assimilation was inevitable, and all I did was hasten it.” E. Gadd stood up, kicking at some microscopic mote on the concrete. “The fact that Luigi would tap into the goo’s innate knowledge to save Daisy’s life was also a factor I hadn’t accounted for.” “Really?” Kamek cocked his head, trying not to roll his eyes. “You didn’t count on one of the Mario Brothers saving a Princess?”

From Tarragon, Tails, and Koopa Scales:

It was the sort of attack that required another level of ruthlessness, bordering on the feral urge to destroy. How ironic, then, for this to have been done by a hero’s hand.

From Literally Lovestruck:

“Mm?” He had to admit that this was a first, especially in the position they now found himself in. There was so much she could do with him held down the way he was, and yet she took the opportunity to close in with kisses. What else was there for him to do except reciprocate, perhaps even try a move of his own?

From Another Point of View:

“Insufferable little cretin,” he muttered the moment they were out of earshot. “If he weren't already dead, I'd kill him.” “I know you would,” Luigi said softly, running a single scaly finger over the tousle of dark curls that were normally his. “But we need to stay calm and get through this, okay?”

From The Fourth and Final Time:

Peach put her hands together. “As much as I would love to go on about him, I feel now would be a good time to let another speak.” Bowser raised his hand.  “You don’t have to raise your hand, Bowser,” Peach said. “Just say what comes to mind.” “Um, okay.” The great dragon turtle shifted from foot to foot. “When I first met Luigi, I was trying to kick his ass.”

From Worth a Shot:

He shouldn’t have tried to punch a ghost. Luigi had told him time and time again that physical prowess meant squat against the dead, but when push came to shove, well… Bowser shoved back as hard as he could.

From Light Reading for a Dark Evening:

Without a word, Amy drew another card.  “Trust me, you’ll want more context for this,” Amy said, flipping the card between her fingers. “Mostly to see why this didn’t work out.” “I kinda already know—” “Five of Lightning,” Amy interjected.  Bowser drew in a breath. “What’s that mean?” “It means you have a habit of getting into situations you really shouldn’t be in.” Amy twirled the card between her fingers. “A selfish, one-sided pursuit of a certain Princess, perhaps? Or the pain and defeat that your thwarted schemes brought you? I’m thinking all of the above.”

And finally, from S(t)ealing the Show:

Any number of things could happen at midnight. Marilyn Moretti hadn't counted on seals.

Biggest surprise while writing this year?

How many friends my efforts have gotten me, as well as how much more open I became as a writer. I really wasn't expecting much, and look where I am now: with way too many stories under my belt in areas I hadn't expected to write in. Thanks, y'all.

[serenescribe]

author ask game!!

tagged by @allthecastlesonclouds, my beloved! thank you! :D sorry it took me so, so long to get to this oTL

total number of ao3 works: 41 (serenescribe) | 47 (ardentarchivist) — as of 30 april 2025!

total ao3 word count: 665,831

fandoms i've written for: blaseball, cookie run, danganronpa, dimension 20 (mainly fantasy high), eastward, fire emblem: engage, fire emblem: three houses, inside job, night in the woods, persona 5, twisted wonderland, wayward children

top 5 fics by kudos:

Tower of Withering Hearts [Fire Emblem: Three Houses]

A Beginner's Guide To Breaking Your (Apparently Requited) Crush Out Of A Time Loop [Danganronpa]

glaciers melting in the dead of night [Dimension 20]

two for nero [Twisted Wonderland]

i miss the thought of what we were [Inside Job]

(okay that's really pleasing haha i like that all five fics are a diff fandom!)

do i respond to comments? yes! yes! yes! i try my absolute best to! i LOVE comments, i LOVE yapping, and i just LOVE talking to people!!! i think i sometimes don't reply to comments that are just emojis, though; but i do my best to reply to those still.

what has my most angst-ridden ending? pénthos. it's not even close. that's my most angst and grief-riddled fic, with an ending that can stir even me to be wet-eyed.

what has my happiest ending? this is so hard and it's mainly because i keep doing open endings, or having endings that don't really- feel happy enough? but i think the build up and payoff for don't wanna talk, baby (i just wanna dance!) culminates in a pretty happy ending, even if it takes a while to get there!

have i received hate? not that i know of!

do i write smut? and what kind? i have zero confidence in writing and posting smut ;;

do i write crossovers? if we're talking a proper fandom-with-fandom interacting crossover, nope!

have i ever gotten a fic stolen? not that i know of! (again)

have i ever had a fic translated? yeah! i know people have asked me for permission, though idk if they've ever posted them (possible that it could've been posted, but i just didn't know), but one person actually translated garden in the ceiling into spanish, which was posted to wattpad here! (very cool, and thank you again! :D)

have i ever co-written a fic? despite talking about it with people, i actually haven't! oTL but i have collabed with artists before — specifically ohsleepie for the prince and his physician au o7

a wip i'll never finish? oh, a couple. my interest in twst dwindled enough that idk if i'll ever finish my starchild wip, esp since it wasn't really my au to begin with. i have an entire crk espresseleine fic in my vault that i finished and never posted because i burnt out so bad in the process of writing it, which is kinda wild. i wrote a very niche au for fh with the bad kids crossing into a fantasy secondary world before returning to their mundane one — but i think i preferred that premise for another fandom, so i scrapped it and don't think i'll ever finish it.

writing strengths: introspection, introspection, INTROSPECTION!!! and what i lovingly like to call the downwards spiral <3

writing weaknesses: i think my descriptions can be kind of lacking, and i tend to write way more words than strictly necessary... i'm also not very good with starting fics; they always tend to be the weakest part of my fics

do i like foreign language dialogue? i have not written these! i do find them fun though, in a "lemme try to translate this!" way

first fandom i wrote for? god. like, all this is nuked off the internet by now. i can't remember if it was warrior cats (oc stuff) or pokepark 2 (oc insert) for quotev. kinda incredibly unhinged. the first fandom i wrote for for ao3 was danganronpa (also nuked off the internet by now, it was just bad writing. i was thirteen.)

favourite fic i've written? oh. this is hard. i think it's also because like- i'm always gonna have some recency bias, yknow? but the obvious answer aside (because i am very proud of glaciers, tyvm), i think i'm actually very, very fond of something borrowed, something blue. i so rarely get to write descriptions that i actually feel proud of, but i got to do it here.

not very sure who to tag. just throwing a few out there, maybe? @nervestatic @kimium @oddberryshortcake and anyone else who might want to do it! (i know i have some new fh mutuals; please feel free to hop in!)

[sakascal]

Infernal Intrigue and Heavenly Escapades - Chapter 8: Consequences

This was written for the Good Omens (Small) Big Bang. (In accordance with Big Bangs rules the whole story is already up on AO3.)

The art for this story was created by the wonderful and talented Garden Variety Demon (you can find them embedded into the story on chapter 2 and 5, or here).

Rating E (for the entire story, the smut is at the end though)

Total Number of Words 67k (this chapter has about 4k)

Summary

It's 2001 and Aziraphale is in Heaven for a dreaded Performance Review. On his way out (finally), he comes across an oddly familiar looking angel...

or:

The jig is up. Someone - a lower-ranked demon - noticed Aziraphale and Crowley working together. And they have evidence. How will our heroes cope?

In this chapter: Aziraphale is back in his bookshop - and Crowley went back down to Hell. He has a demon locked in a box to deal with. And something has changed, shifted between him and Crowley and needs to figure out what to do about it. But when will he return? Will he return? Has anyone figured out what they've been up to after all?

Excerpt:

He busied himself in the bookshop, still mulling over his quandary; he even opened the bookshop in the late morning hours. Anything to keep himself occupied while beliefs began to shift and conclusions formed.

And while he waited for Crowley.

Aziraphale didn’t know when the demon would return. It might be today, tomorrow, next week… Or even longer. Crowley had meant to return quickly, he wouldn’t have told him to wait at the bookshop otherwise. But Hell might have other ideas, and there would be nothing Aziraphale could do about it.

Patience was something he was good at. Usually. Currently, he found it… trying.

In the early afternoon, he closed the shop again. It could be interesting to watch the humans, to interact with them even - as long as they didn’t want to buy any of the books that weren’t meant to be sold - but today… Today, all those small sounds and movements didn’t feel comforting at all, without that raspy voice calling out to tell him some nonsense found in the depths of the World Wide Web. The new scents the humans brought into his space weren’t welcome, replacing as they did the beloved, well cultivated familiar ones of dust and old paper with certain smoky undertones. Even the small disturbances of the air, created by humans moving, doors opening and no beloved friend appearing anywhere, were bothering him.

So he made tea. The caffeine might not be helping his corporation to calm itself down, but the routine and well practised motions brought him some comfort.

Or they did, for a moment. Until the phone rang.

Hoping, wishing for it to be Crowley, his steps were hurried as he went to answer.

“Ah, Aziraphale,” a voice said that decidedly was not Crowley’s. These strict, harsh and efficient tones were a stark contrast to that languid, almost lazy and usually soothing cadence that would wrap itself around him. That he had wanted to hear.

“Archangel Michael,” he answered, barely able to keep the surprise out of his voice. Heaven rarely called, usually they would send missives. Or they would come to him directly if they wanted something. Without warning. “What can I help you with?”

“Something is going on Downstairs.”

Read on AO3

Thank you to the Whickber Street Writers Association for being such a wonderful group of beautifully insane people. And to my wonderful beta readers @angie-words, @playdohangel and @sixshotsinatumbllr for all the help making this better, fixing the pronouns and various grammatical errors and fun reactions and comments! 💜

Kudos, comments and shares are very welcome here (and what we writers live on 😊).

[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 ???

[lilolilyr]

✨ Ao3 Wrapped 2024 ✨

2022 • 2023 • more

Works published: I wrote 54 fics this year - 51 you can see plus some on anon ;)

Wordcount: 142,245

I managed to hit my 100k goal quite early this year! And even without counting my ~20k Avorah draft pile, I'm way past it :D As I'm drafting this in early November, this is my stats sheet (adding how it looks now for comparison, I did have some movement in the last two months):

Kudos: 2489

Hits: 37008

Bookmarks: 385

Subscriptions: 183 to my account, 188 to separate works! Funny how that's almost identical numbers rn! Last year my work subs were much lower... I wish I could compare the account subscriptions of past years but for some reason it just shows the current one no matter where I click.

Most popular by kudos: ohhh all those upcoming stats looked So different a couple months ago, namely before I wrote some shortfics for Star Wars, which wins at all those stats by sheer number of people in the fandom xD and finishing the Mirandy Jigsaw podfic also kicked it back up the stats! I don't really know whether to count it as I didn't start it this year, but I did Finish it in October... Hm. So yeah, prior to that the top5 fics in all of the stats were Avorah fics i think. Wish I took a screenshot of that! Now, the most kudosed with 245 is Star Wars Visions of a Future Past

Most hits: Jigsaw with 4579, followed again by visions with 3236

Longest: Bering&Wells Being Known for @anandabrat 13.906 words

Shortest: apart from the podfics? Berena evening for @squishmittenficfan with 1010 words, followed closely by Avorah Closure for @emeraldorchids with 1017! No drabbles this year?? This feels fake, I remember writing at least a Berena one! Oh lol I still had the 'gift fic' filter because that's the last thing I looked at, doing this all out of order... I do in fact have several Berena drabbles. And a Gunpowder Milkshake ficlet of 333 words and a Star Wars Codywan ficlet at 350. All of them here.

Most Comments: technically Jigsaw but not all of them are from 2024, so Being Known with 22 comment threads

The other fics you can see on my stats screenshots here are

The Avorah fics that used to lead in all categories: All About Risk, Tethered, Mistaken Identity, Totally Straight and of borrowed swimsuits, panic attacks and parties without purpose. Mostly smut here!

battles left behind and won, the second part of my Star Wars time travel fic. The third part with Dooku/Jaster smut didn't do as well, maybe because of the rare pair, maybe just because I forgot to link to it from part 2.

& my Avorah wip pile which I'm not counting for the word count total because it consists of several abandoned drafts

(and yes my cursed HP sioc is winning by subs and bookmarks probably because I never update it)

Comment to show off: I'm bad at remembering things so idk which one was my actual fav but I got a comment last month that really made me smile, it's on an old fic in a fandom I'm not really active in anymore but the characters and that fic idea is still very dear to me and the fic only ever got a handful of comments, so seeing this was lovely <3

I also really love getting comments on my podfics as well, especially from people who've already listened to the whole thing! I don't have one specific one but I remember I got a couple comments on old HP podfics this year, as well as on Jigsaw :)

Fics that made me cry: of my own fic probably Bering&Wells And After All We're Only Ordinary Men. For fics I read, you can check out which fics I bookmarked under that tag! Definitely Star Wars magic blanket by @my-insanity-is-an-artform <3

Fics that made me smile: I think most of my fics make me smile at least a little at some point in writing or re-reading, but probably mostly the fluff&humor fics. For reading, this Star Wars ficlet by @calltomuster is the last I remember not just making me smile but actually laugh out loud! And looking into my bookmarks I also found Codywan Keep on the Sunny Side by @themonopolyhat as well as Sith Lord Swell by @AMournfulHowlInTheNight :D

gifts: I gave 23 gifts this year - two less than last year, I guess I did a couple less gift exchanges but I still gift people fics for other reasons so the number is still similar. I also got gifts, by @lavendelhummel @73chn1c0l0rr3v3l @wickedheadache @die-schwanenkoenigin @wilfriede @prozac-shaped-urn, thank you darlings!

collaborations: I don't think I actually collabed with anyone this year? Some things were in the works but didn't pan out... I did start some fics that others continued though! Particularly in Avorah - the inspo fics are linked at the bottom of this work!

events: back in January I posted my Star Trek Winter Gift Exchange fic, then in February the Bering and Wells gift exchange, at the beginning of the year I wrote some ficlets for the Weekly Berena Fix, then I joined May Trope Mayhem with two Avorah ficlets, was part of the Summer Podfic Swap with several short podfics of my own - I also finally finished my 8 hour long Mirandy podfic Jigsaw, which while not part of the event feels a lot more momentous! Now in December I posted my Hacks gift exchange fic, and I wrote three ficlets for the @berenaadvent!

And you can all thank @viharistenno for this cursed addition:

Reader Wordcount: over 40 million! I counted this every month because last year it was so impossible to go through it all in one go xD but by now I've actually learned about an easier way to count it, namely with this:

random.fangirling.net/scripts/ao3_works_stats

Don't worry you don't have to give anything online your Ao3 login, it just helps you to put it in your own Excel sheets to do the sums with.

Also, it just gives you your history - I did Not count my full history because when I click fics I don't read, I then bookmark them 'to read' or 'didn't read' and then filter them out, obviously if you didn't do that all the time you end up with more than you actually read in your history, but it might still be interesting to see the number! For comparison, my full history of December is over a million words more than the one I'm counting.

Bookmarks: (adding this category because I bookmarked truly exorbitant numbers of fic this year, also partly bc of the wordcount checking thing but also because I add summaries and tags and stuff to bookmarks to find fics again later), I had to scroll to page 64 to reach last years 2023's bookmarks, I literally have almost as many bookmarks from this year as i havs from the ten years before that! 1264 of just over 3k total!

For ease of copying: Works published: Wordcount: Kudos: Hits: Bookmarks: Subscriptions: Most popular by kudos: Most hits: Longest: Shortest: Most Comments: Favorite Comment: Fics that made me cry: Fics that made me smile: gifts: collaborations: events: Wordcount read: bookmarks:

Tagging, only if you want to do it of course, everyone tagged above, @cacodaemonia, @guardianrock @bkwormkate @doctor-milfi @anoel and everyone else who sees this :D just pls make your own post, don't reblog! And remember to leave a blank of the qs for the people you tag :)

Also: I've got 440 unread in my inbox o.O pretty sure last year I was on 200sth? (I don't always reply immediately, bc I want to let ppl know once I update that there's sth new - which in some fandoms never happens lmao - or bc I need to think of a good reply to more interesting comments... But 200 that I haven't dealt with from 1 year is excessive adsfg)

[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!⭐️

[97ways]

This baby is kinda my signature fic on AO3 and I love her a lot. Red Light was the first fic I wrote that found its own little fandom and just hit the 600 kudos (don't judge, I love beautiful numbers).

Can't be on Tumblr without yapping about it, so here she is for everyone who hasn't had a glimpse yet. ❤️ Simon is a dancer in a nightclub (called Red Light - yeah, you guessed it) and stuck in a pretty ugly relationship. Wille finds a new job at that particular club and well ... shit's going down.

Sneak peek end of chapt 1

When Wilhelm had stowed away the dustpan and brush, Simon was back at the bar. He had found a seat at the opposite side of the counter, head lazily propped up onto his hand.

“So, how were your first nights?”, he inquired while picking some leftover peanuts from a snack bowl.

Wilhelm didn’t know what to say. Why was that guy even talking to him? Evidently, he was Red Light supremacy. And as far as Wille understood, engaging too close with him involved some nut cracking from the boss. Deserved, probably, for the dancer WAS a sight to see for sure. And it pained Wille to realize, it was just as hard to look at him as it was not to. That boy had an aura that could kill. At least him.

Kill Will. Just like that.

And for some reason, Simon had decided to engage him in a conversation tonight.

Lucky me!

“Fine”, he croaked with a shrug. “Just a normal bar job.”

Like he had done tons of those in his past years, expert that he was. Like anything was normal about the Red Light. Like he actually wanted to be here, caught between hype and exhaustion, sweating and shaking, about to lose the grip on his good breeding. Simon raised an eyebrow at him. The languid look on his face made very clear, he didn’t believe a single word. With a staring gaze, he crushed a peanut between his jaws. Wilhelm winced and stopped wiping the work top, as it would become see-through if he kept rubbing it like he did. He couldn’t comprehend what Simon’s current obsession with him was, but the boy would clearly not let him off the hook. He let out a defeated sigh and flung the towel over his shoulder.

“Stressful. Loud. And a bit funny. But it’s nice, there’s a lot happening at this place.”

Finally, Simon hummed in approval.

His eyes look tired. No wonder, it ’s three in the morning, and he’s danced his ass off for nearly two hours.

Two hours of sublime bum-shaking, crotch-grabbing and lip-licking to please the customers and swipe more cash into his boyfriend’s pockets.

He’d better buy him something nice for that money, Wilhelm thought grumpily as he started to arrange the clean glasses in a neat row in front of him, shiny and ready for use the next evening.

“How did you actually get this job?”, Simon inquired in a flat tone, chucking another peanut into his mouth. “Did you blow Marc?”

Pardon me – what kind of bad joke is this?

Wilhelm looked up in surprise.

It WAS a joke, right?

RIGHT?

Another stare from Simon’s pupils pierced through him, framed by a stern face, as Wille opened his mouth to answer but then closed it again. There was no smile on Simon’s features. It took Wilhelm another second until he finally got a word out.

“What? No! I applied. Like, in a … normal way.”

“So, no cock-sucking?”, Simon mumbled, more to himself. “That’s weird. He must be really desperate. You’re not exactly his type, that’s why I wondered.”

“What do you mean?”

Wille didn’t understand shit.

“There were times, when guys were queuing to get a job here at the Red Light. They would literally do anything to get in. But Corona fucked everything up and by now it’s really hard to find staff. Obviously”, Simon added, darting Wilhelm with another raised eyebrow – did he ever put them down – above a dismissive half-smirk.

Wilhelm turned away, eyes wide at this reveal. Had this also been the way, Simon had come in and worked his way up on Marcus’ lap? Surely the Red Light was a good reference on a dancer’s CV. Nausea struck Wille by the thought of it and the sour taste returned to his tongue. Simon slid from the stool in a smooth move and grabbed his bag.

“Well then, I’m off for tonight. See you!”

“See you”, Wilhelm whispered, but Simon was already out of reach.

...

Whole fic safely stored away on AO3

16 chaps, 73k words

[artisticxlly]

Fanfic Writer Review!

Ty for the tag @vvalllerie !! This was a fun excuse to talk about my fics :>

How many works do you have on Ao3?

6! I have 3 orphaned ones, if I remember correctly. Those were from a different fandom though! They were back in 2021 I'd say? But I've been writing for longer, I was on Wattpad back in the day when I was really young.

Considering that it's been... 73 days since I posted my first work I'd say I'm doing pretty okay! I do plan to post more stories next year too.

Your top 5 stories by Kudos:

1. "everything stays (though some things change)"

Yeahh, I get it! Veeery short and sweet Ushiten. Honestly, the amount of kudos does possibly have something to do with the exposure that one got (King if you see this, thank you ^^).

I do love me some reunion fluff! Honestly like with most of my wips, this just stayed in my drafts because of how short it is. I feel like I need to have something close to 10k to make it worth reading (which is objectively false, there are people who love short fics, obviously).

Anyway, I really like the dynamic in this one! Not much else to add, really.

2. "Kuroo Tetsurou's guide to rekindling feelings"

My first fic! I'm surprised it's this high up, considering it's a rare-r ship than the rest of what I posted thus far.

Though I do really like this one still! I like their dynamic and the small stings of angst still hold up well I'd say, I reread it the other day actually and was still very pleased with the dialogue and general writing.

It isn't really a super unique concept, it's still enjoyable based off vibes. I was DEEP into my Kurodai phase when I wrote this and needed something to satiate my specific needs for it lol.

3. "Scrapbooking"

Osasuna fluff! I'm happy people like it! As far as 'taking up space in my brain' goes, this did bleed heavily into the art I made at the time lol, there's a reason half of my Osasuna drawings are scenes that I also featured in the fic.

This one had a veeery peculiar writing process. It's a bad habit, but I basically wrote singular scenes and then more or less connected them, which fits the title too, ig! It's kind of bad for the pacing, I'd say, though.

I like their dynamic in this! And I'd say the scenes are pretty memorable. Also it's just really cute. I'm not toooo fond of the ending?

4. "Love was the law"

STILL LOVE THIS CONCEPT. Adore it. I remember ranting to some of my dear moots on discord while I was fleshing it out and I was so excited to write it! I don't think a lot of people have read the second chapter yet, but that's okay!

WHICH ALSO, this one made it into a fic recommendation??? Another Arankita enthusiast and writer made a post recommending it on Bluesky and I cannot describe how happy I was to hear that! I'm still thrilled about it!!

5. "Tension-filled reunion"

Okay, listen. I don't hate it! This one sat in my drafts for a while before posting it. The only reason I'm 'eh' about it is because it's very smut heavy. Which is fine! I'm just worried that sometimes people will judge me because I include smut a lot in fics (even though they're technically all skippable).

Daisuga is very cute, nonetheless. And the smut is good, again I don't hate it! Just not my fave, I'm not mad at all for this being low on the list ("Perseverance" has been out for like,, a day so it makes sense that that one takes spot number 6).

Do you respond to comments? Why or Why not?

I do if I feel like I can add something! I am not sure how to respond to comments that are just cheering but I do appreciate them!

Otherwise I love reading and responding to comments! I always appreciate it when people take the time to do so and I reread them all the time ^^' It's especially cool when they have a specific moment they really liked!

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

"Perseverance"? I guess it's angsty, very open-ended. I don't think I'll write a continuation, but it was refreshing to write hurt/comfort and not just pure fluff for once! I don't really like angsty endings, reading and writing them. Writing is veeeery indulgent and also escapism-induced for me so I like when things work out for the characters ^^ I can handle angst if it ends with comfort!

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

I guess they're tied since they all end happily? From a 'feels the most fullfilling for the characters' standpoints it's definitely "Love was the law", though. I mean they can't get much more content!

Do you write crossovers?

No, but the concept is kind of interesting? I don't think I'd ever write one, but mentally doing cross-overs as a form of character analysis is very fun for me and helps kind of solidify how I want the characters to act.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not really? On one of my old fanfics I did receive criticism for the grammar/mistypes, but eh. It's not my first language and I am writing for free so it didn't really sting.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do! I don't really have a set topic? Usually it is very feelings intense, I'd say. Vanilla is the wrong word, especially if you look at the Daisuga fic lmao

But poetic kind of fits the bill?? Idk I like it being more about what the characters see, think and say than what they are actually doing. More fun to write for me!

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nooot that I'm aware of! I don't think they're popular enough/it wouldn't really be worth stealing them, assuming they're doing it for traction.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but that'd be fun! If it was to German I could even help translate it! Though I'm not sure how big the German Haikyuu fandom is at the moment.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have, but more for shits and giggles and like... Years back.

I do really like exchanging my ideas with mutuals!! It's fun to hear their thoughts on it and it frequently boosts my motivation to write!

What's your all-time favourite ship?

God, I couldn't pick if you put a gun to my head. Multishipper and Rarepair-enthusiast here, I usually have about 5 actively circling around in my empty void of a head and love them all super intensely. This goes for pretty much all fandoms I was/am in!

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

There's a Daisuga fic that I reaaaally like the concept of but I'm not into Daisuga atm and that's put a real hard stop on the writing for that one. The theme is about marriage and Suga's anxiety around it and aghhh I don't want to spoil it in case I ever do finish it.

Other than that? I have a ton of smaller fics, they all take up around 10 pages in my notes app so they're really short and I like the concepts but jesus finishing them? Uhhh

There's also a Bokuaka fic I'm trying really hard to finish! I'm very sorry Cece akdjs

What are your writing strengths?

Uhh I guess dialogue? It's one of my favourites to write so I would assume it's one of the things that sell well with my writing. Other than that I think people do enjoy my takes on the characters/how I portray the dynamics which means a great deal!! I put a lot of thought into those things

What are your writing weaknesses?

Pacing is a biiiggg thing, I'd say. If I lose steam I can rush scenes and there are scenes I will flesh out fully and for others I truly don't know where to go. I'm afraid that sometimes I writing can feel choppy too, it's a little difficult for me to write in one continuous flow.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think it's difficult to protray it if I don't speak the other language, so usually I write it all in standard English and make note in the 'action' portion after the spoken words that it was said in a different language.

If I spoke the foreign language I think I'd write the words in that language! I think it adds a little mystery for the readers, even if I fear it could also get a bit annoying to translate for some (I think I'd make an author's note with the translations). I do really like multilingual hcs for characters!!

If there was a way I could add someone speaking German with it making sense I would. German can be really cute!

What's a fandom/ship you havent written for but want to?

I have soooooo much written for Danganronpa. A fanartist I follow (@/Hajihiko) infected me with the brainrot for it (for both writing and art) and I have a shitton of notes, but I don't think I'll ever post it. So do I necessarily waaaant to write for it? Ehh. Though I'm happy Danganronpa got me to be active on tumblr again, on a real note.

Ships I'd love to write for are: Hiruhoshi (that ship has been on my mind ALL DAY), Kagehina, Kuroken. (I have thoughts for them but not really something that could qualify as a fic?)

What's your favourite fic you've written?

"Love was the law". I'm still very proud of the concept and ughh, I like the ideas I put in there a lot. From Aran's family, to his childhood, to Kita's family dynamic... Yeah. I'm really glad I finished it while my Arankita phase was still in it's full force!

If you haven't read it... Here!

Tags: @youwerethedefeated @goatunderthebridge @sophistired18

No pressure to you guys!!! None at all /gen

[theyearningghoul]

20 Questions for Fanfic Writers

Tagged by @thequeenofthewinter omg thank you friend 🥰❤️

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

Technically: 2 Actually?: 1 😌 lmao I have two works posted, but the second one is just the smut chapter for the first one posted as a one-shot LOL

2) What's your total AO3 word count?

It's technically 70,744, but 10,187 words of those words are duplicates 😅 So 60,557 words!

3) What are your top five fics by kudos?

Immortally Yours (290) A Most Corporeal Union (69) (nice 😏)

4) What fandoms do you write for?

The only fics I have published is the one for Veilguard because I was so enamored by our Bone Daddy Emmrich that I just had to publish how I felt about him 😮‍💨

But I have a ton of fics saved on google docs that I will probably polish up and publish, because the reception has been amazing 😭💕

I'm most excited about a Pre-War Nick Valentine/F!Sole Survivor fic that I've written around 50k words for.

But I also have some Solas/F!Lavellan written out, and some Charon/F!Lone Wanderer

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

Yes!!! Always!!!! I love everyone so much, they're so nice!!! And they make me so emotional!!!!! 😭❤️

Sometimes if people comment multiple times/on multiple chapters I don't want to annoy them with the constant emails/notifs so I don't respond to every single one but?? Now that I'm writing that out, it seems silly??? I will respond to every single one now 😤💕

6) What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I have written no endings yet 😌 LOL

I'm not usually one for angsty endings. Tho I have an Emmrich one in the works that could be kind of sad.... 🥲

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

All my fics have happy endings in the works because I am weak woman who generally writes fics where nothing bad happens lmaooo

8) Do you get hate on fics?

I have not yet, but my career is young, I have ample time to make enemies 😏

9) Do you write smut?

I have dipped my toes in; they are wet now, and I like it 😈

10) Do you write crossovers?

I have not, but I used to RP with friends on Gaia Online where we would mash all of our blorbos together in Situations. Please don't ask me who those blorbos were at the time, I'm so embarrassed LOL okay it was the fucking beatles fml

Does that count 😌 (also yeah I'm old I used to go on gaia online. I used to go on IMVU too, where's my senior discount)

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Highly unlikely, flattered if so 💅

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Also highly unlikely lol

13) Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

See: RPs on Gaia Online LOL Me and my best friend used to RP both Heavy Rain and Quantum Leap over email too. -sigh- good times.

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

Oh man. I had to sit and think about this for MINUTES. I weighed the pros and cons, crunched the numbers, but I have to say:

Nick Valentine/F!Sole Survivor. Nick Valentine is just my favorite character ever 😭💕 I'm weak for that sarcastic clockwork dick.

Solas/Lavellan came SO close tho!! Their relationship is like a greek tragedy, I love them so much

15) What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have some very old Butch DeLoria/F!Lone Wanderer fics that I doubt I will ever brush off lol. Also my Charon/F!Lone Wanderer fic is LOOONNGGG I wrote it like a long, branching romance novel, and tbh idk if I'll ever finish, let alone publish it 😅

16) What are your writing strengths?

Mmmmm I dunno 😀 I really Looooveee writing dialogue, so maybe that? I try really hard to get character's voices down while writing.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm HORRID about world building and scenery/describing a scene lol

I only ever wanna write emotions and dialogue 😌🫶

18) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

Oh I would be so scared that I would get it wrong lol. Smarter people than me should do it tho 😌

19) First fandom you wrote for?

Fallout, specifically Fallout 3, my beloved 😍

20) Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

I'm REALLY stoked about the Nick Valentine fic I got goin on. I have plans for it being a two-parter, part one Pre-War and part two Post-War. It's definitely next on the roster for posting. It has a fun trope/gimmick that I shan't spoil yet 🤫

But I really, truly love my Emmrich fic that I have posted as well 🥰

Omg this was fun!! I'm so happy for all of the friends I've made because of this stupid little old man fanfic that I wrote as an indulgence 😭🫶 ily all ❤️

Tags: oh man idk who hasn't done this 🥲 I always feel like I'm annoying ppl when I tag them, so genuinely if you wanna do this, do it!!! Slip me a dm and I'll even tag you on here and delete this line, nobody will have to know 😏💋💋💋

[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.