#sometimes I can't believe that people like my older fics and writing

[wangxianficrecs]

Rewind 2024 - A few more recs...

WangxianFicRecs - Rewind 2024

Before the year ends, here are a few more recs of stories of 2024 that found their way into our inbox! I wish you all a Happy New Year and hope, that we can discover lots of fun fanfics next year as well! - Kay

Follower Recs

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Think I've missed the 2024 Rewind follower recs but I've been absolutely loving this story!

WIP Modern Cultivators AU where WWX and LWJ have just agreed to a betrothal contract - for supposedly purely political reasons but in actuality because they fell hard and fast for each other during the prior fic in the series. POV switches between the two of them as they face up to (and increasingly embrace) the concept of being cared for and loved for being exactly who they are. Beautiful writing and brilliant characterisation, every update feels like a treat ☺️ @slothwithwifi

🔒 I'm Much Older Than I Thought I'd Be

by MajorEnglishEsquire (@chuckwinchester)

E, WIP, 81k, Wangxian

Summary: “Now. Before we break for the evening, as the topic has arisen between Lan Xichen and myself, directly, in accordance with an inquiry from the Lans,” Uncle passes him the copy of a draft agreement. “I wonder if you recall your lessons on the cross-clan arrangement of cultivation partnerships.” Picks up after The Further I Go, The Less I Know.

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Hello! I want to submit this fic for Rewind because I love cherry magic AU and lwj pov is so rare. It’s very funny to listen to wwx pining in his head and lwj panicking over it. - Anon

My Heart is Yours to Fill or Burst

by anancites (@ananc1tes)

E, 67k, Wangxian

Summary: On his 30th birthday, Lan Zhan gets struck by a mysterious curse: suddenly he's a mind reader! As much as he dislikes most people talking too much, hearing their unfiltered thoughts is even worse. To top it all off, he learns that his old friend Wei Ying might not be flirting with him just to be a nuisance. He might be flirting with Lan Zhan because he's actually really into him? (a WangXian AU very loosely inspired by Cherry Magic)

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Delightfully hilarious. I read it over a month ago and still laugh sometimes when I think about wwx in this. @alyseofwonderland

Living Art

by relenafanel (@relenafanel)

E, 8k, Wangxian

Summary: Broke artist Wei Wuxian takes a hard look at his finances and shrugs his way into becoming a content creator on OnlyFans. Jiang Cheng sighed. “These columns are negotiable. If you want to keep this subscription, you have to replace something to break even.” Wei Wuxian stared at the spreadsheet. He hummed in thought. “I need to break even.” “Yes.” “In order to keep my OnlyFans subscription I need $65 a month. On OnlyFans.” “No,” Jiang Cheng said quickly. “If I become a content creator and earn $65 a month--” “I am begging you--” “Then I can keep the subscription. Thanks A-Cheng!” The account in question? Hanguang Jun's Reading Livestreams.

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🔒 Only with Time

by adrian_kres (@Bichen-Suibian)

E, WIP, 66k, Wangxian

Summary: Thirteen years ago, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were arranged to be married as is tradition. Throughout their thirteen-year-long "courtship," things were not always as they seemed. Now, newly married, old secrets have ripped open wounds they thought were closed, and they must work together to rebuild a trust they never had and a love they always did but couldn't see. Told from alternating points of view between LWJ and WWX with frequent flashbacks to memories of their "courtship". Updates weekly.

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Proud Author Spotlight

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I can't believe I almost forgot to shout-out my own fic that I started this year! It's a modern AU with cultivation where Wei Wuxian loses his hand, gets taken in my Wen Qing and her family, starts a prosthetic start-up and schemes to take down Wen Ruohan from the shadows feat. Wen Yuan having a big sister, Wen Zhuliu redemption and all the Found Family vibes!

Black Sun

by thelastdboy (@thelastdboyy)

E, WIP, 51k, Wangxian

Summary: Within one afternoon, the Yunmeng Jiang Clan became a mere branch of the Wen Clan. They lost their estate, all of their assets, and Wei Wuxian – He lost an arm. All to appease Wen Ruohan. To the Jiangs, the name Wen became a curse to be hissed out between gritted teeth. To Wei Wuxian, the name Wen became something dear after Wen Ning and Wen Qing saved his life and took him in. Years later, Wen Ruohan and his sons have long since died under mysterious circumstances and Wei Wuxian has been branded a traitor to the high society of the cultivation world. Together with the remaining Wens, he turned to the civilian world and revolutionized the medical field by developing prosthetics controlled by spiritual energy. Enter: Lan Wangji. After their fight against the Tulu Xuanwu, his leg never really recovered. Years of countless surgeries and feeling as if he was living inside a gilded cage while being patronized by his family passed, until Lan Wangji finally took his chance and absconded. To Yiling.

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(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for these hard-working authors if you like – or think others might like – these stories.)

[letteredlettered]

Hello!! Firstly, I'd just like to say I've recently discovered your drarry work, and I have been reading your entire catalogue of it for the last week. Pulled all nighters can't stop reading it, reading it. I devoured The Boy Who Lived Twice in one sitting and I couldn't believe how well crafted it was. Blew my mind.

Now, all of this is to say, your prose has this elegant straightforwardness that is so succinct, so clear and so evocative. Your dialogue is absolute *perfection*. What are your influences? Books or authors you feel made an impression on you? I'd love to know what you read, because god I love what you write.

Thank you! I'm so glad you like my fics.

Jane Austen is a huge influence. Whenever my prose feels indistinct and overburdened, I return to her. She says things extremely sharply and cleanly.

Sarah Rees Brennan was a huge influence on me in terms of POV. I tend to write a very tight third person, so tight that the reader can generally see things the viewpoint character cannot. Check out the first book of The Demon's Lexicon series for one of the best examples of this I've read.

I spent a lot of time with Robin McKinley as a kid. I don't think that our styles match very well; she can do an ethereal, fairytale tone that I've kind of given up on. But what I loved best about her was that she could do that tone but then write something incredibly down to earth. I would check out Beauty or Deerskin for my favorite examples of this.

I actually also came into the style I write now writing for Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS) fandom. While most of the stories I wrote in that fandom didn't have very sharp dialogue, I remember writing a story (a WIP still languishing on livejournal, sadly) where I realized I had "found" my voice and style. It was extremely dialogue-heavy. BtVS was famous at the time for its extremely fast-paced, idiosyncratic, snappy dialogue. The dialogue is now considered dated, and the creator is a douche, but imo it's still great writing, especially the early shows. I still go back to it sometimes to figure out a conversation with multiple people, or to work on my humor.

As for authors that have made an impression on me, I'd check out George Eliot. My favorite book is Daniel Deronda. It has wonderful dialogue, especially for an older book. Dickens, Dostoevsky, and Hugo all made pretty big impressions on me as well; I think these big, hefty books with really big ideas really influenced my language, even though I would by no means call my style 19th c.

I'd also check out Rainbow Rowell. I wouldn't say she influenced the style I write with now, because I had it before I read anything by her, but she's one of the few contemporary authors I read and think, "Yeah, I'd write it like that." I think anything by her is a great read that can give you a lot to think about in terms of style.

In my mind, Sally Rooney is a little like Rowell in terms of a cleans style that packs a sharp analysis. I'd call Rowell more comfortable, funny, and genuine, while Rooney is a bit aloof and literary. I actually don't like the stories in her books very much, but I found Conversations with Friends particularly refreshing in terms of writing style.

C.S. Pacat's Captive Prince series also left an impression on me. It has a clean, simple style, with a narrator who doesn't see everything the reader does. And I also did learn a lot from the use of the word "said," in those books--it was something I already knew! and yet.

I think some fanfic that made a big impression on me is The Paradox Series, by wordstrings (Sherlock/John, Sherlock BBC), Spice, by eimeo (Kirk/Spock, Star Trek TOS), Children, Wake Up by hollycomb (Kylo Ren/Hux, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Tarnished Gold, by prim_the_amazing (Shen Yuan/Luo Binghe, Scum Villain's Self-Saving System). The styles in these fics vary, but each bowled me over at different points with how beautifully something was articulated or how spectacularly a scene was crafted. I think about Spice all the time in particular.

I'd also say that if you're thinking about dialogue in particular, I also love both Oscar Wilde's and Tom Stoppard's plays.

If you are a writer, I did write a series on writing dialogue. Check out the tag "lettered writes dialogue". The first post is here.

[metaphoricgibberish]

Nights Like This One: XXIV.

"For the first time since she made it to Jackson, Joel looked like Joel, older now, more wrinkles around his eyes, that deep set between his brows, gray threaded through his curls. But he looked like Joel, her Joel. And she would have cried, if she had any tears left, if she wasn't still terrified that this— that he— could disappear before her in the blink of an eye."

paring: joel miller x ofc rating: 18+ mdni word count: 4.3k a.n. what a wild ride. i can't believe this fic is almost over. i first drafted the outline on christmas eve in 2023. i had covid and i was miserable, sitting with a mask on in my parent's living room. a couple weeks prior, the laundry room at my own house had flooded, and i remembered wishing, in my sick stupor, that joel miller could come fix my fucking drain for me. so, sitting on my mother's couch (not so unlike lily sitting on her mother's ratty armchair) i dreamt up a fic where joel miller was hired to renovate a woman's home. i'd been reading pablo neruda earlier in the day (not unusual, he truly is a poetic genius) and these two lines from Tonight I Can Write kept rattling around in my head: "Through nights like this one I held her in my arms. I kissed her again and again under the endless sky. // Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms, my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her." and I thought about how beautiful it would be to incorporate those lines, to have them be the cornerstones to the two parts of this story. I've been living with these characters screaming in my head for almost an entire year. I love them and this story so dearly. I know fanfiction gets a terrible reputation, i know that people who don't read it (even some that do) don't truly understand what an art it can be. and sometimes i get sad, or angry with myself for focusing so much of my time (and my $120k creative writing degree) on writing things i can never publish. but i really do love doing this. it brings me so much joy and it makes me happier than i can express when it makes you all feel something too. my dream, since i was ten years old, was to write something that other people loved, that made them happy, made them sad, made them feel something. and i always thought that would be a book, hoped it would be, and maybe that's still in the cards someday, but for now, i'll take this. thank you so very much for reading. there are two chapters left after this (maybe three if i decided to break the next one in two). my sole focus after this will be the human condition, then i have two more fics in very early stages that i'm excited to get out (eventually). happy (actually happy this time) reading <3

Read on AO3

Fic playlist on Spotify

[personasintro]

Hi, its me the yapper!! Once again!! 👋👋

I just wanted to clarify something that both you and other commenters seem to have gotten wrong; Whatever I said was incase of the scenario that you’re not feeling the story like you used to, so writing it has taken longer bcs you do not enjoy it as much but you still want to appease the reader. Hence the unwanted suggestions I made.

In my point of view, it seemed that way so I thought it was inevitable that you one day drop the fic because yes we’re getting older and busier and we drift away from things we loved. Thats why I said “is it really that serious?” because you obviously seem willing to keep writing but the wait has gotten so long that it looks like you’re doing it out of obligation(?!).

Looks like I misjudged and I apologise if thats not the case. But it came out of genuine curiosity because I just cant comprehend such long wait. Thats a me problem ig🤷‍♀️

So what I got out of your response is that yes we might/will see the end of mh in like 1-2 years? (more or less)I get that I sound bitter but I promise I am NOT lmao its pure curiosity I promise!!!

Ps to people who said that that was uncalled for or that its serious to me otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered; As I said I am an avid reader of mh so after a reread I thought I could share my thoughts? Like its genuinely not that serious even to me, I didn’t think twice before sending the ask I did it just because the thought crossed my mind. And l believe the whole waiting thing is a fact, so people’s opinions on it are very much called for?

Is it any of our business how long mimi takes to write? No🙂‍↔️. Are we as readers entitled to an opinion as long as we’re respectful? I’d like to think yes🙂‍↕️

Anywayss have a good one yall

i understood what you meant in your previous ask. and i still stand by what i said many times before – i do not hold here anyone against their will and if anyone feels like they're getting older and lose an interest in any of my stories, that's okay and it's their decision to make. i can't be responsible for everyone's feelings of how they feel about this exact situation. that's beyond my control and you're all free to feel however you want. i do wish people would be more understanding and respectful and that's why i said that no one knows what someone goes through. just because i'm no longer totally open about what's going on in my life, doesn't mean i don't care about my stories.

i'm not writing out of obligation. sure, i do feel a certain responsibility to make mh my priority even more than ever, but it's not an obligation. and i wouldn't just drop the story. i said this too, i'll finish this story whether it's for myself or for everyone else as well.

i said this many times before too – i'm in a position where i write whenever i can and want. i do not have any schedule, actually i never had one – but readers were used to more frequent updates and now, of course it's harder to get used to less frequent updates. but that's just life. i apologized when i never had to. my plans was always to finish mh asap (still is) but sometimes things don't go as planned and there are things i don't even have control of.

i respect your opinion and i'm merely explaining myself on this, hope it can be taken with respect and understanding as well!

have a good day everyone ☀️

[redhead-batgal]

I hope you do oh miss believer part 3 sometime soon! It’s ok if you’re not feeling that story anymore tho <3

Type: Fic

Part One: Here, Part Two: Here

Pairing: Fem! Vigilante! And Meta! Reader x Damian Wayne/ Robin

Content: Violence, language, flash backs, depressive thoughts, angst, and aged up Damian/reader to 16/17 yrs old

Word Count: 2,573

(P.S: Soooo I can try to write a reaction of the bat fam to the end of part one, or I can write the next part of this one next time. Let me know what y'all want in the comments please! also get ready for some fun angsty angsty times)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are many things in this world that seem unnatural. Paradoxes or impossibilities. People tend to fear the unnatural, to ostracize it and even harm it. Regardless of whether or not said impossible and unnatural thing is living- regardless of if it's human.

To humanity, unnatural things were to be feared and destroyed. They were threats, in a way, to the "peaceful" society that had been created through blood shed and inequality. A society that has classes and impoverished people, that kept growing and growing; saw things they deemed unnatural, not worthy of life. Why is that? Why does such a society fear so greatly the unnatural, the unknown and impossible?

It seemed to you that they feared the unnatural because of the power mystery gave it. Because what they do not know, they cannot control. And if they can't control something, it cannot be a part of society. Which unfortunately meant you were left on your own; fighting to survive against an environment that deemed you a danger. Even more unfortunately, for society at least, you had bad habit of becoming everything everyone feared you'd be.

An unnatural danger, set on destroy the society that cast it out.

How very, very natural, right?

You could still remember the very first time someone deemed you unnatural- unworthy of comfort in this shitty shitty world.

You must have been no older then six, out scrounging on the streets for pity coin you could use to help your parents out. A rattied hat made from old newspaper by your side as you made your misty and small illusions appear. Desperate for anyone to take an interest. Unsurprisingly, the person who did was anything but kind and far from merciful.

The small boy had shouted at you, laughed, sneered and beaten you to a bloodied pulp. Stealing all of the meager change you had managed to earn as he called you a witch over his shoulder bolting away.

While this was your first actual encounter with such people, you were not surprised. Your mother had warned you of such people.

"Vicious monsters," She had said beginning to explain why you had to be careful in the world, "they like to prey upon those they deem weaker, those who they think are unnatural and strange."

She shook her head as she continued to knit, though somewhat sloppily, "They don't like people who they can't control, they don't like that you're different."

You looked up at her with wide eyes as you tilted your head and she paused. She let out a soft sigh before setting down her knitting and pulling you into her arms.

"My sweet little miss believer, this world is going to be cruel to you simply because you exist. There's nothing your father or I can do to stop it other then pulling you in close like this and letting you know they are wrong."

She rested your head against her chest as she began to rock slightly squeezing you in her arms as she softly began to hum.

"They are wrong because you are a darling gem. A wise and wonderful girl who should not let the world push you down."

Cupping your face in her hands she smiled, tears lining her eyes, "You are my little miss believer, you know many things and have such faith. Do not allow these people to cause you to lose that faith. Faith in your father and I, faith in humanity, faith in your own skills or just merely faith in yourself."

Her words rang far too deep into the truth. Scars, both physical and emotions covered your body the older you got. But you still had your mother and father there, to nurse your spirit back to its brightness... until you didn't anymore.

The night was dark and growing colder and colder by the minute. Your father had disappeared merely a week before and you did not plan on letting him stay gone without answers.

Lurking around the usual street corners you heard the crackling of thunder and through the dense musty smell of Gotham's streets, you could smell rain. Sweet and clear, dancing in the clouds yearning to be released. Pulling your jacket in closer, you slipped down an alleyway, hoping to find answers and remain unseen. After all you had a reputation for causing trouble amongst the rouges and criminals, and tonight was the last night you needed trouble to catch you once again.

Though you had not heard of any rogues causing any chaos, you knew better then to trust the night would remain silent. It's current silence sent shivers down your spine. Silence was a deadly tool, used to confused and trick the naive into false senses of security. It was a tool you yourself had used and yet- something about tonight's silence made you on edge.

Looking around you almost sensed danger as the hairs on your arms stood on edge. Your heart racing as the silence screamed into your mind. Just as you had settled with yourself to finally venture home, a hand clamped down on your shoulder.

A shriek of sorts almost escaped you and you turned to find your fuming mother.

"Y/n! I thought I told you to be home before eleven?"

Though startled you merely blinked, allowing your mother to drag you back down the alleyway, towards the way home. Your heart hammered in your chest. Regardless of all your broken promises to come home on time, your mother had never- ever come out looking for you.

"Mom," You said, finally finding your voice, "what are you doing out here?!"

Your mother froze tilting her head a scowl of sorts on her face with dropped almost instantly. She let go of your hand and slowed to a stop, looking you over she sighed, taking a moment to tuck your hair behind your ear.

"I was worried, I heard that one of the nastier rouges was out tonight and I didn't want you to be out."

At first a wave of warmth washed over you. It, however, turned icy cold as you processed the rest of your mother's sentence.

'One of the nastier rouges'

Your heart skipped a beat and you grasped onto your mother's hand. Swallowing you met her gaze and forced a slow breath out.

"Mom, which one did you hear was out?"

It took her a moment to reply, as her brow furrowed, and she squeezed your hand.

"The Joker."

Your heart actually stopped, you struggled to breath as news reports and alley whispers raced over your mind.

"I heard that the bats pissed joker off so he's shooting for a big one this time."

"I heard that he lost Batman's attention and wants it back."

"Well, I heard that he's finally sick of his cat and mouse game and plans on taking as many civilians as possible with him when he goes."

Finally breathing again, you pulled your mother forward. Heart racing as your mind screamed to run. Your legs began to pump, your mother stumbling to keep up behind you her soft protests barely catching your ears.

"Shit- oh shit, mom we've gotta go."

You had just come up on a corner, knowing once you went down the alley just by here, you'd be two blocks from your complex. It didn't help though, your heart hammered to quickly you could hear your own heartbeat without even thinking about it.

"What? Honey," Your mom began shaking her head and causing you to stop, "it's fine we're almost home and-"

Your mouth began moving before you could stop yourself and you began pulling her again, finally rounding the corner, "No mom you don't understand this guy has been amping up his attacks recently and-"

Just as you did you came face to face with a goon in white makeup and a sinister red smile. He raised something strange, and time seemed to slow as you heard him pressing on a trigger.

"Y/N!" Your mother's shout echoed in your ears as she shoved you to the side.

You tumbled towards the ground screams ripping from you as you watched a fine mist encompass her entire face, "MOM NO!"

The mist faded as a blurry figure slammed the goon into the ground. Your mother slumped slightly as you darted to her side, her body shook, and you looked her over trying to find any damage only to hear a bone chilling sound.

"Ha-ha-ha."

You trembled as your mother raised her head, a large sinisterly familiar smile on her face.

"Mommy? Mommy, no. Please, no. NO!"

A jolt of sorts raced through you as you opened your eyes. A bright light slamming straight into them and sending spots racing across your vision.

"Aw, look," A mocking voice began, "our little Houdini's finally awake."

A piercing ache began at the base of your skull as you forced yourself to sit up. Faintly recalling your last moments, as rain poured down and you made the choice to finally let go.

Blinking you pressed a hand to your face, a sloshing of sorts following you as you found yourself immersed in a small pool of greenish water. Wincing you tried to look around the room- to understand where you were and what was going on.

Your eyes slowly adjusted, revealing that you were in a small cavern of sorts. A woman in a strange outfit stood nearby as a man in a dark clothing loomed over you. You watched as the woman motioned at someone just beyond your view muttering things you could not here.

"Hello there little one," the man began capturing your attention, "I am glad to see you're awake."

You swallowed feeling the headache fade slightly as you shifted. These people and this place did not seem familiar. You too a slow breath looking down to see your own hands and body before looking back up.

"Who are you?" You whispered, your voice cracking, throat dry and aching.

The man smiled, but something about it made you uneasy. He merely stared at you, replying, "A doctor of sorts."

You paused furrowing your brow, "So I'm not dead?"

The man- doctor- whatever he was laughed as he took a step back. Making temporary eye contact with the woman behind him. She had an odd look about her and you could have sworn you spotted a cat like mask before the man captured your attention again.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," You replied wincing again as you stepped out of the pool rising to your feet, "is that normal?"

He tilted his head, "In a sense yes."

His short responses had your mind racing, he was being so vague and something- something about all of this just seemed off.

"Uh okay. Then is fine to assume I'll get better right?"

The man nodded as the woman smiled at you. You narrowed your eyes still not entirely understanding what was going on or what had happened. You were sure that the fall would have killed you and- and you could still remember the impact.

"Wha-" You began as a wave of defenseness washed over you, "what is going on?"

"Whatever do you mean little Houdini?" The woman asked her eyes glinting.

"Who are you? Where am I? How am I still alive? And what the fuck happened?"

Your demand echoed in the cave like chamber causing the woman to smile even more. She even began to laugh and the man stepped in-between the two of you.

"Just please calm yourself, Y/N L/N. All will be explained soon."

You locked your jaw, a buzzing of sorts climbing up your chest as you began to grind your teeth. Tingles raced across your hand, a tell tale sign your body yearned to release some engery. To produce the false images and twist the illusions into exsistance.

"When?"

The man paused before the sound of footsteps approached. He went still and so did the woman behind him. A wave of fury rose up in your chest, were you such a fuck up you even fucked up dying? Was it possible that something else was going on? Regardless of your current internal turmoil you needed answers.

"Would someone please answer my fucking questions?!"

Just as your frustrated shout escaped a new woman walked into the room. She breezed past the first and stopped right in front of you. Allowing you to get a good look of her and a better grasp of the situation. She was dressed in a green and gold trimmed dress, her dark brown hair spilling around her face, dark skin and sharp bone structure that screamed Arabic descent. And her eyes, her bright- familiar green eyes stared at you with a curious gaze.

"I would be happy to, Y/N."

Something about her- whether be her eyes, her voice or face- something seemed familiar- so familiar you let your guard down.

"Where am I?"

The woman smiled, "Safe in my home."

It wasn't entirely a bad answer, but once again a vague one. And despite your concerns on where you were at you had to know one thing.

"How did I survive that fall? I just can't wrap my head around it."

The woman went still before she softly laughed moving a bit closer to you, "You didn't."

You froze as you answer caused your breath to stop, "What?"

"You didn't survive. In fact, that fall killed you, you died."

"But- wha- how? Am, am I dead?"

"Not anymore, but you were."

"I was- what do you mean I was dead? How can that be possible?"

The woman's smile deepened, and she took a step even closer, "You're not asking the right questions."

Grinding your teeth, you met her gaze and raised your chin frustration and desperation climbing up your throat, "Fine, who are you then?"

"Much better, I am Talia."

Something about that name set off warning bells in your head and your stiffened, allowing your guard to rise as you eyed the woman.

"Where am I? I want specifics."

"The league."

Your blood went cold as a realization began to dawn on you, "The league?"

"Yes, the league; assassins, shadows, what have you. You, are at one of the bases for the League."

"And- and-"

"I am Talia Al Ghul, and I brought you back to life."

You went still as everything began to click into place. The green water, the man and woman nearby, the vagueness- how you are alive, and you looked at Talia swallowing. The familiarity. This was Damian's mother, the person who you died trying to run from.

"You brought me back with the pit?" You whispered your voice trembling and cracking.

"Unbeknown to my beloved, son and the rest of his rabble, yes... so any more questions?"

You swallowed as your world began to scream and burn as it crashed down. They- they thought- no they knew you had died and- and no one would come save you this time. You were on your own you were alone.

You shook your head, refusing to let your voice tremble, "No."

"Good, because I have a lot of work for you..." Talia paused looking over her shoulder to the other woman, "what did cheshire call you? Ah, yes. Little Houdini."

Digging your nails into your palm you tried to calm your breathing as Talia tucked your hair behind your ear smiling.

"Let's get to work my Little Houdini."

Tag List:

@andromedaj2003 @thomasbeloved @instabull @zvtanna @daemonnix96 @krswrites @thefallingstarlights @masset-fotia @rrowwii @ssak-i @legendarylearner18

[korrasamibottles]

Year-End Writer's Roundup: 2024 edition

Thank for tagging me @sweetorangepoptart !! I'm not sure who's been tagged so @ any and all writers who see this and want to participate, consider yourself tagged!!

1. Words written (published or not, WIPs totally count too!!):

18,083?? I can't believe I did that. I can't believe that came out of me. Sounds fake. Also one fic is responsible for like two thirds of that, which also sounds fake.

2. Smut scenes:

Just one, in my Korrasami Week fic Love Bites (So Do I)

3. New things I tried:

Mmm I wrote an AU? Sometimes I have trouble getting into AUs as a reader because I end up missing the established universe, so I never envisioned myself writing one, but that's the fic that wanted to be written! It was a challenge to make the characters feel like themselves (if their personality is molded by their environment and life experiences, and then that environment and set of experiences is tweaked, what happens??) and also make the world feel Legend of Korra-inspired rather than exactly like the real world as it exists except with people named Korra and Asami (not that that's a bad way for an AU to be—it's just not how I wanted this one to be).

I don't want to spoil anything, but there are a number of little details sprinkled in that I hope make the fic feel somewhat rooted in-universe even though it isn't. Anyway overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out? If I had endless patience I might've continued adjusting things, but uhh I don't lmao.

4. Fic I spent the most time on:

Love Bites for sure. It ended up being over twice as long as every other fic I've written, and I'm still shocked by that. I did not think I had 12,438 words in me. (And I almost didn't because I wanted to quit like a dozen times shhh🤫)

5. Fic I spent the least time on:

The Space Between Heartbeats, but not because I didn't care!! Turns out it's just way easier to keep the word count lower and tie everything up relatively quickly (for me. lol. takes me a while to write anything) when it's set in-universe and there isn't any extra world-building to figure out.

6. Favorite thing I wrote: 

You would have me choose❓️🥺 I can't. The two fics I finished are so different from one another, but they're both precious to me and I'm happy with the way they turned out.

7. Favorite thing I read:

Can I tag everyone who participated in Korrasami Week? I've started going through the Korrasami Week Collection on ao3 and there's so much talent in this fandom it's crazy. Shout out to @appalesbian @ozais-lobotomist @kingwuko @madlad-link for writing things that drove me absolutely bonkers.

I also fell hard and fast into Velcinta Madness after watching Andor earlier this year and subsequently spent weeks groaning in agony and rending my clothing (many such cases!) so I want to mention what a knife measures. It packs a powerful punch into a quick read and is beautifully written, as sharp as the title suggests, and has the kind of character dynamics that make me want to pull my hair out (complimentary). I love it.

8. Writing goals for next year: 

Specific goals: Wuko Week approaches......I have a doughy lump of an idea currently rising in a warm, humid location, and soon it will be time to put it in the oven. I also think I can loosely tie it in with an older Korrasami wip (which I really want to finish. and it rhymes with shmibrator shmic.) but I don't want to make any promises because fics always take on a mind of their own at some point and things change. I'm also tempted to try writing something Velcinta-related but idk. Participating in a new fandom is always intimidating. We'll see.

Non-specific goals: I really want to reach a point where my recurring perfectionism/shame-induced writer's block no longer gets the better of me👍

[hailqiqi]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers (except me because obvs I have done it). Spread the self-love ❤

Thank you for the ask!! Also thank you for the ask @womaninwinter and @menina89 -- yes I have three of these (sometimes I think with us lot it's now a game of 'who gets to tag everyone first' ak;ljd;akd)

I'm scanning my list on AO3 now...

the world is out there, my dear, but we're in here (VLD) This fic is really short & I'm a little bit surprised it gets my #1 spot, to be honest, but every time I look at even just the title I hear the rain. It's an inspired bit of writing, and I have no idea how the hell I did it. (Trivia: Somebody wrote it a comment that was longer than the actual fic and I adore that person.)

these secrets beneath your fingertips (Lockwood) I really enjoyed writing this, but i have no idea how it ended up like this. I think it's known by people as the murder fic? But I really enjoy how much tension there is in the first part, and how meltingly, exhaustedly warm the second part is by contrast. Funnily enough I thought it was just a very tense detective/action sequence but didn't think the content was too bad; then the ladies beta-ing for me said 'Qiqi, what the fuck is this' and a lot of the comments also said 'Qiqi, what the fuck' so apparently I watched too much SVU as a teenager.

Worse (Lockwood) This was close with secrets for #2, but I reread secrets more often so I think that gets the higher spot for enjoyability. I'm extremely proud of this one; I'd always been a bit scared to attempt a George POV but I think I did really well, and I also think I nailed the action here (which VLD friends may remember that I was always a bit too nervous to attempt action!). Trivia here: Worse contains the line ‘Lucy! Please, come on! The place is tearing itself apart!’ and literally everybody who beta-read this fic said 'Hey, that line's a bit redundant. It's such a weird thing for him to say. You should cut it.' Alas, I couldn't cut it as that line is lifted directly from The Hollow Boy (and, funnily enough, Lucy immediately points out in her narration that it's a bit redundant). This little factoid always makes me giggle.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like a Christmas Carol (VLD) Ahhhhhhh I think we knew this had to be on here, right? This fic was so much fun to write, it was like a fever dream. I still can't believe that @sp4c3-0ddity, @rueitae and I co-ordinated and banged out almost 20,000 words of fic in the space of what, five days?? And yes, that five days is from 'Hey, wouldn't it be cool if we...' to posting. And we all have vastly different writing styles and slightly different characterisation habits, yet somehow we managed to share a single POV and keep it pretty cohesive. At the time I was proud of us, now I'm older and (supposedly) wiser I'm even more proud of us. We did great. @fromageinterrupted likes to say she reads it every year in the holiday season and I do the same (and then just every so often...) because it's a fun fic.

A Handy Excuse (Lockwood) | Sunshine and Phone Lines (VLD) | so it turns out I kind of missed you (VLD) | Here (VLD) OK I'm kind of cheating here, because I couldn't pick a favourite for fifth. - A Handy Excuse was a blast to write -- it was fun having 6 people in the same google doc, all writing out separate parts -- yep, we all wrote in the same doc to put our shame on full display. Which was really cool (I think most of us have the instinct to write in a separate doc and only contribute to the shared doc when we have a finished draft to polish, but we were all very brave and wrote from scratch in the one). I love how the pieces come together; my part was an absolute blast to write (can I admit publicly now that I did Kipps? I got to find out the name of the circus tune!) and the story itself is a really cute read that always makes me smile. - Sunshine and Phone Lines is my one foray into a modern AU and I had a lot of fun writing it. It's probably the one thing that I can throw at somebody with no knowledge of any fandom and say 'hey, I wrote this'. I like how it feels sunny, just the vibes are very positive in the whole piece, and I am an absolute sucker for a bit of dramatic irony. I always end up smiling when I reread this, too. - so it turns out I kind of missed you is another really fun piece. It's short, it's funny, it's sweet -- honestly it's another one I could probably file the serial numbers off of if I wanted. Lance's brother makes me laugh every time I read it, it's another one of those stories that you reread and end up smiling -- though this time it's the big, the-sun-just-came-out type smile. - Here is going to ruin the vibes of all these sunny fluff fics I have in at #5 becuase it is angst. But it's angst with a lot of love and comfort. Evidently I had a thing with water falling when I wrote plangst, because the world... has rain and this one is in a shower. I love how quietly intimate it is, and how it demonstrates how strong the bonds of friendship and care can be. (I feel like it was originally supposed to be a shippy fic but part-way through writing I threw that out the window? It's Gen, really, but I tagged it with the ship so my friends would see it.)

This is supposed to be an ask game but I've now got two hours to knock out about 8 hours' worth of work so.. tags it is!

@rueitae @sp4c3-0ddity @uptoolateart @fromageinterrupted @almostlikequake @worldofkaeos

[arvadthecursed]

haven't said anything about it here but. I am very deeply saddened by Liam's death.

I remember hearing "What Makes You Beautiful" for the first time and being astonished. I grew up an ugly duckling with very few friends. And here was a band telling me I didn't know I was beautiful, and that was the reason I was wonderful. It gave me a sense of hope, that maybe yeah, I couldn't see my own beauty but maybe others could.

And, as y'all know, I have auDHD. I didn't have the words to explain how I felt as a kid. I just knew that I felt wrong, like I was an alien compared to other girls. I got picked on a lot and sometimes didn't realize it til after; or sometimes, no one would talk to me because my interests were "too weird." But 1D gave me something to talk to other girls about. We talked about our favorite boys, the music, and yes, the fanfic. I know RPF is often looked down upon now but when I was 11-13, we commonly passed it around. The "kidnapped by 1D" fics were popular for a reason: escapism, which, for hormonal, emotional tweenage girls, is super important. I remember reading Dark (yes, THAT Dark) in 7th grade because the girls were passing it around in FB chats. Now, we shouldn't have been reading that particular fic at that age, of course, but we were 13, of course we were gonna read it lol. We giggled over how shocking it was and showed it to our friends bc that's what 13 yr old girls do.

I made my first real best friend because of 1D. We bonded over watching videos of the guys together, buying J14 and Tiger Beat for the posters we would meticulously put on our walls, listening to the music. We made fanpages on Facebook together where we would write imagines and post pictures of the guys. We called each other our favorite guys' nicknames and hell, my first url on Tumblr was "hayitstommo" after Louis. My first posts on this site almost 12 years ago were 1D related. That friend and I supported each other through tough times; I helped her when her mother was sick, and she comforted me when my grandma died. I won't ever forget that bond.

And I know about the allegations against Liam, absolutely. I believe Maya. I feel deeply for her in this situation as I know she's received horrible vitriol for something that was not her fault. I can't imagine what she's feeling right now.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's this weird grief in me. I am sad for Liam, for his family, for Maya, for my fellow fans. But I'm also grieving that sense of community I didn't really realize I had lost til now. 1D let me connect to others and feel like a girl for the first time in my life, when, as I said before, I had felt like an alien, like I could never belong. The music made me happy. The ability to talk to girls who otherwise would've stuck their nose up at me bolstered my confidence, especially when I felt so wrong inside from undiagnosed neurodivergence.

The emotions I feel about Liam himself are complicated. I know he struggled with drug addition; I know he was an abuser. I know he was one of the guys who gave me my greatest comfort in one of the worst years of my life, when I had to move houses, my grandma died, and then I had to move states. I know he was flawed and I had put him on a pedestal as a kid because kids don't have full pictures of their idols.

I keep thinking about all this. The outpouring of love from Directioners -- even people like me, who wouldn't call themselves that now but certainly identified with the fandom was kids -- has been astounding. I think we're all feeling a very weird sense of grief right now, knowing what we know about Liam, his untimely death, and our relationship with the band and how it's changed over the years. There are fond memories I will always have that were because of 1D. But now that I'm older, I have a more nuanced perspective, and that gives me this weird grief in my chest that hasn't gone away since I heard the news.

Anyway, sorry for rambling. I hope this kind of conveys how I feel.

[copperbadge]

I know that it’s been a Very Long Time but do you ever get terribly nostalgic for old/less active fandoms? I confess I recently came back to tumblr and saw that I followed you. I was like, of course Sam storyteller, the Bucky guy. But then I got a hankering for my older and dearer by far love Ianto Jones and went back to reread some of the greatest hits and I remembered. You are not the Loki guy. You are the Ianto guy, to me, and I can’t believe I forgot that. I miss that fandom so much it was so fucking. Toxic. The Gwen bashing, I simply cannot romanticize it in good conscience. But the fic quality and diversity was, dare I say it, nearly unparalleled (in my heart). Like when it hit it really hit you know? A golden age of trashy sci fi indeed. I miss my dead welsh son. Sorry to ramble in your ask box about the dubious old days

Anon, I am so sorry, a bunch of my asks got pushed way down in the inbox and then I forgot they were there, so apologies this is MONTHS late in getting posted.

I, eh, I don't really get nostalgic for old fandoms. Usually I leave them for a reason, but even if I just drift away, my experience of a fandom is pretty fundamentally different from most because of my higher profile. There are things I can't do or say in a fandom that other people could, and there are things that happen to me outside of my control. They're not even necessarily bad things, just stuff like...I'll write a fic in a new fandom, and people from my previous fandom will start engaging with the canon because I did. So often, rather than just falling away from a fandom, I'll leave a fandom and drag a bunch of people with me. They might not even leave the older fandom, but they come along to the new one too.

And often the wanks that pull people in without their consent simply don't touch me because there's a portion of fandom that is either scared of me (or my readers) or just doesn't want anything to do with me. I can't determine which.

Torchwood's a pretty good case in point -- the Gwen bashing was extreme. I wasn't a fan of Gwen but what I saw from the antigwenallies was really, really gross. Still, even though I wrote fic about Gwen and engaged in meta around her presence in the show, I avoided them and thus had exactly one interaction with them ever, which was when they posted up a fic of mine as "anti-Gwen" and I asked them to remove it and never recc anything of mine again. They did, and that was the end of that. Nobody ever came to my posts to attack her or me. Likewise, there was one really, really aggressive anti-Ianto wanker, but she never engaged with me or even as far as I know talked about me, despite the fact I was a huge Ianto fan and wrote a lot of fic about him. I really hated the shit she said, but I also didn't see any value in arguing, so I left her alone and she left me alone. (I won't name her because I checked up on her a few years ago and it turns out she was struggling with serious mental health issues that she'd gotten a lot of help for, and felt really terrible about the things she'd done, so I'm actually quite proud of her. But if you know you know.)

I also just...have a bad memory, so I often don't remember what happened in a fandom, or even sometimes that I was in a fandom. Most of the memories I do have are either vaguely warm and friendly, or "avoid this fandom/person at all costs" based in a negative interaction (which I sometimes don't remember the details of).

So yeah...I mean, Torchwood ended pretty terribly so I don't miss it in part because I try not to think about it. Generally if I have a good time in a fandom and then leave it, it's because I simply said all I had to say there. But I'm usually looking forward, not back, just because the past is a bit of a fog bank for me, most of the time.

[attorneytrash]

I really really really love Such Terrible Tales, it's one of my favorite fanfictions of all time!! I was wondering how you write a "period piece" so well with all the terminology, dialog, and flow of the work feeling so reminiscent of 19th-20th century novels! (It still has its roots and humor in the modern era, but you get me.) Do you do a lot of research and editing before you publish a chapter or does it just flow naturally for you? Did you read a ton of Jane Austen and bodice rippers before penning the Jackdaw? Have you you plotted out Such Terrible Tales in full before writing or do you just fly by the seat of your pants (or do you do a mix of both)? Sorry if this is nosy, I'm just so curious and invested and I'm looking into writing fanfictions that captures a similar feeling myself ^q^

OH MY GOSH HIIIIIIII wait i've never gotten one of these before. this is so exciting. fair warning my advice will be terrible but you did ask

first off thank you I can't believe you think i write a good "period piece" (what is the period? we just don't know) because I feel like i'm so slapdash about it and it's all Vibes. ANYWAY I'M REALLY REALLY HAPPY YOU'RE ENJOYING THE FIC. TRULY

genuinely one of the reasons I started writing STT in the first place was because I was on a kick of reading stuff that takes place in that general era (again, what the actual era is remains unclear). A few people have pointed out the Jane Austen of it all, and I think when I was in the middle of reading an austen novel you can tell because of the language in those chapters. basically, I don't know if this is true of everyone, but I tend to lean into the style of whatever I'm reading at the time. I also think it helps, if you like audiobooks, to listen to audiobooks in the style you want to write in! Especially with older works, audiobook narrators are really good at getting the flow and cadence of the language across, and it helps get your mind flowing along and sort of "hooked in" to that style. or it does for me at least!

ALSO I do jot down a lot of notes, specifically little turns of phrase that I like! so for example, I wrote down to use the word "directly" meaning "right now" (as in, "I will read you the letter directly") and "presently" meaning "in a short time" (as in, "we're expecting his arrival presently"). Little things like moving words around too ("what have you there" rather than "what do you have there" etc) give it that sort of feel. if that makes sense. i just take a lot of notes

One tip I will give is that a little really goes a long way with old-timey language. I notice it less when listening to the audiobooks, but in older books the sentences are LOOOOOOOONG which is what makes them so hard to parse sometimes. And often in romance novels that take place in victorian or regency era they'll overdo the language to the point that it makes you roll your eyes (though I'm sure I've done that once or twice too)

ANYWAY I'M PRATTLING ON SORRY as for the plotting. I have a bare-bones skeleton that has all the larger plot twists in it, so I can make sure to foreshadow things. That being said, I think part of what's fun about a serial fic is coming up with things as you go while still having to stay true to what you've already written. One thing I will say is that it's EXTREMELY helpful to keep a couple cheat sheets: one is a timeline, which keeps track of all the events that happened in the past, when they happened, etc. The other is a list keeping track of what every character knows and when they find it out. It's saved me many times when I've forgotten who's aware of what secrets etc.

YOU'RE NOT NOSY AT ALL and in fact I'm seriously thrilled to get an ask like this bc i could talk about writing for days. I hope your fic goes well and that you have fun with it ^^

[caitlynnrosespn]

Need Help With Jack?

I AM NOT SAYING YA'LL ARE DOING IT WRONG I AM JUST HERE TO HELP WITH SOME OF THE TRICKIER PARTS OF HIM OKI

Before we begin I just wanna say that I have CPTSD (what he would reasonably have from his childhood) and I am have been doing theater and performances for a very long time, so while I don't have a perfect understanding of Jack there are some things I can help with (by the way @the-l-is-silent-yall did a great post about writing Mihaly which encouraged me to post this so check that out)

This is going to be long, so here we go:)

First off. His makeup.

I've seen some people say he is wearing makeup to seem more feminine, but that's not really the purpose of this kind of makeup. This is a type of makeup that is formerly known as contemporary makeup. In traditional western theater, it is used on performers (usually actors or dancers) to highlight their features so they don't fade in the bright stage lights. Without it, performers would look washed out or blank to the audience. It is composed of powder, foundation, rouge, lipstick, and eyeliner. Female or feminine presenting performers will also wear mascara, and some actors will apply highlighter and bronzer to accentuate or create features depending on the character they play, but actors of all gender orientation will have to wear some sort of makeup. The most telling mark of Jack wearing this type of makeup is the eyeliner and lipstick, which helps you more clearly see his features when the camera zooms out. It also helps the performer's features stand out, since he is covered in white paint. Now up close this makeup looks like it's too much makeup or it makes his features look weird, but that's the point. I have had directors tell me "if you look in the mirror and see a clown, you are doing it right." Theater makeup of any kind looks over exaggerated up close on purpose, so it reads to the audience who is far away.

Next let's talk about how to write a very important part of his story: his trauma.

Now I've seen a lot of fics talk about Jack's relationship with The Traveler, and how there is mutual distrust, and how basically Jack is afraid of The Traveler in the same way Jack fears Nightswan. While I'm not saying this is necessarily wrong, (although I would love to see The Traveler be a good father just this once) it would make more sense if Jack was afraid of someone else:

Si'ha Nova.

In Jack's life, most of his trauma and insecurity came from his mother. He was raised to believe that Nightswan's treatment of him was normal among all families. Because that trauma came from Nightswan, he has a bigger chance of struggling with women in parental roles rather than men in father roles. Because most of my trauma was from my dad and other men, I had a hard time trusting older men. PLEASE don't take this the wrong way and think "oh, see he hates women." NO! What I'm saying is that Jack would have a hard time trusting and opening up with anyone he perceives as motherly. He might have more trauma responses when around Si'ha, such as flinching more around her or seeming more closed off. This can of course be helped, and I'm sure Si'ha won't have a hard time building trust with Jack. Now of course he might still have his trust issues and reservations about The Traveler, but it would be a lot less worse than those he would have with Si'ha. (i'm saying this in a mean way, this is just what I've learned about childhood trauma)

Now let's take about the inevitability of a trigger for Jack.

Triggers are the weirdest thing in the world. Sometimes they are obvious things. As an abuse survivor, I don't like people jump-scaring me and I feel uncomfortable when people start handling belts (i even rarely wear one) which is all pretty self explanatory and stuff and you would think that's the same for the rest of my triggers, right? Nope! No I can't watch Victorious, I freeze up when the Arizona Storm alarms play, and I will have a literal breakdown whenever I see one of those plagiarism warning screens. Also can't watch horror movies. Do they make sense to me? Not at all. But the reason they trigger my CPTSD is because somewhere in my brain, in my suppressed memory, my brain is reminded of my trauma and is launched into flight or fight mode.

Jack's triggers might be something that makes sense, like being in the mirror room or seeing something about the Swan Soldiers. But, he would also have more explainable or random triggers. A specific color could remind him of his mom. A melody could remind him of a song that was playing during a rehearsal gone wrong. A certain smell could remind him of a room that he wasn't particularly fond of in Nightswan tower.

So what exactly would be the best way to write Jack having a breakdown? Glad you never asked!!! I shall still answer!!

Jack having a breakdown could go down one of two ways. One, he could get really combative, aka fight. Not like throwing hands combative, but like suddenly being overly defensive and irritated over little things. Assuming someone notices this change of behavior, it would take a few moments until his brain finally perceives that there is no actual threat, and then celebrate by gifting Jack with an intense breakdown complete with tears and a panic attack that will literally leave him breathless. Option two, the flight option, will see Jack suddenly feeling the need to escape. Maybe he'll need to leave a room, or need to get off the street and into a building, or he might not even be able to be in the same room as someone. When his brain finally decides the danger is no longer in the room with us he will have a similar breakdown as he did in option one. But of course, there is a third, more fun, more secret option. Option three, freeze.

I'm a freeze person, and freeze is ten times worse than option one and two combined. When someone freezes, they will escape to a space devoid of people or possible threats. They will then find a place where they can observe all sides of the room without needing to turn, preferably a corner, make themselves smaller via holding their chest to their knees, and then have that extra special breakdown. The problem with freeze is your brain never has the opportunity the decide if the threat is actually gone, so instead of moving on you are stuck in this feeling of being in danger even if obviously you are not.

The best way you can write someone (most likely Wanderlust, knowing you guys) helping out is:

-No touching until he calms down. Touching always makes things worse. Not until he can voice that he is calming down.

-Trying to communicate breathing/grounding exercises. It will take a minute before he responds and partakes. @apexious wrote a really good example of this, just with reversed roles.

-Weighted blankets weighted blankets weighted blankets weighted blankets

-Have them try to voice what he is feeling/what he perceives the danger to be. Usually helps reduce trigger responses if they are encountered again.

And the last thing I want to note about Jack is that traumatic memories will most likely fade with time. Not the actual trauma or the memories behind them, but specific details will be hard to recall such as his specific age when it happened, where it happened, or other specific details. The brain likes to do that to protect you from specifically traumatizing or harmful memories.

Sorry for the essay, but I hope this helps!!! If you have any other questions regarding this, feel free to message me/drop it into my dropbox!!! Happy writing!!!

[theangrypomeranian]

a note for my lovely fans:

i know i've said this before, but i really and truly never thought that Baby Steps would ever get as long or well known as it is. i've poured my heart and soul into this fic for over a year and it has meant everything to me. through this story, i have started to heal my inner child/teen and a little of older me as well. i love this story so much and saying good bye is so so painful, but also so cathartic.

i want to thank a few people here. first and foremost, @littleredruns. without this story, i never would have met her and now i can't imagine my life without her. Red, you have been such a huge support and help to me through this whole process. the whole fake dating arc exists because of you lol. i know you say that i don't need to thank you, but i am because without you i don't think i would have kept writing. you are my best friend and i hope it stays that way for a long, long time (if not forever). <3

i also want to thank my husband, @raccnarok. thank you, myla. you've spent the last year listening to me talk and rant about this. you've tolerated me kicking you out of the bedroom so that i could focus on writing because you know that i like writing in my bed the most. you've supported me and cheered me on, and told me over and over how proud you are of me. loving you is easy as breathing and twice as satisfying, and through this whole process you've proved it. thank you. <3

to all the friends i've made through this fic, the whole who i've shared sneak peaks with and let me go on and on about it. i'm so grateful that my story has brought us together and that you all have been as kind and supportive as you've been. thank you. <3

to the people who have been inspired by my fic and drawn art of it and written fic of it/inspired by it. i cannot express how much all of it has warmed my heart and made me giggle and shriek like a schoolgirl. i hope i can continue to inspire you with my other works, and if not then i'm happy that i did at all. thank you for being amazing. <3

and to my readers. all of you who leave kudos and comments and read and reread this story that i thought would fall to the wayside. you all mean the whole world to me and i don't say that lightly. we've built such an amazing community here of empathetic and loving people. and to my fellow survivors of abuse, of all kinds, who have found solace in this fic: i see you. i hear you. and i believe you. i hope you are able to find peace and healing, and i'm happy that my fic has gotten to be a part of that process. you're amazing and i never want you to forget that. it's okay if you backtrack, it's okay if you have bad days. remember, healing is not linear. it's a process. and sometimes we have to take baby steps.

[silvercap]

20 Questions for Fic Authors

Thank you @thebrandywine for the tag!! :))

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

43!

2. What is your AO3 wordcount?

113,038

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly just Resident Evil, haha, but I've dabbled in a couple other things over the years... nothing else currently, though!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I. My lone Genshin fic 😭😭 at 935 kudos (holy shit!!)

II. Ripping at the Seams with 670

III. *metal pipe sound effect* with 301

IV. Fracture with 290

V. Day 18: Ache with 253!

5. Do you respond to comments?

As much as possible!!

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

:3

You tell me: is there more angst when older Leon dies, or when re2 rookie Leon does? Personally, I'm leaning on the rookie, but 'do you believe' has the added Hunnigan and Chris angst haha

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

you're my lover is just straight up Nivannedy fluff and sweetness :)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Haven't yet, thankfully!

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

Sometimes 😭 usually it's more of a plot relevant thing than anything else, because smut isn't always my jam--but there are exceptions!! I'm writing a crack ship re5 thing asjdjds and sometimes I do like writing scenes that involve a little sexy time, but I don't think I'd ever write it as a standalone pwp sort of thing haha

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

No...? I mean, I have a Blade Runner au on the backburner of my infinite stove, but I've never put different characters together in a true crossover. Wrote the beginning of an Eragon + Percy Jackson + something I can't remember, when I was in like. 7th grade? But that's long gone and nothing ever came of it asdjdjs

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Hopefully not... 👁️👁️

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

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

Thought about it! It hasn't happened haha, but I'm open to the idea

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

I'll be honest... ships are kind of cute adorable plot devices to me. I don't really have a favorite per se, but I do tend to prefer Chreon, Metaltango, and Nivannedy! I like Clairejill and I'm pretty invested in Ada/Hunnigan right now hehe but none of them really stands out as the OTP, y'know?

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

Not sure! I tend to jump around and abandon and revive things a lot, so it's honestly just up in the air. I'm loath to put one on the chopping block, but I have my doubts about this one (OG!) re4 fic where Leon passes out during the cabin fight

16. What are your writing strengths?

I've been told that I have a very visceral writing style by several people, and I do often get compliments on how well I've made something feel real/captured a specific feeling! Which is a huge compliment you guys are so nice 🥺 and I do like to think that I'm good at descriptive writing!! I see things very clearly in my head and it's gratifying to know I'm getting it across fully :)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I tend to go at it without figuring out where I'm going, first. Plots are held together with a dab of white glue and some fraying string, and I often worry that I'm not putting scenes together coherently. I can do all the technical stuff just fine, but I really struggle with pacing and character motivations and foreshadowing and background etc, which I think is why I tend to write shorter fics!

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

It's rarely worth it, unless there's some sort of narrative significance or I get to use my Latin knowledge for some silly villain 😭

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Bungou Stray Dogs!

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

I've always been partial to Fracture

Tagging- @fonulyn, @colesabi, @lightenupcowboy, @sunhatllama, @resident-rats, and anyone else who I forgot or wants to participate! <3

[pebblysand]

Hey Jo!

First of all, I want to say I’m really loving your story. I added it to my TBR a few months ago, and now I’m finally able to read it! I’m loving everything, the pace, the characters, the structure. You’re truly an amazing writer and I’m so glad to have stumbled across your fic. I try to comment every chapter, although sometimes it is hard to me to find words to describe what I’m thinking, I always try to leave at least one short paragraph, it’s the least that I can do.

I was looking for chapter 11’s extended author’s note (I don’t know if there is one, it just felt weird to see no link to it on the chapter) and I saw your posts about the physical book. I find it amazing that you’re doing this for your readers, and I think I speak for all of us, new readers and older readers alike, that we really appreciate all the effort you put into this.

I would love to get one of this books, but I hesitated because I feel like shipping costs might be too much. I don’t know how much it would cost, but I’m in Mexico (if I remember correctly you said you live in Ireland, so we are really far away) and I felt that it may be too much and I don’t want you to spend that much on sending a book all the way across the earth to me.

I don’t know, I’m not sure if that would be an issue, that’s why I’m sending this ask before filling out the form. I want to make sure it won’t cost you a fortune so ship it here, and that you’re okay with doing it.

I really love your story, it is slowly but surely making it’s way into my top three fics of this year. Thanks for sharing it, and for the incredible effort you go through to give us this massive gift!

Aw, thank you so, so much for your kind words, and for your comments so far! I've been seeing them every day when I wake up and they never fail to make me smile! I honestly can't thank you enough!

Regarding your question about the extended A/N on chapter 11, IIRC there isn't one. I didn't write one for every chapter so typically, if they're not linked in the fic, they don't exist, sorry ^^.

Regarding your question about the physical book, the tl;dr is: yes, I can certainly afford to ship a book to Mexico. That's no problem at all, and actually would be pretty cool because it would be yet another country to send it to. Feel free to fill out the form!

The longer answer is: I have a budget/limit I've set aside for this project. There is also a ko-fi where those who can afford to can donate whatever they can afford in "exchange" of the book. It's very much an optional thing, but you may consider it if you want. To give you an idea, I just checked online and from Ireland to Mexico, the shipping seem to be €27, which is the same as the US. The book is heavy (lols), it's 1.33kg, meaning I have to pay up to 1.5kg, which obviously brings the postage up quite a bit. This, on top of the cost of the actual printing, which is around €26-€29 per book (this depends on the number of books I'm ordering, it's cheaper the more I order at once). All in all, taking into account also the commission Ko-Fi/Stripe take (which is around 2 or 3% I believe), if you really wanted to pay for the whole cost of the book, you'd be looking around €60.

But again, please don't feel obligated. I am a massively privileged white girl who has no dependents, and if I'm offering this, it's that I can afford it. I've always seen castles as my way of bringing something good to the world, something that makes people happy and that means something to them, even if at the end of the day, it's only a silly little fanfiction. The fact that people would even want a physical copy of it the greatest honour, and so I -genuinely - am happy and lucky to be able to do this and to shoulder the cost of the orders + the shipping fees.

I will say this though: what may happen in January is that I may have to cut the book orders short if we end up going over budget. I'm currently €574.94 out of pocket (total cost with printing, shipping fees and the packages is expected to be €1135.25 and donations have so far covered €560.31, so almost half) - I can probably push it to €700. If I have a lot of people still expressing interest after that threshold, I will probably record that interest and put the orders on hold for a few months, until I can afford it again.

I will also flag that as I said in the form: there may be customs fees to pay for those outside the EU. I unfortunately can't control that, and the receiver is typically asked to pay those. I'll declare the value of the books to be €15 to customs, which is under the bar for customs for a lot of countries, but if you're worried, you may want to look up yours.

Anyway, I also wanted to add for anyone reading this that I will be making another order on Friday 3 January 2025, so if you want one, now's the time to fill out the form!

Thanks again all, for all your kind words and love, and happy new year!

[dirtyvulture]

Hi, this is probably going to be a mess of thoughts lol. I first and foremost want to say that I love the group of writers that write Nat x reader or any Marvel woman x reader fics. There's like a giant group of you guys that are celebrities in the writing world. And I've read your guys content for years. And you all are friends. Its actaully really sweet to see a community come together like that.

My question is how do you make online friends like that. I recently started writing a few stories in this fandom. And some have gained traction which i'm proud of. But i really just wanted to make friends in this fandom. And I've really havent been able to do that in real life. The curse of social anxiety amd having limitations. And i've seen alot of new authors kind of find their groups of people here in this fandom. Or be welcomed with open arms. But i don't know how to do that. Or even if I'm good enough to. And i'm just kind of like I need to do something different. Or my writing is just awful and I should quit. I genuinely feel like an idiot asking thats why I'm on anon. I am a grown adult and I'm worrying about something like this, like what even. Is wrong with me lol

I also don't know if it's because I don't have my anons on but everyone has been getting so much hate lately. And thats honestly scarey as hell.

Thank you for reading my anxiety spiral lol

Hello there! No need to apologize for anything, I am honored you came to me for advice lol

Thank you! I never really think of myself as a celebrity here and there are many writers who are bigger and better than myself but I'm happy that readers include me in that category. :)

I've actually made quite a few fantastic friends from being a Nat writer, and I've even met some of them in person! But this isn't the case with every person I've interacted with on here, and you do need to be careful connecting with people on online platforms.

Online, it'll usually start when I notice a particular user interacting a lot with my content, or maybe I really like their content and I'll comment or reblog frequently. After that, depending on the vibes, I'll move into their messages and some people will just ignore me or some people will respond back, and that's how a friendship starts!

It's the same thing in real life, but a little scarier because you have to react in the moment and can't spend hours crafting the perfect message to respond with. I'm an introvert, but as I got older I forced myself to start conversations with strangers, or say hi to people I've never met before, and yes it was terrifying (and still is), but the reward of meeting amazing people and becoming close friends with some of them is absolutely worth overcoming the fear.

But be kind to yourself! Personal growth and friendships and relationships don't happen overnight. If you love writing, please keep doing it! Maybe someone will reach out to you one day, or you can reach out too when you find the confidence or want to challenge yourself.

(And don't worry about not having anons on. I actually get a bit of hate/trolls myself, and sometimes I get really sad over it, but I've learned to just delete, block, and move on.)

Hang in there, anon! Life is not easy and there's so many challenges to overcome, but I believe in you :)

[bonerot19]

what are your thoughts on Jason and Roy? I have very complicated thoughts about them because on one hand they’re made out to be good friends so often I can’t be ok with them being strangers it makes me sad :( on the other hand they aren’t good friends not really no them because RHATO destroyed Roy :( so they’re in a weird space of “met this guy two weeks ago would’ve died for him for three days and now we don’t really talk” tragic friendship kinda vibe in my brain. I guess that’s even sadder??? But at least the love was there? Sorry for randomly showing up in your ask box 😭 I’m just curious

I have So Many thoughts on Roy and Jason.

I've been learning a lot more about Roy lately, his history and character and he's so cool so it makes me sad what's happened to him in canon (the account royboyfanpage is a wealth of Roy info I love following them)

my problem is that RHATO could have been cool. they could have made Kory, like, important and sentient. they could have just not reduced Roy to the stupid comic relief guy. they could have kept Jason's backstory instead of rewriting one of my favorite origin stories (stealing the batmobile's tires fucks so hard I can't believe Lobdell thought making him steal from Leslie was better??)

I think Jason and Roy have the potential to have a fun, interesting relationship — little brother stealing his older brother's best friends is hilarious. and I know some people (rightfully) have issues with Roy being aged-down to be closer to Jason's age but I think they still have the potential for hilarity at their relative canon ages.

I like fics that portray Jason and Roy as chaotic, and I do often like Jason/Roy fics because I think the dynamic can be really well written — especially in AUs. I like Jason and Roy bitching about Oliver and Bruce (even though Ollie is like, leagues better than Bruce in canon and loves Roy So Much)

I think what I've learned is that while I enjoy Jason/Roy I really understand why Roy lovers hate Jason because when Jason is in Roy's story it does necessitate some level of character assassination. either by changing Roy's age, changing his relationship with Oliver, changing his relationship with Dick, changing his character in general via Lobdell's bullshit (if I catch u Scott I stg)

which sucks, because I think there are people out there writing really complex Jason/Roy relationships that challenge both characters and complete some great character analysis. you just have to be careful and aware of the way Roy is portrayed to not shape his character to suit Jason, cause that sucks

in the end, I'll still read Jason/Roy, because I like it. sometimes I dislike it in the same way I dislike other characterizations of other batfam and batfam adjacent characters. but I'm taking my time learning about Roy and I'm adding some Green Arrow comics to my tbr (which is 10 miles long) cause if I'm gonna write about Roy I want to understand him