#the fic entire plot is outlined since march I think??

[vasattope]

~

[eris-eveningstar]

Y'all wanna know a big writing tip of mine? From someone who's been writing for years now, something important that you have to remember is to let your ideas marinate. As in, don't rush to write as much as you can in as short a time as possible. You just gotta relax sometimes. Close your document and come back later with new eyes.

A lot of the work I do has been letting my fic marinate, randomly coming back with new ideas, and replotting what I originally had in mind.

I've been working on as you fall to the depths of desire since Janurary. I spent months writing chapter 1 and doing basically nothing otherwise. I plotted a couple of chapters but it wasn't until March that I published the first chapter.

And then I spent days plotting until chapter 15. I wrote, went away for a bit, and I came back with all new ideas. I've been doing this since them and now I have almost completed my outline for book 1 and I have a few ideas for how I want book 2 to go.

Sometimes you gotta let things marinate. Let them rest in your mind for a bit and you'll come up with entirely new ideas. Just today I remembered a kinda plot hole because I was thinking of my fic and I realized it. If I just went ahead and wrote it without spending time just thinking about my fic, I wouldn't have caught it. I keep editing the outline I've written and I've been able to polish it over time.

I'm not saying this is the only way or the best way to write, but you shouldn't feel upset if your outline isn't perfect. Sometimes you just gotta be okay with what you have and come back later to do it again. Writing is messy. It's imperfect. Don't be upset that it's not perfectly amazing and polished. Often enough, my first draft is barely anything like the outline, but it's usually better. That's what taking time to write does.

I hope this advice helps you guys!

[screadingchallenge]

Behind the Keyboard-Volume 13

Please note that Behind the Keyboard will be posted once per week during the Reading Challenge. We’ll go back to twice a week in mid-August.

Behind the Keyboard is a series of interviews with different Schitt’s Creek fanfic authors. The series will last as long as there is interest (from authors) and capacity (from me). If you are an author from the Schitt’s Creek fandom who would like to participate, send a DM to this account.  

Each author was given ten questions. The first five questions are the same for every author, the last five will vary.

Remember, this year’s Reading Challenge begins July 15, so polish up those MFL lists.

Let’s meet our next author:

@shimmies​ / shimmies

How many fics have you written?

I think I’m up to 38! I post some of my art to ao3 so that bumps my total count to 44. 

When did you publish your first fic on AO3?

2020. I watched Schitt’s Creek that spring/summer. I specifically remember looking for David/Patrick fic after watching Grad Night, and was a lurker for a while. Eventually I was like, hey! I could do this too! Why am I not already doing this? 

Describe your writing process from “Oh, I have an idea” to pushing publish on AO3. 

If I have an idea/scene/line pop into my head I basically can’t accomplish anything in real life until I get it written down. But these come to me in so many different ways. Sometimes I hear a song and I force myself to craft a plot to fit my interpretation of it. Sometimes I vividly see a scene in my head and struggle for days to choose a title. Sometimes I’ll write an entire fic within a couple hours of its inception. Sometimes I’ll write down a line of dialog and stew over it for weeks before either fleshing out the story or finding it a spot in another WIP. 

In general I do like to start with an outline but I’m a “path of least resistance” kind of person, so I work on whatever is coming to me at the moment. Nothing has to happen in a particular order or with a particular method.

Tell me about your most recent fic? What do you love about it? Is there anything you think you could have done better?

My last published fic was RPF ( hope i'll see you down the line ), which I fully understand is not everyone’s cup of tea, then some Outer Range stuff before that. So for the sake of this semi-public statement I will consider my last Schitt’s Creek fic, Alarm C(l)ock. I published it in March and it was the first thing I’d finished since Frozen Over in December. I had been feeling so uninspired for so long, so what I love most is it was a really nice boost for my creative energy and self esteem and definitely got the gears turning again. If I went back and looked for stuff to improve I’m sure I would come up with a hundred little tweaks, but I really don’t like doing that. [Editor’s note: shimmies has since published  (Not) Being Left Behind Again and  Tuning In On You both for the Schitt’s Creek fandom.]

What advice would you give to someone who’s thinking about publishing their fic for the first time?

This is going to sound super cliche but the fandom experience is whatever you make of it. Want to share your work with others? We’re here for it! Publish it and change your mind? Delete it! Asexual smut writer? Cool! Are the comments and kudos what keep you going? Reblog that fic from last month! Life’s too short to let a hobby make you unhappy or uncomfortable!

Plot vs vibes - pick one.

Hmm, I think vibes. Sure, a good plot will keep the pages turning (metaphorically), but when you find that fic that turns you into the human equivalent of the inside of a roasted marshmallow BUT IN THE BEST POSSIBLE GOOEY WAY? Heaven.

What parts of writing are easy for you? What parts are hard?

I’ll start with the hard part which is finding free time, inspiration, and motivation all lining up at the exact same time. It’s a miracle I’ve ever gotten anything accomplished at all. 

I would say the planning of a story is probably easiest for me. I’m a planner by nature so usually I’ll have a good idea of the progression of a story (in a bulleted outline, of course) before I even start writing any scenes in detail. 

In your mind, what’s the most important element of good writing?

Do your research and get your details correct! Whether it’s rewatching scenes so you know the character better, learning about a culture being represented, or whatever is relevant to your story, it’ll feel natural when it’s done well but it’s hard to ignore when it’s done badly. (This is not a callout of anything/anyone in the fandom! You’re all awesome!)

Tell me about one of your favorite headcanons.

Patrick is not actually allergic to cats, and he just freaked out because his crush’s sister started flirting with him. He has to come clean when David catches him feeding a friendly stray cat that hangs around outside their store. He and David have a minimum of 2 cats at all times post-canon.

What are your three favorite tropes?

This is so tough but I’ll say forced proximity, fake dating, and accidental confessions, but each with a healthy dose of mutual pining.

[mikkeneko]

Got tagged by @veliseraptor for a writing meme!

How many works do you have on AO3? What’s your total AO3 word count?

193 works over 10 fandoms;  2,591,823 words.

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

I would count 10 real ones. Dragon Age; Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle; Critical Role; Marvel Cinematic Universe; The Untamed; The Witcher; Cardcaptor Sakura; Fullmetal Alchemist; Gundam Wing; Weiss Kreuz. Some of these pre-date the existence of AO3, and some of them are better off that way.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

A Villain State of Mind; Cover Up the Sun; Laughing As I Pray; I do solemnly swear; The Morning After.  All Loki fandom fics. Not too surprising as that was the most mainstream fandom I wrote for, and they’ve been around for a while now, lots of time to accumulate stats.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I do! I have a somewhat complex set of criteria for when I respond and how. 

I will respond to all  comments left on works in my current/active fandom except  for: comments consisting entirely of emojis (mainly because I have no idea what to say to that) comments consisting of single words (same) or comments that seem to be about something other than my fic entirely or focus entirely on negativity (i.e., the commentor is using this box as a space to rant about how much they hate a character, the show, or another author/trope.)

I will usually but not always respond to comments on my next-to-last fandom. On older fandoms I will respond only  to especially long or thoughtful comments, or ones that specifically ask a question that I can answer.

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

That would have to be Rise From Ash,  the Loki timeloop fic I wrote in MCU. Since it was intended to lead into Avengers, it naturally had a downer ending since we know how Avengers went for Loki; but the story also ended with him having a major mental health break and resolving to kill himself in order to end the timeloop, so, uh, that was pretty unhappy.

Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I think that the Never Gonna Tell A Lie series has to qualify for this one by default; two fics of the “characters from wildly different series meet in a bar” format, spanning seven different franchises.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Occasionally. I can’t answer in a lot of detail because I make a conscious policy of thinking about these comments as little as possible, so I tend to forget the details. Off the top of my head I know I received a few comments on my MCU fics of people complaining that the fic was nothing more than a Thor-bashing exercise (it wasn’t intended as such, but you can’t control how the audience will receive, I guess.) And then there was the whole infamous “ableist torture porn of a mentally ill man” episode.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I can recall. It may have happened that I just don’t know about.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Have you ever had a fic translated?

A fair amount! Sometimes people will leave a comment asking permission to translate. I have always granted it. Sometimes they go through with the translation and sometimes not.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! In Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle I co-wrote a couple fics with @faux-fires which were a lot of fun. (Which... doesn’t seem to be on AO3, huh. But Not Quite Paradise  is still on ff.net.)  And more recently @cerusee and I have been trading scenes back and forth for each other’s stories.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

I don’t know if I have just one. Maybe Kurogane/Fai. They really manage to straddle all my favorite ship dynamics.

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

Both of my WIPs in Critical Role fandom, Molly’s Moving Castle and Fjord Mustang’s YEEHAW! Fun and Pony Ranch,  are at this point probably never going to be finished. Partly because of Characterization Marches On; the characters that I thought they were when I started writing were not the characters they ended up being in canon. But mostly just because I’m no longer really in the fandom. 

Wonder if it’s worth closing out the WIPs on AO3 with final chapters describing how the fic would have ended?

What are your writing strengths?

I can do humor, I can do horror, I can do heartbreak. I can write a complex outline and stick to it, I have a fair amount of discipline and perseverance. People occasionally compliment my character voice, so I’d say that’s decent. I can spin up a plot for just about any situation. I love  adapting canon to AU. My dialogue is pretty punchy and my action sequences are adequate.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I’m really bad at writing OCs, as I admit to every darn time this comes up. I’ve also recently realized that I have a strong tendency to avoid writing about characters I don’t like, on several fronts.

The first way that manifests is that if there’s a main/good guy character who the fandom likes and I dislike, I will avoid writing about them whenever possible. I don’t do character bashing. (Which means that if I am  writing about a protagonist character, even if they’re being a jerk and the narrative is whacking them for it, that doesn’t mean I hate the character. It just means that the story requires that they get a good whacking, Thor.)

But the second way this manifests is that I will often just... avoid writing about the bad guys, if they’re unpleasant and I dislike them. Which in shorter things is fine! We’re here to read about the characters we like.  But in longer or more plotful things, that means that all of the villain’s bad things happen off screen  if they happen at all, so the audience doesn’t get a chance to really build up anger against them, so their eventual downfall is less satisfying.

I’m also weaker at writing romance than I would like, I’d say. If it’s a story that has a plot, the romance will frequently get shoved in around the corners or at the last minute. If it’s a story that’s supposed to be about romance, the characters will usually sidetrack into having philosophical discussions about moral relativity when they’re supposed to be flirting.

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

I’m not sure I understand the question. I don’t think this has ever come up in my fic. I do not speak any other languages fluently enough to have ever tried to write any part of my fics, dialogue or otherwise, in a language other than english. Is this asking my thoughts on other  people doing that? Sure, why not?

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

That would have been Gundam Wing! Gosh, it’s been so long that I barely remember what  that first fic was. But the biggest thing I wrote for that fandom was a ghost story on a space station, which was not very good, objectively, but I look back on it and think it had some seeds of a pretty cool horror/psychological drama going there. 

Was Duo Maxwell really  haunting the space station? Or was Heero Yuy just going mad with grief? Who can say.

Tagging! Well, Lise tagged me, so she’s out. How about... @hollyand-writes (if you have the time to spare,) @curiosity-killed, @thethirdamell, @plotdesigner, and @cerusee ?

[rabbiteclair]

boop. new. fanfic.

The World, Upside Down

AO3 blurb:

This Gensokyo is not the original, but the result of somebody's failed attempt to rewrite existence.

This reality is broken, and soon it will fall apart.

In the weeks before that happens, shrine maiden Yukari Hakurei, ordinary magician Alice Kirisame, time-stopping maid Rin Izayoi, half-phantom swordswoman Komachi Konpaku, and living goddess Hatate Kochiya must either find a solution, or make their peace with whatever happens next.

I've already rambled a whole lot about my thought process behind the character picks over here. Beyond that, though: Remember when I posted Flatscreen, and I was like 'wow, the start of this thing was ancient, it's from 2015!'

My earliest crack at this story was last updated in 2014. Early 2014. It predates basically every fic of mine that people really remember except for possibly Dollmaker's Daughter. And, I got about 1/3 of a chapter in before I fumbled and realized that I liked the concept but had no idea what I was doing with it. Over the years, I've attempted to pick it back up, oh, probably half a dozen times? And always failed, because establishing an entire alternative Gensokyo thoroughly enough for people to care about the story was pretty daunting, and then making a plot on top of that to explain all of this was even harder.

My first solid outlines would have led to about a 100k-word story. But, that story also felt incomplete. It had a pretty abrupt ending, and the pacing felt off. So, after literal months of staring at notebooks every day and sketching out possible solutions, I did the only reasonable thing: I made it 50% longer to give stuff room to breathe. And that's why I've been writing it since fucking November 2019. Now you know why I barely published anything last year.

So, yeah. This thing is 150,000 words long. I'm posting ~12,500 words a week and it's still gonna be late March by the time it's finished. With all that length, it's a bit hard to succinctly describe what you can expect in here, but: if you generally liked The Death and Burial of Marisa Kirisame and Teeth and Claws, you'll probably like this too, because it hits a lot of the same emotions for me. If those were less upbeat than you normally like your Touhou, then you might be better off giving this one a pass.

On the other hand, I rewrote most of a chapter in here for a dumb joke about Komachi playing Uno with the goddesses of the Moriya shrine, so it isn't exactly all serious either.

file under:

Yukari being a vulnerable human, and one who actually cares, deep down. But also: you know how half of Yukari’s profiles are like ‘she is a crafty jerk who’s impossible to understand because she’s always up to something, and everybody groans when she shows up’? Yeah. I ended up so mad at her at one point that I had to stop writing for the night to calm down.

Alice being a socially inept nerd in new and exciting ways, despite being a lot more outgoing as a human incident resolver. Because what the kind of twenty-something who fights centuries-old monsters for a living really needs is an anxiety disorder.

Rin being the gothiest goth to ever goth, and simultaneously too wholesome for this corrupt planet when she isn't, like, collecting torture devices for the Aesthetic. And just having a whole lot of fun with this 'time-stopping, knife-throwing maid' thing.

Komachi being that friend who will help you move and then spend all weekend talking through your feelings after a breakup, but also just the worst fucking pick for a gardener imaginable. She slacked off on ferrying the souls of the dead, do you think she's gonna really commit herself to trimming hedges?

Hatate being a different kind of socially inept nerd from Alice. The kind of nerd who brought a years-long backlog of video games to a land of fantasy. The kind of nerd who still gets annoyed that nobody in Gensokyo understands her cool and good references to Groundhog Day (1993.)

in which Alice meets herself in a decaying timeline, Mamizou builds the worst ferris wheel, Yukari's history as an embarrassing teenager becomes public knowledge, everybody picks on human book nerd Rinnosuke, Komachi uses half of her soul as a pool toy, Rin makes crappy dirty jokes in French, Hatate discovers her terminal weakness to aloof redheaded swordswomen, and Akyuu gets to enjoy being a healthy adult for the first time in a millennium of existence.

[scone-lover]

Happy Birthday to Holding Out For a Hero!!! ❤️

art by @subparselkie

I published the first chapter of my longest and most popular fic just about a year ago! And I bet you always wanted to see some shitty outlines. Right? Just giving the people what they want. My brain is chaos and now you all have to be subject to it. Strap in, boys. 😂 Everything’s below the cut!

Read Holding Out for a Hero on AO3

This fic was born because I saw a tumblr post about a hero and villain who are roommates and I just had to Snowbazzify it. I had so many random ideas in my brain, and I’d been engaging with fan content for the CO fandom for a few months now.

So I started off by opening a blank document and writing the Prologue, featuring Shep. I had a few basic facts in mind: Shepard’s a reporter, Simon’s a hero, Baz is a villain, Mage is an evil mayor. And that’s. Literally it. I made it up as I went along. I actually still do that with fics, even though I do try to outline in more detail now—I have to write a scene or two that’s been bouncing around in my head to get a feel for the story, then I can give it a direction.

The document is 337 pages on google docs, LOL. 

Here’s the first ever set of notes I had. I wrote this on March 29, 2020, directly after typing out the Prologue! 

Like I said, absolute chaos. The third Simon bullet point originally said something like “also I’m a superhero and only Penny knows,” then the following day I changed it to “but he’s so handsome? what do???” 

I didn’t publish the prologue until writing 5-6 additional chapters, but I think the only major change was going from Baz being “The Vampire” to just “Vampire.”

Chapter 1 was originally called “not a bloody avenger” before I decided to do the rhyming thing. I actually decided that because I wrote “counter spray and earl grey” down for chapter 2, unintentionally rhyming it, and then @ashspren-writes was like, “you should make them all rhyme”... so I did. 😂 For 25 more chapters.

I have a section labeled “quickie backgrounds” in which I finally sat down halfway through writing Chapter 2 (the blade/vamp fight) and said to myself, okay, maybe they should have backstories or something. Or like, reasons for being the hero and villain. Right, yeah, those would be good to make this into a coherent story. In the first version of that, Simon was a sports coach on the side, not a baker, and Baz was an English teacher. LOL. 

Once I had all that, I literally just wrote for four days. There’s a weird kind of magic to your first-ever fic for a fandom. All your ideas and thoughts and wishes for these characters comes to a head as you suddenly have an outlet for the first time. It’s why I think people’s first works are often their best or most creative or most profound. The first couple chapters took some time and a couple 1am epiphanies, but once I got into a rhythm it was quick going. I wrote a lot of it in a linear manner, but after writing the first Simon/Baz scene (watching the news together in the flat), I doubled back and added Simon going to Penny’s house after meeting the Mage so that I could work her in as a character earlier.

Fast forward to April 5, I had 5-ish chapters written? I thought this fic would have like... 10 total. And be less than 20k. Haha. Ha. I asked @ashspren-writes to beta read for me - I’d been bouncing ideas off her since the beginning - and then I started brainstorming titles. 

The list actually started with that second one. It took a whole 24 hours to decide on the final title. 😂 I thought it might be too cheesy. But hey, it worked out -- now I can’t open AO3 without the damn song getting stuck in my head. 

I worked a LOT with my friend @ashspren-writes on this fic - we were friends long before fandom, and she was the only person I knew at the time who had read CO and was involved in the fandom. I didn’t even have a tumblr at this point, I interacted mostly through Instagram and AO3!

On April 6, right before I posted, I realized that if I was going to actually put this on AO3 I should probably know where the story was going. So I made sure Chapters 1-6 were complete, then I wrote one bullet point per chapter up until 12 or so -- you can read those below.

Then I texted ashspren THIS mess:

Some silly notes:

Then I have a section that says “Why do they even have roommates?” because it was a few chapters in and I hadn’t justified richboy Baz and superhero Simon... living together. Cool cool cool

I also did this cool little writing experiment I want to share. Remember that line in Fangirl that’s like—“Once Cath wrote what she thought was a swordfight, and Wren turned it into a love scene.” (Or maybe it was the other way around? LOL.) Anyway, there’s swordfights in this, AND love scenes, so I wanted to do a play on that for two alternate ways Simon might figure it out.

I have a huge Deleted Section in which I wrote an alternate version of Simon and Baz finding out about their secret identities. I have one version where Baz figures it out first—it’s a very tropey yet angsty scene where Simon comes home totally wrecked from a fight, and Baz realizes as he’s helping with the wounds that he caused them. I actually like it a lot, but it ended up not quite fitting with the vibe of the fic (and I rather like them finding out through kissing better). :) I also had an idea where Simon figures it out because Vampire smells like cedar and bergamot, but it really just wasn’t interesting enough. 😂

Now onto... Outlines. 

I say that hesitantly because I think these are literally a disgrace to outlines everywhere. These are the baby ones I wrote on April 6 right before posting. Some are more detailed than others, clearly...

Gotta live up to my username somehow. 

We do love to see it. ​

I love this next one: 😂 CHAOS, SCONEY.

THEN, I wrote this as a very long text to ashspren, when I realized no sconey, this is not going to be under 20k words. LOL. 

And then I did A Dumb Thing and I put it on AO3, having absolutely NO CLUE WHERE THE STORY WAS GOING. 😂 

This is my favorite heading on the document.

Another one of my favorite notes in there.

This next part wasn’t even divided into chapters yet, it’s just a word vomit. I’m so sorry you have to read this mess.

Hahaha, once upon a time there was angst in this story. 😂 

And then I realized my true calling: bakery fluff.

Then and only then, I actually decided to divide into those things called Chapters. This is the point where I made the admission to mr scone (boyfriend, not husband lol, we just call him that) that I write gay fanfiction, whoops, and can he please help me because he’s a HUGE DC comics fan and knows everything. And of course, he was super chill about it, and he did. He really did. He’s the genius behind Egghead!!! And also the entire Mage-Humdrum-Supercomputer/Politics plot. I’m serious. I did none of that.

I can’t even say I’m trying anymore. “Flort”??? I AM LITERALLY NOT TRYING.

Why yes sconey, so very specific. 😂 

This is what qualifies as a “good” outline for me, that heading was just for my betas. Isn’t it fabulous to see that some of this actually made it in and I’m capable of planning in advance? 😂 

Get ready for the shock of your life, though -- I actually have a SUUUUPER detailed outline for the two finale chapters. Because, well, it’s the finale. Wrapping up loose ends does actually require planning, WHO KNEW. Also I’d been writing and posting for a couple months at this point and it had been several more weeks in quarantine so maybe I’d regained some sense of reality? It’s like two pages but still shittily written, so I’ll just share a couple tidibits.

That bullet point is extraordinarily cracky BUT actually, Baz shooting up from the cloud like an awesome fucking hot dramatic person was one of the very first scenes I envisioned for this fic :D 

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my writing brain! It’s a terrifying place. I love all of you that say Holding Out For a Hero is a well-crafted masterpiece, but respectfully, no ❤️ 

(Though I swear I AM super, super happy with how it turned out - it’s still my favorite thing I’ve ever written. Read it here!!!)

[chuuyagum]

I'm the anon who sent the ask about your writing process for WGYTR, sorry it took long to reply but it was so fun and interesting reading about it😍 Do you also have the plot planned out for your other fics too? 👀

glad to hear from you again anon! hopefully my answer wasn't too messy lmao 🤣

i absolutely do! tbh WGYTR was a massive learning process for me in terms of planning fic - i hadn't written any since i was in high school, and i don't even remember my pseudo for those. theyre effectively lost within the archive lmao. i honestly hadn't been in a fandom in a really long time that actually made me want to produce fan content till i picked up Dr. Stone, and even then i stuck to only consuming fan content from when i watched S1 when it aired till even after S2 came out. it wasn't till i started the manga in March that i decided i needed to contribute

so, bc of how little planning i genuinely put into WGYTR at the start, i think my other fics are more carefully planned out and ive learned the best process that works for me. "A smile just as sweet as sin" for instance is largely already entirely outlined, which is something i didn't do for WGYTR from the beginning. ive tweaked the smaller points here and there, but the larger elements are set in stone (horrible pun, forgive me). i've kinda neglected "Mecha-Senku and the magic of lying" bc my life has gotten pretty busy, but i continue to work on the outline so i'll have it ready for when i can dedicate more time to writing it. i also have 2 more Dr. Stone fics planned that i'll get to down the road, one SenGen and one KohaSenGen

that came out more wordy than i planned but fjfjfjsn if you have other questions i'm always happy to chat! 🥰

[echo-bleu]

I love your writing! So i was wondering what kind of process you use from idea to posting. Im super interested because some wing it..while others have outlines and very methodical ways to bring their work to life.

Thank you!!!

My process feels a little different for every fic, but I’ll try to walk you through it. I’ll take our hands clasped so tight as the example, because it’s perhaps the most representative (my other long WIPs are both fusions, so it was a little different). Under a cut because it got long.

I’m not a huge plotter. I wouldn’t say I’m a pantser exactly, because I tend to write non-linearly so I can’t quite just let the story go unchecked, but @eveningspirit tried to make me get into complicated planning methods and it failed spectacularly (sorry, love, I’m joking). I’m a perfectionist, but I’m really not methodical, even though I feel the appeal of it, it just doesn’t work when I try to do detailed outlines.

[violence and child abuse] The first idea I had for Hands was Jesse Manes really injuring Alex that day in the shed. It’s been on my mind ever since I first watched 1x06, but I didn’t have any solid ideas. It cropped up in setting fire to our insides (for fun) and at least a couple of my Whumptober fics, where Alex recounts Jesse beating him up and breaking bones. When I had the idea of taking his canonically choking Alex further, I realized that it was very similar to @aewriting‘s fic I Know Nothing Stays the Same. I don’t know how much of that was inspiration and how much was just parallel thinking (great minds, right?). As it may be apparent in my fics, I write disabled characters. A lot. And I write whump. So having Alex be disabled from what his father did wasn’t much of a reach from there. To give you a timeline, that was around when season 2 started, so mid-March-ish.

The second part of that idea, that tied up with it: one thing I wanted to write, and still do, is a fic where Alex and Michael have both stopped playing music completely since that day, and later use music to heal and get together. So, coupling the two ideas together: Alex loses his voice and Michael the use of his hand means they both lose their music. This thing they loved.

It evolved quite a bit from there, of course. Alex can’t sing anymore, but he also hasn’t stopped making music. I spent a while researching choking injuries (my search history is wild) and the possible consequences, how it could evolve over ten years, etc. From there, I wanted Michael to be completely unaware of it. Since Alex was in the hospital/in treatment for a long time and thus couldn’t leave Roswell, Michael had to leave. I gave him the life I think he could have had if Rosa hadn’t died, and thus didn’t kill Rosa. Michael being autistic is a headcanon/idea (it’s not a headcanon per say because I don’t think he is in canon, but there were possible indications) that I’ve had for a while too, so this was my chance to fit it in, as I love writing autistic characters.

When I get to this point, my process is to write down everything I can think of (on any scale: general plot points, backstories, details, pieces of dialogue) in no order whatsoever in a new file. Then I slide into @eveningspirit‘s DMs and talk her head off. I think she liked this particular idea :) She asked some pertinent questions, which got me to think about things like what happened to Jesse, whether Noah was there and good or bad, and so on. Putting these together, I (we, really) came up with more backstory ideas that I won’t go into because they’re spoilers ;)

I came up with the music therapy idea, and Rosa as the therapist, and off I went to write the first chapter. It came together pretty fast, and honestly easily. I talked to some other friends on Discord who helped me come up with a song for the first chapter. The second chapter was a little harder, but most of it was backstory, and I had it down. @eveningspirit (again ;D) looked through the first chapter and said she liked it, so I went ahead and posted it (in early April). Then things slowed down to a halt. I wasn’t in a great mental state and couldn’t write much, though I never stopped thinking, and 2x06 rolled around which threw me off for a while. The other thing is, I still didn’t have any real sense of a plot. I’m really good at coming up with backstories and not at all with plot, lol. I posted the second chapter at some point without really making progress on the third. The third chapter has a therapy scene that was hard to write (I want to thank @usbournejez and @brightloveee for checking it for me). But I kept thinking about it all, often in the morning while I shower and have breakfast. Usually I come up with plot points or lines of dialogue and often I’ve forgotten them by the time I can get behind my computer. But I write them down when I can. That’s how my writing becomes non-linear, since one of the first things I wrote will end up in, like, chapter 15. It’s just snippet, but they give me a sense of where I’m going.

When I get stuck, I just repeat the same steps. Go to @eveningspirit. Figure plot out. Write. Get stuck. Go to es again. Check with my friends whether you can see if someone is only on FaceTime. Research chronic lung infections some more. Write more. Try to write an entire Skype call without revealing who is on the other end. (Literally what I did last night and tonight). Something like Alex talking with Kate Long in chapter 4 just popped out of my screen and was completely unplanned. Other things are planned that won’t happen for a while. But I don’t have any real sense of, say, how many chapters there will be to this story. I know more or less where it ends. I know of two major events to come. I have pages of backstory and worldbuilding. I have maybe a quarter of chapter 5 written.

Planning for a story like setting fire to our insides (for fun) was very different, because I knew from the start that it was going to be non-linear. So I just started by randomly writing scenes I thought about. I did this for months before I really figured out how to frame it with Isobel going into Alex’s mind. This story had no plan whatsoever, and when I started posting, all I had were half a dozen random scenes and an ending. I have about the same for the sequel, so far :)

I hope this kind of answered your question! It’s ridiculously long, I guess I’m just in an oversharing mood tonight.

[t100ficrecsblog]

an interview with sapphictomaz (they/them) what are you working on right now? Right now I’m working on finishing a fic called “toward eternity,” a canon divergence fic that features an immortal Murphy. There’s only one more chapter that I need to write and post, which feels weird, since I’ve been working on this one fic for the past three months or so. It’s been a long process consisting of obsessing over immortality lore and reading old wiki pages to refresh my memory of plotlines from seasons ago, but it’s also been really fun to completely immerse myself in one project. In that sense, I almost don’t want it to end - once the full fic is out there, and it’s all finished, it’s going to be hard to let it go. I’m going to miss it, but I’m also excited for people to read it in all its glory.

what’s something you’d like to write one day? This is tough - I don’t have a well of ideas to draw on. When I get a good idea for a fic, I generally plan and write it right away, rather than dwell on it. I tend to obsess over my ideas, too, so while I’m writing one fic it’s very difficult to think of a plot for another one. Still, I have been toying with the bare bones outline of a mythology au fic, where Murphy would be an exiled & fallen god and Bellamy is an unsuspecting mortal that gets dragged along on his quest to save the universe. This may or may not ever get written, but the idea and universe that goes along with it makes me smile.

what is the fanwork you’re most proud of? Definitely a fic I wrote called “i’d still choose you.” It’s a mythology au where a mortal Bellamy goes on a quest to save his best friend from the Underworld, only to fall in love with cursed demigod named Murphy and save several people’s lives along the way, mostly by accident. I normally write from Murphy’s perspective, but for this fic I wrote from Bellamy’s point of view, which was challenging because I feel less in touch with his character, but I’m really proud of the way he, and the whole universe, turned out. Greek mythology has been something I've loved for years, so it was a lot of fun melding the world of those myths with the world of t100. At the time, it had also been my longest fic I’d ever written, and I got really great feedback on it, so it’s something that makes me smile whenever I think about it.

why did you first start writing fic? Honestly, I think because I daydream a lot. I started writing fic back in 2012 or so, originally for a book series I was reading at the time called “House of Night.” A character was killed off in the series, and I wanted to ‘fix’ that plotline. I originally imagined lots of scenarios in which that character could have lived, and then one day, I sat down and just wrote out one of these scenarios. Literally the definition of “if the author isn’t going to do it right, then I will.” Only after writing that first fic did I realize that this was something other people did, too, and after I read a lot more fic, it gave me the courage and inspiration to post my own. Luckily for me, I’ve gotten a lot of good comments over the years, which makes it easier to keep going.

what frustrates you most about fic writing? I think the expectations around it. I love feedback and interaction with readers, of course, but there have been times when I feel pressured to update and post in a certain time frame, or if updates aren't long enough I feel bad about that, too. That's my own fault, more than anything. I have to remind myself that fic writing is done for free, and the only expectations I have to rise to are my own. If I'm happy, then it works - but often this is easy to forget.

what are your top five songs right now?     Capable - the Wild Reeds

Famy - Ava

There’s Still a Light in the House - Valley

Give Yourself a Try - the 1975

First - Cold War Kids

what are your inspirations (books, songs, other fic)? Songs are definitely my biggest inspirations for fics. Almost every single fic I write has its own soundtrack that I listen to while writing. Poetry is also a big inspiration for me. I think a lot of the time, a mixture of both song lyrics and poetry lines inspire me the most. For instance, in my current project "toward eternity," I was heavily inspired by the song "When The Angels Sing," by Social Distortion. I also was heavily inspired by Emily Dickinson's poem "Because I Could Not Stop For Death." The very last line of that poem ("I first surmised the Horses' Heads / Were toward Eternity") inspired the title and general themes. So, it's a combination of listening to songs and reading poems at the same time.

what attracts you to Murphamy? what first attracted you? I think I was attracted to Murphamy because I love Murphy, and I think a lot of Murphamy fans would feel similarly. Murphy's been my favourite character throughout the entire series. When looking at his character arc and journey throughout the show, it's impossible to study it without seeing the impact Bellamy has had on him. Especially during earlier seasons, they've had such a fascinating push-pull dynamic with each other that I love to explore in fic. It was during the cliff scene in 2x04 that I really noticed this - that scene is so ripe with symbolism that I still watch it to get inspired. And, I mean, who doesn't like a good, well-developed enemies-to-lovers?

Besides Murphamy, what’s your favorite ship in t100? Clexa, for sure. I loved Lexa even before Clexa happened, and then when it did, I was so invested in their relationship and dynamic that, five years later, I'm still obsessed with them. Since I mostly write Murphamy, I do my best to include at least a crumb of Clexa in all my fics because I love them so much. Another t100 ship I really love that I wish got more attention is Remori! I think they're really fun together and bring out the best in each other, and most of all, they support and encourage each other to be better. They're a really interesting pair I wish we saw interact more.

how did you first decide you wanted to write for the Chopped challenge? My friend Elle (hopskipaway) introduced me to it, actually! She'd been an active participant before I had ever heard of it, so I started following it through her. I first wrote for the Holiday Exchange challenge, which was really cool. I'd been in fic exchanges before, but I liked that the Chopped element made it so the fics were specifically tailored to what the participants wanted to see. The environment was really encouraging and supportive, which influenced me to sign up for the Chopped March Madness, too, which was lots of fun!

what’s your Chopped! process like? or is it different every round? This is going to sound weird, but honestly, my Chopped process is...not having a process. I read the list of tropes & ships that have to be included, and then I leave it completely alone for at least a day. Generally I form a base idea just looking at the trope list, but even if I don't, I let them ruminate in my head and then after a while, a plot idea comes to me. I think taking a step back from the pressures of a challenge like that allows me to be fully creative, which in the end, results in a better end product.

what are some things you’d like to recommend? There are so many lovely other fic authors out there I couldn't name them all if I tried. Still, some of my all time favourite authors on ao3 are: blueparacosm, hopskipaway, oogaboogu, sadie18, & maunwocha. They've all got lots of lovely writing that I thoroughly enjoy, and I've had the pleasure to get to know them all, and they're lovely people, too. They all deserve the most love and support possible.

as always, I am delighted to interview another member of the popular Murphy-centric fic-writing conglomerate. they all have such different styles and are so excellent in their own way! “toward eternity” is on my weekend reading list to re-read and comment on every chapter, but “you can bloom again” was the first sapphictomaz fic I ever read and remains my favorite. It’s Harper/Clarke and was written for Chopped!, and at the risk of sounding cliched, it’s a very fresh take on both of these characters. Also, a road trip at the end of the world. you can find them on Twitter here, or find them here on Tumblr @lexasheart. 

[cilliansaccent]

The Peaky Designer - Cillian Fanfic, Chapter 4

Hello, welcome back. Below is the next instalment of my fanfiction!

Leave a like or a comment if you liked it, or if I can do anything better! Please, it would mean the world and to understand if anyone is enjoying my writing. Also, sharing/reblogging would be even better.

PLEASE READ:

I will not be including Cillian’s family as it’s kinda weird since he has children lmao. Just a mention of his parents and a previous lover.

I will indicate in a chapter if there is smut in the beginning and before the actual scene!!

I will add trigger warnings if there is any!!

There is a variety of levels of swearing during a chapter, I will not hold back, everyone swears.

The timestamp for the Fic is now 2016 and onwards!! 

——- ——- ——- ——- ——- ——- ——- ——- ——- ——- ——- ——- ——-

Background: Gabrijela Babic is a Croatian girl from Sydney, Australia. She is born in the year 1991 on the 24th of December. She studies a Fashion degree in a University with a major in Game Design as well. Her teacher in the fashion designer class managed to nail an Internship on the set of Peaky Blinders with the shows very own Costume Designer, Allison McCosh. There, she travels to London for under a year to learn how to be one, working alongside the actors as well the man she admires, Cillian Murphy. But, her platonic feelings for the man begins to grow into something more, and she wonders whether she should pursue them or let him go for fear of her strict parents and her three older brothers…

Characters:

Swantje Paulina as Gabrijela Babic (swalina on Instagram)

Cillian Murphy

Word Count: 5,000

!!Warnings!!: It's getting hot here! Some decent smut at the end, starts after they are in bed together. Enjoy *winks*. 

Date: March 2016

Chapter Name: The Shelby Clan

Brief Chapter Outline: First day being the apprentice as a Peaky Designer, Gabrijela meets the cast and the crew in a jam-packed day, while also making some friends. She ends up staying in Cillian's trailer on set with some red wine that will question their actions later...

——- ——- ——- ——- ——- ——- ——- ——- ——- ——- ——- ——- ——-

The drive towards Manchester was quite pleasant, the roads were empty in the morning so the run was smooth. 

Gabrijela had packed her laptop and documents last night as she knew she wouldn't have much time to pack in the morning. And it was true. 

Five minutes past five, Allison was at the door, ringing the bell. Gabrijela had rushed down after she had changed into high-waist blue jeans, a black turtle neck tucked in and a light brown coat on top and her favourite Doc Martins. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun with a cream coloured scrunchie. 

She wore a gold chain with a small gold cross, her mother gave it to her for good luck and protection despite Gabrijela not really that of a holy person. 

They didn't stop, only for a toilet break and to grab a snack bar but it was right through to the cit up north. 

They arrived at the destination just before eleven. It was pretty full-on once they came, "Today is the only exception where I will drive you here. You'll have to catch the train here, and I may or may not be able to drive you back." Allison had explained as they headed in where they would dress the actors up. 

But first stop, Gabrijela was to be introduced to the team, the producers and all that. While she was taken away, Allison headed off to ready the actors and actresses. 

Gabrijela was informed in the meeting of her secrecy of the plot and the ideas of Season three. But they made sure to not spook her too much. She was given the lay down of the rules and regulations, but overall, she was kind of free to roam long as she told someone where she was going. 

The crew was quite nice, and once of the assistance people took her on a trip around. 

Logan, a tall, handsome man with such deep ocean blue eyes and thick black curly hair. He was dressed in a casual suit, round gold glasses sat on his straight nose and he had a boyish smile. He was turning twenty-seven in a week. 

"Got anything planned for the birthday?" She asked as they came outside to where men and women moved stuff around or put things together. 

"Uh, not really. Probably go to a pub around here for some drinks and cake with my mates." He said with a shrug and a shy smile. 

"Will your parents come?" She asked. He had told her he was from Scotland, as per his accent told her already before he could tell her. 

"Oh no, no. They can't afford it, but I will make it up for Pa's fifty-eighth birthday next month." He said, his smile bright, making the corners of his eyes to crinkle. 

"Oh, that's good. How long have you been working here?" She asked, curious about his line of work. 

"Since season one. I worked in various jobs before and throughout, gaining as much knowledge and experience possible. You need a lot of experience as a Set Designer, and I pushed myself to be the very best and somehow caught the eyes of the Director." He explained as they headed back inside. 

"So cool." She whispered, "Is the job stressful?" 

"Can be. You need to be thorough, and to know what needs to go where, when and how. Today we will be setting up the opening scene, could be changed entirely tomorrow if it doesn't flow. I gotta be on my feet at all times, but I love it. The creativity that brings about in me as if some flood gate exploded open." He said with such passion. 

She giggled softly and they continued to walk around before he was called back to start on the set. 

They bid farewell and she headed to where Allison said she was and directed. 

She entered the large trailer and she had stopped in her tracks at what she saw. 

The actors were all crammed in, well, most of them, mostly the men where. The director was there to listen in on what Allison was talking about. 

Gabrijela couldn't move. She felt like a deer in headlights, her nerves rattling through her. 

She wasn't sure if she was suddenly up for this. This whole thing seemed like a dream and here she was, among the cast and the crew. 

Cillian spotted Gabrijela enter and smiled, "Sorry to interrupt but Gabrijela is here." He said, moving through the boys and came to her. 

"Hey. You alright?" He asked softly, taking her arm gently. 

"Y-Yeah, I think so." She said nodding her head. 

She was swept into introductions and everyone seemed thrilled for her to be here. Cillian stuck to her side since he could tell she was apprehensive. 

And then it was time to get into the business. 

Gabrijela worked with Allison closely, following her orders. She was to help the boys dress into the right outfits and have the next ones on hand when it came to a new scene. 

It was none stop, and hectic. She had spotted Logan every now and then and got peaks of him setting up props and all that. 

But she was brought back to her own area and watched and listened to the other creative artists such as the make up artists and the hairstylists. 

When it was break time in the mid-afternoon, she realised she hadn't made food for herself. And she was to shy to even ask for the on-site food if it was available for her too. 

But she didn't need to fret too much when Cillian, all decked out in his Tommy outfit came over to her. 

"Thought I'd bring you this." He said and handed her a fairly large box. 

"What is it?" The smell that came from it was so good. 

"One of the guys ordered this from some local restaurant near here. Got it for all of us." He said. 

She opened it. It was stirfry noodles, rice, dumplings and spring rolls. 

"Oh, it smells so good!" She said. 

"Yeah. Come on, let's go join the others." He said and she followed him to a different trailer where she could hear voices from within. 

"Cillian. I-I don't know." She paused outside her heart racing. 

"Hey. It's alright, don't be scared." He faced her, "I'm here okay?" 

She sighed and nodded and walked in with him. 

Introductions went around again, and the general questions of herself began via the boys. She ate in between questions and answered them happily. 

She was still shy but she began to open up and feel more at ease. Cillian and Paul got lost in their own conversation and she chatted with Harry for a bit. 

But it wasn't long when lunch was over and it was back to work. 

Evening...

It was time to call it a night. Gabrijela was exhausted after a long, busy day. 

She was in Allison's trailer, finishing up her report of today. 

The door opened and Cillian popped his head in, "Thought I'd find you here." He came in, closing the door behind him. 

"Oh hey." She turned and smiled, "How are you?" 

"Ah, fucking tuckered." He said and sat across from her. He had changed back to his usual outfit of a blue shirt, jacket and jeans. 

"I could imagine. I saw you working hard." She closed her laptop when she saved her document. 

"Yeah. So you staying here or are you heading home?" He asked. 

"Heading back to London." She said, tucking her laptop into her backpack. 

"What? It's almost eight. It'll be too late for you." He frowned, "I've got plenty of room in my trailer-"

"No, it's okay. It'd be to much trouble." She shakes her head, "Besides, I have no other clothing with me. Would look bad if I rocked up again tomorrow in the same shit." 

"Fuck." He cursed softly, "I don't want you to go home alone." 

"Cilly," She murmured his nickname again, she took his hand, "It'll be okay. I'll call you when I get on, we can keep talking right through the trip." 

He held her hand with both his hands, "No. Stay." He insisted. 

She sighed, running a hand through her hair as she sat back. "It would look so weird if I came out of your trailer, Cillian. I don't want to give you a bad representation." She said softly. "Look, thank you for the offer, but I can't be late for the train." She stood, pulling on her backpack. 

"I will be safe," She said and headed to the door. 

"Gabrijela." He went to her and grabbed her, turning her back around. "Please." He shook her arm a little. He was persistent, and he wasn't going to give up. 

She shook her head and sighed. She stepped into his arms and hugged him tightly, "Cillian, don't you stress. I'm a big girl." 

His arms moved around her waist and he hugged her close, "I know. But I worry, and it's late." 

Allison had opened the door and stepped into the trailer, "Gabrijela- Oh!" She gasped. 

The pair hastily pulled back and Gabrijela's cheeks heated. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to walk in on..." She trailed off. 

"Just having a heart to heart, Al. Nothing to worry." Cillian wrapped an arm around Gabrijela's shoulder and hugged her a little. 

"Okay, well. I need to drop her off at the station." She said. 

"She can't stay here?" Cillian asked. 

"I mean, she can if she wanted to. Gabrijela?" Allison looked at her. 

"It's only two hours to London, I'll be okay." Gabrijela shook her head. 

"She can stay with me. I can make the dining table into a bed and she can have the main one." Cillian spoke before Gabrijela could. 

"Well, it is up to her, Cillian." Allison said, "Are you worried about something?" Allison added. 

Gabrijela looked between the two and let out a sigh through her nose, "I didn't pack properly. I don't have clean clothing is my main concern." She looked down at her feet. 

God, she was a mess, her mind was going a million miles an hour. 

"That's okay. I got a shirt you could fit for tomorrow, I'll let you off early so you can go back to London to prepare better for the next day." Allison offered, coming over and placing a hand on her shoulder. 

"Are you sure?" She asked, looking up with worrisome eyes. 

"I'm sure. Here." Allison went through her small wardrobe she had in the trailer and handed her a shirt. "This should do. Cillian will take you to his sleeping quarters." She gave Gabrijela an encouraging and caring smile. 

"Thank you, I appreciate it," Gab said and left with Cillian, heading to his trailer. 

"Anytime. I didn't feel comfortable you heading home so late." He held open the door for her to go in. 

She walked in, the trailer was clean and smelled like him. "Such a worrisome boy." She poked him when he walked by. 

"Can't help it. I've heard things and you're..." He trailed off, his brows furrowed a little. 

"I'm... what?" She set her bag on the table. 

"Ah," he huffed, "I'd be kicking myself if you got hurt." He said, eyes darting away from her. 

She saw he wanted to say something but she wasn't going to pressure him in it. "Thank you, Cillian." She stepped to him, touching his cheek and turning his gaze back to her. "Next time, I'll bring an extra set of clothes just in case." She nodded and stepped back from him. 

"Good idea. Now, I have some two-minute noodles and good red wine. Want some?" He asked. 

"Sure. I love me some noodles and red wine." She nodded and removed her back from the table and to the bed at the end of the trailer. It was huge, it could easily fit them both. 

She could offer him to stay in the bed with her, it wouldn't be the first. "Cillian." She called out. 

"Yeah?" He replied, fixing up the noodles and boiling the water. 

"Um... Look... Uh... The bed, it's uh, big. We could um... you know..." She blushed and stuttered a little. 

"What? Is there something wrong?" He came into the room with her, looking at the bed then back to her. 

"No, nothing is wrong with it." She ran a hand through her hair which she had let out. "Oh, god actually- Forget about it. Don't worry." She shook her head quickly. 

"No, tell me. It's fine, darling." The word came out without a second thought and it made things more awkward than anything. 

"U-Uhm, we could share the uh, the bed. You know. We could put a pillow wall between us or something if you like or we could just stick to our sides but that's up to you." She rushed in a single breath. 

"Share a bed? I mean, we can. No issue there." He laughed nervously, "But wouldn't you prefer it all to yourself?" 

"I guess so, but I don't think sleeping on the table thing over there would be too comfortable. Besides, you gotta wake up early so you need a good night's sleep." She said, gulping. 

"That is true." He returned back to the noodles, pouring the hot water in each bowl, "Alright. I'll take up on your offer. But we don't need a pillow wall. It's not the first time." He said with a deep chuckle. 

She blushed madly and sat down in the little booth, "Shut up." She muttered. 

It wasn't long when the noodles were ready and they had popped open a bottle of red. 

"Welcome to the Shelby Clan." Cillian grinned and held up a glass and she did the same and they clinked. 

"Thank you." She said and dug in. 

"So how are you feeling after today?" He asked once they finished eating. 

"Tired. And stressed." She said, "It was so full-on."

"Yeah. But you did a good job, Gab. Dressed me well and the others." He took a sip of his glass. 

"You think so?" She asked. 

"Of course! But don't be so nervous around us eh? We are regular people." He said, "Give it a few day's, you'll be relaxed." 

"Okay. Yeah, it's only the first day." She accepted with a drink of her wine. 

He noticed she was already almost done with her wine, and he was the same. "Here." He refilled their glasses. 

"Oh damn. We drinking tonight, hm?" Gabrijela gave him a playful smirk. 

"We might." He said, "But I might take a shower, or would you like to go first?" He asked. 

"I'll go first." She said, "I'll be quick." She took a sip of her wine and stood up. She could feel a buzz. 

Cillian showed her the shower and she quickly washed up. She had one fresh set of underwear always tucked in her bag, and like the idiot she was, she forgot to bring them in. 

She wrapped the towel around her body and peaked her head out, Cillian wasn't in and she took that chance to get out. She went for her bag and yanked out the high waisted silk garment and began to pull them up. 

Cillian had walked back in after his call and let out a gasp when he saw Gabrijela. The poor girl yelped in fright when he returned and she dropped her towel as she stumbled back from her loss of balance. 

She hit her back on the wall and groaned and let out a soft laugh. 

"Shit. Gab you alright?" He came through the threshold and let out a cry, "Jesus! Sorry!" He covered his eyes and backed up when he saw her naked body. 

"Yeah, I'm okay." She got up and pulled on her underwear. Her jumper and her jeans were back on and she came back out, "Sorry." She was red as ever as she returned to her spot. 

"No, no. Don't be. I didn't mean to spook you." He rubbed his nose, his mind whirling. She didn't just have freckles on her face, but along those lovely full breasts, and the plane of her stomach- 

He let out a choke and rubbed the back of his neck, "Anyway, uh, you'll be sleeping in that?" He looked at her, his body reacting in a way he hadn't felt for a long time. 

"Uh, yeah. I guess so. Why?" She asked she saw that heated look in his eyes. That desire. And her body warmed, she remembered her dreams. 

"I could give you one of my shirts? Would be comfortable than jeans." He said. 

His shirt? Oh, Lord, save her. But she found herself nodding, "I'll give it back." She said. 

He nodded and fetched her a shirt, "Here" He handed her a dark navy blue shirt. 

"Thanks. Did you want a refill?" She nodded to his glass. 

"Uhm... Yeah, why not." He said before he turned and took a quick shower as she refilled his glass, topped hers and got into bed with his shirt on. 

He came out with a white t-shirt and black boxer shorts that had little pineapples. 

"Nice shorts." She laughed softly as she set her phone down and picked up her glass. 

"Thanks. My brother got it for me last Christmas." He laughed as he shut up the trailer and turned off the lights before he returned to the small bedroom, pulling the shutter close. 

"Lovely." She sipped her glass as she watched him get into bed. 

Both of them sat upright, her bedside light was only on. 

"To another day." She said once he got himself comfortable and clinked glasses with him. 

"To another day indeed." He took a good drink of his glass. 

She could feel the buzz started, and she began to talk about a moment in her life which was quite hilarious. 

They chatted about anything, about life, about her school, her friends, family. And she learned of his first lover, and how she broke his heart. 

"So you've been single for five years now?" She asked in shock. She was a little tipsy, as well as Cillian. They did finish a second bottle. 

"Yeah. Haven't found someone yet or have anyone in mind as of now. Dated some but their intentions weren't true. I'm after someone who is... real. Who cares more about personality rather than how much money is in my pocket." He said. 

Cillian was on his side and Gabrijela on her back. 

"Damn. I'm sorry. But you'll find that person, everyone does." She said, looking up at him. The low light brought out the harsh angles of his face, making him look scarily handsome. 

"I hope so. What about you?" He asked. 

"Me? Ah, it's been a year since I broke up with my ex. I was with him for three years." She murmured. 

"Huh. Three? What made it break?" He asked, "Oh, only if you want to answer it." 

"It's okay. He uh... cheated on me, and did the blaming game on me. Convinced me I wasn't giving him any satisfaction when it came to sex. He was fucking this slut for a year without my knowledge. My bestie told me. She saw it happen." She looked away. Since then, she hadn't had sex with anyone or got anywhere close. She had freaked out every time, too ashamed of herself. 

Cillian saw the dread that began to fill her beautiful eyes, the hurt expression shutting her down. 

"Hey." He cupped her cheek, bringing her face closer to his. She could feel his breath on her face, "You deserve the best. You are... such a sweet girl and so genuine. I don't think you should beat yourself over what he said. He's a bastard, a big, fucking bastard to say that to a girl. You would definitely rock the bed." The words fell out before he could stop himself. "Ah, Gabrijela-" 

But she let out a laugh, and couldn't stop. He found her serene laughter to be contagious and was laughing with her too. 

They laughed for a good while and he had his forehead on her shoulder, somehow he was sort of above her, his other arm beside her waist to hold himself up. 

She felt the tickle of his hair brush her neck, "God Cillian, you really don't hold back huh?" She giggled, reaching up to stroke the back his head and neck. 

"It just came out. I mean no offence." He said as he lifted himself up, his hair fell down and brushed her forehead. 

"No offence was taken. But I believe I could rock more than just the bed." She purred, her fingers moving down to his jaw. She traced it slowly. 

"Oh, really?" He asked, his voice dropped a pitch. 

Her skin pricked as her fingers moved to his lips, "Yeah, really." She whispered, their noses touched. 

The moment was burning up slowly, she could feel it. His leg brushed up against hers. 

"Maybe..." He murmured, his eyes shutting a little as his attention was now to her own lips. 

Red, wet and full, so perfect, he thought. Was this the alcohol talking? 

"Maybe what?" She let her fingers move down his chest then across his shoulder. 

"I..." He leaned in more, rubbing his nose against hers. A soft sigh escaped him when her gentle fingers found its way back into his hair. 

"Kiss me." She said, one arm hooked around his neck and drew him into her body. 

He obliged and pressed his lips to hers, the kiss was gentle, tentative. Exploring, find out how they worked together. 

He had moved entirely on top of her, his body almost crushing but she liked it. He had one arm under her head, his soft fingers clasped the back of her neck, his other arm provided support for himself but was under her and under her shirt. She could feel the pads of his hand on the middle of her back. 

Her legs widened to make room for his shifting hips. She could tell he was trying to keep them up but she did feel his arousal. Defined and eager. 

He wanted her, clearly. The kiss became more passionate, more wanting as she opened her mouth for his tongue that swept in with such dominance she let out a moan. 

The arm under her back moved and he was touching her sides, fingers gliding down her thigh then back up. 

She felt a wild confidence sweep through her and she lifted up her hips to meet with his. 

He let out a grunt before he pushed her down roughly. It made her whine with lust. 

"Gabrijela." He groaned as he broke the kiss. His hand moved up, pausing under her breast. 

The air was like a wildfire. 

"Cillian." Her core was throbbing and slick, she wanted him. Needed the reprive after so long. 

She arched her back as if telling him to go higher with that devilish hand she had dreamt of roaming over her body. 

He accepted the offering and his hand engulfed her breast. 

They both let out a moan as if the contact was a blessing to them both, especially to her. 

He played with her breast, rolling the nipple against his palm. His lips returned to hers, swallowing up the blissful moan that came from her. 

She clung to him as if he was her life source, her legs wrapped around his waist as another moan came through her when he pinched her nipple, rolling and tugging it between his fingertips. 

"Cillian," she gasped, breaking the kiss as he kissed to her neck, "Cillian- I- Oh god." 

He let out a muffled groan, his hips driving forward a little. 

"I-I need more- Fuck- Please- Just- Just this once. Touch me. Touch me please." She begged softly. 

He knew what her desperate pleas meant, and he pulled back to look at her. "Gabrijela we shouldn't-" 

"Please." She cupped his face, the light illuminated her eyes, bringing forth the lust and need to be satisfied. 

The shirt was rolled up to expose that lovely soft stomach she had, his eyes going lower. He could just see the wet pool that began between her legs. 

A sound erupted from him and she let out a moan as he removed his hand from her breast. He would not see what treasure was between her legs, it was far too much for him. If he saw her, he wouldn't be just touching her. 

He brought his hand down and slipped it beneath the silk garment. She wasn't shaved but she had recently trimmed. 

He paused, gazing back up her body to her eyes, she was staring at him. 

"Touch me." She whispered in that lovely, delicate voice shaky with such appetite for his hand. 

He brought his fingers to her wet slit and parted her. Her head lolled back, eyes shut. 

"Look at me." His voice was rough, demanding. 

She did, and let out a pathetic whine when he began to feel her, stroke her folds and brush along that bundle of nerves. 

He leaned in and kissed her once, twice, three times with a claiming kind of way. 

She was so wet, drenching his two fingers that tracked her up and down, bringing her clit between them and massaged it. 

"Shit, Cilly." She moaned, a soft cry when he pinched her clit making her hips buck. 

She was a mess, and he could see how she clenched and unclenched the sheets as she stared with intensity at his hand and back at his face.

He continued to pleasure her by playing with her clit, so enamoured of her sweet sounds. Oh, how she became at mercy of him. His cock throbbed, wanting the attention. 

He gave in and pushed a finger into her, his brows furrowed as he moaned at how unbelievably tight she was. 

Her body arched as he inserted a second, and then they were moving in and out of her at a steady pace. 

Her body was warm and she felt sweat starting to form across her bare, exposed skin. He was so skilled, he knew exactly what he was doing with those two fingers that curled, causing a louder cry to come from her. 

Gabrijela could feel her climax rising, and she moaned with pleasure as he picked up the pace, as if he also knew she was going to fall off the edge. 

Cillian watched how her body began to undulate, hips rocking in sync of his thrusting, all perfect. 

"Cillian I-I'm gonna cum, oh god don't stop. Don't stop!"  She hooked an arm around his neck, and he laid close to her, his lips brushing his temple. 

"Cum whenever you want, darling. Cum for me." He whispered hotly against her skin. 

His thumb rubbed her clit, edging her even closer. He could feel her slick walls tightened, her body reaching that high that was about to crash around her. 

And with some rougher fingering her of her sweet, wet hole, which she could hear the slick sounds, her body bucked violently off the bed as she let out a loud cry of ecstasy as her climax tore down her spine. 

Her walls clenched and she came over his fingers, his name a prayer on her lips. The ecstasy of her climax was a reprive, it quenched her thirst for some sort of satisfaction she was deprived of the past few months. 

Especially from another man. 

Cillian fingered her till she was still and panting on the bed, a thin sheen of sweat coated her forehead. 

The air was hot, and not just the temperature. Whatever had now unlocked between them. 

This... dangerous thing that sat between them. What just happened, he knew it wasn't just the alcohol aiding him. Or her. 

She had her eyes shut, she felt his hand retreat from between her legs and his moved off the bed, a soft grunt coming from him. 

She waited until he left to go to the bathroom, and she knew why he did that. 

She pulled down her shirt, sniffling a little as she rolled to her side. She was in shock of what happened, what he just did to her body. But she didn't feel violated, she wanted this. And for a long time, she needed someone to give her a good finger fuck. 

But fear pooled in her stomach, she didn't think it would be Cillian. A man who was twice her fucking age. 

What the fucking hell was she doing? A question that repeated itself the last three days now. 

Cillian stroked himself, with the hand that was coated in her juices. He couldn't help it, his mind brought up images of her body. Of how she gasped and melted under his touch. 

This was indeed dangerous. He was older than her, this whole this was bad. So bad. She was young and needed someone her age. He couldn't believe it, a moron he was to be doing such a thing to such a lovely girl. 

But he couldn't help it and the thought of her with someone else... 

He grunted softly as finished and cleaned up quickly. Now he had to share the bed with her, the vague scent of her would cling to him. 

No, he had to be a better man. Man up, he thought as he got out and eased back into bed silently. 

The light went out. 

He was on his back, as far as he could be on his side of the bed. His mind was still doing its million rounds around. But he forced himself to fall asleep and was able to when his body relaxed. 

Gabrijela had managed to fall asleep too. A deep, dreamless sleep. 

Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day. Very, very interesting indeed, was her last thought. 

[halberdierminister]

woohoo it's the last day of march let's check in on those GOALS

1. Write 250 Words Each Day There were more than a couple days where I missed this. That said, I absolutely have written MOST days, and 100% average more than 250 words per day for the entire month. Still doing this just about as well as I can.

2. Read 55 Books This Year I have read only 7 books this month, the least of any month so far. That said, one of them was even longer than the longest book I read each of the preceding months. Altogether, though, I am at a grand total of 30 books for the year, so I am still very much on track. I think if I make it past 55 books, I will reward myself with an e-reader, knowing that I will finally be able to get a good use out of it.

3. Get a Full Time Job I started my full time job at Half Price Books! And I worked there for a week! And then the Governor shut the business down at least until April 25! But the good news is that eventually I should be receiving a check for TWO WHOLE WEEKS of pay, AND luckily I am still technically an employee of Half Price Books. I haven't been doing any other job searching because really fuck that right now. Who is going to be hiring?

4. Move Out of my Parents' House I can't even casually LEAVE my parents' house, let alone move out.

5. Drink Less Soda Drinkin' less soda!

6. Get Something Published - Submitted 13 pieces to 3 literary journals this month. Have received one rejection so far. - Got accepted for a poem I sent to a zine last month! That should be coming out in April or May. - Got approved to write a new fic for the fanzine I applied for last month! - Got a new fic published in [Eclipse]: A Fanzine! It's a Problem Sleuth/Homestuck Intermission fanzine, and you can download it at the previous link or you can read my fic on its own here.

7. Finish Writing A Legitimate Businessman In January, I wrote 6,654 words for it. At the time, this was the most I had ever written for it in a month. In February, I wrote about half that at 3,260. This month, I have written 11,493 words PLUS over 300 words of outline that hasn't been elaborated on yet. I have NEVER written this much on one project in such a small time outside the context of school. Add to that the other writing I've been doing and I have never even written this much in a single month AT ALL outside the context of school. I am so close to the end of this fic you guys. I'm literally in the middle of writing the climax. THE CLIMAX. JESUS JEREMY JOSEPH.

8. Write More The Revelation of Takaya According to Jin Oh yeah, I finished writing that last month.

MINOR GOALS

9. Finish Playthroughs Of: -LOZBOTW: finished in January -P3P100%: didn't touch it and not sure if I'm gonna actually 100% this one. I have the two final bonus bosses left before the actual boss, and I don't know that I can beat them with the equipment that I have. And if I do, it won't be even a little bit fun and there won't be any useful reward besides the satisfaction of 100%ing the game. Which is still… kinda big. Idk. Idk. -P1GoodEnding: didn't touch it. -Pokemon Sword Post Game Plot: Completed it! It was unsatisfying. I sold the game, though I'm sure I'll get it again one day when I have more people to play it with. -Pokemon Let's Go Eevee: While I beat the game in February, I talked with a coworker at Preplayed this month before leaving and managed to trade for Mew, which I of course gave back. But that means my pokedex in Pokemon Let's Go Eevee is 100% complete, something I've never done before! - Persona Q 2: I uh… again have not continued this since I left off in February. Guess this would be a good time to do that, huh. Considering I won't be able to play Persona 5 Royal until god knows when. I won't even be able to pick up the copy I preordered and paid for in full until after the quarantine ends. I know there's much more serious reasons to be upset about Coronavirus, but I'm gonna be petty here and say fuck coronavirus for this specifically too.

10. Record More Ukulele Videos I recorded one actually right after saying I didn't record any last month. So I recorded one on the final day of February. None in March. I didn't put it on youtube because it's embarrassing, but I did upload it here.

11. Record Let's Plays Nope.

12. Duolingo? 91 day streak! Not as many streak freezes this month, but still one or two.

13. Work Out? Occasionally gone for walks. That's not enough.

This is only just over 850 words, but I wrote at least 300 earlier today so I'm still winning that goal HARD.

[queenofmoons67]

Update time!

Hey everyone! I’ve posted a lot of new things recently, but also haven’t really talked about my longer stuff in awhile. I’ll put a list of my new fanfics at the end of this post (with fandoms and such, so you should be able to find them through tags; sorry, I’m posting from my phone). But for now, my longer works!

Write Your Letters in the Sand: Supernatural: WOW it’s been... it’s been a really long time since I updated this fic. I never officially put it on hiatus, but... yeah. I’m really sorry guys.

Write’s situation boils down to the fact that I pretty much dropped both the show and the fandom around the same time that I stopped updating. Most of that was due to being busy with real life, and then when I wasn’t as busy, I was exploring new fandoms. I thought I would eventually get back into SPN, but... well. That probably isn’t happening anytime soon. HOWEVER.

This fic was my baby for a very long time, and all you readers have been wonderful, and I promised both you and myself that I would eventually see it completed. I intend to keep that promise. It may not happen soon. But at some point, I promise I will post the final chapters: whether they’re fleshed out and actually written, or just the outlines and ideas I had before.

We Are the Challengers (Plus Ultra!): Daiya no Ace in the Boku no Hero Academia universe: <clutches crossover universe baby to chest> you guys. This ‘verse. I think about it pretty much every day. And here’s the deal: There is a fic coming for it. It will be the longest fic I have ever written. It currently sits at about 21k, and it hasn’t moved in a very long time because of writer’s block and other plot bunnies, but it will eventually be finished. I don’t even know how long it will be when it is, but this was my nano project last year so... yeah. It’ll be long.

And I’m not sure when it’ll be posted (possibly when season three ends? If I can manage to start writing it again).

In the meantime though, if you want to read more for this ‘verse: my asks are open! I will answer questions about the upcoming fic (called “The King is Dead (Long Live the King)”). I will answer questions about the ‘verse as a whole, or just a tiny part of it. Is there something you want to know that I haven’t addressed? A character or quirk or?? Ask! Please! This ‘verse has been and continues to be my baby, I am always willing to talk about it and brainstorm with people. You might even get short fics out of it (that being said, if you just want to straight up give me a prompt for this ‘verse, I will be so happy to deliver).

the wingbeats carry on: Akatsuki no Yona: I actually updated this one about two months ago, but there is so much more I want to write for it. I also have a prompt for it I need to fill, so that will be fun! I’ve finally (almost) shed a ton of real life priorities, so hopefully that happens soon. In the meantime, what I said about asks with Challengers applies here, too! I am always willing to talk about / brainstorm this fic with people, and always taking prompts!

And now... to introduce those other plot bunnies I mentioned... they don’t have actual titles yet, so I’ve just been calling them:

That Tiger and Bunny fic where Kotetsu gets turned into a dog and no one else knows. Yes, it’s that old cliché. No, I don’t care. I’m rather proud of it actually. It currently sits at almost 6k, and guys, this will be another long one. I’m just rolling with it, no outline, so idk how long it’ll be... but it’ll be long. I’m just getting started (I hope). When I start posting it will depend entirely on whether or not I hold out till it’s finished so I can edit it all together, or if I cave and post erratically.

Tiger and Bunny x BNHA fic. That... yeah, that’s all I’m saying for now plot wise. All you need to know is that it is Kotetsu focused, but will involve all of class 1A (minus M*neta plus Shinsou) and Kotetsu actively adopting ALL OF THEM because he can’t help himself, it’s the dad instincts.

And... yes, I’ve said this for the other two not posted ones, but I’m saying it again: it’ll be a long one. I’m focusing on just writing an outline for now (my most detailed yet), I haven’t even started chapter four’s part yet, and it’s already hit 3k. The outline. Has hit 3k.

Posting wise, this will probably be posted after the dog fic. Depends on how long they both end up being, and how long it takes me to finish this outline and switch to the actual writing.

<wipes forehead> wow that’s a lot. But good news! Even with all those wip fics, I have posted a few (short) new ones recently!

we built a dynasty: Daiya no Ace: In which Narumiya Mei is Narumiya Mei, and that makes all the difference when he ends up stuck back in his first year body

Can be read as pre-Mei/Itsuki or pre-Mei/Harada, but it is found family focused

Triple Crown: Lord of the Rings: Arwen arrives in Gondor to find Estel shuffling a little guiltily, but ultimately firm-backed, with a handsome man by his side. “Arwen,” Estel begins. “I love you—and I have discovered I also love Boromir. And it would mean the world to me if you would grant the three of us a chance, because I know I have a heart large enough for the both of you.”

Aragorn/Arwen/Boromir, also known as my new ship in an old fandom

hey brother: The Hardy Boys: Prompt: Hey, I was wondering if you could write a bonus aftermath scene for the 70s hardy boys episode sole survivor? Focusing on joe?

Worried Frank and hurt Joe, because what else am I supposed to write for a prompt like that

speeding through red lights: Double Decker! Doug & Kirill: After a long night at the office, Deana suggests they play truth without the dare.

Or, in which Kirill and I both struggle through how he accepts everyone else for who they are, but his first reaction to himself or anyone else thinking he’s attracted to a man is no because he, himself, is a man.

WARNING for internalized homophobia. One-sided Kirill / Doug.

a life in the sun: FMA:B x Harry Potter: Ling narrowed his eyes at the tall, silver-haired man kneeling next to Ed. He had been willing to ignore him throughout the Promised Day for the sake of—well, everything—but now it was over. Greed was gone. Fu was gone. But Ed was here, and Ling wasn’t about to watch him disappear again. It took him ten seconds to march over, but just one to grip the stranger’s shoulder in a tight, pinching grip.

Pre Ed/Ling, Ed/Draco, Draco/Ling, and Ed/Draco/Ling. I will go down with this ship

I’ll admit, this one went up a month and a half ago. But I love it, so

And if you go back even farther, I have a handful of short one-shots posted for both HakYona Week 2019 and AkaYona Week 2019! I won’t list them all because they would require their own separate list, but they are there!

I hope everyone enjoys the posted fics, and don’t be afraid to reach out and ask me questions / prompts, or to just throw your thoughts at me! My inbox is always open 😊

[bengalaas]

5 questions for writers

I'm tagging myself from @dafan7711​'s recent post on this meme -- for Canticle of Chaos, a Dragon Age and Loki crossover WIP that's kinda discontinued right now, but still on my mind :)

Tagging @hollyand-writes​, @lucyrne​, @kindly-whisper-tolkien​, and anyone who wants to share about their own fics!

1. What idea started the story?

I wanted to write my take on how Thor and Loki could heal their relationship and move on after “Thor: Ragnarok”, and since I love Thedas and I love crossovers, I decided to make it a crossover. Then, as I was writing “The Gods of Lowtown”, I realised I needed to figure out in more detail what exactly had happened to Loki after his “fall into the abyss” Thedas equivalent, otherwise it was becoming an imbalanced story with lots of unintended mystery in Loki's background pulling the story away from Thor. So I started writing a prequel :) 

2. Did you outline? Did you stick to it?

I actually did outline an entire “Gods of Lowtown” trilogy PLUS the prequel. I had a goddamn cork board with pinned plot events and themes and everything :D 

“Canticle of Chaos” has a pretty straightforward plot line. It was not hard to stick to it, with only specific details filling out spontaneously.

3. What’s your favourite part of the story?

Valkyrie, Loki and an OFC chilling on a terrace right before it all goes to the dogs. Right before he realises he's grown complacent, is being drugged, has almost succumbed to Sloth; right before the Tevinters attack the town and he loses whatever little peace and acceptance he had gained. I packed that part with all the sounds and smells of a tropical night I could think of, and they're talking about the Old Dragon Gods of Tevinter, and it's beautiful :,)

4. Who is your favourite character and why?

Loki. The whole story is from his POV, so there's crazy interesting stuff I can do with him as an unreliable narrator due to his limited knowledge of stuff or with how he interprets things due to his previous experiences (which is not necessarily the objective truth). 

And I realise that, as I was writing, I was moving farther and farther away from the canon Loki (although, considering what Marvel did to him, what is canon anyway). He was becoming increasingly OOC, but... I liked him. That development made sense to me, considering the different world and circumstances. And through Loki I got to delve so deep into the philosophy of the Qun, and magic, and what is chaos and order, how it relates to the Qun and the Old Gods; and how do you survive in an alien culture; and how do you survive in your own culture afterwards, because you cannot just unthink those changes. Through him, the whole story becomes about trying to align two alien cultures and ways of thinking while trying to find his place in life. And amass some serious power, because, hey, it's still Loki, and he kicks ass. (He was supposed to kick Solas' ass bigtime, by the time I'd have gotten to the fifth part of that trilogy lol)

5. What surprised you as you wrote?

That it... made sense? As crazy as the premise sounds, I think it had an internal logic. Even the potential for a Loki/Dorian Pavus ship started to make sense.

But mostly I was surprised that it became so important to me, with all those philosophical questions, but yeah, the way Loki tries to align the rigid truths of the Qun with the more liberal outlook of the Andrastian Thedas is important and personal for me.

It's discontinued because, being a weird and non-shippy crossover, it got like zero kudos between last May and November, and the last comment was in March. I just burned out on it and the entire MCU fandom. For the above reasons, I would like to continue “Canticle of Chaos” someday, though not sure about publishing. And... I believe it's one of my best fics. Dark, but... inspired. I hope I can get back to it someday.

[so-shiny-so-chrome]

Witness: Jaetion

Creator name (AO3): Jaetion

Creator name (Tumblr): Jaesauce

Link to creator works: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaetion/works

Creator name (other platform- please specify): Pillowfort: Jaetrix

Q: Why the Mad Max Fandom?

A: MMFR movie was incredible! It hit all of my sweet spots.  And the fandom is great: really supportive people, creative fanworks, and great discussions. I've been playing around with fandoms online for a long time and I've met some awesome people, but the MMFR fandom is just chocked full of interesting fans and ideas (like this spotlight!). 

Q: What do you think are some defining aspects of your work? Do you have a style? Recurrent themes?

A: Oof, I'm not sure. I think my style is a lot of conversation, and very little and very poorly written action? As far as themes go, I love referencing music. Music is important to me, so it usually influences my writing. I identify as a feminist and try to put progressive messages into my stuff. I try to write women who form relationships, live their lives, and drive the plot without having to play second banana to men. On a similar, I like writing/reading sex scenes that are fun and funny for the people involved - enthusiastic yes from both/all parties. (Unless I'm filling a fic request that specifies something else, of course.)

Q: Which of your works was the most fun to create? The most difficult? Which is your most popular? Most successful? Your favourite overall?

A: “Take the A Train" was fun because I love writing about NYC. But the stories in "Citadel City Serenade" have definitely been the most rewarding. I really like trying to fit plots and characters together, and it feels awesome when things snap into place. "Six-String Soldier" is my most popular fic, probably because I started writing it right around the release of the movie and it's shippy. Overall... hm, I think my favorite MMFR thing I've written might be "Metal Bars." I think I did a pretty decent mix of kid naivety and shitty oppression. 

Q: How do you like your wasteland? Gritty? Hopeful? Campy? Soft? Why?

A: Hopeful, but realistic, I think. With everything that's going on in politics, both in America and internationally, and the unbearably awful reports on climate change, I need to cling to some remnants of hope or else I'll just lie on the floor and never get up. I love solarpunk! Reclaiming/recreating the world is what interests me.

Q: Walk us through your creative process from idea to finished product. What's your prefered environment for creating? How do you get through rough patches?

A: I write drafts, either as notes on paper or outlines in Google docs. I have a bunch of notebooks full of fragments. I do a lot of editing - I have a hard time articulating things, so it takes a number of attempts until I get it right (or at least close to right). When I get stuck, I read fic. There are so many talented authors who've produced so many amazing stories that it's pretty easy to find something inspiring.

Q: What (if any) music do you listen to for help getting those creative juices flowing?

A: Folk music! I have a couple of playlists on Spotify specifically for writing Mad Max fic.

Q: What is your biggest challenge as a creator?

A: Writing! Specifically writing something good! I'm not sure if this counts as a challenge, but I also struggle with self doubt; posting something that gets no attention really sucks and it's hard not to take poor reviews/no reviews as a personal affront.

Q: How have you grown as a creator through your participation in the Mad Max Fandom? How has your work changed? Have you learned anything about yourself?

A: I've never attempted to write something as long as "Six-String Soldier," or the whole series of "Citadel City Serenade," really. Trying to manage a couple of different timelines at once with different POVs has been complicated and fun. Because of this fandom, I've also been writing more articles for the Fanlore wiki and tracking down references/resources for preservation. I'm an archivist and being able to use some of my professional skills in fandom and even develop them has been sort of neat.

Q: Which character do you relate to the most, and how does that affect your approach to that character? Is someone else your favourite to portray? How has your understanding of these characters grown through portraying them?

A: I probably relate most to Max: tired, wants to be alone, many grunts. But I prefer to write the Wives. They're so fascinating, each in their own way. I love how distinct they are and yet how well they work as a team. The first few times I saw the movie, I focused on Furiosa as the feminist hero that we all needed, but the more I watched and the more I read, the more I realized just how courageous, intelligent, and yes, feminist the Wives are. Victory doesn't require fighting and heroes don't need to be killers. The Wives achieve so much over the span of the story without physically fighting.

Q: How do you translate various elements from the film, such as the theme of the importance of bodily autonomy and critiques of an oppressive ruling class, into a modern setting?

A: This is an amazing question, thank you for asking! MMFR portrays a reality that is uncannily close to our own - In fact, it might as well be a peek into our future. In my mind, there's not even much of a need to translate those elements/themes because oh god we're dealing with them right now. What I was trying to translate with "Citadel City Serenade" is the victory of the characters over those adversities. In MMFR, the characters participate in violent, bloody battle; in CCS, they start social movements. Which is something we can do in the real world! Marches, protests, grassroots activism in general are tools we can use - Music, art, hell even gardening can be parts of a revolution.

Q: Do you ever self-insert, even accidentally?

A: Nope! I'm far too pathetic to survive in the wasteland. Hopefully I'll just die in the initial blast.

Q: Do you have any favourite relationships to portray? What interests you about them?

A: Yes! I'm a shipper at heart, so I am all about the couples. My two favorites are Capable/Nux and Toast/Slit. I love having the women be the ones leading the relationships - not only setting the boundaries but also expanding the War Boys world into completely new territory. I'm also totally into male characters who are sexually inexperienced. Alpha male dudes are meh in my opinion - Give me someone sweet and enthusiastic, someone whose love is based on respect, someone whose enthusiastic about learning. I think Nux is firmly in the category of awesome boyfriend, and I like trying to figure out how to lead Slit in that direction. There's also the idea of redemption in their relationships that I find fascinating.

Q: How does your work for the fandom change how you look at the source material?

A: Hm, I think that I definitely view the film through a feminist gaze. It's entirely possible that MMFR is just an action film but that's not my take on it!

Q: Do you prefer to create in one defined chronology or do your works stand alone? 

A: Why or why not?Bit of both! I just want to read, read, read - As long as the fics are well written, it doesn't matter to me if the settings are consistent. As far as my own writing goes, I get so many ideas for fics that it's not really possible to have them all exist in a single chronology.

Q: To break or not to break canon? Why?

A: The great thing about fanfiction is that it's transformative. To me, canon is the foundation, but you can build whatever you want on it. Hopefully I keep the characters close to their canon portrayals, but other than that, I like to mix things up. Also, a modern AU setting just fits so damn well in the Mad Max world. I think also that canon itself can be flexible. Death of the author and all that. Once media is out in the world, it'll be interpreted by the audience - and sometimes those interpretations are vastly different from one another. 

Q: Share some headcanons.

A: I don't really have any! Since most of my stuff is AU, the headcanons are limited to those settings.

Q If you work with OCs walk us through your process for creating them. Who are some of your favourites?

A: I have a smatterings of OCs who populate the world as background characters: Vuvalini, milking mothers, and War Boys. I played a MMFR tabletop RPG a couple of years ago, and my character from that and an NPC she saved both ended up in 6-String. That particular War Boy (Stacks) now has a couple of fans and so I've been giving him more screentime, as it were. He's sort of interesting as a foil to Nux and Slit: those two have girlfriends to learn from, but Stacks is on his own as he tries to escape from the WB life.

Q: If you create original works, how do those compare to your fan works?

A: I do! I participate in NaNo every year. I think my fanfiction is better than my original stuff since I write, since the fanfic is intended to be shared and thus I have to write decently enough to get readers. However my stuff tends to be in the speculative fiction genre, so that's something my fanfic and original fic share.

Q: What are some works by other creators inside and outside of the fandom that have influenced your work?

A: There are so many! In Mad Max, @supergirrll, @redcandle17, pbp (@primarybufferpanel),  @bonehandledknife, Tyellas (@thebyrchentwigges), and hell all of the Boltcutters are all really important; the early writers of Nux/Capable fics also really influenced and inspired my love of the characters and the ships. Spicyshimmy, an author in the Dragon Age fandom, has also been one of my favorite authors for years, and I return to her stuff regularly to see how awesome writing can be. 

Q: What advice can you give someone who is struggling to make their own works more interesting, compelling, cohesive, etc.? 

A: I struggle with this myself, so I don't think I really have an answer unfortunately other than read everything you can get your hands on, write everything you can think of. I write basically what I want to read; if I can make the reader!me happy, then at least I've satisfied one person. However, what I consider interesting, compelling, etc, isn't always what other people want. Maybe my advice is to try not to take it personally when your hard work isn't rewarded. Which again, I'm not always able to do. 

Q: Have you visited or do you plan to visit Australia, Wasteland Weekend, or other Mad Max place?

A: Yes, Wasteland Weekend! It was a lot of fun and I'm hoping to go again. Being able to immerse myself in the world was a great experience - A totally new way for me to engage with fandom.

Q: Tell us about a current WIP or planned project.

A: Still chugging along with "Citadel City Serenade!" The two main stories in that series are going to intersect in a meaningful way soon. In fact, they're going to crash. Looking forward to getting that out there (and getting it done!).

Thank you @jaesauce

[todisturbtheuniverse]

2018 Year End Writing Review

Even though I haven’t been posting much fic around these parts, it’s become something of an annual tradition to look back on the year’s progress, writing-wise.

The short version: I wrote 500,206 words this year, and spent about 364 hours doing it. Since I wrote 500,017 words last year, I fully expected this year to be kind of a dip year, but instead, I’ve written a million words in the last two years. That is...pretty damn neat, honestly.

The long version, if you’re interested in a load of stuff I couldn’t post here:

What I worked on:

More of that 2013 NaNo novel. The whale, as I called it in my last year-end report. It is still that. I still love it, I still hate it, I will keep chipping away at it. I did a huge re-outline of it earlier this year and began redrafting, but late in the year I largely shelved it to focus on another project that I felt was closer to being “done” (see below).

A second draft of the novella whose first draft I finished near the end of 2017. Is it still going to be a novella when it’s done? Fuck if I know. We’ll find out eventually. This is another project I stalled on and ended up shelving near the end of the year, but I’m hoping to pick it up again in 2019 and push forward.

An old romance novel concept that I’d dropped a few years back. I picked it up again, gave it a bit of a polish, a new outline, and got some chapters written. I’m planning on pushing forward with this, too, so that the next time a certain publisher sends out their open call again that I’ll be ready to submit.

Writing the recaps for our group’s first Pathfinder game, which I was a player/recordkeeper for. They were narrative recaps. They were detailed. They took a lot of time. But I’m glad to have the record.

Worldbuilding and story prep for the Pathfinder game I started running in late September. I started working on this in March, for an introductory one-shot that I ran in May, and then continued working on it throughout the summer--and beyond, of course, because even while the game is now being played, there’s a whole wide world to develop. This is my happy sandbox place, where I get to put things like villages with sod roof houses and vast cities built into an ancient forest and twisty pantheons. Sometimes I feel crushed beneath the anxiety of actually running the game--I would probably do better with a system like 5E, with less goddamn crunch--but just creating for this place is usually a joy. 

Fic. I revisited Inquisition and Mass Effect; branched into Star Wars: Rebels; and got really, really into Stardew Valley (more fic definitely to come on that front). I’ve really allowed fic to become my happy, easy place this year; it’s not something I do unless I’m really just feeling like relaxing, and that’s really nice. But I don’t necessarily post it, unless I feel it’s ready to face the world...and sometimes, I write things that just won’t see the light of day. I’m becoming more comfortable with that. Sometimes it feels like writing without a purpose, but sometimes the purpose of entertaining myself is enough, yeah?

There was a real variety in what I wrote this year. I always felt like I had something I could work on, and this list doesn’t even really encompass the random new ideas that I scribbled down during weekly prompt sprints/while on walks/shower thoughts/etc. I had a lot of options, a lot of things in various stages of creation (brainstorming, outlining, first draft, second draft, eighth draft, whatever). So even when I was stuck on one thing, I could progress on another.

But how well did I stick to the goals I set last year? Ehhh.

Last Year’s Goals

Spend a little time writing every day: This was probably the smartest of my goals. Committing myself to spend a little time--even just five minutes--writing daily leads to me writing more, overall. And I did a fair job of it, writing somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 of days every month. This is the goal I did best with, and it’s one I want to keep.

No word count goal: I’m pretty sure I set this goal and forgot all about it. I crave word count goals. I love them. They feed me. I set a bunch of them, month by month. I’m not sure they’re totally nutritious, though. More about that later.

Permission to write ficlets, drabbles, and even multi-chaptered fics as I want to: I did write--and post--more fic this year than in 2017, 35,221 words to AO3 and much more that didn’t get posted. But still hardly any, compared to my previous output. There was a different category of writing that kind of sucked up the time I would usually use for polishing fic, I think: building a world/campaign for a new Pathfinder game.

Get back to These Chains: I did not. *the world’s longest sigh* I was so optimistic when I first started posting this thing. I had it pretty much fully outlined and a draft halfway written, so I figured I would have no trouble keeping up a posting schedule, but. That didn’t happen, and then the thing has languished, and given everything that happened in 2018 I just didn’t have time to get back to it. Someday. I hope.

So. What have we learned?

Well, there’s a thing I’m good at, and a thing I’m comfortable with, and a thing I like doing above all else, and that’s churning out a first draft. Working on a new thing. Spitting out words haphazardly. That’s how I, personally, wrote a million words in two years. I love it. It feeds my soul.

But something needs to change if I ever want to really finish these six hundred projects I’m juggling with increasingly frantic speed. And fuck, do I. I feel like my 2013 NaNo novel has potential, but for five years now that’s all it’s been--potential, locked up behind five additional drafts which have not been so much refined as have been entirely new drafts. I don’t like editing. It’s hard and annoying and at the end of two hours I feel like I have pretty much nothing to show for it. No nice numbers I can plug into my fancy spreadsheet. Maybe less words than I began with. Probably less words than I began with, actually.

But editing is probably hard for me because it’s not something I like to practice, so I haven’t. Not with any real dedication. And with that in mind...

Goals for 2019

Write, brainstorm, or edit a little bit every day. I’m starting off easy in January with a totally attainable goal of 5 minutes per day, which I will surely overshoot, but toward the end of last year I really fell out of the habit of writing or writing-adjacent activities, and it showed in how my word count and time spent dropped. Habits help me, so I’m going to re-establish some good habits.

Learn some different editing techniques, and practice them. In particular, I try to do everything at once when I edit, and I want to try that top down method of: one pass for worldbuilding, one pass for plot structure, one pass for character arcs, one pass for dialogue, etc., etc.

Remember to do your fun writing when you need it. There could always stand to be more fic in the world, after all.

And that’s that! Here we go into 2019. I hope all of your creative endeavors, whatever they may be, meet with much success.

[spnfanficpond]

March 2019 Pond LiveChat Recap

We had a great time chatting today with @bamby0304! Thank you so much, Amber, for joining us!!

We talked about Planners (writers who outline and plan out their stories) vs. Pantsers (writers who fly by the seat of their pants), and had some great questions and answers from everyone who joined! A rundown of the chat, as well as the usual general Pond news, is below the cut.

Michelle: I love attending writing panels at comic cons, and at one, the presenter said there are two kinds of writers, and that each type has their strong points. Planners have tighter storylines, but pansters tend to have stronger characters because they start with the characters and the story writes itself. (This is a broad generalization, so there are always exceptions to this rule.) As a pantser, it made me feel better about my writing, because I felt like CRAP because I can't outline for shit. Before hearing this, I thought, “My writing is crap and it’s always gonna be crap because I don’t outline and plan,” even though readers told me they liked my writing. Hearing that how I write is a valid process and there are successful writers like me really helped me to embrace it and feel better. We can always learn from each other, though, which is why we’re here!

Amber: I do find that sometimes diving in head first, with no thought, can result in a more interesting story. While most of my fics are planned, I do sometimes just get an idea and run with it. Having an outline can be a little restricting at times...

Q: Amber, how do you keep track of all your work in progress?

Amber: I have a doc that lists all my past, present and future fics which is very detailed. Everything is color-coded and alphabetized!

Q: For the pantsers, how do you end a story? I started writing my story as a series of one-shots that accidentally connected, and now I have a 15-chapter story that needs an ending....

Michelle: When I write, I always have an end goal in mind, like a road trip. I know where I want to go, but not necessarily which roads I’ll take to get there. Only once did I not do that, and it was just crack, with me just trying to stuff a lot of ridiculous crack into it, and it doesn’t have much of an ending, really. My advice for where you are, though, would be to sit down, close your eyes, and put yourself in every character's shoes. Think about how they feel about what's been happening, and disregard all of the other characters. Think about what they want and what they might do next. When you find the characters with the most interesting motivations and potential actions, there's the rest of your story.

Q: Amber, are you a planner in other aspects of your life, too?

Amber: I'm a planner with everything. My dad has a saying that's been drilled into me since birth: Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. He also says: Better safe than sorry. So I guess I've just always felt the need to be organised and prepared. I'm at least half an hour early to everything. My books and DVDs are in alphabetical order, my wardrobe is colour coordinated... I'm all about organisation

Q: Michelle, do you find that your end goal gets lost in the middle? Like, if you don’t plan the small stuff, do you take a left turn instead of right and end up losing your original plan?

Michelle: Oddly enough, I don’t. There have been times when the story made a left turn, and after a short while, I got blocked. Every time I get blocked, it's a sign I made a wrong turn. If I go back to the turn and start fresh, it always works out. In my recent NaNoWriMo fic, I was on day 3, and suddenly, I lost all urge to write it. Nothing was coming to me. It was all crap. I went back, threw out almost an entire day's worth of writing, and then forged ahead. It was nerve-wracking, because it put me behind on my daily word count for the month, but it worked.

Q: Amber, did you learn how to outline from someone, or are you self-taught?

Amber: At first I was a full time pantser. I was a shipper who just wanted Elena and Damon together, and I didn't care how they got there. Now, though, I think about pretty much every step I take... well, almost every step I take.

Q: Are your outlines in complete sentences or just points you want to make in each chapter?

Amber: Depends on the story. With Wolves just had dot points for chapters, but The Hart has a full doc of details. I would jot a few words down for With Wolves, because I also try to stick to a word count for each chapter so sometimes the idea would spread into multiple chapters

Q: Is sticking to a word count per chapter a thing that you do for yourself for pacing, or for your readers so they don't have long chapters?

Amber: Mostly for pacing. Most of my reader insert fics are 1.5k-2.5k words long. Except Her Saviours... that's 3.5-5k long. I like things to be uniform.

Q: I can't get past 1k would outlining help with that?

Amber: Outlining could help, sure. But you need ideas to outline, first.

Q: Do you have a writing schedule that you stick to, where it's your priority for that time to write, or do you just write when you can?

Amber: I started uni this week, so now it's more of a do-it-when-you-can kinda thing... but I like to write in the evenings. I make a cup of tea and sit myself down, and make myself write. Often I don't wanna... but I have a posting schedule to keep up with, so I don't have much of a choice.... I also put on SPN when writing that fandom. I specifically stick to the season that might go along with the plot of that fic. I can't write in silence.

Michelle: I can't write if there's anything AT ALL happening anywhere in the world that I might find remotely interesting. Silence, no music, no TV, nothing good on my dash, it's terrible. Literally, anything is more interesting than writing for me, until I get going.

Q: Do your stories ever break from your outline?

Amber: All the time! For instance, in Her Saviours (sorry about name dropping my fics, but I just like using examples) Sam is misbehaving big time. He keeps on doing things I don't want him to do, which moves the plot along faster that I'd like.

Q: How do you even start an outlining process?

Amber: it might be a slight OCD thing... because I'm organised with everything... but a lot of my planning is motivated by the fact that if I don't plan I'll lose interest in my stories and give up. 

Followup Q: I want to try, but you made it sound a bit overwhelming.

Amber: It's really not overwhelming. You get the idea for a story and then you want to write... so jot that idea down. Then jot down other ideas that go with it. Set up a timeline. Dean wants pie Dean goes to get pie Dean meets girl at bakery They laugh, have fun He buys her pie Turns out it's magical pie that people get addicted to Dean has to decide whether he ganks witch (pie girl) or not. Just write simple stuff like that.

Q: Do Pantsers lose motivation easily?

Michelle: Sometimes. If I don’t know what I want to write next, it’s really easy to get distracted and not write. I need a writing schedule that I stick to. I used to have one, but I've filled it up with being tired from having a life.

@manawhaat: Yes and no. if I lose the motivation, it's because the story isn't there or i'm not having the right thoughts to help that story along. Like if I generally know what the fuck is going on in a story, I'm probably not writing it because I already know it. It's the ones that are a mystery or Mr. Toads Wild Ride that I end up writing bc I'm actively motivated to figure it out.

Q: Do you have a posting schedule? And if you do lose motivation, does that affect said schedule?

Michelle: I do not have a schedule. I have an order in my head of what I want to write next, but unless it's for a challenge, no due date to write it by.

Mana: I have never had a posting schedule because I am not the schedule type person and will 100% abort from the plan and not stick to it at all. Even signing up for challenges, I'm wary of time frames because I'm more likely to drop out if I can't figure my shit out within that time. I'd rather drop out of a challenge than pump out something that isn't really what I want to write or doesn't tell the story I need to tell.

Amber: I pace myself with posting. I give fics certain days (like today is Spanner in the Works day) and I post them weekly on said day. I choose the days by title most of the time... I like alliteration, so Spanner in the Works is posted on Sunday S + S.

Q: Are you really a pantser, or a planner in denial? Do you just not realize somethings you do are baby steps into becoming a full time planner?

Michelle: When it comes to writing, I've tried to plan, and I just can't. If I plan too thoroughly, then I feel like I've already written the story, and I lose motivation to write it out. But I'm more of a planner in life. I have a calendar and a routine that I follow, simply because there are days when I'm not cognitively aware enough to make actual decisions. If everything is muscle memory, I can run on auto pilot and not crash. To use the road trip analogy, when I go on an actual road trip, I figure out the route and all the bathroom breaks ahead of time. Completely different than when I’m writing.

Tips gleaned from writers at writing panels at comic cons:

As you're writing, keep an "outline" of your chapters with only a sentence or two describing each chapter. This helps you if you need to go back and reference something later, and helps you see the overall story arc.

Naming characters - Try to avoid naming characters with the same first initial. A reader's eyes will sometimes only hit the first letter of a name, so keeping track of character names helps. Write the alphabet on a piece of paper, and write down every name as you go along.

If you're stuck, or feel like your story is meandering, try to picture in your mind what the movie trailer for your story would look like. What makes this movie more interesting than similar movies? What is driving your story?

If you've got a good flow going, and then it suddenly dries up, go back to when you last felt confident, and move on from there. Something you did since then wasn't right, and you'll see it when you start again.

Thanks to everyone who was there! It was a great chat!

General Pond Updates and Reminders

Angel Fish Award nominations are accepted all month long! No need to wait to tell us how much you liked a fellow Fish’s work!  If you have sent in a nomination, but have not received a private message confirming we received it, we didn’t get it. Be sure to use Submit instead of Ask!

Don’t forget to submit your stories to be posted to the blog! When your stories are on the blog, then they are easier to nominate for Angel Fish Awards!

SPNFanFicPond Season 14 Weekly Episode Writing Challenge - New prompts go up after every new episode, and there’s no deadline! Check out the prompts and rules at the link!

Say hi to February’s New Members!

Check the Pond CALENDAR to see when Big Fish will be in the chat room and other Pond and SPN events are happening! Know of something that’s not on the calendar, send us an ask or submission with the deets info details!  The calendar offers a lot of features, such as showing you when things are in your own timezone! Since we’re an international group, that’s a definite plus!!

In April, we’re going to chat with one of our Big Fish, @deanscarlett about writing in English when it’s not your first language! Hope to see you there!