#this is my first sherlock holmes fic since i was like 13

[ten-cent-sleuth]

I know I’m not a big part of the xReader community, as I rarely read it and even more rarely interact, but I wanted to try making some friends there so I’m going to be posting a Sherlock Holmes x f!Reader multichap soon! Usually, I like to write 4k+ chapters and to have everything completed before posting the first chapter, but since this multichap will serve as my entries for July Break Bingo, I’m going to try something different this time.

Each chapter will be whatever length it ends up being at first (I’ll bolster them all in the revision stages later), and I will post them here as soon as they’re done. Once every chapter is posted, I’ll go back and edit, and then I’ll post the new version on AO3. I look forward to sharing the journey to a good copy more closely with my readers!

However, that does mean there will be some inconsistencies to be suffered through. Especially since this multichap will be a case fic, I’m expecting plot holes as well as OOC moments to abound. I apologise in advance, welp.

Now, for the more fun info!

Below is my empty JBB card if you are curious to see what will be giving the fic some direction. I intend to get a blackout with this multichap. 👀👀👀

Synopsis: Your father hires Sherlock to investigate your husband’s death…a decade after it occurred. Why is your father suddenly concerned foul play was involved? And what is motivating Sherlock to take on a case that has every expectation of being dry and uninspired? (Takes place in the world and time after the Enola Holmes film but before the sequel.)

Warnings: please see this post for those and feel free to send me an ask if you need more details (I’m keeping them separate to avoid spoilers)

Masterlist: A Galling Yoke Part 1 … Part 2 … Part 3 … Part 4 … Part 5 … Part 6 … Part 7 … Part 8 … Part 9 … Part 10 … Part 11 … Part 12 … Part 13 … Part 14 … Part 15 …

Status: on hiatus [as of 2024-06-05] (but Part 15 should be a satisfying ending until the next update) – please let me know if you would like to be tagged with updates! :)

Thank You, God, for letting me write this and thank you, dear reader, for reading. <3

[teaspoonnebula]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love ❤️

AHHHHH I will do my best!

The Butterfly Dream - Fullmetal Alchemist This is effectively the first fanfic I wrote (....as an adult, do we count things I wrote as a 13 year old Doctor Who fan?) and I still reread it fairly often because of how much I enjoy it. An attempt to combine various concepts I really like in both '03 and Brotherhood. And it's set in Xing, because I want more Xing.

After The World West Awry - Sherlock Holmes

I know lots and LOTS of people have done stories where Sherlock Holmes ends up in the 21st century through various ways and means, but I had thoughts about how I'd do it (namely that he's not going to be ok with being there without Watson), so I did.

If anyone ever sits me down and asks if I have a Sherlock Holmes related screenplay, I'd shove this at them.

Golden Visions, Are Ye Flown?

When writing my game The Beekeeper's Picnic I kept dropping hints in the text that Holmes' vision is fairly limited, mostly as a way to get around him not spotting things the player hasn't closely examined.

I ended up writing this to explore that, and get out some of my "Holmes and Watson end up in Sussex together" feels since the game won't be finished for a long time. So if you're getting fed up waiting for that game this is like the next best thing?

His Brother - Sherlock Holmes

It's about all about Mycroft, who is my blorbo.

Last but definitely lot least...

Watson is a Time Lord in collaboration with @jeremys-come-to-bed-eyes and @fruitviking (who made this cover!)

I feel like this epitomises what I love about fanfiction? Is the concept absolutely bananas? Yes. Is it ridiculously self-indulgant? Again, yes. Are we treating it deathly seriously? Mostly. Are we enjoying ourselves writing it? ABSOLUTELY!

I just think that we've squeezed this concept dry and then someone will come up with another idea and we ping off all over again.

(Although not going to lie, the fact that in the year 2023 I am writing something which at least meets the "Who" and the "lock" part of... y'know, makes me want to stare at a wall and have an existential crisis)

[daddywright]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

tagged by @samioli ! (late getting to it, happy holidays!)

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

44... so far :)) (not-so-secret: i actually have a second pseud for one-shots in very small, random fandoms, but i don't use it often.)

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

ah hah. 682,262. i didn't really publish much before the pandemic, but then suddenly all i ever wanted to do was write, and i found such a community online in different fandoms that i haven't really stopped since!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I've published (written is a different story, haha) fic for a few fandoms: namely ace attorney, different sherlock holmes properties, witcher, dragon age, good omens (before the show), and most recently, metal gear!

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

a badge of honor [ace attorney]

plumeria (new beginnings) [enola holmes]

pressure (pushing down on me) [ace attorney]

your heart is cold (but we will warm you) [the hobbit - the first Real Fic i ever published, when i was a kid]

if i woke up (next to you) [ace attorney]

flattering but not surprising that ace attorney is near the top, as far as kudoses go; i joined this fandom in 2020 and it's just EXPLODED since then. it's so cool getting into an older game series and being able to connect with a thriving online community <3

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

I absolutely do! I miss one here and there, on occasion, but i try to say thanks as often as i can. i often return to the comment sections of my more popular fics on rough days when i'm convinced i'm the worst writer in existence kasd;jfalskfjf

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

hm... while i tend to avoid endings that leave readers in pieces, i do enjoy some angst now and then. i wrote a one-shot about john watson reacting to holmes's death in OG sherlock holmes titled 'when good men go to war' that definitely deserved the 'major character death' tag, even if it's one of the most famous fake-out deaths in literature LMAO. i've also written canon compliant lanamia, which just hurts. and a miles edgeworth christmas fic, which is self-explanatory. i also wrote a fic for the animated film Klaus a while back that made me cry writing it, which i don't often do HAHA

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

hmm. 'if i woke up (next to you)' is the epitome of cheesy fix-it for narumitsu, but i think the end of 'pressure (pushing down on me)' was written at a time, for me, when i most desperately wanted to read about a happy ending-- the whole series is a fix-it, but pressure in particular dismantled phoenix's disbarment and brought back characters i missed/wanted more of in a way that was utterly self-indulgent, so for me, that's probably the happiest ending i've ever written. :)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, thankfully. but i've gotten enough of unsolicited crit type comments to piss me off eternally-- though i've gotten better at deleting the ones that hurt rather than engaging. (I stopped writing a witcher fic i really liked because i got a comment that a chapter was boring, and it totally shattered me :///)

9. Do you write smut?

Sure! I have been known to enjoy and write explicit fics. I have an academic interest in sex and education about it, and I think some of the best character study fics in the entire universe are explicit. i also think the saddest fics i've ever read have also included explicit scenes, too.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I have! I love a good, clever crossover.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. (knocks on wood)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, several!

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

Yes! Most recently (published, that is), for pacific rim.

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

OOF. well. i have several, of course. i'll always be attached to classic sherlock holmes x john watson. for fandoms i fell into recently, the bangers are narumitsu, taibani (tiger&bunny, aka narumitsu lite), and newly, otasune (metal gear solid) is THE Moment. the MOMENT, damn it, PLAY METAL GEAR SOLID. and then DM me @solid-snaked because i want to TALK TO YOU ABOUT IT.

some more well-known ships i haven't published fic for over the years but still love: leopika (hxh), kakairu (naruto... YEAH. NARUTO.), kaishin (dmck), and superbat (dc). also, i tend to really gravitate towards platonic/gen fic for different fandoms as well, almost if not more strongly than shipfic.

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

ooooh. toss up between 'call me through thunder' (dragon age), because honestly while i loved writing it, i liked the original writing ideas that came from it more than the actual fic elements and 'when the way is dark' (witcher), because of reasons listed above.

16. What are your writing strengths?

i would like to say my dialogue?? i suppose? i really like writing dialogue and specifically, the framing around dialogue-- i like writing body language and trying to describe facial expressions and tone shifts so that people can hear and see the scene i'm trying to write.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

ahh, i'm definitely guilty of writing intimate/emotional scenes at the cost of pacing, and of favoring tone accomplished by dialogue rather than immersion via setting (i'm bad at like. window dressing and connective tissue between scenes, i think)

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

beyond my skillset, I'm afraid

19. First fandom you wrote for?

supernatural. mmhmm. i was a high school sam girlie. the first fic i ever read, also, was supernatural. destiel at age 13. life-ruiner. but i recovered.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

aaaa. overall, i'd say 'pressure' is a fic i'm quite proud of but it's the series overall that makes it my favorite as a writing and a community experience, one that got me through a really tough time in life. however, as far as my writing skill goes, i'm pretty proud of a fic i wrote on a time crunch for Holmestice, a sherlock holmes exchange, called 'the emerald circle', because i got to reference queer history in a way i really enjoyed while writing it.

feel free to pass along this prompt to yourself, fellow writers <3

[beloved-child-of-the-house]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks for the tag @skeptiquewrites i love these games! this got very long so answers below the cut!

How many works do you have on ao3?

123 total but 22 HP fics

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

886,281

3. What fandoms do you write for?

i'm writing HP/drarry pretty exclusively at the moment and i've written the second largest number of fics for this fandom. but i've written like 69 sherlock holmes and/or bbcs fics and i think 16 good omens fics

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

they're all good omens fics in the 2k-3k range. none of my other fics even come close. my most popular drarry fic is Propinquity which makes sense it has a fun premise

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

yes! i respond to comments when i have the time and energy and usually i do it in batches shortly after i've published something new

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

i don't rlly write angsty endings. in the bbcs fandom i wrote an infidelity fic series where they're in a very unsustainable situation and i intended to write a final installment with a happy ending but i was so disenchanted by the last season of the show that i just never did. i've never written an angsty ending to a drarry fic. i find angst kinda boring tbh :p

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

almost every single fic i've ever written has a happy ending but the drarry fic i've written where the pov character has the most to cope with before he's happy is probably either propinquity or moonrise. they're also my youngest dracos, which probably has something to do with it. they've had less time to recover and grow. i think i have to give the edge to moonrise, actually because he's soooo sad and lonely at the beginning, and he develops this bond not only with harry but with ginny (they give each other stupid nicknames) and hermione (they have a very special scene toward the end of the series)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

i didn't used to, but i've gotten a bit since i started writing drarry! there are a lot of polarizing characters and relationships, and people will sometimes tell me they didn't approve of how i handled something or other. i was too soft on dumbledore i was too hard on draco. oh well. no refund.

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

yes! for me, smut is an important part of demonstrating the trust and intimacy between my leads as well as like. joy and playfulness. consequently my smut tends to be silly and jokey but also very romantic and sort of idealized.

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

i wrote a fleabag/bbcs crossover once where fleabag picks up john watson at her therapists' office but it's the only one i've ever written and it was sort of to tease of friend of mine

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i'm aware of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, a handful! mostly my good omens fics

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

no but i'd love to write one with @clytemenestras

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

i am not rlly a favorites kind of person but obviously drarry is doing something special for me rn. they are both Me and pushing their faces together and making them kiss is an act of self love <3

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

i NEVER publish WIPs but i do have this 8th year WIP that i'm rlly struggling with and put it on the back burner. i think i'm just trying to do too many things with it and i get stuck and unsure of where to go first when i open the document. originally it was supposed to be a theater kids fic because i loved the idea of draco as a theater kid. but the version of draco that unrolls when i write is so exhausted and burned out and also he's kind of being shunned. he just isn't embodying the flamboyant joy i was imagining when i came up with the idea.

16. What are your writing strengths?

i'm very good at depicting relationships. my dialogue is good and my characters develop all these inside jokes and references that make them feel like real people.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

my fic tends not to be very plotty but idk if i consider that a weakness. i'm not trying and failing to write plot. i write what i intend to write. i guess i write pretty slowly, but i'm okay with that too.

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

draco often speaks french in my fic, and now that i think about it, it's usually to show his closeness with people who are not harry. i guess i have this idea that it's easy to reduce him to his interactions with harry, but he has social relationships outside of that. he's like. capable of pleasantries. he's chatting with his cousins he's chatting with madame maxime. it's a fun little way to make him a bit mysterious. that's one of the things harry likes about him, isn't it? what's that draco malfoy up to? what's he saying? it's fun!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

bbc sherlock

20. Favorite fic you've written?

it's hard to compare fics across fandoms and even within drarry it's hard to compare fics that are attempting such different things! i think maybe the relationship in A Gift of True Esteem is my favorite because they develop this really strong partnership and their respect for each other is so clear! i also get to drop in a lot of wizarding culture, like draco gives harry some books that i got to make up titles for, they go shopping together and out to dinner (i think i was inspired by the antiquing scene early in @tackytigerfic's Modern Love; it rlly stuck with me). they go to a museum run by goblins, they talk about how much hogwarts has changed and changes they still want to make. and i got to make up some homework assignments, which was fun too! Strangely enough this is also the fic i've gotten the most hate on! i rlly didn't think i had made any controversial choices when i was writing it but oh well lol. i love getting to look at how they might move through the world as adults. how they have changed and how the world has changed, and i just had a lot of fun with this one.

genuinely do not know who has already played so i tag @oflights, @thehoneybeet, and @vukovich if you want to <3

[galactic-pirates]

For the Fanfiction Writing ask: 2, 18, 29, and 48, please! 😁

Yay thank you for the ask!

2) Where do you get your fic ideas? Ask me at the time and I'll know. Ask me now and I'm not sure. Some are obvious. Like if there's a specific prompt and then my brain chewed on it and lightning struck boom and it coalesced and came together into something.

As you are a Sanctuary friend let's take some of those fics:

Happy Ending = the song "this is the way that we love / like it's forever / and then live the rest of our lives / but not together" and I was like, make it fluffy. I don't know. I was just coming off writing Our Darkest Hour.

Choosing Fate / Time Will Tell = the tropes. I was like let's do an arranged marriage AU. Pretty sure I was watching Bridgerton at the time as well. And then I wanted to see if I could make Soulmates a trope I could like.

Life Without Purpose = for a Zombies in July event

Gentlemen of Blood = I was given the title, and had to think of a fic to go with it. That Bond quote by M came into my head of "when they say they have people everywhere, you don't expect one to be in the bloody room" plus the Sherlock Holmes movies.

I don't know, does that answer it a bit? My brain is a mess and it just needs prompting for it to spark basically.

18) Do you enjoy research? Which fic of yours required the most research? Nope I'm too lazy. I get easily frustrated. If I can't find the answer quickly I get annoyed. The internet is wonderful and I want to strangulate it sometimes. It's like I know the information must be there, but can I find it? It's no wonder I am drawn more and more to making my own worlds, because then I can just make everything up and don't have to worry about if I'm right or not. I just have to be consistent within my own story.

The aforementioned Happy Ending actually took a surprising amount of research, which to be honest probably ruined the fic because once I had all the stupid marriage details, I had to include them because I had bothered to look them up dammit. Haha, I know, why self? Also Odyssey: Future's Legacy had a lot of history in it and I had to make all the timelines line up. Let me tell you timezones + international travel = headache. I'm pretty sure Warehouse 13 never paid attention to travel times on the actual show but I made everything plausible.

29) What’s something about your writing that you’re proud of? Already answered here :)

48) Who is your favorite character to write for? Has this changed since you’ve started writing for that fandom? This is very close to question 41 (here).

Ok well let's go with Sanctuary fandom. I'm going to go left field and answer with Nigel. Which isn't exactly true but I will explain. Nigel is like the forgotten member of The Five a lot of the time. He's the one that didn't live until the 21st century and the one that isn't romantically linked with Helen. There's very little known about him and I was surprised and delighted as the more I referenced him, the more cohesive he felt in my mind. He got an actual personality, backstory, goals etc. So while Nigel isn't a favourite character, I do enjoy how I developed him.

Bonus question as you had a repeat!

11) Do you write scenes in order, or do you jump around? I'm a very linear writer. I literally can't write out of order. Sometimes this trips me up because I think if I sense that something I have written isn't right (aka the foundation is rocky) then I grind to a halt and stop making progress. Now with fanfic which I never tended to revise that heavily, that's fair enough - I'm not going to do a complete redraft but with original work? Ehhh.

It is generally speaking better to revise a complete draft, to see the entire picture. I can't recall where I first heard the expression but I have applied it to drafting ever since - "there's little point in polishing a turd" - aka, I don't know what I'm going to have to cut until I can look at the whole thing, so don't waste time polishing a scene that might not make it. But yeah getting frozen because I have to be linear, but something isn't right, but I shouldn't waste time fixing it - frustrated mental scream!

Oh another point! I have a friend that exclusively jumps around, I don't think they could write linearly if they tried. I have always wanted to ask them, but haven't dared in case they think I'm judging them (and I'm definitely not!), whether they find foreshadowing/thematic arcs/character emotional journey's etc. harder to write as it's out of order. For me, I can't imagine getting my head round it backwards but clearly people do it, so that's a me problem. But yeah no I have to be linear.

[themirokai]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged in this by the incredible @pellaaearien . Thank you so much, dear! I really did start working on it when you tagged me and have picked away at it ever since. It’s quite long!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

49

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

122,560. I write short things.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

In chronological order I have written:

BBC Sherlock- Mystrade only

James Bond

Doctor Who

Star Wars

Person of Interest

Arcane

Cats the Musical

Sandman

In theory I’m open to writing in any of those again and any others as the inspiration strikes.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

5 - Worship (Sandman, Dreamling), also received the comment that inspired my first tumblr post to breach containment.

4 - Who He Is (Mystrade), my first fic on ao3 besides the ones I moved to the Other Account. I’m a bit surprised by this honestly. It’s got age on its side but my writing has improved a lot since then. It reads as a bit clunky to me now.

3 - Loverboy (Sandman, Dreamling + Matthew the Emotional Support Raven), first time I brought my 2 Sandman series together and my first multi chap Sandman fic.

2 - The Century Gentleman (Sandman, Dreamling), I got this written and posted pretty soon after the show aired when there was a massive demand for Dreamling content and before there was a tidal wave of content to meet the demand. I have mixed feelings about it now.

1 - Sort It (James Bond & Sherlock crossover, 00Q + Mystrade), fills the niche of “Q is a Holmes brother” + fluffy Mystrade. I do still really love this story.

5. Do you respond to comments?

My rule is that I do. And I’ve generally been very diligent about it. But I burnt out a little while writing Grave and I currently have an embarrassing number of unread comments in my ao3 inbox that I keep telling myself that I need to respond to…

So if folks have commented on my stuff in the last month or so, I’m very sorry I haven’t responded.

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

Sequenced Proposals. No contest. Look, the character is terminally ill in canon and it’s a lawyer AU so it wasn’t going to end with him becoming a cyborg. I cried a lot while writing it. Apparently a lot of people cried while reading it. Technically he’s still alive when the story ends.

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

With the one notable exception discussed above I pretty much exclusively write warm, fluffy, occasionally funny stuff. They pretty much all end happily. I am a quokka of fan fiction.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I haven’t! Someone called me a bitch in a Sequenced Proposals comment but even though we had never interacted before, they meant it positively.

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

Not on this account. 😏

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

I’ve written 2: Sort It, as mentioned above, and Dreaming of Leverage, which is a Sandman & Leverage crossover. I’d say the latter is crazier.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

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

Nooooo. And I can’t see ever doing it. Writing is very much a solo activity for me.

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

I can’t pick a favorite. I adore every ship I’ve written.

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

I will probably not finish Law School Days. I know how the story ends and that’s good enough for me and no one was clamoring for it. I still like to think I’ll finish Lonely Two-Legged Creatures some day.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I’m good at dialogue, especially dialogue in which characters talk about their feeeeeelings. I guess I’m also good at emotional intelligence in stories. And creating the warm & fuzzies.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Plot and description. I almost exclusively write very short things because I am incapable of plot that would carry a longer story. Also, if I’m being honest, one of the things I like about writing fan fiction is that I don’t have to describe what anyone looks like or sounds like! Y’all know that already. But I do get the flop sweats if I have to describe someone wearing clothing that is not a t-shirt and jeans.

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

I wish I could! More than 15 years ago I was basically conversational in Spanish, but now I’m functionally monolingual. I do appreciate when people who do this provide translations.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

As a kid, before I knew what fan fiction was, I wrote at least 100 pages of what was essentially OCs in Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar. The first fandom I intentionally wrote and posted fic for was Mystrade.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Can’t do this, sorry. There are some of my stories that no longer resonate with me the way they did when I wrote them, but they’re in the minority and of the rest it’s impossible to pick a favorite.

Phew! That was a lot. Whenever I tag people in these I always say no pressure but really and seriously this time there’s no pressure and you don’t need to tell me why you’re not doing it. Just ignore. ALSO, if you’ve already done it and I missed it, apologies! With that said @once-in-a-blue-moon-rising @lavenderandvanilla @ml-nolan @mashumaru @ibrithir-was-here @karalynlovescake @stormofsharpthings @argylepiratewd

[improper-integral]

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

Thanks to @mid-n0vember for tagging me! Though tbh I feel like I'm not a great person to ask for this since my last 10 works on AO3 range from 2022 to... 2008 😅 I'm not much of a writer lmao but I'll give it a shot anyway!

Under His Spell, The Devil Judge, Kang Yohan/Kim Gaon, 26k words, November 3 2022 "Do you have any more questions for me?"

falling stupid for you, Guardian, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, 21k words, March 13 2021 Zhao Yunlan was no stranger to attractive people.

it's not a miracle you need, Supernatural, Castiel/Dean Winchester, 7.7k words, December 13 2020 "People don't need to pray to me or to sacrifice to me,” Jack explained, while Dean and Sam simply watched and listened.

The Course of True Love, Supernatural, Castiel/Dean Winchester, 11.6k words, October 28 2019 “What do you idjits need now?” Bobby grumbled over the static of the cell phone.

Surrender, Supergirl, Samantha "Sam" Arias/Reign, 1k words, May 7 2018 Sam lets out an anguished scream as the increased electricity flows through her body.

The Unexpected Benefits of Chores, BBC Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes & John Watson, 800 words, June 12 2011 “Sherlock.”

So Happy I Could Die, Glee, Kurt Hummel/Blaine Anderson, 5k words, January 3 2011 Kurt looked down when he heard the sound of a bottle rolling towards him.

In a Faraway Kingdom, Glee (fusion with Merlin), Kurt Hummel & Blaine Anderson, 4k words, December 6 2010 “Kurt, I think it’s time.”

Fashion Sense, Merlin, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon, 1k words, December 20 2009 “Here's your breakfast, sire,” Merlin chirps, perky as usual, as he places the platter of food in front of Arthur.

Precious Declaration, DNAngel, Satoshi/Daisuke, 1k words, June 24 2008 Daisuke laughed along with Saehara and his other friends over the lunch table, while inside feeling very separate from his friends.

The only pattern I see here is that I like to start my fics off with dialogue! Which tracks because dialogue is my favorite part of fic writing (to the point that everything else about the prose suffers lol oh well)

I'm not sure how many of my mutuals are also fanfic writers so if you are one and want to do this, consider yourself tagged by me! 🥰

[thesilversun]

Shipper Tag Game

Thank you to @hils79 for the tag

What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care about anymore? Honestly, I don't think there is one. I just wasn't into shipping or any kind of romance thing for the majority of my teens. (If it wasn't a book that was historical or fantasy or mystery with little to no romance I generally wasn't interested - I read a lot of Cadfael, Sherlock Holmes, LOTR, Pratchett, David Gemmell and Bernard Cornwall.) I only ended up finding fandom at all looking for Highlander gen fic, and came across m/m fic.

2. Which ship would you consider your first one? Mac/Methos would be the first one that I ever specifically looked for.

3. Your first fanfic was about which couple? Mac/Methos - no, it was never posted anywhere, nor is it likely to be.

4. Do you remember the first couple you saw fanart of? I have no idea. Maybe Highlander? I just used to lurk on the edges of fandom there. So maybe not until I got into watching Torchwood.

5. Have you ever gotten into ship discourse? Not really, it doesn't interest and i've got little enough time to spare to do fandom stuff, that I'm not using it on pointless arguments.

6. Did you use to have any NOTP or have one currently? Yes and yes. It's rare though - I think in about 10 different fandoms there have been just 2 notps. For one of them it's only about a specific pairing - I like both in other pairings. The other - nope, they are not paired with anyone and for the most part his existence is ignored.

7. Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read? Probably Di Feisheng/Li Lianhua - but I've not ready anything for a few days, it might not have been.

8. Currently, do you have any OTPs? I do tend towards being a multi-shipper in the sense that I'll have more than one ship I like in a fandom at the same time. So for the fandoms I'm currently writing in: Mysterious Lotus Casebook: Feihua, Difang and Difanghua MDZS: wangxian, xicheng, songxiao, sangcheng, nielan,

9. Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together? Not really, shows will do what they do, fan fic to take it where you want it to be.

10. Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting? Not really. I think maybe if any I in was producing new canon material that could give a different perspective on a character?

11. Do you have any ship that, in the past, would've been considered normal but now you would be cancelled over? I don't really think I've got any. I mean I could see people being funny about Jack/Ianto these days. It's boss/employee, they did threaten to kill each other and they have a 100+ age difference. On the other hand they did get over the hating each other part and became a canon pairing - so people might still roll with it?

12. What is your favorite crack ship? I had a lot of fun writing a PC Andy/Captain John Hart Torchwood fic.

13. What is the couple you read the most fanfics about? In total since I first started reading fics - that's probably going to have to go to Jack/Ianto - they were the otp of my main fandom for the best part of a decade.

14. What do most of your ships usually have in common? Characters mid 20s or older, competent at what they do - which probably includes combat, some kind of traumatic past, they see/come to see each other as equals.

15. What you absolutely hate in a ship? Contrived misscommunication, forced reliance (learning to rely/lean on each other support, good 100% like. One character manipulating things so the other is forced into reliance on them - nope, well not unless you are wanting it to be a messed up horrible relationship - but I've seen people think it as cute and no, nope, from me that's not a thing i enjoy reading in that context.)

I tag: @heyholmesletsgo @bbcphile @cheesybadgers @galexibrain and whoever else wants to play.

[icescrabblerjerky]

twenty questions for fic writers

tagged by @senseandaccountability THANK YOU!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 200 exactly! I did not know this until I just went and checked.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 1,222,468 - I too have been at it for a long time, about fifteen years (and there is more of it on other sites lol)

3. What fandoms do you write for? Rusty Quill Gaming, Baldur's Gate 3, SWTOR (and other star wars related fandoms), Dragon Age, The Magnus Archives, Final Fantasy XIV, uh... and lots of little one offs for books and tiny podcast fandoms.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Mbmbam Archives (mbmbam/magnus crossover) with 949 (this still makes me laugh so much)

Seven Days (RQGaming, Zolf/Oscar) at 458

Sex, Death and Plants or: Four Seasons Total Landscaping (RQGaming AU, Zolf/Oscar/Grizzop) at 425

Willing to Wait for It (RQGaming, genfic) at 394

and

A Little Help (RQGaming, again Zoscar) at 384

Rusty Quill Gaming folks are super super supportive and awesome and I'm forever grateful they went on my dumb journeys with these characters with me.

5. Do you respond to comments? Always! I hope! I know sometimes I miss them when I'm away from my computer but they are definitely always read.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Mmmm, angsty-est?? I'm not one really for angsty endings, although I like angst in all the other bits. Probably the fic I wrote where Zolf is mourning Oscar. I honestly can't remember what it was called.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Sex Death and Plants ends in a massive polycule and the take down of a fascist asshole billionaire so I think it deffo qualifies as the happiest of my endings :D.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm LOL. Never directly. I have reports of people who dislike what I write but they never tell me to my face for some reason, it always gets around to me, usually about two years later, on the underground.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I do. I love writing smut. I don't write very graphic smut as a general rule but most of my fics will have one or two scenes in it and I've done a couple of kinktobers. Love it.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I've got a couple. One Dragon Age/Lucifer crossover that I wrote specifically for a friend. One aborted Firefly/Dragon Age Crossover that lives on FF.net I think if that site hasn't destroyed itself.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? I've had enquiries about translating some into Russian but I've never actually seen if they followed through.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes! Quite a few actually. Some of them haven't been published :D.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? I should say Zoscar. So I will. I love them your honour.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? Gods I got a comment on my old Rebels fic "Talking to Strangers" and I read it again and went "this shit's good I should finish it" but that would involve me actually watching the rest of Rebels and I don't really watch TV any more and it just ends up being too hard.

16. What are your writing strengths? Dialogue and character voices, I think - at least for fic. I have a lot of fun trying to make what characters say feel like it could be lifted directly from the source material but isn't.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Description. Fucken' hate it. I'll do it but I'll moan about it for every single sentence.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? Very risky IMO and not something I'll do any more although I used to when I first started out. These days I'll write it in English but indicate which language it should be in in other ways.

19. First fandom you wrote for? If we wanna get technical I wrote my first fanfic when I was about ten years old. It was Sherlock Holmes fanfiction (the stories, not the series, since the series didn't come out for another twenty five years lol). Self insert time travel fic. I may still have it somewhere lol.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written? I love all my fanfictions equally (I really don't care for Mbmbam Archives). No that was a joke, I really do love all of them, my favourite tends to be the one I'm writing at the present moment. That said honourable mention should go to The Nature of Crystal (G'raha/WOL smut) because that one just arrived fully formed in my head one morning and tickled me.

I'll tag @feralkwe, @wishflower4, @zombolouge @makesometime and anyone else who would like to do it!

[cloudiness]

tag 9 people you want to get to know better

tagged by @ammargura ❤️

I've been tagged in two different posts but I'm lazy and since some of the questions were the same ones I'm making one single bigger post 😌

favorite color: green

currently reading: I've read like 5 pages of "The House in the Cerulean Sea", bought it just because it seems very 'harry potter fanfiction' like, idk, I'm bad at actively reading books in this period of my life so I've thought that something closer to fanfic could help, we'll see

last song: ONE MORE TIME by blink-182 😭

last series: last finished one is 'The Bear' but last one I've seen an episode of is 'Only Murders in the Building'

last movie: "Stranizza D'Amuri"(2023), I think it's called "Fireworks" in English, it's an Italian movie inspired by a real story of a gay teen couple and the very close-minded italian society of the 80s, I liked it a lot

sweet/savory/spicy: savoury

currently working on: finding new jobs by collaborating with some other fellow photographers and trying to edit and post new and old stuff on my instagram for work but it's hard because I'm not used to posting photos there anymore

three ships: this is hard, the list is just soooo long but ok, just three:

Shwatsonlock (Watson/Holmes)((not BBC Sherlock)), Ritchie09! and Book!Verse, the fics are just so good! you can always find something new and they never disappoint, I'm honestly still hoping for a third movie 😭

Harringrove (Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington from Stranger Things), again, AMAZING FICS! their whole dynamic is just ON ANOTHER LEVEL! killing Billy Hargrove has been the greatest mistake the damn Duffer brothers have ever made and nope, Eddie didn't solve anything, I love him but he's just the 'this one can't be cancelled by people that don't have any critical sense' new version of Billy, I said what I said

Carlando (Carlos Sainz Jr/Lando Norris, RPS from F1), gotta go with them because they bring me joy(carlando podium last week wow) and also gotta mention the many lovely people I've met on here thanks to this ship, I love out little community ❤️🧡

first ship ever: Frerard aka Frank Iero/Gerard Way from My Chemical ROmance, yup I think that the first time I've actually read a fanfic it was about these two and I've never stopped since, I was 13, 2006, and "The Black Parade" was about to come out, good ol' times

currently craving: a little bit of more stability and a new spark of creativity

tags: @artemispt @carletes @underatedwords @wdcmaxy @blorbocedes @justheretoship @clovermotors @the-toasted-teacake @electricdoves but also whoever wants to do this, feel free! I really am curios about everyone 😌❤️

[magnetarmadda]

20 questions for fic writers

thanks @organchordsandlightning for tagging me!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 

85, 1 HFTH and 84 TMA

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 

314,915

3. What fandoms do you write for? 

I've got a lot of wips for a variety of fandoms that haven't yet seen the light of day. TMA most prominently of course, HFTH (and a few wips in the back burner), Murderbot Diaries, Star Trek, Sherlock Holmes, Tell No Tales podcast, and Mistholme Museum

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Lucky Stars

Mysterious Love

Here to Forever

Terror in the Archives

My Arms Around You

5. Do you respond to comments?

I do, although not nearly as regularly as I used to. It can take me months to respond, but I always will!

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

This Is Our Last Goodbye - Jon leaves Martin in the tunnels without saying goodbye

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

Okay, actually, the one I think has the happiest ending hasn't been posted yet (upcoming for jmart week 2024), but this one is in the same vein of healing and recovery and finding happiness after an unimaginable tragedy - I Have So Much of You In My Heart

8. Do you get hate on fics? 

Every once in a while, though it's so rare

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

I do, yes, but not often. It's definitely very vanilla, and it almost always portrays some of my own experiences with asexuality and desire

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

I don't, but not because I don't like them. I just personally find it hard to write them--one of those kinds of fics that don't store well in my brain. I've read quite a few I really love, though!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? 

I have, but it's been a long time now since that happened, and I don't know of any of my recent fics being stolen

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? 

I haven't, I don't think

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

Yes! I co-wrote all the time with my best friend when we were growing up, and it was a great experience

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? 

Genuinely, I don't know. The ship that's seemed to move into my brain forever is JonMartin, and I do desperately love them, but there are plenty of other ships I truly love but don't engage with in a fandom sense

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

I have a couple that I just lost the ideas for (my memory is like a sieve anymore, thanks brain fog), and I may not finish them because I'll be unable either recall where I wanted them to go or find endings that feel meaningful/in line with what I've already written

16. What are your writing strengths? 

I'm great with dialogue and with passing on emotions to readers, and I think I'm pretty funny and good with metaphors and descriptions

17. What are your writing weaknesses? 

I really struggle with writing action and with pacing out stories in a way that lets all of the characters grow along with the narrative

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

I have no issue with it, but I'm not sure it's something I've done? Partly because I'm only fluent in English and my smattering of German and French wouldn't be very helpful with that lol

19. First fandom you wrote for? 

Encyclopedia Brown, actually, and I'm sure my mom still has the stories somewhere

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

So, caveat--this is the fic I'm most proud of having finished and shared, making it my favorite for very personal reasons. I started i am loving myself out of the dark as both a response to @probsnothawkeye's coffee shop AU series and as a way to process some of my own trauma, and in the year since I finished it, I've actually used pieces of it as touchstones on my healing journey

On that very light note lol, here's a handful of tags, if you'd like to do it: @therealandian, @cirrus-grey, @ollieofthebeholder, and anyone else who'd like to share about their fics!

[hechiima]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thought this would be fun with the end of the year!

1. How many works do you have on A03?

31.

2. What's your total A03 word count?

398,723. I'm really proud of this number tbh; never thought I'd write this much. Was hoping to hit 400k by the end of 2023 but I don't think that's gonna happen. Here's to hoping I hit half a million by this time next year!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

AA/DGS

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

You Ever Been In Love?

Things Are As They Are

On the Morality of Birds

Awkward Business

The View from the Gallery

No DGS fics. I know its a smaller fandom so it makes sense but still. 🥲 Also I swear I'll finish Awkward Business someday I'm just. So deep into Sherlock Holmes/DGS hell atm. ;A;

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

I never do unless it's a specific question. I used to but then I got overwhelmed/I never knew what to say so I just stopped. That said, I read all of them and they really mean a ton to me!!!

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

Prob Running Late or Shoulder Pain. I'm not really good with angsty endings so I usually only keep it angsty in the shorter fics lmao.

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

Lololol I think most of my fics have happy endings so that's a hard one.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nope! Thankfully, I think the hate on fics trend has died down a lot since the ff.net days.

9. Do you write smut?

Hell yeah. Please read my smut I'm so proud of it. I'm also on a quest to boost the hmmk smut tag on ao3 so if y'all have any smut you wanna see for them lmk.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Nope. My dream fic of a holmesverse crossover will happen someday though.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Thankfully no.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! I've had a few translated to Russian and Chinese. Honestly it's insanely flattering when ppl ask to translate a fic like ough you liked my story so much you wanted to share it with others who don't speak English? It's so sweet. ;A;

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

Okay so Mango and Krissey and I started an amazing pirate AU and l adore it. And someday. We will finish it. I believe in us. I'd love to co-write a fic tho so if anyone's interested please hmu I think it'd be so so fun.

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

Ugh. Johnlock/Hmmk or Nrmt have to be like. The only ships that made me insane enough to write multiple fics over so it's def them. I love insanely codependant relationships.

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

There's so many. But off the top of my head, I have a fantasy AU that Beau and I came up with that I still love a ton (Finding You) and want to finish and a Edgeworth ends up in a Gregory lives AU (In Another Life) that I'm not sure if I'll ever finish. The former is just so much work and the latter I've kinda lost the plot thread so. Ough. Sorry.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

aksfjjalsjflsjf everything else LMAO. That's why we practice!

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

I don't love doing it? I've done it like once for a fic where language was important but other than that I try to avoid doing it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

....hetalia..........it was the only other fandom i wrote for before AA. This was like in 2009/2010 tho I know better now but those fics ARE still up on fanfiction.net (: It sucks b/c sometimes I wanna compare my old writing to my current writing but I'm like ough. I cannot read these old fics.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

I'd have to say A Study In Gold. I genuinely love that one so much. Thinking about hmmk early days makes me insane. I also really liked On the Morality of Birds b/c it was just such a supremely stupid fic.

@anyone who sees this and writes fic please feel free to do it! I'd love to see others talk about their fics <3

[tastyfishistasty]

13 years on Tumblr retrospective

Having looked through all the posts I personally made since 2010 I can see so many changes and so many things that have stayed the same. It's been sad and interesting and also some good bits!

The world spins ever on.

Followers and Following

My lovely lovely mutuals and followers have always been so kind and so helpful 💜💜💜, so many posts and conversations that I forgot, but were like little treasures to find!

It makes me so sad to know some of the people I interacted with so often are no longer here and I have no way of finding them. I miss them and I hope they are happy and doing well.

I've still never broken into having 100 followers, but those that do follow me are the best 🎉

Fandoms etc

I miss some of the fandoms I used to care so much about! Merlin, Bluestone 42, HTTYD, supernatural, Sherlock, Doctor Who, Brooklyn 99, Narnia...

Some I will watch occasionally, some not with a barge pole.

Then of course the big two that I can't touch anymore that make me sad because people are awful.

There's a post I saw about the first RTX UK which I couldn't go to in the end and I'm gushing about you know who and it makes me sick to remember how much I loved them. I watch Jeremy on twitch and I love him, but I can't watch the back catalogue anymore and I used to watch them on repeat.

I used to have the tag "Achievement Hunter is saving my life". And it did. It gave me things to look forward to and it was good and happy and positive and safe. But it wasn't. It's ruined and it's never coming back.

For the other one... I wrote fan fic, it was how I got into fandom at all! I made my own fandom merch (embarrassing as fuck now), but all that care and effort was not deserved by the creator and I hope she rots away and stops hurting people I care about.

Dragon age has been around for me such a very long time and I wish it worked on my old laptop now EA has updated their app thing.

My MCs have really changed and grown and I see so many mistakes and misunderstandings in my own view of the world, seeing how they've changed and I've changed is really rewarding!

Me!

Looking back at some of my OG posts, I was so good at hiding that I was ace. I assumed I was normal, I'd had a serious boyfriend!

Yeah no. You can track my nonsense as I figure it out, the "thirst" posts disappearing and my Sherlock phase was getting worse (yes, that's how I figured out what Asexual was, when someone said Sherlock Holmes was... the shaaaaaaame 🤦).

And by "thirst" posts, I mean "isn't X pretty? I like his face". That's it.

My dude, that is aesthetic attraction not romantic or sexual. You are asexual as fuck, stop trying to not be.

Then there's the "I'm double A not triple A, what a shame!" posts. Shockingly, wanting to be Agender too but feeling it can't be you, because it's only for people who know exactly what they are... is a sign you might actually be Agender.

It's both more complicated and not complicated at all with my gender, but Agender works and I like being a tiny battery, so I got here eventually.

Most recently there's the mental health side. I use a side blog for that, but it's still on Tastyfishistasty. It's so sad to look and see me trying so hard to fight my "atypical cyclic depression" and feeling so lazy and broken.

It was ADHD and emotional dysregulation, doc, not a fancy depression.

If my ear doctor hadn't said anything, I don't know if I'd ever have realised. It's scary to know how much of myself was revealed because I didn't actually have hearing problems, I have attention problems and auditory processing issues...

Thank you to anyone that has been on this journey with me, either my lovely followers and mutuals or just for reading this long post!

I'm not going anywhere unless they kick me out as they close the building, this post was born from finally receiving the "made 100 posts" badge and wanting to see how many I'd actually made. (It's 210 original and 15,090 reblogs... so Tumblr needs to learn to count.)

I wish I had time to back this blog up, or at least go through and find the important stuff I don't want to loose, but that's a lot of work and Tumblr does not like me going too far on my own blog, so unless there's a way to put it somewhere else to look... who knows.

Anyway

Thanks everyone 💜

And Tumblr:

[newtabfics]

13 for the q&a? I really like your writing and I'm curious.

How long have you been writing or when did you start?

I'm going to be real. I've been writing since 5th grade. At the time, we were having a creative project and i learned what writing is. I always thought of it as storytelling back then. Well, I ended up writing a fanfic for Neopets, not knowing that it was fanfic. But I also ended up failing the assignment because it was not all original, just the storyline was original. This same fic I ended up posting on the website to share with Neopians and it was featured for like 2 months because it was a mystery about the Dark Faerie and the Detective Scorpio, who really was just Sherlock Holmes.

Since then, I've been writing almost daily actually. I wanted to keep writing. I never really entered any contests though, as my self-esteem wasn't the best and I had trouble FINISHING stories.

But, as of now, in my real life, I've published 2 books and became a script writer for my ASMR friends. It's kind of insane actually when you think about it.

I'm also writing the storyline for my friend's fakemon game they're working on as well as drafting my first VN.

Sharing stories is my favorite thing in the world. I can't imagine what I'd be like without this gift.

[whoseafraidofliloleme]

Answering these cause I'm bored and felt like it 😂. It's all going in one post so after question 5 I'll put in read more.

1. Depends, if I'm writing on the the way to work or uni then I'm definitely listening to either Taylor Swift or K-pop literally got a playlist titled that 😂. If I'm at home and the idea has come I'm most likely not listening to anything 😂.

2. Nope. Very much Not Beta Read We Die Like Men. Probably why when I read back on various screenshots I see typos 😂.

3. Second person cause I write reader inserts 😂. In general as a reader I prefer third person or second person. Sorry I don't know what it is abt first person pov fics that I just can't stand them.

4. Man I barely know what tenses I write in and I'm getting a degree in English to go on and be an English teacher 😭🤷🏽‍♀️.

5. Eh, the one written fic Ive got Invisible is 32k and I thought it was gonna be short and sweet but that never happened. I guess novel length cause practically all of my smaus are over 10 chapters 😂. I haven't gotten to 40 chapters yet but knowing me it's a goal to have a smau be 40 chapters 😂😂.

6. Multi chapters. There's a reason I've only got like 3 one shots 😂. Most of my ideas end up becoming smaus that I couldn't contain in a one shot 😂.

7. I do enjoy a rarepair. Some of the rarepair fics that I've read are insanely amazing and I guess my thing is the lack of fics for a rarepair but that's the whole point isn't it 😂.

8. I'd like to think that in my True Beauty fanfic everyone was in character but since I mainly wrote K-pop smaus I guess I write the various idols as wildly out of character in terms of how they truly are compared to the stupidity in my fics.

9. I've got too many tropes/cliches that I love. So I'll name a few. Fake Dating has always been a fave. Arranged marriage is a fun one 😂. Sunshine/grumpy pair I love writing. Bad boy/good girl is a classic. Love a good screaming at each other then they kiss moment 😂.

10. Not really a fan tbh.

11. Do y'all have the time? I'll go the first ones that come to mind are Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Sherlock Holmes and Molly Hooper. Marinette Dupain Cheng and Damian Wayne. Kate Sharma and Anthony Bridgerton. (Fyi this are just my otps that I read fics abt. If we're talking general otps there's hundreds. )

12. Anything involving Snape. I just hate that man as a character and he doesn't deserve a happy ending. I said what I said.

13. Fluff. I don't mind smut but I'm skim reading it.

14. Both, in my writing I love a good bit of angst but in a fic I'm reading, sometimes I just want to cry abt there being too much angst.

15. There's no rhyme or reason tbh. Anything can lead to inspiration then it's just me constantly thinking abt it and talking abt this idea to myself out loud and figuring it out.

16. Write by the seat of my pants. I've generally got a rough idea of where I want the story to go and then it's chapter by chapter 😂. I can't plan fics or essays to save my life.

17. Invisible I didn't but I'm planning on going back and giving the chapters titles cause I think chapters titles are just fun and they help give me an idea of what I wanna do in that chapter 😂.

18. None. I think I've seen them all at this point that I'm not surprised by them or care.

19. Knowing that people like what I put out. The whole concept of people liking the stuff I write doesn't make sense to me. I'd like to think I'm better at accepting praise for my writing but I think there will always be that insecurity and doubt about whether my stories are worth the praise and love they get. Another thing is, I have people who reblog and I'm grateful but I wish they'd reblog with a comment or reply to the chapter or something that lets me know what they thought. Just a reblog while great and I'm thankful for doesn't tell me what you thought and thats what I'd like to know.

20. Don't let fear stop you from writing or a lack of engagement stop you.

[chaos-and-sparkles]

🍄🧩

Oooh man this has been sitting in my inbox for a while i swear i meant to answer it lmaoo

Thanks for asking yippeee :D

🍄 - let's see, it's hard to pick a particular ship so I'm just gonna do my current top 3. For Johnlock (ACD canon/Granada Holmes specifically); headcanon that Watson operates under the firm belief that Sherlock enjoys the crosswords and lil puzzles in the newspaper because of a singular time Sherlock got excited and infodumped about the effects of the British railway on local bee populations or something when Watson asked him for a help with 13 across, and so he never does the puzzles himself anymore and just always leaves them for Sherlock to do, often folding the newspaper to that page once he's done with reading it (it's also a not-so-subtle way of trying to stimulate his brain enough that he lays off the cocaine for a bit). Sherlock actually gives zero shits about the crossword, he thinks the whole thing is inane and ridiculously easy as long as you know some basic general knowledge (and he swears this has nothing to do with the fact that he trips up over the surprisingly simplest things sometimes), but he thinks it's sweet and cute and so he never dissuades Watson of this notion. Conversely, on the rare occasion that he's done with the paper first, he leaves it open to the funny haha cartoons for Watson. He likes seeing him laugh, even though personally he doesn't think the jokes are that funny.

For chaipunk (this works more for a no powers regular life au but works either way); I firmly believe Hobie can and will steal Pavitr's socks when the opportunity arises. Just one sock of each pair. He returns them by leaving them in the unlikeliest places without saying anything, like on top of the fridge. It happened by accident the first couple times but now he just thinks Pav is cute with mismatched socks and funny when he's miffed about not finding them. (He had not counted on Pav just buying plain identical socks so they're all the same, in retaliation) (Pav absolutely knows what's going on, he just thinks it's funny to let Hobie think he doesn't know).

For Jonmartin; Martin likes dipping fries in milkshake and Jon wholeheartedly disapproves of his life choices ("THEY'RE NOT MEANT TO BE EATEN LIKE THA - STOP - I'M CALLING THE AUTHORITIES, BASIRA GET HERE -") but the one time Martin made him try it, he really liked it, like REALLY really liked it, but he has to keep pretending he hates it for the sake of his reputation. (Melanie catches Jon eating fries and milkshake like that once in secret, and torments him forever, threatening to tell Martin since he gave him so much shit for it. Martin has fully clocked onto this fact but it's funnier to watch Jon suffer in a situation of his own making than let him off the hook.)

🧩 - It's been a while since I encountered a fic I need to click off, but "orbs" "member", using sensitive subjects as plot devices for romance to happen, and calling energetic characters "adhd" as a joke definitely are up there. Also when people clearly have a special little boy and so the universe must warp around this character to prove they're the best. Also - most commonly - when I'm just not invested and it's more than a fourth of the way through.