#this is my magnum opus of a post i've been trying to write for like a month now

[bet-on-me-13]

Culture of the Ghost Zone

SO! This is less of a full on prompt, and more of an opportunity.

I've been in this Fandom for over a year now and over that time I've seen so many little bits or lore and headcanons about the Ghost Zones Culture, but I've never seen a single post put them all together.

So, here I'll try to write down as many as I can think of, and anyone else can add their own Headcanons, or add to whatever I or someone else writes!

...

So! My personal Headcanon is that when a Ghost Passes on, it's a thing to be celebrated.

Ghosts are Immortal Beings, holding onto a desire or unfinished business that tethers them to the Mortal Plane. They live, because they are Unfulfilled, unable to accomplish the task that would allow them to Pass on, and be at peace with themselves.

So when a Ghost manages to fulfill their Obsession, manages to Pass On to the After? It's something to CELEBRATE!

Like when a Viking would die, you don't just mourn their death, you celebrate their Life! A Ghosts Passing On is much the same. When one of them manages it, there are parties across the Zone of people who knew them, or people who didn't but still want to celebrate! It's a Joyous thing when someone you know was able to find peace!

...

Ghosts socialize through Battle.

Ghosts are Immortal, Superpowered, and Stuck together for Centuries. They are going to fight, and they are going to love the thrill of it!

From the freshest of Newborns to the Oldest of Ancients, All Ghosts love the thrill of Battle. It's one of their defining traits! They have Centuries of nothing to do and energy to burn, and they devote it to the art of Combat!

And it's not just Brawls! Some Ghosts prefer to battle with Swords alone, others with their Fists and no Powers, others with their Powers and no Fists, there are entire communities of Ghosts who have specific Rules, or Customs for Combat!

In one part of the Zone, it may be common to Tackle any Ghost you see and instantly start to fight them, but in another? That would be seen as Rude, you need to throw down your glove in front of them to request a Battle!

Or in another section of the Zone you may be forced to battle without Weapons whatsoever, in another it may be Without Powers whatsoever, or with ONLY Powers!

The Fight Culture stretches far and wide, no two parts of the Zone are exactly the Same

...

Art is highly Valued.

Of course not all Ghosts are entirely focused on Battle, and even the ones that are like to focus on something else from time to time. Some of those Ghosts were Artists when they were Alive.

And they continued to make Art in Death. But this Art is Special, with all the Time in the World, a Ghost can spend Decades or even Centuries on their Magnum Opus! It would be their Life's Work, something they dedicated their entire Afterlives to!

So of course, it is respected. Ghosts know better than to ruin or destroy another Ghosts work or Art. Be it a Statue, a Painting, a Song, or a Theater Production.

...

I think that's Good for now, what do you think? Anything to add to the points I written down? Any entirely new points to add?

Go ahead!

[otrtbs]

writer interview game ✨

thank you for tagging me linds!! <3 @inevitablestars

how many works do you have on ao3? 5 on my otrtbs account (+1 unpublished one) and 6 on my otrtbs_shorts account (where all my one shots and short stories went!!)

what's your total ao3 word count? 580,654

your top 5 stories by kudos? Art Heist, Baby! Tender Curiosities, Baby! Winterlude Angel of Death You and Me

do you respond to comments? i try!!!! i really try!!! ahb! gets unmanageable i fear but if you get there early enough on new chapters that i post on new stories, i really try to get to them!!

what's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending? uhm. i guess art heist, baby! but tbh i feel like i could go angstier... maybe that'll be a writing goal for the new year...

do you write crossovers? no! haven't yet. but i was just talking to some friends today about something so cursed ....that could be my magnum opus if i wasn't a coward

have you ever received hate on a fic? no, never!!! everyone is really nice and respectful and can keep it peaceful and fun :))) !1!1!1!1! (<- girl who is manifesting for the future <- my fic has been eviscerated on goodreads and reddit and tiktok and twitter and in my tumblr asks and on ao3 i wouldn't be surprised if people are adding it to their linkedin atp)

do you write smut? very poorly and briefly and not really el oh el

have you ever had a fic stolen? not plagiarized, no!!! thank god!! but stolen and sold....well, yes i fear.

have you ever had a fic translated? yes! so many wonderful sexy versions of art heist, baby! out there for people to enjoy !! angel of death has been translated too!!

have you ever co-written a fic before? no, because collabing scares me. in the sense that i would be worried that i wasn't writing to my co-authors expectations and also ... if they don't directly align to My Vision i will also throw up. so. i don't think co-writing is in the cards for me

what's your all-time favorite ship? JEGULUS <3 jegulus. my forever girls <3

what's a wip that you want to finish but don't think you ever will? when i say i have...a master timeline full of every event that happened to bellatrix, andromeda, narcissa, sirius, and regulus.... detailing their time at school, what classes they take, key life events...just for me to use to write a massive canon-compliant fic of their lives.... i have put in HOURS and HOURS of work into that wip but i don't think it'll ever be done and/or see the light of day

what are your writing strengths? i really love writing detailed, descriptive interior scenes. it's one of my favorite things to do! i see every interior scene in my fic like a little still-life painting and i want the reader to be able to visualize the same still-life im seeing in my head in their head!!

what are your writing weaknesses? commas </3 grammar in general... like sorry 2 ur honor. but who fucking cares? do you get the vibes? are the vibes there? that's all i care about.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? i love it!! i've learned a lot of fun phrases from it !!

what's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to? im gonna write moonchaser (jamus, wolfbucks? idfk) !!!!!! when my james/remus thesis drops i swear !!!!!!!!

what's your favorite fic you've ever written? Winterlude!!! Winterlude is my favorite child, she's beautiful, she's gorgeous, she's fun, minimal angst, happy endings, regulus is hot as fuck in it, i want to go to there so bad. winterlude !!!!!

okay, i'm no pressure tagging @rabidlittlestrawberry @whorerific @pretentiouswreckingball @twisted-tales-told @residentrookie 💕

[genericpuff]

Hey quick question.

How do you know if you should make a webcomic? I have this story idea that’s been floating around in the back of my head that I think could work well for a comic series. But the problem is I’m mainly used to writing screenplays and more traditional writing.

What I’m saying is, how can I tell if making a webcomic is worth it or if I should stick in my comfort zone?

I mean, there's no definitive right answer when it comes to "knowing" if you should make a webcomic. It really just comes down to you. Do you really like the medium? Do you feel your story has to be told within that medium to achieve its goals?

Same thing goes for whether or not it's "worth it", it really comes down to how you define that. For some people, simply posting their comics online to a few readers each week is worth it. For others, if it doesn't get into print or publishing or whatever have you, it might not be quite so justifiable to keep up with. Neither is better or worse than the other, both reasons are valid because it ultimately comes down to what we as individuals are trying to accomplish and what we define as "worth it" on a personal level.

I actually live on both sides of the spectrum right now because with Rekindled, posting it on Tumblr and getting all the great feedback and company through the audience it's gained makes it worth it. But that worth was defined by my expectations going in - I wasn't making Rekindled for money (legally I can't), I wasn't making it to get an Originals deal or anything of the sort, I was just making it because I found myself deadset on going through with it after months of it living in my head rent free, and so what I've gotten out of it as a result is very much worth it, all I was really looking for was maybe some other readers who would enjoy reading a transformative 'foe fiction' from a former LO fan and I've found those readers in spades simply due to the demand.

Time Gate, on the other hand, was something that I wanted for years to be a 'successful' project, defined more by actual tangible growth and gain. Because I came up with it as a kid, for a long time it was my "magnum opus" project, the thing that I wanted to see get turned into books and an anime and a video game and all those sorts of things as 'proof' of how good it was. Of course, I know now years later that those expectations were WAY too high and it resulted in me feeling incredibly depressed over it for ages. It made it hard to work on and even though I did have some readers, I didn't see it as "worth it" because my expectations were a lot higher than that of Rekindled's going in. But that was simply a matter of experience at that point, because I had been making original comics for so long, when I went into Rekindled I knew a lot more what I was capable of, what I wasn't capable of, and what boundaries I was willing to put down for myself. Even still, I do still want to return to Time Gate some day and when I do, I want to still treat it like a series I want to get off the ground as an actual published piece of work - it's just that this time around, I actually know how to make those steps and be proactive in my approach (and I know where to keep my expectations) which is certainly a perspective and skillset I didn't have when I was 15 LMAO

I will say, realistically speaking, it is a lot harder to pursue webcomics as a writer, because the reality of this medium is that most people who go into it are artists who learn how to write to make a webcomic, not the other way around. Unless you're willing to learn how to draw - which is a whole other skillset that requires years of work and patience - you're likely going to have to seek someone to collaborate with and - I cannot stress this enough - it's not going to be someone you simply find on reddit who's willing to work for free. Again, many of us as artists went into webcomics with a project already in mind, so most artists are already working on their own passion projects, trying to convince someone else to work on yours is just not realistic or fair. I'm fortunate enough to have @banshriek along for the production of Rekindled and even then I still pay for their contributions out of pocket, they're as invested in an LO rewrite project as I am (and thus they're given a lot of room to make suggestions in both the set designs and the writing), and I still had to carry the first 20ish episodes on my own before they joined along, i.e. I would still be making Rekindled if they weren't onboard, but having them is a massive help that's taken the comic to a whole other level in its artistic production.

But that doesn't mean it's hopeless! There's a lot of interest right now in webnovels and writing comic scripts is still a completely viable way to get into the comics industry if you're really interested in doing so (fun fact: before I was making comics, I wrote fanfiction! This is probably not shocking to hear all things considered LMAO) There's a reason Webtoons owns Wattpad now, webnovels are a no-brainer when it comes to adaptations to visual mediums, and webcomics have become part of that environment by extension. So at the very least, if you want to get your story out there, there are loads of ways to do it that don't require you to make a comic - but if you really want to make one, there are ways to get into that industry through writing in other ways such as pitching scripts to comic publishers and/or going indie with webnovels. Ultimately, if many of us webcomic creators stopped drawing our works, we'd still be coming up with stories to write, because that's what's really at the heart of these sorts of projects. So even if you can't get into comics right away due to lack of visual artistry, that doesn't mean it's off the table forever ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡

Sorry, that was a lot of rambling but I hope it helps ! Remember to keep your goals and expectations manageable, and most of all, write lots! You'll be doing it anyways regardless of whether or not you get into comics, so whatever value you see in getting into comics is up to you to determine! You don't have to know right away, it might be something you'll find along the way or have to adjust as you get more experience, but don't stop yourself from getting creative and messing around until you find out what works! You won't know if it was worth leaving your comfort zone until you try it <3

Good luck! (•̀ᴗ•́)و

[joeloverture]

ok, more on this because apparently i have to say all of this. if responding to it makes the hate worse i honestly could not give less of a fuck about it than i already do. i am here to express myself so u best believe that is what my ass will be doing!!

this is gonna be a bit long and a bit winded bc ive been keeping this close to my chest for a while.

i genuinely don't fucking write for an audience. if i was writing for an audience you'd have never seen me post fair's fair. you'd have never seen me writing flesh currency! i write what i want. when i'm horny. when i want to make other people horny (i guess?). when i feel like it. when im healthy enough to do it.

no my fics are not the magnum opus. no they arent being strung up in the goddamn louvre. that isnt what im trying to do. i juice joy out of my fanfic writing and am KIND enough to put it on the internet for others to enjoy if they so wish. nobody is holding you at gunpoint to read my "shit writing".

fanfic writers either dont post enough or they post too much you really, really gotta pick one.

i spent like 5 months on hiatus in debilitating pain and was in and out of the hospital for a few weeks out of those months. i couldnt even write a goddamn diary entry. you have no idea how happy i am to have my creative voice back.

its... my winter break. of fucking course im writing lol i dont have anything else to do!!!! there's nothing else id rather be doing because i actually like this!

id rather write as a hobby than crank out anon hate, personally. maybe that's a me issue?

then, a bit more on identity and the role of identity in all of this

ive had to start counting the amount of anons i get with hateful slurs in them. since coming back i've been called the r slur. the f slur. the c slur. the b slur. everything in the fucking book. not only is it uncreative, its regressive.

y'all either dont like me because im annoying or blatantly showing autistic traits or outspoken abt being marginalized or bc you dislike my writing or because you have absolutely nothing better to do (the latter of which is particularly pathetic)

regardless you are weaponizing my identity to either try to terrorize me in general or drive me off of this site. think about how weird that is.

also so many of these asks are laden with an undercurrent of ableism. like, oh my god, the disabled girl is posting a lot ! woah! holy shit! call the fucking news outlets!

oh my god, the disabled girl is showing autism traits on main!!!! should we call autism speaks? should we invite sia?

this isnt even me defending myself, i feel no obligation to defend myself against these fuckers. i just did want to arrange my thoughts for the dash. sometimes talking helps me compose that sort of thing.

[khywren]

🎉 Time for some Self-Positivity! 🎉 

🌟 What's a scene or line you wrote that still makes you smile when you reread it? ✍️ What's something you've improved on in your writing journey? 👀 Share a link to a fic of yours that you think deserves more love!

Answer these questions, and send this to 5 writers who inspire you ❤️

@obsessedwhyyes, @deadly-diminuendo, @vividiana. @honeybee-bard, @inkymoonbunny, @arzen9, @hellethil 😭😭😭 a HUGE thanks to those of you who sent me one of these; i was gonna respond to them all individually but you all showered me in so much love that i decided to just compile everything into one big post instead and give a few answers for each question. while we're on the topic of positivity, thank you all so much for making this fandom such a delight to be a part of! i am hugging each and every one of you.

what's a scene or line you wrote that still makes you smile when you reread it?

“That doesn't mean I still can't ask you to be mine,” he says softly, eyes tracking the flush that creeps across her cheeks and stains the tips of her ears a vibrant shade of pink. His expression has grown soft again, vulnerable in a way that he has never been with anyone but her. “You will, won't you, darling?”

from my fluffy little holiday fic, frost and flame. after putting these two through so much, i'm glad i was able to give them something soft for a change. it was also my first real experience with writing so much fluff, which was fun!

Footsteps echo on the stone floor nearby as another figure alights behind her, and relief washes over Ysera as Astarion's cool hand rests on her shoulder. “On your feet, darling. I know we aren't currently on the best of terms, but dying just to spite me is a little petty, wouldn't you agree?”

this is from an unpublished act 2 chapter of adrift. i probably have another 11 or so chapters before we get here, but i'm very excited about this scene.

“She sat with me until sundown and made sure that we – that I – had somewhere safe to go,” Astarion continues. His smile turns sardonic as he adds, “In that moment, all I could think of was how weak and ashamed I felt, and she never made me apologize for any of it. She never has. I've never understood why.” ... Gale fixes Astarion with a knowing look and rests his hand on Astarion’s shoulder. “She loves you, Astarion. What other reason does she need?”

from the most recent chapter of my kinktober fic. i hate that we can't run after astarion on the docks. i'm sure a lot of us would have done anything to go sit with him and bring him some comfort. 😭

what's something you've improved on in your writing journey?

a lot, i'd like to think! but here are a few standouts:

i think i've found my voice and a style that i'm (mostly) happy with. that goes a long way towards...

being more confident with my writing. i still get nervous every time i publish something, but it's not as bad as it was when i was an itty-bitty baby fic writer back in 2023.

giving my characters more personality and letting them be the dumbasses they were destined to be. i know humor is very subjective, but i'm getting more comfortable with the mindset of, "well, i think this is funny, so i'm writing it." i owe a lot of that to @nerdallwritey, whose humor both inside and outside of fanfic has greatly inspired me!

learning from other writers. i've been trying to read more this year to improve my writing, and i can't say if that's helped yet or not, but i've also learned a lot from my fellow fic writers! i love reading someone else's fic and being inspired to drive right back into my own drafts to try out some of the things i loved from their work. honestly, i could write an essay on each and every one of my beloved moots and aspects of their writing i admire, but then we'd be here all day.

share a link to a fic of yours that you think deserves more love!

mist and shadow - my baby, my magnum opus, my absolute pride and joy. i genuinely think i cooked with this one. i LOVE the ideas that i got to play with here and i am so proud of it. i can't wait to tackle some of it from ysera's point of view when we get there in the longfic.

frost and flame - if you enjoyed the snippet i posted above, i think you'd really like this one! it's nothing but sweet, sappy fluff, but i'd be lying if i didn't say this was also one of my favorites.

adrift - ah yes, my poor, neglected longfic. this one's my own fault for not updating it in so long, but i'm really excited about ysera's story and some of the things i have planned for later down the road!

denouement - i think this is probably my best (and favorite) x reader fic. it popped off fairly well here on tumblr way back when, but i still want to give it a shoutout anyway because it's got most of the hallmarks of my writing, including the emotional smut i can never seem to get enough of.

[willowmaidsworld]

Good Omens s3 clue

I realised I never posted this, although I made it ages ago! So here y'all go!

This is going to be long, and I hope it will make sense. Please bear with me to the end, I will eventually get to the Judgement Day, Armageddon, Death (and four horsemen of Apocalypse) and I will mention goats.

I noticed this tiny clue when watching s2ep3. Aziraphale drives to Edinburgh and the Bentley plays classical music. But not just any classical music – it’s Danse Macabre by Camill Saint-Saëns.

I am a musician and I've played this piece in the past, so I knew there was a lot of symbolism to uncover. And that thing is deeper than I thought. I will be speaking about some music theory, but I will try to make it as understandable as possible. 

I think it would be best, if you listened to Danse Macabre: https://youtu.be/…zrJ 

I would like to speak once more about the scene in which Danse macabre appears. Aziraphale is driving to Edinburgh in now a yellow Bentley, and he even has his "car sweets". He is quite satisfied. And he plays this, certainly dark-themed, music. It is a major contrast. 

Danse Macabre, "the dance of death" is a memento mori. Memento mori is a theme we see in art, and it originated in medieval times as reaction to the plague. It should remind us of our own mortality. “Memento mori” literary translates as "remember death". And mark my words, do remember death!

The composition uses tritones, a special kind of a music interval. (Interval is the tonal distance between two tones, you can play the tones together and/or separate.) Tritone is seemingly dissonant because it uses seemingly inharmonious tones. (You can hear tritones just at the beginning, the violins play it.) Because of its dissonance it was called "the devil in music" and was considered forbidden and associated with Hell/demons/death.

Since the music piece and the poem is based on the theme of Memento mori, I had to look into it as well. Turns out Danse Macabre was inspired by a poem by Henry Cazalis. Here is the poem: https://oxfordsong.org/…bre Memento mori doesn't only remind us of death and our mortality, it also reminds us, that everyone's equal in death. Henry Cazalis, the poet, writes: Long live death and equality! The poem is called, of course, Danse Macabre, but I found that it is also called Égalité - Fraternité (when reading stuff about it in French). This is a reference to the French revolution motto: Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité (Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood), but Liberty is missing. Is there then no Liberty in death and we are all doomed to obey someone's will, The Ineffable plan? (Good Omens book and season one also deals with topics of free will, look at Crowley and Anathema. She has been doing only the things her dead ancestor told her to do, she overcomes it in the end. I think it nicely illustrates the problematic of a free will. And Crowley values free will a lot.)

Memento mori says one thing - remember death, no one can outrun it. And there I would like to get back to season 1, because who else we meet here than Death itself.

Death is one of the Four Bikers/Riders/Horsemen of Apocalypse. But I always thought Death has a higher rank than the others. If you think of it, War, Pollution and Famine all lead to one thing- to Death. Why would you need all three then? Isn't Death qualified enough to do its job? Also, rewatch the scene where Adam and his friends battle them! War, Pollution and Famine all get destroyed by the flaming sword. But not Death- it spreads its wings and says (quote from the book): "You cannot destroy me. That would destroy the world." And later he adds that they are never far away. And he flies of. He isn't destroyed.

Death didn't appear in season two and I think people are starting to forget it, but Memento mori! Remember Death!

I would also like to remark that Neil Gaiman says the whole story is plotted out and that he has done this with Terry Pratchett. In every Discworld series book (the magnum opus of Sir Terry Pratchett), apart from two or three, there is the character of Death. And I think it would make sense that Death would appear in Good Omens as well, after all, it is also Pratchett's book. I think we might see Death returning in season three, because the Day of Wrath/Last Judgement/Armageddon is coming. And this music piece could serve as a literal memento mori - remember Death, it has not exited the scene yet. (A lot of Pratchett's humour is based on puns, and this seems like a joke/plot twist he would try to use. It's my personal opinion based on how I know his style from his books.) 

And what's next? Armageddon is coming, the Day of Wrath is here! Both sides are pretty eager to do this ending-of-the-world thing and after all, it's what they have been trying to start from the begging of the show. It was delayed by Gabriel's "disappearance", but things are now getting into motion, I think. 

But back to the Danse macabre, because it (surprise surprise!) has quite some things to do with the Judgement Day. In the middle of the composition Cammille Saint-Saëns uses a musical theme from a different work, a Gregorian chant called Deis irae ("Day of Wrath").

Here is a link to Wikipedia page about the chant, you can listen to it there. (I didn't find any recording on YouTube, only other musicians using the quite popular words of the chant and not the actual music.) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/…rae 

About the chant itself. It is written from the point of view of a sinner/normal person, and it describes how the Last Judgement shall be. Before dealing with the themes of the chant itself, I would like to say, that Saint-Saëns has used the Deis irae in a major key. Allow me to do a quick music theory intermission.

You can play in two keys, major and minor. These are, if I oversimplify things, sets of notes with different intervals. The melody, played one tone at a time, can be used in both major and minor key. The melody isn't the thing that determines the key of the song, the tones played with it do. And depends on what tones you use, you either get major or minor. Major is (in western culture) associated with happiness and good things, while minor with sadness. (It's not always like that, but for the sake of understanding we are going to pretend it is.) Now, the Deis irae is usually written in the sad minor key. Saint-Saëns decided to use the happy major key with this depressing chant, once again creating contrast. I'm stumbling over contrasts more than usually, so this may be important. End of the intermission. 

In the third and fourth strophe of Deis irae, it's described how the sound of a trumpet will sound everywhere and the Death will resurrect all dead creations to be brought to the Judge. (Death is back again and resurrecting, that sounds familiar, where have we seen that before?)

In the fifteenth strophe, the writer, a sinner, prays for this: Put me with the sheep and separate me from the goats, guide me to the right side! Goats again, there they are! This strophe of course references the chapter 25 in the Gospel of Matthew, the Separation of sheep and goats. Sheep go to the right and goats to the left. I think the side symbolism is pretty clear in Good Omens. Right is the righteous side and left is the sign of sin. And we also know how Crowley cares about the goats. There is also the Jewish tradition of scapegoat. Either way, goats are connected to Crowley, their symbolism of being “on the left side” is clear. This interesting bit can play part in Armageddon.

In the fifth strophe of Deis irae the Book, that is exactly and perfectly worded and that will judge all world, appears. And this book is no other than The Book of Life.

We know about Book of Life from the season 2, Micheal threatens to force "extreme sanctions" (erasing them form the Book) upon anyone who knows about Gabriel. 

Enter a fan theory I read: Nor Heaven or Hell actually have the Book of Life, we never see it on screen. This was mentioned in a tumblr post, and I will probably never be able to dig it up from the depths of the internet, so remember this is not my theory. (Although I find it very interesting.) The post continues and remarks, that when Crowley in the first episode of the second season learns about the Book and the "extreme sanctions" from Beelzebub, he doesn't bat an eye. He is pretty calm and doesn't seem surprised. (He literary says: "That will teach them a lesson", man, we're talking about being wiped from the earth's surface completely!) The writer of the post thinks, this is because Crowley knows that Heaven doesn't have the book and he knows where it is. The writer claims, it was Crowley, who took it as a little souvenir before his Fall, and later has hidden it in Aziraphale's bookshop. ('Cause one single book will definitely stay hidden in all those piles of old books.)

I think this is really interesting because of Crowley’s reaction. He knows what Aziraphale is risking, and he loves that angel, yet he seems so calm. When the bookshop burned down in the fifth episode of season one and Crowley thought Aziraphale died, he went feral: he was angry and furious, and he was destroyed by the fact that he has lost Aziraphale. He mourns and gets drunk. Nothing of this happens in season two! 

So, what are my thoughts on season three? It will get really dark and serious, the Armageddon is coming, after all. I think we will see Death return and the Book of Life will appear. The goats may not be used literally, like on screen, but I think we will get some metaphors.

In all of this, I tried to say one thing. All of the cards are laid out, we have all of the clues. It would be pretty cheap trick to use some ineffable "deus ex machina", that's not Gaiman's and Pratchett's style.

I think everything is now foreshadowed; we have been given all the information. We just haven't made the links in-between. Given the uproar the second season has caused, I think people are forgetting the first season a bit. But it must end with what it started with.

I think we should look at both seasons equally and try to pick up as much as we can, after all the third season will not be based solely on the season two...

We have all the clues, now it's Neil Gaiman who plays an ineffable game of his own devising, a poker that nobody has the rules for and the dealer, Neil himself, is smiling all the time. Ineffable, indeed. If you ask me, he's enjoying it bloody-well.

[ohmightydevviepuu]

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

hi tina! i appreciate you so much for thinking of me ❤️

i was sitting here thinking this would be an easy answer and then thinking more, like, hmm, will it? but i think these are The Five, in no particular order:

1 - voices from the yellow road

not an original idea--i had seen a similar concept executed brilliantly in another fandom and i merely iterated off that--but i really had fun writing it and to this day im not sure how many epistolary fics there are in OUAT/CS fan spaces. i also got one of the best comments i've ever received on this fic.

2 - our little life (rounded with a sleep)

my magnum opus, my true brainchild. a season 1 (sort of?) AU that's pretty much inspired by the maltese falcon. as in, the premise of this fic was ... what if killian was the 'femme fatale' character that we weren't sure how to trust, and emma was the hard-boiled PI? joined the CSRT to finish this one and changed my life.

3 - from the edge of the deep green sea

i think this story saved my sanity when i hit the pandemic wall in summer 2020; a season 3a fic that i had a bonkers amount of fun (and strife) writing and it definitely involved listening to the cure on repeat on my 90s playlist. it was posted as part of a 30-day writing challenge: during august 2020 i wrote and posted a fic or a snippet every day for the entire month. day 14, "transformation", was this fic and i had been working on it for most of july by the time i slotted it into this writing challenge (and the captain swan supernatural summer).

4 - for tonight you're only here to know

this fic is basically just A Mood and i love it so much. i thought about trying to write an entire backstory for it, realized it would be 60k (at least!), and just wrote the parts i wanted to see.

5 - the sword and the heart

this fic was So Much! it was so much fun, it was so much work, it was so much Feelings, it was so much Plot, and all of this was unfolding during the winter and spring of 2020. i think we had our first video chat about it like a week after the march quarantines started? something crazy like that. so that Feeling, the way it Felt in 2020, is forever entwined with this fic in my brain. but it was a massive accomplishment and i have to be proud of what we pulled off. @thisonesatellite

[liminalpebble]

I've been a fanfic writer for one year! 🥳🥳🥳

My darlings, my dears, my sweet naughty little cookies and crumpets,

Tomorrow will mark exactly one year since I posted my very first chapter of my very first fic (The Refugee) with shaking hands. I was so nervous to release this thing I loved and labored over so much into the world.

@lokisgoodgirl very kindly and patiently showed me all the ropes and was such a steadfast cheerleader from day one. (I'm so grateful for you, darling). She also opened the door for me to meet all of you incredibly sweet people. When I tell you that you've changed my life, I am not exaggerating. You gave me a place where I am appreciated and belong and can be my very odd self, and that's a rare thing.

Anyway, The Refugee became an absolute behemoth. I had a big complicated world in my head, and its characters and plot lines and themes volleyed around my skull at all times. I didn't expect anyone to be enthralled or obsessed with it like I was, but SO many of you gave it so much love and engagement and time. A year later, that piece is still my magnum opus, and your reception of it has given me a feeling I'm not often good at letting myself have...pride.

I'm a weird little mentally ill perfectionist of a person, trying very hard to be more than that...to be brave, and clever, and hard-working, and adventurous, and kind, and generous and grateful. I want more than anything in life, to create things and experiences that mean something. I want to create art and send it out into the world like a love letter. It's the best of myself and I want you to have it. Thank you for taking the time to see the best of me (especially when I have trouble seeing it for myself). Thank you so so much. I love you all so much and I hope this year gives you as much joy as you've given me.

All my love,

Peb

@acidcasualties @lokischambermaid @mischief2sarawr @holdmytesseract @infinitystoner @smolvenger @tripleyeeet @take-everything-you-can @leelei1980 @unlucky-number-13 @unfocused81 @sweetsigyn @veemoon @loz-3 @little-wormwood @littlespaceyelf @glitchquake @viv-annelore @peachyjinx @gigglingtiggerv2 @marcotheflychair @mochie85 @muddyorbs @sailorholly @holymultiplefandomsbatman @thedistractedagglomeration @hellfirenacht @thenerdyoldersister @alexakeyloveloki @lemongingerart @eddiethehunted @fanfic-collection @girl-next-door-writes @fictive-sl0th @mischiefmaker615 @icytrickster17 @ladyofthestayingpower @goblingirlsarah @chokeanddagger @loopsisloops @slutty-thevampireslayer @coldnique @eddies-house @fairyysoup @jennyggggrrr @holdmytesseract @eleniblue @elegantkoalapaper @raccoonboywrites

[aerynlallaboso]

theory post:

(spoilers for AW1/AN/AW2)

AW2 Zane is not the original Zane; he is a new version of Tom Zane that has overwritten the original, both in the Dark Place and in the real world.

Part One: Contradictory realities

The idea that this version of Zane has been written into reality and displaced the original Zane is, I think, pretty much textual - I'm very interested in the fact that despite the fact Zane the poet wrote himself out of the world, he did still exist in certain places e.g. in the memory of Cynthia Weaver, who kept that memory alive by writing newspaper articles about Zane (dismissed as urban legend by everyone around her), in actual physical evidence via the shoebox loophole that he created himself (the box of books in the cabin, which are real copies of books that don't exist), and in the memory of the Dark Place (Diver's Cabin at the bottom of the lake). When Zane dismisses the poet/diver as 'a beloved character I played in one of my films', that may be what he now believes (I think he's either not fully aware of the disconnect or doesn't particularly care), but it hasn't always been the truth. There was a real poet called Thomas Zane, and there wasn't: two contradictory truths.

Besides the box of books in the cabin in AW1, the most compelling evidence that reality has been rewritten is the existence of the manor that became Valhalla Nursing Home. Cynthia Weaver's journal indicates she still retains her memories of the original Zane and is very confused when people start referring to him as a filmmaker. She also has in her room a photograph of Zane and Jagger standing in front of Diver's Cabin, which is an object that absolutely should not exist - Zane was never a diver, right? In the basement of the nursing home, you can find a newspaper article with an identical photograph of Zane and Jagger, this time standing in front of their newly purchased manor home. The manor did not exist in the original version of reality as it is in AW1; Norman has dialogue referencing this ('Isn't it strange that I've lived in Bright Falls my whole life and I can't remember this house?'), which Mandy-May refutes ('The house has always been here') just as Saga's memories of her original reality are refuted throughout the game. The manor and the cabin are, similar to the filmmaker and the poet, the same building in different versions of reality, occupying the same role in the history of Bright Falls, which is why the Writer's Room exists in both of them. The same place, the same person - but different.

(Jesse Faden's therapy tape referencing Zane the poet in Control is an additional piece of evidence similar to Cynthia's memories - I assume that Polaris's influence protected Jesse from the effects of that reality rewrite.)

Okay. So Zane was rewritten into reality as a filmmaker. By who?

Part Two: Who else?

This part is more speculative, but it makes so much sense to me that I don't even feel like it's reaching too far 😭. Alan Wake is constantly writing drafts. Constantly cycling through loops that even he's forgotten. He wrote Thomas Zane into Departure as a way to free himself from the cabin, as a guardian angel for himself who would feed him manuscript pages and lead him to the end of the story. It seems almost impossible that over the course of 13 years, it wouldn't occur to Alan to try that again. Bring Zane back, rewrite him for his purposes, maybe as a collaborator this time? American Nightmare provides some excellent context for this, since the final piece Alan needs to rewrite reality and kill Scratch at the end is Alice's short film - you could say he's collaborating with her in absentia. Their two pieces of art strengthen each other, similar to the idea Zane presents to Alan in Initiation 5 of 'your magnum opus, Return, and its companion piece, my film'.

It feels natural (to me!) that Zane the filmmaker was created to fulfill this role of collaborator in a different medium, down to the way he describes himself as a fellow 'celebrated auteur'. He's here to help Alan get out. But as Alan forgets his own actions after a certain amount of time, Zane's role becomes murkier - Alan no longer trusts his intentions, no longer wants to give up control of his story, and the new Thomas Zane is left adrift in the Dark Place with little besides the desire to create to escape (with Alan). Again more speculative, since Zane's objectives are left relatively ambiguous throughout the game, but I do believe his desire to help Alan get out is sincere (even if his motivations for it are unclear). What this will mean if/when he escapes the Dark Place himself is another story :)

Side note: why does the new Zane look like Alan?

I don't know if this is a question everyone has? I do, because I'm not sure as to the current canonicity of the photographs of the original Zane in This House of Dreams, but those appear to show a blonde man with a different build to AW2 Zane, and Alan himself questions why Zane looks like him. Frankly, if we're going by the 'Alan created him' theory and given Scratch's existence as his evil doppelganger, I don't think that Alan would have intentionally written the guy to look like him - Zane's appearance feels like a reflection of the fact that this is Alan's dreamscape, a 'performance the Dark Place [is] putting on' which is 'all about me, but I [have] no control over it'. I also think that Zane is a reflection of the traits Alan would value in a collaborator, and that Alan Wake has a hard time letting anyone but himself write his story... You see where that could go.

Theorising more about this one would require going deep into my beliefs about Wake and Zane as reflections of each other in a creator/creation loop paradox that continues from the first game and fulfillers of the same archetypal Creator/Hero role within a larger metanarrative of the Story of Cauldron Lake (hence why various important characters refer to Alan as 'Tom') and I don't have time for that right now but probably the true answer has to be. They wanted to give Ilkka Villi a guy to play without dubbing. And I could listen to that man talk forever so alright post is over thanks for coming

(Side note 2: Self-promotion

I wanted to write a full 'setting out theory' post about this but I did also incorporate a lot of it into my fanfiction. Which you can read if you want to if you're interested in edging for creative inspiration 🙂)

[sarksarkos]

More Like Poo Universe

Doing stuff with family today so I don't have spoons for a whole comics history post. I just wanna talk about what I've been reading lately.

I've been taking a look at Marvel's New Universe, which was an imprint they created in 1986 to try and tell grounded, more realistic stories that was... brave? It sure was An Attempt.

The premise was that there was a mass empowerment occurrence known as the White Event, which triggered the development of superhuman abilities in random individuals all over the world. The aim would be to tell stories in a realistic world without things like aliens, wizards, iron men, the hulks, ghosts rider, etc. Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter was the main driving force behind it, this was his baby. Shooter was a controversial figure in comics, especially at marvel, but he had been writing comics since he was 14 and tried to push the medium towards realism and characterization, and this was going to be his magnum opus. It did not go well.

A lot of the staff at Marvel either didn't like the idea or just didn't like Shooter, and they either didn't get the memo about the line's direction or just didn't care and did their own things. The comic started with eight books:

Star Brand: The flagship, about an ordinary guy who got gifted near-infinite power in the White Event.

Nightmask: A coma patient who wakes up and discovers he can enter the world of dreams.

Justice: A vigilante from another dimension stuck on earth.

Spitfire: A woman piloting a suit of power armor working as an enforcer for the CIA.

Mark Hazzard: Merc: A guy whomst has a lot of guns and shoots a lot of people.

Kickers, Inc.: A professional football team becomes super-soldiers.

DP7: A misfit team of newly empowered superhumans on the run from a mysterious organization.

Psi-Force: A misfit team of newly empowered superhumans on the run from a mysterious organization.

That wasn't a mistake, those last two books had basically the exact same premise. Another four of them went against the grain of the setting by including aliens, power armor, super-soldiers and some guy named Mark. There's not a lot of cohesion between the books and it certainly doesn't come together to create a world. I'm only halfway through, and I understand it makes some really big swings soon thereafter, but right now, it is just an absolute mess and a pain to read through.

Jim Shooter would be fired and the New Universe would come to an end within four years, but that is not dead which can eternal be rebooted. The characters and concepts would be brought back by Marvel, and the storytelling principles would see new life. The idea of a massive superhuman empowerment and the consequences thereof has become a staple of the genre, being used in My Hero Academia, Milestone comics, and Heroes. Marvel created a more realistic storytelling setting in the Ultimate universe and its recent reboot. Jim Shooter himself went on to found Valiant Comics, which used the same premise and was (briefly) successful enough to compete with DC and Marvel, until Image got their stank on it.

I wound up spending a lot more time on this than I intended and didn't really get to a conclusion. I'm enjoying Tumblr as a medium. Until next time!

[scary-grace]

I'm here to do another ask game!

Fanfic ask game:

📥 What is your fave fic to receive comments/messages on?

✏️ Do you write every day?

🏅 What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc).

🖊 Post a snippet from a current WIP. (P.s: if you want of course! If you don't that's ok!)

😈 Is there anything you enjoy doing that you think your readers hate?

🌙 What time of day do you prefer to write? Why?

🌈 What inspired you to write [magnum opus ]?

🤔 What is the hardest part of writing fic?

🍰 Name one of your fave comfort fics (doesn’t have to be your all time fave).

I know that people usually just send the emojis for ask games but I was trying to not bother you by having to search for the ask game to understand, and anyone who reads this if you ever answer it and post it, it's ok if you don't! I just want to show some love to one of my all time favorite author, and their amazing fics that I love. My favorite is magnum opus that's why I asked about it. Your writing is addictingly awesome! With so much hurt, doubt and uncertainty. And I love how you write Tomura, how you write him so blunt and straightforward yet caring. I have a lot more to talk about, but I think I wrote too much, have a nice day/night!

Hi! Thank you so much for the asks. I apologize for the wait on answering them!

📥 What is your fave fic to receive comments/messages on?

This one is much harder to answer than I thought it would be! To be totally honest, my favorite fic to get comments on is whichever one I just posted/updated. But I'm happy with any comments, always!

✏️ Do you write every day?

Absolutely! Whenever I get a spare second, if I'm being honest.

🏅 What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc).

I was actually really proud of how (secret) santa, baby turned out! I'm sure you've seen my endless complaining about how I can't write short fics, so I wanted to see if I could write a short fic (and write it as I was posting it rather than trying to finish the entire thing). I ended up not overthinking it and having a lot of fun anyway.

🖊 Post a snippet from a current WIP. (P.s: if you want of course! If you don't that's ok!)

This is from a time loop fic I've been working on based on a prompt from @deadhands69!

Tenko’s done this enough times by now to know that the story doesn’t change unless he changes it. Nothing new happens unless he does something new. Except for you. Except this. Tenko didn’t change the story. You did. “Who are you?” He says it like a villain, but he’s not a villain yet – just a little kid. You’re just a kid, too, and your voice wavers just like Tenko’s does. “Don’t do it,” you say, just like you did last time, and even though Tenko tries to grab you, you’re too fast for him to catch.            You escaped this time, but next time, Tenko will be ready. Playing this game forever is bad enough without you ruining his cheat code. It won’t happen again

😈 Is there anything you enjoy doing that you think your readers hate?

Slow burns and/or cliffhangers. I love a truly miserable cliffhanger, and I've done a fair number of them in my other fandom. Other than that, just really insanely long fics. I love writing them but they're an investment for readers and sometimes I worry people get bored.

🌙 What time of day do you prefer to write? Why?

I'll write whenever the opportunity arises! Today was a workday for me, but I wrote between appointments and on my lunch break, and I've written a few hundred words since I came home as well.

🌈 What inspired you to write [magnum opus ]?

magnum opus kind of came out of nowhere for me! I wanted to write a fic with a much darker interpretation of Shigaraki, and the idea of a no-quirks AU where he's an ideologically driven serial killer was very compelling. The question was where to bring the reader in. I didn't want to write her as a victim, but given that I pictured Shigaraki as a no-social-skills recluse whenever he's not out killing people, it was hard to imagine where they'd meet. AND THEN I remembered some Criminal Minds-type detail about how serial killers sometimes come back to visit their kills. Shigaraki as I imagined him would be too smart to do that, but he'd still want to see if his message was getting across, so I came up with the idea of him watching through a drone -- and how much more interesting of a dynamic it would be if he felt like the reader was watching him, too. Hence the forensic photography angle.

Thanks for giving me a chance to talk about that AU! I really love it and every so often I daydream about following up on it.

🤔 What is the hardest part of writing fic?

Editing. Not so much line-edits (I'm decent at those when I'm not typing too fast) but deciding what scenes actually need to be part of a fic, or which storylines are interesting to me but not benefiting the plot/characters. I don't like cutting anything, but sometimes it needs to be done.

🍰 Name one of your fave comfort fics (doesn’t have to be your all time fave).

My favorite one is from my other fandom! It's called a kiss in the cold and dark by @nocompromise-noregrets and it's one I return to multiple times per year when I need to read something peaceful.

Thank you so much for your ask! I really loved getting it and it was a lot of fun to answer, and particularly to have a chance to talk a little more about magnum opus! Getting asks like these are one of the best parts about being a writer. Thank you so much for your kind words, and please feel free to stop by or prompt me any time!

[rapunziedameron]

sleepover saturday – tell me your top 5 fics you've written, please 😌

predictably, I went from "how can I ever narrow it down to such a small number" to immediately lining up which fics in like 30 seconds so! let us begin!

1). I have talked about this fic so frequently I feel like it's almost a piece of lore on this blog, but my first thought was of the fic I never posted. A couple of Decembers ago, @dameronalone, @hermitmoss and I were talking about the trend of making Star Wars heroes evil, because I'd seen another edit of the Sequel kids being First Order, and we were talking about how hard it is to digest those AUs because they feel so out of character. At which point one of us went "okay, so what if we made it in character?" and a couple hours later, we had a sprawling AU where shit happens and Leia's the Supreme Leader, and Poe is still her right hand man.

Since this was already an incredibly self-indulgent brainchild of ours, we decided to throw in our OCs at the time, which finally gave me the chance I've been itching for since 2018: exploring what would happen if my OC, Volya, went to the Dark Side. What I landed on was the concept that this AU was divergent from my previous 'verses set with her in the Resistance era, so she and Poe were already together at the time he, Leia and my friends' OCs had split to take over the First Order, and she'd been abandoned by them all in one fell swoop, which eventually leads her to cracking and beginning to fall - a struggle which is then intensified when Poe's given the task to try to convince her, in brief meetings on the battlefield, to come back to him, which culminates in them eventually having a secret rendezvous, which is where this absolute monster of a 6.5k word fic comes in.

Officially, it doesn't have any title -- it's literally labeled in my Google Docs fic as "corruption kink: the fic" -- but I dare think it's my magnum opus that I'm too embarrassed to ever post because it's 6k words of smut. But actually, it's 6k words of character/relationship study under the guise of smut - the concept of a Poe and a Volya that are still entirely in character, having that history of loving each other, but both either in the grip of the Dark Side or about to slip over, was extremely fascinating to explore, and I enjoyed using a lot of intimate act, and the power plays that are involved in them, as analogies for the temptation of the Dark Side.

2.) The rest of this list will go by so EASILY now that I don't have to give an incredible amount of detail and context, lmao! Anyway, I think my second favorite is yet another Poe/Volya fic: the only hands i trust are yours. It's set in another RP verse, but deals with the aftermath of Volya's trauma aboard the Enshado in a retelling of one of the arcs of the Poe comics we did. It's a heavy, yet I think simple fic, but it sprang to mind when I was considering my favorites.

3.) when the violence causes silence; this one, I feel, didn't get its due, and I think it's one of my more underrated fics. It was my attempt at blending the Insomniac Spider-Man verse, with a Moon Knight that was equal parts inspired by the show and by the Mackay Run (notably, it takes place in the Mission with the crew from the comics, just with a bonus Layla!). I'd definitely write it differently now, and I think it would work better from the perspective of a Marc that's solely from the show, rather than the comics, but I still love it for what it was at the time, which was me smashing together two of my favorite Marvel things.

4.) in weakness or in strength; another Canon/OC fic, this time featuring my Marvel OC, Emilia. Writing Moon Knight fic is surprisingly hard, and nailing Marc's voice is even more difficult, which was yet another reason I feel so proud and fond of this fic. For lack of a better term, this verse was stuck in development hell for a long time, and I never quite knew what to do with Emilia, until this plot bunny popped into my head, and before I knew what was happening, I had these two chapters written. Someday, I'd like to tighten up a few areas, but I love this fic a lot, and it's really become the touch stone of Emilia's verse for me.

5.) waffled for a long time on this one, but I think I really love the road not taken looks real good now; it was a recent dip into reader fic that I wrote for Poe, following a conversation with @dameronalone about an AU based on tis the damn season by Taylor Swift, which is a song that I've associated with him for a long while anyway (it gives me Poe and Zorii vibes tbqh) - and I was very pleased with how visceral and vivid the scene wound up being in my head, and how well it translated to paper. It's short but sweet, and very sad, which surprises me even more that I like it so much.

sleepover saturday!

[juniperhillpatient]

thank you SO much @missjessefantastico for the tag <3 ALSO EVERYONE READ THIS SERIES ABOUT VAMP WILLOW, THE UNDERRATED HYENA KIDS, & MORE!!! It's so good btvs fans who love underexplored ideas & characters pspspsps

20 Questions For Fic Writers

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 19

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 3,027,073

3. What fandoms do you write for? It's been Avatar the Last Airbender for the past few years. I have an old & probably not-good Rick & Morty fic up. Before that, I had some IT fics. I've got an orphaned fic for scream & one for house of 1000 corpses.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

the benefits of getting a flat tire this is Zuko running away from home & running right into the gaang - also uncovering some family mysteries & reconciling with Azula. modern au. it's Zukka & aw I'm nostalgic for those early days of mine in the fandom

if this were a movie this is basically an ATLA Hollywood Au. Zukka & Azutara. Past Jetko. I was happy with some of the dramatic moments in this fic.

not another high school au lord help me lmao. I'm SO sorry if you are reading this & you happen to love this fic but it's not the thing I'm most proud of. this is basically just me dipping my toes into writing ATLA modern AUs & in that sense I guess it's nostalgic? this is the fic I wrote as a newbie to the fandom just trying it out & I still do lovingly appreciate everyone who was kind & welcoming in those early days!

six feet under ATLA TVD AU MY BELOVED OMG. this is a vampire diaries au. there are no 1:1 translations but azula is damon, katara is a mix of jeremy & elena & so is sokka, zuko is stefan & YEAH. also aang is bonnie & iirc I probably even gave toph something fun to do. ozai is Katherine which is forever hilarious to me. yeah, this was a fun fic.

5. in search of glorious happenings of happenstance this fic is about nothing & everything at the same time. atla/modern world fusion with the four nations existing but also it's modern. all the atla teens/kids are going to college at ember island university & the fic takes place across a year. it's slice of life, comedy, drama, & chaos. lots of ships but I think azutara & jet/zuko/jin are probably, at the end of the day, the romances that are at the heart of this story although platonic relationships are also pretty important in this fic, IMO as much as romances. it's probably my magnum opus or something.

Do you respond to comments? yes <3 I am sometimes slow & I am not perfect but I TREASURE comments & do attempt to let people know as much. I write for myself, I post for the connections I make along the way.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? the devil you know for sure. this is my atla/scream modern au. I talk about it constantly because I'm so insanely proud of it but if you don't know it's exactly what it sounds like. it's horror & tragedy that I feel really proud of & I do think those elements are at the heart of my writing passion despite me usually being a bit nervous about using them. so. I'm proud of this fic. & it has a very bittersweet ending but the tragedy is...there's a lot of tragedy. no more spoilers because I want people to read this!

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? most of my fics have decently happy endings despite me claiming to prefer tragedy lol. I seem to recall the things we leave behind (mailee youtuber au with jetko & auztara. & they were roommates!) having a tooth rottingly fluffy ending lol

8. Do you get hate on fics? not really. it's happened before but it's not a big thing.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? sometimes I write the smutty scenes from my fics then save it only for myself. no you can't see. it's probably terrible. there's some shitty zucest smut of mine out there somewhere but I'm not sure it's any good & couldn't tell you where to find it lol

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I think the AUs I write are called "fusion" because it's more "inserting characters into another world & the characters of that world aren't a thing." but my fic the balance of things was actually a crossover with characters from both wizards of waverly place & atla interacting. also I wrote THIS one-shot that's a crossover between the game the coffin of andy & leyley & the show wizards of waverly place. I didn't post it on ao3 but I'm just saying.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?  I don't think so?

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I have vague memories of doing this with this girl I was online friends with back in my fanfic.net days, years ago. I think it was Destiel.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? to write? I don't have one right now. I think maybe I got kinda burnt out on everything having to be about one ship or whatever rather than just telling the story & maybe that's a small part of why I'm taking a temporary break from fic writing & focusing on an original story so I'm not staying within fandom approved in parameters & I can just do whatever feels right ya know? I like Cisne's answer about any willow ship tho. me with my faves tbh hehe

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? can't think of one but I can think of fanfic ideas I'd like to return to & fully realize after I get back in the mood

16. What are your writing strengths? I like to think I'm okay at characterization although moving away from fanfic & working on something original has me questioning myself constantly!

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I'm very lazy & often neglect research. sometimes if I don't know how to explain something I just change the whole scene so i don't have to bother.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? could be neat in the right context!

19. First fandom you wrote for? probably family guy lmao

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? maybe 'in search of glorious happenings of happenstance.' I think 'the devil you know' is objectively the strongest. but happenstance is just such a specific version of the characters that's fun to me? it's one of those two that's my favorite, depending on my mood

this is very long so these tags have even less pressure than usual:

@reythespacebae @theowritesfiction @imaslowlearner-butilearn @chasingfictions @hello-nichya-here @matchamarshmallow @akiizayoi4869 @dont-leafmealone @peony-pearl @lunaintheskyforever

also, anyone who wants to do this just say I tagged you!

[dalishthunder]

Genuinely so fucking hyped that i got into jjk at the same time as you because holy shit youre so fucking correct about sukuna being physically disabled/disfigured and how its a huge part of his character/story and its V disappointing when ppl just wash him out to be hot and conventionally attractive like URGGG ur opinions are so right all the time holy shit. Also you write him So fucking well in your fic about him im So hyped to read it when you post it, ur amazing 👏

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Thank you! Yes! I know I'm right about this, and honestly I think Gege actually did write some of it into the story

Fun fact: You know what Itadori means? Knotweed. It's an herb that's used to treat inflammation in traditional Japanese medicine (which was popularized in the Nara era as Buddhist monks brought traditional chinese medicine over to Japan WHICH WAS WHEN TENGEN BEGAN PREACHING ABOUT JUJUTSU I'm super normal btw and not all deranged)

I'm not saying that I've been doing a dive into Buddhism and the allegory of Sukuna being somewhere between Mara and Angulimala in Buddhist mythology (even down to gathering fingers to gain power) is driving me insane. Or that Kenjaku being named after Kannon the goddess of mercy's rope which she uses to pull people from hell makes me pace around the floor. Or that it's a story about love and humanity and how we treat others shapes who they are.

All I'm saying is that Gege was cooking and his craft and symbolism just absolutely went over the audience's heads because it's a shonen, who expects insane amounts of world and lore crafting from a shonen? Who expects rich religious symbolism? Who expects sympathy and mercy and love?

It's been a while since something has sunk its claws so deeply into me that I legit have lost sleep on the reg either working/writing or just thinking too hard that I start crying because do you think Sukuna's mother looked at him with fear in her eyes? Do you think he ever had a name? Do you think he knows his birthday? Do you think sorcerers ever tried exorcising him as a cursed spirit when he was a child?

I'm super pumped you're enjoying my story!!! I honestly think that this will be my magnum opus and that nothing I have written before or will write after will ever come close to topping it.

It's absolutely not a light story, and it's going to be incredibly painful and I'm going to keep it as canon compliant as I can for the first two parts. After that though it's going to be cute and I can't wait to get to that part.

I'm hoping I'll have some time this weekend to work more on chapter 3, I have a good chunk of it and also a bit of chapter 4 written out so far

I'm trying to make reader as relatable as possible while also still making them a religious figure, and also someone who's interesting?

[thegingerwrites]

✨✨Fic/Stats Game ✨✨

Rules: Give us the links to your fics with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fewest words.

1st most Hits: never too late to start again

My obikin magnum opus! This fic possessed me in February/March 2023 when I wrote most of it. It is the longest fic I have ever written, with the most chapters. I still really, really love it.

2nd most Kudos: worry me

I think of this as my empowering heterosexual blow job fic 😂 I read, amongst other things, a decent amount of romance, including regency romance (though most of it is queer) and after watching and obsessing over Bridgerton series 2, I really wanted to have Kate to suck Anthony's dick while he sits at his desk trying to work on the estate finances and what not. I love reading queer romance where that particular sexual position isn't seen as degrading, where the character A giving gets to feel almost powerful as character B comes apart beneath them. And I think Anthony would look really pretty undone like that. I guess other people agreed?

3rd most comments: Solitary as an Oyster

This stat owes everything to one person who went and commented on every! single!! chapter!!! last month and made my whole entire year 💕 There are a couple of really great advent challenge type fics in the drarry ship that I adore and I wanted to push myself to write something prompt based in a short amount of time. It felt a little bit like I was working in a vacuum over the course of the two weeks of daily posts but it definitely made me appreciate every bit of feedback I got on that fic. I think the title might throw people off a bit because it doesn't sound Christmas-y even though it's a quote from A Christmas Carol but I was too in love with the idea to change it at the time. That description of Scrooge seemed perfect for desert hermit Obi-Wan and I decided it had to stay.

4th most bookmarks: i guess you're all mine

This was my first ever obikin fic and at the time was like my thesis for the pairing. I was rotating the two of them in my head like 'why are they like this' and this fic was the result of that meditation. If there is a thesis statement for this fic, it is the two of them realizing that they already belong together, that a romantic relationship between the two of them coming to fruition is just a matter of looking at what is already there from a different angle. A few inches of space, a tilt of the head, everything changes while staying exactly the same.

5th most words: Solitary as an Oyster

I couldn't believe this stat. I feel like I have three wips that are about to blow this word count out of the water, including the Suddenly A Sith fic I'm almost done editing that grew legs and is probably going to be three chapters long. No wonder I burned out a bit after writing this one 😂 24k in two weeks, posting daily was too much for me 😅

Fewest words: Fireside Chats

I have a tendency to fall into the trap of thinking a piece of writing isn't worth posting to ao3 if it's not like 1k long. I think it's like the extra step of formatting or something. I'm not going to link this particular fic but it is posted on my ao3. It's a kylux prompt fill from 2016 (almost 10 years ago jfc). My writing has grown and changed a lot since then but I find it interesting to keep a record of that growth alive there. Maybe I need to make more of an effort to post shorter works to ao3?

This was such an interesting way to look at these fics. Thanks for the tag @teaandjumpers and @ragnarlothcat!

I've been offline a bit over the last few days so I'm not sure who has done this already. But if you want to do this and haven't been tagged, consider yourself tagged! And give me a tag so I can see you talk about your fics 📝

[emsiesecretstuff]

From one whump enjoyer to another, keep it up! Love ur contributions to the tf whump community

Oh my gosh! Thank you very much! That honestly makes me really happy. Thanks for this message. I've been in a bit of a slump when it comes to my TF whump cos I recently got into another fandom but TF1 has brought me back, baby!

I'm trying to press on with my big magnum opus The Maze. I'd like to get that finished at some point. It's just such a big fic cos I'm not just writing the Optimus sections I posted up, but also sections focusing on what Hot Rod and Starscream are up to. My idea is to write everything chronologically so I can keep track of everything going on in the world. But it also means posting up new bits is slower cos I'm only posting a third of what I've completed so far. I'm nearly up to working on the next Optimus chapter again so that will be fun.

But thank you! Glad to know you enjoy my stuff!