#this is one of the most nonsense crossover i've ever had

[tomoeakatsuki]

I think that my mind is totally lost.

Because I can't think about a crossover between the Boys and Strike.

Like.

Two british men - we don't know exactly from what zone comes Butcher, but we know that Strike is from Cornwall.

Both tall, always dressed with a long dark coat, a shirt under it - Butcher with the strange fantasies, Strike more normal, usually blue or light blue. And both of them have this intrinsic irony when they speak.

Well, to be more specific, Strike masks that more then Butcher - it's also about the different work they do: Strike is a private investigator, and he needs the money, he can't push away his clients; Butcher can do almost everything he wants (also, he doesn't seem to have money problem).

Then, we have the long time friend(s).

For Strike is Shanker, a man that was raised with Cormoran. He's like a Frenchie, with his shady dealings, but with a little of MM. He's a true affect toward Cormoran, and even if he makes him pay his servicies, he always helps - like in "Career of evil", he's ready to protect Robin (before) and Cormoran (after). Even being Cormoran taxist to Robin's wedding, even if it means to go all the way to Yorkshire.

Butcher, obviously, has Frenchie and MM, even if there's some friction between them in the time they work well together, so - they're the Spice Girls.

The bigger difference I think it's in their co-protagonist.

Hughie is dragged in the business by chance, he doesn't remain really traumatized but he goes near a nervous breakdown, and that's also the reason he leaves the group and starts working with Neumann. He seems a little shy at the beginning, gaining self-confidence as the story proceed - in the first season we see just some flash of it, meanwhile in season three he's totally confident in taking the Temp V, for example.

On the contrary, Robin is confident and tenacious from the beginning. She also meets Cormoran by chance, thanks to a leasing company, starting as his secretary then becoming his assistant and after workpartner, because that's what she wants, and being a detective it's her dream. She continues, even after a case that awakes old fears, anxiety and panic attacks.

Well, a crossover would be something really difficult, but I think it can work.

Something like, one side we have the story of the Boys as we know it. But on the other side, we have this duo of detectives, working minor cases - not only spying on secrets lovers and helping divorces - that involve heroes. A little like it was in the beginning the Mallaroy squad. And then something happens, and the two groups met - like, on the trail of a hero, escaped from England to the United States, Cormoran and Robin meet this strange group of people, who wants to eliminate heros. And somehow, they agree to it, because their traumas and problems come from, let's guess. Heroes.

[schmuckered]

Author Ask Game-type-Thing-Yes <3

tagged by beloved mutual and buddy @allthecastlesonclouds (like, days ago but I procrastinate like a motherfucker)

Total number of Ao3 works: 19

Total Ao3 word count: 247,096

Fandoms I've written for: Dimension 20, CBS Survivor, and Vampire: The Requiem

Top 5 fics by Kudos:

An Awkward Aftermath

Now You're Speaking My Language

Meet (and Beat) the Parents

Another Weight Off My Shoulders

(Tie) He's My Little Guy and Sundaes on Saturday

Do I respond to comments?: Yes!.... Eventually! Anymore I try to only respond to comments on either finished works or on chapters that aren't the most recent of an on-going WIP *until* the next chapter is just about done. That way it feels like I can reward myself for almost getting a fic updated by interacting with the nice people who commented on my last bit o' the fic! (It's a nonsensical explanation, but it's legit.)

What has the most angst-ridden ending?: Fire Seed and Fire Feed, and it's not close at fucking all. I'm working on sequels to this fic as we speak, but I'm holding off until it reaches 100 hits at least. This one might be my personal favorite one-shot fic I've written (so far) and it's mostly because I like writing body horror mixed with angst and loss. It's a lot of fun, and something I hope to get more skilled at going forward.

What has the happiest ending?: Oooo, a lil tougher. Honestly, probably some weird three way tie between What a (Blood)Rush, Another Weight Off My Shoulders, and "I Hate You." "Whatever.". I love writing fluff fics (should really do that more often), and especially with the latter two I lovelovelove writing cute lil romance fluff. Even if it's toxic yuri in the third one's case.

Have I received hate?: Pfft, no. Look at me. Look at how lovable I am. I'm never gonna get hate. (Yes this is me trying to jinx myself, I'd love to get hate mail, it seems so fun!)

Do I write smut? And if so, what kind?: Well... none yet. But hopefully... soonish. And as for what kind it will be... toxic yuri. I love toxic yuri so fucking much.

Do I write crossovers?: Are we counting putting Fig into Neverafter? Cuz if not, hell no. I barely am competent at writing one fandom, you want me to take two? Mash them together? Create weird little cat/dog hybrid when I can barely be left alone with regular cat? No. Awful. Terrible. (Maybe one day.)

Have I ever had a fic stolen?: Has someone ever reached into my trashcan and plucked something out and claimed it as their own? I should fucking hope not. Who knows what's in that trashcan!

Have I ever had a fic translated?: Is it not enough that I bedevil the English reading community with my poor prose and worse words, dare we spread such suffering to others? No.

Have I ever co-written a fic?: I mean... techincally kinda sorta... not really. I've written shit based on folks' work who've then written shit based on my work. S'close but, y'know, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

A WIP I'll never finish: Oh you only want one?? Oh gee golly willikers, which one to choose. I suppose Because I Loathe You, due to me deciding to scrap the planned sequel for it, and now the partially written second and third chapter to that fic need re-outlining for just making it a stand-alone thing. And as a stand-alone piece... it honestly sucks. I will most likely delete this fic at some point. For a cute answer, why will I never update Because I Loathe You? Because I loathe it.

Writing strengths: I can bench press like, five pencils. Or, y'know, I guess like, writing casual-sounding dialogue. I have been told I do good work at writing set ups and pay offs. Every now and again I write a decent emotional scene. At one point I wrote a pretty good horror scene and it worked well enough.

Writing weaknesses: Alright, I lied. I cannot bench press five pencils. Also I'm terrible at descriptions because uuuuggghhhh they're so boring. Fuck set dressing, I just wanna get to the dialogue! I'm also abysmal at pacing, I have a habit of relying on characters who are scatterbrained because I too cannot focus to save my life, and I have such a limited vocabulary and such lackluster writing tricks that none of my works stand out all too well. Oh well, s'why we practice and write more, yeah?

Do I like foreign language dialogue?: Yeah. Never written it, but it's nice to read.

First fandom I wrote for: Redwall babey! Redwall fics on Fanfiction.net. Love me some generic ass fantasy nonsese with lil critters. And like, so much weird fantasy racism that comes with the territory of weird anglophile author Brian Jacques.

Favorite Fic I've Ever Written: ... Yeah nah, I guess it's either Fire Seed and Fire Feed, or it's What a (Blood)Rush. I've got some more ideas cooking up that if/when I get to them, they might overtake. Hell, if I ever finish A Dad's Purpose that one might be a strong contender. I like writing Jawbone suffering who said that?

Tagging my usual mutual goobers: @magical-girl-coral @samderella @snakeoil2 @erin-brrrrr aaannnnnd anyone else who wants

[fruitsdontknow]

writer questions!

tagged by @young-waverer thank u smooches! 🤍

1. How many works on AO3? 27 (gorgeous number. 3x9. a classic)

2. Total AO3 word count? 373,842...

3. Top 5 fics by kudos? i. feet don't fail me now ii. can you open up the door? iii. the pain will leave you once it's done teaching you iv. cause i need touching so primal v. light, dark, light again

4. What fandoms do you write for? 9-1-1 !

5. Do you respond to comments? oh yeah baby if you leave a comment on one of my fics you have taken a part of my soul with you and i will be responding with utter joy :)

6. Angstiest ending? hmm... i only ever do angst WITH a happy ending because i'm a fucking weepy baby otherwise, i guess the vow had a bunch of angsty endings thematically?

7. Fic with the happiest ending? hmm!!! give us the grown makes me all blushy over how gross the ending is so perhaps that one?

8. Do you get hate? pls guys i'm a fucking weepy baby please don't send me hate just dm your moots about how bad my stuff is thank you!!! :)

9. Do you write smut? not usually! just some small stuff here and there, i think i get really lost in the technicalities rather than the mood itself (like "did buck already take his shirt off? where is the lube? goddamnit hold on" type stuff)

10. Do you write crossovers? not officially no! i've done a twilight au and working on a pride and prejudice au but nothing that's actually a crossover with other characters.

11. Ever had a fic stolen? thankfully no! or not to my knowledge... (pls don't do that to anyone what a nightmare that would be)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? no! but if anyone ever wanted to do that, that would be dope!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic? i haven't... but i'd be very curious to do it (if anyone's interested lmk!)

14. All time favourite ship? ooh, my heart says sterek (LMAO) but my soul says buddie....

15. WIPs you want to finish but doubt you ever will? i think a long time ago there was a house of the dragon au for the 911 gotcha for gaza but that prompt got taken and now the fic is dead in the water... goodbye my old friend......

16. Writing strengths? there is a start, a middle, and an end with my fics yay :)

17. Writing weaknesses? my run on sentences is what will send me straight to hell, also i have the nasty habit of not proof-reading my stuff so sometimes i publish pure nonsense. what can i say, i'm a writer, we don't read (nick miller voice)

18. Thoughts on mixed language dialogue? oh... hmm, well in general terms i think if it makes sense with the source material/character and the writer knows how to write faithfully/accurately to the language, i'm all for it! i know this is a Thing in 911, and since I'm not a Spanish (or Swedish) speaker and those languages come up most often in fic, i'd defer to folks who speak the language for insight than my opinion :)

19. First fandom you wrote for? CRYING it was skam. SKAM. can u believe it????

20. Favourite fic you've ever written? my best written? the pain will leave you once it's done teaching you. my personal favorite? alabaster. the one that required four cans of white claw and an entire fucking whiteboard bigger than my torso to map out the plot because it was a murder mystery with fifteen different characters involved? it tolls for thee.

tagging some lovely writer moots! @becausebuckley @okathleen @809eddie if you are so inclined! (and haven't already done this!)

[residentdormouse]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag @tociminna. Can't say I'm great at all this. Pretty much just putzing about, committing word crimes, and doing general self indulgent fuckery. But having fun, I suppose?

1.) How many works do you have on AO3? 7 total

2.) What’s your total AO3 word count? 329,126. (This is such an odd number and it kills me....)

3.) What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 'Something like a Spiral' and 'Breaking Waves' are tied in first (with a whole 19 - I have got quite the following, let me tell you). Then 'From Waterdeep', 'Just Keep Diving Down', and 'Supply Run (and other Stand One-Shots)'.

4.) What fandoms do you write for? Currently writing for Baldur's Gate 3, but wrote the most for the Stand. Tiniest of tiny drabbles for Stranger Things, and one original.

5.) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Absolutely! I'm here because I want to have more conversations about these characters. Why would I not reply? Or at the very least say thank you. I actually made a really amazing friend this way.

6.) What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? 'Just Keep Diving Down'. I cried a lot during that one. I played 'Run Away to Mars' while writing it and still can't listen without getting weepy flash backs.

7.) What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? 'From Waterdeep' is just a short One-Shot, but it ends on a light note.

8.) Do you get hate on fics? I thankfully have not. I'm very niche so I'm going to assume most people in the fandoms know how to hit the back button successfully.

9.) Do you write smut? Yes, but do I write smut well? That is the question. (It's smut lite, to be honest. I get squicked easily.)

10.) Do you write crossovers? As of now, no. As of next chapter post, I'll need to retract. I told myself 'Breaking Waves' was only going to briefly reference my other two fanfic works and only vaguely mention any involved Stand characters, but goddamit... Randall Flagg apparently has thoughts and he's making it my problem.

11.) Have you ever had a fic stolen? I don't think so? I would hope not. Who would want to steal my nonsense, really.

12.) Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope, can't imagine I would have that wide of an audience.

13.) Have you ever cowritten a fic before? I have not, but I wouldn't be opposed. Don't know how that would work though.

14.) What’s your all-time favorite ship? Well, I write mostly OC inserts, cause if I'm putting this much time into it, it's getting tailored to my exact desires. I support all of my favorites getting love though. And I also support all friends OC inserts as well. Get loved, idiots!

15.) What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? My original work 'Close to the Vale' has been sitting neglected for a while. I have had the urge to pick it back up again recently though. I'd love to be a legit writer, but I've got nowhere near the talent for all that.

16.) What are your writing strengths? I would hope characters voice and development. When I was directing, character work was always my favorite, so I hope that would translate over.

17.) What are your writing weaknesses? I promise I'm not trying to steal answers, but repetition struggles are for real. I continually feel like I'm doing rereads to make sure I have said the same thing already, whether in those exact words or just themes. Did I already hit that point already? Who knows, I have a goldfish brain.

18.) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic? Does inserting small amounts of Githyanki count? That's about the extent I go there.

19.) First fandom you wrote for? Started writing for the newest version of the Stand. There was nothing Glen centric, and it made me sad. It was either write or let that be.

20.) Favorite fic you've ever written? 'Just Keep Diving Down' holds a special place just because it was creating my own worldnand about 50% of the cast. Everything else is pretty much playing along with the existing story.

No Pressure Tagging: @cxttlefishcxller @mrsmungus @darknightfrombeyond

[44-moved-44]

(Going to the front to add necessary context to this: This is for a Modern AU, specifically a crossover AU, where HMS live the lives of normal people in (decently) regular society. Also, I am extremely tired as of writing this, so it may be a bit nonsensical!)

A recent fantasy I've been using to help myself fall asleep is the idea of Mind breaking down to Heart because he feels like his worth is only as much as he can give use to others

And like, Mind in this AU is taking seven classes, has two jobs that he hates (heavy equipment operator + auto insurance), is hopelessly craving Soul's affection, and does constant volunteering work around the neighbourhood; he's lucky to have a few hours of free time in a week, lucky to get more than five hours of sleep

Meanwhile, Heart works a decent job that he's satisfied with (Starbucks barista), has a boyfriend that loves him, has a stable income/apartment, sleeps a healthy amount and has lots of time for himself, including therapy

After Cacophony they spent a few months at a little special someone whom one could call the counterpart of the two parasites' Host's new home and just tried to… heal from what happened, mostly adjusting in the beginning through helping him unpack and taking it slow, and while in their youth they would play and cuddle all day in the vast, bizarre acres of their strange broken-psyche-island-home, during senior year of highschool (they live on Long Island in this AU) they were met with a grim fate due to Soul breaking even more

Cacophony mostly consisted of warring for control over "operations" (HMS in this AU have a bizarre family dynamic; unlike parents, children, cousins, etc. it's mostly that there's the two halves/parasites and their Host, and the one "in-control" has the control over their lifestyles, which during Cacophony was nailed into Heart and Mind's instincts as a fearsome desire due to Soul's brain trying to repair Soul's apathy/depression by taking what was left of him and making them help him) while isolated on this breaking brain island from the rest of the world and that's when all the chaos, including physical and emotional injury, happened, before Soul Two rescued them

Soul Two is basically just Soul's reflection come to life via ooooOOOOOoooooOOOOoooo magical methods, and Heart and Mind view him as an uncle of sorts. Soul Two was before Heart and Mind's time and he was close friends with Soul ever since his unintentional spawning, but Soul Two had predicted something was wrong after Soul and his halves had gone radio silent for years; and thus he moved back into the area and drove over two hours to check on them

Mind is severely, SEVERELY messed up from Cacophony, as is Heart but in a much much different way. Whilst Heart is physically damaged and left feeling insecure, helpless, powerless and useless, conditioned to depend on others, Mind is left feeling as though he must be useful to have any worth; and should he not put his all into the world around him, then he has failed everyone as the logical side

What sucks for Mind is most of his interaction with Soul comes from the occasional phone call and the odd eating out at a cheap diner where they make small talk for an hour and part ways, he can't accept that what's best for Soul is being away from his halves until he can process everything the way he should

Soul Two has been paying for Heart and Mind's therapy and college as he's basically tried to fulfill the "}manager{" role that Heart and Mind are instinctually glued to, and he's fortunate enough to be in a financial position where the two of them can partially rely on him, but while Heart has been broken down into accepting all control over his life Mind just can't handle not being the one to do everything

The most time Mind ever gets to himself is a long late night drive or clocking out early due to a headache and laying in cot for an extra hour

He's not happy like this

But he thinks this is how it has to be

And now picture Heart, someone suffering from his own demons but being blessed with the ability to heal a few paces faster, embracing someone he grew up seeing as his brother, after all this horror and pain

Pretty nifty, huh? Probably makes more sense in my head, considering I came up with this AU for nighttime storytime to defend against the Axon Trauma Horrors™.

[damienthepious]

Fanfiction Author Interview Game

also preemptively saving to my drafts bc lord knows how long this will take me to do oops. lol it only actually took a couple days. miracle!!! tagged by @nientedal thank youuu!!

How many works do you have on AO3?

uhuhuhmmmmm 166 apparently. 4 of which are podfics.

What's your total AO3 word count?

uhhhummm 714,580. words. apparently.

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

im not clever enough to parse how dal weighted for multichapters, alas. by ao3's stats, at least,

Repercussions - 600wrd Megamind oneshot that has been my most popular fic by kudos pretty much since i published it and that will ALWAYS baffle me.

Knock-Off - 500wrd Megamind oneshot. which i like a little better.

True Gold - Megamind multichapter au about megs getting raised by the scotts, ahhh . i'll get back to it eventually

Lifted Up - ... another 500ish word Megamind oneshot.... why are all my top kudos'd fics in this category..... it's megamind/metro man too and that's like, not even my real ship. i was just playing around with them as a qpr and fluff happened....

Awake With Wolf Teeth - FINALLY SOME SECOND CITADEL and it's smut. hahahahaha. 5kish word smutty oneshot, bouquet with arum/damien focus.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to!! i fell into a hole for the last six months and haven't been able to write or respond until like.. two weeks ago but. i write because the words demand out but i post fic because i like... talking with people? i like getting to scream with other people about characters and dynamics and angst and fluff that we're BOTH excited about, of course i try to respond to comments.

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

oof. either... No One Will Ever Love You, which is ROMANTICALLY angsty but comes with the buffer of being pre-canon (MM) and canon will fix it, OR it just... wants, which is a drabble on the premise of a major character death, and does not resolve anything.

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

um. this is actually difficult bc. so many of them have. nonsense fluffy endings, often involving falling asleep together. the happiest/??? uhhh.... oh, Each Day You'd Rise With Me. The last line kinda cinches it, i think, though it has some stiff competition.

Do you write crossovers?

I don't think I have, but i'm not against it. I haven't found any ideas for crossovers that have compelled me enough to actually shove me past idly contemplating and into actually writing them, i guess.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not that I remember. I've gotten comments that have insulted or irritated me, but never in ways that I think were intentional, just careless. I write for mostly one very small fandom so i think that insulates me somewhat.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

HAHHA YEAH APPARENTLY. I don't really know what "what kind" means, but as per usual my brand seems to be intense and feelsy. these motherfuckers have a LOT of thoughts and feelings and words while getting railed....

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge..... and i HAVE panic-checked some of those scraper sites that get warned for now and again.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

not to my knowledge!! that would be VERY exciting, though.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yep. It was fun at the time, I'd be interested to do it again, but I tend to get a bit more self-conscious about the writing when someone is there to look at it the moment it happens lol

What's your all-time favorite ship?

i don't do favorites but i think it's pretty clear that rad bouquet and megarox kinda win the day here.

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

i absolutely refuse to indulge in defeatism. I'LL FINISH THEM ALL, SSSSOMEDAY.

What are your writing strengths?

wrrghg uhh. it's hard to tell from inside my own head but i've been TOLD that i excel at dialogue and character voices.

What's your favorite fic you've written?

bad at faves still but at the moment, Penumbra: Multichap: Scattered On My Shore. oneshot: On and On and On Again (If My Chest Don't Cave In). drabble: delicate as. Megamind: Multichap (unfinished lol): True Gold. oneshot: Typecast. drabble (OOPS THERE'S ONLY ONE but i like it): A Pulse That Escalates.

other authors: aw man idk im so bad at tagging people. @stone-stars and @pinkpuffballdude if you wanna? & if you're also a writer and saw this consider yourself tagged? 💖

[pragnificent]

Tagged by @tina-mairin-goldstein! Tagging whoever else wants to play.

1.How many fics do you have on AO3?

78.

2. What's your total word count on AO3?

934,933. Wow, maybe I can break a million this year....

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Just HANNIBAL right now (and for like the last seven years or so). Been vaguely thinking about picking up a second but nothing has caught my interest strongly enough.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Attachment - 7,592

The Fisherman and the Beast from the Sea - 4,565

Sashimi - 2,807

Hungry Ghost - 1,585

Identically Different - 1,382 <- This is my best series and yall should give it a shot <3

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to, and I enjoy doing so, but sometimes the brainworms win and I don't get stuff done even when I really want to.

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

Breathless

I don't love this story, but "Hannibal is effectively braindead after the fall, but Will keeps caring for the body and feels that Hannibal is there with him, up until the body dies and Will turns himself in because there isn't any point anymore" probably counts as the most angsty? If you are in the market for a "Hannibal receives a brain injury and he, along with everyone else around him, has to cope with that" story Tina's For Remembrance (Holes in the Floor of the Mind) is a much better pick. And as I continue to think about it, Means of Influence has a pretty angsty ending.

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

Most of my stories have slightly bittersweet but still mostly happy endings. Part of the thing about that is I think it's really hard to envision a situation where Will is like 100% Happy Happy, his own mind hates him too much and every little scrap of happiness needs to be fought for and then vigilantly guarded. But I put both him and Hannibal through so much that I always want them to be as close to content as they each can be.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have gotten two flavors of Fic Hate. 1.) People calling the five year old kid OC in ATTACHMENT slurs like "r*tard" and saying "he belongs in jail" and etc.

Every time Hannibal or Will fuck someone who isn't each other at least one person decides to Yell At Me.

I think I've gotten the old "you didn't tag for bottom Hannibal!!" nonsense once or twice too, but who hasn't?

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

A little. I actually started Hannishark bc I was really intimidated by sex scenes and wanted to see if I could pull off a short monsterfucker story. I feel like I've gotten better at writing these but am generally more comfortable leaving them sparce on anatomical details and big on feelings/conversations.

10. Do you write crossovers? If so, what's the craziest one?

I've got a WRONG TURN crossover series that I'm very proud of here: Bear Mountain Road AU. You don't need to have seen any of the movies to read it, or anything, the movies' premise of "a clan of inbred mountain cannibals waylays travelers" is really just an excuse to put Hannibal (and Will and D, as child members of the cannibal family) In Situations. If I counts as a cross over, I've got a universe swap between the novels and NBC HANNIBAL here: Shiloh

I also have a vague idea for a SAW / HANNIBAL crossover but I've been sitting on that for so long, who knows if it'll ever happen?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not so far as I know.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, several times.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Yep, a couple of times.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

Hannigram and Reba/D (guys we need a fuckin ship name).

15. What are your writing strengths?

Character, emotions, dialogue.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Sex scenes, pacing.

17. Thoughts writing dialogue in another language?

Fine by me, tho I only think I've done it one or twice.

18. First fandom you wrote for?

FARSCAPE.

19. Favorite fic you've written?

Identically Different AU !!!! This it the best thing I've ever written and probably the best thing I will ever write.

[kumoriyami-xiuzhen]

Hakuoki x Sengoku Night Blood Crossover - A Fleeting Vision A Fortuitous Meeting with a Samurai Prologue

For October (pretend that I didn't miss last week's post, or count this as that one,🤣 though I'll promise I'll work on something to make up for it later), I'll only be posting this story. There are five parts, so that'll cover my usual posts for the month... I'm hoping to get them all out before Veilguard gets released so I can go work on one other thing (TBD since I haven't decided on what yet) to make up for the last week of September, and then the last of the Deemo content.

Just a warning though: I will definitely not be translating anything for a while once I get my hands on Veilguard... though I will be royally pissed off if the release date gets delayed.

Also, I decided to translate this crossover because of @koto-wari! For other Hakuoki x Sengoku Night Blood translations, I believe that @jokertrap-ran has some of the side content with Sannan and Sakamoto translated.

Anyway, enjoy?

Please note, I have never played Sengoku Night Blood or watched the stage play or anime, so the names, honorifics and terminology I use might be incorrect as I didn't take an in-depth look at the wikia, as that is what I used to reference most of the names (aka I'm selectively lazy).

The only term I think is necessary for readers to understand is "Yakuma" which are evil spirits of some sort... and I've decided to go with "Yuzuki" for the Heroine's name since that's what was used in the anime. I'll only be using it the when it's mentioned directly.

----------------------------------

Hakuoki x Sengoku Night Blood Prologue: The Encounter

Translation by KumoriYami

On the night when I was following the trail of Himegamiko-sama with the Uesugi Army——

The low row of the wind announced the arrival of the Yakuma.

While we rushed over to defeat the enemy, the fight had already begun.

Heroine: Who are those people...?

Okita: Contrary to how they appear, these guys are seriously weak that it's astounding. There's no feeling at all when you slash them, so they're not even a challenge are they, right? What do you think, Hajime-kun?

Saito:...Even if you're seeking my approval, I only feel that this is perplexing. I'm also not a battle maniac like you.

Okita: You're still the same as always.

The moonlight reflected off the tip of their blades, and with the fluttering of their pale blue haori like butterfly wings, with each swing, the Yakuma fell one after another.

Seeing their unfamiliar figures, the Uesugi Army halted as if they had been nailed to the spot.

Kakizaki Kageie: Who are those guys fighting the Yakuma? Kagemochi, do you know anything?

Kagemochi Amakasu: I don't know... These people are not from the Takeda Army, but they don't seem to be from the Oda Army or the Toyotomi Army either.

Naoe Kanetsugu: People dressed exactly the same way are coming over!

At Kanetsugu-san's words, the mood around the Uesugi Army suddenly became tense. But as if the two people running over hadn't noticed our presence, they respectively clutched the sword and spear in their hands, and happily rushed towards the Yakuma.

Harada: I came over after hearing what Yamazaki said, what the hell are these?

Okita: Areh? Sano-san and Heisuke are here too, I'm going to have fewer opponents.

Toudou: We came out to help out of goodwill, so what's with your attitude! Even for Souji, it'll be difficult for you to deal with so many enemies by yourself.

Saito:...Enough of that nonsense. It's best to focus on the enemies in front of us now.

Toudou: Alright! Let's go all out! Sano-san, don't be careless!

Harada: There's no way I'll be careless against this opponent I don't know anything about [more literally, "unknown opponent," but that looks weird]!

These people were cheerfully talking while they brandished their swords in high spirits. It was the first time I had ever seen someone fighting a Yakuma like this, and I couldn't help but clench my hands in fear.

Uesugi Kagekatsui:...But they're fighting Yakuma, so are they allies?

Kanetsugu Naoe: How can guys like this, who have never been seen in the Uesugi territory, be allies.

Uesugi Kagekatsu: But... Father, we....

Kenshin Uesugi: Hold off investigating the other party's origins, and do what we need to do first.

The confused mood in the area disappeared with Kenshin-san's words, and everyone's expressions became serious.

Kagemochi Amakasu: : Please hide in a safe location for a while.

Heroine: Okay... Please be careful.

The Uesugi Army in the opposite direction of the group in the light blue haori, and together they flanked the Yakuma together. Just when I wanted to go hide in the back so that I wouldn't get in the way—

Yukimura: Haah… Haah… everyone's fine…

Yamzaki: There are monsters here too... Yukimura-kun, just wait here.

Yukimura: I understand. Yamazaki-san, please be careful too.

Two more figures emerged from the forest before me, and one of them was a woman.

Heroine: (…They're too close to the Yakuma, isn't that too dangerous——）

Although she has a sword on her hip, she might be able to fight, but——

Heeroine: (Although it's not clear if they're friend or foe…… ）

Not wanting her to get in to danger, I ran to her side.

Okita:——I don’t know who you are, but are you trying to steal my prey?

Amakasu Kagemochi: Our opponents are Yakuma. If you’re trying to wipee them out on your own, I'm afraid it might be a bit difficult with just you, right?

Okita: Yakuma? I don't know what you're talking about, but if I accidentally cut you down, don't complain about it to me later, okay?

Amakasu Kagemochi: You're meaning is that you're all be hostile to us then?

Okita: Who knows? I have no idea. But if we do become enemies, I won’t show any mercy you know?

Amakasu Kagemochi:…I’d really like to hear the details about who you people are later

Okita: Isn’t it proper etiquette for you to introduce yourselves first?

Toudou: Hey, are those guys going to be our companions?

Harada: Who knows. But judging by the atmosphere, one thing’s clear, they're definitely not colleagues of these monsters.

Toudou: Keep your distance from them then, and clean up these monsters first.

Saito: Having said, it will be difficult to maintain our distance.

Harada: What do you mean.

Saito: Look over there.

Toudou: Chizuru... who's she's with?

I held her hand and led her to an area where we wouldn't get in the way of everyone fighting against the Yakuma.

Heroine: This is further away from the Yakuma, so it should be safe here.

Yukimura: U-Um...

Heroine:...! So-Sorry, I'm sorry for forcibly pulling you over. Thinking that you were a woman, I just felt uneasy so I couldn't ignore it… I'm really sorry.

Yukimura: How could that be…! Please don't apologize to me, I should be the one thanking you. Um, I'm Yukimura Chizuru, you are...?

Heroine: I'm Yuzuki. Your companions are very powerful, for them to fearlessly fight against the Yakuma.

Yukimura: These... are called Yakuma?

Heroinee:...Y-Yes.

Yakuma: Although I don't think that these are rasetsu, I've never seen monsters like this…

While I was surprised at her complete lack of knowledge about Yakuma, what made me feel more concerned was the word "rasetsu", which I had never heard before.

Yukimura:…Um, excuse me, can you tell me where this is?

Heroine: Th-This is... the Uesugi territory... in a place called Shinga.

It was only now that I noticed how strangely she was dressed, which looked very odd.

Heroine: (I first thought she was from another territory, but could it be… can it be that…)

Her question overlapped with the unease that I first felt when I arrived in Shinga.

Yukimura: Shin、ga...? This isn't Kyoto?

Heroine: No, this is... the in Uesugi territory in Shinga. (Her reaction is just like mine then...)

I cautiously asked her.

Heroine: Are you from a place called "Kyoto"?

Yukimura:...Yes. I don't know we suddenly ended up in a place like this…

Heroine:……！

I gasped at Yukimura-san's words. It sounded… like she and her companions were really like me.

In the midst of my ocnfusion, I heard shouting. It appears that the fight against the Yakumaa was over.

Heroine: (Although everyone seems to be fine…)

Ordinarily, I would have immediately ran over to where they were, but right now, I stood still because of the sense of déjà vu from this woman named Yukimura Chizuru.

---to be continued in part 1 here---

I took the title of the story from https://senbura-info.fandom.com/wiki/A_Fortuitous_Meeting_with_a_Samurai

Also, I haven't mentioned it in a while, but I don't translate from Japanese so who knows if something else got lost in translation... 😅

[rainbowstargazerlilies]

Time for a new pinned post!

Hi, everyone, this is Becca or Ori! Those in the Mechs fandom might know me for my Mechs and TMA themed knit dolls (all tagged "#stargazer's four inch friends"), or the TMA and Mechs fics I write (see below). I'm in my early twenties, am currently a graduate student in psych-related fields, and live in the eastern time zone.

If you're interested in my fics, promo for that under the cut. Otherwise, enjoy the chaos!

Why should you read what I mentally call the booty shorts saga, actually known as "The Semi-Annual Non-Denominational Winter Holiday Gift Swap"?

Have you ever wondered what gift swaps might look like in the Magnus Institute?

Do you need to imagine Certain Characters (Jon) receiving so many pairs of booty shorts?

This sticks close to canon, so. . . do you want a story about booty shorts and nonsense to suddenly give you So Many Feels?

This is a collaboration between the amazing @ladydragonkiller and myself, and it was our first foray into writing and posting fanfic. I love it. Go read LadyDragonKiller's other stuff if you're a Mechs fan.

Why should you read The Stars Claim Them?

I started this series with imagining Lyfrassir Edda surviving the Bifrost Incident, and then ending up at the Magnus Institute, so it is a TMA/Mechs crossover.

I've been consistently posting for over a year. Two years as of this March, and I am so excited for that :) Currently, we're nearly 100,000 words in and going, posting right now is concurrent with TMA season 2, and I've had so much fun.

This is the fic where I stare canon in the eye, say "coward", and save every single character I can manage.

Be prepared for a very slow burn indeed, but the Violinspector element is certainly Very Much There.

We've had road trips, heists, blood snakes, rubber ducks, far too many Michaels, and more. I did a whole Peter Pan arc. It's nonsensical and amazing and I love it.

We've got a discord, where we have Very Normal Conversations about the fic, the Mechs, the Magnus Archives, and more. If you like the fic series, you're more than welcome to join!

If you enjoyed LadyDragonKiller's Raphaella backstory, I have some Easter egg references to it scattered throughout, because we brainstorm together. I consider it canon to this series, as far as that goes, and I have fun planting those :)

Why should you read anything from Corner of Dreams?

Those were oneshots I wrote last year as a part of a challenge to myself!

The first one is the angstiest Toy Soldier thing I could manage without crying. Have fun! Bring tissues!

The second is a fun little Violinspector thing that I really enjoyed writing. It just amused me so much to think about. And that ending. . . I like to think it ended happily, but there's no guarantee, is there?

The third is a Brian/Galahad oneshot. It could go so many different directions after the ending, most of which would absolutely change up canon. I like to think it wouldn't end sadly. Probably.

If there's enough enjoyment of these, there's two more I might add one day, based on Alice and on Gunpowder Tim vs the Moon Kaiser.

Also, if you're trying to get a taste of what I've written, one of these is probably a lot easier to start with than TSCT. These are each under 5,000 words.

Why should you read I Got You, Babe?

It's now several chapters in and we already have the start of some fun stuff going on. We've got Violinspector angst, Nastya doing interesting stuff post-Out. . . Why wouldn't you?

Also, I'm having far too much fun whenever I get the time to write on it. It's going to be interesting. I can't wait to share more.

[maskedjoker]

Alright so I want to talk about some fandom stuff since I've been getting back into it with a few people/places. It seems like some old issues are still kind of around. The biggest thing is we all have been in this thing for a while, and it's been so slow I think we've all kind of made our own theories and views we keep most of the time. We all then "check in" when chapters do actually come out and since we are all very invested in the story and in more closed groups the rest of the time there is conflict.

Now I'm well past being upset by differences in story interpretation. We can all enjoy dgm without agreeing on everything, especially all the unrevealed stuff. I don't like it all the time, but it's perfectly fine.

What's bugging me most is there seems to be some inconsistency to how people treat certain characters/ideas. There is A LOT of headcanonning and fans of the past! crew like Allen, Nea, and Mana as well as Cross(and bookman Jr if you interpret them as separate, though I personally do not). People get very defensive of their relationships and circumstance when it comes to debate. This is on its own not so great, but not particularly a problem either. Trust me, I get character offense.

I'll just cut to the point and say it though, the main reason this becomes a problem is people seem to care about characters in order of attractiveness. I've been a fan of The Earl/Adam since almost the beginning of the series, and it's been hell. People have never treated him with the same care or thought they do to other characters, despite him being very central and important to the story. I'll also say before anything more that no, he's not more amoral than the other villains, so that doesn't matter here.

Being disinterested would be one thing, but it's usually more than that. When this stuff started it was just basically calling him Hitler(pre mana stuff) and treating him much worse than the other Noah(like tyki). Later on, when his human form was revealed, people jumped into basically replacing him with mana. Let me be clear, I don't mean they realized the connection. I mean they were actively ignoring the current character(personality/goals/identity) in favor of mana walker or Campbell's personality, and would only reasonably talk about the earl in context of Nea or Allen in the past. Memory loss or no, the actual earl was treated as a non-character that only existed as a way to recreate other characters. The stuff around 219 was especially rough as most people did not even consider what the earl said or felt, it was just about Sad Mana Is Confused TM and should go back to being like him right now. This was done with no consideration of Mana's feelings towards Adam or Adam's feelings towards Mana.

Now that we have confirmation from hoshino that there is a third entity, that his name is adam, and that he's basically past!earls Noah memories+suit as well as having his own autonomy and personality, people are still treating him poorly. I have had people assert to me he doesn't have a soul OR separate personality and isn't the earl(?) because Mana is. Now that he can be separated from Mana, it's back to treating him as Evil and Not A Person. He's an AI or a machine or fake in some way, despite him basically being the only character we've ever known as the earl. Those same people also assumed, somehow, that when the story said the earl was being used by the other Noah without his knowledge that he was somehow Not Included and was actually both aware and part of this betrayal on Mana. That's not to say there is no crossover with Mana, because they've shared a body for some time and Mana is his host after all, etc. That doesn't excuse these behaviors though.

And all of that nonsense is because frankly, people don't want to bone him. They look at his design(suit form usually, but not always) and immediately assume Evil and Gross despite the story's themes, writing, and Hoshino's own words against it. Ive literally had people say as much, especially when talking about shipping. He is actively pushed away from character groups or dynamics people actually talk about. The only other character treated even remotely similar are characters that don't like Allen(like chaoji, some of you must have been around long enough to remember the hate he got at the time) and/or are perceived as not attractive(like apo or Leviare). I don't think it's justified there either.

It's just really getting me down that a really well written and interesting character that is quintessential to the narrative is basically shit on, while people clutch their pearls if Cross or Allen's back stories are a little different than they expected. I expect this from young teens and the like but this fandom has frankly aged out of that a long time ago and it's not cute anymore

[klunkcat]

tagged by @goodlucktai <3333

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

45 lol but i have I think. 30 wips that exist somewhere on my computer at any given moment. alas.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

701,032

which..... is like far too many words per fic actually imo

3. What fandoms do you write for?

honestly whatever currently grabs my brain stem changes a lot but i think my top ones are tmnt and stranger things (what a wild combo actually). Actively atm I have a trigun wip and a tmnt one

4. Top five fics by kudos?

A Kiss is a Kiss (But it's never like this) - 6,528

(something happens and I'm) head over heels - 3,518

Green with Envy - 1,880

Forget the mess I'm in - 1,791

Weak Point - 1,366

5. Do you respond to comments?

literally I am the WORST for remembering to reply I'm so sorry. I must say that I do read all of them in my email and screenshot them and cry

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

angsty endings are too much 4 me I believe so strongly in hurt/comfort but....

Impossible Things and the Tin Can I think is the most like, conceptually tragic series I've written

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

Comfort is a requirement but I think but like Stepping over the line is basically just an extended meet cute so nothing really sad happens at all lol?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Actually genuinely have never gotten a rude comment in my life I did once get someone being hyper pushy about new chaps when I was like.... 19? Sometimes comments veer I think towards misunderstanding unreliable narrator elements and can be a little intense as a result

9. Do you write smut?

ehhhhhh closest I've ever gotten was dancing around the topic lol

10. Craziest crossover?

omg me and tai have gone down some rabbit holes and made a tangled/good omens fusion among other things, which was cute 2 me

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that I know of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I've gotten some requests, not sure if they got uploaded anywhere?

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

I did once many years ago but we didn't end up finishing it from what I remember!

14. All time favourite ship?

oh god I mean. ineffable husbands and wangxian invented romance. big mckirk and vashwood fan despite what my published fics would tell you. stsg ruined my life this year. I'm really big on platonic friendships though personally

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

My google docs are a cesspit of fics I will never finish. Once made a wangxian softball fic that will never see the light of day but I think of it fondly

16. What are your writing strengths?

Might actually be a weakness and not a strength but boy do I love prosey metaphor nonsense. Sometimes I think it works other times who's 2 say.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Fighting scenes man, combat is hard as hell.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

in general I dooooon't write it too much just because I don't speak anything beyond like. grade 2 level spanish so.

19. First fandom you wrote in?

tmnt :' )

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Oh tricky. Stealing tai's idea of a top 5

Forget-Me-Nots - :') big ol love u to tai for this

Both the Sweet and the Bitter - so sorry to anyone who follows me for ST fics because I'm probably never going to write for it ever again or finish this but a dear friend of mine helped me with this story and it means a lot 2 me as a result. The flower metaphors were fun to research.

Plain White Beach Houses - also same as the above but idk pacific rim au....house metaphors.... I love this series a lot

change up, high inside - wanted to write a softball fic for my whole life basically and this is more or less me just waxing poetic about the sport if I'm honest

Feedback Loop - this fic was actually insane like. took me I think a full year to write out? There's a lot of stuff in this that I lol cannot reread anymore for reasons but damn if it wasn't a learning experience to write all around

Tagging @eternalglitch @byrdybyrd02 @jinbugs if u want to besties!

[cephalog0d]

20 questions for fic writers

Thanks for the tag @babblingbookends!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

89! (tbf a lot of them are drabbles XD)

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

62,284. Higher than I thought!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly Batfam, occasionally branching into other DC, occasionally gift fics for others and original work.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Bomb Sing Se (arguably the fic that got me to actually write and post things instead of just keeping stuff to me and a couple friends)

Comfort Food

Bower Birds

Relation

Bat Math

5. Do you respond to comments?

Absolutely! I try to respond to every comment I get, I appreciate every single one so much.

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

Well Relative Velocity is the only time I've ever used the "Hurt No Comfort" tag so.

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

Most of what I write is silly humorous nonsense so I think most of them are happy endings? I like the fluffy siblings ending on Midnight Snack a lot.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not anywhere I've ever seen it, luckily!

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

Nah, not really my thing.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I've done fandom fusion ones like Venom!Steph but I don't know if that counts as a crossover since it's still all characters from one setting, just with setting elements from another property.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of, luckily!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of, but that would be super cool!

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

Not yet! But we'll see. :)

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

Uhhhhh I'm gonna say Leverage OT3? (I don't really have a lot of strong "this is my thing" ship opinions.)

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

*quietly sliding my giant WIP/fic idea spreadsheet under the rug to hide it* I have too many. So, so many.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I like to think I'm good at the banter thing. I really enjoy writing back and forth dialogue, especially for humor, but also for serious conversations. It's often the part I think about the most and spend the most time on. (I think I'm also pretty good at world building stuff, but that doesn't always come up with fanfic.)

17: What are your writing weaknesses?

The focus to finish plotting/writing long stories is definitely one I'm not great at. I have the ideas, but my brain sees another shiny new idea and goes "but what about that". It's something I'm working on.

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

It depends? For one thing there's the whole thing of having the knowledge/resources to actually have accurate translations, which may or may not be difficult to do, but also I think it depends on who the POV character is. If you put in dialogue in another language people can look it up and see what it means, so it can be a fun way to have a little easter egg that the audience knows and the POV character doesn't, but if you don't want to give stuff away it's better to just say they're speaking X language, or maybe POV character recognizes a word or two but not the whole statement.

19. First fandom you wrote for? 

Batfam stuff is what made me actually start interacting with fandom instead of being a weird internet lurker talking to my friends about things I like so.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Oh boy, I don't even know...I'm gonna say Finders Keepers because I really love that AU and that's the one that started it.

And that's that!

No pressure tags for @outtoshatter @2dents @teleportationmagic @kayrielwrites @sepia-stained-sunset !

[wishforhome]

20 Questions for Fanfiction Writers

Tagged by @serensama! I love these things.

I will tag @inquisimer, @mxssful, @effelants, @nirikeehan!

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

32 and counting

2). What's your total AO3 word count?

130,010

3). What are your top five fics by kudos?

A Mirror to the Void (Lucanis/Spite, background Lucanis/Rook, explicit, 195 kudos)

What She Deserves (Lucanis/Spite/Rook, explicit, 168 kudos)

Five (Lucanis/Spite/Rook/Viago/Teia, explicit, 168 kudos)

Threads of Light and Shadow (Lucanis/Spite/Rook, teen, 161 kudos)

Deals With Devils (Lucanis/Spite, background Lucanis/Rook, explicit, 145 kudos)

Kind of interesting that both of my Lucanis/Spite fics are top five!

4). What fandoms do you write for?

Right now, exclusively Dragon Age: The Veilguard

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

I do try to! I think I have some outstanding, but yes, I love responding to comments. Comment-convos are how I first got more engaged in fandom and made some of my closest fandom friends. I love it.

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

Probably no saints among us / only those who kneel. I don't know if it's "angsty" exactly, but the implications of the fic are pretty dark, and it leaves off with Vero basically pledging themself to Viago for the rest of their life, which is a kind of fucked up thing for sixteen-year-old ex-slave to do?

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

Hmmm, this one's tough. Let's go for the one with the most "happy endings" in it: Five, which contains like six orgasms, I think?

8). Do you get hate on fics?

No, never.

9). Do you write smut?

Yes, a lot of smut. Of the 32 fics I've published so far, 13 are explicit.

10). Do you write crossovers?

Nope.

11). Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of?

12). Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, I do not think so.

13). Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Yes! @mxssful and I co-wrote [[you would never break the chain (never break the chain)]], and we're collaborating on the band au for rooks & crows as a whole.

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

Probably Viago/Rook. I started with Lucanis/Rook and I still love it and always include it in my poly nonsense, but I just really love the fucked up dynamic of Viago/Rook.

16). What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm really good at building complicated, compelling characters and relationships. I think I'm very good at sensory writing and capturing the experience of certain scenes, making things visceral when they need to be. I also think my prose generally just "reads" well and flows nicely, with strong poetic elements.

17). What are your writing weaknesses?

Maybe dialogue? I tend to write a lot of characters who are stoic and not talkative, and sometimes getting them to talk is difficult. I also wish I was better at metaphor; sometimes I think I tend to be too literal. Genre-wise I'm not very good at comedy. Moments of humour I can do, but a fic that's actually just funny from beginning to end is something I have no idea how to do.

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

I tend not to use it, simply because I'm not strong enough in writing any other language to include it, and I would hate to butcher a language I don't speak well.

19). First fandom you wrote for?

Pirates of the Caribbean, back when I was in high school in like 2004?

20). Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

It's not complete yet, but I'm really loving and i want to know what would happen if i surrender to the sound so far.

[adamnablelittledevil]

@billy-royalton Sorry, but I couldn't reply to your question directly for some reason... Gotta go right now, so I typed this in a hurry, hope there aren't many typos and it's easy to understand! Xo 💗

Short Answer: Yes and yes. I've read all of the books, including the crossovers with the Mayfair Witches and New Tales of the Vampires (Pandora and Vittorio, the Vampire). Here's what I can tell you about these novels and how I feel about them…

Merrick: It is the most important book among the three. There are very important events regarding Louis and Claudia. The show has adapted some of that already (him walking into the sun on 2x05), but there might be more as soon as season 3 arrives. There's also a lot of Merrick and David on it, though I don't know if they will be written into the show or not (and if they do, I don't know how it will be). The writing for Merrick has a number of racial stereotypes, offensive lines and I don't know how accurate Anne's portrayal of candomble and voodoo was (based on what I know about umbanda, the only thing I know she got right was the name of certain deities). However, I believe Merrick is a great character, I fell in love with her and she's one of my favorites. Her family is a long line of witches and I was extremely intrigued by them. I understand why some people couldn't like the book, though. Because whether Anne meant it or not, it was indeed offensive. Still, I don't believe that ever ruined Merrick as a character or her personality. She was super likeable and compelling. My problem was more with the way David and Aaron acted and talked about her than her own behavior, if that makes sense. For me, the downside of this volume was having David's POV (he is one of the weakest narrators, I wish it was MERRICK's so I could see more of her or Lestat's), little Lestat and no Armand (I ALWAYS want to see him).

Blackwood Farm: The only main character on this one is Lestat and he doesn't appear as much. The story is mostly about this new character named Quinn (and to some extent, Mona Mayfair). I enjoyed it, and it was really creative, peculiar and dark in some aspects. His narration is O.K. There were some scenes here and there that were compelling. And there was a character who was intersex/gender-fluid and used multiple pronouns called Petronia that I really loved, even though they were… Well, complicated. I don't wanna spoil those stuff for you, but I could still empathize with them a lot, because they had such a tragic story that I believe explained a lot of their actions, just like how I feel about Armand and Lestat.

Blood Canticle: It is another book where only Lestat, Quinn and Mona show up. Quinn falls more to the back on this one, while Lestat, Mona and Rowan Mayfair are more present in the narrative. The plot didn't make a lot of sense for me and Rowan is probably the only female I never cared about, even if her story was appealing. Because the way I felt about her was close to how I felt about Louis on Merrick, like, you're a relevant character and big, dark, tragic things happened to you… But I just don't care. I did love Mona and Lestat entertained me because there was a lot of humor from him too. There are parts that he is rambling about becoming a saint and it's ridiculous and hilarious, it was very Lestat of him and I was laughing out loud late at night. I also enjoyed Lestat and Mona together, they had sort of a sibling-like rivalry and their childish bickering entertained me. There were times that Mona humbled him and I was shocked that she actually went there and threw certain stuff on his face. I was like, NO, YOU DIDN'T? OMG! And that girl is joining Lestat and Armand in the BPD squad, she might actually be worse than them. Lestat complaining about her had me like, sweetie, the call is coming from inside the house. So, it wasn't brilliant, some stuff were weird and nonsensical, but it was fun. This is also the only crossover I found a physical copy of, the others I read on my mobile so I can't talk about their length, but this one didn't even have 300 pages. It was a fast read for most of the time.

Conclusion? They aren't on my top 4, but I didn't struggle with them as I did with Memnoch the Devil or even Interview With the Vampire (I only liked Claudia and Armand on it), for that matter. I believe Merrick and Blackwood Farm are better than Blood Canticle, but it's hard to quantify and qualify the novels outside of my top 4 (TVA, TVL, Prince Lestat, TQOTD). Some might be better than others, but the difference isn't as huge as it is with those four, they're way above the rest (but I also love Vittorio and Pandora, people sleep on them, but they would be tied as my top 5). They didn't give me a lot of goosebumps and didn't leave a huge impact on me, but were mostly fine and some scenes, characters and dynamics were interesting. They're not necessary to read, though, except for maybe Merrick, so you can skip at least 2/3 and be fine… So just figure out what works for you and you'll be alright. Anyway, I hope this amount of information works for you and if you have any more questions, feel free to ask away!

[littlethingwithfeathers]

Fanfic writer interview

Tagged by the incomparable @hellofeanor. Thank you, lovely!

How many works do you have on AO3? 65 on AO3 and two... elsewhere. They're from when I was in high school. And it's soon to be 66 because I'm starting a new fic posting today! Oh btw you can find me here!

What’s your total AO3 word count? 946,231. I'm honestly really bummed that my new fic is only going to take me to ~990k.

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

A Room for Rent in the First Estate: a Venom/Eddie/Darcy Lewis monsterfucker/journalism is fun fic. I'm honestly surprised this one is number one, but it is by a LONG margin.

Out for Stars: My Star Wars Reylo fic that's basically... an alternate ending for The Last Jedi (and ultimately alternate Rise of Skywalker).

The Rain'll Be Gone in the Morning: Some Darcy/Loki smut written as a birthday present for a friend that kinda grew legs and ended up with a second chapter.

Whither Must I Wander: Hannigram nonsense with a VERY sad ending because it was supposed to have a sequel that just... never got going properly.

The Closest I Ever Gave: More Hannigram nonsense... now with clothing and shaving kink.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I definitely try to but I'm awful about it. I will say this... if you want a response from me, asking me a question is a great way to get a response.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? "Whither Must I Wander" far and away has the angstiest ending... again because I was going to do a sequel but that never happened. Also the ending for "The Crucible" (Hannibal/Abigail) because the ending stays in canon sooooo... Otherwise? I don't think I've really written much angst. Most of my drive to write is centered in "fixing" stuff... See "Out for Stars," "Intercalation," "My Love Loves Me," "Widow's Walk" etc.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending? Ooh........ I like a happy ending so unlike the angst-ending question, the stable of possibilities is very full. There's my do-over for the end of MCU Endgame at the end of my 200k word long Steve/Nat/Bucky series "Friendship is Unnecessary." The specific fic in the series is "The Girl in the Garden" There's my defect-and-escape fic where I rewrite the ending of the HBO series Chernobyl, "Intercalation." And there's my first fic on AO3... "Keep Doing the News" which was in anticipation of The Newsroom having a sad ending, but I published it anyway even though it didn't because dammit I put a lot of research into that one.

Do you write crossovers? Rarely. It does happen but not often. It's not really my thing.

Have you ever received hate on a fic? Very few times. The one that sticks out the most is on my Hannibal/Abigail fic, which the age stuff squicked a lot of people out. Which... fair. But it's not like it wasn't tagged so... why are you reading it?

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? It is the majority of what I write, yes.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not to my knowledge.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes! "Widow's Walk" got translated into Polish!

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Not as an adult, but in high school we would do it all the time. I'm too much of a fandom hermit to get involved with collabs.

What’s your all-time favorite ship? Whew... It's like picking a favorite child, because I'm a multi-shipper. Part of the fun of fanfic is getting to imagine all the different possibilities. Steve/Bucky and Steve/Nat are up there... Phil/Melinda in Agents of SHIELD... Hannigram as well... I can't pick.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? The sequel to "Whither Must I Wander." It would basically be a retelling of Silence of the Lambs. I had a lot of cool ideas... but I dunno. I just never got past the "batting the fic around like a cat with a piece of string" phase. And I have a few different ideas for how to wrap up the MCU Infinity Stone arc... and there's the Wanda/Vision fix-it I wanted to write but... I dunno. I could never make it go and now the story's moved on. Plus I'm not really watching the MCU anymore. And there's the sequel fic to the show "Newsroom" about the Ebola outbreak in the 20-teens. I did so much research on that one, but I was never sure how I wanted it to end... or more specifically what I wanted it to say at the end.

What are your writing strengths? I have a very good vocabulary and can give very concise descriptions that still say a lot. I wish words were physical and made of rock candy so I could crunch them in my teeth.

What are your writing weaknesses? Writing action and connecting material (like travel time). Editing usually fixes it, but I really struggle with it on the first draft and it's usually the last part I'm happy with... and even then never truly happy.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? I don't mind it in others' work... especially if it's translated or obvious what's happening, or meant to be disorienting/an obstruction. I don't do it much at all outside of a pet name in another language or something small like that.

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to? Ooh. I'm... not sure. I keep thinking one day I'll write something for Astarion in BG3, but... eh? I've never felt the impulse beyond just wanting to pick him up and shake him and mash his wittle head. And I was very into the Gadreel/Sam pairing in Supernatural, but someone was writing a fic that was basically what I wanted so I never wrote for it. Shame they never finished... I can't really think of any others. If I'm fascinated by a pairing, I usually write it.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written? Oh this is hard. "Friendship is Unnecessary" is over 200k words long and there's a LOT going on in that one... but I think it's a tossup between "Intercalation," my Chernobyl fix-it, which involved getting a literal nuclear physicist to help me write dialogue and teach me about nuclear science because I cannot halfass anything when it comes to complicated metaphors, or "A Room for Rent in the Fourth Estate" which is my Darcy/Eddie/Venom fic which involved a lot of socio-political research to get the setup. And that latter is easily my most popular fic in spite of the MUCH less popular ship. So... I'm proud of that.

Who else wants to participate? @3hobbitsinatrenchcoat @howdidyouallgetinmyroom @hexmeridian and anyone else who wants to participate!

[vaninakan]

Late night thoughts vol. 1

It's 4 am and I cannot sleep so I'm just gonna splooge some random thoughts that I have (some positive, some negative, and some that's probably just nonsense.)

Uhh, I like to get negatives out of the way first so I guess I can start with that.

- Does anyone else miss when art/animation communities felt more niche but open? I'm particularily talking about the animation meme community here cause that's a community I've more or less lurked in for a long time. I remember a time when there was the big three of animation memes a lot of people and myself were inspired by. (I'm referring to early 2010's creators like Kay2036, Ezpups and Caramelcat123) It feels silly to say that what got me into art were a bunch of independent artists animating anime cats fighting eachother, but that's exactly what happened. I loved these creators (still do) and I looked forward to seeing what else these creators had to offer. As time went on, more creators came in the fray with a lot of cool talent and craftmanship and it was honestly very cool seeing what everyone had to offer. That's something I loved most about AMC, that so many were able to feel free to create whatever they wanted and how wonderful it paid off to see that creativity put into so many special masterpieces of independent art and animation, and that's something I'll always admire. So it breaks my heart to see what the AMC has became. Don't get me wrong, there's still a ton of great artists out there and y'all are fantastic, but I cannot help but feel like the environment in that community especially had gotten a lot more vile than what it started off as. To be fair, that's pretty much any community these days, I'm well aware of that. But I have never seen so much drama, so much infighting, and so much people being deplorable to eachother in my life that it's honestly sickening! I've always wanted to make my own animation memes and I still do, I have a TON of ideas I'd love to get to eventually, but if I ever decide to post them, don't expect me to engage much with the rest of the community. IMO, the best communities you can have are the small close ones you have with your best pals.

- For the past few years, I've been distancing myself from big social media branches and fandoms because of how toxic the environments can be for some of these spaces especially, and it's honestly helped a lot with my mental health (Deleting my Twitter and moving here has honestly been one of the best things I've done last year). It's partially why I've stopped posting so frequently, because really the only people I truly care about pleasing are me and all my close friend groups and found families I've built. I don't really care about statistics and platform building, if people like my stuff, then that's cool. I can look at a post I made with bigger numbers than usual and go "huh, that's pretty neat" and then move on talking about a crossover AU I've been cooking up with my boyfriend. That's not to say I don't appreciate my followers or people who like my content, I do. But know that what I make isn't catered to what'll get me the most attention, it's what'll make me and my family happy. And if people like that, then that's cool. Maybe every now and then I'll ask my followers what they'd like to see, maybe a fanart raffle or sketch request event, I think that'd be nice. But for the most part, this page is very, and I mean VERY self indulgent.

- Uhh I've been doing okay for the most part, personal issues I don't wanna get to aside. I've mainly been working on plushies, commissions and other self indulgent projects. I mentioned before that I got into the latest Cookie Run game, and that's pretty cool. I've mostly focused on making art for that and mine and my boyfriend's OC/AU projects. I'll post more about it when I get there, but for now uhh... gay people.

You'll learn who these guys are soon enough, for now you'll only get name drops

The big gruff fellow is a lava rock golem named Vulcan and the pretty boy is named Jack Frosting.

- And I think that's mostly it for tonight? This post took me a full hour to write so it's actually 5 now as I'm finishing up oops..

My sleep schedule's fucked.

Uhh any final words before I pass out? Hmm..

Gender dysphoria sucks okay BYYYEEEEEEEEEE!!!!