#this one totally doesn't count as whump

[littleperilstories]

The Prince of Thieves: When the Snow Falls

Warnings: HA nothing scary today. SO THERE. Like the F&F Christmas episode story, I also wrote this one pretty fast, and since I wanted to post it TODAY (it's still Christmas in my time zone...barely), it didn’t get much editing. Beware of typos and bad sentences; feel free to let me know if you find any. 😂 Enjoy!

OH! And just for funzies, this Christmas special is written in third-person, past-tense! Surprise!

TPOT Masterlist

Word count: 1348 || Approx reading time: 5 mins

Teaser: Jamie nodded, making his father laugh, and from the other side of the room, there was a soft sigh and sleepy moan. Cringing, Jamie glanced back at his brother to see if he’d woken up at the sound of laughter. Luckily, he still seemed fast asleep.

All the neighbourhood children, thought Jamie Wardrew, were going to collectively lose their heads when they woke up. Everything, from the streets to the trees to the rooftops, was covered in pristine white snow. Fat flakes were drifting through the watery light of sunrise, painting lazy arcs in the air as they blanketed the world in white. Jamie stood next to his dad by the window and echoed the peaceful, contented sigh that fogged the old, warped glass windowpane of the family’s rented townhouse.

“Better appreciate the quiet now, son.” Dad rested his brown, calloused hand on Jamie’s shoulder. “Once the little ones wake up, this entire street will be in utter chaos.”

Jamie rubbed his eyes and glanced at the dimly lit room behind them. Ma was already at the fire, warming cider made from autumn’s plump red apples. The steaming spiced cider was for their dad, to drink and to warm his hands with before he departed for work. The “little one” of their family was still sprawled on the cot he shared with his brother, half out of his rumpled bed sheets with his limbs splayed in all directions. His freckled face was uncharacteristically tranquil, eyes partially veiled by too-long auburn hair.

When Will awoke and saw how much snow had fallen overnight—the first big snow after several weeks of gloomy, icy rain—he was likely to shatter something with the force of his pure, unrestrained excitement.

“Can I come with you to work?” Jamie mumbled, thinking ahead to the shrieks that would be echoing off the houses and cobblestone streets for the rest of the day. In the warmer seasons, his dad travelled with a large company of labourers, building the railroad, but once winter blasted in with its frigid winds and mountains of snow, he went to work for an old friend who was a foreman in a factory on the outskirts of town.

When Dad looked down at him, a smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth. “You’d rather shovel coal into a furnace all day than play in the snow or help prepare dinner?”

Jamie nodded, making his father laugh, and from the other side of the room, there was a soft sigh and sleepy moan. Cringing, Jamie glanced back at his brother to see if he’d woken up at the sound of laughter. Luckily, he still seemed fast asleep.

“I’ll do a good job,” Jamie promised, turning back to his dad. “I’m pretty strong. And I can work fast.”

With another chuckle, his dad pressed into the scrawny muscle of his upper arm. “You sure about that?” He shot his hand up to tickle the soft spot of his underarm. “You absolutely sure?”

“Dad!” Jamie bit back a fit of giggles and pulled away, still hesitant to rouse Will.

“Jamie,” said Dad in a matching tone, shaking his dark curls. “The factory’s no place for a boy your age. Stay here and have some fun.”

Imagining again the pandemonium the day would bring—screaming voices and flying snowballs and rolling, rollicking bodies and hats and scarves getting lost in the chaos—Jamie shuddered.

“If you’re not interested in fun,” Dad teased, “then stay in and help Ma with the cooking.”

Neither of Jamie’s two options were particularly desirable, but one involved louder screaming and more rough-and-tumble scuffles in the snow than the other. “All right.”

“But maybe keep an eye on him once he goes out,” Dad said, jerking his head toward Will. “Or he’ll get into some kind of mess.”

As if he’d heard and understood somehow that Dad was talking about him, Will bolted upright in bed, sending the pillow careening to the floor. “Go out where?” Even with a drowsy look on his face as he rubbed his eyes, his voice rang through the air, loud as church bells.

“Shh,” Dad said, beckoning him over. “Come look outside.”

Will scrambled off the cot and tried to dash across the room to the window, but one foot was tangled in the blanket. His limbs flailed wildly as he tried unsuccessfully to catch his balance before he tumbled over into a heap on the floor.

“Oh, Will,” said Ma, shaking her head and taking a step back as she took the pot of cider from the fire. “Be careful.”

Will cackled as he freed himself from the woollen blanket. “Oops.”

Laughing despite himself, Jamie crossed the room to help his brother to his feet. “Slow down, won’t you?”

“No, you slow down.” Will tore away and leapt into Dad’s arms. “What are we—” His words halted as he gazed through the glass and glimpsed the glistening world outside. “Ohhhh.”

As much as Jamie tried to amass his irritation, he found only the tattered dregs of it. His brother was annoying, but his awe was admittedly adorable. Will’s hazel eyes, perfect twins to Dad’s, were wide as saucers as he took in the snowy scene. “It snowed for Christmas?”

“Wasn’t that nice of me and Ma to arrange that for you?” Dad asked, gently setting his younger son back on the floor. “Will you go out and play in the snow today?”

“YES!”

The shrill affirmation pierced the air, a crack of winter thunder splitting the morning’s peace. Dad winced, and Ma spilled some of the apple cider at the sound.

“Will,” Jamie said with a sigh, “shut up. It’s only sunrise. Some folks are still sleeping.”

“I gotta tell everyone about the snow!”

Crossing the room, her mismatched stockings padding on the rough-hewn floorboards, Ma pressed the steaming cider into Dad’s grateful hands. She knelt down next to her youngest son, grasping his fluttering fingers in hers. “Will. Can you listen for a moment?”

When Will kept bouncing, seeming not to hear their mother’s question, Jamie picked up one of his brother’s abandoned socks from the floor, crushed it into a ball, and hurled it at his head.

Dad nearly spit out his cider. “James!”

Jamie shrugged. It had done the trick: Will was glaring at him, but he’d stopped fidgeting long enough to listen to Ma.

“I don’t mind if you want to go out and play in the snow today,” she said gently. “It really is beautiful outside, isn’t it? A perfect gift from Mother Nature  for Christmas.”

“I know! It’s amazing!” Will began to bounce on the balls of his feet again, and Jamie scanned the floor for another sock, but Ma managed to keep his little brother’s attention with a few soft taps on his arm.

“Dad’s got to go to work.” She brushed his moppy hair from his eyes. “So he can’t go out and play with you. Jamie can, but I might need his help around here sometimes.”

Quick as lightning, she winked at Jamie as if to say, You don’t need to spend the entire day dodging snowballs.

“And if that’s the case…” She cupped his rosy cheek in her palm. “You must promise to be very careful while you’re playing with the other children. Can you promise me that, Will?”

Dad downed the rest of his cider. “Remember, William. Once you make a promise, you’re honour-bound to keep it. Right? That’s part of being a grown-up boy.”

Jamie rolled his eyes, but fortunately, neither of his parents noticed.

“Will you promise to be very safe and very kind to the other children while you’re playing in the snow today, Will?” Ma shifted her hand to comb through his sleep-mussed locks with her fingers.

A long silence met her question, hanging between mother and son before Will said with great solemnity, “Yes.”

At the graveness of his son’s tone, Dad muffled a snort of laughter and pressed his teeth into his knuckles.

“That’s my boy,” said Ma, pulling him into a hug. “Can I ask one more thing?”

Still looking serious, Will nodded.

“What d’you think about  having breakfast first, before you go play?”

Will’s face broke into a wide, toothy grin. Jamie found himself smiling right along. He knew what his little brother was about to say.

“YES!”

Tagging: @gala1981 - if you’re not into Christmas you can totally skip this! (Sorry again starlit! I’ll remember next time. I was wayyyy too excited to post this on actual Christmas.)

[buddierecs]

jealous!eddie diaz buddie fics

all of these are general audience, teen and up or not rated (no smut) make sure to kudos/comment on these amazing works :)

hold the line (to my heart) by: erotes "eddie diaz is not jealous. it is entirely normal to be annoyed that his best friend is busy flirting in the middle of a crisis. obviously." word count: 7k important tags: 911 lone star characters, oblivous!eddie diaz, getting together counting pulses by: tinyydancerr "eddie diaz’s life is going great. he’s in therapy, he’s got a great girlfriend, a great kid, his friend is getting married to the woman of his dreams, and his best friend just came out to him. now his best friend is dating their new friend. things are going great. he promises." word count: 63k important tags: buck/tommy, eddie diaz has ocd, catholic guilt, pining, buckley-diaz family, co-parenting, slow burn hey now, hey now by: fallingthorns "after returning to the 118, eddie becomes a full-time paramedic and ravi becomes buck's partner. eddie absolutely doesn't feel anything about that, not at all." word count: 10k important tags: 5+1 things, fluff, pining, humour, getting together, love confessions i used to call you my best friend (way back before you were my everything) by: snowyroads "in which eddie is so in love with his best friend but that’s totally normal. oh, and hen’s tired of his shit." word count: 5.3k important tags: sexuality crisis, pining, fluff, getting together, sexual tension my heart aches with love for you by: farfromthstars "eddie and marisol run into buck and tommy on a date. eddie is not jealous." word count: 1.7k important tags: feelings realisation, pre-relationship, pining advice wanted by: cairparavels "eddie diaz takes to reddit to figure out why he hates his best friend’s new boyfriend so much." word count: 8k important tags: social media, reddit, misunderstandings, tommy kinard bashing, idiots in love, fluff, angst, humour, mutual pining, getting together good luck, babe by: hattalove "sometimes, when you've had a bad week, all you want is a romantic evening out with your wife over terrible pizza, and what you get instead is some kind of intricate gay ritual happening two tables away from you." word count: 2.1k important tags: outsider pov, social media, twitter you're the one by: smilingbuckley "chimney pretends to be buck’s boyfriend to get a guy to back off. eddie doesn't like it." word count: 2.5k important tags: crack, fake dating, platonic kissing, pre-relationship, first kiss, love confessions, fluff, angst tryna find my way back to you (cause i'm needing a little bit of love) by: mumucow_xD "when buck joins the 126 team for a whole month and eddie didn't expect it to awake something in him" word count: 45k important tags: whump, minor angst, feelings realisation, drunken confessions pining from the passenger seat by: orphan_account "eddie pines from the passenger seat" word count: 5.4k important tags: pining, soft!buddie, getting together, first kiss baby i can ease the ache (let me give your heart a break) by: youdrewstarsaroundmyscars118 "buck wants to date natalia, eddie wants to die, chimney and maddie are very good at motivational speeches and buck is not as oblivious as people make him out to be." word count: 4.6k important tags: possessive!eddie diaz, first kiss, love confessions, getting together plus or minus by: elvensorceress "taylor is offered a job across the country and asks buck to go with her. buck has to figure out if he wants to start over or if he has a reason to stay right where he is." word count: 10k important tags: idiots in love, oblivious, getting together, soft!buddie, love confessions, mutual pining waiting on a distant feeling by: justhockey "five times eddie thought he was homophobic, and the one time he realised he was just jealous." word count: 5.9k important tags: 5+1 things, idiots in love, getting together, oblivious!eddie diaz, mutual pining, fluff, angst

[ailesswhumptober]

Badge pickup time!!!

If you are legible for any of the badges, feel free to fill out this form and the mods will hand deliver your shiny little badges which you can display on your blog, your AO3, or just keep them to yourself to look at! Every badge was designed and drawn by our beloved mod @radios-arcade just for you guys.

Full list of the badges can be found here or below the cut, in case you're unsure which ones you've earned.

Total Achievement: completing every day of whumptober! Can be done with a mix of alt and 'true' prompts. It doesn't matter how many pieces you've done, as long as you've filled 31 prompts from 31 different days.

Total Achievement Plus: Completing every day of whumptober + alts. Unlike Total Achievement, this means completing a prompt from every day of the true list, PLUS every alt prompt. Difficulty: high. Reward: a little badge!

It Takes A Village: For collaborating with one or more friends/mutuals during the run of your AI-less Whumptober projects.

Homebrew Suffering: For those that make exclusively OC whump, nothing else.

Culture Connaisseur: For creators who whump in over five different fandoms. OCs can be included as a separate fandom, but all OCs will be collectively counted as 'one' different fandom per person.

Weekday Warrior: Warrior of the weekday. For our people who only do the prompt of one day a week for the whole month. For example, only doing Tuesday prompts.

Favorite Punching Bag: A special badge for those that whump one character and one only the whole month. You chose favorites <3

One is Just Enough: For those that only completed one prompt for the entire month. You deserve flowers too.

[3-2-whump]

It's Not Over, Is It?

Dear Readers,

By the time you read this, the Eternal series will be over. Thank you so much for sticking around and seeing this crazy ride through to the end, and enjoying my baby that I have worked on dedicatedly for more than a year and a half (not counting the previous attempts which stretch back all the way to high school) ❤️ you all have been amazing and I have loved loved LOVED hearing from each and every one of you as you went through Eternal with me.

Of course, just because it’s over, doesn't mean I'll be done with this story forever!

I have a sequel in the works that I've been steadily slogging through for several months now, consulting my ever-amazing beta readers @whumped-by-glitter and @generic-whumperz as well as other notables of the whump community. I'm not sure yet when that's going to start, but probably expect an Eternal Sequel sometime in the spring of next year. And if you want to be on the tag list or not, please let me know. I will say the sequel will be less of the whump, more of the whump aftermath as we focus nearly entirely on a recovery arc, so if that's not your thing, I totally get it if you'd like to be taken off the tag list for the sequel. (Otherwise I’m gonna use the same tag list I used for Eternal.)

Sequel aside, I will also be writing and/or drawing more backstories, drabbles, and tidbits within this story between that time, just because my brain has not totally closed the door on this part of the story. For those extra bits, I'll keep the tag list the same.

So as you see, it is far from over! Hope to hear from you soon!

Le Tag List: @kabie-whump @rainydaywhump @whumped-by-glitter @skittles-the-whumpee @generic-whumperz

@bamber344 @there-will-always-be-blood @morning-star-whump @a-la-whump @watermelons-dont-grow-on-trees

@defire

[befuddled-calico-whump]

thoughts on villain whump?

I absolutely love villain whump. When a character has done truly terrible things and thinks they deserve all the hurt and the torment they get, but someone, sometimes even a total stranger, still insists that 'no one deserves this' and tries to help them? Hhhhhhhhhh

Or maybe, even with all of their crimes, the villain doesn't believe they deserve the pain they're put through. They acknowledge their whumper is taking things too far, but what can they do about it? Who would help them?

Villain whump can be hard to write. In my opinion, villain whump should meet at least one of the following criteria:

1. Whumpee is directly antagonistic to the main characters; getting in the way of their goals or deliberately sabotaging or trying to hurt them.

What makes this so good: whumpee struggling with immense guilt brought on by being helped by someone they've hurt in the past; Enemies-to-Friends; conflicting morals/goals; gut-wrenching epiphanies of "what have I done?"; small, whispered "you shouldn't have saved me"s

2. Whumpee is a villain by societal standards: caretaker/other characters wouldn't necessarily be wrong for leaving the villain or turning them in for the sake of their own safety.

What makes this so good: whumpee unable to turn anywhere for help; whumpee actively on the run from police/other law enforcement; despair when the public seems to revel in their pain; actions being misinterpreted even when they try to do the right thing; quiet "why did you save me"s and "don't you realize who I am"s

3. Whumpee's morals are skewed in some way. (ie. they've hurt people for selfish reasons and have no regrets.)

What makes this so good: conflicted caretakers; warring morality; "why would you do that"s and "you should've left me if you know what's good for you"s; complicated recoveries and relationships; insistent "you didn't deserve it"s;

As for my own characters, I don't think I have any whumpees who fit the "innocent victim" mold. I definitely prefer writing characters with complicated pasts, values, and morals, because I enjoy how it colors their perspectives. (Not that there's anything wrong with purely innocent whumpees, and I've definitely seen plenty that I loved as characters, I just don't write many of them)

That being said, Cerus is my only "true villain" whumpee (aka, a character who fits all three of my personal criteria). Technically Uriah counts, but he didn't start out with whumpee intentions sooo

[dangerpronebuddie]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @tizniz thank you darling 🥰🩵

How many works do you have on ao3?

17! Soon to be 18 (hopefully).

What's your total ao3 word count?

78,569 words

What fandoms do you write for?

Currently 9-1-1 and previously one or two chapters on a Sherlock fic my sibling started YEARS ago.

Top 5 fics by kudos:

1. Lost Control And Rang Your Bell

2. To The Core (I Love You)

3. What Breathing Feels Like

4. Baby, I'm Never Gonna Leave You

5. Our Shoulders Touch, There's A Moment

Do you respond to comments?

Yes! I try to get every single one 🥰

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Yet to be published 😉. Published though, probably Baby, I'm Never Gonna Leave You. It's not angsty per se, it's more ominous.

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

I try for happy endings always (it's the Jane Austen in me), but I'd say the fic with the happiest ending would be The Pain Is UnBEARable. Friends to fiances 😁!

Do you get hate on fics?

Once? I really don't know if it was hate or just frustration? I mean, it was an open ending so just... ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ sorry?

Do you write smut?

I'm trying! I posted my first one last week 😁: And Every New Boy That You Meet (He Doesn't Know The Real Surprise) (part 2 is in progress)

Craziest crossover?

Haven't written any.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

God, I hope not.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so?

Have you co-written a fic before?

Once. The Sherlock one my sibling wrote. They put me as co-author but the majority is theirs.

All time favorite ship?

Buddie! They have altered my brain chemistry.

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

There's a wip I keep going back to that I have a love/hate relationship with. The scenes and the lines and the descriptions are some of the best I think I've ever written. But the premise is iffy at best. We'll see. If I can get a solid enough plot and if Buck gives me an explanation for what the hell he does in that fic, I might finish it.

What are your writing strengths?

Hmmm... I've been told a lot of my fics feel like episodes and the characters' voices are pretty good. So I guess the pacing of my fics? (Which shocks me because I really suck at pacing my original works).

What are your writing weaknesses?

Description. I just don't do the long and beautiful descriptions or the super detailed whump scenes very well. It takes practice, but it seems to be a talent I just don't have.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I like it, but I don't do it very much. I don't want people to tell me I'm an idiot for getting something wrong.

First fandom you wrote in?

Sherlock.

Favorite fic you've written?

My beloved Hildy fic. I treasure it. It freaking flopped but it is my baby. I love the entire Danger Prone Diaz series so far, but They Say She's Gone To Far (This Time) was so much fun.

Tags: @lover-of-mine @monsterrae1 @loveyouanyway @steadfastsaturnsrings @ronordmann @daffi-990 @wikiangela @thekristen999 @bidisasterevankinard @kitteneddiediaz @actuallyitsellie @hippolotamus @diazsdimples @exhuastedpigeon @spagheddiediaz @theotherbuckley @wildlife4life @fortheloveofbuddie and anyone else who wants to! 🥰🩷 (if I missed you I'm sorry)

[rosieblogstuff]

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

44 😲 in my main AO3 account. 2 others in my older account = 46!

I didn't realize I had that many things!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

270,883

3. What fandoms do you write for?

All 44 of those works in my main AO3 are MacGyver 2016. One is a crossover with The Rookie. The other two at Star Trek TOS and Star Wars fics.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Table + Flashlight + IEDs

Mac + (Wilderness + Training + Survival) + Jack

Lost Causes

Lake + Stick + Fever

4 Times the LAPD Didn’t Pull Jack Over + 1 Time They Did 

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

I try to! I often respond to a chapter's comments when I post the next chapter of a longfic. And sometimes I just space on it and respond a year later when I notice I failed to respond.

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

Oh definitely my X-ray + Penny flashfic, Bad Penny. Most of the comments are variations on HOW DARE YOU!!!

There are a couple other flashfics with pretty ambiguous endings, too.

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

That's a hard one. Most of my fics have a happy or at least comforty ending. Maybe... uhh.... Electricity + Combustion ? which I literally labeled "whump with a fluffy ending". I also have two Jack Lives fics so that's always a happy situation at the end...

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I haven't. A few weird comments but I mostly scratch my head and ignore them. Anybody who hates on my fics will be getting a very long and nasty reply, followed by their comment being deleted.

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

Nope, no smutty fanfics here. I did have a romance I posted for another fandom awhile back (and never finished), and I've written fade-to-black stuff in my orig fic novels.

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

Just one! My Macgyver 2016+The Rookie cops-vs-spies crossover, in which some LAPD officers keep coming across a black GTO involved in shenangains around LA: 4 Times the LAPD Didn’t Pull Jack Over + 1 Time They Did

It's probably the funniest thing I've ever written, and the ending is one of my very favorites. Also possibly the only gen fic ever posted in The Rookie fandom, although I don't look over there much.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes. Somebody stole all my completed fics from FF.net last year. There was a big Tumblr post about some site full of stolen fics, and sure enough, there mine were. I asked to have them remove, got not reply. I haven't posted anything to FF.net since then.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I'm aware of.

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

Yes, but not for a long time. I used to frequently co-write fics in my first fandom.

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

I'm going to go with Washington State Ferry M/V Wenatchee. Who doesn't love a good ferry boat? It's an irconic style, fun if you're walking on, handy if you need to drive on, saves you hours of driving around Puget Sound by land. Also just a very nice-looking ship.

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

Ugh, wow. I have a couple dozen things I kinda like but might never finish. My favorite, and least likely because I've made the least progress on it, is a MacGyver fic about Patti having plotted out her revenge better, and tring to fuck over the team by having listed Jack as her replacement... which of course gives him access to high-level secrets like Oversight's identity. Much drama ensues.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Ramping a story up. Characters. Make a story fully story-shaped.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Endings. 😫

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

Hmmm I don't think I've ever needed to. Like most things in writing, I'm not against it in theory, but it can be done well or badly.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Anne McCaffrey's Pern, back in the paper fanzine days. Prior to joining AO3 in like 2019, I had 0 fanfics posted on the internet but a few in zines listed on Ebay. 😂

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

This is IMPOSSIBLE to answer. I could answer it differently every day for the next couple weeks. Anything I already mentions plus a couple more!

[double-0h-no]

With Blackbirds following

I... was very preoccupied with finally finishing my weekly report and thus forgot to post today's (technically yesterday's) fic (I didn't go to bed yet so it doesn't count, right?)

My prompt fill for the last Whump prompt, "paralysis", and @thestalwartheart 's prompt, "birdwatching".

Mac, I'm sure you envisioned something entirely different (and fluffier) for this, but the plot bunnies ran away with me and… this happened. I really hope you do like it at least a bit, though.

on ao3

If birds were omens, Q sure hadn't figured out their meaning yet.

"Did you know that American robins look vastly different from our European ones? It's because their robins are thrushes, and ours belong to the vague genus of song birds."

: : : : : : : : : :

It happened in January.

A cold, miserable month that was mostly wet. Q had been at home, taking some much needed time to clean the litter box. It was Riley who called him, and later he'd wonder whether she'd been called for help, or whether she'd merely volunteered to call him.

There wasn't much he could do, he mused as he was sitting on the kitchen floor, totally numb and staring into the void. It would take another day until Bond was in London, if the medical staff in Beirut would clear him for transport, and that seemed to be a big if.

He had only been called once before because Bond had suffered an injury. Once in four years that Q had signed off on being Bond's next of kin, et cetera. Once. Now twice.

: : : : : : : : : :

Robins had always been his favourite kind of birds. They were small and round and had pretty colours, and you could even find them in the city, other than bullfinches. And he’d always preferred Robin over Batman.

: : : : : : : : : :

The first call of this sort had been on a sunny Saturday morning, and Q had been asleep in his way too empty bed. Relief had flooded him like a tidal wave, because James had been MIA for days by then and they were all rather sure he'd been captured. Q had only been home because he'd needed sleep. That 009 would seize this exact opportunity to free James was just the world showing Q how little of a fuck it gave.

That call had been the sweetest thing.

The aftermath had been bad. Once the initial relief had ebbed, the worry had taken over, but they'd made it, both of them, it was all good. That first call had been to tell him that James was safe, above all else. That he was seriously injured and would need extra care for some time seemed like the fine print, in comparison.

: : : : : : : : : :

Q loved owls, too. It was a bit cliché, which was part of the reason he never led with owls, but they did fascinate him; their nigh silent hunt, their mobility, their night vision, and yes, in a way their beauty. How they came in so many shapes and sizes and colours. It wasn't the best-founded fascination.

: : : : : : : : : :

While back then, the overwhelming relief of James being found had overpowered Q's worry, right now worry was all there was. He'd never been called in because of how seriously James was injured. He'd simply come to expect it whenever James got home. He so rarely made it out scot-free.

The first time in four years.

He couldn't feel his face, and the tips of his fingers had gone numb, too. Daphne seemed to sense that something was off and climbed into his lap, precariously balanced on his thigh, and started making biscuits.

Four years.

He swallowed harshly. He didn't know why that number was so important. And if it were ten years, it would always be one day too short.

He only hoped that it would all be fine.

: : : : : : : : : :

The first time it came up, they met on the roof of MI6. It was a rare occurrence - ever since Q-branch had moved to the old tunnels, it was quite a-ways to get back to the rooftop, and so Q only found himself up there after particularly bad meetings.

Bond had been more surprised to see him than the other way around.

"Wouldn't have picked you as one for such vile vices," he commented while lighting his own cigarette.

Q snorted. "Just goes to show how much you know."

He'd cocked an eyebrow. "Really, Q? What else could you be tempted with?"

It was a testament to how horrible his day had been so far that he answered at all: "Oh, sex, drugs, rock'n'roll. The usual."

He could feel James' eyes on him while he stared over the Thames in the vague direction of the Tate and took another drag of his cigarette.

"Well, I could certainly provide two of those. Unfortunately, I'm not musically gifted."

Q didn't bother to suppress the smile at the shameless flirting. It was nice, in a way. Comfortable. "My self-respect might allow me an occasional cigarette, but I'm afraid that's where it draws the line."

Even from the corner of his eye he could see Bond's grim expression transform into a smile.

A loud bang came from the construction site below and a flock of birds took flight.

"Bloody pigeons," Bond cursed, hiding badly that the sound, not unlike a gunshot at all, had startled him.

"Crows, actually," Q mused, watching the black mass fly over the water. "Carrion crows if my eyes don't deceive me, and my eyesight truly isn't the best. A murder of crows, if you believe in such antiquated terms."

"You've made your dismissal of those terms abundantly clear."

"What? Oh, no, I'm rather fond of them, no matter how bloody and archaic. A murder of crows, an unkindness of ravens, a parliament of owls... It's so very English," he added with derision, and the smile was back on Bond's face.

"Careful with that, Quartermaster, or I might feel inclined to give you a shove."

Q snorted. "Ah, yes, apologies, the SIS building might be the wrong place to express my less than patriotic tendencies. Whatever could I do next? Take the Lord's name in vain?" He didn't roll his eyes, but it was a close thing.

When he looked over at Bond, he almost choked on the smoke filling his lungs. It was such an unguarded expression Q wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. Sure, he did see the hints of a smile every once in a while, or the carefully guarded admiration he sometimes showed Q's creation, but this smirk was all that cranked up to eleven.

It was quite charming, actually.

The crows cawed on the nearby bridge.

: : : : : : : : : :

It was worse than Q had thought. Better, too, in a way, but Q didn't much care for the brighter angle. It didn't help anyone to say that technically, very little was broken. Only one bone, plus a shrapnel wound. That didn't sound too bad. It was also completely disregarding the fact that the one bone and the shrapnel had unfortunately been in his spinal region.

: : : : : : : : : :

A mission in Brazil, some weeks after the crows, probably, but certainly before the local bird conversation:

"I feel out of place. Or at least underdressed, and that's not something that happens often," 007 lamented via comms.

Q furrowed his brows in confusion. Then: "You won't get me to ask what you are wearing, but shouldn't you be alone?"

Bond huffed a laugh. "Wasn't my intention, quartermaster, and I'd rather be alone with you, but alas, a bunch of birds has decided to settle down close to me, and they're causing a huge ruckus. At least I'm sure I can't be heard."

"And that the noise suppression of your mic truly has improved," Q hummed in agreement. "What birds are they?"

"Don't know, haven't asked," Bond muttered.

"Describe them to me?" At least it was a distraction from the flirting.

"Pink birds with funny beaks." 

"Ah." He wasn't quite fast enough to swallow down a sound of recognition.

"You know what they are?"

Q shrugged, unbeknownst to Bond. "I have an educated guess, considering where you are and the pointed description you gave me, I'd say roseate spoonbills. I understand why you're feeling underdressed. Their plumage can be quite impressive. They, too, like flamingos, get their pink colouration from the food they ingest."

"I will not start eating small crabs to meet their style," Bond joked, and Q had to bite his lip to not laugh.

"Yes, well, I'll leave that decision up to you. Back to my initial question: Is there anything else you require?"

: : : : : : : : : :

The nerves weren't completely severed. Which, apparently, was neither a good nor a bad thing, it just was. Even though the general opinion was that neural injuries did very little healing on their own, that didn't mean they did none, so it wasn't yet possible to be able to gauge the full extent of James' injuries.

: : : : : : : : : :

Sometimes Q sat down next to Velma, when she was staring out the window into the backyard. She had her special little place from which she watched the birds in the bushes, and Q thought it to be important to show interest in her hobbies.

"Meow."

"Really, a magpie? Haven't seen one of those in a while now, have we?"

"Meow."

"You're right, must be because it's autumn now."

"Chrrrp."

: : : : : : : : : :

He didn't talk. For weeks on end, he didn't talk to Q at all. He hadn't been faring well in Medical, but he had for maybe the first time in his life listened to the staff and done what he'd been told, including the resting bit, and Q thought it would be a relief for him to return home.

It wasn't.

James stopped talking after that. The wheelchair remained standing next to his bedside, untouched, and Q resorted to being his caretaker, and with every passing day he could see James resent him a bit more. 

: : : : : : : : : :

Only two months after... Well. After they… couldn’t deny their attachment anymore, and unanimously so, might be the most apt description. But after was enough, too. Only two months after, James brought him up to Skyfall. Q hadn't known where they were going when James had told him to get in the car, but watching their route on the satnav, he felt himself transported back all those years to his very first mission with James, planting bread crumbs along this very trail for a man who wasn't more than a note in a file anymore.

Once he'd figured it out, he just relaxed back into his seat and let James drive. His driving wasn't horrible when he made an effort.

He was surprised how little there was left. Somehow, he'd assumed that a large manor like Skyfall wouldn't be able to just burn down like that.

"Do you know how to hunt?", James asked, and Q tutted.

"I don't know what it was that gave you the impression, but I am one hundred percent a city child. It's a wonder I've seen a forest from among the trees, really."

James had shot him one of his half-smiled, the kind that was oddly appreciative of both his self-derision and grandeur in equal parts.

Then he tossed Q a hunting rifle. Q caught it more out of reflex than conscious decision, but then he examined it with greater interest and admiration. He could easily make out that it was older and well-cared for, and it had a small, circular metal plate with the initials AB.

"Your father's?"

James nodded.

"It's a beautiful thing. Not as well-adjusted as your Walther, of course, but I doubt you'd take that out into the woods with you."

Again the half-smile. "I don't know. Let's find out."

To say that they went hunting would be an exaggeration of circumstances. Mostly they went hiking, and Q couldn't help but marvel at the landscape around them. It truly was beautiful, and he found that he didn't mind the light drizzle half as much as he did in London.

At one point, they heard the oddest of sounds, a deep clucking, a bit like the call of a stag, followed by skittering sounds, and Q put his hand on Bond's elbow to halt.

"That sounds like a capercaillie."

James cocked an eyebrow. "How do you know? Thought you didn't get out of the city?"

Q shrugged. "I didn't. But their call is sort of unique, don't you think?"

They both listened into the silence, until that odd call sounded again, and James nodded slowly. "You might be right on both accounts. This sounds like a capercaillie. And it really is a hard sound to forget."

Along their trek, they saw many more birds, far more than Q ever saw in London, but he bit his tongue about it and instead tried to figure out the puzzle that was James.

: : : : : : : : : :

The big crash came, like Q had always feared it would. He'd never been more afraid for James' life. And it went exactly like expected: A truly dangerous amount of alcohol and tears. And the very pointed absence of an ultimatum.

Q had thought about it hard and long - whether it would maybe get a reaction from James if he threatened to leave. Because he couldn't do this eternally. It was ruining him, chipping away like an untalented sculptor with hammer and chisel, always taking just a bit more than they'd intended, and he felt himself wasting away in time with Bond, always keeping pace.

He would do it anyway. Unless James finally started communicating with him, he would not wither in his care of the man he loved.

And either James dealt with it, or he bloody well did something about it.

: : : : : : : : : :

Q had an odd fascination with vultures. They truly weren't the prettiest among them all, but they were huge, with majestic wingspans that only truly managed to impress him when he was an adult, though really, they should have intimidated him when he was a boy who could have been easily scooped up by them.

For all their bad reputation, they were invaluable to the food chain.

Also, bearded vultures could swallow and digest bones so well it was considered the main part of their diet, and who wouldn't be floored by that?

: : : : : : : : : :

James cooperated more after that, but he still didn't talk.

He allowed Q to take care of him, with all the indignities involved, and he followed the instructions of his physical therapist, with whom Q could only assume he talked because Geoffrey didn't complain anymore.

: : : : : : : : : :

"You'll once again use your cover as Richard Starling. I always found it oddly fitting, you know? Seeing as starlings are renowned for their ability to mimic other bird calls and blend into their surroundings."

: : : : : : : : : :

One day, Q came home from work and James was sitting in his wheelchair at the window, looking out with Velma, watching birds fly by.

: : : : : : : : : :

On the few occasions Q dragged himself out to the cemetery, he always brought some bird seeds.

"He really liked them, you know?", he told James, the first and only time he asked him to come along.

James hadn't asked any questions. Had not asked whether it was a security risk that he visited these graves. Had not asked who they were, or what had happened. It was all obvious enough.

His parents and younger brother were long since dead. And he should never be here. But he couldn't help the visit on Juno's birthday. He never brought flowers, only left the bird seeds.

"I like to think he enjoys having them all come to him."

Even though for the most part, there were only blackbirds.

: : : : : : : : : :

"All right, get dressed, we're heading out."

Because if they didn't, Q had the distinct feeling that he might go stir crazy.

James complied with the same resignation that he'd brought to the table for weeks now, and it really just made the restless unease in Q’s chest curl up to transform into a ball of rage. James bloody Bond was a lot of things, but not compliant.

Q borrowed a car from his branch and drove out of London, out into the woods to the very end of a forestry road where he stopped the pickup and settled in on its cargo bed, with James as his begrudging companion.

Though it had been a spontaneous decision, Q had come prepared. He'd brought several blankets for when it inevitably got cold, various thermoses with tea and mulled wine and coffee, enough food to get them through at least twelve hours, not that he intended to stay so long, and all the medical equipment that he'd gotten used to carrying around for James' sake.

It was, admittedly, a wretched time to watch birds or literally anything out in the wild except for falling foliage. It was late autumn, the trees had barely any leaves left, and a lot of the birds had migrated south.

Yet Q relished the peaceful quiet of the woods, and the stars that appeared far earlier than expected. When James shuddered next to him, he turned to him in concern.

"You cold?"

James shook his head. "No."

It took Q all his strength to nod and settle back in, even though his heart was in his throat.

Some five minutes later, a familiar bird called. "That's a barn owl somewhere close by," Q said absent-mindedly.

The next day, James did his physical exercises on his own, with renewed determination.

: : : : : : : : : :

They drove out to the woods every weekend after that.

: : : : : : : : : :

Q's great-aunt, an admirable lady of a woman, had had a grey parrot as a pet, and Q had delighted over it. It was the cleverest little thing he'd ever seen, and he could play with him and teach him tricks and never grow tired of it.

His great-aunt had also had a deep love for detective dramas on the television, which meant that the only sentences the parrot spoke were straight out of Agatha Christie's feather.

“Show me your hands!”

“Murder!”

“It wasn’t me. No no. It wasn’t me.”

Q still wasn't sure which delighted him more.

: : : : : : : : : :

A year after the accident, Q drove them all the way up to Scotland, though far away from Skyfall, all the way up north to Thurso where they took the ferry to Stromness. From there, still further up, until he found a nice parking spot near Birsay. While Q carried their backpack, James took his crutches and they walked towards the edge off the cliff and settled down in the grass, a spot with a great view that was more or less sheltered from the wind.

"Did you know that puffins are pretty bad fliers? You can't much see it during flight, but they need to flap their wings a lot to stay airborne, and their landings tend to be atrocious in terms of posture."

James snorted. "Take a long walk off a short cliff and we'll see how you fare."

Q rolled his eyes and got the thermos with his tea from the backpack.

To say that the winter had brought miracles would be a step too far, but things were looking cautiously optimistic. James had regained enough mobility to move on his crutches - the right leg was totally numb but in the left leg, he could at least move his joints, though with far less precision than before. His limp was obvious and his gait drew attention, but he could move around upright again, not totally immobile, which was more than either of them had dared hope for. 

"But they can dive up to sixty metres deep into the sea."

James hummed and wrangled the backpack into his lap to search for the second thermos with his coffee. "How long can they hold their breath?"

"Longer than you," Q said deadpan, and a devious glint appeared in James' eyes.

"You weren't complaining last night."

He wanted to complain, but he couldn't. Especially when they drove out like this, just to be outside together and marvel at some birds, Q could still hardly believe he got to have this again.

"They also chatter a lot while on shore, but at sea, they're mostly silent. And usually, they mate for life."

[comfortlesshurt]

October 2024 Plans!

Now feels like a great time to say wow, I really didn't plan for this burst of inspiration from back in... June? to go on this long. Anyway, I'm here to say it is still here. Still Voltron, still primarily Keith. Still really stuck on that series idea.

I thought editing was going to go well last month, but I got started and was not feeling it. So now it's more of a "when it gets done" goal. To hold myself accountable, I'm still gonna include the remaining list of fics to be edited on these monthly goal posts. At least I'll have to look the work I'm avoiding directly in the eye on a regular basis as I procrastinate by writing.

General goals:

Newly published WC: 11,928/3,000

Have VLD WC surpass Spider-Man: 63,314/100,258

2024 total published WC: 54,677/50,000

LTS(LTFH):

If you didn't see my quick lil post about it, I'm getting burned out on this! So I'm giving myself a month off. I'm allowed to add to these fics if I feel like it, but there is no daily or monthly word count goal for October.

Fic 4: work on figuring out the timeline

All fics: use the downtime this month to work on chapter titles & flesh out outlines

Change the whole damn series name this late into drafting

Oneshots:

Bingo fic (I promised this AGES AGO, so this has GOT to be the month I finally deliver istg)

Oneshots or ficlets, whatever this month's inspiration tells me to do

Editing:

Flu: title change, style update

on the run: deadass don't remember this one, so we'll see

5 Times Lance Doesn't Matter +1 Time He Finally Does

Smiling 'cause you're used to it (a house that's always haunted)

Chemicals, chemicals in my brain (where'd you go, where'd you go anyway?)

Nowhere to call home (so I'll pack and run away)

5 Times Peter Struggled with Spider Metabolism, +1 Time Tony Helped: possible style update

Whump Bingo: major edit--these were barely edited in the first place, oops

Anywhere but Here: style update

Sick Days

Take the worst situation (make a worse situation)

We are the reckless (we are the wild youth)

Cocktails and Consequences: content edit since I barely drank before I wrote this and didn't research alcohol at all

Sickdays 5.0 Day 7: Temperature: title

See me here (meet me here)

And it hits between the eyes on this side

Sickdays 2.0 Day 2 & 5: Sick at a Party & Gently Tinged with Red: title, brainstorm for a closing chapter

Sickdays Day 5: Rapid Onset: title

Impressions

Sickdays 4.0 Day 1: The Oblivious Partner: title

Sickdays 4.0 Day 7: Chain Reaction: title

Sickdays 5.0 Day 6: Public Illness: title

I've got you stuck on my mind (and it's driving me crazy)

Days locked in a haze (trying to forget you)

Sickdays Day 6: Public Illness: title

I want to know who you are (I want to know who you were)

Will you stay with me for another day? (I don't want to be alone in this state)

I'm keeping you at bay (and I'm lonely)

Sickdays 5.0 Day 3: Caretaking Focus: title

Weightless (only wait for a fall)

Hiding It

I feel strange

Bullies and Bailing: possible content edit because I just don't like this one at all

Made a Mess

Season Three

Oh god

I'm not saying I told you so...

Sickdays 5.0 Day 4: Not the Norm: title and possible content edit because I HATE this fic with a burning passion

Accident

Don't ruin this

Rapid Onset

No Right Side: content edit because I don't like how this came out

Frostbite

Happily Ever After

Wes

Touch of the skin brings trembles and shivers

Favorite Outfit

Sleepless folks watching light grow (through their early morning windows)

Origins

Ember

Peace

Road Trip

+2 anon works

Longer term:

October 2024 - light month! doing whatever I feel like, but probably some oneshots or ficlets.

November 2024 - unofficial NaNoWriMo (fuck AI).

December 2024 - finish rough draft for LTS(LTFH) fics 1 & 2.

January 2025 - LTS(LTFH) fic 1 & 2 major content/continuity edit. Technical edit for fic 1 & begin posting depending on how long edits take.

February 2025 - LTS(LTFH) fic 3 (drafting) & 4 (outline and early drafting).

March 2025 - LTS(LTFH) fic 3 & 4 drafting.

[atotalpitch]

Ohhh I have a headcanon question (...again, lol). If the Bellas were to read fanfiction, what would be their go-to tag be?? (eg. found family, enemies to lovers, hurt/no comfort etc)

ooo i like this one! ty for asking (once again /pos) . this basically turned into a list of every au to exist but. whatever. they like aus okay.

Beca: tbh i feel like she would intentionally find the worst (i, by no means, intend to offend anyone with that) smut fics and laugh at them. on the other hand, her inner teen angst would probably take over and she'd read awfully angsty stuff. like Whump / dd:dne level shit. but also found family fluff?? depends on the day. her top tags are probably Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Enemies to Lovers (even though she'd never admit to any of them willingly)

Chloe: Fake Dating AU (with no further explanation, sorry). mostly she doesn't necessarily search for specific tags, just scrolls through an entire fandom/ship/character tag and reads whatever's interesting enough. deep deep down she does have a thing for Vampire AUs. lord knows why. also maybe kinda Slowburn?? she absolutely will sit down and read fifty chapters of insanely gut wrenching heart break and then sob over it for days even if it has a happy ending. Aubrey: Canon Divergent AU. or just AUs in general (childhood friends, soulmates.. yk whatever there is) i think. she likes to see authors put their own twists into what actually happened. also maybe because her favourite ships and characters always get ruined by whoever's behind the actual media,,, but that's like. totally unrelated. Stacie: High School AU. do you guys see the vision here?? because i don't know how to explain it in coherent words. but she's all for the teen drama. (later in life) on very random occasions she also reads Family Fluff because it reminds her of Bella and she loves Bella. Amy: she finds the most disturbing, explicit tags known to mankind. Improper Use Of Eyesocket? Creating a New Hole? Watersports? yeah. those. and worse. nobody knows how she's even able to read them. Emily: Found Family, Fluff, Light Angst, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort (which she often mistakes for hurt/no comfort and regrets it for months after). she LOVES fluff and all the mushy gushy stuff. but also kinda similarly to Chloe, she can get lost in an intense Slowburn for a while. and cry about it after she finishes. Flo: she absolutely reads Smut. dirty mf. if not smut then probably Found Family as well (seems to be a common theme with them all). Firefighter AUs are also high up on her list for some reason?? i mean i don't blame her Cynthia Rose: i feel like if i went with how her character is (sadly) portrayed in the movies, then Lesbian Sex would be the obvious answer. but i feel like she'd be more of a Marriage / Wedding kinda girl. she's in love with the idea of making a huge deal out of it to show everyone how much you care about someone and spending your life with them. Lilly: can she read?? does she know the concept of fanfiction??? questions that will forever go unanswered. no, but seriously though she'd read the most odd-yet-normal shit (eg. Fluff with a side of Murder) Ashley: Childhood Friends to Lovers, i don't know how to elaborate further. she just gives off that vibe. if we go deeper into her search history though there are some very intense Hurt/Comfort fics from her early to late teens Jessica: she's absolutely one of those crazy readers who will love the most desperate Whump fics ever on one day, then completely flip to Tooth Rotting Fluff on the other. it very much depends on her mood, mental wellbeing and whether she's angry at the world or not. most of the time not. so she just reads Fluff like 24/7, not that she'd tell anyone. (except Ashley, but that doesn't even count) this was kind of a difficult one because i blacked out the second i tried to think about what tags are out there, but i hope it was up to expectations 🫡

[kittlesandbugs]

Fanfic Writer Questions

Tagged by @sidestepping & @askweisswolf, ty for thinking of me!!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 62, but if you unstack the one shot compilations... 138ish? if I can math right.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 119,010, and the bulk is FHR lol

3. What fandoms do you write for? Currently Baldur's Gate 3 and Fallen Hero, previously TWC, Dragon Age, Mass Effect/Andromeda, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Gonna cheat a little and do one per fandom because this is heavily slated towards Mass Effect Andromeda just from age lol

Sleep it off - Mass Effect, Shepard/Aria T'Loak, Shep gets drunk at Purgatory and Aria babysits her

Little steps to the side - FHR, Chargestep/Argentstep/Chargentstep, currently 55? little one-shot fics, usually prompts, sometimes tiny ideas I get in my own head

Space snippets - Mass Effect Andromeda, Jaal/Ryder, a few prompt one-shots that picked up big steam when it finally went Explicit lol.

Bottles of Thedas - Dragon Age Inquisition, Solavellan, 20 short one-shots inspired by the collection of booze you can pick up off the ground throughout the game (minus the Warden mixes)

Business and Pleasure - Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2, Exile/Luxa, a re-write/better ending for Luxa gift fic for an exchange

5. Do you respond to comments? I am absolutely terrible at responding to comments because I see them in my inbox and I'm like oh yeah I'll reply to that later when I have time and then.... six months go by... the shame happens... I love every comment I get and I am so sorry alkdsfjoajsdfl

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Ehhhhhhhhhh most of my fics are in-between things, not really stand-alones on their own. Probably the one I milked the hardest for the ending of it specifically is Words not spoken (FHR, Chargestep, Ortega visits Riley's apartment post-Heartbreak)

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Again.... in-between things... the Mass Effect Andromeda and TWC fics are largely feel good fluff, so most of them?

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not that I'm aware of, lol

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Typically fluffy and/or hurt/comfort character exploration, although sometimes I feel a need to go for a whump

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? I haven't written a crossover since I was 13. I'm 37 now. I don't remember. It was pre-AO3 time for sure. XD

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not that I'm aware of.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, but I've written fanfics to fanfics by @ellstersmash and @sidestepping because they're both so talented and I Felt The Compulsion

14. What's your all time favorite ship? Whatever I'm currently writing for, in this case... any combo of Chargentstep aaaaaaaaaaand Durgetash lol

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Me, staring at my endless folder of WIPs, some of which having not been touched in five years

16. What are your writing strengths? Character explorations, snappy dialogue, short and sweet and punchy

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Writing long-haul, we're here for a good time, not a long time

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Love it when other people do it! Very rarely do it myself!

19. First fandom you wrote for? Megaman X back in.................. 2000-ish? Very bad self-insert script fic lol

20. Favorite fic you've written? I think Time doesn't heal (FHR, Chargestep, all the Rangers and Riley experiencing the 3rd Heartbreak anniversary) is one of my biggest brain moments for writing fic, but Bottles of Thedas (mentioned above) has a special place in my heart for being the first and perhaps only large project I've finished.

Gonna taaaaaaaaaaaag... @astarien, @the-rebel-archivist, @gingerbreton, @rab-bitly, @catastrofriend

[rollerskatinglizard]

20 questions for fan creators

Thanks for tagging me, @rhea314!

How many works do you have on ao3? 112 fics!

What’s your total Ao3 word count? 1,360,000, holy smokes.

What fandoms do you create for? Motorcity and Homestuck!

Top 5 Works by Kudos: Top fic is Diamonds for Princes, then comes Heredity and Blackmail (even though I didn't finish it), What it takes to satisfy a Turk, shadows spreading where you stand, and Chilton 2.0.

Do you respond to comments? All except for cowritten fics sometimes! All the rest, I may answer two years late but I WILL RESPOND!!

What is the work you’ve made with the angstiest ending? Probably the first of my whump shortfics! Here's to major character death, babyyyy

What’s the work you’ve made with the happiest ending? I try to write most of my fics with happy endings, but honestly I have no idea which one is the happy-EST. Maybe Shadows spreading where you stand? Or In the Lost Age Where the Jewels Hide!

Do you get hate on your works? Nope!

Do you create smut? Hell yes I do! Happy pornographer here.

Craziest crossover? I'm pretty sure the only crossover that might be termed "crazy" is Taking the Helm, with Motorcity characters in a Homestuck setting (as trolls).

Have you ever had a work stolen? Not that I'm aware of, fortunately.

Have you ever had a work inspired by your works? Yes!! A number of awesome people have drawn art from my fics or made podfics of them, and there've been one or two inspired fics. <3

Have you co-recorded/co-written/co-vidded before? I have three wonderful cowriters who I click very well with! Cowriting is a very different process from writing alone, and I enjoy it a lot.

All time favorite ship? Right now, Mike Chilton/Chuck.

What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? Honestly I'm beset with doubt about many of my wips at all times... ToT Maybe my (non)soulmates fic.

What are your podficcing/writing/vidding strengths? I'm getting better at humor! My action scenes are fairly gripping, when I bother to write one, and my porn is hot or cute or both.

What are your podficcing/writing/vidding weaknesses? I almost never describe settings, I don't vary my sentence structure or paragraph beginnings enough, my fics tend to be light on plot, and my writing is neither lyrical nor vivid and visceral. It's, like... workmanlike. It gets the job done, that's it.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language? Depends! If it's just a brief bit in a fic, totally, go for it, but if there are long chunks written in a different language (one I undoubtedly don't speak), that irritates me for multiple reasons. (I found Lolita's narrator incredibly irritating and full of himself for his habit of constantly dropping in long quotes in other languages.) If you're doing it because that's the language they'd be speaking, but your POV character doesn't understand, you can convey the annoyance of that just as well with skillful writing, and if the POV does understand... just translate.

First fandom you podficced/wrote in/vidded? Oh man, an age ago I started and didn't finish a number of Slayers fics, and then Gundam Wing.

Favorite work you’ve made? I... I can't pick just one! I still adore my naga fic hold you down until you're amazed, and Ace Up the Sleeve, and my (second) werewolf gangbang fic A Gregarious Species, and then there's my king/knight fic All Manner of Indignities...

No, wait. My fav fic of all is the short one where the Burners end up messing with the Duke: Spite, that great motivator. XD Even now, it makes me giggle.

Uhhh I tag @aishitara and @aspenonthecoast, and anyone else if you're around and feel like it!

[buddierecs]

5+1 things buddie fics

all mature rating!!! make sure to kudos/comment on these amazing works :)

a thousand ways to say i hate you by: morganofthefairies "five times eddie buys taylor fuck-you flowers, and one time he doesn't need to." word count: 8k important tags: language of flowers, taylor kelly, ana flores, awkward dates, double dates, jealous!eddie diaz, petty!eddie diaz, pining 5 times buck wears eddie's clothes (+1 time eddie wears buck's) by: coupe_de_foudre “is that my hoodie?” “i was cold.” he states, as though he didn’t totally have to go into eddie’s bedroom and dig through his closet just to get a hoodie. “it’s soft.” buck adds, bringing the material of the hood up to stroke along his cheek." word count: 4k important tags: pining, developing relationship, domestic fluff, first kiss, implied sexual content, making out, friends to lovers, sharing clothes maybe love won't let you down by: siblysleaves "five times eddie watches buck leave, and the one time he goes after him" word count: 15k important tags: mutual pining, angst with a happy ending, friends to lovers, getting together, love confessions with a smile and some hope by: iriswests "five times buck wakes up before eddie, and one time eddie wakes up before buck" word count: 6.5k important tags: established relationship, domestic fluff no one has to know what we do by: youdrewstarsaroundmyscars118 "five times the firefam find out about buck and eddie accidentally and one time it’s on purpose." word count: 4.1k important tags: secret relationship, relationship reveal, family feels do you ever long for true love from me by: smilingbuckley "5 times eddie gives buck clothes to borrow + 1 time he takes them off." word count: 5.3k important tags: whump, sharing clothes, hurt!evan buckley, sick!evan buckley, pre-relationship, first kiss, fluff, hurt/comfort, implied sexual content baby, you look happier (you do) by: frxm_theashes "five times eddie sees buck happy with someone else, and one time he realizes that buck is happy with him (and that, maybe, eddie is allowed to be happy with buck too). word count: 19k important tags: temporary buck/tommy, jealous!eddie diaz, catholic guilt, internalised homophobia, pining, getting together, making out what if i fall in love backward? by: redridingstiles "five times buck and eddie saved each other by pretending to be together and the one time christopher helps" word count: 9.8k important tags: fake dating, best friends, christopher diaz is a national treasure, protective!evan buckley, teasing, homophobia this is for my mother by: chika_lohaine "5 times buck was christopher's mom and the one time he wasn't." word count: 29k important tags: emotional hurt/comfort, grief/mourning, evan buckley acting as christoper diaz's parent, ableism, panic attacks, pining

platonic co-parents don't kiss like we do by: thelikesofus "5 times other people see buck and eddie kiss + 1 time they really mean it." word count: 7.1k important tags: kissing, forehead kisses, pov outsider, first kiss, getting together, fluff, supportive team, pda, protective!evan buckley got nothing but love for you (fall more in love everyday) by: smilingbuckley "5 times buck and eddie are almost caught + 1 time they are" word count: 6k important tags: secret relationship, hiding, mild sexual content, first dates, dorks in love, light angst, emotional hurt/comfort

[staydandy]

Island (2022-2023) - 아일랜드 - Whump List

List by StayDandy Synopsis : Evil took its first step to destroy the world. On the mysterious Jeju Island, Ban, a mix of human and monster; Won Mi Ho, the one in the center of fate; and Johan, the one who exercises God's power, come together. A strange, yet captivating, action-packed exorcism fantasy in which they fight evil, share the fate of saving the world, and defy their own. (P1: MDL, P2: MDL)

Whumpee : Ban/Van played by Kim Nam Gil (left) • Johan / Kang Chan Hyuk played by Cha Eun Woo (right)

Country : 🇰🇷 South Korea Genres : Action, Thriller, Horror, Fantasy

Notes : This is a Full Whump List for both Parts 1 & 2 (it was seriously wholly unnecessary for them to split it into 2 parts) • Adapted from the webtoon "Island" (아일랜드) written by Yoon In Wan (윤인완) and illustrated by Yang Kyung Il (양경일). • Ban is almost an immortal being - he has the ability to self-heal. I did not include moments when Ban heals immediately & doesn't show pain; like it didn't even remotely bother him .. I don't really count stuff like that as whump ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Episodes on List : 6 Total Episodes : 12 (6 per Part)

*Spoilers below*

Part 1 : 04 : Johan is strangled … Ban is tied up, the restraints burn him … Johan is choked

05 : … continued from previous ep. ... Choked … Ban stabs his own arm

06 : Johan is thrown against a wall … Ban is hit by a fireball, choked against a wall … collapses, coughs up blood.. passes out … Johan is stabbed ( ? or rather, punched through his stomach), thrown against a wall, coughing up blood

Part 2 : 04 : Ban is in a fight, spits blood.. stabbed in the back

05 : Johan is in a fight; coughs up blood, choked … found, hanging pierced through the chest on a broken piece of steel, bleeding heavily, passes out

06 : Bandaged, on a ventilator, nightmare of being beat in the fight … Ban is stabbed … (YAS!! I've been waiting for some bad-ass Johan!! Go get 'em!) Johan, still heavily bandaged, joins the fight, gains new wounds throughout … Ban forces his way through a magical barrier that continuously hurts/burns him … stabbed through the chest … killed/destroyed by the magical barrier successfully being built … Johan now wears a hearing aid after his hearing was damaged during the fight

More Whump Lists for this show: love-me-a-lotta-whump

[septemberrie]

fic asks

Thank you for the tag @junkshop-disco!

How many works do you have on ao3?

44!

What's your total ao3 word count?

560,688

What fandoms do you write for?

At this point, just Fate: the Winx Saga but I have a smattering of other fandom one shots on my ao3. Call me a serial monogamist, I guess? It takes a lot for me to be possessed enough to write, so it rarely happens for multiple fandoms at once.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Tempting Fate

Battle Lines

Point of No Return

A Man Plans a Tree in Whose Shade He May Never Sit

En Garde

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always mean to! but sometimes the Anxiety gets in the way. I made a concerted effort like a month ago to reply to some out of date comments and I'm hoping to continue.

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I have a history of writing one-shots of whump prompts, so some of those have quite punchy endings. Fate is a very dramatic show and so it's not a far leap to be cruel sometimes. But of my longfics, It Was Just Red is definitely the angstiest, but to be fair it's a prequel story to one with a happier ending.

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

I've written quite a few I would consider happy, one that comes to mind of late is A Lady's Guide to Fools and Fortunes, the Rivusa Bridgerton AU I wrote with Val.

Do you get hate on fics?

In a previous fandom I received hate for a twist ending to a longfic. To be fair to my audience, I didn't lay much groundwork (at all) for the twist; I was still a young author who thought it was fun to pull the wool over the eyes of my readers. After BBC Sherlock showed me how awful that was (plus general maturity), I have since learned my lesson.

I've also gotten a comment or two criticizing my characters' choices and I steam over them but ultimately ignore them. A character making a bad choice doesn't mean I'm endorsing that choice. I don't want to read a story about perfect people who never do anything wrong, and I'm definitely not going to write that either.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Are there different kinds of smut? Tropes, maybe? I have written everything from fading to black to fully explicit group sex. At this point I tend to fade to black except when I consider the detail important to the story (for example, choosing to break a vow of celibacy…).

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

I have never really grokked crossovers, I don't think I have that kind of brain where I can reconcile separate worldbuilding. It's never grabbed me as a reader, either, but I am a bit envious of those with the imagination to do it!

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yeppers.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! I had one fic translated recently, with permission, and I'm glad I did because a hilarious catfight erupted in the comments, involving the anonymous aggressor informing my translator that her father, the owner of ficbook, was going to delete the fic, and co-opted a sock account to validate Anonymous Aggressor's paternity.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yessss my usual partner in crime is Val who is fantastic at motivation and bouncing off ideas. Mo my usual beta who provides amazing enough feedback I sometimes feel like I should list her as co-writer.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

I'm a multi-shipper; I tend to fixate on one character and I'm happy to explore their dynamic with a variety of ships.

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

In general if I start posting something then I'm going to finish it, no matter how brutal it gets. But starting to think that The Last Resort, my Rivusa fake dating AU with Val, might never recover from Fate S2.

What are your writing strengths?

I think I am pretty good at conveying characters' states of mind, through their internal thoughts and what they're physically doing. I think my writing has dramatically improved in the last two years since I got into Fate and most of that has to do with being thoughtful about showing what characters are thinking/doing and why, instead of telling.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Listen. I amn just a litle creacher. Sometimes I just completely miss certain things in canon and their implications, so off I go writing away my own interpretation that's "incorrect" (yeah yeah I know, fuck canon, but it matters to me! Sometimes!). I can be very guilty of projecting qualities onto my most fave and least fave characters that are a stretch when reconciled with canon.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Sure? I have learned not to treat your readers with kid gloves. They can figure out meanings from context.

First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter, on my neopets.com petpage because I didn't know about LiveJournal or fanfiction.net

Favorite fic you've written?

This is just cruel to have to choose! But I always circle back to Point of No Return. Rereading it now there are a lot of improvements I would make to the writing, but a) it's the fic that got me back into writing after a 5ish year dry spell, b) it hits pretty much all of my fave tropes/whumps, c) it led me to connecting with a new community that I now speak to daily and have even visited across the ocean! and d) it absorbed so much of my life (I wrote 60k in a little over a month) that I finally had the guts to share my writing hobby with my partner, who is wonderfully supportive. That fic changed my life for the better in so many ways.

I tag @whenshesayshush @faytalepsy @blue-aconite and whoever else wants to do this!

[theluckywizard]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for the tags @rowanisawriter and @nirikeehan

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

32

2. what’s your total ao3 word count?

359,445 (since February lawdy)

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Only Dragon Age

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

In the Shattering of Things (Cullen x Rose Trevelyan, Hawke x Trevelyan long fic)

The Boy Who Talked too Much (Alistair x Cousland fluff smut one shot)

Some Kind of Witchcraft (Cullen x Rose Trevelyan fluff smut one shot)

The Protestations of the Commander's Bed (Cullen x Rose Trevelyan fluff smut one shot... sensing a theme here? LMAO)

Unvarnished (Blackwall x Rose Trevelyan Smuuuut)

5. do you respond to comments?

Yes, always! Someone is going to take the time say something nice about my writing? I'm going to like awkwardly hug them with words.

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

Probably toss up between

Fractures (Cullen x Rose Trevelyan whump smut)

and

Well Did You Miss Me? (Hawke x Rose Trevelyan angst)

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

Oh this is tough. I end a lot of short fics on a very hopeful note where two people are teetering on the precipice of Looooooove.

But actually maybe a short Bethany Hawke drabble where she learns her brother Garrett is still alive in the Fade.

Contact

8. do you get hate on fics?

The closest I've gotten to hate, which wasn't really hate, just kind of funny is a few different commenters messaging me after I introduced Hawke in my long fic (the other clearly labeled Love Interest, 250k words in mind you) asking whether it was going to be Cullen in the end because they aren't interested in Hawke x Trevelyan and they don't want to read it unless it's Cullen in the end.

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

Yes. I try to write really characterful, joyful/emotional smuts generally-- the kind where it's just 'totally THEM'. I think smut is only as good as the set up and characters expressing themselves, because clinical/gratuitous descriptions of sex acts without those things doesn't interest me.

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nope!

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

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

I have not but I would loooove to!

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

God I can't risk showing my whole ass here because a bunch of long fic readers follow me but suffice to say the race for my love is real tight between the two separate ships in my long fic - Rose Trevelyan x Cullen and Rose Trevelyan x Garrett Hawke.

Also Dick Grayson x Barbara Gordon in DC 😍

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

Probably The Bequest which is my oc/oc/oc/oc/oc/oc spooky murder mystery fic. I want to believe I will but I would have to learn how to write a damn good mystery and I'm not sure I can. But will at least write some more chapters minimum!

16. what are your writing strengths?

-- snappy, authentic sounding dialogue and banter that captures the characters

-- joyful, ridiculous smut

-- setting descriptions when I really put my back into it

-- being inside a character's POV and capturing their narrative voice uniquely

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

PLOT. GAH. I only got into Fanfic in January and that's because I languished in Original Fiction Hell for two decades where I wrote and wrote aimlessly. I am a shit plotter and a shit planner. Stories come to me in scenes and feelings. So you can imagine that getting to write something that is fully plotted and world built for me is like THE BEST FUCKING THING EVER. It is so satisfying.

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

I have written in French a little bit for effect in the Winter Palace, but generally I don't do it, no.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

I wrote a sequel to the book The Witch of Blackbird Pond when I was thirteen maybe because the main ship gets together in the last pages and then it just ENDS and it was written in the 50s and the author was dead. I HAD TO RESOLVE THIS FOR MYSELF.

20. favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Aside from my long fic which is my ongoing baby and I am very proud (I am in the midst of Act 2 and still loving it), it would probably be --

The Commander, the Tevinter and a Bottle of Lightning which is Dorian getting Cullen drunk on fussy Tevinter booze and Rose showing up after he's sauced. (Fluff, Cullen POV)

or

Good Old Garbolg which is Rose and Hawke getting into the storage room to try a bottle of mystery booze (one of the Bottles of Thedas) and it having some unexpected consequences (Fluffsmut, Rose POV)

I have read both of these A LOT.

Tagging @crackinglamb, @greypetrel, @bluewren, @kiastirling, @melisusthewee, @rakshadow, @ar-lath-ma-cully, @ir0n-angel, @smutnug, @monocytogenes, @skyeventide and @ammoniteflesh