#this was fun to think about though bc writing was my FIRST foray into the fandom but I neglect it a lot🥹🥹

[myokk]

20 q's for fic writers

tagged by @crushribbons love you Laney😙😙😙😙💓💓💓

How many works do you have on AO3? I am a humble baby writer so I only have three...so far

What's your total AO3 word count? 99,211...before I joined tumblr and fanart hell (affectionate) I was writing SO MUCH...I started in January bahahahahhahahahahahahah

What fandoms do you write for? Hogwarts Legacy, but in the future I'll probably do Tomione…beginning of death eaters super evil but sexy 1940s Tom Riddle making Hermione turn evil… (among others). Tbh (fanart-wise NOT writing) I also want to draw harvest moon…stardew valley…x files… I would love to attempt writing for P&P bc I have so many ideas, but I am too lazy to make sure they're historically accurate and it would drive me crazy if they arent so I'll just enjoy them hehe

Top five fics by kudos? I only have three published so far, but the most popular is my Ominis oneshot, legilimency. I have no idea how that one actually got readers...but I'm happy bc I really like it too and I reread it sometimes!! My main fic is actually doing a lot better than I expected too, bc when I started posting I was just shouting into the void and I wasn’t part of the community or anything🥹 the little excerpts I post here too, that go along with my writing, also do a lot better than I expected and it makes me so happy to read your comments💓

Do you respond to comments? yes!!!!! Comments/hashtags always make me SO HAPPY and these interactions are the fun of sharing these things with you all. I get swamped by notifications sometimes so I might respond super late but I always try to bc I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? my main fic...I have a horrible ending planned but I might chicken out at the end and make it happy. in my fanarts I can make them happy so that might be enough for me...and I’ll go with the evil ending muahahahahahaa

What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? the Imelda/Poppy fic. Honestly it's not popular but it holds SUCH A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART...it’s popular to me😤 I reread it a lot...my love letter to Imelda

Do you get hate on fics? I don't think so...If I do I'm out of the loop bahahahhahahahaha. Honestly I've had haters before on other platforms and it's not something that really bothers me bc if I don't personally know someone, I don't care what they think...and like Laney said...if they don't like something they should just make what they want to see instead lol

Do you write smut? yes😳

Craziest crossover? None I Am A Boring Girl

Have you ever had a fic stolen? not that I know of!!!!! But I also just started writing this year. I've had my art stolen sooooooo many times before though on IG and tiktok (not here yet that I know of…). If it's just copying my art I don't mind that much with these fanarts because that's how you learn and a copy will never look like the original but...

Have you ever had a fic translated? nope!!

Have you ever co-written a fic before? No but I'm collaborating with @versailles-black for fanart shenanigans bc our MCs are cousins🥹💓 plus the whole Leo/Bea thing with @the-ozzie …I’m actually considering writing a oneshot about the two of them so I think it counts!!

All time favorite ship I have two...Elizabeth/Mr Darcy have had me in a vicelike grip for my whole life...but so have Scully and Mulder...

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I really really really want to write my Ominis longfic that's a continuation of my oneshot, but it's hard to find the time to write lately bc I've been so busy!!! like...even finding time to do these fanarts is a struggle these days. I still have hope I'll finish it though bc apart from ME wanting to read it there are a few others who are also looking forward to it!!!

What are your writing strengths? no idea🥲

Thoughts on dialogue in another language? I personally like it!!! But only if it's used correctly...I've seen Spanish in fics before where the person CLEARLY doesn't speak it and it drives me crazy, esp if the character is supposed to be Spanish-speaking. Or...when people add random phrases in with the rest English, bc as a bilingual person I feel like it doesn't really work like that lol. I added some Spanish to the Imelda oneshot I wrote and I like to read it when it's done naturally, and if anyone asks me for translation in the comments I’m happy to oblige🥰

First fandom you wrote in? Hogwarts Legacy is my first fandom ever bahahahhahahahahah

Favorite fic you've written? tbh I love all three that I've written so far!!!!!! I can't choose🥹🥹

Laney said there's no 20th question…I love you all😙😙😙

zerooo pressure tags for @kay9leo @writing-intheundercroft @heyitszev @noxxytocin and anyone else who thinks it would be fun to answer🥹💓😙💓😙

[bonesandthebees]

I was feeling a bit down today so I decided to finally reread the clinic prequel (I've been meaning to for the past few weeks) and omg :(( it's so cute man it's soo adorable shfkdkjfkfdj it's honestly one of my favs and I think clinic!Phil is my fav Phil... He is so nice man I wanna cry shfjdkskffk

I adore how real your fics are. I've said this before but I'll point out a new example shfkfk like when they are at the duck pond, you take care to describe the ducks inbetween their convo. Like you don't rush and just say their dialogue, you take the time to describe the world around them. It makes it a lot more immersive

And you choosing to have that interaction with Hannah and though it clearly shows the juxtaposition between their powers and is a good tool to show how Wilbur's power affects him, it also doesn't feel out of place? It feels honestly like smth that could happen in a universe where superpowers are normal also LOVE the transition it gives to Phil finding a common thing to talk about to approach Wilbur with. Idk I just. Everything about that is so good

I also really like how you write young Wilbur?? Like. It's obvious he's a kid, but also it doesn't feel like ur babying him or anything. He feels like a genuine 12 year old, who's mature enough to understand a lot of things, though still immature in others. It also feels like Wilbur, you've still captured a lot of his personality and I think it's really cool to see. You've got such a good grip on characterization man, I can always hear the cc's voices when I read your writing.

Your characters always feel so real and their train of thought and actions always feel logical, even if they're, from an outsiders point of view, not.

Hehehe that's all for now am not even finished the first chapter I just wanted to rant a bit bc God I love this fic so so much man

Like a Dusty Tomb is ICONIC but this was one of the first pieces of writing to make me Obsessed with sandduo and it holds a very special place in my heart... It's also just fucking adorable like no words can describe how precious this fic is shfkfkdl

awww thank you icy!! I loved writing the clinic prequel so much. it was my first major foray into sandduo centric stuff and I had such a good time with it.

I love including small environmental details to make the atmosphere feel more real. like ducks in a pond or the temperature outside or what the kids on the nearby playground are doing. just small tidbits reminding the readers the world around the characters is alive in these pages.

I loved that little hannah interaction for so many reasons. it was exactly like you said, a way to juxtapose wilbur's own feelings about his powers with hannah's. and I wanted to show the type of interactions you'd see in a society where powers are normalized. I just think little kids with fun powers would love practicing and showing them off to strangers in the park :) and I just liked getting to throw another cameo in there as well. the cameos in the prequel fic were so fun for me to include

i'm so glad that you liked how i wrote kid!wilbur in this. I always get so nervous writing child characters because I hate when fics write all child characters like helpless babies even if they're, like, 12. but at the same time obviously I don't want to make the child i'm writing sound like a mini adult. so I try very hard to strike that balance while also till making sure that above all, he sounds like wilbur. also any and all compliments on my characterization make me so happy aaa ty

so glad you enjoyed <33

[shaanks]

I know I'm late to the WIP ask game, but I'd love for you to drop a bit of lore/a snippet/ or just ramble about whatever you haven't had the chance to yet! A wip no one has asked about, or an idea you had, anything really :D

Oh you're totally fine honey!!! alkjdfas the only limitation on ask games I play is my ability to go back and find what the post/rules were lmfao and this one was easy.

Left to my own devices i'm just gonna talk about Strange Flora again, mostly bc Fractured is ostensibly a present for my buddy and I don't wanna give away too many plot details, and also bc I'm like. Too shy to actually talk about lore for Dai-Kai since it's my first real foray into writing Yan stuff.

Here, I will put a lil snippet under the readmore and then talk about it bc it illustrates something that's been a lot of fun for me in the like. Execution and planning for this story:

The only thing Av could think, as she approached the seemingly unmanned entrance gate of Fort Detrick Army Base, was that something had gone seriously wrong here. Which felt silly, and a bit redundant given her ongoing road trip through the apocalypse, and yet she simply couldn’t shake it. 

The wind, thankfully, had blown enough of the spore cloud back towards DC that getting from the car to the building she needed wasn’t likely to be an issue, exactly; what DID appear to be a problem, as she idled the Jeep to a stop at the gates, was the sea of overturned military vehicles just on the other side of entrance. Hundreds of them, Jeeps, transport vans, the electric carts used to unload the transport vans, sleek black sedans with yellow plates, something towards the back that Av was deeply concerned might be a tank of some sort. None of them seemed damaged in any other way, beyond what setting them up on their sides like that had done. There were no vines here to speak of, no black ichor or heartroots nor anything to suggest that this was related to the Event in any way. They were offset in rows, so that the vehicle behind always blocked the view between any two vehicles in a row, and so meticulously spaced that Av couldn’t help but think this had been done by human hands, on purpose. 

It made no sense. If they’d wanted to block the entrance to the base, that would have been easily accomplished by closing the larger steel gates at the entrance, or even by putting down more traditional traffic blocks. If they’d all tried to escape at once due to an Event or a site-wide Changing, that might have accounted for all of the vehicles, but not for the orderliness of the mass of them, or the part where they were all turned on their sides. 

For the life of her, she couldn’t understand what in the world she was looking at. With a glance up at the sky through the windshield, Av hopped out of the Jeep and shut the door behind her. The rows of vehicles extended nearly the entire width of the end of the base they were on in either direction; she looked left, then right, then clambered up onto the hood of the Jeep, and then the roof, trusting the rack up there to hold her weight as she tried to get a feel for the insane bit of performance art. 

It went almost all the way back to the first parking lot Av could see from her vantage point. 20, maybe 30 rows of side-balanced vehicles. She fished her cigarettes out of her pocket, pulled one out with her teeth and lit it, taking a long, measured breath. Someone with a forklift and a lot of time on their hands had gone insane, maybe. Or someone who was extremely dedicated to making sure this particular road block couldn’t be easily dismantled. Av took another long pull from her cigarette and sat down on the roof of the Jeep, cross-legged between the bars of the roof rack.  Had they been trying to keep things out, though…or had they been trying to keep something in.

******************************

So. For the first 100ish pages of this story, the only meaningful narrative input we get about what's happening here is through Av's perspective. In this case, she has shown up to a military base that she thinks holds answers to one of her Big Questions, and found something inexplicable blocking her path. She takes her time to observe it, ponder on what happened here, and come to a completely reasonable set of possible answers.

The thing is, minor spoiler for a major later plot point, that she's wrong. On all counts!

And that has been SO much fun to play with as I've laid out tidbits and pieces for the larger mystery afoot here. Because Av, like any other human being, is just doing her best to understand what she's looking at based on inadequate context and personal life experience, while it's not on purpose, her narration and observations aren't always reliable. I can show whoever is reading it (currently one close friend of mine and that's it but still) all sorts of things, but because Av is frequently wrong about shit, it won't spoil anything or do much but add clues and intrigue until information, experience, or outside input come along to correct her.

Which I'm sure just sounds like narrative exposition 101 or whatever but it's not a format I'm used to getting to write in, because most of my writing has been either collaborations or RP responses outside of an academic setting.

So ye that's my lil writing tidbit for stuff I'm excited about at the moment. I've actually got like. 7 parts of this story mapped out that take place across different continents and groups of people, and I'm still only on part 1 of the writing. It feels very cool to me ; u ; Thank you so much for asking hon!!!

[dragon-swords-prophecies]

Hello, hello, and happy storyteller saturday ^^ So, I noticed that DnD is a large influence for your writing too. So, I was wondering which came first for you, writing or table-top rpgs? How do you think it influenced your writing style/approach to writing?

Hi! Happy sts! I apologize for the rambles in advance. There's a lot of them and I am sorry.

So I obviously did writing in school and still do, but I assume you mean actually fun writing like the WIPs I have now.

I started playing DND about four and a half years ago, in the summer before my birthday with my dad. A few months before (I think. Time is hard) that he and me and my mom had tried to play a game of first edition (which I believe he had started out with in the 80s), but it was complicated and we have up. Then he got a copy of the 5e players handbook and boom, new interest that's never going to leave. I got obsessed with it, and did a couple campaigns on outschool (those were fun. I was a terrible roleplayer, but they were fun) before playing a multi year long one with my dad, and that was the campaign that created Enna and Anne (that one only ended a few months ago. We did take a break in the middle for about 6-7 months but it was homebrew and amazing). So Enna was my third or fourth charchter ever made. And I love her so much, but by god does she need a rebuild. So does Anne, though I did do a rebuild for her. Non dex based melee rogues, yay!

Anyway, I started writing sometime in February 2020. Maybe January.

Nope, it was February. (Wait, that actually means I've officially been writing for two years! Wow) So, that was a big thing and they were originally essentially paper cutouts of the dnd versions of the characters. It was, uh, interesting. And then, sometime in May or so 2021 (I think), I found writeblr and that was a thing. I started this blog and wow, I did that and stuff.

Anyway, I have rambled away from your question and the short answer is: dnd came first. By about two years.

And now for your other question:

I think it influenced my writing a lot. It's why I started off with fantasy. It's why even though I had a couple failed forays into scifi, urban fantasy, and steampunk (that I rarely talked about), high fantasy stayed my favorite (ok. It's also bc of dragons and elves) and it's what I write.

It's... At the middle of them all my stories are dnd stories, they're quests and massive designs of complicated stuff. I don't know. They're something. *Shrugs*

My writing style is all because eof the books I read and the rate at which I read them.

And I'll put that under a cut bc this is getting long and very ramble-y.

I read mostly super long fantasy books, so I write what I would want to read and I write it as long and complex as I can, but still for teenagers because that's what I am and I read so fast, my reading level has always been pretty high, so I have always wanted something complex and long and with dragons that wasn't a stupid romance with maybe a hint of plot on page 73 (fanfiction is the only romance heavy stuff I actually like).

And that's why I loved LotR, except for the two chapters of the family trees of the shire. That was long.

I loved Percy Jackson and all the associated books and shadow hunters because they were long (sometimes) and both had complex universes and not really dragons but both were queer so that made up for it.

I loved Throne of Glass because it was long and had sort of dragons, and anyway (I'm sorry for the rambles):

And so, I write long stuff with dragons and confusing plots. Of course that's the stuff that few people I know like, but that's fine.

Oh look, finally the end of this. Thank goodness. I'm sorry about how long this is.

[cross-d-a]

fic tag game

aaahhh @vishcount thank you for tagging me!!! These are so fun and I adored reading about your fic journey~!  ೖ(⑅σ̑ᴗσ̑)ೖ ❤

OH as a note!! For the ppl I tag at the end I don’t expect you to read all of this bc it’s A Lot!!! but I figured you might want to do this game yourself? haha :)

Name: cross-d-a shortened version of my first ever username. unfortunately stuck with it now haha but i’m fond of it :p wish it was cuter tho!!

Posting the rest of this under the cut so it doesn’t eat up people’s dashes!! 

(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

Fandoms: 

oKAY YIKES there are....honestly too many too name. I’ve got a short and obsessive attention span so it’s either all or nothing with me usually. When I can stay in a fandom for a long period of time it’s a miracle. I’ll name the bigger ones that I’ve all written fic for! Even if I’ve never posted them haha

Right now I’m very firmly into Daomu Biji (dmbj). It feels like it’s both got a crap ton of content and yet barely anything at all haha. Maybe because the English fandom is so small. But at least there are a bunch of dramas and books!!! I really, really, really adore dmbj so much!! And a large part of that is the fandom!!! It's been a really cool and unique experience! Everyone in it is truly so kind and wonderful, and I’ve made some really incredible friends because of it (looking at you vish!! ❤). I’ve got a bunch of wips, but I’ve only posted two fics for dmbj!

Before this I was very into Guardian and mdzs. MDZS was my first foray into cdramas and Guardian’s Zhu Yilong really suckered me into watching more haha I also have fics for both these fandoms!

My very first fandoms were Fullmetal Alchemist, D. Gray-Man and Naruto. My very old ffnet account has fics for these and I’ve got a bunch of newer wips on my tablet. Then Star Trek, Twilight, BBC Merlin, Sherlock, Death Note, Harry Potter, How to Train Your Dragon, Battlestar Galactica, Avatar the Last Airbender and Marvel were a few of my main ones in high school. Plus a bunch of anime (like Fruits Basket! and Kuroshitsuji and Natsume Yuujinchou). 

Then college hit and I renewed my childhood love of Tolkien (mainly lotr and the Hobbit), and Star Wars. I also found Teen Wolf! Then after college it was Stranger Things. 

I find myself in a cycle of mild fondness and complete obsession with these fandoms haha I go back to Star Wars at least once a year!! Then I’m in the gffa hole for a few months. Marvel also reoccurs, depending on how interested I am in new content! Star Trek I always always always go back to. TOS is my comfort show and it will never fade from my heart ❤

But for now I’m stuck in cdrama hell and I love it

Tropes: 

Time travel, found family, whump+hurt/comfort, fairytale-like elements, resurrective immortality (thanks to a “Nine Lives” Hobbit fic), CROSSOVERS

I’m a slut for all these things so they often worm their way into my plots haha

I also just- love weird premises. I think that’s the anime influencing me haha

Fic I spent most time on: 

My series he leaves sand and stardust in my wake (main fic is hurricane on the edge of oblivion), I have...spent five years on now. I have done so much research for this fic it’s insane. 

The premise is force ghost!Obi-Wan getting shunted back into his tiny 10 year old self. I incorporate a shit ton of legends and I try to stay as canon as possible. I basically want this au to feel like it’s 1000% plausible while still getting all my gay shit. It’s chock full of whump, redemption, found family, minor characters turning into major characters, and I’ve got slavery uprising on the mind, too. It’s just- everything I could ever want to explore in the Star Wars universe basically. 

It’s my first big project. I started doodling and scribbling ideas in the margins of my notebook in my Scottish History class. I adore it so so so much. But, because of my hyperfixation and fleeting intense obsession with things it makes it- really difficult to consistently update. I leave it for months at a time and I am constantly guilt-ridden about it. Because it’s my baby and I have a lot of wonderful readers. I fear I’ll never be able to finish it. Especially since I’ve written so much and I’m still only in the beginning of it. ( ; A ; )

Also, I’ve spent so much time with Xanatos, Feemor and Bruck that they just feel like mine now. I can’t read any fics that involve them, it’s too strange. Which is a damn shame because I love them so much haha OH ALSO!! I think it’s the first really big fic to include those three?? So I’m very proud about that haha (I’ve had so many ppl comment about how they actually Give A Shit about these three and are Invested bc of me haha)

Favorite fic(s) you’ve written: 

hurricane on the edge of oblivion (with nowhere to go) (Star Wars)

My long-term passion project. My love-letter to Star Wars, I suppose. Reading it now I feel like a lot of it is clunky or long-winded, but I think it really shows the foundation of my writing today :) Main characters are Obi-Wan, Xanatos Du Crion, Qui-Gon Jinn, Bruck Chun and Feemor. Eventually we’ll get to Maul, Savage, Feral, Shmi Skywalker, (more!) Ahsoka, Anakin and a shit ton of clones ❤

things we hunger for (Guardian)

My Ye Zun self-indulgent fic. It’s a time travel amnesia Weilanzun! Honestly has some of my fav writing I’ve ever done. It’s so soft and really indulges in the hurt/comfort. It gives Ye Zun the friends and family I think he deserves. Also, he gets to grow into a (mostly!) functional person and I adore him.

the beast that slumbers within your soul (mdzs)

Jiang Cheng centric fic!! I feel like all my favourite fics I’ve written are love letters haha. This is one def my love letter to Jiang Cheng. This fic possessed me for two whole days. I wrote 16k in almost one sitting. I went to sleep at 6 in the morning bc I couldn’t stop writing. And when I drifted off I kept thinking of new ideas so I’d whip out my phone and write down lines and notes. I- have never ever ever felt that way about anything. It was- insane. It felt insane. It was so amazing. I’m still riding the memory of that high.

 Basically Jiang Cheng actually finds Baoshan Sanren and it turns out she’s a fox demon and Jiang Cheng is descended from wolves. It’s- okay I said the fic above this had my favourite writing?? That was a lie. This has my favourite writing I’ve ever done. It’s unfinished bc I am in dmbj hell but I am still excited about the next chapter which features Wei Wuxian’s pov!!

the whispers of spirits (dmbj)

My current passion project. In a way it kinda feels similar to hurricane? Bc multiple povs, incorporating different aspects of canon (we’ll get there!! I promise!), shit ton of research, etc. etc. I really really really love it for so many reasons. I’m basically taking all the things I was unsatisfied with in Reboot and Sha Hai and running with it. Found family and whump galore! It’s also a love letter to the women of dmbj who really deserve so so so much better.

Honourable mention to:

One Day (you’ll have given more of yourself than is meant to be taken) (Marvel)

This fic also kinda possessed me. I just- couldn’t get rid of the idea of a trans!Thor. And I mean a mtf Thor! It’s just? So many people look at Thor and go “that’s a Real Man.” Full stop. They never think there could be anything more, and it really really really bothered me. So I wrote out my feelings. I’m not trans. I don’t have that experience at all. I’ve had issues and confusion about my gender but nothing like this. I just wanted to do justice to this idea of Thor in my head. And I still feel a bit nervous having posted it. But I've gotten so many comments from people who really connected with what I’ve written? So I’m very very thankful I wrote it and it has a very special place in my heart. It’s a very cathartic fic.

Fic I spent least time on: 

Probably we rise (Star Wars) and I think it shows haha. I wrote it in response to Dave Filoni posting a drawing of Ahsoka and Gandalf telling her “People thought I was dead, too, and look how that turned out...” So I incorporated Ahsoka (and Din and Grogu and Ezra!!!) into the ending of Rise of Skywalker, kinda explaining how I think they could all still be alive. :)

Longest fic: 

hurricane is my longest fic (159k) but I’m kinda worried whispers will eclipse that.....

Shortest fic: 

Of my posted ones it’s The Five Moments it Took Tony and Scott to Admit They Were Best Friends (and the first time they ever did), currently clocks at 1.6k. It’s unfinished tho so maybe that doesn’t count.... otherwise it’s we rise which is completed and 2k.

Most hits/kudos/comments/bookmarks: 

hurricane overall has the most of all these. Though I don’t think hits counts as much bc it’s multi-chapter. If you discount multi-chapter stuff, most hits goes to my obikin smutfic Homecoming, bc people are horny af haha

Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: 

If I had energy I’d like to rewrite the beginning of hurricane bc it feels so so wordy. I’d want to expand on One Day bc I really would like to write a whole series with trans!Thor. And like- I’d really like the focus to finish any of my WIPs.

Share a bit of a WIP: I really wanna share my Guardian/dmbj crossover that I started back in August. Bc I adore the idea of wu xie&shen wei&ye zun triplets! Plus time travel!!! I dunno if I’ll ever finish it tho ( ; A ; ) It just feels like a lot to deal with right now.

This scene takes place during the Mountain Awl arc. Guardian crew and desperado fam run across each other at the village! Wu Xie has recently found out that he’s adopted and he’s searching for answers in the area Sanshu originally found amnesiac!toddler!Wu Xie in :) Gonna pull two snippets bc I’m v excited and this might be the only time anyone else sees this fic haha:

“Oh?” Pangzi focuses on Yunlan now, lips twisting. “You think I’ve ‘got the wrong guy,’ huh?” He laughs, but it’s not a nice sound. “That’s rich! Are you that cocky or are you just stupid?”

Bristling, Yunlan drops his hands and scowls. “Excuse me?”

“Sir,” Shen Wei tries. “I think—”

Pangzi’s eyes snap back to Shen Wei, sharp and blazing. “How dare you fucking steal his face!”

What?

Automatically, Zhao Yunlan turns to Shen Wei, but the professor looks just as shell-shocked as Zhao Yunlan feels which- is seriously something. Since everything about Shen Wei is so carefully controlled, kept to the minimum. Except for those delightful little smiles that bloom across his lovely face, or the startled little bursts of laughter that fall from his lips. Or even when anger and frustration spark across his features, cracking his calm veneer open enough that he can see a glimmer of what lies beneath, the fire in those eyes. Zhao Yunlan delights in those moments, makes a game of making Shen Wei’s control slip.

He tells himself it’s nothing more than a game. Nothing more than trying to find out what makes Shen Wei tick.

Zhao Yunlan’s always been very bad at lying to himself. Or very good. Depending on who you’re asking.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Yunlan splutters.

But before anyone can say anything else, a very familiar voice calls:

“Pangzi? What’s wrong?”

Yunlan can feel Shen Wei stiffen, and Yunlan himself is pulled to that voice like a planet in orbit, like the inevitable plummet to the ground.

Another shadow wavers in the doorway before it steps out onto the dirt. Light illuminates shaggy hair, limning it gold, sharply casting everything else in shadow. But as the figure nears, the contrast softens until Yunlan can see the newcomer’s face properly and- and—

“Wu Xie!” Pangzi growls. “We’ve got ourselves an impostor!”

The man wearing Shen Wei’s face steps up to them, brows furrowed and mouth pulled down into a sharp frown. He glances between them, eyes landing on Shen Wei. His scowl deepens. He opens his mouth, but then—

“Wu Xie?” Shen Wei breathes, all trembly and lost and hopeless.

Heart in his throat, Yunlan turns to Shen Wei again. Turns and flinches at that stricken look upon Shen Wei’s pale pinched face.

“A-Xie?” Shen Wei chokes. “Didi?”

and

Pangzi snorts. “Professor?”

“I-it’s true!”

Startled Yunlan swings his attention over to Jiajia who clenches her backpack to her chest, face screwed up in admirable determination. “P-professor Shen took me and Xiao Quan on a field trip to investigate an archeological site around here!”

“Oh?” Wu Xie drawls all slow and amused. “Well, what a coincidence. We’re archeologists, too.”

“With guns?” Yunlan bites out.

Wu Xie raises a brow, grin full of teeth. “Well, you can never be too prepared.”

“Right,” Yunlan drawls right back. “Are you a professor, too, then? You come here with your students?”

Wu Xie outright grins. “You could say that, I suppose.”

Out of the corner of his eye, one of the men rolls his eyes. He’s the one with sharp features, glasses and looped earbuds. Does he think it’s appropriate to listen to music at a time like this? Yunlan admires the man’s gall.

aahhhh vish thanks so much again for tagging me!! This was so fun to relive my fic memories!! I’m gonna tag @alwaysaslutforshakespeare @jockvillagersonly @tehfanglyfish @lichelleme @undyingsunshine @humanlighthouse  @thewindsofsong I’m curious about your guys’ writing and fandom journey!! As always, no pressure to actually complete this!! I just thought it was fun ❤

Wow if you read all of this I am very humbled and impressed, thank you!!

╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

[cinematicnomad]

1, 7, 25 for the fanfic end of year ask :)

001. favorite fic you wrote this year i have a soft spot for take my hand (take my everything) which was the first fic i wrote this year! and kind of the first step back into writing creatively on something new that wasn’t the 7 year monster sterek fic. also my first foray into 9-1-1 fic and was just a lot of fun! 

007. longest completed fic you wrote this year the longest fic i wrote was my second for the year! so show me (family) wound up being around 16k+ for 9-1-1 which kind of burst out of me over the course of one 48 hour window unlike take my hand which took a few weeks to crank out. 

025. a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read SO MANY FICS DUDE!!! i’m gonna rec a couple, some that i re-read this year and some that i discovered for the first time, all from a variety of fandoms. BUT heads up, you didn’t specify a fandom so it’s gonna be a little scattered. also someone else sent me this same question but specified 9-1-1, so i’m gonna reserve those recs for that ask. GET READY!!

and this, your living kiss by opal_bullets (7/7 | 84k+ | M) destiel; AU: college/university; john winchester’s A+ parenting; angst with a happy ending

only a very few people in the world know that the celebrated and reclusive poet jack allen is just kansas mechanic dean winchester, a high school dropout with a few bucks to his name. not that it matters anymore; life has left him so wrung out he never wants to pick up another pen.

until, that is, a string of coincidences leads dean to auditing a poetry course with one dr. castiel novak. the professor is wildly intelligent, devastatingly handsome...and just so happens to be academia’s foremost expert on the poetry of jack allen.

note: i discovered this fic back in the pre-pandemic times of feb 2020 and i’ve read this fic TWICE since, leaving a lengthy comment each time. the poetry in the fic itself is stunningly gorgeous and i have a habit of reading it out loud to myself while reading bc it begs to be heard. this fic is seriously beautiful and makes me want to read all the poet!dean au’s out there in the world. unfortunately there aren’t that many so i just keep coming back to this well. i don’t think i can express enough how much i love this fic. 

lost time by ARCurren (105/105 | 350k+ | T)  bransonxsybil; AU: canon divergent; outsider POVs; original characters; slow burn

the story of a free spirit who was asked to give up the man she loved for a system she didn’t believe in and what happened next. AU after 3.04. 

note: did i think, when i stumbled across this fic years ago, that it would wind up being one of my all time favorites that i return to time and again to re-read? never. did i re-read it for like the dozenth time this year?? 110%. this fic is everything i want from fanfiction—it’s beautifully written, expands on canon, and shows me all the hidden moments the cameras never did (not to mention it’s historically accurate and delves deep into irish politics of the time). the first third or so of this fic is all about tom and sybil’s slow burn romance at downton, but the fic really bursts into its own when we follow the two to dublin and get introduced to all of the author’s deliciously detailed oc���s. heads up warning: this fic was never officially completed, though the final chapter is a beautifully written summary of the final arc of the fic. even so, it’s fucking worth it. 

misfire by mothlights & unpossible (6/6 | 28k+ | T) sterek; time travel; angst with a happy ending; alive hale family; magic; alternating POV

“the debt must be repaid,” she says, and it has the weight of a vow. the words resonate through him, ringing through his ribcage and the bones of his jaw, and stiles loses his breath and maybe his grip on reality because she draws herself upright and where there had once stood a supermodel-level MILK now there is galadriel’s much hotter older sister, a presence of unmistakable power in their ordinary, smells-vaguely-of-thai-takeout hallway. 

“oh shit,” stiles says. 

note: this fic is the first in the misfire ‘verse and i need you to understand that it literally broke me when i binge read these fics a month or so ago. i am a sucker for a solid time travel fic especially bc there are such few good ones in fandom. but this gets at the heart of it all by exploring the idea of stiles getting the chance to save derek’s family and taking it...after he and derek are romantically together in his true timeline and then actually dealing with the ramifications of how that alters everything and how stiles survives in this new present where he and derek are virtual strangers. everyone should definitely read this, but you should also know that i fucking sobbed while reading the sequel (which also has a happy ending, but really digs deep into the nitty gritty angst of the repercussions). 

map of the world by seperis (11/11 | 154k+ | M)  destiel; end!verse; alternate universe; canon divergent; original characters; slow burn

the world’s already over and they’re already dead. all they’re doing now is marking time until the end. 

note: look, if you don’t know about down to agincourt by @seperis, what are you doing with your life?? the series is over 1M+ words so far, the fic author is on book 4 out of a planned 8, and it’s fucking phenomenal. i know i’ve tagged a couple of these recs as slow burn but...this is the slowest slow burn to ever burn. canon!dean travels back into the end!verse timeline just as lucifer kills dean and somehow cas made it out alive and has to keep dean safe while he learns to become his end!verse counterpoint. the world building in this series is intense and i cannot recommend it enough. i’m still in the midst of my re-read bc it’s SUCH an endeavor but i highly recommend it to everybody. 

invictus by ellanasan (116/116 | 355+ | M) hayffie; au: alive abernathy family; pre-hunger games; canon prostitution; slow burn

“so then, before i can even think about doing something stupid like trying to stab him with his fucking golden paperknife, he gives me a choice, see?” haymitch continued, almost detached. “either i play nice like all the other victors or he’ll kill my family. i could either become his puppet—greatest punishment he could give me, according to him—or i could become the example.”

AU in which haymitch’s family lives.

note: hello, have you ever wondered what the hunger games series would be like if haymitch’s family were alive? i fucking hadn’t until 2 years ago when i stumbled across this fic and fell head over heels in love with this ship. @ellanainthetardis is my go to hunger games fic writer for anything exploring canon and i’m obsessed with anything she writes about the OG victors pre-canon (finnick, joanna, chaff, etc). this fic is just 300k+ exploring that world and all the intricate details of how cruel the games could really be. HIGHLY recommend. i definitely re-read it this fall when i needed a pick me up.

don’t know what i’m supposed to do (haunted by the ghost of you) by crazyassmurdererwall (1/1 | 30k+ | T) sterek; canon divergent; angst with a happy ending; ghosts; stiles POV

stiles sees dead people. yep. seriously.

(he’s got this. he’s totally got this. so what if one of them is derek’s mom?)

note: did you know that @crazyassmurdererwall is one of my all time favorite people? and that she’s wicked talented? and that in our spare time she’ll send me a billion fic ideas that are amazing and i get to hear all the intricate details of her plot bunnies? but i digress. this fic is one of my all time fave sterek fics i’ve re-read it sooo many times. there’s just something about the heartache and stiles’ insecurity and the way he tries to shoulder it all on his own. and then there’s alli’s brilliant writing, the way she weaves through a scene and paints a picture just so and manages to tug at your heart strings with her precise word choice. there’s some amazing world building in this fic as it explores this other facet of the supernatural that canon teen wolf never touched upon, and i’m so grateful for that bc alli is the only one who should be allowed to write about ghosts and teen wolf together. 

lagavulin and guinness by snarfle (10/10 | 163k+ | explicit) hartwin; slow burn; PTSD; suicidal thoughts; graphic depictions of violence; domestic abuse

plenty of people had looked down on eggsy throughout his life. he had gotten fairly used to it. didn’t mean it was fair, but he knew how these things worked. what really sucked was that the new arthur was worse than the old one.

“eggsy grimaced. he didn’t know how to explain to harry—who seemed like he hadn’t been discriminated against a day in his life—that the new arthur kept giving him what amounted to suicide missions, and that he was currently bleeding out in a warehouse because of the deliberately bad intel she had given him.”

also featuring: dean is harder to get rid of than eggsy thought, his mum is going off the deep end, there are way too many nefarious plots in play, and eggsy is really beginning to wish that harry would stop holding his hand and kiss him instead.

note: look, i know i recced this literally less than a week ago but i ALSO stayed up til 5AM re-reading this last night and it was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. i was on a bit of a kingsman kick earlier this year, so i’ve actually re-read this fic TWICE so far in 2020. i will give you a serious warning in that this fic delves deep into domestic abuse through the lens of a variety of different relationships. it also explores the potential for abuse in hartwin, bc this fic is one of the few that actually commits to the fact that they’re literal spies who murder people. actively. a lot. but seriously, this fic is one of my fave in the fandom and i STRONGLY recommend it. 

waste of breath by bryrosea (1/1 | 22k+ | M) loganxveronica; canon compliant; missing scenes; navy; past child abuse

logan echolls, the nine years, and the navy.

note: bryrosea has an obscene number of amazing logan and veronica fics (her canon divergent series stay with me is another i re-read this year), but i’ve found myself returning to this fic a lot over the years. i’m a sucker for canon compliant fics that explore the missing scenes in between canon and this fic hits all the right buttons by diving deep into how logan echolls went from being a trash fire at hearst college at the end of s3 to being a decorated navy pilot by the movie. it explores logan seeking out therapy and making a life for himself that he can be proud of, all while pining after the girl who got away. and bc this author is amazing, she followed it up with a sequel from veronica’s point of view in the series done by only me. 

the law of equivalent exchange by awed_frog (8/8 | 60k+ | M) destiel; POV castiel; pre-canon; post-canon; canon compliant; immortality; reincarnation

“and what’s the point of it?”

“of love? there isn’t one. loving is its own purpose.” 

note: i mean??? i don’t really know what to say except that this is one of the truly most beautiful fics i have ever read. it follows castiel through time as he meets different reincarnations of sam and dean across history and falls ever more deeply in love. it is achingly tender and so ecstatically written that i die just thinking about it. and that summary? i mean. holy fuck break my heart why don’t you? i don’t know how i missed out on this fic for so long since it was published in 2015 but i only learned about it for the first time back in july and it was. life changing?? when the fic finally reaches the canon timeline and he meets THIS dean it’s peak yearning. 10/10 will read again.

ahead in the count by elisela (17/17 | 50k+ | E) sterek; AU: sports; pitcher!stiles; teacher!derek; long distance relationship; getting together

“yankee fan,” derek says, laughing when stiles makes a disgusted face. “the bronx bombers, stiles, you can’t be a new yorker and—”

“stop talking right now,” stiles sighs, shaking his head. “i can’t believe i still want to kiss you after that,” he says, pulling derek in by his coat. “this is making me rethink everything.” 

“i’ll never watch them again,” derek promises, and stiles laughs against his mouth. 

or: stiles is a starting pitcher for the NY mets when he meets and falls in love with derek. derek doesn’t know. 

note: i read SO MANY of @elisela’s 911 fics this summer, which i loved, and then she got into teen wolf and started writing sterek and i just about died. this fic is amazing, one of my fave sterek AU’s that i’ve read in years. it’s just the right amount of drama and angst and fluff filled with all the joys of miscommunication and character relationships that makes reading sterek such a joy. reading this fic and finding out eli needed fic recs pushed me to dive back in to reading sterek fics for a bit this fall so i can say with the utmost authority that this is one of the best i’ve read in a long time. 

i used to think one day we’d tell the story of us by notequitegucci (2/2 | 32k+ | M) gendrya; alternate universe—modern setting; outsider POV; friends to lovers; friends to lovers

9 times a stark encounters gendry + 1 time he meets the starks.

note: again, this is the first in a 2 part series titled love me like you do that explores arya and gendry’s dynamics together through the point of view of her family. game of thrones ended last year with a whimper but i keep returning to the gendrya tag on ao3 to seek out new, amazing content and also to re-read some old favorites. i can’t remember if i came across this for the first time last year or this one, but i’ve read it and re-read it more times than i can count since and i love it more than i can describe. i’m a total sucker for outsider POV fics and my biggest pet peeve in canon is the fact that none of the stark’s ever found out that arya and gendry had a history together. this modern au fic almost makes up for it by giving me a gendry encounter with every family member and then the big reveal. it’s peak content. 

theeeeeeese recs got a little away from me. i wasn’t originally intending on adding lengthy notes to each entry but ... oh well!! these are all amazing so please enjoy. 

fanfic end of the year asks

[parsnipping]

Writing Meme!

Thank you to @emperorsvornskr for tagging me!

How many works do you have on ao3?

26 and counting

What’s your total ao3 word count?  

  65,824 not including my really old fics from 2013

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I’m not counting my really old fics. Drunk Suggestions make Good Kinks - 110 Hands Off Approach - 107 Head Empty, No Thoughts, Only Dick - 105 Only in Private - 98 Morning Routine - 87

Do you respond to comments; why or why not?  

I always respond. Comments on my work are the biggest thing that keep me going, and I want to interact with my readers and thank them for coming to enjoy my writing.

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

I don’t actually have any angsty endings in any of my current fics. Some of the really old ones I don’t usually count do, so if I were to include those, then  So I Can Keep You Safe since it’s literally just ALL angst and MCD.

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

Most of them end up happy and satisfied, but I think maybe the happiest one could be  Morning Routine simply bc of how fluffy it is.

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

I don’t actually write crossovers, and I have a hard time enjoying them (with certain exceptions). But I think they’re 100% valid and fun and I applaud people who can write them. 

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not to my face, from what I can recall. 

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?  

99% of my writing is smut. I do a lot of masc-on-masc writing, with trans men, masc-leaning nonbinary folks, and cis men. I do enjoy het-appearing as well as straight up het parings though, and I do have a WIP with a het pair. 

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, and I count myself lucky.

Have you ever had a fic translated?  

I’ve had it requested for one of my 2013 fics, but at the time I didn’t realize people had commented on the piece so I never got the chance to give them permission.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yep! Quite a few of my recent fics are rp logs, and I’m working on a large plot with some friends from a Discord server. 

What’s your all-time favourite ship?

I have a lot actually lol. Kylux, Zelgan, RenBen, Kyrenlux... 

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

Some of the rp logs I don’t think will ever be “finished”, but I would like to try to find a way to wrap them up. Otherwise I have a softdom Hux WIP that’s been sitting in my Google docs for MONTHS, totally untouched, and I really wish I could get the drive to finish it.

What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue. I LOVE writing banter, and I get a better sense of characterization from dialogue more than action. 

What are your writing weaknesses?

Inspiration, cohesiveness, sometimes I fear I have trouble with pacing or with wording things the way I want. I’ve started to ask for betas more often now, and they really help more than just me rereading my work 50 times and nitpicking at it.

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

I think it’s really neat. Personally I like it either with a translation, with context leaning towards the translation, or when the characters around the person speaking make a point about not understanding a word. I’m not really a fan of characters responding to other languages without providing some context or translation to what was said.

What was the first fandom you wrote fic for?

Transformers! But my fic writing really picked up with Star Wars and specifically Kylux.

What’s your favourite fic that you’ve written?

It’s a tie between  Devotion and Reverence and  Only in Private. Devotion because it was my first foray into a kink I thought I didn’t like, but with the tweaks I made to it I ended up really enjoying writing the fic. Only in Private is probably one of my best-planned pieces, and it’s my first reader fic, so I’m putting in a lot of effort and I’m really enjoying the results. Plus the feedback I’ve been getting on it is amazing.

Tagging: Idk who all has been tagged in this already since a lot of my friends here are mutuals, so anyone who sees this and hasn’t done it, I’m no-pressure tagging you!

[arofili]

fic writer tag game!!

i was tagged by @meztliel, thanks so much!!

AO3 name: starlightwalking

Fandoms: mostly Tolkien, my current main WIPs are Hobbit and LOTR fics, but i’m definitely mostly writing for the Silm these days, just lots of oneshots. i also dabble in Les Mis (at least once a year for Barricade Day!) and TAZ :)

Number of fics: 179??? how??? and i’m only gonna have more!! i’m not even done with B2MeM20 yet!!

Fic I spent the most time on: oh geez. that’s a tough one. this fic that i just posted, a Measse/Thuringwethil oneshot, i started in 2015?? but i left it sitting for 5 years, so i don’t think that counts. and i guess this drabble comp would be the next candidate, i started it in May 2016 and i last updated it in December 2019, but it’s...a drabble compilation, not an actual fic. so i think i actually spent the most time on my current WIPs, “Moonlight” and “Roads Go On,” both originally posted in May 2018 (jesus i was still in HIGH SCHOOL) and updated.....last year...... really i just haven’t had time to work on them, rip, though i think about them constantly. that’s what happens when you’re not in high school anymore i suppose....

Fic I spent the least time on: i mean, something from that drabble comp, probably. Or a B2MeM ficlet. probably this Glorfindel fic? I only remember writing it because I know it was written in a hurry at like 2am and my friend Moth @thishazeleyeddemon loved it and I was like “wow weird considering how little effort I put into it!”

Longest fic: Currently my post-BotFA Tauriel fic “Beneath the Stars” coming in at 49k! RGO and Moonlight both promise to be longer, but that would require me actually finishing either of them... but I love BtS so much that I’m glad it’s up there, it was a real labor of love <3

Shortest fic: “The Lay of Nienor” which I just wrote this past month! it’s only 238 words long - but it’s in verse, so that’s pretty respectable!

Most hits: My first BotFA fix it fic, “A Merrier Place,” with 5544 hits - to no one’s surprise by my chagrin. That was one of my first forays into Hobbit fic and I wrote it shortly after the movie came out, when people were most in need of a fix it AU. So I don’t blame them, really - but as I’m sort of setting out to rewrite my thoughts on what actually would’ve happened in an Everyone Lives AU in my current fic “Moonlight,” I wish people would pay more attention to that...

Most kudos: My TRSB19 Gigolas fic, “Love and Fear,” coming in with 155 kudos! this fic features art from @ginogollum and honestly, it deserves that love! (though, I think it does say a lot about what fandom wants that my only romo!gigolas fic has the most kudos of anything i’ve written, and all my qp!gigolas fics are much lower down the list... though perhaps I’m being unfair, considering my qp!Domadry fic “Wedding Blues” has the second-most kudos at 147.)

Most comment threads: My other TRSB19 fic, the Feanorian Redemption/Rebirth story “ATATYA” - that’s 71 comment threads and 147 total comments including replies!!! :) that makes me very very happy, because I wrote the 45,000 words of that fic in like...two weeks, about? it was INTENSE. and i’m very proud of that story, it’s got a lot of headcanons that I stand by, and I reference it frequently!

Most bookmarks: I added this category bc it felt weird it wasn’t here. Again, this prize goes to “Love and Fear” with 43 bookmarks!! woah :o second place is “A Merrier Place” with 35, and then the first fic I haven’t already mentioned is “The Naming Dame,” a HTTYD book fic with 30 bookmarks! I really should go back and update that fic, considering I wrote it before the last book came out and there’s new relevant information...

Total word count: I also added this one because I wanna brag!! I currently have 739,961 words archived on AO3 - holy shit!! adding the ~253k words I didn’t transfer over from FFN, that’s nearly a million words of fic! by the time i finish B2MeM I might push past that threshhold!!!!! that’s so exciting!!!! (fun fact about me: before Tolkien, my main fandom was...warrior cats...roughly 215k of that fic I left to gather dust on FFN is WC fic........)

Favourite fic I wrote: This isn’t fair, I can’t choose just one!! Ugh...well, if I must, I think it has to be “ATATYA”? This is subject to change, and “Beneath the Stars” is a close second, but “ATATYA” is my first real Silm longfic and I’m very proud of what I accomplished there, especially in such a short amount of time. Bonus: my favorite oneshot / favorite non-Tolkien fic is “and Love,” the aro Magnus fic I wrote for ASAW last year!

Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: I mean, I already talked about how “Moonlight” is kind of a rewrite of “A Merrier Place,” so...hm. Well, earlier today in an ask game I mentioned my fic “fell and fey” which is the Eol-living-in-a-fairy-tale fic I wrote just this past month. I started writing a longer, more poetic version of that fic that I’d like to return to and expand on someday, but I wanted to get that idea out of my head and B2MeM was a great excuse to do it, so I went with the shorter version instead - for now!

Share a bit of a WIP or a story idea you’re planning on:

I’ve got a couple WIPs right now... here’s a snippet of ch8 of “Roads Go On” (which i PROMISE i will have up soon...i know i’ve been saying that for more than year but i MEAN IT this time...)

“What do you mean we can’t take the freeway?” Boromir snapped.

“My way or the highway, he means,” Gimli quipped. “And, uh...not the highway, I guess.”

Mithrandir shot Gimli a withering glare. Though he only smiled, some part of him shriveled up inside. A wizard’s evil eye was nothing to mess with.

I think I’ve already shared that snippet in a different tag game, so here’s one more for the road - this one’s from “Cause and Consequence,” my Halenthir baby OC fic. This snippet comes from a chapter that won’t be out for awhile (and might undergo some serious revamping before then), and it’s set right after the Nirnaeth, with my OC (Ryndil) about to confront their dad.

“This is no place for mortals,” Maglor said flatly. “You do know who we are, don’t you, Rýndil of Brethil?”

A shiver ran down their spine. Seven tall elf-lords, gaunt and scarred and bloody in the aftermath of a disastrous battle. Maedhros, the eldest, was a shell of the glorious figure he’d been on the battlefield; they weren’t sure if he was even awake, his eyes were so glassy and unfocused. Grief, they supposed. They’d heard the rumors about him and the High King, after all.

Maglor, leading in his place, trembling despite the firmness in his golden voice. Celegorm, bitter and angry and mean despite his fair features. Curufin, his dark shadow, flint in his eyes and venom on his tongue. Amrod and Amras, mirroring each other in their distrustful glares. And yet despite the blood and dirt and pain, a light shone from each of them. These were men to be feared, men to be worshipped.

And then there was him. Caranthir the Dark. Rýndil’s father, the blood flowing through their veins, the reason they were here in the first place. Gaunt and red-faced, the weary host of his defeated brothers, he had scarcely stopped moving about and making room for them since they arrived.

As much as Rýndil was of the Haladin, as much as they were the child of Haleth, they were bound to this family and people also.

there’s a lot of grief-stricken angry feanorian banter that comes after this (including some Maedhros characterization that i’m Very Proud Of), and honestly? i might just go ahead and post the whole excerpt if anyone wants to read it (it’s about 1.3k words) since I’m fairly sure I will be changing a lot of it anyway, even if it’s only for tone.

~

looking at these stats, i’m both kind of sad and kind of proud. like, i’m proud of myself for what i’ve written, and proud of the relationships i’ve forged with readers and writers on AO3, but i know lots and lots of folks who have waaayyy higher stats than me. i know considering i write a lot of gen and aro fic that i’ll never be a Big Name Fan, but that doesn’t stop me from being jealous... sigh...

anyway, this was very very fun!!! i tag @buffintruder @himrings @mushroomwriter @zealouswerewolfcollector @hennethgalad @absynthe--minded @stormxpadme @morifiinwe @raisingcain-onceagain annnd any other writer who sees this and wants to do it!! no pressure of course, only do it if you want to :)

(and LMK in replies if you’re interested in seeing more of that Ryndil snippet!!)

[dylanobrienisbatman]

author tags

tagged by @thelittlefanpire​ and @the-most-beautiful-broom​, who i love dearly and am constantly inspired by <3 

Fandoms You Write for: the 100, Skam Italia, a couple Game of Thrones fics, and i’ve got plans to write for The Magician’s in the future if i can get a little inspiration going 

Where you post: AO3

Most popular one shot: I just need some company Modern AU Bellarke smut, in my brief foray in writing straight up E rated bellarke smut. I rather like it, tbh. 

Most popular Multi-Chapter: I wish I had known what we’d grow into Modern AU childhood friends to lovers fic? I honestly don’t even know where I was planning to take this story anymore, and it was SO far down on my stats page for hits. Multi chapter fics are not my thing at all. 

Favorite story you wrote: This question is kind of weird because I have a few? I am always ridiculously proud of my memori Bonnie and Clyde AU, To Few it’ll be grief, to the law relief, I think one of my best fics is my Becho Coffeeshop/Werewolf fic from round 1 of chopped last year, for who could ever learn to love a beast, but my Becho To All The Boys fic, I’d Stay For A Long Time ‘cause, I Like Me Better When, is the fic i think i’m the most proud of and i enjoy the most? its my longest fic, and when i started writing it it was the first becho fic i’d ever written and it just flowed out and was so fun to write. I also really love my Gendrya fic, The Loneliest Lord In Westeros, it was the first fic i wrote for GoT and it was so well received, and i’m so happy with it. Thats such a cop out answer but i don’t care. 

Story you were nervous to post: And she said use your hands in my spare time, my first ever full on smut fic, usually i would write around the smut, keeping my fics pg 13, but i really pushed myself to write a pretty lengthy smut fic and i was pretty pleased with it in the end, but when i was about to post i felt SO awkward and weird? just because i had no idea if it was any good

How do you choose your titles: Mostly song titles, but sometimes i’ll come up with them on my own, from a line in my fic or something. 

Do you outline: When i’m taking on a longer fic i try to, but usually not. 

Complete number of stories: SIXTY! 60! Ten 6′s! Six 10′s!!!! I honestly can’t believe that. 

In progress: Becho soulmate reincarnation AU, a sansa/meera fic that i love, a bellamy/gaia fic that i haven’t posted for yet but i really like, and there are four chopped rounds starting TOMORROW that i might be writing for, but we shall see! 

Do you accept prompts: I do, but i usually end up not finishing them, and i am not super good at filling prompts because it comes from inspiration outside of my own brain and i have a hard time getting into prompt fics. I do enjoy getting them because sometimes they spark something though

Upcoming Story you are most excited about: Whenever i get around to finishing that sansa/meera fic, and im hoping that i find a way to finish out the bellaia fic sometime soon because its actually really good. 

Linds posted the paragraph below and I just needed to keep it because i feel the same way. Thanks to everyone who reads my fics, comments, gives kudos, reblogs anything i write, and more. I honestly can’t believe people actually engage with my writing and enjoy it, and im so thankful <3 

I never would’ve thought I’d be here, with hundreds of people reading a word I wrote, much less stories. I know it can be hard in fandom to feel like you only have a set number of people that read your work, or that care, but I promise fic writing is a place where relativity is just stupid. Your work is good bc it’s good, independent of anyone else’s fic, your stats, or theirs. To all the people I’m tagging, thanks for reading mine, and letting me read yours ���️

Tagging: @probably-voldemort @raven-reyes-of-sunshine @kindclaws @pawprinterfanfic and anyone else who wants to participate! i never know peoples tumblrs if i read your fics on AO3, but i love you all <3 

[queen-scribbles]

Adi: Strawberry, Apricot, Sky, Periwinkle, Lavender? Tavi: Peach, Lime, Fuschia, Bubblegum? Charity: Strawberry, Starlight, Fuschia, Rose? Khellin: Scarlet, Mint, Cyan, Lavender?

ADI

Strawberry: What does your oc look for in a close friend?

Similar interests, fun to spend time with, good person, usually outgoing but that one’s not a requirement(she and Aloth get along really well)… Really, she could be friends with just about anyone who isn’t, like, a vile heartless monster. She’s really outgoing and open-minded.Apricot: How does your oc feel about stuffed animals? 

She may still have several from her childhood sitting on her bed back in Ixamitl that she still loves very much. Maybe. It’s just possible.Sky: What’s the best dream your oc’s ever had? Did they tell anyone about it?  

She was in an unending library and had literally forever to read as much as she wanted. There were several thought-lost/destroyed historical texts in there, along with whole volumes on languages and cultures that had died out before her grandparents were born. Also, a teapot that was always full of her favorite apple spice tea. I’m pretty sure that’s one she would have told Lottie about, since Lottie’s one of the few who would appreciate it as much as she did ;)

Periwinkle: What’s your oc’s dream job? Do they have any chance of achieving it? 

Dream job would be researcher or historian who travels around investigating various ‘local legend’ type phenomena, to see how real they are and what the story is behind them(probably with Kana as her assistant. For reaching tall stuff.) To an extent she does that during the game events? So I guess her odds are decent. And that’s pretty much what she would do in a world where she didn’t always stick around to play Roadwarden.

Lavender: What outfit is your oc least likely to wear? How many layers do they need to feel comfortable? 

Something ugly. She likes cute clothes and won’t apologize for that. xD BLame her father being a tailor or whatever you want, she much prefers things in complementary colors that look good over “”””functional”””. Other people can do as they wish, but cute is a high priority for her. And one layer is usually good, unless it’s really cold.

TAVI

Peach: What’s your oc’s comfort outfit? 

Bare feet, comfy pants, shirt with the sleeves hacked cut offLime: What’s your oc’s comfort zone with physical affection? 

She needs a good bit of space at first as she warms up to you, but once she gets there, pretty much anything goes. Holding hands, snuggling,standing close enough to touch, cuddling while you sleep etc etc

Fuschia: What does it take to make your oc really blush? 

Oh, it takes alot(h) *cough* A lot. (sorry, I made the typo and couldn’t resist bc it’s mostly true :P) Tavi’s usually pretty open and upfront about what she wants and has almost too much self-confidence, so she’s really, really, REALLY hard to embarrass(a fact which frustrates Khellin to no end when they’re kids) She does get a little shy and blushy with a certain wizard during the mutual pining stage, but she’s not ashamed of or embarrassed by hardly anything regarding her love/sex life(or really lack thereof on the latter–she and Aloth are romantically involved but they don’t Sleep Together until Deadfire)

Bubblegum: Describe your oc’s ideal aesthetic bedroom setup in as much detail as you want. 

OOH. Big, comfy bed with the quilt her grandmother made for her(one of the only possessions she lost in the fire that she genuinely misses; it was really soft and comfortable), a spot to keep her weapons and armor, worktable along one wall for the whittling(yes, she wants that in her bedroom. Fight her). Two windows for sunlight, but they have to creak so if anyone tries sneaking in that way she’ll hear them. Ditto for the door; it has to be creaky. At least half a wall of bookshelves + a good-sized desk for Aloth(bc her dream bedroom is theirs, not hers. join me in having emotions). The walls are probably either teal or sunflower yellow, depending on how big the room is and how much light it gets. Fireplace with a couple chairs and a loveseat. She would probably only have one medium-sized armoire for her clothes; she doesn’t have a lot.

CHARITY

Strawberry: What does your oc look for in a close friend?

Good heart, animal lover, easy-going, enjoys spending time together but not clingyStarlight: Would your oc decorate with fairy lights or tiki torches? Why? 

Probably fairy lights. She’s more into the natural aesthetic of them looking like stars while also feeling sort of magical.Fuschia: What does it take to make your oc really blush? 

Now? Getting caught in a really blatant, passionate PDA with her very-nearly-almost husband(i need to write their wedding, I really do). Previously, Edér vague-flirting with her would do it, as would anyone hinting at there being more to their relationship than Fake Courtship.Rose: What’s something your oc wishes they could forget? Is it a bad memory dulled by time, or a happy memory tainted by it? 

Her sister dying. She doesn’t want to forget her sister, but the circumstances of her death were very painful for Charity(her sister caught that vorlas farmer illness that went through Readceras, Charity was… fourteenish at the time and still only an apprentice healer, but she was the best they had and she tried everything but her sister still died), and if she could lose the memory of that utter helplessness that would be nice.

KHELLIN

Scarlet: What’s your ocs’s love life like? 

Bold of you to assume he has one. :P I kid. He’s a very quiet, insular person, so he definitely has to have a good rapport with someone before he even starts thinking about them romantically. He’s maybe danced around the edges of something with a couple girls in the Living Lands, but he’s like the definition of that quote about prospective partners having to compete with his solitude rather than another person, so nothing every came of those(And real talk, with my love of the Uptight Loves Wild trope, I’m seriously tempted to change my plans and have him fall for Xoti instead of Maia *cough* ). He doesn’t actually have any love life to speak of prior to Deadfire.Mint: Would your oc ever plant a garden? If so, flowers or veggies? Would the garden flourish or die? 

He… might? It’s not outside the realm of possibility. He is an outdoorsy type, but it’s more the hunting/exploring outdoorsy type. If he did it would be veggies, bc he’s a very practical person. It would probably do alright, assuming the weather didn’t get too crazy and animals stayed away.Cyan: Has your oc ever traveled? Do they like to relax or plan out their vacation days down to the hour? 

Sort of? The move from Old Vailia to the Living Lands wasn’t exactly by choice, but I doubt he would have stayed, with all the memories and someone clearly out for his family’s blood. In Tavi’s canon, he’s pretty content to stay in tLL and just go on forays into the wilderness there; there’s definitely plenty to do and see. In his own canon, he does get a bit of wanderlust, hence traveling with Odema’s caravan. He doesn’t really plan it out, though. He’s figuring he’ll see what things are like in this Gilded Vale place, but probably move on rather than hang aroiund.Lavender: What outfit is your oc least likely to wear? How many layers do they need to feel comfortable? 

Ostentatious formal clothes. He’s much more comfortable in a simple shirt and trousers, or the hide and fur armor he wears to hunt. There’s no appeal in clothes that feel like you can’t move for fear of getting them dirty.

[jade-of-mourning]

so now that i’ve posted set the sails and school’s out, i want to lay out a List Of (Possibly) Feasible Fanfiction Goals for before the end of the summer — early august, that is, or Two Full Months —, considering that i probably won’t really get to write much at all afterwards. also from hereon out i plan to say Fuck Keeping A Nice Looking Blog so.

[- is higher, ~ is lower on the goal list]

atla

- finish chapters 8/9/10 of issalam. top priority, but few enough words that i’ll probably take my sweet time and let myself work on other things. has a general sense of direction so far and some parts outlined!

- the last two parts of assassin!zuko. i’ve got outlines, haven’t really worked on them since january, but now that i’m cutting back the other fic’s grind i want to work on them! not sure which will come first, though.

~ that one qpr maiko oneshot with a side servings of knives, ace!zuko and druk i chugged out a while back. i’m just a sucker for their post-canon emo kid dynamic and mai being druk’s favorite person okay

~ fun times with mako? specifically, with his new mom. sorry but he accidentally became my favorite from lok through nothing more than ao3 itself <3

~ i have more small things but they’re not really high on my list tbh. don’t think we’ll ever see learning life’s (un)lyrical lessons unfortunately :(

& definitely not atla

- vying for the broken crown (ranger’s apprentice), my first actual foray into fandom fanfiction. (it was terrible shh.) featuring deaf!caitlyn, halt and ferris having Not So Fun Times and lutes

~ the second part to 738 minutes (infinity train), i’d love to shake that out of my brain’s dumb word machine. it’s now about ryan’s perpetual case of Lacking In Familial Love <3

~ really want to write a short tdp/atla oneshot crossover if i’m being honest lol bc there is NO CONTENT even after the perfect setup of reincarnation. i finally rewatched tdp after almost two years!

i don’t have too many goals aside from that, but i’ll write as inspiration goes bam wham thwonk! okay now that i realize how short the summer actually is idk how many of these i’ll actually get to, but i’m going to fucking try until my corpse has burned down to the last ashes and i have no more words inside my dead, dead shriveled fruit body. link for any published progress <3

[everybodyknows-everybodydies]

hoh my gosh I just realized Knight tagged me in a thing literally over an entire month ago and I never did it bc I’m a moron so uhh here we go I guess

LAST LINE MEME

last lines of 5 of your fics (favorite/most recent/whatever) & tag 5 writers

1. Ami sat down again, not really knowing what she meant and not liking the feeling, and took the brush. -look at me i’m a sea (the summary I have on AO3 is just “in which Michiru is enigmatic and Ami overthinks things - so really, business as usual” and that’s... pretty much it tbh. EXCEPT IT’S NOT A SHIPPY THING IT IS NOT ROMANTIC I SAID SO IN THE TAGS BUT I THINK I STILL ACCIDENTALLY MISLED SOMEONE WHO COMMENTED ON IT AND I FEEL REALLY BAD SO IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR HOT WATER LESBIAN ACTION THAT’S NOT WHAT THIS IS AT ALL YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED)

2. “It doesn’t matter. Are you going to help, or did you really want me to go fetch my new trowel?” -many years from forgetting (a drabble prompt from that one time you guys gave me prompts and I spit out drabbles all night - I REALLY liked this one but it’s also laced with undertones of “Mouse doesn’t really agree with a lot of popular fanon views of characters” so take that as you will :’) )

3. Usagi looked up at the frantic sound of bells, and she went to talk to her mother. -Across the Western Ocean I Must Wander (MAKOAMI PIRATE AU, AKA ONE OF THE MOST SELF-INDULGENT THINGS EVER and also both my first foray into SM fic and first actual long fic in... many years. seriously. I am both proud of and embarrassed by it RIP. honestly I would do a whoooole lot differently if I were writing it now but since it was a good fun project that kept me enthusiastic and happy about my own stuff for ~4 months total and I was/am a Mess in the throes of The Disorder I won’t fault past me for being wobbly in places even though I’m never rereading the first like two chapters ever again bc I just scream internally the whole time)

4. Moonlight crept over the floor by her window, and the Lady Amalthea slept and dreamed and drowned whatever her mind might have conjured in a unicorn’s memories, and there was nothing else. -the prison of my person, the shackles of my skin (TLU fic exploring the divide between the unicorn and Amalthea, largely introspective; kind of old but I think it’s held up pretty well personally)

5. Mako turned around. -every now and then I fall apart (another thing from the drabble prompts which makes me LAUGH HYSTERICALLY every time I think about it because. gosh dang. what a MYSTERIOUS anon. I listened to so many covers of Total Eclipse of the Heart to find one that made me go “yes, this is how Rei and Mina would sing this at Usagi and Mamoru’s wedding, perfect” and I can’t even regret it, they were all amazing and I did in fact find that perfect one.)

TAGGING SOME PEOPLE WHO I KNOW WRITE THINGS (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER) usual disclaimers of “don’t feel obligated” apply as always: @the-ships-to-rule-them-all (you can do original stuff too if you want!!! :D), @brideoffunkenstein, @misscorday, @onaperduamedee (I think it’s been a while since you three posted writing but what you write is TOP QUALITY good stuff good stuff), @paksenarrion-reader (aslfhoweifh I think you only know me from my art blog (wouldntyoulichentoknow) I apologize if the random tag is alarming I JUST LOVE YOUR WRITING)

[shakesonaplane]

Mad Times in MAD City: Drinking our way through Madrid

Hola everyone! Today we’re going to learn a lesson: how to “drink” a city. For those of you who know me, you’re aware that my side-hustle of a bartender makes me keen to explore the alcohol and cocktails of a city when I visit it. Whenever I visit a city, I aim to find the cool drinking spots in addition to searching for the culture and local flavors. So, when my brother recommended we visit Madrid after his work trip in Europe, you had better believe I saw an opportunity to “drink” a city. Now, whilst I know that phrase sounds really odd, and even potentially gross, rest assured nothing out of the ordinary happened on this trip. Well, by out of the ordinary I mean potentially illegal, bc a lot of things you can get up to in Madrid might seem a bit different to the average person. If at this point, you need a definition of what “drink” a city means, please go pour yourself a cup of something strong, finish it, pour another cup, and read on…

Something tells me Fidel’s Rum might just be superior but also comes with a hangover that would rival Cuban Communism

But, before we start, a quick lesson. I know that in most of the world, when we think of tapas, we think of small, shared plates. A classic restaurant experience where we order a couple things to share and then have a nice meal and maybe a drink or two. Fun fact for you: that is not what tapas really is. I learned this lesson when I first visited Barcelona in 2014 with someone who had lived there in college: tapas is really just an excuse to drink. As one of the many stories go, bartenders in Spain (some say Seville) started putting saucers and breads on top of their customers opens glasses to keep the flies out. Upon doing so, they realized that customers would come back if they offered some small bites like olives or cheese, hence Tapas (which literally means “on top”) was born. (By the way, there are a myriad of stories on how Tapas started, I just chose that one…though without fail they all seem to center around drinking). So, if you go out in Spain now, just know that Tapas are a thing to do alongside drinks and not just a quiet endeavor to eat some food. If you don’t order a drink and don’t seem to have one, I can attest that you will get a quizzical look from the local spots we tried. Recommended Tapas by yours truly were found in La Latina district called Txacolina and Casa Lucas.

I summoned my greatest willpower and only chose a few dishes here instead of my first inclination which was to ask for one of everything

I don’t often talk in too much detail on the drinks I personally consumed bc I realize everyone’s tastes are quite different and, as a person who enjoys all flavors (read: drinks too much), you can find some fun anywhere. Just note this: if you’re Tapas-ing (new word?) during the early afternoon, chances are you’ll have to taste the Spanish Vermouth, by far one of the easier Vermouths I’ve had to drink. We looked around quite a bit when we ordered a beer at this hour and noticed several of these martini glasses full of a wondrous concoction. Upon the realization that it was Vermouth, we quickly ordered our next round of this soul-clarifying elixir and briefly thanked the fermentation gods for such a lovely creation. Quick Shakesonaplane rule of thumb for drinking Madrid: If it’s sunny, vermouth or white wine…if it’s just after dark, beer, red wine or a cocktail…and if the sun is about to rise, liquor, water, and prayer (you’ll understand what I mean by that in a moment).

Example of Tapas and Nishu trying to show off the above mentioned “quizzical look”

Don’t fret, though…we didn’t spend this entire weekend drinking, though the option was certainly presented to us. We did try to find some time to experience the culture of Madrid as well as the amazing art and sights the city has to offer. And by culture, obviously, I meant finding a bar playing the Real Madrid match. Surprisingly difficult to do, Aakash (a fellow US traveler who joined our trip) and I found that not all bars will show the games, perhaps bc of the rowdiness than can follow. So, whilst Nishu and Anu (our final travel companion) were siesta-ing, Aakash and I found an Irish pub (go figure) to watch the Real Madrid match. While it is always a pleasure to watch football in España, I must say I would’ve preferred being at the match itself. But beggars can’t be choosers, so we endured.

Post siesta fun at just another local watering hole…still not sure if Spanish people do anything but drink all the time and I don’t mind at all

Perhaps the highlight of our cultural tour of Madrid was not related to drinking at all, but instead a walk through the Cubist  section of the Reina Sofia musuem and a long, wonderful stare at Guernica, perhaps Pablo Picasso’s most famous piece of art. A massive drawing that takes walking across to really appreciate, Guernica is what a non-art-aficionado (like me) would call “pretty amazing”. The Reina Sofia has a multitude of really wonderful art to take in, so if you’re around in Madrid and have some hours to kill between drinks, I’d recommend a stopover before or during siesta time. The queue outside the Reina Sofia grew immensely when we left it, bc the evening seems to be a hot time to visit on the weekends, so plan accordingly. 

You can’t take photos of Guernica, so apologies for the stock photography, but even looking at it again as I write his brings back a whirlwind of questions and emotions.

By now you must be wondering, well, hey, where’d all the drinking go? And you know what, so were we.  So with our sleuthing hats on, we endeavored to find something tasty by way of cocktails in various areas. Being that I’m turning into a cocktail snob, the goal was to find really unique drinks in the coolest locations and best designed bars. Let me say this, Madrid did not disappoint. I’ve started to notice that Spanish cocktails are amongst the best mixed drinks I’ve had in many European spots. We delved into all manner of drinks across a few trendy cocktail bars, but if I had to recommend some I would point you to Salmon Guru and 1862 Dry Bar for the best fancy cocktails I had there. Be warned, these drinks are not for the light-hearted, so if you’ve felt toasty just reading my escapades in the past (or you’re not even close to done with that 2nd drink I told you to get), then exercise a bit of caution. That doesn’t mean skip it, that just means order yourself a glass of water as a chaser

Yes that’s a chili in my drink, yes it was spicy, yes it tasted like home

For our final foray into drinking away our time in Madrid, we ventured a place that has only been described to me as “don’t go before 3am”. So you can imagine my surprise when we rocked up at 3am and saw what was probably the largest center-of-city night club I’d ever seen. For those who aren’t familiar with the Spanish clubbing style, Kapital is the kind of place that doesn’t even open till midnight. And then you can venture across several floors of people, music types, people, drinks, people and oh did I mention people? Couple up Aakash, Nishu, and Anu and this nightclub and basically I knew that breakfast was going to be drunk food and that was that (which turned out to be Mexican tacos, somehow). I have to say, this was a pretty enjoyable clubbing experience, and I don’t often say that as I get older and the grey in my beard starts to win over the black. But hey, if I could handle myself till 7am with the best of them, then surely I can’t be that old (he said while sadly remembering his hangover).

I would describe what is going on in this picture, but let’s be honest, you don’t really want to know

So there you have it! A crazy weekend in Madrid that ended with me waking up after 1hr of sleep and heading to the airport for a flight back to London. To say I was tired the next day is an understatement. I even got yelled at by a woman at the lounge in MAD airport for opportunistically taking a cold shower there…unless I was so out of it that I didn’t realize I was hallucinating! I also realize after reading through this that there are a ton of dark, dank, and rather hilarious photos we took. Rest assured, we did see sunlight whilst here, and I do need to make a trip back to explore the other important sights of Madrid :)

As always, here are some photos from our trip there and a map to guide you along your way when venturing through this city, drunk or not:

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Hasta luego! Abhishek