#this wip is my greatest achievement honestly

[rita-rae-siller]

Okay this is an absurdly specific ask for Storyteller Saturday....what is one wip outside of your posted/main one you'd like to talk about? Or alternatively, what is something within your main wip you want somebody to give you an excuse to talk about?

Feel free to answer either or both!

Oooooo, I’ve been looking for an excuse to rave about my vampire WIP!!!

So this is my longest story. The Price of Blood currently sits at over 120k words in draft 1. Almost 30 chapters. I took a break from working on draft 2 to work on The Lies They Tell during a fiction writing workshop I took in the spring semester at school.

It’s my other queer fantasy novel, featuring one very tall princess (Her name is incredibly long, but she goes by her first middle name, Victoria) that’s abducted by a vampire cult to harbor the soul of the God of Shadows and Subterfuge, AKA the vampire anti-christ. Her entire homeland Halaafin, ruled by the Halaa—sort of half elves basically? They’re one of the only people in this world that have magic. Pure humans can’t use magic—is overrun by this cult and basically destroyed. She makes a bargain with a spider witch that's also been betrayed by the cult to save her life and that of her unborn child. The ritual to summon the vampire anti-christ is sabotaged, but the vampires don’t know it. She manages to escape not long after.

Queue 15 years of living alone with her son in the middle of the woods of the neighboring empire until he’s old enough to help her fight the vampires and retake their kingdom. But things don’t go according to plan. The spider witch tells her she has to get a jump on their plans to destroy the cult early, before her son is ready by Victoria's standards. Queue her teaching her son a lot about his history and also her running into her childhood best friend/almost lover, a duchess in the empire that serves the empress as a professional monster hunter. The two reconnect to fight the cult, fall back in love with one another, and also work on healing from the trauma of losing their families to the cult. It's a very gay story full of angst, dry humor, and lots of dead vampires. Also stresses the importance of family and loved ones in the healing process, and how grieving is inherently ugly. (I wrote a lot of this WIP while my own grandmother was dying, so loss is a big theme in it, as well as love continuing after death)

Also guns. Victoria has been removed from modern society for almost twenty years, so when she comes back to civilization, she's introduced to more modern monster hunting equipment used by non-magic people. And let me tell you: nothing makes this giant bisexual disaster happier than getting to shoot vampires and monsters in the head point blank with a revolver.

[carry-the-sky]

saw this fanfic writer interview by @cheeseplants floating around, hope it's okay that i'm jumping on the bandwagon! 👉👈

What fandoms do you write in?

good omens currently, but i have approximately nine million hellcheer wips collecting dust on my google drive 😭

How many words have you published in 2024?

~25k!

What is your greatest achievement this year?

i'm honestly not sure i accomplished much writing-wise this year 😅 i did join my first ever bang, and i'm nearly finished with the fic for that event (a before sunrise au, if that's anyone's jam), so i'll probably feel more like i actually Did The Thing once that's complete!

What are your top three fics you’ve written this year?

aside from my bang fic, i'm quite proud of the post-s2 one shot i wrote for the good omens song/poetry exchange, till forever falls ♡

What was your biggest pit of despair moment?

i had perhaps the worst bout of writer's block i've ever had this past summer, and at one point i was genuinely like alright. this is it, i actually don't know how to write anymore. but we made it through!

What have you learned?

not writing can actually be the best way to write. i'm such a slowpoke and i'm always feeling pressure to be productive so that i can get a good grade in being 'relevant in fandom'. which is silly! i'm aware!! but i'm trying to give myself grace and step away when it starts to feel like a chore rather than something joyful. even if that means it takes me eight months to write a 15k one shot, oop.

Did you beta any fics? Any favs you want to shout out?

i've learned that i'm a much better cheer reader than i am a beta. i'm useless with actual writing advice, but if you need someone to keyboard smash and/or shower you with love, i'm your gal.

What three fics have you read this year that you love?

Good Neighbours, Good Fences (and Other Misunderstandings), probably my favorite gomens human au

the stolen hearts of things, my dear @ninzied's firstprince heist au that lives rent free in my head

the space we'll fill with time, an incredible little fic by @garglyswoof that alters my brain chemistry every time i read it

What ideas are percolating for next year?

two semi-coherent gomens wips which i've been picking away at for over a year: a final fifteen time loop (don't boo me i have a VISION) and a 5+1 picnic fic. i would also LOVE to finish my kanthony soulmate au, lol.

Who do you want to thank?

honestly anyone who took a chance on my gomens stuff this year. i’m still a relative newbie in the fandom and it feels a bit like slinging words into the void sometimes, but i really appreciate the interactions i’ve had. ♡

tagging! (no pressure) @redbelles, @majicmarker, @ninzied, @possibility-left, @justhere4thevibez,

@ejunkiet, @evilbunnyking and anyone else who wants to play :)

[gaiaseyes451]

2024 Fic Roundup / AO3 Ask Game

Oi, so many tags! Thank you @nosferatini, @kotias and @cheeseplants!

What fandoms do you write in?

Good Omens

How many words have you published in 2024?

Not including collaborative works: 129,329. Good grief, that feels like a lot.

What is your greatest achievement this year?

Honestly, I'm proud of myself for writing to deadlines this year. A lot of my writing was for events and I'm always terrified I won't make it but I did! I also art'd for the first time for @the-literal-kj

What are your favourite top three fics you've written this year?

Ostinato - Pianist Crowley summons Aziraphale back from Heaven. This let me lean into my pianist background, I loved writing this for the High Pollen Count event.

Breathless - The breath play kink fic that was never planned but @sixbynine-da demanded. I've never had a scene flow out of me like this and it isn't angst!

A Little Life - My first long fic. Folks say it's sad and it is, but to me it also... isn't... Forever indebted to @fuzzygoblin for the music prompt for the Good Omens Song and Poetry exchange and for gamely agreeing despite all the trigger warnings (before they knew it was me writing it). <3

What was your biggest pit of despair moment?

Truthfully, I'm in my lowest point of the year right now. Haven't written a word since finishing Breathless. But I've got amazing friends in this community who have my back. I'll be okay.

What have you learned?

Tell the story you want to tell. Better to write for yourself and the handful of people the story will resonate with than to force a story you think will appeal to the masses. If it's pulling at you, it's pulling for a reason.

Reach out to your idols, I've yet to find one of the people I perceive as BNF's to be anything but kind and encouraging.

I'm pretty sure I can HTML just about anything with a general guide now.

What fic did you want to do but never made it off the ground?

I still have a roughly 20k draft of 1941 that I wanted to finish. It needs to be rewritten, but I will finish it.

Did you beta any fics? Any favs you want to shout out?

I beta for a lot of folks! I'm going to miss people, I'm so sorry. @adverbian's Is This Desire?

@kneelbeforeyourdogbabylon's Sins of Knowledge

@sixbynine-da's A Tricky Situation

@spectrallydistracted's If I Loved You Less ... We Could Have Coffee

Most everything by @the-literal-kj and @hakunahistata but particularly KJ's Show the Way and Haku's 21 Grams

What three fics have you read this year that you love?

Someone is Calling Him Shorewards by @harlotofupdog - The first fic that made me break my "I don't read WIPs" rule. Gorgeous and atmospheric and sexy and heartwrenching and mysterious. I don't know how I got the title of angst queen in our little group when Harlot wrote Shorewards.

Quite Contrary by @gingiekittycat - Poor Gingie has listened to me write honest to someone literary analysis of this fic as well as beg for multiple historical prequels. This one lives rent free in my head and will for a long time.

Play for Me the Music of Your Heart by @leviosally - There is one chapter left to go that I (and everyone else) am waiting for with baited breath, but now is a perfect time to start a read if you haven't yet. This is, in my opinion, the quintessential musician AU written by someone with a deep love and understanding of music. Spellbinding.

What ideas are percolating for next year?

@the-literal-kj and I are already working on our Heaven before the Fall story that we've been calling Bitter Things! The other big fic I'd like to get out is a Human AU where Peter Pan collides with Peaky Blinders. And, in January, expect.... wait for it... fluff

Who do you want to thank?

@hakunahistata, @the-literal-kj and @adverbian - You three cheer and challenge and cackle and cry and you make things better, both my writing and my day to day life. I'm grateful for you as beta's and I'm humbled to call you my friends.

@kneelbeforeyourdogbabylon, @dbacklot99 and @sixbynine-da - Y'all are the first real collaborators I've worked with on an as of yet unspoken project. I have so enjoyed working with you three and also becoming friends! Thank you for the randomness and the wonderful angst spirals and that utterly AMAZING Lucicrow birthday gift - Changing Keys

@goodomensafterdark community and all the wonderful folks who are following me here or have taken the time to kudos and/or comment on my work. Seeing what y'all create and hearing from you brightens my day immensely! I'm so grateful for this amazing, welcoming, exuberant fandom!

No pressure tags: I have no idea who hasn't been tagged yet, if you're mentioned above please take it as a tag. If you see this and want to play, please do and tag me!

[lavendermoonlitskies]

2024 Fic Roundup

Thanks @bellisima-writes for the tag!

What fandoms do you write for?

Only Good Omens. I can’t explain why but that show has been the only one that has ever inspired me this much.

How many words have you published in 2024?

Oh wow I just checked and I guess that would be 41,513 in total 🙈

What is your greatest achievement this year?

I was pretty proud of Dream A Little Dream of Me when I finished that, but now I guess I’d say that my greatest achievement is not giving up on a story I believe in (current WIP) despite everything that has happened in the fandom as well as in my personal life. I don’t expect it to reach “fandom classic” status, it’s probably going to end up flying somewhat under the radar, but that’s okay. I don’t need a lot of attention as some sort of “reward” for my hard work, I just want to write.

What are your top 3 favorite fics you wrote this year?

The Road Less Traveled (WIP)

Rating: unrated

Word count (current): 12,143

The road is Crowley’s only friend in the wake of Aziraphale’s departure. Endless landscapes, filled with the memories of a simpler time, becoming nothing more than a blur as the demon drove impossibly fast to avoid even a glance in its direction.

Maybe he’s running from his past, but is it truly possible to run forever?

It’s A Big, Lonely Universe Out There

Rating: Mature

Word count: 5,618

Crowley softened, watching Aziraphale’s terrified eyes imagine the lonely existence he was dangerously close to. He began to feel the drafty air in Heaven that was just a little bit too cold, a headache forming from the blinding white that covered every inch of that space. The looming threat of being tossed into the fiery pits of Hell over the tiniest hint of disobedience, with nobody there to come to his rescue. The cold stares of his colleagues, each and every one of them glaring at him with disdain and disapproval over the blasphemous ways in which he’d chosen to spend his time on earth. It was cold, so cold.

“Please don’t leave me alone.”

***

It's 1941 in London, England, and Aziraphale & Crowley have had a very eventful evening. The night is almost over when they're sat in the middle of a dimly-lit bookshop, wine glasses in hand. Things may start to go awry when they get a little too drunk, and start admitting things they probably shouldn't.

Find Me In Your Dreams, My Dear/Le Chant du Rossignol (Song of the Nightingale)

Parts 1 and 4 of Dream A Little Dream of Me. Part 1 was the first time I stepped out of my shell a little bit and had someone beta read, and I was really happy with the final product after that (thanks @serenity-black !). You definitely have to read parts 2 and 3 in order to understand what’s going on in Le Chant, but I felt better about how part 4 was written. I guess the more action-packed parts of the stories I write are not totally my strong suit, maybe I’m better at the emotional aspect; what’s going on in these characters’ heads before and after the big event.

What have you learned?

From a technical standpoint I learned a lot about formatting/basic grammar rules for writing a story with dialogue and all that 😅

But I’ve also learned a lot more about myself and what I apparently love to do. Big thanks to the GO fandom for reintroducing me to the joys of reading and writing 🥰

Also I researched a fuckton of random topics for these works, and anyways now I’m a lot more familiar with the map of Europe and I know a lot about Centaurus/Alpha Centauri

What fic did you want to do but never made it off the ground?

I tried joining one of those fic bangs this spring because I thought it would bring me more out of my shell, and it kind of did in a way but overall it just didn’t work out. I was excited about collaborating with people and making connections, but it wasn’t exactly like that and the fic itself just wasn’t sparking anything in me. It felt more like a job than something I was doing for fun 🤷‍♀️

Did you beta any fics?

I honestly don’t remember lmao

I don’t think so?

What three fics have you read this year that you love?

Phersu by JunKolt

I absolutely LOVE any fics that place Aziraphale and Crowley in different moments in history, especially when you can tell that the writer really did their research and the historical accuracy is THERE. Beautifully written, romantic, very bittersweet.

Don’t Fall Away From Me by @phoen1xr0se

Technically I read this at the very end of 2023 but I’m counting it anyway

If this fic has no fans I am dead. Fr. Absolutely brilliant. Bravo fellow moot👏👏👏

run across the river (just to hold you tonight) by hope_in_the_dark

Yk I had to throw in a short one just for good measure

Short, sweet, beautiful writing. Perfect for a lil bed time story from time to time, as a treat

Who do you want to thank?

The first one who comes to mind is @thavron who asked me to join their writing group for November (now continuing on into December ofc)! Without the little extra push that your server has given me, I honestly don’t know that I would’ve kept going with my current WIP despite how much I do believe in it. Big thanks ✌️💜

Thanks to @serenity-black (and also Aves whose Tumblr I don’t believe I have if they’re even on here) for beta-reading! It felt weirdly vulnerable to ask someone to take a look at my writing and tell me what they thought but I’m glad I did it and thank you for being so encouraging when you did☺️

Thank you to @thinkinginscripts @butterflywithsass and @manicpixiecatlady for working with me on the “fanfic book club” for the Good Omens fandom! I think it’s been wonderful so far 🥰

And a big thank you to every person who has left a nice comment on my works, you have no idea what that means to me

Happy holidays! ✌️🎄

[dragonnan]

Fanfic writer interview

tagged by: @sinvulkt

Thank you so much!!

What fandoms do you write in? Primarily Sherlock, MCU, and Sandman. IF inspiration hits hard enough I may drift into other fandoms but for the last few years those have been my primary genres.

How many words have you published in 2024? 49,696 - though that isn't all fanfic as some applies to fanart as well as sometimes quoting other authors in gift art.

What is your greatest achievement this year? Honestly? Managing to get a job lol! But in fandom - nothing really in writing. However I've produced more fanart in 2024 than I created in the last 5 yearly counts.

What are your top three fics you've written this year? Given how little I wrote these are literally the ONLY fics I published/updated in 2024 lol:

🪽 Sed Diabolus (MCU Avengers): My long running WIP, this is a fix-it that simultaneously repairs the events of Endgame as well as makes things so much worse. The incredibly talented @kitcat992 gave me so many ideas and helped so much with the outline that I have given her author credit.

🪽 Sharing is Caring (Sherlock): A short story including all of my favorite elements - hurt/comfort, humor, caregiving, friendship and banter, etc.

🪽 Choice (Sherlock): I had written this story several years ago. However I hadn't liked the theme so it remained unpublished until I finally dug it out and changed up a bunch of things. The result is a cute backstory of how Sherlock and Mrs. Hudson first met.

What was your biggest pit of despair moment? They kinda all run together tbh. Writing has been next to impossible - despite having lots of ideas. Partly why I made so much fanart. Drawing is always easier than writing.

What have you learned? I learned that it's okay and even desired to return to the same story themes over and over - that if it's something I love there are also going to be readers who love the same thing.

Did you beta any fics? I did several years ago but I haven't had the time nor energy for a very long time.

What three fics have you read this year that you love? THIS IS AN EVIL QUESTION!!

Identity Within by KitCat992 (@kitcat992) 160,514 words

It’s been one year and some change since Tony planned to introduce Spider-Man to the world, and instead put a ring on the finger of the capable, qualified, trustworthy Pepper Potts. One year and some change later, and the invitations have finally gone out. Meanwhile, Peter’s never been more excited for something in his entire young life — and he and Ned once got to spend the day at NASA. Nope, Mr. Stark’s wedding easily topped that. Heck, he may be more excited for the wedding than anyone else, including the bride herself. After the crazy year they all had, it felt good to finally have something good happen. Nothing was going to mess this up, Peter would make sure of it. He just had to handle the rings. Wait, the rings. Crap, the rings! Where’d he put the rings? All he had to do was find the rings, and then everything would go off without a hitch. Absolutely nothing could go wrong with him trying to find the rings, right? This wedding was going to be perfect. (Or: Tony swears the universe is trying to keep him and Pepper from tying the knot while Peter’s having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Seriously, who let Norman Osborn into the church?) Act 1 of 5 completed. Part 3 of Identity Saga

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? by sgam76 (@sgam76) 23,052 words

John's friend is coming to dinner, and bringing a problem along. That's fine. That's what he and Sherlock do. But he didn't expect that "problem" to be an eldritch being. Or for said eldritch being to be sad, and pissy, and a little too much like Sherlock for John's comfort. Or for him to bring news of the potential end of the world. Part 9 of A Sharp, Dressed Man 'verse

at least two miracles by apocryphal (@the-apocrypha) 15,948 words

Hob is a hedgewitch. Dream is fae. And Orpheus is the best of them both. Part 11 of Cottagecore

Shout out to two ASTOUNDING comic creators who've both had me by the throat since early last year!

Wolf & Raven by Dominion_of_Dust1886 (@wolf-and-raven-dreaming)

Fan Comic originally posted on Tumblr and is still ongoing. What if Hob Gadling had saved his Stranger? Well, this is a common trope. Yet a trope so easy to contribute to. However, this fan fiction is presented in comic format and dives right into the story. Mind the tags as you dive in.

Centaur Dreamling/ Horse Girl Hob Gadling by @amielot

In which horse girl hob attempts to earn the trust of a wild and unfriendly Dream (who does not like humans one bit)

What ideas are percolating for 2025? I desperately want to get some solid progress (complete???) Sed Diabolus. I also have a story I've been developing for The Sandman and would love to start publishing fics for that fandom.

Who do you want to thank? @kitcat992 @mamahanu @mrs-n-uzumaki @estelkenobi - my beautiful chat group who I'd NEEEVER survive without!!!! Saying I Love You on repeat is a paltry expression for the absolute adoration and devotion I have for you guys. You are my people!! My feral humans!! My clan I daydream of sharing a home with whatever reality may claim (fuck reality with salad fingers!)

@sgam76 @helloliriels @sevdrag @7-percent @vanillacokefireants @teejaystumbles @totallysilvergirl @tj-dragonblade @amielot @the-apocrypha @theleftpill @ceruleanmindpalace @cuubism @englandsgray @ariaadagio @aelaer @disappearinginq @gabessquishytum @kitten-kin @barachiki @bovivinator @blogstandbygo @medhes @mid0khan @wolf-and-raven-dreaming @softest-punk @im-not-corrupted @embroiderling Some of you I've known for years - others I've recently met. ALL of you have shaped me in some way (not even necessarily for evil!). I am so honored to count many of you as good friends and others as friend-in-progress haha! I really can't wait to see what 2025 brings to the fandoms we love!

There are so so many I know I've neglected to tag. If I follow you/you follow me just know you all matter to me so incredibly much and I'm endlessly grateful to you!

tagging: @sgam76 @helloliriels @sevdrag @kitcat992 @gabessquishytum t @the-apocrypha @theleftpill @ceruleanmindpalace @cuubism @englandsgray @ariaadagio @aelaer @disappearinginq @totallysilvergirl @tj-dragonblade @amielot and all others who want to participate!

[sinvulkt]

Fanfic writer interview

tagged by: @purple-iris

Thank you for the tag, i love those!!

what fandoms do you write in? So many! Star Wars, Dr. Strange, Dream SMP, Avatar the last airbender... and this year I wrote several one shot for the movie The Count Of Montecristo 2024 (it's currently in US theaters and an amazing movie, go see it!!) and the tv serie Nautilus (misadvantures of a crew of misfit led by Captain Nemo. Yes the jules verne one. It's like a gathering of whump and angst trope, I advise it!!)

how many words have you published in 2024?Wow that's hard to calculate! Since I have some WIPs over several years, i can���t use AO3 function xd. Plus I translated a lot of my work this year, which artificially double the written amount. AO3 says 230k words, I'm honestly too lazy to count the true number, but I'd say it's between 50k and 100k.

what is your greatest achievement this year? I finished my first longfic, Dreamt of a Never Ending Sky!! It's 56k word and I began it three years ago. This was the end of a long road but it feel so satisfying to have reached it's closing point. 🎶

what are your top three fics you've written this year? Hard choice. Mhhh...

🪽 The Caucasian Eagles serie - bcs adding wings to the montecristo universe and brainstorming around it with fandom friends was an amazing experience.

🪽 Do Sea Monsters Dream of Pink Shellfishes? — I honestly love all the nautilus fanfic i wrote bcs this serie has so many fic whump and angst potential to play with. But i was particularly fond of that one because "becoming a monster" trope, plus I got attached to eel!Nemo I can't help it xd.

🪽 Unhinged Vaderkin Prompt Collection — it's more a snippet-prompt collection for all the ideas roaming in my head, but there are so many that it feel very satisfying to share them. And it does make me write a short snippet for each universe which is a fun exercice.

what was your biggest pit of despair moment? I have been in a writing hiatus for two months now, and haven't written much compared to last year >.> But I guess it's a necessary rest.

what have you learned? Unrelatedly, instead of writing I drew quite a bit. So i learnt that I actually can draw! With the help of a tablet xd. (I did make good use of that break time to read delicious stories :3.) Please check my drawing account @sinvulkt-art , it needs some love :3.

did you beta any fics? any faves you want to shout out? I beta-ed lot of fics! This year, mostly the ones of my co-writers for The Caucasian Eagles and in the Nautilus fandom.

what three fics have you read this year that you love? That choice is so hard because there are so many great fics out there. Can't I make it five? XD.

Nemesis by MorallyGrey ( @silverinkgoldenquill )

I try to live in the now… Where the ghosts of old wrongs do not abide." Nemo turned his back on the past for a long time, perhaps for too long. Now, snatched from his own ship, he has little choice but to work for a man whom he long thought, and wished to be dead. His only hope is the League, but that means uncovering dark secrets. Secrets that, some would say, should have remained unearthed… (A Sequel to the LXG 2003 Movie)- Minor edits 2024. 180k words.

From the Ashes by renegade_of_theworld ( @renegadeoftheworld )

The story took a different turn after the Siege of the North when Zuko was captured by the Water Tribe.

A lot of prisoner trope, found families, and not-adoptions... And Zuko having to deal with more trauma than in the canon. 480k words.

Body in Abyss, Heart in Abyss by Emerald_sealin

WARNING: Heavy Book 4 and 5 SPOILERS.

For 800 years Xie Lian fought for what he believed was right. He endured centuries of unearned torment, shouldered responsibilities bigger than he was, no matter what was thrown at him Xie Lian took it, Xie Lian bore it, Xie Lian soldiered on.

Until the final battle on Mount Tonglu, when Xie Lian looses for the last time.

And forgives....for the last time.

Finally, the god of Xianle will have his REVENGE! 59k words.

Not a fic, but I really wanna shout out to the webnovel & novel Omniscient Reader which I discovered one month ago and obsolutely broke my heart. I love it so much. It begin as such an ordinary story, but reaching its end sure make you think a lot and destroy you. Then the side story exist to crush whatever remain of your heart.

(I want to punch the narrator so much. Me wanting to punch the mc generally is a very good thing. It means they are an idiotTM. A very infuriating, smirking, wrong decision-maker, punchable idiot. It's amazing)

what ideas are percolating for next year? Advancing on my other WIPs and finishing as many of them as I can (namely finishing The Monster and the Child, advancing On the Edge of Twilight and What If Dr Strange Lost His Humanity)! And translating more one shot in french to boost a bit french fanfics I think.

who do you want to thank? Another hard question there XD. All my fandom buddies I think bcs stories are much more entertaining with people to engage with, all my mutuals, and all the people I keep tagging (harassing? XD) on tumblr for such games (hopefully you find them fun as well :3). Can't really quote everyone here, but @sarcasticfirefighter for welcoming me in the dr strange world a few years ago, @firejay112 bcs i had my best time in star wars as her beta, @tocacot who patiently support all my wild blabbering about omniscient reader... I was also overjoyed to collaborate with @ash--00 , @azzzryel and Enepfopi this year. I never really forgot my collaboration with @purpleopossum either. I am seriously impressed by @fanfictasia going through the wildly long list of prompt I gave them years ago (i know i'm super late to comment on them but you're doing great 💜). Additionally I want to thank @pat-the-togorian , @asteral-feileacan and the other taaoej gals for being great friends (and rpg buddies) :3.

Finally, let's say thanking the world for being alive XD and bcs i'm a very lucky person who got a phd I love.

More importantly, I wanna thank all the creators for creating, wether it be inside fandom or for original content. Never stop bringing new things into this world!! Even if you think everyone will hate it. We never know who will come to love and live thanks to our story~

tagging: all the people mentioned before who want to join (yes, even if you were randomly mentioned as a fic writer or as thanks), anyone who see this and want to join, as well as: @kuraiarcoiris @udekai @aimportantdragoncollector @threebea @beguilewritesstuff @numerousbees1106 @trickstress333 @exomal @thehappybaker @wendingways @cinderfeather @bluntblade @tramp-fiction @starmahgalaxies @tonhalszendvics @retciwrites @vandervoiz @insertmeaningfulusername @pebblish @linzerj @doctorgeekery @dreaminghour @silvereddaye @chickadeechickadoo @25centsoda @silvercaptain24 @insecateur @allen-kunekune @dragonnan @charlottevader @makaronik @wyvunn @in-company-of-misery @starr234 @lialox @attackfish @chrisis-averted @gasmeros

[brenna]

2024 fic roundup

Thanks for the tag and for making this, @cheeseplants

What fandoms do you write in?

Good Omens

The X-Files

How many words have you published in 2024?

179,059. (HOT DAMN)

What is your greatest achievement this year?

Not sure. I mean, the friends I made along the way? Corny as that may sound? But also joining events and such for the first time.

What are your favourite top three fics you wrote this year?

This is hard! You would make me choose between my children?! Anyway, here goes:

Midnight Ride - I feel like this one just came together beautifully, and I love being spooky and surprising the readers a little. And it's different.

Collaborative Activities - I feel like this fic was where I kind of burst onto the scene? As much as I'm in it. I'm just a little guy. But this sex pollen was my first event, and I am still very proud of it.

Where You Roost - Because it's unlike anything I ever thought I would write, and it came out so well.

I'm going to put Essentially Exactly the Way It Happened as an honorable mention, because it's not done yet. And I am having such fun with it. Also it's XF

What was your biggest pit of despair moment?

I can't recall any?

What have you learned?

That I can have a WIP and not have to immediately post it. That it can sit and no one has to know about it and I can just keep improving it? I'm very impatient usually, lol. To have it written and not share it?! Hard.

Also, the joy of betaing things and having my work betaed.

What fic did you want to do but never made it off the ground?

Agh, so many. I have several ideas vaguely in the works. Everyone always has to hear about how much I want to do an XF/GO Crossover, though. And I WILL. My other ideas are secrets. Shhh...

Did you beta any fics? Any favs you want to shout out?

Oh, goodness. I did so many, and they're all wonderful! I can't choose among them, honestly! No one that I betaed for should feel left out. They're all lovely! I'll put three, I guess. But there are so many more!

Cayuga Blush by asparkofgoodness (this one is a WIP, but I've read ahead, and I promise you, you don't wanna sleep on it)

Intersection: the Kiss and Union: Escalation by anna_bird (counts as one, OK. Don't mind that it's listed as two parts...)

A Season of Whale Song by DrConstellation (I'm only betaing later chapters, but the whole thing is chef's kiss)

What three fics have you read this year that you love?

JUST THREE?! I want to list like everything ever, and I CAN'T. 😭 These are in No Particular Order. And know that I want to list SO MANY others.

Naked and Afraid: Jingle Hell by klikandtuna

Sins of Knowledge by anna_bird

You Don't Need A License For That by WaitingtobeBroken

What ideas are percolating for next year?

All I'm saying is that when the Monster Banger's Bang posts y'all are in for a TREAT. I am so stoked about this one.

I've also got something a little Sci-Fi-esque in the early stages that I'm hype about.

And that GO/XF crossover WILL HAPPEN.

Who do you want to thank?

Everyone?! @kneelbeforeyourdogbabylon for all the fun we always have. All my pals in the sex pollen server. There are too many of you to tag! But all of you! Everyone in Good Omens After Dark that I've recently gotten to meet. Everyone in Do It With Style Events Um, um, um. EVERYONE. This is too much pressure (runs to hide)

Anyone in my tags feel free to join in or in fact anyone at all. I'll tag a few more below. Tag, answer any Qs that suit and play along

(birddog, I'm not tagging you a second time, but also I AM). Everyone in the sex pollen server. @on1occasionfork @waitingtobebroken I don't have the patience or time to tag everyone. If I've ever spoken to your or commented on your fic I want you to do this! It's time for me to get ready for bed so I have to run away!!

[walkingstackofbooks]

Fanfic Writer Interview

Tagged by: @a-most-beloved-fool - thank you!! <3 <3 <3

What fandoms do you write in? At the moment, pretty much just DS9, though I've written one TOS ficlet this year.

How many words have you published in 2024? 139, 411 😅😅 Absolutely bananas, I cannot even comprehend how I did that!

It's been an absolaute delight to properly fall in love with writing this year though ❤️Before 2024, I'd written very little fanfic ever, and this has been JUST so much fun! (ftr, 3.5k in 2021, ~3k in 2015, and - huh! Almost 30k in 2011/12 🧐 Well, that's a surprise - apparently my "baby's first fanfic" back in 2012 was a whole 20k, which is far longer than I remember!)

What is your greatest achievement this year? I mean, Vision Awry for sure! Seeing it grow and grow and slowly realising just how long it was becoming (although even right up to the end, I was never able to guess accurately!) My crazy summer marathon to get it all written before I resumed posting (which I did mostly manage!) and then the last few weeks in December pouring my heart and soul into actually finishing it before the end of the year. It's completely mad that I did that!

(Although weirdly, now it's finished it's just kind of like 'yeah I suppose I did that, feels ages ago now though' and I feel like I have to really push myself to feel the pride and excitement I think I should be feeling? Idk, it's weird 😅)

What are your top three fics you've written this year? Oh gosh, I have to choose? Okay...

Vision Awry - obviously :P

Sleep Paralysis - that mad, 3-day blitz of inspiration was so worth hiding away in my room for 😅

Um, unpublished, but the Miles&Julian-talk-about-suicide ficlet I posted on Tumblr? It was far better than I expected when I read it back, and was a higlight amongst the rest of the December writing-is-hard feels.

What was your biggest pit of despair moment? There were definitely many times during Vision Awry... the biggest were probably either:

Re-starting Day 5 in August, after writing nothing during June and July, and reailsing I had no idea what was going to happen in Day 5 apart from the deaths at the end;

Writing Epilogue 3 in the last few weeks, only eking out 1-300 words at a time unless I overdosed on meds (😅 it worked tho...), getting increasingly convinced that I was not going to be finishing by the end of the year, which sucked; or

Any time I realised the scene wasn't working because of X thing which meant I would need to totally rewrite it. I don't do drafts, really, so that was always devastating 😭 (but DID work out for the best, at least)

What have you learned? SO, so much. I'll limit myself to three things. (I'm sorry, I'm no good at choices or being concise!)

That if I have an idea, ideally I need to write all of it, straight away, and finish it while it’s fresh. I honestly don’t know how many WIPs I’m actually going to finish, because even while I love many of the ideas, I’m not in love with them the same way I was when I started.

That I love writing Garak and Julian interactions, even though I keep forgetting that I do, because Garak is an absolute pain to write sometimes (affectionate), and I've never been the biggest fan of stories that are solely Garashir.

That I need to be super careful about opening up prompts, because while they’re great for short-term motivation, if I don't complete them in a timely manner they end up hanging over me in a less-than-fun way.

What three fics have you read this year that you love? I do not know where to start with this one, omg, there are too many <3 <3 <3 Trying to think of ones I haven't mentioned before... (and while I'm trying to be better, I'm so bad at bookmarks 😅)

After The Siege by @youngpettyqueen - I didn't know I needed Worf&Julian but this has stayed in my mind since April and I love it to pieces. This dynamic is soooo gooddd 💕💕

The Recitation of Names by @jennelikejennay - Incredible, haunting, pre-TOS Spirk fic about the events mentioned in Obsession.

By Design by @akingnotaprincess - I haven't finished it yet (I am SO hype though, I just haven't had time over Christmas!) but it's SUCH a lovely Data/Julian fic, it's so sweet and sincere and wonderful.

What ideas are percolating for next year? Ughhhh, oh man. Idek. I've got about a dozen WIPs but the way my brian is rn, I'm just hoping that I'll be able to edit and publish some of the things I've written on Tumblr to finally put on AO3.

Hopefully I'll get going a bit more at some point - and whatever it is, you can bet on a traumatised Juian, I'm pretty sure ;)

Who do you want to thank? Again, where do I even start, there are so many people who have made this year wonderful 💕 I've never really felt like I've been *in* a Tumblr community before, and this year has really changed that, so a huge thank you to everyone who's made me feel so welcome! 🥰

@ectogeo-rebubbles, @the-last-dillpickle, @hellostuffedtiger for welcoming me into the Sloanshir side of DS9 with aplomb. Waking up to your reviews and recs of Imprisoned was actually unforgettable, it made my day many, many times over, and definitely gave me confidence to continue putting Julian into fucked-up situations!

@jackleg-penwright for messaging me and becoming my first Tumblr friend ❤️❤️❤️

@flippetyfloppity, @dreamerdrop, @phoenixfeathersinfall - your comments are life and love itself, your support for my writing this year has been incredible and made me feel so warm, thank you just so much! 🫂🫂🫂

I'm kind of High Key Anxious about missing anyone out if I tried to tag everyone else who has been supportive and wonderful and lovely, which sucks because I really want to, but if you've ever left a comment on anything I've done, PLEASE know that you are held in my heart most fondly with great love and affection 💖💖💖

tagging: @jackleg-penwright, @dreamerdrop, @ectogeo-rebubbles and anyone else who would like to!

[a-most-beloved-fool]

fanfic writer interview

tagged by: @spirkme915! Thanks for the tag <3

what fandoms do you write in? Star Trek, pretty much exclusively. Only TOS and DS9 so for (and I haven't even really finished anything DS9, I just have plans and WIPs). I may branch out a smidge someday, but I'll probably stay mostly in Star Trek.

how many words have you published in 2024? 4,763. I am a very slow writer lmao. Honestly even answering these questions feels like overkill with so few words published, but c'est la vie. I'll just pretend that I'm a Real Fanfic Author™, and if I do that for long enough, I eventually will be.

what is your greatest achievement this year? Posting anything at all! I had hoped I would, at the start of last year, but I hadn't really expected it. Now, I'm very glad I did (and that I joined Tumblr!).

what are your top three fics you've written this year? I only wrote two! So. Those.

what was your biggest pit of despair moment? I've had a fic that's been sosoclose to done since. like. July. And I have noooot finished it. So, probably that one. I wound up getting wildly discouraged with it, and have just kind of been, um. ignoring it. in the hopes that it'll start feeling salvageable again soon. It's not bad, I know it's not bad, but I can't actually convince myself that it's not bad, and I can't find the right ways to finish the few areas that still need more meat on their bones. I am fighting the urge to just up and delete half of it

what have you learned? That it feels really, really good to receive comments! I've also been slowly figuring out how best to wrangle my brain into Actually Writing, but it's. a work in progress!

did you beta any fics? any faves you want to shout out? So far, I've not had the chance to beta for anyone.

what three fics have you read this year that you love? Um. Oh god. Just three?? I suppose I'll say We can only be who we are by @jennelikejennay, Vision Awry by @walkingstackofbooks, and there may be a power cut (and maybe i love you so) by granspn (who afaik doesn't have a tumblr, but if they do, lmk and I'll tag them too)

(My bookmarks are always a good place to look for fics I've particularly enjoyed, so if ever you are in need of a rec list, that's a good place to start)

what ideas are percolating for next year? Oh, I have so many WIPs. There are a few in there that I'm very excited about, including one where Kirk drags Spock out of Kolinahr early and one where Spock is pining so obviously (to everyone except Kirk). I'd also kind of like to get a DS9 fic or two (and/or my mcspirk fic) published this year, but that relies on me being considerably more prolific than I was this year, so we'll see what happens. (Though, I should be getting ADHD meds at the end of the month, provided that my EKG checks out, which. will hopefully make things a bit easier lmao. I'll need to fight my brain a little less.)

If I am very, very lucky, I'll even be able to get a fic done for the KS Spring Fever. I've got an idea, but, well. Deadlines are rough, and the mind is fickle. I'll do my best (and anyone reading this has permission to hassle me about it and hold me accountable)!

who do you want to thank? Pretty much everyone who has given me a warm welcome on Tumblr & in the Trek fandom, @spirkme915 and @walkingstackofbooks in particular! I have... never really tried to join a fandom space before, and am also Bad And Lousy at starting conversations and getting to know people, so I'm really very grateful to people who have gone out of their way to be friendly and welcoming. <3 Even if all you've done is Exist As My Mutual or Occasionally Reblog My Posts, I am sending you internet hearts <3 <3 <3

tagging: uhhh @walkingstackofbooks, @purple-iris, @wwillywonka, and anyone else so inspired

[littlechameleonguy]

2024 fic round up game

thanks to @cannibalisticcorpse for tagging me! Let's do this!

What fandoms do you write in?

almost exclusively Dead Boy Detectives. At least that's everything I've published. I've also written for the Spiderverse, Sally Face, Baldur's Gate 3 and Six of Crows but none of these ever saw the light of day.

How many words have you published in 2024?

again a lot less published than written but ao3 has about 20k words form me this year so far. There is a bit more somewhere here on tumblr but since my tagging is very inconsistent I'm not going to search for it to count the words...

What is your greatest achievement this year?

honestly, publishing my writing at all! I haven't done that in a very long time besides form the occasional drabble here. Big big thank you to the Besotted Brats for all the inspiration and encouragement!!! I love you guys!

What are your top three fics you’ve written this year?

I've only eight fics to choose from that are actually public but alright. Just beforehand all of these are nsfw and shouldn't be touched by minors! Please please please check the tags before reading!

Losing All Control (Edwin/Charles/David - possession, tentacles)

First thing I've actually published and that therefore has a special place in my heart.

Under my Skin (Demonland - Tattoo au)

This thing just has my heart and soul and dick... It constantly lives in my mind...

Dipping Your Toes (Payneland - Foot Fetish)

A work I'm very proud of that caters to me alone and my none existing foot fetish.

What have you learned?

a lot actually! English is not my first language and writing this much, having support form native speakers just in general helps my writing so much!

Also finally not caring much about the feedback. I mean obviously I love getting comments but I can write something I absolutely know won't get much attention and I'll still love the whole process and just have fun with it.

What fic did you want to do but never made it off the ground?

so many things, really. I've tons of notes and half backed wips in my notes...

Did you beta any fics? Any favs you want to shout out?

No, not really. I write back and forth with friends about ideas and occasionally edit a little for them while doing so but I'm not a native speaker and I'm dyslexic, so I'm not suited to actually beta for anyone.

What ideas are percolating for next year?

I've ideas for multiple multi-chaptered fics that I wanna try for next year... Here just the short ideas of the ones I'm most passionate about:

Edwin and Charles accidentally summoning their future selves

Edwin turning himself into a girl and Charles realizing his feelings

Collage au, fwb situation

Demonland trying to get pregnant

Who do you want to thank?

I kinda already did but once again big thanks to all the Besotted Brats!

And ofc @cannibalisticcorpse in particular! You support me more than anyone when it comes to my fics! Without you none of my writing would be out there! You're an amazing writer and a wonderful person and I love you so so much! ❤️

tagging: anyone who wants to play!! @cristalknife @skylie-spiderlillis and @thefanficsmustflow

[optimumonprime]

Fanfic Writer Interview

tagged by: @illegalpaladin (dank you kelly!!!)

what fandoms do you write in? Currently, Star Trek and Yugioh. My history is uh. varied.

how many words have you published in 2024? 59,693, though it honestly feels like more.

what is your greatest achievement this year? Not giving up on my first WIP in like a decade plus! I'm very proud of the story I've created with Something Like Magic and I'm excited to write the last chapter.

what are your top three fics you've written this year? My faves were:

Something Like Magic

Physician, Heal Thyself

Hard to Let Go

what was your biggest pit of despair moment? This will sound a bit glib but honestly it was when Physician, Heal Thyself hit 10,000 words. I was like, oh god. This was just supposed to be a pwp how could this happen to meeeeeee

what have you learned? Honestly just to write what you want to read and fuck the consequences. When I started Something Like Magic I was convinced that no one would read it because there were only two mageshipping fics in the 25 year history of the English yugioh fandom before that and I made my peace with that. It ended up being a delightful surprise that people DID like it. Likewise, I'm now writing mostly mccoy-centric star trek porn, and that's because I would like to read it.

did you beta any fics? any faves you want to shout out? I had the distinct honor of betaing @illegalpaladin 's Take Me/Let Me Go and hope I have the chance to do so again for future fics of theirs. I know we're not mutuals so I hope this isn't too weird but I do also want to shout out the work of @muirmarie who understands Star Trek characters, and specifically Bones, in a way I've see very few other writers achieve.

what three fics have you read this year that you love?

oh my god. okay.

Take This Sinking Boat and Point It Home by Punished Pyotr

we won't last long (give it our best shot) by Muir_Wolf

and the last one is kind of cheating because this wasn't the first year i read it but i did reread it and it remains probably the best fic ive ever read:

Send Us a Blindfold, Send Us a Blade by Trinary

what ideas are percolating for next year? It's all porn, babes! Here's what I got in the lineup:

-Bad Case of Loving You: Bones gangbang. When a parasite causes, ahem, tumescence in the away team, McCoy comes to the obvious solution on how to alleviate symptoms, and who is he to argue with Occam's Razor?

-Lay on Hands: the manhandling one. McCoy is the physician here, so why is it that he's always the one getting pushed around?

-You've Got the Touch!: real Spock possessive hours. A visiting Vulcan doctor is flirting relentlessly with McCoy. Spock is the only one to understand. Why he cares is a different matter.

-Debrief: everyone has a mirror!verse porn fic, right? After a rare diplomatic mission, Kirk employs Spock's assistance to recreate the mission for McCoy, so he can get an accurate mission report.

-Don't You Want to Come with Me?: a reversal of the odd man out McCoy fics. Kirk and Spock are together. McCoy loves them both and joins them frequently in bed on a strictly friends with benefits basis. Somehow McCoy is the only person satisfied with this.

I've also had this idea percolating around about bones medically prescribing, uh, himself as a sub to spock and jim who are in a relationship with each other but are both doms. so that will be fun to think about.

who do you want to thank? like Kelly, the @mcspirkevents events server has been so critical to how loved and accepted ive felt in fandom spaces this year. Couldn't do it without all you enablers!

tagging: @charaznablescanontoyota @fruitsboots @ncc1701ohno @cloudilicious

[parameciam]

time for another one of my deeply personal autistic ramblings, feel free to skip since this one it's a bit heavy and depressing and it's mostly to get this out of my chest. a literal scream to the void. and really personal. and depressing.

so. everyone that follows me already knows I'm a late diagnosed autistic person, right? funny thing it's that because nothing ever goes right because my therapist had several tragedies happening in her personal life at the time, she never sent me the report with the details of my diagnosis xd that was two years ago but now that she's okay, she offered to do several sessions with me + adding several other mental health assessments to what we did in the past (for free, ofc. we've done half of our scheduled sessions)

it's not a surprise that the results are fundamentally that I'm pretty fucked up and need therapy. but it's still hard to have test results that confirm it, and hear a professional tell me that I need to heal a lot of trauma, and confirm that I have rejection sensitive dysphoria, and concerningly high levels of social anxiety, and depression.

and I know I need help, but I also know that I'm absolutely tired. so so so fucking exhausted of trying. and add to that I've never, ever in my life, had that internal drive and motivation to keep going and achieving things, I don't understand (not now and not in the past, probably never in the future either) why people always talks like living is so important and the greatest thing ever, I honestly am here against my will and I just keep going to avoid hurting the people around me.

but I don't have any goals or ambitions, and sometimes I think about it and feel shame. most of the time I barely feel like a human being. I have no idea wtf I'm doing here, and it's like I'm constantly pretending to be human, while actually being, idk, several traumas and a braincell in a trench coat xd

and starting another attempt at therapy would require not only money (that I don't want to use for that, and psychological/psychiatric help is so expensive! and the meds too -_-) but also to delve into so many painful things that I don't want to remove anymore.

I hate that I'm the one that has to gather all the broken pieces to mend myself. I hate how lonely I feel. I hate how much of a failure I feel I am. I hate that there's no actual way to feel better without fighting so many things first.

all I want is to stop feeling this broken and exhausted ;=; and maybe a hug and a pat in the head.

today was the first day of a music festival that my sister invited me to and I wasn't even able to enjoy it. concerts used to make me feel so alive and happy, but I'm feeling more and more like an empty husk these days. it's like I'm barely able to enjoy nice things anymore. and I know that's the depression and burnout.

the only thing that gives me some happiness is writing my silly little fics. my withered soul suddenly blooms when I write my hallucinations xd I keep adding wips to the pile to give my mind a sense of future, I guess. something that's an excuse to be excited about.

ahhh, i'm just rambling at this point. let's close this horrible rant with a song.

it's actually my favorite song ever, probably that says a lot about me ahaha

[tabswrites]

Author Ask Tag

Tagged by @writernopal here 💜

Gently tagging: @pandoras-comment-box @elbritch-kit @clairelsonao3 @thatndginger

1. What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

Don’t let the past define you. Each MC is weighed down by something in their past: A reputation, a legacy, trauma. They will explore their grief in many ways, and while some of them will overcome it and grow, some will let it consume them.

When I started writing again, it was to help me process some really heavy stuff that I went through last year, and I realized I had let the situation overwhelm me to the point where I didn’t recognize myself anymore. It happens in little ways over time, and I’m sure others have experienced the same thing. I want people to know that the things that have happened to them, the things people have done, they don’t go away. Not completely. But if we learn to accept them and confront the emotions, those things become easier to overcome, and you don’t have to lose yourself in the process.

2. What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

I’m inspired a lot by nature and animals, tv/movies I love, books, random and weird history facts, fairy tales/folklore. I also experience vivid dreams from time to time and they inspire a lot of my story ideas.

3. What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

Besides the whole “bring back magic” thing, I think overall the characters in ToL are trying to achieve inner peace for themselves, and I want the same thing. I do want to inspire people to realize that sometimes the greatest empathy you have should be towards yourself. Forgiveness is definitely one of the minor themes, as it has been a key part in my own personal healing process.

For the readers, I just want them to be mindful of tbe complexities of life and of other people. You never know what someone else is really going through.

4. How many chapters is your story going to have?

….more than 2, but less than 100? Honestly, I planned for 15 with ToL but it might go longer. I’m not the one behind the wheel, if I’m being honest.

5. Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

Original! Both of WIPs are on Ao3 and Wattpad.

6. When and why did you start writing?

I originally began writing when I was 14 when I started role playing on Goodreads. (Yes, that one.) My classmate and I started our own 1x1 and decided to turn it into a novel just casually. I ended up dedicating way more time to it and she stepped away, so I rewrote everything in my style. I finished it during NaNoWriMo a year later and even submitted it for Script Frenzy. That was the only serious writing project I ever did, 99.9% of my time was spent role playing. When my RP buddies started to drift away I got really depressed and ending up not writing for almost 6 years. Started back up again last year and here we are!

7. Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

No one will ever love your writing as much as you do, so you should love it the most! Don’t second guess yourself, and stop comparing yourself to everyone else! You chose to write the story for a reason—if that other person was meant to write it, you wouldn’t be the one kept up at night by story ideas.

I follow so many who have been tagged by other people but too bad:

@writernopal I love her writing and her OCs and she’s always supportive 💜

@outpost51 I would love to file a formal adoption request for Atria and no one else matches my deranged commenting style like him

@writingmaidenwarrior Always supportive and up for a chat, silly or otherwise!

@clairelsonao3 I love her writing and she’s super supportive too!

@sam-glade Sam has amazing world building and gives great critique!

Others I don’t know very well yet but I have enjoyed their writing and/or interacting with:

@reneesbooks

@mysticstarlightduck

@pheita

@avrablake

@coffeewritesfiction

[dashawfrostart]

This Week In "Time & Again" #10: Colours Are Getting Colourful, Indeed!

So, just as promised and exactly as planned, I'm working on the colouring for Chapter 5. And boy, it goes very well now, let me tell you! In fact, it goes so fantastically well, I honestly don't even wanna be here right now writing this post that most people will not even bother reading (we live in the age of Likes and Emojis, after all, so longreads are usually not welcome... but see if I care!), and I just want to keep working on the colouring. Just like I do almost every day, almost non-stop. Quite possibly over 40 hours a week. And I'm not even getting paid for it. That's dedication, innit?.. But making another post on how it is going, even if there's not much to tell aside from an incredibly simple and modest yet surprisingly descriptive "'Iz gude!" (pardon my Scottish, ahem), is kind of a moral obligation for me. I decided that I'm gonna make posts about the progress - so that decision should be carried on with.

So... yes, iz goin' gude! 🤣

This time I did not bother trying to decide what approach to use in colouring the characters. I decided to aim for the same simplistic way of colouring from Chapter 4, with a lack of shading. "Atlantis" is still one of my greatest artistic inspirations, and the masterly executed balance of visual simplicity and skillful complexity in the art style of that movie is something that drives me to keep working on my own style, to strive to achieve a similar effect, because this is what I want my work to be like, too. Of course, a little experiment will also take place in Chapter 5, since I don't like my visual works to feel static and inanimate. But I'm not going to tell what exactly it will be yet. You will see. It's going to be something very obvious and easy to notice, for I've never done anything like that in any of my previous works. 😉

The question of backgrounds tho, contrary to the character colouring method, is a much, much trickier question. With every new chapter in development, I ask myself how to draw and colour the backgrounds in such a way that it's in harmony with the characters, but allows them to also stand out - but not too much (otherwise there's no harmony). And this question has not been answered fully by me. I keep experimenting. I'm still searching. For now and for this particular chapter, however, it all seems pretty straightforward to me. I opted for a simple background with a little bit of a painted, splattered "texture" to it. And I achieve this effect through layering colours and the texture with specific settings, usually using Soft Light (SVG) blending mode for the dark parts. And if I need an even darker shade - I put an additional black rectangle on top of it and play with its opacity until I get the desired effect. ("A very LARGE gif below" warning!)

For the obvious reason of spoiler avoidance, I will refrain from further explanation and I'll limit my demonstration primarily with the textual description, for now. But, just as proposed long ago, I am indeed still planning on creating a WIP thread on Krita forum. Your horribly introverted and seriously muse possessed dear artist simply should take a break from colouring everything like an obsessed maniac and finally get the Sch***e done. Eventually 😁

There's something else interesting I wanted to note before wrapping it up for today. Something somewhat technical.

Because I have increased the page size for the last 4 chapters of my crazy endeavour, suddenly I remembered that I also need to rescale the rest of the pages that serve as - as I call them - "framing materials" for the chapters. And that includes (and, as you may guess - but not limited to): the cover art, the background for all kinds of bonus materials, the back design (for potential printing on paper), the chapter title page, Vorsatz und Nachsatz, the credits page, and, of course, the Characters' IDs page... Yup, all of that stuff required to get the higher resolution variations, exactly 1/3 larger size of the original. And I forgot about it at first. I guess, my idea to turn it into a webcomic prevailed and befogged my consciousness ever so slightly. Or a lot. Not sure. But the fact is, that just slipped my mind.

Of course, a poor designer in my could've just enlarged the already existing pages by 33% to get the expected result in a few clicks hassle-free. But that's only the poor designer. Because everybody who tried to draw at least something digitally in their lives would know that that would only destroy the quality of the artworks. And that is totally unacceptable for me. And I'm no poor designer. "Time & Again" is awesome. No sloppiness allowed, I says. This is why I needed to redo everything layer by layer, file by file in higher resolution. It was that clear. Am I being too techy? Well, deal with it 😎.

But good thing I'm so practical: I already had all of the elements drawn in higher resolutions than needed. And those I didn't have - they were all vector-based, so they didn't even need any extra work. Good job, me! 😁 The moral of the story is simple: dear artists, whenever you work on something like that, just make higher resolution drawings - just in case, even if you don't need them that large for your particular current tasks. Because you might need the larger art in the future. Because who knows? What if you go crazy and haphazardly decide to up the resolution for everything, like it happened to me? This is something that I also learnt from the videogame development tutorials, and that was quite an obvious idea, now that I'm thinking about it. Drawing everything in twice the resolution you need is a truly good advice. Surely, it might save you from a lot of frustration.

But back to my circus and my monkeys. Since I always make all the geometric elements for the page designs in Inkscape, it was simply a matter of a couple clicks to re-save my older page outlines and templates in higher resolution. The same goes with text. I love vector stuffz 🤩 The only page I needed to tinker with a bit longer than everything else was the Characters' IDs page. This is my vector template:

From today's perspective, I do not understand why it was made this way - can't be responsible for my past self, right? right???... - but the colouring of the Characters' IDs was done in Krita instead of Inkscape. Which is a bit absurd, because I used simple gradients to fill in each of the "character cards" individually. And I could've easily done it in Inkscape, too. But to save myself some time, I decided not to unravel that twisted ball of yarn and did the same: coloured them all in Krita. Again. Because why not? - it's extremely easy. However, I have discovered imperfections that I was able to remove in this "new, hi-res edition".

Each "character card" has an inner circle of solid colour around the character's portrait. And apparently, in all 4 of the previous chapters, those were not aligned properly. The screenshot above demonstrates that: once I copy-pasted the new template on top of the old one for comparison, the placements of the inner circles did not match (the black one is the perfectly aligned new circle; the pink parts sticking out from behind it are the parts of the old and misaligned circle from the previous chapters). Of course, I seriously doubt it anybody would stare and measure how precise I am down to the pixel... But this time to me this misalignment was pretty obvious. And the puny perfectionist in me raged. A lot.

So that has been fixed. Hurrah for Align and Distribute options in Inkscape 😁 Remember this, pals: Align and Distribute are women's best friends - not dogs, not diamonds, and... definitely not what the rest of the internet suggests. Yikes. (and to be fair, Align and Distribute should be the best friend of everybody, not only women! Honest!!!)

Again, because I drew all the character portraits in significantly higher resolution than needed long ago, I just copy-pasted and rescaled them to the right size. And then... after a few sessions of copy-pasting and rescaling, everything was done and ready to go!

And for now that is probably enough. Once I stop colouring for a while next time, I'll drop by again to write another one typical - and perhaps, somewhat techy as usual - longread that some of you might be interested in. But for now - bah-byes, and cheer up! Valentine's Day is soon, and spring is just around the corner. Be happy just like Jeanny! See you soon! 👋

[emachinescat]

🙅‍♀️ What is one trope you refuse to ever write? 🗑 What is one fic idea that you loved at first but then scrapped? 📌 If all your fics/WIPs fell off a ship and were drowning (go with it), and you could only save one, which would it be? 🤔 What’s one genre you’ve never written that you’d like to try?

🙅‍♀️ What is one trope you refuse to ever write? I mean, I'm not sure if it's a trope, per say, but I don't have any interest in writing smut. No judgment to people who do, but it is SO not in my realm of interest!

🗑 What is one fic idea that you loved at first but then scrapped? I had this idea for a Psych fic where the bounty hunter Byrd comes back for revenge. I even posted the prologue, but then just never updated it, as inspiration never came to finish it. I think I ended up deleting it. But I still have hopes that maybe I'll actually write it someday. :)

📌 If all your fics/WIPs fell off a ship and were drowning (go with it), and you could only save one, which would it be? Ahhh, this is a hard one! I think I'd say The Finch and the Mockingbird for Psych. It's the only multi-chapter fic I've ever written fully before posting, and I enjoyed every second of writing it! I have such fond memories of writing and posting it, and honestly, I think it's one of my greatest fic achievements to this day, not just because of the story itself, but because of how hard I worked and how dedicated I was and how I proved to myself I could actually do something like this. :)

🤔 What’s one genre you’ve never written that you’d like to try? I'd like to try my hand at mystery -- like a genuine casefile mystery. I've written a few "mysteries" but I feel that they're not too complicated and they're more about the whump than anything else. But I want to write a fic that reads like an episode of Psych or Magnum P.I., a fic that leaves readers guessing and has a real, honest-to-goodness ah-ha! moment. I'm not entirely sure my brain is wired for mystery, but I'd love to give it a whirl someday. ;)

Thank you so much for the ask!! ❤️

[reggiemantleholdmyhand-tle]

Fic Writer Tag Game

i was tagged by @asirensrage and @raith-way! thank you both sm 🥰

How many works do you have on AO3?

5

What’s your total AO3 word count?

54,408

How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they?

7, I believe — Riverdale, Harry Potter, Big Time Rush, Legend of Korra, Teen Wolf, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and I used to write reader inserts for FAHC Achievement Hunter

What are your top five fics by kudos?

Well, I only have the 5 🤪 Buuuuut...

Through the Fire and the Flames — Teen Wolf / Isaac Lahey x OC: Pidge Kennedy had been having the same nightmare for weeks. There was something important about it, she just didn't know what - that is, until she realizes the voice she's been hearing in her dreams belongs to none other than her substitute history teacher and notorious phoenix hunter, Mr. Edgar Thorn. On top of that, one of her best friends is acting super weird, there's a strange lizard man on the loose, and a serial killer is apparently trying to kill off the entire 2006 swim team. (Kudos: 10)

The Greatest Challenge — HP / Cedric Diggory x OC: Kipper Dixon is visiting Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament. It's not long before she strikes up a friendship with Cedric Diggory, after bumping into him on her way to place her name in the Goblet of Fire. When Kippi is chosen as the Beauxbatons champion for the Triwizard Tournament, she decides they can't be anything more than friends. Cedric is determined to change that. (Kudos: 8)

The Trouble with Weasleys — HP / Fred Weasley x OC: "The trouble with Weasleys," Penelope Clearwater once told Maisie Barker, as well as anyone else who would listen, after a particularly nasty spat with Percy, "Is that they never really know what's actually good for them until it's too late." (Kudos: 3)

Smooth Runs the Water (Where the Brook is Deep) — Teen Wolf / Stiles Stilinski x OC: Bimmy's life had been fairly normal - that is, until she moved to Beacon Hills, after family friend Sheriff Stilinski told her mom there was a position opening at Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital. The transition had been easy enough; Bimmy had Stiles and Stiles had Scott, which meant Bimmy already had two friends when she arrived. Things got a little less easy after Scott received The Bite, turning him into a werewolf, and he spent several months being hunted. Things got even less easy when a serial killer with a kanima partner ran rampant among Beacon Hills. As if that wasn't enough, right as Bimmy's junior year began, a new pack of Alphas showed up to claim Scott as one of their own. Bimmy's one wish for her birthday is that things just go back to normal. She'll soon find out that normal will never be an option again. (Kudos: 3)

Third Time’s the Charm — Riverdale / HP AU / Reggie Mantle x OC: Mabel Harlow is a tough nut to crack, but Reggie will be damned if he doesn’t try. (Kudos: 2)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! I always like to give thanks to my readers and answer any questions/theories/thoughts they have!

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

I am currently working on it :-)

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

I write crossovers as in with other people, but I don’t write cross-fandom!

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I have not!

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I don’t, that is not for me. Even trying makes me blush and makes me want to throw my phone across the room.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

That is like trying to choose my favorite child, I simply can’t do it.

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

Probably The Riverdale Chronicles. I created a monster and have much too much to tell so I don’t see that ever being done.

What are your writing strengths? What are your writing weaknesses?

My strength is dialogue. My weakness is description. I’m much better than I was, but I definitely still struggle. Usually with scenery and emotion.

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

I don’t tend to trust Google translate much, so I avoid it usually. Mostly I work with common phrases or one-word exclamations but other than that, I don’t usually write other languages.

What was the first fandom you’ve written for?

Honestly I think it was the Jonas Brothers when I was in, like, 6th grade ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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

I really love all of them, I tend to jump from favorite to favorite and my current favorite is probably The Greatest Challenge.

tagging: @hughstheforcelou @anna-phora @akabluekat @randomfandomingwrites @randomestfandoms-ocs @ocfairygodmother @jinxsflame