#tog adjacent fanart | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

isabellehemlock · 1 year

Note

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💗

Hi Sarah! I hope you know that I saw that one reblog where you shared you dyed your hair with rainbow colors? (hopefully I'm not misremebering?) - anyways, so now I think of you with magical unicorn vibes gloriousness anytime I get a notification from you 🦄

Thank you so much for this fun ask!! So cute, and hopefully no one minds me sharing more details about each piece I picked - only because I know I genuinely enjoy hearing about the creative process and what an author got out of it, or their essential “why’s” so I’m gonna list seven from the TOG fandom (because no joke, I calculated it, 96% of my stuff on ao3 is TOG lol), and with three bonus ones from other fandoms - because I have some 86 works listed on AO3 (though plenty are fanarts), but yeah, I just couldn’t narrow it down more than that lol.

In no particular order:

Their souls were knit together (and he loved him as himself)

I sort of consider this one my magnum opus of all the pre-canon JoexNicky pieces I had written before then. It’s like each and every fic/meta/post/research piece led me to this one that I embarked on in the fall of 2021 (and even with some academic and religious studies, still spent a few extra weeks on research just to ensure I had a few key pieces in place). I’m a history nerd at heart, what can I say lol. The religious symbolism is thick and they fall in love slowly, so then, sprinkle in some historical contexts from Genova, Tunisia, Constantinople, and Crete, and it sort of snowballed to 88k in three months lol. But there are definitely scenes from it that I’ve re-read several times over, because yeah, it just speaks to me on multiple levels, and I’m glad it seemed to resonate for a few others as well ❤️

Called you by name

This was one of those pre-canon ficlets I was referring to just above, and looking back, I think this could easily be a sort of soft sequel for TSWKT (even though I wrote CYBN beforehand) - but it’s essentially an existential one-shot, stand alone of Nicky returning to his home land about two centuries after he had left it. I projected a lot, but in the end it’s about faith but also the freedom to label your own identity. I still look back at it fondly.

The Returning

This is more of a drabble piece, based on a tumblr prompt, that I wrote for Nile - which is still one of my favorites. Nile is a character I would have loved to explore more about/through/with due to me being a military brat, and my father being a wounded vet (my father had his TBI 20 years ago this August, and for all intents and purposes, died that day). Between that, and her faith, there were actually quite a few meta posts I had wanted to write up, but I kept it personal to a few friends instead after seeing some discourse. So, writing a canon adjacent Nile, instead of the modern au’s I had been doing up until then, and finally explore even some of that? Yeah, deeply personal and I’m glad I had the opportunity to 🥹

Pwimo

For personal reasons, but I still get a giggle out of it 😎

Precious Days

I think some of my favorite pieces are the ones that I make with others (whether that’s by a prompt suggestion, plotting together, making a fic based on art, or vice versa - and I’m so grateful for people who allowed me to sort of practice with them before deep diving into fandom events lol). Now most of my fandom collabs have been art (but also podfics?? Who am I lol) - but yeah, this was one of those giggling with a friend in DM’s over plot ideas kind, that I still look back on fondly. I was grateful for the opportunity to write something as a birthday gift, but also have some fun trying a different trope, and looking at it from a different perspective/lens that I normally tend to write in. It was like this fantastic experiment, dedicated as a gift, but somehow still resonated with several readers, and it’s also one of the few fics of mine that I sometimes re-read scenes from.

Promises, promises

One of my absolute faves because I got to explore one of my favorite subjects - interfaith dialogue - through the whole team, in this modern au, which was also a bit of a rom-com <333 Some scenes and dialogues were projected from my own experiences, and discussions, and though niche as heck, also resonated with some fellow LGBTQIA+ religious readers 💒

Bonus - other fandoms:

Miracoli

Should we call it TOG-adjacent? Lol. I adored writing Daan and Paolo, and the found family trope was THIQ within this FIC yo. Plus, getting to write a teenager, and a preschooler? And exploring those dynamics of building a family together? Yesh, please - there are so many scenes from this one that I re-read just to bask in the serotonin because it’s probably one of the sweetest fics I’ve written, uplifting, romantic and soft 💕

Mixing It Up

My Steddie fic! I binged ST, resonated with Eddie Munson hard, and projected some aceness onto their potential dynamics. I’ve received some of the sweetest “I feel seen” comments with this one, and some are saved on my phone on days when posting anxiety tells me not to bother. Write the stories your teen self would have loved to read, because I guarantee there are others out there who it will speak to, too.

Pretty Ballads Hide Bastard Truths

This was one that has fallen on the back burner due to other fandom events/projects but I promise it’s outlined and ready to resume come late summer. Like, it’s on my list - I’m itching for it! I adored Calanthe x Eist’s scenes in the first season, and I wanted to devour more of it, and with some loving encouragement I was glad to dedicate this one to Claz. It’s still one of my favorites for the worldbuilding, and little nods to canon throughout, but just that exploration of growth, healing, and coming together over the years that has yet to leave my brain. I’m looking forward to finishing it and allowing the story to come full circle.

Thanks again Sarah ~ looking forward to passing this one on soon 🤗

#answered ask #self love fic ask

1 note · View note

isabellehemlock · 3 years

Text

Author Interview Tag Game

Both @energievie and @ceraunos tagged me in this lovely author’s interview (a month ago eeek) and I am so excited to fill this out - such a cute one! - thanks for the tagging me, and I'll tag:

@boutiquetraveltravelboutique @bewires @disregardandfelicity @ao3-arkada @pinkninjapj @emjee @mieraspeller @shatterthefragments @catherine-batty-author (feel free to skip, especially if you've already done it!)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Thirty-three, four are fanarts 🎨

2. What’s your total word count?

762,097 (in the last 15 months - and that’s not including a couple of things I haven’t posted yet lol WHAT - how did that happen?!)

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

Well I joined AO3 five years before I started posting in August of last year. The majority of my fics are hands down The Old Guard - but branching out to other Luca Marinelli Multiverse characters, and crossovers (so including those, five total - but again, mostly characters for crossover purposes vs canon adjacent fics)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Endless Ocean (TOG AU), Cleanse (TOG post canon), The Bet (TOG pre canon), Catch Me If I Fall (TOG AU), The Purpose of Art (TOG Modern AU)

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

Aw I love responding to comments! I don’t think I’ve ever missed any?? I’m pretty extroverted though and love chatting with people, and of course am always humbled someone has gone out of their way to leave a comment, so, grateful for the opportunity to express my thanks in return 🙏🏻

The rest under the cut because this got long haha

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

Define “angst” lol. Because gosh, I was going to say none, but it is sort of implied in a couple - The Necklace (TOG pre canon), An Interrupted Oath (TOG pre canon), and Memento Mori (TOG pre canon) - not sure how much I can share about any of those without it getting spoilery, but basically: sad, saddish because reunion is “off screen”, and uh, the third ends on a cliffhanger.

Some of my other stories do have angsty themes in them, but otherwise happy endings 💕

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

Hands down, Pwimo - but I got an even crazier one outlined muwhahahaha

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Mmmm, define “hate”? I’ve had unwarranted/not asked for commentary and “jokes” around ship dynamics in my fics, as well as people suggesting I shouldn't write one or the other (both in comments and DM’s). Spoiler: you can't win, someone is always going to be unhappy with the ship dynamics, write what you want (I write both btw and yup have received commentary across the board)

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

Lol, let me whip out my list - can I sort by rating? Haha. I mean, I think tags can be fairly subjective, like there’s a lot I can’t personally read. There’s a lot I’ve written, that others can’t read, so I’m not sure if I should say “kink”? Because I feel like half the peeps will say “Oh yeah” and the other half would say, “Lol whatttt?”

Hm, but without writing out a whole list, I think kink encompasses enough haha.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I’m aware of - I think I would cry, please don’t.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, not that I’m aware of?

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

Not so much co-written, but EO was co-created with my beta, and we spent the better part of six weeks piecing together a fairly elobrate outline with backstroies, plot points (she came up with half of them!). She was kind enough to beta every single week for the better part of six months to make sure I didn’t miss anything haha.

I am itching to co-write something, but it’ll be a surprise, so I can’t say more than that - but the co-author has already looked over the outline and seems they liked it 😘

13. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Joe and Nicky! I’ve written some 762k+ words for them (and characters in their lives, and crossover AU’s), I love them your honor

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

Oh I’m going to finish them - might take me another six months, but it’s going to happen 😎

15. What are your writing strengths?

Within the story: hmmm, I really like to explore what makes a person tick, so I’d say dialogue, and character backgrounds - I like to pretend I’m funny sometimes, too.

Writing in general: this might be the ADHD, but I don’t really need to carve out time to write. I can do like thirty minutes here, stop, do something else, then dive right back in and write like another hour. Obviously if I can schedule more time at once that’s great and all, but it’s not a necessity. Really helpful when I have other errands, appointments to do, just sort of tap in/tap out as needed.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

I feel like I’ve read some fantastic, beautiful allegories to describe scenery and people, and I just - never seem to use that for my own stuff, and I don’t think that means my fics are necessarily lacking because of it, but I just notice it when I read it in other places. I think I tend to focus on the dialogue more, or when I do describe things, tend to rely on colors and emotions but gosh the epic, sweeping, poetic imagery kind of stuff I've seen in this fandom?? Yeah drag me stunningggg

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

Hey if you got someone to help you (Lisa has helped me several times with Arabic!), then go for it - or there’s a few tumblr authors who have resources/guides. Otherwise, I stick with one or two words here and there at best, but not like long chunks of dialogue. I'm bilingual myself, so I know how inaccurate Google translate can be lol.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I did a lot of RP/OC stuff as a teen, then didn’t do any of that for almost two decades - save some short lived RP stuff a decade ago - TOG is the first fandom I wrote a posted fic for

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Oh gosh, such a loaded questionnnn 🙈 Because I love them all for different reasons but I guess let me pick like a baker's dozen? And share little things I liked about them?? (numbered by posting order from oldest to newest)

They emerged once more, and beheld the stars

My first posted fic! How can it not have a special place in my heart??

The Little Church

This was based on the first post I made in the fandom, about how Joe and Nicky might have discovered similarities between their faiths and bonded over that. I'm really into interfaith dialogue so it was wonderful to write some of that out here as the interfaith couple of the millenia 🥲

Cleanse

A post canon fic that weaved their past, into a post movie world with flashbacks, and though disguised as a road trip fic was really about healing from a ptsd flare up - also, this was my first sex scene writing (so I was nervous!)

The Purpose of Art

My very first modern AU and oh my gosh though on surface level looks like a restorative social justice fic, it was definitly more like a romantic comedy featuring all three major couples - and the first time I wrote about demisexuality in a fic (so again, totally nervous!!). But it's still one of my top three that I think back on fondly for its found family themes, and healing from traumatic events (I'm already seeing a pattern lol)

The Bet

My first, on purpose, explicit fic solely for the sex lol. I wrote some 17k+ words in three days and wanted to try my hand at some kink themes. I definitly used a lot of religious imagery as well though, and it turned into an actually tender PWF. I truly believe I peaked with this one haha.

Crimson Moon

Once again, my attempt at writing smut, ended up being a long multi fic exploration (under the guise of vampires and werewolves) of world building, explicit consent, soul mates AU. It featured the other pairs as well, and is also one of my top three favorite personal fics ever!

Piece of Heaven

This was actually a last minute fic - someone had to drop out of the holiday exchange and I got to be one of the called on subs if you will haha. And gosh this turned out to be one of my absolute favorite fics - it's a modern AU, sweet, gentle, featuring seminarian!Nicky and scholar!Joe and it's just adorableeee

12 Days

This was a kink based prompt fic, but since I seem incapable of writing any porn without feelings (I didn't mean for my demi to come out this hard but here we are lol) - I completely, though totally accidently, projected myself onto Nicky coming to terms with his sexuality with a sweet, kind, patient partner (i.e. my hubby). Whoops at the self insert lol.

Through the Lens

Speaking of hubby, I used this big bang fic to share my own (and his) personal experiences with the starving artist tropes, xenophobia (though only a smidge in the story), and even included me and hubby's meet cute via Andy and Quynh’s story. Plus the tSoA symbolism is thiq within this fic y'all 😎

Endless Ocean

By far my most read fic (and now a whole series with a time jump epilogue). I won't get too personal here with it, but there were several themes and even full on dialogue scenes taken from my personal life, as well as family history, and I really, really wanted one thing to resonate above all else: that there's hope after pain. Also almost 250k of that stat number at top, came from this fic alone whoops

Pwimo

Alright here me out, this is the most niche, self indulgent, crack/smut I could have ever written and I regret nothing. I don't care that it is one of my least viewed fics because I love Pwimo enough for everyone lol. He's my cursed child on the server, I even have emotes for him from memes, there's art now featuring Primo as a catboi and it's all thanks to Chelsea, who allowed me to adopt him. I'm the Mother of Cursed Children now lol.

Misunderstandings

My first time writing Roberta, and a trans character, so I was nervous! I really appreciated the positive feedback and enjoyed getting to write for her - and did another one as well ;) But I loved the historical, French provincial vibes, and the opportunity to flesh out such a beautiful character - Roberta is a Queen, who deserves everything ❤

Called You By Name

I almost didn't post this one! The religious imagery is not only fic, it's blatant lol. I wasn't even sure if it would be too Catholic in the sense it might go over some people's heads and make it too hard to follow along. Like, would someone need to pause, look up what the heck I was referring to and just - not finish it lol. But luckily that doesn't seem to be the case and I'm grateful for the positive feedback I received. It's one of my favorites and I loved exploring the potential HC of how Nicolò became Nicky di Genova 😏

+ bonus Miracoli

I'm currently writing my first Daan x Paolo fic, and you loves, it's so fluffy and adorable and the single Dad vibes but also the pining but also the kiddos but also the self loathing my goodnesssss.

Oh my gosh this got so long, I'm sorry 🙈

That's all folks!

#tag game #tagging game #tog tag game #author interview #this was fun 💕

11 notes · View notes