#which. kudos to you but it boggles my MIND

[trippedandfell]

Simply loving your zoologist Buck series!!!!

ahhh thank you! it’s a series that honestly has such a special place in my heart <3

[violetasteracademic]

A humble thank you to everyone who has read Golden Doe in a Valley of Shadow. I saw today that this piece has passed 10,000 hits and has received 400 kudos 😭 that is absolutely mind boggling to me! I'm so grateful that a month long disassociative episode led to nearly 100k words that resonated with my fellow Elain and Azriel lovers.

If you have been thinking about writing a fic but you are nervous, insecure, worried no one will read it, or wondering if a fandom rife with so many talented writers and artists will welcome you, please take this as your sign to do it. There are people out there who want to read your story. There are fans (like me) who want to fill their world with fanart and fanfics and live inside imaginary worlds endlessly.

Your words and your time and effort are valuable.

I'm so grateful to SJM for the existence of ACOTAR and AO3 for a platform which sent my imagination spinning. Grateful to Elriel for being so damn easy to fall in love with and write about. @faeprincesswarrior for editing and @rae2velaris for her incredible art.

Fic writing and art has healed my relationship with a pretty wild fandom I have often considered stepping away from!

If you've got a story, write it.

Write it write it write it.

The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool.

-Lester Bangs, Almost Famous

If you haven't yet, feel free to check out Golden Doe in a Valley of Shadow here! 😘

[biconickyoshi]

Thought I’d share some of my favorite songs on my playlist for my Zukaang AU, The Avatar and the Fire Prince! I have a lot more songs than just these on there, but these are the ones I feel like are just *chef’s kiss*.

If you haven’t read it, in this AU, Zuko and Iroh discover Aang in the iceberg right after Zuko was burned and banished at age 13 in 96AG, so he and Aang are only one year apart in age. The AU will eventually follow a similar course of events as the canon show, just over the span of 4ish years instead of 1, meaning that Aang will be nearly 16 when Sozin’s Coment arrives in 100AG. The images of Aang and Zuko below represent what they will both look like at that time (pic of Aang is from the Imbalance comic trilogy where he’s around 15-16, pic of Zuko is from S3E21 where he’s 16, likely nearly 17).

19 chapters are currently posted on ao3 (most recent update was 9/15/23), and I’m getting super close to 1k kudos, which is absolutely mind-boggling to me!! I never expected that my fic would get this much love, especially as someone who has never posted a fic before lol. If you’re a reader, thank you so so much for your support! ❤️

Links below are all to YouTube videos since I know not everyone has Spotify :)

muse - MisterWives

light - wave to earth

Clouds - flor

Colours of You - Baby Queen

Glue Song (feat. Clairo) - beabadoobee

like everyone else - zeph (this fits pining Zuko so well)

UNDERSTAND - keshi

From The Start - Laufey

More Than The Day Before - Cody Fry

Smitten - Leanna Firestone

Would You Be So Kind - dodie

Body Language - Mint Green

Anyone But You - Particle House, Le June

[drowninginships]

An Ask Game for Writers to Procrastinate Working on Your WIP(s)

First of all, thank you soooo much to @monbons and @valeffelees for tagging me, I nearly had a whole breakdown over how nice this fandom is and how good it feels to be included in something like this. Yall are the sweetest, thank you <3 1. 🦈Tell us the name of your/ one of your WIP(s): Uhhhh, yall name your WIPs beforehand? I currently have two documents titled "nose ring simon" and "wing fic" and I typically title it just before I post it.

2. 🍄Describe your WIP/one of your WIP(s) in the format of “___ + ___ =___” I think you'll find this is a pretty easy formula for most, if not all, of my fics. Simon + Piercing + Baz Horny. Alternatively, Simon + Wings = Baz Horny. Sensing a theme?

3. 🌍What tags or warnings will one of your WIP(s) need if you intend to share it? Explicit tags, for sure. It'd be pretty funny to tag the wingfic as monsterfucking, so I'll probably do that, but otherwise, nothing crazy going on here. Just boys very much in love.

4. 🧭An alternative title to one of your WIP(s)? "wing fic" often affectionately gets called "how the fuck do wings work" or "goddamn motherfucking physics"

5. ⚠️Which WIP you're most likely to finish or update next? Definitely the piercing one. The wing fic isn't cohesive or coherent at this time, and it's more of a collection of scenes rather than a whole fic, anyway. I'm having a lot of fun writing the piercing one!!!

6. 💾What is your document of your WIP/ a WIP called? (not the stories actual title but what you’ve saved it as) Please see answer #1. It's truly mind boggling to know that some of yall are out here naming WIPs.

7. 🖍Post Any sentence(s) from your WIP.

Of course it's gold. Everything about Simon is gold. His mind, his body, his soul. The color of his skin and his hair when the sun shines through it from behind. The small loop now adorning his nostril.

8. ♻️A scrapped idea for your current WIP. For wing fic, I was trying to figure out a way to make an au scene where everyone has wings, and I could do a little, like, wing caretaking session? But I couldn't find a solid enough reason for everyone to have wings, and also I realized I just didn't care enough about that scene to pursue it further.

9. 🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet? I find this question particularly difficult. I don't know that there are any stories I want to tell, right now. Usually when I want to write something, I schedule it in and I do it. Right now, there's nothing on the back-burner.

10. 🤡How many WIPS are you actively working on? Only the 2! I'm not usually one to work on multiples at a time.

11. 🛠Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now? Re: "goddamn motherfucking physics," I've never been super into fantasy or a fandom that particularly liked wings, so I genuinely have no clue how these things work. I took on this project as a gift for @valeffelees after he lamented the lack of wing fics for him to devour, and while I'm not an expert, I'm certainly trying my best. But like, the anatomy??? of a wing???

12. ❤️Not a question, just a second Kudos to send. Again, thank you both so much for tagging me. You're exactly who I would have tagged here, so instead of tagging you both again, I'll tag @thewholelemon even though I know you've already filled this out <3 Also, I'll tag @chaoticgaywitch @iamamythologicalcreature @youarenevertooold @beastmonstertitan and @brilla-brilla-estrellita because you all played our stupid little poetry game and brought me a lot of joy!

[mysteriesofloves]

Just noticed that the milk and honey route has surpassed a THOUSAND kudos, and I’m here to say: what the fuck! It is so mind boggling to me that a little pandemic fic I wrote has had that much of a reach. I know it’s the way a lot of you found me and I want to thank you all so much for sticking around. I don’t feel like much of a writer these days, much less a fic writer, and I haven’t felt very connected to using my free time to be active on here like I used to be, but I miss this space very much, and hope I can return to it in time.

I started posting people look well in the dark a year ago now, and it has over 500 kudos, which is also crazy to me, since I thought that, like, 4 people max would even be into it, so thank you all for trusting the vision and being as unhinged as I am. I’ve found this fic hard to continue for many reasons but I do really hope to finish it one day, and hope that you’ll all still be around when I do. Thank you all again 🩷 !!

[r6shippingdelivery]

I want to preface this by saying this post isn’t about any fandom in particular, it’s an issue that concerns all fandoms and it was a thought that sparked in my mind after reading some posts from generic fanfic sites/AO3 related. And it’s about the way fanfic writers are treated in general, even by fellow writers.

When someone makes a post reminding people that liking and reblogging/retweeting is the best way to help their favorite artists, or that comments help the algorithm and boost the creator’s confidence, everyone shares this and I don’t really see any dissenting voices. However, the moment someone makes a post saying that the way to support your favorite writers is by leaving kudos and commenting if you can, a lot of people flip their shit and start saying writers ask too much and feel entitled to comments and interaction. Why the fuck is there such a double standard?

Why is it okay to tell writers they should be grateful if people passively read their stories and never make their appreciation known, but I have never seen a post with people complaining in the same way about how artists expect engagement on their art posts? Occasionally, there’s some posts about the importance of sharing (by reblog/retweet, not reposting), but it’s usually more in the vein of pointing out how that’s on a downtrend and warning people that if they don’t share the art and stuff they like, the artists will eventually leave the platform. And yet the moment someone points out that if writers don’t get any encouragement they’ll eventually stop sharing and updating their stories, it’s a giant argument about how writers see fandom as a big transactional event and how they feel entitled to comments. Even writer focused spaces are spouting such sentiments, it’s mind boggling! 

If a writer talks about their lack of engagement on a story, they get bombarded with replies about how they should write for themselves only. Which is fair to a degree, but let’s look at it like this: if you baked your favorite cake and brought it to a potluck and nobody tried a slice of it, everyone would understand why you’d be a bit bummed. Yet writers get inundated with contradictory advice: you have to ask for concrit if you want interaction, try asking for specific questions at the end so your readers know what to comment about! Don’t ask for concrit and much less ask specific questions cause then the readers feel pressured and won’t comment. Answer to all comments you get or the readers won’t bother commenting if there’s no reply. Don’t reply to comments cause then you’re artificially inflating your story’s stats and commenters will be put off by that. Give a blanket statement about how you appreciate comments and kudos. Don’t do that because you look desperate. Etc. It’s a ‘damned if you do and damned if you don’t’ situation. No matter what route you pick, it seems like you’ll come off as entitled/desperate/clingy to people, just for saying “please, let me know there’s someone out there and I’m not throwing my stories to an empty void.” 

And while most of the focus of these big “writers ask for too much” rants are about comments, there’s also the kudos. Apparently the idea that if you read a story and enjoyed it you should leave kudos (aka, clicking a button - it’s like giving a like) is preposterous for some sectors too. So people won’t leave kudos on ongoing stories, and commenting is out of the question/too much effort, so they just read those ongoing multi-chapters silently - and then complain when the story is abandoned. God forbid the author saw the lack of interaction and decided that sharing their story wasn’t worth it since nobody seemed to like it, as far as they could tell. And to those crying they did like it…  well, if you don’t actually show that in a tangible way, how the fuck did you expect the author to know? Fandom might not be transactional in the way some people seem to think it’s suggested, it’s not a review/comment exchange, no. But it’s a place where people seek connection and community, and if you don’t talk to people you won’t make those connections. Not everyone is on the same social media circles, sometimes a comment on AO3 is all the fandom interaction people will have. And that’s okay. You can still make friends and connections like that. Hell, a lot of the fandom friends I met started with them commenting on a story of mine or vice-versa! 

Nobody is asking you to comment on every single story you read, that’s asinine and impossible, and tbh sounds more like a strawman argument than a real idea you can see in these discussions. All fanfic authors say is “if you enjoyed my work, leave a kudo and consider leaving a comment if possible, even if it’s just an emoji or keysmash, please”, and yet that’s deemed too demanding and/or manipulative. But being told artists need you to support them with likes and reblogs, and comments if possible, and please consider donating to their ko-fi - that is perfectly okay. And I’m not saying artists are entitled for that, not at all! I’m just asking y’all to consider why there’s such a double standard in the way people treat fanfic writers versus the way they treat fan artists. Because at the end of the day, both are creating the content fandom people like to see, and yet it doesn’t feel like both types of creators are treated in the same way.

[therealsophiependragon]

My Fics

Heyy, I'm therealsophiependragon on Ao3 or Pendragon as I go by on the dangerous seas of the internet. Here's a comprehensive list of everything I have written and put on Ao3!

Recent notable mentions include:

- The Moon Told Me Of You is at 300 kudos, which is absolutely mind-boggling to me!

- Moon Rabbit is at 500 hits ✨

- Listen To Me Love You has been given 25 kudos!

- Sidewalk Chalk reached 60 kudos!

Thank you very much!

Avatar: The Last Airbender

The Moon Told Me Of You

Cages are for monsters. Azula knew this well. Cages were deserved, by those singular enough to earn the watchfulness of others. And if that was true, then Azula was the queen of them, for hers was a very careful cage.

A careful cage for a monstrous girl.

Well, tonight they would see if it was careful enough.

Or,

A summoning-gone-wrong lands two princesses on a legendary quest to save the world that abandoned them both.

This fic includes:

Yuezula (Azula/Yue)

100k+ words, WIP multi-chapter

Dangerous quest

Obscene amount of liberties taken with the spirit world (the author admits to having only watched the first season of Korra... but I promise the liberties taken are kind of interesting?)

Annoyances-to-lovers with a sprinkle of grumpy/sunshine

Sun and Moon trope into oblivion

Moon Rabbit

“You think it was my destiny to be defeated by my pathetic excuse for a brother.”

“I think we write our own destinies.”

“Oh, for the love of Agni, go away.”

Or,

Yue visits Azula the night after the Agni Kai.

This fic includes:

Yuezula

4.8k words, complete one-shot

Sun and Moon trope

Musical inspiration (Moon Rabbit by Blackbird & Crow, very good song highly recommend also if you do give it a listen please consider writing out the lyrics and sending them to me because I have a very bad ear for lyrics and understand maybe half of what she's singing)

Yue Talking Sense Into Azula tm

Contains kneeling/subversion of hierarchal norms because love transcends all boundaries

My Hero Academia

Sidewalk Chalk

Toga does not know how to flirt, so naturally she stalks Uraraka for weeks before finally mustering the courage to ambush and invite her to participate in a sidewalk chalk challenge. As one does. Uraraka is unamused.

This fic includes:

Togachako (Toga Himiko/Uraraka Ochako)

2.4k words, complete one-shot

Toga being Toga

Improper usage of sidewalk chalk

An abundance of banter

Character study of the togachako relationship

Fun

Corporeal Levity

"I think my family is rotten."

"Yeah, welcome to the club, kid."

Or,

Hanako Takahashi used to have a family. Now, she's a villain, using her quirk to help the League of Villains find their leader, who they all know has to still be out there—before the rest of the world does. When a lead puts U.A. on their radar once again, Hanako must don a mask of morality and join the many wannabe heroes at the school to obtain information that could put the villains on top once more. And she might be able to pull it off, too... if her annoying new classmate would stop following her around like an overly-enthusiastic, opposite-of-stealthy puppy.

Eri Aizawa has a family, and a very nice one, but sometimes she feels... lost. When her dreams of heroism are put on hold by her wearily worried father, Eri knows she has to prove herself: by taking the U.A. exam anyway, and working her way up to being a hero everyone can be proud of. And if she can figure out her awesomely mysterious classmate while she's at it, well, that's just an added bonus.

This fic includes,

Not much actually because it's on indefinite hiatus after two chapters

12k words, incomplete

Found family

Teenage Eri Aizawa & LOV-child OC

Necromancy

Hopefully more once I decide I have time to write it

The Walking Dead

The Other Way

Sophia has always been a scared little girl in a world of monsters. The apocalypse didn’t change much.

But it did teach her one thing: there are lots of ways to turn.

This fic includes,

Zombies

A traumatized child

3.2k words (one-shot, complete)

Sophia Peletier character study

Is the brunt of all of my frustration that she died so early because DAMN if she had survived... ugh i wish

My pride and joy

It got hit with that kudos bot a while back too so now the kudos-to-hits ratio is obscene and makes me sad but whatever even the robots love me y'all

Harry Potter

Listen To Me Love You

Ginny and Luna are in love, they just don't know it yet.

Fortunately, all it takes to fix this is a nudge from Fate, and a little bit of bad luck.

This fic includes,

Linny (Ginny/Luna)

2.5k words, completed one-shot

Sun and Moon coded (kind of idk I say that but do I mean it nobody really knows)

Sad Ginny, Wise Luna

Set in Fifth Year (so Ginny's fourth year)

Actually beta-read, which is a first for me

[annabtg]

20 questions for Fic Writers

Thanks for tagging me @theresthesnitch, I love seeing everyone's answers on this!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

40.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

177,784. (A couple of thousand of those are actually by @eemolu, my partner in writing taller than the trees).

3. What fandoms do you write for?

These days, almost exclusively HP, though I've written a few little oneshots for Lois & Clark.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. The Great James Potter (167 kudos). Jily, canon, 7th year Lily POV "enemies"-to-lovers, 8.7k.

2. AO3 Is Down (149 kudos). Jily Muggle AU where they work for AO3. As cracky as it sounds. XD 1.4k.

3. As If By Magic (139 kudos). Jily, canon, 7th year slow burn, 34k.

4. Inescapable (138 kudos). Jily, soulmates, Hogwarts across the years, 4.2k.

5. Are You Experienced? (135 kudos). Hogwarts Jily go to a Muggle concert for their first date. 12.6k.

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

Absolutely!! Comments make my day and I always want people to know I appreciate them!!

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

Probably Trapped - Emmeline Vance's last fight with the Death Eaters, told from her POV.

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

Are You Experienced? is definitely one of the fluffiest!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I wouldn't say I've ever got full-blown hate, but I've got a few negative comments, most of them for writing Sirius/Lily. Stuff like 'Sirius would never do that to James' - even when it's a story where the Sirius/Lily part is fake dating and James is actually aware of it and endorsing it. xD The mind boggles.

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

I write some smut, yes! M/F, mostly vanilla stuff. :p

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

Not really! Though one day I want to finish that fic where Lily is a L&C fan. xD

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of! Who would be interested in stealing my fics? Lol. xD

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have! My old Remadora story Over Spilt Coffee (FF.net link here - I should put it up on AO3) was translated to Russian, from my own Greek translation. And there was also a translation of Birthday in Spanish but the link doesn't seem to be working.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

A couple! Apart from taller than the trees which I've already mentioned, I'd cowritten a fic for L&C with my friend Raquel.

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

JILY!!!

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

My old WIP Through Times Of War. It was my attempt to write Book 7 before DH came out. I still remember my plans for it, I had an ending and everything, but I'm just not interested in that era anymore.

16. What are your writing strengths?

A good grasp of grammar, vocabulary, flow - the technical aspects. My writing always looks very polished.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Coming up with a good plot/what happens next.

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

I've done it once - had Fleur and her family fight in French about Bill, in listening range of the Weasleys. I think that, if you're going to write dialogue in another language for a fic, it has to serve a narrative purpose. I don't like it when characters speak in another language or drop random words/endearments just to show off the writer's headcanons about where they're from.

19. First Fandom you wrote for?

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

Depends on your definition of favourite, but the one I'm proudest of is probably Are You Experienced?

Tagging @athenasparrow, @charmsandtealeaves, @kay-elle-cee, @jamesunderwater (if you haven't been tagged already!)

[folklauerate]

20 questions for fic writers

thanks for the tag @bad-surprise and @ladykettlechips

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

71 under my name and a few on anon!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

796,982 which is kind of insane to think about. I started writing creatively for the first time in years in January of 2022. To have published this much is kind of crazy to think about. I'm likely going to hit 800k this year which is... Just wild. Lol.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The vast majority of my fic Bridgerton! I've written a two for The Rings of Power (Haladriel), one for Shadow and Bone (Darklina), and one for The Hunger Games (Everlark). I have plans for a few more Haladriel and Darklina :)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

(NOTE: I actually have never looked at my fics by kudos, I only know the set up is the most kudos'd one because well it's over 1k and none of my other fics are. So going through this was interesting!)

The Set Up — My Kathony royals au where Anthony is the King of England and Kate is a world famous actress. This is my most popular fic by far, I'm not sure how it ended up that way! It's a mind boggling amount of kudos (1,769 as of right now) and I know a lot of folks have much larger kudos counts, and it's hardly the most kudos'd in the fandom lol, but it's pretty big for me and I'm not sure if I'll write something else that'll get more lol. I do love this fic a lot, it feels like they're my own characters and that's likely because I've taken plenty of liberties and whatnot. Anyway. I could do talk about it for ages so I'll move on!

Hold Onto You -- A oneshot of Anthony holding babies--his own and his siblings. It was one of the first things I ever wrote for the fandom! Looking back it's a bit of foreshadowing for how I started to write lol--it was a pretty long oneshot written in less than a day which I've done multiple times since then. I haven't revisited this one in a while and don't even know if I can--writing regency is not my strong suit and my earlier writing is still hard for me to read these days lol.

leave the light on — A twoshot where Kate and Anthony are roommates and fall in love. It's set in NYC and is very rom-com-y! It has some of my favorite things to write; domesticity, people growing with one another and around one another, descriptions of the sky, descriptions of the subway, descriptions of NYC, a big wedding, a love confession. I recently finished it lol! I'm actually surprised this is up there!

Office Hours — I wrote this in September of last year in an attempt to get better at writing smut! I actually posted this on anon first because it felt too revealing to post this lol. I was actually really uncomfortable writing smut back then and I think I've improved a lot since then. The response was wild, I really was just so in the weeds with this fic that I couldn't even tell if it was hot or not lol.

lost in your current like a priceless wine— this is my prof au! And an age gap au :) writing this was wild and special. It was a lot of texting Kara and being so very thoroughly enveloped and possessed with this idea that was taking shape. I wrote this over countries and continents and on planes. I wrote all 40k of it in far less than a month and just! I dunno! It was so immersive. It's one of my favorite things I've written. It's crazy it was just this year.

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

I do! Lol that being said--I have quite a backlog right now. Responding to comments takes a lot of energy and time from me and I usually figure that people want me to write fic as opposed to responding to comments. I do want to say that I honestly sincerely appreciate every comment. I think all fic writers do. We love hearing what you loved and love hearing your thoughts! I'm sure my not responding to them is likely not encouraging so I'm sorry. Know that I want to respond to them and I am quite literally in the process of doing so right now lol. If you commented on Bridgerton, Actually (my Love, Actually AU from last year) then I've been responding to you lol!

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

This fic isn't finished but my daddy warned me about men like you lol!

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

I'm a sucker for a happy ending! I'm not sure what my happiest ending is, but the vast majority of fics have a happy ending :) Feel free to lmk what you think the happiest ending is.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yes. I've gotten some really inane hate comments that are just... dumb and easy to brush off. I've also gotten really intense hate comments that are so long they've required multiple comments, with people reposting exactly what they wrote after I deleted it. It's been really tough to deal with and I think I have some mild anxiety around comments in general as a result. Anyway, it's tough! I think hate comments tend to stick around the most in my brain and so I do appreciate all the nice comments because the gut clench from negative ones never really goes away :,)

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

I do indeed write smut! I'm not really sure if I can describe what "kind" or how you can tell what your kind of smut is? I write plenty of dirty talk and smut with and without feelings. In general, I think that smut does need to do something for the story if it's in a fic with plot--if it's a fic that's just smut then it doesn't really matter. If it's a fic with plot, I like to make sure the smut actually helps the plot along and works to carry the reader through what the characters are feeling and their journeys.

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

I haven't but I will enjoy adding celebs or pop culture things in fics!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yeah.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope but if anyone ever wants to, lmk! Translation is an art form and tricky and time consuming and I'm happy to work with anyone who wants to :)

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I have and I have LOVED doing it!!!!! I was so thrilled to write the West Wing AU with Rama, whose Tumblr @ I simply cannot find, and @grantairesbottle and I wrote in our perfect park together! Both AUs will be getting follow-up fics :) I truly adore both of their work and getting to write with two dear friends and incredible writers was just so lovely. Even more fun than that was just getting to freak out over this shared idea together! It was just such a lovely joint venture.

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

I could not pick one! I love James/Lily from Harry Potter, Katniss/Peeta from The Hunger Games, and Kate/Anthony from Bridgerton. I'd honestly say they're my OTPs! I love them so, so much. I've read so many Everlark and Jily fics growing up, too, those I've had for so long. It's kind of hilarious how those three have so much in common, like it's not like I went around looking for ships like that but it just happens. You like what you like, I suppose :)

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

I honestly do want to finish all of them but I don't think I'll finish my Gilmore Girls AU, simply because the characterization is so far off from what I think or how I understand those characters now.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Creating really immersive worlds through specific details. Doing research to make worlds lived in. I write a LOT of modern AUs for a book/show that takes place in regency England so I think world-building is one of my biggest strengths. Being able to transport characters into new worlds and understanding how they'd respond to that specific world and situation of the fic is another strength. I think my banter is pretty good? I also like to think I have a pretty good pulse on what my audience will like and what seems to be the thing du jour in the fandom. I usually don't end up writing to it lol but this is a strength as a reader, I'd say, not as a writer.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

PATIENCE lol! If I spent more time perfecting, editing, and letting things percolate, I think my works would all be better for it. Instead, I largely write and write and write and then hit publish the moment I'm done. With a few fics (specifically the royals au) I will have someone beta for me and then I at least have another level of editing and another pair of eyes for a vibe/gut check before I publish. I do think, however, that if I was brave enough to actually face my work and sit and edit, it would all be better in general. I'd also then be able to finish a fic before posting, which I've simply never done.

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

I do plenty of this for Bridgerton fic because I usually try and include Marathi or Hindi for Kate and her family. Idk if i'd count it as another language but it is another language in the sense that it's not English!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter lol! I wish I still had my old HPFF fics :,,) that website sadly went down and I don't know how to use the wayback machine to find that. But yeah!

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Oh, I couldn't pick just one! The Set Up is def one. I've done a lot of work with world building and research for that one. Sweet Like Honey is another favorite fic. I wouldn't even say that it's really a great example of those characters because I did a lot of work to bend things to make stuff work for this particular situation. I maintain that it's true to the characters for this specific situation which is a p bonkers one. I mean, I wanted a step-father fic so I wrote one! It turned into something a bit more involved. lost in your current like a priceless wine is another fav. This one is just... it's special to me. It was really different from the other fics being written at the time and I hadn't seen or read an age gap like that for these two or a fic where they don't have that initial bickering/fighting vibes, which was a result ofc of Anthony being a bit older and the characterization I gave him for the AU, so it felt really scary putting it up for people to read. The response was really overwhelming and wonderful and so kind. That fic also marks a sort of turning point in my own writing, for me at least. I think I got braver after that one.

Thanks for the tag! I hope this is fun or interesting to read :) tagging @grantairesbottle @amalinwrites @somethingclearandtrue @tinacentury and Rama whose @ is not coming up !! Also tagging anyone who would like to do this :)

[khalaris]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

Ooh lots of fun questions, thank you @justhugsplz for tagging me <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

25.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

61,430 which is absolutely mind-boggling to me. And of those about 45k are Tatort Wien. Which I started writing exactly one year ago. For comparison, I've been writing fanfic for over 20 years and until I fell into Tatort fandom in 2021 I'd posted less than 3k in total.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Exclusively Tatort Wien at the moment. If I ever manage to peek my head out of that particular rabbit hole, I might get back to some Münster WIPs. Not in the near future, though :D

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Aufgeben -> Der Anruf -> Die Welt in unseren H��nden -> Bordsteingespräche -> Loslassen

Haha, Tatort Münster with a little sprinkle of Wien. I don't usually sort by kudos, so it's a bit surprising to see Die Welt in unseren Händen rank so high. Well, high in a range between 75 and 34. That's just how it is in small fandoms :D

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

Yes, always. Sometimes it takes a while to get to it. But I always want to take the time and energy to write a proper response, because a) if someone else took the time and energy to tell me how they feel about my story, the least I can do is tell them how much I appreciate them commenting. and b) A comment always feels like the start of a conversation to me. I remember the long comment/discussion threads under fanfic on Livejournal and I miss the community of that. Nowadays it often feels like there's this growing gulf between author and reader, probably because of the current content creator/consumer culture that does little to invite equality or discussion.

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

Silence, a Torchwood CoE fic about John Frobisher's last moments.

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

Bordsteingespräche. I'm really proud of how everything came together in the end in that one :)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nope, thankfully never.

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

If you'd asked me that a month ago, I would have said no. But recently I kind of got over my terminal embarrassment at even trying to write anything smutty. I haven't posted anything yet, but there's several fics/chapters in the works. Tbh I don't find vanilla sex interesting and most of the usual kinks in fanfic are either squicks or a snooze-fest to me. The stuff that I am writing is either weirdly specific kink or just downright unsexy (which my characters are having a frankly outrageous amount of fun with atm, bless them).

I'm a bit hesitant to put any real smut in a fic that isn't actually primarily about the smut. I fear enough people might be put off by that, so hardly anyone would end up reading it then. Bit of a stupid fear to have, perhaps, but still...

(Yes, I know, I should just get over it and simply write and post whatever the hell I want 😅)

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

I've had a lot of crossover ideas over the years, but the only thing I've ever written was an MCU/Agents of Shield thingie I hacked out during NaNoWriMo a couple of years ago. Let's be honest, that combination is the least crazy crossover of all time and hardly counts as a crossover at all. Like 99% of the stuff I've ever written during NaNo, it's completely horrible, unfinished and should never see the light of day again.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Don't think so.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I've translated Bordsteingespräche myself, but was very unhappy with the result, which is why it's unavailable at the moment. It's going to get reworked at some point.

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

Many many years ago, when the world was still young and some of you not yet born 😂, the lovely @hope-calaris and I cooked up a tentative plot for a rather ambitious Star Trek: Voyager fanfic. We didn't end up writing that one, but later co-wrote a CSI: Miami one with someone else iirc and I believe there might have been a 4400 (?) fic, also. Due to depression, my memory of that time is hazy at best, though, so it's possible that I'm missing or misremembering things there.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Didn't expect this question to be so difficult to answer, but is kinda is... 🙈 I guess any combination of my 3 Tatort Wien blorbos. Apart from that, Boerne/Thiel and Stephen Strange/Tony Stark are ships I can always come back to.

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

The aforementioned MCU/AoS time-travel epic.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, especially banter-y dialogue. And editing sentences/paragraphs for maximum impact (when I take the time to do it)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Action. What characters are doing, how they're moving, getting them from A to B and so on. Ugh.

External conflict. I despise conflict in real life and find it extremely difficult to write. You won't find an antagonist in any of my current stories or wips. And when I do write conflict between characters, that's always rooted in their internal conflicts and mostly the result of them not communicating properly.

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

It's very hard to do right. Translations in footnotes are annoying and leave me confused while reading. Translations in brackets behind the dialogue also annoying and missing the point of having different-language dialogue in the first place. It can be good when the author puts enough context there that you can get the gist of what is being said without needing an actual translation.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

X-Files. There's probably some 23-year old notebooks in the back of a drawer somewhere at my mom's house that have fanfic snippets mixed with homework assignments.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Oof, that's another difficult one. I have several that are favourites for different reasons.

Bordsteingespräche for the sheer joy and ease with which it was written.

Kaputt for how much of my heart and soul I'm putting into it.

Die Welt in unseren Händen, because after twenty years of trying and failing I am now finally writing an epic long-form multi-chapter fanfic and I have so many plans and ideas for it. I cannot put into words just how wild that is. And I simply adore this version of my favourite characters.

No-pressure tagging @carlomenzinger, @kathastrophen and @all-my-worlds-a-stage if you want to :)

[booburry]

20 questions for fic writers

thank you @silurisanguine for the tag! These are always fun!

1) How many works do you have on AO3

7 and counting.

2) What's your total AO3 word count?

166, 653 with a 15k+ one shot of Dieter & Javi about to get dropped within the next few days...

3) What fandoms do you write for?

In order I started: Dragon Age, Hogwarts Legacy, Starfield, Pedroverse (currently Dieter & Javi G but WIP's for Joel, Marcus P, Din with my brain wanting to also shove Frankie and Ezra into that mix).

I have also been avidly avoiding playing BG3 because I know I will deep dive into that fandom and my current WIP's cannot handle

4) Top five fics by kudos?

To The Mistake's We've Make, Echoes in Time, 'Tis the Season for Cullen Fluff & Smut, Feral, Paradiso: Passion. Pleasure. Play!

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

Sometimes I worry I do to a fault - like someone will give me a heart? BEST BELIEVE YOU WILL GET ONE TOO! Comments are my life blood and very much the thing that makes me giggle and squirm every time I get an AO3 or Tumblr notif

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

I am Silvia Gaunt, which is a Aesop Sharp Bodyguard AU...also in WIP status. I literally have the character narrate within the first page how it ends horrible, and I have it truly ending with Aesop weeping with loss.

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

uhhhhh, probably the Heiress series with Marcus Pike I have in WIP status, just because Marcus deserves a happy ending (my sweet, soft, babyyyyyy).

8) Do you get hate on fics?

Thankfully with everything I have released on AO3 I have not gotten any hate. Back when I wrote on FF.net during the years where I have buried and burned those fics, I got a decent amount of hate for making Bane less of a monster and more of a broken person who had a soft side, and it was truly the thing that had me stop writing. So I am super, duper, gratefully (and always blown away) but the constant love I receive on AO3 and Tumblr

9) Do you write smut?

hahahahahahahahahahaha. Next.

I n all honesty, I think my smut is continuously adding me to some government agency's list. Between that absolutely mind boggling Paradiso one-shot and now this Dieter x Javi piece that is rotting my brain.

Truly - check my temperature or send me to the doctor if I ever release a series or one shot that doesn't have smut. I ain't right.

10) Do you write crossovers?

Not entirely - unless you consider Dieter Bravo (The Bubble) x Javi G (Unbearable Weight) a crossover, but they exist within the same universe in my mind so it never counted. Wouldn't be against a crossover either, just never thought of an idea to do so.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I am aware of ha

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes...part of To The Mistakes We've Made was translated into Russian by the lovely @myachanya. (not @'ing you to do it but to call you out and give you so much love and affection my friend!!!)

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

Not a fic but @5oh5 and I spent an entire afternoon creating the Sam Coe Smut Alphabet and I think if we ever released those transcripts of our tumblr chat during that time, we would get put on a list.

Otherwise, no, but I am not against it. I also frequently talk shop with a select few about my plots in great detail as well as talk about others - I fucking love talking plot points and fic development haha

14) What’s your all-time favourite ship?

Titanic was the first famous ship I remember being an obsession for me, (the dedication I had to rewinding BOTH VHS's...) but 20/10 would not recommend a voyage. Millennium Falcon is always a solid choice but obviously with my current fixation it's all about Razor Crest.

Oh...fandom ship's? I honestly always seek out or write Reader or OC inserts so I truly can't say.

15) What’s the WIP you hope to finish but doubt you ever will?

My Cullen series - I honestly teeter on just abandoning it. I wrote it when I first got back into writing after an almost 10 year solid hiatus and my ability and style has already transformed that if I ever went back, I would have to redo everything I have posted to be happy with it but I absolutely love the story idea so I don't want to completely let go, but I would literally create new WIP's before wanting to write this one again.

16) What are your writing strengths?

I want to say my dialogue - perhaps my descriptions on emotions but I honestly struggle to say any descriptions I provide are a strength, rather middle ground or slightly subpar.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

GRAMMAR FFS. And always insisting every story idea needs to be an expansive 20 to 30 chapter story that doesn't have the plot structured far enough or my ADHD takes me to a new fixation

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

I was always able to avoid it because I struggle enough with English being so dyslexic that I don't need to struggle through a language I don't know but then Pedro came in with all of his Spanish self and now I find myself with 4 to 5 tabs open searching words and sentences and searching for lyrics or words being used in sentences by native speakers so I can try to ensure it's all correct because I fucking neeeeeeeeeeed Javi to speak to me in Spanish to me as he loses his mind. I think it's a cardinal sin if I don't.

19) First fandom you wrote for?

Christopher Nolan's Batman Universe for Bane - but that was when I was a teenage and will never let that resurface lol

20) Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

This is really hard, almost impossible to choose. Mistakes because it was the first fic that really got a lot of recognition for me, a lot of love given to me. Echoes because it has brought me close to many people and then Double Trouble because I am becoming obsessed with my reader, Dieter & Javi being a throuple and cause it's my current writing obsession and every new thing I release always becomes my favorite.

Tagging some lovelies incase they wish to partake (no pressure): @5oh5, @sp00kymulderr

[dreamwatch]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you to @occasionaloverboy for the tag!

So I got tagged in one of these before but had barely written anything, but this time I thought ‘fuck it’, I have some words down now.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Zero! Hoping to fix that soon.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

Zero, please see above.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Stranger Things.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Okay, so as before, no kudos. I do have some drabbles over here and the first one got over 500 likes which still boggles my little mind.

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

Yes! Because holy shit you, a human I do not know, read my stupid little thing and left me a comment and it made me happy.

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

I’m not counting prompts because they’re all kind of short, vignetty kind of stuff, and I haven’t finished any of my long fic. Off the top off my head, I would say none have terrible endings planned, though one is definitely pushing it. I also am in super duper early stages of planning a Vietnam AU, and I can’t see that having the happiest ending.

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

Like I say, so far none ended. I think the one that is likely to have the happiest ending is the Steve and Eddie in the 90s one, as it’s kind of a romance I think?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Well so far it’s just been ficlets and drabbles on tumblr and people have been very sweet. I’m a little scared if the prison fic sees the light of day because it’s got heavy shit going on and critical thinking is sorely lacking these days. So… hopefully not?

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

So far no. Honestly? I can’t ever even imagine it. And that’s becoming a struggle I’ve recently identified in my WIPs because there’s only so many chaste kisses you can let boys have before someone says ‘bUt wH3n ArE tHeY g0nNa fUCk!?’. In my fics, probably off screen, in the comfort of a bedroom or van and I shall avert my eyes while they do.

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

Nope. Hate ‘em.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I know. Why do people do that? Don’t do that.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No.

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

No. I’m always intrigued by how people write a fic together? If you do that tell me now? I’m curious.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

To quote Miss Erica Sinclair, you really have to ask? Steddie. It will always be Steddie.

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

Pffft… I mean, all of them? But if I had to pick one, there was one I started and it was my first ever, and it was my take on a recovery fic. And there’s still stuff I like about it, things I had planned for it that I haven’t seen in other similar (aftermath/recovery) stories but I’ve got so caught up with other fics that have a more interesting premise.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I mean… good question, who knows? I’m a contrarian, you show me 100 fics that all do X and I’ll write Y just to spite everyone. More deeply that that, I honestly don’t know.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Oh god so many. I’m ok-ish with dialogue, but shitty with describing what’s going on around it. My pacing isn’t great, I either go into way too much detail or no where near enough. I rarely find the sweet spot. I don’t have the most extensive or imaginative vocabulary, and while I’m not one for overly flowery prose, I would still like the language to be able to communicate imagery and emotion better.

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

I’ve never done it, I would be worried about it. Nothing more embarrassing than writing an emotional death scene in Icelandic only to be told by a native speaker you ordered three plates of fermented shark.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

The A Team, TV not the film. Fuck the film.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Of course none of them are finished, but up until now Like A Stone, aka depressed Eddie gets stuck working in the plant with Wayne and nearly everyone has moved away. It took me by surprise in August and I blasted 30k words in one month, and it’s been left ever since. But I need to pick it up again.

No pressure tags, and also if you’ve already done this sorry!

@cchapsticck @devilyouwere @hbyrde36 @farahsamboolents @thisapplepielife

[caramelcoffeeaddict]

so there is a poll on my dash about 'how many kudos does your most kudos fic on AO3 have'. I just went to check so I could vote, and I realized that The Bet is now my most popular fic by exactly 25 kudos. Desperate Times had been the most popular for a LONG time, and recently (within the past year) The Bet had caught up to it, and they began going back-and-forth between first & second place; but it was always just one or two kudos difference, nothing major. and now, somehow, The Bet has completely overshot Desperate Times. I can't believe how many more kudos it has now, it's mind-boggling.

it's just funny to me because I put almost no thought or effort into The Bet. in fact, the author's note at the top of the story says that it was written solely to give myself a break from the multi-chapter story I was writing at the time (which funnily enough was Desperate Times), and I even added "hopefully it turned out okay" to the note. I guess I'm always just surprised and in awe about which fics get attention over others, you know?

[mrowmrowmrow9]

Stats Tag Game

Got the idea from @the-darkdragonfly, I wasn't tagged but it sounded like fun ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Rules: list your fics with the most hits, most kudos, most comments, most bookmarks, most words, and the least words.

Most Hits: A World Where You Can Be Both with 1560 hits, the first of many series finale fix-its. It's one of my first fics, period, so I'm not too fond of it but it seems like people liked it :) Runner-up is The Darkest Place, a s3 canon divergent fic with 1075 hits.

Most Kudos: A World Where You Can Be Both again, with 72 kudos. Followed by The Darkest Place (again) with 66.

Most Comments: The Darkest Place with 38 comments, followed by Without You with 28, which is not linked because I kind of dislike it for...reasons and would rather you not read it 😅

Most Bookmarks: The Darkest Place again with 14 bookmarks, and the honor of second place belongs to Lost In Time which was my very first fic, with 12 bookmarks. I consider bookmarks, at least for me, to be the best way to tell that someone really liked a fic enough to want to read it over and over, so it makes me really happy that people liked that one considering how insecure I was and still am about it.

Most Words: You'll never guess it...The Darkest Place! With 15821 words. Longer than all of my WIPs, too. It honestly boggles my mind to know that I could once write at a rate faster than one sentence every 50 years 😭 It's fine, we'll get back there someday...

Least Words: If The World Was Ending has that honor, with 280 words. And at least a third of that is song lyrics I put at the end. Yep, no regrets, I still love it 😊 😅

And I like the idea of promoting fics we think could use some more love, so here are some extras:

Least Comments: girl of steel, with a grand total of 3 comment threads. I knew my regular audience probably wouldn't be crazy about it since it's all Danvers Sisters and only background karamel, but I hope some other folks enjoyed it. Anyways, it's s4 canon compliant hurt/comfort, give it a read if you'd like! I'd appreciate it 😊

Least Kudos: someday i'll wish upon a star (and wake up where the clouds are far behind me) with 10 kudos. This one I get, it's still really new and only has two chapters out of hopefully eight with no promise of a quick update. BUT I have lots of plans for this one and I hope you'll like them when the time comes :)

Third-to-last in kudos is don't quit 'till the world is hazy (now kiss me open) with 18 kudos, it's smutty fluff (or perhaps fluffy smut?) with a twist at the end. Said twist is probably why people didn't like it too much, but I personally believe it's worth at least a read 😇

Well, that was a fun walk down memory lane! Wanna play @themoonfortress @facepalming-since-chernobyl @peggystormborn @andromedasmith? No pressure :)

[therealvikingstrash]

2022 End of the Year Fic Review

The wonderful @underragingwaves tagged me, thank you love! (I put the longest part under a cut)

1. What is your AO3 account? for the vikings fandom it's my pseud vikingstrash.

2. How many words did you write total in 2022? 117.233 *whistles* not too bad if one considers what a year it's been.

3. How many fics did you publish in 2022? How many multichapters vs oneshots? 39 one shots and 2 multichapter. All Hail the One-shots!

4. What was your longest fic? Your shortest fic? Longest was Kings of Kattegat with 39,878 words and the shortest Story as old as Time with 119 words.

5. What was your most popular fic? Your least popular fic? Most popular (going by subscriptions, hits, comments, kudos and bookmarks) has to be my VBB entry Kings of Kattegat. Personally, the most self-indulgent fic I ever wrote.

Least popular is Sweat. I guess it would be a lot more popular if it wasn't hidden behind the AO3 log in. And also if it had full on smut and not just teasing, but oh well, I like it and in the end, that's all that matters xD

6. What fic didn’t perform as well as you thought it would? Huh, that's a weird thing to think of, I never really give it much thought if my writing is going to be popular or not so that thought of a fic not "perfoming well" is kinda...absurd to me. Anyway, if I had to take a guess, I'd say Greedy Gods? While it does have a lot of hits and a couple kudos, it's weird to me that for a fandom with so many people claiming they want more fic about the female characters and how much they love Aslaug, there was not as much love for it as I would assume. Must be a me-problem.

7. What fic performed way better than you thought it would? Basically anything I wrote for D. P. - Deserter Pursuit. I didn't think there would be enough people in said fandom to read, kudo and comment, but was positively surprised.

8. What was your favorite fic you wrote from 2022? For Vikings: Valhalla, Daughter of the Fearless. I loved giving Altöra more background story and this glimpse of her relationship to Freydis. It was fun to write.

For Vikings, Strung up, Tongue-Tied. I mean....sub!Hvitserk restrained and dom!Amma playing with him? Ubbe observing, just being present without doing anything besides kissing Amma? Yeah, I loved that one. It's full of tension.

For D. P. - Deserter Pursuit, Pity. My dumb ass actually made it a published WIP because there was more to tell and I liked it a lot. Only the Gods know if I will actually write more though xD

9. What was your favorite fic that somebody else wrote in 2022? Well, for someone who couldn't be paid to read other people's fics, I managed to read quite a lot in 2022 for free. Mind boggling, I know. But here go my favs:

Gotta start with Not A Fairytale by underragingwaves, because...have you read that fic? It's really a fun read (for those who like crime stuff which is basically exactly what I love) and promising a bigger universe underneath that small treat she wrote.

Will totally never stop making hearteyes at Twice Now by ritual-unions. Love how Kara (heh) is so clumsy and unable to function in the real world and the way Ubbe basically just watches and smiles to himself, before his eye-roll moment that will make him intervene. I also love myself some good hurt and gosh, this is gonna hurt so damn bad at the end and I will love every second of it.

There were a couple to pick from and it was hard to choose, but when someone can make me read an Ivar fic, then it says a lot about that persons writing skill. The Mental Tyrant by grimeundglow deserves so much more love than it has been given.

Reactions Of Your Kind by Ulfrsmal was my fav of him in 2022, but only because I didn't really get to read the rest of his fics xD I'm sure there are more gems in his list, but this one stood out to me because...Hvitty and Ubbe 🥺

A Prize of Battle by Mercurygray, is absolute Emma/Canute goodness and Idk what else to say, because this womans writing skills are beyond anything I could muster, so hearteyes from afar will have to do for now.

For Mince Pie by emma-ofnormandy, another author that captures Emma and Canute's relationship so well and it's so fluffy, I wanna hold it really tightly against my chest.

And last but not least The Queen of Kattegat by northernxstories! I will remain deeply impressed by how effortlessly she managed to pull me into her story and made me read it in one go, even though it's 12k of words xD It was such a new way of approaching the characters and it's brilliantly written. An absolute treat in 2022.

10. Tag your friends to do this year-end fic review as well!

most have already been tagged, but perhaps one of you want to do this? But no pressure! @emma-ofnormandy @nothingtolosebutweight @author-morgan @lmillay @barnes-lothbrok @errruvande and anyone who feels like doing the fic review :D