#with irl stuff mixed in for bittersweet fun

[statisticalcats2]

I know Ahkmenrah speaking Hun is just a throwaway joke that doesn't have any logic or thought put into it, but I've kind of ended up with this idea that because of the type of being Ahkmenrah is, connected to death as he is, that he has an inherent understanding of dead languages.

It's not just humans who die, it's not just living beings that die. Languages die and are killed. And that counts for something in the universe.

After he starts pretending to be just a person working at the museum in it's new night hours, he gets to meet and hear a lot of different people from all over the world. He doesn't always understand their languages. Some of them he understands through the normal ways of learning. But sometimes he'll meet someone speaking a language that... isn't completely understandable but is... teetering at the edge, small sparks of recognition in him, almost understanding. And it's a very bittersweet thing to encounter once he realizes what's happening.

[dearreaders-things]

this was a lovely list of questions, and i enjoyed looking back over my works! if nothing else for me, this year was great for fic writing at least :D

i published 13, worked on about 11 other wips. woah

i worked on a chapter of a collab fic, which i've never done before!

probably chicago pd inspired me most this year (it falls perfectly in that area of the characters being brilliant yet trapped in source media that's good but flawed)

8 different fandoms

upstead! i went Through some stuff with this ship this year my lord. (also the sylki obsession + reylo obsession that never seems to die)

julian devorak Captured My Heart. i didn't expect to like his character that much when i started playing the arcana but i absolutely fell for him <3

both of the above were new for me this year!

ooh it's difficult to choose but love languages meant the most to me. (also, honourable mention to the as yet unpublished, unfinished, untitled upstead wip i have on the backburner. that one is really close to my heart.)

bittersweet made me the happiest, i had SO much fun writing it i could not shut up the whole time. i made my irls read the fic, i was that happy with it

this one's easy - ice cube was the most satisfying to finish. it was an idea i had in the wip folder for a long time, and also, it gave me a chance to revisit a ship/fandom i fell off writing for years ago, which was nice

most difficult would probably also be love languages just because of the format. (i wanted it to be a 5 + 1 things fic but ran out of time so 5 things it is.) time period, chapter titles, pov, so many decisions to make! plus it's the longest thing i've written so far.

hmm easiest to write might be dip of every neck. (maybe because it was largely inspired by a scene in another fic that i love)

shortest: my chapter of i <3 u, a collab work where each chapter had a 127 character limit (37 words). longest: love languages (8600 words).

ooh i listened to a bunch of music so if i start listing it'll just turn into spotify wrapped, but i listened to a lot of hozier (ofc), chance peña has good writing songs, and also billie eilish's new album was so good

MAN i went through so many terrible title ideas for balanced dualism

can i get one conversation at least is my favourite title, i mean it's a lyric but i love it. it was inspired by an upstead edit i saw on tiktok with that song, ugh it was great

“Jay holds it together shockingly well, once the crime lab rolls in.” - can i get one conversation at least

“Jay watches her silhouette leave. Sweet dreams, he thinks, hoping it’ll at least be true for Hailey.” - penance (wip but that's the last published line)

“Do you have any idea, Julian… how many times you asked me to do things to you? Even before you knew what I am. How many times have you offered up your neck for my teeth?” - bittersweet (aka the dialogue that gave me enough brainworms to write a whole fic)

“I do have one good arm left.” “Right,” she corrects, and he snorts when the joke lands. “Your right arm is your good one. Don’t start mixing those up on me now, Detective.” - penance

What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

as well as microsoft word, i discovered 4thewords this year (i liked its gamification). i write by hand when i have snippets that pop into my head randomly

finishing my fics for the all ships ship week!

i don't do a whole lot to celebrate finishing a fic per se, but after i've published them i always give them about a week to marinate before rereading them

nothing gives you the motivation to write more than reading more! fic and novels both. (also scrolling lists of prompts forever but-)

nah, writing it is for me

2 events: the aforementioned collab fic and the aforementioned ship week

oooh i would thank firstly my irl friends for putting up with me rambling about characters and fic, and occasionally reading my work. for that matter, thank you to everyone who's ever read and enjoyed my work, especially if you leave a comment, it makes my day <3 and also thanks to every author of all the many many fics i've read that made me go !!!!

wips watch out i Will be working on you these holidays

next year brings whumpuary which i might do 👀 and in general i just want to keep writing a bunch more, and be as self-indulgent as i want, all that good stuff <3

A slightly revised version of last year's questions! Two ways to play: Reblog and have your followers send you numbers, or answer the whole list!

How many fics have you worked on since January?

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year?

What piece of media inspired you the most? (This can be the fandom you wrote the most for, the one that spawned the most ideas, the one you thought about the most, etc.)

How many fandoms did you write for this year?

What ships captured your heart?

What characters captured your heart?

Did you write for any new fandoms or ships this year?

What fic meant the most to you to write?

What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing?

What fic was the most difficult to write?

What fic was the easiest to write?

What were your shortest and longest fics posted this year?

What were your go-to writing songs?

What was the hardest fic to title?

What's your favorite title of the year?

Share your favorite opening line

Share your favorite ending line

Share your favorite piece of dialogue

Share your funniest line

What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

What writing programs did you use? Did you write by hand?

If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?

Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic?

How did you recharge between fics?

Did you create fanworks other than fic?

How many events did you take part in? (bangs, exchanges, ship weeks, zines, prompt memes, they all count!)

If this were an awards show, who would you thank?

What's left on your to-do list for 2024?

What would you like to write next year?

[random-jot]

First Law Ask Meme

Tagged by @books-and-doodles !! ty!!

Favourite First Law Book: ooooh how could you make me choose! I think I might have to say Before They Are Hanged

Why: ok so I'm saying BTAH because while I enjoyed Blade Itself a lot, it was whilst reading BTAH that I truly got hooked on the series, the dynamics that emerge between the main POV characters, the conclusion to Bayaz'a quest, just so many good characters and moments. This book was the one where I knew this series was gonna be something extra-special

Top 5 Favourite Characters: Jezal, Logen, Monza, Shivers, Rikke

Jezal ohhhhh this boy's humility arc, we love to see it. Despite his flaws - and they are many - can't help but love him (which tbh is a sentiment that applies to every TFL character lmao)

Logen just a greatly written character, gotta love his grim sense of humour and his occasional glints of sage advice. His whole 'better to do a thing than live with the fear of it' philosophy has genuinely helped me get through some anxiety stuff irl

Monza this girl's got conviction, dude. Is her obsession over a streak of vengeance fuelled killings admirable behaviour? Not necessarily. But is she a complete and total badass regardless? Hell yes.

Shivers my boy!!! my lad. The North's no.1 sadboy to badboy arc. When he first showed up in LAOK I remember thinking it'd be kind of cool to get a POV from him, see his personal thoughts on the whole Logen situation, so when we got that in BSC I was delighted - and then through The Heroes, RC and the Age Of Madness books he just kept getting better, I love the arc he goes on, he is absolutely my favourite overall First Law character

Ferro just another absolute badass, love how much insight she has into the other characters she's travelling with, very cool to read her POV chapters

Top 5 Least Favourite Characters (and why): Oh I don't really know. Well, Bayaz and Yoru for what I suppose are obvious reasons, Stour Nightfall not just because he's a bad guy but because I don't think there was that much development to his character, and then I think I'd have to say Sworbreck after the stuff he pulled in Wisdom Of Crowds and finally maybe Arch Lector Sult I guess, he's a bad egg

Favourite ship: I gotta actually agree on Jexal x Ardee, they are not good for each other, but they do have a lot of sweet scenes, Jezal's mixed obliviousness and complete smitten-ness is always fun to read, and the bittersweet way that things end up between them just makes for a good story

Favourite region in the First Law series: hmm. I'm gonna say, just 'cause I really like the descriptions, all the abandoned places that Bayaz's crew travel through in BTAH, like I love the detail that in that one place there's no life, so the trees are dead but perfectly preserved because even rot is a kind of life, plus it all leans into your classic high-fantasy questing tropes, which I'm a sucker for

Top 3 Favourite Scenes: hmm, I think I'm gonna say a) the scene in LAOK where The Bloody Nine takes over Logen, b) the battle sequence for Carleon in Wisdom Of Crowds, and c) for the third one I think I've gotta say the 'interaction' that West has with Ladisla shortly after he earns his "Furious" nickname

How Were You Introduced To The Books? At university I would often peruse the Scifi/Fantasy/Horror section of Newcastle's local Waterstones - I remember i was looking specifically for fantasy stuff that had not been adapted into anything yet, and I remember picking up The Blade Itself, seeing the name 'Logen Ninefingers' on the back and thinking 'damn this sounds kinda cool.' I eventually bought said book and whaddya know, it was cool, and a couple years later, boom, First Law became my favourite fantasy series

Share A Quote Or Quotes You Love: as I mentioned above, "Better to do the thing than live with the fear of it" is such a resonant quote, and tbh all of Logen's little catchphrases are great, I also really love a lot of Cosca's cynical tidbids, in Best Served Cold I believe he says something about how 'most men will bend or break their morals at the first problem, or even inconvience' (I'm paraphrasing bc I can't find the exact quote, but Nicomo Cosca is just a well of great quotes)

Tagging: @autoapocrypha @xillionart @myu2k2 AND anyone else in the First Law fandom who wants to do it, just go ahead and say I tagged you!

[demonfox38]

Fanfic writer asks - 3, 4, 15, 16, 20? If five isn't too much. Hell, just pick what you want to answer of those, I couldn't narrow it down.

Gonna put this behind a cut because dang, did I go on!

name three favoritewriters

H. G. Wells, Stephen King, and Douglas Adams. While I couldtear my hair out every time I read an H. G. Wells story (in terms offormatting), I appreciate his contributions to science fiction as a whole, and that’susually enough to get me through his work. With Stephen King, it’s definitelymore of a trashy interest, but his short story “All That You Love Will BeCarried Away” is particularly resonant. That, and B-movies were formative to ourdevelopment. Finally, it’s kind of hard not to be in love with the way DouglasAdams decides to veer off topic for entire chapters just to detail random crap.I could do without his thirty pages of professing his love for Macintoshcomputers in the first Dirk Gently book, but it’s hard not to like a guy whodecides to say “Fuck it. This chapter’s from the POV of a whale randomlymaterialized in the air falling to its death. Have fun!”

I think most of the authors I like can be classified intothe “blasted out a lot of stuff; has a couple of admirable traits” category,though.  Like, Phillip K. Dick and EdgarAllen Poe could easily make this list, if I could remember more than a handfulof their works. I might be on board with Jules Verne or Victor Hugo, if I getaround to reading their works. However, I think more of my writing style comesless out of literature and more out of pulp films/80s cartoons/questionablytranslated 90s video games/pieces of mythology or fairy tales.

For a final laugh—Hans Christian Anderson and I share abirthday. It may make the mermaid fascination a little clearer.

name three authorsthat were influential to your work and tell why

I’ve got a copy of Stephen King’s “On Writing” sitting in myoffice, so that should be pretty telling. But, by the same standard, E. B.White should be just as influential. I also have Christopher Vogler’s “TheWriter’s Journey” in my bedroom, but I think that may be along the same line ascrediting TVTropes for a writing influencer.

Although, if we’re talking about authors who genuinelytaught me a lesson—Peter S. Beagle is the first author I’ve come across that wrotebittersweet endings in a palatable way. I’m genuinely upset that it took meuntil I was an adult to read “The Last Unicorn” because of how well its endingmixed victory and loss. Helped mature me considerably, both as an author and aperson.

hardest verse towrite/ easiest verse to write

I’m going to combine this question because intentionallywriting poetry is a difficult task for me, all around. Despite having had somepractice with this in college/high school, I can’t help but shake the feelingthat any poetry I write sounds just like my grandmother’s rhyming Christmas letters.(That is, to say, cringy and amateur.)

I tend to respond better and write better if I can visualizewhat I’m writing as something intended to be played like a musical piece. So,formal verse tends to be easier since I can get a set of rules. Having saidthat, iambic pentameter really bothers me. I think it’s because I want it to beoctameter instead? Something easily divisible by four. Also, I think my enunciationIRL is off what other people say, so I get hung up on what is supposed to be astressed syllable or not.

I think I’ve written onewhole poem on Tumblr, so it’s clear how often I like to dip into thatterritory.

favorite character towrite

Arikado Genya, at the moment. (Specifically Arikado and notAlucard, but that’s slicing hairs.) I think he has enough roots from othercharacters that I like that it’s just easy to throw him at a problem and seehow it goes. Though, there are a fair amount of characters that I like that overlapwith him. At a sharper focus, “Tales of Symphonia”’s Regal Bryant. Fuzzier,perhaps the Engineer, Sniper, or Spy from “Team Fortress 2.” Maybe even “TeenageMutant Ninja Turtles”’s Splinter, but TMNT characters are usually bare bonesenough that you can get away with a lot of interpretations.

Though, I think I do a pretty damn good job in trying towrite for ladies in whatever fandom I’m active in at the moment. At the veryleast, I try to push forward characters that others would either ignore orwrite off (particularly, Mina Hakuba, Annette and Maria Renard from “Castlevania”and Miss Pauling or the Scout’s mom from “Team Fortress 2.”) I’ve always got aninternal battle going between the second and third wave feminists in my head,but I try to bring the latter out more when I can.

[aplaceofstone]

AO3: faceofstone

Dear Yuletide Writer,

thank you for offering one of the small surreal fandoms of my heart and I hope you will have fun writing for it. Anything can happen! Symbols! Meaningful non sequiturs! Things! Stuff!

All prompts and ideas are just suggestions, if you are the kind of Yuletide writer who likes to follow them. If not, cool, they are certainly not the end-all of what I love about these fandoms and characters.

If you like visual prompts, this entire blog is 20% recipes and 80% aesthetics that mostly fit my requested fandoms...

I like found families, oddball friendships, sympathy toward outcasts, characters who fully embrace being outcasts, melancholy, a sense of place, bittersweet accomplishments, and a stubborn flicker of hope in an overall bleak world. Dreamlike atmospheres that aren’t necessarily scary, some sort of reassurance that can be found in the weird and the profoundly unnatural.

All fic formats, tenses, povs are fine.

± canon-compliant levels of assorted grimdark are fine, so eg I have no problems with characters dealing with canon rape in Twin Peaks but would rather avoid it elsewhere, whereas murderous infradimensional overgrown ants are better suited to specific Myst fic.

Myst: Any (Jeff, Atrus, Calam, Yeesha)

Having recently visited a few caverns irl, I am struck by a feeling of longing for the capital-letter-Cavern, its heavy voids and silences. Any of these four characters, alone or in bundle, had the chance to wander down after the Fall and experience some kind of reflection or adventure. I am equally interested in the more rational kind of plots that are normally associated with Myst-era characters and in the thrill of the unexplainable that comes with Uru territory, and in mixing it up. Any of these characters could walk into some meaningful building with some history that resonates with them, meet a bahro or twenty-five, follow the mysterious rowboat that can be spotted in the farthest waters of the lake, hear a ghost story...

If you have cool visuals or worldbuilding in mind for an Age, go wild. But when it comes to canon settings, this year I am mostly interested in D'ni and the tunnels and the desert above.

Jeff could be meeting Yeesha for the first time, and/or first following his father and his DRF pals to the City, coming to terms with the Call... if you feel like writing DRF people, I certainly feel like reading them. Jeff cautiously spending time with Yeesha, whom he likes to think of as a friend but is as skittish as the roadrunner painted on her chest. Roasting marshmallows around a bonfire? On a road trip for the sake of it? Jeff observing the first explorers, or following his father's footsteps and trying to come to terms with his death?

Atrus could be searching for Yeesha a few years after she left them and find... something else instead. He could link to D'ni incognito a couple of years after End of Ages and see the Cavern lit up anew, breathing with new life and speaking with new voices. Maybe Yeesha could accompany him (although, good luck with the incognito part in that case). Before writing Releeshahn, he could reflect on some meaningful bit of D'ni history, maybe along with Catherine or Marrim. He could explore the desert before building Tomahna. He could probably see a stalagmite grow faster than D'ni did in between failed attempts at a restoration. He could find beauty in many things and be kind and avoidant to many creatures.

For more specific Yeesha&Calam ideas (along with a very specific BoD-era Atrus prompt), last year's letter still applies. Calam solo fic would probably be the best fit for a spooky story in the Cavern... or what did this master writer Write after the Fall? This is an interesting post for Calam fic, I think.

Yeesha simply yeesha-ing around makes for great fic. Did she first see D'ni as a child, with her parents? Maybe she felt something so clearly and then struggled to find it again when she started her journey as a teenager. Maybe she finds Catherine's journals long before the DRF do and reads something about her parents' past, maybe she somehow feels a connection with Catherine after her death. Slice of life fic where she sometimes drops by to care for an aging Atrus on Releeshahn and allow herself to be his daughter is always welcome... any plot that gives her something nice for a change, some positive connection.

DNW: non-canon ships, character bashing (just to play it safe with Yeesha. I like to see her flaws and contradictions explored but I like her!)

Twin Peaks: Tammy Preston

She didn't get to do much on her own in the show, which only makes me want to read a hundred fic about her... away from the intimidating aura of her two mentors (being the teacher's pet can be stressful!) and of Diane “told me to go fuck myself and I was thankful, 10/10 would be insulted again” Evans, would she still be kinda introverted and so very awkward, or would her nerdiness shine like it does in her written notes in The Secret History? Or would it be a blend where she speaks up more... and regularly infodumps like a champ? After all, her diligence and awkwardness in the show go along well with her geeky side in the book. I know some people feel that they're two very different portrayals but I enjoy them both and I think they dovetail pretty neatly to boot, as it's not unusual for someone who's not the best at social cues to be more open in writing. Chrysta Bell said that one thing she has in common with her character is that they both feel the need to be thoroughly prepared for an upcoming situation and that's an interesting trait too.

In general, I don't have any strong preferences for Tammy ships, I just want her with a girl and for the fic to make me get why she likes the other girl and why the other girl likes her. If you're into any option in the tagset, barring Blackie, Denise, Diane and Doris because the age difference would be excessive for me, and adding Shelly and Donna to round it up, go for it, I'm eager to be convinced!

Starting with the more out there prompts, there was an interview where CB was asked whether she felt that Tammy was “the new Cooper” and she said no but Tammy is trying her best!!! And that Coop is more open to the unknown, and Tammy is only just starting. As I think that Cooper's failures are a big part of the narrative, I'm not sure anyone should aspire to be the new Cooper, but anyway, I've been wondering about these two characters interacting (in dreams?) ever since. Reaching out to her as the new Blue Rose agent and/or as someone who is just starting to peek 'between two worlds', warning her, teaching her, getting to know her and even seeing shades of Albert and Gordon in her. And what would she think of him? And maybe Laura is with him, or maybe it's just Laura and Tammy, secrets whispered to her ear, a world just for them. Maybe Laura could be a better teacher. She knows the darkness. Or maybe she would be too intense. Or maybe she got ripped out of the timeline thanks to sOMEONE and still hasn't fully found herself again so Tammy would meet Carrie instead, how'd that go?

I have also been thinking about this post and how cool it would be see Tammy go through shifted realities, and how she would relate to Audrey, and Audrey to her. I don't know if The Final Dossier will tell us anything about how the rest of the town perceives Audrey's absence, but Tammy could find a clue and start a little investigation of her own?

Cynthia could be a fun partner for supernatural casefic. She's the Air Force side of Blue Rose to Tammy's FBI, like Milford and Gordon in The Secret History, and later Garland and Cooper... we don't know much about her but I love her attitude, I think they'd be a formidable team. ...or they could simply go out one night in Buckhorn before Cynthia flies back. And find a ghost or something.

The lack of scenes with just Tammy and Diane is one of my biggest regrets. I was expecting some follow-up to the “fuck you, Tammy” scene, maybe with Tammy a little starstruck and Diane seeing both herself and Coop in this young, naive agent and... trying to open her eyes. Or just them talking about cats, and/or Tammy is surprisingly proficient at mixing a Cosmopolitan, and/or something spooky and surreal happens while they're having breakfast.

Albert and Denise are her mentors – we see Albert mother-henning her all the time and Denise seems very protective of Tammy specifically, and I eat up platonic mentor-pupil dynamics with a spoon. Any adventures with either of them? If we swap out Gordon for Denise, what's Tammy's average day with FBI dad and FBI mom (but no shipping them, please) instead of FBI dad and FBI grandpa?

Or if you can think of any plot that would involve Tammy and Constance, Candie, Jade or Darya, go for it instead.

DNW: character bashing, Dale/Audrey on Coop's part (whereas Audrey fondly remembering her teen crush, like the stuff Richard mentions, is okay)

THE FINAL DOSSIER UPDATE: Can you believe Mark Frost single-handedly saved fanfiction by having Tammy stay in town for a whole year. amazing. I’m not too interested in how she researched the mythology stuff, but anything that might’ve happened in the year she remained there? Please yes.

Europe After the Rain II - Max Ernst (Painting)

Biggest version I could find online: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/max-ernst-europe-after-the-rain#!

Nominating De Chirico and Magritte has been a winning move these past two Yuletides, so, without further ado, onto my third fave... the aspect of his work I love the most is basically landscapes – among those, I picked one that felt a little more narrative, with more potential background to explore, and clearly 'post-apocalyptic surrealism' are two great tastes that go great together.

This painting feels like grief etched into moss-covered stone. What kind of war is called a rain, or are the war that ravaged this land and the rain in the title two separate things, and what is growing on these ruins? How 'after' is this? Are the figures strangers travelling through this landscape or did they survive its destruction? Are there any promises left on the horizon? Are there any promises left here? Are you mostly inspired by the palette and texture?

You are of course welcome to integrate elements from other Ernst works, both settings (I am oh so fond of his forests and their suns) and characters (Loplop, assorted bird people...), if your story moves away from the confines of the nominated painting and you're looking for inspiration. If you do so, please drop the titles in the notes so I won't miss any references?

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou: Alpha, Kokone

I finally got around to reading this manga this year after a decade or so since I first saw it recced and I was delighted to see it in the tagset! Especially with just the two characters who made me fall in love with it. What I enjoyed the most overall is the manga’s relaxed attitude, especially considering its end-of-the-world setting, and its focus on small joys and small adventures. I enjoy slice of life stories with a creative setting in general, like Aria and Haibane Renmei, so that specific mood is a big draw for me. The more it draws on the uniqueness of the setting, the better!

Alpha and Kokone had a delightful dynamic from the get-go and their chapters were always my faves, so the ending made me so, so happy. I’d like to see them ride off into the sunset to explore some place together, but warm and fuzzy Café Alpha mood is also great. Or maybe they have an adventure in some abandoned place and the go back to warm and fuzzy Café Alpha! Established relationships are always great for me, but we also missed an actual get-together moment, when they realized they had each other and wanted to remain with each other as humanity faded away. I’m interested in some focus on the fact that they’re androids (different sensory experiences, parts glitching or breaking etc) if that’s a kind of thing you enjoy writing.

I’d be perfectly happy with just them and an empty world, but if you want to use other characters, my faves are Sensei, Ayase, Maruko and Nai.