#yay for 300 kudos

[cherrisartsu]

So, my fic hit 300 kudos yesterday!!! Yay!!! Thank you to everyone who liked and commented!! I love hearing from you guys ♡

[lesbianbuddies]

my buddie fic from this week has 300 kudos ive never even had a fic hit 200 before 🥹 yay

[paprikadotmp4]

‼️ QUICK ‼️

🌸 save damian or save jason?

🍭 how many multicap wips do you have rn?

🎟️ whumpee dick vs subby tim?

🍬 tell me what your fav fic is

🎨 Damian yay!! Jason booooo

♾️ too many to classify as sane unforch 😔 haha but for currently posted wips I have 5 between my main and this account ÒwÓ

🤡 why not subby dicktim whump?!?!?

🤯 impossible to choose. I've been on a ✨ mission ✨ to read and comment on fics with less engagement (300 kudos or less). I think imma make a rec list soon with a couple of gems I've found.

Speakin of, @ anybody who wants to rec or self rec any fics that are underrated please do send them my way! There are some amazing writers out there who deserve more love 😘

[quiet-nocturne]

answer your 30 questions please and thank you!!!

WOO. HERE WE GO, YA'LL:

ao3 wrapped [writers edition]

How many words have you written this year? Published? 22,685. Unpublished? A loooooot ahaha.

How many works did you publish this year? Currently, 3. Hoping to have 4-5 by christmas though. 👀

What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)? definitely cause i'm lovesick. That thing was a labor of love. My first fanfic baby in a loooong time.

What work of yours has the most hits? currently cause i'm lovesick (I ain't even ashamed), which is at 735 hits. But it's kind of biased, considering I only came back to fic writing in like october.

What work of yours got more feedback than you expected? nothing in particular - I'm just happy to have any engagement!

Favorite title you used honestly, no favorite as of yet. All the titles I've used come from song lyrics that are super royai coded/important to me, so I like them all. That answer could definitely change in the future though!

If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most? most recently, taylor swift (hopeless, breathless, burning slow), but also banks (cause i'm lovesick and you're all that matters to me anyway - she's SO GOOD for angsty love songs). Lyrics are so, so important to me. I have a ~300 song royai playlist (which I'm going to slim down and post here at some point) that I listen to constantly, lol, and a huge notes file on my phone filled with potential song lyric titles. I have a music degree and it's literally so important to my writing process aajsaksjljasjl.

Pairing you wrote the most for this year? Royai. lol. That's not going to change any time soon. The extreme hyperfixation is REAL.

Favorite pairing you wrote for this year? Again royai. They're the best. My babies. 💖

What work was the quickest to write? Surprising, chapter 2 of hopeless, breathless, burning slow. started it last night and i'm already nearly done the first draft. That thing flew out of me, especially considering chapter 1 was much more of a journey lol.

What work took you the longest to write? definitely chapter 1 of hopeless, breathless, burning slow. it wasn't the writing that was the issue - it was the editing. I really dragged my feet on it, and could have had that thing out like 2 weeks ago. 🤦‍♀️

How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year? oh god. my wip's currently include: - chapter 2 of hopeless, breathless, burning slow - sequel to cause i'm lovesick (I ain't even ashamed) - a christmas fic - angsty, hurt/comfort, character exploration, ishval restoration multi-chaptered fic (I'm REALLY excited to work on this!!! yay angst) - roy and riza returning to her old father's house post-cannon and STUFF HAPPENS, fluff, hurt/comfort, etc (also really excited for this one! i've been daydreaming about it for MONTHS. Even just thinking about this fic feels like sinking into a warm bath. That's the vibes I want it to give) - ANOTHER post-promised day fic, because I'm a broken record, but this time more humorous/cute. - aaaand yet another post-promised day fic, but one where Riza REALLY ISN'T DOING WELL/almost dies like a million times at the hospital and roy is sad (!!!). - briggs angst/sick fic - does that make sense? no? it will. Yeah. yeahhh. That list is only going to get bigger. 🤷‍♀️ Some of these will also, shockingly, not have smut lol.

What’s your longest work of the year? So far, ch. 1 of hopeless, breathless, burning slow at a whopping 9, 792 words. It really ran away from me.

What’s your shortest work of the year? mmm, you're all that matters to me anyway at 5,954 words. apparently I can't write anything below 5k lol. 🤷‍♀️

What WIP are you taking into next year with you? Oof, I mean probably most of what I had listed above. I aim to have some of it done - but it's already December 7th, so yeah.

What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag? Smut. lol.

Your favorite character to write this year? Surprisingly, Roy. I almost find him easier to write than Riza. Normally I don't enjoy writing from the male perspective. But Roy Mustang is just 🔥. I was so surprised lol.

The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year? No one, as of yet. But we'll see what I say once I start working more on the multi chaptered fics. 😬

What’s one pairing you want to explore next year? More Royai, maybe with a dash of Roy/Maes. Maybe I'll try a bit of Ed/Winry? Who knows!

Which work of yours have you reread the most? chapter 1 of hopeless, breathless, burning slow. I am so fucking sick of it ahaha helppp.

How many kudos in total did you get this year? Currently at 142! You are all so sweet. 😭

Which work has the most comments? I think cause i'm lovesick at the moment!

Did you do any collaborative works this year? nope! Definitely something I'd consider doing in the future though!

Did you write any gifts this year? maybe! 👀 we shall see

Did you receive any gifts this year? nope!

What’s your most common category? ...Smut. lol. 🤷‍♀️

What do you listen to while writing? ahhhh I love talking about music with my ships! like I said, my ridiculously huge royai playlist. also all of my top songs on spotify were from it, which includes: 1. Say Yes to Heaven - Lana Del Ray (i've got my eye on you / i've got my mind on you) 2. Work Song - Hozier (no grave could hold my body down / i'll crawl home to her) 3. I Wanna Be Yours - Artic Monkeys (secrets i have held in my heart / are harder to hide then i thought / maybe i just wanna be yours) 4. Night We Met - Lord Horan feat. Pheobe Bridges (i had all and then most of you / some and now none of you / take me back to the night we met / i don't know what i'm supposed to do / haunted by the ghost of you) - that ishval restoration fic is definitely going to use a lyric from this song SOMEWHERE Honorable mentions: Die First - Nessa Barrett (someone dies or someone gets hurt / but if one of us dies / i hope i die first) Ya'aburnee - Halsey (i'll never know / if there's danger in confession / or it's memory that presses / like a blade against my throat / another word and i could choke / but what's worst? / tellin' you my feelings / or to die without revealing / that you got inside my head / and set a fire there instead?) Dress - Taylor Swift (there is an indentation in the shape of you / made your mark on me, a golden tattoo / all of this silence and patience / pining and anticipation / my hands are shaking from holding back from you) 10000/10, would play at royai's wedding.

Favorite work you wrote this year? cause i'm lovesick. Again, it was my baby. I loved writing it so much.

Favorite line/passage you wrote this year? mmmm, probably: "She'd planned to stay angry at Mustang for longer, but then he'd surprised her by sauntering into her apartment basically the second his train had arrived, eyes blazing with desire as he collected her in his warm embrace, murmuring you have no idea how much I've been craving to taste you against the soft skin of her throat." (I tried to find one that was mostly sfw lol).

Biggest surprise while writing this year? Just being able to write, in general! It's been so much fun. 💖

[trueliarose]

20 questions for fic writers!

Thanks for the tag @givereadersahug (x)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I currently have 5 works, but there's a few drafts ready to be posted and a few works anonymous because of fests. Yay!

2. What���s your total AO3 word count?

136k - wow, that is a lot. I didn't even realise I crossed the 100k mark on my long WIP.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling 

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Finding (a way) Home (Snape&Harry Mentor, 100k, WIP!, rated M)

(secret fest-fic)

Of Kittens and Serpents (Poppy/Minerva, 6k, rated T)

Gaining Sight (Severus&Harry, drabble, rated T)

Silent Tears (Severus&Sirius, 1k, rated T)

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

I do, eventhough most of the times I am too emotional to write a long response. I'm so, so humbled whenever someone takes the time to leave me a comment!

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

I'm not sure, probably Silent Tears (Severus&Sirius, 1k) but could also be Gaining Sight (Severus&Harry, 300 words)... but there are more in my drafts, so this will probably change soon.

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

Of Kittens and Serpents (Poppyscotch, fluff, 6k) definetely!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

So far I don't and I hope it will stay this way. I will never understand why people feel the need to hate on things (especially free stories on the internet... why?)

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

I am - I didn' think I would, but then it somehow happened and in the future I'll try to do it more often.

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

I don't (so far) but there are so many ideas in my head it might only be a matter of time.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Luckily no.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No. It would be an honour, and I did even get asked once, but as I don't feel comfortable seeing my work outside of AO3 it didn't work out.

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

I haven't and I don't know if I would be any good at it. It could go one of two ways: either it works out very well or I annoy the person I'm working with so much that they quit.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

This depends so much on my current state of mind (and which fandom I am reading at the moment). I love to explore characters and ships in different fandoms, I will never be able to answer this.

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

As I only have one WIP on which I am working I hope I will finish it. (but to be honest my updates on Finding (a way) Home are slower than I'd like because I participate in too many fests)

16. What are your writing strengths?

Depicting emotions (especially dark ones), maybe also describing them in a way that pulls the readerin (especially ones linked to trauma)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

SPAG, writing fluff without adding a little dark/sad/angsty moment, keeping my works short if I don't have a set limit

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

Why not? I have done it, but as a reader I appreciate if the author provides a translation because google can be a little off sometimes and it is sad if you lose depth/meaning because of that.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Twilight (so, so many years ago and luckily no longer available anywhere on the internet)

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

right now: Fae Blessings (Lovegood family fluff, 1.5k)

Tagging (no pressure): @serenaew @sanctuary-angel

[literaphobe]

check your kudos!!!!! we did that part at least. yay!!!!! (i tried to keep up with the comments to but just forgot 😭)

TVL 300 KUDOS U GUYS REALLY DID IT… ok YAYY (did not expect this to happen) TVL IS UPDATING A DAY EARLY!! <- Thursday

also don’t worry about the comments!! im already grateful for all the lovely things people have said about ch3 im truly blessed ❤️❤️❤️ BUT anyone reading this is TOTALLY welcome to go comment on ch3 if they haven’t yet HEHE

ALSO ALSO -> does anyone want to see the ch4 title

[starberrysap]

yay i hit 300 kudos on my fic 🥳🎉🎉🎉

[hashire]

I missed this joining the 300 kudos club. Yay. I miss writing

[minxyone93]

My Fic Readers are Making Me EMOTIONAL - Let's Play a Game!

HOLY FRICKING SHIT DUDES [gender neutral]!

I LOGGED ON TO AO3 TODAY AND MY FIC HAS 300 FUCKIN KUDOS

I am not only surprised but also EMOTIONAL

But don't worry, they're good feelings

Anyway, I just wanted to say THANK YOU! Your support is just the coolest and you're the nicest folks. I can't believe you all have supported me so much. I know to some AO3 folks, 300 is nothing, but it is 300 more than I expected and it warms the cockles of even my wicked, bitter heart. 😉

To celebrate, I was thinking we could start a reblog game sharing our other favorite fics and authors! If you're a fellow fic writer, link your own work you're proudest of PLUS one of your favorite fics from another author that has LESS THAN 300 KUDOS! That way we can give them some extra love! If you aren't a writer, link your top two AO3 fics with less than 300 kudos! Any fandom.

My fic: How Long? by MinxyOne93 on AO3 - Destiel smut/fluff, long WIP fic

Summary: "Dean has been going on reckless hunts by himself. Cas confronts him and all those years of unresolved pining come to a boiling point.

____________________________________

"Dean. How long?" The angel said, still quiet but so raw with emotion, eyes still wide with shock.

Dean looked down at the floor and sighed. "Since... always. I knew it for sure in Purgatory. But always." He then added in a near whisper, tears threatening to spill from behind his now closed eyelids, "I'm sorry, Cas."

"Sorry? You're sorry?" Castiel felt dumbfounded. The constant loneliness and longing he had sensed from Dean that seemed to grow worse and worse with the passing of years made so much more sense now.

"Dean," was all Cas could say before releasing his grip on his collar and gently, slowly, deliberately, kissing the corner of his mouth. A shocked gasp left Dean’s mouth of its own accord and he melted into Castiel's tight embrace."

One of my favorites by another author: If Love is What You Need by Felurian1

Summary: "Cas gets a little dinged up on a hunt, nothing too major, but enough that Dean’s carefully patching the angel up in the back seat of the Impala.

And then it hits him that he loves Cas, and not in the same way as he loves Sam. That he has for years, and he’s going to lose the angel if he doesn’t make a move.

Cas is all, respectfully, kindly, finally.

But Dean is wary of how to touch Cas, and his injuries prevent them from being too energetic."

I was going to link some of my writer buddies' works here in tumblr, but I thought I might tag them here to participate themselves and kick this thing off - I'm excited to see which of their works they are most proud of too!

@wanderingcas @whelvenwings @wantstoflyafraidtofall @natmoose

[marssie]

good morning i dont have any math homework to do !!!!!

[ljandersen]

More 100 Days of Writing!  Yay!  I love that I get a hundred days of seeing everyone's writing process on my dash.  I’m not strictly following the questions in order or posting every day, but it’s fun to still play along.  Thanks, @the-wip-project !

--------------‐-----------------

Question from Day 2 (I know it’s not day two, but I’m erratically cheating, remember?)  For your current WIP:  Do you have many WIPs?  What motivates you to write this specific story?  What makes this story special for you?  Is there a special twist/trope/setting you wanted to explore?  What got you started on this particular story?

My current WIP is “Sideways,” a 5-part fShenko post-war long fic.  I’m posting it like a box set, essentially all the parts (books) in one big post on AO3.  I have the first draft written for all five parts and am currently posting part 3.

What motivated me to write this story was a string of “what if” questions that haunted me after finishing my 300k fShenko post-war long fic, “Burning Barriers.”  My mind kept spinning on questions about human-asari relationships.  What would it be like to be with someone who would live a thousand years?  You’re just a blip on their radar, while they’re you’re whole life.  

What would it be like to have a child who’s another species?  Asari have unique abilities like mindmelding, strong biotics, long lifespan, monogendered, not to mention unique culture.  Would the child feel less “yours” for being so . . . well, alien (pun intended)?  How would it feel knowing your partner and child would live on long after you?  

That’s when I started thinking, what if the asari parent died?  Whoa.  Then my mind was blown by the complexity.  Your child would be another species, bound to live a thousand years, and the parent meant to take care of them is gone.  Since your partner was going to live hundreds of more years, the human partner probably never even considered the possibility of losing them.  Now the human parent is all this alien child has.  It had so many implications, my mind kept going.

I wanted to explore these ideas in a story, but I didn’t want to write an AU of my own fanfiction.  I didn’t want to write a story that wasn’t fShenko.  FemShep and Kaidan are my favorite characters, and it’s their relationship I find compelling.  

That’s when I thought, what would Shepard think of this alternate storyline?  It’s interesting enough to think of her outside perspective, but what if it was further removed than even that.  What if she saw it like I did having this other canon story ending in mind?  What if the Shepard who finished my story in “Burning Barriers” and who ended up with Kaidan went to this other AU reality?  

I could follow an idea from “Burning Barriers” that wasn’t realized but intrigued me.  Kaidan’s asari wife is dead.  He has an asari child now.  How much better if he and Shepard are even enemies?  Maybe Shepard has been a bad person in this timeline.  After all, Mass Effect is all about the Paragon and Renegade timelines. Add in this story being told from the POV of the Shepard who’s been happily married to him in the “real” timeline, then the complexity and nuances expanded.  How would she reconcile his identity to her, being both the person she knows and loves the best, but also the person she knows the least and who is also an adversary?  

Then, I thought . . . What is Bad Shepard took my canon Shepard’s place?  I ended “Burning Barriers” with Shepard being human Councilor.  She lives on the Pacific with Kaidan and their daughter.  That was already there in my post-10 year epilogue.  What if this switch went both ways?  It’s always a fascinating trope taking someone who’s a maverick loner and dropping them into a family situation.  Do they become a better person?  

False identities always interest me, and both stories lines would play so well to that interest.  How would this imposter function?  Both Shepards would be taken as the their altero ego, at least, initially if not longer.

So I started writing “Sideways.”  I needed to tell the backstories to fill in the ten years of lost time for both timelines.  But how to do it?  Just through present-day revelations?  A bit boring.  Flashbacks are often considered unnecessary and needlessly complicate a story.  

What if the flashbacks had more meaning beyond just revealing the past though?  What if they provided a ticking clock.  I needed a ticking clock, after all, and this was the perfect way to hit two birds with one stone.  The present day revelations about the past could provide tantalizing clues and hint toward scenes that aren’t revealed yet.  There would be gradual progression of stories from the past connecting to the present storyline.  Perfect.

I actually wrote several chapters of “Sideways” and then discarded it.  I didn’t want to pour myself into more fanfiction.  It was time to move on.  Do something original.  Who would read a long fShenko fic that jumped off my 300k story?  “Burning Barriers” wasn’t read.  I think a year after posting, it had 25 kudos, under a thousand hits, and was pretty stagnant with the hit count even moving.  I had a few wonderful people who made the process worthwhile through their generous comments and friendship. It would go on to get a lot of great feedback that would change my feelings about it, but at the time, the story’s reception was disappointing.  It seemed unwise to take an already abysmal turnout for 300k words and cut the readership even further for a new story +100k story.  So I tossed my first few chapters of “Sideways” aside.

I came across the chapters again a while later.  I still had these ideas in my head for it that I was trying to squelch while I focused on ideas for an original sci fi series.  When I was flipping through a notebook, I came across the story I had abandoned, and I started to read it.  By the end, I was left thinking, “But then what happened?  This is actually pretty good.”  At that point, I decided I had to write it.  I had too much passion in the project, and I had to see it through. 

I decided for it to be successful (or at least, not catastrophically unsuccessful), it had to stand on its own.  Hardly anyone had read the preceding 300 k story, which I had made the mistake of posting all at once.  I needed this to be its own story.  It had to be less words than “Burning Barriers,” which at 300 k was already too much of an investment.  

Then I started writing my new story . . . 800 k words later (or so I estimate), I obviously didn’t meet my goal.  But I loved writing every word, and I love how the story progresses and develops.  It had a good pace, and I’m proud of it.  It lent itself naturally to being divided into a series, since it had mini-arcs with mini-villains and achievements being reached.  By editing each part separately, I was able to start posting, which after two years of writing the story was beginning to feel like would never happen.

Now, here I am posting part 3.  I have amazing people who support me and have made the experience rewarding by sharing their enthusiasm and thoughts in comments and tags.  “Sideways” surpassed “Burning Barriers” initially low turn out and has managed to stand on its own as I hoped.  For a story that took so long to make it to this point, it’s been fulfilling to have so many fandom friends who cheer me on.  I appreciate everyone who supports “Sideway” and just me in general as part of the fandom community.  

And that’s how my supersized story came into being.    

[mischief-and-tea-by-the-sea]

Fic Writer Questions

I was tagged by @mcfiddlestan so yay! Fic-y question thingies.

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

57. About to be more than that, though, because I'm working on several next parts to several series, and I assume they count that as individual works.

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

324,681. Again, that's about to go up several times.

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

Well, that gets fun because what I have on AO3 is mostly Marvel-related with one tiny Hannibal ficlet, one Bill and Ted, one M*A*S*H (that was by request and likely will never be a repeated fandom as much as I love the show), one Zohra Greenhalgh (Contrarywise and Trickster's Touch). Now, what I've written in the past as a fandom was Jay and Silent Bob, and that will NEVER happen again. But yeah, mostly it's Marvel and mostly these days Avengers-related with some X-Men still thrown in for flavor.

4) What are your Top 5 fics by kudos?

Hey Jealousy 378

Far away you were made in a sea just like me 354

(Mis)Understanding and a No-Good Woman 300

Saving the Future...Again 294

Supernaut 283

Yeah, I'm not that popular.

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

I respond to all comments I get. I know that for some people it takes a lot of guts to comment, and I think that needs to be acknowledged, even if it's a simple thanks.

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

I don't write a lot of angst, and usually by the end of a fic, I prefer to have it happy and not angsty. That said, I'd have to say that it's a toss-up between these small fics:

I know you’ll be a star In somebody else’s sky

Seemed like he knew me, he looked right through me

All the losing and the knowing

Sunset

Time After Time

I have angst in my stories. Some. They mostly seem to be sass and humor and romance and cuddles and sex and making out, but the angst is only a tool to keep the characters fighting and on their toes.

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

I've got several series going now, so I won't count them in since technically, none of them have ended yet. I thought about putting that Never Piss Off a Telepath; Or How Logan Opened His Mouth and Said a Stupid Thing just because that's one of my funniest fics, I think, but I would have to say that the happiest ending may be in Two Turtle Doves, which is a Charles Xavier and Raven Darkholme as children/brother and sister at Christmas fic, and the ending still really makes me smile a lot when I re-read it.

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

I haven't yet, technically. I started an X-Men/Avengers/Wicker Man (1973 version) one after all of the Brian Michael Bendis AvX bullshit storyline, and I may eventually finish it. I was angry. I wanted Steve Rogers to pay. I lashed out in the fic. Or was going to. The other crossover I'm planning (and even hinted at it in Spinning on that dizzy edge (I kissed his face and kissed his head) will be a Tony Stark/Chris Knight (Real Genius) fic, taking place not long after Chris graduates and is working for Darlington. I've got another one in mind that I've made notes for that's an Avengers/Flash Gordon (1980 version with all the flash and color and Queen songs), and then I just finished watching Boardwalk Empire, so there's a 1920s Marvel'verse AU, though I guess that's not really a crossover.

9) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Hahahaha! Funny you should ask. I received my first ever hate on To get it right even a little / and that little grudging and awkward the other day. In fact, the hate was the first comments I got. I've deleted it, and I did report it but AO3 couldn't do anything about it because the person who commented used a name but wasn't logged in, so they couldn't have their IP traced. But it was all full of "you should kill yourself" and "I hope you're raped" because they claimed to be a Stucky shipper (in fact their moniker was "stuckygirl") and that Steve and Loki were a horrible ship because Loki is just a nasty greasy villain. Blah blah blah. I was more amused by it than anything, especially since there's a chance that the person who commented was a stalker of one of my besties who keeps trying to lash out at them and may well have decided to lash out at me as well. Who knows? Who cares?

10) Do you write smut?

Oh yes. As much as I can get away with. Smut is life. Smut is harmony in the universe. Smut is KFC's 7 herbs and spices.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so. I have no idea how to figure that out.

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Again, I don't know. How would I find that out?

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

Nope. I've rp-written before, but I've never co-written a fic.

14) What’s your all time favorite ship?

I don't just have one. Sorry. FrostIron, WinterFrost, FrostShield, WinterIron, Stucky, Stony, Scogan, IronDiamond, DiamondFrost, DashingFrost, DiamondClaws, and I may soon get to see how much I love DiamondShield.

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

That may be the X-Men/Avengers/Wicker Man one. I have to feel the anger to finish that one off, I think, and I've pretty much decided that neither Brian Michael Bendis nor AvX exist, so.

16) What are your writing strengths?

I think humor and sarcasm are two of my biggest strengths, to be honest. I didn't realize it till I started adding it in almost organically, and that's pretty much where it is for me. I'd say the ability to convey emotions, expressions, touch, and romance are right up there, too.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

Well, outside of the writing itself, trying not to be discouraged by people's lack of comments and kudos on my fics to the point of not writing is a writers block-inducing weakness, but I think I'm getting over that mostly these days. Trying to find the right balance between explication, "showing," and description, though I've also recently decided that description is not a weakness because I want to make the settings pretty visual.

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

I think there's a fine line that this concept dances on. I LOVE to do it, but I also now want to make sure that it works smoothly into the story. I try and provide translations in the notes when I do it. I try not to overdo it, but I think it's necessary. It's the same thing as writing in accents. That's also dancing a fine line because you want to give a flavor of the accent, but you don't want to overwhelm the readers with dialect and accent. Not unless you're Stephen King and you've just written Dolores Claiborne.

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Okay, the first fanfiction I ever wrote was when I was about 13, and it was a Children of the Corn Mary Sue. It was in pencil. Wrote it start to finish. And it has since gone to the gods in the circular altar.

The first fandom I consciously wrote for was Jay and Silent Bob, and yes, I still have those stories, but they no longer exist online since @jcrewguy blessedly took down his sites. Those fics will never see the light of day again because I don't like the movies anymore.

20) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Nope. They're all my babies, and I love them equally. I can't pick a favorite.

Tagging: @scottxlogan @elvenferretots @mistressofmuses @izhunny @jcrewguy @chaotic-hypnotic-erotic @kleenexwoman and honestly anyone else who wants to do this.

[fanficwritersleague]

Kudos, Comments and Hits

Let's talk about the dreaded Kudos, Comments and Hits.

Eeep!!!! Right?!?

I only wish to convey a perspective that had me thinking the other day. As many of you know, I have been working on Kinktober. Yay, right?!? Well, yes but I was finding myself a bit down because I have been working on these fics for MONTHS. Some of them are heavily plot driven and I was (am) very proud of them. And then I posted them… dun, dun, dun. I did what every fanfic writer does and I sat there refreshing until that first hit came in. Then, I refreshed again until that first comment came. Luckily, I have a few very loyal readers who I know will give me a little pat on the back. I was pumped to continue. 

Fast forward to about a week later. I again got discouraged because there were seven fics and about as many Kudos and Comments. SUCK!!! The dreaded, "Oh, I guess they didn't really like these. Or, maybe they read these only because I haven't posted their chosen ship, yet." Huge bummer but I talked myself into continuing. 

Fast forward once again and the amount of Kudos and Comments hasn't really grown. Now I could have had a pity party and thrown my hands in the air but I did notice something that I hadn't really thought of before. And why hadn't I?

As authors it is commonplace to desire validation. Especially with platforms like Ao3. We crave that immediate response. Let me just say that is a very valid response. It is the only thing we receive for all of our hard work.

BUT… GUYS AND GALS… Something I had never taken into consideration, and really, why don't we, was the amount of hits I had on each work. I mean, come on, one of the works already has 300 hits. 

Now, I know what you are thinking. 300 hits and they couldn't just click a like button?!? Well, here's my thoughts on that.

1. I do believe that some people think that giving kudos to a smut piece will somehow put their name attached to said piece and they will be embarrassed. 

2. Some people don't want to give kudos to things they think only took the author a few minutes to write. I know, I know. Rarely is that the case but I have found that my one shots rarely receive Kudos, while my long fics receive so many.

These are just a couple of points but I feel they are important to consider.

What I have found to be just as beneficial for me is starting a log of hits. All I did was write the name of the fic and next to hit, the current hit count. Then, as I went back to refresh and see if any new kudos had come in, I wrote the new count in my log. 

My friends, when I did this I realized my hit count was quite astounding. And consider this, if there are 300, 100, 50 people reading one of your fics, that is quite good. Think about this crowd standing in front of you. 50 people would make for an extremely crowded room and dang it all of those people picked you!!!

[thatgoddamnflipphone]

Fic Rec Friday 10/18/19

I almost made it on Friday this week! Oh well, Fic Rec Saturday doesn’t have the same ring to it. Onwards! Here are all the fic I read & loved in the last 2 weeks:

616

inside my shell-shaped mind by @mizzy2k Steve soulbonds with Tony to save his life, which means they can hear each other’s thoughts. Why is Tony so insistent they find some way to break the bond? Hmm I wonder..... 18k https://archiveofourown.org/works/19236868

All I Ever Needed is Twice Removed by @mizzy2k OH BOY, anyone who’s been reading the current mess of Iron Man & Avengers runs needs to read this fix-it that explains every plot point and OOC moment SO WELL I’m actually pissed it’s never gonna be canon! This is brilliant and worth reading even if you aren’t caught up with canon. 44k https://archiveofourown.org/works/19700248

ULTS

The Libertine by @sineala A short porn with feelings because ULTS, I liked how it turned normal fannon on it’s head by having Tony be the one so deep in the closet he didn’t realize he was even in there. But who’s gonna turn down Captain America offering a blowjob, honestly? 6k https://archiveofourown.org/works/21052547

Every Chance We'll Have by @magicasen The story goes back and forth between telling how they got together, and showing Steve in the present dealing with Tony in a coma and a secret marriage that’s no longer so secret when your husband’s non-responsive in the hospital. It’s a bit of a slice of life mid-ULTS so it’s not going to solve things like Tony’s cancer, but it ends on a nice note. I really love fic that show them having to deal with the media circus that would be the Avengers dating scene. 16k https://archiveofourown.org/works/14889659

MCU

Talking Bodies by @itsallavengers Steve and Tony go from antagonistic to friendly to Tony realizing he’s having ~feelings. Unfortunately, Super Soldier Steve hears the heightened heart beat and other physiological signs and thinks Tony’s scared of him OH NO! Dumb boys being dumb and cute. 13k https://archiveofourown.org/works/21004430 

Another Place by @jenthesweetie This is the exact fic I’ve been waiting for since watching Endgame. Tony lives (Carol takes the gauntlet) and the Avengers have to deal with the fallout from the past 5 years, both professionally and personally. Featuring Steve being adorable with Morgan, misunderstandings because the boys are dummies, Tony accidentally dating Steve? Also featuring Steve being a dramatic bitch and jumping out of an airplane to prove a point, and Peter Parker being absolutely perfect. I love. 30k https://archiveofourown.org/works/21007703

Semi-Canon AU

Falling For You (Hook, Line, and Sinker) by @festiveferret This has three of my favorite things - Sad Steve trying to adjust to the 21st century, Steve & Tony “meeting” during IM2 when Tony is dying, and a long distance/texting friendship-to-relationship. Oh, plus a heaping portion of identity porn, yay! 62k https://archiveofourown.org/works/19240171

AU

You Look a Lot Like My Next Boyfriend by @lelantusposts Just read the tags and you’ll know this is gonna be a wild and amazing ride. Enemies to Friends to Lovers! Secret Relationship! Pining! Misunderstandings! Also the classic “we’re both madly in love with each other but also both idiots so we’re in a friends-with-benefits arrangement and miserable about it.“ So great!

Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines by captainshellhead A wild west AU! Tony’s an outlaw on the run from his brother who’s trying to kill him, of course, and ends up in a small town where he falls into bed with Steve .... whoooo happens to be the sheriff. Oops. This is an ULTS AU, thus the presence of Greg, etc. It’s really cute! 16k https://archiveofourown.org/works/828346

———–

That’s it for this week! Find my 300+ fic recs organized by verse HERE! And past Fic Rec Fridays that haven’t been added to the rec list HERE. Remember to kudos and leave authors some love!!

[pawprinterfanfic]

300 kudo celebration!

YAY! I hit 300 kudos for the first time on any AO3 fic of mine!

As promised on my previous update of Simple Pleasures, I would be posting a snippet from my favourite pre-written and not published chapter of this fic once I hit this milestone. Here it is!

If you aren’t familiar with this fanfic, I’ve left the link in the rb. The summary can be found below

Clarke is a young medic from District 6. More importantly, she’s a dangerous criminal in the eyes of the Capitol. It isn’t a surprise when she is reaped for the 45th Hunger Games; it’s the only way for the Capitol to silence her.

Bellamy spent his life protecting his younger sister. When Octavia volunteers for the Games to honour their district, he knows it’s his responsibility to follow her into the arena. He would give anything for her to become the Victor, even his safety.

When they meet in the Capitol, Clarke can’t deny the connection she feels to him. He makes her feel more than a sacrifice. He makes her feel hope. She knows it’s dangerous to trust others, but why deny herself some final few simple pleasures?

Onto the preview! 

Of course, I tried to pick a soft Bellarke moment with minimal spoilers, but I couldn’t avoid them entirely. MAJOR SPOILER WARNING for all future Simple Pleasures chapters!! If you want to be 100% surprised by my fic, I would suggest not reading this preview.

(Also, I haven’t edited this chapter yet, so there are things bound to change.)

Enjoy!

As Bellamy climbed onto the ground, he sent Clarke a pointed look. She crinkled her nose in response.

“What?”

“This is the first time we’re actually alone,” he pointed out. “Other than...” He didn’t finish his sentence, but Clarke knew what he was thinking. The only other times they got alone were when they sat on the roof together, or when he pulled her into a hallway after assessments.

“It is, isn’t it?” She felt her lips quirk up in a smile. He remembered. She pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders and tucked her toes under her legs more. She was frozen. She wasn’t sure she would ever get warm again.

“You’re cold,” Bellamy pointed out. She nodded sheepishly. He smiled and opened his arms, inviting her into his embrace.

She eagerly scooted across the floor until she was pressed neatly into his side. Before he wound his arm around her frame, he reached towards the edge of the wall and pulled the other blanket towards them. He placed it on top of their bodies and wrapped his arm around the girl beside him. 

Clarke curled into his side, relishing in his warmth. If there was one thing she knew for certain about Bellamy was that he was always warm, no matter what. She rested her head against his shoulder and sucked in a deep breath.

He was right. The blankets smelt like mould. She wrinkled her nose and leaned closer into Bellamy. That was another thing that she knew about him – he always smelt good. He smelt like home.

“You’re so beautiful,” he mumbled affectionately, his hand running up her back. His hand came up and cupped the side of her face tenderly, his thumb sweeping across her jaw bone again. Her eyes fluttered closed and a small smile lifted her lips. “Gods, Clarke.” She’s not too sure why, but those two simple words sent a flood of affection through her.

Tagging those who were interested in updates for this fic: @catastrophic-chloe @beastlygirl @nymini @butterflythatflies @blodkru @thelittlefanpire @pendragaryen @clarkgriffon @dracoterrae9099 @angelwingsnaya @talistheintrovert

[shirleycarlton]

300 kudos on my S4 fix-it The Lost Special, yay!

To everyone following this fic: I’m sooo sorry it’s taking me sooo much longer to write than I thought it would. :/

Initially, I was convinced I would just type out the entire plot I had in my head within a matter of months. Now it’s been over 1.5 year...

I really really really really hope to have it finished this April!!!

Thank you so much to everyone who left kudos already!!!