#I keep writing fanfiction instead of my essay

[gaybabything]

[vincess-princess]

we, the psychos

ch. 9

Word count: 2103 Warnings: - A\N: a day late, but the update is here! i figured tommy hasn't been in a spotlight for a while so this is all his pov

The laughter only stopped when they loaded Tommy with a double dose of laudanum. He slept like dead through the night, without his usual nightmares. Which would be nice were waking up not extremely miserable afterwards.

It took a lot of effort just to open his eyes. The grey light from the window, though rather dim, hurt to look at. Tommy’s vision was blurry, and his body felt like a puppet with cut strings, like it stuck to the mattress and had to be scraped off with a switchblade.

The switchblade came in the face of Duff carrying a fabric bundle.

“Well, good morning, my merry man,” he said cheerfully, placing the bundle at Tommy’s feet. “See your fit’s over. That’s good.”

“But at what cost,” Tommy croaked, pushing himself up on the bed. His head immediately reacted to the movement by exploding with such pain Tommy dropped back onto the bed with a groan. “I never want to take this medicine ever again.”

“Unfortunately, that’s the only thing that works,” Duff shrugged. “C’mon, don’t be a baby. I’ve got something for you.”

He unfolded the bundle, which, as Tommy feared, turned out to be a hospital robe.

“One of the laundresses got it tailored to your height.”

“No-o,” Tommy moaned, turned over to the wall and covered his head with his pillow. “I’m not putting that on.”

“Yes, you are.” Duff’s tone didn’t change a note. “You’re not special.”

“If I weren’t special I wouldn’t have an, um, ‘fancy’ ward,” Tommy mumbled. And also would have been punished for the fight.

“Well, beside that.” Duff didn’t relent. “Listen, you’re not having lunch until you put this on.”

“It’s lunchtime already?” For some reason Tommy thought it was morning. Though the grey skies looked the same at any time of day. “Why haven’t you woken me up for breakfast?”

“We couldn’t. You slept like a corpse. Dr. Duren told us to let you rest.”

Special princess, Wharton’s voice said in his head. Though if he truly was a special princess, he wouldn’t be forced to wear the hospital robe.

“Can I see the doctor?” Tommy asked.

“Now?” Duff frowned. “He’s seeing other patients, not sure if he can spare time for you before lunch… What do you want from him?”

“I wanna ask him something.”

“Alright, I’ll go check. Maybe he’ll fit you in somewhere. But you aren’t going anywhere until you put on the robe!”

“You are a horrible, horrible person,” Tommy said.

“I just treat all the patients equally.” Duff looked offended. “This is a public asylum, there are people of all walks of life here. And, regardless of their past, they deserve equal treatment. You included. C’mon, I don’t have all the time in the world.”

“You will burn in hell,” Tommy promised, sitting up on the bed. The fabric was rough and thick. God, it would hang off him like a potato sack.

“For treating everyone equally? I doubt it,” Duff huffed. Tommy managed to annoy him.

“This is just stupid,” Tommy complained, slowly undressing. He hoped Duff would get the hint and turn away, but the nurse kept watching him indifferently. “If people are to be treated equally, they would be born equal. But they’re not. Hey, could you not look at least?”

“No,” Duff disappointed him again. “What if you decide to pull something while I look away?”

“What, is that an impression you have of me? That I’m capable of something like that?”

“I haven’t formed it yet. But I do already know that you’re a spoiled whiny baby.”

“Hey!”

“The longer you dress, the fewer the chance Dr. Duren will see you.”

“Ugh.”

Tommy slowly unbuttoned his shirt, carefully folded it and lay it on the bed. His trousers soon followed suit. He needed to change underwear, but with Duff looking… no, he’d better do it at night.

Tommy was right about the robe. It did hang off him like a potato sack. The person it was tailored for was way wider in the shoulders and the hips, and the shoulder seams went like halfway down Tommy’s sleeves. The trousers separated into pant legs somewhere a bit above the knee. It was the worst outfit Tommy saw in his life.

“Not bad,” Duff said when he was done.

“Not bad? Not bad?!” Tommy almost screamed. “This is an atrocity! A crime against humanity! A horror beyond comprehe-“

“Save all that vocabulary of yours for Dr. Duren.” Duff rubbed his temples tiredly. “Now let’s go, I need to escort you to other patients. I’ll see about Dr. Duren and come back with the results.”

Dread washed over Tommy. Other patients were going to see him in this. Yes, they wore the same clothes, but they fit them. Psychos of their status weren’t supposed to look good. Tommy might be a psycho too, but he was different.

“Tommy.” Duff was calm, but there was something in his tone that made Tommy swallow all the objections he was going to unleash.

“Coming,” he could only say as he shuffled out of the ward after Duff.

***

“Oh, Tommy! How you doin’?” Mick greeted him warmly. “Your fit had us all scared. Is that a common thing?”

Oh, right, the laughing fit in the canteen. Lamenting the loss of his dignity, Tommy almost forgot about it.

“Depends,” he shrugged. “A couple times a week. And always at the least appropriate of times.”

“Yeah, that sure was not a good time to laugh,” Mick agreed. “But all that matters is that it’s over. And you’ve got new clothes, I see. How does it feel to be one of plebeians?”

“Horrible,” Tommy grumbled. “I’d rather kill myself than wear this.”

“Nah, it’s not worth it. You’ll get used to it.” Mick patted him on the shoulder. “Let’s go rake some leaves, or Simmons is gonna get big mad.”

They weren’t given proper rakes, of course. Instead they got shovels with blunt edges. These could still serve as a weapon, only with a little bit of effort, but the next step would be raking the leaves with hands so that was the best option.

“Do we have to…” Tommy grimaced, holding the shovel with two fingers like it was something disgusting. He just stepped in mud, and his boots – the last of his normal clothes – now looked just as awful as the robe. Tommy’s mood tanked completely.

“At least pretend you’re doing something,” Mick said, slowly moving the shovel back and forth. It didn’t gather a lot of leaves and was largely useless, but it did look like Mick was working. But Tommy felt offended by the entire concept. Why does he, a nobleman, have to work like a servant out in the cold, standing in mud? Did he not deserve some privileges? His father was a sponsor, after all!

Tommy stood upright and threw the shovel on the ground.

“I am not doing anything.”

Mick rolled his eyes. “You do you. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Tommy found a drier place under a tree and sat down there, observing other patients work. Nurses watched them on the other end of the garden and didn’t notice his impunity at first. But only at first.

Then one of the three nurses on site spotted him. He walked up to Tommy and squatted in front of him. He didn’t look angry or irritated, but there was something behind his indifference… something that said “don’t fuck with me”. And he badly needed a haircut. No wonder half the hospital was wearing long hair – the nurses couldn’t even provide an example.

“Tired?” the nurse said, tilting his head, a mocking glint in his eyes – or was Tommy imagining things?

“I’m not going to do this.” Tommy waved at the patients working.

“And why is that?”

“Because that shouldn’t be patients’ work. Hire a gardener or something.”

“With pleasure - if you provide the funds.” The corner of the nurse’s mouth curved ever so slightly.

“I’m not the one you should be asking.”

“Well, then you are not the one to make such requests. Grab a shovel and go.”

“No.”

The nurse sighed. “I don’t remember you: you must be new. What’s your name?”

“Tommy.”

“Alright, Tommy. Listen. You’ve got two choices now: to pick up the shovel and work, or to have a talk with nurse Simmons. You know nurse Simmons, don’t you?”

Tommy nodded.

“Then you know he’d not exactly the right person to bring your work complaints to. To him, the nurse is always right and the patient is always wrong. And he doesn’t like when patients are wrong.”

“Are you threatening me or what?”

“I am not threatening you. I’m just telling you of possible outcomes. The one to threat you would be nurse Simmons. So are you working or do I call him?”

“Call whoever you want. I’m not doing unpaid labor.”

The nurse smiled, and it was even more unnerving than his resting face. “As you wish.”

He rose from the ground and strolled to the other side of the garden. For a bit Tommy considered hiding in a nearby bush – there would be no scolding if they couldn’t find him – but then shamed himself for it. He was not afraid of some nurse. Even nurse Simmons.

He swiftly changed his mind when the man approached him. He was approximately the same height as Tommy, which – did that asylum collect tall people or something? Tommy couldn’t even use his height advantage here.

Simmons, lips pressed into a thin line, arms crossed, towered over Tommy. The nurse that called him stood a bit farther, clearly lingering to enjoy the show.

“Thomas Lee, right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Stradlin here said you don’t wanna work.”

Aha, the nurse’s name was Stradlin then. “Work for free,” Tommy corrected him.

Simmons raised his eyebrows. “Sorry? You suppose we should pay you?”

“I suppose you should pay a gardener and not force patients to do his work.”

“Well,” Simmons smiled unpleasantly, “we’ll consider it. Now get your ass up and work.” He picked up Tommy’s shovel and handed it to him, then pulled on his sleeve with such force he almost lifted Tommy from the ground. To his surprise, the rough robe fabric withstood the test with honor.

“Hey! Don’t touch me!” Tommy yanked the sleeve out of Simmons’s hand. “I wish to talk to Dr. Duren, and until I do that I am not doing anything.”

Simmons gave him a long, apprehensive look, and then, to Tommy’s surprise, nodded slowly.

“Very well. Cannot deny a patient access to his doctor. Come with me.”

Tommy blinked in surprise. Did this really work? Were all Stradlin’s promises a lie?

Without looking back Simmons headed down the path to the asylum. Tommy almost ran to catch up to him.

“But Du- Michael said Dr. Duren’s schedule was all busy.”

“Don’t worry, he’ll find some time for such an important patient,” Simmons said without looking at Tommy.

Well, that was an approach Tommy could work with. And what was Duff talking about then? Just wasting his time?

Tommy turned around to see Stradlin stand back there, following them with his eyes. And smiling.

They entered the building, and Simmons led Tommy down some corridor that he hadn’t been in yet. As they walked farther from the entrance and the canteen, Tommy grew nervous. Wasn’t Dr. Duren’s office on the second floor? They had already passed the only stairs he knew about. Maybe in the back of the building there was another?

Then Simmons stopped in front of a door. Metal, with a small barred window at eye level, it didn’t look like it could lead to Dr. Duren’s office at all – more like a yet another ward.

“This is Dr. Duren’s office?”

“Waiting room,” Simmons said, unlocking the door. “The door to the office is inside.”

He opened the door, but Tommy couldn’t see what was there from behind Simmons’s wide back.

“Then why is it dark there?”

“Because we don’t waste oil on scum like you,” Simmons grinned, suddenly very unfriendly, grabbed Tommy’s forearm and pushed him inside, into the darkness. When Tommy, panicking, grasped at the doorframe, Simmons slammed his fingers with his fist so painfully Tommy cried out and fell to the soft floor, clutching his hurt hand to his chest. The door behind him closed, and he was now in complete darkness, save for a small square of light coming from the hall through the barred window.

Behind the door Simmons was laughing. “The doctor will see you soon,” he said, and then he was gone.

[tex-now]

Hey is it just me or do certain fans complain about how much they hate the other groups instead of loving theirs.

I don't think calling out the misogyny in this fandom is wrong, not in the slightest (my most popular post is calling out the way people treat ena versus akito because of their gender), but most of the time these call out posts just result in more negativity and arguments rather than any like. Productive discussion.

I don't wanna hear about how minoharu and anhane are more canon than ruikasa and akitoya and are Therefore More Valid And Liking Ruikasa More Is Wrong And Bad (exaggerated but most of the time people do insult a ship in order to promote their own) (also sometimes implies that rarepairs are less valid which is a dick move). I wanna hear about the interesting (and I mean very interesting) relationship that an has with kohane, her feelings of inadequacy and slight envy, I wanna hear about how minori (and the rest of mmj) inspired haruka to get back on the stage, and how minori finally got to "repay" haruka in a way.

I didn't start liking ichika because of people endlessly complaining about how underutilized she is and how You Guys Just Don't Get Her, Read The Stories And you'll Discover That She's Actually Perfect Actually (this one isn't an exaggeration but it was on YouTube not Tumblr so in it goes), I started liking her because I learned about her character, her sheer determination and love for her friends, and her want to resonate with people's hearts from people who really like her.

I'm not gonna pretend the Ruikasa fandom and akitoya fandom can't be annoying, a lot of them are toxic and have a habit of making everything about Ruikasa/akitoya while reducing their relationships with other characters to push their shipping narrative. It pisses me off. A lot. I could write (and probably will write) an entire essay on how entitled and bitchy Ruikasa/akitoya fans can be, and I definitely understand how it can build up resentment towards a ship, and how their mass popularity is most definitely attributed to the fact that they are men (which results in an extreme lack of understanding of their actual characters and overall dynamic, reducing them to "top tall sexy one" and "bottom cute feminine one" which upsets me to hell and back). And calling this out is not wrong in the slightest.

but needlessly attacking a ship that someone likes is not a call out. calling Ruikasa and akitoya "a stupid ship" is not a call out. Actively insulting people for liking it is not a call out. Adding Ruikasa and akitoya tags to your post bashing them is not a callout. It's being a dick. You are not doing anything productive by calling Ruikasa and akitoya shippers idiots or stupid or insulting their taste you are only going to piss people off and you know that you are going to piss people off.

Acknowledge but do not attack. Be civil. And if you cant be civil then save everyone some time and keep it private.

Oh yeah. And be annoying about your blorbos. Make KING kanamafu art. Put shizuairi in Fragile. Talk about how much you love your girl ships and your girl characters and don't event mention the guys, make fanfiction and fanart of the girls, I really really want you to, genuinely, because they do get less rep in the fandom than their male counterparts, so more content of the girls is always great. It feels a lot better than complaining about a ship you don't even like, I promise

(Btw I mention this in the tags but if anyone wants to add input or correct me on something you totally can. My words aren't law and this post is just me stating my thoughts, and I invite you to share yours if you want.)

[johannestevans]

I'm Johannes T. Evans, author of HEART OF STONE - AMA!

My name is Johannes T. Evans, and I am an author of fantasy, romance, erotica, and a little bit of horror, a lot of which is written in the same fantasy universe. I like to focus on character dynamics and like to do a lot of worldbuilding alongside character arcs and development - some themes I like to play a lot with are power dynamics, institutions and structures of power, disability, trauma and trauma recovery, and sex.

My first book, Heart of Stone, is a slowburn historical fantasy romance between an ADHD vampire and his very autistic secretary - it's set in the 1700s and is almost wholly about the relationship between these two men, with a great focus on introspection and anxieties about crossing over the boundaries between them.

My newest release, Powder and Feathers, came out earlier this summer, and is set in the same universe, albeit a few hundred years on - it's a dark fantasy romance between a Fallen angel who's had several human lovers before, and becomes fixated on a depressed alcoholic he sees painting in the park. It's largely about found family and trauma recovery, but at the core is a sort of battle of wills and boundaries.

I primarily write short stories and publish my longer works chapter by chapter, whereupon they're re-edited and republished as eBooks & paperbacks, although with the exception of Heart of Stone, I do keep the rest of my serials available online to be read for free. I have a background in writing fanfiction, and especially as a queer author, I like to ensure some of my work is always available without a monetary obstacle, so that it's as accessible as widely as possible for people who might enjoy it.

I primarily publish my short stories and essays on Patreon and on Medium, with serials published on WorldAnvil.

Some of my biggest fantasy short stories are:

Ambitious Men — Rated M. MB. 11.6k. Archie had idolised Casper Hugo almost his entire life. Deeply fucked up fantasy-horror, wherein a man finds that his dream of taking over his hero’s restaurant is not to proceed as smoothly as he hoped.

Steps Ahead — Rated M. 13.7k. MB. A serving boy seduces a prince who is tired of the weight of his crown.

Gellert’s New Job — 21k, rated M. MB. Gellert Osgodby has worked as a business manager for the King family for nearly a decade when an error in judgement brings his employment to an abrupt end. Lucien Pike, a rival kingpin, employs his services instead.

Warden Gordon and the Angel in the Woods — 7.6k. MB. Working in a magical national park, Gryff Gordon has a contentious relationship with a local angel.

Dirk and the Weaver — 12k, rated M, MB. A shopkeeper slowly comes to fall for a weaver when he comes to town.

The Widower’s Garden — 12.5k, Rated M, MB. After a man is widowed, his husband begins to appear at the foot of his garden every night.

(All of these short stories are ordinarily paywalled on Medium, but I've linked via my friend link, which allows them to be read for free without a Medium account.)

For some background information about me, I'm a gay trans dude who went full time as an author roundabout 2021, and writing has been my full time occupation since - previously to that, I worked mostly in a hotel and as a phone sex operator. I was at WorldCon earlier this month, and when I'm not working on stuff of my own, I really love film and television, and do a fair bit of analysis and response to different SFF and horror.

With all that said, ask me anything!

[isalisewrites]

A ramble on writing where April broke my heart

Hooo boi.

March was a dream in comparison to April.

Emergency gallbladder surgery? Someone faking their death in my server? Good times. I wanna go back.

I have been through much in three short months. April has shown that it's taken a toll. I have missed many more days of writing. I'm still missing them in May. But I'm slowly gripping onto the last vestiges of my raw determination, all while in the face of so much.

I had a falling out with my closest family member that shook me to the core of my heart. I barely slept for most of the month again. Gallbladder surgery has proven to have some complications on my nervous system, making normal daily life difficult where it's hard to sit or lie down without experiencing full body numbness and tingling in various areas, including my hands and fingers. (No, not blood clots. 100% without a doubt it's my nerves.)

If you've followed me here (post one and two) and have read my author's on Terrible, But Great Chapter 30, then you know what went down with my family member. It took so much of my time and energy. I wrote well over 8,000 words trying to reason with this family member, only for all of it to be scorned and mocked. A part of me feels like that energy was wasted. I could have 8,000 more words in TBG, but I don't. This is all I have.

A part of me looks at it and says, "Give it back. Give me back my writing." What happened to January? Or even February? What happened to the girl who could wake up at 4am in the morning, an hour before she had to leave for her hysteroscopy, to power write 700 words?

Some days, I go up the stairs and I'm winded like I ran a marathon.

Some days, if I walk on the treadmill for more than 6 to 10 minutes, I feel like I'm dying.

It's been an uphill battle. The struggle is real, but so am I.

In the last week of December of 2023, when I realized how long it would take me to finish Terrible, But Great, I was overcome with what I call 'The Stirring.' I don't know what else to call it, but it always has an air of mystery and premonition for what it is to come. I thought at that time, "If I had limited time to live, what do I want to do?"

"I want to write."

So, I did.

In 2023, I published a total of 43,000 words in TBG. In 2024, from January to April, I've written 110,604 words and have published 35,000 words thus far. The year isn't even halfway over and I've done better this year than I have last year.

In spite of it all, I'm doing pretty damn good.

There's still hope. I'm not giving up. It might feel like morale is low, but it's not. I'm going to keep going as much as I can through all the hardships because writing is truly the one thing that breathes life into me.

By the end of April, I finished my business class with an essay about how the class shifted my beliefs. This class in combination with all of my health issues and social conflicts sparked an overwhelming revelation and a new rising determination within my soul.

You see, you all have witnessed my love and passion for writing Terrible, But Great, a Harry Potter fanfiction, but I also have original stories that I've wanted to write. Yet, I haven't been able to finish them because I'm always thinking about the market in the real world, instead of what I want and what the story wants. Fanfiction, I can do whatever the hell I want and yall are just gonna have to strap in and hold onto dear life cause it's gonna be a bumpy ride. Original novels, however, are done differently and I've often struggled due to so many factors.

I have ADHD. I am autistic. I have health issues which are rapidly piling up on top of each other. My career choice might not even be feasible for me in the long run, so why I am allowing myself to be pressured into doing more than I can handle with a class load?

I want to write. I want to write. I want to create.

Oh, how I want to create.

So, I will.

Two years ago, I gave up on my dream of writing original novels and earning a living through them. I've since repented of that notion. As I continue write Terrible, But Great, I'm also going to be working on my original novels on the side. Someday, perhaps, I'll be able to earn a living as a published author.

That's my realistic ideal.

I wrote 457 words today, May 9th. That's good enough. The goal this month is to write more than April. I can do that. On the days where prose is hard, I simply write my scene idea in a zero draft style. I don't worry about the prose; I'll fix it later. Every word counts. Every word can be changed. Every word can be made better.

Every word is good enough.

Until next month.

[cogaytes]

i know it's not directed at me, but my conversation starter is that i personally find fandom as a place for anyone and everyone. i think my genuine confusion for the discourse is that the age limit to use ao3 is 13, and that most of these works in question are properly tagged as well. (if they aren't then that's an entirely different conversation.)

oh and also that teenagers have sex?

if you don't wanna see it that's never a huge problem! of course you should stay within your comfort zone and avoid things that make you feel uncomfortable (especially if you're on the younger age of the spectrum of minors on these websites!)

but arguing that smut shouldn't exist is something i've never truly understood. Sexuality is something that people (yes that includes young people) can and should explore if they want to. Writing and consuming it in fandom is a way for many older teenagers and young adults to do that in a safe and healthy way.

Especially when it is those things like rape and non-con stuff--shouldn't we be relieved that instead of causing harm to others, people are just using their creativity to write about it?

Tumblr has always been the Gay People Site™, and to me and my expression of both my gender and sexuality, sex is a huge part of that. People have sex! Teenagers have sex! Some people even like to read and write about it!

Unfortunately for a lot of people, their self expression is not socially accepted as the norm, and they can--and may already have--faced disgust and discrimination for their private interests. Sites like Archive of our Own and Tumblr were made for the freedom of self expression and exploring personal interests in an anonymous way, especially those that may be considered taboo.

Will you find me reading incest fics? Probably not, that's not my cup of tea. But I won't complain either, because I know that it may be that for the author and some other people. As long as a fic is properly tagged, I personally do not have issue with content as long as it does not cause mental or physical harm to other (real world) people.

These are fictional characters, and I truly believe that censoring authors and artists just because what they're creating is considered problematic or even just openly disobeys what is widely accepted as the norm is silly and reductive of what we've been fighting for for decades. Humans are sexual beings with sexual minds, and in our modern age we use our thoughts to write whatever we feel like. Sometimes that happens to be sex!

It may be uncomfortable, and may not be for you, but the existence of fanfiction as a whole can open up more understanding for people who are looking for connection, not just connection that you yourself deem "acceptable."

Sex is not something that's impure nor dirty, it is inherently human. It's personal and intimate, but it is not wrong.

this ask is mostly applied to what i've found in kotlc as a fandom, but my inbox is open anytime if you (or anyone who may read this) wants me to expand more on fandom spaces as a whole. i have more thoughts on real world people and a lot of other topics, but i tried to keep it to just what applied to keeper. (trying not to write an entire essay in yours haha.)

i'm aware that i may have a more lenient view on this than most as well, so i'd love to hear your thoughts <3

yeah no i agree basically with all of this! it's something i've been really grappling with over the last few years (especially recently as a ship i really find uncomfortable has become big in some of my circles of mutuals, which has been interesting to see how i thought about it when it was first a thing 3ish years ago and how my reactions have changed now). i think as i grew up i just stopped almost. caring about what other people make? like i just. filter shit out on ao3 and on tumblr and scroll past shit i don't want to see. i unfollow or block if it really becomes an issue.

but personally i just really don't like the idea of any art being given a moral value, even when it portrays topics we really don't want to think about or might feel uncomfortable with. like, my parents wouldn't let me read the hunger games until i was a certain age because the mass child death etc were just so fucking horrifying that they didn't want me exposed to it. and even reading it as an adult i'm like. okay. holy fuck. but that doesn't mean it's immoral or gross or disgusting just because it portrays fucked up things as fiction. and it definitely doesn't say anything about the author that she wrote it.

you don't have to read smut if you're not comfortable with it! you're allowed to be made uncomfortable by sex! but as long as it's properly warned for so you can avoid it, that doesn't mean it shouldn't be allowed to exist.

[narcoticwriter]

Let's 'Rec' It - The Narcotic Edition

Yeah, I have Genshin fic recommendations that I need to shove down people's throats, keep scrolling, keep scrolling . . .

Series -

the angel share's cat - Although some may find it to be a bit canon divergent as this was written in the pre 2.8 era of Ragbros fanfiction. I can say with confidence that this was one of my favorite series of all time. It still is.

beasts and mortals (and how to cross the distance in between) - I absolutely love the characterization between the two main characters and the time the author takes to really flesh them out and have them interact with each other and others around them.

nobody in liyue respects diluc - This was one of the goofier fics I've read, but I had a good laugh. Essentially the 'What if Diluc Didn't Go Back to Mondstadt' speculative fanfiction that goes absolutely hogwild on the lore and respect to research.

Kazuha and The Crux Fleet (the family we made along the way) - Genuinely one of the most solid series surrounding the Crux Fleet I've experienced in a while as well as realistic whump and hurt/comfort. Featuring some other characters as well!

Legacy of the Ragnvindr Brothers - In my personal opinion, this fic is foundational to what I look for to a subconscious degree. Also written in the pre-2.8 Ragbros era, it sticks out with how it kicks off and how they deal with it long-term.

Frost And Flame - A Tale of Two Brothers - This series was one I kept up with at its tail end, and I was quite invested in it. The author had a blast and so did I. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're willing to excuse the low-key crack in some places as well as other canon-divergent elements, then I recommend it.

memento mori, bitch! - I laughed so hard at this series that I felt my ribs start to shift and crack. Scaramouche is a little bitch. Arataki Itto is a himbo. Kuki Shinobu is holding it together by a thread. Beans.

Fox Tricks - This is probably the only Eimiko-centric thing I genuinely like as the characterization is top-tier, the writing is top-notch, and the realism is unmatched. Recommend to anyone willing to read through it.

noir!Fischl - What if Fischl consumed noir novels instead of fantasy ones?

Mora for a Myth 'verse - Arguably my best example of abusing how open Genshin Impact's worldbuilding is to make something better, featuring Beiguang.

Teyvat University of Fuck-Ups- I Mean Allogenes - Featuring familiar faces in a University AU as well as a healthy dose of characterization.

scarlet and amethyst - There is always that one crazy person in the fandom that latches onto a rarepair and makes it their mission to produce nothing but content for it. This is one of them and I salute them.

About Tengu Courtship - A Sara-centric fic on how and why the hell she's feeling things for Itto and vice versa.

the ragnvindr-alberich get along sweater - A slew of lore, headcanons, and character interpretations meet in a Modern AU that makes sense.

A Cat Visits A Winery - Diluc and Diona interact and grow closer as they bond over things they didn't quite expect to.

An Unexpected Duet - In which Barbara begins to develop a friendship and feelings for a certain bard, prompting an interesting path of character development.

Resurrection and Mayhem - Qiqi does not want to lose her main source of coconut milk, so she resurrects Childe as a zombie. Hijinks ensue.

contemplation, empathy, praxis - An Al-Haitham-centric collection that features him being put in situations and interactions that he would not be in ideally.

unfocused - A fanfiction that caused me to not only reach Ao3's character limit for the comments but had me compose a whole essay on it. The following smut also never broke the established character for a second.

let everyone be a part of you, a little - A collection of one-shots featuring interesting character interactions not usually present in-game and their varying headcanons. Some of my favorites.

occupational hazards - A Fontaine-centric collection featuring some of our favorite characters as well as dealing with a good chunk of the Archon Quests. Arguably some of the best stuff I've read.

Multi-Chapter Fics -

Scary Love - This fic took me the fuck out. You have to read it for yourself to really understand where I'm getting at. It slaps hard.

A Hypostatis' Guide to Godhood - Featuring Klee as its adopted child. It's not finished, but it slaps regardless of it. It gets technical, but this didn't stop me from having a good time.

All In A Day's Work - One of the only Noelle-centric fics that not only characterizes her well, but manages to stay true to its tags of 'crack treated seriously'. Also features NPC love, which is always a good thing to have.

how to human - A Razor-centric fic featuring Razor trying to learn what it is to be human as well as who he is. It made me cry inside.

Broken Wings - This one surprised me. The writing is one of the best I've seen for a premise like this. It's a genuine treat I go back to from time to time.

Teapot Tales - The dream of shoving characters into a space and watching how they interact like scientists observing a petri dish.

How To Finish Your Bucket List Before You Die- A Guide From Kaeya Alberich - The title is self-explanatory, but it's done so tragically well that I had to put it here. Came out way before anything substantial was done to canon, but still captures Kaeya's character perfectly.

The Meaning of Bromance - In which a card game sends Thoma on errands, stirs Itto into a bout of manic desperation, and spurs Ayato's typical scheming. Truer to the characters than usual. A good chuckle.

Circles - In which Lisa's house is burned down by accident and Klee inadvertently becomes a catalyst for two folks to get together.

Cake Crumbs - In which the trope of being a fake couple for a discount for food is taken up a notch.

Ragnvindr Brothers Mortuary and Co. - In which Crepus' death unlocks a morbid curiosity in the boys instead of the canon-typical fallout.

The Final Campaign - In which Diluc finds a leather-bound journal in his father's study and the nostalgia comes punching back with a vengeance only abated by seeing it through to the end.

throw me to the unknown (and hope for my return) - In which Venti has a rough time and Beidou is there to help him out of it. Featuring some other character interactions.

adrift - In which Tama's cat ends up with Kazuha in the end.

A Tengu's Flock - In which Sara delves into what 'home' really is when a kind elderly woman opens up her own, only for Sara to find out who inhabits that home and bond with them as well.

Problem Conversion - In which due to varying circumstances, Faruzan and Al-Haitham interact, with much being exchanged between them.

adoration - In which there is an Adelinde-centric approach to the Dawn Winery dynamic, in varying points of time.

Little Lioness - In which Jean is somehow turned into a cat, and the events that follow.

Kuki Shinobu's Day Off - In which Kuki Shinobu ends up getting sick, so Itto and the gang have to pick up the slack and try to take care of their deputy.

Carved in Stone - In which the Arataki Gang is founded, featuring some deep character analysis and tribulation

One Shots -

Lone Wolves - An intricate and wonderfully thought-out coming-of-age one-shot featuring the trio of Bennett, Fischl, and Razor and their unbreakable bond.

stubborn - In which Kazuha is recovering from an injury and insists that he's fine, but Beidou has none of that. Featuring Baizhu, the acceptable use of a syringe, and decent hurt/comfort in the midst of sickness.

Grow Forward - Collei takes the first step to improving her relations with Cyno and Tighnari offers her his support in doing so. If 3.5 didn't exist, this would be an acceptable subsidiary.

looking out for you - Ragbros without the pinch of angst but accompanied by diabetes-inducing fluff. It gave me whiplash to see them depicted as such, so now you have to experience it too.

clinical horror - Ningguang hates the dentist, but her tooth aches. And yes, Beidou forces and half-drags her to the dentist anyway because pain medication will only do so much.

Perilous Brunch Bunch - The Chasm gang gets some brunch and hangs out together, from the NPCs' point of view.

my home without seasons - Kaedehara Kazuha finds another place he can call home.

Butter Knife - Canon-divergent and goes into the speculative question of what would happen if Diluc properly lost his mind.

Kitties on Board - The Alcor suffers under a plague of cats, or that's what the captain of said boat would call it.

Like a Pair of Hunting Birds - Shenhe and Xiao in a character study with some interesting peeks into some of their shared traits.

consequences of one [1] sakoku decree - Ganyu deserved to go off a little and her reasons are entirely justified.

a knight and a nun walk into a bar - Kaeya and Rosaria have a few drinks, and a lot more that wine is spilled.

I Heard You Like Cocogoats - A prank war between two individuals that will inevitably have people caught in the crossfire.

calm after the storm - Diona grapples with who Diluc is and what she pictures him to be.

Rest Day - In what world would Chongyun's exasperation boil over into hatred? This one, but only speculatively, of course.

The Tale of Klee and the Gender Reveal Bombs - Who gave the child specializing in the making of pyrotechnics access to smoke bombs?

saraba pasara - It's Qiqi's birthday, and it comes with some baggage.

"But that'll hurt real bad!" - A punch here, a dented guard there, and the varying miscommunications that arise as a result.

Dawn Winds, Heed My Vision - Diluc bears witness to his Archon in the midst of dissociation.

to new beginnings - Freminet stumbles upon the Hydro Dragon and they become friends.

[ontheroad-again]

💥 What is one canon thing that you wish you could change?

🐇 Do you write for yourself, for others, or both?

🌻 How often do you read your own fics?

📗 Do you want to write something outside of fanfiction? If so, what about?

💥 What is one canon thing that you wish you could change?

MSec: Less Henry and Elizabeth and the kids and more perspectives from the staff!!! Nadine especially (obviously), but all of them, really. I think one of the (many, many) things The West Wing got right was giving every senior staff character enough screen time to be fully fleshed out from day one, and MSec really didn’t do enough of that. There’s a reason why people love The Seventh Floor and a couple other more staff-centered episodes so much–those felt like watching the gears turning in the State Department instead of “Perfect Married Couple Agonize Over Problem Child of the Day.” I think that’s part of why I write so much Nadine, Blake, and Jay—everything outside of H/E seems to be lacking in quantity both in canon and fandom writings. 

Also, the obvious: Have Nadine stay through the end. The show was really a shell of itself within a season of her exit and I don’t think they ever really made up for that. 

Cheers: Lilith’s exit from Cheers. I understand the need to write her out because Bebe was leaving, but a) there were so many other ways to do that and b) the eventual divorce would still have been believable without Lilith having an affair. And if nothing else, I find it completely out of character that she would leave Frederick to do so.

🐇 Do you write for yourself, for others, or both?

50/50. I am guilty of pouring all of my own issues and feelings onto characters in order to process them, so in that regard, I largely write for myself. In fact, I had written a significant amount of MSec fics (and West Wing fics, actually) for four years before I decided to post anything—I really just love the writing process, plus it was like a strange form of journaling for me 🤣 But I’m glad I started posting fics, because it has been very fun to write for others as well and hear people’s thoughts about my writing and what they enjoy in stories. (Yay for external validation 🤣) And having an audience, no matter how small, definitely makes it much easier to motivate myself to keep chipping away at a story chapter/topic that is proving difficult for me to get past for whatever reason.

🌻 How often do you read your own fics? 

Fairly regularly. I feel as though when I write multichapters I sometimes lose the style, cadence, rhythm, etc. that I work very hard at getting right in my one-chapter character study/theme-based pieces. So I’ll often return to fics like Lua, March, Doomsday (usually the slightly longer one-chapter ones) and reread them to reset my brain back to focusing on rhythm and the natural crescendo of whatever piece I’m currently writing. 

📗 Do you want to write something outside of fanfiction? If so, what about?

Yes!!! I want a career that involves writing in some form—no idea what that will be yet, but that is the goal! I write songs and prose-poem type things in my free time already, and I have a couple of partially finished book drafts lying around, especially one that is on hold currently because I am about to have zero free time for the next two months. And I love essay-type writing too–it’s almost always my favorite part of school and I would not at all mind getting to write essays or formal papers for part of work someday. 

Thank you for the ask! :)

[sleeplesslionheart]

Arianrhod's One-Year Anniversary; Burning Update

Today marks the one-year anniversary since I published Arianrhod, my first Three Houses fanfic - and the first piece of fanfiction that I'd written and published in over a decade (and my first fic on AO3, and...well, there are some other firsts with this too, but I won't keep belaboring the point, lol. Suffice it to say that it was kind of a big step for me).

Arianrhod is a oneshot, fill-in-the-gaps, but mildly canon-divergent scenario that contends with what I still regard as the greatest failing in Crimson Flower's writing. In it, rather than quietly going along with Edelgard's coverup like she does in the game, Byleth instead makes a reckless (if well-intentioned) attempt to goad Edelgard into addressing the horrific devastation in the wake of Arianrhod's destruction.

On the one hand, I do see the game's treatment of Arianrhod as a terrible problem in Crimson Flower's incredible but also very sloppy writing. But on the other hand, I also perceive it as evidence of some fascinating flaws in Edelgard's character (which are consistent with her characterization throughout the game otherwise). I think that Edelgard's handling of Arianrhod is emblematic (lol) of her tendency to try to skip over processes of grieving, even in the face of catastrophic circumstances and personal tragedy. She's so fixated on achieving her goals and seeing the war through to its end that she's often completely single-minded in her pursuit, even in the face of actual human suffering...which is understandable, given all that she's endured and experienced, but which is also a mistake. She's a complex, flawed woman (which I love about her); but, critically, she's also someone who actively wants for the people around her to call her out when she makes bad decisions. It's for this reason that I decided to "correct" the game's mishandling of Arianrhod not by dismissing its canonicity, but by holding Edelgard accountable (via Byleth) and making her do some important self-reflective work. As such, the fic is largely focused on themes of guilt and culpability - and not just Edelgard's, but Byleth's as well (as she is not off the hook here, and does not let herself off the hook either).

My mental health was at an all-time low when I wrote and posted Arianrhod, which is reflected in the story's subject matter and preoccupations. Periodically, when I look back at it now, there are regrets that I have with it...things that I would do differently, other decisions that I would make if I were writing it in the present. But I have no intention of ever revising or changing it. The story is very much an artifact of that moment in my life, and I want it to stay that way.

Arianrhod then served as the foundation for Burning, my ongoing post-Crimson Flower, multi-chapter fic.

Poor Burning got put on the back-burner (lol again - sorry y'all, I have covid right now and my judgment where puns are concerned is not great) while I got completely derailed with that long-ass Haunting of Bly Manor essay that I posted last week. But now that that's off my plate, Chapter 5 of Burning is my priority again. I currently have 2,800 words on it, so I swear that part of it does, indeed, exist and that I have not forgotten or abandoned it. (I'll confess, however, that I have not ruled out the possibility of writing some Bly fic at some point. But idk if that will happen or not, don't hold me to it).

So...more Edeleth to come (eventually).

[miwhotep]

I'm so happy to see people liking this baby princess snake 😭 there's barely anything for him I think only 2 drawing (and the artist deleted their account..) and 2 headcanons.. He's funny and silly fr. May I ask what made you like him?

Hi, nice to meet you! I'm always really happy to meet other Milverton fans! 🥰

Yeah, I feel you, he barely has any content (I tend to throw parties whenever I find Milvy arts online... then I realized I can also create some to have more, so now I'm here - and I have loooot of ideas). But believe me, there are more people liking Milverton out there than you think!

How did I end up liking him? Well, I am a Sherlock Holmes fan since I'm 6, I grew up with those stories and my favourite was always The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton - it's a really interesting story from the moral point of view and Milverton is a cool villain who is able to force Sherlock to fake-engagement and break-in.

I started to watch Moriarty the Patriot when S1 aired, just to see another Sherlock Holmes adaptation. Then I got into the manga because I couldn't wait for Part 2 - YuuMori was my very first manga. Ever since the start, I was waiting for Milverton to appear - and I actually suspected him to be more of an antihero, instead of a villain, since Moriarty the Patriot turns villain characters (Moriarty or Sebastian Moran) into antiheroes. Milverton finally appeared - to be the main antagonist. I didn't mind it, I was interested to see what the author does with him, and I was quite hyped after the White Knight arc (my favourite arc), because I'm also a big Batman fan and The Dark Knight (what White Knight is heavily inspired by) is one of my favourite movies. Then Two Criminals happened and Milverton left the stage without the potential in his character getting explored. I was totally disappointed to see him go to waste, so I started wandering about him - how he turned into a villain and such. I don't think he was always evil, he has white hair while being quite young, something really traumatic must've happened to him once, maybe he turned evil thanks to that. I also like thinking that what if he was similar to Liam once - wanted to change the system with corrupt methods, but he was not as strong as Liam and in the end, he got corrupted. I always wanted Moriarty the Patriot to deal with the thought of you use evil methods for a good cause, but what if your evil methods turns you evil, too? An example of what could happen to the Moriarty group if they cross the line, a dark mirror to William. And Milverton could've been a perfect example for this.

So yeah, the unexplored possibilities in Milverton kept intriguing me, so I thought more and more about him and come up with lot of headcanons, his whole story is built up in my head now. And through this, I grew fond of his character... I know he is evil and irredeemable, I never even thought of redemption for him, he is way too far gone... but I love him anyway (for the record, it's the YuuMori Milvy I feel that way for, not the other adaptations of the character, the canon one is a great villain to me and nothing more). I have lot of headcanons, theories, analysis, arts, dolls, a cocktail, fanfiction, video edit, I really love making content for him in every form.

And there is another thing what made me a Milverton fan: his relationship with his secretary, Ruskin. I really love the evil boss, who on the other hand, care about his secretary deeply, who doesn't mind his boss' evil actions, but follow him to the very end, because he means the whole world to him trope. And there is genuine trust, respect and caring in Milverton and Ruskin's relationship - I only a platonic shipper, but Milveskin is my OTP and love them really much.

Sorry for keeping you for so long, again I ended up writing an essay as an answer. Thank you for your question and I will bring more Milvy content in the future!

[vampirekilmerfic]

(insert really pretty, aesthetic header here)

Howdy. I'm Vamp, this is my side blog for all things fandom related. vampirekilmer is my main blog, which you're welcome to follow, but is 5% fandom and 95% chaos.

Have a look around, don't be afraid to ask any questions. I post my fanfiction here and on AO3.

Fanfiction Masterlist

My Tags:

○ #vampirekilmerfic ask

○ #vampirekilmerfic rec - my fanfic recommendations

○ #vampirekilmer writes #my writing - my writing

○ #fanfiction

○ #fanart

○ #headcanon

○ #meta - non-fiction writing discussing any aspect of fandom

○ #psa / #reblogging for reference / #the more you know

○ love is blindness teeth and blood - my personal tag for the Venn diagram of love, devotion, ferality, consumption, darkness

Writing / Storytelling

○ #writing reference - things to help you write better

○ "Keep Your Dog on a Leash" amazing fan collaborative meta commentary on the relationship dynamic when someone becomes amoral in their devotion

○ "Welcome to the Army" deadbranch's incredibly insightful series on what it's actually like to serve in the military.

○ "Fanfiction is not 'ewww'" a beautiful defense of the value and importance of fanfiction as a genre of stories and a part of art and creative expression.

○ Misc writing resources from peachesofteal

○ Early's list of COD playthroughs and BTS

Archive of Our Own

○ "Vamp’s Quick and Dirty Guide to Finding Stories on AO3" mobile friendly

○ "Know Your Audience; Tagging Your Fics on AO3" from ao3commentoftheday

○ "Alternative AO3 Kudos Images" these are perfect for when you've already left kudos but want to leave more

○ "AO3 is not for minors"

Tumblr

○ "Tagging Your Posts" - most important point: only the first 20 tags show up in searches

Miscellaneous

○ Californicationist's amazing essay on the importance and value of fanfiction

○ "...Fan fiction is a way of the culture repairing the damage done in a system where contemporary myths are owned by corporations instead of owned by the folk."

○ "Why you should reblog your own fics"

○ "Tag Warnings > Cancel Culture"

○ "Stopping piracy of your long fic on Amazon"

○ 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 "𝑭𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝑨𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝑴𝒂𝒏" 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞™

(Credit to Cafekitsune for the lovely moo divider)

[monstrous-femme]

Have you ever felt embarrassed posting fic?? I have so many ideas and I really enjoyed doing stuff for fsw but I cringe at the thought of writing anything else?? Or at creating anything generally? I don't know why and I really want to get over it n u seem insightful about this stuff.

(feel free to answer public or priv I don't mind, also feel free to ignore me entirely x)

I love this question bc I think it's about art and vulnerability and imperfection and those are things I think about a lot! (Alternatively, I may be viewing this question through the lenses of art and vulnerability and imperfection BECAUSE I think about those things a lot.)

If I tried to make this all connect it'd be a 1500+ word essay, so instead I'm going to provide some random thoughts and you can connect them however works for you:

1. No fic I write is ever going to get the number of kudos of a very mid Drarry fic I wrote when I was 18. It plagues me that this is my most-read story. I also refuse to take it down. It might still be meaningful to someone, even if it's not too me, and it did mean something to 18 year old me and I want to respect that. But the real reason I keep it up is because I don't want people to think my new, better work appeared from nowhere. I write so well now in part because I wrote a random 50k Drarry fic in high school. Writing it helped me become the writer I became.

2. I think a lot about the cartoon of a dog(?) playing piano with the caption "He plays very poorly, but it keeps him from destroying things."

3. I make paintings and don't post them because they aren't beautiful but I am still glad I paint, and when I first started making earrings I didn't understand how to use little beads to hold big beads in place so things often fell apart.

4. Someone who I met while writing fanfiction and meta for a tiny webseries fandom became such a dear friend that she flew across the country for my wedding party.

5. Many of the best scenes from In Her Hips are ones that scared or embarrassed me to write.

6. While we're on the subject of embarrassment, those smut scenes/fics I wrote that y'all like so much? Literally almost couldn't handle posting them but I bet you're glad I did 😉.

7. When my poetry collection came out and we did a reading and discussion, one of the members of my poetry cohort talked about the paradox of vulnerability, how we think that people will only connect with us if we write broadly but it is actually only in the personal details that we manage to connect. I really, really want to connect with other people. It feels like the most important thing I can do.

8. If you write your stories and never show them to anyone else, I promise they still matter.

9. If you write stories and choose to share them, I promise they will not matter less with someone else's gaze on them.

10. It's terrifying to be perceived because we can't control what other people see when they look at us. When I let myself be perceived, it's like admitting that I want to be loved, and the terrifying thing about admitting that I want something is that I may not get it. I may lose in public. I may be seen as small and human and wanting. There is no way around this.

I hope this somehow answers your question.

[practically-an-x-man]

1, 4, 6, 10 for Heart in Your Hands and/or Catch and Release?

Ooh thank you!!!

Answers under the cut for space :D

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?

HIYH: We're really just getting started so that's hard to answer at the moment... I guess I wanted to play with perspectives a little more, contrasting Lars' modern and scientific worldview with Jimmy's more historic but curious perspective. And I wanted to take a few tropes, like the "true love's kiss" trope, and revamp them in a way that I found more appealing.

C&R: Hm... I think my main goal in this one was themes of grief and family, which I think I accomplished, but I also wanted to play around with this grief-stricken, somewhat guarded antihero character since that was a perspective I hadn't touched quite as much with my other characters. And I had just seen No Way Home three times in theaters and I wanted desperately to try and fit my own character into that world to the point that people would start to forget she wasn't really there in the movie.

4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

HIYH: Again, not much of a pool to pick from yet, but... this interaction was one of the first that popped into my head, and I just think it's so funny:

“You’re… shockingly normal.” Lars blurted, unable to help himself.  “You’re shockingly British.” the spirit responded, baring him another of those little half-smiles, “Where’ve you taken me, stranger?”

C&R: Oooh, there are a lot of lines to pick from here, I really love Olly's sharp wit. I could write a whole essay on her entrance into the battle with Charybdis, but instead I'm gonna go with this line from the fight on Lady Liberty:

“You like hip-hop? Or is jazz more your style?” Max taunted, lifting his hands. Argonaut kept her eyes on his palms, waiting for a spark. Even as she did, her mouth was running. “I prefer tango.” she said calmly, the only warning before her actuators came flying out at him. One claw slammed him mercilessly into the scaffolding, the resulting screech of metal on metal almost enough to make her wince. With two claws still anchoring her, the fourth and final spiraled outwards, reaching for the reactor glued to his chest. Argonaut grinned. “You had it coming.”

It's the combination of her mouth running on its own, automatically firing off these sharp quips about fighting-as-dancing and all that, while inwardly she's distracted by Peter's good-luck kiss and promise to take her to a Broadway show when everything's over (the "you had it coming" is a reference to the Cell Block Tango from Chicago)

6: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

HIYH: It's got a lighter overall tone than my other fics, and it's going to stay there. The darkest this one will get is the canon events in Frozen Empire, and even that's brief. Currently Heartstrings is a little fluffier than this one overall, but Heartstrings is gonna have some killer angst once we get to it.

C&R: It's the closest I get to a crossover fic. Usually I stick to one canon or universe, and I am still sticking to the general world of Spider-Man in this one, but we get surprise appearances from Hobie, references to Spiderverse's LYLA, and of course all the multiverse-jumping in No Way Home itself. I have to say, it's a BEAST to keep track of, but I think it's paid off.

10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?

HIYH: I knew I wanted to write for Lars since he seemed like a really neat character (and he's kinda cute ngl), and while his sexuality isn't ever stated or even hinted at in the movie as far as I could tell, I think his character works well as a gay man and I really wanted to explore the dynamic between his modern view on queerness compared to Jimmy's hidden-in-life/brave-in-death approach.

C&R: I've been a longtime fan of Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker, and I wanted to look at this, like... "two ships passing in the night" sort of romance as brought on by the multiverse. And he's super super bi, so I wanted to give him a partner who is equally bi and have them both be open about those past relationships.

In general, I tend to build my OCs to complement the canon characters, so I can explore some really neat character dynamics and relationships. That's also why I like writing OC x Canon rather than fully canon-character or fully OC ships most of the time, it allows me to build one character as a tool to explore whatever dynamic I want to capture with the other, like an extended character study. It's the challenge of keeping the canon character(s) reasonably accurate to their source material, while putting them into situations where they're interacting with someone completely new.

[st-danger]

hey! i'm really not a writer but i have to take a class on it next year and i'm really scared by it, so i'm trying to get opinions and whatnot from people who do write. (that's why you might see this ask in a lot of authors' inboxes heh) i'm wondering if there's anything that helps you get in the mood to write, if there's anything that causes/makes worse a writer's block, if you find it easier to write when given a prompt or if you prefer to make things up completely, if you prefer writing a story or more of an essay, how long does it take you to finish something and how do you know it's finished? and i know a lot of these could be answered with "it depends" but please avoid saying that if you can! thank you for helping me!

MISSED THIS, TOO. I hope you see this, I'm so sorry I'm just only now responding. In order:

1.) Don't wait to get in the mood to write. The best thing you can do is avoid waiting until the mood strikes you, and just sit down and do it. If you can sit down and write a ton because you have a mighty need, fantastic. If you sit down and feel uninspired but find a groove, suddenly you'll hit your stride and be in the mood. This is fantastic. Or, you might sit down and write three sentences and close it up for the day. This is also fantastic. Writing is a muscle to be worked out, and the more you do, the better. Don't wait for inspiration to strike. Create your own.

2.) In my opinion, writer's block is caused by one of two things: getting burnt out by it, or getting in your head about it. If you're feeling burnt out on a particular project, start something new. If you're getting in your own way, remind yourself not to edit as you go. Write down whatever comes to you and don't worry about quality. Just get it out. I find that I do best when I push through, and I do my very best to sit down and write every day, even when I don't feel like it. Even when I write next to nothing. I think that doing this has improved my writing a lot. Of course, I'm just one guy, and this approach might be frustrating instead of helpful. Some people do best taking a break for a few days and coming back to things with fresh eyes. If you're stuck on a particular part, you're always allowed to skip to another scene you feel like writing. I tend to only write in order because that's what's comfortable for me, but skipping around can help you keep momentum.

3.) I don't know if I have much of a preference for prompted versus my own thoughts. Both allow for creativity, and if you ever find yourself in a rut, being handed an idea and asked to run with it can help you get out of said rut. If the prompt is open-ended, I have more than enough space to put my own spin on things. If it's very specific, then I have a very clear framework which often makes things easier. If it's my own, I get to play in my sandbox and fuck up the sand castles however I want. Benefits to all, and I would encourage you to do both.

4.) How long varies greatly, especially with fanfiction, especially as I write different characters and figure out how I want to write their voices. On average, if I'm in my groove, I can write between 1,500 to 2,000 words in an hour, though "Reap What You Sow" is about 3k and I got that out in slightly over an hour. Usually takes about 3 hours for me to write and revise something around 3k. Anything above 5k I usually have to do in multiple sittings, and I'll space it out over two days. My ADHD tends to make marathon writing sessions unhelpful, and I don't think I can maintain quality.

5.) I struggle writing longer pieces, I really do. I've played with shorter pieces for so long, and because I have more familiarity and confidence in those, I would say I prefer it. But I'm really, really trying to write longer things- more flexibility, more room to play with. But oh my fuckin' god, it's really difficult for me. As I push myself more in that direction, though, I can see myself being much happier working with it.

6.) This is a tough one to quantify. It's more clear-cut in fanfiction than it is my original writing. Sometimes it just feels right. Other times you'll nitpick for ages. Eventually, though, the story needs to be finished because...it needs to be finished. There's always more editing and revising you could be doing. Always. If you're unsure, leave it alone for a few days, come back, and read it out loud. If there's a good sense of satisfaction when you finish reading the last line, go for it. Be done and get it out to be shared so others can enjoy it. It's an intuitive thing that will be clearer and easier to decide upon the more you do it.

Don't be scared for your writing class!! Be stoked that you have a new muscle to train and a new hobby to dive into.

Again, sorry this took so long to get answered, and I hope there's something of value in here for you. My ask box is open if there's any follow up or anything else I can (hopefully HELPFULLY) answer.

<3

[stolendreams99]

I wanna start brain vomiting here, but I need to get out of my own way

I've had this tumblr for years and never really got much farther than just reblogging and liking. I think I struggle with the way the site functions, I could never wrap my head around it, especially not being able to filter people's reblogs from their original content.

But here I am in adulthood with a brain that perpetually operates at 105%, constantly filled with a million and one thoughts, some deep analyses, some absolute shit.

“I want to talk about everything with at least one person as I talk about things with myself.”

― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Idiot

I started therapy a few years ago and have found myself quite the journaler, and this quote captures the 'thing' that keeps me coming back to the idea of writing here. Nothing professional, just a little blog of thoughts to share. I have friends who share my interests, but I can't always deep dive and hyperfixate for hours at a time with them. It's fun and I love them to death, but it can't happen all the time when the urge strikes. It's impractical, both for them and myself.

I think fandom as a broad concept is fascinating, I love seeing how people can breathe life back into media that only gives a fixed amount of content. When I recover from all this academic trauma and burnout, I think fandom and pop culture studies is something I might explore a bit more.

But exhaustion and ambitions aside, I like contributing to that process of bringing your own thoughts and baggage to art and watching how it gives so much more depth to it. Taking something and exploring every corner of it. I like giving, real, intense, thought to things. I like to dive into lore and think about character psychology and world building. I like to think about how the artistic choices in music and visuals contribute to it. I like to analyze dialogue and read into things and steep my brain in every element of it.

I like words, and I like using them to talk about things. I wanna do that here but I keep getting tripped up by the idea of curating the "perfect" blog and, god, it's fucking annoying. I have so many topics in my head that I've already mentally drafted out that just swim around up there and occupy space.

I wanna talk about love, grief, burnout, trauma, my life experiences that have contributed to who I am. I wanna talk about the LoZ timeline and lore, or this one fanfiction that is so exceptionally good that I will continue checking for updates no matter how long it takes, I wanna talk about music albums as collective works of art, I wanna talk about visual art and how, at the end of the day, most art is fan art and all elitists that say otherwise are missing out, I wanna talk about OSTs that rip my soul out, hold it tenderly, and put it back, I wanna talk about anime and TV shows and movies, write about my reviews and opinions, talk about the socio-cultural phenomenon that Hatsune Miku is.

I have so much shit I wanna talk about and all it does is stay tucked away in the attic of my brain just collecting dust but also still like...bouncing off the walls just trying to get out. I think writing essays in uni would've been more fun if we had more opportunities to talk about the things we cared about.

This post is a shit show and isn't much of anything for anyone, this is my attempt at getting over the idea of doing it "right" or "perfectly," it's my way of putting pencil to a blank paper, just to ruin the idea of perfection and just to get things moving.

I haven't shared my in-depth thoughts or my art consistently or with real intention on a public platform in years (did I mention I'm burnt out) so it's a bit weird thinking that people might see and read this and...I don't know, have a glimpse into my mind.

So yeah despite being on here since 2015? 16? 17? I suppose I'm pretty new to tumblr in a way. Bear with me as I try to get better at messily attempting things instead of trying to make something perfect before I even start it. I'll probably expand on so many all of the things I've mentioned here in the future :)

[ouidamforeman]

I got tagged to do this Ao3 tag game by @gallifreyburning!

I don't usually do these kinds of fanfiction ask games bc I'm primarily an artist and don't do much of the actual writing bits of things so my answers for these will be a little unusual lol. I'm also going to keep my answers to the fics I actually helped co-write instead of just illustrate. Shoutout to my primary writer collab partner @moveslikebucky who I do most in depth stories with! They do the writing bits and I help with ideas, plots, brainstorming, betaing, phrasing, and other little nuances! I would not have works on Ao3 without my writer partners!

1. how many works do you have on Ao3?

31! Again some of which I actually helped co-write and some of which I just illustrated. A couple are solo collections of my own artwork for events and things

2. what's your total Ao3 word count?

213,593. Again emphasizing that the word counts specifically are my collaborators' accomplishments lol

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Primarily the Good Omens novel but I have a good amount for the Good Omens tv show as well and one that's a Star Trek DS9 fusion

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

My most kudosed fic was written and conceptualized by a collab partner for a bang event and only illustrated by me so here are my top ones I actually did work on the story of lol. All of these are ones I did with @moveslikebucky 💛

Night of the Living Boyfriend! (367)

I won't have a life (until you're dead) (346)

go where I go, do what I must (304)

his fragrant garland (267)

Marginalia (227)

5. do you respond to comments?

I like to when someone comments about the art specifically, and I sometimes do when a comment mentions a story element or something that I worked a lot on or is a question about something I have insight on. I'm bad at keeping up with my inbox though so most of the time I leave replying to comments to my collab partners lol

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

Sad endings aren't really my thing so stories I work on don't usually have them. However I like subverting traditional character and genre ideas so stuff I do with Buckie sometimes has weird endings that are happy for the characters but scary or disturbing otherwise, like (spoilers) in starlit nights (I saw you) will hopefully have when we finish it

But in terms of actual angstiest I think that would probably be I think about you which ends with miserable pining and crying jsgfjdfjffgj. Thank Buckie for that ending though not me lol

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

Most of my works have happy endings but my favorites are probably the AUs Buckie and I like to do where the characters end up in a more peaceful and free place than they could have expected at the beginning 🩷 My favorites of these are probably our the blood is the life series about vampires, whose fics all have or will have happy endings that I love, go where I go, do what I must whose universe will always be happy and we have plans to continue, and formation displays of affection which is about sooooo so softly falling in love for marginalized characters. Probably his fragrant garland as well because I want to live in pastoral ancient Greek fantasyland too tbh

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I don't think I've ever gotten straight up hate on one of my collabs or solo works but one time we got a ridiculous comment on formation displays of affection (which is about an autistic robot and an autistic human falling in love) about how it was disrespectful to autistic people and that this person was at their last straw with us for whatever reason as well as a mini essay about why its bad to depict robot autistic characters lol. I don't think they actually read the fic bc I had to reply to them explaining that it was specifically about my own experience being autistic and Buckie's being ADHD and how we wanted to subvert the "robot isn't human and is therefore inferior" trope with a story about two people with divergent neurology, one of whom is a person who happens to be an android, finding love and commonality together. It was just weird and sort of disrespectful to be told I was being ableist against myself when I made the characters specifically partially to reflect my own experience lmao

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

Yeah all the gd time (as far as brainstorming how it'll go and drawing it etc, Buckie is the one good at the actual writing part!) . I love erotica and the emotions and concepts it can communicate. Most of my Ao3 works are smut varying from tender stuff to weird raunchy kink things about monsters. It's always as genuine and queer as I can possibly make it if that's a "kind" lol

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

I'm not really a big fan of crossovers in general but I do have a couple fusions (characters from one fandom set in an AU based on the universe of another) I've done with collaborators! My favorite and probably the really unusual one is Reclamation and Reconnaissance, a long term collaborative project I've been doing with a team, which is a Good Omens/Star Trek DS9 fusion set in a Bajoran farming community of refugees

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of but like who knows with AI scraping these days

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not as of now but that wold be amazing

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

Yep as is obvious from the rest of my answers that's most of my Ao3 library lol

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Aziraphale and Crowley obviously just based on how thoroughly and quickly they completely took over my creative output and destroyed my brain

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

I'm not sure? All my unfinished stuff on Ao3 we do plan on finishing eventually even if it's a little unfeasible like with Reclamation and Reconnaissance lol. The real answer is definitely Grow Better though which was a bang event collab my partner went awol for before it was complete (and no hard feelings it's p old by now)

16. What are your writing strengths?

Worldbuilding concepts and characterization I think? And obviously the most prominent thing I contribute is illustrations

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I actually used to write fic solo by myself but as I got older my brain stopped sort of. being able to do the logistics of putting words in order to form a plot? to the point where actually writing whole things was more trouble than it was worth when my strength that i enjoyed the process of more was illustrating the same ideas visually. So the logistics of getting from one image in my head to the next all in words is something my brain is just terrible at which is why I like working with writers

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

I don't really do it but it's fine if done well idk

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Lord of the Rings

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Obviously these are collabs still but rn it's probably quenched like the burning thorns bc I'm rly happy with the feel of the art in it and how it matches the prose and bc rereading it is like opening a gift over and over again, and I'm also really proud of the art I managed to do for Marginalia, but overall it's probably I won't have a life (until you're dead) and its series bc like we managed to make a whole fully illustrated vampire novella with coherent worldbuilding and themes for that one that I still just really like and makes me feel warm and fuzzy lol

All done! I'm gonna tag my friends @moveslikebucky and @fenrislorsrai to do this if they want 💛