#I've just been writing and writing sterek like the amounts of fics that will come out

[hedwig221b]

do you know any writers that characterize stiles similarly to you? im in my possessive/protective macho man derek and kitten stiles era 😭

I feel like I'm about to talk about, like, the obvious choices here but I have a memory of a goldfish as in I don't remember authors' names, I just remember the plots of the fics

So, uh, groundbreaking, I know, but standinginanicedress, especially Tax Evasion series, Cut to the Bone and Helen of Troy, like I can't not mention the person that raised me to be the author that I am.

Next, Dexterous_Sinistrous, another legend genuis, I'd put them to the vibe you described.

If you want spicy, then SinQueen69 like damn the things this author puts Stiles through…

I don't remember reading this person's other fics but Hung the Moon by nrnyx altered my reality, and Derek is so soft with Stiles in this

Again, groundbreaking. SORRY

Thus, stereks, let's help our comrade in need! If you know fics with unhinged Derek and soft kitten Stiles, please, rec some!

[wellhalesbells]

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @piratefalls! Yay, wasting time - I've been doing so much of that today and thank you for giving me another way to! (Seriously, I would've just been watching more Youtube compilations without you.) That's probably why these answers are so long. Procrastination? Wellllll don't mind if I do!

How many works do you have on ao3? 154

What's your total ao3 word count?

1,280,205

What fandoms do you write for?

Primarily Teen Wolf and Harry Potter. HP was my original homeslice and I kind of sharpened my teeth on fic-writing in general there, found what I liked and didn't like, how to engage with fandom, what I found attractive and what turned me off (for characters and plot beats), honed my craft and made my mistakes there and then with the advent of AO3 and the finding of Teen Wolf, I feel like I blossomed and built a home and am hopefully making fewer oopsiedoosles. Though I have also written a fic or so for: Hannibal, The Meg, Mr. Robot, X-Men, Star Trek, and Breaking Bad.

Top five fics by kudos:

There's Monsters at Home, Sterek, Teen Wolf. (15,285)

Time to Eternity, Drarry, Harry Potter. (8,416)

Option C) Some Bad Guys are Werewolves, but Not All Werewolves are Bad Guys, Sterek, Teen Wolf. (7,759)

Of Bananas, Babies and Buzzkills, Sterek, Teen Wolf. (5,134)

Instructions for Dancing, Sterek, Teen Wolf. (5,099)

Do you respond to comments?

Not anymore. Occasionally one that asks a direct question I'll answer, if that answer isn't already somewhere on or in the fic.

Though the last one I answered was someone who didn't read my tags or notes, telling me I didn't warn for something that was in the tags and notes, and I was so polite, like, "How can I make this clearer?" instead of saying, "#!@%^&$@$@#^$%&$^&^&$%^@#$%" like I fucking wanted to and they then said: "Oh yeah, I didn't read any of that, guess you don't need to change anything." Which was exactly what I expected would happen and I took the time to answer because I want more than anything to teach that person a lesson, even though I am absolutely certain they learned nothing from the interaction. But I tried, I did my part, and I wasn't even an asshole about it. (Please, please, please, the amount of times I've been told in the snarkiest damn fashion to tag for something that is already fucking tagged...... like, how do I have to say: read the tags before snidely chastising me for what isn't in them?? And it's not like.... I used different language or anything, they will ask me to tag for the EXACT DAMN TAG already on the fic. My collection of these comments is genuinely getting out of hand.)

And there is one I kind of want to answer that I got in the last month or so because it's one of the nicest and most vulnerable things I've ever been told but there aren't enough letters, or strong enough ones, or big enough ones to hold all the gratitude and care that wants to pour into them so I just... haven't.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hrm, I think these are just the most obvious of those and if I actually had to sit with this and go through my catalogue of fic, I would come up with a way more off-center answer because the angst is much subtler but harder hitting but that sounds like it would take brain power and, wow, is it that late already *coughs*

Either I Smoke My Friends Down to the Filter or But the Mess Prevails. I think maybe the latter because it's kind of triumphant in ISMFDttF, Stiles stands up for himself, but in BtMP they both want to be together but it's just another way for Derek to punish himself if they are.

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

Similar caveat to the one above as I'm not really focusing on ending (because more brain power) as much as just happy overall. Either [Hilary Duff Lyric Redacted] or Instructions for Dancing - they are both just fluff bombs almost entirely from start to finish.

Do you get hate on fics?

Mostly no. There's one fic that I have comments turned off on (THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS FUNCTION, AO3, 10000000% THIS FIC WOULD NOT STILL EXIST IF NOT FOR YOU) because people would yell things at me I already explicitly stated I agreed with? Like I wrote a fic for a fest (back when I wrote in a lot fests, lol), it was a dark prompt and I can't remember if the prompter wanted a happy ending or if it was a stipulation of the fest that it couldn't end badly but it's a dark prompt so while I could get the two characters to the point of co-parenting, I did not get them back together. And the comments I mainly got were: how dare you get them the fuck back together? To which I was like: um, I didn't, also if I was forced to keep going with this fic, this character would end up with this one instead. And then I got a deluge of comments that were like: how dare you get them back together!? And for a while, I explained that you read into it, which is understandable as - to satisfy whomever's requirement - it is an impression I wanted you to walk away with, but as you'll notice at no point are they back together or romantically involved again, they're in the same room and have reached a ceasefire, that's it. And that's as friendly as I see that relationship getting, and no one read any of that and kept yelling at me for the same reason and mentally I was like: fuck all of you, either the fic goes or I do so I turned off the comments so I wouldn't delete it. I find since commenting is off (or "hidden" rather, I can still see it and have the option to approve or nuke it), people have to really engage with a) what I've already replied before and b) whether or not it's worth it to leave a review that will literally only be seen by me. Suddenly everyone has reading comprehension and no one is just yelling to yell because the only one you're engaging with is *jazz hands* me, and I am obviously not the audience for that.

Do you write smut?

Yep!

Craziest crossover:

I have a Hunger Games/TW one that is one of two unfinished fics on AO3 because every time I even think about it, it intimidates me. And since I don't read crossovers, I have no idea how you're supposed to do them or how much of the other IP you can take on without it seeming like you've just rewritten with different characters or how much you should change when everyone knows what you're working from anyway - it's all a mystery to me and I am flummoxed by it.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

People post my old HP shit that no longer exists on the internet to Wattpad quite a bit and I am not savvy enough to figure out how to get it down. The few times I've contacted people who posted it under my name to take it down, instead just remove my name and fully pretend it's theirs. On some, I've found the people on LJ who have saved the fic in question and are giving it out and quietly asked them to stop because they were ending up as stolen fic on Wattpad.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, many!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Em and I have started one but never finished - it's me, I'm Mr. Ambrose: "I start, I don't finish things."

All time favorite ship?

I think it's Stiles and Derek, man??? I don't know, I have a lot of niche ones too that I feel like if there were more content/interest, they would be it but there isn't sooooo....

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

That THG/TW fic - it scares me so much. Like, who was that confident girl who didn't understand things at all and was like: yeah, that's fine? Don't know her. PvW - I have a lot written in the future and for the next chapter, plus an outline, it's just a matter of getting my attention to stay on it and I have the next chapter of WDHGsGA written and an outline for the next two, I just don't want to post it until it's totally finished so I don't have to worry about losing the atmosphere/tone again and, again, I just have to get my focus back to it but the chances of me letting that writing go totally down the drain? Unlikely.

What are your writing strengths?

Um, I think I have a good understanding of how humans work. I think writing is definitely made a lot easier when you have a handle on the psychology and a gut sense for people. It's not hard to craft fake scenarios when you have a pretty decent understanding of how people would react in them.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Grammar-wise, commas throw me completely. I have no idea where they're supposed to go and I do my best, okay?! I really only got Florida public school education on this and it was: wherever you feel like you should have one, do that.

More generally, I also feel like I don't have the same needs to satisfy as a large percentage of readers - I need a relationship at the core of a fic to feel significant and weighty to want to write a story about it, but that doesn't mean it needs to survive to the end of said fic or that characters need to hit certain relationship milestones for it to feel worthwhile to me. I think this sometimes leads me to endings that some people feel are unsatisfying because I got what I needed but maybe some readers didn't?

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Totally neutral. Doesn't bother or thrill me to any extent.

First fandom you wrote in?

Harry Potter.

Favorite fic you've written?

Favorite? That's hard. I'm, as mentioned, super shitty at finishing things so the fact that TMaH is completed - even without going into any of its content (all of which is made to order, absolutely my favorite stuff) - makes it a top contender.

I also still really love A Fine Foray into Fashionable Fellatio, the last Harry Potter fic I wrote, which was Draco/Ron. I love that to kick my brain into gear, I would start mentally painting the scenes, from oranges and reds to beiges and cool winter blues - I don't know I've ever used color so much in anything. It hasn't worked since and I think it's because - having been away from those characters and that fandom for so long - I had such a crystal clear image of them and because Draco, especially, was so different from how he's usually pictured in fic/fanart (curly-haired, absolutely swank as fuck Muggle style) that the lines were so defined it was easy to paint within them.

And I think my favorite writing piece right now is He Speaks in Petals. It's such a short fic and I reread it in the last year or so and it's so much more lyrical than I remember. I knew that was what I was going for and I did not think I managed it but it's got some really soft, kind whimsy to it that I like a lot and find very calming and reaffirming.

No pressure tagging @kikiroo, @rosieposiepuddingnpie, @literaryoblivion, @yodas-yo-yo, @clotpolesonly, @callunavulgari, @andavs, @i-sveikata, @alocalband !

[asterekmess]

A Bit of a Conundrum

I've been waffling about this for a long time, and as I've already vented about it to my discord, I wanted to open it up to a possibly larger audience of my readers. And also complain about it more. XD I write. A lot. I have. A LOT of writing. We're talking like more than 2 dozen wips sitting in my google docs, some with 14k, some with 114k words in them. Some with a specific ending in mind, some with no plot beyond what's already written. Fuck dude, some aren't even Sterek/TW! I was fortunate enough to have someone go on my ko-fi and do a monthly donation to me for a few months. They stopped, which I'll never be mad at, but having them there at all, having someone say "I'd like to support your writing just for the sake of supporting it" meant a huge amount to me, and it made me think about all of my wips.

I don't post often, or regularly, or..well at all, for months and months at a time. This is because I almost only ever post fics when they're done. it's a personal rule of mine, and not one I used to follow when i first started writing fic. It's one I came up with shortly after finishing "Wanted" bc I felt terrible and pressured when I had to take breaks during that fic and when I couldn't keep up with a regular schedule for people. And for a long time it was a good rule for me. It helped me not to feel pressured or overwhelmed by the worry of abandoning a project on ao3 and getting bombarded with comments asking where the next chapter is. But as I've continued writing over the years, my wips have gotten more numerous, while my posted work continues to trickle in. I'm a chronic long-fic writer (though my currently posted fics don't reflect that), which means it takes way more time for me to finish a fic than it does for me to get distracted coming up with a NEW idea for a fic. It's hard to finish work. But that doesn't mean I don't love my wips. They're incredible. Some of them contain some of the best stuff I feel I've ever written. Poignant words and phrases and meaningful moments. And looking around at them, I realized that anyone who goes to support me on my ko-fi, or considers following me on Ao3, or even just subscribes to a series, isn't really getting to see what I"m actually doing. They see a fic posted every 9 months, or every year. There's no real indication that anything they do is helping me regularly, that they're even supporting a Current Active writer. In light of that, I've been considering starting to post wips of mine. The problems with that are numerous and a bit overwhelming, hence wanting to hear others' opinions and vent about it ad nauseum. I've got lots of wips, and if I were to start posting them, I wouldn't want to toss the whole wip out at once. But posting a chapter at a time every few days or even once a week, while it would mean a lot of content coming out, it would be a lot of content that I haven't finished. Cliffhanger chapters, and unfinished stories that I can't promise would ever be finished. And I know I don't owe my readers anything, but it's still unsatisfying to post something without an ending. Then there's the absolute overload of possibly too Much content for people. Getting an e-mail every other day about a new chapter for a fic you've no interest in reading isn't fun. And on top of all that, is the editing. Often when I'm struggling with a fic, I find that i need to go back and change the beginning. In honesty, part of why I wait to post until I'm finished with fics is bc semi-regularly I'll get to the end of a fic, go back to the beginning and edit it all over again to make it more cohesive. To me there is no such thing as a 'finished' chapter. only a finished fic. If I posted as I wrote, then I'd either not be able to go back and edit chapters, or if I DID go back and edit my chapters, they would then need updated, and people who'd read the first 4 chapters of something would end up needing to reread the fic to get the full sense of what I'm doing. But at the same time, posting my wips would mean finally getting to share some stuff that's been gathering dust for years in some cases, finally getting to see people's reactions to them. Finally getting to know that even if I don't end up finishing it, at least people can enjoy what's already been written. And of course, finally getting to show people that when they support me through donations or comments or what-have-you, they're supporting an Active writer, supporting work being made every day, even if it's not FINISHED every day. All of these things are stuff I'm trying to take into consideration, and it's been a hell of a struggle. Plus, as I'm unfortunately trying to manage doing a part-time job rn, just getting up the energy for this stuff is a big BIG task.

If you've got any thoughts or strategic ideas, I'd love to hear them. If not, s'all good, I mostly just wanted to vent. XD

[coffeedrgn87]

Hai. I just wanted to say that LPK has ruined me for almost every other BDSM story. Now when I read any, I'm like "Where's the enthusiastic consent? Where are the loving and frequent check-ins with your sub? Where is the scene where you discuss whether this is something both of you want?" And I'm including original stories in the list too. There are very few stories that can satisfy me now. Even when the sex scenes are hot, the lack of a connection between the Dom and sub puts me off. There's a Sterek BDSM fic that kind of lives up to LPK, but that's the only one I've found. You have completely ruined me. I hope you're happy, you ridiculously talented author.

Hi! 💜

Funny you should say this, because this is, in part, how LPK came to life. I wanted kinky reading that really emphasised consent, communication, and negotiation.

And sure, there are some relatively good works out there (now at least) but they generally feature a) a hetero relationship and b) some rich dude who happens to be a Dominant and a submissive gal who wants to try out kink or is in the community (to some degree) but falls head over heels in love with the Dominant which changes the whole dynamic and leads to much unnecessary drama (my personal opinion, also mainly reference original works here…fan works very often do have queer representation).

While there’s nothing wrong with that trope, it doesn’t represent me in any way. I want queerness with my kink, I want munches and shibari and tough conversations, and trust. I want things to reflect reality with a scene going well and emotions changing the dynamic midway.

There are many reasons why LPK is so dear to me, and you mentioned some, the enthusiastic consent, the conversations, but also life getting in the way and finding ways around that, growing together, etc.

I grew a lot with the writing of the story which I absolutely expected I would (or at least hoped for). Never in a million years did I think so many people would read it, comment on it, favourite it, etc. I’m not in any community where people might talk about different works so I don’t see it happening…which is why I, for the most part, still have imposter syndrome about it all, but I think that can be said for all my other writing too, not that any of it comes close to where LPK went.

I have this recurring dream of wanting to turn it into an original work, but I’m daunted by my own word count thus far and the amount of rework required so I keep thinking that the perfect idea will eventually come along.

I honestly cannot thank you enough for you very enthusiastic support and your kind message. It means the world to me, and I know I say this to everybody who takes the time to tell me what LPK means to them, but it’s not some spiel, I truly mean it. The verse has done something special to me, even though I don’t want to believe it. I fear believing it may lead to me getting a big head about it all, even though I’m certain that I could never…ugh, look at this, not only do I digress but I’m also rambling.

I won’t lie, there’ve been many times I’ve wanted to take the verse down, and not just it but all my works, as I don’t especially feel connected to the fandom world, but then I remember that I primarily write for myself and anyone who would like to come along for the ride is more than welcome. As for the rest, I try my best not to care and if I do, I run to yell at my therapist.

Okay, this response is getting out of hand. And it’s also starting to sound a lot like a journal entry rather than a response to a very lovely and sweet ask. Let me close with this: I hope to have an update for book 3 soon. I’ve a lovely idea floating about my head…

[sugareey-makes-stuff]

Krissy!! For fic rec asks: 👀 💯

Hi Danni! Since I've been reading fic whenever I do have the time and bouncing between Harry Potter and Teen Wolf, I'll leave a rec from each fandom for each question. Those who know me well know I love my hurt/comfort and angst, so here are my recs:

👀 A fic that you love a normal amount Uhhhh, what? Do I really have one of those? Okay maybe I'll treat this as what is a fic I can just be happy about.

>> HP: A Journey Home by edelweissmar (Perciver, T, 28k) is a classic reread for me. I love it because it's such a unique take on things post-war, and Percy and Oliver discover that they're each other's anchors in a way, despite the challenges they face. Oliver is so determined to never give up, and Percy learns to let go of his guilt, love himself and let someone love him. This fic is a beautiful tale, and it doesn't shy away from family drama and all the damage the war has caused for everyone. People are flawed, it's 1000% possible for them to embrace that. >> TW: Written in the Stars by Quixoticity (Sterek, M, 26.6k) is a fic I am totally happy to read and love because it's about soulmates and tattoos, and I love the approach that was taken to explore the path of two people getting to know each other rather than being obligated by marks. What if feelings and a relationship were sparked by choice rather than expectations? What if the romance and attraction between Stiles and Derek was genuine. Yes, yes, yes to all of this. It's sweet and angsty with pining, and I'm glad they eventually use their words and figure things out for themselves.

💯 A fic that makes you think #writergoals >> HP: I basically love agentmoppet's fics, and Like Clockwork (Drarry, E, 39.3k) legit checks all my boxes. But also: this fic has such amazing worldbuilding especially behind how magic works, cursebreaking, and gosh, I am so impressed with this case fic since I definitely cannot write those. I love the banter between Harry and Draco (especially Draco's sass), because every time I reread this fic, it makes me realize why I love these characters so much with their feelings and ridiculous tension. Also, dreams and tricky spellwork! >> TW: OKAY. So I just finished The Moon's Gonna Follow Me Home by turningterrific (Sterek, E, 82.9k) and holy crap! Amazing. It's heartbreaking, gorgeous, addresses mental health, healing and it's something I just really needed right now. There's worldbuilding, OCs that I've grown to love, and the way Stiles and Derek come together again is the perfect slow burn, I can probably scream about it all day. And I probably will in a separate rec post, because this is a fic that flows so well, it pulls at emotions, and gods, it would be so awesome to write like this. Like, how?!! ANYWAY.

Thanks for the asks! ___ Want to ask more q's? Send some over from the fic recs ask meme!

[finduilasclln]

Fav fic must be from the Teen Wolf times, probably The truth about love, I think that was the first fic of yours I've read (way before we met XD), but Bowties and boxershorts is also awesome. Sometimes I go back to reread them, when the TW nostalgia hits :D As for art, I really love your MCU stuff (esp Seb), and all your more paint-like pictures (dont know the terms sorry XD), like the one you did for Ryan's birthday. You are an all around amazing artist <3

Thank you for the message, my dear. It’s so funny to know that you read my fics before we met! (It’s been way too long since we’ve seen each other, by the way!) 

I think The truth about love (comes at 3 AM) is probably my most “popular” fic. Which is funny because I don’t necessarily it’s the best fic I’ve ever written. It is very feel good, I guess. And just... nice and tropey. It’s the kind of fic that I enjoy reading as well, if I’m honest. Who doesn’t love a truth or dare fic, right? ;) 

I remember, when writing this, that I had like a little schedule of who would ask who and what it would be. And I ended up with more things that I eventually had to scrap from the fic because it would just have been too tedious. It had to get to the Sterek parts before I lost the audience, you know? :) 

OMG, I have to be totally honest, I completely forgot about Of Bowties and Boxer Shorts (AKA DORKS IN LOVE). LOL. I can’t even remember writing. But then again, I have the worst memory. I did a quick reread just now actually, to refresh my memory. 

I’m so happy you still reread my fics. That’s such a nice thing to know as a fic writer. Thank you so much for this. 

As for the art, I know what you mean with the paint-like pictures. I do those on my iPad. I can’t remember the name of the program right now, but the “sad” part with those is that the resolution isn’t very big. So you can’t blow those up a huge amount. But I do like the style as well, actually. I don’t really know how to use it or anything other than portraits though. LOL. I’m a bit of a mess when it comes to fanart. Lets just say I’m self-taught and I’m not the best teacher. XD 

Also, yay for you liking the Seb stuff. Whenever I see Sebastian’s face, I just get overwhelmed by the fact that his face is pure art in itself. lol.

Thank you so much for letting me know all this, bb! Love you! 

***

If you want to let me know what your favorite fic of mine is, shoot me an ask. 

[asterekmess]

2021 fanfic review tag game!

In My DEFENSE. This one is from January, so like...at least it's from the same year.

Much love to @peterrparrkerr for the tag!

How many stories did you publish? Eight!

What is your total word count for 2021? I am confusion: Written in total, or posted as fic? Post as fic: 147,166 words In Total: I don't have the exact amnt, but I know I hit my yearly goal, which was 500k words! :)

What fandoms did you write for this year? The Sterek fandom, and one fic for the Geraskier fandom ;)

Did you write more, less, or roughly around what you expected you would? Mm, more than I expected to, but roughly around what I'd hoped for?

Which story that you wrote in 2021 are you most proud of? Mm, I know I counted it as a 2020 fic as well, but feck it. "I Need to Show How Much I Can Come and Go," is the one I'm most proud of. I started posting it at the very end of 2020, but was writing in it up to and into 2021. It's the third installment of my Teen Wolf series Rewrite!

Did you take any writing risks this year? I...I'm not sure what would constitute a writing risk? I suppose, maybe I did, considering that I've never had a writing wc goal before, so having them last year was weird and fun, let alone actually Meeting the yearly goal.

Do you have any fanfiction goals for 2022? To FeCkin FiniSH ANd POST Season 3A of my rewrite! If I do nothing else, Let IT Be That

What is your most under-appreciated story? Of the year or in general? Of the year, I would say either: Let Me Take My Time With You or again, I Need To Show How Much I Can Come And Go.

Biggest fanfiction related disappointment of 2021? Not being motivated/able to finished Season 3A, and not getting to post it on time. :(

Biggest fanfiction related surprise of 2021? Hrm, I haven't really had many surprises? Maybe just the amount of love and support that all my fics have gotten, including the ones that I wrote long before last year? Still getting kudos or comments on my older fics, years after they were posted, is heartwarming as Fuck. XD

Biggest fanfiction fans of 2021? I don't know what you mean by that and have no idea how to quantify it. XD There's not really a way for me to keep track of who's written the most comments or left the most kudos, etc. XD I just get freshly excited about all of them! Though, I guess I could say the fans of my rewrite are my biggest fans, since they're putting up with a LOT of waiting, and have never been anything but supportive each time I had to push back posting, etc. ♥

As for tagging others, I don't think anyone's gonna want to get tagged for this 3 months into the new year. XD But if you see this and want to do it, please do! If nothing else, it'd be a nice lil review thing to look at later on when you're wondering how your writing has gone in years past.