#Velkynkarma writes

[velkynkarma]

Summary:

It’s hardly any secret that Hell is full of Sinners. Nor is it unexpected that the Radio Demon is not the only serial killer among its population. But it does create something of a problem when Alastor’s business associates happen to be precisely the type of target for one such infamous Sinner. Alastor isn’t sure what irritates him more: a rival muscling into his territory, or Charlie’s reckless optimism that ruthless murderers can be saved. At least one will certainly be the second death of him. Set directly after Episode 5, “Dad Beat Dad”

Warnings: Blood and gore, serial murders, Jack the Ripper, heed tag list for full extent because this is historically accurate and not pretty folks

Excerpt:

But Charlie just grits her teeth and pointedly turns her back to Jack—foolishness!—before putting both her hands on Alastor’s arms and gently but firmly trying to force him back a step. He doesn’t let her actually move him, but he doesn’t remove her fingers from his arms either.  “Let’s all calm down,” she says, through grit teeth, “and try this again. Nicely. If we want to redeem people, we need to set a good example. Alastor, can you please explain how you know this person? Um, Jack, I think you said his name was? You guys shared a job?” Alastor’s eyes twitch. He glares balefully over Charlie’s shoulder at Jack, before he finally picks her up by the arms and sets her deftly next to him at his side. Not between them. He’s no fool. “He’s also a serial killer, Charlie dear,” he answers curtly, once she’s properly situated, not with her back to said serial killer. “Most know him as Jack the Ripper.” Behind him, a mug crashes as someone starts coughing frantically. Alastor swivels an ear discreetly in that direction, listening in while refusing to take his eyes off Jack for a moment. Angel Dust, from the sounds of it, hacking while Husk thumps him on the back with a growl, and Niffty squeals delightedly as she rushes over to clean what sounded like a shattered coffee mug.  After a moment, Angel Dust recovers his breath enough to gasp, “Wait, what, for real? The Jack the Ripper? The dude who killed all them ladies in England?”

Read the rest on AO3!

[velkynkarma]

Getting back in the fic writing mood can be difficult, especially after you’ve been preoccupied with something else for a long time. Here are some of the things that have always helped me:

Revisit the source material. Reread the book/comic, rewatch the show/movie, replay the video game, etc. Pay special attention to your favorite moments and scenes. Sometimes that’s all it takes to spark the creative juices, when you remember how much you love the thing you want to write about (or alternatively, when you remember just how badly the thing needs to be fixed).

Revisit some of your favorite fanfics, especially in the fandom you’re trying to write for. If your fandom in question isn’t too terrifying/toxic, sometimes visiting meta discussions, gifsets, fanart, etc can also spark inspiration. 

Do your favorite brainstorming activities. For me, it’s taking a walk while listening to music. For others it’s showering, baking, cleaning, or some other tedious task. When you’re physically active sometimes it stimulates your brain too.

Participate in writing challenges. Start slow and easy with simple things, like prompts or small wordcounts per day. The idea is to build up the habit of writing again slowly. If you think you can handle it or you’re feeling more adventurous, try more involved challenges: writing bingo sheets, prompt lists/prompt a day challenges, trope challenges, picking a bigger wordcount, etc. 

Note: DON’T participate in challenges or projects where people are relying on you to complete something (such as joining a zine, or doing a Big Bang challenge). If you’re struggling to write, all this will do is stress you out more. Additionally, if you’re not feeling it, you’ll feel worse about letting down a challenge partner, or falling through on a commitment to a project. 

Take a break. Sometimes, your brain just needs a chance to recharge. If it’s been working overtime on work, school, or difficult challenges, it might just need a breather before it’s ready to be creative again. Creative hibernation is completely, 100% okay and even healthy for you. Trying to make yourself constantly be productive is unhealthy and only causes burnout.

As an addition to the above, you may not need to take a full break, but take a break from your current fandom. Sometimes, you just need new material to be creative about. For example, I had been working on a massive fanfiction in one fandom for literally months, and I was starting to think about abandoning it. I watched a new show and felt reinvigorated, and wrote a single fic for it in a couple days. After that, I felt reinvigorated and ready to go back to my first fic, because I was able to do something creative with simpler rules. 

Good luck, OP!

dear AO3COTD: I graduated from uni this year (yay), and was so happy to run straight back into my fic writing playground. I just didn't have the brainspace for it while I was focusing on writing papers. but now that I'm back, I can't seem to get the engine running. nothing is inspiring me. I even signed up for Yuletide for the first time in three years, but not even the impending deadline is motivating me. how can I get excited about writing again?

This is a really hard question to answer. It’s so personal. Each one of us has things that motivate us and finding those things isn’t always easy.

For me, right now, my main motivator is wanting to write with my bestie. We’re writing in a canon that I enjoy, but I wouldn’t be writing for if it wasn’t for her. I tend to fall in love with characters and write for them for a few years and then I need to take a few years off until I can fall in love again. 

It’s possible that you just need to take a break and let your brain rest. Graduating (congrats!) means that you get your brain back, but it also means that your brain has been really busy doing other things for a while.

What got me back into writing was a single gifset on tumblr. I saw it and I just suddenly shipped it and the next thing I knew, I had 120 stories and over half a million words on ao3. Maybe you need to enjoy other people’s creativity for a while until you can spark some of your own?

What do you think blog? How do you find your creativity again after you’ve had a break? What sparks your inspiration?

[bosstoaster]

Emoji meme ~ 💗📺🎨💭

💗 If you were purely making a fic for yourself, without fear of what other readers would think about it, what would you write?

Probably some really obscure interest fushion like the Debate AU or West Wing AU. I have both of those written up in an outline but, like, honestly it’s not worth going into.

Otherwise... tbh, I’m already a very self-indulgent writer lol. That’s why I have so many fics about OCs (my versions of Matt and Ryou, lol).

📺- What media (Show/Movie/Game) would you like to write fanfiction for, but haven’t yet?

Honestly, I’d enjoy writing a Critical Role fic or two, but I know I’m not as good a storyteller as Matt Mercer. My fic is going to pale in comparison. I’d rather let the story take me to the destination, though I do occasionally like ‘what ifs’ or ‘fics from other perspectives’. 

(Mostly I just want one ‘the game meets Kima fic that meets my standards to finish it, but then I’d have to make up a plot ugh).

🎨- If you could ask for any kind of fanart for a certain fic or fic scene, what would it be?

Honestly, I have gotten a lot of art of the stuff I wanted to see from my fics. I am extremely, ridiculously lucky in that way. But if I could ask for something, I’d want the moment from Got a Weak Heart where the Yellow Lion bursts through. Shiro, carrying Ryou, hanging still and nearly serene in the air as everything around him is sucked into the void and ripped apart. I had that picture clearly in my head as the end goal of that scene from the start of writing.

💭- Any fanfiction ideas you’re not sure on writing about?

One thing I’m currently working on but I’m not sure how it’ll go: The team playing DnD, mostly ‘in character’, but including their out of character dialogue. Literally, I’m just going to put them in one of my high level campaigns and let them see what happens, ahaha. 

(Ask me writer emoji questions!)

[thehouseofthebrave]

velkynkarma replied to your post “How do I move on with normal life after finishing something really...”

welcome to the FMA hangover. We've all been there. :)

It’s not a fun hangover. I’m torn between just contemplating the universe and wanting to go out and become the best person protecting everyone I can be, and then also fanfiction. 

Any tips on the best cure for this hangover? It’s really starting to linger.

[eastofthemoon]

Fanfic asks! #1 and #14!

1. Favorite fic you wrote this year

Oooh, this is hard. Will admit due to having two kids now I didn’t write as many fics this year, and plus I needed time to recover from season  But I think the “Can’t Bottle Love” is one since it’s a fic that focuses on Hunk who is a fave that I feel doesn’t get nearly enough attention as I feel he deserved.

I’m also rather happy for attempting to write the “Watch Me Sparkle” for She-ra (which at some point I should tweak since that was season one compliant and doesn’t match with season 2).

Hopefully this year I’ll be able to finish and post more fics, but we’ll see. 

14.  A fic you didn’t expect to write

Honestly “Coat” the Miraculous Ladybug fic. That was an idea that kind of came out of no where and I don’t normally write for that fandom. I do have rough ideas to write followup fics for but that was definitely an idea that took me by surprise.

Send me a Fanfic ask

[maychorian]

velkynkarma replied to your post “Everyone who is subscribed to me on AO3, I'm doing my best to finish...”

What sparked the desire to cross post everything, out of curiosity?

I honestly can’t remember why I suddenly got the urge to migrate everything to AO3.

I think it was just that I suddenly remembered ff.n existed. I started cross-posting Year of Fallen Angels there, saw all my old fics, and was like, “Maybe I should finally move those.” It’s slow at work right now, and I realized that AO3 and ff.n aren’t blocked on my work computer, like I always assumed they would be. So I just started moving things over between work. 

I am honestly very curious to see what my word count will be on the AO3 stat page, though. There are a lot of fics that I never put on ff.n, and the ff.n stat page isn’t even accurate because notes aren’t separated out. 

Here are my current stats on AO3, and I still have about 250k worth of Star Wars fics to move over. If you add in original fiction I’ve written over the years, I’ve  definitely written over 2 million words of fiction in my life so far.

And most of it is hurt/comfort.

[littlewhitetie]

More fan author appreciation art! :) This one’s from my favourite chapter of @velkynkarma‘s Routine Maintenance. It was hard to pick a story--all of them are so good! 

[velkynkarma]

You are too kind! I'm glad you enjoyed it so much :)

Fic rec! 3 work series (all complete) totalling 132K featuring the adventures of Shiro & Kuron/Ryou. Post S4.

Summary:  The Galra’s plan to plant a sleeper agent failed, and team Voltron gained a new team-mate. One that looks almost exactly like Shiro, but isn’t.

Comment: This is like, a ton of h/c of all varieties. Going crazy, long drawn out illnesses, poison, a space version of The Greatest Game. And all the associated emotional baggage/drama because, let’s be honest, we need that. Or at least, I need that because my crack is whump and sick fics and man does @velkynkarma deliver. 

I loved this all. Great attention to Shiro, amazing attention to Ryou (Haggar’s failsafe is genius and on point and 100% real I swear). It’s also very addictive. Like, co-workers asking “why do you look so tired/why are your eyes red” addictive. 

Good thing its Friday night, right? You have all weekend to read this. 

[butteredonions]

onions would you ever write smol!slav :D

But you did it so well!

I might, actually. Slav is a tricky one for me to wrap my mind around writing. He’s so intricate and brilliant that I’d definitely have to study your guide to make sure I get his voice right. As a smol, I feel like all those eccentricities that make him so lovable would only be heightened - with the added bonus of Adorable. I’d need some sort of plot or justification for it, but I could see it, sure :)

(Ask me: would you ever write...?)

[rangergirl3]

How did you find the whump community here on tumblr?

It was kind of a snowball effect of writing fanfiction back in 2016.

I’d never shared my writing online before, but I decided to try it on fanfiction.net. The lovely @velkynkarma told me about AO3, and so in early November 2016, I posted my ‘Lost Paladins’ fics there. And then @zenthisoror made THIS beautiful fanart and I decided to join Tumblr as a result! :D 

Echoes from the Past (Ch 3) link here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8541871/chapters/19582660#workskin

There’s actually quite a bit of absolutely GORGEOUS art that people have been so kind as to make of some of my writing - I’m going to try and post more of those pictures in the near future (with links to the fics on AO3) <3 <3 <3 <3

[puppetmaster55]

last sentence meme

Rules: write the latest line from your WIP and tag as many people as there are works in the line.

“Uh. Hi?” Lance squeaked out the word, waving.

I’m tagging @sapphireswimming @wajjs @dreamwraith @velkynkarma @muffinlance @phantoms-lair @queenangst

[velkynkarma]

Summary:

At this point, Jason's hardly surprised to discover that Tim's been kidnapped by those same three idiots again. What is surprising is that they did it to get Red Hood's attention. Or that they need his help. Tim's definitely not going to be happy about this one, but Jason's having the time of his life.

Warnings: Swearing, Snakes, Frogs, Parrots

Excerpt:

 “Okay, wait,” Jason says, holding up a hand. “Back up. You’re saying you’re not kidnapping him?” “That’s right, Mr. Hood, sir!” “Gotta be real with you, guys,” Jason says. “He’s looking pretty kidnapped to me.” He glances in Tim’s direction. “Tied to a chair. In this dump, instead of his usual fancy digs or office building. Well, let’s double-check, to be sure. Hey, kid? You want to be here?” Tim’s expression to outsiders is merely annoyed. To those familiar with him, his eyes seethe with pure fury that promises at least one intricate plan of pure revenge later. “No! Obviously not!” “Yup,” Jason drawls. “Figured. Classic kidnapping. You know what this means, boys.” He reaches for his holstered guns, readying them for a quick pistol-whip apiece. “No no no no no!” The three stooges yelp almost in tandem, hastily holding up their hands in warding gestures of surrender.  “It’s not what it looks like! Promise!” Carlos says. “You can have him back now if you want,” Leo adds. “Really!” “We just didn’t know how else to call you,” Mike finishes.  Tim is silent. So is Jason. After a moment, Jason glances over to meet Tim’s eyes, but he’s met with bewilderment equal to his own and the best confused shrug he can offer with his arms bound behind the chair. So Jason turns back to the stooges and asks, intelligently, “What?”

Read the rest on AO3!

[velkynkarma]

I’d also like to add that the length of the fic does not necessarily equate to a quickly-written fic, either.

I’m one of those writers that produces really long chapter fics (I actually find it extraordinarily difficult to write short stories). But it does take me a long time to do so. 

The example above, with a 2k fic turning into a 40k? I’ve definitely had that happen, but it doesn’t happen all in one night. It’s me going, ‘oh, wow, I could actually take this idea a lot farther than I thought,’ and then I end up spending days or weeks or even months extra on an idea that I originally thought I could knock out in a few days.

Yeah, I might have posted a fic that’s 350K in length. It also took me the better part of 2 full years to churn it out. 

I used to do writing sprees with other writing friends to encourage all of us to write. I would only scrape out 300-600 words per session compared to others’ 1k+. 

Regardless of how long your fic is, the speed at which you write it absolutely does not equate to the length of the fic, or the quality of it. Slow and steady is just fine. As long as you just keep writing a little bit every day, or stick with your ideas, you’ll produce good content--be it 2k or 200k long.

I am always seeing people talk (complain?) about how their 2k oneshot turns accidentally into a 40k long fic lol I want that power! But seriously, I am such a slow writer. I average about 500-700 words a day which means my chapters take a while to be updated and I feel bad. Has anyone ever gotten faster? Or has any tips. I be been writing for quite a few years now...so maybe this is just how I write

First of all, 500-700 words per day is actually a lot, and nothing to be ashamed of!

Second of all, please don't stress too much about how much time passes between chapter updates 💕 Remember that you're writing fic for fun as a hobby that you do in your free time. Hobbies don't have schedules. Jobs do.

Fan creators often have so much guilt associated with their creations, and I just wish I could give you all a hug and let you know that it's going to be okay.

Some people might lose interest with your story if you don't update for a year, but other people will see that new chapter and it will make their whole entire day. Still others will be seeing your story for the first time because they weren't interested in the fandom or weren't reading fic when you started posting it.

Also remember that writing fic isn't a competition. It's a community. Every community will have some people who work fast or get inspired easily or type 250wpm. Every community will also have people who don't write at all or who only write once in a blue moon. Communities need all of those different types of people in order to flourish.

Imagine you're a slow reader or a busy person who can only really read fic an hour or two per week. Would you want to read someone who posts daily chapters of 3K words? Or would you rather someone who posts weekly or monthly or who posts chapters of 200 words?

There are just as many types of readers as there are types of writers, and everyone has their preferences and their differences in ability and time.

There very well might be ways to write faster than you're currently writing, but if the writing itself isn't a problem, then I wouldn't worry about it. Posting is a totally separate thing. Try not to get too hung up on it. ❤

[bosstoaster]

Maybe it's cheating Toaster but give me some director's cut on Got A Weak Heart >: )

It’s absolutely not cheating, it just makes me happy :)

The commander’s smile grew.  "As you are now?  No, of course not.  Restrain him.“

Tensing, Shiro’s eyes darted over each of the robots, waiting for them to come forward.  These six he could fight, but more would be a problem-

Someone grabbed Shiro left wrist from behind, twisting it painfully up and behind his shoulders.

Automatically, Shiro kicked back. His heel hit something sturdy, sending the person crashing to the floor and freeing his arm.  Then he whirled around, ready to defend himself.

Only to see Ryou picking himself off the floor, a scuff on his chest from where he’d been kicked.

Shiro’s heart stuttered.  "Ryou-”

There was no blink, no look, no recognition.  No expression.

Ryou charged forward, arm up and lit, head down.  No attempt to go for his bayard or pull up a shield.

Like Shiro would fight when pushed into a corner.

Shiro got his arm between them just in time, his flickering out.  It took the blow from Ryou’s in a shower of sparks.  Shiro felt the heat of the Altean arm, still glowing with purple lights, for the first time aimed at him with the intent to kill.

“Ryou!  What are you doing?”

This was always going to happen.  It had to.  This is Ryou’s greatest fear, and the bullet they dodged at the beginning when they realized they had a clone. The team did everything they could to sever the connection, but Haggar has been a looming ghost that I couldn’t let go unanswered.  Not when it had such delicious possibilities.

One of the very first ideas I had for this fic was the image at the end of this fight - Shiro, holding Ryou, aloft from his wings as the world bursts into chaos.  (I’m pretty fond of that imagery: I’ve used it a couple of different ways.  The void of space defeats all foes).  

However, as I’ve said in the fic, there’s a vague idea in the back of my mind for a bad ending.  If Shrio hadn’t thought of deafening Ryou to still him, or if Shiro had been the one to be caught up, then the fight would have gone differently.  They’d both have been taken, sending Voltron into a tailspin as both Yellow and Black freaked the hell out.

From there, the idea was that they’d be honed against each other, while still being perfectly obedient.  There’d be further experimentation done to further that control and refine it, as well as make them more suitable to their task.  And eventually, rather than one kill the other, it’d be determined that they were more effective as a team that can practically read each other’s mind and work in perfect sync.

Then, they’d be given back their Voltron armor and unleashed on coalition planets, with the intention of turning popular opinion against the paladins.

Eventually they would have been caught, and even later after that they’d have been freed of the control.  But their actions and what they went through would have been significant - the damage they did to each other as much as the damage they did to other people.

Obviously that was way too dark and totally upends the entire plot that had happened so far.  But it’s there.  In the back of my mind.

And, how funny!  At the end of the clone factory fic, which is technically non-canon, Haggar has two clones.  The very person who would have done this has two Shiros to work with.  Isn’t that f u n n y?

(Fanfic Directors cut!  Ask me about the background of a fic)

[curiosity-killed]

2020 Creator Wrap: Favourite Works

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (or so) favourite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works.

Tagged by @sketchyscribbles <3 ty!! i am rlly tempted to do both art and writing but i will Resist for y’all’s sakes

1. Brave Not Safe

This was like! the first portrait i did where i was like “oh holy shit i can maybe actually paint??” and i love my Jisel a lot <3 

2. nothing fucks with my baby

murder husbands looking good in each other’s clothes? Yes please.

3. ophelia

i was just pleasantly surprised by how this turned out and i especially like wen qing in it

4. talking shit in the woods

i am overcome with love for my 2 idiot sons and i’m delighted by how the background turned out and sirion’s hands and their clothes it just!! really turned out way better than expected and i am eternally cracked up by the difference between the WIP i sent the group chat and the final product

5. tu me manques

this is my favorite piece i’ve drawn this year! it turned out way better than i expected and i like the motion of it and the draw of lwj’s hidden gaze and the texture in the sea and magpies and moon. it makes me happy to look at it

tagging @lookforanewangle @veliseraptor @givemeunicorns @demenior @velkynkarma if y’all wanna!!

[eastofthemoon]

Would you ever write fics about some of the background minor Voltron characters? The ones like Rolo, Nyma or Beezer, Vrepit Sal, any number of random Galra commanders/rebel chars/BOM chars, allied characters, and more besides?

Yeah, I probably would!  I wrote a crack ship fic of Varkon/Vrepit Sal just for fun, and I’m always up for Slav.  With that said, would probably enjoy writing about Kolivan or Krolia since they’re probably some of my favorite Galra characters and I would be curious to see a fic that explored their relationship.

I also have thought about writing a fic that takes place the year of Matt being a rebel before he got reunited with Pidge.  If I ever wrote that it would include a lot of the rebel side characters.