#also im working on some long-term wips :3

[snowaftermidnight]

brian doodle from class :3 idk which one i like more so im posting both

lyrics are from wine red by the hush sound (transcribed under cut) ignore that i wrote some of them wrong lmao

repeating in pencil: Who shot that arrow in your throat? Who missed the crimson apple? It hung heavy on the tree above your head.

border: This chaos, this calamity. This garden once was perfect. Give your immortality to me, I'll set you up against the stars.

[alicenpai]

hi! ive been a big fan of your work for a while now, and i was just wondering if you have any tips or anything for selling merch online? :>

hi anon! so you want to be a con artist huh 👁👁 ...

^ a real con artist..

i’m not sure if you wanted online specific tips or general merch tips, but i compiled a bit of both! (also not sure if you're a beginner to art in general, there's a difference between a more experienced artist doing merch for the first time + beginner artists trying merch for the first time bc the risks involved are different)

i wrote more on the subject but i cut some out because it seemed too long.. and i tend to ramble ^__T it's hard to answer questions like these because they're so generalized, but if you had any more specific questions feel free to send another ask!

^ random image for visual interest

general tips for beginners(?)

merch can be fun, and it is! but in the end always remind yourself you're running a business, and it's real money you're going to be spending. it's good to take risks (on things like, new product types if you think your art is ready for it, or less popular series/more experimental designs, etc.) as you learn a lot from them, but always think over financial decisions carefully at the same time.

what helped me grow a lot as both a merch artist (and as a general artist) over 10 years is - a lot of reflection. and i mean a LOT of it. in terms of art in general i don't personally do a lot of studies (which is probably my downfall and i need to get back to it) but i think im pretty observant and introspective which helps me improve a lot. i often write my silly little blog posts on tumblr, I'll write notes on my phone if i have a train of thought i need to get down quickly.

i also often discuss merch things with friends and it really helps to get varying perspectives. (though i admit i should really share wips more, i used to but not as much anymore. blame the working life haha, not as many people have time to discuss non-work art anymore ;_;). all of these things keep me on my toes and weigh my strengths and weaknesses. if anyone is interested i could write more on the specific topics i reflect on after every con/shop opening.

stick to the tried and true 5-10 copies per design for beginners! this range sounds too little, but don't forget the big picture as well... you'll likely also have multiple different designs, across different product types.

e.g. 5 copies x 4 characters/designs, and let's say you do this for every product type (e.g. postcards, stickers, charms), 5 x 4 x 3 = 60 individual pieces of merch. that's a pretty solid number for a first timer!

i also personally print 5-10 copies of designs im doing for a test print run, or for characters that don't seem particularly popular.

15 is the average amount for me for a short run product (1 con season)

i certainly reprint often + go higher sometimes if i dont mind the product being in my catalogue for years.

15 is not too many in case the design is unpopular and doesn't sell, and it's also not too little that it won't be enough sales to break even.

promo images & taking photos (online specific)

i'm not a professional photographer and these photos might be absolute ass to some people. i will accept that, and honestly id agree with you. this is just my advice for straightforward, simple photos.

good quality and clear photos are best. it's great fun to use props in photos, and they can certainly turn your photos from plain to impressive. but it's easy to get carried away with props and fancy scrapbook paper imo, and i prefer to let the artwork speak for itself. honestly keeping it simple can be the best option sometimes. i used to take a lot more photos back in 2022 when i had less new products, but nowadays i find that i have too many products to take photos of, so i prefer to just keep my photos simple with a white piece of paper as my backdrop. i just. shrimply cannot be bothered taking out all of the props anymore...

above: the backdrop in this photo is bad, it's distracting and takes away from the artwork. (fe charms from 2016)

this are photos taken on a sunny day.

if you don't have a good phone camera (mine is ~5 years old), ive found that taking photos on a sunny day, either inside or outside, work great for me, as it shows off the natural colour of your product best. i either take it to the garden or i like to find a patch of sunlight filtering through the window. be wary of glare or too much light reflecting on your merch in photos though, because it can be distracting and take away from visibility on the product. but i can understand if a bit of glare ends up on one's finalized merch photos.

this is an example of utilizing light at a certain angle to show off the holographic film on this charm.

sunny photo vs cloudy photo.

taking photos inside on a cloudy day during daylight hours is also a popular option, especially if you live in an area where there isn't much direct sunlight/cloudy season, but for me personally i find cloudy day photos come out a bit dull and do take a bit of colour correcting. all of my cloudy day photos are tweaked and i find the colours to be a bit off from the original products, but that's just how it is with taking photos i guess.

because i don't have a great phone camera, my personal alternative is to make graphics! i just think of it as a collage to use fun textures and PNGs! im obviously not a professional, and these probably look very bad in a professional's eye. but i think it's fun. i like to incorporate the aesthetic or visual style of the series into the graphic if i do make em. ^_^

store platform

each one has their pros and cons. many store platforms have trial periods/free plans for people to try out.

bigcartel is what i use and i'm familiar with, and i would honestly recommend it. (i'm too lazy to move or try another platform right now...) for big store openings ill pay for a month or two of the basic $15 plan. ill use the free gold plan on bigcartel if im only planning to open my store for a limited time and don't want to commit to a full monthly plan.

storenvy: i've used storenvy from about 2014-16. i moved from storenvy for issues such as charging customers fees for purchasing from storenvy's marketplace page (and not from your actual personalized storefront) and urging me to use stripe even though it wasn't supported in canada at that time. im not sure if theyve fixed these issues but they were pervasive issues at the time that honestly forced me to quit. it also has a kind of outdated UI (e.g. can't zoom into pics on mobile?).

i think storenvy is a very easy to use platform for beginners because it's very basic! but i wouldn't recommend it if you have a great number of products, or if you're looking for more advanced features.

tictail isn't available anymore, i couldn't recommend it for that reason. i used it from around 2016-18.

i don't have any experience on shopify or etsy. shopify i heard is great because of all of the neat features you can implement, which you can use to really make your store yours. etsy has a huge marketplace which helps discoverability, but i have also heard there are many fees, so a lot of artists unfortunately make their prices a bit higher on etsy.

ecwid is also one that i've heard pop up. some also host shops on weebly or squarespace.

shipping

if you don't already have a kitchen scale, it's a good idea to get one if you think you'll be using it a lot to weigh packages! a postage scale is probably better. i just have a kitchen scale because it's cheap. as long as the measurements are precise (don't use a bathroom scale with a dial like me when i started out lmao).

thermal labels are also a good investment if you think youll need em!! i actually don't personally use them, because i have way too much hand-me-down stacks of paper in my home, so i don't see the need to make an extra investment. the downside to printing shipping labels on paper is taking the time to cut and stick them on packages.

i'm from canada (surprising the amount of people who think im from the US T__T) so these tips will be canadian specific, but you can hopefully get the gist.

when i was starting out, i used canada post (usps is the american equivalent) to send out store orders. however shipping labels from your govt post office can be pricey. which is why it's a good option to join their small business program if they have one, where you'll receive discounts on shipping labels. i don't use canada post shipping anymore, but i will use them for countries that my shipping agent doesn't ship to.

also take advantage of their free shipping tuesdays for domestic packages in october!! i believe you can receive 2 free labels per tuesday, up to 4 or 5 tuesdays for the entire month = 8-10 free labels in october.

next step is shipping agents!! if you live close to a chitchats or stallion express facility, they're great, and they usually provide tracking on shipping by default. in my opinion, tracking on orders is a MUST, so customers can have peace of mind! (minus like sticker-only shipping because that could be sent with postage stamps)

they also do home pickup if you have a bunch of packages in bulk/can't get to a facility. i believe americans have pirate ship.

you print and stick on your shipping labels at home, then you just travel to the shipping facility and throw your packages in the right bins (e.g. domestic, US, international). that's it! easy as pie!

i personally use chitchats because that is closer to me. i had heard stallion provides better rates for international shipping, which i'll have to look at at a later date.

most of my orders come from the US and canada. (funnily enough it is unfortunately cheaper to send packages from canada to USA, than it is for me to send packages within canada.) international orders are a bit of a pain, and you will need to know tariff codes for your product types (e.g. prints have a diff code than buttons) while writing the customs form. people in some countries will get taxed on all imported packages (e.g. packages marked as "sold goods" and not "gifts"). an alternative to this is to use etsy, so that customers can pre-pay for the tariffs before the order is processed. this is something i'll also look into for the future.

posting

wow now you're now done organizing your shop and promo images and you're ready to post! a good strategy is to post across multiple platforms to see what sticks. it takes effort and time but it can have a solid turnout! (i forget sometimes, don't be like me)

i don't know if this is true, but a lot of keywords words such as "shop", "store", "link" and etc. are apparently suppressed on social media (particularly twitter). don't take my word for it however.

shop posts don't generally do as well as regular art posts for most artists. but disregarding censored words for a second, it can also be attributed to psychological reasons, generally people don't like to be advertised to. (e.g. tumblr doesn't have an algorithm and shop posts usually dont do as well here either. tumblr users are just not receptive to clicking on links apparently).

personally, writing alternate terms like "sh0p" just isn't for me, but no shade though, bc i do understand workarounds are hard and everyone needs to make a living somehow. ill instead use words like, "leftovers are in" or "new items are up!" something more vague, but with the accompaniment of merch images, will still be clear to people that it's a shop update.

sharing your shop promo posts in artist alley discord servers also help a lot, especially if you don't know too many artists when starting out. they're a great resource and community full of passionate individuals who will boost your art. if you're not familiar with them, you can find some public ones on google or maybe even artist communities on reddit. a big one is Artist Alley Network International.

if there are some topics you think i've missed, feel free to send em over to my inbox!! ill also think more about this in the coming days and edit this post as i see fit 🫡

[liesmyth]

Do you have any tips/resources on writing smut? I've never really written it, but I need to include a little in a fic I'm writing rn and yours is very good.

Anon! Thank you so much, this is Extremely flattering ❤️ Honestly, my #1 rule to Writing Smut is that actually anything can be hot if a scene is written to be arousing. It's all about the setup.

Some things that work for me:

EMOTIONS. ime, smut scenes should cause some level of emotional response in the reader. It can be the POV character experiencing strong feelings and that coming through in the narration; it can be a taboo or hard kink that’s enough to guarantee some kind of reaction; it can be an emotionally cathartic scene or character study through sex. It doesn’t have to be a lot! But there has to be Something that makes the reader invested, a takeaway that you couldn’t get from a purely objective description or looking at a picture.

FLOW. You’re either trying to make the reader horny and/or you’re trying to make them interested in what the characters are doing and feeling. Lean into that when crafting a scene! I find that varying the length of sentences in a paragraph helps (building up to a crescendo) and so does the deliberate use of terminology to set up a specific mood (more descriptive euphemisms vs. crude slang as the POV gets more overwhelmed, alternating lush prose and crass descriptors to create some contrast.)

CHARACTER-APPROPIATE VERBIAGE. This is a big one! There are NO forbidden smut words, actually. I have read super hot smut that hinged on the repeated use of some deeply unsexy terms. It’s ALL about the narrative voice. Try to construct a scene that’s immersive, with a narrative voice that suits the characters and the story, and the type of vocabulary that suits the POV and setting. Ime, anything and everything can be sexy if the mood is right. Yes, even the word “penis.” YES even funky euphemisms.

PURPOSE AND PACING. Why is the scene there? Try to strike a good balance between descriptions, feelings, and words. If the characters stop mid-sex to talk, it’d be harder to get back into a sexy mood (why I’ve been stuck on this one WIP for months. RIP) On the other hand, sometimes it’s fine to skip moments / descriptions, or even end the scene mid-sex.

(This is especially important in chaptered fics, in my experience. Sometimes there’s a long elaborate build-up to a get together and then all the emotions fizzle out during The Sex Chapter, or a plot-heavy story, and then the story slows down to fit in 3 orgasms per character. It’s fine, often better, to just stick to one orgasm, make it extra hot, and skim over the others)

WRITE DRUNK EDIT SOBER or any variant thereof. Write in comic sans and edit in times new roman. Write horny edits in public. It’s really easy to overthink smut and in my opinion, it Really helps to fully commit to a shitty first draft—no quibbling over word choices or positions; just don’t look at the screen and bang out 500 words. (Ah-ah, bang.) Write on your phone if you want! Put it away for a while then edit.

SMUT IS NOT SEX ED. Realism matters less than feelings do. I don't need to know every detail unless it's relevant to the development of the scene. Unless it’s something glaring like someone is suddenly naked or used soap as lube, no one is going to nitpick how realistic it is to hold X position for Y minutes or how many spankings a human being can endure. The scene works narratively >>> the scene can be recreated by random non-athletes having sex. It’s fic! If someone is taking it as a Guide To Sex that’s not on you.

Other resources: This is a good essay directly from 2005 era livejournal. Some posts about vocabulary: on kissing, smut thesaurus, more words! (use with caution, don't take anything as a hard rule etc.)

Also I just think I'm funny:

GOOD LUCK WRITING IT LMK HOW IT GOES

[tadpolesonalgae]

helloooo, i hope this isnt weird at all.

u really inspired me to start writing one of the wips ive had cooking in my head for 10,000 years with CBMTHY (i love your interpretations of all the characters across everything youve written, even dark! versions of everyone).

but how do you get the thoughts in your head onto the page :( its a little demotivating to not be as good of a writer as I'd like. so im terrified constantly that the story isn't coming off correctly. it certainly doesn't help that I've been stewing on this fanfic concept since i initially read acotar and tog, (crossover shit woo!) but the scenes are so vivid in my imagination that everything i can actually type out seems to fall flat or seems jumbled with the amount i try to include.

like, i posted a part last night after having it ready to go for months (there are several more im hiding 😭) and have reread it 3 times and have to remind myself its fine and i dont need to delete it. but idk if im just being crazy tbh. Im also very much the same type of person who needs feedback in order to continue with creative projects. however the idea of even asking about it here is intimidating, especially after your stories helped push this lil amateur to write. But any help would be so greatly appreciated, especially becsuse theres no one ik personally who enjoys the series who would be willing to chat about it 😅

again, i hope its not weird that im not sending anything in directly related to ur work and asking for advice 😅😅 but i hope you have a good rest of ur day/ night !!

haha, don't worry about it! I'm not sure I'm the best person to offer advice on this since I'm just kind of writing what I want to write though, but I'll try and help.

What you mentioned about struggling to get thoughts down on the page - I think an element of it is probably feeling comfortable enough to put them down there in the first place? That and also having the words to know what you mean? Read around, listen to music, chat with people if you can and see if you can find stuff you resonate with and then pay attention to what it is and try to figure out why. And it can take a while to find the right words, so let yourself breathe.

Suddenly jumping into a project you've been hyping up in your mind won't come out pristine immediately, it might be a case of writing paragraphs once, then writing them out again beneath that but trying to improve on what you've already written with a thesaurus in hand. It might also be a case of listening to music that simulates the emotions you want to write out and then trying to articulate them in the moment. Also writing without thinking can help. Or writing exactly how you're thinking, I guess? It doesn't always work though, so I'd sincerely suggest trying to write some smaller things to start with or have on the side to help practice.

In terms of trying to find people to give feedback, I think interacting with other writers can help. I'm not the best person for this since I like being away from my computer/phone as much as possible, but chatting to writers off anon, or if your writing blog isn't your main one then switching to your writing blog to leave a comment or reblog and leaving notes in the tags is a really great way to show other people you're interested in acotar/tog and writing. If the idea of coming off anon to interact with writers is (like I find it) absolutely terrifying, you can always keep anon on but sign off using a specific pseudonym or emoji that will be recognisable! That way you can get used to chatting without entirely compromising your anonymity and hopefully become comfortable. Asking other people what they do to help them get their thoughts down too can help since you'll be more likely to find someone similar.

I'd also recommend that if your story is long to try planning it out roughly as chapters or bulletpoints so you don't have to store it all in your brain. Have playlists on hand or boards on Pinterest to look over.

I think it's great that you've posted a chapter though - if you have a project you want to do well it's so easy to get caught up in wanting it to be a good as possible that you never actually get around to posting it, so I think what you've done is a great start. If you're unhappy with it after a few months or so you can always edit, nothing's written in stone.

And if you want to write in again please feel free to! I promise it doesn't have to be about my writing and I would think other writers would feel the same. If you want to turn off anon that's fine, and if you want to use an emoji as a sign off that's cool too, you can work your way up to chatting more openly about the stuff you enjoy :)

Also, if anyone else thinks they have some good tips for writing, getting thoughts down, keeping up interest/motivation with a project please add them!

And anon if you want to send in a link to the first part of your story feel free to, or if you want to chat with me directly I'd be interested to have a peek at what you're writing? I love acotar but tog still has a special place in my heart so I'd love to read more content around it too. I know how scary it can be sharing stuff you've worked hard on :)

[diodellet]

*slides in*

How about 3, 16, 17 and 29 for the fic writer asks?

omg i didnt think id ramble this much (thank u for enabling me ner 🤧💕💕)

3. how you feel about your current WIP

tbh i'm not super confident about my writing any time i come out from from a long long hiatus of not posting anything. also like… i'm not super confident writing other charas aside from jamil since i don't really think ab them as much… (sorry leona-natics* whenever this drabble gets posted, but like fingers crossed the sitch will hopefully be exciting enough)

*i think it might have to do with the fact that i kinda hc leona on the grayspec++have more vv specific hc characterizations i like of him, but ig i do see his appeal (one of m'oomfs is a leona-natic and well ahu her propaganda might've been subconsciously assimilated)

but ahaha i tend to write things that i'm very personally interested in so i'll find a way to have fun with it, i'll be gucci i just get too into my head, it's a vicious cycle as a writer.

16. favorite place to write

uhhh im a very sedentary person, probably a result from the pandemic, and being a thorough homebody even after that

hmm i would say id like a nice ambient public place with coffeeeee my blood my life force Some amount of people engrossed in their own work, but like in the ph, esp in a place populated by a lot of uni students, cafes end up being hella cold (im skin and bones the cold is Evil)++noisy (which i don't see as a big bad thing esp since i like socializing with my friends...at the cost of putting off my own writing oops HAHAHA)

17. talk about your writing and editing process

oh boy. here we go. one thing to note throughout all this: my only consistent practice as a writer is inconsistency. (and ig, if i try hard enough, i can usually put out a passable 200-300 words in one sitting)

sometimes i can outline a fic and take forever chipping away at it

^^(case in point: that sebek x vampire!reader x silver fic... i joked abt waiting until book 7 would drop on EN but it has been Stuck. i wanna write bi-disaster sebek so bad though 🤧🤧)

other times my actual writing veers waaaaay into a diff plotpoint instead of what i have plotted out

^^(there're these 2 now-removed bullet points in wcidfy's outline for ch 3 that went: "do i have the balls to write a fever scene… gaguhan anhirap nito pag walang ob [tl: fuck this is hard (to write) without overblots]" and "i also keep thinking of a scene in the (scarabia) gardens…and lying about bees…weird")

and sometimes i can just shit out 1k-ish words unprompted.

^^though this last example leads to my most rough writing++editing ('ily but leave me tf alone' and 'no id rather pretend'), i only look over for immediate errors, but keep iffy-phrasings and repeated words, but sometimes i still miss incomplete sentences that i jus quickly fix after posting ahahaha.

in terms of my more "polished" writing, i edit as i write (<- i do Not recommend this style. it's very unsustainable if ur planning to do more conventional writing/publishing and it's very easy to get trapped in your writer's block)

and after finishing 80% of it, i try to get a second pair of eyes on it (thanks @jessamine-rose mwaps) because validation of works in progress feels good it also helps to have a trusted outside person look at the work with fresher eyes. also smtimes we get into bouncing ideas back nd forth that we spawn new brainrot lmao like this👇

i like to call my writing a "semi-polished first draft" partly out of self-defense and self-criticism. but really, i think i'd rather have "good enough" writing posted than "my best" because i could spend forever hoarding my wips. i think i'll always have regrets over not fleshing out certain beats/using certain phrasings and references, but i also enjoy looking back on my writing and seeing the incremental, microscopic progress. it makes the process more enjoyable than self-flagellating.

on a personal note, the writing workshop scene can be brutal. with some criticism being needlessly harsh, sure it produced some of my "best" writing but the process was Not Fun. while i get that being able to revise meaningfully is an important thing, i think the endgoal of feedback (from my short exp of betaing for friends) shud always be aimed towards uplifting the writer's aim to create/improving the writer's vision of what they wanna achieve, especially in a craft that is as solitary as writing. wait ill rb a post about making ur shitty pots, very in-line with making art in general

29. how easy is it for you to come up with titles?

very hard. i hate thinking of titles, thats why i yoink lines from songs (who cares if the vibe doesnt fit im adding layers of interpretation or sumn🥴🥴). ACTUALLY wcidfy had like 3 other possible names (it was either *rolls out list* hairtie, nonequivalent exchange, or ben franklin effect* wcidfy was the most bearable one.) *i tried to look up how to distill the psychological phenomenon of someone probably liking u more after u do a small favor for them into 2-3 words, but it had to be a WHITE MAN'S NAME 🤢🤢NAW!!!!

for few other examples:

'say what you mean' was initially titled 'oh how the tables turn'

'roommates? more like roomfoes' was first titled 'pet peeves'

'hypothermia' was first titled 'frigid' but then i thought of paradoxical undressing nd stuff and da pseudo-warmth

i've also moved a bunch of other plot beats from wcidfy's main document into a file called "part 45678 of wcidfy"

as u can see i prioritize making myself laugh wid my wip titles. i wanna put the illusion that my writing's not that serious. unless it is? idk i'm not sure how to describe my writing in terms of its vibes.

(list of fic writer asks, ahaha bug me ab my wips)

[uriekukistan]

For the WIP ask game: 🦈,🤡,🛠 and also just ♡

hii thank you for the ask :3 hope you’re doing well !!!

🦈Tell us the name of your/ one of your WIP(s)

i have so many…the ones that have official titles:

favourite worst nightmare (itfs college/band au. probably my fav)

forget-me-not (itfs reincarnation/tattoo artist x florist au. my current nemesis)

rabbits die of loneliness (also itfs, part 1/?? of my tokyo ghoul-inspired jjk fics)

the imposter (geto character study)

+ 3 more untitled…

🤡How many Wips are you actively working on?

i have sent quite a few to time out recently so…i’d say maybe 4, but some of them are quite inconsistent

🛠Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now?

OKAY SO forget-me-not is like pulling teeth rn….i love the concept and i love the idea but the thing is its SOOOO outside my usual type of fic. both in terms of the au, and in terms of the fact that no consistent theme has shown up and To Me i hate when my fics have No Theme.

ALSO i was SEVENTEEN THOUSAND WORDS into this fic when canon flower enjoyer megumi dropped….and its inspired by a fanart where yuuji is the florist………..oh my god this is my nightmare

plus i’ve recently decided i Don’t Like how i wrote megumi so i need to go back and rework like. half of the scenes…..i just……..I’VE NEVER MESSED UP MEGUMI BEFORE THIS IS SO SHAMEFUL TO ME. my biggest claim as an ao3 writer is that no one gets him like me and i….feel like a failure

the concept is so cute and there’s some really redeeming aspects of it. like the idea of megumi and yuuji reincarnating into a life where they can live peacefully and happily….and finding each other bc theyre meant to be……so healing.

im gonna make it work, but rn i just…..

sorry for ranting that has been on my mind for so long now

[acaciapines]

👀 and 🎉? <3

<3

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

hmmmmm really the only like, big wip i've got cooking is my dess raises kris au, and since i've talked about that as-a-whole a lot i'll instead talk about the one very specific character study i want to write for it! which is, of course. desschara.

see the thing is i am like, so incredibly aromantic. romantic relationships are not my thing At All, and i always really struggle to write them and understand wtf is going on there. people out there really experience love? wild.

but that's why i am SO drawn to desschara in this au, because the both of them ARE aromantic!!! so its a relationship i'm like, able to understand, 'cause it's the sort of way my relationships would work, yknow?

i really need to test-write them a few times to figure out how, exactly, their dynamic is going to work, though...and thus this particular wip!

they do have a lot of differences (ex. chara is asexual, dess allo; chara is loveless, dess isn't) but at the same time they're also the only person the other has met who is actually On Their Level in terms of what they want out of a relationship. (ex. i do think i'm going to write dess&asriel as azzy having romantic feelings for her--feelings dess was aware of and uncomfortable with, because she never wanted that. but w/ chara that's not a worry, yknow? they get each other!) and so because of that i think they can work out eventually, even if they don't start out like that.

basically, i need to write them a few times to figure out their initial dynamic! which i want nailed down before i start Actually writing the au lol. i'll do this for other characters too but desschara are the ones im thinking the most about rn <3

and i'll write it...one day. when im done with my. um. current wip. which is fanfiction about vera from son of sea foam--

🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success?

hmm....i think at a most basic level it would be that i completed it and am happy with it. which is most things i end up writing. at the end of the day i do write for myself, because these are stories i want to tell--if i'm happy with it, and had fun in the process, that's a success!

but i POST stories because i want to share them with the world and talk with other people about the ideas and themes and Things that drew me to writing in the first place. so, on that level, i do really like it when people post Very Long Comments on my fics, and ESPECIALLY when on multichaptered stuff people are like, actively thinking about and theorizing on what might happen next. by that metric my madoka magica daemon au was the most fun to post, because i had a lovely and amazing group of commenters and watching them all try to piece together my homura mystery that was daemon-au specific was truly so much fun.

also comments where the reader was able to realize things about themselves through my fic. i get this a lot on my coyotekris stuff and THAT is like...it just makes me so so so happy, 'cause there's not a lot of stories out there about being nonhuman, and being able to see that as an option is real big in like, coming to terms with that about yourself. at least it was for me. and my stories being that for other people is!! so cool!!!

but at the end of the day some of my favorite fics i've written do bad in terms of like, ao3 metrics! so at the end of the day i do have to ask myself, am i happy with this? am i putting into words things i could not say otherwise? and 99% of the time the answer is yes, and i'm happy.

[crazylittlejester]

DAILY BRAINROT

My brain has started associating daily brainrot with getting ready to do homework, so now you're officially a part of my getting ready to do homework routine.

Going to try out color-coding the different topics, because I have a lot of ideas and my ADHD is acting up. (I promise I took my meds, it's just One of Those Days.)

I started working on a oneshot that's basically "what if I dumped a bunch of magical, spooky cryptid stuff in here" in response to a prompt from a writing group meeting. I don't really have any plot for it, but I do have a bit of worldbuilding stuff and a very long description of a house.

So it's another Hyrule-centric story featuring fae!Hyrule, except they're all kind of fae/cryptids. Supernatural, I suppose, is a more accurate description. I don't really have a good idea of what everyone will be, but there's going to be shape-shifters and ghosts and lots of creepy vibes because I'm shooting for the unsettling feeling that you get when you're afraid that the red eyes you see in the cornfield belong to something much more horrifying than a barn cat.

I think the term I'm looking for is gothic Midwest horror. Here's a link to the aesthetics wiki's entry on the topic in case you're curious.

Changing topics, I have what is probably too many ideas in my "LU Fanfiction Ideas" file in my notes app, so I'm thinking that maybe, once I've gotten some of my WIPs cleaned up and posted I could try doing some kind of ask game or tag game with them sort of like the WIP ask game that's still sort of circulating. I'd just make a list of the ideas and either write onshots/minifics for asks or have one of the tagged people pick what I work on. I'm not sure yet, mostly because I don't know if people would be interested and which one they'd prefer because I'm a bit too shy to just... toss it out into the fandom tag like that.

Time is still fighting me. It's taking longer than expected because every time I feel like I'm making progress something gets in the way. I really want to get his piece done because it establishes his plotline in the Emotional Support Loftwing series, and is supposed to be the accompaniment to a second piece that's probably from Warriors' point of view.

As a side note to that, I'm very excited to actually get around to that accompaniment because I get to write a whole bit about Sky's house on the Surface. (The town is called New Town and I love it.)

COLOR CODING. I FUCKING LOVE YOU. It makes it so easy to read oh my god (I keep forgetting to take my ADHD meds… it’s been weeks- whoops-)

THAT SOUNDS AWESOME, and don’t worry I’m very familiar with midwest horror shit. I come from the cornfields I’m one of the beasts that roam them at 4 am /hj

ooooooh that’d be cool!! I’m super interested, i can’t wait to see whichever one you decide on :)

I totally feel the ‘every time i feel like im making progress something gets in the way’ thing, I’m going through that rn with a fic. ALSO I LOVE THE TOWN.

(losing my mind over the color coding shit its so good for my little brain)

THANK YOU FOR THE BRAINROT :3

[hearteyesmcgarrett]

20 questions for writers! Thanks @frostysfrenzy 💙💙

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

46, which feels impossible to believe

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

97,544 (which is also hard to believe)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Primarily Stargate, Leverage, and Hawaii Five-0, but there will be more Grimm fics coming

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Five Times Parker Proposes (ot3)

You Save Me (mcdanno)

I've got my heart (strung up on clothing line) (mcdanno)

In this moment, you are everything (mcdanno)

Kiss the boy (eliot/hardison)

I actually didnt realize these were the top 5, and im kind of surprised. tbh I'd say I've got my heart and five times parker proposes would be my faves out of these 5

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes!! I adore comments and try to reply to them all

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I basically refuse to write angsty endings lmao but I guess reading up on black holes just for the long term emotional consequences? or I could see myself dying for you because they clearly got Fucked Up

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

I refuse to write a non-happy ending alkjflskjdf but oh i love the glow delights me

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not so far, tho one turned out to be... a Topic in a discord server

9. Do you write smut?

yup! the stargate kinkmeme changed me as a person

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

I have done one, which was a leverage/h50 crossover purely for my own enjoyment

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that i know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

not that i know of

13. Have you ever co written a fic?

No, but I'd be down with certain authors

14. What's your all time favourite ship?

tied between mcdanno and mcshep and leverage ot3 honestly

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

I haven't even started it but i have a stargate baseball AU tentatively planned out

16. What are your writing strengths?

honestly i feel like when i feel a character I feel them and the dialogue is very in character and plausible

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i am incapable of writing anything longer than like 2 chapters

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

i feel like it often comes across weirdly (when done by someone who doesnt speak that language) so i avoid it. there are some characters and situations where it is done well, but i avoid it

19. First fandom you wrote for?

CSI Miami i think? yes i know thats embarrassing

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

honestly im not sure. maybe ive got my heart? its such a good trope and i love those two idiots so much

also i was doing this while watching a hockey game in another tab and without fucking fail, they scored every time i was on here. I MISSED FIVE GOALS what the fuck

anyways, i think all of my writer friends have already done this??? so if you haven't, consider yourself tagged

[oyprongs]

20 questions for fic writers

thank u @isahorcrux for tagging me !

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

10

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

85,062 words

3. What fandoms do you write for?

i now only write for HP and just jily, but i used to write lucaya from girl meets world lmaoo

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

this is such a weird order to me but: i would still be on my feet, a slip of the thumb, as it always was (it always was, it always was) [lol], stage fright, and then i love you much (most beautiful darling) and spare the rest for me are tied

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

i try to!! especially if someone took the time to write a really nice or long one. i like for people to know i appreciate it!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i think the only fic i have with an angsty ending is "i love you much (most beautiful darling)" because it's canon jily until their death. for some reason i wanted to do that when i was 18 idk

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

probably barry, bond, and the blues or a slip of the thumb, just because they were pretty much all fluff beginning to end

8. Do you get hate on fics?

no i don't think i ever have. i genuinely don't think people care enough to lmao

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

i have but only like a scene or so, and it's all fairly mild except for maybe one or two explicit words lol. i have other stuff in the works but haven't touched it in ages

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

nope and i don't intend to. they just don't really interest me

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

nop!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

someone asked to translate an old lucaya fic into russian but idk if they ever did lol

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

no, but i would! i just think i'd be terrible at cowriting because i'm sooo slow

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

oh god. i think literati and jily are tired for me, just from their sheer staying power in my heart + how frequently i go through periods of obsession with them

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

ugh. my people we meet on vacation au "let's fall apart and start again" that i literally only have the prologue posted for. one of these days u guys......

16. What are your writing strengths?

ummm i think dialogue! at least that's usually what i start with and then try to build around.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

isa said finishing things and that is so true. i also would say inner monologues

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

omg it scares me to death i have too much anxiety about getting it completely wrong

19. First Fandom you wrote for?

well technically harry potter if u count my 7 yo fanfiction, but officially it would be gmw/lucaya

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

in terms of jily, i do really like "let's fall apart and start again" and "stage fright", but is it crazy if i say im actually still proud of my 17yo self writing like 50k of two disney characters jsdfkj a

ok as usual im sure all my ct discord friends have been tagged but whatever @sunshinemarauder @possessingtheproperspirit @emeralddoeadeer

[jpeg-dot-jpeg]

heyyyyy jpeg~ im back with more ask game numbers 😎 as always, feel free to pick and choose <3

10, 16, 17, 20, 27, and Karyogamy for 76 please!!

10. Cltr+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

This is from the wip i've worked on most recently, something I originally was gonna post for TimKon week last year, but it didn't feel ready

“Fire away,” Kon responded. The monitor in front of him blinked to life displaying a beach at sunset, pink sky and golden sand and soft waves lapping at the shore. He recognized the beach as one on the island of Oahu. He remembered the feeling of low tide lapping at his toes and near constant sunlight soaking into his bones, so unlike the weather of the mainland.

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

Okay so uhhhhh haha I currently have 22 WIPs I'm actively working on, 3 completed fics in short term storage, and *checks notes* approximately 69 fic ideas in my notes app. Like, actually 69. That's not a sex number joke. Four of those ideas are specifically for a TimKon AU where Kon comes out of the tube late and imprints on Tim since he's the one who saved him.

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

I like to go back and read through WIPs i haven't worked on in a long time and inevitably there will be a typo that I can't resist fixing and then whoops! i've added two pages to that old thang. Badabing badaboom, we're back in business baby.

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

Like every other dc fic write, situations be happening in alleys, warehouses, and safehouses. I also have a tendency to make my blorbos madly in love with each other because thats what makes me happy to write <3

27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

Favorite Part: The Writing

Least Favorite Part: The Writing

lol but for real i think my favorite part is writing something goofy and then rereading it later and being like 'goddamn i am so funny.' also the validation from strangers on the internet. my least favorite part is in longer fics when at some point i have to trudge through necessary plot stuff so the fun stuff makes sense. also group dialogue scenes. so much fun to think about, hellish to write

76. Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of Karyogamy?

I have a few things that i think i'm going to spin out into separate fics for the Where Babies Comes From series, including a big, fat TimKon wedding, the Kent family reacting to the baby, and another i like to describe as: the fic where everyone finds out about Kai's powers before his parents do (probably a 5+1). Stay tuned!

[watsonmj]

2022 YEAR IN REVIEW

tagged: @abc2411 | @seek--rest | @bluepinstripes <3

1. number of stories posted to ao3

27 +/- 2 bc i updated 2 fics that i started last year buuuuuut i reached over 100 works on ao3 !!!! :D

2. word count posted for this year

101,410 (technically More bc i wrote ofic but that is obviously. not posted anywhere)

3. fandoms i wrote for

marvel, dc, pjo, the atlas series, soc, trc/tdt, hp, goncharov

4. pairings

petermj, petergwen, percabeth, libbynico, kanej, bluesey, blue/adam, clois, gonchandrey, jily

5. stories with the most

kudos: accidental heroism (the batman) 3,357 bookmarks: the jones-watson-parkers (spider-man) 844 but since that was posted last year it’s technically accidental heroism again w 640 comment threads: yet again… the jones-watson-parkers with 133 but it is still accidental heroism with 47

6. work i'm most proud of (and why)

ummmm idk actually the work im most proud of is my ofic theo and i cannot Show that to u anyway it’s bc i have never rly fully revised smth like. overhauled it n all that bc i finally Understood theo’s character and it was such a RUSH to work on her fr and ive produced some of my Best Writing To Date!!! for fic tho uh??!??!?!? im pretty proud of most fic ive written this year bc i have tried rly hard ok 😭 usually i can pinpoint a single fic but i think ive written consistently well ???

7. work i'm least proud of (and why)

a home for two (spidey) mostly because i did Not vibe writing it i was literally pulling teeth trying to finish it but ppl seem to like it idk

8. share or describe a favorite review you received

9. a time when writing was really, really hard

uh not for fic but i was tearing my hair out writing theo partially because of the content and partially because it is quite literally Difficult to write what’s perfect in your head and i haven’t even written theo to my own standards ngl

10. a scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

the entirety of final goodbye because. Well. who knew i would be writing goncharov fic actually who knew goncharov would even exist fr but in terms of spidey ... phantom bc. like. well i did not expect to write that At All and i didn't expect it to be That Long (relatively in my taste)

11. a favorite excerpt of your writing

Here’s the thing about loss: sometimes you grow up and around a person, fitting and stretching and expanding to add them to the patchwork of yourself, and when they leave, there’s a scar between both bodies. One here, one gone. An open wound. It’s surprising how much time you can spend with someone and still come out the other end empty-handed. (slip of reality | spidey)

12. how did you grow as a writer this year

oh i have learned to appreciate writing first person bc of theo <3 and writing a little longer things bc i am a serial 1-2k oneshotter and i have Exceeded that a bit

13. how do you hope to grow next year

perhaps i will Finally finish a multichapter fic jesus christ

14. who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer, beta, cheerleader, etc)

there needs to be an @fnh button or smth at this point

15. anything from your real life show up in your writing this year

none that i can point out at the top of my head ! well. except for theo 🧍🏻‍♀️ i gave her too many lysisms which is concerning considering everything wrong w her n her chronic patheticness

16: any new wisdom you can share with other writers

new wisdom??? god not rly but here is some OLD wisdom that i feel like other writers should always listen to… read MORE BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!

17: any projects you're looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year

working on the Novel™ n also attempting to finish all these wips i have left in the grave

18. tag some writers whose answers you'd like to read

LITERALLY ANY OF YOU. IF U SEE THIS UR TAGGED <3

[corvuscrowned]

For your ao3 wrapped, 3 and 12, please! 💜

(Also, what are you baking that is currently cooling? 👀)

oh no, im sorry i somehow missed this notification!! thanks so much for sending these!!

3. What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?

i'm pretty proud that i got around to finishing twelve moons over the course of the year, which i updated every full moon. i'm not totally sure how it works as a cohesive fic, but my track record of finishing long-term projects is pretty bleak, so i'm sort of astounded i actually stuck with it the whole year! im also really proud of the way with hands full of dusk came out, specifically because i think i learned a lot while writing it.

12. How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year?

gooooood question lol!! there are two hefty WIPs i'd really like to finish in 2023 - one is a ~50k light 'n silly collab w @fictional (almost finished!! i posted a snip here a while back), and the other is a fair bit heavier project that will probably clock up to ~140k or so all said and done (it's kind of a bond fic but kind of not and i dont have a good elevator pitch). that's sort of all im looking at right now, but id be amazed if i dont get some other ideas i cant let go of over the course of the next year!

p.s. i think the baking probably would have been some peppermint christmas cookies or maybe some peppermint brownies? it was peppermint all the way down this december!

ao3 wrapped asks for anyone interested!

[ageofnations]

2022 Writers Tag

thank you @sammysvanfeet and @streamingcolors-gvf for tagging me in this! sorry this took so long!

I think it might be fun to look back on what we've all achieved this year, let you give yourselves a well deserved pat on the back and also share what you love.

1. How do you feel 2022 has gone in terms of writing?

the beginning of this year was great in terms of writing, i had a somewhat easy semester of classes so school didn’t really get in the way, and i didn’t have to work too much this summer, so that was great! as the year progressed tho, my confidence started to struggle, and my self-worth in this fandom kinda declined. i’m still working on getting over that and creating something i know you all would like and i would be proud of. a new job, a harder class load, and grad school prep really made it difficult for me. i’m proud of how far i’ve progressed though!

2. What piece are you proudest of this year? It can be a shot/blurb/headcannon, a whole series or even a specific chapter.

ego. next question

3. Is there anything you posted that you wish had reached more people? (No such thing as a flop here!) Shout it out, it might catch a new pair of eyes!

i believe that all of my fics have done as well as they possibly could’ve, but i wish ego parts 2 and 3 would’ve gotten more attention. i know that unexpected additions to fics don’t do as well as the first part sometimes, though. i think ego is just my proudest bit so im protective of it lmao

4. Can you give us a hint of anything coming before the end of the year? Maybe even a little taster?

before the end of the year, you’ll certainly get more Table For Two (maybe even the finale of the series?) but from me specifically, i’m hoping to finish up a sammy wip to hold you all over until my new josh series is ready to be posted!

5. Are you setting any writing goals for next year, or just going with the flow? If you are, what are they?

mostly going with the flow, but i am setting goals to work on my confidence, discipline, and time management. i am working on sticking to smaller goals (such as writing a certain amount a week) and staying true to it, not posting for notes and rather posting because i am proud of what i’ve done, and figuring out ways to fit writing into my life as a student.

6. Do you have any one shots or finished pieces you're tempted to expand on or revisit next year?

ego, when the night is over, and maybe even a little josh x bip and danny x bip action in the chamomile au. we will see about all of that tho.

7. Is there anything new you're tempted to try out? A new style/trope/AU/another person in the fandom?

i think Wings of Midas will be a new stretch for me in many ways. forbidden love, suuuuuuper slow burn, and unrequited love. not to mention the research im trying to do in order to build the au and the mysteries behind it. it’s a really intricate piece

8. Now to hype some other writers! What's a piece you read back in the first half of the year that you can shout out?

oh dear i have the worst memory. tears of rain by my love @streamingcolors-gvf was (and still is) one of my favorite series. pretty by @jakekiszkaenthusiast is another off of the top of my head. and lazarus and abaddon ofc by @garbagevanfleet

9. And how about something you've read more recently?

the perfect treat by @streamingcolors-gvf has been in my head a lot recently (i wonder why…) so there’s that.

10. A fun one to finish...If you could insert yourself into any fic in the fandom, which would it be and what do you think would happen?

is it vain to insert myself into my own fic… kidding kidding.

put me in sugar plz, im tryna see something…it wouldn’t end how it did, just know that (but i know it had to end like it did, so this is all just /lh)

[hopeheartfilia]

tumblr recommended is whack because sometimes it will just randomly give me stuff im not intrested in and none of my mutuals have even been obsessed with lately

oh you reblogged several strips from a ml comic youve been reading for 3 days? Here have some zutara. For the record ive never been a zutara girlie

Nothing against yall it just never clicked for me. I brotp the fuck out of them tho. But like unironically my zuko ship is jetko and if tumbrla algorithm had been keeping up they wouldve known that. Or the more accurate description of Mostly just gen. the gand vibin. Like i dont mind zukka, but mostly because its isio on idiot but theyre both smart idiots. katara is like responsible which does not hit me well with zukos feral drama but thats on me

Like zuko katara and toph i feel have some untapped potential as a. comedic trio. Zuko and toph is one of my favourite friendship dynamics in all of atla

But like zutara? What even gave the algorithm that idea. Like im sorry but katara and yue hits way better. Katara and Jet Does Not.

Like i know she is also a vigilante. But like she is a somehwta moral vigilante ont he feralness level of every calm 14 yr old with superpowers

she can date whomever she wants i jsut feel like. yeah maybe shes the sort to develop a bit of a crush kn zuko but its not the sort of thing to like work long term for me. like i get it blue red enemies to lovers all that

And like if you really dont vibe with katara and aangs i can see where youre coming from

I think katara and azula is indeed more interesting but im a thematic parallels sort of hoe

Id actually really like to read a katara x azula fic where zuko and sokka are just bros and the girlies are doing insane amounts of drama and they just look at eaxh other like damn little sisters and their love lives be messed up. And like may and suki just nope out of even trying to understand the katara azula thing. And like mai does understand it against her will. Tay lee doesnt mind understanding it but mai does mind she does now want to know but she gets it the best out of everyone

Jet actually also gets it but no one would ever ask him about that and also im imagining this as modern au but hes still somehow dead or gone or dissapeared

Yue. yue i dont know if she gets it. i. i think ill stop before this turns into an eternal wip i never finish

[magic-is-something-we-create]

1, 4, 21?

hi!! sorry im Literally 2 Weeks Late on this, tumblr didnt show me that i had asks </3

1. How many wips do you have? How many are you actively working on?

Off the top of my head, I've got 8 WIPs total right now that I have any emotional attachment to, and technically 2 that I'm actively working on - though Whispers is being left alone for a couple months so I can be more objective in my editing for the second round!! Drafting though is just The Millennium Saga, currently!

4. How would you explain your wip to someone who knew nothing about it?

I have, in fact, done this before, but its a little bit long so it'll be behind the cut!! It's a very casual description of the Millennium Saga, but I think it's the best overview I've figured out so far <3

21. What originally inspired this story?

BOY OH BOY i know it was some music that i listened to on loop in middle school but i know it was multiple songs and the only one i can remember now is Embers by Owl City which. mayhaps obviously. inspired the very earliest version of ember thats tbh almost unrecognizable at this point.

Unfortunately, all of my WIPs are ones that I've had stewing in my brain in one way or another since I was 12, so I no longer remember the inspirations behind them all 😭

Thank you again for sending this in!!! The requested explanation is below the cut <3

TMS is a fantasy series that starts with the promise of a revolution story, except the revolution itself (at least the part the characters are able to participate in) is over by the end of part one of book one (of 8), and it quickly becomes a game of cat-and-mouse running from the military retribution that THEN becomes the classic “oh fuck the world/magic is gonna end” plot. Which ends up really being a world-wide societal revolution, because the world was supposedly saved from that shit already, like, 1000 years ago. The Chosen One just lied about it because he ran out of time, begged the Goddesses for more, and is struggling to figure out how to Actually Save It For Real while juggling being an immortal king who is in way out of his depth and has never had, like, friends. Or anyone to tell him what to do without the expectation of being their puppet.

The main narrator of book one, Ember, volunteers for said revolution, but is dragged into the rest of The Bullshit because they are physically incapable of a) leaving their friends behind and b) not telling authority figures like said Chosen One to be better or fuck off.

The other narrators include their long-term boyfriend, Gab (an acrobat/actor/prostitute that’s very emotionally intelligent but Not when it comes to his own feelings), their mutual polyam love interest Iceberg/Isa (great grandson of another immortal and grandson of the general that is hunting them after the revolution), and more as the series goes on and slowly switches from their storyline to that of their younger siblings/friends.

You see a lot more of the world in this than in Whispers, and get a shit ton more worldbuilding cause it’s, like, plot-relevant. Also we get to meet the Goddesses (x6) and help the Chosen One and his ex-husband work through couples therapy. And collect a found family along the way.

Oh, and save the world through the powers of love (in all its different forms) and intersectional solidarity being the thing the Goddesses admire most about mortality.