tyhaber

[kmomof4]

Ooh, #s 3, 18 and 25. I can’t wait to read more from you.

Thanks for the ask darlin!!! And thank you so much!!! I can’t wait for you to have more to read from me either!!!

3. Favorite line/scene you wrote this year.

Oh man... that is TOUGH!! I can’t pick just one!!! I’m just gonna list all my favorites, sorry...

From True Love Song: David’s reaction to Killian being the True Love of his daughter.

From State of Emergency: Henry’s sass at the beginning, Killian choking on his sandwich when he first sees Emma, the explosives going off, and kiss at the end.

From CS Prompts and Drabbles: Neal’s beatdown in ch3, and all of ch5 the State of Emergency Future Glimpse.

From Somewhere Out There: Killian following Cygnus to his Swan, TLK, and Henry waking up.

From Time and Again: all the dreams, but especially killing Walsh, twice... the big reveal (no spoilers), the dolphins, all of chs 9&10.

From Choices, I was especially proud of this exchange: “What if I can’t save him? What if he really is a Lost Boy?”

“Nonsense, Emma,” he assured her. He desperately wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her, but he knew exactly how that would go: an even further fortification of the wall around her heart. The one he’d sworn to take down without manipulation or trickery. “Henry knows that you are here to get him back. That everyone here loves him. He’s not lost. Not by a long shot.”

The sadness tinged with hope in her beautiful green eyes nearly broke his heart. “How do you know?”

“I know because I’m looking at you,” he whispered, staring into her eyes. “As I said earlier, I’ve yet to see you fail. Your love for your son, your determination to get him safely home can be felt all over this island. Why do you think Pan has been visiting you so much?” he continued. “He fears you, Swan. He knows that the only way he’s going to keep Henry is to get you out of the way. Your mother’s heart,” he said, nodding toward where her heart beat, ���simply won’t allow that. You’ll get him back. I have no doubt. And probably a lot sooner than you think,” he promised her, trying to pass the assurance he felt in her success on to her.

From Arise, My Love: the actual turning of Emma.

18. Number of WIP’s you currently have.

Two. A Christmas fic that will hopefully drop in the next week or two and the backstory and resolution of Arise, My Love that will be published next summer as part of CSSNS2020.

25. A fic you read this year that you’d recommend everyone read.

Uhhh... all of them? We are an INCREDIBLY blessed fandom with the amount of talent that is still producing such incredible and wonderful CS content!!! And we’ve added to that talent pool since the show ended and also this calendar year! Some particular favorites published in 2019 include

May the Lord Open and We Make Our Own Fate by @hollyethecurious

Their Way By Moonlight, Honeysuckle, Schadenfreude, and The Great Grammar Caper by @profdanglaisstuff

Break Me, We Kill the Flame, The Unexpected Life, and At Extremum Terrae by @thisonesatellite

The Swan Scandal by @kymbersmith-90

Catch Me If You Can by @let-it-raines

@searchingwardrobes Fandom Birthday Playlist is FANTASTIC!!!

And finally, ALLLLLLL of the offerings for @cssns, @cspupstravaganza, and @cshalloweek three fantastic events held this year with yours truly, @profdanglaisstuff, and @darkcolinodonorgasm at the helms, respectively.

I hope you didn’t mind the length of these answers, but they were great questions and I just had a lot to say about them... sorry, not sorry...

Send me a end of year fanfic ask!

[unfolded73]

for captain swaaaan: multiples of 4

Wow, you don’t play… okay.

4.  name three authors that were influential to your work and tell why

I’m gonna go with fanfic authors here, because I want to.

herself_nyc was the first fanfic author that I consumed cover to cover (and bought one of her published novels as well). I hadn’t really read much erotica before that, so I learned a lot about writing smut from reading her work. earlgreytea68 writes very snappy, clever, funny dialogue, and when we were both in DW fandom together I learned a ton from her style of dialogue. And fid_gin, who was my writing partner for a few years, and who had a much more lyrical style than I did – I tried to adopt some of the best of her style into my own. Also since we worked collaboratively, I learned a lot from her process.

8.  what time are you most productive?

While I’m eating lunch at work, and early in the morning at home.

12. favorite place to write

Currently it’s our office at home, because I can kick the rest of the family out and close the door.

16.  easiest verse to write

I suppose, having just come off of a prolific writing spurt with “What Comes Next”, it’s my post-S6 CS as a newly married couple-verse. Does that qualify as a ‘verse? idk, but it’s that.

20. favorite character to write

What day is it? I don’t know, I like writing a lot of the Once characters - Emma and Killian, Henry, Snow, Regina… lately I’ve enjoyed writing Zelena immensely.

24.  favorite scene you’ve ever written

From among my cs fic, it’s probably the Killian and Henry argument in “The Author.”

28.  worst review you ever got

I really haven’t gotten any bad reviews for CS. (Keep in mind that I don’t use ff net.) Literally the worst review I’ve gotten in this fandom has been a very blunt, hey when are you gonna write emma and killian having a baby? kind of thing on ao3, and that’s not really a bad review, it’s just kinda demanding. But back in my DW days, there was a fanfic award system called “Children of Time Awards”, and there was a livejournal set up whose only purpose was to rip apart the nominees. So that was fun, I had a couple of lengthy bad reviews there.

32.  alternate title for (insert story title)

Oh man, I don’t remember this kind of stuff. I think “What Comes Next” was called something really long that Liz was like, yeah, that’s too long. @caprelloidea​, do you remember? Or @j-philly-b​?

36.  one-shot or multi-chaptered story?

One-shot. I’d much rather work with a contained idea, or a little slice-of-life vignette than try to worry about plot, ugh

40.  which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series

“Another New York City Serenade.” A very dirty movie/series.

44.  do you write linear or do you write future scenes if you feel like it?

Linear. I used to jump around, and I don’t think it served me well. But if I’m really blocked on a scene, I’ll skip it and come back.

48.  three spoilers for (insert story title)

The only in-progress story I have going is my csbb fic, which I think everyone knows is a S1 AU. So the 3 spoilers are:

Emma and Mary Margaret do shots.

The Blue fairy is unhelpful.

In a critical scene, Killian throws paperclips at Regina

List of questions

[coaldustcanary]

2016 Fanfic Masterpost

I’ve seen some posts from folks I follow in a number of different fandoms doing a bit of an end-of-the-year writing roundup, and I really like that idea, so here we are. 

I’ve been fannish for a long time now - over 20 years at this point, which is more than a little terrifying to consider, let me tell you. But my fannish writing has been very intermittent over those years for the most part, and my participation in fandom was relatively narrow, particularly when I was working on my PhD. Through 2014 I wrote, on average, one fanwork a year for the previous 5 years, as usually I could be counted upon to participate in at least one A Song of Ice and Fire and/or Game of Thrones fanfic exchange, but not much beyond that. I also wrote a smattering of fic prior to 2009, much of it lost to the ages besides some random pieces I managed to get up on AO3. (I really need to take some time to go back and properly back-date those older works, oof. And dig up a few more on LJ communities that I couldn’t find when I did my original looking, if I can.)

But in the past year and a half or so I’ve come back to fandom in a much more enthusiastic way than I have since I was a teenager, thanks to falling hard for the Dragon Age games and then faceplanting into Once Upon a Time fandom. And in the past seven months I’ve written if not a lot of fic, definitely more than I have in a long, long time. It’s been a trip, in both good and bad ways, but I’m glad to be doing it.

The master list in chronological order with brief commentary:

Always Already (Dragon Age: Inquisition) Incomplete Planned eventual M rating, nothing above T in the current chapter tumblr link, AO3 link, 6025 words The Academic Conference AU that started it all this summer. I just could not let this headcanon go until I wrote this first chapter. I haven’t touched it since then for a variety of reasons, but even if I never get back to it I’m pleased with the chapter that exists and it got me back writing. It’s meant to be a massive DA:I ensemble AU, with this particular multi-chapter story involving some eventual Female Trevelyan/Cullen Rutherford, but mostly I just want to finish this particular arc so I can just write snippets in the AU every time I need to say something cathartic about working at a university.

Hunger (Dragon Age: Origins) Rated G, Gen, Alistair & Female Brosca friendship tumblr link, AO3 link, 1835 words A short, introspective piece about one of my Dragon Age OCs. When you grow up without enough food, hungry all the time, what happens when the effects of blood magic make you even hungrier? Natia thinks about her life and her choices and finds common ground with her fellow Grey Warden.

Before a Fall (Game of Thrones) Mature, Yara Greyjoy/Daenerys Targaryen, GoT 6x09 post-ep scene tumblr link, AO3 link, 2698 words Written for the Game of Ships Seven Hells Challenge based off of the prompt “Pride”. I watched 6x09 on the Sunday night when it aired and swooned over Yara and Dany’s interaction. I wrote this intimate encounter the following Monday evening in one sitting. I ship Iron Dragon so very, very much. This fic took only about a month to become my most commented and kudosed fic ever on AO3, and I’m pretty happy with it.

Savior Fair - Princess (Once Upon a Time) Rated T, Captain Swan tumblr link, AO3 link, 2501 words My first OUAT fic, based on the August 2016 OUAT positivity challenge that tlynnwords put together. (I put all my pieces for this in a single work on AO3 called Savior Fair, since they’re Emma-centric.) Fluffy CS pillow talk set post-S5 before I’d much looked at S6 spoilers. I like this fic’s premise and flow, but I totally missed the mark with Emma’s voice in it. Her voice is tough for me, but I think I’m getting better.

Savior Fair - Smile (Once Upon a Time) Rated T, SwanFire tumblr link, AO3 link, 938 words My goal with the OUAT positivity fics was to focus on the best parts of Emma’s relationships with other characters. I think Neal is a fascinating character (and though I don’t ship SF, I’ve been a fan of Michael Raymond-James for a long time and I think he brings a lot of interesting nuance to the guy) and I think a lot about the time they spent together and what it would have meant to 17 year old Emma to have someone smile at her and mean it.

Savior Fair - Heart (Once Upon a Time) Rated T, Captain Swan, 4x12 missing scene tumblr link, AO3 link, 1274 words I needed a scene to bridge the gap between the conclusion to the showdown in the clock tower and Emma replacing Killian’s heart in his chest. Just a little feels-laden ficlet. (Apparently the original script had a line in the latter scene with Emma saying she felt strange holding his heart, and Killian replying that she’s already held it for ages, though I didn’t know that until after I wrote this bit, and it tends in a similar direction.)

Savior Fair - Trust (Once Upon a Time) Rated T, Emma & Milah, 5x14 missing scene tumblr link, AO3 link, 1647 words The last of the positivity prompts I got to (August is a tough time with the semester beginning, so much for my ambitions) and the one of which I’m the most proud. I have A Lot of Feelings about Milah and the way she’s treated in a many corners of OUAT fandom, and I’m still really mad about 5x14. Emma and Milah needed more time to talk. So they mostly talk about what they have in common. (And, honestly, Killian is only a small part of their similarities.) I am certain they would be friends, given the chance.

Steadfast (A Song of Ice and Fire) Rated T, Stannis Baratheon/Davos Seaworth, canon divergence/future fic AO3 link, 4071 words I did three fanfiction exchanges due in September this year, and I wrote this fic for thedevilchicken for the Game of Thrones exchange. Despite the name, this one is open to both book-verse and show-verse fics, and this one is an AU of the former. For some reason I seem to really like writing Stannis-as-king future AUs with a Davos POV, and nothing says Stannis/Davos loyalty than a retelling of a shockingly sad Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about a broken toy that is loyal to his distant and unattainable love until he’s melted into scrap. (Spoiler alert: This version has a happier ending.)

Distracted (Dragon Age) Explicit, Anders/Karl Thekla AO3 link, 3094 words Smutty roleplaying with spanking written for green_sphynx for The Black Emporium, a Dragon Age rarepair exchange. Playful and porny PWP set sometime well before everything was terrible in Dragon Age 2.

Starstruck (Agent Carter/Doctor Who) Rated G, Gen, Tenth Doctor & Donna Noble, Peggy Carter & Angie Martinelli tumblr link, AO3 link,  3425 words Written for Grey_Cardinal for the Crossovering exchange. Ten and Donna cause a bit of a scene at the restaurant where Angie works. I quite like the premise of this fic and it was fun to write, though I really ought to have come up with more for Peggy to do in it.

Spectator Sport (Once Upon a Time) Rated G, Gen, Hooked Queen friendship, future fic tumblr link, AO3 link, 1063 words After having a really crummy day a few months back, I asked for some fic prompts (pairings and a word/idea) to take my mind off it and my lovely friends delivered. This is just a little vague future fic based on mryddinwilt’s prompt for Hooked Queen + parenting. However much they viciously snark at one another, I think they understand one another pretty well, too. And the mental image of them enduring discomfort to watch Henry’s high school soccer game was too good to pass up.

Wrapping (Game of Thrones) Rated T,  Yara Greyjoy/Daenerys Targaryen, University AU tumblr link, AO3 link, 1379 words Written for the Game of Ships “Until Hell Freezes Over” holiday/winter-themed event. I’m actually the advisor for a service learning club at my university, and those valiant students get run ragged as they try to finish up the term and also do good for their communities. Somehow I imagine that Dany would be that kind of overachiever, and Yara would just as clearly be her dubious but devoted girlfriend. I’ve been leery before of writing student AUs because I’m a teacher and it feels a bit odd, but I liked this AU a lot and might come back to it for writing more Iron Dragon because I’m sure canon is going to be a shit-show next season.

Clarity (Lucifer) Rated T, Gen, Linda Martin & Mazikeen friendship, 2x07 missing scene AO3 link, 2785 words I participated in Yuletide for the first time this year (yes, I know, I’ve somehow been in fandom for-freaking-ever and never done it before) and I matched on one of my newish fandom delights, Lucifer. Though this fandom is growing and probably won’t be eligible next year, sign-ups were before most of the season had aired, and my recipient, Lenore, requested Linda and Maze having a conversation about Heaven and Hell. Well, without getting too deep in to spoiler territory, canon pretty definitively implied that such a conversation occurred sometime between 2x07 and 2x08, so I decided it needed writing. Linda is my favorite character on Lucifer, and Maze is an utter gift. Writing this was a bit stressful (I was making last-minute edits the night before reveals from a hotel room) but I’m happy to have written it and received some lovely comments from folks, including the recipient.

So, all told, per my AO3 stats page I wrote 32,736 words of fanfic this year, which is far more than I’ve ever written in a year before. I also am starting to get a grip on what my strengths and weaknesses are as a writer, which is pretty wild but also motivating. My general approach to writing has long been “use deadlines as motivation, panic at the last minute, write frantically, throw it at the world like a grenade and take cover” and while I’m a good enough writer for that not to be as terrible as it sounds, I know I could be a lot better if I continue to change my approach to writing and write more frequently and steadily. Honestly, because I’m an academic by trade, this applies to my professional writing as well, and fanfic is good practice for me to refine my writing habits, which have vastly improved this year, even if they’re still not where I want them to be in the end. Here’s hoping I can keep it up in 2017.