#and most IMPORTANTLY i love how much the author seems to have fun describing old/middle aged grizzled women

[caimitos]

its been a week i still cant believe i already finished reading the spear cuts through water im mentally clawing at the gates of the inverted theater begging let me back in please please please

[vfdbaudelairefile13]

Misery Loves Company Part 1

Prologue: The One Where Lemony Learns of a Very Forlorn Death 

I am going to be kind enough to give you the chance to change your mind about reading the sad tale of Violet Snicket and her two half-siblings, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire. You might think that the lives of three children would be safe, fun, and comfortable...but in the case of these three, you would be entirely wrong. That’s because rarely anything was safe, fun, or comfortable in the lives of these very unfortunate children. Each of these children was extremely unlucky, leading unfortunate and terribly unhappy lives.

This story begins like how a great number of other stories begin, in the middle of someone else’s story because no story has a true beginning or even a true ending, most stories are just snippets and interjections of a grander story. The story we’ll be interjecting ourselves into will be the story of Lemony Snicket. 

 Lemony Snicket was a middle-aged man. He had a clean face, rigid build, eyes of ocean blue, with dark brown hair. He nearly always wore a frown upon his face, he was someone who has been through the wringer a few times. Some days he didn’t know how he survived the days of his youth...or the inevitable heartbreak that made him into the lonely man he is today. 

Lemony was an odd man, he had a rather unusual knack of defining words and phrases randomly, and when I say randomly, I mean it. It doesn’t matter who he is speaking to or whether or not he was the one speaking, Lemony would just say a word or phrase followed by the sentence, “which is a word or phrase which here means…”. He was what many people would consider a bibliophile, a man who loves words. There were only two things he loved more than words and his outdated typewriter, that was the love of his life, Beatrice Baudelaire, and more importantly his fourteen-year-old daughter, Violet. 

Due to complicated circumstances, Lemony ended up being a single father to Violet when his daughter was still just an infant which was not a problem to Lemony, the last thirteen years of his life were the happiest, although you wouldn’t be able to tell because the man rarely ever smiled in public. He loved having his daughter around. Unfortunately, there was one factor in his life that made having and raising a child much more difficult.

Lemony was considered a fugitive, he was on the lam for a situation that had happened shortly before Violet’s birth. In some cases, Lemony was also assumed by many of his old friends and colleagues to be dead, which he was also strangely fine with. This made keeping Violet a secret from VFD a lot easier.  He rarely liked to discuss the events that led to his less than perfect life with his daughter. Violet has asked him on numerous occasions but he rarely ever told her more than it was an unfortunate misunderstanding involving him, her birth mother, and a few of his former friends, some of whom have become his enemies. This was one of the reasons Lemony was glad that no one from his organization knew about Violet’s existence. He and Beatrice promised each other that she would be kept safe from anything related to VFD. 

Violet was a curious girl, she had an intellectually inventive mind. At only fourteen years old Lemony considered his daughter, one of the finest young inventors and in all honesty, even if she weren’t his daughter, he would still bestow this title upon her. Lemony couldn’t be more proud of his daughter whenever he saw her tying her long brown hair up with one of her many solid color ribbons, he would smile to himself because he knew the wires, nuts, and bolts of his daughter’s mechanical mind were working at top speed with a new invention and Violet didn’t want something as trivial as her hair to ruin her concentration. 

Lemony felt as though he failed Violet in many ways. For starters, he has never been able to relocate her mother, but it wasn’t due to a lack of trying. In his youth, Lemony was a prominent member of a secret organization alongside Beatrice and this organization was the exact reason as to why he lost touch with Beatrice so many years ago. Lemony refuses to allow his daughter to be involved in such a dangerous organization which is why he has done his absolute best to keep the entire thing a secret from her, although it broke his heart to do so. He knew that his daughter had so many unanswered questions about her past and her own birth mother, but Lemony had to be careful about what information he gave to her. He couldn’t let her know about VFD or his and Beatrice’s involvement within it. Lemony had done some not-so noble things in the past, albeit for noble reasons with noble intentions but it didn’t change the fact that he and Beatrice walked the grey line of morality and at some points during their acrobat routine, both had fallen on the darker, more wicked side of things once or twice. He didn’t want his daughter to be ashamed of him or her birth mother. To try to free himself of some of the guilt surrounding the topic, Lemony had purchased a beautiful silver, heart-shaped locket for Violet for her fifth birthday. On one side of the locket had Violet’s name engraved to it and her birthday right underneath her name in smaller print, while the other side was plain. He had put a picture of her birth mother inside of it even writing Beatrice’s name on the back of the picture. Ever since that day, you would rarely ever find Violet without that locket. It was always around her neck or as she put it, “The locket lands right on my heart, so whoever’s picture is inside,  I am keeping close to my heart,” That same year believe it or not, Violet had sewn her father a yellow ribbon with the words World’s Best Dad in sewn in purple, which he wore on his wrist like a watch. 

Lemony would describe his and Violet’s relationship as extremely close. The two of them were literally thick as thieves with Lemony living his life on the run from both the authorities and former enemies this was the only way for the two of them to live. He and Violet spent a lot of time together, and when they did spend time apart, they were never far from each other. Due to their situation, they always lived in either a small studio apartment or motel room. It was all he could risk renting. Of course, he never used his real name, he had a long list of aliases that he used interchangeably to keep his identity hidden from anyone who would want to hurt his daughter or himself. 

But although the two were so close, Lemony felt he was robbing his young daughter of a true childhood, there was not a day where he believed had she still been in Beatrice’s custody that she would have a more fulfilled life and a better childhood rather than the sorry excuse of a childhood he has provided. Living life on the lam alongside his daughter, meant that he and Violet were always moving. If Lemony had any doubt in his mind that where they lived had been compromised, it was time to go. Violet had learned at a young age to just go along with her father’s insanity even if it didn’t seem normal, because of this Lemony and Violet always had backpacks that rested next to their front door, they kept essentials in there. Violet has always known life to be spontaneous and adventurous, but she longed for a normal life. She knew that this would never be the case, seeing that her father was falsely accused of numerous crimes and she swore that he once told her that he was also suspected to be dead, but she couldn’t be so sure. She secretly hoped that during his odd jobs of investigating, that maybe he’ll one day find enough evidence to clear his name and then he’d show the world that he hadn’t died and that he wasn’t a wicked man like the papers wanted everyone to believe. She loved her father but she felt like there was more to life than hiding in the shadows and hoping for a new day to arrive. 

On this particular day, Lemony and Violet were out shopping at a convenience store, Lemony ushered his daughter to be quick as he did not feel comfortable being outside in public very along, especially in the city. Had he known where all of his enemies were at every second of the day, living a normal life would be easier on Lemony but alas, that was an impossible feat. He could not risk anyone from his glory days seeing him especially with a teenage girl who looked so much like Beatrice. Anyone who knew him or Beatrice would be able to put two and two together. 

“Violet...let’s go,” Lemony called to her as he tipped his fedora a bit lower to hide his face better.

Violet smiled, “I’m coming, why you are in such a rush Mr. Lemons,” she replied jokingly using a nickname she had given her father when she was a small child.

Lemony smiled at the nickname but replied to her in a slightly stern tone, “You know it’s not safe for me to be out in public for too long. So please grab a few more snacks and let’s go,”

Violet nodded running back into the small, narrow aisles of the convenience store. 

“Hello, Mr. Feint. In a hurry, yet again,” the storekeeper said to Lemony as he proceeded to hand over the merchandise.

“Oh, always. But my daughter doesn’t always grasp that concept it seems,” 

“Aye, she’s a young girl. Young girls like to live life at the moment, and sometimes that moment can be dragged on a little longer than the rest of us would like,”

Lemony rolled his eyes.

“Did you hear about the fire?” the storekeeper asked. 

Lemony’s eyes went wide. Fire. A word that triggered so many good and bad memories to flow back to the forefront of his mind. He hadn’t investigated fires in a while, he hadn’t paid attention to any kind of fire, literal fire or figurative fires, in such a long time. The word always burned him at his inner core. He looked back to make sure Violet wasn’t anywhere in earshot. “What fire?”

“It’s on the front page of the Daily Punctilio,” 

“Oh...trust me, you can’t believe anything  you read in the Daily Punctilio,” Lemony replied, “In all honesty, I’m surprised those idiots haven’t been sued for defamation, yet.”

“I don’t know, man, it seems real. The Baudelaire mansion is a pile of charred rubble now,” 

Lemony’s heart fell to his stomach and the world began to spin around him. “D-d-did you just say...Baudelaire mansion?” He turned again to where Violet was still shopping and for once in her life, he was glad she was ignoring him and taking her leisurely time. He most definitely didn’t want her to hear anything about the name, “Baudelaire”. 

“Yeah, it’s a shame what happened. The paper says it was a freak accident. Either way, those poor kids, having to grow up without a mother or father,” the storekeeper said handing a copy of the Daily Punctilio toward Lemony. Lemony quickly grabbed the paper and he couldn’t believe his eyes as he skimmed through the article. Right there on the front page was a piece of news that changed his life forever. “Baudelaire Mansion Destroyed”

No! It couldn’t be true. Not Beatrice! She couldn’t have been residing in the same city as he and Violet. There’s no way, she can’t be dead.  Before he knew it, he could feel tears slowly falling from his eyes, he hurriedly wiped them. 

The shopkeeper realizing that Lemony was starting to cry, looked up at him and started to stare at him intensely for several moments. This started to concern Lemony, who looked at the shopkeeper and asked, “Can I help you?”

The shopkeeper shook their head ever so slightly and replied, “I didn’t realize this was a sad occasion.”

And with that sentence, Lemony’s eyes went wide. He threw money down in front of the shopkeeper, rolled up the newspaper as best as he could to hide it from Violet and he rushed to her and grabbed her by her arm as gently as he could. He did his best to not let her see his face. Violet looked confused but she was used to his irrational behavior so after a moment of questioning why they were rushing out of the convenience store, she just went along with it. 

Later that day, Lemony was able to come up with a lie to excuse himself to leave for another day of his investigative work. Violet hadn’t thought much of it, just another typical day in the life of her father. All afternoon, Lemony had found a way to hide from Violet and reread the article that he had bought from the storekeeper. Each time he read the headline, he still couldn’t believe it. Beatrice was dead. Bertrand, an old friend of his, was also deceased leaving behind two young children. Well, Beatrice had left behind three children. How was he ever supposed to tell her? She had many hopes and dreams about meeting her birth mother and getting to know her...but now she will never get that chance. This whole time, Beatrice presided in the same city as the two of them. Lemony felt like utter shit, his resources were limited because he was either presumed dead or on the lam but that didn’t make him feel any better about himself as a father or the entire situation as a whole. 

Lemony couldn’t simply stay in their motel room and sulk. He wanted to see this to believe it. Thankfully the Daily Punctilio had printed the address to where his darling dearest had resided for who knows how long. He had decided to walk seeing that it was not as far from his residence as he expected. His mind wandered endlessly about who could have done this? What if it was a freak accident? He laughed at that notion. He knew someone was behind this. These things don’t just happen, especially not to a prominent VFD agent who has made a few enemies of her own. He wondered if Beatrice had ever given up VFD. He believed that she and Bertrand would have to see that they had two children together. Violet has a brother and sister ...that she may never meet.  Every single time his mind wandered back to Violet, he felt more and more like a horrible father. He never found her mother, and now it’s too late. She may never get to meet her half-siblings since Lemony would not be able to adopt them since he was on the lam and in other cases, presumed dead.  His mind was torturing him his entire walk. Asking a thousand and one questions that he may never answer. Now he knew how Violet felt every time she asked about Beatrice. So many questions in your head but no answer ever arrives. 

As Lemony reached the burned remains of his ex-fiance’s mansion, his heart dropped for the second time today. Everything was charred and ashy. Lemony could imagine just how the fire looked from the inside. The fire was not generous, it didn’t leave anything untouched or salvageable. The entire mansion smelled of smoke and ash as if the fire had just been set. Lemony had to be careful where he walked as to not trip on anything or allow his weight to break the surfaces underneath his feet. He had never been to this mansion, of course, but he closed his eyes and imagined just how beautiful Beatrice would have kept it. He began crying again as he walked around what he assumed to be the library, which was now a pile of ashes and broken down bookshelves. He strolled around to each room as carefully as he could, imagining what his and Violet’s life would have been like had he made better choices in his youth. Beatrice is dead because of me. My daughter will never meet her mother and it’s all my fault. That’s all that played through his mind as he walked along the desolate and burned down mansion. 

He was so lost in his thoughts that he jumped upon hearing a cough. “Shit,” he muttered to himself and quickly found a safe place to hide. He could not be seen, especially not here and not by the authorities. The authorities would blame him for this crime and then he’d surely never see his daughter again. The only evidence they could use against him is the notion that some arsonists like to revisit the scene of the crime, to see the damage that they did. To revel in the fact that they had tarnished someone’s property and life. He could not give anyone a reason to believe that he had started this fire. So he hid in a spot where he could see if the coughing figure was getting close to him or his hiding place. Lemony would be ready to fight off whoever it was and run, run like Hell, get Violet and move again. As the figure got closer, the coughing didn’t stop, it actually got a lot worse. When the figure finally got into a good viewing point, Lemony noticed that it was Arthur Poe, which would explain the excessive coughing.

“Well, children. I would have taken you to see what remains of your house but the official fire department asked me to wait until it was a bit safer,” Mr. Poe managed to say after a long fit of coughing.

Two smaller figures that seemed to be children appeared from behind him. Lemony could see their faces and immediately could tell that they were the kids from the Daily Punctilio. His heart broke in two when he saw that the young boy, he believed the newspaper referred to him as Klyde, began to cry as he held his infant sister, Susie. 

Those were Beatrice’s children. Alive and well. Well, except for the fact they were orphans now. Lemony lowered his head and looked at the ground. These poor children. This was so unfair. Lemony wondered what would come of them now. Who would the children be placed in the care of? Beatrice and Bertrand must have some sort of plan for these children. Lemony wanted so badly to just walk out of his hiding place and tell Mr. Poe that he’d take the children but he knew deep down he couldn’t. 

“We have absolutely nothing,” Klaus replied to Mr. Poe.

Lemony frowned. If those kids are anything like their mother, they’ll get through this. There’s no way their story gets worse from here. 

I hate to inform you that Lemony, was in fact, dead wrong. So dead wrong that I am going to give you a chance right now, to run away, run far away from whatever device you are using to read this sad tale because the story does get worse, it gets much, much worse. In my extensive research on the Baudelaire and Snicket cases, I can tell you that this is only the beginning and the further you go down this rabbit hole, the sadder things get, the more dire things get. It is my deepest apologies to tell you this, but that’s how the story goes.  If you’re still here, this is your fault…but on with the story.

Mr. Poe frowned at Klaus’ statement, “Your parents left behind an enormous fortune which will be yours when Klaus comes of age. Until then you will live with your dear Count Olaf, who will raise you in place of your parents.”

Klaus and Sunny didn’t reply to this just kept wandering the burnt remains of their homes but Lemony froze over. Did he just hear Poe correctly? Count Olaf? Their dear Count Olaf? Lemony immediately realized that this story was not over and he was now involved. There was no way Beatrice and Bertrand would want their children placed in that wretched man’s care. Something was not right. Lemony did not know how Olaf managed to get a hold of these kids, but if Lemony had anything to do with it, he wouldn’t have them in his custody for very long.

[I want to say thank you to one of my friends, Bunni [@hongmoondescendant for the first pic (the one that looks like a film reel. Truly appreciate it. Thank you.

Also big thanks to everyone on the VFDiscord that has been uber supportive of this AU idea and everyone who has helped me figure out how I was going to do the first four without Violet. There are so many of you. Love and appreciate you all. Hope yall LOVE this]

[nanowrimo]

5 Tips for Writing a Bestseller with Ulysses

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Ulysses, a NaNoWriMo 2017 sponsor, is a professional writing app for macOS and iOS.  Today, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Layne shares her best tips for writing books that sell:

I’m what one might call a “process-junkie”. Although I’ve been a full-time author since 2013, my background is in the corporate world, and I was on an operations team. Figuring out the best way to go about accomplishing tasks and goals was literally my day job.

And it’s a proclivity that’s carried over into my writing life. I’ve published over two-dozen books, and in my early days, half the battle was figuring out how to write those books with the most effective, stress-free system possible.

It took me a couple years and several writing programs, but I’ve finally found my Holy Grail of systems: Ulysses.

I’ve been using the writing app since 2015, and it’s the first and only program that I’ve never cheated on. In the past, I’d flit from program to program, convinced that the next one would make the writing process easier. I’ve used Ulysses for two years now, and never once wavered in my loyalty. Simply put, it works. Ulysses is built for writing quickly and writing well. Since switching to Ulysses, I’ve signed multiple book deals, hit the USA TODAY bestseller list multiple times, and even made the elusive New York Times list. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

Here are my 5 top tips for writing books that sell, as well as how I utilize Ulysses to achieve them:

1. Your story comes first.

Looking to write a book that sells? It won’t matter how compelling your characters, how nuanced your setting, how exquisite your prose if you don’t have a story—a plot. Bestsellers tend to be high-concept; they’re stories that can be described in 1-2 sentences, in what’s often known as an “elevator pitch.” 

Take a look at these examples: Orphan finds out he’s a wizard and gets sent to wizarding boarding school. Teen volunteers to take sister’s place in death match on live television. A Harvard professor follows clues left in Da Vinci paintings to solve a two-thousand year old secret. Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and The Da Vinci Code. Three wildly successful books that pique reader interest right from the very first: “It’s a story about ...”

Even if you’re not a planner/outliner, it’s crucial to know what your story’s about before you write. Luckily, Ulysses makes it extremely easy to keep your plot front-and-center as you begin the writing process. Unlike traditional word processors where you have to work with one long scrolling document, Ulysses allows you to create “sheets” within your book’s project folder/group. The first thing I do before starting any book is to create a sheet that I label STORY. It’s where, in a single sentence, I sum up the core of the book’s plot. I’ll use other sheets/features for more detailed planning, but having a single sheet with a single sentence serves as a quick reminder of what the story’s about when I start to lose my way.

2. Think scenes, not chapters.

When I first started writing, I used to picture my manuscript as one big entity (the book) chopped by into random intervals (chapters). The result was a meandering, often boring, slog. My breakthrough came when I moved beyond books on writing to books on screenplay writing. That’s when it clicked. A book, just like a movie, is made up of scenes. Small, mini-stories, that are interesting in and of themselves. Often, those scenes are contained neatly within one chapter, but not always! Some scenes span multiple chapters, other chapters contain multiple scenes. Think of your book like a movie—something should happen in each scene. It doesn’t have to be an action scene, per say, but each scene must move the story forward in some way (even via dialog) in order to keep readers turning the pages.

Ulysses is perfectly designed for this “scene” approach to writing. I set up all of my books so that each scene gets a dedicated “sheet,” and the list of scenes sits along the left side of my screen as I write (or can be hidden, for distraction-free writing). If I want to access a particular scene, I need only to click on it from the list. No scrolling through hundreds of pages to find “that one part ...”

3. Leave breadcrumbs for yourself.

The hardest part about writing a book in a month (or writing a book at all!) is staying excited when we get to what’s known as “the sagging middle”—that part of the story where the fresh newness has worn off, and The End seems very far away. To combat this mid-book slump, I like to skim over all of the scenes I’ve already written, as well as create placeholder sheets/scenes for whats to come. As mentioned above, Ulysses makes it easy to organize your book by scene, but there’s another trick that makes this even better: by putting two “plus signs” on either side of a piece of text, you can create a note to yourself, that won’t show up in the final document. For example, I can also remind myself what Chapter Twelve is about by putting two plus signs around this chunk of text at the top of my Ulysses sheet for that scene:

++Jennifer shows up late for work (again) after her son’s morning asthma attack, and her boss, while sympathetic, tells Jennifer that it’s simply not working out. She’s fired. As she’s carrying her box of things to her car, the box breaks. It starts to rain as the scene ends, and Jennifer thinks she’s officially hit rock bottom.++

The above text will show up for me in Ulysses, but the plus signs tell Ulysses not to export that particular “note to self” in the final Word document. Not only does this scene summary make for easy quick reference looking back at what you’ve already written, but it can serve as motivation/ inspiration on future scenes! You can see the crux of that exciting climax scene waiting to be written, even if you’re not quite there yet.

4. Break the writing rules.

I used to think there was one “right way” to write a novel—that precise writing was good writing. I’d agonize that all of my chapters had to be roughly the same length, and at least 2,000 words. I’d think that if I did alternating POVs at the start of the book, I had to keep that going throughout the entire book. I thought that one-sentence paragraphs weren’t allowed. Or that you could never ever start a sentence with but or so, and that sentence fragments were completely off limits. I followed all the rules, published a few books with a big publisher... and sold almost no books, and made almost no money.

I figured if I wasn’t going to make much money from my books, I might as well have some fun with it! So, I started breaking rules. If a particular scene ended up at 898 words, and I loved the idea of it being its own chapter, I did that, even if the surrounding chapters were 3,000+. I once wrote a book where 80% was the heroine’s POV in first person, 20% was the male POV in third- person. I’ve written scenes made up primarily of text messages.

And you know what happened when I started breaking rules? I started hitting bestseller lists. Breaking rules and trying something different doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer—it means you’re developing your own style. This again is where Ulysses really shines. Traditional word processors force you to see your book in a very “finished” format, even in your earliest drafts. You may not realize it, but this “formal” appearance can really hamper any creative innovation. Ulysses provides freedom of structure, and because it’s a Markdown editor, you’ll be focused on what your words and stories are, rather than whether they or not they adhere to the “rules.”

5. Push through to the end.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, don’t stop until you reach the end! This seems so obvious, but it’s truly the most crucial advice I can give. A finished book is what separates authors from writers. Writers write. They put words on a page. But they also sometimes stop. Authors push through to the end so they have something to publish. Confession: my official story is that I wrote my first book in 2011, but the truth is, I tried NaNoWriMo 3 times in the early 2000s. I’d always start out November strong, excited about my new story, already envisioning the mansion I’d buy when I edged out Stephen King in book sales. All three of those times, I quit before even reaching 30,000 words. But the strange thing: it was never a sudden stop. It’s not as though I was on an inspired writing tear one day, and then would just abruptly abandon the book the next day. It was slow. Subtle. I’d tell myself that I had writer’s block, and just needed to “reevaluate” my story, and go back to fiddling with the my outline. Or tweaking my notes. I’d tell myself that I just needed a little time away from my story, and would watch TV instead. Or I’d tell myself that my problem was lack of organization. I’d spend hours (yes, hours) in my then-writing program, playing with formatting and cork boards and style editors. Slowly, I’d fall further and further behind in my word count, until finally I just... quit.

This is why Ulysses is so crucial. I know I sound like a broken record, but Ulysses is one of the few programs that gets it right. It keeps the focus on what matters: words. But with just enough organization prowess so that you don’t lose your way.

Lauren Layne is the New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen romantic comedies. A former e-commerce and web marketing manager from Seattle, Lauren relocated to New York City in 2011 to pursue a full-time writing career. She lives with her husband in midtown Manhattan.

[sawamura-daichis-thighs]

get to know the author

I was tagged by @yaoyoroses :D thank you En!

Tag | @l1nkp1t​, @astersandstuffs​, @eccentrick-stardust​, @amajikies​, & @hajiiwa​ (if any of you would like to!)

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean? i wanted a Haikyuu!! themed username since i fell deep so here we are :3 in terms of my ao3 username, Miah_Kat, it’s a mashup of my nickname & a name for an old OC; i use some variation of it as a default whenever i make a new account somewhere bc i’m bad at thinking up usernames on the spot. ^^”

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos). what if i told you...? is at the top with 734 hits & 133 kudos (!!!!! holy crow) on tumblr, Cafuné is the most popular with 46 notes :”D

3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it? it’s of megane Oikawa! ^^ i chose it because he’s one of my favorite characters & he looks damn good in glasses

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters? @l1nkp1t, @wallynorthbynorthwest, @ninja-spacenerd, & @littleop always leave me wonderful comments/tags that never fail to brighten my day!! ❤❤❤❤

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again? hmmm i can’t think of one off the top of my head but y’all should def check out my bookmarks & fic rec tag for some awesome works!!

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked? i’m subscribed to 46 users, 20 series, & 127 works. I’ve bookmarked 257.

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most? i don’t stray far from canon-compliant stuff but i find myself writing a lot of getting together, first kisses, or domestic fluff kind of stuff. If I’m going to go full-AU though I lean towards fantasy.

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page) i have 8 user subscribers, 17 unspecified subscriptions, & 111 bookmarks total ^^

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!) mmm well i think every writer has some general fears of being judged, regardless of what’s written. for me, maybe smut since i just don’t write it often (& i’ve only ever posted one fic that has it)

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc. writing in general?? lol idk i’d like to be more...dedicated, i guess? i can’t seem to finish anything without it taking months. i also have a hard time with details, so i’d like to find a good middle-ground with that. oh, and world-building when writing fantasy (it’s just so much work aslkdjfk)

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often? i write popular ships more often but i’m absolutely open to writing rarepairs! i know it can be disheartening to really love a ship but not be able to find much content for it, so i don’t mind getting rarepair requests. i like making people happy if i can :)

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)? 33 on ao3

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program? 18 WIPs in Google Docs & probably...10+ in my laptop files?

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head? oh, definitely write them down! i can keep them in my head for a little while but there’s a 95% chance of not remembering them after something distracts me lol

15. Have you ever co-authored a story? kind of? back in high-school my best friend & i used to write stories together. it was all for fun though, nothing that ever made it to a site. i think it would be fun to do a collab with someone though! :D

16. How did you discover AO3? i think a post from tumblr linked me to it & i’d seen a lot of people talking about it, so i gave it a shot.

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3? HAH no way lmao  😂😂😂

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers? not really. i just think everyone who reads my stuff are wonderful, lovely people ^^

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write? i’ve read basically my whole life and fanfiction led me to writing. there wasn’t a specific story or author though; just the realization that i could also put my own twist on characters/fandoms i enjoyed. i also have an amazing best friend who supported my passion when it first began, so she’s definitely a huge part of why i continued to write.

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author? read. a lot. write, even when you don’t want to or think it sucks. as with any kind of art, experience and practice is the only way you’ll get better. be open to constructive-criticism but don’t let the “rules” overwhelm or suffocate your passion. most importantly: write what you like! what you want to read! have fun with it!

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go? oh jeez, it’s a mixture of both? i usually start with a scene in my head that makes me go “i wanna write that” but then i have to find a way to get to the scene? so i either wing it, if the idea was clear enough, or i scribble down an outline to get my base ideas down but leave wiggle room for inspiration during the writing process.

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do? i’m sure i have, back when i first started; i likely commented back that if it wasn’t their preference, there was no need to read the fic or leave a rude comment behind.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)  a c t i o n, definitely. i also get kind of stuck on kisses? idk how much detail to put into them lol

24. What story(s) are you working on now? even tho i’m slow af about it i’m currently working on 2 actively:

a makoharu gift exchange fic!

a klance fic with which i’m taking my first steps into writing for VLD (i’m jumping on the bandwagon where they’re somehow physically stuck together (via alien handcuffs in mine) for a time & grow closer as a result)

i’m always sorta-kinda working on my various iwaoi fics; the nipple-piercing fic is near completion & i’ve recently remembered my single dads au that i hope to work more on soon ^^

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)? pffftt all the time. the ideas are definitely more forthcoming than the Muse & motivation like to be.

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself? nope. i tried that for a while but it didn’t stick.

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started? absolutely! although i sometimes have mixed feelings about it, concentrating in creative writing definitely helped me improve in many ways.

28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written? i don’t...really...have one? ^^” i guess i am particularly fond of with a hoarse voice, under the blankets just because i feel i managed to get the atmosphere & imagery i wanted

29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written? anything from when i first began lol

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years? hopefully still improving & enjoying what i write (as well as finishing what i start aslkdjfk). i’m not aiming for publication or anything; i just want to write for fun.

31. What is the easiest thing about writing? getting the ideas!

32. What is the hardest thing about writing? to quote En: “e v e r y t h i n g”

33. Why do you write? it’s fun! i enjoy making the ideas i have in my head come to fruition on paper. i like experimenting with styles and imagery & characters. i enjoy the happy dance my heart does when i know i’ve described a scene or a character just right. i’ve made a lot of amazing friends through writing & i love knowing something i’ve created might bring a smile to someone. ❤