#answerdora

[kuwdora]

A Vidding Primer

A guide written for @wren-of-the-woods who asked for advice about how to start vidding! This is far from comprehensive and I tried not to make it too dense because it's a big subject. I still wanted to share a variety of topics about getting into vidding because it's a hobby and art that is near and dear to my heart.

First Piece of Advice

watch a lot of vids and rewatch vids multiple times. Seek out vids on YouTube, AO3, Watch the TikTok and Twitter/X vids that show up on tumblr or wherever you’re browsing. They all have distinct styles and tools/techniques they use to make their vids and edits. Rewatch the vids and ask yourself what you like or dislike about them. The song, the editing, the source. That can give you a good starting point about how you might want to approach making your own fanvids. The TikTok style of 30 and 40 second edits are very different what you find on YouTube. YouTube editors tend to use a full song and a lot more effects and a lot more overlapping dialogue. Whereas the fanvids - Vids - from people who came into vidding in the mid 2000s/2010s have their own culture, different ways they approach song choice, clip choices and narrative. I also suggest watching vids for shows/films you’re not familiar with as well as your fandom favorites. You can learn a lot about how vidders try to tell a story even when you might not grasp the context behind certain scenes but you can still follow along with the emotional arc of the vid.

Second Piece of Advice

Have fun and enjoy yourself. Everyone starts a new hobby as a newbie. It can be a lot of effort to make 30 seconds or a 3 minute vid, but it’s such a unique type of fanwork that is fun to watch and fun to make. It can also be migraine inducing because of all the learning and technical issues along the way. But!! omg when you make a clip fall on the perfect beat with your blorbo crying that perfect tear or you find an idea and sources for the bestest perfect lyrics of the song, it’s a magnificent high. It can make you feel like a god. At least that’s how I feel a lot of times!

There are about 10 steps* to creating** a fanvid/edit:

• select your platform and software (phone/computer video editors) • gather your video and audio files • create a new project in your video editor • import audio into the editor • import the video into the software and mute audio tracks that contain your video’s audio • review, label and cut up the video into shorter clips - this step is known as ‘clipping’ in vidding parlance, but it’s also optional. Some people pull in movies and scrub through the whole film and just pull it directly onto the timeline • move the various video clips around on the timeline to match the audio track you’ve chosen for your project, add video effects and additional dialogue if you like • export the finished timeline • upload the video to a streaming platform and/or downloadable service • share your project!!! posting to ao3 and/or social media or share on discord, etc * there are a lot more steps involved with each of these steps. What what software to use, where to find video, how to deal with copyright blocks on Youtube, etc. Some of that will be covered in the links below but is not comprehensive. That would require separate posts and links and I don’t want to drop an encyclopedia on you right now! I’m happy to provide more resources that I can curate if you want more direction and pointers to resources and amazing vidders.

** like any hobby, there can and will be a learning curve and frustrations. Blank page for a writer, blank timeline for a vidder. Is anything you put down is any good, self esteem and confusion about what actually makes sense is part and parcel for any creative work. Once you're in the vidding process and committed, as long as you're enjoying yourself you gotta just keep going to get it done.

Getting Started Vidding

My knowledge and background and learning how to vid from people on livejournal and dreamwidth from 2007. I don’t have any experience in editing with a phone but if that’s something you’re interested in, YouTube will be a place for you to start finding tutorials for various apps and tools. Probably discord communities, too. Vidding Workshop - a great how-to/guide when you're starting out. This is on dreamwidth from the WisCon vidparty in 2014. Some of the tech discussions might be a little outdated but there’s a ton of relevant information. It covers technical subjects as well as developing vid ideas and actually getting started. If you have any questions about what you’re reading you can leave an anonymous comment and ask - some of these vidders responding inthe threads are still active. You can find them on AO3/YouTube, tumblr, discord and actually leave them questions about their vids. Many vidders are more than thrilled to talk about their vids and answer questions. Vexcercises - this is a dreamwidth community for short-form vid excercises. This is a very structured way of introducing vid concepts and constraints so that you can produce a vidlet. I highly recommend you check this out and participate! There’s even an AO3 collection so you can check out how people have done the different exercises, too.

The Process of Vidding

Watch Me Edit - @limblogs put together a fantastic playlist of YouTube editors who will show you beginning to end how they made their vid. A lot of these editors appear to be using Sony Vegas but the general process of vidding end-to-end will be similar with other nonlinear editors like DaVinci Resolve, Premiere, etc. It’s a great way to actually see the vid come together if you don’t know what that even looks like. Every vidder will develop their own workflow and approach (which might even change from vid to vid), but it’s useful to see in video how people actually DO the thing. @limblogs also created a handy YouTube playlist some vidders from Bradcpu’s Vidder Profiles (Fanlore page). These profiles are basically like a director’s DVD commentary on their vidding process, featuring the vidders talking over their own vids! So cool. Phenomnal insights from these vidders about how they choose song, use effects, think about their narratives.

Self Rec: I recently did a vidding textpost series called: do it for the process - a naked vid draft: What (Yennefer of Vengerberg). How I Edit by @vimesbootstheory is another textpost about their vidding process. Self rec: Here’s my text interview: Vidder Profile - Kuwdora 2011. I talk about my process with a lot of specific examples from my previous work and lots of screenshots. This profile is over a decade old but a lot of this still holds true for me today! videlicet - this is an incredible vidding zine that @limblogs put togegther with a lot of amazing contributors. These articles and discuss about specific vids and aspects of vidding. It’s really detailed and a fantastic piece of vidding culture. I highly reading recommend the Demystifying Vidding article by lim and the A History of Vidding by @meeedeee and…pretty much every article in the zine!

Doing the vidding!

I recommend joining exchanges and watching vids that come out of exchanges and checking out fannish cons that have vidshows and discords to get more exposure to vidders and vids. Many people have joined @festivids (AO3 collection here) and made their very first vid, it's a very fun and great way to get into vidding. It’s not quite festivids season right now but time flies and it will be time to nominate sources and do sign-ups in the blink of an eye. Follow @festivids and check out the AO3 collection and see what people are making. Join the Vexcercises community and make some short vids and share them on your tumblr or on discord or somewhere and bask in the thrill of making your first fanvids. Check out who reblogged the vidder ask game - go and read other vidders responses and ask some new-to-you vidders questions. Everyone has their own take on process and tech and everything. It's great to hear and see what a lot people are doing and making.

Final Advice - talking about vids and doing the vidding

• watch vids • rewatch vids • leave a comment and ask a question about something you saw in their vid! • Again: find someone’s AO3 page of fanvids and ask them something about their vid in a comment or send them asks on tumblr (people usually have the same alias or link to their tumblr or dreamwidth pages somewhere.) • YouTube can be a valuable resource for tutorials so if you don't know something, there is likely someone who has made a tutorial about how to use a cross dissolve transition or anything else you might want to replicate in a video that you've seen in a vid. • start making a vid, scream and cry, ask for help, and keep going until you get it done. Celebrate and bask in your completed vid and share it with everyone! • Follow vidders on tumblr that you find from the vidder ask game • Check out the vidding discord for community and questions and vid recs and news about vidding exchanges and cons. • Have fun!

Hope this helps you get started! Thank you so much for the ask! Let me know if you have more questions and I can help you out or send you to cool vidders who have great advice and suggestions. And please send me your vid if you make one!

[kuwdora]

Hello, hope you are doing well. I've always wondered, for those fanvids that overlap music with dialogue (and just in general) how do you remove the show's original soundtrack or music?

Hi there, this is a great question! I’m not that familiar with removing background audio so I went to the vidding discord to ask for help. Here are the recommendations I’ve found for you.

Audio Editing Tips and Resources

@bingeling used Adobe Premiere’s built-in audio filters and found decent success with the majority of the clips where they needed to edit audio. @eruthros pointed out that if the original video file is in 5.1 surround sound you can actually just mute the individual tracks in your video editor. Audacity has a lot of audio editing features and they’ve also introduced some AI tools to isolate and separate vocals. Audacity has long been a go-to for fanvidders for audio editing and something I used early on in my viddding experience, too. (edited to add: thank you to searchingweasel for this suggestion too!) Spleeter has been recommended by @sandalwoodbox and @Januarium. Lalal.ai is recommended by @Januarium, they used it in their fanvids and thought it worked well. Adobe Enhance comes recommended by by @vielmouse. If you have questions about any of these tools or other questions about fanvidding, gathering source, music resources, exporting help, you’re welcome to join the vidding discord. There’s also channels for sharing wips, recs and lots more. Hope this helps! Thank you for the ask! And thank you to the vidding discord for sharing your knowledge with us!

[kuwdora]

ao3 wrapped: 3, 12, 25!

eeeee these are good numbers, thank you for the ask nic!

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

Some Kind of Disaster my TWN Season 3 missing scene fic with Yen and Jaskier is the one I’m most proud of this year. (Though to be fair I only managed to finish/post 4 fics this year so it’s a small pool… But still!) This fic hits all of the emotional beats that had been swirling in my head for a few years now, so I was over the moon when I got to the end of the fic and it was done and it was everything I wanted. Such a great feeling to see it into the world.

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

The number of WIPs are always too many. Prioritizing my WIPs is hard at the best of times, heh. I had maybe 6-7 active WIPs in the past year that I didn’t finish. On top of a few more new WIPs and ideas that wanted to be WIPs. Hard to stay focused.

As I said in previous ask, I have a yennskier nonsexual kink fic to work on. Since I’m still very much in witcher mode regardless of time between seasons.

But I still have my 20k+ Ciri fic that I really want and need to revisit. I have 30k+ more Jaskier fic that I yearn to work on. It's really matter of me poking @littlestsnicket and maybe enlisting some other folks to wave pompoms in my periphery to remind me that I want to go chasing that’ finishing-a-longfic/series feeling.’ I forever need to practice sharing more WIPs on main.

I may try to finish and post a little radskier ficlet I wrote in…idk I want to say March? And then there’s a Vilgefortz ficlet that I started last year, too that I think could be within finishing distance.

25. Did you receive any gifts this year?

I have a BOUNTY of gifts from this year! Like, so many. So blessed, everyone is having so much fun and I'm loving it all. Strap in, I got a squeeful recs list for you all.

Chantress did a podfic of my TWN Triss/Yenna ficlet Germinate which was a complete and wonderful surprise and is so, so lovely.

@astaldis did a remix of one of my Yennefer/Jaskier drabbles and it’s so great! It’s called Completion, very sexy feelings and hottness.

@she-who-drank-vodka-with-cats picked up a prompt I shared in the Smubbles server for some Meve/Reynard Thronebreaker awesomeness. It’s called the benefits of a prince consort. My prompt was: meve/reynard foot massage and comfort. ❤️❤️❤️

@sassaffrassa wrote me a smutty Geralt/Jaskier edging drabble called Stamina and it's of course 🔥🔥🔥🔥 Sass also wrote me Scavenger’s Reign Azi/Levi sex pollen drabble called flowering because robot yuri and sex pollen!!!!! If ever an an alien planet would have sex pollen, it would be Vesta. 🔥🔥🔥

@flootzavut gifted me a Jaskier fic called you do not get to hurt me which was a lovely surprise, lots of queer Jaskier messy feelings. I had a great time tossing the idea ball back and forth with flooty on this one when they were a little stuck on it. And the finished fic is so great and achey and I want to roll around in the Jaskier feelings all the time. Love you flootyfloots. I was bamboozled with love and utter surprise when I got an AO3 notification saying I was gifted a Stargate work. From none other than MSSalieri/troyswann who has been archiving their SG fic over the last few years. It’s an Elizabeth Weir and Daniel Jackson fic inspired by a prompt I offered Salieri several lifetimes and platforms ago. Salieri is an author and artist I have loved for an eternity, and I spent a lot of time reading and studying her fic when I was also first starting out writing fic. Trying to figure out how to do this prose thing. Really, just amazing…so much in a short fic. Reactivating the dormant Stargate feelings. The fic is called Unknown Waters. my prompt I had given Sal: If one tries to navigate unknown waters one runs the risk of shipwreck.

And then. There’s @ialwayscomewhenyoucall. Lira. Lira! Who I am constantly egging on with my Doctor Who Ten/Jack prompts in the @smubbles-etc discord server. Lira is just as delighted by my prompts as I am fucking excited to see what she comes up with. I’ve dumped approximately 200 million Doctor Who Ten/Jack prompts into the server this year. She’s been making me feel like a winner, lol. Lira is frolicking with prompts and I’m kicking my feetsies. ALSO Lira, have you made any headway on that Ten/Jack having sex performance for a paying alien audience prompt? Maybe for Smubble’s Wanksmas event? :D

Doctor Who Ten/Jack drabbles by LiraelClayr007:

Roses are Red - prompt: jack in lingerie. doctor admiring.

Black and (TARDIS) Blue - prompt: atyptical bruising patterns that jack is really into and wants more of immediately.

Different Body, Same Hearts - prompt: jack/ten reunion blowjob, the thrill of it all after so long.

Working together - a remix of my Refrain fic - Jack wants more. The Doctor is happy to give it to him.

You Can Wait - remix of my Syllable ficlet - Jack isn't allowed to come until the Doctor does.

From his knees - remix of my Reverence ficlet - Jack worships the Doctor.

Tether - The Doctor is spiraling after saying goodbye to Rose and his other self. Jack sees, and knows how to help. (not my prompt but lira's gotten so spun up from all my other prompts that I am still getting the goodies, ehehe)

The Doctor’s Song - Jack loves the sounds the Doctor makes. (not my prompt but still my joy !!!)

It’s a New Day - During sex, Jack asks the Doctor a question. He's surprised by the answer (not my prompt but still my gift, yes yayay)

❤️❤️❤️ I didn't manage to write/finish/post as much fic as I would have liked but I still had a great time with all the ideas and words from my brilliant friends. Here's to another year of awesome fic.

[kuwdora]

could you please post/link a big picture of your icon? it intrigues me so...

aw this is such a great question. my tumblr icon is a piece of art that, according to the metadata, I saved over 20 years ago and has migrated with me across multiple laptops, and hard drives and life events, hah. Way back in the day I had been obsessed with tarot decks and fantasy art and was saving everything I could find that was Brian Froud or reminiscent of Brian Froud's style or type of faeries. I've cycled through a few of these images as my longstanding icons (though I always made room for fannish icons and was an avid LJ icon maker back in the day)

I have always wanted my icons to give off that strange faery vibe. sometimes more approachable than others. usually twinkling with mischief in some way. this image file was labelled "xc.bmp" - bitmap file. Microsoft image file. old file. two other faces of kuwdora around the internet: green face (original file name: allergy fae.gif) and pooka face:

thank you for the ask!!! ❤️

[kuwdora]

Whats a piece of prose youre really proud of?

Oh! Yes, I have quite a few pieces I'm very proud of but here is one section in particular. I don't always do a lot of talking about my fic on main but I like writing soft romantic Geralt and Jaskier a lot. ---- Geralt wasn’t sure how long he was drifting with the memories before Jaskier slid his arms around him and kissed his nape. Affection swelled in Geralt’s chest and Jaskier’s hands fanned across his sternum. He welcomed the touch immensely, particularly after the long week away in the rain.

Jaskier pressed his cheek against the back of his shoulder, hands sweeping down Geralt’s abdomen. His beard was a scratchy counterpoint to the silk robe that brushed his thighs. 

“Finally run out of words?” Geralt asked with quiet humor; it was his familiar jab, like Jaskier’s incessant need to bait him about the white honey. Usually he asked the question when Jaskier was breathlessly fucked out.

Jaskier kissed Geralt’s shoulder in reply. He turned around and Jaskier swayed, moving like he did when he wanted Geralt to dance with him, albeit in a slower, more fatigue-ridden way. His fingers skimmed along the scars on Geralt’s chest that he’d once sung about, and all those he hadn’t. 

Jaskier’s smile was small—the kind of smile he wore when he was focused and thoughtful—and his brow furrowed, softening the mirth in his eyes. He cupped Geralt’s face and gently kissed him on the chin and the corner of his mouth.

“To think that after all this time, I could still want you like this. Have you like this,” Jaskier said, letting go of Geralt’s face to sweep his hands across his shoulders and back with the reverence he had for the simple, intimate touches. “I could grow to be a thousand years and never tire of this.” 

Jaskier leaned forward and kissed Geralt’s chest. His lips were dry and his beard tickled the divots of scar tissue where he whispered, “All the Spheres spin with envy that I have learned the shape, the taste of this love.”

Geralt exhaled slowly, his mind staggering from the words.

Jaskier was still fully clothed in the rumpled nightshirt and silk robe, wearing those mismatching socks, but he was naked in the poetry of his words, wearing nothing but his years. Geralt’s heart fucking wrenched.

“You can write that one down for me later,” Jaskier said, and that damnably coy smile lit him from the inside.  read more: stories we tell, memories we share, and the words we hold dear, aka the scribe fic, aka the one where geralt strips naked and transcribes jaskier's poetry for him. they're also very old, it's a happily ever after.

[kuwdora]

Lost Scenes Thursday! Get to know your favourite authors better. Show five scenes from either abandoned fics where you regret they will never see the light of day, or five scenes from WIPs where you are impatient to see them out there. Long, short, one-liner... it's all good reading. Tag five other authors where you are curious.

Here is a messy witcher snippet from 2021 which was part of a longer plotty story that never went anywhere. But this mostly was me embracing Jaskier as a Disney Princess and finding my way to Jaskier and Geralt's netflix dynamic and voices. Only remembered this because @littlestsnicket and I were talking about jaskier and geralt and music recently.

the original fic title was actually called Counterpoint of Disaster and got too big and messy for me to deal with. but this snippet should whet your appetite!

jaskier & geralt. case fic vibes. 850w. rated T.

Jaskier ambled along the stretch of road beside a fence, strumming his lute and humming. The sun was easing itself behind the peaks of the Mahakams and the shadow was creeping along the meadow. At the top of a sloping hill, Jaskier noticed a dot that resembled a cow. 

He perched himself on the fence and he resumed his song, uncertain he could project his voice enough for the cow to hear him.

But it did. The cow moseyed down the hill towards him. By the time it was half-way to Jaskier on the fence two more cows appeared at the top of the hill.

Amused, Jaskier sang louder. The ambling cow continued its approach with its companions making their way to Jaskier’s little stage. His fingers danced along the strings. Swing that scythe dawn to dusk with weary shoulders, to home and hearth your wife… All variations on a satisfying theme. A hard day's work followed by ale and love at home only to wake up and do it all over again. Music to rejuvenate oneself for the next day’s work.  

The cows mooed upon their approach and Jaskier played on. Three more cows appeared on the horizon and they herded each other down the hill towards him.

“Not my usual audience,” Jaskier said and laughed. He tilted his head and adjusted his posture, a smile tugging at his lips. “I wonder…” he murmured. He began playing a lighthearted song of a young maiden’s carefree day. 

He was halfway through the chorus and was deeply amused by the nearly dozen cows standing in front of him. By the time Jaskier was on the final verse another three cows had joined them, shouldering their way closer.

Jaskier continued to hum and sing, plucking a cute little melody for the attentive audience. He received some lowing in return and he laughed. “Happy cows indeed. Who knew I had fans afield. Will a good song produce sweet milk?” he asked them.

His fingers danced along the strings, improvising nonsense and one of the soft-eyed cows wandered right up to the fence and offered him an insistent moo before nudging his knee with its snout.

“I would definitely consider tips in the form of cheese,” Jaskier said and gave the cow a gentle pat on the side of her face. 

His hand came away wet and he was about to wipe the cow snot away when he saw his hand was crimson.

Jaskier gagged and nearly wiped the blood on his clean trousers. He stopped himself just in time and wobbled on the fence.

“Uh, Geralt?” Jaskier called. “There’s some bloody cows over here.”

“There’s a farm nearby,” Geralt said, sounding like he replied without looking up.

“No, I mean they look like they rolled around in a pool of blood,” Jaskier said.

Two of the cows pushed forward as if to ask why he’d stopped playing. They crowded Jaskier enough and pushed at his knees with soft blood-covered snouts. Jaksier unwound his legs from the fence to lean forward for a closer look. Then they were all at his knees at once.

Jaskier wobbled.

The cows mooed.

Jaskier flailed and threw up his arms with his lute, instinctively protecting it as he fell.

He landed hard.

Jaskier wheezed. Pulled the lute close to his chest, cradling it amidst the pain.

He opened his eyes, not realizing he’d closed them. Geralt leaned on the fence, looking at the assembled cows.

“I think they were going to take a bite out of me,” Jaskier rasped. Geralt held out an arm and when Jaskier grabbed it he was heaved upward like it was nothing, again reminding him of Geralt’s effortless strength. He spread his feet and tried to gain his bearings but he’d fallen harder than he realized because the ache persisted in his chest and back. He rubbed the back of his neck and the back of his head and took a step backwards from the fence. 

“Wouldn’t be the first creature to try,” Geralt said and climbed over the fence for a closer look. The frown on the witcher’s face worried Jaskier. The eager brown cow, hungry for more song didn’t appear blood-thirsty in the slightest despite the blood-matted fur indicating otherwise.

“Did they make a grand escape from the butcher? One last dinner before they became dinner?” Jaskier said. 

“I doubt it,” Geralt said. He was reaching out to the animal and touching the side of her face, peering at her eyes and ears before doing a cursory check of her mouth before moving on to the rest of her body. She paid Geralt little heed and when she mooed it started a chain reaction from the others.

“The blood is human. At least a day old,” Geralt said and moved on to examine the other eager cow who hung her head over the fence like she was waiting for Jaskier to resume his song.

“So they were trying to take a bite out of me. This is definitely a mystery in the making: The Mystery of the Bloody Cows,” Jaskier said.

[kuwdora]

ao3 wrapped: 12 (but more which are you most excited about) and 27

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

How many wips did I dump into that folder and share with you? Lol. It looks like just the 5 wips even though I have more. I already mentioned my Ciri fic in another ask. I mentioned my Jaskier fic but there's that Jaskier-in-Oxenfurt fic which is part series for his post-season 2 shenanigans in Oxenfurt. And there's my Vilgefortz ficlet too which is really self indulgent and nutty way for me to gnaw on canons, based off an @aretuzagradschooldropout prompt that made me lose my mind, heh.

Oh! My Yennefer/Freya goddess fucking wip! I want to get back to that one. Mmmmm, goddess fucking.

I also briefly mentioned..s…somewhere? In another ask? or DM? I finally figured out what the follow-up story is for my Geralt and Jaskier fic I can see through you. which is probably my most popular fic for the geraskier fandom. I have a whole giant backstory for Jaskier in this that I wasn't sure how to get down in the narrative, and how I wanted to weave it with some of the short stories and invert canon elements. Finally managed to tick some thoughts into place this past year of not-writing. I'm really pleased with the idea and surprised it took me so long to figure out. So that’s an idea I am hoping to revisit this coming yearly. Ideally. Dreamily.

Plus I always have more of my postcanon-geralt/jaskier/yennefer sitting in my Scrivener folders, like 12k at this point, some of which is in that folder.

And somehow I have managed to get a few ideas for Interview with the Vampire that I may or may not be able to work on in the next year. But. Ohhhh I be thinkin’ on them real hard because I think I have a Daniel fic to write, and then probably a Louis art history fic to figure out, too and roll around in for 8+ months.27 What do you listen to while writing?

27 What do you listen to while writing?

Answered that in this ask!

❤️ ty for the ask !

[kuwdora]

how do you feel about alliteration?

omg. I fucking love it. Too much, perhaps. It comes out when I write Jaskier. Fic titles: A Drowner's Dozen and A Beard for a Bard. Alliteration in fic:

Jaskier licked his lips and shook his head. “You’re going to keep an old man waiting all night for a punchline? For shame, Geralt.”  His eyes were wide with admonishment.

Geralt didn’t chuckle, but it was a close call. He made him wait just a little longer before he raised his chin and relented. “There’s no—”

“—honey in the white honey,” Jaskier finished quickly and inclined his head, looking too pleased with himself. “But why was it named as such if not for poetic license?”

Jaskier’s face slid into a stony seriousness that Geralt didn’t believe he would be able to hold for long with the way he was rocking on his heels, still ignoring the splatter of water on his socks. 

Geralt shook his head and counted backwards from the count of five before he finally answered. He had learned enough over the years to know how much Jaskier appreciated the build of anticipation. “It was for the honeysuckle.”

“Suckle your honey,” Jaskier said triumphantly and took a half-step towards him, placing the cup of water on the desk and he was rolling his wrists when he shuffled away, his stride a little longer now, but altogether slower.

“See, it all works out. Nothing is off limits for my alchemy of affection,” Jaskier said and swept a draped silk arm about himself and Geralt, his elbow pulled in close, the gesture not as wide as usual. “Our literature of love.” He paused and leered at him. “This conjunction of cocks.” read more: stories we tell, memories we share, and the words we hold dear aka the scribe fic where geralt is naked and writing jaskier's poetry. aka the one where they've had a lifetime of adventure and love and they live every moment of it when they're together.

[kuwdora]

15 and 30 for the AO3 wrapped ask game?

❤️ thanks for the asks!

What WIP are you taking into next year with you? This answer, as @littlestsnicket can attest to (lol), changes on a weekly basis. I will say that one WIP that I keep wanting to work on...I have tried and failed to get anywhere with my Yennefer/Jaskier nonsexual kink fic for several years now. I have 3 false starts. And I keep thinking about this story and going more insane about it, so I probably need to take a deep breath and reread all my notes that I shared with @sassaffrassa and try again. I was working 60+ hr weeks in October and was thinking about some of their dialogue in that WIP that I think I might be closer to getting it unfucked if I try again. So it definitely might be time to nudge this closer to the top of the WIP list!

Biggest surprise while writing this year?

It’s not the BIGGEST surprise. But it was still a surprise that I wrote roleplay fic since roleplay is a trope I prefer to read and not write. But the smutty stars aligned and I was inspired. Yennskier/geraskefer silly roleplay that is really just a little Narnia AU: the lion, the witch, and the audacity of this bitch.

[kuwdora]

hello! 27, 29, AND 30 for the writer wrapped, please!! :3 :3 :3

oh hi you !! 😍 ty for the asks. Let's see... What do you listen to while writing?

These days I usually pull up MyNoise and have some kind of white noise or background ambiance when I’m writing. I used to write to character playlists that I write but I get too distracted by it now so I go all in on white noise. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

Ohhhhh, this is a hard one. But some of my favorites are from Some Kind of Disaster, my Yennefer/Jaskier Thanedd missing scenes fic with them all kinds of soft about each other and Geralt. I have so many favorite passages from that fic. Mmmm.. this one:

"Are we friends?" Yennefer asked. The question so wholly took Jaskier by surprise that he laughed.

"Friends? Oh, no, we're not friends," he said and giggled, punch-drunk from sleep deprivation and the irony. What was it about Jaskier's character that he was so predisposed to the emotionally challenged. But, oh, how he loved this.

He glanced at Yennefer again and laughed at her stupefied, exhausted expression. "Daresay we might be chums, perhaps."

"Chums," Yennefer echoed dubiously.

Jaskier couldn't help but wheeze with more laughter and he pulled the blankets up to his chest. A chest that Yennefer had nuzzled for the last half hour after giving him a rather cathartic kiss.

He raised his hand and began counting off his fingers. "I was going to ask how many friends you've threatened with castration, attempted to curse into a frog, nearly pushed off a cliff, and had rushed headlong into danger to rescue after forsaking your own safety….and later groping in the middle of the night after a traumatic event," Jaskier rubbed his eyes and tried to remember where he was going with this. "That might actually be friendship to you, now that I think about it."

Biggest surprise while writing this year?

Biggest surprise is that I managed to write/finish and post anything this year since my health was so poor. But also I wasn’t intending on writing book Francesca/Tissaia. I had actually spent a few months outlining a TWN Tissaia lives AU instead. But I had seen a prompt in January that was like lightning in a bottle inspiration and I was so excited to try my hand at this idea for the book characters, and it was a wonderful surprise. It’s called parable of the hostages. Angsty injury recovery and open-endedness AU'ness. What if book Tissaia lived?

[kuwdora]

top five favorite female characters?

Naomi Nagata - The Expanse books/show Aeryn Sun - Farscape Ciri and Yennefer - The Witcher books/show Salvor Hardin and Gaal Dornik - Foundation (tv show) Chrisjen Avasarala - The Expanse books/show

[kuwdora]

Top 5 Witcher ships! :D

Every combination of Yen/Geralt/Jaskier but yes I am very sweet on Yen/Jaskier Ciri/happiness Ciri/murder Geralt/Regis Fringilla/Francesca

[kuwdora]

Whats your fave drink >w>

I love all kinds of soda. Sugar and bubbles is really my thing. I like to try out Torani syrups for making my own soda at home. My current favorite DIY soda is freshly squeezed lime juice and crushed cherries with carbonated water. Drop a few of the cherries into the drink. So yummy. I also can't get enough of caramel coffee, especially frappuccinos. Thanks for the ask. :)

[kuwdora]

How about 1 and 24, if you haven't answered them already! My sister and I have been tossing around the idea of trying to make a fanvid or two but we have no idea how to start lol -- I'm curious if you have any advice! 💚

What program do you use? These days I use Adobe Premiere 2018 as the video editing software. I sometimes make effects and transitions with Adobe After Effects 2018. I also have a copy of Premiere 2019 because I have some plugins and transitions that only work on the newer version of the software. I’ll also sometimes use Photoshop for for title/credits as well. 24 When and why did you get started? answered here!

And!! I started a vidding primer for you! You can find that on tumblr and I also managed to throw it up on AO3 for easy bookmarking reference. I created an ao3 series for Vidding Resources and Meta that I will theoretically update with more new stuff and archiving old links/resources and things I've shared in the past as it pertains to vidding.

[kuwdora]

tagged by @poetikat ! ❤️

Currently Reading: I recently finished Defekt a sci-fi novella by Nino Cipri. A queer anti-capitalist adventure taking place inside a fictionalized IKEA with some world-hopping elements and other SF elements. The main character is Derek and he finds out he is not as alone as he thought and finds community and discovers some interesting things about himself. It was sweet and cute. Definitely made me want to punch management in the face. Great story. I'm gonna go and read the first novella in the series now.

Last Song: Oh, whatever that RuPaul song is from that improv dancing video I've seen on my tumblr dash several times this week.

Currently Watching: I recently finished Midnight Mass. I'm also watching Only Murders in the Building, Ahsoka, Nailed It! Baking Challenge. Star Trek Lower Decks!!! And the occasional Suits episode.

Current Fic: Currently in the middle of reading several long fics. 😍 And So We Fall Together (The One With The Unicorn) by galeaspida, AMAZING Yennefer/Tissaia story. I'm also rolling around my Ciri and bandit feelings with @poetikat 's At Another Time. I've also got @dragneto 's Midnight Mass fic ...in vitam aeternam in my to-read queue this weekend while my religious horror feelings are still fresh. I'm just CHOMPING on those tags. I have a few other stories I need to pull out of my saved tabs this weekend.

Writing: Going to be working on my Vilgefortz fic edits. I'm also trying to make headway on some yennskier/geraskefer stuff and a smattering of other witcher wips.

Next on watchlist: my to watch is so long, I haven't picked anything out yet. Probably something from my horror list since I'm behind on horror films from the last six years. Or maybe John Wick 4.

Current Obsession: I'm still rolling around in a variety of witcher feelings for all the canons. It doesn't want to let up. I have so much fic and many vids to make and try to finish. uhhh I don't know who to tag for this round so if you want to do it!! do it! and tag me please so I can read. ❤️

[kuwdora]

Talk shop Tuesday: which of your WIPs are you most excited about right now? 💚

Ooohh, my current WIP I'm veryyyy excited about is this silly, smutty Yen/Geralt/Jaskier that's Geralt POV. Some kink, but mostly it's soft established relationship feelings all around. Plus some bad jokes and/or puns I might sprinkle in last minute, ehehh. I had been chipping away on it off and on for the last few months and I have two small sections I'm grumbling about and then! Then I can do a light editing pass and set it free. What a joy that will be, 'cause I'm really quite fond of this fic.