#but posting a multi-chaptered fic is such a huge investment of time

[phoebepheebsphibs]

A lil sumthin' sumthin' to say...

Thanks for enjoying the story and drawings!

Your reactions, artwork, and many words of encouragement have been amazing. There are so many people who have enjoyed the story and were such an amazing motivation. There are a few specific people that I wanna acknowledge, though...

(Disclaimer, most of the sona designs were based off of piccrew posts I went digging for or were based on user icons lol)

Of course we have to start with @boots-with-the-fur-club!

Thanks for letting me continue the story you started! I didn't expect it to grow as much as it did, but the more I wrote, the more the world around it grew and evolved and it became this huge multi-chapter, multi-arced saga. I always get so excited when I see you post a new story and I wait in anticipation for every reaction you leave on my updates. Thanks so much for the advice you give, little blurbs you wrote, and moments when you fangirled over stuff with me! I have never been so inspired to write/draw/create in my life, and for that I am truly grateful.

@daboyau your interactions and reactions were very special and meaningful. I haven't known you very long but I can already tell how talented a writer you are and I may be just a bit intimidated by you. You motivate me to be a better writer, to work hard, and to not be shy about my stories! You're a very inspiring writer and every time I see your reactions to my work I freak out a little lol...

@truths33k3r4 I love the design you made for Mikey (I even took some inspiration from your design for my own), and the kind comments you leave always brighten my day! Your artwork continuously brings me joy, and I can't thank you enough for the adoration and adorable "phanart" you've created! You are truly inspiring and wonderful.

@that-0n3-shr00mi3-guy hands down you leave the funniest comments and have the most hilarious reactions to my stuff dude. I love how excited you get, it lets me know that you're invested and that my story is interesting. Thanks for making me laugh without fail!

@burritello3000 thank you for the comments, reactions, theories, interactions, and general love you consistently give to my stories! It makes me so happy that my blurbs and fics can provide so much entertainment that it in turn gives me entertainment to read your reactions!

@belleyellsaboutturtles your reviews and comments, the reactions you give, and the kind words you leave have inspired and delighted me to no end! It makes me so glad that you have noticed certain things that I write, hidden easter eggs and special clues, and I love how your heart melts from the brotherly moments or the sad lab memories. It's people like you that I write for!

Thanks again to all for how you have inspired me. I just genuinely appreciate your love for the story and hope to continue making stories that draw y'all in wholeheartedly!

[nsyncat]

OK, so this is my first post EVER since I joined Tumblr like ten years ago. Always been a lurker, enjoying all of the wonderful things here, the gifs, fics, ships, art, all the knowledge and all the amazing heritage posts, but never posting and hardly reblogging, I don't know why, was always afraid I would make a mistake or reblogg incorrectly...

Anyway, the reason this is my first time posting is because THAT amazing moment that happened a week ago, and I've been losing my mind ever since, and unfortunately I have nobody to share this excitement with that will understand... So I had to get it out somehow, and here seems like the perfect place to do so.

I don't know if anybody will read this or pay it any attention, but never mind, I just have TO. GET. IT ALL. OUT!

So I've been a loyal fan of 9-1-1 this past six years, got hooked to these kind of first responders dramas, also Station 19 and then of course Lone Star. I fell in love with the writing, the drama and action, the characters of course, the emotional and moving stories, both of the regular cast and the people in the emergencies (am not afraid to admit that I cried more than a few times, especially when I was pregnant... woooh, that was a tough season for me).

Anyway, like everyone else, got invested in Buck's storyline and of course hopped on the Buddie train in season 2. And obviously there was something between them, and the fandom always clowned themselves that "in the next season SOMETHING is going to happen!" and I always wanted to believe it, and also fooled myself a few times but always was the cold harsh realist and realised it was not going to happen... But enjoyed the ride nonetheless, read amazing fics, saw wonderful fanart, read interesting breakdowns and analysis.

And then 704 happened and I'm not joking or exaggerating, my life changed!

Confirming that Buck is Bi was amazing! I'm ashamed to admit that I really thought it won't happen, EVER! So I still can't believe it actually happened (thank you soooo much ABC!) and like a lot of you, I've been on cloud nine this past week and can't wait for tomorrows episode (also not from the US), literally counting down the hours.

And look, I love Buddie, I really do, but I fell in love with TEVAN (my favourite one yet) 😍 and been OBSESSED with them this past week. Just from those few moments between them and what we barely know that is going to happen the next episode, I truly fell in love with them and really hope they make it as far as they can. I think its an amazing thing for Buck and also CANT. STOP. WATCHING THE KISS! The actors did an incredible job, especially Oliver, also with his spoken support of the storyline and his love for Buck. Such a KING! So this whole thing is huge.

And I have a one-year-old, my life is hectic with taking care of a little human being, a hubby who is also very busy, work, family and a million other things and this past year with a heavy heart I kinda neglected reading fics, and it was my main hobby, my escape, my one and constant thing in my LIFE since I was 12. I do read here and there, but not like I used to, reading hours and hours and into the night, multi chapters and long oneshots, in multiple fandoms, and now whenever I do get to read something once In a blue moon I'm not fully invested or enjoying it because either I'm tired or have something else more important to do. And unfortunately, eventually I noticed that I lost this fire, the passion in me and it left me sad and heartbroken...

And then something incredible happened. Ever since that earth-shattering kiss, the fire and passion came back! Holy shit! I've been reading and ENJOYING fics nonstop this whole week, I can't concentrate on work thinking about everything and reading in-between tasks, I use every single free minute I have to search new fics and scroll through the tags, I go to sleep late because I need to read just one more fic(!!!) even tough I have to wake up very early in the morning and I DON'T EVEN CARE. I'm thinking about it sooo much and imagining new scenarios in my head, and feeling giddy and happy, in a good mood a lot of the time, more optimistic, knowing I have a new and exciting place I can "escape" to, like I had in the past.

Its not that i'm not happy, I have an amazing son and a wonderful husband and I cherish every moment with them, but these are hard and difficult times and life can be hard and stressful and I'm a different kind of happy... So these past few days have been nourishment for my soul and my mood, it sounds so silly but its true! I'm feeling a bit like my old self and it's amazing.

And if someone did read this or did pay attention and got to this point, sorry for the long rant and thank you so much for the patience and understanding 🙏 I love you and wish you a wonderful weekend and happy Buck's-first-date-with-a-man day! 🥰

So I want to thank, from the bottom of my heart, ABC, Oliver, Lou and you crazy lot for resurrecting my old fangirl self 😌 I'm so grateful for all your posts, your takes, your similar enjoyment and of course your amazing fics you're writing and sharing 🩵

[linnorabeifong]

Update (don’t rb will probably delete later)

I haven’t posted any new fics or chapters or edited any old work in a long time and I wanted to apologize for that. Inspiration and time have been fleeting. Unfortunately my break has not been much of a break so far I’ve had a lot of things to do and a lot of family activities to attend. Honestly these past few weeks I’ve been sick off and on again

I don’t want to put out work that’s poor quality or unimaginative because that would do me and whoever chooses to read it a disservice. Resuming all the stuff I’ve already written has been daunting because I have such big plot plans or because I write a lot of angst about real world topics that I want to portray accurately. I don’t want to contribute to stereotypes or common misconceptions or treat them as disposable in my plot. I don’t want to write a Fic where everything is easily resolved or even resolved at all.

I feel like I’ve already established a style in all of my pieces and it’s hard to maintain that to keep my works cohesive because I’m just not in a creative mood.

there was one Fic I started in august and never updated because I wanted it to be this huge beautiful piece and I just can’t bring myself to reopen it because I know I won’t be able to live up to the vision I have in my head. I honestly feel really bad rereading the nice comments on it. I want to update but I also don’t want to ruin it. I’ll do it eventually though because I feel bad that people are invested in it.

I have a larger multi chapter piece that I have painstakingly outlined but have really struggled to actually write because I feel like it has so many plot holes.

Sorry for the disjointed rant. I will get to writing when I get to it.

Also sorry about neglecting my asks I’ll get on it I swear.

[runicmagitek]

2, 13, and/or 33?

Thanks a bunch, Rayless!! 💖

2) How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

I try my best to be a 50/50 split, but it's probably more of a 75/25 split, leaning towards writer. I predominately read fics from writers I already know, friends, and recs from friends. There's just SO much fic out there in all the fandoms I'm invested in and I can only juggle so much, so I'd rather spend my time reading something I'm familiar with prose-wise instead of taking a gamble as to whether or not I'll actually enjoy it. Not to say I outright never hunt for fics and read from authors I've never read from before anymore, but it's definitely a rare occurrence.

13) Do you outline your fics? How much of a headache would someone get if they just looked at an outline of yours without reading the fic?

It depends on the fic. Most of my oneshots and smaller multichapter fics (like under 50k) have very quick summaries as an outline and nothing else. Like for No U-Turns, which ended up being 8 chapters over 50k~ words, I literally had a sentence or two for each chapter and that was it. I typically figure out those stories as I'm going, then clean things up during revisions before I post so it's more coherent.

For my actual longfics (I say this like I have tons of them; it's only 2 that are finished and 1 I'm working on lolsob), it's more or less the same thing, but Just More Of It. I'll write down bullet points of like, a scene wishlist and try to string things together into a vague map so I know where I'm going. But even then, as I'm writing, I'll connect SO many dots and have a ton of epiphanies, which I then add to the outline somewhere. I also keep an ongoing email chain to myself of prose and other motifs/themes I want to incorporate throughout the story. When I wrote What Leads You Here, I had over 60 emails to myself. And with my No Deimos/Sentinels AU right now, I have almost 20 emails to myself. So I'd imagine my outlines are pretty comprehensible, albeit brief and vague. The emails are a bit chaotic, but also readable.

33) What do you like writing better: one shots or multi-chapter stuff?

Oneshots, because then I don't get consumed by the idea for months, if not years lolsob. But if I'm being honest with myself, probably multichapter fics. I like developing ideas and showing the progression over time and multiple scenarios. And considering I like writing about heavier/darker themes, I don't feel it does those stories justice to bang them out in a oneshot. Sometimes you need to simmer and marinate and forcing your reader to slow down in these scenarios and REALLY sit with both the characters' sentiments and their own is a huge reason why I love reading stories. I can only hope my readers feel the same with the fics I share.

[emilyhufflepufftlk]

Thanks @lord-aldhelm for the tag 💜

How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 25 currently on AO3, plus a lot of one shots that are only on tumblr.

2. What's your total AO3 wordcount?

600,065 which is kind of crazy, especially when you take into account that's not even everything I've written (as some are only on tumblr).

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The Last Kingdom exclusively.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Touched by Fire

Walk Through Fire

my hand was the one you reached for

Duty, Love, Betrayal

you'll never have to be alone

5. Do you respond to comments?

OF COURSE! I love comments. However small or long, however thoughtful or incoherent. Through comments I have found so many friends and I love when we scream over our fics and our plans to torture our OCs together 💜

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

In terms of one shots, what I lost in you I will not replace is just pure angst start to finish. Out of my longer fics, Fire Turns to Ash probably ends the angstiest - at least until I finish my hand was the one you reached for 👀

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

Touched by Fire and Walk Through Fire both end with my OC and Finan happy with their kids.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Absolutely none. I've found the TLK fandom to be very welcoming and supportive.

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

I do. All my (completed) multi-chapters have at least some smut in them and I have a fair number of one shots too. It's definitely something I have gotten more comfortable writing and I no longer get intense anxiety when I press post (only slight anxiety now lmao). I've always loved writing smut with feelings and focusing on the emotions of the scene, however I have written a few peices of pwp too, although my smut is never super long or detailed.

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

I do love a crossover. The Blind Monk is a TLK crossover with the Marvel Netflix show Daredevil - I think that counts as being pretty crazy.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Again, not that I'm aware of.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Yes! Me and @morosemagick wrote our Bridgerton AU The Irishman Who Loved Me together. I really want to work on this fic again and try and finish it as we had such great ideas for it. Writing with someone is definitely a great experience although giving up complete creative control takes some getting used to.

14. What's your all time favourite ship?

I tend to write Finan x OC fics the most, but the one ship I have written quite a bit for is Finan x Ingrith. I also love Aethelflaed x Aldhelm and I hope to write something for them one day. Outside TLK I love Mulder and Scully in the X-Files, Monica and Chandler in Friends, Merlin and Arthur in BBC Merlin, and Buffy and Spike in BtVS.

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

Honestly all of them at this point 😭 I have really gotten out of the habit of writing and have been struggling with motivation. I want to try and finish all my fics eventually.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I feel my OCs are one of my greatest strengths, I think I create believable characters and people have said that I have created a whole world that they've become invested in - which is such a huge compliment. I also think dialogue is a strength as I find that easiest to write.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Description. I often have to force myself to describe the scene - I'd much rather stick to action and dialogue. I respect people who write really poetic beautiful descriptions as I can't even use a simile or metaphor to save my life lmao.

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

I think it depends how it is used. I personally don't write dialogue in another langauge in my fics (except Finan's term of endearment 'mo ghra') but that's just personal preference.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

The Last Kingdom. It was almost three years ago since I first watched the show and became obssessed. TLK was also the first fandom I read fanfic for as well.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

I think my whole OC x Finan series fire in her eyes just because of all the OCs I created and developed. I think Duty, Love, Betrayal is the individual fic I am most proud of.

No pressure tags: @morosemagick @solinarimoon @lauwrite1225 @aadmelioraa @persephones-journey

[mint-yooxgi]

Hi Jackie! I wanted to reach out as a fellow writer on the plagiarism conversation. First, I’d like to ask you if you would be comfortable with me reblogging your lengthy post on plagiarism and adding my thoughts as an author who has been plagiarized. I do not want to take your post and lend my thoughts to it if you feel that it wouldn’t be productive or if you’d be uncomfortable with it, but just know that I support everything that you said. I’ve been keeping pretty quiet about my own experiences as well, but you’ve done the hard thing of speaking up and I think it’s very valuable.

Secondly, I just want to say I’m sorry you’re going through this. I know how much time and energy it takes to write anything let alone a lengthy series that people are invested in, messaging you their thoughts and opinions, etc. While Into the Aurora is not an ‘original’ fan fiction idea in the sense that plenty of fics like this exist where the self insert character starts living with the group or person of interest, the rest of that story is original. I have seen several multi-chapter fics or even one-shots that “borrow” huge plot points from my fic down to the same types of interactions with the boys just like you saw with HC. At the time I moved on from it, mostly because those fics weren’t getting much traction and I didn’t want to start this huge conversation, but it hurts and I only tell you this so you know you’re not alone in feeling this way. It takes hours, weeks, months, etc. to put these stories together and to share them for free and to see others take “inspiration” from your work is lovely… but to see them steal it is something else entirely.

With respect to Inherited Demons, when I started reading that work I immediately got plagiarism alarm bells, but because I saw their credits and tags behind the inspiration I thought you had sanctioned it. I wish I had reached out to you sooner, because I remember lining up plot points, chapters, dialogue, etc. and being floored by how similar major sections were. It was exactly what happened with me and one particular fic I wont name, but I thought you were either okay with it or keeping it to yourself so I didn’t reach out.

What I hope you don’t mind me saying is that you shouldn’t feel bad that you were okay with this writer taking inspiration or deriving some things from your work. Very clearly this writer took advantage of that kindness whether they realize it or not, and that is not okay, and certainly not your fault. I’ve had similar experiences and I’m a pretty non-confrontational person…. but reading your post put into perspective just how important boundaries for writers are, even when that work is fanfic and even when that work is being shared for free. I appreciate your writing and the effort you put into these stories so much, you’re so gifted in crafting fantasy works. That type of writing is incredibly hard and I’m in awe of any writer who can do it well, which you absolutely do. I hope you can continue to feel comfortable writing and sharing your work with the community, and I know this message was a little rambling…. but it’s all to say from one fic writer to another, your post meant something to me and I appreciate you.

Hello!!! Oh my goodness, thank you so much for reaching out, this message really means a lot to me. Especially during this time!!

Please!! Be my guest for reblogging and adding your own comments/experiences if you’d like!! It make the post that much more real and important in my opinion that way! I would love nothing more!!

I’m sorry you’ve been through similar experiences as well. It’s never fun to see fics that take your own ideas and credit them as their own. It’s even worse when you’re reading something and you catch onto it - for me, personally, it just makes my mood plummet and my entire heart ache. It takes the fun out of creating because you don’t know what that person or people will take next.

I’m similar in being as unconfrontational as I can - which is why I said I was okay with it in the first place, I didn’t want to start drama and it seemed innocent enough at the time. I see now I was fooled. Bamboozled, if you will.

Yeah, getting through a lot of those chapters even to find more plagiarized incidents was rough. It just drained me each time because it was just a case of “oh goodness, what will I find this time?” It just grates on you and I had just finally had enough.

I also really appreciate you saying this, about being able to be okay at the start but change my mind. I really wasn’t okay with it, but for sake of peace and to avoid the drama of confrontation, I let it slide.

I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve also gone through similar situations. It’s never a joyous moment or feeling when it happens. To me, it’s just so disrespectful and I feel cheated in a way. Boundaries are so important, especially as a writer and I just wish I stood up for mine better at times.

Again, thank you so much for your message and such kind and supportive words!! I felt better after reading this, and I really do appreciate you and your writing as well!! Thank you for reaching out and sharing your thoughts!! ❤️❤️

[paranorahjones]

4, 7, 9, 15 (I am perhaps getting a tad greedy!), and for the last question, my fave fic of yours is (unsurprisingly) And I Would Stay A While Longer 💕

4. Oooooo, that's a tough one. I think I generally prefer multi-chapter fics. I love getting emotionally invested in something that will last me for a long time.

Also worth noting, I've failed two out of the three times I've attempted to write oneshots because I just love adding onto stuff. XD

7. This will come as no surprise but "Character A falls in love with Character B, who is a ghost". I cannot get enough of ghost love tropes. Also in a more general sense, Mutual and One-Sided Pining are huge hits with me.

9. Oh man. This is so hard. Right now, it's probably this post-pillow fight moment of sweetness and tension between Lockwood and Lucy in my fic Deep, Dark Secrets. I was kicking my feet while writing it. XD

Lockwood and I breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. His breath whispered over my hair. And then I became very aware of his closeness. He looked down at me, and I was transfixed. His eyes were so full of their dark, lovely warmth that my breath hitched in my chest. He smiled then. One of those smiles that he only gave me. “Hi, Lucy.” “Hi,” I whispered back. My voice wasn’t working. “Your hair’s longer than normal.” “Is it?” Lockwood shook his head slightly, causing soft waves to fall in front of his eyes. “Haven’t been to see the barber in a little while, I guess. “It doesn’t look bad.” “Oh, well. Thank you.” What was wrong with me? He wasn’t getting off of me, and I wasn’t shoving him away. And if we stopped talking, there would be nothing to stop him from hearing my racing heartbeat. It was too much. It was all too much. The bed-sharing, the secrets, the pillow fight, his too-warm eyes and his too-long hair and his arms on either side of me. So I pushed him off.

15. OOOOOOO I know this one!! I describe a lot of my POV characters experiencing tension in their hands (e.g. "he felt a nervous energy spiking in his hands") because I personally carry a lot of my stress in my hands. I can often be found wringing my hands or flexing my fingers in moments of stress or anxiety. So many of the characters I write get to experience that too. XD

Thank you!! ❤️ AIWS is my favorite too, despite the fact that I haven't updated in so long. 😭 The unexpected hiatus is due to a ton of really unexpected personal stuff that's happened in the last few months, but I will update again! I shall not be brought down by the weights of life!

Thank you so much for these! They were so fun! (⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧❤️

[altschmerzes]

first let me say that i adore your writing; i've read your TL fic so many times. it's the reason i'd love your opinion. i'm working on my own fic and it's my first multi-chapter work. i'm debating whether to post what i have or wait until it's complete. on one hand, i'm worried it i post it in progress, people will get annoyed or lose interest if i take too long between chapters. on the other, i'm so so excited about this and just really want to share it and get feedback. as someone with multiple wips, what made you decide to post? have you found most people are kind about waiting for updates? is there a tipping point for you when you decide that NOW you have enough done to start posting? i know everyone's different, but i'd really love your take on what works for you. <3

ahhhhhh you are so sweet i'm so???? thank you so much i'm so flattered both that you enjoy my fic that much and also that you value my opinion on this sorta thing

SO let's see. this is tricky because i am a simple beast and i have a great degree of difficulty resisting the instant gratification urge of Post It As Soon As It Is Written, To Hell With Restraint. but i so totally get all the same concerns that you have here.

the vast, overwhelming majority of people are absolutely positively indescribably lovely in waiting for updates. i've had a few people get rude with me about it but interestingly enough the people who've gotten weirdly demanding or impatient have mostly done so within a pretty short time of having posted a chapter? so many more people are exactly the opposite - wanting to be encouraging and express interest in the continuing story but also being really clear about not wanting to be impatient or pressuring. it's absolutely wonderful, especially since i've got a couple of fics i haven't updated in about one million years, though i am still actively working on and intending to finish all of them.

at the end of the day, the best answer is gonna be what works for you and your schedule and is able to keep your interest level up at the same time! your interest and investment in your own work is so much more important than a reader's for so many reasons - and if that means you gotta post what you've got when you've got it to enjoy The Thrill Of Posting, and then have a long break between chapters, so be it! but i also totally get how the opposite can be true - how posting right away no matter what can be disheartening because then you get stuck and have no runway.

so my genuine, sincere advice is: post when you have stuff ready to post WITH the caveat that planning ahead is extremely helpful and has been vitally necessary to me in posting wips and then continuing to work on and udpate them. not necessarily in writing out everything ahead of time fully, but in planning it, outlining if that's your bag, at least listing a sense of like. what your chapters are going to probably be, and where in the arc of the story you are. sometimes this changes - it does for me a lot - like when a thing needs more space to breathe or you suddenly realize you have a character with a subplot that needs some attention or resolution, but having that scaffolding to work with has been indispensable to me. my 'tipping point' as you put it at this stage is when i have a full and complete first chapter, usually a couple more scenes down the road written out, and a good idea of the shape and size of the story. with bigger projects, i usually try to build up more before i post, with varying levels of success XD.

also, having buddies to bounce ideas with and encourage you and get jazzed for your writing is another huge plus. i can't more highly recommend it, and i love to chat about people's work so my door's always open for that (feel free to ask for my discord as well!). this is especially helpful when you start getting down about feeling like you haven't updated soon enough or w/e - having friends to remind you that this is first and foremost about joy and having joy in creating is everything.

good luck with your fic, that's huge and so exciting!!!

[taexual]

LOOOOOOL BRB DON'T MIND ME, I'M JUST DIGGING MY FUCKING GRAVE 🙃 I literally prepped myself as soon as I saw the warning but tell me why I still ended the chapter in tears...? I swear to God JK better swallow his fucking pride and make up with her... AND FAST cause I'm about to knock the mf out 😡 I also just want to say that it makes me quite sad to know that ILYTSBTSI is ending soon, please tell me you have plans to continue writing (maybe more bts hehe?) because I could read your work 5eva!!

not to be a huge spoiler, but your reaction is pretty much the same as the mc’s reaction in the next chapter 🙊😂 

anyway, thank you so much for reading, my love!! ❤️ i don’t think i’ve accepted that the fic is ending yet even though i’m done writing now, so it all feels sort of surreal 🙈 i would like to post something new after this but i haven’t fully decided if i will yet 😅

[alyblacklist]

Hey!!

I am new to your tumblr but I read your fics all the time (and reread them more often than I should admit lol)

I think you’re really amazing!

I’m so relieved that you answer asks and discuss speculation because I really need someone to talk this through.

So, I have watched a couple of other thriller series along the same lines where the makers don’t have any issues killing off major characters off the show.

There are a couple of things that are happening in this show which I think (and I honest to god hope I’m wrong) are building up to them killing off Ressler.

They get together, they partially admit their feelings (which we’ve been waiting for too Damn long) - so they get closure. Ressler is in the hospital, they show him deteriorating, he goes into v-fib.

And all of this is not that much of a game changer but hear me out. The task force is being dismantled and they need to give the viewers sth that they won’t expect. And bring some new spice in s9. With Liz going full time into crime, it seems a lot easier for them to kill off Ressler.

My only counter debate to my point is that they would have killed him off the moment he got shot (like they did with Meera) rather than show him being treated.

I really need to know what you think. Please tell me he’s not gonna die cause honestly who on earth will watch the show then?

Hi there! I have to say a special thank you to you, @alrightygirl, and to my anon (above) who I have lumped in, for the shoutouts on my stories. I came to Tumblr in the first place during the hiatus between S2/S3 in part because I realized some of my fav fanfic authors (@aussieokie !) were here so I am especially happy to read this.

I'm not sure people realize how much we fanfic writers thrive on feedback, and especially on the multi chapter works we invested so much time into. So thank you, and I have to say I really am looking forward to the end of the season so I can step away from the BTS hunt and my inbox and get back to just creating. Hopefully the writers will leave things in a good place in 8.22 so there's plenty to work with. Ok, on to the substance of your ask and I'll put in a jump because I can already tell this is getting long.

I really do NOT think Ressler will die. I didn't think so before 8x19 and I still don't think so after the "medical drama" of 8x20. Because that's what I think they're doing - they're creating drama because it's the end of the season and they want people freaking out and guessing over who will survive. Call it the curse of cable, or thrillers or whatever, but we as audiences have been conditioned to believe that major characters have to die every year, even if it's pointless.

The thing is, The Blacklist has never been that show. They have killed three "main characters" in the life of the show. Meera in S1 (and I later read Parminder only had a one-year deal), Tom in S5 (with huge fanfare and foreshadowing and an entire "hero" arc following a failed spinoff with a new series eagerly awaiting him at NBC), and Samar in S6 after the actress specifically requested to be released from her contract after S5 and gave them time to write her character an appropriate conclusion arc which also had huge foreshadowing.

Could they go a different route this year? Sure. We're late in the life of the show and twists and cliffhangers and budgets all come into play but the thing is - I just still really don't see it when it comes to Ressler.

For me, the characters' perspective is always paramount. What purpose would Ressler's death serve? It would make Liz more upset (because, you know, Sam, Tom, Katarina, her sister, her whole team weren't enough?). And other than that......?

The audience already knows the gravity of the stakes. So does Liz. So does every other character. The only purpose Ressler's death would serve that I see (and to be clear, I am focusing only on the characters in the show not the irrational fandom hate for his character) is to "punish" Liz more, to make her feel worse about what she's done, to deal another body blow on top of all that she's suffered already.

I don't think Liz needs that. (I'm positive nearly all of Reddit disagrees).

She turned herself in to Cooper because she recognized the bloodshed needed to end after she FEARED losing him. She stayed by Ressler's side and spoke her entire speech in the hearse and by his unconscious side because she can't handle losing him too. This is exactly the scenario the writers teased when Eisendrath teased all those months ago that maybe he would use her feelings for him to get her to come back.

Source (X)

He didn't overtly "use" her feelings in the end because that is not Ressler. He is not that guy. But in the end, her feelings for him were EXACTLY why she turned herself in.

I don't think Liz doesn't need to be punished further or suffer more in anyone's eyes except those who still can't come to terms with her war against Red. I don't think the writers feel that way about her character. To the contrary, they introduced a hallucinated Kaplan to try to give her a pass and also had her give lengthy explanations to both Ressler and Aram defending her behavior. I think from all I have read and seen that the writers view Liz as a victim of circumstances caused by Red - something Cooper has also articulated to Panabaker along the way in defending why Liz has done what she's done under extraordinary circumstances. We can all agree or disagree on the why and the method and the extremes but the bottom line is that I think the writers still view Liz as more "victim" or "forced criminal" than diabolical villain so killing Ressler, on top of everyone else Liz has lost, is just another deep blow on top of all the blows that have turned her into who she is. I think we're past the point that that is necessary and we'll be even further past that point after 8.21/8.22 when Liz learns some truths.

This has gotten crazy long so I'll just add these final thoughts which I have also articulated in prior posts:

- I think if the writers were going to write out Ressler - an original character from the Pilot - they would do so with more hype and fanfare and story than what he's gotten this season. Sure he was present in 8x19 a lot but it was really Liz's story. She was the heroine saving him and moving them from place to place while he suffered. I think the writers have enough respect for Diego to give him at least as much substantial story as Tom and Samar got in their sendoffs if this was really the end. He's a good guy and a good character and he deserves more than for his final moments to be a quiet fade to black in Vfib in a hospital with only Park present (or even Liz present for a final, vague, goodbye). A show that can't do that isn't a show I'm interested in watching, you know?

- his agents congratulated him on the S9 renewal back when it was announced. Hardly an indicator that a major character is getting jettisoned.

-You'd also think, if he was leaving this season, that he'd be doing more to elevate his profile on social media like he did at the end of Homeland to gear up for a new gig. He's done NOTHING.

-Finally, there has been literally nothing in JB's recent interview with The Blacklist Exposed, any of the BTS, the press, the episode descriptions, the crew photos, or anything else to date to indicate that a major actor/character is leaving. I know people can hide the ball but usually in this show, something slips through. So far - nothing. (No, I don't take Megan's thank you's or wrap party photos that way).

Anyway, hopefully we'll all be here at this time next year (or a few weeks earlier if things are back to normal), analyzing S9 and all that has happened. Thanks for the ask!

[septiembrre]

5 & 13 & 23!!!!

5: Share a snippet that you’re proud of from an upcoming fic/chapter.

Just so you know, I typed this bit up from my writing notebook for you. My notes are a whole mess so this was a labor of love.

This is from the next chapter of Get To Be Mine:

Beth has not had many occasions to visit a lawyer's office over the years. However, like many things, this too has changed recently.

Two months ago, Beth finally found herself talking to Burton Maples, her top option (reputable and affordable) from her list of prospective family law attorneys. Mr. Maples walked her through the anticipated divorce proceedings and in that low, monotone timbre of his reiterated the six-month waiting period again and again as Beth adjusted and readjusted, trying to find a comfortable way to sit on the hard office chair.

Beth didn't think much of it at the time -- the looming mahogany desk, the plentiful grey file cabinets -- but his office looked straight out of a 90s furniture catalog. Beth was there for a purpose, a long overdue one. So, she paid no mind to the clunky bookcases filled with nicknacks and legal tomes looming over their conversation.

Until now.

Today, here, this attorney sits across from them tucked primly behind her neatly organized desk.

Gretchen Zorada is hard to look at. She's backlit by bright floor-to-ceiling windows, the winter landscape framing her and her keen gaze.

Her office is all sleek lines, teak wood, and modern furnishings, in a way that doesn't evoke 90s furniture catalog at all and more like-- like-- loft and a certain someone. And Gretchen Zorada, a tiny slip of a person, sharp-featured and wearing the hell out of her well-tailored outfit, looks effortlessly part of her environment.

Beth's embarrassed, because when she had seen the swirling letter Z on the business card and heard Rio's mention of "his attorney", she had assumed-- Well, she hadn't thought Zorada would be a woman.

And Rio--

Rio keeps calling her "Gretch".

Like when they sat down on "chairs" that by all rights should have been the most uncomfortable places to sit for a client meeting, but were actually... nice (very nice) and Rio said, "Damn, Gretch."

He stretched his legs long, making a show of settling in, as the hairs on Beth's neck already standing on end had twitched. Next to her, Rio grinned wide at Gretchen, "Told you."

I am ~proud~ because yesterday the detail of Rio and Gretchen sharing bougie interior design advice with each other occurred to me and it's giving me such life.

13: Do you prefer writing multi-chapter fics or single-part fics? Do you prefer reading multi-chapter fics or single-part fics?

~I love reading it all~ Multichapter and single part fics suit different needs for me as a reader, depending on how long I want to be enmeshed into a world.

On the writing side, multi-chapters have been hugely beneficial for me. They really push me to work on how to intentionally tell stories. But, damn, I miss the ease of single-part fics.

23: What’s one piece of advice you would give to anyone who wants to start writing or posting their writing online?

Writing is fun and joyful and you should do it!!

Writing is challenging always, even when you learn more about how to write. However, in the beginning, it felt like such a headache for me, because I was very aware that my early stuff wasn't the quality I wanted but I didn't have the language or tools to really understand why.

But, then you come to a place where you've worked on something to the best of your ability and you get to be done, and then you can work on something else. Little by little you get more comfortable, learn more about what parts of it bring you joy, and then you learn how to lean into them. As you interact with stories, whether on other things you watch on tv, or movies, or podcasts, or books, or articles, or even things specifically on writing craft that move you, you can reflect on them and bring some of that joy and fun into whatever you write next. Then you go back to read the first stuff and you can think, wow, I was doing a good job with the tools I had and now I have more.

I'm going through this right now with fan art where I have a desired, stylized look in mind that I'm falling short of achieving. Not hitting that makes me want to stop because my current efforts make me frustrated, but the only way to get better is really to keep practicing and cutting yourself a break when you publish something that isn't as polished as you would like it to be because you can try again y no pasa nada.

A nice thing about fandom is that publishing things is a lowkey way to practice and get affirmation and encouragement from friends who are invested in your subject. ~Join us~

[trudy-shams]

What we become - Part 1

My first attempt at writing after reading 30,000 fics on tumblr and AO3.

So many people writing so many wonderful things, I wanted to join the party. This will be multi chapter fic based on response and feedback.

More tags to be added as I go along.

The beautiful summer sun reflected off of the pages, making it a delight to read. It was too good a day to be wasted indoors. Beneath the shade of a large tree, you could read the words if you focused enough, bringing to life all characters while painting a moving picture in your head, something which was a piece of cake for you, having spent all your spare time engrossed in reading since you were a little girl.

The beautiful summer sun reflected off of the pages, making it a delight to read. It was too good a day to be wasted indoors. Beneath the shade of a large tree, you could read the words if you focused enough, bringing to life all characters while painting a moving picture in your head, something which was a piece of cake for you, having spent all your spare time engrossed in reading since you were a little girl. The hopeless romantic, who wanted to be a successful writer one day, to travel the world, to have her own school for children who could not afford education, to own a house of her own. These dreams were all that had you going, excited and hopeful for an even brighter future. A day dreamer, you were so lost in the words that time held no meaning and before you knew it, it was nearing noon. You had spent her entire morning in the garden, nose in your book. If time wasn't a good motivator, your growling stomach finally pushed you to abandon your post and begin the trek home. It wasn't far but the sprawling mansion had enough space for a large garden with a plethora of trees, shrubs and landscaping to call it a maze. You decided to take the longer route, just to enjoy the feel of warm sun on your skin, making your way around the large tennis court housed next to the garden and along the neighbors pool. As expected, you could hear the familiar voices and caught a glimpse of the Maximoff twins and their friends lounging around the pool. The Maximoff's had recently purchased the mansion next door. The abandoned property was not in a great shape compared to others in the area but after 8 months of renovation and plenty of investment, it was now one of the best, if not the best properties in the area. From what she had heard, the Maximoff's were Sokovian royalty, having bought this mansion as a holiday home for summers. Mr. & Mrs. Maximoff frequented all high profile clubs while the kids, Wanda & Pietro could be seen out and about in the most expensive designer wear with their entourage of guards and assistants very often. It was nice to have this new chatter and positive energy after having a bland deserted mansion looming over you for so long. Lost in your book and too toasty to really pay attention, you didn’t notice the huge dog nearing you from the other side of the fence. The sudden loud barking startled you, making you scream and lose both your phone and balance at the same time. You landed on your behind and your left palm and shoulder slammed into the ground. People from the other side rushed forward to pull the dog away and the screaming started. 'You had one job, ONE! Watch Max. Was it too much? Maybe you would do better back home scrubbing floors' 'Aw! Max was so startled to see a stranger near us, he was just trying to keep us safe. My poor baby' 'These guys are sloths, you should connect with the agency my dad employs' 'I spilled my drinks in the ruckus, can someone get me a fresh one' 'The energy of this place is just... can we please do a 3 step deep breathing session like right now' 'Are you ok, can you get up?' It took you a while to gather that someone was speaking to you. You looked up to see the face of James Barnes. He was looking at you intently, gauging if you were ok or in pain. You were surprised he spoke to you, you were not used to this. He tilted his head a little and that got you out of your stupor. You quickly got up and dusted yourself, giving him a small reassuring smile,avoiding eye contact. 'Just startled, I am usually very jumpy so it's really not a big deal'. He studied you for a few seconds then smiled. 'I am glad you are ok.' You looked up to see there was another man behind him, watching you with an intensity you couldn't handle. His glare made you feel small and insignificant, the familiar frown on his face and the upturn of his nose made you want to glare right back at him. Your eyes met for a few nanoseconds but it was enough to make you see the contempt deep within his irises. Not wanting to create a scene, you squeaked out a thanks to James before quickening your pace and nearly running away. You had just entered through the kitchen when you heard your mother's voice. 'Thank god you are here, we are terribly understaffed, could you please help in laying out the dishes and serving today. Your sister is god knows where and Lydia is sick. Mr. and Mrs. Stark could be down for lunch any minute.' With that she ran away to take food out from the oven. You took a deep breath, put on Lydia's uniform and went to the cupboards.

[mithrilwren]

Fanfic ask game for procrastinating on writing, which as of this week is actually accurate, since I’m finally writing again! (or, more specifically, editing what I wrote two months ago so I can get back to writing.)

Tagged by @essektheylyss! Thank you, this is exactly the kind of activity my brain needed tonight.

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

72! I was hovering at 69 for quite a while, sad to break the streak haha

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

~550K, which is somehow both more and less than what I expected

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Many, lmao. According to my Ao3 (omitting any blanket tags) I’ve got 22 there, plus at least two more over on ff.net from back in the day, and probably a couple more just on Tumblr. Most of them I’ve only written one fic for, though. I think the only fandoms where I’ve written more than one are Critical Role (35), Supernatural (15), Haikyuu!! (3), The Exorcist (2), Dimension 20 (2), and Yu-Gi-Oh! (2)

4) What are your top five fics by kudos?

Pick a Number, Any Number

Surprisingly, my number one is NOT a Critical Role fic, nor is it even one of my longer multi-chapters! It’s actually a one-shot I wrote for Haikyuu!! back in the day that took off far beyond what I expected. I wrote it for DaiSuga week, which was a ship I (to be completely honest) wasn’t even terribly invested in, but I had a fun idea and people seemed to like it! (It’s also much fluffier than what I usually write, which might be part of its broader appeal ;))

A Winter’s Ball

Unsurprisingly, the next four are all CR ;). This one was a M9 x VM crossover that I primarily wrote between the hours of 3-8am over the course of two insomnia-wracked nights and honestly, I think it shows in its uncharacteristically unstructured format (compared to my typical style, which tends to favour shorter scenes with very intentionally-placed breaks between, as opposed to scenes that flow into each other without pause). That’s not to say I think it’s a bad thing! The story, which follows Beau as she drifts through a party in Whitestone and observes the interactions between the various guests, actually flows better without that kind of interruption. This was also my first Beaujester piece. I started writing it right before Beau’s confession aired, and published it the week after, which definitely pushed me to make what had been only subtextual in the first half of my draft into the emotional lynchpin of the story.

Only the Nightingale Sings

I’m really glad this one still ranks as high as it does, because this story is absolutely my pride and joy. At one time (though I’m not sure that’s true anymore) it was the longest gen fic in the fandom, which is pretty cool! Plot-heavy, twist-heavy, angst-heavy, with seven points of view to follow and multiple interwoven storylines, it was a beast of a thing to write, and took almost exactly a year to finish, but the long process was oh-so worth it. Literally nothing makes me happier today than seeing a new comment or kudos on this story.

Closer Still

One of my earliest shadowgast fics, this one asks the question “how can you make the ‘stuck in an elevator trope’ fantasy?” The answer is, as always, demiplanes. This fic, perhaps more than any of my other shadowgast fics, is interesting to revisit, because it was written before the ep 97 reveal, but literally everything Essek does in it would suggest otherwise. It reads like I already knew he was a spy working with Trent, and yet I was firmly in the “Essek is NOT the spy” camp at the time. Gotta chalk that up to Matt telegraphing his growing guilt into the preceding episodes - even if I couldn’t see it, it was clearly there.

your dust from mine

My other novel-length CR multichapter, this fic brought me so much joy in the otherwise bleak summer of 2020. Most of my best memories of those four months come from working on this story. A Fjorclay adaption of The Goose Girl (my favourite fairytale) this story is about healing, growth, and figuring out what happiness means to you. While I know most people don’t read stories for this pairing anymore, for obvious reasons, I still cherish your dust from mine for how much of my heart I poured into it, and I look back on it with a huge amount of fondness.

5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I do my absolute best to respond to every comment someone leaves on a story of mine, even if it occasionally takes a month or two. Replying to comments is one of my favourite parts of the fic-writing process - it gives me a chance to revisit peoples’ kind words and (often, incredibly insightful) observations, and I hope it also shows how appreciative I am of each and every one. 

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Though I write a lot of angst, I honestly tend more towards bittersweet endings than straight-up sadness. The only one I can really think of is What You Own - mind the tags if you follow the link, this is definitely one of the gnarlier things I’ve written for CR - whose ending is, admittedly, bleak. But this story so far removed from canon that I don’t think it’s the kind of angsty ending that lingers with you, as much as it packs a punch and then lets you go on your way.

7) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I tend to enjoy thinking about crossovers moreso than actually writing them. I’ve brainstormed a few, but none have ever made it much farther than the first page.

8) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

A few times! Not often, thankfully. Only one time in particular really sticks out to me, mostly for how it rocked my confidence in a way that I don’t think any comment could now, since I’ve had a few more years to build up faith in my own writing.

9) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Very, very occasionally.

10) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I hope not! 

11) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope!

12) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Oh man, back in the Glee days... yeah. Yeah, I have. Nothing that ever got published, though ;)

13) What’s your all time favourite ship?

Not sure I have one! Ships come and go with the seasons, and sometimes they’re best left in the era you found them.

14) What’s a WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

The Shadowgast figure skating AU. It’s never going to happen, but I wish it had.

15) What are your writing strengths?

I would say probably structure, in terms of constructing narrative arcs and through-lines. I’m organized with my writing in a way that I am in few other areas of my life, haha. I’d also say my sense of place - I think I’m pretty good at constructing living, breathing settings and exploring how my characters interact affect/are affected by them.

16) What are your writing weaknesses?

I have a tendency to be wordy (which you might surmise from the length of this post, lol) and repeat myself, usually by going over emotional beats that don’t need the extra reinforcement. On the other hand, I tend to underexplain certain elements (particularly, important plot details in fic, and character motivation in original writing), which can lead to confusion.

A couple years ago I would have said dialogue, but I’ve put a lot of practice into it and I honestly think I’ve improved a lot, which is pretty cool!

17) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I’ve never done it myself, and it’s not generally my favourite thing to read (like @essektheylyss said, it makes me hyper-aware that I’m reading words on a page, especially if I have to follow a footnote somewhere). That said, I’ve definitely also seen it used effectively, so I think it’s more down to whether it suits the particular story!

18) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Yu-Gi-Oh!

19) What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

As mentioned above, Only the Nightingale Sings.

[galacticlamps]

Tagged by @the--highlanders​ ! Thanks!

How many works do you have on AO3?

13

What’s your total AO3 word count?

76,200

(oh what a nice even number - I should try to mess that up as soon as possible, shouldn’t I?)

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Aw man is this intentionally worded to be really hard to answer? I get that it says ‘written’ and not ‘posted’ but then what constitutes a ‘fandom?’ I definitely wrote fics for stuff I was interested in long before I even knew the word ‘fic’ - I did it throughout my childhood, and then in high school, and while I didn’t do it as much in college, it still happened from time to time. So a lot of the books/movies/tv shows/plays/musicals I wrote things for aren’t really fandoms, and frankly, I had to check my old folder just now to even remember some of them existed. I’ll just list the ones that I know for sure had fandoms, since that’s more fun (and embarrassing), right?

Obviously Doctor Who, classic and modern, Torchwood, Sherlock Holmes (ironically more of these seem to be about the books, but yes, I will admit, some for that tv show too), Les Mis, a couple different Marvel comics & movies, Good Omens, hell, I even found a Night Vale fic in there just now.

And I know there are other older things not even in that folder, some of which never made it to a computer at all, so if I had to ballpark a number I’d probably say around 25ish but really, who knows?

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Across the Gap

On the Spot

Expectations

Shards of Memories & Fragments of Glass

Itemized

(this was fun, I’d never noticed Ao3 even had a stats page until now lol)

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try to! Sometimes I take a long time to do so but for the most part, I usually get around to it. The rare exception would be if I first saw the comment when I was super busy/distracted and then felt like way too much time passed before I noticed it again, that it might be awkward if I said something at that point.

I do genuinely enjoy hearing what people think, but I’m also weirdly terrified of making anyone feel like they have to reply to my comments. I know that’s probably a little strange, but it’s actually a large part of why I made this Ao3 account in the first place - my original one, from high school, is followed by some long-time friends of mine who aren’t interested in this fandom, some of whom are involved in art & writing professionally. The thought of anyone like that reading something I wrote out of friendliness or even just curiosity and potentially having to pretend they liked it for the same reasons stressed me tf out, so I like having this virtually anonymous one because I can relax knowing that anyone who reads or interacts with something I wrote has probably done so only because they wanted to, rather than feeling obligated, and there’s no pressure on them to be nice to me about it if anything I write or post annoys them - so I really hope nobody who does just know me as an anonymous blog has ever worried about offending me by not replying to something, trust me, I’m perfectly happy with it!

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I don’t think I’ve really written any angsty endings? I guess the answer would have to be Reckless just because it involves the characters arguing about sad/weighty things and there isn’t really any solution to those issues - but even then I think I ended it with a kind of acceptance that stops it from really qualifying as angst? I also set it in the the same universe as other fics, so maybe that doesn’t even count as an ending? Am I that bad at ending things on angst? Lol

Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Obviously none of the fics I’ve posted are crossovers but I’m trying to think now if any of my WIP’s are - I’ve definitely poached setting/premise ideas from other media, but in terms of actual crossovers . . . I’ve got a few cross-era or cross-Doctor, a few involving Torchwood, but that’s already the same universe, so the only thing that’d qualify as a true crossover would be some vague pieces of a fic where Jamie, Zoe, and Two end up on the Enterprise, since I think the 60s series of Star Trek and Dr Who feel kind of compatible, don’t they? In fact, aren’t there like officially licensed crossover comics or something? Or did I make that up? Idk, and the ideas are very loose, so it’s not much of a WIP either

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Nope, never

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I’ve never written smut, but I’m wondering if it’s possible that could change soon. There’s a longish multi-chapter fic I’ve been working on for a frankly embarrassing amount of time, and the plot does call for a sex scene at one point towards the end, but I can’t seem to make up my mind on how - uh, I guess the word is explicit? - it should get. I know I could easily do a fade to black/implication thing, but it’s kind of a source of contention and anxiety for the characters, so to skip over writing the actual scene and just revisit them afterwards rings of “and they slept together and now everything’s fine!” which feels kinda cheap to me - in this context, anyway - and not the right payoff for a long fic that’s otherwise more of an interpersonal drama/slightly a period piece, if I had to place it in a genre. I feel like my aversion to actually writing the scene might just be prudishness I should get over, or maybe just self-doubt, because I know I’d rather have a well-written, funny, character-development-supporting sex scene than nothing at all, but since I’ve never had any interest in writing a scene like that before, I don’t know if I can do it well, and I also don’t want to ruin a fic I’m otherwise proud of by doing it badly... ugh I have to figure this out

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I seriously doubt it

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

What’s your all time favorite ship?

I mean, it’s gotta be Two & Jamie. I’ve shipped things before with varying levels of investment, but I’ve never been able to use the term ‘otp’ in a literal sense until I came across them, and now it’s already basically gone out of fashion, go figure!

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I’m not sure if I have one? My WIP doc is huge, but I don’t actually intend to get around to finishing everything in it, so I’d like to think that anything I’ve currently singled out to complete can actually get done.

That said, I do have a few AU’s that I don’t really plan to finish, but it might be cool if I could. Two of them are for all the main + some supporting characters of the Second Doctor’s era - one’s a modern day school teachers AU, and the other is a typical fantasy/fairy tale AU. Another is just Two/Jamie, based on Doctor Faustus (specifically the Marlowe play version) but right now there are two different versions of the ending coexisting in my head. I’ve written parts of scenes & some gen. backstory for all of those ideas, but I don’t know if I’ll ever try to finish them, or what form a finished product would even take - a series of one-shots set in the same universe? one long multi-chapter fic with some kind of overarching plot? And the amount of context/worldbuilding a big AU like these would require might not make them very appealing fics for people to read, so maybe it is better if I just keep them to myself, since in my head I already know what’s going on in those worlds lol.

What are your writing strengths?

I honestly don’t know. I haven’t had a creative writing class since middle school, and since then I’ve only ever shown creative writing to others in a fandom context, so it’s been a while since I’ve discussed it or gotten critical feedback. I suppose when I work in other arts or even academic writing contexts, people usually say I’m kind of insightful or at least detail oriented, which might just be another way of saying I overthink things, but I like to imagine I’m decent at finding little points of interest to expand upon.

What are your writing weaknesses?

If you’ve read this far I feel like you must know what I’m about to say: I do not know how to be concise.

Usually when I’m writing a fic, I put down the dialogue first on its own, leaving out the action of the scene and whatever plot/context led there, even if I’ve already figured all of that out. But then when I go to add those things in, they’re always longer than I wanted them to be. I don’t mind writing something long, but I don’t want my fics to be a slog to get through either, and there can be a point at which the stuff I’ve added for context overwhelms the stuff that I wanted the fic to be about in the first place, so it becomes a structural/proportion issue too. I haven’t completely given up on any fics because of this yet, but there’s one I’ve been struggling with for a couple months now - probably because I’m even second-guessing myself on which scenes need to be written out and which can just be referenced like a recap. Hopefully I figure that one out soon.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

((this is karma isn’t it? i posted a fic last week with two words of gaelic in it and was worried about that and now this is karma))

In general, I don’t want to do it. I feel like you’ve gotta have a really good grasp of a language to write dialogue & speech patterns for someone who’s a native speaker, and since I’m far from fluent in any language the characters I write for are, I wouldn’t feel confident writing any significant amount of dialogue in, say, Gaelic.

As a sidenote, though, I kinda love it when other people do it, particularly for Jamie. Irish (Gaeilge) and Scottish (Gàidhlig) are both languages I’ve wanted to learn for a long time, because my family’s fresh out of living speakers of either & I think that’s a shame, but I started with Irish and at the moment I’m still very much learning it. As different as they are, it still helps me understand parts of lyrics or texts that I come across in Gàidhlig fairly frequently, so when it comes up in a fic I get to feel like I’m being responsible and practicing, and it’s great when I can actually understand what’s being said.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I’m gonna go with Harry Potter even though that’s probably not a perfectly accurate answer - it’s almost certainly the first thing that has a fandom that I ever wrote for, but it was in a notebook when I was a kid and never something that I even typed on a computer, much less posted online or shared with other members of a fandom. But even then, I’m sure it wasn’t the first pre-existing fictional universe I ever set an original story in, because I did that a lot when I was a kid, it’s just hard to remember those clearly or on any kind of timeline.

What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

I’m very partial to Across the Gap, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that ranked first on the kudos thing above - but I’ve also got a soft spot for So Merrily We’ll Sing. It’s so self-indulgent it feels silly saying ‘it was so easy to write!’ but I guess having a fic that’s already just 100% headcaonons and fluff tied together by a song you really love does prevent it from being much of a labor (I also managed to refrain from making that one unnecessarily long, so that’s another win there)

tagging @terryfphanatics and anyone else who wants to do it - sorry I’m bad at remembering whose tumblr goes with whose Ao3 account, but I really would be interested to read this if anyone else feels like answering them!

[lucifers-trash-stash]

Hi when are you going to keep writing Thanos's Escape Me story?

I'm going to explain this in the nicest terms possible and that might make me sound like a huge bitch but I'll answer this question AGAIN because I get this question constantly and I answer it similarly a lot of the time and my answer isn't directed specifically at you but my experiences as a whole.

It might never be continued. I'm sorry if that makes people upset but its the truth. One of the biggest reasons was Marvel and Disney being an absolute shit companies that only value ratings over genuine good storytelling and made it so that i lost a lot of my interest for the franchise in general. This happened with TWD too and it absolutely burned me from the series altogether. And when that happens with my favorite series' and movies it is easier to cut my losses and focus on shit that makes me happy instead of staying in fandoms that make me upset and angry about what should or shouldn't be.

Another huge reason is because im so tired of the constant asks of when I will post. Which sounds stupid but its because more often than not the ONLY responses to new chapters I would get would be 5% people actually sharing what they liked about the chapter and how much they were invested or interested while the other 95% would be people IMMEDIATELY asking when the next chapter was. No saying they liked my story or anything. Just when will I pump out the next bit of free content out. For Run From Me (the name of the story btw) it would take me weeks and sometimes months of struggling with my writers block and worrying about how people would receive certain things, and then when I was FINALLY happy with the chapter I would post it all excited to see the response to my favorite parts to write and then I would get pretty much dead silence from the majority of people save for those amazing fucking mutuals and followers that would tell me how much they loved the new chapter.

And this isn't me wanting to be congratulated every time I posted something new, hell if I only got a couple of comments compared to the hundreds I've gotten I wouldn't even mind, but just the comments that flat out ignore everything I struggled and worked for to write and only ask, as you have, when I will publish more. No hey I like your fic are you going to continue or hey just curious no pressure or anything, just "when are you posting more." It's always been phrased as a demand of me. And the last chapter really was the breaking point for me. I was so fucking proud of that fic and where I was taking it and was transitioning into the Guardian's of the Galaxy arc and introducing Gamora and Nebula and I thought I had done a really good job with those character dynamics and then got next to no feedback or excitement. Just when and where is the next chapter.

When you couple this with people who even went out of their way to give me backhanded compliments, like one individual who started off by telling me how much they loved my fic but hated the Thanos' wives OCs and hoped Thanos would get rid of them and had a very polyphobic attitude towards me, and while at the time I wasn't identifying as such but as an individual who would classify myself as poly now that sort of shit hurt me a lot. I would also get people who read my very dark story that I thought I was making very clear and obvious that this sort of kidnapping and forcing to be a wife scenario wouldn't lead to a happy ending had a lot of people telling me they couldn't wait until Thanos and my OC were married and got rid of all the wives and lived happily ever after... all of it just debilitated me because I knew telling the story I wanted would make everyone pissed off and hate me.

And thats why I made my slasher/horror movie sideblog. This is my main and I literally cannot be on it anymore because even though my blog has been pretty multi fandom this entire time, and how I tried to delve into Star Wars and writing fic that made me happy, I would always get comments about why I wasn't writing more Thanos. So yeah. Sorry to be the big massive cunt that ruins everyone's day. In fact I still get super fucked up mentally having to confront this every time. Hell I'm even scared to post all of my current writing on my AO3 cause I know for a fact I'm going to get people bitching even more when I literally have posted so many diff fandoms there and not just MCU.

So yeah. Sorry to write out this huge ass emotionally charged response because I normally can answer asks with a level head but this is a subject that hurts me a lot. I can't even promise the fic will even be finished or pretend to be like "oh maybe in the future" because I think I've been so burnt out on it and I get so emotional even just thinking about it.

I'm currently focused on writing things that make me happy in a fandom of some of the nicest people and friends that I've ever had and I couldn't ask for anything better. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news or make it sound like im making excuses but hey thats kind of how it is. These are my feelings and I have to step away from that fic because it isn't good for my mental health. I need to focus on me and myself and im writing stuff now that makes me happy and surrounding myself with supportive people. And if anyone has a problem with that you need to evaluate your own life.

So yeah. Thats whats up with me. Not sure if anyone will see this or care. I apologize for the emotional ramble but yeah I think I hit my breaking point on this particular topic.

Lots of love to my mutals and friends. I appreciate each and every one of you.

[toast-the-unknowing]

fic writer interview

tagged by @cheeeryos​, thanks!

name: Shine, Toast

fandoms (i write for): These days it's just Raven Cycle. Historically I've been rather multi-fannish but at the moment I only have TRC wips.

two-shot: just what a fool you have made me, every second second we come up with something new, you'd rather run when you can't crawl. I never set out to write anything as a two-shot, but sometimes I get more inspiration/someone gives me inspiration/someone points out that the story really sets itself up for a second part, so it's possible other one-shots could become two-shots in the future. But that's never the intention going into it.

most popular multi-chapter: others have more kudos but I think I have to give this to if love is just a game (then how come it's no fun) for just how wonderful people were about engaging with that and commenting while it was being posted.

actual worst part of writing: there's a point with every story, somewhere around 75% of the way through, where it becomes in my mind The Worst Story Of All Time And Not Worth Finishing And Oh God Why Are You Inflicting This On Yourself And Others. There's really nothing to do but push through it.

how you chose your titles: lately it's song lyrics. Sometimes the song and/or lyric choice is very meaningful, sometimes I'm just skipping through a playlist looking for anything that halfway works. With fics that are a huge time investment/very meaningful/important to me I will often make a point of settling on a title for it relatively early in the writing process because I want it to have something that really feels right to me, but a lot of them are just kinda Good Enough and that's fine.

do you outline: not really. I don't write sequentially and I don't make myself write an entire scene all in one go, so my drafts will have lots of "X thing happens here," "character says Y and they fight about Z here" but it's not a full on outline, it's more like placeholder text until I write that bit. I will sometimes use scene flashcards, but I think in all of TRC fandom I've done that like five times, it's not a usual part of the process.

ideas I probably won’t get around to but wouldn’t it be nice: oh I've got a whole file of these, plus a dozen or more fics that I have retired as "I am not going to get to this." I think the one of those that I was the most bummed about giving up on and occasionally still have wistful thoughts about is the Stargate Atlantis fusion.

Callouts @ me: Would it kill you to have a plot every now and then? Some people fade to black to get out of writing a sex scene, this chick fades to black to get out of writing a narrative climax.

best writing traits: Dialogue, humor, emotional arcs.

spicy tangential opinion: Writers need to stop apologizing for their work. Don't introduce your idea by saying "I know this is dumb," don't put a tag or an author's note about how it's terrible, don't make self-deprecating comments about how no one would ever want to read it anyway. Write it, get it out into the world, then go scream at a friend or a journal about it if you have to, but stop apologizing in public for the mere existence of your art. (If your art harms people, if it is rightly pointed out that it is racist, etc, we can revisit the topic of apologies; that's not what I'm talking about.)

tagging @talldecafcappuccino, @saywhatjessie, @two-of-swords-621, @emmerrr, @philosophersandfools