#currently I'm mostly sticking to oneshots when I do read but there are always so many fic recs or people posting their multi-chaptered fics

[skibasyndrome]

Oh I really can't wait to have a free-ish weekend soon so I can do some catching up on the wilmon fanfic canon!

What would you say are some big fandom classics?

[chriscrosswallflower-blog]

Hi everyone, my name is Christian and I am back to writing fanfiction about the stories I grew up with to cope with life. At the moment I'm mainly writing in the PJO fandom but I also love Heartstopper, AGGGTM, Bridgerton, etc. so you'll probably see a bit of that too. I also *might* post some pieces of the original novel I'm writing if that's something that people would be interested in.

If you have ideas or questions for me, feel free to send me an ask!

Here is a link to my AO3 and a list of all of my current works:

Works in Progress

we're not brave, we're not soldiers (PJO wip, first in series)

The battle of Manhattan was mostly a blood stained blur but Will would never forget the sight of his brother’s body falling along with that bridge.

Follow along with this set of one shots as Percy and Will navigate the pain and trauma of being child soldiers and grow to form an unlikely friendship.

i always wish I had more to give (PJO wip, wnbwns series)

Will's life has changed drastically over the years, but there is one thing that remains constant: he always wishes he could do more, that he was more.

An exploration of Will Solace as a character and his relationship with his friends and siblings. A companion piece to we're not brave, we're not soldiers, but it can also stand on its own

you will heal and you'll rise above (PJO wip, wnbwns series)

Nico is used to handling everything alone. Sure he's suffering, but what else is new?

Until a certain healer comes along and shows him that he can both heal and heal others.

A companion piece to 'we're not brave, we're not soldiers' but this can be read on its own.

my dear I always feared the ocean (AGGGTM wip)

'Can you find him before the clock runs out?' She only stopped running when she realized she was about to step on something that had been dropped in the street. She bent down and picked up a set of headphones with an AGGGTM sticker on the side. The headphones were scrapped and there was a small bit of blood on the inside.

Pip didn’t even realize that she had fallen to her knees, couldn’t feel the way the asphalt dug in and cut her skin through her jeans. All she could process was an endless stream of 'he’s gone,' running through her head. --- OR: what is Ravi was taken by the DT killer in AGAD instead of Pip?

Complete

You Deserve It (And So Do You) - (Tangled, multi-chapter, complete)

Eugene could never stand to see someone else in pain, especially as a child, and there was so much pain to be had in the orphanage. So if there was anything that he could do to prevent it, any way he could take it, he would. Because none of those kids deserved it.

It hurt, it always hurt, but it was worth it.

-- This is Eugene's story, of accepting the love he thought he deserved and (finally) finding the courage to accept the love he deserved all along.

you're the greatest thing we lost (PJO, complete one shot in wnbwns series)

Between classes, studying for his entrance exams, and taking on quests for recommendation letters, Percy Jackson is exhausted. But when a god calls, even one as kind as Lady Hestia, you answer. -- Lady Hestia gives Percy his final quest. Based off of a head cannon post from @demigods-posts

Sally Jackson's son (one shot, complete)

Everyone who has ever met Percy Jackson - God, demigod, and mortal alike - knew that there were two people they could never touch if they didn’t want to face his wrath.

Annabeth Chase and Sally Jackson.

No angst (this time), just the Gods experiencing a healthy dose of fear toward Percy Jackson - #1 Mama's Boy

Sticks and Stones (one shot, complete)

A epidemic of flu at Camp Halfblood reveals that Nico di Angelo hasn't had any modern vaccinations. His doctor boyfriend can't let that slide, but will Nico be able to overcome his fear of needles and get his vaccines?

More of a sweet hurt/comfort oneshot

Someone to Fall Back On (one shot, complete)

But that was the thing, everything was okay. For the first time in years, he truly knew that he was safe. Everything was going well - somehow he had graduated high school and he was set to head off to college with the love of his life. So why did it feel like someone was ripping his heart out? Probably because he was leaving a piece of it in New York with his family.

A part of the PJO Equinox-Solstice exchange. Unfortunately not my favorite, but some people enjoyed it so i'll list it here.

[oodlyenough]

fic 20 questions

1. how many works do you have on Ao3? 127...! I have had the account since 2009, lol.

2. what's your total Ao3 word count? 707,519

3. what fandoms do you write for? Generally I only write for one at a time, which is currently Ace Attorney. Not counting the odd one-offs for ask memes over the years, the other big ones were Arcane, Borderlands, Doctor Who and the wizard books.

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

Commutative Law (Arcane)

Window of Opportunity (Arcane)

Where the Air is Rarefied (HP)

Prestidigitation (Arcane)

Contingency Planning (Arcane)

Lmao, 4 of 5 written in 2022. You can see the power of writing m/m in a popular new fandom VS my entire other library at the time. Admittedly at some point I made a concerted effort to try and knock HP down from top spot, which was successful. For now. Jayvik fandom has quieted down a lot.

5. do you respond to comments? Yes. Sometimes it takes a while because if it's a particularly thoughtful comment I try to give a particularly thoughtful reply, and it can take time to gather my thoughts.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I'm going to discount oneshots because the tone in one-shots tends to be more consistent throughout the piece rather than being about the "ending" yknow.

So probably King and Country, a Doctor Who fic cowritten with @go-ldy way back when. Technically a happy ending if you factor in immense amounts of off-screen couples therapy lmao. But we had originally written something much simpler and happier, and it didn't fit the story at all, so we went back and wrote something heavier for the closing chapter, which is why it sticks in my mind.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I think probably Anachronism, the 95k Borderlands epic. I had always had a rough image of the four main characters happy together by the end, and it was also my swansong in Borderlands fandom, so I wanted it to be an optimistic, happy ending (especially in contrast to whatever the hell is going on in the canon there now lmfaoooo). Plus the rest of the fic was quite angsty, and the ending was hopeful and happy.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not in recent memory. Once upon a time I got a couple disgruntled comments in Doctor Who fandom, and perhaps funniest of all found people complaining about my fic on LJ in French, unaware I read French.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Nope I'm a big baby who gets too embarrassed. I've written some pretty soft-focus M rated stuff but nothing I think could rightly be called smut.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I wrote a short joke crossover between Doctor Who and Inspector Spacetime, the Doctor Who parody from Community. I don't think that one made the leap from Teaspoon to AO3 actually.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes, a number of times. It's very flattering. Mostly Borderlands fics and mostly into Russian iirc, but there's been a few over the years. Sometimes people ask, and I say "sure, drop me a link!" and I never hear back, so I'm not sure if they forgot to link or just never finished translating to begin with.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? My longest and best DW fics with @go-ldy way back when! Not so much since.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? I'm gonna be real it always just feels like whatever I'm into at the moment. And, actually, not necessarily something I write fic for -- like Pricefield is an all-timer for me, easy, but I have never written fic and I haven't read all that much either. If I were narrowing to tree, one of "each" lol, probably Doctor/Rose, Pricefield and Narumitsu.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Don't have any. I know I will never finish them (RIP Fixer-Upper and Silly Love Songs) as I've lost interest in those fandoms.

16. What are your writing strengths? I'd like to think I am good at packing emotional and/or character beats into a concise scene or story. Adding missing scenes or elaborating on canon scenes to give some additional depth or meaning without really deviating from the source.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Definitely plot. I will get stumped on the technicalities of things for ages -- I might know an emotional scene I'd like to write, but hell if I know how to get them there. It's why I primarily write one-shots. Also I struggle with any kind of scenery or set description.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I avoid it as much as I can. (Which so far has been entirely, lol.) I don't speak any other languages well enough to write dialogue in them and feel awkward relying on Google translate or hitting up random friends to do that work for me. I am more likely to use the "said something in [language]" approach.

19. First fandom you wrote for? I actually can't be sure but I think it was 101 Dalmatians. The animated one. When I was like, 7.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? I'm gonna cheat and do one per fandom:

Anachronism (Borderlands) -> biggest, most complicated, plotty fic I have ever written, with four main characters and every combination of relationship between them as the focus. Took 3 damn years. Very proud of it.

Unravel (Ace Attorney) -> total recency bias here but I'm very happy with it and it scratched a very particular itch for me, fleshing out a relationship and characters that exist mostly in the fringes of canon, something I used to do lots of but haven't in recent years

Contingency Planning (Arcane) -> an emotional sucker punch fic in my humble opinion, happiest with it

Out of the Howling (Doctor Who, with @go-ldy) -> actually I had a hard time picking a DW fic. But this was our last together and most complex, so it wins. Also the Master is fun as hell to write.

I am supposed to tag people! I am not sure who else has already been tagged. Do it or don't, I'm not your boss, happy new year 🎊 @annalyticall @heavybreathingcatt @sandboxer @mutxnts @tinsnip @tlonista @themirokai

[stormxpadme]

Fanfiction Writing Asks

10, 13, 20, 37, 43, 61 (for My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold), 77

Fanfiction Writing Asks

10 - Do you work on multiple wips or stick to one fic at a time?

It depends a little. If I consider my main X-Men verse as a whole, I probably always work on multiple things because there's always something to do with Weathered, be it a translation, a new oneshot or making notes for the second main series Weathered II. This is a long term project continuously interrupted by various independent oneshots that are mostly scogan smutshots with lots of feels right now. I can't really write several stories at once though. A oneshot needs to be finished first before I can start working on something else.

13 - Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what have you been listening to recently?

It depends a lot. Lately, I've more put on background noise in the shape of trash TV as that strangely helps soothing the usual anxiety about life and helps focusing on writing, translating etc. If I do listen to music while writing, it needs to be instrumental as lyrics distract me. My go to soundtracks for that are Lord of the Rings, The Man in the Iron Mask and Armageddon

20 - Do you prefer writing AUs or canon fics?

Again, I'd say It's Complicated. There's mostly always a few minor AU elements in my stories but they do follow the main canon of the franchise in question. BUT not always the whole part of said franchise when later canon entries don't agree with me. In Star Wars, I only use the first six movies as my canon. In my X-Men verse I famously ignore everything past X2, as the first two movies are a whole different multiverse entry for me, happening outside and before all those timeless messes (and far worse newer movies) happened. I take inspiration and faceclaims from parts of franchises that I otherwise ignore but I do take the liberty of not incorporating what I hate. Such deviations are always noted in the tags and/or story notes, so people know what they're getting into. I also often enjoy changing one comparatively big thingm like the main ships in these first two X-Men movies, but stick to the rest of the canon all the more accurately as this What If is what makes fanfiction fascinating for me, really. What I hardly do is huge AU settings aka historical, no powers, coffee shop AU etc. Those don't really hold an appeal to me.

37 - What fic has been the hardest for you to write?

Again, if I only focus on my current fandom for these questions, that would probably be the non con stuff happening in series part 8 of Weathered I. That's some ugly stuff going on there and as much as I love my hurt/comfort, there's stuff I definitely don't enjoy writing for my characters, even if they have their place in a fic.

43 - Is there a trope or idea that you’d really like to write but haven’t yet?

I still want to write more and especially smut things for trans!Kitty and Piotr but since as a cisgender person, I'm not deep enough into the subject and don't have personal experience, I'm kinda anxious to try my hand on it.

61 - In My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold, what’s your favorite scene that you wrote?

While I had lots of fun with weird kid!Laura, I'd still go with the very first chapter since I'm a horror girl through and through, and that whole haunted mansion thing was lots of fun.

77 - Why do you enjoy writing fanfiction?

Basically, I can make my favorite barbie dolls kiss, what's not to love? It's all about seeing and reading the stories that canon won't give me.

[shrinkthisviolet]

Talk Shop Tuesday - you've mentioned that one good way of getting a multichap done is to write it all in one document, but is there any other ways you manage to motivate yourself? Also how on Earth do you keep your WIP list so low - what do you do if you're attacked by wild plot bunnies??

For my larger AUs, I have a snippets doc for each! My mind tends to jump around between arcs...especially to the s3 arc of the Morgan AU. So when I get inspired to write the later parts of an AU, I usually do so and stick it in the snippets doc. That way my current inspiration is fulfilled, and I have it saved for later when I might need it (and if not, there's always the outtakes doc)

A more general form of motivation is the prompt fills. Writing shorter ficlets is a fairly low-pressure way for me to write and keep my writing juices flowing. And, as a bonus, I get to write for multiples ships (romantic and platonic) that I find compelling but likely wouldn't write about otherwise (and I get to write more about the ones that I have written about but still love so much—like Barry & Morgan, one of my brotps 🥰)

Also also, an outline helps too ofc. When it comes to long fics, having an outline is great because if I get stuck, I can go back to it and go "okay, this is what I need to happen. How can I get myself there?" And there's always the trick of deleting the past sentence (or few sentences) to unstick myself.

Watching the source material is kind of an obvious one 😅 but yeah, that too.

Also taking breaks, knowing when to step away from writing, reading other things (that may or may not inspire me but provide a good distraction for my brain in any case)...all of that is important too! Avoiding burnout is key.

As for the latter part of your question...hey, I get attacked by plenty of plot bunnies, thank you very much 😂 this fic is a prime example of that (a prompt fill from yesterday that spiraled into an ambitious idea and ended up as a 1k-word fic, my longest fill to date), and so are any oneshots I've written on a whim (like the the Saviris fic, and the Savitar-centric s9 finale fix-it fic, to name another couple). I have so many ideas swimming around in my head...the reason I don't have a lot of WIPs is because of how I define them: ideas that have been plotted in a doc and written in fic form, even just a little. Mostly because I don't like making promises I can't keep...a number of the plot bunnies in my head will never be written, and yet I do think about them (also sometimes plot bunnies come and go like a revolving door, ideas are a dime a dozen).

Some of them end up as oneshots because although I can't outline them as a long fic, I want to write something for them. It's also why I prefer a series of oneshots over a multichap: former is less pressure, if that makes sense— go into it knowing there's a possibility that any oneshot could be the last one ever posted, while for multichaps...there's a bit more of an expectation of completion. Or maybe I'm overthinking it 😅 and that approach definitely makes it easier to skip around in time…which is useful if you wanna start in one place and fill in the earlier stuff later (as I did with the Morgan AU!)

talk shop tuesday!

[herri-writes]

About the writer and the blog:

𖧷 My name is Herrianne. I have this name as a pen name and an online name for almost a year or two. (This name is not my real name btw)

𖧷 My nationality is Filipino. Yes, you read it right. Also, English is not my first language including tagalog but still write fics with the said language.

𖧷 I'm a minor and does SFW content but rarely sprinkled a little bit of spice when wanted (lol). By my age, I dare not to disclose it unless when I wanted to.

𖧷 My astrological sign is Aquarius, February Aquarius to be specific. My birthday is 1st of February.

𖧷 I'm currently a senior high school student and I'm rarely busy with schoolworks at my chosen strand and track. (First semester is a breeze but it'll be hell once it ends and second semester starts lmao.)

𖧷 I called myself "The Dreamer" because I pursue my dreams. I'm also a realist ever since my depression because I'm old enough to stick to reality and accept it even I'm an airhead. Sometimes my dreams came true not long before the said date or time or event. Till then, I addressed myself as "The Dreamer".

𖧷 By writing, I rarely write because of writer's block and tried to look for inspiration and motivation. I wrote a lot back then and wrote TWST related and Devil Butler with Black Cat related oneshots, fanfictions, and works. I added Genshin Impact and Ensemble Stars!! to my writing list. I may or may not've ended up simping on few characters in mentioned games. Hehe...

𖧷 My genres are filled with angst or fluff or either in between. I can add yandere (but not the part where it'll go 0 to 100 real quick), romance (patience is the key for a reader), crack (when I'm high), or tragic (don't make me drag you into angst hole after this). My works will be mostly on female reader and sometimes for gender neutral. I don't do male reader. I'm sorryTT

𖧷 I am only a fic writer but I don’t accept requests. I only write for my own and share it to my readers. So please, avoid sending me any requests. Thank you very much.

𖧷 I also accept any collaboration work with anyone when it's writing related. Please, make the whole work SFW and ask permission to me if it's okay when you're adding a little spice. When using tags, use the correct one. If you don't know how, I'll teach you. Of course, you'll be added in the credits because you're special and you're doing well in the whole work.

𖧷 By gaming, I rarely play Twisted Wonderland and Devil Butler with Black Cat, occassionally on Genshin Impact and Project Sekai: Colorful Stage, and more often on Ensemble Stars!! because I focus more on rhythmic and not on Natsume (lmao). Don't worry about my academic performances. I balanced it but I procrastinate and cram a lot and it's a habit since two years of blended modular classes.

I mainly focus on rhythmic and lore, rarely on gachas because I'm saving for something specific because I always cry when something I saved up for doesn't arrive or come homeTT Just your mediocre gacha player being broke after this.

𖧷 By social interaction, you can send me asks. My messages are only available to my mutuals and friends, especially the ones who I followed back. When you send me an ask, make sure it's a topic I clearly understand and made me feel comfortable. Don't send me an ask if you're making a hate comment/response or something that could make me uncomfortable.

𖧷 By social medias, I only have Facebook, TikTok, Tumblr, Messenger, and Discord. I'll send these to you as long as I trust you and comfortable sending my account names. Or I can send it to you when I wanted to.

𖧷 Since school and gaming took over my time, I barely wrote anything but I'm editing my past works to see and check if there's any mistakes or errors. Some of them will be rewritten and reposted when needed.

𖧷 My blog is a multi-fandom blog so currently, the content in my blog will be mostly focused on Twisted Wonderland, Genshin Impact, Devil Butler with Black Cat, and Ensemble Stars. Written works, fanarts, related-content, etc. We can also talk about it of course. Spam reblogging is not allowed and it'll cause a huge mess at my blog's timeline. It's one hell of scrolling. Blame my friends for that. Talk to me at the post's comment box and all is done and settled.

𖧷 Repost is not allowed. Plagiarism is not allowed. Copying and stealing is not allowed. My works are not for sale and I only write for fun. Reblogging my posts is okay. Liking my posts is okay. I saw a few of TWST content makers in Tumblr got their work being copied, plagiarized, or stolen without the original creator's notice. So if you saw anyone took any of my content, send me an ask or message me in dms. Thank you very much.

[ghostlygun]

2021 Fic in Review

I felt tagged by @liminal-zone, so here we go!!

Total number of completed works/fandoms written in: 48 completed fics published on AO3, 11 completed fics published on a non-english fanfic site, 7 completed original stories. (Only 5 of all of these are multi-chapter though. Most of them are short oneshots.) I mostly stayed in the MCU/Cap movies fandom except for some crossover shenanigans.

Did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected? SO MUCH MORE!! I had a 'I think I'll never be able to write again' crisis going on in 2020, so I didn't expect this sudden rush of productivity at all!

What’s your favourite story of the year? Oh man, that's a tough one! I had so much fun with so many different story types this year, and I liked how most of them turned out! But I think I've reached my peak with that crack fic about Actor Sebastian Stan constantly being mistaken for Very Wanted International Terrorist Bucky Barnes. It's sadly not written in English and I suck at translating, so you'll have to trust me that it's hilarious.

Did you take any writing risks this year? I mean, I started writing noncon fic, so, yes, absolutely! I love trying out new things, and this year has been a blast in that regard.

Do you have any writing goals for the new year? Not really. "Finish my WIPs" is always a goal, but I won't promise anything. I've learned that writing goals don't really help me achieve things, and that it works best for me when I write the things I'm in the mood for, when I'm in the mood for, as often as I'm in the mood for, rather than sticking to a schedule or fixed goals.

Most popular story of the year: Surprisingly, it's still Notes, the second fic I ever uploaded to AO3, at the very beginning of my current fandom obsession. It was probably solely due to good timing - I published it the week after the first episode of TFATWS aired.

Most under-appreciated story of yours, in your opinion: I think that's clearly A Bitter Eternity - although I completely understand why it's not that popular. It's a Hydra Wins AU and very, very sad.

Most fun story to write: I wrote so much crack this year, and the non-crack was also fun to write, but my favorite is Guard Dog. I just love bureaucracy crack and paperwork shenanigans.

Most unintentionally telling story: I am a firm believer in the fact that you absolutely cannot tell anything about an author's personal life solely based on the fics they write. (It may work the other way around - if you know someone, you might recognize elements from their lives in their stories.) So, no, I don't think a single story of mine was unintentionally telling. (Well, my HTP stories tell you that I'm into fucked up shit, so there's that.)

Biggest disappointment: It kind of bothers me that, considering the amount of words I wrote this year, I cannot write longfic. I can type out oneshots pretty fast, but as soon as it's becoming multi-chapter, it takes me months to even continue, let alone finish.

Biggest surprise: Noncon fics are hot, actually. Also: The sheer amount of feedback and enthusiasm on AO3, OH MY GOD. It's amazing!! I was not used to this. I come from a fanfic site where comments/interaction in general are rare (especially when you write niche stuff like I do), and when I moved over to AO3, there were suddenly so!! many!! people!! who liked the same stuff as I did! Who create so much content for it and who like the content I create! I've never been a "give me validation or else" kind of person - I write stuff because I want to, and if no one reads it, that's fine, at least it made me happy. But OH BOI did all those lovely comments give me a motivation boost!!

My favourite part of fandom in 2021: MY FELLOW TRASH PANDAS I LOVE YOU *BOOTSTEPPY*

Tagging: Everyone who wants to do this!

[eyesontheskyline]

(about the whole fic writer asks, except those answered now) the story specific ones have to be about 'but if you really hold me tight' - I love all your cxg fics and it's the longest one :D) it's just I'm thinking of getting back to writing and since you're of my favorites authors out there now i'd love to get some insight. kudos for being cool about it!

Hello!  Okay first of all thank you so much, that is a ridiculously big compliment and my face hurts.  And yes yes yes you should definitely write if you feel like writing - just go for it!  If you have any specific questions or you want a pep talk or whatever, message any time :) 

Okay I’m gonna put these under a Read More because wall of text.

2) What fandoms do you write for and do you have a particular favourite if you write for more than one?Right now only Crazy Ex Girlfriend.  I wrote for Criminal Minds under a different name then had a gap of several years.  I’m pretty far removed from CM now but I can safely say writing for CXG has been a nicer experience community wise (partly a smaller fandom thing and I suspect partly a demographic thing), and there’s more established character stuff to work with because all the character development isn’t like…  Crammed in the five minutes they have to work with either side of the crime solving.

3) Do you prefer writing OC’s or reader inserts? Explain your answer.I don’t really do either, but reader inserts are kind of a squick of mine honestly, so I’m gonna say OCs.  I’ve only written OC kids though.

4) What is your favourite genre to write for?I am not entirely sure what this means…  Fic genre?  Original media genre?  I have only ever written romance or friendship stuff for TV shows, an odd balance of fluff and angst?

5) If you had to choose a favourite out of all of your multi chaptered stories, which would it be and why?Mmm let the sun inside has a special place in my heart because it was the thing that got me back into writing after a really long gap and turned out pretty much how I wanted it to.  Writing it was just a very intense ‘I am writing again and my brain is on fire’ experience for me.

7) When is your preferred time to write?I would love to have a less dysfunctional answer to this, but probably between 1 and 4am unfortunately?  That can’t be a thing on work nights because I get up at 6.30.  If I can get myself on a roll early afternoon in a coffee shop though, that’s a better feeling.  Just… Less common than ‘the rest of the world around me is asleep and my brain just woke up’.

8) Where do you take your inspiration from?Oh everywhere.  The media I write fic about.  The stories I read.  My life, my friends.  The world.

9) In but if you really hold me tight, what’s your favourite scene that you wrote?Oh god I really don’t know.  This story is really hard for me to have perspective on because of the ridiculously time pressured way I wrote and published it.  I’m probably proudest of chapter 12, where they discuss the ‘do we want a baby’ question properly, because that just…  Is an important conversation that you don’t really see in media?  I’m not sure it’s the best writing in the story, but I’m glad I didn’t chicken out of it.  I also enjoyed writing Rebecca meeting Plimpton Senior in chapter 19, because that feels like an opportunity the show missed and I will never see enough versions of it in fic honestly.  (Do you have a favourite?)

10) In but if you really hold me tight, why did you decide to end it like that? Did you have an alternative ending in mind?That one was pretty much always going to end where it did – just because of the format, it was always going to end in a fluffy happy place around midnight on the 1st of January 2021. The last chapter was going to be longer originally, with more characters getting a moment, but it was just getting kind of unfocused – Rebecca POV can handle tone shifts pretty well I think because of the way her brain is wired, but at some point it all just got a bit messy so I pared it back.  I think I’m pleased with how it turned out, but the chaos of writing it is still fresh enough that it’s hard to tell!

11) Have you ever amended a story due to criticisms you’ve received after posting it?Nah, but I’ve fixed typos (thank you @what-the-elle-n!)

13) Who is your least favourite character to write for? Why?I find Valencia and Paula pretty difficult.  I love them, but I struggle.

14) How did you come up with the title - You can ask about multiple stories.(Since it says multiple and since I only have 3 currently…)  Everything I’ve published for CXG so far has had song lyric titles – mostly because I am not good at poetic turns of phrase, and I like lyricists who are.  (I’m also not a particularly romantic person, and I like lyricists who are!)

let the sun inside is from Ribcage by elbow.  The full line is ‘I wanted to explode – to pull my ribs apart and let the sun inside’, which feels to me like that feeling of having bottled everything up for so long that you just can’t feel anything anymore until you kind of break down and come out the other side?  And Rebecca = sunshine, so.  That is basically the premise of the story, so that was a stroke of luck.

the landing light is from K2 by elbow (I swear I listen to other music, they just have words that really lend themselves to fanfic titles lol).  I have a whole meta thing written to publish alongside the last chapter about why this song for this story, but basically the line is ‘Dickhead’s done a runner and he’s wondering if anyone cares – is the landing light on?’ which is just someone far from home feeling a bit stupid and homesick and wondering if there’s anybody waiting at home for him.  And of course Nathaniel comes home to a totally miserable situation and there Rebecca is.

but if you really hold me tight…  It had to be a lyric from a Christmas song, preferably one Frank Sinatra sang at some point, because that was the playlist I started listening to in mid-October while outlining this madness.  So it’s from Let It Snow, obviously, although that exact line is not in that version, ssshhhhhh (he sings ‘but if you’ll only hold me tight’).  I chose it because R&N being a team and getting through stuff together in a mostly-fluff-but-not-entirely way was kind of what I was aiming for, and it just felt like it fit.

15) If you write OC’s, how do you decide on their names?I kind of have an OC coming up in a story I’m writing now, and I just… Knew who named them, and tried to choose a name those people would choose.  I don’t really do OCs much in fic, but in not-fic (it’s been a while!) I try to go for a name that (1) means something, and importantly (2) I can imagine their parents having named them.

16) How did you come up with the idea for but if you really hold me tight?So a writer I used to read a lot from the Criminal Minds fandom did a Christmas fic a couple of years in a row – one short, mostly fluffy chapter for each day from the 1st-25th of December.  So that was the plan.  Except as soon as I started outlining it, I knew I couldn’t write an entire month fluffy and problem-free for these two (for anyone, but especially these two), so short and fluffy didn’t stick!

17) Post a line from a WIP that you’re working on.“I’ve gotten better at a lot of things since you’ve been away, but my self-deception skills have taken a real hit.”

18) Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them?Yeah, I abandoned a few Criminal Minds fics.  I still feel bad about them actually – I get comments on them occasionally. (On the offchance anyone reading this is someone who feels nervous about commenting on old stories – these delight me in ways you cannot imagine.)  I ran out of steam in a lot of ways – I started them without any real idea where I was going and wrote myself into a corner, mostly, but also I was starting to really struggle to write unprompted.  I am not the most mentally well person, and I just got my brain into this spirally tangle where I thought nobody wanted to read anything they hadn’t asked for, so I filled a lot of prompts but couldn’t convince myself to write anything else.  It feels really weird to think about that now, which I guess is a good sign…

19) Are there any stories that you’ve written that you’d really love to do a sequel to?I toy with following the emotional arc of S4 but following let the sun inside sometimes – that was the plan, when I originally finished it and was panicking that I would never get another idea.  Also, but if you really hold me tight created a world of warm domesticity for R&N that I felt really sad leaving behind, so I would probably like to write in the timeline again.  And the landing light might get a oneshot sequel, depending on whether I end it the way I think I’m going to or the way I was originally planning to…

20) Are there any stories that you wished you’d ended differently?No, not in this fandom.  I’ve only written two endings though!  I’ve ended on some real cheeseball final lines in the past though.

21) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?@heartbash, who can do plot and slow-burn in a way my impatient ass will never be capable of.  @justwanted2dance who deserves a million flame emojis and writes BDSM stuff in a way that makes my anxious brain comfy enough to enjoy it (literally nobody else has achieved this).  @pictureofsoph1sticatedgrace who writes the loveliest fluff and is a badass individual.  @notbang and @anthropologicalhands and @catty-words and @akisazame and @romansuzume who write beautifully and can do those poetic turns of phrase I am not good at.  I’ve got to be forgetting someone but wowww there is so much talent and creativity in this lil room.  So many people to be inspired by.

22) Do you have a story that you look back on and cringe when you reread it?God yes, but not in this fandom.  It’s fine, 19 or 20 year old me, you were learning.

23) Do you prefer listening to music when you’re writing or do you need silence?Silence.  Or like white noise or the Hufflepuff Common Room 10 hour ASMR video on youtube or something lol.  Anything with words just ruins me – my attention span is laughable.

25) Have you ever cried whilst writing a story?Ha yes actually, but I’m really not entirely sure why.  Sometimes my brain is just a really weird place to be.

26) Which part of but if you really hold me tight was the hardest to write?It depends how you measure hardest, I guess.  Several of the smut scenes just said ‘[insert sex]’ for the longest time, sometimes with descriptions?  So like ‘[insert feelingsy sex]’ or whatever lol.  In terms of getting voices right (like to the point of still being unsure whether it’s any good), this gurl group chapter.  

27) Do you make a general outline for your stories or do you just go with the flow?It really depends.  Usually I know roughly where I’m going and how I’m getting there and that’s good enough for me, but my NaNo fic got an outline because of the format and timescale. And I’m planning a thing with an actual plot arc (gasp!) so that’s getting an outline, in the hope of making it look vaguely romance novel shaped.  Basically it depends on the length of the thing for me, and how plotty it is.

28) What is something you wished you’d known before you started posting fanfiction?Writing advice: if you’re struggling to move past a particular point, the thing you need to change is probably a few lines back.  It’s rarely the last line that painted you into the corner. If you think something needs to come out, paste it into an outtakes document – you might want to put it somewhere else later, or salvage lines from it or whatever, and it’s just easier to let go if you’re not actually hitting delete.

Posting advice: remember fandom is community – everyone is here because they love the thing you love.  They’re gonna be excited there’s a new story to read, and they’re rooting for you!  (Write the thing!)

29) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like?Nahh I mean, it’s a smaallll fandom.

30) In contrast to 29 is there a story which gets lots of love which you kinda eye roll at?Again, smaaalll.  (Also I try not to publicly eye roll at things other people love even if they are my things – there’s nothing quite like loving a song just for the band to be like ‘ugh I fucking hate that song’, so I always try to keep that in mind.)

31) Send me a fic recommendation and I’ll post it for my followers to see! (The asker is to send the rec not the answerer)You did not send me a rec!  Feel free to send me one now!  In fact, open call, everyone send me fic recs, even if I’ve definitely read them.

32) Are any of your characters based on real people?Mm no I don’t do OCs.

33) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?I mean, I enjoyed hearing that someone read my story in the corner at a party lol, especially because it was a chapter I was pretty pleased with and nervous about.  Also any time anybody says something I wrote is a headcanon or ‘this should have happened in the show’ is a glittery feeling. When somebody notices a little clue or detail that isn’t obvious, it makes me ridiculously happy.  Humans reading my thing then saying something about it is still crazy, so, yeah.

34) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten?Story time: my old fandom has this one character who has a lot of pretty hardcore stans.  I mostly dislike the word stan but like…  Yeah.  So anyway, I got an email saying I had a new comment on my ficlet collection (keeping in mind I was in my ‘very unhealthy relationship with feedback’ stage at this point), and clicked on it all happy, and all it said was ‘I didn’t read this because another comment said it doesn’t contain enough *stanned character* and you really should warn people upfront that he isn’t gonna be in it, I’m glad I didn’t waste my time on it’.  Which was just…  A bizarre comment.  Like, commenting to say you didn’t read the thing is weird in itself, but also you list the characters who are in the thing, not all the ones who aren’t?? Anyway, I then went on my tumblr and I had several anon messages that were just straight up hate along the same lines and…  Yeah.  The Criminal Minds fandom was a strange place. On a related note, have I told you today that I love you, CXG people?  I love you.

35) Do you share your story ideas with anyone else or do you keep them close to your chest?I am basically always up with talking stuff through with people.

36) Can you give us a spoiler for one of your WIP’s?This is actually difficult to do right now.  There’s a baby?

37) What’s the funniest story you’ve written?I mean, I made myself laugh a couple of times in my festive fic, but I’m more of a ‘this one line is funny’ writer than a ‘this story is funny’ writer.  I’m too angsty!

38) If you could collab with any other writer on here, who would it be? (Perhaps this question will inspire some collabs!) If you’re shy, don’t tag the blog, just name it.This question is faaar too terrifying.  I’ve actually never collabed with anyone, I’d love to though.

39) Do you prefer first, second or third person?Third.  I think because I’ve only written for TV shows, no matter how closely you’re following one character, if you’re seeing them on a screen, you’re in third person.  So it’s just an extra struggle to make that jump to another POV for me.  I have written my not-fanfic mostly in first though, and I’ve read some lovely fic in first and second.  I’m just not good at it.

40) Do people know you write fanfiction?One person.

41) What’s your favourite minor character you’ve written?Hmmmm who is minor, really?  I find AJ difficult but fun.

43) Has anyone ever guessed the plot twist of one of your fics before you posted it?I don’t write anything plotty enough for this to be a thing!

44) What is the last line you wrote?“Mm, because you know how irresistible your weird old timey voices are.”

45) What spurs you on during the writing process?I want people to read the thing, honestly.  It’s a ‘reach out my lonely haaand’ moment with a little less melodrama.  I want it to be out in the world doing what it’s meant to do.  I also want it to be finished so I can read it – I get a very particular kind of happy feeling from reading a good sentence I wrote.

46) I really loved but if you really hold me tight. If you were ever to do a sequel, what do you think might happen in it?Lol it felt really weird to type that in there when you didn’t actually say it directly, but you said all so here we are!  I’m just gonna take that compliment even though I wrote it…  When I started coming to the end of writing that story, I started to feel really sad about leaving behind the warm domestic feel of it, so if I ever feel more domestic fluff coming on, probably it’ll be set after that.  

47) Here’s a fic title - insert a made up title. What would this story be about?You did not insert a made up title!  Although insert a made up title has potential for Rebecca hounding everyone she knows to help her title a song she wrote.

48) What’s your favourite trope to write?Is ‘let’s have an actual conversation about this’ a trope because that’s my brand so far!  I haven’t written anything particularly tropey, I don’t think, although the pull of ‘omg there was only one bed’ is strong right now!

49) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about?Yes!  It was a Criminal Minds fic, Hotch/Prentiss, canon compliant (ish) missing scenes kind of deal.  I can’t remember the first CXG fic I read, which is ridiculous because it was a lot more recent.  I started writing CXG fic before I started looking for it, because I hadn’t been inspired to write in so long that I didn’t want to scare myself away.  I read some before publishing, but I can’t remember where I started.

50) If you could write only angst, fluff or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?I can only dream of being mentally stable enough to have a consistent answer to this lol.  Angst comes more naturally to me, but writing angsty characters into happy situations is one of the ways I make sense of the world, so…  Fluff, maybe, as long as I can keep the characters screwed up, because they just…  Are.  And like, same.