#dont ask me how many chapters I've written lol

[boneskullravenriver]

I'm gonna say it.

Making up a language for a story I'm writing is fun as hell. I doubt that a linguist would be impressed by it or anything because I'm not a linguist (I'm dumber than a bag of rocks tbh.) but my favorite bit is adding words that have cultural connotations to the country it's from.

Good soup

[seraphont]

FAQ & Important Info

About me:

bday: march 30th

lgbt?: im bi

What can we call you?

Seraphont is fine, its supposed to be a play on of Seraph and Serif Font, you can call me Seraph!

What pronouns do you use?

I'd prefer They/Them, but you can use She/Her.

Whats your Main blog?

not posting it publically for now.

Dying and Getting Over It (DaGOI au) Related:

Where can I read DaGOI?

It will be uploaded to my Ao3. its currently being written, so there is no link to the fic yet.

When will you post the fic?

short answer: I'm not sure, possibly by early october. its my first time writing a fic, so I ask you to be patient with me! the outline is written and being tweaked, and its going through adjustments now that MD ep 8 is out. Im also moving across the world, so I'm a tad bit busy rn.

Will you include MD ep8 into the canon of your fic?

at first I was on the fence, but its grown on me, its being integrated now.

Will you be drawing all of DaGOI in comic form?

if I was a stronger man I would. I'll mostly be drawing key story moments. making comics is an aid to helping me write. so I'll be making a lot, but I may not be posting them until the chapters start coming out (trying not to spoil everything). to give you an idea, as of writing this, I have 6 comics on the backburner lol.

Art Related:

What art program(s) do you use?

Procreate -Brushes: Shiyoon Kims Wet Brush pack (X) (everything you see on this blog is made with this brushpack) and several Max Packs (X) for procreate

How long have you been drawing?

I've always drawn, but I started getting really serious at 14, around the same time I first made my main blog. I was self taught up until I got into animation school.

What do you do as a career?

I'm currently doing Freelance work for publishers and individuals. I was previously an animator, I'm making the move to storyboarding

Do you take requests/commissions?

I do have commissions open. only lineart, and flat colours are available. if you want a rendered piece: slots are closed, but you can dm me for interest.

Asks and Messaging:

Rules for asks/tagging?

Anyone can send me an Ask, Mutuals, Anons or not!

Dont send discourse or anything explicitly NSFW. you'll be blocked lol. I'd prefer if you didnt send suggestive. if you send me triggering content I’ll mind blast you into dust. (block).

Do not send and DNI's?

Transphobia, Homophobia, Acephobia. All the obvious bigot contenders.

SA, pdfilia and incest are absolute no goes.

are you okay with me direct messaging you?

only if we have spoken before/ you're giving me a headsup about something/ I've prompted you to send me one.

***minors: please refrain from dming me to chit chat, im not down to.***

Why don’t you answer my asks/dms?

my main has 1000+ asks and my other side blog is pushing 250+, sometimes the ask's get lost in the sauce. that being said, some ask's go unaswered because: 1. it might spoil too much if I were to answer. 2. I simply have to think hard to reply. 3. its super nice and im hoarding it all for myself.

Misc

Can you reblog my donation posts?

no. too many scams.

[dogueteeth-fhr]

Fanfic Writer Questions

Thank you @silvery-bluish & @glitchy-npc for the tags! Not sure who else to send it to atm but if you see this on my page and decide to pitch in with your answers feel free to @ me!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I've got 12! Most are oneshots, others are series.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

47002 on AO3 at the moment! And so much more in my docs.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Primarily Fallen Hero, with a dash of TWC and some other fandoms sprinkled in my WIPS but I've been on Fallen Hero brainrot for a long time now so the other fandoms are currently neglected.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Nightmare (surprisingly enough) w/ 28 kudos

focus (it's harder than you think) (also surprising lol) w/ 20 kudos

new pavement w/ 18 kudos

anamnesis w/ 18 kudos

freefall w/ 13 kudos tied with bath(toaster)tub also w/ 13 kudos

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to respond to all of them! But some days I just don't have the spoons to and I forget, but I really appreciate any comments I receive.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

HA. you want me to pick??? Ok hrm. maybe bath(toaster)tub? anamnesis also has so me pretty angsty pieces in there.

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

PFFF. ok gotta. go look for this one. Maybe sargasso sea, though it's technically not the last iteration in its series between a continued plotline hinted out in after the fall and a third part planned for its series.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet! I think.

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

(slaps brain) this bad boy can generate so much smut. I write pretty much any kind? Soft, rough, indulgent, M/M, F/M, F/F, other any everything, kinky or emotional, etc. Just whatever strikes me at the time, but most just dont get published bc I'm mid.

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

I typically HATE crossover fics they just aren't my thing I do write AUs of X story set in X story's universe, just haven't published them (wait does that still count as a crossover).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nah, considered it once tho.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope! Haven't found someone with the vibe ig, it's just never crossed my mind to co-write a fic and just never been asked too.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

(cue strained breath) i have no all time favorites BUT. but. Ricardo/Wei gets me SO soft ok. i just. unrequited years long attraction finally requited and i. AAAAA. place sidestep in there too and i'm just so happy. i need poly rep in my life sometimes ok.

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

I stare into the google docs hell and ask you how you could expect me to pick one but. BUT. Praeludium//Allegro. A piece meant to dive in how Sidestep is able to experience the moment someone dies through their mind.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Shorter pieces! They tend to be about ~2000-5000 words per part, that's usually when I feel I've done my best. I'm also. Decent at NSFW writing? Sometimes, at least.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Definitely long fics. I had a plan for freefall and have scrapped and adapted it multiple times now, pus it's just difficult to keep myself interested in specific but necessary chapters.

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

It's fun! I've included Spanish and Russian excerpts into my fics before but I don't do it a lot. Considered writing fully in Spanish at some point for an Ortega POV but I'm not confident in my grammar abilities. Spanish verb tenses my beloathed.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Naruto. On a different old account best left to gather dust.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Hm, I'm not sure if I have a favorite. I do really like the NSFW piece I wrote from Remy's POV, though. Short but good.

[no-shxme]

since ive had people asking about it, here's

an overview of my writing process:

its very long (but split into 4 sections) so i will be posting it below the read-more. i fr threw up all over the post and it covers my writing process specifically. because i write unreliable narration >> canonic characters, etc this will prolly not be as useful for like, idk, crack fic writers or whatever else. basically this is what works for me. it might not work for you, but feel free to peruse, im sure no 2 writer's processes are exactly the same. (AND THATS COOL)

Step 1: The Idea & Start

usually my fic starts with a single scene/mood/line, and the whole fic is started around that. (for ex: my fic Teeth started bc of 1 set of lines that we haven't even gotten to yet. [sob]) this also helps me be more motivated, as i become pretty desperate to get that scene/mood/etc written. (as i write i often find new goalposts to write to, which helps keep me motivated, yeah)

occasionally i will write out an initial drabble (like 1 or 2 paragraphs) set in the story idea i have, just to see if i like whatever's going on before i commit.

before i start i decide my setting or at least whatever parts of the setting are relevant. (i wont go into it here bc that's not exactly process.) then i'm game to start.

i've heard a lot of writers struggle with starting a fic and ending it. starting a fic isn't usually a problem for me but if i don't like how the beginning is looking it's usually because i've started it too far away from relevant plot. i don't want to write too much beginning set up, so my solution is always to delete what i have and restart the scene closer to when something happens.

(for ex: when writing everything that went wrong over the summer, the story started earlier and was going to have kayn discover rhaast at the end of the first chapter. but halfway through i decided it was bad. i didnt want to reveal too much and it was kinda boring, became a slog of wordlbuilding. i hated it so i deleted it and instead we meet rhaast in literally the second paragraph.)

imo if you are having trouble with starting stories, literally just throw yourself into the action, its the best way to jog a stuck start. move up the timeline, make things move faster. ask yourself if you really need all the space before the action happens. this method also be used on other scenes, not just beginnings.

it's generally a good idea to figure out what the minimum amount of time you need to complete your story. (this plot that takes place over three weeks, can it be done in three days instead?) but i dont always do that for fanfiction, more my personal writing. fanfiction can be loose and slimy, thats okay. i'm not gonna stress myself over it like i do with my book lol. for me fanfiction is like a vacation. since the characters are already established i can be free to experiment stylistically and try new things.

Step 2: The Writing (The Slog)

(The longest section of this post)

I actually have SO many notes for my writing process so this will be all over the place.

Whenever I write ANYTHING my goals are the following:

keep things concise, without crazy exposition or information overloads.

to me writing is kinda like a puzzle, or a combination lock. i have a line or thought and i just continuously swap words around in my head or on a doc until something clicks. my goal is not just something that fits, it's something that fits BEST. (i am not always successful at this.) so yeah sometimes a line sounds good, but how do i make it sound BETTER. i am always thinking about lines. all the time. i am always turning a scene in my head trying to find the best angle. im literally doing it right now.

this is a stylistic choice that might not apply to everyone, but i love writing unreliable narrators and therefore always write them. in fanfiction i like trying to keep the characters close to their canon personalities, so a lot of the following advice is through that lens.

WHEN IT COMES TO PLOT:

by the time i write my first scene i usually have an idea of the ending. i'm not too terribly focused on it but i definitely prefer to know it. its just something i have to reach eventually. usually little plot ideas will start sprouting up like checkpoints between the start and the end, and then it's just the matter of figuring out how to bridge the gaps between them. one of my favorite tricks i like to use for longer or difficult plots is work backwards. (i call it Keyframing)

(for ex: let's say i'm writing a story about a knight who marries a dragon, but i can't figure out how the hell that's gonna happen. an easy way to come up with ideas is think: what's 1 thing that has to happen between the start goal (there's a knight) and the ending (married to a dragon)? it could be something simple. the knight has to get to the dragon's lair before he can get married. okay, great, there's another plot checkpoint. now what's 1 thing that has to happen between the start and getting to the lair? and also what's 1 thing that has to happen between getting to the lair and getting married?

as you keep adding 1 thing to the plot between points, it basically writes itself, or gives you a very good list of things that HAVE to happen in order to progress the story. then you can add embellishments and tweak it, but its a good method i use for avoiding over-complicated plot. periodically i also ask myself: can this be simplified further?

in cases where i don't have an ending in mind (about 35% of the time) i let my characters drive the plot. this is very easy because i write unreliable, character focused narration. all i think is: ok what're they gonna do. how would they do xyz. hows this affect them. i'll also think about my end goal for the character as it slowly develops and ask myself if it's realistic for them. i don't write crack so if it's something a character won't do then i just won't write it. i'll figure out some other goal or method to achieve the same effect, even if the scrapped idea is cute. :C the end result is usually a more convincing character. (once again this is literally just how i write ff. you DONT have to write like this) in many cases the goal is fine but the method isn't, so i have to rethink how the character realistically reaches that goal. (this was very much the case in my fic, One Promise)

WHEN IT COMES TO WRITER'S BLOCK:

here's my methods for getting over writer's block in no particular order:

taking a break. (or a nap)

reading poetry (this helps bc i try to write poetic) or just read, if im in a pickle.

changing location. (if you write on your phone/laptop. just go somewhere else)

delete the scene and restart from a diff angle. (not advised tbh. i dont think this is a good method, even if it works for me. im only listing it bc its something i do.)

to a lesser degree: changing the font, listening to music i would never listen to normally. or not listening to music at all.

walking around in circles talking to myself about whatever line im chewing on. :/

Okay now im just gonna list a mixed bag of shit that pertains to my literal writing process:

i use google docs because i like to write on my phone and my tablet. i will write in bed before sleeping or in the car. ill write wherever. occasionally i will also use scrivener on my pc for writing assistance. or ms paint. (dont make me go into it)

i almost always try to write what the CHARACTER sees or experiences, versus what a narrator would see. (for example, in my fic Teeth, sett's ears are mentioned a lot. it's because talon keeps noticing them.) this is super important in my writing as it also serves meaning and makes things more concise. oh a character is an artist? so they might notice the technique in a painting. versus the same painting viewed by a carpenter, who might focus more on describing the picture frame. i have specific thoughts on (confident) character voice/unreliable narration, but this post is long lol. if anyone wants to hear it lemme know.

for the most part i only try to describe what's necessary. im not trying to introduce too many characters BY NAME or too many places or too much detailed description-dumping, unless im trying to hide something. ESPECIALLY IN FAN FICTION. one thing i keep in mind is that the reader will fill in the gap. like i could write 'a kitchen with green walls and one window' and boom you already have an idea of what the kitchen could look like. i could write a character using a stove and different readers might imagine that stove in two different places, as pertaining to their imaginary kitchen. that's fine. as long as the location of the stove is unimportant then i dont need to describe it. basically if it's not Vital to my vision then i often don't bother writing it. (this also allows me to push themes and sneak things, but this post is too long)

often while i write im thinking ahead, so ill start noting future lines/plot ideas to use at the bottom of the document so i dont forget them. if it's a long fic my lines-to-be-used will be like, pages long lol.

JUST WRITE. I JUST WRITE. sometimes its slop, that okay. i try to write every single day.

whenever i return to a wip i reread it to get in the Groove.

as i write i sometimes make comments (in google docs) on some words that i know are placeholders. like i'll write a sentence and think: i need to change that word, but im too in the flow to do that now, so i just make a quick note so i dont miss it when editing. i have shorthand for it too, like for example, WC stands for 'word choice' and REP stands for 'too much repetition.' sometimes im lazy and dont do this ._.

speaking of repetition, one of my lil tricks is to start a list of repetitive words as i write. i will often throw in the names of characters, and some common pitfall words for me (words that i have a tendency to use too often). this is helpful for....

Step 3: The Editing

okay first i take a break. the length often depends on how long the fic is. if its a shortie then i just play a game or 2 of league or smth. i must banish the story from my brain.

when i come back i give it a read over and edit whatever issues i see, reword, blah blah. i also use Ctrl + F with my list of repetitive words! this way i can clearly see problem areas where i've used the same word too close together. i will also Ctrl + F grammar missteps, namely double spaces, double periods, and double commas.

for word choice ideas i use wordhippo :3c sometimes i recognize that a line needs to cook so ill come back to it.

i also do character checks where needed. (Would they REALLY do that?) at this point i can identify a problem area pretty easily so i dont do it that much anymore.

then as my final editing step i read the whole thing aloud. this step is so important that i never skip it, even on long ass docs. reading it aloud to myself is vital. when i read it aloud i can actually test the dialogue and see cadence issues and random mistakes that i never catch anywhere else. for longer stories this is done chapter by chapter as finished, which is,,, thank god lol.

if im unsure about a story then i'll let it ferment for a while (days, weeks) before i come back and edit, just to make sure im not crazy or smth.

Step 4: The Posting

i post in ao3's rich text format, so it keeps some of the formatting. then i hit PREVIEW and then i hit EDIT again. bc ao3 is finicky about italics and will add weird ugly spaces bc of that. so to get rid of them i use my CTRL + F method again to check for space + periods (literally a space then a period), space + commas, double spaces (again), etc. i also center those *** things that people use as scene breaks bc they're never centered. takes like 5 minutes.

then i post and try not to feel immediately awful lol.

anyway that's my writing process. this ended up super fucking long holy shit. sorry i like, rambled and blabbed. i try to be thorough. there's a lot more that i can talk about not pertaining to the process itself but like, yeahhhh. thanks if you read all this, hopefully its not terribly boring.

[flyinghome-againstthewind]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag, @walkinginland!! 💜

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

8! 😅

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

234,699 (the fact that I'm almost at a quarter of a million words feels all kinds of crazy to me 🥹)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently and on ao3, just Outlander. I did a lot more fandom hopping in my youth and on ffnet.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

the best by far is you (Outlander, multichap, canon-divergent - what if Faith lived?)

Beside the Seaside (Outlander, multichap, 1940s au - single parents twist on seasons 1&2)

The Lost Ones (Outlander, one-shot, modern au - Jamie and Claire are neighbors and help each other through a difficult holiday season)

Holly, Ivy, Mistletoe (Outlander, one-shot, tbbfiy holiday fic)

When My Love Reaches to Me (Outlander, one-shot, modern au - follow up to The Lost Ones)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do for most of my fics! Beside the Seaside has become a little overwhelming so I don't respond to those comments at the moment.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I have to go with one of my drabble for this bc I dont usually write angsty endings for my fics, only angsty middles 😅 but I think Something to Hold Onto fits the bill for this. Though she be but 100 words, she is angsty.

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

the best by far is you had a pretty happy ending, but I think Soften Every Edge will hold that title once it's finished.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

There was one person who REALLY didn't like the family separation arc in tbbfiy and trolled the comment section a few times, but that's been the only true hate I've ever received on a fic.

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

I hadn't ever written smut before Outlander, and I blame Jamie and Claire being the two horniest muses I've ever worked with for my forray into smut writing lol. I don't write a lot of smut, but if inspiration strikes and I feel like it adds to the story, I will usually include it.

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

I do not!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of 🤞🏻 Back in my ffnet days, I had someone message me about my fic that they wanted to basically copy and paste bits and pieces of it and change the characters but keep the main storyline (staying within the same fandom, mind you... and just switching characters around) and I said ummmm no?? but thank you for asking nicely?? and then watched their stories like a hawk for a few months, but to my knowledge, they respected what I said and didn't do that 😅

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I'm aware of!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I haven't and honestly I'm mystified by how people make that work. I've read a number of fics that were co-written by two people and the results are so cool.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I don't like to answer what my all-time anything is because I am indecisive 😭 but at least in terms of writing fic, I've got almost a quarter of a million words published just about Jamie and Claire, so. That answer feels obvious.

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

Oof. I never even posted it, but in my college years, I was vibing very hard with a Smallville au, wrote several chapters, it lived rent free in my mind, and never got around to finishing it. But oh my god the Themes of it all...

16. What are your writing strengths?

Characterization and theme, I think. I feel like if I know the characters and I know what the themes are, I can cobble together some kind of story.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Plotting lol. It's always the joke with fic writing that you have to write a whole story around the one random scene you envisioned, and that's how most of mine start. So figuring out the plot and pacing from there is always a struggle.

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

I always want to include other languages that are integral to the characters (hi, jamie fraser!), but as someone who regrettably only speaks English, I get so nervous about the fact that I rely on google translate and might get it horrendously wrong and upset someone who actually speaks the language because it's That Bad. 😅 So I usually include what I can and then use indicators when someone is speaking in another language but I'm typing it in English.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Oh god, I can't remember exactly, but I think the first fandom that I actually wrote and posted a fic for was One Tree Hill (though some of you on twitter might remember the story of 8th grade Anna turning in a chapter of her Alias fanfic for a creative writing assignment, I didn't ever end up posting that story, so that was just for me, my sister, and my 8th grade English teacher, apparently 💀)

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Oh god. I feel like it changes depending on what I'm working on, honestly. Beside the Seaside has been super self-indulgent and fun to write, but I'm having a love-hate relationship with sharing that one with an audience at the moment. Currently, my favorite one I've written/am still writing is Soften Every Edge - I'm just very pleased with how chapter 1 turned out and loving any time I get to return to that world and that family.

I'm not sure who all has done this already, so no pressure tagging @theawkwardterrier and @behindthelabels

[mothmage]

20 Qs for fic writers

Tagged by @monstersinthecosmos , thank you!!!

1. How many works do you have on A03? 31 (and a few anon, i think 2 or 3. idk, when i post a fic on anon i forget about it forever)

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 446,135

3. What fandoms do you write for? currently/primarily vc, iwtv (amc), star wars, and merlin (bbc)!

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? A Lovely Little Normal Life (which, honestly, kind of annoys me lol. i know it's just bc it's a huge fandom, but really? the stupid little 12k harry potter fic i wrote in two days is my most kudos? please...); Arthur Pendragon, Long May She Reign (forever pushing my lesbian genderswap agenda); The Face of God (les mis slightly canon divergent javert character study); The Odyssey of Recollection (amc iwtv s1 pov armand); Away From Stranger Tides (potc philip/syrena fic i started ages ago and never finished, lol)

5. Do you respond to comments? yes i love talking to people in comments!!!! i've made a lot of friends through comments!!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? omg. umm. merthur fans don't know this yet bc i havent finished posting but it's arthur pendragon long may she reign (BUT it's part of a series, so it's literally fine). idk, i dont tend to write long fics that end angsty. but my angstiest fic in general is probably Hollow-Boned Boy (armand contemplating his human life in the early CoD era) or Vision of the Damned (daniel's turning from armand's pov)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? i love a happy ending!! my series Odysseus in White Silk is probably the happiest ending, and in such an undeserved way hahaha it's so very AU because i was sad after s1 of the show and just wanted them all (and armandaniel) to live happily ever after

8. Do you get hate on fics? i dont think i ever have, but i tend to read comments in good faith too, so maybe someone out there is annoyed that i interpreted their vague dislike comment as a genuine comment or something, idk. in general though, i'll say no

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? yes but i dont post that often, idk if there's a particular kind, but generally it tends to be a little rougher than is probably appropriate without discussion in real-life situations, but also very...idk my friend described it as very tender, like theyre very clearly in love. which is so funny considering that that kind of tenderness irl gives me fucking hives lmfao

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? oh wow, not in a long time. i do have a wip sitting around rn that's a crossover between london spy and cloud atlas, which is really crazy until you remember that ben whishaw is in both london spy and the cloud atlas movie lol. and cloud atlas is already about weird reincarnations and parallel worlds and stuff, so it isnt too out-there.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? i dont think so!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? yes!! The Face of God was translated into Korean by ao3 user Crescent919 !! i've had a few comments on other fics asking to translate for personal use (always yes, of course), but no one else has asked to share a translation publicly

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? no!! i've been thinking about it lately though

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? all-time? probably merlin/arthur from merlin (bbc). it's the whole fate-destiny-choice thing, it just compels me like nothing else

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? hmmm, i would like to finish Roswell -- well, kinda (agent carter farm girl / alien crash landing au) because i still have all the original notes and outlines and stuff. i also made a shitty conlang when i was first writing it, which is crazy lol. but it would need some pretty serious revisions, and i would definitely rewrite the first few chapters that i posted years ago. i just kind of lost the agent carter bug, but i might return to that fic if i ever get in the mood for it again.

16. What are your writing strengths? ooh, i'm not really sure! i get a lot of comments mentioning characters' voices and/or personalities, so i would say maybe that!!! i also feel that i'm fairly good at mimicking an author's writing style when i want to (notably, i do not mimic anne rice when writing vc fic, lol)

17. What are your writing weaknesses? editing for sure. i have at least a hundred fics sitting on my hard drive fully or almost-fully written that i just need to edit. but i would simply rather die than do all of that. it's also why my whole merlin fic got put on pause while i went down the vc rabbithole, because i just can't bring myself to go edit the next chapters lol

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? hmm, i think it's usually unnecessary and comes off as a bit silly. that said, i did do it once (maybe excessively) in Daniel Molloy, Time Bandit (1984 daniel ends up in 1794 theatre des vampires, it's more of a character study than a time travel fic) BUT, let me defend myself -- i did it because daniel doesnt understand french, it's his pov, and he's incredibly confused and distraught for most of the fic. i felt like the dialogue being in french conveyed this sort of "daniel does not belong in this time/place" vibes. but, also, my french is...a little rough. so i'm sure it's an annoying fic for french readers lmao

19. First fandom you wrote for? warriors cats, a million years ago hahahah

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? ok, i have three different answers for this. the fic i think is the best, objectively, in terms of writing and content: The Story of Dani [...] (r63 devil's minion from armand's pov, starting with lestat's house). the fic i am the proudest of, mostly because it was my first "big" fic (it's funny now, bc it's only 41k) and i feel like i grew a lot as a writer while working on it, and i'm still happy with it: The Face of God (les mis pov javert, character study from childhood). the fic i have the most fun with and think about almost 24/7: Arthur Pendragon, Long May She Reign (r63 merthur, canon divergence, this is like a 4-part series that's currently over 300k lmao)

no-pressure tagging: @aunteat @leslutdepointedulac @butchybats @graygiantess and anyone else who wants to!!

[yagamisdiary]

I have a love hate relationship with the fact that you enjoy making us suffer throughout the entirety of your books and making us think they will have a bad ending just to give us the best possible endings ever 🥲 ugh i love you so much youre my favorite author ever, while im here i apologize for the incoming paragraphs but i just need to say it:

1. Idk how you do it but the book covers you choose are always so perfect like?? Idk if im explaining myself but i feel like they capture the vibes of the books perfectly

2. Ok now this is kinda personal and i dont mean to sound like im venting, but have you ever read a fic that impacted you so much to the point where you find yourself still thinking about it to this day 😭 bc that's how i feel about both of ur books, they're so beautifully written and i'm always thinking about the characters or going back to read random parts of the books (edit: i had this paragraph written way before parasite was removed okay but i started rereading eldia yesterday because im truly heartbroken, devastated, downcast, miserable, dejected and inconsolable by the fact that its finished)

I discovered you in july-ish 2021 during parasite era but didnt actually read it until june 2022, i was devastated when i finished it but also had to cleanse my soul cause i accidentally burnt my self out during the last few chapters (i mean it in a good way lol, it was rlly hard to read the last 2 chapters 🙇‍♀️ they were written really well and i felt unsettled while reading the beginning of y/ns whole breakdown, i could feel the gloomy depressed vibe it had if you get what i mean), so anyway i moved on to Eldia. At that time, it was fairly new so there were only like 10 or 11 chapters, ive been keeping up with Eldia ever since and its truly bittersweet to see it end like i was literally full on sobbing for no reason 🥲 probably the sentiment of being a reader for 2 years idk lol. Anyway what im trying to say is that your books were one of the only things that helped me escape reality in 2022, i didnt really find joy in anything and hated my life, however ive definitely improved ever since, so im honestly rlly thankful for you Amara 💕

Edit: i just know it sounds stupid and youre probably tired of hearing the same thing over and over, but i've had this written out for like 5 months and was kinda scared to send it because i felt like it was corny, but with Eldia's resolution i felt encouraged seeing all these people tell you what they think :P so sorry for the long ass paragraph lmao, i just needed to say it because i know in 10 years ill be a grown ass woman and still thinking about these books, theyre attached to my brain forever (like a parasite, ironic)

Ok so i doubt ppl will read this (or that you'll even read all of it) so if you reached the end i must say that you actually ate with the baby names in Eldia 🤭 im saying it here to avoid accidentally spoiling anyone but Andromeda 😪 i remember in early july i sent you an anon ask saying that i pictured you as a girl mom and even listed a few names, i was gonna list Andromeda so its kinda funny to me 😭 and Elrose?? Andromeda is my fav name but Elrose grew on me and i actually rlly like it, idk why it just sounds and looks so satisfying OMG DAMN I JUST SCROLLED UP AND DID I REALLY WRITE ALL OF THAT?? IM SO SORRY AMARA 😭😭 i definitely had way more to say but i feel bad now, it was gonna be an anonymous ask but atp i'll just let it be public

to conclude i must say that whenever someone asks me what my favorite books are, i hate that im not able to say "Oh my favorite books are parasite and eldia" because they're considered fanfics and not 'real books', i think thats really stupid, not only because fanfiction is just as valid as what ppl consider 'real books' but because there are so many fanfictions turned into real books or movies?? Ok im done (for now) but as you can tell im not really good at going straight to the point sorry for writing about 10 paragraphs love you queen vivan las escritoras latinas 🤞

1. honestly i find a pic that fits the vibe i want the book to give before i even write the story then i just somehow find a way to incorporate the cover

ex) eldia’s cover is jean with wine all over him, iykyk there’s an exact scene in eldia that references the cover

2. thank u so much 🥲 the ppl who have stuck around the longest always say the most sweet stuff bc yall really have been alongside me for so many years now and were like growing together which is kinda cool

3. i wanted a name that had ambrose and elijah both in it and it was either elrose or embrose but i ended up liking elrose more, embrose was too similar to ambrose

4. i don’t mind the length of the message at all! i love love love reading all the stuff i receive and the ones that are the longest stick with me the most. 🫶🏼

[pancho-pinto]

boop

here to tell you that sweet talk is AMAZING and its my roman empire, very well written and though my brain DID get lost at a few parts (maybe its because im reading very late at night and woke up very early in the morning and i've been tired all day-) it was still amazing and thank you so much for writing it

you're a great writer and i hope this inspires you to write more fics in the future (going to check your other works after sending this ask because i havent yet)

your fic was exactly what i needed after a breakup, which i'll admit sounds a little odd because it was very romancy and i dont think it makes a lot of sense to anyone else but in my brain it does- idk it was my first relationship, plus i'm autistic so maybe some of that plays a role? im rambling its 1am and i've been awake since 6am- this is probably really hard to read- ANYWAYS love love loved and still love your fic, you're officially on the list of my top 2 fics (which isn't saying a lot as i havent read many) and i cant choose between yours and the first fic i ever read

i feel like i've rambled too much but i needed to gush about your fic somewhere and i deleted discord off this device a few days ago and have yet to reinstall it and cant be bothered, plus i cant log into ao3 right now to leave a comment i'm too cozy (even though the password book is literally 3 meters away)

aaand somehow after saying i rambled too much i rambled more.. oops

keep being you and keep being awesome!! (and mayhaps write more.. stares at you with beady little eyes /nf /pos)

-anon (they/them)

HELLO ANON LOVELY ANON BELOVED ANON

my response under the cut because i dont want to subject my friends to my rambling. they already deal with it plenty xp

THANK YOU SO MUCH. sweet talk is really gotten to be my 'that one fic' lol adored it though. it was such a fun yet stressful experience. one day i will learn to write multi-chapter fics i swear!!!

and yes, i dont blame you if you didnt understand some parts. honestly, i have plenty times i could still work on for my writing. but hey! we all start somewhere, and im very proud of how it turned out either way.

and this was my reaction when i saw your ask

so yes. yes very much going to motivate me to write more. ya have no idea. i thrive on validation. dopamine rushes make brain and writing go brrrrrrr.

anon, sweet anon, i love rambling too. you are at home here! and i hope you feel better after that breakup. there are more fishes in the sea, and if you dont fancy fishing, there are more things to do like swimming, kayaking, walking on the beach and such. you will be fine. i believe you will because you kick-ass!!!!

and and and whoa!!! if i had a nickel for every person who told me im one of their fav writers, id have a couple nickels. which, crazy ngl. thank you. genuinely. that means so fucking much

you keep being plenty awesome yourself<3!!!

[nerves-nebula]

i dont usually do tag games but i liked this one, tagged by @alighted-willow

20 questions for writers

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

4 (technically 5 but i abandoned and privated one of them) on my main account and 9 on my smut account

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

37,751 on my main, around 47,000 on the porn account

3. What fandoms do you write for?

uhhhh dimension 20 (not really but it was my first posted fanfic) and tmnt. i write mainly about one other fandom on my smut account tho.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

well i've only got about 5 of them so i'll just put them in order

caracal carousel

show me already

time to think

a modest comparison

it's my turn on the Being Abusive

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

most of the time. i do it to encourage people to comment, because really really like comments. but if i get a comment i SUPER like i put off answering it because i wanna give it the time it deserves. ironically that means i have yet to respond to some of my favorite comments. oops.

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

idk i think they're all pretty equally angsty. like a lot of them end with the implication that more abuse is going to happen after the story's been concluded, lol.

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

definitely Show Me Already, it's the only one that doesn't end with someone feeling like garbage or implying some kind of abuse is about to happen. just an alien brain slug excited to make his boyfriend happy.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

i dont think so? I think someone commented something rude once on one of my smut fics but im not great at telling tone so idk.

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

yup, the fucked up kinky kind that could get me harassed by ppl who's opinions i dont care about but who would prolly be really fucking annoying to deal with

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

nah

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

idk

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

not to my knowledge

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

no, that sounds stressful

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

thats like asking what my favorite song is like how da hell should i know they all serve different purposes.

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

GOD. on my smut account i have an outline for a 2 chapter fic and i posted the first chapter and never the second one. it haunts me. idk if i WONT do it but it wont get done any time soon.

16. What are your writing strengths?

i can write ok and people like it :)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i dont know enough about writing as an art form to properly assess my weaknesses :(

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

too complex a question for this kind of game. if i were to do it i'd want to get the input of someone who like, actually speaks it or something. but idk. i'd try my best on my own, cuz im unlikely to find someone willing to do that kind of beta reading for me, and though i'd want to compensate them somehow i'm so fuckin broke.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Dimension 20 Starstruck Odyssey. i think it was the first fanfic i ever wrote and posted and i have no idea what drove me to it.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

hhhhhhhhhhh this really depends. I have a lot of fun writing about abuse and since that's what basically all of my fics are about in one way or another it's like. idk. i've re-read my smut ones more often than my non-smut ones tho so uh, maybe one of those.

[moonlight19256]

2,6,11,18,23,38,58,59,78, and 84 for the ask writing game >:)

2: oh man now i actually have to think abt what i've written lol. umm i was writing this fic in the wednesday fandom and i planned on making it a oneshot, a ~3k word fic, but the characters took hold on me and kept going and kept pining for eachother lol (the story ended up being 23k)

6: i hope for the best lol. i had a vaguely coherent posting schedule for my wednesday fic, tho: i would only post on a wednesday. lol.

11: um i learned some history abt charlemagne (karel de grote) for this doctor who fic which i... still havent finished oops, and also abt the evolution of toasters for the same fic. also for the wednesday fic i discovered in which stages decomposing bodies will float in water so thats. fun.

18: most fave part is when i let the characters do silly things or if they are in indescribable pain :). also i love getting comments/kudos. my least favourite part is when i cant figure out how to write a specific scene, and dialogue. ouch.

23: i just leave writing alone and focus on my other hobbies or school. or i just write random stuff without stopping, with usually very silly things as a result lol

38: too many. lol. ive got a zillion wips (ive got 20k words in just wips, i counted a few weeks ago). but right now im actively working on 5 wips, 1 original story, other 4 are fanfics lol

58: minecraft death messages probably, or what kind of vision frogs have. idk which one was last

59: i guess... on a train? or perhaps on a mountain in germany or france. but both werent really dangerous lol

78: i usually have a few scenes or things i want to have in the chapter, so when im done with that i just write some concluding nice sentences, i guess

84: hmm tough question. i dont have a really strong opinion on it, probably underused? i think having very complex words can distract the reader from the dialogue or action, but sometimes its good to use 'whispered' or words like that to indicate tone, i guess

thank you for the askk!! (also my ao3 account is @Moonlight3000! hehe)

[idkwhatimdoingbutslay]

I'm very much in denial about "Dear, Hello..." ending, but I wanted to ask what your favorite part was? Also, was there any part that turned out better than you expected? Also, what's your headcanon for Corina's and Sarah's future? Also, sorry, it's likely I won't watch the original movie, given that I'm sure I've read the best iteration of this story, but how many creative liberties did you have to take to adapt the story both to the characters and to a written format? (I absolutely love the story, so I'm fiending for more conversation on it! lol!)

AHHH OMG DONT GET ME STARTED (PROCEEDS TO GET STARTED) !!!!!! THANKS SO MUCH FOR THIS ASK

LONG YAP INCOMING

Favourite part: UGHH IDK!!! I really love the kiss scene in the hot tub because it’s just so intimate and it was something I looked forward to a lot because it’s also one of my favourite scenes in the movie! I had all these plans and was super duper excited to finally let Cait and Vi just love (or “not hate” 🤭) each other finally. It was just so sweet and so lovely with the elements of them finally crossing the lines they’ve been so desperate to cross like with Cait’s super sensitive neck that was mentioned during the contract writing and with Vi’s obsession with having someone’s hand in her hair and JUST ALL THE KISSING!!! I headcanon that Vi and Cait are super into kissing, I can’t even lie, and that it’s just a connection they’re so desperate for. Though, I’m not super confident in how the chapter turned out as a whole 🤔. The final reading of Cait’s second letter to Vi is also just so !!!!! Another thing I was SUPER excited for. I also love chapter 17 where they just hang out and banter and pine at the ice cream place and the outdoor movie and stuff. I really love the lacrosse chapters (15-16) too because of how much develops during them and how CUTE CAIT AND VI ARE in Caitlyn’s bedroom, especially with Cait falling asleep. OH AND AND AND THE GALA AND HALLOWEEN!!!! THOSE FACE KISSES????? THE JAYCE AND VI INTERACTION??? THE CONTRACT AND THE JERICHO’S RESTAURANT SCENE??? OMG THERES JUST SO MUCH, especially with Caitlyn and Vi’s dynamic throughout the whole fic! I love every bit and piece, especially all the additions of Vi’s relationships with lacrosse, her family and her friends and same for Caitlyn’s relationships with Kai’Sa (LOVE HER!!!), her parents and Jayce and Corina and even Sarah. I just love the whole fic I can’t lie, I can’t believe I actually pulled it off 😭. The overall development of the reluctant partners fake dating to all the resurfaced pining from years ago just kinda gets me! Their love for each other just never went away!

Better than expected: … the whole fic I think???? I really did not expect this fic to hit so hard for myself or others! What I REALLY didn’t expect was how much I was gonna love Kai’Sa’s character because, during planning, I just needed someone to fill the friend spot for Cait and Kai’Sa Void (COOLEST NAME EVER) just started to really stick!!! She’s so fun and balances Caitlyn so well. Plus, having an aro character will always be peak to me. PLUS PLUS, silly Vi thinking Kai’Sa has feelings for Cait and that Caitlyn might reciprocate them??? Please 😭. Also, Vi’s friend group! I also really needed those spaces filled and they also made as fun additions. I’m always super worried about making OCs for fics cuz I don’t want them to pull people out from the fic or something, so I prefer to find league characters to add but I also know NOTHING about league and sometimes (most times) it just doesn’t work out. It did this time tho! The little bits of politics that I got to write were fun too, especially with how it made Caitlyn view her mother.

Headcanons for Corina: she doesn’t change very much, inherits her family’s factories and continues to be a problem. She’ll eventually get bored of being the “friendliest” bully of all time, though, and move on to just being a generally awful person with a good mask. Might even start working with Silco and the chembarons 😧. Her parents def have a tie with them already. Headcanons for Sarah: SHE GROWS!!!! She works through her insecurities and learns about what she truly wants for herself. She faces her neglectful parents, takes a gap year and decides to study to be a teacher or something. She stops comparing herself and wishing and wishing and wishing to be someone else and instead learns to be someone better. She probably moves away too to start anew.

Creative liberties: I honestly took A TON. Especially since the role Vi’s filling (Peter: the love interest) didn’t have much focus in the movie or even the books, and if there was some, it was kinda lacklustre. We never got his POV and he regressed a lot imo. I aged them up from junior year to senior year after debating if I wanted it all to take place in Uni cuz writing young CaitVi is foreign to me lol. I swapped the family dynamics in the movie. The character Caitlyn’s in place for (Lara Jean: main character) was the one with the bigger, complicated family and a lost parent and Peter was the one with an absent parent and a smaller family. I almost made Vi be Lara Jean and write the letters lol! My notes for this fic are crazy, I might post them one day. The character Corina’s in place for (Josh: Lara Jean’s ex (?) childhood best friend and Lara Jean’s older sister’s (who Jayce plays) ex boyfriend) was NOT as mean as Corina and eventually reconciled with Lara Jean. He was the one that convinced Lara Jean to find Peter and tell him how she really felt. Caitlyn needed different character development tho lmao. Parental reconciliation is iffy in the original series for Peter; again with the lack of focus (and overall characterization in the second and third books/movies) on him. I strongly dislike the third book and am very indifferent to the movie so I kinda block it out. Obvi, in the original series, Lara Jean is straight, so I mixed it up for Caitlyn. Instead of a guy that Lara Jean used to like telling her that he’s gay and Peter kinda laughing at Lara Jean when he finds out, a girl Cait used to like tells her she’s aro and Vi instead laughs at Caitlyn for writing a letter to Jayce considering her… situation, lmao. There’s some more little things like Sarah’s characterization that kinda followed but kinda didn’t the character she was in place for. It’s only a 90 minute movie and I really didn’t want Sarah to just be some bad guy. Even Corina was simply brought up with a desperation for control. It was kind of a vague template of love letters and pining and character development and family/friend dynamics that I morphed them into to make it all work and I think I did it pretty well 🤗. The written format wasn’t hard to adjust to since the movies are based off of books and I even own the books to kinda use as a guide (although I didn’t use them much at all lmao). The chapters of the books are pretty short and, again, don’t have Peter’s POV, so there was def a lot of change.

[thekuraning]

Could I please have 7, 9, 16, 24 and 27 for the fic writer ask? 💙

HFDUAIGHRQHG WOW THATS SO MANY thank you aria!!!!

as always... kura talk lots.... read more time!

7. your preferred writing fonts

For the longest time it was Arial, then basically from Covid lockdowns to maybe about a year ago I was a Comic Sans truther. But recently I've been using Optima and Trebuchet! There is something very delightfully round about them... they are soft like bunnies.... Bonus points, they're a bit of larger, thicker fonts, which makes is much easier for me to read. I have no idea if I'm dyslexic because I've never been tested but reading--while fun and one of my favorite pass-times--is like. So hard. And it feels like the longer I've been out of Lit classes the harder and harder reading gets. :') I've got a mountain of fics and books I'd like to read but it takes a lot of energy to keep track of what line im on that i gotta save it all up for writing... ive had city of dogs open in a tab for like months now bro i just wanna read.... TAT

But yeah I love me them thicker rounder weighted sort of fonts.

9. start to finish, how long did it take you to write the last fic you posted?

so the last finished one-shot i posted was Who We Don't Expect to See, which took probably about six months to a year wrestling to get the dialogue to behave. The last complete multi-chapter fic was the Baristsa on Autumnal Avenue, which took about nine months!

As for unfinished works, I'm expecting Maelstrom to probably take another year , maybe year and a half at this pace! Ideally, I'd love to have it done by December which would mean a year and two months total, but we'll have to see thinking emoji

16. favorite place to write

I'm usually either at my desk in my office or on my couch lol and that's just a question of whether I feel more like writing on my desktop or my laptop! But since I started back at my local community college, I've found INSANE productivity at the campus cafe!! I don't know what it is, but as soon as my ass is sitting at the table with a coffee I'm like fucking sonic the hedgehog the way I start pumping chapters out. Probably about 80% of Maelstrom fic's been written in that little cafe!!

24. how do you recharge when you’re not feeling creative?

banging my head against the wall until im creative again :( or until i knock myself out, whichever comes first

actually lol I spend a lot of my recharge time watching youtube or playing video games. I'm big into Splatoon and Phasmophobia! I used to be really into Fall Guys until Epic bought the game out. but mostly it's just youtube these days lolll cause once im out of creative juice thats like. it. my energy's gone and i tend to spiral, so I'll end up just snuggling my kitty and watching gamegrumps or something (i dont know why, he just really likes watching game grumps)

>:( we used to watch a lot of netflix together too but since they cracked down on account sharing and my parents managed the family account we can only get in on the desktop now... how are we supposed to snuggle like this!!! cozy kitty economy is in shambles smdh

27. your favorite part of the writing process

answered over here winky kissy face emoji

[actuallyitsstar]

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

✍ Do you have a beta reader?

⛔ 🎶 ⏳💥 🎃❌

🧠 Pick a character, and I'll tell you my favorite headcanon for them.

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

(this is so many and obviously feel free to answer however many you want!!)

✨ send me an emoji and ask me about my fanfic! ✨

😈 has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

honestly, i can't say that there has been! i mean don't get me wrong, i have certainly been writing EVEN MORE ANGST AGAIN and been like. hmm. the people in my phone are gonna hate me for this :) lol. but that angst is also for ME bc like. that's my jam lol. and i never post unfinished multichaptered fics, so i feel its not likely that i'd ever do this, since i don't get feedback on my writing until after it's already completed, lol.

✍ do you have a beta reader?

i don't! i never have, actually. it is an intriguing idea but i've never been a ~serious~ enough writer for it, i don't think, and i also cringe at the idea of anyone seeing anything i've ever written before i have re read and re-edited it about 50 thousand times lol

⛔do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

recently, no, but i have at least 10 unfinished fics for various old fandoms that are like. not *scrapped*, per se, but just uhhh unlikely to be completed any time soon lol, some being 10+ years old. i never say never but like AM i going finish that OC-au of the mentalist season 6 where somebody is trying to attack all the "psychics" in texas because they have a grudge against what some fake psychic told them like 10 years ago???? honestly, probably not, lol.

🎶do you listen to music while you write? what song have you been playing on loop lately?

yes, i do! can't write in just silence, usually, but it can't have words, either, because i can't hear Words and also Write Different Words, lol. recently i have been listening to 70s-80s Japanese city pop playlists (here is one of my favorites!) since i don't speak the language and it also is such a vibe. in the past i've also done the in love with a ghost vibes, lofi girl, and instrumental synth-wave, as well. i also really like the artist City Girl for that reason, and i think my favorite album of theirs is Neon Impasse. I listened to that on loop a lot writing ttnp!

⏳how long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter?

this is a very difficult to answer question because it depends on a lot of factors, lol. I have written 20k words in two days before. I have also gone weeks only writing a thousand. it depends on how much free time i have (recently, almost none, lol), how much down time there is at my job (i wrote a large portion of ttnp in down time at my job, and there is not going to be job down time for the foreseeable future unfortunately, which has really put a damper on things). as long as i am at least mildly inspired or motivated, and have ample enough time, i can get a lot done, usually, but it all depends on a lot of factors.

💥how do you feel about criticism?

i am made of tissue paper pls dont hurt me akdshdjfhf i am actually very much okay with and welcoming of it, actually, bc without it, i would never improve. definitely needs to be in good faith, because being made of tissue paper isn't entirely a lie lol, but if there's something i have done poorly or something that i have the opportunity to do better next time, i am always happy to take it into consideration!

🎃do you write fics for holidays? what is your favorite holiday inspired fic?

hmmmm well i actually never have but i love the concept and i am hoping to get to do it this year ;) ;)

❌what's a trope you will never write?

for an actual trope i'd probably have to think a lot longer and harder than i have in answering these questions so far, lol, but one thing i can say, though it's not a trope, is that i'll never write smut. your local sex repulsed asexual is just not about it, lol. which is not to say ive never read and enjoyed fics w/ smut in them!!! i just skip ahead until it's over, lol.

🧠pick a character and i'll tell you my favorite headcanon for them!

omg i don't know which of us is supposed to be doing the headcanoning but i'll go ahead and assume it's you ?????? and my pick is iceman. pls tell me ur fav headcanon !!! i am excited !!!

🤩do you have a favorite character to write?

recently, it had been maverick, to no one's surprise, lol. what can i say. somethin' about the inherent trauma just speaks to me <3

🤲 would you please share a small snippet of a WIP?

HMMM...... I SUPPOSE..... A SMALL ONE......... ;)

THANK U SO MUCH for the ask !!! i loved answering all of them and i am so sorry it has been taking me so long to do everything recently oh my god. i am, as bilbo would say (im paraphrasing), feeling like butter scraped across way the fuck too much bread these days akdhfdjfhf but i rly appreciate ur asks and ur support and time and continued habit of thinking of me !!! <3 <3

[i-sveikata]

Hi! I got inspired to ask by some ao3 comments. Have ever tried to write Vegas POV in graveyards fic? I know it leaves us to many questions when we only know what Pete thinks, which makes readers interested. We can only imagine what Vegas means by his actions and words. As an author you always know what your characters mean or think? Or it leaves some kind of mistery to you as well?

We - VP fandom - know more or less what kind of shit Vegas has in his mind but it always makes me curious what exactly his thoughts are. For example did he had some kind of remorseful thinking when he hurt Pete? Was he hurting when he left? Was all of it a plan or just actions driven by emotions? Beside time when Pete learned to read him well enough Vegas was a mistery to him and to us as well.

Only recently Vegas seems to act more like a human being, was it Pete's doing? Is this his redemption arc(it is lol)? Vegas thought process is what amazes me. At some point his desire to possess met the realization that Pete can't be controlled, and somehow it made him more wanting(like, you ok dude?). I hope you would wrote Vegas pov but I do understand that the fic could loose some of its appeal. Like fully being in Pete's own life with its perks and flaws gives this special experience.

So maybe you would like to share some headcanons about Vegas?

Just a thought I was wondering if to ask you.

Let me now if I'm being to pushy by sending asks 🙏 Maybe you would prefer some other way or not.

Anyway, have a nice day! 😊

Hi there!!

This has actually come up a lot lol and i have answered it a couple times in the fic comments but what i will say is i've written a few scenes in Vegas' POV and at the very least have the intention of including those few scenes in the story or at most a chapter from his POV. don't really have more planned than that because i dont really want to detract from pete's POV too much if that makes sense? as most of my inspiration was seeing their dynamic from his perspective.

that's an interesting question for sure!! i would say that i do know what the characters mean or think as im writing and i try to show that in ways that the main POV might pick up on like body language or tone of voice things like that. but that doesnt always mean i know where a scene might exactly be going until the characters take me there so there is still a degree of mystery as well. it's more in the 'what will they do next?' vein rather than 'how will they react?' though.

im not sure which time you're referring to him hurting pete (which, yikes lol) but im guessing you mean when he first caught him? the way i understood it was that Vegas enjoyed every minute of it. he was angry and frustrated and wanted to lash out and hurt someone for his situation and pete just came in at the exact right/wrong time. so vegas wanted to punish him. i think he also didnt understand him just yet at that point and assumed there was a level of arrogance to pete (rather than loyalty) for him to have snuck into the minor family's house in such a brazen way. which made vegas want to take him down a few pegs and really teach a lesson and show him his place. im not sure that i consider him to be a remorseful kind of character tbh he strikes me as a kind of shark type, the whole you stop swimming you die kind of way to live so i don't think he's the type to stop and dwell on the things he does in any kind of real way. unless of course it comes back to impact him.

i think it was less about being hurt when pete escaped and more about vegas' feelings of failure and frustration which was what that scream had been about. a little raw bit of honesty that people rarely see from him. it was also an important moment of awakening for him too because i don't think vegas had truly considered the extent of what pete meant to him until he experienced the absolute gut punch of pete leaving. of being abandoned by him. there was definitely some surprise there too at the novelty of the emotions he was experiencing for the first time (which he'd previously accepted he might never ever feel about another person)

it definitely wasn't always the plan- vegas was literally making it up as he went, wrapping those actions under the guise of a game because he'd yet to understand why he was drawn to pete after everything he'd done to him. i really dont think the seriousness of it all clicked for him until pete finally escaped and he truly felt the absence of him.

vegas' behaviour changing is less about it being caused by pete than it is a reaction to pete because after the escape, vegas realised he wanted more than the control of the safe house and adjusted accordingly. it was more to do with the boundaries pete immediately started to put up after that, the things he made clear he would/wouldnt tolerate and now that vegas invested more importance to the relationship was he willing to make those changes with the goal of pete as his reward. the both of them strike me as highly adaptable and extremely resilient people, and that's basically what vegas is doing now- adapting to the new conditions that pete has set out. yes definitely pete's POV is its own appeal for sure, but i am definitely going to have vegas POV too down the line (though not quite yet)

hmm good question im drawing a blank right now except maybe i would headcanon vegas as a bit of an insomniac? purely because its too vulnerable of a position to be caught in so he prefers not to sleep that often? which makes the fact that he was sleeping so easily with pete so significant. sorry thats the only thing popping into my head atm.

oh not at all im happy to answer questions! (if this ridiculously long reply didnt already tell you that lol)

[caffeinatedowlbear]

Hi! I'm a big fan of your work! I really love lost and found (so far, I'm 75% done with the first book, so you still have ample time to hurt me with later plots lol) and I especially love your writing style. It feels so human and beautifully contrasts with Jack's most in human moments, which end up standing out and being some of my favorite moments.

I would love to be able to pick around in your brain real quick.

First: What do you read? Since most writers are inspired by what they read and get alot of the foundations of their writing style from it aswell, I was wondering what built those foundations for you. Childhood books? Maybe you read something that sparked your interest in writing?

Second: Could we maybe get a peek into your writing process at some point? How you plan or dont plan chapters? How far ahead do you plan? Do you set any particular goals?

Thank you for any answers you give me and also for inspiring me to take my own writing a little more seriously than I did before! You've really inspired me, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. :)

Hi! Thank you for the ask, and for your patience. This year so far has been a bit chaotic, and I wanted to set aside the time to answer properly. :)

First of all, I'm so glad you've been enjoying Lost and Found! This fic, as well as Rhack in general, have been a huge part of my life for the past few years, and I've been blown away by the reception of what started out as a very personal and niche project. 💛

Now, for the questions.

1. Reading and inspirations / style foundations

I've got an interesting relationship with reading, in that I've read a tremendous amount as a child/teenager, but some time during the past decade (I'm in my 30s), my brain has developed a bit of a block for reading fiction (I blame a combination of neurodivergencies). Every now and then, I'll get stuck in a book or a fic, but these days, I mostly experience stories in other forms than prose, with my favorite options being long-form tv (i.e. netflix series and such) and games (both story-oriented ones that tell you the story as you play or have your choices shape the story (like Stray, Tales, DBH), and open-world ones that combine plot quests and environmental storytelling (like Fallout and Witcher 3)).

Although I have a bit of internalized shame about not reading much prose these days ('you can't be a good writer if you don't read', etc.), I also maintain that Writing and Storytelling are two distinct skill sets. And while reading is obviously important to develop the Writing skill, Storytelling can be learned from so many places! If anything, I strongly believe that every writer can benefit from experiencing stories in every medium available to them, be it movie and tv, video and tabletop games, concept albums, etc.. Heck, the core plot of L&F grew out of a Borderlands-inspired D&D campaign, so...

That said, I do have favorite writers: Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Chuck Wendig, Andrzej Sapkowski, Becky Chambers. I may be bold enough to claim that all of their influences can be found in my work, be it in writing style or in the way I approach storytelling.

I also would like to credit a writer who went by Rhetor in a fandom that must not be named, whose fic Counting to Five Thousand upended my entire understanding of fanfic some 15 years ago, showing me that fic can be used to tell beautiful and powerful stories. Your mentioning that my work inspired you to take your own writing more seriously reminded me of them. I remember what it's like to be inspired by a writer in a fandom, and I'm honored to have provided some of that for you. 💛

2. Writing process / planning / goals

I normally think of myself as a pantser (or, to use the fancy term 'discovery writer'), but for long works, especially ones published as they're being written, there has to be at least some degree of planning involved. By the time I start writing, I usually know the general shape of the plot, i.e. what are the characters trying to do, how they're going to try and achieve it, whether they will succeed or fail, and some of the stuff that might happen along the way. I should point out, though, that I always let the characters drive the plot, as opposed to wielding my authority to decide 'this should happen next'. Which means that sometimes, when I get to a certain point in the story, things unfold differently from what I'd been expecting.

For the above reason, I've also found it counter-productive to have too-clear plans of future chapters. Almost every time I'd do that, I'd find myself trying to railroad the characters into doing/saying what I had envisaged, instead of what was organic at the time. Almost invariably, the resulting scenes were stilted and disjointed, and I'd have to scrap them and try again.

I think the best analogy for my approach to planning as a writer is planning for a long walk or a road trip. You can map out the route, aim to hit certain waypoints, get a general idea of how long it will take... but you don't know the details of every bit of the journey until you're actually traveling. The only way to really know the road is to travel it - and for me, the only way to know the story is to write it.

That's on the story/chapter scale, anyway. When it comes to individual scenes, it's a bit like scrying into a crystal ball. I get a glimpse of what the scene is going to look like, or a few lines of dialogue, and use those as a hook to pull myself into the scene. And then the same rule as before applies: the details become clear once I'm writing it down or talking through it with my story accomplices. (I always do need to get it out of my head, though. There are people on here who say they can daydream their entire fics: that's not me. I need to get the story out, otherwise I'll just keep circling the initial 'preview' of the scene and not get any further. )

There are, of course, rare and precious times when plotting and pantsing align just so, and I end up with something that feels organic while cleaving to a structure. My favorite example of that is the L&F chapter The Man Who Isn't Jack, in which AI Jack's existential journey follows his journey through different parts of Opportunity while also tentatively mapping to the five stages of grief as he grapples with human Jack's legacy and his own status as AI programmed to act human. Not gonna lie, I'm damn proud of that one.

...Now you see why I needed to set the time aside to answer. Once again, thank you for reading, and for asking, and feel free to ask more, because I could talk about this stuff forever. And last but not least: I wish you the very best of luck with your own writing! 💛

[copias-girl]

i've been follow the asks you receive about the tcac and giiiirl all the things you're talking about the next chapter is making me every day more and more anxious. especially now that you posted an AU (is this right? im not sure, sorry) based on a pic. anyway i can't wait to read it ! but well, i do have a question, how many more chapters do you think you're gonna write for tcac? cuz i dont want it to be oveer <3

ps: i really love your written, thank you and please dont stop!

Hiiii! Lmao yeah ig I’m sorta accidentally hyping up the next chapter because everyone’s asking about it! 😂😂

But yeah I think it’s gonna be great! I’m writing it right now, it’s gonna be pretty lengthy and VERY juicy! Much teasing involved 👀

And yes I created a new section on my masterlist, (my pinned post) called ‘To Catch a Cardinal Universe bonus fics.’ Basically these will be fics or ficlets that take place in the tcac universe (where Copia is super blushy and awkward and everyone thinks he’s a loser) but they don’t have anything to do with the main plot line of tcac!

So for example, if someone wanted to send in an ask and say like “tell me about a time in the tcac universe where Reader and Copia blah blah blah” then I’d write something and it would be added to the fic bonus list, not the regular chapters!

And as for how many chapters I have planned, I don’t have a specific amount! I have an overarching storyline planned, but tcac is very liquid in the fact that I can add in chapters whenever I want. If I think of something, I can make it into a chapter and it won’t change the story, if that makes sense?

I have more sticky situations that I want to put Copia in so those will be made into tcac chapters, and I also some emotional chapters planned too! And I also have the ending chapter planned. But if I think of any more teasing situations, then I’ll fit those in too.

Theoretically, tcac could almost go on forever if I keep adding in chapters before the ending one lol

Anyway I hope all this makes sense! Thank you for asking! 🖤🖤🖤