#fics i write are no longer enough i need to [REDACTED]

[ambrosykim]

god the way that my mind blind obsession is back.........

[batsyforyou]

Maedhros Sleep Headcanons

Pariring: Maedhros x reader 

Warning: None 

Author’s Note: Blanket Series! Honestly I have discovered that my ability to write longer fics over short fics is crazy different. Short fics? Anxiety. Long fics? Long drawn out suffering. Headcanons? Perfection. 

If Light sleeper could embody a person this would be it. 

You flinched? He’s awake. You take a little deep breath? He’s awake. You turn on your side? He’s awake. 

Not that you can tell the difference with his open eyed death stare. 

Hypersensitivity Sleep fits him great

As mentioned before elves sleep with their eyes open so the creepy staring is 98/100

It’ll feel like someone’s burning holes in your back 

It's kinda like that awkward feeling characters will get in a one bed trope where they don’t hate each other. Pillow walls included. 

He honestly has the widest open eyed stare. Like he’s constantly on the lookout for danger. 

His eyes will remind you of a cartoon sometimes.

Especially if he’s had a bad day or worse a bad night

Honestly between his weight and height you have it hard most nights. 

Like if you wanted space or more important Mae wanted space it ain’t gonna happen chief. Why? As soon as he gets on the bed there is an automatic roll function. 

For you anyway. 

Were you comfortable? Nice and cozied up in the comforter? Not any more. 

Cue the pillow wall barrier 

Cuddles don’t exist here; cuddles happen once in a blue moon. 

He wouldn’t be able to sleep if you left him though so y’all share the same bed

Not that he sleeps anyway. 

PTSD also likes to chime in 

The poor thing 

If he sleeps he doesn’t sleep peacefully, nightmares are constant 

The only downside or upside? Is that if he gets a nightmare it's a deep sleep so he’s not waking up to you he’s waking up to screams and Melkor tickling his ear. 

Flight or fight gets in pretty often so the extra space between you and him isn’t just to annoy you

Also please don’t wake him up from a nightmare 

When he does cuddle though it's like the sunny day after a big rainstorm and you stepped into heaven

Will never lay on top of you, is too afraid to hurt you

Will freakout if you cuddle up to him as the big spoon

Don’t grip his hair at night either. PTSD overload on that one 

If he cuddles you he’ll do it in the daylight were he has zero chance of falling asleep and where he feels safe enough

He’ll either spoon you as the big spoon or let you lay on him and just gently pet your head and stroke your hair. 

Will give you a kiss to your temple and if he’s had a good day he might fall asleep like that 

Though I suggest you watch him carefully, no need to get punched in the gut by an 8ft elf

And speaking of him being 8ft he will have a major problem sleeping in a bed that isn’t exactly taylored to him 

Will be too long for an average bed 

So you sleep in a gigantic sized bed, your feet never reach the end

This elf has also seen the light of the Two Trees but don’t be afraid; he isn’t Glorfindel 

His hair and eyes glow very dimly because of *redacted* 

So it’ll be a coin flip for awe so cute or that's kinda creepy. If y’all have seen Stargate and watched the goa'uld light up their eyes it's kinda like that but waaaay less light. 

So the glowing eyes/hair paired with his wide, open death stare burning holes into you sometimes makes you uncomfortable. 

He doesn’t move when he sleeps not because he sleeps heavy but because he doesn’t want to take the chance of ruining your sleep

Overall this baby needs some serious therapy and is a 4/10 sleep buddy

Masterlist

[sotwk]

Behind the Scenes: SotWK's Writing Process

Welcome to a little "behind the scenes" of my attempts to keep my growing list of WIPS and story requests/ideas organized!

My Fic and HC Requests are (for the most part), always open, and open to Anons. Occasionally, I also invite requests in relation to writing events or games. Needless to say, I get quite a lot of requests, and I am both flattered and thrilled by that.

However, I also work full-time (albeit always in front of a computer), and I have two little kids (who attend preschool, whew), so I have much less time to focus on writing than most creators here.

But I love writing, and I love using it to make people happy even more. My rule is, I will accept any requests (that reasonably fall within my guidelines, but I can be flexible!) as long as you can wait patiently for me to deliver on them. I always give my best effort to make it worth your while, and I will never ignore your request or give up on it without checking with you first (yes, this includes Anons).

I have no wait list. I do not work on requests "in the order they were received". I work on whatever story speaks to and cooperates with me that day, and that means shuffling amongst up to five WIPs at a time. That's simply how my brain works, unfortunately.

All my fanfics / your requests are always, and forever will be, FREE. They're gifts I am honored to give.

I am constantly saying, "I'm working on it" or "It's on my list", and I would like to offer just a bit of proof of that. So, especially for those who have been waiting a long time (and those who might have to wait even longer), I present my Google Drive's Organized Chaos to show how I keep all those WIPs in check:

Drafts in Progress: Stories that are closest to completion, and the ones I am currently trying to focus on.

Drafts on Hold: Drafts that I have started, but have stalled, so they're on the back burner for now.

Headcanons: I usually draft my headcanon requests straight on Tumblr, but sometimes they go on here.

Ask Screenshots: Where I save Asks that I responded to/deleted, but I needed to save the text for the sake of notes. Also lovely Asks that I save for posterity.

Valentine Event: I received so many Asks for this event that it required its own folder.

Gifted Graphics: Always hoping for new contributions to this one! (not subtle enough?)

And now, for my Fic Tracker Spreadsheet, which tracks ALL Tolkien fics I write, both requests and my personal projects:

I redacted the "Requestor" column to preserve some surprises. I track the estimated "Status" aka percentage of completion as a way to motivate myself, because getting to that blessed 100% is the Holy Grail for me!

WIP: Every fic that's on the "front burner" and I'm actively fighting to complete.

Requests/Concepts: Contains details of all requests and ideas I have which will eventually jump into the WIP tab.

Valentine: Remember how I said I received so many responses to this event? Yeah. I'm still determined to finish them all, though!

To Read: Yup, I track all the fics of friends that I intent to read here, too. That's how important those are to me.

I truly hope all this info doesn't scare anyone off from sending in more requests! I hope this gives Readers/Followers a little more faith in me and show that I take all requests I receive very seriously. They are the most important part of what I do as a fanfic writer.

I may be slow, but I'm committed and determined!

If you have any questions about the above, or about your requests, I'm open! Please keep sending in requests! Thank you for your support and patience!

Link to my FANFIC REQUEST GUIDELINES

Tagging some of those folks who are currently waiting on requests: @quickslvxrr @laneynoir @ladyweaslette @scyllas-revenge @lathalea @g-m-kaye @absentmindeduniverse @aduialel @friendofthefellowshipsnerdblog @jordie-your-local-halfling @ladyk8tie @blueberryrock @the-phantom-of-arda @tamurilofrivendell @achromaticerebus @klytemnestra13 @glassgulls @the-fragile-heart-of-a-lady @guardianofrivendell @a-burr-a-hobbit @literary-eclair

[wishlikes]

holy shit. looks at you with my massive autistic eyes. what’s bad future time traveler ritsu PLEASE share with the class. and if you don’t want to share with the class that is ok but also please if you are so inclined then at least share with the me

Well. You see.

It all started when I was running low on time to finish Whumptober prompts and... well, I had just come from the rottmnt fandom. I had 'character time travels from a bad future' on the mind. So I drew this and thought 'surely no more will come of this'.

And yet the concept stayed in my mind. I drew this sketch page several months later. Someone's tag on it inspired me to actually write the story, as explained here (along with more info, though I'm going to change some things from what's written here).

There's also these two drawings that take place in the bad future, although I didn't draw Ritsu old enough in the second one, because I hadn't figured out the timeline yet when I drew it. (warnings for blood and injury on both of them)

I've figured out the timeline of the bad future now, though. And I am cursed with the knowledge that the very little I'd already written needs to be rewritten to suit it. This writing/rewriting will not be happening until I am done with my current wip (which is almost done... but might need a sequel because i am cursed).

So I myself know very little about what's going to happen in the bad future time travel fic that i had better fucking write because I desperately need to know what happens.

Some Key Events of the Bad Future:

Sep 2015 - [Redacted] is murdered

Nov 2018 - First anti-esper laws drop

Jan 2020 - Shou 'goes missing', his father is 'convinced' to identify several espers- including the one he couldn't beat

Feb 2020 - Shou escapes custody in an incident his father doesn't survive, Shou is labeled a terrorist, Mob is arrested, Shou and Ritsu go into hiding together

Dec 2021 - Shou is killed (among others), Ritsu fakes his own death

Jun 2023 - [Redacted] informs Mob of Ritsu's 'death'. As you can imagine, this is a bit like setting off a bomb. A bomb that can self-heal and keep exploding until the rage burns out, until only despair remains, until there is no longer even the barest sub-conscious thread left of self-preservation. And so the wounds stop healing, and power dies down, and only then can Ritsu come close enough to help, to show that he's still alive. But it's too late, too late. This place, this time is not safe for Ritsu; they would kill him. And Shigeo has not seen him in over three years and he looks so awful now, and Shigeo cannot protect him. He has to send him away, away to somewhere safe. And then Ritsu is gone, safe. And there is nothing left for him here.

Jun 2011 - Future!Ritsu arrives

So. Ah. I got a bit carried away there. I wouldn't normally include that much, but Future Ritsu is such an emotionally devastated wreck of a man that I can't bear to write from his pov, so i don't know how much of all that ^ is gonna make it into the fic anyway.

What I do know is that Ritsu thinks he's been sent to the past specifically to Fix Everything. And that's the only thing keeping him from just lying down and not getting up again. The knowledge that his brother only wanted to save him would probably make him worse actually.

[kipperlillycopperkettle]

wip snippet ask game

was tagged by @grasslandgirl my beloved fellow mutual in long unfinished fics and a million wips <3 thank you so so much for tagging me <3333333 this is also only my fic folder bc otherwise this list would be a million times longer and it's already long enough. also stealing from sav and putting the fandom in parenthesis next to the titles. also i chose not to include the wip titles that got asked last time that i have made absolutely no progress on in the last year and two months because i have made no progress on them and have nothing new to say about them :(

“Rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag people! This isn’t just for writing either. Sketch titles? Comics? DnD campaigns? If you have an unfinished project, it counts!”

bad ends for hardwon & moonshine (naddpod)

marvel fic (thg)

bad kids parent issues

never tasted as sweet a poison as you have. (thg)

d20 rarepair zine original (d20, acoc)

i fought and fought hard and i should've died. (thg)

callieder fic (naddpod, c3)

i know there's something waiting for us in the light. (d20, tuc)

penny fic (d20, the seven)

die trying right now. (incryptid)

and it's hard to be at a party when i feel like an open wound. (d20, spyreverse thg au)

delly tribute au fic (thg)

fig & being a tiefling (d20, fh)

the bad kids road trip (d20, fh)

please tell me someday i'll at least be able to sleep. (d20, spyreverse thg au)

thg daemons (thg)

cashmere fic (thg)

the kind of radiance you only have at seventeen. (thg)

i spend nights stitching up the loose threads of my soul. (d20, spyreverse thg au)

patia fic (exu calamity fic)

fate is to all appearance more unavoidable than unexpected. (thg)

evil pete fic (d20, tuc)

we must be killers. (the old guard)

i can take a hit i ain't scared of the pain. (thg)

let's raise a glass to all the people you're not speaking to. (d20, aso)

everyone thinks that they're too young to die. (d20, spyreverse thg au)

pamelia fic (d20, acoc)

haymitch fic (thg)

[first house discord exchange fic] [*this is not the actual name of the doc i just needed to redact it for spoilers reasons bc i can't talk abt it yet] (tlt)

katniss sole victor au (thg)

cytherea and pro (tlt)

only code it knows is rote survival. (thg)

og lyctor secret history (tlt)

caramanda (d20, acoc)

kasya fic (d20, acoc)

my titles are so simple (unless i actually manage to name the fic before i finish it) mostly bc i have a million docs in my google drive and i want to be able to find what i want to write quickly. i say this as though half the time searching a character's name won't get me to the doc i want faster than digging through my google docs but still

tagging: @cav-core, @dubiousfruitsalad, @browncesario, @aberfaeth, @nakdraws, @thelongestwalk, and anyone else who wants to do it (this means you who is reading this) <3333 also if i tagged you and you don't want to do it do NOT feel obligated mwah love u <33333

[freneticfloetry]

weekend wip game

Rules: List your WIPs below (if you only write one fic at a time, feel free to include future WIPs/ideas!) then answer the following questions. Then, tag as many people as you have WIPs (or more).

Thanks to @welcometololaland for kicking this off, plus @liminalmemories21, @rmd-writes, @lemonlyman-dotcom, @orchidscript, @alrightbuckaroo, and @heartstringsduet for the tags!

1. WIP List: had we but world enough (and time) (the TiMER fic) a strong enough foundation (followup to tbah in the Roots Before Branches series, aka “five times Morgan was just like her daddy, and one time she was all her papá”) for better, for worse (bachelor party shenanigans) we were emergencies (the It’s a Wonderful Life/Sliding Doors-esque TK AU) the same in every language (five times Carlos says something in Spanish during sex and one time TK understands) show me the steps so i can go through the motions (4x18 Carlos & Gabriel tag) our hearts are haunted by the ghosts that i made (the no coma AU that angst built) Still Sadly Untitled Phone Fic (five times Tarlos had to replace a phone) Untitled HGTV AU Untitled [Film] Fusion Untitled Breakup Era Hookup (accidental club run-in where Jealous TK Makes Choices) Untitled [Redacted] AU (collab with @ambiguouspenny) The One Where Carlos Gets Shot …do you know how happy I am that to build a home is not on this list?

2. Which of your WIPs is currently the longest? The TiMER fic! It wasn’t even supposed to be second in line, it just bullied its way to the top of the list.

3. Which WIP do you expect will end up the longest? Oof. If I didn’t know myself so well, I’d say we were emergencies, but since I do, it’ll probably be the HGTV fic.

4. Which WIP is your favourite to write/the most enjoyable to write? Why? The TiMER fic has been a lot of fun to write, despite it being hurtier than I intended, but I think that’s just down to being in TK’s head for the first time. But every single snippet of for better, for worse makes me grin like a loon without fail, so it’s that one, hands down.

5. Which WIP do you find the most intimidating to write? Why? Hat trick for the TiMER AU. I think I was so excited about the premise and the possibilities of it all — I’ve wanted to write a TiMER fic since I first saw the movie, and a Soulmates fic for even longer — I didn’t really stop to consider that, after ~64k of building on and in-between canon, I was going to have to… build on and in-between canon. There’s a substantial element of re-imagining for this one, just because of the nature of the TiMER as a literal plot device, but there are times I’m still like fuuuuuck, I have to do this thing completely differently now.

6. Which WIP do you experience the most self-doubt about. Why? the same in every language. It’s not a plot-what-plot, it’s literally sex as plot, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about making it work.

7. Which of your WIPs will you seek out a beta/sensitivity reader for? Why? Both for better, for worse and we were emergencies will need outside attention to make sure they’re working as planned, and I’ll definitely be enlisting @hoko-onchi-writes’ Smutmancer services to make sure the same in every language is worth anything at all.

8. Have any of your WIPs been struck by the curse of writer's block? I’m just laughing right now. That’s my answer.

9. Which WIP has your favourite OC? Tell us about them? Definitely we were emergencies. His name is Simon, he’s a vet (as in healer of animals, not former military man, but he has Seen Some Things in his particular line of work so the latter isn’t far off), and he has a history with Carlos that he’d very much like to be a future with Carlos. He’s also totally scruff-and-curls era Zane Phillips in my head, and both @ambiguouspenny and I are sort of shamelessly infatuated with him. To quote Tay, after being virtually introduced to Dr. Simon: “do you even like TK?”

10. Which WIP is the sexiest? One would think it’s the aforementioned fic where sex is the plot, but the TiMER fic has some moments, y’all.

11. Which WIP is the angstiest? I mean, pick your poison. As I said, the TiMER fic is angstier than intended. The Breakup Era Hookup will be hot angst, but angst nonetheless. There’s one where Carlos gets shot. And I know it sounds like show me the steps so i can go through the motions might be an obvious answer, considering The Gabriel Factor, but the real winner is probably our hearts are haunted by the ghosts that i made. I told Tay the actual premise and they threw me in angst jail.

12. Which WIP has the best characterisation (in your humble opinion)? a strong enough foundation is a real contender here, because it’s the Carlos I already know and love, but I think it might actually be for better, for worse, simply because it’s all of Team Tarloft, and I have something of a knack for ensemble fics, if I do say so myself.

13. Which WIP has the best scene setting (in your humble opinion)? Either the HGTV fic or the Untitled Film Fusion. Probably the former, because pretty pretty interiors are like porn for me.

14. Which WIP have you worked the hardest on? Surprising no one, the TiMER fic. Snippets aside, I’m a “one WIP at a time” kind of girl.

15. Which WIP do you have the highest expectations for? Why? In a weird way, I think this is usually the fic I’m currently working on. Some Yuletide fic aside (mostly pinch hits and quick treats), I always want to feel like whatever I’m writing is the best thing I’ve done — that way I get the sense that I’m growing. That said, though I’ve written a kid in fic (Teddy from The Magicians), I have never written kidfic, and the plan I have for a strong enough foundation makes me really excited.

16. Do you dream about any of your WIPs? Not the actual fics, no, but I do dream about characters.

17. Do any of your WIPs have particular complexities that your other fics don't? our hearts are haunted by the ghosts that i made has to tread some very thin ice, due to its premise, and I’m hoping I can find the right balance with it. And that it doesn’t make people hate me.

18. Which WIP is the funniest or has the most humour? for better, for worse. And it’s not even close.

19. Do any of your WIPs contain outside POVs or a deep dive on a character other than the main ship? How are you finding that process? The Untitled Phone Fic has an outsider POV! An OC outsider, even. She’s an overworked, underpaid girl named Kelsey, and she’s sort of precious. This one’s still in early stages, just an outline and a handful of snippets, but Kelsey is very clear in my head.

20. Tell us one thing we don't know about one or more of your WIPs. One involves an unreliable narrator, one involves an inanimate object as a running theme, and one involves revenge.

I am so very late to this, so consider it an open tag for anyone who’d still like to talk WIPs!

[optiwashere]

I liked doing this last week, but it will get kinda repetitive in the coming weeks. So I'm not sure if I'll do it often while I'm posting the modern/band AU, but oh well!

It's another Saturday morning in a blanket with new music. Truly all I could ever need to write.

Here's what I've been working on...

Modern/band AU is fit and ready to start posting this upcoming week. Chapter [redacted] is complete, and I'm now far enough ahead that even a few weeks of busy life won't stop a regular posting schedule. And if I keep up writing then I'll be able to post around Xmas without needing a break!

Chapter [redacted+1] has an opening sentence, which is often the hardest part.

The outline for the AU has been modified a little. Combined three chapters into one, split out another chapter into two. Probably lots of consolidation to be done otherwise. There's a weird bit in the outline that's kinda fuzzy, but I'm sure I'll knuckle my way through it since it's not thematically deep. Might even be another chapter consolidation. This fic is definitely going to be longer than the 40k I was hoping it would top out at...

Editing the previous chapters has been a fun exercise in trimming the fat! I still want there to be scenes that are just ~vibes~ but I axed 1k words and the whole thing is cleaner for it.

More Minthara/Lae'zel is in the works, but it's mostly only the skeleton of an idea as I've had to rework it multiple times. I've a little under 1k actually written, and I'm not too convinced of what it is at the moment either. Quite frustrating.

Another seedling of an idea for non-smutty Asheera/Shadowheart fics. But it's really just "Shadowheart meets Asheera's parents" and boy I'm not ready for the mixed emotions Shadowheart's going to feel in that one. You know it's not just going to be fluff.

The Gauntlet/Nightsong segment for my core Shadowheart/Asheera series has a skeleton of an outline now. The POVs have been picked, the core beats are there, and I know it's going to hurt like a motherfucker to write some of this.

[empressofthewind]

8, 11, and 14 for Unholy? 👀❣️

EXCELLENT CHOICES!!!! Thank you very much <3

8. Did you cut something out of the outline or an early draft? What was it and why did you decide to cut it?

I was SO sure that this one was fairly straightforward but looking back through my google docs, I found 6 different drafts of it lmfao. The earlier drafts were mostly just alternate versions of the dialogue exchange leading up to the smut. I won't share every single iteration, but here is one deleted scene (I tend to write dialogue first and fill in the action later, so this is just a skeleton):

11. What was the most challenging aspect of writing it?

Writing the smut is usually the hardest part by FAR but - although I might just be misremembering - I really don't recall struggling with the smut in this one as much as I usually do. On the other hand, the aforementioned dialogue exchange gave me absolute hell. I decided very early on that the kiss would happen immediately after that conversation, so getting from the awkward, contentious dynamic they started with to something charged enough that they might want to go [REDACTED] in a church was a real challenge.

14. Talk about the fic’s opening scene & how you approached it.

To be so real and honest, the first ~800 words or so were written long before the rest of the fic, and it kind of feels like a fever dream??? I wrote it all in one sitting and I was very happy with how it turned out first go, so it didn't need many tweaks before the final draft. I started it in late October last year with the intention of posting it for Kinktober, and all I had planned was that it was an AU where they happened to run into each other at Wammy's House after the Kira case, and that they would hook up in the chapel behind the orphanage. I think I realised pretty quickly that it was going to end up longer than I had anticipated and I wouldn't finish it in time to post it for the event, so I ended up ditching it for a while until I had a hankering to touch it again in March.

~

ask me things :-)

[bsaka7]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

i was tagged by @longeyelashedtragedy! i had actually been seeing this go around f1blr and was hoping someone would tag me...so thank you!!!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

i have 96 (46 off anon, 50 on anon). of fics written in recent history, i have 48 f1 fics (35 off anon, 13 on anon) and 18 footiefics (11 off anon, 7 on anon). i have sort of a weird relationship with anoning - i generally don't mind if people know the fics are mine, but i usually don't want them on my account, generally because of quality reasons (or just a distancing). i generally anon anything that i've been away from the fandom for a couple of years, but i think this might change now that i'm like, not actively growing up in the same way. i feel like it makes sense not to want ventfic from age 14 on my account, but i don't necessarily feel the same way about well-written work from a fandom i'm no longer a part of...but then again. embarrassment factor. so who knows.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

661,265. Most of that is from the last three years. Nearly half is from 2022 alone! I'd like to crack 700k this year, but I'm not sure if it's going to happen. I've been a bit stagnant lately, but there might be something bigger (if uninteresting to everyone but me) in the works...

3. What fandoms do you write for?

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

at the moment i basically only write footie rpf though i'm generally open to writing more f1 rpf or really whatever might take my brain by storm. i've written for lots of other fandoms but for some reason, it's basically ONLY rpf fandom that pulls me in and i actually get fully involved in, despite the fact that i love lots of fictional books and movies and things. the only other thing i could see myself writing fic for at the drop of a hat would be star wars OT/original EU. oh that's not totally true. i occasionally will write or consider rpf about various bands, mostly from the 90s 😑 but I've not written any in ages

taking some time - this was my first "big" f1 fic and i'm fully aware of why it's popular. it's fairly well written, it plays into common characterization, it's an extremely popular pairing, and it's unique enough (i hope) to still be vaguely interesting.

baby, need a ride - banger of a title, if i do say so myself (who doesn't love a bit of ke$ha). this is popular for a lot of the same reasons as the last, with the bonus of it being pwp.

[redacted] - i almost unilaterally refuse to admit i've written this fic. it got great comments from a lot of fic writers who i really admired in my early f1fandom days (and some i still do). this fic is, to me, extremely symptomatic of falling into fandom characterization without considering real-world input. it was maybe my second??? fic i wrote??? for f1. it's for a pairing i genuinely began to despise literally weeks after i wrote it. this fic is my no1 candidate for orphaning except that i don't like to orphan bc i DID write it and i do like to see what people say about it (and the comments are always lovely - i don't fault anyone for liking this fic. i'm glad to have created something that resonates deeply with many people!), even if sometimes i don't like reminding myself of who i was when i wrote it.

ill ray - this is probably the fic i'm proudest of being popular. i've definitely read fic that's been inspired by this which is a total honor. this is also the only fic in the top 5 that's not from what i consider my "early" f1 fandom era. this fic is mean and it's nasty and it's gross and it's stomach churning and it turned out better than i could have ever imagined. one of my favorite things I've written.

sheets soaking wet - early f1fandom pwp. i remember the exact weekend i wrote this lying on my futon. one of the first threesomes i wrote, i think.

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

of course!!! i love comments and i am so grateful for them and i want people to know what they mean to me! i also am generally desperate for thinking deeply about fic (and for community at all) so i always want to engage with ppl who say interesting things! sometimes im a bit slow at responding - I especially sit on long comments - but I get there in the end :)

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

I honestly have no idea. I've written multiple fics where is sort of implied all of the characters die at the end (as the sails burn down like paper, echo of the future (sort of. this one is iffy. there are spinoffs I'll never write), green gloves) so maybe one of those? i don't have a great sense of these things.

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

Maybe like... Charles and the Three Curses or something. I think it's a nice getting together, figuring out your problems ending, and they'll probably end up together for a long time. Most of the endings of my fic even if they're "getting together" or sort of "traditional" happy endings, I don't consider to be happy endings bc its all about getting trapped in the evil misery cycle or something like that.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

i would think i hate on my own fics more than anyone else possibly could. that being said, although I've gotten a few backhanded compliments, no, no hate, thank goodness.

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

yeah. i go through phases of writing it and then trying not to write it but i find it fairly easy to write and it can convey things i struggle with in any other kind of work yeah. in terms of what kind, i try to write stuff that has interesting emotional and political undercurrents. i like the real world in there. i like complication. basically, I use it to get at something that I'd struggle at getting at in a different fic of a similar length - it pares things down to bodies and emotion, even if there's still plenty of space for lying and misinterpretation and so on. i like to think my pwps are often about power. I've also said many times that i consider very little of the pwp I've written to actually be hot. idk....take that as you will.

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

ive never done so though im not opposed to the idea. unless my f1 star wars au counts as a crossover which i don't think it does even though technically like in sequel 10000 someone probably does meet luke skywalker or like wedge antilles crash lands in old man seb's cornfield or something...

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

don't think so, thank goodness!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

no... I've had exactly one request ever and I turned it down. I'd probably say yes if someone I talked to regularly wanted to translate something, but I'm a bit of a control freak and it's not something I'm very comfortable with...

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

no, though again, not opposed to the idea... it could be fun! the other thing I'd like to do but im shy about would be to write a little fic in the universe of one of my friends fics but I've never done nor asked to do it so.

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

if i have one, i don't know it. usually when im done with something, i move on and rarely return.....i think i have more consistent themes and questions that i like to read about and return to, rather than ships.

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

i don't really have a lot of wips.... pretty much everything i decide to write ends up finished! there's only the Big Time Travel Story (not fic) in my head that maybe I'll actually get working on pretty soon here...

16. What are your writing strengths?

Probably my greatest strength as a writer is nearly anytime I decide to write, I can just sit down and do it. I'm also a fairly quick writer. When I'm really into a fic, I can easily write 2-5k a day and sometimes more. Other than that, I guess my writing is pretty readable (not necessarily something that I always like in my own work).

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I struggle with writing dialogue, but my biggest weakness is my unwillingness to edit. It's not that I don't care or I'm not aware of what could be better, it's just that I'm lazy and I really enjoy being done, more than I enjoy putting forth more effort into a better work (that I know won't get any better if a response if I put that much more time in, but at the same time, I wasn't much of an editer on my college papers either).

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

hmmmm... i do it sparingly. i think awareness of language is something I'd love to improve on in my work, especially writing in the pov of someone's second or third language. I've definitely read it effectively in fic (and far more effectively in like, novels or whatever. and I've seen it done very poorly in fic), but my own language skills are not terribly useful to the fic I've written and don't particularly add insight into how i might do it better. usually i just use dialogue tags to make clear what language is being spoken.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

in elementary school i submitted a story about darth Vader and princess leia to a school library contest and was rlly sad when it didn't do well :( i wrote self-insert about myself hanging out with the usmnt and uswnt circa 2011...if either of those count 😉

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I'm going to give you two, on different criteria, though the answer is probably the latter:

Charles and the Three Curses is the most FUN I've ever had writing a fic. It's a bit silly and the plot itself isn't the most unique but I loved coming up with all the details of the different characters lives and the magic they used and my little oc's and so on... I love writing fantasy fic :)

scenes from an american artist is, I think, the best fic I've ever written. in terms of writing quality, of storytelling, of prose, of structure, this is it. i had something I wanted to capture and I think i managed to do it, almost how I'd wanted to.

honorary mentions: as the sails burn down like paper, echo of the future, you whom i cannot betray. You can also check out my Tetrapod Sampler with some fics that I think are quality and representative of my own work.

you will notice these are all f1fic and there's no footiefic to speak of. I'm not going to say that I haven't written good work for footie thus far, but I will say most of it has been pwp which is never my favorite, results wise... but i promise i have something interesting and different in the works!

i have genuinely no idea who has done this... I tag...@wdcseb @gokartkid ummm and if anyone else who follows me wants to do it and tag me I'd be happy to see I have been loving reading these!!! some people think so wonderfully deeply about their work and I love to see it!

[pleasedontkickme]

quid pro quo!!!

17, 19, and 27!!!

17. talk about your writing and editing process

Now here’s what I do. I take either my laptop or phone and I go sit on the couch in the living room. If my roommates are there instead I’ll go back to my room and cry. But otherwise I’ll sit in front of the big tv and put a YouTube video on of some sort of nature ambience—it CANNOT have music in it, but it can’t be too silent. Typically, I find that the peaceful background noise of a harsh blizzard works the best. Blizzard and nighttime snow videos get me in the best space to write sots specifically. I love this one video of a car driving on a snowy forest path at night for sots, but if my roommates walk by they say it’s “creepy” so then I’ll turn it off. Anyways then I make some English breakfast tea with 3 tablespoons of sugar and oat milk. Then my blinds need to be lifted just about an eighth of the way up so as to not let too much light in my delicate, failing blue eyes. It should be noted that morning is the best time for my brain to write, so the angle of the sun is perfect. If all of these conditions are met, I can get my attention span to MAYBE let me focus enough to write. If not, I’ll go back into my room and cry if I haven’t already.

To edit I simply give my eyes a 24 hour break, go back for grammar and spelling, take another 24 hour break, and then rewrite the whole thing. I have been told I should give myself longer to edit. I’m too impatient for this.

19. the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic

So as I was writing the nightmares for sots chapter 4, I originally only had the first two parts of it in the draft. As I was hinting at these nightmares, and about how Ryan feels about [REDACTED], my friend my good friend @oh-cosmia was like “I bet he feels like a bunraku puppet” and I said. Huh?

Anyways so I watch some videos and i immediately have the inspiration to add the puppet part and last part of the nightmares, which I write all in one sitting, which helps get me to finish the chapter overall. Seriously, have you seen those things?? Look them up.

27. your favorite part of the writing process

When the perfect inspiration for a really good sentence hits and it gets you to write and you’re able to send a screenshot to friends going “hey look at this” and the rush you get from it is what I imagine people get when they send nudes.

[wisteriagoesvroom]

⭐star⭐? Please yap - CX

director's cut commentary on some fics! maybe i can talk about the midpoint-ish of both of these:

the sun (in your eyes) 90% of the things i write are people confronting their too-big feelings and getting together. or rather it's my favourite thing to write if you disregard my fake statistic. so i knew lando and oscar would end up together here... and also cus @maaxverstappen specifically requested a happy ending lmao. but the question was how! so the "lando gets a bad flu and feels lonely" part of it was really fun to write because i was like: what is a way of showing that oscar cares. in his oscar way where he isn't very vocal about it, but will just silently go do the thing and sort it out. so that was really nice! and then towards the deadline i also thought "well lando needs to do something too because a relationship is a dance of two people" and that's how the digital marketing gambit came about. and it was quite a straightforward scene to write, thankfully. and it fit this slow slice of life story of two people just gradually inching closer and closer to each other and asking through small actions - "is this okay?" (yes, it is). it was one of those rare things where i'd steeped in the fic and their headspace long enough i felt like it emerged pretty naturally. if you ignore the part where i was buzzing on adrenaline and going "oh god i need to submit this for the @f1playlistficexchange in like three days" 💀

pardon my emotions action shots! racing scenes! i find action scenes really intimidating to write and have generally avoided them, but it felt wrong to have a longer form canon fic without any on track action, so i just forced myself to try. it helps that there were interviews and racecraft analysis floating around so i just tried to follow that. i tried to keep the action lines short and punchy. i felt a bit like i was john woo-ing there in gdocs for like a brief 2 minutes lmao. it'll be interesting to see whether i'd approach it differently in the sequel (which i still intend to write, though i think it makes sense to let the '24 season unfold a bit more first because it's already been pretty damn juicy and lends itself to interesting story beats). and the teacup scene!! oscar prying the teacup out of lando's hands so she doesn't spill it before [redacted][redacted]. that also emerged quite naturally and i thought was in line with how observant fic!oscar is and how much he understands girl!lando's habits already. i really enjoyed that teacup scene even though it was a hell of a tooth pull to write the final third overall.

thank you @cx-boxbox for asking <33

from: director's cut asks

[kritischetheologie]

★ what was the scene you most wanted to write in [fic]? what was the hardest scene to write?

For the URBP please! Many scenes were either delightful or heartbreaking for me to read (or both) so I'm interested to know what it was like as a writer

The scene I most wanted to write was Nico and Lewis getting engaged. I cried writing it. I really wanted to emphasize how much they loved each other, and how despite their ambivalence about the [redacted], they were both excited to take this step forward into that life. It's probably the biggest knife twist in the whole thing. Careful readers may note that Nico briefly comments that he no longer feels sick; the seeds of what's to come have already been planted, even though he doesn't know it. There's also a deliberate cruel irony to Silver War Nico's mis-remembrance of Lewis's promise to take care of him. His anger and his grief twist the beauty of that moment into something cruel, and then when we as readers finally get there, we realize that he's been wrong about it all along.

The hardest chapter was the last, without a doubt. I originally had half as much there, and my incredible betas @antimonyandthyme and @sebrrari were like, c, you gotta linger in it. Linger in the pain of the [redacted]. Linger in the joy of the happy ending. Get the payoff you've been setting up for 40,000 words. I think it was hard for me for a few reasons. Honestly, I was never totally sold on the brocedes endgame. I knew I couldn't make people read 45k of them ending up as friends, but some part of me worried that there was too much water under the bridge for them to ever be more than that. I also needed to find a way to tie up Seb's story; the detail of Nico sending flowers when he gets divorced was one of the last things I wrote.

This is the moment when I admit that I lied when I posted the first chapter saying it was complete; I hadn't finished the last chapter, but I knew the pressure of needing to finish in time would be enough to propel me over the line.

[werewolfashton]

2022 writing evaluation

darling @igarbagecannotevenoteven tagged me to do this, honestly unbelievable, thank you megs <3 your answers were so interesting btw!!

i’ll also include all my works in this bc i haven’t written much in 5sos this year lmao. the other stuff can mainly be found here: https://archiveofourown.org/users/villainous_intentions

number of stories posted on ao3: 4 for 5sos, 20-30 in other fandoms, mainly stranger things (this is such a vague number bc i’m including drabbles)

word count posted for this year: ~53.332

fandoms i wrote for: 5sos, stranger things, the iliad/tsoa, [redacted]

pairings: lashton (2), malum (1), ot4 (1), harringrove (like 20+ and some platonic pairings), patrochilles (1), [redacted]

story with the most kudos/bookmarks/comments: for 5sos it’s but underneath we had a fear of flying in all regards

for other fandoms in kudos and bookmarks it’s don’t that man look pretty and in terms of comments: i was far too scared to hit him, but i would hit him in a heartbeat now and into the deep

work i’m most proud of and why: i’m really proud to have written 4k in one sitting for a wild and an untamed thing, and really all i wrote for the harringrove harvest probably

work i’m least proud of and why: ngl i really don’t like any of my 5sos fics very much except maybe the 2 song fics and some horror aspects so

share or describe a favorite review you’ve received: i got and still get so much love for one of my drabbles for st, those always make me smile and then recently i got the funniest review of my life tbh but that stays between me and the unfortunate souls that have my insta

a time when writing was really, really hard: the only time writing was not hard was during the writing challenges in june and october. or well it was still hard but i was putting out words like an insane person anyway. blessed days.

a scene or character you wrote who surprised you: still surprised to be writing in the first place. certainly wrote a lot of stuff towards the end of the year that i did not expect. wrote about a shitload of trauma. OH i wrote crack. did not expect to be able to do that. 

a favorite excerpt of your writing: i mostly like some of the one liners in my fics and this is one of them from into the deep end: "Fear spreads through [Steve] and he rushes forward, half expecting a monster in the middle of the bed, but when he moves behind the others to look into the room he stops as well. It’s not a monster, not really. At least he doesn’t think so. 

It’s just a mullet wearing asshole that’s supposed to be dead."

and i wrote this baby of drabble that’s one of my fav pieces of writing idk i struggled with this point of the review

how did you grow as a writer this year? i have become more open to just writing what i want. especially recently i’ve stopped really caring? like i still look at numbers too much but at least i write what i like now. i’ve also started writing longer works (at least sort of)

how do you hope to grow next year? i wish i had more time to write which isn’t really something i can force so i think i’m just hoping to not care about statistics as much. as to writing itself i wanna just expand my vocabulary.

who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc)? alright so, idk. i often feel very uncomfy speaking to people about my fic bc i think i annoy them and they only put up with it. i certainly have some lovely people who have been supportive (like em) and have been kind enough to beta for me (e.g. helen) and especially noah has been helping me with ideas. but yeah overall idk i shy away from talking about my fic bc it just ends up making me feel bad. thus i think the only overall actually very positive influence was the stranger things fandom, lovely feedback, actual engagement with fics, all that stuff has been helpful.

anything from real life show up in your writing this year? haha. y’all don’t need to know how much i projected this year thanks!

any new wisdom you can share with other writers? stop! fucking! looking! at! the! stats!

any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year? @pixiegrl birthday fic. like 30 harringrove drafts. much [redacted]. we shall see though i’m trying not to stress myself

tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read: aight idk what’s going on here anymore so i’ll leave this as it is

[spacebuck]

1, 3, 13 and 15!! I love all your writing BTW. Especially your newest one with Argenti messing around with Boothill’s -REDACTED-. It’s incredible 👀

1. Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

I actually really like both!! Some stories lend themselves better to one or the other. I find my attention span leads me to one-shots but I enjoy the lore and world building I can out into longer things!

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

OUAHHH this is a hard one!! Depending on the fic it can just be "see art. Stare. Blink. Fic written." and sometimes it can take a bit of nurturing. Taking my current long fic as an example, I floated the idea to another writer who loved it enough to not only support my dumb ass, but we're actually cowriting it now! I started by describing the setting and the biggest scene I had in mind, then we walked back and established the larger arcs of the setting and some core secondary characters, and how we wanted the first scene to go. Then, i sat down and wrote it. Then we came back together, once we had words on the page to look at, reassessed our plan, and have built on it from there.

Sometimes I'll literally just send them a twitter post or a meme and be like "them lol" and an hour layer we have another chapter fleshed out tho, that's always fun.

I can't wait for you to meet Nonna C. Beloved Nonna C.

13. what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

Oh man. Uhh. "show don't tell" I suppose? I'd rather say "Argenti's eyes gazed over" than "Argenti got bored" as an extreme example haha. I'm a big fan of purple prose and playing in the bounds of words, so that's probably the one that I keep to the most!

15. How do you write smut scenes? Do you get very visual or detailed? How important is it to be realistic?

It depends on the scene! I will often have an idea of how I want it to go in my head, either from talking to someone of a brainrot urge or a nice art made me think of something. Then I'll do any research I need to do (like, if I want to use a specific item or prop or position - there are free online pose libraries I love!!) and I make sure I know the mechanical aspects of it. With my schooling and sporting background I'm pretty comfortable in knowing what bodies can do in terms of positions and relative strengths, so I trust my gut in that regard. Then I just kinda. Let the brainrot take me? Kinks I like to read get shoved in a lot of the time too, what are authors if not self indulgent!

I definitely can get detailed, but it really depends on the scene. If it's supposed to be quick and hurried my writing will reflect that, skipping and stopping and starting erratically almost, but if it's supposed to be a more lovey affair I will do that, slow it down, and that lends itself to more detail. More time to wax poetic about cyborg mechanics hehehe

Regarding realism, I'm torn. I don't think it's important for fic to be too realistic - most of the time people know you're not gonna rawdog a stranger etc, but there's also a level of suspension of disbelief that plays into it. Does the character have feasibility to do these acts? Are they physically capable? Does the realism of the smut match the realism of the rest of the fic? Depending on the intent of the work, you may want to maintain a very specific tone or style and the whole story should match that imo, and that to me is more important.

Man, I yapped jdjcjdjcjd but I hope that was insightful?

Also, THANK U SO MUCH!! the brainrot OVERTOOK ME NDNCJDJXJD but also it's a v real example of what I mean with my last answer!!! It's a cyborg, people aren't gonna care about too much realism, but also I'm in stem so I couldn't not. Include certain bits hehe freakgenti rise

[vegaelettra]

Like Ripples in a River: Redacted Records

Ch26 - Out of Thoughtful Consideration (on AO3 ❤)

If you have ever thought "oh, is such a pity that VegaElettra notes at the end of the chapter aren't longer", this is the place for you ^-^

Or, in which I ramble about the the chapters and the behind the scene.

I actually wanted to start with the last chapters, but then I forgot and then it's already one year XD So, I'll mention just a few things as a little bonus ;)

BONUS (Ch24 & Ch25):

***Slightly spoilery***, but it's vague enough (and maybe they'll make you curious if you didn't already read them ^-^).

One, that I love to imagine that Hae-ryung spent the previous two chapters in varying degrees of this:

GIF by candlewinds

And that U-won, instead, spent them in a varying degrees of this:

GIF by mykoreanpersonality

Poor man! XD

And in my first draft, I was honestly even more cruel. Because, before meeting A-ran and Eun-im and being judged, he would've gone home and met Seol-geum and be judged by her too. Lucky him, I didn't manage to make the scene work. XD

And when in the chapters Hae-ryung's mentions that "she's waiting for that book she heard about science and horrors, creatures and monsters"... that's Frankenstein by Mary Shelly ;) Not a clue if it ever managed to to be brought to Joseon in that period but since it was published around 1818, I decided it was good enough for this fic! And something that, I'm sure, would have interested our dear Hae-ryung <3

====================

And now, to then new chapter behind-the-scene :D

Under the cut, because there are going to be a little bit of spoilers XD

Cultural Note: Munhyeong/Daejehak Daegam

AKA the Chancellor of Royal Literature (Chancellor Hong in my fic)

Since in this chapter I decide to try use the korean honorifics in a consistent way, I had to go search for his through the episodes.

And found a nice little tidbit.

The Daejehak was a Senior 2nd Rank position in both Hongmungwan, aka the Office of Special Advisors (홍문관), and Yemungwan aka the Office of Royal Decrees (예문관). From what I gathered (google translating articles from korean), they were often held by the same person.

To be called Munhyeong, though, the same person needed to hold also the top position at Sungkyunkwan.

And this was something possible only if the person had passed the civil service examination and received a special order by the King.

Talk about a political career ;)

And its meaning is something like "a scale that correctly evaluates the learning of the entire country" in the sense that it is the scale of learning, the standard for writing, and is the best among scholars.

SSC truly made sure all the best positions were given to his men...

Second Cultural Note: Sejabin Manora

AKA the Crown Princess

Do you know how in the series they call her "Sejabin Mama"? Well, from a wikipedia page about Royal Titles in the Joseon dynasty I stumbled upon (and think I read it somewhere else or heard in some kdrama), the most correct form is "Sejabin Manora".

Because "Mama" was reserved only for the King, Queens and Crown Prince.

So, yeah, "Daegun Mama" that Sam-bo loved to scream at the top of his lungs? It should have been "Daegun Deagam" at the top of his lungs XD

There were many Daegam running around the Royal Palace XD

Third Cultural Note: officer's wife

In the aforementioned wikipedia page, there's a little table about the titles of the women married to officials.

Our dear Hae-ryung's title is Anin since U-won's is a 7th rank officer, but what I found extremely funny is that, according to it, the rough translation is...

... "Peaceful Lady" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

GIF by candlewinds

Yeah LOL she's such a peaceful lady ^-^

And, I mean, not a clue if it's right (didn't have time to check)... but I'm still going to use it somewhere. I'm already picturing Yang complaining and saying something like "So much for the peaceful lady" XD

BEHIND THE SCENE

Title: it was inspired by the words used by U-hui during the series (and that I reused in a different way in this chapter) during the meeting she had with Ji Yin in episode 9. It felt quite apt ;)

One of the reasons, among many, that this chapter was so late was the fact that dear SSC and U-hui never interacted in the series 😱

At last, with most other characters and relationship I had something to build upon, but here I got nothing except the fact that she didn't quite had a great opinion of him.

I had to read the previous scenes with their POVs and try to mash all together in my mind to come up with something which would sound in-character for both of them.

And I love the fact that I had the chance to show one more time how manipulative and emotional abusive SSC can be. Like with U-won, in some convoluted and messed up way, he cares for her... but the tragedy is that he cares for both of his children more for the way he wants them to be (and hope to mold them) rather than the two real people he has in front of his eyes.

That's why, U-hui in the end is not sure anymore who is the one who deceived the other. She wants to be the one in control, to break free from his threads, but as with Jae-gyeong a few chapters ago, she is still swept up and unsettled by his manipulation. I tried to deliberately parallel a few moments of that chapter like when she runs to meet him in the same way Jae-gyeong was forced to run too. And how both of them (and even U-won with Hae-ryung) are forced to deal with the fact that SSC uses "family" and their fears as a way to try control and manipulate them.

That's also way I tried to parallel Yi Jin and U-hui's scenes. Both are forced in a situation where there's not a clear-cut correct answer and both are forced to do their best with the tricky situation they are forced into.

But in the end, there's a difference. While Yi Jin has to make concessions he regrets somehow, he ends hopeful on being able to have the upper hand. U-hui, instead, in a way not dissimilar of the powerless trapped position she's in, ends up unsure and conflicted, without a solution that could make her situation better.

And, lastly, the female historians are not going in the same places as the series. 😉 And there's two reasons behind this:

the ripple effects of the characters' decisions. With Yi Jin and U-hui's plan underway and SSC's growing interest in keeping an eye on this development, it seemed to me the most logical direction;

me being salty.

Let me clarify point 2. Yi Jin and Sa-hui's interactions in the series are all fine and good (and there's going to be chances for them to interact in my series too)... but why he needs a female historian? And why Sa-hui who was sent spying (the Queen Dowager in primis) was barely be seen doing it in the series? I was so disappointed XD So, this time, *mild spoiler* she'll be spying 😈 and we'll go from that ;)

=============================

If you read til the end, know that I adore you ❤️ I hope it was a fun read!

[amtrak12]

AO3 Wrapped for 2023!

I got tagged by @purlturtle for this, so thank you! :D Let's see how I did on fics in 2023.

Overall Stats:

Works Published: 2 - because a Pushing Daisies snippet snuck in there lol

Word Count: 92,498

Kudos: 475

Hits: 14,729

Bookmarks: 161 (99 public and it's killing me ahaha I just want a nice round number again D:)

Subscriptions: 285

(All of those stats are heavily, heavily skewed towards one fic over the other as you'll see below :P)

Individual Stats:

Most Popular by Kudos: Can We Keep Her, my Lucifer S3 time travelling toddler rewrite at 471 kudos. (Out of my 475 total for the year LMAO. I told you the stats are skewed!)

Most hits: Can We Keep Her (Lucifer) again with 14,688 hits. Listen I really only wrote one fic this year. The Pushing Daisies one barely counts.

Longest: Can We Keep Her (Lucifer) at 92,307 words published as of today and still growing. Fun fact: This is also my longest fic ever published! So it would've won this category in any year.

Shortest: Three Lifetimes (Pushing Daisies) at 191 words. I did have other one shot ideas after my rewatch but I had to save my energy for the Lucifer WIP.

Most Comments: SHOCKINGLY (not), it's Can We Keep Her (Lucifer) with 186 comment threads/415 total comments. My greatest wish when this fic is all said and done is to hit 1000 total comments because I'll never be able to hit that in any other fandom I could ever be in for the rest of my life. And if it does turn out to be 30 chapters long (or more!), then I'm actually on pace to achieve it :')

(And this is where I go more into fic recs than talking about my own fics, because I did not write (or read tbh) enough to have proper answers for this section.)

Fics that made me cry:

Writing: The [redacted] scene for Can We Keep Her that I've played a million times in my head but haven't actually written yet cause I'm only halfway through the story. Maybe also the time travel reveal scene which gets posted in January, but that's lived in my head for so long, I can no longer tell what feelings it evokes.

Reading: never have I ever by jrrmint (Lucifer). S4 Chloe/Lucifer smut. It doesn't make me cry, but it does make me ache because it's Season 4, aka the angstiest season, and this fic makes it even messier than canon was which is just beautiful in the 'I have a history of loving soap operas' way. :D :D It also taught me cheating is a trope I will eat up with a goddamn spoon for this ship. Like HOLY SHIT! Eve, I love you, babe, but I need more Chloe/Lucifer S4 cheating fic pronto! O_O

(NOT S3 cheating fic. It does not work as well, because the Chloe/Pierce relationship was already a stupid decision -- by both the writers and the character -- so let's not add even more stupid decisions on top of it. However, everybody's already hitting rock bottom in S4 (and at different times too!) so that's why the cheating trope works so deliciously there.)

Fics that made me smile:

Writing: The opening scene to chapter 7 in Can We Keep Her still makes me laugh so much. Rory's manipulative little "My heart hurts :(" ploy absolutely kills me, plus all the other 'Day 2 of a baby angel' chaos that's happening. Also all of chapter 9 with the Deckerstar family domestics of putting Trixie and Rory to bed. A++ me. Makes me grin everytime.

Reading: If He's a Tramp (He's a Good One) by maybemalapert (laconicsims) -- Lucifer joins Chloe and Trixie on a trip to Disneyland, set (and written) in early S2. I'm absolutely loving reading the Lucifer fics in chronological order/reverse page order on AO3 since I came to the show after the entire thing aired. And this little one shot was wonderful <3

Group Activities:

Gifts: No gifts given or received this year.

Collaborations: I did do something here, though! I was a beta reader in the Bering and Wells Big Bang event. :) I helped with Dawn of the Dragonborn: Heart of a Hero, Heart of a Predator, Heart of Dovahkiin which was written by Rinari7. Not finished yet, but hopefully someday! Because the outline was really detailed and incredible. So, so, so fun AU even if you know very little about Skyrim (like me)!

Events: Also the Bering and Wells Big Bang. I still absolutely could never be a writer for such an event because I get too stressed and freeze whenever I try. But I really enjoyed being a beta reader! Less pressure lol