#honestly I've grown so much as a writer because of the people in this fandom

[ungaroyals]

An update on me

Hi friends. I don't know who's going to see this, but I thought I'd get it out there in one way or another.

Basically, I'm not going write Young Royals fanfic anymore. I know I have a couple unfinished wips (which I do hope to one day finish), but right now writing is starting to feel like a chore and I need a break from it. I'm sorry if you're waiting on dwoht updates or are waiting for your missing moment request to be posted, but I'd rather put it on pause and come back with stories I'm proud of and that you guys will actually enjoy reading.

I'm still in love with yr and wilmon and really hope to get back into it one day, but I don't know when that day will be. I'll still be relatively active on tumblr, so if anyone ever wants to chat my ask is always open.

[tarysande]

On Grief. And On Friendship. On Memory. And Love.

When my grandmother died, we didn't have a traditional funeral. We didn't wear black. We didn't sit around, solemn and silent. We told stories. We ate food she would have liked and drank Bailey's with cream. We got to do it together, of course, and we got to cry and hug and mourn and laugh and sing.

I'm sure all of us have heard some version of the phrase "online friendships aren't REAL friendships." I know I have. I've never understood it, either. For me, in all my neurodiverse glory, online friendships are often MORE REAL. Where else can you meet people and immediately jump into all the things you have in common? All the shared loves and hates and hyperfixations? Where else can you just bypass small-talk and, as Anne of Green Gables would say, find bosom friends so quickly? I've met so many online.

I honestly don't remember when I met Sara/@dearophelia. When I look through my tags, I know it's been at least seven years. I'm certain it's been longer because she definitely had username changes. And I am total shit at remembering username changes. More than once, I've told myself I should keep a spreadsheet. I'm pretty sure I've known her almost as long as I've been on tumblr, and that's more than a decade.

When Sara got sick, I finally used that tumblr function that notifies you whenever a blog updates. I wasn't around tumblr as regularly, but I didn't want to miss anything Sara might say. I hoped that one day I'd get the notification that everything was clear, she was in remission.

I didn't. Today, I got what will be the final notification from her blog--@vhenadahls sharing the information that Sara passed away. That there wouldn't be anymore updates. No more reblogs. No more snarky comments in the tags or gushing comments in the tags.

If this were a room and everyone who loved Sara, who enjoyed her fanfic (with or without knowing the woman behind it!), who has listened to her playlists, who played ME3 multiplayer with her, who was in any way touched by her in a way that brought their lives joy, it would be so full. We would all have stories to share. We'd all have memories to relive.

This room would be decorated with labradorite and pink and fat birbs and cats. There would be so much music--Taylor Swift and Halsey and Florence and the Machine and Hozier and so many many others. There would be a million fabulous selfies on the walls of Sara's huge smile and her vulnerability and her bravery. There would be gaming knickknacks and D&D dice and tarot decks and crystals and magic and books on every surface. All her faves would be represented. And it would still only brush the surface of how vibrant she was and how deeply and enthusiastically she loved what she loved.

If this were a room where we could also add all the characters she created, whose stories so many of us loved ... well, it would have to be awfully big. Sara wrote a lot of stories for a lot of fandoms.

And if this were a room where we and her characters were gathered, but we opened the doors for all the characters and stories that Sara helped inspire, helped grow, encouraged and enabled, well, I know a whole lot of my characters and stories would be here, too. I'm sure I decided to create Rose Trevelyan because of some conversation Sara and I had where I was imagining Rose Vakarian-Shepard grown up.

Sara, I'm really sorry I didn't get to finish the Vakarian-Shepard stories before you left. Most writers write for themselves, sure, but often they also write for specific readers. Sara was always one of mine, but I don't think she knew it. I lived for her gushing tag-comments. I loved when she was always so quick to jump in with prompts.

I'm honored that I was someone with whom Sara shared her original fic work. (She also once shared an absolutely horrifying scene with Garrus and Shepard's clones that she cut from Nora's story because it was just TOO AWFUL. In fact, she shared it with me BECAUSE IT WAS SO AWFUL and she knew I'd appreciate it.) In my heart of hearts, I wanted Sara to finish that original story and publish it. I wanted us to be part of each other's group of writer-friends (you know, you always see them thanking each other in their books). Hell, I wanted to have a small press at some point just SO I could publish Sara's stories. I believed in her THAT MUCH.

I love Sara's stories. I love her playlists. I love her blog, with its hodgepodge of interests and loves. I love her imagination and creativity and attention to detail. I love that I can still visit that mind by reading the bounty of work she left behind.

I mean, she made me wholeheartedly buy into a relationship between Shepard's mom and ZAEED.

Sara was one of the constants in my online life over the last decade. Even if we hadn't chatted for a while, I always knew we could pick up again like no time had passed (thanks, ADHD). As I write this, there's a little chat circle on the bottom right of my tumblr screen with her avatar in it and I can't bear the thought of hitting that X button and never seeing it pop up again.

Sara struggled and loved and fought and overcame and breathed and was brave. Not just in the past few years, when she was sick. As long as I knew her. And she didn't let anything stop her. She snarled in the face of it all and wrote stories so beautiful they broke my heart and then pieced it back together again in the same paragraph.

I miss her. I will always miss her. But I'm so happy I got to know her as long as I did. She'll live on in my memories, in my stories, in the characters she helped inspire. She'll live on every time I look at my favorite tarot deck--she was the first person I yelled at when I bought it--and when I see fat birbs and cute-maybe-evil cats. And if that's not REAL friendship, real love, I don't know what is.

[joskiski]

People who claim that RWBY has "bad writing" just because they don't ship Blake and Yang irritate my entire being

Let me rant for a bit lol

1) they claim that it was "out of nowhere" or "poorly developed"

Have we been watching the same show? While I don't think it was perfectly executed (no story is), Yang and Blake are very clearly an example of the friends to lovers trope. They've cared about each other deeply from the first arc. They go through so much together, helping each other overcome trauma. This couple has a very solid foundation. Then, the nature of their relationship clearly shifts to become romantic in later volumes. They've been planting the seeds for it for years already.

2) they're mad Blake isn't with Sun even though they had a crush on each other in early volumes.

Have yall never had a high school crush before? It's cute, but that sort of thing dies out with time. Blake and Sun went their separate ways and haven't seen each other in a while. So much has happened in the story since the last time they saw each other. While I understand the criticism that Sun kind of disappeared without much explanation, so has most of the other characters from the Beacon arc. CRWBY has a lot of ground to cover in terms of story telling, and the episodes are short and each volume only has several episodes. My hope is that we'll get to see what everyone else is up to when the time is right, and Black Sun shippers will get some sort of closure. I've always shipped the Bees, but I respect Black Sun as a ship!

3) they claim that "this wasn't what Monty would have wanted" and that the writers "gave in to the threats of the toxic side of the fandom"

How do you know? Were you in Monty's brain? We'll never know (rest in peace, king). I'm sure Monty probably had an idea of where he wanted the story to go, and I'm sure CRWBY is trying their best to honor that. Also, stories evolve. I think CRWBY has created a vast and expansive world with interesting characters and a phenomenal plot. Sure, it's not perfect. But it's fun, and RWBY as a franchise has grown up alongside many of us, so it has a special place in my heart regardless.

I hope it's not true that people were sending threats to the writers to see their ships come to life. At the end of the day, these are fictional characters. Plot devices. No ones wellbeing should be threatened over that. That being said, the ugly parts of fandoms are often just a vocal minority. I think most people who ship the bees are just gays who love RWBY and love seeing wholesome wlw representation.

Also, Blake and Yang's romance isn't a huge part of the show (it's more so in this volume since they finally have a break from the Salem mess so they finally have a chance to work through their ~feelings~). So, it's easy to skip if you like the show but don't like the ship.

If you don't like RWBY, don't watch it. Point blank period. If it's such "bad writing," move on and find a different franchise to pour energy into.

(Honestly, it's screaming homophobia. Saw someone say it was an issue of "morality"... like what century are you in, bro)

[thana-topsy]

If you're up for sharing more writing tips, how can I tell if what I've written is actually any good? With writing I get stuck in a cycle of feeling like I'm the next Shakespeare while writing but then I'll look over my work a few days later and absolutely hate everything and think it's the most cringe shit ever, then I'll leave it a bit longer and think eh it's not as bad as I thought but still not great and so on. I feel like being forced to write for a grade during school and having everything be marked and assessed and assigned a particular value has robbed me of the ability to critically analyse my own work in a way that's objective and accurate but also fair and realistic. I can analyse other peoples' stuff till the cows come home but I lose all rational thought when it comes to my own stuff

Adding onto that, how do I get to the point where I can stop looking back at my old work and hating everything and wanting to delete it all? Realistically I know finding fault with my old stuff is good bc it means I've grown and improved from where I once was etc but at the same time I wanna enjoy stuff I've made in the past without cringing every time I read it

Hey there Nony, I wanted to let this one percolate a little bit before answering because I've been where you are. And it's a rough time for sure. But aside from my own experiences, I also wanted to get the opinions of some of my writerly friends in the fandom, too, since everyone is a little font of wisdom in their own right.

So I'm going to share their advice alongside my own, because this is kind of a complicated string of questions you're asking. Long post ahead!

@paraparadigm says to Keep Writing: "Write more. Write so much (and so many different things) that eventually the sheer volume bulldozes over self-devouring ego, comparison twitches, or feeling lost, because you don't yet know your own baseline. Coupled with "read more, read everything, read things you enjoy and things you don't, read for the craft as much as the entertainment." And: "I'd add that when revisiting old writing, it's helpful for me to differentiate between "ew the writing is not as technically solid as it is now" and "ah that's interesting, I guess that's where I was at then, emotionally and psychologically". Old writing is also a sort of archaeological record of your younger self, and that can, in fact, be a bit itchy to revisit, so learning to cherish that without passing judgement can be really helpful. I try to treat it like those little marks one puts on the door jamb to track a kid's height."

@mareenavee says "Part of it is writing more, as Para said and I will always second that. Another part is, honestly, the hardest part. It's to try very hard to get out of the habit of negative self-talk.... There's so much work involved with this but normalizing being proud of your work and having some grace with yourself is part of that answer."

@archangelsunited says "Early on, instead of going “this has to be a masterpiece” I would tell myself my only job was to tell a story. I couldn’t tell a story if I was deleting it. Also, talking about your work helps. The less ashamed I was of my writing, the more people wanted to read it. There is a need to hide your work, and that can lead to a downward spiral all its own. And, 90% of the time, you have to suck at something to learn to be good at something. The work you already wrote shouldn’t be the sum of all your skill, it should be one of those measuring sticks for the moment. Despite previous thought, you won’t be stuck at the same level forever."

@polypolymorph says "In addition to accumulating experience via reading and writing, you also have to be willing to reinvent the wheel. Unfortunately the Process™️ is unique to everyone, and even when you are deliberately mimicking a voice as, say, a ghost writer, you can't expect that 2+2=4 for you. Your process might look more like a Lotka-Volterra equation for the same type of work and that's okay. Trial and error is the best way to figure out what advice actually works for you--and if it doesn't, it doesn't mean you're wrong. Don't get stuck on pop writing advice like a sad roomba does on an upturned rug. Learn when to throw it out."

So there's some advice from some other excellent writers! I hope you've been able to find some value in their advice, because it certainly kicked me in the pants a few times.

As for me, I think, having been where you are, my biggest piece of advice is: Find joy in the craft. Get curious instead of critical. An artist shouldn't down themselves over a rough sketch when they're working out a drawing, so why would a writer do such a thing? Everything you write is practice. Everything you make has value because it builds up to the next thing you make.

At the end of the day, you are the only one who is capable of telling the stories that are in your head. This fact alone gives whatever you put onto paper value, regardless of quality. You are creating magic, in the most literal sense! Creating something out of nothing, conjuring images into someone else's mind from hundreds of thousands of miles away, transcending space and time. It's amazing!

Lastly, my final piece of advice is to just write for fun. Write things nobody else will ever see just because you wanted to get words onto paper. You have to unlearn what was drilled into you in school. You are more than a content creation machine. You are an artist, a wordsmith. And just know that there will never be a day when you look at your own work and say "That's it, I have achieved perfection."

Writing is a life-long journey. Just enjoy the ride!

[findafight]

RE Lucas’ book…it’s starting to turn a corner and just become *hilarious* to me how desperate the ST writers are to hammer home that Steve was a jerk in highschool.

Like, I’m genuinely curious if it’s because they’re trying to make his character growth seem more dramatic (unnecessary - he’s one of the few characters who actually has growth) or if it’s an attempt to make his butt-monkey status feel less mean spirited.

Because really, if that bit in Lucas’ book isn’t intended as dramatic irony/Lucas being an unreliable narrator who’s unable to recognise that sport wasn’t the problem or that Steve has grown as a person, or a character beat about Lucas wanting to be independent or something what the fuck is the point? Beyond bitterness that in a show that’s built on uncritically glorifying nerds and 80s nostalgia, the most popular character to come out of it is a rich jock who they repeatedly insist to us is actually very dumb, of course.

But it's also like. The writers themselves don't even give us examples besides what he does and says to Jonathan in S1. And that, while inexcusable, wasn't unprovoked? Like Steve didn't lash out at Jonathan because he was a sad weirdo, he had real personal reasons to specifically want to fight Jon. Doesn't make it right but for sure doesn't demonstrate Steve being an indiscriminate bully.

If they wanted to remind/actually tell us in full show canon that Steve was a horrible nasty person, instead of trying to do that in supplemental material, they could have had Eddie say Steve specifically treated him like shit in highschool (alas, something the fandom seems to think he actually said...) instead of having Eddie say that he made assumptions about Steve and that those were wrong and Eddie changed his mind and thought Steve was a cool guy.

It's super weird because I've read things saying originally Steve was 1) supposed to be more of a cliche 80's jerk boyfriend 2) going to die but Joe Keery is just That Charming and put that into Steve the Duffers and writers decided to switch things around for him, and so maybe these things where people are worried Steve's going to suddenly transform into an ass are like. Leftovers from his original unpublished non canon form? But that wouldn't make sense because these materials came out after S1 and should therefore be based on what we actually got, not development characteristics? Maybe you're right and it is meant to make Steve being a punching bag every seasons less mean spirited.

If it was supposed to be an unreliable narrator moment or a learning sports isn't the problem moment or anything else, I think maybe Will would have been a better character to have doubts about Steve playing basketball again than Lucas. Because he's the kid with the least on screen interaction with Steve and the only one who hasn't witnessed him saving their lives at least once, so would have more reason to doubt his face-turn.

But honestly I think it's just a weird thing where the people writing it cannot grasp that some 1980s hot boy jock would actually be nice. You're totally right that in that the series is BUILT on unquestioningly glorifying nerds and the 80s nostalgia of being one in a heyday of sci-fi classics. And so when the character they originally thought was going to be a jerk and die turned out to be much less of a jerk, decide to do better, and live to become a fan favourite and our specialest boy instead of whoever they projected on the most, there must have been bitterness there. People are so pressed about sports fans being normal humans and not fundamentally flawed because of their interests.

[vexic929]

Writers Truth or Dare!

🎱🕯️🥤

🧸🍬🌿

🏜️🍦🐝

🎱 ⇢ post your AO3 total stats

🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?

like a 2, I do it because I have to but I've never been good at editing my own work lol I'd much rather have a friend look it over cause I'll get in my head about it XD

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

this one is just so cute <3333

🧸 ⇢ what's the fastest way to become your mutual?

follow me back on tumblr? lol if we're moots, we're moots, if we're not that's okay I still love you <3333

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

neither Tim nor Damian should be Robin at this point, they've both grown past it, the current Robin should be Maps Mizoguchi

🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity

I'm not usually very good at dealing with writer's block honestly XD but I find sometimes all you need is to watch an episode of one of your favorite shows to get your brain invested in the creative process again

🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

literally any, I'm not picky, you can leave an emoji or something and it's totally fine! that said I do love when people quote lines that they enjoyed and talk about them, I always like to find out what stood out to people especially if it's not something I anticipated <3333

🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate

I don't wanna compliment Lex Luthor tho lol

honestly pretty creative with some of his schemes

iconic character design

took the obsession with his enemy further than even Eobard Thawne by doing the "make a clone child with the DNA of you and your enemy", truly hingeless behavior, I'm impressed

🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them

@practically-an-x-man so kind and inspiring!

@negative-speedforce so sweet and fun <3333

@autisticharrywells excellent analyses and best takes!!

@shrinkthisviolet so cool and nice <3333

@faeseekerandy an excellent friend!

@goldheartedchaoticdisaster super cool and fun!!

@angst-is-love-angst-is-life absolutely lovely and sweet <3333

I'd tag every single mutual honestly but I need to stop sometime lol just know I love you all!!! <3333

[lifeofkaze]

2023 - A Roundup

How fast the year has gone. I feel like it's been only yesterday that 2023 stepped on stage, and now, the curtain is falling on it already, with 2024 waiting in the wings.

It has grown quiet here this year. In the fandom, on my blog, on my online presence. There's multiple reasons for that - some personal, some life-related, some people-related, but with the prospect of a fresh new year on the horizon, all these things are either something I intend to embrace more fully or leave behind for good.

Looking at my history of 2021 and 2022, 2023 was the sparsest one on the writing front up to date, and here, too, are several very different reasons for this. I've written little this year, and published even less, and yet, I feel like I have grown more into myself as a writer than ever before. A lot of projects I had in the pipeline got scrapped, or converted, or pulled from public access to become a better version of themselves.

If you are interested in what has become of projects that I may have mentioned or worked on in the past, here's an itemised list of 30 years of what my future plans are (with major tbc because, have you ever even talked to me?)

HPHL era:

A Lifetime of Adventures - Selene's story What was meant to be an antology of several many stories is still an an antology but greatly reduced in both numbers, cast and things it covers. It will still span from Selene's first year at Hogwarts to her last, with an aimed at one story per year (which you fully know will not work, but hey). Parts of it are already written and published as independent shorts, others are unpublished and yes, it will still be happening. As for the parts detailing Selene's later life... that remains to be seen. There's a lot Selene has to tell but she and I need to sit and see if these stories are for me only, or if she wants to share them with the world.

Smoke and Mirrors - Caro's story With Brady going his own way in the Pendleton Tradition (you GO @kc-the-writer), Caro has decided that she can do what Brady can do because duh. Smoke and Mirrors is no longer a fanfic/fandom story but a very much unfinished rough draft that will probably turn out to be an original novella set in modern day NYC about a young med student and the pressure of expectations and self-imposed perfectionism. I wonder where I've heard that before.

Henry's story Despite being my resident book-character, Henry never asked me of a story of his own. Everything I still have in store for him revolves around either Selene or Caitlin and if he lets me into his head (which has always been an incredible but rare thing) it would be as unrelated shorts. In all honesty, I don't think it's likely that they will come into existence outside of my drafts, though.

Caitlin's story There is a potential novella about Caitlin's way to become a healer in my head which is too bittersweet for me to let go of just yet because not only would it give her some room to shine but also gives closure to two other characters very dear to me (and honestly, reading the draft makes me choke up, so there's that). I would prefer this as an original novella, but seeing as some of it would lose impact without the knowing the characters involved... I'm not quite sure what to do with it yet.

HPHM era:

A Source of Balance My baby, my joy, essence of my sleepless nights (and not in a good way). The third part of the Balance series is 100 % going to happen and 100 % happening on this blog. Apart from details I will figure out as I go, the whole story is planned in my usual over-planning style and I'm honestly just waiting for brainspace to clear up and the blank page to become less scary. It may take a while to get the complexity of it right but... watch this space.

Larger than Life My other baby, my heartbreak, my... yeah. Larger than Life has always been different, Ava has always been different, this whole project has been... different. Because of various issues, I've decided to remove this project from my fandom rota for good. It will still happen, my heart is too firmly set on it, but it will be as an original project over on @kaze-writes and will be a sweet while until I'm able to sort out the problems that comes from uprooting it. But all in all, I am very much happy with the decision I've finally come to with this.

When Stars Ignite When Stars Ignite has been removed from all my writing platforms as it is still under re-construction, and probably will be for another sweet while. This story has fully left any fandom connections behind and has turned into my (and @alyslaskeywriter) first full-length novel (mine, that is, Alys is miles head of me with her incredible book The Chief, which you really should check out bc oh my). My lose intention is to maybe query it for publishing at some point in the future, so I wouldn't hold my breath for its return to online spaces.

HPMA era:

New Horizons - Reva's story Reva's rise and fall from grace and her journey to herself has never really been a fandom thing and will become an original novel once I figure out how to research faraway travel destinations without drowning in wanderlust. It may take a while.

A Bright Future - Dana's and Dylan's story The story of Dylan and Dana is still up for debate in my head. There's days when I want to continue with this as a fandom project as intended, and there's others when an original friends-to-lovers romcom is begging me to have my way with it. The outcome remains to be seen.

Shorts:

All shorts directly associated with stories that have moved to the original side of my writing will follow suit. Everything else I have written or drafted up will remain here, or be posted on my original blog and reblogged to here in case there wouldn't have been a difference anyway.

Original:

All original works you have heard me speak about (namely, Lemons, Icarus, Memento Mori and That Fantasy Thing That Is Going To Drive Me Insane Before Long are still all in development and not yet ready to be written. But we're getting there. Somehow.

So, if any of the stories you have been waiting for or thought I had promised but forgotten them isn't on that list, do feel free to ask! I love talking to people and I've not been good at it this year. I miss the creative core of this community, and getting to see other people's projects unfold and grow from idea to reality. If you want creative exchange, I beg you, this is always a place for it.

In that regards, my favourite peeps, I wish you a very happy end to 2023 and a creative, peaceful and - naturally - balanced start into 2024.

Here's to you. Here's to all of us.

Keep writing 💛

xx Kaze

[practically-an-x-man]

questions for fic writers #s 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 14, 23, 26, and 30 :)

Thank you so much!!

Questions for fic writers

What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?)

Honestly... Taking Flight. It's in by far the smallest fandom I've written for, but that almost works in its favor because it means the fic is able to stand largely on its own without requiring any background knowledge into the Fablehaven universe. And it's my most recent longfic, so it best reflects my current level of skill and writing style from the first chapter. Plus... I'm just really proud of it, and I wish more people would read it

2. Go to your AO3 “Works” page, to the sidebar with all the filters, and click the drop-down arrow for “Additional Tags.” What are your top 3-5 most used tags? Do you think they accurately represent your writing habits?

Angst, Fluff, and Hurt/Comfort are the top three. Makes a lot of sense, most of my fics include a blend of all three at some point

3. What are some tropes or details that you think are very characteristic of your fics?

References to birds, references to music, devoted couples facing the horrors of life at each other's side, and romance alongside fast-paced action or angst

12. Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you?

Hanahaki! I didn't enjoy the idea that only requited love would cure the disease, since it basically put the weight of a person's life on the other reciprocating feelings that they really can't control. But I've seen a version of Hanahaki that's based on the confession, not the love itself, and I like that a lot more

13. Are there any tropes you used to like but don’t anymore?

I don't know about particular tropes, but I think my characters have become a lot stronger and more self-possessed than they used to be (we're talking like... when I was 14-15 and just getting into fanfic here). I don't think it was full "damsel in distress", but there were definitely a lot more OCs in need of rescue rather than working together to rescue themselves. Idk

14. Are there any tropes you would only read if written by a trusted friend or writer?

I mean... I've only ever read Twilight/vampire fics as written by @nebulousfishgills, and I had to look at a wiki just to know who the Volturi were, if that tells you anything. I don't like Twilight at all, but I really like Nebby's writing style and characters

23. What’s a trope, AU, or concept you’ve never written, but would like to?

Hm... I've had a few ideas for a soulmate AU, but I've never put one down on the page. The closest is Heartstrings, but that doesn't quite count.

26. Would you rather write a fic that had no dialogue or one that was only dialogue?

No dialogue. I explained this in more depth in a previous ask, but I feel like building a scene would get stilted and awkward if it relied on only dialogue.

30. Have you ever written something that was out of your comfort zone? If so, what was it, and how did it affect your approach to writing fic thereafter?

I mean... I feel like I'm always a little bit out of my comfort zone in some way or another. Writing is an exercise for me, so I try to pick at least one character detail or writing style that I need to practice and research so that I'll always be engaged in the story.

I will say that writing Desert Song has definitely stretched me in a lot of ways - there are some darker characters, more intense moments, and a few slightly racier scenes than I usually write, and working myself through those moments I feel has made me more well-rounded as a writer in general. The spicy scenes especially... I still don't write smut, but I've gotten a lot more comfortable with spicier scenes in general, and that's also made me better at other types of emotional intensity in scenes I think

[beautifulpersonpeach]

I don't call myself army, just a music fan, like to follow grown up fans of kpop and other groups and honestly up until now I thought your characterization of kpop fans and multis behavior to BTS was very one-sided and overblown. But now I'd like to offer you an apology Bpp. I keep up with a bunch of kpop podcasts run by kpop fans and black women and I follow this 30+ black woman whose whole shtick is being in kpop for vibes, not engaging in fanwars and overall being above the gross behavior from immature racist armys. So imagine my horror when I open my Twitter today and the first thing I see is this:

https://twitter.com/SideShowShit/status/1647483768423464961?s=20

My heart is so heavy and burdened by this I don't even know where to start bpp. Just last week I saw a Shinee/taemin/multi fan say the hate against Jimin should 'show give those armys a taste of what they do' when Jimin has been the target of overwhelming hate from the same shinee fans since his debut. I'm thinking to just leave kpop completely because this kind of brain rot in adults over nothing makes me depressed as fuck. I sympathize more with armys now more than ever. I love Jimin and don't want to stop actively following him. How do you deal with all this hate? Seriously how do you do it?

***

Hi Anon,

Your link.

Abridged answer: "I got no worries because you can't stop me lovin' myself" - reference linked here. :)

Long-form answer:

Like I've said before, if you've managed to make your way to the podcast side of k-pop stan environments you already have my condolences lmao. I won't state the exact reasons for that here but you're already experiencing a few of those reasons it seems.

That user is actually familiar to me - she's a black woman who works in the US entertainment industry, Hollywood to be exact, in a semi-administrative role. That person is a Blink who runs in the same circles as Ash - a k-pop writer/podcaster and multi in the US; Carrie - an Exol and Shawol in Toronto who writes K-drama/film reviews; Tamar - a Jewish Blink and multi who is a k-pop journalist; and a bunch of other k-pop writers, journalists, DJs, and otherwise 'grown-ups in k-pop' who can't seem to speak even in a neutral capacity about BTS, let alone ARMY, despite many of them deriving their livelihoods from the spread of k-pop in the West spearheaded in a large part by BTS. It's partly why ARMYs are extremely skeptical of k-pop journalism because oftentimes these content creators, journalists or reviewers are just stans of other groups with barely concealed animus for BTS. And also why the quality of critical conversations in k-pop fandom is so poor. I mean, how can you trust the opinion of an adult Black woman who should intimately know the implications of racism, calling Jimin, Oli London, unprovoked? It's all so comical but also kinda tragic lol.

You sent me this ask just as I was publishing this post so perhaps you hadn't yet seen what I've said about the dominant behaviours of k-pop stans in fandom.

I understand how painful it is to see things like that but I suggest you ignore them, report and block the account if it bothers you that much, but otherwise focus on celebrating Jimin and the things you love about him. I keep saying that hate does nothing but create more of the same. Many of the people who belong to rival fandoms, especially the fandoms that have a history of being abusive to BTS and ARMY since as far back as 2014, including fans of Shinee, EXO, Beast, Super Junior, and since 2018, BlackPink, many of the people in those fandoms default to hating anything connected to BTS, and it fascinates me even now how it's like a social contagion.

If seeing opinions like that really distress you, it's okay to step back from k-pop completely. In fact I recommend it for people who tend to get really emotionally connected to the artists they support, because none of those people are going to learn to do better, and chances are you could begin mirroring their behaviour if you get too attached. I'm friends with many people from those fandoms because they've known me since before I became ARMY, they know what I think, value, and tolerate, and they share the same values as me. But a few of those friends have been sort of 'excommunicated' from their fandoms because they refuse to engage in the hate towards BTS, and this happens far more often than you think.

I write as much as I do about this topic because I get it. Nobody wants to see shit like that. But at the same time, those sentiments towards Jimin and BTS have always existed and Jimin is still happy, thriving, more concerned with knowing what his fans think about his music, so if he's the reason you're here, then focus on him.

For me it's really that simple.

[pauls1967moustache]

Hello. I am a fan of your fics and I'm trying to write my first fic now. I hope you won't mind if i ask you a couple of writing questions?

Did you ever take a class in writing?

How long do you take to write each fic?

Do you ever feel bad about your writing or read someone else's writing and think you arne't as good as them?

Do you use a beta?

Thank you if you answer!

Thank you! And I love this journey for you. Writing is fun :)

Did you ever take a class in writing? Nothing beyond English class in school, and googling Dan Harmon's story circle a million times and then never using it. But that doesn't mean writing is just something I fell into and was magically good at. (I feel like people who don't write always think this about writing, and then get frustrated when they are not magically good at it). I've been writing fic (on and off) since I was about 14, and before that I used to write little stories in my free time. It's something I've had a lot of practice in, and was probably very shit at when I started. So, y'know, unless you intend to write professionally I don't think you need a writing class, but you do need to actually do some writing, instead of just thinking about doing writing. You don't have to do it every single day (there were solid years where I didn't write more than like half an outline for anything), but if it's something you want to improve on you do actually need to make some sort of effort to do that. This was not the answer to your question, but I feel it answers the spirit of your question.

How long do you take to write each fic? Depends! The actual writing itself is usually about 3-5 days altogether (but I don't write anything very long anyways). The outlining before the writing can take anywhere from a week to months to years. I often start an idea, then leave it, then come back to it when the vibes are right in my brain. Some fics come out of me basically fully formed and some I have to shadow box into coherence. It is what it is.

Do you ever feel bad about your writing or read someone else's writing and think you arne't as good as them? Yes and no. Everyone who writes experiences this to some degree, because it is the nature of doing something creative. But also, as I've grown more confident and self-assured (in my writing, and just like, as a person alive), I find this happening less, or at least it feels less emotionally volatile when it happens. The trick to this, I think, is writing for yourself and not for others. Ignore every fic opinion you've ever read in your life, and write the fic you want to read, so that you like it enough that even when parts of it aren't that good, or when you don't get the response you want, you still like it enough to not let any of that affect you. The other trick to this is when you find someone whose writing you think is good and you keep feeling the need to compare yourself to them, get proper technical about it. What do you like about their writing? Is it the style? The structure? The themes? How did the writer do those things? How would you emulate that? (You honestly should do this for any writer you like, not just fic writers).

Do you use a beta? No, I never knew how to get one when I was younger, and kind of just developed a very self-contained writing process as a result. If you have a friend in the fandom though, it can help to have someone to chat to - not even as a beta, just to have someone to vent to who will cheer you on when you doubt yourself. I sometimes do this, and should honestly probably do it more so I don't get stuck overthinking ideas as much.

And lastly - again, you didn't ask - but the best advice I could possibly give you is that the creative process is a wild beast you will battle forever, so you kind of have to go with the flow here. You can use what I (or any other writer) does as a jumping off point, but there's no guarantees that any of that is going to work for you, so take what you need from whatever I said as a loose guideline rather than this is the way. If it's not working for you, try something else.

Good luck! Have fun! xxxxx

[nautilusopus]

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @subdee, may as well since it's been a while

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

40

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

590,973

3. What fandoms do you write for?

FFVII mostly, but none of that spinoff bullshit. I have some stuff for XV in the works despite hating XV and the characters having zero fucking personality because this is just my grieving process I guess??? They're basically all crossovers with VII except one though so ¯_(ツ)_/¯

I've also got a couple things for Spy X Family I'm excited for but unfortunately am a bit hamstrung due to certain reveals and lack of reveals so it's on pause.

(Also Ever Crisis and Remake back to back have sucked all the fucking joy out of me in one fell swoop so I'm trying to remember why I even fucking like doing this when FFVII has effectively been erased.)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

1)The Number I.

Go read it. I worked hard on it and it's very dense and heavily character-driven and a genfic focused on plot, and, most importantly, is complete. I'm going to shill this one directly I ain't give a damn:

Predominately involves Cloud, now four years out from Meteorfall, struggling to adjust to civilian life given he's still gene-spliced with an Old God, who begins losing control of his body to a heretofore seemingly unknown entity with inscrutable goals. As it gradually becomes clear that the events of the previous four years aren't as they seem in more ways than one, things start to go off the rails completely as Cloud winds up enmeshed in conflict between multiple parties: an international initiative studying cosmology and the two doctors leading it; the WRO, who has considered him a Jenova-based liability from day one; interpersonal friction with his newfound family stemming from the residual baggage of everything he went through; and reality itself beginning to deteriorate.

It's slice of life, it's cosmic horror, it's a character study, it's about grown men crying and legacies and grief and trauma and intimacy and autonomy and gender as a microcosm for broader truths about the nature of the self, it's got angry tearful fistfights, bottoms that haven't figured out you can take it in turn to service top, Cloud telling everyone his strong and correct opinions about magic and materia and bikes, found family shenanigans, and me talking about garlic for way way way too long. Something for everyone!

I wasn't kidding about any of that by the way, heed the warnings at the top of the chapters because I do NOT pull punches and we get into some heavy shit. Go hard or go home.

Originally it was a 500 word pee joke I was gonna show to two people in response to a terrible LTD argument I saw someone make and was sure I'd "wrap it up quickly". Oops.

2) An Idiot's Guide to Holding Hands. I wrote this in response to, I'm not kidding, the worst most hateful fanfiction I have ever fucking seen in my life. As big of a beef as I have with the Crisis Core fuckers treating the women like shit and being pretty hateful towards them as a whole, they're still at least clearly writing because they genuinely love Crisis Core and the characters in it for reasons that are presently unknown to me. This thing on the other hand was oozing contempt for the cast of VII and Evangelion and the women in particular and I genuinely don't know why someone would put that much fucking effort into making something like this and felt a sudden need to rebut everything it stood for. It's not super great as a fic tbh but y'all seem to like it so at least something came of it.

3) Don't Ask How The Job Interview Went. Harry Potter/VII crossover I shat out in like 6 hours on a whim because a Halloween prompt one year was "witches and wizards" and I hated all the existing crossovers (ugh again with the crisis core). Honestly had an entire multichapter fic as a sequel lined up that I was pretty excited for but as things went on I felt grosser and grosser about even making it. Maybe I'll do something with the outline one day, it was basically finished. Still kills me that this thing is so fucking popular but there you go.

4) What's Dead and Buried. This is literally just Chapter 18 of The Number I (which you should go read!). I wrote it, realised it worked great as a standalone fic and gateway drug, and published it as its own thing. If you're on the fence about TNI, maybe check out this oneshot. Features shitty gremlin child Cloud interacting with Vincent and a lot of grim implications about both their lives that Cloud is too young to really get. Very very black comedy.

5) Adjacent. I don't like this one sorry. It was a commission and while I like the individual headcanons of freaky shit Cloud is inclined to do and was chomping at the bit to use them somewhere I don't like how they wound up getting utilised. Feels like generic fandom fluff to me. I'd delete it but people seem to enjoy it and I don't want to take that from them.

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

Always and as soon as I possibly can! I'm immensely flattered people actually take the time to comment on stuff and I enjoy getting to talk about the stuff I wrote in a bit more depth.

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

It's Full of Stars easily. Fucked that dude up beyond repair. Also was considering a sequel for this one too so I could explore some of the stuff fueling what the fuck is going on here, though that might obviously ruin the ambiguity of said ending and what exactly was done to him.

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

I'm a big baby I actually almost always try for happy endings, or at least bittersweet. Probably Tidewaters, nobody even gets pulped in that one.

8. Do you get hate on fic?

Basically no. I've gotten five negative comments in all the years I've been doing this:

Two were people whinging about how I made Aeris Jewish in a fic and how that was reverse racist against Christians (die mad about it lol).

Two were someone that wanted an in-depth essay over my right to use a slur within the context of a character talking about people calling him that slur in a character arc partially about feeling alienated from gender and basically demanded I out myself to "prove" I could use it while missing literally everything about why that word would be used to where they felt the need to send that shit to begin with (gee thanks did you do it did you make the queers feel comfortable). Reading comprehension is so so important you are all going to kill me.

The last one was a long six paragraph rant completely unrelated to the fic in any way because I joked in the author's notes about not liking a video game that they liked(????), followed by an even longer ten paragraph rant about how actually the unrelated game was "95% perfect" (lmaoooo) and how "5% of it being bad isn't a good reason to hate it". The first half of it's on there, I deleted the second comment because my fanfiction comments are not the fucking gamefaqs forums dude. (Also die mad about it lol.) That remains to this day the only comment I've ever deleted from any of my fics and that includes the one that literally just said "penis" and nothing else.

9. Do you write smut?

If you squint lol. TNI has a couple sex scenes in it. They're uh

they're in it.

Boy are they in it.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Hell yeah I do. Also I'm a purist about this term A CROSSOVER IS WHEN YOU CROSS THE TWO THINGS OVER BUT THEY ARE STILL THEIR OWN DISPARATE THINGS. A FUSION IS WHEN THE TWO SETTINGS ARE FUSED. WORDS MEAN THINGS. ALSO A DRABBLE IS 100 WORDS EXACTLY NO MORE NO LESS. I'LL KEEP SITTING ON THIS PORCH SHAKING MY FIST AT THESE CHILDREN UNTIL THEY FUCKING LEARN.

Anyway I'll dump FFVII on everything and nobody can stop me. FFXV. Mass Effect. Spy X Family. Aliens. Ellen Ripley can, should, must, and will fight Jenova with a power loader.   

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nah I talk a big game but I ignore the Comp too hard to break into the mainstream. I'm small potatoes.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nah and no surprises why. Shit's too wordy.

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

Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind of? Fuck I gotta finish that thing.

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

meh. Does Loid/Yor even count? Everyone keeps writing it wrong and we still haven't seen the penny drop but it's sweet in its extremely fucking dysfunctional way (which is the best way GO READ TNI COUGH COUGH).

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but probably won’t?

Frame-Perfect. Should not have started writing before finishing the damn outline, don't know how to resolve this thing without it being a massive downer any way you slice it. This is why you should never pants VARETH.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue babyyyyyyy. I literally won an award for it once lol. Probably also psychological horror. Those two things combined means there's a lot of stream of consciousness shit in nearly everything I do, and if that's not your jam you probably won't like it.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

It is so, so hard to get a character from a location to another location. It shouldn't be hard. Why is it hard??? I should be allowed to just go And then he went, in exactly that cadence every time and everyone should just deal with it UGH 

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

Extremely hit or miss and you can almost always tell if the person in question doesn't speak it. Use sparingly because you are playing with fire.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

FFVII. The Number I is technically my first fanfiction ever, actually!

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Either TNI obviously, but also as a whole either Replacements or Tidewaters. Replacements I whipped up on the spot day-of in a few hours on a whim and it basically turned out perfect???? I've never been able to replicate that before or since. Tidewaters is Cloud Yuffie Nanaki shenanigans which I love, and I was shocked and horrified to learn I'm basically the entire tag of that as far as that's concerned (I'm working on rectifying that I promise shhhh).

Everyone I know that writes was already tagged basically uhhhhhhh

@varethinsilico, @denebolaleo-ffwriter, @spectroscopes, @terror-billie, @jenovacomplete, anyone else who wants to take a crack at this pretend I tagged you.

[quinnsqueries]

Benefits To Writing Fanfiction

There are a lot of people out there who find fanfiction to be weird. There are also a lot of people out there who are ashamed to admit they write fanfiction. Well, today I hope I can break down that wall a bit and show everyone that writing fanfiction is not only a legitimate form of writing but also a beneficial one!

I write a lot of fanfiction - I'll admit it. Maybe one day y'all will figure out what my AO3 account is, maybe not. And yes, I am a hardcore fan of AO3 it's the best fanfiction sharing website out there, no doubt. If you disagree I'm sorry for your loss. But, yeah. I write a lot of fanfiction and read a lot of fanfiction and honestly? I think I've grown a LOT as a writer since then. Here's why.

It helps you explore new genres

As a writer I find it hard to step out of my comfort zone when writing. Does anyone else feel the same? Well, regardless of if you do or don't, since writing fanfiction I've found myself writing genres I wouldn't have even considered writing before. I think this is mainly because I'm usually taking already existing universes and expanding on them with my own ideas. Some of the work is already done for me, which makes me feel more comfortable putting my feet in the door of this new genre. It doesn't seem as scary - and in turn it's a lot more fun.

Often authors are scared to try something new in fear of messing up, but with fanfiction you already have something to work with that's not just a rough idea for a story, and all you have to do is test the waters. This makes the fear of writing in that genre with your own idea a lot less scarier later down the line.

Gaining Experience From Having Your Work Read

Without fanfiction I doubt I would have had many people read my work. Some of my friends have read my original stories - and also my fanfiction - and some of my family has read it as well, but other than that nobody that I know personally has read my work. Then I started writing fanfiction.

My writing was mostly trashy at first, not gonna lie. When I started posting my fanfiction online it was actually on Wattpad and I've grown tremendously as a writer since then. Without the constant feedback and validation from everyone who had read, commented on and liked my stories I don't know where I would be as a writer today. I've grown so much because of my fandoms, and now I'd like to say I'm pretty good at writing.

Borrowing Others Ideas

I think, one of my favorite things about fanfiction, is that you have so many different worlds to borrow from. If you like a character you can write about them. If you want to see your favorite characters in a different world you can do that. You get to test so many different things out and you can really improve your weak spots as a writer or just have fun with your strengths.

Because you don't have to come up with every little thing as a writer, you really just get to have fun with pre-made elements. And you also really grow from this too. You're studying already made storylines, worlds, and characters. And, if you're anything like me, this might cause you to think about your own story and how to develop it more. So really, learning more about characters like Luz Noceda from The Owl House or Annabeth Chase from Percy Jackson on such an intimate level can help you develop your own characters and see where they're lacking. The same goes for world building and plot lines.

Rebooting Your Love Of Writing

How many of your write every day. Or every week or month etc...

Me neither. Before really getting into fanfiction I would write maybe once every six months. It can be draining, especially when you don't know what you're doing. But once I started writing fanfiction - lots of it, I started writing at least once a week. And now I write almost every day! And I'm writing for myself most of the time, but the love and validation from the people who read and comment and like my work can really keep me motivated too. When they have ideas and I know they're wrong, or are just surprised by a twist or maybe mad at something that happened. Any and all feedback really keeps me going.

And a lot of the time, when I'm tired of writing fanfiction...

Well, then I get motivated to work on my original pieces.

Practice! Practice! Practice!

Writing fanfiction is just a great way to practice your own writing skills, all in all. And even if you aren't working on any of your own original ideas, or you don't have any at all, fanfiction is still a great way to write and keep in touch with your creative side. Because, at the end of the day, fanfiction is a form of writing, and there is no wrong way to write.

So never be ashamed to write fanfiction, guys. It's honestly such a great thing and fanfiction writers should be respected everywhere!

[itsclydebitches]

I'm ngl I feel kinda afraid to mention any positive aspects abt the show bc it feels abit nowadays like you just, can't enjoy it anymore. Like no matter what RWBY does you won't be happy and any positive aspects mentioned you'd find a way to turn into something bad or Not Good Enough and idk I love most of your essays but that kinda throws me off. I just wish you were able to watch it a bit less... Against It. Hating it is fine, I hate it, it's a horribly written horribly paced mess with awful characters, awful humour and the worst voice acting in the industry, but I can unapologetically appreciate when a good scene happens and it feels like you can't, or at least can't without adding 50 asterisks and conditionals and ways it could be better. IDK it makes me a bit sad sometimes, since you dedicate so much time to this.

I feel you, anon, though we've known this was coming for years. Unlike a collection of short stories or other, separated media, the longer RWBY makes mistakes the more future content is going to suffer. Four years past where I personally think the show started having serious issues, yeah, there's more to criticize than praise (imo, obviously) and I'm not inclined to pretend otherwise. You say yourself, "I hate it, it's a horribly written, horribly paced mess with awful characters, awful humor, and the worst voice acting in the industry" so honestly I'm a little confused as to where you think these good scenes are that I'm missing. If the plot, tone, characters, humor, and acting all suck, what are we left with? And if you "hate" the show, why would you expect others to find more to praise?

Personally, I feel like I do appreciate the good scenes when we see them, but yeah, they're going to come with those 50 asterisks because, as said, everything is interconnected. If the show does a good job depicting Ruby's grief over Penny, I'm still going to question why we didn't get that when she first died. If the show nails an awesome "I'm still just small" line from Little, that unfortunately makes all the terrible humor surrounding it that much more apparent. My recaps strive to unpack all the aspects that I see, which means that after years of missteps the good stuff is coming with a huge load of baggage. For me, it would be a serious misrepresentation of the text to go, "Wow, Weiss hitting herself in the head with a rock sure was funny! Good on RWBY for writing such a comedic scene" and just ignore the context of that interrupting Ruby's grief because I don't want my recaps to be too mean. These recaps aren't going to RT. They're not written with the intention coaxing a writer towards improvement without breaking their spirit. There's absolutely no reason why I should pull punches - say less than everything I'm thinking - especially in a fandom that already works so hard to paint RWBY as better than I personally think it is.

I'm not going to insult you by assuming your intentions, but frankly I really dislike this whole 'It's so sad you can't enjoy the show anymore, you've dedicated so much to this, what's the point if you're not praising it?' perspective. I've heard it a lot over the years and 99% of the time it's sanctimonious nonsense. Again, I'm not accusing you of that, anon, just acknowledging that a lot of people have tried to "help" me over the years not because they care, but because they don't want anyone criticizing RWBY and have realized that outright attacks haven't worked. But the reality is that you don't know me, or what I get out of RWBY, or what's an enjoyable way for me to spend my time. It's totally fine - and understandable - if you're upset that my recaps have grown more and more critical over the years, but the answer to that discomfort is to stop reading them. There's no constructive criticism to offer here, just an implied request for me to lie and say that I think the show is better written than it actually is... which isn't going to happen. You shouldn't be "afraid" to mention a positive take - the fandom is 99% positive takes - and if you don't like the idea of sending in an ask and me potentially disagreeing, there are thousands of other RWBY content creators who will give you an enthusiastic response. Yeah, it sucks that you can't read recaps overflowing with praise and it sucks that I can't write them, but that's due to RWBY making those major mistakes and allowing them to snowball for half a decade. As said, you claim to "hate" the show and provided a long list of its broad and far-reaching problems, anon. You should thus understand that the problem here is in RWBY being really badly written, not me acknowledging that it's really badly written.

[corwly]

sooooooo i guess i'll say it

to the people who are bitching about ship polls, no one gives a shit. stop being so disrespectful and dramatic about people enjoying things. no one has the right to send death threats based on a fucking poll on a hellsite.

i will admit i'm a younger user. i'm 20 years old and i am gender queer whatever doesn't matter but i am afab and lived most of my life as fem presenting/using she/her pronouns. seeing people say that "oh you hate women cause you voted for the ship with male presenting characters" jesus fucking christ. get a hold of yourselves i am guessing you're older than me but i have never met or interacted with someone who is fandom oriented that is around my age that gives so much of a shit.

if you are not emotionally mature enough to admit that other people enjoy different things from you maybe don't look at the polls??? have you thought of that???

this post is in direct response to this poll

the notes/tags in this are full of homophobia and calling those who voted aziraphale/crowley women haters and all that jazz.

and guess what i couldn't find! good omens fans hating on dr who!!

but what was extremely prevalent?

i'll show you!

like yeah nothing is fucking perfect why do you think amazon prime picked up this show over another company. it makes people happy! the world is changing and you all need to get over it.

and before anyone says shit about me not having seen dr who or being biased, i watched dr who. i didn't like it much and that should be just fine. i get why people don't like good omens and that is also just fine. i honestly didn't like rose as a character much either but that doesn't mean i hate women. i don't usually like women characters written by men for a male audience which, btw, is what dr who does.

it is absolutely possible to exist on the same website without saying you're going to kill the author and writer of whatever fucking media because a different ship won some stupid poll.

i didn't even vote in this! i've never voted on one cause i know how absolutely fucking upset id be about it. i actively try to avoid them but when this came up i was immediately upset and had to start blocking people cause jesus fucking christ let other people be happy and let another fandom enjoy something.

i am not a "new tumblr user" because i like good omens. i have been on and off this shit site for like 8 or 9 years now due to this absolute buffoonery.

just sit the fuck down and stop being stuck in your teenage years when things were more simple. it is 2023 and most people have grown past superwholock cause it's actually not 2013 surprisingly. enjoy things without it being a war of what's better and maybe idk give a new show a chance without thinking it's going to revoke something from you. we are literally all just people trying to enjoy shit and you are making it literally so fucking nasty to even try too.

thanks

[bellaxgiornata]

I wasn’t sure if you were still doing the questions for author—but I wanted to inquire about #2 and #11 🤗🤗🤗

Also I hope that your weekend helped you recharge my friend 🤘🏻

Ahhh yes! Hi, friend!! Anyone can feel free to ask me more questions from that post here! It's fun to still focus on these fics in some way even if my brain just doesn't want to write this weekend. And thank you! 💕 It was a bit more relaxing than my weekdays go fortunately, but it was unfortunately a short and busy weekend for me. Though next weekend shows a promising outlook for me to focus and relax at least! 😆 And as I've been doing with these since my responses are always so damn long, my answers are below the cut for those interested!

2. Do you consider yourself a writer? Why or not?

It’s funny because I used to view writing fanfic as something that technically was writing, but I didn’t necessarily view myself as a writer back in the day (like years ago when I first began writing fic). But I think that’s just because there’s generally been this negative view around writing fanfiction as opposed to writing entirely original content that you’re trying to publish. But looking back on that viewpoint now, it makes no sense. I definitely consider myself–and everyone else who writes fanfic–writers. We might be playing in a sandbox with some tools that others have given to us to play with, but we’re all crafting something different with those tools. Making our own unique content from it–which is the beauty of fanfic. There is literally so much creativity and love in fanfiction and I’ve read vastly better fics than I have published works, personally. And I also believe writing fanfiction is a fantastic way to improve writing and story-telling skills. I’ve certainly grown in my plot-writing, character development, dialogue and descriptions, etc. through writing fanfic. 

And I’ve written and published almost 1.1 million words over on AO3 in just over a year. So yeah, I’d tell younger me that I am in fact a writer 😆

11. What attracted you to the fandom(s)/media you write in?

This question is a bit more difficult for me to put into words an answer to, but I was drawn to Matt’s character as a whole when it comes to the Daredevil fandom. Like yes, the man is attractive and the whole wounded puppy thing gets to me, but there’s so much depth to Matt and I really love exploring that. He’s often struggling with so much internal conflict and past trauma, even struggling with letting people get and stay close to him. Though honestly, a lot of that’s also true of Michael Kinsella in Kin and Frank Castle from Punisher, too.

So besides finding them physically attractive (I mean obviously), I think I was pulled to these fandoms for the characters. I'm drawn to that internal struggle/battle within themselves and the individual traumatic pasts that all three of these men have gone through. Because I’ve experienced quite a bit of trauma in my past, too, and I feel like I can deeply relate to these three characters and their pain in my own way, especially when it comes to trying to navigate life under the weight of these things that still hang over you. But at the same time, deep down and at their core, they're all good men desperate to stay ‘good’ despite what they’ve endured and what they do. Which is just something that personally resonates with me. Though I will admit that there's just something about Matt Murdock and his inability to take care of himself for the sake of helping others that I also connect with and that I think plays a bigger role in why he's my comfort character and why I write so much for him. I see a lot of myself in Matt–his flaws especially.

[fezwearingjellybananas]

Answer the questions then tag 5 fanfic authors

Tagged by @kitkatt0430 thank you!

How did you get into writing fanfiction?

My friend sent me a e-mail with some Doctor Who/Sherlock crossover fics to read and they were fun and I already liked writing but was too nervous to actually share any of it, so it seemed like a good way to practise being less nervous because it didn't have to have my name attached to it or be connected back to me in real life

I am less nervous than when I first started, but I'm definitely still too nervous to share anything with my real name attached to it.

How many fandoms have you written in?

AO3 has 25 on my profile but some are connected (like the various dctv shows and several different comics that are all dc)

How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

Ten! More or less, I don't have the very first stuff I put on ffn any more, but it's about 10

Do you read or write more fanfiction?

It probably varies from month to month depending on how inspired I am to write, but I think it might lean towards read, certainly at the minute

What is one way you’ve improved as a writer?

I may still be nervous often, but I have grown in confidence, which in turn does let me experiment with fics more- like using first person POV in the Barriscowest Sherlock Holmes AU, leaning more into horror with Nightmares, dipping my toes in the Eobarry sandbox, criticising the soulmate trope in Blank- without worrying too much about "this one is different will people like it" to actually sit down and write it, and I hesitate over the post button less.

What’s the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

I read an entire research paper on CFL quark matter for a throwaway line (and because I was curious) and I still understand literally nothing about CFL quark matter. I'm so glad I did chemistry not physics

What’s your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

All of them? I really love the ones where people pull out a line though, especially when it's a line I loved writing. And @goldheartedchaoticdisaster's Eobard insults, I love those so much

What’s the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

I guess I like playing around with rare pairs sometimes to see if I can make a story out of changing relationships around? There are a handful of ships where my fic is the first to use the tag, and there is still only one fic in the Tess Morgan/Tina McGee tag and I wrote it. The same is true of the Laurel Lance/Lily Stein tag only AO3 haven't listed it as a tag you can search for yet apparently, so that probably fits fringe

What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

I think everything has its challenges but the hardest parts are always when the characters don't know what to do because putting myself in their spot is also going to mean I don't know what to do, but to get the plot rolling something's got to come next

What is the easiest type?

Short, dialogue heavy conversation fics. Or I assume these must be since that is often what I end up writing

Where do you do your writing? What platform? When?

On my laptop, on my phone, in notebooks (though this is typically original writing, not fanfic), and typically mornings and evenings, but honestly whenever I've got a moment and an idea

What is something you’ve been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

Original fiction. I've got the idea, I write little bits occasionally, but I know all my trouble writing that one stems from anxiety over what do I do when it's done. One day I'll write it though

What made you choose your username?

Doctor Who. I was panicking a lot and it was the first thing I could think of so I entered it into the box before I could chicken out yet again (Eleven has his "fezzes are cool" bit, the jelly is as in Jelly Babies, and the banana is from the Ninth Doctor)

Tagging @roboticnebula @ftl-faster-than-life @alittleflashvibe @annnesbonny and @spectralarchers if you would like to?