#how many fanarts can I get in before chapter 18 is the question

[forgetmenottpott]

An attempt at a different style and my favorite yoga buddies

By @thickenmyblood

[cacodaemonia]

20 Questions for Writers

Thanks so much for the tag, @lyntergalactic! :D I feel like I've done this before, but it must have been a whole ago. It looks fun! (also, I'm pasting just the questions at the bottom of the post if anyone wants to copy those)

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 247, though I'm not really sure what the ratio is for images versus fics... Okay, apparently, 97 of them are tagged with 'fanart' and have fewer than 100 words, so somewhere around 100 image-only works and 147 fics.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 1,141,145; which includes a few collabs and fics for which I just contributed an image.

3. What fandoms do you write for? TCW exclusively 😅 Though I've done a handful of images for other things like Arcane, Dune, Trigun, The Expanse, House of the Dragon...

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? A bunch of my works with the most kudos are images, but if we're talking fics, then I think it's just some of my oldest ones...

That’s Not How It Happened (This Is How It Happened) - Fives arc fix-it and my first fic.

Orbital Decay - Codywan that I haven't edited since I posted it, so I can't vouch for the quality.

Modulation - Another one I haven't touched since I posted it, but it's an 'Echo gets rescued much earlier than in canon and he and Fives reunite' fix-it of sorts.

Will You Walk With Me? - Waxer's pov from the start of the war to the (fix-it) end, and it mostly focuses on his and Boil's friendship (Waxer & Boil or Waxer/Boil pre-relationship - take your pick). Even though this certainly isn't the best thing I've written, it's my baby. 🧡

Interference - Umbara fix-it featuring minor canon characters and some necessary OCs in the first chapter, then more major canon characters later.

More stuff below the cut, since this is a long list...

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Probably You're Just Harder to See Than Most, which ends very sadly on its own, but it's part of a larger fix-it including Modulation above, so Fives and Echo get reunited.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Pfff like basically all of them, idk XD;

8. Do you get hate on fics? No, just on one sketch dump, where someone went through 6 chapters of spicy cloneshippy images and then decided they needed to complain about it being gross and immoral 🤣 It was hysterical kjlksahfg

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Oh yes, I'm a certified smut goblin. Not really sure what the question means by 'what kind,' but I guess 'porn with feelings' is probably the AO3 tag that would most accurately describe all of the smut I've written XD

10. Do you write crossovers? Nope.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes! :D

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Hm, I suppose if we're defining that as like, "what ship have you intensely shipped for the longest amount of time," it would be destiel? I was veeeeeery into that ship for many years.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I've had one wip sitting around for over a year, and for a while I was thinking I wasn't going to get back to it ever. But I made a little vibes playlist for it and had some help brainstorming, so I'm hopeful I can start tackling it again after I get some current stuff drafted.

16. What are your writing strengths? Starting something and working on it until it's finished.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I have a lot of trouble generating ideas on my own.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I think it's fine as long as it's either A. very short and clear from context or B. for some reason, the writer is intending to confuse the reader and obfuscate what was said. I know I've said it before, but I'm not gonna scroll to the bottom of a fic every few paragraphs to find the translations for whole phrases or sentences. If the amount of 'other language' starts making the dialogue difficult to follow, I'm just gonna nope out.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Technically, I wrote one thing for Gundam Wing back in like 2000, but I can't even remember what I did with it or what it was about, exactly. Other than that, TCW.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? flsdlfg that's really difficult... idk man, if it's quality we're talking about rather than sentimentality, I'd say it's a toss-up between these three 😅:

My Heart's Red Muscle - Canon-divergent AU where Waxer is a cyborg.

Kinktober 2022 - Character studies/development through smut, where Waxer and Boil find a list of sexy things to try out, so it's kind of meta. It's from my main Open Skies AU, and I'm weirdly proud of this one XD;

We Could Breathe Underwater - Force-sensitive Waxer and Boil AU

Phew! Okay this took me like three sessions to answer, but it was fun :)

No-pressure tags: anyone who sees this and wants to do it, plus @lizardberries @elismor @bilbosmom-belladonna @valkeakuulas @petrifiedforests @marbled-polecat @writegowrite @sophronist @marbled-polecat @ivalane

20 Questions for Writers

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

3. What fandoms do you write for?

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

5. Do you respond to comments?

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

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

8. Do you get hate on fics?

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

10. Do you write crossovers?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

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

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

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

16. What are your writing strengths?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

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

19. First fandom you wrote for?

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

[spinjitsuburst]

OH I’m SO here to ask questions!!!!

(Any of what you’ve written)

16. Is there any written scene that you think about a lot?

CABNET MAN

18. How many chapters do you plan to write ahead before publishing?

22. Will this fic include more angst or more fluff?

Because of my severe Skybound problems. (And some rather horrifying Cm fanart I saw.)

7 What are your plans for Nadakhan?

And maybe along the same lines.

9. Is there anything in the fic you're not so excited about writing?

Pushing it with a lot of questions but if you like answering. I have quite a few of my own.

fic ask game!

16. Is there any written scene that you think about a lot?

Gonna go ahead and answer with a not-Cabinet Man one cuz the other questions are about cabinet man HAJSHDKH

In the Bruiseshipping fic I’m working on I wrote this moment that’s lived rent free in my skull I love gay people

Cabinet Man questions!

18. How many chapters do you plan to write ahead before publishing?

Quite a lot! I at least want to get through most of the initial Prime Empire stuff, and start planning/writing snippets of other arcs as well. I’ve had this AU bouncing around in my skull for so long (coming up on a year now??) that I really want to put a lot of time and thought into it before I start posting it!

Also I’m. Very shy shdkdhdkdh so I wanna make sure everything’s good for my own sanity

22. Will this fic include more fluff or angst?

I think it’ll be a healthy mix! I myself am a huge angst enjoyer so it will have it’s moments but I like when a fic has those moments balanced well with fluff, character relationship moments, positive character development, etc. Plus not everyone enjoys a ton of angst and I want it to be accessible for people who want silly fun times as well!

7. What are your plans for Nadakhan?

As always:

On a serious note though, I’m gonna be reworking him a bit so he’s actually. Well written. I hate hate haaaaate the forced marriage plot and think it’s kinda really stupid so his motivations for everything are going to be more “you destroyed my home realm you fucks” as to why he ends up going after the ninja

Also in my opinion he goes from “interesting villain with a compelling backstory” to “one note creep” really fast in the show so HDKDHDKHF he’s getting an overhaul for my own sanity

Me aggressively rewriting Skybound like I can fix it I can FIX it

9. Is there anything in the fic you’re not excited about writing?

A lot actually and most of it is because I still have to plan everything out HAKAHSKSH

My biggest issue right now is figuring out how to balance the seasons that won’t have a ton of changes in their actual events. Like Hands of Time happens pretty much the same as canon and I’m unsure of exactly how to make that interesting without just rewriting everything. I’m having a similar issue with most of the Ice Chapter of Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu and the Oni trilogy. I’ll figure it out but I’m not looking forward to actually trying to write that stuff out haha

There’s enough stuff I AM excited to write that outweighs that though!! It gets me motivated to write even the things that I’m not looking forward to as much

[rustingcat]

20 questions game

Thanks @fazedlight for the tag:)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

11, but I think most of them are art.

2. What’s your total AO3 words count?

82,665. But there's a good chance I'll pass the 100k mark a bit after supercorptober!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Supercorp.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Privileges

Of science and Love

The Power of Pasta

Ghostly Presence

The Art of The Game

(Skipped one artwork due to the fic being tied to someone else)

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

Yes! I try to respond to every comment.

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

Alone

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

Beside Alone, they all have happy endings!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I had a few comments with a commenter who was very keen to let me know just how much they hate Kara for some reason. But they haven't responded to recent chapters.

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

I have yet to attempt smut.

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

I have not written any. I am a fan of AUs, though.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know. I know that my art has been running around some Facebook groups, though.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Yes! I have 2 WIPs that I'm cowriting, and I'm super excited about them! There's one project I hope me and my friend will be able to finish before the end of the year (though with current progress I'm not sure anymore), and another one that's gonna be a really really big AU that I'm really looking forward to (although I'll be grateful if we manage to finish it by the end of next year).

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

Supercorp has a really strong hold on me. This is the ship that made me start being active on tumblr, draw fanart, and let me discover my love for writing for the first time in my life. Saying that, Percy/Vex from critical role had my heart for quite a while, I think that at some point I read almost all of their AO3.

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

I intend to finish all my WIPs. That's why after I finish The Art Of The Game, I plan to start uploading only once most of the fic is done.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm pretty good at structuring the story. I have pages upon pages of story flow and arcs for most of my big project. I think just for TAOTG I have 7 different files (probably more).

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Oh, so much. For now, I'll say that I have no idea how to use comma correctly and just use it randomly😂

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

I haven't tried, but it I'll probably ask a native speaker. (Or someone who's really into kryptonian)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Supercorp!

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

My proudest work is probably The Art Of The Game. It's my biggest project yet, I've spent a LOT of time prepping the story structure, and it's also my first fic, and the reason I started writing in the first place. You can probably see my writing journey just by reading it (even if I did edit the first few chapters after the fact).

No pressure tags! @snowydragonscave @inkedroplets @spaceman-earthgirl @missluthorwillseeyounow

[kiichu]

Tagged by @pomegranate-belle!! thank u!!

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).

WIP List:

-NOPE found family fic, part 4! (of 4?) -Trane (Troy/Jane) soulmate mark AU -something something movie William Afton pov? -Hongou + Kurashikis Zero team (but they're manipulating him) bark bark bark dog metaphors -Kieran lives -Ashley Graydon is the Masked Apprentice

2. Which of your WIPs is currently the longest?

That'd be the NOPE fanfic, which is 3422 words so far. I know, it's not a long thing, but I have bits and pieces for my WIPs before I polish and publish them.

3. Which WIP do you expect will end up the longest?

Maybe the Ashley Graydon Masked Apprentice AU? Depending on if I ever write more of it to create chapters.

4. Which WIP is your favourite to write/the most enjoyable to write? Why?

The Trane one is fun because Jane is just so unapologetically mean as a narrator. And she bashes Troy a lot, which is awesome.

5. Which WIP do you find the most intimidating to write? Why?

Probably the bark bark bark one bc I want to match the beauty and darkness of the two pieces of fanart that inspired it. And I want people to read it, I don't want it written off as "oh emi, making hongou and the kurashikis like each other just like you tried to peddle back in 2012, huh?" Like, no - that's not what's happening there. They're working together but Hongou is very much a bastard and very much getting what's coming to him anyway.

6. Which WIP do you experience the most self-doubt about. Why?

See above tbh. And I get nervous about the NOPE fic bc it's a finale of sorts to my series.

7. Which of your WIPs will you seek out a beta/sensitivity reader for? Why?

I don't use betas/sensitivity readers ever, so. None.

8. Have any of your WIPs been struck by the curse of writer's block?

LMAO like ALL of them? Plus several more I have let fall by the wayside for years??

9. Which WIP has your favourite OC? Tell us about them?

None of them have OCs...

10. Which WIP is the sexiest?

The Trane soulmate AU's got some smut in there, so that one.

11. Which WIP is the angstiest?

Tie between Kieran and Ashley. Kieran just deserves a hug and Ashley... well, he can have one too, but doesn't deserve it as much.

12. Which WIP has the best characterisation (in your humble opinion)?

I... I don't know. Lots of them feature characters with just a glimpse of a canon personality, so it's unclear how "accurate" they are written.

13. Which WIP has the best scene setting (in your humble opinion)?

I like the NOPE fic. It's a sweet piece from Emerald's POV - she gets to talk with Ryder this time. c:

14. Which WIP have you worked the hardest on?

Hard to say tbh. I think they're all about even.

15. Which WIP do you have the highest expectations for? Why?

I... think the Kieran one would probably be the most popular. The rest are pretty obscure haha.

16. Do you dream about any of your WIPs?

Dreams... I dunno, I don't think so.

17. Do any of your WIPs have particular complexities that your other fics don't?

I mean they're all kinda complex in their own way? I have to keep checking wikis and thinking over characterization.

18. Which WIP is the funniest or has the most humour?

I think the NOPE fic! Em has a lighthearted POV for the most part. :]

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?

Most of my WIPs don't have to do with ships, so

20. Tell us one thing we don't know about one or more of your WIPs.

I really have no idea sorry.... I don't really know what I've said about them and what I haven't, lmao

Tagging: YOU!!!!!!

[scoundrels-in-love]

3 8 15 18 20 27 45 54 55 56 58 61 for the writer questions thing :3:3:3 <3<3<3

Hi loooove, thank you so much for asking. *cracks knuckles*

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic An idea - ??nfjnidfjgnf??SF?FD?/???? - oh god, there's typo in the published version

It's... unfortunately not too far from genuine truth. Most of my writing is done in parts of daydreaming it up at work, before sleep, babbling to my friends about it and then wallowing when I actually need to put the words I already came up with on 'paper'. Often I overthink little details too much along the way, enough to get stuck.

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

I am probably bad writer because I don't really view my stories in these segments, I don't plan the arcs and the build up with conscious awareness of storytelling as a method. I just go with the natural swell of emotions and events. The starting and closing lines are always hard, but that's all I define as beginning or end of story. Yes, I do worry if the closing part is satisfying and tells what I intended to, of course, but there's no strict divides in my head.

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

I am writing about werewolves, plant genitalia and what borders as tentacle porn. Realistic is... Not really an option. Though I try to at least somewhat figure out what is physically potentially possible with their size differences, body builds and so forth. Sidenote, I can be picky about words I use in my smut, some I just don't think I'll end up using.

I don't have much of visual imagination or any interest in geting visual references for this that isn't like, fanart, so it's interesting exercise writing something that actually comes across as smut and could potentially be hot. I think I don't manage to convey it enough, but lot of what structures my smut is how characters feel about it, the specific acts and people involved in them. Or what they want the other characters to feel.

I am glad that several people have said that it's tangible these characters care from each other even on my purely smut writing, that gives me hope I am doing something right.

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

I used to be borderline physically unable to write a fic until I had a title for it. Same as I needed a name for an OC. As if it was the baseline establishing everything, backbone of it. Over the pauses I've taken in my writing, this has gone away and I often leave the title as the last thing to work on, along with summary. Unless the piece is inspired by a song or poem, then that is one of the first things I do, still.

I almost always use lines from songs, sometimes it's genuinely a hassle these days to find one that fits the fic, the vibe I want to convey. I dream of being the face on your page (I want to hold you forever, I want a taste of the Good Life) took several fucking hours, I was driving myself and my sibling up the wall with it.

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

In Trigun, I feel a little limited in setting, because most things will either take place in saloon/bar, in the desert often localized around a car and maybe Meryl's apartment. At least most of the stuff I've written so far, since I've not been ambitious with tackling Ship 3 or many AUs yet. So, the repetition in that is partially from what I'm writing for. I do know I have soft spot of times where one character ends up inviting the other into their space - sometimes as simple as a hug and often, into their apartment, living space. Especially when there are feelings attached to it being potentially theirs or having been theirs. This follows through from previous fandom(s).

Like I joked previously, it seems one of Rainy's fic bingo slots could be 'a character cries' - I've never written crying so often as I do for Trigun, but it doesn't. Entirely feel out of character or misplaced, somehow. There's lot of traumatic events, all the time, that I end up touching in my writing.

Grief, overall, is definitely a theme. Not just people, but possibilities, too. A chance at happiness. At peace. Yearning for something kinder, better, sweeter. For each other. I ironically don't think I've earned my title of 'rated E for Extreme Yearning' in Trigun yet, but it used to be my brand.

I definitely use deliberate repetitions for sentences.

I use words like smithereens, curdle, hoard, abyss, stone/rock in chest and the like quite a bit. Other than that, I'd actually love to hear what my readers have noticed, I am sure there's more than that!

27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

I love, love coming up with new ideas, excitedly talking with people about plots, character behaviors, just playing out little snippets among friends. It's by far the best and easiest part for me, I can spend days doing just that.

The writing itself... Oh, that can be torture. Like extracting words one by one by help of world's cruelest dentist. When it goes well, I love it and get a high like I very rarely do, but often, it's just. The Worst.

45. Do you want to break your readers‘ heart or make them laugh?

I am not a funny person - at least not the sort of funny that translates well into fiction. I have had few funnier stories in previous fandoms, or at least parts that have funny adjacent lines and when people have enjoyed them and said it made them laugh, I treasure that. But it's not a goal I set out to have.

Also not breaking anyone's heart, despite what it seems. I want to provide catharsis, for myself and for reader if possible, and for me that is usually getting to the bottom of the painful and then exploring way back up or at least showing that there is one (eg. think Disconnect). I am not much of one for angst without happy ending, there's so much misery in life, mine included, that never has one, that I want to imagine and create one where I can.

Though if I make a friend cry... It is a notch in my mental post, not going to lie. Makes me feel like I managed to write genuinely.

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Plotting, babbling, excited screaming with friends, for sure. Although very specific to fanfiction itself is seeing how to pick apart the world, the characters, transpose them into different situations, AUs, and make them still them. I love working out what makes them tick, what defines them and the relationships they have with each other.

55. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

I really enjoyed writing both Brienne and Jaime from my previous fandom, I found it satisfying when I could manage to create my own brand of Jaime's sarcastic, self-depreciating humor, the way he'd say one thing and mean another and sometimes put so much of him suddenly in it that people couldn't accept it easily. And Brienne was lesson in restraint - I wonder how I would write her now that I've allowed myself to... Well, more openly project my neurodivergency and depression onto characters. Write what I do know, not just reflection of what I think people are like from other people's writing.

Which is something I've been doing with Meryl. She is by no means me, or my self-insert into canon, but in the process of trying to understand her, I ended up allowing myself to give her some likeness to my aspects, to how I see and experience the world. And then it expanded to Vash and Wolfwood as well.

That'd be more physical descriptions of grounding via scratching when crying, Meryl's struggle of spoken words versus written ones, them all being aspec and struggling with understanding/being overwhelmed by emotions and attraction.

But back to who I enjoy writing the most - I really love writing Meryl and Wolfwood, though I always fear I am not getting Wolfwood's inner conflict, all the Christian stuff, right. I feel like he has to be more than I manage to write him as. More fucked up, more intense, more soft at his underbelly, more everything.

This is why Vash is lower on my enjoyment scale, too. I feel like he ought to sound and work more differently, being the hyper aware, hyper capable and at the same time, sometimes so silly, person he is. I enjoy writing him being perceived, but writing his POV can be very stressful for me, especially in situations where his competency and intelligence actually needs to be portrayed convincingly. /side eyes Love lives chapter 2

That aside, no it's not really been swayed by reader's reaction, though it has given me confidence, like when someone says I have given them Meryl centric writing they've been looking for.

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

Pride is a strong word, but I have ended up feeling close to pride for the way I draw comparisons, create similes, about or through emotions, use of nature metaphors and the like. I think it stems from my native language and the sort of things I grew up reading and listening to, but it is something I don't shy away from in fear of being too flowery. Not anymore. It's just how I write, how I see world and feel things and I don't want to go through process of censoring it.

58. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc) 

Brainstorming >>>> writing > outlining/editing

Outlining often makes me trip up over small details that I suddenly feel are as huge as as infinite wall and I generally don't outline more than loosely in my head, I get to meat of writing directly in my thoughts. Editing has habit of tiring me out when I have been struggling with some sentence and rewritten it like 5 times already.

61. Why do you continue writing fics?

It's a question I ask myself often. And when I don't have an answer, I fall off the face of earth and cease writing.

I think, in truth, I write, at least past the point of thinking about it in privacy of my own mind, for community, for people. It is not the right reason to write, it has burned me many times when I don't get the engagement I crave or I feel like specific person I had in mind isn't really keen on what I created, but it is mine.

Beyond that, I want to explore feelings, want to find, and if possible, give some catharsis or comfort. Every time someone tells me my writing resonated with them, they felt seen or heard through it, maybe it comforted them, I feel like the effort to write was worth it. So, I guess the short answer is: Feelings. Humanity. Connection. The fictional ones and the ones we create through fiction.

Send me fanfic writer ask?&lt;3

[sparklecare-good-au]

Sparklecare Good AU FAQ

FAQ

-General Questions-

Q: What is the Good AU?

A: The Good AU is basically just one of those "what if The Bad Thing didnt happen and everything was fine" kind of things. In it the hospital has zero connection to Cuddles in anyway, and because of that, nobody gets hurt.

-

Q: What is the comics schedual?

A: I post updates on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 6:00 AM Eastern Standard Time. The updates themselves can be one or two pages each, depending on if I had recently come back from a break, if the update falls on a holiday, or if the pages just need to be together for some reason.

-

Q: Does the comic have an overarching plot?

A: Not in the way you might think. Theres no single goal the characters are aiming for, like how canon is about eventually getting Sparklecare exposed to the public. The "main goal", you could say, would be to get better and go home. This is still going to be difficult for some.

-

Q: Does this version of the hospital allow people under 18 to be admitted?

A: No.

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Q: How many chapters will there be?

A: Right now there are 4 planned chapters, but more may be added over time.

-

Q: Why are there ocs in this AU?

A: I just felt like it. It makes the AU more my own. Anybody can make an AU where nobody is hurt by the hospital, I make it different by adding new characters and dynamics.

-

Q: Who runs the hospital if Cuddles isnt involved?

A: Richard Sparkle, the most boring guy on the face of the planet.

-

Q: Since you know all the canon lore, will any if that be implemented?

A: No, I'm only ever going to include things that are publicly known. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, so you won't be seeing any characters early or getting any backstories or lore before it is outright said in the comic.

-

Q: How do you feel about shipping/selfshipping with your ocs?

A: Totally fine! The only exception to this is Saturn and Graham, as Saturn is my fursona/self insert, and Graham is my self inserts boyfriend.

-

Q: How about kinning/IRLs/fictives?

A: Same answer as shipping, totally fine with kinng my ocs with the exception of Saturn and Graham. Saturn is me, so it would be kind of weird. IRLs and fictives are okay, but for personal comfort reasons, I would really not like them to interact with me/be talked abt on my blog, sorry!

-

Q: What are you comfortable with when it comes to fanart?

A: I'd prefer if people didnt make anything nsfw or immoral with my characters, especially Saturn. You can do pretty much whatever you want other than that, like ship art, our ocs being friends, ect. Just please respect what im comfortable with and itll be fine!

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Q: Why isnt character/plot point/ect in here?

A: Even though I am a part of the ZCP, I obviously won't be spoiling anything about the comic. So I cant include things like the unknown patient who Uni hinted at in v1, or the other patient who Hemera hinted at in v2. I can only add in what is publically known, which is why character backstories arent going to be a major focus.

-Character Questions-

Q: Is Saturn a y*ndere?

A: No, and please stop asking. /srs

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Q: Wheres Cuddles?

A: Jail for tax evasion. He wont be important /srs

-

Q: Why not just make Cuddles a good guy?

A: I didnt do that because of what he represents. Hes based off of Kittycorn's personal experiences, I feel it would be rude to do that. Besides, making him a good guy who doesnt kill people would leave him with literally no personality.

-

Q: Are there any character blogs for the good au characters?

A: Yes! Saturn's blog is @xxdemondogxx, Uni's is @tiniestferryshop, and Graham's is @grahamberrymusic. There is also the general @asksparklecaregoodau blog where you can interact with the rest of the cast.

-

Q: Who is Saturn, and why is he a main character?

A: Saturn is my fursona, he represents me! He is a main character because I've had him for a while and really wanted to finally do something with him.

-

Q: Is Saturn really a demon?

A: No, he just thinks he is. Everybody, minus Barry, is nice to him about it.

-

Q: Why does Saturn think hes a demon?

A: He feels like he is a horrible person for having intrusive thoughts, because he feels normal people would never consider the things he thinks about, even though those things are not in his control. He's literally demonizing himself for being mentally ill. That and he thinks demons are naturally evil, so hes assuming hes a demon to sort of give himself a better reason for being "evil" (he is not evil)

-

Q: Why are the rainbow characters (Doom and Mood, Party, ect.) still rainbow? Werent those colors caused by truama?

A: In canon, yes, the rainbow characters are rainbow because of that. However, I didnt know about that when I made their AU designs and started the comic in December of 2020. They are still rainbow despite the knowledge I now have because it makes them more recognizable. The rats specifically are still rainbow because they got past the truama of being bullied when they were younger.

-

Q: Why is everyone in the hospital at the same time if they arent being kept there?

A: The plot needs it. If everybody left when they were supposed to, the only main characters there would be Barry and Saturn.

-

Q: Are there any new characters who are lgbtq+?

A: Currently, as of early 2023, all the new characters who are in the hospital are lgbtq+.

-

Q: Are any of your ocs autistic?

A: Saturn and Graham are both autistic. Though its not canon in real SC, Hemera in the good au is also autistic.

-OC Questions-

Q: Can I make a good AU oc?

A: You can make an oc if you want, I dont own the idea of "Big Bad Thing Never Happens" aus, so feel free to make as many characters as you like!

-

Q: Can you put my oc in the comic?

A: I dont include peoples ocs in the comic itself, since if they change their mind later I would have to either edit pages or write the character out. I will, however, draw your oc if you ask and provide a reference for them (or if I just feel like it)! I will only really do that when im taking requests, or if we are friends/mutuals.

[the-darklings]

coa one year later & self-reflection

(*drags out a creaky metal chair and plops down on it heavily*)

Hi. It’s me, ya boi skinny--

Wait, wrong one. Do over.

Hi, it’s me, Kat, and I’m not dead. Clearly. Today being one year anniversary of COA has kinda put me in a reflective mood, so I guess I decided to sit down and just...talk about some things, thoughts and feelings I’ve been bottling inside for a hot sec. Especially given how radio silent I have gone on here and people deserve a bit of perspective. 

And before anyone starts worrying, it’s all good, and I’m still around and currently in good health for the most part. 

So, let’s take it back to the start. Regardless of how dramatic it may sound, we need to go back a year for that. 

By technicality alone, COA actually turned one year old on October 12th. That’s when the first part was posted. However, the reason I’m treating today as the aforementioned birthday is simple: I had no intention of this story ever being more than a short two-parter. I told this to the discord gang already but COA was only going to have two parts. V was going to die in Tokyo and the rest of the story follows glimpses of John throughout the movies and it’s her ghost that haunts him. Skipping ahead, it was going to have a bittersweet ending of John eventually dying, having completed his task, only to be greeted by V, Daisy and Helen in the afterlife. A peace of sorts. Then, I realised that, well, no. I have more to say on this world and intrigue about this placeholder character V kept growing. 

November 1st happened and I made a very last minute call to continue COA but with the added pressure of doing it during NaNoWriMo 2019. And boy did I. Most of the story was figured out during that very intense month. I posted Part 2 on this day a year ago because I was so eager to share it. Perhaps, in retrospect, a bit too eager. 

For those of you who may not know this, I work as a writer full time for my actual every day job. I’m the main writer for an original webcomic called In the Bleak Midwinter on Webtoon.com and have been for almost two years now. Getting what is essentially your dream job is amazing. I’m very lucky on that front but it also taught me stark realities of having your job and only hobby overlap. It’s a dangerous creative mix. Especially because I was not used to being constraint in what I create or the feeling like I have to please anyone else. Writing as a job is a whole other avenue of creative exhaustion. I love my job a lot and am very, very lucky to have it but it doesn’t change the fact that those initial stages made me fall back on COA a lot for creative freedom that I craved so desperately. To an unhealthy degree looking back on it now. 

But going back to November last year. NaNo time. I did it. Finished on the 24/25th I believe. A juicy final count of 52k+. All while maintaining a weekly update schedule for a fic that usually hit around 10k per update, if not more, even during those early days. Add writing an original story on top of that. Writing every day for hours on end (we are talking 10-12hr days) without any time for other hobbies or time for myself in general. I kept pushing and pushing and pushing. Losing weight and sleep in the process. I think the thing that convinced me that I should continue doing so is the fact that the outpour of support for COA ended up surpassing anything I ever expected or even dared to hope for. I’m not a huge numbers person but the outpour of love and just sheer investment in the story and characters blew me away. John Wick fandom is on the smaller side and has been going through downtime when I posted COA so my expectations were...well, small tbh. I like keeping expectations low to avoid any disappointments in general. But I’ve also always had an issue of being a massive 0 or 100 kind of person. If I love something, it consumes me. In this case, it brought me as much joy and freedom as much as it was steadily pushing me towards the ultimate crash. 

That being said, I can’t thank you all enough for every comment, like, reblog and message and fanart. You’re the reason I got this far. With your support. It brightened some really dark days for me.

But. 

To be frank, it’s never been about you guys. I never wrote or pushed because I felt like I had to appease anyone. That creative mindset is pure poison and I long since learned to let go of it. I kept pushing and kept working myself to the bone because I liked it. I liked how reading peoples’ responses made me feel. I liked the addictive nature of reading all the comments and theories after an update. I loved the idea of brightening peoples’ days and giving them something to cheer them up after what might have been a shitty day. Even if that was at expense of my own time/well being. But for a long time, it wasn’t. I love writing a lot but facts remain facts. 

It was beyond unhealthy and burnout wasn’t a question of if but when and that when was approaching at neck-breaking speed. 

So we come to the end of November. Part 4 has just come out. People were invested and I was invested alongside them. I was just finishing up Part 5 which (back then) was the biggest single chapter I’ve ever written and god I still recall my sheer dread because that was the beginning of Santino being established as a LI. Looking back on that now, it’s downright hilarious how worried I was about the reception of him and V together after John.

So honestly, I hit burnout at around Part 8. Because that’s the first time I recall struggling with writing a chapter. Part 8 came out on December 28th. I had a brief break for holidays. But my mistake was not taking longer back then. Because I continued writing with a barely healed burnout. Followed by almost a year of struggling and continuously creating through that state. It wasn’t like I eased off the pressure, either. Oh, no. The chapters grew in size, the world and the characters with it. AUs amassed quickly and while I adore every single one - again, I didn’t know how to pace myself well enough.

I’m spiteful though. The more the chapters struggled the more I pushed against the burnout. By the time Chicago arrived, however, I knew I was in trouble. I ended up writing 43k+ in a span of 2 months, I believe. And while to some it may not seem like a lot given the time frame, it’s a lot when you’re burnout to a crisp & writing an original story for work + deadlines. Which I was burned out and then some. Chicago was something I was looking forward to writing for months. I have built it up since Part 4. It was a long time coming. So while I’m still proud of it, I would be lying if I said that some scenes were not sacrificed for the sake of keeping to my invisible schedule that no one but me actually cared about. You guys have always been patient. I never felt pushed into anything. It’s always only ever been me doing the harm. 

Chicago was the downwards spiral for me mentally. I felt like I was failing to live up to my own expectations. That people were drifting away from it. I was plagued by the thought that the story I poured so much into was falling apart and growing weaker. Which this has always been an issue with me: I am my own harshest critic. Always have been. In fact, I’m a downright mean little fucker when it comes to just tearing at myself. I know writing is for fun - and it is - but I still like the idea of being proud of my work which only made everything worse despite the love each update received. 

This takes us to the beginning of June. Specifically, June the 2nd. Or, as I like to call it: Kat Makes Another Impulsive Decision but This One Actually Works Out For the Better. On this day, I created the COA Discord server. And damn, I’m not sure what exactly I was expecting when I did ngl. I did it for fun and as an escape more so than anything. But somehow it ended up being the best decision I made in a long while. I know some of you are reading this. So love you lots, dorks. It’s such a privilege to be able to call so many of you my friends even outside of COA now. That little community has given me some of the best memories from this year and helped me to crawl out of my own metaphorical pit I was stuck in. Mentally, I’m doing much better than I did beginning of this summer. Which could be summed up as a constant self-hatred cycle and a feeling of inadequacy. 

That, however, does not mean my burnout magically disappeared. If anything Chapter 17 just put a nail in the coffin so to speak. 2020 has been a shitty year just across the board for obvious reasons I don’t need to go into here but that can only partially be attributed to my mental state. Chapter 17 was...exhaustive. To say the least. But I was determined to stick with my vision and not split it up. I was also starting to be a bit more forgiving towards myself in terms of how long I may take to write it thanks to guys on discord though the feeling of failure and worry never quite faded fully. I’m proud of Part 17. Truly. But that was also when I hit rock bottom creatively on COA. It drained me completely. 

I tried writing Part 18 for weeks after, day in and day out, not getting past the first scene and hating every word I wrote. So I took a deep breath and stopped. Figured I let it marinate and wait instead of trying to piece one of the most crucial chapters in this story like some Frankenstein monster two sentences at the time.

So my solution was simple: give myself some distance from it and write other things. Get my spark back. Of course that’s always a good idea. Having multiple creative escapes is the best thing you can do for yourself creatively. There was just one tiny little problem. 

I was still burned out. Still am. The problem went deeper than just being burned out over COA. I was burned out over writing itself. 

Which is an issue for a person who only has writing as a creative outlet.

I don’t have any other way to express myself. So I was stuck in a runt, trying to write because it’s the only thing that makes me genuinely happy even when I really shouldn’t have. And let me tell you. It’s a shitty fucking feeling. My burnout worsened. I had a thousand ideas but every time I tried to get them down it felt forced, fragmented, and weak. Repetitive and dry. Now, this is also in part because English isn’t my native language, so my vocab is limited as a result, but I hit that sweet rock bottom in that regard, too. 

So, I worked on V (but in her OC form Clara), Lucien and The Elites. All those characters have grown so much since you last read about them. I have multiple original projects planned down the line that will feature all of them existing in their own world, with their own stories and no longer constrained by JW canon.  

Which, finally, takes us to the end of October and beginning of November 2020. 

I was convinced that the best course of action was to do NaNo again but with an original story this time (involving V). Suffice to say, it took a grand total of maybe 5-6 days and hating every second of writing it while also feeling like this project I’m so passionate and excited to write (still am) is just...going down the toilet to be blunt, to realise I may have made the wrong call. 

Still, the stubborn ass that I am, I pushed through. Convinced I can get into it if I just keep going. The realizations that I am sharing with you right now won’t have been possible if it hadn’t been for a rather curious turn of events about a week and a half ago.

I recently bought a gaming laptop, all in preparation for Cyberpunk 2077 dropping ofc. But, in the meantime, I kept recommending a game to a friend on the COA server. That game? Far Cry 5. (It’s a blast to play btw, just a side note.) And playing it brought back all the feelings of nostalgia from the days when I used to write for that fandom. So I revisited some old work. Checked the stuff I never published and that has been sitting ducks in my docs for months and hoo boy. Let me tell you it was a vibe check of the worst kind. 

The stark difference in the prose and the ease with which it flowed was...startling. It made me remember why I love writing so much and how proud I used to be of what I wrote back in the day. Which is not to say I’m not proud now, but it was just such a sharp dip in quality it was impossible to ignore.  

So I didn’t.  

I paused NaNo, moving it to another month. I paused writing for everything but work, which with our season coming to an end I will also get a rest from soon, too. I kinda paused in general. For the first time in a while, I finally forced myself to switch off. Rest. 

The reason why I haven’t been on here is simple: guilt and not having energy to be on here. I like making my blog a safe space for everyone. Similar to escape it has become for me. I couldn’t pretend I was fine when I wasn’t. I felt obliged to perform and being here became exhausting. I haven’t been checking my inbox. Haven’t done much of anything except occasionally dropping by and reblogging a random post so people know I’m alive.

And that’s that, folks. That’s where I am currently. Resting. Completely exhausted mentally but resting. Getting my energy back. 

So where does that leave us, huh? If you read this far, dunno what to tell you. Thanks, I suppose. It’s still odd to think people actually care about my existence sometimes.

I know what you’re likely thinking, too. So does this mean COA is never gonna be finished? What is gonna happen to it? Are you abandoning it?

The answer: no. 17 out of 25 chapters and 250k+ in, I’m too far in not to give it a proper conclusion. Not because I owe it to anyone other than myself. I want this story to be a stepping stone for my future as a writer. I want to prove to myself that I can get this done and finish it. As of right now (as you can no doubt tell with how long it’s been since last update) it’s on a soft hiatus while I rest. This rest? Not sure how long it may last. Right now, my plan is till mid December at which point I will reevaluate. Ideally, I finish the year with an update. But my New Year’s resolution is to finish COA. That timeline has become a little more murky now but, again, ideally it’s within the first quarter of 2021. Will that happen? I don’t know. And I don’t want to make false promises, either. 

All I’m saying is that it will be done. I’m just no longer sure how long, exactly, it may take me to reach that Epilogue. I don’t expect many people to stick around for however long it may take me, but if you do, thank you. Truly. I really and deeply mean that. 

So what’s on the cards for this blog in the meantime? Well, CP77 is coming out in under a month (if it doesn’t get moved again lmao rip) and I expect that to be my soft return to posting my writing on here again. We will see where the muse takes me, if at all. Regardless though, I’m excited. 

One doctorate thesis later, here we are at the end of this really long rambling session. I hope that this has given you some perspective on things going on behind the scenes. I spared you some of the gorier details but I think this post has been long overdue. I suppose I, myself, was just too unwilling to face these things despite knowing about them deep down for a while now. I’m too self-critical not to notice but acting on correcting this behavior has been a whole other matter clearly. 

Thank you for reading this post, my writing in general, and supporting me. I’m not going anywhere. I’m still around. More is on the way in the future. I’ll be seeing you all real soon. And all my love to all of you. 

Love,

- Kat.   

[mcfiddlestan]

Fic Writer Questions

I'm bored and this was in a note on my phone from forever ago, so I must have been tagged at some point. Apologies to whoever tagged me. 🥴

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

52. Though, I used to have a few more. I deleted a few fics some years ago bc I hated that they were just sitting there unfinished. I was going through a particularly brutal bout of writer's block that affected both my fic writing and my RP writing.

2) What's your total AO3 word count?

720,782. And I was stressing about a 30-page thesis. 😂 (which ended up being over 15,000 words)

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

I started writing fic in 2000 with *NSYNC, Christina Aguilera, and Backstreet Boys fics. I stopped writing a bit around 2004-2007 (because of a stupid boy) and picked it up again in 2012 after reading some awesome Cherik fics and wanting to write my own FrostIron College AU when I read one that was good, but kind of disturbing. I think I write for one fandom -- Marvel -- but, like different factions of it. FrostIron and WinterFrost mostly, with a dash of Stucky, ThunderFrost, DashingFrost, and WinterIron.

4) What are your Top 5 fics by kudos?

Black Light Special (WinterFrost) - 628 kudos

Can I Bum A Ride? (WinterFrost) - 425 kudos

Empire State of Mind (FrostIrom) - 420 kudos

Dark Side (FrostIron) - 398 kudos

A Worthy Collection (FrostIron) - 309 kudos

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

I really do make an effort to respond to every single comment, even the not-so-nice ones. I want people to know I've seen and read the comment they took the time to post, so even if I just thank them for reading and commenting, I respond.

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

Considering it features two -- count 'em, two! -- major character deaths, it's definitely Empire State of Mind. Though, I'd argue Dark Side is a pretty close second.

7) What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

Probably Ghosts That We Knew. It was the final fic in the trilogy that is the Picture Perfect Series. It follows Loki and Tony from when they meet in college and ends 30+ years later.

8) Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've written?

No, not really. And I rarely, if ever, read them. There's no real reason behind it other than I've just never come upon one and thought "ooh I need to read that."

9) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yes. I got a lot of hateful messages after I completed Empire State of Mind. People were really angry at me for killing off two major characters. I mean, a lot of the messages were "omg I hate you but I loved this!" kind of vibe. But there were a few that cussed me out and called me names for writing it.

I had some chapters of a Fools Rush In FrostIron AU posted a while ago, in which Loki was a female, the only daughter in both the Odinson and Laufeyson families. Following the storyline of the Matthew Perry/Salma Hayek movie, Loki meets Tony Stark in a bar and gets pregnant from a one night stand. Anyway, I got a lot of messages telling me that Odin's misogyny and mistreatment of Loki was unrealistic -- even though I had literally modeled his behavior after the movie that inspired it. 🤷🏽

I have some prompts done for the 100 Ways to Say ILY writer's block challenge and for one of them, I borrowed the storyline from an episode of Will & Grace when Will's father dies of a heart attack after they have a bad argument where his father basically admits he wished Will wasn't gay so he could have had an easier life. In the epsiode, the fight starts because Will's parents gift his baby blanket to Grace, who is pregnant with her ex-husband's child. Will takes offense, they don't understand why bc he never mentioned wanting children, and a fight ensues. Similarly, in my fic, Frigga and Odin offer a pregnant Natasha (his BFF) Loki's blanket. Some readers did not like this and did not understand why I would write it. In another prompt, one that was literally how my last relationship ended, got some harsh critiques. Those ones hurt especially bc it was such a personal experience I wrote about.

And I actually got into a fight -- like a screaming match -- IRL with my best friend's boyfriend at the time. One of my bestie's friends asked about my fanfiction and I gave them the gist of one of my stories where Loki has a brief relationship with Sif that results in a child and later reconnects with Tony. Later on, Sif offers to be a surrogate for Tony and Loki and eventually births three more children for them. Bestie's boyfriend could not fathom why a woman would purposely get herself impregnated and then give the child away. I tried to explain that this was a thing that a lot of women did IRL -- and some don't even use their own eggs, but the eggs of a woman who cannot conceive; Sif used her own eggs so that all four children were half related (two by Loki, two by Tony). But he just did not believe me and told me I must not be a very good writer. Worst night of my life.

10) Do you write smut?

I was just telling @teadrinkingwolfgirl the other night how when I first started writing fic I did not write sex scenes. It was always inferred or glossed over. When I started writing again in 2012, for FrostIron, it was my first time writing more detailed sex. I cite Jackie Collins as my smut-writing mentor. I've written almost exclusively M/M smut.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Which is like the best thing ever! A couple of my older fics have been translated to Russian. I have one *NSYNC fic that was made into an audio fic. And someone recently messaged me on ff*net to ask to translate as many of my fics as they can to Spanish. :D

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

No, not technically. I've gotten a lot of prompts and ideas from friends and mutuals, and I started reformatting my WinterFrost RP with my ex from 2014-2015 into novel form a while ago. That's tecnically the only thing I've written with someone else and published.

14) What's your all time favorite ship?

I have two that will always, ALWAYS, have my heart and attention. FrostIron (Tony Stark/Loki) and WinterFrost (Bucky Barnes/Loki). They are the two ships that I write the most, read the most, and seek out fanart for the most.

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

Probably The Flame. It's a fic that starts out ThunderFrost (not related; Asgardian Prince Thor semi-rescues an imprisoned Jotun Prince Loki) but eventually ends up FrostIron. It's the only fic I've ever written that features Loki with both male and female biology. I have a few chapters done but I haven't worked on it in years.

16) What are your writing strengths?

I like to think I write realistic relationships. And I think my dialogue is also realistic and easy to grasp. And I put a lot of humor in between all the angst and hurt.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

I think I get too detailed with background. I just reread my Picture Perfect series (which I do like once a year), and there are literal paragraphs of background that in Google Docs is like pages and pages. But I want to make sure people understand my characters! LOL

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

I'm a big fan of it. I featured a lot of Norwegian in the Picture Perfect series. And French. I think as long as it flows with the storytelling and it's not forced on the characters it can be really cool. It should be natural. I always leave a translation list at the end of the chapter or explain in-text what was said. Which I think most authors I've read do.

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

The Backstreet Boys. LOL. Don't judge. I started writing my own fics after discovering BSB fanfiction written by an author named Mistress Lynz. She wrote a lot of fics about bloodletting, but I really enjoyed the fics where the guys were hooking up with each other behind the scenes, LOL explains why I write mostly M/M now. 😂

20) What's your favorite fic you've written?

They're kind of like my babies so at different times different ones are my faves. But if I really had to pick one, I would say Stay With Me is my favorite. I got some of the most amazing comments on this story from people that found meaning and themes in the story that I didn't even realize I'd put in there. It was one of my first WinterFrost fics I'd posted and the response was more than I could have asked for.

And now I have to tag people! @teadrinkingwolfgirl @incredifishface @incubigirl @rabentochter @marvelswinterfrost and whoever else feels up to it.

xoxo

[starrose17]

Fic Writer Questions

Fic Writer Questions!

Tagged by @fandom-hoarder

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

On Ao3 I have 24, but that’s a fraction of all the fics I’ve ever written that are now deleted or lost on the ancient world of yahoo webrings.

2) What's your total AO3 word count?

800,044 (but it’ll be ALOT more than that)

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

Oh so many. Lemme think in order I’ve done Pokemon, StarGate SG.1, Kyou Kara Maou, Rurouni Kenshin, Yu Yu Hakusho, Fruits Basket, Harry Potter, X-Men: First Class, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, Vikings, Black Sails, The Witcher, Good Omens, Supernatural...and I’m sure I’m missing some others.

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

-) Guardian of the Soulless - My Witcher fic, Geralt/Jaskier, and my favourite fic I’ve ever written.

-) The Impatient Snugglebug - A very old Harry Potter fic, Harry/Draco.

-) We Met At The Park - My X-Men Erik/Charles fic that shot me into fandom fame, where the now world famous @fahrlightloki cosplayed my Charles.

-) To The Stars - My Good Omens fic, Crowley/Aziraphale, based on the movie Titanic.

-)  Final Night - One of my very rare short fics, for Vikings, Ragnar/Athelstan.

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

I do respond, cos I believe it’s the right thing to do.

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

I don’t write angsty endings.  I have angst and drama in the fic itself, but everything always has a happy ending. Though I suppose final night kinda had one but that’s only because it’s a fic that is written within an episode and the episode didn’t end well.

7) What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

THEY’RE ALL HAPPY! They also all end in weddings, like, all of them. I had a certain plot in all my fics that I found appeals so well to everyone so I write the same outline in different fandoms and it always 100% works.

8) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you've written?

I did for the X-Men fandom, I wrote a few crossovers with the other films that Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy were in.  The craziest one I did was unfinished and called The Xavier Brothers Household, where I took a bunch of James McAvoys characters from other things and made them all brothers to Charles.  It was crazy.

9) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

The odd one here and there, but nothing major.

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

I do, an it’s always hot and heavy and very romantic.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes, see the below answer.

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Pretty much all of them until my most recent Bad Reputation one, but then I stopped saying yes to people who asked because I always asked them to send me a link to where it’s posted and they wouldn’t and I’d find it myself and it’d be under their name with no mention of me or a link to the original fic, so I stopped saying yes.

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

No.

14) What's your all time favorite ship?

That’s impossible to answer there have been so many, but I think the first one you have is one you can always fall back on, especially when you’re between fandoms, so I still find myself picturing Jessie and James from Pokemon ^_^

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

There’s very few fics I’ve never finished, only in the early days never anything recent.  There was a Harry Potter drarry fic of mine called Openly Confused, which isn’t even on AO3 but I think it’s still on my fanfiction.net account. I’d got to the last chapter and lost all interest in it and never finished it.

16) What are your writing strengths?

I like to think anything romantic. I could spend pages, and HAVE, with one character just thinking about the other.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

I’m not the best writer I don’t know too many big descriptive words and such so my writing is very basic.  I’ve been told that alot. But also been told that people like that cos they can get lost in the feelings rather than the imagery, and I’ve also been told that people who don’t have english as their first language enjoy my fics cos they’re easy to read, so it is a weakness, but it had a plus side too.

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

As I don’t speak any other language, that’s never come up.

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Pokemon. Rocketshipping. Most of my fics are still out there on what’s left of the yahoo webrings.  I found most of them still up on an angelfire site, they were written in 1997/8 and are the most corny crappiest pieces of writing I have ever read lol Yet I still remember being so proud of them at the time.  They’re here if you’re interested, just do Ctrl F and search for starrose and it’ll take you to them.

20) What's your favorite fic you've written?

Definitely Guardian of the Soulless.  Why? I couldn’t really tell you, I guess I’m just really proud of the story I did, of the relationship growing between Geralt and Jaskier.  And the bomb at the wedding scene, my God I’d never written anything so intense, and the shootout near the end, so much blood omg it was really outside my comfort zone and from the feedback I got I think I did really well.

Having said that, all of my long fics hold special places in my heart. My Black Sails fic L/S: I Will Stand Here With You, Flint/Silver, had the most amount of porn I have ever written in a fic before lol It was my longest ever fic at 165,104 words.

My x-men fic We Met At The Park got super famous in the fandom, had so much fanart done for it, and of course the cosplaying mentioned up above.

And of course a shout out to my most recent fic Bad Reputation, which has become my comfort love since I began it in February.  My version of Jared and Jensen live rent free in my head, they’re all I currently think about, even more than Sam and Dean.

Now as for tagging, I don’t actually read fic that much, so anyone whose a fic writer and reading this, feel free to tell the world about your fics!

[soopersara]

Thank you for the tag @brightboisterousbananas!

1. Why did you chose your url?

Because it was already my username on AO3 and FFN (and I used it there because it was the username a former... uh... unfortunate acquaintance made up for me on a video game, and I couldn’t think of anything else when I signed up for FFN).

2. Any side blogs?

A few? I have @soopersokka for fanart, @sooperwriting for general writing posts (that I barely use), and @majorleaguecuckooclock in case I ever decide to branch out into other fandoms (extremely doubtful). And I guess I’m also a mod on the @zkbigbang blog, but that’s not mine. 

3. How long have you been on Tumblr?

Since January 2019, apparently,

4. Do you have a queue tag?

Nope, my queue is almost never tagged. Tagging my original posts already takes too much time 🙃

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?

Honestly? I heard about a Zutara discord server, and to get into it, you had to provide a Tumblr so that the mods could check that you weren’t a troublemaker before joining. 

6. Why did you choose your icon?

Once upon a time, I considered the possibility of doing art for every chapter of A Tale of Ice and Smoke (spoiler: I did not. I would have been a much better artist by now if I had, but I’d probably still be stuck on like... Chapter 15 or something). My icon was the art I did for the prologue before I gave up on the chapter illustration idea. 

7. Why did you choose your header?

I had picked out my blog’s color scheme already, and of all my paintings that I have hanging around my house, the pink and purple tree one was the least clash-y with the colors. 

8. What’s your post with the most notes?

It’s gotta be this one

9. How many mutuals do you have?

���‍♀️ A bunch, probably. I don’t know for sure.

10. How many followers do you have?

1458

11. How many people are you following?

207

12. Have you ever made a shitpost?

I posted an edit of Kronk from The Emporer’s New Groove with Zuko’s zigzaggy map from Book 1 of ATLA. Does that count? Also a post about Katara making people-sicles, and one about Haru shaving his pornstache, and one about Iroh making THIS face 

yeah, I think I’ve shitposted a bit. But they’re mild shitposts.

13. How often do you use Tumblr each day?

Probably more than I should.

14. Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

Never anything that lasted more than a day, if you can even count the few illogical assholes who’ve come after me for... let’s see... giving Katara too much agency in a headcanon, writing a long-ass slowburn and tagging it with the endgame ship (THE HORROR), and having posts about my works scheduled to come out during a fandom event I wasn’t really participating in. 

15. How do you feel about “You need to reblog this” posts?

That’s the single fastest way to guarantee that I won’t touch that post with a ten foot pole.

16. Do you like tag games?

I like them! I probably forget to do a bunch of them, though 😬

17. Do you like ask games?

Yeah! I’d say that the same disclaimer about tag games applies, but I do try to schedule the ask lists when I have time to respond, and I don’t usually get any asks (or I’ll get like... one ask total)

18. Which of your Tumblr mutuals do you think is famous?

👀 Are any of you famous? 

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual?

Nope! Luckily, I got over my last crush about six years ago, and I haven’t had one since, especially not online.

I’ll tag @cobraonthecob, @firelxdykatara​, @rideboldlyride​, and anyone else who wants to answer some questions! Also, no pressure to those I tagged.

[winterhawkwonderland]

FAQs 2020 Edition

Hey there, Wonderland Participants! As promised, here is your 2020 edition of Questions We Have Received. Some of these are repeats from blog asks or that we have previously answered, but this way it’s all in once place! 

First though, a quick review of the dates and rules:

Dates: (as you can see, we are right on schedule!)

Monday 05 October: Signups open

Sunday 01 November: Signups close

Sunday 08 November: Assignments will be emailed - these will arrive in the email inbox you provided when you signed up so if you did not receive a confirmation email from us we do not have a means to contact you with your assignment - please message the blog ASAP

Sunday 22 November: Check-In #1

Sunday 06 December Check-In #2; Posting Date Signups

December 15-25: Gifts Posted

Friday 15 Jan: Round-Up Posted

Rules:

This exchange is for good-hearted fun! Remember that you’re getting a gift, not ordering a commission.

Don’t be a dick.

Works submitted for this event have to be original works that haven’t yet been posted elsewhere in the fandom. Everybody deserves a new, unique gift!

Remember to keep your recipient a secret until your gift is posted.

This event doesn’t allow any works involving the Big AO3 Four (Character Death, Underage, Rape/Non-con, Extreme Violence). Just… this isn’t the place for it.

This event is open to all ages — with the caveat that participants under the age of 18 will not be allowed to create or receive sexual content.

This year we are allowing art and writing.

Fanart: Final pieces should be digitally consumable. This can include fanart, moodboards, and the like.

Fanfic: Absolute minimum 1000 words; no maximum; expectation between 1K-3K.

All works need to be complete before posting — this includes multi-chapter work.

Now, onto the questions we’ve received so far!

If we write a story best formatted as multiple chapters and finished by the deadline, can we post just chapter one on the day the story is due and each chapter on a new day thereafter or does an entire multi-chaptered work have to go up all at once?

The multi-chapter work must be complete by your posting date and must be completely posted by the end of posting.  Basically, posting runs December 15-25th (dates overlap both Christmas and Hanukkah) - dates will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis by google form sign-up, and your entire work must be completely posted by December 25th. If you have many chapters, we recommend that you choose an earlier posting date so that you can post a chapter each day until complete and still be done by final posting date. 

Will I get assigned to make either art or fic or do I get the prompts and choose which to make?

You will receive three prompts from your gift recipient and you may fulfill the request in whatever fashion you like as long as it respects the recipients DNWs.  If you can make all three prompts into one art piece or one fic, go for it. You can focus on only one prompt. You can mash up two of the three! Whatever inspires you, we encourage you to get creative!

Are we allowed to combine our gift with a bingo fill if we can fit a bingo event prompt into the gift exchange prompt?

We are okay with this as long as the following conditions are met:

The work produced must prioritize the recipient’s request. If you can make werewolf den mothering and canon-compliant mission AU match up in a way that makes sense and that meets the recipient’s requests and DNWs, go for it.

The Bingo event is okay with prompts doing double-duty for our event and theirs.

The work created must meet the cumulative requirement for BOTH events. For example we are asking for 1-3k at minimum. If the Bingo requires 500 words, you would need to produce at least 1500 words to meet the guidelines for both events. It is hard to give an example of how that would apply to art, but the general idea is that you are creating a body of work which cumulatively meets the requirements for both events. Mood boards might need 6-8 images instead of 4, for example, or art might have a detailed background or full shading rather than a black and white sketch.Please use your good judgment with the idea that you are creating a gift for someone to enjoy in addition to filling a Bingo prompt rather than filling a Bingo prompt that you happen to gift someone.

Are threesome ships allowed for the exchange? As long as Clint and Bucky are prominently included? Can we put that as a request?

You can request an OT3 as part of your requests, but as this is a Winterhawk event your creator is under no obligation to fulfill any poly ships that are not Winterhawk.  Additionally, the focus should definitely be on the Winterhawk aspect of the relationship. 

When we will receive our matches?

On or before November 8th, depending on whether the mods can dig themselves out of the emotional black hole we’re all currently in to get it done early.  We are working on matches every day!

How are matches made? 

Matches are made through a very sophisticated system of: first we match up sensitive topic requests, such as ace/aro, trans, etc. with creators who are comfortable with those subjects and will treat them respectfully. Then we ensure that unusual DNWs (things that don't fall under the Big 4 or that aren't what most would consider 'common' DNWs such as abuse) are not matched with people who might accidentally include that DNW in a gift.  For example, if you put werewolves on your DNW list, we aren't going to match you with someone who has submitted three werewolf prompts. That person likes werewolves, and you don't! It's not a good match! Finally, we pray over the spreadsheet to the Random Number Generator Gods, and they spit out divinely reveal Random Numbers for us to match. Entry number 1 gets matched to holy Russian Roulette entry number 25! Unless one of those already has been matched, that's the pairing that gets emailed out! This is the fairest way we have come up with to do the matchmaking, but if you receive a prompt you absolutely feel you cannot create for, please reach out to us and we will see what we can do about resolving the situation, whether that means we make a matching change, or we ask the gift recipient for new prompts.

How do posting dates work?

After the second check in, a Google Form will be emailed out to all participants - you will be able to choose a date on the form that you would like to post on, running the entire length of the posting period (December 15-25th). There will be a limited number of slots per day (4-5 spots) and they will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Again, we recommend that if you have a multi-chapter work and would like to post a chapter per day/every other day that you sign up for an early posting date so that your work is completely posted before the event ends December 25. 

What are the Check-Ins?

Just a way for the Mod Team to check in with participants to ensure things are running smoothly. We will ask you how your gift is coming along, if you’re having any trouble we can help with, and if you have any concerns you would like to voice.  

The second check-in is going to ask you to be a little more specific about your progress towards completion, and it will give us as mods an opportunity to offer you help if you need it - cheerleading, beta readers, etc. 

What if I need to drop out?

Please, please, please let us know as soon as possible.  We have pinch-hitters on standby, very willing to step in if needed - we understand that things happen! We will not even ask you why you need to drop out, we will just say thank you for letting us know and then we will pass your recipients prompts on to a pinch hitter.  No drama at all, and nothing to feel anxious about.  No one will even know that you dropped out unless you tell them.  Gifts are kept anonymous until posting day, and your recipient will still receive a gift regardless of whether you are able to provide it or not. 

[lavender-lotion]

3, 4, 16 (DON'T say cherik), 22, 28

oh my god i absolutely hate you for asking me these aha you’re my favourite person in the entire world 

3. What is the best fandom you’ve ever been involved in?

to date, it’s been X-Men (alt timeline movies, ofc) despite the rocky beginning I had. in this fandom I’ve learned so much about my own writing, and my writing style has grown SO greatly since I first joined and has taken shape into... well whatever the hell it is now, which is something I really like (most of the time)!

I fairly quickly created a small, tight circle of people I really enjoy being around in this fandom, and have since cultivated my own little fandom space that I really, really enjoy. it’s filled with people I love chatting with, people as open-minded as accepting as I am, and it’s a place that I strive to make feel welcoming for all who join, as well! I run an 18+ X-Men Alternative Timeline Movies focused discord, so if you’re interested, join us here! 

I am trying to branch back out into The Fandom a little more after feeling a type of way for some time, and I’m honestly enjoying that a lot too! it’s been interesting to follow some more folk, and I’m really happy to see my dash start to thicken up after being close to barren for so long. 

currently, I have a small group of close friends I care a great deal for (hi, Mid!) that has absolutely made this fandom into one of the best i’ve been involved in. 

4. Do you regret getting involved in any fandoms?

very very very simplified and slightly unture answer: no. every single bad experience has taught me something that I’ve carried into my other fandom experiences, just like life lmao, but for more of a meaty answer to this question: yes. 

so much yes. 

I have SO MUCH regret around teen wolf, actually, for so many different reasons, but I’ve also learned SO much. seeing a server ran in a way I Did Not Like has helped me better mod my own fandom spaces, and I am very anti-totalitarianism and am VERY against showing abject favouritism to specific members, while I also always try incredibly hard to ensure no one feels ignored. I was reminded of how finicky friendships are, and learned not to be the person who puts in the sole work to keep ‘em going (and how to recognize if I am) because... when you stop the friendship might stop, too. I learned NOT to hit on close friends, no matter how much I might want to, and I learned the importance of open, clear and precise communication in romantic endeavours, which was actually a very good life lesson because I’d never been in a situation that could teach me it before. I’ve learned, or, am LEARNING, not to let personal experiences with one-on-one relationships taint my view of a fandom—this one is hard, and is something I am trying very, very hard to work through as I’ve recently been hit with a very strong and very sudden wave of inspiration for teen wolf.

but like, with that all said, I still absolutely LOVE the teen wolf fandom and have had so many amazing amazing amazing experiences that I wouldn’t change for all the bad, and that the bad experiences are really localized to the ship-focused spaces I was in and the personal relationships that I had, NOT with the fandom as a whole which I am slowly dipping my toes back into! I learned so much about myself and my writing during my time in the fandom, and that is another thing I absolutely wouldn’t change for the world. I am over the moon that I’m writing here again, honestly, and the reception I’ve gotten has been SO insanely amazing. 

starker is another one I regret-but-don’t-totally-regret-because-I-learned-shit. starker taught me the importance of 18+ fan spaces, and showed me what can happen when people... aren’t careful. when mods are minors themselves. I learned that cross-generational nsfw spaces are a RED flag, and that they mean GET OUT, and that anyone who would willingly allow minors and adults to mingle over explicit content are people I Do Not Want To Be Around. I learned a lot about myself there on an interpersonal scale, and I found out a lot about my sexuality and kink preferences, too (which was a wild time). while I do very much enjoy the lessons I learned from being in the space I was in, I could do without some of the more negative things I witnessed, even if they taught me a lot. 

16. Are their any popular ships in your fandom which you dislike?

SINCE I CAN’T SAY CHERIK I’m going to have to dig a little deeper and talk about Sterek, lmao. I was really, really, really into Sterek starting around... 2014? I read... fuck tons. absolutely insane amounts of Sterek fic. and I wanna say... around 2015? maybe? there was a really popular trope in Sterek, wherein Derek would push Stiles away (by being mean, by pretending to date one of the Pack (usually Erica), by bullying him, by telling him the pack didn’t want him, etc, etc) so that he could... keep Stiles safe? it almost always went the same way. there is a threat no one told Stiles about, Derek did “what he had to do” to keep Stiles safe (i.e cutting him off from all his friends and massive, obvious crush) and then when Stiles got hurt, the pack would come to his rescue and save him (only after Stiles got a little beat up), and then Derek would care for him, or not leave his side, or check up on him, and Stiles would wonder why he cared after everything that had happened and... bam. Derek would admit his undying love. And Stiles would just like forgive him and they’d get together and be happily ever after as a pack and...

that was so damaging lmao??? I can’t even tell you how many fics fitting into this trope that I read, to the point where I was like... “wow Derek loves Stiles so much he’s such an amazing person for keeping him safe by pushing him away and making him feel isolated and alone and hated” BUT LIKE WHAT. WHAT. that’s horrible??? so so so horrible??? I am so fucking thankful it isn’t something I really saw too much of when I came back around to the fandom around 2017, but.... oh boy. for a ship that I considered an OTP and read like the entire tag of, I have VERY few sterek fics of substance (when compared to the rest of my teen wolf writing) and this is the reason why. 

this trope and it’s absolutely ludicrous popularity a few years ago really, really turned me off the ship. 

22. Is there anything you regret writing?

content-wise: no. very, very easy no. I don’t regret any of the pairings or kinks I’ve written & I don’t think I ever will (I’m very anti-shame, lmao. if you like it, flaunt it). 

but... I do regret some of the emotional labour I’ve put into works? the emotional attachment I have with certain fics, or genres, or pairings, and how I’ve tied them to a specific person or persons. like, I can’t write ageplay anymore, because of how strong the association of ageplay is to someone I cared for deeply and no longer have in my life (and even if I ever manage to write it in general, I’ll never be able to write Steter ageplay). I have 13k of a fic that was supposed to be a surprise gift to a close friend that I hadn’t heard from in... ages, to the point where I gave up on sending the occasional monthly-message. I have one thing I wrote for a dear friend (who never interacted with it) and now I can’t help but feel like the story is awful, despite not doing horrifically stat-wise.  

I write because I love it. I write for people I care about, because writing is a labour of love, and it’s a way I can show them how much I care for them, but... sometimes that bites me in the ass, I guess. 

I’m working on it, lol. 

28. If someone were to draw a piece of fanart for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of?

god okay there is NOTHING better than the idea of this. I’ve had a few mood boards made for me here and there, which are always SO loved and cherished and massively appreciated down to my BONES, but I don’t know if I’ve... ever really gotten fan art? I had someone make some really, really cool like... OG bit-moji type art of a couple of my fics, which is amazing and I have it on my phone still, and @hd-hale once drew me a GORGEOUS sheriff stilinski inspired by Daddies’R’Us, but to get FAN ART i would CRY lmao

right now, I think something from to love and be loved by you would feel really, really extra special because even at 6/17 chapters posted, it’s my longest work ever. what would it be a picture of?? hell if i fucking know but probably something that hasn’t happened yet, lmao

[currentlyreadingmanga]

Toilet-bound Hanako-kun Chapter 18: Mitsuba (Part 1)

Previously: we wrapped up the little mermaid arc. Hanako and Yashiro’s relationship continues to evolve while they figure out where they stand and how they want to move forward. In relation to that, Hanako confirmed that the person he killed was his younger twin brother and he promised to tell Yashiro the whole story in the future. We also met what I assume will be our complete group of antagonists (at least for the time being): Natsuhiko, Sakura and Hanako’s brother. Their dynamic so far seems to be (surprisingly) quite playful and lively, but also Hanako’s brother murdered the puffer fish with such glee that I just  (;;⚆_⚆)

Now onto the next chapter!

Welp, I didn’t intend to take another long break but life happened and I have the attention span of a goldfish. As a way to also make myself stick to a schedule, I’m gonna try my best to do these recaps as regularly as possible. We’ll see how that goes.

This time we open with Kou and his friends talking about a rumor that says that the entrance to the middle school is haunted. I’m guessing this means that this arc will be a little more Kou-centric? Especially since he and Hanako were the ones in the cover of this new volume. I wonder if he’s gonna do his own thing with Hanako and/or Yashiro chiming in like in The Young Exorcist Arc, because that would be cool.

Okay, so apparently the ghost grabs you when you’re changing your shoes. And judging by the ominous “Hey” speech bubble, I’m guessing this rumor is true just like the others, then (not like I was expecting anything else, but still) Also Kou’s friends are very cute, they look like they deserve hair ruffles.

(ﾟдﾟ；) Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||) JFC that’s much more terrifying that I thought it would be. Also!!! does that head angle give anyone else crooked man vibes? no? because it’s giving me some horrible flashbacks to that game.

The chapter cover page here is that image (from ch 16) that has our three babies looking ready to tell some ghost stories. I wonder if it’s something that this site did or if the volume itself repeats this page. Nevertheless, I still love this page, they look very very cute.

The title this time is “Mitsuba”, which sounds like a name and I’m only saying that because I think I might have heard of another character with that name. Then again, my japanese is very limited, so I could be completely wrong. If it IS a name, I’m guessing it’s gonna be our crooked man’s over there since most chapters so far were named after the different supernaturals. 

Moving on, Kou shows the ghost that he decided to mess with the wrong guy by promptly throwing them against the shoe lockers. RIP ghost (again).

Oh! Kou says that the ghost is wearing a school uniform, so he was possibly a student here. Interesting! Now, we don’t know when this boy died, but this means that Hanako isn’t the only ghost that has an attachment to this school. The question then would be why this boy is here specifically and not somewhere else.

OH!!!!!! There he is!! He’s the pink-haired boy, right?? Okay, so, it’s been a while, but I mentioned that I had seen two spoilers when my instagram feed decided to betray me. One was Hanako’s brother and the other was this boy here! I saw him two times in two pieces of fanart with Kou. I didn’t know he would appear so soon! Ohhhhhh that’s exciting! I’m guessing he must be important in some way, right? He looks really cute! and now I feel bad about the crooked man comment (even though his neck really looked kinda funky in that one panel). Are they gonna become friends?? Is Kou gonna expand his friend list to two (2) ghost friends?.......oh, god, I hope Teru doesn’t object to this one too. Well, no, I don’t think he would; he wants to exorcise Hanako because he considers him a danger to the school (and I’m not saying that Hanako doesn’t have the power to hurt others but like…….his brother really seems like the bigger threat right now ngl……...Although, do they even know about him? Because we know that Kou’s grandmother (?) was the one to seal Hanako away and his family knows that he killed “someone”, but do they know about his twin?)

Hey, there’s my other two children! So they are gonna be involved in this arc as well, cool.

OMFG KOU! Sweetie, no! Like, I get it, he’s a ghost that tried to grab you and he could have hurt someone but he looks so helpless, like a scared puppy! I get tying him up but was the duct tape on the face really necessary? I mean, no one else besides the other supernaturals and Yashiro and Teru would have heard him, right? I can’t even be mad at him tho, look at how excited he is about catching a ghost  ಥ‿ಥ    

Anyway, it seems like he went to Hanako to check how he could deal with the ghost. And awwww!! It’s because he doesn’t want to exorcise him, either! He’s really committed to this new path, huh? Good on you, Kou, I’m so proud. 

Hanako gives the boy a long silent look and tells Kou that since the ghost is there probably because of some unfinished business, that means he should help him solve whatever they are. I mean, if countless movies have taught me anything, it is that this plan should probably work.

Omfg Kou just keeps yanking this little ghost boy around. Please be careful with the ghost child. Yashiro shows her concern over the idea (understandable, Kou can be overly enthusiastic and we don’t know anything about this new boy). Hanako says it’ll be fine and he also confirms that the boy is not really dangerous now (the “now” is kinda concerning, though (⚆.⚆) …..but then again, since I saw him and Kou in fanarts, I’m guessing things will turn out okay), and that if things take a turn for the worse, it’s just more work for him because he’s the mediator. Hmmm, that’s quite a solemn look on his face. I think he mentioned this when we met the mokke as Yousei-san, but he wants to avoid killing/getting rid off apparitions whenever possible, right? That’s why having Yashiro as his assistant works in his favour. So that means that he probably doesn’t want to have to “deal” with this ghost, but since that’s the nature of his role, he has no other choice if push comes to shove.

(ALSO, this is a side note but it just hit me: since Hanako doesn’t seem to know this ghost, that means that he’s new? or maybe that he recently acquired the ability to manifest? could it be because of the rumors? like, he was just doing his own thing and suddenly the rumors forced him to haunt the entrance?)

Anyway, we cut back to Kou and ghost boy.

Omfg this poor child. Kou, please untie him before he starts crying.

……………………………...oh my god. I- well, I expected many things but this was not one of them. Like, he has every right to be angry but wow this child has a mouth on him. But also it could be because of the way it’s translated but it’s very funny to me that his insults range from “i hope you drop dead” to “dummy head” pffft.

I-..... He’s really nothing like I expected omg what. Sweetie, breath, trust me when I say Kou would be one of the last people to even think about doing something like that.

OMFG I JUST SCROLLED

Pffffffffft why is that so funny?? I can’t be the only one that  read that in the spongebob narrator voice.

But yeah, it looks like he got it all out of his system. Now Kou is trying to maintain his “cool guy facade” so that ghost boy will respect him (I think it’s gonna take more than that to achieve it, but we’ll see). He also tells him that he comes from a family of exorcists but that backfires spectacularly because the boy basically calls him an otaku. RIP Kou, he really can’t catch a break pffft

Ghost boy keeps being sassy and that makes Kou threaten him with his staff. Good thing he doesn’t know that it’s sealed and that it doesn’t really work.

Hey! His name really is Mitsuma (thank god, I can finally stop calling him ghost boy). He really isn’t the cooperative type, huh? Also what’s that bottom left face omfg Please just let Kou know, he just wants to help.

Like, I know they’re brothers but wow Kou looks so much like Teru right here, scary face and all. But yeah, anyway. A picture? Like, he lost a picture that he treasured? Or maybe he wants to take one? Or he wanted to take a picture with someone else?

Ohhhh, okay. So he was part of the photography club and there was a picture he wanted to take before he died. Or so he thinks. So like, do you lose part of your memories when you die? If so, could it be because of the passage of time or as defense mechanism of some sort? If his camera is still at the club, then that probably means that he was a student here not too long ago.

We cut to Kou helping Mitsuba take some pictures (and being attacked by birds in the process), And from the looks of it, it’s all on purpose and Mitsuba is having way too much fun with the power he has lol Kou, in turn, keeps zapping him with his staff when Mitsuba gets too cocky. Boy, these two already have quite the dynamic, I can’t even imagine how chaotic they’re gonna get in the future.

Kou then points out that Mitsuba has taken pictures of scenery and animals but none of people. Mitsuba admits that pictures of people are better if you want to win awards but then cuts himself off. Hmmm. Does he like to take pictures of nature better because of his artistic style or could there be a deeper meaning behind it? 

Here’s your reminder that I really really love Kou  ಥ‿ಥ He’s such a good boy I just  ಥ‿ಥ  ಥ‿ಥ 

“I’ll pass” PFFFFFFFFFFT these two give me whiplash, I swear. Mitsuba is freaking brutal (and I’m kinda living for it ngl).

Hey, one of Kou’s friends, Yokoo, is back! 

Oh????? Did Mitsuba went to the school recently? Were they in the same year??? Kou didn’t look like he recognized him, so maybe he was in a different class?

Ah, they actually were in the same class during their first year. Is Kou in his last year of middle school? So….they were in the same class two years ago? 

Oh no. Mitsuba died sometime last winter in an accident. It looks like he has a big scar on the back of his neck; if that’s how he died, it seems like it was quite painful. This poor child ;; Yokoo mentions that they weren’t really that close to him (and that’s very clear considering Kou’s reaction). I wonder why Mitsuba didn’t say anything. But then again, Kou didn’t really give him any signals to work with, I guess he just decided to keep quiet.

Oh! It looks like Kou is remembering something now that he’s been reminded. 

oh my god…...look at them…….babies ;;; they look so young ;;;;;; what happen??? why did they stop talking?? just because they were in different classes?

Oh, that’s…….that’s heartbreaking. To desperately reach out, again and again, and to come out empty handed every time. And I feel like it’s such a common fear too, the possibility of being forgotten by everyone you care about. That would be such a hit to your own self-worth. Oh, sweetheart….This poor baby needs so many hugs.

[candle-jill]

The Final(ish) Chapter of PE is officially posted! The following is basically just a long author’s note/commentary/explanation of the ending/what’s up for the future. SPOILERS if you haven’t read the last chapter, I linked back to here on AO3 - hit that up first then come back here for more info if you’d like.

I have so much to say and I didn’t want to post it all on AO3!

First of all - THE ENDING:

At this point you can stop right where it ends and it can live on its own as a non-zombie AU (despite Negan’s remark about weird aggressive behavior on the news - guess it’s just the state of our world today?). Carl and Negan ride off into the sunset, traveling the world as Murder Husbands, and live happily ever after! The End! BUT! I will be continuing the story using the foundation of PE with the introduction of zombies. I’m really entertained by the idea of Negan and Rick reluctantly dealing with each other, 1) for Carl’s sake and 2) because they understand that the other is an asset in the new world order. I don’t know how frequently I plan on updating but I have a few plots in mind that I’d like to write. I want to explore how Negan’s character develops in that setting with Rick and Carl as an influence. ~*~ OKAY! Now that that’s been stated... THANK YOU! Can I just say thank you? Like... so fuckin’ much dudes. The feedback, comments, questions, fucking FANART?! and the love you’ve shown me since I started this (way too fucking long ago) has been so far outside of any expectation I’ve ever had - I honestly can’t believe it. 

And that so many of you have stuck with it for THIS LONG? That is just incomprehensible to me. THANK YOU! For anyone who has commented, or kudos’d, or gently (or aggressively) nudged me in the in direction to continue the story... thank you so much. You all know I’ve had real life get in the way but if it weren’t for your cheerleading I would have just dropped this story. I always wanted to finish it, I always had this ending in mind (some of you have guessed it - hopefully you’ve still enjoyed the ride), and I’m so grateful for the support you’ve given me over the years that has helped motivate me to finally get this story out. THANK YOU FOR READING! But especially thank you if you’ve ever commented or messaged me. I don’t know how to express how insecure I am in my writing and how much your support has meant to me. Truly! <3 ~*~ DISCLAIMER! At this point it’s a bit late in the game to state it, but I don’t condone any of the actions of what the characters are doing in the fic. Murder/torture/abuse - that’s a no-no kids! But specifically writing Carl to be underage for sexual contact (of any kind) has actually really bothered me. I’m not condoning sexual contact with minors in any form but I had at originally planned on him being 18 before they do-the-do. I changed some of the story and it worked out better for the plot to have him underage... but to reiterate, I do not condone that kind of behavior in real life. Fiction is just that, it’s fiction. It’s my personal opinion that exploring problematic themes, questioning mores, and providing commentary on all of the above through a safe creative outlet is important in a free society. The “Victims” 1st guy they kill - he’s just generic predatory Dude. No real inspiration for him except EAR/ONS, maybe. There wasn’t much thought except to be a plot device. 2nd dude - I’ve worked with a lot of people who were survivors of sexual abuse as children and it’s frequently a boyfriend/step dad/family member that is the abuser. This dude was a reflection on my experience working with those kids. Bryce was inspired by the rich/athletic fucks you see getting away with what they get away with - the Brock Turners,  Steubenville, and Brett Kavanaughs of the world. Paul/Arthur were based on guys like Jerry Sandusky, Jim Jordan, Richard Strauss, Larry Nassar, and the institutions (Penn State/Ohio State/Michigan State/US Olympics) that encourage, enable, and protect that behavior. Throughout the story I don’t feel like I ever properly gave weight to survivors of incidents like those mentioned above, because that’s not the kind of story I was writing. But fuck if what they put people through doesn’t stick with me. I don’t actually believe that people who commit those acts should be murdered violently, but it’s kind of nice to write a novel length fanfic about it. And to be honest, for this story I do like the hypocrisy of Negan perpetuating some of the problematic behaviors in a way that he thinks are justifiable - it’s sort of depressingly well rounded for me. I like that the “bad guys” always have the “they were asking for it” kind of plea and that’s essentially what Negan tells Rick when he finds out. Only in Negan’s case it was... kind of true? ~*~ Misc Shit Here’s fanart of Negan I did (print for sale in my shop). Here’s fanart of Carl/Chandler. I don’t have prints available because it was mostly just a portrait study but if anyone was interested I could put it up. Here’s a Cegan soundtrack that I listened to for most of writing PE. ~*~ I’m finally done (if you’ve made it this far)! So, again, I am going to update a post-PE story with a walkers very soon. Keep an eye out for that! If you’re not into that, then I hope you liked the journey of Physical Education.  As Chuck from SPN says, “Endings are hard. Any chapped-ass monkey with a keyboard can poop out a beginning, but endings are impossible. You try to tie up every loose end, but you never can.” Thank you again for EVERYTHING! I don’t know if I can say that enough. Please feel free to message me anytime! <3

[data-monkey]

AO3 stats project: data provenance

A few years ago, I was curious about some of the characteristics of works posted on the Archive of Our Own, so I scraped some (lots) of data and went about analyzing it. This series of posts describes that analysis. It’s broken down into 7 posts; this is the first one, describing the data set and how it was collected.

The Data | Basic Questions | Fandoms | Tags | Correlations | Kudos | Fun Stuff

Thanks to @eloiserummaging for beta reading these posts; any remaining errors are my own.  A Python notebook showing the code I used to make these plots can be found here.

In case you’ve wandered in here without knowing about the Archive of Our Own (aka AO3), here’s a brief primer. It’s a fan-run, nonprofit archive for all kinds of “fan works”--that means fanfiction, but also other media such as fanart, podfic (fanfiction audiobooks), fanvids (audiovisual media), meta (fanwork criticism), etc. The AO3 has a ratings system and a warnings system, but they’re both optional in the sense that you can choose an “abstain” option (“No Rating” or “Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings”, respectively). When you do a search or look at an index page, you can generally see the title, fandom, creator, summary, warnings, rating, category (since many fanworks are romantic/sexual in nature, this is basically either “gen” for no romance, or the gender configuration of the main relationship(s)), language, word count, comment count, kudos count (you leave “kudos” for the author instead of hitting a “like” button), and whether the work is part of a series. On many works, but not all, you can also see the hit count--this is turned on by default, but authors can turn it off. And finally, there are also generally a number of freeform tags. The AO3 has one of the best tagging systems out there, and I’ll make use of that in some later posts.

Before we get into this, I wanted to shout out @destinationtoast, who has been on the fan stats beat for years. Some of what I’m going to show in the next few posts will duplicate work she or others have done. I’m still showing it because our data collection methods are different, and so the answer they get and the answer I get may be different. Redoing some of the analysis means that all the graphs I am showing are self-consistent. But you should really go check out @toastystats and her great masterpost of stuff if you’re interested in this topic.

For my analysis, I collected data by scraping AO3 works pages in most fandoms over a period of several years, skipping large subfandoms so I didn’t duplicate information--e.g., I did not download “Stargate: SG-1” data because all of those works are also included in “Stargate - All Media Types”. I attempted to be kind to the server load by leaving lag times between successive pages and taking frequent breaks, and I also have regularly donated to the OTW, more than enough to offset the cost of my downloads for this project. The total amount of data is well under a single day’s load on the servers, and collected over several years, although I would guess that on my peak downloading days I was probably the #1 user by data volume.

Here’s what the actual collection dates look like:

I grabbed a bunch of stuff in 2015, updated again in 2016, let things lie for 18 months, and then picked back up. So the data set I have contains everything posted in 2017 or earlier that was still available when I collected the data, and most (but not all) of the data posted in 2018 or later. 

To avoid re-downloading, if I went back to update a previously-downloaded fandom, I only went back far enough to get to the newest works I’d seen the previous time I downloaded. That means that anything posted before 2016 or so is “frozen” in this data set--it hasn’t had its hits, kudos, or comments updated, and if other changes were made (orphaning, deletion) that is also not captured. If a work moved up in the sort date (for example, if it had a new chapter added), the new data was used instead of the earlier collected data.

I was not logged in, so no private works appear anywhere in this data set. (So you should probably think of this as “stats of public AO3 works” not “stats of AO3 works”--they will probably be different because some fandoms are more likely to privatize their fic than others.) Because I’m not able to get individual permission from authors to show their data, I’ll only be showing aggregate data--the rough cutoff in my head is that I only show data points that represent >1000 works.

I also wanted to download tag information, because the Archive tagging system allows users to choose any tags they like, and then bundles those tags into synonyms in the backend--allowing somebody to misspell a tag “John Waston” instead of “John Watson”, for example, but preserving that they meant “John Watson” for purposes of searching. I downloaded the tag description page for any tag which appears in the data >=500 times and used that data to unify all synonyms of the most-used tags. Tag pages are not redownloaded once downloaded, so tag updates since May 2015 are mostly not represented here, except for a few tags which crossed my lower-cutoff threshold sometime between May 2015 and 2018.

Overall, I downloaded meta-information for 4,337,545 works. I won’t be sharing this dataset because it includes now-deleted works, but if you have a question that a dataset like this could answer, I can try to answer that question, time allowing.